In Brief
Mosquito spraying
Central Macedonia gets more money to fight West Nile virus Another 250,000 euros is to be released by the government so that authorities in central Macedonia, northern Greece, can intensify aerial spraying to repel mosquitoes that may be carrying the West Nile virus. Health Minister Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou, who was in Thessaloniki yesterday, said the money was in addition to the 300,000 euros the government pledged last week. The number of people who have contracted the virus, which has killed eight senior citizens, has risen to 114. Ten of the sufferers are in intensive-care units. OMBUDSMAN RESIGNS Kaminis set to run for mayor The Ombudsman, Giorgos Kaminis, who heads the watchdog that follows up citizens’ complaints, said yesterday he would resign from his post next month after seven years in the job as he is considering running for Athens mayor in November’s local elections. The head of the Democractic Left party, Fotis Kouvelis, earlier this week proposed that Kaminis should stand as an independent candidate in the poll. The outgoing Ombudsman said that he is considering taking up the challenge as he feels Athens is in «extreme crisis.» Bloody raid Two travel agency employees sustained injuries yesterday after being shot by a would-be robber at the port of Kyllini, in the western Peloponnese. According to witnesses, the gunman shot the first employee in the leg when he refused to hand over a bag of cash. The second employee was shot in the stomach after trying to help his colleague. The perpetrator fled empty-handed on a motorcycle being driven by an accomplice. Child porn Officers of Thessaloniki’s electronic crime squad yesterday said they had traced a 44-year-old man believed to have sexually harassed a 6-year-old girl two years ago and to have been visiting Internet sites with sexually explicit photographs of children since then. Police said they traced the suspect after a complaint was lodged by the mother of the child. Migrant smuggling Border police in Grevena, northern Greece, yesterday detained five illegal Albanian immigrants and their suspected smuggler, a Greek, after conducting a raid on his car near the border with Albania. A separate inspection on the trailer of a truck in Pieria, northern Greece, revealed 18 would-be migrants from Asian countries. Police detained the migrants and arrested their suspected smuggler – a 39-year-old Bulgarian immigrant – following a car chase. Murder suspect In the Peloponnesian city of Kalamata, officers of the police force’s motorcycle-riding DIAS squad yesterday detained a 41-year-old Bulgarian national being sought by authorities in Sofia in connection with a murder in the Bulgarian capital in August 2006. Authorities are investigating the suspect’s possible involvement in a string of crimes in Greece over the past few years. Pakistan aid Athens Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis yesterday pledged food, medicines and clothing for the flood-stricken people of Pakistan. Kaklamanis, who met with Pakistan’s Ambassador to Greece Irfan-ur-Rehman Raja, did not give further details about the aid that City Hall plans to send.
