PASOK leadership candidate Evangelos Venizelos said yesterday that he will remain a “simple foot soldier” in the party if he does not win the November 11 ballot. Venizelos, who is lagging behind PASOK President George Papandreou in the opinion polls, also attacked the current leader during an interview with NET TV. “In any party in Europe, the natural process is for there to be a change of leadership. Here we have a sense of there being a life sentence,” said Venizelos. “Nobody should consider himself the owner [of a party].”

Coast guard officers were yesterday seeking a 67-year-old Swiss diver, who disappeared while exploring an underwater cave in the northeastern Peloponnese, and a 40-year-old German woman believed to have fallen off a cruise ship in the Aegean. In the case of the Swiss national, authorities were alerted early yesterday by his two Greek companions. A patrol boat and a team of professional divers were still searching late yesterday. Meanwhile, patrol boats and a rescue helicopter were scouring the area south of Nisyros for the 40-year-old German woman missing from an Italian-flagged cruise ship heading for Santorini.

One man was arrested and another is being sought on suspicion of picking the pockets of several people who attended a rally by PASOK leadership candidate Evangelos Venizelos at a sports center in Patissia, central Athens, on Monday night. A 29-year-old man was caught by police officers at the rally after stealing 1,450 euros in cash from a member of the crowd. When he was taken in for questioning, he allegedly admitted to working with another man to also steal 2,500 euros from another person at the rally. The 1,450 euros was returned but the suspect’s accomplice appears to have escaped with the remaining loot.

The operator of the Athens-Piraeus electric railway (ISAP) said yesterday that trains will not be running between Thiseion and Piraeus from 10 p.m. this Friday due to work on the network. A replacement bus service, which passengers can use with their existing ISAP ticket, will be running instead. The railway service will resume as normal on Saturday morning.

Drivers of waste pickup trucks decided yesterday to extend their strike action in protest at the government shutting down the Zoitsa Quarry, in eastern Attica’s Koropi region, the only site where they can dump waste from building sites. Drivers who lined up trucks along Mesogeion Avenue for a second consecutive day said they have called for a new meeting with the Environment Ministry in a bid to find a solution to the problem.

A Merchant Marine Ministry investigation into the port of Thessaloniki has found that authorities do not have access to a navigation system, officials said yesterday. The investigation was ordered after three recent sailing accidents took place in the northern city’s port area. One of the collisions resulted in the death of a Cypriot captain who drowned when his cargo ship crashed into another vessel. The investigation, ordered by Merchant Marine Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis, found that the three accidents were due to human error.

A 58-year-old man alleged to have killed a 39-year-old diver by throwing dynamite into the sea off Malesina in Fthiotida, where the latter had been shell fishing, was yesterday charged with manslaughter through negligence. The unnamed 58-year-old is to defend himself before an investigating magistrate tomorrow. A 37-year-old man who had been diving with the victim at the time told police he saw the 58-year-old when he came up for air after the blast. The suspect has denied any knowledge of the incident.