Cyprus’ political parties have begun preparations ahead of the parliamentary elections that will take place on the 22nd of May, 2011. The Social Democrats’ Movement EDEK ratified Sunday its 56 candidates for one seat in the House of Representatives. Meanwhile, the Ecologists’ and Environmentalists’ Movement organized Sunday a pancyprian conference on the occasion of this

* Lenders approve next tranche of Greek bailout * Say further progress on reforms needed * Privatisation proceeds of 50 billion sought in 2011-15 * Greek banks must strive for efficiency, seek alliances EU and IMF inspectors approved on Friday a new 15 billion euros tranche of aid for Greece but said progress was too

Needing to ask for someone's help at some point is almost unavoidable, and there are some useful ways to go about it, says Harvard Business Review. The Management Tip of the Day offers quick, practical management tips and ideas from Harvard Business Review and HBR.org (http://www.hbr.org). Any opinions expressed are not endorsed by Reuters. "Whether

Al Arabiya television reported on Friday that President Hosni Mubarak and his family had left Cairo from a military airbase in the suburbs and may have gone to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. It did not give a source for the series of reports on the movement of the president and his family.

A shocking portrait of an Afghan woman whose ears and nose were sliced off by her husband as punishment for leaving him, taken by Jodi Bieber for Time magazine, won the top World Press Photo prize on Friday. Bibi Aisha, an 18-year-old woman from Oruzgan province in Afghanistan, left her husband complaining of domestic violence.

Bundesbank chief Axel Weber will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday to discuss his future after the leaked disclosure of his withdrawal from the ECB presidency race hit markets and put her under fire. Weber kept markets guessing on Thursday by insisting at a public appearance in Vienna that he would not comment in

Arnold Schwarzenegger is changing his famous catch-phrase to "I'm back" from "I'll be back." The former governor of California said on Thursday that he was returning to his former role as a Hollywood action hero. "Exciting news," he wrote on Twitter. "My friends at CAA (Creative Artists Agency, his talent firm) have been asking me

Asian stocks fell more than a percent and were on course for their biggest weekly loss in nine months as investors shunned risk on concerns about the pace of policy tightening in the region and growing tensions in Egypt. A broad sell-off in Asia since the start of 2011 on inflationary worries has shown no

Nokia and Microsoft have teamed up to take on Google and Apple in the fast-growing smartphone marketld use Windows Phone as the software platform for its smartphones as part of new chief executive Stephen Elop's overhaul of the world's biggest cellphone maker. Nokia has rapidly lost share in the higher-margin smartphone market to the likes