- Demand for Japanese content booms post 'Shogun'
- As India's Bollywood shifts, stars and snappers click
- Mystery drones won't interfere with Santa's work: US tracker
- Djokovic eyes more Slam glory as Swiatek returns under doping cloud
- Australia's in-form Head confirmed fit for Boxing Day Test
- Brazilian midfielder Oscar returns to Sao Paulo
- 'Wemby' and 'Ant-Man' to make NBA Christmas debuts
- US agency focused on foreign disinformation shuts down
- On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis launches holy Jubilee year
- 'Like a dream': AFP photographer's return to Syria
- Chiefs seek top seed in holiday test for playoff-bound NFL teams
- Panamanians protest 'public enemy' Trump's canal threat
- Cyclone death toll in Mayotte rises to 39
- Ecuador vice president says Noboa seeking her 'banishment'
- Leicester boss Van Nistelrooy aware of 'bigger picture' as Liverpool await
- Syria authorities say armed groups have agreed to disband
- Maresca expects Man City to be in title hunt as he downplays Chelsea's chancs
- Man Utd boss Amorim vows to stay on course despite Rashford row
- South Africa opt for all-pace attack against Pakistan
- Guardiola adamant Man City slump not all about Haaland
- Global stocks mostly higher in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Bethlehem marks sombre Christmas under shadow of war
- NASA probe makes closest ever pass by the Sun
- 11 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Indonesia considers parole for ex-terror chiefs: official
- Global stocks mostly rise in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Postecoglou says Spurs 'need to reinforce' in transfer window
- Le Pen says days of new French govt numbered
- Global stocks mostly rise after US tech rally
- Villa boss Emery set for 'very difficult' clash with Newcastle
- Investors swoop in to save German flying taxi startup
- How Finnish youth learn to spot disinformation
- South Korean opposition postpones decision to impeach acting president
- 12 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Panama leaders past and present reject Trump's threat of Canal takeover
- Hong Kong police issue fresh bounties for activists overseas
- Saving the mysterious African manatee at Cameroon hotspot
- India consider second spinner for Boxing Day Test
- London wall illuminates Covid's enduring pain at Christmas
- Poyet appointed manager at South Korea's Jeonbuk
- South Korea's opposition vows to impeach acting president
- The tsunami detection buoys safeguarding lives in Thailand
- Teen Konstas to open for Australia in Boxing Day India Test
- Asian stocks mostly up after US tech rally
- US panel could not reach consensus on US-Japan steel deal: Nippon
- The real-life violence that inspired South Korea's 'Squid Game'
- Blogs to Bluesky: social media shifts responses after 2004 tsunami
- Tennis power couple de Minaur and Boulter get engaged
- Supermaxi yachts eye record in gruelling Sydney-Hobart race
- Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts, spewing columns of lava
Greece counts cost as firefighters master fires around Athens
Greece on Wednesday counted the cost of devastating fires outside Athens that claimed one life, forced thousands to flee their homes and took three days to control.
With the smoke still to clear, civil protection officials said the fire devoured 10,000 hectares (nearly 25,000 acres), destroying about 100 homes as well as other building and cars.
While isolated fires still burned, there were no major active blazes, but some 530 firefighters and 145 vehicles were monitoring events, said the fire service.
"The fire is not as intense as it was in the last few days," a fire service spokesman told AFP. "But there are still a few spots that could cause the fires to flare up again."
The fire broke out on Sunday at Varnavas, near the historic town of Marathon, 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of Athens.
Investigators think a faulty electricity pole may have been the cause, the Kathimerini newspaper reported.
Strong winds fed the flames, turning it into the worst wildfire this year in Greece.
As the flames approached the suburbs of the capital, teams from France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia and Turkey mobilised through an EU scheme to help Greece master the fires.
The reinforcements have not yet been used in the Athens fire, the fire brigade spokesman said.
- 'Under-staffed, under-equipped' -
With thousands of people forced to flee their homes, several stadiums were opened up to received them. Some 650 people were hosted in hotels, the civil protection ministry said.
The government has already earmarked 4.7 million euros for the eight towns hit by the fires, with pay-outs for households and individuals affected by the disaster.
But there was growing anger over what critics say was a lack of preparedness.
"Under-staffed, under-equipped and totally uncoordinated," said Stefanos Kasselakis, leader of the leftwing Syriza opposition party of the civil protection service, blaming Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
"We're doing our best to improve every year," said Mitsotakis after an emergency cabinet meeting Tuesday. "But conditions are unfortunately becoming more difficult."
Around 200 people demonstrated outside parliament on Tuesday evening to denounce what they called the government's "crimes".
"The solution won't just come from the air," he added: preventative work was also essential.
But toll of annual fires is growing. According to the meteo.gr website of the National Observatory, 37 percent of forests around Athens have been consumed by fire over the past eight years.
O.Norris--AMWN