Opinion

‘I’ll never forget the New Year I was 15,’ an Irish friend told me. It was near lunchtime, the extended family in the living room. There was a bang on ...

The award of this year’s Nobel Prize in economics to Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson highlights a fundamental aspect of the global economy, notably inequality between countries. The three scientists ...

Six months ago, at the end of Iran’s presidential election, I finished an article by speculating that the long-lived theocratic dictatorship in Iran may be a lot closer to ...

Back in the seventies, eighties and nineties, New Year’s Day editorials, like the messages of politicians and parties, expressed the hope that it would be the year of the ...

It is very reassuring hearing President Nikos Christodoulides speaking with such conviction about Cyprus’ strong relations with the United States, about Cyprus’ position in the West and his commitment to ...

Former US president Jimmy Carter, a man defined by his humility and idealism, has died at 100. Many US presidents come from modest upbringings. Born in Plains, Georgia, Jimmy Carter’s ...

Last month, we threw away more than 18 gigawatt hours of solar power – enough to power the average Cypriot household for nearly 2,000 years. This process, referred to as ‘curtailment’, is where ...

By Mark Bendeich Democracy looks bruised but not beaten as it heads into 2025. In a year in which countries representing almost half the world’s population called voters to the ...

I would like to praise garbage man George Rotos for the job he is doing (‘People are queueing up to do this job’ Cyprus Mail, December 21 by Theo Panayides) and ...

As the old year gives way to the new and a new American president is about to come to power with a mandate to make America great again (MAGA) it ...

BEING in holiday mode in the last week, vegetating in front of the box, binge-watching TV series and munching only things with excessive amounts of sugar or salt, after big, ...

Energy Minister George Papanastasiou went to Greece on Friday to discuss the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) project with his Greek counterpart Theodoros Skylakakis. He told the Cyprus News Agency the ...

By Ioannis Tirkides History is not just the outcome of personalities, competing platforms, or a matter of chance. It can be all of that at times. But history is cumulative ...

In his Christmas message, apart from explaining the importance of the birth of Jesus Christ, Archbishop Georgios also issued directives on how the government should deal with the Cyprus issue, ...

By Julie Old At this time of year, images of reindeer are everywhere. I’ve had a soft spot for reindeer ever since I was a little girl. Doesn’t ...

By Tom Whyman I have a vivid memory of the moment I realised Santa didn’t exist. I was around six years old, it was the height of summer, and ...

Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou visited Larnaca supermarkets on Monday as part of an established tour of shops carried out during the Christmas holidays. This year there were no shortages in ...

By Marcus Harmes and Meredith Harmes Sending a letter to Santa can be difficult as no one can agree on where exactly Santa lives. Several countries are competing to claim ...

The agreement for the expansion of Larnaca and Paphos airports was signed on Monday at the presidential palace. Under the agreement, Hermes Airport will commence work by March next year ...

Energy was constantly in the news in 2024, but serious progress was limited. By far the biggest success was the ‘Photovoltaics (PV) for All’ scheme. With the failure of utility-scale renewables (...

By Loukis Skaliotis The democratic system of government has come to be accepted as the preferred system, primarily because it provides legitimacy to those who govern. It is supposed to ...

“I believe in Father Christmas” by Greg Lake is a song that’s played on the radio and in shops each Christmas all over the UK and in many other ...

Government budgets are the main instrument of economic policy that determine how resources are to be allocated and collected from various interest groups. On Wednesday, MPs voted to approve the ...

Zenon Stavrinides, the well-known Greek Cypriot intellectual and Cyprob aficionado, passed away last October aged 78 and my column this week is in celebration of his life. He was the eldest ...