Greek Press

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.

ALITHIA: ‘Snubbed for a second time’ The daily has focused on the recent brief lunch meeting between President Tassos Papadopoulos and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The paper mentions how Berlusconi failed to turn up a meeting between the two in Rome planned several months ago and how both Papadopoulos and Berlusconi refused to comment on the outcome of the meeting this time around.

HARAVGHI: “There is no other way’ A stern message has been given to Ankara by the European Union stating that they will have to recognise the Cyprus Republic ahead of Turkey’s accession for a date to begin EU negotiation talks in a letter sent by the Commission’s Pierre Mirel.

PHILELEFTHEROS: ‘The first offences have been punished’ The paper looks ahead to the sentencing of Max Data Holdings director 56-year-old Andreas Athanasiou, who was found guilty of stealing funds from investors, and who was yesterday given a seven-year jail term.

POLITIS: ‘Private lessons to become state run’ Also with its eye on the ongoing private lesson for children saga, the daily has focused on the Ministry of Education’s attempt to resolve the situation by planning to introduce state run private institutes for lessons. The Minister of Education Pefkios Georgiades has also noted the benefits of the institutes, which include cheaper lessons costs for the parents.

SIMERINI: ‘Half a million for Christmas’ A total of around £480,000 from subsidies and a further £40,000 from citizens will be spent this year on the Christmas celebrations in Nicosia. The story looks into the £6 million loan Nicosia Mayor Michalakis Zampelas took out in September 2004 to pay off some of the Municipality’s debts.

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.