DOCTORS’ demands for extra pay and first class seats delayed the transfer of a 22 year-old heart patient to Athens for a heart transplant, Health Minister Dina Akkelidou charged yesterday. Speaking to CyBC radio yesterday, Akkelidou rejected press reports that bureaucracy and legal issues had caused repeated delays in transporting Stelios Kyprianou to Athens for a heart transplant.
LOYALTY in the world of politics is an elastic quality and Britain=s Conservative leader Ian Duncan Smith was yesterday the latest party leader to put it to the test. As senior ministers have publicly professed their loyalty to their former leader they have been busy jostling for position in the next round. Others are getting ready to profess their loyalty to whoever is next in line.
PHILELFTHEROS “A mother’s courage saving her son” Three months ago, a mother took her heroin-addicted son to the drugs service. They gave her the essential advice and promised not to take the case to court, recognising that he needed treatment, not prosecution. The mother and son recently visited the anti drugs service again, only this time the boy’s arms were free of needle marks.
THE COUNCIL of Ministers yesterday gave the green light for the formation of an independent council, which would hold the power to investigate police corruption, breaches of duty or serious violations of human rights by members of the force.
THE House Watchdog and Finance Committees will meet in two weeks to decide on the conclusions submitted by the two experts working on the stock exchange fiasco, DISY deputy Christos Pourgourides said yesterday.
LIMASSOL police yesterday arrested a 26 year-old-man in connection with two hit-and-run raids against foreigners on Tuesday night. Police said the man had been tracked down shortly after midnight in Yermasoyia, after two separate complaints that a man driving a white car had bumped into pedestrians and grabbed their bags.
PARALIMNI Mayor Nicos Vlittis’ term in office was yesterday hanging by a thread after councillors from his own party DISY announced he no longer enjoyed their confidence, fuelling speculation that he could soon be asked to tender his resignation.
TWO IRANIANS and four Kazakhs arrested at the Ledra Palace checkpoint last week as they tried to cross from the occupied areas were scheduled to be deported last night. The four are studying at a university in the north. Reports said that had asked the UN whether they were allowed to cross to the south and had been told to ask Cyprus police.
CYPRUS Airways have accused disgruntled cabin crew of stabbing the airline in the back with strike threats at a time when the national carrier is struggling to stay afloat.
THE auction for Cyprus’ first private sector mobile phone licence is set to resume today with bids at £9.75 million for the 20-year concession, well above the minimum sought by regulators. Cosmote Cyprus, an affiliate of the major Greek mobile telecom operator Cosmote, and Scancom, a consortium of Lebanese and Cypriot investors active in Africa, had reached an eighth round of bidding by 5pm.
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.
