Ho hum, fiddle-di-di

Former judge Constantina Bourboulia, who had been on the run from authorities for the last four months, was arrested in Paris yesterday. Bourboulia is alleged to have taken a €350,000 bribe from a lawyer in return for not remanding his client, a corrupt stockbroker, in custody.

The Greek government has recently bought a number of US-made Hummer vehicles for the army at a cost of €195,000 per vehicle, almost double the price in the USA. The Defence Minister said the vehicles bought by Greece had different specifications from the ones usually available on the market.

62% of Greeks have economic difficulties with more than half unable to pay for a week’s holiday every year. One in five Greeks cannot afford to adequately heat their homes. For the first time more companies are closing down than opening. 30,000 small and middle-sized firms are facing bankruptcy, partly because people have no money to spend and partly because of newly-arrived big trade centres.

UK supermarket giant, Tesco, may be expanding in to Greece.

State inspectors yesterday issued a report slamming the levels of hygiene at the historic Varvakeios Market in central Athens and partly-thawed frozen food was seized and destroyed in Thessaloniki.

A large proportion of Greek factories have not been built to withstand the pressure of an earthquake and many offices lack basic safety features, seismic experts revealed yesterday.

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