goinggreek.info
To Kafeneion => Grapevine / News Briefs => Topic started by: Maik on Sunday, 23 October, 2022 @ 02:29:26
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Kef fire risk 23/10/22: Low (https://www.civilprotection.gr/el/imerisios-hartis-provlepsis-kindynoy-pyrkagias-23102022)
Today’s bank rates:
1 €UR = £ 0.8954 GBP
1 €UR = $ 1.013 USD
£1 GBP = 1.1168 €UR
$1 USD = 0.9872 €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 (https://www.postoffice.co.uk/travel-money).
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 (https://weather.com/en-IE/weather/tenday/l/GRXX0035:1:GR)
Day, Date Hi°/Lo° Wind sp Wet Forecast
Sun 23/10 24°/17° 18 km/h 08% Sunny
Mon 24/10 26°/17° 15 km/h 09% Sunny
Tue 25/10 26°/17° 12 km/h 08% Sun & cloud
Wed 26/10 26°/17° 16 km/h 12% Sunny
Thu 27/10 25°/17° 11 km/h 10% Sunny
Fri 28/10 24°/15° 16 km/h 07% Sunny
Sat 29/10 23°/14° 16 km/h 03% Sunny
Sun 30/10 22°/14° 14 km/h 03% Sunny
Mon 31/10 22°/14° 11 km/h 04% Sunny
Tue 01/11 22°/15° 13 km/h 06% Mostly sunny
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Woman attacks ex-husband with acid
A man was attacked with caustic liquid by his estranged wife in Iraklio on the island of Crete, local media reported on Saturday.
It was not clear what the reasons were for the attack and under what circumstances she threw the acid at him.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/1196311/woman-attacks-ex-husband-with-acid/
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The African Greeks of Avato
Avato is a village in Northern Greece that is home to the Greek descendants of the African slaves that were once brought to the region of Xanthi.
Behind the African looks of these Greeks, there is a painful story that goes hundreds of years back. Their roots date back to Ottoman times when their ancestors have been brought to Avato as slaves from Sudan.
The ancestors of Avato’s African Greeks were brought by an Ottoman pasha from Egypt since the area was an Egyptian estate during the years of Ottoman occupation.
https://greekreporter.com/2022/10/22/african-greeks-avato-full-documentary/
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Accident on odos Antoni Tritsi in Argostoli yesterday morning, a car driven by a 28 y-o local hit a 65 y-o female, resulting in her being taken to hospital for observation.
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Body of a 78 y-o foreign female was recovered yesterday morning from the sea off Schoinia beach, Marathon, Attica.
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Unusual event: Agios Spyridon church in Kourouklata has been broken into and stripped of valuables.
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Robberies significantly reduced, police reports
There was a 33.4% to 41% reduction in the number of robberies committed in Greece in the first nine months of 2022, compared to the period from 2015 to 2019, according to data released by the Hellenic Police (ELAS).
https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/1196304/robberies-significantly-reduced-police-reports/
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British holidaymakers being ‘ripped off’ by booking websites
British holidaymakers are being charged hundreds of pounds more than overseas customers by travel firms offering “unfair prices” on UK booking websites.
In some cases travellers have been asked to pay significantly more than those booking trips from other European nations, according to a report by software firm NordVPN.
Jane Hawkes, a consumer campaigner, urged consumers to hide their location to access the cheapest prices.
“For those who are not tech savvy, try browsing online using the ‘incognito’ option,” she said. “This means that your browsing history will not be tracked and you will find that providers’ prices come down. It can be a good couple of hundred pounds cheaper.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/british-holidaymakers-ripped-booking-websites
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‘Nobody forced us’: the Greek builder who saved 80 Afghans from the sea
Michalis Protopsaltis does not see himself as a hero. When the news of the shipwreck came through, he did, he says, what any man in his position would do. The construction company owner dispatched a crane to the Kythira clifftop and, one by one, began saving the 80 Afghan immigrants scrambling for dear life in the waters below.
Three hours elapsed before the last refugee – originally bound for Italy on a yacht that had set sail from the Turkish town of İzmir – was winched to the top.
When he appeared, sodden and shell-shocked in the sand bag attached to the crane, Protopsaltis felt a pang of relief but also nausea at what he had seen: the men, women and children who had not been saved, who had flailed about in the sea, screaming and shouting as they tried to scale the jagged rocksthat had shipwrecked the boat.
On Monday, almost three weeks after the dramatic scenes unfolded on the island, the 66-year-old will be honoured in a ceremony at Athens’ ministry of maritime affairs. The events of that night, both tragic and awe-inspiring, are still reverberating.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/23/greek-builder-saved-80-afghans-the-sea-athens
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Shocking CCTV footage catches man kicking cat into wall in Newport
Police and the RSPCA have launched appeals for information
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cctv-footage-cat-wall-newport-b2208282.html
Brief video in link
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Favoring Hotels, Greece Wants to Rein in Short-Term Rentals
As it did with protecting taxis by putting constraints on Uber, Greece is now trying to give hotels an advantage over short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb that are proving competitive and changing the nature of neighborhoods.
Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias said tourist accommodation rental platforms would be asked to adjust their advertising policies in a bid to regulate the short-term rentals.
Many Greek property owners have switched from renting out apartments by the month with long-term leases in favor of turning them into short-term stays for tourists, finding they can make more money.
But that has driven many Greeks out of the market in their own cities and seen rents boosted out of reach for many with even areas such as the anarchist stronghold of Exarchia in Athens being targeted by investors too.
https://www.thenationalherald.com/favoring-hotels-greece-wants-to-rein-in-short-term-rentals/
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1.3 million households will receive the heating allowance this year
The Joint Ministerial Decision which will specify the requirements for the heating allowance which will start to be paid a few while before Christmas and will conclude at the end of April 2023 will be issued this week.
The total amount to be allocated reaches 500 mln euros along with the 25 cents per litre subsidy to the pump, a measure that, in first phase, will be applied until the end of 2022 without excluding the possibility to be extended in case the conditions require it.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/683123/13-million-households-will-receive-the-heating-allowance-this-year
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Greek-Speaking Communities of Italy Reconnect With Greece
The Greek-speaking communities of southern Italy are set to restore their cultural bonds with Greece, following an agreement signed between the Hellenic Foundation for Culture and representatives of the Region of Puglia and the Union of Municipalities of Grecia Salentina.
The agreement, signed in Athens on October 18, provides for the establishment of a permanent collaboration between the two parties, starting from the creation of a local bureau of the Hellenic Foundation for Culture in Grecia Salentina, southern Italy.
Greeks settled in southern Italy in ancient times, and their communities remained intact and loyal to the Byzantine Emperor until the Arabs evicted imperial rule from Sicily and the Normans from southern Italy.
Nine villages in the region of Puglia, collectively known as La Grecia Salentina (Salentine Greece) have maintained aspects of the Greek language and culture that have survived for centuries.
Other communities in Southern Italy also speak dialects derived from ancient Greek.
https://greekreporter.com/2022/10/22/greek-speaking-communities-italy-reconnect-greece/
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Rishi Sunak set to become PM as Boris Johnson pulls out of Tory leadership race
The former chancellor's victory is not yet guaranteed and Penny Mordaunt is expected to fight on
Rishi Sunak is set to become prime minister after Boris Johnson dropped out of the race to be the next Conservative Party leader.
In a 300-word statement issued on Sunday night, Mr Johnson said he had concluded that even if he won the contest he did not have enough support among Tory MPs to govern.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/10/23/rishi-sunak-set-become-pm-boris-johnson-pulls-tory-leadership/
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Woman wakes to find three-foot snake attempting to slither into Essex home
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/snake-basildon-essex-home-rspca-b2208843.html
Blimey, he looks taller on TV. Must be that mop of unkempt blond hair