In Brief
OPAP QUESTIONS
ND MPs demand to know more about probe into repeat winners Thirteen New Democracy MPs yesterday submitted in Parliament a series of questions about alleged repeat winners and money laundering in OPAP betting and lottery games, demanding that Deputy Culture Minister Giorgos Orfanos, who holds the sports portfolio, provide more information about the investigation into the claims. Athens prosecutor Dimitris Papangelopoulos launched a preliminary investigation into the allegations on Thursday. IMMIGRATION COMMITTEE? Gov’t mulls Papandreou’s proposal The government is interested in a proposal to establish a cross-party committee dealing with affairs concerning immigrants, submitted in Parliament on Thursday by PASOK leader George Papandreou, spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos said yesterday. However, the framework within which such a committee would operate would need to be clarified, Roussopoulos said. Rough justice Justice Minister Anastassis Papaligouras came under attack in Parliament yesterday when PASOK MP Miltiades Papaioannou criticized him for «intervening» in efforts to purge the justice system after a string of corruption scandals and for not letting the judiciary do its job. Papaligouras denied the assertion and said the criticism would have been justified if he and the government had acted like «Pontius Pilate.» Remembrance Day A Cypriot war veteran sits in front of a memorial in Nicosia (photo) on Remembrance Day yesterday. Events were held in the Cypriot capital to honor those who died in the First and Second World Wars. Crash probe The driver of a truck that caused a fatal accident on a notoriously dangerous Maliakos Gulf stretch of the Athens-Thessaloniki highway on Thursday night was not drunk at the wheel, police said yesterday after an alcohol test on the trucker proved to be negative. Three people were killed in the accident and another was seriously injured after the truck veered out of its lane and into an oncoming car, which was then struck by another vehicle. Youth ‘rapists’ Three youths, two aged 16 and one aged 17, are to face a prosecutor on Monday for allegedly raping a 12-year-old girl after luring her from outside a school building in Loutsa, east of Athens. The three youths have allegedly admitted to the rape, scenes of which they allegedly recorded on their mobile phones, police said yesterday. Cyprus missing A group of experts from Britain is to begin excavating mass graves on both sides of divided Cyprus beginning next spring in a bid to identify islanders missing since the Turkish invasion of 1974, authorities said yesterday. The 15-member group has been involved in similar excavations before. Turkish violations Turkish military aircraft violated Greek air space in the southern Aegean 18 times yesterday, defense sources said. The jets, eight of which were armed, were all chased off by Greek planes, the sources said. The Turkish military is conducting exercises in the Aegean which are due to end on November 18. Armenian Embassy Armenian President Robert Kocharian yesterday inaugurated the premises of the new Armenian Embassy in Athens. The four-story building is located at 95 Constantinou Paleologou Street in Halandri, northern Athens.
