Wildfires tear through towns in Greece as thousands flee seaside resorts

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2 years ago

July 18, 2023

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Two large wildfires have torn through coastal towns in Greece, as the country prepares for a second heatwave.

Fanned by strong winds, the wildfires have so far raged uncontrolled through two towns near Athens, damaging homes and forcing thousands of people to flee.

Hundreds of children have been evacuated from a summer camp, located around 50 miles (80km) west of the Greek capital Athens.

Footage shows the wildfires burning and smoke billowing in the air as firefighters work alongside local residents to battle back the flames.

Weather latest: Scientist warns of ‘truly terrifying’ conditions – with heatwave to ‘intensify’

Evacuation orders have been issued for at least six seaside communities as the wildfires edged closer to summer resort towns and gusts of wind hit 45mph (70kph).

One of the fires is reported to have started near the village of Kouvaras, about 17 miles (27km) southeast of Athens.

At least five houses are believed to have been severely damaged by the fire, which also tore through the seaside residential area of Lagonisi, a popular summer resort.

Police have helped evacuate more than 100 citizens in the wider area, with the towns of Kalyvia and Anavyssos also impacted.

Around 200 firefighters, assisted by aircraft, helicopters and soldiers from the Greek army, have been involved in battling the blaze.

“Due to high winds, the blaze spread across 12km (7.5 miles) in two hours,” Greek fire service spokesman Ioannis Artopoios told a televised briefing.

“Tuesday will also be a very difficult day. There is a very high risk for fires.”

He added that police had detained a person on suspicion of arson.

Around 1,200 children in a summer camp and the residents of a rehabilitation centre have been evacuated due to another wildfire burning close to the seaside resort of Loutraki, located west of Athens and near to the ancient city of Corinth.

Wildfires are common in Greece in summer – but they can still be deadly. A wildfire killed 101 people in the seaside town of Mati, east of Athens, in 2018.

There is concern among officials this year, because a dry winter has created tinderbox conditions in Greece.

The country is also in the midst of two intense heatwaves, with the second one this week expected to bring extreme heat to Greece and other parts of Southern Europe.

Meteorologists are warning temperatures will hit new record highs in countries such as Spain and Italy this week.

The heatwave is forecast to intensify in the next two days and could last into August, the World Meteorological Organisation has said.

A new anticyclone, named Charon, after the Greek mythological boatman who ferries souls to the underworld, is behind the heatwave.

From Thursday, the second heatwave will be felt in most areas of the country, with minimum temperatures reaching up to 43C (109F) on the mainland, 41C (106F) on the Ionian islands and 38C (100F) on the Aegean islands.

The Greek meteorological service has warned of a high risk of fire this week.

Greece’s recently re-elected Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, on a trip for a leaders’ summit in Brussels, said he was being briefed over the fires, which he attributed in part to climate change.

“Today was the first really tough day of this summer,” he said.

“It is certain that more will follow. We’ve had, we have and will have fires, which is also one of the results of the climate crisis that we experience with increased intensity.”

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Thousands defy ban to join Pride march in Budapest

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2 hours ago

June 28, 2025

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Thousands defy ban to join Pride march in Budapest

If Hungary’s authorities thought banning this year’s Pride march would keep people off the streets, they were wrong.

Thousands turned out in Budapest, defying a law which said LGBTQ+ events like this should be cancelled to protect children.

The crowd was determined to fight for their rights.

“This is a special march, not just because it was the 30th, but also because it was banned,” said Orsi, who proudly wore a rainbow headband and waved a rainbow flag.

“I mean that’s all the more reason to go out on the street and show that Budapest and Hungary is a place where everybody is welcome, where love is equal,” she added.

Attendees had been warned that just being there could mean a 500 euro fine or prison time for the organisers.

They were told police would use facial recognition cameras to identify them, but they didn’t care.

Orsi said it was worth a fine.

Leonas had travelled from Poland to show his support and was also happy to take the risk.

“LGBT rights are attacked across the whole world, and we need to defend each other and work with each other,” he said.

Viktor Orban’s government has repeatedly pitched family values against LGBTQ+ rights.

“The mother is a woman, the father is a man and leave our kids alone,” he told conservative audiences in the past.

He says he is protecting Hungary’s Christian values, but critics say this is just part of a wider attack on democracy which has happened during his 15 years in control.

The Pride ban is just the latest targeting of LGBTQ+ communities.

In 2020, the country abolished its legal recognition of transgender people, and in 2021, politicians passed a law banning the depiction of homosexuality to under-18s.

While many were outraged by the attempt to cancel the Pride march, a small number of far-right activists organised demonstrations to show their support:

“Hungary and the Hungarian nation don’t want the aggressive LGBTQ+ propaganda. They are dangerous for our families, they are dangerous for our kids,” said Gabor Kelemen, a member of the 64 Counties Youth Movement.

However, the packed streets showed many disagree.

At one point, as far as the eye could see, the march snaked through streets and across the city’s bridges. The sound of drums and whistles mixing with gay anthems blaring out of speakers.

The organisers said they believed this will be the largest Pride march ever in Budapest.

The crowd was eclectic, with Hungarians from different communities joining a demonstration which many believe is now part of a fight for Hungary’s future.

“This is not only about the complexity of Pride, not only about love or equality… for Hungarians, it’s about sticking together, supporting each other, showing the government that we believe in a different kind of Hungary. We believe in freedom, we believe in democracy,” said activist Adam Kanicsar.

Despite the ban, today Pride attendees were celebrating a victory. But make no mistake, many in Hungary do not support the parade or what they see as an attack on traditional values.

Next year, the country will hold a general election, a vote which will expose how divided Hungary really is.

World

Chants of ‘death to America’ at funeral for Iranian military commanders and scientists

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2 hours ago

June 28, 2025

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Chants of 'death to America' at funeral for Iranian military commanders and scientists

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Tehran to mourn top military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Iran’s 12-day war with Israel.

State-run Press TV said the event – dubbed the “funeral procession of the Martyrs of Power” – was held for 60 people, including four women and four children.

It said at least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among the dead, including head of the Revolutionary Guard General Hossein Salami and the head of the guard’s ballistic missile programme, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.

Their coffins were driven to Azadi Square on trucks adorned with their pictures as well as rose petals and flowers, as crowds waved Iranian flags.

Chants of “death to America” and “death to Israel” could be heard.

Attending the funeral were Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures, including Ali Shamkhani who was seriously wounded during the fighting and is an adviser to Iran‘s supreme leader.

There was no immediate sign of the supreme leader in the state broadcast of the funeral.

Iran’s president later thanked people for turning out.

“From the bottom of my heart, I thank you dear people,” Mr Pezeshkian wrote on social media.

“With love, you bid farewell to the martyrs of our homeland, and our voice of unity reached the ears of the world.”

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi called the deaths “hard and painful”.

Seemingly referencing the recent airstrikes, he added: “Institutions and structures, however important and valuable, return with new glory and greater strength over time, even if it takes years.”

Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said its attacks on Iran aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.

The US joined in by launching strikes on three nuclear enrichment sites in Iran, which Donald Trump said left them “obliterated”, however the exact extent of the damage remains unclear.

Iran denies having a nuclear weapons programme and the UN nuclear watchdog, which carries out inspections in Iran, has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons project.

Over almost two weeks of fighting, Israel claimed it killed around 30 Iranian commanders and 11 nuclear scientists, before a ceasefire began on Tuesday.