The world econonic downturn has triggered a spike in admissions to subsidised government hospitals in Cyprus, with the public shunning costlier private health care. Doctors in state hospitals say there has been a 20 percent increase in patient intake in recent weeks. Cypriot government hospital fees are based on a mechanism related to patients' income,
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British consumer price inflation rose unexpectedly to 3.2 percent in February, official data showed on Tuesday, forcing Bank of England Governor Mervyn King to write a letter explaining why it remains so far above the 2 percent target. The Office for National Statistics said retail price inflation eased less than expected to stand flat on
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Britain's top share index was down 0.8 percent early on Tuesday as miners retreated sharply, while initial optimism faded on Washington's plan to relieve banks of toxic debt and financials lost ground. At 0939 GMT the FTSE 100 index was 30.50 points higher at 3,922.31, reversing early gains and snapping a three-day winning streak but
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U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will face tough questions from lawmakers on Tuesday as he spells out the basics of the Obama administration's plans to reshape financial regulation at a high-profile congressional hearing. Geithner faces back-to-back sessions on Tuesday and Thursday before the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee in which he will have to
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U.S. President Barack Obama urged fellow leaders on Tuesday to agree swift action at a G20 summit next week to spur global recovery and Britain's Gordon Brown embarked on a tour to seek international accord. A day after Washington unveiled a plan to soak up toxic assets plaguing credit markets, Obama called in an article
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Lloyd's of London, the specialist insurance market, said its profit halved in 2008 because of hefty hurricane losses and weaker investment returns. Lloyd's, which traces its origins back 321 years to a London coffee house where wealthy merchants met to insure ships, reported a 2008 pretax profit of 1.90 billion pounds ($2.8 billion) on Tuesday,
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The videogame sector is looking for a resurgence this year through casual users and programs for mobile phones, themes that will be underscored this week at one of the industry's most closely watched events. Because videogames cost less than $50 but provide hours of entertainment, analysts and industry executives expect them to show strength even
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The take-up of Nokia's N-Gage gaming service has accelerated since the top cell phone maker has started to pre-install it in new mid- and higher-end phone models, a spokesman said on Tuesday. Nokia's mobile gaming push has encountered major challenges over the years, with consumers shunning its dedicated gaming phones, and with its new online
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China is not afraid of the Internet, its Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, even as access to the popular video sharing site YouTube appeared to be blocked. YouTube has unavailable for users in China, which filters the Internet for content critical of Communist Party rule, since late on Monday. "Many people have a false impression
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Governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus Athanasios Orphanides said on Monday that in time there would be ''further significant reductions in loan interest rates,'' and expressed optimism that the Cypriot economy would not be affected to the degree the rest of Europe would by the global financial crisis. ''It was natural to firstly see
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