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iPad2 prize up for grabs from amongst first 500 SamKnows volunteers

07/02/12
SamKnows has partnered with the European Commission to supply Cypriot consumers with a standalone device called Whitebox (enabled routers) to measure broadband performance across Cyprus. SamKnows is now looking for 1,000 volunteers in Cyprus to join the research, which is part of a pan-European project spread across all EU Member States and three other countries, namely Croatia, Iceland and Norway.As a token of gratitude, SamKnows is offering the first 500 volunteers that register to take part in this pan-European research, the chance to win an iPad2. Volunteers can sign up through an online registration form found at http://www.samknows.eu/el/ipad... Read on

Way opens for third-country experts

By Jacqueline Agathocleous 04/02/12
PARLIAMENT has finally started discussions on the EU harmonising bill for blue cards, which will allow employment of highly qualified non-European nationals into the country.Speaking after the meeting, Committee Chairman, AKEL’s Yiannos Lamaris said the EU directive should in fact have been ratified at the start of 2011.“The Blue Card is valid indefinitely; however, if the beneficiary remains unemployed for over a period of three months, the card will be revoked,” Lamaris explained.“The directive offers EU member states the ability to acquire people with high expertise in specific sectors,” said Lamaris, adding that strict conditions would be included in the law to ensure local scientists weren’t aversely affected... 1 comment

EU satellite named after local schoolgirl

By Alexis Pantelides 01/02/12
 ADRIANNA CYPRUS will be the name of an EU satellite, set to be sent to space in the coming years as part of the EU’s space navigation system, Galileo.The satellite was named after Adrianna Yiallourou, a 10-year-old pupil at the Ayios Anargyros primary school in Larnaca, who won a national drawing competition depicting her interpretation of space.National drawing competitions are set to take place in all 27 EU member states for children aged between eight and 10, whereby children are asked to draw a picture that represents “space and aeronautics”, including stars, rockets, planets, satellites and anything else they can think of that is related to the subject... Read on

Eurozone jobless hits highest level since birth of euro

By Robin Emmott 31/01/12
Eurozone unemployment has risen to its highest level since the euro single currency was introduced, data showed on Tuesday, a day after EU leaders promised to focus on creating millions of new jobs to try to kickstart Europe's floundering economy.Seasonally adjusted unemployment among the 17 countries sharing the euro rose to 10.4 percent in December, on a par with an upwardly revised November figure, the European Union's statistics office Eurostat said.It was the highest rate since June 1998, before the introduction of the euro in 1999... Read on

Manifesto: the awakening of a new generation of Europeans.

31/01/12
AT THE initiative of the think-tank EuropaNova, a new generation is calling on European leaders to take responsibility for taking Europe out of the crisis and committing to the creation of a European federation. The first signatories of this manifesto are young NGO responsible, political heads, company directors, journalists, artists and intellectuals from 15 EU member states.It is now and not in ten years time that the fate of half a billion Europeans and the future model for our societies are at stake. Will we, Europeans, have the courage, determination and energy to turn Europe into a great and democratic power?This is the challenge that we face, as the world rapidly reshapes... Read on

Cypriots careful of privacy on the net

By Poly Pantelides 28/01/12
CYPRIOTS are reluctant to disclose personal information and think it is being used without their knowledge despite being the most confident in feeling they have complete control of their online information, an EU barometer has shown.Only 15 per cent of Cypriots don’t mind disclosing personal information for free services online, the lowest percentage in the EU-27 along with Bulgaria and Greece.At the opposite end of the spectrum, 56 per cent of Italians said they were fine with disclosing personal data.Cypriots above all others said they had full control over their online information (changing, deleting or correcting information) at 52 per cent, followed by 45 per cent of Maltese versus an EU average of 26 per cent... 1 comment

EU warns Cyprus over landfills

By Poly Pantelides 27/01/12
CYPRUS has been given two months to stop using illegal landfills to manage waste before the European Commission takes the case to the European Court of Justice. “Several landfills have found to be operating in violation of EU waste legislation,” a Commission press release said yesterday referring to a landfill directive from 1999.Nicosia and Limassol currently dump all their waste in a total of six landfills which do not meet EU law on protecting human health as well as the environment from an array of negative effects created by the way rubbish is collected, treated and disposed of. ... 4 comments

Cyprus hoping to complete EU asylum system during presidency

26/01/12
Cyprus is hoping to complete the Common European Asylum System by the end of 2012 when it takes over the EU presidency in June, interior minister Neoclis Sylikiotis said today.Speaking at the Informal Council of Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs in Copenhagen, which began with the discussion of a comprehensive document submitted by the Danish Presidency on social solidarity issues, Sylikiotis said Cyprus considers the approach of the document very constructive.He also pointed out the importance of mutual trust among member states, which will be enhanced only if each member state meets its obligations for the proper implementation of the acquis communautaire... 1 comment

Tinned mushrooms recalled

24/01/12
TINNED mushrooms from the Netherlands have been recalled from the market after failing processing regulations but state services say they are not yet aware of how dangerous the contamination is for public health.A spokesman for the Health Services yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that lab tests are currently underway to identify the exact bacteria contained in the tins.“The product was insufficiently processed,” he explained. “But we are still unsure as to what the bacterium is.”Asked how dangerous consumption of the mushrooms could be – as some cans have ended up in households across the island – the spokesman said he was unsure... 2 comments

‘Either we will all lose or we will all win’

By Martin Schultz 24/01/12
FOR THE first time since it was founded, the failure of the European Union is a realistic possibility. For months, the European Union has stumbled from one crisis summit to another, while the economic crisis has raised poverty in many countries and unemployment has reached disastrous levels among young people in particular. They are protesting in Europe’s streets against an economic system allowing a small minority to take in the profits when times are good, and forcing society as a whole to bear the losses when times are bad in a system, which makes anonymous rating agencies in New York more powerful than democratically elected governments and parliaments. ... 1 comment
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