Islanders protest against refugee camps
Lesbos: Residents, business owners and officials have launched a day of protest on the Greek islands hardest hit by migration, demanding that the government ease severe overcrowding at refugee camps.
Most stores were closed and public services halted yesterday on the islands of Lesbos, Chios and Samos, where some camps have more than 10 times the number of people they were built for.
Public protests are planned on all three islands, and their regional governors and mayors plan to travel to Athens today to present their demands to the government.
Nearly 75,000 people crossed illegally to European Union member Greece from Turkey last year, according to the UN refugee agency, an increase of nearly 50 per cent from the previous year.
Island authorities are urging the Greek government to step up migrant transfers to the mainland and are seeking further information on plans to build additional facilities that would be used to detain migrants listed for deportation.
Idlib: Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said Russia has the responsibility to halt the Syrian government’s attacks a day after air strikes on rebel-held parts of northwestern Syria killed at least 17 people.
The airstrikes and shelling were part of a Syrian government offensive on the northwestern province of Idlib, the last rebel stronghold in the country, and the rebel-held parts of nearby Aleppo province.
The strikes came amid continued violence despite a new cessation of hostilities agreement between Russia and Turkey which went into effect earlier this month.
“Russia is the guarantor of the (Syrian) regime,” Mr Cavusoglu told a panel at the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland.
“Russia is obliged to stop this aggression.”
The government offensive has displaced hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom fled to areas closer to the border with Turkey.
Dozens of fighters have been killed on both sides in recent days as clashes intensified.
Barcelona: A storm surge on the east coast of Spain has swept two miles inland, devastating rice paddies in the Ebro river delta south of Barcelona.
Storm Gloria began wreaking havoc on Monday and five people have died. The storm has wrecked beach facilities, blocked roads and caused power cuts.
Seawater has caused major damage to beaches around Barcelona, Valencia and on the Balearic Islands.
The Ebro, lying between Barcelona and Valencia, is Spain’s longest river.
The mayor of the delta region, Lluís Soler, said “we’ve never had anything like this before”.
Seawater has flooded about 12sq miles of rice plants.