In Brief
BLAME GAME
FYROM premier accuses Greece of blocking name deal The prime minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia yesterday blamed Greece for demanding too much in the Macedonia name dispute and expressed hopes that Athens would shift its stance after elections, an apparent reference to European Parliament elections due in June. «There is no will for compromise from the Greek side,» Nikola Gruevski told local television channel Sitel. He claimed it was unreasonable for Athens to seek changes to «national identity, the name of the language, the name of the nation, the Constitution, passports and the use of the nation’s name.» Fatal mugging Addict dies after citizens’ arrest A 31-year-old man who snatched the bag of a 38-year-old woman in the center of Thessaloniki yesterday after using a Taser electric shock gun to temporarily disable her, died a few hours later in a local hospital. After witnessing the attack, passers-by surrounded the 31-year-old and disarmed him, police said. By the time police arrived on the scene, the would-be mugger reportedly had lost consciousness. He died four hours later in the hospital though the cause of death was unclear. Officers said they believed he had been heroin addict. Thiseion delays Passengers on the Athens-Piraeus electric railway (ISAP) who had to pass through Thiseion station yesterday experience delays of some 15 minutes due to work being carried out. The disruption, which also means that trains will not be stopping at Thiseion until further notice, prompted complaints by some commuters. ISAP officials said they would re-examine the work if it results in serious problems for commuters. ‘Pedophile’ remanded A 57-year-old man alleged to have sexually molested his 10-year-old niece was yesterday remanded in custody after defending himself before an investigating magistrate on repeated charges of rape. The man, who denies all charges, is alleged to have molested the girl in Markopoulo, southeast of Athens. Let’s party Former ministers Stefanos Manos and Vassilis Kontoyiannopoulos, who have served as MPs for both New Democracy and PASOK in the past, are to set up their own political party next month. The centrist party, whose name has not been revealed, is expected to stand in June’s European parliamentary elections. Kontoyiannopoulos and Manos, the latter in particular, have served in several government posts and are among the few politicians to have crossed the divide between the two parties. It is rumored that New Democracy outcast Petros Tatoulis, now sitting as an independent MP, may be recruited by the new party. E-savvy parents A government initiative aimed at training the parents of primary school-aged children to use the Internet safely gets under way this week. Parents of more than 330,000 primary school pupils are entitled to register for the free initiative, which includes home learning courses, administered by visiting teachers, and e-learning courses conducted over the Internet. More information about the drive can be found at www.goneis.gr.
