THE GRIEVING family of an 11-year-old girl, Alexandra Louca, who’s death has been shrouded in mystery since doctors failed to revive her after she fell and hit her head at school, still do not know the reason behind her death - four months on.“How can we properly grieve without an explanation, it’s criminal,” said her mother Kerry Louca describing the situation as ‘completely unacceptable.’Surely a mother has a right to the results in less than four months, she added... 8 comments

A 68-YEAR-OLD man was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of shooting two dogs in a residential area. The pensioner was arrested after a Paphos resident reported to police that he saw the 68-year-old get out of his car on a road in a residential area of a Paphos district village at around 4.30pm, holding a hunting gun. He allegedly took two dogs out of the car and fired four shots at them. Arriving at the scene, police found two injured dogs, which they took to Polis Chrysochous state veterinary service. The on duty vet put them down after concluding that their condition was irreversible.  ... 32 comments

TURKISH CYPRIOT civil society will tomorrow mark the death of two lawyers killed in 1962 during a period of heightened tension. The Turkish Cypriot lawyers, Ahmet Muzaffer Gurkan and Ayhan Hikmet, owners of the Cumhuriyet newspaper, were killed between April 23 and 24, 1962, allegedly by the Turkish Cypriot paramilitary organisation TMT. The event to mark a half century since their murders will be held at the headquarters of Turkish Cypriot teachers’ union KTOS in northern Nicosia. Writer-researcher Ahmet Cavit An and Aydin Hikmet, the brother of one of the victims, will address the meeting, which is being organised by the New Cyprus Party (YKP) and trade unions KTOS, KTOEOS, Basin-Sen, Dev-Is, KTAMS and Cag-Sen. ... 6 comments

A SAILOR on board the Turkish-owned ship Seaway died on Sunday after suffering a heart attack on board, according to the defence ministry.The search and rescue centre received a call at 11.45am informing them of the incident, said the ministry’s announcement. The ship, flying a Panamanian flag, was 31km south of the Vassilikos port at the time.The rescue team immediately sent a police helicopter with an experienced medic, taking off from Larnaca airport at around 12.10pm. They also arranged for medical advice to be sent to the ship from the Nicosia general hospital.Due to the seriousness of the Turkish national’s condition a defibrillator was used on him in the helicopter. He regained consciousness for a short time... 1 comment

 TRIBUTES poured in yesterday for Ismini Liasidou Saul, the much-loved founder of the Margartia Liasidou Foundation for disabled children and adults, who died peacefully in her sleep at the Lasis clinic in Paphos on Thursday.At the grand old age of 92, Ismini was a well-known figure not just in Paphos but all over the island for her tireless work to help those ‘less fortunate than herself.’She set up the non-governmental organisation in memory of her disabled daughter Margarita, who she described as ‘beautiful’Ismini said she wanted to keep her daughter’s memory alive by establishing the school, which will now remain under the guidance of a committee. Ismini had been the president... 2 comments

HOUSEHOLD chores proved fatal yesterday for a 72-year-old man when he apparently lost consciousness and fell from the roof of his house.The 72-year-old, from the village of Mesogi, Paphos, was on the rooftop clearing clogged drainpipes.At some point he lost consciousness and fell to the ground, police said.The man was rushed to Paphos general hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival... 3 comments

 ACADEMIA was yesterday mourning the death of Professor Peter Loizos who taught in the Department of Anthropology at the London School of Economics for over 30 years. Loizos died on Friday March 2 aged 74. An announcement from LSE said; “The school is sad to announce that Emeritus Professor Peter Loizos, Peter started working at LSE in 1969, and became professor of anthropology in 1997, before retiring from full-time teaching in 2002.”It said that among other things, Loizos was a specialist in, and made well-known contributions to the anthropology of the Hellenic world with special reference to politics, ethnicity and nationalism in Cyprus; and to the study of gender relations in the Mediterranean. ... 10 comments

A 46-YEAR-OLD man died yesterday when he fell head-first from a 3.5-metre ladder while painting a house in Limassol.The Greek Cypriot painter was working in the kitchen of a house at around 8am when he lost his balance.The man tried to hang on to a wire hanging from the wall, which snapped.“Unfortunately, once again the lack of safety measures have cost a life,” labour inspection department official Socratis Socratou said.A post mortem today is expected to confirm the man died from head injuries. It is thought he died instantly.He leaves behind a wife and two young children... Read on

A 32-YEAR-OLD father of two from Oroklini in Larnaca is in critical condition after being crushed by a double-cabin pick-up truck he was working under on Sunday afternoon.Philippos Philippou had been working on his father-in-law’s truck when the two 40-centmetre safety stands it was on collapsed, crushing Philippou underneath.According to police, Philippou was found by a relative, who managed to free him before an ambulance arrived to take him to Larnaca General Hospital.Doctors found the 32-year-old had suffered fractured ribs and a ruptured lung, so he was rushed to Nicosia General Hospital’s intensive care unit where he was yesterday still in critical condition, though doctors said he was stable.Oroklini police are investigating... 1 comment

RELATIVES of the Missing Persons want a team of experts sent  to investigate skeletal remains found in Diyarbakir prison in Turkey, lest they belong to Greek Cypriots or Greek nationals taken prisoner in 1974.According representative of the relatives, Nicos Theodosiou the 38 skeletons were found recently following renovation work in an old part of the prison.“The initial investigation revealed that they belong to people who were murdered or died during the 1980s, so immediately we thought of the people taken prisoner in 1974, but it seems that the Turkish government are trying to hide it,” said Theodosiou... Read on