NEWS

In Brief

Flight disruption

Air-traffic controllers to cause minor delays until Sunday Flight disruptions can be expected to affect arrivals and departures at all Greek airports until Sunday after air-traffic controllers said yesterday that they would reduce by 20 percent the number of airplanes entering Greek air space at any given time as they are switching guiding systems. The main communication system collapsed last Sunday, causing long delays for travelers. FYROM swipe Athens claims ‘excessive’ The prime minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Nikola Gruevski, said yesterday that he was ready to reach a settlement on a longstanding bilateral dispute with Greece regarding the Balkan country’s official name but said Athens was seeking too much from Skopje. «I still believe Greece’s demands are excessive,» Gruevski said. Earlier this summer, it appeared that a settlement might be on the horizon, with diplomatic sources suggesting that the names Republic of Vardar Macedonia or Republic of Macedonia (Vardar) were being considered. ‘Molester’ beaten A 41-year-old Albanian immigrant remanded in custody for the rape and murder of an 11-year-old Bulgarian girl in a Peloponnesian village was beaten up yesterday by inmates at the jail in Tripoli where he is being held pending trial. The man, who allegedly has confessed to raping the girl and throwing her into a well last Sunday, was reportedly set upon by a group of inmates in the yard of Tripoli Prison. According to jail authorities, the inmates started punching and kicking the suspect before a group of Albanian detainees joined the fray, apparently in their compatriot’s defense. Four people were admitted to the hospital, prison authorities said. Gas brawl The 33-year-old owner of a gas station in Thessaloniki and his 65-year-old father became involved in a brawl with three people who, having filled their car with gas, refused to pay for it, police in the northern port city said. What started as an argument between the motorist, his two passengers and the gas station owner and his father degenerated into a brawl which was joined by four customers who had stopped to fill up their scooters, witnesses said. The scuffle reportedly broke up quickly and the three customers who had refused to pay got in their car and fled. The gas station owner and his father were taken to the hospital for treatment to minor injuries. Dog killer Police in Naoussa, northern Greece, yesterday detained a 72-year-old man on charges of fatally poisoning 12 dogs. The suspect was to face a prosecutor after a 59-year-old woman who had been caring for the dogs in the front yard of her home accused her elderly neighbor of killing them. Champions League Greek champion Panathinaikos will play Spanish titleholder Barcelona, Danish side FC Copenhagen and Rubin Kazan of Russia in soccer’s Champions League following yesterday’s draw. The Greek champion will begin its campaign on September 14 or 15.

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