In Brief
EINSTEIN INSPIRATION
Greece gets copies of letters between physicist and Greek mathematician The Israeli ambassador in Athens, Ram Aviram, yesterday handed the Foreign Ministry copies of 10 letters between Albert Einstein and mathematician Constantinos Karatheodoris which suggest the Greek helped the physicist with some of his theories. The two men were in correspondence between 1916 and 1930 and the letters had been kept at the Einstein Museum in Israel until now. Greece has asked for several original copies of the letters so they can be placed in a yet-to-be-built museum honoring Karatheodoris in his hometown of Komotini, northeastern Greece. NICOSIA RELENTS Cypriot FM pledges faith in British justice after slamming Cherie move Cypriot Foreign Minister George Iacovou said yesterday that Nicosia had enough faith in the British justice system that the case of a couple ordered to knock down a holiday home in Turkish-occupied Cyprus would not be affected by the fact that Prime Minister Tony Blair’s wife, Cherie, was their lawyer. «British justice has a good reputation. I do not believe that this relationship can affect the court,» said Iacovou a day after Cyprus complained to Britain about the matter. He added that Nicosia would continue to monitor the situation closely. EKAB APPEAL Need to double ambulance numbers The National First Aid Service (EKAB) yesterday said it needed to double the number of ambulances and mobile units it currently has if it is to meet the country’s demand. EKAB receives on average 582,620 calls per year, of which 479,355 are emergencies, EKAB’s Director Vassilis Kekeris said on the 20th anniversary of the service’s foundation. In Attica alone, EKAB transfers some 1,000 patients per day, he said. EKAB currently has 520 ambulances and 94 mobile units, officials said. Food violations Inspection teams from the Athens Prefecture said yesterday they referred 34 food companies to the prosecutor after they were found to have breached health standards in a series of checks held between October 3 and December 9. Among the food companies were nine bakeries, 14 restaurants and one chocolate producer, authorities said. Jordanian visit Jordan’s King Abdullah II is due to arrive in Greece today for a two-day official visit to sign cooperation pacts for trade and tourism. Abdullah is to meet with President Karolos Papoulias and Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis. Kehayioglou released Celebrity lawyer Sakis Kehayioglou was yesterday released after testifying before magistrates but a council of appeals court judges is to decide whether he should remain in custody until he faces trial on charges of being involved in a trial-fixing ring. Investigating magistrate Yiannis Sideris thought that Kehayioglou should be held in custody but prosecutor Kyriakos Karoutsos felt he should be released after posting a 300,000-euro bail. The disagreement between the pair means that appeal judges will have the final say on Kehayioglou’s fate. License to thrill A public dialogue about the licensing of television stations will begin today, government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos said yesterday. He said the process would begin at Zappeion Hall today and would be broadcast live over the Internet so the public could submit questions. The public dialogue is due to end by February 16. Forest fires A total of 9,181 fires this year ravaged 3,600 hectares of forestland, according to Public Order Ministry figures made public yesterday. This is in comparison to 9,866 fires that damaged just under 3,800 hectares of land in 2004, the ministry said. Papagou murder A 56-year-old woman was found murdered in her apartment in the Athenian neighborhood of Papagou late on Monday, police said yesterday. A bloody knife and rock were found next to the body of Polyxeni Lymberopoulou, who had multiple head and stab wounds, officers said. Police said they were searching for the woman’s husband to question him about the incident.
