PRESIDENT Tassos Papadopoulos yesterday announced a new surprise social package worth some £75 million, which his political opponents have dubbed an election panic measure.
The seven-point package is the latest in a string of money-back measures announced by the government that include VAT reductions in some sectors, tax cuts on heating fuel and increased benefits.
THE GOVERNMENT and consumers alike breathed a sigh of relief after news that zero VAT is to be levied on pharmaceuticals and foodstuffs until the end of 2010.
Cyprus had been due to introduce value-added tax on medicines and foodstuffs and raise VAT on restaurant services to 15 per cent up from the current five per cent.
IN ANOTHER four-hour session of finger-pointing, conflicting views and accusations, the House Watchdog Committee yesterday continued its evaluation over the procedures followed to bring liquid natural gas to Cyprus.
Government declares Cyprus emerging market to maintain monopoly
THE ELECTRICITY Authority of Cyprus has said it is willing to enter a joint venture for an LNG deliquefaction facility – a move allowing it to remain a key player in the shift from power plants relying on heavy fuel oil.
FOREIGN Minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis yesterday called on the UN stop making an issue out of the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots, saying it was in fact a ‘non-issue’.
Marcoullis was commenting on UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon’s latest report on Cyprus, which said it was regrettable that the ongoing debate on the lifting of the isolation had become one about recognition.
‘It’s not just a medical issue. It’s a humanitarian issue’
FOR THE second time this week a family has donated the organs of a deceased loved one, giving a new lease of life to five people, two of them Greek Cypriots.
Only days after the mother of 43-year-old Louis Ioannou donated his organs, the family of Fotos Karaoli, 48 from Akaki did the same.
‘Just tell us who’s responsible’
THE CYPRUS Paraplegic Organisation (OPAK) staged a demonstration at the New Limassol General Hospital yesterday, expressing their outrage at the lack of provision for disabled parking – even in public buildings – and the ease with which government departments are passing the buck.
A LEBANESE man with a US passport was arrested on an Interpol warrant at Larnaca Airport yesterday on suspicion of running a global internet lottery scam that netted him $10 million.
CYPRUS Airways’ (CY) biggest union yesterday called a 24-hour strike for next Wednesday and threatened to escalate the measures on December 17 and 18, the height of the holiday season.
If the strike goes ahead it will cause untold misery to thousands of Christmas travellers and push the airline further into financial ruin, CY said in a statement.
THE SWEDISH embassy was yesterday put in the awkward position of correcting President Tassos Papadopoulos over comments he made regarding the country’s foreign policy.
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.
