The branch office of New Democracy in Lambrini, near central Athens, suffered minor damage early on Monday after two Molotov cocktails were thrown at the premises, police said. Unknown assailants threw the firebombs at the offices at around 3.50 a.m., police said, one of which exploded and destroyed the front window and foyer. In a separate incident, also early on Monday, a parked car was damaged in Peristeri, western Athens, by a homemade explosive device. No one was hurt in either of the attacks.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sent a letter to Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis thanking her for the efforts undertaken by Greece in evacuating US citizens from Lebanon, sources said on Monday. Rice sent the letter last Wednesday and asked Bakoyannis to pass on her thanks to all Greek officials involved in the process as well as the captains and crews of the Greek ships that evacuated refugees from Beirut.

A 17-year-old boy was arrested in Kalamata, in the Peloponnese, for shopping with counterfeit notes he had allegedly printed on his home computer. The teenager attempted to spend a 50-euro note at a street kiosk but the owner notified police. A search of the suspect's home uncovered more fake 20- and 50-euro notes, police said.

The Greek national soccer team will be without Atletico Madrid player Giourkas Seitaridis for its friendly match today against England in Manchester. The defender has sprained his ankle. England striker Dean Ashton will also miss the game at Old Trafford. The West Ham United player was due to make his debut for England but broke his ankle in training yesterday.

The average price for a liter of unleaded fuel on Friday remained at 1.102 euros, unchanged from the previous week, the Development Ministry said yesterday. The average price was determined after taking price samples from around 2,300 petrol stations across the country.

Police said on Monday that they had arrested four Romanian nationals in Crete accused of stealing some 42,000 euros from ATM machines over the last few months. The suspects would allegedly obtain the PIN numbers of bank customers withdrawing money by placing a tiny camera on the ATM machine and recording the four-digit number. The Romanians are then said to have accessed bank accounts belonging to unsuspecting ATM card holders.

Two suspected people smugglers were arrested near Thessaloniki on Monday as they attempted to bring 26 immigrants from Pakistan and three from Afghanistan into Greece in the back of a truck, police said. After a roadside check in the area of Vrasna, police arrested the 27-year-old Albanian national who was driving the truck and later caught a 26-year-old Greek who had been driving ahead of the truck, acting as a lookout. The illegal immigrants, who had each paid up to 3,000 euros to be brought to Greece, are to be deported, officers said.

Authorities in the Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus yesterday released a reporter and a cameraman working with ANT-1 television station in Cyprus a day after arresting them as they were preparing a report on the 32nd anniversary of the Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus. It is not clear why Sotiris Papadopoulos and Tassos Dimitriadis were taken into custody in Ammochostos on Monday.

Thieves attempted to drill through the wall of a bank in Galatsi, near central Athens, over the weekend but were foiled when the bank's alarm went off, police said on Monday. The burglars made a hole some 50 centimeters wide after drilling through the wall from a next-door cafeteria which is still under construction. They managed to enter the branch of ATEbank on Veikou Street but could not disarm the alarm before it sounded so they abandoned their effort, officers said.