In Brief
TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS
Fines can be paid at post offices Traffic fines are payable at all post offices as of today as part of a drive to reduce queues at tax offices. Drivers who have been issued with fines for speeding or other violations of the highway code should pay their fines within 10 days of issuance. Power cut Much of central Thessaloniki was left without electricity for up to five hours on Saturday due to a short circuit at a substation in the city center which started a fire. The power cut occurred shortly after 8.30 a.m. and electricity was restored gradually, with most districts back to normal by 3 p.m. The blaze caused an estimated 170,000 euros’ worth of damage to the Aghios Dimitrios substation, according to the fire brigade. Arafat support Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis on Saturday sent a telegram wishing ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat a speedy recovery. Relics to return Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov has told Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios that his country intended to return relics and manuscripts stolen from Greek monasteries in the early 20th century, reports from the Istanbul-based Patriarchate said yesterday. The relics in question were removed from monasteries in Drama, Soufli and Xanthi during the first two decades of the 20th century. Vatican meeting Pope John Paul II received Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos at the Vatican on Saturday. The pope told Papadopoulos that «dialogue and tolerance» were the key to resolving tensions and promoting unity on Cyprus. Papadopoulos, the first Cypriot president to visit the Vatican, had been in Rome for Friday’s signing of the European Constitution.
