WHY does a tragedy have to happen before the government acts? The question was put on Wednesday by DISY deputy Christos Taramountas, who is acting as lawyer for the family of Eleni Zachariou, who died after a procedure went wrong at a private gynaecology centre in Limassol. How often have we said ‘the government must act before a tragedy occurs’?
PHILELEFTHEROS “DNA links Russian to murder” Four years after a Belgian woman was murdered in Cyprus, a Russian man was arrested in Russia after blood from the scene of the crime was identified as his via DNA testing. The murder took place in 1999 in an apartment in Larnaca. The victim was Althea Downing, 71 from Belgium.
AS THE bulldozers continued to smash through the terraces of Cyprus’ oldest stadium yesterday, one man looked on in disbelief from his small shop in the shadow of the old Pancyprian stadium, The Yiapanis sandwich shop was the first establishment to open at the GSP half a century ago.
SIGN language could soon become a recognised official language in an effort to overcome prejudice in society and the workplace, a government official said yesterday. After lobbying by organisations supporting the deaf, the Education Ministry this week called on parliament officially to recognise sign language.
ESTATE agents yesterday dismissed fears of a property bubble after the Central Bank expressed concern at the possibility of a slump in prices with the sharp increase in loans for real estate investment on the island.
DNA samples collected at the scene of the murder of a 71-year-old Belgian woman in Larnaca four years ago have led to the arrest of a Russian man in Moscow this week, police confirmed yesterday. The bloodstained body of Ethel Althea Downing was discovered at her apartment by the owner of the flat two days after she was killed on May 24, 1999.
A 30-year-old Turkish Cypriot man was yesterday remanded in custody for six days after drugs squad police found 290 ecstasy pills in his possession. The man was in a taxi on Wednesday when police stopped and searched him. Police believe he was trying to sell the drugs in the free areas.
A DISCUSSION on sanctions to be taken against Turkey for refusing to comply with an order to pay compensation to Greek Cypriot refugee Titina Loizidou was last night postponed for another week by the chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
CYPRUS will ask the United Nations to re-open talks on resolving the island’s fate after Turkish Cypriot elections next month, irrespective of the result, President Tassos Papadopoulos said in Athens yesterday. Turkish Cypriot legislative elections on December 14 are widely seen as a referendum on veteran leader Rauf Denktash and his opposition to the Annan plan for a solution.
DISY deputy Christodoulos Taramountas yesterday called for an investigation into why Medical Services head Constantinos Mallis called off criminal proceedings into a Limassol clinic that did not fulfil operating regulations and was the scene of a shock death earlier this week.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
