In Brief
ISAP DISRUPTION
Several sections of electric railway closed for work Services on the Piraeus-Kifissia electric railway (ISAP) will be suspended between the stations of Ano Patissia and Kifissia as of tomorrow (Sunday) to allow engineering works to get under way. Passengers can use the X21 bus for this section. On Monday and Tuesday, October 4 and 5, the section between Ano Patissia and Eirini will be closed. This section will be served by the X15 bus. Commuters are reminded that the section of the ISAP route between Attiki and Monastiraki is out of service. ISRAELI COOPERATION Countries close to agreement A high-level committee to coordinate cooperation between Greece and Israel in a range of sectors is nearly set up, sources told Kathimerini yesterday. Greece is likely to be represented by State Minister Haris Paboukis and Israel by a close associate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Prime Minister George Papandreou and the Israeli premier agreed that the countries should cooperate more closely in several areas, including energy and environmental protection, when Netanyahu recently visited Athens. However, it seems defense issues will form the basis of the relationship, as the two sides are set to agree to work together on air force training and exercises. Drug bust Officers from the drug squad yesterday arrested a 25-year-old Albanian man at Athens International Airport after discovering nearly 6 kilos of cocaine concealed in his luggage in a form Greek police had not seen before. The drugs – which resembled a black rubber substance – had been used to line the inside of a plastic case in the man’s possession, police said. Following the arrest of the Albanian, who works as a DJ, officers arrested a 40-year-old man who had been waiting outside the airport and is believed to have been the middleman in the drug deal. Syndicate trial The trial of 20 suspected members of the so-called «crime syndicate,» a criminal gang believed to be behind a series of murders, bombings and other illegal activities, including the abduction in 2007 of shipping magnate Periklis Panagopoulos, began in a makeshift court at Korydallos Prison yesterday. Hospital records All of Greece’s state hospitals have been given until February next year to computerize their records so they can keep track of their spending. Speaking to hospital directors from various parts of the country yesterday, Health Minister Andreas Loverdos also instructed them to reject any requests by politicians for the transfer of nursing staff to administrative positions. Loverdos said that hospitals had to retain all their staff as there is no public funding available to hire more nurses or doctors. Trigger-happy A 44-year-old man was detained by police in Thessaloniki early yesterday after emerging from a nightclub in the northern city at 4.30 a.m. and firing a gun into the air. No one was injured in the incident and the man, who was reportedly very inebriated, was escorted to the nearest police precinct.
