In Brief
EXTORTION RACKET
Nine suspects allegedly preyed on southern Athens, Piraeus clubs Nine alleged members of nightclub protection rackets in Piraeus are due to appear before a prosecutor tomorrow after they were yesterday granted 48 hours to prepare their defense. The suspected extortionists, believed to have been operating in Piraeus, Glyfada and Neo Faliron over the past two years, were arrested on Tuesday night. Another eight people have been implicated in the racket. SNOWSTORMS Transport problems in north Heavy snowfall yesterday caused chaos across much of the road network of northern Greece, with particular problems in the prefectures of Thessaloniki, Fthiotida and Ioannina. Traffic police advised motorists using the Athens-Thessaloniki national road to use snow chains. The weight of the snow caused the roofs of some homes and farmhouses to collapse in Ioannina villages and only one flight left the town’s airport. Snowfall is also forecast for today, possibly in Athens too. Burns unit Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis yesterday inaugurated a new special burns unit at Athens’s Thriassio Hospital, the first such unit in the state health sector. The Latseio Burns Center – thus named due to funding from the Latsis Foundation – is to start operating within a month, Karamanlis said. The unit was established at the Thriassio as it is perfectly situated to treat casualties from the nearby national road, industrial sites, shipyard and Elefsina airport, he added. Cotton protests Agricultural Development Minister Evangelos Bassiakos is today due to meet cotton producers from Yiannitsa and Pella for talks on state subsidies. Farmers in Serres yesterday used their tractors to block the road toward Promachonas for about two hours from 11 a.m. Imathia farmers remained on standby at Alexandria on the Thessaloniki-Veria national road. Farmers affiliated with the Communist Party have temporarily suspended their action. Tsunami aid Athens commuters donated a total of 51,000 euros to tsunami victims, the firm operating the metro (Attiko Metro) said yesterday after emptying nine collection boxes it had set up at major stations. Attiko Metro said it would boost commuters’ donations with 10,000 euros. Air space violations Eleven formations of Turkish fighter jets yesterday violated Greek national air space 10 times in the central, northern and southern Aegean, military sources said. In all cases, the 28 Turkish jets were chased off by Greek fighter jets and in three cases the planes engaged in simulated dogfights, the sources said. Animals poisoned Poisoned bait set out by unidentified individuals caused the deaths of 10 sheepdogs and foxes in the hamlet of Kastraki, near Meteora, a Trikala-based animals rights group charged yesterday. Piraeus transport Transport Minister Michalis Liapis yesterday agreed with Piraeus authorities to improve the operation of the city’s bus lanes, to speed up the drafting of a plan to link the tram to central Piraeus from Neo Faliron and to hammer out a plan to develop the transport infrastructure across Piraeus. Mast protest The parents of children from two primary schools in Thessaloniki yesterday threatened to occupy the building in which the two schools are located unless nearby mobile telephone masts are removed. Electronic games Arcade game employees yesterday staged a rally outside the Macedonia and Thrace Ministry in Thessaloniki, calling for a law banning the use of electronic games in public to be scrapped. Workers say the law threatens their livelihoods.
