Nea Erythraia

A powerful explosion destroyed a deli in the northern suburb of Nea Erythraia, Athens, early Tuesday morning.

The incident took place at around 3 a.m. when unknown individuals riding on a motorcycle approached the store located at the junction of Venizelou and Strofyliou Streets, broke a glass pane, and threw a high-powered explosive device inside the store, police said.

The 2019 Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum is taking place at the Domotel Kastri Conference Center in Nea Erythraia, northern Athens, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The phenomenon of short-term holiday lets has shaken things up in Athens's residential property rental market, with the cost of renting a flat in Koukaki, near the Acropolis, having risen above rates in the affluent northern suburbs of Ekali and Nea Erythraia.

The gun that was used in the murder of a 52-year-old taxi driver in Kifissia, northern Athens, on Tuesday night was the same as that used in a murder attempt on another driver last month, police said Thursday.

The former general secretary for military procurements Yiannis Sbokos, who is serving time in jail after being convicted of money laundering, is being blackmailed by a fellow felon, according to a case file prepared by the police.

A powerful explosion that seriously damaged a restaurant in the northern Athens suburb of Nea Erythraia but caused no injuries last Thursday appears to have been caused by a bomb, according to police sources, who said the force’s extortion crackdown unit has taken over the investigation.