Five years after challenging miracle of Holy Fire, Greek journalist is acquitted
RNS On Friday, Dimitris Alikakos, a Greek journalist, walked out of court in Athens without the shadow of prosecution for the first time in almost half a decade. His alleged crime: debunking miracles. Christian pilgrims hold candles as they gather during the ceremony of the Holy Fire at Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where many […]
StrangeSights: Miami woman sets electric car record; a runaway ostrich; and, a pygmy hippo’s arrival
DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
Wow!: A 93-year-old Greek grandmother’s scarves travel to children in need
KAROLINA TAGARIS, of Reuters, meets Ioanna Matsouka…
Greeks strike to mark train crash anniversary, protest low wages
Athens, Greece Reuters Rail services will be halted and ships will remain docked at ports near the capital Athens on Wednesday, as workers walk off the job to mark the anniversary of the country’s deadliest train crash. A passenger train from Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki collided head-on with a freight train on […]
Wildfires slowly abate in Greece but temperatures rise
Athens, GreeceReuters Wildfires across Greece slowly abated on Thursday after razing swathes of forest and dozens of homes in the past days, but temperatures rose, threatening new outbreaks in tinderbox conditions. With temperatures expected to hit 45 degrees Celsius in the coming days, the Culture Ministry said all archaeological sites, including the Acropolis monument, will […]
Wildfire rages north-west of Athens unabated, burns homes; Switzerland fights to contain fire near Italian border
Mandra, Greece Reuters A wildfire swept uncontrolled through a forest and towns north-west of Athens for a second day on Tuesday, forcing more residents to flee their homes as authorities fought to stop the flames reaching an area with oil refineries. The active fire front extended over eight kilometres, officials said, damaging homes around the […]
Tens of thousands march in Greece in angry train crash protest
Athens, Greece Reuters Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Greece on Wednesday and workers went on strike in the biggest show of public anger yet over the country’s deadliest train disaster that killed 57 people last week. The crash on 28th February has stirred public outrage over the crumbling state of […]
Thousands protest in Athens after Greece’s deadly train crash
Athens, Greece Reuters Clashes erupted briefly between police and a group of demonstrators in central Athens on Sunday on the fringes of a protest by thousands of students and railway workers over Greece’s deadliest train crash in living memory. A small group of protesters hurled petrol bombs at police, who responded with tear gas and […]
Greece train crash: families of victims grieve as protests grow
Katerini/Athens, Greece Reuters Families and friends, dressed in black, clung to each other, in tears, as the coffin of a 34-year-old mother killed in Greece’s deadliest train crash was lifted up the stairs of a church on Friday. The first known funeral after Tuesday night’s accident, which killed at least 57, took place in the […]
Greek PM dashes hopes of swift return of Parthenon marbles
Athens, Greece Reuters Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday dismissed reports of an imminent repatriation of the Parthenon sculptures known in Britain as the Elgin marbles. Britain and Greece recently began fresh talks over a possible deal to end the long-running dispute. Greece has repeatedly asked the British Museum to permanently return the 2,500-year-old […]