TURKEY must push harder to help reunite Cyprus if it is to have a serious chance of starting talks on joining the European Union, an EU Commission official said in Brussels yesterday. “If the problem is not resolved by the end of 2004, it will be a serious obstacle to opening accession negotiations,” the official told Reuters news agency, speaking on condition of anonymity.
SIMERINI: “Infected food causes panic”. Panic has spread throughout the occupied area over revelations that large quantities of tomatoes and grapes were found to contain large amounts of pesticides. On Thursday, the Turkish Cypriot authorities carried out control checks at hypermarkets and shops to verify if other products had been affected.
Inquiry into alleged speeding ticket scam LARNACA police have launched a disciplinary and criminal investigation into allegations that six officers had falsified traffic violation documents. The officers, all stationed at Athienou village police station, have been suspended until the conclusion of the investigation.
THE CYPRUS Council of the International Association for the Promotion of Women of Europe yesterday named First Lady Fotini Papadopoulou as Cyprus’ Woman of Europe. The council’s decision automatically nominates the First Lady for this year’s Woman of Europe award held in Brussels at the international association’s headquarters.
TWO shipments of pistachio nuts were confiscated upon arrival at Limassol port after testing by the Medical Services revealed they contained carcinogenic substances. The head of the Medical Services, Sophocles Anthousis, told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that many imported products were checked for harmful substances when they arrived in Cyprus.
LEBANESE-backed mobile phone company Scancom, the winners of the island’s first GSM licence to rival CyTA, said yesterday they did not want to get into a price war with incumbent Telecommunications Authority. Speaking to the Cyprus Mail yesterday, Scancom’s adviser Koullis Christodoulides said he was confident CyTA would not further reduce their rates.
TALKS will be held in mid-November to discuss whether to allow a casino in the government controlled areas of Cyprus, with consultations between Commerce Minister George Lillikas and the political parties.
BRITISH Ambassadors from Cyprus, Athens and Ankara yesterday met with President Tassos Papadopoulos to discuss the Cyprus problem and the upcoming elections in the north.
SEVERAL hundred British troops returned to their home base in Cyprus in heavy rain yesterday after a six-week tour of duty in Iraq that they believe left at least their part of the country in better shape.
I have always enjoyed airports. There is an excitement in the air which seems to transcend daily chores. So when my sister Natalia – who is based in Madrid — was returning from a swift visit we decided to make the most of our time together and make a day of her time at the airport. The clocks have gone back now, and there is that familiar feeling of confusion in the air.
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.
