ֱ

Athens mayor clashes with Israel ambassador over antisemitic graffiti

Athens mayor clashes with Israel ambassador over antisemitic graffiti
Protestors gather outside Greece's Parliament in central Athens gainst the war in the Gaza Strip, and Israel's measures regarding food distribution. (AP)
Short Url
Updated 8 sec ago

Athens mayor clashes with Israel ambassador over antisemitic graffiti

Athens mayor clashes with Israel ambassador over antisemitic graffiti
  • Ambassador Noam Katz told the Kathimerini daily that Israeli tourists felt “uncomfortable” in Athens because the mayor Haris Doukas does not act against “organized minorities” who put up anti Jewish graffiti

ATHENS: The mayor of Athens became embroiled in a war of words Sunday with the Israeli ambassador to Greece who accused city authorities of not doing enough to clean up antisemitic graffiti.
Ambassador Noam Katz told the Kathimerini daily in comments published Sunday that Israeli tourists felt “uncomfortable” in Athens because the mayor Haris Doukas does not act against “organized minorities” who put up anti-Jewish graffiti.
Doukas responded within hours on X: We have proved our strong opposition to violence and racism and we do not take lessons in democracy from those who kill civilians.”
“Athens, capital of a democratic country, fully respects its visitors and supports the right of free expression of its citizens,” the Socialist PASOK party mayor added.
“It is revolting that the ambassador concentrates on graffiti (that is clearly wiped off) while an unprecedented genocide is taking place in Gaza,” Doukas added.
Greece, as well as several other European nations, has seen a number of left-wing led pro-Palestinian demonstrations. A cruise ship carrying Israeli tourists around the Greek islands was greeted by demonstrations in several ports.
While following a pro-Arab policy for several decades, Greece has since 2010 stepped up links with Israel, notably on security and energy.
Since the Gaza war started in October 2023, with the Hamas attack on Israel, a growing number of Israelis have visited Greece and started investing in its property market.
According to the Athens mayor, the number of Israelis who have secured Greek residents permits by buying property increased by 90 percent last year.


UK to take in hundreds of children from Gaza for medical treatment

Seven-month-old Salem Awad, suffering from severe malnutrition, lies on a mattress for a picture at his family’s tent in Gaza.
Seven-month-old Salem Awad, suffering from severe malnutrition, lies on a mattress for a picture at his family’s tent in Gaza.
Updated 8 sec ago

UK to take in hundreds of children from Gaza for medical treatment

Seven-month-old Salem Awad, suffering from severe malnutrition, lies on a mattress for a picture at his family’s tent in Gaza.
  • Just 3 have been allowed into Britain for treatment despite 5,000 being evacuated since October 2023
  • As many as 50,000 Palestinian children have been killed or wounded in the war: UN

Two missing after Mallorca stunt plane crash

Two missing after Mallorca stunt plane crash
Updated 32 min 28 sec ago

Two missing after Mallorca stunt plane crash

Two missing after Mallorca stunt plane crash

BARCELONA: Spanish emergency services on Sunday searched for two occupants of an acrobatic plane that went into the sea off the coast of Mallorca in the Balearic Islands, the civil guard said.
Witnesses on a boat in the area said they saw the plane go down on Saturday evening just off the port of Soller, after performing a series of acrobatics just off the island’s north coast.
One witness said the plane had taken off some two hours earlier to perform a stunt routine, according to local media.
Rescue teams recovered some plane wreckage, but there was no immediate sign of the pilot and passenger.


India wraps up mass Hindu pilgrimage in contested Kashmir

India wraps up mass Hindu pilgrimage in contested Kashmir
Updated 03 August 2025

India wraps up mass Hindu pilgrimage in contested Kashmir

India wraps up mass Hindu pilgrimage in contested Kashmir
  • More than 400,000 Hindus took part in month-long pilgrimage that began on July 3 
  • Many began trek to Amarnath from near Pahalgam, where gunmen killed 26 in April 

SRINAGAR, India: More than 400,000 Hindus took part in a month-long pilgrimage in contested Indian-run Kashmir, authorities said, shrugging off security worries weeks after conflict with Pakistan.

The pilgrimage began on July 3 and closes officially on August 9, but organizers said that lashing rains had damaged narrow paths forcing a premature end.

Official Vijay Kumar Bidhuri said in a statement late Saturday that 415,000 pilgrims had taken part.

Many of the faithful began their trek to the Amarnath ice pillar from near Pahalgam, where gunmen on April 22 killed 26 mostly Hindu tourists in the Muslim-majority region.

New Delhi said the gunmen were backed by Pakistan, claims Islamabad rejected — triggering a series of tit-for-tat diplomatic measures that escalated into a four-day conflict.

It was the worst standoff by the nuclear-armed nations since 1999, with more than 70 people killed in missile, drone and artillery fire on both sides, before a May 10 ceasefire.

New Delhi last week said that three Pakistani men who carried out the Pahalgam attack were killed during a gunbattle on July 28 in forests adjacent to the hills where the cave shrine is located.

A few devotees may still visit the cave, but the numbers this year fall short of the estimated half a million devotees who took part in 2024.

Officials appealed to Hindus to undertake the pilgrimage, ramping up security for the event by deploying 45,000 troops with high-tech surveillance tools overseeing the grueling trek to the cave, dedicated to Shiva, the deity of destruction.

On Sunday, Indian forces exchanged fire with gunmen for a third day in Kulgam, far from the Amarnath pilgrimage route.

Soldiers have killed two militants, a senior police officer said.

Kashmir has been divided between the India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947, with both administering it in part and claiming in full.

Rebel groups have fought Indian forces for decades, demanding Kashmir’s independence or its merger with Pakistan.


Tens of thousands join pro-Palestinian march over Sydney Harbor Bridge

Tens of thousands join pro-Palestinian march over Sydney Harbor Bridge
Updated 03 August 2025

Tens of thousands join pro-Palestinian march over Sydney Harbor Bridge

Tens of thousands join pro-Palestinian march over Sydney Harbor Bridge
  • Protesters demand peace and aid for Gaza amid worsening humanitarian crisis
  • Supreme Court allows Sydney march despite police safety concerns
  • Diplomatic pressure on Israel increases as countries recognize Palestinian state

SYDNEY: Tens of thousands of demonstrators braved pouring rain to march across Sydney’s iconic Harbor Bridge on Sunday calling for peace and aid deliveries in the war-torn Gaza Strip, where a humanitarian crisis has been worsening.
Nearly two years into a war that Palestinian authorities say has killed more than 60,000 people in Gaza, governments and humanitarian organizations say a shortage of food is leading to widespread starvation.
Some of those attending the march, called by its organizers the ‘March for Humanity’, carried pots and pans as symbols of the hunger.
“Enough is enough,” said Doug, a man in his 60s with a shock of white hair. “When people from all over the world gather together and speak up, then evil can be overcome.”
Marchers ranged from the elderly to families with young children. Among them was Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Many carried umbrellas. Some waved Palestinian flags and chanted “We are all Palestinians.”
New South Wales police said up to 90,000 people had attended, far more than expected. The protest organizer, Palestine Action Group Sydney, said in a Facebook post as many as 300,000 people may have marched.
New South Wales police and the state’s premier last week tried to block the march from taking place on the bridge, a city landmark and transport thoroughfare, saying the route could cause safety hazards and transport disruption. The state’s Supreme Court ruled on Saturday that it could go ahead.
Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Peter McKenna said more than a thousand police were deployed and the size of the crowd had led to fears of a crush.
“No one was hurt,” he told a press conference. “But gee whiz, I wouldn’t like try and do this every Sunday at that short notice.”
Police were also present in Melbourne, where a similar protest march took place.
Diplomatic pressure ramped up on Israel in recent weeks. France and Canada have said they will recognize a Palestinian state, and Britain says it will follow suit unless Israel addresses the humanitarian crisis and reaches a ceasefire.
Israel has condemned these decisions as rewarding Hamas, the group that governs Gaza and whose attack on Israel in October 2023 began an Israeli offensive that has flattened much of the enclave. Israel has also denied pursuing a policy of starvation and accused Hamas of stealing aid.
Australia’s center-left Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said he supports a two-state solution and Israel’s denial of aid and killing of civilians “cannot be defended or ignored,” but has not recognized Palestine.
Therese Curtis, a marcher in her 80s, said she had the human right and privilege of good medical care in Australia.
“But the people in Palestine are having their hospitals bombed, they’re being denied a basic right of medical care and I’m marching specifically for that,” she said.


New Zealand woman arrested after traveling with child in suitcase

New Zealand woman arrested after traveling with child in suitcase
Updated 03 August 2025

New Zealand woman arrested after traveling with child in suitcase

New Zealand woman arrested after traveling with child in suitcase
  • The 27 year old woman was arrested and charged with ill treatment and neglect of a child

WELLINGTON: A New Zealand woman was arrested on Sunday after traveling on a bus with a two-year-old girl trapped in her luggage.
Detective Inspector Simon Harrison said the woman had been charged with ill-treatment and neglect of a child.
Police were called to a bus depot in Kaiwaka — 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Auckland — after the bus driver became concerned about a bag moving during a scheduled stop.
“When the driver opened the suitcase, they discovered the two-year-old girl,” Harrison said.
“The little girl was reported to be very hot, but otherwise appeared physically unharmed.”
The luggage had been stored beneath the bus passengers, in a separate compartment.
Harrison said the girl is in hospital undergoing an extensive medical assessment.
A 27-year-old woman was arrested.
Harrison said the driver prevented “what could have been a far worse outcome.”
He said further charges are possible.
New Zealand’s Ministry for Children, Oranga Tamariki, had been notified.