Barcelona

SYRIZA’s headquarters in central Athens have been evacuated after someone called to warn that a bomb had been planted there.

Police are searching the building on Koumoundourou Square.

On Friday, the Euroleague basketball game between Panathinaikos and Barcelona was interrupted due to a bomb threat. But a search of the stadium proved it was a hoax.

Former France and Barcelona defender Eric Abidal announced his retirement from football on Friday, a day before his last match.

Abidal said he will finish after playing for Olympiakos against Kalloni on Saturday, with 18 months left on his contract.

He cited personal reasons for stopping, without elaborating.

TED talks make us all think harder about various amazing phenomena. Their subjects range from personal experience to scientific projects, from minor daily acts to huge social behavioral patterns. I have listened to almost a hundred of them. They are all impressive, but recently I found the real gem.

Former Arsenal and French striker Thierry Henry announced Dec. 16 he was retiring from football after a glittering two decades long career and will become a TV analyst for Sky Sports in England.
      
"After 20 years in the game I have decided to retire from professional football," Henry said in a statement on his Facebook page.
      

European giants Real Madrid will face either Mexican side Cruz Azul or Asian champions Western Sydney Wanderers for a place in the final of the Club World Cup, which kicks off in Morocco on Dec. 10.
     
Cruz Azul won the Concacaf Champions League title while the Sydney club beat Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal for the Asian title.
      

By Anestis Dokas

OTE telecom’s exit from the Athens Stock Exchange next year has emerged as a likely development that would leave the local bourse even poorer in capitalization terms.

OTE chief executive Michalis Tsamaz stated a few days ago in Barcelona that parent company Deutsche Telekom may acquire an additional 10 percent stake in the Greek telecom provider.

PIROT - Pirot Free Zone Director Dragan Kostic has been awarded the plaque of merit for global development and development of free zones.

Kostic received the plaque in Barcelona on Wednesday.

The recognition, handed out by the World Federation of Free Zones - Femoza, has been awarded to just seven people over the past thirty years.

Catalan government head Artur Mas has voiced his intention to call early elections as a step toward gaining independence from Spain.

Mas told a 3000-strong multitude at a conference in Barcelona he believed this was "the only instrument" allowing Catalans to decide on their future as a nation, Spanish daily El País quotes him as saying.

BARCELONA - Euroleague Basketball has expressed on Saturday the deepest sympathy and condolences on the death of a Crvena Zvezda fan in Istanbul ahead of the match with host Galatasaray and condemned the violence that destroys the spirit of sporting competition.

Turkish Airlines have recruited two global football superstars -- Chelsea's veteran striker Didier Drogba and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi -- for their new advertisement campaign, titled Widen Your World.

According to the statement released by Turkish Airlines on Nov. 14, the advertisement -- the last in a series of three -- aims to entice spectators via EpicFoodMap.com.