There were five big winners in the New Year's Eve State Lottery. The holder of ticket 21033 from the 12th series won -5 million, organizers said, while those holding tickets 21031, 21032, 21034 and 21035 from the same series won -1.25 million each. The State Lottery only takes place on New Year's Eve each year. A lottery ticket seller in Thessaloniki said that he sold the -5 million winning ticket at the beginning of November but does not know who bought it.

A group of some 50 hooded motorcyclists threw smoke bombs and fireworks at police officers outside Korydallos Prison shortly before midnight on New Year's Eve, police said yesterday. One of the assailants was arrested and nine others detained after police gave chase as the motorcycles headed along Iera Odos. The group of suspected anarchists also threw leaflets demanding the release of an inmate at the prison, officer said. The nine suspects who were detained were released later.

A 27-year-old man was stabbed to death at a New Year's Eve party in Patras, police said yesterday. According to officers, the victim, a Russian national, was one of five people who remained yesterday morning at a party held at the home of a 28-year-old Ukrainian man. The Russian man allegedly tried to enter a room where one of the female guests was sleeping. Other guests tried to stop him and the host pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim five time, police said. The unnamed suspect turned himself in to authorities soon afterward.

The Corinth Canal will be closed for several days because of safety concerns for ships which pass through it, the company which manages the canal said on Sunday. The firm said it was forced to stop ships from passing through the canal after debris from a landslide made the water too shallow for vessels to sail through. The canal will likely be closed for a week but the company said it will provide more information today.

Two people were injured at the Gastone restaurant in central Athens on Saturday when a propane cylinder exploded at the establishment. The blast happened at the cafe-restaurant on Korai Street when an employee was changing the cylinder at about 7 p.m. Both people injured were Gastone employees. There were some 40 customers in the establishment when the cylinder exploded but no one was injured. The two employees were taken to the hospital, where doctors said the injuries were not life-threatening. Authorities said that it was not immediately clear what caused the blast.

An Israeli passenger plane with 238 people on board made a successful unscheduled landing at Athens International Airport on Sunday after experiencing technical problems. The Isr Air Boeing 757 was traveling from Tel Aviv to Paris but had to land in Athens after a problem with its cabin air compression system.

It took firefighters more than three hours to put out a blaze that broke out yesterday at paper-recycling factory in Kolonos, near central Athens. The fire service said efforts to extinguish the blaze were hampered because the flames spread quickly to nearby warehouses that held tires and engine oil. There were no reports of injuries. The cause of the fire was not immediately known but firefighters said another blaze had recently broken out at the same factory.

Two men have been arrested on suspicion of carrying out 10 armed robberies at banks in Thessaloniki, police said. The two unnamed Albanian nationals are thought to have stolen more than -210,000 during the raids between March 2005 and July 2006. Police are also looking for a third man who they believe took part in one of the heists in July 2005. Officers said they used CCTV footage and fingerprints from the crime scenes to find the two suspects. Police said the men lived in a hut on the outskirts of Thessaloniki and sent most of the money they stole back to their families in Albania.