Latest news with #Athens
Reuters
5 hours ago
- Automotive
- Reuters
Tanak leads in Greece after a day of heat and punctures
June 27 (Reuters) - Hyundai's Ott Tanak ended the first full day of the Acropolis Rally with a slender three second lead over teammate Adrien Fourmaux as the Greek heat and rough roads left rivals struggling to keep up. Tanak stayed out of trouble to lead on Friday night despite not winning any of the seven gravel stages in temperatures in excess of 40 degrees Celsius. "At times it was difficult to keep everything in one piece but I think in the end we must be happy that we didn't have any big trouble with the tyres or with the car," said the Estonian. Hyundai's reigning champion and last year's Acropolis winner Thierry Neuville led after stage three but then dropped three minutes after collecting two punctures, before taking the day's final stage to end the day eighth. Toyota's Takamoto Katsuta and Kalle Rovanpera also lost time with tyre problems. Teammate and eight-times world champion Sebastien Ogier was in third place, 16.9 seconds behind Tanak after leading up to stage five, and won two stages to Fourmaux's three. The Frenchman's championship-leading teammate Elfyn Evans was fourth and Gregoire Munster fifth for M-Sport Ford. Katsuta and Rovanpera were sixth and seventh.
Al Arabiya
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
5 Greek Government Officials Resign Over EU Farming Subsidy Fraud Allegations
Five high-ranking Greek government officials, including a minister and three deputy ministers, resigned Friday following allegations of involvement in corruption over the mismanagement of European Union farming subsidies. The case stems from the alleged mismanagement of EU subsidies for agriculture between 2019 and 2022 by a government agency known by its Greek acronym OPEKEPE, tasked with handling the funds. According to the European Public Prosecutor's Office, a significant number of individuals received subsidies through the agency based on false declarations, including claims of owning or leasing pastures that were in fact public land. The suspects continued submitting false declarations of livestock until 2024, maintaining subsidy payment entitlement, it added. The prosecutor's office sent a hefty case file to Greece's parliament earlier this week, including allegations of the possible involvement of government ministers in an organized fraud scheme. Members of parliament enjoy immunity from prosecution in Greece that can only be lifted by parliamentary vote. In a resignation letter to the prime minister Friday, Migration and Asylum Minister Makis Voridis maintained his innocence, saying he was stepping down in order to concentrate on clearing his name. Voridis served as agriculture minister from mid-2019 to early 2021. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis accepted his resignation as well as those of the deputy ministers of foreign affairs, agriculture and food, and digital governance and of the general secretary of agriculture and food. Replacements for all five will be named in the coming days, government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said in a statement. The European Commission announced earlier this month it would reduce the amount of farm subsidies for Greece by five percent, for a total of 392 million euros.
The Independent
13 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
5 Greek government officials resign over EU farming subsidy fraud allegations
Five high-ranking Greek government officials, including a minister and three deputy ministers, resigned Friday following allegations of involvement in corruption over the mismanagement of European Union farming subsidies. The case stems from the alleged mismanagement of EU subsidies for agriculture between 2019 and 2022 by a government agency, known by its Greek acronym OPEKEPE, tasked with handling the funds. According to the European Public Prosecutor's Office, a 'significant number of individuals' received subsidies through the agency based on false declarations, including claims of owning or leasing pastures that were in fact public land. The suspects continued submitting false declarations of livestock until 2024, maintaining subsidy payment entitlement, it added. The prosecutor's office sent a hefty case file to Greece's parliament earlier this week including allegations of the possible involvement of government ministers in an organized fraud scheme. Members of parliament enjoy immunity from prosecution in Greece that can only be lifted by parliamentary vote. In a resignation letter to the prime minister Friday, Migration and Asylum Minister Makis Voridis maintained his innocence, saying he was stepping down in order to concentrate on clearing his name. Voridis served as agriculture minister from mid-2019 to early 2021. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis accepted his resignation, as well as those of the deputy ministers of foreign affairs, agriculture and food, and digital governance, and of the general secretary of agriculture and food. Replacements for all five will be named 'in the coming days,' government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said in a statement. The European Commission announced earlier this month it would reduce the amount of farm subsidies for Greece by 5%, for a total of 392 million euros.
The Independent
13 hours ago
- Climate
- The Independent
Europe heatwave latest: Wildfires rip through Greece as France, Spain and Italy brace for record temperatures
Wildfires have ripped through Greece as Europe is braced for extreme temperatures of up to 40C in some popular holiday hotspots. Warnings are in place for cities including Paris and Rome over the weekend and into next week as the continent is hit by a heatwave. Five villages south of Athens were evacuated on Thursday after a large wildfire, fanned by strong winds, raged near the capital. The fire department has deployed 90 firefighters, supported by eight water-dropping planes and five helicopters, to battle the inferno. Met Office spokesperson Stephen Dixon warned that southern and western Europe was experiencing a heatwave which was also extending into southeastern parts of the continent. 'Temperatures are expected to be 5-10C above normal fairly widely in Europe, with the potential for a few locations to reach around 40C in the southeast,' he said. '[This could be] possibly even higher across parts of Iberia from Friday, likely challenging some June records,' Mr Dixon added. France issues orange alert for 'stifling' heatwave Paris is facing a heatwave from Monday, with temperatures peaking at 39C on Tuesday and forecasters urging caution for people who have to be outside for longer periods of time. Mr Nicholls said those temperatures at this time of year for Paris were not common, last occurring in 2022. In the south of France, temperatures are expected to reach 40C in some areas and authorities have issued a severe fire risk warning and an orange alert for extreme heat for nine departments across central- and south-east France by Saturday. In inland areas of those departments, temperatures could climb to 42C, Le Parisien reports. Meteo France warned that high surface temperatures on the Mediterranean Sea could also affect overnight minimum temperatures, 'making nights more stifling during the heatwave'. Alexander Butler27 June 2025 15:12 Spanish and Portuguese temperatures to exceed 40C Temperatures in Spain began to rise sharply on Friday, with heatwave conditions expected to continue until at least Tuesday with extremely high temperatures potentially reaching 42C in parts of the country, according to Spain's meteorological office. 'Very high and persistent temperatures are expected, both during the day and at night, which could pose a risk to exposed and/or vulnerable people,' the agency said. In the Canary Islands, temperatures could reach as high as 36C on Saturday, while inland Mallorca will occasionally reach 38C. Also on the Iberian peninsula, Portugal's weather forecaster has issued an orange warning for extreme high temperatures over the weekend. Temperatures in Lisbon and central Portugal are forecast to exceed 42C by Sunday and the high 30s in southern parts of the country. Alexander Butler27 June 2025 15:09 Pictured: Water planes tackle wildfires in Greece Alexander Butler27 June 2025 15:07 Wildfire rips through Greece as heatwave sets in Urgent evacuation orders have been issued for five communities south of Athens as a large wildfire, fanned by strong winds and exacerbated by Greece's first summer heatwave, rages near the capital. The blaze broke out on Thursday in the Palaia Fokaia seaside area, with temperatures soaring close to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). The fire department has deployed 90 firefighters, supported by eight water-dropping planes and five helicopters, to battle the inferno. Reportedly originating within a populated area, the flames have sent thick plumes of smoke billowing across the sky, with local television footage showing at least one house already consumed by the blaze. As a precautionary measure, the coast guard has positioned two patrol boats and nine private vessels on standby in the Palaia Fokaia area, ready for a potential evacuation by sea. A lifeboat is also en route to assist with any maritime rescue operations. Alexander Butler27 June 2025 15:02
Fast Company
15 hours ago
- Fast Company
Gen Alpha slang baffles parents—and AI
If a Gen Alpha tween said, 'Let him cook,' would you know what that meant? No? AI doesn't either. A research paper written by soon-to-be ninth grader Manisha Mehta was presented this week at the ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency in Athens. The paper details how four leading AI models—GPT-4, Claude, Gemini, and Llama 3—all struggled to fully understand slang from Gen Alpha, defined as those born between 2010 and 2024. Mehta, along with 24 of her friends (ranging in age from 11 to 14), created a dataset of 100 Gen Alpha phrases. These included expressions that can mean totally different things depending on context—for example: 'Fr fr let him cook' (encouraging) and 'Let him cook lmaoo' (mocking). According to the researchers, the LLMs had trouble discerning the difference. In particular, AI struggled with identifying 'masked harassment,' which is concerning given the increasing reliance on AI-powered content moderation systems. 'The findings highlight an urgent need for improved AI safety systems to better protect young users, especially given Gen Alpha's tendency to avoid seeking help due to perceived adult incomprehension of their digital world,' the study reads. It wasn't just the AI models that performed poorly; parents didn't do much better. The parent group scored 68% in basic understanding of Gen Alpha slang, nearly identical to the top-performing LLM, Claude (68.1%). While the LLMs did slightly better at identifying content and safety risks in the language, only Gen Alpha members themselves scored highly in understanding the slang, its context, and potential risks. It's nothing new for young people to feel misunderstood by their parents, but now the gap is widening. Members of Gen Alpha, born post-iPhone and known as the iPad generation, have grown up online. Their native language, often sourced from online spaces (most notably gaming), evolves so quickly that what's popular today may disappear within a month.
