Gordon Brown -something to be sorry about?

2010-04-29

I would imagine Gordon Brown’s emotional range is a little more sophisticated than “Bigoted woman” – but that’s all we heard before the microphone signal disappeared.

So that tiny chunk of a private conversation, broadcast after an uncomfortable exchange with a pensioner, is now being described as the biggest political blunder of the election.

Some pundits are saying it was the last nail in Labours election campaign.

God forbid that David Cameron and Nick Clegg also bad mouth the great British public in private conversations during the election trail.

To compound the matter, the PM was then grilled on radio and forced to apologise, unaware he was being filmed looking hapless, tired and upset.

Our View: Greece needs to wake up to its obligations

2010-04-29

THINGS are looking worse for Greece with every day that passes. On Tuesday, the credit ratings agency Standard and Poor’s downgraded the nation’s debt to junk, while yesterday the interest rate for 10-year Greek bonds rose to 10.13 per cent, which is a record high for a eurozone country. Meanwhile, the cost of short-term borrowing for two-year Greek bonds yesterday reached a new high of 19 per cent.

Had the crisis been confined within Greece’s borders, nobody would have been talking about it but there are serious dangers of it affecting other economically vulnerable economies of the eurozone such as Portugal and Spain, not to mention the consequences for the euro.

Bank shares hit by Greek meltdown

2010-04-29

THE CYPRUS Stock Exchange (CSE) continued to fall yesterday for the third day in succession, as investors’ concern over the possible impact of Greece’s financial crisis drove down shares in the island’s three biggest banks, which all have operations and are listed in both Cyprus and Greece.

Shares in Bank of Cyprus (BoC), Marfin Popular Bank (MPB) and Hellenic Bank (HB) fell by 1.46, 1.72 and 2.73 per cent respectively, accounting for 98 per cent of the day’s trading volume of €5.36 million.

This followed losses of 7.83, 4.40 and 3.51 per cent respectively on Tuesday, and 1.70, 2.10 and 0.86 per cent respectively on Monday.

‘Don’t panic: just vaccinate’

2010-04-29

EXPERTS yesterday warned against unnecessary panic over the reappearance of the measles on the island after many years and urged parents whose children had not received the vaccine to do so.

The disease was virtually eliminated but for the first time in years, health authorities are seeing an increase in measles cases, with seven so far this year and four in the last month alone.

It is believed that 13 per cent of children in Cyprus have not been vaccinated for measles.

“There is no reason to worry or panic. The incidents are isolated,” said Dr Christos Rodoulis, chairman of the paediatric society.

He said most of the cases were imported from other European countries where there are small epidemics.

Kitas accused of beating suspected paedophile

2010-04-29

A SUSPECTED paedophile was yesterday treated at Nicosia General Hospital after being beaten by two inmates at the Central Prison, one of whom was believed to be Antonis Prokopiou Kitas.

The Prison Director, George Tryphonides, has ordered an administrative investigation into the incident, while the police have also taken statements.

Kitas, who is currently in isolation, is denying being implicated in the case.

The man was attacked while being held in remand. He was treated and returned to prison a few hours later.

“Two convicts attacked a man who is in remand and was in that wing for his own protection,” said Tryphonides. “The specific detainee was on his way back to his cell and the incident took place in his cell.

Cyprus artefacts on show at the Louvre in 2012

2010-04-29

THE CYPRUS government and the Louvre Museum in Paris will hold an exhibition of Cypriot antiquities at the Louvre during Cyprus’s 2012 EU presidency.

The announcement was made by Communications and Works Minister Erato Kozakou-Markoullis yesterday during a meeting between her and Louvre director Henri Loyrette at the Ministry’s offices in Nicosia.

The exhibition, which will last three to four months, will also serve as a launching pad for a long-term collaboration between Cyprus and France to stage exhibitions, symposia and cultural activities centred on Cypriot art and artefacts.

Qatar project ‘will be done in record time’

2010-04-29

TOP OFFICIALS met yesterday in a bid to cut the red tape and expedite procedures for the implementation of the deal between Qatar and Cyprus to build an ambitious commercial complex in Nicosia.

Present in the meeting were the ministers of finance, interior and trade as well as high-ranking officials from the town-planning and land registry departments.

Also present was Attorney-general Petros Clerides.

It is understood that the officials discussed the details of a bill regarding the agreement expected to be submitted before parliament today.

“We are determined not to let bureaucracy delay the project. It will be done in record time,” Trade and Industry Minister Antonis Paschalides told reporters.

Free skin cancer screenings on May 3

2010-04-29

DERMATOLOGISTS across Cyprus will offer free skin cancer screenings on May 3 as part of European Melanoma Day. The Cyprus Society of Dermatology and Venereology in conjunction with the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology will sponsor the day, aimed at educating Cypriots about skin cancer prevention and reducing the number of patients who die of the disease.

Only dermatologists who are members of the Cyprus Society of Dermatology will offer the free screenings. Visits are by appointment only and do not include the cost of prescriptions and extra skin examinations.

‘I’ll say I did it because I don’t want to go to trial’

2010-04-29

A 54-YEAR-OLD man yesterday pleaded guilty to a crime he said he didn’t commit – simply because he couldn’t be bothered to go back to court.

The defendant, who was accused of gambling on Christmas Eve 2008, told Nicosia district judge Charalambos Charalambous: “I wasn’t playing [cards] but I confess so that I don’t have to come back here.”

The good natured judge explained that he couldn’t “punish” the 54-year-old if he hadn’t committed the crime.

“You can’t do that,” said Charalambous. “Many people are acquitted, you know, and it’s not a crime that you were there. The crime is if you were gambling.”

But the 54-year-old insisted that he did not want to have to return to court for a trial.

Shooting range in Paphos under threat

2010-04-29

THERE HAS been an uproar among sports groups over the planned closure of the shooting range in Paphos’ Ayia Varvara, because of increasing safety concerns among the local community.

Paphos district officer Andreas Christodoulides said the range would remain operational as long as the association observes the laws and sticks to the obligations of the operating licence.

He said an incident involving pellets hitting a passing vehicle at the range, an unsealed road leading to the site and a lack of barriers around the shooting area, all left the venue incomplete and hazardous.

Anyone could walk across the line of fire at any moment he pointed out.

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.