People on a busy shopping street in Ankara, Turkey. AP
People on a busy shopping street in Ankara, Turkey. AP
People on a busy shopping street in Ankara, Turkey. AP
People on a busy shopping street in Ankara, Turkey. AP

Turkey's daily Covid-19 cases surge above 22,000


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Turkey's new coronavirus cases jumped to 22,291 on Wednesday, the highest since early May, Health Ministry data shows.

And the daily death toll reached a six-week high of 76 people.

Daily infections last peaked at 63,000 in April. They were brought down by a stringent lockdown that ended in mid-May, falling as low as 4,418 on July 4 before surging again.

The latest increase follows last week's Eid Al Adha holiday when Turks flocked to crowded beach resorts.

But rates appear highest in eastern regions where vaccinations are lower than the national average.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said 87 per cent of current cases were among people who were not fully vaccinated.

The rate rose to 95 per cent for people needing hospital treatment, Mr Koca said in a televised address, appealing to people to have their vaccinations.

He said there was no need to reimpose restrictions to battle the spread of the virus but did not rule out doing so in the future.

Farage on Muslim Brotherhood

Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.

The Voice of Hind Rajab

Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees

Director: Kaouther Ben Hania

Rating: 4/5

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

Updated: July 28, 2021, 10:47 PM`