In Brief
SHIP TO SHORE
Unionists prevent cargo vessel from leaving Corinth port An Italian-owned cargo ship, the Ropax 1, remained moored at the port in Corinth, west of Athens, yesterday as the Panhellenic Seamen’s Federation (PNO) and members of the Communist Party-affiliated PAME trade union continued to block its departure. The protesters had gathered on the vessel’s ramp on Tuesday, claiming that there are too few seamen working on the ship and that they are underpaid. The unionists are planning to take the same action with the Ropax 2, which is expected to dock in Corinth today. PNO is demanding that 55 Greek sailors be employed on the two ships. The firm that owns the vessels, Adriatic Lines, said that the number of people it employs is fully in line with Italian law and called on the government to remove the protesters. ATHENS MUGGINGS Eight gang members arrested Eight members of a large gang thought to be behind dozens of muggings and break-ins in central Athens have been arrested and another seven are being sought, police said yesterday. The gang is alleged to have broken into 102 cars and mugged 41 pedestrians this year. The suspects allegedly sold what they stole in the area around Monastiraki and Omonia squares. All those arrested are Algerian nationals. No airport link There will be no metro or suburban railway trains to the airport today as workers stage a 24-hour strike. Protesters oppose plans to privatize the Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE). Turkish violations Greek diplomats yesterday lodged a complaint with Turkish authorities following an incident on Tuesday afternoon, south of Chios, involving a formation of Turkish fighter jets. According to Greek defense officials, the jets flew very close to a Greek navy frigate, violating Greek air space. Lucky islanders A resident of Rhodes in the Dodecanese has won a state lottery jackpot of 4 million euros, it was announced yesterday. The winning ticket was purchased at a betting shop in the island’s capital. The same draw was lucky for several more islanders who will share another 2 million euros. Water shortage Some parts of Thessaloniki will be left without water for up to nine hours on Sunday, when temperatures are expected to soar just as repairs get under way on the northern city’s water network. The interruption to the water supply is to start at around 8 a.m. Drive-by biting A bus driver leaned through the window of his vehicle yesterday and bit a farmer on the nose in the middle of a street market in Trikala, police in the central city said yesterday. According to the farmer’s account, the driver bit him following an argument about parking spots. Fishing ban A decision by Maria Damanaki, the European Union fisheries commissioner, to ban large-scale bluefin tuna fishing in the Mediterranean and east Atlantic will apply from today, a spokesman for Damanaki said yesterday. The ban follows a heavy depletion of fish stocks and «is necessary to protect the fragile stock of bluefin tuna,» the spokesman said.
