Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 01-09-14

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cyprus-mail.com/>

Friday, September 14, 2001

CONTENTS

[01] CY resumes flights to Tel Aviv

[02] Catalogue of chaos suspends activity on CSE

[03] Revulsion on the streets over US attacks

[04] Minister promises Akamas decision by end of year

[05] Big Brother: protests fail to stop thousands tuning in

[06] Distributors say no request to pull terrorist film

[07] Syrian school chef arrested on suspicion of being illegal

[01] CY resumes flights to Tel Aviv

CYPRUS Airways (CY) will resume its daily flight to Tel Aviv this morning, a spokesman said yesterday.

" Israel has re-opened its air space and we will operate our flight tomorrow morning,"said spokesman Tassos Angelis.

Angelis said the flight would leave from Larnaca Airport at 5am and return immediately. Flights to Tel Aviv were cancelled on Tuesday after Israel shut its airspace to foreign airlines in the wake of the terrorist attack on New York.

In response, CY on Wednesday altered its complete schedule to the Middle East.

Aircraft crew will no longer be staying overnight at Beirut, Amman, Damascus, Cairo or Tel Aviv. The new measures will remain in place until Sunday, and then be reviewed.

Meanwhile, Larnaca Airport may have to brace itself for disruptions caused by the fallout from Tuesday's attack, which rocked the airline industry and upset schedules worldwide.

Britain yesterday warned of massive disruption as flights return to normal in and out of the UK. British Airport Operators (BAA) warned passengers that in the immediate future air travel would be seriously affected.

" Increase in security, more searches and stronger police presence at airports, that is what passengers can expect,"A BAA spokesman said.

Larnaca too will feel the effects as police step up security on the island and schedules are affected by delays out of the UK.

Airport manager Andreas Shosilos told the Cyprus Mailyesterday that they had not received any official notification from international air transport bodies concerning the issue. " But we can assume there will be some disruptions,"he said.

" Today we don't have many flights from the UK,"he said adding there were around three flights due from Britain but he could not predict if they would be affected. " We can't give an exact time of arrival until a plane leaves its airport of origin,"he said.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[02] Catalogue of chaos suspends activity on CSE

THE CYPRUS stock market was thrown into chaos yesterday as a computer glitch, a hoax mortar threat and investor nervousness over the fallout from Tuesday's terrorist attacks in the United States combined to shut down trading 40 minutes into the session.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) closed on Wednesday in the wake of the US attack. It was one of the few markets in the world to take such a drastic step, in a decision that came under fire from brokers as sending the wrong message to investors.

The market re-opened yesterday 13 per cent down at 110 points, encouraging already jittery investors to dump shares and pushing the index even lower, until brokers noticed a discrepancy between the general index and the FTSE/CySE blue chip indicator, which had only fallen about three per cent.

However, according to market sources, it took the CSE authorities another 35 minutes to suspend trading, by which time many investors had dumped shares at considerable losses.

A 30-minute suspension of trading to investigate the glitch ended with a complete shutdown of the market following a threat that the CSE was about to come under mortar attack. It was the third time in a week that trading was suspended because of a bomb scare. Police checked the area and found no evidence of any threat.

According to one analyst, the glitch might have occurred because of Wednesday's closure. " It may have had something to do with advance orders left on the computers for that session, which never took place,"he said.

" The big question is why it took them so long to do something about it. Brokers noticed from the first moment and told the CSE authorities."

The analyst said the confusion could leave the CSE liable to those investors who dumped shares on the basis of mistaken information they were receiving.

" The whole thing was ridiculous,"he said.

A readjusted index later in the day revealed losses of 3.5 per cent on the general index and 3.7 on the FTSE on a volume of just £3.5 million.

All three banks suffered. Bank of Cyprus dropped seven cents to £1.82, while Laiki and Hellenic lost four cents each to £1.83 and 74 cents respectively.

The daily market analyst on the Francoudi and Stephanou market website xak.com called yesterday's events " mind boggling" .

" This is simply unbelievable,"he said. " How many screw-ups must take place, how many mistakes do they have to make before they realise that they are running this show all wrong? The series of events that we have witnessed in the last two days serve as a justification that something is dead wrong in this situation. Why does nobody step down? Why does not anybody get fired? Why does the government not intervene? Why, Why, Why? So many questions but not a single answer."

The analyst questioned why the CSE had been closed on Wednesday while all other exchanges around the world opened.

" All the exchanges of the world were wrong by opening and we were the only ones right by closing?"he wondered. " Why was the CSE closed yesterday? Who will compensate investors that liquidated as a result of the misleading index today? How many sessions are they going to disrupt because of bomb scares and why don't they learn how to run a stock exchange?"

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[03] Revulsion on the streets over US attacks

TUESDAY'S terrorist attack in America has sent shock waves across the globe, with most people around the world expressing horror at the devastation and loss of life.

Those feelings were reflected on the streets of Nicosia yesterday, with most people still in state of shock.

Menelaos and Maroulla Constantinidou, who used to live in America and still have children there, were horrified at what happened on Tuesday and expressed their sympathies for the victims.

" Our children live in America, fortunately in other areas, but they have friends working in the twin towers of the World Trade Centre. Our son is friends with one of the missing fire fighters,"said Maroulla.

Androulla Stylianou has been in a state of shock since the attack occurred.

" I feel very sorry for the innocent people that were killed for nothing, "she said.

She feels they died for nothing and that the American authorities should have been able to prevent the attack.

Her daughter has friends in America and immediately called them to find out if they were safe because they worked near the World Trade Centre in New York.

Taxi driver Christoforos said it was big mistake and it should never have happened.

" No matter what America has done, the innocent people that died were not to blame,"he said.

But an elderly man called Andreas said he didn't care about what hhappened in America.

" No one knows who is to blame. I believe it is retribution from God,"he said.

He added the attack was revenge against America for " killing so many children in Afghanistan and causing so much trouble in the world" .

Alecos Pitsillides said he thought Muslim groups were to blame.

" They want revenge for what the Americans have done to them, but they shouldn't have taken such measures,"he said.

Maroulla Levendis, a Cypriot visiting from London, heard about the incident as soon as she arrived on the island and was very upset.

" Innocent people shouldn't have been involved. Now everyone is worried about what will happen. It could happen anywhere,"she told the Cyprus Mail .

Several people were reluctant to talk about the incident, but many Cypriots watched the developments on television, with over 200,000 viewers watching television newscasts on Tuesday night.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[04] Minister promises Akamas decision by end of year

Themistocleous told the House Environment Committee yesterday that a ministerial committee set up to decide the future of the peninsula would meet with Akamas community representatives before submitting a final proposal on the Park's status to the Cabinet in November.

The minister expected the government to announce its decision on the matter in December.

One of the most contentious aspects of the National Park plan is whether or not the coastline should be preserved from development. Greens say it should be, but local villagers disagree and the government wants to find a compromise to please both.

TheAkamas area has been earmarked for National Park status for the past 15 years.

Conservationists fear creeping development will create a fait accomplifor the area's northern coast.

Themistocleous noted that a recent resolution by the European Parliament calling for the protection of the pristine area had put pressure on the government to decide on the Park soon.

Green Party deputy George Perdikis stressed that the Akamas should be treated in accordance with the provisions of the EU acquis communautaire .

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[05] Big Brother: protests fail to stop thousands tuning in

LEFT-WING politicians yesterday condemned the television show Big Brother , as Antenna boasted soaring ratings for the controversial reality show.

Antenna is currently broadcasting the Greek version of Big Brother , which has been mired in controversy in Greece and Cyprus.

AKEL youth wing EDON said Big Brother" completes the peak of a pyramid of television by-products, including soap operas and talk shows, since lives are bought and sold for public viewing to increase popularity with viewers."

They claimed Big Brotherwas an example of the degradation and trivialisation of human worth.

The Green Party at the weekend called on the Broadcasting Authority to block the transmission of Big Brother , describing it as a show for peeping toms. The Greens said the show was an invasion of privacy and said its transmission was hypocritical.

The Greek communist party, KNE, as well as the Women's Federation of Greece held protests outside the Antenna studios where the Big Brotherhouse has been set up, denouncing the show as " rubbish" .

However, Maria Papaloizou from Antenna told the Cyprus Mailthat they had received two complaints.

Dean of Intercollege and sociologist Nicos Peristianis said that programmes like Big Brotherredefined the borders of private and public life.

" This is a quantum leap for humankind. There will be no separation between our private and public space,"he said.

Peristianis said it was possible that people would protest against the redefinition of these borders and that shows like Big Brotherwould change human relations.

Antenna said yesterday they were pleased with the ratings from Monday night's premiere, with 79,413 viewers watching the show that has audiences around the world glued to their screens.

On Tuesday, 55,030 viewers tuned into Antenna to watch Big Brother , a decrease Papaloizou attributed to the terrorist attack in the USA. Indeed on Wednesday night, the number of viewers rose by 9.9 per cent to 59,396.

A total of 219,150 viewers tuned into the news on the different channels on Tuesday, as pictures of the three aircrafts that crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington were broadcast.

The streets of Nicosia emptied on Tuesday night as resident chose to stay at home.

A Nicosia restaurant owner said it was the quietest night he had experienced and a Nicosia resident who went to a bar on Tuesday night said that it was empty.

It seems most people were glued to television, watching the news from America, or Big Brother or Panathinaikos' shock away win against Schalke in football's Champions League.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[06] Distributors say no request to pull terrorist film

A spokeswoman for Prooptiki said they had not received any request from Warner Brothers to pull the film, despite it being withdrawn from American and British cinemas.

The film, in which a city block is destroyed by a terrorist bomb, was withdrawn from cinemas in Britain on Thursday in the wake of the devastation in New York.

The film, starring John Travolta and Vinnie Jones, had been showing in more than 100 cinemas around the UK.

Movie's distributor Warner Brothers, which had offices in the World Trade Centre, decided to pull the film in the UK.

In the film, a bomb is strapped to hostages and detonated, obliterating part of west Los Angeles. Several police officers are killed in the blast.

A UK spokeswoman for Warner Brothers would not comment on the decision.

But a spokesman for Odeon Cinemas, which had been screening the film, told PA news agency: " We can confirm that Swordfishhas been withdrawn from our screens.

" It's been done at the distributor's request and it's a position that Odeon totally supports."

Cinemas in Nicosia also said they had no plans to pull Pearl Harbor , a blockbuster which graphically depicts the devastating Japanese attack on the American base, which dragged America into the Second World War.

American politicians have described Tuesday's terrorist attack on New York as a new Pearl Harbour .

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[07] Syrian school chef arrested on suspicion of being illegal

IMMIGRATION police have arrested a Syrian on suspicion of working illegally as a chef at the Melkonian Institute in Nicosia.

Five police officers raided the school's kitchens at around 1.30pm on Wednesday after a tip off from a member of the public.

Police said yesterday that the 46-year-old man had been picked up because he was working without a work permit.

The case was brought to their attention by the school's former Cypriot chef, who was allegedly fired in June, only to be replaced by the Syrian.

An advertisement appeared in Politisnewspaper shortly after he was dismissed, advertising for a qualified cook -" knowledge of Armenian cuisine a must" .

Cypriot law stipulates that foreigners can only be hired when no Cypriot can be found to do the same job.

The Cypriot chef had been employed at the school for five years.

" No one's been charged with anything. There's no case at the moment. It's all rumours and an effort to malign the school. He is only suspected of working. They are allegations, absolutely nothing else,"Nairy Merheje, the school's legal adviser told the Cyprus Mail .

She added that the school had " complete confidence"in the headmistress.

But a former art teacher at the school is also considering legal action after she was made redundant at the end of June.

She was told that her services were no longer required because the art department would be shut due to financial constraints.

But less than a month later, Politisalso carried an advertisement for a Teacher of Armenian Art and Sculpture.

The school celebrated its 75 thanniversary this year. A co-educational day and boarding school primarily for children of Armenian descent, its 350 pupils come from Cyprus, Bulgaria, Greece, Russia and Lebanon.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

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