In Brief
Exarchia raid
Guard hurt after gunman opens fire in tax office Police in Athens yesterday were questioning one suspect and seeking a second in connection with an armed raid on a tax office in the central district of Exarchia that occurred shortly before 11 a.m. Two gunmen burst into the premises of the tax office on Metsovou Street and forced staff to hand over an undetermined sum. During the getaway, one of the pair fired his gun and injured a security guard in the leg but not seriously. One of the perpetrators was arrested a short distance from the tax office. The second man remained at large last night. Transport disruption Elections to change schedule The normal schedules of various modes of public transport will be disrupted from today until Monday due to local elections scheduled for Sunday, the Athens Urban Transport Organization (OASA) said yesterday. Today and on Monday, buses will run according to the leaner Saturday schedule. Trolley buses will also run according to the reduced Saturday schedule today. Over the weekend, trams will be running every 25 minutes and on Monday they will be running every 20 minutes. There will be no change to the program of the Piraeus-Kifissia urban electric railway (ISAP). Cyprus talks Foreign Ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras expressed the hope yesterday that scheduled talks on November 18 between Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish-Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat «could provide the basis for positive steps to be made.» But Delavekouras voiced concern over the stance maintained to date by hardliner Eroglu, noting that it «belonged to another era.» The ministry spokesman also expressed frustration at the intervention of Ankara. Athens has long maintained that Ankara should not meddle in United Nations-mediated talks between Greek- and Turkish-Cypriot leaders. Eco-trash truck A garbage collection truck that is to run on used cooking oil is soon to join the fleet cleaning up the streets of Thessaloniki. The vehicle was unveiled yesterday in the city center by Thessaloniki Mayor Vassilis Papageorgopoulos. The truck will be the first in Greece to run on used oil. The fuel will be donated by local restaurants as part of a pilot project devised by the city’s Aristotle University, the Center for Research and Technology (CERTH) and the association representing local restaurateurs. Bitter medicine The Athens Pharmaceutical Association said yesterday that once the local elections have ended, it intends to take legal action against the government and pension funds over money that is owed to its members. The association says that the civil servants’ social security fund alone owes pharmacists 120 million euros for unpaid medicines. Europa League PAOK chalked up a 1-0 win over Spanish side Villarreal at home last night for soccer’s Europa League, courtesy of an Adelino Vieirinha goal. Aris lost 1-0 at Bayer Leverkusen to an Arturo Vidal goal in the last minute.
