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Andreotti trial

PALERMO, (Sicily): A judge halted the trial of Italy's former prime minister Giulio Andreotti on Mafia charges on Wednesday and ordered that it start again from scratch on May 15.

The decision by Francesco Ingargiola, the judge presiding at the trial, followed the illness of one of two associate judges sitting with him on the bench. Ingargiola replaced the judge, Vincentina Massa, who has been suffering from a detached retina.

Massa presented the court on Wednesday with a medical certificate which said she would need a further month's convalescence but was unable to guarantee that she would then have fully recovered.-Reuter