A total of 62 fires broke out in the last 24 hours, most of them due to lightning during the powerful weather front raging in Greece on Thursday, the Fire Brigade said.

The behind-the-scenes battle over the case of the Archbishop of America, Mr. Elpidophoros, is well underway, as, according to reports, the government is sticking to the line drawn by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alexandra Papadopoulou, on the need to replace him. But the other side also seems to be coming back fiercer, having in its ranks a former public relations officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a micro-lobbyist in the US, while in recent days there have been publications against the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, even speaking of a crisis in her relations with the American ambassador George Tsunis, who also happens to be a prominent Greek-American. As long as this controversy continues, the only loser is the Greek diaspora in the USA.

Singer Antonis Remos is under investigation for tax evasion, with him denying the crime.

The Greek Counter-terrorism Service arrested a total of seven individuals over two separate cases of arson attacks in Athens, at a store and hotel in May and at a Jewish synagogue in June, respectively.