International News
Thousands Evacuated As Greece Wildfire Rages On Crete
A wildfire fanned by gale-force winds on the southern Greek island of Crete has forced the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists, officials said on Thursday.
An elderly man died in neighbouring Turkey, where wildfires forced the evacuation of six villages in the western province of Izmir.
Hot dry weather in Greece — not unusual for this time of year — has heightened the risk of a repeat of summer wildfires that have hit the country in recent years, while Turkey, although spared from the recent heatwaves that gripped southern Europe, has battled the effects of a long-term drought brought on by climate change.
On Crete, about 5,000 people were evacuated in response to a blaze that broke out Wednesday evening, the president of the regional hotels’ association told AFP Thursday.
Yorgos Tzarakis said about 3,000 tourists and 2,000 residents had been moved, mostly overnight, as a “precaution” from areas close to the Crete resort town of Ierapetra.
Earlier, vice-prefect Yannis Androulakis told Greek broadcaster Mega confirmed “evacuations took place in numerous hotels and tourists were safely transferred to a closed gymnasium in the municipality of Ierapetra,” in the southeast.
The authorities acted because water bomber planes could not reach the affected areas overnight, he added.
“At the moment, there are three active fronts,” Androulakis said. “Because of the strong winds, the fire has progressed quite rapidly.”
Around 270 firefighters, 10 helicopters and drones have been deployed to tackle the blaze, said Vassilios Vathrakoyannis, a spokesman for the fire service.
They include reinforcements sent in from the capital, Athens.
“There are still a number of different fronts. The fire is burning scrubland and crops,” he said.
“The winds are very strong — up to nine on the Beaufort scale.”
One dead in Turkey
In Turkey, two wildfires broke out near Izmir, Turkey’s third city.
In each case, three villages were evacuated.
“An elderly, bedridden patient could not be saved,” Salih Uzun, a lawmaker in Izmir for the opposition CHP party, said of the blaze close to Odemis.
“The biggest problem is the wind speed of up to 85 kilometres per hour (53 miles per hour) which is causing the fire to spread very quickly. And it constantly changes direction,” Izmir governor Suleyman Elban said.
“So the intervention from both land and air is seriously challenging,” he told reporters, saying the flames had cut off the main highway from Izmir city.
In both places, a total of “nine planes, 22 helicopters and 1,100 (fire trucks and other) vehicles are intensively fighting the fires”.
He said both fires in the province, as well as other that began at the weekend and have been brought under control, “were caused by power cables”.
Citing forestry ministry figures, meteorologist Ismail Kucuk told AFP “90 percent of forest fires” were due to man-made causes.
Power cables in particular posed a risk if they were not properly maintained, he said.
Uneven, arid terrain
In Crete, Greece’s largest island, the arid, uneven landscape criss-crossed by gullies, has made it difficult for firefighters to tackle the blaze.
The fire damaged houses and crops in fruit and vegetable greenhouses, media reports said.
Like the rest of Crete, Ierapetra — a seaside resort with a population of 23,000 — takes in thousands of tourists in the summer.
The risk of fires was “considerable” in July, the hottest month of the year in Greece, Vathrakoyannis said.
The country recorded its hottest-ever summer last year when 45,000 hectares (110,000 acres) of land was burned, according to WWF Greece and the Athens National Observatory.
In terms of surface area destroyed, 2023 was the worst on record.
Nearly 175,000 hectares were obliterated and 20 people died during heatwaves when temperatures rose in places to 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit).
Experts say human-driven climate change is causing more frequent and more intense wildfires and other natural disasters, and have warned Turkey to take measures to tackle the problem.
German authorities deported at least 137 Nigerian citizens across five chartered flights between February and June 2026, according to migration monitoring reports.
Data from the DERS Team and Refugees4refugees.org shows the deportations occurred in phases, with 27 Nigerians returned in February, 37 in March through a joint European Union operation, 24 in April, 23 in May, and 26 in June.
The February operation departed from Stuttgart and landed at Lagos Cargo Airport, with Baden-Württemberg listed as a primary participant. The March operation represented the largest single return of Nigerians recorded over three years and was executed in collaboration with Spain, Austria, and Belgium.
The reports indicate a growing reliance on multi-national chartered flights by European states to repatriate undocumented or non-resident individuals to Nigeria.
The United States has condemned the killing of members of the family of Plateau-based cleric, Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo, describing the attack as horrific and urging Nigerian authorities to ensure those responsible are brought to justice.
In a statement shared on X on Thursday, the US Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs expressed condolences to the victims’ families and called for stronger measures to prevent further attacks on vulnerable communities across Nigeria’s Middle Belt.
“The United States strongly condemns the horrific killing of members of Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo’s family in Plateau State, Nigeria. The continued violence targeting Christian communities and other vulnerable populations in Nigeria’s Middle Belt is deeply alarming,” the bureau said
The US said it had already engaged Nigerian officials on the worsening security situation, stressing that urgent action was needed to curb recurring attacks and hold perpetrators accountable.
“As I discussed last week with Nigerian officials, we must do more to prevent violent acts. The perpetrators must be held accountable, and urgent action is needed to strengthen security and protect Christians and other vulnerable communities,” the statement added.
The bureau reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to working with the Nigerian government to combat terrorism and violent extremism, stressing that Christians and other Nigerians should be able to practise their faith without fear of violence.
The statement followed the July 12 attack on Kum community in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State, where nine members of Rev. Dachomo’s extended family, including a two-month-old baby, were killed.
According to the cleric, the attackers, believed to be armed Fulani militias, asked for him by name before opening fire on his relatives.
Dachomo, who serves as Regional Chairman of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, said his family had repeatedly been targeted because of his outspoken criticism of the violence in Plateau State.
He recalled that his grandmother and an uncle were also killed in previous attacks, adding that days after burying his relatives, he received a written death threat from the same group, warning that he would be their next target.
Saudi Arabia has updated its tourist eVisa programme for 2026, limiting eligibility in Africa to only three countries as part of its list of 66 nations whose citizens can apply through the Kingdom’s online visa platform.
The move leaves most African countries, including Nigeria, outside the simplified entry scheme.
The electronic visa allows eligible travellers to visit Saudi Arabia for tourism, leisure activities, family visits and Umrah, excluding the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Applications are completed online, eliminating the need for embassy visits and lengthy visa processing.
Saudi authorities said the eVisa forms part of ongoing efforts to expand tourism, attract international visitors and simplify travel procedures through a fully digital application system. The visa is available only to citizens of approved countries and territories listed on the Kingdom’s official tourism portal.
Below is the list of African countries eligible for Saudi Arabia’s eVisa.
1. Mauritius
2. Seychelles
3. South Africa
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