In Brief
Commuter woes
All public transport halted today as workers walk out There will be no public transport in Athens today due to a 24-hour strike by workers who are protesting the government’s plans to restructure the way the various modes of transport are managed and to move some staff to different positions in the public sector, which in some cases will lead to their wages and benefits being slashed. The metro, the Kifissia-Piraeus electric railway (ISAP), the tram, buses, trolley buses and the Proastiakos suburban railway will not be running today. Also, there will be no trains running on the Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE) network either. The strike will lead to 35 trains being canceled tomorrow as well. Captain found Missing tanker skipper safe A 41-year-old tanker captain has been reunited with his family on Crete after being reported missing last Thursday. There had been no sign of the sailor after he left his ship, which had docked in Kaloi Limenes, to withdraw money from the village of Moires to pay his crew. Police called off their search after the captain’s wife contacted them on Monday to say that the 41-year-old had returned home safely. Monastery theft Police in Halkidiki, northern Greece, said yesterday that the Pantokrator Monastery on Mount Athos had been broken into and several valuable artifacts had been stolen. Officers said that four icons and a gold-plated funeral bier were stolen from the monastery. The items were reported missing on the weekend, authorities said. Evelpidon scuffles Two people were injured yesterday when scuffles broke out between demonstrators and police outside the capital’s Evelpidon court complex, where 45 people arrested during a protest rally in Athens on Monday were taken to respond to a string of charges. One of those injured was the general secretary of the youth arm of the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA), Nasos Iliopoulos. Of the 45 defendants, 28 were indicted to appear before an investigating magistrate. The others are minors and will face a juvenile court. Bus lanes The Athens Urban Transport Organization (OASA) said yesterday that it has completed three new bus lanes, covering a total length of 1 kilometer. The new bus lanes are on Ipeirou Street, off Patission Street near central Athens, on Ethnarhou Makariou Street and Poseidonos Avenue in Neo Faliro, and on Ethnarhou Makariou Street in Peristeri. Meteor shower One of the most impressive meteor showers of the year will be visible in most parts of the world, including Greece, on the evening of December 13 and through the early hours of December 14. The meteor shower is called the Geminids because it appears to radiate from the constellation Gemini. Vatopedi magistrate An experienced judge, Ioannis Yiannopoulos, was yesterday appointed investigating magistrate for the Vatopedi land-swap scandal. Yiannopoulos is to examine the case files of three former conservative ministers implicated in the affair: former Deputy Finance Minister Petros Doukas and former Agriculture ministers Evangelos Basiakos and Alexandros Kontos.
