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In the wake of last week's public uproar over the traffic disruption caused by the shutdown of a section of the Athens-Lamia national highway due to heavy snowfall, the Infrastructure Ministry is currently drafting legislation which seeks to ensure that the process of sanctioning those accountable for failing to adequately perform their duties is expedited.

A 32-year-old woman killed her 5-year-old daughter by throwing her from the rooftop of a three-story apartment building before also plunging to her own death on Thursday.
The incident occurred in the northern Athens suburb of Pefki.
According to reports, the divorced mother had been struggling with mental issues. 

At least 19 were killed in Indonesia's capital and nearby towns when heavy rains caused flash floods, the authorities said on Jan. 2.

"It has been confirmed that 19 people died, two others are still waiting to be confirmed," Social Affairs Minister Juliari Peter Batubara said.

Traffic restrictions will come into effect in Athens on New Year's Eve as the capital celebrates the arrival of the new year and new decade.
Syntagma Square and all the roads around it will be closed off from 8 p.m. on Tuesday evening until the end of celebrations late into the night, which include a two-stage musical event and a New Year welcome by Athens Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis.

Police in Athens on Monday were searching the capital's main landfill in Fyli for the remains of a 52-year-old man after a 21-year-old confessed to murdering him, cutting up his body and disposing of it in the trash.

The 21-year-old man reportedly confessed on Saturday to stabbing his 52-year-old godfather to death in his sleep because the older man used to beat his mother.

A 66-year-old man was found dead Sunday morning outside a two-story house in the Athens neighborhood of Gyzi.

The body's hands and feet were bound and he had head wounds.

Police are investigating the case.

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The Athens municipal authority will be hosting a Christmas luncheon for some 1,200 of the Greek capital's homeless and poor on Wednesday.

The lunch, which will be held at the Rouf indoor municipal sports arena, will be opened at 1 p.m. by Athens Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis, while there will also be music and gifts. 

Athenian heavy rock band Planet of Zeus will be performing at the Fuzz Live Music Club in Athens for two nights in a row on December 20 and 21.

A barrage of vandalisms took place in central areas of Athens and the second biggest city Thessaloniki on Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, police said.

The celebratory atmosphere in Athens was jolted by a four-hour work stoppage of Athens Metro employees.

The sudden strike was decided and announced late on Monday evening and the massive number of riders - about one million people - were forced to seek alternative means of transport.

Most had to use their cars and that created a huge traffic jam in the streets of Athens.