In Brief
All 17 jailed male suspects of the November 17 terrorist group will henceforth share the same outdoor exercise area, according to a decision by Korydallos Prison authorities made public yesterday. The only female N17 suspect, Angeliki Sotiropoulou, will exercise separately, with other female detainees and Revolutionary Popular Struggle (ELA) suspect Irini Athanassaki. Three male ELA suspects will exercise together. FARMERS APPEASED Roadblocks stop after minister says all plants will accept all cotton Thessaly cotton farmers yesterday ended four days of roadblocks on key junctions on the national road network after unionists claimed to be satisfied with Agriculture Minister Giorgos Drys’s promise that cotton-processing plants would take in all cotton turned in by farmers who had produced it subject to European directives. The amount of cotton liable for EU subsidies is to be determined by the Agriculture Ministry next Monday. Farmers are to meet in Larissa this morning to decide on whether to resume action. PRICE TAGS Traders must change them again Traders will be obliged to change the way they display their prices for the second time in two months from tomorrow, according to a circular distributed by the Development Ministry yesterday. Traders – who only last month were asked to change their price displays to clearly indicate amounts in euros and cents – must now be even clearer, adding a capital E before the euro amount and a capital L after the amount of cents (lepta) – i.e. E1.30L. Traders had last month argued that the change would raise costs rather than having the intended effect of making consumers more aware of the value of the euro. Mission on hold Foreign Minister George Papandreou’s mission this week to North and South Korea has been postponed, ministry spokesman Panayiotis Beglitis said yesterday. A majority of EU countries felt the time was not ripe, he said. Religious dialogue A high-ranking delegation of Roman Catholic clerics was due to arrive in Athens yesterday for talks with Archbishop Christodoulos on issues of peace, justice and human rights, the Vatican confirmed yesterday. The five-day visit – headed by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Vatican’s Council for Christian Unity – is in response to a visit by Orthodox representatives to Rome last March. Meanwhile, the Holy Synod revealed yesterday that Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios would chair a summit on dialogue between religions in Thessaloniki on May 29 and 30, bringing together representatives of the three monotheistic faiths. Fire deaths A man from the northern village of Polykastro, in Kilkis, yesterday discovered both his parents dead in their home after a fire. Nikolaos Iliadis, 71, had suffered fatal burns while his wife Marina, 66, had suffocated on the fire’s fumes, according to the fire service. It is unclear how the blaze started. Police violence A prosecutor yesterday launched an investigation into the alleged beating of an AEK soccer fan by police on Sunday. Cyprus talks UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is expected to visit Athens on February 25 or 26 amid speculation of revisions to his original proposal for a Cyprus solution. Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis told the Anatolia news agency that Greek and Turkish diplomats would meet in Athens or Ankara next Monday to discuss matters of security affecting Cyprus.] Inflation down Inflation dropped 0.3 percent to 3.1 percent last month – from 3.4 percent last December – the National Statistics Service (NSS) said yesterday. Roadworks Drivers on coastal Poseidonos Ave will face disruptions for three weeks from today as work on a bridge linking two Olympic venues begins. From the junction at the Peace and Friendship Stadium to the Syngrou intersection, drivers will have to use Ethnarhou Makariou Avenue, 11 p.m.-5 a.m., Sunday to Thursday.
