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Sunday, October 04, 2009 ATHENS: Greeks voted in a snap election Sunday with the opposition socialists expected to top Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis' party, which has been hit by corruption scandals and a badly slumping economy. Led by former foreign minister George Papandreou, son of late prime minister Andreas Papandreou, the socialist PASOK party held a lead of 5-7 points over the ruling conservatives in the final opinion polls published two weeks ago. Karamanlis called the election halfway through his four-year term with his New Democracy party, distracted by corruption scandals, finding it difficult to govern as the country faces a dire economic crisis. Buoyed for years by growth rates of around four percent partly attributed to EU funds, Greece is now on the brink of recession with output growth at near zero. Greece's public debt, one of the highest in the eurozone, is set to exceed 100 percent of GDP this year, and the European Union placed the country under supervis...

Sunday, August 23, 2009 ATHENS: The Greek government declared a state of emergency and troops called in on Saturday as a large forest fire burned out of control on the northeastern outskirts of Athens, sending thick black smoke over the city and damaging dozens of homes.Fire fighters say the blaze that broke out in the early hours of Saturday near Marathon, 25 miles northeast of Athens is being fanned by gale-force winds. Nine small planes, five helicopters and 35 ground vehicles are trying to contain the fire, which is burning forest, brush and farmland.Locals said it was heading towards the town of Marathon after flames reached houses in the villages of Grammatiko and Varnavas. Residents with hoses, shovels and buckets of water are said to be trying to save their properties. So far no casualties have been reported. It is a very difficult fire because it rages in a mixed zone of residential areas and forest land," Greek fire brigade spokesman Giannis Kapakis told reporters. He u...