Turkish hackers bring down over 100 Cypriot websites

2010-12-28

MORE than 100 Cypriot websites were temporarily taken offline on Sunday and yesterday, after a wave of attacks attributed to Turkish hackers.

“No terror in sports” was the slogan branded on the websites of some 100 private Cypriot companies and organisations. The hackers also posted the emblem of Pinar Karsikaya, a Turkish basketball team, on the websites as well as showing a map of Cyprus dyed red with a crescent on it. Complaints were being made to the police’s Anti-Cyber Crime Office.

The basketball team Pinar Karsikaya were subjected to violence last Tuesday in Nicosia at a FIBA Eurochallenge game with APOEL, when APOEL hooligans began throwing things at them. There was speculation the hack attack was ‘payback’ for that incident.

Our View: New bus service failing badly on the PR front

2010-12-28

WEANING us of our love affair with our cars was never going to be the easiest of tasks, but the introduction of OSEL’s swish new bus service in Nicosia last summer was piecemeal at best.

Nicosia’s fleet of sleek new buses certainly look the part with their electronic signs, air-conditioned interiors and comfy seats. But logistically the new service has been hampered by unacceptable delays.

Take the new timetables. They were supposed to be ready by August.

Archbishop: some truths, no matter how bitter, need to be said

2010-12-28

ARCHBISHOP Chrysostomos II sees eye to eye with a nationalist group on many issues, pays lip service to ongoing reunification talks though he believes they are doomed, and claims that former President Tassos Papadopoulos did not bother to read the whole 2003 UN peace plan.

Those were some of the highlights of the Archbishop’s interview with online publication Kathimerini published over the weekend. In it, the Prelate was taken to task over his perceived political meddling and hardline views on the Cyprus problem.

But perhaps the most eye-catching part of the interview was his assertion that he identifies a great deal with the views of the nationalist outfit ELAM (National People’s Front).

Leaders meeting postponed due to Eroglu’s health

2010-12-28

THE CYPRUS leaders’ meeting, which was due to take place today, was postponed due to the health condition of Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu.

Eroglu is still recovering from open heart surgery that he underwent in Ankara just last week. He was only due to leave hospital yesterday evening to return to the north.

According to an announcement from UNFICYP, instead of the leader’s meeting, their respective aides Georgos Iacovou and Kudret Ozersay will meet at 10am in the UN-controlled Nicosia airport.

Deputies vow to block ‘Cyprus file’ verdict

2010-12-28

TWO DISY MPs yesterday vowed to block the release of a verdict into an investigation of the period 1967-1974, arguing that it is not up to politicians to write history.

At a news conference in Nicosia, deputies Christos Pourgourides and Georgios Georgiou said that a fact-finding investigation into the events leading up to and including the 1974 Turkish invasion was being hijacked for political purposes.

An ad hoc parliamentary committee – known as the Committee for the File of Cyprus – is nearing the completion of the investigation. The findings are expected to shed light on the highly charged events of the period. It’s also understood that the File of Cyprus will be released into the public domain.

16,000 drivers have no insurance

2010-12-28

MORE than 16,000 uninsured drivers could be cruising Cyprus’ roads, costing law abiding road users around €5 million per year in increased premiums it emerged yesterday.

The motor insurers’ fund, which pays out to insured motorists when they are involved in a road traffic accident with an uninsured driver said that it normally handles around 500 cases per year.

The Fund’s general manager Andreas Charalambides said: “Our estimate is that 2.4 per cent of registered drivers are uninsured. With 700,000 registered drivers this is more than 16,000.”

He added: “I would say more than 50 per cent (of uninsured drivers) come from abroad, mostly from third countries such as Syria. Most probably do not care because the consequences of getting caught are next to nil.”

Businessman seeks fast-track court for small disputes

2010-12-28

A PAPHOS man fed up with what he sees as the inefficiencies of the justice system is hoping to start an online petition to initiate an extra judicial small claims court.

After a couple of nasty personal experiences with the courts in recent years, Paphos businessman and Konia community board member Andy Georgiou has said there is a real need for a court dealing specifically with minor disputes.

Georgiou says that if he receives support from other residents in favour of his proposal he will start an online petition and lobby the government to implement a direct, fast track system for cases involving claims of up to €5,000.

Teens in hospital after car accident

2010-12-28

A CAR ACCIDENT that occurred yesterday at around 11.30am in the Paphos district has landed a 13-year-old in the Nicosia General Hospital.

The car was being driven by a 19-year-old along the main road of Ayia Marina Chrysochous–Argakas, with the 13-year-old as his passenger. Police reports said that the driver lost control causing the car to overturn in a nearby field with the two boys trapped inside.

The Fire Services freed them and they were taken to Paphos General Hospital, where it was confirmed that the 19-year-old had broken his thigh bone. However the 13-year-old was transferred to the Nicosia General Hospital due to the seriousness of his condition.

 

Two armed robberies in one night

2010-12-28

TWO armed robbers hit a betting shop at around in the early hours of yesterday in Paphos, making off with €855 after threatening the shop’s 19-year-old female employee with a gun.

The robber happened at around 12.40am. At the time there were four customers in the betting shop one of whom the robbers pushed to the ground. The other three plus the employee were made to stand with their backs up against the wall.

According to police reports the men were wearing woolly scarves and hoods. They also spoke in broken English. Both robbers are described as being around 1.65m in height with slim build.

Merkel to visit

2010-12-28

GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel will pay a one-day working visit to Cyprus January 11, it was announced yesterday.

A spokesperson for the German Embassy in Nicosia told the Cyprus News Agency the visit has not been officially announced by the Chancellor’s office in Berlin. However he confirmed that the embassy was definitely working on a working visit by the Chancellor, and “all preparations are underway”.

Merkel is due to arrive around midday. Her first stop will be the Presidential Palace. Merkel will also visit the Goethe Institute and Ledra Street, for a guided tour by Nicosia Mayor Eleni Mavrou.

She departs later in the afternoon.

 

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.