Russian election criticism may spur protest

2012-03-05

International monitors said Russia’s presidential election was clearly skewed to favour Vladimir Putin, a verdict that could spur protesters planning to take to the streets to challenge his right to rule.

Putin, who secured almost 64 percent of votes on Sunday, portrayed his emphatic victory for a third term as president as a strong mandate to deal with the biggest anti-Kremlin protests since he rose to power in 2000.

But hours before protests were planned to start in central Moscow, vote monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe echoed his opponents’ complaints that the election was slanted against them.

Syrians flee through snow and gunfire to Lebanon

2012-03-05

Braving Syrian army patrols and treacherous winter weather, hundreds of people fled into Lebanon in the last 24 hours to escape the heaviest shelling of their border towns in a year-long crackdown on protests against President Bashar al-Assad.

In the hillside town of Arsal in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, residents say between 100 and 150 families arrived from Syria on Sunday – one of the biggest refugee influxes so far.

A dozen families spent Sunday night in a three-storey apartment block in Arsal after fleeing what they said was a sustained army attack on the Syrian town of Qusair with tanks, rocket-propelled grenades and helicopters.

Minister:Integration of immigrants, a priority for Cyprus’ EU presidency

2012-03-05

Interior Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis said today that the integration of immigrants into their host societies constitutes one of the key priorities of the Cypriot presidency of the EU Council of Ministers, which begins in July. 

”The importance that Cyprus and the EU as a whole attach to integrating immigrants into their host societies is reflected in the Cypriot EU Presidency, since this is one of our main priorities,” Sylikiotis said during a press conference on ”Activities encouraging mutual interaction and multicultural events”.

In this context, he continued, an EU Ministerial meeting will take place in Nicosia to discuss the integration of immigrants.

Cyprus EU Presidency urged to take action against FGM

2012-03-05

A leading campaigner against female genital mutilation (FGM) has urged the government tackle the problem when Cyprus assumes the presidency in July.

Speaking before the house Human Rights and Equal Opportunities committee, END FGM campaign director Christine Loudes said the European Commission has requested the European Gender Institute to map the prevalence, legislation, policies and practices on FGM in the EU.

During Cyprus’ presidency, Loudes said, the European Gender Institute is expected to release its study. 

“The campaign urges the Honourable Members of this Committee to ensure that the Cypriot Government lead its European counter parts in the development of an action plan based on the findings of this study,” she said. 

Let us Assume

2012-03-05

 

I was reading recently in a financial newspaper that it’s not all doom and gloom and that one can actually take advantage of the financial mess everybody seems to be in and make a lot of money. Reading further into the article it transpired that it was the usual economist’s mumbo jumbo where assumptions and ‘if’s and buts’ were key to success. In this case the assumption made was ‘you have some cash on the side…’. 

However I did a bit of research of my own to see which industries/businesses were flourishing in Cyprus due to the meltdown and I came up with two, one directly and the other indirectly related.

Aston Martin DB7 i6…

2012-03-05

Aston Martin DB7 i6 Buckingham Green Cyprus registered taxes paid Photos by email on request

AEL and APOEL record important victories

2012-03-05

APOEL’s manager Ivan Jovanovic was a happy man after watching his side sweep Ermis Aradippou aside with a confident attacking display that resulted in a 4-1 away win.

“We wanted to score quick goals and that helped us to play more comfortably in the second half,” he reflected. “Ermis is a team with a great fighting spirit and they need to be congratulated on their attitude. However, it was very important for us that we approached the game as serious as we possibly could and that we kept our focus on a high level throughout.

Turkey says could annex north if Cyprus stays split

2012-03-05

TURKEY would consider annexing northern Cyprus if talks between Greek and Turkish Cypriots failed to reach a deal on reunification of the island, Turkey’s European Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis told a Turkish Cypriot newspaper.

Cypriot President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu have made little progress in negotiations to reunite the island, divided in 1974, since the United Nations persuaded them to renew efforts late last year.

Bagis told Turkish Cypriot newspaper Kibris that Turkey would support any agreement reached by the two sides, but said that was only one of several possible outcomes.

Cyprus-Israel underwater power cable study underway

2012-03-05

Cyprus and Israel yesterday began a feasibility study for the construction of an underwater electric cable between the two countries that would ensure their energy security and offer Israel a channel to export energy to Europe.

The Israel-Cyrpus leg, with an estimated cost of half a billion euros ($660 million), would eventually be part of a much longer cable continuing to Greece and from there to the pan-European electricity grid.

If approved, the EuroAsia Interconnector will stretch 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) in total at a maximum depth of 2,000 meters, making it the most ambitious project ever of its kind, said Nasos Ktorides, chairman of DEH Quantum Energy.

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.