Scots' vote on independence is legal, says Alex Salmond

2012-01-11

Alex Salmond has insisted his plans for an independence vote in the autumn of 2014 are legal – despite Westminster saying his Scottish government does not have the power to stage such a ballot.

The Scottish First Minister announced his preferred date last night for a vote on whether or not the country should remain part of the UK.

That came just over an hour after Scottish Secretary Michael Moore offered to temporarily extend Holyrood’s powers so it could hold an independence ballot – if certain conditions are met.

The two administrations now appear to be on a collision course over the staging of a vote on Scotland’s future.

German president under fire from own party

2012-01-11

German President Christian Wulff drew criticism from his own allies today for failing to disclose details of a home loan at the centre of a scandal that could cost him his job and hurt Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Wulff has come under intense pressure for trying to stop the top-selling newspaper Bild publishing a story about a private home loan he received from the wife of a wealthy businessman friend in 2008.

The conservative speaker of the lower house of parliament, Norbert Lammert, summed up many lawmakers’ frustration when he told Stern magazine there had been a “massive, wholesale loss of confidence” in the office of the president.

Whooping crane migration grounded in US regulatory flap

2012-01-11

A FLOCK of rare whooping cranes on its inaugural winter migration to Florida are grounded in Alabama while a US government agency decides whether a plane guiding them will be allowed to proceed.

The whooping cranes, part of North America’s tallest flying bird species, have been in pens in Alabama since last month as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) looks into whether the 2,068-km flight violates regulations.

The birds are part of Operation Migration, a public-private US-Canadian partnership aimed at re-establishing migrating flocks of whooping cranes, a species that was nearly wiped out, falling to only 15 in 1941.

The cranes are bred and hatched at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland, then transferred to a refuge in Wisconsin.

Growing wealth divide puts globalisation at risk

2012-01-11

A backlash against rising inequality – evident from the Occupy movement to the Arab Spring – risks derailing the advance of globalisation and represents a key threat to economies worldwide, according to the World Economic Forum.

Severe income disparity and precarious government finances rank as the biggest economic threats facing the world, according to the group’s 2012 Global Risks report released today.

The 60-page analysis of 50 risks precedes the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual meeting in two weeks’ time in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, and paints a bleak picture of an increasingly uncertain world.

Commission clears Cyprus over excessive deficit

2012-01-11

 Cyprus and three other EU countries appear to be off the hook after the European Commission judged that measures the four countries took to reign in their deficits are sufficient.

Hungary, the fifth country in the group that has been under scrutiny, could face sanctions after the commission decided its measures were not enough.

Cyprus had passed austerity measures late last year aimed at cutting the deficit down to 2.4 per cent this year, from an expected 6.0 per cent in 2011.

Before approving the budget and the measures, MPs included more cuts, which they said could bring the deficit down to below 2.0 per cent.

The thresholds set by the EU are a 3.0 per cent deficit-to-GDP ratio and debt-to-GDP ratio of 60 per cent.

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Cyprus intercepts Syria-bound munitions cargo: reports

2012-01-11

 

UPDATED 13:40 A ship reportedly carrying ammunition to Syria will be allowed to leave Cyprus after giving assurances it will change its destination, authorities said on Wednesday.

Media reports said the cargo ship, which had left St. Petersburg in Russia on December 9, was carrying up to 60 tonnes of ammunition and was heading to the Syrian port city of Latakia.

Ryanair sets up Paphos hub

2012-01-11

 

RYANAIR yesterday announced it would base two aircraft at Paphos, offering 80 flights a week to 14 new destinations as of April by investing nearly €110 million to bring in 600,000 passengers a year and provide 600 jobs.

Patra, Chania, Frankfurt Hahn, Kaunus, Krakow, London-Stansted, Memmingen, Bergamo, Oslo, Pisa, Rome, Stockholm, Thessaloniki and Treviso are the 14 new destinations. The routes are available for booking as of today on www.ryanair.com.

The low-cost carrier will be the first airline to take advantage of the  government’s new incentives to boost tourism, which includes a substantial drop in landing fees.

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.