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Syrian refugees in Europe fear being forced home after Assad’s fall

Athens, Greece/Berlin, Germany Reuters Najem al-Moussa was delighted when news of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s overthrow first beamed from the television in his tiny Athens apartment. Then came a dreaded thought: what if Assad’s fall meant he and his family would be forced to return to the devastated country they had fled nine years before? […]

Clashes break out in Athens after march to mark 2008 student killing by police

Athens, Greece Reuters Clashes broke out between police and protesters in Athens on Friday after thousands marched to mark the 16th anniversary of the police killing of a teenage boy, whose death triggered Greece’s worst riots in decades. A petrol bomb explodes next to riot police during clashes, following an anniversary rally marking the 2008 […]

Cypriots across divide want more contact, more open checkpoints

Nicosia, Cyprus Reuters Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot political parties appealed to their respective leaderships on Thursday to open more crossings to facilitate better communication between the island’s rival communities. Ethnically divided Cyprus has nine crossings along the 180 kilometres ceasefire line that separates Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Thousands use them daily with long queues […]

New Greek metro is archaeological window on the past

Athens, Greece Reuters A metro system in Greece’s second city Thessaloniki officially opened on Saturday, its stations displaying the same ancient artifacts that nearly derailed the project’s completion. During construction, which began in 2006, workers discovered a Byzantine-era market, a Roman cemetery and other treasures of the city’s long and varied history. A view of […]

Greece to compensate fire-stricken households near Athens

Athens, Greece Reuters Greece said on Tuesday it would offer emergency compensation totalling millions of euros to hundreds of households and businesses affected by a blaze that killed one woman and torched 10,000 hectares near Athens. The blaze began on 11th August near the town of Varnavas, 35 kilometres from the capital, and within a […]

Panic and destruction in Greece as wildfire and city meet

Athens, Greece Reuters Vangelis Ilias was returning from holiday on Monday when friends called to tell him the unthinkable. A wildfire in forests north of Athens had suddenly descended on his suburb and was approaching his sculpture workshop. Minutes later, the 55-year-old’s shop on a plot between warehouses, fields and a wood seller in Vrilissia, […]