In Brief
SUBURBAN RAILWAY
Transport minister to travel on route’s test run to Corinth today Transport Minister Michalis Liapis is to be a passenger today on the suburban railway’s first test run between the capital and Corinth. The minister is expected to announce when the service will start operating commercially and the cost of traveling on the new route. TAVERNA RAID Owner stripped of 10,000 euros Four armed men held up a taverna owner in Aghios Stefanos, northwest of Athens, early yesterday, and fled with 10,000 euros in cash, police said. The four men initially went to the restaurant owned by the victim and locked up two employees in the toilets. They then took a third employee hostage at gunpoint and ordered him to lead the gang to the owners’ house. Upon reaching the home, the owner was threatened and handed over 10,000 euros, police were told. Food scam Two firefighters were arrested on Saturday night after they tried to blackmail a restaurant owner in Magoula, west of Athens. Police said yesterday that one of the men was arrested just as he was accepting an envelope containing 1,000 euros he demanded in order not to report a recent case of food poisoning he experienced at the taverna. The second man was arrested as he was waiting in a car outside for his accomplice. Train accident A driver was seriously injured yesterday after the car he was driving ran into an electric-powered train in Thessaloniki yesterday. The car’s front-seat passenger was also hurt, police said. It was unclear what caused the accident. Car plunge An 18-year-old woman was killed early yesterday after the car she was traveling in plunged off a coastal road in Oropos and into the sea, the Merchant Marine Ministry said yesterday. Rescue workers recovered the 33-year-old driver, who was unharmed, the ministry said. It was unclear what provoked the incident. Drug haul Police on Rhodes arrested a 37-year-old man on Saturday after finding 4.7 kilos of cannabis and 170 grams of heroin in his possession. The man had been under observation for several days, police said. Competitiveness Development Minister Dimitris Sioufas yesterday embarked on the first session of a round of talks with businessmen and academics about how to boost the country’s competitiveness through improvements in research and technology. Driver arrested Police on Saturday arrested a 29-year-old driver in Pella, northern Greece, who was transporting four illegal immigrants. Police said yesterday that the driver is alleged to have pocketed 1,000 euros for picking up the four immigrants from the Greek-Albanian border after they illegally entered the country. Missing persons Greece will contribute 50,000 Cypriot pounds to a missing persons committee that will help determine the identity of soldiers that were killed during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the semi-official Athens News Agency reported yesterday. The committee will dig up the bodies of deceased soldiers to see whether they match the records of those announced missing.
