Cyprus justice minister resigns over serial killings

Cyprus Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou said he resigned yesterday after a public outcry over the botched response to the serial killing of seven foreign women and girls. Nicolaou said he tendered his resignation to President Nicos Anastasiades for reasons of “principle and conscience”, while adding he had no personal involvement in the case that went undetected for nearly three years. A suspect identified in Cypriot media as 35-year-old Greek Cypriot army officer Nicos Metaxas has confessed to the seven murders that have been dubbed the Mediterranean holiday island’s first serial killings. The suspect reportedly met the women through online dating site Badoo before dumping their bodies.