French Socialists dig in heels on EU austerity

2012-02-22
The French Socialists’ abstention in a parliamentary vote on Europe’s future bailout fund has provided new fodder for concern among EU-watchers about how a possible left-wing presidential election victory would affect the eurozone crisis.
The Socialist Party, whose candidate Francois Hollande leads opinion polls for the April-May election, sat out Tuesday’s lower house vote to create a permanent European Stability Mechanism (ESM) in protest at austerity policies in Europe.
President Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservative government called the move a “historic error” and berated the Socialists in parliament on Wednesday.

Sweden's ‘Chicago’ grapples with deadly wave of shootings

2012-02-22

A wave of execution-style shootings and a police station bombing in Sweden’s third largest city have sparked fears that gangster violence is taking hold in a Nordic country widely seen as one of the world’s safest places.

Only minutes into the new year, a 15-year-old was found with gunshots to his chest and one to his head outside an apartment block in one of Malmo’s poorest and most troubled districts, where firefighters have occasionally sought police protection.

Eight killings have occurred across the city since a 36-year-old with links to organised crime was gunned down in a parking lot in May last year. The latest victim, a 48-year-old man, was found shot in a car at the end of January.

Cyprus EU presidency enlists world's fastest yacht

2012-02-22

 

The government has enlisted the world’s fastest yacht, Esimit Europa to promote the forthcoming EU presidency by attending a launch event and flying the presidency’s emblem on its mainsail.

Igor Simcic, owner of the Cyprus registered yacht and founder of the pan European project said: “I found the invitation to take part at the Cypriot Council of the EU presidency takeover as a great honour and a big recognition to the project’s endeavours in the field of international diplomacy.” 

Simcic and the government have already begun discussing ways in which Esimit Europa can promote the presidency, last week meeting separately with deputy European affairs minister Andreas Mavroyiannis and communications ministry permanent secretary Alecos Michaelides.

Christofias begins contacts in Brussels

2012-02-22

President Demetris Christofias today began a series of contacts with the College of Commissioners in Brussels.

The delegation includes foreign minister Erato Kozako Marcoullis, acting finance and communications minister Efthymios Flourentzos, interior minister Neoclis Sylikiotis, commerce minister Praxoulla Antoniadou, agriculture minister Sophoclis Aletraris and labour minister Sotiroulla Charalambous.

 Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou and deputy European affairs minister Andreas Mavroyiannis.

Christofias began the day at the offices of Cyprus’ permanent representation in Brussels, followed by a meeting with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. 

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2012-02-22

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Two western Journalists killed in Syria

2012-02-22

Two Western journalists were killed in the besieged Syrian city of Homs today when shells hit the house they were staying in, opposition activists and witnesses said.

They were Marie Colvin, an American working for Britain’s Sunday Times, and French photographer Remi Ochlik, the Syrian Network for Human Rights said.

A witness contacted by Reuters from Amman said shells hit the house in the Baba Amro district of Homs in which they were staying and a rocket hit them when they tried to escape.

Both were veteran correspondents of wars in the Middle East and elsewhere. Colvin was a fearless reporter who lost an eye when she suffered a shrapnel wound while working in Sri Lanka in 2001. In public appearances after that attack, she wore a black eye patch.

BoC takes €1 billion hit on Greek debt

2012-02-22

BANK of Cyprus (BoC), the island’s biggest lender, yesterday posted a €1.01 billion net loss for 2011 after taking provisions for a Greek sovereign debt swap.

BoC said the total impact of its participation in a voluntary swap of Greek government bonds with a 60 per cent impairment, amounted to €1.3 billion for 2011.

The nominal value of the Greek government bonds held by the group – after the write-down — totalled €975 million at the end of December 2011.

The total nominal value of bonds affected by the write-down was €2.08 billion.

Excluding the impairment, the group’s net profit for the period reached €312 million, an annual increase of 2.0 per cent.

Profit before provisions and tax reached €802 million – up 11 per cent.

Our View: Petty disputes have no place in restoration of cultural heritage

2012-02-22

THE HISTORIC Apostolos Andreas monastery at the tip of the Karpass peninsula must be very close to collapsing for our political and church leaders to have given their go-ahead to the carrying out of restoration work. Of course, this is no guarantee that the project will be undertaken, because the start of work had been announced on several occasions in the past, without anything being done.

Bill to sideline the executive on gas going to a vote

2012-02-22

 

A CONTENTIOUS bill stripping the Commerce Minister of the power to negotiate with companies interested in offshore gas prospecting has managed to survive the minefield of the legislative process and will be tabled for voting at the plenum tomorrow.

The bill has been drafted by DISY deputies Averof Neophytou, Lefteris Christoforou, Georgios Georgiou, European Party MP Demetris Syllouris and independent MP Zacharias Koulias. It’s geared at boosting the powers of the permanent secretary of the Commerce Ministry and of the head of the Energy Service Solon Kassinis.

Women in semi-state sector paid 40 per cent less than men

2012-02-22

WOMEN are paid considerably less than men in semi-state organisations, while their careers are stifled by a mentality that fosters stereotypical profiles and attitudes, labour minister Sotiroulla Charalambous said yesterday.

“Despite an existence of legislation and a wage scale system that excludes discrimination, the wage discrepancy between men and women in Cyprus’ semi-governmental sector is something that needs to be addressed” Charalambous said.

Speaking at a presentation of a study concerning the issue conducted in 2006, the minister stressed the need to change the mentality in place and to strike a balance between professional and family life.

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.