Plane crash in the Mediterranean. What really happened to the Airbus of EgyptAir?
The passenger airplane has crashed near the shore of Cyprus. The Airbus A320 of the EgyptAir was making a flight from Paris to Cairo when it disappeared from the radars 20 minutes before landing, just as it has entered the Egypt’s airspace. There were 66 people on aboard- 56 passengers, 7 crew members and 3 members of the security service of the airline company. It is still unclear what was the exact cause of the accident and this will be probably revealed by flight recorders, which are yet to be found. It has been reported that the airplane unexpectedly started losing altitude and the crew did not manage to send the SOS call. Most of the victims are citizens of France and Egypt and these two countries will be carrying out the investigation of the accident.
Nine contestants for each seat. Parliamentary elections in Cyprus
Cyprus will be electing the Members of Parliament on Sunday 22nd of May. It has been announced that for the 59 seats in the main legislative body of the island, there are 500 contestants. Most candidates are elected through their parties. Apparently in the Parliament of Cyprus , which is in fact properly called House of Representatives, there are 83 seats and 24 of them are reserved for the Turkish Cypriots, however they are not participating in the political life of the island since 1974. Moreover, a seat is allocated for the representatives of the maronites, Armenians and catholics – and they are taking part in the elections. For the remaining 56 seats will be allocated to the politicians of the Greek Cypriot part of the island. The mandate of the MP is 5 years and during last elections 6 parties managed to get into the Parliament. The results of the upcoming electing will be announced quite quickly in the light of the fact that the first Parliamentary session is scheduled for the 22nd June.
Cyprus plans to reunify in 2016
The United Cyprus in 2016- is the goal of the leaders of the Greek and Turkish communities. Anastasiades and Akinchi have made a mutual announcement where they have stressed their determination to achieve that goal. This is the win-win solution to the negotiations which lasted for many years. Both leaders, when discussing the progress, also acknowledge the existence of difficulties and they state the in order to overcome those, both communities must show strong will. One of the most acute problems is the issue of ownership rights over the immovable property. It isstill unclear how to compensate the losses suffered by the displaced individuals back in 1974.
The special measures are no longer necessary. Government lifts the special tax on deposits
The Cyprus government removes the special tax imposed on the ban deposits, which was introduced in 2011 during the peak of the financial crisis on the island. According to the Minister of Finance Mr. Georgiades, the economy of the island stands firmly on the way to the development, so the special measures are no longer necessary. The growth over 2% is forecasted until the end of the year and Cyprus may get into the top 3 of the EU on this parameter. The Minister also stated that even though the removal of tax will cost will decrease the state revenue by 80 million Euros per year, this is the necessary step to make.
