Prime Minister George Papandreou yesterday expressed his condolences to authorities in Russia after a bomb attack late on Friday on a passenger train taking hundreds of passengers from Moscow to St Petersburg killed dozens and left dozens more injured. Papandreou sent the message in his capacity as premier, foreign minister and the spokesperson for Greece in its temporary presidency of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). “The presidency of the OSCE expresses its deep concern and support for the investigation into the cause of the accident,” Papandreou’s message said.

Three people were hospitalized yesterday evening following a brawl between a group of immigrants close to central Omonia Square, police in Athens said. The migrants were Iraqis, Iranians and Afghans, according to officers who did not release any details about the cause of the dispute. Of the three migrants, one, an Iranian, was seriously injured after being knifed in the stomach. He underwent an operation late last night.

Four masked robbers mugged a couple in Seikh Sou Forest, on the outskirts of Thessaloniki, on Saturday night, leaving the man with minor injuries, police in the northern city said. According to the account given by the couple, the men forced the pair to stop their car and threatened them at gunpoint to hand over their cellphones and a small amount of cash they had on them at the time. The man sustained minor injuries when he tried to put up a fight and one of the gunmen punched him. The four robbers were still at large late last night.

Several state hospitals will be operating on skeleton staff today as doctors are due to go on strike. Unionists are demanding that the government sign a new collective labor contract, make good on a promise to hire 2,000 additional doctors to tackle understaffing and boost their salaries. Protesting doctors are to stage a rally outside the Health Ministry in central Athens today.

Police officers and members of the fire brigade in Gortynia, in the Peloponnese, yesterday were searching for an 85-year-old man missing from his village of Theoktisto since Saturday morning. On the Ionian island of Zakynthos, a similar search was under way for a 65-year-old farmer who went missing from his home in Keri, on the southern tip of the island, on Friday. There had been no sign of either of the two missing men by late yesterday.

Peach growers from Imathia, northern Greece, yesterday continued to block a section of the Egnatia Highway for the fourth day in a row, saying they would not move their tractors unless the government takes action to allay their grievances. On Friday, the producers gave Prime Minister George Papandreou a memo outlining their demands, which include the adoption of measures to boost their sector.