Greece’s transport services affected by snow

Athens: A cold snap in Greece has halted ferry services and highway traffic and dusted the Acropolis and other ancient monuments in Athens with snow.

The inclement weather including high winds prompted authorities in greater Athens in close schools and courthouses and suspend debates in parliament.

Mobile phone alerts sent by authorities to the capital’s residents urged the public to remain indoors.

The agency said the harsh weather sweeping across southern Greece would mostly affect areas north of the capital and the nearby island of Evia and is expected to last through to tomorrow.

“We strongly recommend that people exercise caution and strictly limit movements to those that are absolutely necessary,” fire department spokesman Yiannis Artopios said.

“The bad weather is intense.”

South Carolina: Chinese officials have accused the United States of an indiscriminate use of force after the American military shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon on Saturday.

A senior official in Beijing said the incident had “seriously impacted and damaged both sides’ efforts and progress in stabilising Sino-us relations”.

The US shot down a balloon off the South Carolina coast after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America. China insisted the flyover came about as an accident involving a civilian aircraft.

Chinese vice foreign minister Xie Feng said he had lodged a formal complaint with the US embassy on Sunday over the “US attack on a Chinese civilian unmanned airship by military force”.

He said: “However, the United States turned a deaf ear and insisted on indiscriminate use of force against the civilian airship that was about to leave the United States airspace, obviously overreacted and seriously violated the spirit of international law and international practice.”

The presence of the balloon in the skies above the US dealt a severe blow to already strained Us-chinese relations, which have been in a downward spiral for years.

Leros: Four children and a woman have died after a boat carrying at least 41 migrants crashed on a rocky coast on the Greek island of Leros, authorities said.

Greece’s coast guard said it was alerted by a person who saw a body floating at sea.

Three vessels and a helicopter, joined by a detachment that went overland, reached the point and retrieved the woman’s body, as well as an unconscious boy and 39 other people, six of whom had made it to the rocky coast.

A boy found unconscious was briefly revived in the hospital but later died, the coast guard said. Three other children who were conscious when they were found also died on Sunday evening in hospital.

Three more minors and two adults were taken to hospital early in the afternoon.

The remaining boat passengers were taken to a reception camp to be sheltered.

An inflatable boat was found half submerged. Gale force winds were blowing in the area and it was raining, authorities said.