Police were yesterday searching for a man suspected of shooting or stabbing three people near Omonia Square late on Sunday. The assailant, identified as an unnamed Palestinian man, allegedly got into a fight with a Bangladeshi man on Menandrou Street at about 8.20 p.m. The incident, the cause of which was unclear, led to the Bangladeshi being shot in the leg. The gunman then shot another Palestinian who is said to have witnessed the incident from a balcony. The victim was struck in the head and is in a serious condition. The suspect is then alleged to have stabbed an Afghan man as he tried to flee the scene. All three victims are in the hospital.

A 28-year-old Greek man and a 29-year-old Syrian national yesterday both faced an Athens prosecutor for allegedly refusing to stop for traffic police inspections in separate incidents on Sunday. In the first incident, in Pangrati, the 28-year-old suspect is alleged to have run down a traffic officer with his motorcycle. In the second incident, in Aghios Panteleimonas, the Syrian suspect allegedly threatened to hit the officer who asked him to stop his car for an inspection. It was unclear whether either of the suspects had been drinking.

Turkish authorities yesterday sent radar warnings to an aircraft of Frontex, the EU's border-monitoring agency, which had been conducting a patrol in the Aegean as part of the organization's efforts to curb the influx of illegal immigrants into Europe. The harassment of the Finnish aircraft, near the small island of Agathonisi, was the sixth incident of its kind in as many weeks.

A 45-year-old woman who went missing on Sunday afternoon while climbing on the slopes of Mount Olympus was found by rescue workers early yesterday. The 45-year-old had been climbing with a group when she got separated from them, according to the Katerini fire service.

The Defense Ministry is examining the possibility of conscripts not serving in the air force or navy, sources said yesterday. There are no plans to reduce military service though. At present, basic military service in the army is 12 months, down from 18 months earlier this decade. The New Democracy government had suggested earlier this year it would reduce it to nine months.

Five Romanian nationals, four men and a woman, were in custody in the northern city of Serres yesterday as the suspected members of a ring believed to have robbed several jewelry stores in the broader area of Thessaly. According to police, the female suspect would enter the store and distract the manager, often with the help of an accomplice, while the other ring members emptied the window displays.

Police in Athens yesterday were investigating the fatal stabbing of a woman believed to be aged around 25 whose body was found in a basement apartment in the central district of Kypseli.