Hundreds of migrants moved from Crete to Greek mainland as island struggles with Libya arrivals

Hundreds of migrants moved from Crete to Greek mainland as island struggles with Libya arrivals
Migrants on an inflatable dinghy as it sails along the coastline near Gravelines, France. (Reuters)
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Updated 10 July 2025
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Hundreds of migrants moved from Crete to Greek mainland as island struggles with Libya arrivals

Hundreds of migrants moved from Crete to Greek mainland as island struggles with Libya arrivals
  • EU officials earlier this week were turned away from eastern Libya following an apparent disagreement on the format of talks planned on curbing crossings

LAVRIO: More than 500 migrants arrived at the port of Lavrio near Athens Thursday after being intercepted south of the island of Crete, as Greece implements emergency measures to address a surge in Mediterranean crossings from Libya.

The migrants, consisting mostly of young men, were transferred overnight aboard a bulk carrier after their fishing trawler was intercepted by Greek authorities. Service vessels helped bring them ashore at the mainland port. They will be sent to detention facilities near the capital.

Their transfer to the mainland was ordered because makeshift reception centers on Crete have reached capacity, with roughly 500 news arrivals per day on the Mediterranean island since the weekend.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced Wednesday that Greece would suspend asylum processing for migrants arriving by sea from North Africa for three months. The measure targets arrivals on Crete and was taken during a diplomatic strain between the European Union and Libya over migration cooperation. EU officials earlier this week were turned away from eastern Libya following an apparent disagreement on the format of talks planned on curbing crossings.

Authorities on Crete are struggling to provide basic services, using temporary facilities to house migrants, primarily from Somalia, Sudan, Egypt and Morocco, according to island officials.


Pakistan warns of flash floods in north as monsoon death toll nears 300

Pakistan warns of flash floods in north as monsoon death toll nears 300
Updated 4 min 56 sec ago
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Pakistan warns of flash floods in north as monsoon death toll nears 300

Pakistan warns of flash floods in north as monsoon death toll nears 300
  • High-risk districts include Dir, Swat, Shangla, Mansehra, Kohistan, Abbottabad and Murree
  • At least 291 people, including 138 children, killed in rain-related incidents since June 26

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Meteorological Department (PMD) has issued a warning for heavy rains and potential flash floods from Thursday night in the northern regions, as the total monsoon death toll nears 300, with a majority of the victims being children.

Torrential rains have continued to wreak havoc across Pakistan since June 26, claiming 291 lives, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

Among the victims are 138 children. The NDMA said 698 people have also been injured, including 236 children.

“During tonight, heavy rains may generate flash floods in local streams of Dir, Swat, Shangla, Mansehra, Kohistan, Abbottabad, Kohat, Karak, Hangu, Tank, Dera Ghazi Khan, Murree, Galliyat and Kashmir,” the PMD said in its daily weather report on Thursday.

“Heavy falls, windstorm and lightning may damage weak structures like roof/wall of houses, electric poles, billboards, vehicles and solar panels etc during the forecast period.”

The Met Office added widespread rain with thunderstorms and gusty winds is also expected across eastern Pakistan today, affecting areas including Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and Bahawalpur.

Isolated showers are expected in northern and central regions on Friday, with heavier downpours likely in southern and western areas like Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh and Bahawalnagar.

Pakistan, which ranks among the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations, has witnessed increasingly erratic weather events in recent years.

In May, at least 32 people were killed in severe storms, while a third of the country was submerged by devastating floods in 2022 that killed more than 1,700 people, affected over 30 million and caused an estimated $35 billion in damages.


Pakistan withdraws digital tax on foreign online purchases

Pakistan withdraws digital tax on foreign online purchases
Updated 24 min 12 sec ago
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Pakistan withdraws digital tax on foreign online purchases

Pakistan withdraws digital tax on foreign online purchases
  • FBR says levy on overseas online orders rolled back retroactively from July 1
  • Local retailers had welcomed the tax as a way to counter cheaper imports

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s national tax authority has withdrawn a levy on goods and services ordered online and supplied from abroad, a notification announced on Wednesday, rolling back a key provision giving relief to international retailers operating in the national cyberspace.

The government introduced new measures including the Digital Presence Proceeds Tax Act 2025 in the federal budget passed on June 26 to tax income earned by foreign vendors.

The measures included a five percent fixed income tax on digital retailers on goods delivered by foreign firms such as Temu, Shein and AliExpress, and a reduction in the duty-free threshold for imported parcels from Rs5,000 ($18) to Rs500 ($1.80).

“The federal government is pleased to direct that the Digital Presence Proceeds Tax shall not apply to digitally ordered goods and services supplied from outside Pakistan, by any person, which are chargeable to tax under the said Act,” the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) said in the notification, adding the decision would “come into force on and from the 1st day of July, 2025,” highlighting its retrospective implementation.

The government plans to collect over Rs14 trillion ($49.3 billion) in taxes in the ongoing fiscal year to meet targets set under the $7 billion International Monetary Fund loan program.

The government’s decision to impose the digital presence tax was welcomed by local retailers, who said foreign firms had been operating without paying taxes, allowing them to undercut domestic businesses.

Until the implementation of the new budget, foreign e-commerce platforms had been selling to Pakistani consumers through social media without being subjected to local tax laws.

Local retailers already paying up to 25 percent in taxes say they have struggled to compete with tax-exempt imports offering cheaper prices.


‘If the baby could speak, she would scream’: the risky measures to feed small babies in Gaza

‘If the baby could speak, she would scream’: the risky measures to feed small babies in Gaza
Updated 49 min 8 sec ago
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‘If the baby could speak, she would scream’: the risky measures to feed small babies in Gaza

‘If the baby could speak, she would scream’: the risky measures to feed small babies in Gaza
  • Gazan families forced to feed infants ground chickpeas, herbs
  • Little formula available, many mothers unable to breastfeed

GAZA/CAIRO/JERUSALEM: In a makeshift tent on a Gazan beach, three-month-old Muntaha’s grandmother grinds up chickpeas into the tiniest granules she can to form a paste to feed the infant, knowing it will cause her to cry in pain, in a desperate race to keep the baby from starving.

“If the baby could speak, she would scream at us, asking what we are putting into her stomach,” her aunt, Abir Hamouda said.

Muntaha grimaced and squirmed as her grandmother fed her the paste with a syringe.

Muntaha’s family is one of many in Gaza facing dire choices to try to feed babies, especially those below the age of six months who cannot process solid food.

Infant formula is scarce after a plummet in aid access to Gaza. Many women cannot breastfeed due to malnourishment, while other babies are separated from their mothers due to displacement, injury or, in Muntaha’s case, death.

Her family says the baby’s mother was hit by a bullet while pregnant, gave birth prematurely while unconscious in intensive care, and died a few weeks later. The director of the Shifa Hospital described such a case in a Facebook post on April 27, four days after Muntaha was born.

“I am terrified about the fate of the baby,” said her grandmother, Nemah Hamouda. “We named her after her mother...hoping she can survive and live long, but we are so afraid, we hear children and adults die every day of hunger.”

Muntaha now weighs about 3.5 kilograms, her family said, barely more than half of what a full-term baby her age would normally weigh. She suffers stomach problems like vomiting and diarrhea after feeding.

Health officials, aid workers and Gazan families told Reuters many families are feeding infants herbs and tea boiled in water, or grinding up bread or sesame. Humanitarian agencies also reported cases of parents boiling leaves in water, eating animal feed and grinding sand into flour.

Feeding children solids too early can disrupt their nutrition, cause stomach problems, and risk choking, paediatric health experts say.

“It’s a desperate move to compensate for the lack of food,” said UNICEF spokesperson Salim Oweis. “When mothers can’t breastfeed or provide proper infant formula they resort to grinding chickpeas, bread, rice, anything that they can get their hands on to feed their children... it is risking their health because these supplies are not made for infants to feed on.”

BABY BOTTLES WITHOUT MILK

Gaza’s spiralling humanitarian crisis prompted the main world hunger monitoring body on Tuesday to say a worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding and immediate action is needed to avoid widespread death. Images of emaciated Palestinian children have shocked the world.

Gazan health authorities have reported more and more people dying from hunger-related causes. The total so far stands at 154, among them 89 children, most of whom died in the last few weeks.

With the international furor over Gaza’s ordeal growing, Israel announced steps over the weekend to ease aid access. But the UN World Food Programme said on Tuesday it was still not getting the permissions it needed to deliver enough aid.

Israel and the US accuse militant group Hamas of stealing aid — which the militants deny — and the UN of failing to prevent it. The UN says it has not seen evidence of Hamas diverting much aid. Hamas accuses Israel of causing starvation and using aid as a weapon, which the Israeli government denies.

Humanitarian agencies say there is almost no infant formula left in Gaza. The cans available in the market cost over $100 – impossible to afford for families like Muntaha’s, whose father has been jobless since the war closed his falafel business and displaced the family from their home.

In the paediatric ward of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza city of Deir Al-Balah, the infant formula supply is mostly depleted.

One mother showed how she poured thick tahini sesame paste into a bottle and mixed it with water.

“I am using this instead of milk, to compensate her for milk, but she won’t drink it,” said Azhar Imad, 31, the mother of four-month-old Joury.

“I also make her fenugreek, anize, caraway, any kind of herbs (mixed with water),” she said, panicked as she described how instead of nourishing her child, these attempts were making her sick.

Medical staff at the hospital spoke of helplessness, watching on as children’s health deteriorated with no way to safely feed them.

“Now, children are being fed either water or ground hard legumes, and this is harmful for children in Gaza,” said doctor Khalil Daqran.

“If the hunger continues ... within three or four days, if the child doesn’t get access to milk immediately, then they will die,” he said.


Lithuania Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas steps down after investigations and protests

Lithuania Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas steps down after investigations and protests
Updated 51 min 24 sec ago
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Lithuania Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas steps down after investigations and protests

Lithuania Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas steps down after investigations and protests
  • Paluckas stepped down on Thursday following investigations into his business dealings that prompted protests in the Baltic country’s capital calling for his resignation
  • Paluckas, who is also a Social Democrat, ascended to the role late last year after a three-party coalition formed following parliamentary elections in October

VILNIUS: Lithuania Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas stepped down on Thursday following investigations into his business dealings that prompted protests in the Baltic country ‘s capital calling for his resignation.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda announced Paluckas’ resignation to the media on Thursday morning. A spokesperson for Paluckas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Paluckas, a newly established leader of the center-left Social Democrats, ascended to the role late last year after a three-party coalition formed following parliamentary elections in October. His entire cabinet is now expected also to resign, potentially leaving the country without an effective government weeks before Russia holds joint military exercises with neighboring Belarus.

Lithuanian foreign policy is unlikely to change as a result of the government shakeup. Nausėda, who was elected separately, is the country’s face on the world stage and has been one of the most stalwart supporters of Ukraine in its fight against invading Russian forces.

Paluckas has recently been dogged by media investigations into his business and financial dealings. Several media outlets published investigations in July regarding Paluckas’ past and present ventures and alleged mishandlings, including ones more than a decade ago. The Baltic country ‘s anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies subsequently launched their own probes.

In a devastating blow to his reputation, the media also revealed that Paluckas never paid a significant part of a 16,500 euro fine ($19,039) in connection with a 2012 criminal case dubbed the “rat poison scandal.”

Paluckas was convicted of mishandling the bidding process for Vilnius’ rat extermination services while serving as the capital city’s municipality administration director. Judges for the country’s top court in 2012 ruled that he abused his official position by illegally granting privileges to the company that offered the highest price in the bid.

He was also sentenced to two years behind bars, but the sentence was suspended for one year and he ultimately was never imprisoned.

The Social Democratic party leader denied any wrongdoing regarding his business affairs, labeling the criticism as part of a “coordinated attack” by political opponents.

He resigned before the opposition could formally launch impeachment proceedings. New coalition talks are expected to start shortly to form a new cabinet.


Pakistan speaker condemns Israeli strikes on Iran, voices concern over regional tensions

Pakistan speaker condemns Israeli strikes on Iran, voices concern over regional tensions
Updated 55 min 36 sec ago
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Pakistan speaker condemns Israeli strikes on Iran, voices concern over regional tensions

Pakistan speaker condemns Israeli strikes on Iran, voices concern over regional tensions
  • Ayaz Sadiq praises Tehran’s ‘measured response,’ reaffirms support for Iran’s sovereignty
  • He also calls for peaceful resolution of Iran’s nuclear issue through dialogue, cooperation

ISLAMABAD: Speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq condemned Israel’s recent attacks on Iran, according to an official statement on Thursday, expressing concern over escalating tensions in the Middle East.

The condemnation came during a meeting in Geneva between Sadiq and his Iranian counterpart, Dr. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, on the sidelines of the 6th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, held from July 29-31.

Sadiq emphasized the deep ties between Pakistan and Iran, reiterating his country’s “unwavering support” for Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“As neighbors and friends, the two countries are linked through shared aspirations of peace, stability and prosperity,” he said, according to a statement circulated by the National Assembly, adding Pakistan firmly condemned “unprovoked Israeli aggression against Iran.”

He praised Iran’s “measured response” and reiterated Pakistan’s preference for resolving the Iranian nuclear issue through dialogue and multilateral engagement.

Pakistan National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq (left) gestures during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Dr. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, on the sidelines of the Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, in Geneva on July 31, 2025. (Handout/ National Assembly)

The meeting coincided with a broader backdrop of rising hostilities between Iran and Israel.

On June 13, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a surprise military offensive targeting Iran’s nuclear and military infrastructure, including sites in Tehran, Natanz and Isfahan.

Iranian military officials, including top nuclear scientists and Revolutionary Guards commanders, were killed in the attack.

Iran retaliated with missile and drone attacks, causing massive damage to various neighborhoods in Tel Aviv and other areas. The conflict lasted approximately 12 days before a ceasefire was agreed upon on June 24 amid a number of casualties on both sides.

Sadiq also noted the importance of reinforcing legislative cooperation through the Pak‑Iran Parliamentary Friendship Groups and sought to strengthen people-to-people ties between the two countries.