Italy pledges reform for ECB support, stems market rout

2011-08-06

Italy buckled to world pressure in a bid to halt a market rout endangering the global economy, pledging to speed up austerity measures and social reforms in return for European Central Bank help with funding.

About $2.5 trillion has been wiped off world stocks this week on worries the euro zone debt crisis was spreading and the U.S. was slipping into recession. Better than expected U.S. jobs growth in July helped support Wall Street on Friday but stocks slipped back into the red in late trading.

After a frantic round of telephone diplomacy, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said his government would bring forward cuts to balance the budget in 2013, a year ahead of schedule, and rush through welfare and labour market reforms.

Ten dead as Somali troops and residents loot famine aid

2011-08-06

AT least 10 Somalis, among them refugees, were killed yesterday during a firefight that broke out in Mogadishu when troops and residents looted truckloads of food meant for famine victims, witnesses said.

Government troops had opened fire and unloaded food aid onto wheelbarrows and minibuses and residents carried off sackloads of food on their shoulders shortly after a local aid organisation began distributing food to thousands of Somali refugees.

The incident highlights the dangers facing aid groups struggling to operate in an anarchic country hit by years of drought and a never-ending cycle of violence.

Greyfriars Bobby was a scam to lure tourists

2011-08-06

THE most faithful dog in the world, which kept a 14-year vigil at his master’s grave in Edinburgh, Scotland, was nothing but a Victorian business stunt, according to historian Jan Bondeson.

The 140-year-old story of Greyfriars Bobby continues to draw tourists to the graveyard that was once inhabited by the Skye Terrier commemorated by a bronze fountain erected in his memory in the cemetery and immortalised on the silver screen by Walt Disney in a 1961 film.

But Bondeson, a senior lecturer at Cardiff University, claims that Bobby was far from the dependable dog portrayed in the tale of undying Scottish devotion.

Why Greek cabbies deserve sympathy

2011-08-06

Greek cabbies are getting my sympathy vote. After four years in Athens I have come to rely on the yellow taxis to transport me cheaply around the city and until now they haven’t let me down. It’s the first time in my life I’ve managed without a car, reliant on the three- or four-euro fares that have always brought me safely home.

It’s true, I’ve often had to stand in the middle of the road shouting to hail one: the driver is likely to have a hands-free approach, juggling mobile and cigarette, and is very often wearing no seat belt.

But many times alone at night they have seen me securely inside the flat door, and once, when I left my wallet on the seat, they were back the next day to deliver it, refusing any reward.

Our View: The writing is on the wall: time to bite the bullet on economic reform

2011-08-06

THE MEETING between President Demetris Christofias and the unions on Thursday to discuss economic measures is to continue next week with the aim of taking a package of measures to parliament on Thursday.

While the meeting two days ago moved a bit closer to a deal, a week is a long time in politics and the pensions reform is not a small issue. Also with DIKO now out of the government, there is no guarantee of passing the package on Thursday.

Until then it would be premature to comment on who will win and who will lose in this package, although it might not be too hard to guess.

Meanwhile foreign markets continue to be antsy about Cyprus.  And even the appointment of a new finance minister may not be enough to restore confidence in Cyprus.

Fresh promises as new cabinet sworn in

2011-08-06

 

PRESIDENT Demetris Christofias yesterday announced his new cabinet, at a critical time for Cyprus, which is facing serious economic problems made worse by the July 11 explosion, which destroyed its main power station, causing an energy crisis.

Christofias is also in the middle of an intensified round of talks with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu in a bid to resolve the decades-old division of the island.

“Our country is going through critical times,” the President said yesterday at the inauguration of his new cabinet.

He said the country had important objectives to attain, including preventing permanent partition and tackling the effects of the global economic crisis and the effects of the blast.

Cautious response to progress on economy deal

2011-08-06

MAIN opposition DISY warned yesterday that any measures designed to shore up the ailing economy should not only aim in raising state revenues but also in cutting spending.

DISY spokesman Haris Georgiades said the party recognised that at this stage, it would also take measures to raise revenues, which will only affect high income groups.

“This is the price of inaction and delay,” Georgiades said.

He added that it is a strict condition “the measures brought to parliament should be complete, balanced and not limited to taxes” but should be mainly geared towards cutting state spending.

Who will pay the island’s electricity bill?

2011-08-06

 

THE GOVERNMENT must immediately decide how the extra electricity costs will be distributed, DISY MPs said after meeting yesterday with the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA).

“It seems that the production costs will be double from what they were before the tragic event (the July 11 naval base blast),” said opposition DISY’s Ionas Nicolaou.

Cypriot households and industries already pay the highest electricity charges among the EU-27 according to Eurostat.

Currently the EAC is paying for supply from the north plus the cost of generators, and private companies who are supplying the authority with extra wattage. It is losing millions every month.

EAC to start handing out energy saving light bulbs

2011-08-06

THE ELECTRICITY Authority of Cyprus (EAC) will start on Monday to hand out energy saving (CLF) light bulbs in accordance with a ministerial decision taken almost two weeks ago.

Those entitled are multi-member families (on financial criteria) and families receiving financial and disability help from social welfare.

They can get up to ten light bulbs with each electricity bill.

To get the light bulbs, consumers must show up at a designated EAC service centre with their latest paid bill and their ID between 7.45am and 1.45pm.

The service centres are the district offices in Nicosia, Limassol, Famagusta-Larnaca and Paphos.

In rural areas, consumers can visit offices at Polis Chrysochous, Platres and Kakopetria.

Police recover 42 stolen icons

2011-08-06

POLICE found a total of 42 icons in the village of Letymbou yesterday, including one of historic and archaeological value, which appear to be the result of recent church thefts in the Paphos area as well as in other areas, according to police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos.

“The evidence [icons] was completely hidden in shrubbery that was two metres high, and for police to access the scene a tractor had to be used to create an access point,” said Katsounotos.

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.