Greece

Greece: Blinken says Turkey is committed to a ‘positive’ role in postwar Gaza as he opens a diplomatic push

CHANIA, Greece (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that Turkey is committed to playing “a positive, productive” role for postwar Gaza and prepared to use its influence in the region to prevent the Israel-Hamas conflict from broadening even more.

The latest Mideast mission by America’s top diplomat opened with talks in Turkey and Greece before shifting to the region for “not necessarily easy conversations” with allies and partners about what they are willing to do “to build durable peace and security.”

Greece's parliament passes 2024 state budget

ATHENS, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Greece's parliament approved on Sunday the 2024 state budget, which foresees 2.9 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the new year up from 2.4 percent in 2023, according to data released by the National Economy and Finance Ministry.

The budget passed with the votes of 158 lawmakers in the 300-member strong plenary, Greek national broadcaster ERT reported.

Greece: As price of olive oil soars, chainsaw-wielding thieves target Mediterranean’s century-old trees

SPATA, Greece (AP) — In an olive grove on the outskirts of Athens, grower Konstantinos Markou pushes aside the shoots of new growth to reveal the stump of a tree — a roughly 150-year-old specimen, he said, that was among 15 cut down on his neighbor’s land by thieves eager to turn it into money.

Greece: Three migrants dead in boat capsize off Greek island

ATHENS, Oct 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Greece’s coastguard late on Sunday said it had found three bodies during a search for survivors after a migrant boat sank off the eastern Greek island of Symi.

According to a statement, eight people were found alive during the rescue operation that is underway with ships and a helicopter.

The weather conditions off the Dodecanese island are good.

Sources said that at least two more people are thought missing.

Athens was centre of Israel spyware company claims new investigative report

06 October 2023; MEMO: A recent investigative report by the European Investigative Collaborations, involving 15 European news outlets, has alleged that Athens was the centre of the Israeli Intellexa spyware company, Anadolu Agency reports.

Greek Reporters United, providing new evidence, revealed that the central figure in the scandal was French businessman, Stefan Salies, the head of Nexa, which collaborated closely with Intellexa to sell surveillance software, including the Predator, to illiberal regimes.

Greece, China Boost Cooperation On Shipping Finance

ATHENS, Sept 7 (NNN-AMNA) – Cooperation between Greece and China on shipping finance, is set to receive a boost, after a conference held at the major Greek port of Piraeus, yesterday.

The Export-Import Bank of China (EXIMBANK) and Greek shipowners, discussed the issue within the framework of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), for global infrastructure development at the conference, co-organised by the Association of Banking and Financial Executives of the Hellenic Shipping (ABFEHS) and the Chinese embassy in Greece.

Torrential rain follows summer wildfires in Greece, one dead

ATHENS, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Torrential rains have flooded homes, businesses and roads in Greece and a man died after a wall collapsed in the bad weather, the fire brigade said on Tuesday.

Storm Daniel has battered western and central Greece since Monday, prompting hundreds of calls to emergency services to pump out water just days after a deadly wildfire that has burned for more than two weeks was brought under control in the north of the country.

Four migrants killed in boat capsize off Greece; 18 others rescued

ATHENS, Aug 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Four migrants died Monday when their boat capsized off the Greek island of Lesbos, while 18 people were rescued, the coastguard said.

A patrol picked up 22 people in the Aegean but four of them were dead, a brief statement said.

The survivors were transferred to Mytilene, the main city on Lesbos, along the main passage route for migrants coming in from Turkey.

No details were given about the nationalities or the condition of those rescued.

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