Woman told to post her own foetus

2011-12-11

 

LARNACA General Hospital doctors told a grieving patient to post her miscarried foetus to Nicosia for tests via Akis Express last week, because they had no system for doing it themselves.

Sophia Tsitsinakis, 20, miscarried last Sunday – 14 weeks into her pregnancy – following three prior visits to the hospital, during which she had reported back and stomach pains to doctors, who prescribed her vitamins.

It is now thought that a urinary tract infection caused her membranes to break, prompting early labour and miscarriage.

Tales from the coffeeshop: Keeping the wrong men in power

2011-12-11

 

ANTONIS Fanieros, the Larnaca businessman guest at the Central Prison awaiting trial on a string of charges including extortion, arson and participation in a criminal organisation, wrote a rather moving letter to the comrade president about his predicament.

In his letter, published last Sunday in Politis, Fanieros addressed the comrade as “My beloved President”, which seemed a bit too familiar. This familiarity may be explained by their embracing the same political ideology. As Fanieros wrote, the informer who had stitched him up “belongs to the same political grouping as us”.

Our View: Only time will tell if new ‘debt-brake’ will work

2011-12-11

THE DEBATE about the decisions reached by the European summit in the early hours of Friday and of their implications is set to go on for months. Nobody, not even the EU leaders who bashed out the deal, is in a position to safely say that the eurozone debt crisis was over and that calm would return to the markets after the summit’s show of decisiveness, if not unity. This was a deal reached by 26 of the member-states, Britain, citing its national interests, opting out and raising questions about its future within the Union.

Kazamias: there’s no pleasing opposition

2011-12-11

FINANCE Minister Kikis Kazamias yesterday rejected criticism that the government had not introduced enough cuts in spending as opposed to taxation, suggesting that nothing can satisfy the opposition.

“If some people have their own way of calculation, it is their right,” Kazamias said. “What is important is that the government has met the obligations it assumed during the December 2 meeting.”

During that meeting, government and opposition parties agreed on a set of measures, including a two-year freeze of the state payroll and a staggered contribution from private sector workers earning over €2,500.

The measures, that must be approved by next week, also provide for a rise in VAT to 17 per cent and a rise in the defence tax from 17 to 20 per cent.

‘Cyprus not at gates of support mechanism’

2011-12-11

CYPRUS is not before the gates of the EU support mechanism, the government said yesterday, responding to criticism from main opposition DISY chief Nicos Anastassiades.

Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said for a country to join the support mechanism it must have difficulties in refinancing its loans and obligations and Cyprus has no such problem.

“The government acted pre-emptively and secured financing for its needs,” Stefanou said, referring to a €2.5 billion Russian loan. “At the same time, it does not rest and is systematically and coherently working on consolidating public finances.”

Stefanou rejected Anastassiades’ charges of inaction and delay in taking measures, saying it dared to put an end to distortions and rotten phenomena created by others.

‘New hope for the euro as uncertainty persists’

2011-12-11

REACTION to the European Council’s latest decisions taken to save the European single currency, which will prevent Cyprus being dragged further into Europe’s debt crisis ranged from optimism to reservation. One thing European leaders failed to achieve was to create certainty, according to Cypriot economists.

Economist Spyros Episkopou, chief executive officer of Epicentral Consultancy Ltd, said he was hopeful the tightening of fiscal rules in Europe will eliminate the risk that Cyprus would again become fiscally complacent. “Introducing fiscal discipline to Cyprus is a positive development,” he said. Running the state in a frugal way “will no longer be an option but an obligation. The decisions will prescribe both procedures and monitoring”.

Further arrest in uni attack

2011-12-11

POLICE yesterday arrested a 27-year-old in connection with an attack on a student election at the University of Nicosia on Tuesday.

Four other people, including an army officer, are already being held for the same case.

Police said the man was arrested after two helmets were found in his car, which appear to be the same worn by the assailants.

Around 15 black-clad people stormed the university hall after 5:15pm, wielding bats and wearing helmets. Students were holding elections at the time for the various student union bodies.

The group terrorised people with bats and threw furniture around before making off with four ballot boxes.

Ledra Street a hive of demos

2011-12-11

NICOSIA’S LEDRA Street was buzzing with youthful energy yesterday when two different events were set up to raise awareness about human rights and to highlight the multicultural character of Cyprus.

Both events took place near the Ledra Street crossing point, with volunteers handing out information leaflets and encouraging discussions among the passersby.

The Human Rights event’s aim was to raise awareness and provide a global perspective on human rights and their violations.

The impromptu event was organised by several volunteers of the Amnesty International support group and the civil society Human Action.

Omonia coach ban reduced

2011-12-11

THE APPEALS Body of the Cyprus Football Association (CFA) yesterday reduced the ban handed out to Omonia coach Neophytos Larkou from six months to four matches.

Larkou will also have to pay a fine of €2,000, while he will miss this weekend’s derby with APOEL and the games against Alki, Aris and AEL.

The Omonia head coach had initially been charged with assaulting a referee, after the latter accused Larkou of pushing him on the shoulder. The charge was subsequently changed to unsportsmanlike behaviour.

More and more Greeks arriving

2011-12-11

THE PROTRACTED global economic crisis has seen record unemployment levels in Cyprus, but more so in Greece, leading more and more Greek nationals to sail east seeking jobs on the island. 

Even though unemployment in Cyprus is high, particularly among the youth, in Greece it reached 18.3 per cent in August. The impact has seen an exodus of Greek nationals, many of whom seek jobs in Cyprus, particularly in education, where the number of Greek candidate teachers on the ministry’s much-maligned ‘waiting list’ has seen a “formidable increase”, more than doubling in 2010 compared to the year before.

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.