Ο Ρώσος πρόεδρος Βλαντίμιρ Πούτιν δεσμεύτηκε την Κυριακή να «εγγυηθεί» την ασφάλεια της χώρας και να αντιμετωπίσει τις «προκλήσεις», καθώς η Ουκρανία εντείνει τις επιθέσεις της σε υποδομές εντός του ρωσικού εδάφους. Το Κίεβο χαρακτηρίζει τις επιθέσεις αυτές ως δίκαιη ανταπόδοση για τις σχεδόν καθημερινές επιθέσεις της Ρωσίας εναντίον Ουκρανών αμάχων και ενεργειακών υποδομών από την έναρξη της επίθεσής της τον Φεβρουάριο του 2022. «Ναι, βλέπουμε τα προβλήματα, τα γνωρίζουμε και ανταποκρινόμαστε σε αυτά, αλλά σίγουρα θα εγγυηθούμε την ασφάλεια τόσο της χώρας όσο και των πολιτών μας, καθώς και το απαραβίαστο των συνόρων της Ρωσίας», δήλωσε ο Πούτιν στο συνέδριο του κόμματος «Ενωμένη Ρωσία». «Αναμφίβολα θα ξεπεράσουμε όλες τις προκλήσεις που αντιμετωπίζουμε σήμερα, συμπεριλαμβανομένων των τρομοκρατικών επιθέσεων στο έδαφός μας και στις υποδομές μας», πρόσθεσε. Η ομιλία του Πούτιν έλαβε χώρα λίγες ώρες μετά από επίθεση ουκρανικού drone που προκάλεσε τον θάνατο ενός ατόμου στη νότια περιφέρεια Κρασνοντάρ της Ρωσίας και πυρκαγιά σε διυλιστήριο, σύμφωνα με τον περιφερειάρχη Βενιαμίν Κοντράτιεφ. Το Κίεβο ανέλαβε την ευθύνη για την επίθεση, με τον πρόεδρο της Ουκρανίας, Βολοντίμιρ Ζελένσκι, να την χαρακτηρίζει ως μέρος των «επιχειρήσεων που αποδυναμώνουν την ικανότητα της Ρωσίας να διεξάγει αυτόν τον πόλεμο». «Το διυλιστήριο πετρελαίου του Σλαβιάνσκ στην περιφέρεια του Κρασνοντάρ δέχτηκε επίθεση – περίπου 300 χιλιόμετρα από την πρώτη γραμμή. Χτυπήσαμε επίσης ένα διυλιστήριο στην περιφέρεια του Γιαροσλάβλ, περίπου 700 χιλιόμετρα από τα σύνορά μας», δήλωσε ο Ζελένσκι την Κυριακή. Την περασμένη εβδομάδα, μια άλλη ουκρανική επίθεση προκάλεσε μεγάλη πυρκαγιά σε διυλιστήριο στα νοτιοανατολικά της Μόσχας, καλύπτοντας τα προάστια της πρωτεύουσας με πυκνά μαύρα σύννεφα καπνού. Η Κριμαία, που έχει προσαρτηθεί από τη Ρωσία, κήρυξε την Παρασκευή «κατάσταση έκτακτης ανάγκης» σε μια προσπάθεια να μετριάσει τις επιπτώσεις από τις αυξανόμενες ουκρανικές αεροπορικές επιθέσεις στη χερσόνησο. Η περιοχή αντιμετωπίζει έλλειψη καυσίμων και διακοπές ρεύματος που προκαλούνται από τις ουκρανικές επιθέσεις σε εφοδιαστικές αλυσίδες και πετρελαϊκές εγκαταστάσεις σε ολόκληρη την Κριμαία, σε άλλες περιοχές της Ουκρανίας που βρίσκονται υπό ρωσική κατοχή, καθώς και στη νότια Ρωσία. Η Ρωσία κατέλαβε και προσάρτησε την Κριμαία το 2014, αν και η συντριπτική πλειοψηφία των χωρών – συμπεριλαμβανομένων πολλών συμμάχων της Μόσχας – δεν αναγνωρίζει την κίνηση αυτή. Πηγή: Γαλλικό Πρακτορείο www.ertnews.gr

Νεκρή φώκια εντοπίστηκε νωρίς σήμερα το πρωί στη θαλάσσια περιοχή ανοιχτά από το Ακρογιάλι, στον Δήμο Δυτικής Μάνης, σε απόσταση περίπου 200 μέτρων από την ακτή. Το θαλάσσιο θηλαστικό έγινε αντιληπτό από ψαράδες, οι οποίοι το είδαν να επιπλέει νεκρό στη θάλασσα και ειδοποίησαν το Λιμενικό. Μέχρι στιγμής δεν έχουν γίνει γνωστά τα αίτια θανάτου της φώκιας, ενώ οι αρμόδιες Αρχές αναμένεται να ακολουθήσουν τις προβλεπόμενες διαδικασίες για την καταγραφή και διερεύνηση του περιστατικού. Τα τελευταία χρόνια φώκιες κάνουν κατά διαστήματα την εμφάνισή τους στην ευρύτερη θαλάσσια περιοχή της Δυτικής Μάνης, κυρίως κοντά στον φάρο των Κιτριών, γεγονός που έχει γίνει αρκετές φορές αντιληπτό από κατοίκους και ψαράδες της περιοχής. www.ertnews.gr

A three-member misdemeanor court found 57 out of 58 farmers from Crete guilty in a case concerning alleged illegal subsidy payments from OPEKEPE, based on false declarations of land in northern Greece. The case concerned farmers from Crete who, according to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, falsely declared that they owned or used thousands of […] The post OPEKEPE scandal: 57 farmers from Crete found guilty over false land declarations in N. Greece appeared first on Keep Talking Greece.

The Acropolis of Athens opens again for small exclusive guided tours away from the masses of tourists who visit the “Holy Rock” during the normal visiting hours. The price of 5,000 is a bit high, however, a personalized guided tour of up to five people “under the  first light of dawn or the glow of […] The post Acropolis opens again for exclusive private tours at €5,000 appeared first on Keep Talking Greece.

Frontispiece depicting Epictetus, a Stoic philosopher who considered the unique Greek language to be of great importance. From A selection from the Discourses of Epictetus with the Encheiridion. Credit: impuslenine, CC BY 2.0 The unique quality of the Greek language lies in the fact that the phoneme of a word and the meaning of that word are mostly identical. The signifier and the signified are two important terms in the use of language. The signifier is the object, the word, the image or action. The signified is the concept behind the object that is being represented. The Greek language is unique in that the signifier and the signified are most often the same word. This quality appeared as early as the late 6th century BC in Greek tragedy. The word philanthropy (‘philanthropia’ in Greek), for example, is defined as love for man: “Philo ton anthropon” means “love for mankind.” Hence, the signifier (philanthropy) and the signified (love for mankind) are the same word. Alternatively, the Greek word for statue is agalma. It derives from the verb ‘agallomai,’ which means “I rejoice, I am pleased.” It describes the pleasure one gets when admiring an ancient Greek statue with the perfect lines, the beautiful physique, the expression, and the emotion it depicts. Therefore, the word agalma not only describes the physical marble creation but also the emotion it sparks in the viewer of the statue. When a Roman and a Greek see a statue (‘statuam’ in Latin), both know what it is. However, the Latin word only describes the object. The Greek word not only describes the object, however, but also the feeling that the statue may induce in the observer. In both cases, the word used (the signifier) and the description of the subject, object, concept, or idea (the signified) are one and the same. To explain the difference between languages, in English, the word “statue” describes a static sculpture but not the feelings of the person viewing the statue. From the Stoics to Ferdinand de Saussure The distinction “signified – signifier” goes back to the Stoics, who put great emphasis on language and semiotics. They studied the relationship of language—mind—world and established the distinction of the word as a sign into signifier and signified. However, this distinction between the meaning of a word (the signified) and the way of declaring the meaning (signifier) corresponds, in practice, to an old, broader, and more general distinction of language in content and form. The main Stoic sources are biographer of Greek philosophers Diogenes Laertius (3rd century AD) and Greek philosopher and physician Sextus Empiricus (2nd century-early 3rd century AD). Sextus Empiricus highlighted the importance the Stoics put on the sign as an essential concept in human rationality and a threefold division consisting of the signifier, the signified, and the existent. However, the man who highlighted and established this distinction in linguistics and, consequently, in many other areas of the social sciences is Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913). The Swiss linguist, semiotician, and philosopher created a theory of the word and the sign. He is the proponent of the study of the linguistic sign and, together with the term semiology, Saussure searched into the structure of the word as a unique conventional combination of a certain signified (meaning) with a certain phthongic statement (signifier). Saussure posits that this combination is conventional, not causal. He uses the term “arbitrary,” which is not accepted today, and in relation to the very substance of the word, he shows that the signified (the meaning) is a mental entity. It is information that exists in our mind about how the meaning of a word is expressed in a certain language. Given that this relationship is conventional (established, according to Aristotle), we will not find it in other languages unless they belong to the same language family. From signifier and signified to four basic aspects According to Greek linguist Georgios Babiniotis, the signifier-signified linguistic dualism is inherent in all human language, but especially in Greek. All communication is also dualistic. It has a signifier and a signified. It has the level of the message, content, or information and the level of the form, statement, or, in other words, the expression of the content. In any case, we have the what and the how. The same happens in a text, and here we have content and form, signified and signifier. In a text, the signified is made up of a complex set of information with many functions, which lead to a correspondingly complex form of the signifier of the text. Finally, because the relationship between content and form is never 1:1, there is always the possibility of choices, which is the most creative process of language, Babiniotis argues. For Saussure, signifier and signified constitute the internal side of the linguistic sign (the word) and correspond externally—the signified to some object to which it refers (“reference object”) and the signifier to a succession of syllables that declare it sonically or to a specific representation of letters, often historically determined (“historical orthography”), in the written word. Therefore, there are four basic aspects of a word, or four pieces of information. These are the signified (meaning), the signifier (word), the object of reference (to which the signified refers), and the sound of the word (what the speaker articulates and the interlocutor hears). The terms ‘signifier’ and ‘signified’ established by Saussure resonated in the linguistic work of modern French constructivists such as Roland Barthes, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Michel Foucault, Jacques Lacan, Jacques Derrida et al.

Greek American lawmakers have raised concerns over the proposed sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. Credit: aeroman3, Public Domain Greek-American Representatives Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11), Mike Haridopolos (FL-8) and Jimmy Patronis (FL-1) have raised serious concerns in a joint statement over a proposed U.S. military sale to Turkey. Their intervention follows an official notification reportedly received by Congress from the Trump administration regarding its intention to approve the sale of engines worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Turkey. Bipartisan opposition for U.S. military sale to Turkey The engines, produced by General Electric, are believed to be destined for Turkey’s first indigenous combat jet KAAN, according to Reuters. However, U.S. Vice President JD Vance ​indicated on Wednesday ‌that a review was underway to ​see how the ​United States could also sell F-35 fighter ​jets to Turkey, given Ankara’s 2019 ​acquisition of Russian S-400 missile defense systems. Earlier in June, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio asserted that the Trump administration currently lacks the legal authority to restore Turkey to the F-35 fighter jet program, citing statutory restrictions stemming from Ankara’s acquisition of S-400 from Moscow. A bipartisan group of lawmakers, also joined by Malliotakis, has additionally called for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government to be denied the US military equipment ahead of a NATO summit in early July. Asked on Wednesday about the jet engines, the F-35 program, and his plans for the summit in Ankara, Trump said: “I’m going to probably do ⁠something that will make them very happy.” Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued a statement the same day, saying that the Trump administration was going to “once again bypass Congressional review for more than $700 million in defense articles to the Turkish military in yet another deeply troubling example of this administration’s open contempt for Congress’s oversight authority,” the New York Post reports. Greek-American lawmakers warn on U.S. military sale to Turkey In a joint statement issued on Friday, Greek-American lawmakers Bilirakis, Malliotakis, Haridopoulos and Patronis said that, as Greek American Members of Congress, they are deeply concerned regarding the reports of a proposed military sale of jet engines to Turkey. “Turkey continues to be a destabilizing force in the region through its expansive and disputed maritime claims, continued illegal occupation of Cyprus, and rhetorical demonization of Israel,” the statement reads. “The Eastern Mediterranean region holds significant potential to become a beacon of commercial opportunity, energy cooperation, and regional security, an effort we have actively supported through legislation and engagement, but Turkey’s rhetoric and actions increasingly threaten these efforts, key American allies, and regional stability,” the signing lawmakers continue. “For example, Turkey’s harboring of Hamas and position as the only NATO member to refuse sanctions against Russia is deeply troubling,” they add. In concluding the statement, the four of them declare that they are actively engaging with the Administration and House leadership to obtain additional information regarding this reported sale and to express their strong opposition to any prospect of Turkey’s reintegration into the F-35 program without complete compliance with CAATSA requirements. There is bipartisan opposition. As long as Turkey is under the leadership of Erdogan who aligns himself with Iran and Russia, harbors Hamas & remains the only NATO member to not sanction Russia, Turkey should NOT receive our best jets and military equipment. pic.twitter.com/GhEh7m3qiP — Rep. Nicole Malliotakis Office (@RepNicole) June 25, 2026

Professional fishermen in Crete and the South Aegean will receive 5.33 euros per kilogram of invasive silver-cheeked toadfish landed under a pilot program aimed at limiting the species' spread.

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Debris from downed Ukrainian drones sparked a blaze at a major oil refinery in Russia on Sunday, according to local authorities. This comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin said that his country was “going through a difficult period”. In recent months, Ukraine has stepped up its long-range attacks on Russian military facilities, choking Moscow's fuel supplies and military deliveries.

New Caledonia's provincial elections are a crucial test of the territory's political future, with independence from France remaining the central issue. The possibility of independence from France remains the central political issue, with today’s vote taking place peacefully. The election comes two years after plans to expand voting rights to thousands of non-Indigenous residents triggered deadly unrest and forced the postponement of elections in 2024. France 24 International affairs editor Leela Jacinto gives further insights.