In Brief

HOSPITAL STRIKE

State doctors to walk off the job for five days as of today State hospital doctors are due to begin a five-day strike as of today to protest government plans to overhaul the national health service with a slew of reforms, including the operation of daily afternoon surgeries at state hospitals. The doctors are also objecting to a proposed system according to which patients will pay for medical services at hospitals and have expenses reimbursed by their insurance funds. OPERATOR BANKRUPT British tourists affected Some 4,000 British tourists vacationing in Greece are trying to find alternative ways of getting home after a UK-based tour operator, Goldtrail, went bankrupt. The company had about 16,000 customers abroad, mostly in Greece and Turkey, when it collapsed. The Civil Aviation Authority said that it was arranging to fly those affected back to Britain at the end of their holidays but said that passengers traveling back from Greece would probably face changes to their journeys. Greece’s Tourism Ministry said it would make every effort to help the visitors. People smugglers Three suspected traffickers and seven immigrants who were trying to enter the country illegally were arrested in Evros, northeastern Greece, on Saturday. Police made the arrests after stopping a car that was carrying one of the alleged traffickers and the migrants. The other two suspected smugglers were arrested separately. One alleged trafficker and six illegal immigrants were also arrested yesterday in Kavala, northeastern Greece. The arrests were made after the suspected smuggler, who was driving a car in which the migrants were passengers, failed to stop at a police roadblock. Hit-and-run Two policemen were injured early yesterday, when the motorcycles they were riding on were struck by a car in central Athens. The two officers were taken to the hospital for treatment but neither suffered serious injuries. The driver of the car, who drove off after the crash on Paraskevopoulou Street, is being sought. No description of the vehicle was given. Child porn A 27-year-old man has been arrested in Thessaloniki on suspicion of storing and exchanging indecent pictures of minors via the Internet. Police said on Saturday that they raided the man’s apartment and found nine computer hard drives containing child pornography. The suspect was not named. Pensioner burgled Three burglars bound and gagged a 78-year-old woman in her home in the Sykies area of Thessaloniki early yesterday. Police said that the two men broke into her home at 2.20 a.m. The woman said that one of the assailants tied her up while the other two searched her home for cash and valuables. Officers said that the burglars took an unspecified amount of money and various personal papers. Tractor death An 80-year-old farmer from Edessa was killed yesterday when he lost control of his tractor. Police said that the vehicle veered off the road and overturned near the village of Flamouria. The man’s 72-year-old wife, who was also riding in the tractor, suffered only minor injuries in the accident.