Deja who? Europe's next housing bubble could pop in Norway

2012-02-02

Made a safe haven for global capital by its oil-driven prosperity, Norway is struggling to contain the sort of housing market bubble which launched four years of global financial turmoil.

Having bounced back from a recession in 2009 with the help of its huge reserves of rainy-day oil cash, low interest rates have kept Norwegians borrowing at the sort of pace that prompted banking and housing crashes in the UK, US, Spain and Ireland.

Borrowing this year is expected to grow twice as fast as wages and households’ debt is set to top 200 per cent of their disposable incomes – more than twice that in Germany and a third more than the peak in the US before its crash.

Stranded grain ships diverting from Iran ports

2012-02-02

Up to five ships carrying grain to Iran have been diverted to new destinations as European Union sanctions hold up payments and start to hamper staple food supplies to the Islamic Republic, ship tracking data showed on Thursday.

Around 400,000 tonnes of grain has been held up on at least 10 vessels for as long as three weeks outside Iranian ports, trade sources told Reuters.

AIS live vessel tracking on Reuters showed on Thursday up to five vessels had diverted to destinations including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore after waiting mainly outside the Bandar Imam Khomeini, one of Iran’s largest grain terminals.

Baghdatis into Zagreb quarter-finals

2012-02-02

MARCOS Baghdatis demolished Lukasz Kubot of Poland 6-4, 6-2 in the second round of the ATP World Tour 250 PBZ Zagreb Indoors yesterday afternoon.

The Cypriot, seeded six, served excellently in the first service game of the match, but Kubot then replied in the same fashion.

However, the Limassol native managed to break Kubot in his next service game and never looked back, eventually taking the first set 6-4 while not giving Kubot a single break point opportunity.

He then continued to play at the same level in the second set as he broke the Pole instantly to take a 2-0 lead.

Emirates renews sponsorship of Hamburger SV for another three years

2012-02-02

EMIRATES, one of the world’s fastest-growing international airlines, announced on Thursday that it has renewed its sponsorship with Hamburger SV (HSV) for another three seasons until June 2015.

In addition to being the football club’s main shirt sponsor, the deal includes prominent branding at Imtech Arena, the home of HSV, as well as promotional and hospitality rights.

Emirates has been the main sponsor of HSV since 2006.

Emirates’ impressive football sponsorship portfolio also includes Arsenal, PSG, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Olympiacos, the Asian Football Confederation and the Saudi Professional League.

Kazamias: crunch time for CY

2012-02-02

Finance Minister Kikis Kazamias today said he would suggest the sale of the majority share package of national carrier Cyprus Airways at the next cabinet meeting. 

Speaking at the 34th annual hotel conference in Nicosia, Kazamias said that CY had reached “crunch time” after several years of being unable to achieve viability on its own. 

The minister clarified that the government, which is the majority shareholder in CY, would be willing to sell off over 51 per cent of

the company to investors in a last ditch attempt to keep the company afloat.

The government currently owns 69.57 per cent of the company, while the remaining 30.43 per cent is owned by private investors. 

let paphos

2012-02-02

 

1.       PEYIA 2 bed, 2 bath UF Villa, blinds, access to SKY dish, CH, fly screens, AC, private pool, encl. garden.  Car port, off road parking. Large roof terrace with extra kitchen facilities, 500 euros/Month, SR00421 

Cyprus rugby welcomes world-renowned coach

2012-02-02

THE Cyprus Rugby Federation’s director of rugby sevens, John Long, has given an interview to the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation where he outlined the future for Cyprus in the game.

He also emphasised that his policy will be on producing home-based players, the development of the game in schools, and the need for specialist coaching.

Rugby Sevens has a World Cup and will be an Olympic sport at the 2016 Games, with Cyprus currently ranked 20th in Europe out of a total of fifty countries.

Ermis revel in Apollon Cup shock

2012-02-02

ERMIS manager Nicos Andronikou was delighted after his side eliminated Apollon Limassol in the round of 16 of the Coca Cola Cup after a 3-1 second leg extra-time victory at the Ammochostos Stadium. The Aradippou side went through 4-3 on aggregate.

“This win represents a great opportunity for our younger players to get some first team experience,” he said.

“The game itself was very interesting. We did not play well in the first half and after they took the lead they had a chance to kill off the tie if they had scored from the penalty spot.

“We managed to improve our performance in the second half and scored two goals which forced extra time. Then we managed to score again early in the first extra period and that proved to be enough to advance,” Andronikou added

Commuter misery as bus drivers strike

2012-02-02

THOUSANDS of people were inconvenienced yesterday by bus strike in all districts as the government and the transport companies continued to disagree over the interpretation of an agreement whose conditions have raised questions.

Bus drivers working for companies operating in the Republic’s five districts went on an indefinite strike because they had not been paid January wages.

Their bosses say the government has not paid them the agreed subsidies and they had no cash to pay employees.

The government said it had transferred enough cash for the companies to pay staff and accused them of using strike action as leverage to get more money.

Our View: Idiotic deal with unions has made things worse for businesses

2012-02-02

‘VICTORY for the workers’, read the front page, banner headline of Wednesday’s edition of AKEL mouthpiece Haravghi, with regard to the deal struck between the Employers and Industrialists’ Federation (OEV) and the two main unions PEO and SEK. The headline was accurate as OEV’s misguided initiative to help ailing businesses completely backfired, making things more difficult than they were before this unnecessary deal was reached.

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.