In Brief
Transport disruption
No buses from 11 a.m. to 4 p m. today as staff strike There will be no buses operating in Athens today between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. as workers objecting to the government’s plans to streamline public transport services attend their annual general assembly, where they are expected to decide whether to continue their action. Meanwhile a new annual ticket offering unlimited access to all modes of public transport for 450 euros has gone on sale. Swine flu Girl, 14, and man, 56, die Two people – a 14-year-old girl and a 56-year-old man – died over the weekend after having been diagnosed with symptoms of swine flu, bringing the number of people to have died following infection with the disease in Greece to five. The man, who had been admitted to the University Hospital of Larissa in central Greece on January 16, died on Saturday. The girl died on Friday at the Aghia Sofia Children’s Hospital in Athens. Toll charges Higher fees come into effect at several toll stations from midnight today. On the Corinth-Kalamata national highway, the new charge at Spathovouni will be 2.40 euros for cars and 1.70 euros for motorbikes. At Nestani, the fee will be 2.30 euros for cars and 1.60 euros for motorbikes. At Asea, cars will pay 1.90 euros and motorbikes 1.30 euros, and at Elefsina, cars will be charged 3.10 euros and motorbikes 2.20 euros. Similar fees will apply for Athens-bound traffic at the Isthmus of Corinth, for Patra-bound traffic at Zevgolatio and for Athens-bound traffic at Rio. Officer suicide A 27-year-old riot police officer committed suicide in the bathroom of the central Athens headquarters of ruling party PASOK where he had been on duty early yesterday, police said. The officer, who reportedly had psychological problems, used his service gun to shoot himself in the head, police said. Smuggler thwarted Police detained 32 illegal immigrants and their suspected smuggler yesterday after stopping a truck on the Athens-Corinth national road. The suspected trafficker – a 26-year-old Ukrainian with a valid residence permit but a forged German driving license – had been en route to the western port of Patra from Athens. The aim was to transfer the migrants – 26 Afghans and six Iraqis – to the Italian port of Bari. ISAP plunge A man who jumped in front of an oncoming train at Moschato station on the Piraeus-Kifissia urban electric railway (ISAP) on Saturday was in hospital with serious injuries yesterday. The incident was apparently a suicide attempt. Pap tests All hospitals with gynecological clinics will be offering free Pap tests from today through Sunday, January 31, for all women aged 15 and over who want to be checked for signs of cervical cancer. Theoni V Aldredge. Award-winning stage and screen costume designer Theoni Vachlioti-Aldredge died of a heart attack in Connecticut, New England, on Friday. Born in Thessaloniki in 1932, she was raised in Athens before moving to the US. She was awarded an Oscar for «The Great Gatsby.»
