In Brief
POLICE ATTACKED
Youths attack patrol car with iron bars in Aegaleo, steal transmitter A group of unknown youths attacked a police patrol car in Aegaleo, western Athens, yesterday and stole a wireless radio transmitter from the vehicle, authorities said. The men smashed the vehicle with metal bars and other weapons before dispersing into the nearby university. The patrol car had been parked on a major street as officers attended a nearby accident scene. PROSECUTOR CALLED ON Chamber of Commerce, lawyers support mayor on hunger strike The Technical Chamber of Commerce (TEE) and the Athens Bar Association called on Supreme Court prosecutor Giorgos Sanidas to investigate illegally built businesses operating on Athens beaches. The mayor of Athens’s seafront suburb of Hellenikon, Christos Kortzidis, entered the seventh day of his hunger strike yesterday in protest at the illegal operation of nightclubs and other businesses along the beach. The businesses have taken over beaches and sealed off areas that residents should have free access to. The prosecutor has been called to help apply the law and shut down the businesses. The mayor’s hunger strike has drawn attention to a problem that exists on many of the country’s beaches where night-club owners take advantage of legal loopholes and corrupt officials to set up their business. BALCONY FALL Girl, 7, in serious condition A 7-year-old girl was in a serious condition yesterday after falling from a third-floor balcony in the northern town of Kozani. The girl, who was transferred to the Ippokrateio Hospital in Thessaloniki after tests at a local hospital, was in stable but serious condition, doctors said, adding that the next 48 hours would be critical. It was unclear how the girl fell off the balcony. Burnt flag A prosecutor in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki has pressed charges against unidentified persons who burned a Turkish flag during a Greek-Armenian demonstration at the city’s Turkish Consulate last month, a local legal source said yesterday. The charge of insulting the symbol of a foreign state will enable the perpetrators to be brought to justice should they be identified via photographs and video shot during the demonstration. The incident occurred during an April 24 demonstration to mark the 92nd anniversary of massacres allegedly committed against Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I. (AFP) Offices damaged A homemade explosive device went off in front of the offices belonging to New Democracy in Geraka, northern Athens, causing minor damage, police said yesterday. The explosion occured at about 5.30 a.m. but no one was hurt in the incident. Body found The coast guard found the body of a 42-year-old woman floating off the Plakes area near Volos, northern Greece, yesterday, authorities said. The body was taken to a local hospital for an autopsy. Hidden antennas Residents from northern Athens have gotten together to form a group aimed at protecting people’s rights against the growing number of mobile phone antennas appearing in neighborhoods. According to state television ERT, the group will be based in Nea Ionia, northern Athens, and will keep an eye out for antennas, often hidden on building rooftops. «We want to assure people that we are in favor of technology on the conditions that it does not harm people and the environment,» the group said. Cholesterol checks Citizens in Athens, Thessaloniki, Kalamata and Edessa will be able to benefit from free checks of their cholesterol levels by visiting special booths to be set up in their city centers next week. The initiative is being organized for the third year in a row by the Hellenic Cardiological Society and Evangelismos Hospital. Over the past two years, around 30,000 people have had their cholesterol levels checked. Of these, more than half were overweight with high levels of cholesterol.
