Tales from the Coffeeshop: Unity in negativity on the home front

2010-11-14

MANY of our politicians, we hear, are having sleepless nights, terrified of the traps and conspiracies awaiting our comrade president in New York where the Cyprob circus moves to on Thursday for a gig with UNSG Ban Ki-moon.

House President Marios Garoyian looked particularly anxious and stressed last weekend in Paphos talking about his “very serious worries” regarding the possibility of the procedure changing. He had black rings under his eyes and was irritable, both indications of stress-related lack of sleep, according to shrinks.

Our View: The time has come for the UN to concede defeat

2010-11-14

THE ALARM-MONGERS and conspiracy theorists have been working at full capacity ahead of Thursday’s meeting of the two leaders with the UN Secretary-General. Nothing for them is too far-fetched or outlandish, as they spin tales about traps, dirty tricks, hidden agendas and ultimatums being planned by Ban Ki-moon and his associates. Some have identified the danger of asphyxiating time-frames and arbitration being imposed while others fear there will be an attempt to change the talks’ procedure.

CY staff to be quizzed after cargo-theft arrests

2010-11-14

THREE Romanian brothers and a Bulgarian national were remanded yesterday after being arrested on Friday night in connection to the theft of valuable luxury goods from a Cyprus Airways air cargo warehouse at the old Larnaca Airport.

The value of the stolen goods has not yet been calculated as police believe the gang has been operational for as long as three years.

The four suspects were remanded for eight days by the Larnaca District Court.  All four are employed at a private firm that is responsible for transferring the valuables between the Cyprus Airways warehouses and a storage facility at the old airport.

National carrier must ditch its ‘extra baggage’

2010-11-14

A WEEK after state-owned Eurocypria announced the termination of operations, economists say there is little the government can to prevent Cyprus Airways (CY) from a similar fate.

The national carrier, which is 70 per cent state-owned will now pay the price for previous failed corporate decisions and the inflexibility which prevented it from capitalising on its previous restructuring process, said European University economics professor Marios Mavrides.

The previous restructuring allowed the company to return to profitability in 2007 after suffering massive losses exceeding €120 million in the preceding four years.

One remanded, two sought after drugs sting

2010-11-14

A MAN was remanded for eight days yesterday after being arrested during a police sting operation in which 20 kilos of cannabis were seized in the Paphos village of Archimandrita on Friday night.

The Paphos district court also issued an arrest warrant for an employee of the Paphos Post Office who is believed to be involved. The two suspects who managed to escape are wanted by police.

Police believe the gang supplies close to 90 per cent of the drugs in Paphos.

Young Pavlos responds to US treatment but more money needed

2010-11-14

FIVE-YEAR-OLD Pavlos Kleovolou dubbed the “little angel” is currently in Boston, slowly responding to medical care that his parents hope will save his life and hopefully eventually help him lead a comfortable life.

The family estimate that they now need a total of €1 million for the treatment in America and would be eternally grateful for any additional contributions that help save their little angel.

The boy has been in Boston Children’s Hospital since August 10 where he is constantly monitored by doctors specialised in gastrointestinal mobility and functional gastrointestinal disorders.

Football player remanded

2010-11-14

A SENEGALESE football player was remanded for seven days yesterday after he was arrested trying to leave the country using a fake French identity card.

The Larnaca district court heard that 25-year-old Abdel Ganer, who plays for fourth division side AEK Kythreas, tried to board a flight to Athens at 4.45am at Larnaca airport with the fake identity card.

EU finances the construction of a major new compliant sanitary landfill in the north

2010-11-14

THE EUROPEAN Commission is providing more than €5 million funding to construct a sanitary landfill site in the occupied area of Kythrea area, in order to improve solid waste management.

The site will include a hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facility and will serve the whole population in the occupied areas until 2033.

The 16 month project will be undertaken by the consortium of Finnish firm EKOKEM,  local firm Tüfekçi and overseen by the German firm  C&E Consulting und Engineering GmbH.

Galloping backwards

2010-11-14

OLD race-tickets flutter along the floor, blown along by the wind from outside. An unlucky punter ambles in from the stands, kicking one into the air in frustration.

I can empathise; I have also just lost 10 euros after the odds-on favourite sauntered in in fourth place. The man glumly sits and resumes his study of the race card.

It is a Wednesday night much like any other at the Nicosia racecourse.

In the betting hall four bored-looking cashiers wait in their kiosks for the customers -mostly middle aged Cypriot men – to bet on the next race.

The remaining 20 or so kiosks are empty, since people can now place bets in the betting shops rather than at the racecourse.

Cured after 12 years of pain

2010-11-14

“There are just no words to describe how I feel. I thought I was dying when I came here.” The 44-year-old Norwegian Lene Kanden pauses and smiles as she shifts a pile of colourful knitting that sits beside her.

Considering Lene is recovering from brain surgery, she looks remarkably well and radiant, the only tell-tale sign of the recent ordeal being her cropped hair accentuated by a big white alice band covering the scars of her recent craniotomy.

“I just don’t want this to be made into some sort of tragedy. My life was saved here in Cyprus, I feel good now. I like to think of it as a sun shine story.”

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.