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Local News March 7, 2014

Suspicious land deal charges against AKEL member dropped

PROSECUTORS on Friday dropped charges against a member of main opposition party AKEL, who had been implicated in a suspicious land deal in Larnaca involving the state telecoms company pension fund.

Despite initially judging they had enough to charge Christos Alecou, one of two AKEL members involved in the case, prosecutors dropped the charges saying they did not have enough evidence against him.

Alecou, the party’s Larnaca district officer at the time of the alleged offense, was scheduled to respond…

Football Sport March 7, 2014

FA Cup holders Wigan look to shock City again

By Josh Reich
AN immediate return to the Premier League remains Wigan Athletic’s priority but the FA Cup holders are determined to repeat last year’s shock final win over Manchester City when they meet in Sunday’s last-eight clash (6.05pm).

Wigan stunned hot favourites City 1-0 at Wembley with Ben Watson’s late header sealing the club their first major trophy.
Celebrations proved short-lived, however, when defeat by Arsenal three days later ensured Wigan became the first club to win…

Local News March 7, 2014

Electricity price reduction made permanent

THE ENERGY regulator, CERA, has decided to make a temporary 8 per cent reduction in the price of electricity permanent, starting February, it was announced on Friday.

CERA said the reduction will kick in at the end of February for clients on a monthly bill, and the end of this month for those whose consumption is measured every two months.

The temporary reduction was being reviewed every two months.

The initial decision was taken in April last year, citing the…

Life & Style March 7, 2014

A minute with Katerina Mina, Soprano

Where do you live?
On my own in a central London location

Best childhood memory?
Winter Saturday afternoons in Cyprus: Watching ’I Kravgi ton Lykon’ with Maria Aliferis while sitting by the fire place

Most frequented restaurant and absolute favourite dish?
My local Italian restaurant Il Convivio for my absolute favorite Black Spaghetti with Lobster.

Sport March 7, 2014

Brothers represent Cyprus at Pan Armenian Winter Games

Cyprus Ski Federation athletes (and brothers) Manos and Yiannos Kouyoumdjian recently represented the island at the Pan Armenian Winter Games, held in Armenia between February 21 and March 2, the first time for either of them.

Seventeen-year old Yiannos finished third in the slalom event, despite competing against very strong opposition. First in this event was 21-year-old Georgian champion with the Armenian champion taking second place. Both these athletes represented their countries in the Winter Olympics held earlier this year…

International News Comment March 7, 2014

What went wrong in Venezuela?

The country should be prosperous and secure. It sits atop the world’s largest proven oil reserves. Its nearly $100 billion in annual oil exports rank it among the world’s top 10 oil exporters.

But Venezuela also leads the planet in price inflation. Even its official inflation rate – 56 percent annually – is the highest in the world. More realistically, after factoring in the black market, economist Steve Hanke of John Hopkins University and the Cato Institute calculates Venezuela’s real…

English Premier League Sport March 7, 2014

Chelsea primed to steal a march on title rivals

By Martyn Herman
CHELSEA have a gilt-edged opportunity to open up a seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League this weekend and there is nothing their main title rivals can do about it.

With second-placed Liverpool having a week off and Arsenal and Manchester City in FA Cup action, all the chasers can do is hope Tottenham Hotspur can end one of the longest jinx’s in English football and upset the odds at Stamford Bridge.

Twenty four…

Football Sport March 7, 2014

Battle at both ends hotting up in Cyprus

By Iacovos Constantinou

THE regular football season is drawing to a close with just three rounds remaining, with the battle at both ends of the table hotting up.
With this in mind, the Cyprus Football Association decided that all games from now on will played on the same day and during the daytime.

All matches were suspended last weekend as referees staged a protest after the car of their association president, Leondios Trattos, was damaged in a bomb explosion…

International News March 7, 2014

Erdogan says Turkey could ban Facebook and YouTube

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey could ban Facebook and YouTube after local elections on March 30, saying they have been abused by his political enemies.

Erdogan is locked in a power struggle with U.S.-based Turkish Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former ally who he says is behind a stream of “fabricated” audio recordings posted on the Internet purportedly revealing graft in his inner circle.

“We are determined on this subject. We will not leave this nation at the mercy…

Local News Business March 7, 2014

Big business getting behind solution

By Stefanos Evripidou

THE ISLAND’S business giants yesterday appeared to throw their weight behind a Cyprus solution, highlighting the enormous benefits it would bring to the economy across multiple sectors during an invite-only Brussels conference attended by the two communities’ peace negotiators.

“It’s the economy, stupid,” was the basic message leading Cypriot businesses from both sides of the divide passed on to the two negotiators, Andreas Mavroyiannis and Kudret Ozersay, who were invited to attend a two-day seminar analysing the…

Comment March 7, 2014

Our View: Hold your horses, Harris

THE economy has been in desperate need of positive, confidence-boosting news for quite some time now, but when it arrives it will not be announced by a minister or civil servant but by the markets which operate independently of governments and offer a more objective take on reality.

The Anastasiades government, understandably, has been trying hard to build confidence by identifying signs of improvement and citing the positive reviews given by the troika, with regard to the implementation of the…

Local News March 7, 2014

Land registry’s hands tied on foreclosures

By Angelos Anastasiou

BANK-initiated foreclosures of mortgaged properties have already been executed, according to the lands and surveys department, adding to Wednesday’s row between the House legal affairs committee and Finance Minister Harris Georgiades.

“Property foreclosures have already begun, but we are currently unable to confirm whether they relate to primary residences,” deputy director of the lands and surveys department Petros Petrides said. This is because “the criteria of what constitutes a ‘primary residence’ are unclear.”

“If a parent, who…

Local News Business March 7, 2014

Gas exploration set to pick up pace

By Elias Hazou

AFTER a lull, prospecting for hydrocarbons in Cypriot waters is set to pick up pace this year and continue into the next.

French oil major Total expects to start drilling in mid 2015, the company’s head of Cyprus operations said yesterday.

Jean-Luc Porcheron was speaking during a presentation organised by the Cyprus-French Business Association themed “Total in Cyprus: A long term perspective”.

“This is just the beginning of exploration in Cyprus,” Porcheron said.

“We have a lot…

Local News March 7, 2014

Georgiades: Cyprus could return to the markets in 2015

By George Psyllides

CYPRUS could return to the markets earlier than originally thought, according to Finance Minister Harris Georgiades who said it was a fully feasible objective given the way things were progressing.

“If we manage to regain access to the markets it will mean we have won the wager and will stand on our feet again,” he said during an interview on private Sigma Television on Wednesday evening.

“The objective is fully feasible at the rate things are going…

Local News March 7, 2014

Russian entrepreneur steps in to help blind toddler

By Bejay Browne

A RUSSIAN entrepreneur living in Cyprus has donated the remaining amount needed to help a Paphos toddler, blind since birth, to undergo an operation which could help him see.

The two-year-old was born blind and his family had been racing to raise the final €5,000 they needed to help give him sight.

Iordanis (Dani) Demetrof born in March 2011 has already been treated in Thailand at a cost of €28,000. He needs three such treatments and the…

Local News March 7, 2014

Mother-of-two burnt in fire passes away

A BRITISH mother of two who was badly burnt in a house fire at her home in Peyia has died.

Toni Seago, 46, suffered third degree burns to 40 per cent of her body when a blaze broke out in one of the bedrooms on January 6.

Family friend John McGee told the Cyprus Mail: “Sadly Toni died on Wednesday in hospital as a result of the injuries she suffered during the fire.”

Following the blaze, Seago was rushed to…

Local News Business March 7, 2014

Thomson renews three-year contract with Louis

LOUIS has renewed the charter of two of its cruise ships to Thomson Cruises of TUI Travel.

The agreement concerns the cruise ships Thomson Majesty and Thomson Spirit that are already chartered to Thomson till the end of 2014 and which have been significantly upgraded this year with the addition of a number of balconies to suites and cabins.

As per the terms of the agreement the two ships will now be chartered to Thomson Cruises until November 2017.

Louis…

Local News March 6, 2014

Drugs deaths average 14 a year

ONE hundred and forty drug-related deaths have been recorded in Cyprus since 2004, according to the National Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.

Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou said the data show that out of 287 people arrested in 2013 in relation to addictive substances, 276 were men and 11 were women. Of these, 53 were pupils, 40 students, 52 soldiers, 64 employed and 78 unemployed.

Addressing an event on Thursday, Nicolaou said that in 2013 the Drug Law Enforcement…

Local News March 6, 2014

Bills easing Turkish Cypriot vote in EP elections postponed

Parliament on Thursday postponed enacting two bills which, among others, would ease the path for Turkish Cypriots to vote in the upcoming European Parliament elections.

Legal experts asked for time to tweak the bills. The two items will be discussed further at the House interior committee on Monday, and brought to the plenum on Thursday, March 13.

The first bill makes it possible to automatically register on the general electoral roll persons who are eligible to vote. The interior ministry…

International News Business March 6, 2014

Greek Central Bank confirms major banks need EUR6.4 bln

Greece’s central bank said on Thursday that a health check-up of the country’s major banks showed they need 6.4 billion euros ($8.86 billion) in additional capital to withstand potential losses in the future.

That confirmed the results a banking source close to the talks had earlier told Reuters.

The stress test by BlackRock was run in December to assess whether last year’s 28 billion euro recapitalisation of Greece’s four biggest banks left them capable of absorbing new shocks as bad…