Urban decay

Cyprus said on Tuesday it hopes to re-establish a flow of aid from international lenders after some issues were resolved in a disputed foreclosures bill that lenders demanded for funds to be released.

The Supreme Court of Cyprus on Friday ruled as unconstitutional four bills on bank foreclosures whose passage by Parliament prompted international lenders to halt payments on the country’s 10-billion-euro bailout.

The decision should open the way for Nicosia to receive the next tranche of 436 million euros, which was blocked last month.

The Cypriot supreme court ruled as unconstitutional Friday four bills on bank foreclosures whose passage by parliament prompted international lenders to halt payments on the country’s 10-billion-euro ($12.7-billion) bailout.

The decision should open the way for Nicosia to receive the next tranche of 436 million euros, which was blocked last month.

The proportion of Greeks living at the risk of poverty remained unchanged at 23.1 percent last year, the same as in 2012.

Those defined as being at risk of poverty were individuals having to get by on less than 5,023 euros during the year or two-adult househoulds with two children under 14 making to with less than 10,547.

Greece ranks last on a social justice scale assessing the performance of all 28 member states of the European Union and compiled by the Bertelsmann Foundation in its annual report.

One person was killed and four others were injured on Aug. 23 in a gunfight between police and members of a crime organization that sells the synthetic drug “bonzai” in Ankara.

Locals in an impoverished neighborhood in Istanbul’s European suburbs have launched a struggle against a cheap synthetic drug that has been spreading in the city over the last few years. The spread of the “Bonzai” drug has resulted in many addiction issues among youths and claimed many victims.

Bulgaria's Ministry of Investment Planning is considering new standards for the construction of social housing for the Roma population in the country.

The standards should provide a minimum of 7.5 sq.m. living area per household member, Minister of Investment Planning Ivan Danov announced, cited by BGNES.

Greece saw the biggest rise in the European Union between 2011 and 2012 in terms of the proportion of its population that is at risk of poverty, according to the European Commission's latest Employment and Social Situation Quarterly Review, which was published on Monday.

Experts from Bulgaria's Investment Planning Ministry have proposed setting up a social housing fund.

The fund is to cater to the needs of families and persons with low incomes and specific needs, elderly living alone and disadvantaged citizens, according to the Ministry's press office, as cited by econ.bg.