Greece

Greek customs officers in strike over salary cutbacks

Athens - Custom workers around Greece began an open-ended strike on Monday, forcing the closure of all refineries, border stations, ports and airports throughout the country.

Olympic Airways staff block airport taxiway in protest over sell-off

Olympic Airways staff block airport taxiway in protest over sell-off Athens - More than 200 workers at Greek state carrier Olympic Airlines blocked the taxiway at Athens International Airport for more than 20 minutes Thursday over plans to shut down and privatise the airline.

The demonstration ended up blocking the runway but did not affect any flights, officials at the airport said.

Greek islands struggle in tide of illegal immigrants

GreeceAthens - With its beautiful beaches, quaint fishing villages and historical sites such as the Cave of Apocalyse where Saint John is said to have received his revelation, the island of Patmos has long been a popular tourist destination.

But recently the tiny Aegean island has drawn a new type of visitor to its sandy shores - a visitor island residents insist they can do without.

Municipal authorities on the island have said they will block their ports to would-be immigrants arriving from neighboring Turkey, arguing that the unwanted visitors have exceeded the number of permanent residents on the island.

Cypriot leaders focus their talks on power-sharing

CyprusAthens, Nicosia - Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders focused peace negotiations Thursday on governance and power sharing in an effort to find a formula to reunite the divided Mediterranean island.

It was the third meeting between Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehemt Ali Talat since they launched a new round of peace talks on September 3.

"We will meet again on October 8 to discuss the shape the future federal government should take," said Christofias.

Pirates attack Greek ship near Somalia

Kuala Lumpur - A Greek-owned bulk carrier cargo ship was attacked Thursday by armed pirates off the eastern coast of Somalia, an anti-piracy watchdog said.

The ship had been travelling to Kenya when a group of pirates launched an attack about 200 nautical miles, or 370 kilometres, off the coast of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, Noel Choong of the International Maritime Bureau said in Malaysia.

The Greek ship was expected Friday at Mombasa to discharge its cargo, news reports said. All 25 crew members were said to be safe, Choong said

He said the latest incident showed Somali pirates have expanded their area of attack from the country's northern coast in the Gulf of Aden to Somalia's eastern coast.

Greek coast guard detains 92 illegal immigrants in Aegean

Athens  - Greek coast guard officials detained 92 illegal immigrants on Tuesday after crossing the Aegean in inflatable rafts from neighboring Turkey, report said.

More than 25 illegal immigrants were picked up alive by rescue crews after they were found swimming near the island of Symi, along the Greek-Turkish sea border.

The immigrants decided to destroy their raft and jump into the water in order to avoid being detected by coast guard officials.

Coast guard vessels also detected a boatload of 29 illegal immigrants near the island of Patmos and two more boats with a total of 33 immigrants neat the island of Lesbos.

Officials also arrested four illegal immigrants on Samos after arriving on the island from nearby Turkey.

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