By Nemanja Bjedov

Neither Apollon nor APOEL were resting on their laurels a day after securing promising results in their Europa League play-off openers.

On Thursday night Apollon caused shock by recording a 2-0 victory over French side OGC Nice in Nicosia, while Paulo Sergio’s APOEL battled out a 1-1 draw against SV Zulte-Waregem in Brussels.

“This is only the first half of the match. Nothing is finished yet,” assessed Apollon coach Christakis Christoforou, whose team hit two without reply, summer returnee Gaston Sangoy scoring both goals.

“We could have scored another goal or two, but unfortunately we did not. What we have to do is stay serious and disciplined when we play the second leg in Nice, and hope this will be enough for us to advance into the group stage,” said Christoforou.

Apollon captain Giorgos Merkis echoed Christoforou’s caution, urging his teammates to remember what happened to Anorthosis when they met Swedish side Gefle earlier in the competition: “We must travel to France with Anorthosis’ case in our minds.

“They won 3-0 at home and then lost 4-0 away. This has to be a warning to us and we must take the return leg as seriously as possible. I hope we have no selection problems for that match and I want to congratulate everyone in my team on the job well done.

“Our fans were great. We basically play two matches away from home, but with them on our side it looked like GSP is our home ground and I’m sure that if we played in Limassol, their support would be even greater,” Merkis added.

For his part, Nice coach Claude Puel conceded that: “Apollon deserved to win tonight”.

“We played really badly,” he went on, “but we have no choice but to bounce back as quickly as possible.

“It will be very difficult to achieve progress into the group stage after this result away from home, but I believe it is not impossible – as long as we play our game the way we know.”

Meanwhile, the reigning Cypriot champions could not count on influential midfielder Gustavo Manduca for the match against Zulte-Waregem, but they managed to get a result that guarantees an interesting second leg in Nicosia next Thursday.

“A draw with goals away from home is not a bad result,” said APOEL’s coach Paulo Sergio. “However, we still have a lot of hard work ahead of us to secure advancement in Nicosia.

“We played well enough, but there were mistakes for which we have a week to work on and correct. We have to be very serious in order to achieve our goal, which is the Europa League group stage,” said Sergio.

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By Erika Solomon

President Barack Obama called the apparent gassing of hundreds of Syrian civilians a “big event of grave concern” but stressed on Friday that he would not rush to embroil Americans in a costly new war.

As opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad braved the frontlines around Damascus to try and deliver tissue samples to U.N. inspectors from victims of Wednesday’s poisoning, Obama brushed over an interviewer’s reminder that he once called the use of chemical weapons a “red line” for U.S. action on Syria.

He played down the chances of Assad cooperating with a U.N. team that might, if given access soon, provide conclusive evidence of what happened. In any case, he would not react in haste to calls for U.S. intervention that would “mire” Americans in an undertaking that was counter to their long-term interests.

Noting budget constraints, problems of international law and a continuing U.S. casualty toll in Afghanistan, Obama told CNN:

“Sometimes what we’ve seen is that folks will call for immediate action, jumping into stuff that does not turn out well, gets us mired in very difficult situations, can result in us being drawn into very expensive, difficult, costly interventions that actually breed more resentment in the region.

“The United States continues to be the one country that people expect can do more than just simply protect their borders. But that does not mean that we have to get involved with everything immediately.

“We have to think through strategically what’s going to be in our long-term national interests.”

Asked about his comment – a year to the day before the poison fumes hit sleeping residents of rebel-held Damascus suburbs – that chemical weapons would be a red line for the United States, he replied: “If the U.S. goes in and attacks another country without a U.N. mandate and without clear evidence that can be presented, then there are questions in terms of whether international law supports it.”

Russia and China have vetoed United Nations Security Council moves against Assad in the past and oppose military action.

INSPECTORS

International powers, including Moscow, have urged Assad to cooperate with a U.N. inspection team which arrived on Sunday to pursue earlier allegations of chemical weapons attacks and to give them access to affected areas before evidence deteriorates.

However, there was no public response from the Syrian government, whose forces have been pounding the region for days, making any mission by the international experts perilous – as well as potentially destroying evidence. Syria denies being responsible and has in the past accused rebels of using gas.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is despatching a top official to lobby Assad, said: “I can think of no good reason why any party, either government or opposition forces – would decline this opportunity to get to the truth of the matter.”

Russia, Assad’s main arms supplier, said the opposition was preventing the objective investigation of what happened. Britain said it now believed Assad’s forces carried out the attack.

Opposition activists said they had been in contact with the specialist U.N. team in Damascus and had sent tissue samples with couriers seeking to slip across from the Ghouta region into the government-held centre to deliver them to the inspectors.

Speaking from the town of Arbin, one of those affected by mysterious deaths from poisoning, opposition activist Abu Nidal told Reuters: “The U.N. team spoke with us and since then we prepared for them samples of hair, skin and blood and smuggled them back into Damascus with trusted couriers.”

Activist Abu Mohammed, in Harasta, said: “We’re being shelled and on top of that Ghouta is surrounded by regime checkpoints. But even that isn’t a problem – we can smuggle them out. The problem is the location of the U.N. committee in the hotel. They’re under heavy guard and government minders.”

The rebels’ efforts could prove futile; only material that has a clear provenance and a “chain of custody” would generally be treated as evidence by U.N. inspectors.

The longer the team waits for permission to investigate, the less likely they are to get to the bottom of an incident in which opponents say Syrian government forces fired rockets laden with poison gas canisters into rebel-held neighbourhoods.

A U.S. official familiar with initial intelligence assessments said on Thursday that the gassing appeared to be the work of the Assad government.

Images, including some by freelance photographers supplied to Reuters, showed scores of bodies laid out on floors with no visible signs of injury. Some had foam at the nose and mouth.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Thursday that world powers must respond with force if allegations that Syria’s government was responsible for the deadliest chemical attack on civilians in a quarter-century prove true. Fabius stressed, however, there was no question of sending in troops.

CLOCK TICKING

Syrian officials say allegations against their forces are “illogical and fabricated”. They point to the timing of the attack, just days after U.N. inspectors arrived, and say it conflicts with previous assurances that, if they possessed chemical weapons, they would never use them against Syrians.

Former weapons investigators say every hour matters in determining if chemicals were used and who was behind them.

“The longer it takes, the easier it is for anybody who has used it to try to cover up,” said Demetrius Perricos, who headed the U.N. team of weapons inspectors in Iraq in the 2000s.

European officials speaking on condition of anonymity said that hypothetically, options for response range from air strikes, creating a no-fly zone, or providing heavy weapons to some rebels were all still on the table. But there was little prospect of concrete measures without U.S. backing.

“The American reaction … was cautious,” said one official. “And without U.S. firepower, there’s little we can do.”

Obama has directed U.S. intelligence agencies to urgently help establish what caused the deaths, a State Department spokeswoman said, but she said it may be difficult, given that the United States does not have diplomatic relations with Syria.

No deadline was given to agencies investigating the attack.

“At this time, right now, we are unable to conclusively determine CW (chemical weapons) use,” the State Department’s Jen Psaki told reporters. “We are doing everything possible in our power to nail down the facts,” she added.

The State Department also said senior U.S. and Russian diplomats would meet in The Hague next Wednesday to discuss ending Syria’s two-year civil war, which has already killed more than 100,0000 people. It would be the first such meeting since allegations of the chemical attack.

A senior State Department official said chemical weapons would also be discussed at the meeting.

Syria’s revolt against four decades of Assad family rule has divided the Middle East along largely sectarian lines.

Assad’s Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam and has the backing of Shi’ite powers Iran and Lebanese Shi’ite militant group Hezbollah. Western powers back the opposition but have been reluctant to fully commit to an Arab Sunni-backed revolt increasingly overtaken by Islamists linked to al Qaeda.

Millions have been forced from their homes. On Friday, the United Nations said 1 million children alone have fled the country and 2 million have been displaced inside Syria.

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Former minister Dinos Michaelides, wanted in Greece in connection with money layndering, will remain in hospital for two more days undergoing treatment for heart problems, it was announced on Friday.

He had been hospitalised on Wednesday after feeling ill during a hearing before a Limassol court that ordered his arrest pending his extradition to Greece.

A medical bulletin from Nicosia general hospital said Michaelides has a history of heart problems and has had bypass surgery in the past.

The statement said an acute coronary episode has been ruled out during his hospitalisation but tests confirmed chronic coronary heart disease, which doctors were treating with reinforced medication.

“Due to the introduction of an additional drug, he will remain under observation for one or two more days,” the bulletin said.

His exit could coincide with the deadline to appeal the court decision.

The Supreme Court must consider the appeal within eight days.

Michaelides and his son Michalis are wanted in Greece in connection with alleged kickbacks paid in the purchase by Greece of Russian TOR-M1 surface-to-air missile systems.

They have been fighting extradition for the past couple of months.

His son’s case will be heard on September 4.

The pair had been implicated after the arrest of former Greek defence minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos in connection with the case.

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Main opposition AKEL said on Friday it will resubmit an amendment to the immovable property tax that will exempt the first residence, as a spat with the government continued unabated.

AKEL also accused the government of “lying shamelessly” when it claimed that this specific form of taxation had been included in the memorandum of understanding agreed between the previous administration (AKEL) and international lenders.

Party spokesman Giorgos Loukaides said the previous government had twice submitted IPT bills exempting first residences — up to €40,000 in value with 1980s prices — and a total of 78 per cent of property owners from paying tax.

The current IPT excludes properties up to €5,000 in value.

“We understand the coalition government’s great difficulty to defend the philosophy of the socially unfair and crushing taxation they imposed on vulnerable groups of the population and the lower middle class in an effort to reduce the tax paid by big landowners whose interests they serve,” Loukaides said.

What AKEL did not understand, Loukaides added, was the administration’s tactic of denying its responsibilities over decisions that were exclusively theirs.

Ruling DISY was quick to respond, asking AKEL to admit that its government had opted to adopt the IPT in a bid to raise €69 million instead of cutting state spending.

DISY MP Prodromos Prodromou said international lenders had asked Cyprus to raise €20 million from IPT and at the same time cut certain expenses – the AKEL government preferred the additional IPT.

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By Staff Reporter

Former Central Bank Governor Athanasios Orphanides told an inquiry on Friday that if former president Demetris Christofias had bothered to take five minutes to listen and act, the economy could have been saved.

Orphanides was testifying at the panel inquiry a day after Christofias had walked out after refusing to answer questions.

The former Central Bank governor said he had warned Christofias in writing on numerous occasions on the economic situation and the need to take measures to reduce public spending but got no response.

“None of the letters I sent Mr. Christofias were answered,” he said.

Orphanides said he did have contact in 2009 with undersecretary to the president Titos Christofides where he said he had tried to explain the need for action.

He had also met with Christofias in 2009 at the latter’s summer home in Kellaki where they had a “long talk’ and he was hopeful he could convince the former president to take action but failed.

“If the former president of the Republic had allocated five minutes this country could have been saved,” he said.

Asked what was the state of the economy when he took over the duties of governor of the Central Bank, Orphanides said the economy was in good shape but there were challenges of a structural nature.

“Everyone knew that pension requirements were unmanageable in 2006 and 2007,” he said.

Orphanides said the downfall of the economy began immediately after the 2008 election of Christofias and his administration.

Orphanides called it a “total reversal in fiscal policy”.

“We started with the Easter bonus in an untargeted way when the country did not need it. There was reckless spending,” he said.

The Central Bank, when the economy began overheating in the spring of 2008, issued strict instructions to the banks with regard to lending “because there were fears of a property bubble.”

But former finance minister Charilaos Stavrakis had asked him not to make any statements that conflicted with or contradicted the policies of the government, Orphanides said.

He added that Stavrakis also asked to sell the gold reserves to strengthen public finances.

“And these unethical interventions continued. I explained that the policy of the CBC was not to serve any government,” he said.
Replying to another question, Orphanides said he had to assess the impact on the banking system in Cyprus from the haircut of Greek debt.

“We could have handled the Greek haircut, a remark I had made in previous statements,” he said.

The former governor also charged that banking sector problems were exaggerated by the former administration to distract from its own mistakes, along with a delay in negotiating aid, Orphanides said

“Even before the end of 2012, AKEL (through the government and the CBC) had already managed to lead our (EU) partners to the conclusion that they would do us a favour if they rid us of the casino banks, as they were described worldwide by our supervising authority,” Orphanides said.

“Unfortunately, even though I hope it does not happen, I am afraid that the result of the coordinated actions against the banking system by the CBC and the AKEL government, is that our country’s economic catastrophe will prove worse than 1974,” Orphanides said.

Orphanides also said on Friday that the eurozone’s debt crisis was far from over, and that a messy bailout for Cyprus had taken the island backwards by at least a generation.

“The eurozone is in an existential crisis,” Orphanides said.

“Markets are currently calm, but I will not hide from you that I am deeply concerned that after the German elections in September we might have a flare-up of the crisis in the eurozone,” said Orphanides, who now teaches macro-economics at the MIT in the United States.

Orphanides, who also sat on the board of the European Central Bank during his Cyprus tenure, said authorities could not legally prevent Cypriot banks from buying bonds in another sovereign since it was a member of the eurozone.

“This is something which still concerns me,” Orphanides said. “Even today, such (sovereign) bonds are considered zero risk, for regulatory reasons. I think that is madness, but that is the reality of the regulatory framework,” he said.

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Twin explosions hit two mosques in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Friday, killing at least 42 people and wounding hundreds, intensifying the sectarian strife that has spilled over from the civil war in neighbouring Syria.

The apparently coordinated blasts – the biggest and deadliest in Tripoli since the end of Lebanon’s own civil war – struck as locals were finishing Friday prayers in the largely Sunni Muslim city. Lebanese officials appealed for calm.

The explosions in Tripoli, 70 km (43 miles) from Beirut came a week after a huge car bomb killed at least 24 people in a part of the capital Beirut that is controlled by the Shi’ite Muslim militant movement Hezbollah.

A recent resurgence of sectarian violence in Lebanon has been stoked by the conflagration in Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad is fighting a largely Sunni-led rebellion. Both Hezbollah and radical Sunni groups in Lebanon have sent fighters over the border to support opposing sides in Syria.

Medical and security sources said the death toll from Friday’s blasts in Tripoli had risen to 42 by late afternoon. Hundreds more were wounded, they said. Earlier, the Lebanese Red Cross said at least 500 people were hurt.

The first explosion hit the Taqwa mosque, frequented by hardline Sunni Islamists, and killed at least 14 people there, according to accounts earlier in the day.

Further deaths were reported from a second blast outside the al-Salam mosque, which the Interior Ministry said was hit by a car laden with 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of explosives.

A Reuters reporter at the scene said the crater from the blast was about four metres (13 feet) wide and 2.5 metres (8 feet) deep and the floors of the mosque were covered in blood. A 50-metre (165-foot) stretch of the road was charred black and the twisted remains of cars littered the area.

“We were just bowing down to pray for the second time and the bomb went off. The air cleared, and I looked around me and saw bodies,” said Samir Jadool, 39.

Lebanon’s Red Cross said more than 500 people were wounded in the two explosions. Television footage showed people running through the streets, some of them carrying bloodied victims.

Near the Taqwa mosque blast site, angry men toting AK-47 assault rifles took to the streets and fired in the air while other men threw rocks at Lebanese soldiers nearby.

“BEGINNING OF THE STORM”

Video obtained by local news channel LBC showed the moment of the explosion at al-Salam mosque. The blast ripped through a wall of the mosque, showering clouds of dust on people sitting on prayer mats and sending dozens running out of the building.

Lebanese officials called for calm as tensions rose in Tripoli, a Mediterranean port that has seen some of the worst Syria crossover violence. Sunni gunmen have sporadically clashed with fighters from the city’s minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam to which the Assad family belongs.

Former internal security chief Ashraf Rifi, whose home was damaged by the second blast, warned that Lebanon was facing a gathering storm of violence.

“We are still in the beginning of the storm and we must remain aware and try to protect this nation,” he said, speaking outside his home. “This storm has become a huge, grave danger.”

Witnesses at the scene of the blasts said anger was rising among locals, who were shouting out accusations that Assad’s government or Hezbollah were behind the attack.

Hezbollah released a statement condemning the Tripoli blasts and expressing solidarity with the victims, saying they were targets of efforts to fan more violence in Lebanon.

“We consider this the completion of an effort to plunge Lebanon into chaos and destruction,” the statement said.

Hezbollah’s political opponents called on the group to withdraw its forces from Syria in response to Friday’s attack.

Lebanese Defence Minister Fayez Ghosn warned against being dragged into deeper sectarian bloodshed. “We are calling for calm and vigilance, because the aim of this (blasts) is to stoke strife between sects,” he told LBC.

The southern suburb of Beirut dominated by Hezbollah has been hit by two car bombs in just over a month. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah blamed radical Sunni Islamists.

Salem al-Rafei, chief cleric of the Taqwa mosque, is a staunch supporter of Syrian Sunni rebels as well as Lebanese Sunni militants who have joined the anti-Assad battle in Syria. (Writing by Erika Solomon and Mariam Karouny; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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By George Psyllides

THE FORMER president’s legal advisers suggested on Friday that an investigating committee looking into the collapse of the economy was illegal, a day after Demetris Christofias walked out of a hearing because he was not allowed to read a lengthy statement.

Aristos Damianou, who is also an AKEL MP, suggested that the committee should have been appointed by the attorney-general and not the cabinet, because along with President Nicos Anastasiades, it was under investigation itself.

“From the moment the cabinet and, by his own demand, President Nicos Anastasiades were under investigation, the appointment should have been made by the attorney-general,” Damianou told a news conference, citing the law on investigating committees.

“All these and many others included in the written opinion we have prepared unfortunately lead us to the conclusion that the present investigating committee, beyond the obvious illegality in its appointment, has, with its actions and omissions, put itself into legal disrepute,” Damianou said.

A second lawyer, Giorgos Seraphim, said the state must lift the illegality, although, as he said, a body that appoints a committee illegally cannot legally withdraw the appointment “unless its position is that I am rescinding the appointment because I consider myself unauthorised.”

The government said the appointment was lawful, based on the provisions of the constitution, the law, and the opinion of the attorney-general.

It is understood however, that the appointment was made under the same provisions the Demetris Christofias cabinet had appointed lawyer Polys Polyviou to investigate the Mari naval base that killed 13 people and incapacitated the island’s biggest power station.

Polyviou found Christofias as being mainly responsible for the tragedy while foreign and defence ministers Marcos Kyprianou and Costas Papacostas were also blamed.

Christofias rejected the findings and accused Polyviou of overstepping his mandate.

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By Karen Brooks and Jana J. Pruet

A military jury convicted U.S. Army psychiatrist Major Nidal Hasan of all 13 charges of premeditated murder and all 32 charges of attempted premeditated murder on Friday for the November 2009 shooting spree against unarmed soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas.

The convictions mean Hasan could face the death penalty by lethal injection, possibly making him the first soldier to be executed by the U.S. military since 1961.

Hasan, seated in a wheelchair as he was paralysed from the waist down when shot by police to end the rampage, stared directly at the jury while the panel’s president read the verdict. Afterward he looked down, stroking his beard.

The jury of 13 officers deliberated about three hours on Thursday afternoon and another three hours on Friday morning. The same panel will begin hearing the penalty phase of the court-martial on Monday and make a recommendation to the judge, Colonel Tara Osborn, who will determine the sentence.

Hasan, 42, told mental health evaluators he wanted to become a martyr, court documents show. Lawyers assisting Hasan said he was actively seeking the death penalty, though Hasan disputed that claim.

Hasan, an American-born Muslim who acted as his own defense lawyer, admitted in his opening statement to killing 13 people and wounding 31, saying he switched sides in what he considered a U.S. war on Islam. He was also charged with attempted premeditated murder on a 32nd person he shot at and missed. Nearly all of the dead and wounded were fellow soldiers.

Beyond the opening admission, the jury rarely heard from Hasan, who declined to make a closing argument on Thursday and rested his case on Wednesday without calling witnesses and without testifying in his own defense.

In their closing statement, prosecutors stressed that Hasan’s rampage on Nov. 5, 2009, was premeditated.

Prosecutors called 89 witnesses in two weeks of testimony, with many describing in horrific detail the bloodbath in and around a medical building at Fort Hood. It was the worst non-combat attack ever at a U.S. military base.

“ALLAHU AKBAR”

For Hasan to be eligible for the death penalty, the jury needed to find he killed at least two people, and at least one of those had to be a unanimous premeditated murder conviction.

Hasan opened fire at an area where soldiers were being evaluated before being sent to Iraq or Afghanistan, yelling “Alluha akbar” (“God is greatest” in Arabic), according to several witnesses.

The shootings came at a time of heightened tensions over the American-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which strained relations between the United States and countries with predominantly Muslim populations.

Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born cleric linked to al Qaeda’s Yemen-based wing, praised Hasan as a hero and “a man of conscience.” U.S. intelligence officials say Hasan had sent emails to Awlaki, who was killed by a U.S. drone strike in 2011. The judge blocked those emails from being submitted as evidence in the trial.

Prosecutors opted against bringing terrorism charges against Hasan, who at one point during the trial told the judge his attack was motivated by “an illegal war” and that he had “adequate provocation” to launch the attack on soldiers readying to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Amid speculation about the emotional toll on victims who may have had to face cross-examination from him, Hasan spared them from questioning.

Hasan’s trial took place at the same time as two other high-profile courts-martial. Also on Friday, Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales was sentenced to life in prison for killing 16 Afghan civilians in 2012. On Wednesday, U.S. Army Private First Class Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years for providing secret files to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

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Paphos district court Saturday remanded a 20-year-old man for four days in connection with a case of burglary in Yeroskipou in July.
According to a police spokesman the 20-year-old was arrested on Friday and held for questioning.
A 63-year-old woman from Yeroskipou had reported to police that between July 10 and 30 this year her house had been burgled and around €25,000 worth of jewellery had been stolen.
The house had been broken into via the toilet window, police said.
Following investigations police arrested the 20-year-old suspect.
According to the 63-year-old the jewellery stolen was not insured.
Paphos CID is continuing its investigations.

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By Alan Baldwin

Lewis Hamilton snatched his fourth pole position in a row for Mercedes on Saturday with a last-gasp flying lap after a dramatic rain-hit qualifying session at the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix.

The 2008 world champion, the last man across the line on a drying track after running the gamut of Spa’s fickle weather, will be joined on the front row by Red Bull’s championship leader Sebastian Vettel.

Australian Mark Webber, preparing for the final Belgian Grand Prix of his career, qualified third for Red Bull with Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg fourth. Ferrari’s title contender Fernando Alonso could qualify only ninth.

Vettel is 38 points clear of Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen at the top of the standings with nine races remaining but Hamilton, a further 10 adrift, showed why many believe he is the German’s biggest rival.

The Briton had not figured in the top 10 in any of the three practice sessions and scraped into the final phase of qualifying in 10th place by just 0.21 of a second and with his hopes of success looking forlorn.

Hamilton celebrated his 31st career pole with a wild whoop of delight over the radio and seemed as surprised as anyone after crossing the line with a fastest time of two minutes 01.012 seconds compared to Vettel’s 2:01.200.

“I went wide in Turn One and my dashboard told me I was three seconds down and then it was four seconds and then six so I didn’t know what was going on but I kept pushing,” he told reporters at the post-qualifying news conference.

“It’s a blessing I am up here. Generally I feel comfortable in changing conditions. I can find the limit and I pushed through the middle sector and really caned it.”

Team principal Ross Brawn let out a sigh of relief. “We were just on the limit of being the last car. It did work out for us and with the track drying, Lewis did a great job. He really is settling in well to the team,” he told the BBC.

DI RESTA BID

Before that it had looked as if Hamilton’s compatriot, Force India driver Paul di Resta, was heading for the first pole of his career after making an inspired call on the Pirelli tyres.

While the nine others queued up at the pit lane exit on slicks at the start of the third phase, the Scot waited and went out on intermediate tyres.

He soon had the track to himself as the rest pitted to change tyres and managed to get in a lap before the rain began to fall.

The weather eased towards the end of the session, allowing others to go faster. Di Resta ended up a still creditable fifth on the grid ahead of compatriot Jenson Button in the McLaren and the Lotus pairing of Romain Grosjean and Raikkonen.

“I thought the rain was going to stay. It was quite a ballsy decision by myself. I saw umbrellas coming up so I made the right choice,” said Di Resta.

“I think it was the right time but our car is not that quick in the wet. It was unfortunate, but P5 is not so bad. In the dry, we’re looking good for the race. If it’s wet, I’d be a bit more nervous.”

The notoriously capricious Spa climate made merry with the pecking order in the first part of qualifying with Caterham’s Dutch driver Giedo van der Garde, who usually brings up the rear, ending up as third fastest.

Both Marussias, perennial back-markers, made it through to the second phase while both Williams and Toro Rosso drivers, including Australian Daniel Ricciardo who is tipped to graduate to Red Bull next season, missed the cut.

“As far as I am aware, we went out with the second set of intermediates too early. We should have waited but I trust the guys in the pit to make the best call. I am disappointed but tomorrow’s another day,” said Ricciardo.

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Arsenal put to bed talk of an early season crisis with a fluent 3-1 win at Fulham to register their first Premier League points of the season on Saturday.

Lukas Podolski scored twice after Olivier Giroud had grabbed the opener for the visitors while Darren Bent tapped in a consolation goal on his debut for Fulham.

It is the second time in four days Arsenal have scored three goals, following Wednesday’s 3-0 victory over Fenerbahce in their Champions League playoff.

Saturday’s win and the manner of the performance will go some way to making up for their opening day slip-up at home to Aston Villa, while the names on the scoresheet might make fans think twice about demands for a new marquee striker.

“Yes, I’m pleased because we played like a real team. It is never easy to play away in the league and we did it convincingly,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told BT Sport.

Both teams have three points from their first two Premier League games after Fulham beat Sunderland in their first game of the season.

Despite their resounding midweek win, the pre-match talk still focused on Arsenal’s need for reinforcements and the club’s perceived failure to land a signing to excite frustrated fans.

“You can get people to focus too much on who you will buy and forget how good the players are here,” Wenger added.

Giroud, who is often touted as one of the men Arsenal need to upgrade if they are to chisel out a title challenge, had his say in the debate with his third goal in as many games this season on nine minutes.

Aaron Ramsey tried his luck with a shot from distance that struck Giroud’s heels and fell neatly into the Frenchman’s path.

He lifted it delicately over keeper David Stockdale, standing in for the injured Maarten Stekelenburg, and into the net.

In atrocious conditions that made Arsenal’s intricate passing game difficult, Fulham harried their north London opponents and should have been level but for a fantastic save from Wojciech Szczesny.

The Arsenal keeper parried a shot from Adel Taarabt but the rebound fell invitingly for Damien Duff charging in at the far post. His shot, however, was deflected away by Szczesny’s feet as he scurried back into position.

It was a let-off for the visitors, who went on to double their advantage four minutes before the break.

Santi Cazorla sent Theo Walcott free down the right, his shot from the angle was pushed out by Stockdale, but Podolski followed up and blasted his effort into the net from the edge of the area.

The German made sure of the points midway through the second half when he latched on to Cazorla’s cross and fired in from the edge of the area for his second of the match.

Bent came off the bench on 58 minutes for his first appearance following his loan move from Aston Villa and grabbed a typical poacher’s goal, tapping in at the far post with 13 minutes to play.

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Four people were killed when a helicopter carrying oil workers crashed into the sea off Scotland’s Shetland islands, the fourth incident in the area involving different models of the widely used aircraft in just over four years.

The Super Puma L2, made by EADS unit Eurocopter, was carrying 16 passengers and two crew, and was operated by CHC Helicopter for France’s Total, CHC said.

The helicopter lost contact with air traffic control and crashed into the sea as it approached Sumburgh airport, on the coast of Shetland, a cluster of islands more than 100 miles (160 km) off the northeastern tip of mainland Scotland, on Friday.

The mother of one of the survivors told Sky News, “He said it seemed to lose power and there was no time to brace. They just dropped into the sea. He was by a window so he was able to escape that way as it rolled over.”

Scottish police said three bodies had been recovered and work was under way to recover the body of the fourth. Sky News said the fourth body was in the wreckage. All those killed – three men and one woman – were passengers.

All four were contractors and only one Total employee was on board, a Total spokeswoman. The others were from 12 separate contractor firms, she said.

All 14 passengers and two crew died in April 2009 when Super Puma crashed off Peterhead on the east coast of Scotland on its way back from BP’s Millier oil platform.

Last year the crew of a Super Puma ditched the aircraft in the North Sea after a gearbox failure and, also last year, all 19 on another Super Puma were rescued after it ditched during a flight from Aberdeen to the West Phoenix rig, west of Shetland.

CHC said it would not speculate on the cause of the incident and it would carry out an investigation with Britain’s Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB). It temporarily suspended its Super Puma L2 flights worldwide and all flights in Aberdeen.

A Eurocopter spokesman said the company was supporting CHC and the authorities with their investigations. AAIB Chief Inspector Keith Conradi told the BBC that the group expects to publish a report containing safety recommendations within the next few days after reviewing the wreckage and black box data.

Bob Crow, general secretary of offshore union RMT said that workforce confidence in Super Puma aircraft had already been hit by previous incidents.

“We will support any member who refuses to board any suspect aircraft type in light of this disaster,” he said.

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Fulham 1 Darren Bent 77
Arsenal 3  Olivier Giroud 14, Lukas Podolski 41, 68
Halftime: 0-1; Attendance: 32,600Fulham 1 Darren Bent 77

Southampton 1 Jose Fonte 88
Sunderland 1 Emanuele Giaccherini 3
Halftime: 0-1; Attendance: 32,600
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Newcastle United 0
West Ham United 0
Halftime: 0-0; Attendance: 49,662
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Hull City 1 Robert Brady 22pen
Red Card: Yannick Anister Sagbo-Latte 27
Norwich City 0
Halftime: 1-0; Attendance: 23,682
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Everton 0
West Bromwich Albion 0
Halftime: 0-0; Attendance: 36,000
- – -
Stoke City 2 Charlie Adam 58, Ryan Shawcross 62
Crystal Palace 1 Marouane Chamakh 31
Halftime: 0-1; Attendance: 25,207
- – -
Fulham 1 Darren Bent 77
Arsenal 3 Olivier Giroud 14, Lukas Podolski 41,68
Halftime: 0-2; Attendance: 25,622
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Next Fixtures :
Saturday, August 24
Aston Villa v Liverpool (1930)
Sunday, August 25
Cardiff City v Manchester City (1800)
Tottenham Hotspur v Swansea City (1800)
Monday, August 26
Manchester United v Chelsea (2200)

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Cyprus is a way of taking German voters’ attention away from their own bigger problems.
German Public Debt is €2.2tn, bigger than the French economy.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaueble admitted in 2000 to receiving 100,000 Deutschmarks in bribes from a Canadian arms manufacturer to fund the CDU Party. He was removed as leader of the CDU and replaced by Angela Merkel.
Disgraced former German President Christian Wulff was handpicked for the job by Angela Merkel. He was charged in court for corruption.
Deutsche Bank is being investigated for mis-selling mortgages, breaking Iran sanctions and Libor rate-rigging. It has set aside over €2.4bn for lawsuits and fines. That is a quarter of the money needed by Cyprus.
Schaueble has his doctorate in tax accounting. I suggest Eurozone deposit holders look for his offshore bank accounts. Then move their money there as fast as possible.

John Morgan, Ormidhia

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I’m a Cypriot born in the UK and I bought my house in Oroklini In 2007 and was told I would have my title deeds within two years and I’m still waiting.

Wouldn’t it be good economic policy for the government to fast track the issuing of title deeds, when the country will receive much needed revenue from the transfer tax from 130,000 households in Cyprus? I am waiting to give the coffers of Cyprus €19,000, so what are they waiting for?
Name and address supplied

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I am an English Cypriot visitor on holiday who has just witnessed an event that makes me ashamed to be Cypriot. How Cypriots treat animals beggars belief. Unfortunately my parents’ neighbours decided to go away and leave their dog in a hot garage – with no windows – for two days now.
This morning we realised they were still away and called out to the dog to make sure it was alive – it barked. I reported this to the animal shelters and they told me to call the police.
The police told me to call Cyta enquiries and get the number for animal welfare. I called the original number I had used to report the abuse and they were very annoyed and tried to get the police to come and investigate – two hours later, no police came. Ironically the man who owns the dog is a policeman.
When eventually – after a further prompt by animal welfare – the police did come – they went to the wrong house – even though they had an address. After being directed to the correct house they refused to get involved because they heard no barking – clearly because the dog is now dead. One neighbour even had the audacity to shout at the police for getting involved. I am disgusted that the neighbours are still away and a dog lies dead next door. If my family were not here I would never return.
M Panayi

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Your editorial “There must be justice for Christofias’ political crimes” (August 18, 2013) is demonstrating a lack of understanding of the role of the law in a constitutional democracy in relation to a system of ochlocracy.
A political crime is a violation of the law for political reasons in contrast to private reasons and is normally directed against a government or a political system. Further, a government can be accused of political crimes if it is involved in human rights violations and other forms of violations of the law.
In the case of the former government of Cyprus, no law, constitutional or otherwise, was violated due to the economic policies that were pursued. The constitution of Cyprus does not prescribe the fiscal and monetary policies that the government ought to follow, and therefore, it is the prerogative of the government of the day to implement economic policies that it considers appropriate, even if these economic policies are counterproductive and can bankrupt the country.
Furthermore, all the fiscal policies of the previous government were approved overwhelmingly by parliament, and hence there is a collective responsibility, of all the political parties, for the state of the Cyprus economy.
By way of conclusion, in no way am I defending the economic policies of the previous government. In fact, a second year economics student, from a reputable university, would know that even today, Cyprus must reduce government expenditures.
That would require a significant reduction in salaries and in the number of public employees, among other initiatives, in order for the economy to return to a sustainable growth path. However, engaging in the blame game, vengeance and demagoguery, a Cypriot tradition, would not solve any economic issues.
E. Zetusian, Toronto, Canada

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The question arises every summer “Why do people keep dogs if they can’t treat them properly?” With regard to Eve Polycarpou’s letter (Sunday Mail August 18th), Limassol is no better (or should that be worse?) than Nicosia.
It is hard to get to sleep some nights in my area for the depressed howling of dogs. One starts a mournful cry and a full operatic rendition of misery picks up in sympathy. Part of the problem is that some are kept chained or in small spaces and never walked. Others, I have to add, have great homes. Cyprus is not alone in mistreating dogs.
In her column in The Irish Times, Hilary Fannin wrote about a trip to Spain in which she described ‘mad-eyed’ dogs chained up protecting property. The same happens here in industrial estates as well as private homes.
As the ‘animal police’ will not be formed, is it not possible for some capable people to be given a licence to do the job instead? Surely animal welfare folk could approach the owners of badly treated animals and, with authority, ask them to do better. They should be able to report such canine ‘crimes’ to a department that could, at least, send a letter with an official stamp on it with the threat of court procedures if the requests are not dealt with. This ‘desk’ could be manned by animal welfare volunteers.
Far -fetched? Perhaps, but this has been going on for years and in the cruel heat of summer animals have enough difficulty staying hydrated when left outside without sadistic carelessness adding to their misery. Gone are the days when people could plead ignorance. May I add a word here for all the decent folk in Cyprus who do so much and often at their own expense for animals of all sorts.
Last month Cyprus’s disgraceful trapping of birds received space in the National Geographic which has a world audience. We are, sadly, achieving a reputation for failure in many areas. How we treat our creatures is a showcase of what we are and how far our empathy for them indicates advanced, civilized sensitivity. Sadism should not be tolerated, for that is what Ms Polycarpou described.

Colette Ni Reamonn Ioannidou, Nicosia

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By Julian Linden

Rafa Nadal made an ominous return to the U.S. Open on Monday while the sister act of Serena and Venus Williams shared the spotlight as the last grand slam of the year got under way.

Roared on by the energetic Flushing Meadows crowds, the trio turned on a masterclass of power hitting at Arthur Ashe Stadium before New York’s fickle weather brought proceedings to an early end.

A late rain shower forced tournament organisers to abandon the opening day’s play before former world number one Roger Federer was about start his match against Slovenia’s Grega Zemlja.

Nadal, who missed last year’s U.S. Open because of a chronic knee problem, demonstrated his intentions to make up for lost time as he demolished American wildcard Ryan Harrison 6-4 6-2 6-2 during the day session.

Bouncing around the unforgiving hardcourt like a kangaroo, the Spaniard chalked up 28 winners despite the blustery conditions at the U.S. National Tennis Center.

“For me, the chance to be back here playing is great,” said Nadal. “The first match after two years in the Arthur Ashe is a great feeling.”

Serena needed just one hour to remind everyone why she remains the overwhelming favourite to win the women’s title as she demolished Italy’s Francesca Schiavone 6-0 6-1.

The American showed no mercy against her opponent, who won the French Open in 2010 and was a finalist in Paris the following year, conceding just 23 points in the 60-minute romp.

“I knew playing a former grand slam champion in the first round was a really tough draw so I decided to be super serious,” she said.

Not to be outdone, her older sister Venus rolled back the years with a headturning appearance on the center court, arriving with her hair braided and dyed a deep purple.

Her fingernails were also polished in the same vivid fuschia and no repeat of the injury problems that have sidelined her for most of the year as she dispatched Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens 6-1 6-2.

The 33-year-old, the second oldest player in the women’s singles draw, provided a glimpse of the form that saw her win the U.S. Open in 2000 and 2001 as she strolled to a surprisingly quick win.

“It’s good to be back,” said Williams, who has only played 18 matches this year and slipped to 60th in the world rankings while Flipkens is enjoying the best season of her career.

The 27-year-old made the semi-finals at Wimbledon in July, her best result at any grand slam, and was seeded 12th for the U.S. Open but found Williams too hot.

“When Venus is on fire, she is on fire,” said Flipkens.

“If Venus is fit and she’s focused she’s a top 10 player. Today she was like a top 10 player.”

EARLY UPSET

Flipkens was the first notable casualty on a day where most of the top players safely made it through.

China’s Li Na, the 2011 French Open champion and runner-up in Australia this year, needed just 64 minutes to crush Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-2 6-2.

And Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska, the third seed, was even more ruthless, thumping Spain’s Silvia Soler-Espinosa 6-1 6-2 in 63 minutes in the opening match on the center court.

There was an early upset in the men’s draw when Japan’s Kei Nishikori, Asia’s highest-ranked man, was beaten 6-4 6-2 6-2 by English qualifier Dan Evans, ranked 179th.

“It’s definitely a good one,” said Evans, playing in his first U.S. Open. “That was pretty good out there to play so well and against someone so highly ranked.”

Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova made an emotional return to the grand slam circuit, more than two and a half years after she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of blood cancer.

The now 24-year-old underwent chemotherapy through most of 2011 and after beating the disease she decided on a comeback.

“All those things are over for me now,” she said after defeating Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig 6-4 3-6 7-5 .

“I went through them. I came out as a winner in that battle.”

Just as the first matches were starting, American James Blake announced he was retiring after the Aug. 26-Sept. 9 championships, ending a 14-year career where he rose to number four in the world rankings.

One of the most respected players on the circuit, Blake was inspired to take up tennis after hearing Arthur Ashe address a group of young players at a tennis clinic in Harlem.

He turned professional in 1999 after attending Harvard University and despite enduring moments of hardship, including breaking his neck in a freak accident in Rome in 2004, he retained a sense of perspective.

“This is my last tournament,” he said.

“I have had 14 pretty darn good years on tour, loved every minute of it, and I definitely couldn’t have asked for a better career.”

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Lawyers representing former minister Dinos Michaelides, wanted by Greece in connection with money laundering, were on Tuesday arguing their appeal against his extradition before the Supreme Court.

The defence’s main argument is that parliament and the government had intervened in the work of the judiciary by changing the constitution to make his extradition possible.

The Supreme Court must decide within eight days whether to uphold a Limassol district court decision to hand Michaelides over to Greece.

The Limassol court had ordered the former minister’s arrest pending his extradition.

Michaelides and his son Michalis are wanted in Greece in connection with alleged kickbacks paid in the purchase by Greece of Russian TOR-M1 surface-to-air missile systems.

They have been fighting extradition for the past couple of months.

His son’s case will be heard on September 4.

The pair had been implicated after the arrest of former Greek defence minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos in connection with the case.

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