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Several Cypriots are traveling abroad this year for the New Year, choosing as destinations mostly Greece and Great Britain but also Central European countries, the President of the Association of Travel Agents (ACTA) Haris Papacharalambous told KYPE.

According to Mr. Papacharalambous, the numbers for Cypriot trips abroad “will be slightly higher than in 2019 before the pandemic, which was our best year in terms of Cypriot trips abroad.”

As he said, “exact numbers for the time being do not exist because there are also people who make their own arrangements for their trips”.

But there will be data, he notes, “a few weeks after the end of the festive season when the Statistical Service will do its analyses.” He added that, however, “the signs are there of the increase taking place.”

Answering a question, he said that Cypriots prefer Greece first and then Great Britain for their trips. They are followed by Austria, France, Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Germany, which are in demand, as he said.

The length of stay of Cypriots abroad during this period is on average 4 to 5 nights.

“Obviously the prices during this period were such that they were not prohibitive, at least for the majority of the population,” Mr. Papacharalambous pointed out.

In general, he added, people are traveling and the times when travel was a kind of luxury are gone forever.

The World Health Organization (WHO) referred to “heartbreaking” testimonies collected yesterday by its team at a hospital in the Gaza Strip, where victims of the bombardment in the al-Maghazi refugee camp were treated.

“A WHO team heard heartbreaking accounts from medical staff and victims of the suffering caused by the explosions,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the UN health agency, said via X (formerly Twitter).

WHO today visited Al-Aqsa Hospital, where scores of injured people were taken overnight following strikes in central #Gazaincluding in the vicinity of the Maghazi refugee camp.

Palestinian health authorities reported that 70 people were killed, while Al-Aqsa Hospital staff… pic.twitter.com/B5503C82CT

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) December 25, 2023

“A child lost his entire family in the bombing of the camp. A hospital nurse suffered the same loss, her whole family was killed,” he added.

According to the Health Ministry of Hamas, at least 70 people were killed in the bombing last Sunday of the al-Maghazi refugee camp, in the central part of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military said it was “verifying the incident”.

AFP notes that it was unable to independently confirm the death toll.

Dozens of lifeless bodies in white body bags were lined up below al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Bala, in the central Gaza Strip, ahead of funerals.

The hospital reported admitting about a hundred wounded after the bombing, according to the WHO Director-General.

“The number of patients treated at the hospital far exceeds its capacity in terms of beds and staff,” he underlined. “Many will not make it out of the waiting rooms alive.”

“This latest raid on a community in the Gaza Strip shows why we need a ceasefire now,” he added.

Sean Casey, a member of the WHO mission, said he was present when doctors treated a 9-year-old boy with a very serious head injury.

His name was Ahmed.

“He was just given anesthesia, to relieve the pain before he died,” he described in a video shot at the hospital, visibly struggling to hold back tears.

“He was crossing the street in front of the shelter where his family was and the building next to it was bombed,” he explained. The child was “hit by shrapnel, debris, brain tissues were injured…”.

“No one could do anything for him. As in so many cases here, there are no capabilities to deal with complex neurological cases, complex injuries,” he continued.

“Surgeries work 24 hours a day. “Emergency departments are way, way, way overstretched,” this WHO official added.

“This situation is unacceptable,” Sean Casey fumed. “It has to stop”.

Source: RES-MPE

The singer Vassilis Karras passed away at the age of 70.

According to the Greek protothema.gr, the beloved singer who passed away on Sunday afternoon (24/12), had been facing health problems recently, while in the last few days he was hospitalized with coronavirus in the intensive care unit. He breathed his last at 17.00 in the afternoon due to an obstruction.

Vassilis Karras was born in Kokkinochori, Kavala, while at the age of 10 he went with his family to Thessaloniki.

In 1969, at the age of 16, he made his first musical appearance at the nightclub “Prosfygas” in Evosmos, Thessaloniki. At the same time, he worked as a car mechanic, his second great love after singing. He had also worked in the engine room of OSE in Thessaloniki, a fact that is reflected in his song “Ego agapi mou, ego”. He started his professional career in Thessaloniki. The records have gone gold and platinum, while his biggest commercial success was the record “You Made Me a Tramp”, which sold over 180,000 copies, with lyrics and music by Michalis Rakintzis.

He had collaborated with composers and lyricists, such as Dimitris Rakitzis Foivos, George Theofanous, Alekos Chrysovergis and Spyros Giatras, Evi Droutsa, Panos Falaras, Christos Dantes, Kyriakos Papadopoulos and Ilias Filippou, Michalis Hatzigiannis, Christos Nikolopoulos and many others. He had done duets with many singers such as Marianthi Kefala, Pyx Lax, Konstantina, Angela Dimitriou, Tolis Voskopoulos, Nikos Zoidakis, Kaiti Garbi, Despina Vandi, Elli Kokkinu, Irini Merkouri, Paola, Pantelis Pantelidis as well as with George Kakosao. He had worked with most of them in live programs. He was also a composer and lyricist and had written songs for many Greek singers.

Chilling details are coming to light in relation to the bloody attack that claimed the lives of 14 people in Prague, with the Czech government declaring today (23/12) a day of mourning.

The information that the Czech authorities have so far about the “killer” “shows” an introverted person, a “lone wolf” with a license to use weapons, but who had no criminal record.

He was studying at the postgraduate Department of History at Charles University, where he opened fire and so far his motives for the attack remain unknown.

In any case, with European countries already on alert for fear of terrorist attacks due to the war in the Middle East, the Minister of the Interior in a statement on Thursday (21/12) clarified that the investigations do not consider it to be a terrorist attack, nor do they suspect connection to any extremist ideology or group.

At the same time, the 24-year-old also allegedly shot and killed his father in the village of Hostun, about 20 kilometers from Prague, pointing to a serial killer.

The attack of the 14-year-old in Russia “inspired” the massacre – He had warned
However, according to the information that has become known until today, the perpetrator was allegedly “inspired” by a similar attack that had taken place in Russia with a 14-year-old as the perpetrator.

“Let me introduce myself, my name is David. I want to go on a school shooting spree and maybe kill myself. Alina Afanaskina has helped me a lot,” he said, among other things, in his message warning of the attack on Telegram.

Day of mourning for the Czech Republic

And while investigations into the perpetrator’s motives continue unabated, the entire country has been plunged into mourning. All the universities in the center remain closed and the streets near Charles University look like “ghost streets”.

Security measures at the university and the city have been increased as Czech authorities fear an accomplice of the attacker may be on the loose.

Against this background, police said on Friday (22/12) that they have increased security at schools and other “potential targets” – usually public facilities that are difficult to secure – as a precaution at least until January 1. University chancellors also announced that they are working with police authorities to increase security on campuses.

Intent to commit mass murder

The ballistics report describes most of the victims as having injuries to the head, chest or limbs. This shows that the 24-year-old wanted to kill as many people as possible, as he used a precision weapon and aimed through binoculars.

At the same time, during a search of his home, the police found his father dead and an improvised bomb in the cellar. A police source told “La Stampa” that the improvised bomb consisted of “a cylinder, ammunition, pyrotechnic material and chemicals”.

“The cellar was like a shelter. The bottle was large, it had many wires attached to it, leading to other equipment. In my opinion, it contained a system that would cause an explosion,” said a source close to the investigation.

Source: cnn.gr