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Greece Finalizes Plan to Build Wall on Border with Turkey

Greece's PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis attends a presentation of the construction of a new part of a fence which will be built at the border with Turkey, in Alexandroupolis, northern Greece, Oct. 17, 2020. (AP)
Greece's PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis attends a presentation of the construction of a new part of a fence which will be built at the border with Turkey, in Alexandroupolis, northern Greece, Oct. 17, 2020. (AP)
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Greece Finalizes Plan to Build Wall on Border with Turkey

Greece's PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis attends a presentation of the construction of a new part of a fence which will be built at the border with Turkey, in Alexandroupolis, northern Greece, Oct. 17, 2020. (AP)
Greece's PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis attends a presentation of the construction of a new part of a fence which will be built at the border with Turkey, in Alexandroupolis, northern Greece, Oct. 17, 2020. (AP)

Greece’s government said it has finalized plans to build a wall along its northeast border with Turkey, over concerns that migrants may try to stage mass crossings into the European Union country.

Government spokesman Stelios Petsas said Monday that 26 kilometers (16 miles) of wall would be added to an existing 10-kilometer (six-mile) section of fence in a 63-million-euro ($74 million) project due to be completed by the end of April.

A standoff occurred at the border earlier this year after Turkey said it would no longer prevent migrants trying to reach the EU, and tens of thousands tried to cross into Greece.

The two countries are also at odds over energy rights in the eastern Mediterranean in a dispute that has triggered a dangerous military buildup in the region and fears of conflict.

Four Greek construction companies have been selected to build the new wall and upgrade the existing section of fencing, running along or close to the Evros River, which forms much of the border between the two countries.

The five-meter (15-foot) wall will be made using galvanized square steel tubes and concrete foundations, according to Greece’s public order ministry.

Police officials on Monday told The Associated Press that a surveillance camera network was also planned to cover the entire 192-kilometer (120-mile) Greek-Turkish border, while police have already started trials with high-powered mobile sirens, aimed at deterring migrants as they attempt to cross.

“The cameras will be a vital resource for us,” Ilias Akidis, head of the police officers’ association in the Greek border region, told the AP.

“We have been asking for them for five years and we think they will be very effective.”

The number of migrants and refugees traveling from Turkey to Greece fell sharply this year during the pandemic and after the border standoff prompted tougher border policing. Turkey has accused Greece of illegally pushing back migrants reaching its islands in the eastern Aegean Sea, a charge that Athens denies.

Turkey hosts the largest number of refugees worldwide, at nearly 4 million people, mostly from Syria, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited the border region on Saturday after a test installation of a section of the new wall.

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World

WHO Chief Visits Epicenter of the Ebola Outbreak in Eastern Congo as Cases Outpace Response

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrives in Bunia, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on May 30, 2026. (AFP)
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrives in Bunia, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on May 30, 2026. (AFP)
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WHO Chief Visits Epicenter of the Ebola Outbreak in Eastern Congo as Cases Outpace Response

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrives in Bunia, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on May 30, 2026. (AFP)
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrives in Bunia, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on May 30, 2026. (AFP)

The head of the World Health Organization on Saturday visited eastern Congo’s Bunia, a city at the heart of an outbreak of a rare type of Ebola, where the virus is spreading faster than the response despite better-organized health facilities and new aid arrivals.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is expected to visit a treatment center and meet local authorities, health workers and affected families in Bunia.

“The best way to address this is to provide all the necessary support to fight the disease at its epicenter and to continue offering every assistance needed,” the WHO's director-general told reporters late Friday.

The health organization said the latest official figures showed 906 suspected cases and 223 suspected deaths. Neighboring Uganda has confirmed nine cases and one death, the Ugandan ministry of health said Friday.

The Bundibugyo virus, the current kind of Ebola, has no approved treatment or vaccine.

“This is a difficult situation, and we recognize that. But the Democratic Republic of Congo has faced the Ebola virus many times before. We are confident that it can once again bring this outbreak under control,” Tedros said after meeting with Congo's Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka on Friday.

Medical aid donated by the European Union arrived in Ituri, the heart of Congo’s Ebola outbreak, on Thursday. More shipments are expected in the coming days. The US announced $80 million in additional aid on the same day, bringing its total commitment to more than $112 million.

Response efforts at Bunia's Rwampara and General hospitals appear more organized, with additional staff, protective gear and medical supplies, though patients continue arriving around the clock, a reporter from The Associated Press observed on Friday.

The response has not kept pace with one of the fastest-spreading outbreaks on record, Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, warned on Saturday.

“Never before has an Ebola outbreak recorded so many cases so soon after its declaration,” Dr. Alan Gonzalez, MSF’s deputy director of operations, said in a statement. “Nobody knows the true scale and severity of this outbreak.”

Gonzalez called for an immediate expansion of testing, faster deployment of aid workers and sustained access for medical supplies.

The dangers faced by health workers have been heightened by anger among residents over the stringent medical protocols for handling the victims’ bodies, which clash with local burial rites. Residents have launched at least three attacks against health centers.

Attacks in Ituri by the Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel group allied with the ISIS group, and a coalition of ethnic militias have also hindered the response.

The illness also has been reported in the Congolese provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, south of Ituri, where the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group controls many key cities, including Goma and Bukavu. The rebels have reported two cases.

Uganda and Rwanda have closed their borders, while the Trump administration last week banned entry of non-US passport holders who had recently visited Congo, Uganda or South Sudan.

Border closures and travel bans are “not effective at all” in preventing the spread of the outbreak, Tedros said on Friday.

“Closing borders, as some countries have done, only discourages transparency. The Democratic Republic of Congo is reporting the situation openly and transparently," he said, urging countries to reconsider these measures.

World

Seoul: US, South Korea in Talks over US Commander's Remarks

US President Donald Trump meets with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, October 29, 2025. Evelyn Hockstein, Reuters
US President Donald Trump meets with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, October 29, 2025. Evelyn Hockstein, Reuters
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Seoul: US, South Korea in Talks over US Commander's Remarks

US President Donald Trump meets with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, October 29, 2025. Evelyn Hockstein, Reuters
US President Donald Trump meets with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, October 29, 2025. Evelyn Hockstein, Reuters

South Korea and the United States are in talks over recent public remarks by the commander of US Forces Korea, Seoul's presidential office said Saturday, after the comments drew sharp criticism from China.

In a recent podcast interview, Xavier Brunson described South Korea as "the dagger in the heart of Asia" from China's east coast, prompting the Chinese embassy in Seoul to say this week that he had "truly crossed the line".

The interview came amid growing speculation that Washington may seek to expand the role of US Forces Korea in countering the growing regional influence of China, a key ally of North Korea and Russia, AFP reported.

Brunson last year also underscored South Korea's strategic value in the broader Indo-Pacific, describing the US ally as a "fixed aircraft carrier" in the region, Yonhap reported.

South Korea's presidential Blue House said Saturday that it was "aware of Commander Brunson's recent series of public remarks" and that Seoul and Washington "have been maintaining communication at various levels regarding all relevant issues".

South Korea's local media outlet News1 said the presidential office complained to the US over the remarks, while broadcaster JTBC reported that such concerns had been raised 10 times previously.

The Blue House said it was "unable to confirm the specific details of the discussions held through diplomatic and security channels between South Korea and the United States".

"When they (the Chinese) look out from the east coast of China, what they see is there's Korea, the dagger in the heart of Asia," Brunson said, according to a transcript posted on the Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College.

Then there's Japan, he added, "sort of that shield that's sort of a backstop, if you will, for them trying and their ambitions beyond that into the South China Sea and then down to their southeast is the Philippines".

The Chinese Embassy in Seoul said Brunson's comments "truly crossed the line", and asked the USFK commander: "are your remarks rife with hostility and aggression regarding China authorized by Washington?"

"By calling your host nation an 'aircraft carrier' or 'dagger' or other such instruments of war, are you merely showing your own belligerence, or are you seeking to use another country as a pawn?" an unnamed spokesperson said, according to a transcript posted on the embassy's website on Friday.

About 28,500 US troops are stationed in South Korea to help guard against the nuclear-armed North.

World

Russia Recalls Envoy to Armenia for 'Consultations' over Yerevan's EU Ties

Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan gives a speech during a state dinner in honor of the French leader at the presidential palace in Yerevan on May 4, 2026. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)
Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan gives a speech during a state dinner in honor of the French leader at the presidential palace in Yerevan on May 4, 2026. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)
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Russia Recalls Envoy to Armenia for 'Consultations' over Yerevan's EU Ties

Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan gives a speech during a state dinner in honor of the French leader at the presidential palace in Yerevan on May 4, 2026. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)
Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan gives a speech during a state dinner in honor of the French leader at the presidential palace in Yerevan on May 4, 2026. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)

Russia said Saturday it had recalled its ambassador to Armenia for "consultations" over Yerevan's growing ties with the EU, a day after President Vladimir Putin warned the Caucasus country against pivoting to Brussels.

Armenia has angered the Kremlin by warming ties with the EU in recent years, frustrated with Russia's perceived failure to protect it during conflicts with Azerbaijan, AFP said.

"The Russian ambassador to the Republic of Armenia, S. Kopyrkin, has been recalled to Moscow for consultations on steps taken by the Armenian leadership on a rapprochement with the European Union, undermining cooperation within Eurasian Economic Union," Moscow's foreign ministry said in a statement, referencing the Russian-led customs union.

The diplomat was called back after Putin escalated his rhetoric on Armenia during a summit with allies.

Speaking in Kazakhstan on Friday, Putin said the "Ukrainian scenario" began with Kyiv trying to join the EU and called on Armenia to hold a referendum on the issue "as soon as possible".

Putin said Armenia had to choose between the EU and the EEU, as it was "impossible to reconcile the two".

Armenia will hold an election next Sunday in a test of the premiership of Nikol Pashinyan, who has pursued ties with both Russia and the West.

Armenia held a European summit earlier this month, with the EU hailing a "leap forward" in ties.