LIVING IN CRETE

Crete on Saturday was hit by a third earthquake measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale, according to a preliminary reading of the Athens Institute of Geodynamics.

The tremor struck at 5 p.m. and the epicenter was recorded 28 kilometers southwest of the town of Sfakia, off southern Crete, at a depth of 10 kilometers.

The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) gave a reading of 4.5 for the same event.

No damages were imemdiately reported. Earlier in the day, two more quakes measuring 4 and 3.5 on the Richter scale shook the island, one recorded 27 kilometers and the second 26 kilometers northwest of the small island of Gavdos. Both struck at a depth of 10 kilometers.

Medical experts on Friday underlined the importance of vaccinations after the National Health Organization (EODY) confirmed that the death of an 8-year-old boy in the intensive care unit of the Athens General Children’s Hospital last week was caused by diphtheria, a disease thought to have been eradicated in Greece almost three decades ago.

EODY had expressed fears last week that the boy’s death was the result of diphtheria and had asked the United Kingdom’s Public Health England agency to confirm whether that was indeed the case, which it did, as EODY said in a statement late on Thursday.

Theano Georgakopoulou, head of EODY’s epidimiology department, described the case as “extremely unusual,” as the 8-year-old had received all the necessary shots, and said it was important for both adults and children to be vaccinated against diphtheria.

The Greek Ministry of Culture announced that archaeologists have discovered large quantities of murex seashells and Minoan-era buildings during excavations conducted by Lasithi Antiquities Ephorate on the western part of the islet Chryssi, a municipality of Ierapetra, eastern Crete.

The great discoveries on the Minoan settlement with a flourishing economy also included ancient tanks built of stone to cultivate marine species.

Greece’s Culture Ministry said that the numerous broken murex shells used to produce purple paint were found in the residences’ rooms, proving that the industrial production of the purple dye was developed even earlier than first thought and later used for Minoan constructions on the island. Read more

The mayors representing the four main regions of Crete have agreed to take in dozens of unaccompanied refugee children as part of a government scheme to relocate them from unsuitable facilities on the islands of the eastern Aegean.

According to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, Crete’s Regional Association of Mayors agreed to a request by Deputy Social Affairs Minister Domna Michailidou to take in 400 children from island camps.

They will be put up in groups of 30 or so across the four regional units, though the facilities where they will be housed have yet to be announced.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday announced a three-year suspension of VAT payments on any new building permits, including unsold properties built after January 1, 2006, in an address to the Economist’s 23rd Roundtable with the Government of Greece on Wednesday evening held at a coastal hotel south of Athens.

“VAT on all new building permits is suspended for the next three years, as it is for older permits issued after January 1, 2006. In other words, all new constructions are exempt from VAT as are properties built the last 14 years that have not been sold yet,” Mitsotakis said.

Another major tourism project in Greece will be getting underway in about one year’s time, as the construction of the ultra-luxurious 600-million-euro Elounda Hills project in eastern Crete has taken another step toward becoming a reality, according to greekreporter.com.

The approval for the construction of the resort’s massive marina, with a total cost of 20 million euros, has just been issued by the municipality of Aghios Nikolaos on Crete.

The marina is expected to occupy approximately 43,000 square meters (462,848 square feet) of land and 123,000 square meters (1,323,960 square feet) atop the seabed in Mirabello Bay. The state-of-the-art facility, which is only part of the vast tourism complex planned by Vitaly Borisov, a Russian property investor, will be able to accommodate up to 202 luxury yachts.

A group of researchers who had previously discovered two piles of skeletons along the shores of India’s Roopkund Lake recently published the astounding results of their investigation into these mysterious human remains.

The skeletons, discovered at a lake which sits at an altitude of approximately 5,000 meters, or 16,404 feet, were analyzed using DNA to finally determine the ethnic origin of the people they may have belonged to.

In a stunning turn, according to these results, the first group of skeletons appear to have belonged to people originating from the northeastern Mediterranean. The researchers found that the DNA of the skeletons is similar to the genotypes of Greek people who currently live on Crete and on the mainland of Greece.

A 27-year-old man was charged with murder and rape Tuesday in the killing of an American scientist who disappeared on the Greek island of Crete and whose body was found in a tunnel formerly used as a storage site during World War II.

Crete police said a Greek man from the island confessed to the "violent criminal act," telling investigators he struck Suzanne Eaton with his car and abducted her "motivated by the intention to commit sexual assault," Crete police spokeswoman Eleni Papathanasiou said.

Suzanne Eaton, 59, went missing on July 2 while attending a scientific conference in Crete. Relatives said she had gone for a hike. Her body was found six days later after an extensive search

Outgoing premier Alexis Tsipras on Monday handed over power to his successor Kyriakos Mitsotakis who swept to a landslide victory in snap elections with a pledge to boost investments, cut taxes and create jobs.

Mitsotakis, who will likely face an uphill battle squaring his promises with fiscal targets agreed with lenders, was sworn in as the country’s new premier earlier on Monday.

Speaking earlier outside the presidential Mansion where he was sworn-in, Mitsotakis told journalists the Greek people gave him a “strong mandate to change Greece,” adding that “hard work begins today.” [Reuters, Kathimerini]