Dog snatchers at large in Limassol

2011-01-21

THE owner of a dog which was stolen from the front yard of her Limassol home on Thursday yesterday released a video of the suspected thieves and made an urgent plea for the return of the canine. (Click here to see the video)

“Those people need to be caught and punished,” Marta Swinarska told the Cyprus Mail.

The German Shepherd puppy named Ruger, was apparently snatched between 9 and 10 am from Swinarska’s home in the area of Omonia—Papas supermarket area.

Ruger has a microchip and reacts when he hears his name.

He had a blue collar and golden name tag when he was stolen.

If anyone has any information about Ruger, please call Marta on 96423977 or 99091071 or Craig on 9779267

O’ Dwyer loses case against developers

2011-01-21

HOMEBUYER Conor O’Dwyer was left devastated yesterday after losing his private criminal prosecution against a land developer in a case which could have far-reaching implications for the property sector in Cyprus.

The long awaited verdict has cleared Paralimni based Karayannas Developers of any wrongdoing – whilst delivering a bitter blow for O’Dwyer after years of legal wrangling over a disputed villa in Frenaros.

Despite the state refusing to press charges citing lack of evidence, O’Dwyer pushed on with the action after a court found there was a prima facie case.

Our View: Neutral arbiter of property value needed

2011-01-21

A COUPLE of weeks ago, a Sunday Mail letter writer complained about having been forced to pay a transfer fee that was not based on the price he had paid for a piece of property.

The transfer fee was based on a value for the property arbitrarily decided by the District Lands Office (DLO). Whereas he had paid €130,000 for the property, the transfer fee he had to pay thereafter was for a property valued at €250,000, because this was what the DLO had decided he should have paid.

The buyer ended up paying €6,500 more on transfer fees than he should have done because some public official decided that the property was worth more than he had agreed to pay.

‘Army shell could have killed us’ says father of two

2011-01-21

A MINOR one-hour delay at their shop may have saved a family of four from death or injury when an army shell exploded near their holiday home, spraying shrapnel outside and inside the prefabricated construction.

The defence ministry yesterday suspended the officer overseeing a heavy weapons live fire exercise at the Kalo Chorio range on Wednesday during which a mortar shell strayed off course and exploded near the house — located some 800 metres from the main residential area of the village of Ayia Anna in the Larnaca district.

Angelos Efrem, his wife and two children aged one and two-years-old, who stay at the prefab house every Wednesday afternoon, and on weekends, had been delayed and arrived an hour after the explosion.

Archbishop ‘moved’ by Boy George gesture

2011-01-21

THE 18TH century image of Jesus, purchased by pop star Boy George in the 1980s, is safely in the hands of the Church of Cyprus and will soon make the journey back home.

The icon was spotted by the Church’s representative in Brussels, Bishop Porfyrios of Neapolis while watching an interview on Dutch television with the former singer.

Having decided to investigate further, Porfyrios subsequently verified the icon was one of several stolen and sold in the north after the 1974 invasion. The cleric next contacted Boy George and told him about the icon’s provenance, and the singer returned it to its original owners without payment.

The relic comes from the church of St Charalambos in the occupied village of Neo Chorio Kithrea.

Greedy clinic charged for blood it was given free of charge

2011-01-21

THE HEALTH minister has ordered an investigation into a complaint that a private clinic charged a patient for the blood used for transfusion when blood in Cyprus is free.

The ministry’s permanent secretary Dionisis Mavronikolas said the complaint claimed a specific clinic had charged €150 for four units of blood.

“Any (financial) transaction regarding blood is a criminal offence and private clinics know this,” Mavronikolas said.

In Cyprus, blood is donated on a voluntary basis and is stored at state facilities. It is then distributed to private hospitals and clinics according to their needs.

The investigation is at its early stages and Mavronikolas could not confirm whether the alleged infringement has also happened elsewhere.

EAC insists Cyprus not most expensive despite figures

2011-01-21

DESPITE evidence to the contrary, the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) yesterday again denied that Cypriot households pay the highest electrical prices in the European Union.

Eurostat data published this week show that in 2010 Cypriot medium size households had the highest electrical bill among the EU-27 countries. Cypriots paid €0.1597 per kWh (kilowatt hours), compared to the EU-27 year average of €0.1223 per kWh.

The prices, published by local daily Alithia yesterday, represent the before-tax average over the entire year and not for a specific moment in time. The Mail confirmed this with Eurostat’s press office in Luxembourg.

Improving roads but destroying businesses

2011-01-21

 

A GROUP of Nicosia shopkeepers say they are on the brink of closing due to road works on Metochiou Avenue in Ayios Andreas.

They said they have been told the works will take until next October to complete.

According to the engineer in charge of the project, public works official, Niki Kypragora, the aim of the project is to improve the road by installing a drainage system for rain, which it was lacking, and also to take telephone and electricity cables underground. Until the work is finished, Metochiou Avenue will continue to consist of only two lanes.

This week the site was a mess, starting from the side of the Health Ministry at the Yorkion building all the way up Metochiou Avenue, in the direction of the American Embassy.

Archbishop: it’s sad if Christofias believes I finance ELAM

2011-01-21

ARCHBISHOP Chrysostomos yesterday denied that he supported a nationalist group, but conceded he shared their views regarding illegal immigration.

The Church primate was responding to reports in yesterday’s Politis that President Demetris Chrstofias had raised the issue during a National Council meeting on Wednesday.

Politis said Christofias voiced his concern over the surge of nationalism in the government-controlled areas, fearing that it could affect efforts to solve the Cyprus problem.

The president mentioned the recent attack on the players of a Turkish basketball team, in Cyprus to play against APOEL, and numerous vandalisms on Turkish Cypriot vehicles.

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.