In Brief
Flight disruptions?
Air-traffic controllers warn of possible action over ‘old’ system The general secretary of the air-traffic controllers union, Yiannis Kormoulakis, yesterday warned of strike action after a breakdown in the communication system linking the country’s airports on Sunday grounded scheduled takeoffs for three hours. Kormoulakis said the system remained out of date despite several appeals over the years by his union for an overhaul. BAKOYANNIS FOR MAYOR ND will not oppose candidacy New Democracy said yesterday it would not nominate a candidate to run for mayor of Karpenisi, in central Greece, after Costas Bakoyannis, son of independent MP Dora Bakoyannis, said he would be standing for election in the November 7 local polls. Vassilis Michaloliakos, the ND official responsible for local government affairs, said the conservatives would not challenge the young candidate out of respect for his late father, Pavlos Bakoyannis, who served as an MP for the party. TIF rally GSEE, Greece’s main association of private sector unions, said yesterday that it will hold a protest rally in Thessaloniki on September 11, the same day that Prime Minister George Papandreou is due to address the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF). GSEE said in a statement yesterday that it rejects the measures the government proposes to adopt this fall as they «further reduce basic and fundamental rights.» Protesters will gather at the Eleftherios Venizelos statue shortly before Papandreou delivers his speech, in which he will set out his government’s economic policy for the months to come. Loss of speed The captain of the Hellenic Seaways Highspeed 1 catamaran, two other company representatives and a coast guard official from Rafina are due to face a prosecutor after the vessel was unable to complete a journey from the Attica port to Myconos and back yesterday. After sailing from Rafina to Andros, the ship’s engine caught fire before it reached Tinos. The blaze was put out by the crew but the Highspeed 1 had to dock at Tinos for repairs. There were 120 passengers on board headed for Myconos, 87 of whom were taken by another vessel. The remainder had to stay on Tinos overnight. Pops withdrawn The Hellenic Food Authority (EFET) yesterday ordered the withdrawal of ice pops trading under the name Alaska Boy Long Stick after tests on a sample of the Dutch-manufactured product revealed traces of the fungus Paecilomyces variotii. Consumers who have purchased the ice pops are advised not to eat them. Fishy protest Four environmental activists, who yesterday burst into the office of Imathia Prefect Costas Karapanayiotidis and emptied two sacks of dead fish onto his desk, are to face a prosecutor today. The three men and one woman interrupted a press conference being given to promote tourism in the region, in order to draw attention to high pollution levels in the Aliakmonas River. The protesters said they had pulled the dead fish from the river. Lewd elder Police in the northwestern port of Igoumenitsa yesterday detained a 70-year-old local man believed to have sexually harassed a young girl.
