0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
PM expects 2022 tourism revenues of at least 18 bln eurosGreece’s Prime Minister said on Tuesday that revenues from its all-important tourism industry will reach at least 18 billion euros ($19 billion) this year, beating the government’s initial estimates.By the end of the year, tourist arrivals are seen reaching 88% of record levels seen in 2019, when more that 32 million tourists visited the Mediterranean country, he added.
Greek woodcutters give energy crisis the chopWith petrol and gas bills increasing, loggers in northern Greece say they are doing their best to keep up with rising demand for wood, considered a more affordable option for people to heat their homes.Many Greeks, still reeling from their country's decade-long economic crisis, are desperate to counteract energy prices soaring on the back of Russia's war in Ukraine and national inflation running at over eight percent."We have had an increase in demand," said timber transporter Yannis Paligiannis, 44."People are thinking of turning their heating to wood, but next year what will happen? Nobody is sure that next year wood won't be more expensive than petrol. Everyone is wary," he added.For now, an abundant local supply makes firewood the best option in the north of Greece where temperatures dip well below zero Celsius (32 Fahrenheit) in deep winter."People here can get through winter by spending 300-400 euros ($320-425) on firewood, perhaps even cheaper if they transport it and chop it themselves," Zisis Giakopoulos, a pensioner in his late 60s from the village of Aimilianos in the northwestern region of Grevena, told AFP.In comparison, figures recently compiled by Greek insurance website Pricefox showed a 80-square-metre flat needing to spend some 650 euros on petrol fees, nearly 1,000 euros on air-conditioning and nearly 1,300 euros for gas heating to get through winter. Greece has nearly 270 cooperatives with some 8,500 forestry workers registered at the environment ministry.But despite heightened demand this year, the future of the profession is by no means guaranteed.Numbers are dwindling, with younger people opting for less back-breaking work. Most of the wood is still transported by mule through thick foliage.
The Economist Names Greece Top Performer for 2022Greece is the top economic performer this year among 34 countries, according to The Economist.The British weekly newspaper ranked Greece as the top performer this year based on five key indicators in its analysis of 34 OECD countries. Greece fared the best in GDP, consumer prices, inflation breadth, share prices, and public net debt as percentage of GDP.Greece is followed by Spain, Japan, France, Italy, Britain, US, Germany, and Estonia.
First Snow For Greece In Pelion Chania FinallyThe first snow fell for Greece on December 19-20, snow fell on the peaks of Pelion Chania and Agriolefkes.There are reportedly no problems with the road network in the area. Snow lovers will be able to enjoy the Pelion Ski Center on Christmas day.
‘Maestro in Blue’ – The first Greek series on NetflixPopular series “Maestro,” which aired on Greek television this fall, has premiered on Netflix in Greece and Cyprus and will soon be available everywhere in the world with the new title “Maestro in Blue.” Created for Mega TV by Christoforos Papakaliatis, who also stars in the series, it’s the first Greek series to be picked up by the streaming service.What should you expect from “Maestro in Blue”? If you’re familiar with Greek television, you’ll recognize the concept immediately: love affairs, family drama, and crime taking place in an otherwise idyllic small-town setting.
Greek Researchers Discover Groundbreaking New Method Of Predicting Rare Catastrophic EventsGreek scientists in the US have developed a new technique that allows extreme and rare events in society and nature to be predicted, such as a pandemic, an unexpected rogue wave at sea or the sudden collapse of a large bridge, even if there are insufficient historical data to work off.The "smart" method, which bypasses the need for a large amount of previous data, is a combination of a sophisticated artificial intelligence (machine learning) system with special sampling techniques.
Greek Police: 2022 Had The Lowest Number Of Homocides In The Last 11 Years
Temperatures drop to nearly -08C in parts of northern GreeceThe temperatures in the northern Greek mountains dropped to almost -08C on Tuesday morning, the Athens National Observatory's meteo service/ meteo.gr said.
Funerary Stele Returned by Britain is Revealed to the Public at Epigraphical MuseumA funerary stele dated to the 4th century BC that was returned to Greece by British authorities was revealed to the public at the Epigraphical Museum in Athens on Tuesday.The stele’s provenance is lost, because it was the product of smuggling. But its stylistic details and the white, fine-grained Pentelic marble it is made of indicates it was made in Attica.It is 87.5 cm tall, 37 cm wide and 10 cm thick, and its top end has the familiar triangular shape of a pediment, which once had painted plant decoration on it. The main part depicts a sculpted loutrophoros – a vase used for funerary rites and the bridal bath – and carved on the body of the vessel is the seated figure of a woman and the standing figure of a young man. Between the top and the main body is carved the name ‘Epikrates’, probably belonging to the young man.The stele made its way onto a Christie’s catalogue for an auction on December 8, 2021, and was given a starting price of 60.000-80,000 British pounds. Routine market research by the Greek Culture Ministry’s Directorate of Documentation and Protection of Cultural Goods flagged the item for further research, and it was eventually determined it was a product of antiquities smuggling.
Britain has too many turkeys – and it’s created a supermarket price warPanic over avian flu led many to buy frozen or to choose a different meat altogether this Christmas – leaving poultry suppliers overstocked
Brownfield sites with room for 1.2m homes unused in England, report saysAnalysis by CPRE shows record number of sites where housing could be built at time of national shortageTom Fyans, the interim chief executive of CPRE, said: “You know the system is broken when hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people and families are on social housing waiting lists, many in rural areas.“Meanwhile, across the country, tens of thousands of hectares of prime brownfield sites are sitting there waiting to be redeveloped.”Former industrial heartlands in the north of England were the worst areas for unused brownfield sites. The proportion of available housing units with planning permission is 33% in the north-west, 36% in the West Midlands and 40% in Yorkshire and the Humber, the latter of which has enough brownfield sites to build 115,000 homes.In the south-west, where evidence suggests local people cannot afford to rent or buy, in a crisis worsened by a rise in second-home owners, there is capacity to build 71,000 homes on brownfield sites, 56% of which have planning permission.
Bob Dylan offered Coronation Street cameo after admitting to being fan of the soap‘I never watch anything foul-smelling or evil,’ Dylan said Producer Iain MacLeod has since said that Dylan could sing karaoke at the Rovers Return pub with characters Ken Barlow and Rita Sullivan.
UK Govt: Netflix Password Sharing is Illegal & Potentially Criminal Fraud (Updated)The UK Government's Intellectual Property Office published new piracy guidance today, and it contains a small, easily missed detail. People who share their Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Disney+ passwords are violators of copyright law. And it gets worse. The IPO informs TorrentFreak that password sharing could also mean criminal liability for fraud.
Body of infant found at sea near LesvosThe body of an infant was found near the area of Ag. Ermogenis on the island of Lesvos on Wednesday. According to the Hellenic Coast Guard, the infant was most likely travelling aboard a vessel that sank near the island in early December.Specifically, a 24-year-old woman that was found on December 9 had reported that her baby had fallen overboard before they had reached the island. The Coast Guard conducted searches in the area based on the information provided but was unable to locate the child.
Flawed EU settlement scheme could create illegal migrants says High CourtThe UK scheme to settle millions of EU citizens risks creating illegal migrants overnight and is unlawful, the High Court has ruled.In a highly critical judgment, the court said the scheme breached the UK's Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.
Glaswegian who 'invented' chicken tikka masala diesA Glaswegian chef credited with inventing the chicken tikka masala has died, aged 77.Ali Ahmed Aslam is said to have come up with the dish in the 1970s when a customer asked if there was a way of making his chicken tikka less dry.His solution was to add a creamy tomato sauce, in some versions of the story a can of tomato soup.His death was announced by his Shish Mahal restaurant which closed for 48 hours as a mark of respect.Known to friends and customers as "Mr Ali" he was born in Pakistan but moved with his family to Glasgow as a young boy before opening Shish Mahal in Glasgow's west end in 1964.
Hospital evacuated as man, 88, has WWI shell removed from inside his bodyThe octogenarian assured staff the shell, which was stuck inside his rear, was a collector’s item which had been deactivatedA French hospital had to be evacuated after a man in his 80s presented to doctors with a First World War shell stuck inside his rear.Though the 88-year-old assured staff the shell was a collector’s item that had been deactivated, staff at the Sainte Musse Hospital in Toulon scrambled to evacuate some of its patients, redirect others, and call in the bomb squad.