British High Commissioner to Cyprus Peter Millett said on Wednesday that the issue of properties was difficult but expressed hope that a constructive discussion, which would lead to results, would be held in the context of direct negotiations between the leaders of the two communities on the island. Millet noted that ''today the leaders are

European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled, by majority vote, that Turkey violates the property rights of eight Greek Cypriots, who own land and immovable property in Turkish occupied Cyprus. The Court has asked all of the applicants – three from villages in the occupied district of Famagusta on the east and five from

Cyprus Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou has said that the Turkish actor Attila Olgac’s confession, that he killed ten Greek Cypriots during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, should be investigated, noting that the fact that he retracted his confession, raises questions. Speaking here today, Kyprianou pointed out that Turkey has to comply with the

The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday forecast the world economy would slow to a near standstill this year, warning that deflation risks were rising and saying toxic assets need to be removed from the banking system. It cut its forecast for global growth in 2009 to a slight 0.5 percent, the weakest since World War

Britain's Financial Services Authority is discussing with international partners the use of a leverage ratio to complement the Basel II capital adequacy requirements to which banks currently adhere. FSA Chairman Adair Turner also told Reuters he believed British banks were sufficiently capitalised to absorb losses. He said he expected requirements for certain areas of banking,

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned on Wednesday against any policies directed at managing the pound's exchange rate. Brown said previous British attempts at targeting exchange rates had failed and that current Bank of England policy was to target inflation, in response to a question from opposition Conservative leader David Cameron. "That is the best

The International Monetary Fund underlined the scale of the global economic crisis on Wednesday, saying it risked running out of money, while investors awaited the U.S. central bank's latest efforts to get credit flowing. But in the latest sign in recent days that households and financial markets may be developing some resilience to the crisis,