STRONG winds and rain yesterday wreaked havoc across the island, injuring several people and inflicting considerable damage. The Limassol and Paphos were the hardest hit, but the whole of Cyprus suffered from the storms, which lashed the entire eastern Mediterranean yesterday.
ALITHIA: “Child population decreasing”. The island’s population is expected to reach 851,800 by 2032, the paper reports. According to a report by the Statistical Service, during the period 2032-2036, the population will remain on the same levels and from 2037 will start to reduce, reaching 822,100 by 2052. The report shows that the death rate on the island will exceed the birth rate.
Fact of the day: EU accession will not only affect Cypriots or EU nationals living on the island. On November 25, 2003, the European Council formally adopted a proposal directive concerning the status of third country nationals who are long-term residents in EU member states.
POTATO FARMERS have given the government just 13 days to meet their demands or face mass demonstrations. The move comes after a government decision to up diesel prices by two cents a litre, a decision seen as a last straw by farmers, who say they were facing bankruptcy in their already fragile businesses.
FOREIGN insurance companies owe the state thousands of pounds in medical bills incurred from the treatment of foreign nationals at state hospitals over the years, the House Health Committee heard yesterday. Deputy Adamos Adamou revealed that one company owed £70,000 since 1993.
A 48-YEAR-old Indian man was yesterday remanded in custody for five days on suspicion of smuggling around 8,000 vials of steroids, worth over £400,000, through Larnaca airport. Sadik Haiderali from Bombay was arrested on Wednesday after officers searched his luggage and found 8,060 vials of Sustanon, estimated to be worth around £400,000.
INSURANCE companies yesterday defended the need for police to attend even the most minor traffic accidents, saying drivers simply could not be relied upon to exchange details and admit responsibility.
DEPUTIES On the House Labour Committee yesterday called on the Social Insurance Department to change the way they classified maternity leave for women who suffered a difficult pregnancy.
DISCUSSION of the controversial bill amending the island’s obsolete law on evidence at the Plenum was adjourned yesterday because the report from the House Legal Affairs Committee which has been considering the bill for months was not ready. The bill had been on the agenda for discussion at the Plenum, but House president Demetris Christofias informed deputies that the report was not ready.
CYPRUS Airways (CY) chairman Consantinos Loizides hinted yesterday that the national carrier would not rule out redundancies in the airline if warranted. Loizides was speaking after a crucial meeting between the airline’s board and the ministers of Finance and Communications and Works to discuss the company’s finances.
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.
