In Brief
AEGEAN TENSION
Turkish jets violate Greek air space ahead of military visit Two formations comprising a total of 16 Turkish fighter jets violated Greek air space in the central and northern Aegean yesterday ahead of today’s scheduled official visit to Greece of Isik Kosaner, commander of Turkey’s armed forces. Kosaner is visiting Greece in the framework of a broader confidence-building drive, at the invitation of Dimitris Voulgaris, chief of the Hellenic Army’s General Staff. CORFU BRAWL Eight hurt over crate of beer Eight people were hospitalized yesterday, one with serious injuries, after a large group of Roma and locals got into a violent brawl in Aghios Ioannis on the east coast of Corfu over a crate of beer. According to police, the fracas broke out after a Roma man allegedly stole a crate of beer from a local store. After the store owner challenged the alleged thief, the latter is said to have gathered some 50 Roma, from a nearby settlement, who used iron bars to smash local stores. Swine flu The number of swine flu sufferers in Greece rose to 91 yesterday after another three people tested positive for the virus, the Health Ministry said yesterday. The new sufferers are a 13-year-old Australian national of Cypriot origin who came to Greece on vacation, a 22-year-old Greek returning to Athens from London and an 18-year-old Greek man who came into contact with someone carrying the virus. Illegal antiquities Police in the central prefecture of Fthiotida yesterday were questioning a 65-year-old man on charges of illegally trading in antiquities after he allegedly tried to sell illicitly acquired artifacts to a 48-year-old man and a 43-year-old woman who also were detained. A search of the man’s home revealed coins dating to the Roman era and bronze jewelry dating to the 5th century BC. A metal detector and digging equipment were found in the suspect’s car. Landing light A 27-year-old unemployed Cretan man charged with shining a laser pointer at a commercial aircraft flying into Iraklion airport over the weekend was arrested yesterday in a trailer in the coastal area of Karteros. Officers were dispatched to investigate after pilots of commercial aircraft complained that someone had been shining a laser at the aircraft from the ground. Police seized a laser pointer, with a 9-kilometer range, from the suspect’s caravan. Fatal fall Rescue workers yesterday recovered the corpse of a 74-year-old man from a drainage ditch in the coastal area of Karathona near the Peloponnesian town of Nafplion. An autopsy was under way late yesterday to determine the cause of the man’s death. Local police said the 74-year-old was found by his brother. Arson attack Police in Thessaloniki yesterday were seeking the perpetrators behind an arson attack on two cars belonging to the Albanian Consulate that had been parked in the district of Sykies. According to police, the assailants had placed 10 gas canisters under the cars, both of which had diplomatic license plates, and set them alight. The ensuing blaze destroyed the vehicles but caused no injuries.
