The civilised way to handle an election loss
Botswana’s elections have always been seen as a model for Africa, but the one last week has a somewhat wider relevance. The way its politicians handled victory and defeat ...
Our View: More support to boost birth rates desperately needed
Concern about the falling birth rates has forced the government to put together a package of incentives to persuade couples to have children, preferably at a younger age. President Nikos ...
Our View: Okypy’s deficit cannot be fixed while unions rule
Presenting his ministry’s budget for 2025 at the House finance committee on Monday, Health Minister Michael Damianos said that an action plan would be prepared in the immediate future for ...
Cyprus’ institutions are in desperate need of modernisation
By Loukis Skaliotis
In a previous article I commented on the need for the world community to restructure the UN if it is to play a more effective role in ...
What a Trump victory would mean for the rest of the world
According to the United Nations 2024 is “the biggest election year in human history” with half of the world’s population – some 3.7 billion people in 72 countries – able to vote. Yet some ...
Is UN likely to suspend Israel over treatment of Palestinians?
By Aidan Hehir
“Where is the UN?” is a question that has often been asked since the start of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza. As the death toll rises ...
Is Germany the sick man of the EU?
In a previous article, we referred to the economic challenges faced by the EU. Some analysts and reputable media express the view that Germany is currently the “sick man of ...
Solving the Cyprus property issue in a federal solution
My aim is to discuss how the conflicting views of both sides on the issue of property can be reconciled and what the new constitution of a federal bizonal and ...
Self-serving Cyprus budgets yet again
The Cyprus government’s budgets for 2025 to 2027 presented to the House of Representatives in October 2024 constitute business as usual with just a mechanical updating of the government finance estimates for 2024.
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The UK, the US and scoundrel leaders
In democracies people get the leaders they deserve
Standards in public life have reached rock bottom in the US and UK. A convicted felon is poised to win the US ...
EU’s clean partnerships require coordinated governance for impact
By Simone Tagliapietra and Cecilia Trasi
It has become clear that the European Union’s pursuit of a triple goal of decarbonisation, competitiveness and security requires better integration of the ...
Tales from the Coffeeshop: Informing Martians about the Cyprob
OUR DELUSIONS of grandeur hit red after the Prezniktwo’s meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House last Wednesday. Our constantly growing geostrategic/regional/diplomatic footprint, combined with ...
Our View: Government is overplaying the White House visit
From the moment the official visit of President Nikos Christodoulides to the White House for a meeting with President Joe Biden was announced, the president, his spokesmen and their media ...
Gender playing a crucial role in this US election
By Carol Johnson, University of Adelaide
Having a female presidential candidate has made gender obvious in this US presidential election, even to many who normally neglect its role. The specific ...
Our View: Let’s abolish alcohol and drug tests and traffic cameras next
Our political parties never cease to amaze us. On Thursday they voted through a bill proposal that would increase the number of penalty points needed for the suspension of someone’...
Our View: Ignoring payment deadlines is part of our culture now
The Tax office announced on Wednesday that the next day’s deadline for submission of 2023 tax returns had been put back by a month to November 30. Press reports had suggested ...
How alarming is your bathroom?
By Primrose Freestone
Toothbrushes and showerheads in modern homes are teeming with viruses known as bacteriophages (bacteria eaters), a new study has found. Many of these ‘phages’ – as they’re ...
Our View: No clemency for delivery driver attackers
There had been 18 instances of attacks on delivery drivers since the start of the year said Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis. Fifteen of these had taken place in Limassol – the latest ...
Why do we still sing jingles decades later?
By Kelly Jakubowski
Even if we haven’t heard them for many years, familiar songs often stick with us for life. We can often recall every lyric to songs we ...
Our View: Biden meeting underlines Christodoulides’ biggest achievement
President Nikos Christodoulides will be the first president of Cyprus to pay an official visit to the White House in 28 years, when he meets President Joe Biden on Wednesday afternoon. ...
Our View: Student parades serve no purpose in today’s society
Student parades were held in all towns on Monday to celebrate Oxi Day – the rejection of Mussolini’s ultimatum to Greece on October 28, 1940 – which led to Greece’s victorious war ...
Trump unbound as US presidential race nears its end
By James Oliphant
With his third straight U.S. presidential campaign coming down to the wire, Donald Trump mused at a rally about hydrogen-powered cars exploding, lamented how difficult it ...
ExxonMobil is back in Cyprus
It has been over two-and-a-half years since ExxonMobil last drilled in Cyprus’ EEZ, but the company is about to come back.
In an interview earlier this month the minister of ...
Open letter to MPs: extraordinary taxation on bank profits
A meeting of the Finance Committee of the House of Representatives on October 7, 2024 discussed the proposal of the general secretary of Akel, Stefanos Stefanou, for the levying of a temporary ...