UN Secretary-General Special Adviser Alexander Downer has stressed that he is cautiously optimistic about the perspective for a solution of the Cyprus problem. Speaking to the press after briefing the UN Security Council on the Cyprus question, Downer said “I think it’s appropriate as the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser that from time to time I talk
More
Greece has banned the export of two anti-flu drugs to safeguard its stockpiles in case a new strain of H1N1 flu hits the country, the Health Ministry said on Friday. Although no case of the disease has so far been reported in Greece, authorities banned until further notice all exports of GlaxoSmithKline's Relenza and Roche's
More
May Day protesters clashed with riot police in Germany, Turkey and Greece on Friday while thousands angry at the government's responses to the global financial crisis took to the streets in France and Spain. Rising unemployment across Europe and beyond has added intensity to May Day marches as last year's market crash and banking meltdown
More
Greece’s Public Power Corp. (DEH) has approved a memorandum of understanding with the Cyprus-based Quantum Corporation and Bank of Cyprus for the feasibility of the construction and operation of power plants in Bosnia Herzegovina’s Republika Srpska. Quantum and Bank of Cyprus have proposed to DEH the prospect of cooperation with the objective of investment in
More
— Tells Cyprus audience that more must be invested — Education is deteriorating around the world as knowledge has been replaced by too many specialised courses that are on offer in colleges and universities, according to Vartan Gregorian, President of Carnegie Corporation of New York and a leading expert on education. Gregorian was the keynote
More
COMMENT The news story on page 3 reporting the majority of British people attending the “Stay” or “Go” debates held last week voted overwhelmingly to “stay” came as no surprise to me. Most of those who have settled here from the UK in recent years carefully considered their reasons. Negative factors against the UK were
More
EDITORIAL Public debates in recent weeks have been looking into the high cost of living in Cyprus and whether it is affordable by any group of people (tourists, long-term residents, British expats, and even Cypriots), prompting them to consider staying here or moving elsewhere. For some people, the like-for-like comparison of a shopping basket is
More
. BY ANDREAS KARMIOS It is estimated that the size of money laundering worldwide through the banking sector, is more than US$ 500 bln to 1 trln annually. Worldwide money-laundering is very real, not only economically destabilising a country but also exposing it to terrorist attacks, and threatening its integrity and sovereignty. It conceals the
More
. BY CONSTANTIN VAYENAS In one form or another, Aesop's tale of the ant and the cricket, with its hard lessons about the rewards of thrift and improvidence, is well known. The carefree cricket sings the whole summer long, putting nothing aside for the winter, while the hardworking ant labors tirelessly to build up an
More
China is climbing up the world innovation rankings faster than other countries. Since the Economist Intelligence Unit first published its global innovation index two years ago, China has moved up from 59th to 54th in the rankings — an improvement the EIU thought would take five years has been achieved in just two. According to
More