Новости за 21.12.2015

By Joseph Akwiri Somali Islamist militants sprayed a Kenyan bus with bullets on Monday, killing two people, but a passenger said he and fellow Muslims defied demands from the attackers to help identify Christians travelling with them. The attack took place in Mandera, in northeast Kenya. A year ago, al Shabaab gunmen stormed a Nairobi-bound […]

FBME Limited announced that immediate legal action is being launched to contest Monday’s decision by the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) to revoke the bank’s licence for its Cyprus branch and said it will challenge this decision in the Cyprus courts. The revocation, communicated in a nine-page declaration, blames others for actions caused and taken […]

By Annette Chrysostomou WITH around 90 to 95 per cent of Larnaca marina’s capacity already full, the government is planning to expand and radically upgrade the facility, the Cyprus Tourism Organisation’s Deputy Director General Annita Demetriades said on Monday. “The marina currently caters to 350 boats in the sea and another 100 on land. It […]

By Joseph D’Urso Well-meaning ethical consumerism campaigns, such as boycotting sweatshop clothes and buying ‘Fairtrade’ goods, can be misguided and even counter-productive, according to a young British philosopher advocating ethical lifestyle choices. Will MacAskill is at the vanguard of the ‘effective altruism’ movement, which encourages people to give large chunks of their income to what […]

By Elias Hazou ENERGY Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis said on Monday he was confident that the government’s proposal for the future of the EAC would allay the concerns of EAC’s employees. He was speaking to the press after his meeting with EAC chairman Othonas Theodoulou and the organisation’s deputy general manager Antonis Patsalis. “The ministry has […]

The European Union on Monday extended its economic sanctions against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine until the end of next July, drawing a swift rebuke from the Russian economy minister. The EU has linked the lifting of the sanctions to full implementation of a peace deal in east Ukraine, where more than 9,000 people […]

Police Chief Zacharias Chrysostomou has ordered an administrative probe into the road accident last week in Deftera in the Nicosia district that led to the death of a 25-year-old Romanian man, police spokesman Andreas Angelides said on Monday. The probe aims to discover whether the officers who handled the accident bear responsibilities as to the […]

The President and First Lady, Nicos and Andri Anastasiades hosted a lunch on Monday at the presidential palace for the enclaved children and the orphans of the Helios crash, and children related to the victims of the Mari naval base blast. Anastasiades expressed hope that the next year would bring “the peace and freedom to […]

Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn is to arrive in Cyprus on Tuesday on an official visit. Asselborn is to meet President Nicos Anastasiades on Tuesday morning, followed by a meeting with UN Secretary General`s Special Representative in Cyprus Lisa Buttenheim. He is to also meet in private with Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides. On Wednesday Asselborn […]

The first criminal cases in the collapse of Laiki Bank have been filed, public broadcaster CyBC reported on Monday. The four defendants in the first criminal cases filed at the district court of Nicosia were named by Politis as Efthymios Bouloutas, Panagiotis Kounis, Neoclis Lysandrou and Markos Foros. The prosecution relates to charges of conspiracy […]

French border police detained a man on Monday after an Air France plane had to make an emergency landing in Kenya over a suspicious device later found to be harmless, prosecutors said. Air France staff decided late on Saturday to divert the plane to the nearest airport during a flight from Mauritius to Paris after a […]

Lebanon’s Hezbollah group said on Monday that Israel would be held accountable for killing prominent militant Samir Qantar in an air strike in Syria over the weekend, and accorded him a funeral of the kind reserved for its top commanders. Thousands of people chanted ‘death to Israel’ as Hezbollah fighters in military uniforms carried Qantar’s […]

Investigators in Moscow said on Monday they were unable to retrieve information from the damaged black box of a Russian warplane shot down by Turkey last month, data the Kremlin hoped would support its version of what happened. Russia’s Defence Ministry publicly opened the recorder last week, hoping its contents would confirm Moscow’s assertions that […]

Over €100 million is being spent on Limassol’s development despite tough financial times, Mayor Andreas Christou said on Monday. Presenting a 2014 – 2015 report, he outlined that work on the much-anticipated passenger terminal at the city’s port, was set to begin early next year. Meanwhile there are currently four contracts – totalling €45m being […]

By Angelos Anastasiou A majority against a government bill paving the way for the privatisation of Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (CyTA) appears to have formed, employee unions at the state-owned company said on Monday. Following a meeting between the state telecoms company’s five unions and DIKO leader Nicolas Papadopoulos, the unions said the government’s bill that […]

By Steve Tongue Manchester United’s insistence on playing possession football under manager Louis van Gaal means they take far more passes for every shot than any other Premier League team, statistics released on Monday showed. According to details from leading football data specialists Opta, league leaders Leicester City need only 46 successful passes for a […]

By Maria Gregoriou The festival may not be until next year but tickets are selling fast. Start the year off right by going to the Lefkosia Loop Festival, which will be hosting ten acts – its largest line-up to date – to celebrate its fifth birthday. The festival and the performances will be held on […]

A thick black smoke was covering the SOPAZ area of Nicosia on Monday from a fire in the north, the fire services reported but as the afternoon wore on it began to dissipate somewhat, authorities said. “There seems to be less smoke now,” fire brigade spokesman Nicos Longinus said just after 4pm. “We are waiting […]

By Stelios Orphanides The chairwoman of Hellenic Bank Irena Georgiadou said that a failure to adhere to the terms of Cyprus’s bailout by ditching the privatisation programme may prove a costly solution resembling a “heroic suicide”. “Cyprus’ economy is missing out on the opportunity to exit the programme with flying colours,” she said in an […]

Though both President Nicos Anastasiades and Government Spokesman Nicos Christodoulides have ruled out a multilateral meeting between the two sides and the three guarantor powers, the rumoured setting up of an unofficial summit was enough to spark protest by opposition parties on Monday. Reports on Sunday suggested that UN special envoy Espen Barth Eide planned […]

Belgian police raided homes in Brussels late on Sunday and on Monday, detaining five people for questioning in an investigation linked to militant attacks in Paris that killed 130 people in November, prosecutors said. On Sunday evening police raided a building near the fashionable Dansaert district of central Brussels, detaining two brothers and their friend. […]

By Mirwais Harooni A suicide bomber on a motorbike attacked a joint NATO-Afghan patrol near Bagram air base in Afghanistan on Monday, killing six members of NATO’s Resolute Support mission and wounding six other soldiers and police, officials said. NATO headquarters in Kabul confirmed the deaths and said three other Resolute Support soldiers were wounded […]

By Maria Gregoriou If you are a Eurovision Song Contest watcher and fan you will surely remember the Cypriot singer who represented us back in 1987 with the song Aspro Mavro (White and Black), along with the big earrings and shoulder pads. A long time has passed since then and the singer, Alexia Vassiliou, has […]

By Amanda Cooper Brent crude prices hit their lowest in over 11 years on Monday, hounded by a relentless rise in global supply that looks set to outpace demand again next year. Oil production is running close to record highs and, with more barrels poised to enter the market from the likes of Iran, the […]

By Mohammad Stanekzai Afghan police were holding out against Taliban forces who have surrounded their compound in Sangin, in the southern province of Helmand, on Monday as the militants closed in on another district capital. “Right now there is a heavy fight going on between Afghan security forces and Taliban in Sangin in the district governor’s […]