Новости за 19.11.2015

By Andia Kades SO far, some 20,100 households have been approved for the guaranteed minimum income (GMI) benefit, while there are still two months of applications pending, Labour minister Zeta Emilianidou said on Thursday. Speaking after a meeting with AKEL representatives and general secretary Andros Kyprianou, she denied she received complaints there were public servants […]

DISY MEP Eleni Theocharous is poised to announce on Friday that she will be leaving the party, according to media reports. Late on Thursday, Theocharous confirmed to Politis-news her intention, following several reports published during the day. She told Politis-news she would be asking to meet with DISY boss Averof Neophytou to inform him of […]

A POLICE officer serving in Nicosia was on Thursday among four persons arrested on suspicion of loan-sharking. Authorities took into custody two men in Nicosia, aged 38 and 69, and another two, aged 33 and 34 in Limassol after a businessman reported to police that he was being extorted. The suspects are expected on Friday […]

By Evie Andreou INTERIOR minister Socratis Hasikos attributed responsibilities to surveyors on Thursday as regards damages to homes in the Limnes area of Pissouri due to land slippage and said that the government will pay for their mess. Speaking at the House interior committee, Hasikos said that surveyors made “frivolous approaches” when studying on the […]

By Elias Hazou AN Israeli delegation will be visiting the island next week to discuss with their Cypriot counterparts the matter concerning the extension of the Aphrodite gas field into Israeli waters. Israel’s energy minister Yuval Steinitz confirmed the visit while speaking at an oil and gas conference in Tel Aviv. The Aphrodite gas field […]

THE process with which public servants are awarded sick leave is going to be overhauled, health ministry spokeswoman Maria Lantidou confirmed on Thursday. “This is a broader problem not just for the health ministry but for the state as a whole. There is a willingness to correct the problem,” she told the Cyprus Mail. Her […]

By Maria Gregoriou For those of you who are superstitious we will just say that you should get ready for an interpretation of the Scottish play, like no other you have (probably) seen before. For those of you who laugh in the face of superstition we can tell you that the performances, to take place […]

By John Irish and Gregory Blachier The suspected Islamic State mastermind of the Paris attacks was among those killed in a police raid north of the capital, France confirmed on Thursday, bringing an end to the hunt for Europe’s most wanted man. Authorities said they had identified the mangled corpse of Belgian national Abdelhamid Abaaoud […]

By Evie Andreou THE civil society group ‘Movement against foreclosures’ is trying to avert the eviction of a 37-year-old woman and her two children who live on welfare, from their home for failing to meet loan payments to the state land development agency (KOAG), the group’s Limassol coordinator George Ktistis said on Thursday. The group, […]

By Luciana Lopez Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Thursday urged a tougher approach to fighting Islamic State militants than President Barack Obama has pursued, with an intensified air campaign and more US special forces and trainers. Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, the former secretary of state offered her most […]

By George Psyllides PROGRESS has been achieved in tackling the non performing loan problem plaguing the island, but more had to be done, banks and the government agreed on Thursday. Bank brass met with President Nicos Anastasiades who stressed that the rate of loan restructuring must increase. NPLs reached around 50 per cent of the […]

By Martyn Herman Roger Federer withstood a stunning fightback from Kei Nishikori to claw out a 7-5 4-6 6-4 victory and stay undefeated at this year’s ATP World Tour Finals on Thursday in London. The win means Swiss Federer tops Stan Smith Group, having won all three of his round-robin matches at the ATP’s season-ender […]

By Andria Kades Nine of the 15 teenagers arrested for the attacks against Turkish Cypriots during school demonstrations against the occupation, were charged and released on Thursday. The remaining six in police custody were likewise expected to be charged and released, police spokesman Andreas Angelides said. He added CID are continuing their investigation into the […]

By Evie Andreou A COUPLE in their 30s were remanded in Limassol on Thursday in connection with a case of fraud against foreign nationals and extracting more than €200,000. According to police reports, the two suspects, aged 39 and 34, operated a money transfer shop and allegedly persuaded people from the Philippines to invest money […]

ALPHA Cyprus, a new channel set to operate on the island received a broadcast licence from the Cyprus Radiotelevision Authority, director Neophytos Epaminondas said on Thursday. “Alpha Cyprus is licensed in Cyprus and it is a registered company in Cyprus. It will broadcast programmes from Alpha Greece, however there will be Cypriot content and news,” […]

The intensification of reunification talks was a helpful process, United Nations Special Adviser Espen Barth Eide said on Thursday, but declined to get into the details of what was being discussed by the two leaders. Leaving a meeting with President Nicos Anastasiades, Eide would not be drawn into commenting on whether progress could be achieved […]

By Simon Jennings Louis van Gaal does “nothing” as Manchester United manager but earns a lot because the most important job for a top-level coach is delegating responsibilities to his staff. Speaking at the League Managers Association (LMA) annual management conference, Van Gaal touched upon his philosophy, describing himself as an innovator who pioneered modern […]

By Stelios Orphanides Cyprus’s economy may still not be bubble-free, even as it is about to complete the reform programme agreed with its creditors aiming at repairing causes and the symptoms of burst bubbles in the banking and real estate sectors, a prominent economist said. Economist Symeon Matsis, who served in his career as permanent-secretary […]

Authorities on Thursday morning evacuated the premises of the European University of Cyprus in Nicosia after a bomb threat was phoned in but nothing suspicious was found. Police searched the buildings but found nothing suspicious. The search finished at around noon.   Send to Kindle

French police officers will be allowed to carry their weapon while off duty to protect civilians as long as France maintains the state of emergency following the Paris shootings, police said on Thursday. French police spokesman Jerome Bonnet told BFM TV that police officers who volunteer would be able to carry their handgun in order […]

Islamic State said it had killed a Norwegian and a Chinese captive, showing what appeared to be pictures of the dead men under a banner reading “Executed” in the latest edition of its English language magazine. It did not give any details in the online Dabiq magazine, published on Wednesday, about how, when or where […]

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel pledged a security crackdown and an extra 400 million euros ($427 million) to fight Islamist violence on Thursday, while rejecting criticism of Belgium’s security services in the wake of the Paris attacks. Michel said in a speech to parliament that the government would introduce laws to jail jihadists returning from […]

By Alastair Macdonald France wants the EU to tighten rules on passport checks on EU citizens entering and leaving the Schengen free-travel zone in the wake of the attacks in Paris, to make it harder for European jihadists to return from Syria unnoticed. The proposal, seen by Reuters on Thursday, is among several to be […]

By Kate Kelland, Health and Science Correspondent A new gene that makes bacteria highly resistant to a last-resort class of antibiotics has been found in people and pigs in China – including in samples of bacteria with epidemic potential, researchers said on Wednesday. The discovery was described as “alarming” by scientists, who called for urgent […]

By Maria Gregoriou Give your soul some music and your appetite some great food – ah yes, and get some dancing moves for your feet – as tonight Moondog’s Bar and Grill will be celebrating its second birthday together with the four-piece band The Zilla Project. If you like the blues and if you like […]