In Breif
DRIVE-IN HEIST
Robbers ram car into National Bank branch Customers at a National Bank branch in Pefki, north of Athens, received a nasty shock yesterday morning when two unidentified assailants drove a stolen car through the front window of the bank. The men threatened customers and bank tellers with guns before before grabbing an unknown amount of cash. No one was injured in the incident. The two men made off in a second stolen vehicle being driven by accomplices. Police were investigating their whereabouts after finding the second car abandoned a short distance from the scene. TRAIN DISRUPTION Railway strikes continue There will be no intercity train service today, tomorrow and Friday as employees of the Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE) resume strike action in protest at the government’s privatization plans. Trains are to run as normal on Thursday, which is a national holiday. Workers on the Proastiakos suburban railway will also be joining the rolling strikes; therefore, there will be no metro service between the capital and Athens International Airport, and trains will be terminating at Doukissis Plakentias station. Smoking protest A group of 150 owners of bars, restaurants and cafes from across the country yesterday lodged a joint appeal with the Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, seeking the revocation of a law passed last month banning smoking in public places. The protesters say the law violates the Constitution and claim to have seen their turnover plunge since its introduction. Turkey talks The fourth session of a biministerial committee for exploratory talks between Greece and Turkey began in Ankara yesterday, amid speculation that a deal may be reached between the two countries over issues in the Aegean. Attending the session are Deputy Foreign Minister Spyros Kouvelis and Egemen Bagis, the Turkish chief EU negotiator in charge of foreign affairs. Kouvelis refused to comment on the possibility of an agreement on the Aegean. Hunter shot A 65-year-old man was shot and killed by unknown suspects yesterday morning while he was hunting for wild boar outside Falaisia, in the prefecture of Arcadia in the Peloponnese. The man was found by a fellow-villager and is believed to have been shot by other hunters who mistook him for prey. Homeless mugging Unknown assailants stabbed and robbed a homeless man who was known to beg in the Acropolis area yesterday. The man was taken to an Athens hospital to be treated for a knife wound in his back. The muggers are believed to have made off with some 40 euros. Con man Police in Nemea, in the Peloponnese, are looking for a man who allegedly talked his way into the home of an 83-year-old woman saying that her son owed him money. After extracting an unspecified amount of cash from the elderly woman, the unidentified con man also snatched her wallet and made off in a car that was being driven by an accomplice.
