A Newly Translated Novel Captures the Tragedy of Greek Communism

Greece’s communists began the mid-twentieth century on the battlefield, moved from there to the prisons and then, if they were lucky, exile. The less fortunate found themselves in front of firing squads.

During World War II, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) led the resistance against the Nazis, and at the end of the war, it controlled most of the country. Yet when the British-backed government in exile returned, it launched an anti-communist purge, imprisoning almost fifty thousand partisans and empowering right-wing death squads to act as police.

By 1946, when the communists revolted against this White Terror, the Cold War had begun. They thus found themselves facing not just the king’s government, but also the United Kingdom and the United States, in the West’s first test of the Truman Doctrine. After the communists’ defeat in 1949, the government passed Emergency Law 509, outlawing the KKE. Then, on April 21, 1967 — after two long decades of anti-communist collaboration between the CIA and the Greek state — a group of far-right military officers staged the coup that installed the Regime of the Colonels, which would exile the last fragments of the Greek left to remote islands in the Aegean.

The Commune is a difficult text, admirable as a novel yet in some ways richer as a historical document.

Greece forced into ‘painful’ shutdown of country’s biggest stadium due to safety concerns
The Olympic Stadium in Athens faces questions over the stability of its steel dome and has been closed indefinitely

Greek authorities have shut the country's biggest sports stadium amid concerns over the stability of its steel dome, an architectural landmark built for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

The 70,000-seat Olympic Stadium hosts major sporting events throughout the year, including football’s Champions League as well as sold-out concerts, most recently Guns N' Roses in the summer.

Stadium officials said on Friday all activities would be halted indefinitely after a study found the stadium's roof – as well as that of the country's sole cycling track nearby – "did not meet the legally permitted levels of static adequacy."

Huge crowd for Truss conference speech as ministers struggle with attendance

Former prime minister Liz Truss has attracted a huge crowd for her speech at the Conservative Party Conference while Cabinet ministers have been struggling to fill auditoriums.

Senior Tories had urged Ms Truss to stay away from the Manchester conference amid concerns she could cause difficulties for Rishi Sunak but it appears party members are still keen to hear from the UK's shortest serving PM.

She was asked, "are you just here to cause trouble?" by reporters as she arrived in Manchester ahead of her speech at a fringe event where former home secretary Priti Patel and former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg also spoke.

Ms Truss told a so-called growth rally her party needs to “make the case for Conservatism again” and “do more to revive Conservative values and show that they deliver”.

Rishi Sunak’s Commons majority in peril as 60 Tories join Liz Truss group

Growth Group now same size as government’s majority, as it urges PM to cut taxes and resume fracking