NEWS

In Brief

Family abuse

Bulgarian girl, 15, forced to work as prostitute on Crete Police in Iraklio, Crete, yesterday detained the mother of a 15-year-old Bulgarian girl who is believed to have been forced into working as a prostitute by her family. The police also detained a 59-year-old man believed to have paid to have sex with the girl and said they were seeking the girl’s father and the couple’s 26-year-old cousin. The 26-year-old is believed to have encouraged the Bulgarian couple to come to move to Crete from their homeland for work. Cell suicide Two charged with negligence Two policemen who had been on duty at a Thessaloniki police precinct on Monday when a 30-year-old detainee hanged himself from the bars of his cell were suspended yesterday. The two officers are being charged with negligence as they failed to remove the man’s belt, which he later used to hang himself. The 30-year-old had been arrested for mugging a local woman. Clerics warned Cypriot Archbishop Chrysostomos II yesterday urged senior clerics to avoid criticizing Pope Benedict XVI during his scheduled visit to the island next week or stay at home. The warning came after several bishops said they would not be present when the pope visits the Archbishopric in Nicosia as the pope is regarded by some Orthodox Christians as a heretic. Cyprus hope United Nations special mediator for Cyprus Alexander Downer said yesterday that a settlement on the divided island is «within the reach» of leaders representing both sides. «It is certainly possible,» Downer said after attending a joint dinner on Monday night between Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias and Dervis Eroglu, the new hardline leader of the Turkish-occupied north of Cyprus. ATM robberies Thieves who broke into an ATM in Vrachati in Corinthia, west of Athens, early yesterday made off with some 150,000 euros in cash, police said. The robbers used an angle grinder to break into the machine. Meanwhile, thieves in Kalambaka, central Greece, removed a cash machine containing 8,210 euros from a department store in the town. Bird’s-eye view Ktimatologio, the state-run company responsible for compiling the country’s first comprehensive land registry, said that, for the first time, Greeks can view aerial photographs of the entire country online. The images can be viewed at http://gis.ktimanet.gr/wms/ktbasemap/default.aspx. Hunger strike Owners of street kiosks and convenience stores in central and northern Greece have said they will begin a hunger strike today to protest an increase on taxes on tobacco. The protesters claim that the hikes have pushed down sales, causing their profits to fall by some 5 percent. Suspect traced A 49-year-old man who has been in a hospital in Iraklio, Crete, since a failed suicide attempt last Thursday is believed to be the killer of a 49-year-old woman whose body was found in a metal barrel near the village of Palaiochora, in Hania prefecture, on Sunday, police said yesterday. Police said the man was in a fit state for questioning.

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