Urban decay

Greece's creditors appear ready to agree to a solution on foreclosures in the form of a housing benefit for people in need that would not be associated with the protection of debtors' main residence.

The two Montenegrin men who were shot and killed on Sunday by four masked gunmen while they were dining with their wives and two children in Vari, southern Athens, had pending international arrest warrants against them issued by Montenegro, according to Greek police.

Greek police said Tuesday they had unraveled a criminal gang that made false insurance policies for people around the country that enabled them to avoid paying social insurance contributions to the state.
The gang had reportedly been active since at least 2001 and police said the scams, which involved fake hirings by fake companies, cost the Greek state more than 15.5 million euros.

Police officers are seen entering an occupied building in the Athens neighborhood of Koukaki, one of three squats cleared early on Sunday. Nine people - seven Greeks and two foreign nationals - were arrested. Among those detained were two men and their father who were in a building that the police entered to gain access to one of the squats and who allegedly attempted to stop the officers.

A luxury hotel with 553 rooms and 1,209 beds in the resort town of Kemer will be auctioned for a minimum value of 144 million Turkish Liras (nearly $24.4 million).

The appraised value of the property, which also includes thousands of trees and ornamental plants, is twice as much of the minimum auction value, according to a report prepared as part of a foreclosure decree.

Police say they have arrested 18 members of a gang that committed multiple robberies, including some violent ones, in Athens.

The 18, all foreigners, were arrested Thursday.

Police say the gang included at least 20 more individuals.

Turkey's state-run aid agency opened a children's library on Sept. 23 in the southern port city of Karachi, Pakistan, aiming to support children's education in the slum areas.     

The European Commission has approved a plan for the protection from foreclosure of the primary residence of those who have delinquent mortgage loans.

According to the announcement of the Commission the annual budget for the implementation of the plan is 132mn euros.

Δείτε επίσης: Προστασία α' κατοικίας: Πράσινο φως από Κομισιόν, ανάσα για κυβέρνηση και δανειολήπτες

More than 19,000 applications have been submitted by indebted homeowners seeking to protect their property from being seized since the new system went online 11 weeks ago.

A group of self-proclaimed anarchists smashed the glass entrance of the Greek Consulate in the French city of Nantes, to protest the police operation in the Athenian district of Exarchia this week in which they removed squatters from abandoned buildings.