Sir,

Once again the drop in tourist numbers is a topic in the Mail. In your article last Sunday, the spokesman of the Cyprus Hotel Association in Limassol, Andreas Kapetanios, blames road works and construction for a drop of a quarter in tourists from UK.

THE U.S. and Britain yesterday backed the right of Cyprus to make international agreements with other countries but said the oil and gas row highlighted the need to move forward with a Cyprus solution.

EX-PRISONERS are re-offending to get back into to jail because of harsh conditions preventing them from integrating in Cyprus society after being released, the House Crime Committee heard yesterday.

A PENSIONER from Larnaca could face 20 years imprisonment after being charged with five counts of child abuse.

The 62-year-old man yesterday appeared before a judge at Larnaca district court, which was staged behind closed doors to protect the identity of the alleged victims, and said that he understood the five charges against him.

NICOSIA CID have arrested two men believed to have stolen around £24,000 in car parts from various auto-repair shops in Nicosia.

Yesterday Judge Alexia Lycourgou remanded the two men, aged 20 and 21, for five days in police custody despite a request from CID Sergeant Marios Constantinides to keep the men in his custody for eight days.

FARES as low as 65 euros (£38) for Larnaca to Vienna return are being offered by a low-cost airline, which is starting operations to Cyprus in March.

SkyEurope Airlines is to offer two flights a week to the island beginning in March.

A TURKISH Cypriot man was released on £1,000 bail by the Larnaca court yesterday but must appear again on February 7 in connection with the ongoing saga of operating an illegal casino in the mixed village of Pyla.

THE PLENUM is today set to approve the law that will regulate third country nationals’ rights to long-term residency in Cyprus – over a year after it should have been passed.

Long-term residents will especially be interested in the European Directive that will significantly upgrade the rights of those who have lived in Cyprus permanently for a minimum of five years.