August 16, 2022

We aim to offer more specialised vocational study programs in the coming years, Education Minister tells CNA

Minister of Education, Sport and Youth, Prodromos Prodromou, told CNA that higher vocational education and training in Cyprus is being upgraded with new and modern building facilities in Limassol that will be ready this autumn and more specialised programme options.

Prodromou stressed that the goal is to increase the number of courses of specialised professional studies from the existing 14 to 25 or more with a thousand students in the coming years.

Noting that it is being constantly pointed out that there is shortage of staff with professional qualifications, he said that every year we have many young graduates with qualifications and academic degrees, but the real economy cannot often absorb them professionally.

The programs, he said, can offer two things. Firstly, they will provide short-term education, two-year programs of vocational specialisation for high school graduates who do not proceed to university studies. Secondly, he continued, they will also give opportunities for further training to young people who already have some higher education studies, that do not give, however, access to jobs.

Pointing out that the country needs skilled professionals in several fields, he said that the state must give young people the opportunity to obtain directly those professional qualifications that will enable them to find employment.

Furthermore, he said, we must offer to other people the opportunity to obtain additional qualifications and knowledge with a professional specialisation and skills that will allow them to immediately find employment.

“We have to offer young people those opportunities as well,” he concluded.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

August 16, 2022

The Ministry of Education is ready for the new school year, Prodromou says

The Minister of Education, Sports and Youth, Prodromos Prodromou highlighted on Tuesday the Ministry’s readiness for the start of the new school year.

Asked about the progress of works in schools, on the sidelines of an event with Cypriot athletes and the Cyprus Olympic Committee at the Ministry of Education, Prodromou said that “everything indicates that we will be ready for the start of the new school year. The care of the school facilities is constant. In some schools works are being delivered, in some others they have started. There are about 20-25 schools, out of a total of 700, that will have works done during the school year.”

The Minister went on to report innovations for the new school year. He said that within the framework of the “Cyprus – Tomorrow” Recovery and Resilience Plan, one of the projects of the Ministry of Education is the expansion of pre-primary education. Moreover, he said that a second innovation is that there will be diagnostics both in the first primary school, which was done in the previous school year, and in pre-primary schools.

A Ministry announcement further notes that under the Ministry’s building programme, projects in 44 schools are either now completed or underway, as well as other small-scale projects in 25 schools, at a total cost of 39.8 million euros, and projects in another eight schools will start in the next period.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

August 16, 2022

Cyprus Ministry of Health says no cause for special concern from LayV virus

Currently, there is no cause for special concern from Langya virus in China, the Ministry of Health said in a press release on Tuesday, adding that it will closely monitor the situation regarding the virus’ progression.

In a press release after reports that the virus has been located in China, the Ministry informed the public that the new virus, which is called Langya Henipavirus (LayV), has been identified after febrile incidents were examined following exposure to animals in the eastern China district.

The new virus has been identified in 35 individuals in the Shandog and Henan districts between April 2018 and August 2021.

According to the Ministry of Health, the new virus is transmitted from animals to humans. Henipavirus is a new genus of paramyxovirus that uses protein-based receptors (EphrinB2 and EphrinB3) for virus entry.

A serosurvey of domestic animals detected seropositivity in goats (in 2% of the tested sera) and dogs (5% of the tested sera.) Wild rodent and shrew samples were tested for LayV infection. Viral RNA was detected in three rodent and two shrew species, predominantly in Crocidura lasiura shrews.

The ministry said that the main symptoms of the virus are fever, fatigue, coughing, anorexia, myalgia, nausea and headache.

It added that some patients suffered haematological disorders such as leukopenia, thrombocytopenia as well as liver and kidney function changes, with the majority of patients (85%) being predominantly farmers and most reported in a questionnaire that they had been exposed to animals within one month of the onset of their symptoms.

However, the Ministry clarified that currently, there are no indications that the virus can be spread from human to human, although this possibility cannot be ruled out. Further research will be required to understand the modes of transmission of LayV.

At the same time, no death has been reported due to Langya, which may indicate the low severity of the disease.

Meanwhile the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has announced that based on the limited information currently available, the risk for EU citizens visiting or residing in the Shandong and Henan provinces of China, where the virus was reported, is considered very low. Similarly, the risk of infection for EU citizens in Europe is considered very low.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

August 16, 2022

Eurostat: Greenhouse gas emissions in the EU almost back to pre-COVID levels, increase of emissions in Cyprus

EU economy greenhouse gas emissions during the first quarter of 2022 were still below the pre-COVID levels registered in the first quarter of 2019, but have nevertheless increased and are approaching pre-COVID levels compared to the same period in 2020 and 2021, according to data released by Eurostat, the statistical service of the European Union.

When it comes to the increase of greenhouse gas emissions as a result of economic activity by member state, Cyprus has has the fifth largest increase (14%) during the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, above the EU average which is at 6%.

According to Eurostat, the documented increases were largely due to the effect of the economic rebound after the sharp decrease in activity due to the COVID-19 crisis.

According to Eurostat’s estimates for the first quarter of 2022 for all EU economies, a total of 1029 million tones of CO2-equivalents (a measure used to compare emissions from various greenhouse gases on the basis of their global warming potential) were emitted between January and March of this year.

Emissions showed a 7% and 6% increase compared with the same quarter of 2020 and 2021, but still below pre-COVID levels registered in the first quarter of 2019, when the EU economy emitted 1035 million tonnes of CO2-eq.

Emissions in the first quarter of 2022 increased in almost all EU Member States when compared with the same quarter of 2021. The Netherlands (a reduction of 9%) and Finland (a 1% reduction) were the only Member States that registered a decrease in emissions in the first quarter of 2022 compared with the first quarter of 2021.

Among the Member States with increased emissions in the same comparison period were Bulgaria (an increase of 38%), Malta (21% increase) and Ireland (20% increase).

Greenhouse gas emissions in Cyprus increased by 14% during the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021.

Almost all EU Member States registered a reduction in emissions at the beginning of the pandemic, when comparing the first quarter of 2020 with the same quarter of 2019.

In Cyprus, emissions had increased by almost 1% (0.8%) during the first quarter of 2020 compared with the same period in 2019.

In the first quarter of 2022, the economic sectors responsible for most emissions of greenhouse gases in the EU were households (24%), electricity, gas supply (21%) and manufacturing (20%), followed by agriculture (12%) and transportation and storage (10%).

Greenhouse gas emissions increased in all sectors compared with the same period of 2021, except for households which remained at the same level (245 million tonnes of CO2-eq.). The highest increases were recorded in transportation and storage (+21%), mining (+15%) and construction (+11%).

Source: Cyprus News Agency

August 16, 2022

Ministry of Health preparing a roadmap for managing COVID-19 in the coming months

The Ministry of Health services are in the final stretch to prepare a road map to manage COVID-19 in the next months, the Minister of Health’s Communications Advisor Constantinos Athanasiou told CNA on Tuesday, adding that on Friday a new meeting with the members of the Scientific Advisory Committee will be held.

He said the Ministry has prepared a draft roadmap on handling COVID for the next months which will be sent to all parties involved, including the State Health Services Organisation.

The members of the committee will also receive the draft to evaluate it and submit suggestions during Friday’s meeting while the final plan is expected to be approved by the end of the month.

The final roadmap in managing the pandemic concerns actions which the Ministry of Health will undertake in the event of a rise in cases while if the epidemiological situation remains stable, the ministry will decide on the frequency of tests to be carried out and where they should be performed.

He said the preparation of school protocols and the use of mask in indoor areas is an issue still pending.

Constantinou told CNA that Friday’s meeting will not take any measures to curb the spread of the virus but rather programming on handling the pandemic in the next months which will be valid only if necessary.

Asked where the issue of the fourth booster stands, Athanasiou said that it is still open and the ministry will examine ways to increase awareness about the programme. He added that the fourth dose concerns only citizens over the age of 60 and those who are immunosuppressed.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

August 16, 2022

PRESS RELEASE – BW – AHF: WHO’s Monkeypox Name Game is Mistimed

AIDS Healthcare Foundation today called on the World Health Organization (WHO) to prioritize implementing proven public health measures to curb the global spread of monkeypox, instead of devoting time and energy to changing the name that was given to the virus in 1958.

“WHO says monkeypox must be renamed because it may be perceived as derogatory, but sadly that doesn’t change the fact that this disease was of little concern to the global health establishment in Geneva until people in wealthy countries started getting infected in large numbers – a pattern we have seen before with HIV, Ebola, and COVID-19,” said AHF President Michael Weinstein. “This begs the question, if actions speak louder than words, is WHO’s referendum on the name ‘monkeypox’ nothing more than a token gesture? We need to bring back the basics of public health – education, prevention, training, treatment, and research.”

Homophobia has been far more damaging to public health efforts to combat monkeypox than the name scientists assigned to the virus decades ago—quite logically—because it was first observed in monkeys. The virus has disproportionately affected gay and bisexual men, which has given countries and public health authorities in many jurisdictions cover to ignore the outbreak for far too long, either out of negligence or unwillingness to acknowledge that their populations have men who have sex with men. WHO itself waited 10 weeks to declare monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), and even then it was deadlocked on the decision until Director-General Tedros intervened.

If WHO is serious about decolonizing public health, it would do well to step out of the Geneva bubble and speak out on issues of pervasive systemic racism and discrimination with respect to how the world handles outbreaks, which are of greater immediate consequence in terms of saving lives and preventing illness and suffering than names of viruses. The time to debate scientific and social merits of renaming diseases like monkeypox, chickenpox, bird flu, swine flu, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), West Nile Virus, yellow fever, and others to avoid stigma associated with animals, regions, ethnicity, colors, and so on, will come, but there are more pressing needs at hand.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is a global non-profit organization providing cutting-edge medicine and advocacy to over 1.6 million people in 45 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Europe. We are currently the largest non-profit provider of HIV/AIDS medical care in the world.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220816005808/en/

This material is not a CNA editorial material and CNA shall not bear responsibility for the accuracy of its content. In case you have any questions about the content, kindly refer to the contact person mentioned in the text of the press release.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

August 16, 2022

Commonwealth and Mediterranean Games athletes made Cyprus proud, says Education Minister

On Tuesday, the Minister of Education, Sports and Youth, Prodromos Prodromou, congratulated the athletes who participated in the Commonwealth and Mediterranean games for their sporting performance, noting that they “made Cyprus proud once again.”

During a meeting at the Ministry of Education with the President and members of the Cyprus Olympic Committee, in the presence of the athletes, the Minister congratulated the athletes and those who accompanied them to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the Mediterranean Games in Oran.

“Our athletes made Cyprus proud once again. We want to continue our efforts to support sports in Cyprus through the Cyprus Olympic Committee and through the Cyprus Sports Organization”, said Prodromou.

The Minister thanked the President of the Cyprus Olympic Committee, George Chrysostomou, and his colleagues for the support they offered to the athletes.

The athletes, in their statements, thanked the Minister of Education, Sports and Youth and the Cyprus Olympic Committee for their support, which they described as very important. They expressed pride in their achievements and promised to do their best for even better results.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

August 16, 2022

Cypriot footballer Loizos Loizou dropped from Omonia’s first team

Omonia player Loizos Loizou has been dropped from the first team as, according to a club statement on Tuesday, he wants to continue his career in a more advanced league, while he rejected a proposal for an early extension of his contract with much better terms than the existing one.

As reported, prior to the start of pre-season, Loizou informed the club in writing that if a transfer abroad during the summer transfer window was not possible, then he would not play for Omonia again, reiterating this position on a regular basis.

For its part, the club notes that it has repeatedly tried to help Loizou make the right decisions for his own career and for the club, and it was explained to the player that in order for him to leave, an offer must come that satisfies him and the club, which has not happened so far, with the exception of an offer about a month ago to loan the player without financial compensation, which does not satisfy Omonia.

Furthermore, the club says that they have offered Loizou an early renewal with a significantly increased salary in order for him to train and compete undistracted until an offer that satisfies him and the club comes along, while it was stressed to the player that he should, through his competitive performance, arouse the interest of teams from more advanced leagues in order to achieve what he is aiming for.

Despite any efforts, Omonia reports that Loizou has so far appeared immovable in his position that he does not wish to play for the team but to play in a more advanced league.

Based on the above facts and taking into account the fact that Loizou is training individually, as he is complaining of ankle discomfort, and the team’s trip to Belgium, Omonia announced that the player will train with the K-19 team, with the club fully complying with what is stipulated in the contract with the player and will continue to do so.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

August 16, 2022

Cyprus is not divisible for any reason and on any grounds, states Cyprus’ Permanent Representative to the UN

“Cyprus is not divisible for any reason and on any grounds, including those fabricated by Turkey”, Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the UN, Ambassador Andreas Hadjichrysanthou said.

In a letter to the UN Secretary General which he requested to be released as a UN General Assembly document, the Cypriot ambassador said “Cyprus is not divisible for any reason and on any grounds, including those fabricated by a powerful neighbour who wishes that Cyprus did not exist as a State in its own right and only as its puppet state and as a stepping stone to controlling the eastern Mediterranean.”

It is “high time”, he added, that “Turkey stepped aside and allowed Cypriots to reunify their country as a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with political equality, as set out in relevant resolutions of the Security Council, instead of trying to turn the Turkish Cypriot community into a strategic tool to control decision-making in a reunited Cyprus under the guise of accusations of a lack of readiness to share power and wealth”.

Hadjichrysanthou’s letter was sent with reference to the letter dated 19 May 2022 from the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General.

Hadjichrysanthou reminded that Cyprus emerged into statehood in 1960 as a unitary State with one people, the Cypriot people, irrespective of ethnic origin. The subsequent portrayal of one of Cyprus’ ethnic communities as a people, in order to feign a separate right of self- determination, is not only legally invalid as ex post facto, it has no basis in historical reality, he remarked.

He went on to add that such a fabrication is nothing more than a political tool, used by the kin state of the ethnic community in question, to invent an excuse for secession, because this is what is dictated by its own strategic interests.

Equally false, he added, is presenting the unilateral withdrawal of Turkish Cypriots from State institutions in 1963 as anything other than a strategic move induced by Turkey in order to seek the partition of Cyprus.

In the letter it is reported that the international community is clear that there is a single State of Cyprus that has a sole legitimate Government that represents the entire country and that exercises sovereignty and legal authority over the entire island, including its territory, airspace and maritime space. The international community has been equally clear that the Turkish aggression against Cyprus and the ongoing occupation of 36 percent of its territory as a result of that aggression has no effect on international legality, the Cypriot diplomat added.

He went on to note that in “the countless prevarications through which the Permanent Representative of Turkey presents a contrived picture of settlement efforts, he nonetheless admits the real reason for the current stalemate, which is none other than his country’s demand for the recognition and legitimization of the secessionist entity it established through the unlawful use of force against Cyprus”. However, Hadjichrysanthou underlined that “the main reason why neither the Crans-Montana conference nor the Annan Plan led to a settlement “is the insistence of Turkey to have a foothold in Cyprus following the settlement, with the sovereignty limitations that this entails”.

Regarding the issue of hydrocarbons mentioned by Turkey in its document, Hadjichrysanthou underlined that the “positions expressed by Turkey clearly manifest its policy of violating Cyprus’ sovereignty and sovereign rights, encroaching on Cyprus’ maritime space, concluding an unlawful “delimitation agreement” with an illegal entity, and using its size and might, instead of international law, as its code of conduct”.

Regarding the Law of the Sea, Ambassador Hadjichrysanthou added that “Turkey refuses to accept the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and customary international law and lays claims over areas where it could not, under any circumstances, be considered an interested party under international law. The maritime zones of Turkey and the rights it has therein cannot exist, or be asserted, if their limits are defined arbitrarily to the detriment of the maritime areas and rights of other States, in utter disregard of international law”.

In addition, the Cypriot diplomat said “these claims have no basis in established rules of international law and have no legal effect” as they have been arbitrarily coined to match the geopolitical ambitions of Turkey and prevent Cyprus from exercising its sovereignty and sovereign rights, including by appropriating entire parts of its maritime zones, obstructing vessels that conduct hydrocarbon exploration in Cyprus’ maritime zones on behalf of its Government, and unlawful exploration by Turkey in Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

August 16, 2022

Luxembourg donates €5,000 to CMP

The Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP) received a donation of €5,000 from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg on 10 August 2022. This contribution brings Luxembourg’s financial assistance to the CMP to a total of €8,000 since 2018.

According to a CMP press release, in 2022, these funds will support the CMP Project on the Exhumation, Identification and Return of Remains of Missing Persons in Cyprus with its goal to end the uncertainty which has affected the families for so many years.

It notes that so far, 1,027 missing persons from both Cypriot communities have been identified and returned to their families for dignified burials.

CMP relies on donor support to implement its bi-communal project that alleviates the suffering of the concerned families.

The European Union is the main financial contributor of CMP.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. Since then, the fate of hundreds of people remains unknown.

A Committee on Missing Persons has been established, upon agreement between the leaders of the two communities, with the scope of exhuming, identifying and returning to their relatives the remains of 492 Turkish Cypriots and 1,510 Greek Cypriots, who went missing during the inter-communal fighting of 1963-1964 and in 1974.

According to statistical data published on the CMP website by August 1, 2022 out of 2002 missing persons 1,185 were exhumed and 1,027 were identified. Out of 1510 Greek Cypriot missing persons 735 were identified and 775 are still missing. Out of 492 Turkish Cypriot missing persons 292 were identified and 200 are still missing.

Source: Cyprus News Agency