In Brief
EYP QUESTIONED
Panel of experts to examine decision to hold back information Parliament Speaker Anna Psarouda-Benaki decided yesterday that a panel of legal experts will examine the decision by the National Intelligence Agency (EYP) and Public Order Minister Vyron Polydoras not to supply MPs with the details of the secret service’s investigation into the phone-tapping scandal. Deputies on the ethics and transparency committee, which is also probing the affair, expressed to Psarouda-Benaki their unhappiness with EYP’s decision, which was made known to the MPs on Wednesday. ALEX SEARCH No clues found from search for boy on banks of river near Veria Police investigating the disappearance of 11-year-old Alex Meshivili in Veria, northern Greece, yesterday found no new clues while searching the banks of a river next to the town after reports that the boy’s body may have been dumped there. One of the five schoolboys alleged to have been involved in Alex’s disappearance is said to have told the child’s mother that the boy’s body had been dumped there but police consider this explanation unlikely. HEALTH CHECKUP Probe into hirings at Elpis hospital Health Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos yesterday ordered a sworn investigation into the hiring of personnel at the Elpis hospital on Alexandras Avenue in central Athens. His decision comes after a report by the Supreme Council for Personnel Selection (ASEP) found that there were some alleged discrepancies in the way applications from candidates were handled by the hospital’s three-member hirings panel. The director of the hospital, Giorgios Epitropakis, told Kathimerini that there had been no wrongdoing during the hiring process. Deadly fire Firefighters said that they uncovered a burned body in an apartment in Omonia, central Athens, which caught fire early yesterday. Twenty-four firefighters using eight trucks fought the blaze. Authorities said an investigation has been launched into the causes of the second-floor blaze and they were having difficulty identifying the burned body. Kolonaki robbery Two armed men held up a branch of National Bank in Kolonaki, central Athens, shortly before 11 a.m. yesterday, police said. The suspects then ran away with an unknown amount of cash. Truck found Police yesterday located a truck used by a gang of five men in the robbery of an arms store on Wednesday in Menidi, northwestern Athens. Many of the stolen items – 13 of the 17 containers – were left in the vehicle, which had been abandoned near the store. Police said the items taken in the heist included hunting guns and knives and a small number of cartridges. Briton drowns A 77-year-old British man drowned yesterday afternoon while swimming at Marathi beach near Hania in Crete, police said. An ambulance was called but paramedics could not revive the man. Authorities did not name the Briton but said he was the sixth person to drown while swimming in the area this summer. They warned tourists to avoid swimming after drinking alcohol or eating. Extra ferry The Merchant Marine Ministry said yesterday that it had decided to ask for an extra ferry to run on Saturday to meet «urgent needs» in the western Cycladic islands. The ferry will leave Piraeus at 5.15 p.m., traveling to Serifos, Sifnos and Milos before returning to Piraeus along the same route. Cannabis arrests Police arrested two men, both Albanian nationals, in the area of Filiata on the Greek-Albanian border yesterday after finding in their possession 5 kilos of cannabis. The men were stopped by police as they were walking in the area carrying a travel bag that contained the drug. The two suspects then led police to a third man who had arranged to pick up the bag. The third man, a Greek national, was also arrested.
