Chios bishop pledges aid following fire

The bishop of Chios, Markos, pledged Wednesday that 10 percent of this year’s revenues from the local church’s annual August 15 celebration of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary will go to mastic gum producers, whose trees were burned by this week’s wildfire.

The blaze, which started early Monday morning, raged over the southern parts of the island, destroying most of the mastic trees that form the region’s main source of income.