SIMERINI: “They set fire to Strovolos Lyceum”. Arsonists took to Ethnomartira Kyprianou Lyceum in Strovolos on Tuesday night and set fire to two classrooms, containing wooden furniture and a dividing wall. The school was being renovated, thus allowing the culprits to enter the building easily. Neighbours soon saw the flames and smoke coming from the school and alerted the fire services and police. The fire was put out, but not before causing £300 worth of damage, said police.
PHILELEFTHEROS: “Star Cyprus is a sociologist”. A fourth-year Athens University student was the winner of Wednesday night’s Carlsberg beauty pageant. Elena Hadjidemetriou was crowned Star Cyprus 2004 at Pavilion in Nicosia, where the event was held. She is 21 and will be graduating with a sociology degree this year. Meanwhile the titles of Miss Cyprus, Miss Carlsberg and Miss Mediterranean went to Constantina Evripidou, Christina Demetriou and Nicole Georgiou respectively.
ALITHIA: “She avoided the wood, but not the accident”. A 44-year-old woman, along with her daughter and 14-month-old grand-daughter were injured in a road accident just before noon on Wednesday on the Aradippou-Dhekelia road. According to police as the 24-year-old daughter was driving the car, she swerved to avoid colliding into wood which had fallen off a double cabin vehicle in front of her. The young woman lost control of her car and hit the road’s dividing barrier and landed in a ditch. All three were taken to hospital for treatment, but their condition was described as out of danger.
MACHI: “Students find history exam tough”. University entrance exam students ran into trouble over their history paper. The problem concerned the second question of the exam and concerned the United States’ political intervention in the First and Second World Wars. According to the newspaper there are conflicting opinions over whether or not the topic was part of the examination curriculum and over and above the confusion, the candidates themselves are complaining the paper was a difficult one.
POLITIS: “Car bomb”. A 30-year-old man was arrested and remanded in six-day custody in connection with a car bomb in the Limassol district. The suspect is a betting shop employee and the car belonged to a 53-year-old builder. The explosion took place at 4.10am on Wednesday and caused extensive damage to the vehicle, which had been parked in the building’s ground floor parking lot. The 53-year-old told police he believed the suspect was behind the man-made bomb, however the 30-year-old has denied his involvement in the incident.
HARAVGHI: “Employment contracts for foreign workers”. Leisure ship owners in the Ayia Napa district are taking advantage of foreign workers and violating their human rights by forcing them to sign unjust employment contracts. According to the paper, a Sri Lankan youth agreed to work 12 hours a day, seven days a week from May to October, including overtime where necessary for £150 a month. The youth is said to only be allowed one meal a day and his accommodation is on board the ship.
