Новости за 07.04.2016

British Prime Minister David Cameron acknowledged on Thursday he once had a stake in his late father’s offshore trust, in an interview with ITV News. Cameron said he had owned shares in the Panamanian trust, Blairmore, but had sold them in 2010, before becoming prime minister. “We owned 5,000 units in Blairmore Investment Trust, which […]

By Francesco Guarascio European Union states will have more powers to set sales tax rates, the European Commission said on Thursday, presenting a broad reform of Value Added Tax rules which also aims to curb widespread fraud involving VAT. The plan follows repeated pressure from EU states to scrap the existing system based on a […]

THE House on Thursday passed a law making patient involvement in policy-making mandatory, in what the bill’s sponsor DISY MP Stella Kyriakidou called a “historic day.” The law provides that state agencies will consult with patients associations prior to making health policy decisions. “A recurring problem has been that we discuss reforms only with health […]

By Tom Miles The start of a new round of peace talks on the Syrian war has been pushed back by two days so that UN mediator Staffan de Mistura can travel to Damascus and Tehran to sound out their position on a political transition, the envoy said on Thursday. De Mistura told a news […]

By Luciana Lopez and Jonathan Allen Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders doubled down on Thursday on his assertion that his rival for the Democratic Party’s nomination, Hillary Clinton, is unqualified to be president as the two campaigns became increasingly testy two weeks before New York’s election contest. Clinton, stung by a string of losses in other […]

By Magdalena Mis A new law passed in France that makes it an offence to pay for sex and moves the punishment from prostitutes to clients, has been hailed as revolutionary by activists who hope it will help stamp out sex trafficking. Under the law, passed on Wednesday, those who pay for sex will face […]

Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in November’s Paris attacks, will be extradited to France from Belgium in a few weeks to allow for additional questioning by Belgian investigators, his lawyer said on Thursday. Abdeslam, who returned from Paris hours after the Islamic State attacks in which his brother blew himself up, hid from police for four […]

By Steve Scherer A convicted mobster whose father was the bloodiest of all Sicilian mafia bosses has sparked outrage in Italy by giving an interview to RAI state television in which he described his childhood as “nice” and refused to denounce the mob. Giuseppe Salvatore Riina has written a book called “Riina Family Life” about […]

Faced with an unprecedented financial crisis in March 2013, the new government had to take tough decisions to thwart the collapse of the entire Cypriot economy, President Nicos Anastasiades said on Thursday. “Under these circumstances, and with a bailout agreement pending, the new government was being called upon to manage an unparalleled crisis, and we […]

You think that the weather changed all of a sudden without much warning? Well, here is some warning that Ammos Beach bar in Larnaca on Sunday will be even hotter with the sounds of the Athens-based DJ duo Gus and Bonso. The duo, who are Yiannis Psillas and Konstantinos Konnaris, came together in 2007 and […]

The European Commission said that Cyprus’s economy continues to face challenges after completing its adjustment programme which helped it stabilise its banking sector and consolidate its budget, two symptoms of the crisis which forced it into a bailout in 2013 and “left legacy issues”. Reforms implemented in exchange for loans “have started to bear fruit” […]

Islamic State fighters have kidnapped 300 cement workers in an area north-east of Damascus where the militants launched an assault against government forces this week, Syrian state television said on Thursday. The workers and contractors of Al Badia Cement company were taken from near the town of Dumeir and their employer had lost all contact […]

By Russell Cheyne A nearly 400-year-old copy of a first edition of William Shakespeare‘s collected plays has been found in a vast aristocratic house on the Isle of Bute, off the western coast of Scotland. Published in 1623, the First Folio contains Shakespeare‘s 36 plays, including several that had never been published before and might […]

A letter to Nicosia Mayor Constantinos Yiorkadjis from the Director of the design studio ‘Zaha Hadid Architects’ Patrik Schuhmacher assured that the renowned architect’s company was committed to the Eleftheria Square project. Zaha Hadid, who designed the square’s revamp, died suddenly last week aged 65 after contracting bronchitis. In the letter Schumacher confirmed the company’s […]

German prosecutors are investigating a comedian who recited an obscene poem about Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in a satirical show on national television. Gerd Deutschler, senior public prosecutor in the western city of Mainz, said at least 20 “private individuals” in Germany had filed a complaint against Jan Boehmermann, the iconoclastic host of the late-night […]

The University of Cyprus (UCy) has received yet another distinction as it has now been ranked 55th in the list of the top 150 world universities under 50 years old, despite it has been operating for only 25 years, it was announced on Thursday. The ranking of the best ‘young universities’ in the world-for was […]

Former European Party (EVROKO) chairman Demetris Syllouris issued a cheque for €101,833.62, which represents the state subsidy the party received for 2016, to parliament’s director, after the party was folded into Eleni Theocharous’ Solidarity movement last week, it was announced on Thursday. Syllouris had come under fire for deciding to keep the subsidy even after […]

By Vladimir Soldatkin Russian President Vladimir Putin said a friend of his named in the ‘Panama Papers’ leaks had done nothing wrong and spent the money he earned from business on buying expensive musical instruments which he was donating to public institutions. Media reports based on the leaked documents from a Panama-based law firm alleged […]

The road to economic stability and recovery is long but the island must prepare to return to normalcy, the leader of the main civil service union PASYDY said on Thursday, referring to pay cuts in the public sector. “We must revisit the taxes and the illegal cuts, which continue for a fifth year,” he told […]

By Megan Rowling Reducing food waste around the world would help curb emissions of planet-warming gases, lessening some of the impacts of climate change such as more extreme weather and rising seas, scientists said on Thursday. Up to 14 per cent of emissions from agriculture in 2050 could be avoided by managing food use and […]

In front of a huge crowd, the ‘Big Three’ of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player launched the 80th Masters on Thursday while Jordan Spieth prepared to begin his title defence later in the day. On a glorious morning of bright sunshine at Augusta National in Georgia, three-time winner Player and Nicklaus, who won […]

Ermes Department stores said that its subsidiary, electrical appliances retailer Scandia signed a merger agreement with its until now competitor Megaelectric for an undisclosed amount. The deal between IDEEA Distribution of Appliances Ltd, as Scandia is officially registered, and E. & G. Electroplus Ltd, which operates as Megaelectric, provides for the creation of a company […]

Belgian prosecutors appealed for help in finding a man suspected of leaving a bomb at Brussels Airport on March 22, saying they were eager to find a coat he had discarded and to speak to people who saw him on his hour-long walk back into the city. Federal prosecutors released new pictures of the suspect, […]

Argentina moved top as South America dominated the monthly FIFA rankings on Thursday with five teams, half of the continent’s total, in the top 10. Argentina’s World Cup qualifying wins away at Chile and home to Bolivia dislodged Belgium, who had been leading for the previous five months but dropped into second. Despite the defeat, […]

By William James Prime Minister David Cameron urged young Britons on Thursday to make sure they vote in a June 23 referendum on membership of the European Union, warning that leaving the bloc would hit them the hardest. With public opinion evenly split, youth voters are expected to play an important role in the referendum […]