POLICE investigators piled pressure onto a man to confess that he had premeditated the murder of his son, a Nicosia court heard yesterday, allegedly dismissing lawyers as “a waste of money”.

The claims were voiced during the trial of Christodoulos Charalambous, charged with the manslaughter of his 21-year-old son Yiannos.

THE GENERAL state of the economy, as well as its harmonisation with the aquis communautaire, are such as to indicate that all criteria for Cyprus’ accession to the Eurozone on January 1, 2008 are fulfilled, Central Bank of Cyprus Chairman Christodoulos Christodoulou said yesterday.

“In 14 months, we have to join the Eurozone and this is within our potential.”

A SYRIAN man was jailed for five months yesterday for entering and residing illegally on the island.

Adae Al Shara, who was also charged with public brawling, was told by the judge that he was obliged to show respect to the laws of the country that he was in.

AN ESTIMATED 17 million people worldwide die from heart diseases each year, according to World Health Organisation statistics. Surprisingly, a quarter of these people are under the age of 65.

A CHINESE man has been jailed for five months for earning money from prostitution from his employee in his massage parlour.

Diancheng Zhang, 40, had pleaded not guilty to pimping and earning profits from prostitution after police raided his massage parlour in Nicosia on August 2 this year.

A WELDER from Nicosia has been jailed for four months for hiring an illegal worker to help him at his workshop.

The Nicosia Court decision comes in the light of a new ruling calling for harsher sentences for people hiring illegal workers – a growing phenomenon on the island according to statistics from the Labour Ministry.

POLICE were yesterday accused of mislaying written complaints filed by victims of domestic violence, with one victim’s pathology report failing even to reach the police.

THE leaked lists of politicians doing favours in the military are probably genuine, but not official documents, former Defence Minister Koullis Mavronikolas said yesterday.

He broke his silence days after Politis sent shockwaves across the political landscape by publishing lists of people asking for transfers and their benefactors, complete with names and dates.

POLICE said yesterday a Greek man arrested on Monday on suspicion of theft was a
former US diplomat who had joint nationality.

Loucas Kakogeorgiou, 37, was arrested on Monday after police received a complaint from his employer, claiming he had had robbed him of £300.