Cyprus Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou Markoullis has sent a letter to her Syrian counterpart Walid Al Muallem demanding explanations over the use of illegal routes of Turkish-owned cruise ships between the closed occupied port of Famagusta, and Latakia, Syria. Markoullis handed over the letter at a meeting on Sunday with Syria’s charge d’ affaires in
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A House of Representatives delegation will be taking part in the 117th session of the Intergovernmental Union, which begins in Geneva on Monday. The meeting will deal with the role of parliaments in creating a balance between national security and personal freedoms, the parliamentary monitoring of state policy on developmental assistance, foreign workers, the illegal
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The Ministry of Finance has tabled a bill that will introduce harsh punishment for issuers of bounced cheques, with fines of up to CYP 5,000 (EUR 8,550) or up to three years in jail, or both. The bill, that makes writing a bounced cheque a criminal offence, was approved by the Cabinet and has the
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In its annual report on Jordan, Moody’s Investors Service said its Ba2 foreign currency government bond rating is underpinned by generally sound economic policies, robust growth and comfortable external liquidity but is constrained by low GDP per capita, an oversized albeit easing public debt, and the country’s vulnerability to exogenous shocks. “Jordan‘s sovereign ratings are
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Figures produced by the Statistical Service for EU-harmonised inflation show that the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) rose by 1.3% month on month in September, compared with 0.5% in August. Compared with September 2006, the HICP inflation rate was 2.3% compared with 2.2% in August 2007. The consumer price inflation rate in the same
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The number of registered unemployed continues to fall sharply, with the number of unemployed people registered at the District Labour Offices on the last day of September 2007 reaching 9,894 persons in September 2007, compared with 11,783 persons in August 2007. There was therefore a decrease of 1,889. The Statistical Service said that the fall
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The Monetary Policy Committee holding its regular meeting at the premises of the Central Bank of Cyprus at 8.45 a.m. on Monday, 8 October 2007 is expected to hold interest rates steady in line with the decision of the European Central Bank to keep its benchmark lending rate at 4%. This will be followed at
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BNP Paribas has been chosen by the Libyan authorities to become the strategic partner of Sahara Bank, the first privatized bank in Libya. After obtaining all authorizations required by regulation, BNP Paribas acquired 19% of Sahara Bank’s capital on September 18. This assumption of a shareholder interest is taking place in accordance with the agreement
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The outlook for the French life insurance sector remains stable, with potential for further, though slower growth, Moody’s Investors Service said in a new Industry Outlook. Key challenges relate to the ongoing threat of litigation risk in and adapting the capital structure to Solvency II requirements. The French life insurance market has experienced solid growth
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Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat, Christian Streiff, CEO of PSA Peugeot Citroen, Mustafa V. Koc, Chairman of Koc Holding and of Tofas and Ali Pandir, CEO of Tofas, inaugurated the production line for a new entry level light commercial vehicle (LCV) at the Tofas plant in Bursa, Turkey. The new LCVs represent a new addition
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