The utility of neutrality
Neutrality used to be a European thing, but it is now in steep decline. If it were an animal, we’d have to declare it an endangered species.
For hundreds ...
Is Palestinian self-determination on the horizon?
As Palestinians stand on the brink of extinction, their right to a state of their own is vital, League of Arab States tells ICJ
In January the International Court of ...
Proposals to reform the government budgetary framework
By Andreas Charalambous and Omiros Pissarides
Cyprus’ performance in public finances is considered satisfactory, as reflected, among others, in the favourable evaluations of international organizations and rating agencies. As a ...
UK Parliament’s Gaza Ceasefire Resolution
There was pandemonium in the mother of parliaments at Westminster last Wednesday when the Scottish National Party (SNP) was prevented from having a vote on a call for a ceasefire ...
Nikki Haley: last woman standing
“I refuse to quit. I feel no need to kiss the ring,” said Nikki Haley defiantly. She was talking about Donald Trump’s ring, of course, because she is predicted ...
Rage against the dying of the light, with Baileys
THE WAY THINGS ARE
Euthanasia is legal in some countries, not in others. It costs to have the privilege of deciding when it’s time to die in comfort, slipping ...
One day there will be statues of Alexei Navalny in Moscow
Vladimir Putin’s regime had been assassinating Chechen warlords, defectors from the Russian intelligence services and sundry wayward oligarchs for years, but its first political murder was the hit on ...
From catastrophe to salvation for Cyprus electricity users
Leaving aside the issues of how the doomed LNG project was awarded, the key issue is to recover and complete it
Much has been said and written about the debacle ...
Nato needs the Russian bear of old
Nato joke aside, Trump’s isolationism nothing new in US
Donald Trump’s rant in which he encouraged Russia to attack Nato member states failing to comply with their treaty ...
The importance of independent fiscal councils
By Andreas Charalambous and Omiros Pissarides
In most developed societies, we observe the establishment of institutions that aim at the wider social benefit, through the technocratic assessment of fiscal policies.
...
Turning Japanese
IT did not end well for Karolina Shiino, the young woman who won the title of Miss Japan two weeks ago. She has just handed her crown back after a ...
Life’s a bitch sometimes
World leaders have this week shown their vulnerable side
Poor King Charles. He was admitted to the London Clinic for a routine procedure to treat a benign prostate condition and ...
Banana Republic(ans), septic Isles
THE WAY THINGS ARE
‘The politician man says do the best you can. And I will do my very best to help. Yes, please do sir, help yourself.’ So sang ...
US and the Mideast: will mistakes of past be repeated?
In the immediate aftermath of the massacre of 1,140 Israeli civilians by Hamas terrorists last October, US President Joe Biden went to Israel and gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu some ...
Wealthy households, high debt and low incomes
Cypriots own a lot of property but that hides the true story
Ultimately, economics is about people. In this connection the ECB Household Finance and Consumption Surveys (HFCS) provide valuable ...
In historic first, a Sinn Fein leader becomes Northern Irish first minister
History will be made in Ireland when the leader of Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland, Michelle O’Neill, becomes first minister as leader of the largest party in the Northern ...
Implications of Argentina’s dollarisation experiment
By Andreas Charalambous and Omiros Pissarides
The calendar marked December 10, 2023 when, having just won the election based on an extreme “liberal” agenda, the economist Javier Milei entered the office of ...
The fascists are (probably not) coming!
‘Fascism is on the march everywhere!’ shrieked the headline on a recent think-piece by my least favourite foreign affairs commentator (who must remain nameless because I don’t want to ...
ICJ decides genocide by Israel in Gaza plausible
Israel was ordered to take all measures to prevent all genocidal acts, punish inciting genocide and allow humanitarian aid
In a landmark ruling on Friday, the International Court of Justice (...
Consensual sex – at thirteen?
THE WAY THINGS ARE
‘It wasn’t just the pain of violent penetration when I was dry and ignorant of what was happening, it was also constant fear when he ...
Launching rockets has become routine in the Middle East
Not all that long ago, attacking another country’s territory was still seen as a big deal. It was, in legal terms, an ‘act of war’, liable to have unpleasant ...
Catastrophe in the making for Cyprus electricity users
The plan to switch to gas-fired power generation seems subject to even more delays with consequent EU fines
I was in the middle of writing this article when the Auditor ...
How sovereign are the British bases in Cyprus?
There were protests outside the British Sovereign Base Area (SBA) at Akrotiri in Cyprus last Sunday about its use in military operations against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, and its ...
Israel vs the ICJ: is this a waste of time?
The two sides have had their day in court – one day each, actually. The seventeen judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) have now retired to consider what interim ...