Chilcot inquiry into Iraq war opens

2009-11-24

 

An official inquiry into Britain’s involvement in the Iraq War began on Tuesday, promising a thorough investigation which could prove embarrassing for the government ahead of next year’s election.

The five-member inquiry team, headed by former civil servant John Chilcot, was set up by Prime Minister Gordon Brown in June to examine the reasons for Britain’s involvement in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and the subsequent occupation of Iraq.

“We want to establish a clear understanding of the various core elements of the UK’s involvement in Iraq, and how these developed over time,” Chilcot said in an opening statement.

China executes two for tainted milk scandal

2009-11-24

China on Tuesday executed two people for their role in a tainted milk scandal that killed at least six children and further sullied the made-in-China brand.

Nearly 300,000 children fell ill last year after drinking milk intentionally laced with melamine, a toxic industrial compound that can give a fake positive on protein tests, sold mainly by the now bankrupt Sanlu Group.

A total of 21 Sanlu executives and middlemen were tried and sentenced in January by a court in the northern city of Shijiazhuang for their involvement in the case.

The official Xinhua news agency, citing a court statement, said Zhang Yujun was executed “for the crime of endangering public safety by dangerous means,” while Geng Jinping was convicted of producing and selling toxic food.

Road rage leads to beating

2009-11-24

POLICE have arrested four men in connection with the beating of a 40-year-old on the Larnaca to Ormidhia motorway on Sunday night.

The 40-year-old told police he had been dragged out of his car and beaten by five people after they had refused to let him overtake them. The incident happened at 10.15 pm.

Questions raised over AG spat

2009-11-24

QUESTIONS have been raised over an out-of-court settlement between Attorney-general Petros Clerides and his deputy Akis Papasavvas in a dispute concerning a compensation claim filed by the latter.

In 2005, Papasavvas, then senior counsel, had sued the state seeking compensation for his forced early retirement from the service in November 2001.

Paphos mayor’s actions are an ‘act of war’

2009-11-24

PAPHOS Mayor Savvas Vergas has been accused of an act of war by one of his own councillors.

The comment was made by DISY councillor Polis Polydorou following an apparent lone decision by Vergas to demolish a wall in the Town Hall garden last Wednesday morning.

CPAG to rally against the banks

2009-11-24

THE CYPRUS Property Action Group (CPAG) is starting a series of demonstrations against banks to press for full disclosure to buyers of developer account balances on loans encumbering their homes.

The first of these will be held against Bank of Cyprus in Paphos on November 27 at 10am.

Cyprus: it’s over

2009-11-24

THE WINDOW of opportunity actually slammed shut in 2004, when Greek Cypriot voters overwhelmingly rejected a United Nations plan to reunite the divided island of Cyprus. A week, later the Cypriot government was allowed to join the European Union anyway, while the Turkish Cypriots, who had voted in favour of the reunification plan, were frozen out. But some people just won’t give up.

YouTube journalists: good, bad or simply greedy?

2009-11-24

THERE USED to be a day when getting footage was expensive and sometimes dangerous; now it’s as cheap as microchips. With a mobile, a camera and a computer, you can load images up to social media in seconds. Any event, any place, anywhere can have instant replay across the world. It is revolutionising the way news and information is gathered.

Turkish Cypriots battle it out over ‘emigration package’

2009-11-24

SEVENTEEN protesters were arrested and several police and protesters injured yesterday as thousands of public sector workers in the north clashed with riot police outside the Turkish Cypriot ‘parliament’.

The demonstrators were demanding that an economic austerity package that would cut public sector workers’ salaries be scrapped, saying it would lead to the mass emigration of Turkish Cypriots from the island.

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.