News in Crete and Greece. October November 2009

Last-minute shoppers flock to city center
31st December 2009 ekathimerini

The center of Athens was full of last-minute shoppers yesterday as many Greeks
prefer to exchange gifts on January 1, rather than Christmas Day. According to store
owners, festive season turnover from clothing and footwear items is down between
20 and 25 percent relative to last year’s levels, as many consumers are waiting to
take advantage of winter sales commencing January 15. Meanwhile, data released
by the National Statistical Service yesterday showed that Greece’s retail sales by
volume fell 15.3 percent year-on-year in October after a 8.7 percent drop in
September. Retail sales by turnover dropped 14 percent year-on-year in October
after a 7.5 percent drop in the previous month.

Bar fight
29th December 2009 ekathimerini

Police in Hania, Crete, were yesterday searching for three men suspected of
attacking another three people at a local bar in the early hours. A German woman, a
Moroccan man and a Palestinian man had to be taken to hospital for treatment after
the three suspects punched them and struck them with various objects. The motive
for the attack was not clear.

Second taxi driver killed in Thessaloniki
28th December 2009 ekathimerini

Police were yesterday investigating the brutal murder of a 32-year-old Thessaloniki
taxi driver who was found stabbed to death in his cab in the early hours of
Christmas Day.
According to a coroner’s report, the unnamed cabbie had been stabbed six times in
the neck. His vehicle was discovered in the Pylaia neighborhood.
Officers have ruled out the possibility that the unnamed driver was killed during a
botched mugging as they discovered that he still had cash on him.
Police are also examining the driver’s mobile phone, which was found in the car.
They are not ruling out the possibility that this attack was linked to a fatal assault a
few weeks ago on a cabbie in the northern city’s Ano Toumba area.
As a mark of respect, Thessaloniki taxi drivers did not begin work before 2 p.m. on
Boxing Day.

Grief over ship tragedy, measures pledged
27th December 2009 ANA-MPA

The government expressed grief over the loss of nine seamen, including three
Greeks, in a Christmas Day fire aboard the Greek-owned bulk carrier Aegean Wind
off the coast of Venezuela, and pledged that the causes and circumstances of the
tragedy will be investigated in depth and all measures to avert such accidents in the
future will be taken.

Economy, Competitiveness and Shipping minister Louka Katseli, in a message,
expressed her "deep grief for the loss of our seamen, both Greek and foreign", and
the government's "unconditional support to their families".

"For our seamen traveling all over the world, the family warmth and peace of these
holy days is not a given. The tragic event on the Aegean Wind confirms that, even
on Christmas Day, danger lurks," Katseli said, adding that the ministry's services
were mobilised from the first moment upon learning of the incident.

She pledged that the causes and conditions of the tragedy would be investigated in
depth, aimed at the taking of all measures deemed necessary to avert other such
situations in the future.

Greece: Austerity Budget Passed
24th December 2009 NYtimes.com

The Greek Parliament passed a 2010 austerity budget on Thursday that is aimed at
reining in Greece’s soaring deficit by cutting public spending by 10 percent and
cracking down on tax evasion. Elected in October, the Socialist government of
George A. Papandreou faces an acute financial crisis in a country widely seen as the
weak link in the 16-member euro zone. Three international ratings agencies
downgraded Greece’s debt this month after it emerged that its deficit was 12.7
percent of gross domestic product, four times the ceiling set by the European
monetary union and twice what the previous government had reported. Prime
Minister Papandreou has vowed to bring the deficit to below 9.4 percent next year.

COSTAS KARELIAS - VP of largest Greek cigarette firm found dead next to yacht
24th December 2009 ekathimerini

Costas Karelias, the vice president of the Karelia Tobacco Company, Greece's largest
cigarette manufacturer, was yesterday found drowned next to his yacht, which was
moored at a marina in the Peloponnesian port of Kalamata. Police said employees at
the marina discovered the 65-year-old's body in the early hours. Officers were
awaiting the results of an autopsy and forensic tests on Karelias's boat and car,
which was parked next to the marina, before commenting on the cause of death.

Burns victim
24th December 2009 ekathimerini

A 40-year-old man injured in a blast at an olive oil processing plant on Crete on
Sunday died yesterday. Doctors at Athens's KAT hospital said Giorgos Hasourakis, a
father of two, suffered third-degree burns to 90 percent of his body in the accident.

Citizenship draft law hailed by immigrants
24th December 2009 ekathimerini

The decision to introduce a new law that will grant citizenship to second-generation
immigrants in Greece was yesterday applauded by both migrants and groups that
promote their rights.
The Cabinet approved on Tuesday a draft law that would allow children born in
Greece to parents who are immigrants, one of whom must have been living in the
country legally, to apply for Greek citizenship.
The draft law also proposes that foreign children who have attended the first three
years of primary school in Greece or a total of six years of classes at Greek schools
should be eligible for citizenship.
This heralds a new era for immigrants and Greek society, which can now be called a
society of equal rights,” said lawyer Vassilis Chronopoulos, who runs the www.
diavatirio.net site. “The bill shows clear progress from the simple resident’s permits
that were given to first-generation immigrants to the granting of citizenship, which
solves the problems of the second generation.”
The general secretary of the Greek Union for Human Rights (EEDA), Yiannis
Ioannidis, said the bill was “revolutionary.” However, he added that the government
must re-examine the 900-euro fee that immigrants must pay for long-term residence
papers.

Greek civil servants to strike on pensions, wages
December 22nd 2009 Reuters

Greece's civil servants union ADEDY said on Tuesday it plans to hold a 24-hour strike
in late January or early February to protest against government reforms it said were
being forced by markets.
"We will not accept that the cost of the crisis will be borne by our shoulders," the
haead of ADEDY union Spyros Papaspyros told Reuters. "Specific forces from the
markets are attacking us, it is to them that we will answer."
Moody's said on Tuesday that social acceptance of deficit reducing measures would
be key to decide on any further downgrade of the country's rating which it lowered
one notch to A2.

May taxi fare hike put under review
17th December 2009 ekathimerini

A planned hike in taxi charges in May, when fares are due to rise to 0.72 euros per
kilometer from the current 60 cents, is to be reviewed, Infrastructure, Transport and
Networks Minister Dimitris Reppas said yesterday, as cabbies prepared to increase
their fares by 1 euro for the holiday period, starting tomorrow.
The planned increase in May was to be the last in a series of three incremental hikes
that taxi driver unions agreed to last April with Reppas’s conservative predecessor
Evripidis Stylianidis. Reppas’s move was seen as a belated response to a question
submitted in Parliament in October by Dimitris Papadimoulos, a deputy affiliated with
the Coalition of the Radical Left. Papadimoulis had sought a freeze on the second
taxi fare increase that came into effect on November 1. Reacting to rumors of a
possible freeze on scheduled fare hikes last month, taxi unions had threatened to
strike.

Standard and Poor's downgrades Greek credit rating
17th December 2009 AFP

Standard and Poor's Ratings Services on Wednesday downgraded Greece's credit
rating, voicing doubts that recent measures announced by the center-left
government would be able to tame the country's ballooning public debt.
The downgrade came after another agency, Fitch, last week downgraded its own
rating on Greece's national debt.
Greece has been facing its worst debt crisis in decades amid the global recession. It
faces political pressure from the European Union to straighten out its finances and
obey deficit limits intended to support the shared euro currency.
Standard and Poor's said in a statement it was cutting Greece's rating from A- to
BBB+ with a negative outlook.
"The downgrade reflects our opinion that the measures the Greek authorities have
recently announced to reduce the high fiscal deficit are unlikely, on their own, to
lead to a sustainable reduction in the public debt burden." the statement said.
"Moreover, we believe that the government's efforts to reform the public finances
face domestic obstacles that would likely require sustained efforts over a number of
years to overcome."
Greek officials have repeatedly rejected speculation that a debt spiral might force
the country to default on its payments and have pledged to do anything necessary
to right the economy, which entered recession in 2009 after years of robust growth.
But the government has shied away from salary and pension cuts in the country's
bloated public sector, and is moving slowly on crucial pension reforms.

Racist attack
17th December 2009 ekathimerini

Masked vandals early yesterday broke into a building in the Cretan port of Hania
that accommodates a center for immigrants, set fire to furniture and painted
swastika symbols on the interior and exterior walls, according to witnesses. The fire
set by the vandals was small and fizzled out before firemen arrived at the scene,
according to police, who were given descriptions of the perpetrators but had not
traced them by late last night. There had been no one at the center at the time of
the attack and so no injuries were reported.

Media blackout
15th December 2009 ekathimerini

The Athens Union of Journalists (ESIEA) yesterday called a 24-hour strike for
Thursday, protesting recent redundancies at newspapers and proposed reforms to
the country’s pension funds that it fears will be prejudicial to its members. The
strike, due to begin at 6 a.m. on Thursday and to end at the same time the following
day, means no newspapers will circulate on Friday.

Greece's government unveils major spending cuts
14th December 2009 BBC

The Greek prime minister has unveiled a series of spending cuts, warning that the
country is at risk of "sinking under its debts".
George Papandreou said the planned cuts would include a 10% cut in both social
security spending, and overall government operating expenditures.
Calling for national unity, he vowed to reduce Greece's public deficit from the current
12% to under 3% by 2013.
He also announced a 90% tax on the bonuses of senior bank workers. Other
proposals include a cut in defence spending, pay and hiring freezes for public sector
workers, and the closure of a third of Greece's overseas tourism offices.
"We must change or sink," said Mr Papandreou, in a speech to business and union
leaders.

Rectors arrive at asylum consensus
14th December 2009 ekathimerini

Rectors attending a summit on Saturday chaired by Education Minister Anna
Diamantopoulou agreed that the university asylum law preventing police from
entering campuses should not be abolished but effectively enforced, as the minister
called for a tally of all institutions currently under partial occupation by students or
self-styled anarchists.
“We reached a general consensus to work together, with specific initiatives, to
ensure that the ideal of safeguarding university asylum becomes a reality,”
Diamantopoulou said.
These initiatives include determining which areas should be protected by the asylum
law and which should not. “Sidewalks and roads do not fall within the remit of the
law,” the minister said. Diamantopoulou said she also wants a list to be drawn up of
all campuses, or sections of campuses, currently under occupation. “It is
unacceptable for public areas to be under occupation by individuals,” she said.
Rectors will be asked to monitor faculty buildings more carefully and, if they feel it is
necessary, introduce security-boosting measures such as the employment of guards
outside campus gates or the issuing of identity cards to students.

Athens' Christmas tree gets police guard
12th December 2009 AFP

The Christmas tree adorning the Athens city centre will be given a 24-hour police
guard after its predecessor was burned to a crisp during youth riots last year, police
said on Friday.The 15-metre (49-foot) metallic structure covered with scores of small
fir trees will be "discreetly" monitored by police foot patrols, a police source told AFP.
The tree, which is the centrepiece of Athens' Christmas festivities on central
Syntagma Square, is to be lit Friday night.Television footage of last year's burning
tree was one of the most emblematic images of riots sparked by the fatal shooting
of a teenage boy by a policeman whose squad car was allegedly assaulted by a
group of youths.A replacement tree was later also targeted by demonstrators who
pelted it with garbage after authorities ringed it with riot police.
The city of Athens postponed this year's tree unveiling until after street
demonstrations held in several cities last weekend to commemorate 15-year-old
Alexis Grigoropoulos' death on December 6, 2008.
Scores of youths clashed with riot police on the sidelines of the Athens
demonstrations on Sunday and Monday, and the rector of Athens University was
injured in a brief takeover of the university's offices in the city centre.

Flash floods kill at least three in Greece
11th December 2009 Reuters

Flash floods killed three people in central Greece following heavy rainfall, which also
disrupted traffic on sea and land across wide parts of the country, authorities said
on Friday.
The prefecture of Magnesia declared a state of emergency, a civil protection official
said. Two farmers drowned there on Thursday after a torrent trapped them in their
tractors. A third man in the same area was swept away by the waters and found
dead at the bottom of a shaft.
Bad weather may also have led to the death of two illegal immigrants whose boat
capsized in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Leros early on Friday, a coastguard
official said.
Many ferry schedules to the country's numerous islands were cancelled due to high
winds. Heavy rain and snow fall in mountainous areas cut off some villages in the
country's centre and north, civil protection said

Ship freed
11th December 2009 ekathimerini

A Greek-owned cargo ship hijacked off the coast of Madagascar in May was
reportedly released yesterday after the vessel’s Athens-based owner paid a ransom
to Somalian pirates. A spokesman for the firm, Alloceans Shipping, confirmed that a
ransom had been paid, according to Reuters, which was told by a pirate source that
a helicopter had dropped $2.6 million (about 1.7 million euros) onto the deck of the
MT Ariana. The 24-member crew, all Ukrainians, were safe yesterday.

Two in Crete clinic after beating
10th December 2009 ekathimerini

Two migrants, a 26-year-old Moroccan and a 25-year-old Palestinian, yesterday
brought charges against a group of unidentified assailants who are said to have
beaten them with iron bars and knives in a central square in the Cretan port of
Hania on Tuesday night. The two migrants were yesterday receiving treatment in a
clinic in Hania for serious injuries to their heads and arms.

Swine flu
9th December 2009 ekathimerini

Two more people, a 71-year-old woman and a 72-year-old woman, who had
contracted the H1N1 virus died yesterday. Authorities said both women had suffered
underlying health problems. By Monday evening, almost 240,000 people in Greece
had received the jab against swine flu. Anyone interested in being vaccinated can
call 1135 for more details.

Rioting returns to Athens a year after teenager’s death
7th December 2009 ekathimerini

Thousands took part in a peaceful protest to mark a year since Alexis Grigoropoulos
was killed.
There was a fragile calm in central Athens last night after several hours of extensive
rioting that followed protests to mark the one-year anniversary of the shooting of a
teenager by a policeman and as several hundred protesters remained holed up in
the grounds of the University of Athens and the city’s Law School.
According to authorities, some 300 people remained on the campuses of the two
institutions following the clashes with police. Officers were unable to enter the
university campus due to the asylum law.
Earlier, rioters, who used the two institutions as their bases, clashed from roughly 6
p.m. and for about three hours with thousands of police who had been deployed in
the city center to ensure that the anniversary of the killing of Alexis Grigoropoulos by
a special guard passed as peacefully as possible. However, following a calm protest
by thousands of people which began at about 2 p.m., scenes reminiscent of those
that followed Grigoropoulos’s death last year began to play out on the capital’s
streets as rioters threw rocks, burned dumpsters and damaged a dozen stores.
Police reacted by firing tear gas and detaining almost 150 people.ed as peacefully
as possible.

Tax inspectors to target clubs and bars -
Majority of nightspots report net incomes lower than the average for salaried
staff
4th December 2009 Athens Plus

The Special Inspections Service (YPEE) is set to target more than 1,600 nightclubs,
bars, parking businesses and advertising companies that declare suspiciously
meager incomes.
After a recent sweep of 151 private doctors’ surgeries in the upmarket Athens
district of Kolonaki, where one was found to have declared an annual income of just
300 euros, inspectors from the Finance Ministry will scrutinize the books of such
businesses for evidence of tax evasion, as well as looking into whether they have
committed any other tax violations.
Data sent to YPEE by the General Secretariat for Information Systems show that
three out of four nightclubs and bars declare net incomes of less than 15,000 euros
a year or even losses.

ATM theft
2nd December 2009 ekathimerini

Unidentified thieves yanked an ATM of Pancretan Bank from the wall in the Cretan
port of Iraklio yesterday and fled with some 90,000 euros in cash the machine was
believed to have contained. Police found two trucks, one mounted with a crane, and
the tools believed to have been used by the thieves in the mountain village of
Psiloriti, near Anogeia.

PRIMARY EDUCATION -Government insists children go to nursery school before
classes
2nd December 2009 ekathimerini

The government said yesterday that it is overturning a law passed by the previous
New Democracy administration that would have allowed children to enter primary
school without having first spent time at a nursery school as of next year. Deputy
Education Minister Evi Christofilopoulou said that only children who are at a nursery
school, even one without an operating license, this year would be admitted to
primary school next year. She said the government aims to make it compulsory for
children to have two years of preschool education before starting classes at primary
school.

Samaras takes helm of New Democracy
1st December 2009 ekathimerini

Antonis Samaras took over yesterday as the leader of New Democracy from Costas
Karamanlis after scoring a clear victory in Sunday’s election, which is seen as a clear
mandate for the former finance, foreign and culture minister to begin reshaping the
conservative party.
With almost all of the votes counted by last night, Samaras had taken 50.31 percent
of the vote, compared to 39.34 for his main rival Dora Bakoyannis and 10.34 for
Thessaloniki Prefect Panayiotis Psomiadis.
Many had expected that none of the candidates would get the 50 percent needed
to prevent a second round. But Samaras’s percentage represented a major victory
for him, especially considering that Psomiadis was regarded to be diverting votes
from the would-be ND leader. Conversely, the result was a huge blow for ex-Foreign
Minister Bakoyannis, who pledged that she would back the new party president,
despite significant disagreements during the six-week campaign.

Disgraced teacher -Porn ring suspect suspended
1st December 2009 ekathimerini

Education Minister Anna Diamantopoulou said yesterday that she had ordered the
immediate suspension of a school teacher in Kavala, northern Greece, and also
asked a disciplinary council to consider his dismissal. The teacher is one of 17 people
arrested by police last week as suspected members of a child pornography racket.

Double heist in Crete
27th November 2009 ekathimerini

Two armed raids took place almost simultaneously at banks in a central square in
Acharnes, near the Cretan port of Iraklio, yesterday morning. Two gunmen allegedly
robbed one bank, while a third held up another branch on the other side of the
square. The three fled together in a car being driven by an accomplice, according to
police, who said the perpetrators netted about 50,000 euros.

Human trafficking
23rd November 2009 ekathimerini

Six undocumented immigrants and a suspected trafficker were arrested following a
brief car chase in Evros, northeastern Greece, on Saturday. The car in which the
seven men were traveling was stopped by border guards in the Tavris area. In a
separate incident, authorities announced that they had arrested four suspected
people smugglers and five illegal immigrants in Alexandroupoli after a surveillance
observation. No further details were made public.

Greece confirms 12 new flu A H1N1 related deaths
23rd November 2009 express,gr

Another three H1N1-related deaths were reported in Greece over the weekend,
with victims in all cases suffering from serious pre-existing conditions, health officials
said.

In the first instance, a 16-year-old teen tested positive for "new flu" in Thessaloniki,
suffered severe respiratory and multiple organ failure while being treated in a local
hospital. Also an 11 year old girl suffered from tuberculosis.

Additionally, a 70-year-old man, also in Thessaloniki, succumbed to a severe form of
pneumonia in a local hospital's ICU. He was earlier diagnosed with H1N1. The total
number of deaths from new (swine flu) A H1N1 virus in Greece, to November 22,
2009, is twelve.

Doctors’ strike
21st November 2009 ekathimerini

State hospital doctors said yesterday that they would go on strike on November 30
to demand more government spending on the health system and the hiring of 2,000
more doctors. The doctors said that they would only treat patients thought to be
suffering from the H1N1 virus on November 30.

Tom Tom introduces car navigation products in Greece
20th November 2009 Phantis

Navigation device maker TomTom is launching three car navigation products in
Greece. TomTom is offering the mid-range TomTom XL (regional and Europe) and
entry-level TomTom One (regional).
The new Greek TomTom website is live at tomtom.com, featuring extensive
information about products and services available in Greece. All TomTom products
feature a touch screen with an intuitive navigation menu and icons in Greek. It also
features clear voice instructions and EasyPort mount.
Tele Atlas and Geointelligence are proving the maps of Greece. In addition to a pre-
installed map, TomTom will provide customers buying the XL model with a full year of
free map updates, offering every map version released in the first year for free.
TomTom Map Share is a free map improvement technology which allows drivers to
improve their maps directly on the device as soon as they spot changes in the roads.

Rhodes child porn arrest third in a week
21st November 2009 ekathimerini

A 60-year-old man from Rhodes yesterday became the third person in Greece in a
week to be charged with possession of child pornography after the police conducted
a raid on his house based on information they received from Interpol.
Electronic crime squad officers traveled to the island from Athens and, with the help
of local law enforcement, visited the suspect's property, where they seized some
5,000 DVDs containing indecent images of children.
Sources said that Interpol had informed the police about people from Greece who
were downloading child porn from a specific website hosted in another country.
Earlier in the week a 46-year-old lawyer and a 26-year-old employee of a private
company were arrested in Kilkis, northern Greece, following another Interpol tip-off.
The two men were released on bail yesterday.

Mother bear, cub rescued after being stranded on NW Greece highway
19th November express.gr

A female bear and her 10-month-old cub were rescued on Tuesday morning after
police stopped traffic on a provincial roadway in northwest Greece, allowing the two
disoriented animals to calm down and move toward the nearby Aliakmon River forest.
This was the third such incident recorded in the specific region over the past month,
while numerous crossings of bears and their cubs have been reported.
The animal conservation group Arcturos, called in to help remove the bears from the
Neapolis - Kastoria highway -- near the village of Kostarazi -- praised the concerned
citizen that called police to report the two animals in distress.
One of the eight fatal road accidents involving bears recorded this year took place in
the specific region. The protective fence along the Egnatia motorway and
intersecting roadways built to keep animals out has collapsed in many parts of the
network making it dangerous for motorists and animals alike.

Athens Technical University anger over charges
19th November 2009 ekathimerini

The National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) said yesterday that it is the victim
of “coordinated attacks” after a prosecutor charged rector Constantinos Moutzouros
over the institution’s failure to stop its computer terminals being used to update the
website of the Athens branch of the anti-capitalist news network Indymedia.
Earlier this year OTE telecom threatened to cut the NTUA’s Internet connection
because by allowing the Indymedia site to be updated from its computers, the NTUA
was breaching its contract with the telecommunications company. This week, a
prosecutor took action against the university because the Indymedia site does not
serve any “educational or research purpose.”

In a statement issued yesterday the university said that it refused to engage in any
kind of censorship “regardless of the ideological or political gap that may separate it
from the opinions being expressed.”

Greece edge Ukraine to reach World Cup
19th November 2009 AFP

Greece reached the World Cup finals for the first time since 1994 on Wednesday
with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Ukraine in the return leg of their European zone
play-off.
Panathinaikos striker Dimitris Salpingidis netted the only goal of the match sending
Greece, the 2004 European champions, into their second World Cup finals after a 16-
year absence.
"I'm proud of my players. They put all of their heart and soul into today's match,"
said Greece manager Otto Rehhagel.

Violence flares at Greek marches
18th November AFP

Greek police fired tear gas and detained more than 200 people as clashes broke out
with stone-throwing protesters at a march to honour a 1973 anti-junta student
revolt in Athens on Tuesday.
Three police officers were injured as violence flared at the end of the demonstration.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators including students and adolescents marched
through Athens city centre, chanting slogans against capitalism and NATO and in
favour of migrants' legalisation.
Around 6,500 officers were deployed across Athens for the annual march to the US
embassy which is often marred by clashes between anarchists and riot police.
Tensions were particularly high this year as the event came nearly 12 months after
the fatal shooting of teenager Alexis Grigoropoulos by a policeman, which sparked
riots across Greece.
Protestors chanted: "Police traitors, murderers, torturers" and "Americans out" while
some carried a placard reading "Remember December, the 6th December" in English
-- referring to the date of the Grigoropoulos shooting.
Uniformed soldiers and sailors from the Greek military trade union marched behind a
banner which read: "No soldiers beyond our borders. Dissolve NATO".
The march began late afternoon at the Athens Polytechnic, where at least 44 people
were killed in the 1973 student uprising.
The annual demonstration often takes on an anti-American tone because of
Washington's support for the military regime that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974.

Teen shooting trial put off until January
18th November 2009 ekathimerini

The trial of two policemen implicated in the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Alexis
Grigoropoulos last December, due to take place in Amfissa, central Greece, on
December 15, was yesterday postponed until January 20.

Court sources said that the trial was postponed due to a backlog of cases. Originally
scheduled to take place in Athens, the trial of Epaminondas Korkoneas and Vassilis
Saraliotis was moved to Halkida, Evia, to avert mass protests, and then shifted to
Amfissa when it emerged that activists were planning protests in Halkida on the day
of the trial.

The trial is to go ahead in Amfissa on January 20 despite protests by local
authorities and by the teenager’s family, who wants it to be held in Athens fearing
that certain key witnesses will not travel to Amfissa.

Hotel deaths
18 November 2009 ekathimerini

A new probe was launched yesterday into the death of two guests over 24 hours at
a hotel in Thessaloniki earlier this month from suspected carbon monoxide
poisoning. Prosecutor Giorgos Bombolis wants to establish whether an engineer
who visited the hotel after the first death had been negligent in not closing it down
and as a result may have been guilty of the second guest's manslaughter.

Fatal fire
17th November 2009 ekathimerini

Fire service workers in the Cretan prefecture of Iraklio yesterday removed the
charred corpses of two Pakistani nationals from a derelict house where they had
been living in the area. According to a coroner, the migrants had probably died of
suffocation after inhaling toxic fumes from the fire.

Greek police capture helicopter fugitive
16th November 2009 AP

A convicted murderer in Greece who made a dramatic prison escape by helicopter
earlier this year was arrested near Athens on Monday, police said.
Alket Rizaj, of Albania, was arrested with a female companion at an isolated house
near the town of Marathon, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Athens, Greater
Athens crime squad director Yiannis Dikopoulos said.
Rizaj escaped from Greece's largest prison, located in Athens, on Feb. 22 along with
bank robber Vassilis Paleokostas, who has not been captured. Both were whisked
out of the Korydallos prison in a helicopter rented and then hijacked at gunpoint by
their accomplices.
It was the second time they escaped from that prison, staging a repeat of their
2006 chopper getaway. They were both recaptured after the first escape.
On Monday, Rizaj surrendered peacefully after police surrounded the building,
Dikopoulos said.
"Police seized two automatic weapons, two handguns, a large amount of
ammunition, and several hand grenades," Dikopoulos said. "He changed homes
often and used several different cars. We are investigating his possible involvement
in any serious crimes since (his escape)."

Police detain terror suspect
16th November 2009 ekathimerini

A 22-year-old female student charged with membership of the terrorist group
Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire,which has claimed responsibility for several attacks
this year, is to face an investigating magistrate today.
The woman was arrested on Saturday with another two suspects who were later
released. She has been detained in the past in connection to gas canister
bombings, according to police who said her fingerprints had been found in the terror
group’s hideout in Halandri, northern Athens. Three suspected members of the
group have been held since September and arrest warrants have been issued for
another six. In a related development, police detained a 24-year-old man arrested
after around 50 hooded youths attacked riot police in Exarchia, central Athens, early
Saturday. Another man arrested at the scene was released. Sources close to the 24-
year-old said witnesses could prove that he had been a bystander.

Aspis Pronia chief questioned
14th November 2009 ekathimerini

The president of the Aspis Pronia life insurance firm, Pavlos Psomiadis, was released
from custody on 100,000-euro bail after facing a magistrate who is investigating
allegations that he supplied the company’s Greek creditors with a false 550-million-
euro letter of guarantee from British bank HSBC in order to keep his business afloat.
Four of Aspis’s insurance companies had their licenses revoked in September.

Turkish business mission to Hania
14th November ANA

One hundred and forty-five entrepreneurs from Turkey on Friday visited the
Chamber of Commerce of Hania, Crete, part of a visit to enhance trade between
Turkey and the region.
"Turkey as is widely known, has low production costs because it has low labor
costs" according to Hania Chamber of Commerce president Evangelos Spanoudakis,
adding that "enterprises for their own interest, prefer to buy products from Turkey".
It was the second visit that Turkish entrepreneurs from the Izmir Chamber of
Commerce paid to Hania over the past two years.
Turkish entrepreneurs represented sectors of clothing, beverages, footwear,
furniture, building materials, tourism and electronics.

Sex ring lured women with voodoo threats
13th November 2009 ekathimerini

A criminal ring believed to have lured more than 40 Nigerian women to Greece from
their homeland with bogus promises of legitimate jobs and then to have blackmailed
their victims with the threat of voodoo curses, has been broken, police in Athens
said yesterday.
Officers said they rescued five young Nigerian women who had been held captive by
traffickers demanding a ransom of 80,000 euros from each of the women's families.
Police also detained a 20-year-old Nigerian woman who is believed to have
facilitated the racket and are now seeking her husband, a Nigerian with Greek
citizenship thought to have played a key role in the scam.
The members of the ring are alleged to have blackmailed their victims to work as
prostitutes, threatening to place curses on their relatives through the use of
voodoo, which is still practiced and feared in many African countries.

Eurozone concerned about Greece
12th November 2009 ekathimerini

Greece’s public finances have become a “concern for the whole euro area,”
according to European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Joaquin
Almunia, who said the Greek government needs to move ahead with crucial
institutional reforms.
Economic statistics provided by Greece “were completely wrong,” Almunia said in
Brussels yesterday, adding that the challenges facing the country are “high” and “a
question of common concern for the whole euro area.”
Greece admitted last month that its budget deficit will come in at 12.7 percent of
gross domestic product in 2009 as opposed to the 3.7 percent shortfall originally
estimated.
Responding to the comments, Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou said in
Athens that the government is determined to restore the credibility of its
macroeconomic statistics and reduce its large fiscal deficit.
“A country that has a deficit of 12.7 percent of GDP and a public debt with the
dynamics of ours clearly creates a broader concern in the eurozone,” he told
reporters.
In its autumn forecasts, released last week, the EU’s executive Commission sees
Greece’s budget deficit remaining above 12 percent of GDP through to 2011 – at
12.2 percent in 2010 and 12.8 percent in 2011.
“We do not share the European Commission’s projections that see the [Greek
budget] deficit over 12 percent in the coming years. This projection was made
without taking into account the change in policy,” said Papaconstantinou, who
believes he can lower the budget deficit to below 10 percent next year.
“We are changing policy and this will be reflected in the next budgets,” he said.

Inmate protest
12th November 2009 ekathimerini

The 153 inmates of a jail in the Cretan prefecture of Hania yesterday launched a
hunger strike to protest detention conditions at the institution. The inmates are
chiefly protesting overcrowding in the jails.

Acropolis Suicide Leap
Reuters 11th November 2009

A man died after jumping off Greece's Acropolis, a major tourist attraction visited by
millions every year, police said Tuesday. Tourists witnessed the man's plunge, police
said, adding he was not Greek and believed to be in his late twenties. "Witnesses
said he ran and jumped off the Acropolis hill killing himself," a police official said. "We
believe it is a suicide but we are still investigating." Police said it was a rare case but
not the first time someone had jumped off the 150-metre-high flat-topped rock on
top of which stands the fifth century BC Parthenon temple built in the Golden Age of
Athens.

No anonymity with prepaid cell phones
10th November 2009 ekathimerini

Owners of cell phones operating on prepaid cards, rather than those acquired by
contract, will henceforth be obliged to submit their personal details, in accordance
with a law passed earlier this year to curb terrorism and crime.

Those who already have prepaid cell phones must submit their details to the retailer
where they purchased the device by July 2010, a deadline that was imposed by the
aforementioned law but has not been enforced. The details required include the
holder’s name, address and number of their identification card or passport. Owners
must also present their subscriber identity module (SIM) card.

The regulation also applies to new purchases of prepaid cell phones. Authorities
decided to retract the previous anonymity enjoyed by owners of prepaid cell phones
when it emerged that crime rings used them to plot their activities.

Smoking ban is re-examined
11th November 2009 ekathimerini

The ban on smoking in most bars and cafes is not being adhered to nor applied
properly, the government said yesterday, adding that it is launching a review of the
law that was passed earlier this year after pressure from the European Union.
Health Minister Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou said that she had noted “great gaps in
the application of the smoking ban” and would be re-examining the legal framework
supporting it.
At the end of last month, it was revealed that state inspectors had received more
than 2,500 complaints about people violating the ban. It also emerged that some
2,200 cafe and bar owners in Athens had applied to turn their venues into all-
smoking establishments but that none of the paperwork had been processed by
authorities, in most cases because the applications were incomplete.
Xenogiannakopoulou said she wants to address such problems.
The president of the National Coordinating Committee against Smoking, Panayiotis
Behrakis, recommended yesterday that the government not allow any exceptions to
the law and ban smoking in all public places.

Georgian gets 20 years in jail for killing actor
11th November 2009 ekathimerini

An Athens court yesterday passed down a 20-year jail sentence on a 31-year-old
Georgian national charged with the murder of popular actor Nikos Sergianopoulos in
June 2008 at the latter’s home in the eastern Athens district of Pangrati.
The court voted unanimously to convict David Murtikneli on charges of murder, illegal
arms possession and illegal entry into the country.
The lawyers representing Murtikneli said they would appeal the verdict. Defending
himself in court at the end of last month, the 31-year-old claimed that his victim had
tried to force him to have sex with him at knife-point after they both took cocaine.
Murtikneli claimed then that the influence of the drug made him lose his grip on
reality. He did not make any comments after the verdict was announced yesterday

Gender inequality
11th November 2009 ekathimerini
Women take home salaries some 20 percent lower than men, according to a report
by the Ombudsman, whose findings were made public yesterday. The Ombudsman
said it received 230 complaints between May 2008 and April 2009 regarding sexual
discrimination. Of these, 77 percent were submitted by women, with 83 percent
citing unfair treatment in the workplace.

Air Force celebrates patron saint
9th November 2009 ANA/MPA

The Hellenic Air Force on Sunday celebrated the feast of its patron saint, the
Archangel Michael, in airbases throughout the country.
The main celebration, at the airforce base in Dekeleia, was attended by national
defence minister Evangelos Venizelos.
Addressing the event, Chief of the Air Force General Staff (GEA) Lt. Gen. Vassilios
Klokozas assured the minister that the Air Force was prepared to do its duty
wherever and whenever required.
Venizelos, in turn, said that the Greek State and the entire Greek people on this day
pay tribute to the guardians of the Greek skies.

Like every year, the Air Force is celebrating its patron saint by also opening up all air
bases to the public up until Monday.

Hotel owner charged over CO poisoning deaths
9th November 2009 ANA/MPA

A public prosecutor on Saturday charged the 34-year-old owner of the Hotel Nepheli
in Thessaloniki's Panorama district with two counts manslaughter through
negligence and causing bodily harm through negligence after two guests died of
carbon monoxide poisoning in the hotel. The charges are being prosecuted as
misdemeanours.
The hotel owner was released after he was charged.
The manslaughter charges relate to the deaths of two young men aged 27 and 28
years old, one of them a father of one, who were found dead in different rooms
within the hotel over a period of 24 hours and proved to have died of inhaling
carbon monoxide fumes in their sleep. The second charge relates to a third guest
staying in the hotel that felt unwell and lost consciousness.
The prosecutor said that the evidence file submitted to the public prosecutor was
judged incomplete and returned to the Panorama police station, which was asked to
include the coroner's report on the two deaths and the experts' report on the
hotel's central heating system.
The hotel owner has claimed that the technicians installing a new gas-fuelled central
heating system in the hotel four years earlier had failed to inform him that he
needed to carry out yearly maintenance and that he had two maintenance
technicians on his staff.
The Central Macedonia Tourism Directorate is expected to issue a decision
temporarily closing down the hotel within the next 24 hours.

One dead, another missing in rainstorms
9th November 2000 ekathimerini

For the second time in two weeks, heavy rain in various parts of Greece has caused
a loss of life, as one person was killed and another two went missing yesterday.
A man was found dead in Grevena, northern Greece, after his car was swept away
by onrushing water as he was driving between the villages of Trikokia and Karpero.
The man was not named or further identified.
Rescue teams were yesterday searching for a 42-year-old man after the car in which
he was traveling with his wife and daughter was also swept away when they
attempted to cross a river swollen by rainwater in the Aridaia municipality in Pella,
northern Greece.
The unnamed man’s 35-year-old wife and 17-year-old daughter managed to get out
of the vehicle and swim to the banks of the river but he has been missing since the
incident, which occurred at about 4 a.m.
Firefighters and locals were yesterday helping in the effort to find the vehicle and
the missing man.
A search-and-rescue operation was also taking place yesterday off the coast of
Hania, Crete, after reports that a boat with one person on board had capsized.

Cretan arms
9th November 2009 ekathimerini

Acting on a tip-off, police on Crete arrested two men, aged 24 and 21, in
Geropotamos, near Rethymno, yesterday after discovering a cache of weapons in a
farmhouse. Officers seized two Kalashnikov assault rifles, an M1 rifle, several
handguns, a hand grenade, 62 detonators and 1,300 bullets. The arms will be sent
to police central headquarters so they can be examined by forensic scientists.

EXPLOSIVE CARGO - Truck with gas canisters seized
9th November 2009 ekathimerini

The driver of a truck carrying 6,500 camping gas canisters, 500 liters of kerosene
and 90 liters of natural gas was arrested in Iraklio, Crete, on Saturday, after illegally
boarding a passenger ferry with the vehicle. It is against the law for dangerous
substances, such as natural gas, to be transported on passenger ferries. In this
case, the driver had boarded the ferry, which was carrying some 1,500 passengers,
in Piraeus. The truck and its contents were seized.

Somali pirates
9th November 2009 AFP

A Greek cargo ship hijacked last week was being taken toward the Somali coast but
its crew members remained unharmed, the ship’s operating company said Saturday.
“The master of the vessel has reported that the crew are unharmed and the vessel
is sailing toward the Somali coast,” Athens-based Meadway Shipping and Trading
Inc said in a statement. Meadway Inc said the cargo ship, Delvina, was hijacked
early on Thursday northeast of the Comoros Islands in the Indian Ocean. It had
been sailing from Ukraine to Mombasa in Kenya.

Student clashes
5th November 2009 ekathimerini
Tension returned to the Athens University of Economics and Business yesterday
when clashes between students affiliated to ruling PASOK and opposition New
Democracy broke out for the third time in less than a week. The row has been
sparked by the two groups’ political differences.

H1N1 VIRUS - Mass vaccination program will start on November 16
4th November 2009 ekathimerini
A mass innoculation program aimed at vaccinating the population against swine flu
is to begin on November 16 when the first batch of vaccines for the H1N1 virus is
administered to health workers, it was revealed yesterday. In a circular distributed
to hospitals and local authorities, Health Minister Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou
heralded the formation at all major hospitals of swine flu committees and vaccination
teams. The latter will each comprise at least one doctor and one nurse. The week
beginning November 16 will be devoted to the vaccination of nursing staff but some
citizens of exceptionally fragile health will also be able to get their jabs on their
doctor’s recommendation. The following week, beginning November 23, will be set
aside for the vaccination of vulnerable citizens, chiefly those suffering from other
serious ailments.

Strong tremor
5th November 2009 ekathimerini

A powerful undersea quake, measuring between 5.6 and 5.9 on the Richter scale,
struck between the Ionian islands of Zakynthos and Cephalonia at 7.25 a.m.
yesterday. The quake, whose epicenter was approximately 10 kilometers below the
seabed, was felt on both islands but there were no reports of any damage or
injuries.

Three candidates to vie for ND leadership
3rd November 2009 ANA/ APE

Former Athens mayor and health minister Dimitris Avramopoulos on Monday
announced that he was bowing out of the race to succeed main opposition New
Democracy leader Costas Karamanlis at the party's helm, saying he does not want
to be part of any "crisis" in the party amid the ongoing election process.
Avramopoulos' decision now leaves three candidates: former ministers Dora
Bakoyannis and Antonis Samaras and current Thessaloniki Prefect Panagiotis
Psomiadis.
In qualifying his decision, he again reiterated his proposal for allowing "friends" and
"supporters" of the party, beyond registered rank-and-file members, the right to
vote for a new ND president.
The withdrawal comes just days ahead of an ND extraordinary Congress on the
weekend that will decide amendments to the party's Charter provisions for the
election of the party president, with the aim of broadening the voter base.

Car Withdrawal Abolished
2nd November 2009 ERT

Finance and Environment Ministers announced abolition of car withdrawal measure
underlining the huge fiscal cost for the state budget, the limited benefit for the
environment and minimum boost of the country’s productivity as it does not have a
car industry. Souflias’ measure will be in force for ones that have withdrawn their
cars to present. The measure announced also changes road tax charges on the
grounds of environmental incentives and introduction of social criteria.
Finance Minsiter G. Papakonstantinou and Environment Minster Tina Birbilis
announced abolition of car withdrawal.The Ministers’ Council have already signed
the new act which will be approved on Tuesday
Mr. Papakonstantinou said that the measure has no environmental gain, do not
boost Greek economy as it does not have a car industry while it has a huge fiscal
cost, mounting to 400 million euros per year.
Ones who have withdrawn their cars will receive the compensation provided by the
former measure which is €1000 or €500 and two mass transport travel cards.
Environment Minister Tina Birbilis announced changes in road tax charges which
reduce burden on small cars and increase charges on big engine cars which
consume more energy. Road taxes are divided in four groups depending on the size
of engine.

New tax levies on companies, fuel, tobacco, alcohol
31st October 2009 ekathimerini

The first wave of taxes from the new government aimed at bolstering revenues will
include a rise in the special consumption tax on fuel, alcohol and tobacco, as well as
the imposition of an extraordinary levy on major profitable enterprises.
The package is set to be submitted by the government’s economy ministers in the
next few days, with consumption tax set to rise from the start of next year so that
the state coffers can gain about 1 billion euros more than they did this year.
The bill to be tabled will not include any changes in the income tax brackets and the
tax system in general. Those changes will likely be included in a new bill scheduled
for February or March 2010.
Forthcoming changes in property taxation have worried owners, who are rushing to
transfer properties to their children. The government’s intention to abolish the single
property tax and reintroduce the large property holding tax (FMAP) and levies for
parental concession and inheritance has forced many taxpayers to proceed
immediately with real estate transfers so as to avoid the taxes on them.
According to reports, most of the transactions taking place at present concern
parents leaving property with considerable value to their children.

Building Code - Law on alterations suspended
31st October 2009 ekathimerini

The previous government’s law allowing homeowners to pay a penalty to put in
order illegally altered parts of their properties was officially suspended yesterday
following instructions given by Environment Minister Tina Birbili. The PASOK
government has said it will freeze this regulation for six months so that it can decide
what to do. Birbili, however, did not make clear yesterday whether any changes will
be made to the car scrappage scheme introduced by the previous government. Any
announcement is likely to be made next week.

Ban Ki-Moon- UN secretary-general to make first official visit to Greece
31st October 2009 ekathimerini

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is to arrive in Athens on Tuesday in
the first ever official visit by the head of the organization. Ban, who earlier this week
pressed Cyprus leaders to seek the necessary promises to reach a settlement, is
due to discuss the Cyprus issue, illegal immigration, climate change and the
economic crisis with political leaders.

Seized ship
31st October 2009 ekathimerini

A spokesman for All Oceans, the company that owns the Greek ship Ariana which
was hijacked by Somali pirates in May, told the Athens News Agency late on
Thursday that no deal for its release had been reached. Earlier a Reuters news
agency report suggested that the company had agreed to pay a $3.5 million ransom
for the ship’s release and the pirates would leave the vessel as soon as the money
arrived.

Winter Games
30th October 2009 ekathimerini

After an eight-day trip around Greece, the Olympic Flame will be flown to Canada for
a 45,000-kilometer journey ahead of the Winter Games in February. The
International Olympic Committee criticized Greece’s decision to allow disgraced
hurdler Fani Halkia to take part in the Vancouver flame relay. Halkia is serving a
doping ban after testing positive for steroids at the 2008 Beijing Games.

6 Greek police officers wounded in attack on police station
28th October 2009 AP

Gunmen on a motorcycle fired on a suburban Athens police station with automatic
weapons late Tuesday, wounding six police officers, authorities said.
The attack occurred after Greece's new Socialist government promised to crack
down on anarchist and far-left militant groups that have stepped up bombings and
shootings in the wake of riots in Athens and other cities in December.
Two officers were seriously wounded in Tuesday's shooting, which occurred at 9:40
p.m. (1840 GMT, 2:40 p.m. EDT) in the Agia Paraskevi area, north of the Greek
capital, police said. Four other officers were hospitalized with less serious injuries,
while a bystander was treated for shock, state hospital officials said.
"This was a cowardly and murderous attack ... it was 100 percent terrorism," said
Michalis Chrisochoidis, a government minister in charge of police.
Two men on a motorcycle stopped and opened fire on police officers standing
outside the station before driving away. The gunmen fired about 50 shots,
authorities said.
Officers from the police's anti-terrorism division gathered evidence at the targeted
police station, while police stopped and searched vehicles across northern Athens.
No group claimed responsibility for the shooting, but suspicion fell on far-left militant
groups that have increased attacks since the December riots that were triggered by
the fatal shooting of a teenage boy by police.

Eight illegals drown off Lesvos
28 October 2009 ANA-MPA

The government will not allow Greece to become open to all comers nor a purgatory
of souls, Citizens' Protection Minister Mihalis Chrysohoidis stressed after yet another
tragic incident involving illegal migrants on Tuesday, in which eight people lost their
lives in an attempt to reach Greek shores.
All eight illegal migrants, among them five children, were drowned after a speedboat
carrying 17 people crashed into the rocky shores of Cape Korakas, on the northern
part of Lesvos island early Tuesday.
The minister stressed that the European Union also bore a share of responsibility for
dealing with the migration crisis unfolding on its southeastern borders, with 300-400
illegal migrants daily attempting to enter Greece and from there carry on to the
interior of the EU in any way possible.
According to reports on Tuesday's accident, the vessel was carrying 16 migrants and
a 45-year-old Turkish migrant-smuggler, having set off from the opposite Turkish
coast. The suspected migrant smuggler was amongst those rescued off the eastern
Aegean island.

Emergency landing
24th October 2009 ekathimerini

A Thomson Airlines aircraft that had been en route to London from the Cretan port
of Iraklio early yesterday conducted an emergency landing at Athens’s International
Airport. The plane landed in Athens for a preventive inspection after one of its
windows was found to be cracked.

Scooter fatalities
24th October 2009 ekathimerini

A 38-year-old Greek man and a 25-year-old Bulgarian women were killed in separate
road accidents involving scooters in the Cretan prefecture of Hania yesterday. In the
first incident, the 38-year-old driver of a scooter veered off the road near Souda Bay
and hit a protective barrier, suffering fatal injuries. In the second incident, a German
woman driving a car collided with a scooter being driven by a Bulgarian man. The
crash caused the death of the scooter driver’s 25-year-old Bulgarian wife who had
been a passenger on the bike.

Turkey’s tourists
24th October 2009 ekathimerini

The number of foreign visitors to Turkey rose 5.2 percent year-on-year in September
to 3.14 million with the global recovery showing signs of recovery, the Tourism
Ministry said yesterday. In the first nine months of the year the number of foreign
visitors, an important source of foreign currency for Turkey, rose 1.47 percent to
21.83 million. A total of 26.336 million tourists visited Turkey in 2008, and 21.830
million in the first nine months of this year, making it one of the top destinations in
the Mediterranean. (Reuters)
Empty beds lead to sharp drop in income for Athens hotels
23rd October 2009 ekathimerini
A new batch of figures released yesterday on tourism showed the sector is reeling
from the economic crisis despite efforts to attract visitors with lower prices. The
Athens & Attica Hotel Association said five- and four-star hotels saw receipts dip by
22 and 18 percent respectively in the first nine months of 2009. Price discounts of
around 10 percent were offered by the two categories in the January to September
period but occupancy rates were 9 to 13 percent down, the group added. Earlier
this week, the Bank of Greece said tourism receipts fell 13 percent to 7.5 billion
euros in the first eight months of 2009.

Fatal stabbing
21st October 2009 ekathimerini
Police on Crete yesterday were investigating the death of a 79-year-old man whose
body was found in his home at Tsivara, in the prefecture of Hania, with 24 stab
wounds to his neck. The victim, found on Monday by his niece, is believed to have
died on Sunday.

Grass roots to elect ND leader
19th October 2009 ekathimerini

The election of the new leader of the conservative New Democracy party following
its crushing defeat in polls earlier this month is to take place on December 6 in a
vote by party members rather than delegates of a forthcoming party congress, it
emerged over the weekend.
The four New Democracy deputies who have declared their candidacy to replace
outgoing prime minister Costas Karamanlis as party leader – Dora Bakoyannis,
Dimitris Avramopoulos, Antonis Samaras and Panayiotis Psomiadis – have all agreed
for the vote to be held at grassroots level, the head of the organizing committee for
the party’s forthcoming congress, Dimitris Sioufas, said on Saturday.
Sioufas said that certain amendments would need to be made to the party charter
ahead of its congress on November 7 to allow party members to vote. Citizens who
are not members of ND but would like to sign up will be able to do so on the day of
the vote, he added.
In addition, Sioufas said, the race for party leader would be opened up to new
aspirants who have until Thursday to submit their candidacy.

Doctors convicted
17th October 2009 ekathimerini

A court in the Cretan court of Iraklio yesterday convicted two medics in connection
with the death of a 9-year-old boy who underwent an operation to have his tonsils
removed at their private clinic. The surgeon was given three years in jail and the
anaesthetist had his license to practice revoked for a year. Neither have the right to
appeal their sentences.

Showers lead to flooding on mainland
17th October 2009 ekathimerini

Heavy thunderstorms and rainfall yesterday in Attica and across the Peloponnese
caused widespread flooding and problems on the roads. Severe conditions provoked
brief power cuts in parts of Attica. In the Peloponnese, crops were damaged and a
large hospital in Tripoli was forced to suspend several surgeries and to close its
maternity clinic after rainwater started leaking into the building from the roof. The
fire service received dozens of telephone calls to pump water out of flooded ground-
floor and basement apartments and stores in many parts of the country.
At Delphi, part of the archaeological site was closed yesterday for safety reasons
after heavy rain in the area. The Culture Ministry said that a team of experts is
examining the problem caused by the rainfall, which led to the upper part of the site,
including the ancient theater and stadium, being cordoned off.

Some 125,000 flu jabs ready
16th October 2009 ekathimerini

Greece has received 125,000 H1N1 flu vaccines and health experts have been asked
to work out who should be inoculated as a matter of priority. Health Minister Mariliza
Xenogiannakopoulou met yesterday for the first time since being appointed with the
members of the National Flu Pandemic Council to discuss plans to vaccinate the
country’s entire population. It was also decided during the meeting that for a
schoolchild to be suspected of having the virus and thus taken out of school, he or
she would have to have a temperature of 38 Celsius and to be coughing. So far,
more than 2,300 people have contracted the virus in Greece.

Private colleges suing university teachers
15th October 2009

The legal battle over whether private colleges in Greece, which operate as
franchises of foreign universities, will be given proper licenses took another twist
yesterday when the owners of these institutions decided to sue Greek state
university professions for defamation.
The Panhellenic Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (POSDEP) and the
Federation of Technical College Professors (OSEP) are opposed to the operation of
private colleges and have issued numerous statements challenging their teaching
quality but mainly their legal status.
Now, the Hellenic Colleges’ Association says it will “take all legal means” against the
two unions, arguing that POSDEP and OSEP have caused “grave moral and financial
damage” to the colleges. The move comes as the government is reviewing a last-
minute New Democracy decision to grant licenses to 41 colleges.

Heating Oil Supply Starts Tomorrow
14th October 2009 Ert

Supply of heating oil, sold from 52-55 cents per liter, starts on Thursday. “Strict
inspections will be carried out at all stages of transport, trade and supply of fuel”
said the undersecretary for Environment, Energy and Climate Change Yiannis
Maniatis to representatives of fuel market, adding that prices are lower compared to
last year. He also called all sectors involved to show restrain as regards profits.
Price of heating oil is expected to range between 52-55 cents per liter this year,
23% lower compared to 2008 starting price 68-71 cents per litter.
For heating-oil order below 1000 liters, price goes up to 56-58 cents per liter
compared to 77 cents, starting heating oil price at remote regions last year.
The Athens Prefecture informs consumers that they can dial 1539 for complaints
from 08:00 to 20:00.

New Parliament Sworn in
14th October 2009 ERT

Greece's new 300-member parliament was sworn-in on Wednesday morning, in a
special ceremony, while the election of the Parliament’s Presidium will follow. Earlier
Prime-minister G. Papandreou delivered a speech at the first session of PASOK
Parliamentary Group, whose new secretary is Hristos Papoutsis.. Mr. Papandreou
stressed that the new government was assigned the historical duty to draw and
proceed to big changes the country needs.

Port strike halts hospital stocks
14th Oct 2009 ekathimerini

As dockworkers in Piraeus entered the third week of their strike yesterday, the
union representing the country’s medical suppliers warned that the action risked
leaving hospitals dangerously understocked.
According to a statement issued yesterday by the union, dozens of container ships
carrying basic medical supplies remain stranded at various ports around the
Mediterranean as commercial vessels are unable to continue their scheduled routes
to the country’s main port of Piraeus. Meanwhile dozens more containers are stuck
at Piraeus as the protesting workers will not allow them to get customs clearance.
“If this strike continues for another week, there will be a serious problem and we
will not be able to provide hospitals with the supplies required for their smooth
operation,” a spokesman for the union said.

Hundreds of tourists evacuated in Greek forest fire
14th October 2009 Reuters

A forest fire forced the evacuation of about 500 mostly French tourists from a Club
Med hotel on the Greek island of Evia on Tuesday, officials said.
"They have been evacuated with three ferry boats and two large passenger ships,"
a coastguard official said. "This is a preventive measure, no one is in danger." The
tourists were taken to the nearby port of Edipsos.
More than 60 firefighters battled the blaze in a fir tree forest, using 23 fire engines
and 11 eight aircraft. There were no reports of injuries.
In August, wildfire tore through scores of homes and thousands of acres of forest
near Athens, forcing thousands of residents to flee.

Salmonella outbreak
13th October 2009 ekathimerini

Health authorities on Crete yesterday announced the closure of a poultry farm in
Hania after inspections revealed that 4,000 chickens had been infected by the
Salmonella bacteria. A prefectural official said that the chickens in question were
sent to a special incinerator in Ioannina, northwestern Greece. Officials said that
further inspections were being carried out on other poultry units on the island.

Anarchists run amok in center
9th October 2009 ekathimerini

A group of around 20 hooded youths went on the rampage in central Athens
yesterday, using sledgehammers and rocks to smash four bank facades and a
bookshop belonging to a member of the nationalist party Popular Orthodox Rally
(LAOS) and causing widespread damage but no injuries.
According to witnesses, the youths stormed down central Harilaou Trikoupi Street
and started smashing up banks in the area. They also vandalized a bookstore
belonging to LAOS deputy Adonis Georgiadis before fleeing to Exarchia Square, an
anarchist stronghold. Leaflets scattered in the area proclaimed solidarity with the
militant group Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire, which has claimed a string of bloodless
bomb blasts in Athens, most recently an explosion in a garbage dumpster at Pedio
tou Areos earlier this month, near an election rally, and an attack on the Kolonaki
home of Louka Katseli, now economy minister.

Wanted Briton hid for 3 years in Messara, Heraklion
8th October 2009 Haniotika Nea

A 56 year old Briton, with a European arrest warrant issued against him, remained
hidden in Crete for three years, it emerged today. He was arrested yesterday
afternoon by police and is expected to go before the Crete Prosecutor today in
order to begin extradition proceedings.

The 56 year old, named as Stephen Burnell from York, was convicted of 11 crimes in
2007 in his absence after disappearing while on bail. He was sentenced to a six
year prison sentence. He had been convicted of an attempted rape, seven acts of
abuse against a woman, one act of sexual abuse and two counts of taking obscene
photographs of a minor.

The 56 year old was living in the area of Leda, Messara, and working as a waiter in
a taverna. During the summer he lived in a tent on the beach and in winter rented a
small room, where the investigation took place.

BOMB THREATS - Syntagma shut after hoax calls
8th October 2009 ekathimerini

Two anonymous telephone calls to private television channel Alter early yesterday
afternoon, warning that a bomb was due to explode in central Syntagma Square,
turned out to be hoaxes after bomb disposal experts failed to find any suspect
devices. The first call, made at 12.30 p.m., warned that a bomb would go off near
Syntagma Square but did not give details of location or timing. Half an hour later a
second call warned that a bomb would explode in 20 minutes. Police cordoned off
roads around Syntagma Square as a precaution but nothing suspicious was found.

Three Bulgarians arrested in Greece for selling newborn for 13 000 euro
7th October 2009 Sofia Echo

Three Bulgarian nationals have been arrested by Greek police while attempting to
sell a two-month-old baby, Bulgarian news agency BTA quoted Greek media as
reporting on October 7 2009.
The three Bulgarians, one man and two women, of whom one is the baby's mother,
tried to sell the baby for 13 000 euro to undercover police officers who presented
themselves as buyers in the town of Katerini in northern Greece.
According to Greek police, the baby was born in August in a hospital on the island of
Crete.
The arrest was the latest news of Bulgarians involved in human trafficking in Greece.
On June 17, three Bulgarians, two of them lawyers, were apprehended and charged
with child trafficking.
They were involved in the smuggling of 16 newborn babies, 13 of whom were ferried
to Greek couples. The other three were sent to Bulgarian parents.
Reportedly, the lawyers managed to persuade pregnant women to sell their babies
for between 3000 and 5000 leva before selling them on to Greek couples for as
much as 40 000 euro per child, the SANS report said.

New Greek premier will personally handle foreign affairs
6th October 2009 EarthTimes

Greece's newly-elected Socialist Prime Minister, George Papandreou, will personally
handle foreign affairs in the new government and named foreign-trained ecnomists
to the country's top ministries Tuesday in an effort to pull the country from the brink
of recession. Following a landslide victory in parliamentary elections on Sunday
against the conservatives, the US-born and -educated Socialist leader has made
reforming the faltering economy his government's top priority.
He appointed London-trained economist Louka Katseli to head the Economy,
Competitivenes and Shipping ministry and Socialist party spokesperson George
Papacontantinou in the Finance Ministry.
Faced with high youth unemployment, low budget revenues, a faltering economy
and a deficit surpassing 6 per cent of GDP, both Katseli and Papacontantinou will be
responsible quickly to turn the economy of the eurozone's second-poorest member
around.
The Socialist PASOK party has promised a new approach to the economic crisis with
a 3-billion-euro stimulus package, and heavier taxing of the rich and helping the
poor.

Immigrants hail Greek Socialists’ poll win
5th October 2009 Euronews

Members of Greece’s immigrant community have taken to the streets to celebrate
the Socialist victory in the country’s snap election.
Winner George Papandreou’s party has promised state recognition for immigrant
children born in the country, along with local voting rights for migrants after five
years of residence.
“We have a lot of faith in the Socialists. In the past, the Socialists have supported
the immigrants and we hope they will do the same again,” said one migrant.
Illegal immigration is a serious problem in Greece. Tens of thousands cross by land
and sea from Turkey every year and are forced to live in ghetto- like conditions in
Athens or in immigrant reception centres on the islands.
In an attempt to stem the flow of migrants, police have launched various sweeps of
immigrant neighbourhoods to round up suspected illegal migrants, which has led to
clashes and a right-wing backlash.

Two more schools shut down after pupils contract H1N1 virus
3rd October 2009 ekathimerini

Another two schools were closed temporarily yesterday – a primary school and a
kindergarten in the Cretan prefecture of Hania – after several pupils there displayed
symptoms of swine flu. The schools in Crete have been closed for a week, at the
behest of the Health Ministry, following the closure of another four schools in Attica,
two state institutions and two private ones. Meanwhile, another two secondary
school pupils in Thessaloniki were diagnosed with the H1N1 virus yesterday.
Panagiotis Efstathiou, the head of the Health Ministry’s operations center, predicted
a steady increase in infections among schoolchildren, expected to climax in two or
three weeks.

___________________________________________________________________

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