The Greek Embassy in Ankara yesterday lodged an official complaint with the Turkish Foreign Ministry after Turkish fighter jets that had been participating in a NATO-supervised training flight abandoned their formation and violated a region that had been reserved by the Greek armed forces for a forthcoming exercise. The transgression occured at around 1.30 p.m. when four Turkish F-16s flew at a low altitude between the islands of Chios and Samos. According to Greek diplomatic and military sources, the incident is seen as a fresh questioning by Ankara of Greece's right to conduct search and rescue exercises in the Aegean.

A policewoman was slightly hurt during an attack in the central Athens district of Exarchia yesterday. A group of youths is alleged to have thrown rocks and pieces of wood at a police foot patrol yesterday afternoon at the corner of Emmanouil Benaki and Kallidromiou streets. The policewoman was injured when she fell over as she tried to take cover from the hail of missiles.

The Athens Urban Transport Organization (OASA) announced yesterday that it is suspending the operation of three express bus routes because they are used by too few passengers. OASA said that from Monday, the E1 Piraeus-Voula route, the E7 Kaningos-Kifissia route and the E16 Koumoundourou Square-Elefsina route will be discontinued. Alternative routes are available to passengers who can call 185 to get more information from OASA.

Police in Kalamata in the Peloponnese yesterday detained a 39-year-old man believed to have burgled five stores on Wednesday evening. According to police, the suspect robbed a grocery store first, followed by two cafes, a hairdressing salon and finally a dry cleaners. It was unclear how much the 39-year-old netted in the five raids.

A 31-year-old Georgian national sentenced to 20 years in jail for the murder of popular actor Nikos Sergianopoulos in June 2008 at the latter's home in the eastern Athens district of Pangrati now faces having his term extended to a life sentence after an appeals court prosecutor challenged the original punishment. The 20-year jail sentence was handed to David Murtikneli after he was found guilty of murder, illegal arms possession and illegal entry into the country but the court stopped short of giving him a life sentence due to his previous clean record. The prosecutor claims that the crime had been premeditated and therefore the sentence should be heavier.

The Athens fire service was yesterday called upon to extinguish two blazes that had broken out in central locations, one in a hotel in the district of Omonia and the other in an apartment in Exarchia. According to firemen, the blaze in Omonia broke out in a room on the first floor of a small hotel, threatening adjacent rooms. A total of 30 firefighters were dispatched and they managed to bring the blaze under control before it could spread. The Exarchia fire broke out in a fifth-floor apartment and caused some panic but was quickly doused. There were no injuries reported in either blaze.