Some 2,000 police officers will be on duty in Thessaloniki on Saturday for the start of the city’s international fair and Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis’s speech, it was revealed yesterday. Officers from Athens and other parts of northern Greece have been drafted in to help with the policing effort, which will require every officer in Thessaloniki to be on duty, according to plans drawn up by police chiefs. The prime minister’s speech traditionally attracts protest rallies from unionists and anarchists, which often turn violent.

Coast guard officers said that they had to rescue more than 60 illegal immigrants yesterday who had been left stranded on rocky outcrops near Lesvos in what appears to be a new tactic adopted by Turkish people- smugglers. Officers said that they helped 36 people off one islet and 31 off another in an operation that was conducted with the help of an Italian coast guard vessel. Officers said the migrants had been dumped without any food or water, probably by smugglers who feared being caught if they went any nearer to Lesvos to unload the immigrants.

A committee that has been examining whether any occupations should be removed from an official list that classifies them as hazardous and unhealthy, recommended to the Employment Ministry that 61 types of work should be removed. Among the occupations the committee said should not be included are hairdressers, waiters and people who work in the pharmaceutical or wine industries. Jobs which are classified as hazardous and unhealthy usually have generous social security benefits.

Education Minister Evripidis Stylianidis said yesterday that everything is in place for the school year to start as planned on Thursday, September 11. “It is the first time that the school year will start without problems. The books are there waiting for the schoolchildren and not the other way around. Any operational gaps that we could foresee have been filled,” he said. Some 17,000 schools around the country will begin classes next week.

A problem with the high speed Flying Cat 3, which was sailing from Piraeus to Sifnos, Folegandros and Amorgos on Monday night led to 110 passengers arriving at their destinations only yesterday. The vessel was forced to dock in Milos after encountering a problem. The passengers heading for Amorgos were put on a ferry going to Piraeus, where they caught another vessel to Naxos so they could take a third craft to their final destination. Those heading for Folegandros had to take a ferry to Sifnos before taking another vessel to Folegandros yesterday.

A fire that broke out yesterday at the Allou Fun family entertainment park in Rendi was put out quickly before any major damage was caused. The fire started while soldering work was being carried out.