Subdivisions of Greece

Strong winds uprooted one of the largest and oldest pine trees in the city of Kalamata, in the Peloponnese, late on Sunday but no one was injured.

The tree had stood in one of the city's busiest squares, just a few meters from the municipal Christmas tree at the port, though no one had been nearby when it fell.

The effort to improve the living conditions of refugees and migrants stranded at overcrowded reception centers on the eastern Aegean islands of Lesvos, Chios and Samos by transferring some of them to the mainland will fail to yield the desired result as long as flows from Turkey continue.

Two Greek wildlife conservation groups, Arcturos and Callisto, on Friday called for a barrier to be erected on a section of the Egnatia Highway near Kozani in northern Greece after a bear was killed in a road accident on Thursday, the fifth such incident this year.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was warmly received at the Celal Bayar school of the Muslim community of Komotini, following his attending Friday prayers at a mosque in the northeastern Greek town.

Although the crowd gathered under strict policing measures was smaller then expected, it greeted the AKP leader with fervor, chanting his name and "you are great."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan began the second and final day of his official visit to Greece on Friday with a trip from Athens to Alexandroupoli in Greece's northeastern tip and then to neighboring Komotini in Western Thrace.

His reception by Muslim Greeks at Komotini was more low-key than anticipated, and the Turkish statesman made no statements in the morning.

Some 1,000 refugees and migrants belonging to vulnerable groups are set to be removed on Saturday from camps on the eastern Aegean islands of Lesvos, Chios and Samos.

The refugees will board the Nisos Samos ship but its destination was still not known on Thursday.

Municipal officials from the islands of Lesvos, Chios and Samos, which are bearing the brunt of an increased influx of migrants from neighboring Turkey, are due in Athens on Tuesday to press the government for action to ease the pressure on their local communities, Ekathimerini reported.

Municipal officials from the islands of Lesvos, Chios and Samos, which are bearing the brunt of an increased influx of migrants from neighboring Turkey, are due in Athens on Tuesday to press the government for action to ease the pressure on their local communities. 

Protesters will converge outside the Immigration Policy Ministry on Tuesday to demand immediate relief for the eastern Aegean islands of Samos, Lesvos and Chios, where facilities for migrants and refugees are overflowing with thousands of stranded asylum seekers.

Waves pound Faliro Bay in southern Athens on Friday. Powerful southerly winds of up to 8 and 9 Beaufort disrupted shipping schedules. The Aegean-bound Dionysis Solomos passenger ferry remained docked in Piraeus port yesterday, as were hydrofoils serving the Saronic Gulf.