WHAT was once a magnificent vast forest range, rich in vegetation, giant trees, wild shrubs and lush orchards is now nothing more than desolate waste ground clouded in smoke.

Firefighters yesterday battled to save homes and villages, but the damage to the forest valleys may take a century to heal.

MORE and more people are being admitted to hospital, suffering from the effects of heatstroke, with the extreme temperatures also causing problems with the electricity grid, leading to power cuts across the country.

COMMUNIST AKEL has beaten incumbent Tassos Papadopoulos to the punch, naming Demetris Christofias as a candidate for the three-way coalition in February’s presidential elections.

Drawing on the results of an internal party vote, AKEL’s Political Bureau yesterday said it would be recommending the Christofias nomination to its Central Committee, which convenes on July 4.

BANK employees’ union ETYK yesterday suffered a setback in its planned sanctions against the National Bank of Greece, after the Central Bank said it was under obligation to clear transactions with all financial institutions.

FOREIGN Minister George Lillikas has threatened to sue opposition chief Nicos Anastassiades for libel for insinuating he was a key player in the “scandal of the century”.

THE NICOSIA Criminal Court has called high-profile stockbroker Yiannos Andronikou and his wife Rea to take the stand to answer six charges relating to the disappearance of £4.8 million from EAC pension fund.

Andronikou, his wife Rea and his company Suphire Securities & Financial Services, had originally faced 28 charges of theft, falsifying accounts and concealment.

LARNACA court yesterday approved the extradition of an American doctor to the US, rejecting the defence’s argument that he would face the death penalty if found guilty of murdering his wife by poisoning her.

EDEK DEPUTY Marinos Sizopoulos has accused Attorney-general Petros Clerides of covering up a scandal in the Pharmaceutical Services.

The two men traded insults during a discussion in the House Health Committee on Thursday.

THE BRITISH resident of Kissonerga reported missing on Wednesday was found early yesterday morning on the road from Paphos towards Coral Bay, his wife said.
Jon Ogden, 62, left home at 2am on Wednesday in an emotional state and failed to return home He was found by his visiting brother-in-law yesterday at around 7am, wandering on the road.