In Brief
BORDER RELIEF
Third crossing into Albania to open for Christmas exodus The construction of a third border crossing between Greece and Albania at Treis Gefyres is nearly complete, Albanian Foreign Minister Ilir Meta and Greek Ambassador to Albania Dimitris Iliopoulos confirmed on Saturday when they met at the scheduled checkpoint for a joint inspection. They called for building work to be accelerated to allow completion by Christmas. This would facilitate the return journeys of Albanian migrant workers living in Greece. Markets open Athenian street markets are to open for business today after unionists representing protesting market producers and traders decided on Saturday to call off a week of strike action. Unionists are to embark on talks with government officials with the aim of resolving problems, such as their reluctance to comply with legislation for the installation of cash registers at some market stalls, by the beginning of November. Mitsotakis «The far right does not exist in Greece. There are only democrats – and right-wing Greeks are democrats par excellence,» opposition New Democracy’s honorary chairman Constantine Mitsotakis maintained yesterday in response to a journalist’s suggestion that his party «in its attempt to come to power… has become a hostage to the far right.» Mitsotakis was speaking from Thrace where he is meeting with ND deputies and election candidates. Cyprus-Iraq tie? A senior Turkish official has warned that Ankara could do in northern Iraq what it did in Cyprus in 1974 – invade and occupy – according to report by the Agence France-Presse yesterday. Nationalist Parliament Speaker Omer Izgi issued a grim warning: «Just as we took Cyprus when the time came, we will take what is our right in Mosul and Kirkuk when the time comes.» Palestinian immigrants A group of eight Palestinian illegal immigrants trying to enter Greece was intercepted on the Dodecanesian island of Kalymnos on Friday morning, the Merchant Marine Ministry said. The five men, two women and one child had been dropped off by a white speed boat which then disappeared, the ministry said. Tremor An undersea quake, measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale, occurred off the northeastern coast of the island of Chios early on Saturday morning. No damage or injuries were reported. Paphos statue A 1.5-meter Roman marble statue of a woman has been discovered by a retired antiquities worker on a pile of rubble in the center of the Cypriot town of Paphos, the Athens News Agency reported on Saturday. Excavations for nearby roadwork probably unearthed the statue, the ANA said. Garbage protests As uncollected garbage continues to pile up in the streets of Thessaloniki, a court is due to rule today whether a week of strike action by municipal workers is illegal, following legal action by the city council. In strategic action ahead of Sunday’s municipal and prefectural elections, Thessaloniki rubbish collectors are pressing the city’s current mayor to pay them productivity bonuses. Firebomb attack A gas canister bomb exploded outside a Citibank branch in the Athens district of Ambelokipi early on Saturday morning, causing damage but no injuries. Witnesses said the bomb was set off by two people who fled by motorcycle.
