Ο Κινέζος πρόεδρος Σι Τζινπίνγκ υποδέχθηκε την Τετάρτη τον Ρώσο πρόεδρο Βλαντίμιρ Πούτιν στο Πεκίνο, με τους δύο ηγέτες να ανταλλάσσουν χειραψία έξω από το Μέγαρο του Λαού, πριν από τις προγραμματισμένες συνομιλίες τους. Οι δύο ηγέτες περπάτησαν πάνω σε κόκκινο χαλί που είχε στρωθεί προς τιμήν του Ρώσου προέδρου, ενώ στρατιωτική μπάντα απέδωσε τους εθνικούς ύμνους της Κίνας και της Ρωσίας. Ο Βλαντιμίρ Πούτιν έφθασε χθες στο Πεκίνο, λίγα μόλις 24ωρα μετά την επίσκεψη του Ντόναλντ Τραμπ. Ο Ρώσος πρόεδρος πραγματοποιεί διήμερη επίσκεψη, στέλνοντας μήνυμα ενότητας και χαρακτηρίζοντας τη συνεργασία Ρωσίας και Κίνας ως έναν ισχυρό πυλώνα σταθερότητας στη διεθνή σκηνή. H Κίνα επιφύλαξε λαμπρή υποδοχή στο Ρώσο πρόεδρο, δεδομένης της στενής και μακροχρόνιας εταιρικής σχέσης των δύο πλευρών. Τον Πούτιν υποδέχτηκε κατά την άφιξή του στο αεροδρόμιο ο Κινέζος υπουργός Εξωτερικών, παρουσία στρατιωτικού αγήματος και με την γνωστή πια εικόνα των παιδιών που ανεμίζουν σημαίες. Πρόκειται για το 25ο ταξίδι του Ρώσου προέδρου στην Κίνα. Το πιο πρόσφατο ήταν τον περασμένο Σεπτέμβριο, όταν επίσης του είχαν επιφυλάξει μια μεγαλειώδη υποδοχή, συμπεριλαμβανομένης και μεγάλης στρατιωτικής παρέλασης. Στο επίκεντρο της συνάντησης των δύο ηγετών θα βρεθούν η οικονομία και η ενέργεια. Γι αυτό και ο Ρώσος πρόεδρος συνοδεύεται από μια μεγάλη αντιπροσωπεία υψηλόβαθμων αξιωματούχων. Ενδεικτικά αναφέρουμε ότι μαζί με τον Βλαντιμίρ Πούτιν ταξίδεψαν ο υπουργός Εξωτερικών Σερργκέι Λαβρόφ, ο υπουργός Άμυνας Αντρέι Μπελούσοφ, ο γραμματέας του Συμβουλίου Εθνικής Ασφάλειας, Σεργκέι Σοϊγκού, οι διευθύνοντες σύμβουλοι των ενεργειακών κολοσσών Rosneft και Γκαζπρόμ, ο επικεφαλής της Ρωσικής Διαστημικής Υπηρεσίας, καθώς και η κυβερνήτης της ρωσικής κεντρικής τράπεζας. www.ertnews.gr

Η Ρωσία εξετάζει το ενδεχόμενο ανάπτυξης κοινών έργων με τις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες και την Κίνα, σύμφωνα με δηλώσεις του Κιρίλ Ντμίτριεφ, επικεφαλής του Ρωσικού Ταμείου Άμεσων Επενδύσεων (RDIF), όπως μεταδόθηκε την Τετάρτη από ρωσικά κρατικά μέσα ενημέρωσης. Ο Ντμίτριεφ, επικεφαλής του κρατικού επενδυτικού ταμείου της Ρωσίας, ανέφερε ότι υπάρχει προοπτική συνεργασίας σε συγκεκριμένους τομείς, χωρίς να δώσει περαιτέρω λεπτομέρειες για τα πιθανά έργα ή το πλαίσιο συμμετοχής των τριών χωρών. Πηγή: Reuters www.ertnews.gr

A road accident with an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) on the island of Corfu on Tuesday, left a 42-year-old British tourist dead and his 15-year-old injured in the hospital. According to media information, father and son were riding an ATV vehicle on the provincial road Sideri-Kassiopi in the North of the island in the Ionian Sea. […] The post British tourist killed, son hospitalized after accident with ATV on Corfu appeared first on Keep Talking Greece.

An intense weather instability with rainfalls, storms, locally hail and Sahara Dust will affect Greece from Tuesday until the end of the week, May 19-24, 2026. At the same time, temperatures will remain high according to the seasonal average. According to forecasts by Greek meteorologists local rainfalls will be recorded in Attica and Thessaloniki, and […] The post Unstable weather in Greece with rainfalls, storms, hail, Sahara dust appeared first on Keep Talking Greece.

Ithaca island, Greece. Credit: flickr / Zhang Yu CC BY-SA 2.0 The Odyssey, composed by Homer in the seventh century BCE, tells the story of Odysseus on his journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. The normal interpretation is that Homer’s Ithaca is the same as modern Ithaca, also called Ithaki. However, there is a lot of controversy surrounding this identification. Is Homer’s Ithaca really the same as modern Ithaca, or was it a different island entirely? The standard identification of Homer’s Ithaca Since antiquity, Homer’s Ithaca has been identified as the island known by that name in modern times. This island, also called Ithaki, is the island immediately to the northeast of Cephalonia off the western coast of Greece. Ancient inscriptions prove that the inhabitants of that region believed that this island was Homer’s Ithaca at least as early as the last few centuries BCE. For this reason, modern archaeologists have extensively explored the island for evidence of Odysseus’ presence. They have attempted to match various geographical features to descriptions found in the Odyssey. However, despite general agreement that modern Ithaca is an excellent match for Homer’s descriptions, there is a certain passage in the Odyssey that has caused many researchers to look elsewhere for the real Ithaca. Why the location of Homer’s Ithaca is in doubt The passage in question is a description of Ithaca and its relationship to three other islands over which Odysseus ruled. It reads: “Around it many islands lie very close to one another, Doulichion, Same, and wooded Zacynthus. It lies low on the sea, farthest off toward the gloom, with the others off toward sun and dawn.” According to this, Ithaca was part of a group of four notable islands. The key part of this description that has caught the attention of many commentators is that Ithaca is described as being the “farthest off toward the gloom” out of these four. For many commentators, this means that Homer’s Ithaca, the home of Odysseus, was further out towards the sea than the three other islands. In other words, it was the westernmost island. This would explain how it was “farthest off towards the gloom.” The gloom, in this case, would be the open sea between Greece and Italy. Other identifications of Odysseus’ island For this reason, one popular alternative idea is that Odysseus’ home was actually Cephalonia, not modern Ithaca. A variation of this theory is that the peninsula on the western side of Cephalonia used to be a separate island. That would therefore be the westernmost island in the area, making it a logical match for Homer’s Ithaca. Another suggestion is that Homer was actually referring to Lefkada. This is further north than Cephalonia and modern Ithaca. While it is not further west than Cephalonia, one interpretation of Homer’s line is that “farthest off towards the gloom” refers to the north. Since there is no island immediately north of Lefkada, there just being open sea beyond it for quite some distance, this is a plausible interpretation. Identifying Homer’s other islands However, when we examine Homer’s controversial passage in more detail, we can see that there is really no issue with the standard identification of Ithaca. Odysseus’ home island is described in relation to three others: Doulichion, Same and Zacynthus. There is wide agreement that the last of these, Zacynthus, is identical to the modern island Zakynthos. This is to the south of Cephalonia. The island of Same is plausibly identified as Cephalonia itself. This has been the standard identification since antiquity, since Same was the name of one of the most prominent city-states on the island. According to Homer, there was a small rocky islet between Same and Ithaca. This matches the small islet, Asteris, between Cephalonia and modern Ithaca. Regarding Doulichion, most scholars identify it with one of the Echinades. This is a group of islands just off the coast of western Greece, east of modern Ithaca. Makri and Petalas appear to be the two most popular identifications. How modern Ithaca fits Homer’s description What bearing do these identifications have on Homer’s passage about Ithaca? It is true that modern Ithaca is not further west than Cephalonia. However, it is indeed further north than Cephalonia, Zakynthos, and the Echinades. As mentioned earlier, some commentators interpret Homer’s reference to “towards the gloom” to mean to the north, not out into the sea. Indeed, this is a very plausible interpretation. He contrasts this with the other islands, which are “off toward sun and dawn”. The “dawn” is obviously a reference to the east. Therefore, “toward sun” must be a reference either to the west, where it sets, or more likely to the south, since in Greece the sun travels across the southern sky. Therefore “the gloom” is plausibly understood as a reference to the north, since in Greece it is the cardinal direction which is furthest away from the sun. Since modern Ithaca is further north than the other three islands, this means that it fits Homer’s description. While it is true that Lefkada is even further north, this would only be relevant if there was any evidence actively supporting its identification as one of the four islands in Odysseus’ realm. Furthermore, the route described in the Odyssey rules out such an identification, as shown by historian Tim Severin.

Remnants of Padua’s Roman amphitheatre wall. Credit: MM / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 Archaeologists in northern Italy have uncovered a rare pre-Roman sanctuary buried by an ancient flood, offering new insight into religious life in the Veneto region before and during Roman rule. The site was found during road construction near Ponso, in the province of Padua. Workers first noticed ancient remains during safety checks for old wartime explosives. The discovery led archaeologists to carry out deeper surveys along the planned road route. Those surveys revealed stone objects bearing inscriptions. Some were written in Latin characters. Many more used the Venetic alphabet, the script of the ancient Veneti people who lived in the region before Roman rule. Inscriptions point to sacred use Experts working with the local archaeology authority have dated several inscribed stones to the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. Some appear to have been reused in a later paved stone surface. Others were still in their original positions. Researchers say the inscriptions likely had a votive purpose. That means people may have dedicated the stones as offerings in a sacred place. This evidence helped archaeologists identify the site as a religious complex rather than an ordinary settlement. Temple foundations emerge As excavation continued, archaeologists found the foundation levels of large rectangular buildings. They believe the structures were temples. One building appears to have been a peripteral temple, meaning it was surrounded by columns on all sides. That design suggests the sanctuary held major importance and required a strong investment. The evidence points to a cult site that began before Roman control but continued to be used during the Roman period. The site changed over time, but researchers do not see signs of a sudden break in religious activity. Local traditions met Roman influence The mix of Venetic and Latin inscriptions supports that view. It suggests local religious traditions survived while Roman influence grew. The sacred space may have adapted to new customs, languages, and building styles. Archaeologists say the entire complex was later destroyed or covered by a powerful flood from the nearby Adige River. At the time, the river flowed through the area. The flood carried silt and gravel over the temples and stone surfaces, sealing them underground. Flood sediments preserved the site That layer of sediment hid the sanctuary for centuries. It also helped preserve the remains until modern construction brought them to light. Excavations are still underway. Researchers plan to extend work toward the ancient river course to understand the full size of the sacred area. They also hope to find other buildings linked to the sanctuary. The discovery could make Ponso an important site for studying religious life in northern Italy before and during Roman rule.

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