In Brief
EXTRA LESSONS
Ministry sets guidelines for making up hours lost by teachers’ strike The Education Ministry yesterday issued a circular determining the extra work that must be done by primary school pupils whose teachers participated in strikes earlier this year. Pupils whose teachers were on strike for 26 or 27 days will attend extra classes on January 3 and 4; those whose teachers were absent for 20 to 25 days will attend six extra days of classes over the 2007 Easter break; other pupils will forego planned excursions. BITTERSWEET SURPRISE Watchdog finds Elite cakes were made with milk that had expired The Hellenic Food Authority (EFET) said yesterday that food company Elbisco used expired milk to make some 6,500 of its Elite cakes. The food watchdog said that its inspectors discovered during a check at the firm’s factory northeast of Athens that employees were using milk that had expired three days earlier. EFET said that all the cakes made using the milk have been seized and destroyed and none reached consumers. STABBING VICTIM Thessaloniki woman fighting for life A 22-year-old woman was still in intensive care in a hospital in Thessaloniki last night after being stabbed on Sunday but doctors said they were hopeful that she would pull through. The unnamed woman was allegedly stabbed 17 times by a 34-year-old student from Jordan. Doctors said the woman had undergone numerous blood transfusions as her wounds ranged from her throat down to her stomach. Flight disruption Olympic Airlines said yesterday that its flight schedule will be disrupted tomorrow when the Federation of Civil Aviation Unions (OSPA) stages a three-hour work stoppage in sympathy with the 24-hour general strike that has been called by the umbrella unions ADEDY and GSEE. The work stoppage will begin at noon and as a result, the 11.50 a.m. flight to Rhodes will be canceled, as will the 12.15 p.m. flights to Iraklion and Thessaloniki. The departure times for flights to Chios, Milos, Skiathos and Santorini will be delayed, while the 1.30 p.m. flight to London will leave at 3 p.m. Highway works The Public Works Ministry said that a section of the Athens-Corinth national road at Kakia Skala will be closed from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. today through Friday morning. The section in the direction toward Athens will be closed to allow workers to install and test electronic displays. A diversion via the old national road between Kinetta and Megara will be in place, the ministry said. Counterfeit betting A 30-year-old Nigerian national and his English girlfriend who allegedly tried to place a wager at a betting agency in Thessaloniki using a forged 200-euro bill, may be linked to a ring trading in counterfeit euro notes, police in the northern city said yesterday. Officers arrested the couple following a tip-off from the store manager who realized that the note was not real. The couple allegedly admitted to having placed bets with forged 200-euro notes at the same shop three times before. Robber caught A 34-year-old armed robber who help up a branch of Alpha Bank in Thessaloniki’s Ambelokipi district yesterday morning was arrested upon leaving the building, police said. The unnamed man managed to net 8,700 euros before running into the officers. Extortion racket A 33-year-old man was arrested in Kifissia, northern Athens, yesterday believed to be a member of an extortion gang. Police found in his possession a submachine gun, a hunting rifle and ammunition. Police said that there were two outstanding convictions against the suspect regarding a 14-year prison sentence he received for fraud, forgery and taking part in a gang. MP burgled Burglars broke into home of New Democracy MP Costas Carras in Nea Erythraia, northern Athens, on Sunday night and stole jewelry, police said yesterday. The theft was reported by Carras’s housemaid as the MP is overseas.
