In Brief
YOGURT SCARE
‘Moldy’ products have been removed from the market, ministry says The Development Ministry yesterday assured consumers that a batch of moldy yogurt produced by dairy foods firm FAGE had been withdrawn from the market. The problem was spotted at the end of last month when consumers lodged complaints with the Hellenic Food Authority (EFET), the ministry said. FAGE said all affected products had been removed from shelves over a week ago. It said customers could call 800.112.8000 for a fresh replacement yogurt. Deputy Development Minister Yiannis Papathanassiou said the matter was being investigated. INDONESIA QUAKE Ministry to send 200,000 euros in aid The Foreign Ministry will be sending 200,000 euros in humanitarian aid to the victims of Monday’s 8.7-Richter earthquake in Indonesia, Deputy Minister Evripidis Stylianidis said yesterday. Turkish violation A Turkish coast guard vessel violated Greek territorial waters off the islet of Imia yesterday morning, defense sources said. The Turkish vessel lingered in Greek waters for two hours – under the watch of a Greek coast guard boat and navy vessel – before withdrawing. Greece and Turkey came close to war over the the two Imia islets in the Dodecanese in 1996. Quake readiness The Education Ministry heralded a program to check the resilience of school buildings in the event of possible earthquakes. Buildings constructed before 1959 are to be a priority, the ministry said. Sicilianos dead Composer Giorgos Sicilianos is to be buried tomorrow at Athens’s First Cemetery following his death on Tuesday at the age of 85. Satanist saga A 23-year-old Albanian woman, who claimed to have been kidnapped by the convicted leader of a deadly satanic cult while he was on a furlough, yesterday told an investigating magistrate that she did not want to take legal action against her alleged attacker. Asimakis Katsoulas, who was arrested on Tuesday, claims he was the victim of a vendetta by prison guards. Student protest Members of student unions staged a demonstration in central Athens yesterday, protesting the proposed assessment of professors and plans to create private universities. Yiossakis rebuffed An investigating magistrate in Piraeus yesterday rejected an appeal by Archimandrite Iakovos Yiossakis – a key figure at the center of an alleged trial-fixing ring – for his release from Korydallos Prison. Flag vandalism A 19-year-old Greek man, arrested for pulling down and tearing an Albanian flag at Tuesday’s soccer match between the Under-21 squads of Greece and Albania, was yesterday charged with disturbing the peace at a sports venue. Fraud watch Employees at Citizens’ Information Centers (KEPs) are to be provided with a list of stolen and lost police identity cards to crack down on fraud, the government said yesterday. Traffic disruption Traders and small business owners from Lamia blocked the national highway at the Lamia junction for about an hour yesterday morning, protesting the planned extension to store hours. Smugglers convicted A Chios court yesterday passed down 10-year jail sentences on two foreign men found guilty of trying to smuggle 35 illegal immigrants into Greece last Saturday.
