The Greek government has blamed driver error for an accident in which at least 14 people died when a bus plunged off a motorway bridge into a river in the north of the country.
"According to preliminary enquiries, it seems the accident was caused by human error," government spokesman Mr Christos Protopapas said.
A three-year-old boy is still missing after the accident, which occurred late on Saturday night around 30 kms from the northern city of Salonika.
The child's eight-year-old sister and the bus driver were among the 14 confirmed dead, emergency workers said. The children's mother was reported injured.
Transplant girl is declared dead
THE US: Doctors at Duke University Hospital, North Carolina, have declared dead and removed from life support the Mexican teenager who had a second heart-lung transplant after she was initially given a set of incompatible organs.
Duke University hospital spokeswoman Amy Austell told reporters that doctors removed 17-year-old Jesica Santillan from life support on Saturday afternoon. The girl's surgeon, Dr James Jaggers, said he bore the responsibility for the fatal transplant mistake and expressed his sorrow to her family. - (Reuters)
Castro tells Hanoi of 'growing crisis'
VIETNAM: Cuban President Fidel Castro wrapped up his three-day visit to communist ally Vietnam yesterday, saying US hegemony and globalisation have plunged the world into its worst-ever crisis.
In a 65-minute speech made without notes to students and government officials at Hanoi Polytechnic University, he warned the US "empire" would eventually be brought to its knees. - (AFP)
Violence erupts at Karachi funerals
PAKISTAN: Violence erupted in the Pakistani port city of Karachi yesterday as thousands of people attended funeral prayers for Shiite Muslims gunned down by suspected Sunni extremists.
More than 1,000 women beating their chests and demanding justice were among those who flooded a sports field in central Ancholi district, where prayers were offered for two victims. The bodies of the other seven Shiites were returned to their rural hometowns. - (AFP)
Serbs investigate 'assassination' bid
SERBIA: Serbian police believe an incident last Friday in which a truck almost hit a car carrying Mr Zoran Djindjic was an attempt to assassinate the Serbian Prime Minister, local media reported yesterday.
"It was an assassination attempt after all," the Politika daily said in a front page story, quoting unnamed sources close to the police. Serbian state television carried a similar report.
Police were not immediately available for comment. - (Reuters)
Moroccans on satanism charges
MOROCCO: Fourteen Moroccans accused of satanism and "acts that could shake Muslims' faith" are to appear in a Casablanca court tomorrow in a case that has divided opinion in the north African nation.
The accused, aged 20 to 28 and all from middle-class backgrounds, were taken into custody on February 16th and could face jail sentences of between six months and three years if convicted. - (Reuters)
Fire at location of 'Harry Potter' film
SOCTLAND: Fire struck the Scottish Highlands location of the next Harry Potter film over the weekend, ruining more than 100 acres of scrubland, police said.
The fire started on Saturday around Glenfinnan Viaduct, near Fort William, a historic site that is to feature in The Prisoner of Azkaban, the latest film based on the adventures of novelist J. K. Rowling's teenage wizard.
"It is too early to say what caused the fire," a police official said yesterday, though suspicion centered on a steam engine on the set where a Warner Brothers film crew was at work. - (AFP)