In Brief
OLYMPIC SHOPPING
Stores to open until 9 p.m. weekdays, 6 p.m. Saturdays, to close Sundays Stores will extend their opening hours until 9 p.m. from Monday to Friday and until 6 p.m. on Saturday during the Olympics, organizers agreed with retailers yesterday. Stores will be closed on Sundays, according to the agreement which was followed by months of talks between organizers, retailers, workers and municipal authorities. All representatives agreed to cooperate with state officials in cracking down on illegal street vendors. DIKKI STRIFE Party founder calls for audit after new committee tries to access data The founder of the Democratic Social Movement (DIKKI), Dimitris Tsovolas, yesterday demanded an audit of the party’s finances after DIKKI’s temporary administrative committee allegedly tried to gain access to economic data after establishing themselves in the party’s central offices. Last week, a court upheld the committee’s injunction against Tsovolas’s decision to dissolve the party he had founded after it failed to enter Parliament for the second consecutive time. Tsovolas called the ruling «unprecedented, unconstitutional and illegal.» ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS 73 migrants, 7 smugglers caught Coast guard yesterday detained 73 illegal immigrants, along with their seven suspected smugglers, following a sea and land search around the Peloponnesian port of Gytheion. Officials found the migrants, who claimed to be Palestinians, on the shore before spotting the seven suspected smugglers in a sailboat off the coast. Meanwhile, a committee set up by the Justice Ministry to crack down on people-trafficking conducted its first session yesterday with the participation of officials from the Justice, Interior, Public Order, Foreign Affairs, Economy, Education and Health ministries. Lagonissi probe Prosecutor Dimitris Papangelopoulos yesterday ordered an investigation into construction activities under way at the Lagonissi Grand Resort luxury hotel in southern Attica following allegations of building violations and illegal occupation of nearby beaches. The probe will be based on claims aired on a television show and a complaint lodged by the head of the local Kalyvia village council. Cheese thieves Five unidentified people were yesterday charged with stealing more than 90,000 euros worth of feta cheese from a warehouse in Thessaloniki’s industrial district of Sindos and selling it on. Police believe that just one of the five was responsible for stealing more than 1,000 containers of feta and that the other four were probably involved in selling it. Some of the stolen cheese was found in Rhodes, police said. Stathea report A prosecutor investigating Attica building violations linked with the suicide last October of Rubini Stathea, the 53-year-old assistant director of the State Property Service for Eastern Attica, submitted his report to Parliament on behalf of the Supreme Court prosecutor. The report is understood to implicate former government officials. Stathea had been criticized over delays in scheduled demolitions of illegally built properties. Bus lanes A total of 25 surveillance cameras are to be installed around Athens and Piraeus over the next few days to record bus lane violations by motorists, traffic police said yesterday. Offenders will receive a photo of their violation along with their fine in the mail, police said. ‘No troops’ The government will not be sending any troops to Iraq, spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos said yesterday. Corinth Canal The Corinth Canal will remain closed to shipping traffic from 6 a.m. today until 6 a.m. tomorrow and from 6 a.m. on June 3 until 6 a.m. on June 4 due to a pilot strike. Bank robberies Three armed raids on banks which occurred with 25 minutes of each other early yesterday morning netted a total of 38,000 euros for the unidentified robbers. The first raid was carried out in Kypseli by a sole robber who fled with 22,000 euros. The second robbery in Nikaia netted 10,000 euros for two gunmen. And the third robbery was carried out by a sole robber in Galatsi.
