WITH UK bookings down 29 per cent, two of Britain’s biggest tour operators, which between them bring in 40 per cent of British arrivals, yesterday warned that Cyprus tourism needed a reality check.
THE CARGO of the Monchegorsk is to be unloaded and transferred to a naval base in Cyprus for storage today, CyBC reported last night.
According to the state-run broadcaster, the operation will begin around 6am, when the ship is to dock at the port of Limassol.
THE GOVERNMENT was left red-faced yesterday when it transpired that a member of the Property Working Group, set up to prepare the ground for direct talks, had applied for and won compensation from the controversial “property commission” in the north.
THE LEADERS of the two communities met yesterday for a third session on the tricky issue of property, leaving the President in a somewhat better mood than before the talks.
CALLS went out yesterday for more controls to ensure that drivers of public transport meet safety requirements, following an incident on Wednesday when a drunk Polish bus driver rampaged down a Nicosia avenue.
AFTER a green light from Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Antonis Paschalides, a Consumer Watchdog Centre will be established, with a view to monitoring and publishing a ‘name and shame’ list on traders offering the highest and lowest prices for petrol and other basic goods.
THE Veterinary Services yesterday asked for reinforcement in view of implementing the EU directive to combat scrapie.
According to the Services’ spokesman Pavlos Toumazos, the department is so understaffed at the moment, officers are working overtime for which they are not getting paid.
THE PLANNED cathedral in the old city of Nicosia is not an endeavour of vanity, Archbishop Chrysostomos said yesterday.
“We want to build a beautiful temple so that the Church of Cyprus will not have to feel embarrassed every time we host a foreign dignitary,” the Church leader said yesterday during a presentation of the project at the old Archbishopric building.
A MEETING of the House Defence Committee yesterday descended into a farce when deputies were forced to discuss a musical error by the National Guard (NG) band during its rendition of the national anthem.
Heated accusations of “hidden agendas” and conspiracies to alter the island’s history flew back and forth, as NG Chief Constantinos Bisbikas sat red-faced and accepted the fire.
OVER 200 educational institutions from some 15 countries take part in this year’s 16th four-day International Education Fair, which opens next week.
Participants will come from Cyprus and 11 other EU member states plus Australia Switzerland and the US, Loris Tryfon, Chairman of the Cyprus State Fairs Authority said yesterday.
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.
