Monthly Archives: December 2012

Archives December 30, 2012 posted by
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New Year’s resolution: ‘I will stop peddling favours and splurging with borrowed money!’

 

AS THE New Year dawns upon this beautiful island of ours, we should make a firm New Year’s resolution to change a certain mindset and behaviour that has its roots in five hundred years of history and is a cause of our current economic predicament. We should stop trading influence and peddling favours, a practice best described by the Turkish word rousfeti, whereby asynchronous favours are exchanged to secure votes, jobs, promotions, favourable treatment, positions of power and other advantages which are not obtainable strictly on merit. 

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Urgent reform is vital in wake of supermarket chain collapse

 

 

IN RECENT days our society has been going through distressing times with the financial demise of one of the island’s biggest supermarket chains. The collapse has uncovered both a gross imbalance and an unprecedented threat to the very foundations of the retail market and to a greater extent the whole economy. Many suppliers will be driven to bankruptcy and a large number of people, both from the supermarket chain and from its suppliers, will lose their jobs and will join the ever-increasing number of unemployed with catastrophic results to our society.

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Ireland can help lead Europe’s recovery

AS IRELAND takes on the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union this week, our road to economic recovery is clearly mapped out, 

These are challenging times for Europe – and for our Union – as the aftershocks of the economic crisis continue to make themselves felt. The EU is still working through the difficult questions thrown up for the single currency, and the European economy is struggling to provide jobs and good living standards for our peoples. Too many young Europeans in particular do not have a job – a challenge to which the European Union simply must rise.

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Our View: Our world has collapsed and we must refashion it

The year 2012 will be remembered as the year in which the Cyprus economic miracle we smugly boasted about finally collapsed. The old certainties that made life so easy, such as full employment, job security, rising living standards, easy credit have all vanished into thin air replaced by constantly rising, long-term unemployment, soup kitchens, the monthly provision of food supplies to poor families, that increase by the day, and drastic wage cuts.

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Explosives found near president’s holiday home

POLICE ARE investigating a possible attempt on the life of President Demetris Christofias after 1.2kg of powerful explosives were found just 500m away from his holiday home in Kellaki yesterday.
According to police spokesman Andreas Angelides, at around 9.30am yesterday morning, police were informed that a car on the Pareklisias-Kellaki road, without registration plates, was seen near the president’s holiday residence.
The co-driver of the unmarked car was seen getting out of the vehicle and putting something under a tree.

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Arrests after police gambling swoop

POLICE ARRESTED over 40 people on Friday night in two gambling raids in Aradippou and Larnaca, seizing around €10,000, cards and tables used for gambling.
Larnaca police spokesman Christos Andreou said members of the crime prevention unit and rapid reaction force (MMAD) carried out a coordinated anti-gambling operation between 7pm and midnight on Friday. 
During a search of one establishment in Aradippou police found nine people illegally gambling plus the owner of the premises present. The authorities confiscated €5,870, of which €1,000 was found hidden in the electricity meter, as well as playing cards and four tables.
All ten people were taken to Aradippou police station where they were charged and released pending a court hearing.

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Latchi goes Indian with new yoga and meditation centre

A HOLIDAY village complex in Latchi hopes to attract top-notch customers who are looking for a bit of yoga, meditation and relaxation in a luxurious natural setting.
Elia Latchi Holiday Village, located in the Polis Chrysochou area, has been recently leased out to an Indian investor who has promptly proceeded to gut the complex and pour in between €4 and €5 million to refurbish the place, the Elia Latchi management said.
By June, the hotel should be set up equipped with a spa and fitness centre, and yoga and meditation facilities.
The hotel – situated close to the sea – aims to be open throughout the year, taking advantage of the sunshine and mild winter climate, the management said.

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Private health care crisis in Paphos

PRIVATE health care is on the brink of collapse in the Paphos district, the head of the region’s medical association has said.
Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency, the head of the Paphos medical association Efstathios Efstathiou highlighted that the occupancy of private clinics in the district was currently at only five to ten per cent, meaning some were no longer sustainable and faced the threat of closure.
There are five private clinics in the Paphos region.
Efstathiou blamed the health ministry pushing both those entitled to free health care and those who are not towards the state hospitals due to the economic crisis.
Private clinics were also coming under huge pressure in other districts of the island, he added.

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Thefts in Famagusta

A SPATE of burglaries were reported to police between Friday and the early hours of yesterday morning in the Famagusta district.
According to Larnaca Press Agency, one man reported to police that his flat in Dherynia had been burgled and a laptop worth €350 stolen. Based on witness testimony, a 28-year-old man was arrested and a laptop found in his flat. Ayia Napa police are investigating the case.
In the Ayia Thekla region of Sotira, a holiday home was reported burgled with a television worth €1,000 stolen, along with a €200 media receiver.
Police are questioning two men, 25 and 31, in connection with the burglary.

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Kiosks victims of armed robberies

HOODED MEN wielding knives and batons attempted to rob two kiosks in two separate incidents in the early hours of yesterday morning. The first armed robbery took place at 2.30am at a kiosk in Ifigenias Street when three hooded men armed with a knife and baton stole €3,000 from the till after beating the employee, who was taken to Nicosia general hospital for treatment. 
At 4am, two hooded men tried to rob a kiosk on Kennedy Avenue, again using a knife. However, the owner resisted and the robbers ran off empty-handed.

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