Updates from Cyprus
The European Commission has approved a €900,000 Cypriot scheme to support wine producers in the context of the coronavirus outbreak.
Under the scheme, the aid will take the form of direct grants, a Commission press release says.
The aim of the scheme is to help beneficiaries managing their wine and must stocks, which increased by around 50% due to the restrictions in place to limit the spread of the virus.
Source: Cyprus News Agency
The prevention of violence against women constitutes a standing policy priority for the government which has implemented significant actions and policies to tackle this complex problem, Minister of Labour Zeta Emilianidou said.
Addressing the annual general meeting of the Association for the Prevention and Handling of Violence in the Family, Emilianidou congratulated the association over its contribution to the significant work for the prevention and combating domestic violence.
In her address read out by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Emilianidou said a landmark in the government’s effort was the operation of Woman’s House, in the context of implementing the obligations stemming from the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, which Cyprus ratified in November 2017.
Source: Cyprus News Agency
Two COVID-19 patients died on Thursday, while 145 new coronavirus cases were traced, Cyprus Health Ministry announced. The positivity rate stands at 0.25%.
The total number of people who have died due to COVID-19 is now 550, while the confirmed cases since the beginning of the pandemic are 119.481.
Eighty COVID-19 patients are treated in hospital. The situation of 34 of them is critical, while 74.12% of those hospitalised have not been vaccinated.
Moreover 12 post-COVID patients who have ceased to be contagious continue to be treated in a critical condition due to COVID-19 at Intensive Treatment Units and are intubated.
A total of 57,324 tests were carried out on Thursday using the PCR method (5,561)and antigen rapid tests (51,763).
The COVID-19 patients who died on Thursday are a 82 year old man and a 75 year ol
Source: Cyprus News Agency
People who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will not have to present a negative test at crossing points in Cyprus as of September 27.
A written statement by the United Nations Spokesperson in Cyprus said that based on an assessment which the bicommunal Technical Committee on Health made on September 23, the situation is determined to be at Level 2 (Orange), where the following measures will be applied at all crossings points as of Monday 27 September (8am):
Level 2 (Orange):
No test required for fully vaccinated persons
72-hour negative Rapid test or PCR test for unvaccinated persons with the exception of high school students and people residing in Kato Pyrgos who will instead need a 7-day negative Rapid Test or PCR test.
“As per the agreement of the Greek Cypriot leader, Nicos Anastasiades
Source: Cyprus News Agency
Presidential Commissioner Photis Photiou’s final day of working visit to London on Wednesday included a meeting with the UK’s Minister for the European Neighbourhood Wendy Morton, with the latest developments regarding the Cyprus issue being on the top of the agenda.
The Commissioner made special reference to next Monday’s trilateral meeting between the President of the Republic or Cyprus, the UN Secretary-General and the Turkish Cypriot leader.
Photiou expressed his hope that Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leader will not repeat their unacceptable demands of a “two-state solution” and “sovereign equality”.
Source: Cyprus News Agency
Major indexes on the US stock market closed strong on Thursday with a massive rally after the Federal Reserve opened the door for tapering but delayed its formal start.
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 504 points, or 1.48%, to close at almost 34,765. The blue-chip index soared 844 points in the last two sessions. The S&P 500 rose 53 points, or 1.2%, to 4,449
The Nasdaq increased 155 points, or 1.04%, to 15,052 as the tech-heavy index again climbed above 15,000.
The Fed said Wednesday that moderation in the pace of asset purchases may soon be warranted, indicating tapering would soon begin. Chair Jerome Powell later said the bank may conclude tapering by the middle of 2022.
Tapering, the process of scaling back its $120 billion worth of monthly bond purchases, could begin in November or December, according to analysts, but its delay provided relief for investors and temporarily removed the risk of liquidity shortage.
The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, plummeted 10.7% to below the critical level of 20 as it settled at 18.63. The dollar index was down 0.4% to 93.09.
The yield on 10-year US Treasury notes, on the other hand, increased 7.8% to 1.435%.
Precious metals reversed course during the session and later extended losses. Gold lost 2.1% to $1,740 per ounce and silver declined 0.7% $22.52.
Oil prices rose more than 1.3% with Brent crude trading at $77.22 per barrel and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude at $73.23.
SOURCE: ANADOLU AGENCY
Serbian Foreign Affairs Minister Nikola Selakovic has reiterated his country`s full support in the Republic of Cyprus` territorial integrity and sovereignty, at a meeting he had in New York with Cyprus Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Christodoulides.
According to a Serbian Foreign Ministry announcement released on Thursday by the Serbian embassy in Nicosia during the meeting the Serbian Minister underlined the strong political dialogue and contacts between the two countries on all levels.
Selakovic, it says, noted that bilateral relations are traditionally good, based on the historically close ties and friendship between the two countries and peoples.
Source: Cyprus News Agency
Cyprus` Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, Kyriacos Kokkinos, said that the alliance of the eight European Universities, aiming to create a common European University of Technology (EUt+) is extremely important and an opportunity to promote research and innovation.
According to a press release of Cyprus University of Technology that is a member of the alliance, Kokkinos stressed the need for cooperation, fruitful interaction and mobility in an institutional way, in order to strengthen the competitiveness of both Cyprus and Europe on the world stage. The Deputy Minister was speaking in the second public discussion in the context of “Limassol Week” and the Meeting of the Rectors of the eight European Universities which form the Alliance.
Source: Cyprus News Agency
The percentage of people working from home as a result of the pandemic in Cyprus in 2020 was lower than that of most regions in the European Union, according to data released by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical service.
In 2020, 12% of employed people aged 20-64 in the EU usually worked from home, while this share had remained constant at around 5 or 6% over the past decade.
Among the EU regions, Helsinki-Uusimaa, the capital region of Finland, recorded the highest share in 2020 (37%), followed at a distance by two Belgian regions: Province du Brabant wallon (27%) and the capital region of Brussels (26%).
Source: Cyprus News Agency
Cyprus Transport, Communications and Works Minister, Yiannis Karousos, raised during the informal EU Transport Ministers Council that took place on September 21 and 23 in Slovenia the issue of connectivity in the field of air transport.
A press release issued by the PIO said that Karousos called on his counterparts to sign a Declaration on air connectivity which is already supported by 8 countries, and proposed to set up a group of experts, aiming at drafting a working paper with specific measures at the EU level for air connectivity.
The Declaration was drafted and submitted last June at Cyprus` initiative by 8 EU member states, Cyprus, Greece, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Romania and aims at extending beyond 2021 the temporary support provided to the air transport sector with regard to connectivity.
Source: Cyprus News Agency