In Brief
POLICE AND GUNS
Minister stresses need to revise ‘outdated’ laws on use of arms Public Order Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis yesterday stressed the necessity of revising existing legislation governing the use of guns by police officers, noting that much has changed since the law was passed 60 years ago. A higher crime rate and the threat of terrorism are among the new risks that need to be taken into account, Chrysochoidis said during a discussion of draft legislation for new gun laws in Parliament. The bill clearly determines the circumstances in which policemen can use their guns and stipulates exhaustive training for all officers, he said. IRAQI AID Children brought to Greece for treatment in hospitals A C-130 transport aircraft yesterday picked up 12 Iraqi children from Kuwait and flew them back to Greece for treatment at the country’s hospitals. The children, who were taken to Kuwait from Baghdad, had either been wounded in military offensives or are suffering from diseases. They were accompanied by 12 members of the Greek section of the Doctors of the World organization with which the Greek government cooperated for the mission. A 250-ton shipment of aid for Iraqis – donated by Greek citizens – is to leave Piraeus today for the Jordanian port of Aqaba. NIGHTCLUBS ‘No more entry tickets’ Most nightclubs, bars and restaurants will no longer be obliged to issue tickets for entry to their premises, following a decision made public yesterday by Deputy Economy Minister Apostolos Fotiadis. The decision does not apply to establishments offering live music with a band comprising three instruments or more, which will still have to issue tickets. Piraeus helipad The establishment of a helipad at the cruise ship dock in the port of Piraeus is necessary so that helicopters can connect Piraeus with the airport and provide a useful service to local shipping firms, Merchant Marine Minister Giorgos Anomeritis and the President of Piraeus Port Authority Sotiris Theofanis agreed yesterday. The port authority has already applied for clearance for the project from the Civil Aviation Authority, the ministry said yesterday. Anomeritis said the initiative was part of ongoing efforts to upgrade services to port customers and the image of Piraeus. Denktash on USA Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash yesterday told a television channel in the island’s occupied north that the United States had been unable to solve the Cyprus problem and should not insist on the resumption of negotiations. «No one can order us to sit down at the negotiations table,» Denktash said after meeting US Democrat Congressman Robert Wexler and US Ambassador Michael Klosson for talks on the island’s Turkish-occupied north. He added that the Cyprus issue would not damage US-Turkish relations. Technology aid A total of 30 million euros in state aid is to be put toward a program to equip disabled citizens with state-of-the-art telecommunications products and services, Transport and Communications Minister Christos Verelis said yesterday. Under the program, citizens with special needs will be supplied with video telephones, subtitling services, special keyboards, signaling and voice dialing systems and text telephony. Deadly spare A spare tire which fell off the back off a truck on the Athens-Thessaloniki highway yesterday caused a fatal crash when the driver of the car behind the truck lost control of his vehicle. Michail Hadzimichail, 49, was killed instantly when his car overturned. His wife escaped with minor injuries. The truckdriver, from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, was arrested. Extortion arrest Police have arrested two Indians and two Pakistanis and are seeking a fifth foreigner for the alleged kidnapping and extortion of a 27-year-old Pakistani man, the Athens News Agency reported yesterday. The suspects are said to have abducted their victim from Thebes last week, taken him to an Athens apartment and demanded 7,000 euros to set him free, the ANA said. The cash was to have been brought to Greece by the victim’s brother. Police were alerted by the 27-year-old after he jumped out of the window of the first-floor flat and came to find them.
