Greece - Page 16

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A Greek police officer and a church caretaker were injured in an explosion as they investigated a suspicious package outside a church in central Athens early Thursday.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A powerful bomb exploded outside private Greek television station Skai early Monday, causing extensive damage but no injuries.

Prior to landing in Madrid on Tuesday, Chinese Communist Party chief Xi Jinping published a Spanish-language editorial proclaiming that Spain had been a key stop on the ancient Silk Road “more than 2,000 years ago.”

Greek authorities say they have broken a criminal ring that smuggled migrants that had entered Greece illegally to Italy by using small vessels departing from remote beaches.

Pro-migrant advocacy NGO Advocates Abroad have shut down their social media accounts after executive director Ariel Ricker was caught on tape by Canadian conservative activist filmmaker Lauren Southern admitting her group coaches migrants to lie to claim asylum.

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) – Greek police say they have arrested two Pakistani migrant traffickers operating from Turkey.

Alexis Tsipras has moved forward with plans to abolish Christianity as the state religion in Greece, announcing that 10,000 Orthodox Church employees will be taken off the public payroll.

Contents: European Commission rebukes Italy, after blatant budget rules violation; Greece’s elderly still face possible pension cuts in January

People-smugglers are transporting “desperate” illegal migrants to the European Union via Turkey in limousines and luxury cars for up to 3,000 euros a pop.

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Authorities say about 200 migrants have crossed into Greece from the northeastern land border with Turkey, an unusually large number of arrivals in that area in a single morning.

Residents on the Greek island of Lesbos have reacted with anger to the destruction of a large stone cross by an unknown group of people, just weeks after an open borders-backing NGO demanded its removal on the basis it promoted “hate” against migrants.

Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, visiting Washington this week, said in remarks Tuesday with American counterpart Jim Mattis that Greece hopes to convince the United States to expand its military presence in the country.

PIRAEUS, Greece (AP) – About 400 asylum-seekers who had been held in the severely overcrowded Moria migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos have arrived in Greece’s main port of Piraeus to be transferred to other camps and residences

Emmanuel Macron has said funding should be withdrawn from pro-sovereignty nations reluctant to hand more power over to Brussels, and that countries which refuse to welcome third world migrants must be thrown out of the Schengen area.

A massive spider web estimated to span about 1,000 feet blanketed a lagoon overnight in the city of Aitoliko in western Greece.

SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) – The official in charge of European Union’s enlargement negotiations has urged Macedonians to vote in a referendum this month on renaming their country “North Macedonia,” a change that could pave the way for its EU and

Illegal immigration to Europe via the Mediterranean has cracked 70,000, as a surge in migrants to Spain partly offsets the effect of tighter border controls in Greece and especially Italy.

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) – A Greek army spokesman says two Turkish military personnel have been arrested for allegedly crossing into Greece illegally.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford told reporters during a visit to Greece Tuesday that the Pentagon is considering expanding its cooperation with Athens and its general presence in the country, citing easier access to battle theaters in Libya and Syria.

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Authorities in northern Greece have rescued 60 Iraqi migrants, including 27 children, found walking along a major highway after a smuggling truck dumped them far from their destination.

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus police say they have intercepted 36 Syrian migrants, including 11 women and 14 children, after their boat was located off the Mediterranean island nation’s southeastern coast.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi signed an agreement on Monday for further Greek cooperation with China’s “Belt and Road” infrastructure plan, the latest step in the debt-driven courtship between Athens and Beijing.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Authorities in western Greece have arrested two people for allegedly trying to smuggle 71 migrants out of the country on a U.S.-flagged yacht.

Police in Greece have arrested pro-migrant NGO workers on the island of Lesbos who they claim have been part of an operation to assist asylum seekers illegally entering the country.

Boris Johnson has launched a blistering attack on the European Union for its merciless treatment of the Greek people, drawing a clear comparison with the punitive approach the bloc is taking to Brexit negotiations.

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Police in northern Greece have detained nine teenagers in a hostel for unaccompanied migrants, following a riot over allegedly poor food and internet services at the facility.

Turkish warships are accused of harassing Greek Cypriot fishermen in international waters, threatening to tow boats and take crews prisoner.

The Greek government has warned that it could face “increased financial and political instability” in the near term if the United Kingdom left the European Union without a deal, handing British negotiators potentially useful leverage. 

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Greek police say they have arrested eight migrants on suspicion of the murder of a Pakistani man trying to leave the country illegally.

Migrant sea crossings to Europe in 2018 have broken 55,000, with Spain outstripping Italy and Greece as the number one point of arrival for the first time following the installation of a Socialist government in Madrid.

The administration of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is facing intense criticism for its response to deadly wildfires that killed 85 people at last count. The opposition accused the Tsipras government of incompetence and arrogance, while the government blamed illegal construction in the affected areas and suggested terrorists might have set the fires.

RAFINA, Greece (AP) — The death toll from twin wildfires that raged through Greek seaside areas looked set to increase to around 50 Tuesday after rescue crews reported finding the bodies of more than 20 people huddled closely together near a beach northeast of the capital, Athens.

illegal migrants crossing into Greece has surged by 122 percent compared to the same period last year, with the Turkish land border under increasing pressure.

A Greek diplomatic source told Reuters on Wednesday that Greece will expel two Russian diplomats “suspected of meddling in the politically sensitive issue of Macedonia.” Greek media later said that up to four people might be expelled. Russia has threatened to retaliate in kind, creating one of the most serious breaches to date between the two countries.

The deal struck by the Greek and Macedonian prime ministers to end the 30-year argument over what the Macedonian republic should be called is making little progress through the Greek government. On Tuesday, an influential member of the governing political coalition announced he was ready to bring the entire government down if the name deal moves forward.

The leader of the community of Moria on the Greek island of Lesbos has called on the government to do more to deal with the escalating tensions due to the migrant crisis, warning that citizens may try and take the law “into their own hands.”