NICOSIA Municipality is fining citizens £50 for leaving plant pots on their doorsteps as part of its strategy to rid the city’s pavements of obstacles.

THE trial of Health Minister Dina Akkelidou, accused of attempting to interfere with the course of justice, resumed yesterday with the prosecution submitting to the court evidence, which has been accepted by the defence as fact.

ANOTHER scientist has come forward to challenge American researcher Robert Sarmast’s theory that a rise on the seabed off Cyprus is part of the lost continent of Atlantis.

TURKISH Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Ankara does not intend to recognise the Republic of Cyprus only 24 hours after a top EU enlargement official said it must if it wished to join the bloc.

A GROUP of concerned adults and children yesterday joined forces outside their apartment building in Nicosia to demonstrate over a mobile telephone mast that they believe is making them sick.

SPEAKING at Larnaca airport on his return from Italy after a two-day official visit yesterday, President Tassos Papadopoulos said that Turkey had an obligation towards the EU to recognise Cyprus.

He said the recognition of the Cyprus Republic was inevitable and it was just a matter of time.

AROUND $31million have been lost due to the government’s introduction of draconian new procedures for the granting of student visas to foreigners, the Association of Private Tertiary Education Institutions (PASISTE) said yesterday.

College owners yesterday renewed their call to the government to ease student visa procedures, which they said had cut enrollment by up to 87 per cent.

POLICE have conducted raids on several houses in Nicosia and Paphos as part of a crackdown on teachers at state schools who give illegal private lessons outside the classroom.

A GROUP of municipal councillors has criticised the Mayor of Nicosia for his handling of the upcoming Christmas and New Year fiesta in the capital.

Nearly half a million pounds is set to be spent on transforming Nicosia into a fairytale wonderland next month, in a bid to attract one million visits to the city.

MACHI: ‘OELMEK and government clash’ The Cypriot union of teachers (OELMEK) and the government have come into confrontation following a decision by the government that teachers giving illegal private lessons will be tracked down and prosecuted. The call to bring down teachers illegally giving lessons was yesterday reiterated by the Minister of Education Pefkios Georgiades.