In Brief
LANDFILL WARNING
Ano Liosia staff threaten strike unless action taken to curb mounting trash The Ano Liosia landfill will only be able to operate for four more months, according to municipal workers who yesterday threatened strike action unless the government takes action to curb the mounting trash. The height of the dump exceeded the emergency level yesterday, provoking landslides. Unionists representing the workers highlighted the dangers and health risks posed by the site and accused the government of negligence in its failure to create a new landfill for the capital’s trash. CAR TORCHED Anarchists target Greek-US executive’s vehicle in protest at Bush’s Europe visit A car with US license plates was damaged in an arson attack yesterday in the coastal suburb of Voula by anarchists protesting a visit to Europe by President George Bush, The Associated Press reported. No one was hurt in the attack on the vehicle, which belonged to an unidentified Greek-American businessman, AP cited police as saying. A group calling itself «Revolutionary Action» claimed responsibility for the attack, in a telephone call to an Athens newspaper, the agency said. ARMY EXEMPTIONS Five senior officers disciplined Five senior army officers have received sentences of up to 50 days in military detention following the illegal exemption from military service of actor Christoforos Papakaliatis, Defense Ministry sources said yesterday. Similar violations in future would probably lead to the officers’ dismissal, the sources said. Cell-mates Two technical college (TEI) students are to face a disciplinary council after allegedly using their cell phones to obtain assistance in their examinations, the head of the TEI’s technology and dietology department said yesterday. The two girls allegedly used their mobiles, which they had linked to tiny earpieces and microphones, to communicate with an unidentified individual for help with their exam questions. Unemployment Unemployment stood at 10.1 percent in the third quarter of last year, a marginal drop from 10.2 percent the previous quarter, the National Statistics Service said yesterday. The highest rate of joblessness, 27.5 percent, was among 15- to 29-year-olds, the service said. Foreign degrees New legislation aimed at establishing the Organization for the Recognition of Academic Degrees and Information (OATAP) to replace the much-criticized DIKATSA committee was tabled in Parliament yesterday. The main aim of the new system is to speed up the process of recognizing foreign degrees. ELA trial A court hearing the trial of six people allegedly involved in bombing attacks by the Revolutionary Popular Struggle (ELA) yesterday rejected objections lodged by defense lawyers disputing the jurisdiction of the three-judge appeals court. The court rejected the lawyers’ claim that the crimes being tried were political in nature and should therefore be tried before a mixed jury. Cyprus tomb A fourth-century-BC tomb was found during work to extend a gas station near Limassol, archaeologists in Cyprus said yesterday. The tomb contained dozens of small chamber pots, one of which is representative of Greek ceramic art of the time, they said. Murder trial The trial of two brothers and a friend, charged in connection with the murder of three Albanian shepherds and a Greek man, opened in a Thessaloniki court yesterday. Ioannis and Stavros Baltas, 33 and 29, and Dimitris Savelidis, 32, are charged with the murder of two Albanians in December 1996. Ioannis Baltas is also charged with the murders of Dimitris Kirkinexis, 29, to whose sister he had been engaged, and his employee, 20 year-old Eduard Haka. Protesting sailors Merchant Marine Minister Manolis Kefaloyiannis yesterday described calls for improved social security benefits by the country’s sailors as justifiable and said he aims to reach a consensus with unionists by the end of the week. Passenger ferries across the country will remain moored on March 1 and 2 if the Panhellenic Seamen’s Federation goes ahead with its threatened 48-hour strike.
