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04/02/2006

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TOP STORY
Probe into phone spying begins Vodafone denies suicide of its technician had anything to do with mobile telephone snooping An urgent judicial investigation began yesterday into finding out who tapped the cell phones of the Prime Minister and much of his Cabinet while the mobile telephony company at the center of the maelstrom said the suicide of one of its employees last year had nothing to do with the matter.

FRONT PAGE NEWS

The Cartoon Of The Day


Most Greek land becoming arid

An overwhelming 84 percent of Greece's land is at risk of desertification and another 8 percent is already arid but is being cultivated by farmers reluctant to lose their subsidies, according to scholars at a conference in Thessaloniki yesterday.

Crete to have new airport

A new international airport costing more than 1 billion euros will be built on Crete with the ability to serve 5,000 holidaymakers at a time and serve as a transport hub for air cargo in the eastern Mediterranean, the government said yesterday.

Climber killed on Olympus

A 25-year-old professional mountaineer, who had participated in numerous operations to rescue trapped climbers, was found dead yesterday at the bottom of a steep ravine on Mount Olympus, rescue workers said.

Russia steps in and asks for Zhilim’s body

The body of the Russian prisoner alleged to have shot and killed two guards during an escape was dug up yesterday, just days after being buried, following a request by the Russian consul in Thessaloniki.

IN BRIEF

EU says Greece can use proceeds of uncollected taxes as budget boost : The European Union gave preliminary approval to Greece yesterday to use the proceeds...

Two suspects will testify on Monday : The two men accused of attacking Christos Polyzogopoulos...

Three quakes : Three minor earthquakes shook Kastoria and Cephalonia early yesterday...

Bishop quits : Kallinikos, Bishop of Piraeus, yesterday informed the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece that he intended to retire...

Thessaloniki flag : Mayor of Thessaloniki Vassilis Papageorgopoulos unveiled the municipality's new flag yesterday...

Votanikos funds : The City of Athens will be granted some 127.6 million euros in EU funds...

Bad grain : Greek authorities yesterday sent back to Turkey a 2,700-ton consignment of Turkish grain...

Killer cop : A 57-year-old retired policeman yesterday shot dead his 45-year-old wife...

Road fatalities : Three youngsters were killed, two seriously injured...

Samos migrants : Police on Samos yesterday detained 13 Afghan immigrants who had arrived illegally on the island...


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Crime and punishment This was no ordinary political scandal. For sure, it was not the first time that phones of political officials had been tapped. In the past, however, it was either a case of the state spying on terrorism suspects and members of extremist political organizations or a para-state mechanism eavesdropping on political opponents.

COMMENTARY

Fighting tax evasion The recent, spectacular increase in state revenues is a sign of better days to come for Greece's troubled fiscal situation. Governments have traditionally failed to meet their budget targets because of widespread squandering of the public coffers for politically expedient reasons. Worse, in past years state revenues have declined because of an epidemic of tax dodging.

OPINION

Transparency falls victim to tapping Over the course of Thursday's press conference on the phone-tapping scandal, the responses of the three ministers to reporters' questions sounded increasingly less convincing; now and then a hint of irony could be detected, although that alone could not conceal the ministers' intense embarrassment and a prevailing sense of political defeat. But this is all quite easy to explain. After all, the official acknowledgement that unknown individuals tapped the mobile phones...

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