2010

Events

January 6: Unknown arsonists set fire to the Jewish synagogue of Chania, Crete.
January 11: Cypriot Media executive, Antis Hadjikostis, is murdered outside his house at Engomi.
January 16: Marcos Baghdatis defeats Richard Gasquet 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) to claim the Sydney International ATP.
January 18: Greek-owned super-tanker, Maran Centaurus, is released by Somali pirates after a ransom was paid. Its crew of nine Greeks and 19 foreigners were unharmed.
January 19: The British Court of Appeal judges in favour of Cypriot refugee Meletis Apostolides in the case of Apostolides v Orams. Apostolides had sued Mr and Mrs Orams for illegal use of his property in Lapithos in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus.
January 19: Olympiakos FC sack coach Zico.
January 20: Values on the Athens Stock Market drop 3.39% to 2,030. The drop is blamed on the uncertain state of the Greek economy.
January 30: Aphrodite Skafida breaks the Greek women's indoor record in the pole vault with 4.41m.

February 3: Karolos Papoulias is re-elected President of Greece.
February 5: The Athens Stock Exchange closes at 1878.91 after losses of 3.73%.
February 8: EDEK decide to pull out of the governing coalition of Cyprus.
February 10: Greece is hit by a general strike of public workers in protest of PM Papandreou's announced austerity measures.
February 15: A state of emergency is declared for Evros prefecture due to severe flooding.
February 16: PM Giorgos Papandreou visits Moscow and has talks with President Dmitri Medvedev and PM Vladimir Putin.
February 17: Michalis Stamatoyiannis breaks the Greek shot put indoor record with 20.36 in Athens. The old record had stood for 24 years.
February 20: Olympiakos win the Greek Basketball Cup defeating Panathinaikos 68-64. This snapped an 8-year Cup-winning streak by the Greens.
February 22: The two largest Greek airlines - Οlympic Air and Aegean Airlines - decide to effect a merger in October.
February 24: A general strike by the major unions of Greece paralyse the country as private and public sector workers protest the Papandreou government's austerity measures.
February 24: Greek-Australian Lydia Lassila (née Ierodiaconou) wins gold for Australia in freestyle skiing at the Vancouver winter Olympics.
February 25: Panathinaikos advance in the Europa Cup after a 3-2 triumph over AS Roma in Stadio Olimpico. The first game in Athens had also ended in a 3-2 victory.

March 3: PM Giorgos Papandreou announces a series of austerity measures designed to combat the country's huge economic deficit. These include increases in VAT, a 15% increase in petrol tax, freezes in pensions and a 30% cut in Easter and Christmas bonuses for civil servants.