"My highest duty is to defend democracy and the Greek people from the oncoming storm,' stated the President of the Republic, Karolos Papoulias, while welcoming SYRIZA president Alexis Tsipras to the presidential mansion.

Government vice president and foreign minister Evangelos Venizelos is in New York today in order to represent Greece in the initial phases of the 68th General Assembly of the United Nations.

The deposition of confessed killer of hip-hop artist Pavlos Fyssas, Giorgos Roupakias has been completed after less than three hours at the prosecutor's office facing charges of manslaughter with intent and breach of law on weapons. He was remanded into custody and was eventually deposited at Korydallos prison.

A Taliban ambush has claimed the lives of at least 20 Afghan policemen in the remote northeastern province of Badakhshan this week. The ambush took place after official conclusion of an operation that supposedly cleared the area of the Taliban and killed more than 50 Taliban fighters.
The head of the provincial council for Badakhshan and the Wardoj district governor, where both the operation and the ambush happened, claimed that 23 Afghan policemen were killed, 21 were wounded, and another 24 are missing and thought to be held by the Taliban.
The Taliban claimed to have killed "as many as 60 Arbakis [pro-government militias], ANA soldiers, and the police" during fighting yesterday, and an additional 25 security personnel on Wednesday, according to a statement on Voice of Jihad.