Cashing in on old war wounds

2010-09-12

One has to wonder about the mental stability of German politician Erika Steinbach, who has again been peddling “historical myths” to promote her campaigns

Film review: 22 Bullets

2010-09-12

Is it time to call off the eternal rivalry between Europe and Hollywood? I watched two genre films last week, one from each side of the Atlantic, both falling loosely under the rubric of ‘action movies’; the Hollywood flick was Predators (directed by a Hungarian, but whatever), the European one was 22 Bullets. Both were quite enjoyable, but Bullets – a French crime thriller – wasn’t just better-acted and more exciting than its US counterpart, it was also slicker, flashier, arguably dumber and certainly more violent. Looks like we can beat them at their own game after all – but is that a victory for ‘us’, or merely proof that the Hollywood model now holds sway all over the world? Discuss!

Film review: Step Up 3D

2010-09-12

No other film this year is as weird (to me, anyway) as Step Up 3D. It’s harmless enough, at least in terms of plot – a generic street-dance musical where a dance crew called the Pirates battles a crew called the Samurai in a contest called the World Jam. There are romantic sub-plots, and comic relief in a hero called Moose (Shia LaBoeuf lookalike Adam G. Sevani, who was also in Step Up 2) as well as a mouthy, conspicuously ‘ethnic’ pair of Argentinean twins. Yet it left me as perplexed and tormented as if it were a film from another planet.

Police hunt bogus villa scammer

2010-09-12

BRITISH police are hunting for the mastermind of a holiday scam which left some families stranded in Cyprus and fleeced out of thousands of pounds.
The fraud is estimated to have pocketed the thief more than £140,000 in over 70 separate transactions by luring holidaymakers into renting nonexistent villas in the Protaras area.
The victims, the majority young families with children, dealt with a couple claiming to be called Michael and Susan Pouros.
The holiday packages, which boasted a villa with swimming pool, air conditioning and even airport transfers, were advertised on legitimate websites, making them seem all the more plausible.

Remanded after seven years over church theft

2010-09-12

A 66-YEAR-old man was yesterday remanded in custody for eight days in connection with a seven-year-old theft of two antique church doors from the church of Panayia Podithou in Galata, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The church doors were stolen between January 19 and 21, 2003. The thieves broke into the Galata church and removed the doors that led to the sanctuary.
According to police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos, the suspect claims that he was acting as an intermediary. “The evidence has been transferred to the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics where (DNA) tests will be carried out that will give us a broader picture of the matter,” Katsounotos added.

Christofias: two sides not getting closer

2010-09-12

THE positions submitted by Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu in the negotiations to resolve the Cyprus problem are not bringing the two sides closer, President Demetris Christofias said yesterday.
“When I tell Mr. Eroglu that we have to reunite to celebrate the Bayram and Easter together, he agrees,” Christofias said. “But I am sorry to say, the positions he tables do not bring us close at present.”
Christofias said Turkey did not seem ready at this point to solve the Cyprus problem.
“Due to her own domestic and regional problems, which she has created, it appears that Turkey, at least at this point, is not ready to solve the Cyprus problem,” the president said.

Counterfeit credit cards

2010-09-12

A  BULGARIAN man allegedly used 21 counterfeit credit cards to obtain thousands of euros in a period of three days, police said yesterday.
Christo Constantinov, 33, was arrested on Friday in Ayia Napa after the credit card processing company JCC notified the police.
Police said the suspect used 21counterfeit credit cards to withdraw money from ATMs on 17 different occasions between September 8 and 10.
He is being investigated in connection with forgery, circulation of fake credit cards, theft, and illegal processing of personal data.  
The Bulgarian national was yesterday remanded in custody for six days.

Shots fired

2010-09-12

SHOTS were fired at a car that was parked outside its owner’s residence in Nicosia at around 10:25 pm on Friday. Police rushed to the scene and found that two shots were fired at the car itself and one at the window of a ground-floor residence located below the one of the car owner.
The 52-year old owner was at home with his wife when the shots were fired, whereas the tenant of the ground-floor residence was absent. Tests showed that the shots most probably came from a pistol. CID Nicosia is investigating the case.

Hybrid vehicles for MPs

2010-09-12

A DISY MP has proposed revising the lawmakers’ privilege to a duty-free car upon their election to only include hybrid vehicles.
In a letter to House President Marios Garoyian, Kyriacos Hadjiyiannis said the “common practice of every MP to buy a car with a large engine and high emissions, is an act that does not send the right environmental messages.”
“The production of large quantities of pollutants causes taxpayers to pay huge sums in fines,” Hadjiyiannis said.
He said implementing this proposal would have symbolic value because it would highlight the interest of the state and politicians in protecting the environment and raising awareness.
Parliament could replace this privilege of purchasing conventional cars with hybrids, Hadjiyiannis said.

Kiosk thief caught accidentally

2010-09-12

A 40-YEAR-old homeless Slovakian man was yesterday remanded in custody for four days in connection with the burglary of four kiosks in the Protaras area in June.
Gourban Roma was picked up for drunkenness and only after DNA testing was it discovered that he had been wanted since June for burglary.
He had been stealing food, drink and other items from these kiosks all of which had been recorded by security cameras.
The burglaries took place between June 10 and 28.

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.