An army of volunteers have also rushed to help extinguish raging blazes north east of Athens
AFP reports from Penteli:
Thick smoke from burning trees filled a small square in Penteli where local resident Mariana Papathanasi said they could only pray that their houses would be saved.
“There is still a strong fire. Some houses were burned after midnight and we are trying to protect our local restaurant,” the 49-year-old supermarket employee told AFP.
Continue reading...More than 670 firefighters working to control blaze that has formed 12-mile front on outskirts of Athens
• Europe live – latest updates
Firefighters are battling to contain a massive blaze moving “like lightning” on the outskirts of Athens, with authorities evacuating people from towns, villages and hospitals as flames rip through trees, homes and cars.
Propelled by gale-force winds, the wildfire had formed a 12-mile (20km) front by Monday despite “superhuman” efforts by forest commandos and volunteers overnight.
Continue reading...Meanwhile, a tropical disturbance in the Atlantic is likely to develop into a named storm within days
Storm Debby, which initially struck Florida as a hurricane, caused widespread destruction as it moved up the east coast, leaving many without power and dealing with severe flooding.
The storm brought significant damage across Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont, with power outages affecting large areas days after the storm’s passage. In Steuben County in New York, heavy rain triggered flash flooding, leading to road closures and evacuations. In Pennsylvania, numerous water rescues were necessary as flood waters rose rapidly.
Continue reading...Whole neighbourhoods are being evacuated from around capital as firefighters mount huge effort to put out blazes
Greek authorities have warned people to stay indoors with their “windows closed” as hundreds of firefighters battled to contain blazes on the outskirts of Athens that were forcing the evacuation of entire communities.
Huge clouds of billowing smoke had by mid-afternoon on Sunday darkened the skies above the capital as 10 groups of “forest commandos” backed by water-bombing aircraft, helicopters and fire engines tried to douse flames fanned by gale-force winds. Volunteers had also joined the fight near the village of Varnava about 35km (21 miles) north of the city.
Continue reading...Producers insist they have enough milk despite culling of thousands of animals due to livestock virus
Greek farmers have denied that production of feta cheese is likely to be hit hard by the outbreak of a deadly virus among goats and sheep that has led to the culling of thousands of animals.
Livestock industry officials sought to dispel fears that the cheese, a mainstay of the Mediterranean diet, could be imperilled because of the rate at which the highly infectious disease has spread.
Continue reading...Fundamental rights body warns of flawed approach to credible accounts of ill-treatment and loss of life
Authorities in EU member states are not doing enough to investigate credible reports of violations of human rights, including deaths, on their borders, an EU human rights body has said.
The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) said human rights agencies and NGOs were reporting “serious, recurrent and widespread rights violations against migrants and refugees during border management” but despite “credible” reports many were not investigated.
Continue reading...Greek Cypriots in south wake to air raid sirens reminiscent of invasion while Turkish-occupied north celebrates
Cyprus has marked the landmark anniversary of 50 years of ethnic division amid markedly contrasting scenes: mourning in the south and celebration in the north.
At 5.20am Greek Cypriots in the internationally recognised south awoke to air raid sirens reminding them of the arrival of thousands of invading Turkish troops on the eastern Mediterranean island five decades ago. In the Turkish-occupied north, the milestone event was cause for joy, with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, flying in to attend a military parade and fly-past commemorating the “peace operation”.
Continue reading...Tourists and residents swelter in heat as temperatures rise to 44C in Spain, with forest fires in Greece and Croatia
A fierce heatwave is continuing to roll across southern and central Europe, bringing temperatures of up to 44C (111.2F) to parts of Spain, sparking forest fires in Greece and Croatia, and prompting governments to urge people to take special care as the mercury rises.
In Spain, the state meteorological agency, Aemet, said temperatures on Friday could hit 40C across large parts of the country – and even 44C in areas of Andalucía – as the first heatwave of the summer hit. Aemet said the high temperatures, caused by a mass of “very hot, dry and dusty air” from North Africa, were expected to last until Saturday.
Continue reading...Six people dead, thousands evacuated and transport disrupted after at least 20 floods in major rivers
China has been experiencing heavy and widespread rainfall since the start of the rainy season, which runs from May to September. It has resulted in at least 20 floods in major rivers across the country, with 31 rivers surpassing their flood warning levels.
Dianjiang county, in Chongqing, received 269.2mm in one day last week, a single-day record there. It led to six deaths, more than 10,000 evacuations, and 40,000 people being affected, as well as severe disruptions to rail services and transport caused by flooding.
Continue reading...The writer Constantine Cavafy was largely unpublished in his lifetime, but was revered by artists. His archive and Alexandrian home are now on show for the first time
It was the backdrop to a literary world of the lost Levant. Away from the sea, on a narrow street in the old Greek quarter of Alexandria, 10 Rue Lepsius was the home and creative sanctuary of Constantine Cavafy.
For 26 years, it was here that the poet, a bureaucrat in British-run colonial Egypt, held court, treating writers such as EM Forster to long candle-lit nights of talk over liquors and what the English novelist later recalled as “small bits of bread and cheese”.
Continue reading...Pro-business government says measure is needed due to shrinking population and shortage of skilled workers
Companies in countries worldwide may be toying with the idea of implementing shorter working weeks, but in Greece employees have been told that, henceforth, they can put in a sixth day of labour in an unorthodox step aimed at turbocharging productivity.
After outpacing other Europeans in terms of economic growth, the nation once at the heart of the continent’s worst financial crisis has bucked the trend again, introducing a 48-hour working week. The measure, decried as “barbaric” by unions, takes effect from Monday.
Continue reading...Hiker, whose body was discovered near a ravine in Crete, is sixth tourist to die in the country this month amid soaring temperatures
A German hiker has been found dead on the island of Crete, the fire department said – the latest tourist fatality during a period of unseasonably high temperatures in Greece.
The man had been declared missing on Sunday and was found near a ravine in the south of the island, the fire department said in a statement.
Continue reading...Fireworks allegedly launched from superyacht led to blaze that destroyed large swath of island’s only pine forest
Thirteen people were brought before a Greek public prosecutor on Sunday after being arrested in connection with a forest fire ignited on the island of Hydra by fireworks allegedly launched from the pleasure boat they were sailing on.
Local media showed the 13 crew members and passengers arriving at the criminal court in Piraeus to answer charges of causing the blaze on Friday night.
Continue reading...Hydra’s mayor outraged by incident as country faces wildfires fanned by high winds and hot weather
Greek authorities arrested 13 people on Saturday after fireworks launched from a yacht set off a forest fire on an island near Athens as the country confronts a new season of deadly summer fires.
The mayor of the island of Hydra expressed “outrage” after the fire was started late on Friday and vowed legal action against those responsible.
Continue reading...Body of missing man found on Mathraki beach in string of recent cases of Greek island visitors dead or gone missing
A missing US tourist has been found dead on a beach on a small Greek island west of Corfu, local media reported.
The body of the man was found Sunday on a rocky, fairly remote beach on the island of Mathraki by another tourist. He had been reported missing Thursday by his host, a Greek American friend. The tourist had last been seen Tuesday at a cafe in the company of two female tourists who have since left the island.
Continue reading...Call for better trail signage and backing for walking clubs as concerns grow over tourists encountering searing heat
With Greece gripped by unusually high temperatures, fears are growing that foreign visitors are not aware or being properly informed of the risks posed by overexertion in the searing heat.
Over the past week, three search and rescue operations have been started for tourists who have gone missing during treks on far-flung islands, including one for the popular TV presenter Michael Mosley, who was found dead on the island of Symi.
Continue reading...The result of tests to determine the cause of death could take months, but an autopsy has ruled out any criminal action
The body of Dr Michael Mosley is likely to be released to his family and repatriated by the weekend, forensic pathologists have said.
But tests revealing the precise cause of his death could take months because of a lack of certified laboratories to conduct advanced analysis.
Continue reading...Temperatures expected to reach 43C in Athens and across country, prompting school closures and health warnings
The Acropolis, Greece’s most visited tourist site, was closed to the public during the hottest hours of Wednesday as the season’s earliest-ever heatwave swept the country, prompting school closures and health warnings.
The culture ministry had said the Unesco-listed archaeological site in Athens would close from midday to 5pm (09.00 to 14.00 GMT), with temperatures expected to reach 43C (109F) on Wednesday and Thursday.
Continue reading...Fears of negative press outweighed by sadness and disbelief after TV presenter’s body was found five days after he went missing
“Thank God we found him.” Seated in his black leather office chair, surrounded by icons, oil paintings, photographs, medals and models ships, Lefteris Papakalodoukas, Symi’s longtime mayor, is clearly relieved.
It’s 9am and almost 24 hours have elapsed since the body of the TV presenter Michael Mosley was found lying in a gulley of rocks and thistle only metres from the sea, beneath the perimeter fence of a beach bar.
Continue reading...Dr Clare Bailey says her husband ‘almost made it’ after his body was found close to a coastal resort in Symi
The wife of the British TV presenter Michael Mosley has confirmed the “devastating” news that her husband has been found dead on the Greek island of Symi.
Dr Clare Bailey said she and the couple’s four children took comfort in the fact that he “had almost made it”, after his body was found close to a coastal resort on Sunday.
Continue reading...