THIRTEEN children from a public kindergarten in Nicosia were taken to hospital by ambulance yesterday after a teaching assistant mistakenly served up water containing dishwashing detergent. Although it was not clear how many children drank the tainted water, all 13 from the Ayios Omoloyites kindergarten were treated at the First Aid as a precaution. The incident happened shortly before midday.
NICOSIA AND Athens said yesterday they would remain committed to reaching a Cyprus settlement through the United Nations, following official talks in Athens between President Tassos Papadopoulos and Greece’s Prime Minister Costas Simitis.
FINANCIAL scandal, mismanagement, fraud, nepotism, irregularities at several levels, official acknowledgment that something’s gone wrong and promises that the mess is going to be cleaned up… No, it’s not Cyprus (although it has been and will be again), it’s all happening in Brussels. The club we’re set to join on May 1 next year is once again in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
THE PAYMENT of $1.2 million in compensation by Turkey to Greek Cypriot refugee Titina Loizidou was left hanging in the balance again yesterday as conflicting reports emerged from Strasbourg, where the Council of Europe (CoE) was to consider sanctions against Ankara.
PHILELEFTHEROS: “Gastroenteritis troubling children” Children and adults are contracting gastroenteritis and laryngitis due to the change in weather. The symptoms in adults are pains in the bones and muscles, headaches nausea and weakness. Doctors’ recommendations are bed rest until the symptoms subside.
BIRDLIFE Cyprus yesterday warned illegal bird trapping was up 100 per cent, despite government assurances that the trade in ambelopoulia had decreased following a joint campaign with British Bases (SBA) police. The environmental group said studies showed the use of illegal lime sticks and mist nets to catch birds was well up on last year.
IT’S THE END of the road for the old GSP stadium in Nicosia as bulldozers began its demolition this week to break ground for the new State Theatre.
TOURISM arrivals for 2003 should end around five per cent down, but prospects for 2004 are good, Tourism Minister George Lillikas said yesterday. After a meeting with the tourism partners yesterday, Lillikas said that arrivals until the end of October were six per cent down. “The reduction is fluctuating at the moment, but we forecast it will be in the region of five per cent for 2003,” he said.
PROSTITUTION is on the rise in Cyprus, with the island becoming a major attraction to foreign women who obtain working permits as so called artistes, a detailed report by the Ombudswoman has warned. According to the report, over 1,000 foreign women arrive on the island every six months and are coerced by their employers into soliciting sex.
A NEW bill cracking down on profiteering could mean jail for retailers found guilty of over-pricing goods. An investigation conducted by the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KEVE) found that many small businesses, such as restaurants and kiosks, especially in tourist areas, were over-pricing their products and in some cases not labelling their prices at all.
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.
