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[] | 2016-08-31T12:49:38 | null | 2016-08-31T14:00:48 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F31%2Fdancecyprus-marks-ten-years%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web2-6.jpg | en | null | DanceCyprus marks ten years | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Every year lovers of ballet can look forward to an international musical event of superb quality organised by Dancecyprus. Over the past ten years, the non-profit company has supported Cypriot dancers by giving them the opportunity to dance in their own country and offers Cypriot audiences neoclassical ballet performances by international dancers.
This year Dancecyprus has outdone itself by attracting outstanding performers from Covent Garden’s Royal Ballet and the Royal Ballet of Flanders, Belgium for its tenth anniversary gala.
Royal Ballet principal Edward Watson, who performed at the Olympic games in Rio in 2016, is one of the stars of the Cyprus gala. Ryoichi Hirano, one of Japan’s foremost male dancers and a first soloist at the Royal Ballet, will also take part. One of the three female soloists from the famous ballet company who will be present at the event, Christina Arestis, grew up in Cyprus and the Middle East before pursuing her dancing career while soloist Yuhui Choe hails from Korea. Dancer and choreographer Kristen McNally is the third of the soloists.
While these five dancers are the principle soloists at the Limassol event, two demi soloist are from the Royal Ballet of Flanders, Belgium, Anastasia Paschali, originally from Nicosia, and Laurie McSherry-Gray.
Dancecyprus supports its young members, the Dancecyprus Juniors and with other members of the company they also perform at the gala.
The evening’s programme includes Fokine’s Dying Swan, Petipa’s Le Corsaire, Brabant’s Dialoog among others. Choreographies are specially commissioned for this production by Kristen McNally (Royal Ballet), Jeanne Brabant and Altea Nunez (Royal Ballet of Flanders), Ilaria Kalispera and Valeria Makri, Margarita Makridou and Fouli Stylianidou.
Dancecyprus 10th Anniversary Gala
Performance by dancers from the Royal Ballet, Covent Garden and Royal Ballet of Flanders, Belgium. September 3. Rialto theatre, Limassol. 8.30pm. €25/15. September 4. Strovolos Municipal theatre, Nicosia. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/31/dancecyprus-marks-ten-years/ | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/068217a7d7f57b6ed40c43678c98f5d094e07336920decee79d933d40f55655d.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T14:48:58 | null | 2016-08-28T17:47:03 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fcentrists-side-spains-rajoy-political-impasse-holds%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/rajoy-1.jpg | en | null | Centrists side with Spain's Rajoy but political impasse holds | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Spain’s liberal newcomer party Ciudadanos (“Citizens”) agreed on Sunday to back acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in a confidence vote, but the support is not enough to end an eight-month political stalemate.
Rajoy’s centre-right People’s Party (PP) won most votes in two inconclusive general elections in December and June but it fell well short of a majority, leading to months of fruitless political negotiations to form a coalition.
Ciudadanos, which came fourth in both elections, said on Sunday it would add its 32 parliamentary seats to Rajoy’s 137 in Wednesday’s vote, but this still falls short of the 176 needed for an absolute majority.
The PP is also expected to get the backing of the small conservative Canary Island party Canarian Coalition, which will bring the support to 170 seats.
“We have managed to reach agreement amongst 170 seats so that Spain can have a government. It’s a large figure but it’s not enough,” Rajoy told a news conference where he called on other parties to end the deadlock.
Rajoy needs the abstention of the opposition Socialists to form a government, but they have steadfastly refused to smooth the way for an administration led by their main rivals.
To secure its backing, Ciudadanos demanded the PP agree to a list of conditions including the implementation of anti-corruption measures and an electoral reform to end discrimination in the voting system against smaller parties.
If Rajoy loses Wednesday’s vote, a second vote will take place on Friday where a simple majority will suffice to allow him to form a government.
If he loses this second vote, also likely without the support of the Socialists, it would trigger a two-month window to form a government at the end of which another election would have to be called, possibly on Christmas Day. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/centrists-side-spains-rajoy-political-impasse-holds/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/7060b4def6999aa7c4bcd4416d91cb530c22bf6393260a0980f1db4f7ed65967.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T12:49:03 | null | 2016-08-29T15:18:42 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F29%2Fsham-marriage-suspects-plead-not-guilty%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/SHAM-MARRIAGES-e1393486160285.jpg | en | null | Sham marriage suspects plead not guilty | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Five men from Bangladesh and four women from Bulgaria pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges relating to sham marriages that allegedly took place in Larnaca and Nicosia between February and July this year.
The case was adjourned until September 7. The suspects will remain in custody until then.
They were arrested in July after police, acting on a tip, located a Bangladeshi man with four Bulgarian women in a flat in Larnaca.
The women told officers that they had agreed to come to Cyprus and get married to unknown individuals due to their bad financial situation.
They said they got paid €1,000. The plan was to return to their country after the wedding.
The transaction was facilitated by a female compatriot who lives in Bulgaria against whom police issued an arrest warrant.
One of the women told police she had been approached by a woman in Bulgaria who offered her and her sister €2,000 each to come to Cyprus and conduct a sham marriage.
The four women were initially taken to a shelter for victims of human trafficking but following further questioning, it emerged they were not victims, but were actively participating in the commission of the offences and they were arrested.
One of the men told police he married the wanted Bulgarian woman who facilitated the transactions in April.
He claimed he paid two other suspects €4,000 to arrange for him to marry a European citizen.
They brought him in touch with the wanted woman whom he married at the Aradhippou town hall. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/29/sham-marriage-suspects-plead-not-guilty/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/2eb5cccda423e7d0d2d582593bf60e9d90193e577bf9c0c2efa49b9299796cfb.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T06:48:56 | null | 2016-08-29T08:55:42 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F29%2Fold-polycrisis-europes-summer-ends%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/640x640-7-1.jpg | en | null | Same old "polycrisis" as Europe's summer ends | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | By Alastair Macdonald
The European Union grinds back into action this week after its August break, still dazed by Britain’s midsummer vote to quit the EU and facing much the same “polycrisis” as a year ago: a mass of refugees, a fragile economy, hostile Russians and, yes, those Brits, now more awkward than ever.
When President Jean-Claude Juncker makes his annual State of the Union address to Parliament in Strasbourg on Sept. 14, he might easily repeat last year’s warning: the EU had a “last chance” to save itself from a tide of centrifugal nationalisms.
Last week, the EU’s remaining Big Three — German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and their host, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi — felt they needed to renew their vows at the wellspring of the union, the island of Ventotene, where in 1941 prisoners of Mussolini wrote a manifesto for a united Europe.
That they met on the deck of the aircraft carrier Garibaldi reinforced the sense of beleaguered leaders rallying to the EU’s defence as they contemplated an obstacle-strewn political calendar for the year ahead.
The EU leaders are first preparing for a summit on Sept. 16 in Bratislava — without Britain — that aims to sketch out a post-Brexit future for the Union.
On Oct. 2, Hungary’s right-wing prime minister, Viktor Orban, is set to deliver another slap to Brussels: a largely symbolic referendum to reject an EU quota system for relocating refugees among member states — a scheme Juncker invested much capital in a year ago, but which has barely got off the ground.
TRUMP
On Nov. 8, Orban is hoping for victory for a man he calls the “valiant” Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election. Few of Orban’s EU peers are so enthusiastic. They see Trump as a disruptive maverick whose endorsement of and by Brexiteer-in-chief Nigel Farage marks him as no friend of the Union.
A Trump win could snap a transatlantic coalition on Russia that is already fraying in Europe, where governments from Paris to Bratislava are seeking a review of Ukraine-related sanctions when measures expire at year’s end. Trump might also inject a new dose of post-Brexit uncertainty for world trade.
At home, all the Big Three leaders face their own electoral challenges from eurosceptics.
It starts with Renzi, today trying to persuade Italians he has the youthful energy for rebuilding after the latest earthquake in the Apennines, unlike the scandal-tainted Silvio Berlusconi at L’Aquila in 2009, when more than 300 people died.
Probably in November, Renzi will put to a referendum the constitutional reforms he says are needed to break a political deadlock that is choking the Italian economy. Polls are tight and the eurosceptic upstarts 5-Star are gunning for the socialist premier, who is expected to resign if he loses.
Hollande is threatened with a drubbing on April 23 at the hands of far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen in the first round of France’s presidential election.
Her appeal has been enhanced by Islamic State carnage in Paris and Nice and the summer row about burkinis on the beaches, although pollsters doubt she can win a May 7 runoff vote against Hollande or any other survivor from a mainstream party.
As for Merkel, she has yet to confirm she wants a fourth term at parliamentary elections due in just over a year. The biggest threat to her re-election remains her decision last year to welcome a million migrants to Germany as EU borders buckled. That has already weakened support for her conservative party.
HARDBALL
Such threats to domestic survival have often spurred leaders to take potshots at Brussels — even if only the British have taken it to the length of turning most voters against the EU entirely. But even if little has changed in Brussels since last summer, optimists might see reason to hope for more unity now.
While rows go on about how, indeed whether, EU states should share out the burden of asylum-seekers stranded in Greece and Italy, what is new is how few are arriving, at least in Greece.
Rights groups were outraged this year by hard-nosed deals with non-EU Balkan states to bar the routes north from Greece and with Turkey to stop Syrian refugees reaching Greece in the first place. But those deals did slash the numbers arriving.
It’s something EU officials find hard to boast of. Many admit privately to unease at policies that, along with efforts to pay African governments to stop people setting off for Italy, sit uncomfortably with the Union’s lofty humanitarian ideals.
But look again at Merkel, Hollande and Renzi on the Garibaldi, flagship of an EU mission off Libya that is part rescue operation and military deterrent against people smugglers, and a slightly different image of today’s EU emerges.
EU ARMY
All three spoke of Europe getting tougher and more cohesive on security. It is the kind of language that may resonate with sceptical voters dissatisfied with Europe’s struggle to thrive in a globalising world and with the likes of Orban and other eastern leaders alarmed by Merkel’s earlier open-door policy.
Relieved of the need to keep Britons from bolting, Juncker wrung howls of outrage last week from London’s europhobic press when he called national borders “the worst invention ever”. He also renewed his call for a “European army”, which was long just a pipe dream for the Luxemburger as long as Britain had a veto.
The past few days have seen Merkel and a succession of other leaders she has met, including Orban, echo such hopes of joint military structures, indicating one area where EU integration may now forge ahead in response to the British departure.
That still leaves a host of issues dividing European leaders in the coming year: whether to be nice or nasty to Britain once it decides to open negotiations; how to shore up weaknesses in the economic cooperation that underpins the euro; how far to ease sanctions in the hope of better ties with Moscow.
Consensus will be a tall order. Merkel, standing on the deck of the Garibaldi, cited security, investment and youth opportunities as three priorities for a post-Brexit new start for a Europe united and strong. But, she warned: “Danger exists, of fragmentation, of selfishness, of retreating into ourselves.” | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/29/old-polycrisis-europes-summer-ends/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/f7329e18a59c36fbc2050d76279166be08caa00e5c497aa8ee7cf0da51a7894e.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T10:48:46 | null | 2016-08-28T12:12:16 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fturkish-army-pounds-north-syria-monitor-says-20-civilians-killed%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/turkey-5.jpg | en | null | Turkish army pounds north Syria, monitor says 20 civilians killed | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | By Umit Bektas
A group monitoring the Syrian war said Turkish air strikes and artillery attacks killed at least 20 civilians and wounded dozens more on Sunday, the fifth day of Turkey’s cross-border campaign that it says targets Islamic State and Kurdish forces.
Turkey’s warplanes roared into north Syria at daybreak and its artillery pounded what security sources said were sites held by Kurdish YPG militia, after the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported fierce overnight fighting around villages.
There was no immediate comment from the YPG, but forces aligned to the Kurdish group had said on Saturday that no Kurdish militia were in areas being targeted by Turkish in the cross-border offensive.
Turkey, which has been battling Kurdish insurgents on its own soil, sent soldiers, tanks and other military hardware into Syria on Wednesday in support of its Syrian rebel allies, seizing the Syrian border town of Jarablus from Islamic State.
But Turkish officials have openly stated that their goal in Syria is as much about ensuring Kurdish forces do not extend territory they already control along Turkey’s border, as it is about driving Islamic State from its strongholds.
The Observatory, a Britain-based group, said 20 people were killed and 50 wounded in a battle for the village of Jub al-Kousa fought between Turkey with its allies and Kurdish-backed militias.
The region is controlled by militias aligned to the Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a broad grouping which includes the YPG.
The monitoring group said rebels backed by Turkish tanks fought till dawn against rival militias allied to the SDF around al-Amarna, a village near Jarablus, but failed to take it. It said SDF-allied militia damaged three Turkish tanks there.
Turkish security sources said warplanes and artillery had hit Kurdish YPG militia sites near Manbij, a city south of the frontier town of Jarablus that had been captured by Kurdish-aligned SDF this month in a U.S.-backed operation.
A Reuters witness in Karkamis, a town on the Turkish side of the border, heard jets and artillery bomb Syrian targets. The Observatory said Turkish jets hit sites north of Manbij.
TURKISH SOLDIER KILLED
Turkey said one of its soldiers was killed on Saturday when a rocket hit a tank that it said came from a YPG-controlled area. Turkish forces had responded with artillery, it said.
It was the first Turkish death reported in Turkey’s campaign. Most fighting so far has appeared to be with rebels aligned to the Kurdish-backed SDF rather than Islamic State.
The Turkish government wants to stop Kurdish forces gaining control of an unbroken swathe of Syrian territory on Turkey’s frontier, which it fears could embolden the Kurdish militant group PKK, which has waged a three-decade insurgency in Turkey.
Any action against Kurdish forces in Syria puts Turkey at odds with its NATO ally the United States. Washington backs the Kurdish-aligned SDF and YPG, seeing them as the most reliable and effective ally in the fight against Islamic State in Syria.
It adds complexity to the Syrian conflict that erupted five years ago with an uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has since drawn in regional states and world powers.
Turkey has suffered shock waves from the conflict raging in its southern neighbour. Turkey has frequently been targeted in attacks by Islamic State. The government suspects the group was behind a blast at a wedding this month that killed 54 people.
President Tayyip Erdogan is expected to visit the site of that wedding attack in Gaziantep, in southeastern Turkey, to pay his respects to families of the victims later on Sunday. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/turkish-army-pounds-north-syria-monitor-says-20-civilians-killed/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/9c4c9f6cea425af88cb544d32c0b05ca454961446b687258f54d2311f11e343a.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T08:49:18 | null | 2016-08-30T10:30:40 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F30%2Fcar-arson-paphos%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/image735-7-1.jpg | en | null | Car arson in Paphos | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Paphos police are investigating a case of car arson that occurred in the early hours of Tuesday.
According to police, at 3.15 am the fire service in Paphos received message of an incident at a car-repair shop on Nicolaou Ellina Street. The fire had destroyed a Suzuki vehicle and damaged an adjacent Peugeot.
Firemen also found that a thirds vehicle had been covered with flammable material.
The premises is owned by a Syrian permanent resident. The third vehicle belonged to him and the others to customers. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/30/car-arson-paphos/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/a727dd85eac7709b5aa74bae4df4409b8577fabf32f407e4b7aadbc8a22ff166.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T10:49:24 | null | 2016-08-30T12:46:15 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F30%2Flong-tall-christina%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/feature1-2.jpg | en | null | Long, tall Christina | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Perhaps the best-known non-profit dance company on the island, Dance Cyprus is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year with a gala performance sans compare. The venues are booked, the choreography commissioned, and our local dancers are busy preparing for the biggest event of their year. But perhaps the most exciting element of the upcoming performance is the world-famous artists who are flying in from across the continent to showcase their talent and show their support… Demi soloists of the The Royal Ballet of Flanders Anastasia Paschali and Laurie McSherry-Gray are jetting in from Belgium, while principals Edward Watson MBE and Ryoichi Hirano, alongside Soloists Yuhui Choe and Kristen McNally, will be arriving from The Royal Ballet in London. And with them comes one very special dancer, known worldwide for her unique talent and supreme dedication to her art: Cypriot born Christina Arestis, Soloist of the Royal Ballet.
One of the original founders of Dance Cyprus, Christina is now exactly four times the age of the company – which is not, perhaps, what one might expect in a profession where youth is the norm and careers short-lived. But then Christina is not your average dancer: dedicated to her profession from the age of six, hers is a remarkable story, full of passion, discipline and an abiding love for her art.
Having danced a myriad of major parts in every well-known production (Paulina in The Winter’s Tale; Caroline in Frankenstein; Bathilde in Giselle, to name but a few), Christina’s rise to prominence is the stuff of little girls’ dreams. Elegant, poised and eminently likeable, she’s a household name for the next generation of aspiring ballerinas – most especially for those who are told, often erroneously, that they’re ‘too tall to dance’…
“I’m nearly 5 foot 9,” Christina laughs. “And on pointe that’s almost 6 foot, which makes me one of the tallest girls in the company! But do remember that there is a history of taller female dancers,” she continues encouragingly, referencing renowned French ballerina Sylvie Guillem – who, at 167cm, was often deemed ‘too tall’ for classical ballet when she began her career – and retired Principal Dancer at The Royal Ballet Darcy Bussell, who stands at over 170cm.
Fortunately, Christina was “really quite small” when a child, and admits she didn’t start growing until she was about 18 – by which point she was already completely dedicated to her chosen career. “I started dancing in Cyprus, at the age of six. I just loved it from the outset: the music, the movement – you get completely lost in your own little world. I basically just wanted to dance – though I never imagined at that age that I could ever earn a wage from it!”
A childhood spell in the Middle East – “my dad’s a civil engineer: Bahrain for eight months, Oman for a couple of years; I was never worried about new schools, the first thing I always said to my mum was ‘find me a ballet class!’” – was followed by a move to Scotland, and attendance at the first ever Royal Ballet Summer School. “Then they offered me a place at the actual school, starting just two weeks later! I was very up for the idea, but I think it was harder for my parents to accept the notion of boarding school. But they’ve always been incredibly supportive of all their children’s hopes and dreams, so off I went to White Lodge” – the Royal Ballet Lower School – “at the age of 11…
“I think leaving home at such a young age does teach you to become independent very quickly,” she muses. But hours of practice and the dreaded annual assessments aside – “not the nicest thing at all! You were never sure whether you’d passed and would be allowed to return the following year” – Christina loved her unusual education, and transitioned smoothly into the upper classes at the age of 16. “That’s when they bring in another class of about 30 students from all over the world – it’s quite an adjustment! Suddenly, you’re a very small fish in a big pond, and you have to be very mentally strong to handle it all.”
It’s clear from the picture Christina paints of her early life that the physical discipline of becoming a top-flight ballerina goes hand in hand with a certain strength and competitive spirit. But it’s actually more about competing against oneself than others, she explains. “Meeting the new students from abroad was a bit of an eye-opener to those of us who’d been brought up in Britain. It was quite amusing watching all the Americans and Japanese rushing to the front of class, while the British hung back politely, saying ‘after you, no after you’! But I think perhaps there’s something that can be learnt from that, because this is a profession that’s all about trying to better yourself, day in and day out…”
Even today, when Christina has risen to the dizzying heights of Soloist at The Royal Ballet, she insists there’s little competition among the top dancers (though self-discipline is still paramount in a day that involves non-stop practice and mastery of one’s art). “You’d expect we’d all be vying for roles, but there’s an acceptance that you have your shows, and the others have theirs; different dancers are suited to different parts, and you just go out and do the best that you can to transport the audience. And that’s what ballet is really about,” she adds, “You don’t do it for the applause – to be honest it can be a bit embarrassing at times.
It’s about the audience and the orchestra and the dancers all creating something wonderful, a moment of pure magic…”
A moment, no doubt, that audiences at the Dance Cyprus Gala are sure to experience in all its majesty, especially with dancers such as Christina as part of the show. “I’m so happy to be supporting the Gala,” she concludes. “This is where it all began, and I feel it’s very important to give back; it’s a privilege to be part of Dance Cyprus. This is an island with hundreds of dance schools, thousands of young dancers and an incredible tradition of dancing: it’s our cultural way of celebrating when we’re happy… And the Gala is just that, a wonderful celebration of a wonderful art on a wonderful island!”
The Dance Cyprus Gala
September 3 at the Rialto Theatre, Limassol and September 4 at Strovolos Municipal Theatre, Nicosia. Curtain up at 8.30pm. For more information call 99 549478, visit www.dancecyprus.org or the ‘Dance Cyprus’ Facebook page, or email dance@dancecyprus.org. Tickets cost €25 and €15 for children, and can be obtained from www.rialto.com.cy and www.Soldout-Tickets.com.cy | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/30/long-tall-christina/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/e8590456f59872f647e5d6e9d94d79c086aef4a8c9f1604bcf1365732c28b0ee.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T14:48:27 | null | 2016-08-27T16:24:08 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F27%2Fpolice-say-mayors-failure-provide-statement-kills-bribery-investigation%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/our-view1.jpg | en | null | Police say mayor’s failure to provide statement kills bribery investigation | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Police said on Saturday they were not investigating anything to do with corruption allegations made by Paphos mayor Phedonas Phedonos because no evidence or statements had been given.
“To date, police are not investigating anything regarding the case in question because it was not possible to get evidence and statements from people who possibly know, despite our repeated efforts,” a written statement said.
The force was referring to claims made by Phedonos that local officials had demanded kickbacks from oilfield service giant Schlumberger when the company was looking to set up its base of operations in Aradhippou, Larnaca, a couple of years ago.
Phedonos has been criticised for not providing police with a statement. He argued that he did not do so because every time he did in previous occasions, those implicated found out what he had said inside five minutes.
On Saturday, police said they could not carry out an investigation based on public statements “that did not help its work”.
“Investigating any case on the basis of generalities runs the risk of negatively affecting the inquiry,” the police said.
The force urged anyone with any evidence on the case to submit them immediately. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/27/police-say-mayors-failure-provide-statement-kills-bribery-investigation/ | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/d4a5f6aea76bf32d5f89e1123187dfc96818a76be159b967c494d1504c658d86.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T08:48:42 | null | 2016-08-28T10:45:20 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fsouth-africa-finance-minister-charged-graft-city-press-newspaper%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Pravin_Gordhan_2015.jpg | en | null | South Africa finance minister to be charged for graft - City Press newspaper | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | South Africa Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan may be charged this week for graft, the City Press newspaper reported on Sunday, citing senior sources in the police, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), and the tax service.
Thirty witnesses had been lined up to testify against Gordhan and three former officials from the South African Revenue Service (SARS), the paper said.
Officials at the NPA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Police summoned Gordhan this week in connection with an investigation into a “rogue spy unit” set up in the revenue service when he headed the organisation, rattling South African markets and sending the rand down 5 percent.
The investigation first came to light in February and political pundits have said Gordhan is being undermined by a faction in the government and ruling African National Congress (ANC) allied to President Jacob Zuma.
The newspaper said Gordhan faced a graft charge for granting early retirement to Ivan Pillay, a former commissioner of the South African Revenue Service who is also under investigation.
Zuma said on Thursday he backed Gordhan but was powerless to stop a police investigation into him, signalling a prolonged tussle that could add to market volatility.
South Africa’s credit rating is set to be cut to junk status this year, according to a Reuters poll this week, with economists surveyed citing the heightened political risk around the Gordhan saga.
Gordhan commands huge respect in the markets and his departure would be a serious blow to Africa’s most industrialised country, teetering as it is on the brink of recession.
The Sunday Times said Gordhan had told a meeting of Treasury staff on Friday that he and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas could be removed in a cabinet shuffle. Treasury officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/south-africa-finance-minister-charged-graft-city-press-newspaper/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/79ade61ce79c538de8982672d6a7adeea30482ef33efb6c720e0533d635c2988.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T18:49:28 | null | 2016-08-30T21:29:03 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F30%2Fremand-july-napa-murder%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/CM-kalopsidiotis-7.jpg | en | null | Further remand over July Napa murder | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | A 41-year-old man from Akaki in Nicosia district was remanded for six days after police connected him with a Kalashnikov assault rifle found during a search of a Nicosia flat in July.
Police say Charalambos Kosharis’ DNA and fingerprints were found on the weapon which was discovered along with ammunition and a moped in the Nicosia flat of his childhood friend, Costas Kataris.
Though Kataris’ residence was searched as part of investigations into the bloody June 23 Ayia Napa contract killings of businessman Phanos Theophanous Kalopsidiotis and three others, the Kalashnikov was not connected to the gangland style hit. The moped, which was stolen is said to have been used in the theft of the car in which the shooters were taken to the scene of the killings.
Police could not verify reports that DNA material belonging to Alex Burelli, an Albanian believed to be one of the shooters who is still at large and Marios Christodoulou aka ‘Bennis’ who is also being held in connection with the slayings, were also found on the weapon.
Kalopsidiotis, along with police officer Elias Hadjiefthimiou, 46, his wife Skevi, 39, and the couple’s two children were having dinner at the Stone Garden restaurant when two gunmen stormed in with automatic weapons, spraying the area with bullets. Kalopsidiotis, the police officer, his wife and the other suspected Albanian gunman Jani Vogli were all killed in the attack that took place in the heart of the busy popular resort.
After the arrest of six suspects in the case, one of them gave instructions from prison to Kataris to get rid of evidence related to the case, telling him to immediately remove the bike and weapons from the storeroom of the apartment and hide them elsewhere.
The automatic rifle was found wrapped in nylon along with a plastic bag full of various caliber bullets and the scooter which had been reported stolen at Lykavitos police station on May 28 2016.
Marios Christodoulou, aka ‘Bennis’, 38, Ayia Napa cabaret owner Panayiotis Pentafkas, 39, Sophia Gregoriou, 29, and Serbian national, Loy Dejan, 42, who were apprehended following testimony police secured after the arrest of two other suspects, 30-year-old Sotiria Neophytou and her neighbour Charalambos Andreou, 32, are due to stand trial for the killings on September 5.
Andreou and Neophytou are suspected of harbouring and assisting the escape of Burelli. The others are believed to have brought the gunmen to the island, supplied the weapons used for the hit, and planned and facilitated his escape. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/30/remand-july-napa-murder/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/e64167b4e67cf7ea75b12ef8b947d6606270b1e208cccfd6707ead0d9bd0f0ea.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:58:32 | null | 2016-08-26T14:54:36 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F26%2Fbriton-jailed-six-months-drunken-chaos-cyprus-flight%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Jet_2_B733_G-CELI.jpg | en | null | Briton jailed for six months over drunken chaos on Cyprus flight | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | A “nightmare” drunk has been jailed for six months after his abusive behaviour to flight crew and passengers led to a plane being diverted, the UK Press Association reported.
Joshua Strickland, 21, of York, threatened to assault a number of people during a Jet2.com flight from Leeds Bradford Airport to Cyprus on July 13.
When the plane returned to the UK to land in Manchester, Strickland was heard to say: “If they are doing this I might as well knock someone out.”
The painter and decorator, who failed a “love rat” lie detector test on ITV’s The Jeremy Kyle Show last year, was first spoken to by Jet2 crew for talking loudly when the plane was on the tarmac.
Following take-off shortly after 10.30am, Strickland put his face close up to an air stewardess and said: “I want a f***ing drink.”
Manchester Crown Court heard he turned his attentions to a Cypriot family sitting nearby and told them: “You had better not be talking about me or I will knock you out.”
He went on to say: “Speak English, talk English.”
Strickland, whose eyes were glazed and was slurring his words, told another passenger: “Shut up or I will smack you.”
Elizabeth Evans, prosecuting, said a seat was found at the back of the plane for Strickland and he was physically restrained in his seat, partly by his friends.
However, he broke free at one point after pretending to go to the toilet and ran down the aisle towards the Cypriot family.
Concerned crew members informed the flight captain of Strickland’s “volatile, abusive and unpredictable” behaviour and the decision was made to turn back over the North Sea and land at Manchester Airport.
The prosecutor said the defendant repeatedly tried to get out of his seat as the plane descended and friends attempted to cover his mouth.
She said: “He was described as kicking out at and punching his head rest and was heard to say ‘if they are doing this I might as well knock someone out’.”
Strickland, of Lucas Avenue, was arrested when the plane landed and the flight was further delayed until a new crew arrived.
He pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to being drunk on an aircraft.
Huw Edwards, defending, said his client was “remorseful”.
Edwards said: “He has asked me to pass on his apologies to those who had to experience what was at least an extremely unpleasant, and at most a frightening, experience which resulted from his frankly awful behaviour.”
Strickland had 11 previous convictions for 20 offences, including a most recent offence of battery in 2014 in which he received a community order.
He was said to have had a “troubled upbringing” and has mental health problems together with a history of alcohol and substance misuse.
Edwards said Strickland was finally willing to address his depression.
Sentencing, Judge Eliot Knopf said: “There is no question this must have been every passenger and crew’s nightmare.
“You were particularly unpleasant and aggressive because of your obsession with the Cypriot family, for whatever reason.
“It has been said on a number of occasions in recent years where people appear before court for sentences of this nature, they must expect condign punishment. Not just being punished for what they did but so that the message goes out they will receive a strict sentence.”
Strickland was banned for life by Jet2 last month.
The firm applied for £10,350 compensation from Strickland but the judge pointed out that the defendant was unemployed and on benefits.
Jet2 said Strickland had consumed his own alcohol illicitly on the Larnaca-bound flight.
The company’s managing director, Phil Ward, said: “We are thrilled with the decision by Manchester Crown Court today. Joshua Strickland’s violent outburst was absolutely unacceptable and caused a lot of distress plus significant delays for our customers.
“Our customers, many of whom are families, should be able to look forward to an enjoyable flight experience with us and we will not let a disruptive few spoil this.
“We will take whatever action necessary to stamp it out. Passengers should be in no doubt that the consequences of abusive and unruly behaviour onboard aircraft do lead to custodial and financial penalties.”
Jet2 said its Onboard Together initiative commits the airline to a zero tolerance stance against disruptive passenger behaviour, including banning the sale of alcohol onboard all flights before 8am.
So far more than 500 passengers have been refused travel and more than 60 of those have been given lifetime bans, added the firm. (PA) | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/26/briton-jailed-six-months-drunken-chaos-cyprus-flight/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/f708c74eb892e45b886b10cfdd39cf9e3905f477f02687e12532c9b85ad582b1.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T08:48:44 | null | 2016-08-28T11:07:00 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Ffire-nicosia-district-brought-control%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/forest-fire-2.jpg | en | null | Fire in Nicosia district brought under control | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | A fire that broke out in the Rodani locality in Lythrodontas in the Nicosia district early Sunday has been brought under control, the fire service said.
In total, eleven rangers, four fire engines and a digger truck owned by a private individual managed to put out the fire that broke out at around 5am, around an hour and a half later. The fire burned a decare of wild vegetation.
Investigations are underway to find the cause of the blaze. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/fire-nicosia-district-brought-control/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/a7b446d58b212d3b2ea40e306b320a24b89fc70288855147975ad2a253c6c667.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T16:47:46 | null | 2016-08-26T18:04:34 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F26%2Fpanic-ny-subway-train-crickets-worms-let-loose%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/NY.jpg | en | null | Panic on NY subway train as crickets, worms let loose | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | It could have been a scene straight out of a horror movie.
A woman trying to sell crickets and worms on a crowded New York City subway car became frazzled by some teenagers and let the critters loose on riders, then urinated on herself, according to social media posts and news reports.
Riders on the subway train were locked in close quarters with the critters for half an hour during rush hour on Wednesday evening after a passenger pulled the train’s emergency brake while they were on the Manhattan Bridge.
The teenagers had pushed the woman as she offered the creepy-crawlies for sale, and she tossed the container holding them into the air, the New York Post reported, citing witnesses. It was unclear if the teens pushed her accidentally.
After the crickets were set free, some of them jumped on passengers, according to the Post.
“Never seen a crowd get so panicked so fast, everyone rushed to the other side of the train,” one rider, Ezra Mechaber, wrote on Twitter. “Mass hysteria in a locked, enclosed space is something else.”
Some people whipped out smartphones and began recording.
In one video posted online, the woman yelled, “Why’d you have to hit me?” and “My crickets!”
In another, the woman is seen screaming uncontrollably as riders tried to consol her.
The D train, which connects the boroughs of the Bronx with Brooklyn via Manhattan, was stopped on the bridge spanning the East River. After it began moving again, police officers met the train at the next station.
No one was injured, and the woman was taken to a hospital for psychiatric observation, the New York Daily News reported. Police did not release her name. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/26/panic-ny-subway-train-crickets-worms-let-loose/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/4da2382ba5b78473d813dadad9a4ce7c9c2da014655111ea9359fc0e7a1de5c9.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T10:49:34 | null | 2016-08-31T13:08:30 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F31%2Ftrump-make-dramatic-trip-mexico-immigration-speech%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/trump-5.jpg | en | null | Trump to make dramatic trip to Mexico before immigration speech | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will meet Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Wednesday in a hastily arranged visit to Mexico hours before delivering a highly anticipated speech on how he will tackle illegal immigration.
True to Trump’s flair for the dramatic, the visit will guarantee widespread news coverage for the former reality TV star. It also carries some risks for him, however, since most foreign visits at the presidential level are long-planned and carefully scripted.
Trump announced the trip on Twitter on Tuesday night and it was confirmed in another tweet by the Mexican government. “I have accepted the invitation of President Enrique Pena Nieto, of Mexico, and look very much forward to meeting him tomorrow,” Trump said.
The private meeting, which Trump and his advisers began considering last week after Pena Nieto’s invitation, will be Trump’s first official interaction with a foreign leader since he began his presidential campaign more than a year ago.
Such trips can be tricky to navigate. Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee, suffered a number of gaffes during a trip to London, Israel and Poland four years ago.
Pena Nieto has dismissed Trump’s demand that Mexico pay for a border wall that the New York businessman has pledged to build if elected on Nov. 8. “There is no way that Mexico could pay for a wall like that,” he told CNN on July 10.
Pena Nieto, who has publicly voiced skepticism about Trump, has been enmeshed in a controversy over whether he plagiarized some of his 1991 undergraduate law thesis.
The talks will take place hours before Trump is to give a major speech on Wednesday night as he seeks to straddle a fine line between being tough on illegal immigration but giving moderate voters a reason to give his candidacy a fresh look.
While he has closed the gap in some areas, Trump still trails Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in most opinion polls nationally and in most battleground states with 10 weeks to go until the Nov. 8 election.
Clinton has also been invited to a meeting with Pena Nieto but it is not yet clear if she has accepted, although her spokeswoman took a dim view of Trump’s trip.
“What ultimately matters is what Donald Trump says to voters in Arizona, not Mexico, and whether he remains committed to the splitting up of families and deportation of millions,” spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri said in a statement.
NO AMNESTY
Trump was to deliver his remarks at 6 p.m. MST (0100 GMT on Thursday) in Phoenix, Arizona, a state that has been at the heart of the debate over the porous U.S. border with Mexico.
Aides said he would reaffirm his determination to the border wall to curtail new illegal crossings and to quickly deport illegal immigrants who have committed crimes in the United States.
But the central question facing Trump was how he would treat the majority of the 11 million illegal immigrants who have set down roots in their communities and obeyed U.S. laws, an issue that has bedeviled the immigration debate for years.
Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, told MSNBC on Tuesday that Trump was active in drafting his speech and was dead set against any proposal that might be seen as providing amnesty to illegal immigrants.
“The point that Mr. Trump has made again and again is that you don’t get amnesty and you don’t get legalization since you broke the law to be here in the first place,” she said. “But then he also respects it’s a complex issue.”
Trump has shown signs of indecision on whether to go ahead with his previous proposal for a “deportation force” to deport the 11 million people, saying there are some “great people” among the immigrant population and that he would like to work with them.
He was pressed in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity last week on whether he was open to any steps that might accommodate law-abiding people who had built strong family ties in the United States.
“There certainly can be a softening because we’re not looking to hurt people,” Trump said in his response. “We want people – we have some great people in this country.”
FINE LINE
Suggestions of a softening by Trump and his campaign advisers prompted conservative allies like former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to caution him against rolling back on a central pledge that helped him defeat 16 rivals for the Republican presidential nomination.
A move by Trump to moderate his stance on immigration could help him attract more support among swing voters in his uphill drive to win in November, but some of his conservative backers could be disenchanted.
“It’s vitally important that he not disappoint his supporters because they are the people who are with you through thick and thin and when you start to thin your base in hopes of adding other people to your base, it just never works,” said Republican strategist Barry Bennett, a Trump supporter.
Trump has already laid out parts of his immigration policy and they resemble some past Republican attempts at immigration reform, like using an E-verify system to ensure that employers hire properly documented workers, and swift deportation of immigrants who have committed crimes.
He has also vowed to stop some major cities’ practice of providing sanctuary for illegal immigrants and to stop immigrants from overstaying their visas. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/31/trump-make-dramatic-trip-mexico-immigration-speech/ | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/a771930d33ce3e5fbb3b59c3536a245a5bf4222e6698d6256634bf8b94e2d388.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T08:49:06 | null | 2016-08-29T10:42:22 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F29%2Fdeath-toll-yemen-suicide-bombing-rises-least-45-msf%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/houthi.jpg | en | null | 'Suicide bomber kills 45 in Yemen Aden attack' (Updated) | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | A suicide bomber killed at least 45 people when he drove a car laden with explosives into a compound run by local militias in Aden on Monday, Medecins Sans Frontieres said, in one of the deadliest attacks in the southern Yemeni port city.
The official said at least 60 other people were brought into a nearby hospital run by the medical charity in Aden’s Mansoura district.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but it resembled previous suicide bombings which Islamic State said it carried out in the city.
A security source said the attack targeted a school compound where conscripts of the Popular Committees, forces allied to the internationally recognised President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, were gathered for breakfast.
The blast rocked the area and sent debris flying, sending residents fleeing, one witness said.
Islamist militants have exploited an 18-month-old civil war between the Houthis and Hadi’s supporters and launched a series of attacks targeting senior officials, religious figures, security forces and compounds of the Saudi-led Arab military coalition which supports Hadi. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/29/death-toll-yemen-suicide-bombing-rises-least-45-msf/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/29770000f6b0b45638ed035c99904714535f2f6c60e482fff4e6a5cace3d5ad2.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T02:48:41 | null | 2016-08-28T05:03:21 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fthe-iconoclast-of-timbuktu%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/comment-dyer-Ahmad-al-Faqi-al-Mahdi-appears-at-the-International-Criminal-Court-in-The-Hague.jpg | en | null | The iconoclast of Timbuktu | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | By Gwynne Dyer
Nobody got punished for blowing up the giant Buddhist statues in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan Valley in 2001. Nobody has been sent to jail for blowing up much of the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria after ISIS captured it in May 2015. (It was recaptured last March.) But Ahmed al-Mahdi is going to jail for a long time for destroying the religious monuments of Timbuktu, and he even says he’s sorry.
Appearing befor the International Criminal Court in The Hague on Monday, the former junior civil servant in Mali’s department of education said “All the charges brought against me are accurate and correct. I am really sorry, and I regret all the damage that my actions have caused.”
He caused a lot of damage. Timbuktu is a remote desert outpost now, with fewer residents than the 25,000 students who thronged its famous Islamic university in its golden age in the 16th century. Its ancient mosques and monuments are of such historical value that they have earned Timbuktu (like Bamiyan and Palmyra) a UNESCO designation as a World Heritage Site.
Timbuktu’s greatest treasure was its tens of thousands of manuscripts dating from the 12th to the 16th centuries, which dealt with topics as diverse as literature, women’s rights, music, philosophy, and good business practice
When Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) stormed into Timbuktu in 2012, the heroic librarian Abdel Kader Haidara saved 95 percent of the city’s manuscripts by smuggling them out to Bamako, Mali’s capital, by car and boat. But the mosques and the mausoleums could not be moved, and Ahmed al-Mahdi was recruited to head the “morality police”. One of his jobs was smashing the ones that were “idolatrous”.
Al-Mahdi, born near Timbuktu, was already a follower of Wahhabism, an austere Islamic sect of Saudi Arabian origin that condemns ordinary people’s reverence for ancient mausoleums and religious shrines as idolatry. So to protect people from sin, historic buildings, tombs, etc. must be destroyed. (Back home, the Wahhabis have pretty well finished the job in Mecca by now.)
AQIM, like ISIS and the Taliban, is “Salafi” in its beliefs, but Salafism is essentially an offspring of Wahhabism with added extremism. So Ahmed al-Mahdi was an obvious recruit for AQIM, and he threw himself into his new job with enthusiasm. He is charged with destroying nine mausoleums and part of one mosque, but he almost certainly vandalised many more.
Malian and French troops drove AQIM out of Timbuktu in 2013, and al-Mahdi was captured shortly afterwards. As head of the morality police he supervised the whipping of smokers, drinkers and “impure” women, the stoning of adulterers, and the execution of “apostates” – but the charge that the International Criminal Court chose to bring against him was “destroying cultural heritage.”
This is a first for the ICC, the world’s permanent war crimes court. Its previous cases have all involved illegal violence against people. This case is about violence against things.
Even if they are things sacred to many people, some critics worry that expanding the category of war crimes in this way undermines the unique status of torture, murder and genocide as crimes so terrible that they require international action if local courts cannot deal with them. Mali requested that the case against al-Mahdi be transferred to the ICC, but the question still begs an answer.
You won’t get it from al-Mahdi, who just wants to apologise: “I ask forgiveness (from the people of Timbuktu), and I ask them to look at me as a son who lost his way.” Maybe he means it, and maybe it’s just a plea bargain. (The prosecutor is only asking for a prison sentence of 9-11 years, although the maximum penalty is 30 years.) But whether his contrition is genuine is not really the question.
It’s a very old crime. Gangs of Christian monks (the original iconoclasts) hacked the noses off every “pagan” statue they could find in 4th-century Egypt. Catholic missionaries in 16th century Mexico supervised the burning of thousands of illustrated books containing the history and mythology of the pre-Columbian civilisations: fewer than twenty survive.
The Islamist vandals of today belong to a long tradition, and none of their predecessors was punished. So is the ICC of today just picking on Muslims?
No. Genocide was only defined and made illegal by the Nuremburg trials in 1945-46, although history is full of other genocides. But the world was not picking on Germans. We had just reached a point in our history when we could finally agree that genocide was always and everywhere a crime against humanity.
Making the act of deliberately “destroying cultural heritage” a crime is another, lesser step in the same process of building a body of international human rights law that applies to everybody. Al-Mahdi just happened to come along at what was, for him, the wrong time.
Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/the-iconoclast-of-timbuktu/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/3877267b592621ea52760e95ee61b1fed04ff00185ff9874cec8120ab858da94.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T08:49:15 | null | 2016-08-30T11:15:19 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F30%2Fapple-facing-hefty-irish-tax-bill%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/apple.jpg | en | null | Apple facing hefty Irish tax bill | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | The European Commission will rule against Ireland’s tax dealings with Apple on Tuesday, sources familiar with the decision told Reuters, one of whom said Dublin would be told to recoup over €1bn in back taxes.
Commissioner Margrethe Vestager will hold a news conference on an antitrust case at noon (1000 GMT) in Brussels. Though the subject of the case was not given, she was expected to detail her verdict on why a deal that encouraged the US tech giant to route vast profits through Ireland had breached EU state aid laws barring governments giving some firms unfair advantages.
The ruling is likely to anger Washington, which has accused Brussels of campaigning against US corporate success stories.
The European Commission accused Ireland in 2014 of dodging international tax rules by letting Apple shelter profits worth tens of billions of dollars from tax collectors in return for maintaining jobs. Apple and Ireland rejected the accusation; both have said they will appeal any adverse ruling.
The source said the Commission will recommend a figure in back taxes that it expects to be collected, but it will be up to Irish authorities to calculate exactly what is owed.
A bill in excess of €1bn would be far more than the €30bn each the European Commission previously ordered Dutch authorities to recover from US coffee chain Starbucks and Luxembourg from Fiat Chrysler for their tax deals.
Both companies and countries have appealed those decisions.
When it opened the Apple investigation in 2014, the Commission told the Irish government that tax rulings it agreed in 1991 and 2007 with the iPhone maker amounted to state aid and might have broken EU laws.
The Commission said the rulings were “reverse engineered” to ensure that Apple had a minimal Irish bill and that minutes of meetings between Apple representatives and Irish tax officials showed the company’s tax treatment had been “motivated by employment considerations.”
Apple employs 5,500 workers, or about a quarter of its European-based staff in the Irish city of Cork, where it is the largest private sector employer. It has said it paid Ireland’s 12.5 per cent rate on all the income that it generates in the country.
Ireland’s low corporate tax rate has been a cornerstone of economic policy for 20 years, drawing investors from major multinational companies whose staff account for almost one in 10 workers in Ireland.
Some opposition Irish lawmakers have urged Dublin to collect whatever tax the Commission orders it to. But the main opposition party Fianna Fail, whose support the minority administration relies on to pass laws, said it would support an appeal based on the reassurances it had been given by the government to date.
The US Treasury Department published a white paper last week that said the EU executive’s tax investigations departed from international taxation norms and would have an outsized impact on US companies. The Commission said it treated all companies equally. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/30/apple-facing-hefty-irish-tax-bill/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/fe47ad5f1a2568874262ec1bff5af27c3c598ff67ec4ddeae90545809d8c9908.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:02:28 | null | 2016-08-26T14:41:54 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F26%2Fnumber-dead-italy-quake-climbs-first-funerals-held%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/amatrice123.jpg | en | null | Italy quake death toll hits 267, state funeral plan (Updated) | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Hopes of finding more survivors faded on Friday three days after a powerful earthquake hit central Italy, with the death toll rising to 267 and the rescue operation in some of the stricken areas called off.
Sniffer dogs and emergency crews continued to scour piles of rubble in Amatrice, a picturesque town popular with tourists which was levelled by Wednesday’s quake and where 207 bodies have been retrieved so far.
But in nearby villages, such as Pescara del Tronto, rescuers pulled out after all the missing had been accounted for.
Italy plans to hold a state funeral for around 40 of the victims on Saturday, which will be held in the nearby city of Ascoli Piceno.
A day of national mourning was announced, with flags due to fly at half mast around the country for the dead, who include a number of foreigners.
The civil protection department in Rome said nearly 400 people were being treated for injuries in hospitals, 40 of them in critical condition. An estimated 2,500 people were left homeless by the most deadly quake in Italy since 2009.
Survivors with nowhere else to go are sleeping in neat rows of blue tents set up by emergency services close to their flattened communities.
“It was quite a tough night because you have a significant change in temperature here. During the day, it is very, very hot and at night it is very, very cold,” said Anna Maria Ciuccarelli of Arquata del Tronto.
“There are still aftershocks preceded by booms and, for those of us who have just lived through an earthquake, it has a great effect, particularly psychologically,” she said.
More than 920 aftershocks have hit the area since the original 6.2 magnitude quake struck early Wednesday.
“We have removed the last bodies that we knew about,” said Paolo Cortelli, a member of the Alpine Rescue national service who helped to recover about 30 bodies from Pescara del Tronto.
“We don’t know, and we might never know, if the number of missing that we knew about actually corresponds to the people who were actually under the rubble.”
The foreigners who died in the disaster included six Romanians, a Spanish woman, a Canadian and an Albanian. The British embassy in Rome declined to comment on reports that three Britons, including a 14-year-old boy had died.
The area is popular with holidaymakers and local authorities were struggling to pin down how many visitors were present when the quake hit. The Romanian Foreign Ministry said 17 Romanians were still missing.
Italy has a large Romanian community, and some of the victims were resident in the country.
The first funeral of a victim was held in Rome on Friday, for Marco Santarelli, the 28-year-old son of a senior state official, who died in the family’s holiday home in Amatrice.
“I cannot find the words to describe the grief of a father who outlives his own children. Perhaps there are no words,” Marco’s father, Filippo Santarelli, told Corriere della Sera newspaper.
Hardly a single building was left unscathed in Amatrice, which was last year voted one of the most beautiful old towns in Italy and is famous for its local cuisine.
“Amatrice will have to be razed to the ground,” said mayor Sergio Pirozzi.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has declared a state of emergency for the region, allowing the government to release an immediate €50m for the relief work.
He has promised to rebuild the shattered homes and said he would also renew efforts to bolster Italy’s flimsy defences against earthquakes that regularly batter the country.
“We want those communities to have the chance of a future and not just memories,” he told reporters in Rome on Thursday.
Italy has a poor record of rebuilding after quakes. About 8,300 people who were forced to leave their homes after a deadly earthquake in L’Aquila in 2009 are still living in temporary accommodation.
Renzi declined to predict when the homeless might be rehoused. “This is not about setting challenges and making promises. We need the pace of a marathon runner,” he said.
Most of the buildings in the area were built hundreds of years ago, long before any anti-seismic building norms were introduced, helping to explain the widespread destruction.
Cultural Minister Dario Franceschini said all 293 culturally important sites, many of them churches, had either collapsed or been seriously damaged.
Italy sits on two fault lines, making it one of the most seismically active countries in Europe. Almost 30 people died in earthquakes in northern Italy in 2012 while more than 300 died in the L’Aquila disaster. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/26/number-dead-italy-quake-climbs-first-funerals-held/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/54b1cf3b681ba80af4b3b88ee5f33527306190120e8e33aaeae4155734336e3d.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T14:48:59 | null | 2016-08-28T16:41:15 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fcypriot-research-vessel-will-continue-operations-minister-says%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/n_21199_4.jpg | en | null | Cypriot research vessel will continue its operations, minister says | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | The Cypriot research vessel that was harassed by a Turkish navy frigate on Thursday off Akamas, will continue operations, Agriculture Minister Nicos Kouyialis said on Sunday.
The company that owns the research vessel, Kouyialis told the Cyprus News Agency, was hired by his ministry to collect information on its behalf concerning dolphins and whales in the area.
He added that it was forced by a Turkish frigate to change its course.
The vessel will continue its research programme which is expected to be completed within the coming days, Kouyialis said. The research is part of a programme of the fisheries department aiming to collect information on the marine area of Cyprus.
“It is within our obligations as an EU member-state to collect information concerning the sea,”Kouyialis said.
He added that the issue was being handled by the foreign affairs ministry.
On Thursday, a Turkish navy frigate approached the Cyprus-flagged vessel some 12 miles off the Akamas coast on the western tip of the island. The frigate reportedly contacted the vessel and demanded that it abandoned the area because it was violating Turkish territory.
Government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides had said the Republic will undertake all the appropriate actions with international organisations and foreign governments.
Turkey claims it has rights in the area and has sought to disrupt natural gas exploration carried out by international energy companies who won concessions in the EEZ.
Three oil majors were involved in the third hydrocarbon licensing round – ExxonMobil, ENI, and Total. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/cypriot-research-vessel-will-continue-operations-minister-says/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/98b63c98a2a9e9d112cb6feb52a292b9ef79509f7d411172c177a4a30418edba.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:50:56 | null | 2016-03-29T19:11:50 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F03%2F29%2Fget-the-kids-involved%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/workshop.jpg | en | null | Get the kids involved | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | If you have kids aged between six and 12 and you would like them to get involved in something creative over the Easter holidays, the ARTos Foundation will offer this year’s Spring Kids University from April 25 to 28.
Through a series of participatory workshops all children involved will gain knowledge and experience which will help them achieve critical thinking, become more creative and confident while also aiding them to mould their own character.
Kids University is a workshop for curious and charismatic children, which has been taking place at the ARTos Foundation since 2005. Every winter, spring and summer, educators and professionals from the fields of the arts and sciences create a specially designed programme where children have the opportunity to develop both of their brain hemispheres: the creative hemisphere and the logical hemisphere to help them envision and materialise their dreams through creative expression, scientific knowledge as well as the strengthening of self-confidence.
For the 2016 trilogy, Kids University partners up with the Creative Europe Programme ARTECITYA 2014 – 2018 for a series of actions focusing on the transformation and improvement of our own districts and neighbourhoods.
The Spring Kids University will get the kids inspired by introducing aspects of architecture, technology, science and social impact. The children will have the chance to plant trees and herbs and also use discarded and re-usable material to make furniture, which will then be installed around the city.
The workshop begins at 8.30am and ends at 1pm but children can be at ARTos Foundation from 7.30am until 2.30pm and engage in creative activities with the instructors.
Registration must be completed until April 22 by calling 99-611159 or 22-445455.
Spring Kids University
A series of workshop for children from 6-12 under the themes architecture, technology, science and social impact. April 25-28. ARTos Foundation, Nicosia. 8.30am-1pm. €100/ €80 for siblings. Tel: 99-611159 or 22-445455 | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/03/29/get-the-kids-involved/ | en | 2016-03-29T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/daa1714b9b8f8df0b192a9f7bc158ed790f70d71854d32326b1d2a835189b658.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T12:48:19 | null | 2016-08-27T14:16:40 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F27%2Fturkey-targets-civilians-village-northern-syria-air-strikes%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/turkish-tanks-jarablus.jpg | en | null | Turkey targets civilians and village in northern Syria air strikes | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Turkish warplanes struck civilian homes and positions held by a group allied to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance in a village south of Jarablus in northern Syria on Saturday, the group said in a statement.
The Jarablus Military Council group, part of the Kurdish-backed SDF, said the attack on the village of al-Amarna caused civilian casualties and called it “a dangerous escalation that threatens the fate of the region”.
There was no immediate comment from Turkish officials.
A Reuters witness saw warplanes flying over the border region into Syria from Turkey early on Saturday morning, followed by the sound of explosions.
Turkey is backing an operation that got under way this week by Syrian rebel groups to capture Islamic State-held territory in northern Syria at the Turkish border.
The village of al-Amarna is some 10 km south of Jarablus, a town captured from Islamic State by the Turkey-backed rebels this week. An official in one of the Turkey-backed rebel groups said SDF-allied fighters had positions in al-Amarna.
The Jarablus Military Council was set up with the stated aim of capturing the Islamic State-held town. Its statement called the Turkish actions on Saturday provocative. “We confirm our ability to defend ourselves,” it said.
It added that its forces had not approached the border strip to avoid any clashes with Turkish forces or the Syrian rebels they support, adding that “if they do not attack our forces, then we will keep the border strip secure”.
The Turkish-backed operation aims partly to prevent the Kurdish YPG militia or its allies further expanding their influence in northern Syria. The YPG is a critical component of the SDF. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/27/turkey-targets-civilians-village-northern-syria-air-strikes/ | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/b8393035bc06553cc7e4e8d32d7eb505d8b48c006981bb43c6ba8571ee60725d.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T18:49:25 | null | 2016-08-30T21:15:31 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F30%2Fcolombias-santos-calls-peace-plebiscite-oct-reveals-question%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/santos.jpeg | en | null | Colombia's Santos calls peace plebiscite in Oct, reveals question | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Tuesday officially called a plebiscite r allowing the nation to decide whether to accept a peace agreement to end more than five decades of war with Marxist rebels.
Voters will be asked on Oct 2 to respond yes or no to a single question: “Do you support the accord that puts an end to armed conflict and constructs a stable and durable nation?”
Santos’s four-year push to negotiate an end to 52 years of war with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) was finally concluded last week and he has promised to give Colombians the final decision.
“It’s a clear and simple question that leaves no room for any confusion,” Santos said after signing the document.
“More legitimacy would be impossible, all that’s needed now is the Colombian people.”
The question has been criticised by opposition legislators for being too one-sided toward a yes vote and difficult to go against.
In a historic agreement last week, the government and the FARC leadership, who represent a 7,000-strong insurgent group, agreed to end the war that has killed more than 220,000 people and displaced millions.
The 297-page accord has been published so that Colombians can pore over its contents before the vote. A final signature is expected before then.
Santos, who has staked his legacy on peace, has launched a campaign to convince Colombians to back the accords but he faces fierce opposition from powerful sectors of the country who believe the only solution is to finish the FARC militarily.
The deal is opposed by two former Colombian presidents, including popular right-wing hardliner Alvaro Uribe.
Most opinion polls suggest Colombians will back the deal but the nation is deeply divided and caught in a heated debate over what sort of justice the rebels should face and how they should be incorporated into society.
Under the deal, the FARC will be given non-voting congressional representation until 2018. From then until 2026 they will be given 10 voting seats whether they have electoral support or not.
The FARC began as a ragtag group of rebels protesting rural injustice, but by the end of the 1990s had become so powerful – with as many as 17,000 fighters – that they occupied towns surrounding the capital, Bogota, and were on the verge of entering the city. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/30/colombias-santos-calls-peace-plebiscite-oct-reveals-question/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/3b8be5b58ab7ea7bdf31c621ef06bf3af15a178d8074b43529d5ee77fff862bc.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T08:49:25 | null | 2016-08-30T10:11:15 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F30%2Frelaxed-serena-set-open-quest-history%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Serena-web.jpg | en | null | Relaxed Serena set to open quest for more history | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Twelve months after her bid for the coveted calendar year grand slam ended with a shock defeat to Roberta Vinci of Italy in the U.S. Open semi-finals, the world number one is back, chasing another piece of history.
Victory at this year’s U.S. Open would give the American, who begins her quest on Tuesday versus Ekaterina Makarova, a 23rd grand slam singles title and break the professional era record she shares with Germany’s Steffi Graf.
A year on, despite a niggling injury to her right shoulder and in danger of losing her world number one ranking, Williams claims things are easier to handle.
“At this point, I’m taking it a day at a time,” said Williams. “But I think I just am more relaxed, for sure.”
Williams will need to be at her best during her first-round match against Makarova, a Russian now ranked 29th but as high as eighth last year and who has beaten the American once in their five meetings.
“I’m OK with it,” Williams said. “I try to look at it like we always have tough matches. I played her I think in the semis before. I know she’s a good player. I’ve just got to do the best I can.”
In other Day Two action, Agnieszka Radwanska, one of three women who could replace Williams atop the world rankings this fortnight, plays American Jessica Pegula while sixth seed Venus Williams opens against Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine.
In the men’s event, second seed Andy Murray begins his title bid with a first-round match against Czech Lukas Rosol.
Murray is bidding to complete a golden summer having added the Olympic title to his Wimbledon crown.
“He’s a tough, tough opponent,” Murray said. “Big, strong guy, goes for his shots; takes a lot of risks.”
Former U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, back for the first time in three years after three operations on his left wrist, plays fellow Argentine Diego Schwartzman in round one.
Featured matches at the U.S. Open tennis championships on Tuesday (prefix denotes seeding):
Arthur Ashe Stadium
(starting 1500 GMT/11 AM ET) Kirsten Flipkens (Belgium) v 5-Simona Halep (Romania)
(not before 1700 GMT/1 PM ET) Fernando Verdasco v 3-Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland) Kateryna Kozlova (Ukraine) v 6-Venus Williams (U.S.)
(starting 2300 GMT/7 PM ET) 1-Serena Williams (U.S.) v Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) Lukas Rosol (Czech Republic) v 2-Andy Murray (Britain)
Louis Armstrong Stadium
(starting 1500 GMT/11 AM ET) Denisa Allertova (Czech Republic) v 29-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) v 29-Sam Querrey (U.S.) Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina) v Diego Schwartzman (Argentina) 4-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) v Jessica Pegula (U.S.)
Grandstand
(start 1500 GMT/11 AM ET) 6-Kei Nishikori (Japan) v Benjamin Becker (Germany) Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) v Eugenie Bouchard (Canada) Louisa Chirico (U.S.) v 17-Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia)
(not before 2130 GMT/5:30 PM ET) 19-Steve Johnson (U.S.) v Evgeny Donskoy (Russia) | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/30/relaxed-serena-set-open-quest-history/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/7a44a2458ac696f2b9255a76b0608c9b5ad1342dc17bf2cf3d87d456921f61c8.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T14:48:26 | null | 2016-08-27T16:36:38 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F27%2Frose-equaliser-denies-liverpool-victory-tottenham%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/spo-foot-tottenham-danny-rose.jpg | en | null | Rose equaliser denies Liverpool victory at Tottenham | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Danny Rose scored a second-half equaliser to cancel out James Milner’s penalty as Tottenham Hotspur came from behind to draw 1-1 with Liverpool at White Hart Lane on Saturday.
Erik Lamela nodded Eric Dier’s cross into the path of Rose in the 72nd minute and the England left back controlled the ball and slammed it past Simon Mignolet to extend Spurs’ unbeaten start to the season.
Milner beat Michel Vorm from the spot in the 43rd minute after Erik Lamela had tripped Roberto Firmino in the box, as Spurs struggled to deal with Liverpool’s attacking firepower.
Stand-in goalkeeper Vorm made an excellent save to deny Philippe Coutinho from close range and was twice called out of his area to tackle the outstanding Sadio Mane as the visitors created chance after chance during the first half. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/27/rose-equaliser-denies-liverpool-victory-tottenham/ | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/5ec5ef44bfe7261bbce963b4f45a2cbc89ae07eccf9770ac2079944b0ee8c520.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T10:48:18 | null | 2016-08-27T13:11:34 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F27%2Fpaphos-fire-started-deliberately%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/forest-fire.jpg | en | null | Paphos fire could have been started deliberately | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | The fire service on Saturday was investigating the causes of a fire that broke out in Paphos on Friday evening, after it emerged that it could have been set deliberately.
The blaze in the Panagia tou Sinti area, near Pentalia, appeared to have started in three to four places, reports said.
Fire fighters scrambled to the area after being notified of the fire at 7.35pm.
Five engines were dispatched from three stations, while four more fire fighting vehicles from the village of Amargeti, the Game Fund, and the forestry department also assisted.
The fire destroyed six hectares of wild shrub, dry grass, pine and olive trees.
The work of the fire fighting forces was hindered by the rough terrain but the blaze was eventually brought under control at around 11pm.
Forces remained on the scene as a precaution. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/27/paphos-fire-started-deliberately/ | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/d05db4675222b1634675c8a6b3515bc6324d716c48e671cadc9e8b22aaacd07c.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T18:49:43 | null | 2016-08-26T20:45:05 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F26%2Fbank-deposits-continue-rise%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/vvb.jpg | en | null | Bank deposits continue to rise | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | BANK deposits recorded a net rise in July for the fourth consecutive month, increasing by €1.13bn since March 2015, the lowest point in the past nine years, the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) said on Friday.
Deleveraging also continued in July, with loans reaching their lowest point in the past seven-and-a-half years.
According to the CBC, total deposits rose by €269m in July, down from a €343.4m increase the previous month.
Total deposits reached €47.03bn in July, the CBC said. On an annual basis, deposits rose for the tenth consecutive month.
In March last year, deposits dropped to €45.73bn, the lowest point since April 2007 – €44.52bn.
The rise was attributed to third country and EU nationals, and Cyprus residents.
Cypriot residents’ deposits recorded a net rise of €127.3m in July, reaching €34.6bn. EU residents increased their deposits by €84.9m, to €3.06bn.
Deposits by third country nationals rose to €9.36bn after chalking a €56.8m rise.
Loans showed a net decrease of €178.9m in July compared with €550.5m the previous month.
Total loans reached €54.1bn in July, the lowest point since October 2008 when they dropped to €53.92bn.
Cyprus residents’ loans fell by around €8.66bn, to €45.63bn, from their highest level of €54.29bn in March 2013.
Domestic household loans fell to €20.71bn, a decrease of €3.14bn, from their highest historical level of €23.85bn in December 2012. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/26/bank-deposits-continue-rise/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/341762b0edd663d2916dd1ea8a7f1f998270ca0e2996e045874d9741279b8527.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:55:35 | null | 2016-08-26T13:44:05 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F26%2Fuefa-keeps-family-champions-league-changed%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Real-web-1.jpg | en | null | UEFA keeps it in the family as Champions League changed | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | UEFA announced significant changes to their flagship Champions League on Friday, saying they had managed to “keep it in the family” after staving off the threat of a breakaway league by Europe’s top clubs.
From 2018/19 season, the top four European leagues – currently Spain, Germany, England and Italy – will each be guaranteed four places in the group stage, UEFA competitions director Giorgio Marchetti told reporters.
Stung by criticism that the competition has become too predictable, UEFA emphasised that it would continue to be open for teams from Europe’s smaller national leagues although the number of places set aside for them would drop from five to four.
Europe’s top clubs had discussed the possibility of forming a breakaway Super League but UEFA’s acting general secretary Theodore Theodoridis played down the threat.
“From the very beginning, the feeling was the ideal solution for everybody would be a solution in the family,” he told reporters. “We spoke to everyone…the feeling we had was that they always wanted to stay.”
UEFA also stopped short of guaranteeing captive places for certain big clubs, another possibility which sources said had been discussed privately in meetings over the past few months.
Under the present system, the top three leagues have three places each while their fourth-placed teams must play off over two legs for a place in the group stage.
The fourth ranked league, currently Italy, have only two guaranteed places plus one in the playoff round.
UEFA uses a complicated coefficient to determine the rankings of the national leagues.
Marchetti said the format itself would remain the same with a qualifying stage, followed by a 32-team group stage and then a knockout contest.
The champions and runners-up of the fifth and sixth-ranked leagues, at present France and Russia, will continue to have two places while the champions of the seventh to tenth ranked leagues, currently Portugal, Ukraine, Belgium and Turkey, will also qualify automatically.
The biggest losers were the 11th and 12th ranked leagues, currently Switzerland and the Czech Republic, who will lose their guaranteed places in the group stage.
Instead, they will now compete in a qualifying competition with national champions from all other European leagues for four places in a qualifying competition played in July and August.
Theodoridis said it was an achievement just to keep any places for teams from the smaller leagues who struggle to compete on level terms with the elite clubs.
“We started this process by having one target, keeping the dream alive having all national associations having access,” he said.
UEFA has been without a president since last December when Frenchman Michel Platini was banned for eight years by world football’s governing body FIFA for ethics violations, later reduced to four on appeal by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
UEFA will hold an election to find a replacement for Platini in Athens on September 16. Michael van Praag, Angel Maria Villar and Aleksandar Ceferin, the heads of the Dutch, Spanish and Slovenian federations respectively, are the three candidates. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/26/uefa-keeps-family-champions-league-changed/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/6191c5e762f6fc47abb81e210d715b9c987295a3d2f7b50f26b75fe11a929397.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T06:48:54 | null | 2016-08-29T08:17:29 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F29%2Fman-city-go-top-win-west-ham%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/raheem.jpg | en | null | Man City go top with win over West Ham | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | MANCHESTER CITY 3 WEST HAM UNITED 1
Manchester City, Premier League champions in 2012 and 2014, went to the top of the table with a 3-1 victory over West Ham United on Sunday.
Superior goal difference took them above Chelsea and neighbours Manchester United, who have also won their three opening games.
Having scored twice in the first 18 minutes through Raheem Sterling and Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho, Pep Guardiola’s team appeared set for an easy three points, only to be pegged back as the London side improved after halftime.
Michail Antonio reduced the deficit in the 58th minute but Sterling scored his second goal in stoppage time from an acute angle.
City could have leading scorer Sergio Aguero banned for the derby match against United next month if retrospective action is taken after he appeared to swing an arm at West Ham’s Winston Reid, who had to go off after taking a blow to the throat.
“I did not see the incident,” Guardiola told reporters and neither did West Ham’s manager Slaven Bilic.
“Reid got a little injured so we took him off,” Bilic said.
For his third league game in charge of City, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager again picked Willy Caballero in goal rather than Joe Hart, and the Argentine was not troubled for almost an hour until Antonio’s unexpected intervention.
In the meantime, Sterling scored his first goal of the season following a fine move and Fernandinho added his first in the league since the same weekend last year.
He was left completely unmarked to head in Kevin de Bruyne’s free kick as goalkeeper Adrian glared at his defence.
Bilic’s side, again weakened by injuries and unable to use new loan signing Simone Zaza from Juventus, employed three centre halves plus wing backs, but defended poorly against City’s fluent attacking.
In the second half, Bilic pushed Antonio further forward and he headed in a cross by Arthur Masuaku.
City briefly looked nervous but in the last few minutes David Silva hit a post and Sterling made the victory safe.
“You have to win 3-0 or 4-0 to think the game is over,” Guardiola told Sky Sports.
“We played a good game. Our fans enjoyed it and we are happy.
“I don’t know how many shots we had but the performance in general was real good.”
West Ham stayed 12th in the table after their second defeat.
“I wasn’t happy at halftime,” Bilic said.
“I asked the guys to show character and spirit and a different mentality which they did. Praise for the team for the second-half performance.
“A few will be back after the international break.” | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/29/man-city-go-top-win-west-ham/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/bc278d602efb3693c2e76617552ea7d7a686bde4458b4c9f942b7678e5813780.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T08:48:55 | null | 2016-08-29T11:06:32 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F29%2Fcash-valuables-stolen-car%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/stolen-car_-article.jpg | en | null | Cash, valuables stolen from car | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Cash and other valuables worth €2,400 were stolen from a car in Ayia Napa early on Sunday, police said.
Two thousand euros in cash and €400 in valuables were inside a bag left by the owner of the car on the backseat.
According to the owner, a Ukrainian tourist rep, the bag was taken after the left rear window was smashed.
The car did not have an alarm, she told police, but it was insured against theft.
There were no security cameras covering the area in question. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/29/cash-valuables-stolen-car/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/5d51fd7f442521a599d42cca7560695dc906a12ab52835de5421d74563fb8a4e.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T04:49:14 | null | 2016-08-30T05:53:03 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F30%2Fquestions-teachers-lucrative-eu-posting%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/CNA_F12af41ca4476408181a4a6adf928254b.jpg | en | null | Questions over teacher’s lucrative EU posting | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Further details have emerged concerning a well-connected primary school teacher who was seconded to the education minister’s office only for her to end up in Brussels, where she spent three months drawing a full salary.
The case relates to the teacher, Despo Sergiou, and her husband who had already been appointed to Cyprus’ Permanent Representation to the European Union (PREE).
The husband, Costas Ktoris, a Central Bank employee, was one of the finance ministry’s appointees to the PREE in the Belgian capital.
Sergiou, a member of ruling DISY’s political bureau, wanted to join her husband in Brussels but was apparently unwilling to take unpaid leave, seeking to be seconded herself to Brussels.
According to a report by Auditor-general Odysseas Michaelides, who has tracked the case all along, in February 2015 Ktoris made a false statement to the foreign ministry that his spouse – who was teaching in Cyprus – would be living permanently in Brussels, and applied for a diplomatic passport for her.
In June 2015 the husband stated falsely that Sergiou was living with him in Brussels, in order to secure a higher allowance for the house he was renting there.
On June 12, Education Minister Costas Kadis initiated procedures for opening up an additional post for the education ministry at the PREE.
Meantime the auditor-general had got wind of the irregular goings-on and began querying the foreign ministry.
On August 19 the foreign ministry informed Michaelides that no extra position existed at the PREE, nor was there any need for it, and as such the education ministry’s request could not be processed.
Sergiou meanwhile had enrolled her daughter in a primary school in Brussels, and in mid-September managed to secure a four-day ‘rest leave’ which she used to accompany her daughter to the Belgian capital.
On November 9, in an apparent bid to circumvent the foreign ministry, the education ministry requested that a second post at the PREE be assigned directly to the office of the education minister, rather than to the education ministry as previously.
This request was approved on November 13. Immediately the education minister’s office informed the Educational Service Commission (ESC) of the need to find a replacement for the Sergiou as she would not be teaching in Cyprus.
On November 20 the ministry’s permanent secretary informed the ESC in writing that Sergiou, the primary school teacher, had been seconded to the minister’s office – whereas it is the ESC which decides on secondments.
Five days later, the ESC announced Sergiou’s secondment, without mentioning for how long it was effective. Three months later, the ESC notified Sergiou that her secondment was effective as of November 16.
However, on November 8, a Sunday, and even before approval of the secondment was requested, Sergiou was verbally informed that she was being seconded to the minister’s office.
On November 12, some two weeks before the secondment was published, Sergiou departed for Brussels.
According to the auditor-general, during the time she was seconded to the minister’s office, Sergiou was working out of the residence rented by her husband in Brussels, since she could not be accredited with the PREE.
Over a three-month period, she participated in eight meetings, which worked out to fewer than three per month.
Essentially, it appears that Sergiou was looking after her daughter while drawing a government salary even though she should have been on unpaid leave during this time.
Then, on November 2014, another education ministry official who was accredited with the PREE, secured a ‘national expert’ contract with the European Commission and notified the PREE that she would be vacating her position.
On January 21, 2016, the education ministry’s permanent secretary requested from the foreign ministry that Sergiou be formally seconded to Brussels to replace the other official who was leaving.
On February 2, a story appeared online describing the whole affair. Five days later, Sergiou returned to Cyprus, at a time coinciding with her daughter’s half term. She has not returned to Brussels since.
Meanwhile the auditor-general asked the education ministry to advertise the vacated post as per proper procedure. He also advised that Sergiou return the three months’ worth of salaries and that her stay in Brussels be categorised as unpaid leave.
The ministry complied and advertised the position on April 7. And on April 20, the education minister informed the auditor-general that the three months’ salaries would henceforth be deducted from Sergiou’s future earnings – an admission that her secondment to Brussels was irregular and thus null and void.
Meantime, 11 applications were submitted for the vacant position in Brussels. On June 6, the evaluation panel gave Sergiou an excellent rating – the only candidate to receive this grade – and selected her for the secondment to the PREE.
The cabinet approved Sergiou’s secondment to Brussels, which covers the time period September 1, 2016 to July 31, 2017, with an option for an extension.
According to Phileleftheros, the education ministry’s permanent secretary Aigli Pantelaki refused to furnish the auditor-general with certain information on Sergiou’s case, citing privacy laws. In addition, the paper reports that the auditor-general has yet to receive word from the central bank on whether it has launched an internal inquiry on the role played by Sergiou’s spouse.
Following the publicity over the affair, the House watchdog committee has tabled the matter for discussion. The committee will be looking not only at Sergiou’s case, but also reviewing in general the procedures by which government employees are seconded to the PREE in Brussels and the much-coveted benefits they are entitled to. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/30/questions-teachers-lucrative-eu-posting/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/afc8d0084ac6cf878207fa29cae87ca478beb16411797c73114a21702e8243c0.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T12:48:15 | null | 2016-08-27T14:45:41 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F27%2F17-kyrgyz-killed-moscow-printing-plant-blaze%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/People-watch-the-wildfires-at-Funchal-Madeira-island-Portugal.jpg | en | null | 17 Kyrgyz killed in Moscow printing plant blaze | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | A fire in a Moscow printing plant killed 17 people on Saturday, officials said, and a representative of the Kyrgyz diaspora in Russia said all the dead were members of its community.
“The incident happened when people were changing shifts at the printing house. It is very hard for us,” Abdygany Shakirov, the Kyrgyz representative told Reuters.
Around 500,000 citizens of the impoverished former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan are working in Russia. The two countries belong to a Russian-dominated customs union.
The Investigative Committee, which reports directly to President Vladimir Putin, said a criminal inquiry had been launched into the deaths of 16 of the victims of the blaze.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in his Twitter feed that one more person died later in a hospital.
Ilya Denisov, an Emergencies Ministry official, told Rossiya-24 TV station a malfunctioning lamp caused the fire.
Lax fire safety standards are often blamed for fatal workplace blazes in Russia. In January, 12 people died in a fire in a Moscow clothing factory. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/27/17-kyrgyz-killed-moscow-printing-plant-blaze/ | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/9c4e2ccdeee6411717aaaefde5c5f980e4da7254b1b5a21623bdcf072c6cfb45.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T12:48:47 | null | 2016-08-28T15:13:15 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fnigeria-let-boko-haram-pick-ngo-intermediary-talks-free-chibok-girls%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/640x640-17.jpg | en | null | Nigeria would let Boko Haram pick NGO intermediary in talks to free Chibok girls | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Nigeria would let Boko Haram choose a non-profit organisation as an intermediary in any talks on the release of about 200 schoolgirls kidnapped from the northeastern village of Chibok in 2014, President Muhammadu Buhari said on Sunday.
Buhari first said last year that his government was ready to negotiate with Islamist militants Boko Haram over the girls, but the group has not commented on the proposal.
Nigeria’s failure to find the kidnapped children prompted an outcry at home and abroad. Critics of Buhari’s predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, said his government was too slow to act.
Any negotiations would be the first publicly known talks between the government and Boko Haram, whose seven-year insurgency to create an Islamic state in the northeast has killed 15,000 people.
“The government which I preside over is prepared to talk to bona fide leaders of Boko Haram,” Buhari told reporters at a conference on African development in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, in comments later issued in an official statement.
“If they do not want to talk to us directly, let them pick an internationally recognised non-governmental organisation (NGO),” he said.
Buhari said Boko Haram could begin negotiations on a prisoner swap if they could provide evidence to the NGO that they had the girls.
Around 270 girls were taken from their school in the village of Chibok in northeastern Nigeria in April 2014. Dozens escaped in the initial melee, but more than 200 are still missing.
Earlier this month, Boko Haram published a video apparently showing recent footage of dozens of the girls and saying some were killed in air strikes.
Authorities said in May that one of the missing girls had been found and Buhari vowed to rescue the others.
Nigeria is fighting the group on the ground and with air strikes. A multi-national joint task force – comprising troops from Nigeria and neighbouring Niger, Cameroon, Chad and Benin – is also battling the militants.
On Tuesday, Nigeria’s air force said it had killed some senior Boko Haram militants in raids. Boko Haram pledged allegiance to Islamic State (IS) last year, but there are signs of a rift emerging.
This month IS announced a new leader for what it described as its West African operations but Boko Haram’s hitherto leader Abubakar Shekau appeared to later contradict this in a video message.
Buhari said that if the Nigerian jihadists moved to start discussions “through the ‘modified leadership’ of Boko Haram and they talk with an internationally recognised NGO” then Nigeria would be prepared to discuss the release of militant leaders.
“We want those girls out and safe. The faster we can recover them and hand them over to their parents, the better for us,” he said. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/nigeria-let-boko-haram-pick-ngo-intermediary-talks-free-chibok-girls/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/dafd576a768ddc16801c949805948da5e5bd0a88b19dcae33b84ce8d811c283e.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T12:49:26 | null | 2016-08-30T15:38:39 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F30%2Frooney-quit-england-2018-world-cup%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Rooney-web.jpg | en | null | Rooney to quit England after 2018 World Cup | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Wayne Rooney will end his England career after the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the striker said on Tuesday.
The 30-year-old made his announcement at a news conference ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Slovakia on Sunday when he will set a new record for an England outfield player ahead of David Beckham by winning his 116th cap.
“Come Russia I feel that will be the time for me to say goodbye to international football, my mind is made up,” said Rooney, who was reappointed England captain on Monday.
“I will just try to enjoy myself over the next two years,” he added. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/30/rooney-quit-england-2018-world-cup/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/6ad7b478182c726716bd2b3559b8f0affa8632c534448442bfddc739e8fd09e2.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T06:48:38 | null | 2016-08-28T08:30:28 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fconcours-elegance-rounds-truly-incredible-cars%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Concours-web.jpg | en | null | Concours of Elegance rounds up some truly incredible cars | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | IF you are visiting the UK in the next week, there’s a chance to see some amazing examples of motoring history at the Concours of Elegance which returns to Windsor Castle from September 2-4.
Some of the world’s most incredible cars will be taking residence in the Quadrangle for “a celebration of automotive elegance, style and passion”.
Windsor Castle will play host to 60 of the rarest and most exclusive cars ever produced, and we take a look at 15 of these very special automotive highlights.
From iconic pre-1914 automobiles to special sports cars of the 21st century, each of the Concours of Elegance cars has a story to tell. The Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Zagato Spyder on display, for example, is one of the most successful racing cars of all time, having won Le Mans four times in a row and the Mille Miglia three times in succession.
Also on display at Windsor will be the Ferrari Testarossa Spider Valeo, which is a truly one-of-a-kind classic. It’s the only factory-built Testarossa convertible ever made, having been specially produced for Gianni Agnelli exactly 30 years ago.
The most recent car in the Concours comes from coachbuilders Touring Superleggera, with the one-of-seven Disco Volante Spyder. It’s based on the Alfa Romeo 8C Spider, but with a specially crafted aluminium and carbon composite body inspired by the 1952 Alfa Romeo C52 Disco Volante.
Established in 2012, the inaugural Concours of Elegance was held within Windsor Castle to mark the Queen’s diamond jubilee. It has continued to grow from strength to strength, collecting accolades, tributes and endorsements along the way, with the exceptional settings of St James’ Palace in 2013, Hampton Court Palace in 2014 and Edinburgh’s Palace of Holyroodhouse in 2015.
Only the highest calibre of cars are invited to the Concours of Elegance, with the rarest cars from all over the world, painstakingly selected by the Concours Steering Committee; a respected team of authoritative historic car experts. A key objective of the annual Concours is to raise ‘significant sums’ for charity.
The Concours of Elegance 2016 takes place from Friday September 2 to Sunday September 4 at Windsor Castle. Tickets can be bought at http://concoursofelegance.co.uk/tickets/
15 of the best:
1. Bentley Speed Six ‘Old No 2’
Bentley Speed Six ‘Old No 2’, chassis number HM2868, is one of the finest and most original works Bentleys in existence today, having finished second at the 1930 Le Mans 24 Hours race, just behind Speed Six ‘Old No 1.’
2. Rolls-Royce Phantom III Thrupp & Maberley
Only thee roadsters were built on the Phantom III chassis, and this unique Thrupp & Maberley designed model is one of them, originally commissioned for the Shal of Bopal in 1936.
3. Aston Martin Ulster Competition
Built in 1935, along with only 20 others, the Ulster Competition is incredibly rare. But this particular Ulster has pedigree, too, having competed in more than 100 races, including an eighth-place finish at Le Mans in 1935.
4. Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Zagato Spyder
The Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Zagato dominated the most important races of its time, including the Mille Miglia in 1933, the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1931 and 1932 and the Targa Florio.
5. Talbot Lago Pourtout Coupe
The Talbot-Lago T150C-SS Pourtout Coupé is arguably one of the finest aerodynamic designs ever. Only a handful of cars were finished with this incredible ‘Pourtout’ coachwork, but it wasn’t designed to just look great – this car actually raced.
6. Hispano-Suiza H6C Dubonnet Xenia
This incredible one-off Hispano Suiza was fitted with stunning art deco, aircraft-inspired bodywork and clever parallel sliding doors by coahcbuilders, Saoutchik.
7. Aston Martin DB2 Prototype ‘UMC 272’
This car was only the fourth DB2 chassis built, the second six-cylinder version and for the start of its life was the personal transport of David Brown ‘DB’ himself.
8. Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione
Sir Stirling Moss won three times in this car, including at the Goodwood Tourist Trophy in 1960 where he famously switched on the radio to the listen to the race commentary.
9. Ferrari 250 GTO ex-Graham Hill
The only 250 GTO finished in white, this particular car was driven by Graham Hill to second place in the 1962 Goodwood Tourist Trophy.
10. Ferrari Testarossa Spider Valeo
The only factory-built Testarossa convertible ever built. It was specially made for Gianno Agnelli after he commissioned it to celebrate his 20 years in charge of Fiat.
11. Ferrari 288 GTO Evoluzione
One-of-four ever built, and regarded as the precursor to the F40. It was built for Group B, before the racing class was banned – making it one of the wildest racing cars to never have raced.
12. Alfa Romeo 1750 GS 6C Figoni et Falaschi
It may not look like a motorsport champion, but once upon a time this car’s unique Figoni and Falaschi-designed coupé body was replaced by lightweight, open top coachwork for motorsport, achieving a class win at the 1935 24 Hours of Le Mans.
13. Touring Superleggera Disco Volante Spyder
One-of-seven to be produced, this hand-crafted car is based on the Alfa Romeo 8C Spider, powered by a 4.7-litre V8 engine. The design is inspired by the C52 Disco Volante of the ‘50s.
14. Audi Front UW Roadster
The 1933 Front UW Roadster was the first Audi to be launched after the formation of the Auto Union group, which brought together Audi, Horch, Wanderer and DKW in 1932. It features an all-aluminium six-cylinder engine under the bonnet, while its roadster body is a unique creation of Berlin coachbuilders Erdmann & Rossi.
15. Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet
Mercedes labelled the stunning 540K ‘the car for the connoisseur’ when it was released in the late 1930s, and it certainly lived up to its billing. The supercharged model was one of few cars built before World War II that was capable of hitting 100mph. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/concours-elegance-rounds-truly-incredible-cars/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/e14ba2ed34777d98443f8f08b994b4faefb4e2e8978de9e8ac8a4515ac77300b.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T18:49:09 | null | 2016-08-29T20:30:57 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F29%2Frenzi-present-national-plan-strengthen-italys-quake-defences%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/renzi124.jpg | en | null | Renzi to present national plan to strengthen Italy's quake defences | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Prime Minister Matteo Renzi promised on Monday to present a national plan to make Italy safer against earthquakes as rescuers continued to search for bodies after last week’s quake that killed at least 290 people.
Prosecutors are investigating why supposedly quake-proofed buildings collapsed in the Aug 24 tremors in one of the world’s most seismically active countries.
Renzi said Italy needed a “change of mentality” and he would present a project dubbed “Italy’s House” in the coming days and seek the involvement of politicians, trade unions, technical experts and building companies.
“What has often been lacking in the past is the construction of a plan for the whole country based on prevention,” Renzi wrote in a newsletter to his supporters.
He said he had already discussed the new plan with Italian architect Renzo Piano who told him it may take two generations – or around 50 years – to bring Italy up to the best international safety standards.
“But the fact that it’s a long-term project isn’t a good reason not to start immediately,” Renzi said.
Italy has suffered 36 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5 and above since 1900, almost every one bringing death, destruction and recriminations about why successive governments have not done more to defend Italians’ lives and heritage.
It remains to be seen whether Renzi’s plans will have more success than in the past. Italy has one of the world’s largest public debts and with a virtually stagnant economy it will struggle to find the funds for costly civil defence programmes.
Renzi’s own future is also in doubt. He faces a referendum in the autumn on a strongly contested plan for constitutional reform, and has said he will step down if he loses.
He promised to rebuild Amatrice and the other mountain communities in central Italy shattered in the latest quake, saying his government would “ensure that these places with such a precious past will also have a future.”
Reconstruction efforts following a 2009 quake which killed more than 300 people in the nearby city of L’Aquila have been hampered by red-tape and corruption, and only a tiny part of the town centre has been rebuilt.
Aftershocks continued on Monday, five days after the first quake. Geologists say there have been more than 2,000 since the original magnitude 6.2 earthquake.
“Here the ground doesn’t stop shaking, I don’t know, I have the impression a huge rift will open and we will all fall in it,” said Roberto De Cesaris, a resident in Amatrice.
A large funeral will take place in Amatrice on Tuesday for many of the almost 230 people who died there. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/29/renzi-present-national-plan-strengthen-italys-quake-defences/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/f30cf37c9ee4b6c54a7c3dd117334087a5ba1967bcdbb7adf343f8eecaa0216b.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T12:49:28 | null | 2016-08-30T14:00:38 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F30%2Ffrench-economy-minister-resign-tuesday%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/macron.jpg | en | null | French economy minister 'to resign on Tuesday' | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | France’s Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron is set to resign on Tuesday, a source close to the former investment banker said, taking one of the country’s most popular politicians a big step closer to launching a run for the presidency next year.
The source close to 38-year-old Macron confirmed local media reports announcing his resignation as imminent, after months of speculation about the outspoken former investment banker’s loyalty to President Francois Hollande.
Macron’s office was not immediately available for comment on the reports, which appeared in an editorial in Les Echos newspaper and on BFM TV.
His place in government had become increasingly awkward since Macron created his own political movement in April, casting it as leaning neither left or to the right.
Macron has fuelled suspense about his political ambitions ahead of the presidential election, repeatedly refusing to confirm or deny whether he would run in the two-round vote next April and May.
He won a reputation as a maverick in the government by attacking pillars of France’s social model like its 35-hour work week, infuriating left-wing allies and even some members of the Socialist government.
If he does run for president, it could blow wide open an election in which France’s traditional mainstream parties — the Socialists and conservatives Les Republicains — are under threat from far right National Front leader Marine Le Pen.
Polls suggest deeply unpopular Hollande is unlikely to even make it into the run-off round of the election, losing out to Le Pen.
If Hollande does decide to run, he will face competition from more hardline Socialists such as former industry minister Arnaud Montebourg and ex-education minister Benoit Hamon. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/30/french-economy-minister-resign-tuesday/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/f6c432d4158bd7b9377fa57547b7808bc014b1ec2c7c4dcc970ebb02f54d5bbe.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T08:48:39 | null | 2016-08-28T11:21:13 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fhalf-germans-merkel-serving-fourth-term-poll%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/merkel.jpg | en | null | Half of Germans against Merkel serving fourth term -poll | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s domestic popularity has declined, a poll showed on Sunday, with 50 percent of Germans against her serving a fourth term in office after a federal election next year.
A series of violent attacks on civilians in July, two of which were claimed by Islamic State, have focused attention on Merkel’s open-door migrant policy, which allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants from the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere into Germany last year.
Half of the 501 people questioned in the Emnid poll for the Bild am Sonntag newspaper were against Merkel staying in office beyond after the 2017 election, with 42 percent wanting her to remain.
In November, the last time Bild am Sonntag commissioned a survey on the issue, 45 percent had been in favour of Merkel serving a fourth term, with 48 percent against.
The head of Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), Frank-Juergen Weise, told the newspaper that he expects a maximum of 300,000 refugees to arrive in Germany this year.
Merkel, asked about her plans for the 2017 election in an interview with regional newspapers published on Tuesday, said: “I will comment on that at the appropriate time. I’m sticking to that.” | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/half-germans-merkel-serving-fourth-term-poll/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/2beb48380375a838e456a4e4cd33dbae9a8525a8a576ed607bdf7c851e983bf1.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T02:48:44 | null | 2016-08-28T05:05:18 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fuk-independence-day-june-23-2016%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/comment-lait-The-new-British-prime-minister-Theresa-May-is-probably-right-to-take-time-before-attempting-to-start-withdrawal-discussions-with-the-EU.jpg | en | null | UK Independence Day June 23, 2016 | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | By Brian Lait
So, here we are some two months after the EU referendum on June 23 when over 17 million British citizens voted to free themselves from the undemocratic, inefficient and corrupt clutches of the European Union. The sky has not fallen in, the sun still rises in the morning and the UK has escaped an economic apocalypse, but I confess to being not a little worried if the war that our dearly departed Dave Cameron warned us about will start any time soon as I have had little time so far to dig my air raid shelter. (Is there, incidentally, any chance that the EU will subsidise air raid shelters in the event of war?).
As a dedicated Brexiteer I was obviously delighted with the referendum’s result and have been amused, stunned and not a little angered at the reactions of many since then. There is a single indisputable fact, as there is in any form of election. The winner is the one with the most votes, and on June 23, 2016 1.3 million more people put a cross in the Leave box than the number of people who put a cross in the Remain box. This is called democracy; difficult to understand for many, no doubt, as there is a distinct lack of it inside the EU where the word may as well be expunged from all dictionaries. (The electoral turnout on June 23 was over 72 per cent which is higher than, for example, the voting in any UK general election since 1992. Nevertheless, some 13 million failed to vote at all, which I find disturbing). It’s also somewhat droll that so many happenings are now described as “post Brexit” as if severe storms would not have occurred had the UK voted Remain. Regardless, I now call June 23, 2016 “Independence Day”.
According to Charlie Flanagan, Ireland’s foreign minister (Cyprus Mail, July 26) the result of the referendum was “an unwelcome result”. Well, it depends on your point of view doesn’t it Charlie? Your country initially voted against the Nice Treaty and then voted in favour in a second referendum (2001-2) and Ireland also initially rejected the Lisbon Treaty only to accept it the second time around (1992-3). The UK was given no such choice on either occasion, but I suggest that Ireland’s volte face on both counts was pretty unwelcome, and certainly economical on democracy. However, your EU puppeteers must be proud of you.
Then we have Patroclos in our beloved Coffeeshop who on June 26 had the gall to say that “Our establishment will keep its analysis of the UK referendum brief and superficial because it feels sorry for millions of British people that were duped by the thinly veiled racist populism of Nigel Farage and slick opportunism of Boris Johnson and voted to leave the EU”. The entire UK was duped, Patroclos, when the late and not great Ted Heath and his band took the country into the then Common Market under entirely false pretences. I note, however, that you made no mention of the 16 million people who were duped into voting Remain by Cameron’s threat of war and warning that the Islamic State terrorist group was a cheerleader for Brexit, Obama saying we would be at the back of the queue for trade negotiations with the USA, the IMF’s pathetic mutterings that Brexit would cause “severe global damage”, etc., etc., etc.
As to the histrionics about the £350 million (gross) sent to the EU every week, no doubt one and all have seen the post referendum comments of the Remain camp who, while they knew the £350 million was incorrect as it does not account for the rebate we get at source, dared not criticise it because the true net amount is still massive and would also be wide open for attack.
So, what will happen now? Well, it’s early days and it may be that the new PM is right to take time before attempting to start withdrawal discussions with the EU. I have commented before that a divorce after 43 years of marriage might well be a trifle messy. Apart from the very possibly acrimonious sour grapes attitude of the churlish EU towards, and during any discussions with, the UK, the UK has a couple of serious internal problems which should be tackled sooner rather than later.
First and foremost is to make our own politicians realise they are acting on behalf of the nation, and not their tiresome squabbling self-interests. I have commented in previous articles about the lack of statesmanship in the UK today. The second is to educate the equally troublesome Nicola Sturgeon to get herself and her party into the real world, by realising that the 2014 referendum in Scotland showed a very, very clear majority were in favour of remaining in the UK and that nothing post Brexit has altered that view despite Scotland clearly voting Remain on June 23.
Unfortunately for Scotland they are in a mess financially and I suggest that the SNP has singularly failed to dare explain this to “their” people. It is best summed up by a cartoonist showing a photograph of Angela Merkel with a somewhat condescending smile on her face supposedly talking to Sturgeon and saying “So let me get this straight Nicola…..Scotland has £143 billion debt and an annual deficit of £15 billion and you want to join my EU ?” Note the use of the word “my” there!
I fervently hope that when discussions do start with the EU, both sides approach the task with maturity although that may just be wishful thinking given the low quality of politicians on both sides of the channel. The UK has a considerable annual trade deficit with the EU and the EU is very unlikely to want to lose its largest single customer so, on balance, the UK may well be in a strong bargaining position.
However, while I really appreciate a top rate Barolo or Rioja red wine from time to time, I would shed few tears if forced to drink Australian, New Zealand, South African (i.e. Commonwealth) or American wines for the rest of my life.
Similarly, I could accustom myself to only being able to buy a motor vehicle from Japan, Korea or the USA if all that would be the price of freedom from the childish persistence of the EU with such idiocies as the continued ‘freedom of movement’. As our new PM Theresa May said in August 2015 when she was Home Secretary “When it was first enshrined, free movement meant the freedom to move to a job, not the freedom to cross borders to look for work or claim benefits……….The numbers coming from Europe are unsustainable and the rules must change. Free movement rules don’t just mean European nationals have the right to reside in Britain, they now mean anybody who has married a European can come here almost without condition”.
That is one of the very good reasons so many voted Leave and I hope May remembers and means all of what she said. Regardless, it does not in any way excuse the abhorrent behaviour of the British yobs towards so-called “foreigners” in the days following the result of the referendum. All that did was to highlight the crass ignorance of so many in the UK as to the meaning of the referendum and what the EU is about.
The negotiations may well be quite lengthy, but I would expect there to be a done deal within two years. Talk about having to get all EU members to agree to everything is just eyewash and scaremongering. I raise my very British gin and tonic to offer a toast to successful discussions for both sides.
Brian Lait, a retired chartered accountant living in Cyprus, has lived and worked in five EU member states and conducted business in several others | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/uk-independence-day-june-23-2016/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/8e7cff41fec3e0891cc26412c15f5b67df900a10eaded277dd9a1afe5635c279.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T14:48:24 | null | 2016-08-27T16:48:53 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F27%2Fbrazil-frees-irelands-mallon-arrested-rio-olympic-ticket-scam%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/spo-oly-hickey-bach.jpg | en | null | Brazil frees Ireland’s Mallon arrested in Rio Olympic ticket scam | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | A Brazilian court has authorised the release of Ireland’s Kevin James Mallon, a director of sports hospitality company THG who was arrested on August 5 for the alleged illegal scalping of Olympic tickets, the local G1 news site reported.
Mallon was being held along with the former head of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) Patrick Hickey, who is still detained in a Rio prison.
Supreme Court of Justice (STJ) appeals court officials were not available to confirm the G1 story on Saturday.
Brazilian police said earlier in August they uncovered emails between Hickey and THG executives discussing tickets they planned to sell at inflated prices, which would earn them as much as 10 million reais ($3.09m) in profit.
On Friday, a source in the Rio state security services told Reuters that a Rio de Janeiro court will return the passports of three members of the OCI who will be allowed to leave Brazil.
Meanwhile, Kenya has arrested three top members of its Olympic committee, a Reuters witness said, after mismanagement of the contingent nearly derailed the country’s participation in the Rio Games.
The east African nation notched up its biggest ever haul of medals in Brazil but doping and organisational challenges had plagued its preparations in the run-up to the event.
On Friday, chef de mission Stephen Arap Soi and assistant secretary of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) James Chacha were taken to a police station in Nairobi upon arrival from the Olympics, alongside the body’s Secretary General F. K. Paul, according to the witness.
Another official, Chief Executive of Athletics Kenya Susan Kamau, told Reuters she too was questioned by police but shortly released.
With six golds, as many silvers and one bronze medal, Kenya finished second only to the United States in the athletics table, making South America’s first Olympic Games its best outing so far.
But its athletics pedigree has been tainted with up to 40 runners failing dope tests in the past four years.
At the Games, Kenya’s Olympic committee sent home a sprinting coach after he was accused of posing as an athlete to doping testers. The coach said he had borrowed an accreditation pass to seek a meal in the athletes’ village.
Kenya’s athletics manager was also sent home from the Olympics and is being detained while police investigate allegations that he had warned athletes before the Games about drugs tests in return for cash. He denies any wrongdoing.
On Thursday, Sports Minister Hassan Wario said he had disbanded NOC-K and set up a committee to probe mismanagement. It will report its findings by September 30. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/27/brazil-frees-irelands-mallon-arrested-rio-olympic-ticket-scam/ | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/65b503ccc19e85b88b9b2153660a12b51e1978edb65b410067153ea7464782ec.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T14:48:54 | null | 2016-08-28T16:33:22 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fman-arrested-suspicion-stealing-ambulance%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/ambulance3900102.jpg | en | null | Man arrested on suspicion of stealing an ambulance | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Police on Sunday arrested a man suspected of having stolen an ambulance from the Limassol general hospital earlier in the day and abandoning it on the coastal road after crashing into two cars.
According to the Cyprus News Agency, a man drove off early Sunday with the ambulance after breaking the parking bar.
A woman who was driving one of the two cars he crashed into was injured and taken to a private hospital, while the suspect reportedly injured his leg. Following a tip-off, police were able to locate a man matching his description and took him into custody just after noon. He was being questioned to determine whether he was the perpetrator. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/man-arrested-suspicion-stealing-ambulance/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/b9ca8b0aa092d38cf60a84dbc613043f9a79baba63c781d35a089b8a7d930a76.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T14:49:46 | null | 2016-08-31T17:19:28 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F31%2Fcabinet-gives-green-light-set-new-aeronautical-services-company%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/airtraffic.jpg | en | null | Cabinet gives green light to set up new aeronautical services company | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | The government has approved a bill providing for the establishment of a state-owned private company to offer aeronautical services, opening a new page in the field of air traffic control, Minister of Transport, Communication and Works Marios Demetriades said.
The government believes the new company, that will undertake air traffic services from the state-owned Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), will tackle the long-standing problem of delays in Cyprus` air space.
“We are opening a new page, a huge change in the field of air traffic control, a sector that has caused problems to Cyprus in past years,” Demetriades said speaking to CAN. He added that efforts began more than three years ago with the assistance of Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the safety of air navigation.
On Tuesday the cabinet approved two bills; one for the setting up of a private state-owned company that will provide air traffic services and a second bill amending the DCA law. The bills will be submitted to parliament for approval.
“This effort should go ahead because this is the only way to achieve results and reduce delays in our air space permanently” he said, adding any other past solutions were short-lived.
He also said traffic in Cyprus` air space has been increasing in the past several years due to problems in the region as well as the increase in air traffic in Cyprus.
“Therefore we believe it is very important for this law to be approved and to set up the new company and address the delays,” he said, recalling that Cyprus was under close scrutiny both from Eurocontrol and the European Commission on the matter.
Cyprus is among the top twenty delay-generating locations in Europe, according to Eurocontrol. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/31/cabinet-gives-green-light-set-new-aeronautical-services-company/ | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/acec249fd274a1056436b588af68b5060a3039cc1a368a311b39453ff317de7b.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T10:48:20 | null | 2016-08-27T13:31:46 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F27%2Flarnaca-municipal-report-highlights-irregularities-popular-mackenzie-beach%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/maxresdefault-1.jpg | en | null | Larnaca municipal report highlights irregularities on popular Mackenzie beach | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | By Evie Andreou
Larnaca’s municipal authority is proposing evictions and tearing down illegal structures as it tries to resolve problems on the popular Mackenzie beach area, it emerged this week.
According to deputy mayor Petros Christodoulou, the municipality has prepared a report requested by Interior Minister Socratis Hasikos, regarding the problems with some of the establishments in the area.
The beach front has been managed by the municipality since December 2012, when it signed an agreement with the interior ministry for the plots used as car parking and the recreation area.
The land belongs to Turkish Cypriots and by law it is under the guardianship of the interior ministry.
The municipality, which is subletting the plots, pays rent to the interior ministry but some of the establishments in the area do not recognise the agreement between the municipality and the ministry and are refusing to pay rent.
Around two years ago, the municipality reviewed and updated contracts dating back to the 1980s but some businesses have rejected the higher rates.
Some insist they continue to pay rent based on the rate agreed in their initial contracts, which was CY£250 (around €425) per year, Christodoulou said, whereas the rent according to the new contracts is €900 per month.
“There are in total 14 establishments at the Mackenzie beach, plus three empty plots,” Christodoulou told the Sunday Mail.
The plots were initially leased to refugees who lost their properties following the invasion and occupation of the northern part of the island by Turkey. They in turn rented the properties to others who turned them into restaurants, cafes, and bars.
Christodoulou added that the users of some establishments have agreed to the new contracts and pay the higher rent, but there are two other groups: one where businesses agree to pay the new rate but it’s the initial users who are refusing to sign the new contacts, and the other where it’s the businesses who are refusing to sign the new contacts or pay rent.
“Among our suggestions is the eviction of those who refuse to pay,” Christodoulou said.
Another issue is the expansion of the establishments into the strip, designated a green area, between the pedestrian path and the beach.
“We initially said that there will be no use of that space but after they (businesses) took it over, and in order to be able to control the situation, we told them we agree to them placing their chairs and tables there, but we charge them for cleaning the area,” Christodoulou said.
The municipality is going to propose to the ministry to allow the use of that space by businesses but with building restrictions.
“Some have already erected structures. Our suggestion is for them to be allowed to install some sort of floor but not to erect buildings, and for the removal of structures,” Christodoulou said. He added that most businesses have already complied.
The Mackenzie area, he said, was an “entrepreneurship experiment” which worked.
“From the 500 people that used to visit the area in the past, we have now 10,000 visitors on weekends,” Christodoulou said.
Hasikos had asked for the report after the arrest last May of the municipal secretary, Lefteris Empedoclis, over allegations of theft, bribery, and corruption. Empedoclis was reported by a Mackenzie restaurateur who claimed that he had paid him €35,000 in cash in 2015 as a fine for irregularities found at his establishment. The businessman thought the issue was over but earlier this year he was notified that he had to appear in court in connection with the irregularities.
When he asked Empedoclis what would happen he reportedly replied “the papers will come back to me and I will sort it out.”
Police investigations at the Larnaca Town Hall had produced no evidence of the amount being deposited in the municipality’s accounts, nor of any procedure initiated to settle the matter of the irregularities, to which the businessman referred. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/27/larnaca-municipal-report-highlights-irregularities-popular-mackenzie-beach/ | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/0b4bee2a8aabe581e0e2a6f3a340e8941458f6b5ccb565bd856818e7d9206320.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T08:48:41 | null | 2016-08-28T10:24:52 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fturkey-ratchets-syria-offensive-says-warplanes-hit-kurdish-militia-strike-kurdish-militia-puts-turkey-odds-u-s%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/640x640-1-7.jpg | en | null | Turkey ratchets up Syria offensive, says warplanes hit Kurdish militia - Any strike on Kurdish militia puts Turkey at odds with U.S. | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | By Umit Bektas
Rebels supported by Turkey fought Kurdish-backed forces in northern Syria on Saturday, as Ankara ratcheted up its cross-border offensive by saying it had launched air strikes against both Kurdish forces and Islamic State.
Turkey’s government, which is fighting a Kurdish insurgency at home, has said the Syrian campaign it opened this week is as much about about preventing Kurdish militia fighters from gaining territory in Syria as about pushing back Islamic State.
Turkey wants to stop Kurdish forces gaining control of a continuous stretch of Syrian territory on its frontier, which it fears could embolden the Kurdish militant group PKK, which has waged a three-decade insurgency on Turkish soil.
Turkish security sources said two F-16 jets bombed a site controlled by the Kurdish YPG militia, which is part of the broader U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) coalition. The sources also said the jets hit six Islamic State targets.
Turkish military sources said one of its soldiers was killed and three others wounded when a tank was hit by a rocket that they said was fired from territory held by the Kurdish YPG. The sources said the army shelled the area in response.
Syrian rebels opposed to Ankara’s incursion said Turkish forces had targeted forces allied to the YPG and no Kurdish forces were in the area.
On the ground, Turkish-backed Syrian rebels fought forces aligned with the SDF near the frontier town of Jarablus. Forces opposed to Ankara said Turkish tanks were deployed, a charge denied by Turkey’s rebel allies.
In Turkey, suspected Kurdish militants fired rockets at the airport in the main southeastern city of Diyarbakir, sending passengers and staff scrambling for shelter, Dogan news agency said. There were no reports of casualties.
Turkey’s offensive into Syria began on Wednesday, supporting its rebel allies with Turkish special forces, tanks and warplanes. It seized control of Jarablus from Islamic State seeking to stop any Kurdish forces moving in first.
Saturday’s use of warplanes against what Turkey said was a Kurdish YPG militia target highlights its determination to prevent any Kurdish territorial expansion in north Syria.
Any action against Kurdish forces in Syria puts Turkey at odds with its NATO ally the United States, which backs the SDF and YPG, seeing them as the most reliable and effective ally in the fight against Islamic State in Syria.
It adds complexity to the Syrian conflict that erupted five years ago with an uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has since drawn in regional states and world powers.
“DANGEROUS ESCALATION”
The Jarablus Military Council, part of the SDF, had said earlier on Saturday that Turkish planes hit the village of al-Amarna south of Jarablus, causing civilian casualties. It called the action “a dangerous escalation”.
The Kurdish-led administration that controls parts of northern Syria said Turkish tanks advanced on al-Amarna and clashed with forces of the Jarablus Military Council. But the Kurdish administration said no Kurdish forces were involved.
However, the leader of one Turkey-backed rebel group gave a rival account. He told Reuters the rebels battled the Kurdish YPG around al-Amarna and denied any Turkish tanks took part.
Turkish security forces simply said Turkish-backed forces had extended their control to five villages beyond Jarablus.
A video released by Turkey’s military showed the Turkish Red Crescent distributing food and aid to people in Jarablus, with the help of Turkish troops. It also showed what appeared to be Turkish-backed rebels flicking v-for-victory signs in the town.
The newly formed Jarablus Military Council has said it was made up of people from the area with the aim of capturing the town and the surrounding region from Islamic State militants. However, the Turkish-backed rebels seized Jarablus first.
Several militias under the SDF banner pledged support to Jarablus Military Council after it reported the Turkish bombing.
The Northern Sun Battalion, an SDF faction, said in a statement it was heading to “Jarablus fronts” to help the council against “threats made by factions belonging to Turkey”.
Tension has mounted in Syria’s Aleppo region in the past year between the U.S-backed Kurdish YPG force and its allies on one hand and Turkish-backed rebel groups on the other. The two sides have clashed on several occasions. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/turkey-ratchets-syria-offensive-says-warplanes-hit-kurdish-militia-strike-kurdish-militia-puts-turkey-odds-u-s/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/f98b026fab2482ea6e7c28d7d6bc40a760e9f48a892db5076c93f9b06f0ce181.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T12:48:20 | null | 2016-08-27T15:12:33 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F27%2Fleaders-increasing-likely-issue-joint-communique-talks-end%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/fb1ae880-1ee8-486f-a8b8-b01e6081296c.jpg | en | null | Leaders increasing likely to issue joint communique after talks end | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | There is a preliminary agreement between the president and the Turkish Cypriot leader to issue a joint communique on September 14 concerning the results of their six meetings, government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said on Saturday, as reunification negotiations entered a critical phase.
President Nicos Anastasiades and Mustafa Akinci on Monday are scheduled to kick off “a very substantive and critical phase of the negotiations”, Christodoulides said.
During the six meetings until September 14, the two will discuss “thoroughly and in detail all chapters of the Cyprus problem” with the objective being to come to an understanding and achieve convergences on issues they currently disagree on, and examine issues that have not yet been debated in depth.
“It is a critical phase in the negotiations whose results will, to a large extent, define how the procedure will proceed,” Christodoulides said.
The government spokesman said the two leaders had agreed in theory to issue a joint statement on September 14 outlining the discussions and the results of their meetings.
“I think this is one of the most critical phases of the negotiations,” he said.
“For some time, we have been saying that the settlement of the Cyprus problem will be decided at the negotiating table where all the chapters are being discussed. Taking into account the phase we are in, the results of the dialogue ending on September 14 are decisive.”
Regarding the possibility of a meeting between the leaders and the UN Secretary General in New York, Christodoulides said it would be decided during the last encounter between Anastasiades and Akinci.
“What I can say with certainty is that a meeting cannot take place before September 25, when the UN General Assembly finishes. If it will take place, it would be after the conclusion of the UN General Assembly,” he said. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/27/leaders-increasing-likely-issue-joint-communique-talks-end/ | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/6d9c553ad49d7d98e192746765a5da7ff6436cb4b3435662eed80a3077e08328.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T18:49:10 | null | 2016-08-29T20:29:45 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F29%2Fgasquet-stunned-britains-edmund-us-open%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/edmund.jpg | en | null | Gasquet stunned by Britain's Edmund at US Open | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Gasquet stunned by Britain’s Edmund at U.S. Open
The year’s final grand slam began with an upset as 13th-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet was upended 6-2 6-2 6-3 by Britain’s world number 84 Kyle Edmund at the U.S. Open on Monday.
Gasquet, who has reached the last 16 at Flushing Meadows four times in his career, was outplayed throughout and his U.S. Open experience lasted just one hour, 41 minutes.
The 21-year-old Edmund, who helped Britain win the Davis Cup last year, crunched 10 aces and 40 winners in all en route to the biggest victory of his career.
Edmund will play Lukas Lacko of Slovakia or American wildcard Ernesto Escobedo in the second round. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/29/gasquet-stunned-britains-edmund-us-open/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/7b1512387eb6300f98c2aeeabfae4b8d622069ead9c667de265b7ecaffaa7d32.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T14:49:49 | null | 2016-08-31T16:11:31 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F31%2Frussia-says-killed-islamic-state-leader-adnani-syria%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/adnani.jpg | en | null | Russia says it killed Islamic State leader Adnani in Syria | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Wednesday that Russian air strikes in Syria had killed one of Islamic State’s most prominent leaders, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani.
The ministry said that Adnani was one of up to 40 rebels killed on Tuesday by air strikes carried out by a Russian Su-34 bomber in Maaratat-Umm Khaush in Aleppo province.
Islamic State said on Tuesday Adnani had been killed in what appeared to be an US air strike in Syria. A US defence official told Reuters the United States targeted Adnani in a strike but stopped short of confirming his death.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said Adnani’s killing by the Russian air strike had been confirmed “through several intelligence channels”.
Islamic State’s Amaq News Agency reported on Tuesday that Adnani was killed “while surveying the operations to repel the military campaigns against Aleppo”. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/31/russia-says-killed-islamic-state-leader-adnani-syria/ | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/ff36ebe61beae5f998176b0ca89461e6ef51faca313cdba056c0eceb230a24e8.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T02:47:56 | null | 2016-08-27T04:50:03 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F27%2Fview-death-tea-bag-police-confused-defines-lethal-weapon%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/hemp-harvest-a.jpg | en | null | Our View: Death by tea bag - police confused over what defines a ‘lethal weapon’ | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | POLICE in Cyprus seem to be obsessed with drugs to the point where they went around a number of kiosks in Ayia Napa and Paralimni last weekend seizing small packets of hemp tea.
The importers and distributors of the tea are now suing the government after their product – all licensed and certified, they insist – were seized illegally. The company has also written to the Attorney-general, asking him to instruct police to stop harassing sellers of the tea.
Hemp tea falls within the boundaries of recently amended laws which permit the cultivation and trade in substances containing less than 0.2 per cent of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive element in cannabis.
The company imports the hemp tea and re-packages it with oversight from the public health services before distributing to kiosks and mini markets.
This problem of confusing a perfectly legal product with an illegal one is down to conflicting legislation that has seen a hemp farmer jailed this year. On the criminal statutes, THC is a banned substance in any quantity.
Even the anti-drugs council pointed this out on Friday, and while one might think they might be opposed to anything cannabis-related, in fact they clearly indicated police were in the wrong.
Hemp tea will not make you high, and even if a person was to smoke industrial hemp, the joint would have to be the size of a telephone pole to have any effect, according to conventional wisdom.
That’s one aspect. The other is the apparent lengths the officers went to in order to confiscate the tea. They told one kiosk owner that he needed a permit from the relevant ministry in order to sell the product. In another, they told the kiosk operator that the supplier lacked a distribution permit. And another was told police were acting on a tip-off concerning the sale of cannabis.
Meanwhile, a Sunday Mail survey around Ayia Napa last week following the murder of a Briton the weekend before, found a number of people working in the tourist industry would welcome a more visible police presence, more extensive CCTV coverage – and a ban on souvenir shops selling “lethal weapons” such as combat knives, knuckle-dusters and even machetes. Given that the latter have been used in a number of terrorism attacks around Europe this year, police might be more concerned with seizing them from a crowded holiday resort instead of teabags.
One of the main complaints from a business owner in Ayia Napa was that police seemed to focus on relatively minor infractions such as handing out fines to moped drivers, loud establishments and touts, and busting sellers of laughing gas.
Maybe the new parliament that begins work next week might take it upon themselves to sort out both these legislative issues, amending the criminal law to reflect the law on industrial hemp so that farmers are not jailed, and banning the open sale of lethal weapons when we all live in such dangerous times. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/27/view-death-tea-bag-police-confused-defines-lethal-weapon/ | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/b8eff8cf166e0a8a91f3f882678abc8f07e6ac3177d5f53a12b54f94af89d46d.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T14:49:19 | null | 2016-08-26T17:30:57 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F26%2Fhistorys-famous-defence%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1-1.jpg | en | null | History’s most famous defence | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Witness history’s most famous defence. The performance of Socrates Now narrates Socrates’ famous trial in Athens where he was sentenced to death, accused of religious nonconformity and the corruption of youth.
This theatrical production by the Greek Theatre of New York (Elliniko Theatro), which has been presented in more than 20 countries and seen by over 250,000, is coming to Cyprus on September 1.
Socrates Now presents an opportunity to find out more about this famous philosopher while the interactive performance by Emmy-award winner Yannis Simonides also encourages audiences to consider their own critical thinking in today’s world, indicating the timelessness of Socrates’ philosophy.
Thus, an integral part of the performance is the open discussion with the audience that follows which focuses on political and philosophical issues underlying Socratic thought, touching at the same time on important issues of today.
As part of the production, the Socratic ethics are presented in an accessible and engaging manner throughout the performance, as the philosopher not only reviews the motives and charges against him, but speaks of the death and immortality of the human soul. Throughout the 90-minute solo performance, Yannis Simonides channels the eccentric personality of the philosopher and offers a profoundly social, political, but above all human work with captivates audiences with the humour, immediacy and simplicity of its theatrical rendition.
Simonides was born in Istanbul and raised in Athens. He is a graduate of Yale University and the Yale School of Drama. Simonides has been awarded an Emmy by the American Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and has been named Ambassador of Hellenism by the city of Athens for his lifelong service to Greek arts and letters worldwide.
Socrates Now
Solo performance by Yannis Simonides as part of the Kypria International Festival 2016. September 1-2. Strovolos Municipal Theatre, Nicosia, September 3. ETHAL Theatre, Limassol, September 5. Palia Ilektriki, Paphos. 8.30pm. €10/5. In Greek. Tel: 70-002212 | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/26/historys-famous-defence/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/dc15e433445f424db80215de210a23cec0af36a0d806be28d7ea4e91007a019f.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T10:48:14 | null | 2016-08-27T12:13:01 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F27%2Fbangladesh-police-kill-mastermind-dhaka-cafe-attack%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Policemen-patrol-outside-the-Holey-Artisan-Bakery-and-the-OKitchen-Restaurant-as-others-inspect-the-site-after-gunmen-attacked-in-Dhaka.jpg | en | null | Bangladesh police kill ‘mastermind’ of Dhaka cafe attack | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | By Serajul Quadir
Bangladesh security forces killed three Islamist militants on Saturday including a Bangladesh-born Canadian citizen alleged to have masterminded an attack on a cafe in Dhaka last month in which 22 people, mostly foreigners, were killed, police said.
The militants were cornered in a hideout on the outskirts of the capital and, having refused to surrender, were killed in the ensuing gunbattle, Monirul Islam, the head of the Dhaka police counterterrorism unit, told Reuters.
He initially said four militants had been killed but later revised the number to three.
The success notched up by the security forces came ahead of a visit on Monday by US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is expected to discuss security in the wake of a series of killings of liberals and religious minorities in the mostly Muslim country.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the assault on the cafe in a posh neighbourhood of the capital, during which militants singled out non-Muslims and foreigners, killing Italians, Japanese, an American and an Indian.
The government has steadfastly denied the presence in the country of any transnational militant organisation, like al Qaeda or Islamic State.
But police believe that Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State, was involved in organising the cafe attack.
The scale of that attack and the targeting of foreigners has cast a shadow over foreign investment in the poor South Asian economy, whose $28 billion garments export industry is the world’s second largest.
MASTERMIND’S DEATH
The suspected mastermind killed in Saturday’s raid was identified as Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, a 30-year-old Canadian citizen born in Bangladesh. Analysts say Islamic State in April identified Chowdhury as its national commander.
“According to our evidence we are now sure that Tamim was among the three killed,” Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters. “So the chapter of Tamim has ended here.”
Khan said Chowdhury was one of the main suppliers of funds and arms for several recent attacks. He had returned to Bangladesh in October, 2013 via Abu Dhabi, A K M Shahidul Hoque, the inspector general of police, said.
The raid followed a tip off from the landlord of the house where the militants were staying, Hoque told reporters. The landlord said the militants had described themselves as businessmen in the medical trade.
Police have also been holding in detention two men who had been among the survivors of the attack on the restaurant.
Hasnat Karim, holds dual British and Bangladeshi citizenship, and Tahmid Hasib Khan, a student of Toronto University, had been dining separately in the restaurant.
A lawyer for Karim, a 47-year-old engineer, has said his client is innocent. Relatives of Khan, 22, say he is innocent too.
Earlier this month, security forces arrested four women suspected of being members of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/27/bangladesh-police-kill-mastermind-dhaka-cafe-attack/ | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/44ce3e1768f7d85247117f0d09e92c90e007eb7ad64d82e69b761531f974845d.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T12:49:36 | null | 2016-08-31T15:29:58 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F31%2Fbomb-blast-lebanons-bekaa-valley-kills-one-wounds-four%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/bombblas.jpg | en | null | Bomb blast in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley kills one, wounds 11 | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | A bomb blast on a road in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley on Wednesday killed at least one person and wounded 11 other people, the Lebanese Red Cross said.
The explosion took place at a roundabout near the city of Zahle, the source added, without elaborating. Local media reported the person killed was a woman, but gave no further details.
TV images from the scene showed broken glass littering the road near the roundabout, and people trying to treat someone lying on the ground with what looked like a head injury.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Several security incidents have hit Lebanon in recent months, including an attack by eight suicide bombers who blew themselves up killing five other people in a Christian village in the north in June.
Lebanon has been repeatedly jolted by the five-year-old civil war in neighbouring Syria, where powerful Lebanese Shi’ite group Hezbollah is fighting on the side of President Bashar al-Assad.
The spillover has included a number of attacks by Sunni Islamists, among the biggest of which was a bomb attack in Beirut in November last year. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/31/bomb-blast-lebanons-bekaa-valley-kills-one-wounds-four/ | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/036968e272b270c9dfcd320b48132bcc6558a9eecab20f5d31c5299ef540e303.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:01:08 | null | 2016-08-26T12:52:04 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F26%2Fkerry-lavrov-meet-finalise-details-syria-cooperation-deal%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/kerry.jpg | en | null | Kerry, Lavrov meet to finalise details of Syria cooperation deal | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov met in Geneva on Friday to try to hammer out final details of a cooperation agreement on fighting Islamist militants in Syria.
The hope is that a deal on fighting jihadists in Syria will help lead to a cessation of hostilities between the army and its militia allies on one side and non-jihadist rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad, as a step towards relaunching talks on a political transition to end the five-year Syrian conflict.
The meeting between Lavrov and Kerry at a luxury hotel on Lake Geneva began shortly after 10am (0800 GMT). Asked what the main impediment was to a nationwide ceasefire, Lavrov quipped: “I don’t want to spoil the atmosphere for the negotiations.”
While Kerry said this week that technical teams from both sides were close to the end of their discussions, US officials indicated it was too early to say whether an agreement was likely.
“There are still issues that need to be ironed out,” a senior State Department official said as the talks began.
“We’re hopeful that today could see resolution on at least some of them, and that we can move this plan forward,” the official said, “But we’re mindful of the challenges.”
When Kerry launched the Syrian cooperation talks in July during a visit to Moscow, the proposal involved Washington and Moscow sharing military intelligence to coordinate air strikes against Islamic State and grounding the Syrian air force to stop it from attacking moderate rebel groups.
Kerry believes the plan is the best chance to limit the fighting that is driving thousands of Syrians into exile in Europe and preventing humanitarian aid from reaching tens of thousands more, as well as preserving a political track.
The talks take place just days after Syrian rebels backed by Turkish special forces, tanks and warplanes entered Jarablus, one of Islamic State’s last strongholds on the Turkish-Syrian border.
The advance westward in the next phase of their Turkey-backed operation could take weeks or months to complete, a rebel commander told Reuters.
Turkish military shelled the Kurdish militia, the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, south of Jarablus and demanded that the YPG retreat to the east side of the Euphrates River within a week.
The YPG had moved west of the river earlier this month as part of a US-backed operation, now completed, to capture the city of Manbij from Islamic State.
Turkey’s stance puts it at odds with Washington, which sees the YPG as a rare reliable ally on the ground in Syria.
By reaching a deal with Russia, which supports Syrian Assad, Washington hopes that it will help launch talks on a political transition in Syria.
On Thursday, the UN said Russia had agreed to a 48-hour humanitarian ceasefire in the divided Syrian city of Aleppo to allow aid deliveries, although UN officials said they were waiting for security guarantees from parties on the ground before moving forward.
The United Nations has pushed for a weekly pause in the fighting in Aleppo to deliver food, water and medicine to civilians caught in the fighting.
Separately, Syrian rebels and government forces agreed in a deal on Thursday to evacuate all residents and insurgents from the besieged Damascus suburb of Daraya, ending one of the longest standoffs in the five-year conflict. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/26/kerry-lavrov-meet-finalise-details-syria-cooperation-deal/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/feab1b424ff19fd4936ac76a4371c4058bab11a338853405856154bce09b0dbb.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T02:49:30 | null | 2016-08-31T05:00:42 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F31%2Fview-grand-statements-shed-no-new-light-financial-collapse%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/our-view-Orphanides-presents-his-book-at-the-House-ethics-committee.jpg | en | null | Our view: Grand statements shed no new light on financial collapse | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Tuesday’s appearance of the former Governor of the Central Bank (CBC) Athanasios Orphanides at the House ethics committee did not shed any new light on the causes of the collapse of the economy. Orphanides repeated the views and theories he had been uttering for the last three-and-a-half years and which feature in his recently-published book.
In a nutshell, he said that the Christofias government together with Orphanides’ successor Panicos Demetriades, had grossly exaggerated the capital needs of the Cypriot banks – they had allegedly given instructions to the consultants of PIMCO, brought in to determine the banks’ re-capitalisation needs, to inflate the figures – so that AKEL could blame the collapse of the economy exclusively on the banks. These inflated figures made the haircut of deposits inevitable, said Orphanides, who also alleged that the PIMCO report had been kept from the government by Demetriades.
He also claimed that AKEL and Demetriades had started planning the inflating of the banks’ capital needs as early as June 2012, citing a leak to the press alleging the needs would be in the region of €10 billion. This conspiracy theory, which also alleged that the sale of the Cypriot banks’ operations in Greece to Bank of Piraeus was planned well in advance, has one major flaw – it is based on the assumption that a grossly incompetent and clueless government and a governor totally out of his depth were capable of orchestrating such a well-executed plan.
There is no doubt that the Christofias government bears the largest share of the responsibility for the collapse of the economy. Its obdurate refusal to take corrective measures when it was obvious the state would run out of money made a bad situation much worse. At the same time, Orphanides has a nerve taking the moral high ground and blaming everything that went wrong on the government.
The Cypriot banks were in big trouble when he stepped down as governor at the end of April 2012, and this was not because of the AKEL government. The banks were not in perfect health when he stepped down and he had already sanctioned €3.8 billion in ELA for Laiki. Less than two months after he stepped down the state had to buy Laiki to prevent its collapse. The bank’s problems did not automatically appear when Orphanides was replaced. It was also Orphanides who gave the go-ahead for the Bank of Cyprus’ disastrous investment in the Russian bank Uniastrum.
Perhaps if Orphanides, now a professor at the prestigious MIT in the US, admitted committing the odd mistake when he was in charge of supervising the Cypriot banks, his theories would have more credibility. However, he seems to be playing a similar game to AKEL – avoiding taking any responsibility for the collapse of the banking sector by putting all the blame on the AKEL government. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/31/view-grand-statements-shed-no-new-light-financial-collapse/ | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/a20d3040542b10e4890c9edea9db0bb206521af0e80297081d0de39a52c19316.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T10:48:48 | null | 2016-08-28T13:22:31 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fsingapore-confirms-41-cases-locally-transmitted-zika-virus-media%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/zika.jpg | en | null | Singapore confirms 41 cases of locally-transmitted Zika virus - media | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Singapore has confirmed 41 cases of locally-transmitted Zika virus, local media reported on Sunday, citing the city-state’s health ministry.
The cases include 36 foreign construction workers employed at a site in Aljunied, in the southeast of the island, the Straits Times newspaper and Channel News Asia television reported.
On Saturday, the health ministry confirmed Singapore’s first case of a local transmission of the virus, which in Brazil has been linked to microcephaly, a rare birth defect.
That case was also in the Aljunied area.
Authorities have tested 124 people, primarily construction workers. Seventy-eight have tested negative and five cases are pending, the reports said. In all, 34 patients have fully recovered. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/singapore-confirms-41-cases-locally-transmitted-zika-virus-media/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/d335ef046fc2db4fde2fc3505488986c793bd621930ef61a0eab7846f1dcf2bc.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T10:48:43 | null | 2016-08-28T13:07:16 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fsheep-goat-stolen-farm%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Government-has-announced-a-series-of-incentives-for-goat-farmers-Christos-Theodorides.jpg | en | null | Sheep and goat stolen from farm | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | More than ten sheep and a goat worth more than €3,000 in total were reported stolen from a farm in Avgorou, in the Famagusta district on Saturday.
According to police, the farmer, 57, reported that 15 sheep and 1 goat were stolen from his farm in Ayios Kendeas in Avgorou, sometime between 7pm on Friday and 6.30am on Saturday. The animals’ total worth is estimated at around €3,200. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/sheep-goat-stolen-farm/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/1a35ec999f271b2da7e5533a09e1bfd1bd8a3b15c65dfda7c944f1b11b4c053f.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T12:48:50 | null | 2016-08-28T15:40:48 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Firaq-asks-saudi-arabia-replace-envoy-riled-shiite-militias%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/moustacheman-620x360.jpg | en | null | Iraq asks Saudi Arabia to replace envoy who riled Shi'ite militias | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Iraq asked Saudi Arabia on Sunday to replace its ambassador in Baghdad after his comments about Iranian involvement in Iraqi affairs and the alleged persecution of Sunni Muslims angered local Shi’ite Muslim politicians and militia leaders.
The request by Baghdad’s Shi’ite-led government underscores the depth of enmity between Sunni and Shi’ite regional powers as sectarian conflicts rage in Syria, Yemen and Iraq.
Riyadh only reopened its embassy in Baghdad in December after keeping it shut since the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
Thamer al-Sabhan was the first Saudi ambassador appointed since the reopening, which was seen as heralding closer cooperation in the fight against Islamic State militants who control swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria and have claimed bombings in Saudi Arabia.
“The presence of Sabhan is an obstacle to the development of relations between Iraq and Saudi Arabia,” Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Jamal said in comments to al-Aahd, a TV channel that belongs to Iranian-backed Shi’ite militia Asaib Ahl al-Haq.
He tweeted that the ministry was “asking its Saudi counterpart to replace the ambassador of the Saudi Arabian Kingdom in Baghdad.”
Iraqi Shi’ite politicians and militias have made persistent calls to expel Sabhan, who has been calling on the Iraqi government to exclude Shi’ite paramilitary groups from its military campaign against Islamic State in order to avoid abuses against Sunnis in Iraq.
The Iraqi foreign ministry denied on Monday that a plot to kill the envoy had been uncovered.
In recent days, Sabhan repeatedly spoke of a “terrorist plot” to assassinate him after a Shi’ite militia leader, Aws al-Khafaji, said in an interview with a local Iraqi channel that killing the envoy would be an “honour.”
Sabhan, responding to messages expressing solidarity with him after the Iraqi announcement, tweeted: “I am a servant of this (Saudi) leadership which is seeking to assist the truth and the well being of Muslims, may God preserve it.”
In an interview on the Dubai-based, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV station, he said Saudi Arabia’s policies on Iraq would not change.
“We have a very amicable relationship with Iraqi politicians that the media does not depict,” he added. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/iraq-asks-saudi-arabia-replace-envoy-riled-shiite-militias/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/1e07e6f2725b78af2b2d78923c8c74dbc32fded5ebcf3997e634886fa205483f.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T08:48:40 | null | 2016-08-28T11:00:46 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Frecords-aside-us-open-getting-personal-serena%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/spo-tennis-serena-williams.jpg | en | null | Records aside, US Open getting personal for Serena | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | By Larry Fine
AT last year’s U.S. Open, Serena Williams was trying to rewrite the record book and fell short, but starting on Monday at Flushing Meadows winning is getting personal.
Williams’ 184-week reign as world number one is under attack, and the American will be loathe to relinquish it, according to no less an authority than ESPN commentator Chris Evert, who held the lofty perch for a total of 260 weeks.
“Serena being number two in the world doesn’t sort of sit well with her,” Evert said in a conference call this week ahead of the U.S. Open.
“I think she’ll be eager to go … and I think she’s going to win it again.”
The championship has a ring of familiarity with six-time U.S. Open winner Williams and defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic as top seeds, but there is a twist in the 2016 proceedings.
Rain will not threaten to bring the championship to a grinding halt, as a $150m retractable roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium guarantees centre court matches at least.
Williams and Djokovic are favourites in the year’s last grand slam, both more or less at even money, though their fitness is in question and both face top challengers emboldened by recent success.
Williams must contend with Germany’s Angelique Kerber, the Australian Open winner who would have become world number one had she not lost the final at last week’s Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.
Djokovic, who has been bothered by a wrist injury, is being chased by number two Andy Murray, fresh off a 22-match win streak that carried him to his second Wimbledon title, the successful defence of his Olympic singles crown, and the Cincinnati final.
The season has already produced momentous achievements, with Williams matching Steffi Graf for most slams in the Open era with her 22nd, won at Wimbledon over Kerber.
Djokovic completed a career grand slam by winning the French Open for a 12th slam title that also enabled him to hold all four slams at once.
Yet both have had recent stumbles.
Williams lost in the third round of Olympic singles in Rio and then withdrew from the Cincinnati event because of her shoulder.
Djokovic was a first-round casualty in Rio, falling to 2009 U.S. Open winner Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, who appears to be reestablishing himself after a long recovery from a wrist injury.
The Serbian was also a third-round loser at Wimbledon to American Sam Querrey.
Williams suffered perhaps her most stinging defeat at last year’s Open, losing to unseeded Italian Roberta Vinci in the semi-finals, needing to win the title to complete a rare calendar year Grand Slam.
Danger also lurks elsewhere in both draws.
Rafa Nadal, a 14-times slam winner, showed winning form in Rio, reaching the singles semi-finals and claiming gold in doubles after a long injury layoff.
Del Potro, who made it all the way to the Olympic final before falling to Murray, is a potential first-round nightmare for seeded players as a wildcard entry to the Open.
Marin Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open winner, has regained his confidence after ending Murray’s winning streak in the Cincinnati final.
On the women’s side, other contenders include French Open winner Garbine Muguruza and this summer’s in-form Simona Halep.
But there will be no defending champion, after surprise 2015 winner Flavia Pennetta of Italy retired shortly afterwards.
Roger Federer, winner of a record 17 grand slam titles, is missing the U.S. Open as he recovers from injury, but was not shy about handicapping it.
“Yes there were surprise losses, at Wimbledon and the Olympics, but I still say that Novak is the favorite,” five-time Open winner Federer said at a New York news conference promoting next year’s Laver Cup.
“He has a great record against Andy, has been unbelievable at the U.S. Open as well and when it comes to the hard court, he is usually very tough to beat.”
Victory at the Open would ensure Williams of breaking Graf’s record 186-week continuous reign at number one and would snap another tie with Graf, giving Williams 23 grand slam singles titles — most of any player in the Open Era.
Mary Joe Fernandez, an ESPN commentator and U.S. Fed Cup captain who also coached the U.S. team at the Rio Games, agreed the ranking means a lot to Williams.
“The No. 1 ranking is important to her, and she’d like to not just tie Steffi Graf for number one at consecutive weeks, but she’d like to break it,” said Fernandez. “I think it’s great that it’s in her hands.” | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/records-aside-us-open-getting-personal-serena/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/e0a8d7d8181cfefed7066e77f990e45274ce11a5fc8881b7eb869c056fba54aa.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T06:49:01 | null | 2016-08-29T09:20:30 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F29%2F96441%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/comment-theophanous.jpg | en | null | President Anastasiades and Mustafa Akinci have 2nd meeting of intensified talks | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci hold on Monday their second meeting in the context of a new round of intensified talks under UN-aegis, following a short break for the summer holidays.
The two leaders are also set to meet on Wednesday August 31, Friday, September 2, Tuesday September 6, Thursday September 8 and Wednesday September 14.
Replying to questions after their previous meeting last Tuesday, President Anastasiades said that the Greek Cypriot side would be in favour of a tripartite meeting between himself, the Turkish Cypriot leader and UNSG Ban Ki-moon, provided that sufficient progress is achieved in the talks.
CNA | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/29/96441/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/fc507d6b03f4fe2fe02cd35917cd9e5471eaf9b040cced59dbc89f5bb197cd12.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T18:49:13 | null | 2016-08-29T21:30:56 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F29%2Ffreak-lightning-storm-kills-323-reindeer-norway%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/reindeer.jpg | en | null | Freak lightning storm kills 323 reindeer in Norway | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | A freak lightning storm has killed 323 reindeer in a remote mountainous area of Norway, officials said on Monday.
Dead animals were found lying on top of each other, many with their antlers entangled, after the thunderstorm on the Hardanger plateau in southern Norway on Friday.
“We’ve never had anything like this with lightning,” Kjartan Knutsen of Norway’s nature surveillance agency said, adding there were sometimes isolated cases of sheep or reindeer struck down.
Reindeer tend to group together when in danger. It was unclear whether the herd had been killed by a single lightning bolt or several.
Hardanger was extremely wet on Friday, helping conduct lightning.
“The high moisture in both the ground and the air was probably an explanation for why so many animals died,” Olav Strand, a senior researcher at the Norwegian Institue for Nature Research, wrote in a statement.
Experts flew in by helicopter to take samples of the dead reindeer, amid a rising stench of decay, as part of a project to monitor elk and deer for diseases. Five of the 323 animals were found alive but badly injured and were shot by wildlife officials.
It was unclear what would happen to the bodies. One option is to leave them to decay.
“It’s part of the natural ecology, this is far from where people live,” Knutsen said. Hardanger has about 12,000 reindeer and hunters are allowed to shoot 2,000 a year for their meat. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/29/freak-lightning-storm-kills-323-reindeer-norway/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/0e4482c5192d9d7bd780ac574588b3581a764bd4b2d3e15c48ebf3c5a5199450.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T12:49:07 | null | 2016-08-29T14:00:39 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F29%2Fcrossing-rocking-side%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web2-4.jpg | en | null | Crossing over to the rocking side | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Skali Aglantzias in Nicosia has a breath-taking view of the capital, is a romantic setting for any spontaneous date and is where many, many unforgettable performances have found a home. One such performance will take place on Wednesday, when the Avanti Crossover Symphonic Orchestra will be joined by some of the best rock bands that Cyprus has to offer.
The first non-government Symphonic Orchestra will find its tune under the baton of Francis Guy, while the stage will be rocked by the bands Prospectus, Minus One and the crossover vocal group Avanti 4.
Prospectus is a seven-member band that is known for its electrifying performances, its dedication to rock and its ‘stand up and fight’ attitude on and off stage. The band performs in different music stages throughout the island and during the summer months they tour the land, entertaining the masses at festivals and summer concerts.
Minus One really needs no introduction, as the boy band made us proud this May at the Eurovision Song Contest with their song Alter Ego.
Joining the two bands with an awesome rock-stage persona, will be Avant 4. The four men behind the big voices – Alexis Sofocleous, Andreas Vanezis, Nicholas Kyriakou and Petros Solomou – will give a more alternative rock feel to the whole affair.
Crossover Symphonic Rock
The Symphony Orchestra unites with a vocal quartet and two Cyprus based rock bands. August 31. Skali Aglantzias, Nicosia. 9pm. €20/15. Tel: 22-462233 | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/29/crossing-rocking-side/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/fb4f85ad7b586fa4126983271c4ef58d17c18049d92bc147d70a323cb86a82bb.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T14:49:08 | null | 2016-08-29T17:42:20 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F29%2Fcivil-servant-awarded-moral-damages-sexual-harassment-case%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Sexual-Harassment-Retaliation-Lawsuit-Settled-540x280.jpg | en | null | Civil servant awarded ‘moral damages’ in sexual harassment case | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Taxpayers will have to foot €22,000 in moral damages awarded to a female civil servant who sued her head of the department for sexual harassment and the state for failing to protect her after the fact.
The application was filed in the Paphos labour court in 2009. It concerned offences committed in the first half of 2006.
The court ruled that the woman had proven sexual harassment had taken place and that she had been intimidated and humiliated in the workplace.
But it did not award any damages for the sexual harassment because three years had passed and the offence had become void due to the civil statute of limitations.
“The application regarding the complaint for sexual harassment that the plaintiff suffered was submitted late, that is, outside the timeframe defined by law,” the court said.
The court did, however, award the woman €22,000 as moral damages over the lack of protection afforded to her after she filed a complaint to her superiors.
It had taken 22 months for her complaint to be examined, during which no protective measures were put in place.
In the meantime, the woman suffered a “psychological war, unequal treatment and bad evaluations”.
The court heard that the attacks against her intensified, with the participation of her colleagues, after she filed the complaint and it continued even after her boss was disciplined by the civil service.
She was even asked to withdraw her complaint.
On December 1, 2015, the civil service commission found the head of the department guilty of sexual harassment and a “source of anomaly and illegality”.
The man was transferred to Limassol and also received a strict reprimand. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/29/civil-servant-awarded-moral-damages-sexual-harassment-case/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/b09e48c9afa48c73a4d16b85ba0a1b64ecbcce1b834b4db8fd129c735e9e8d49.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T10:49:37 | null | 2016-08-31T13:46:34 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F31%2Fphilippines-duterte-obama-must-listen-human-rights%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/duterte-2.jpg | en | null | Philippines' Duterte: Obama must listen to me on human rights | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday he was ready to discuss any issues with Barack Obama when they meet in Laos next week, but added that the US president must listen to him first before bringing up the question of human rights.
Washington has expressed concern about a surge in drug-related killings since Duterte became president two months ago promising to wipe out narcotics in the Southeast Asian nation.
Asked if he would be willing to discuss human rights at his meeting with Obama on the sidelines of an East Asia summit on Sep 6, Duterte told reporters: “Depends to what degree.
“They must understand the problem first before we talk about human rights. I would insist, listen to me: this is what the problem is, then we can talk.”
In a statement, the foreign ministry said the meeting would be an opportunity for the president to “communicate his advocacy to improve the peace and order situation in the country, especially towards eradicating the scourge of illicit drugs”.
Police data released on Tuesday showed that the number of drug-related killings since Duterte took office now stands at around 2,000, nearly half of them in police operations and the rest in shootings by unidentified gunmen.
Duterte has been unapologetic over unleashing the police on drug users and dealers and has responded robustly to criticism from the United Nations and other countries over his campaign.
Recently he lashed out at Washington’s ambassador to the Philippines, branding him a “gay son of a whore”.
The White House said on Monday that Obama would raise concerns about some of Duterte’s recent statements when the two meet.
However, it said there were also important security issues for the two closely allied countries to discuss, particularly tension over navigation in the South China Sea. China has been incensed by a ruling against its claims in the South China Sea by an international court, a case initiated by Manila.
The two leaders were expected to discuss ways to strengthen the security alliance after Manila allowed the US military to rotate its forces in five local air and army bases, foreign ministry spokesman Charles Jose said.
Duterte said he would also hold talks with China, which will be represented at the Laos meeting by Premier Li Keqiang. Media reports said he would also meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/31/philippines-duterte-obama-must-listen-human-rights/ | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/4698b78fed23c0e5c78a9a054220efa7d76bb2aa07b43fd2e82555cae41fb08a.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T10:49:11 | null | 2016-08-29T13:47:03 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F29%2Ffrances-sarkozy-says-change-constitution-ban-burkinis%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/sarkozy.jpg | en | null | France's Sarkozy says would change constitution to ban burkinis | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Former French president Nicholas Sarkozy said on Monday he would change the country’s constitution to ban full-body burkini swimsuits if he is re-elected to his former role in a vote next April.
Positioning himself as a defender of French values and tough on immigration, the conservative said last week that he would impose a nationwide ban on the swimwear that has divided the Socialist-led government and dominated French political debate through much of August.
France’s highest administrative court suspended on Friday a ban on burkinis that had spread to a dozen French coastal cities on the grounds they violated fundamental liberties.
The burkini bans have exposed secular France’s difficulties grappling with religious tolerance after Islamist militant attacks in a Normandy church and the Riviera city of Nice in July. Images of armed police apparently enforcing the ban on a woman on a beach in Nice have added to the controversy.
The bans had been justified on public order grounds, and Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls appeared to defend the town officials who imposed them.
After the court set the bans aside, however, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said a law against the garments would be ruled unconstitutional.
Asked about that risk, Sarkozy said: “Well, then we change the constitution. We’ve changed it thirty odd times, it’s not a problem.”
Sarkozy is struggling to catch up in the polls with rival Alain Juppe, a mild-mannered, more centrist former prime minister before their Republicains party’s primary elections in late November.
Cazeneuve, who was meeting with French Muslim leaders on Monday to ease religious tensions, said he would name veteran politician Jean-Pierre Chevenement to head an independent body charged with handling relations between the state and the religion’s representatives. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/29/frances-sarkozy-says-change-constitution-ban-burkinis/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/d25b4a3fd9413d3d7457825506fb2acd85ab88033ca7f8360f88caf5e8966998.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T20:49:12 | null | 2016-08-29T22:22:36 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F29%2Fus-open-results-3%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/US-Open-logo.jpg | en | null | US Open results - Cyprus Mail | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Results from the US Open Men’s Singles Round 1 matches on Monday:
Steve Darcis (Belgium) beat Jordan Thompson (Australia) 5-7 3-6 7-6(5) 6-4 7-5
Nicolas Almagro (Spain) beat Marton Fucsovics (Hungary) 6-1 6-4 7-6(7)
31-Albert Ramos (Spain) beat Julien Benneteau (France) 3-6 6-3 6-3 2-6 6-1
Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukraine) beat Gastao Elias (Portugal) 6-1 3-6 2-6 6-3 7-6(4)
Ernesto Escobedo (U.S.) beat Lukas Lacko (Slovakia) 6-4 4-6 4-6 6-3 0-0 (Lacko retired)
Andrey Kuznetsov (Russia) beat Thomaz Bellucci (Brazil) 6-4 3-6 6-1 7-6(6)
7-Marin Cilic (Croatia) beat Rogerio Dutra Silva (Brazil) 6-4 7-5 6-1
Guido Pella (Argentina) beat Bjorn Fratangelo (U.S.) 6-3 6-4 6-4
Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) beat 28-Martin Klizan (Slovakia) 6-2 6-1 6-1
Kyle Edmund (Britain) beat 13-Richard Gasquet (France) 6-2 6-2 6-3
Results from the US Open Women’s Singles Round 1 matches on Monday:
Yulia Putintseva (Kazakhstan) beat Sabine Lisicki (Germany) 6-1 6-2
Naomi Osaka (Japan) beat 28-CoCo Vandeweghe (U.S.) 6-7(4) 6-3 6-4
Catherine Bellis (U.S.) beat Viktorija Golubic (Switzerland) 6-2 6-3
Shelby Rogers (U.S.) beat 27-Sara Errani (Italy) 6-4 7-6(3)
Christina McHale (U.S.) beat Mona Barthel (Germany) 6-2 6-2
9-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat Francesca Schiavone (Italy) 6-1 6-2
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (Croatia) beat Alize Cornet (France) 6-4 6-1
Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) beat Taylor Townsend (U.S.) 4-6 6-3 6-4
Cagla Buyukakcay (Turkey) beat Irina Falconi (U.S.) 6-2 6-1
2-Angelique Kerber (Germany) beat Polona Hercog (Slovenia) 6-0 1-0 (Hercog retired)
Andrea Petkovic (Germany) beat Kristina Kucova (Slovakia) 7-6(3) 6-3
24-Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) beat Samantha Crawford (U.S.) 6-7(6) 6-3 6-4
14-Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) beat Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) 7-5 6-3
Carina Witthoeft (Germany) beat 30-Misaki Doi (Japan) 6-4 6-1
7-Roberta Vinci (Italy) beat Anna-Lena Friedsam (Germany) 6-2 6-4 | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/29/us-open-results-3/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/923c9e6724fd9747defc45f167aa6aa5f551bb8082dae9f4c4751995d9ff1fb8.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T14:48:45 | null | 2016-08-28T17:38:08 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fwest-brom-miss-chance-top-six-spot%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/yacob.jpg | en | null | West Brom miss chance of top-six spot | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | West Bromwich Albion missed a chance to move into the Premier League’s top six when they were held to a 0-0 draw by Middlesbrough on Sunday despite making the better opportunities in a dull game.
Albion were the more progressive side but visiting goalkeeper Brad Guzan saved comfortably from James McClean and defender Brendan Galloway.
The home side might have had a penalty when striker Salomon Rondon clearly had his shirt held by Ben Gibson and Albion’s Craig Dawson headed narrowly wide from a corner in the second half.
Middlesbrough, promoted last season under Spaniard Aitor Karanka, took 73 minutes to have a shot on target but held on to maintain their unbeaten record after three games.
Substitute Marcus Rashford scored a stoppage-time winner as Manchester United sank Hull City 1-0 at the KCOM Stadium on Saturday night to keep up Jose Mourinho’s 100 percent Premier League record at his new club.
United laboured in wet conditions as they struggled to break down the hosts but Rashford provided a late spark after replacing Juan Mata, converting Wayne Rooney’s cross to crown a lively cameo appearance. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/west-brom-miss-chance-top-six-spot/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/719d98ea3412bc1b077dcbf6c97a93144e2773a2f5aca9d69d90c6bf04af3d55.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T14:48:51 | null | 2016-08-28T17:34:18 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fgermanys-gabriel-badly-handled-brexit-send-europe-drain%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/brexit.jpg | en | null | Germany's Gabriel: badly handled Brexit would send Europe "down the drain" | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Sunday that if Britain’s exit from the European Union was badly handled and other member countries followed its lead, Europe would go “down the drain”.
“Brexit is bad but it won’t hurt us as much economically as some fear – it’s more of a psychological problem and it’s a huge problem politically,” Gabriel, the deputy to Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany’s governing coalition, told a news conference.
He added that the world was now looking at Europe as an unstable continent.
“If we organise Brexit in the wrong way, then we’ll be in deep trouble so now we need to make sure that we don’t allow Britain to keep the nice things, so to speak, related to Europe while taking no responsibility,” Gabriel said.
Since Britain’s stunning June 23 referendum vote to leave the European Union, all eyes have been on Germany to indicate a way out of danger for the 27 members who will remain.
On August 24, Merkel said remaining member states must listen to each other carefully and avoid rushing into policy decisions. “If you do it wrong from the beginning and you don’t listen, – and act just for the sake of acting – then you can make many mistakes,” the conservative German leader said.
Merkel has met 15 other European heads of state during the past week to prepare the groundwork for a Sept. 16 EU summit in Bratislava aimed at shoring up the battered bloc.
A British government spokesman said in mid-August that Prime Minister Theresa May will not begin formal divorce talks with the EU before the end of the year.
EU leaders are refusing to countenance a “Europe a la carte” by letting Britain select the parts of its future relationship that it may like, such as access to the bloc’s single market of 500 million consumers, while dispensing with EU principles such as the free movement of people. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/germanys-gabriel-badly-handled-brexit-send-europe-drain/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/db6e1e27a678e23a7ce5e9661dba4acfbfc1eedec7b018aef3130f5df4869d88.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T08:49:01 | null | 2016-08-29T10:59:02 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F29%2Fpensioner-killed-road-collision%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/police-road-accid-bollard.jpg | en | null | Pensioner killed in road collision | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | An 84-year-old man from Dromolaxia was killed in a road collision on Sunday near the roundabout of Kalo Chorio leading to Larnaca airport involving his car and a vehicle coming in the opposite direction.
The other vehicle was driven by a 31-year-old resident of Livadhia who was taking two British tourists to the airport at around 1.30pm.
The pensioner, Varnavas Stylianou, was critically injured in the crash and taken by ambulance to Larnaca General Hospital where doctors found he had fractured ribs and a contusion to his left lung. He was admitted to ICU but died around 5.15pm
From those in the second car, the driver and one of the British tourists were also injured. The tourist was found to have suffered contusions to his neck and the driver of the car was injured his right foot. They were discharged after being treated.
In driver was also breathalysed but the results turned up zero alcohol consumption. It was not clear whether everyone involved were wearing seat belts.
A post mortem on the pensioner is due to be carried out on Monday. Police are investigating the exact cause of the accident. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/29/pensioner-killed-road-collision/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/e7eb71b0e50e8f09d0ed9bd20e5458b5362aa40d51f15f10fb9c429c6de4db25.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T12:49:34 | null | 2016-08-31T15:23:38 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F31%2Fturkey-wont-agree-truce-syrian-kurdish-militia-despite-us-unease%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/yildirim-1.jpg | en | null | Turkey won't agree truce with Syrian Kurdish militia, despite US unease | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Turkey will not agree a truce with Kurdish militias in Syria as it considers them terrorists, officials said on Wednesday, after strains emerged with the United States over clashes between Turkish forces and the US-backed Syrian fighters.
Washington has been alarmed by Turkey’s week-long incursion into Syria, saying it was “unacceptable” for its NATO ally to hit militias loyal to Kurdish-aligned Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that Washington supports to fight against Islamic State.
US officials on Tuesday welcomed what appeared to be a pause in fighting between Turkish forces and rival militias, although Ankara denied assertions from Kurdish fighters in Syria that a temporary truce had been agreed.
“The Turkish Republic is a sovereign state, a legitimate state. It cannot be equated with a terrorist organisation,” EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik told state-run Anadolu news agency, adding this meant there could be no “agreement between the two.”
His comments were echoed by President Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, who said Turkey would continue striking Kurdish militia until they withdrew from the region where Turkish forces are fighting.
Turkey’s aim was to drive Islamic State out of a 90km stretch of Syrian territory running along the border, Kalin said. Turkey has long said it wants a “buffer zone” in the area, although it has not used the term during this incursion.
After days when the border area reverberated with warplanes roaring overhead into Syria and artillery pounded Syrian sites, only the occasional thud of explosions in the distance was audible from the Turkish frontier town of Karkamis on Wednesday.
Karkamis lies just across the border from the northern Syrian town of Jarablus, which was swiftly captured from Islamic State by Turkish-backed forces when they launched the offensive dubbed “Euphrates Shield” on Aug 24.
Since then, the Turkish army with its allies have pushed further south, seizing a string of villages in areas controlled by militias loyal to the Kurdish-backed SDF, which drove Islamic State out of the city of Manbij this month with US help.
Turkey, which is battling a decades-long Kurdish insurgency at home, fears Kurdish-aligned forces will capture areas previously held by Islamic State, giving them control of an unbroken swathe of territory running along the Turkish border.
Since the start of the campaign, the Turkish army has said it has bombarded dozens of targets that it says were held by the Kurdish YPG militia, a powerful force in the SDF. The YPG says its forces withdrew from the area long before Turkey’s assault.
Turkey has demanded the YPG cross the Euphrates river into a Kurdish-controlled canton in Syria’s northeast. US officials have threatened to withdraw backing for the YPG if it did not meet that demand, but said this had mostly happened.
Turkey’s EU affairs minister said some Kurdish fighters were still on the western side and called that “unacceptable.”
Eager to avoid more clashes between Turkey and US-backed Syrian fighters, the Pentagon said the US-led coalition against Islamic State was establishing communications channels to better coordinate in a “crowded battlespace” in Syria.
Turkey insists that it has not relented in the fight against Islamic State, which has been responsible for launching a spate of bombings inside Turkey.
Islamist militants bombed Istanbul international airport in June, killing 45 people and hammering Turkey’s already struggling tourist industry. In July, the group was blamed for an attack on a wedding in southeast Turkey that killed 56.
Interior Minister Efkan Ala said Turkey had arrested 865 people since the start of 2016, more than half of the foreigners, in its crackdown on Islamic State and preventing the would-be jihadists crossing to join militants in Syria or Iraq.
As well as driving away Islamic State out of the border area, it is determined to ensure Kurdish forces do not link up two Kurdish-controlled cantons in north Syria – one east of the Euphrates and the other in the west near the Mediterranean.
Ankara fears that, if Kurdish militia control the entire area along Turkey’s southern border with Syria, it could embolden the Kurdish militant PKK group which has fought a three-decade-long insurgency to demand autonomy on Turkish soil. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/31/turkey-wont-agree-truce-syrian-kurdish-militia-despite-us-unease/ | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/6feca54b0d7aa3325b2546db671de5c27b6079a8c7bd1e27dad1deb180e545b7.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T14:49:39 | null | 2016-08-31T16:00:42 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F31%2Fclacton-sea-town-voted-brexit%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/calcton123.jpg | en | null | Clacton-on-sea: town that voted Brexit | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | “We need to get moving,” said Janet Ford, 60, a retired bookkeeper at a Brexit-themed party held by Ukip in a pub.
Prime Minister Theresa May has said she will not trigger Article 50, the formal mechanism which sets the clock ticking on a two-year deadline to leave the EU, in 2016. Media reports have said it might be as late as the second half of next year, a notion rejected by some government sources.
May, who has established departments to negotiate a new relationship with the EU and sign trade deals with other countries, has said that Britain needs time to prepare before Article 50 is triggered. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/31/clacton-sea-town-voted-brexit/ | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/5312d7f57ba53d929540efaaba846c65e0f23036fd6b7d1f83769289bdfdaf9f.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T14:47:48 | null | 2016-08-26T16:25:00 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F26%2Ftop-french-court-makes-initial-ruling-suspend-burkini-ban%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/burkini-1.jpg | en | null | Top French court makes initial ruling to suspend burkini ban | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | A top French court on Friday suspended a ban on full-body burkini swimsuits that has angered Muslims, feminists and civil liberties campaigners.
The ruling by the Council of State relates to the Mediterranean resort of Villeneuve-Loubet, one of more than a dozen French towns that have imposed such bans.
The burkini ban has shone a light on secular France’s long-standing difficulties integrating its Muslim population and dealing with the aftermath of a series of Islamist attacks.
The court said in a statement the decree to ban burkinis in Villeneuve-Loubet “seriously, and clearly illegally, breached the fundamental freedoms to come and go, the freedom of beliefs and individual freedom.”
The lawyer representing the League of Human Rights campaign group which had challenged the ban in Villeneuve-Loubet told reporters the ruling meant all town halls would need to reverse their bans. The group argued the bans contravened civil liberties.
But one mayor in Corsica said he would not suspend his own ban, showing that the ruling will not put a quick end to the heated controversy that has already filtered into early campaigning for the 2017 presidential election.
“There’s a lot of tension here and I won’t withdraw my decree,” Sisco mayor Ange-Pierre Vivoni told BFM TV.
The issue has also made French cultural identity a hot-button issue along with security in political debates ahead of next April’s presidential election.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls robustly defended the burkini ban on Thursday while some ministers criticised it, exposing divisions within the government as campaigning begins.
Former president Nicolas Sarkozy said on Thursday he would impose a nationwide ban on burkinis if elected as he seeks to position himself as a strong defender of French values and tough on immigration.
“This is a slap for the prime minister and a kick up the backside for Sarkozy,” Abdallah Zekri, secretary general of the French Muslim Council (CFCM) said of the ruling. “We’re satisfied with this.”
Socialist Party spokesman Razzy Hammadi told BFM TV he hoped the ruling “will put an end to this nasty controversy”. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/26/top-french-court-makes-initial-ruling-suspend-burkini-ban/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/7b61614e096057cb39f3ad2b93d23c390b7afb1b6833bdc0e9c79e022947b611.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T14:48:48 | null | 2016-08-28T17:45:09 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Frosberg-eases-belgian-gp-win-hamilton-third%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/rosberg.jpg | en | null | Rosberg eases to Belgian GP win, Hamilton third | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | German Nico Rosberg eased to victory in a chaotic Belgian Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Mercedes driver crossed the line 14.1 seconds ahead of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.
World championship leader Lewis Hamilton, starting on the back row of the grid after taking a 55-place engine-related grid penalty, clawed his way back up the field to finish third.
The race was briefly halted in the early stages after a massive crash for Renault’s Kevin Magnussen.
The Dane was taken to hospital for routine checks after suffering a cut to his left ankle in the high-speed crash.
Rosberg’s sixth win of the season cut team mate Hamilton’s lead in the standings to nine points with eight races remaining.
Meanwhile Kevin Magnussen was taken to hospital for precautionary checks after suffering a cut to his left ankle in a high-speed crash at the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday, his Renault team said.
The Dane lost control of his car as he crested the fast uphill sweep of the Eau Rouge corner and slammed violently into the barriers.
Magnussen, who had started 12th, got out of the car on his own but was limping slightly. He underwent checks at the medical centre before being taken to hospital.
“He is fully conscious and responsive,” Renault said in a statement.
“He has a small cut to the left ankle and has been escorted to a nearby hospital for further routine checks.”
Magnussen’s crash prompted a temporary halt to the race as marshals worked to repair tyre barriers damaged in the impact.
Driver and Constructor Standings after the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix
Drivers Points
1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 232
2. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 223
3. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull 151
4. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari 128
5. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 124
6. Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull 115
7. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams 62
8. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India 58
9. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Force India 45
10. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams 39
11. Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren 30
12. Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) Toro Rosso 30
13. Romain Grosjean (France) Haas 28
14. Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Toro Rosso 23
15. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 17
16. Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) Renault 6
17. Pascal Wehrlein (Germany) Manor 1
18. Stoffel Vandoorne (Belgium) McLaren 1
19. Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) Haas 0
20. Jolyon Palmer (Britain) Renault 0
21. Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Sauber 0
22. Felipe Nasr (Brazil) Sauber 0
23. Rio Haryanto (Indonesia) Manor 0
24. Esteban Ocon (France) Manor 0
Constructors Points
1. Mercedes 455
2. Red Bull – TAG Heuer 274
3. Ferrari 252
4. Force India – Mercedes 103
5. Williams-Mercedes 101
6. McLaren 48
7. Toro Rosso – Ferrari 45
8. Haas – Ferrari 28
9. Renault 6
10. Manor – Mercedes 1
11. Sauber – Ferrari 0 | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/rosberg-eases-belgian-gp-win-hamilton-third/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/3ac8c8b2c5a5b0a3da58edd251fd5b31aa0e1f1450254f867e1a7dfefbf09d4a.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T16:49:12 | null | 2016-08-29T19:04:19 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F29%2Fspains-socialists-say-no-rajoy-prolonging-political-deadlock%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/rajoybig.jpg | en | null | Spain's Socialists say no to Rajoy, prolonging political deadlock | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Spain’s Socialist leader said on Monday his party would not back acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s re-election and end an eight-month political impasse after meeting him for the final time before a confidence vote in parliament on Wednesday.
The Socialists’ head Pedro Sanchez holds the key to unlocking the deadlock as Rajoy is just shy of the majority he needs to form a government and has run out of allies. The party’s refusal to endorse their longtime rival in the vote heightens the chances of a third election in a year.
Rajoy’s centre-right People’s Party is six seats short of the absolute majority of 176 seats it needs in the vote, even with the support of liberal party Ciudadanos, which was agreed on Sunday, and one extra seat from a minor Canary Islands party.
The Socialists’ abstention would be enough to enable a PP-led minority government under Rajoy, who won the most votes in elections in December and June but both times missed out on a majority.
Sanchez says, however, that Rajoy should instead win the support of several small regional parties which would tip him into majority territory.
“It was an unnecessary meeting,” Sanchez told reporters on Monday. “It is Mr Rajoy’s responsibility to reach the 176 votes, exclusively Mr Rajoy’s and not the Socialists’.”
If Rajoy loses Wednesday’s vote, a second vote will take place on Friday where a simple majority – in which he would need only to win more votes in favour than against – would suffice to allow him to form a government.
A loss in the second vote, also likely without the support of the Socialists, would trigger a two-month window to form a government at the end of which another election would be called, possibly on Christmas Day.
Pressure has mounted on Sanchez to cave in to both the PP and Ciudadanos’ demands and public opinion. Polls show most Spaniards would prefer the Socialists to enable a government led by Rajoy than face new elections.
Spain’s best-selling newspaper El Pais said in an editorial on Monday that the Socialists, who it has traditionally supported, should abandon their “absurd obstinacy” in opposing the PP, blaming it on their “weakness and lack of perspective”.
“The agreement signed yesterday by the PP and Ciudadanos should be sufficient to form a government, since that is its objective and that is what Spain needs now,” it said.
Rajoy, however, is not yet ready to give up on winning over Spain’s second-biggest party. He said after his half-hour meeting with Sanchez that he would continue to try to negotiate with them even if he failed in both investiture votes.
“To unblock does not mean to support, (the Socialists) simply would be allowing something as reasonable as Spain having a government,” he told reporters. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/29/spains-socialists-say-no-rajoy-prolonging-political-deadlock/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/55572085a0cfca942067e3aba2a7ab6c2a306f6b2c443b385224c575a1b8e97d.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T18:49:14 | null | 2016-08-29T21:14:57 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F29%2Fhalloumi-winner-uk%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Halloumi_pic.jpg | en | null | Halloumi a winner in the UK | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | The UK tops the list of foreign countries where Cypriot halloumi cheese is being consumed the most, according to a report by the British supermarket chain Waitrose.
British consumers have learnt to appreciate the traditional Cypriot cheese, especially favouring its high melting point which makes it perfect for grilling and frying.
Waitrose’s report points to an increase in online searches for `halloumi` by 83 per cent over the past two years. Halloumi searches have increased fivefold in the last five years.
An average of 60,500 people searched online for `halloumi` in June, says the supermarket.
Chris Dawson, in charge of cheese buying at Waitrose, said: “It`s easy to see why halloumi popularity has soared in the UK – it`s a tasty, quick mid-week meal option and we`ve seen sales increase 26 per cent in the past two years.”
Estimates put the percentage of Cypriot halloumi exports reaching the UK at 45 per cent. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/29/halloumi-winner-uk/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/b0c23fa4b2d6dff31aa0c6e5ea26ed77efe56b1df1e4ce56c5e4a65009d02568.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:01:32 | null | 2016-08-26T14:15:44 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F26%2Fjust-14-per-cent-unemployed-cyprus-found-job-q4-2015-q1-2016%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/JOBLESS.jpg | en | null | Just over 14 per cent of unemployed in Cyprus found a job between Q4 2015 and Q1 2016 | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Some 14.3 per cent of people unemployed in Cyprus found a job between the last quarter of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016, according to Eurostat.
Meanwhile 77.2 per cent of the unemployed remain jobless and 8.4 per cent passed into ‘economic inactivity’ (retirement). Compared to a year ago, the percentage of those who actually found a job increased by +2.8 points, those who remained unemployed decreased by -4.0pp and those who transitioned to inactivity increased by +1.1pp.
According to the same Eurostat seasonal data, out of all persons in the European Union (EU) who were unemployed in the fourth quarter 2015, some 65.7 per cent (13 million persons) remained unemployed in the first quarter 2016, while 15.4 per cent (3 million) moved into employment and 18.9 per cent (3.7 million) moved into economic inactivity in Q1 2016.
Of all those initially in employment, 96.2 per cent (169.7 million) remained in employment, while 1.7 per cent (2.9 million) of those employed in the fourth quarter 2015 were observed to be unemployed in the first quarter 2016, and 2.2 per cent (3.8 million) transitioned into economic inactivity. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/26/just-14-per-cent-unemployed-cyprus-found-job-q4-2015-q1-2016/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/2b9b04c9c8469f17b891c0dd50e7708104adccd9112682efdd74d23115abf843.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T12:48:17 | null | 2016-08-27T14:43:02 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F27%2Fcyprus-protest-turkish-harassment-cypriot-vessel%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/n_21199_4.jpg | en | null | Cyprus to protest Turkish harassment of Cypriot vessel | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Cyprus is expected to protest Turkey’s harassment of a Cypriot research vessel off the coast of Akamas on Thursday.
Government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said the Republic will undertake all the appropriate actions with international organisations and foreign governments.
On Thursday, a Turkish navy frigate approached a Cyprus-flagged vessel carrying out dolphin research on behalf of the agriculture ministry some 12 miles off the Akamas coast on the western tip of the island.
The frigate contacted the vessel and demanded that it abandoned the area because it was violating Turkish territory, daily Phileleftheros said.
Turkey claims it has rights in the area and has sought to disrupt natural gas exploration carried out by international energy companies who won concessions in the EEZ..
Three oil majors were involved in the third hydrocarbon licensing round – ExxonMobil, ENI, and Total. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/27/cyprus-protest-turkish-harassment-cypriot-vessel/ | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/1619ee26e25345a590cffb73cb9fd767c164020972ba6626f47a6dd14a8a0833.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:50:24 | null | 2016-03-29T15:40:23 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F03%2F29%2Fpakistan-detained-more-than-5000-after-easter-bombing-killed-70%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/pakistansmalll.jpg | en | null | Pakistan detained more than 5,000 after Easter bombing killed 70 | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | By Asad Hashim
Pakistani authorities detained more than 5,000 suspects, then released most of them, in the two days since a suicide bomber hit a park in the eastern city of Lahore at Easter, killing at least 70 people, a provincial minister said on Tuesday.
Investigators were keeping 216 suspects in custody pending further investigation, said Rana Sanaullah, a state minister for Punjab province from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s ruling party.
“After further investigation we will know more about them,” he said. “…If someone is found to be guilty they will be charged.”
Details of the sweeping raids – aimed at anyone suspected of Islamist extremism – came as the Taliban faction claiming responsibility for the attack issued a new threat on Tuesday, singling out the media.
“Everyone will get their turn in this war, especially the slave Pakistani media,” Ehsanullah Ehsan, spokesman for Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, tweeted. “We are just waiting for the appropriate time.”
The Easter bombing was Pakistan’s deadliest attack since a 2014 school massacre claimed by the Taliban killed 134 students. Sunday’s attack, which included 29 children among the dead, showed the militants can still cause carnage despite military raids on their northwestern strongholds.
“Let Nawaz Sharif know that this war has now come to the threshold of his home,” tweeted Ehsan. “The winners of this war will, God willing, be the righteous mujahideen.”
Lahore is the capital of Punjab, Pakistan’s richest and most populous province and Sharif’s political heartland.
Sanaullah said at least 160 raids were carried out by a mixture of police, counter-terrorism and intelligence agents and confirmed that army and paramilitary forces would be used in future operations
“This operation will include all law enforcement agencies,” Sanaullah said.
Military and government officials on Monday said that the military was preparing to launch a new paramilitary counterterrorism crackdown in Punjab.
The move, which has not yet been formally announced, represents the civilian government once again granting special powers to the military to fight Islamist militants.
Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, which also previously declared loyalty to Islamic State, has carried out five major attacks in Pakistan since December.
In a televised address to the nation on Monday night, Sharif vowed to continue pursuing militants.
“I am here to renew a pledge that we are keeping count of every drop of blood of our martyrs. This account is being settled, and we will not rest till it is paid,” Sharif said.
The government also announced that Sharif would be cancelling a planned trip to the United States to attend the Nuclear Security Summit, due to begin on Thursday.
Pakistan’s security agencies have long been accused of nurturing some Islamist militants to use for help in pursuing objectives in Afghanistan and against old rival India.
In recent years, Pakistan has cracked down on movements that target its own citizens and institutions, including the Pakistani Taliban who are fighting to topple the government and install a strict interpretation of Islamic law. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/03/29/pakistan-detained-more-than-5000-after-easter-bombing-killed-70/ | en | 2016-03-29T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/88dedf29e16d0121aaa6ac8eb586d1b9955f5bf845c613bf26a999a5d4fe6f40.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T12:49:29 | null | 2016-08-30T15:20:37 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F30%2Fgreece-launches-auction-tv-licenses-defies-media-protests%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/tsipras-2.jpg | en | null | Greece launches auction for TV licenses, defies media protests | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Greece’s left-led government launched an auction of four nationwide TV licenses on Tuesday, defying protests by broadcasters which have slammed the process as an attempt to control media in the crisis-hit country.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s government says the move will help bring order to a sector mired in debt and discredited because of its political links. Broadcasters, who have mounted a legal challenge to the process, say it is a thinly-guised attempt to muzzle them.
Greece has eight TV channels broadcasting nationwide, meaning four will have to suspend operations after the licensing process is completed. The starting price for bids was set at three million euros.
Bidders include the operators of most existing channels, among them Skai TV owner Yannis Alafouzos and the Vardinogiannis family, which owns channel STAR. Four new companies are also set to bid, including Dimera Media Investments Ltd of Russian-born Greek businessman Ivan Savvidis, who also owns a football club, and Alter Ego, owned by Greek shipowner Evangelos Marinakis.
Representatives of each bidder were in lockdown at the press ministry in a process likely to continue for two days. One of the representatives was seen carrying in a mattress, mobile phones were banned, and media reported, possibly in jest, that chemical toilets were brought in to ensure no leaks.
“Frankly, this whole process is a mess and we have real concern that it’s preventing free competition in the private sector,” said one TV executive, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“It’s another unfortunate example of the government using extraordinary measures to take more control of the country’s media.”
The Greek government has brushed off the criticism.
It says current TV stations are operating illegaly because their licenses were not tendered, while media businesses have not paid their share to the cash-strapped state.
The government says media along with business and political elites formed a triangle of power that lay at the root of Greece’s financial problems.
“After 27 years, an auction conducted in a fully legal and transparent way will bring order to a TV landscape with a key role in forming political life in this country for years,” said Nikos Syrmalenios, a lawmaker for Tsipras’s ruling Syriza party.
“It should be viewed as a positive development … despite the protests and the objections.”
The auction process will see the price for a licence increase in increments of €500,000 from the €3m starting level until there are only two contenders left, who will then submit sealed final bids.
Existing operators who fail to secure a license will have 90 days before going off air, the government said.
A Skai TV video mocked the conditions in which the auction process was held, describing it as “a reality show” aimed at distracting the public from economic hardship.
Leading private channel MEGA TV, which employs hundreds of people, did not qualify to bid because it has not settled loan issues. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/30/greece-launches-auction-tv-licenses-defies-media-protests/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/50b0b307a5b0037bf728c728f08031a9d140b46bc6fc75e8479d7ed3ba0befc9.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T14:49:40 | null | 2016-08-26T16:34:59 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F26%2Fhenry-joins-belgium-assistant-coach-martinez%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Henry.jpg | en | null | Henry joins Belgium as assistant to coach Martinez | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Thierry Henry will be an assistant to new Belgium coach Roberto Martinez as they start their bid to qualify for the next World Cup finals in Russia.
The former France striker joins Martinez’s former Everton assistant Graeme Jones on the team’s coaching staff after the Spaniard replaced Marc Wilmots as manager of the Euro 2016 quarter-finalists.
“We are here to help really develop the talent we have. We need to support the players. Our contact time with players through the year is limited so we need to make a big impact,” Martinez told reporters on Friday as he announced his squad for his opening two matches.
They are a home friendly against Spain on Thursday and the opening World Cup qualifier in Cyprus on Sept. 6.
“Thierry brings something completely different,” Martinez added.
“He is someone who can develop our chances of winning something special. It was not difficult to persuade him to join this project. Belgium is a unique case and he was keen straight away to get on board.”
Belgium will again be without captain Vincent Kompany who is still injured after missing the European Championship. Steven Defour, Kevin Mirallas and Thorgan Hazard were all recalled. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/26/henry-joins-belgium-assistant-coach-martinez/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/0921d3704e454ab55234902b65b0f09b3688dca2c75a674bd463d35de4e99d35.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T08:48:58 | null | 2016-08-29T11:30:06 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F29%2Fhips-dont-lie%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1-3.jpg | en | null | Those hips don’t lie | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | The man who really could make us think Elvis is still alive will be giving three performances in September that will make your hips move along to the rock ‘n’ roll beats.
For those who are Elvis fans but never had the chance to enjoy a performance by the man himself, this is truly the next best thing.
Mario Kombou has been putting on Elvis tribute performances for over 20 years and his dedication to honouring the King was noticed by Donna Presley, Elvis’ first cousin, who has commented and shown support for the act, something that no other member of the Presley family has done for another tribute artist.
Kombou was brought up on the King’s music. He started singing in a Greek restaurant, doing other tributes but one night he saw someone doing Elvis and that was it, he was hooked. He decided there and then that he would be an Elvis entertainer and he started studying the man he would portray.
“I also liked that he had a good sense of humour, and sort of parodied himself a bit, but, the dedicated fan in me has to always admire his supreme talent, plus the enormous physical energy he displayed on stage,” Kombou has said.
The entertainer trained as an actor and has starred in the London production of Jailhouse Rock in the leading role of Vince Everett. He has also appeared on TV and radio shows. Along with other members of the West End hit musical Jailhouse Rock, he has also toured the UK with the new musical The Elvis Years 1954-1977.
Watch Kombou become Elvis on Saturday at the Pissouri Amphitheatre in Limassol, at Chlorakas Amphitheatre in Paphos on Sunday and then fans in Paralimni will have to wait until September 23. All performances start at 7.30pm and tickets are €15.
The Elvis Years
Live tribute performance by Mario Kombou. September 3. Pissouri Amphitheatre, Limassol. Tel: 26-962415
September 4. Chloraka Amphitheatre, Paphos. Tel: 26-962415
September 23. Paralalimni Amphitheatre, Famagusta. Tel: 26-962415 | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/29/hips-dont-lie/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/01faa3337390b2f8fea3d4fb63371266ee328540a63d42a28866c6271e66c74c.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T12:49:44 | null | 2016-08-31T14:39:37 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F31%2Fmay-gathers-ministers-hear-views-brexit%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/theresamay.jpg | en | null | May gathers ministers to hear views on Brexit | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Prime Minister Theresa May told her top ministers on Wednesday they must deliver Brexit, and not entertain any idea of staying in the EU by the “back door”.
After a summer of political earthquakes followed by a few weeks of holiday calm, May gathered her cabinet team for the first time since she asked them to use the break to come up with options for Britain’s future ties with the bloc after a divorce.
For many in the EU, it is not before time. They have given May breathing space to devise a negotiating stance before triggering the exit procedure, but are keen for Britain to begin the talks and end uncertainty that has hurt investment.
“We will have an update on Brexit; we’ll be looking at the next steps that we need to take, and we’ll also be looking at the opportunities that are now open to us as we forge a new role for the UK in the world,” May told her cabinet, according to a statement.
“That means there’s no second referendum; no attempts to sort of stay in the EU by the back door; that we’re actually going to deliver on this.”
May has said she will not trigger Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon treaty to start the exit procedure until next year so she has time to make sure she is winning the best deal for Britain, her spokesman said.
Some of the initial shock of Britain’s June 23 vote to leave the EU has waned, with signs of economic confidence rising.
May’s aides say the former interior minister will be the ultimate arbiter of what proposals Britain takes to divorce negotiations with the European Union.
She will expect the cabinet to overcome any divisions on whether Britain should leave the EU’s single market to ensure control over immigration, or find some kind of a compromise.
BALANCE
May has stacked her three ministries for Brexit, trade and foreign affairs with some of the most active campaigners for Britain to leave the EU.
But she has balanced them by appointing to vital positions lawmakers who campaigned for Britain to remain in the bloc, such as Philip Hammond at the finance ministry, or Treasury.
The Telegraph newspaper reported that the two sides have disagreed over Hammond’s view that access to the single market could be maintained “on a sector-by-sector basis”, with Britain retaining a favourable status for its big financial sector.
Asked whether that was Hammond’s stance, the Treasury declined to comment.
If it was, that would go against so-called Brexit minister David Davis, who heads the new Department for Exiting the European Union, and trade minister Liam Fox. Citing senior government sources, the Telegraph said both believe Britain can only curb migration if the country leaves the single market.
On Tuesday, French President Francois Hollande seemed to back up that point, underlining that Britain could not opt in to certain parts of the single market without upholding the EU’s four freedoms, including freedom of movement. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/31/may-gathers-ministers-hear-views-brexit/ | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/a64661f139c88bfb4da9e1581a90864c5f277414cdd3f30254cc924055b0a1ae.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T10:49:35 | null | 2016-08-31T13:18:08 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F31%2Flaiki-depositors-want-compensation-pledge-vote%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/profile2-Platis-had-warned-about-the-dangers-of-Laiki.jpg | en | null | Laiki depositors want compensation pledge for their vote | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Laiki bank depositors, who saw their uninsured deposits wiped out in March 2013 when the lender was wound down, on Wednesday announced their intention to vote in the 2018 Presidential elections for whichever candidate makes the clearest pledge to compensate their losses from the state budget.
In a statement, Laiki depositors’ association SYKALA said Finance Minister Harris Georgiades’ response to whether the government has any intention to offer such compensation was that “this government has no such intention; the issue of compensation will fall to the next government to tackle”.
This view, SYKALA noted, departed significantly from Georgiades’ earlier views, according to which “if [depositors] have a problem, they should resort to the courts”.
“SYKALA understands fully what lies beneath the minister’s words,” the association said.
“Slyness, extreme mockery, and ELECTIONS 2018. This is why we have recently seen the minister announce hand-outs left and right, an opportunity he never would have had, had he not usurped Laiki depositors’ money overnight, which he now stubbornly refuses to return, even gradually.”
Determined to protect the interests of the brutally crushed Laiki depositors, the statement said, the association will “not take the bait of vague, incomprehensible, and sly remarks”.
“Responsible political men speak clearly and courageously,” SYKALA charged.
“The implication ‘Vote for us in 2018 so that you can hope’ suggested by the minister’s remarks is a ploy, and a cheap one, at that.”
The 50,000 individuals – Laiki depositors and their dependents – “will vote for the candidate who speaks to us clearly and honestly”, the association said.
“If we have to choose between presidential candidates, the decision is not difficult,” it added.
“The sitting government has proven unreliable and does not honour its promises and commitments.”
For the Nicos Anastasiades government, there is only one way to persuade us, the Laiki depositors said.
“And that is, to find the funds in the 2017 government budget through which it can start to pay back those to whom the state and the financial system owes its very existence,” they warned. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/31/laiki-depositors-want-compensation-pledge-vote/ | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/cc109b0e927d6737c0bd10f337c02395d9dcaf7a8049f7a8517d70741a83705e.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:56:31 | null | 2016-08-26T11:30:18 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F26%2Fgeeks-rule-cypruscomiccon%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web3-1.jpg | en | null | Geeks rule at CyprusComicCon | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | The last two CyprusComicCons saw countless Daenerys Targaryens, Jack Skellingtons and Jokers saunter, creep or bound through its doors as Cyprus embraced its inner geekiness and proved – as all good ComicCons do – that imitation is the highest form of flattery.
This celebration convention of anything related to the ninth-art encourages participants to dress up as any character from sci-fi and fantasy, anime and manga, video games, TV shows and movies – it’s not limited to just superheroes.
Last year saw 8,000 come to explore CyprusComicon’s (CCC) alternative world. And that was when the event lasted a day. This year the organisers are so confident that geek as cool has well and truly taken off that CCC will last two days.
Two days of cosplaying will see many participants don the mantle of their favourite superhero, cultural icon or TV character just for fun, while others aim far higher. They have their eyes on securing the tough first prize in the competition. The cosplay (costume play acting) competition is usually the highlight of the event and to enter, the cosplayer must handcraft at least part of their costume. Participants take it very, very seriously. A lot is at stake, particularly this year, as the winner will go on to compete at Europe’s biggest ComiCon in October, the MCM London ComicCon. The winner of last year’s London competition received so many requests to attend events and festivals that he started his own company making even more of his costumes and went on to feature in a reality show.
Of course, CCC will be much more than just Cyprus’ biggest fancy dress party. The many other events include: a film festival, game competitions (online and table top), workshops, artists of various genres exhibiting their works, a bazaar where fans can buy and sell pre-owned comics and memorabilia, live bands and DJs from Cyprus and abroad, and a PopGen Asia section to name a few. A live stream will capture all the happenings on the CCC’s YouTube channel.
To top it off, there’ll be a range of special guests. Game of Thrones actor Julian Glover (Grand Maester Pycelle) will make an appearance as will various artists such as Stephen B Scott who has worked with director Christopher Nolan and illustrated for Marvel and DC Comics. YouTube stars 2J and Axel will also be there and British pop culture DJ Shirobon will perform at the after party.
CCC is not just a multi-coloured, wacky, gory spectacle of cosplayers says CCC organiser Tony Michaels.
“There’s going to be something for everyone, be they gamers, coders, hackers, cosplayers, illustrators, movie-buffs or even, merely, a fan of geek culture…”
Cyprus Comic Con 2016
A conference all to do with comic books and their heroes. September 3-4. Filoxenia Conference Centre, Nicosia. Saturday: 10am-7pm and Sunday: 10am-8pm. €5/3. Tel: 99-570250 | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/26/geeks-rule-cypruscomiccon/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/b5ebd140ed83758ab22e45b167941817deeff8bcd4f8fe4046a288dcd24b3d3b.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T14:49:25 | null | 2016-08-30T17:29:21 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F30%2Fsenior-european-lawmaker-urges-dialogue-turkey-talks-restart%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/turkey-6.jpg | en | null | EU might have ‘underestimated’ gravity of Turkey’s attempted coup | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | The senior European lawmaker for foreign affairs said on Tuesday the European Union might have “underestimated” the gravity of Turkey‘s failed coup and must pursue dialogue with Ankara to preserve an agreement on halting the flow of migrants to Europe.
Elmar Brok, the European Parliament’s foreign affairs chair and a member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party, was briefing fellow lawmakers on his visit to Turkey last week, which came after the summer saw a souring of relations between the EU and Ankara following the failed coup in July.
The EU condemned the coup, but it has also criticised the ensuing crackdown by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. Tens of thousands have been arrested or sacked in Turkey for their alleged support for Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who the Turkish government accuses of masterminding the coup.
Turkey in turn has accused the EU of indifference to the coup and said it might abandon an agreement with the EU to curtail the flow of migrants from the Middle East and Africa through Turkey into Europe. It has also demanded that Gulen, who lives in the United States, be extradited to Turkey.
In addition, Ankara has repaired its relationship with Russia, complicating its relations with Washington and the EU. In one sign of the growing tension, Turkish troops have fired on US-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria .
Brok pointed out that during the failed coup, “rockets have actually hit the (Turkish) parliament … you have to think of how you’d feel in that situation in the European Parliament. Imagine that the French National Assembly or that Westminster were hit by their own army.”
“After my visit, I take a different view on some of the Gulen-related issues,” Brok said. “The movement has infiltrated the state, they have acted as a ‘brotherhood’. There has been a misappraisal of the Gulen movement on our side.”
Brok said the EU must keep the migration deal with Turkey on track after Ankara threatened to walk away from it should the bloc fail to ease travel rules for Turks in October.
“I certainly did not get the impression that the Turks were trying to blackmail Europe … My impression was that Turkey intends to stand by the refugee agreement,” Brok said. “I think we should step back in rhetoric.
“However much Turkey merits our criticisms … from our geo-strategic point of view, it’s more important for Turkey to be on our side than in some else’s camp.”
Brok’s comments come amid a string of senior EU visits to Turkey as Brussels, back from summer holidays, gears up for more negotiations. The European Commission, the EU executive, will also report in September on the implementation of the migration deal.
Agreed in March, the deal has helped cut a mass influx of migrants and refugees to Europe. In exchange for preventing them from setting sail for Europe, Ankara won promises of €6 billion in EU money for Syrian refugees living in Turkey, revival of Turkey‘s EU membership talks and speedy visa liberalisation.
But visa talks stalled before the summer break as Turkey refused to reform its anti-terror laws, which the EU says are applied too broadly to stifle dissent. Ankara says they are key to fighting Islamic State and Kurdish militants.
“We have to negotiate … to adopt a constructive approach in the negotiations,” Brok said. He stressed, however, that Turkey must meet all 72 technical requirements to win more relaxed travel rules with the EU.
While all members of the committee seemed to agree that Turkey is nowhere near joining the EU, some lawmakers disagreed with Brok’s pragmatism.
Some stressed that Erdogan’s rapprochement with Russia’s Vladimir Putin proved Ankara was not attached to European values.
“We are against the coup, but we are also against the counter-coup, with what it implies for the abandonment of the rule of law,” said Ana Gomes, a leftist lawmaker from Portugal.
“We cannot just sit by, close our eyes to the fact that there is a power grab by President Erdogan … We can’t just sell off our soul.” | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/30/senior-european-lawmaker-urges-dialogue-turkey-talks-restart/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/f3206c38891d4e0279b6cc8db0dc5c1a5f52121505a26a0568a5d41fff876ac7.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T04:49:13 | null | 2016-08-30T05:50:08 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F30%2Fwars-hard-end%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Members-of-the-51st-Front-of-the-Revolutionary-Armed-Forces-of-Colombia-FARC-patrol-in-the-remote-mountains-of-Colombia.jpg | en | null | Why are wars so hard to end? | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | After 52 years of war, the guns finally fell silent in Colombia at midnight on Sunday, when permanent ceasefires were proclaimed both by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian government.
But this only happened after 220,000 people had been killed and 7 million were displaced by the fighting – and it took four years just to negotiate the final peace deal. Yet the original causes of the Columban civil war have been largely irrelevant for decades. Why is it so hard to end a war?
We’re not talking about big conventional wars between major powers here. Those last only a few years (the two world wars), or a couple of months (India vs. Pakistan) or just a week or two (the Arab-Israeli wars). We’re talking about the low-intensity civil wars that go on for ages, like Northern Ireland (30 years), or Angola (42 years) – or maybe Syria.
The Syrian civil war is much more intense: as many Syrians have already been killed or fled from their homes in five years of war as the total number of victims of the Colombian civil war in half a century. But everybody in Syria is well aware that the civil war in next-door Lebanon, which has much the same mix of ethnic and religious identities, lasted for 15 years.
When the fighting began in Colombia in 1964 the population was mainly rural, 40 per cent were landless peasants, and barely half the country’s people were literate. It seemed an ideal environment for a Marxist guerilla movement promising land reform, and FARC fitted the bill perfectly.
FARC grabbed a lot of territory, but Colombian governments, though usually corrupt and incompetent, were never quite wicked and stupid enough to lose the war, and over the decades Colombia changed. The economy grew despite the fighting, there was a mass migration of peasants to the cities (partly driven by the fighting), and education worked its usual magic (98 per cent of younger Colombians are now literate).
Land reform is still a big issue for the quarter of the population that remains on the land, and the current peace deal promises to deliver it, but even 20 years ago it was obvious that FARC could never win. The Colombia it had set out to change had changed without it, even despite it.
On the other hand, government troops could never root FARC out from its jungle strongholds entirely, so it was time to make peace. And the peace talks duly began in 1998 – and continued on and off until the final push for a settlement began four years ago under President Juan Manuel Santos. Why did it take so long?
Because the “losers” had not actually lost, though they could never win. FARC’s leaders and its 7,000 fighters had to be amnestied, given guarantees for their safety after they disarmed, and even allowed to become a legitimate political party. The two sides were not divided by ethnicity or religion, but they had been killing each other for a long time and trust was in short supply.
It took 17 years to reach this point, and even now the deal could collapse if Colombians do not vote in favour of it in a plebiscite on 2 October. They probably will approve it, but the vote could be close because so many people hate to see the rebels being “rewarded”, not punished.
Now consider Syria, where the destruction and the atrocities have been much worse. In Syria there are profound religious and ethnic cleavages, and it’s not just two sides fighting but five: the government, two mutually hostile organisations of Islamist jihadis (so-called Islamic State and the Nusra Front, now calling itself the “Army of Victory”), the remaining Arab insurgents of the “Free Syrian Army”, and the Syrian Kurds.
Each of the five sides has fought every one of the others at some point in the past five years. Not one of them has a reasonable prospect of establishing control over the whole country, but none of them has been driven out of the game by a decisive military defeat either.
Every one of the local sides depends heavily on foreign support, but the foreigners all have their own agendas. Russia, the United States, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia have all sent money and arms to various local players and even dropped bombs on the country, but the beneficiaries and the targets vary from time to time according to the foreigners’ political priorities of the moment.
There are those who see the increasing engagement of the United States and Russia in the Syrian war as a hopeful development, since if these two superpowers can agree (and they sometimes do) then maybe they could impose some kind of peace on the country. It wouldn’t be pretty, but it would be better than endless war.
Perhaps that is true, but it also may just be wishful thinking. If a relatively simple, small-scale civil war like Colombia’s took so long to end, why would we expect Syria’s war to end any time soon? Remember Lebanon. Fifteen years.
Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/30/wars-hard-end/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/8e9624a941eb34d564559acb1d212907506e59499c3a7dfb9729d2e3e679df27.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T08:49:35 | null | 2016-08-31T11:34:12 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F31%2Ftraffic-police-limassol-campaign%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/police-traffic4.jpg | en | null | Traffic police Limassol campaign | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Limassol police announced the results of a campaign carried out on Monday to combat serious and fatal collisions, which involved targeted checks on drivers using their cell phones, and other motoring offences.
The campaign was carried out by Limassol traffic department officers in various parts of the city between 8am and 6pm with special emphasis placed on coastal Amathounda avenue and the town centre.
Police said eighty people were caught in the ten-hour period, 36 for speeding, 12 for not using a hands-free device while on the phone, five for parking in spaces reserved for the disabled, and 27 for other unspecified offences.
Two drivers were also arrested for driving without insurance while two cars were retained for further examinations. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/31/traffic-police-limassol-campaign/ | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/4822b059249627aa8e4c341a4cedbe44896ece6fb6a4cf5a55f1e4c063e0d325.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T10:49:40 | null | 2016-08-31T12:05:45 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F31%2Fcity-striker-aguero-charged-fa-violent-conduct%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Aguero.jpg | en | null | City striker Aguero charged by FA with violent conduct | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero has been charged with violent conduct over an incident involving West Ham United defender Winston Reid, the FA said in a statement.
The Argentine international now faces a three-match ban that would see him miss Premier League games against Manchester United and Bournemouth and a League Cup third-round tie against Swansea City.
Aguero appeared to elbow Reid in the head on Sunday, a Premier League game City won 3-1. The incident was not seen by match officials so the FA has taken retrospective action.
On Monday, Aguero withdrew from the World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Venezuela due to a calf injury.
Argentina host Uruguay on Thursday and then visit Venezuela five days later. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/31/city-striker-aguero-charged-fa-violent-conduct/ | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/af6a42ea72455aa511becba1ffde908ecb293df861dd62578dea99101166d78a.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T16:49:12 | null | 2016-08-29T19:15:43 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F29%2Fclinton-aide-abedin-separates-scandal-plagued-weiner%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/abedin.jpg | en | null | Clinton aide Abedin separates from scandal-plagued Weiner | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Huma Abedin, one of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s top aides, said on Monday that she was separating from her husband, Anthony Weiner, after a sex scandal similar to an earlier incident that led him to resign from the US Congress.
“After long and painful consideration and work on my marriage, I have made the decision to separate from my husband,” Huma Abedin said in a statement.
“Anthony and I remain devoted to doing what is best for our son, who is the light of our life. During this difficult time, I ask for respect for our privacy,” Abedin added.
Abedin’s announcement follows a New York Post report late Sunday that Weiner recently sent photos of his boxer-brief-clad genitals – one while he was in bed with their toddler son – via Twitter to another woman.
The photos were part of a months-long exchange between Weiner and the woman and many of the messages were sexual in nature, according to the Post report.
Weiner resigned in June 2011 from Congress, where he represented New York, followed a sexting scandal in which he accidentally posted an explicit photo of himself on his public Twitter timeline instead of via a direct message to a woman, as he had intended.
When Weiner made a second unsuccessful run for New York City mayor, explicit photos surfaced in July 2013 that he had recently sent under the pseudonym “Carlos Danger” to a young woman in Indiana.
Weiner said he had undergone therapy after the first sexting scandal, according to media reports. In recent months, he has taken care of the couple’s toddler son. Abedin often travels with the Clinton campaign.
Abedin is the vice chair of Clinton’s presidential campaign and served as her deputy chief of staff at the US State Department. Weiner served in the US Congress, representing his district in New York City from 1999 to 2011. His first unsuccessful run for New York City mayor was in 2005. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/29/clinton-aide-abedin-separates-scandal-plagued-weiner/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/9ea2dbc36d0460cbdba4d5c974bc5d5953b35bbe4d1a5d99d652aad1b423b723.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T20:49:28 | null | 2016-08-30T22:00:33 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F30%2Fwomens-religious-attire-restricted%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/attire.jpg | en | null | Where women's religious attire is restricted | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Last Friday, France’s highest administrative court ruled against a decision by the mayor of Villeneuve-Loubet to ban the burkini. The topic has proven hugely controversial in France and beyond, especially after armed police attempted to force a woman to remove her burkini on a beach in Nice.
Restrictions on religious attire are not uncommon around the world. As part of a study gauging government laws and policies regarding religion, Pew Research tracked the countries around the globe where some level of government (national, provincial or local) regulates the wearing of religious symbols such as head coverings for women. It found that 18 of Europe’s 45 countries had at least one restriction in place in 2012-13. France and Belgium passed laws in 2010 and 2011 respectively, banning people from wearing clothing that covers the face (or most of it) in public places.
You will find more statistics at Statista | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/30/womens-religious-attire-restricted/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/f03282e69c063fefe19bbc0a733e575c46c28f2e34014100b0ed087ef9932a7f.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T04:49:15 | null | 2016-08-30T05:51:25 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F30%2Fview-sympathy-laiki-depositors-state-cannot-compensate-everyone%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/laiki.jpg | en | null | Our View: Sympathy for Laiki depositors, but state cannot compensate everyone | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | ONE of the most vociferous and active pressure groups created by the 2013 collapse of the banking system consists of the former depositors of Laiki Bank, who saw their deposits over €100,000 wiped out, when the bank was placed under resolution. Known by the acronym Sykala (Association of Depositors of Laiki), its representatives have had meetings with the president, the party leaders, Central Bank and the troika, when it was here, in an attempt to salvage some of the money they lost.
The association has also prepared a proposal on how they should be compensated and handed it to the president, finance minister, Central Bank and all the political parties. It has been encouraged by the positive response of the politicians, who always aim to please, even though no decisions have been taken about compensation. As long as the politicians have not ruled out the possibility of compensation – they would never do such a thing –there is hope for the Laiki depositors.
This was why they were rather put out by the comments made by the president of Fiscal Council, Demetris Georgiades, who said that “bailed-in depositors should have done their research and knew of the trustworthiness of a bank before putting their money in it.” While he may have come across as rather harsh, we suspect his remark was motivated by his concern about public finances. If the state started compensating all those that suffered losses from the bail-in – bank bondholders, shareholders and depositors as well as provident funds – before long we would enter another assistance programme.
He may have been correct in raising the point of personal responsibility, but if all depositors followed his advice there would have been a bank run in Cyprus long before the memorandum was signed. And Laiki had been taken over by the state, which together with the Central Bank governor gave assurances about the bank’s soundness. Laiki depositors, in fairness, could argue that they had been misled by the state authorities: how many of them knew what tier 1 capital or ELA was at the time? They relied on what their state authorities were telling them, which was rather foolish considering the president at the time was the clueless Demetris Christofias whose indecision and inaction had made the situation much worse.
The real problem now is that the state cannot afford to compensate all those that suffered as a result of the bail-in. Do the Bank of Cyprus shareholders that saw their shares wiped out overnight not deserve compensation? They have also organised themselves and started contacting party leaders to put in their demands. The truth is all these people were very badly treated, but it is not the taxpayer’s responsibility to make things right for them. The state just cannot afford such generosity. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/30/view-sympathy-laiki-depositors-state-cannot-compensate-everyone/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/643a08324eb83ed7507bd61abcd4c616e31d2fd2f9adcd3b43edf56535987250.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:02:01 | null | 2016-08-26T14:47:12 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F26%2Fjudge-rejects-prosecutor-request-appeal-pistorius-sentence%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Pistorius-web.jpg | en | null | Judge rejects prosecutor request to appeal Pistorius sentence | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | A South African judge dismissed on Friday a request by state prosecutors to appeal Oscar Pistorius’ six-year murder sentence, the latest twist in a trial that has captured global headlines.
The multiple gold medal-winning Paralympian, serving six years for murdering his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day 2013, was not in court on Friday when the judge ruled that the state’s petition had no reasonable prospects of success on appeal.
Women’s rights groups in a country beset by high levels of violent crime against women say Pistorius has received preferential treatment compared to non-whites and those without his wealth or international celebrity status.
His backers say he did not intend to kill Steenkamp.
Judge Thokozile Masipa sentenced the Paralympic gold medallist to six years behind bars in July for murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in 2013, but the prosecution had said the decision was “shockingly lenient”.
Pistorius’ defence had earlier argued the state was prejudiced and had dragged the case on too long, adding in their court documents that “enough is enough”.
“I’m not persuaded that there are reasonable prospects of success on appeal or that another court may find differently,” Masipa said in her ruling, dismissing the state’s application.
Masipa originally sentenced Pistorius in 2014 after he was found guilty of manslaughter, but that conviction was increased to murder by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in December. The subsequent six-year sentence she passed in July was also criticised by women’s groups for being too lenient.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel, who had sought 15 years for Pistorius for the murder conviction, told Reuters he could not comment. Nel has said Pistorius had not shown any remorse and had yet to explain why he fired the fatal shots.
“His remorse and or prospects of rehabilitating could not be tested,” Nel argued before Masipa’s ruling, referring to Pistorius’ decision not to testify at the sentencing hearings.
It was unclear whether the state would appeal Friday’s ruling. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesman was not available to comment.
‘LIKELY TO APPEAL’
Both the Pistorius and Steenkamp families declined to comment following Masipa’s ruling.
Pistorius, who had the lower part of his legs amputated when he was a baby, says he fired four shots into the toilet door at his luxury Pretoria home in the mistaken belief that an intruder was hiding behind it.
His defence has argued that his disability and mental stress that occurred in the aftermath of the killing should be considered as mitigating circumstances.
“This trial and this process has been exhausted beyond any conceivable exhaustive process,” his main defence lawyer Barry Roux said in a brief rebuttal.
The track star was treated in hospital for wrist injuries earlier this month, but prison officials said Pistorius denied trying to kill himself. The incident coincided with the first day of competition in the Rio Olympic Games.
Friday’s ruling raised further division, with South Africans taking opposite sides on the issue in social media.
Legal analysts were equally divided on whether prosecutors would appeal Masipa’s ruling to the supreme court.
“In my experience over the years, the Supreme Court of Appeal has placed a lot of confidence in our High Courts, and I must say, I would be surprised if they had to accept the petition,” said Johannesburg-based lawyer Ulrich Roux.
Criminal law attorney Zola Majavu said the state had a chance of success if they appealed to the supreme court.
“Remember it was the same SCA that overturned her conviction on culpable homicide. So if I were in Gerrie Nel’s shoes I would persist so that the SCA can pronounce on the matter,” he said. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/26/judge-rejects-prosecutor-request-appeal-pistorius-sentence/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/154a48ddc672ca08aed2e5b51ac8e9460276c0484eb5bfd08cc285a492be8a47.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:58:56 | null | 2016-08-26T13:28:37 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F26%2Ftale-two-referendums%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/profile1-3.jpg | en | null | A tale of two referendums | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | As the world keeps getting harder, THEO PANAYIDES meets a British academic firmly rooted in Cyprus
Should it be ‘James’ or ‘Mr. Ker-Lindsay’? The question – like himself – is academic as James Ker-Lindsay, Senior Research Fellow on the Politics of South East Europe at the LSE and longtime friend of Cyprus, bounds into the lobby of the Nicosia Hilton and offers me his hand with a cry of “Theo!”. He’s 44, tall and voluble, with grey-green eyes and a full head of hair, side-parted. “I like to think I maintain my enthusiasm,” he says later, and his vital energy is apparently his trademark – the flipside being that he tends to be argumentative. “Leave it, James,” he mimes his friends pleading as he refuses to let go of some lost cause or hair-splitting nicety. “I have final-word tendency,” he sighs, “which doesn’t really do me any favours.”
He can talk, certainly. It takes an hour and a half before we even pause to think about ordering a drink: carrot juice for me, orange juice for him, which he requests in accented but confident Greek. “You’re always aware, as an ‘area studies’ person, of being an outsider,” he admits more than once – it’s clearly something he thinks about – but in fact he speaks the lingo, has lived in Cyprus (on and off) for about eight years and first arrived 26 years ago as a teenager, the oldest of five in a family which had just relocated from Britain. Indeed, he says, pointing to the pool area outside, “my first summer was spent here, by this pool”; he and his siblings lived close by, off Kennedy Avenue, and there wasn’t much to do in Nicosia circa 1990. “It did feel much more Middle Eastern,” he muses: hardly any traffic, no coffee shops or fashionable franchises – and of course it was pre-internet, “you were really cut off”. He recalls going back to the UK after a couple of years and feeling very jarred and out of place; even the slang had changed in his absence.
By then, he was besotted with Cyprus – and, by extension, the Cyprus problem – so much so that he’d changed to an “external degree” so he could live here (instead of SOAS in London) and study long-distance. The college snail-mailed him lecture notes and a reading list – and he assures me he took it quite seriously but it does sound a bit easy-going, especially for someone who later did a Master’s and Ph.D. and became an academic. Then again, he’s not the stuffy sort of academic; he li kes to live “on the ground”, meeting people and trying his hand at journalism as well as research. At some point the talk turns to novels, and he mentions Terry Pratchett and Robert Harris. “I’d like to say I do really highbrow stuff,” he adds with a hint of apology, “but I’ve never really been that type of person”.
When it comes to area studies, a scholarly approach is essential but passion is the true defining factor; there has to be a magnetic attraction, something you feel in your bones. “I love this part of the world,” says James with feeling. “I really do. It’s fascinating – there’s a lot of humour to what goes on, a lot of craziness, but there are also very, very serious issues at play”. That said, his definition of ‘this part of the world’ – the ‘area’ in his area studies – has expanded in recent years; he still writes on Cyprus, but his CV also includes articles on Balkan politics and a book called Kosovo: The Path to Contested Statehood in the Balkans. Partly, he married into it: his wife Biljana, head of the Civil Society Engagement Unit at EBRD, the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, is from the former Yugoslavia (they have two boys: John, who’s almost six, and William, almost three). But there’s also another factor, viz. the 2004 referendum on the Annan Plan, and the disillusionment he felt in the wake of the ‘No’ vote.
Indeed, our interview could be summed up as ‘A Tale of Two Referendums’. Greek Cypriots’ rejection of the Plan left him feeling “very despondent”, edging him away from the Cyprus problem – he moved back to Britain in 2005, though still visits regularly – and Brexit left him similarly devastated; he has strong words for the leaders of the Leave campaign, “an awful ragtag bunch of narcissists, liars [and] professional contrarians”. The arguments made were emotional and nationalistic, in both referendums, while both (he claims) also created a climate of fear and belligerence, especially towards foreigners. “By that point, Cyprus had been home to the family for 14 years,” notes James – three of his siblings still live here – “and I remember, [during] that last week before the referendum, never feeling more foreign than at that time”.
He can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times when he’s faced any hostility due to being British in Cyprus – but he did feel uncomfortable in 2004 (when the EU and America vocally supported the Annan Plan, leading many Cypriots to “a siege mentality”), “and a lot of the other EU nationals living here at the time felt the same way”. The same is now happening post-Brexit, he says – though what he cites doesn’t sound like hatred, more like an awkward “awareness that something’s gone on in society”. James in 2004 found (or felt) that his local grocer wouldn’t look him in the eye, just as foreign friends in London now complain of being reluctant to speak to their children in their own language on a bus or a train. It’s something in the air – a whiff of division or defiance, an instinctive sense of a shift in the climate that could lead to extremism.
Here’s a salient fact about James Ker-Lindsay. He gets very passionate when he argues, as already mentioned – he always wants the last word; he engaged in a late-night Twitter spat with a Cypriot politician who shall remain nameless (oh all right, it was @yiorgoslillikas); he was out in the streets campaigning for Remain in the weeks before Brexit – but his politics, what he actually argues for, are entirely mild. “I see myself very much as a political centrist,” he tells me, “and I wear it as a badge of honour”. He’s done a lot of work on the Cyprus problem, yet his preferred solution is simplicity itself: a loose federation where the two communities would control their own affairs as much as possible, and “ordinary people wouldn’t feel their lives to be massively disrupted by a solution”. What’s more, he’s sympathetic to concerns about not trusting the other side, or not wanting to relinquish the status quo. “I understand where they’re coming from. I just happen to believe that the benefits of a solution would outweigh the cost”.
He strikes me as a reasonable man in a frequently unreasonable world – a cheerful dynamic person, a middlebrow, a non-ideologue, forever battling stasis and fear and extreme positions. He talks at length of the EU, which he reveres (“I feel myself to be very European”), and his defence is based on reasonable things like striking a balance between Left and Right: here’s a marketplace of 500 million people, Europe tells employers, but in return you have to treat your workers fairly, and grant them sick pay and maternity leave. That “fine balance” is the beauty of the EU, gushes James – but a fine balance doesn’t win you arguments these days, not when 52 per cent want immigrants gone and an end to faceless Brussels telling them what to do. “You couldn’t argue with these people!” he recalls, meaning the Brexiteers – and shakes his head, as if to say: What kind of world rejects logical argument? When did the world become so crazy and unreasonable?
His answer to that question is intriguing. Go to any bank in the UK, he tells me. “There was a time when you’d have people behind desks – none of that now, you just have machines. It’s horrific. You go in, and you might have two or three staff members whose sole job is to point you to a machine, or come over to the machine if you’re having any problems. It’s horrific. It’s really unpleasant to go into a bank now. And this is the future”. Technology – and specifically automation – is the elephant in the room, un-addressed by governments which hope that new jobs will somehow appear as they did in the past; but driverless cars are coming soon, robots are increasingly viable, and almost every profession is due to be decimated by intelligent algorithms. Companies are even testing automated phone systems, to replace call centres.
What do we do when jobs disappear? His own solution involves “basic income”, i.e. everyone being paid a state salary irrespective of whether they’re in work (businesses could be taxed at a higher rate, since they don’t create jobs anymore). This is actually an idea that’s gaining currency – but the real point is that ordinary people sense that change is coming, without quite being able to articulate how, and it makes them nervous, prompting them to lash out at bogeymen from dastardly foreigners to EU bureaucrats. “We are really at a fundamental point of change in what’s going on in the world”. Only once we start to confront these issues, if we ever do, will the world start to settle. In the meantime, the craziness is likely to continue – and people like James will continue to struggle, trying to make sense of the senseless and arbitrary.
There’s something else as well, “an added complication in my life” as he puts it, something that’s informed every moment of his life for the past two years. His son John is severely disabled with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a “horrific condition” that affects about 1 in 3500 boys worldwide. The diagnosis came almost two years ago, after months of worrying that something was wrong, and of course it was shattering: “I can tell you that, after that diagnosis, the next two or three months were quite the worst of my life”. Many parents never get beyond that initial despair, refusing even to talk about the illness; James and Biljana try to be open about John’s condition, but that doesn’t make it any less heartbreaking. Duchenne is a progressive muscle-wasting disorder, meaning he’ll gradually lose more and more of his muscle strength. “You’re suddenly confronted with the fact that” – James’ voice shakes discernibly – “by the time he’s 12 he’s going to be in a wheelchair. Life expectancy is, at the moment, around 25.”
There’s not much one can say after that, except to marvel at James’ continued enthusiasm and applaud his courage in going forward. Soon after they received the diagnosis, he met with a friend and colleague at LSE who also has a disabled son, and asked him how he managed to cope. “Never ask yourself ‘why?’,” counselled this friend, and James agrees. “‘That’s a road to disaster. It’s not karma. It’s not God’s punishment. It’s just one of those things that happens. Don’t get into that’ – and he was so right. He said he’d lost two years to depression because of asking that question. And we resolved, right from the start, that we weren’t going to do that.
“And the other thing is that you’ve got to keep the joy. You know, these are still children. You need to have as normal a childhood as possible.” Fortunately, despite all his challenges – and despite some learning difficulties manifesting as mild autism – John is “a lovely happy boy,” having apparently inherited his dad’s buoyant temperament. Last night was their first night back in Cyprus, a Ker-Lindsay family reunion with siblings and children, “and you know, watching the two boys with their three cousins, and having them all together, running around and playing, and seeing John trying to keep up – you know, doing his best – and laughing and talking with his cousins, it was amazing. It really was. And I like that thought, I want them to feel that Cyprus is a home to them. Not in the same way as it was going to be a home to me – but I want them to have those memories, and to come out here for as long as we can.”
Cyprus, I suspect, holds a privileged position in James Ker-Lindsay’s psyche – a memory of something very carefree and pure, a time when he was young (or younger) and beguiled by a new part of the world, sitting by the pool at the Hilton and having a “brilliant” summer. Cyprus has defined his career, indeed his whole life (he also met his wife here), but left him disenchanted when the chance of the Annan Plan was so comprehensively missed; and now there’s Brexit too, another snub for his brand of fair-minded centrism. The world keeps getting harder, it seems, and more distressing. Sometimes, with the climate of fear in public life and the problems in his own personal world, he must wonder how it all got so complicated.
Yet he tries to maintain his enthusiasm – because, after all, Life goes on, not just in the abstract but also in all its day-to-day anxieties and triumphs. He sighs at the steady encroachment of middle-aged flab, lets off steam when he can (videogames, mostly), feels the fragile joy of watching his sons play with their cousins, tries to remain on an even keel – and comes back to Cyprus with its old familiar pleasures now and then, dinner at the Syrian, a mixed kebab from Kalypso or Christakis. “This morning I took my two boys over to see their cousin,” he reports, “and we stopped at Zorbas and I picked up a tachinopita. I found one which had nice crispy edges and everything!” He gives a happy chuckle and glances at the Hilton’s Proustian pool, with its traces of a more straightforward summer. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/26/tale-two-referendums/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/d5f755e3814e4d36790fd78773c5c07d174063b57b8691c82b892766e36c0125.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T14:49:06 | null | 2016-08-29T16:23:29 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F29%2Fkeeping-lone-wolf%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/olympics.jpg | en | null | Keeping out the lone wolf | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | By Veronica Kitchen
That an event like 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro came off without incident speaks to the preparations that organisers and security forces undertook to ensure that events and the public spaces associated with them were secure from terrorist attacks.
The Rio Summer Games could be deemed a success if only because nobody was harmed by a terrorist. It’s a remarkable achievement considering that 2016 has been characterised by a number of terrorist attacks by radicalised individuals — particularly Islamic State sympathisers — on ordinary citizens in public spaces around the world. “Lone wolf” terrorists have taken aim at soft targets such as these because they are inherently difficult to protect by security forces as people go about their daily lives – traveling, commuting, working and socialising.
In addition, there are periodic public events that not only bring together local citizens but attract thousands of visitors. Both annual events held in the same locale, such as the Boston Marathon, and one-off special events, such as the Olympics and World Cup, bring their own security challenges. These events have added appeal for terrorists because of the increased media attention that a successful attack would promise. That said, special events also have additional security measures built in, making it inherently more difficult to attack them.
Certain expectations of crowd behaviour govern how responders will prepare to secure an event, and how they will react to an attack. Scores of individuals may be visiting a place for the first time. They may not know their way around; they may not have mobile phones that work or much knowledge of the local language, laws and customs. While there may be specific venues to protect, such as a hotel or a stadium, there is not usually a clear perimeter that police or military can encircle; the whole point is for visitors to move around in public spaces, participating in the event and adding economic value to the host city.
There is often an expectation that crowds move in predictable but dangerous ways in an emergency, and this will need to be prepared for. Responders fear stampedes, choke points, and chaos that may impede both a medical response to victims and an attempt to neutralize the threat. In the evacuation of the Stade de France during the November, 2015 terrorist attacks on Paris, for instance, police waited until the football match was over before they alerted the crowd to what was going on; this both avoided sending people out into a potential attack but also gave the police time to prepare to disperse the crowd safely.
Often, however, bystanders belie the expectations of chaos and behave in exemplary ways. In each of the terrorist attacks in 2016, as well as during previous attacks on special events, individual “heroes” have attempted to stop attackers. In Nice for instance, an individual jumped onto the truck that plowed through revellers at a Bastille Day celebration. During the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, individuals rushed toward victims instead of away from the blast. In practice, crowds often prove to be quite resilient.
Special events, such as the Olympics or the World Cup, can also be challenging to secure because of their scale. With so many athletes and spectators present, extra police, security personnel and other first responders are necessary, and often brought in from outside of the local jurisdiction. While these responders may have received some training, they will not be as familiar with the territory as locals. Interoperability between police forces and emergency responders from different jurisdictions is also key to successfully securing special events — if they cannot communicate with one another, both the ability to prevent an attack and respond to it may be impeded.
In this case, special events that are repeated have an advantage: again, when the Boston Marathon was attacked, police and other first responders had emergency plans and several years of experience working together. Yet, one of the most prominent lessons from Boston was that it is insufficient to have prepared in theory. Responders must rehearse together if they are to work seamlessly in an emergency. Furthermore, the value of bringing in extra security personnel and training them together is lessened if new stadiums, transit hubs or roads built for the event are not part of emergency preparedness. This is what impeded the response to a bomb at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 that injured 111 people and killed one — the new Centennial Park had not been properly entered into emergency dispatch systems.
Finally, at any special event, it is worth asking whose security is deemed most important. The goal of a special event is not simply to host dignitaries or play a sport, but rather to display the host city in its highest virtue. While this certainly includes protecting it from terrorist attacks, in practice it has also often meant moving undesirable citizens – those furthest down the ladder of society – out of the public eye, endangering the well-being of those who may already be most vulnerable.
As we move through public spaces, whether on an everyday basis or for a one-off special event, we should recall that terrorist attacks remain comparatively rare events. As citizens, we should hold our security services to account to engage in best practices, and as visitors, we should remain vigilant in our surroundings. We should not, however, cease revelling, protesting, or gathering out of fear of attacks, for doing so also has the power to destroy the fabric of our communities and the spirit of these unique events.
Veronica M. Kitchen is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Waterloo and the Balsillie School of International Affairs.
This article first appeared in TheMarkNews | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/29/keeping-lone-wolf/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/3d881bc2f0d85f808d759f49d5a34907f8a7ffb2ea6621467e763c64b901b7e4.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T06:48:40 | null | 2016-08-28T09:37:15 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fakinci-says-new-york-best-opportunity-five-party-conference%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/feature-north1-pic-1-Akinci-on-the-campaign-trail-770x552.jpg | en | null | Akinci says New York best opportunity for five-party conference | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | The ultimate objective in New York next month is to have a five-party meeting with the guarantor powers Greece, Turkey and Britain, Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci has said.
He also said that Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu would be in Cyprus in the coming week.
CNA, citing Turkish Cypriot newspaper Kibris Postasi, said that if the next six meetings with President Nicos Anastasiades achieved the necessary progress, the next step for the leaders would be a joint meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, followed by a five-party conference with he guarantor powers.
Anastasiades and Akinci last Tuesday began an intensive period of talks to bridge gaps on four chapters and for the first time to put guarantees on the table. The Greek Cypriot side does not want any guarantor powers, least of all Turkey, involved post-settlement but the Turkish Cypriots say there cannot be a solution without some sort of Turkish presence.
Akinci, according to CNA, said the Turkish Cypriots need some sort of guarantee. “However if you want a solution, you cannot say you will never discuss this,” he said.
“Our people feel the need for safeguards. We see this and our people reflect this. The importance of Turkey for the Turkish Cypriots is very clear. We are talking about the only country that has supported the Turkish Cypriots for years.”
The UK, he added, was not interested in being a guarantor power and only wanted to secure the status of the British bases. Greece also might not want to be a guarantor but is intrinsically linked to the Greek Cypriots.
The coming three or four months were crucial, Akinci said. The Turkish Cypriot leader has repeatedly said that if 2016 closes without a deal, come 2017, there would be more potential risks to reaching a settlement such as the looming presidential elections in 2018, which he fears would distract and influence Anastasiades.
“Certainly there is no one hundred per cent guarantee of that. But we see very clearly that there is this possibility,” he said. “To this end we will continue to work.”
On the New York trip later next month following the end of the current consultations on September 14 and an expected joint statement by the leaders. Akinici said the ultimate goal is a five-party conference since the guarantor powers will be in one place as well as the two sides. The Greek Cypriot side has said that no joint meeting with Ban could take place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly sessions as Anastasiades would be in New York as a head of state and not the Greek Cypriot leader.
Akinci said that if there were enough convergences in the upcoming six meetings it would open the way for both the meeting with Ban and the five-party confernece.
“This is the goal in New York where the three guarantor powers will be and I hope the Greek Cypriot side is ready for this because I believe that from now on such an opportunity will not be easy to come by,” he said. Reports in the past week from the north said Akinci had invited the heads of the Turkish Cypriot political parties to New York in case of a multilateral conference.
Akinci also said that if the current effort fails or goes to separate referenda and still fails, it would not be the end of the world.
“We will certainly continue our own way. This is not the desire or wish but if it happens we cannot do anything else,” he said.
“At the moment we walk the path of the solution. This process is the last effort of our generation and quite possibly could be the last effort for a federal solution, for a federal Cyprus “. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/akinci-says-new-york-best-opportunity-five-party-conference/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/da42c731427414d97de93a59a98a49362dc85c2f277cadb7849cb21f87d84dc3.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T14:49:31 | null | 2016-08-26T15:59:48 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F26%2Fucy-study-chart-avkas-gorge%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/avkas-gorge.jpg | en | null | UCy to study and chart Avakas gorge | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | The University of Cyprus announced on Friday that it had signed a €30,000 agreement for the implementation of a project aiming to study and charting of the Avakas gorge in the Akamas.
The project is privately funded, following the agreement signed between the university and Yiannakis Christodoulou, CEO of Vita Constructions Ltd, an announcement said.
The aim is a “specialised study”, which will include recording and mapping the entire gorge, to record the biodiversity that exists in the gorge, to create rich photographic material covering all four seasons, signaling a path in cooperation with the forestry department and creating a virtual tour of the gorge.
The 12-month long study will be carried out by a postgraduate researcher of the University of Cyprus, Vasiliki Anastasi, under the supervision of Associate Professor in environmental education and awareness, Costas Korfiatis.
Following the completion of the study, a publication will follow with information and a virtual tour of the gorge, which is located in the Peyia forest, in the Akamas peninsula.
“The publication will provide members of the public with further detailed information about the gorge,” the announcement said. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/26/ucy-study-chart-avkas-gorge/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/3af17d68357b88ee763959e198f98d346f368d540ef248aa9eab179240520837.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T16:48:47 | null | 2016-08-28T18:00:45 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fgerman-vice-chancellor-says-cant-see-turkey-eu-anytime-soon%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/gabriel-1.jpg | en | null | German vice chancellor says can't see Turkey in EU anytime soon | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said on Sunday he did not see Turkey joining the EU during his political career, adding that the bloc would not be in a position to take Turkey in even if Ankara met all the entry requirements tomorrow.
Turkey started talks about joining the European Union in 2005 but has made little progress despite an initial burst of reforms.
Many EU countries are wary about the possibility of the large, mainly Muslim country becoming a member of the bloc and Europe has long worried that Turkey’s anti-terrorism laws are used to quash dissent.
A crackdown since a failed July 15 coup in Turkey has fueled tension between Ankara and Brussels.
“Even if you’re very optimistic about my political career, I certainly won’t see Turkey becoming a member of this EU,” Gabriel, 56, told a news conference on Sunday.
“With the state we’re in, we’re not even in a position to take in a city state,” said Gabriel, leader of the Social Democrats (SPD) – the junior coalition partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government.
He said one logistical problem was Turkey’s large population, which stands at about 79 million according to the World Bank.
“How would that work in a European Union that is currently losing one of its most important member states, that has been rattled, that doesn’t know how it should reorganise itself?,” he added, referring to Britain’s recent vote to leave the bloc.
He said Turkey might instead, in the distant future, become a partner “in an outer ring” of a changed EU.
Earlier this month, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said his government could stop helping to stem the flow of refugees and migrants to Europe if Brussels failed to relax travel rules for Turks from October.
Visa-free access to the EU — the main reward for Ankara’s collaboration in choking off the influx of migrants — has been subject to delays due to a dispute over the anti-terrorism legislation, as well as the post-coup crackdown.
Gabriel said in an interview on Saturday that Merkel’s conservatives had “underestimated” the challenge of integrating record migrant arrivals. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/german-vice-chancellor-says-cant-see-turkey-eu-anytime-soon/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/ec2f6b7f59a85972f70704e18a88755251d792b52579ace18ea5e72e8334544c.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T14:49:42 | null | 2016-08-31T17:07:51 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F31%2Fanastasiades-failed-conferences-sound-death-knell-talks%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/unnamed-3.jpg | en | null | Anastasiades: failed conferences would sound death knell for the talks | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | A three-party meeting with the Turkish Cypriot leader and the UN Secretary-General would only take place if progress was achieved in the reunification talks by September 14, President Nicos Anastasiades said on Wednesday.
But a multilateral conference, including guarantor powers Greece, Turkey, and the UK, will not take place “if I don’t feel there is progress that would allow such a meeting,” Anastasiades said after his meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci.
The leaders have four more meetings scheduled before issuing a joint statement on September 14 on progress made in bridging outstanding gaps and in their discussions on guarantees. Akinci wants a three-party meeting with Ban Ki-moon in New York later next month followed by a five-party meeting with the guarantors as they will all be in the US for the UN General Assembly. But Anastasiades has not committed to any such meetings.
“Failed conferences that won’t lead anywhere would only serve as the tombstone of the negotiations and this has been understood by Mr Akinci and (UN Special Adviser (Espen Barth) Mr Eide,” Anastasiades said.
The president also took a shot at hardline parties, which claim that they, and the public, have been left in the dark over the talks.
Anastasiades said that since July 30, he had informed parties that they could study the Greek Cypriot side’s proposals.
“I want to say that out of the six protesting parties, only two opted to peruse the documents,” he said.
Anastasiades added that from Wednesday, parties could also examine the minutes of the ongoing meetings, so that they could be fully informed about what is going on during the talks, provided that they observed the confidentiality of the documents.
The president said it was the people who had the final say and they would not be rushed into making a decision on a plan that would be presented to them unexpectedly.
“They will be fully informed provided that I will put the plan before the people after I am satisfied that it meets everything we all decided unanimously,” Anastasiades said.
He said the people would be informed if and when a deal was on the cards; a deal that satisfied the expectations of both communities.
“The people will be fully informed because at the end of the day it’s the people who will decide, not the parties, nor the president,” he added. “That is why I want to ask the party leaderships to count the cost they may inflict during the dialogue with unfounded claims.” | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/31/anastasiades-failed-conferences-sound-death-knell-talks/ | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/3c71438ee46bf96495dcb123598d96562db0e13c7d5496afc56b28746f8dd31e.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T18:48:00 | null | 2016-08-26T20:02:04 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F26%2Fnew-bill-university-hospitals-within-three-months%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/pamporidis.jpg | en | null | New bill for university hospitals ‘within three months’ | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | A bill regulating the cooperation between public hospitals and the University of Cyprus’ medical school is expected to be completed within the next three months, Health minister Giorgos Pamboridis said on Friday
The minister, who was visiting the Makarios hospital in Nicosia, said that his main point of discussion with the heads of departments was to find ways to smoothly implement the terms of this corporation.
The aim, he said, is to make sure that medical students expected to begin their clinical practice at the beginning of September will receive excellent tutoring from the doctors of public hospitals.
He said he was certain that this will be the case.
During the meeting, Pamporidis answered to doctors’ questions and tried to appease their ongoing concerns.
“Due to pressing time constraints, drafting the relevant legislation has not been possible, but it will be a priority so that there is a legal framework regulating the operation of university clinics in our country,” Pamboridis said. Toward that end, he said, he has sought the help of the doctors and their unions.
“I hope that everything will run smoothly”, he said, adding that there will be constant cooperation between his ministry and the doctors to resolve any problems that may arise.
The bill will be tabled to parliament as soon as it is completed, he said.
Pamboridis also congratulated the staff of the Makarios hospital for the “care and affection” they are giving to the two and a half-year-old abandoned boy who has been living in the hospital since his birth due to a rare lung disease.
The state social welfare services are trying to find a home for the boy, since the only family he has had so far are the staff of the hospital, where he was left by his parents soon after birth, who probably felt they could no longer care for him due to his serious health problems which required constant medical care.
“They (hospital staff) really went beyond and above duty and this is impressive. Well done to them,” Pamporidis said.
State authorities are at the moment evaluating several requests from families that expressed interest to adopt the boy. The chosen family will undergo training before they are able to take him home. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/26/new-bill-university-hospitals-within-three-months/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/288b2731dd35cbad31cbd9781c993c54e1cc28b0456083064338329f08435941.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T02:48:44 | null | 2016-08-28T05:02:15 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Flessons-inequality-ancient-cyprus%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/feature-jean-main-pic-Archaeologists-working-on-a-dig.-Eilis-Monahans-focus-will-be-on-Cyprus-between-the-Middle-and-Late-Bronze-Ages-around-3700-years-ago.jpg | en | null | Lessons in inequality from ancient Cyprus | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | By Jean Christou
An American archaeologist is to spend nine months in Cyprus mapping how the building of fortresses around the island impacted ancient societies and what prompted them to move in that direction.
Fulbright scholar Eilis Monahan’s aim is to learn how a relatively egalitarian village society during the early to Middle Bronze Age (2500-1650 BC), rapidly changed to one of extreme social inequality and political complexity in the Late Bronze Age (1650-1050 BC).
“I’m interested in the way the built environment controls the way we can move and affects our social interactions,” Monahan told the Cornell Chronicle, the newspaper of Cornell University. “The material world actually creates social inequality by making our differences concrete. Objects, buildings, these things that surround our lives, provide opportunities and limitations on our actions. Because these things are real and in the world outside our own existence, their effects can be long-lived and unpredictable.”
In another Q&A article on a university website, Monahan said her main area of interest was social and political developments in the Bronze Age in the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East.
She said archaeology can, and sometimes does, combine the study of history, art history, politics, economics, languages, geography, chemistry, physics, geology, from which archaeologists can glean any perspective that might help them better understand where humans have been, where they are now, and where they might be heading.
She said the Cyprus project grew out of a pilot project she ran in 2013 with Dr Matthew Spigelman when they were both in Cyprus working on other archaeological projects. They stayed an additional ten days mapping the area of Ayios Sozomenos in the Nicosia district.
“That was when I realised there was much more work to be done on these sites. I saw the potential for a real contribution to our understanding of how Cypriot society changes during this period and, more broadly, how buildings and landscapes affect the way people interact with each other and the relationships they establish,” Monahan said.
Her investigations so far have primarily been the surveying and mapping of sites and museum collections from previous excavations into a group of fortresses and surrounding settlements in the central region of Cyprus between the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, around 3,700 years ago.
“This is a very exciting period in Cypriot history when the island transitioned from a village-based and relatively insular society to a complex urban-focused society involved in trade and diplomacy with the major polities of the Eastern Mediterranean, including the Egyptians, Hittites, and Babylonians,” she said. “My project investigates how the introduction of fortifications to the landscape alters social relations, and the roles that fortresses and their control of the landscape may play in the development of political regimes.”
Monahan told the Chronicle that as an island, Cyprus offered a unique opportunity for study because of its isolation but also its central location between the Aegean, Anatolia, the Levant.
“The ancient Cypriots were in a really special situation: They had something [copper] that everyone wanted, but by being on an island they had more control over their interactions with the other powerful states and empires of the time,” she said.
Monahan plans to survey 23 sites around the island, some on lowlands and others such as fortresses on higher ground. “I’ve spent the last seven years staring at various kinds of Cypriot pottery, so a lot of my work will be using the pottery to assess the sites,” she said. She will also use radar equipment to look beneath the surface. She expects to find that a number of settlements were suddenly abandoned and moved closer to the four fortresses, either for protection or because of pressure from community leaders or political authorities, she told the interviewer.
This indicated that during the period in question there had somehow been an increase in violence, whether it came about due to invaders or internal turmoil. This was evident from excavations that showed an increased presence of weapons on sites and in tombs. The creation of the fortresses showed that people were fearful of something. “The question then becomes, how does the presence of these buildings and objects change the way society behaves?” said Monahan.
“Most of the fortresses on Cyprus are in the occupied territory in northern Cyprus, controlled by Turkey, but there’s one cluster in the republic where you can access them,” she said. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/lessons-inequality-ancient-cyprus/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/69df5a7cbed7def71dd7823a74f7d8ac873db51ce57b5ab606b42cbd28dd8d6e.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T06:49:16 | null | 2016-08-30T08:36:19 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F30%2Fgene-wilder-star-willy-wonka-blazing-saddles-dead-83%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wilder.jpg | en | null | Gene Wilder, star of "Willy Wonka," "Blazing Saddles," dead at 83 | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Gene Wilder, whose wild curls and startling blue eyes brought a frantic air to roles in the movies “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” “Young Frankenstein” and “Blazing Saddles,” died on Monday at the age of 83, his family said.
Wilder, whose best work included collaborations with director-writer Mel Brooks and actor-comedian Richard Pryor, died at his home in Stamford, Connecticut, from complications of Alzheimer’s disease, the family said in a statement.
Wilder’s nephew, Jordan Walker-Pearlman, said the actor had chosen to keep his illness secret so that children who knew him as Willy Wonka would not equate the whimsical character with an adult disease.
Wilder’s barely contained hysteria made him a go-to lead for Brooks, who cast him in “Blazing Saddles,” “Young Frankenstein” and “The Producers” in the 1960s and ’70s.
“Gene Wilder – one of the truly great talents of our time. He blessed every film we did with his magic & he blessed me with his friendship,” Brooks said on Twitter.
Besides his classic collaborations with Brooks, Wilder paired memorably with comedian Richard Pryor in hits “Silver Streak” and “Stir Crazy.”
Wilder also was active in promoting ovarian cancer awareness and treatment after his wife, “Saturday Night Live” comedian Gilda Radner, whom he married in 1984, died of the disease in 1989.
He helped found the Gilda Radner Ovarian Cancer Detection Center in Los Angeles and co-founded Gilda’s Club, a support organization that has branches throughout the United States.
Born Jerome Silberman to Russian immigrants in Milwaukee, Wilder studied at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre in Bristol, England, and then studied method acting at the Actors Studio.
A leading role in a play that also starred Anne Bancroft, who was dating her future husband Brooks, led to Wilder becoming a top member of Brooks’ stock company of crazies, some of whom branched out with Wilder into other film ventures.
Wilder’s first movie role was a small part as a terrified undertaker who was abducted by Bonnie and Clyde in Arthur Penn’s 1967 film of the same name.
The following year he was panic-stricken Leo Bloom to Zero Mostel’s conniving Max Bialystock in Brooks’ “The Producers,” picking up an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor.
While it initially got a tepid response, the movie with its over-the-top song “Springtime for Hitler,” went on to become a cult favorite and, years later with a different cast, a monster hit on Broadway.
Wilder was a last-minute fill-in as the “Waco Kid” in Brooks’ “Blazing Saddles” in 1974, and with Brooks wrote the screenplay for “Young Frankenstein” released later that year, also to big box office returns.
The two were nominated for best screenplay Oscars, but lost to Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo for “The Godfather Part II.”
With Brooks alumni Madeline Kahn and Marty Feldman, Wilder made his directorial debut with 1975’s “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother,” and directed several other movies with uneven results.
Wilder’s title role in “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” earned him a Golden Globe nomination in 1971, and he was nominated again in that category in 1976 for “Silver Streak.”
He won an Emmy in 2003 for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series for appearances on “Will and Grace.”
Wilder’s memoir, “Kiss Me Like a Stranger: My Search for Love and Art,” was released in 2005 and he collaborated with oncologist Steven Piver on the book “Gilda’s Disease” in 1998.
He was hospitalized in 1999 with non-Hodgkin lymphoma but was said to be in complete remission in 2005.
Wilder lived in Stamford in a house built in 1734 that he had shared with Radner, writing and painting watercolors with his wife Karen Boyer, whom he married in 1991. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/30/gene-wilder-star-willy-wonka-blazing-saddles-dead-83/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/242e8d58dc7dd9552a159d00f6aa1bad1d2042894573fe5e13ed071800a2fc8e.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T08:48:48 | null | 2016-08-28T10:35:04 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fsuspected-kurdish-militants-fire-rockets-turkeys-diyarbakir-airport-media%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Diyarbakır_Airport.jpg | en | null | Suspected Kurdish militants fire rockets at Turkey's Diyarbakir airport -media | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Suspected Kurdish militants fired rockets at the airport in Turkey’s main southeastern city of Diyarbakir on Saturday, sending passengers and staff scrambling for shelter, Dogan news agency said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
Four rockets were fired at a police checkpoint outside the VIP lounge, and passengers and staff were taken inside the terminal building for safety, the private news agency said. The attack happened not long before midnight (2100 GMT) on Saturday.
Broadcaster NTV said the rockets landed on wasteland nearby. There were no casualties and no disruption to flights, Diyarbakir governor Huseyin Aksoy told the news channel.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Diyarbakir is the main city in Turkey’s largely Kurdish southeast, where Kurdish militants have waged a three-decade insurgency. The attack comes days after Turkey launched a military incursion into Syria aimed at driving back Islamic State and preventing territorial gains by Kurdish fighters.
Rebels supported by Turkey fought Kurdish-backed forces in northern Syria on Saturday, and Ankara said it had launched air strikes against both Kurdish militia fighters and Islamic State.
Turkey fears Kurdish militia fighters will fill the void as Islamic State is pushed back. It wants to stop Kurdish forces gaining control of a continuous stretch of Syrian territory on its frontier, which it fears could deepen the insurgency by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants on its own soil.
Diyarbakir airport largely handles domestic flights and is served by carriers including Turkish Airlines.
The PKK, which first took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984, is considered a terrorist organisation by Ankara, the United States and the European Union. A ceasefire collapsed just over a year ago, and violence has since surged. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/suspected-kurdish-militants-fire-rockets-turkeys-diyarbakir-airport-media/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/f48f7771a1522a7c589059d7a68aef479779448f23d753b00bb4c9dc5f3f67d4.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T12:48:48 | null | 2016-08-28T15:24:36 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fcyprus-mail.com%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fgermanys-economy-minister-u-s-eu-free-trade-talks-failed%2F.json | http://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/sigmar.jpg | en | null | Germany's economy minister: U.S.-EU free trade talks have failed | null | null | cyprus-mail.com | Germany’s Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Sunday that talks on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a free trade deal being negotiated by the United States and the European Union, had essentially failed.
“The negotiations with the USA have de facto failed because we Europeans did not want to subject ourselves to American demands,” he said, according to a written transcript from German broadcaster ZDF of an interview due to be broadcast on Sunday.
“Things are not moving on that front,” said Gabriel, who is also Germany’s vice chancellor.
The U.S. and the EU have been negotiating the TTIP for three years and both sides had sought to conclude talks in 2016 but they have differences over various issues, including agriculture. | http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/08/28/germanys-economy-minister-u-s-eu-free-trade-talks-failed/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | cyprus-mail.com/df9b830a0e3cf04486efdb6799c3fb53e7df034dc95e1a5c383cf29929e56a2e.json |
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