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2023-05-23 04:47
UK rescue flights for tourists fleeing ‘out of control’ wildfires in Rhodes and Corfu
UK airlines are scrambling evacuation flights to the wildfire-ravage islands of Rhodes and Corfu where up to 10,000 British tourists are stranded in a “living nightmare” as a fresh red alert is issued for Crete. The two biggest holiday firms Tui and Jet2 have axed all flights to the island in the coming days after holidaymakers forced to flee their hotels had to sleep on floors in schools, airports and sports centres – but other firms, including Ryanair, Thomas Cook and easyJet continue to fly tourists who want to travel to Rhodes. The popular destination of Crete was also placed under an “extreme” fire warning on Monday, with Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis telling parliament it must “be on constant alert” in the weeks ahead. He declared his country to be “at war” with the blazes and warned of three more “difficult days” before the extreme heat eases. “The climate crisis is already here, it will manifest itself everywhere in the Mediterranean with greater disasters,” Mr Mitsotakis said, just a week after multiple infernos ignited near Athens, destroying homes and businesses, and days after temperatures hit 45C. Prime minister Rishi Sunak urged holidaymakers to remain in touch with tour operators but the Foreign Office has so far not discouraged Britons from travelling to Greece. Urging the UK government to “get a grip”, Lib Dem MP Layla Moran hit out Tory ministers’ “inaction” as she warned current advice was leaving families unable to claim on their insurance to “[pay] the penalty for deciding not to fly out” to Rhodes. More than 2,000 holidaymakers have so far been repatriated in what was described as the largest evacuation in Greek history, with more flights due on Tuesday as Rhodes’ deputy mayor warned the fires remained “out of control” seven days after flaring into life. Helen Tonks, a mother-of-six from Cheshire, accused travel firm Tui of flying her into “living nightmare” on Saturday night, as she told The Sun of landing in Rhodes only to be informed that her hotel had already burned down. The firm has now cancelled all flights to the island until Saturday. Claire Jones, a 36-year-old from Leicestershire on a honeymoon with her new husband Paul was evacuated by coach over the weekend in a “traumatic” journey as fled their hotels on foot carrying babies and small children, with some reporting walking for 10 miles in searing heat. Upgrading the fire risk in Crete to the highest warning level on Monday, Greek authorities also put swathes of the country under notice of a “very high fire risk”, including Athens, the Peloponnese, Karpathos, Kalymnos and Kos. While authorities have suggested the Corfu blazes may be a result of arson, the UK’s former chief scientific advisor Sir David King warned on Monday that the millions of British tourists planning Mediterranean holidays this summer should take Greece as “a big, big warning”. Lamenting that “many people will die from heat stress” due to the relentless heatwaves scorching southern Europe, Sir David said he had “no doubt” that the extreme temperatures are due to melting ice in the Arctic caused by human-led climate breakdown. Temperatures in Rhodes were forecast to climb as high as 40C by Wednesday, as Greece faces its longest heatwave on record. The EU’s civil protection agency has deployed some 450 firefighters and seven planes from Bulgari, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Italy, Malta, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. But the travel industry appeared to be preparing the ground for a restart in tourism in some of the unaffected areas. A spokesperson for Abta, the travel association, said: “We understand that some of the resorts have had their evacuation order removed by the Greek authorities and people have been advised that they can return to the resorts of Lindos, Pefkos and Kalathos. “Travel companies will be liaising with their accommodation providers to ensure that they are ready to receive customers and customers will be notified accordingly.” Chris Elworthy, a 42-year-old farmer from Faversham in Kent, said he had been left £10,000 out of pocket after his easyJet flights to reach a private villa in Pefkos with his wife and two children were cancelled. “We are now £10,000 out of pocket; easyJet is not helping at all with a flight, despite having promised on Twitter that they would provide a voucher or another flight ... 24 hours later they have done nothing,” he said. “The villa is refusing to refund us, and the holiday insurance is saying that we’re not covered because we didn’t have the additional natural disaster cover on top of the ordinary cover.” Dan Jones, a sports teacher from Torquay, had to climb onto a fishing trawler with his sons to escape the raging fires on Saturday night, describing it as “the scariest moment” in his life and adding: “What brave boys.” Estimating that between 7,000 and 10,000 British tourists were on Rhodes due to it being peak holiday season, Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell told LBC that reports of holiday company reps seeming “to have gone missing” was “a deplorable state of affairs” which the government would investigate. But he defended the lack of advice against travelling to Rhodes, saying the fact “that only 10 per cent of the island is affected by these fires” meant tour operators were “best placed to give guidance on whether or not a family or individual’s holidays are going to be ruined by these events”. Downing Street defended not discouraging people from travelling to Rhodes, despite sending a team to help holidaymakers affected by the fires. The PM’s official spokesman said: “The current situation is impacting on a limited area in Rhodes and whilst it’s right to keep it under review and it’s possible that the advice may change we do not want to act out of proportion to the situation on the ground.” There are “not currently” plans to get the RAF to help people leave, he added. Read More Wildfires: Is it safe to travel to Greece right now? Family £10,000 out of pocket after Rhodes holiday ruined by wildfires How long will the wildfires last in Greece? ‘Trauma’ for couple on honeymoon who fled Rhodes fires amid screams and smoke
2023-07-25 02:26
California governor vetoes bill offering unemployment pay to strikers
California Governor Gavin Newsom on Saturday vetoed a bill that would have paid unemployment benefits to striking workers,
2023-10-01 11:54
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2023-10-26 02:51
On this day in 2014: Man Utd break British record to sign Angel Di Maria
Manchester United smashed the British transfer record when they completed the signing of Argentina’s Angel Di Maria on this day in 2014. The Red Devils, in a rebuilding phase following the departure of their hugely successful manager Sir Alex Ferguson the year before, paid £59.7million for the then 26-year-old. Di Maria, brought in by the club’s new Dutch boss Louis van Gaal, arrived at United fresh from helping his old club Real Madrid seal their 10th European title the season before. Di Maria said at the time of his signing: “I am absolutely delighted to be joining Manchester United. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Spain and there were a lot of clubs interested in me, but United is the only club that I would have left Real Madrid for. “Louis van Gaal is a fantastic coach with a proven track record of success and I am impressed by the vision and determination everyone has to get this club back to the top – where it belongs. I now just cannot wait to get started.” However, things never really clicked for Di Maria at Old Trafford on the pitch. He also endured a fairly miserable time off it, after an attempted burglary at his home in February 2015. Less than a year later, he joined Paris St Germain, and told the French media that he did not have a great relationship with Van Gaal. Di Maria spent seven years at PSG before joining Juventus in 2022. Last year was a special one for him, as he played and scored in the World Cup final as Argentina beat France on penalties. Earlier this summer he rejoined Portuguese side Benfica, his first European club after leaving Rosario Central in 2007. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live
2023-08-26 13:28
Business lobby attacks as New York nears a noncompete ban, rare in the US
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Woman gets stuck in a tense fight with her mother over her baby's name
A woman is furious at her mother for joking about her unborn baby's name. Posting on Reddit, she explained she has a tricky relationship with her mother and has been annoyed with how she's reacted to the pregnancy. "For example, when my husband and I announced the pregnancy, she used the pictures we posted but instead wrote a whole post about becoming a grandmother," she explained. "Literally nothing about being happy for my husband and I. She didn’t even tag us in it or mention us." But things went from bad to worse. Her husband and her chose an "old family name" that she decided not to share on the Reddit post that means a lot to them. But her mother began blasting our baby name everywhere," she said. She said that people would mock it in an exaggerated southern accent and got her friends to join in. The woman explained: "It seems innocuous enough - but she isn’t even born yet. I kind of wanted to be the one to A. introduce my baby to the world and announce her name that means a LOT to my husband and I and B. I have never once said to actually refer to her" how her Mum thinks it is pronounced. "I have been fairly mum on my own social media about what the baby’s name will be, and even amongst my own friends have only shared her name if they asked," she continued. When she raised the issue with her mother and she said she was just trying to be funny and has now given her the silent period. Chaos. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
2023-10-15 20:23
Penn State fans unhinged over officiating in Ohio State loss
Penn State saw its undefeated season come to a close in Columbus against Ohio State, but fans couldn't get over what they believed was one-sided officiating.
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Precious Child: Trans activist who threatened JK Rowling slammed for singing about 'killing TERFs'
During her latest performance, Precious Child took the stage to sing a song titled 'TERF Killer' and incited the audience to chant 'kill a TERF today'
2023-10-22 20:55
'We had been tricked': Workers say they were paid $500 by Samuel Haskell for moving body parts from home
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2023-11-12 03:23
Comcast Is the First Internet Provider to Offer a Back-Up Connectivity Device Designed to Keep Customers Connected During a Storm
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2023-08-15 21:22
Luis Diaz makes first public statement since kidnapping of parents
Luis Diaz takes to social media to share the message "free him now" as authorities in Colombia continue to search for his missing father. He was abducted over the weekend by armed gunmen in the town of Barrancas.
2023-11-02 01:19
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