The British government has reiterated its commitment to a solution in Cyprus based on a bizonal, bicommunal federation, noting that it is not interested in arguments about the partition of the island. “Our commitment is to a bi-zonal bi-communal Cyprus. We are not interested in arguments about partition. I make that absolutely clear”, said British
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Cyprus' final decision on the natural gas will take into consideration all developments in the region as well as the possible natural gas reserves in the island's territorial waters, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Antonis Paschalides said on Tuesday. Paschalides chaired a meeting with representatives of the Natural Gas Public Company (DEFA), the leadership
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Minister of Labour and Social Insurance Soteroula Charalambous has said that supporting measures are needed for the integration of young people into the labour market, such as vocational training, counseling support, practice periods and the provision of financial motives to develop business activities. She noted that these are some of the measures which can contribute
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The trade deficit in Cyprus widens to EUR 4,263.0 mln in January-October 2010 compared with EUR 3,897.2 mln in the corresponding period of 2009. The main reason was total imports/arrivals (covering total imports from third countries and arrivals from other Member States), which in January-October 2010 rose to EUR 5,190.5 mln from EUR 4,709.1 mln
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The Cyprus tourism sector enjoyed a better year in 2010, with arrivals increasing by 1.5% for the whole year to 2,172,993, having declined by 10.9% in 2009. However, arrivals ended the year on a weak note, with a drop of 7.6% in December when compared with the same month of 2009. For the whole of
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European Union finance ministers agreed on Tuesday to include targets on liquidity in new, tougher European bank stress tests, but bankers remain sceptical whether tests will placate nervous investors. The tests will encompass the same 91 banks as were tested in 2010 but the methodology will be more stringent, including not only bank trading books,
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Iranians will no longer be able to buy bargain gasoline from Friday as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tries to bolster the sanctions-hit economy by phasing out subsidies on basics such as energy, food and water. The semi-official Mehr news agency said on Tuesday that the ration of gasoline costing just 1,000 rials per litre (about 10
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Lebanese politicians, unable to resolve disputes over a tribunal set up to try the assassins of statesman Rafik al-Hariri, have once again deferred to outside powers to try to douse a slow-burning political crisis. Lebanon has enjoyed a rare couple of years of relative peace and prosperity, but tension over the U.N.-backed court, where a
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Citigroup Inc posted a $1.3 billion quarterly profit on Tuesday, as the third-largest U.S. bank rounded off a year of recovery from the financial crisis. The company reported a net profit of 4 cents per share for the fourth quarter, compared with a year-earlier loss of $7.6 billion, or 33 cents per share.
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A record monthly jump in prices drove British inflation to an 8-month high in December, piling pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates and show it is not letting inflation get out of control. Concern the BoE has lost its grip on inflation has risen to such a level that markets are
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