In Brief
Rescue search
Man, 45, swept away by floodwaters after saving his son Rescue workers late on Thursday continued their search in Thermi, on the outskirts of Thessaloniki, for a 45-year-old man who was swept away by floodwaters on Wednesday evening following heavy rain. Authorities said the man went missing after helping his 22-year-old son who had become trapped in his car after trying to drive through a flooded street. The 22-year-old’s parents managed to pull him from the car but the father was swept away. Heavy rainfall on Wednesday led to widespread flooding in Attica and northern Greece. Voskopoulos appeal Court told to proceed with trial A rapporteur at the Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, on Wednesday recommended the dismissal of seven appeals lodged by veteran popular singer Tolis Voskopoulos against charges that he evaded some 5.6 million euros in taxes over the years. The singer has appealed against the charges on the grounds of his health, which he claims has deteriorated following heart surgery in May. The rapporteur called for the 70-year-old singer’s appeals to be dismissed as «unjustifiable.» Trains running Trains will be running as normal today after employees of the Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE) called off a scheduled strike following the approval in Parliament of a law foreseeing the streamlining of the debt-ridden firm. The workers, who object to the reforms as they will lead to job losses, said they would take their case to Greek and European courts. Gruevski talks Prime Minister George Papandreou and his counterpart from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski are to meet today on the sidelines of a European Council summit in Brussels to discuss the prospects for a breakthrough on the dispute over the Balkan country’s name. It is considered highly unlikely that the two men will break the deadlock ahead of a NATO summit scheduled for November 19 and 20. Hashed job Police yesterday confiscated more than 100 kilograms of cannabis from a vehicle involved in a collision with a small truck on the stretch of national road between Trikala and Ioannina. The driver of the car got out and fled immediately after the crash, according to police, who subsequently searched the vehicle and found 107 kilograms of cannabis in three bags. Fugitive caught A 38-year-old detainee who managed to escape a police escort during his transfer from a police station in Pieria, near Thessaloniki, to another precinct in the suburb of Katerini last September, was caught on Wednesday trying to cross back into Greece from Bulgaria, police said. The fugitive, who originally had been detained on drug-related charges, was to face a prosecutor. Child dealer A 15-year-old illegal migrant on Wednesday faced a Piraeus prosecutor after police said they found him to be in possession of 1 kilogram of heroin at the port. According to police, the youth had been preparing to board a passenger ferry carrying a paper bag that contained two plastic packages holding the drugs.
