Category Archives: Greece

UN urges investigation after 92 naked migrants ‘sent’ from Turkey into Greece

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UNHCR says circumstances of ‘shocking’ discovery unclear amid rising tension between two countries

The UN refugee agency is demanding an urgent investigation into the discovery of 92 naked people on Greece’s land border with Turkey, calling the incident shocking and saying it had been “deeply distressed” by images of the group.

The men, mainly from Afghanistan and Syria, were found close to the frontier after crossing the Evros River in rubber dinghies, according to Greek police. Children were among the group, a UNHCR spokesperson told the Guardian.

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Weather tracker: deadly rainstorm hits Crete

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At least two people dead on Greek island after torrential rain. Elsewhere, cold snap grips swathe of US

At least two people have been killed and more injured after torrential rain hit the popular holiday destination of Crete on Saturday morning. Heavy, thundery rain turned streets into rivers. The worst effects were felt in the Heraklion part of the island where there was huge damage. Cars were washed into the sea while beaches were covered in all sorts of debris, with the resort of Agia Pelagia on the north coast particularly affected.

An area of low pressure moving south-eastwards from Italy brought torrential downpours and thunderstorms to the island, which continued through the afternoon and evening in places before easing. Northern and eastern parts of the island received the highest rainfall totals, with 130mm recorded in 30 minutes and about 300mm seen within three hours.

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Second person found dead after flash flooding in Crete

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Body of a woman, who was in car with a man who also died, discovered off resort of Agia Pelagia on Greek island

Rescue workers have recovered the body of a woman who is the second person to die in flash floods caused by severe storms that swept across the Greek island of Crete.

With the aid of drones, the fire service’s special disaster unit found the body of the 49-year-old on Sunday in the Mediterranean off Agia Pelagia, a seaside resort north-west of Crete’s capital, Heraklion.

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One dead and two missing after Greek island of Crete hit by flash flooding

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A man in his 50s dies while trapped in car as extensive damage in seaside villages reported

A man was found dead and two people were missing on Saturday after torrential rain brought major flooding to the Greek island of Crete, emergency workers said.

A man in his fifties died while trapped inside his car as the rains began to fall in the southern Greek island, a popular holiday destination. Local media reported extensive damage in seaside villages, where streets have become rivers carrying away everything in their path.

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Many dead in two separate boat disasters off Greek coast

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At least 22 people dead, with many more missing, in two separate incidents hundreds of miles apart

Search and rescue operations are under way in the west and east of Greece after refugees desperate to reach Europe were involved in two separate maritime disasters in less than a day, the country’s coastguard said.

Almost 12 hours after two vessels sank in the Aegean sea, rescue workers hampered by inclement weather were in a race against the clock on Thursday to find survivors as authorities reported that at least 16 women and a boy had died when an overloaded boat capsized east of the island of Lesbos.

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Greece urged to address anti-LGBTQI+ discrimination and intolerance

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Council of Europe report highlighted need to enhance equality rights for intersex children in particular

Europe’s top human rights watchdog has urged Greece to take action against the “serious forms” of discrimination and intolerance faced by the country’s LGBTQI+ community, especially children in schools.

Equality rights for intersex people often subject to sex “normalising” surgery at a young age must also be enhanced, according to a report released on Thursday by the Council of Europe.

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Syrian refugees mass in convoy on Turkish border to walk into Greece

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Tens of thousands of people are planning to enter EU country together, after alleged racist attacks and rising tensions

Thousands of Syrian refugees are assembling in Turkey in a convoy, which organisers have dubbed the Caravan of Light, in an audacious and desperate attempt to enter the EU en masse.

Since early September, Syrians have been drawing up plans for the journey via a Telegram channel, which now has more than 85,000 members.

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Athens ranked cheapest location in Europe for city break

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Prices have fallen and a weekend in the Greek capital costs £207, compared with £218 in runner-up Lisbon

Athens has been ranked the cheapest location for a city break on the continent, ahead of traditional budget-friendly eastern European destinations.

Analysis of a dozen typical tourist costs for UK visitors in 20 popular cities by Post Office Travel Money found prices in the Greek capital have fallen by 15% since 2021.

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Greece to launch parliamentary inquiry into spy scandal

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Move follows revelations that opposition leader was placed under surveillance while serving as MEP

Greece is to launch a parliamentary inquiry into a spy scandal embroiling the government as MEPs also step up calls for an investigation into the use of phone taps in the country.

An inquiry proposed by the centre-left Pasok party was backed by the entire political opposition late on Monday after revelations that the group’s leader, Nikos Androulakis, had been placed under surveillance while serving as an MEP.

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Greek ‘Watergate’ phone-tapping scandal puts added pressure on PM

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Embattled leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis is facing calls to resign after state intelligence monitored opposition party

For much of last week thunderstorms and torrential rain swept Athens, marking a dramatic end to a summer otherwise electrified by talk of spyware, cyber-mercenaries, espionage and eavesdropping.

As the sun re-emerged on Friday, it was to a highly charged mood as Greece’s prematurely reconvened parliament debated a phone-tapping scandal whose exposure of practices last associated with military rule has shocked the nation and been met with stunned disbelief at the heart of the EU.

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‘The blue flags are proof’: how Greece cleaned up its act on sewage

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Greeks take their seas seriously, with the construction of one of the world’s biggest sewage treatment plants a real game-changer

The shimmering waters along the Athenian riviera offer a welcome respite in the summer heat. In one of Europe’s most congested cities the sight of ever more beaches attaining blue flag status – a mascot of water quality – has heightened the sense of relief that the coastal location affords. For those who flock to its coves, rocks and sandy stretches, the shoreline that extends from the Greek capital’s southern suburbs has become the perfect antidote to the rising temperatures that have accompanied climate breakdown.

It was not always so.

Tell us what you think about the Guardian’s climate reporting – it takes just two minutes

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Runner killed after lightning strikes athletes during Greek mountain race

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  • One other man seriously injured after strike on Mt Falakro
  • Fire crews attended scene of accident in early hours of Sunday

One runner was killed and another seriously injured on Sunday when they were struck by lightning during a nighttime trail race up a Greek mountain, local police said.

The two men were competing in the Six Peaks race, which takes place on Mount Falakro in northern Greece, when lightning struck the group of runners. The incident happened at 4am at an altitude of 1,340 metres (4,400 feet).

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Greece finally aids refugees stranded on scorpion and snake-infested islet

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Five-year-old child reportedly died of scorpion sting after nearly 40 Syrians spent a month marooned between Greece and Turkey

A group of adults and children who spent a month stuck on a scorpion- and snake-infested spit of land between Greece and Turkey – and denied help by both nations – were finally taken to temporary accommodation by Greek police this week.

Among the group of nearly 40 Syrian refugees forced to seek refuge on the islet in the Evros river was a five-year-old girl, Maria, reported to have died from a scorpion sting. Her nine-year-old sister remains gravely ill.

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Dozens feared dead as migrant boat sinks off the coast of Greece

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Officials say navy and air force efforts to rescue up to 50 people has shown no signs of progress

Dozens of people are feared to have died off the coast of Greece after their boat sank while attempting to make the perilous crossing from Turkey.

Efforts by Greece’s navy and air force to rescue up to 50 people who went down with the vessel in stormy waters off Rhodes had shown no signs of progress by late Wednesday, coast guard officials said.

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Greek PM denies knowing about tapping of opponent’s phone

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Kyriakos Mitsotakis said eavesdropping on the Pasok party chief, Nikos Androulakis, was wrong

The Greek prime minister has attempted to douse a wiretapping scandal engulfing his government, claiming he had no idea the country’s socialist party leader was being monitored by intelligence services reporting directly to him.

In an address to the nation on Monday, Kyriakos Mitsotakis described the phone tapping of the Pasok party chief, Nikos Androulakis, as a mistake that should never have occurred.

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Greek PM under pressure over tapping of opponent’s phone

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Government accused of ‘darkest practices’ in eavesdropping scandal that evokes worst days of country’s military rule

An eavesdropping scandal that sees Greece’s intelligence chief and the head of his personal office resign within minutes; calls for further resignations amid revelations of “dark practices”, and a spy crisis likened to Watergate.

The Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, is facing his toughest hour in office following the discovery that the mobile phone of his political opponent, the leader of the country’s third largest party, was tapped by order of EYP, the intelligence service that reports directly to his office.

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Is British Museum’s stance shifting on Parthenon marbles return?

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Changing public attitudes have made issues of repatriation and decolonisation harder to ignore

“Stolen goods”; “Looted by the Brits”; “Did you steal this like the Parthenon marbles?”

A glance at the social media channels of the British Museum underlines why, when it comes to the long-disputed Acropolis sculptures, it is so eager to “change the temperature of the debate”.

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Greece rolls out red carpet for crown prince, as Khashoggi killing falls off agenda

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With Europe grappling with an energy crisis, Mohammed bin Salman finds he is once again welcome

Smiles, handshakes, backslaps and the Acropolis all to himself. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has landed in Europe – his first trip west since the brutal killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi – and on a continent jittering with energy worries, the Saudi royal has received red-carpet treatment.

Human rights concerns aside, the de facto leader of the world’s greatest oil producer has luxuriated in a welcome that only recently may have seemed impossible.

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British tourist, 21, killed by helicopter blade in Greece

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Three arrested after Jack Fenton hit by rear rotor while reportedly trying to take a selfie at heliport in Athens

Three people have been arrested after the death of a 21-year-old British man killed by a spinning rotor blade when he disembarked in Athens from a helicopter chartered by his family from Mykonos.

Greek authorities said the aircraft’s pilot and two ground engineers were detained after the incident.

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Plane carrying munitions crashes in Greece killing all onboard

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Army and explosive experts use drone amid toxicity fears from wreck reported to be Ukrainian aircraft

A large cargo aircraft transporting munitions from Serbia to Bangladesh has crashed and exploded in a ball of flames in northern Greece, killing all eight crew onboard.

Serbia’s defence minister, Nebojša Stefanović, said the plane was carrying 11.5 tonnes of military products, including illuminating mortar shells and training shells, and the buyer was the Bangladesh defence ministry.

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