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Episode details

World Service,29 Sep 2014,10 mins

Pacific and Greece

From Our Own Correspondent

Available for over a year

Rupert Wingfield-Hayes is on board the US Navy ship USS George Washington in the Pacific, not far from Guam, where it is engaging in exercises to any "anti-access" attempts by the Chinese, to stop them entering the South China sea. Meanwhile neighbouring countries like the Philippines are glad the US is there, as there are signs the Chinese are claiming the whole of the South China Sea for themselves. In Greece, Jeff Maysh reports on a modern-day Robin Hood figure, Vassilis Paleokostas, who steals or extorts from the rich and gives to the poor. An impoverished mountain boy who left a job in a cheese factory, he has made a lot of money through bank robberies and ransom payments. He then distributed cash to people ranging from bystanders to the sick. One of his kidnap victims was a billionaire who had said workers needed to tighten their belts. Another commented on how well he was treated. Paleokostas has broken out of jail, helped by helicopters twice. He remains on the run. (Photo: F18 Hornet fighter that has landed on USS George Washington off South Korea. Credit: Reuters)

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