- austerirty : What will happen next in Greece? Scenarios explored
- economy : Papandreou’s masterstroke
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- astronauts : Mars crew 'lands' after 520 days in isolation
- Catholic Church : Vatican stunned by Irish embassy closure
- 7th Moufflon book fair : A bibliophile’s paradise
- Javier Perianes : Spanish piano master Javier Perianes comes to Nicosia
- AEK : AEK: Cyprus is not just a tourist destination
- Cyprus : Read today's Cyprus Mail pdf edition here
NewsInternational
What will happen next in Greece? Scenarios explored
Whatever the outcome of Greece's confidence vote today political instability will almost certainly keep markets guessing whether Athens will be able to ratify a 130 billion euro bailout deal in time to avoid a messy default in December.Greece has to pay nearly 3 billion euros in bonds maturing in December with big bills falling due from Dec. 19 onwards. Finance Minister Evengelos Venizelos told parliament on Thursday the state can meet its obligations until December 15.Greece must pay 1.172 billion euros on a 3-year bond due Dec.19, 978 million euros on a zero-coupon bond due Dec. 22 and 714 million euros for one-year paper maturing Dec. 30... 2 comments
Mars crew 'lands' after 520 days in isolation
Pale-faced but smiling, the crew of a long-duration isolation study emerged bleary-eyed to daylight and applause on Friday after 520 days locked away in windowless, cramped cells to simulate the length of a journey to Mars.The $15 million Mars500 experiment aims to answer one of the big unknowns of deep-space travel: can people stay healthy and sane during six months rocketing to the Red Planet?The six male volunteers were allowed to briefly embrace family and friends before being ushered into a three-day quarantine period at the end of an experiment to recreate the psychological strain of a real Mars mission as closely as possible... Read on
Vatican stunned by Irish embassy closure
Catholic Ireland's stunning decision to close its embassy to the Vatican is a huge blow to the Holy See's prestige and may be followed by other countries which feel the missions are too expensive, diplomatic sources said on Friday.The closure brought relations between Ireland and the Vatican, once ironclad allies, to an all-time low following the row earlier this year over the Irish Church's handling of sex abuse cases and accusations that the Vatican had encouraged secrecy.Ireland will now be the only major country of ancient Catholic tradition without an embassy in the Vatican... Read on
Grave mood and straight talk at historic EU meeting
THE mood was tough, the words 'crystal clear'. German and French leaders told Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou in two hours of torrid talks they would not allow the 50-year march of European integration to founder on Athens' failure to tackle its debt problems.The confrontation in the Riviera town of Cannes raised for the first time the possibility of a state being ejected from the 12-year-old euro zone, even leaving the European Union itself.Papandreou cut a lonely figure as he walked without aides into the meeting.Flanked by his finance minister and sitting across a white-covered table from French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, he was told bluntly he would get no more aid until Athens committed to play by the rules... Read on
Greek U-turn on referendum
INTENSE European pressure forced debt-stricken Greece to seek political consensus on a new bailout plan instead of holding a referendum after EU leaders raised the prospect of a Greek exit from the euro to preserve the single currency.Fast-moving events in Athens overshadowed the first day of a summit of the Group of 20 major economies on the French Riviera yesterday, with anxious world leaders urging Europe to act to stop contagion from its sovereign debt crisis.Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou bowed to cabinet rebels and agreed to step down and make way for a negotiated coalition government if his Socialists back him in a confidence vote today, government sources told Reuters... Read on
Israelis hold defence drill for missile attack
ISRAEL staged a mass drill yesterday, simulating a missile attack in the centre of the country at a time of intense speculation that the Jewish state could launch strikes on Iran, although the military dismissed any link.Civil defence drills happen several times a year in Israel and the military said this exercise, which caused air-raid sirens to ring out around the Tel Aviv area, had been planned months in advance.There has been a week-long surge of speculation in Israeli media that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is working to secure cabinet consensus for an attack on Iranian nuclear installations... Read on
Tunisian women rally to defend rights against Islamists
TUNISIA'S secularist women are mobilising to defend their western lifestyle after the Islamist Ennahda party swept the country's first free election and claimed almost all the seats won by women in the new assembly.Groups of women are now lobbying the political parties to protect a pioneering 1956 law granting them full equality with men and to counter growing pressure from radical Muslims keen to push them back into traditional roles.University lecturers in Tunis, women and men, staged a short strike yesterday to protest against radicals who – encouraged by Ennahda's strong showing in the October 23 poll – have been harassing women teachers to dress more modestly... Read on
Greek PM not resigning, awaits talks with opposition
GREEK Prime Minister George Papandreou has no plans to resign while he awaits the outcome of talks with the opposition, a minister who took part in a cabinet meeting said. "The prime minister is not resigning. We are awaiting the results of talks with New Democracy (the main conservative opposition)," the minister, who did not want to be named, told reporters. ... 4 comments
Israel test-fires missile amid Iran debate
ISRAEL test-fired a missile yesterday, two days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of the "direct and heavy threat" posed to the Jewish state by Iran's nuclear programme."Israel today carried out the test-firing of a rocket propulsion system from the Palmachim base," a Defence Ministry statement said. "This had been long planned by the defence establishment and was carried out as scheduled."The missile flew at a high angle skyward, its plume visible across central Israel, according to witnesses who informed local media of the launch before the ministry formally announced it... 2 comments
German jobless rise for first time in nearly 2 years
UNEMPLOYMENT in Germany unexpectedly rose in October, the first increase since early 2010, data showed yesterday, compounding fears about the effects of a slowdown in Europe's biggest economy.The seasonally adjusted figures from the Federal Labour Office showed unemployment rose by 10,000 compared to an expected drop of 10,000. That pushed the unemployment rate up to 7.0 per cent from 6.9 per cent in September.Economists said the rise confirmed that Germany, which still has lower unemployment rates than elsewhere in Europe, was facing an underlying downturn and that uncertainty over the eurozone debt crisis was affecting hiring at firms... Read on
