Administrative regions of Greece

The Public book and multimedia store has invited award-winning up-and-coming Australian writer Hannah Kent to speak with fans and sign books at its central Athens and Thessaloniki branches on Tuesday, February 19, and Wednesday, February 20, respectively. Kent is the author of best-selling novels "Burial Rites" (2013) and "The Good People" (2016).

The year is 2021. Athens is a changed city. It is already acknowledged as a hip European destination. Neighborhoods that were considered no-go zones have become a magnet for alternative tourists - but not the kind who want to hurl petrol bombs in what they consider a Balkan playground. The Athens coast is transformed, overtaking Barcelona in popularity.

The government is raising obstacles in the process for the concession of 10 regional ports through a Shipping Ministry bill that provides for the introduction of a 5 percent levy on the turnover of the contractor that undertakes each port.

Weather problems persist in central and southern Greece on Friday, as the strong winds are keeping ferries docked and snowfall has blocked a number of roads in various regions.

No ferries sail out of the Attica ports of Piraeus, Rafina and Lavrio due to gale-force winds, except for the large ferries to Aigina and Poros islands in the Saronikos Gulf.

The City of Athens is reportedly on the brink of ordering the demolition of nine abandoned dilapidated buildings deemed to be dangerous. 

The decision is expected in the wake of the collapse of two buildings over the last three days - one in Gazi on Sunday which crushed two adjacent cars and another on Tuesday in a part of Thiseio popular with tourists. 

An abandoned old house collapsed in Athens' so-called historical centre on Tuesday, private broadcaster Skai reported.

No people appeared to be trapped inside and no injuries were reported from passersby.

The house was located on Iouliou Smith street, right behind the Hill of the Pnyx - an area visited by hundreds of tourists.

Niki Goulandris, a prominent Greek philanthropist, environmentalist and accomplished botanical painter who co-founded the Goulandris Natural History Museum (GNHM) in Athens, died on Saturday, aged 94.

A section of the port on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos is being named after Kyriakos Papadopoulos, the late coast guard officer who distinguished himself during the peak of the refugee crisis in 2015 and 2016 and was credited with more than 5,000 rescues.

Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis on Friday unveiled an initiative to improve trash collection in the center of the Greek capital.

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center on Athens's southern coast, which includes new facilities for the National Library of Greece and the Greek National Opera, as well as the Stavros Niarchos Park, had to deal with a lot of opposition before it was built.