APOEL thrashed by Treviso in Nicosia

2010-09-29

 

GREG Brunner scored 19 points and five more players entered double digits as Benetton Basket Bwin Treviso demolished Cytavision APOEL 97-55 in the first leg of the FIBA EuroCup Qualifying Round on Tuesday night at the Lefkotheo Indoor Arena in Nicosia.

The Cypriot champions held on until midway through the second quarter when the visitors went on a 22-2 run, including seven points by Devin Smith and five by Massimo Bulleri, to close down the first half leading by 19 points.

The second half was a mere formality as the Italian powerhouse cruised to a convincing victory which practically secures their progress into the next stage of the competition.

Our View: Paphos-Polis highway is sheer lunacy

2010-09-29

PAPHOS deputies from all the political parties yesterday demanded that the construction of the Paphos-Polis highway went ahead and threatened to take ‘dynamic measures’ if the government continued to stall. A DISY deputy, who described the project as being ‘of vital importance’ to the area, said that if the government did not make a decision next month ‘dynamic measures’, which he did not specify, would be taken.

UN hopeful of Cyprus deal by year end

2010-09-29

Agreement on Cyprus could be possible by year end says Downer

THE UNITED Nations special envoy for Cyprus, Alexander Downer, expressed hope yesterday that a deal could be brokered by the end of the year to solve the Cyprus problem.

Downer, a former Australian foreign minister who took over as Cyprus special envoy in 2008, said he was convinced the two leaders – President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu – wanted a deal, but that compromise was required from both sides.

“It would be good to get the bulk of the work done by the end of the year,” Downer told Reuters in an interview. “Just in terms of the negotiations they can do it, whether they will I don’t know. But they can do it.”

Helios co-pilot showed ‘weaknesses’ court heard

2010-09-29

THE co-pilot of the fatal Helios flight crash displayed weaknesses on the flight simulator but his performance fulfilled the legal requirements for a pilot licence, the Nicosia Criminal Court heard yesterday.

According to Frederic Badijon, who was the company’s flight operations manager and training director between January 2000 and March 2003, Pambos Charalambous did a good job in the cockpit under normal circumstances but on the simulator, where the examiners put on more pressure, he displayed “weaknesses.”

Diko final word on property due next week

2010-09-29

 

GOVERNMENT partners DIKO will take its final decisions on President Demetris Christofias’ proposals on the Cyprus problem property chapter next week, the party spokesman said yesterday.

His statement followed a lengthy meeting of the party’s executive office, which was briefed on the proposals by presidential commissioner Giorgos Iacovou and Nicos Emiliou, a member of the Greek Cypriot negotiating team.

“We consider property the most important chapter, the thorniest chapter in these negotiations. It affects almost all the aspects of the Cyprus problem,” DIKO spokesman Fotis Fotiou said after the meeting, which lasted more than four hours. “(Iacovou and Emiliou) answered many questions, and almost all the members of the executive office had their say.”

Murdered Cypriots were due to travel to Cyprus this week

2010-09-29

BOTH THE Greek and Cypriot communities in South Africa were shaken yesterday by the brutal  murder of a Cypriot father and son in Johannesburg, which occurred at lunchtime on Monday.

Filaretos Seimanis, 90, and his 50-year-old son, Costas Seimanis, who were originally from Anavargos, Paphos, were shot dead in their home at around 12.30pm on Monday by robbers.

It is suspected that the attack was not random and that Filaretos Seimanis was in fact followed by the robbers to the bank, when he went to withdraw a large amount of cash, for their trip to Cyprus this Friday. However, so far no arrests have been made in connection with the murder.

Unions on the march over high prices and austerity measures

2010-09-29

Cypriot unions will join forces with fellow workers across Europe today, in an EU-wide demonstration against “unpopular policies” and austerity measures they say are leading to more unemployment.

Cyprus’ demonstration is co-organised by nine trade unions – including public servants’ union PASYDY, teachers’ union OELMEK and Cyprus Workers’ Confederation SEK – and will start at 11 am at SEK’s office in Nicosia. Unionists will march to the Finance Ministry and then Parliament to hand over a resolution.

SEK general secretary Nicos Moiseos said Cyprus’ working movement would take to the streets today to protest the effects of the economic crisis, as well as the government’s failure to properly manage the situation.

Campaign to stop Cyprus bird slaughter

2010-09-29

THE COMMITTEE Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) and Friends of the Earth Cyprus are launching a new joint campaign against poaching in the Republic,

aiming to promote the effective implementation of Cypriot and European poaching legislation, by exposing and opposing the non-selective trapping and killing of migrant and resident birds on the island.

The joint campaign of CABS and Friends of the Earth Cyprus embraces a variety of strategies including lobbying at the national and European level in order to put more pressure on decision makers for the determined phasing out of poaching.

Minister meets hunters to discuss policy

2010-09-29

INTERIOR Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis met with representatives of the Cyprus Federation for Hunting and Wildlife Conservation yesterday to discuss their priorities ahead of a parliamentary debate on a game fund reform bill.

Federation chairman Antonis Kakoullis said yesterday there were four key problems that were impacting on the environment and hunting. These were the increased administrative costs, which drew funds away from game-rearing, decreasing wildlife due to wind farms, illegal property developments which reduce habitat, and poaching.

‘Consumers being overcharged for phones and electricity’

2010-09-29

CONSUMERS are being made to pay excessive amounts in fixed charges for their landlines and their electricity bills, prompting MPs to call yesterday for immediate reductions, and counterbalancing measures.

The issue was discussed at the House Commerce Committee yesterday, which focused in particular on the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (CyTA).

Speaking after the meeting, Committee Chairman, DISY’s Lefteris Christoforou, said apart from paying semi-government organisations (SGO) for their services, consumers are being made to pay a series of extra fixed charges, such as VAT or duties for emissions.

Referring to the CyTA’s landline telephone bills, Christoforou said fixed charges add up to around €16 a month, which he felt was plain overcharging.

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.