Aegean islands

Iraklis Mamoudelos stands in front of the Aphrodite cafe-restaurant, with its blue polyester director's chairs. He has a black tray under his left arm, ready to welcome customers. No one is swimming at the beach of Pserimos, a tiny island between Kalymnos and Kos in the eastern Aegean - now, at least - but the setting is ready.

A 53-year-old police sergeant on the island of Lesvos was sentenced to 16 years in jail for repeatedly committing lewd acts against a 14-year-old girl and trying to solicit her to take part in pornography.

The court ruled that the sergeant should not be granted extenuating circumstances, but found him not guilty of rape of a minor. 

Police on Sunday arrested two people on the islands of Mykonos and Paros for illegally installing loungers and umbrellas on the beach.

Officers handcuffed a 42-year-old man in Mykonos who had placed 77 sets of umbrella seats and five wooden gazebos in front of a well-known hotel on the popular beach of Kalafatis.

There has been an unprecedented explosion in construction on the Cyclades in the Aegean over the last five years, according to data from the National Statistical Service on new constructions from 2018 to 2022 on the region's 23 inhabited islands. 

Sixty-eight migrants found on Monday on a sailboat northwest of the coast of the small island of Leros, in southeastern Greece, were rescued and transferred to the island, state-run broadcaster ERT reported.

The migrants were picked up by a merchant ship that was sailing nearby and then by the Coast Guard that transferred them to Leros.

In "The Rustler," acclaimed artist Ilias Papailiakis presents the musings of an epic journey of self-discovery inspired by diverse literary references, ranging from Homer's Odyssey to Freud and the Bible.

Greece needs to immediately upgrade its infrastructure, as well as the proper management of individual destinations of Greece, the new president of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE), Giannis Paraschis, said during the presentation of Kathimerini's Reimagine Tourism in Greece initiative on Wednesday.

The case of the Nammos beach restaurant on the island of Mykonos is heading toward closure after the Syros Town Planning Authority certified the company's compliance with the Environment Ministry's request that the illegal structures it had erected be demolished.

This has paved the way for the reopening of the sealed-off site. 

Ioannis Vekris, 23, is the youngest fisherman on Amorgos and part of a new generation that is starting to reap the rewards of a revival of their profession after a decade of efforts.

New Democracy President Kyriakos Mitsotakis voiced his satisfaction with the current easing of tensions in Greek-Turkish ties, but insisted he had no illusions as to the possibility of changing long-term trends in foreign policy.