Twelfth Bough

image from: Cyprus Weekly An update on the Hadjicostis murder, covered here and by aangirfan here, ...which you can readily see has intelligence services fingerprints all over it. But never mind all that crazy talk about the embassy and the security cameras and the shell casings and Mossad and Cyprus blah blah blah. This is the very simple, very easy to understand white bread explanation, suitable for public consumption: NICOSIA - A Cyprus court remanded a blonde TV presenter and her brother in police custody on Friday on suspicion of ordering the contract killing of media tycoon Andis Hadjicostis. Elena Skordelli, a 42-year-old mother of two and TV show host, and her brother Tassos Krasopoulis, 37, appeared before a Nicosia district court and were remanded for eight days. They have not been charged. The pair denies any involvement in the killing and their defence lawyers said the suspects wanted to help police with their inquiries. They were arrested on Thursday night in connection w...

This past week someone important died in Greece. Actually he was murdered. Antis Hadjicostis was the son of Costis Hadjicostis, owner of Dias Media Group. A privately held media group. Presumably that means the station can air whatever views it likes. Sigma TV is a commercial network in Cyprus [...eastern Mediterranean, south of Turkey and west of Syria and Lebanon] that commenced broadcasting on April 3, 1995. It is a private service and is currently the second-rated channel in Cyprus. Sigma TV is geared at a younger audience, with the focus on the 18-45 age group. It broadcasts a mix of original programmes as well as popular foreign programming. The current programming breakdown is as follows: Local - 40%, US - 15%, Greece - 5% and Latin American - 40%. News programs include: Tomes Sta Gegonota - Daily newcast with live reports and informative discussion with all the headlines from around the world. Me Agapi - Informative discussion on current affairs and key issues. From perso...

Recall the Hadjicostis murder: an independent media owner shot by men on a motorcycle, during daylight, near embassies. Another murder this weekend, strikingly similar to the Hadjicostis murder, but this time in Kathmandu: Chairman of Space Time Network and Channel Nepal, Jamim Shah was shot dead by an unknown gang at Lajimpat Sunday’s afternoon. The unidentified person riding a motorcycle shot Chairman Shah near French Embassy, Lajimpat at 2:55 pm. He was immediately taken to TU Teaching Hospital, but in vain. Shot on chest and head, he breathed his last on the way to the Hospital. Chauffeur Mathura Man Malakar was also injured seriously in the firing. ...Meanwhile, the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) has expressed deep grief over the killing of Jamim Shah, the Chairman of Channel Nepal, the first television channel of Nepal, and Space Time Network. The killing of a prestigious person in broad daylight in the sensitive and important place of the capital city proves tha...

Would someone want Saba Masri dead? Maybe. He had a lot of different business interests, and he definitely locked horns with a few people along the way. Saba Masri, 46, did not participate in his family's main business, pharmaceuticals distributor Grupo Casa Saba. Instead, he struck out as an investor in diverse areas, including telephones, Internet service and real estate.   In 2007 he made an unsuccessful bid for a government-held stake in one of the country's two main airlines, Aeromexico. [He lost in a fierce bidding war against Citigroup.] Saba Masri was an early investor in TV Azteca, Mexico's second-largest network, and in the Unefon telephone company, where he sold his stake in 2007. He owned a stake in at least one hotel in the Pacific coast resort of Acapulco. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged him in 2004 with manipulative securities trading, though the charges were later dismissed...