Olympic chiefs on Friday gave Qatar's Doha the green light to bid for the 2020 summer Olympics by allowing a shift in dates to later in the year and avoid the extreme desert heat. An International Olympic Committee source told Reuters the executive board had considered Qatar's request and allowed a bid with such dates
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President of the Republic Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu are expected on Friday to begin discussion on a new chapter in the framework of direct talks for a solution to the Cyprus problem. Friday's meeting, which is the sixth of all day meetings to take place over the next few weeks until
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Hotel occupancy in Ayia Napa and Protaras reached 100% during the summer period and, based on tourist bookings from various countries, the holiday season is expected to last until November. Lakis Avraamides, President of the Tourism Development and Promotion Company of the Free Area of Famagusta, told CNA that ''during this period occupancy in Ayia
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AEK Cyprus beats Rosenberg and enters Europa League groups AEK football club qualified into the Europa League groups on Thursday, with a 2-1 win over Rosenberg, at ''Antonis Papadopoulos'' stadium in Larnaka, Cyprus. AEK Larnaca (Cyprus) is in Group J with Schalke (Germany), Steaua Bucharest (Romania), Maccabi Haifa (Israel) for the group stage of the
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– 17 Nobel prize winning economists debate euro zone The finest economic minds in the world believe the euro zone will survive its crippling debt crisis, but think that if the bloc splinters it would make more sense for powerhouse Germany and not stricken Greece to break away. With markets on edge over the huge
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The Cyprus government submitted to parliament watered-down cost-cutting measures affecting civil servants on Friday, in a bid to secure approval from an opposition-dominated House for an austerity package that needs to save more than 1 bln euros. The legislation would allow authorities to deduct between 1.5 and 3.5% from salaries of public sector workers for
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Libyan rebels announced a move to govern the country from Tripoli as they battled pockets of loyalists in their hunt for fugitive strongman Muammar Gaddafi, who taunted them from his hiding place. Rumours of Gaddafi or his sons being cornered or sighted, swirled among excitable rebel fighters engaged in heavy machinegun and rocket exchanges. But
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Greece said on Friday it would not go ahead with a debt swap crucial to its second bailout if holders of less than 90% of its debt to the private sector agreed to participate, failing to satisfy its international partners. The statement comes after signs that the debt swap plan is facing delays, with between
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Europe's biggest betting firm OPAP announced on Thursday an annual 30.4% drop in second-quarter net profit, hit by a deep recession in its debt-choked Greek home market. OPAP, 34% owned by the Greek state, is key to the government's plans to raise 5 billion euros from privatisations this year under an EU/IMF bailout plan. Net
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North Carolina braced on Friday for a direct hit from Hurricane Irene, cities along the U.S. east coast were on alert and millions of beach goers cut short vacations to escape the powerful storm. With more than 50 mln people potentially in Irene's path, residents stocked up on food and water and worked to secure
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