Ekali

Two old, Land Rover Defenders, though they stood out parked in Kefalari, were ready for rugged paths on Mount Parnassos.

A fire that erupted northeast of Athens on Sunday has spread to Mount Penteli, just north of the Greek capital, prompting the evacuation of several settlements.

The fast-moving blaze, fueled by hot and windy conditions, has already destroyed trees, homes, and vehicles, and has sent thick smoke clouds over the city.

Dramatic hours are unfolding in northeastern Attica as the fire that started in Varnava on Sunday afternoon is “rapidly advancing and has reached Mount Penteli,” as announced by the Fire Department spokesperson shortly before 6 AM today, “despite the superhuman efforts of all civil protection forces.”

More than 12,000 lightning strikes were recorded across the country by midday Thursday, according to the National Observatory of Athens' Zeus lightning detection network. Forecasts for bad weather with intense lightning activity had been made since the beginning of the week.

A large crowd awaited the SYRIZA president outside the polling station in Ekali, where he cast his vote

Main opposition SYRIZA leader Stefanos Kasselakis called on citizens to take control of their lives by participating in the European elections, after casting his vote on Sunday at an elementary school in the northern Athens suburb of Ekali.

Two armed burglars broke into the house of a well-known shipping magnate in the north Athenian suburb of Ekali on Wednesday night, state-run news agency ANA-MPA reported Thursday.

According to police sources cited by the news agency, the suspects entered the house shortly after 8.30 p.m. and held up the housekeeper, identified as a Filipino national.

Twenty years after he founded the Liberals Party and 10 since establishing its successor, Drasi, Stefanos Manos is still pondering the present and the future.

The phenomenon of short-term holiday lets has shaken things up in Athens's residential property rental market, with the cost of renting a flat in Koukaki, near the Acropolis, having risen above rates in the affluent northern suburbs of Ekali and Nea Erythraia.

Unknown individuals blew up early on Thursday morning an ATM located on the Athens-Lamia national highway, near the Greek capital's northern suburb of Ekali.

The perpetrators took the money and fled. Police has opened an investigation.