11.00 News in brief

A police operation took place this morning in three buildings in the area of Koukaki, which have been seized by antiauthoritarians. 10 persons have been detained so far, including two residents.

Today the Prime Minister and other political leaders will address the parliament plenary, as the discussion on the state draft budget concludes. Voting on the draft budget is expected at midnight.

On this occasion, working unions are going to hold a rally at 6.30 pm outside the Greek parliament.

In their first one-on-one meeting yesterday, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde discussed Greece’s economy, with the ECB chief hailing the progress of reforms.

Mitsotakis and Lagarde also discussed the implementation of the Hercules project, aimed at reducing the volume of non-performing loans burdening Greek banks, and lifting the restrictions banks have from exposure to Greek bonds.

Greek Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias discussed security issues in the region and the Turkey-Libya agreement on maritime zones with Saudi Arabian King Salman on Tuesday, the first of a series of visits to Middle Eastern countries.
Dendias called his visit to Saudi Arabia «a great opportunity.» Today he will travel to the United Arab Emirates.

In the meatime, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay declared that Ankara could send forces to the Eastern Mediterranean.

At 7pm tonight, the lighting of the Christmas tree will take place at Pedion tou Areos park.

Australia has just experienced its hottest day on record and its worst spring on record for dangerous bushfire weather:

Preliminary analysis suggested that Tuesday was the hottest day on record for Australia, with an average maximum across the country of 40.9C.

And the weather forecast…

Partly cloudy in Attica this morning with the temperature expected to reach a maximum of 20 degrees Celsius.

More news in brief tomorrow morning at 9.