Prime Minister George Papandreou yesterday invited his counterparts from Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Sali Berisha and Nikola Gruevski respectively, for an informal three-day meeting on Friday at the Prespes Lakes national park. The aim of the meeting is to discuss the possible launch of a joint initiative for the conservation of the region of the Prespes Lakes, one of which occupies territory in Greece, Albania and FYROM.

City Hall yesterday appealed to residents of Athens not to take their trash to garbage dumpsters today and tomorrow as workers at the capital’s main landfill at Fyli, northwestern Attica, stage a 48-hour strike, demanding the payment of outstanding wages. The workers staged similar action at the end of last week.

France has proposed the signing of a defense and security agreement with Greece. French Defense Minister Herve Morin made the proposal during a meeting in Athens yesterday with his Greek counterpart Evangelos Venizelos. Greece has been negotiating with France this year for the purchase of six FREMM frigates and 15 Super Puma search and rescue helicopters. Morin indicated that any agreements would include the participation of Greek industry.

Two hair salons, one in the southern Athens suburb of Aghios Dimitrios and the other in Kolonos near the city center, were damaged early yesterday when hand grenades were thrown at both establishments. Police believe that the attacks, which did not cause any injuries, were carried out by gangs trying to sell protection.

A police special guard has had his driving license revoked for four months and has been ordered to pay a fine of 1,500 euros after he was caught by an unmarked police car going through two consecutive red lights on his motorcycle, it was revealed yesterday.

Three soccer fans, aged 18, 27 and 37, were arrested in Thessaloniki yesterday after an attack on a local bus late on Sunday. A 10-year-old boy was slightly injured when a group of about 20 people threw stones at the bus following the PAOK v Aris soccer match.

The British government yesterday indicated that it was prepared to scrap its guarantor rights on Cyprus as part of a reunification deal for the long-divided island. “We will not be the fly in the ointment that makes a solution impossible. We would strive always to be of assistance,” Britain’s visiting Europe Minister Chris Bryant told reporters in Nicosia.

Police in Argos, in the Peloponnese, yesterday detained a male suspect believed to be behind the fatal shooting of a mailman earlier this month. The unnamed suspect was arrested following a raid on his home. Officers confiscated a shotgun but did not determine whether it was the weapon used on November 3 in the fatal shooting that followed the mugging of the mailman.