Greece and France sign warplane deal
World
January 26, 2021
ATHENS: Greece and France signed a 2.5-billion-euro ($3 billion) warplane deal on Monday as part of a burgeoning arms programme to counter Turkish challenges in the eastern Mediterranean.
France has strongly backed Greece in a standoff with Turkey over natural gas resources and naval influence in the waters off their respective coasts.The deal will see Greece buying 18 Rafale jets, 12 of them used, made by French firm Dassault to bolster its forces during their regular mid-air skirmishes with Turkish pilots over disputed Aegean airspace. The deal “sends a clear message in several directions”, said Greek Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos who oversaw a signing ceremony with French counterpart Florence Parly in Athens.
Hawke s Bay road sign font change mystery. Is the calligrapher actually Mother Nature?
25 Jan, 2021 10:00 PM
Quick Read
Gothic style font change on road sign in Omahu is down to the weather, says local. Photo / Warren Buckland
Gothic style font change on road sign in Omahu is down to the weather, says local. Photo / Warren Buckland
Hawkes Bay Today
By: Louise Gould
The clever calligrapher who altered the font on the road sign in Omahu might be Mother Nature herself.
Local resident Sebastiaan Verplanke, who drives past the sign every day, sent a close up picture of the sign to Hawke s Bay Today.
Majority of Kiwis unable to identify deadly rip currents
25 Jan, 2021 12:44 AM
3 minutes to read
Wanganui Midweek
A worrying new study has highlighted that up to 78 per cent of beachgoers in Aotearoa New Zealand are unable to spot rip currents (rips) in the surf, increasing the risk that they may inadvertently end up caught in one.
On average, five people fatally drown in rip currents on our beaches each year and a further 700 people require rescue.
The study, conducted as part of a collaboration between Surf Life Saving New Zealand (SLSNZ) and beach safety experts at the Universities of Canterbury, Auckland, Waikato, and UNSW Sydney, found that most beachgoers were unable to accurately identify rips.