Turkey would bring passion to Euro2016 says minister

2009-12-23

Turkey would bring a passion and spirit to Euro 2016 missing from the 2008 tournament, Sports Minister Faruk Nafiz Ozak told a campaign launch on Wednesday.

Turkey, bidding to host its first major international soccer tournament, faces competition from France and Italy after Sweden and Norway appear likely to drop their joint application.

“The organisation was wonderful at Euro 2008 in Switzerland and Austria, but it lacked spirit. Turkey can provide a fantastic mood because of the amazing love for football and passion of its people,” Ozak said.

“Italy and France have an advantage because they organised the tournament twice before. But the enthusiasm we have because we have never staged it is also an advantage.”

Schumacher wants record eighth F1 title

2009-12-23

Michael Schumacher targeted an unprecedented eighth Formula One title on Wednesday after Mercedes announced he was coming out of retirement to race for them at the age of 41.

“This is a team that has just won both championships this year, they have Mercedes now as a strong partner so our aim can only be to fight for the championship,” the seven-times champion told reporters in a conference call.

“Having played around with motorbikes, I feel ready for some serious stuff.”

Media reports have suggested the German, who won two titles with Benetton and five with Ferrari before retiring at the end of 2006, will earn 7 million euros ($10 million) in an all-German line-up.

Tis the season to be jolly?

2009-12-23

‘Tis the season to be jolly; the season of giving, of peace and goodwill to all men. Or is it?

Not, apparently if you are a motorist. As the “big day” approaches drivers’ manners (if they ever had any) are fast evaporating.

Forget box junctions .. just drive on and block them – I mean, you don’t want to give way to anyone do you? Merry Christmas!

Mobile phone ringing? Forget the hands-free, you might miss an important call! Never mind the guys behind you as you dawdle (with the occasional swerve) along to the next traffic jam.

Shock over baby mix-up

2009-12-23

TWO BABIES born in mid-November were finally reunited with their real parents yesterday after spending 40 days of their short lives being raised by the wrong parents due to a mix-up at the Makarios Hospital in Nicosia.

The shocking discovery was made last Friday, following DNA tests carried out at the request of the parents of one of the babies, who “suspected something was wrong”.

Ioannis Kounnis was born on November 13, and was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Makarios Hospital shortly afterwards, reportedly suffering from severe jaundice. Six days later, Katy Charalambous and her husband Sergis Kounnis took the baby they thought was their son home to Larnaca.

Our View: Teachers’ smoking demands ‘a complete mockery of the law

2009-12-23

WAS THE state school teachers’ union OELMEK joking when it asked, in all seriousness, that schools should be exempted from the smoking ban in public buildings that would come into effect on January 1?

No, and the union boss was not joking when she said that the teachers were not demanding preferential treatment, but only, “within the boundaries of the law, for some arrangements to be made.”

Any legal provision that allowed teachers to smoke in school buildings would not just constitute preferential treatment, but it would make a complete mockery of the law, not to mention horrifically bad example it would be setting.

Hero tackles armed robber

2009-12-23

A RETIRED UK Special Forces expat yesterday overpowered an armed robber who was holding a gun to the head of the manageress at the Hellenic Bank branch on the Tombs of the Kings Road in Paphos.

Not only did Bentick Hinton, known as Ben, 61, save her life but his actions caused the would-be robber to turn tail and run empty-handed from the bank.

In an interview with the Cyprus Mail after the incident, Hinton said he saw red when the armed man held the pistol to the head of the manageress.

“I have used this branch every day for the last four years as its opposite my bar. I had just deposited the takings from the previous night when a man came into the branch with what looked like a pair of tights over his head and brandishing a pistol,” he said.

Last-minute shopping surge expected in the capital

2009-12-23

A LAST minute surge in shoppers to Nicosia’s centre has brought relief to many branded shop owners, but leaving many of the independent shops still feeling the crunch.

For many shop managers, the influx of Christmas shoppers since the weekend has marked the end of a below average consumer spending spell, but how does this Christmas compare with the last, and how does this bode for the year ahead?

Demetra Hartsiotis, Managing Director of the David Steps Group which owns five stores, including Camper, Kickers and Start-Rite was upbeat about the state of the market.

‘Migrants treated poorly by Cypriot banks’

2009-12-23

CYPRIOT banks yesterday came under fire from NGOs for their alleged discriminative policies towards immigrants.

In an EU funded report, published yesterday, five NGOs examined banking services to migrants in Cyprus, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece.

According Corina Demetriou, co-author and Director of the NGO Simfiliosi, Cypriot banking policies towards migrants are failing to cash in on a viable market and leaving many foreigners with no choice but to act illegally.

The report, titled “Investing in People” says “Cypriot banks do not offer specialised services to economic migrants. Instead they offer them some of the services offered to locals under certain conditions, which do not apply to locals.”

Bird trapping up 35 per cent in Autumn 2009

2009-12-23

AUTUMN 2009 was a disastrous season for bird trapping, with mist net use up by 35 per cent compared to the autumn of 2008, BirdLife Cyprus said yesterday.

Limestick use is also on the rise and restaurants widely flouting the law by serving ambelopoulia “delicacies”, the organisation said.

It said its latest findings from ongoing field monitoring showed that Cyprus was now seriously losing ground in the battle against bird trapping, an illegal and indiscriminate practice that threatens many bird species of conservation concern, and migrants especially.

Turkish Cypriot side draws new battle lines with IKEA

2009-12-23

 

THE TURKISH Cypriot authorities have declared ‘war’ on popular retail outlet IKEA, reportedly banning the products from being taken to the north from the government-controlled areas, it was reported yesterday.

According to local paper Politis, the Turkish Cypriot head of ‘customs’ in the north, Turkur Voural said IKEA products will be confiscated if found at the crossings. “The products in the catalogues are forbidden,” he was quoted saying.

The Turkish Cypriot official said that in general, furniture from the free areas was forbidden from entering the north. He added a warning to Turkish Cypriot shoppers that those products found to violate the rules will be confiscated.

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.