THIRTY-TWO new cases of the H1N1 virus were announced yesterday, bringing the total number of confirmed infections in the government-controlled areas to 167. Of the new cases, 16 were Cypriots, while the remaining half were foreigners.
POLICE ARE now convinced that a middle-aged Paphos man who went missing for four days last week must have faked his kidnapping, although the motives are still unclear.
Detectives now know that the man had been staying at a relative’s house since at least last Saturday.
‘There will be a referendum’
THE GOVERNMENT yesterday moved to quash local news reports that suggested a settlement agreement might not be put to referenda before the two communities.
“The two leaders have already agreed that an agreement will be put to simultaneous referenda,” government spokesman Stefanos Stefanos told a news briefing.
THE ROW between the Limassol Licensed Porters Association (LLPA), the Cyprus Ports Authority (CPA) and other bodies affected by the LLPA’s reduction in coverage of cargo loading services was resolved yesterday, following a meeting at the Communications Ministry.
NINETEEN people appeared in court yesterday after the discovery of a group of 17 immigrants in a container at Limassol port on Tuesday afternoon. It is believed they had bought their way onto the Greece-bound tanker in an effort to leave Cyprus.
THE CIVILIAN informant who led authorities to the capture of a police officer seeking to buy a rocket launcher had contacted none other than the Police Chief himself, it emerged yesterday.
A MAJORITY of Cypriots support the proposed ban on smoking in public, according to a quick opinion poll by the University of Nicosia ahead of the Parliamentary vote on this measure, set for today.
Sixty-one per cent of 200 people polled were in favour of a complete ban on smoking in all public places, while 21 per cent prefer to have designated smoking areas.
THE EUROPEAN Commission yesterday approved the annual report for 2008 on the implementation of the aid programme for the Turkish Cypriot community.
REPRESENTATIVES of the Russian television show ‘Star Factory’ have been left hanging over whether the government will accept their offer to stage the program in Cyprus.
EDEK MP Marinos Sizopoulos yesterday called a media conference to blast what he described as ‘irregularities’ in the tender documents for the construction of a new oncology ward at Limassol General Hospital.
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.
