In Brief
Papoulias upbeat
President hopeful about EU, understanding of Germans During a ceremony to mark the beginning of his second term, President Karolos Papoulias yesterday expressed his conviction that the European Union would provide Greece with the necessary aid to emerge from the current financial crisis. Asked about the tough stance taken by German authorities opposite Greece in EU negotiations for a rescue package, Papoulias – who studied in Germany and has a German wife – noted that Germany has its own concerns. «[German Chancellor Angela] Merkel has her own problems; she will opt for something that will work in her favor in forthcoming elections,» Papoulias said. Turkish Interference Helicopter gets radar warning Turkish authorities yesterday sent radar warnings to a Greek coast guard helicopter participating in a patrol of the eastern Aegean organized by Frontex, the European Union’s border monitoring agency, Greek defense officials said. The helicopter had been patroling the area between the islands of Symi and Farmakonisi when it received the signal from Turkey. The warnings came just a day after similar signals were sent to a Greek Chinook helicopter, also close to Farmakonisi. Teen dealer Police in Patra, western Greece, yesterday detained a 17-year-old youth alleged to have been loitering outside a secondary school there trying to sell cannabis to pupils. Officers said they caught the teenager talking to students through the bars of a gate surrounding the school playground. A search of his clothes turned up 35 grams of cannabis. Earlier this month police in Ilion, western Athens, arrested a 17-year-old found loitering outside a local school with drugs in his pockets. Grigoropoulos trial The court in Amfissa, central Greece, that is hearing the trial of the two policemen involved in the shooting of teenager Alexis Grigoropoulos in December 2008 yesterday rejected an appeal by the two new prosecution lawyers for a one-week suspension so they could get up to speed with the case file. Nikos Konstantopoulos and Zoe Konstantopoulou have taken over the case after the two previous prosecution lawyers quit after a dispute with the judge over legal procedures. Judge Angelita Papavassiliou said that she would consider a request by Grigoropoulos’s mother, Gina Tsalikian, to testify for a second time. Psycho siblings A 71-year-old man was in custody yesterday after allegedly attacking his 73-year-old brother with an ax following a dispute regarding family finances at their home in Kilkis, northern Greece. According to neighbors, the brothers often had spirited arguments. The 73-year-old was hospitalized with wounds to his arms and legs, none of which were serious. The younger sibling was charged with attempted murder. Bomb hoax Police cordoned off the roads around central Syntagma Square yesterday after an anonymous caller phoned in to warn that two bombs had been planted in the area – one in a car parked underneath the main offices of the Finance Ministry and the second in a garbage dumpster outside Parliament. Police searched the area but found no suspect devices.
