Hania

The regional authorities of Achaia, western Greece, were urging drivers on Thursday to use snow chains if travelling near the area of Kalavryta, as a cold front brought freezing temperatures around the country.

State-run news agency ANA-MPA reported that snow chains were required when travelling from Kalavryta to Diakopto, Patras and Halandritsa.

What were the chances of a butcher from the village of Platanias in Hania, Crete finding himself on the court of the iconic Golden 1 Center, the California home of the NBA's Sacramento Kings?

It was not the first time that we have heard or seen slogans extolling violence, celebrating assassinations or abusing the dead.

Three 15-year-old boys were reportedly released from custody in Crete on Friday after being remanded over several deeply offensive messages directed at New Democracy lawmaker Dora Bakoyannis that were scrawled in the elevator of her office building in the town of Hania earlier this week.

Almost 92 million euros has been earmarked for aid to Crete, which suffered serious infrastructure damage from the torrential storms that struck the southern Aegean island in February and March, local reports said on Monday.

A 43-year-old foreign national charged with raping a 13-year-old Belgian girl last summer was remanded in custody Tuesday in the town of Hania on the island of Crete pending his trial.

The suspect, a resident of Hania for the last 13 years, denied raping the girl, who was on holiday with her family.

A 17-year-old boy has died in hospital from injuries sustained after falling from a height into the sea near Hania in Crete.

The incident occurred Tuesday afternoon at Seitan Limani, a rocky cove on the Akrotiri peninsular that is popular with bathers.

Police on Crete are investigating an apparent arson attack on two cars and a motorcycle in a residential car park in the Chrysi Akti area of the old town of Hania.

Firefighters were alerted to the incident in the early hours of Saturday morning and put out the fires before the flames could spread to an apartment block next to the car park.

A massive, rapidly spreading fire broke out Sunday evening at the old Italian barracks that used to house the War Museum in Hania, on the island of Crete's west end, and has almost completely destroyed the building.

There were no reports of injuries.

The rise in hotel prices at popular holiday destinations such as Myconos and Santorini is turning Greeks to alternative options again this summer. The average length of their vacations remains rather short as most disposable incomes are still particularly low, according to a survey and analysis by the Trivago website reflecting Greeks' online searches for this summer.