The Friday edition of Athens' dailies at a glance

New revelations on protracted Vatopedi monastery affair and the tabling of the 2009 draft state budget in Parliament dominated the headlines on Friday in Athens' dailies. ADESMEFTOS TYPOS: "3,720 inmates to be released immediately - Prisons to be decongested". APOGEVMATINI: "Masks fall - Turmoil over secret (PASOK) meeting on Vatopedi monastery land exchange scandal". AVGHI: "Farmers even poorer with new Common Agricultural Policy - What EU farm ministers decided unanimously in Brussels". AVRIANI: "Main opposition PASOK and blackmailers have rigged the dirty tricks targetting (PM) Karamanlis". CHORA: "Sacred threats - Monks using mob methods in Vatopedi monastery scandal". ELEFTHERI ORA: "New Democracy and PASOK responsible for Vatopedi monastery scandal". ELEFTHEROS: "PASOK, SYRIZA gaffe a 'gift' to New Democracy - They called unreliable witnesses to testify before Parliament's fact-finding commission on Vatopedi case". ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: "Conspiracy. Blackmailers' gang with political contacts". ELEFTHEROTYPIA: "Supreme Court prosecutor orders investigation on the Toplou Monastery case in Crete". ESTIA: "How the economy is affected - The hidden side of the financial crisis". ETHNOS: "Ruling New Democracy MPs stab ministers in the back (on Vatopedi monastery case)". KATHIMERINI: "The tension on Vatopedi monastery case escalates - Prevailing insinuations on government's implication". LOGOS: "The bank support bill ratified in Parliament - FinMin George Alogoskoufis charges that PASOK cadres had secret meetings with bankers". NIKI: "Government attempts to send attention elsewhere in order to escape from Vatopedi scandal". RIZOSPASTIS: "All together for new rallies and strikes". TA NEA: "Dirty war and the government at the end of the tunnel - ND, PASOK's head-on collision to the extreme". TO VIMA: "Ministers will take special lessons on 'provisional' state budget". VRADYNI: "Government's target is liquidity in market - 28-billion-euro bank support bill ratified in Parliament".

Recovered icon on display

A priceless 14th-century Byzantine icon stolen from a Greek monastery in 1978 and returned to Greece this month was unveiled in Athens on Wednesday. The icon, which turned up in London five years ago, will be kept at the Byzantine and Christian Museum in downtown Athens to undergo preservation work before it is returned to the northern prefecture of Serres, from where it was stolen. Presenting the religious icon, Culture Minister Mihalis Liapis said it was proof of the coordinated efforts of all those striving to preserve Greece's cultural heritage. The icon would be returned to its place of origin, he added, because the ministry was determined not to encourage a form of "domestic Elginism", where displaced artifacts were retained by central authorities. The icon would be returned after the monastery from which it was stolen was equipped with an adequate security system, he added. The stolen icon, originally painted using the "Serres technique", had been cut in two by the thieves so that it could be taken out of the country and painted over before it was sold on the market. It is also considered to be two-sided, meaning that one side may still be in the hands of antiquities smugglers. Information on the specific icon was given in November 2002 by the curator of the Benaki Museum in Athens Angelos Delivorias, after he was informed that it was up for sale by Ioannis Petsopoulos, acting as an agent for a "private collector" who had the icon in his possession. The Greek embassy in London had then asked the trader to assist in the investigation by sending any evidence at his disposal that would enable Greek authorities to apply for its return using legal and diplomatic channels. The affair led to the conviction of those responsible for stealing the icon and it was finally returned on Nov. 16, 2008. Caption: Officials unveil a previously missing 14th century Byzantine icon on Monday in Athens. ANA-MPA / STR.

The Wednesday edition of Athens' dailies at a glance

The projection of Vatopedi monastery controversial video tape in parliament and reactions, and FYROM's new provocations against Greece dominated the headlines on Wednesday in Athens' newspapers. ADESMEFTOS TYPOS: "Development Minister Christos Folias prohibited any increase in Public Power Corporation(PPC) rates". APOGEVMATINI: "12,977 job opportunities in the public sector". AVGHI:"State Budget can afford to give (money) to bankers but not to the citizens". AVRIANI: "Frame by frame, the video of the blackmailing". CHORA: "The government is leading the public hospitals to penury". ELEFTHEROS : "The popular left wing rises up again, calls on Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis to take immediate relief measures for the weaker strata". ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: "Vatopedi monastery controversial video tape was screened privately twice". ELEFTHEROTYPIA: "Crash in Health sector - While the hospitals' debts pile up and the patients agonize, the government remains idle". ESTIA: "FYROM's position is preposterous -Who is really violating the interim agreement". ETHNOS: "The trick with the Olympics estates - The gift to Abbot Ephraim was premeditated". KATHIMERINI: "The fact finding commission is being led to disgrace - Phraseology and morals of the underworld prevailed during the screening of Vatopedi videotape". LOGOS: "The controversial video has been scissored - The atmosphere among the MPs was tense - Disagreement over the presence of journalists". NIKI: "Sacred transactions in the limelight - Tremendous revelations at the fact finding commission". RIZOSPASTIS: "Give the money to the people, not to plutocracy - The draft law for 28 billion euros to the banks to be tabled in parliament". TA NEA: "The 'close friends' unsheathed the knives - Parastate 'aroma' in Vatopedi". TO VIMA: "The next two crashes will be in Health and Education -Government fears new social explosions". VRADYNI: "Ruling New Democracy (ND) MP's charge: Underworld SA - Main opposition PASOK and SYRIZA make 'full speed retreat' regarding the 'reliable' key witnesses that were called to testify before parliament's fact finding commission on the Vatopedi monastery affair".

AEK Athens, coach Dusan Bajevic in talks

The AEK Athens soccer club and well-known coach Dusan Bajevic reached an agreement, in principle, during talks on Tuesday. Negotiations between the two sides are continuing to settle details of a possible assumption of the coaching spot by Bajevic, a controversial and "love-hate" icon for many AEK fans. Bajevic, a noted Serbian striker during his playing days, became a naturalised Greek citizen and coached AEK on two previous occasions. He also played for AEK between 1979-1981. In the event of a final agreement between the two sides, Bajevic will succeed George Donis, who agreed to step down from his post earlier this week following AEK's disappointing performance in the Super League so far.

The Monday edition of Athens' dailies at a glance

The 35th anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic students' uprising against the dictatorship in 1973 and new revelations on the Vatopedi monastery land exchange scandal dominated the headlines on Monday in Athens' newspapers. ADESMEFTOS TYPOS: "Athens Polytechnic anniversary: Wreaths and honours, but also hooded troublemakers". APOGEVMATINI: "Ruling New Democracy Secretary Lefteris Zagoritis preannounces in an interview to the newspaper: Raises in EKAS (low pension benefit), farmers' pensions and unemployement benefits". AVRIANI: "Conspirators left uncovered and blackmailers sent to court (in Vatopedi monastery case)- Video tapes turned into smithereens the dirty plot targetting prime minister Costas Karamanlis". CHORA: "The financial junta is shaking - Fears of uprising by society and mass reactions". ELEFTHERI ORA: "Prime Minister attempts to reverse the bad climate". ELEFTHEROS: "Turkey's 'grey zone' scheme in the Aegean - Red alert over oil exploration in the Greek continental shelf ". ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: "Red card for 4 in 10 loans - Thousands of households unable to repay the banks - Flurry of applications to banks to freeze the repayment installments". ELEFTHEROTYPIA: "Disgruntlement over the 28 billion euros fortification plan - FinMin Alogoskoufis targetted after European Commission decision to reject the plan". ESTIA: "Distrust in the economy". ETHNOS: "Five ministers in a vise - Shocking testimonies pave the way to the establishment of a parliamentary preliminary examination committee". TA NEA: "While Europe talks about decrease in interest rates, Greek banks add surcharges". VRADYNI: "The documentation of the shameful dealings - Who attempted to implicate Karamnalis in the Vatopedi affair, and why".