In Brief
MAY DAY
Flights, public transport to be disrupted as staff walk out Flights and public transport will be disrupted on Tuesday as staff stage strikes and work stoppages to participate in traditional May Day rallies. Olympic Airlines will be conducting just one flight per destination as civil aviation staff strike. Passengers due to travel with OA should call 210.966.6666 for details. The Kifissia-Piraeus urban electric railway (ISAP) will not operate at all, as staff stage a 24-hour strike. Buses and trolley buses will stop running from the dawn shift until 8 a.m. and from 10.30 p.m until the end of the night shift. The metro will suspend services between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. The airport bus service will run as normal. FAN DEATH Five main suspects in soccer brawl all deny any involvement in killing Authorities said yesterday the five main suspects allegedly involved in the murder of a sports fan in Paeania, northern Athens, last month completed their testimonies to police yesterday. The suspects have all denied taking part in the death of the 22-year-old fan during a clash of some 500 fans on the sidelines of a volleyball match. Authorities admitted that mistakes have been made in the preliminary probe of the deadly brawl but insist that this will not lead to any suspects being let off the hook due to legal technicalities. FIRE DANGER Northern Greece at high risk this year The fire risk in parts of northern Greece will be extra high this year due to a dry winter, authorities said yesterday. Halkidiki, which suffered extensive damage from forest fires last year, Pelion and the Seikh-Sou forest are among the areas that authorities fear will be higher at risk during the hotter months. «It looks like this season will be a difficult one,» said Thessaloniki Prefect Panayiotis Psomiadis. Missing cash Police and ATEbank technicians are investigating the conditions under which 50,000 euros have gone missing from an ATM in what could be one of Greece’s largest heists from a cash machine, police said yesterday. The money was first noticed missing on April 12, however, bank staff have spent the last few weeks checking to see whether a technical fault was behind the missing sum. The ATM machine has had technical problems in the past, according to bank sources. Police said that there was no evidence of forced entry into the machine. Few clues Two Greek Orthodox nuns found murdered this week inside a 400-year-old mountain nunnery in southern Greece were likely killed in a violent robbery, but a three-day investigation has found few clues, a local police officer said yesterday. «By all appearances, it was a common robbery that went awry,» a local police officer told AFP. The perpetrator or perpetrators made off with a small sum of money and icon offerings, but there is no evidence to confirm reports that a priceless 11th-century cross was also stolen, he added. Three days after the murders, no suspects have been named. (AFP) Internet access One in five Greek households have Internet access, as compared to four of 10 households in the European Union on average, according to the results of a Eurobarometer poll. The Dutch and the Danes are EU leaders in this area, with 80 percent and 77 percent of households, respectively, having Internet access. Greece ranks just above Bulgaria where 14 percent of households have access to the Internet. Karamanlis trip Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis is due to visit New Zealand, Australia and Vietnam next month, his office said yesterday. Karamanlis is scheduled to set off on May 18, visiting Wellington, via Singapore. He is then due to travel on to Australia on May 21, starting with Sydney, fly on to Vietnam on May 26 and return to Athens the following evening. Aircraft delivery Greece will next week take delivery of the first two Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets that it has ordered from France, defense officials said yesterday. The jets, two of 25 that have been ordered, are due to be delivered to the Tanagra military air base. The remaining aircraft are to be delivered over the next year.
