ALITHIA: “Occupying authorities arrest 43-year-old” Authorities in the north have arrested a 43-year-old Greek Cypriot man after his young son opened the door of an abandoned house, the paper reports. Costas Ioannou, a mechanic from Larnaca had been visiting Kantara village with his family on Sunday when one of his sons opened the door of the house, but did not enter it.

WATER prices are set to rise dramatically from next year, with households in Paphos facing a doubling in their bills as Cyprus comes into line with EU regulations. The Water Development Department (WDD) has drawn up a plan to implement rises in the wholesale price of water from January 1 next year ahead of accession on May 1. According to the WDD, prices will increase in stages.

A PAINTING loaned to the Foreign Ministry by well-known TV journalist Demetris Andreou has been stolen from the Ministry. Andreou had lent the painting, one of a three-part series by painter Andreas Charalambous inspired by the 1974 Cyprus tragedy, and two others to the Foreign Ministry about 10 years ago.

DIKO deputy Marios Matsakis yesterday accused police of covering up allegations that suspects had been mistreated in custody. The outspoken deputy, who is also a former state coroner, said he had examined three youths at Nicosia General Hospital on August 31, who bore signs of beatings he claimed were inflicted by police officers.

CREDIT card facilities will be installed for the first time in government offices before the end of the year, ending the common practice of carrying large bags of cash around town. According to a banking source, the government has already signed a general agreement with JCC Payment Systems Ltd to install credit card facilities in government offices.

A CYPRIOT Fulbright scholar has complained of the government’s failure to respond to her plea to allow her to take a job in America, in breach of the terms of her scholarship.

SECURITY measures at the Ministry of Education are being upgraded following a break-in and theft on Sunday morning. The break-in is the second to take place at the ministry in the past four months, highlighting the inadequacy of security at the ministry. Burglars broke into the ministry, in the Acropolis area of Nicosia, apparently looking for documents in the director’s office.

POLICE were yesterday looking for burglars who broke into Justice Minister Doros Theodorou’s holiday home in Moniatis on Sunday night. Police said among the items taken from the unguarded house were a bottle of whisky, a carton of cigarettes, a number of small ornaments, several pieces of jewellery and frozen food.

TURKISH Cypriot papers yesterday reported that the first proposal to invest in the ghost town of Varosha had come from a Greek Cypriot company.

UNFICYP said yesterday it was doing everything in its power to find a solution after the occupation regime expelled two Greek Cypriot primary teachers from the enclaved school in occupied Rizokarpasso.