In Brief
Earthquake – Athens rattled by 4.5 Richter from Mount Parnes fault An earthquake registering 4.5 on the Richter scale rattled Athens at 9.55 p.m. yesterday. No damage or injuries were reported. The epicenter was on Mount Parnes, where the destructive quake of September 7, 1999 – which killed 143 people – originated. That earthquake registered 5.9 on the Richter scale. Polytechnic Annual commemorations for 1973 uprising start today Annual events commemorating those killed in an uprising at the Athens Polytechnic against the military junta on November 17, 1973 begin today. Strict security measures will be in force around the Polytechnic, where the gates will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. The annual march to the American Embassy will take place on Saturday at 3.30 p.m. Theodorakis Composer in hospital Composer Mikis Theodorakis was admitted to a private hospital in Athens yesterday for a scheduled prostate operation. Rape claim. The mother of a 14-year-old Albanian schoolgirl has pressed charges of sexual abuse against the headmaster of the Athens junior high school she attends. The girl alleges repeated abuse that started when she was 12 and resulted in a pregnancy and abortion. She told police the headmaster warned her that he would have her family deported if she revealed anything and that his wife and son had also threatened her if she went to the authorities. Church ‘university.’ The Church of Greece is to found a People’s University open to everyone, Bishop Anthimos of Alexandroupolis announced yesterday after a meeting of the Holy Synod, the Church’s ruling body. He said tuition would be free and take the form of seminars on Hellenism and Christianity. The first would be held for two or three months at the beginning of the year and the second for two months at the end of the year. Top brass. The Government Committee on Foreign Policy and Defense (KYSEA) will convene today to choose a successor for the head of the joint chiefs of staff, General Manoussos Parayioudakis, whose three-year term expires on February 2. Syntagma exhibition. Opposition New Democracy MP Miltiadis Evert yesterday tabled a question in Parliament to inquire whether the ruling socialists or former public works minister – and current party general secretary – Costas Laliotis are paying rent to the Athens metro operating company for the part of the Syntagma Square station used for an exhibition on the government public works program. Evert is a former ND leader. Court escape. An Albanian theft and burglary suspect escaped yesterday from the Athens central court complex after testifying before a magistrate. Keke Barne, 26, ran away after knocking over his sole police escort. The other had gone off to do some paperwork. Pupils’ insurance. Kavala’s municipal welfare center has launched a program to provide health insurance to 5,000 pupils in the town’s primary and secondary schools. The pupils will be covered during a daily period extending from an hour before leaving home for school until one hour after returning home. Iliescu visit. Romanian President Ion Iliescu will pay an official visit to Greece from November 21-23, it was announced yesterday. President Costis Stephanopoulos visited Bucharest in June 1999. President on Patmos. President Costis Stephanopoulos was given a warm welcome on the island of Patmos yesterday, where he unveiled a monument in memory of the five people killed when a helicopter crashed off Cape Sounion while on a mercy flight from the island in January. PASOK woos KKE. As part of his ongoing efforts to start a dialogue with left-wing parties, PASOK General Secretary Costas Laliotis yesterday saw Greek Communist Party (KKE) leader Aleka Papariga. Afterward, he said it was a good thing for parties to define what unites them and what separates them. This followed his meeting on Tuesday with Synaspismos Left Coalition leader Nikos Constandopoulos.
