Cllr Juliet Solomon suggested young people using the under-threat Haringey Greek Cypriot Women’s Organisation should “go and assimilate with people who speak mostly English rather than staying in their own centre” where they learn of their culture and beliefs from their elders.

LARNACA – Larnaca airport officials were mobilised on Wednesday night after a Danish airliner struck a jet bridge and was left stranded for almost seven hours. Jet Time flight JO948 was scheduled to fly-out to the Norwegian city of Bergen at 4.15pm on Wednesday when the aircraft hit the jet bridge and was left stranded. CyBC reported that there were no injuries and that there was no state of emergency at the airport. An announcement on the airport’s website last night said that takeoff time had been pushed back to 11pm.

The first anti-spitting by-law in the country will be introduced by Enfield Borough Council next month.

Following years of attempting to force through the policy, new legislation will be introduced on December 8.

The quest to stop the spitters started in 2011 as protesters against street spitting needed a petition with 2,750 signatures to start a formal debate.

However, more than 4,800 people signed a petition in support of stopping people who spit on the streets of Enfield.

Those found guilty by litter patrol staff will be fined up to £500.

Enfield Over 50s Forum’s President, Monty Meth, has been a big campaigner in getting spit of the street and is delighted to see the new by-law come in next month.

He said: “We managed to attract almost 5,000 people to sign this petition which shows great support across the borough.

“There was slight resentment when the ban was first announced but I think that this will definitely help our community come together and will encourage more people to have a greater community involvement.

Plans progressed quickly with support flocking in  for a by-law to be put in place.

Fears were raised in October 2012, as the Government’s Department for Communities called for more evidence to ban spitting in public.

But, campaigners could rejoice in July 2013 when Eric Pickles gave the go-ahead to criminalise spitting in public across the borough.

A pensioner’s dog escaped into a packed children’s playground in Tottenham and bit off part of an 11-year-old girl’s ear.

The 72 year old , had owned the Shar Pei called Inar for eight-and-a-half years when it squeezed through her garden gate and bounded towards the girl, who was playing with five friends at the newly-built children’s playground.

A young entrepreneur has received a national award for innovation.

Vikesh Mistry, 21, from Thurmaston, created a free search engine for people looking for driving instructors and entered it into the Edge Challenge enterprise competition.

His idea netted him first place and a cheque for £3,000, presented to him by Dragons’ Den star Theo Paphitis at a ceremony at the NEC, Birmingham.

The young entrepreneur, a pupil of Leicester College’s Peter Jones Enterprise Academy, had to submit a business proposal, which included financial and marketing plans, to be judged by a panel of experts.

He then had to pitch his idea in London and was crowned champion at a national event called the Skills Show, at the NEC after being chosen from a shortlist of three.

Vikesh said: “The Edge Challenge has been an exceptional experience for me. The feedback from the judges along the way has been so positive and I’d like to thank everyone who has helped me on my journey.

“I now look forward to using the prize money to develop my business plan into a successful venture.”

Patron of the Skills Show, Mr Paphitis presented Vikesh with £3,000 towards developing his business.

He also gets the support of a business mentor for six months.

Peter Jones, founder of the Peter Jones Foundation, which has been set up at Leicester College, said: “Vikesh is a deserving winner, having produced such an innovative and useful search engine for driving instructors.

“I hope future academy students will be inspired by his success and gain the confidence and drive to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.”

Second and third places were awarded to Jacob Knowles, 19, from Blackburn and Katie Buckingham, 19, from Solihull.

Jacob’s proposal, a Start Sailing Pack, provides accessories for novice sailors and Katie’s idea was to develop her Altruist Enterprises business – a training and consultancy not-for-profit organisation that advises companies and youth organisations about mental health issues.

The Edge Challenge was launched this year by education charity the Edge Foundation in partnership with the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy and the Gazelle Colleges Group.

It aims to help a young entrepreneur get their business start-up off the ground.

Leicester Mercury

Greece doubled its forecast for a budget surplus before interest payments this year, boosted by better than expected tax revenues, a revised budget plan for 2014 showed on Thursday.

Athens also confirmed its economy would return to growth next year after a six-year recession, posting growth of 0.6 percent.

Posting a primary surplus makes Athens eligible for debt relief from international lenders that have bailed out the country twice since 2010.

Athens will report a primary budget surplus of at least 712 million euros this year, compared to a previous forecast of 344 million euros made in a draft budget plan last month, Staikouras said.

Greece maintained its forecast for a primary surplus of 1.6 percent of gross domestic product next year.

Athletics in Cyprus and England are close to forging a strong partnership for the future following meetings this week in Nicosia between officials from both countries.
This week, PACE chairman Jimmy Andreou met with Cyprus Amateur Athletic Federation Chairman Antonis Drakos and the two held a productive meeting which could very well see the first games get underway at the GSP’s National Athletics Stadium in Nicosia as early as April next year.
The biggest problem crippling not only athletics but also sport in general in Cyprus is lack of funds, something which Andreou says can be overcome – with regards to the planned games – with the joint-venture thanks largely to the backing of the newly-formed committee PACE (Progressive Athletes from Cyprus and England). PACE, of which Andreou is chairman and Marcos Marcou president, is determined to make the cooperation between the athletics bodies of both countries a success. The committee is made up of English-Cypriot businessmen and entrepreneurs.
“Efforts are underway to secure an athletics meeting for mid-April in which a strong squad would arrive from England comprising of English and English-Cypriot athletes,” he told The Cyprus Daily. “After that, our efforts will be geared towards getting a Cypriot team over to London. Mr. Drakos appears very keen to see this initiative up and running and the feeling is mutual from our side”.
On June 28 next year, around 500 athletes from various clubs will home in on the English capital to take part in a series of athletic events. Cyprus could add to those numbers with a delegation of their own.
Andreou went on to say that the Barnet and District Athletic Club – of which their chairman is London-Cypriot Geoff Morphitis – would be happy to help host the Cypriot team should they arrive to take part in the games.
“Initially, there were efforts to bring the under-15s and under-13s teams of the Enfield and Haringey Athletic Club and who are the national champions in England,” continued Andreou. “But those efforts didn’t materialise due to legal obstacles. So we then decided to try and bring older athletes and I have to say that things are looking very promising.”
Speaking about what such cooperation would mean to Cyprus, Andreou said, “These meetings are very beneficial to both nations. For Cyprus, it is the chance to compete in strong competitions and against strong opponents while the weather conditions in Cyprus are ideal for athletes in the UK wanting to go abroad for training.”

As an engineer, Tal Golesworthy is no stranger to taking things apart, figuring out what the trouble is and putting them back together with the problem solved.

But for more than 30 years, he lived with a life-threatening issue that was less easy to fix.

That is, until he took an idea from the garden, combined it with some basic procedures borrowed from the aeronautical industry and came up with a “beautifully simple” solution to treat his own heart condition.

He then managed to convince surgeons to put it into him.

Andrew Ellis, a keen footballer, has benefited from Mr Golesworthy’s inventiveness.

At just 27 years old, Mr Ellis said it was daunting to put himself through an experimental medical procedure experienced by so few, but he was glad he did.

Five years after his surgery, he remains fit and healthy and “feels like someone without a heart condition”.

Mr Golesworthy, is now calling on surgeons across Europe to start a trial and test his device against more conventional therapy.

Like Mr Ellis, Tal Golesworthy has Marfan syndrome – a disorder in which the body’s connective tissues are faulty. These tissues normally act as scaffolding for the major organs, ensuring they are kept in shape and in place. But people with severe forms of the syndrome can have problems with their eyes, joints and particularly their hearts.

‘Crude and simple’

As the heart pumps blood around the body, the aorta – the main vessel from the heart – stretches to accommodate the blood-flow. In most people it relaxes back to normal size, but for people with Marfan syndrome it can fail to recover, gradually enlarging over time.

From an early age, Mr Golesworthy was fully aware he was living with the risk his aorta could one day stretch so much it would burst. And during a regular check-up in 2000, he was told the time had come to consider pre-emptive surgery.

But he was “unimpressed” with the options available to him. Traditional surgery is lengthy and complex and includes replacing the stretched segment of the aorta with an artificial graft. Sometimes surgeons also have to put metal valves inside the heart to replace ones that are cut out.

But having metal in his heart would mean Mr Golesworthy would have to take blood-thinning medication for the rest of his life to ensure a smooth blood-flow. And this medication carries the risk of bleeding from even a minor fall.

As an active person and keen skier, this was a side-effect Mr Golesworthy was unwilling to tolerate.

He says: “I didn’t want to have to live my life in a cotton wool cocoon and I thought I might be able to come up with something less intrusive and complex that didn’t require a part of my heart to be taken away.”

So he engineered himself a solution.

His thinking was straightforward.

He says: “If the hose-pipe is bulging, I must get some insulation tape and wrap it round the outside of the hose-pipe to stop it bulging.

“It’s that crude and simple, and we have all done it in our gardens.”

Persuading surgeons he might be able to improve upon their techniques was not easy. But he managed to convince Prof Tom Treasure, then at Guy’s Hospital London, and Prof John Pepper, of the Royal Brompton Hospital, London, that they may be able to learn a thing or two from engineering techniques.

‘Tailor-made’

The process took a growing team three years to perfect. The result would be a personalised sleeve that is stitched snugly around the enlarged vessel, providing structural support and preventing it from growing any bigger.

The sleeve is made of a medical-grade mesh, using material that has been used to suture wounds for many years.

The team hypothesised that by putting the sleeve on the outside – rather than the inside – of the aorta, they would reduce the complexity of the surgery needed, there would be no need for anti-clotting drugs and there would be less time under the knife.

And four years on from its inception, they were ready for the next big step – Mr Golesworthy would be the first guinea pig for his device.

Although they had had several dry runs of the operation, he remembers it as the scariest day of his life.

He says: “I have spent my entire professional life project-managing various projects but of course this one was completely different. It was me that was going to be on the slab at the end of it.”

The two-hour operation was carried out at the Royal Brompton Hospital. Nine years on, Mr Golesworthy’s aorta has not grown in size.

“All of a sudden my aorta is now fixed, I began to breathe easy and sleep well and relax in a way that I hadn’t done for years and years before,” he says.

Mr Golesworthy says his motivation at the beginning of this project was entirely selfish, but the team has now been able to offer the tailor-made sleeves to more than 40 patients in London, the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford and the Leuven University Hospital in Belgium.

Andrew Ellis who had his procedure at the Royal Brompton Hospital, London, knew cardiac surgery was on the cards for a long time.

His biological father had died with the condition in his early twenties so he was acutely aware of the risks of not having treatment. But like Mr Golesworthy, Mr Ellis wasn’t keen on long and intrusive surgery or life-long medication.

He had the procedure using Mr Golewsorthy’s device in 2007. Five years later, his latest scan showed his aorta had not grown in size.

“Tal’s invention has taken away the looming threat of a major operation that was hanging over me for so long,” he said.

‘True place’

Like any other surgery however, it is not without risk. For the majority it has worked well so far, but one person died of complications during the operation.

Prof Graham Cooper, consultant cardiac surgeon at Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, who was not involved in the project, says: “Mr Golesworthy is a brilliant engineer and is very far-sighted. It is a real achievement to get such innovation into the NHS.

“But we have been doing the traditional operation for over 20 years and it is proven to be very safe and effective we know it stops people from dying.

“This new operation may have some advantages – it may mean patients have less time in hospital and under go a less complex procedure – but it will still be a long time before we have the data to compare different approaches. We need a robust trial of all the options available before we know its true place.”

Mr Golesworthy says the next step must be just that. He has recently put a call out in the European Heart Journal to bring together researchers in the field and put his device to the test.

BBC

Cypriot university students in Greece said yesterday they could not secure the necessary paperwork to complete their government grants, scholarships or student loan applications because of the ongoing strikes in Athens and accused the education ministry of ignoring them.

The national Kapodistrian university of Athens and Athens’ national technical university have been on strike for months, with academia and staff opposing government plans for redundancies as part of the austerity measures and efforts to restructure the education system. Greek education minister Constantinos Arvanitopoulos said this week that staff were acting against the law and were out to turn the universities into “a battle field”.

Cypriot students based in Athens issued an announcement yesterday saying that eleven weeks into the strikes, the Cypriot state had done “nothing” for them. The students asked the education minister Kyriacos Kenevezos in an open letter last month to mediate on their behalf so they could receive payments for scholarships or student loans.

No one has been working at the universities in order to provide them with the documentation they need to support their applications for payment, the students said, adding that this was causing financial troubles for some of them who were looking forward to some source of income that was no longer forthcoming.

Speaking to state broadcaster CyBC, student representative Panayiotis Sofroniou, appealed to the Cyprus state-funded universities to admit any Cypriot students based in Greece who wanted to transfer back home. He was referring to the University of Cyprus and the Cyprus University of Technology (TEPAK).

Cultural heritage the basis of a common future, Technical Committee points out

 They approach mosques and churches with the same love and awe, stressing that Cyprus’ cultural heritage, not just places of religious worship, is very important both for the island itself as well as for the whole of humanity.

Denia mosque and Panagia church in Trachoni village are two of the projects the Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage in Cyprus has completed. The Committee, which operates under the auspices of the United Nations, was established in 2008 as one of seven Technical Committees.

Takis Hadjidemetetriou and Ali Tuncay head a group of 10 people, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, who are trying to restore, maintain, save and pass on to the next generation the common culture. CNA went along with them and a couple of Turkish Cypriot journalists to visit the mosque and the church.

Denia mosque was built around 1850 and religious services used to take place up until 1963. The head of Denia Community Council, Christakis Panayiotou, stressed that they felt ashamed of the ramshackle mosque but now they feel joy and happiness that it has been restored. He said local people worked voluntarily in the surrounding area around the mosque to construct a sidewalk and plant flowers.

He recalls when Denia was a mixed village with 128 Turkish Cypriot and 170 Greek Cypriot inhabitants living together and expresses his wish for reunification. “These are their fields, not ours. We don`t have to be at odds. We want peace, friendship; to raise our children so they can be educated, offer to society and the world. War does not serve any purpose for any of us.”

Thanks to EU funds and the continued support of UNDP-PFF, Denia Mosque was repaired in time before it was too late. Ali Tuncay said that support work and part of the restoration started in 2012 and finished a couple of months ago. This first stage of the work cost around 60.000 euros while an additional 10.000 is needed for the roof, the door and the windows.

Denia Mosque and Profitis Elias church in Philia were the very first projects of the Technical Committee, two small and manageable projects, as Hadjidemetriou describes them.

The Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage has a list of 40 monuments: 26 of them are in the northern Turkish occupied part of Cyprus and 14 in the southern government controlled areas. Having completed Denia, Philia and Trachoni, restoration work at the baths in Kato Paphos is all but finished.

The project of “services for the survey, investigation, assessment and project designs for the Othello Tower/Citadel” in the occupied town of Famagusta is also being carried out thanks to EU funding and UNDP-PFF support. The project will be followed by the emergency works on this important monument. Moreover partial support work was recently completed at the Agios Panteleimonas Monastery in Myrtou and the Technical Committee is developing the procedures for the actual restoration of this monument.

The Committee opened the tenders for Agios Afksentios church in Komi Kebir, Melandrina church in Kalograia, Agios Nicolaos church in Syrianochori, Mustafa Pasa mosque in Famagusta. Tenders will open soon for Cherkez mosque in Phasouri and Dereboyu mosque in Evretou.

Panagia church in Trachoni is a small but beautiful temple, bright sunlight pours into the church when you open the wooden door. The upper part of the church (gynaekonitis), kept solely for women to attend religious services, has been repaired, as well as the main skeleton of the sanctuary. The iconostas is still in reconstruction and it will be placed back when it is fully repaired.

A large and old eucalyptus tree in the churchyard, along with an olive tree and a well bear witness to past history. In the shadow of the big tree, Hadjidemetriou explains that the Technical Committee has paved the way and the work to be done is enormous. Restoration work of Cyprus’ cultural heritage is an endless job, “a matter of cooperation and understanding between the two communities”, he points out.

“The road to where we are now has not been a bed of roses: we started by accusing each other, using propaganda against each other and disagreements. At the end of the day all these evolved into cooperation, a joint effort, common heritage and culture and of course looking ahead to our shared future,” Takis Hadjidemetriou has acknowledged speaking to CNA on this journey.

The time has come to prove in practice the interest everybody has in the common cultural heritage of the island, he says. Both Hadjidemetriou and Tuncay stress their readiness to respond to anyone, an individual or an organization, who wants to contribute to their work.

In Cyprus there are approximately 1000 monuments on both sides. With the support of EU studies have been completed for 140 of them, which needed support, repair and restoration. The Technical Committee focused on 40 for immediate intervention. Hadjidemetriou referred to two of them: the Church of Cyprus and EVKAF, which support Apostolos Andreas Monastery in the Karpass peninsula, and Leventis Institution and Lefkoniko Cooperative bank for their contribution to other projects.

Asked about the Monastery of Apostolos Andreas, Ali Tuncay said that UNDP-PFF is proceeding with a technical study before opening the tender for the reconstruction, which is expected to be announced within the next few months, during the first quarter of 2014.

The Technical Committee has a coordination and facilitator role for the restoration of Apostolos Andreas, having the support of all interested parties in accordance with internationally recognized modalities and regulations. A project of 5 billion euros.

The co-chairmen of the Committee stressed that preserving the heritage of Cyprus’ past offer the opportunity to build a future on a culture of peace, tolerance, cooperation, dialogue and respect for each other. Neither of them sees these monuments as rocks. To them they are the basis of a common and better future for the generations to come and call on those who are interested in their work to support them in any way they can.

The Cyprus Institute presented Thursday its unmanned aircrafts, which in the defense community are known as “drones”.

After more than four years of intensive work, the Cyprus Institute inaugurated its Unmanned Aircraft Research Facility, which was developed in the framework of the “Autonomous Flying Platforms for Atmospheric and Earth Surface Observation” project (APAESO).

APAESO aims at providing the research infrastructure for sophisticated atmospheric measurements, but is also intended to address changes in climate-related transformations in vegetation cover, oceanic biological activities or contamination of water reservoirs, to name but a few of the possible remote sensing applications.

According to the Cyprus Institute, to pursue these ambitious goals, the Facility comprises four medium-sized and one smaller research aircrafts, a mobile ground control station, a fully equipped laboratory and workshop and a host of scientific instruments.

Once fully operational, the Cyprus Institute’s Unmanned Research Aircraft Facility will be made available to the research community of Cyprus and will open up new and exciting prospects for environmental research in Cyprus.

The APAESO project is co-financed by the European Development Fund and the Republic of Cyprus through the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation.

The inauguration ceremony was attended and addressed by Minister of Communications and Works Tasos Mitsopoulos, who said that the Cyprus Institute “acquires a modern and powerful research tool”.

“This makes Cyprus a point of reference in the wider Mediterranean region and the Middle East,” the Minister said.

The Cyprus National Economy Council has said it favours full privatisation of the semi-governmental organizations, considered as a precondition for the disbursement of the third tranche of Cyprus’ financial assistance package.

The Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Cypriot authorities and the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF, collectively known as the Troika, over a €10 billion bailout, stipulates that Cyprus should present a privatization plan by the end of December, that will include the privatisation prospects of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and semi-governmental organisations (SGOs), including, inter alia, CyTa, the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) and the Cyprus Ports Authority. This plan is estimated to raise €1.4 billion by 2018.

“Full privatization, wherever possible, should be pursued,” the NEC says in a policy paper made public today, adding that “privatisations will yield significant proceeds and will manifest Cyprus` determination to proceed with reforms that would satisfy the relevant provisions of the MOU.”

According to the paper, full privatization would attract bigger investments, as opposed to partial privatization which would not garner the €1.4 billion stipulated in the memorandum. Full privatization, the paper adds, “would solve the problem of political interventions and limit the scope of actions associated with party interests.”

The NEC suggests that the telecommunications authority, Cyta, should be the first to be privatized, as it already operates in an environment described by functioning competition, whereas it considers the case of the EAC, the island`s electricity provider, as “rather more complex.”

THE EAC itself is in a difficult position, the paper notes, in that a sizeable part of its productive capacity is inactive given the reduced demand due to the financial crisis, whereas it remains trapped in costly diesel to generate electricity compared to the production costs by solar panels that are below the EAC production costs.

“A transition to a new ownership regime would be more difficult and traumatic for the EAC than for Cyta,” the NEC says, pointing out that possible privatization of the EAC should be accompanied by a strong regulatory authority that would supervise the private firm.

Noting that under these circumstances it is highly doubtful that investors would show interest in buying a stake in EAC, the NEC suggests that the EAC should be restructured and modernized to attract possible investors.

As far the Cyprus Ports Authority (CPA) is concerned, the NEC recommends that the Authority should assume a regulatory role over Cypriot ports, whereas the administration of the ports should be transferred to the private sector.

The Republic of Cyprus is entering into negotiations with the international oil and gas consortium ENI-KOGAS on the licensing of blocks 5 and 6, within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), reliable sources have said.

According to the same sources, the Council of Ministers approved on Thursday the beginning of talks with ENI-KOGAs for the exploration of hydrocarbons in the two blocks.

The timetable for concluding the talks is set for December 2.

Cyprus’ Minister of Energy Yiorgos Lakkotrypis has been authorized to extend the process if it is not concluded by the deadline but there are positive signs that it will end in agreement.

Lakkotrypis is expected to send a letter to the consortium within the day inviting them to enter into talks.

If negotiations are not fruitful, then the 2^nd licensing round will have been completed and the government will in future decide as to when it will proceed with a 3^rd licensing round on all blocks which have not been licensed yet.

Preliminary results of a Noble Energy appraisal well for natural gas in Block 12 of Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone estimate the hydrocarbon reserve between 3.6tcf and 6tcf with a gross mean resource of 5tcf. Noble Energy operates Block 12 with a 70 percent working interest. Delek Drilling Limited Partnership and Avner Oil Exploration Limited Partnership each own 15 percent.

On June 26, 2013, Cyprus government, Delek and Avner signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with regard to the construction of a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal in the Cyprus.

The ENI – KOGAS consortium which has signed a contract for hydrocarbons exploration in blocks 2, 3 and 9 within Cyprus’ EEZ is planning to drill in the third quarter of 2014, while Total, which has signed a contract for blocks 10 and 11, is also proceeding with drilling at the first quarter of 2015.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu will have a  meeting on Monday, November 25, with the aim to agree on a joint declaration that will pave the way for the resumption of  direct talks on the Cyprus problem.

The meeting will take place at 1830 local time (1630 GMT) at a restaurant situated in the buffer zone near Ledra Palace in Nicosia.

According to a written statement by the Government Spokesman Christos Stylianides, issued tonight,  the President had a telephone conversation with Dervis Eroglu during which the Turkish Cypriot leader expressed his condolences over the death of former President Glafkos Clerides who passed away last Friday.

The Spokesman said that Anastasiades took the initiative to invite Eroglu for an informal meeting with the aim to conclude on a joint statement that will pave the way for the solution of the Cyprus problem.

“President of the Republic has sent an invitation letter to Mr. Eroglu in which he expresses his conviction that this is a critical moment in  efforts for a  decisive impetus with a view to finally achieve a solution and that we need to double our efforts for a joint statement during this first landmark meeting of the two leaders, in the framework of the UN good offices mission”, the Spokesman said in his written statement.

The spokesman expressed satisfaction for the acceptance of the invitation by the Turkish Cypriot leader.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. The latest round of UN-backed talks with the aim to reunite the island under  a federal roof  began in 2008 but resulted to a halt in 2012 when Cyprus assumed the EU Presidency.  The two communities have been meeting with the UN the past few weeks in order to agree on a joint declaration for the resumption of the talks.

The business people in Cyprus as well as the employees of the private sector have been mostly affected by the economic crisis, Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis has said.

Addressing Thursday the general assembly of the Famagusta Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Lakkotrypis said that it is for this reason that the government has taken action in order to support the business sector , recalling that recently the government has finalized an agreement with the European Investment Bank for the funding of Cypriot enterprises with 250 mln euros.

Referring to the tourist sector, the Minister noted that the government has made steps in collaboration and coordination with other institutions, in order to tackle the negative effects on Cyprus, following the Eurogroup decision of last March for a deposit haircut.

He said that until September the income from tourism recorded an increase of 8% whereas October arrivals increased by 4,4%.

Lakkotrypis noted the significance of the recent agreement with Russia for the liberalization of flights , pointing out that this will be very beneficial for the Cypriot tourist sector.

In his address the Minister also referred to the energy strategy, noting once again that the government wishes for Cyprus to become an energy hub, thus strengthening its role in the region.

He referred to the construction of the LNG at the Vasilikos area, as well as the use of natural gas for electricity production in order for the consumers to pay lower prices.

The Minister once again pointed out that the aim is for Cyprus to regain the trust of foreign investors and to continue to be an important international business center.

He also referred to the economic support of the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA) and the actions taken for the promotion of  entrepreneurship.

The IMF is in close contact with Cypriot authorities, which are currently formulating their privatization plans, IMF Spokesman Gerry Rice said on Thursday.

He added that achieving the objectives would require “an early start to the process”.

Asked if this is a precondition for the next loan trench, Rice declined to go into details. “I wouldn’t get in to what or might not be conditions of the next loan,” he noted

During the press briefing, Rice said privatizations are obviously an important component of the program.

“It can provide financing to the state over medium term, but even more importantly it can increase the efficiency of the economy as resources are transferred from the state to the private sector which can help to spur competition for the benefit of the consumers,” he said.

He added that “the authorities are currently formulating their privatization plans and we are in close contact with them on assessing how specific modalities can achieve the objectives which I talked about. Achieving those objectives would require an early start to the process”.

Rice referred to the Troika visit to Cyprus earlier in November, during which they discussed with the Cypriot authorities the second review of the program.

He said that the IMF team is now producing a full report that will be discussed by the board in mid-December. “Once the board discusses and approves the review, the disbursement can be made,” he concluded.

A bailout agreement agreed with international lenders last April (European Commission, ECB, IMF) foresees €1.4 bln revenues from privatizations.

Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (21.11.13) reports that the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said that the negotiations in Cyprus should start the soonest and “golden 2013”, as he described the current year, should not be wasted. Davutoglu met yesterday with his British counterpart, William Hague, who was visiting Turkey.

In statements after their meeting, Davutoglu said that Britain is Turkey’s “extremely important partner in Cyprus” and added that they discussed the Cyprus problem. He claimed:

“We think that a window of opportunity is open in Cyprus. Let the negotiations start the soonest and let golden 2013 not be wasted. However, the meeting between the leaders has been continuously postponed by the Greek Cypriot side. In spite of all efforts for overcoming the crisis in the last period, negotiations could not be secured… Turkey is ready for any kind of step, for paving the way of the process… We asked from Mr Hague their help on the issue of speeding up the process. It is in no one’s interest to continuously postpone peace”.

In his reference to Cyprus, Hague said that Britain’s stance is well-known on this matter and added that a great international effort is being exerted on the issue. Wishing for these efforts to succeed, Hague said a window of opportunity exists for the settlement of the problem within the forthcoming months. 

Larnaca district court on Thursday jailed a 38 year old Somali woman for two months for entry through an illegal airport. A 15 year old girl, also from Somalia, was given a suspended sentence after being found guilty of the same offence.
Earlier the two had implored the court not to jail them for crossing into the Republic of Cyprus, after having landed at the illegal airport of Tymbou in the Turkish-occupied north. They said they had been forced to leave Somalia after facing death threats.
In tears, the 38 year old she had been threatened by her husband and the rebels to go with them or be killed. She also said that the husband had killed one of her sons, so she took the other two and fled, using $5000 given to her by her blind mother. She said she had no idea where she was when she initially arrived at Tymbou airport and had ended up in a flat in Larnaca where she was discovered on November 4 and charged with illegal entry. She appealed not to be deported to Somalia “because they will slit her throat.”
The 15 year said her father had been killed and she had sought refuge in Cyprus. Judge Natalie Talaridou said the issue of Somali and other refugees was a massive humanitarian problem. But she said that illegal migration must be averted, since if the waves of illegal migrants continue, Cyprus’ territorial integrity would be put at risk.
She sentenced the older woman to two months in jail and the younger one, two months in jail suspended for three years.

The Cyprus issue and the economy were discussed Thursday, during a meeting between House President Yiannakis Omirou and his Greek counterpart Evangelos Meimarakis, in Athens.

According to an official announcement, Omirou met with the President of the Hellenic Parliament during his two-day working visit to the Greek capital.

In his statements, Omirou said that “Cyprus and Greece will not give up” but they will strive to create the conditions for a new era in their economies. He added that this matter is closely linked to national prospects.

On his part, Meimarakis said the Greek Parliament and Greece “shall never legitimize the Turkish invasion” of Cyprus. “The Parliament is at your side and is fighting with you for a just and viable Cyprus solution” he said.

Referring to the economy, Omirou said that both countries need to create the necessary conditions, in order to exit the loan agreements and the Memorandum of Understanding with the Troika that “impair our financial and state sovereignty”.

He added that all vital forces of the Greek and Cypriot societies must be employed to bring about financial development. “A strong economy in combination with a strong defensive capability and a manifold foreign policy are essential parameters to help us defend our national interests,” he said.

Speaking about developments in the Cyprus issue, Omirou reiterated that there can’t be any Cyprus talks for the sake of talks and noted that the basis of negotiations must be “absolutely clear and unambiguous”.

The two sides in Cyprus need to agree on the basic features of the solution they seek, concerning a single sovereignty, citizenship and international personality, he said.

He added that the EU must assume a more active role in the efforts for a Cyprus solution.

Meimarakis noted that dialogue between Greece and Cyprus can lead to reinforcing the arguments of both sides.

He said that Greece is on the path to exit the Memorandum and added that “the sacrifices of the Greek people will be acknowledged”.

Talking about further EU engagement in Cyprus talks, he said he wished the effort initiated during the Cyprus EU Presidency – in the second half of 2012 – to continue during the Greek Presidency term, starting in January 2014.

Omirou returns to Cyprus later today.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern third.

Repeated rounds of talks, under UN auspices, have yielded no concrete result.

Ahead of a new round of UN-sponsored peace talks, aiming to reunite the country under a federal roof, the Greek Cypriot side says a common declaration outlining the basic principles for a Cyprus solution was imperative.