In Brief
Transport stoppage
ISAP, bus, metro services to halt between noon and 4 p.m. Workers on the Piraeus-Kifissia electric railway (ISAP) and the Athens metro are to hold a four-hour work stoppage from noon today instead of their planned 24-hour strike after the Transport Ministry asked a court to rule their planned action illegal and abusive. Bus services will be suspended during the same four-hour period while trolley buses will be running as usual. Workers are protesting the governments’ plans to streamline public transport companies. Kallithea murder Husband’s cousin charged Police in Athens investigating the fatal shooting of a 35-year-old mother of two at her home in Kallithea, south of the city center, said yesterday that the 31-year-old cousin of the victim’s husband has been charged with her murder. According to police, the suspect, who is mentally disturbed, rang the doorbell of the woman’s apartment last Tuesday before shooting her twice in the head. The 31-year-old, who resides in the same building as the victim, is believed to have stolen the keys to the couple’s home after they complained about the noise emanating from his flat. Evros fence Local authorities in the northern region of Evros yesterday criticized a proposal by Citizens’ Protection Minister Christos Papoutsis for the construction of a fence along a section of the Greek-Turkish border to curb illegal immigration. The mayor of the border town of Soufli, Vangelis Poulilios, said the idea was «a makeshift solution that will not bring results.» The head of the local police workers’ union, Costas Hatzianagnostou, also said that a fence was not a solution to the problem as smugglers would merely bring migrants over the Evros River rather than the sealed land border. Counterfeit goods Members of the Financial Crimes Squad (SDOE) confiscated thousands of counterfeit designer bags, purses, belts and sunglasses in raids on three large warehouses near central Athens late on Monday. Court fees Administrative fees for filing a suit or taking civil action against someone are to shoot up, according to a new set of charges unveiled by the government yesterday. It will cost 100 euros to sue someone and 50 euros for civil action rather than the previous 10-euro fee. Charges for court rulings are also increasing by as much as 300 percent. The highest charge will be for an appeals court judgment, which will cost 500 euros. Basketball draw Panathinaikos and Olympiakos basketball clubs discovered yesterday who their opponents will be in the Euroleague Top 16. The Greens will play Caja Laboral, Unicaja Malaga and Lietuvos Rytas. The Reds will take on Fenerbahce, Zalgiris Kaunas and Valencia. The first games of this group stage are on January 19 and 20.
