ESA’s Mars Express has captured images revealing distinctive formations dubbed “spiders” dispersed across the southern polar region of Mars. These features are caused by a fascinating interplay of seasonal changes and geological processes. During the Martian winter, layers of carbon dioxide accumulate on the surface. Then, with the arrival of spring, sunlight penetrates the surface to cause a transformation. Solid, Liquid, Gas The European Space Agency’s Mars Express exploration has found that the bottom layer of carbon dioxide ice transitions directly into gas, exerting pressure an ..read more

A major inquiry from the AfD provides interesting insights into the Saxon asylum seeker statistics. Of a total of 17,484 asylum seekers in 2023, only 75 were recognized as politically persecuted under Article 16a of the Basic Law, which corresponds to around 0.43%. For a further 6,597 migrants, “protected status” was established through other legal means. In contrast, 5,097 applications were rejected. Last year, the costs of migration for the Free State alone amounted to 652 million euros; in 2021 it will be 376 million euros. This number is particularly interesting because, according to the ..read more

The nationalist narrative of the “Century of Turkey,” which includes, of course, the “Blue Homeland,” is now integrated into the official educational program of Turkish schools, as decided by the Turkish Ministry of Education and published on April 28. The change in the educational curriculum aims to inspire the new generation of Turkish students with the “greatness” of Turkey’s achievements, with particular emphasis on the military industry and the launch of Turkish satellites into space. Simultaneously, it aims to indoctrinate the new generation with President Erdogan’s revisionist narrativ ..read more

The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, expressed the hope that Hamas would accept an “extremely generous” proposal in order to halt the Israeli attack on Gaza, in exchange for the release of hostages. “Hamas has before it an extremely, extremely generous proposal from Israel,” Blinken said in Riyadh, during the World Economic Forum. “They must make a decision and they must do it quickly (…) and I hope they make the right decision,” he said, referring to the leaders of Hamas. Furthermore, Blinken reiterated, his country’s opposition to an Israeli attack on the densely populated city of Raf ..read more

The Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke in the plenary session of the Parliament discussing the bill “Unification of first instance jurisdiction, spatial restructuring of the courts of civil and criminal justice, and other provisions under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice”. Key points from the Prime Minister’s speech: – Justice delayed is justice denied; it ultimately burdens those seeking its protection. – Addressing fragmentation in Attica: consolidating 20 magistrate courts into five. – Aim for practical outcomes: greater speed. – Leave behind the practices of the ’5 ..read more

The railway system faces various challenges, and one of them involves OSE utilizing drones to address material theft issues, which pose significant problems for the railway’s operation. OSE recently decided to extend its contract with a drone provider beyond protecting materials to include safeguarding its property. Reportedly, drones patrol seven areas under OSE’s responsibility, including key organizational sites and railway lines with telecommunications equipment, which are frequent targets of theft. As CEO Panagiotis Terezakis mentioned on ypodomes.com, this service began under the previo ..read more

The pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is reported to have admitted that its widely used COVID vaccine, marketed as Covishield, could cause rare side effects, such as blood clots and low platelet count. According to the British newspaper Independent, Covishield was developed by the British-Swedish company in collaboration with the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom and is produced by the Serum Institute of India, while it has been widely administered in more than 150 countries. Some studies conducted during the pandemic found that the vaccine was 60% to 80% effective in protecting again ..read more

Today, on Holy Tuesday, a noticeable change in weather is apparent with strong winds, cloudiness, and temperatures ranging from 14 to 25 degrees Celsius in Attica. In the Dodecanese, the Ionian Islands, and the southern part of the islands in the eastern Aegean, generally, the weather will be clear. A few localized showers are expected in northern Crete, southern Euboea, and the northern Cyclades. On Holy Wednesday, there may be some localized rainfall in northern Crete, while on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, local showers are expected in the northern parts of the country. On Holy Saturday ..read more

Workers’ decisions bring a new twist to the operation of public transportation tomorrow. Ultimately, metro lines 1, 2, and 3 will operate from 9:30 in the morning until 4:30 in the afternoon, while initially it was announced that they would operate from 9 in the morning until 9 at night. Specifically, according to the latest announcement tomorrow, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, due to the participation of workers’ unions in strike mobilizations, Metro Lines 1, 2 & 3 will operate from 09:30 to 16:30 and the Tram from 09:00 to 21:00. In OASA (buses and trolleys), the work stoppage is from 09:00 to ..read more

The couple Elena and Nikolai Šapošnikov bought the titles to the Villa Elena hotel in 2009 by offering the sum of 275,000 euros, according to the findings of an investigation by the Russian investigative journalism team of the website The Insider, published by the Daily Telegraph. The two Eastern Europeans are also linked to bloody attacks on ammunition depots in the Czech Republic. As Kremlin spies, they acted as informants for members of the Russian secret services. The hotel that became the home of the Russian GRU security service In 2010, Nikolai and Elena moved to the Villa Elena Hotel a ..read more