Aid agencies scrambled to help tsunami victims

2011-03-11

The tsunami set off by Japan’s huge earthquake is currently higher than some Pacific islands that it could wash over, the Red Cross warned on Friday.

Developing countries are at greater risk from the tsunami than Japan, although many have beefed up early warning systems and evacuation plans since the 2004 tsunami, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.

“Our biggest concern is the Asia and Pacific region, where developing countries are far more vulnerable to this type of unfolding disaster. The tsunami is a major threat,” spokesman Paul Conneally told Reuters in Geneva.

Japanese tsunami hits share prices

2011-03-11

Shares in European insurers fell sharply this morning after Japan was hit by a massive earthquake, the fifth-biggest recorded.

The quake off Japan’s northeastern coast, measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale, triggered a 10-metre tsunami that swept away ships, houses, and farm buildings locally, and led to warnings around the Pacific basin.

Reinsurers, which help insurance companies absorb large damage claims in exchange for a share of the premiums, took the brunt of the share price falls.

The top three global players — Munich Re, Swiss Re and Hannover Re — were all down more than 5 percent, though off their early lows. French group Scor fell 6.5 percent.

Reinsurers said it was too early to estimate the damage.

Federer excited by own form

2011-03-11

These are unusual times for Roger Federer who says he is excited about his form despite lying second in the world rankings without any of the four grand slam titles in his clutches.

The Swiss master has been the sport’s dominant figure for the last eight years but could slip to third in the rankings, behind Serb Novak Djokovic, after the Indian Wells tournament starting this week.

Federer has compiled a respectable win-loss record of 14-2 this season, with both defeats coming at the hands of Djokovic, and has made a return to the top of the rankings one of his priorities for this year.

“I am feeling well on the practice court and I am excited

Our View: All measure is lost in backing students to form unions

2011-03-11

IF ANY proof were needed that we have completely lost the sense of measure in this country it was provided at the 16th conference of the Pancyprian Co-ordinating Committee of Students (PSEM) that was held on Wednesday. PSEM is an organisation of teenagers – students of secondary schools – who like to play the politicians and the trade unionists and have been encouraged to do so by the communists of AKEL, in the name of democracy and human rights.

Arab world turmoil prompts 10 per cent hike in electricity prices

2011-03-11

CONSUMERS should brace themselves for an up to 10 per cent hike in their electricity bill over the coming months, the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) warned yesterday.

Due to ongoing political turmoil in the Arab world, the price of heavy fuel oil – which drives Cyprus’ power grid – has spiked in recent weeks.

Worries that production could be disrupted amid continuing unrest in Libya have pushed Brent crude up to $115 a barrel.

The EAC said electricity rates would necessarily have to be readjusted to meet new fuel prices.

The last time Cypriot consumers were hit by a similar price increase – again around 10 per cent – was back in 2008.

Casino operators claim favouritism in gaming bill

2011-03-11

ONLINE casino operators yesterday charged that a bill banning their services appeared to favour a large betting organisation and the state legal services’ official who drafted the proposal was linked to the outfit.

The bill, which bans online casino games and regulates betting, was submitted to parliament yesterday.

At the same time, members of the House Legal Affairs Committee were handed a letter signed by eight companies offering online casino games, alleging that the bill favoured OPAP, a private Greek gaming company which operates on the island through its local counterpart, set up in 2003 following a bilateral agreement.

‘Are they morons? Gamblers will just go underground’

2011-03-11

AS expected, the bill banning online casino games has not gone down well with the owners of online betting shops who were quick to point out that if the proposal went through, it would lead many to go underground.

But the general consensus on the street yesterday was that the bill was not going to go anywhere any time soon – at least not before the May 22 parliamentary elections – mainly due to the big influence exerted by the people behind such establishments.

The owner of a Nicosia betting shop which also offers online casino games described the bill as “the biggest nonsense they have come up with”.

Cancer mum home for son’s birthday

2011-03-11

A BRAVE Paphos mum who is in Germany receiving radiotherapy treatment for nine brain tumours will see her wish come true today, as she flies back home to Cyprus in time for her son’s second birthday.

Alethea Ayres, 35, who was diagnosed with a life threatening melanoma last year is said to be ‘over the moon’, that her radiotherapy treatment has been completed in plenty of time to allow her to be with her son Christian for his birthday on March 18.

“Alethea is coming home and we are all absolutely thrilled about it,” her mother, Hilda Georgiou, told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.

In a race against time, the local community came together to raise funds for Alethea to travel to Germany to receive treatment.

Thousands suffering from preventable kidney disease

2011-03-11

OVER 8,000 Cypriots suffer from kidney diseases and many of them are preventable, a leading nephrologist said yesterday.

“We want to make people aware so that they can be careful not to damage their kidneys,” said Dr Yiannis Athanassiou, a nephrologist at the Nicosia General Hospital, at an event to mark World Kidney Day.

He said diabetes and high blood pressure cause 70 per cent of kidney disease cases and many of these could be prevented.

Syrians sawed their way out of police cell

2011-03-11

Two Syrian men, aged 29 and 31, were re-captured yesterday evening after they both escaped from Larnaca Police Headquarters’ holding cells early in the day.

They had spent three months hacking away at the lock on their cell using a using small saw that had been smuggled in to them.

The two were being held for being in Cyprus illegally and were going to be deported. Police have also arrested a 33-year-old man of the same nationality, who they suspect helped two men after their escape. According to police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos, the wife one of the Syrians managed to sneak in a small saw to them two to three months ago.

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.