The coast guard and rescue workers were last night searching for the captain of a fishing boat thought to have fallen from his vessel into the Aegean near the Sporades island of Psathoura. Airplanes and patrol boats were called in to aid in the search. Three fishermen were rescued by a US warship on Saturday as their boat was sinking in international waters, south of Crete, after springing a leak, authorities said. The warship came across the Libyan and two Tunisians 60 nautical miles south of Crete and alerted Greek authorities. The men were transferred to a Greek patrol boat and taken to Crete, where they were given medical treatment. The men told authorities they had set sail from Derna in Libya.

Shops will be open from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. today. Supermarkets will open 8 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m. Butcher stores will be open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Shops will be closed tomorrow and Wednesday, January 2.

From forest fires to general elections and from ministerial resignations to sinking cruise ships, it has been an action-packed year of news. Cast your mind back with the help of some of Kathimerini English Edition’s most significant front pages of the year.

See some of the big headlines of 2007

An earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale shook the Ionian island of Zakynthos early on Saturday but there were no reports of injuries or damage, authorities said. The Athens Geodynamic Institute said the undersea quake took place at 8.42 a.m. and its epicenter was located south of the island. Experts said that earthquakes of this magnitude are common for the area.

Archbishop Christodoulos remains in a critical and stable condition and is likely to continue his treatment for liver cancer today, according to his doctor. Bishop Anthimos of Thessaloniki yesterday labeled Christodoulos a “phenomenon of heroism, endurance, patience and sweetness.” The traditional cutting of the New Year’s cake is due to take place at the Holy Synod today but Christodoulos will not be present.

A would-be robber failed in his or her attempt to prize open an ATM near the Technical University of Crete in Hania on Saturday night, police said. Someone tried to force the cash machine open with a crowbar but gave up, possibly after injuring themselves, according to officers. Drops of blood were found at the scene. There has been a spate of ATM robberies on the island this year but police said that they do not believe Saturday’s raid was linked to previous thefts of cash machines.

Police are searching for a 32-year-old foreign national who is believed to have stolen 10,000 euros from her employer while working as a housemaid in Thessaloniki. The unnamed woman is believed to have stolen an ATM card from her employer and then withdrawn the money between October 13 and 22, police added.

A 39-year-old woman has been arrested in Thessaloniki after police found in her posession small quantities of heroin. Following an inspection of the woman’s home, police also found in her posession weapons, including knives and clubs.

Police have tracked down a 30-year-old man in Thessaloniki who allegedly held up a retail store with a fake gun, police said yesterday. After threatening the store employee with the fake weapon, the suspect escaped the store on foot, police said. He was arrested a few hours after the incident took place in a nearby area following a search by police.

An armed robber held up a betting shop in the village of Maniakoi, near Kastoria in northern Greece, on Saturday night and made off with 2,400 euros in cash, police said yesterday. The gunman was wearing a motorcycle helmet and black clothing, witnesses said.

A 35-year-old woman was killed in a car crash on the Larissa-Trikala national road in central Greece on Saturday. Police said that Maria Kouvata drove into the back of the vehicle in front of her and then lost control of her car. Nobody else was injured in the accident.

Criminals bombed the car of the chief of police in Cyprus’s second-largest city of Limassol yesterday in suspected retaliation for his clampdown on illegal gambling, police said. No one was hurt in the blast at around 3 a.m. that destroyed Limassol Police Chief Tassos Economides’s car while it was parked outside his house, said Cyprus Deputy Police Chief Michalakis Papageorgiou. Initial forensic reports suggest a pipe bomb packed with explosives was detonated underneath the car. (AFP)