In Brief
MISSILES CONDEMNED
Ministry slams North Korean tests as threat to international security The Foreign Affairs Ministry yesterday condemned North Korea’s multiple missile tests by saying that such acts harm international peace and security. «The Greek government condemns this act, which does not contribute to world security and peace and creates serious problems for attempts to restrict weapons of mass destruction,» Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Giorgos Koumoutsakos said. CRETAN MANHUNT Officers hunt for 3 men alleged to have shot cafe patron in stomach Police are searching for three men in Sfakia, Crete, after they allegedly shot a 25-year-old man four times while he was sitting in a cafeteria. The victim, Nikolaos Fountoulakis, suffered bullet wounds to the stomach but was in stable condition. Police said three men approached him on Tuesday and one of them pulled out a gun and shot him. Sources said the identities of the three men are known to police. TEMPE CONTROL Police unit planned for risky zone A police station, including a traffic squad, will begin operating next to a notoriously dangerous stretch of road at the Vale of Tempe in central Greece by early next year, the Greek police announced yesterday. A budget of 1.47 million euros has been earmarked for the station. In April 2002, 21 schoolchildren were killed in an horrific bus crash at the Vale of Tempe, which has since been the site of many more accidents. Phone-tapping probe Appeals court magistrate Panayiotis Petropoulos was yesterday appointed as the special magistrate for the ongoing investigation into a phone-tapping scandal targeting the government and private citizens. An appeals court prosecutor will be appointed in the next few days to oversee the questioning of suspects. Teenager electrocuted A 13-year-old boy was killed yesterday in Petralona, southern Athens, when he was electrocuted while crossing the tracks of the Athens-Piraeus Electric Railway. Authorities have launched an investigation into the exact causes of the accident. Stabbing death Police said yesterday that a 62-year-old man was found dead in his apartment in Thessaloniki, apparently after being stabbed. Officers said that there was no sign of a struggle, indicating that the victim was surprised by his attacker. Horseback smugglers Two Albanian men smuggling cannabis into Greece on horseback were arrested by a border patrol at Prespes, northern Greece. Police said the men were transporting 58 kilos of cannabis when police intercepted them at a forest area. Thessaloniki fire A fire broke out at a building supplies store in Thessaloniki early yesterday, causing damage but hurting no one, firefighters said. Ten fire trucks and 26 firemen were involved in extinguishing the blaze, which broke out at about 1.25 a.m. Suspended sentence A Thessaloniki court yesterday handed a 74-year-old man a two-year suspended jail sentence for sexually harassing a 9-year-old girl. The man, who was not identified, argued that he was innocent and said that he had no intention of harassing the child. Samothrace aid The government will allocate 300,000 euros to help repair extensive damages on the northern Aegean island of Samothrace incurred by Sunday’s storm. The heavy rainfall damaged the island’s road network, bridges and olive plantations, municipal authorities said. Clinic plunge A 43-year-old man being treated at the psychiatric clinic of Ioannina’s university hospital yesterday plunged to his death from the third floor of the building. The exact circumstances surrounding the incident were unclear.
