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Money has no smell, taste or patrida!

By Hermes Solomon 21/04/13
 “I was never ruined but twice - once when I lost a lawsuit, once when I won one,” said Voltaire, 1694-1778 (philosopher and writer of Age of Enlightenment). A strange local phenomenon is that (at least until a few years ago) every lawyer who owned a pair of shoes was paid a retainer by their local banks. The reason, or in any case the result, was that they would not take cases of litigation against the banks. Until recently, it was the same against doctors here... 7 comments

The need for a Plan B: a return to the Cyprus pound

By Costas Apostolides 21/04/13
 CYPRUS has found itself in the extremely difficult position it is in because both the present and previous governments went into bailout negotiations at all levels unprepared and without identifying and examining their options. Furthermore they went into discussions believing that their “friends in Europe” would offer them reasonable terms, and they failed to make realistic assessments and study the alternatives... 15 comments

Are we at war with our enemies or ourselves?

By Alexis Galanos 21/04/13
 The crisis our country and our people are experiencing is primarily economic, but along with that all the sins of our political system and social structure, which we diligently swept under the carpet for many years, have been brought to the forefront. Weaknesses, obsessions and mentalities that led us to today’s tragic situation have been highlighted. And what is most worrying and dangerous is that the public cannot see any intention of change and no indication of collective action and unity among the state’s political powers so we can deal with the difficulties. ... 3 comments

Minister Kasoulides’ visit to Israel - A political analysis

By Andrestinos Papadopoulos 21/04/13
 The visit of Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides and Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, George Lakkotripis to Israel was preparatory to President Nicos Anastasiades’ visit scheduled May 6-7. It took place, however, within a particular climate, characterised by two important events affecting Cyprus-Israeli relations - the attempted rapprochement between Turkey and Israel and Ankara’s threats aimed at hindering the exploitation of the natural gas in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)... 1 comment

The battle for Burma

By Gwynne Dyer 20/04/13
Last month, as the anti-Muslim violence in Burma spread from Rakhine state in western Burma to the central Burmese city of Meiktila, Aung San Suu Kyi sat among the generals on the reviewing stand as the Burmese army marched past on Armed Forces Day. She is seen as a saint by many people – but she didn’t say anything about Meiktila, where just days before at least 40 people were killed and 12,000 made homeless... Read on

The tourist is not as gullible as we think

By Anna Farmaki 19/04/13
 I REMEMBER, in years gone by, whenever experts were discussing the future of the tourism industry many were suggesting that ‘virtual tourism’ would supersede other forms of tourism.  Although this concept seems rather unrealistic, the future of this volatile industry is quite unpredictable and as its economic importance is growing, it becomes apparent that attempts to forecast future trends should not be ignored.  ... 5 comments

Our View: Semi-state bodies need to get a grip

18/04/13
SOME sections of this society will never learn. Despite everything Cyprus has been through over the past month, and everything that is yet to come, semi-government organisations (SGOs) still want to have their cake and eat it at the expense of everyone else.On Monday,  the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (Cyta) and Cyprus Ports Authority (CPA) criticised the troika’s demands to come up with €1.4 billion through SGO privatisations, saying they believed they  could use their own resources to cover the amount demanded by the troika as part of Cyprus’ bailout agreement... 18 comments

Our View: CBC Governor has shown he cannot be trusted to take the right decisions

17/04/13
THE PRESIDENT of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi was quick to come to the defence of Cyprus’ Central Bank Governor Panicos Demetriades. In a letter sent to President Nicos Anastasiades, Draghi warned that the Governor could only be dismissed on the grounds specified by EU law and even then the action would have to be reviewed by the EU’s court of justice.  ... 6 comments

Before asking others to pay, Germany should honour its own debts

By Avraam HadjiGiovannis 17/04/13
 THE DISPUTE originated in the 1920’s when Germany issued series of bearer bonds in the USA for revitalisation of its economy following the devastating effects of WWI. Acting as trustees, financial institutions such as JP Morgan and Lee Higgins & Co. produced and sold bonds in America raising funds that would be invested in Germany. These bonds corresponded to Agricultural Loans signed by 14 German banks and guaranteed by the German government. Of these 14 banks four are still active and are part of the troika mechanism. From 1933, Germany defaulted on interest repayments to Bondholders, as the new Nazi leadership considered the debt that Germany faced following WWI as illegal and issued a moratorium on bonds owed to foreign investors... 24 comments

Our View: Paying for the procrastination of previous decades

16/04/13
NOW that the disastrous bailout deal has been done and dusted other than receiving the necessary approval from a number of European parliaments, the government has set to try and put the country back together.How they will do this to any great extent is anyone’s guess.President Nicos Anastasiades began on Sunday with an address to Russian businesses. Other than relaxing the rules on citizenship for many of those who sustained losses in the deposits haircut, there was not much else to offer them except grand words all of which have been heard before... 10 comments
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