In Brief
VATICAN VISIT
Papoulias holds talks with Pope Benedict to round off Italy trip Pope Benedict XVI met privately with Greek President Karolos Papoulias at the Vatican on Saturday. The Vatican gave no details about their talks. The Greek president called on the pontiff during a visit to Italy, which included talks with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi and other top officials. Papoulias greeted the pope in German, the pontiff’s native language, before the two men sat down in the papal library in the Apostolic Palace for 15 minutes of talks. (AP) Socialist International Papandreou to be president Socialist International (SI), a worldwide organization of socialist parties, is due to elect PASOK leader George Papandreou as its president today at a council meeting in Athens. The two-day council will be hosted by Greek Socialists PASOK and will be attended by leaders and representatives from member parties from all over the world. Speedy verdict The Supreme Court has decided that the use of electronic speed guns by traffic police to catch speeding drivers is legal, according to a ruling made public yesterday. The court ruled that a ministerial decision was not needed to approve the use of different types of electronic equipment designed to monitor whether drivers are keeping to speed limits. As such, the court said, traffic police are free to use the speed guns. Bank attacked A homemade incendiary device, made of gas canisters, went off outside a branch of Eurobank in Pangrati, near central Athens, early yesterday morning, police said. The device exploded at 4.30 a.m. and damaged the exterior of the bank. Nobody was injured in the incident. Fatal crashes The driver of a car was killed and three passengers injured yesterday morning when the vehicle crashed into a metal barrier at the junction of Pireos and Hamosternas streets near central Athens, police said. The identity of the driver was not made public and it was not immediately clear what caused the accident, which occurred at 6.45 a.m. Meanwhile, a 38-year-old man was killed yesterday when his car crashed into a street light on the Serres-Thessaloniki national highway, police said.
