GREECE and Turkey’s entry into the Cyprus fray is inevitable, UN special envoy Alvaro de Soto said yesterday after his first meeting with President Tassos Papadopoulos under the new negotiations schedule.
PHILELEFTHEROS “He slipped into the river and drowned” In an attempt to gather rich soil from the riverbank, 63-year-old Emilios Rialas from Limassol lost his life. His family reported him missing on Saturday and his body was discovered on Sunday in the Kouris River near the Ayios Georgios Bridge.
TRAGEDY almost struck at a Limassol restaurant on Sunday when a wall fell down, injuring two of the 150 patrons eating there. The two suffered light injuries while the rest were lucky to escape as the eastern wall of the old building fell towards the outside of the restaurant. The restaurant, To Diadirideo, is a listed building on Ayios Andreas Street in Limassol.
THE Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce yesterday issued a statement calling for the full implementation of EU law across the island, and advocated keeping derogations aimed at protecting Turkish Cypriot economic interests to a minimum.
ROAD deaths must be cut by 50 per cent by 2010, Communications and Works Minister Kikis Kazamias said yesterday after meeting with the Road Safety Council. Kazamias said the Council would be ready to implement its latest action programme by May 13 when it next convenes. The programme was initially scheduled for the period 2002-2006 but for various reasons never got off the ground.
THE Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) is concerned that an EU-imposed 17.5 per cent VAT on tour operators’ profit margins will prove a disincentive to some of them to sell Cyprus this year. According to reports, the tour operators margin scheme (TOMS) will come into force from May 1, upping the cost of a holiday to Cyprus by between £10 and £15 per person.
A SWEEP operation by the police in Nicosia on Sunday bagged four illegal aliens as part of an ongoing campaign to crack down on illegal immigrants. The sweep began at around 7.30pm on Sunday. A force of around 120 police officers converged on Nicosia’s Eleftheria Square, a popular hangout for immigrants. They sealed off possible escape routes and began ID checks of foreigners in the area.
Fact of the Day: Today’s topic is culture. One of the nice things about EU accession is the thought that one day the streets of all major cities on the island will be filled with performing artists, colouring our shopping ways with ingenious acts and melodic yodelling for a few cents or more.
A 63-YEAR-old man from Limassol has drowned after slipping on rocks on a riverbank and losing consciousness. On Saturday, Emilios Rialas, manager at an insurance company, was visiting his plot of land near the Ayios Yeoryios Silikou village. At some point, he made his way down to the river to collect some sand from the bank.
THREE armed robbers hoping to make a quick withdrawal from a Strovolos bank, managed to seize over £22,000 in a stand-up yesterday, but failed to count on Deputy Police Chief Soteris Charalambous driving by. Two hooded men, both aged 20, walked into a Strovolos Co-op branch at 11am yesterday, waving a pistol and revolver.
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.
