News archive of July 2024

Petros Gkaidatzis and Antonios Papakonstantinou react after the men's lightweight double sculls semifinal at the 2024 Summer Olympics on Wednesday in Vaires-sur-Marne, France. The Greek duo advanced to the final with the second-best time of 6:23.36 in the second semifinal heat and will be competing for a medal for Greek rowing. [Lindsey Wasson/AP]

Acting Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lyudmila Petkova has raised concerns that Bulgaria might not receive the full second payment of 653 million euros under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP). Petkova shared this warning during a parliamentary hearing, highlighting that several key commitments have yet to be fulfilled.

Greek swimmer Georgia Damasioti reacts after her heat in the women's 200-meter butterfly at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, on Wednesday. The 21-year-old finished 5th in the third preliminary heat with a time of 2:09.55, breaking her own Greek national record of 2:09.74 set in 2023. She advanced to the semifinals with the 13th best time among the qualifiers.

The Russian military has announced its capture of the village of Pivdenne in Ukraine's Donetsk region. Located approximately 6 kilometers southeast of Toretsk, a significant Ukrainian fortress and coal-mining town, Pivdenne has been a target for Russian advances since June.

TEHERAN - Serbian Deputy PM Aleksandar Vulin met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Teheran on Wednesday to discuss bilateral relations and continued cooperation as well as Iran's principled position of non-recognition of the so-called Kosovo.

Firefighters in North Macedonia fought a dozen wildfires fanned by heavy winds for a third day on Wednesday, and hot temperatures and dry weather also fueled smaller blazes across Greece and the Balkans, officials said.

Veteran theater actor Genco Erkal, the founder of Dostlar Theater in Ankara, died of leukemia on July 31 at the age of 86. He was known as the "master of one-man plays."

Dostlar Theater shared the news on its official account in the early hours of the morning with an emotional message, saying, "Goodbye my friends, goodbye…"

On the evening of July 7, a deep sigh of relief from Athens accompanied the lively celebrations on the streets of France.

The temperature is soaring. The already incendiary region of the Near Middle East is one step closer to the danger of a broader escalation after the assassination of Hamas’ top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran early this morning.

“Let us assume that the announcement by the Supreme Court prosecutor is not disgraceful, as the legal community of the country claims, but reflects the truth,” Kasselakis said.