News in Brief

National service length remains

THERE are no plans at present to reduce national service Defence Minister Koullis Mavronikolas said yesterday. He said as long as there was an army occupying the north of the island there could be no discussion of reduced military service.

Mukhtar’s cars torched

TWO VEHICLES belonging to the mukhtar of Eptagonias were the target of arsonists in the early hours of yesterday.

According to a police spokesperson, at around 1am, unknown arsonists poured flammable liquid over Petros Charalambous’ cars, which were parked in an open space near the owner’s house, and then set them on fire.

The blaze was put out by the owner, before the fire department could get to the scene. The fire caused minimal damages to both cars.

Couple arrested on fraud charges

A MAN and a woman were arrested and remanded yesterday in Paphos in connection with a case of theft and fraud.

According to a complaint by a car salesman on April 5 this year he sold the woman ten cars on the basis of a bank loan.

However he said that after she received the money she, and another two persons who were involved in the deal put all of the money in personal accounts and didn’t pay him.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.