NEWS

In Brief

Gambling dens

Traders seek to profit from World Cup soccer matches Police in Thessaloniki yesterday detained the 50-year-old owner of a store selling schoolbags and textbooks in the suburb of Katerini on charges of organizing illegal bets on World Cup soccer matches. A search of the store turned up a computer, printer and dozens of coupons listing World Cup soccer matches. The suspect is believed to have made at least 17,000 euros from illegal gambling on World Cup matches this month, police said. Police in the northern city detained the 36-year-old manager of a cafe in the city’s Toumba district last week on similar charges. A 52-year-old bar manager in Corinth was also charged with organizing illegal bets on soccer games. Tax evasion Singer lodges seven appeals Seven appeals lodged by veteran popular singer Tolis Voskopoulos against charges that he evaded some 5.5 million euros in taxes over the years are to be heard by a court in October, it emerged on Saturday. The second section of the Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, will hear the appeals by the 70-year-old singer on October 13, sources said. Psychico burglary Police in Athens on Saturday were investigating a burglary at the home of Sofoklis Pilavios, president of the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO), who is in South Africa for the World Cup. The raid on Pilavios’s home, in the affluent district of Psychico, north of the city center, was reported by the EPO chief’s wife on Saturday afternoon. The burglars are believed to have taken jewelry and other items, although the value of the stolen goods remained unclear yesterday. Fishing for trouble Police in Thessaloniki yesterday detained a 43-year-old man believed to have used a homemade tool fashioned out of a fishing line, hook and adhesive tape to remove coins and notes from the collection boxes of churches across the northern city. The man was caught in the act of trying to fish donations out of a collection box at a church in the city’s Toumba district, police said. Hail damage A heavy hail storm on Saturday night caused serious damage to crops in the broader area of Kavala. The mayor of Orfano, Apostolos Katevaoglou, said vineyards in his municipality had been almost totally destroyed. Neighboring areas reported similar damage to farmland. There were also reports of flooded basement stores and homes. The overall extent, and cost, of the damage remained unclear yesterday. Giant salad Residents of the prefecture of Ierapetra on Crete gathered over the weekend with the aim of creating the largest salad in the world and earning a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. Using a receptacle measuring 100 square meters as their salad bowl, locals threw together 6 tons of tomatoes, 3 tons of cucumbers, 2 tons of peppers, a ton of onions, 800 kilos of feta cheese and half a ton of olive oil. It remained unclear late yesterday whether the 12-ton salad had made it into the record book.

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