FOUR men were arrested in the occupied areas yesterday in connection with the triple murder of Elmas ‘Guzelyurtlu’ Ali and his family on the Nicosia-Larnaca highway last Saturday.
A 20-YEAR-old soldier from Nicosia, whose motorbike accident caused the deaths of two teenagers, was yesterday faced with two charges of manslaughter in an unprecedented move for Cyprus.
Marios Vasiliou was yesterday referred to trial on a total of 11 charges, including the counts of manslaughter. Manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
THE POLITICAL Bureau of opposition DISY last night decided unanimously to accept an invitation to Istanbul from Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP).
The visit, early next month, is designed to take place within the framework of the AKP’s request for membership of the European People’s Party.
CYPRUS Airways (CY) vice chairman Achilleas Kyprianou said last night that the strategic plan the board yesterday decided to implement was not enough to save the national carrier.
COMMERCE Minister George Lillikas sought to calm down fears yesterday that Turkish Cypriot products were flooding the market with cheaper prices, as a result of trade between the two communities based on the Green Line Regulation (GLR).
THE Planning Bureau yesterday predicted a 4.0 per cent growth rate in 2005 boosted by consumer confidence and an improvement in the business climate.
In its report on economic developments for the first nine months and prospects for 2005, the Planning Bureau, an arm of the Finance Ministry, said the fiscal deficit would drop to 2.9 per cent.
THREE men were yesterday jailed for five years for possession, and possession with intent to supply, of around 700 grams of heroin.
FOR a nation obsessed with the automobile, Cypriot drivers spend an average of 102 minutes in their cars every day and have some of the worst driving habits in Europe.
THE Cyprus Police Association (CPA) has given the government until January 31 to come up with a way to pay the backlog of overtime pay, which hasn’t been paid since 1993, reaching over £5 million.
The CPA claims that successive governments have ignored the issue for 12 years, leading to unpaid overtime figures reaching £5.3 million.
AGRICULTURE Minister Timis Efthymiou insisted yesterday there was no link between scrapie and mad cow disease, after data issued the European Food Safety Authority said eight Cypriot goats had tested positive for the disease.
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.
