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Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 01-08-15Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cyprus-mail.com/>Wednesday, August 15, 2001CONTENTS
[01] CY unions worried about Tel Aviv stopoverBy Jean ChristouCYPRUS Airways (CY) union CYNIKA has raised the issue of the airline's crew being among the last still staying overnight on the Tel Aviv run, a union spokesman said yesterday. Pilot Marios Karentenas told the Cyprus Mail that he was awaiting an answer from the national carrier's general manager on the issue. "This is very serious," he said. "I heard from a member of an Air France crew that they didn't want to stay overnight. We are looking into the issue where our members are concerned." CY said on Monday that it had not altered its flight schedule for Tel Aviv, making it one of the few European airlines that haven't done so. KLM, British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France and Swissair have all altered schedules to safeguard the security of their crews, which leaves CY among the few airlines keeping staff overnight in Tel Aviv. CY staff unions appeared unaware that the other airlines had altered schedules to take into account staff concerns. CY operates almost daily flights to Tel Aviv, one of the national carrier's three most profitable routes along with Athens and London Heathrow. The flights leave Larnaca at 10.30pm and return the following morning at 6am, giving staff a 4-5 hour stopover at a hotel near Ben Gurion Airport. The early morning flight is to facilitate travellers from Israel in making early connections to European capitals from Larnaca Airport. "Since we found out about the other airlines, I have raised the issue with the general manager," Karentenas said. We are now waiting for an answer. This is most serious." He said the union would try to persuade CY to alter its schedule or at least arrange for crews to stay in the airport before the flight turnaround. He was also trying to contact CY staff in Israel for an assessment of the situation, he added. "Somehow I don't think we are any braver than any of the other crews," he said. CY spokesman Tassos Angelis said on Monday that the airline had not received any complaints from staff, but that they would look at the issue if concerns were raised. "The conditions for our crews are somewhat different in that they stay overnight in a hotel near the airport for about four hours before they return on the morning flight to Larnaca," Angelis said yesterday, adding that so far there did not seem to be a cause for alarm. KLM was the first European airline to alter its schedule last week after the latest escalation of violence in the region, stopping in Cyprus to allow crews to stay overnight at Larnaca. Lufthansa and British Airways on Sunday joined other major European airlines in altering schedules to Tel Aviv to avoid flight crews having to stay the night. KLM's night flight from Amsterdam leaves an hour later and stops in Larnaca to pick up a fresh crew. Flight crews stay the night in Larnaca. Swissair will not make any stops but it pushed back the time of its night flight from Zurich so crews would not have to stay in Israel. Air France last month cancelled its daily evening flight from Paris to Tel Aviv due to low capacity. Prior to stopping its evening flight, the airline stopped in Cyprus to change crews. US carriers Continental and Delta - which both fly nonstop from New York to Tel Aviv - said they had not made any changes to their schedules. Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001 [02] Businessman 'ordered hit after row with estate agent'A 58-YEAR-old businessman from Limassol was yesterday remanded in custody for six days in connection with a case of attempted murder against a real estate agent. The court heard that suspect Manolis Mavromatis thought Christakis Christoforou had mishandled his London property and had therefore allegedly ordered the August 9 hit against the estate agent.Alleged hitman, Pavlos Hadjicostas, 29, is also in police custody. The two men, police said, had met two years ago when Christoforou agreed to manage the suspect's property in London, which included offices, land and houses. Christoforou had told Mavromatis that many of his houses had remained vacant and that he had to pay tax of £80,000 sterling. The suspect then allegedly asked Christoforou falsely to declare that the houses had been rented out to a specific company. The agent refused, adding that they needed to spend an additional £15,000 sterling for work ordered by fire brigade inspectors. Police said this had made Mavromatis suspect that Christoforou was lying in order to pocket the money himself. Mavromatis flew to London last December and met Christoforou with whom he apparently argued. Police said the two men argued again at Larnaca airport six months ago in front of two eyewitnesses. Christoforou said he had been constantly threatened by the suspect and tried to put a stop by warning him that he would tell the authorities he had allegedly smuggled £3 million to London. Christoforou is flying to London today to bring documents concerning the case. Christoforou narrowly escaped death on Thursday when a gunman fired two shots at him on the deserted Limassol to Platres road near the Marotsi shooting range. He apparently owes his life to the fact that the gun used in the attempt jammed. Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001 [03] British police appeal for new information on Cypriot girl's 1982 murderDETECTIVES in England have re-launched investigations into the murder of a Greek Cypriot teenage girl who was sexually assaulted and strangled nearly 20 years ago. Yiannoulla Yianni was 17 when she was assaulted and killed at her home in Hampstead, north London on August 13, 1982.On that day, Yiannoulla had left her father, George, and brother Ricky at the family's shoe shop in Hampstead and returned the short distance to their home on her own where she began setting the table for dinner at around 1.30pm. An hour and half later her parents returned home and found their daughter had been sexually assaulted and strangled. Advances in forensic science have enabled police to obtain fresh clues from materials recovered from the murder scene and kept in storage. Scotland Yard detectives now want to trace and question about 900 people who lived in the area, went to school with Yiannoulla or had contact with the Greek Cypriot family. Police have already tracked down about 100 of the 1,000 people questioned in 1982, but most of the remainder are thought to have moved abroad. Many have gone to Cyprus, Portugal and Spain. Detectives also want to question anyone who attended Greek dancing classes with Yiannoulla in London. An extensive murder inquiry began with police interviewing more than 1,000 potential suspects and fingerprinted hundreds of male pupils and staff at Yiannoulla's school. No trace of the killer was ever found. Apart from the scientific evidence, the police case revolves around sightings of two men or, possibly, the same man. On the day of the murder, two people remember seeing a man of Mediterranean appearance in his early 20s chatting to Yiannoulla on the doorstep of her home and on two separate occasions in the three months before the murder, the two sisters and their mother were followed by a man they described as of Arab or Iranian appearance, also in his 20s. Descriptions and an artist's impression were released, but without result. Police are appealing to the public to help and to come forward. Anyone with information should contact the police in England on 0044-20- 8358 1777. Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001 [04] Cyprus nearest candidate to EU economic average and ahead of three member statesCYPRUS and Slovenia lead the pack of European Union candidates in terms of economic performance, a survey from the European statistical agency Eurostat said yesterday, with Cyprus also coming in ahead of member states Greece, Spain and Portugal. According to the survey, after stagnant economic growth in 1999, the 13 candidate countries had returned to encouraging economic growth of five per cent in 2000, compared to 3.3 per cent seen for the European Union.Recovering from a disastrous 1999 (-4.7 per cent growth) because of a catastrophic earthquake, Turkey had the highest growth among the 13 candidates in 2000, recording a 7.2 per cent increase. It was followed by Latvia and Estonia with 6.6 and 6.4 per cent growth respectively. Romania posted the weakest growth of the group with 1.6 per cent, while Cyprus remained more or less the same as in 1999 with 4.8 per cent growth compared to 4.5 per cent the previous year. Cyprus, however, led the group with annual GDP per capita of 14,200 euros, followed by Malta with 9,900 and Slovenia with 9,800. Turkey was third from last with 3,200 euros per capita, followed by Romania, 1,900 euros, and Bulgaria with 1,600 euros. Using the three key indicators of annual growth, GDP per head in PPS (Purchasing Power Standard) and economic size, Cyprus and Slovenia were well ahead of the rest. Consolidating healthy growth rates throughout the 1990s, the two countries were in the most advantageous position of the 13 candidate countries. Cyprus remains the closest of all candidate countries to the EU average in per capita GDP and purchasing power, attaining 82 per cent of the EU-wide average, ahead of members states Greece (68 per cent of the EU average), Portugal (74 per cent) and Spain (81 per cent). Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001 [05] Police seize giant cannabis plantsA 62-YEAR-old Larnaca man was yesterday remanded in custody for six days suspected of cultivating 19 cannabis plants. The court heard that English Cypriot Savvas Christodoulou had been arrested on Monday after police received information that he had been cultivating cannabis in his back yard at his coastal home in the Filimeni area.When police confronted the suspect with a search warrant, he allegedly admitted to cultivating the cannabis, claiming the plants were for his own use. The man led police to his back yard where they found 16 plants measuring between two and three metres. They also found two smaller plants and three plastic bags containing around 300 grams of the drug, along with the tools used for its cultivation. Inside Christodoulou's home, police found another four grams of cannabis. Police told the court they suspected Christodoulou was connected to certain individuals from Limassol. Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001 [06] Banks again push market upBANKS again led the way to push the all-share index up 0.77 per cent to a close of 162.7 points yesterday. The FTSE/CySE blue chips index ended higher with gains of 0.9 per cent while volume hovered around the £7 million mark.Although trading opened low, the index passed Monday's closing levels within the first half an hour, hitting 162 points by mid session but dropping again before dragging itself up in the final 20 minutes. "It seems that investors, the few who are still around at this time of the year, couldn't make up their minds," said one trader. "In the end they apparently decided to put their faith in bank stocks." The banking sector ended 0.96 per cent up. Bank of Cyprus added one cent to £2.14 while Laiki Bank gained three cents to £1.72. Almost 400,000 new shares in Laiki started trading yesterday, the result of the conversion of convertible bonds. The shares were incorporated in the bank's listed share capital, which now totals 298,326,527. Other gainers yesterday included the manufacturing sector, up 1.45 per cent, construction companies up 1.92 per cent and technology up 1.83 per cent. GlobalSoft continued to record small increases and snagged the most-active spot. The stock added one cent to 40 cents after 1.7 million shares were traded. The only two losing sectors were fish farms, down 0.66 per cent and the 'other' companies sector 0.49 per cent. Overall, 89 titles recorded gains, 49 declined and 100 ended the day unchanged. The bourse will be closed today for the August 15 Holiday. Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001 [07] Ministry to test Protaras water for pollutionBy Rita KyriakidesTHE HEALTH Ministry will today be testing the water at a beach in Protaras said to be polluted by waste discharges. Costas Michael from the State Laboratory yesterday announced that the water would be tested and first results be released later in the day. Results from the chemical tests will be released today, while results from the microbiological tests will be released tomorrow. Tests are being run after a report in Monday's Politis claimed that a sewage pipe, which is hidden from view by water and sand, was polluting the seawater in the area. According to tests commissioned from a Nicosia laboratory by Politis, results show the presence of bacteria from animals or humans, phosphorus and nitrate. Officials claim the water is tested continuously to EU standards and there have been no problems. An official from the Health Services Department admitted that there were pipes in the area that were used by hotels for the drainage of excess water from their gardens, which would explain the presence of phosphorus and nitrates in the water. He insisted there was no threat to the public. Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001 [08] Cyprus to take part in Greek satellite projectREPORTS from Athens said yesterday that Greece and Cyprus would launch their first telecommunications satellite by 2002. According to Naftemporiki newspaper, the two countries will sign an agreement concerning the launch and operation of two telecommunications satellites on August 23, following the approval of the Greek Cabinet.A ministerial committee responsible for the final decisions has been set up to negotiate the deal with a consortium including Cypriot company Avacom, the Cyprus Development Bank, Greek phone company OTE, Greek Aircraft Industry (EAB), and Canadian Telesat. The committee would be discussing the money that could be gained from the use of government frequencies. Avacom and the Development Bank would participate with 55 per cent, OTE would have 25 per cent, and EAB and Telesat 10 per cent each. Apart from construction of the Hellas Sat satellite, the contract includes launching and exploitation. The Greek and Cypriot Transport and Communications Ministries aim to launch and activate the first satellite by September 2002 and have already began negotiations with companies specialising in aircraft and space technologies. The cost of the investment, including production and launch, is expected to reach £37 million. Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001 [09] Youth drowns in 'competition' tragedyA 16-year-old Cypriot youth drowned at a crowded swimming pool in Ayia Napa yesterday during a competition with a friend to see who could hold his breath the longest. Modestos Kyriacou, who worked at a pub in Xylophagou, was visiting a friend who worked at an Ayia Napa hotel when the accident happened at around noon. The hotel's pool area was packed with tourists at the time.The two youths decided to compete on holding their breath underwater and Kyriacou lost consciousness. By the time his friend realised something was wrong it was too late. Kyriacou was rushed to a clinic in Ayia Napa but doctors failed to revive him. A post mortem will be carried out today. Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001 Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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