Dozens of Migrants Rescued at Türkiye Border

Refugees on their way from Türkiye to the Greek island of Lesbos across the Aegean Sea (AFP)
Refugees on their way from Türkiye to the Greek island of Lesbos across the Aegean Sea (AFP)
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Dozens of Migrants Rescued at Türkiye Border

Refugees on their way from Türkiye to the Greek island of Lesbos across the Aegean Sea (AFP)
Refugees on their way from Türkiye to the Greek island of Lesbos across the Aegean Sea (AFP)

Greek police on Wednesday said 39 migrants, including several minors, had been rescued from an islet in Evros river bordering Türkiye.

The group included 13 men, 11 women and 15 minors, the police said in a statement, without disclosing nationalities.

It added that rights activists had alerted the police to their presence.

According to AFP, the migrants were taken to the islet on a dinghy by a smuggler on the Turkish side of the river and left there, the police said.

Athens in 2020 erected a 37.5-kilometre (23-mile) steel barrier in this remote northeastern area after tens of thousands of migrants tried to break through, clashing for days with Greek security forces.

With the country headed into a tight general election later this month, the conservative government has vowed to extend the barrier by another 35 kilometres by the end of the year.

Greece's police minister has said some 265,000 migrants were barred from entering the country illegally last year.

Türkiye and rights groups accuse Greece of pushing asylum seekers back across the border.

Athens denies this, despite numerous testimonies from alleged victims.



King Charles Calls for More Compassion in Christmas Speech

Britain's King Charles, along with members of the royal family, arrives to attend the Royal Family's Christmas Day service at St. Mary Magdalene's church, as the royals take residence at the Sandringham estate in eastern England, Britain, December 25, 2025. REUTERS/Hannah McKayg Rights
Britain's King Charles, along with members of the royal family, arrives to attend the Royal Family's Christmas Day service at St. Mary Magdalene's church, as the royals take residence at the Sandringham estate in eastern England, Britain, December 25, 2025. REUTERS/Hannah McKayg Rights
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King Charles Calls for More Compassion in Christmas Speech

Britain's King Charles, along with members of the royal family, arrives to attend the Royal Family's Christmas Day service at St. Mary Magdalene's church, as the royals take residence at the Sandringham estate in eastern England, Britain, December 25, 2025. REUTERS/Hannah McKayg Rights
Britain's King Charles, along with members of the royal family, arrives to attend the Royal Family's Christmas Day service at St. Mary Magdalene's church, as the royals take residence at the Sandringham estate in eastern England, Britain, December 25, 2025. REUTERS/Hannah McKayg Rights

Britain's King Charles III called for "compassion and reconciliation" at a time of "division" across the world in his annual Christmas Day message broadcast on Thursday.

The 77-year-old monarch said he found it "enormously encouraging" how people of different faiths had a "shared longing for peace".

In the year of the 80th anniversary of end of World War II, the king said the courage of servicemen and women and the way communities came together back then carried "a timeless message for us all".

"As we hear of division both at home and abroad, they are the values of which we must never lose sight," Charles said in a pre-recorded message from Westminster Abbey, broadcast on British television at 1500 GMT.

"With the great diversity of our communities, we can find the strength to ensure that right triumphs over wrong. It seems to me that we need to cherish the values of compassion and reconciliation the way our Lord lived and died."

In October, Charles became the first head of the Church of England to pray publicly with a pope since the schism with Rome 500 years ago, in a service led by Leo XIV at the Vatican.

A few days earlier Charles met survivors of a deadly attack on a synagogue and members of the Jewish community in the northern English city of Manchester.

This is the second time in succession that the king has made his festive address from outside a royal residence.

Last year he spoke from a former hospital chapel as he thanked medical staff for supporting the royal family in a year in which he announced his cancer diagnosis.


Israel Says Member of Elite Iran Unit Killed in Lebanon Strike

A Pakistani woman holds a national flag of Iran during a rally in solidarity with the Iranian people, in Karachi, Pakistan, 22 June 2025. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER
A Pakistani woman holds a national flag of Iran during a rally in solidarity with the Iranian people, in Karachi, Pakistan, 22 June 2025. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER
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Israel Says Member of Elite Iran Unit Killed in Lebanon Strike

A Pakistani woman holds a national flag of Iran during a rally in solidarity with the Iranian people, in Karachi, Pakistan, 22 June 2025. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER
A Pakistani woman holds a national flag of Iran during a rally in solidarity with the Iranian people, in Karachi, Pakistan, 22 June 2025. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER

The Israeli military said on Thursday that its forces killed a member of ​Iran's Quds Force in Lebanon who had been involved in planning attacks from Syria and Lebanon.
The military identified the man as Hussein Mahmoud Marshad al-Jawhari, calling him a key operative in ‌the force's ‌unit 840.

He was ‌assassinated ⁠in ​the ‌area or Ansariyeh, the military added in a statement, without giving any further details of his death, Reuters reported.

Al-Jawhari "operated under the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and was involved in terror activities, ⁠directed by Iran, against the State of ‌Israel and its security ‍forces," the statement said.

Israel ‍and Iran fought a brief ‍war in June and the Israeli military has been carrying out strikes in Lebanon on a near-daily basis, in ​what it says is an effort to stop Iranian-backed Lebanese ⁠group Hezbollah from rebuilding.

A US-backed ceasefire agreed in November 2024 ended more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and required the disarmament of the powerful armed group, beginning in areas south of the river adjacent to Israel.

 

 


Coastguard Rescue 52 Migrants off Greece, Boy Missing

A dinghy transporting dozens of refugees and migrants is pulled towards Greece's Lesbos island after being rescued by a war ship during their sea crossing between Türkiye and Greece on February 29, 2020. Aris Messinis, AFP/File picture
A dinghy transporting dozens of refugees and migrants is pulled towards Greece's Lesbos island after being rescued by a war ship during their sea crossing between Türkiye and Greece on February 29, 2020. Aris Messinis, AFP/File picture
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Coastguard Rescue 52 Migrants off Greece, Boy Missing

A dinghy transporting dozens of refugees and migrants is pulled towards Greece's Lesbos island after being rescued by a war ship during their sea crossing between Türkiye and Greece on February 29, 2020. Aris Messinis, AFP/File picture
A dinghy transporting dozens of refugees and migrants is pulled towards Greece's Lesbos island after being rescued by a war ship during their sea crossing between Türkiye and Greece on February 29, 2020. Aris Messinis, AFP/File picture

Greek coastguard were searching Thursday for a missing child off the island of Farmakonisi after rescuing 52 migrants in two separate incidents in the Aegean Sea, local media reported.

They found 13 migrants who had arrived on the small, uninhabited island, but one boy was reported missing from the group, said the ANA news agency, AFP reported.

Another 39 migrants were found on board an inflatable boat off the southern island of Crete, according to the same source. They were taken to the village of Kaloi Limenes in Crete. No details about their nationality were provided.

Two coastguard vessels and an airforce helicopter were deployed for the operation off Farmakonisi, opposite the Turkish coast.

Many migrants try to reach the Greek islands from Türkiye or Libya as a way of entering the European Union. But both crossings are perilous.

Earlier this month, 17 people were found dead in a migrant boat drifting off Crete. Another 15 people were reported missing.

The UN refugee agency said more than 16,770 asylum seekers in the EU have arrived on Crete since the start of the year -- more than any other island in the Aegean Sea.