Athens News Agency:10-09-02

The municipality of Marathon in Attica on Tuesday announced a programme of events to celebrate the 2,500th anniversary since the historic Battle of Marathon on September 12. On this crucial battlefield, the ancient Athenians managed to thwart invasion by a numerically superior Persian force, inaugurating an era in which Greece flourished and laid the foundations of western culture.

With money donated by the Leventis Foundation, the municipality will mark out historic routes for cyclists and pedestrians that will link monuments such as the Marathon Tomb, the Trophy, the ancient quarries and others.

On September 12 itself the events will reach a peak and will feature a walk to the Tomb followed by the reading of descriptions of the battle from Herodotus by well known Greek actors, accompanied by ancient Greek instruments such as the lute, pan-pipes, horn and others.

Athens News Agency: 10-08-31

As of Wednesday, September 1 there will be a blanket ban on smoking in all indoor public areas throughout Greece, with stiff fines for transgressors. The ban applies equally to work places and recreational venues, without the option of a special smoking area, except in the case of casinos and recreational venues larger than 300 square metres playing live music. For the last two categories, there will be an eight-month transitional period and the full ban will begin to apply from June 1, 2011.

Under the new law, private individuals that flout the smoking ban face fines ranging from 50-500 euros, while companies found to be tolerating smoking on their premises can be fined between 500 and 10,000 euros.

The details of the smoking ban were outlined in a health ministry circular issued on Monday, with restaurateurs and club owners objecting to the timing that they said will be a further knock to a sector already struggling to cope with a decline in turnover of as much as 25 percent.

In a press conference on Monday, Health Minister Mariliza Xenoyiannakopoulou said that policing would be lenient during the first month that the measures are imposed, with authorities confining themselves to issuing warnings to offenders.

Athens News Agency: 10-08-30

Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE) intends to delist from the New York Stock Exchange within September, OTE's management said in an announcement on Monday.

The announcement said that OTE will provide written notice to the NYSE of its intention to delist. OTE also intends to file the related Form 25 with the SEC on Sept. 9. Once the delisting has become effective at around Sept. 20 and the company meets the criteria for deregistration, (ANA-MPA) it intends to file Form 15F with the SEC in order to deregister its equity securities.

OTE intends to maintain an American Depositary Receipt programme on a so-called "Level I" basis in order to enable investors to trade ADRs in the US over-the-counter (OTC) market. One ADS is equivalent to 0.5 OTE shares.

Athens News Agency: 10-08-25

Greek archaeologists believe they have found the remains of a royal residence of pre-Classical Ithaca , with links to legendary Odysseus (Ulysses) inevitably coming to mind. Excavations by a University of Ioannina team of archaeologists are centred on the Aghios Athanassios site of Ithaca , a small isle in the Ionian Sea - west of mainland Greece - that has long been associated with Homeric hero Odysseus and the epic Odyssey.

"According to evidence so far, which is extremely significant, and taking under consideration scientific reservations, we believe we are before the palace of Odysseus and Penelope; the only one of the Homeric-era palaces that has not yet been discovered," professor Thanassis Papadopoulos told reporters during a briefing last week.

To date, the dig has uncovered remains of a three-storey building with an interior staircase cut into the side of sheer rock. Remnants of Mycenaean-era pottery were also found, along with a fountain dated to the 13 century BC. Similar fountains have been unearthed at the related sites of the acropolis of Mycenae and Tiryns , in southeast mainland Greece , and specifically in the Argolida plain in the NE Peloponnese.