YOU have to give it to the man: Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s master of spin has achieved a remarkable tour de force. Over the past two weeks he has managed to turn the whole issue of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq into a debate about the accuracy of a BBC report claiming the government had deliberately ‘sexed up’ intelligence reports in the run-up to war.
CYPRUS Broadcasting Corporation editor Spyros Kettiros was fined £1,000 yesterday after a Nicosia court last week found him guilty of indecent assault and actual bodily harm. He had been accused by a female co-worker, who told the court he had indecently assaulted her, grabbed her by the neck and bitten her ear.
BRITAIN will continue to make efforts to restart talks over the future of Cyprus, Prime Minister Tony Blair vowed yesterday. He told the House of Commons he hoped the international community would be able to mount a “constructive attempt” to get the sides back around the table.
THE government yesterday said it had not been officially briefed on the visit of a Council of Europe official to review history books on both sides of the divide.
TWO BRITISH children orphaned when their parents drowned in a holiday boating tragedy were due to fly home from Cyprus last night. The Paphos police chief said nine-year-old Callum Rainey – who had been taken to the town’s general hospital following yesterday’s accident – had been discharged earlier yesterday.
POLICE YESTERDAY issued an arrest warrant for two British men wanted in connection with the stabbing of British garage star Dizzee Rascal in Ayia Napa.
The 18-year-old rising star, whose real name is Dylan Mills, was reportedly stabbed on Monday afternoon, while on the island with his band Roll Deep Crew.
THE GOVERNMENT and the police yesterday launched investigations into why a Turkish Cypriot woman and her two children were turned back on arrival at Larnaca airport form Lebanon, despite having all the necessary paperwork for entry into Cyprus.
DIKO yesterday defended the decision to organise a rally to condemn the 1974 coup and Turkish invasion, while opposition DISY questioned the benefits of such a function at a time when the two communities were trying to rebuild trust in one another.
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.
