Author: Philippos Kormopoulos

Paris, Wellington, Cape Town (29/10 – 18) South Africa has produced another magnificent defensive performance, to win the 2023 World Rugby Cup final. The Springboks beat New Zealand 12-11 in a Saturday thriller at Stade de France, Saint-Denis, thus becoming the first nation to win four Rugby World Cup titles – after their previous triumphs in 1995, 2007, and 2019. Four Handre Pollard penalties gave the Springboks a 12-6 lead in the first half. By that time, New Zealand already lost captain Sam Cane, red-carded for a high tackle on Jesse Kriel in the 32nd minute. The All Blacks only…

Thousands of migrants have made their way illegally into Greece from Turkey, using rickety rafts to cross the Aegean, the narrow waterway between the two countries. United Nations data in September shows sea arrivals have already more than doubled the roughly 12,000 migrants who were caught trying to illegally enter Greece last year. Illegal entries along the land border and the massive Evros River that snakes along the rugged frontiers of the two countries in the northeast also count record increases of more than 65 percent in the last two months alone, police said. “Much of this has to do…

When Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis told the informal EU Foreign Affairs Council, held, for symbolic reasons, in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv Monday, that Greece is ready to provide an alternative route for Ukrainian wheat and other cereals through its northern ports of Thessaloniki and Alexandroupoli, it did not come out of the blue but reflects a plan that the government has already discussed with its EU partners and countries outside the bloc. The Turkey-brokered agreement to export Ukrainian cereals through the country’s Black Sea ports has collapsed, although diplomats prefer to call it “frozen.” A lot of backroom activity is…

As of today, Ukrainian grain exports can be shipped worldwide from the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda on the Baltic Sea. The new hub aims to speed up procedures in the ongoing drive to overcome blockade measures stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and to address the resultant needs of grain-impoverished countries in Africa and elsewhere. The deal, which was signed off on earlier this week by Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania, means that the requisite grain inspections for pest and plant diseases will shift from the Ukrainian-Polish border to the Baltic port, a move that the Ukrainian agriculture ministry says will…

Once dismissed as a swimming pool drink, rosé is becoming the go-to wine for the French as traditions change For the French, a glass of chilled blush rosé was once considered a delicate but not entirely serious “swimming pool drink”; a summer apéritif for lightweight, often female, tipplers. Real wine lovers would select a red heavy with tannins, or a traditional white – both considered the true expression of French terroir, the untranslatable concept encompassing not just the soil in which the vines grow but also the natural, geological climatic and cultural elements associated with it. But tastes are changing. Sales of red wine in…

The Ministry of Health on Monday received various IT equipment as part of the EU Digital Solutions to Strengthen Disease Surveillance and Monitoring Systems for COVID-19 in the IGAD Region. Mary Muthoni, the Principal Secretary of the State Department of Public Health, announced that with the support of the European Union and the German Government through the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the ministry received a significant boost to digitize border surveillance systems. “We have received seven laptops, 37 desktop computers, 37 UPSs, 37 power extension cables, and 4 access points,” she stated. Muthoni explained that these…

Paris, Dublin, London (24/9 – 32) Undefeated in 17 games in the last 15 months, Ireland has beaten every rugby union world champion, three of them twice – just for humiliation. Historically, the Irish never got past the last eight of a Rugby World Cup. In this year’s tournament they are on fire: fans have faith that Ireland will finally seize The Webb Ellis Cup on 28 October, final day of the struggle. Low-scoring but epic: a 13-8 win over the defending champion South Africa in Pool B of the 2023 Rugby World Cup on Saturday – a brutal statement…

Dmitri Alperovitch is a Soviet-born cybersecurity expert and entrepreneur who has waded deeply into geopolitics. A co-founder of CrowdStrike who helped investigate high-profile cases including the Russian hack of the U.S. Democratic Party in 2016, he also launched the Silverado Policy Accelerator, a nonprofit think tank, to examine U.S. policy challenges in the 21st century. Alperovitch spoke to RFE/RL’s Georgian Service after the crash of Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin’s private jet on August 23. He talked about what Prigozhin’s demise says about President Vladimir Putin’s “gangster state,” the chilling message it sends, and its likely effect on events in Africa and the…

About 5,000 people gathered in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki Sunday to protest a new type of identity card to be introduced later this month, police said. Carrying Greek flags and banners, the protesters rallied at the city’s iconic White Tower, a waterfront former fortification, chanting slogans and the national anthem. They played a speech by the late former head of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens, who had warned of the enemies of the Greek people. Later, they marched through the city center before dispersing without incident. The machine-readable cards will replace the type of ID…

The President of the Cyprus Shipowners’ Union Andreas Hadjiyiannis on Sunday announced the financial aid amounting to €50 million for the victims of floods and fires in Greece. Hadjiyiannis expressed the deep sorrow of the maritime community for the human losses and damage caused by the devastating floods, in a written statement by the Cyprus Shipowners’ Union. He added that the financial assistance is aimed at alleviating the suffering of the affected individuals. The Shipowners’ union president has recently met the President of Greece, Katerina Sakellaropoulou at a dinner where they discussed among others, the advancements required in the maritime…