Niger soldiers declare coup on national TV - BBC

By Laurence Peter

BBC News

Soldiers in the West African country of Niger have announced a coup on national TV.

They said they had dissolved the constitution, suspended all institutions and closed the nation's borders.

Niger President Mohamed Bazoum has been held by troops from the presidential guard since early on Wednesday.

He was promised Washington's "unwavering support" in a call from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also said he had spoken to the president and offered the UN's full support.

Mr Bazoum is a key Western ally in the fight against Islamist militancy in West Africa.

Two neighbouring countries, Mali and Burkina Faso, have experienced coups triggered by jihadist uprisings in recent years.

In both countries the new military leaders have fallen out with France, the former colonial power, which also formerly ruled Niger.

Mr Bazoum's whereabouts are unclear but in a statement on Twitter on Thursday morning he said the "hard-won gains will be safeguarded" and that Nigeriens who love democracy will see to it.

Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massoudou has declared himself the head of state and called on all democrats to "make this adventure fail".

• Niger president held in apparent coup attempt
• Why UN peacekeepers are being told to leave Mali
• Are military takeovers on the rise in Africa?

In the TV announcement on Wednesday, Col Maj Amadou Abdramane, alongside nine other uniformed soldiers behind him, said: "We, the defence and security forces... have decided to put an end to the regime you know.

"This follows the continuing deterioration of the security situation, and poor economic and social governance."

He also said that all of the country's institutions had been suspended and that the heads of the ministries would take care of day-to-day business.

"All external partners are asked not to interfere," he went on. "Land and air borders are closed until the situation has stabilised."

He added a night curfew would take effect from 22:00 until 05:00 local time until further notice.

Col Maj Abdramane said the soldiers were acting for the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP).

After the soldiers' TV announcement Mr Blinken called for the release of President Bazoum.

He told a news conference in New Zealand that "what it clearly constitutes is an effort to seize power by force and to disrupt the constitution".

AFP

In neighbouring Mali, heavily armed Russian Wagner mercenaries are helping the military regime to fight jihadist insurgents. Niger's unrest comes on top of existing Western anxiety about Wagner operations and the Sahel region's instability.

President Vladimir Putin, keen to expand Russian influence in Africa, is hosting African leaders in St Petersburg on Thursday.

The West African economic bloc Ecowas has said it "condemns in the strongest terms the attempt to seize power by force" in Niger.

On behalf of Ecowas, Benin's President Patrice Talon has arrived in the capital Niamey on a mediation mission.

Mr Talon said "all means" would be used, if necessary to restore constitutional order in Niger, "but the ideal would be for everything to be done in peace and harmony".

Earlier on Wednesday, crowds in Niamey took to the streets in support of Mr Bazoum. A BBC reporter also saw heavily armed forces loyal to the president stationed around the national broadcaster.

The city was mostly peaceful, although soldiers behind the coup fired shots to break up the protests.

AFP

Niger is grappling with two Islamist insurgencies - one in the south-west, which swept in from Mali in 2015, and the other in the south-east, involving jihadists based in north-eastern Nigeria.

Militant groups allied to both al-Qaeda and Islamic State are active in the country.

President Bazoum, who was democratically elected in 2021, is a close ally of France, and other Western nations.

Niger has experienced four coups since independence from France in 1960, as well as numerous attempted coups.

Related Topics

• Niger

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2023-07-27 08:01:35Z
2284205708

Russia-Ukraine war live: Missile strike on Odesa port kills one; Moldova orders Moscow diplomats to leave - The Guardian

From 3h ago

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to discuss military issues and the regional security environment, state media said Thursday.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Kim and Shoigu talked Wednesday in the capital, Pyongyang, and reached a consensus on unspecified “matters of mutual concern in the field of national defence and security and on the regional and international security environment.”

The Associated Press reports that during the meeting, Shoigu conveyed to Kim a “warm and good letter” signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, KCNA said. The report did not specify the military matters that were discussed.

On Wednesday, Shoigu also held talks with North Korean Defence Minister Kang Sun Nam that were aimed at “strengthening cooperation between our defence departments,” Russia’s Defence Ministry said in a statement.

Russian state-owned news agency Tass is reporting casualties and damage within the occupied regions of Ukraine.

It states that Russian-imposed authorities in occupied Zaporizhzhia have recorded two injuries in the city of Tokmak due to Ukrainian shelling.

In Lysychansk, the occupying authorities report that a school was damaged on Wednesday evening when it was struck by Ukrainian forces. The message on Telegram states “cluster munitions were used, which are prohibited by the Geneva Convention!”

More than 120 countries have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which prohibits the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of the weapons. Russia and Ukraine have both declined to sign the treaty.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, Ukraine’s governor of Donetsk, has given civilian casualtiy figures in the Ukraine-controlled portion of the region. On Telegram he stated that in the last 24 hours one person was killed and nine injured.

The claims have not been independently verified.

Christopher Miller is near Bakhmut for the FT, and this morning has filed for them a report explaining how Ukraine’s tactics have changed in their counteroffensive after early heavy losses. He writes:

The losses from Ukraine’s much vaunted counteroffensive were heavy and early. Pushing into the country’s sprawling southern fields earlier this summer, Kyiv lost almost a fifth of Nato kit provided for the operation, according to Ukrainian and western officials.

Kyiv’s military response across much of the frontline is now becoming clear: to change tactics. The shift in fighting doctrine applied in recent weeks, according to Ukrainian commanders, appears to be achieving some hard-fought but tangible results on the battlefield, at a more tolerable cost.

Rather than dart across Russian minefields aiming to punch through enemy lines with Nato armour, Ukrainian forces have moved their focus to pounding Russian defensive positions with heavy artillery fire.

Artillery gunners operating multiple-launch rocket systems and howitzers, some loaded with US-supplied cluster munitions, aim to clear pathways for small teams of sappers and infantry units. These troops then attempt to advance methodically on foot, moving forward one narrow tree line at a time in a select few spots along the 1,000-kilometre front line.

Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, offers this round-up of overnight news on its Telegram channel:

At night, the Russian Federation launched eight Shahed drones and two Kalibr cruise missiles over Ukraine. Air defence forces shot down all the drones, the Kalibr could not be hit, the air force reported.

Russian troops hit the port infrastructure of Odesa: a security guard was killed when a rocket hit the administration building of the port, and the equipment of one of the cargo terminals was damaged.

The Russian army struck Kivsharivka in Kharkiv, with a guided aerial bomb. A 74-year-old woman was killed when a five-story building was hit nearby, and four more people were injured.

During the night Kherson and Dnipropetrovsk regions also came under fire. There were no injuries.

Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern military command, said an overnight thunderstorm had helped Russia in the attack on Odesa.

“The enemy took advantage of the weather conditions, and launched the missile during the thunder and wind and at an extremely low height in order to make spotting them more difficult,” she said.

Reuters reports Ukraine’s air force said it wasn’t able to shoot down the Kalibr missiles, although it said it had downed eight drones overnight in other regions of Ukraine.

Russia hit port infrastructure in Ukraine’s Odesa region in overnight missile attack, killing a security guard and damaging a cargo terminal, the region’s governor said.

Odesa’s ports have been regular targets for Russian attacks since Moscow’s withdrawal from the Black Sea grain initiative last week.

Governor Oleg Kiper wrote on Telegram:

At night, [Russia] launched a missile attack on the Odesa region.

The target of the aggressor is the port infrastructure.

The Russians fired Caliber missiles from a submarine in the Black Sea.

A civil guard born in 1979 died as a result of the hit.

The equipment of one of the cargo terminals was damaged, the security building and two cars were destroyed.

Sincere condolences to the family of the deceased.

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a weekly briefing that Moldova’s decision would “not go unanswered,” calling it “another step in the destruction of bilateral relations” between the countries.

The Kremlin said it regretted Moldova’s decision and accused the country’s leadership of encouraging “Russophobia”.

“Unfortunately, Chișinău is deliberately driving our relations into a very miserable state,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters:

Moldova has ordered 45 Russian diplomats and embassy staff to leave, sharply reducing the number of officials Russia can have in its capital Chișinău, while citing years of “hostile actions” by Moscow.

“We agreed on the need to limit the number of accredited diplomats from Russia, so that there are fewer people trying to destabilize the Republic of Moldova,” foreign minister Nicu Popescu said at a cabinet meeting.

Russia will have until 15 August to cut its embassy personnel from more than 80 to 25, the foreign ministry said.

“For many years we have been the object of hostile Russian actions and policies. Many of them were made through the embassy,” Popescu said.

North Korea’s official news agency reported that at a reception hosted by Kang, Shoigu praised the North Korean People’s army under the leadership of Kim, saying it “has become the strongest army in the world.” Russian media reports did not include that comment.

North Korea has been aligning with Russia over the war in Ukraine, insisting that the “hegemonic policy” of the US-led West forced Moscow to take military action to protect its security interests. The Biden administration has accused North Korea of providing arms to Russia to aid its fighting in Ukraine, although the North has denied the claim.

Both Moscow and Beijing have been derailing US efforts to strengthen UN Security Council sanctions on North Korea over its flurry of missile tests.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to discuss military issues and the regional security environment, state media said Thursday.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Kim and Shoigu talked Wednesday in the capital, Pyongyang, and reached a consensus on unspecified “matters of mutual concern in the field of national defence and security and on the regional and international security environment.”

The Associated Press reports that during the meeting, Shoigu conveyed to Kim a “warm and good letter” signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, KCNA said. The report did not specify the military matters that were discussed.

On Wednesday, Shoigu also held talks with North Korean Defence Minister Kang Sun Nam that were aimed at “strengthening cooperation between our defence departments,” Russia’s Defence Ministry said in a statement.

Welcome back to our continuing live coverage of the war in Ukraine. This is Helen Sullivan with the latest.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met with Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu in Pyongyang to discuss military issues and the regional security environment, state media said Thursday. North Korea has aligned with Russia over the war in Ukraine, insisting that the “hegemonic policy” of the US-led west forced Moscow to take military action to protect its security interests.

Meanwhile, Moldova has ordered 45 Russian diplomats and embassy staff to leave “over numerous unfriendly actions”, officials said on Wednesday. Moldova’s pro-EU government has firmly condemned Russia’s war in Ukraine.

• Ukrainian forces have stepped up their counteroffensive after two months of gruelling, incremental gains, mounting a new push in the south of the country while edging closer to the fiercely contested eastern city of Bakhmut. The Ukrainian army is pouring thousands of western-trained and equipped reinforcements into a perceived weak spot in Russian defences in the Zaporizhzhia region. Ukraine is also attempting a partial encirclement of Bakhmut, pushing from the north and south to threaten Russian forces within.

• The Ukrainian security service has claimed responsibly for the Crimea Bridge blast that happened in October last year. Vasyl Malyuk, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), said his agency was behind the attack, speaking in comments shown on television as he presented a commemorative postage stamp marking wartime special forces operations.

• Nato said on Wednesday it was stepping up surveillance of the Black Sea region as it condemned Russia’s exit from a deal assuring the safe passage of ships carrying Ukrainian grain. The announcement came after a meeting of the Nato-Ukraine Council, a body established earlier this month to coordinate cooperation between the western military alliance and Kyiv.

• The Kremlin said it was impossible for Russia to return to the Black Sea grain export deal for now, as an agreement related to Russian interests was “not being implemented”. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters, however, that Vladimir Putin had made it clear the deal could be revived if its Russia-focused part was honoured.

• The Kremlin said on Wednesday that just 17 African heads of state would be attending this week’s Russia-Africa summit. This is far fewer than at its 2019 conference or at similar summits held elsewhere, including a meeting in December with Joe Biden that dozens of African leaders flew to Washington DC to attend.

• The EU announced a ban on exports of battlefield equipment and aviation parts to Belarus. Spain, the current holder of the EU’s rotating chair, said in a post on social media that the new sanctions were a response to “the situation in Belarus and the involvement of Belarus in the Russian aggression against Ukraine”.

• A criminal case was opened against a Ukrainian lawmaker suspected of taking a luxury Maldives holiday. Private trips abroad by officials have been banned since January. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appeared to allude directly to the case in his nightly speech on Tuesday, in which he railed against corruption and officials who shirk their responsibilities during the war.

• Ukraine will spend $1bn on domestic drone manufacturing this year. Prime minister, Denys Shmyhal announced 40bn hryvnia ($1.08b) would be invested into domestic drone manufacturing.

• Russian armed forces claimed to have struck at a Ukrainian fuel warehouse and training centre in Donetsk. Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, also reported that “during the night and morning of 26 July, the Russian army shelled six communities of Sumy oblast”

• A decade-long failure by the British government has allowed the Wagner network to grow, spreading its tentacles deep into Africa and exploit vulnerable countries, according to a highly critical report from the UK’s foreign affairs select committee. It called on the government to proscribe the Wagner group in the UK and to make a far more concerted effort to stop it using the City of London as a financial centre.

• President Vladimir Putin is planning to visit China in October, the Kremlin has said. “It is known that we have received an invitation and that we intend to go to China when the Belt and Road Forum is held in October,” Yuri Ushakov, an aide to the Russian president on international affairs, said in comments carried by Russian news agencies.

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2023-07-27 04:28:00Z
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India could soon become the second country in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage - Sky News

India could soon become only the second nation in Asia to legalise gay marriage.

As the world's fast-growing democracy, it is a hugely significant moment for LGBTQI+ campaigners.

Abhay Dange and Supriyo Chakraborty are one of 18 Indian couples leading the fight at the Supreme Court.

Abhay says culturally, the ability to marry is critical: "In this country, India, marriage is a very important thing. You know, we actually call it a marriage country because it's not just an option. It's a part of a life cycle."

Surpiyo says it's also about security: "There are LGBTQ people who fear for their lives because of family pressure. And I think all of those people as well, if same sex marriage becomes recognised, then they will have that legal protection."

In the city of Pune, campaigners took to the streets for a rally get their voices heard. So many we spoke to talked about the desperate need for what they called "basic human rights", such as adoption and the ability to buy a property together.

There was some surprise in legal and political circles that the petitioners managed to get their case heard in the Supreme Court in the first place.

More from World

In a plea submission by the Solicitor General to the Supreme Court, the BJP-led government tried to quash a batch of petitions, calling same-sex marriage an "urban elitist concept far removed from social ethos of the country".

It also insists parliament is the institution that should be able to decide, not the court and that change would wreak havoc with "a virtual judicial rewriting of an entire branch of law".

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One hurdle that could prove very challenging for the petitioners, is the host of personal laws that may be affected by a change. India is a deeply religious country and the laws reflect that.

Dr Surendra Jain, General Secretary of the influential Hindu nationalist group Vishwa Hindu Parishad told me: "I think India is not the right place to allow gay marriages. There are lots of cultural, social and legal problems.

"Marriages are being governed by personal laws in India. Muslim personal law and Hindu law. Both laws do not permit marriage between same sex persons."

The complications of unpicking more than 30 personal laws could prove lengthy, complicated and intensely divisive, especially given the government's stance.

Image: Abhay Dange and Supriyo Chakraborty spoke to Sky News

Read more:
Protests rock Indian parliament after ethnic violence in Manipur
India launches space mission to far side of the moon

And yet, India is believed to be home to the world's largest LGBTQ+ community, according to Indian and international activists who use the globally recognised Kinsey scale to estimate that it numbers around 135 million people.

That's around 10% of India's population - though opponents of gay marriage refute these statistics.

Some activists I met told me they did feel India has come a long way in creating safer spaces for gay people, especially in big cities like Delhi and Mumbai.

But it is only a little over five years since India decriminalised homosexuality and it remains a largely conservative nation. Many told me in the vast rural areas, far fewer people feel accepted or protected.

The oral arguments in the Supreme Court were completed on 11 May. The court could issue its ruling at any time.

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2023-07-27 01:59:34Z
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Ukraine war: UK criticised for 'lack of understanding' of Wagner's activities in Africa - BBC

Reuters

By Frank Gardner

BBC News

The UK government has been sharply criticised by the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) for under-estimating the dangerous growth of Russia's Wagner mercenary group.

In a scathing report, the cross-party committee of MPs accused the government of what it called "a dismal lack of understanding" of Wagner's activities in Africa.

"We are deeply concerned by the government's dismal lack of understanding of Wagner's hold beyond Europe, in particular their grip on African states," says the Committee's chair, Alicia Kearns MP.

Meaning what, exactly?

The report itemises seven states where Wagner's military activity has been detected: Ukraine, Syria, the Central African Republic (CAR), Sudan, Libya, Mozambique and Mali.

Wagner has developed a highly successful and profitable business model in these countries, enriching itself and its client rulers, mostly at the expense of the local population.

• What is Russia's Wagner mercenary group?
• Wagner's arrival in Belarus: What we know

The committee, which for the first time has commissioned open-source investigative research for its 82-page report, asserts that for 10 years the British government has "under-played and under-estimated the Wagner Network's activities, as well as the security implications for Europe".

This topic has become all the more relevant this week as somewhere between 3000-10,000 Wagner mercenary fighters have set up base in Belarus while rhetorically announcing their desire to make a cross-border raid into Poland, a Nato state.

The FAC report has used evidence provided by a well-placed and senior Wagner source, a "defector", who revealed that his organisation had boasted of teaching local police authorities in the CAR how to torture civilian captives.

The Wagner Group is accused of murdering hundreds of civilians in that country while helping to prop up the regime that pays their salaries.

Mali is a prime example of a country where the Wagner Group has successfully supplanted Western, French-led forces, while ingratiating itself with an autocratic government that recently seized power.

"Where the West moves out, Wagner moves in, seeing opportunity in suffering and profit in chaos," says the report.

"The UK must provide an alternative for countries that are struggling', it adds. "It is a foreign policy goal of the Kremlin to force failing states to rely on the Wagner network."

Beyond Africa, the Wagner group was instrumental in enabling Russia's illegal occupation and annexation of Crimea in 2014.

They have since been one of Russia's most effective fighting forces in Ukraine and have recently set up base in Belarus. Today's report calls the government's approach to Wagner "remarkably complacent".

Ms Kearns told the BBC that the Wagner group was symptomatic of the wider need to regulate Private Military Companies (PMCs).

While she maintained that the atrocities allegedly committed by the Wagner Group, notably in the CAR, were in a class of their own, she acknowledged that criticism could also be levelled at Western-backed PMC's such as the US security company Blackwater that was accused of killing civilians during its time as a contractor in Iraq.

There is also a post-colonial history of western mercenary soldiers operating in Africa in the past with scant regard for human rights, notably in the Congo.

But just how much could the UK do or have done, given that the Wagner group is effectively an arm of the Russian government?

"Sanctions are not enough," says Ms Kearns. "The UK needs to proscribe the Wagner group for what it is: a terrorist organisation."

Related Topics

• Russia-Ukraine war
• Russia
• Mali
• Africa

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2023-07-26 03:37:42Z
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Greece fires latest: Rhodes and Corfu travel advice changed for UK tourists as wildfires now hit Portugal - The Independent

Plane fighting wildfires in Evia crashes

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Rhodes and Corfu are bracing for at least another 48 hours of wildfire hell as temperatures throughout southern Europe are expected to peak on Wednesday.

The Greek prime minister warned on Tuesday of tough days ahead, with conditions possibly improving after Thursday.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis told ministers: “All of us are standing guard. In the face of what the entire planet is facing, especially the Mediterranean which is a climate change hot-spot, there is no magical defence mechanism.”

The Greek Fire Brigade has already been battling more than 500 fires for almost two weeks, while the high temperatures of the recent new heatwave are set to peak throughout Europe on Wednesday, exceeding 44C in some areas of Greece.

A blaze in Rhodes prompted “the biggest evacuation” in Greek history, with over 20,000 people forced to flee homes and hotels over the weekend, while around 2,500 people have already been evacuated from Corfu, which has been enduring dozens of blazes.

Meanwhile, Croatia, Portugal, Turkey and France are among the other European countries that have been battling wildfires in recent days, while the extreme weather conditions on the continent are being mirrored globally, from the US to Asia.

1690355491

At least 48 hours more of wildfire hell, Greek PM warns

The Greek Prime Minister has warned of at least 48 hours more of wildfire hell throughout the country, as temperatures are set to hit their peak on Wednesday.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis told ministers on Tuesday the next few days would be difficult but that conditions could possibly improve after Thursday.

"All of us are standing guard," he said. "In the face of what the entire planet is facing, especially the Mediterranean which is a climate change hot-spot, there is no magical defence mechanism."

The high temperatures in Greece are set to rise through Wednesday to exceed 44C in some areas, with Rhodes and Corfu experiencing some of the worst of the extreme weather.

The Greek Prime Minister has warned of at least 48 hours more of wildfire hell throughout the country, as temperatures are set to hit their peak on Wednesday

(Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Tara Cobham26 July 2023 08:11

1690360202

Evacuation from Rhodes was ‘hell’, say family from Northern Ireland

A family from Northern Ireland evacuated due to the wildfires in Rhodes have said it was “hell” trying to get home from the Greek island.

Conor and Danielle Cullen took a holiday to Rhodes in Greece with their two daughters, Chloe, 13, and Molly, 11.

The family experienced a “brutal” several days trying to return to their home in Co Tyrone after being evacuated from their hotel with only one small backpack of their belongings.

They had to face a boat journey in the dark, emergency accommodation and trying to arrange travel back to Belfast with little information.

After being evacuated from their hotel to a beach 4-5 miles away, Mr and Mrs Cullen said thousands gathered to await boats in the dark.

Mr Cullen said once the boat started to allow people on it was a “free-for-all”. Mrs Cullen added: “We’re pulling the kids, the kids are pulling us, everybody’s just pulling on each other. And it was just panic.”

She said there were around 50 people on the boat in silence for almost three hours, with no life jackets.

“We did not know where we were at when we were getting off,” she said. “I actually asked the man were we still in Rhodes. Because everything was black, you did not know. We’re on the water, we can’t see nothing, it was just hell.”

Tara Cobham26 July 2023 09:30

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Map showing places in Sicily impacted by wildfires

Tara Cobham26 July 2023 09:15

1690358402

In pictures: Wildfires raging in Greece

A firefighter looks on during a fire near the village of Vati, just north of the coastal town of Gennadi

(AFP via Getty Images)

A man reacts as a fire burns in a village on the Greek Aegean island of Rhodes

(AFP via Getty Images)

A Canadair firefighting airplane sprays water on a fire in the southern part of the Greek island of Rhodes

(AFP via Getty Images)

Tara Cobham26 July 2023 09:00

1690357517

Two people found dead in home burned by wildfires in Sicily

Two people were found dead amid the summer wildfires in southern Italy on Tuesday.

On Sicily, two people were found dead in a home burned by a wildfire that temporarily shut down Palermo's international airport, according to Italian news reports.

Regional officials said 55 fires were active on the island, amid temperatures in the 40sC.

A wildfire burns in the Sicilian village of Romitello, near Palermo, Italy

Tara Cobham26 July 2023 08:45

1690356617

More than 500 fires battled over two weeks in Greece, says minister

More than 500 fires have ripped through Greece over almost two weeks, a government minister has said.

"For the twelfth day, under extreme conditions of heat and strong winds, we are fighting nonstop on dozens of forest fire fronts. ... The Greek Fire Service has battled more than 500 fires — more than 50 a day," said Vassilis Kikilias, the minister for climate crisis and civil protection.

A wearing breathing protection man reacts as a fire burns into the village of Gennadi on the Greek Aegean island of Rhodes

(AFP via Getty Images)

Tara Cobham26 July 2023 08:30

1690356027

Where are the fires in Corfu and Rhodes? Map reveals Greece wildfires

Thousands of people have been evacuated from towns and villages across Greece after wildfires ravaged the country.

Videos of roaring fires and towering black smoke have circulated online from Rhodes and Corfu. However, wildfires have erupted across several areas including Evia and the Peloponnese region.

Firefighters battled against 82 wildfires across the country overnight, forcing the “biggest evacuation” in the country’s history.

Maryam Zakir-Hussain has more.

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar26 July 2023 08:20

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Wildfire burns metres away from cars driving on Italy highway

A video shared on 25 July shows a wall of flames lashing over the edge of a highway and threatening motorists near Priolo Gargallo, in the province of Syracuse, on Sicily’s east coast.

Dozens of wildfires are raging across the Italian island, prompting evacuations and the temporary closure of the airport in Sicily’s capital, Palermo.

Watch here.

Wildfire burns metres away from cars driving on Italy highway

A video shared on 25 July shows a wall of flames lashing over the edge of a highway and threatening motorists near Priolo Gargallo, in the province of Syracuse, on Sicily’s east coast. Dozens of wildfires are raging across the Italian island, prompting evacuations and the temporary closure of the airport in Sicily’s capital, Palermo. The country’s Department of Civil Protection on Tuesday reported its air fleet was continuing to battle multiple fires in the region. They said pilots would be out for as long as possible, though strong winds were proving a challenge.

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar26 July 2023 08:00

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Italian airport limits flights after wildfires force temporary closure

The Palermo Airport in Italy is limiting the number of flights departing after raging wildfires forced the airport to announce a temporary closure on Monday.

The blaze started above the town of Cinisi before reaching the edge of the airport, forcing it to shut operations until 10am BST yesterday.

The airport has reopened its operations, but warned that limited flights would be departing due to weather conditions being monitored.

“The airport in Palermo has reopened: at the moment only a limited number of departing flights will be allowed. For arrivals, weather conditions are being monitored,” the airport authorities tweeted.

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar26 July 2023 07:45

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A ‘miracle’ no lives have been lost in Rhodes, volunteer says

It is “a miracle” that no lives have so far been lost in Rhodes, where civilians have fought tirelessly against wildfires for seven days, a volunteer has said.

Speaking to The Independent from an evacuation centre in Rhodes late on Tuesday night, Sofia, a 35-year-old volunteer from the north of the island praised the “huge” effort of those who have mobilised to help stranded tourists and to battle against the fires in the south.

At that centre alone, around 150 people have signed up to help, she said. “Everyone [wants to help], especially young kids.”

Pointing to a fellow volunteer, she added: “Look at this kid. He is here every morning from 8 o’clock. He won’t leave. And there’s other kids in the van across the street just waiting here, they won’t go away.”

Praising civilians for driving the evacuation efforts, she said: “The civilians brought their boats and their cars and dropped people here in safety. And the volunteer civilians are in the first line of the front at the fire. They are digging holes, they are cutting trees.”

“There are hundreds” of civilians battling the fires, she said. “They haven’t slept in seven days, and they’re all young people. All my friends are there right now. It’s a miracle that there [has not been] a loss. Up until now, [when] two pilots were killed today.”

A wildfire burns in Gennadi village, on the Aegean Sea island of Rhodes, southeastern Greece, on Tuesday

Tara Cobham26 July 2023 07:34

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2023-07-26 07:32:50Z
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Rhodes fires: Brits escape Greek fires as travel advice updated - BBC

Reuters

By Thomas Mackintosh, Oliver Slow & Rachel Russell

BBC News

British tourists continue to cut short their holidays as fires burn on the Greek island of Rhodes.

More flights left Greece on Tuesday to bring holidaymakers back to the UK.

The Foreign Office updated its guidance, telling people travelling to areas that might be affected to make sure they had "appropriate insurance".

The Liberal Democrats have urged ministers to advise against going to Rhodes unless essential, to help with travel insurance claims.

Jet2 had nine flights scheduled to depart Rhodes on Tuesday, some of which had spare seats to accommodate extra passengers trying to leave the island.

EasyJet said extra seats were available on Wednesday's flights.

Earlier, one of the airline's pilots flying British tourists to Rhodes urged passengers at Gatwick to get off the plane before take-off.

"I don't know in what capacity you are travelling, but if you are travelling for leisure, my sincere recommendation is that it's a bad idea," the pilot told passengers on board.

BBC Wales correspondent Gwyn Loader, who was travelling to Rhodes to report on the wildfires, said eight passengers took the pilot up on the offer, including one young boy in tears.

Reuters

On Monday morning, Foreign Office Minister Andrew Mitchell said up to 10,000 Brits were on Rhodes in total - this number includes tourists in unaffected parts of the island.

Jet2 - which ran repatriation flights to Manchester, Leeds-Bradford, Glasgow and Stansted overnight - said "approximately 1,000 customers" had either been flown back to the UK or moved to hotels in unaffected areas.

EasyJet has cancelled outbound package holidays to Rhodes until Saturday, while Tui has cancelled its packages going to the south of the island until 11 August.

According to the Tui website, packages to the north of Rhodes will recommence from 29 July.

• Wildfires are 'like a biblical catastrophe'
• Satellite images and maps show extent of damage
• The view from Rhodes airport

Instead of formally advising holidaymakers not to travel to the affected Greek islands, the Foreign Office said people should check with their hotel and travel operator before travelling, and explained how to sign up for emergency alerts.

Updated advice said the fires were taking place "in populated areas on the mainland and a number of islands" and were "highly dangerous and unpredictable".

The Foreign Office advised those visiting the affected areas to make sure they had "appropriate insurance", and directed travellers towards a number of resources they could use if they were near the wildfires.

Earlier, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said he was still planning on going holiday to Greece next week. He told Sky News he was going to Evia, one of the islands that has issued an evacuation order.

He told BBC Breakfast that Greece was "safe" and a "wonderful place for those fortunate enough to go abroad to spend some time this summer".

But the government's advice was criticised in the House of Lords by Labour's Baroness Angela Smith, who urged the government to "rethink" its guidance.

Liberal Democrats foreign affairs spokeswoman Layla Moran called for a change in travel advice to "enable the thousands of British tourists due to fly to Rhodes to safely cancel their holidays without being left out of pocket".

Marc Bolland, editor of Which? magazine, said many travellers would not be able to claim a refund using travel insurance without a formal government travel warning.

"There will be some cover, but it won't be great," Mr Boland warned. "Insurance won't, as a rule, make allowances for 'disinclination to travel'."

Train operator London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is offering free travel to holidaymakers returning from Rhodes and Corfu.

The company said standard travel along its east coast route would come at no cost for anyone who landed at a different airport from their home location or had to travel on a different day.

Customers should present their stamped passport and airline boarding card confirming travel from the islands within the previous 24 hours to use the service between 25 July and 7 August.

Coach company National Express is offering free travel too for those who arrive at a different UK airport than they flew out from.

In an update, fire brigade deputy chief Ioannis Artophios said the most serious fires were developing in Rhodes and in Corfu. Crete - the largest of the Greek Islands - has been put on high alert because of an extreme risk of fire.

On Tuesday afternoon, two Greek air force pilots died after a water-bombing plane crashed on the island of Evia while fighting wildfires.

They were named as 34-year-old Cdr Christos Moulas and his co-pilot, 27-year-old Pericles Stefanidis.

Reuters

In the last week, more than 35,000 hectares (86,500 acres) of forest and other land has been scorched by fire in Greece, the World Wildlife Fund for Nature said.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told his cabinet the next three days "will be difficult" but he hoped conditions will ease from Friday.

"Let me state the obvious," he said. "That in the face of what the entire planet is facing, especially the Mediterranean, which is a hotspot for climate change, there is no magic defence.

"If there was, obviously we would have implemented it."

Additional reporting by Katy Austin, Transport Correspondent

Are you affected by the wildfires? You can share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

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Related Topics

• Europe heatwaves
• Greece
• Wildfires
• Climate change

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2023-07-26 02:39:26Z
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