In Brief
MINISTRY APPOINTMENTS
Government reveals names of six new high-level officials Four more general secretaries for ministries were named by the government yesterday, as the process to appoint almost 90 top officials to key posts in public administration places gathers pace. Three general secretaries (Haris Tsiokas, Sokratis Katsikas and Yiannis Economidis) were appointed at the Infrastructure, Transport and Networks Ministry and a fourth (Grigoris Tasoulas) at the Citizens’ Protection Ministry. Two special secretaries were also appointed at the Education, Lifelong Learning and Religion Ministry. The appointments have taken longer than expected because, for the first time, the government decided to accept applications online. ERT RESIGNATION State broadcast chief leaves The president of state broadcaster ERT, Christos Panagopoulos, resigned from his post yesterday, stating that he had failed to receive a response from the new PASOK government to his successive appeals for the discussion of «crucial and pressing issues of concern to state radio and television that need to be addressed immediately.» In a letter to the competent ministers, Panagopoulos said: «I have not received any communication – either oral or written – on your part,» adding that «my further presence does not offer anything to public radio and television and therefore I submit my resignation.» Spurned attacker A 19-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital in Serres, northern Greece, late on Sunday after being stabbed several times, allegedly by a 50-year-old man who was upset she spurned his advances. Police said that the man, who was not named and is being sought by police, had been pursuing the younger woman for some time but, after approaching her unsuccessfully on Sunday at her family home, the 50-year-old ended up stabbing her in the legs, chest and stomach. The teenager required several operations as a result. Motorcycle death A motorcycle rider was killed in a crash on Mesogeion Avenue in Aghia Paraskevi, northeastern Athens, yesterday morning. The unnamed man died when his motorcycle crashed into a truck and then veered into an oncoming car in front of the state broadcaster ERT’s headquarters. Nobody else was injured. Armed raids Police yesterday were seeking the perpetrators behind two armed robberies and two burglaries in northern and western Athens. The first raid was on a gas station in Peristeri and was carried out by a lone gunman at around 1 a.m. In the second raid, shortly after 4 a.m., two gunmen held up a street kiosk in the same area. At around the same time, unidentified thieves broke into a store selling agricultural equipment in Menidi, making off with two trucks and several machines. It was unclear how much was netted in the raids. Meanwhile Thessaloniki police were seeking the robbers who made off with 1,000 euros after holding up a gas station on the outskirts of the city.
