Greek singer Vassilis Karras died on Sunday (Christmas Eve) at the age of 70 in Thessaloniki.
Karras was born in Kokkinohori, Kavala, Greece, to Pontian parents. At the age of 10, his family moved to Thessaloniki. Also around this time his brother Damian and his sister Anastasia were born. Growing up in the streets of Thessaloniki allowed Karras considerable independence and many of the friendships he created there have lasted well into his life.

The brown bears in Nymfeo have made their beds and gone to sleep for the winter after the recent colder weather and snow, according to an Arcturos announcement on Friday.
The Arcturos Brown Bear Sanctuary in Nymfeo stopped receiving visitors on Sunday, 17 December as the bears went into hibernation. It is the first time that the bears have entered winter hibernation so early in the 31-year operation of Arcturos.

Deputy Tourism Minister Elena Rapti in an interview with Athens-Macedonian News Agency on Monday (Christmas) pointed out that the tourism education for the development of a modern, sustainable and quality tourism model is of strategic importance and referred to the fact that 80 percent of Higher School of Tourism Education and of Tourism Ministry' Vocational Training Institutes (IEK) students are absorbed by the labour market.

A burgeoning second-hand – or pre-owned – retail sector in Greece now occupies a prominent place in the stats published by the country’s statistical authority, overturning decades of disdain for “used” goods among most Greek consumers.