FORTUNATELY, last week’s strike at the hotel industry lasted for only one day. Government ministers intervened and by night-time had worked out a compromise deal that the Hoteliers’ Association, which had rejected the government’s initial mediation proposal, accepted. The strike was called off, the collective agreements were renewed and everything seemed to be back to normal by Friday morning.
TURKISH Cypriot party leaders yesterday accused their Greek Cypriot counterparts of snubbing them by staying away from a meeting in Strasbourg with Council of Europe General Secretary Walter Schwimmer.
A “PEACE and friendship” concert in the north by one of Greece’s best-known singers had to be cancelled on Saturday because of reaction by Greek Cypriots. Singer Lefteris Pantazis had been due to sing at the Kyrenia Rocks Hotel, a property owned by a Greek Cypriot refugee, sparking controversy; the singer was accused of selling out national principles for personal gain.
FIRE department officials yesterday battled throughout the night to put out a fire in the Limassol district, which was finally brought under control in the early hours of the morning. The blaze burned through four square kilometres outside Kivides village, including olive trees, carob trees, pine trees and wild shrub.
POLICE yesterday denied reports that crime in the Paphos area was soaring. “Crime here is normal — on a par with the rest of Cyprus,” Spyros Koniotis, Divisional Commander of Paphos Police said yesterday.
THE President is cracking down on overspending in government departments, and new rules could force officials to pay for extra spending out of their own pockets or even face prosecution, reports said yesterday.
LIMASSOL police yesterday uprooted the second biggest cannabis plantation ever found on the island, with 1,185 plants of various sizes. Two suspects were remanded in custody for eight days on suspicion of cultivation, possession and trafficking of drugs as well as conspiracy to commit felony.
HUMAN trafficking in Cyprus is running rampant, as criminal rings have an almost free hand in sexually exploiting young women from former Eastern bloc countries. According to a report published in Athens in the Vima Sunday supplement Vimagazino, Cyprus is fast turning into a top destination for artistes seeking easy money or a better life.
POLICE yesterday arrested four men on suspicion of injuring, assaulting, causing actual bodily harm, and threatening assault against two Limassol brothers on Sunday, as well as entering their property illegally.
BISHOP Neophytos of Morphou said yesterday the Holy Synod was standing by its decision to go ahead with controversial renovations to the Apostolos Andreas Monastery in the occupied Karpass peninsula.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
