Athens-Macedonian News Agency

Despite the large increase in air arrivals recorded in 2023, Greek hotels registered approximately the same occupancy rates as in 2022, while their prices increased, reported the President of the Institute of Tourism Research and Forecasts (ITEP), Konstantina Svinou, based on a recent survey concerning the May-October touristic period. 

The Hellenic Police (ELAS) announced on Thursday that 193 people were detained, of whom 30 were arrested, in connection with street riots that erupted in Athens and Thessaloniki on Wednesday night after marches and rallies commemorating the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos in 2008 by a police special guard. 

A mother bear and her two cubs have been shot dead near Konitsa in Greece's Epirus region. The incident was reported to Arcturos, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of the brown bear, on Sunday after the lifeless bodies were discovered alongside the road connecting the cities of Ioannina and Kozani.

Police in Serres, northern Greece, have apprehended a 65-year-old suspect on charges of antiquity theft.

Strong winds are hampering the ongoing search for 12 seamen who have been missing since the freighter they were sailing on went down near the northeastern Aegean island of Lesvos on Sunday.

The livestock facilities that will be built anew on the flood-destroyed plain of Thessaly will be state-of-the-art and include escape routes for animals in case of new floods, officials at the Agricultural Development and Foods Ministry told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.

In addition, they will be fully funded by the state.

The tourism season's extension strategy is bearing fruit and "already from this year we have tangible results," Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) General-Secretary Dimitris Fragakis told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency on Sunday.

He also noted that GNTO always had the extension of the season as a main pillar of its initiatives.

This month's official visit by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to China has not only given a positive boost to the two countries' cooperation, but it will also propel China's relations with the European Union, China's ambassador to Greece, Xiao Junzheng, noted to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency last week.

The administration of East Port Said, at the northern entrance of the Suez Canal, appears to "view" the port of Thessaloniki as a potential gateway to the Balkans and Europe for perishable Egyptian goods but also for Egyptian green hydrogen in the future, according to an Athens-Macedonian News Agency interview with East Port Said General Manager Aly Assem Ibrahim on Friday.

The government will unveil a package of measures this autumn to support vulnerable households, families with more than three children and people living in areas of higher energy needs who are forced to spend a significant part of their income on energy, Environment and Energy Minister Thodoros Skylakakis said in an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.