Athens

There are no reports of Greek nationals missing or injured in Morocco after the devastating earthquake of magnitude 6.8 that struck the country on Friday night, according to Foreign Ministry sources.

Explosive devices were detonated early Saturday at two restaurants with the same name in Maroussi and Nea Ionia in northern Athens, police said.

An explosive device detonated shortly after 4.30 a.m. at a souvlaki restaurant located at the junction of Aigaiou and Vyronos streets in Maroussi. The explosion broke the glass of the shop and damaged the tables and chairs.

Some areas of Greece received up to 800 millimeters of rain in recent days, more than is usually recorded in a whole year, according to a post by the European Copernicus system on the X platform on Saturday.

A major international agency on Friday upgraded Greece's credit rating to investment grade, a move that is expected to boost investor confidence in the formerly bailout-dependent country.

Vehicular traffic between Athens and Thessaloniki has been disrupted after flooding lead to the closure of roads in a number of sections on the motorway between the two cities.

The exit of the Attiki Odos towards the Athens-Lamia Highway (Exit 8) leading from the Athens International Airport toward Piraeus will be shut down from 10:00 p.m. on Saturday  to 10:00 a.m. on Sunday for heavy repairs to the tarmac.

The rainfall levels recorded by the automated monitoring stations of the National Observatory of Athens during the during the recent storm Daniel were much higher than those recorded during the Ianos storm that hit Greece in September 2020.

When comparing the cumulative rainfall amounts, the data confirms the conclusion that the recent phenomenon was many times stronger.

Severe rainstorms eased but floodwaters were still rising in parts of central Greece Friday, while fire department and military helicopters were plucking people from villages inundated by tons of water and mud that have left six dead, six missing and many people clinging to the roofs of their homes.

Aegean and Emirates are adding the Athens-New York (Newark) route to their codesharing flights, over a year since they launched their collaboration in August 2022.

Aegean offers its passengers the opportunity to benefit from the increased connectivity of the Emirates network to international destinations via Dubai, by offering flights between the emirate and Athens.

Amidst extreme weather and destruction by floods and wildfires, September 7 marks the 24th anniversary of another deadly natural disaster: the 1999 earthquake in Athens that left 145 people dead and destroyed tens of thousands of buildings and homes.