In Brief
WILDFIRES
Second corpse found on Parnitha, as 198 blazes reported in two days Rescue workers yesterday recovered a second victim of the fire which started at the foot of Mt Parnitha on Wednesday. The corpse, which was so severely burned that it was impossible to determine its gender, was discovered in a stream. A total of 198 fires occurred in different parts of the country over the past 48 hours, the fire service said yesterday. Most had been extinguished by late afternoon. Between 200 and 500 hectares of forest land are believed to have been destroyed. Three people were charged with arson yesterday for fires in Afidnes, Pyrgos and Halkida. Weather warning Civil protection agency says temperatures to hit 40C The General Secretariat for Civil Protection yesterday warned citizens to take the necessary measures to protect themselves from temperatures expected to reach 39C (102.2F) today and 40C (104F) tomorrow. Infants, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses are particularly at risk, the secretariat said. YIANNIS BOUTOS Veteran MP dies at 79 Former central banker Yiannis Boutos, who served many terms as an MP, died of a heart attack yesterday at the age of 79. After spending decades as a New Democracy MP and holding various ministerial posts, Boutos was re-elected on the PASOK ticket in 1990. He was governor of the Bank of Greece from 1993-1994. «(Boutos) was a politician with courage in his convictions who marked out his own, exceptional, course through public life,» Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said yesterday. OSCE appeal The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) yesterday called upon all its member states to observe the Olympic Truce during next month’s Games and stop any hostilities. The organization issued the appeal following a proposal submitted to its human rights committee by PASOK MP Yiannis Dimaras. Free fall Extreme sports enthusiast Felix Baumgartner plunged into a 60-meter parachute jump at the Corinth Canal yesterday. «I dedicate this jump to the European champions, to all Greeks,» the 34-year-old Austrian said, following his successful jump. In 1999, Baumgartner claimed the world record for a 451-meter parachute jump from Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpor, Malaysia, and for a 29-meter jump from the Christ Statue in Rio de Janeiro. Traffic disruptions Piraeus-bound traffic will be disrupted on the Athens-Lamia national road around one kilometer from the Renault junction tomorrow morning due to roadworks, the Public Works Ministry said. Work will be carried out between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m., the ministry said. Work in the same area will affect Lamia-bound traffic from midnight on Monday until 4 a.m. on Tuesday, the ministry added. Klestil funeral President Costis Stephanopoulos is to attend the funeral of Austrian President Thomas Klestil in Vienna today. Klestil died last Tuesday at the age of 71. Last month, Stephanopoulos and Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios joined Klestil in Vienna for celebrations marking 200 years since the foundation of the local Greek Orthodox Cathedral. Taxi muggers Two young men, believed to have robbed eight Athens taxi drivers at knifepoint over the past month faced a prosecutor yesterday. The men, aged 19 and 24, would hail taxis in the areas of Aegaleo, Aghia Varvara, Peristeri and Aghioi Anargyroi and ask to be taken to remote spots in Menidi where they would rob the drivers of money, mobile phones and jewelry, police said.
