UN personnel from Egypt arrive in Cyprus

2011-02-04

UNITED Nations staff and their dependants based in Egypt started arriving on the island yesterday as citizens of the neighbouring country have also asked to be allowed in, officials said.

The UN has decided to pull out “less essential” personnel from Egypt, leaving behind a skeleton staff.

The first flight carrying 148 UN staff and their dependants arrived in Larnaca yesterday at around 3pm, followed by a second flight at 5.30pm with 117 passengers.

The evacuees were put on buses and transferred to hotels.

The UN had scheduled four flights to evacuate some 600 people from Egypt; but it was unlikely that all four would be carried out yesterday due to the onset of night-time and the curfew there.

Our View: Someone needs to take a stance on unionisation of police

2011-02-04

EVER SINCE the Police Association of Cyprus (SAK) started acting like a trade union, publicly protesting against the introduction of the eight-hour shift, staging marches and issuing ultimatums to the chief, it was obvious that things could only get worse. This column repeatedly warned that allowing SAK to register as a union would only cause big problems to the operation of the force, but apart from the Chief of Police, who took firm stand, nobody else the saw dangers.

‘Greece and Cyprus have converging interests’

2011-02-04

THE Greek Cypriot side has all the good will and determination to resolve the Cyprus problem by the end of the year as long as Turkey lends a hand, President Demetris Christofias said yesterday.

Speaking after a meeting with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou in Athens, Christofias said the Turkish side seemed to stalling with the aim of leading the talks to a deadlock and then asking the United Nations Secretary-General for a four-way meeting – the two sides, Greece and Turkey – to discuss the internal aspects of the problem and the guarantees, which are outside Ban Ki-moon’s mandate.

Christofias said these attempts were done on the sly and could not be accepted.

Police believe they have caught ‘sword bandit’

2011-02-04

POLICE believe they have arrested a serial robber, dubbed the ‘sword bandit,’ suspected of robbing eight kiosks and bakeries in Limassol over the past nine days.

A court yesterday remanded the 24-year-old Limassol man, in custody for eight days.

“We believe the moments of anxiety, stress and agony experienced by our city’s public in recent days, are gone,” Limassol police director Andreas Koushioumis said.

He added that during questioning, the suspect had admitted a total of 11 offences, eight kiosk and bakery robberies and three others regarding theft and attempted robbery.

Cypriots losing out on EU health care

2011-02-04

THE LACK of a national health scheme (NHS) has dramatically reduced the number of Cypriots who could benefit from an EU directive for cross-border health care, the House heard yesterday.

All member states must implement the directive – which allows all EU citizens to seek free medical treatment anywhere in Europe – within 30 months of it being approved by the European Commission. It has already been passed by the EU parliament – following discussions that started in 2006 – and has been tabled to the EC for approval.

However, because Cyprus doesn’t have a complete health scheme, only those who are beneficiaries locally will be entitled to free treatment abroad.

Cold snap likely to abate soon

2011-02-04

ABNORMALLY cold weather is continuing in Cyprus with Nicosia claiming its coldest night this winter with 0.2 centigrade registered at the Athalassa weather station on Wednesday.

Tuesday had the lead only a day previously, with 1C.  Temperatures have been as much as six degrees lower than the norm for this time of year, said Marios Theophilou, meteorological officer .

However, the chill is not record-breaking. In Nicosia, the coldest night, at a freezing minus 5.6C dates back to February, 1950.

The weather forecast speaks of possible stormy weather and rain in the next few days but it should clear up, with the temperatures rising by Sunday.

‘Downer papers’ discussed behind closed doors but some deputies were not able to keep mum

2011-02-04

THE CHAIRMAN of the House Institutions Committee was yesterday criticised by his fellow committee members for revealing part of what had been said behind closed doors about the leaked UN documents.

The committee had been at loggerheads over whether the documents – which were published in a book called Simademeni Trapoula (Marked Cards) – should be discussed at parliament. It was eventually agreed that they would be examined in two separate meetings and behind closed doors.

Free food for poor children

2011-02-04

THE EDUCATION Ministry’s decision to inform all school headmasters to provide poor Turkish Cypriot and gypsy children with free food has riled European Party EVROKO, which yesterday submitted the matter for discussion at the House.

The party’s MP, Rikkos Erotokritou, said he wanted to clarify whether the ministry’s decision also included Greek Cypriot children who are equally in need.

“And if these children are provided with food, will the government reduce the monthly benefits these children’s families receive,” said Erotokritou. “It would be wrong for a Turkish Cypriot family to receive food as well money. This increases public resentment.”

Loan sharking laws a step closer

2011-02-04

SOMEONE found guilty of blackmailing another person into handing over property or money could face up to 14 years in prison, once the bills regulating loan sharking are passed in two weeks’ time.

According to the Chairman of the House Legal Affairs Committee, DISY’s Ionas Nicolaou, the Committee yesterday wrapped discussions on the relevant bills.

“If someone is blackmailed out of property or money, the person responsible could be punished with up to 14 years in prison,” Nicolaou said.

Similarly, if someone is convicted of threatening another person for money, creating a feeling of fear in that person, they could be subject to up to a year in prison.

Simplifying co-ownership on property

2011-02-04

THE HOUSE Legal Affairs Committee is examining a law proposal that will enable owners of a co-owned plot to develop their share of it as they wish, without having to present the signatures of the remainder of the co-owners.

The proposal, which was tabled by Committee Chairman, DISY’s Ionas Nicolaou, will be led to the Plenum soon, he said yesterday.

Until now, if a plot was co-owned, for someone to build in his part of the land, he would have to seek the approval of the other owners, otherwise the Town Planning Department would not grant authorisation.

But with the new law, which Nicolaou said secured the approval of Town Planning and the Land Registry Office yesterday, people will be able to develop without needing the co-owners’ signatures.

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.