Cyprus may no longer be the narrow-minded conservative place it once was, but for the gay community little has changed
The old joke about homosexuality could have been thought up for Cyprus.
“What’s the difference between being black and being gay?”
“If you are black you don’t ever need to sit down and tell your Mother.”
Walking into the house where 86-year-old Yiorgos Filippou lives is a shocking experience.
With huge cracks in its walls, whole sections of them without plaster, and its ancient – potentially lethal – electrical wiring, the house should have been condemned years ago. No one should be living there, most certainly not a frail, elderly man.
Back in the 1970s there used to be an Irish beer advertisement on television where a native son was working in Saudi Arabia and sent home a postcard saying: “Sure, it’s so hot here you could fry an egg on the stones”.
HUNDREDS OF pieces of state-owned art works are being stored in poor conditions and run the risk of being destroyed or lost, the Green Party has warned.
Cypriot diners complain. First of all they complain that there are no decent restaurants to go to. Then they complain that when they do venture out, the service they receive is non-existent or rude. The final complaint is inevitably the inexplicably extortionate bill.
AS A NEW survey shows worrying numbers of school children are overweight, the ministry of education has said schools alone cannot fight the childhood obesity epidemic.
PRESIDENT Demetris Christofias yesterday called on the Turkish Cypriot side and Turkey to show flexibility and goodwill in the upcoming talks, due to being on September 3.
Speaking at separate events yesterday, Christofias said the Greek Cypriot side would go to the talks in a spirit of goodwill and honesty to find a solution.
High ranking Armenian cleric visits Cyprus
CATHOLICOS of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Aram I has called on Turkey to reconcile with its past and formally accept the Armenian genocide.
In a recent visit to Cyprus, Aram I said that he did believe that Armenians and Turks could live together, but that Turkey had to admit to its past.
GOVERNMENT officials, politicians and other users of Larnaca Airport’s VIP lounge have been warned by the Transport Ministry to show up for flights at least an hour in advance to avoid delaying departures.
While the public are asked to arrive at the airport two hours in advance of a flight, VIPs are required to arrive only an hour before departure.
A TAXI driver has been remanded in custody for eight days after being arrested in possession of five kilos of cannabis.
After a tip-off, members of the Police Drug Squad found a backpack with five kilos of the drug in the boot of the 36-year-old’s taxi in the village of Arediou.
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.
