Section: Cyprus Mail (Cyprus)
US activates Romanian missile defence site, angering Russia
By Robin Emmott The United States switched on an $800 million missile shield in Romania on Thursday that it sees as vital to defend itself and Europe from so-called rogue states but the Kremlin says is aimed at blunting its own nuclear arsenal. To the music of military bands at the remote Deveselu air base, senior US and NATO officials declared...
IMF: Global corruption costs trillions in bribes, lost growth
Public sector corruption siphons $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion annually from the global economy in bribes and costs far more in stunted economic growth, lost tax revenues and sustained poverty, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday. In a new research paper, the IMF said that tackling corruption is critical for the achievement of...
Panama Papers report alleges NZ prime place for rich to hide money
By Charlotte Greenfield and Rebecca Howard Wealthy Latin Americans are using secretive, tax-free New Zealand shelf companies and trusts to help channel funds around the world, according to a report on Monday based on leaks of the so-called Panama Papers. Pressure is mounting on Prime Minister John Key to take action after local media analysed...
EU set to drive forward visas for Turks in migrant deal
Despite deep public misgivings in some countries, the European Union will this week drive forward a plan to grant Turks visa-free travel to Europe as a reward for having reduced a flood of refugees and migrants into Europe to a trickle. The European Commission is set to declare on Wednesday that Turkey has broadly met the criteria for early visa...
Tough standards for Turks’ visa-free travel – EU’s Timmermans
By Alastair Macdonald The deputy head of the European Commission insisted on Thursday that the EU executive would not lower its standards to offer visa-free travel to Turks in the coming weeks as part of a deal to stem migration. “We will not play around with those benchmarks,” First Vice President Frans Timmermans told the European Parliament,...
On 30th anniversary of Chernobyl disaster, Ukraine remembers its victims
Ukraine held memorial services on Tuesday to mark the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which permanently poisoned swathes of eastern Europe and highlighted the shortcomings of the secretive Soviet system. In the early hours of April 26, 1986, a botched test at the nuclear plant in then-Soviet Ukraine triggered a meltdown that...
This is where the Soviet Union ended
Thirty years after the world’s worst nuclear accident on April 26, 1986, the Sunday Mail’s Nathan Morley reports from Chernobyl.This dangerous, highly contaminated place is the new star attraction in the niche travel market known as ‘Dark Tourism’ “It’s taken me four years to convince my wife to let me come here. If you...
Serbia determined to join EU despite bloc’s ‘problems’
By Aleksandar Vasovic Serbia is determined to join European Union despite the bloc’s “problems” but will do nothing to jeopardise its good relations with Russia, Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said. Dacic is also deputy prime minister in Serbia’s ruling coalition that is expected to win four more years in power in Sunday’s general...
Ukraine’s Poroshenko hints at deal with Russia to swap pilot Savchenko
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Tuesday he had agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin a framework for a deal to secure the release of Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, serving a 22-year jail sentence in Russia. The sentencing of two captured Russian servicemen in Ukraine on Monday fuelled speculation that they might be...
Putin says shares Russians’ pain over economic hardship
By Andrew Osborn and Alexander Winning President Vladimir Putin assured ordinary Russians on Thursday that he was trying to relieve the hardships inflicted on them by the slowing economy and the financial knock-on effects of Russia’s stand-off with the West. Putin used a televised phone-in, an annual event when he fields questions from...
