In Brief
ADEDY STRIKE
Public sector workers to stage third walkout on March 16 The main civil servants’ union ADEDY yesterday called a 24-hour strike for March 16, reacting to the news that the government is to announce a fresh raft of austerity measures today. Reacting to heightened speculation about the abolition or reduction of the so-called 14th salary – one of two additional wages received by civil servants – ADEDY called on its members to join a walkout on March 16, the deadline EU finance ministers have given Greece to show progress in curbing its ballooning budget deficit. The union staged another strike early last month and joined a 24-hour walkout called by the main labor union, the General Confederation of Greek Labor (GSEE) last week. ARISTOTLE BUSTED Damage at university sit-in A bust of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle and some 10,000 euros’ worth of snacks and soft drinks were stolen from the grounds of the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, it was revealed yesterday after the end of a sit-in that began last Wednesday. Some 30 nonstudents had occupied the university’s administrative building since last week after taking refuge there to avoid arrest by police when they were spotted forcing their way onto the campus. Authorities said that the group left substantial damage in its wake, including graffiti on the walls and a burned Greek flag. No arrests were made. Street shooting A man was shot and killed during an argument on a street in the central Athens neighborhood of Aghios Panteleimonas yesterday. Police said that the Albanian national was shot by another man at 2.40 p.m. at the corner of Aristomenous and Agathoupoleos streets. The gunman escaped. Citizenship vote A bill granting second-generation immigrants the right to obtain Greek citizenship and vote in elections was voted through Parliament in principle yesterday. PASOK and the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) voted in favor of the draft law. New Democracy and the Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS) voted against. The Communist Party (KKE) said its MPs would cast their ballot when the bill is voted on article by article. LAOS Deputy Adonis Georgiadis claimed that his party has collected 400,000 signatures on a petition demanding that a referendum be held on the citizenship issues. He accused the government’s aim of integrating immigrants into Greek society was «a fairy tale on a Cinderella scale.» Matricide An 80-year-old woman, whose beaten body was found on Sunday outside her home in the village of Gazoro, near the northern city of Serres, was killed by her 42-year-old son in a dispute over money, police said. Officers who questioned the 42-year-old said he broke down yesterday morning and admitted to killing his mother when she refused to give him her pension payment. He allegedly admitted to beating the victim over the head with a broken water tap. According to neighbors, the 80-year-old had been accustomed to spending her pension payments on medicine. It is unclear whether the son had wanted the cash for something specific.
