Fire services on alert to aid Israel

2010-12-03

CYPRUS was last night prepping its fire-fighting forces to assist Israel in combating a huge blaze sweeping through the north of the neighbouring country, which killed 40 people trapped in a bus.

A police chopper capable of night flight was being readied to head out to Israel, while a firefighting plane of the Forestry Department would be taking off at daybreak today if still needed, officials said.

Initial unconfirmed reports said up to 40 people had died as a result of the forest fire, many of them prison guards who were trapped in a bus trying to flee the flames. Israeli media said the fire started around midday, possibly in an illegal dumping ground in the Carmel Hills, near the city of Haifa.

Our View: Pointless ado about ‘Downer documents’

2010-12-03

IN THE END, the two largest parties, AKEL and DISY, yesterday joined forces in order to prevent public discussion of the book that contained excerpts of the e-mail communications of Alexander Downer and his team. Initially, deputies from the other parties had wanted the House Institutions Committee to discuss the views allegedly expressed by Downer in the e-mails, as they constituted interference in domestic affairs and showed a lack of objectivity by the Australian special envoy.

WikiLeaks sheds light on Akrotiri and rendition

2010-12-03

BRITAIN’S CONCERNS over Cypriot “hypersensitivity” and human rights violations regarding use of Akrotiri airbase for CIA rendition flights were dismissed by the US as risking the spread of terrorism, revealed US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks.

The cables document a series of exchanges between US and British officials on concerns that the British government, through use of its RAF Akrotiri airbase by US spy planes, could be complicit in the torture of suspects. Despite calling US use of Akrotiri “sloppy”, the UK eventually backed down from its demands for more flight information on covert or potentially controversial missions, aligning itself with the US view that such requests were “burdensome”.

Patten’s WikiLeaks cable described Tassos Papadopoulos as a ‘dubious character’

2010-12-03

DAYS AFTER the Annan plan referendum, then EU Commissioner Chris Patten suggested Cyprus should never have been allowed into the EU, revealed US diplomatic cables released by whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.

In the cable, Patten accused the Cypriot government of “blatant efforts to stifle opposing views” during the referendum while hinting that former President Tassos Papadopoulos was a “dubious character”.

The leaked cables shed light on the “random thoughts” of Patten, EU Commissioner for External Relations between 2000 and 2004, shared over dinner with a US official.

Gag order placed on pensions database staff

2010-12-03

EMPLOYEES at the Social Insurance Department have been ordered not to disclose any information on pensions on penalty of being brought up on criminal charges.

The gag order, revealed by Politis yesterday, comes as reports about generous pension packages for civil servants are emerging. The reports also come at a time when the two-tier system of contributions to the Social Security Fund (SSF) – one for civil servants, the other for the rest of the population – is under scrutiny.

When is a sale not allowed to be a sale?

2010-12-03

TWENTY three shop owners are facing prosecution after refusing to comply with a law banning out-of-season sales, after a six week long police crackdown ended last month.

Police investigated 788 shops between September 1 and October 15, identifying 362 violations of the law. Most stores complied and ended their sales; however twenty three refused and will now go to court.

The shopkeepers’ and media backlash has even drawn Commerce Minister Antonis Paschalides into the fray. He denied suggestions that he favoured a Soviet market model and said that shops could sell products at any price so long as they do not present that as a sale.

Downer ‘inquisition’ back on the cards

2010-12-03

THE HOUSE Institutions Committee yesterday decided to discuss the UN leaked documents in two closed sessions, after rows between MPs resulted in AKEL and DISY effectively taking the decision by majority vote.

The Committee had originally postponed its discussion on the leaked documents, detailed in  a book called “Simademeni Trapoula” (Marked Cards) until President Demetris Christofias returned from his recent New York meeting with UN Secretary-General (UNSG) Ban Ki-moon and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu.

The books contains a series of UN correspondence on the Cyprus issue, politicians and the media.

Defence levies not being spent on national security

2010-12-03

OVER €1 billion collected in taxes for Cyprus’ defence has been spent elsewhere, deputies heard yesterday during discussions on the defence ministry’s 2011 budget.

The matter was raised by DISY MP, and former defence minister Socrates Hasikos at the House Finance Committee.

“Over the years, more than one billion euros of Cypriot taxpayers’ money, even though it was collected for the state’s defence, was never used for this purpose,” said Hasikos after the meeting. “It was taken by successive governments and spent on other things such as  plugging budgetary holes.”

Hasikos called for a legal amendment that would put an end to “this illegality”. “Or someone must courageously tell the Cypriot people that this money is used for other reasons,” he said.

More flights cancelled due to weather conditions

2010-12-03

FLIGHTS were cancelled for the second day running yesterday to and from Paphos, leaving another 800 passengers stranded, as Gatwick airport remained closed due to bad weather conditions.

“Unfortunately because of the bad weather conditions that continue to grip Western Europe, flights to and from the UK have been affected for a second day,” confirmed Cyprus airports spokesman Adamos Aspris.

Four flights in total were cancelled yesterday according to Aspris. All four flights were between Paphos airport and Gatwick. Aspris said that yesterday Larnaca’s flight schedule was not been affected.

Time running out for deal on the economy

2010-12-03

IT WAS not clear yesterday whether the government and the coalition parties were any closer to an agreement on an economic package.

With the rest of the public watching, DIKO, AKEL and the Finance Ministry are still discussing the proposed government package which provides for curtailing the civil service payroll and raising taxes on a number of products, including medicines and foodstuffs.

The measures are aimed at slashing the deficit to achieve the EU goal of 4.5 per cent of GDP by the end of 2011.

But time is fast running out for an agreement. The coalition has just a fortnight to reach a conclusion, with discussions on the 2011 state budget scheduled to begin in mid-December.

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.