AEL face Omonia in crunch clash without coach Christodoulou

2012-04-06

CYPRUS league leaders AEL take on Omonia at the Tsirion Stadium in Limassol tomorrow afternoon with coach Charalambos Christodoulou serving the first match of a two-match ban imposed by the Cyprus Football Association.

“I wanted to talk about football as that is my job, but after the decision by the Cyprus Football Association’s Judical Committee I have to reflect and say that the ban imposed on me is unfair,” Christodoulou said at the pre-game press conference.

Spectre of new EAC hikes loom

2012-04-06

 

ENERGY POLICY-makers will decide in the coming days whether new costly measures are needed to better secure the electricity grid from mass blackouts, raising the prospect of further increases in electricity prices, which have already risen by a third in the last year. 

Speaking on radio yesterday, Electricity Authority (EAC) general manager Stelios Stylianou warned that if new measures are adopted to reduce the risk of similar blackouts like the one experienced on Wednesday, the cost will eventually have to be shouldered by the consumer.  

Our View: Meeting the country’s power needs must be a priority

2012-04-06

 

THE FIVE-HOUR black-out, experienced on Wednesday morning all over Cyprus, served as a reminder of the fragility of our electricity supply system. The system shut down automatically because of a fault in the electricity system in the north with which it has been connected since the Mari blast.

The Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) could not rule out similar power cuts in the future, although steps were being taken to reduce the probability of it happening again. Measures could be taken to reduce the probability, said the EAC general manager yesterday, but this would incur additional costs. The EAC chairman subsequently said that the additional cost would not be passed on to the consumer, but such assurances mean nothing. 

Greece and Cyprus on same track

2012-04-06

 

NICOSIA and Athens are on the same track both with regard to the resolution of the Cyprus problem but also on broader energy policies, Greek Prime Minister Loucas Papademos and President Christofias said yesterday.

“We are roasting in the same cauldron, we are in it together,” Christofias said, referring to the energy prospects in the Mediterranean but also the financial crisis gripping both countries.

Papademos arrived on the island yesterday on a two-day official visit, his first here since assuming office. He is accompanied by Greece’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Stavros Demas, Minister of State Pantelis Kapsis and government officials.

CyBC budget sparks drama at parliament

2012-04-06

 

MELODRAMA marked yesterday’s session of the plenum, with the House eventually giving the nod to the budget of state broadcaster CyBC.

The approval comes with strings attached, however. Legislators have crossed off seven twelfths of the funds allotted to the CyBC so that come May, the channel will once again be forced to bring the begging bowl to parliament to ask for the release of the remaining amounts.

The restrictions mean that the state broadcaster cannot hire new staff or make promotions.

But the released cash will enable the CyBC to continue paying in full all its employees, and ensures that the channel will broadcast as planned the summer Olympics, the Eurovision song contest and the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship.

Budgets unfrozen

2012-04-06

PARLIAMENT yesterday passed a bill allowing the government to hire temporary workers in the public sector.

The hiring will however be limited to state hospitals, the Department of Statistics and the Committee on Missing Persons.

Around 25 temporary staff — including radiologists, anaesthesiologists and gastroenterologists — in state hospitals islandwide had not had their contract renewed putting strain on hospital staff.

The civil servants union PASYDY says that state hospitals need some 150 temps to tackle current understaffing problems.

Health Services recall tainted baby food

2012-04-06

 

THE HEALTH Services in co-operation with the importers of Remedia Baby Food warned consumers yesterday not to touch the following products, and to return them to where they were purchased.

Remedia Baby Food Best Before:

Multigrain Cereal for children 01.11.13 & 11.09.13

Buckwheat Cereal for children 21.09.13, 25.09.13 & 26.09.13

Oatmeal Cereal for children 14.11.13

Semolina Cereal for children 29.03.13

Cornflour Cereal for children 14.11.13

Unique Cyprus owl victim of illegal trapping

2012-04-06

 

BIRD conservationists said yesterday they had found a unique Cyprus Scops owl in a net set by an illegal bird trapper in the Famagusta area.

“The bird is one of our “own,” said BirdLife Cyprus’ Lilia Kapsali. She said the  Cyprus Scops owl ‘Otus scops cyprius’ was a unique, diminutive owl. 

“It is the farmer’s ‘friend’, consuming beetles and other insects. With the arrival of spring, its distinctive call can be heard in the evening in rural areas and especially in our forests. It lives only in Cyprus.”

Malas: let’s not play with people’s health

2012-04-06

HEALTH Minister Stavros Malas defended the need for more staff at state hospitals yesterday after 25 temporary employees did not have their contract renewed last week.

“The positions that we wanted to make permanent would have been filled from those that did not have their contract renewed,” said Malas at a news conference yesterday.

Chaos has reigned in state hospitals lately with various departments shutting down islandwide due to a staffing problem. They have not been able to hire any additional people, and are struggling as a result of budget cuts affecting the hiring of staff in the public sector.

CFA dishes out series of fines

2012-04-06

NICOSIA rival football teams AC Omonia and APOEL have been penalised by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA) for violent clashes between thier respective fans last month.

Omonia’s punishment is to play two matches behind closed doors and APOEL’s one, plus undisclosed fines.

The charges included, among others, violence, transportation of dangerous objects to the stadium and offensive chanting.

“The CSA’s judicial committee imposed the penalty of two games behind closed doors for Omonia, for complaints made involving a game with APOEL on March 23,” the association announced.

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.