Hello Heidi to bye bye Bunga Bunga in 2011

2011-12-30

Bunga Bunga, Zenga Zenga, a tweeting cobra and other wacky news capped a year that saw the capture of America’s most wanted man and the overthrow of dictators.

2011 was filled with animal antics that began with the introduction of Heidi, the cross-eyed opossum, as the latest feral German celebrity to capture hearts around the world.

The star of Leipzig Zoo made an appearance on US television in February predicting Oscar winners, had her own merchandise, a song written about her and gained more than 330,000 fans on Facebook before dying in September to join Paul the oracle octopus and Knut the polar bear in the hereafter.

“The cross-eyed opossum Heidi has closed her eyes forever,” the zoo wrote on its website.

Nine injured in Russia nuclear sub blaze, but radiation levels normal

2011-12-30

Russia said today it had doused a raging blaze aboard a nuclear submarine after nearly a full day and night, by partially submerging the vessel after battling the flames with water from helicopters and tug boats.

There was no radiation leak and crew inside the submarine were monitoring the stricken vessel’s nuclear reactors which had been shut down, Russian officials said.

At least nine people were injured fighting the flames which witnesses quoted by local media said rose 10 metres above the Yekaterinburg submarine at the navy ship yard in the Murmansk region of northern Russia.

New Year's Day to come early as Samoa loses a Friday

2011-12-30

If you are reading this on Friday you cannot be in Samoa.

Friday, December 30, has been cut this year for the tiny South Pacific island nation as it ditched a time-zone alliance with the United States and moved its time zone 24 hours ahead to catch up with Asia, New Zealand and Australia.

On New Year’s Eve, Samoa will have jumped to the west of the international dateline, which runs zig-zags through the Pacific Ocean and broadly follows the 180 degree line of longitude, in a move Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said would make it easier for Samoa to trade with key partners.

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2011-12-30

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Our View: Bums on seats: a good move to boost air travel

2011-12-30

A PLAN TO slash airport fees has come as a welcome move and shows that Cyprus has finally decided to do something that for once is more practical than airy-fairy when it comes to tourism.

Over the last decade when the industry was in a never-ending slump, we witnessed grand plans to boost ‘quality tourism’, most notably the Cyprus Tourism Organisation’s 2000-2010 Strategic Plan designed to bring in 3.5 million tourists and €3 billion in revenue by 2010.

This day last year, the plan was dead with only 2.1 million tourist arrivals and revenue of €1.5 billion, barely more than what it was when the strategy was formulated ten years previously as Cyprus was in the throes of a ‘’mass market’ ‘sun and sea’ boom, rather than the ideal of the ‘big spender’.

Cyprus’ population grows over 21 pct to nearly 839,000

2011-12-30

 

THE POPULATION of Cyprus has increased 21.7 per cent to 838,897 since 2001, according to the official results of the census, which were published yesterday.

“It answers the question ‘how many are we?’ which is what you’ve all wanted to know”, the head of Statistical Services’ Giorgos Georgiou said.

From the total, 51.3 per cent are female and 48.7 per cent male, the census showed. 

The census counted all residents of Cyprus who have lived or intend to live on the island for at least a year. 

It showed an increase of 21.7 per cent over ten years. Census takers counted about 670,000 in 2001, again with slightly more women than men. 

Faulty implants re-branded and sold

2011-12-30

THE CONTROVERSIAL French PIP breast implants were allegedly re-branded and sold by a Dutch company registered in Cyprus, Health Minister Stavros Malas revealed yesterday.

Malas said he could not rule out filing a criminal case against Rofil Medical, which has registered offices in Cyprus.

Alerts were issued by Dutch regulators to cosmetic clinics using the implants that Rofil had allegedly bought PIP’s fraudulent implants and resold them internationally under the name ‘M-implant.

Malas said the PIP and M-implants “are one and the same” and that authorities here were investigating how far they had been used by Cypriot women, calling on those who may have them to contact their personal plastic surgeons and the Nicosia General Hospital on the helpline 22604288.

Gas find ‘a gift from God’

2011-12-30

 

FINDING NATURAL gas deposits in Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) can help towards solving the Cyprus problem and pave the way for collaboration between Cyprus and Turkey in the region, said government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou yesterday. 

Both he and Finance Minister Kikis Kazamias said they hoped as far as the economy was concerned that the international ratings agencies would now upgrade Cyprus’ ratings. 

Speaking on the state broadcaster’s main news bulletin last night, Stefanou, commenting on the political aspects said: “The president has said many times that the hydrocarbon issue should be a factor to promote peace in the region and a motive to solve the Cyprus problem.”

‘It all sounds great… in theory’

2011-12-30

WEDNESDAY’S breakthrough news about the existence of an estimated 7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in Cyprus’ Aphrodite field has been met with both excitement and caution by the Cypriot public.

With almost everyone agreeing that the findings will secure the island’s finances and help the economy grow, many stressed the crucial significance of good management and expressed their concerns over the suitability of the people at the top in handling the new-found resource.

“This is great news for the economy and the timing is perfect, considering we are in the middle of a financial crisis” said 29-year-old accountant, Chrysostomos Thoma.

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.