In Brief
FREE CULTURE
No charge for entry to country’s archeological sites, museums today Entry to archeological sites and museums will be free today to mark World Tourism Day, the Culture Ministry said yesterday. In its statement, the ministry said that people will also not have to pay to visit other historical sites or state exhibitions. EVIA MATRICIDE Man arrested for bludgeoning his mother to death as father looked on Police said yesterday that they had arrested a 48-year-old man for allegedly murdering his 71-year-old mother in front of his paraplegic father in their home in Avlida on the island of Evia. The unnamed man allegedly beat his mother on the head with a crystal vase on Saturday. But police were called to the house by concerned relatives on Monday. Officers said the man was found sitting next to his mother’s body. Relatives said the suspect had recently lost his job and divorced for a second time. PSOMIADIS DEFIANT Thessaloniki prefect denies ND favors Thessaloniki Prefect Panayiotis Psomiadis yesterday accused his opponents of conducting an «organized plan» to undermine him ahead of next month’s local elections after it was revealed that he sent a letter last year to New Democracy associations in Thessaloniki informing them the prefecture was looking to hire new employees. Psomiadis said that he was only informing the conservative groups about six jobs that nobody had shown an interest in applying for. «God is my judge, not you,» Psomiadis told journalists. Off the cuff The National Council for Radio and Television (ESR) said yesterday that it would soon hold disciplinary hearings for all the country’s main TV channels, apart from 902 and Makedonia TV, because they aired footage which showed suspects wearing handcuffs. ESR said that under a law passed in 2002, it is illegal to show images of people wearing handcuffs when they are in custody. ESR is unhappy that footage of the suspects in the Mevgal case and a man arrested in Kavala on child pornography charges were shown last week. The TV channels in question could face fines of 20,000 to 200,000 euros. Cyprus elections The first round of voting in elections to appoint a new Cypriot archbishop revealed the two main rivals to be virtually neck-and-neck following a tense campaign marred by allegations of vote rigging. Voting began on Sunday when Cypriots elected 1,400 special representatives who are to choose the 100 electors who will make the final decision between the four candidates running for the post of archbishop. After yesterday’s voting, Bishop Nikiforos of Kykkos secured 615 special representatives while his main rival Bishop Athanassios of Limassol got 641. The final result is not expected for another 20 days. Ill fortune A Cypriot fortune teller has been arrested for allegedly accepting more than 780,000 euros (1 million US dollars) to lift what she said was a deadly spell, police said yesterday. The 38-year-old suspect was arrested on Monday for allegedly telling another woman she would develop cancer due to a spell cast against her and her two children, police spokeswoman Chrystalla Demetriou said. The woman, a 35-year-old bank employee, reported the alleged fraud to police, saying she had given the suspect 496,000 Cyprus pounds (1 million US dollars or 860,000 euros) between May 2005 and July 2006 to have the spell lifted, police said. (AP) Samos migrants Coast guard officers yesterday morning picked up eight illegal immigrants, including a young girl and a baby, off the coast of Samos, the Merchant Marine Ministry said. The migrants had sailed from Turkey to the eastern Aegean island in a rubber dinghy, which they destroyed as soon as they approached the shore, officers said. Exit polls A government circular signed by Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos yesterday banned the publication from Saturday of poll results ahead of the October 15 local elections. Media companies will only be allowed to release details of exit polls after 7 p.m. on the day of the elections, the circular added.
