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☆ Wildfires Imperil Greek Isle of Rhodes, Forcing Big Relocation
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Niki Kitsantonis | More About Niki Kitsantonis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Greek Coast Guard vessels on Saturday evacuated hundreds of tourists and locals trapped in seaside villages on Rhodes that were threatened by five-day-old wildfires, moving them to safer parts of the island. A Greek Navy warship was en route to join the five Greek Coast Guard vessels and two army boats that were being aided by 30 private vessels in the area, according to a Coast Guard statement. A Coast Guard spokesman, Nikos Alexiou, said around 2,000 people had been evacuated by sea from southeastern Rhodes. “Most have been rescued but the operation is continuing,” he told Greek television, adding that Coast Guard boats were patrolling the area, along with a helicopter. Thousands more people on Rhodes were evacuated over land to other parts of the island.

Persons: Nikos Alexiou, “, ”, George Hatzimarkos Organizations: Guard, Greek Navy, Greek Coast Guard, Coast Guard Locations: Rhodes

☆ Leaders of Turkey and Greece vow to repair ties after year of tension
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis meets with Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan during a NATO leaders summit in Vilnius, Lithuania July 12, 2023. Dimitris Papamitsos/Greek Prime Minister's Office/Handout via REUTERSATHENS, July 12 (Reuters) - Greece and Turkey agreed on Wednesday to resume talks and confidence-building measures as they hailed a new "positive climate" in ties after more than a year of tensions between the historic foes. Relations improved when Greece became one of the first countries to send rescue workers to help pull survivors from the rubble after a devastating earthquake hit Turkey in February. "We are cautiously optimistic we can turn a new page," Mitsotakis told reporters after the summit. Reporting by Renee Maltezou; Additional reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Conor HumphriesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Tayyip Erdogan, Dimitris Papamitsos, Erdogan, Mitsotakis, Renee Maltezou, Huseyin Hayatsever, Conor Humphries Organizations: NATO, Minister's, REUTERS, Atlantic Treaty Organization, Greek, Cooperation, Thomson Locations: Vilnius, Lithuania, REUTERS ATHENS, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, United States, Greek, Thessalonki

☆ Life at Sea's three-year cruise will get a bigger ship
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Julia Buckley | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Life at Sea Cruises is now owned and operated entirely by Miray Cruises, a company with a 30-year history of operating in the Aegean. Bigger ship, fewer guestsStaterooms on the new ship will have 20 square feet more per cabin, say Miray Cruises. Life at Sea CruisesMeanwhile, Miray says it is launching its first Life at Sea cruise in its new ship as planned in November. MV Lara will be larger than the Gemini, Kendra Holmes, CEO of Miray Cruises, told CNN. And this Miray team is accommodating to everyone – If there are concerns, they fix it, if there are ideas they put them into place.

Persons: Miray, “, Mikael Petterson, Irina Strembitsky, Petterson, Staterooms, Lara, Kendra Holmes, Holmes, ” Holmes, Cruises, Heidi Klum, AIDA Cruises, Sharon Lane, ”, ’ ”, Meredith Shay, Shay, Ingrid Warwick, “ It’ll, “ That’s, Finnbarr Webster Organizations: CNN, Sea Cruises, Cruises, Miray Cruises, Gemini, Carnival, Sea, Petterson, Vie Locations: Europe, German, “, Florida, Germany, Istanbul

☆ Fear among Turkey's LGBT community after hostile election campaign
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Burcu Karakas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The discrimination faced by the LGBT community has convinced the couple to plan to leave Turkey, he said. "Turkey has never been the perfect country for the LGBT community but now people feel insecure," Seren said. Matthew Warchus, the British director of "Pride", said he felt solidarity with Turkey's LGBT community. My message to those opposed to it being viewed is simply 'There is nothing to fear except fear itself'". Yilmaz, the LGBT rights advocate, said they had never been targeted like this before.

Persons: Cuneyt Yilmaz, Senkaya, Erdogan, Tayyip Erdogan, pollsters, Bekir, Rumeysa Kadak, Mahmut Seren, Seren, cordoning, Cuneyt, Yilmaz, Matthew Warchus, Davut Gul, Melih, Burcu Karakas, Jonathan Spicer, Alison Williams Organizations: Reuters, REUTERS, AK, Aesthetics Culture Art Research Foundation, Istanbul Pride, Twitter, UniKuir, New Welfare Party, European Union, Yilmaz, Thomson Locations: Istanbul, Turkey, ISTANBUL, Britain, British, Izmir, European

☆ The Dark Incentives That Led to a Refugee Tragedy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Amanda Taub | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Hundreds of people may have died last week in the Mediterranean, after a boat overloaded with migrants, including many children, capsized and sank. It was one of the deadliest migrant disasters in years. And, indeed, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said Greece’s border enforcement was Europe’s “shield,” because its harsh tactics prevent migrants from reaching E.U. “This border is not only a Greek border, it is also a European border,” she said after Greece used tear gas to repel hundreds of people who were trying to cross over from Turkey. The European Union has gone to even greater extremes to deter migrants.

Persons: Christina Goldbaum, Zia Ur, Rehman, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Ursula von der Leyen, Frontex Organizations: European Union, Times, European Commission, European, Human Rights Watch Locations: Bandli, Pakistan, Kashmir, Italy, Greece, E.U, European, ”, Turkey, European Union, Libyan, Libya

☆ At Least 78 Die as Migrant Ship Sinks Near Greece
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Cora Engelbrecht | Niki Kitsantonis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

At least 78 people drowned in the Aegean Sea after a large fishing boat carrying migrants sank early Wednesday, the Greek Shipping Ministry said, in the deadliest such episode off the country’s coast since the height of the 2015 migration crisis. More than 100 people were rescued, but the Greek Coast Guard warned that the death toll would probably increase. The boat foundered about ‌50 miles southwest of the city of Pylos, in southern Greece, after the authorities were alerted to its unusual movements on Tuesday‌, according to a statement from the Greek Coast Guard. A Greek Shipping Ministry official said that the boat had refused assistance offered by the authorities. He also said that cargo ships in the area had given the migrants food and water.

Organizations: Greek Shipping Ministry, Greek Coast Guard Locations: Aegean, Pylos, Greece

☆ A coffin was accidentally left on a plane at Dublin Airport and flown back to Greece
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

One man's remains were accidentally left on a plane at Dublin Airport and flown back to Greece. An Irishman who passed away in Greece was transported by plane to Dublin Airport but an unloading mistake resulted in his coffin being flown all the way back to Greece, Irish newspaper the Sunday Independent reported. On May 22, the man's remains were transported in a coffin on an Aegean Airline plane from Athens International Airport to Dublin Airport where his family had been waiting for him with a hearse, per the Sunday Independent. However, due to a "misload," the coffin wasn't spotted by grounds service and thus never unloaded from the plane, the newspaper wrote. Swissport, the company responsible for ground handling at Dublin Airport, reportedly resolved the situation by arranging for the man's body to be returned on another flight the next day, the newspaper wrote.

Persons: Swissport Organizations: Dublin Airport, Morning, Irish, Sunday Independent, Athens International, Swissport, Aegean Airlines, Twitter, Skytrax Locations: Greece, Athens, Aegean, Europe

☆ Two cargo vessels collide off Greek island, near Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] A Hellenic Coast Guard helicopter flies over Vanuatu-flagged ship ANT during a rescue operation after two cargo vessels collided off the Greek island of Chios, Greece, June 2, 2023. Hellenic Coast Guard/Handout via REUTERSATHENS, June 2 (Reuters) - Two cargo vessels collided off the Greek island of Chios near the Turkish cost on Friday, authorities said, adding that there were no injuriesThe Singapore-flagged cargo vessel Potentia with 19 crew members and the Vanuatu-flagged ship ANT with 13 crew collided in the eastern Aegean Sea nine miles north of Chios. "There are no injuries, there is no risk of pollution", a coast guard official told Reuters on condition of anonymity, adding that the ships were not loaded with cargo. Greek authorities have deployed seven vessels and a search and rescue helicopter to the site. Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas; Editing by Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Lefteris Papadimas, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Hellenic Coast Guard, REUTERS, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Vanuatu, Chios, Greece, REUTERS ATHENS, Turkish, Singapore

☆ Ayvalık and Cunda: Turkey's prettiest Aegean coast resorts
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Feride Yalav-Heckeroth | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Alongside classic beach towns like Bodrum and Alaçatı, two of the coast’s loveliest spots are the little-known seaside town of Ayvalık and the nearby island of Cunda. Near the Taksiyarhis Memorial Museum, in a beautifully renovated historic house with large arched windows, is Moyy Atölye. For a truly Aegean dining experience inside an olive grove, Karina Ayvalık is worth the 10-minute drive south to the village of Küçükköy. “I can breathe in the Aegean air and feel history as I walk through the old streets with their historic houses. Getting lost on Cunda leads to discoveries – like the Cunda Taksiyarhis Rahmi M. Koç Museum inside a renovated Greek Orthodox church with a collection of antique cars, motorcycles and toys.

☆ Building Boom on Mykonos Reveals ‘Wretched’ Side of Greece’s Recovery
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Liz Alderman | Niki Kitsantonis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Among them is Nammos, a jet-set playground featuring open-air luxury boutiques and a beachside restaurant, owned by Monterock International, a Dubai-based private equity holding company, and Alpha Dhabi Holding. On Friday, the government called for Nammos to be shuttered, and the police closed one of its beach restaurants. There is also Principote, a destination for the affluent that for years has expanded over Panormos Beach, along a picturesque bay, despite multiple citations. Principote, which is registered to a holding company in the Marshall Islands, has contested the infractions and resulting fines. In 1989, his father built small bungalows above Panormos, a public beach once accessible to all.

rules governing how asylum seekers must be treated. We showed the video in person to three senior officials from the European Commission in Brussels, describing how we had verified it. asylum rules and international law, including ensuring access to the asylum procedure,” said Anitta Hipper, the European Commission spokeswoman for migration. Greece and the European Union hardened their attitudes toward migrants after the arrival in 2015 and 2016 of more than one million refugees from Syria, Iraq and elsewhere. Poland, Italy and Lithuania have recently changed their laws to make it easier to repel migrants and to punish those who help them.

☆ How to explore Greece's lesser-known islands like a local
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | Morgan Awyong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

But now it wants tourists to get to know lesser-known locations across its thousands of sprawling islands. Currently, Germany and the U.K. represent Greece's largest inbound tourism markets by revenue, followed by the United States, France and Italy. An eco-paradise surrounded by 24 islets, Lipsi forms part of the Dodecanese island collection in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Alonissos, SporadesDivers' delight Alonissos, part of the Sporades group of islands, is a diver's paradise and the site of Greece's first underwater museum. Alonissos, part of the Sporades archipelago in the northwest Aegean Sea, is known for its diving spots, including Greece's first underwater museum, the "Parthenon of the Wrecks."

☆ Çanakkale: Where ancient Troy sits beside the modern city
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Nick Hilden | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —An enormous wooden horse presides over the marina in Çanakkale, a small port city southwest of Istanbul. The clapboard animal is a mock-up of the Trojan Horse of mythological fame. Çanakkale (pronounced cha-na-call-ay) stands adjacent to the archaeological site that was once the ancient city of Troy, best known as the setting of the Trojan War in Homer’s “Iliad.”A giant wooden horse watches over Çanakkale. Today when you visit Truva – either via car or a short bus ride from Çanakkale – a second model of the Trojan Horse looms at the entrance. “We know that there were many wars that occurred at Troy,” Rose explains.

☆ Opinion: Turkey’s Erdogan is in the fight of his political life. The real winner may be Putin
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Opinion Elmira Bayrasli | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —For Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s longest serving ruler, Sunday’s upcoming election may be the end of a two-decade winning streak. Following an attempted coup to unseat Erdogan, the Russian president called his Turkish counterpart and offered his country’s support. Still, it was not enough to change the eastern tilt of Turkish foreign policy. Whether Erdogan wins or loses, Ankara is unlikely to untangle itself from Moscow and turn back to the West. (The Turkish president has previously dismissed concerns about press freedom in his country).

☆ Surprise resort trips and empty hotel rooms reveal how Russia's plan for an easy victory in Ukraine fell apart
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

While Russian intelligence services ramped up operations, the US intelligence community started declassifying intelligence about Russian plans. In an unprecedented move, the US revealed Russia's intentions and informed Kyiv about the Russian intelligence operations inside Ukraine. Once Russia's military secured the city, its special-operations forces would begin what the report calls "repressive operations." The Kremlin even compiled a target deck full of unwanted people to be "liquidated" once the Russian forces were in control of the country. Preparing the battlefieldA member of the Ukrainian military in front of a destroyed Antonov An-225 at the airport in Hostomel in July 2022.

☆ The search for 100,000 new species in Earth’s oceans
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —In some ways, Earth’s oceans are as alien to us as distant moons in the solar system. When scientists dived to the twilight zone and the mesophotic zone directly above it in recent years, they found colorful fish and sprawling pristine coral reefs. The global initiative seeks to find 100,000 unknown species over the next 10 years. While scientists believe 2.2 million marine species exist in Earth’s oceans, they estimate that they’ve only found 240,000, according to Ocean Census. Identifying new species also enables conservationists to find ways to protect them as Earth changes due to the climate crisis.

☆ The live volcano sitting below Santorini
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Elinda Labropoulou | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

CNN —Everywhere you look on Santorini, you’re reminded that you’re on a volcano. Few realize that beneath the hypnotic kaleidoscope of colors lies an active volcano. The East Mediterranean’s most active underwater, and potentially dangerous, volcano, Kolumbo, is five miles northeast of Santorini and part of the same volcanic system. They include a visit to the volcano of Nea Kameni: one of five islands that form the Santorini volcanic complex, and a national geological park in itself. A simmering volcanoTourists can take boat trips to Nea Kameni, home to an active volcano.

Saatcioglu, the coordinator of Limak International Hotels & Resorts, is one of many in hospitality expecting to see Turkey's economically vital tourism sector recover from a quake that dragged down bookings and hotel stays. The quake has caused tourists to think twice before booking a trip to Turkey, a major Mediterranean holiday destination. "After months of excellent performance, when the country was leading the travel recovery in Europe (after the COVID pandemic), international tourism to Turkey is clearly taking a nosedive," he told Reuters. Despite strong bookings recently across the travel sector in Europe as a whole, Turkey has not been able to regain momentum. On the back of these auspicious March figures, the Turkish government expects to generate $56 billion in tourism revenues this year.

☆ The loser of a rare submarine vs. submarine battle was found 80 years after being sunk
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

In July 1941, a British submarine sank an Italian submarine in the Mediterranean Sea. It was against this backdrop that the Royal Navy submarine HMS Torbay and the Italian submarine Jantina squared off in the Aegean Sea near the island of Mykonos. The first two passed in front of the Italian sub, but the next struck it and exploded. The Italian sub sank quickly, and only six of the 48-man crew survived, swimming to a nearby island. By the end of the war, Torbay had sunk more than 40 German, Italian, and Japanese warships, merchant ships, and other vessels.

☆ Five migrants die as boat sinks in the Aegean, Turkish coastguard says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Turkey's coastguard said it had arrived at the scene after learning that a boat was taking in water at 6:20 a.m. (0320 GMT). It rescued 11 people, including a child, and brought them to Didim port to hand them off to health personnel. The Greek coastguard said it was informed by Turkey about those rescued from a "half-sunken dinghy" in Turkish waters. Those rescued said there were a total of 31 people on the boat, the Greek coastguard added. Both the Turkish and Greek coastguards said search and rescue operations were continuing.

☆ US digital asset fund, venture capital firm to raise $100 million for two new blockchain funds
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, March 8 (Reuters) - Alpha Sigma Capital, a U.S.-based digital asset fund, and Transform Ventures, a venture capital firm, will raise $100 million for two new funds focused on the blockchain and so-called decentralized Web 3.0 ventures, Alpha Sigma founder and Chief Executive Officer Enzo Villani said on Wednesday. Transform Ventures, founded by crypto investor Michael Terpin, also merged some of its assets with Alpha Sigma's parent to form a new holding company called Alpha Transform Holdings. Truglia along with other participants stole 3 million tokens from Terpin's cellphone account in early 2018. The second fund, a closed-end venture capital firm called the Aegean Fund, is still in the process of being established, Villani said. "A lot of things that are happening right now (in the crypto and blockchain space) may be challenging.

☆ Photos show how cruising has changed over the last century, evolving into a $7 billion industry carrying nearly 30 million every year
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Between 2009 and 2019, the number of people going on cruises steadily increased each year from 17.8 million to 29.7 million, according to Statista— until COVID sent those numbers crashing down. A drone image shows decommissioned cruise ships being dismantled at Aliaga ship-breaking yard in the Aegean port city of Izmir, western Turkey, October 2, 2020. REUTERS/Umit BektasSource: Statista, Cruise Lines International Association

☆ Strikes at German regional airports ground majority of flights
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Feb 27 (Reuters) - The majority of flights at Germany's Duesseldorf and Cologne Bonn regional airports were grounded by a 24-hour strike by the Verdi trade union on Monday, the airports said. Of Monday's usual 136 daily passenger flights scheduled for Cologne Bonn airport, only two were set to operate as scheduled. The union brought air traffic to a standstill earlier this month with one-day strikes at seven major airports, including the Frankfurt and Munich hubs, affecting nearly 300,000 passengers. Cities across the western state of North Rhine Westphalia, including Cologne, Leverkusen and Bonn, were also affected by public service worker strikes on Monday. Verdi and the German Civil Service Association are demanding 10.5% more pay for state employees, or at least 500 euros ($527.75) more a month.

☆ Turkey and Greece have a centuries-long feud that has come close to war. But when earthquakes hit, they still come to each other's aid.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Greece and Turkey have decades of animosity, repeatedly moving towards the brink of war. Turkey is currently dealing with the aftermath of a devastating earthquake, and Greece is helping. Last December Greece's foreign ministry said that Turkey was making "repeated threats of war," as Turkey responded angrily to what it said was Greece militarizing the Aegean islands. Nicholas Burns, the then-United States Ambassador to Greece, described what happened as "earthquake diplomacy" to The New York Times. Greece was previously under the control of Turkey, leading to a bitter independence fight that ended with Greece gaining independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1830.

☆ Shunned by the US, Turkey is preparing to launch its first aircraft carrier — but it will come with a twist
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Turkey will instead operate the Anadolu with drones, using them to project power across the region. The US kicked Turkey out of the F-35 program in 2019, leaving Ankara without fighter jets for its new carrier. Strictly speaking, Anadolu is not a dedicated aircraft carrier but an amphibious assault ship — specifically a landing helicopter dock, or LHD. Turkey was a Level III partner in the US-led F-35 program, with Turkish companies making about 900 parts for the aircraft. Turkish carrier dronesTCG Anadolu in Istanbul in September 2022.

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