In Brief
Bad weather – Temperatures to drop, snow in some northern parts After a long, relatively hot period, the weather is expected to start deteriorating today with a substantial drop in temperature and rains in northern Greece – and snow in some parts – while strong winds are forecast for the Aegean. The weather should worsen tomorrow. Supermarket shooting Assistant manager killed by robber in Nea Ionia An Athens supermarket official was fatally wounded during an armed robbery in Nea Ionia, Athens, yesterday evening. Georgios Kazianis, 35, assistant manager of the Veropoulos branch at 20 El Alamein Street, was shot once in the chest around 8.30 p.m. while trying to stop a gunman who held up the cashiers. There were three customers in the supermarket but nobody else was hurt. The robber escaped with an unknown sum, while Kazianis died en route to the Aghia Olga hospital. Metro 24-hour strike today Athens Metro trains will not run today due to a 24-hour staff strike. The Kifissia-Piraeus electric railway will function as usual. Winter time. Europeans get an extra hour of sleep on Sunday morning, as daylight savings time ends. At 4 a.m. clocks should be turned back one hour to 3 a.m. Illegal immigrants. Coast guards arrested 112 Kurdish illegal immigrants from Iran and Iraq, who were hiding on board a drifting Turkish-flagged yacht, the Melida, off the island of Hydra yesterday. The immigrants, including three women and six children, are being held in Piraeus. They told port authorities they had paid the crew of the Melida between $1,500 and $2,000 each to take them to Italy. Another 25 illegal immigrants – and one Turkish human trafficker – were arrested in separate incidents off Kos early yesterday. Gypsy shot. A Gypsy youth was shot dead by policemen during a shootout in the Zefyri camp of western Athens yesterday evening. Initial reports said that a patrol car and a police motorcyclist had been chasing a car driven by a Gypsy who sought refuge in the camp. When the policemen arrived, other Gypsies mobbed them and shots were exchanged. The dead youth’s name was not immediately available. Classics. France will start promoting the teaching of Latin and Greek in schools, the country’s education minister, Jack Lang, announced yesterday during a seminar on the classics at the Sorbonne in Paris. He said this was intended to show that ancient cultures are present and future cultures too. Cooperation. Archbishop Christodoulos, who yesterday swore in the new Cabinet, told members of the Church of Greece’s ruling body, the Holy Synod, that despite the Church’s disagreement with the government on the content of state identity cards, it should pursue cooperation on other matters in order to benefit from EU funding projects, the Athens News Agency reported yesterday. More powder. An envelope containing an unidentified powder, addressed to the Greek consul-general in Gjirokaster, Albania, and posted from within the country, has been forwarded to Athens for examination, it was reported yesterday. It was the second such letter posted to a diplomatic office in Albania, after a letter containing what turned out to be a harmless powder was sent to the American Embassy in Tirana. Moreover, a package containing a mysterious dark powder was posted from the USA to the central post office in Limassol, Cyprus, addressed to an American resident of the city, the first suspicious package received at Cypriot post offices, the director of postal services told the Athens News Agency yesterday. He added that the parcel had not been opened on post office premises and that the police were conducting an investigation. Avramopoulos. Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos said yesterday he would not run for mayor for a third consecutive time after all, although his newly-formed party, the Movement of Free Citizens (KEP), would have a candidate. Earlier this week he had said he might seek re-election if Athens is made a metropolitan municipality. Before that he had ruled out running for mayor again.
