Property action group gagged

2010-04-25

THE CYPRUS Property Action Group (CPAG) has decided to close down its existing website following a court order issued three weeks ago at the request of Leptos Estates.

The writ was moved on March 31 against Denis O’Hare, the CPAG representative who owns the current website, by Armonia Estates Ltd and Pantelis Leptos. The company is part of the Leptos Group and operates under the brand name Leptos Estates, while Pantelis Leptos is Vice-chairman of Leptos Group and Marketing Director of Leptos Estates.

In the writ seen by the Sunday Mail, the plaintiffs claimed damages for libel in relation to a particular page on CPAG’s website entitled “Leptos Buyers Action Group Demonstration”.

Tales from the Coffeeshop: Reasons to be cheerful

2010-04-25

WE HAVE overdosed on happiness over the last seven days: a week of non-stop celebration with one piece of good news following the other in quick succession. I cannot remember the last time we had so many reasons to be cheerful in the same week.

It started with pseudo-celebrations for Dervis Eroglu’s pseudo-victory in the pseudo-elections last Sunday, which had all our politicians buying anti-depressants to cope with the grief that spread like an epidemic. They were all grief-stricken by this unfavourable development, shedding buckets of pseudo-tears for the demise of Mehmet Ali Talat.

Our View: It’s time to rethink our relationship with air travel

2010-04-25

THE AIRPORT in the Icelandic capital Rejkjavik closed on Friday, finally shut down by ash from the erupting Eyjafjallajökull volcano that had caused such transport misery across Europe. Although the airport is barely a hundred kilometres from the eruption, it had previously escaped its impact, remaining open to transatlantic flights while Europe ground to a halt.

As a changing wind finally brought the transport crunch home to where it all began, the rest of Europe began flying again, picking up the pieces and counting the cost of six days of chaos. Estimates say the crisis cost the European economy at least €1.5 billion, and the aviation industry a further €750 million – sums they can ill-afford at a time of such economic pain.

Madisons APOEL defend the national basketball title

2010-04-25

LEWIS Sims scored 18 points as Madisons APOEL beat Proteas EKA AEL 83-73 to defend the national basketball title after winning the playoff final series 3-1 on Friday night at the Kition Athletic Center in Larnaca.

Is a property only worth what someone will pay for it?

2010-04-25

THE sharp fall in government revenues due to the economic recession seems to be putting pressure on the Land Registry (LR) to be much stricter in re-assessing bought property values, in order to maximise the amount of transfer tax it gathers.

In using its discretion to reassess the amount of transfer tax payable, the LR is relying on its own historical data in a way that cancels out the transfer tax benefit of a “bargain-buy”, and can result in double the expected amount being levied.

In three cases highlighted by the Sunday Mail, property-buyers have been told that, for the purposes of calculating transfer tax, the value of their properties has been set by the LR at between 36 and 58 per cent above the sale price.

Cyprus to celebrate 50 years of independence on a budget

2010-04-25

CELEBRATIONS planned to mark the 50th anniversary of Cyprus’ formal declaration of independence have been scaled back, both within Cyprus and internationally, on account of the economic crisis.

Nevertheless, a number of events with a “high cultural profile” have been planned.

“On account of the economic crisis, all celebrations have been severely curtailed,” said Giorgos Giorgis, former ambassador to Athens and the man in charge of the celebrations.

On the island, around four major events have been scheduled, the most prominent of which is to be an October 1 celebration at Eleftheria Stadium in Nicosia.

Bridging UK-Cyprus relations

2010-04-25

STEFANOS EVRIPIDOU interviews the outgoing British High Commissioner Peter Millett. The Ambassador was bound by the restrictions imposed by the British government on civil servants, known as purdah, in the run-up to next month’s UK general elections, prohibiting any questions on politics or policy. He will be replaced in Cyprus by British diplomat Matthew Kidd.

 

Q What were your first impressions of Cyprus when you arrived to take up your post and how have those changed now that you are leaving?

Two-year action plan to combat flesh trade

2010-04-25

CYPRUS HAS come up with an action plan to combat human trafficking more effectively over the next two years.

The plan’s details were presented yesterday at an awareness-raising event at the Presidential Palace.

“This is significant, as no previous action plan had a timescale with specific objectives and so under them nothing was done,” said Doros Polycarpou, director of migrant support group KISA.

Cyprus has dedicated several years to improving its previously embarrassing record on human trafficking and harmonising with international laws.

Engaging honestly with the past

2010-04-25

THE QUESTION of how to engage in an honest discussion about a country’s past will be the focus of a public talk in Nicosia on Tuesday by Piers Pigou, a Senior Associate for the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ).

As South Africa marks exactly 16 years of its new democracy, Pigou will examine how the country has approached addressing the legacies and challenges presented by its past conflicts, looking among other things at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), and efforts to document and archive the crimes of apartheid.

Having worked as a member of the TRC’s investigation unit, Pigou spent three years from 2006 as director of the South African History Archive (SAHA).

Re-remand for murder conspiracy suspects

2010-04-25

NICOSIA District Court yesterday remanded for a further six days in custody the eight men – including a Drugs Squad police officer – arrested last week on suspicion of conspiring to commit murder.

The men were arrested on April 15 in a police sweep following a tip-off about a gangland “turf war” over betting-shops. A ninth man was arrested four days later and will appear in court again next week. The nine are facing a series of charges, including conspiring to kill seven people and illegal possession of narcotics, weapons and explosives.

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.