Geography

Strong winds caused problems in Thessaloniki on Monday morning.

Road signs and scaffolding was blown onto a section of the city?s ring road, forcing it to be shut down.

A number of trees were blown over in various parts of the city, forcing the fire service to help clear roads and sidewalks.

A large-scale operation on Saturday involving members of the EMAK special rescue team and the Greek coast guard led to the evacuation of a group of about 50 vacationers who had been stranded for several days at the Koudoumas Monastery east of Iraklio following heavy snowfall in the area.

A 51-year-old woman has been arrested in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, for running up debts to the state in excess of 2.3 million euros, the Greek Police said on Friday.

The 51-year-old, who is the manager of a furniture wholesaler, is accused of failing to make payments to the state worth a total of 2,365,610 euros owed in the period between September 2013 and March 2014.

The Association of Balkan News Agencies - Southeast Europe (ABNA-SE) condemns the cold-blooded attack against the freedom of expression and against innocent civilians that took place on Wednesday in Paris.

More information about the skeleton found at the Ancient Amphipolis tomb in northern Greece is to be made public by January 20, officials said on Wednesday.

Experts of marine life have called authorities to protect 15 kilometers along the southeastern Marmara Sea coast around Karabiga, where five new coal plants are in or pending construction, to protect endangered specimens of Mediterranean seals.

Croatia has named five companies that have won rights to explore gas and oil deposits on the Adriatic coast.

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Despite the size of street protests against the planned reform, one of the first orders of business of the Macedonian parliament in 2015 will be the adoption of external, state supervised exams for graduates.

As the large screens hiding the new look of the refurbished government building in Skopje were taken away in the last days of 2014, passers-by have been struck by its similarity to a very familiar building: the White House in Washington.

Meteorologists warned on Monday that temperatures are expected to plummet across the country Tuesday and Wednesday, prompting authorities in Athens and Thessaloniki to take special measures to help people sleeping on the streets of the two cities.