Tourists staying at the Turkish holiday resort of Bodrum were evacuated and told to wait for rescue boats on Saturday evening as fresh wildfires erupted nearby, according to local media.
Panicked holidaymakers reportedly rushed to the seashore following the evacuation of several hotels in the coastal city.
Fires across Turkey have been raging since Wednesday, burning down forests and some settlements, and encroaching on villages and tourist destinations. Satellite images show smoke billowing across huge areas of land.
Image: Wildfires have spread across the country, including the Antalya province (also pictured below) some 250 miles from Bodrum. Pics: AP
Two forest workers died on Saturday, the country’s health minister said, taking the total death toll from the blazes to six, while hundreds more have been injured or suffered health problems.
In the Aegean resort of Bodrum, coast guard units led the rescue operation and authorities asked private boats and yachts to assist the efforts.
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Mayor of Bodrum Ahmet Aras has been posting videos and updates, and said clear-up efforts continue in the area.
Canımız yanıyor… Şehir merkezimizde başlayan yangının ardından, maalesef Mumcular Bayır bölgesinde ikinci bir yangınla daha karşı karşıya kaldık. Gün boyunca ekipler ve vatandaşlarımızla birlikte sürdürdüğümüz söndürme çalışmaları, Bayır bölgemizde devam ediyor.#bodrumyangınpic.twitter.com/rqaqTK20CU
While new fires have sprung up, the minister of agriculture and forestry, Bekir Pakdemirli, said on Saturday that 91 of the 101 fires across the country have been brought under control.
However, neighbourhoods affected by the fires in five provinces have been declared disaster zones by the country’s emergency and disaster authority.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the town of Manavgat on Saturday, inspecting the damage from a helicopter.
He announced that the Turkish government would cover rent for people affected by the fire, and rebuild their homes. Taxes, social security and credit payments will also be postponed for those affected and small businesses will be offered credit with zero interest, he said.
Three British men are being held in Taliban custody in Afghanistan – including so-called “danger tourist” Miles Routledge who returned to the country after being evacuated by British armed forces less than two years ago.
The other two men are charity medic Kevin Cornwell and another unnamed UK national who manages a hotel in Kabul. They are believed to have been held by Taliban secret police since January.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson said: “We are working hard to secure consular contact with British nationals detained in Afghanistan and we are supporting families.”
Mr Routledge, 23, has gained fame – and attracted controversy – by travelling to dangerous countries and posting about it online.
In August 2021 he was on a “holiday” in Afghanistan when he was caught up in the chaos in the capital as the Taliban took control of the country.
He chose the war-torn country having looked up a list of the most dangerous places to visit in the world, despite the Taliban taking control of more and more of the country at the time.
Mr Cornwell, 53, was arrested at his hotel by officers from the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) on 11 January.
He is accused of having an illegal firearm in the safe in his room, but his family say he had been granted a licence for the firearm.
The FCDO continues to advise UK citizens against all travel to Afghanistan based on the security risks involved, including the possibility of detention by the Taliban authorities.
Two women in Iran who went into a store while not fully covering their hair had yoghurt thrown over them by a man, in an incident captured on video.
CCTV footage showing the “yoghurt attack”, believed to have taken place in the city of Shandiz in northeast Iran, has been spreading on social media.
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi insisted that the hijab is the law in the country, in response to the widely shared clip.
It shows a man in a chequered shirt getting increasingly animated as he speaks to one of the women.
He is then seen grabbing a pot of what is believed to be yoghurt and throwing it over the pair before being confronted by another man and pushed out of the store.
Following the incident, the two women have been arrested for not covering their hair, according to judicial authorities.
The man has also been arrested for insulting the women, public disorder and “unconventional promotion of virtue”.
Authorities said the owner of the dairy shop, who confronted the attacker, had also been warned.
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Reports on social media showed his shop had been shut, although he was quoted by a local news agency as saying he had been allowed to reopen and was due to “give explanations” to a court.
President Raisi said: “If some people say they don’t believe [in the hijab]… it’s good to use persuasion…
“But the important point is that there is a legal requirement… and the hijab is today a legal matter.”
Women in Iran had already been warned by the regime’s judiciary chief that they will be prosecuted “without mercy” if they are seen in public without a veil.
Following protests in recent months, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on Saturday: “Unveiling is tantamount to enmity with [our] values.
“Those who commit such anomalous acts will be punished and will be prosecuted without mercy.”
Iran has been rocked by huge waves of protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in September.
The 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman died while in the custody of Iran’s morality police.
Women will be prosecuted “without mercy” if they are seen in public without a veil, Iran’s judiciary chief has warned.
Following protests in recent months, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on Saturday: “Unveiling is tantamount to enmity with [our] values.
“Those who commit such anomalous acts will be punished and will be prosecuted without mercy.”
He did not specify what the punishment would be, but violations of state laws on hijabs have seen people face arrest, fines, imprisonment and even the death sentence.
Women across the country have been refusing to wear their headscarves following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September.
Ms Amini had been arrested for allegedly breaking the law on headscarves and died in police custody.
Image: Mahsa Amini’s death sparked protests in Iran
Nationwide street protests were met with a severe police crackdown.
Human Rights Activists, a group that has been tracking the crackdown from inside Iran, has reported more than 19,700 people being arrested during the demonstrations.
Another group, Iran Human Rights (IHR) estimates that 500 of them, including 70 minors, were killed by the regime.
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Previously, Mr Ejei said that 22,000 people arrested during recent protests have now been pardoned.
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Iranian women have now moved their fight online, with many posting videos of themselves with their hair and bodies exposed.
Under Iran’s Islamic Sharia law, women are obliged to cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes to disguise their figures.
Describing the veil as “one of the civilisational foundations of the Iranian nation” and “one of the practical principles of the Islamic Republic,” the interior ministry said in a statement on Thursday that there would be no “retreat or tolerance” on the issue.
The authorities are encouraging people to confront women who break hijab laws – something that has previously seen religious extremists physically attack them in public.