Hysteria and the veil

2010-07-20

MONKEY see, monkey do. Soon after France’s National Assembly passed a law making it illegal to wear a full-face veil in public, British MP Philip Hollobone announced a private member’s bill last weekend that would make it illegal for people to cover their faces in public in Britain. Neither bill mentioned Muslims by name, of course.

Hollobone has previously called the Islamic veil “offensive” and “against the British way of life,” so we may safely assume that his bill is not aimed at people wearing motorcycle helmets. We can also assume that it will never become law, for British immigration minister Damian Green immediately replied that “telling people what they can and can’t wear, if they’re just walking down the street, is a rather un-British thing to do.”

Our view: The status quo seems to suit the politicians

2010-07-20

TODAY we mark the 36th anniversary of the Turkish invasion. North of the Green Line there will be celebrations and triumphal speeches while south of it there will be a sombre mood featuring a totally different type of speech. We have seen and heard it all before and seem condemned to do so this time next year again, because, despite the rhetoric, the maintenance of the status quo appears to suit the political leadership of both sides, not to mention Turkey for which the continuation of the occupation no longer has a cost.

Dangerous Paphos beach may be closed and guarded

2010-07-20

A STRETCH of Paphos coastline, which is red flagged, may have to be sealed off and guarded, after the eighth drowning, in four years, according to the president of the beaches committee, Nicos Similides.

“We have to take drastic measures to ensure no more lives are lost,” he said.

On Saturday, a 64-year-old Lebanese man, Abdel Malek Basbous, in Cyprus with his wife for a holiday, drowned in the sea off the Venus beach, near the Tombs of the Kings area in Paphos.

The couple got into trouble after being caught in the deadly currents about 50 metres from the shoreline. Other bathers managed to pull his wife, Elham Salloum, aged 52, from the sea, but were unable to save him.

Pool fracas ends in teen stabbing

2010-07-20

A TEENAGER was stabbed outside the Nicosia municipal swimming pool on Sunday, following a fight earlier on in the day, involving numerous people.

The 15-year-old boy was injured in the back after being attacked with a knife in the pool’s car park in the afternoon.

Police said yesterday they had no suspects and have made no arrests, but confirmed that the victim was not seriously injured.

The stabbing came after a violent incident involving numerous people earlier on Sunday at the complex, which involved a pool lifeguard.

It was not immediately clear yesterday if the two events are linked.

The municipality failed to provide CCTV footage of either incident, and no witnesses to the stabbing have come forward as of yet.

Spy chips to monitor household waste

2010-07-20

RUBBISH bins with electronic spy chips will be provided to Aglandjia residents starting January 2011, as part of a pilot programme aiming at the reduction of household waste.

As part of the Municipal Council’s attempts to find a fair garbage levy system, gradually eliminate dumping sites and minimise pollution of the environment, the ‘pay as you throw’ system proposed also aspires to boost the existing recycling programme.

Municipality representatives conducted research for a better rubbish disposal system, and visited Belgium last November, where the microchip-bin system is used. Such bins have also recently been installed in various areas of the UK.

Larnaca ‘building anarchy’ out of hand

2010-07-20

LARNACA municipality yesterday began a campaign to restore the quality of the city’s urban environment, determined to crack down on illegal additions and expansions on pavements and public spaces.

The campaign is also aimed at private developments that fail to acquire a town-planning licence for additions or alterations on building structures.

The town’s mayor, Andreas Moiseos, said that “the Municipal Council is worried about the dimensions that illegal building activity and town-planning anarchy has taken,” and added that the situation as it is undermines the quality of life of Larnaca residents and decreases the aesthetic quality of the city’s urban environment.

Woman who fell from balcony found drowned

2010-07-20

A WOMAN from Thailand was yesterday found dead in a villa pool in Peyia, just hours after having a heated row with her estranged husband.

The 29-year-old woman, who was mother to a five-year-old boy, had fallen off the second floor of her husband’s villa balcony.

But according to the 47-year-old British man, who is a permanent resident in Cyprus, she fell next to the pool, he checked if she was okay and said she was fine straight after the incident. He later returned to the pool, where he found her lifeless body floating in the water.

State pathologist Sophocles Sophocleous ruled out any criminal acts, initially with an autopsyat the scene and later during the post-mortem on the body.

English School parents say standards have dropped

2010-07-20

IT MAY be summer break for the students, but controversy continues to follow parents, teachers and management at the English School with more accusations of mismanagement and threatening behaviour doing the rounds.

An ANT1 news report focused on a letter sent by a group of English School parents, who protested that the school’s standards have dropped. According to reports, six parents signed the letter, claiming to represent 80 per cent of all parents at the school of 1,200 students.

Limnitis opening pushed back

2010-07-20

THE OPENING of the Limnitis crossing in the northwest of the island will likely be pushed back by a month, a senior government official has said.

Speaking from Paphos after a memorial service Sunday, Presidential Commissioner George Iacovou said the timetable given by the UN Development Programme-Partnership for the Future (UNDP-PFF), the UN body overseeing the project, was “not feasible.”

During an inspection of the road project by Iacovou and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart Kudret Ozersay back in June, both sides had said they were “pleasantly surprised” with the progress, and early September was mooted as the conclusion of the works.

Ministry releases list of awarded tenders ‘in interests of transparency’

2010-07-20

THE MINISTRY of Communications and Works has taken the unusual step of releasing a list of public tenders awarded to private corporations amid accusations that a known construction contractor, who has ties to a football club affiliated to the ruling party, has been getting more than his fair share of state contracts since AKEL came to power in 2008.

The allegations concern Miltiades Neophytou, owner of the eponymous contracting company, who also happens to be the president of Omonia FC. They are being spearheaded by DISY deputy Andreas Kyprianou, who claims that the football club’s series of expensive player signings are being bankrolled by fat state contracts awarded to Neophytou’s company – compliments of the AKEL government.

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.