Athens prepares for wildfire season with intensive drills
Government initiatives and challenges
The Greek government has implemented measures to mitigate wildfire risks, such as increasing rainfall since January and enforcing the clearing of ravines, which are often ignition points. However, challenges persist, including insufficient forest roads and firebreak zones, as well as illegal dumping of debris that hinders access to certain areas. Efforts are ongoing to address these issues and enhance the region's resilience against wildfires.
Climate change and fire risks
Greece faces heightened wildfire threats due to climate change, with rising temperatures and prolonged droughts exacerbating the situation. Last year, nearly 10,000 hectares in the Athens region burned, with fires spreading rapidly due to strong winds. The government has responded by deploying a record number of firefighters and investing in new firefighting equipment, including aircraft and thermal camera drones, to improve early detection and response capabilities.
Community resilience and recovery
Despite the destruction caused by past wildfires, residents of Penteli demonstrate resilience and determination to rebuild. Some individuals continue to live in temporary accommodations while tending to their properties and gardens. The community's efforts, combined with government support, aim to restore the area and prevent future disasters.
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Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
Saturday with Jerry Fish: 'Life is transient. It's about living in the moment'
10.00 I've possibly been gigging the night before so I'll take things easy. My biggest inspiration in life has been Baloo the bear - I just look for the bare necessities in life. Enda, the bass player with An Emotional Fish, who sadly passed away in 2022, always called me 'a lazy artist'. I am a beach bum at heart. I enjoy having less - you're not going to take anything with you when you go. I'll have a coffee and listen to The Business Show on RTE Radio 1 - it's so well put together and entertaining. People might be surprised that I'm into business, but once I set up a record label, 'business' stopped being a bad word and I wanted to learn more about it. I'm a natural daydreamer and luckily I've found a job that facilitates it. As an artist, when it looks like you're least working is often when the real work happens. 11.00 I'll make some eggs on toast and I'll imagine I'm still on a Greek island. I'll eat outside if the weather allows. Myself and my family live on Mount Leinster in Co. Carlow so we've a stunning view of Mount Brandon and the Barrow river. 12.00 When I'm working on something like a festival there is no comparison to a normal Saturday. I'm up and at it. I don't even think about food - I just move. If I'm gigging, I'll check Google Maps if I've been to the location a thousand times. I am surrounded by amazing musicians and incredible people who look after me really well. I'm usually racing in saying 'What's happening?!'. Jerry Fish: "As an artist, when it looks like you're least working is often when the real work happens." The less stuff I have when travelling the better. I really only need my voice and a tambourine. I have a bag of tambourines, maracas and sweets that I always take with me. I will wear certain items of clothing - I think many performers have certain gig jackets or shoes - things that have a bit of a spell on them. Performers can be quite superstitious about certain items of clothing or jewellery. 18.00 I might have grabbed a wrap or something in a garage on the way to the gig. Food on the road is the bane of a musician's life, so, if I can, I will try to eat before I leave home. Sometimes I feel I have more energy when I haven't eaten before a show. 20.00 When I'm not doing festivals I do a lot of piano and theatre shows. When I first started this I thought I'd be doing jazz standards but I quickly realised that I am a rock performer at heart. I am full of neurotic energy. When it comes to festivals, I'm gigging with a full band and I also love working with circus performers - I love how self-contained they are. I think I'm a bit of a circus performer at heart. I take a lot of inspiration from street performers too. I often think that my job is about uniting people in a positive way. I always remind my audience that they're going to die - it could be their last night. It's an important aspect of living to remember that. Jerry Fish: "When it comes to a festival like Kaleidoscope I don't have to make a lot of changes to my act because most of the time what I'm trying to do is to remind grown-up people that they never stop being children." I lost my best friend when he was 20. Losing someone makes you realise that nothing is permanent. I've lost friends since then too. It's important to remember that life is transient and that it's about living in the moment and celebrating those moments. When it comes to a festival like Kaleidoscope I don't have to make a lot of changes to my act because most of the time what I'm trying to do is to remind grown-up people that they never stop being children. The kids are easy - they're open, they don't have preconceptions and if they don't like you they don't like you. Children are great teachers. They should be running the place. 23.00 If I'm doing a regular gig I'll jump back in the car and drive home. I love that I see a lot of animals at night on the drive home. Many years ago I had depression and got into bird watching - it is great because you're very much in the moment when you're bird watching. One of the biggest problems we have is our separation from nature so I try to absorb as much of it as I can. If I'm performing at a festival I'll go back to the 1970s caravan that I've restored. I love the solace of that caravan at festivals. I'll need a moment to reflect on the gig. If I'm working to keep everyone's energy up then I need to restore my own energy. 02.00 If I am at a festival I'm always the last to go to bed. I'm quite a night bird. I like to walk and talk - I'm usually keeping an eye on everyone I'm working with. A lot of people think I like to party but it's usually that everyone else is partying and I'm in the vicinity still awake. If I'm not in bed by one or two I'll be awake till 5am. I never liked to go to bed - even as a child. Jerry Fish Electric Sideshow performs at Ireland's largest family summer festival, Kaleidoscope presented by Glenveagh. Taking place at Wicklow's Russborough House from Friday July 4 to Sunday July 6. Tickets from
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
University of Utah terminates recognition of fraternity accused of ‘egregious and serious' hazing
A statue of the University of Utah logo is pictured on campus in Salt Lake City on Monday, January 15, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch) The University of Utah has terminated its recognition of a fraternity accused of 'egregious and serious' hazing, including forcing new members to drink alcohol and use drugs, sleep on a basement floor, and do chores at 3 a.m. According to a letter from Vice President for Student Affairs Lori McDonald, the university will not consider applications to recognize the Sigma Nu – Epsilon Lambda fraternity until 2031. The letter, signed in May, details a number of hazing allegations that occurred during fall 2024 and spring 2025 semesters, pointing to 'a pattern of misbehavior over the past six years, including hazing, alcohol-related violations, and destruction of property.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX In January, the university was alerted to possible violations of student code from the fraternity. It launched an investigation that was completed in May. That investigation, according to a report released by the university, found at least 13 incidents of 'subtle, harassment and violent' hazing. That included: An event where new members were forced to drink large quantities of beer, vodka and whiskey. Requiring new members to complete chores as early as 3 a.m. or risk facing humiliating sexualized punishment by active members. Blindfolding, kidnapping and bringing new members to an 'exotic dance club.' Telling new members to participate in an interview while using marijuana, or risk removal. Giving members 'derogatory' nicknames. Hosting expensive and unsanctioned parties where alcohol was provided. Requiring new members to carry 'pledge packs' at all times, which included items like tobacco, condoms, a golf tee, gum, Zyns and a marijuana pen. The investigation report also detailed a tradition where new members were forced to stay in the basement of the fraternity building. 'During this timeframe, limited food was provided, new members slept on the basement floor, and they were required to clean the facility and sing songs while actives and alumni were present,' the document reads. 'I do not have confidence the Sigma Nu chapter will follow the University's directions, policies, or the terms of a suspension, and therefore, termination of the University's recognition of the chapter is warranted,' McDonald wrote to the fraternity in the May 19 letter. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the university's Greek Council Executive Board said hazing is 'harmful, unacceptable, and has no place in our community.' 'The actions that led to this decision, do not reflect the values or true purpose of Greek life. Greek organizations should stand for leadership, service, friendship, and personal growth,' the board said. According to the university, three fraternities have lost their official recognition since 2002. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
‘The Better Sister': Jessica Biel, Elizabeth Banks on Wanting the Audience to Root for Their 'Messy' Characters and That 'Rallying Cry' Ending
[This story contains spoilers from all eight episodes of Prime Video's .] What's a family without some drama? But add in a murder, lingering secrets and scandals and you get the recipe for Prime Video's The Better Sister starring Elizabeth Banks and Jessica Biel. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'The Better Sister' Stars React to Murder Mystery Reveal: "They Totally Threw Me Off and I Was There" 'Lee Soo Man: King of K-Pop' Director and Subject Talk New Prime Video Documentary Nicole Clemens Hired to Head Amazon MGM's International Originals Biel and Banks star in the eight-episode series, from showrunners Olivia Milch and Regina Corrado and adapted from Alafair Burke's novel of the same name, as estranged sisters Chloe Taylor (Biel) and Nicky Macintosh (Banks) who despite living opposite lives — Chloe leads a picturesque existence with her lawyer husband Adam (Corey Stoll) and teenage son Ethan (Maxwell Acee Donovan), while Nicky struggles to stay clean — must come together when Chloe's husband is murdered. To make matters more complicated, Nicky is also Adam's ex and Ethan's biological mother. While viewers follow the mystery of who killed Adam, they get glimpses into Nick and Chloe's harrowing past, trauma and the mistakes that haunt them. Depicting this estranged relationship, the power of sisterhood and motherhood and flawed human beings all drew Biel and Banks to the series. 'I saw myself in both of these women,' Biel tells The Hollywood Reporter. 'It's like two opposite forces coming together.' 'It felt like Greek tragedy to me,' Banks adds. 'I, for one, felt like it's going to be really satisfying for the audience to watch them struggle to build this family back up, knowing all the history and the secrets that they hold. We want the audience to root for them, like a love story, to figure out how to be together and be connected as a family again.' Ahead of the premiere, Biel and Banks spoke with THR about portraying the secretive sisters, showcasing 'unlikable women' taking on a system attempting to tear them down, the series' twists and turns and why that surprise ending felt like a 'rallying cry.' How did this project come to you, and what about the story made you want to be a part of it? JESSICA BIEL Craig Gillespie, our director of the pilot, and Olivia [Milch] and Regina [Corrado], our amazing showrunners and writers were honored to read the material and get to take a look at these amazing women. We were able to read the book kind of all at the same time. My first question [was] who's going to play Nicky? And hearing that it was possibly Elizabeth [Banks] and all of these elements coming together all sort of at the same time, for me, was just a jumping off point of 'Oh this is something that could be really, really interesting!' And I think also just the nature of [the story being on] human beings [that are] flawed, beautiful, complicated, smart, hiding things, keeping secrets, as we all do, I saw myself in both of these women, and specifically, really saw my way into playing Chloe and thinking about how exciting it would be to to work in the world of someone who keeps everything inside and contains, contains, contains, while her counterpart, everything is external. It's like two opposite forces coming together. So it was a pretty thrilling opportunity. ELIZABETH BANKS I agree with Jessica. All the elements were really exciting to me. And I also felt like the story had a really large canvas to play with. It felt like Greek tragedy to me. The murdered husband, the two wives, the shared son living in his father's shadow, talking to ghosts, the past sort of having an impact on the present, the betrayals and the lies. So I love that we were going to have this big canvas. I love that it was set in New York, which felt like another character, and that we were actually going to be able to shoot it there, which is such a blessing to get to do. Then great partners like Jessica to play with. So I really loved the entire endeavor from jump. I thought it was such an interesting opportunity. I also really appreciated that the central relationship was sisterhood and motherhood. Nicky and Chloe especially are seemingly bonded by secrets but also both struggling with their identities whether it be personally or as sisters. Can you talk about who you wanted Chloe and Nicky to be individually and get across with who they were? BIEL They're two sides of the same coin. They both have their secrets. They both know these truths that they've been telling themselves. I mean, really more Chloe, I guess. Nicky has been on her path and on her process of self discovery and self forgiveness. These characters, they are our friends. They are our sisters. They are ourselves. We contain multitudes of everything. Human beings are capable of everything. So I think Elizabeth and I just really wanted to have these people feel really authentic with all their flaws, with all their beautiful things, with all their messy beauty, whatever it is, we just wanted it to feel real, and we wanted it to feel like you could recognize yourself in these people. BANKS I think also, at the end of the day, this sense of a need for connection between the two of them is very deep, and they built real walls against it. So through this tragedy that happens in their lives, they get the opportunity to break down those walls and reconnect in a deep way. And especially for Nicky, this is the only family that they have there. Their parents are dead. It's Ethan and the two of them. This is it. This is the family unit now. And I, for one, felt like it's going to be really satisfying for the audience to watch them struggle to build this family back up, knowing all the history and the secrets that they hold. We want the audience to root for them, like a love story, to figure out how to be together and be connected as a family again. The show explores Nicky and Chloe's childhood and how the both of them had different experiences especially given their difference in age. What were your thoughts on their backstory and how their childhood shaped how themselves and each other? BANKS I know that Olivia and Regina really appreciated this notion and theme that children can get different versions of their parents, depending on birth order and time. That really struck a chord with me. I'm the oldest of four kids, and my younger brother is 11 years younger than me, so of course, my parents were different people a decade into parenthood than from when they had me. When I read that that made a lot of sense to me. I also think this is about alcoholism and how it affects families and the lessons that are learned and the protection that older siblings have for younger siblings and the protection that gets put in place when the bad things start happening to one sibling. We want to protect the younger one. Nicky got a very different version of her father and her mom than her sister did, and I think that came to bear on their lives in really profound ways and what it means for them is that they don't have a shared reality of their past. They don't have a shared sense of their history. They have two different histories, and revealing to each other. What was really going on is part of the rebuilding process that I'm talking about that's going to connect them as family again. They don't share the same facts, and when you don't, it's very hard to agree on what happened and to not blame and carry shame and guilt about it. There's a push and pull with Nicky and Chloe where they take steps forward together then take steps back because there's this trust between them that was destroyed at a time. And though by the series end they decide to team on a book and tell their story, what did you make of their relationship by the series end? Do you think they can forgive and forget or is there always going to be some distrust there and things to hash out between them? BIEL I don't think that there's any distrust. I think they've been through quite an experience together, and they have been the most vulnerable that they possibly can be. And at this point, it's the first layer of trust [and] the foundation has been poured again. Now they're really starting from a different place. They have a common goal and a common enemy, and they have a common interest in protecting Ethan no matter what. I think they have no reason at this point to not trust each other. I mean, of course, stuff is going to come up. Family shit just comes up. But they have to trust each other. They only have each other now, and if they can't trust that, then what are we even doing here? Because that's the point of what we're trying to say and what we're trying to tell as Elizabeth was saying. It's like they are going to be successful in overcoming this estranged relationship and overcoming this thing that Nicky had to carry for so long that Chloe didn't know about, which caused their two separate experiences. That's over now. Chloe has shattered her glass house, her pristine world. Now they're level playing fields. They're backing back, like arms linked, kind of feeling. BANKS They came to this scenario with their own secrets, and now they have a shared secret, and I think that's really powerful for them as a way to keep fighting for each other and for Ethan. One thing Nicky and Chloe share in common is their love for Ethan. Though we see he has built relationships with both of them, by the series end he's also left to reexamine his childhood and himself and what's true and isn't. I'm curious for your thoughts on where Nicky and Chloe's relationship with Ethan stands. Do you think there's some resentment there with both Nicky and Chloe or what do you make of their relationship now? Not to mention he doesn't even know the truth of what happened to his father. BANKS I think it's tenuous at best. I think that what's interesting is what we're trying to impart the entire time is that carrying secrets is detrimental to your relationships and to your mental health, to your sense of belonging, and yet we are going to keep a big secret from him. I think we both know it's a danger to our future relationship, to the future bonds that we'll have with him. I think we both know that it's a big risk, but it's one we feel like we have to take — for now. (Laughs.) I don't know! I like that we leave it flawed. You plug one hole, [and] you fix one thing and another leak pops up. That's life. That's the fun of the these characters. They are messy. They are flawed. We don't wrap it up with a bow. At the end, we learn that Nicky was in fact the one to kill Adam. What did you both make of that reveal? Then Elizabeth, can you talk about why Nicky kept it hidden even after Ethan was blamed and the drama aftermath? BANKS Obviously we knew the whole time what had happened. And I think what's fun is going back the clues are all there. I mean literally, I think in episode three, I say, 'I'll say I did it. Just put me in jail instead,' and everyone tells me to shut up, and that's stupid (Laughs.) She couldn't be more open. She goes to AA and says, 'It was a bad idea me coming here.' I know that Nicky came with good intentions. When you know better, you have to do better. And Nicky finding out that Adam didn't change, that she can't disclaim herself: he is the villain of the story; she is going to save her sister and Ethan from him. And he [Adam] turns to what he always does with his violence. And so it was in self defense. I think she believes that all the entire time. She shows up thinking that the tracks were hidden. She doesn't realize what Ethan did. There are so many things being revealed to Nicky when she shows up. She had a plan, and it's gone sideways. That being said, this is the first time that Nicky has had real access to her son and to her sister. She went there with the purpose of making sure Adam did not continue to steal her family from her. And she still has that goal. So I think when she's told you can't say anything, you'll go to jail and lose Ethan and Chloe again, her goal is to not let Adam win. The reason I don't say anything is because I know that at the end I always can. I have a card. I can always play it, but let's play this out and hope that Adam doesn't win. Let's get Ethan off. Let's go home together. Let's be a family. He's got to play a longer game of chess than she realized, but that's what's happening. She's taking the long view. She just has to be a strategist so that she can get her family back and not let Adam win. BIEL What the Nicky character does for Chloe when she commits that act of violence is the greatest sister sacrifice and loyalty ever. On some level, I think Chloe can't even believe that someone stood up for her in that way. That this person whose life she ruined, basically, even though she didn't have all the information, but she took this life from this beloved sister, and she did all these things that put her life spinning down one path, and her sister's life spinning down another path — like she did that for me? To just make sure that I didn't have a life that would go on and on and on with violence and pain and suffering in private, because she knows I would never say anything? And Ethan can't live this way. It's a humongous sacrifice and it's the greatest act of love in this dysfunctional, fucked up family. BANKS I'm the big sister protector, and they set it up in the series. You see us in our past, I'm supposed to keep Chloe from drowning. And I take that seriously as an adult. I felt very alone with pain that I had over Adam for so long. So to know that I actually share it with my sister, it's an incredible relief that I am actually not alone, but I'm not going to let her suffer in the way that I did. There was a moment where Nicky says it was better for Chloe to be with Adam because she could handle it better than she could. So it felt like a full circle moment that she'd be the strong one to ultimately put an end to it all. BANKS But Nicky has done a lot of work to get to that place and believe in herself, right? I think that's a survivor. She had to actually survive it to believe she could be a survivor. We see Nicky really committed to her sobriety and attending AA meetings and working the program. What sort of discussions did you have with the showrunners about it and what research of your own did you do to understand that? BANKS I've actually played a recovering alcoholic a couple times so I've spent time with AA and Al-Anon. I have friends and family who have worked those programs, so I was really honored to represent it onscreen that way. It's one of my absolute favorite organizations; I think it's incredible. It gave me a lot as an actress to work with as Nicky because I know how those meetings go and I know what the steps look like, and I know how much work, internally, and honesty someone has to bring to that process to stay sober. So I know that Nicky had done a lot of that work and that she was trying to introduce her truth to her sister in the show, so it helps me to play this role a lot. We also see Detective Guidry (Kim Dickens) be on to Nicky and seemingly know that though they arrested Bill Braddock (Matthew Modine) for the murder of Adam, that's not what happened and he's not the murderer. Do you think Nicky is still at risk of being exposed by Detective Guidry or do you think they'll find a way to keep what happened a secret? BANKS You know, I have no idea if we will ever get the opportunity to explore this further. I love that there's still a sense of danger for this family going forward. Jessica and I talked a lot about why we had to pin it on somebody else. Why did we have to do that? And that was about protecting Ethan. Ethan was accused of this crime and that accusation was going to follow him and we needed to offer up another idea. Because even though he was acquitted, there was always going to be this shadow over him that maybe he did it. I feel like Nicky, at the very least, couldn't live with this idea that Ethan had to go through the rest of his life with people believing he had murdered his father. So finding another avenue for us was a way to fight the system that had been holding us down throughout. We're two villains in this piece. I mean, we're unlikable women. I'm a bad mom who's a drug addict and an alcoholic who loses her son, and Chloe is a cheating, (laughs) ambitious social climber with a target on her back, you know? We live in a system that wants to hate us, that wants to tear us down. And so it brings out all of our fighting instincts, and Bill Braddock is the embodiment of that system that is holding us down, of that oppression. So be able to nail him for it felt really right to me as a sort of a rallying cry for us as two women in the in the series. Given the series is called I think while watching the series the answer to who is actually the better sister can change and be something hard to even answer. But what is your take on that question that lingers with the series with who is the better sister and why? BIEL I'm with you on that one. It is unanswerable. You cannot point to one or the other at the end of the series. I think that's what I love about the title. It is subverting the expectation of that title, because initially on the out front you think, 'Oh, I'm going to be able to pick it out.' And you probably think it's Chloe at first and then you think it's Nicky, and then you think it's Chloe. And then it goes back and forth the whole time. Then it kind of points to other people too. Just because the word sister is there doesn't really necessarily mean you have to be pointing at us. We are all culpable. We're pointing at everybody. So many different people have a hand in this thing. There's just this big, very gray area that question is living within. BANKS The better sister is not a statement, it's the question. I think it invites the audience to play with the series, as Jessica says, and go back and forth like I think one thing, and now I think another. One of my favorite things about the writing is these cliffhangers at the end. You're pointing in one direction, or you're walking down a certain path, and then all of a sudden we're taking massive right turns and U-turns, and I think it's a it's a great way to pose a question to the audience that invites them to investigate alongside us. *** All eight episodes of The Better Sister are now streaming on Prime Video. Read THR's interview with the series' showrunners. Hilary Lewis contributed to this story. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio': 30 Famous Faces Who Play (a Version of) Themselves in the Hollywood-Based Series 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise
