Former PM Siniora: Lebanon ‘respects its obligations and agreements’

2011-06-24

LEBANON’S former Prime Minister sought yesterday to downplay any ill feeling, real or implicit, toward Cyprus as a result of the latter’s agreement with Israel demarcating maritime borders.

“Lebanon is a country that respects its obligations and agreements,” Fuad Siniora said, speaking at the Levant Energy Forum in Nicosia.

“We have always had close ties with Cyprus,” he added.

Earlier this week, Lebanon’s new Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour said his country had lodged a complaint with the UN regarding the delineation of EEZs (Exclusive Economic Zones) between neighbouring Israel and Cyprus.

‘Workers saddled with burden of crisis’

2011-06-24

THE opposition yesterday slammed government plans to boost revenues, saying that they effectively saddled the overwhelming majority of workers with the burden of the economic crisis.

“We saw a scene played out at the presidential palace where the concern was how to secure the interests of the parties that took part, saddling those absent with the burdens – the overwhelming majority of the people going through the problems of the economic crisis,” said Averof Neophytou, main opposition DISY deputy chairman.

The government has proposed measures to save €70 million from the state payroll in 2011 and 2012.

Our View: Structural changes to save economy require a boldness lacking in President

2011-06-24

PRESIDENT Christofias finally had the long-awaited meeting with the bosses of the three big unions on Tuesday. But the result was predictably underwhelming. The two sides appeared to have agreed on a formula for the government to make a total saving of €70 million on the public sector pay-roll over the next two years.

According to press reports, a small percentage would be deducted from the monthly salary of public servants earning in excess of €1,500, from July 1 this year to June 30, 2013; the higher the salary the bigger percentage deduction. After June 30, 2013, the deduction would stop and public servants would receive their full salary again.

Natural gas to be delivered by 2014

2011-06-24

HOUSTON-based Noble Energy yesterday said it could deliver natural gas ashore by 2014.

During a presentation at the Levant Energy Forum held in Nicosia, Lawson Freeman, senior vice-president of Noble’s International Division, said actual drilling would commence in the last quarter of the year.

“It will take about two months to drill this well,” he said.

Noble has a concession to explore for hydrocarbons in an offshore field south-east of Cyprus, known as Block 12. It has signed a production-sharing contract with the government.

‘Company tax would harm Cyprus’ image abroad’

2011-06-24

ACCOUNTANTS yesterday voiced concern that a €1,000 tax on companies would harm Cyprus’ image on the international stage as a business base with an attractive tax rate.

“The services and foreign investment sector is probably the biggest in the economy at the moment,” said Theodoros Parperis, chairman of the Institute of certified Public Accountants (ICPAC) following a meeting with Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis.

ICPAC is concerned that if the government goes ahead with its plan to tax all companies that have shown profits in the past three years €1,000 per year for two years it would drive international investors away.

‘Cyprus is not on the verge of collapse’

2011-06-24

FINANCE Minister Charilaos Stavrakis yesterday rubbished suggestions that Cyprus was following Greece’s course to ruin.

“Cyprus is not in danger and is not on the verge of collapse as some claim,” the minister said. He was speaking as a delegation from ratings agency Moody’s was on the island to review the economy.

Stavrakis said Cyprus and Greece’s economies were fundamentally different.

Greece has a public debt of 160 per cent (of GDP) while Cyprus’ is 60 per cent, and Greece has an 11 per cent deficit compared with Cyprus’ 4.5 per cent, the minister said.

He added that unemployment in Greece has reached 15 per cent while in Cyprus it was seven per cent and “Greece’s growth rate is negative while Cyprus’ is positive”.

Europe report shows LGBT rights in Cyprus low

2011-06-24

LGBT rights in Cyprus are very low, leading to discrimination against lesbian, gay, bi and transsexuals, a Council of Europe report concluded yesterday.

The island is among the majority of the Council of Europe’s member states that have no legal recognition of same-sex partnerships, thus offering LGBT people little protection against acts of discrimination, the Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly’s draft resolution ‘Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity’ said.

Less than half of the 47 member states have strict provisions in their law that forbid discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, including the UK, Spain, Belgium and Albania.

English school alumni and parents decry ‘loss of excellence’

2011-06-24

 

AROUND 250 English School alumni and parents yesterday demonstrated against what they believe to be the school’s “fading excellence” due to party political intervention by affiliated board members.

Protesters gathered outside the English school gates after an email was sent to English School Old Boys and Girls Association (ESOGBA) members, calling for immediate action to “Save Our School Now.”

Asked why they were holding the event, ESOGBA Chairperson Magda Nicholson said: “We want to save our school. It has been a school of excellence for over 100 years, and now we feel the excellence is fading away due to political intervention. We want that to stop.”

Cypriots scammed of €1m by cyber criminals

2011-06-24

MORE than €1 million was scammed off web users in Cyprus by an international operation that has now been closed down by the FBI.

Over a three-year period, the scammers also stole more than €52 million ($72m) internationally by selling fake security software.

In Cyprus, police uncovered six different bank accounts used by the scammers in three banks.

Cyprus police were assisting the FBI as part of Operation Trident Tribunal.

About one million people were tricked into downloading antivirus software at a cost of about €91 ($129).

The scammers would initially trick computer users into infecting their computers with the malicious software.

Cyprus porn company faces €7.85m fine

2011-06-24

A CYPRUS-based company is embroiled in a heated encounter with one of the world’s largest porn video producers after allegedly pirating and streaming 75 X-rated movies.

YoungTek Solutions Ltd faces a €7.85 million (USD $11.3 million) fine by a court in the American state of Iowa after allegedly streaming the Private Media Group content on their empflix.com and tnaflix.com websites.

Much like the popular youtube.com website, Youngtek’s empflix.com and tnaflix.com let their users upload and view all content for free, earning tens of millions of dollars each year, according to Private.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.