The energy sector in Cyprus, in relation to both domestic and global developments, is at a critical juncture, Under Secretary to the President Titos Christofides said in a speech on behalf of President Demetris Christofias at the Energy Gas Storage Summit 2012 in Prague. Christofides noted that the strategic position of Cyprus in the Mediterranean
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The Popular Bank, the island’s second biggest lender that is struggling to recover from a massive exposure to Greek sovereign debt, is hopeful that an upcoming rights issue will be picked up by existing and new shareholders. The 1.8 bln euro issue to be underwritten by the state will effectively part-nationalise the recapitalized bank with
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The euro hovered above a 22-month low and European shares saw a fragile recovery, as investors braced for data that could reveal the damage wrought on the region's economy by prospects of a Greek exit and a lack of progress in tackling the debt crisis. A meeting of European Union leaders, who have been advised
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Chinese police have arrested a young couple who buried an old woman alive believing she was dead after their car hit the 68-year-old, newspapers said on Thursday, in a case which has sparked outrage over declining public morality. The couple had been at an all-night karaoke session when they hit the woman while driving in
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Egypt resumed its first free presidential election on Thursday after a first day of voting that passed off mostly calmly, apart from a stone-throwing attack on candidate Ahmed Shafiq, who was premier for a few days before Hosni Mubarak fell. The race broadly pits Islamist candidates against secular ones like Shafiq and Amr Moussa, the
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Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Thursday that staging the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo would symbolise the country's recovery from last year's deadly tsunami after the city made the International Olympic Committee (IOC) short-list. The race to host the 2020 Games was whittled down to Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul after Doha and the Azerbaijan
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Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA) ranks 5th out of 189 countries, according to the World Bank Global Investment Promotion Best Practices 2012 report. According to a CIPA press release issued here on Wednesday, Director of the Bank Group’s Investment Climate Department Pierre Guislain says that “in difficult times, governments may be tempted to cut funding
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European Union leaders, advised by senior officials to prepare contingency plans in case Greece decides to quit the single currency, urged the country to stay the course on austerity and complete the reforms demanded under its bailout programme. After nearly six hours of talks held during an informal dinner, leaders said they were committed to
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Asian shares eased on Thursday as markets were vulnerable to faltering factory orders in China and lack of concrete measures shown by European leaders to tackle the risk of Greece leaving the currency bloc. European Union leaders, at an informal meeting on Wednesday, said they wanted Greece to stay in the euro zone while respecting
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The chief executive of German conglomerate Siemens AG said on Wednesday he expects the euro to survive the continent's debt crisis, but he said it is unclear if Greece will remain in the monetary union over the long term. "Our assessment clearly is Europe will continue to be a situation where governments will work through.
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