NEWS

In Brief

BOMB BLAST

Sunday explosion at ministry blamed on Popular Revolutionary Struggle Police believe that the Popular Revolutionary Struggle (LED) urban guerrilla group was behind the bombing of an Environment and Public Works Ministry building in central Athens on Sunday, sources told Kathimerini yesterday. Officers said that the attackers used more than 1 kilo of explosives in the device, which likely had a timer. The blast did not cause extensive damage or injuries as the explosives appear to have been of poor quality. LED is thought to have been behind three explosions outside construction firms in 2005. The group then went quiet for a couple of years before allegedly causing a bomb blast outside a tax office in the Athens suburb of Argyroupolis in January 2007. QUAKE FEARS Seismologists urge public to ignore rumors that big tremor is on way The Organization of Antiseismic Planning and Protection yesterday called on citizens to ignore rumors of an imminent powerful earthquake, fueled by a recent series of strong tremors in different parts of the country. «No research indicating an imminent strong tremor has come to our attention,» the organization’s president, Constantinos Makropoulos, told Skai Radio. BLOGGER CHARGED Reporter named in dozens of suits Journalist Andreas Kapsampelis, in charge of press-gr news blog, has been charged with blackmail and slander after members of the electronic crime squad raided his office last week. According to authorities, there have been more than 100 lawsuits filed against the blog spot in the last 16 months. Kapsampelis denied all the charges and said in a statement that «I am a blogger not a criminal.» Police said they are searching for four more people in connection with the case. Officer stabbed An off-duty police officer was stabbed in the stomach on Saturday night in a fight that broke out in a Rethymnon bar on the island of Crete, it was revealed yesterday. The police officer, who suffered minor injuries, is believed to have been stabbed by a 23-year-old man whom police are searching for. Police did not disclose any information regarding the cause of the fight. Apartment blaze A fire that broke out in a third-floor apartment in Thessaloniki early yesterday trapped several tenants until the fire service arrived and extinguished it. There were no reports of any injuries in the blaze which was doused by a team of 20 firemen with nine fire engines. Bank robbery An armed man held up a branch of Piraeus Bank in Thessaloniki and made off with an unknown amount of money, authorities said. The holdup took place at around midday and the assailant escaped from the scene on foot. There were no reports of injuries. Unwanted fruit Protests by schoolchildren in Thessaloniki, including abstention from classes, have forced the municipality to relocate an open-air fruit and vegetable market. The children from the city’s first, second and third primary schools as well as their parents had persistently complained about the location of the market as it prevented school buses from reaching the school. Cannabis hauls Police detained an Albanian and a Greek near the border with Albania yesterday after confiscating about 115 kilos of cannabis in two separate raids. In the first raid an Albanian national, spotted acting suspiciously outside the town of Konitsa, was arrested after three rucksacks containing 60 kilos of cannabis were discovered nearby. A Greek national was arrested later in Thesprotia after refusing to stop at a police block. A car chase ensued which culminated in the motorist crashing into a police patrol car. A search on the vehicle revealed 53 kilos of cannabis. Road fatality A motorist was killed on Sunday evening after colliding head on with another car near Tripolis, central Greece. The driver of the second car suffered minor injuries and was transferred to hospital. It was unclear what caused the accident.

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