Corfu

Foreign buyers spent some 250 billion euros on holiday homes in Greece last year, compared to 168 billion in 2013, as prices in the popular but debt-hit tourism destination have fallen by 50 percent since the outbreak of the crisis, Kathimerini understands.

The mutilated corpse of a woman that was discovered washed up last week on a beach on the northwestern coast of Corfu is believed to be that of a passenger from the Norman Atlantic ferry which went up in flames on December 28 while en route from Greece to Italy.

The discovery of the body brings the total death toll from the fire on the Greek-owned ferry to 11.

A 57-year-old Corfu man admitted to murdering his 75-year-old mother by suffocating her and hiding her body in a pit outside their home, police on the Ionian island said on Tuesday.

According to police, the man admitted to dumping his mother?s body in the pit in a bid to make her death look like an accident.

By Stathis Kousounis

Four-star hotels, such as this unit at Aghios Gordios on the Ionian island of Corfu, posted the biggest profit margins among the top three categories of hotels (three to five-star units) in Greece in the five years from 2009 to 2013, amounting to 26.7 percent, according to a study by the ICAP Group.

A charred corpse was found in the car deck of the Norman Atlantic ferry that was sailing west o fthe Ionian island of Corfu when a fire broke out. The body has been taken to Bari where coroners are conducting an autopsy. A DNA test is required to discover the identity of the corpse. This is the first body found on board following the ship being towed to Italy.

Merchant Marine Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis and Defense Minister Nikos Dendias (photo) on Wednesday awarded 42 members of the Hellenic Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard for their contribution to rescuing passengers from the Norman Atlantic passenger ferry which caught fire off the coast of Corfu on December 28, killing at least 12 people.

A cargo ship believed to be carrying hundreds of migrants headed toward Italy on Tuesday, after telling Greek authorities it didn't require any assistance following an emergency call made by a passenger.

A cargo ship, believed to be transporting illegal migrants sent a distress signal near the Greek island of Corfu on Tuesday.

Greece is sending a navy frigate and a helicopter to locate a cargo ship believed to be carrying hundreds of migrants in the northern Ionian Sea after authorities received a distress call from someone on board the ship, authorities said.

Four of the nine Bulgarians on board the Norman Atlantic, an Italian-flagged ferry which has been ablaze since Sunday morning, have been rescued, officials say.

Betina Zhoteva, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has told the Bulgarian National Television that R. Todorova, S. Bozhilova, G. Haytov and K. Estov are in a stable condition.