Hidden Cyprus: your guide to the lesser-touristed side of the Mediterranean island
Signs near the famous Toyota Garage in Varosha with the Toyota lettering on top push the Turkish point that Britain and Greece dispossessed Turks of the land a hundred years ago. The two sides are still at loggerheads, but the strange beauty of this 28 Days Later landscape of luxury and waste is incomparable. I can't resist jumping in the sea beneath UN checkpoint 152 on top of an abandoned apartment block. I look back at the beach and the feeling of dread and desolation is something I will never forget. Yet on the beach itself there's a weird normality — a snack bar has opened and a couple of old guys smoke cigarettes and drink beer, then a Finnish couple appear and follow me into the sea.
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Rhyl Journal
30 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
Israel and Iran trade strikes for third day as nuclear talks called off
Planned talks on Iran's nuclear programme, which could provide an off-ramp, were called off. The region braced for a protracted conflict after Israel's surprise bombardment of Iran's nuclear and military sites on Friday killed several top generals and nuclear scientists, and neither side showed any sign of backing down. Iran said Israel struck two oil refineries, raising the prospect of a broader assault on Iran's heavily sanctioned energy industry that could affect global markets. The Israeli military, in a social media post, warned Iranians to evacuate arms factories, signalling what could be a further widening of the campaign. US President Donald Trump has expressed full support for Israel's actions while warning Iran that it can only avoid further destruction by agreeing to a new nuclear deal. Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that if the Israeli strikes on Iran stop, then 'our responses will also stop'. New explosions echoed across Tehran and were reported elsewhere in the country early on Sunday, but there was no update to a death toll put out the day before by Iran's UN ambassador, who said 78 people had been killed and more than 320 wounded. In Israel, at least 10 people were killed in Iranian strikes overnight and into Sunday, according to Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service, bringing the country's total death toll to 13. The country's main international airport and airspace remained closed for a third day. Israeli strikes targeted Iran's Defence Ministry early on Sunday after hitting air defences, military bases and sites associated with its nuclear programme. The killing of several top generals and nuclear scientists in targeted strikes indicated that Israeli intelligence has penetrated Iran at the highest levels. In Israel, at least six people, including a 10-year-old and a nine-year-old, were killed when a missile hit an apartment building in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv. Daniel Hadad, a local police commander, said 180 people were wounded and seven are still missing. An Associated Press (AP) reporter saw streets lined with damaged and destroyed buildings, bombed out cars and shards of glass. Responders used a drone at points to look for survivors. Some people could be seen leaving the area with suitcases. Another four people, including a 13-year-old, were killed and 24 wounded when a missile struck a building in the Arab town of Tamra in northern Israel. A strike on the central city of Rehovot wounded 42. The Weizmann Institute of Science, an important centre for research in Rehovot, said 'there were a number of hits to buildings on the campus'. It said no-one was harmed. Israel has sophisticated multi-tiered air defences that are able to detect and intercept missiles fired at populated areas or key infrastructure, but officials acknowledge it is imperfect. World leaders made urgent calls to de-escalate. The attack on nuclear sites sets a 'dangerous precedent', China's foreign minister said. The region is already on edge as Israel seeks to annihilate Hamas, an Iranian ally, in the Gaza Strip, where the war is still raging after Hamas's October 7 2023 attack. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brushed off such calls, saying Israel's strikes so far are 'nothing compared to what they will feel under the sway of our forces in the coming days'. Israel, the sole though undeclared nuclear-armed state in the Middle East – said it launched the attack to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. The two countries have been regional adversaries for decades. Iran has always said its nuclear programme was peaceful, and the US and others have assessed it has not pursued a weapon since 2003. But it has enriched ever larger stockpiles of uranium to near weapons-grade levels in recent years and was believed to have been able to develop multiple weapons within months if it chose to do so. The UN's atomic watchdog censured Iran last week for not complying with its obligations. Mr Araghchi said Israel had targeted an oil refinery near Tehran and another in the country's Bushehr province on the Persian Gulf. He said Iran had also targeted 'economic' sites in Israel, without elaborating. Mr Araghchi was speaking to diplomats in his first public appearance since the initial Israeli strikes. Semi-official Iranian news agencies reported that an Israeli drone strike had caused a 'strong explosion' at an Iranian natural-gas processing plant. Israel's military did not immediately comment. The extent of damage at the South Pars natural gas field was not immediately clear. Such sites have air defence systems around them, which Israel has been targeting. The Arab Gulf country of Oman, which has been mediating indirect talks between the US and Iran over Tehran's nuclear programme, said a sixth round planned for Sunday would not take place. 'We remain committed to talks and hope the Iranians will come to the table soon,' a senior US official said. Mr Araghchi said on Saturday that the nuclear talks were 'unjustifiable' after Israel's strikes, which he said were the 'result of the direct support by Washington'. In a post on his Truth Social account early on Sunday, Mr Trump reiterated that the US was not involved in the attacks on Iran and warned that any retaliation directed against it would bring an American response 'at levels never seen before'. 'However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict!!!' he wrote.
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Daily Mirror
'My partner was escorted off Turkey flight - I never saw him again'
An inquest heard how dad Ben Crook, 32, was reported missing after he jetted off to Antalya with his partner Jess Jenkins and their two children on September 23 The partner of a "kind and caring" dad who was escorted off a flight to Turkey for being drunk has been left "traumatised" by his death. Ben Crook, 32, was reported missing after he jetted off to Antalya with his partner Jess Jenkins and their two children on September 23. An inquest at Gwent Coroner's Court on Tuesday heard that Ben had been escorted off the plane by Turkish police upon landing. After consuming alcohol and cocaine, he exhibited erratic behaviour on the flight, shouting at an air steward and smashing both his and Ms Jenkins' mobiles. Jess and her two youngest children spent days at police stations and searching the streets of Antalya to find him. However, heartbreaking news emerged that Ben had died after falling from a height, which led to him suffering a fractured skull and multiple other injuries. Heartbroken Jess has described Ben's death as "traumatic" after she spent days searching for him, telling Wales Online: "I spent every day at police stations and walking around Antalya trying to find him. "I am certain the police knew he was dead but didn't tell me. I didn't even know he had been taken to hospital, and still don't believe he had, as I haven't received a hospital bill and I still haven't been given any of his belongings. "After being escorted off the flight he was taken into a room and I was told to go through customs, carry on to the hotel and they would sort his arrival there. I told the customs officers where we were staying. "We arrived at 4am and by 7am I had called home to tell my family what had happened. By about 10am, when he hadn't arrived, I went looking for him. "I went to police stations every single day. The first day they had told me he been taken to Seven Seas Hotel and said they would bring me to him. I had our two children with me at the time and one of their friends, so three kids in total. "I went to this hotel and he was not there, he had never been taken there, but they continued giving me false hope he was alright. They knew he was dead by this point," she claimed. "He was found 40 minutes away from the hotel we were staying at and I do not believe it was an accident, he was petrified of dying. "I can't describe the feeling of when I found out he had passed away without crying. He was such a loving, caring, and kind person who would do anything for me and the kids. I am traumatised and I don't think I will ever be able to go on holiday ever again. "He was looking for me in his last moments. He sent messages to me and his dad from a Turkish man's phone, but we didn't see the messages until we had got home. "Me and Ben had been together for nine years and he raised my other two children, Ella, who is 17 now, and Harley, who is 16, as his own, before we had our own. "Ben was told by doctors he wouldn't be able to have kids but we conceived twice within the space of a year - our daughter Harper, is six years old now and our son Jax is five." In Ben's memory, nine of his family and friends are walking from "Sneg to Snowdon", which is 150 miles in five days, in the hope of raising £5,000 for Ben and Jess's children. They have set up a GoFundMe to try and reach the goal. On Monday, they walked from Senghenydd to Brecon, on Tuesday from Brecon to Rhayader, Wednesday from Rhayader to Machynlleth, Thursday from Machynlleth to Blaenau Ffestiniog and on the Friday they were due to reach the Snowdon Summit.
Evening Standard
a day ago
- Evening Standard
Hidden Cyprus: your guide to the lesser-touristed side of the Mediterranean island
Signs near the famous Toyota Garage in Varosha with the Toyota lettering on top push the Turkish point that Britain and Greece dispossessed Turks of the land a hundred years ago. The two sides are still at loggerheads, but the strange beauty of this 28 Days Later landscape of luxury and waste is incomparable. I can't resist jumping in the sea beneath UN checkpoint 152 on top of an abandoned apartment block. I look back at the beach and the feeling of dread and desolation is something I will never forget. Yet on the beach itself there's a weird normality — a snack bar has opened and a couple of old guys smoke cigarettes and drink beer, then a Finnish couple appear and follow me into the sea.
