In Brief
SECURITY
Olympics, Balkans top agenda for minister’s talks with CIA chief, officials Security at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games – and enhanced cooperation between the USA and Greece to achieve it – was the focus of talks yesterday between Public Order Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis and CIA Director George Tenet at the agency’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Chrysochoidis later discussed Greece’s role in contributing to stability in the Balkans and eastern Mediterranean with US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and the State Department’s anti-terrorism coordinator Francis Taylor. ADDICT SUPPORT State hospitals to treat heroin users with new detox drug, minister says The government has signed an agreement allowing Organization Against Drugs (OKANA) centers and several state hospitals to dispense a medicine called buprenorphine to certain drug addicts – especially heroin users, Health Minister Costas Stefanis said yesterday. Buprenorphin is an effective and theoretically safer alternative to methadone for heroin addicts as it lowers dependency levels and minimizes withdrawal symptoms. Meanwhile, the results of an EU poll made public yesterday showed Greek 15 to 24-year-olds as being less likely to use drugs than any of their EU counterparts, with just 4.8 percent admitting to cannabis use and 1.2 percent to other drugs. CYPRUS De Soto hopes for solution befor EU’s December decision UN envoy Alvaro de Soto said in Athens yesterday that he hoped to achieve a settlement for Cyprus before December, when the EU is to decide whether to admit the island and another nine candidates. «Our fervent hope is that… Cyprus enters the EU reunified,» de Soto said after a meeting with Foreign Minister George Papandreou. Kypseli murder Police in Athens yesterday arrested two Iraqi men for the fatal stabbing of a 63-year-old liquor store owner in Kypseli, Athens, on Monday. Franco Giorgis, 22, and Tomas Pioz, 17, allegedly stabbed Antonis Simitzis 10 times before stealing 1,150 euros, police said. The men had spent most of the cash on slot machines by the time of their arrest, they said. Officers caught up with the pair after first tracking down the man who had sold them the scooter on which they made their getaway and which was found abandoned a few blocks from the liquor store. Airport traffic A total of 10 million passengers have passed through Athens’s international airport, the management at Eleftherios Venizelos Airport announced yesterday after awarding a free ticket to the 10 millionth air traveler – who arrived from Milan. Halki Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios and US Ambassador to Turkey Robert Pearson yesterday both reiterated demands that Turkey reopen the Halki Orthodox Seminary, during a visit to Heybeli Island (Halki in Greek) where the theological school is located. «The reopening of the Halki School would be a shining example to Europe and America of Turkey’s dedication to international values of freedom and tolerance,» Pearson said. Turkey closed the school in 1971. Trolley delays Trolley bus passengers are likely to experience delays today due to a four-hour work stoppage by bus service workers, the Athens-Piraeus Trolley Service (ILPAP) said yesterday. A restricted service will be operating between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., ILPAP said. Clocks back Clocks go back one hour on Sunday – from 4 a.m. to 3 a.m. – when Daylight Saving’s Time ends, the Development and Communications ministries said yesterday. Clocks spring forward at the end of March. Anti-war rally A rally in protest against the possibility of US strikes against Iraq is to be held on October 31 in Syntagma Square, followed by a march to the US Embassy, a group of labor unions and peace groups said yesterday. Real-AEK AEK of Athens came from two goals down to clinch a valuable 2-2 draw against defending champion Real Madrid in a Champions League game in Madrid last night.
