NEWS

In Brief

LOVERDOS IMPROVING

PM visits labor minister, who is set to leave hospital next week Prime Minister George Papandreou yesterday visited Labor and Social Insurance Minister Andreas Loverdos who is recovering in Athens’s NIMITS hospital where he was admitted on Sunday with a stomach inflammation. Doctors said Loverdos is «steadily recovering» and will decide whether he can be discharged on Monday. The minister has been working from his hospital bed since Wednesday, receiving aides in his room, according to doctors. ND FRICTION Bakoyannis to snub meeting New Democracy spokesman Panos Panayiotopoulos yesterday refused to comment on speculation that Dora Bakoyannis, who unsuccessfully contested the party’s leadership last November, would not attend an upcoming meeting of the ND central committee. Sources close to ex-Foreign Minister Bakoyannis had let it be known that she felt it unnecessary to hold such a meeting, focusing on internal party affairs, at a time when Greece is facing serious economic problems. Panayiotopoulos said he would not speculate on unsubstantiated comments but ND sources said that the crisis makes it even more urgent for the party to evolve. Cell suicide Police in Volos, central Greece, yesterday were investigating the suicide of a 20-year-old Georgian man found hanging in his cell at the city’s Nea Ionia police precinct. The man hanged himself using his bedsheet which had been twisted into a cord, police said. It was unclear on what charges and for how long the 20-year-old had been in detention. Hoaxer stopped A 39-year-old man thought to be behind 21 bomb hoaxes over the last seven months has been charged with disturbing the peace, spreading false information and wasting police time. He is alleged to have posed as a member of a terrorist group, phoning police with bogus warnings of bombs planted at banks, organizations and on public transport. Police did not specify which hoaxes the suspect is believed to have staged. Workers’ walkout City of Athens services were suspended yesterday as municipal employees stayed home to protest the government’s decision to cut some state subsidies going toward their wages. Protesting workers staged a peaceful protest in central Klafthmonos Square early in the day. Evros animals Hundreds of dead animals have been found in the northeastern prefecture of Evros as flood waters subside, authorities said yesterday. The area suffered severe flooding in February when the River Evros burst its banks. Dozens of homes were damaged and people had to be evacuated. However, the devastation to the animal population is only coming to light now as the floodwaters gradually recede. One of the main casualties of the flood has been a famous herd of wild horses that roamed the Evros Delta. Local officials said that many of the horses drowned. Park-and-run A traffic police officer was slightly injured in Thessaloniki yesterday when the driver of an illegally parked car struck him with his vehicle as he attempted to avoid being issued with a ticket. The driver is being sought by police.

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