Athens - Thousands of farmers continued to block major highways and border crossings across Greece on Friday for the fifth straight day to protest falling commodity prices and to demand increased farm subsidies and pensions.

Tens of hundreds of tractors continued to block the Athens-Thessaloniki national highway at the Pembi intersection in central Greece as well as the Mikrothebes intersections in Larissa, Nikiea, Kastro, causing traffic chaos for thousands of motorists.

Athens  - Greek shipping magnate Pericles Panagopoulos was freed unharmed by his abductors after a weeklong kidnapping in which a ransom was apparently paid, according to media reports early Tuesday in Greece.

The amount of the ransom was not known.

Panagopoulos, 74, founder of Greek ferry operator Superfast Ferries, was abducted on January 12 by three men carrying Kalashikov assault rifles as he was being driven to work. The chauffeur was quickly released and reported the kidnapping to police.

Athens, Nicosia - The United Nations' senior envoy for Cyprus expressed cautious optimism on Friday that a settlement for the divided Mediterranean island can be reached, but cautioned that it still remained a difficult task.

"It is an incredibly difficult talk, nobody should underestimate how hard it is after so many years and such deep conflict," said Alexander Downer, special advisor to the UN Secretary-General. "But days like today just help to confirm the view that I am cautiously optimistic."

Athens - Greece's left-wing militant group Revolutionary Struggle claimed responsibility on Wednesday for the spate of recent attacks in Athens, including the shooting of a policeman, police said.

The left-wing group sent a statement to the weekly Pontiki newspaper saying it was behind the January 5 shooting, which left a 21-year-old police officer in serious condition in hospital, as well as an attack on a riot police bus.

The group also said it was responsible for the foiled bombing of petrol company Shell's headquarters in Athens.

The attack against police followed Greece's worst rioting in decades in December, which was triggered by the police killing of a teenager.

Athens  - An infant drowned Tuesday during a search and rescue effort by Greek coast guard officials who rushed to save 19 drowning immigrants attempting to cross into Greece from neighboring Turkey on an inflatable boat.

The immigrants, of unknown origin, were travelling on the inflatable raft when it ended up overturning due to high seas and strong winds off the coast of the eastern Aegean island of Symi.

Athens/Nicosia  - Rival leaders seeking a solution to reunify the divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus will soon embark upon the complex legal issue of settlement and property disputes, where thousands of individuals stake a claim on property seized decades ago, UN officials said Monday

Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Chistofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat discussed relations between a federal government and the constituent states during peace talks on Monday.