- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- AC Milan fall at Fiorentina after De Gea's penalty heroics
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Lewandowski hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- India maintain Pakistan stranglehold as Windies cruise at Women's T20 World Cup
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- Maresca hails Chelsea's 'fighting' spirit after draw with 10-man Forest
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Arshdeep, Chakravarthy help India hammer Bangladesh in T20 opener
- Lewandowski's quickfire hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Israel pounds Lebanon ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
Athens suburbs burn as Greece calls on EU for help
A massive wildfire in Athens' northeastern suburbs on Monday forced thousands of residents to flee their homes and sparked a Greek government appeal for international help.
In unprecedented scenes in the Greek capital, residents wearing masks against the choking smoke were desperately dousing their homes with water hoses in the leafy suburbs of Nea and Palaia Penteli and Vrilissia to protect them from fire.
"(It's) the first time ever the fire has come here," said Melina Kritseli, 40, a civil servant living in a two-storey white house in Patima Halandriou, another Athens suburb that was evacuated.
"I took my children to a friend's house to be safe," she told AFP as her husband hosed the ground and grass outside their house.
Television footage showed several charred cars and the roofs of stately homes burning as water-bombing helicopters roared overhead.
Smoke drifted through central Athens as thick grey clouds engulfed Mount Pentelikon, which is known for yielding the marble used in the Acropolis and other ancient buildings.
The fire gutted a sports hall in Nea Penteli and many homes and businesses in the surrounding area.
The National Observatory, Greece's foremost institute monitoring natural hazards, narrowly escaped.
The Observatory website meteo.gr said 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) had been devastated by midday Monday.
Greece on Monday formally called for EU assistance.
"The EU civil protection mechanism was activated upon request of the Greek authorities," EU spokesman Balazs Ujvari said in a statement.
He added that Italy, France, the Czech Republic and Romania were sending units to help.
"We stand with Greece as it battles devastating fires," EU commission chief Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had earlier cut short a vacation to Crete and returned to the capital Sunday.
- Strong winds -
The wildfire started on Sunday afternoon in the town of Varnavas, some 35 kilometres (22 miles) northeast of Athens.
Fanned by strong winds, it grew to a 30-kilometre long frontline of flames, more than 25 metres (80 feet) high in places, according to state TV ERT.
"I heard my animals bleating and dying," Dimitris Megagiannis, a goat herder near Palaia Penteli, told Mega TV station.
The fire department said over 700 firefighters with nearly 200 fire engines were trying to contain the fire, but dozens of water-bombing aircraft had to retire after dark.
Authorities opened the Olympic stadium in northern Athens and other sports facilities to house thousands of people evacuated from the path of the blaze. Three major hospitals have been placed on standby.
One firefighter suffered serious burns and another was hospitalised with breathing trouble, fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said.
The health ministry said 66 people had been treated for injuries related to the fire since Sunday.
Several smaller communities and towns, including Marathon, started to evacuate on Sunday.
Several small clinics and hospitals in the area followed suit.
"Civil protection forces battled hard throughout the night, but despite superhuman efforts, the fire evolved rapidly," Vathrakogiannis said.
The wind had rekindled the fire in 40 different locations on Monday, he said.
The destruction revived memories of the disaster in Mati, the coastal area near Marathon where 104 people died in July 2018 in a tragedy later blamed on evacuation delays and errors.
The summer wildfire season in Greece this year has seen dozens of daily blazes after the Mediterranean country recorded its warmest winter and the hottest June and July since reliable data collection began in 1960.
The National Observatory said temperatures of up to 38 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) are expected in Athens on Tuesday, with winds of up to 39 kilometres (24 miles) per hour.
- 'Engulfed in flames' -
"Forest fire near you. Follow the instructions of the authorities," said SMS messages sent to people in the Attica region, indicating in which direction to flee.
Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias issued a warning Saturday that half the country faced a high risk of fires due to high temperatures, strong winds and drought conditions.
On Monday he said the fire had spread even though a water-bombing aircraft reached the area within five minutes.
"We're working 24-hour shifts, all of us," said fireman Marinos Peristeropoulos.
"The fire spread very quickly because of the strong wind," he told AFP near one of the hotspots in Grammatiko.
Scientists say that human-induced fossil fuel emissions are worsening the length, frequency and intensity of heatwaves across the world.
Rising temperatures are leading to longer wildfire seasons and increasing the area burnt in the flames, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Other parts of Europe are also struggling with high temperatures.
Parts of France rose above 40C on Sunday. In Rome, temperatures were forecast to reach 38C Monday and remain around 36C this week.
Th.Berger--AMWN