Athens  - Somali pirates safely released a Greek owned chemical tanker with 19 member crew that was hijacked in September, the Greek Ministry of Merchant Marine said Saturday.

An official from the ministry told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the ship was released on November 19 that that the cargo of petrol and all 19 crew members, from Georgia, Sri Lanka and Syria, were safe and in tact.

The Somali pirates had hijacked the vessel, NV Genius, under the ownership of Greek shippig company Mareship on September 25 in the Gulf of Aden, near the Horn of Africa, as it was sailing from Romania to the Emirates.

The ship is the latest to be released by pirates after seizing dozens of vessels in recent weeks.

Athen - Greece's former 400 metres hurdles Olympic champion Fani Halkia was Friday suspended for two years by the Greek athletics federation SEGAS.

Halkia was tested positive for banned steroids at the Beijing Olympics and barred from competing.

The Athens 2004 Olympic champion, her coach and two more athletes have already been charged by Athens prosecutors with doping violations before and during the Beijing Games.

Halkia, 400m runner Dimitris Regas, 200m sprinter Tassos Gousis and coach Giorgos Panagiotopoulos face prison sentences of up to two years.

Athens - A 14th century Byzantine icon that was stolen from a monastery in northern Greece 30 years ago and ended up in the hands of a London-based art collector was returned to Athens, the Culture Ministry said Thursday.

The painting, which depicts Christ being taken down from the cross, disappeared from a monastery in the northern town of Serres in
1978.

According to a report in the daily Kathimerini newspaper, Greek authorities traced its whereabouts in 2002 when a British collector, who is reportedly of Greek origin, attempted to sell it.

Greek authorities alerted British police after the collector allegedly refused to hand over the painting despite being shown evidence that it had been illegally smuggled out of the country.

Athens  - Twenty-three centuries after artisans crafted and erected one of the tallest statues of the ancient world, the Colossus of Rhodes, residents on the Dodecanese island are determined to once again erect a new world wonder in the spirit of the original.

After repeated failed attempts, officials on the tiny Greek island are determined to finally fulfil their dream and have enlisted the help of a German-based design team and Berlin-based lighting architect Gert Hof as well as calls to the international community for funding.

Athens  - Greece and visiting Italy Wednesday settled for a 1-1 draw in Athens that gave world champion coach Marcello Lippi a record of 31 unbeaten games at the helm of the Azzurri.

Fanis Gekas put the home side in front on 50 minutes but Italy equalized just four minutes later through Bayern Munich striker Luca Toni, whose 16th goal for his country ended a barren period that lasted almost 700 minutes.

Athens  - Greece and visiting Italy Wednesday settled for a 1-1 draw in Athens that gave world champion coach Marcello Lippi a record of 31 unbeaten games at the helm of the Azzurri.

Fanis Gekas put the home side in front on 50 minutes but Italy equalized just four minutes later through Bayern Munich striker Luca Toni, whose 16th goal for his country ended a barren period that lasted almost 700 minutes.

The draw sees Lippi, who returned to the helm at Italy last summer after winning the 2006 World Cup and following the removal of Roberto Donadoni, improve by one game an earlier record set by Vittorio Pozzo, a winner of two World Cups in the 1930s.