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A dodgy holiday drink made me go blindHannah Powell had been throwing up and felt exhausted after a night out on a bar crawl with two friends in Zante, Greece, in August 2016.But it wasn't a hangover. The 23-year-old had drunk vodka that - unknown to her - had been mixed with deadly methanol.It made her kidneys shut down and she went blind.
Three MPs quit Tory party to join breakaway groupThree Tory MPs have resigned from the party to join an independent group, set up by former Labour MPs.Anna Soubry, Sarah Wollaston and Heidi Allen wrote a joint letter to Theresa May to confirm their departure.The PM said she was "saddened", but her party would "always offer... decent, moderate and patriotic politics".The three said Brexit had "redefined the Conservative Party - undoing all the efforts to modernise it" and there had been a "shift to the right".The pro-Remain trio will join the new Independent Group - made up of eight Labour MPs who resigned from their party over its handling of Brexit and anti-Semitism - saying it represented "the centre ground of British politics".The group now has more MPs in Parliament than the Democratic Unionist Party and equals the number of Liberal Democrats.
The civil war threatening Greece’s World Cup campaign
Greece Receives More Than 7,000 Asylum Requests from Turks Fleeing ErdoganGreece’s asylum service has published data, revealing that more than 7,000 Turkish nationals have requested asylum in Greece since the failed coup attempt in their country in 2016.Only 189 Turks filed for asylum in 2016, then 1,826 in 2017, and 4,834 in 2018, according to data from Greece’s asylum service.The majority of those fleeing Turkey are civil servants, lawyers, doctors and teachers linked to the U.S.-based Turkish preacher Fethullah Gülen, the man Turkey’s President accuses of masterminding the coup attempt.The Turkish government has arrested tens of thousands of people it claims to have links to Gülen, while another 150,000 civil servants, military personnel and professors have been sacked from the government as part of Ankara’s ongoing “cleanse” of people they say pose a threat to the country.Those Ankara has accused of links to Gülen may not even be safe abroad, dozens of Turks who fled to nations around the world have been arrested and deported back to Turkey.
Ancient Greek City Unearthed Thousands of Miles from GreeceAn archaeological team from the Russian Academy of Sciences Archaeology Institute recently uncovered an ancient Greek settlement in eastern Crimea, according to a report by the Russian News Agency TASS.
BBC provides translation of quintessential Greek termsBBC radio has come up with English translations of the Greek words “philotimo” and “philoxenia,” traditionally considered as the hardest concepts to render in foreign languages.Philotimo translates as “love of honor,” the report said, adding that the concept, considered to be the top of all Greek virtues, is used to express the importance of respecting and honoring one’s friends and family. “The term essentially means doing good and demonstrating exemplary behavior.”According to the same report, philoxenia is a love of strangers and guests to the home, and is literally translated as “friend to the stranger.”According to BBC radio, the word “means far more than just an eagerness to show hospitality or a warm welcome.”
Takis’ Shelter: The Greek Man Who Devotes His Life to AnimalsTakis Proestakis, a former Greek businessman in the town of Ierapetra, Crete, gave up his comfortable life to devote himself to caring for abandoned dogs and cats. And now he has even added some stray goats to his menagerie.The former owner of a popular nightclub in the town has created and maintains a shelter for stray animals, thanks to donations that have come in from across the world.Speaking to the Greek Reporter, Proestakis told us about the life-changing experience he had six years ago when he took a stroll near the a garbage dump outside the town.
Greece Braces for More Snow as Cold Front Barrels Down from the NorthWeather conditions in Greece are expected to take a sharp turn for the worse beginning on Friday and deteriorating even more as the weekend goes on.Extremely cold air masses from the North Pole are expected to head toward Greece at the end of the week, barreling south via Ukraine and the Black Sea.According to the National Observatory of Athens’ Meteo weather service, temperatures are expected to dive by over 10 degrees centigrade and bring heavy snowfall, even to areas at a low altitude.
Kitbull: Pixar releases new short about friendship between stray kitten and pit bull
Giant tortoise believed extinct for 100 years discovered in GalapagosLive individual of rare species last seen in 1906A species of giant tortoise thought to be extinct for over a hundred years has been found on the Galapagos island of Fernandina, according to Ecuador’s government.
Britons urged to get flu vaccine as critical cases rise above 2,000Virus has killed 200 and left many more in intensive care units over winter periodSenior doctors said as many people were at risk of dying as during the pandemics of 2009-10 and 2010-11, despite the small numbers contracting the virus.One leading expert said the strain of flu this winter was so virulent that it had left people who were previously fit and healthy critically ill, some of whom hospitals have been unable to save. Those who have not had this year’s winter flu vaccine appear to be most at risk.In total, 2,182 people in the UK have had to be admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) or high-dependency unit (HDU) because of flu since the start of October. That is more than the 2,045 who needed such care in the same period last year, when the virus was much more prevalent. Flu has killed 195 this winter, though that is down on the 241 deaths that occurred in the same period in 2017-18.