Athens: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Saturday demanded the release of two soldiers jailed in Turkey, arguing that they should not be “pawns to blackmail.”
“Human life and human freedom are not, and should not be, pawns to power games and blackmail,” Tsipras said in a statement to Documento newspaper.
Turkey is holding in pre-trial detention two Greek soldiers who crossed the border on March 2, claiming to have lost their way in the fog.
Greece had hoped to secure their release before Sunday’s Orthodox Easter celebration.
Turkish media have reported that the pair, held in the northern Turkish province of Edirne, have been charged with espionage.
But Athens contends that Turkish authorities have not given adequate details of the charges and on what evidence they are based.
According to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency, the soldiers have been charged with “attempted military espionage” as well as entering a forbidden military zone.
The issue has strained an already tense relationship between the two NATO allies and regional rivals.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and members of his government have escalated attacks on Greece after its failure to extradite eight Turkish soldiers that Ankara said were part of an attempted 2016 coup.
The Greek Supreme Court has conclusively blocked the extradition of the eight Turkish soldiers, arguing that they would not have a fair trial in their home country amid an ongoing purge of suspected Erdogan opponents.
Additionally, Ankara and Athens are at loggerheads over the exploration of gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean.
Tsipras earlier this week called on the Turkish judiciary to “speed up” its processing of the case.
“In the past, we returned Turkish soldiers who crossed a few meters into Greece whilst on patrol. I expect the Turkish president to do the same,” he said.
Greek PM: Soldiers jailed in Turkey should not be pawns to blackmail
Greek PM: Soldiers jailed in Turkey should not be pawns to blackmail

- Turkey is holding two Greek soldiers in pre-trial detention. They crossed the border on March 2, claiming to have lost their way in the fog.
- According to Turkish media reports, the soldiers who were held in the northern Turkish province of Edirne, have been charged with espionage.
African Union says DR Congo-Rwanda deal ‘milestone’ toward peace
For more than 30 years the eastern DRC has been riven by conflict, which has intensified in recent years with the advance of an armed militia backed by Rwanda.
A statement said AU Commission head Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, who witnessed the signing of the deal in Washington on Friday, “welcomed this significant milestone and commended all efforts aimed at advancing peace, stability, & reconciliation in the region.”
It said he “appreciated the constructive & supportive role played by the US & the State of Qatar in facilitating dialogue & consensus that led to this development.”
The agreement comes after the M23, an ethnic Tutsi rebel force supported by Rwanda, sprinted across the mineral-rich east of the DRC this year, seizing vast territory including the key city of Goma.
The deal does not explicitly address the gains of the M23 in the area torn by decades of on-off war but calls for Rwanda to end “defensive measures” it has taken.
Rwanda has denied offering the M23 military support but has demanded an end to another armed group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which was established by ethnic Hutus involved in the massacres of Tutsis in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
The agreement calls for the “neutralization” of the FDLR.
13 soldiers killed in a suicide attack in northwest Pakistan: officials

- The suicide attack killed 13 soldiers and wounded 29, including civilians
PESHAWAR: A suicide attack killed 13 soldiers and wounded 29, including civilians, in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, local government officials and police officers told AFP.
“A suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a military convoy. The blast killed 13 soldiers, injured 10 army personnel and 19 civilians,” said a local government official in North Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
“The explosion also caused the roofs of two houses to collapse, injuring six children,” a police officer posted in the district told AFP.
Heavy rain hits China’s flood-stricken Guizhou for second time in a week

- Authorities raised the city’s flood emergency response level to the highest level on Saturday
- The amount of rain that fell over 72 hours was double the city’s average for June
SHANGHAI: Heavy rain struck China’s southwestern Guizhou province again on Saturday, half-submerging the already flood-stricken riverside city of Rongjiang for a second time this week and prompting the evacuation of residents to higher ground.
Located at the confluence of three rivers and home to 300,000 residents, Rongjiang was inundated earlier this week by record downpours that left six dead and forced more than 80,000 people to flee their homes. The amount of rain that fell over 72 hours was double the city’s average for June.
In response to the new round of flooding, authorities raised the city’s flood emergency response level to the highest level on Saturday.
The benchmark hydrological station on one of the rivers estimated that the peak water level would hit 253.50 meters (832 ft) at around 5 p.m. (0900 GMT), exceeding the safety threshold by 2 meters, state broadcaster CCTV said.
Earlier this week, the peak water level reached 256.7 meters, the highest since 1954, the Guizhou provincial government said in a statement to Reuters on Friday, blaming “the extreme climate” for the flooding.
The floods in southwest China are set to hit local economies.
Rongjiang was removed from the national poverty list in 2020. It then saw an unexpected tourism boom after a local soccer league nicknamed “Village Super League” became a social media sensation, attracting thousands of fans and tourists. On Tuesday, the soccer pitch was up to seven meters under water.
China has battled with summer floods for millennia, but some scientists say climate change is resulting in heavier and more frequent rain. Massive flooding could set off unforeseen “black swan” events with dire consequences, such as dam collapses, Chinese officials say.
In southern China over the past two days, 13 major rivers in Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi and Hainan were hit by storms and had risen above their warning levels, CCTV reported, citing the Ministry of Water Resources on Saturday.
Sandal scandal: Prada credits new design’s Indian legacy amid furor

- A Prada spokesperson issued a statement acknowledging the sandal’s inspiration from India, adding the company has “always celebrated craftsmanship, heritage and design traditions"
NEW DELHI/MILAN: Luxury fashion powerhouse Prada has acknowledged the ancient Indian roots of its new sandal design after the debut of the open-toe footwear sparked a furor among Indian artisans and politicians thousands of miles from the catwalk in Italy.
Images from Prada’s fashion show in Milan last weekend showed models wearing leather sandals with a braided design that resembled handmade Kolhapuri slippers with designs dating back to the 12th century.
A wave of criticism in the media and from lawmakers followed over the Italian brand’s lack of public acknowledgement of the Indian sandal design, which is named after a city in the western state of Maharashtra.
Lorenzo Bertelli, son of Prada’s owners, responded to the sandal scandal in a letter to a trade group on Friday recognizing their Indian heritage.
“We acknowledge that the sandals... are inspired by traditional Indian handcrafted footwear, with a centuries-old heritage,” Bertelli, Prada’s head of corporate social responsibility, wrote in the letter to the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, seen by Reuters.
The sandals are at an early stage of design and it is not certain they will be commercialized, but Prada is open to a “dialogue for meaningful exchange with local Indian artisans” and will arrange follow-up meetings, he wrote.
A Prada spokesperson issued a statement acknowledging the sandal’s inspiration from India, adding the company has “always celebrated craftsmanship, heritage and design traditions.”
Prada products are beyond the reach of most Indians. Its men’s leather sandals retail for $844 and up, while the Kolhapuri slippers, sold in Indian shops and street markets, start at about $12.
India’s luxury market is small but growing fast, with rising numbers of rich people buying Louis Vuitton bags, Lamborghini cars, luxury homes and watches.
Conversely, Indian culture and crafts are increasingly finding their way into global brand designs. High-end jeweller Bulgari offers a $16,000 Mangalsutra necklace inspired by a chain traditionally worn by married women.
Bertelli’s homage to Indian design was sent in a response to a complaint from the head of the trade group that represents 3,000 Kolhapuri sandal artisans, as the online uproar gathered momentum.
“From the dusty lanes of Kolhapur to the glitzy runways of Milan... will the world finally give credit where it’s due?” India’s DNA News posted on X.
SambHajji Chhatrapati from the Kolhapur Royal family told Reuters by phone he was upset that craftsmen had not been acknowledged for the “history and heritage of 150 years.”
Kolhapur-based businessman Dileep More, however, said images of the Prada sandal were bringing cheer to some artisans as they show their traditional product going global.
“They are happy that someone is recognizing their work,” he said.
France bans smoking in beaches, in parks and bus shelters

PARIS: France will ban smoking on beaches and in parks, public gardens and bus shelters from Sunday, the government said.
The decree, published in the official government gazette on Saturday, will also ban smoking outside libraries, swimming pools and schools, and is aimed at protecting children from passive smoking.
The decree did not mention electronic cigarettes. Violaters of the ban will face a fine of 135 euros ($158).
“Tobacco must disappear from places where there are children,” Health and Family Minister Catherine Vautrin had said in May, underscoring “the right of children to breathe pure air.”
Cafe terraces are excluded from the ban.
Some 75,000 people are estimated to die from tobacco-related complications each year in France.
According to a recent opinion survey, six out of 10 French people (62 percent) favor a smoking ban in public places.