Greece and Russia rally behind Cyprus

2011-10-02

 

GREECE AND Russia rallied behind Cyprus yesterday in the island’s rights to explore for hydrocarbons in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and to condemn Turkish threats as the Cyprus Republic turned 51.

Greek Minister of National Defence Panos Beglitis, who attended yesterday’s parade, told reporters: “We are in close cooperation with Cyprus’ leadership, we are watching Turkey’s actions very closely, in a composed and decisive manner and I would like once again to denounce statements often made by the Turkish political leadership, as well as the policies followed.”

Tales from the Coffeeshop: This week’s ‘Noble prize’ goes to…

2011-10-02

 

THE DRILLING of Aphrodite might not have struck any natural gas yet, but it has facilitated the emergence of a new national saviour, in the shape of the director of the commerce ministry’s Energy Service, Solon Kassinis, the state’s natural gas spokesman.

Kassinis, named after the wise man of ancient Greece, this week gained entry into Kyproulla’s pantheon of living national heroes, rubbing shoulders with legendary freedom fighters such as Madsakis, Faustus, Koulias, Lillikas, la Theocharous, Lazarus, Ignatiou etc.

I would venture to suggest that Solon is the new Madsakis as he displays the same publicity-grabbing skills as the crazy doctor and loves showing off his indisputable bravery on television and radio. 

Our View: New budget is guaranteed to prolong recession

2011-10-02

THERE were no surprises when finance minister Kikis Kazamias presented the state budget for 2012 on Wednesday. In fact it was a depressingly predictable budget, perfectly consistent with the short-sighted and incompetent way the Christofias government has been managing the economy for the last three-and-a-half years. As in the case of the previous two budgets of this government, its forecasts are based primarily on wishful thinking than any pragmatic analysis of economic conditions.

SPECIAL REPORT SHIPPING: Small island, big industry

2011-10-02

IN SHIPPING circles there is a saying – that if the world’s fleets stopped moving, half the world would starve and half the world would freeze in three days.

It is a nod to an industry that, quietly and out of sight of most on dry land, carries out some 90 per cent of world trade, playing a vital role in virtually everything we eat, wear or consume.

Another fact few might be aware of is that within the industry, Cyprus is in several ways a world leader.

For example, at any one time, up to 2,300 of the Cyprus Shipping Chamber’s (CSC) ships, totalling 46 million tonnes and belonging to 140 member companies could be on the high seas.

Altogether, these member companies employ around 4,500 (mostly Cypriot) staff on shore and around 55,000 staff on board ships.

New six-day remand for Fanieros

2011-10-02

NICOSIA District Court extended Antonis Fanieros’ remand order for six more days yesterday to enable the police to investigate three new cases against the Larnaca businessman in relation to alleged arson, kidnapping and extortion.   

Fanieros, 67, was arrested during a police sting last week in connection to various alleged criminal offences, including participation in a criminal organisation. 

A further two men, 25-year-old Costantinos Xadjiantonis and 26-year-old Syrian, Adnan Al Amdal were also remanded yesterday for six days.

They are thought to be linked to Fanieros. 

The police plan to take over 80 testimonies from collaborators and acquaintances.

Joining together to end animal cruelty

2011-10-02

ANIMAL LOVERS and those against animal cruelty are urged to join in a peaceful protest to be held next Saturday, October 8, in Larnaca as part of a ‘World Event to end Animal Cruelty.’

According to Andrea Barlow who is helping organise the event, along with a small team of people, the meeting point is at the McKenzie end of the Sandcastle Hotel at 5.30pm.

“We’re going to light a lamp of hope for all abused animals,” said Barlow, who expects about 25 people to attend the event, according to their Facebook page. “The lighting of the lamps will signify remembering all the animals that have been abused,” she added.

September rainfall four times the norm

2011-10-02

SEPTEMBER was the 13th wettest in 110 years compared to last September, which fell into 83rd place, the Met Office said yesterday.

Rainfall for September by far exceeded last year’s, according to meteorological officer Marios Theophilou who forecasted more rain in the coming days.

“This is very good for September and we’ve surpassed the normal total amount of rainfall for September,” said Theophilou, stressing that rainfall for September is usually quite low. 

A typical amount of rainfall for the month is around 4.5mm. This September’s average total rainfall reached 16mm.

Last September’s rainfall was only 1mm with other years such as 2007, 1984, 1956 and 1916 having no rainfall at all.

‘Improving public sector performance’

2011-10-02

STRONG leadership, clear communication and engaged people are the key elements to implementing change in the public sector, a British expert has said.

Dr. Gill Rider, former Head of the UK Civil Service HR within the Cabinet Office was addressing a seminar in Cyprus on Improving Public Sector Performance, which was organised by the Cyprus Institute of International Management and the British High Commission.

The UK Civil Services employs 471,000 people and has an annual wage bill of over 16 billion British pounds. 

Can Cyprus pull off the EU presidency?

2011-10-02

 

AFTER MONTHS without a head, and just nine months before the country takes over the EU Council, a new boss is finally turning up for work tomorrow at the Cyprus EU Presidency Secretariat.

Former head Andreas Moleskis resigned on June 22 following an outcry over questionable hiring practices, leaving the Secretariat leaderless for over three months. 

One EU commentator, Phedon Nicolaides argued that to do a decent job, Moleskis’ replacement needed to have political credibility, expert advisers and institutional powers.

On Thursday, parliament approved the creation of a temporary position – Undersecretary to the President for European Affairs – to be filled by Andreas Mavroyiannis, Cyprus’ ambassador to the EU in Brussels.

A bright future in a dark universe

2011-10-02

 

SWITZERLAND is famous for many things: triangular chocolate, holey cheese and discreet banks.

But what you might not know, however, is that it also houses both the hottest and coldest places in the galaxy, a camera that takes 40 million pictures a second and the fastest racetrack on the planet…

Welcome to charming and strange world of the CERN research centre, home of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) – and the subject of a lecture by its director general, professor Rolf-Dieter Heurer at the University of Cyprus on Thursday. 

The title of the lecture was “the LHC: Shedding light on the early universe”. 

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.