Our View: Everyone earning above a certain income should pay for healthcare

2013-01-12

MANY people remarked about the negligible opposition to the raft of austerity measures that were approved last month after marathon sessions of the legislature. There was a one-hour work stoppage at state schools and a peaceful demonstration by teachers and some protests outside the legislature by disabled people and members of big families who had their benefits cut. The rest of the public sector workers, despite some verbal threats, accepted cuts to pay, pensions and benefits without a protest, showing a remarkable sense of responsibility.

No mercy as Moody’s slashes bond rating

2013-01-12

MOODY’S ratings agency has downgraded Cyprus’ bond rating by three notches to Caa3 from B3 with a negative outlook on the significantly increased likelihood of a government default due to a rising debt burden.
The key driver of the rating action “is the anticipated rise in the Cypriot government’s debt burden, driven principally by the increased recapitalisation needs of its banking system following distressed exchanges on Greek government debt and rising delinquencies on loans to Greek and Cypriot obligors,” Moody’s said. “Given that the resulting increase in the debt burden is likely to be unsustainable, Moody’s believes there is a significantly increased likelihood that the Cypriot government may eventually default outright or press for a distressed exchange.”

Regulator asks EAC to reconsider latest price hike

2013-01-12

ENERGY Regulatory Authority, CERA, has asked the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) to reconsider the latest rise in electricity prices, which came into effect on January 1.
Prices were adjusted under the EAC’s recalculation of its fuel-cost formula to cover the purchase of carbon credits for greenhouse gas emissions, rising approximately 4.0 per cent.
The EAC adjusts its fuel cost formula – the major component of electric bills – every month. The electricity rate – kilowatt hour (kWh) – is the sum of the fuel cost plus the price of carbon credits.

Cheaper medicines from next month

2013-01-12

A PRICE reduction in medicines will become effective on February 11 when the price list will be updated for the first time since 2009, health minister Androula Agrotou pledged yesterday.
“Savings to the consumers will come to €10 million a year,” Agrotou said during a press conference.
This is just a drop in the ocean given that the public spends €250 million a year on drugs, about €110 million worth through the public sector and the rest through private pharmacies, according to the 2011 report by auditor general Chrystalla Georghadji.
What would make an effective difference would be updating the price list at least once a year that could result in reductions of up to 20 per cent, Georghadji said in her report.

Producers defend milk price rise

2013-01-12

ALONG with cattle farmers, milk pasteurisers have announced they will raise prices to accommodate increased production costs.
Milk pasteurisers issued an announcement this week saying they need to raise the price of wholesale milk by nine cents per litre, but said that would mostly go towards covering the price hike coming from the cattle farmers.
Cattle farmers have raised raw milk prices by four cents a litre from January 1 and have said they will also raise prices by an additional 1.8 cents a litre on April 1 to cope with the price of animal feed.
The head of the milk pasteurisers’ association Marios Kampanellas said that they too were trying to cover the rising cost of electricity, fuel, and water.

First photovoltaic park within 2013

2013-01-12

WORKS on the island’s first photovoltaic park are due to start this year within the UN-controlled buffer zone, the university of Cyprus (UCY) has said.
Works on the 10MW photovoltaic park on university land lying within the buffer zone in Aglandjia are due to start within the next few weeks and be completed inside 2013, UCY press officer Katerina Nikolaidou said.
Nikolaidou said they would be calling for tenders in the next few weeks.
The Nasos Ktorides Foundation will fund the €14 million venture – €7 million as an interest-free loan and the rest as a donation.
The park should be able to meet the university’s current energy needs, placed at roughly 16 million kWh a year, but expected to grow as the university expands.

Murdered by his wife and his best friend

2013-01-12

A 30-YEAR-OLD estranged wife and her 38-year-old boyfriend have admitted murdering Yiannakis Christodoulou aka Foxy, on New Year’s Day in Limassol, police said.
Christodoulou, 34, from Trachoni, was stabbed five times, four times in the front and once in the back as he scuffled with two people on January 1 in a residential area of Polemidia in Limassol.
He had been driving in the area when his car was cut off by another vehicle and he was forced to stop, after which the attack took place.
“After looking further at the evidence obtained, police interrogated the man and woman who then confessed their guilt,” said Limassol CID chief Yiannis Soteriades.

Paragliders released to appear in court later

2013-01-12

THE TWO British permanent residents who were arrested on Thursday afternoon for flying their motorised paraglider in the area of Larnaca airport were released yesterday.
Larnaca CID’s request for a remand was refused by the Larnaca District Court. The pair were released and will appear in court on a later date on charges of unauthorised and dangerous flight.
Under the law, any motor-powered vehicle that can float in the air by flying or gliding is considered an aircraft and needs a licence, as does theoretically any object that can fly or glide over 30 metres high. People often also need to be qualified to fly, depending on the type of aircraft, the law says.

Sheep rustlers arrested in the north

2013-01-12

TWO men, aged 45 and 42, were arrested in the north after 34 sheep which police believe they smuggled from the government-controlled areas, were found in their pens in occupied Engomi and Famagusta. The sheep had been fitted with chips by the Cyprus Veterinary Services and were seized by police in the north as evidence.
It was reported last month that gangs of animal rustlers were targeting livestock in areas close to the UN-controlled  buffer zone.
Most recently, livestock from the areas of Dali, Lympia, Potamia and Athienou had been stolen. Police suspected the gangs were crossing from the north.

Be a student for a day

2013-01-12

THE University of Nicosia in cooperation with the Education Ministry and secondary schools’ Parents Association are offering the chance for pupils from secondary schools, both private and public to experience university life for a day.
“We are looking to put both prospective students and their parents at ease and dispel the notion that the transition from secondary education to tertiary education is a difficult one,” vice head for enrolment management at University of Nicosia, Pavlos Pavlou said.

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.