How the world discovered global warming

2011-12-01

21:30 UN climate talks in Durban, South Africa, from November 28-December 9 are aimed at agreeing new measures to stem rising emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases.

Following is a look at how the world discovered global warming and international steps to try to address it:

300 BC – Theophrastus, a student of Greek philosopher Aristotle, documents that human activity can affect climate. He observes that drainage of marshes cools an area around Thessaly and that clearing of forests near Philippi warms the climate.

17th century – Flemish scientist Jan Baptista van Helmont discovers that carbon dioxide is given off by burning charcoal.

18th century – The Industrial Revolution starts, bringing rising use of fossil fuels.

Crack the code and become a British spy

2011-12-01

20:15 ONCE upon a time the James Bonds of this world were recruited into the world of espionage through discreet old-boy networks, all very secretive and hush hush.

Not any more. Britain’s GCHQ intelligence agency has launched an online code-breaking game in an attempt to attract the country’s top graduates via the internet.

The agency, which works with MI5 and MI6 has invited applicants to demonstrate their code-breaking capacity by deciphering a series of letters and numbers.

The initiative is part of a drive to help shore up the country against potential cyber attacks in the future.

Successful code-breakers will not only win the Internet game, but they could also land a job.

Top Gear presenter in hot water over ‘silly’ remarks

2011-12-01

20:12 PRIME Minister David Cameron has criticised comments made by “Top Gear” television show presenter Jeremy Clarkson after he said the country’s striking public sector strikers be “shot in front of their families.”

Clarkson, whose mocking personality helped make the Top Gear automobile show a popular broadcast around the world, was speaking on Wednesday as state workers like nurses, teachers and civil servants were staging a 24-hour strike against government plans to make them pay more and work longer for their pensions.

“I’d have them all shot,” the 51-year-old said on the BBC’s prime-time One Show.

Apollo 13 notebook fetches $388,375 at auction

2011-12-01

20:08 SHORTLY after Apollo 13 astronauts reported, “Houston, we have had a problem,” Commander James Lovell jotted down handwritten calculations in hopes of guiding his crew safely home.

The notebook with those calculations from the aborted 1970 NASA mission to the moon fetched $388,375 at auction in Dallas this week when it was sold to an American collector who was not identified.

The notebook, the main attraction of a space memorabilia auction, was part of retired NASA commander Lovell’s personal collection of artifacts. Lovell, 83, said he had forgotten about the notebook until recently.

Euro 2012 teams try to dodge Spain in draw

2011-12-01

Spain will be the word no other team wants to hear when the Euro 2012 draw takes place at Kiev’s Palace of Arts on Friday.

Favourites to become the first team to win three successive major titles, Spain will be in pot one with World Cup runners-up Netherlands and the top seeds everyone would rather face, hosts Poland and Ukraine.

The other 12 teams have been divided into three more pots and some challenging group combinations could be drawn such as one featuring Spain, Germany, Portugal and France.

You can read the Cyprus Mail pdf edition here

2011-12-01
You can read today’s Cyprus Mail pdf edition online here or via the reader below:

Work begins on new Nicosia town hall

2011-12-01

13:47 WORK began on Nicosia’s new town hall today, almost 20 years after the municipality first chose to relocate into the heart of old town.

The planned 6,500 square metre building – designed by Irwin and Kritioti Architects and built by LOIS Construction is due to be ready in June 2013. It consists of two groups of buildings, which will house all the city services and join up with the old municipal market, old municipal baths and a new building.

let paphos

2011-12-01

 

FOR RENT Ground floor 1 bdrm fully furnished flat with split units. Communal swimmingpool and yard. Ayios Theodoros area, near the Iasis clinic towards Kato Paphos andclose to the Neapolis University. €380/mth. Call 99330457

 

LET NICOSIA

2011-12-01

Engomi – 2-bed flat upstairs of  two-story older house, renovated great  ambience.  Spacious living rooms, bedrooms, verandahs, storage,  working fireplaces .  Off-street parking. between American Embassy/ Prodromos church,  Cyprus University nearby.   . Unfurnished but may furnish.  E550    [email protected] for photos. 99642880

 

Unions dig their heels in on pay freeze

2011-12-01

THE MAIN government workers union PASYDY yesterday rejected the suggestion that decisions on the measures necessary to shore up the economy must be made by Friday, as employee representatives asked for the dialogue with the government and parties to continue.

Among other measures, the government wants to freeze the state payroll for two years in bid to avoid a bailout and EU sanctions for violating fiscal rules.

But PASYDY boss Glafcos Hadjipetrou the state payroll was not the problem.

“These are fairytales and an opportunity to mislead the public opinion and scrap certain rights workers have because they are supposedly privileges,” Hadjipetrou told reporters after a meeting with main opposition chief Nicos Anastassiades, whose DISY party backed the measures.

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.