In Brief
ALEX TRIAL
Boy’s mother asks court to call potential key witness The mother of an 11-year-old boy, who disappeared in Veria, northern Greece, more than two years ago, yesterday called for the uncle of two of the schoolchildren charged with killing him to be called as a witness. Natela Ichuadze told the court in Thessaloniki that she believes that the boys confided in their uncle after they had fought with her son, Alex, and killed him. She also demanded that the court call a music teacher and lawyer from Veria as witnesses who could shed more light on the case. IN QUARANTINE Sailors treated for tuberculosis A North Korean freighter has been quarantined in the port of Keratsini in Piraeus because the 34 seamen on board the vessel have been diagnosed with tuberculosis, the Merchant Marine Ministry revealed yesterday. The sailors are being treated at Athens hospitals for their illness. Officials are trying to track down anyone who has come into contact with the seamen and authorities have advised anyone who falls into that category to immediately submit themselves to tests. The ship, the Rakwon 2, will be disinfected, the ministry said. Arson attacks Seven incendiary devices went off at various spots in Athens between 2.32 and 2.39 a.m. yesterday, police said. Two diplomat’s cars, which belonged to the Czech and Italian embassies, a bank, an insurance company and a car dealership were among those that sustained damage in the arson attacks. The Citroen dealership in Galatsi suffered the most damage. At 5.15 a.m., another three devices containing camping gas canisters went off outside banks in the northern suburbs of Melissia, which led to the banks’ ATMs being damaged. Nobody was injured in the attacks and no injuries were reported. Park murder A 36-year-old music teacher accused of murdering his wife and then burying her in a park in the Athens suburb of Filothei was remanded in custody yesterday. The unnamed man told a magistrate yesterday that he killed his wife in the heat of the moment after she had attacked him. He also said that he would accept the punishment that fits the crime of taking a person’s life and leaving the couple’s two young children without a mother. New drug A 40-year-old British man yesterday became the first person to be arrested in Greece for the possession of the recreational drug benzylpiperazine, or BZP. The man was arrested at Athens International Airport after he was found to be in possession of five pills. He told officers that he had arrived to attend a party in Marathon. BZP is a man-made stimulant that makes you feel alert and awake. Its effects last up to eight hours. Lightning strikes A plane flying from Zurich to Thessaloniki in northern Greece had to divert to Athens Airport early yesterday after being struck by lightning and briefly losing power in one engine, the airline Swiss said. Nobody was injured. The Airbus 321 was carrying 178 passengers and was struck by lightning just after 2 a.m. said Yiannis Zografakis, the head of Swiss in Greece. «For about 15 seconds, the power was cut to one engine,» he said. (AP)
