World Briefs

Schinias Beach near Athens is no stranger to hordes in sandals flocking there every summer – but a group arriving next week is less interested in the area’s blue waters and seaside taverns.

A re-enactment of the Battle of Marathon is to be held there on September 10 to commemorate the historic Greek-Persian showdown in 490 BCE, with hundreds of participants in armour from around the world, organisers say

The three-day amateur event on the presumed battlefield, which has since been altered by soil erosion, will showcase Greek and Persian combat as well as dance, literature, crafts and cultural features from the Archaic period. (AFP)

Python in pool

A four-metre-long python wallowing at the bottom of a swimming pool in a Malaysian private club sent bathers running, a report and staff at the club said.

A woman who dived into the pool spotted the enormous snake resting under a steel ladder on Tuesday, national news agency Bernama reported.

Eight other people, including children, were swimming in the pool at the club in Seremban town, some 60 kilometres from the capital Kuala Lumpur, when the alarm was raised, it said.

The club’s management called the fire department, which removed the python. No one was injured.

Bernama quoted a fire department spokesman as saying the snake may have slipped into the pool from nearby bushes to cool itself, as the weather was hot. (AFP)

‘Alphabetical’ trips

Thailand’s new Foreign Minister has unveiled plans for his first overseas visits and said he had decided to arrange the tour schedule in alphabetical order.

Surapong Tovichakchaikul, whose appointment last month attracted criticism in Thailand because of his lack of high level experience, yesterday said he will travel to Brunei first on September 11.

The regional tour will encompass the nine other countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) bloc.

The alphabetical order will then resume with a trip to Cambodia, on September 14, and then Laos. (AFP)

Professor on run

A college professor is wanted in Southern California, suspected of leading a motorcycle gang and distributing methamphetamine to a network of drug dealers.

A fugitive arrest warrant has been issued for 43-year-old Steve Kinzey who teaches physical fitness at California State University, San Bernardino. The university’s president said campus members would cooperate in the investigation.

A spokesman for the sheriff said Prof Kinzey was the target of a narcotics and weapons trafficking investigation and during a raid at his Highland home last week, investigators seized methamphetamine, firearms and evidence of his involvement with the Devils Diciples motorcycle gang. (PA)

Police hacked

The group known as Anonymous claims it briefly took over the website of a Texas police chiefs group and hacked into the e-mail accounts of more than two dozen state law enforcement agencies or officials.

The group said the hacking and takeover was part of its retaliation over the arrests of its sympathisers.

It appeared the group briefly took over the website for the Texas Police Chiefs Association. The group replaced the association’s page with one that listed police departments and officials whose e-mail accounts had been hacked. (PA)

‘Coup’ denied

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard was defiant over reported rifts in government ranks over her leadership and a scuttled policy to send hundreds of asylum seekers to Malaysia.

Anonymous government sources told newspapers she could soon be overthrown as her party’s leader in an internal government coup. But Ms Gillard told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio that none of her government colleagues had expressed to her frustration with her leadership. She said she was the best person for the job and would continue doing it. (PA)

Kelly blaze link

Australian police are investigating a suspicious fire at a mansion once owned by the judge who sentenced Australia’s most notorious criminal, Ned Kelly, to death.

The fire happened a day after officials said they had finally identified the headless remains of Kelly, who was hanged in 1880 after leading a gang of bank robbers in Australia’s southern Victoria state.

Victoria police said the historic home in the state capital of Melbourne was being renovated and they believed vandals squatting there started the fire and may have stolen copper wire. The mansion was once owned by judge Sir Redmond Barry, who ordered Kelly’s execution. (PA)

Dogs kill owner

A Philadelphia woman found dead in her home had been killed by her own dogs, an autopsy revealed.

Carmen Ramos, 50, was found dead by her husband when he returned from work. The couple shared their north Philadelphia house with five pit bulls.

Neighbours said the dogs were recently removed by animal welfare officers after they escaped and attacked two residents, but the animals were later returned. The Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is investigating. (PA)

Crime wave

Dangerously high waves were blamed after a smuggling boat crashed on a Southern California beach where more than 500 pounds of marijuana washed ashore.

A California State Parks superintendent said rangers found the abandoned boat split in half near Point Mugu. The surf was two to three metres at the beach. (PA)