ROAD DEATHS were up by 18 per cent in 2011 compared to the previous year, rising from 60 to 71. While nobody would be pleased with these figures they are still an improvement on a few years ago when the number of people killed on the roads annually usually exceeded 100.
RAUF Denktash is surpassed only by Cuba’s Fidel Castro in terms of political longevity. He saw off six UN Secretary-generals, ten US presidents, five Greek Cypriot presidents, seven Turkish presidents and 36 Turkish prime ministers since 1960.
His long career looked as if it was all crumbling after his ‘no’ to the UN plan at the EU summit in Copenhagen in December 2002 and as Turkish Cypriots finally woke up from their 30-year-plus slumber and took to the streets only months later.
Denktash said at the time that the massive demonstrations by his people had reduced him to tears.
RAUF Raif Denktash began life in Paphos in 1924 as the son of Raif Mehmet and Emine. When his mother died during his infancy, his father, a district court judge, sent Rauf to study at boarding school in Istanbul. As a teenager he returned to Cyprus to study at the prestigious English School in Nicosia. After graduating, he worked briefly as a translator, court clerk and as a teacher at the English School. Then, as the Second World War drew to a close, he travelled to London to study law at Lincoln’s Inn, from where he qualified as a barrister in law in 1947 and returned to Cyprus.
THE US said yesterday it had sought clarifications from both Russian and Cyprus over a Russian-operated ship that has arrived in Syria and which sources said contained a cargo of bullets.
“With regard to the ship we have raised our concerns about this both with Russia and with Cyprus, which was the last port of call for the ship, and we are continuing to seek clarification as to what went down here,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
The United States had not independently verified the contents of the ship’s cargo, she said.
A spokesperson for the US embassy in Nicosia said last night that the “conversation” regarding Cyprus had taken place with the Cypriot embassy in Washington.
STANDARD and Poor’s last night slashed Cyprus’s sovereign ratings two notches to BB+, throwing its debt into junk territory on concerns at a broadening debt crisis in the eurozone.
The agency, which took ratings action against 16 eurozone nations, said its rating action was driven by an assessment that policy initiatives taken by European leaders in recent weeks could be insufficient to fully address systemic stress in the monetary bloc.
“The outcomes from the EU summit on Dec. 9 and subsequent statements from policymakers lead us to believe that the agreement reached has not produced a breakthrough of sufficient size and scope to fully address the euro zone’s financial problems,” Standard and Poor’s said.
THE UN has asked Cyprus’ own Occupy the Buffer Zone activists protesting against the island’s division to vacate the area marking the divide on Ledra Street between north and south of the island.
According to reports, the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) yesterday distributed pamphlets among the peace activists at the impromptu encampment set up in the buffer zone in the heart of Nicosia, asking them to leave the area immediately.
The note reportedly states that the UN does not approve of their activities in the buffer zone and argues that the encampment is a danger to themselves and others, while their presence hinders renovation work on the old buildings in the area.
THE HOUSE Foreign and European Affairs Committee yesterday approved an agreement between Cyprus and Egypt for the co-exploitation of possible hydrocarbon reserves in the area between the two countries respective Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ).
The agreement is expected to be tabled before parliament next Thursday for ratification.
Committee chairman DISY’s Averof Neophytou said the agreement clarifies how revenue from potential hydrocarbon reserves in this area can be divided.
The EEZ of the two countries extends 200km out from their respective coastlines. In the event that hydrocarbons are found in the space in between, the spoils will be shared based on the agreement pending before parliament, said the DISY number two.
TENSIONS ran high at the Paphos District court yesterday when the 29-year-old hairdresser accused in the recent brutal slaying of his pregnant Moldovan girlfriend and her three-year-old daughter denied all charges.
The brief proceedings lasted around ten minutes, and police took measures to ensure no incidents took place between the victims’ family and the suspect ‘s relatives.
The hairdresser is facing charges relating to premeditated murder, illegal possession of a firearm and explosives, conspiracy charges; and interfering in the judicial process.
Police are refusing to officially name the suspect, although he is a well known figure in Paphos, often seen frequenting cafes, bars and restaurants.
A 38-YEAR-OLD father of one with another child on the way, was killed yesterday when the truck he was driving plunged 50 metres off a mountain road.
Petros Economides died instantly when his truck went off the road en route from
the village of Apliki towards the Lefka reservoir.
Economides was driving towards the reservoir around 11am when the truck, under circumstances that are still under investigation, went over the edge.
According to eye-witnesses, Economides had made way towards the left side of the road, in order to allow space for a truck travelling in the opposite direction.
MURDER suspect, Elena Skordelli provided a psychic with a photo of slain Sigma boss Andis Hadjicostis in an attempt to send out positive vibes to him that would lead to a love affair, the Nicosia court heard yesterday.
“[Skordelli] had a photo in 2008 [of Hadjicostis], that she gave to a psychic, through which positive energy was sent so that she could have sexual relations with him,” said prosecution witness, Nicosia police Inspector Marios Papaevridiadis.
The former Sigma presenter who is on trial along with three others for the January 2010 shooting, also allegedly tried to cultivate ‘good vibes’ through the psychic to foster ‘positive relations’ with the victim’s father Costis Hadjicostis but was told that Andis would be an obstacle to her efforts.
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.
