Νews in brief

Three people were arrested in a counter-terrorism operation early this morning, including a prison runaway.

According to information, authorities detained Yiannis Michalidis, an alleged member of the urban guerrilla group Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire, who had escaped from the agricultural prison of Tyrintha in the Peloponnese on June 2019.

Michailidis, who was accused in connection with an armed bank robbery in northern Greece, in February 2013, was in 2015 given a 13-year prison sentence over an armed attack on members of the police force’s immediate response unit in Pefki, northern Athens.

He had been previously detained during a protest rally in Syntagma in February 2011 after he tried to shoot at police with a bow-and-arrow. He had since been dubbed the “Syntagma archer.”

The other two suspects are two females.

The Ministerial council convenes 11 this morning at the Maximos Mansion, chaired by the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Ministers will discuss bills concerning public health, local government authorities, a framework for cabotage, and a bill on operational issues of the agriculture ministry.

France and Greece share the same vision, French President Emmanuel Macron said at the joint press conference with visiting Prime Minister Mitsotakis.
Macron referred to the issue of security in the East Mediterranean and the wider region of the East, and condemned Turkey’s agreement with the Tripoli government on the delineation of maritime zones. «France supports Greece and Cyprus in terms of respect for their sovereign rights, condemning Turkey’s challenge of these.» he said.

China reported its biggest single-day jump in coronavirus deaths on Thursday.

The virus has caused at least 170 deaths, spreading to every Chinese region and at least 16 other countries.

Chinese health authorities said there were 7 thousand 711 confirmed coronavirus cases in the country as of Wednesday night.

National Drug Organization president, Dimitris Filippou, speaking at our station this morning said that today 20 thousand anti-flu pills will be available in Athens, he reassured that there are sufficient anti-flu vaccines available in the market, but that there is no reason for the public to panic.

Britain’s departure from the EU on 31 January was set in stone in a historic moment for the nation as MEPs in Brussels ratified the withdrawal agreement.

The vote ensures that the UK’s 47 years of membership of the EU will now end at midnight central European time on Friday, after years of troubled talks and uncertainty.

Partly cloudy in Attica today with the temperature expected to reach a high of 15 degrees Celsius.

More news in brief tomorrow morning at 9.