In Brief
ARCHBISHOP BETTER
Doctors give Christodoulos the all clear for discharge from hospital Doctors at the Aretaio hospital in Athens said yesterday the health of Archbishop Christodoulos is improving and that he can be discharged when he wishes. Doctors said that the exact day the archbishop goes home is up to him. Medical experts have called on religious followers and the press to show discretion and respect toward the archbishop, who has been diagnosed with Stage 1 liver cancer, when he returns home after being in the hospital for longer than a month. KOZANI EARTHQUAKE Seismic activity in northern Greece continues with 4.0 Richter tremor An earthquake measuring 4 on the Richter scale shook Kozani in northern Greece yesterday after Tuesday’s 5.4 Richter tremor in the area, according to authorities. No injuries or damage have been reported but prefecture officials said they are continuing inspections of houses. Experts described yesterday’s quake, recorded at 10.03 a.m., as part of regular seismic activity after Tuesday’s main tremor. The epicenter of the earthquake was 18 kilometers southwest of Kozani. MIGRANT SMUGGLERS Three suspected traffickers arrested Police in Thessaloniki said yesterday they have arrested three people and detained 23 migrants in connection with an immigrant trafficking ring. The three suspects, two Iraqis and one Turk, are believed to have smuggled the migrants into Greece from neighboring Turkey. The three are aged between 30 and 42. The migrants are from Iraq, Turkey and Palestine, police said, and are likely to be expelled from Greece. Pilots strike Pilots of state-run airline Cyprus Airways are threatening to disrupt flights on Saturday by holding a five-hour strike over what they say is the company’s violation of a collective agreement. The strike is set to start at 10 a.m. on Saturday with flights to Manchester, Paris, London and Athens all being affected, waylaying about 1,200 passengers. Pilots’ union PASYPI said yesterday their members have been employed for the past two years without a proper work contract, in violation of labor rules. (AFP) Lovers convicted A court on Kos yesterday sentenced a 39-year-old Rhodes woman and her 38-year-old lover to life imprisonment after finding them guilty of the murder of the woman’s husband in May last year. The woman’s 87-year-old nanny, who had been implicated in the crime, was exonerated due to a lack of evidence. The body of the 38-year-old victim, who was strangled, was found buried on a construction site on the island. The widow denied any knowledge of the crime. Her lover said he had not committed the murder but had initially sought to protect his girlfriend. Deadly forklift A 21-year-old forklift truck driver was killed in a workplace accident, police in Tripolis in the Peloponnese said yesterday. Officers said the accident occurred after a careless maneuver by the driver, whose name was not made public. An investigation has been launched. Bugs in oven Prefectural officials yesterday closed down a bakery in the Athens district of Vyronas that was filthy and infested with cockroaches. An inspection of the bakery revealed dirty floors and masses of dead and live cockroaches, including inside the fridges. Cockroaches were also found in the yeast used for baking. «It is our duty toward fellow citizens to shut down such hovels,» said Athens Prefect Yiannis Sgouros. The prefect called on the Development Ministry to crack down on all stores that pose a risk to health, irrespective of whether they have licenses to operate. Man strangled Police said yesterday they had arrested a 29-year-old Albanian man for allegedly strangling to death a 52-year-old compatriot in Mesovouni, near Kozani in northern Greece. The murder took place late on Tuesday after an argument between the two men over money, according to police.
