“You can shoot a person, like the building that they shot,” Samaras told reporters yesterday evening outside ND’s offices. “You cannot shoot democracy though. Let this be heard by those who need to hear it: Democracy will not be terrorised.”

According to the police, shots were fired early Monday at the headquarters of New Democracy party, with one of the bullets penetrating the office of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. Two men fired two guns at the building at around 2:30 am (0030 GMT), police said. No one was injured.

A window was pierced on the side of the building and a bullet was found in Samaras’ office, according to government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou.

“A symbolic bullet for the prime minister, this is unheard of,” Kedikoglou told state television NET. “We will not let them terrorise us,” he said. “The government will do what is required to protect democracy.”

According to protothema.gr, security cameras show two hooded men armed with Kalashnikovs getting off a car and after walking 50 meters, stopping and from a 70-meter distance shooting at the neon sign of the ND offices.

Meanwhile, the burnt car found in Paleo Faliro is being thoroughly examined. While the inside of the vehicle is completely destroyed by the fire, police are trying to locate fingerprints or DNA from the offenders.

He added: “Guided by the humanistic and scientific principles of Greek scientists in the course of centuries (from Pythagoras and Thales to the multitude of Greek scientists excelling in the most prestigious institutions worldwide today), the Greek government considers of major importance the Greek academic and research institutions. Education has always been very important for Greeks, our country having the highest percentage of 20-year olds enrolled in an institute providing tertiary education.

I would also like to note the great number of students and academics coming from Greece or being of Greek origin in institutes abroad, including many in the most prestigious universities worldwide; they represent a huge potential that can further assist Greece.

In this respect, we fully subscribe to the ideas to use part of the EU structural funds to promote innovative Greek programmes and to foster the cooperation of major European research and technology centres with Greek clusters of excellence; therefore, we intend to raise the issue at the appropriate EU institutions.

On a more general note, I am thankful for the idea of the “Support Greece” petition, particularly in these difficult times for Greece. The Greek people are undergoing a tough ordeal, faced with a lowering of their living standards and increasing unemployment, in the effort to achieve the targets set by the the fiscal adjustment programme currently under way. The reform agenda is being implemented and, with the assistance of our partners in the EU and beyond, we expect to overcome the crisis. Suggestions like the one presented by the Nobel laureates in the “Support Greece” petition are precisely of the quality needed to present a promising prospect for the future, particularly to the great number of Greek scientists and students who are facing growing unemployment…”

“President Assad issued a decree asking Riyad Hijab to form a new government,” SANA TV reported without giving any further details of what the government reshuffle would entail.

Wednesday’s appointment comes after a new parliament was voted in on May 7 in elections boycotted by opposition groups and Western countries as a farce.

Hijab replaces Adel Safar, who was appointed in April last year shortly after a popular uprising erupted in Deraa and later spread acroos the country resulting in a 15-month conflict that still hasn’t come to an end, Al Jazeera reports. A member of the ruling Baath Party, Hijab was minister in the previous cabinet.

The diplomatic maneuvering comes as the Syrian government has agreed to let the UN an other international organizations to send aid workers and supplies to four hard-hit provinces as Bashar al-Assad declares western diplomats personae non gratae.

The ambassadors of the US, Turkey, U.K, France, among others, were declared unwelcome in the country. Also Canada, Italy, Spain and various embassy staff members from Belgium, Bulgaria and Germany were also expelled.

Meanwhile, during a meeting in Beijing on Tuesday, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to increase their cooperation at the U.N. Security Council, where both countries have vetoed resolutions against the Assad regime. Russia later called for an international meeting on the Syrian crisis that would include Iran and Turkey, according to Reuters. 

Heavy clashes between the military and opposition forces in places such as Homs and Latakia were reported today, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rigths.

According to figures of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 13,500 people, mostly civilians, have lost their lives in the uprising.

“Let us stay focused on the targets,” he said. “We will soon have stability, improvement and recovery in the Greek economy. This will come in the second half of 2013.”

According to protothema.gr, Prime Minister has prepared assessment grades for ministers and ministries. In cooperation with the economic team, Papademos oversaw the progress of government work over the period of his administration and made a table, which shows serious conclusions about the effectiveness of certain ministers. The evaluation was based on the efficiency of ministers in relation to the set objectives.

According to the newspaper sources, there is a minister with only a 30% fulfillment of the program’s objectives. The highest rating reaches 80%. The evaluation table has three lines: green: the objectives that have been achieved; yellow: the objectives close to completion; red: the objectives facing substantial problems in terms of their completion. Papademos instructed that all outstanding obligations are to be met within the week.