In Brief
MEGA TURMOIL
News editor resigns after owners appoint committee over him Mega Channel, one of Greece’s largest private television stations, was in turmoil yesterday after its lead anchorman and news editor Nikos Hadzinikolaou tendered his resignation on Wednesday. Hadznikolaou, the channel’s most familiar face, was angered by the appointment of a board of executives who would decide the day’s news with him. Things are expected to clear up after Mega’s board meeting on Tuesday. FETA Minister orders prosecution of dairy firm; tests negative for listeria Agriculture Minister Giorgos Drys yesterday ordered the prosecution of a national dairy company – in a batch of whose feta listeria was found in Norway – and the temporary revocation of the firm’s operating license. Meanwhile, his deputy, Fotis Hadzimichalis, said that tests on feta produced by the Kolios Dairy had shown no signs of listeria, but added there would be an investigation into the production of a shipment of feta sent to Norway. CIVIL AVIATION Court rules stoppage illegal A series of strikes by Civil Aviation Authority (YPA) staff, which had been due to start today and which could have caused flight disruptions, will not go ahead after an Athens court deemed the scheduled action illegal, YPA said yesterday. The union had called for a two-day strike today and a three-day strike next week unless the government stopped what they called its «preferential treatment» of air-traffic controllers. Doctors strike Doctors at state hospitals in Athens and Piraeus will hold a 24-hour strike today in protest at what they call the government’s abandonment of the state health system. Their key demand is that 1,000 posts be filled. They also want higher pay. Thrace quakes A series of four tremors, the strongest of which measured 5.0 on the Richter scale, was felt across Thrace and Macedonia just after 1.30 a.m. yesterday. The quakes had their epicenter north of Turkey’s Dardanelles strait where a 5.7-magnitude tremor occurred on Monday. Yesterday’s quakes were felt particularly strongly in the northern Greek town of Alexandroupolis and on the island of Samothrace. No injuries or damage were reported. Vultures poisoned The Greek office of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) yesterday called for the identification and prosecution of those responsible for poisoning three rare black vultures found dead in the Dadia Forest in the northern prefecture of Evros. The birds, which were found at the end of last week, had been fed poisoned bait, according to the WWF. A sheepdog also died after consuming the bait, the WWF said. Syrian supported Left-wing activists and representatives of anti-globalization groups yesterday protested outside Thessaloniki’s Diavata Prison where Syrian national Suleiman Dakduk, arrested during riots in the northern city last month, is being detained. Protesters are demanding that Dakduk, who was arrested while distributing leaflets on migration issues, be granted political asylum as they say his life is in danger if he returns to his native Syria. Hash haul Police on Rhodes yesterday arrested two young men from Patras at the island’s port after finding 16 kilos of cannabis in their suitcases. Theodoros Soldatos, 18, and Dimitrios Loukopoulos, 19, said they had paid 1,408 euros to a Gypsy in central Athens to procure the drugs which they had intended to sell on the island. However, police believe the duo were middlemen and are seeking the intended recipients of the drugs. Ex-king visits Greece’s ex-king Constantine yesterday visited the small towns of Pedini and Kalpaki near the northwestern town of Ioannina after arriving at Igoumenitsa by sea from the Italian port of Ancona. Journalists’ union The governing board of the Athens Journalists’ Union yesterday elected Manolis Mathioudakis as its new chairman after more than a month-and-a-half of debate. The new board includes all the tickets that participated in the elections.
