Debenhams on Nicosia’s Ledra Street dropped its prices on some items by 50 per cent yesterday, at a time when most retailers traditionally look to squeeze every last penny out of last-minute Christmas shoppers. Has Christmas reverted from a materialist festival to its original charitable spirit? The answer is more one of pragmatism than generosity.

While such seasonal goodwill will doubtless come as welcome relief to the cash-strapped consumer, it belies a serious problem that we would be remiss to ignore. We cannot afford to live in the manner to which we have been accustomed, and the canny owner of Debenhams is not blind to the problem.

THE family of a 43-year-old doctor who died on Thursday has donated his organs for transplant, giving hope to four suffering fellow human beings this Christmas.

Child neurologist Stavros Hadjiloizou who died from a heart attack was buried in Nicosia yesterday.

The doctor’s kidneys were donated to two Cypriot patients, while his liver was flown to Greece, to be transplanted to a Greek man. Hadjiloizou’s lungs were sent to Israel.

The 43-year-old returned to Cyprus around three years ago after completing his training in Greece and the United States.

He did his basic studies at the University of Ioannina, before moving to the US to do his specialisation.

POLICE have launched criminal investigations into the murders of Greek and Turkish Cypriots dating from 1963 and 1974, it was reported in Politis yesterday.

According to the paper, both the Cyprus Republic and Turkey have opened criminal files regarding the murders of people who until recently were considered missing. The reason believed to be behind the belated response to the crimes is the fact that relatives of the missing have taken a number of cases to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

ARCHBISHOP Chrysostomos II has called on the Christian flock to keep their faith and turn to God during the hard economic times, whilst criticising the direction and continual concessions the Greek-Cypriot side keeps making on the Cyprus issue, he

In his Christmas message, the Prelate warns that ‘Cyprus’ Hellenism is being smothered and soon no power will be able to raise and rescue it.”

DISY MP George Georgiou has threatened to walk out of the Committee on the File of Cyprus, if its members insisted on creating a report on its findings.

The report – which according to Committee Chairman, EDEK’s Marinos Sizopoulos, will be ready in mid January – will be on the Committee’s investigation into the events that unfolded leading up to and during the 1974 Turkish invasion.

But according to Georgiou, the Committee’s mandate didn’t allow for it to make conclusions, only to create a historical archive.

In a letter to the House President, DISY’s parliamentary spokesman Christos Pourgourides stressed that the committee’s mandate was “clear and fixed”.

LARNACA yesterday inaugurated a rickshaw sightseeing service, aiming at upgrading its tourist product.

The rickshaws, dubbed City Cruisers, will be used to ferry people on three routes in the coastal town.

Their operators, City Ambassadors, are youths who speak at least two languages and have received courses on the history and culture of the area.  They have also been trained on interpersonal relations and First Aid.

Larnaca Mayor Andreas Moiseos said the service will give tourists the chance to get to know the town even better. “We are certain of the success of the endeavour,” Moiseos said.

The City Cruisers are powered by a solar-charged battery and the driver’s legs.

TWO Romanian men were yesterday remanded in custody for seven days in connection with possession of stolen goods.

A third Romanian national is sought by police for the same case.

Police arrested the two men after one, 33, attempted to sell jewellery to a jeweller at a lower than normal price.

Police set up a sting operation and arrested the 33-year-old who then implicated a compatriot, 21.

Police raided the 21-year-old’s flat, finding a large quantity of alcoholic drinks, jewellery and a computer, which belong to unknown individuals.

The 21-year-old claimed he took the items from a third man whom police are now seeking.

IT TOOK a while to remember who she was, and suspecting she had something to do with sex, I hesitated slightly before repeating her name.

“Xaviera Hollander. The name is familiar,” I told my friend, who was on the line from Amsterdam telling me she’d found “an interesting B&B” for me to stay in the coming weekend.

My friend’s knowledge of Hollander was sketchy. “I think she used to be a prostitute,” she offered, allowing her voice to sound a little racy. I Googled “Xaviera Hollander” and found that neither my memory, nor my friend’s guess, had been wrong.