An emergency meeting was held yesterday in the town of Lagadas, 19 kilometers east of Thessaloniki, following the complete disappearance, over the past few days, of the local Lake Lagadas, also known as Koroneia. Local authorities, geologists, environmentalists and businessmen concluded that evaporation was probably to blame for the lake’s drying up — despite recent heavy rainfall. Excessive use of the lake’s waters by local farmers and industries had drawn its initial volume down by 90 percent (some 36,000 cubic meters of water) over the past few years. Local authorities said they proposed to press ahead with plans — made while there was still some water in Koroneia — to save the lake.

Slightly fewer flights from the new Athens airport at Spata were delayed in the second quarter of this year, compared to the first quarter, according to data made public yesterday by the Association of European Airlines. Some 79.6 percent of flights left Athens airport on time, while the average delay in the remaining 20.4 percent of departures was 39.8 minutes, AEA said. In the first quarter, 77.9 percent of departures were on time.

Prime Minister Costas Simitis met with Foreign Minister George Papandreou and Deputy Foreign Minister Tassos Yianitsis yesterday to discuss relations with Ankara in light of the latest political developments in Turkey, as well as the course of Cyprus’s EU accession talks. Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Papandreou said Greece remains committed to backing Turkey’s “European course,” within the framework laid out by Union summit decisions. Meanwhile, yesterday Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannis Magriotis met Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Cassoulides at the beginning of a three-day visit to Cyprus. Today, he will see President Glafcos Clerides.

A team of 15 firemen equipped with pumps and an amphibian vehicle left for Germany yesterday to assist in relief efforts for victims of the floods that struck the country last week.

Greece’s Association of Judges and Prosecutors yesterday issued a statement denying that the judicial authorities handling the November 17 terrorist investigation were responsible for the leaks to the press of documents regarding N17 suspects’ testimonies. The statement noted that the suspects themselves and lawyers representing civil claimants are also issued with copies of the testimonies.

Two people, including an Athens municipal employee, were charged yesterday with forging residence permits, health certificates and other documents for sale to illegal immigrants. Municipal worker Loukas Spanos, 59, and Eleni Mavrou, 48, were arrested in the Athens office of lawyer Georgios Kefalas. This followed the arrest of an eastern European woman with false papers she said she bought from the gang for 700 euros.

An animal farmer from the area of Pella, in northern Greece, has been arrested for the shotgun murder of his neighbor following a fight over grazing rights, police said yesterday. Theodoros Apazoglou, 68, from the village of Kaisariana, was to be charged with killing Evangelos Poptis, 41, on Monday.

A 47-year-old man from a village near Arta, in western Greece, died early yesterday morning after being repeatedly stung by large wasps. His family said Anastassios Tsilionis had refused to seek medical attention after being stung, and collapsed during the night.

The coach of Turkey’s national soccer squad was quoted yesterday as energetically backing a joint bid by Greece and Turkey to host the 2008 European football championship. “We love you,” Senol Gunes said in an address to the Greek people reported by Turkey’s Anatolian News Agency. “We want to think, live and play with you.” Gunes added that Greece and Turkey are best suited to host the championship, as they “have natural beauties, historical features and transportation facilities.”