Athens - Clashes between illegal immigrants battling to board ferries bound for Italy from the western Greek port of Patras are on the rise and local authorities and residents are appealing for help to contain the violence, reports said Tuesday.

Fights between Afghan and African immigrants about who can attempt to sneak aboard daily ferries to Italy have broken out in recent weeks.

Hundreds of Afghan immigrants live in makeshift camps at the port in Patras. The camps have gradually been established over the past few years to accommodate the immigrants who daily try to illegally board ferries to Italy.

Athens - A strong earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Ric

Hanoi - Greek President Karolos Papoulias met with Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet Monday at the start of a six-day visit to the south-east Asian state.

Papoulias is the first Greek president to visit Vietnam since the two countries established bilateral ties in 1975.

"Greece in very interested in promoting relations between our two countries, and proof of this is that just as we promised, we have opened a Greek embassy in your country," said Papoulias.

Athens/Nicosia  - Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders agreed to hold weekly peace talks on Friday in an effort to find a formula and keep the momentum going to reunite the divided Mediterranean island.

It was the fourth meeting between Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehemt Ali Talat since they launched a new round of peace talks on September 3.

Both sides are hoping to end a conflict that has dragged on for decades and which trheatens Turkey's aspirations of joining the European Union. The two leaders are scheduled to meet again on October 13.

Athens/Nicosia  - Former US President Jimmy Carter, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Algerian Foreign Minister Lakhdar Brahimi on Thursday urged leaders of the divided island of Cyprus to end its decades-old division.

Carter, Tutu and Brahimi arrived on Cyprus late Wednesday as part of a meeting of the organization The Elders, a group of 12 Nobel laureates and human activists who try to help resolve global crisis.

Washington, Oct 8 : A new research has suggested that the soil under the ancient Greek buildings like temples, which honored specific gods and goddesses, held spiritual significance.

According to a report in Discovery News, the finding could help explain why writers like Homer and Plato wrote of “divine soil” and soil that can affect a person’s soul. It may also explain how the ancients selected locations for their sacred buildings.