An unpleasant surprise awaited tens of passengers at Beirut airport who were returning to Kuwait, as they were told their seats were canceled, although their flight was still flying to Kuwait. They were not the only ones who faced such a problem. Passengers on various airlines complained of unfair behavior by airlines, which canceled their seats that they had booked and paid for, although the flight itself was not canceled.

Kuwait Times spoke to three different people flying on two different airlines whose seats were canceled. One was only refunded half the price he had paid and was told his flight was canceled, while in fact it wasn’t. The other two got full refunds and were offered two seats on the same flight but for a higher price.

Khaled from Al-Sayed travel agency explained the reason behind this problem. “This is due to the limited seats on flights to Kuwait on some airlines, which does not include Kuwait Airways. This quota of only 35 seats was set by the Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGCA),” he told Kuwait Times.

These airlines submitted a request to DGCA to increase this quota or cancel it completely. “Based on this request, these airlines booked the entire flight. When they received the response from DGCA that their request is rejected, they canceled the tickets of a majority of passengers who exceeded the 35 seats on each flight,” added Khaled.

“The passenger should always be offered either a different date without paying any additional charges or a complete refund. But refunding only half the fare or offering rebooking for a higher price cannot be acceptable. We haven’t faced such a situation at our agency,” he concluded.

According to Mohamed from Ritz travel agency, their agency also has not faced such a problem. However, he said they experienced some cases of cancelation of flights. “We had some clients complaining that after arriving at the airport, they were told that their flight was cancelled, which caused inconvenience, especially since they were not informed in advance.

They blame us for not informing them, but it is the airlines’ fault, who did not inform us in the first place. These passengers will either reschedule their flights or be fully refunded,” he told Kuwait Times. DGCA Director General Yousef Al-Fouzan told Kuwait Times that no meeting regarding increasing the quota for the airlines has been held yet. He also noted that it’s not clear when this quota will be lifted./agencies

At least five people including three Hezbollah members were killed south of Beirut Sunday when a funeral procession for a party member was ambushed, a Lebanese security source told AFP.

Several people were wounded in the exchange of fire in the Khalde area between members of the Lebanese Shiite group and Sunni residents, the source said.

The funeral was for a Hezbollah man killed the night before, the source added.

Hezbollah in a statement appealed to the army and security forces to arrest those behind the "ambush", which it said killed two members of the funeral procession.

A military source told AFP the army had deployed in force to the area and sent reinforcements.

The army said in a statement that soldiers would "open fire on all armed men on the streets of Khalde" and in response to any other shootings.

Despite the warnings, sporadic gunfire lasted for about three hours after the violence erupted, according to an AFP photographer. A precarious calm set in during the evening.

Military checkpoints backed by armoured vehicles were erected at various road crossings leading to Khalde.

The Lebanese Red Cross told AFP it transported four wounded people, including one in serious condition, for medical care.

- Call for restraint -

"But the number of wounded is higher, as many were transported in private cars while the Red Cross was not able to gain access to the scene of the clashes," a Red Cross spokesman said.

Shots, sniper fire, stirred panic in the area as people fled restaurants and beaches, local media reported.

The state-run National News Agency said Hezbollah member Ali Shebli was killed at point-blank range at a wedding on Saturday night in Khalde, in an apparent revenge killing for the deaths of two people last year in the same area.

Prime minister-designate Najib Mikati appealed for "restraint" and warned against confessional "discord".

Tensions between Sunnis and Shiites often run high in multi-confessional Lebanon.

The violence comes as Lebanon faces an economic crisis described by the World Bank as one of the world's worst since the mid-19th century.

The country is grappling with soaring poverty, a plummeting currency and shortages of basic items from medicines to fuel.

It has been without a government for almost a year after the cabinet resigned in the wake of a catastrophic explosion at Beirut's port last August 4.

Lebanon has been mired in political instability since a nationwide protest movement broke out in late 2019 demanding an end to the system of confessional power sharing that it said rewarded corruption and incompetence./ AFP

 The “Israeli” Supreme Court on Monday delayed a final verdict on the appeal by four Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, occupied East Jerusalem, who are facing imminent expulsion to make way for Jewish settlers.

"The court heard all sides of the case but didn't reach a verdict," said, Sami Arshid, a lawyer for the Palestinian families, after the court session. No date for the decision has been given, he added.

Meanwhile, the “Israeli” Broadcasting Corporation said the court had proposed a compromise -- protected tenancy status for the families, allowing them to stay in their homes on rent. A lower court had approved the eviction of the four families in January.

The decision had sparked 11-day-long clashes between Palestinians and “Israeli” occupying forces in May in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza. Many countries have urged Israel to reconsider its eviction plans.

The lawsuit stems from the events of 1948 when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forcefully evicted from their homes and lands, a tragedy Palestinians call the "Nakba," or "Catastrophe."

In 1956, 28 families settled in Sheikh Jarrah. “Israeli” settlers and extremist Jewish associations, however, said the houses were built on the land they owned before “Israel” was established in 1948, a claim denied by Palestinians./agencies

In a violation of longstanding treaties, Greece on Monday decided to close 12 more schools serving the country's Muslim Turkish minority, claiming there are too few students.

Under an Education Ministry decree, eight schools in Rhodope (Rodop) and four schools in Xanthi (Iskece) in the country’s Western Thrace will be temporarily suspended – a move that Turkey claims is planned and often proves permanent.

A total of 132 minority schools in the country have been systematically closed since 2011, and the number of schools operating in the Rhodope, Xanthi, and Evros provinces has dropped to 103, with officials citing a supposed lack of students as the reason.

Turks in Greece outraged

Greece's decision to close minority schools is part of a "planned and malicious effort against the minority,” the Western Thrace Turkish Minority Consultation Council said in a statement.

Emphasizing that minority education is determined by international agreements, especially the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, and protocols signed between Turkey and Greece, the statement added: "We would like to emphasize our disappointment and protest against the anti-democratic practices of our country, Greece, and especially the current government, regarding minority education and its insensitive attitude to the just demands that have been voiced for years."

"The (school) closure decisions announced this year were published at a time when the whole country was on holiday. This alone makes it clear that the decision is part of a planned and malicious effort against the Western Thrace Turkish Minority," it said.

"We condemn and do not accept this behavior, which is neither suitable for human relations nor for pluralist democracy," it stressed.

‘More than half of minority schools closed’

Turkey also condemned the move, saying it will mean that more than half of the minority primary schools in Greece are closed.

"The policy of Greece to close primary schools belonging to the Western Thrace Turkish Minority through 'temporary suspension' has been proven to be systematic," said a Foreign Ministry statement.

"Moreover, in recent legal regulations covering schools in Greece, we have observed that minority schools are excluded from many articles, which is discrimination," it added.

The statement also said the decision violates the Treaty of Lausanne and is another sign of "the policies of assimilation and oppression" towards Turks in Western Thrace over the decades.

It also accused Greece of ignoring demands to open new minority secondary/high schools, despite a need, thus "violating the education rights of minority children" under various pretexts.

"We invite Greece to put an end to its discriminatory policy towards minority schools, as seen in the latest legislation," it added, stressing that Turkey "will continue to support the minority's struggle for their rights and law" in bilateral meetings as well as on international platforms.

"The international community should no longer be a spectator to the systematic violation of human rights in an EU member state," it added.

Oppressed minority

Greece's Western Thrace region – in the country’s northeast, near the Turkish border – is home to a substantial, long-established Muslim Turkish minority numbering around 150,000.

The rights of the Turks of Western Thrace were guaranteed under the Treaty of Lausanne, a pact forged in the aftermath of World War I, but since then the situation has steadily deteriorated.

After a Greek junta came to power in 1967, the Turks of Western Thrace started to face harsher persecution and rights abuses by the Greek state, often in blatant violation of European court rulings.

The Turkish minority faces problems over collective and civil rights and education to this day, from banning the word “Turkish” in the names of organizations, to try to block the Turkish community from electing its own imams./aa

A community on Greece’s largest peninsula was evacuated Monday after a fire broke out in a nearby forest, according to the firefighting service.

Around 65 firefighters, teams on foot, 18 fire engines, two water-dropping helicopters and four firefighting aircraft are currently battling the blaze in Messinia -- the third blaze to hit the Peloponnese in just a few days.

Meanwhile, two more fires erupted in the Fthiotida prefecture, central Greece, in the afternoon, according to the fire brigade.

The first fire broke out near the village of Lefkada in western Fthiotida.

According to local media, the fire was quickly contained by firefighters and two aircraft, local volunteers, and residents.

Just a few minutes later, a second fire broke out in a forest area near the village of Loggitsi, on the east side of Fthiotida.

Firefighting teams are currently in the area battling the blaze with the help of aircraft and helicopters.

Local media have reported very strong winds in the area, while very high temperatures were also reported at the time the fire broke out.

A fire that broke out Sunday on the island of Rhodes and burned several hectares of forest has been abating, according to firefighters, with professionals and volunteers alike battling the blaze overnight./aa

SKOPJE, North Macedonia

A strong wildfire has appeared on a mountain above a city in the eastern part of North Macedonia, according to images on social media.

In images and videos posted on social media by residents of the city of Kochani, some 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of the capital Skopje, the fire can be seen, and even appears to have engulfed some houses along the slope.

Local media quoted Nikolcho Iliev, the mayor of Kochani, saying there is a "great danger to the city from three sides." He also asked for institutions to take action to bring the fire under control.

"Some houses have already been engulfed (by fire), close to the city there is a forest that is engulfed (by fire),” he said.

“It is spreading in an indefinite direction, actually in the direction of the wind,” he added./aa