Greek authorities identify remains as those of Elizabeth Jane Ross after discovery in a derelict building 11 days ago

A body found in a suitcase in an abandoned building in central Athens has been identified as that of a 38-year-old British woman.

Eleven days after the find, and following an appeal to foreign law enforcement agencies, Greek police shed some light on the mystery of the body that until Wednesday had remained unidentified.

Mythical home of the ancient Greek gods designated alongside the D-day landing beaches in Normandy

After a 12-year wait, Mount Olympus, the mythical home of the ancient Greek gods, has been inducted into a hall of more modern fame as Unesco announced it would be added to its world heritage list.

Greece’s highest mountain made the list alongside the second world war D-day landing beaches in northern France and the ancient Japanese capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara. South Sudan’s Boma-Badingilo landscape, host to one of the world’s largest land mammal migrations, also won a designation – a first for the east African country.

Officials have long lobbied for peak that rises 2,918 metres above sea level to be given coveted designation

More than four decades have elapsed since Evangelos Geroliolios made his first ascent to the home of the ancient gods. At the top of Mount Olympus, on the rocky peak of Greece’s highest mountain, he felt unalloyed awe.

“I’ve never forgotten that unique moment, that unique feeling up there on the throne of Zeus,” recalled Geroliolios, who as mayor of Dion-Olympus now spends a great deal of his time administering the area around the site.

Exclusive: Ljubisa Karović tells Guardian the fact that he lived to tell the tale is nothing short of a miracle

It is the explosion just before he was nearly sucked out of the aircraft that Ljubisa Karović remembers. The thunderous noise of the window shattering that roused him from slumber in 11F, his window seat on the early morning Ryanair flight from Greece to Germany.

Eleven days and 11 nights later, it remains the prelude “to the chaos, the catastrophe” that keeps him awake at night.

Pop star, whose parents are Kosovan Albanian, expresses admiration for demonstrations, which are entering their sixth week

Albania’s “flamingo revolution” has won its most prominent supporter yet after the pop star Dua Lipa expressed admiration for the protest movement against a Trump family-backed resort in the Balkan state.

As demonstrations against the €1.6bn (£1.36bn) real estate project entered a sixth week, the London-born singer, who was partially raised in Pristina, home to her Kosovan Albanian émigré parents, described the civic unrest as “inspiring”.

Climate crisis and warming waters have attracted long-toothed pufferfish to new parts of the Mediterranean

From his deckchair, his arms thrown above his head, his feet sliding back and forth in the sand, Pavlos Beleyiannis watches his grandchildren bathe in his favourite bay. It’s an idyllic scene, infused with a serenity that the newly retired truck driver attributes squarely to a sense of security.

For the first time, a floating barrier has been installed across the bay. Ducking, splashing and larking about, the children have not ventured beyond it. “Thank god it’s there to protect them,” he says with evident relief. “There weren’t such dangers in these seas when I was a child.”

Proposed development of protected shorelines and wildlife zones violates EU environmental policy, says MEP

MEPs have warned Albania that EU accession talks are at risk if the government does not “change course” over plans for a luxury resort backed by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Tineke Strik, the Dutch MEP heading a European parliament fact-finding mission to the Balkan nation, said Albania’s leadership was “playing with fire” by pursuing the €1.4bn (£1.2bn) real-estate venture that would, she said, wreak havoc on virgin coastline.

Scientists say hot spell is worst ever, with nearly half of region’s 850 largest cities facing unprecedented heat stress

• Europe heatwave: latest updates

The number of deaths in France linked to the heatwave has climbed to four toddlers and more than 55 drownings, as the brutally hot conditions sweeping Europe were forecast to shift east, choking 150 million people under 35C (95F) temperatures.

Scientists said the heatwave was the most severe and widespread ever, leaving nearly half of the region’s 850 largest cities grappling with unprecedented heat stress. They said the extreme temperatures had been made possible by the climate crisis driven by fossil fuel burning.

Opposition to plans for ‘small paradise’ island of Sazan becomes wave of dissent against establishment

For Ina Shkurti, like so many Albanians, the island of Sazan has played an outsized role. As a child she bathed in its “always calm and emerald green” waters, as a teenager it figured in her dreams and as an adult it was an indelible part of the memory and desire that drew her back, every summer, to Vlore, her home town across the sea.

What Shkurti never imagined was that plans to build a mega-resort on Sazan – one of two luxurious complexes on Albania’s southern coast backed by Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner – would trigger a revolt, an uprising that has convulsed the Balkan state in a spasm of disgust over the perceived excesses of “a rotten oligarchic class” just as it hopes to complete accession talks with the EU.

Conservation groups say work has begun in protected coastal area, while prime minister insists project will bring jobs and investment

Protests in Albania over a proposed luxury resort backed by Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are set to intensify after opponents rejected an offer from the country’s prime minister “to discuss solutions”.

Thousands took to the streets of Tirana for a third straight day on Wednesday, some of them brandishing inflatable flamingos in a nod to feared environmental damage, amid mounting calls for the project to be blocked.

Strongly anti-Turkish party doubles its seats although mainstream parties did not see vote crumble as predicted

An anti-immigrant far-right party, inspired by Greece’s defunct neo-Nazi Golden Dawn, made the biggest gains in Sunday’s parliamentary election in Cyprus.

Elam, the Greek National People’s Front, which has pushed for the closure of checkpoints on the ethnically split island and is vociferously anti-Turkish, doubled its seats in the 56-member legislature after securing 10.9 % of the vote.

Case hailed as human rights victory as Tromsø court says Tommy Olsen’s actions are lawful and protected under international treaties

The decision of a Norwegian appeals court to dismiss the extradition of an activist accused of facilitating the illegal entry of people into Greece has been hailed as a rare victory for human rights.

In a judgment described as unprecedented by lawyers representing Tommy Olsen, the Norwegian founder of the NGO the Aegean Boat Report, the court unanimously rejected the request saying his actions were not only lawful but protected under international treaties to which both countries adhered.

Minister defends preparedness against novel threat after officials detonate device suspected to be from Ukraine

Authorities in Greece have intensified investigations into how an explosive-packed drone ended up in waters off the west of the country.

An inquiry, involving specialised military teams, broadened at the weekend after bomb disposal experts detonated the unmanned device at sea.

Multiple people injured when gunman opened fire inside a social security office and later an appeals court

An 89-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of shooting and wounding several people in attacks on government buildings in Athens.

Hours after the double shooting in the Greek capital, authorities announced a suspect had been detained in the western port city of Patras, reportedly attempting to flee to Italy. His arrest followed a countrywide manhunt.

French president cites joint military aid to Cyprus as proof of Europe’s ability to defend itself during trip to Athens

Emmanuel Macron has spoken up for Europe’s ability to defend itself, saying a mutual assistance clause, enshrined in the EU treaty, was unambiguous and “not just words”.

The French president said the pact had already been proved in action when several member states sent military aid to Cyprus after a drone attack against a British airbase on the island on 28 February.

Haris Doukas warns that with 700,000 residents and 8 million tourists, people are being pushed out of their neighbourhoods

In the heart of ancient Athens, on narrow streets and around archaeological sites, visitor groups appear to be everywhere, snaking their way behind tour guides.

At other times, officials would have welcomed such scenes. But for Haris Doukas, the socialist mayor who is determined to reclaim the capital’s congested city centre for its citizens, the start of the tourist season leaves much of its historic heart at risk of “over-saturation.” Entire neighbourhoods, he believes, are in danger of losing their authenticity because of uncontrolled tourist development.

PM says ban will come into force in January if it is backed by parliament and calls for united action across EU

Greece has announced a social media ban for under-15s from 1 January, with the country’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, citing rising anxiety, sleep problems and the addictive design of online platforms – although he acknowledged it may incur the wrath of some children.

“We have decided to go ahead with a difficult but necessary measure: ban access to social media for children under 15 years old,” he said in a TikTok video intended to address a young audience.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis calls alleged scamming of EU agricultural funds ‘a turning point’

The Greek prime minister has vowed to tackle what he has called a “deep state” he says is plaguing the country, as he sought to address a growing political crisis over a farm fraud scandal that has forced the resignation of multiple government ministers.

In a speech, aired on national TV, Kyriakos Mitsotakis attempted to limit the damage, describing the revelations as “a turning point” that had turbo-charged his commitment to rooting out entrenched corruption.

Survivors tell coastguard smugglers ordered victims to be thrown overboard after six days adrift in boat from Libya

Two Sudanese men, believed by Greek authorities to have been behind a smuggling operation in which 22 people were “systematically” thrown overboard after succumbing to days without food or water at sea, have been ordered to appear before a local court on Crete.

Accused of illegally trafficking scores of would-be migrants into the south-eastern European country from Libya, the duo were given 48 hours to prepare to testify before an investigating magistrate on Monday.

Judges adjourn hearing into country’s worst rail disaster after grieving families denounce it as caricature of justice

A long-awaited trial into Greece’s worst train crash has descended into chaos hours after it began, with relatives of the 57 people killed in the disaster screaming “shame on you” at judges who were forced to adjourn the hearing until next month.

More than three years after the tragedy, grieving families denounced the proceedings as a caricature of justice amid demands the trial be held elsewhere. The five-member panel of judges called multiple recesses on Monday before announcing the hearing would be postponed until 1 April.