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Our View: The state education system set up to serve indolent teachers

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Teachers demonstrating

TEACHING unions and their political patrons AKEL have been making a big fuss over the government’s plans not to renew the annual contracts of a couple of hundred state school teachers. These teachers were never hired on a permanent basis, but in past eras, during which governments mindlessly squandered taxpayer’s money, the renewal of their annual contract was guaranteed, regardless of the needs of state education. But the unions and AKEL are hanging on to the profligate past as if nothing has changed.

The only thing they acknowledge is that unemployment has risen dramatically, using this as an argument for the government to keep on all teachers on contracts. It would be wrong to add 100 or 200 of them to the ranks of the jobless, they both claimed, as if the taxpayer has a moral obligation to pay teachers that are surplus to state school requirements. As the education minister pointed out on Sunday, there would be 2,000 fewer students in the new school year because of the departure from Cyprus of many foreign families.

Is it so unreasonable for there to be reduction of teachers as well? It is not, but rational decisions seem to be anathema in a country that is still ruled by union bosses and populist politicians. Even now that the state is bankrupt, they want it to carry on employing teachers that are not needed. The government could have avoided all this if it had not changed the provision of the memorandum that stipulated no renewals of contracts of 500 state school teachers. Instead, it arranged a slightly bigger wage cut for public employees to generate the cash to pay the contract teachers. Now it, justifiably, wants to get rid of some of them, it is being attacked.

The real problem, however, is never mentioned by anyone. It is that we have an overstaffed state education system employing unmotivated, disinterested and grossly overpaid teachers. Much too big a percentage of the money the state spends on education goes on the teachers’ payroll and very little on raising standards. If there was ever a professional evaluation of the quality of education offered by the state, it would have found that we were paying too much money for the poor education (as shown by international tests) which state-school students are receiving. This is what we should be concentrating on and not how many teachers the state employs.

But thanks to our unions and political parties we have a state education system set up to serve indolent teachers, satisfying their demand for maximum money for minimum work. The interests for school-children are of little importance in this arrangement, which nobody dares change, fearing the reaction of the teaching unions. But as long as the government bows to the teaching unions, the poor standard of state education will not improve.

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‘No way was I letting him go’ says man who caught burglar red-handed

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LEAD

By Peter Stevenson

THREE men in their twenties jumped in and stopped a burglary in progress at a closed Nicosia eatery in the early hours of yesterday, catching one of the culprits and retrieving almost €3,000 in stolen cash.

In fact the teenage burglar he nabbed offered have-a-go hero Theodoros Kompos, 23, the loot in return for letting him go before the police got there.

Kompos told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that he and two friends, Marios Ioannou, 23, and Theodoros Georgiou, 27, were driving by the Almyro Glyko creperie in central Nicosia some time after 3am following a night out, when they noticed the window of the eatery had been smashed in. Kompos’ uncle owns the creperie.

They also spotted a man standing outside shouting ‘Get out now’ at which point the trio called the police.

 “We had been out for a meal and then a drink and on our way home we passed by the shop and saw the glass, followed by someone shouting ‘get out now’,” Kompos said.

Ioannou, who was at the wheel, suggested they stop and check out what was going on, Kompos told the Mail. “We noticed one guy was standing outside, shouting at whoever was inside to get out but we weren’t sure whether he was helping them or just passing but as soon as he saw us approaching he ran off,” Kompos said.

CCTV footage shows a hooded figures rifling through the cash desk at 2.55am.  Other footage shows two hooded figures in the restaurant.  Kompos said at some point they lost sight of the two men inside the shop but knew they hadn’t yet managed to get away so they put one of the restaurant’s tables up against the back door to prevent the thieves from leaving that way.

“All of a sudden we heard the table from the back door move and knew they were trying to get away so we chased them as they headed towards Makarios Avenue,” he said.

The have-a-go hero added that the man he was chasing bizarrely began throwing screwdrivers at him in his attempts to flee.

“The guy was clearly shaken and tripped on some steps so I took my opportunity and jumped on him, locking his arms so he couldn’t cause me any harm. At first it crossed my mind that he could have some kind of weapon but once I managed to lock his arms I knew he wouldn’t be able to move,” Kompos said.

According to Kompos the man offered him the money he had stolen from the shop in exchange for releasing him before the police arrived. “It didn’t matter to me that it was my uncle’s shop, it was a matter of principle. There was no way I was going to let this guy go,” he added.

The second burglar, who had been injured by the glass managed to elude both police and Ioannou who had given chase. “One of the men who got away was injured on the broken shop window glass. As for the man that was arrested, he is a 19-year-old foreign man who had €2,670 in cash from the shop in his possession,” police spokesman Andreas Angelides said. A number of tools were found at the scene which Angelides said police believe were used for the break-in and were abandoned by the burglars.

The 19-year-old was taken to Nicosia district court and given an eight day remand later yesterday morning. The second suspect was arrested later in the day, and police are still seeking the man who was outside on the street to question him as well.

“He [the first suspect] admitted his guilt regarding the burglary,” the police spokesman said.

“We would like to stress – and this is important – the vital role played by the members of public who chased the culprits, eventually leading to the first arrest. Police would like to express their gratitude towards those citizens,” Angelides said. He added that investigations would continue to locate the other two men who were at the scene. Manager of Almyro Glyko Jeffrey Hoffens thanked police for their quick response and expressed his relief that nobody was hurt.

“The word is spreading and people are slowly realising to keep their eye out for anything suspicious, helping to prevent burglaries,” he said.

Hoffens added that the burglars appear to have been aware of the CCTV cameras in place at the shop and had used hoods to hide their faces. Asked why so much money had been left at that specific branch, Hoffens explained that the branch manager was away on holiday and that the earnings had been placed in the safe inside, which had been broken into by the burglars.

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Bystander catches purse snatcher in Paphos

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A bystander chased and caught a 20-year-old who allegedly snatched the purse of a British woman while she was taking a walk in Kato Paphos on Monday.

The purse contained €780 in cash, the woman told police.

The perpetrator, a Russian national, was chased by a bystander who managed to catch him and hand him over to the authorities.

Also Monday, Paphos police detained a Greek man, 55, suspected of stealing an electronic part of a quad bike.

According to the police, the man went to a motorcycle shop and asked the owner to take out a quad bike for a test drive.

The owner agreed, but when the vehicle was returned he noticed that a part worth €2000 had gone missing.

He reported the incident to police who arrested the 55-year-old.

Also in Paphos, a beekeeper from the village of Salamiou reported that thieves stole four beehives worth €1200.

The case is being investigated by the Kelokedara police.

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Israel shoots down rocket targeting resort city Eilat

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Iron Dome rocket defence system in Haifa

By Allyn Fisher-Ilan

Israel shot down a rocket aimed at its southern resort city of Eilat early on Tuesday, blowing it up in mid air near the border with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, a military official said.

Islamist militants operating in the lawless desert peninsula said they fired the rocket at the city, which was packed with tourists, in retaliation for the killing of four guerrillas in Sinai on Friday.

Air raid sirens rang out and blasts reverberated over the hills surrounding the resort on the shores of the Gulf of Aqaba, witnesses and Israeli news media said. No casualties or damage were reported.

A retired Israeli security official said it was the first time Israel’s Iron Dome interceptor system had struck a missile fired at Eilat.

“It’s not the first time that a rocket has been fired at Eilat, but it is the first time the Iron Dome has intercepted one,” Dani Arditi, former national security adviser told Army Radio.

Israel briefly shut its airport in the city on Thursday citing threats from militants in Sinai involved in a standing confrontation with the Egyptian military.

Israel has also boosted its rocket defences near its southern border with Egypt.

VIOLENCE SPIKES

Violence in Sinai picked up after former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, an ally of Israel, was toppled in 2011. It has increased again since last month’s military overthrow of Mubarak’s successor, Islamist president Mohamed Mursi.

Magles Shoura al-Mujahideen, a hardline Islamist faction which also has a small presence in the Gaza Strip, said it fired the missile at Eilat.

“In a swift response to the latest crime of the Jews that killed 4 Mujahideen in the land of Sinai through a strike by a pilotless plane, the lions of Maglis Shoura al-Mujahideen … were able to strike the occupied city of Om al-Rashash “Eilat” with a rocket,” it said in a statement published online.

“We assure that neither Eilat not any other Israeli cities will be blessed with security, tourism or economy,” it added.

Eilat’s mayor said there had been no panic.

“I think the military prepared in the best possible way with an enhanced defensive shield to protect Eilat and tourists including the (Iron Dome) battery… I and my citizens feel secure,” Meir Yitzhak-Halevy told Army Radio.

Al Qaeda accused Israel of carrying out Friday’s missile strike in Sinai but Israel dismissed the accusation. Egypt’s armed forces said one of its helicopters fired the missile at al Qaeda fighters.

The Sinai was largely demilitarised as part of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty of 1979. But Israel has allowed Egypt to send troops to the area to combat the militants and arms smuggling by Palestinians into Gaza.

The peninsula has long been a security headache for Egypt and its neighbours. Large and mostly uninhabited, it also borders the Palestinian-ruled Gaza Strip and the Suez Canal linking Asia to Europe.

It is home to nomad clans disaffected with rule from Cairo.

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Czech PM hands in resignation, early election nears

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Czech President Milos Zeman received Czech Prime Minister cabinet's resignation

By Jan Lopatka

The Czech cabinet dominated by allies of leftist President Milos Zeman resigned on Tuesday after losing a confidence vote last week, clearing the way for early elections that could resolve a political deadlock.

The main parties have been locked in battle with Zeman since June, when he named ally Jiri Rusnok, against their wishes, to head a new cabinet after the previous centre-right government collapsed under the weight of a spying and bribery scandal.

Squabbling has crippled policymaking for nearly two months as the economy struggles to recover from recession.

Zeman accepted the resignation and said Rusnok, an economist, would stay on in a caretaker capacity “until the formation of a new government which I hope will come from a free election”.

Leftists parties stand the best chance of winning an early election, according to opinion polls, a result that could return the Social Democrats to power for the first time since 2006.

The lower house will meet on August 20 and is expected to vote on a motion to dissolve parliament.

Zeman will then be expected to dissolve the house within a few days and call a new election within 60 days, possibly in mid- to late-October.

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High-profile attacks on women in Afghanistan undermine rights campaign

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Voter registration for presidential elections 2014

By Jessica Donati and Mustafa Andalib

Taliban fighters have kidnapped a female parliamentarian who was travelling by car through Afghanistan’s central Ghazni province with her children, a local police commander said on Tuesday, the latest in a string of high-profile, violent attacks on women.

Successive, often deadly assaults on women working in state institutions are fuelling concern that hard-won women’s rights promoted by the United States and its allies are eroding as international forces prepare to withdraw next year.

Fariba Ahmadi Kakar’s three daughters were later released, the police commander said, but her kidnappers were demanding four Taliban prisoners in exchange for the parliamentarian.

Kakar, a member of the lower house, was the second female parliamentarian to be attacked in Ghazni in less than a week. Her husband denied the attack had taken place, saying she was travelling abroad, but the Kakar tribe’s elder, Samad Khan, said attempts were under way to reach an agreement with the Taliban.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said he did not know who staged the attack. “We are still investigating,” he said.

Under the Taliban’s 1996-2001 rule, women were obliged to wear the head-to-toe covering burqa, allowed only limited schooling and prevented from leaving home unaccompanied.

Restoring the right to work and education has been a cornerstone of the Western-backed government of President Hamid Karzai, but patriarchal attitudes have remained entrenched.

GOING ABROAD THE ONLY HOPE

Survivors of attacks often say their only hope is to leave Afghanistan, still one of the worst places in the world to be born female.

“I need to go outside the country for my treatment and for my security,” said Muzhgan Masoomi, a former government worker stabbed 14 times last year. “I was hopeful that the media would help me. More than one year has passed and no organization or media has helped.”

Masoomi still appears on the NATO-led forces website in a article headlined “Afghan woman vows to resume government career after stabbing”.

Kakar’s abduction follows the shooting last week of female senator Rooh Gul, police said. The senator and her husband survived, but their eight-year old daughter was killed along with the driver.

Last month, the most senior policewoman in southern Helmand province, Lieutenant Islam Bibi, was shot dead on her way to work in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah.

Bibi, touted as a rising star of the Afghan National Police, said she received death threats even from within her own family.

While the Taliban have often targeted senior female government officials, honor killings by conservative male relatives remain commonplace.

On Sunday, a woman in her twenties was shot by her husband after going to the market alone, the 11th female in northern Kunduz province killed by relatives this year, police said.

Concerns have also been raised about a rise in Taliban-style edicts in some regions not overturned by the government.

In June, clerics in a region of Baghlan province, north of Kabul, barred women from leaving home without a male chaperone and shut down beauty parlors.

In the same month, female parliamentarians discovered that conservative male members had removed a legal provision that women make up a quarter of all provincial elected officials.

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Cyprus could have sought aid earlier to avoid pain: CBC

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Central Bank Governor Panicos Demetriades said on Tuesday the upheaval of an international bailout in March could have been avoided if the island had petitioned for aid earlier.

Demetriades also chided bankers for accumulating large amounts of Greek government bonds, whose EU-approved restructuring in late 2011 proved to be deeply harmful for Cyprus.

Cyprus took the unprecedented step of winding down a major bank and forcing losses on large depositors at a second bank to qualify for €10 billion in aid earlier this year.

The banks had been heavily exposed to Greek sovereign debt and suffered huge losses on holdings when that country’s debt was restructured in another rescue package by the EU and IMF.

Demetriades, who took over the helm at the Cypriot central bank in May 2012, said Cyprus could have petitioned for aid just after Greece’s debt write-down was agreed by EU leaders in late 2011.

“If we had gone (for aid), possibly immediately after the Greek public sector involvement, we could have got better terms,” Demetriades told a judicial inquiry in response to a question.

Demetriades, who also sits on the ECB’s Governing Council, said a preliminary memorandum of understanding with lenders in late 2012 had earmarked a bailout amount which would have taken into account recapitalisation needs of the two banks, Laiki and Bank of Cyprus.

Instead, he said, there was a rapid deterioration with the banking sector bleeding deposits, and the sector came under sudden scrutiny on allegations of money laundering – a charge Cyprus has consistently denied.

“Nobody expected it, what happened was unprecedented, particularly with regard to deposits. Nor did we expect the assault against our banking sector from the media, in one country in particular,” he said.

Concerns about money laundering in its banking network first appeared in German media.

Demetriades said Cyprus had been experiencing the financial strain from its banking sector’s exposure to Greece for some time, as well as a rapid expansion abroad and a “huge” investment in Greek government bonds.

“For me, that was a catastrophic investment which shouldn’t have been allowed to proceed,” he said.

The government-appointed judicial probe continues in late August with testimony from Demetriades’s predecessor, Athanasios Orphanides, and Nicos Anastasiades and Demetris Christofias, the present and former presidents

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Increased traffic patrols over holiday period

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EXTRA traffic patrols will be out on the island’s roads from Wednesday until August 18, police said on Tuesday.

The measures are being put in place as increased traffic is expected on roads over the holiday period.

“Traffic on these roads will be regulated to prevent accidents. Police will pay particular attention to speeding, dangerous overtaking, not wearing seatbelts and helmets, and driving under the influence of alcohol,” the statement said.

During peak hours, Nicosia traffic police will be stationed at the Peristerona to Akaki traffic lights. Morphou area traffic police will be at Astromeritis traffic lights, while cars and motorcycles will be used to patrol the Anthoupolis to Kakopetria road.

Officers from headquarters will be responsible for the Larnaca to Nicosia and Limassol highways, and the old Limassol to Nicosia road.

The police presence will be especially high on August 15, when traffic is expected to be at its peak.

“Drivers are advised to be particularly carful while on the roads and to comply with traffic signs. Instructions by police officers should also be followed,” the statement added.

Police expect all drivers to make all possible efforts to ensure a holiday period without road accidents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Deep recession drags on

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Cyprus‘ economy contracted by 1.4 percent in the second quarter of the year on a quarterly basis, extending a downturn on the financially troubled island which received an international bailout in March.

Preliminary data showed Cyprus‘s Q2 quarterly downturn was better than the first, when output contracted 1.7 percent. On a yearly basis, the economy declined 5.4 percent from 4.8 percent in the first quarter.

The data also offered a worse assessment on the depth of recession in the first quarter; earlier assessments had put the economic contraction in Q1 at 1.4 percent on a quarterly basis, and 4.4 percent on a yearly basis.

Wednesday’s readout is the first comprehensive snapshot of how the island’s economy fared from upheaval accompanying an EU/IMF aid package in March, conditional on the closure of a major bank and heavy losses on big deposits in a second.

Capital controls imposed by the state to prevent a run on bank deposits have further crimped economic activity. Bank transfers are now strictly vetted, and cash withdrawals by individuals cannot exceed 300 euros per day.

Negative growth rates were recorded in all sectors of the economy from construction to banking and tourism, the statistics office said in a brief statement.

International lenders expect the island nation’s 17 billion euro economy to contract by 8.7 percent in 2013 and shrink by 3.9 percent in 2014 before returning to a 1.1 percent growth in 2015.

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Facebook reveals daily users for US and UK, data aimed at advertisers

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One out of three people in the United States – more than 128 million – visit Facebook every day, and about 24 million in the United Kingdom do the same, the company said as it released regional data for the first time as a way of helping advertisers understand how people use the social network.

It is also part of a larger push to go after dollars earmarked for TV commercials, the top choice among advertisers when they launch campaigns.

“We would like to be able to be explicit and say this is the amount of people you can reach tomorrow, or the amount of people you can reach when you are launching a movie,” said Carolyn Everson, Facebook vice president of global marketing solutions.

Consider that almost 6 million people tuned in to watch the mid-season premier of AMC’s highly anticipated series “Breaking Bad” on Sunday.

With more than 1 billion users, there is little doubt about the popularity of the world’s No. 1 social network, but advertisers often need much more data to make decisions.

Rebecca Lieb, a media and advertising analyst at Altimeter Group, said one billion is an abstract number. “As impressive and as big as Facebook is, by breaking it down more regionally we are getting more of an idea,” she said.

Facebook also released on Tuesday the number of active monthly and daily mobile users in the United States and the U.K.

Television commands the largest share of advertising money spent in the United States at 39 percent, according to eMarketer research, which estimated that $66.3 million in ad dollars would go towards TV this year. Digital advertising represents about 25 percent of 2013 estimated advertising spend at $42 million.

SHIFTING HABITS

Still, there is a shift occurring: the average time spent daily with digital media is expected to surpass TV viewing for the first time this year, according to eMarketer.

Underscoring the change taking place in people’s habits, WPP founder and Chief Executive Martin Sorrell expects up to 45 percent of the agency’s business to go towards digital within five years, he wrote in post on LinkedIn.

Facebook delivered its strongest ad revenue growth performance in almost two years in July as it benefited from 18 months of retooling its products, including a mobile version of its service. Total ad revenue in the second quarter was $1.6 billion and its shares are up almost 50 percent over the past month.

The company is widely expected to launch a revamped video advertising service, but Facebook’s Everson declined to comment on this.

“The conversation now is how can you reach this amount of people and target them,” Everson said about how advertisers want to limit the amount of “waste” spent on trying to reach the right consumer.

She said that because Facebook’s audience is so large, it has the ability to target consumers.

“Eyeballs are important but they are not the only thing in advertising,” said Clark Fredricksen, a vice president at eMarketer. “The receptiveness of the TV audience is ultimately the reason why it’s such a huge ad medium.”

“Sitting and watching the screen is different than clicking and operating on an agenda,” he said.

 

 

 

 

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You are not the Messiah, says judge

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MESSIAH IS A TITLE NOT A NAME SAYS JUDGE

A judge in Tennessee has changed a seven-month-old boy’s name from Messiah to Martin.

Child Support Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew said the religious name was earned by one person and “that one person is Jesus Christ”.

She ordered the name change, according to WBIR-TV.

The boy’s parents were in court because they could not agree on the child’s last name – but when the judge heard the boy’s first name, she ordered it changed, too.

“It could put him at odds with a lot of people and at this point he has had no choice in what his name is,” Ballew said.

It was the first time she ordered a first name change, the judge said.

Messiah was number four among the fastest-rising baby names in 2012, according to the Social Security Administration’s annual list of popular baby names.

The judge in eastern Tennessee said the baby was to be named Martin DeShawn McCullough, which includes both parents’ last name.

The boy’s mother, Jaleesa Martin, of Newport, said she will appeal. She says Messiah is unique and she liked how it sounded alongside the boy’s two siblings – Micah and Mason.

“Everybody believes what they want so I think I should be able to name my child what I want to name him, not someone else,” Martin said.

Ballew said the name Messiah could cause problems if the child grows up in Cocke County, which has a large Christian population.

“The word Messiah is a title and it’s a title that has only been earned by one person and that one person is Jesus Christ,” the judge said.

(PA)

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Heavy hitters resurrect association for big projects

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The new Limassol marina

By Poly Pantelides

LOOKING to promote major development works, a group of big businessmen representing over€8.0 billion worth of projects said yesterday they would push ahead with measures to promote Cyprus to investors and simplify and expedite procedures.

The newly-resurrected Association for Large Development Projects said in a statement it would adopt new measures “to upgrade Cyprus’ status and image as a worthwhile investment destination”.

The association, which falls under the auspices of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry (KEVE), said promoting major projects could give a boost to the ailing construction sector “offering real support to society and tackling the very serious unemployment problem by creating thousands of jobs”.

The body said it would push stakeholders to simplify procedures, from expediting processes for construction and town planning processes, to incentives to promote and implement major works.

According to the news release, the association’s members represent projects collectively worth over €8 billion, adding that in terms of “several of these” there was specific interest from foreign investors.

The association’s chairman, Aristo Developers’ Theodore Aristodemou, said the figure represented the cost of ongoing or near-completion projects, including a number of golf courses and marinas, such as the Ayia Napa marina and the high-profile Limassol marina.

Specific proposals will have to wait until further meetings, pencilled in for the beginning of every month, Aristodemou said adding the association itself has existed in a dormant form and will now take on active duty.

The association said its recent general meeting to elect a board was attended by representatives of bodies and companies looking to develop “Cyprus’ largest and major development projects” such as golf courses, marinas, well-being centres, theme parks, commercial and residential projects.

On August 1 the following seven-man board was elected. Theodore Aristodemou, chairman; Marios Lanitis, vice-chairman; and members, Photos Photiades, Yiannakis Aristodemou, Andreas Demetriades, Dimis Karapatagis, Marios Panayides. Among them they represent major businesses in Cyprus. Photiades is a long-established businessman with a portfolio in beverages production including a local Carlsberg brewery, real estate and financial services including a controlling interest in Universal Life, a major insurance company.

The Lanitis group is one of the largest business groups on the island, with a diverse portfolio, including a 22 per cent stake in the Limassol Marina through Cybarco development and with exclusive agreements in selling the marina’s residential properties, as well as owing the prestigious Aphrodite Hills Golf Resort via Lanitis Development.

Aristo, one of the largest developers on the island, has been involved in a multi-million euro investment in Paphos’ Ha Potami, in relation to the Venus Rock Golf Resort project. Hong-Kong based China Glory National Investment has agreed to pay €290 million for the project, €33.5 million of which is conditional on the re-zoning of agricultural land plots included in the project.

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Conscript allegedly beaten by senior officer

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The National Guard and defence ministry have ordered an investigation after a conscript serving at the Andreas Papandreou air base in Paphos was allegedly beaten by a senior office when he was late going to his duty post.

According to the Cyprus News Agency, the incident happened around midnight. The soldier, who claimed he was not woken up on time by another soldier, was taken to Paphos General Hospital and treated for abrasions on his neck, arm and head, according to the reports. He was held in overnight for observation and released on Wednesday morning.

His parents reported the matter to the police.

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The responsibility to protect migrants

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COMMENT MIGRANTS

By Peter Sutherland

Migrants face countless perils. Vicious mafias smuggle them across borders with reckless disregard for their lives. Rapacious recruiters fleece them of their earnings. Abusive employers exploit their labour. And, adding insult to injury, anti-immigrant sentiment erodes the political will to confront these challenges.

Yet, when it comes to protecting migrants’ well-being and rights, smart practices abound – and should be promoted more widely and implemented more frequently. With the number of international migrants on track nearly to double in the coming decades, such practices must become reference points for action.

The plight of migrants is particularly tragic when its source is violent conflict, like in Syria and Libya, or natural or manmade disasters. In crises like these, migrants’ lives and physical safety are jeopardized through no fault of their own. Yet the world has no clear guidelines for how to protect them.

Libya’s civil war placed the vulnerability of migrants in stark relief, with hundreds of thousands caught in the crossfire. And, while Libyans were badly affected by the war, foreign workers were even more vulnerable, as they were largely left out of schemes aimed at protecting civilians. What stood out were the very different fates migrants faced. Most were left to their own devices to escape the violence, and many died trying. Some were killed after being falsely targeted as mercenaries (largely owing to the color of their skin).

Other groups, however, fared better. High-skilled migrants employed by Western oil companies, for example, were airlifted to safety. Nationals from countries with robust protection protocols, and sufficient financial resources, were efficiently evacuated (the Philippines was exemplary in this regard).

Libya was thus a vivid reminder of the serious gaps that exist in helping migrants in life-threatening situations. Their vulnerability is heightened due to their legal status and other obstacles – restrictions on exercising their fundamental rights, language barriers, constraints on their movement, and limited social capital and networks.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UNHCR, the United Nations’ refugee agency, were heroic in going above and beyond their mandates to protect migrants at risk in Libya, as were many NGOs. The World Bank also acted quickly to provide funds to evacuate Bangladeshi nationals.

But international organizations alone cannot solve the problem. Before the next crisis erupts, we need to clarify the critical roles that all key actors – including countries of origin and destination, neighboring states, businesses, and civil society – should play.

Last year, I began urging states and others to define a framework for action on helping migrants caught in crisis situations. It would include a set of principles, such as this fundamental one: During a crisis, emergency assistance should be afforded to citizens and migrants alike, without discrimination.

I am grateful to the United States and the Philippines – working closely with the IOM, the UNHCR, and civil-society groups – for offering to help lead an initiative to address the situation of migrants caught in acute crises. Georgetown University and the MacArthur Foundation also are playing indispensable roles.

Already, some countries have identified measures that stakeholders can take before, during, and after crises in order to keep migrants out of harm’s way. Countries that are especially experienced in protecting their workers abroad offer a blueprint for action.

An early warning system in the Philippines, for instance, mobilizes government agencies to react quickly to crises, while a special fund pays for emergency evacuations. The government also provides compulsory pre-departure and post-arrival orientation, so that migrants know what to do in an emergency. Registration systems, such as Mexico’s matricula consular, help to ensure that countries know the location of their migrants – including those who are undocumented – in a crisis.

Destination countries have equally profound responsibilities in crises. Evacuation from danger zones and humanitarian aid should be provided regardless of legal status – as the United States did last year in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Likewise, after the earthquake and tsunami in 2011, Japanese authorities broadcast information in 17 languages, assuring migrants that they could seek emergency services. Migrants also typically need emergency travel documents after a crisis, as well as legal assistance to help them recover lost assets.

Neighboring countries have a vital role to play, too – for example, by keeping borders open so that migrants do not become trapped, as Egypt and Tunisia so generously demonstrated during the Libya crisis.

Employers, meanwhile, are linchpins during a crisis. They should be obliged to repatriate foreign workers, as required in the standard migrant employment contract used by the Philippines. They also should have evacuation plans for employees at all levels, not just executives.

It should be self-evident that we need to help all migrants in distress – not only those affected by conflicts and disasters, but also those abandoned by smugglers, countless more left in limbo for years in transit countries, and the millions working in slave-like conditions. The principles and plans that we put in place to protect migrants in life-threatening situations eventually could – and should – be expanded in order to protect a much broader array of vulnerable migrants.

We need not be overwhelmed by the dizzying array of problems plaguing migrants. With small groups of states, experts, international organizations, and civil society working together to trail-blaze solutions that might become global practices (a model that could be applied to other international problems), we can address the challenges facing migrants one by one and with the necessary resolve.

Peter Sutherland, Chairman of Goldman Sachs International and the London School of Economics, is UN Special Representative for International Migration and Development.

 

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2013.
www.project-syndicate.org

 

 

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Metalist expelled from Champions League by UEFA

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Ukraine’s Metalist Kharkiv, due to play Schalke 04 in the Champions League playoff round later this month, have been kicked out of the competition, European soccer’s governing body UEFA said on Wednesday.

The decision by UEFA’s appeals committee came 10 days after Metalist lost an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over a domestic match-fixing case dating back to 2008.

Metalist, runners-up in last season’s Ukrainian Premier League, have already knocked Greek side PAOK out of the competition and were due to visit Schalke on Aug. 21 with the return on Aug. 27.

UEFA said it’s emergency panel would meet later on Wednesday to “consider the consequences of the decision on the competition.”

Metalist could still appeal to CAS over UEFA’s decision and a ruling in their favour, which may not come until after the group stage has started, could throw the Champions League into confusion.

CAS has already allowed Fenerbahce back into the competition while it considers an appeal from the Turkish club against their two-year ban from European competition over a domestic match-fixing case.

CAS have said they will make a final ruling on Fenerbahce’s case by Aug. 28, the day after the Turks play the second leg of their playoff tie against Arsenal.

Fenerbahce have already eliminated Salzburg from the competition.

Earlier this month, CAS upheld a Ukraine Football Federation (FFU) decision to fine Metalist Kharkiv and FC Karpaty $25,000 each over the manipulation of a match played in April 2008.

The tribunal also confirmed bans of between three and five years on six Metalist players, plus fines of $10,000 each.

Metalist director Yevhen Krasnikov was banned from any soccer-related activity for five years.

Two Karpaty officials were given suspended bans and ordered to pay “compulsory cash contributions” to the FFU while CAS upheld an appeal by a third official from the club.

CAS said in its ruling that the two clubs “were held liable for the behaviour of their football players or officials under the principle of strict liability.”

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UPDATE: Egypt declares state of emergency after 95 killed

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Egyptian security forces walk past a protesters' checkpoint as they move in to clear one of the two sit-in sites of supporters of ousted president Morsi

 

At least 95 Egyptians were killed on Wednesday after security forces moved in on protesters demanding the reinstatement of President Mohamed Mursi, and the government imposed a state of emergency as unrest swept the most populous Arab nation. Troops opened fire on demonstrators in violence that brought chaos to areas of the capital and looked certain to further polarise Egypt’s 84 million people between those who backed Mursi and the millions who opposed his brief rule.

The state of emergency, starting at 1400 GMT on Wednesday, was to last a month. In the streets around the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in northeast Cairo, where thousands of Mursi supporters have staged a sit-in for the last six weeks, riot police wearing gas masks crouched behind armoured vehicles, tear gas hung in the air and burning tyres sent plumes of black smoke into the sky.

At a hospital morgue nearby, a Reuters reporter counted 29 bodies, including that of a 12-year-old boy. Most had died of gunshot wounds to the head. A nurse at the same hospital had said she counted 60 bodies, and expected the number to rise. The unrest spread beyond the capital, with the cities of Minya and Assiut, and Alexandria on the northern coast, also affected. Seventeen people were killed in the province of Fayoum south of Cairo.

Five more died in Suez. Mohamed El-Beltagi, a leader of Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement that led the protests, warned of wider conflict and singled out the head of the armed forces who deposed Mursi on July 3 following mass protests that called for his resignation. “I swear by God that if you stay in your homes, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will embroil this country so that it becomes Syria. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will push this nation to a civil war so that he escapes the gallows.”

Nine hours after the start of the operation, crowds of protesters were still blocking roads, chanting and waving flags as security forces sought to prevent them from regrouping. “At 7 a.m. they came. Helicopters from the top and bulldozers from below. They smashed through our walls. Police and soldiers, they fired tear gas at children,” said teacher Saleh Abdulaziz, 39, clutching a bleeding wound on his head.

“They continued to fire at protesters even when we begged them to stop.” The West, notably the United States which gives the Egyptian military $1.3 billion each year, has been alarmed by the recent violence in the strategic Arab ally that has a peace treaty with Israel and controls the vital Suez Canal waterway.

 

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Hotels filling up for August break

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HOTELS are filling up for the holiday break, and in some case occupancy is over 90 per cent, Cyprus Hotels Association PASYXE head Haris Loizides has said.

“Hotels are filling up but there are cases where there is still space,” Loizides said.

He added that most Cypriots who visit the eastern part of the island such as Protaras prefer not to stay at hotels as they tend to have their own houses or flats.

“Following research which we have carried out over the last three days, Paphos hotels and getaways in mountainous regions are the most popular with locals,” he said.

Loizides added that Limassol has also recently begun picking-up with the hope that Larnaca too could draw in more last-minute visitors in the coming days.

He said more flights were needed to help bring more tourists to the island.

“There has been a substantial reduction in the number of flights from Germany, something which we need to look into,” he said.

Loizides said there had been an increase in arrivals from Russia and other countries from the former USSR.

 

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Still time to catch Lefkara exhibition

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FOR THOSE who have not yet caught the Lefkara exhibition, it will be open until Friday.

Lefkaritika embroidery, silverware and handicrafts from Chio and Crete and a photographic are on display in the exhibition, which is part of the week-long Lefkara festival.

The items from Chio and Crete are being exhibited under the European programme Handicraft Tour, of which Lefkara is a part.

Many people have contributed pieces from their family collection for display. The items span the second half of the 19th century, the whole of the 20th and 21st century to date.

Silversmiths from the region also gave some of their pieces for the exhibition while the exhibition room is decorated with photos of embroiders and embroidery merchants.

There is also a list on display of the embroidery merchants from 1890 until the 1980s. The first embroidery merchant was a woman called Theofila Hadjiantoni, who first went to Egypt to sell embroidery in the late 19th century.

The municipality has also arranged for art lessons to be given to students and adults from Lefkara and the surrounding communities. Art work created by students are on display during the festival.

Photographs taken by photographer Andriani Kyriacou, under the title ‘The Far Side of Lekfara’ are also on display.

Lefkara is in the Larnaca district.

For information go to www.lefkara.org.cy click ‘magazine’ link then ‘No.12/2013’ for contact details and festival programme (Greek only)

 

 

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Suspected cannabis growers arrested

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Police on Friday arrested two men aged 37 and 29 on suspicion of growing cannabis plants off the Limassol to Platres road.

The nine plants, measuring between 30 centimetres and 130 centimetres, had been spotted earlier, and the area was put under surveillance.

The two suspects were arrested at 7.30pm as they drove up to the area apparently to water the plants.

In the dual cab pick up they were driving, drug squad officers found half a gramme of cannabis and three 20-litre and 30-litre plastic containers full of water.

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Car destroyed by fire

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An early morning fire that was apparently set deliberately destroyed a car belonging to a 56-year-old Nicosia resident, police said on Saturday.

The car, valued at around €13,000, was parked outside the owner’s residence in the suburb of Strovolos.

The blaze was noticed at around 3.30am and was put out by the fire service.

An initial examination of the scene led investigators to believe that the fire had been set deliberately.

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