Massive Wildfire Threatens Greek Capital
Source: Sky News
A huge blaze on the east side of Athens is spreading quickly due to high temperatures and strong winds.
Dozens of firefighters with ten vehicles are trying to tackle the fire, which sent thick smoke billowing into the Greek capital's sky.
Water-dropping helicopters were also dispatched at the scene.
The Reuters news agency said residents were forced to flee their homes, but so far nobody has been reported injured.
Read more: http://news.sky.com/story/1520696/massive-wildfire-threatens-greek-capital
trusty elf
(7,385 posts)Javaman
(62,517 posts)hatrack
(59,583 posts)Unbelievable.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)Time to invoke the Olympian Pantheon. Some divine intervention is required!
happyslug
(14,779 posts)Russia has its own problems at the present time, but it can provide Greece with Fuel and Food and maybe some Euros. Russia also has extensive forest fire structure that can help Greece.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Russian_wildfires
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Emergency_Situations_(Russia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beriev_Be-200
As to Foreign money, Russia has enough Euros and Dollars in stock to last till next year if the present recession continues. The Recession is showing signs of having had ended thus Putin has cash to burn. Russia's biggest lost of cash occurred as it tried to keep the value of the Ruble, up, when Russia gave up on that idea, it lead to a reduction in spending Euros and Dollars.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/markadomanis/2015/04/24/russia-is-still-burning-through-its-foreign-currency-reserves/
China can support Putin, if Putin decides to help the Greeks. China is also in a Recession, and the signs that it is pulling out of it is less then the signs of Russia pulling out of its recession:
http://www.focus-economics.com/countries/china
On the other hand China still has the second largest economy in the world (Second to the US, but in 2015 China did pass the US in economic terms, just as its Recession kicked in and knocked it back to #2):
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/01/china-worlds-largest-economy
Thus Russia can help the Greeks, at low costs to itself. Now, Putin has refused to do so till now, mostly because if he had sent any Euros to Greece, it would have helped the investors (Mostly Germans) not the Greeks themselves. A good example of this is when Greece let out bids for Natural Gas wells in the Aegean sea. Russia Natural Gas Corporation gave the highest bid and thus "won" the right to develop the field, the EU, which had demanded that the field be put out it bid, then promptly demanded that the sale be dropped. Russia was showing it was willing to pay the Greeks, but the EU wanted that field for its members not Russia or Greece.
Russia has also signed with Greece an agreement to ship its own natural gas through Greece and Turkey. This secure Natural Gas to both countries AND provides a steady flow of income to Greece over the next 10 to 20 years:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-19/russia-clinches-greece-accord-to-build-gas-pipeline-to-europe
Thus Putin can play the role of a Greek god, coming down to help Modern Greece (much like the US did the same in Post war Greece with the Marshall Plan, which included shipping Mules to Greece for use by their farmers).
potone
(1,701 posts)This time the Peloponnese is also on fire. Fortunately neighboring countries are sending firefighters. This disaster, at least, is something that they are used to. They will get through it; as for the economic wildfire, well that is another matter altogether.
potone
(1,701 posts)This is much, much worse than I realized: there are over sixty fires now, and the weather reports say that it is going to be in the 90s for the next five days, with windy conditions continuing over the weekend, so unless they can get this under control fast, it will be another major disaster. I read that the French and Italians are sending help; it cannot come too soon. People's houses have already burned down. Poor Greece!