In Brief
HEALTHY EATING
Gov’t committee to help Greeks return to Mediterranean diet A committee of experts will advise the government on how to help Greeks abandon unhealthy eating habits and embrace a «Mediterranean diet,» Health Minister Costas Stefanis told a press conference yesterday. Awareness campaigns, chiefly targeting children, will seek to reduce child obesity and encourage Greeks to eat more vegetables and fish, and less meat – of which the average Greek consumes 80-85 kilos annually (as compared to 10-15 kilos of fish), Stefanis said. Half of the Greek population does not eat the recommended daily intake of three portions of vegetables, according to the World Health Organization. BOMB PROBE Composition of device resembles that used by terror group, police say An explosive device which police destroyed in a controlled explosion on the premises of a US insurance company on Friday night is similar to devices used by the Revolutionary Nuclei terror group, police said yesterday. The bomb – discovered at ALICO’s offices in Athens following an anonymous call to a private television station – was made of ammonia, dynamite, a timer, battery and detonator in a metal container wrapped in gauze. Revolutionary Nuclei has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks between 1996 and 2000. MIGRANT ABUSE Kurd accuses knife-wielding officer Attica police yesterday launched an internal investigation after a man of Kurdish origin complained about having had his hair shorn by a knife-wielding officer during a search. The unnamed Kurd told police that Thomas Dimitriou, 32, whipped out a knife and sliced off his hair during an identity check conducted by him and fellow patrol-car officers at about 8.30 p.m. on Sunday. Dimitriou was arrested yesterday after the victim lodged a complaint at Pendeli police headquarters. Conjoined twins Two female conjoined twins, born on June 12 at Thessaloniki’s Ippocrateio hospital, will undergo an operation to separate them in a hospital abroad, the hospital’s director Ioakeim Sigalas said yesterday. Hospital authorities said the twins’ parents have decided to entrust the future health of their daughters to a foreign hospital. The Holy Synod’s bioethics committee yesterday praised the parents for going ahead with the birth of the twins, whose heads are joined. Sacrifice. A 46-year-old man drowned yesterday while attempting to save his 10-year-old daughter who was struggling to stay afloat off Episkopi beach near Cretan town of Rethymnon. There were no lifeguards on the beach where Michalis Kafetzakis and his daughter had been swimming, sources said. Patricide A 50-year-old man yesterday fatally wounded his father, shooting him three times when the 75-year-old arrived at his son’s home in the Athenian suburb of Petroupolis with a group of policemen. After shooting his father, Constantinos Zonoros grabbed his girlfriend and held her at gunpoint as he tried to back away from the police officers, who had accompanied Vassilis Zonoros to help solve a dispute between the two men. Officers managed to disarm and then arrest Zonoros. Defense talks Defense Minister Yiannos Papantoniou yesterday said that Greece would promote the NATO accession of both the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and Albania. After talks in Athens with his FYROM counterpart, Vlado Bukovski, he added that a fair solution to ongoing negotiations over FYROM’s official name would significantly boost the country’s aspirations to join NATO and the EU. The two ministers also agreed on the training of FYROM’s special forces by Greek military personnel. Italian visit President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi arrives in Athens for a two-day official visit today. He will meet with President Costis Stephanopoulos today and Prime Minister Costas Simitis and Parliament Speaker Apostolos Kaklamanis tomorrow. Police talks Israel’s chief of police, Shlomo Aharonishky, yesterday discussed Olympic security matters and international terrorism with Public Order Minister Giorgos Floridis and Police Chief Fotis Nasiakos in Athens.
