Daily Archives: April 5, 2015

 Η απολυμένη υπάλληλος του Δρομοκαϊτείου που κατέθεσε νωρίτερα στο πλαίσιο της προκαταρκτικής έρευνας, βοήθησε τη Βίκυ Σταμάτη να αποδράσει και την κράτησε στο σπίτι της

Συνελήφθη αργά το βράδυ του Σαββάτου η απολυμένη υπάλληλος του Δρομοκαϊτείου, καθώς ομολόγησε στην κατάθεσή της στους Αστυνομικούς, ότι βοήθησε τη Βίκυ Σταμάτη να αποδράσει.

Προειδοποίηση του προέδρου του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου Μάρτιν Σουλτς προς τον Αλέξη Τσίπρα για το ταξίδι στη Μόσχα. Αντιδράσεις για την επικείμενη επίσκεψή του στην Μόσχα.

Αντιδράσεις εκ μέρους Γερμανών πολιτικών προκαλεί η επικείμενη επίσκεψη του Πρωθυπουργού στην Μόσχα.

Major search … Lambis Englezos was involved with the discovery of Australian bodies at the site of the Battle of Fromelles. Source: News Limited

THE retired Melbourne schoolteacher, who found the lost Diggers of Fromelles in 2008, believes he has found the mass grave of at least another 143 missing Australian soldiers.  

Greek-born Lambis Englezos has researched, tracked down and cross-checked documents to determine what he believes is the mass grave of hundreds of Australian soldiers, killed in the battle of Krithia, on the Gallipoli peninsula in May, 1915.

Mr Englezos, 62, and John Basarin, 68, a Turkish Australian who volunteers at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance, will share their complicated four-year search for a lost piece of Australian history on 60 Minutes.

Official — and unofficial — records have led them to a farm in the Turkish village of Kocadere.

“I believe this is the area where the soldiers were buried and I believe we should investigate this ground,” said Mr Englezos.

Possible location … a map of the Gallipoli Peninsula showing where the mass grave could be. Picture: supplied by Sixty Minutes Source: Supplied

In 2008 the lawn-bowl loving Greek Australian discovered the remains of 250 ‘missing’ diggers, casualties of the equally costly Battle of Fromelles, on the Western Front.

Subsequently, those diggers were exhumed — more than half have been identified and now properly laid to rest by their families.

Since then, Australian soldiers lost in the little-known battle of Krithia — where they’d been sent to reinforce British troops — has obsessed the two men.

They found their first clue at the British memorial at the very tip of the Gallipoli Peninsula where the names of 248, mostly Victorian men — from the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Battalions — who died in at Krithia had been carved.

The pair’s detective work led them to diaries written by survivors of the battle, and two stood out.

Looking for answers … John Basarin and Lambis Englezos at a monument to Mustafa Kamal Attaturk on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Picture: supplied by Sixty Minutes Source: Supplied

The first by highly decorated soldier, Captain Percy Lay; the second, by Private Herbert Lloyd.

“And that night, we tried to bury some of our dead. A party of us put 57 in one grave,” Lay wrote.

Lloyd accounts for another 86. “A burial party went out and buried 86 in one grave,” he wrote.

A hundred years on, there’s still evidence of the Battle of Krithia, with visible supply trenches which were used to evacuate the dead and wounded.

These trenches led to the only ground around there that provided any cover, which perfectly matches the men’s findings.

Mr Englezos says there’s a dip in the ground which provides the line of sight cover for the necessary work of burial.

Not giving up .. Lambis Englezos standing on the spot where he believes 143 Australian soldiers are buried in a mass grave. Picture: supplied by Sixty Minutes Source: Supplied

The gravesite is about 20 metres square, in a slight gully, near the creek. It’s where a medical post was set up to treat casualties during the battle.

Despite Mr Englezos’s previous success in locating the graves in Fromelles, the Australian Government seems uninterested. When he told them about Krithia three years ago, they ignored him.

Then last December the pair finally received an email which said: “We will not consider any ground search unless we are certain of finding remains.”

But no amount of government obfuscation will deter the two otherwise unlikely pals from their mission.

“We do have that moral obligation. If you can find your war dead, you gotta do it,” said Mr Englezos.

“It’s not ancient history, it’s very personal and very tangible.

“I believe we have a moral obligation to find and recover our war dead.”

See the full story at 8:30 tonight on 60 Minutes.

source:news.com.au

Argentinian shepherd found dead after having sex with scarecrow dressed up in wig and lipstick.

A SHEPHERD was found dead after having sex with a scarecrow that he had put a wig and lipstick on.  

Neighbours led police to the Argentinian man’s body after they rang the local council about a foul smell coming from Jose Alberto’s home in San Jose de Balcare, the International Business Times reports.

Police later found Alberto, 58, whose rotting remains were found next to the scarecrow.

The scarecrow also had a strap-on sex toy attached to it.

“During a first visual inspection it appeared that there were two dead bodies. Then it was found that actually one of the bodies was a doll with special features,” prosecutor Rodolfo Moure told The Balcarce Journal.

“It was lying next to the deceased and had a six-inch strap-on penis.”

Mr Moure said there were no signs of violence, or a robbery at the scene of the man’s death.

“We are working on the assumption that the man died during sex with the scarecrow,” Mr Moure said.

“Straw had been stuffed inside the old clothes that had been sewn together to make the scarecrow.

“We are now waiting the results of an autopsy.”

It is understood the man lived alone and didn’t have a mobile phone.

source:ibtimes.co.uk

COULD a small Indian Ocean island in the Maldives hold the key to unlocking the mystery surrounding missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370?

In Kuda Huvadhoo some villagers believe an aircraft they saw last year could be the missing flight. Locals on the 60ha Island are questioning why investigators involved in the search for the Boeing 777 haven’t asked them about it.

Several told The Weekend Australian they saw the red and blue markings similar to that of the plane which was heading in that direction after departing Kuala Lumpur.

Humaam Dhonmamk. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen Source: News Corp Australia Source: News Corp Australia

“I watched this very large plane bank slightly and I saw its colours — the red and blue lines — below the windows, then I heard the loud noise,’’ says Abdu Rasheed Ibrahim, 47, a court official and the ­island’s keenest hobby fisherman.

“It was unusual, very unusual. It was big and it was flying low. It was a holiday (Saturday) and most people had gone to bed after praying.”

Malaysian Airlines is still missing the MH370. File pic of a Malaysia Airline flight. Pic: Greg Wood/Getty Images. Source: Getty Images

Humaam Dhonmamk, said he also saw the markings on a plane. He said it flew over as he was bringing his washing in from the clothesline.

“I saw the blue and red on a bit of the side.

“I heard the loud noise of it after it went over. I told the police this too.”

For the past year, the Australian-led search had focused on the southern Indian Ocean.

That search was based on a calculation of ‘pings’ between satellights and the plane, estimated fuel, weather conditions, time, likely impact and other flight variables.

But, incorrect data could mean the search is in the wrong place.

The view from a seaplane of the capital of the Maldives. Source: News Corp Australia

Zuhuriyya Ali, 49, who said she believed she watched it from a courtyard in Kuda Huvadhoo still felt strange thinking about the people on the flight.

“I consider it a lot … I am concerned there is a connection to the Malaysia plane.”

IT manager Ahmed Shiyaam, 34, said he was riding with his daughter that morning when he stopped and looked up at the sky and saw a plane fly low.

“I’m very sure of what I saw on a very clear and bright day, and what I saw was not normal — the plane was very big, and low. I did not know until later that other people saw it too. I don’t know if it’s the Malaysia plane.”

College students lit candles to prayed for the passengers aboard the missing Boeing 777 jet, at Yangzhou University in Yangzhou, east China’s Jiangsu Province, March 13, 2014. Source: AFP

Ahmed Ibrahim, 40, said he believes he also saw the flight from his garden.

“This was not a normal sight — the plane was different,’’ he says. “It was very big, very noisy, flying low. Later that afternoon on the beach I was told the news about the missing plane. I think this is the same flight.”

source:news.com.au

A stunning eight-minute first-half spell from Arsenal moved them into second spot in the Barclays Premier League with 4-1 win over Liverpool.

The Emirates Stadium faithful were treated to three goals shortly before the break as manager of the month Arsene Wenger’s claims of still being in the title race gained substantial credibility, with his side having won 10 of their last 11 top-flight matches.

Hector Bellerin was the unlikely scorer of the 37th-minute opener and his curled effort sparked a match-winning period of dominance. Mesut Ozil was next to contribute, arrowing home a stunning free-kick, with Alexis Sanchez completing a sobering end to the half for Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool.

Raheem Sterling won a penalty late in the second half, converted by Jordan Henderson, but there was no way back as Liverpool’s UEFA Champions League hopes were hit, the visitors’ disappointing afternoon compounded when Emre Can was dismissed and Olivier Giroud added a fourth in stoppage time.

Yet the match could have been different if Lazar Markovic had found his passing range in the 20th minute, when his pass when through on goal to Sterling , who was starting up front in place of Daniel Sturridge, was misplaced.

Arsenal started much the brighter as the visitors nervily conceded possession in dangerous areas early on. Joe Allen was the first to err inside 30 seconds, giving the ball away when facing his own goal, with Sanchez ultimately shooting wide from 20 yards.

Simon Mignolet was called upon to save from Santi Cazorla and then Aaron Ramsey, the latter having been sent clear by Kolo Toure’s mistake.

Liverpool’s moment came and went when Markovic drew the attention of David Ospina, only to misplace his simple square pass for Sterling, the ball narrowly eluding the forward with only the unguarded net in front of him.

It heralded a promising spell of play for Rodgers’ men, in which Sterling fired wide and Henderson was agonisingly close to collecting a cross from the 20-year-old inside the box.

Having failed to make that pressure count, Liverpool were punished three times in quick succession. First, Bellerin cut in from the right to curl a shot past Mignolet, who then saw Ozil’s precise free-kick sail into the same corner three minutes later.

The match as a contest was effectively ended when Sanchez rifled home from the edge of the box.

Sturridge was introduced for Markovic at the break, but Arsenal continued to force the issue. The in-form Giroud had a header that brought an excellent save from Mignolet.

Ospina denied Can at the other end before Sterling was hacked down in the box by Bellerin, who had been shown a yellow card.

Henderson just squeezed his 76th-minute spot-kick past Ospina, but Liverpool’s hopes of a comeback were dashed when Can lunged in on Danny Welbeck to earn his second booking, with Giroud’s 10th goal in as many matches wrapping up an excellent afternoon for Arsenal.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: “It was a first half of quality on both sides. We had a strong start with big intensity. The keeper kept them in the game for a while.

“They had a good chance before we scored our first goal, but we were focused and clinical. If you look at the table and see the number of goals we’ve scored, it’s not a coincidence.

“We look up, yes, but we look even more game by game because, as I told you before the game, we need 100% results and the only way to get that is to focus on the next one. We need other teams to have a weakness and we cannot master that.”

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers: “It’ll be very, very difficult now [a top-four finish]. It was a game we needed to take something from and obviously it’s a disappointing scoreline for us.

“Right from kick-off we were too negative. We put ourselves under a little bit of pressure and in first 10 minutes they had decent control of the game. After that we were the better team and created the better chances. We were looking to go in half-time maybe 0-0 or in front, but then we defend very poorly for all three goals really.

“I thought Raheem [Sterling] was outstanding in all fairness. I thought the kid done great.”

source:premierleague.com

Under normal circumstances, the inauguration of a multistory parking garage would not be not newsworthy. But the case of the new facility opened by Athens metro operator Attiko Metro in the downtown area of Kerameikos is somewhat unique. The underground parking garage is located on the original site for the Kerameikos metro station, which was then moved 300 meters away due to archaeological discoveries.

The plot on the corner of Pireos and Iera Odos streets lay unused for years until finally things got moving and the underground parking garage opened in early March. It has five stories, with each level measuring 2,500 square meters and with a capacity for 274 vehicles. It is open 24 hours a day (a wise decision considering it is located close to one of the capital’s busiest nightlife districts) and is reasonably priced: starting at 2 euros for metro passengers (who have to display their tickets) or 3 euros for everyone else from 6 to 9 p.m., and up to 5 euros from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The ground-level “roof” of the parking garage has been turned into a green space and ceded back to the City of Athens, which originally owned the plot.

The story of the parking lot is strange, aside from the fact that the facility has been ready for several years but didn’t open until now. To begin with, it was built simply as a way to hold on to European Union funding. According to the original plans in the 1980s, the plot was intended for the new Kerameikos metro station, which is now on the main square in the nearby Gazi district. Excavations began in 1992 and the metro tunnel was supposed to run 20 meters underground, well below the level that the majority of antiquities in central Athens were found at. But archaeologists had expressed serious reservations about the location because of its proximity to the Ancient Cemetery of Kerameikos.

As it turned out, they were right. After five years, the excavations hit the western end of the cemetery, prompting a scramble to find a new site for the station that took on such controversial proportions that it was taken as far as the European Parliament. In 1997, the Central Archaeological Council laid the matter to rest by prohibiting the construction of a tunnel beneath Kerameikos. In the meantime, however, Attiko Metro had started the building the station’s shell, spending some 5.8 million euros on that phase of the project.

The station was moved, some 300 meters away, to Gazi. But if precious European funding for the project was not to be lost, something had to be made of the shell at Pireos and Iera Odos which had to be linked in some way to the operation of the metro. The decision for a parking garage was reached in 2007 and a tender was launched. The budget was 8.3 million euros with a 2009 completion date.

However, years of abandonment had turned the huge hole dug for the station into a massive pool, affecting the structural integrity of the shell in which the five-story car park would be constructed. The contractor had to carry out additional construction, raising the budget by an additional 978,000 euros. He claimed the cost to have been higher and took the matter to court, where he was this year awarded an additional 419,000 euros on top of his claim.

Therefore, adding the initial cost of 5.8 million euros for the station’s shell, the overall tab for the parking lot has come to 15.8 million euros, when the car park at the Syngrou-Fix metro station, for example, cost 13.2 million euros and has more than double the capacity, at 642 slots. So, when you park your car at the new car park, remember that your space cost the state 57,400 euros.

source: ekathimerini.com

Photo: Anthony Ray Hinton was greeted by family outside the Jefferson County Jail in Birmingham, Alabama. (Reuters: Marvin Gentry)

 An Alabama man who spent 30 years on death row for crimes he did not commit has walked free from court after his conviction for a 1985 double murder was overturned because of insufficient evidence.

Anthony Ray Hinton, 58, emerged from Jefferson County Courthouse to cheers from well-wishers before being embraced by tearful friends and relatives, a day after a judge dismissed all charges against him.

“Sun do shine,” an emotional Mr Hinton said moments after his release.

“They had every intention of executing me for something I didn’t do … I shouldn’t have sat on death row for 30 years.”

Mr Hinton was released after a key piece of ballistics evidence used against him in his December 1986 trial for two separate murders during robberies in Birmingham was discredited.

State technicians said bullets recovered from the crime scene were fired from a gun later recovered from Mr Hinton’s mother.

But subsequent tests later cast doubt on the assertion that the bullets used in the killings came from the gun.

A long legal saga culminated in victory last year when the US Supreme Court ruled Mr Hinton had not been given an adequate defence.

His trial lawyer had hired an expert witness not properly qualified to challenge the ballistics evidence.

“All they had to do was test the gun,” Mr Hinton told reporters, frequently wiping away tears.

“But when you think you’re high and mighty and above the law, you don’t have to answer to nobody.

“But I’ve got news for you — everybody that played a part in sending me to death row, you will answer to God.”

Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Laura Petro dismissed all charges against Mr Hinton after his lawyers from the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) argued there was not enough evidence linking him to the crimes.

Hinton one of longest-serving death row prisoners

Mr Hinton, who was 29 at the time of the killings, was one of the longest-serving death row prisoners in Alabama history and among the longest-serving condemned prisoners to be freed, according to EJI.

He was charged after two restaurant managers were shot dead in a robbery at a fast-food restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama.

Police did not find eyewitnesses or fingerprint evidence, according to EJI. That same year, another restaurant was held up at gun point and the manager was shot and seriously injured.

The manager identified Mr Hinton as the suspect, though Mr Hinton said he was at work at the time 24 kilometres away. A manager and colleagues backed his alibi.

Chief attorney Bryan Stevenson said Mr Hinton, who is black, was wrongly convicted in part because the colour of his skin.

“Race, poverty, inadequate legal assistance, and prosecutorial indifference to innocence conspired to create a textbook example of injustice,” Mr Stevenson said.

Mr Hinton is the 152nd person on death row to be cleared since 1973 and the second to be exonerated in 2015, according to the Death Penalty Information Centre.

source:abc.net.au