NEWS

In Brief

DAYLIGHT SAVING

Clocks go forward one hour at 3 a.m. on Sunday as summer time begins Clocks will be set forward one hour – from 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. – on Sunday morning as daylight saving time begins, the Transport and Communications Ministry said yesterday. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS Authorities pick up 126 migrants aboard boat off southern Greece Coast guards yesterday detained 126 illegal immigrants on a fishing boat off the coast of Pylos, in the Peloponnese, the Merchant Marine Ministry said. The 30-meter Crystal was intercepted by authorities about 4 miles offshore. The illegal immigrants, mainly Egyptian, Palestinian, Indian and Iraqi nationals, were accompanied by four crew members, who were arrested. BIRD FLU Another swan found with fatal strain A wild swan found dead in Epanomi, near Thessaloniki, has tested positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu, the Agricultural Development Ministry said yesterday. This latest case brings the total number of H5N1 cases detected in wild birds in Greece to 33 – most of which have been found in northern parts of the country. Judicial police Public Order Minister Vyron Polydoras and Justice Minister Anastassis Papaligouras met yesterday to discuss the creation of a judicial police force. The idea of forming such a body has gathered steam after corruption scandals within the judiciary. The ministers said their departments would study the idea before coming up with specific proposals that will be made public. Volleyball finals Iraklis Thessaloniki has the opportunity to make history this weekend by becoming the first Greek volleyball team to win the European Champions’ League trophy. The Greek champions take on Lokomotiv Belgorod from Russia in Rome tonight. If they win, they will play on Sunday in the final against the winner of the other semifinal, which is between home side Sisley Treviso and Dinamo Moscow of Russia. Iraklis lost in the final of the tournament last year. Soaring prices The prices of many consumer goods have risen between 20 and 147 percent since January 2002, when Greece switched to the euro, through January this year, the Greek Consumer Center (ELKEKA) said yesterday. Wages and salaries, on the other hand, have increased only by 12 percent in the same period, ELKEKA added. Ill feeling Doctors from Athens and Piraeus yesterday accused authorities of trying to tarnish their image after a spot check by a prosecutor at Volos Hospital last week revealed that most doctors who were supposed to be on duty were actually at home. Stathis Tsoukalos, the head of the EINAP doctors’ union, said the prosecutor’s check was unacceptable as many hospitals do not have proper facilities where doctors can rest between shifts. Cemetery robbers Three people were charged yesterday with robbing a cemetery in Voula, southern Athens. The two men, aged 25 and 22, and a 24-year-old woman allegedly stole a cash register and four crates containing 93 bottles of cognac, which is usually drunk by mourners after funerals in Greece. Judges suspended The Supreme Court decided yesterday to temporarily suspend three judges due to their alleged links to trial-fixing. The court’s judicial council suspended first instance court presidents Nikolaos Potamianos and Georgia Lambropoulou, who are married to each other. Gerasimos Dionysatos, the former president of the administrative council of the Athens Court of First Instance, was also suspended. Body discovered The body of a woman, aged about 40, was found on Mt Hymettus yesterday near Glyfada. Police said the body had decomposed.

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