Katakolo

An increasing number of cruise passenger arrivals in Greece are from the US, according to Athens International Airport data, which reveals American arrivals have increased over 113 percent during the last five years, with many traveling to the country for its varied cruise options.

Eight people have been arrested in western Greece, accused of running a network that smuggled undocumented migrants across the Ionian Sea to Italy, the police said in an announcement on Friday.

Hydrocarbon exploration in the Ionian Sea, in the areas of Patra Bay and Katakolo in the Peloponnese, will begin next year.

The announcement was made by Yannis Bassias, the head of Greece's oil and gas resources management company (HHRM), during a conference Tuesday.

A woman working for the municipal authority of Pyrgos in the western Peloponnese died after being crushed by a garbage truck in the seaside town of Katakolo on Wednesday.

According to initial reports, the 30-year-old woman appears to have fallen off the small platform used by bin collectors on the back of the truck and ended up beneath the vehicle's wheels.

Greek authorities on Wednesday intercepted a smuggling boat carrying 62 migrants northwest of the Strofades island complex in the Ionian Sea.

The vessel, a US-flagged sailboat, was spotted by a surveillance aircraft of the EU's border monitoring agency, Frontex.

Even as a steady influx of undocumented migrants continues to arrive on Greek islands in the eastern Aegean from neighboring Turkey, in western Greece hundreds have been intercepted while attempting to continue their journeys further into Europe.

The change of the weather started in western Greece on Monday, as the National Meteorological Services had predicted. The first destructions are already seen in Patra and Pyrgos, where heavy rain and strong winds have uprooted trees and house roofs. A tornado is reported to have hit the area of Lapato in Ilia. Damages have been caused too in Amfissa’s marketplace on Monday morning.

A tornado passed through the area of Katakolo in the Peloponnese, Tuesday, uprooting trees and causing widespread damage, amid heavy rain.

The local fire service received dozens of calls from residents to pump out flooded basement homes and stores. The town of Pyrgos was particularly badly affected.

By Yiouli Eptakili

Investments up to 800 mln near Ioannina, in the Patraikos Gulf and off Katakolo

By Chryssa Liaggou

Contracting consortiums signed on Wednesday the formal agreements with the Greek state for hydrocarbons surveying and utilization in three regions of the country, laying the groundwork for the creation of a new and promising market that will benefit the local economy.