In Brief
CANCER TREATMENT
PM inaugurates oncology wing at Sotiria Hospital Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis yesterday inaugurated a new oncology unit of Athens University at the Sotiria Hospital, which was built following a donation by Kathimerini publisher Aristides Alafouzos. Karamanlis said the donation was especially important as it provided patients with state-of-the-art means to fight cancer, while also providing a comfortable environment for them and their families. Alafouzos said he was pleased that he had the opportunity to help with such an important issue. The 1,100-square meter unit has 30 beds and each bed can provide up to three therapy sessions per day. The unit has 2,000 patients and began operating in January. Also at the ceremony were Lena Alafouzou and Natassa Karamanlis. Archbishop Christodoulos conducted a blessing service. EURO 2004 National squad looking forward to meeting ‘best players in the world’ Greece’s German national soccer team coach Otto Rehhagel said yesterday his players were looking forward to Friday’s quarterfinal between Greece and France for the Euro 2004 championship. «You’d surely have to stump up a million dollars normally for the experience of taking on the best players in the world,» he said. It will be Greece’s first-ever match in the second round of a major international soccer tournament. Meanwhile, European football authorities have provided Greece’s soccer federation (EPO) with 6,000 tickets for the game, EPO said yesterday. Reservations can be made over the phone on 210.930.6083/4 in Greece, and 00351-218482655 in Portugal. CYPRUS President wants EU involvement Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos yesterday called on the EU to get involved in efforts to solve the Cyprus problem, in cooperation with the UN. Returning to Nicosia after a two-day working visit to Spain, Papadopoulos said he did not expect the EU council of heads of government to discuss the Cyprus issue soon but that discussion could be held on a bilateral level with individual countries until the time was ripe. The UN and EU have said they have no immediate plans to continue with efforts to reunify Cyprus. Radio noise Air-traffic controllers have called a four-hour work stoppage from noon to 4 p.m. next Tuesday. They are protesting at what they call dangerous interference from radio station antennae which endanger flight safety by causing problems in communications between pilots and the control tower. Last resort A Ukrainian sex slave escaped captivity by jumping from the third floor of an apartment block in Thessaloniki, police said yesterday. The 22-year-old woman was seriously injured but her life was not in danger, the source said. She was hospitalized on Saturday in the second such incident in a week. An 18-year-old woman from Lithuania is in a Thessaloniki hospital with severe spine injuries after jumping from the first floor of a hotel in the town of Veria, where traffickers had forced her into prostitution. (AFP) Biker attacked An apparently mentally disturbed man was arrested in Athens yesterday on suspicion of having thrown a large metal car part at a passing motorcyclist on the capital’s high-speed Syngrou Avenue. The motorcyclist, who managed to dodge the 800-gram chunk, gave chase and caught Georgios Papadimitriou, 46. Police are now seeking to establish whether the suspect was involved in a string of stone attacks on motorists in southern Athens last year.
