In Brief
ACROPOLIS MUSEUM
High court gives ministry six days to submit documents The Council of State, the highest administrative court, yesterday told the Culture Ministry to provide it with all the documents necessary within six days before the court decides on a petition by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and local residents who want work on the new Acropolis Museum to be stopped. The court rapporteur said he had asked for some documents regarding the case (such as architectural plans) but, by yesterday, «the administration has not replied.» Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos replied, «The evidence will be sent long before the six-day deadline.» Officials say the museum will be ready to host the Parthenon Marbles (which are in the British Museum) by the Athens 2004 Olympics. ATHENS 2004 Ticket sales exceed target for month ending June 12 More than 473,000 tickets for 2004 Olympic events were bought during the first round of sales, organizers said yesterday. The 473,222 tickets sold – 36 million euros ($40.7 million) – exceeded targets for the one-month period ending June 12. Organizers had aimed to sell at least 300,000 of the 3 million tickets available to the public. At events where demand exceeded capacity, a lottery was held to distribute tickets. The second round of sales will begin Sept. 15 when anyone who bought tickets in the first round can buy more. (AP) ALIMOS SHOOTING Man killed, woman injured A 38-year-old man was killed and his 28-year-old female companion seriously injured after being shot by two young men as they were leaving his apartment block in the coastal suburb of Alimos at 1 a.m. yesterday. Andreas Alafouzos died a few minutes after being shot twice in the stomach, while Maria Magdalene Veniou was hospitalized and in critical condition. Witnesses said the two men fled on a motorcycle. Police believe the attack had been carried out as a settling of accounts with Alafouzos. Iraq aid The government has donated a total of 5 million euros in humanitarian aid to the people of Iraq to date, Foreign Minister George Papandreou said yesterday during a ceremony in honor of the non-governmental organizations Doctors of the World, Hellenic Rescue Group and Heart Doctors who realized the ministry-backed initiative to deliver and administer aid. Greece is in 13th place in terms of the size of its aid package to Iraq, Papandreou said. Bakoyianni testifies Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyianni yesterday testified before a prosecutor regarding the possible negligence of her police guards in connection with her injuries in an attack by a gunman last December 13. She has said the officers were not to blame. Girl drowns A 5-year-old German girl drowned in the swimming pool of a hotel in the Cretan seaside resort of Hersonisos yesterday during the five minutes her mother went to the toilet. The mother said she had left the pool with her daughter but then returned to find the girl had moved from the spot where she had been told to wait, the Athens News Agency reported. Self defense? A Port Authority guard and a knife-wielding man who allegedly ran amok in a square in the Cretan resort town of Aghia Galini yesterday both faced a prosecutor after the guard shot the man in the hand with his service revolver. Yiannis Troulinos, 20, intentionally cut himself on the hand before running around attempting to attack passers-by with a knife, according to Manolis Galifaniakis who said he shot Troulinos in self-defense when the latter lunged at him. Galifaniakis said he had seen the outburst and tried to mediate. Journalist A newspaper journalist accused of thwarting the arrest of a November 17 suspect by printing depositions taken during the police probe last summer, yesterday asked to see the official bill of indictment detailing the charges she faces. To Vima’s Despina Brousali and Eleftherotypia’s Panayiotis Stathis were charged last week in connection with «harboring a criminal.» Brousali, who faced a magistrate yesterday, said she could not respond to the charges unless she was informed of the exact events she is alleged to have been implicated in. Stathis faces a magistrate tomorrow.
