THE ADVISORS of the two leaders were due to meet last night one final time before the start of direct talks for a solution to the Cyprus problem today.

Presidential Commissioner George Iacovou was due to meet with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat’s advisor Ozdil Nami in the presence of the UN Special Advisor for Cyprus Alexander Downer.

CONSUMERS can expect a reduction in electricity charges after September due to the international fall in oil prices, the Commerce Minister announced yesterday.

PEACE activists are urging Cypriots to hold a minute’s silence this morning as leaders of the two communities start direct talks in an effort to solve the reunite the island.

At a news conference held yesterday at the Ledra Palace, the Bi-Communal Initiative for Peace (BIP) expressed their full support towards the upcoming negotiations.

TWELVE hours after going missing, a 26-year-old National Guard reservist was found dead in his car on the Limassol-Platres road yesterday.

Police said he had shot himself after telling his brother to look after their mother and fellow siblings, if he did not return home.

THE RUSSIAN Embassy yesterday sought to play down fears that the crisis in the Caucasus would lead to recognition of the breakaway regime in the north.

Since Russia’s recognition of the breakaway states of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, its Embassy here in Nicosia has been at pains to stress that Cyprus and the conflict in Georgia are two completely different situations.

THE ADULT Congenital Heart Defects Association (ACHDAC) yesterday announced their annual Charity Gala Dinner to support their Medical Fund.

ACHDAC presented the launch of the programme for the prevention of the Sudden Death syndrome in young people and young athletes and for continuous education, training and research programmes

THE parents of a young monk at Machairas monastery are suing the government and Church for brainwashing their son.

A 30-YEAR-old man yesterday stormed into Limassol’s Social Welfare office on Franklin Roosevelt Avenue, threatening to kill his social worker, wreaking havoc and pouring petrol over himself saying he would set himself on fire if they failed to increase his benefits.

IT’S BEEN an interesting week for international relations with world leaders making contradictory statements across the board following Russia’s unilateral recognition of Georgia’s breakaway territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.