Temperature breaks all records

2010-08-03

 

AS record-breaking heat continued to grip the island yesterday, thousands sought relief indoors with the air-conditioning on high, spiking record demand for electricity.

Streets in Nicosia early yesterday afternoon were deserted with the few people on Ledra Street outside only out of necessity.

“It is unbearable, I only came out because I had to and the heat makes me feel sleepy,” said one passerby.

Sunday’s temperature – 45.6 degrees Celsius — was the highest recorded since the beginning of last century, the second highest was 44.4 degrees Celsius, recorded in Nicosia on August 8, 1956.

The heat wave continued yesterday though temperatures were lower, reaching 42 degrees.

Our View: Christofias’ communication strategy lacks planning or subtlety

2010-08-03

WHEN it comes to the communications game, President Christofias and his associates play very amateurishly. There is no strategy, no real planning and no subtlety, with the result that they never achieve what they set out to. So crude are the methods used that nobody takes them seriously, certainly none of the people that we want to influence.

His package of proposals for the talks is a case in point. It was announced during a speech he made for the anniversary of the coup and before it was submitted to the negotiating table, thus giving the Turkish side an excuse to accuse him of playing games and not being serious.

Power and water cuts on heels of heatwave

2010-08-03

AYIA Napa and Paralimni were left without water for 12 hours on Sunday after the Dhekelia desalination plant malfunctioned while Nicosia also experienced some water cuts.

A power cut at the desalination plant shut the water supply from the plant to the Frenaros reservoirs, leaving the coastal resorts of Ayia Napa and Paralimni, along with their hotels and tourists, with no water.

Initially attributed to the high levels of humidity in the general area of Larnaca on Sunday, the cause of the power cut was the focus of debate yesterday between the plant’s director, Gerasimos Karamontanis, and the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) spokesman, Costas Gavrielides.

Buffer zone fires brought under control

2010-08-03

TWO large fires destroyed a total of 70 hectares of land on Sunday, as Cyprus suffered the biggest heat wave in the island’s history.

The fires took place in the buffer zone near Athienou village and in the area near the village of Dora in the district of Limassol.

According to Markos Kyprianou, spokesman for the Fire Department, the service handled 62 fires and 38 special requests over the weekend. High temperatures caused most of the incidents.

“It only takes a match or a cigarette butt for a fire to start in this heat and for it to burn vast areas of land,” Kyprianou said.

Thousands in north Nicosia demo

2010-08-03

THOUSANDS of Turkish Cypriot civil servants and their supporters clashed with police in north Nicosia yet again yesterday as unions reiterated their opposition to what they say are Ankara’s plans to privatise the north’s public corporations.

Carrying banners reading “Turkey go home!” and “No to privatisation!” protesters clashed repeatedly with police in riot gear under the 40 degree-plus heat.

Several protesters and police were injured, and 24 were arrested, many of them union leaders.

Paphos traffic reaching extremes

2010-08-03

PAPHOS traffic has reached extremes with an out of date central road network system and a maze of endless road works pushing traffic from the town centre to the outskirts.

Transport specialists have advised a number of measures to be taken.

According to officials, the central road network has essentially stayed the same for the last twenty years, despite the fact that the population of the town has more than trebled during the same period.

The recommendations of the experts include, increased policing and the creation of more parking spaces and  the building of more traffic islands, especially close to traffic lights.

New Kuwaiti interest in investing

2010-08-03

THERE are encouraging signs of interest from Kuwaiti investment funds in investing in the island’s tourism and real estate sectors, Commerce and Tourism Minister Antonis Paschalides said yesterday.

“We received information that there are investment funds in Kuwait that are interested, and then our Foreign Ministry also told us there was interest there”, he said.

Paschalides added that in view of this positive news, a trade mission to Kuwait that was programmed for 2011 has been brought forward to October-November this year, “so as not to miss this particular opportunity”.

Gambling ban bill nears completion

2010-08-03

A DRAFT bill designed to ban online gambling will likely be sent to the European Commission next week and should be voted into law before the end of the year.

The draft legislation – sponsored by the Finance Ministry – outlaws online games like roulette, poker, and slot machines, but allows for licences for sports betting outlets.

It also provides for the creation of a gaming board that will regulate betting in Cyprus itself. Licensed shops will pay a tax on turnover (the initial idea of taxing profits was scrapped), although the precise percentage is yet to be determined.

Strovolos builders told to clean up

2010-08-03

CLEAN the air by cleaning up your act: is the message that has been sent to building contractors by the municipality of Strovolos.

With the capital increasingly resembling one big contiguous construction site, the municipality has taken an initiative aimed at improving air quality for its residents.

At a meeting last week with private contractors and building crews, attended by Air Quality Assurance officers of the Work Inspection Department (Ministry of Labour), Strovolos mayor Savvas Iliofotou has laid down the law with regard to the management of debris from construction sites.

Murder suspect in custody

2010-08-03

A 63-YEAR-OLD man remained in custody yesterday in connection with the murder of a Polish man, 27, on Saturday.

Bar owner, Antonis Loizou was arrested on Saturday after allegedly admitting to hitting Damien Sebastian Duleba with a lathe-hammer outside his bar in Dhali.

The two had argued earlier that night, when Duleba went in the bar with his dog.

The victim left after a heated argument but apparently waited for Loizou outside after he closed the bar.

They argued again, and Loizou allegedly hit him with a lathe-hammer.

He surrendered to police later but at first he did not admit to using a weapon.

Loizou was remanded in custody for eight days.

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.