One dead in Greek wildfires fanned by gale-force winds

One dead in Greek wildfires fanned by gale-force winds
Firefighters try to extinguish the fire as a firefighting helicopter drops water in Koropi suburb, eastern part of Athens, on Jun. 19, 2024. (AP)
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Updated 21 June 2024
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One dead in Greek wildfires fanned by gale-force winds

One dead in Greek wildfires fanned by gale-force winds
  • The man, 55, was injured in a blaze in the region of Ilia on the Peloponnese peninsula
  • Dozens of firefighters assisted by aircraft were deployed to tame forest fires in Ilia

ATHENS: A man died on Friday as several forest fires fanned by gale-force winds battered Greece's southern tip and forced evacuations, the fire brigade said.
The man, 55, was injured in a blaze in the region of Ilia on the Peloponnese peninsula and died at a hospital, said a fire service official.
Dozens of firefighters assisted by aircraft were deployed to tame forest fires in Ilia, the nearby Achaia region and near the town of Kranidi, also in Peloponnese.
Residents of several villages in those areas were told to flee their homes as blazes approached.
Wildfires are common in the Mediterranean country, but they have become more devastating as summers have become hotter and drier, which scientists relate to climate change.
Winds of up to 95 kph (60 mph) were hampering operations of firefighting aircraft, Greek fire brigade spokesperson Vasilis Vathrakogiannis said.
"All civil protection forces have been on alert today," he told a televised briefing, as around 45 wildfires broke out in the country within a few hours.
One forest fire that briefly threatened houses at a coastal town close to the capital Athens was contained earlier on Friday, the fire brigade said.


US aid cuts hit Rohingya in Bangladesh refugee camps

US aid cuts hit Rohingya in Bangladesh refugee camps
Updated 27 February 2025
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US aid cuts hit Rohingya in Bangladesh refugee camps

US aid cuts hit Rohingya in Bangladesh refugee camps
  • US is the main aid donor for the Rohingya, contributing 55 percent of all foreign aid in 2024
  • Trump administration announced last month it was suspending most US global assistance

DHAKA: The US government’s recent executive order suspending aid funding worldwide has already started to affect the Rohingya sheltering in camps in Bangladesh, a top refugee affairs official said on Thursday.
The Rohingya, a mostly Muslim ethnic minority, lived for centuries in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state but were stripped of their citizenship in the 1980s. Since then, many of them have fled to Bangladesh, with around 700,000 arriving in 2017 after a military crackdown that the UN has been referring to as a textbook case of ethnic cleansing by Myanmar.
Today, more than 1.3 million Rohingya are cramped inside 33 camps in Cox’s Bazar district on the southeast coast of Bangladesh — the world’s largest refugee settlement.
The refugees are almost completely reliant on humanitarian aid, which has been declining since the COVID-19 pandemic. The US has been the largest donor, which last year contributed $301 million, or 55 percent of all foreign aid for the Rohingya.
The Donald Trump administration announced in late January it was eliminating most of the US assistance globally.
“The US budget cut will directly impact the Rohingya population, as the United States contributes more than 50 percent of the funding for the Joint Response Plan. Health, sanitation, and nutrition sectors will be especially affected if US funding is not available,” Mizanur Rahman, Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner, told Arab News.
“Several hospitals in the camps have already scaled back their services and are barely managing to stay operational. If the funding issue isn’t resolved by March, these hospitals will be forced to close.”
Fears over how the withdrawal of the largest donor will exacerbate the Rohingya crisis come
against the backdrop of renewed conflict in Myanmar, which has forced around 80,000 more Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh since August.
With foreign aid for the Rohingya steadily declining in recent years due to conflicts elsewhere in the world, Bangladesh, already struggling as a host country, is facing an increasingly difficult situation.
“Save the Children, BRAC, and UNICEF health care centers have already been affected. Hospital operations are facing significant challenges due to the recent funding cuts implemented by the Trump administration. Some health organizations have even terminated staff members,” Rahman said.
“If US aid eventually stops, we will reach out to other donor countries and agencies to scale up their efforts. At the same time, we will make adjustments by rationalizing our resources. If fundraising efforts fail, the Rohingya population here will ultimately suffer the consequences.”


US aid cuts hit Rohingya in Bangladesh refugee camps

US aid cuts hit Rohingya in Bangladesh refugee camps
Updated 27 February 2025
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US aid cuts hit Rohingya in Bangladesh refugee camps

US aid cuts hit Rohingya in Bangladesh refugee camps
  • US is the main aid donor for the Rohingya, contributing 55 percent of all foreign aid in 2024
  • Trump administration announced last month it was eliminating most of US global assistance

Dhaka: The US government’s recent executive order suspending aid funding worldwide has already started to affect the Rohingya sheltering in camps in Bangladesh, a top refugee affairs official said on Thursday.

The Rohingya, a mostly Muslim ethnic minority, lived for centuries in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state but were stripped of their citizenship in the 1980s. Since then, many of them have fled to Bangladesh, with about 700,000 arriving in 2017 after a military crackdown that the UN has been referring to as a textbook case of ethnic cleansing by Myanmar.

Today, more than 1.3 million Rohingya are cramped inside 33 camps in Cox’s Bazar district on the southeast coast of Bangladesh — the world’s largest refugee settlement.

The refugees are almost completely reliant on humanitarian aid, which has been declining since the COVID-19 pandemic. The US has been the largest donor, which last year contributed $301 million, or 55 percent of all foreign aid for the Rohingya.

The Donald Trump administration announced in late January it was eliminating most of the US assistance globally.

“The US budget cut will directly impact the Rohingya population, as the United States contributes more than 50 percent of the funding for the Joint Response Plan. Health, sanitation and nutrition sectors will be especially affected if US funding is not available,” Mizanur Rahman, refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, told Arab News.

“Several hospitals in the camps have already scaled back their services and are barely managing to stay operational. If the funding issue isn’t resolved by March, these hospitals will be forced to close.”

Fears over how the withdrawal of the largest donor will exacerbate the Rohingya crisis come against the backdrop of renewed conflict in Myanmar, which has forced about 80,000 more Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh since August.

With foreign aid for the Rohingya steadily declining in recent years due to conflicts elsewhere in the world, Bangladesh, already struggling as a host country, is facing an increasingly difficult situation.

“Save the Children, BRAC and UNICEF health care centers have already been affected. Hospital operations are facing significant challenges due to the recent funding cuts implemented by the Trump administration. Some health organizations have even terminated staff members,” Rahman said.

“If US aid eventually stops, we will reach out to other donor countries and agencies to scale up their efforts. At the same time, we will make adjustments by rationalizing our resources. If fundraising efforts fail, the Rohingya population here will ultimately suffer the consequences.”


Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife and dog found dead in their New Mexico home

Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife and dog found dead in their New Mexico home
Updated 27 February 2025
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Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife and dog found dead in their New Mexico home

Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife and dog found dead in their New Mexico home
  • Hackman, 95, was found dead with his wife Betsy Arakawa and their dog when deputies preformed a welfare check at the home
SANTA FE: Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, his wife and their dog were found dead in their New Mexico home, authorities said Thursday.
Foul play was not suspected, but authorities did not release circumstances of their deaths and said an investigation was ongoing.
Hackman, 95, was found dead with his wife Betsy Arakawa and their dog when deputies preformed a welfare check at the home around 1:45 p.m., Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Avila said.
The gruff-but-beloved Hackman was among the finest actors of his generation, appearing as both villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies and action films from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.
He was a five-time Oscar nominee who won for “The French Connection” and “Unforgiven” 21 years apart. His death comes just four days before this year’s ceremony.
The couple’s home is in a gated community just outside New Mexico’s capital city. Hackman moved to the area in the 1980s, where he was often seen around town and served as a board member of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in the 1990s, according to the local paper, The New Mexican.
Aside from appearances at awards shows, he was rarely seen in the Hollywood social circuit and retired about 20 years ago. His was the rare Hollywood retirement that actually lasted.
In his later years, he wrote novels from the hilltop ranch that provided a view of the Rocky Mountains.
An email sent to his publicist was not immediately returned early Thursday.

Austria is getting a new coalition government without far-right election winner

Austria is getting a new coalition government without far-right election winner
Updated 27 February 2025
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Austria is getting a new coalition government without far-right election winner

Austria is getting a new coalition government without far-right election winner

Three parties announced Thursday that they have reached a deal to form a new centrist Austrian government, five months after an election was won by a far-right party that later failed in an attempt to form an administration.
A statement from the conservative Austrian People’s Party, the center-left Social Democrats and the liberal Neos said they agreed on a program for a coalition after the longest post-election hiatus in post-World War II Austria.
The country’s politicians broke a record of 129 days to form a new government that dated back to 1962.
New People’s Party leader Christian Stocker is expected to become chancellor.


Zelensky invited to special EU summit on support for Ukraine

Zelensky invited to special EU summit on support for Ukraine
Updated 27 February 2025
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Zelensky invited to special EU summit on support for Ukraine

Zelensky invited to special EU summit on support for Ukraine

BRUSSELS: EU Council President Antonio Costa on Thursday said he had invited Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to the special summit of EU leaders on March 6, to discuss future support to Ukraine.
“The EU and its member states are ready to take more responsibility for Europe’s security,” Costa said in invitation letter to EU leaders.
“We should therefore be prepared for a possible European contribution to the security guarantees that will be necessary to ensure a lasting peace in Ukraine.”
Costa, who chairs the EU summits, said he aimed for decisions that would make the EU “better equipped to deal with immediate and future challenges to its security.”