In Brief
TRAFFIC DISRUPTIONS
Teachers’ protest, peace rally to cause problems in central Athens A teachers’ protest today and a peace marathon tomorrow are expected to cause traffic problems in Athens. The teachers’ rally is to begin at 11 a.m. outside the gates of Athens University and to be followed by a march to the Education and Interior ministries in the city center. Tomorrow’s peace marathon, in memory of the left-wing MP Grigoris Lambrakis, who was assassinated in May 1963, starts at Marathon at 8.30 a.m. and is due to finish at around 7.30 p.m. outside the Athens University gates. SUPERMARKET FINED Store ordered to pay 1.5 mln euros for using logo similar to consumer group A supermarket on Crete which used a similar logo to that of the Consumer Institute (INKA) on its storefront and office in Iraklion must pay 1.5 million euros for inflicting moral damage to consumers, according to a ruling by an Iraklion court yesterday. The fine is the largest to have been imposed following a collective suit by consumers against an enterprise, INKA said. SECURITY TALKS Minister meets with Condoleezza Rice Public Order Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis discussed security for the Olympic Games yesterday with US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice in Washington. «The USA has faith in the determination of Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis to host a safe and successful Olympic Games,» State Department spokesman Richard Boucher was quoted as saying later yesterday. Roadworks Athens-bound traffic on Mesogeion Avenue, between Delfon and Isminis streets in Aghia Paraskevi, will be disrupted from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. today due to roadworks. Work starting on Monday on the Athens-Lamia national highway, between the 62nd and 66th kilometer from the capital, will disrupt traffic traffic for 30 days. And work starting on Monday on Kifissias Avenue, between KAT and Alexandras Avenue, will disrupt traffic for 20 days, from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily. Soccer final A total of 2,500 police officers will be deployed as part of strict security measures to curb spectator violence at this evening’s soccer Cup Final between Olympiakos and Panathinaikos at the Athens Nea Smyrni Stadium. Officers will be monitoring a 3-kilometer radius around the stadium ahead of the 9 p.m. kickoff. Thousands of fans are expected to alight at the Kallithea electric railway station. Gas accident A 35-year-old truckdriver and a 61-year-old attendant at a Thessaloniki gas station were yesterday both in critical condition following an explosion while the 35-year-old’s truck was being refueled. Coffee break A man and woman, both 23, received hospital treatment on Thursday after being struck on the head by chunks of a crumbling balcony while drinking coffee at a Thessaloniki cafe. The couple had been sitting outside a cafe in the northern city when they were struck by chunks of plaster from the fourth floor balcony of the adjacent building – an uninhabited, listed property. Police chief The Public Order Ministry yesterday submitted draft legislation in Parliament extending Greek Police Chief Fotis Nasiakos’s term in office until October. Nasiakos’s term had been due to expire at the beginning of August but was extended due to the Olympic Games. ELA trial An Athens court trying five suspected members of the Revolutionary Popular Struggle (ELA) terrorist group yesterday rejected an appeal by defense lawyers for the presiding Judge Elissavet Brilli to be dismissed. Lawyers representing defendant Irini Athanassaki maintained that Brilli had been biased in favor of prosecution witnesses. Road rage An intercity bus driver in Iraklion, who lost his cool with schoolchildren misbehaving in his vehicle, changed course for the Cretan port’s airport and abandoned them there, the daily Ethnos reported yesterday. Giorgos Vlachakis, who has refused to get back behind the wheel, said the children had been repeatedly pressing the bell for him to stop, according to the daily. The bus firm’s director apologized to the parents who had to pick up their children from the airport, the report said.
