NEWS

In Brief

EVGENIOS SPATHARIS

Renowned shadow-puppet master dies at age of 85 Greece’s most famous proponent of the traditional Karagiozis puppet theater, Evgenios Spatharis, died on Saturday at the age of 85. Spatharis was being treated at the KAT Hospital for several days after breaking a number of bones in an accident. Born in Kifissia, northern Athens, in 1924, Spatharis developed a reputation for being a talented puppeteer during World War II, when he put on performances around Athens. In 1980, his work was made available to a wider audience when his Karagiozis shows were transmitted by Greek state TV. In 1991, he set up the Spathario Shadow Theater Museum in Maroussi. HOOPS SEMIS Favorites start with wins The favorites to win this year’s Greek basketball league scored home wins at the start of the semifinal playoff series this weekend. Olympiakos thrashed Maroussi 102-80 yesterday and newly crowned European champion Panathinaikos edged out Aris 84-80 on Saturday. Municipal robbery Two armed robbers stole some 70,000 euros in cash from the Peristeri municipal offices early yesterday. The masked men threatened the security guard and then used an electric angle grinder to open the safe, which they emptied before making off. Date murder A 31-year-old Greek man is due to appear before a prosecutor in Patras today after appearing at a local police station with his lawyer on Saturday night and allegedly admitting to murdering a 39-year-old foreign woman. The man told officers that he met the woman in a nightclub and that the two had returned to his house. Her body was found at the property. It bore head and neck wounds and police said that there were no signs that she had been involved in a struggle. Nun killed A nun was found dead at a monastery in Rafina, northeast of Athens, yesterday after a fire broke out in her room. Firefighters who were called by local residents suspect she died of smoke inhalation. The cause of the fire was not immediately clear. Patient injured A patient at the Dromokaiteio Psychiatric Hospital near central Athens was injured yesterday after jumping from the fourth floor. He was taken for treatment to another hospital as police launched an investigation into how the incident occurred. Hit-and-rob A 62-year-old businessman in Thessaloniki was the victim of a hit-and-run robbery yesterday evening when, according to police, robbers crashed into his car in the Sindos area using another vehicle. Believing that it was a traffic accident, the unnamed businessman got out of the car to exchange details, but at that point he was assaulted by the two robbers, who forced him to hand over a significant amount of cash that he had just taken out of an ATM. The exact amount was not made known. The 62-year-old was treated for slight injuries. Trafficking arrests A 43-year-old man was arrested late on Saturday on the Alexandroupolis-Komotini national road on suspicion of harboring three illegal immigrants who were in the car with him.

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