NEWS

In Brief

AIRLINE PASSENGERS

Flights won’t be affected today after planned action is deemed illegal Flights in and out of Greece are expected to be conducted as scheduled today, following yesterday’s court decision deeming a planned 24-hour strike called by the Federation of Civil Aviation Authority Unions (OSYPA) as illegal. Unionists’ demands include the payment of outstanding bonuses from last year. OSYPA said late last night that it was calling off its strike but would continue to protest. TOURISM TIDY-UP Ministry aims to clear up dead and stray animals from streets The Tourism Ministry sent a circular to local authorities yesterday asking them to step up their efforts to round up stray and dead animals due to fears they could damage the country’s image during the peak tourist season. The ministry said that dead animals were also dangerous to public health. It called on officials to work with animal rights campaigners to round up strays and neuter them. VICIOUS MATRICIDE Man, 38, killed mother with ax A 38-year-old man turned himself in to police on the Aegean island of Samos late on Wednesday night after admitting that he had struck a deadly blow to the back of his mother’s head with an ax, officers said yesterday. Marios Chrisoulis told police he struck his 62-year-old mother after the two had argued. Hand grenade A 12-year-old boy was slightly injured by a hand grenade he found in a parking lot in Kalamos, north of Athens, late on Tuesday, police said yesterday. The boy took the hand grenade home, thinking it was fake, and was looking at it with his father when he pulled out the pin causing a small explosion. Advertising ruling Britain’s High Court decided yesterday to lift a ban on advertising vacations for Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus on London’s transit system. The ban had been imposed by Transport for London, the municipal body that oversees the network, due to concerns that showing northern Cyprus resorts might be offensive as the breakaway state is not internationally recognized. Judge George Newman said the ban violated the right to freedom of expression and was an abuse of power. (AP) Junk food More than 210 tons of food deemed unfit for human consumption has been seized along Greece’s borders this month, Deputy Agricultural Development and Food Minister Alexandros Kontos said yesterday. The foodstuffs, originating from several non-European Union countries, included various types of fish, pistachio nuts, walnuts, peppers, honey and calves’ heads. Deadly stray A 33-year-old motorcyclist was killed on Wednesday night on the highway between Ioannina and Kozani in northern Greece after hitting a stray dog, police said yesterday. The rider lost control of his bike after crashing into the animal and was thrown to the ground, suffering fatal injuries, according to officers. Meanwhile, a 26-year-old driver was killed near Kilkis, north of Thessaloniki, when he crashed into a truck yesterday morning. Crime of passion? A 24-year-old woman, who admitted to killing her ex-lover last week, paid 1,000 euros for the gun with which she shot him three times, police revealed yesterday. After the shooting, she took the 46-year-old businessman’s mobile phone so police could not find the SMS messages they had exchanged. She is to testify before an examining magistrate today. Seven out of every 10 crimes of passion are committed in the summer, police said yesterday. Mix-up Five passengers were slightly injured yesterday when a trolley traveling from Keratsini toward Piraeus collided with a cement-mixing truck. The accident happened near Piraeus. None of the trolley passengers needed hospital treatment. Goin’ nowhere A coast guard patrol boat helped pull the Saint Vincent-flagged catamaran Goin’ Goin’ Gone free after it ran aground off the coast of the southern Aegean island of Kos on Wednesday night, the Merchant Marine Ministry said yesterday. There were seven foreigners aboard but none was injured, officers said.

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