In Brief
FIERY FANS
Six volleyball supporters caught red-handed with Molotov cocktails Police arrested six volleyball fans late on Sunday night after a game between crosstown rivals Panathinaikos and Olympiakos because the young men were caught trying to retrieve Molotov cocktails they had hidden earlier. Officers said the men, aged 22 to 24, hid the firebombs outside the stadium in Glyfada, southern Athens, where Panathinaikos plays its home games. They were spotted by police who laid in wait until the game finished and the suspects returned to collect the missiles. Officers also seized other weapons, including a flare gun, a pocket knife and a billy club after raiding the homes of the six men. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS Two men caught hiding in coffin Two illegal immigrants who tried to sneak into Greece by hiding in a coffin were arrested yesterday along with the driver of the Germany-bound hearse, police said. Customs officials in Alexandroupolis, northeastern Greece, caught the migrants after sensing that the coffin did not contain a corpse. The driver, a Turkish national living in Germany, told police that he was only acting as a driver and knew nothing of the people-smuggling operation. Separately, the coast guard detained 25 illegal immigrants, including one child, on the eastern Aegean island of Samos yesterday. Authorities said that they arrested a 35-year-old man in a wooden boat in the coastal area of Praso that is believed to have transported the illegal immigrants to Greece. Price freeze There will be no fare increases on most modes of public transport this year, Transport Minister Michalis Liapis said yesterday. The only increase will be on KTEL intercity buses where the price of tickets will go up by 5 percent from March 1. He added that a decision would be taken next week on whether to meet the demands of taxi drivers who want to increase their prices. Unlicensed to drive Some 7,584 motorists were caught driving without a license in Thessaloniki last year, police said yesterday. For the 12-month period ending in December 2006, police said that fatal traffic accidents fell almost 6 percent compared to a year earlier. Taxi robber Police arrested a 38-year-old man, an Albanian national, in central Athens yesterday for apparently robbing taxi drivers at knifepoint. Police said the suspect, who likely worked with two other men, is thought to have robbed at least five taxi drivers since the end of October. Strip show The owner of a nightclub in Iraklion, Crete, was arrested after police found teenagers at the club during a strip show. Police said yesterday that four youths, aged between 14 to 16, were in the bar as the strippers were performing lap dances. Cheap fuel Greece has the cheapest unleaded fuel in Europe this month, according to country’s main motoring organization. The Greek Automobile and Tours Club (ELPA) found that the average price of unleaded fuel in Greece was 0.92 euros per liter. The price of fuel in Slovenia, which was the next cheapest country, was two cents more expensive. Research by ELPA also revealed that Greece had the second-lowest price in Europe for diesel.
