Category Archives: Greece

Rubio in Greece digs into past to tout Trump’s ‘America first’ approach

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In the shadow of the Parthenon, the secretary of state gave a selective reading of history as he urged Europe to ‘awaken from its slumber’

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, delivered a classically inspired apologia for Donald Trump’s “America first” foreign policy on Wednesday, giving a sweeping speech to the backdrop of the Parthenon in Athens that appeared tailor-made for campaign ads if he runs for president in 2028.

In the speech, the top US diplomat drew historical parallels from the founders, philosophers and conquerers of antiquity to the modern American spirit – as well as his family’s own journey to the United States – as he called on Europe to “awaken from its long slumber” and reject a “future of atrophy and servitude and decline”.

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Greek prime minister vows to ‘ramp up’ efforts to regain Parthenon marbles

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Kyriakos Mitsotakis says his UK counterpart, Andy Burnham, has been supportive of restitution efforts in the past

The Greek prime minister has vowed to “ramp up” his country’s claims to get back the Parthenon marbles from the British Museum, emphasising that his UK counterpart, Andy Burnham, was hugely supportive of restitution efforts before he moved into Downing Street.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he would raise the issue in the strongest of terms when he met Burnham, who was culture secretary in a previous Labour government.

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Greece returns priceless relics – and suggests UK should follow suit with Parthenon marbles

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Greek PM hopes handover of Tsar Samuel to Bulgaria will persuade Britain that time has come for ‘truth, reason, justice and morality’

In a ceremony replete with the sort of fanfare usually reserved for great events, Greece and Bulgaria have formally exchanged “a treasury” of relics and bones, sealing a cultural deal negotiated over decades.

The handover involved priceless religious objects removed from Greece at the height of the first world war, as well as remains thought to belong to Tsar Samuel, Bulgaria’s revered medieval warrior ruler.

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Greek authorities seek answers after six killed in Athens apartment block explosion

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Emergency teams discovered victims after two-storey building in historic Plaka district collapsed ‘in seconds’

Greek authorities say they are trying to discover what caused a two-storey apartment block in the heart of ancient Athens to collapse “in a matter of seconds”, killing six people.

Emergency teams found the victims, including four American tourists, on Saturday, more than 24 hours after the early morning explosion in the historic Plaka district.

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Man, 82, dies after brawl with 76-year-old over sunlounger on Greek beach

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Row at Athenian riviera resort turned violent after two elderly bathers reportedly argued over shortage of loungers

Greek police are investigating the death of an 82-year-old man after a brawl over a sunlounger at a beach on the Athenian riviera.

The man had arrived at the popular bathing spot of Vouliagmeni before 10am on Sunday hoping to secure a sunbed, but he soon began arguing with a fellow bather – described by authorities as a “76-year-old man unknown to him” – when it became clear loungers were in short supply.

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UK mathematician debunks myth around Parthenon’s optical illusions

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Study challenges belief that temple’s curves were designed to correct optical illusions that would have ruined its clean lines

A mathematician has uncovered what may be one of the longest-running myths in history after studying optical illusions and the Parthenon, the famed Greek temple that overlooks Athens.

Scholars have marvelled at the building on the Acropolis hill for more than 2,000 years and heaped praise on its architects for their clever use of geometry. Its subtle curves are said to correct optical illusions that would have otherwise ruined the Parthenon’s clean lines.

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Greek Orthodox priest and cult musician clarifies views on homosexuality

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Father Dionysios Tabakis says his views are those of Orthodox church, ‘nothing more, nothing less’

A Greek Orthodox priest whose home-recorded album of drone metal and religious dubstep has made him a cult figure in experimental music circles has issued a statement in which he has clarified his stance on homosexuality and the Greek radical right.

“As can be seen from my musical expression, I am in favour of unity, love, empathy and help for every needy, wronged and suffering person in life,” Father Dionysios Tabakis said in a public statement shared with the Guardian. “Whoever they are, whatever they believe, whether they are a saint or a sinner.”

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Mechanical fault suspected in helicopter crash that killed British newlyweds in Greece

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Marie Ebert, Alexander Cromie and their pilot died when their aircraft crashed on island of Sifnos

Greek police believe a mechanical fault may have caused a helicopter to crash moments before it was due to land on the island of Sifnos, killing a British couple on honeymoon and the pilot.

Authorities were focusing on Tuesday on the “strange noise” the aircraft, a privately chartered Bell 206, is reported to have made before falling to the ground and exploding on impact.

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Wildfires kill two in Greece and torch Belgian nature reserve

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Couple die in Salamis, while multinational forces and local farmers tackle Belgium’s biggest fire in a century near Liège

An elderly couple died in fires on the Greek island of Salamis on Sunday and Belgium is battling its largest modern-day wildfire at an inaccessible area near Germany, in the latest wave of European wildfires.

The couple died outside their home in the Peristeria beach area of Salamis, Greece’s coastguard said. More than 500 people were ordered to evacuate.

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Safety check calls after Irish teenager electrocuted taking shower in Greece

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Alex McKee died when picking up showerhead in ‘outdoor and rudimentary’ bathroom on Kimolos

The death of an Irish teenager, electrocuted while taking a shower in a holiday home in Greece, has led to calls for tighter checks on appliances at tourist accommodation.

Alex McKee, 17, is said to have died instantly when picking up the showerhead in a bathroom described as “outdoor and rudimentary” on Kimolos.

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Hundreds arrested on suspicion of arson in France as wildfires rage across Europe

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One person killed and hundreds evacuated in Croatia as blazes also hit Germany, Greece and Spain

Almost 500 people have been arrested on suspicion of starting wildfires in France since the start of the summer, authorities have said, as firefighters in half a dozen European countries tackle ferocious blazes amid a record-breaking heatwave.

A fire engulfed ⁠homes in a Croatian holiday resort on Friday, killing one person, injuring 40 and forcing 1,200 to evacuate, officials said, as the EU warned that pockets of “very extreme” wildfire conditions stretched across the continent.

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Ryanair window that passenger was partly sucked out of was broken by engine debris, report finds

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Fan blade broke off shortly after takeoff on 10 July flight from Greece to Germany, preliminary findings show

Broken engine parts were responsible for shattering a window on a Ryanair plane, causing a passenger to be partly sucked out mid-flight in July, US investigators have said.

A preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found an engine fan blade broke off shortly after takeoff on the 10 July flight from Greece to Germany shattering the window and damaging the fuselage.

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Man arrested after Scottish woman found dead inside suitcase in Athens

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Greek police say 26-year-old Afghan national is believed to have left Elisabeth-Jane Ross’s body in derelict building

Greek authorities have arrested an Afghan national in connection with the death of a Scottish woman whose body was found in a suitcase in an abandoned building in central Athens.

Elisabeth-Jane Ross, 38, a charity worker described as an “angel full of innocence and goodness” by friends, had been in Greece for almost three weeks when she is believed to have died.

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Two helicopters collide outside Athens as Greece battles to control wildfires

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Fire department says two-person crew of one aircraft killed in incident during gale-force winds to west of capital

Two firefighting helicopters have collided west of Athens, killing the two-person crew of one of the aircraft, as efforts to control a massive wildfire barrelling towards the outskirts of the Greek capital intensified.

Footage showed one of the helicopters losing control in the face of gale-force winds that have pushed flames towards settlements on Athens’ western fringes.

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Race to extinguish blazes across Europe as fire weather breaks records

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Figures show hot, dry, windy conditions in EU are 43% more severe than the average over last 20 years

Fire weather in the EU has broken records for severity for this time of year, data shows, as firefighters race to extinguish blazes across the Mediterranean.

Inflamed by carbon pollution, the hot, dry and windy weather across the EU from the start of the year until the end of July has been 43% more severe than the average for the same period over the last two decades, data from the European Forest Fire Information Service (Effis) shows.

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Joy in Greece as Mount Olympus joins Unesco list of world heritage sites

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Mythical home of the ancient Greek gods designated alongside the D-day landing beaches in Normandy

After a 12-year wait, Mount Olympus, the mythical home of the ancient Greek gods, has been inducted into a hall of more modern fame as Unesco announced it would be added to its world heritage list.

Greece’s highest mountain made the list alongside the second world war D-day landing beaches in northern France and the ancient Japanese capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara. South Sudan’s Boma-Badingilo landscape, host to one of the world’s largest land mammal migrations, also won a designation – a first for the east African country.

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Ryanair passenger almost sucked out of shattered window during flight

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Serbian man reportedly saved by wife hanging on to his legs after window shattered on journey from Greece

A passenger on a Ryanair flight was reportedly almost sucked out of a window after it shattered in mid-air during a journey from Greece.

The man was said to have been lifted out of his seat into the plane’s slipstream and hung headfirst out of the window after an engine failure resulted in parts smashing the acrylic window, according to local reports.

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Wildfires rage across southern Europe, forcing thousands to flee homes

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Tour de France spectator ban as country along with Spain, Portugal and Greece faces ‘powder keg’ after heatwave

Wildfires raging across southern Europe have forced thousands to flee their homes and prompted officials to ban spectators from a stage of the Tour de France, amid warnings of “powder keg” conditions after a record-breaking early summer heatwave.

Hundreds of firefighters are tackling blazes that have burned through almost 20,000 hectares (49,500 acres) in Portugal, Spain, France and Greece. Strong winds are forecast to fan the flames and temperatures are expected to rise again this week.

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Spyware used against MEP investigating Pegasus abuses, report finds

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Researchers say Stelios Kouloglou’s device was compromised after he joined European parliamentary committee

NSO Group’s hacking software was repeatedly used against a member of the European parliament while he was conducting an investigation of spyware abuses in Europe, according to a new report.

Researchers at the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto said they could not attribute the attacks against Stelios Kouloglou to any particular government operator of Pegasus spyware. But their investigation found the attack against the Greek now-former MEP bore the hallmarks of a previous hacking campaign against exiled Russian and Belarusian journalists in Europe.

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Norwegian court blocks extradition to Greece of migrant rights activist

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Case hailed as human rights victory as Tromsø court says Tommy Olsen’s actions are lawful and protected under international treaties

The decision of a Norwegian appeals court to dismiss the extradition of an activist accused of facilitating the illegal entry of people into Greece has been hailed as a rare victory for human rights.

In a judgment described as unprecedented by lawyers representing Tommy Olsen, the Norwegian founder of the NGO the Aegean Boat Report, the court unanimously rejected the request saying his actions were not only lawful but protected under international treaties to which both countries adhered.

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