In Brief
Strike off – Garbage collectors giveministry more time A 48-hour nationwide strike by municipal garbage collectors that began early yesterday morning was called off shortly afterward when unionists met with Interior Undersecretary Loukas Papadimas and decided to give the ministry more time to examine their demands. Suicide Schoolgirl kills herself whenforced to stop sports A 13-year-old schoolgirl who committed suicide on Monday after a doctor told her a recent back injury would prevent her from continuing with sports, was buried in the western Peloponnesian town of Amaliada yesterday. Matina Marouli threw herself under a train and was killed instantly. Immigrants Up to 600,000 legalized Between 550,000 and 600,000 illegal immigrants have been granted temporary residence and work permits in Greece since the registration program began in 1998, government spokesman Christos Protopappas said yesterday. He said some 367,000 green cards have been temporarily approved during this summer’s last chance registration process. Zefyri calm. The district of Zefyri in western Athens was relatively calm yesterday following a night of rioting when a police officer, Giorgos Tylianakis, was freed on bail after shooting dead a 22-year-old gypsy, Marinos Christopoulos, who failed to stop for a routine traffic check last week. Cem’s visit. Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem is expected in Athens on November 7 and 8 for a working visit, in reciprocation for a visit by Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou to Ankara last April. Shopping hours. All stores are to close one hour earlier as of tomorrow, November 1. Opening times remain unchanged. Supermarkets and commercial stores will remain open until 8 p.m., instead of till 9 p.m. Winter shopping hours last until March 31, 2002. Highway killing. The body of a young woman aged about 20 was found yesterday afternoon in a parking lot near the village of Gefyra on the highway from Thessaloniki to Evzones. She had been shot in the stomach, and is believed to have died yesterday morning. Peace demo. The organization Globalize the Resistance – Genoa 2001 Initiative is planning peace rallies in Syntagma Square in Athens and Eleftherias Square in Thessaloniki on November 8. The organization will also be participating in similar events in Beirut and Qatar between November 6 and 8. Protest rally. About 300 workers at the Perama Shipyard staged a protest march through the port of Piraeus yesterday and rallied outside the Merchant Marine Ministry to protest at the deaths of five of their colleagues in an explosion on the tanker Sailor earlier this month. US help sought. Merchant Marine Minister Giorgos Anomeritis has written to US Ambassador in Athens Thomas Miller to seek his assistance in obtaining ocean-going vessels for Greece’s coast guard to become available when the US Coast Guard renews its fleet. Road dangers. The Thessaloniki prosecutor’s office has ordered an inquiry into accidents on the city’s ring road over the past four years, after press reports that a disproportionate number of accidents occurred on certain sections of the road due to poor construction techniques. Drug arrest. Another man was remanded for trial yesterday following the arrest on Monday of a police officer, 30-year-old Efstratios Alexopoulos, on the island of Lesvos for dealing in drugs and for supplying two army NCOs serving on the island. Theodoros Andreou is charged with supplying the officer with hashish. Robbery. Two armed men shot and robbed an insurance company representative outside his office in Galatsi, near central Athens, at 3.30 a.m. yesterday. The two men stole a bag containing about 10 million drachmas from Christos Davilas, 61, and shot him in the leg when he tried to resist.
