West Greece

A 4.3 on the Richter scale earthquake  has hit the western port city of Patras,, northwest Peloponnese, at 7.10 p.m. (17.10 GMT) on Sunday.

Patras is the 3rd largest city of Greece after the capital, Athens, and Thessaloniki. The epicenter was located approximately 48 kilometers south of the city. So far no damages have been reported.

Works to lay the ground for the construction of a racing circuit to Formula 1 standards will begin by the end of the year near Patra in the northern Peloponnese, the president of Racetrack Patras SA, Evangelos Floratos, told Kathimerini.

Police in Ancient Olympia, in the Peloponnese, were hunting a gang of armed robbers who stole goods of unspecified value as well as 1,000 euros in cash from a jewelry store on Saturday.

The four men, who wore masks and bullet-proof vests, made their escape in a car that was later found burnt in the area’s Foloi forest.

Five Bulgarian nationals, including a six-year old girl, have been injured in a deadly car crash in Greece.

The car crash occurred on the road from Patras to Pyrgos.

The injured were taken to hospital.

The trial against the four Greek nationals who injured 30 immigrant workers a year ago started in the Greek town of Patras.

The case triggered a local campaign to boycott "blood strawberries" which is still ongoing, according to reports of the Bulgarian National Radio.

The mayor of Ancient Olympia, Efthymios Kotzias, was released on a 50,000-euro bail payment on Wednesday after defending himself before a magistrate in Pyrgos, in the western Peloponnese, on charges of harming the environment.