ATHENS: A wildfire fueled by strong winds broke out in the Greek port city of Patras on Tuesday, authorities said, forcing a children’s hospital and residents of several localities to evacuate.
Patients were transported to other facilities elsewhere in Greece’s third city as 95 firefighters, 25 vehicles and water bombers battled the blaze, which was put under control on Tuesday evening.
“The evacuation went quickly. All the children in the hospital were transferred to other hospitals in the city,” paediatrician Thanasis Filias told public broadcaster ERT.
Residents in three areas of Patras — located in the Peloponnese region — left their homes and took refuge in the city center, civil protection officials said on X.
Greek Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said on X that the “very dangerous fire” had been controlled in two hours.
Other regions issued wildfire warnings as Greece faces what Kikilias has said is its “worst wildfire season in 20 years.”
Besides the children’s hospital, a retirement home and a medical center also had to be evacuated as a result.
Later Tuesday, fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis told ERT that no houses were threatened by the flames.
“The front and its momentum have been contained,” he said.
Also speaking on ERT, Patras Mayor Kostas Peletidis likewise said that the situation was improving while cautioning that “it’s not over, of course.”
Other wildfires broke out across Greece Tuesday, spurred by high winds and soaring temperatures.
The National Observatory of Athens recorded 37 degrees Celsius (98 degrees Fahrenheit) in the region of Attica, which wraps around Athens.
Authorities warned against a “very high risk” of wildfires in six regions Wednesday, including in central Greece, Peloponnese, Attica and northeastern Aegean Sea islands like Lesbos.
Parts of the country will see temperatures exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) with peaks at 41-42C (106-108F) and 39-49 kilometer per hour winds (24-30 miles per hour), according to weather forecaster Meteo.gr.
Strong winds and drought conditions have fanned fires in recent weeks in the area around Athens, on the island of Chios near the Turkish mainland and in Peloponnese.
While June temperatures in Greece normally do not surpass 31C, the country recorded in 2024 its hottest June since 1960, experts have said.
Scientists say climate change makes extreme weather events including heatwaves more likely, longer-lasting and more intense.
Hospital evacuated after wildfire breaks out in Greece
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Hospital evacuated after wildfire breaks out in Greece
- Patients were transported to other facilities elsewhere in Greece’s third city
- Residents in three areas of Patras — located in the Peloponnese region — left their homes and took refuge in the city center, civil protection officials said on X
Sheep ‘buried alive’ in Greece amid disease cull: official
The disease known as Peste des Petits Ruminants, or PPR, is highly contagious to sheep and goats
ATEHNS: A senior veterinary official in Greece was replaced after it emerged that sheep had been “buried alive” in a disease control move, a regional governor said Thursday.
“We received a complaint concerning live animals in the burial process,” Dimitris Kouretas, governor of the central region of Thessaly, told reporters.
“This merits further investigation. For this reason I replaced the veterinary supervisor” responsible for the area of the incident, Kouretas said.
Officials since early July has been trying to contain an outbreak of sheep and goat plague near the central city of Trikala.
The disease known as Peste des Petits Ruminants, or PPR, is highly contagious to sheep and goats but does not affect humans. Meat and pasteurised milk are also safe to consume, officials said.
The Greek agriculture ministry has said it is the first time the disease has been detected in the country.
Over 2,400 sheep have been culled since the first case was detected on July 11 near the town of Kalabaka, according to the agriculture ministry.
Farmers and officials have said the disease was likely brought into the country by imported livestock.
“Non-stop checks are underway” by scores of vets, Agriculture Minister Kostas Tsiaras told Skai radio, adding that some had interrupted their summer holidays.
Tsiaras noted that Greek farmers had increased animal imports after local flocks were decimated in last year’s disastrous floods caused by Storm Daniel.
Tens of thousands of sheep perished at the time.
Non-EU imports “are mainly from Romania, Turkiye and Albania,” the minister said, adding that the animals’ origin would be investigated.
The governor’s office has temporarily shut down local abattoirs and farmers have been instructed to keep their flocks indoors.
Ukraine’s Kuleba warns in Hong Kong of Russia bypassing sanctions
- Western countries imposed unprecedented economic penalties on Moscow after the Kremlin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022
- “These restrictive measures are necessary to weaken Russia’s capacity to wage war and kill people in Ukraine,” Kuleba said
HONG KONG: Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warned in Hong Kong on Thursday of Russia using the city to bypass sanctions levied by the West over its invasion of Ukraine.
Western countries imposed unprecedented economic penalties on Moscow after the Kremlin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The latest penalties have sought to target entities allowing Moscow to bypass the restrictions. The European Union has also imposed sanctions on 19 Chinese companies, including several in Hong Kong.
“Kuleba also called on the Hong Kong Administration to take measures to prevent Russia and Russian companies from using Hong Kong to circumvent the restrictive measures imposed for Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” his ministry said.
“These restrictive measures are necessary to weaken Russia’s capacity to wage war and kill people in Ukraine,” he said, according to the statement.
“Russia’s machinations should not spoil Hong Kong’s reputation as a highly developed liberal economy based on unwavering respect for the rule of law.”
Kuleba is on the final day of his first visit to China, a close ally of Russia, since the beginning of the war.
Kuleba said during talks with his Chinese counterpart that Kyiv was prepared to negotiate with Russia when it shows itself willing to hold talks “in good faith.”
China is a close political and economic ally of Russia and NATO members have branded Beijing a “decisive enabler” of the war.
Russia, China FMs to meet as ASEAN talks get underway in Laos
- ASEAN ministers thrashing out a common position on the civil war raging in member state Myanmar on Thursday
VIENTIANE: The foreign ministers of Russia and China will meet on the sidelines of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers talks in Laos on Thursday, according to a schedule seen by AFP.
The three-day meeting of the 10-member ASEAN bloc started in the capital Vientiane on Thursday, with tensions in the South China Sea and the conflict in Myanmar high on the agenda.
Sergei Lavrov will meet Wang Yi at 6 p.m. local time (1100 GMT) for a 40-minute “ministerial meeting,” according to the schedule.
Both men have already arrived in Vientiane, journalists said, to attend the ASEAN talks as observers along with foreign ministers from the United Kingdom and Canada.
India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar arrived in Vientiane on Thursday and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is also expected to attend.
ASEAN ministers were thrashing out a common position on the civil war raging in member state Myanmar on Thursday, a Southeast Asian diplomat at the talks said.
“Myanmar is not resolved yet but we’re almost there,” the source said, requesting anonymity in order to speak to the media.
A draft ASEAN communique seen by AFP said ministers “strongly condemned” the continued violence unleashed by the military’s coup in 2021 that has plunged the country into turmoil.
The junta is struggling to crush armed opposition to its coup and has been barred from high-level ASEAN meetings over its crackdown on dissent.
It had previously refused to send “non-political representatives” to attend high-level ASEAN meetings but two senior bureaucrats are representing Myanmar at the talks in Vientiane.
The military’s readiness to re-engage diplomatically was a sign of its “weakened position,” the diplomatic source told AFP.
An ethnic minority armed group claimed on Thursday its fighters had captured a town and a military regional command in northern Shan state, although the junta said it was still in control.
Indonesia’s foreign minister slammed on Thursday the Myanmar junta’s unwillingness to engage with a regional peace plan to resolve the crisis sparked by its coup.
Retno Marsudi made the remarks after meeting her Singaporean counterpart on the sidelines of the Vientiane meeting.
Weeks after it seized power, the junta agreed to a five-point peace plan with ASEAN that it has since ignored as it wages a crackdown on dissent and battles armed opposition to its rule.
“We shared the same view on the lack of commitment of Myanmar military junta to implement the 5PC (five point consensus),” Marsudi wrote on social media platform X.
A series of clashes between Philippine and Chinese vessels at flashpoint reefs in the South China Sea in recent months is also on the ASEAN agenda, the diplomatic source said.
Beijing claims the waterway, through which trillions of dollars of trade passes annually, almost in its entirety despite an international court ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
A Filipino sailor lost a thumb in a June 17 confrontation when Chinese coast guard members wielding knives, sticks and an axe foiled a Philippine Navy attempt to resupply its troops on a remote outpost.
The source said the Philippines was trying to insert a mention of injuries to its people in the joint communique, expected later Thursday.
Blinken is also expected to “discuss the importance of adherence to international law in the South China Sea” when he arrives in Laos, according to the US State Department.
UAE explores business opportunities in southern India as economy minister visits
- Emirati delegation holds Investopia sessions, visits Indian Institute of Technology–Madras
- It is focusing on public and private sector partnerships in logistics, advanced industries
New Delhi: UAE Economy Minister Abdulla bin Touq Al-Marri and his delegation met Tamil Nadu’s chief minister on Thursday as they are exploring business and investment opportunities in southern India.
Accompanied by Minister of State for Entrepreneurship Alia Abdulla Al-Mazrouei and members of the Emirati business community, Al-Marri is exploring new partnerships at the government and private sector levels in logistics, advanced industries, entrepreneurship, and micro, small and medium enterprises.
He was welcomed by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, who took to social media to say that Al-Marri is a “great friend and well-wisher” of the most populous southern Indian state.
“During our meeting, we discussed business and investment partnerships in sectors such as logistics, retail, affordable housing, and food processing, with a particular focus on MSMEs and job creation,” Stalin said.
On Wednesday, the Emirati delegation and the Confederation of Indian Industry organized in the Tamil Nadu capital, Chennai, networking sessions under the Investopia Global Talks — an initiative of the UAE government aimed at connecting investors, business leaders and government officials.
They also visited the top engineering institute in India, the Indian Institute of Technology–Madras, to learn about its research and start-up incubation ecosystem.
“It has been a great few days to be here. Tamil Nadu is one of the biggest states that we are focusing on in the UAE,” Al-Marri told reporters after the visits. “We have a delegation of large corporations and small and medium enterprises … Now, it’s time for business-to-business to create more deals and partnerships.”
Tamil Nadu is India’s second-largest exporter of software, after Karnataka, and is known for the automobile and engineering industries. Manufacturing contributes 33 percent and agriculture 13 percent to the state’s economy.
The state is also home to about 1.9 million SMEs.
UK hate preacher Anjem Choudary convicted for leading terror group
- Extremist was named in Arab News’ Preachers of Hate series in 2019
DUBAI/LONDON: Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary is currently facing more time in jail after being found guilty of managing a terrorist organization following a joint investigation by MI5, Scotland Yard, the New York Police department and the Canadian police.
The radical preacher was convicted on Tuesday at a trial in Woolwich Crown court on charges of directing Al-MuHajjiroun, or ALM, a banned group under UK terror laws, encouraging support for it online by releasing videos and assuming a “caretaker” role.
Choudary, 57, is known to have inspired a generation of jihadis, reveling in his title of “number one radicalizer in Britain” as he instructed his followers on ways to “terrorize the enemy.”
Dr. Shiraz Maher, from the department of war studies at King’s College London, said: “Anjem Choudary and his group, Al-MuHajjiroun, have a long history of inspiring acts of terrorism both at home and abroad. In fact, a number of people associated with his global network even migrated to Syria and joined Daesh, before commuting atrocities out there.
“It is hard to understate just how devastating the impact of Choudary’s influence, and the networks he created, has been. This trial also demonstrates the lengths to which he was prepared to go in order to continue sowing his destructive message, despite having been previously convicted for other terrorism offenses.”
Choudary’s notoriety earned him a place on Preachers of Hate, an Arab News series that named and shamed hate preachers from around the world and across religions, nationalities, genders and sects.
Choudary, who once trained as a lawyer, took on the “caretaker role” of the terror group in 2014 after its spiritual leader Omar Bakri Muhammad was jailed in Lebanon.
One of ALM’s original three founding members since its establishment in 2006, he was quoted at one of his lectures as saying: “The number one radicalizer in Britain, that is a badge of honor for me. It’s a medallion on my chest. What do you want to call me? An extremist? A fanatic? All of these.”
Choudary was previously imprisoned under a five-year sentence after rallying support for Daesh in October 2018. His release came with conditions preventing him from using the Internet until July 2021.
Concerns came from UK, the US and Canada after the preacher was found attempting to recruit a generation of young followers while releasing sermons online to a group called the Islamic Thinkers Society, or ITS, based in New York in June 2022.
Choudary went on to hold about 40 sermons for ITS up to April 2023.
What Choudary did not know was that ITS had been infiltrated by undercover law enforcement officers in the US who were present during his online classes, while British investigators bugged his home.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan counter terrorism command in the UK, said: “ALM’s tentacles have spread across the world and have had a massive impact on public safety and security.”
Rebecca Weiner, an NYPD commissioner, dubbed the case “historic” and described Choudary as a “shameless, prolific, radicalizer,” adding, “it is usually the foot soldiers who are brought into the network, who go on to commit the attacks who are brought to justice and it is rarely the leader, which is what makes this a particularly important moment.”
Choudary will be sentenced alongside Khaled Hussein, a 29-year-old follower of Choudary and a member of ALM.
The pair became increasingly brazen online, working up “Twitter storms” where they posted and campaigned for the release of Islamist prisoners.
Choudary was careful not to be seen to promote and incite violence, while Hussein attempted to cover his digital tracks, but both men were already being monitored by Canadian and American officers attending the ITS sermons.
Choudary continued to downplay his importance, likening himself to a Liverpool football player at the witness box. “If you ask about Kevin Keegan, people say he plays football for Liverpool, people look at me and think Al-MuHajjiroun,” he said.
However, the prosecution team demonstrated to the judge and jurors that ALM had not been dissolved, as Choudary boasted about the group during his online sermons.
Choudary and Hussein’s fates will determined in court on July 30.
