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Sports

UGA football car crash deaths: Injured passengers identified in a car crash that killed player and staffer following championship celebration

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CNN
 — 

On the heels of the University of Georgia’s national championship victory, police are investigating a fatal single-vehicle car crash early Sunday that killed football player Devin Willock and staff member Chandler LeCroy just hours after the Bulldogs’ triumphant celebration with fans, authorities said.

Shortly before 3 a.m. Sunday, LeCroy, 24, was driving with Willock, 20, and two other passengers near the UGA campus in Athens when the vehicle went off the road, barreling into two power poles and several trees, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department said in a news release.

Willock died on the scene and LeCroy died after being taken to a hospital, police said. LeCroy was a football recruiting analyst for UGA, according to her LinkedIn.

Two passengers affiliated with the football team were also injured in the crash. Georgia offensive lineman Warren McClendon, 21, received minor injuries, and Victoria Bowles, 26, had serious injuries, according to police.

McClendon started at right tackle for Georgia this season and declared for the NFL draft earlier Saturday. His father, Warren McClendon Sr., told the Athens Banner-Herald he needed stitches on his forehead but is “doing well.”

The crash came hours after Sanford Stadium and the surrounding streets were brimming with ecstatic fans who had come to celebrate the Bulldogs’ second straight national championship. But by the next morning, they had joined the team in mourning the sudden loss of Willock and LeCroy.

Fan Daniel Dewitt attended Saturday’s victory parade and told CNN Willock was “upbeat and happy” as the team passed throngs of supporters draped in red and black.

“It’s just heartbreaking coming off a celebratory week. And the parade yesterday, getting to see this player and then come to find out he lost his life early this morning, the entire Bulldog nation is at a loss,” Dewitt said.

Photos of the crash site taken by nearby residents show a wooden power pole snapped in half and the car’s frame crumpled against an apartment building.

“That car dented like a tin can,” Cecily Pangburn, a resident of the apartment complex told CNN. She described hearing a loud bang when the crash happened, followed by her power going out.

The investigation into the crash is ongoing, police said. Investigators have asked anyone with information to contact authorities.

The two UGA team members were remembered by several university leaders as vibrant and valued presences in the football program.

“Devin was an outstanding young man in every way. He was always smiling, was a great teammate and a joy to coach,” head football coach Kirby Smart said in a statement Sunday.

“Chandler was a valuable member of our football staff and brought an incredible attitude and energy every single day,” the coach said.

Support for the Bulldogs also flooded in from across the college football community on Sunday, including from head coaches Brian Kelly of Louisiana State University and Hugh Freeze of Auburn University.

“These two special people meant the world to our football program and athletic department,” UGA athletics director Josh Brooks said in a statement. “We are working with our medical staff and mental health and performance team to ensure our staff and student-athletes have all the support they need during this extremely difficult time.”

Willock, a redshirt sophomore from New Milford, New Jersey, joined the team as a freshman in 2020, according to UGA’s football roster. He played on the offensive line in all 15 of the team’s games this year.

The player spent Saturday with fans, soaking in the joy of last week’s championship win. One fan in particular got some quality time with Willock in the hours before his death.

Willock met starstruck 7-year-old Camdyn Gonzales after the young fan spotted Willock as he was leaving the Texas Roadhouse restaurant in Athens on Saturday.

The player gave Camdyn a fist bump and let the boy try on his enormous 2021 championship ring.

“He was humble and very appreciative that we knew who he was and wanted to talk to him,” Camdyn’s grandfather, Sam Kramer, said, adding that Willock seemed “so full of life and just happy.”

Dewitt, the fan who saw Willock in Saturday’s parade, told CNN he has a 2021 UGA championship tattoo and plans to get a matching one for this season’s victory. This time, he said, it will feature Willock’s number, 77.



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World

Constantine, the former and last king of Greece, dies at 82

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ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Constantine, the former and last king of Greece, who won an Olympic gold medal before becoming entangled in his country’s volatile politics in the 1960s as king and spent decades in exile, has died. He was 82.

Doctors at the private Hygeia Hospital in Athens confirmed to The Associated Press that Constantine died late Tuesday after treatment in an intensive care unit but had no further details pending an official announcement.

When he acceded to the throne as Constantine II 1964 at the age of 23, the youthful monarch, who had already achieved glory as an Olympic gold medalist in sailing, was hugely popular. By the following year he had squandered much of that support with his active involvement in the machinations that brought down the elected Center Union government of prime minister George Papandreou.

The episode involving the defection from the ruling party of several lawmakers, still widely known in Greece as the “apostasy,” destabilized the constitutional order and led to a military coup in 1967. Constantine eventually clashed with the military rulers and was forced into exile.

The dictatorship abolished the monarchy in 1973, while a referendum after democracy was restored in 1974 dashed any hopes that Constantine had of ever reigning again.

Reduced in the following decades to only fleeting visits to Greece that raised a political and media storm each time, he was able to settle again in his home country in his waning years when opposing his presence no longer held currency as a badge of vigilant republicanism. With minimal nostalgia for the monarchy in Greece, Constantine became a relatively uncontroversial figure.

Constantine was born June 2, 1940 in Athens, to Prince Paul, younger brother to King George II and heir presumptive to the throne, and princess Frederica of Hanover. His older sister Sophia is the wife of former King Juan Carlos I of Spain. The Greek-born Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh and husband of the late Queen Elizabeth II, was an uncle.

The family, which had ruled in Greece from 1863 apart from a 12-year republican interlude between 1922-1935, was descended from Prince Christian, later Christian IX of Denmark, of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg branch of the Danish ruling family.

Before Constantine’s first birthday, the royal family was forced to flee Greece during the German invasion in World War II, moving to Alexandria in Egypt, South Africa and back to Alexandria. King George II returned to Greece in 1946, following a disputed referendum, but died a few months later, making Constantine the heir to King Paul I.

Constantine was educated at a boarding school and then attended three military academies as well as Athens Law School classes as preparation for his future role. He also competed in various sports, including sailing and karate, in which he held a black belt.

In 1960, aged 20, he and two other Greek sailors won a gold medal in the Dragon Class — now no longer an Olympic class — at the Rome Olympics. While still a prince, Constantine was elected a member of the International Olympic Committee and became an honorary member for life in 1974.

King Paul I died of cancer on March 6, 1964 and Constantine succeeded him, weeks after the Center Union party had triumphed over the conservatives with 53% of the vote.

The prime minister, George Papandreou, and Constantine initially had a very close relationship, but it soon soured over Constantine’s insistence that control of the armed forces was the monarch’s prerogative.

With many officers toying with the idea of a dictatorship and viewing any non-conservative government as soft on communism, Papandreou wanted to control the ministry of defense and eventually demanded to be appointed defense minister. After an acrimonious exchange of letters with Constantine, Papandreou resigned in July 1965.

Constantine’s insistence on appointing a government composed of centrist defectors that won a narrow parliamentary majority on the third try was hugely unpopular. Many viewed him as being manipulated by his scheming mother, dowager Queen Frederica.

“The people don’t want you, take your mother and go!” became the rallying cry in the protests that rocked Greece in the summer of 1965.

Eventually, Constantine made a truce of sorts with Papandreou and, with his agreement, appointed a government of technocrats and, then, a conservative-led government to hold an election in May 1967.

But, with the polls heavily favoring the Center Union and with Papandreou’s left-leaning son, Andreas, gaining in popularity, Constantine and his courtiers feared revenge and with the aid of high-ranking officers prepared a coup.

However, a group of lower-ranking officers, led by colonels, were preparing their own coup and, apprised of Constantine’s plans by a mole, proclaimed a dictatorship on April 21, 1967.

Constantine was taken by surprise and his feelings toward the new rulers were obvious in the official photo of the new government. He pretended to go along with them, while preparing a counter-coup with the help of troops in northern Greece and the navy, which was loyal to him.

On Dec. 13, 1967, Constantine and his family flew to the northern city of Kavala with the intention of marching on Thessaloniki and setting up a government there. The counter-coup, badly managed and infiltrated, collapsed and Constantine was forced to flee to Rome the following day. He would never return as reigning king.

The junta appointed a regent and, after an abortive Navy counter-coup in May 1973, abolished the monarchy on June 1, 1973. A July plebiscite, widely considered rigged, confirmed the decision.

When the dictatorship collapsed in July 1974, Constantine was eager to return to Greece but was advised against it by veteran politician Constantine Karamanlis, who returned from exile to head a civilian government. Karamanlis, who had also headed the government between 1955-63, was a conservative but had clashed with the court over what he considered its excessive interference in politics.

After his triumphal win in November elections, Karamanlis called for a plebiscite on the monarchy in 1974. Constantine was not allowed in the country to campaign, but the result was unambiguous and widely accepted: 69.2% voted in favor of a republic.

Soon after, Karamanlis famously said the nation had rid itself of a cancerous growth. Constantine said on the day following the referendum that “national unity must take precedence … I wholeheartedly wish that developments will justify the result of yesterday’s vote.”

To his final days, Constantine, while accepting that Greece was now a republic, continued to style himself King of Greece and his children as princes and princesses even though Greece no longer recognized titles of nobility.

For most of his years in exile he lived in Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, and was said to be especially close to his second cousin Charles, the Prince of Wales and now King Charles III.

While it took Constantine 14 years to return to his country, briefly, to bury his mother, Queen Frederica in 1981, he multiplied his visits thereafter and, from 2010, made his home there. There were continued disputes: in 1994, the then socialist government stripped him of his nationality and expropriated what remained of the royal family’s property. Constantine sued at the European Court of Human Rights and was awarded 12 million euros in 2002, a fraction of the 500 million he had sought.

He is survived by his wife, the former Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark, youngest sister of Queen Margrethe II; five children, Alexia, Pavlos, Nikolaos, Theodora and Philippos; and nine grandchildren. ___ Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed.

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Health

What to know about the new bivalent COVID-19 booster and how to get it in Athens | City News

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the updated bivalent COVID-19 vaccine as a single dose booster on Aug. 31.

The new booster provides protection against the BA.4 and the BA.5 strain of the omicron variant, according to the FDA. The CDC reported that these strains currently cause the majority of positive COVID-19 cases in the United States.

As of Oct. 12, the CDC recommends that people ages 5 years and older receive one updated (bivalent) booster if it has been at least two months since their last COVID-19 vaccine dose, whether that was their final primary series dose, or an original (monovalent) booster. People who have gotten more than one of the monovalent boosters are also recommended to get an updated bivalent booster.

According to the Georgia Department of Health, 52% of Clarke County is fully vaccinated, meaning a full two-vaccine series, and 28% have received an additional dose. The Georgia Department of Health does not track the percentage of people who have received the updated bivalent booster.

Missy Jackson, the Director of Nursing at the University Health Center, said the UHC has been administering COVID-19 vaccines since the first monovalent vaccines were first released. They now administer both the original monovalent vaccines and the updated bivalent boosters. The University Health Center follows CDC guidelines for the bivalent booster.

“Since receiving the first COVID-19 vaccines in December of 2020, the UHC has administered over 36,000 vaccines to over 19,000 distinct individuals. Of those total vaccines, UHC has administered approximately 1,000 bivalent vaccines,” Jackson said.

If students wish to receive the bivalent vaccine at the UHC, they can schedule an appointment in the UHC patient portal or call the Allergy and Travel clinic at 706-542-5575.

Jackson also said the Georgia Department of Public Health and local pharmacies in the Athens area are available to provide the bivalent COVID-19 vaccine. She said it is important to contact the provider to verify if they have the correct vaccine when making an appointment.

Emily Harkness, a second-year anthropology major at the University of Georgia, said she got the updated booster at the same time as a flu vaccine. She said she has encouraged friends and family to get the vaccine to increase collective immunity.

“My grandma is very susceptible to COVID, so we’re all very cautious about it. I encouraged most of my family to get the vaccine, and I encouraged my friends as well, because it’s herd immunity,” Harkness said. “So if most people get it, then the chances of people getting very sick is going to be a lot less.”

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Sports

College football Week 10 preview: An afternoon in Athens, an evening in Baton Rouge

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The college football season comes in two parts. 

The first half consists of September and October when teams jockey for position in the Associated Press and coaches’ polls. It’s a time when fun non-conference schedules are played and the cupcakes come to town. 

The Paint Line and fans cheer on their team during a game between the Samford Bulldogs and Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium Sept. 10, 2022, in Athens, Georgia. 
(Steve Limentani/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

It’s also a time when conference play begins, setting the table for the second half of the season when the battle for conference championships will be settled. 

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And then there’s the second half of the season, when the College Football Playoff committee becomes the focus of the college football world as we inch closer to New Year’s Eve when the semifinals are played.  

The first CFP rankings came out Tuesday, and they have provided us with one heck of a college football Saturday. 

Let’s look at a few games to be aware of Saturday as the college football season kicks off Week 10.

No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 1 Tennessee – 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS

Would it be an overstatement to call this game “The Game of the Century?”

Maybe. But it sure has a nice ring to it. 

Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Hendon Hooker (5) throws a pass during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Kentucky Wildcats Oct. 29, 2022, at Neyland Stadium, in Knoxville, Tenn. 
(Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Vols will travel to Athens, Georgia, ranked No. 1 in the CFP rankings for the first time in program history. It’s a classic battle of opposites as Tennessee comes in with the top offense in the country and Georgia will counter with a defense that’s second in the nation in points allowed per game (10.5). 

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Georgia’s defense did take a big hit earlier in the week when outside linebacker Nolan Smith underwent surgery to fix a torn pectoral suffered in last week’s game against Florida. 

Smith, a potential first-round NFL Draft pick, leads the Bulldogs with three sacks, seven tackles for loss and and 16 quarterback hurries. 

But it’s a defense that is loaded with talent, fourth in the country in yards allowed per game (262.6) and 13th in the country in passing yards (177.1). 

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“They’re athletic. They can run, all three levels,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said Monday when asked about the Georgia defense. “They’re physical on all three levels. They don’t have any busts. They play their assignments extremely well. They make you earn it. It’s a great test for us. You’re going to have to win one-on-ones. 

Jalin Hyatt of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates his touchdown against the Kentucky Wildcats at Neyland Stadium Oct. 29, 2022, in Knoxville, Tenn.
(Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

“That’s out on the perimeter. That’s in the offensive line — in the trenches — and you’ve got to be able to sustain drives.”

Georgia will be facing its biggest challenge of the year as the Tennessee offense has been unstoppable under Heupel and Heisman favorite Hendon Hooker. 

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The big-play Volunteer offense leads the nation in points per game (49.4), yards per game (553.0), pass efficiency (198.52) and yards per pass attempt (11.3). Its running game also averages 199.6 yards per game, good for 24th in the country. 

“Tennessee is not necessarily a pass-happy offense,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said, according to ESPN. “They run the ball really well. I think you could say that statistically they have explosive passes. They are a running team that chunks it deep. They do a really good job with explosive pass plays. They commit to the run. There is a toughness there. Their backs run really tough.”

The field after a Georgia Bulldogs touchdown in the second half against the Auburn Tigers at Sanford Stadium Oct. 8, 2022, in Athens, Ga. 
( Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)

The winner of the game “between the hedges” will set itself up for a berth in the SEC championship game and establish itself as the top team in the country. 

It should be a thing of beauty. 

No. 10 LSU vs, No. 6 Alabama – 7 p.m. ET, ESPN

All eyes will be on the SEC for the two biggest games of the day as Nick Saban and his one-loss Crimson Tide head to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for a matchup with Brian Kelly and the Tigers. 

Both teams are trying to hand each other a second loss in the SEC. There are three teams — Ole Miss being the other — tied atop the West with a conference record of 4-1. 

Alabama is coming off its bye week after drubbing Mississippi State and is hopeful the week off has allowed quarterback Bryce Young a few extra days of healing for his injured shoulder.

Bryce Young of the Alabama Crimson Tide runs the ball during the first half against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Bryant-Denny Stadium Oct. 22, 2022, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. 
( Brandon Sumrall/Getty Images)

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In the two games since sitting out against Texas A&M, Young has completed 56 of 87 attempts for 704 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions.

The LSU defense will be tasked with trying to stop Young, a dual-threat quarterback, a type of quarterback that the Tigers’ defense has struggled against this year. 

Against Tennessee, LSU allowed 239 yards passing and 56 on the ground to Hendon Hooker. Against Florida, it allowed 185 yards passing and 109 on the ground to Anthony Richardson. 

But this is why Kelly left South Bend for the Deep South. He wanted a chance to beat the best. 

Brian Kelly, center, is introduced as the head football coach of the LSU Tigers by LSU President William F. Tate IV, left, and athletics director Scott Woodward during a news conference at Tiger Stadium Dec. 1, 2021 in Baton Rouge, La. 
(Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

“I want to beat Nick Saban,” Kelly said in the spring. “Who doesn’t want to beat Nick Saban? You know what I mean? I want to play him in the regular season. That’s the standard, right? That’s the standard. Now he’s a conference opponent.” 

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He has his opportunity and will need a big game from quarterback Jayden Daniels to get his first win against Saban in three tries. 

Against Ole Miss in Week 8, Daniels threw for two touchdowns and rushed for three more. 

On the season, Daniels has thrown for 1,812 yards and 12 touchdowns while rushing for 524 yards and nine touchdowns. 

Jayden Daniels of the LSU Tigers celebrates a touchdown during the second half against the Mississippi Rebels at Tiger Stadium Oct. 22, 2022, in Baton Rouge, La. 
(Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

“(Kelly’s teams) always have balance on offense,” Saban said, according to The Tuscaloosa News. “They’re going to run the ball. They got a very good throwing scheme. Utilizing the personnel that they have very, very well. 

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“They’ve historically played very well on defense and special teams. It’s typical of what a well-coached team usually does. They’ve gotten to the point where — and all of his teams have been this way — they don’t beat themselves. You’ve got to execute and beat them, and I think that’s got to be the focus for our team.”

No. 13 Kansas State vs. No. 24 Texas – 7 p.m. ET, FS1

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian gets another chance to improve his record in true road games as the Longhorns head to Manhattan, Kansas, looking to avoid their third loss in conference play. 

In the two years that Sarkisian has been in Austin, the Longhorns are just 1-6 in true road games, including blowing a 14-point lead against Oklahoma State in Week 8 at Boone Pickens Stadium. 

Head coach Steve Sarkisian of the Texas Longhorns watches players warm up before a game against the Iowa State Cyclones at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium Oct. 15, 2022, in Austin, Texas. 
(Tim Warner/Getty Images)

It’s the same team that Kansas State smacked in Week 9, embarrassing the Cowboys 48-0 at home. 

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“I think that we’ve played good football,” Sarkisian said this week, according to ESPN. “I think we’ve got a team that’s committed for this final month of the season, but we have to be cautious not to look down the road. We’ve got to focus on this game, and we’ve got to handle our business this week, and it’s going to be a heck of a game.”

The Wildcats were without starting quarterback Adrian Martinez against Oklahoma State but didn’t skip a beat with backup quarterback Will Howard. 

Kansas State rushed for 199 yards in Week 9, 158 of those yards coming from running back Deuce Vaughn. 

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The Wildcats are 11th in the country in rushing yards per game with 228 yards. Texas is third in the Big 12 in rushing yards allowed per game (121.6). 

Running back Deuce Vaughn (22) of the Kansas State Wildcats runs to the outside against linebacker Mason Cobb (0) of the Oklahoma State Cowboys during the first half at Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium Oct. 29, 2022, in Manhattan, Kan. 
(Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images)

Martinez has practiced all week, but Kansas State will not make a decision on who will start under center until closer to kickoff. 

“We are prepared for both, we have to,” Sarkisian said Monday, according to ESPN. “Obviously the style of player that Adrian Martinez is in the quarterback run game is a real factor in the success they had with him. And then, obviously, Will Howard, his ability to really throw the ball and push the ball down the field.” 

Notre Dame vs. No. 4 Clemson – 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC

There were many in the world of college football who disagreed with Clemson’s ranking in the first College Football Playoff poll Tuesday. 

And while a win in South Bend, Indiana, certainly won’t quiet all the naysayers, a Tigers win over Notre Dame in primetime surely will prove to some that the Tigers firmly belong in the CFP conversation. 

Clemson Tigers quarterback DJ Uiagalelei (5) during a game against the Syracuse Orange Oct. 22, 2022, at Clemson Memorial Stadium in Clemson, S.C. 
( John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

“The biggest thing is not making the game bigger than it is,” Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei said. “It’s a big environment. It’s going to be a night game and all the external factors. I think, at the end of the day, you’ve just got to go out and play football.” 

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Uiagalelei has been much improved compared to last year, throwing for 17 touchdowns to just four interceptions. But Uiagalelei was benched by head coach Dabo Sweeney in Clemson’s Week 8 win over Syracuse in favor of freshman Cade Klubnik after Uiagalelei committed three turnovers.

“We’re people, and people are not perfect, Sweeney said this week, according to ESPN. “We have moments from time to time. You have to be made of the right stuff to be able to let it help you get better. We’re not 8-0 if it’s not for DJ. He had a bad game, but that’s why you have a team. 

“I’m really proud of DJ, and how he’s handled himself and how he’s led. He knows he can’t go play like that. There’s a standard. He’s the ace. You’ve got to go do your job.”

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Head Coach Marcus Freeman of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish walks to the field prior to a game against the Syracuse Orangemen at JMA Wireless Dome Oct. 29, 2022, in Syracuse, N.Y. 
(Bryan Bennett/Getty Images)

He’ll be facing a Notre Dame team that has improved since its disastrous 0-2 start to the season, winning five of six games in head coach Marcus Freeman’s first season as the helm. 

“This is what we do, we play in big games like this,” Freeman said. “It’s not a David vs. Goliath. This is a heavyweight fight. We’ve got a dang good football team.”

Other games of note:

Northwestern vs. No. 2 Ohio State: 12 p.m. ET, ABC

No. 22 NC State vs. No. 21 Wake Forest – 8 p.m. ET, ACC Network

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Joe Morgan is a Sports Reporter for Fox News.

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World

Greek wildfire rages near Athens; homes, hospital evacuated

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ATHENS, July 19 (Reuters) – A Greek wildfire fuelled by gale-force winds raged in the mountainous region of Penteli near Athens on Tuesday, prompting authorities to order the evacuation of at least four areas and a hospital.

Heavy clouds of smoke were rising into the sky billowing over Mount Penteli where the fire broke out at 1430 GMT, some 27 km (16 miles) north of central Athens.

Images showed the Parthenon temple on the Acropolis hill covered in red light due to the fire burning in the background. By nightfall, the flames were visible from the island of Evia, about 50 km away, according to witnesses.

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Local media reported the fire had burned at least one house but the fire brigade would not confirm the information. There were no reports of injuries, the fire brigade said.

About 420 firefighters assisted by 85 engines were trying to tame the blaze, which was burning on several fronts by late afternoon. More than 24 helicopters and planes earlier dumped water on the flames but had to halt operations at night for safety reasons.

Authorities ordered the evacuation of four areas, Drafi, Anthousa, Dioni and Dasamari. They also advised residents in more areas to prepare to evacuate.

One hospital and the National Observatory of Athens were evacuated as a precaution. Traffic was halted on roads leading to Penteli and police were helping residents find their way out of the fire-stricken areas.

Firefighters try to extinguish a wildfire burning in Ntrafi, Athens, Greece, July 19, 2022. REUTERS/Costas Baltas

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Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis chaired a teleconference with civil protection authorities on the fire.

“Today is a difficult day. We are at the peak of the fire season and the current conditions make it easier for fires to break out and spread,” said Fire Department spokesperson Yiannis Artopios in a statement.

Artopios earlier told state TV ERT that the fire was a “difficult” case and that 28 firefighters from Romania were assisting local firefighters.

“We are fighting it, we are trying to circle the fire,” said Artopios.

Winds were forecast to persist until Wednesday afternoon.

More than 200 firefighters and equipment from Bulgaria, France, Germany, Romania, Norway and Finland will be on standby during the hottest months of July and August in Greece.

Last year, wildfires ravaged about 300,000 acres (121,000 hectares) of forest and bushland in different parts of Greece as the country experienced its worst heat wave in 30 years.

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Additional reporting by Angeliki Koutantou, Karolina Tagaris and Alkis Konstantinidis; Writing by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Sandra Maler and Richard Pullin

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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US

Iran seizes 2 Greek tankers in Persian Gulf as tensions rise

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard seized two Greek oil tankers Friday in helicopter-launched raids in the Persian Gulf, officials said. The action appeared to be retaliation for Athens’ assistance in the U.S. seizure of crude oil from an Iranian-flagged tanker this week in the Mediterranean Sea over violating Washington’s crushing sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

The raid marks the first major incident at sea in months as tensions remain high between Iran and the West over its tattered nuclear deal with world powers. As Tehran enriches more uranium, closer to weapons-grade levels than ever before, worries mount that negotiators won’t find a way back to the accord — raising the risk of a wider war.

The Guard issued a statement announcing the seizures, accusing the tankers of unspecified violations. Nour News, a website close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, just a short time earlier warned that Tehran planned to take “punitive action” over Greece assisting the U.S. in seizing oil days earlier from the Iranian-flagged tanker Lana.

Greece’s Foreign Ministry said it made a strong demarche to the Iranian ambassador in Athens over the “violent taking over of two Greek-flagged ships” in the Persian Gulf. “These acts effectively amount to acts of piracy,” a ministry statement said.

The ministry called for the immediate release of the vessels and their crews, warning the seizure would have “particularly negative consequences” in bilateral relations and in Iran’s relations with the European Union, of which Greece is a member.

An Iranian helicopter landed on the Greek-flagged Delta Poseidon in international waters, some 22 nautical miles off the coast of Iran, the ministry said.

“Armed men then took the crew captive,” it said, adding that two Greek nationals were among the crew.

“A similar incident has been reported on another Greek-flagged vessel, that was carrying seven Greek citizens, close to the coast of Iran,” the ministry said.

A Greek official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the attack with a journalist, identified the second ship as the Prudent Warrior. Its manager, Polembros Shipping in Greece, earlier said the company was “cooperating with the authorities and making every possible effort to address the situation effectively.”

Greek officials did not identify the nationalities of the other crew onboard the vessels.

Both vessels had come from Iraq’s Basra oil terminal, loaded with crude, according to tracking data from MarineTraffic.com.

A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said it appeared the two ships had come close to — but not into — Iranian territorial waters Friday. After the hijacking, they drifted into Iranian waters. The ships also had turned off their tracking devices, another red flag, the official said. However, neither had issued a mayday or a call for help, the official said.

Iran’s seizure on Friday was the latest in a string of hijackings and explosions to roil a region that includes the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all traded oil passes. The incidents began after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, which saw Tehran drastically limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

The U.S. Navy blamed Iran for a series of limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers in 2019, as well as for a fatal drone attack on an Israeli-linked oil tanker that killed two European crew members in 2021.

Iranian hijackers also stormed and briefly captured a Panama-flagged asphalt tanker off the United Arab Emirates last year, as well as briefly seizing and holding a Vietnamese tanker in November.

Tehran denies carrying out the attacks, but a wider shadow war between Iran and the West has played out in the region’s volatile waters. Tanker seizures have been a part of it since 2019, when Iran seized the British-flagged Stena Impero after the United Kingdom detained an Iranian oil tanker off Gibraltar. Iran released the tanker months later as London also released the Iranian vessel.

Iran last year also seized and held a South Korean-flagged tanker for months amid a dispute over billions of dollars of frozen assets Seoul holds.

“This incident is assessed to be a retaliatory action in line with a history of Iranian forces detaining vessels in a tit-for-tat manner,” maritime intelligence firm Dryad Global warned. “As a result, Greek-flagged vessels operating within the vicinity of Iran in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman are currently assessed to be at a heightened risk of interception and it is advised to avoid this area until further notice.”

Underlining that threat, Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency warned in a tweet: “There are still 17 other Greek ships in the Persian Gulf that could be seized.”

Meanwhile, the Guard is building a massive new support ship near the Strait of Hormuz as it tries to expand its naval presence in waters vital to international energy supplies and beyond, according to satellite photos obtained by The Associated Press.

Talks in Vienna over Iran’s tattered nuclear deal have been stalled since April. Since the deal’s collapse, Iran runs advanced centrifuges and has a rapidly growing stockpile of enriched uranium. Nonproliferation experts warn Iran has enriched enough up to 60% purity — a short technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90% — to make one nuclear weapon if it choose.

Iran insists its program is for peaceful purposes, though United Nations experts and Western intelligence agencies say Iran had an organized military nuclear program through 2003.

Building a nuclear bomb would still take Iran more time if it pursued a weapon, analysts say, though they warn Tehran’s advances make the program more dangerous. Israel has threatened in the past it will carry out a preemptive strike to stop Iran — and already is suspected in a series of recent killings targeting Iranian officials.

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Paphitis reported from Athens, Greece. Associated Press writer Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

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World

Orthodox priest shouts ‘Pope, you are a heretic’ at Francis in Athens

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ATHENS, Dec 4 (Reuters) – An elderly Greek Orthodox priest shouted “Pope, you are a heretic” as Pope Francis was entering the Orthodox Archbishopric in Athens on Saturday and was taken away by police, a reminder of the lingering distrust between the two divided churches.

Video showed the man, who was dressed in black robes and black hat and had a long white beard, shouting the words in Greek outside the building before police bundled him away.

Witnesses said he shouted loud enough for the pope to hear the commotion. The man appeared to have fallen while being taken away and was lifted up by police.

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Francis arrived in Greece on Saturday for a three-day visit that Greek Catholics hope will bring the Eastern and Western churches closer together. read more

Christianity split into the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches in 1054 in what is referred to as the Great Schism, and for centuries relations were rocky.

An Orthodox priest protests ahead of the arrival of Pope Francis, outside the Orthodox Archbishopric of Greece, in Athens, Greece, December 4, 2021. REUTERS/Louiza Vradi

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In his address to the archbishop, Beatitude Ieronymos II, Francis asked forgiveness in the name of the Roman Catholic Church for its part in the historical wrongs that led to the breakup.

“Tragically, in later times we grew apart. Worldly concerns poisoned us, weeds of suspicion increased our distance and we ceased to nurture communion,” Francis told Ieronymos, whom he met during his first trip to Greece in 2016.

“I feel the need to ask anew for the forgiveness of God and of our brothers and sisters for the mistakes committed by many Catholics,” Francis said.

Pope John Paul II first asked forgiveness for the Catholic role in the break-up when he visited Greece in 2001.

Catholics and Orthodox have been involved in dialogue aimed at eventual reunion for decades and cooperate in many social initiatives but the two sides are still far apart theologically.

“We believe you have the courage and the sincerity to examine the failures and omissions of your fathers,” Ieronymos told Francis. “Between those who want to be called Christian brothers, the best language is, and always will be, honesty.”

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Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Alex Richardson

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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US

Downtown Athens shooting leaves 7 with non-life threatening injuries

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Seven people were injured in a shooting in the area of East Clayton and North Jackson streets in downtown Athens early Sunday, Athens-Clarke County police say.

A large fight broke out and the suspect began discharging a firearm into the crowd of people, according to ACCPD spokesperson Lt. Shaun Barnett.

Initially police said five victims were transported by EMS to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries, however later Sunday police provided an update that there were seven victims total. The victims were not UGA students, Barnett said.

ACCPD has identified Pharoah Devonell Williams, 21, as the suspect. Williams is considered to be armed and dangerous, police say. 

Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to Williams’ arrest. Anybody with information regarding Williams’ whereabouts to notify law enforcement by calling 911 or the Crime Stoppers Tip Line at (706) 705-4775.

The investigation is ongoing and anybody with information regarding the incident is asked to contact Detective Scott Black at (762) 400-7058 or via email at scott.black@accgov.com.

This is a developing story and more updates will be added. Check OnlineAthens.com later for more information.

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World

Blaze sweeps through Athens suburbs in fifth day of Greece wildfires

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The fire on Mount Parnitha on the outskirts of Athens has forced the evacuation of thousands of people since late Thursday, with emergency crews facing winds and high temperatures as they battle to contain its spread.

Wildfires have erupted in many parts of the country amid Greece’s worst heatwave in more than 30 years, tearing through tens of thousands of acres of forestland, destroying homes and businesses and killing animals. Temperatures have been over 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) all week.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, speaking after visiting the main fire control centre in Athens on Saturday, called it a “nightmarish summer,” adding the government’s priority “has been, first and foremost, to protect human lives.”

The government planned to reimburse people affected by the fires and would designate the burned land as areas for reforestation, he said.

More than 700 firefighters, including reinforcements from Cyprus, France and Israel, have been deployed to fight the blaze north of Athens, assisted by the army and water-bombing aircraft.

Overnight on Saturday, strong winds pushed the fire into the town of Thrakomakedones, where it burned homes. Residents had been ordered to evacuate and there were no immediate reports of casualties.

“(It’s) really bad,” said Thanasis Kaloudis, a resident of the town. “All of Greece has burned.”

Fires on Evia, Greece’s second biggest island, are scattered from one end on the Gulf of Euboea across to the other, facing the Aegean Sea.

Hundreds of people, including many elderly residents, were evacuated by ferry late on Friday from the town of Limni on Evia as flames reached the shore and the sky turned an apocalyptic red.

Authorities have battled more than 400 wildfires across the country in the last 24 hours, with the biggest fronts still burning in the north of Athens, Evia and areas in the Peloponnese including Mani, Messinia and ancient Olympia, the site of the first Olympic Games.

One man died on Friday after being injured by electricity pylon in a fire-stricken area near Athens, and at least nine others have been injured, authorities said.

Residents in suburbs north of Athens have been forced to leave in a hurry with the few belongings they can take.

“Our business, our home, all of our property is there. I hope they don’t burn,” Yorgos Papaioannou, 26, said on Friday, sitting in a parking lot with his girlfriend as ash fell around them from the smoke-filled sky.

He had left the town of Polydendri when police ordered him and his girlfriend to leave. read more

In neighbouring Turkey, authorities are battling the country’s worst-ever wildfires. Flames sweeping through its southwestern coastal regions forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people. In Italy, hot winds fanned flames on the island of Sicily this week.

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World

Thousands more flee fires in Greece amid heat wave

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ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Thousands of people in Greece fled to safety from a wildfire north of Athens early Friday as firefighters waged an overnight battle to stop the flames from reaching populated areas, electricity installations and historic sites.

On the nearby island of Evia, the Greek coast guard mounted a massive operation with patrol boats and private vessels to evacuate hundreds of residents and vacationers by sea as dozens of fires burned across the country for a third day amid a protracted heat wave.

One of the most severe blazes tore through forest areas 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) north of the capital, destroying more homes. Ground crews of several hundred firefighters dug fire breaks and hosed the flames.

Traffic was halted on the country’s main highway connecting Athens to northern Greece as crews tried to use the road as a firebreak before water-dropping planes resumed flights at first light. But sparks and burning pine cones carried the fire across the highway at several points.

Several firefighters and volunteers were hospitalized with burns, health officials said. Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias said nine people had been taken by ambulance to hospitals in Athens from the fire north of the Greek capital, three of them suffering breathing problems, while 11 more were being treated in a health center on Evia.

“We are going through the 10th day of a major heat wave affecting our entire country, the worst heat wave in terms of intensity and duration of the last 30 years,” Fire Service Brig. Gen. Aristotelis Papadopoulos said.

In the Drosopigi area north of Athens, resident Giorgos Hatzispiros went Friday morning to check on his house after being ordered to evacuate the previous afternoon. Only the charred walls of the single-story home remained, along with his two children’s bicycles, somehow unscathed in a storeroom. Inside, smoke rose from a still-smoldering bookcase.

“Nothing is left,” Hatzispiros said. He urged his mother, who was accompanying him, to leave, to spare her the sight of their destroyed home.

In southern Greece, nearly 60 villages and settlements were evacuated Thursday and early Friday, with weather conditions expected to worsen as strong winds were predicted in much of the country.

Fires were raging on the island of Evia, northeast of Athens, and at multiple locations in the southern Peloponnese region where a blaze was stopped before reaching monuments at Olympia, birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games.

A summer palace outside Athens once used by the former Greek royal family was also spared.

In Evia, the coast guard said its patrol boats, private vessels and tourist boats had evacuated 631 people overnight and by early Friday morning from beaches on the northeastern coast of the island. Coast guard patrols were continuing along the coast.

Fire crews, water-dropping planes, helicopters and vehicles from France, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland were arriving Friday and through the weekend to help. Fire crews and planes from Cyprus were already in Greece, as the European Union stepped up support to fire-hit countries in southeast Europe. The heat wave also has fueled deadly fires in Turkey and across the region.

“Our priority is always the protection of human life, followed by the protection of property, the natural environment and critical infrastructure. Unfortunately, under these circumstances, achieving all these aims at the same time is simply impossible,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a televised address Thursday night. The wildfires, he said, display “the reality of climate change.”

More than 1,000 firefighters, joined by the army and teams of volunteers, as well as nearly 20 water-dropping planes and helicopters were fighting five major fires across the country, the fire department said.

In 2018, more than 100 people died when a fast-moving forest fire engulfed a seaside settlement east of Athens. Some of the casualties drowned trying to escape by sea from the choking smoke and flames after becoming trapped on a beach.

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Becatoros reported from Argostoli, Greece. Thanassis Stavrakis in Drosopigi, Greece, contributed.

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