Category Archives: Greece

Greece introduces ‘growth-oriented’ six-day working week

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Pro-business government says measure is needed due to shrinking population and shortage of skilled workers

Companies in countries worldwide may be toying with the idea of implementing shorter working weeks, but in Greece employees have been told that, henceforth, they can put in a sixth day of labour in an unorthodox step aimed at turbocharging productivity.

After outpacing other Europeans in terms of economic growth, the nation once at the heart of the continent’s worst financial crisis has bucked the trend again, introducing a 48-hour working week. The measure, decried as “barbaric” by unions, takes effect from Monday.

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German tourist, 68, found dead on Greek island

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Hiker, whose body was discovered near a ravine in Crete, is sixth tourist to die in the country this month amid soaring temperatures

A German hiker has been found dead on the island of Crete, the fire department said – the latest tourist fatality during a period of unseasonably high temperatures in Greece.

The man had been declared missing on Sunday and was found near a ravine in the south of the island, the fire department said in a statement.

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Thirteen people appear in Greek court on charges of causing Hydra forest fire

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Fireworks allegedly launched from superyacht led to blaze that destroyed large swath of island’s only pine forest

Thirteen people were brought before a Greek public prosecutor on Sunday after being arrested in connection with a forest fire ignited on the island of Hydra by fireworks allegedly launched from the pleasure boat they were sailing on.

Local media showed the 13 crew members and passengers arriving at the criminal court in Piraeus to answer charges of causing the blaze on Friday night.

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Thirteen arrested after fireworks from yacht spark forest fire on Greek island

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Hydra’s mayor outraged by incident as country faces wildfires fanned by high winds and hot weather

Greek authorities arrested 13 people on Saturday after fireworks launched from a yacht set off a forest fire on an island near Athens as the country confronts a new season of deadly summer fires.

The mayor of the island of Hydra expressed “outrage” after the fire was started late on Friday and vowed legal action against those responsible.

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US tourist found dead on Greek island near Corfu and three others missing

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Body of missing man found on Mathraki beach in string of recent cases of Greek island visitors dead or gone missing

A missing US tourist has been found dead on a beach on a small Greek island west of Corfu, local media reported.

The body of the man was found Sunday on a rocky, fairly remote beach on the island of Mathraki by another tourist. He had been reported missing Thursday by his host, a Greek American friend. The tourist had last been seen Tuesday at a cafe in the company of two female tourists who have since left the island.

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Visitors to Greece appear ill informed about heatwave risk, warn rescuers

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Call for better trail signage and backing for walking clubs as concerns grow over tourists encountering searing heat

With Greece gripped by unusually high temperatures, fears are growing that foreign visitors are not aware or being properly informed of the risks posed by overexertion in the searing heat.

Over the past week, three search and rescue operations have been started for tourists who have gone missing during treks on far-flung islands, including one for the popular TV presenter Michael Mosley, who was found dead on the island of Symi.

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Body of TV presenter Michael Mosley to be repatriated by the weekend

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The result of tests to determine the cause of death could take months, but an autopsy has ruled out any criminal action

The body of Dr Michael Mosley is likely to be released to his family and repatriated by the weekend, forensic pathologists have said.

But tests revealing the precise cause of his death could take months because of a lack of certified laboratories to conduct advanced analysis.

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Acropolis closed during hottest hours as earliest-ever heatwave of year hits Greece

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Temperatures expected to reach 43C in Athens and across country, prompting school closures and health warnings

The Acropolis, Greece’s most visited tourist site, was closed to the public during the hottest hours of Wednesday as the season’s earliest-ever heatwave swept the country, prompting school closures and health warnings.

The culture ministry had said the Unesco-listed archaeological site in Athens would close from midday to 5pm (09.00 to 14.00 GMT), with temperatures expected to reach 43C (109F) on Wednesday and Thursday.

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‘You don’t forget these things’: Symi’s residents on aftermath of Michael Mosley’s death

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Fears of negative press outweighed by sadness and disbelief after TV presenter’s body was found five days after he went missing

“Thank God we found him.” Seated in his black leather office chair, surrounded by icons, oil paintings, photographs, medals and models ships, Lefteris Papakalodoukas, Symi’s longtime mayor, is clearly relieved.

It’s 9am and almost 24 hours have elapsed since the body of the TV presenter Michael Mosley was found lying in a gulley of rocks and thistle only metres from the sea, beneath the perimeter fence of a beach bar.

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Michael Mosley: TV presenter found dead on Greek island, wife confirms

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Dr Clare Bailey says her husband ‘almost made it’ after his body was found close to a coastal resort in Symi

The wife of the British TV presenter Michael Mosley has confirmed the “devastating” news that her husband has been found dead on the Greek island of Symi.

Dr Clare Bailey said she and the couple’s four children took comfort in the fact that he “had almost made it”, after his body was found close to a coastal resort on Sunday.

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Michael Mosley’s wife says ‘we will not lose hope’ as new footage emerges

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Video is believed to be one of last two sightings before British TV doctor left village of Pedi on Greek island

The wife of the British TV doctor Michael Mosley, who has gone missing on the Greek island of Symi, has said her family “will not lose hope” as the search for her husband continues.

Mosley, known for his appearances on The One Show and This Morning, disappeared during a walk in the north-east of the island on Wednesday.

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Search for Michael Mosley resumes with helicopter and sniffer dogs

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Local police scour Greek island of Symi two days after TV doctor and columnist went missing

The search for the TV doctor and columnist Michael Mosley has resumed on the Greek island of Symi, two days after he went missing.

Local police have confirmed that officers with sniffer dogs are scouring the island after they paused the search-and-rescue operation for the 67-year-old Briton on Thursday night.

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TV doctor Michael Mosley goes missing during holiday in Greece

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Agent says columnist and presenter has been missing since he went for a coastal hike on Greek island of Symi

A search is under way for the TV doctor and newspaper columnist Michael Mosley, who went missing after going on a coastal walk on the Greek island of Symi.

The 67-year-old, known for his appearances on The One Show and This Morning, was last seen when he set off hiking along St Nicholas beach at 1.30pm local time (1130 BST) on Wednesday. His wife, Dr Clare Bailey, alerted authorities after he failed to return by 7.30pm, but they were unable to locate him overnight.

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Greek police detain nine Egyptians despite dismissal of shipwreck charges

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Lawyer criticises ‘inhumane’ treatment of men who were accused over deadly sinking of vessel crossing from Libya

Greek police have been accused of the “inhumane” treatment of nine Egyptian men after placing them in detention despite a court throwing out charges against them over a deadly shipwreck.

Police said on Thursday they were placing the men in custody as it was thought they could flee the country, two days after a tribunal in the southern city of Kalamata dismissed charges against them due to a lack of jurisdiction.

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Charges dropped against nine Egyptians over 2023 migrant shipwreck off Greece

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Greek court says it has no jurisdiction to hear case as disaster happened in international waters

A Greek court has thrown out charges against nine Egyptian men accused of causing one of the Mediterranean’s deadliest shipwrecks, ruling it has no jurisdiction over the case because the disaster was in international waters.

The three-member tribunal, sitting in the southern city of Kalamata, announced the decision as migrant solidarity supporters rallied outside in support of the defendants. Inside the courtroom there was applause and whoops of delight.

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Mediterranean migrant boat disaster: men on trial are ‘scapegoats’, say lawyers

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Survivors of shipwreck that killed 600 people not ‘real smugglers’, say defenders, with inquiry into coastguard’s role also incomplete

Nine men accused of causing one of the deadliest shipwrecks to have taken place in the Mediterranean are “scapegoats” who should never have been prosecuted, defence lawyers have said, as their long-awaited trial opens in Greece.

The Egyptian suspects, who have been held in pre-trial detention since the 14 June disaster last year, are appearing in court in the southern city of Kalamata on Tuesday.

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Extra virgin olive oil prices tipped to top £16 a litre next month

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Price rise for mass-market types expected as global production falls to lowest level in more than 10 years

Olive oil prices are set to climb further this year – heading to more than £16 a litre for a bottle of extra virgin – amid a drop in global production to the lowest level in more than a decade.

Lower production in Greece, Morocco and Turkey as part of the natural cycle of olive growth is expected to offset an improving situation in Spain and Italy, where trees have suffered from extreme heat and drought in recent years as the climate crisis wreaks havoc on harvests.

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Prison release of Golden Dawn founder angers Greek anti-fascists

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State prosecutor reportedly opposed release of neo-Nazi Nikos Michaloliakos four years into 13-and-a-half-year sentence

The unrepentant founder of Greece’s neo-Nazi Golden Dawn, who insisted followers addressed him as the Fuhrer, has been released from prison four years into a sentence of 13 and a half years, having been convicted of operating a criminal organisation that posed as a political party.

Nikos Michaloliakos, a Holocaust denier and admirer of Adolf Hitler, was allowed to return to his home in Athens this week although his “conditional discharge” was only made public on Thursday.

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Greek court drops espionage charges against aid workers

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Accused were arrested in Lesbos and accused of facilitating illegal entry of migrants into the country

A Greek court’s decision to drop criminal charges against dozens of international aid workers accused of espionage and facilitating the illegal entry of migrants into the country has been met with jubilation.

A three-member judicial council convening on the north Aegean isle of Lesbos ruled there was insufficient proof to pursue the case against 35 mostly German nationals.

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Athens swallowed up by orange haze from Sahara dust storm

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Authorities in Greece warn the dust concentrations can reduce sunlight and visibility, while increasing levels of fine pollution particles pose health risks

Clouds of dust blown in from the Sahara covered Athens and other Greek cities on Tuesday, one of the worst such episodes to hit the country since 2018, officials said.

A yellow-orange haze smothered several regions after days of strong winds from the south, limiting visibility and prompting warnings from the authorities of breathing risks.

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