Our View: A rare display of civility as House president race reaches its end

2011-06-03

TEN DAYS of non-stop public squabbling, accusations, grandstanding and wheeler-dealing  were finally concluded yesterday as the newly-elected House of Representatives elected EDEK leader Yiannakis Omirou as its new president. He edged out rival candidate – the president of the old House and DIKO leader Marios Garoyian – by a single vote, in what proved a civilised and good-tempered affair.

‘Bad booze came from the north, Turkey says

2011-06-03

TURKISH Cypriot alcoholic drinks producers yesterday slammed Turkey’s agricultural ministry after it blamed them for the deaths of three Russian tour guides in a southern Turkish seaside resort.

According to a statement by the Turkish agricultural ministry in Ankara, the three Russian tour guides were among a group of 21 that were hospitalised after drinking counterfeit alcohol served aboard a cruise ship that sailed out of the southern Turkish resort of Bodrum on May 26. Two of the tour guides died of what appeared to be methanol poisoning in Turkey, while a third died after returning to Russia. The ministry said it believed the drinks served aboard the cruise liner were among 12,000 bottles that had been imported from the north.

Turkish Cypriots to investigate police torture

2011-06-03

ALLEGATIONS of torture and summary beatings in police stations in the north are to be investigated by a ‘parliamentary’ committee, Turkish Cypriot ‘deputies’ decided yesterday.

The decision came after Communal Democracy Party (TDP) leader Mehmet Cakici presented ‘deputies’ with written and photographic evidence of two recent cases of torture that allegedly took place in police stations in the north. It is the first time that the Turkish Cypriot police, who remain under the command of the Turkish military, have faced any form of external scrutiny.

Phaneromeni church celebrates centenary

2011-06-03

NICOSIA’S Phaneromeni Church will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its inauguration on Sunday, with a special service delivered by the Bishops of Famagusta and Paphos.

The event is expected to draw a large crowd of priests, local residents and dignitaries, including members of parliament, Nicosia Mayor Eleni Mavrou and Greek Ambassador to Cyprus Vasilios Papaioannou.

Special guests and several priests will be invited to a special breakfast after the service. Archbishop Chrysostomos will not attend due to prior engagement in Paphos.

To mark the occasion, the church has produced commemorative stamps and postcards for the occasion, which will be presented to visitors on Sunday.

Record 170 weddings in Larnaca on June 17

2011-06-03

 

AROUND 170 Israeli couples are heading to Larnaca en masse on June 17 to get married, according to Larnaca Municipality, which may even get Larnaca into the Guinness World Records again.

“Cyprus is either the first or second destination for a civil marriage as far as Israelis go, along with Prague,” said Deputy Head of Mission at the Israeli Embassy, Shani Cooper-Zubida. “It’s very popular for young couples,” she added.

According to Cooper-Zubida one of the main reasons they decide to get married here is because it is close by, as well as the fact that it is cheaper than other EU countries and it is not particularly difficult in terms of the paperwork invoved.

Holiday grants offered to people with disabilities

2011-06-03

A HOLIDAY grant scheme is being offered as of June 24 until December 31, 2011 for disabled people, by the Department of Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities.

The aim of the scheme is to fund the food and board of the disabled and their families or carers at the hotel of their choice for seven nights.

For each night €45 will be granted to the applicant, €45 for his or her spouse or carer, €23 for a child over the age of two and up to the age of 12, and €34 for a child over the age of 12, still dependant on it parents.

EAC bills to drop slightly

2011-06-03

THE electricity authority (EAC) said yesterday that consumers should expect a slight cut in bills in the coming months due to the decrease in oil prices.

“We believe that in the next (few) months bills will be less expensive than what they are today,” EAC chairman Harris Thrassou told state broadcaster CyBC.

He said the delay in the adjustment was because Cyprus had to exhaust its current oil reserves, which had been bought at a higher price.

Cyprus is obliged to have oil reserves for three months.

E.coli outbreak due to a toxic new strain

2011-06-03

A deadly outbreak of E.coli centred in Germany and spreading across Europe is caused by a dangerous new strain, Chinese scientists who analysed the bacteria said.

The scientists said the outbreak, which has killed 17 and made more than 1,500 others ill in at least 10 European countries and is thought to come from vegetables, carried genes making it resistant to several classes of antibiotics.

“This E. coli is a new strain of bacteria that is highly infectious and toxic,” said the scientists at the Beijing Genomics Institute in Shenzhen city in southern China who are collaborating with colleagues in Germany.

‘Syrian forces kill 13 in town under siege’

2011-06-03

Syrian forces killed at least 13 civilians in the central town of Rastan yesterday, activists said, in the latest attempt to quell a revolt against the 11-year rule of President Bashar al-Assad.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Assad’s legitimacy had “nearly run out” and called for a more united international response to the crackdown in Syria.

Syria’s exiled opposition, meeting in Turkey, urged Assad to resign immediately and hand power to the vice president until a council is formed to oversee a transition to democracy.

Omirou elected House President

2011-06-03

EDEK leader Yiannakis Omirou was yesterday named House Speaker, ending days of media frenzy and allowing parliament to get on with the business of lawmaking.

Omirou, 59, assumed the office after a show of hands from EDEK, DISY, the European Party and rogue DIKO MP Zacharias Koulias, garnering 28 of the 56 votes. His main rival, incumbent Marios Garoyian, head of the DIKO party, lost out having received 27 votes.

The third candidate, Greens deputy George Perdikis, got one vote (his own).

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.