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Fires, heatwaves, and evacuations [InTime News]
Welcome to the round-up of news by Kathimerini English Edition. Across the country this week, the Hellenic Fire Service (HFS) and the Hellenic Armed Forces, along with firefighters from several countries, and individual Greeks trying to save their homes and livelihoods, have been battling massive wildfires that have torn through houses, businesses, and thousands of acres of forest. Indicatively, on Friday, there were 79 active fire fronts in Greece. Several of these had been burning for days, including fires in western and eastern Attica, Corinth and Laconia in the Peloponnese, and on the island of Rhodes. The situation on Rhodes, a very popular tourist destination, is particularly worrying as there are several large fronts on the island. The fire, which broke out early last week and has been burning for six days, had been largely confined to a remote area before weather conditions on Saturday fueled a massive resurgence with experts pointing to a video of a fire tornado as indicative of the difficult situation on the island. Thousands of inhabitants and visitors had to be evacuated on Saturday; according to a statement made by a HFS spokesperson, more than 2,000 people had been evacuated by sea. It is estimated that there are more than 200,000 tourists on the island with approximately 8,000 staying in the affected areas. To help manage the situation, the UK Foreign Office announced that it would be activating its Crisis Management division to help facilitate the evacuation of foreign nationals and that it was dispatching a rapid deployment team to Greece. Despite the heroic efforts of hundreds of firefighters, aided by colleagues from eight EU countries as well as Israel, Jordan, and Turkey, with dozens of aircraft conducting sorties for hours, there seems to be no end in sight as the Greek Civil Protection agency issued a level 5 warning (the maximum) for the first time this summer across large swathes of the country. As more than 350,000 hectares of forest have been turned to ash over the last decade, with the fire-stricken areas this year already exceeding those of several other years, experts have warned that Greece faces a risk of “desertification”, with questions being raised about the level of preparedness (particularly at a local level) to confront such massive devastation. Spotlight
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OPINION
 [InTime News]As the government is battling the wildfires burning forests, destroying homes and devastating lives, and the country is coping with an unprecedented heatwave, the main opposition party has initiated the process of electing a successor to former prime minister Alexis Tsipras. Any well-functioning, democracy needs a stable opposition fulfilling its role within the institutional system of checks and balances. Despite SYRIZA’s weakened position – it got less than 18% in the recent elections – the country’s second largest party has to be present and vocal – with a leader and a team of “shadow ministers” each covering specific sectors – checking on the government. In this context, the sooner the party concludes its internal processes and comes up with a new head and a political platform that will allow it to perform its constitutional duty, the better for the country. This observation is shared even by voters of the ruling New Democracy who understand the need for a healthy and constructive opposition. Of course, to what extent the new leader of SYRIZA will perform that function is another question which remains to be proven. |
| CHART OF THE WEEK |
 The vast majority of bank payments were made digitally, both via internet and mobile banking, almost completely supplanting those made at tellers or using ATMs. These transactions account for a wide range including payments made by businesses, individuals, payments to public organizations and private businesses, capital transfers, and others. The growing proliferation of digital payments was boosted by the pandemic as more users signed up for Internet and mobile banking. At the same time, the use of cards in Greece has more than tripled over the last six years, from transactions valued at 505 million euros in 2017 to 1.88 billion. |
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| ECONOMY IN A NUTSHELL |
| “The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,339.18 points on Friday, up 1.02% from last week.” |
| “Greece saw the highest monthly increase of prices for food in June across the European Union (and even Turkey) at 3.3% according to data released by Eurostat. Despite a decrease in production costs for many goods, particularly dairy, shelf prices remain largely unchanged.” |
| “The average overnight price in July and August for short-term letting properties in Greece is the second highest among popular Mediterranean destinations, behind the Balearic Islands. The occupancy rate in Greece over the same period is at 44%.” |
| WHAT'S ON THE AGENDA |
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Editor's Pick At the same time, however, no one can assume in advance that these talks will end in a stalemate if there is international pressure to find a mutually acceptable solutionNotis PapadopoulosRead the article |
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| Kathimerini English Edition is published as a single paper with the International Edition of NYTimes |
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