Japan: 30-40 years needed to scrap Fukushima plant

2011-12-21

DECOMMISSIONING Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will take three or four decades, Japan’s government said today as it unveiled plans for the next phase of a huge and costly cleanup of the tsunami-wrecked complex.

The plant, 240 km northeast of Tokyo, was destroyed on March 11 by a huge earthquake and a towering tsunami which knocked out its cooling systems, triggering meltdowns, radiation leaks and mass evacuations.

After months of efforts the government said last week that the reactors, in operation since the 1970s, were in a state of cold shutdown, signalling it was ready to move to a longer-term phase to eventually decommission the plant.

Call to send nuclear submarine after ban on Falklands ships

2011-12-21

A nuclear submarine should be used to show Britain’s determination to protect the Falklands following “aggressive” moves by Argentina, a former head of the Navy urged today.

Lord West also suggested carrying out a military exercise rehearsing reinforcing the South Atlantic islands to leave Buenos Aires in no doubt that the UK is prepared to defend them despite military cutbacks.

The peer branded a new agreement by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay to ban ships flying the Falklands flag from their ports as “outrageous behaviour”.

Condemning Argentina, Lord West told the Evening Standard: “They are basically becoming more and more aggressive. I find that very worrying.

Britain 'concerned' about Falklands ship ban

2011-12-21

BRITAIN expressed concern today at a decision by the South American trading block Mercosur to ban boats flying a Falkland Islands flag from docking at ports in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Mercosur announced the decision at a summit in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo.

The ban will not include British-flagged civilian ships that supply the islands, although military vessels will be barred.

The move is the latest in a series of decisions taken by Mercosur members to show solidarity with Argentina, which claims sovereignty over the British-controlled islands it calls the Malvinas.

A road safety plea from the heart

2011-12-21

THERE were few places more appropriate for today’s launch of a youth road safety campaign than the GC School of Careers in Nicosia where in August the students lost one of their friends, Andreas Petrou.

The school’s students for whom road deaths were more than an abstract reality performed a song they had personally written for Petrou.

The event was dedicated to Petrou and was organised by the non-profit organisation Reaction: Youth for the Prevention.

Petrou was one of 19 youths under the age of 25 who lost their lives in a road accident this year.

You can read today's Cyprus Mail pdf edition online here

2011-12-21

Helios suspects acquitted of all charges

2011-12-21

Nicosia criminal court today acquitted the Helios trial defendants of manslaughter and causing the death of 119 through a reckless act, after prosecutors failed to substantiate their claim that the crew were incompetent and that the company had not done enough to ensure the safety of passengers.

The prosecution had rested their case on proving that Helios Airways employed unfit pilots to fly the Boeing 737-300 jet which crashed in Greece in August 2005, killing all 121 on board.

One of the three judges opposed the acquittal, saying the pilots were responsible for the drop in cabin pressure on board the Helios flight.

Finance Ministry auctions three-year GRD Stocks

2011-12-21

The Ministry of Finance will today hold an auction for three–year Government Registered Development Stocks (GRDS), to be issued on January 4, 2012 and mature in January 2015.

The GRDS’s nominal rate will reach 6 per cent. The Cypriot Finance Ministry aims to raise €50 million from the internal market to pay a debt.

On Thursday the government will hold another auction of Treasury Bills, which will also be issued January 4, 2012 and mature date February 3, 2012. The Ministry aims to raise €250 million from the internal market. 

Emirates launches A380 connectivity

2011-12-21

Customers on a growing number of Emirates A380s can now surf, share, email, or tweet their way across the Emirates network as the airline launches Wi-Fi internet connectivity with leading industry service provider, OnAir.   

Customers can access the service of the Wi-Fi in the sky onboard their flight using their Wi Fi enabled devices including smartphones, tablets and laptops. All customers have to do is open up their device’s wireless connections, log on to the OnAir network and follow the simple steps to access the internet.    

Entire state working towards EU presidency

2011-12-21

 

THE ENTIRE state machinery is focused on preparing Cyprus for the Presidency of the EU in July, government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said yesterday. 

He made the comment after President Demetris Christofias chaired a third meeting at the presidential palace on Cyprus’ preparations for the six-month rotating EU Presidency in the second half of 2012. 

The meeting was attended by cabinet ministers, the government spokesman, undersecretary to the president on EU affairs and other state officials. 

Minister denies link to model

2011-12-21

 

TURKISH Cypriot ‘foreign minister’ Huseyin Ozgurgun yesterday flatly denied having had any connection whatsoever with a fashion model for whom he is said to have secured a public sector job.

Several newspapers in Turkey and north Cyprus at the weekend branded Ozgurgun the “naughty minister” after he allegedly secured a temporary teaching job in a ‘state’ school for 24 year-old model Seniha Kanatli. The ‘minister’ was said to be “in love” with Kanatli.

But in a written statement, Ozgurgun’s press secretary said yesterday there was “no link” between Ozgurgun and the model, who was later sacked from her teaching job after the apparent objection of a number of parents at the school where she was teaching.

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.