Urban decay

Shutdown announcements for the factories of the Yioula glassworks firm in Aigaleo in Athens and of EVIEN in Thessaloniki and Kilkis in northern Greece within less than a week served as an alarming message about the risk of deindustrialization.

The European Union must act fast to prevent the deindustrialization of Europe, the president of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises, Dimitris Papalexopoulos, warns in an interview with Kathimerini.

Ecuador's president gave orders Tuesday to "neutralize" criminal gangs after gunmen opened fire in a TV studio and bandits threatened random executions on a second day of terror in the violence-riddled country.

At least 10 people have been killed in a series of attacks blamed on gangs as the country exploded in what President Daniel Noboa called an "internal armed conflict".

As the year comes to a close, it seems likely that the freeze on foreclosures on primary homes in Cyprus valued at up to 350,000 euros will be extended.

Soccer-related violence is not just a police issue. It is the business of several state agencies as well as the various bodies involved in the sport in order to dismantle the gangs that operate under the cover of a club jersey. 

No new laws or proclamations are required. The problem and its roots are well known. All that is required now is political will.

A significant mobilization by the Cypriot government and the Central Bank of Cyprus this week regarding the framework of foreclosures bore fruit. It primarily aimed to withdraw the "problematic" proposal that, according to the state and banks, would have negative consequences for the Cypriot economy.

Cyprus is heading toward suspending first-residence property foreclosures up to 350,000 euros by end-October.

This intermediate solution is seen as a compromise, allowing either the government, the Central Bank of Cyprus, or both to come up with proposals that will effectively address the issue of nonperforming loans.

Police arrested one man and were searching for five more believed to be members of a criminal ring that broke into luxury houses and villas on the island of Mykonos. 

Officers detained a 34-year-old Albanian and opened a case against a 41-year-old Albanian, a 27-year-old Greek and three more unidentified individuals.  

The groundwork for the establishment of a specialized jurisdiction court in Cyprus, which will exclusively handle issues related to primary residence foreclosures, will be laid on Thursday.

A 31-year-old Iraqi man was injured during an altercation between an undisclosed number of foreign nationals at midnight on Wednesday in Antigonidis Square, in downtown Thessaloniki. 

Two Syrian nationals were arrested for possessing items such as a wooden bat but no involvement in the incident has been established.