Eroglu victory

2010-04-18

DERVIS EROGLU, who supports Turkish Cypriot independence, claimed victory in the north’s ‘presidential’ election on Sunday.

Eroglu won more than 50 percent of the vote to avoid a run-off and beat incumbent Mehmet Ali Talat, according to preliminiary results.

Eroglu, who wants more autonomy for each community in any peace settlement, rules out concessions key to Greek Cypriots in reunification talks.

Any stalemate on Cyprus will further complicate Turkey’s ambitions to join the EU.

 

Our View: Scuppering talks is Turkey’s call, not Eroglu’s

2010-04-18

IF THE FORECASTS of the pollsters (or should we say pseudo-pollsters?) are correct, ‘Prime Minister’ Dervis Eroglu should easily win today’s ‘presidential elections’ in the north. The last opinion poll, published two weeks ago, had the hard-line, nationalist candidate securing an outright victory, without the need of a run-off contest next Sunday. It gave Eroglu 53 per cent of the vote, with Mehmet Ali Talat trailing by 11 percentage points – a big difference to cover in 14 days.

Hotels benefit on back of European shutdown

2010-04-18

THIRTY-ONE inbound and outbound flights scheduled for Larnaca and Paphos airports were either cancelled or rescheduled yesterday, bringing the total number of affected flights between Cyprus and the rest of Europe since Thursday to 88 and affecting approximately 10,000 passengers.

Hermes Airports PR Manager Adamos Aspris said flight routes between Cyprus and Britain, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Scandinavia, Switzerland and northwestern Russia were the hardest hit, while Asia flights continued normally.

High percentage fear wrong healthcare treatment

2010-04-18

 

MORE than eight in 10 Cypriots fear they could be harmed by healthcare, while three out of 10 think this is very likely to occur.

The results were part of a Eurobarometer survey on patient safety and quality of healthcare published on Friday.

According to the survey over 25 per cent of Europeans claimed that they or a family member had experienced harm (adverse effects) in a healthcare setting. On a national level, the countries posting the highest likelihood, across all types of adverse events, are Greece, Cyprus, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

Many of these events go unreported and one third of respondents did not know which organisation was responsible for patient safety in their country.

Police donate to Haiti fund

2010-04-18

Cyprus police chief Michalis Papageorgiou donated a cheque for over €10,000 to the Red Cross for the earthquake victims of Haiti.

The donation was made to Red Cross president Photini Papadopoulou on Friday and was for €10,925. The money was collected from a fundraiser within the police force.

Nicosia fire

2010-04-18

Police were yesterday investigating a fire which broke out at a Competition Protection Commission office building in Nicosia on Friday night.

The blaze broke out at around 9pm and burned out before the fire services arrived.

According to police the fire started in a third floor office, totally destroying the room. The smoke also caused damage to other floors, police said.

Preliminary investigations suggest the fire started from a short circuit in a computer printer.

The cost of the damage has not yet been estimated.

Strovolos police station is investigating.

Limassol fire

2010-04-18

A fire broke out in a car during the early hours of yesterday in Limassol, police said.

The vehicle was parked in an open space at the time of the blaze.

The fire, which was put out by the fire services, destroyed the car completely.

Limassol CID is investigating what caused the fire.

Swimming pool regulations could cost thousands

2010-04-18

A LONG-IGNORED law passed in 1992, which designates all shared swimming pools as subject to the same strict regulations as public pools, is coming back to haunt property owners and developers in Paphos.

The law stipulates that pools shared by more than one family are classed as public swimming pools and therefore must comply with specific regulations such as providing a lifeguard, separate male and female toilets, showers and footbaths.

Aware that complying with the regulations would entail a massive increase in communal charges for hundreds of property owners and make buying in complexes with shared pools far less attractive, local authorities have long turned a blind eye to enforcing them.

Direct trade: A European drama unfolds

2010-04-18

THE LAST month has witnessed a volley of accusations fired to and from almost every political institution in Cyprus and Brussels inspired by the EU’s latest push to implement direct trade with the north.

The dispute over the proposed direct trade regulation has served to highlight the complexity of EU decision-making and question the relationship between the government, its diplomatic service and political parties vis-à-vis the multi-headed hydra that is the EU.

In late March, the Cyprus government, much to its consternation, learnt that the European Commission (EC) had sent the dormant proposal on direct trade to the European Parliament (EP) for approval.

Natural therapies may be entering mainstream

2010-04-18

INTERCOLLEGE in Limassol may soon become the first mainstream further education institution to offer diploma courses in alternative medicine.

The courses in natural therapies will include homeopathy, naturopathy and acupuncture and will be run in cooperation with the Limassol-based Neo-Hippocrates School of Natural Therapies, which has been trying to establish a legislative framework for the practice of natural therapies in Cyprus since 1990.

Provided there is enough interest in the courses to make it economically viable for Intercollege to run them, classes may start as soon as the end of April. If not, organisers hope to start in September

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.