NEWS

In Brief

FYROM TALKS

Deputy FM due in New York tomorrow to discuss name dispute Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannis Valinakis is due in New York tomorrow for further talks with United Nations mediator Matthew Nimitz over Greece’s ongoing name dispute with the neighboring Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). Athens objects to FYROM’s use of the name «Macedonia» on the grounds that it implies territorial claims toward Greece, which has a northern province of that name. TSUNAMI VICTIMS Ministry names two dead Greeks The Foreign Ministry yesterday announced the names of two Greeks who died in the southern Asia Boxing Day tsunami. The bodies of Marianna Pakou and Emmanuella Schaeffer-Hadjidaki, both listed as permanent residents of Germany, have been recovered, the ministry said. Schaeffer-Hadjidaki’s two daughters and Anna Maja Espo-Hadzialexiou, a Finnish national married to a Greek citizen, are still missing, the ministry said. Teenage murder A 17-year-old Albanian, believed to have played a part in the murder of 18-year-old Vassilis Mamopoulos in the Athenian suburb of Hellenikon on Monday has been arrested, police said yesterday. Two other suspects, aged 17 and 21, are already being detained. The younger of the latter two allegedly shot Mamopoulos in the head following a long-running dispute over a 5,000-euro loan that the victim had failed to repay. The elder is believed to have driven the getaway car. The role of the third suspect was unclear yesterday. Anti-racism rally Members of immigrant protection groups and left-wing organizations are due to stage an anti-racism rally and concert in Omonia Square, central Athens, from 3 p.m. tomorrow. A march to Parliament will follow, which is likely to disrupt traffic in the city center. ‘Open stadiums.’ Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis joined hundreds of schoolchildren in watching Greek Olympic athletes perform at the main Olympic complex in the northern Athenian suburb of Maroussi yesterday. MÔre than 2,500 junior high school pupils participated in the event, organized by the Education and Culture ministries to familiarize youngsters with Olympic venues. Mobile crackdown A crackdown on the widespread use of mobile telephones by schoolchildren in class is vital to ensure lessons are not disrupted but also to protect the youngsters’ health, opposition PASOK MP Stelios Matzapetakis maintained yesterday in a question tabled in Parliament. Matzapetakis called upon Education Minister Marietta Giannakou to ensure that strict measures are implemented immediately to tackle the problem. Contract workers Dozens of contract workers staged a rally outside Parliament yesterday where MPs were debating proposed reforms to legislation affecting workers’ job security. Protesters are insisting that the state grant permanent jobs to all public sector employees on short-term contracts. Fuel smuggling Three individuals are being sought in connection with the suspected smuggling of millions of liters of contraband fuels by a bogus firm, the Economy Ministry’s financial crimes squad (SDOE) unit said yesterday. Investigations have unearthed dozens of invoices to unidentified firms accounting for the trade in around 3.5 million liters of fuel, SDOE said. Spata robbery Two armed robbers stole 15,000 euros from a Postal Savings Bank in Spata yesterday.

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