This week in history
THIS week in history last year, a Lapta woman was to stand trial after her dog allegedly “went berserk” and attacked an elderly expat heart attack survivor while he was taking a stroll near his home.
Police told Cyprus Today that the woman would appear in court to face accusations that she was walking a dog that “posed a threat” to humans “without taking precautionary measures.” She was also ordered to keep the pet at home and tethered at all times pending the court hearing.
Also this week in 2017, the government was urged to establish a “crisis desk” in the face of further record falls in the value of the Turkish Lira — although a TRNC minister said people should “continue to put their trust” in the currency.
The TL plunged against major currencies ahead of an expected decision by ratings agency Fitch that it could downgrade Turkey’s investor grade to “junk” status.
This week in 2013, a millionaire conman was spotted hiding in the TRNC while on the run from UK authorities. Scotland’s most wanted man, Michael Voudouri, 45, had fled to the island where he was thought to have Greek Cypriot relatives. He was traced, however, to a four-bedroom Edremit villa with a pool and views of the mountains.
This week in 2008, an elderly couple had a narrow escape when a lorry ploughed into their house in Girne. Durmuş Boyacı, 72, and Ülkü Boyacı, 68, were in the kitchen of the house on the Lefkoşa-Girne road when the lorry crashed, narrowly missing a nearby children’s nursery. The runaway vehicle then destroyed a bedroom at the Boyacı’s house, which was left in danger of collapsing.
This week in 1998, a countrywide blackout of TV and radio programmes on the first holiday night of Bayram sparked outrage from thousands of stay-at-home families relying on the media for local and international entertainment. The reason for the three-hour switch-off — lack of fuel to run the generator of the key transmitter — brought an additional flood of complaints from would-be-viewers and listeners.
On this very day, January 27, 1945, the Red Army liberated the Nazis’ biggest concentration camp at Auschwitz in south-western Poland. According to reports, hundreds of thousands of Polish people, as well as Jews from a number of other European countries, had been held prisoner there in appalling conditions and many were killed in gas chambers.
On January 31, 1996, at least 53 people were killed and another 1,400 injured in a suicide attack in the capital of Sri Lanka. A lorry loaded with explosives crashed into the central bank in the heart of Colombo’s financial district. It was believed that the intended target was the neighbouring naval headquarters.