News in brief

Increased traffic on Kifisou Avenue from Lykovrisi to Nea Philadelphia heading inbound and from Renti to Acharnon heading outbound and on Mesogeion Avenue heading to the city center at the level of Cholargos.

State hospital employee union POEDIN members are holding a protest outside the Maximos Mansion. They are protesting against the government’s decision not to renew the contracts of cleaning ladies.

EU heads of state will discuss the EU’s long-term budget for 2021-2027 during a special meeting of the European Council this afternoon. The Greek Premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis will attend the meeting.

Two bench warrants have been issued ordering two witnesses to appear before a special parliamentary committee looking into the merit of claims of political interference in the Novartis bribery case.

The warrants were issued after the two protected witnesses, known as “Maximos Sarafis” and “Ekaterini Kelesi,” failed on Wednesday on Tuesday respectively to present themselves for scheduled hearings at Athens Police Headquarters.

The committee re-convenes this morning. Former minister Demetris Tzanakopoulos is expected to testify later on.

Greece dismissed the claim by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that it has accepted the status quo Turkey wants in the Eastern Mediterranean, saying that not only it has not done so, but it has, along with the international community, condemned Turkey’s illegal moves in the region.

“As we have repeatedly stressed, illegal actions produce no legal effect,” said Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexandros Gennimatas, and added: ”Unfortunately, Turkey continues to be a minority of one,” he added.

The conduct of joint military exercises with the Greek armed forces “demonstrates the American commitment to our alliance with Greece,” US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt said Wednesday during a visit to a base in central Greece, adding that it provides substantial proof of “that the United States is committed to Greece’s security, prosperity and democracy.”

Nearly 70 people have been injured, some of them critically, in a pile-up involving about 200 vehicles on a busy highway in a suburb of the Canadian city of Montreal.

Eleven people were killed in two shootings at shisha bars in the western German city of Hanau.

Several other people were also injured after a gunman opened fire at 10 pm local time on Wednesday.

The suspect was later found dead at his home, along with the body of a second person, according to police. The motive for the attack is unclear.

Bild newspaper reported that the suspect was a German citizen with a firearms licence, and that ammunition and gun magazines had been found in his car.

The pre-sale of tickets for the Pet Shop Boys concert begins at this hour. The concert will take place on July 1st at Plateia Nerou in the area of Faliro, as part of this year’s Release Athens festival.

Two passengers who were onboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise liner have died after being diagnosed with Covid-19.

On Thursday, China reported a steep drop in infections in Hubei province, after changing how it classifies confirmed cases.

Across China, authorities reported the total number of officially reported deaths in the country to 2,118.

And the weather forecast…

Cloudy and rainy in Attica today with the temperature expected to reach a high of 15 degrees Celsius.

More news in brief tomorrow morning at 9.