South Aegean

Coast guard officers on Tuesday were questioning a 41-year-old suspected people smuggler who tried to unload 55 undocumented migrants on the Dodecanese island of Kos on Monday.

The inflatable dinghy was stopped off the coast of Aghios Fokas, near the island's main port, in the early hours of Monday after being spotted by a coast guard vessel.

Greek fishermen on the Dodecanese chain of islands in the southeastern Aegean say they are being harassed by Turkish Coast Guard vessels escorting Turkish fishing boats into Greek territorial waters.

The bodies of two men who were pulled from the sea off the Dodecanese island of Leipsoi on Sunday have been identified by police.

Authorities said the two Austrian men, aged 55 and 77, were found by coast guard officers within 200 meters of their Austrian-flagged sailboat.

Authorities were waiting for the results of an autopsy to ascertain the cause of death.

An aerial photograph of the archaeological dig on Despotiko, a tiny uninhabited islet west of Antiparos, in the Cyclades. Archaeologists conducting an excavation at the site, which hosts the remains of an 8th century BC temple of Apollo, unearthed three additional structures between late May and early July, raising the total to 22, the Culture Ministry said.

A Greek catamaran passenger ferry carrying 215 people onboard crashed into the port of Rafina, in eastern Attica, on Monday, according to reports. No injuries were reported.

"Flyingcat 4," which connects Rafina to the islands of Tinos, Naxos, Ios, Sikinos and Folegandros, was trying to dock when the collision happened.

One in every four euros that foreign tourists spend in Greece is spent on the islands of the Cyclades and the Dodecanese in the Southern Aegean. If one adds Crete, then almost 50 percent of annual expenditure by visitors to Greece is spent on just a couple of dozen islands.

The Regional Authority of the Southern Aegean has sent a letter to the Economy and Development Ministry asking for a price cap on fuel prices that have seen gasoline soar to almost 2 euros per liter.

On the Cyclades islands the average price comes to 1.881 euros/lt at gas stations, while motorists on Santorini are already paying 1.995 euros/lt at the pumps.

TILOS - When the power fails on the tiny Greek island of Tilos - a regular problem, particularly in the summer when tourists flood in - hotel owner Andreas Lardopoulos struggles with failed appliances, rotting food and inconvenienced guests.

The Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation (PIOP) and the National Gallery of Greece present "Giannoulis Chalepas: Return to Pyrgos," an exhibition marking the 80th anniversary of the Tinian sculptor's death in 1938, at the Museum of Marble Crafts in Pyrgos on the island of Tinos.

A trip around the Aegean is one of the best 50 journeys of a lifetime, according to international tour operator Flight Network.

The route selected in "The World's Best Journeys 2018" includes Athens, Aegina, Hydra, Kythnos, Kea, Syros, Myconos, Naxos, Paros, Ios (pictured), Sifnos, Santorini and Iraklio.