In Brief
STRAY SHELTER
Athens 2004 wavers on Erythres site for Olympic dog home The Athens 2004 Organizing Committee yesterday suggested that a new site might be found for an animal shelter – due to be built on a 10-hectare abandoned military base at Erythres, some 60 kilometers northwest of Athens – following complaints by local residents. «The organizations in charge of solving the problem will conduct the necessary negotiations with residents from the area in question and possibly with residents from other areas too,» Athens 2004 General Manager Thanassis Kanartzis said. On Tuesday, Athens 2004 said it would donate back the land, which it had been given by the Defense Ministry, to the Agriculture Ministry for the purposes of a dog home for about 1,000 strays that would be rounded up before the Olympics. OLYMPIAN AMBITION Greek Australians from Thessaly want peace statue on Mt Olympus Natives of Thessaly living in Australia yesterday made public a model for a 10-meter statue representing peace which they wish to erect on Mount Olympus ahead of the Olympic Games. The statue would be built on Seloma – a high plateau on Mount Olympus – and would hold the Olympic flame for the duration of the games, according to the initiative by the Pan-Australian Federation of Thessaly Associations. BANK ROBBERIES Four hits in Athens, Thessaloniki Two virtually simultaneous bank robberies in central Athens yesterday morning netted a total of 18,000 euros for the unidentified assailants. A sole robber made off with 10,000 euros after threatening staff at an Exarchia bank at gunpoint at 11.45 a.m. Two minutes later, a group of four men seized 8,000 euros from a bank in Psyrri. Two robberies also occurred in central Thessaloniki around the same time yesterday. Postal vote It was yesterday unclear whether Greeks living abroad will be able to vote by post in the next elections after Deputy Interior Minister Lambros Papademas said certain technical problems had to be solved to safeguard the uniqueness and secrecy of such votes. Traffic disruption Construction works tomorrow and Monday will cause disruption to Athens-bound traffic on the bridge at the intersection of Athinon Avenue and Constantinopoleos Street, and to south-bound traffic on the Aspropyrgos bridge on the national road to Corinth. Railway works Kifissia-bound trains on the Athens-Piraeus electric railway (ISAP) will not be stopping at Neo Iraklion station as of Monday when works start on the platform, ISAP said yesterday. Passengers coming from Piraeus should get off at the next station, Eirini. False alarm A serrated knife with a 15-centimeter blade, found under the passenger seat of an Olympic Airways aircraft at Athens International Airport on Wednesday, was probably forgotten there by workers who had come to re-upholster the aircraft seats earlier that day, police said yesterday. The knife, which was in a case of masking tape, was found by crew members ahead of a flight to London, police said. Municipal workers Unionists representing street cleaners and other municipal workers and Interior Ministry officials yesterday signed a special collective labor contract which workers have been demanding for months. The contract foresees a 32-hour working week for many municipal labor sectors. Street cleaners have been staging 48-hour strikes for more than a year, demanding the signing of a collective contract, along with higher bonuses and permanent positions for their colleagues. Meteorologists strike Staff of the National Meteorological Service (EMY) are to strike next Thursday to demand extra staff and upgraded technical support, EMY’s staff union said yesterday. The information provided by EMY would be far more accurate if modern radar equipment was to be made available, according to unionists, who are also demanding independence for the service that comes under the Defense Ministry.
