Aris

As the opening of the Thessaloniki Metro draws near, final preparations are under way. However, the excitement was overshadowed on Thursday by threats from supporters of the city's Aris soccer club to "smash up" the inauguration ceremony on Saturday and vandalize the metro. Deputy Minister for Infrastructure Nikos Tachiaos filed a report with the prosecutor.

Officers in Thessaloniki found wooden bats, axes, swords, flares, a sickle, a glass breaker, and knives of various sizes in an abandoned building, next door to an association of Aris soccer club fans, police said Saturday.

The raid took place by the police division tackling sports violence after receiving a tip.

A top Greek criminologist has said that he views widespread football fan club violence as the product of an unholy alliance of organised crime and its backers in state.

A second-division soccer team in Cyprus condemned a "dangerous and cowardly" bombing attack early Friday on the car of the team's vice president.

Aris Limassol's board of directors said in a statement that it hopes the attack isn't connected to the recent upheaval within the sport following allegations of match-fixing and a brief referees' walkout.

It's quite tragic that, 75 years after the Greek civil war, we have reached the point where prominent resistance leader Aris Velouchiotis is a central "figure" in an electoral campaign. As a country we had a hard time putting all that behind us.

The Motum dance festival is taking place at the Thessaloniki Concert Hall on April 13 and 14.

After premiering at the ongoing Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival, journalist Aris Hatzistefanou's documentary "Make the Economy Scream" is making its Athens debut at the Trianon cinema on Thursday, March 7.

In "USA-Russia: Draw," the National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation at the Kapandji Villa brings together work from photographer Aris Georgiou's collections "America at 78 rpm. A 1978 Travelogue" and "Uncurtained: Russia '98." Curated by Yiannis Epaminondas, the show highlights the similarities and differences between the two great powers at the time of the Greek photographer's visit.

Fifteen people have been arrested in a drug sweep in downtown Thessaloniki in the last 24 hours, police in the northern port city said on Thursday.

The operation was conducted by the departments of security and emergency response, and covered the city center and the area around Aghiou Georgiou Square, focusing in particular on the vicinity of Aristotle University.

The Greek Police (ELAS) was seeking video footage and witness accounts Thursday for leads to the killer or killers of 46-year-old Greek-Australian businessman John Macris, who was gunned down outside his home in the southern Athens suburb of Voula on Wednesday night.