A young protester is detained by riot policemen during clashes outside an international trade fair in Greece. AP
A young protester is detained by riot policemen during clashes outside an international trade fair in Greece. AP

Greek police fire teargas at Macedonia protesters



Thousands of Greeks protested in the northern city of Thessaloniki on Saturday over a deal with neighbouring Macedonia to end a decades-old dispute over its name.

Athens and Skopje reached an agreement in June ending years of acrimony between the two countries over the name of the tiny Balkan state, but it has triggered a furious response from many Greeks.

On Saturday, police fired teargas at a group of individuals who broke away from a main group of demonstrators and threw stones at riot police.

State TV showed images of riot police chasing protesters close to barriers erected around a commercial park where an annual trade fair was taking place. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was due to deliver a policy address later at the heavily guarded venue.

Police sources estimated the number of protesters at more than 15,000, many waving the white and blue Greek flag.

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Greece has been at odds with Macedonia since 1991 over the name of the Balkan state, arguing it could imply territorial claims over its province of the same name, and an appropriation of ancient Greek culture and civilisation.

Thessaloniki is the capital of Greece's northern province of Macedonia.

The country Macedonia has called a referendum on September 30 on the agreement with Greece to change its name to the Republic of North Macedonia. But many Greeks oppose any name that includes Macedonia.

On Saturday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Macedonians to embrace the deal with Greece, to secure membership of Nato and the European Union.

Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”

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