Today is the deadline for the submission of income tax declarations for 2004 by taxpayers whose tax registration number ends in 1. Those whose registration numbers end in 2 or 3 should submit their applications by May 6 and May 10 respectively. Other deadlines fall between May 12 and June 1, depending on the final digit of the taxpayer’s registration number. Declarations can be submitted at tax offices, post offices, state citizens’ information centers (KEPs) or online using the Taxisnet system. The E9 property declaration form can also be submitted online up until the end of November.

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis yesterday discussed a range of foreign policy issues, including Greek-Turkish relations, the Cyprus problem, ongoing negotiations about an official name for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and Karamanlis’s scheduled official visit to the USA later this month.

The construction of a Greek-Turkish natural gas pipeline — to transport gas from the Caspian region to Europe — is due to begin within the next few weeks, Development Minister Dimitris Sioufas said yesterday following talks with his regional counterparts and Europe’s Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) headquarters in Paris. Sioufas also agreed with his Italian counterpart Claudio Scajola to sign a protocol for the creation of a Greek-Italian natural gas pipeline.

Web of regional energy projects growing fast...

A moderate undersea quake, measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale, occurred off the Cretan port of Iraklio early yesterday morning but no injuries or damage were reported. The quake struck shortly after midnight, nearly 48 hours after a 4.4-level tremor shook the island’s southeastern region. Sunday’s quake caused minor damage in two villages in the municipality of Kofina.

An extra 8 million euros in credit has been approved for the revival of Lake Karla in Thessaly, according to a decision by Public Works Minister Giorgos Souflias, which was made public yesterday. The sum is in addition to the 2.9 million euros approved for the project by Souflias last August. The possible presence of archaeological sites is to be taken into account before the lake is reflooded, sources said.

A series of flower shows, hosted by the City of Athens and aimed at encouraging Athenians to brighten up their balconies with plants and flowers, begins today at central Kotzia Square. Members of the plant nurseries’ cooperative of Acharnes are to organize a special display and provide advice on creating gardens in urban environments. Similar displays are to be staged in central Syntagma Square next Tuesday.

Coast guard officials on Samos on Monday detained seven illegal immigrants who had reached the island from neighboring Turkey, the Merchant Marine Ministry said yesterday.

Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer has welcomed a proposal for four-way talks between Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria and Romania, Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov said yesterday during an official visit to Ankara. The talks would be aimed at solving common problems, Parvanov said, without elaborating.

Cyprus’s attorney general, Solon Nikitas, yesterday submitted his resignation to Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos following last week’s Supreme Court acquittal of a former health minister who had been found guilty of perverting the course of justice. Nikitas had been instrumental in ensuring the case against Dina Akkelidou went to court.

Two armed robbers netted around 60,000 euros yesterday after raiding a press distribution agency in Vamvakopoulo, in the Cretan prefecture of Hania.