Athens prosecutor Dimitrios Papangelopoulos, who is handling an investigation into alleged irregularities in defense procurements during the previous government's term, yesterday asked the Defense Ministry's procurement department head Giorgos Zorbas for more information about what he called «serious criminal matters.» Papangelopoulos received data regarding tens of millions of dollars' worth of procurements of mobile radars, anti-aircraft missiles and military vehicles. Meanwhile, the ministry said it would convene a committee of experts to reform the legislative framework governing defense procurements. The committee will issue a report within two months, the ministry said.

Merchant Marine Minister Manolis Kefaloyiannis yesterday called for the immediate release of the Greek captain of the Prestige tanker, which caused a massive oil spill when it sank off the Spanish coast in November 2002, after Spanish authorities apparently relaxed restrictions on him. Apostolos Mangouras, who has been banned from leaving Spain, is now obliged to visit Spanish police only once a week and not every day as was previously the case, Spain's Ambassador in Athens Eduardo Junco Bonet told Parliament Speaker Anna Psarouda-Benaki yesterday.

A Piraeus court yesterday deemed illegal a work stoppage due to suspend services on the Piraeus-Kifissia (ISAP) urban electric railway between noon and 5 p.m. today, ISAP management said. There was no reaction to the announcement by ISAP workers, who are demanding the signing of a collective work contract.

A 44-year-old patient of a psychiatric clinic in Thessaloniki's Panorama district was burnt to death in a fire that broke out yesterday in the room in which he was being treated. Fire service workers discovered the charred corpse of Dimitris Fountoukidis, who had been strapped to his bed, and extinguished the blaze before it could spread to other rooms on the first floor.

A restored 1930s Dornier 24 ATT seaplane lands at Athens Airport on Tuesday. The plane is being flown on a round-the-world trip by Iren Dornier, grandson of German aircraft pioneer Claudius Dornier.

Entry to state museums all over the country - apart from those closed for refurbishment ahead of the Olympics, such as the National Archaeological Museum in Athens - will have free entrance this Sunday as part of the European «Springtime for Museums» initiative, the Culture Ministry said yesterday. Some non-state museums, such as the Benaki Museum in Athens will also have free entrance.

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld an earlier court ruling sentencing a Thessaloniki department store cashier to 20 months in jail based on closed-circuit television footage of her pilfering the cash register. A total of 28 photographs selected from the footage - which show the employee stealing around 30 euros each day between 1996 and 1997, are acceptable as evidence, the court ruled. The woman, who reportedly netted over 14,500 euros in two years, had argued that the photographs violated her individual rights.