In Brief
BOND PROBE
Appeals judges meet today to decide on charges, further investigation The Council of Appeals Judges is due to meet today to assess the preliminary investigation into the purchase of an overpriced government bond by four pension funds. The council is set to decide whether to appoint an investigating magistrate to further probe the affair. The judges are also due to instruct chief appeals prosecutor Giorgos Koliocostas to charge some 30 people suspected of various offenses during the transactions. Meanwhile, Labor Minister Vassilis Magginas said that the government has no intention of agreeing to PASOK’s proposal for the affair to be investigated by a parliamentary committee. EXAM RESULTS University and college hopefuls to receive their grades today High school leavers are today to receive the results of nationwide examinations for university and college entry. The results are to be distributed to schools across the country this morning and will subsequently be put on display. Also today, the Education Ministry is to publish statistics relating to the exams. According to preliminary data available yesterday, the overall performance in exams was improved in comparison to last year. SHOCKING ARRESTS Three caught with illegal stun guns Three people have been arrested in Athens for trying to sell stun guns, which are in illegal in Greece. The devices give an electric shock to the person targeted. The three foreign nationals, two men aged 33 and 35 and a 45-year-old woman, were found in possession of 498 such guns. The trio has been charged with breaking weapons laws. During a search of a basement store belonging to an acquaintance of the suspects, officers also found 875 stiletto knives. Education Ministry Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis yesterday inaugurated the Education Ministry’s new headquarters in Maroussi, northern Athens. The 38,000-square-meter building, which had been built for the purposes of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, is located on Kifissias Avenue. Underage rape? A 26-year-old man, accused of raping a 12-year- old girl, has been remanded in custody in Serres, northern Greece, police said yesterday. Authorities made the decision after the suspect had given a four-hour oral deposition to a prosecutor. The victim is believed to be an advanced stage of pregnancy, sources added. Fuel sneak A 29-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of stealing some 2,000 liters of car and heating fuel from a Revoil depot near Kavala in northern Greece, police said yesterday. The suspect allegedly sold the fuel to a 34-year-old gas station owner, who was also arrested. The 29-year-old had tapped into one of the depot’s underground pipes and diverted the fuel via an 81-meter pipe to fuel tanks he had hidden in a nearby warehouse. Police said that the suspect was a former Revoil employee. He is suspected of starting the illegal scheme in September 2005. Lost Atlantis A fire broke out at the Atlantis cafe-bar in Hania, Crete, early yesterday and caused some 40,000 euros of damage as it destroyed most of the establishment, the fire service said yesterday. Nobody was injured in the incident, which is being treated as arson. Firefighters were able to prevent the blaze spreading to adjacent businesses. Two killed Two people were killed in a traffic accident near Iraklion, Crete, early yesterday when a motorcycle collided with a pickup truck. The two people traveling on the motorcycle, aged 52 and 45, were killed in the accident. No further information was available. Marshmallow threat The Hellenic Food Authority yesterday confiscated just over 52,000 pieces of imported marshmallows that were unfit for consumption. The sweets, traded under the commercial brand name of «Marshmallow Ice Cream Candy» had been imported from China and have an October 2007 expiry date.
