Новости за 01.03.2017

Microfossils up to almost 4.3 billion years old found in Canada of microbes are similar to the bacteria that thrive today around sea floor hydrothermal vents and may represent the oldest-known evidence of life on Earth, scientists said on Wednesday. The fossils from the Hudson Bay shoreline in northern Quebec near the Nastapoka Islands lend […]

The House education committee chairman said on Wednesday that a ruling Disy amendment putting the education minister in control of issues such as whether schools should commemorate the 1950 Enosis (union with Greece) referendum was not a matter of priority. Disy had tabled the amendment in the wake of last month’s controversial parliamentary vote that […]

Facebook plans to use artificial intelligence and update its tools and services to help prevent suicides among its users. The world’s largest social media network said it plans to integrate its existing suicide prevention tools for Facebook posts into its live-streaming feature, Facebook Live, and its Messenger service. Artificial intelligence will be used to help […]

Roger Federer suffered a shock 3-6 7-6(7) 7-6(5) loss to world number 116 Evgeny Donskoy of Russia in the Dubai Open second round on Wednesday. Swiss Federer, playing his first tournament since winning his 18th grand slam title at the Australian Open in January, wasted three match points in the second set and led 5-2 […]

The Turkish Cypriot Republican Party (CTP) said it will submit a motion of no confidence against the administration on Thursday, accusing it of being unable to govern. CTP chief Tufan Erhurman said they no longer trusted the administration and they believed that neither did the people. Erhiurman accused the administration of not doing what it […]

In formulating a new executive order limiting travel to the United States, President Donald Trump has promised to make the directive harder to fight successfully in court than the one he issued in January. One way the administration will likely try to do that, legal experts say, is to shape the order more narrowly to […]

Lawmakers on Wednesday grilled Cyprus Ports Authority (CPA) officials as to the situation at Limassol port after its commercial operations were privatised. MPs posed a series of questions to the CPA, which it must answer in writing to legislators’ satisfaction before they give the nod to the entity’s 2017 budget now under review. The CPA’s […]

The elimination of ‘ball moved’ penalties and reduction of time allowed to search for a lost ball are among several fundamental rule changes that have been proposed by golf’s governing bodies. The United States Golf Association (USGA) and the R&A have also proposed relaxing rules for putting greens, water hazards and bunkers, and allowing players […]

Michael Phelps has urged US lawmakers to push for a reform of the global anti-doping effort in sport after a career in which the Olympic great said he was never confident he was competing against clean athletes. Testifying in front of the US House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Finance, the most decorated Olympian […]

A peace deal on Cyprus would speed up Israel’s plans to export its gas to Turkey, the Israeli envoy to Ankara said on Wednesday. “We think that the solution to the Cyprus problem can speed up the energy project,” ambassador Eitan Naeh was quoted as saying, adding it was a “win-win” for all concerned. “A Cyprus […]

Syria peace talks in Geneva showed a first flicker of movement on Wednesday, as the opposition said President Bashar al-Assad’s negotiators had been pushed by his Russian allies to address for the first time opposition demands for a political transition. Six days of UN-led talks, the first for almost 10 months, have focused almost entirely […]

European Union chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday presented options for reforming the bloc to shore up its unity and popular support after Britain’s shock decision to withdraw. Five scenarios in a ‘white paper’ that the president of the European Commission delivered to the European Parliament ranged from changing little to scaling back to just […]

  MPs have called on the interior ministry to stop threatening Greek Cypriot users of more than 1,300 Turkish Cypriot properties with eviction and to submit a report explaining the criteria they used for rent increases imposed last year. According to Akel MP Skevi Koukouma, head of the House refugee committee that discussed the rent […]

Theatro Ena in Nicosia will take a break from vampires and flowers today and tomorrow as the play currently running at the theatre, The Quintessential Vampire, will be performed at Theatro Ena in Limassol. The comedy by Peter Brammer tells the tale of a 100-year-old human-vampire hybrid named Valentine. Valentine is a florist living with […]

Russian-backed Syrian government forces and their allies recaptured the historic Palmyra citadel, on the city’s western outskirts, from Islamic State fighters on Wednesday, a military media unit run by Hezbollah said. The Syrian army also seized a modern palatial complex to the south-west, it said, in advances that brought it closer to storming the city […]

State telecoms CyTA has revised its budget to include €7.1mln to cover the losses for 2016 of its subsidiary in Greece so that it ends the year in the black, MPs heard on Wednesday. CyTA chairwoman Rena Rouvitha said the revised budget also included an additional €500,000 earmarked for a study into potential investor interest […]

Twitter on Wednesday launched a wider effort to use algorithms to identify accounts as potentially engaging in abusive behaviour, a departure from its practice of relying on users to report accounts that should be reviewed for possible violation of its rules. Twitter and rivals like Facebook have long relied on users’ reporting potential abuse for […]

In a bid to cut waiting lists, the cabinet on Wednesday approved overtime pay for medical staff who will be encouraged to work in the afternoon. According to an announcement, the programme will also introduce incentives for staff to remain in the public sector. The cabinet also extended the practice of referrals to the private […]

Cabinet approved a bill on Wednesday giving the public the opportunity to promote the introduction of policies and legislation through the collection of electronic signatures. According to Undersecretary to the President, Constantinos Petrides, the bill on e-petitions “the so-called citizens’ initiative” will be sent to parliament for discussion and to be put to vote. “It […]

Bank of Cyprus said on Wednesday that its board had accepted the resignation of vice-chairman Wilbur Ross following his appointment as US secretary of commerce and appointed James B. Lockhart III as his replacement.. Lockhart’s appointment is subject to approval by the European Central Bank,” Cyprus’s largest lender said. “Once approved by the ECB, Lockhart […]

Road tax for 2017 is payable until next Saturday, March 11, at any bank, citizens’ service centre, district post office, district office of the road transport department, or at http://rtd.mcw.gov.cy, according to a transport ministry announcement. The ministry said the tax is payable for three, six, nine, or twelve months. A late payment charge will […]

Renovation work at the Athalassa psychiatric hospital will start by the end of next week, while preparatory work on the construction of a new one is underway, Health Minister Giorgos Pamboridis said on Wednesday, following a session chaired by President Nicos Anastasiades. Pamboridis was speaking after the second meeting in a week attended by Anastasiades […]

Formula One champion Nico Rosberg returned to the paddock on Wednesday for the first time since his retirement and said he had absolutely no regrets about his decision to quit at the top. With Finnish replacement Valtteri Bottas putting the Mercedes through its paces on the third day of pre-season testing, Rosberg said the new […]

An Israeli soldier who was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment for killing a wounded and incapacitated Palestinian assailant appealed on Wednesday against a manslaughter conviction that could have sent him for jail for a maximum 20-year term. Three of Elor Azaria’s defence attorneys said after the appeal was announced that they were quitting. In a […]

Prime Minister Theresa May faces her first defeat over her plan to trigger Britain’s exit from the European Union, with parliament’s upper house set to vote on Wednesday in favour of forcing her to guarantee the future rights of EU nationals. The House of Lords is holding its second day of detailed debate on legislation […]