Former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has launched his new party under the name Greek Left Coalition — ELAS — with opinion polls already placing the fledgling movement in a dead heat with the socialist PASOK party for second place in Greek politics.

The U.S. State Department called Alexandros Giotopoulos "a convicted murderer and terrorist" and expressed solidarity with victims' families after the Greek appeals court released the 82-year-old November 17 leader on medical grounds — a decision that has now drawn condemnation from Washington, Ankara and prominent Greek political figures within days of his release.

Athens Jazz opens at Technopolis, launching its 25th anniversary edition with a weeklong lineup of 20 acts from Greece and abroad at the capital’s longest-running free music festival.