Police probe into worker’s death from heatstroke

2010-06-20

POLICE yesterday launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of a Romanian construction worker who died from heatstroke late Friday.

The 47-year-old died in hospital where he was rushed on Thursday morning with heatstroke symptoms.

He was one of two foreign workers hospitalised with heatstroke that day as the highest temperature reached 39 degrees Celsius, five degrees higher than the average for this time of year.

The second man, whose identity has not been released, is still in serious but not life-threatening condition, doctors said. There were no other admissions for similar cases.

Our View: Socialism is synonymous with failed economic models

2010-06-20

IT IS BECOMING rather tiring hearing the stock responses of the government spokesman and the president’s AKEL cheerleaders to criticism of Demetris Christofias’ inept administration. Everything that is said is dismissed as an attempt to hurt and undermine the president, as if he should be above criticism and all his decisions, however misguided applauded, for the sake of his political standing.

Memo to leaders: don’t push your luck

2010-06-20

THE UNITED Nations has been in Cyprus since 1964. Is this the year of dramatic change? Some people think it might be.

The Cyprus problem has had its fair share of rollercoaster highs and donkey ride lows, but throughout these years the UN has always had a visible presence on the island, with its international mediators, Good Offices and UNFICYP peacekeepers.

The last two years have been no different. The blue berets are still here and the Good Offices, under the leadership of part-time staff member Alexander Downer, have attempted to mediate between the two sides or, to use the proper vernacular, facilitate dialogue towards a solution.

Flat-hunting women raped by four men

2010-06-20

A ROMANIAN man was yesterday remanded in custody for eight days after being implicated in the alleged rape of two Vietnamese women in Nicosia.

Police said one of the women, 40, told officers that she and her 37-year-old sister were raped by four men.

The two women had visited a house in Lakatamia on Friday afternoon, looking to rent a room. The 40-year-old alleged that while they were chatting with the men, they were assaulted and raped.

The older woman managed to escape through a window while her sister fled from a different exit but the 37-year-old woman has not yet been located, police said.

A gynecologist and a state pathologist examined the other woman and found numerous bruises and scratches on her body, and injuries to her genitalia.

Scaemongering over economy unwarranted

2010-06-20

THE GOVERNMENT warned yesterday that the image of Cyprus’ economy was in danger by the shameless scaremongering over the tax increase on corporate earnings.

“It is a joke for some to allege that profitable and serious companies will leave Cyprus when our country still maintains the lowest corporate tax in the whole eurozone and one of the lowest in the European Union,” government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said.

The spokesman said these people risked denting the economy’s image over an minuscule and short-term tax increase.

The spokesman said that the European Council itself has stressed the need for the burden of the economic crisis to be shared out in a fair manner.

Man badly beaten in Larnaca

2010-06-20

TWO MEN were yesterday remanded in custody in connection with the beating of a 60-year-old director of a Larnaca security firm who has been hospitalised with head injuries.

The incident happened at around 5pm on Makarios Avenue, police said.

Michalis Markou was allegedly assaulted by four men who hit him on the head.

Markou went to the police station on his own, naming a 33-year-old man as one of the assailants.

The 33-year-old had been sought by police in connection with an abduction.

Markou initially refused to be taken to hospital but he was later rushed for treatment.

Tests determined he had suffered a fractured skull and he was immediately transferred to Nicosia general hospital.

A fresh idea for lunch

2010-06-20

Using healthy ingredients two men have revolutionised the lunchtime takeaway market in Nicosia by offering a light alternative. Eleni Antoniou gets stuck in

 

You have thought of a business idea and conducted the appropriate amount of research to back up your overflowing confidence but people still scream ‘It’ll never work!’ As a result, many brilliant ideas just get shelved. When the owners of Get Fresh came up with the idea of creating an alternative eatery producing salads, sandwiches and juices for lunch, they ignored all those merchants of doom. As a result, they should now be hopping on the wooden tables of their hugely popular deli because Get Fresh has become a success over the past year.

We’re failing to follow Turkey’s sea change

2010-06-20

IN A SPEECH, he made at the University of Bosporus, 10 days ago, Turkey’s Minister of European Affairs Egemen Bagis, said that Turkey would even discuss the withdrawal of all troops from Cyprus.

“In Cyprus, Greece also has troops and Britain has military bases. If there is a possibility, for all the troops to withdraw, then come and let’s talk about it.”

Agreeing to discuss the full withdrawal of Turkish troops from Cyprus is unprecedented in the history of the Cyprus problem. So much so, it should have become a leading news item in the media. But it was ignored and did not make it into the ongoing Cyprus problem debate.

Lack of firm leadership, common aim or purpose, leads a society into decline

2010-06-20

SUNDAY lunch is when the half dozen or so fish restaurants at Governor’s Beach, which can each seat around 400 diners, are packed with rich townies out for the day – not conducive for those of us who seek civilised surroundings, genteel conversation and good service.

But after the sun has submitted to that purple hue of dusk imperceptibly consuming the horizon, and swallows orchestrated stillness across the bay, our party of eight had the choice of almost any table at any of those restaurants.

With unobstructed views of the bay and the moon suspended like a Chinese lantern, our party chose an outside table; peace, until a party of compatriots arrived at a time when small children should be in bed – pandemonium!

Where are the transparent legal practices?

2010-06-20

I have read with great interest your recent correspondence relating to the dissatisfaction that several of your readers have expressed about the legal infrastructures of Cyprus. This is a most serious matter for Cyprus and the continued economic prosperity of its people since it is having an increasingly negative effect on the confidence of potential investors and expatriate residents.

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.