News in brief
Heavy traffic is reported at this hour in most streets around the city center due to the rain. Drivers are facing most traffic problems in Kiffisos upwards, in Kifissias, Mesogeion, Syggrou, Katechaki and Vouliagmenis avenue heading towards the city center and on the coastal highway heading to Piraeus.
A fire that broke out earlier at the District court on Loukareos street. 10 firefighters and 4 engines operate at this hour to put out the fire.
Amid the new migration crisis at Greece’s land border with Turkey, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is due in Berlin today for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due in Brussels for talks with EU officials.
Mitsotakis is expected to visit Vienna tomorrow for talks with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Greece has risen to 73.
Six out of the seven new incidents are from the group of tourists that had visited the Holy Lands in Israel and people that came into contact with them in Greece.
The government is expected at 12.30 pm to announce economic measures related to the disease outbreak, especially for the prefectures of Achaia, Ilia and Zakythos, which have been most seriously hit by the virus.
Among the measures under consideration is a suspension of the payment of value-added tax (VAT), while more relief measures are expected to follow depending on the gravity of the situation.
Old people’s recreation and support centers KAPI will shut down for four weeks and no congresses or conventions will take place during that period.
School trips are also cancelled and around 34 schools are expected to remain closed for the next 14 days.
The city of Athens has decided to close for a month the Friendship Clubs while all sports events in Greece will take place without spectators for the next two weeks.
France has banned gatherings of 1,000 persons, as two more MPs are infected, bringing the number of French lawmakers infected with the virus to four.
With more than 1,100 recorded cases and 19 deaths so far, France is the second worst affected European country after its neighbor Italy.
Global markets are bracing for a crash when they open, after some Asian markets suffered their worst falls since the Great Financial Crisis. Τhe Nikkei in Tokyo suffered losses over 5%, while Hang Seng in Hong Kong closed down by almost 2.5 %. The Athens Stock Exchange index is currently down by 11%
The price of crude oil has plunged by almost 27% after Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, said it would step up production from next month, flooding global markets and most likely depressing petrol and diesel prices.
The number of people to have died from the coronavirus in Italy has shot up by 133 in a day to 366, officials say.
The total number of infections leapt 25% to 7,375 from 5,883, according to the Civil Protection agency.
And the weather forecast…
Heavy rain in Attica today with the temperature expected to reach a maximum 15 degrees Celsius.
More news in brief tomorrow morning at 9.
