‘Great grounds’ for DISY-DIKO alliance

2012-03-11

 

THERE ARE great grounds for DISY and DIKO to agree on a joint government programme for next year’s presidential elections, the main opposition party’s spokesman said yesterday.

Speaking the day after the leadership of the two parties met to discuss the elections, DISY’s Harris Georgiades was slightly more optimistic of a partnership than his DIKO counterpart, who strongly hinted his party could put up a candidate of its own. 

“I don’t know if it will be the first round, the second round or if there will even be collaboration in the end,” Georgiades told the CyBC. “I don’t want to create expectations that aren’t related to reality.”

Our View: Big projects should always be handled by private business

2012-03-11

THE SIGNING of a memorandum of association between Hermes Airports and a so far unnamed Chinese company with a view to developing the old Larnaca airport into commercial showrooms and a logistical services centre was welcome news. Although there is a long way to go for the completion of negotiations, which have not yet started, and the signing of a business deal, the memorandum is a first step towards putting into effect an excellent idea.

Tales from the Coffeeshop: Fresh lunacy in short supply

2012-03-11

IN THE PAST, when there was nothing happening in Kyproulla worthy of low-brow comment, we would write about the Cyprob. It was the piss-artist’s security when there was nothing happening or he was too hung over to remember where he had left his notes about what had gone on in the previous few days. 

There was always the Cyprob, which for decades produced loony material on an industrial scale for the non-serious weekly scribblers. It no longer provides this professional comfort zone, because it has grown stale and boring, unable to produce any fresh lunacy. 

Bar association fines lawyer for misconduct

2012-03-11

 

THE Cyprus Bar Association (CBA) has this week fined Paphos lawyer Emily Lemoniati €1,000 for misconduct after she failed to register her clients’ 2005 property sales agreement, then waited three years to amend, sign and file a new contract without her clients’ instructions.

Lemoniati’s clients, Scottish expats Andrew and Patricia McClay, complained to police in 2009 but it has taken the CBA’s disciplinary board until now to reach a verdict on the two charges of “showing conduct contrary to the advocates’ profession”.

The first, according to board president and Attorney-general Petros Clerides, was for failing to register the sale agreement for the McClays’ home, dated 25 October 2005.

Old building collapses in Larnaca

2012-03-11

AN OLD listed building collapsed yesterday on a busy street in Larnaca, narrowly missing passersby.

The incident occurred on Karaolis and Demetriou Street. Members of the police and municipality rushed to the scene, where they started proceedings to demolish the building.

The contractor in charge of the demolition yesterday told the Larnaca Press Agency that there were a large number of listed buildings in the town, which were ready to collapse and needed to be demolished as a matter of urgency.

He said a survey needed to be carried out to decide which houses were in a position to be maintained, while the rest need to be demolished as they are direct threat to public safety.

Ten year memorial service for Spyros Kyprianou

2012-03-11

POLITICIANS and relatives and friends yesterday attended a memorial services for former President Spyros Kyprianou to mark ten years since his death.

The service was held at the Agios Nicolaos Church in Limassol. It was carried out by Limassol Bishop Athanasios and was attended by DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades, DIKO chief Marios Garoyian, Presidential Commissioner George Iacovou and MPs from all parties.

Kyprianou, who passed away in March 2002, was one of the island’s most prominent politicians, serving as the second President of the Republic of Cyprus from 1977 until 1988.

Break-in

2012-03-11

THIEVES made away with over €21,000 worth of goods after breaking into a home in Limassol suburb Yermasoyia.

The 38-year-old owner said the incident took place between 4 pm and 7 pm on Friday, while he was out. He reported jewellery and electrical appliances worth €21,100 missing. Limassol CID is investigating the case.

Handbag thief

2012-03-11

A 62-YEAR-OLD woman from Nicosia reported having her handbag snatched from her car while she was stopped at traffic lights.

According to the woman, she had been driving her car in the early afternoon on Friday through the capital when she stopped at a red light. Suddenly, a man opened her passenger’s seat door, grabbed her handbag and ran off.

The 62-year-old’s handbag was found by a member of the public a few hours later and handed over to the police, though around €1,410 had been stolen.

Nicosia CID is investigating the case.

 

Cold weather to return

2012-03-11

JUST when it seemed the spring was well on its way, the Meteorological Service yesterday announced the cold and wintery weather was expected to return.

A meteorological officer yesterday told the CyBC that temperatures were expected to drop today, with showers and sometimes storms breaking out all over the island.

The temperature is expected to drop steadily until Wednesday, when the officer said there could even be more snow in the Troodos mountains.

Personal pain put to good use

2012-03-11

 

ACADEMIA lost one of its finest contributors last week and a man who put Cyprus on the anthropological map through his uncluttered, objective – yet evocative – research into refugees spanning four decades. 

Professor Peter Loizos taught in the Department of Anthropology at the London School of Economics (LSE) for over 30 years. He died on Friday, March 2, aged 74. 

Born in 1937 to a Scots/Irish mother and Cypriot father, Loizos first visited Cyprus as an adult, aged 29, without a word of Greek. 

His father fled Cyprus in the 1930s as a communist, moving to London in self-exile. 

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.