NEWS

In Brief

BALCONY DEATH

British man gets permission to appeal son’s death verdict A British man who jumped off a hotel balcony in Crete with his two children, killing one and injuring the other, won the right yesterday to appeal against the verdict that his son’s death was an «unlawful killing.» London’s High Court ruled that the case of John Hogan raised «serious points that are plainly arguable.» Hogan, 34, was found earlier this year by an English coroner to have «unlawfully killed» his 6-year-old son Liam during a family holiday in Ierapetra in August 2006. A Greek court cleared Hogan in January of murder after finding that he had been suffering mental problems. FYROM STRATEGY Parliament calls for unity The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) yesterday voted in favor of adopting a «unified state strategy for solving the name dispute» with Greece. The resolution calls on parliament and high-ranking officials to quickly establish a strategy that would «preserve the Macedonian people’s identity, language, history and culture.» FYROM Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said that the country’s citizens would have the ultimate say on any name deal. «Even if a solution acceptable for Athens is found, it would have to be put to a referendum for the people of our state to have a final say,» he said. Arson strikes Three arson attacks in Thessaloniki and one in Athens caused damage but no injuries yesterday. In Athens, a device consisting of cooking gas canisters exploded outside the political office of Defense Minister Evangelos Meimarakis, who was not in the building at the time. The blast was not claimed by any group. In Thessaloniki, three explosions occurred within 15 minutes. One device went off outside an army office, the second exploded outside a branch of Geniki Bank and the third blast occurred outside a building in the city center. No arrests had been reported by last night. Mugger caught A 27-year-old man was arrested in central Athens yesterday after allegedly threatening youngsters with an air gun and knife so they would hand over their money and mobile phones. Police said that by yesterday afternoon 10 children had identified the 27-year-old. Workers’ strike The municipal workers’ union (POE-OTA), which represents a wide range of public service employees, from street cleaners to office staff, is staging a 24-hour strike today, calling for better work conditions and benefits. A rally is to begin at central Karaiskaki Square at 11 a.m. Protesters will then march to the Interior, Labor and Economy ministries to request talks with ministerial officials. Police trial The appeals trial of eight police officers, implicated in the serious beating of a Cypriot student on the sidelines of a rally in Thessaloniki two years ago, started in the northern city yesterday. Last month an internal police probe ruled that three of the eight policemen should be temporarily suspended from the force. The other five were acquitted.

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