Put the brakes on LNG project

2011-01-09

THE GOVERNMENT must abandon negotiations for the supply of natural gas immediately and adopt a “bridging solution” instead, allowing for the speedy supply of gas for a short period until Cyprus can exploit its own “massive” reserves of hydrocarbons, said former commerce minister Antonis Michaelides yesterday.

Failure to do so will delay the supply of natural gas for at least four years, possibly leading to electricity prices “sky-rocketing” in the future while “enslaving” the state to the long-term purchase of gas from third parties despite obtaining access to its own deposits.

Tales from the Coffeeshop: We wish union bosses a lousy year

2011-01-09

BEFORE we start we would like to wish, without a hint of irony, all our customers a happy, prosperous, exciting, intellectually and sexually satisfying year in which they achieve all their objectives and also find the time to go to Church and pray for a fair and lasting, Cypriot solution to the Cyprob that would allow all people – GCs, TCs, Maronites, Armenians, Latins, EU nationals and legal immigrants – to live together in peace and harmony.

Bonds dip after S&P credit-rating cut

2011-01-09

CYPRUS’ recent credit rating cut triggered a drop in the value at which Cypriot bonds are traded, Marios Demetriades, head fund manager at Bank of Piraeus in Nicosia said.

Cyprus’s 10 bond which was traded at 98.553 euros on November 15, fell to a low of 91.234 euros a month later before recovering to 93.155 euros on Wednesday January 4. The value of the 10-year bond peaked on August 20 at 106.374 euros.

“The spreads of the Cypriot bonds, which are the additional yield an investor wants to hold a Cypriot bond instead of a similar German security, started to rise after the Republic of Cyprus’s credit rating was downgraded by Standard & Poor’s,” Demetriades told the Sunday Mail.

April 2 deadline for electoral registration

2011-01-09

THE INTERIOR Ministry has requested all Cypriots aged 18 and over, who have been residing in Cyprus for the past six months, to register in the electoral list before April 2 in order to be able to vote in the parliamentary elections on May 22.

Those who will turn 18 before May 22 are also eligible to register. After April 2 no registrations or amendments will be made to the electoral list.

Application forms are available at local District Offices, Citizen Service Centres, the Elections Department and the website of the Ministry of the Interior on www.moi.gov.cy.

Parliamentary elections take place every five years for the 56-seat House of Representatives. In its current form the house comprised six political parties.

Nine Sri Lankans arrested over violent clashes

2011-01-09

POLICE arrested have arrested nine Sri Lankans in connection with the violent clashes that took place on Thursday night in Nicosia.

Six were arrested on Friday afternoon, with a further three later on Friday night. All nine went to Nicosia district court and have been remanded in custody for six days. Three people were hospitalised after the clashes, with two head injuries and one hand injury.

A police spokesperson said yesterday afternoon that did not plan to make any further arrests over the violence, which reportedly involved around 20 individuals.  However the causes of the incident are still under investigation.

Papasavvas missing file investigation to be examined this week

2011-01-09

ATTORNEY-general Petros Clerides is to begin an investigation next week into Deputy Attorney-General Akis Papasavvas’ missing medical file, which includes information about his €17,000 dental work.

Clerides’ investigation follows the completion of a police report into the missing paperwork this week, which allegedly identifies two individuals who may have played a part in hiding the paperwork which detailed Papasavvas’ eligibility for the costly implant procedure.

According to the daily Philelefteros, police investigators who were on the case carried out investigations at the Ministry of Health where they examined phone records and other stored data.

Grenades fail to explode at hairdressing salon

2011-01-09

TWO hand grenades were thrown through the glass front of the newly opened Romanos hairdressing salon in central Nicosia on Friday night. The two grenades, which did not detonate, were discovered by an occupant of the building, who called the police. Police explosives experts arrived on the scene to make safe and remove the grenades. The reasons behind the attack are under investigation.

 

Germany’s ‘Great Conspiracy’

2011-01-09

THE government is making much out of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s state visit to Cyprus this week, as a German head of state finally returns President Makarios’ official visit to Bonn way back in 1962.

Whether or not the visit is a sign of improving relations between Germany and Cyprus or an effort by the European Union powerhouse to get more involved in the Cyprus problem and remove a thorn in the side of the 27-member bloc, one thing is clear – both countries will be eager to forget a highly embarrassing incident dating back more than 30 years.

House expected to reveal hidden secrets of an ancient city

2011-01-09

WHAT is believed to be the most ancient house in Paphos has been uncovered amid excavations to discover the extent of walls of the ancient city of Nea Paphos.

For Dr Claire Balandier, the head of the French archaeological team which uncovered the house, complete with wall paintings, last year’s find was one of her most exciting during 20 years of excavating in Cyprus.

She believes the house is probably the oldest known of in Paphos, along with the first phases of the houses of Theseus and Dionysos, which date to the beginning of the Hellenistic period (fourth century BC). But, she pointed out that the latter two are underneath much later Roman houses.

“The importance of our discovery is that the house is on Fabrika hill.

Face to face with history: north and south

2011-01-09

A CHANCE to revisit historical places we pass every day, and in the company of experts, is the aim of a tour to various historically significant sites in both north and south Nicosia on Saturday, January 15.

This bi-communal effort, entitled Tracing Multiculturalism in Cyprus: A Historical Tour of Nicosia, which is being organised by the Post Research Institute in cooperation with the Cypriot Teachers Platform of United Cyprus, aims to bring both communities together and remind them of Nicosia’s rich history.

“We want people to realise that we pass these important places all the time, but may not really take it in,” said Loizos Loukaides, member and coordinator of the Cypriot Teachers Platform of United Cyprus. Loukaides also works together with the Post RI.

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.