Our View: Government’s AKEL links only remarkable in possible extent

2011-04-16

IT WAS rather hypocritical of the opposition parties to accuse President Christofias of behaving like a party leader and of publicly helping the AKEL parliamentary election campaign. He was the president of all Cypriots, it was argued, and he should not have been displaying partisan behaviour. It is funny how the ethical standards of the political parties scale new heights when they are no longer in power.

Christofias: Turkish Cypriots suffering from Turkey’s tight embrace

2011-04-16

DURING his televised press conference, President Demetris Christofias said the recent mass protests by Turkish Cypriots showed they were truly concerned about their own existence and loss of identity, something which should concern Greek Cypriots too.

The Turkish Cypriot protests sent political, as well as economic, messages, which the Turkish Cypriot and Turkish leadership were aware of, he said.

“To what extent this will be used to pressure them should concern us too,” said Christofias.

Christofias said the Turkish Cypriots were suffering from Turkey’s “tight embrace” and the continuing illegal influx of Turkish settlers, noting that recent rallies and other demonstrations by Turkish Cypriots testify to this.

Christofias: I am a child of AKEL and proud of it

2011-04-16

PRESIDENT DEMETRIS Christofias yesterday responded to critics, insisting he was “a child of AKEL” who would not deny his background and simply stay at home during the election period.

Speaking during his televised press conference on his handling of the Cyprus problem, the president was asked to comment on recent criticism that he is acting as a party leader rather than president of the country.

“What do some people want, to deny myself? I am a child of AKEL. This has to be understood. It is my democratic right and a great honour and issue of pride for me that I have been raised by such a party which only contributed good to the country,” he said, adding that the ruling communist party “defended democracy (and) the country’s independence”.

Tourist ‘basket of goods’ rises nine per cent

2011-04-16

CYPRUS tourism suffered another blow to its reputation yesterday, after a survey showed the island is among the most expensive holiday choices for Brits.

The UK Post Office’s 2011 holiday costs barometer compared prices of nine everyday tourist items and meals in 14 medium haul destinations.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Cyprus was in the top three most expensive for the majority of items.

It has the most expensive cup of coffee: €3.72, the most expensive factor 15 sun cream: €13.85 and the most expensive postcard with a stamp for the UK: €2.87

It had the second most expensive Coca Cola and third most expensive beer after Dubai and Italy.

Ignore ‘lonely Angela’ texts, CyTA warns

2011-04-16

THOUSANDS in Cyprus have received spam SMS messages from a lonely woman called Angela   telecoms authority CyTA said yesterday.

“Many of these messages start “with a seemingly innocent SMS sent from ‘Angela’ to ‘Irene’ but those who have answered the message – mostly male clients – would usually get another message encouraging them to send messages with a higher charge to a four-digit SMS number, which led to a dating service,” CyTA’s information security officer Petros Pantjaris yesterday said.

The message , which has been doing the rounds reads: “Irene, how are you? We’ve lost touch! Me? Where do I start…I broke up four months ago, I’m lonely and I’m searching for myself!  Shall we meet up for coffee tomorrow to catch up in person? Angela”

‘Peddlers of death using underage children’

2011-04-16

DRUG traffickers use underage youths to carry small quantities of drugs because they are not criminally liable due to their age, Justice Minister Loucas Louca said yesterday.

The minister, who was replying to a reporter’s question about the exploitation of minors by drug traffickers, said “this phenomenon has been observed recently” but warned against blowing it out of proportion.

“Many times these peddlers of death use underage children – under 14s – who are not criminally liable, to be the carriers of small quantities of drugs,” Louca told reporters but added that the practice was not extensive.

Pensions dialogue off until after elections

2011-04-16

THE dialogue between the government and unions on state pensions has been postponed until after the elections because of tensions during the pre-election period, the finance minister said yesterday.

The start of the dialogue was scheduled for yesterday, with the government presenting unions with a study done by an actuarial firm on the state pension system.

Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis said the time between now and the May 22 poll would be used to draw up more realistic and conservative scenarios regarding the pensions system.

Justice Minister wants police row to end

2011-04-16

THE CONFLICT between the police chief and their union representative is a problem, not making anyone happy, Justice Minister Loucas Louca said yesterday, calling on all sides sort it out.

“Everyone involved should assume their share of the responsibility for the sake of the police and the public in general,” Louca added.

The police association (SAK) representative Andreas Symeou this week sent a letter through his lawyer to the chief of police, Michalis Papageorgiou, demanding an apology, and the retraction of comments and procedures against him.

The action comes after Papageorgiou on Monday ordered a disciplinary investigation and initiated suspension procedures against Symeou.

More foreigners than Cypriot applied for offset grant

2011-04-16

MORE foreigners than Cypriots have applied for the offset grant set aside for low-income groups, the head of the Citizen’s Bureau in Nicosia said yesterday.

Yesterday was the deadline to submit an application for the grant, which aims at offsetting this year’s 5.0 per cent hike in VAT on food and medicine.

A total of €20 million was set aside for the scheme for low-income groups.

“From every 30 people who applied, there might have been one Cypriot,” said Bureau head Lambros Papalambrianou, who said that applicants had been pouring in at the rate of 200 an hour. Queues stretched down the pavement, he said.

Paphos lawyers hold one-day strike

2011-04-16

PAPHOS lawyers yesterday held a one-day strike because the government has not yet lived up its pledge to build an additional floor to the district’s courthouse, necessary for its smooth operation.

The chairman of the Paphos bar association Ioannis Papazacharias aid judges are forced to postpone hearings because there are no available rooms as well as stenographers to keep the minutes.

Papazacharias warned that lawyers would not tolerate any diversion from the decision to invite tenders immediately for the construction of additional space.

The lawyers said the finance ministry had decided to divert funds to other projects in Nicosia.

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.