In Brief
AIRPORT HOLDUP
OA flights canceled, delayed as air stewards refuse to work overtime Staff shortages led to long delays and cancellations of international and domestic flights for Olympic Airlines passengers at Athens International Airport yesterday. The problem began early in the day when air stewards and stewardesses refused to work overtime. As a result, six flights were canceled, including those to Munich, Rome and Thessaloniki. Flights to Kos and Madrid suffered long delays, while many other flights departed with delays of some 45 minutes. The airline said that it had already hired 100 seasonal stewards and stewardesses who would begin working on July 10, once their training is finished. BABINIOTIS BLAST Rector unhappy with academics Athens University Rector Georgios Babiniotis accused on Saturday some of his colleagues of being wrong to clash with the government over its proposed reforms to tertiary education. He said that by saying nothing should change, academics were «provoking» people’s reaction. «If university academics promote this position, it is as if we are accepting that everything at universities is rosy and there is no reason for the effort we are making,» said Babiniotis, one of Greece’s most respected academics. Police attacked A group of some 15 youths yesterday morning threw around 10 Molotov cocktails at a building housing riot police in Kaisariani, eastern Athens, officers said. Nobody was injured in the incident, which occurred at around 4 a.m. Police said the youths had emerged from the grounds of university halls of residence in Zografou. Riot police chased the attackers after they threw the firebombs but the youths ran back to the halls of residence, where officers are not allowed to enter without permission from university authorities. Drive-by shooting A group of people drove through the village of Tefeli in Crete early on Saturday in a stolen vehicle and fired repeatedly at a supermarket and cafe, police said. The attackers fired at least 40 shots with an automatic rifle at the two stores, causing serious damage but no injuries. After the shooting spree, the suspects set fire to the vehicle, police said. Cocaine catch A Brazilian couple was being held in police custody in Cyprus on Saturday after they were arrested at Larnaca international airport in possession of more than five kilos of cocaine, authorities said. A 50-year-old man and his 28-year-old female companion were intercepted and arrested by the Cyprus drugs squad on Friday after arriving at Larnaca from Zurich, police said. The couple was put under surveillance when authorities were tipped off that a large haul of cocaine was coming into the country. Police moved in when the Brazilian couple was met by two Cypriots outside the terminal building. (AFP) Media slammed Archbishop Christodoulos, the head of the Church of Greece, blasted the media on Saturday, labeling them the «pygmies of Athens» and claiming they always focused on bad news. During a visit to Elassona, central Greece, Christodoulos accused the media of not covering the good things that happen and only being interested in the profits they make from advertising.
