Athens

An eight hours marathon meeting of the Culture Ministry's Central Archaeological Council (KAS) to determine whether any plots of the capital's former airport at Elliniko, south of Athens, should be declared of archaeological interest ended without an agreement late Tuesday.

The government is seeking to make the most of the visit to Greece by French President Emmanuel Macron, who arrives in Athens Thursday, as aides to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras see it as a perfect chance to put out the message that Greece has finally turned a corner after years of financial woes.

Concerns resurfaced about the outlook for a large investment on the site of the capital's old international airport at Elliniko, southern Athens, on Tuesday as members of the Culture Ministry's Central Archaeological Council (KAS) convened until late into the night to determine whether any parts of the plot should be declared of archaeological interest, a decision that could scupper the project

The Euro Working Group held the first round of discussions on Greece's third bailout review in Brussels on Monday, as the first mission of creditors' technical experts is expected to head to Athens next week to pave the way for the talks scheduled to start in October.

Police detained 11 people late on Sunday night following a street brawl in the run-down neighborhood of Aghios Panteleimonas, near central Athens.

According to sources, the dispute started after a Pakistani man stole a cellphone. The argument spiraled into a brawl, prompting local residents to alert the police. 

Versatile soprano Katia Paschou will be performing pop and classical selections as well as opera excerpts, accompanied by guitarist Konstantinos Tzolos, in a concert at the Vrachon Theater in Vyronas, eastern Athens, on Monday, September 4. The show starts at 9 p.m. and tickets cost 10 euros.

Vrachon Theater, Vyronas,
tel 210.762.6040

Greek police and the Citizens' Protection Ministry are creating a new intelligence service in an attempt to upgrade the country's data gathering and processing capabilities.

Employees at the Culture Ministry on short-term contracts staged a protest outside the Archaeological Receipts and Expropriations Fund (TAP) in Athens Friday afternoon. Greece's archaeological sites and most museums closed between noon and 4 p.m. Friday due to a strike by unionists demanding the payment of employees on short-term contracts.

It took a bit of help from a stranger and a 20-gig tour in the US for La Femme to get people to notice the French psych-punk band back home, but notice they did, and now the act is heading to Athens with two albums under its belt, 2013's "Psycho Tropical Berlin" and its latest, "Mystere," for what promises to be an energy-packed show at Technopolis on Saturday, September 2.

There will be an admission-free screening of Terrence Malick's romantic drama "Days of Heaven," hailed as an ode to America at the turn of the 20th century, at the Great Lawn of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center on Friday, September 1, starting at 8.30 p.m.