In Brief
LODGING ALLOWANCES
Undergraduates living away from home can get 1,000 euros University students taking their first degree in a town other than their place of permanent residence will be able to claim a state accommodation allowance of 1,000 euros from February, under a Finance Ministry yesterday that confirmed earlier government pledges. To qualify for the allowance, students must meet a list of conditions – including that their family’s income last year did not exceed 30,000 euros and that neither they nor their family own property covering more than 200 square meters. Application forms can be picked up at tax offices and must be submitted to the student’s local tax office. PRICE HIKES Some fresh fruit and vegetables twice as expensive due to recent cold snap The price of fresh fruit and vegetables has increased by as much as 106 percent over the last few days, the Development Ministry said yesterday, noting that the impact of severe weather on agricultural production was largely to blame for the hikes. Inspections by prefectural and ministry officials also revealed price hikes in supermarket products since January 15 – up to 12 percent for olive oil, up to 4.5 percent for fruit juices and up to 7 percent for fresh cream. FATAL KNIFING Mechanic was stabbed 30 times A 42-year-old car mechanic, whose naked corpse was found in a pool of blood in his Aspropyrgos workshop just after noon yesterday, had been stabbed more than 30 times, a coroner said. The body of Nikos Tsakoulakis was discovered by a passer-by, police said. Transmitters protest Residents of four Thessaloniki municipalities will begin an indefinite blockade on February 7 of a park in the area of Hortiatis where around 100 TV and radio broadcasting masts pose a constant health threat, the mayors of Hortiatis, Thermi, Panorama and Pylaia told a press conference yesterday. Protesters are demanding the implementation of a 1996 ministerial decision providing for the distribution of the transmitters across three different parts of the prefecture. They also want limits to be set on emission levels, which they claim are 40-50 times greater than permitted. Muggings An unidentified mugger stole 1,000 euros from a woman in the suburb of Aghia Paraskevi yesterday afternoon, having followed her into her house after she had thrown her trash out. Stavroula Abadzoglou, 30, was slightly injured on the hand by her knife-wielding attacker. Also yesterday, three men, armed with a gun and a screwdriver, made off with 330 euros from a betting shop in Ano Patissia. Paternity leave A Nafplion teacher who last month became a father of six when his wife gave birth to triplets has been granted extended paternity leave until the end of this academic year, according to an unprecedented decision by Deputy Education Minister Nikos Gesoulis made public yesterday. Costas Kontos, who requested the extra leave following the birth of the triplets, said he hoped his case would set a precedent for more considerate treatment of working fathers with many children. Forged euros A 36-year-old man from Kozani, northern Greece, was charged yesterday following his arrest in Ptolemaida on Sunday after police found 35 forged 100-euro notes in his possession. The suspect was identified only as F.V. Crime in Crete Police in Crete succeeded in curbing crime significantly last year, solving 93.55 percent of murders and 53.3 percent of robberies, the island’s police chief, Antonis Bayiartakis, said yesterday at a press conference. The island’s force will be ready to ensure that everything runs smoothly during Olympic events to be held on Crete, Bayiartakis added. Albanian aid A total of 500,000 euros’ worth of humanitarian aid – consisting primarily of clothes, food and medicine – is being sent to Albania in response to an appeal by Albanian Archbishop Anastasios, the Defense Ministry said yesterday. The first in a series of consignments arrived in Tirana aboard a military transport aircraft yesterday.
