In Brief
SNOW GO
People who missed work due to bad weather are entitled to normal pay Employees who missed work because of the snowfall over the last few days should not have their wages cut, the General Confederation of Greek Labor (GSEE) said yesterday. The country’s largest umbrella union for employees in the private sector said that the law stipulates that workers should receive their pay as normal if they cannot get to work due to circumstances beyond their control. The heavy snow over the last few days prevented many people from getting to work, as much of the public transport network ground to a halt and roads became impassable. GSEE said it was inundated by calls from people who were concerned their pay would be affected if they could not make it to work. BLOODY ROBBERY Betting shop owner in the hospital after armed attack at store The owner of a betting shop in Thessaloniki was in the hospital yesterday after being shot by an armed robber who threatened him and his wife as they were closing their store on Sunday night. The robber, who was wearing a motorcycle helmet, shot the store owner after he refused to hand over the days’ takings. The assailant fled on a waiting motorcycle being driven by an accomplice, witnesses told police. BEHIND BARS Soccer fan jailed for throwing flare A supporter of PAOK soccer club was jailed for two months yesterday and fined 1,500 euros for throwing a flare onto the pitch during his team’s game against Apollon Kalamaria on Sunday. The 28-year-old was found guilty by a judge in Thessaloniki after police produced CCTV evidence that they said proved the unnamed man had broken the law. The judge’s verdict prompted a reaction from some 50 PAOK fans that had gathered in the courtroom. Police intervened and arrested one of the supporters. Sausage challenge Butchers in the northeastern town of Didymoteicho have agreed to create a 400-meter sausage which they will grill on February 28 to mark Tsiknopempti – the traditional heart of the Carnival season when large quantities of meat are consumed. The initiative, mooted by the municipality, will be accompanied by singing, dancing, juggling and theatrical performances in the town center. Fire death A 90-year-old woman burned to death in her apartment in Aegaleo, eastern Athens, late on Sunday. Police said that the pensioner’s clothes caught on fire as she was positioned too close to a gas heater. Neighbors called firefighters who prevented the blaze from spreading to other properties. The woman was not named. Dead prisoner An inmate at Diavata Prison was found dead in his cell yesterday. The 46-year-old, who had been jailed for drug offenses is thought to have suffered a lung infection, according to a coroner. The unnamed prisoner was found dead on his bed during a morning inspection at the jail. Blaze damage A clothing store in the northern Athens suburb of Nea Ionia caught fire and was completely destroyed yesterday. Authorities said the shop caught fire in the early hours of the morning, when nobody was inside. It was not immediately clear what sparked the blaze. Meanwhile in Lamia, central Greece, a fire caused serious damage to a complex of car repair shops. The fire broke out while employees were trying to fill a homemade heater with petrol, provoking an explosion. The fire service extinguished the blaze two hours later. Monastery raid Unidentified assailants yesterday raided a monastery in the municipality of Dodoni in Ioannina, northwestern Greece, removing 15 religious icons and a silver tray, police said. The robbery followed a similar raid last week when a large section of an iconostasis, or choir screen, was removed from a monastery in Dramesioi, also in the Ioannina area. Open-air bakery A large open-air bakery is to be set up in central Thessaloniki in the middle of next month, baking thousands of cookies and buns for passers-by. The initiative has been planned to coincide with an international bakery exhibition being held in the city from March 14 to 1.
