Iran's rial drops 10 pct as EU bans oil imports

2012-01-23

Iran’s rial currency plunged 10 per cent to a new record low on Monday as the EU imposed a ban on Iranian oil imports, posing a major headache for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who has said sanctions will not hurt the economy.

European Union governments agreed to an immediate ban on all new contracts to import, purchase or transport Iranian crude oil and petroleum products, EU officials said, in a move aimed at ramping up pressure on Tehran to curb its nuclear activities.

The ban, which comes on top of new U.S. sanctions aimed at hampering Iran’s oil exports around the world, sent Iranians rushing to convert their savings into hard currency as efforts to curb black market trading failed.

Schettino testimony should implicate company – lawyer

2012-01-23

The criminal probe into the Costa Concordia’s doomed voyage, which ended with at least 15 dead and the cruise ship lying holed on its side off the Italian coast may be widened, a lawyer for the captain said on Monday.

The toll included the bodies of two women, their nationalities so far unknown, found by divers on deck number four on Monday.

So far Italian prosecutors have focused on Captain Francesco Schettino, who is accused of causing the accident and is under investigation for multiple manslaughter and abandoning the 450 million euro ship before it was evacuated.

Schettino’s lawyer said that evidence from his client about phone calls with the ship’s owners, Costa Cruises, at the time of the accident, could lead to the investigation being widened.

French Army deputy visits Cyprus

2012-01-23

French Army deputy chief of staff Philippe Combes is set to visit Cyprus at the invitation of National Guard chief Stylianos Nasis to develop cooperation between Cyprus and France on defence issues.

Combes and Nasis are expected to discuss various defence cooperation issues and sign a programme of bilateral cooperation for 2012 between the armed forces of the two countries.

The French Deputy Chief of Staff of the French Army will also visit among others “Evagelos Florakis” Naval Base and a military camp at Stavrovouni.

On Tuesday morning he will meet with Defence Minister Demetris Eliades.

Seminar to tackle racism and discrimination in sport

2012-01-23

Paralympian Gold Medallist Karolina Pelendritou and footballer Coskun Ulusoy will kick-off a four-day seminar in Nicosia’s buffer zone on Wednesday, to tackle racism and discrimination in sport.

The event, due to take place at the Cyprus Community Media Centre (CCMC) in Nicosia’s buffer zone, is organized in partnership with the Council of Europe (CoE) and the Community Media Forum Europe (CMFE).

The programme aims to promote non-discrimination and diversity as an ongoing angle of media coverage.

Organised within the framework of the joint CoE / European Union MARS – Media Against Racism in Sport – programme, this encounter will focus on sport related issues.

Air traffic controllers suspend strike

2012-01-23

Air traffic controllers’ union directors have suspended a planned two-hour work stoppage at Larnaca and Paphos airports on Wednesday.

The decision was reached after an invitation by communication and public works minister Praxoulla Antoniadou to find mutually accepted solutions to the air traffic controllers’ complaints.

“We hope that through dialogue the basis for a final solution to the problems of Air Controllers’ Services will be found”, the union said in a statement.

Last week air controllers, who went on strike for four hours, came under fire from many quarters, who chastised them for their decision saying that does not help economic recovery.

Second round of gas exploration licensing imminent

2012-01-23

The government is set to announce the second round of licensing for exploration in the remaining plots in Cyprus’ EEZ and has called on interested companies to officially express their interest, commerce minister Praxoulla Antoniadou said.

Antoniadou said the documents for the call for interest in the second round of licensing have been sent on to Brussels to be translated and then published in the official journal of the European Union.

“The official announcement of the second round of licencing will be issued as soon as these documents are translated… I expect all translation work to be done soon,” she said, adding that the announcement will be published ”around the end of the month.”

Tight at the top after Anorthosis stun Omonia

2012-01-23

ANORTHOSIS stunned league leaders Omonia 1-0 at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia over the weekend to leave a three-way tie at the top of the standings.

Defending champions APOEL are only a point behind in fourth after Nektarios Alexandrou’s 77th minute goal gave them a 1-0 win over Aris,  in what is turning out to be one of the most exciting title races in many years.

Despite having to play with ten men after the interval after defender Marko Andic received his second booking in the last minute of the first half, Ronny Levy’s Anorthosis still managed a fantastic win when 25-year-old Brazilian forward Evandro Roncatto slotted the ball past Antonis Georgallides with five minutes to go.

Syria rejects Arab League calls for Assad to step down

2012-01-23

Syria today rejected Arab League calls for President Bashar al-Assad to hand over power to a deputy and set up a new unity government, saying the plan was part of a “conspiracy against Syria”.

State news agency SANA said: “Syria rejects the decisions from the Arab League ministerial council … and considers them a violation of its national sovereignty and a flagrant interference in its internal affairs.”

 

The statement did not mention the Arab League foreign ministers’ decision to extend the Arab League observation mission, which began a month ago and has been criticised for failing to halt the bloodshed.

Some 5000 people have been killed in more than 10 months of protests against Assad’s rule, according to the United Nations. 

Profile: Doctor behind American Heart Institute doing things the American way

2012-01-23

 

THEO PANAYIDES meets one of the men behind the snazzy looking American Heart Institute in Nicosia

 

There’s a 45-minute wait before I can go in to see Dr Christos Christou, MD, FACC at the American Heart Institute in Nicosia. I have an appointment, of course, but that kind of thing means little to a doctor: patients turn up unexpectedly and, especially in his field (interventional cardiology), time is usually of the essence. I don’t mind waiting, however, as it gives me a chance to look around the Institute’s eye-catching building, a sleek private hospital which is brand new (they only moved in last March) and impressively designed.

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.