Ilioupoli

The unlicensed construction of a chapel in a forested area of Mt Hymettus in southeastern Athens has triggered legal action from irate local authorities.

The chapel is being built around an older one and work began last summer despite a law suspending construction on the mountain.

The number of people in Greece believed to have contracted West Nile virus, which is carried by infected mosquitoes, has risen to 12, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KEELPNO) said on Wednesday in its weekly epidemiological data posted on its website.

Proposed changes to a bill aimed at overhauling the governance of Greece's local authorities, which are to be submitted to Parliament on Wednesday, foresee the segmentation of constituencies in the capital with the apparent goal of increasing the influence of leftist SYRIZA in those areas.