The next United Nations secretary-general should be Asian, Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis declared yesterday during talks with India’s visiting Deputy Foreign Minister Anand Sharma. Bakoyannis made the comments ahead of Greece’s assumption of the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council on Friday. India has been promoting Shasi Tharoor, currently UN undersecretary-general for public affairs, to replace UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the end of this year. Bakoyannis, who agreed to boost bilateral trade during her talks with Sharma, said the time had come for “energetic diplomacy” in the Middle East.

Authorities said yesterday that a 14-year-old girl who has been missing for about 10 days was seen in central Athens and was probably accompanied by an adult. Eliza Nanousis went missing from her Koukaki home after having taken a large amount of money and her passport. Machi Lazaridou from the Child’s Smile organization said that a schoolmate of the missing girl reported seeing her a few days ago. The tip-off confirms suspicions that that an adult has convinced Nanousis to run away, since teenagers who leave home normally return after one or two days, Lazaridou added.

Police said yesterday that they had identified a four-member gang of thieves that allegedly broke into stores and homes, mainly in central Athens. A 28-year-old Algerian national was arrested on Friday after earlier breaking into a computer store in Aegaleo, western Athens, and stealing about 1,000 euros’ worth of goods, according to police. A 25-year-old man from Mauritania also took part in the theft but managed to escape arrest. Police are searching for another two suspects from Iraq and Algeria.

One of the three new passport offices that is to open in September will operate at the Diliyiannis Street police station, near Larissis train station, rather than in Galatsi, authorities said yesterday. The other two new passport offices are to open as announced in Palaio Faliron and Zografou.

Three men robbed and beat a taxi driver in Aspropyrgos, west of Athens, yesterday, police said. The men were posing as customers until they instructed the 50-year-old driver to stop, struck him over the head and stole 90 euros in cash and his mobile phone before driving away with the taxi.

Coast guard officers discovered 33 illegal immigrants on a beach on the islet of Psara in the northeastern Aegean on Sunday morning, the Merchant Marine Ministry said yesterday. The migrants were taken to the hospital on the nearby island of Chios for tests and were found to be healthy. The ministry did not reveal the nationality of the migrants.

A fire broke out in the Seih-Sou Forest in Thessaloniki yesterday after lightning hit a tree but was put out by firefighters before it spread, authorities said. The lightning struck in the area of Kameno at 2.50 p.m. but residents saw the fire break out and immediately alerted the fire service, which arrived at the scene soon afterward to put out the blaze.

A 29-year-old man was killed in a car accident near Kastoria, northeastern Greece, yesterday when he lost control of the vehicle he was driving on a turn off the highway. One of the other two 20-year-old male passengers traveling in the car was taken to the hospital in critical condition while the other suffered mild injuries.

A 51-year-old truckdriver was arrested at the port of Igoumenitsa in northwestern Greece yesterday morning after coast guard officers found 4,175 packets of cigarettes hidden in his vehicle, the Merchant Marine Ministry said. The cigarettes, all well-known brands, were allegedly being smuggled out of the country, the ministry said. The packets had been hidden in the interior lining of the driver’s cabin. The ministry said the suspect was a foreign national.