Extreme heat: How ‘chief heat officers’ keep cities cool as the world warms
ANASTASIA MOLONEY, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how more and more cities are creating the new role as hotter summers cause surging health problems and economic pain in urban areas…
In pictures – spiritual, material mix at Greek mid-August feast
Kea, Greece AP Blending the spiritual with the material, mid-August marks the high point of Greece’s summer season that attracts crowds of city-dwellers back to their ancestral villages. The 15th August feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary is a major religious event coupled with festivals, known as “panigiria”, that can last more than […]
Wildfires burn coastal homes, forests in Greece as Europe’s heatwave spreads east
Athens, Greece Reuters Greek firefighters battled wildfires on the island of Lesbos for a second day on Sunday as well as new fires in the western Peloponnese and in northern Greece, evacuating nearby settlements as a heatwave set in. A wildfire that started in mountainous forests on Lesbos in the Aegean Sea near Turkey on […]
Snow strands thousands in Turkey, Greece; threatens displaced Syrians in northern camps
Istanbul, Turkey/Athens, GreeceReuters Some Istanbul Airport flights resumed on Tuesday after nearly 24 hours of cancellations as heavy snowfall clogged roads and stranded thousands of people across Turkey and Greece. A police car drives past the Greek parliament building, following heavy snowfall in Athens, Greece, on 25th January. PICTURE: Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis. In Athens, thousands were […]
Pope returning home after trip focused on helping migrants
Athens, Greece AP Pope Francis ended his visit to Greece on Monday by encouraging its young people to follow their dreams and not be tempted by the consumerist “sirens” of today that promise easy pleasures. Francis briefly struggled to keep his balance on the steps while boarding the plane bound for Rome when caught by […]
Greece asks faithful to be COVID-clear to attend church
Athens, Greece Reuters Greece introduced new restrictions obliging churchgoers to present negative COVID-19 tests to attend services on Sunday following a surge in infections in recent weeks. Under new rules announced on 18th November, unvaccinated people are barred from indoor spaces including restaurants, cinemas, museums and gyms, even if they test negative for the coronavirus. […]
Olympics – Protests in Athens as Beijing prepares for Games flame
Athens, GreeceReuters Greek police detained two human rights activists after they unfurled banners at the Athens Acropolis on Sunday opposing the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics as China’s Games organisers prepare to receive the Olympic flame. The activists staged a brief protest at the Acropolis in the Greek capital early in the morning, holding up a […]
PM apologises as Greece counts costs of wildfire catastrophe
Pefki, GreeceReuters Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis apologised on Monday for failures in tackling the devastating wildfires that have burned across Greece for the past week as the country counted the cost in lost homes and livelihoods. As fires burned unabated in many parts of the country for a seventh day, the biggest front was […]
Greece battles wildfires for fifth day in “nightmarish summer”
Athens, GreeceReuters Fires blazed uncontrolled for a fifth day in Greece on Saturday, ravaging swathes of land on its second-biggest island of Evia where hundreds of people had to be evacuated by ferry and locals joined firefighters in battling the flames. A fire which began on Tuesday on the island east of Athens quickly burgeoned […]
Greek priest charged over acid attack on seven senior bishops
Athens, Greece AP A defrocked Greek Orthodox priest was charged Thursday with multiple counts of causing grievous bodily harm over an acid attack that injured seven senior bishops and three other people. The 37-year-old Greek man was led to court in lay clothing, handcuffs, and under a heavily armed police escort. Journalists and cameramen stand […]