Bitter blow for tourism

2011-04-10

A MAJOR British tour operator is axing traditional package holidays and will only sell “all-inclusive” vacations to Cyprus from next year in a move which could have wide-ranging implications for local traders.

First Choice holidays announced that as of May 2012, all holidays booked to the island will include flights, transfers, hotel accommodation and three meals a day, plus unlimited local drinks for a single one-off fee.

The news comes as a bitter blow to local business owners who claim that such deals are already killing their trade and ripping the heart from coastal resorts because tourists rarely venture out of their hotel complexes.

Tales from the Coffeeshop: The man who would be loved

2011-04-10

OUR DISREPUTABLE establishment would like to officially complain about the blatantly, discriminatory treatment it suffered during the comrade president’s news conference last Tuesday.

He attacked television and radio stations for their totally negative coverage of everything the government did and accused them of brain-washing people, he slammed Antenna TV for being totally biased against the government and he disagreed with the treatment of the tooth implant attorney by Politis which he labeled cannibalism.

Our View: The President is protecting the privileged, not the working people

2011-04-10

WHEN THE AKEL chief sanctimoniously announces that his party would never allow the working people to be burdened with the cost of the economic recession, it was not clear which working people is he actually referring to? Who are the working people of Cyprus that could all be lumped together into a single, homogeneous grouping so their interests and rights could be protected by AKEL and President Christofias?

Wanted: homes in the sun for eager Russian buyers

2011-04-10

 

RUSSIANS to the rescue of the property market? Real estate agents are keeping their fingers crossed – although foreign buyers shouldn’t be expected to bail out the economy all on their own.

According to Chris Hajikyriacou, sales director with BuySell, around 60 per cent of their sales this year are done with Russians – and the trend is expected to close out the year.

It’s a welcome change for the property market which has stalled following the fallout from the global credit crunch. British buyers, once coming to the island in droves, don’t have the cash these days. The money’s elsewhere.

By some estimates, property sales are down 80 per cent over the last couple of years, but the invading Russkies could yet save the day.

Christofias now embroiled in overseas expenses row

2011-04-10

A NEWSPAPER yesterday reported that President Demetris Christofias had requested, and is receiving, an overseas expense allowance, which his predecessors had shunned.

Daily Phileleftheros said that five months after his election, Christofias had asked for the allowance intended to cover government officials’ food and transport expenses when abroad.

The government said Christofias had never asked for the allowance and accused the newspaper of engaging in a war for the “political and personal annihilation” of the president.

The newspaper said Christofias’ predecessors had never asked for the allowance because all expenses are paid in most trips, either by the hosting country or the island’s embassy.

Cyprus’ investment hub status on thin ice

2011-04-10

A GOVERNMENT-imposed freeze in hiring non-EU nationals in response to rising unemployment is taking its toll on Cyprus’s aspirations to become a regional financial centre.

One Limassol-based investment firm, 3D Global Ltd, has said it has had enough and is thinking about re-locating to the UK.

“We want to develop our business into the Russian market,” David Rumsey, 3D Global’s managing director told the Sunday Mail in an interview. “We found someone very competent we wish to employ as she is fluent in English, Greek and above all, she is Russian and knows the Russian mentality. We applied to the labour office and they said no”.

‘Mediterranean gas is a game-changer’

2011-04-10

CYPRIOT natural gas and investment opportunities will be feature prominently in the upcoming Offshore Technology Conference (OTC).

This year, the OTC takes place in Houston, Texas from 2 to 5 May. Leading energy analyst Michael Economides, of the University of Houston, will be a keynote speaker at the forum, which is described as the largest annual gathering of the oil and gas industry.

Among other things, the OTC will be focusing on Mediterranean gas potential, of which Israeli and Cypriot prospects are a big part, Economides told the Mail yesterday.

Having seen the data, Economides said, he believes the Cyprus’ plot 12 is likely “better” than Israel’s Leviathan field, whose reserves of natural gas are estimated at 16 trillion cubic feet.

Salmonella outbreak

2011-04-10

VETERINARY services have destroyed a flock of chicken contaminated with salmonella, it was announced yesterday.

Authorities have also warned the public not to consume eggs from the particular unit, designated 3CY4404.03, with production date up until April 8, 2011.

The vet services have asked any retail outlets which have eggs from the specific batch to withdraw them from their shelves.

The owner of the farm is working closely with the authorities to withdraw the batch from the market, an official announcement said.

‘Man had cocaine in his stomach’

2011-04-10

TWO Dutch nationals, a 62-year-old man and a woman, 53, were yesterday remanded in custody for six days after they were caught trying to smuggle through customs, 470 grammes of cocaine hidden inside the man’s body, Larnaca police said.

The pair arrived at Larnaca airport 20 minutes after midnight on a flight from Brussels.

Their behaviour raised suspicions and they were picked up and taken to Larnaca hospital where they underwent an MRI, which revealed the presence of 47 small packages inside the man.

Colonial documents to be released

2011-04-10

CLASSIFIED documents are expected to be released by the British Foreign Office which make reference to periods of liberation movements in former British colonies and may concern Cyprus, said a British Foreign Office spokesperson yesterday.

“It is very probable that some of the documents to be released will refer to Cyprus,” said the spokesperson. “The procedure to be followed for the release, including the time this will be done, will be the responsibility of the National Archives,” she said.

The spokesperson clarified that she was speaking about the release of those documents referred to in last Tuesday’s statement by Lord Howell, not all the documents. She also said that it will be a few months before the release.

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.