A RUSSIAN man was yesterday detained for two days on suspicion of beating up his girlfriend.

According to the investigator in the case, Constable Michalis Petsas, the 25-year-old suspect had arrived on the island with his girlfriend, who is also Russian, around ten days ago after living together for just over a year in Russia.

THREE MEN yesterday pleaded not guilty to charges of pimping at a Nicosia cabaret.

All three men denied charges of prostituting a woman working at the Nicosia cabaret, which is owned by one of the defendants.

Nicosia CID and police officers had raided the cabaret on August 2 after obtaining a court order and went on to arrest the owner and manager of the establishment.

THE FINANCE Ministry will be launching an investigation into the shortcomings in state diplomacy and security measures, following the embarrassing disappearance of 50 blank passports off the back of a transport truck last Thursday.

CYPRUS Airways (CY) will sign a deal to sell its remaining 49 per cent share in Athens-based Hellas Jet some time this week, the national carrier’s chairman Lazaros Savvides said yesterday.

“Our agreement is with a Greek company, which we have been associated with in the past,” Savvides told the Cyprus Mail yesterday. He said he could not disclose how much the deal was worth.

THE GOVERNMENT is toying with the idea of gradually phasing out duties for imported cars – or at least streamlining the complex tax system.

THE CYPRUS Telecommunications Authority (CyTA) and LTV were yesterday fined a combined £145,000 after having been found guilty of restricting competition in the pay-TV industry.

But the Competition Commission’s verdict may turn out to be no more than a slap on the wrist for the two, who in the meantime have initiated a partnership set to make them hundreds of millions in revenue.

Cypriot director defies government orders and heads to film festival

CYPRIOT film director Panicos Chrysanthou, whose film Akamas has been selected for screening at the prestigious Venice Film Festival, said he would not withdraw his film from the festival as the government requested of him.

The Larnaca Chess Club is organising an Open Rapid Tournament with a thinking time of 25 minutes per player this Saturday, August 12, at 10.30am in the “Finnegan’s” restaurant, on the ground floor of the KMAX Bowling Centre in Larnaca. The tournament will be played as a six-rounds Swiss system, with the top three contestants receiving trophies.

A 16-YEAR-OLD PUPIL was arrested in the early hours last Sunday after being caught in possession of three ecstasy pills in the tourist area of Paphos. Members of the Drug Squad (YKAN) Unit in Paphos had received a tip that a 17-year-old and 16-year-old were walking around Paphos with ecstasy pills.

ALITHIA: “They want Tassos because they are afraid of Cleanthous”. The daily reports on DIKO Deputy Andreas Angelides’ statements on Sunday, saying that he was one of the first of the party’s members who supported that President of the Republic Tassos Papadopoulos should remain chairman of DIKO.