Author Topic: 17/03/23  (Read 1615 times)

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Offline Maik

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17/03/23
« on: Friday, 17 March, 2023 @ 02:17:14 »
Today’s bank rates:
1 €UR = £0.9046 GBP
1 €UR = $1.0913 USD
£1 GBP = 1.1055 €UR
$1 USD = 0.9163 €UR

Based on Alpha Bank exchange rates, these are widely used by exchange agencies in Greece.
Other banks likely to offer a different rate which may be marginally higher or lower.
Banks and foreign exchange offices normally charge standard 2% commission.
You may get a better rate changing your holiday money in advance at e.g the
Post Office.
NB: some f-ex agencies advertise "No Commission".
Invariably, they deduct commission before they (don't) advertise the rate.
Foreign exchange offices are businesses, not charities.


Ten day weather forecast for Kefalonia:
This is an overall forecast, due to the mountainous terrain the weather can be very localised.
Updated forecast @
weather.com

Day, Date   Hi°/Lo°   Wind sp   Wet   Forecast
Fri 17/03   15°/09°   20 km/h   42%   Showers possible
Sat 18/03   15°/10°   13 km/h   05%   Mostly sunny
Sun 19/03   17°/10°   13 km/h   08%   Mostly sunny
Mon 20/03   18°/12°   12 km/h   08%   Sun & cloud
Tue 21/03   19°/12°   11 km/h   21%   Sun & cloud
Wed 22/03   19°/13°   12 km/h   08%   Sun & cloud
Thu 23/03   19°/13°   12 km/h   19%   Sun & cloud
Fri 24/03   19°/13°   12 km/h   10%   Mostly sunny
Sat 25/03   19°/13°   15 km/h   19%   Sun & cloud
Sun 26/03   18°/13°   19 km/h   24%   Sun & cloud

frost.getmap.gr
No risk of frost

Offline Maik

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Re: 17/03/23
« Reply #1 on: Friday, 17 March, 2023 @ 02:26:43 »
Quote
The best bits of Greece you've probably never heard of
There's secret Greece, then there's really secret Greece – and this year, it's time to discover the latter

Few European destinations are more recognisable than Greece – particularly in the white heat of summer, when the Mediterranean sun smiles on the land of Zeus, Poseidon and Aphrodite. Its rays bounce off the honeyed pillars of the Parthenon, skip across the surface of the Aegean, wrap around the windmills of Mykonos, and dance on the seafront in Crete, Rhodes, Skiathos and Kos.

It is a picture both familiar and inviting, and we enjoy it in large numbers on a regular basis, with some three million Britons visiting Greece each year. But what of the less familiar side of Greece – the Greece beyond the sands of Shipwreck Beach on Zakynthos, beyond the view of the waves from Santorini’s epic cliff-tops?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/greece/best-bits-greece-probably-never-heard/


Offline Maik

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Re: 17/03/23
« Reply #2 on: Friday, 17 March, 2023 @ 02:30:48 »
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Bird flu: Two dolphins die from avian influenza in UK waters for the first time

Two dolphins have died from bird flu in UK waters for the first time, the government has announced.
https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/bird-flu-dolphins-die-avian-influenza-uk-2214336

Quote
Seals found dead on Cornish beaches test positive for bird flu

Avian flu has been discovered in five seals which were found dead on beaches in Cornwall.

Experts have reassured that avian flu is a 'long way' from spreading to humans.
https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2023-03-16/seals-found-dead-on-beaches-test-positive-for-bird-flu

Offline Maik

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Re: 17/03/23
« Reply #3 on: Friday, 17 March, 2023 @ 02:37:23 »
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Inside the Warwickshire mega farm where pigs are caked in excrement and 'left to die for hours'

A pig being eaten by other pigs and a piglet being trampled on have been seen in secret footage, which campaigners say shows the “grim reality” of life at a farm in Warwickshire.

Footage filmed by a private investigator, hired by animal rights organisation Animal Justice Project, was captured at Bickmarsh Hall Farm in Alcester over three months in September 2022.

8,000 pigs are housed at Bickmarsh Hall Farm - one of the UK's 'mega farms' - in 46 sheds.

The hidden cameras show one pig being eaten by other pigs, while a shivering and groaning piglet is trampled on and bitten by others.

The farm rears pigs for pork producer, Cranswick Country Foods, which supplies some of the major supermarkets.

Bickmarsh Hall Farm is also Red Tractor approved - the UK's largest food and farm standards scheme, which indicates to consumers that food has been produced "to the highest standard".

The company Red Tractor, which audits Bickmarsh Hall Farm says the farm has been to be in compliance with animal welfare standards.
https://www.itv.com/news/central/2023-03-16/hidden-cameras-show-pig-cannibalism-and-animal-abuse-at-warwickshire-farm

Video in link, but not the worst bits. Not the first time Red Tractor have endorsed a company practicing abysmal animal welfare standards. Looks as though a Red Tractor guarantee is worth as much as a politician's promise.

Offline Maik

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Re: 17/03/23
« Reply #4 on: Friday, 17 March, 2023 @ 02:39:20 »
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Boris Johnson re-selected to run in Uxbridge at next general election after suggestions of safer seat

There had been suggestions the former prime minister would move to a safer seat as he faces criticism over partygate during his time leading the Conservatives.
https://news.sky.com/story/boris-johnson-re-selected-to-run-in-uxbridge-at-next-general-election-after-suggestions-of-safer-seat-12835826


Offline Maik

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Re: 17/03/23
« Reply #5 on: Friday, 17 March, 2023 @ 02:40:42 »
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Migration heading for 250,000 a year by 2026, says Office of Budget Responsibility

Despite government promises to cut the number of people moving to live in the UK to the ‘tens of thousands’, the Office of Budget Responsibility now says net migration will be around 245,000 people a year from 2026.
https://www.channel4.com/news/migration-heading-for-250000-a-year-by-2026-says-office-of-budget-responsibility

Offline Maik

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Re: 17/03/23
« Reply #6 on: Friday, 17 March, 2023 @ 02:44:47 »
Quote
Cadbury chocolate buttons latest victim of ‘shrinkflation’

Cadbury has shrunk the size of bags of Dairy Milk buttons by almost a quarter while keeping prices in supermarkets the same.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/03/16/cadbury-chocolate-buttons-latest-victim-shrinkflation/

Offline Maik

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Re: 17/03/23
« Reply #7 on: Friday, 17 March, 2023 @ 02:48:29 »
Mother's Day this Sunday, 19/03/23 in the UK. Sunday, May 14, 2023 in Greece.

Offline Maik

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Re: 17/03/23
« Reply #8 on: Friday, 17 March, 2023 @ 11:57:41 »
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I went on vacation and didn’t miss my husband — so I divorced him

A UK mother of four had an epiphany about her marriage while on a 10-day girl’s trip to Greece.

Stephanie Hanson went on vacation with her best girlfriends to Kefalonia in May 2022 to celebrate her 40th birthday.
https://nypost.com/2023/03/16/i-went-on-vacation-and-didnt-miss-my-husband-so-i-divorced-him/

Offline Maik

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Re: 17/03/23
« Reply #9 on: Friday, 17 March, 2023 @ 12:03:43 »
Quote
Greece to again raise minimum wage from April 1

The Greek government will raise the minimum wage next month, the third rise in more than a year, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Friday, months before its term ends.

Mitsotakis’ conservative government, whose four-year term ends in July, raised the monthly gross minimum wage twice last year to 713 euros as households’ incomes took a hit from persistently high inflation.

It now plans to increase the minimum wage by 9.4% to 780 euros a month from April 1.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1206847/greece-to-raise-minimum-wage-from-april-1/

Offline Maik

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Re: 17/03/23
« Reply #10 on: Friday, 17 March, 2023 @ 18:46:32 »
Never seen these, might be useful:


https://youtu.be/QFqSV4EzJL4?t=1

(and safer than sticking a screwdriver in a mains socket)

Offline Maik

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Re: 17/03/23
« Reply #11 on: Friday, 17 March, 2023 @ 19:01:51 »
Schedule for the Indepedence Day celebrations 24-25/03/2023

24/03/23 @ 11:00 Memorial Mass and laying of wreaths in Argostoli Cemetery'

25/03/23 @ 07:30 Argostoli church bell ringing
25/03/23 @ 08:00 Hoisting of the flags
25/03/23 @ 11:30 Memorial service and wreath at the Heroes' Monument, Napier Gardens
25/03/23 @ 12:00 Parade in the central plateia
25/03/23 @ 18:41 Flags lowered

Offline Maik

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Re: 17/03/23
« Reply #12 on: Friday, 17 March, 2023 @ 19:14:36 »
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One year on, has P&O Ferries got away with illegally sacking all its crew?

On a bright March morning a year ago, it took just a few hours for P&O Ferries to bring the careers of its seafaring crew to a shocking halt. Recalling the fleet to port, it summarily sacked 786 people, many by video message – with foreign agency staff lined up to take their place.

Politicians were united in outrage; the then prime minister, Boris Johnson, said: “P&O plainly aren’t going to get away with it.”

A year on, plainly, P&O has got away with it.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/17/one-year-on-has-po-ferries-got-away-with-illegally-sacking-all-its-crew

Offline Maik

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Re: 17/03/23
« Reply #13 on: Friday, 17 March, 2023 @ 22:29:42 »
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Elderly and vulnerable patients at risk as 1,200 GP practices close
NHS data show the number of practices in England is now the lowest on record, forcing the number of patients per surgery to an all-time high

More than 1,200 GP practices have closed in eight years, forcing elderly and vulnerable patients to travel ever further for care, an investigation reveals.

NHS data show the number of practices in England is now the lowest on record - forcing the number of patients per surgery to an all-time high.

Shortages of GPs have seen surgeries closing and merging to cover ever greater populations, with rural areas among the most stretched.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/03/17/elderly-vulnerable-patients-risk-1200-gp-practices-close-nhs/

Offline Maik

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Re: 17/03/23
« Reply #14 on: Friday, 17 March, 2023 @ 22:32:56 »
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Who Governs Greece: Greedy Business, Inept State a Lethal Combination

A greedy business environment and an inept state apparatus are a lethal combination causing disasters in Greece.

The railway tragedy at Tempi was only partly due to human error. It was mainly the result of a systemic failure of a state that has been hijacked by political parties, guilds, and economic interests both great and small.

The train crash was a reminder that the Greek state is a mixture of excessive bureaucracy, political partisanship, chaotic and often contradictory laws, ineffective and slow justice, and corruption.
https://greekreporter.com/2023/03/17/who-governs-greece-greedy-business-inept-state/

Reads like a mix of fact and opinion but an interesting read, anyway.

Offline Maik

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Re: 17/03/23
« Reply #15 on: Friday, 17 March, 2023 @ 22:39:07 »
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Global fresh water demand will outstrip supply by 40% by 2030, say experts
Landmark report urges overhaul of wasteful water practices around world on eve of crucial UN summit

The world is facing an imminent water crisis, with demand expected to outstrip the supply of fresh water by 40% by the end of this decade, experts have said on the eve of a crucial UN water summit.

Governments must urgently stop subsidising the extraction and overuse of water through misdirected agricultural subsidies, and industries from mining to manufacturing must be made to overhaul their wasteful practices, according to a landmark report on the economics of water.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/17/global-fresh-water-demand-outstrip-supply-by-2030

Offline Maik

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Re: 17/03/23
« Reply #16 on: Friday, 17 March, 2023 @ 22:42:03 »
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Arrest warrant issued for ‘pariah’ Putin over war crimes in Ukraine

‘We cannot allow children to be treated as if they are spoils of war’
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/vladimir-putin-arrest-warrant-ukraine-children-b2303101.html