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The tanker was reportedly anchored near the Chinese port of Qingdao, with local authorities and the tanker’s operators citing heavy fog during the accident. International press reports cited a fuel oil spill in the Yellow Sea on Monday morning (local time), after a Chinese-owned bulk vessel collided with a tanker carrying – according to the same initial reports – some one million barrels of bitumen mix.  The tanker was reportedly anchored near the Chinese port of Qingdao, with local authorities and the tanker ’s operators citing heavy fog during the accident. The collision involved the Liberia-flagged tanker A Symphony (IMO 9249324) and the bulker Sea Justice, the former’s manager, Goodwood Ship Management, said in an e-mail. According to a Reuters dispatch, citing Goodwood, “…the force of the impact on the forward port side caused a breach in cargo tanks and ballast tanks, with a quantity of oil lost into the ocean.”  “The oil spill came after a collision between two vesse...

Americans anxiously awaiting a verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin reacted with jubilation and relief on Tuesday after a jury found the former Minneapolis police officer guilty of murdering George Floyd during an arrest last May. But elation over the trial’s outcome, capping nearly a year of social upheaval, racial tensions and political strife stoked by Floyd’s killing, was tempered by calls for a continued fight against inequalities pervading the U.S. criminal justice system. In George Floyd Square, the Minneapolis traffic intersection named after the 46-year-old Black man who died with his neck pinned to the street under Chauvin’s knee, throngs of people screamed, cheered and applauded at the news of the guilty verdict. The square has become a place of pilgrimage and protest since Floyd’s death made him the face of a national reckoning with racial injustice and police brutality. ‘I can’t breathe’ His dying words, «I can’t breathe,» were recalled in street demonstrati...

The first flights of TUI Germany to Greece for this season start on May 14 with destinations in Crete and the Western Peloponnese. The first flight will be out bound for Heraklion from Hannover , while five more flights are planned to Crete from Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Cologne, and Frankfurt. On May 15, TUI Fly will fly to Kos, Rhodes, and Corfu.  The TUI program from Hannover includes 3,000 accommodations in 21 Greek islands. These include six Robinson and TUI Magic Life Clubs in Crete, Rhodes, Kos, and the Western Peloponnese. According to TUI Germany CEO Marek Andyszak, the Greek islands, like last year, are in great demand, and – therefore – he is urging Germans to plan their vacation and hurry to book their vacation soon. “Once the borders open, popular hotels will close quickly,”  Marek said. He added that with vaccinations continuing throughout June, and through priority vaccination of tourism workers, holiday resorts, and a green digital passport, the foundations ha...

What do entrepreneurs predict – What are the messages from the market  On May 15, Greece will open its gates to foreign tourists, after the official announcement by the Prime Minister of the resumption of activities in the sector that constitutes 20% of the country’s GDP. But is this announcement alone enough to jumpstart the industry? On what does the satisfactory occupancy of accommodations depend?  What messages is the market listening to and where do they see the “normalization” of operations of the industry in terms of time? More than one gear The statement of the Minister of Tourism, Haris Theocharis, in the previous days in Parliament that “we do not open by flipping a switch”, is an indication for the schedule of the next period. In this context, it was preceded by the opening for EU member states and for five more countries (USA, UK, Serbia, UAE and Israel) in nine airports (Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklion, Chania, Rhodes, Kos, Mykonos, Santorini and Corfu).  ...

"Greece is suitable for personalized travel, because it has more than 3,000 islands, including the rocky islets", points out the columnist of the German newspaper.  Spiegel in its online edition urges its readers to take a vacation in Greece, on the occasion of the abolition of the quarantine for travelers from the EU and five other countries under the condition of a negative PCR test or vaccine. Spiegel describes Greece as “already the most favorite destination of the summer”. Speaking to the German magazine, Christiane Piltz, from the specialized travel agency for Greece Attika Reisen, says that there is a clear feeling that people want to travel, but also that customers are more interested in individual travel rather than group travel.  Seven suggestions “Greece is suitable for personalized travel, because it has more than 3,000 islands, including the rocky islets,” the columnist points out, according to DW. “Enough to offer tourist destinations for the next decade. F...

February closed with a turnover loss of 1.82 billion euros for the country's businesses, according to ELSTAT in Greece. Greek companies recorded losses of 1.82 billion euros in their turnover in the month of February 2021, as shown by the data of Hellenic Statistical Authority ELSTAT. In particular, for all enterprises of the economy mandatory bookkeeping, for which data are available on a monthly basis, the turnover in February this year amounted to 17,231,465 thousand euros, a decrease of 9.6% compared to February 2020, which had amounted to 19,052,382 thousand euros.   The largest decrease (62%) was presented by the companies in the sector “Arts, entertainment and leisure” and the smallest (0.1%) by the companies in the sector “Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning”. On the other hand, the largest increase (6.9%) was presented by the companies in the sector “Water supply, wastewater treatment, and waste management and reclamation activities”.  Businesses οn su...

The German-language press is focusing on the efforts to open up Greek tourism, while also mentioning flights of asylum seekers to Germany and the action of Frontex. “To salvage the tourist season, Greece started an experiment under scientific guidance. 189 Dutch people were allowed to spend paid vacations in Rhodes,” according to a report in Austrian newspaper Der Standard, which notes that “the Greek government wants to save the tourist season despite the high number of coronavirus cases.”  It is interesting that 25,000 people applied for participation in this pilot program. “During the selection process, the Dutch government, in cooperation with state health authorities and travel agency Sunweb, took care to gather as heterogeneous a group of travelers as possible, in which, for example, all age groups are represented. In this way, safe conclusions could be drawn in the end,” the report states, observing in another point:  “The “Rhodes experiment”, as this program has been...

Building a Business Website A Small Business Guide from Jim Rotte. Your small business needs a website. Here's how to build one.    Building a small business website is important to inform your audience, explain your value proposition, boost brand recognition and drive sales. To build a business website, you first need to choose a domain name and secure web hosting. Then , optimize your website to improve your search engine rankings and drive traffic.  Keep your website up to date and optimized for mobile devices. Also ensure your site speed is adequate to improve your search engine rankings. This article is for small business owners looking to build a website or improve upon their existing website. It's no longer feasible to run a business, even a brick-and-mortar one, without a web presence. Consumers turn to the internet for everything from product research to location and operating hours.  Even just a simple, well-designed website can give you an edge in...