Новости за 20.03.2017

THE communications and works ministry announced on Monday that it has received five proposals from various consortiums for the development of the Larnaca port and marina. The announcement follows years of delays and the withdrawal of a previous redevelopment plan for the development of the Larnaca port and marina which the government wants to become […]

The annual quality event, organised by the Cyprus Certification Company (KEP) and the Cyprus Standardisation Organisation (CYS), was held at a Nicosia hotel on March 7, 2017. Louis Hotels, a part of the Louis Group of Companies, with a long history and a traditionally leading role in the tourist industry of Cyprus, as well as […]

A team of scientists and restorers has completed work on the site of the tomb of Jesus in Jerusalem’s Old City, and it will be re-opened to the public on Wednesday. The group has worked for the past nine months at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and focused on the small structure above the […]

The internationally acclaimed Moscow State Ballet Beryozka will enchant with traditional dancers, extravagant costumes and stage presence at the Pattihio theatre in Limassol for two performances this week. Having performed in more than 80 countries in all five continents in front of millions of people, the ballet company has earned the respect of audiences everywhere. […]

A drug squad police sergeant has been given a suspended two-year jail sentence after he was found guilty of accepting more than €10,000 in kickbacks to look the other way after he arrested a man in 2012 with 1.5 kilos of cocaine. The sergeant, Andreas Vryonis, was found guilty on nine of 26 charges. The […]

A 59.60-carat diamond known as “The Pink Star” is returning to auction next month and could fetch a record $60 million, three years since it was sold for even more – only for the buyer to pull out of the deal. The diamond was presented by Sotheby’s in London ahead of the auction in Hong […]

The House finance committee on Monday wrapped up the discussion of the 2017 budget for the Cyprus Ports Authority (CPA), amid criticism from opposition MPs that the privatisation of Limassol port has been a failure. The CPA’s budget will be going to the House plenum for a vote this Friday. The authority’s expected revenues are […]

THE cabinet has approved a bill to stop the manipulation of sports events, including match fixing, with provisions for imprisonment and fines up to €200,000, the justice ministry announced on Monday. The bill, which for the first time defines manipulating the outcomes of sporting events as a corruption offence, is the government’s attempt to improve […]

The head of the FBI publicly challenged US President Donald Trump on Monday, denying the Republican’s claim that former president Barack Obama wiretapped his 2016 election campaign and confirming his agency had launched a criminal investigation into any collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia. FBI Director James Comey told a congressional hearing he had seen […]

  Lawmakers on Monday raised a number of concerns over a bill designed to transpose into domestic law EU-wide rules on mortgages and which introduces credit intermediaries. Among other provisions, the bill sets out rules on what information mortgage advertising must contain, and mandates that non-banking institutions provide consumers a calculation of the annual percentage […]

Google apologised on Monday for allowing ads to appear alongside offensive videos on YouTube as more high-profile firms such as Marks & Spencer and HSBC pulled advertising for British markets from Google sites. The British government has suspended its advertising on YouTube after some public sector ads appeared next to videos carrying homophobic and anti-semitic […]

Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded again on Monday that Turkey stops comparing German bans on rallies by Turkish officials to Nazi tactics, and said her government reserved the right to block future appearances unless Ankara complied with German law. Berlin is growing increasingly frustrated about Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan repeatedly accusing it of applying “Nazi methods” […]

Under the title ‘Turkey’s vision for Cyprus’, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, in an op-ed published in the Washington Times on Sunday said a Cyprus solution would contain the EU’s four freedoms, and the 1960 guarantees would remain. “The EU will ensure that the basic parameters of the settlement are legally anchored within its primary […]

Billionaire philanthropist David Rockefeller, former head of Chase Manhattan Corp and patriarch of one of the most famous and influential American families, died on Monday, a family spokesman said. He was 101. Rockefeller, who reportedly gave away nearly $2bn in his lifetime, died in his sleep of congestive heart failure at his home in Pocantico […]

NICOSIA primary school students re-enacted the old, laborious way of collecting water on Monday to mark World Water Day celebrated on March 22. Children – dressed in traditional attire, holding clay jugs and placards with advice on how to save water written in the Greek Cypriot dialect – marched from the Ochi roundabout to the […]

Heineken beer’s trademark red star may be about to fall foul of Hungary’s attempts to purge itself of totalitarian symbols related to the years of Nazi occupation and, in this case, the 40 years of communist rule. The rightist government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, which faces an election in April 2018, says it is […]

Cyprus has been ranked 18 out of 163 countries on the Bloomberg Global Health Index , published on Monday. The island, which scored 89.17 out of 100, and Singapore with 94.11 in position 4, were the only two non-OECD countries to make it into the top 20, according to Bloomberg. But when it comes to living […]

Brazil visit Uruguay on World Cup duty this week, with midfielder Casemiro suggesting the absence of Luis Suarez will give the five-time champions an advantage in the top-of-the-table clash in Montevideo. The Barcelona striker has scored 31 goals in 41 appearances for his club this season but will miss the Brazil game after picking up […]

Russia is setting up a military base in north-western Syria in agreement with the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia that controls the area and will be training YPG fighters as part of the fight against terrorism, the militia’s spokesman said on Monday. YPG spokesman Redur Xelil told Reuters the agreement with Russia was concluded on Sunday, […]

The full bench of the Supreme Court on Monday reserved its decision to a later date after hearing arguments for and against a law of which the stated aim is to improve the gender balance in public-law entities. In April 2016 parliament voted for the amendment of the Certain Legal Entities of Public Law (Appointment […]

The hearing for the motion for a recount in the Limassol mayoral race, in which Nicos Nicolaides beat favourite incumbent Christos Christou by a mere nine votes, will resume on Friday after last-minute objections were filed by theiInterior ministry and the election commissioner, the court ruled on Monday. An objection against the recount motion had […]

Your night life will never be the same again after the band Grendel Babies celebrate the release of their debut album entitled Oh My, on Saturday in Nicosia. Grendel Babies started out as an eccentric violin and piano duo that was created in America in 2008. It began as a way to tackle literary, historical […]

Nepal will provide GPS tracking devices to some mountaineers who attempt to scale Mount Everest this year to prevent them from making false summit claims and to track climbers in distress, an official said on Monday. Climbers who reach the 8,850m Everest summit must produce photographs showing them at the top as proof of their […]

A new app, aiming to make the payment of fines easier and quicker, was rolled out by the Nicosia municipality on Monday. In a statement, the municipality said that, with an QR-code scanning app, users of smart phones and tablets can be automatically transferred to the municipality’s fine-payment website. From there, all the user would […]

MPs’ assistants should not be paid directly by the state but from the parties that employ them, auditor-general Odysseas Michaelides has told the House general secretary in a letter. According to local daily Politis, Michaelides’ letter, dated March 1, refers to earlier communication the Audit Service has had with parliament, in which the auditor-general first […]