As a migraine sufferer NICOLA MAKARITIS has struggled for years but a new pill available in Cyprus has proved to put an end to her pain... 4 comments

THE GOVERNMENT will soon examine the issue of making same-sex marriages legal in Cyprus, Interior Ministry Permanent Secretary Lazaros Savvides has told the Sunday Mail.
Savvides said that the intention is to hold a meeting next month involving the Attorney-general’s office, Law Commissioner Leda Koursoumba, Ombudswoman Eliana Nicolaou – who also heads the Authority against Racism and Discrimination – as well as senior representatives of the relevant government ministries... 12 comments

 
THE ADOPTED son of a couple with Cypriot citizenship fears new efforts will be made to deport him as his residence permit comes to an end.
The 23-year-old Syrian was adopted at the age of 15 by his mother’s brother, a Cypriot citizen, and his Cypriot wife, but bureaucratic delays meant the adopted son became an adult before he could apply for citizenship, making his stay in Cyprus a precarious one... 1 comment

When asked to sum up his personality, Dave Wentworth describes himself as calm, composed, patient and able to obliterate from his mind any form of distraction. All essential qualifications for someone who routinely killed people with a clean head shot at a range of up to 1,200 metres.
Wentworth was one of the British army’s elite snipers, men selected from the ranks to undergo special intensive training in order to take on one of the most demanding and psychologically menacing jobs in the military... 11 comments

BULGARIA IS mostly known in Cyprus for its mobile workforce, snowy mountains, beautiful women and problems with corruption, as highlighted when it joined the EU in 2007.
However, ties between the two countries go deeper and further back than EU membership. Two hundred years ago, Bulgarian rebels fighting the Ottomans were captured and brought to Nicosia. During their imprisonment, they developed strong friendships with the locals while one captive even wrote an informative diary on Nicosia life in the 1800s.
Bulgaria was one of the first countries to recognise Cypriot independence in 1960, leading to this year’s celebration of 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries... Read on

ONE death, an average of 20 compensation claims for damaged cars a week and continued fears over public safety: welcome to Paphos where nearly 300 kilometres of roads are being worked on at the same time.
It’s a massive project involving laying storm drains, upgrading sewerage works, and relaying electricity and telephone lines in Paphos and the surrounding villages. The works are due to end in 2011, but the scale of the disruption has been such that residents are in for a very long year.
Residents complain that even where road works in Paphos have been finished, road surfaces remain bumpy and full of dangerous potholes... 2 comments

 
Being a judge in a top literary prize competition is certainly an honour, but with a hundred works to plough through, it’s also a tiring one
AS THE race to win the coveted titles of Best Book and Best First Book in the 2010 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize speeds up, a rather tired local judge has just finished reading through hundreds of works in order to pick the very best.
Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Cyprus, Stephanos Stephanides sits back on his comfy living room couch, surrounded by what any book lover would describe as a literary haven.
Books are pilled high across just about every inch of wall space and I’m soon shown a heavy box filled with hardbacks and soft backs awaiting the judge’s approval... Read on

While the vast majority of students from Cyprus go to university in the UK, the US and Greece, it is worth looking elsewhere. MARIOS VASILIOU writes about his experience studying in France
 
IT WAS ROUGHLY a year after coming back from New York - where I had spent six years studying various subjects, starting with physical education supplemented by courses in history, philosophy, anthropology and then continuing with another major in comparative literature – that I felt it was time for something different... Read on

I HAD just skirted a roundabout anti-clockwise, crossed a pelican crossing at 62 kph and nearly missed my slip lane when Steve Tucker, my advanced driving instructor for the day, delivers his assessment.
"I've learnt a lot about your driving style already" he says cheerfully. "You are what we call a 'reactive' driver."
On a sleepy Saturday afternoon in Paphos, a co-student and I had met with Tucker for an introduction to the advanced driving lessons, which are now offered free of charge in Cyprus... Read on

 
THE THYROID is a bow-tie shaped gland that sits in the lower part of the neck in front of the wind-pipe. Its function is to regulate the body's metabolic rate. If thyroid function deteriorates it can give rise to a range of symptoms including fatigue, weight gain, low libido, sensitivity to cold, cold hands and feet, and fluid retention. The diagnosis of low thyroid function is usually made on the result of a blood test where the level of certain hormones in the bloodstream is measured. The hormones it produces are largely responsible for our metabolism, the process by which the body digests food and turns it into energy... 1 comment