Staff at public hospitals around Greece will stage a three-hour work stoppage from noon tomorrow. They are demanding greater investment in the National Health System (ESY), more hirings of full-time staff and for their jobs to be classified as hazardous and unhealthy so they can accordingly be given bonuses. Unionists said this strike is a warning for employers and that more protests could follow.

Tens of people blocked the entrance to the offices of the Attica Regional Authority yesterday to protest against plans to build a new landfill site in the area of Mavro Vouno in Grammatiko, 40 kilometers north of Athens. The protesters’ blockade lasted for an hour, during which they accused the government of basing its decision to go ahead with the project on shoddy feasibility studies undertaken by private companies. The Council of State, Greece’s highest administrative court, has yet to approve the dump’s construction.

Vandals in Hania, Crete, destroyed 29 parking meters by injecting them with liquid polyurethane, local officials said yesterday. The plastic hardened and blocked the coin slots. Hania Mayor Kyriakos Virvidakis said this was just the latest incident of vandalism on town property. He said 19 of the parking meters were being repaired immediately and the other 10 would be fixed when spare parts arrived from Athens.

Port authorities in Patras arrested a 50-year-old driver yesterday after an inspection of his truck revealed five illegal immigrants hidden on board. The five immigrants, whose identities were not released, were detained while authorities confiscated the truck, which was about to leave the country.

A fire at a shoe factory in western Thessaloniki early yesterday caused about 200,000 euros in damages, authorities said, but there were no reports of injuries. It took 24 firefighters using seven trucks to put out the blaze that damaged machinery, stock and raw materials.

Panayiota Hadzopoulou, the head of the Northern Aegean Health Authority, yesterday ordered an investigation into how freelance journalist Angeliki Hadzidimitriou suffered a stroke after being involved in a scuffle with a security guard at an electricity plant on Chios. Hadzopoulou is examining the medical treatment the journalist received on the island before being flown to Athens, where she was still in critical condition yesterday.

The Consumers’ Protection Center (KEPKA) yesterday reminded consumers to take extra care when buying and cooking meat for Easter. With Greek Orthodox Easter Sunday 11 days away, KEPKA said that shoppers looking to buy a traditional Easter lamb or any other type of meat should ensure their butcher follows hygiene standards and that the meat is properly stamped. KEPKA also reminded consumers that lamb entrails, another traditional Easter delicacy, as well as the meat itself, should be properly refrigerated.

A car chase involving two stolen sports utility vehicles on the Greek-Albanian border near Ioannina ended yesterday when the drivers abandoned the vehicles and escaped on foot, authorities said. The incident started when the two drivers failed to stop at a traffic checkpoint. Police said the drivers intended to take the SUVs, which were stolen in Athens earlier this month, to Albania.

Piraeus prefectural authorities said yesterday that they confiscated 600 kilos of imported lambs which lacked the proper markings and may have been intended for sale as a Greek product. Additionally, prefectural authorities confiscated 100 tons of onions infected with fungi. The onions were imported from India.