Section: Cyprus
World unites in horror at Nice carnage, backs France
World leaders united in horror and pledged their determination to fight terrorism on Friday after a truck attack on a Bastille Day crowd in the French Riviera city of Nice killed 84 people. US President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin and European and Asian leaders meeting for a summit in Mongolia joined in condemnation of what...
Kerry meets with Putin about cooperating against Islamic State in Syria
US Secretary of State John Kerry met with Russian President Vladimir Putin about boosting military and intelligence cooperation against Islamic State and al Qaeda in Syria and told him that without “concrete, near-term steps,” diplomatic efforts to end the war could not go on indefinitely. Kerry met Putin for three hours at the Kremlin and their...
New UK prime minister May names Philip Hammond as Chancellor
Philip Hammond, who until earlier on Wednesday was Britain’s Foreign Secretary, has succeeded George Osborne as Chancellor in the government being formed by new Prime Minister Theresa May to take Britain out of the European Union. Osborne – Chancellor since 2010 and a close ally of David Cameron who formally stepped down as prime minister...
The most expensive cities worldwide to drink a beer
If you’re on a business trip to the city of Lausanne in Switzerland, you might have to think twice about drinking an evening beer on your company’s tab in one of the city’s bars. Eyebrows would certainly be raised in accounting at a 33cl beer that costs a whopping $17.60. Situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, the city has the...
Czech president urges referendum on EU, NATO, says would back staying (Updated)
Czech President Milos Zeman has called for the Czech Republic to hold a referendum on its membership of the European Union and NATO following Britain’s shock vote to leave the EU, though he said he backed his country staying in both organisations. Zeman has no power to call a referendum, which would require a constitutional amendment. But...
Islamic State prime suspect after suicide bombers kill 36 at Istanbul airport
Turkish investigators pored over video footage and witness statements on Wednesday after three suspected Islamic State suicide bombers opened fire and blew themselves up in Istanbul’s main airport, killing 36 people and wounding almost 150. The attack on Europe’s third-busiest airport was one of the deadliest in a series of suicide...
Kremlin dents Turkish hopes for quick restoration of ties (Updated)
The Kremlin sought to dampen Turkey’s hopes for a swift restoration of normal relations on Tuesday, a day after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan expressed regret over the downing of a Russian warplane last year. The Russian jet was shot down, with the loss of the pilot, in November while taking part in the Kremlin’s military campaign...
Putin says Russia must strengthen as ‘aggressive’ NATO approaches
Russia must boost its combat readiness in response to NATO’s “aggressive actions” near Russia‘s borders, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday. Addressing parliament on the 75th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s attack on the Soviet Union, Putin berated the West for being unwilling to build “a modern, non-bloc collective security...
EU envoys extend economic sanctions on Russia until end-January – sources
The European Union’s Brussels envoys agreed on Tuesday to extend until the end of January the energy, financial and defence sanctions on Russia over the conflict in Ukraine, diplomatic sources said. The bloc’s ministers have yet to formally approve the six-month roll-over but diplomats said there was no doubt they would. France and...
NATO says Ukraine ceasefire barely holding, scolds Russia
Russia is violating an internationally-agreed ceasefire in Ukraine “again and again”, NATO’s chief said on Wednesday, accusing Moscow of continuing to arm separatists in the conflict at the centre of East-West tensions. Some European governments are eager to lift the economic sanctions that the West has levied on Russia over its role in the...
