Thessaloniki

Domestic violence reports in Greece rose 36% over the past year, with arrests up 64%, Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis announced Thursday during a visit to the northern city of Thessaloniki.

Arrests were made in 54% of domestic violence cases, compared to 45% last year. To support victims, 547 "panic buttons" were installed this year, activated 113 times.

Greek tourists are showing significant interest in spending the holiday season in Bulgaria this year. Travel agencies have reported a notable increase in bookings, with a Thessaloniki-based agency confirming that the number of clients heading to Bulgaria has doubled compared to the previous year.

Good weather will prevail today and tomorrow, but rain and gradual thunderstorms will start from Friday afternoon and from the west, according to Thodoros Kolydas in his forecast.

“Saturday will see showers in most areas and temperatures will drop. The weather will show a temporary improvement on Sunday,” according to the EMF director.

The temperature will start to rise from today, and the weather will be good until Thursday. However, new showers from the west will arrive on Friday, and on Saturday, the phenomenon will spread to almost the whole country, according to meteorologists.

A fatal traffic accident occurred on Sunday night in eastern Thessaloniki.

The Evros border fence now stretches 76 kilometers, with 400 border guards, electronic surveillance systems, border patrol units, and military outposts ensuring the security of Greece’s land borders, according to Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis.

Dozens of retirees gathered Thursday outside the National Social Security Agency in the northern port city of Thessaloniki, protesting years of pension cuts, rising living costs and higher medication expenses.

An Athens prosecutor on Thursday filed criminal charges against eight Turkish nationals who are believed to be part of an organized crime racket operating on Greek soil that is also thought to be behind a deadly shootout in a seaside Athens suburb on Monday morning. 

In a series of coordinated raids on Wednesday, Greek police targeted Turkish mafia members involved in organized crime across Athens and Thessaloniki.

Two days after Monday's fatal daylight ambush in the southern Athens suburb of Glyfada, believed to stem from a turf war among Turkish organized crime factions operating in Greece, police arrested eight suspects and detained another eight in Athens and Thessaloniki on Thursday.

As part of the same operation, authorities seized 49 firearms and an unspecified quantity of drugs.