LESBOS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities said Sunday that some 12,000 migrants and asylum-seekers left without shelter after fires gutted an overcrowded refugee camp on the island of Lesbos will be moved to a new army-built tent city “in the coming days.”
Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis said an estimated 1,000 forever residents of the Moria camp were expected to relocate to the tent city by late Sunday and that getting everyone housed at the new site would take several days.
“At the moment, it’s happening on a voluntary basis in the initial stage,” Mitarakis told Greek television station Open TV.
Fires on Tuesday and Wednesday nights decimated Moria, Greece’s largest refugee camp. Authorities have said residents protesting a lockdown imposed after a coronavirus outbreak deliberately set the blazes.
Thousands of people have since camped out on a stretch of highway near Moria under police guard following more protests against the Greek government refusing to allow the homeless migrants to leave Lesbos for the Greek mainland.
Mitarakis said that those entering the new camp would undergo rapid testing for the coroavirus and that five cases so far have been identified.
Regulators authorized AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for use in adults throughout the European Union on Friday, amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI lawyer was sentenced to probation for altering an email that the Justice Department relied on during its surveillance of an aide to President Donald Trump during the Russia investigation.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Tony Evers lashed out Friday at rival Republicans who tried to repeal his statewide mask mandate, saying killing the order would be a ridiculous move comparable to abolishing speed limits.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — As some conservatives in South Carolina celebrated getting a bill that would ban almost all abortions in the state past a legislative barrier and likely becoming law, they said they are not finished trying to end all abortions.
A Moscow court on Friday put the brother and several allies of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny under house arrest for two months as authorities sought to stymie more protests over the jailing of the top Kremlin foe.