Cyprus Mail | Cyprus Mail News and More

International News April 16, 2014

Gunmen kill nine in western Ethiopia bus attack

By Aaron Maasho

Gunmen ambushed a bus carrying dozens of people in western Ethiopia near the Sudanese border, killing nine and wounding six others, state-run media said on Wednesday.

There was no claim of responsibility and no group was blamed for the attack, but Ethiopia says it has thwarted several plots in recent years by Ethiopian insurgents as well as Somali al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab Islamist militants.

A handful of rebel groups are waging low-level separatist insurgencies in Ethiopia, while Ethiopian troops are part of…

International News April 16, 2014

Rivals show force in eastern Ukraine before talks

By Gabriela Baczynska and Thomas Grove

Ukrainian government forces and separatist pro-Russian militia staged rival shows of force in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday amid escalating rhetoric on the eve of crucial four-power talks in Geneva on the former Soviet country’s future.

Government troops drove seven armoured personnel carriers flying the Ukrainian flag into the town of Kramatorsk after securing control of a nearby airfield from the rebels on Tuesday, prompting Russian President Vladimir Putin to warn of the risk of civil war.

But just 15 km away, armed men in different…

Local News April 16, 2014

Family attacked in their home

By Constantinos Psillides

Two men wearing hoods and holding a gun and knife invaded the home of a family in Limassol on Tuesday night, police said on Wednesday.

The two men rang the doorbell at around 8pm and grabbed the woman who opened the door by the throat. The men ordered her to stay in the living room while they made their way to the bedrooms.

According to the police report, the two men tried to attack the woman’s husband…

Local News April 16, 2014

Greens organise Easter egg-painting event

The Green Party will on Thursday give demonstrations in Nicosia and Limassol on more environmentally sound, and safer methods of colouring eggs for Easter.

In an announcement on Wednesday, the party said the best way was to use white eggs, which should be washed or wiped clean and left at room temperature for a few hours before boiling in vinegar.

To make the eggs red, the Greens suggest using beetroot water. For green, spinach, orange, onion skins, yellow, carrots or…

English Premier League Sport April 16, 2014

Wenger gamble on Arsenal’s golden oldies pays off

By Sam Holden

Arsene Wenger took a risk by picking Arsenal’s old guard against West Ham United on Tuesday but it paid off with a 3-1 win as his weary side regained fourth place in the Premier League.

The Frenchman fielded a team with an average age of 29 at the Emirates, with Olivier Giroud their youngest outfield player at 27, as he banked on his golden oldies to get a result.
Wenger, renowned for developing young players, opted…

International News April 16, 2014

Australian State Premier resigns over A$3,000 bottle of wine gift

The premier of Australia’s New South Wales state, Barry O’Farrell, resigned from his position on Wednesday after it was revealed that he had misled a corruption inquiry about accepting a A$3,000 (EUR2037) bottle of wine as a gift.

O’Farrell is the latest official to be caught up in a wide-ranging investigation into corruption in the state that has also ensnared his fellow Liberal Party Senator Arthur Sinodinos, who stood aside as assistant treasurer last month.

The resignation is likely to…

International News April 16, 2014

More than 300 people missing after South Korea ferry sinks (Updated)

By Jack Kim and Choonsik Yoo

More than 300 people were missing after a ferry sank off South Korea, the coastguard said on Wednesday, with a three-fold increase in the number of passengers unaccounted for put down to a miscalculation by officials.

The ferry was carrying 477 people, of whom 164 were confirmed rescued, coastguard officials said. Two people were confirmed dead after the ferry listed heavily onto its side and capsized in apparently calm conditions off South Korea’s southwest coast.

The Ministry of Security and Public…

Local News Business April 16, 2014

AG hits back at ‘ignorant’ MPs

By Elias Hazou

ATTORNEY-GENERAL Costas Clerides yesterday rejected claims by MPs that authorities were dragging their feet in investigating the circumstances leading up to last year’s collapse of the financial sector, and accused them of ignorance.

In a terse statement, Clerides hit back at certain MPs who a day earlier accused the Attorney-general’s office of taking too long to prosecute.

He was referring to members of the House ethics committee, which is putting together its own inquiry into the financial…

Local News Comment April 16, 2014

Our View: AG was absolutely right to give deputies a telling off

ATTORNEY-GENERAL Costas Clerides felt obliged to respond to accusations that the legal service was taking too long over their investigation into the collapse of the economy and the banking sector. Deputies, on Monday, accused the state legal service of inaction and delay and of failing to prosecute anyone, apart from the former Governor of the Central Bank, Christodoulos Christodoulou, for what had happened to the economy.

Clerides saw the criticism as an attempt to discredit the Attorney-general’s office and the…

Local News April 16, 2014

Deputy fire chief and disaster unit boss were ‘undeniably negligent’ at Mari

By Constantinos Psillides

FORMER deputy chief of the fire service Charalambos Charalambous and former head of disaster response team EMAK Andreas Loizides were undeniably negligent when they didn’t order the evacuation of Mari naval base, state attorney Christina Kythreotou said yesterday.

The state attorney appeared before the Supreme Court on behalf of the Attorney-general’s office to appeal the sentences handed down by the Larnaca Criminal Court to those convicted in the blast. On July 9, the court convicted then defence…

Local News Business April 16, 2014

Energy, tourism, education and science on UAE agenda

By Angelos Anastasiou

CYPRUS and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed a bilateral agreement for cooperation in the air travel services sector and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) on energy, tourism, education and science.

According to an announcement yesterday the agreement and the MoUs were signed in the context of the meeting of President Nicos Anastasiades with the Crown Prince Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi.

In the context of the visit, it has also been…

Local News April 16, 2014

Hasikos orders immigration to speed up teen’s asylum application

By Constantinos Psillides

INTERIOR Minister Socratis Hasikos yesterday ordered Immigration Services to process quickly the asylum application of a 17-year old Somali national, who has been detained at a Paphos police station since December.

According to immigration, the 17-year old was arrested in December when he tried to travel to Norway from Paphos airport along with two others.

Authorities discovered that the passports they held were authentic but belonged to other people. The three were arrested and on January 13…

Local News April 16, 2014

Charities gear up for Easter

By Angelos Anastasiou

THE COMMISSIONER for Volunteerism, Yiannis Yiannaki has issued a plea to the public to continue to support food banks, both with supplies and volunteer service, especially during the Easter period.

In a written statement, the Commissioner’s office noted that the aim was for no citizen to go through the Easter holiday without the basic food items or other essentials.

“Volunteerism continues to be the rising power of the citizenry in providing those less fortunate among us with…

International News April 15, 2014

Nigeria rebels abduct more than 100 schoolgirls

By Felix Onuah and Lanre Ola

Suspected Islamist insurgents abducted more than 100 female students in a night raid on a government secondary school in Nigeria’s northeast Borno state, a teacher said on Tuesday.

The gunmen, believed to be members of the Boko Haram Islamist group which has attacked schools in the northeast before as part of their anti-government rebellion, carried off the students from the school in Chibok late on Monday.

“Over 100 female students in our government secondary school at Chibok…

Local News April 15, 2014

Bitcoin’s Brewster breaks his silence

By Elias Hazou

Danny Brewster, founder and CEO of bitcoin marketers Neo & Bee, has broken his silence to respond to reports circulating about him of late.

Posting on reddit on Tuesday, Brewster (going by the handle cryptocyprus) said allegations that he has committed fraud are his “greatest concern” at the moment.

He went on to say that he sold bitcoins to a number of people prior to Neo & Bee opening to the public, with four of these people…

Local News Business April 15, 2014

BoC cuts interest rates for over 4,000 ‘vulnerable’ borrowers

By George Psyllides

The Bank of Cyprus (BoC) has cut the interest rates to the loans of 4,200 people belonging to vulnerable groups by up to 1.0 per cent, its chairman said on Tuesday.

Christis Hassapis said the lender cut the rate by up to 1.0 per cent on around 3,000 housing loans and 1,200 student loans.

BoC has also restructured the loans of over 1,500 unemployed people, who were also considered to be part of the vulnerable groups of…

Local News April 15, 2014

Fans prohibited at Tsirion until stadium made safe

By Angelos Anastasiou

REPORTS of structural risks to the safety of spectators at Limassol’s Tsirion stadium have prompted a decision by the Cyprus Football Federation (KOP) to ban fans from games until it has received assurances that stadium safety has been fully restored.

In a letter to the three Limassol football clubs that use Tsirion as their home pitch – AEL, Apollon and Aris – KOP explained that its decision was guided by public reports on the issue, as well…

International News April 15, 2014

Indian voters lured by cash handouts, drugs, bootleg liquor

By Sanjeev Miglani

Indian election officials have seized a record $36 million dollars of cash concealed in cars, private planes and even ambulances that they say was destined to buy off voters and pay for expenses over and above the spending limit.

Opinion polls show the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies coming to power thanks to the popularity of Hindu nationalist leader Narendra Modi and widespread disgust with the Congress party, whose last years in power have been dogged by…

International News April 15, 2014

Berlusconi to do community service

By Ilaria Polleschi and Silvia Aloisi

An Italian court on Tuesday ordered former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to serve a tax fraud sentence by doing community service and set travel restrictions that will limit his ability to campaign for next month’s European Parliament elections.

The Milan court ruled Berlusconi must spend at least four hours a week in a centre for the elderly for one year.

He will not be allowed to travel outside Lombardy, the region around Milan where he has his principal residence, except for restricted trips to Rome.

Following the definitive tax fraud…

International News Comment April 15, 2014

China defends its legitimate South China Sea rights

By Shen Dingli

China is now facing challenges to its maritime claims. The Philippines has just filed a lawsuit to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea against China over a dispute concerning its fishing rights in the South China Sea.

Manila considers itself to be solely entitled to all economic rights, including fishing rights, in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), per the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Since China drew the…

A holiday reminder on departure

Elections in Afghanistan

Philpa Spring Rally

Royals visit New Zealand

Let's go clean

Annunciation holiday in Moscow

Taxi drivers protest

Missing Imperial Faberge eggs in London

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule with President Anastasiades

Divers scan the water for debris of the missing Flight MH370

Hungarian ‘Popeye’ world record breaking attempt

The new Nicosia bi-communal waste-water treatment plant at Mia Milia

The biggest photovoltaic park in Cyprus

Thai elephant battle water with tourists to celebrate Songkran festival

Cabinet goes tech

Ivory destruction in Belgium

Third phase of the Indian general elections

Thunderstorms in Nicosia

Children collect signatures for the Arctic

Paul Exhibition in Basel

Robot Open in Tehran

Earthquake in Nicaragua

Stocktaking at animal park Hagenbeck

Protests against German Chancellor Merkel visit to Greece

Latest CYPRUS MAIL Video

For more CM videos click here

Guest column

To pitch a blog post to the Cyprus Mail Team, please enter your name, your email address, headline and your post. The post can be a short idea, or the full text of your submission. An editor will contact you should we decide to publish your blog post.

Got a tip?

So you've got the inside scoop on a story or topic that we've covered? We respect your anonymity. Feel free to directly email us at readers@cyprus-mail.com

NEWS

Gunmen kill nine in western Ethiopia bus attack

Rivals show force in eastern Ukraine before talks

Family attacked in their home

Greens organise Easter egg-painting event

Wenger gamble on Arsenal’s golden oldies pays off

Australian State Premier resigns over A$3,000 bottle of wine gift

More than 300 people missing after South Korea ferry sinks (Updated)

AG hits back at ‘ignorant’ MPs

Our View: AG was absolutely right to give deputies a telling off

Deputy fire chief and disaster unit boss were ‘undeniably negligent’ at Mari

Energy, tourism, education and science on UAE agenda

Hasikos orders immigration to speed up teen’s asylum application

Charities gear up for Easter

Nigeria rebels abduct more than 100 schoolgirls

Bitcoin’s Brewster breaks his silence

BoC cuts interest rates for over 4,000 ‘vulnerable’ borrowers

Fans prohibited at Tsirion until stadium made safe

Indian voters lured by cash handouts, drugs, bootleg liquor

Berlusconi to do community service

China defends its legitimate South China Sea rights

The Week in Pictures , April 7th – April 11th

Suggested news from our partners

NEWS IN BRIEF

Latest CYPRUS MAIL Video

Cyprus News Digest Podcast

Most Popular

Join us

Archives