Osmaniye

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced his intentions to advance regional development in Türkiye's south following the construction of the country's inaugural nuclear power plant in Mersin.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya has announced the dismantling of two separate criminal organizations in simultaneous operations conducted in the southern city of Osmaniye.

The minister disclosed on March 3 that a total of 55 suspects were apprehended in the operations targeting gangs allegedly led by individuals identified as Murat Özdemir and Cengiz Arslan.

As high temperatures that have gripped the country begin to recede towards seasonal averages, meteorologists have issued warnings for localized heavy rainfall across eight provinces, primarily in the inner and southern regions.

Google's earthquake warning system failed to get to many Turkish residents before February's deadly tremor, the leading British public service broadcaster BBC has reported.

Google says its alert system can give users up to a minute's notice on their phones before an earthquake hits.

Four female lawmakers have been elected as the first female deputies of three provinces that had never been represented by a woman before, marking another step in female representation in the country's legislative body.

In the 28th term of the 600-member parliament elected in the May 14 elections, 121 women will serve.

The European Union has said it has made a contribution of 8 million euros to the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) to provide food assistance for people who have been affected by the deadly earthquakes that rattled Türkiye's south in early February.

With rains and thunderstorms expected to batter the country in the days ahead, the Turkish State Meteorological Service has declared a "yellow and orange alert" for 16 out of all 81 provinces, mostly in the east, while heavy rains will continue to pound Istanbul and its neighboring cities.

Exactly 46 days after the devastating Feb. 6 earthquakes, the first foundations for new housing in the affected provinces were laid on March 23.

In the nearly-deserted centre of the southern Turkish city of Osmaniye, an elderly couple wait by the ruins of the three-story building where they lived, hoping their life savings might emerge from the debris when it is cleared.

More than 50 million people, or 60 percent of the population, have been fully vaccinated, while this rate was around nearly 81 percent for the citizens aged 18 and above, according to the country's health minister.