FINANCE MINISTER Vassos Shiarly waxed lyrical about the unity shown by the political parties last Thursday night when they approved the bill to support the Popular Bank. He congratulated deputies because “they proved that above all they put their country, and not political interests, first”, and called on Greece’s politicians to follow their example.We do not know what Shiarly told deputies in order to win their backing for the bill, by which the state would underwrite a €1.8 billion equity issue by Popular Bank. If the existing shareholders and investors do not buy the new shares, which is increasingly likely given the Popular’s finances, the State would end up with a majority shareholding in the bank. It could have as much as a 90 per cent stake... 5 comments

THE SECOND president of the United States, John Adams, predicted in 1780 that “English will be the most respectable language in the world and the most universally read and spoken in the next century, if not before the end of this one.” It is destined “in the next and succeeding centuries to be more generally the language of the world than Latin was in the last or French is in the present age.”It was a bold prediction, for at that time there were only about 13 million English-speakers in the world, almost all of them living in Britain or on the eastern seaboard of North America. They were barely one percent of the world’s population, and almost nobody except the Welsh and the Irish bothered to learn English as a second language. So how is Adams’s prediction doing now?... 2 comments

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 THE SECOND licensing round for offshore hydrocarbon reserve was a big success, which, according to the Commerce and Industry Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis, “surpassed our expectations.” Nobody could disagree with him, bearing in mind the regular threats publicly voiced by Turkish government officials whose objective was to put off companies from making bids. ... 3 comments

 “I WILL remain a fighter for a settlement and the liberation of our country and our people, until my last breath,” said President Christofias in his melodramatic television address last Monday.Personally I was very saddened by his decision not to seek re-election. This is not because we will lose Christofias. What really saddens me is the big misery this heartless decision will cause to all those European leaders who had implored him to do them the favour and stay on as president.Nobody needs reminding of his recent revelation that several leaders had openly told him they could not imagine Cyprus without Christofias as president. This disappointment he has fed European leaders - a disappointment that could turn into anger - should worry all of us... 2 comments

The cradle of democracy is now being flaunted as the grave of the euro by financial pundits (especially anti eurozone Brits), those same pundits who failed to predict the demise of Lehmann Bros and Bear Stearns, the UK and world banking crisis and this, the world's worst ever recession. Fortunes are still being made on stock, foreign currency and commodities' exchanges by dealers manipulating markets every few months in yo-yo style for a 'few dollars more' and the ordinary shareholder/general public watches powerless while becoming increasingly impoverished... 3 comments

IN THE aftermath of the Greek general elections, and to the dismay of  EU politicians and officials, the Greek people voted by a significant majority against the austerity which the Greek government agreed to last December and to which the two major political parties signed up.  SYRIZA, a radical left party came second and its leader Mr Tsipras was quick to declare that the bailout programme was nullified by the result and that he would seek to renegotiate the programme.  ... Read on

My son has been trying to play competitive tennis in Cyprus for the last seven months. It is not easy to get a foot in the door. He just managed to play his first competitive match. And yet, between driving him to tennis lessons, dealing with the Cyprus Sports Organisation (KOA), the Cyprus Tennis Federation and tournament organisers, it has become an almost full-time job, (or at least full-time job share with my other parenting/driving activities). If I were to start driving him to all the competitions that he actually has a chance of playing in, in places like Yeroskipou, I would have very little time for anything else in my very exciting life. ... Read on

I LIVE in the UK, where the latest official statistic is that 60 underage children are raped every single day. Also on a daily basis, about 400 defenceless animals are taken over by the RSPCA because of animal cruelty. However, I choose to judge the UK by the acts of those I have met personally and who, by and large, are not a bad lot. ... 6 comments

THE SHENANIGANS of the parties of the in-between political space, in their underwhelming efforts to forge an alliance for the presidential elections have proved an entertaining distraction from the many serious problems facing our society. This could have been an electoral alliance made in heaven, especially as it had the blessing of Archbishop Chrysostomos, who has been impatiently waiting in the wings for four leaders to make a decision on the identity of candidate... 5 comments