IT WAS an opportunity for mending fences in the search for a new consensus. George W Bush appearing before the United Nations for the first time since flouting the Security Council in going to war against Iraq.
PHILELEFTHEROS: “We made a mistake, give us back your pensions” The Ministry of Finance mistakenly issued an extra £114 to pensioners during the months July to September and now the only solution is to deduct the amount from the people’s next pension. Approximately 4,500 people were given extra money and an explanatory letter will be sent to the pensioners.
RED TAPE in the issuing of building permits and title deeds is costing homeowners dear, according to property developer Andreas Lordos. Lordos said recent revelations of more than 55,000 homeowners not being handed title deeds for their homes by developers were due to shortcomings in the law and delays in issuing planning and building permits, causing financial headaches for developers.
NEARLY 750,000 overseas trips were made by Cypriots last year, up almost 10 per cent on 2001 when around 685,000 Cypriots went abroad. According to figures released by the Association of Cyprus Travel Agents (ACTA), of the three quarter of a million trips made abroad last year, some 467,000 – or 62 per cent – were holidays.
HOUSE deputies hit back yesterday at Attorney-general Solon Nikitas’ report on the law of evidence, showing strong disapproval for his unwillingness to change the rule on hearsay evidence. Nikitas laid down his opinion on the Law of Evidence in a report released on Tuesday.
CYPRUS must make deep reforms to rectify its economic problems if it wants to meet a stated target of joining the euro zone by January 2007, the head of a government advisory body on the economy said yesterday. The island is one of 10 countries joining the European Union next May, but must streamline its economy to meet single currency criteria before adopting the euro.
A REPRESENTATIVE for the bicommunal groups behind Monday’s ‘donkey’ demonstration said yesterday it had never been their intention that anyone should be arrested. Two Greek Cypriots, a Turkish Cypriot and Shelidona, a pregnant donkey, were arrested during the protest against the showing of passports. They were held overnight, fined and released on Tuesday.
OWNERS OF antique cars running on leaded petrol will find themselves paying hefty sums to convert their vehicles to run on unleaded petrol as of May 1 next year. According to a new European Union harmonising law, approved by parliament last week, all vehicles must run on unleaded petrol by the time Cyprus joins the EU in May 2004.
POLICE have appealed to the courts of justice to speed up procedures and provide adequate penalties to tackle the increasing number of attacks on police officers. Deputy police chief Charalambos Koulentis yesterday highlighted his particular concern for the rising number of attacks on members of the police force, 175 cases last year alone, and the need to provide a proper deterrent.
THE Greek Cypriot side is not concerned about who will make up the new leadership in the north after the December elections, but as long as Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash remains in power, there is little chance of a settlement, President Tassos Papadopoulos said in New York.
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.
