NEWS

In Brief

DRUG BUST

Police arrest seven over major cannabis haul Police in Attica said yesterday that their investigation of a suspect they believe to have links to anti-establishment groups led them to a record drug haul and the arrest of seven people believed to be trafficking cannabis between Greece and Albania. Working with their counterparts in Sparta in the Peloponnese after following a suspicious car from Ioannina in northwestern Greece, police stopped the vehicle on Monday morning and found it to be carrying 150 parcels containing 156 kilos of untreated cannabis. Seven people – five Greeks aged between 19 and 40, a Frenchman and a Romanian woman – were arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking and brought before the prosecutor yesterday. EXPLOSIVES STASH TNT found at old Iraqi Embassy Forensic investigators are examining a stash of explosives found on the premises of the former Iraqi Embassy in a suburb of Athens, police said yesterday. The cache of 454 grams of the explosive TNT, 15 sticks of dynamite and four glass vials containing a suspicious liquid were discovered buried in the building’s garden by the employee of an engineering company that has undertaken the renovation of the Palaio Psychico property which served as the Iraqi Embassy until four years ago. The Embassy of the Republic of Iraq in Athens was informed of the discovery by the company early yesterday. The ambassador’s office said in a statement that it has no connection to and no knowledge of the explosive materials. Bad habits Research published yesterday by the Institute of Dietary Habits suggests that 88 percent of Greek college and university students prefer fast food to home-cooked meals. The study, which was conducted between March and April on a sample of 928 young people around the country, also found that four in 10 struggle with weight issues, while 22.6 percent are obese and 17.3 percent are underweight. Seven in 10 did, however, say that they would be happy to follow a well-balanced diet if they had the time to do so. Migrant deaths The bodies of another two migrants were found washed up on the shores of the Evros River on the northern border with Turkey yesterday, following the discovery last week of the bodies of another 16 migrants who had tried to swim across the river from Turkey into Greece. Fudged data Parliament will be presented with a case regarding Greece’s fudged budget deficit data submitted by the former New Democracy government to the European Commission’s statistical service, Eurostat, it was announced yesterday. The case comes after charges were filed against the former administration by an MP of the LAOS ultranationalist party. Wind parks Twelve areas of the country have been short-listed by the Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Climate Change as possible sites for the establishment of wind parks. These are: Ai-Stratis, Alexandroupoli, Thasos, Karpathos, Corfu, Kryoneri, Kymi, Lefkada, Lemnos, Petalioi, Samothrace and Fanari. The proposal has been submitted to the relevant authorities for deliberation.

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