Halcyon Days: The Unique Greek Weather Phenomenon
A sunny day in Athens. Credit: Greek Reporter
Greece is reputed to have almost 300 days of sunshine a year, even during the winter when the unique phenomenon of the Halcyon Days aka Alkyonides Days takes place creating a mini summer break amidst the winter.
The phrase, translated into “Halcyon days” in English, has a literal meaning of calm, peaceful days. It is the translation of ‘Alkyonides Meres’.
The Alkyonides Days take place from December 15 to February 15 each year, and most often between January 16-31. During this time, the days are typically sunny, with clear skies and no wind, with high temperatures not typical for the season.
French Rafale Jets Fly Over Greece
Rafale jets fly in formation over Greece. Credit: Hellenic National Defence General Staff
French Rafale jets made their debut flying over Greece on Thursday during the joint bilateral exercise, “Skyros 2021”.
The exercise allowed Greece to take a close look at the jets that Athens recently signed a contract for, Greek National Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos said.
The exercise, which concludes on Friday, includes Greek-French jet formations flying out of Tanagra, the base of the 114 Combat Wing, as well as Navy divisions.
Ravitaillement en vol d’un #Rafale dans le ciel grec. Même exercice pour les #Mirage et #F16
Credit: Greek PM’s OfficeGreek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis discussed coronavirus vaccine equity and his commitment to the continual modernization of the Greek economy in an online conference called “Europe 2021” on Thursday. The conference, which was organized by the German newspapers Der Tagesspiegel, Die Zeit and Handelsblatt as well as the business magazine WirtschaftsWoche, was wide-ranging…
Credit: Greek ReporterA total of 1,070 cases of Covid-19 were diagnosed in Greece on Thursday, 81 fewer than the 1,151 cases that were recorded in the country one day earlier, on Wednesday. Alarming health officials, a great number of Thursday’s 1,070 cases were diagnosed in Attica, where 533 Covid-19 diagnoses were recorded. Attica is home…
Greeks Under 64 Years of Age Will Receive AstraZeneca Vaccine
February 5, 2021
It was announced on Friday that the Astra Zeneca vaccine will be given to Greek citizens under the age of 64. Credit: Greek government
A meeting of Greece’s National Vaccination Committee resulted in a unanimous vote to go forward with administering the AstraZeneca vaccine to citizens up to 64 years of age.
The meeting was followed by statements by the president of the National Vaccination Committee Maria Theodoridou and the general secretary of Primary Health Care Marios Themistokleous.
Theodoridou stated “the National Vaccination Committee has reviewed in detail all available data regarding the safety and efficacy of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, following the recent approval of the vaccine by the European Medicines Agency for use in people 18 years of age and older, and in view of the possibility of its availability in Greece in the near future.”