Athens - Greece's government called off the latest tender process for Olympic Airlines after bids submitted by interested buyers were found to be too low, reports said Thursday.

"The bids that were submitted do not meet our demands," Development Minister Costis Hatzidakis said, adding, "We are addressing an open proposal to Greek business groups for the sale of Olympic through immediate negotiations."

Athens - A thick cloud of du

Athens  - A Greek police officer shot and seriously wounded a security guard outside the US ambassador's residence in Athens Wednesday, local media reports said.

They said the officer, who had 13 years' experience on patrol outside the ambassador's residence, had been standing over the body of the security guard when other forces arrived at the scene.

The security guard was in serious condition and in hospital after being shot in the neck twice.

Sofia - Bulgarian farmers blocked border crossings and roads in the north and south of the country Wednesday, demanding higher prices for agricultural products, local media reported.

At Russe, the only bridge across the Danube along Bulgaria's border with Romania, was also blocked. The barricades were being briefly lifted once in every two hours to allow some of the waiting trucks passage to Romania.

To the east, at Vidin, police removed a human chain formed by protestors to end the blockade of a ferry across Danube and a roadblock was lifted on a road leading to Romania at Oryachovo, between Russe and Vidin.

Athens/Nicosia - Rival leaders seeking a solution to reunify the divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus focused talks Wednesday on the complex legal issue of settlement and property disputes, where thousands of individuals stake a claim on property seized decades ago.

Emerging after nearly four hours of talks, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General Taye-Brook Zerihoun told reporters that Greek Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Tatat continued talks on property and are to meet again on February 12.

Despite the enthusiasm that greeted a new round of peace talks in September following a four-year stalemate, weekly talks between Christofias and Talat failed to produce a breakthrough in 2008.

Athens - Angry Greek farmers who have been blocking the northern border with Bulgaria demanding compensation for low prices were scheduled to decide later Wednesday on the future of their protest.

The farmers have closed off the main Promachonas border for the past two weeks and for the past two days have not allowed any trucks loaded with perishable goods to cross the border.

Trucks and vehicles headed for Bulgaria are re-routing to the Exohi border crossing at Drama, 30 kilometres away.