A group of 174 illegal immigrants, including their three suspected Turkish smugglers, were yesterday being detained on Milos after being rescued from a nearby desert islet on Monday night following a heavy storm. Municipal authorities requested the swift transfer to Athens of the 171 Egyptian migrants, who had been put up in rented accommodation, stressing that the island did not have the facilities to keep them there. The three Turks were arrested. The Merchant Marine Ministry handled the transfer to Milos of the 174 immigrants whose wooden boat ran aground on the islet of Ananes during a storm on Sunday night.

No harm came to any of the 135 passengers aboard a train en route to Dikaia in Evros from Athens when an axle connecting the wheels of one of the carriages broke early yesterday morning, the Hellenic Railway Organization (OSE) said. The passengers boarded another train to Xanthi, the nearest station, and were then transferred to Komotini by bus, OSE said. Services between Xanthi and Komotini resumed at 1 p.m. once repairs to the train were completed, it said.

A 28-year-old Albanian laborer, charged with the rape last November of an Athenian woman and her 12-year-old daughter in Galatsi as well as the attempted rape of another two women, was yesterday remanded in custody. In his testimony yesterday, Petrit Antemi denied most of the charges lodged against him, sources said, without elaborating. Antemi allegedly raped a mother and daughter last November and attacked two other women around that time. He is believed to have wielded a screwdriver in all attacks.

A 20-year-old conscript serving at a military base in Thebes was found dead in his bed at around 6 a.m. yesterday, army sources said. Alexandros Houremidis had returned to the town's artillery training center on Monday night after having been on leave. A coroner was yesterday due to determine the cause of Houremidis's death.

An engine malfunction at a Public Power Corporation (PPC) plant on Rhodes yesterday injured a 48-year-old technician and was expected to provoke problems to the island's electricity supply, sources said yesterday. Antonis Arvanitis was hospitalized with leg injuries after one of the engines at the Soroni plant burst open, reportedly due to excessive pressure. It was unclear how serious his injuries were. A similar malfunction occurred in another engine two hours later. The island's electricity supply was expected to suffer disruptions over the next few days.

Heavy snowfall caused traffic problems yesterday in central and western Macedonia, and motorists were obliged to use snow chains on the wheels of their cars in many parts of the regional road network. All schools in Kozani remained closed. Heavy snowfall across the prefecture of Thessaloniki also caused traffic problems.

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis is due to meet with his Croatian counterpart Ivo Sanader in Zagreb this afternoon, Karamanlis's office said yesterday. The PM is due in Belgrade tomorrow.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge yesterday appointed the executive director of the Athens 2004 Organizing Committee (ATHOC), Marton Simitsek, as a member of the coordinating committee for the Beijing Games in 2008.

Thessaloniki drug squad officers yesterday arrested a 40-year-old man after discovering more than 3 kilos of heroin hidden in the spare tire of his car.

Two armed robbers netted around 30,000 euros in a raid on a Thessaloniki bank yesterday, police said. The hooded duo fled on foot.