Pilot on murder charge over death of UK wife

A Greek helicopter pilot has been charged with the murder of his British-greek wife, whose death he had initially claimed was caused by burglars during a brutal invasion of their home on the outskirts of Athens.

Babis Anagnostopoulos, was arraigned yesterday for the May 11 killing of Caroline Crouch, 20, who died of suffocation.

The 33-year-old was led in handcuffs and a bulletproof vest to an Athens court and is due to return next week to give evidence.

In brief remarks to reporters, his lawyer confirmed he had confessed to the crime, adding he had expressed remorse for his actions.

Police investigators said analysis of data from a smartwatch worn by the victim had helped reveal inconsistencies in the pilot’s account of events.

The pilot had publicly claimed armed robbers broke into the couple’s home and tied up and gagged him and his wife in their bedroom as their months-old daughter slept. He had said the men stole cash before escaping.

Tel Aviv: Israel has said it will transfer around one million doses of soonto-expire coronavirus vaccines to the Palestinian Authority in exchange for a similar number of doses the Palestinians expect to receive later this year.

Israel, which has reopened after vaccinating about 85 per cent of its adult population, has faced criticism for not sharing its vaccines with the 4.5 million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and in Gaza.

The agreement was announced by the new Israeli government that was sworn in on Sunday.

It said it would transfer Pfizer vaccines that will expire soon, and the Palestinians would transfer a similar number of vaccines when it receives them from the pharmaceutical company in September or October.

“We will continue to find effective ways to cooperate for the benefit of people in the region,” tweeted Israeli foreign minister Yair Lapid.

The Palestinians portrayed the agreement differently, saying Pfizer had suggested the transfer as a way of speeding up its delivery of four million doses the Palesinians had already paid for in a deal reached directly with the drug company.

“This is not an agreement with Israel, but with the Pfizer company,” said Palestinian Health Minister Mai Alkaila.

Madrid: Authorities say at least three people have died and four are missing after a migrant boat carrying nearly 50 passengers capsized in Spain’s Canary Islands.

The boat was approaching the shore of Orzola on the island of Lanzarote on Thursday night when it flipped a few yards from land, throwing the passengers into the water.

Emergency workers rescued 41 people, including 19 women and seven children, with sub-saharan nationalities. They also recovered the bodies of two men and one woman.

Spain’s national police said emergency workers were searching yesterday for at least four more people, including a child.

Two more boats carrying a total of 110 migrant passengers reached the Canary islands of Fuerteventura and El Hierro yesterday, according to the Canaries’ emergency services.

Nearly 6,000 migrants and asylum seekers have reached the Canaries this year.