In Brief
TURKISH VIOLATIONS
Jets enter Greek air space 50 times as new data show breaches have tripled Turkish fighter jets violated Greek national air space 50 times and the Athens Flight Information Region (FIR) 20 times yesterday, but air force sources said this was not unexpected as military exercises were under way. Meanwhile, figures presented in Parliament yesterday showed Turkish violations of Greek air space up 296 percent since this time last year and intrusions of the Athens FIR up by 335 percent. New Democracy deputy Spilios Spiliotopoulos asked Defense Minister Yiannos Papantoniou how Greece would respond to the increase in provocations. RIO CROSSING Workers staging twice-daily strikes from today until Christmas Day There will be disruptions on the Rio-Antirio ferry route every morning and evening from today until Christmas Day, as ferry workers embark on two-hour work stoppages in protest at a lack of mooring space for the ferries on the route. The stoppages are scheduled for 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., respectively. CHRISTMAS MAIL Many post offices open this weekend Dozens of post offices across the country will be open this Saturday 7.30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. to cope with extra demand over Christmas, Hellenic Post said yesterday. The following branches and post boxes will be in operation: Aeolou Street, Syntagma, Patission Avenue, Ambelokipi, Kallithea, Glyfada, 21-22 Thessaloniki Street, PO box at Acropolis, Maroussi, central Thessaloniki, PO box at Thessaloniki’s sorting center and Kalamaria. Also open will be the central post offices in Piraeus, Larissa, Volos, Patras, Agrinio, Rhodes, Lesvos, Iraklion, Hania, Rethymnon, Kavala, Alexandroupolis, Kozani, Veria, Ioannina, Corfu, Lamia, Halkidiki, Tripolis and Kalamata. Missile discovery The Merchant Marine Ministry yesterday sought to quell fears that a missile discovered off the coast of Nea Makri last week may be linked to the November 17 terrorist group, saying it was most likely a smoke bomb or mortar shell. It was not a «Sykourio-type missile,» the ministry said, referring to the name of a military camp raided for arms by November 17 in 1989. Port authorities have been guarding the missile since its discovery by an amateur fisherman off the beach at Aghia Kyriaki. Family support Opposition New Democracy yesterday proposed draft legislation that would revise the definition of «large families» – who are eligible for state benefits – from those with four children to those with three, stating it was necessary to support large families following the declining birthrate over the last two decades. Adopted children and children from previous marriages should be taken into account when assessing whether families qualify for benefits, according to the proposal. 1931 suit An Athens court will hear tomorrow a 600,000-euro compensation suit, lodged by the relatives of a man murdered by his mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, nephew and maid more than 50 years ago, against the author of a recently published book on the affair. The book «Crime in Harokopou» is based on the murder of Dimitris Athanassopoulos who was killed, chopped up, burned and thrown into the Kifissos River in 1931. Later, the murder became the subject of a popular song. Dimitris Athanassopoulos’s daughter and granddaughter say the book caused them distress and is an offense to Athanassopoulos’s memory. Callas Museum Outgoing Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos yesterday evening inaugurated the Maria Callas Museum at the Technopolis municipal arts center on Pireos St. The museum’s collection includes correspondence, clothes and other personal belongings of the late Greek opera singer, as well as an exhibition of photographs. Anthrax The detection of the anthrax virus in cattle fodder in Delta, in the northern prefecture of Evros, and the infection of three animals, is no reason for alarm, veterinarians in northern Greece were quoted as saying yesterday. The three animals were killed, buried and the area disinfected, veterinarians said.
