Latest news with #Greece
BBC News
an hour ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Rangers squad 'will look different' come Panathinaikos clash
Russell Martin believes his Rangers squad will "look different" by the time he takes charge of his first game next Ibrox defender Martin kicks off his tenure against Greek side Panathinaikos in the Champions League second qualifying round, with the first leg on 22-23 July."I think the squad will look different," the head coach, who has yet to make a signing, told Rangers TV. "We will have some players in by then, so the earlier we can do that, the better, so they become ingrained in what we are trying to build culturally and in terms of performance."The players are back in on Monday, that's the most exciting bit. We will see what they can do, how we are going to have to adapt and tweak to make it really built-in and ready for us, and then the rest will take care of itself."Rangers will kick off their Scottish Premiership campaign against Motherwell - led by Martin's former Norwich City team-mate Jens Berthel Askou - but the Ibrox boss' main focus for now is on Athens side were the highest ranked of the three unseeded teams in the league path of the Champions League draw."A lot of people said to me it's maybe the toughest draw we could have had, but we have to play against and beat good teams if we want to compete in European football," Martin added."It gives us something to work towards and look at them, but the focus is going to be on us and making sure we are ready to compete against anyone by the time the game comes around."
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Greek coast guard says over 600 migrants rescued from 2 fishing boats
The first fishing boat, carrying 352 people, was spotted overnight about 55 kilometers south of the tiny island of GavdosThe second was found 90 kilometers south of the island of Crete with 278 people on boardATHENS: More than 600 migrants were rescued overnight and early Friday from two wooden fishing boats found sailing miles (kilometers) from the southernmost part of Greece, the country's coast guard first fishing boat, carrying 352 people, was spotted overnight about 30 nautical miles (35 miles, 55 kilometers) south of the tiny island of Gavdos, the coast guard said. Passengers were rescued by a ship from the European border patrol agency FRONTEX, aided by a coast guard patrol boat and four other second was found 50 nautical miles (about 60 miles, 90 kilometers) south of the island of Crete with 278 people on board. The passengers were picked up by a passing Portuguese-flagged cargo ship. In both cases, the migrants were transported to was no immediate information on the nationalities of those on board the two fishing two boats carrying migrants were located in the same area on Thursday, the coast guard said. One, carrying 73 men, was found south of Gavdos and another with 26 people, including one woman and three minors, was found near the coast of southern coast guard said those on the smaller boat told authorities they had set sail the previous evening from Tobruk in Libya, and had each paid smugglers either 4,000 euros ($5,500) for their passage to Greece. Two Sudanese teenagers, one aged 16 and the other 19, were arrested on suspicion of migrant smuggling after other passengers identified them as having been operating the has been on one of the preferred routes into the European Union for people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia for decades. Arrivals from neighboring Turkiye to the east and the Libyan coast to the south spiked last year, with Greece recording more than 60,000 people arriving — the vast majority by sea — in 2024, compared to just over 48,000 the previous year, according to figures from the UN refugee agency. As of June 15 this year, a total of 16,290 arrivals were recorded, with more than 14,600 of those by authorities closely patrolling the eastern sea border with Turkiye to prevent migrant boats reaching nearby Greek islands, smugglers appear to be increasingly opting for the much longer and riskier Mediterranean Sea crossing from the north African coast to the southern tip of Greece, using larger boats into which they can cram more people.
News24
3 hours ago
- News24
Greece's Gavdos island a new entry point as over 400 asylum seekers land
Over 400 asylum seekers have landed at the small island of Gavdos near Crete, a new entry point increasingly used by migrant smugglers in past months, the Greek coastguard said on Friday. The asylum seekers arrived in separate groups over the last 24 hours, with the largest including over 350 people off Gavdos, the coastguard told AFP. The migrants' fishing boat was detected by a European Union (EU) border agency Frontex vessel on Thursday. A Greek coastguard vessel and four nearby cargo ships participated in the rescue operation. The asylum seekers are to be transferred to a temporary reception centre in Paleochora in Crete for registration and identification. On Thursday morning, another group of about 40 migrants was spotted on a coast of Gavdos by the coastguard. They were also transferred to the camp in Crete, according to an official statement. No details have been released so far regarding the migrants' nationalities. Located at the external borders of the EU in the southeastern Mediterranean, Greece is one of the main gateways to Europe for people fleeing war and poverty in Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. According to UN figures, over 14 000 people have arrived by sea this year, compared to over 54 000 in 2024.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
AJ Ginnis, former U.S. Ski Team athlete, to be first 2026 Olympic torchbearer
AJ Ginnis, former U.S. Ski Team athlete, to be first 2026 Olympic torchbearer Greek Alpine skier AJ Ginnis, a world slalom silver medalist and former U.S. Ski Team member, will be the first torchbearer of the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympic torch relay that starts Nov. 26. Ginnis, who eyes his Olympic debut in February at age 31, will receive the flame in the ancient Olympic site of Olympia, Greece, to start the torch relay. A Greek athlete traditionally is the first torchbearer before an athlete from the Olympic host nation. Advertisement 'It is a great honor for me, something that I never imagined as a child," Ginnis said, according to the Greek Olympic Committee. The relay will culminate at the Feb. 6 Opening Ceremony at the San Siro Stadium in Milan. The relay typically spends multiple days in Greece, the birthplace of the Olympics, before moving to the host nation. For Milan Cortina, the Italy portion of the relay will start Dec. 4 in Rome. Ginnis, 30, missed most of last season due to knee surgery. In 2023, he earned what is believed to be Greece's first world championships medal in any Winter Olympic program event when he took slalom silver. Advertisement The best Greek finish in any event at a Winter Olympics was 13th in women's skeleton in 2002. Ginnis previously raced for the U.S. at the 2017 Worlds, then was dropped from the national team after the 2017-18 season following several injuries and a best World Cup finish of 26th at the time. He switched to his birth nation of Greece, where he had learned to ski at Mount Parnassus, a 2 1/2-hour drive from Athens. He moved to Austria at age 12 and then Vermont three years after that. Ginnis has undergone at least seven knee surgeries in his career. He tore an ACL in summer 2021, ruling him out of the 2022 Winter Games. Advertisement He thought he was done with ski racing when he went to Beijing to work the 2022 Olympics for NBC. 'When I came back, I told myself, my goal is to go into the next Olympic cycle being a medal contender,' he said at the 2023 Worlds. 'Fighting back from injuries, getting cut from teams, trying to fundraise for what we're doing now. ... This is a dream come true on every level.' NCAA Photos Archive The Ivy League school that's intertwined with the Winter Olympics How Dartmouth put an athlete on every U.S. Winter Olympic team.
CTV News
5 hours ago
- CTV News
Greek coast guard says over 600 migrants rescued from 2 fishing boats
Frontex, foreground, and Greek coast guard vessels take part in a search and rescue operation off the coast on the northeastern Aegean Sea island of Lesbos, Greece, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Panagiotis Balaskas) ATHENS, Greece — More than 600 migrants were rescued overnight and early Friday from two wooden fishing boats found sailing kilometers from the southernmost part of Greece, the country's coast guard said. The first fishing boat, carrying 352 people, was spotted overnight about 30 nautical miles (35 miles, 55 kilometres) south of the tiny island of Gavdos, the coast guard said. Passengers were rescued by a ship from the European border patrol agency FRONTEX, aided by a coast guard patrol boat and four other vessels. The second was found 50 nautical miles (about 60 miles, 90 kilometres) south of the island of Crete with 278 people on board. The passengers were picked up by a passing Portuguese-flagged cargo ship. In both cases, the migrants were transported to Crete. There was no immediate information on the nationalities of those on board the two fishing boats. Another two boats carrying migrants were located in the same area on Thursday, the coast guard said. One, carrying 73 men, was found south of Gavdos and another with 26 people, including one woman and three minors, was found near the coast of southern Crete. The coast guard said those on the smaller boat told authorities they had set sail the previous evening from Tobruk in Libya, and had each paid smugglers either 4,000 euros (US$5,500) for their passage to Greece. Two Sudanese teenagers, one aged 16 and the other 19, were arrested on suspicion of migrant smuggling after other passengers identified them as having been operating the boat. Greece has been on one of the preferred routes into the European Union for people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia for decades. Arrivals from neighboring Turkey to the east and the Libyan coast to the south spiked last year, with Greece recording more than 60,000 people arriving — the vast majority by sea — in 2024, compared to just over 48,000 the previous year, according to figures from the U.N. refugee agency. As of June 15 this year, a total of 16,290 arrivals were recorded, with more than 14,600 of those by sea. With authorities closely patrolling the eastern sea border with Turkey to prevent migrant boats reaching nearby Greek islands, smugglers appear to be increasingly opting for the much longer and riskier Mediterranean Sea crossing from the north African coast to the southern tip of Greece, using larger boats into which they can cram more people. ___ Elena Becatoros, The Associated Press
