In Brief
LANDFILL DISPUTE
Residents plan further protests, may block dump entrance today, Sunday A committee of residents and local authorities from western Attica municipalities yesterday met to discuss tactics following Tuesday’s clash between police and locals outside the Ano Liosia landfill, which led to 10 policemen being injured and 12 people being arrested. Residents, who object to government plans to build a new landfill in western Attica, are to stage a demonstration in central Ano Liosia at 7 p.m. today and may march to the dump. Another rally is scheduled for noon on Sunday when locals are to close off the road leading to the landfill. FEMALE UNEMPLOYMENT Gov’t slammed over reforms Members of Greece’s Women’s Union observed a debate on female unemployment in Parliament yesterday. The debate became an inter-party clash over the government’s reforms. Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis drew attention to initiatives aimed at boosting women’s role in the business sector. But Communist Party (KKE) leader Aleka Papariga said these projects will only benefit a small proportion of the country’s female population. Flight disruptions Airline passengers scheduled to travel tomorrow are to face disruptions due to a planned 24-hour strike by Olympic Airlines (OA) staff. The strike is expected to affect mostly domestic flights, but possibly international routes as well. Passengers should call OA on 210.966.6666 for details about possible changes to flights. Darfur aid Greece will contribute two C-130 military transport planes to airlift African Union troops and equipment to the Sudanese region of Darfur, Defense Minister Spilios Spiliotopoulos said yesterday. The contribution, being made under the auspices of NATO, is a response to a request for logistical support last month. Store blast A 21-year-old man was hospitalized in critical condition yesterday after a gas canister exploded in his hands in a basement workshop in central Patras, police said. Nikolaos Vitoratos had visited the workshop, belonging to a jewelry shop located above it, to change a gas canister, according to police. He sustained serious injuries on his arms and burns across much of his body, doctors said. Nobody else was injured. Zakynthos quake An undersea quake, measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale, occurred off the southwestern coast of Zakynthos in the Ionian Sea shortly after 2 a.m. yesterday. No injuries or damage were reported. Greek-Turkish ties Turkey’s army chief Yasar Buyukanit arrived in Athens yesterday for an official visit that has been organized as part of «trust-building measures» between Greece and Turkey. Buyukanit’s agenda included talks with his Greek counterpart Nikos Douvas and other senior defense officials. Molotov attacks Unidentified arsonists carried out separate attacks in Athens and Thessaloniki yesterday morning using Molotov cocktail bombs but no one was injured. An attack on a high school in the suburb of Aghia Paraskevi, northeastern Athens, caused minor damage to the school amphitheater. Meanwhile, a school bus parked in Thessaloniki’s Aghios Pavlos suburb was virtually destroyed after being struck by two Molotov cocktail bombs. Papandreou service PASOK leader George Papandreou was yesterday joined by most of the shadow cabinet at a memorial service marking nine years since the death of his father, PASOK founder Andreas Papandreou, at Athens’s First Cemetery.
