Athens - More than 14,000 hotel jobs are at risk of being lost as the vital tourism sector heads for a difficult season in Greece due to the global crisis, officials said Tuesday. The Association for Hoteliers in Athens estimated that thousands of workers could be laid off as holiday package bookings have fallen by 20 to 30 per cent this year.

The losses could exceed 500 million euros (660 million dollars), officials said.

Athens - The European Commission will seek to put a stop to the loss of biodiversity in Europe by 2010, EC President Jose Manuel Barroso said at the start of a biodiversity conference in Athens Monday.

The two days of talks in Athens attended by 230 environmental chiefs, trade associations, non-governmental organizations and lobby groups, have found a new momentum following a G8-Plus charter to protect biodiversity adopted on April 24 by environmental ministers from Group of Eight members Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.

Athens - Authorities in Greece detained 146,000 illegal immigrants, most of whome came from Turkey, altogether in 2008, the Interior Ministry said Wednesday.

In addition, 2,211 people traffickers were arrested and brought before the courts.

The issue of illegal immigration is a priority for Greece, according to the Foreign Ministry in Athens.

Foreign Minister Dora Bakogianni earlier announced that the government wanted to see the issue of illegal migration on the agenda at the next European Union summit.

Athens  - Explosive devices were deactivated at three churches, including Athens' main Orthodox cathedral, on Thursday, police reported.

Local news media received a telephone call warning of the bombs and informed the police, who sent bomb experts to disarm the devices located in Athens' busy Plaka district, the main church of Saint Triadas in the port city of Pireaus, and at Saint Sophia in the northern city of Thessaloniki.

Athens - Greek rescuers scoured the eastern Aegean Sea on Thursday for signs of survivors after a vessel carrying dozens of illegal immigrants capsized, the Ministry of Merchant Marine said.

The search-and-rescue operation was reportedly under way northeast of the island of Samos after an immigrant contacted authorities saying the vessel carrying him and another 25 people was in trouble.

Officials at the ministry said they immidiately dispatched a super-Puma helicopter and coastguard vessels to the area.

Athens  - Greece prides itself on its history as the cradle of democracy and has long used that fact as a major tourism draw.

However, an influx of activist democracy that some say has gone too far - ongoing strikes paired with almost daily street demonstrations since last December - has been putting a crimp in that tourism industry.

Businesses, luxury hotels and automated teller machines are boarded up, access to Athens' ancient city centre is cut off to traffic and riot police stand guard at every street corner.