Newly elected President of the Republic Nicos Anastasiades has assured that he will act as President of all Cypriots, without prejudice or discrimination, noting that he would be resigning from President of the Democratic Rally. Speaking during his swearing in ceremony at the House of Representatives, President Anastasiades pointed out that cooperation was necessary to

Cyprus Hellenic Bank posted for 2012 net loss of €23.44 million, containing losses in a year of continued financial crisis and subdued financial activity. According to the group`s preliminary financial results for 2012, Hellenic Bank recorded a loss of €23.44, compared with €100.7 million loss in 2011, which however included an impairment of Greek sovereign

Present-elect Nicos Anastasiades announced his ‘Dream Team’ cabinet on Wednesday, comprising technocrats, politicians and academics who will deal with a multi-billion rescue from international lenders. Having won a landslide victory in last Sunday’s second round of presidential elections, Anastasiades has a mandate to combat unemployment and reduce a huge public sector deficit, while getting Cyprus

Pope Benedict bid an emotional farewell at his last general audience on Wednesday, acknowledging the "rough seas" that marked his papacy "when it seemed that the Lord was sleeping." In an unusually public outpouring for such a private man, he alluded to some of the most difficult times of his papacy, which was dogged by

**German tourists stay away in January** Tourism got off to a bad start in January, with the number of tourists diving by 11.2% over the year earlier to 42,286, compared with 47,610 in January 2012. The figures are not as complete as usual and the Statistical Service notes that these numbers are based on estimates.

**Car regs, petroleum sales down in Jan** The decline of retail trade deepened in December according to preliminary figures, with retail sales volumes falling by 6% over the year earlier, from a revised 2.8% in November. The steepest decline was in sales of electrical goods and furniture, which dropped by 20.1%. Computer equipment and book

Cyprus’ sovereign credit ratings and outlook are not affected by the outcome of the presidential elections, Standard & Poor`s said on Tuesday. “In our view, Cyprus receiving short-term financing and a bail-out agreement depends more on the eurozone’ s policy choices than Cyprus’ domestic policy choices”, the ratings agency says in a statement. It is

Secretary General’s Special Adviser Alexander Downer will be in Cyprus on March 11, for exploratory talks with the two leaders, UN source told CNA. The Australian former Foreign Minister will be received by newly elected President Nicos Anastasiades and the Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu to explore their intensions as regards the possibilities to resume

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has appealed to EU leaders not to give in to populism after Italian voters roundly rejected the austerity policies pursued by outgoing prime minister Mario Monti. Speaking at a Reuters summit in Brussels on the future of the euro zone, Barroso said efforts to revive Europe's economy would take