In Brief
The growth of illegal street trade across Greece is to be checked by draft legislation, tabled in Parliament yesterday, which foresees the issuance of licenses by prefectural authorities for a restricted number of traders. Priority status will be given to the disabled people and ethnic Greeks from Albania and the former Soviet Union, according to the bill which will also allocate state inspectors to monitor street market traders. The move follows threats in June by Athens shopowners to take the government to court unless action is taken to crack down on an estimated 30,000 street vendors in Attica. TEI ACTION Professors at technical colleges to hold strike on Thursday State technical college (TEI) professors are to stage a 24-hour strike on Thursday in protest at the way in which the academic standards of TEIs are assessed. Professors at technical colleges and universities earlier this week said they would begin strikes from the middle of this month in protest at the government’s failure to make good on promises to raise their salaries. SAMARANCH VISIT Ex-IOC chief launches book Former International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch met President Costis Stephanopoulos, Prime Minister Costas Simitis and opposition New Democracy leader Costas Karamanlis in Athens yesterday during a visit for the promotion of his book about his experiences as IOC president. Papadopoulos Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos is not prepared to see Rauf Denktash as the Turkish-Cypriot leader would exploit such a meeting, Papadopoulos told Cyprus Weekly in an interview published yesterday. «A meeting with (Denktash) would give him leverage to claim that negotiations have restarted on his terms, that is, disregarding the (UN Secretary-General Kofi) Annan plan… and discussing how to be good neighbors,» he said. Cyprus school Turkish-Cypriot authorities have agreed to allow the operation of a school in the Turkish-occupied village of Rizokarpaso, approving the employment of two teachers at the school, the United Nations told Cypriot authorities yesterday. The two teachers can have access to the school from Monday before the start of the academic year on Wednesday, authorities were told. Tree death A 39-year-old man was crushed to death on Thursday evening as he tried to cut down a tree outside his home in the village of Vourvoura in the eastern Peloponnese. Evangelos Koutouyias died when a branch of the tree fell on him. Road disruptions Road work at the junction of Spyrou Loui and Neratziotissis streets between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. today will mean traffic is restricted to one lane in both directions. From Monday, outbound traffic on the Athens-Corinth national road will be limited to two lanes between the Elefsina toll gates and Kakia Skala due to roadwork. Factory fire A team of 60 firemen with 20 fire engines were last night trying to extinguish a blaze which broke out at a paper factory in the industrial zone of Oinofyta, some 50 kilometers north of Athens. The blaze started in one of the factory’s storerooms where large quantities of oil were kept. Pirate TV Three television channels who have been illegally airing programs in Attica on frequencies reserved for use by the country’s armed forces and Civil Aviation Authority since the beginning of this year have had their operations suspended and equipment confiscated, the National Telecommunications and Post Commission (EETT) said yesterday. The 24-hour programs comprised «indecent content,» the EETT said. Vineyards The European Commission yesterday approved the release of 10 million euros for the reorganization of Greek vineyards. The changes are aimed at helping output meet market demand.
