Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that Turkey would do everything possible to help solve the Cyprus problem by May 1, but the government in Nicosia said time was running out. Peace talks have been at a standstill for 10 months and time is short for negotiations on a complex United Nations blueprint before Cyprus joins the European Union on May 1, either united or divided.
I HAVE just arrived from a few days away having spent New Year with family and friends, and I must say, Luton Airport is not exactly welcoming. It’s literally freezing, and the few people wandering around are looking very serious indeed. To top it all off (and I can’t really blame Luton for this…) it’s not even 4pm and it is beginning to get dark.
A PROPOSAL by a former Norwegian prime minister this week that the European Union should be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize is unlikely to make any headway in a sceptical Norway that has twice voted ‘no’ to EU membership.
A DISY deputy has put the cat among the pigeons by suggesting a reduction in the length of military service. Maria Kyriakou has said that Cyprus should follow the example set by Greece,which recently reduced the length of service to 14 months. The 26 months that young Cypriot males had to serve in the National Guard was far too long, she argued.
THE government has little choice but to increase fuel prices to cover the rise in the international price of oil, which has reached $31 a barrel, Commerce Minister George Lillikas has said. Lillikas said the rise in the price of oil had left the government with a shortfall of £5 million. “The only way for us to cover our losses is to increase the price of fuel to motorists,” Lillikas said.
DOCUMENTS containing architectural plans for National Guard observation posts were discovered on a rubbish heap at Tersefanou village, reports from Larnaca said yesterday. According to the reports, the documents, in a sealed envelope printed with the stamp of the Republic of Cyprus, were found by two members of the public who handed them in to Larnaca police.
LIMASSOL police are stepping security at the port after imported cars parked within the premises were broken into and damaged on two separate occasions in the past few weeks. Car importers reported to police that certain items had been stolen from their cars on Thursday, the second such recent incident.
BAKERS have come out against government plans to reform shopping hours and the operation of retail outlets. The Pancyprian Association of Bakers yesterday said it would request a meeting with Labour Minister Makis Keravnos to discuss the bill before any final decisions were reached.
STEPPING up its battle on profiteering, the Commerce Ministry is looking at the possibility of setting up a system that would inform consumers of the fluctuations in prices of greenhouse grown products.
LIMASSOL Hospital’s emergency ward is suffering sever overcrowding due to the fact that there are not enough outpatient clinics or health centres in the areas of Linopetra and Polemidia.
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.
