In Brief
Taxi strike
No cabs tomorrow, Thursday as drivers stage new protest There will be no taxis serving the capital and other major Greek cities tomorrow and Thursday as cabbies stage a 48-hour strike. Taxi drivers are protesting government plans to make them issue receipts, keep account books and pay tax according to their income. Under the current system, drivers pay just over 1,200 euros in tax each year, regardless of what they earn. Unionists complain that the government has «not responded to our queries about how it will tackle the problems raised by the changes in the tax law.» Loverdos discharged Labor minister back in action Labor and Social Insurance Minister Andreas Loverdos yesterday was discharged from the hospital following a week of treatment for a stomach inflammation. Loverdos, who had been working from his hospital bed since Wednesday, told reporters that he was feeling better and eager to get back to work. «My team at the ministry has been doing an outstanding job but there’s a lot to do and it’s time I went back.» Lawyers’ action The country’s lawyers are due to begin a new three-day strike today. Their protest has been designed to coincide with the debate about the government’s new tax bill in Parliament. Lawyers are due to be back at work on Friday. Crash probe A prosecutor yesterday ordered an urgent investigation into the circumstances of Sunday’s accident at an auto rally in Polydendri, north of Athens, that caused the death of an 8-year-old boy. A prosecutor is also expected to determine whether the driver of the vehicle that veered off course and hit the boy, the event organizers or anyone else should face charges of manslaughter through neglect. The boy’s father and 9-year-old brother were also seriously injured in the incident. Museum visits The number of people who visited Greek museums increased by 41 percent last year compared to 2008 though there were fewer visits to archaeological sites, the National Statistical Service said yesterday. The increase in museum visits to 2.8 million was largely attributed to the opening of the capital’s new Acropolis Museum in Athens, which brought in over 800,000 people. Visits to archaeological sites were slightly less popular than a year earlier, with 5.9 million visits in total, a drop of 4 percent, the service said. Trial postponed The trial of a Cypriot student beaten by police in Thessaloniki in 2006 following a march to mark the November 17 Polytechnic uprising had his trial postponed yesterday until March 14, 2011. Avgoustinos Dimitriou has been charged with taking part in the riots that followed the march but failed to attend court yesterday, citing health problems. Eight policeman were convicted of assaulting Dimitriou and he was recently awarded 300,000 euros in damages. Road deaths Two 16-year-old youths were killed yesterday when the motorcycle they were riding on the section of the national road linking Gytheio to Areopoli in the Peloponnese veered off course and crashed into two oncoming vehicles. The people in the two cars were not injured.
