World Briefs

Greece says over 100 migrants detained in arrivals to Mideast wars

Athens: Authorities in Greece said Tuesday they detained 107 migrants in two separate operations near the island of Crete, as the country sees an increase in people trying to cross the eastern Mediterranean. The coast guard said it intercepted a Liberian-flagged cargo ship, the CL Heidi, which had departed from the Libyan port of Tobruk with 42 male migrants. Authorities arrested two of the detained men on smuggling charges. In the second incident, 65 migrants were found on the island of Gavdos south of Crete. One man required medical assistance and was taken to a nearby hospital. Speaking in parliament, the deputy minister of maritime affairs, Stefanos Gikas, said authorities have been dealing with a surge in illegal migration since late 2023. Government officials have attributed it to conflicts in the Middle East.

Iran accuses detained British couple of spying

Tehran: Iranian authorities have accused a British couple detained in the country since January of spying, state media reported Tuesday. Mizanonline.ir, a news website affiliated with the country’s judiciary, cited Asghar Jahangir, a spokesman for the judiciary as saying that the Revolutionary Guard’s intelligence forces incarcerated the couple, a man and a woman, while in the southern city of Kerman at the time. They are accused of spying and having links to intelligence agencies of “hostile countries”.