Former defence minister says he was mislead on deadly cargo

2011-07-23

FORMER defence minister Costas Papacostas yesterday accused a high-ranking army officer of misleading him on the danger of the explosives stored at a naval base, which blew up on July 11 killing 13 men, reports said yesterday.

According to the Cyprus News Agency, the accusation was heard during a lengthy House Defence Committee meeting held behind closed doors that examined the causes of the explosion at the Evangelos Florakis naval base.

Our View: Christofias’ calls for unity cannot be met under his feeble leadership

2011-07-23

“AT THIS moment the greatest possible unity and engagement of the political forces of the country are needed,” said AKEL chief Andros Kyprianou on Thursday. ‘Unity’ has always been a popular slogan for the government and AKEL, uttered whenever President Christofias comes under heavy criticism. The ferocity of the current attacks has sparked daily calls for unity.

Power supply improves…for now

2011-07-23

 

THE EAC yesterday proposed a series of measures to the Labour Ministry to help businesses and industries conserve energy.

The island got a stern reminder on Thursday that the energy crisis was far from over when a series of breakdowns in secondary sources of supply resulted in numerous outages islandwide.

Two units in Moni power station broke down, a power plant in the north experienced problems and also, it emerged yesterday that an additional unit broke down in Dhekelia.

This put the EAC’s grid under tremendous pressure with parts of the island experiencing up to four power outages in one day on Thursday.

Unity government only a pipe dream

2011-07-23

CHANCES OF a “fresh start” in governance, promoted by junior partner DIKO following the Mari naval base blast, appeared to peter out yesterday with the chasm between parties remaining strong.

On Thursday, DIKO leader Marios Garoyian presented a blueprint for the formation of a government of “broad acceptance” to adopt and implement an “emergency programme” in the next 18 months until the next presidential elections.

The focus will be on five key issues which are: ensuring that the investigation on the Mari blast is completed speedily and impartially; restoring public confidence in the state and institutions; the Cyprus problem; the economy; and the energy crisis.

Peeved over CTO‘s ad in club toilet

2011-07-23

 

THE EVENTS of past two weeks have drawn out anti-government sentiments on many subjects, but few might have expected a CTO advertisement in a Glaswegian urinal to become a target.

The ad in question ‘Love Cyprus’, conspicuously placed directly over the urinals in the Gents of a Glasgow football stadium, was spotted by one Cypriot and his son during a visit to the city. “It was not until the recent tragic events, and what with the government’s incompetence in handling the crisis, and the economic crisis, reminded me of the picture we took.” said then irate reader who took the photo.

ECHR sends Sigma packing

2011-07-23

 

THE EUROPEAN Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has rejected as ‘inadmissible’ and ‘manifestly ill-founded’ Sigma’s complaint that its freedom of expression had been violated by the Cyprus Radio and Television Authority (CRTA).

The CRTA issued 27 decisions against Sigma and imposed fines for the violation of radio and television laws between 2000 and 2002.

The various violations included news programmes lacking objectivity, racist and discriminatory remarks in an entertainment series, product placement in a comedy series and placement of sponsors’ names during news programmes.

‘Cyprus problem is a banana skin for EU’

2011-07-23

THE TURKISH leadership is continuing its prickly commentary on Cyprus with EU Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis reportedly comparing the Cyprus problem to slippery “banana skin”.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan dropped the first bombshell during his visit to the occupied areas this week when he claimed Greek Cypriots would never get Morphou back, while Varosha was also not on the cards. He also said Turkey-EU relations would freeze when Cyprus takes over the EU Presidency in July 2012.

Bases launch energy saving drive

2011-07-23

THE BRITISH bases in Cyprus will soon launch an energy saving campaign as part of their efforts to cut back on electricity consumption in the light of the Mari base explosion.

“We are doing what everyone else in Cyprus is doing, that is trying to conserve power,” a spokesman for British Forces told the Cyprus Mail. “We hope to start the campaign within the next few weeks.”

Bases authorities have asked people to limit or stop their use of air-conditioners and restrict their use of water as much as possible.

“Basically we are looking at what is happening on the Republic of Cyprus and following their lead when it comes to energy conservation.”

Foreign NGOs monitor KISA trial

2011-07-23

FOUR NGOs sent a delegation to monitor the trial of anti-racism NGO KISA’s director Doros Polycarpou yesterday, amid “deep concerns” over the freedom and fairness of proceedings.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN), The Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM), The European Network Against Racism (ENAR), and Migreurop were all present for yesterday’s second trial hearing.

The trial was postponed until September 12 due to lack of detailed information about the criminal charges which concern the violent clashes between a large crowd of right-wing nationalist movement ELAM and participants at the 13th annual Rainbow multicultural festival in Larnaca on November 5 last year,

UCY offers help to children of blast victims

2011-07-23

THE UNIVERSITY of Cyprus said yesterday its admissions office would give special treatment to children of the victims’ of the July 11 tragedy as part of the institution’s initiative to support the bereaved families.

The decision was approved by the University’s governing body unanimously on July 19.

According to the University the victims’ offspring would be able to apply to the tertiary facility under the category of ‘special criteria’. Moreover the children of victims’ already enrolled at universities abroad and who wanted to transfer to the University of Cyprus would be able to apply to do so.

Application deadlines were set for July 29.

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.