POLICE in Paphos arrested a 41-year-old man on Wednesday evening after they found 13 grammes of cannabis when searching his home.
Officers from the drugs squad used a search warrant to raid the man’s house where they found a plastic bag containing the drugs.
KURDISH protestors marched on the French embassy yesterday to mark the first anniversary when three women activists had been killed in a Kurdish information centre in Paris.
Sakine Cansiz, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Soylemez were found dead with gunshot wounds in the early hours on Thursday, January 9, 2013.
The protestors began their march at 11am from the Interior Ministry before meeting a French embassy representative at 11.30am to whom they expressed their concern about the three murders.
A VAN valued at around €15,000 was destroyed by a fire late on Wednesday in Kokkinotrimithia. According to police reports the van, which was in a parking lot within the village, was set ablaze at 11.45pm. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined, police said.
POLICE are searching for Kyro-Stavro Georgiou, 29, from Limassol in connection with shots fired at a fast food restaurant last Saturday.
Limassol district court remanded a 23-year-old man for seven days and a 36-year-old man for four days on Wednesday after their arrest in connection with the same case. Police had initially arrested four men in connection with the case on Sunday.
Anyone who may know of Georgiou’s whereabouts should get in touch with Limassol CID, the closest police station or the public helpline on 1460.
TWO Iraqi nationals were remanded for five days yesterday after being arrested at Larnaca airport the previous evening as they were attempting to travel to Austria using false documents.
One man tried to get through controls using a Spanish passport, while the other used an Italian identity card. On-duty officers suspected the documents were counterfeited and arrested the pair.
By Irene Klotz
VIRGIN Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, a six-passenger, two-pilot spacecraft aiming to make the world’s first commercial suborbital spaceflights later this year, conducted its third rocket-powered test flight on Friday.
With Virgin Galactic chief pilot David Mackay and co-pilot Mark Stucky at the controls, SpaceShipTwo soared to an altitude 71,000 feet (21,640 meters) above ground – about twice as high as commercial jetliners, Virgin Galactic said on Twitter.
The 20-second rocket burn, over California’s Mojave desert, propelled the ship to 1.4 times faster than the speed of sound, the company said.
It was the third powered test flight for SpaceShipTwo, which was designed and built by Mojave, Calif.-based Scaled Composites, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Corp.
“She flew brilliantly,” Mackay said in a statement from Virgin Galactic after landing.
“To be behind the controls and fly it as the rocket ignited is something I will never forget,” Mackay added.
The spacecraft, which is hauled into the air by a carrier jet and released, also has made 28 glide flights. It is modeled after the prize-winning SpaceShipOne prototype, which made a trio of suborbital spaceflights in 2004 to clinch the $10 million Ansari X Prize for the first privately funded human spaceflights.
With SpaceShipTwo tucked between its twin hulls, Virgin Galactic’s White Knight Two carrier jet took off from the Mojave Air and SpacePort just after dawn. An hour later, Mackay landed the spaceship safely back on the runway, Virgin Galactic said on Twitter.
Virgin Galactic, a US offshoot of billionaire Richard Branson’s London-based Virgin Group, is selling rides on SpaceShipTwo for $250,000. So far, more than 650 people have put down deposits or paid for rides. Branson and his two children are expected to fly on the first passenger flight late this year.
“I couldn’t be happier to start the New Year with all the pieces visibly in place for the start of full space flights. 2014 will be the year when we will finally put our beautiful spaceship in her natural environment of space,” Branson said in a statement.
The upcoming flights are designed to reach altitudes of more than 65 miles (100 km) above Earth, high enough to see the curvature of the planet set against the blackness of space. Riders also will experience a few minutes of weightlessness before the ship re-enters the atmosphere.
SpaceShipTwo’s last rocket-powered flight was in September, part of a rigorous test program prior to the start of commercial flight services.
Other companies developing passenger suborbital spacecraft include privately owned XCOR Aerospace, which is building a two-person spaceplane called Lynx, and Blue Origin, a startup space company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Virgin Galactic also plans to use its White Knight Two carrier jets to launch small satellites and payloads into orbit.
A 71-year-old woman was killed yesterday morning in Limassol after she was hit by a car as she was trying to cross the road, police said.
Ioanna Hasiotou Christodoulou was at a pedestrian crossing in Limassol’s Makarios Avenue when a car driven by a 53-year-old hit her at 11.30am. She died instantly.
Emilios Kafa from Limassol’s traffic department said that the police are investigating whether any eye-witnesses at the scene could recall whether the pedestrian crossing lights were red or green at the time of the accident.
The driver was taken to Limassol’s traffic department for questioning.
FORMER defence minister Costas Papacostas who was hospitalised at Nicosia General on July 9, less than a month before being sentenced for his involvement in the Mari naval base explosion, has asked for a presidential pardon. Papacostas was sentenced to five years in jail on charges of manslaughter for his role in the July 11 blast in 2011, in which 13 sailors and firemen died.
In his letter to the Attorney-General, Papacostas’ lawyer Efstathios Efstathiou said that the former defence minister’s health is deteriorating fast, that he is suffering from liver failure and requires dialysis. Efstathiou also said that Papacostas’ cardio-respiratory system is under stress and that his mental state has worsened since the August sentencing. According to reports, the former defence minister is under psychiatric observation.
Included in the pardon request is a report from the medical council that confirms Papacostas’ deteriorating health, which, they say, that combined with his medical history and age put his life further at risk.
Despite his frail condition, if pardoned Papacostas will return home to his wife, Efstathiou told the Cyprus Mail.
“Unfortunately the former minister is very close to death and all he asks for is to spend his final moments with his loved ones and not be surrounded by nurses and a police guard,” he said.
The request will be studied by legal services as well as both the Attorney-general and the assistant Attorney-general before a suggestion is sent to President Anastasiades.
Papacostas and former disaster response squad (EMAK) commander Andreas Loizides, who was sentenced to two years in jail for his role in the blast, are due before the Supreme Court on Thursday to appeal their sentencing.
By Constantinos Psillides
FORMER DIKO leader and MP Marios Garoyian came under scrutiny on Friday, after it was revealed that he receives two secretarial allowances, one as an MP and one as a former House President.
Finance Minister Haris Georgiades, answering a question by AKEL MP Irene Charalambidou, who demanded to know which government officials were paid two secretarial allowances, said the benefit is granted to MPs, former Republic presidents and former presidents of the House.
Although he refrained from naming the former DIKO leader, Garoyian is the only one who fits the bill since he is currently a DIKO MP and served as House president from March 2008 to June 2011.
According to the minister, former presidents receive a secretarial allowance of €3,019 and MPs get a €1,025 stipend for secretarial services.
The allowance for MPs is incorporated in their monthly salary of €6,611.
The Finance minister told the AKEL MP that the allowance granted to former presidents is equal to the highest salary of a government stenographer.
Georgiades added that returning the allowance was not possible, since the deputies’ wages are protected by law.
Garoyian could not be reached for comment.
By Constantinos Psillides
CYPRUS Airways chairman Tony Antoniou confirmed on Friday that the national carrier has reached an agreement to sell one of the two timeslots at Heathrow airport to Qatar Airways, explaining that it is a part of a strategic plan to move the company forward.
Speaking at a press conference to unveil a deal for 64 charter flights scheduled for the Easter holidays and summer, Antoniou played down criticism from the pilots’ union who oppose the sale of the slot at Heathrow.
He said that the board and technocrats are better suited to make business decisions than pilots.
“Our pilots are excellent professionals in their field. But they should leave business decisions to us. This is the way to move the company forward,” Antoniou said, wondering if the pilots preferred to be out looking for jobs.
The timeslot in the most sought-after airport in Europe, has been valued at $20m or just under €15m, but according to Antoniou it accounts for €5m in losses a year.
The Cyprus Mail contacted the head of the pilots union, Petros Souppouris, who said that his members are interested in the long term viability of the company.
“The timeslot will be profitable in the long run”, said the union boss, arguing that ticket prices for London will go up. “Heathrow will become a rich man’s destination. Tickets will get so expensive that only rich people will be able to afford them”.
Asked whether the union is planning to go on strike to prevent the company from going ahead with the sale, Souppouris said that a strike wasn’t on the cards.
Antoniou said that as regards the reduced number of flights to London, the airline is looking to buy a timeslot from a neighbouring airport, Stansted, Luton or Gatwick. “It’s very simple. Heathrow is one of the most expensive airports in the world. We are losing money there, so we are exploring the possibility of shifting some flights to another airport”, he said, adding that CY is considering additional flights to Manchester to accommodate students, while the board is looking into resuming a flight to Brussels, despite decisions two years ago to cut back on routes.
On the issue of a strategic investor, Antoniou said that a number of reputable companies have shown interest and that talks will start in February, after the cabinet appoints the negotiating committee on January 22.
“We have worked hard towards creating a viable, self-sustained organisation with good prospects. We will release the financial results this month and people will see just how well we did in 2013”, the chairman added.
Regarding the charter flights, Antoniou said that a deal was signed with the tour operators Top Kinisis and Xenos Travel and will offer Cypriots the chance to travel to the Greek islands and other European holiday destinations. The estimated profit for the company, according to Antoniou, is around €500,000. “Our aim is to give our customers more travel choices and lower ticket prices”, he noted.
Asked if the deal would be affected by a possible deal with a strategic investor, Antoniou said this is highly unlikely because even if a deal was made tomorrow, there would still be a six-month transitional period before any new plans take effect.
The CY chairman also took a swipe at the media, accusing reporters of snooping around for confidential information regarding the company’s business plans.
“You shouldn’t ask us for that kind of information. You are hurting the company. We signed confidentiality agreements with the companies interested on buying the time slots and leaked information hurts us”, Antoniou said.
LET’S Go Cruises by Amathus is organising its third annual Cruise Fair this weekend taking place at the International State Fair grounds in collaboration with the Wedding Exhibition 2014.
This event will give members of the public the opportunity to learn about cruise programmes in 2014 and get specific information from cruise representatives.
The fair will be open on Saturday from 3pm to 10pm and on Sunday from 2pm to 9pm.
Visitors to the exhibition will benefit from an additional discount of €50 per cabin for bookings made during the exhibition.
POLICE were searching private clinics and hospitals yesterday in a bid to track down the mother of a dead baby girl found at a waste disposal unit near Larnaca after it was apparently dumped in the garbage.
Larnaca police spokesman Charalambos Zahariou said they were going through all the births from last November until now that took place in state hospitals in Larnaca and Famagusta, and private clinics.
“So far we have checked 90 births and all newborns are well,” Zahariou said.
He added that officers were also checking births that had not been declared yet.
Zahariou urged anyone with information on the case to contact the nearest police station or the 1460 hotline.
The baby, probably a few days old when she died, was discovered on the conveyor belt at the Koshi processing centre at 7am on Thursday after being carried there by a garbage truck.
The cause of death and the baby’s race could not be determined due to decomposition.
The baby weighed around three kilos and was less than a month old, according to her weight and height.
State pathologist Eleni Antoniou had said she found no visible signs of violence and any injuries on her body were most likely caused by the unit’s machinery.
The pathologist said the baby must have died between five and seven days earlier.
LARNACA District Court remanded a 28-year-old Romanian man for four days yesterday in connection with injuring a police officer.
Shortly after midnight on Thursday, police received a report that there was an injured man outside a hotel in town.
An officer from Larnaca CID who was on patrol in the area found the injured man, who then pointed out the person who had injured him. The officer approached the alleged assailant but according to reports he reacted, pushing the officer before getting away.
Officers chased the man and tried to arrest him, police said. They said he resisted arrest and injured one of the officers before police managed to restrain him.
By Stefanos Evripidou
THE COUNCIL of Ministers has approved a draft proposal by the Defence Ministry to offer certain facilities to the Russian air force at the Andreas Papandreou military airbase in Paphos.
Ministry sources yesterday confirmed that the cabinet gave the green light for the defence ministry to enter into negotiations with Russia on signing an agreement setting out the terms of use of the airbase.
According to a report in Politis, a request for use of the airbase was raised last year during the separate visits of Defence Minister Fotis Fotiou and Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides to Moscow.
The newpaper reported that during its latest meeting, the cabinet approved a proposal by the defence ministry, reached in agreement with the foreign ministry, to offer certain services to the Russian air force at the Paphos military air base.
These include allowing the landing and stationing of military aircraft for humanitarian reasons and in emergency situations.
A defence ministry source refused to enter into details but told the Cyprus Mail that the proposed agreement is not something substantial or different to what is already being offered to Russia in terms of facilities at the airbase from time to time.
The agreement, if and when it is signed between the two countries, will simply put the situation on a more ‘official’ footing.
Another source told the Cyprus Mail that the matter effectively remains under negotiation as no agreement has been reached yet with Russia.
However, Cyprus’ proposal is to offer Russia – a key ally in the UN Security Council – the provision of facilities at the air base on an “ad hoc basis”, as is already done with many countries.
The source highlighted there was a big difference between allowing military aircraft to land for refueling or other technical reasons, for example, when requested, and keeping a permanent Russian base at the airport, as some press reports have previously suggested.
And it was those reports that raised the attention of Cyprus’ allies to the west, who voiced concern at the prospect of such a move.
The agreement approved by the cabinet is unlikely to raise eyebrows, however, as providing facilities on an ad hoc basis is something that is offered to many countries and partners.
Despite the sizeable British air base on the island, Cyprus has offered its services to a number of military aircraft at various points during various crises in the region, including from Russia, the US, Italy and France.
In an effort to highlight its strategic use as a credible ally, Cyprus has also provided port facilities to numerous navy vessels, from a variety of countries, including the US, Russia, Denmark, Germany, Norway and most recently China.
Adam Johnson fired Sunderland off the bottom of the Barclays Premier League table with a priceless hat-trick to drag Fulham back into relegation trouble.
The 26-year-old England international followed up impressive individual displays in the cup victories over Carlisle and Manchester United to play the key role in a precious 4-1 victory at Craven Cottage.
Johnson gave the visitors a 23rd-minute lead with a fine free-kick and then set up fellow midfielder Ki Sung-yueng to double his side’s advantage with a deflected 41st-minute shot.
Steve Sidwell headed Fulham back into it seven minutes after the restart, but Johnson added a second with 21 minutes remaining and then converted and 85th-minute penalty to make sure the points headed back to Wearside.
As a result, Crystal Palace slumped to the foot of the table after going down 2-0 at Tottenham on an afternoon when things might have turned out so differently.
Palace were presented with a glorious opportunity to take the lead with just eight minutes gone after Mousa Dembele had fouled Marouane Chamakh, but Jason Puncheon skied his spot-kick horribly to let Spurs off the hook.
Tim Sherwood’s men took full advantage of their escape as Christian Eriksen and substitute Jermain Defoe struck after the break to seal victory.
But there were better fortunes for beleaguered West Ham boss Sam Allardyce as his side bounced back from shipping 11 goals in their last two games to win 2-0 at Cardiff and leapfrog the Welshmen.
Carlton Cole’s 42nd-minute strike gave the visitors a half-time advantage, and although the visitors had to play out the closing stages with just 10 men after defender James Tomkins was sent off for a second bookable offence, midfielder Mark Noble added a second in injury time.
The Hammers climbed out of the bottom three by virtue of their win with the Bluebirds slipping below them to leave new manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in little doubt as to the task he faces.
Everton maintained their challenge for European qualification by overcoming a stubborn Norwich side 2-0 at Goodison Park.
Gareth Barry opened the scoring with 23 minutes gone, before Kevin Mirallas wrapped up the points with a 59th-minute free-kick.
Adam Lallana’s lone strike was all Southampton needed to see off West Brom 1-0.
The England international’s 66th-minute strike did the trick on a day when the Saints dominated possession, but had to fight all the way to the whistle.
Chelsea had earlier eased themselves back to the top of the table with a hard-fought 2-0 victory at Hull.
The game was scoreless at the break with Tigers goalkeeper Allan McGregor having produced a stunning save to deny Oscar the opening goal.
Opposite number Petr Cech too had to be at his best to keep out efforts from Ahmed Elmohamady and Jake Livermore as he recorded a 209th clean sheet in his 458th appearance for the club, in the process beating Peter Bonetti’s record that had stood since 1979.
A stunning 57th-minute Eden Hazard strike put the visitors ahead, and they cemented the win three minutes from time when Fernando Torres made sure of the points on his 200th Premier League appearance.
By Bejay Browne
WHEN 48-year-old Stavros Zenonos took the momentous decision ten years ago to change career he did it in style.
He gave up his safe job as area manager for an insurance company in Limassol, and, fired by a vision but no formal training, he sank his savings and took out huge loans to develop an agro-tourism project par excellence in the picturesque mountain village of Omodos.
Ten years later, the family-run guest house, restaurant and ouzo-wine bar that is Stou Kir Yianni is firmly established on the Omodos ‘must-see’ list.
“No one believed in my dream, none of the family except my wife and the bank. They all thought it was a bit mad,” Zenonos recalled.
“I’m a good eater and I appreciate food. I initially wanted to get back to my village and take over my father’s vineyards and make good wines.”
Stavros Zenonos in his kitchen
The restaurateur’s family own 150 acres of land in Omodos, the centre of the wine growing industry in the mountains. They also maintain fruit orchards and market gardens and have been involved with vines and wine for many years.
They also owned a small ramshackle building previously used to house donkeys and found down one of the quaint narrow side streets of the village. His parents had converted it into a wine and souvenir shop, but after the purchase of an old, derelict building next door, Zenonos had enough space to develop his project.
“This building now forms part of the complex which is made up of different areas. The restaurant consists of three separate rooms and we can sit 140 people at one time,” he said.
Short or long term accommodation is also available in the old hay loft and vegetable storage areas on the upper floor which have been turned into self contained apartments. Separate stone houses are also available.
His main aim was to create something unique and eclectic which would help to provide some financial stability for his wife Moropi and their three daughters.
“I knew that when I returned, I had to do something to help the family, something fast and unique,” he said.
The project took four years to complete with the total cost of restoration, including the cost of buying the land, coming to 1.3 million Cyprus pounds.
“When Cyprus entered the EU, I placed the project under the agro tourism umbrella, which protects it.”
The EU gave him 70,000 Cyprus pounds towards the project and he raised the remainder through bank loans and his own money.
The nucleus of the project is the restaurant. He says that he tried all sorts of dishes out before settling on his current menu. The Stou Kir Yiannis meze in particular stands out from the crowd.
“I wanted the experience here to be something completely different. People are doing the same thing, the same meze wherever you go. I wanted us to stand out. You can’t please everyone though, but most of our customers are happy,” said Zenonos modestly.
So much so, that booking at the hidden away restaurant is essential, especially on Saturday evenings and Sunday lunches. Live music of all sorts is on offer most lunchtimes and evenings. Passing trade is often turned away during peak times as the place is fully booked in advance.
He said: “We are open all year (except for a small break) for breakfast, lunch and dinner and our customers are mainly locals, a visit to us is a cultural experience.”
Zenonos’ heart belongs to his vines and wines. He has been producing his own wine, which is highly drinkable, for the past two years. He aims to take the product to a new level and hopes to open a winery inside the vineyards, in line with new EU regulations, in the near future. He is also on track to start exporting the family product overseas.
“We have 150 acres of land in Omodos and grow all different sorts of grapes which I use for my wines and some are used as table grapes which we serve in the restaurant. We have a small winery, and we use a friend’s equipment to make the wine. Two wine experts, who are also friends, oversee everything from the vine to the production.”
The family has built up a steady clientele over the last six years and Zenonos’ mother is often in the kitchen overseeing all of the dishes.
The courtyard of Stou Kir Yiannis
“We are all involved now and although we’re working, it’s like our family nights out as well. One of the reasons we called it Yianni – my father’s name – is that I have girls and he didn’t have a grandson – so now he has his ‘baby’ named after him.”
The workaholic says that he can’t imagine retiring for many years to come. “It’s very hard work but I love it so much. I want to be there to welcome the guests, sit them down and pass by a few times to check everything is alright.”
Zenonos is a hugely likeable character who enjoys the company of his customers and says he puts some of the business’ success down to his family’s hospitality and his personal touch.
“Eighty per cent of establishments in Cyprus are now lacking in real hospitality, we have somehow lost our way. Many businesses don’t respect the customers as humans. They are giving you hard earned money and you must always show the best of yourself.”
Stou Kir Yianni will be closed for a short break from February 1-13 and re-open again on Feb onwards. Stou Kir Yianni, 15, Linou, Omodos, 25422100/ 99308555. Website: www.omodosvillagecottagecom, email: info@omodosvillagecottage.com
By Ian Buruma
Diplomats, normally discreet figures who rarely court publicity, have been in the news a lot lately, for all the wrong reasons. Two recent arrests of diplomats by their host countries have put a spotlight on the justification for, and limits of, the immunity from local law that such officials typically enjoy.
In the first case, Dmitri Borodin, the minister councilor at the Russian embassy in The Hague, was arrested late one night in October of last year, after neighbours alerted the Dutch police that Borodin, allegedly in a drunken state, was beating his two small children. He was handcuffed in his own home and taken to the police station.
According to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, diplomats cannot be prosecuted according to a host country’s laws. So Russian President Vladimir Putin immediately demanded an official apology from the Dutch government for ignoring Borodin’s diplomatic immunity. The rabble-rousing Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky called on his followers to smash the windows of the Dutch embassy in Moscow. A week later, a Dutch diplomat in Moscow was beaten up at his home by armed thugs (no connection between the two cases has been proved).
The timing of all of this was awkward. The Dutch king, Willem Alexander, was about to visit Russia to celebrate the two countries’ friendly relations in the so-called “Netherlands-Russia Year”. The Dutch foreign minister duly apologised to Russia for the conduct of his country’s police, and Borodin was recalled to Moscow.
Then, in December, the New York City police arrested an Indian consular official, Devyani Khobragade, for paying a domestic worker less than the minimum wage in the United States and for falsifying the worker’s visa application. Because consular officials do not enjoy the same degree of immunity as higher-ranking diplomats, the police were acting within their authority, even if their methods – strip-searching Khobragade, for example – might be considered excessive.
The reaction in India, however, was much fiercer than in Russia. Outrage was voiced in the press. Apologies were demanded. Demonstrations were held. US diplomats were stripped of customary privileges. Threats were made to arrest same-sex partners of US diplomats, because Indian law criminalizes homosexuality.
All of this might seem over the top and childish. But, because diplomats are their countries’ official representatives abroad, their symbolic function is much more important than their individual personalities. They are like national flags: insult them, and you insult the “nation”. And when it comes to preserving national “face”, Russia and India are perhaps touchier than most countries; Russia has always felt looked down upon by western European powers, and India is still reckoning with a legacy of colonial humiliation.
A writer for the Times of India expressed Indians’ sensitivity succinctly: “The sad truth is that India is now viewed abroad as a third-rate banana republic.” Whether or not this is true is beside the point. Many Indians, especially among the Delhi elite, believe it. The behaviour of the New York City police played into their deepest fears.
One of the most interesting aspects of these two diplomatic incidents is what it tells us about the new Russian and Indian elite. Diplomats have always represented the face of their country, but their own faces have changed.
In the past, diplomats did not actually represent nation-states, but royal courts (in most monarchies this is still officially the case). As a result, European diplomats, for example, were mostly aristocrats, who all spoke French to one another.
Diplomatic incidents often had to do with the relative status of kings and queens. One famous incident in the late eighteenth century was Lord Macartney’s British mission to the Imperial Court of China. Macartney refused to conform to Chinese imperial protocol by declining to kowtow to the emperor, because he was not required to do the same to his own sovereign. This, too, was very much a case of “keeping face”: the Chinese expected tribute; the British lord insisted on the equal status of his king. As a result, the mission broke down.
Diplomatic immunity from local prosecution was an idea that sprang directly from another incident, almost a century earlier, involving the arrest of a Russian aristocrat, Andrey Matveyev, who represented Peter the Great in London. Matveyev was detained and roughed up by bailiffs who demanded money from him. The Russians complained. The British apologised. And the British parliament enacted a new law protecting diplomats from suffering similar treatment in the future.
Borodin and Khobragade are not aristocrats. Far from it. They represent a very different age, which one is tempted to call democratic, even if Russia today is more like a soft dictatorship. Perhaps Borodin was just enjoying a rare night out and is normally an abstemious man, but his thuggish behaviour is perhaps not entirely atypical of a new class of Russians that has accumulated a great deal of money and power since the Soviet Union collapsed.
Khobragade’s case is more interesting. She was born into the Dalit caste, the “untouchables”, who in former times would never have gotten anywhere near the elite, except to sweep their floors. Since Indian independence, the government has done much to improve the Dalits’ status, and the deputy consul general is one of the beneficiaries of this policy. She is a member of the new Indian elite, increasingly wealthy and proud to represent a rising power in the world.
If the allegations that Khobragade systematically underpaid her domestic worker are true, this shows how fully she has adopted the customs of the class to which she has risen. In all the Indian protests about the terrible blow dealt by the Americans to Indian self-esteem, only a few mentioned the habitual exploitation of the poorer classes. As with their politicians, a country’s people, it seems, often have the diplomats they deserve.
Ian Buruma is Professor of Democracy, Human Rights, and Journalism at Bard College. He is the author of numerous books, including Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance and Taming the Gods: Religion and Democracy on Three Continents.
© 1995-2014 Project Syndicate
By Gwynne Dyer
THE GOOD thing about volcanoes is that you know where they are. If you don’t want to get hurt, just stay away from them. The bad thing about supervolcanoes is that you may know where they are, but there’s no getting away from them. They only blow up very rarely, but when they do, the whole world is affected. They can cover an entire continent with ash, and lower temperatures sharply worldwide for years.
“This is something that, as a species, we will eventually have to deal with. It will happen in future,” said Dr Wim Malfait of ETH Zurich (the Swiss Federal institute of Technology) , lead author of a recent paper in Nature Geoscience that says supervolcano eruptions don’t even need an earthquake as a trigger. “You could compare it to an asteroid impact,” he says. “The risk at any given time is small, but when it happens the consequences will be catastrophic.”
I know you already have enough to worry about, what with climate change and asteroid strikes and the like, but I’m afraid there’s more.
Volcanoes and supervolcanoes both involve magma (molten rock deep underground) that breaks through to the surface, but in practice they are quite different. Volcanoes gradually build themselves into mountains by repeated, relatively modest eruptions of lava. Supervolcanoes are a single massive explosion of magma rising to the surface over a huge area, and blasting at least a thousand cubic kilometres of ash into the atmosphere.
How massive? The largest recent volcanic eruption was Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, which blew about ten cubic kilometres of ash and gas into the upper atmosphere in 1991. The result was a 0.4 degree C drop in average global temperature for a year or so. But the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano 640,000 years ago was a hundred times as big.
It covered the entire North American continent with ash – and just like an asteroid strike, it threw massive amounts of dust and ash into the stratosphere, where it stayed for years, blocking out much of the sunlight. (It doesn’t rain in the stratosphere, so the debris stays there for a long time.) As a result the average global temperature fell by as much as 10 degrees C for a number of years.
It was temporary, but while it lasted there was a steep fall in the amount of plant material growing on the planet, and a corresponding collapse in animal populations as well. Not mass extinctions, so far as we can tell, and fairly soon the plant and animal species repopulated their former habitats, but it certainly spoiled the party for the equivalent of several human generations.
Homo sapiens were not around 640,000 years ago, but people like us certainly were around when another supervolcano, Toba in northern Sumatra, blew about 73,000 years ago. The event has been tentatively linked with a “bottleneck” in human evolution at that time in which, according to some genetic studies, the human population was squeezed down to only around 1,000 people.
This hypothesis has been challenged by a recent study of the sediments in Lake Malawi by an Oxford University-led team. They did not find any layer in the sediments with much reduced vegetation, which you would expect to see if there were a long-lasting cooling of the climate. This is puzzling, since Toba was the biggest supervolcanic blast in 2.5 million years: it boosted two to three times as much dust and ash into the air as the Yellowstone eruption.
But only a couple of years of severely diminished sunlight would still cause catastrophic population losses in both the plant and the animal kingdoms. Even a relatively short “volcanic winter” would be a huge catastrophe for human beings.
How many people would die if such a catastrophe happened now? It is unlikely that even half of the world’s seven billion people would survive two or three years of severe hunger, and civilisation itself would take a terrible beating. Nor is there anything useful you can do to prepare for such a catastrophe, unless you are able to stockpile two or three years’ worth of food for the entire world.
At the moment, our global food reserve will feed the population for only three or four months, so that is not likely to happen. If it does not, then we just have to hope that the calamity doesn’t happen – knowing that we probably will not have much warning if it does.
What Dr Malfait’s team discovered is that the detonation of a supervolcano is entirely dependent on the temperature of the liquid rock in the underground chamber. As it gets hotter, it gets less dense than the solid rock around it. At this point, it will behave just like an air-filled balloon or football that is held underwater, trying to pop up to the surface.
Eventually, the magma forces its way to the surface over an area of hundreds of square kilometres, expands and explodes. On average, such an explosion only happens once every hundred thousand years, but in practice it could happen at any time, with as little as a few weeks warning. Just thought you’d like to know. Sleep well.
Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries.
By Nicos Rolandis
I was 19 years old in 1954 and had gone to London to study. I was thinking a lot about my country and I wrote:
Tell me, my brother, is it still springtime in Cyprus,
like in the past, and is it full of beautiful odours?
Are Gods still strolling in her skies
and nymphs haunt her forests?
Are people still so good?
does truth reside in their hearts?
Do mothers still send their sweet kisses
to the newly born babies they carry in their arms?
(“The tears of the young people”, 1958)
A few days ago my mind went back to those years, those beautiful, no-frills years, during which values were reflected in everyday life in a simple manner. In those years the God of Cyprus was smiling. Where has he gone now?
I am trying to escape the mist which has covered this country in recent years. I am trying to trace hope out of the rubble. I think we must find the way to bring a smile back on the faces of children who have gone through a “wounded Christmas”.
The seventh President of the Republic, Nicos Anastasiades, is the most unlucky of all his predecessors. He reminds me of Eleftherios Venizelos, who took over a chaotic Greece in 1928, a few years after the Asia Minor catastrophe. He inherited a country completely ruined from an ethnic, political, military, financial and moral point of view and he worked hard until 1932 for her resurrection. In exactly the same way here in Cyprus, in 2013, Nicos Anastasiades took over a crippled country. He has to bring her back to life. I wish and trust that the good God of Cyprus will help him.
I have made some assessments for the year 2014:
The national issue
Does such an issue still exist in real terms, 50 years after the debacle of 1963 and nearly 40 years after the 1974 Greek coup and the Turkish invasion? Usually national problems are “frozen” as time goes by; they become inflexible and rigid like corpses. This was proven in the cases of the “lost territories” of hellenism, Asia Minor, Pontos, Byzantium.
Personally I devoted my life to the reunification of this country. When I was in power I did whatever I could, when it was not too late, when there was still a glimmer of hope. I shouted, I warned, I argued. The scenery however was always the same. Nobody would budge even by an inch: the same words, the same stands, the same mentality, the same decisions, the same “long term struggle” from 1960 until today. And nothing will change in the future either. Probably Nicos has arrived too late.
On the other side, the Turks and the Turkish Cypriots have gradually built a world of their own, which exists and functions. They do not need us at all and they feel much safer than we do. They have changed everything: the legislation, the streets, the names, the town planning, the character of the landscape and the places of worship. The settlers from Turkey (between 300,000 and 500,000) have inundated the whole area. Is there a practical way for them to depart ever? The Greek Cypriot properties have been occupied; huge Turkish and other foreign investments have multiplied; the Turkish guarantees are considered as a sine qua non; Morphou has been deleted from the land adjustment map, partition has been solidified.
These are the consequences of the long-term struggle. And yet on our side many politicians still anticipate that they will solve the problem by singing the same old tune. These people should get on a bus one day and go and verify what is happening on the other side. They will thus at least get to know the facts. Truly, how, where, when and who will ever change all the above?
Nicos Anastasiades has made some efforts. There are difficulties over the joint communiqué. In May 1979, after the signature of the second High Level Agreement, we had a similar impasse. The matter was finally resolved through an “Opening Statement” of the UN Secretary-General on August 9, 1980. This is how the “Waldheim Evaluation” initiative commenced. I do not know whether something similar might apply at present.
I believe that, if a window of opportunity still exists, it is to discuss the problem of Cyprus in conjunction with the oil and gas reserves. I have stated this over and over again in recent years. This was also repeated by the United Nations and many governments, the Europeans, the Russians, the Americans. Do we really believe that the Turkish Cypriot side will ever agree to solve the problem, whilst the huge hydrocarbons issue is unresolved?
In September 1983, over 30 years ago, in the letter of my resignation as foreign minister, I wrote that “with the mentality we have, at the end of the day we shall be left with the U.N. resolutions and the occupation”. Taking into account the quality of many politicians in Cyprus I would not change even one comma of the above statement.
The economy
We do not need many details. In five years (2008-2013) we piled up a budget deficit of approximately €7 billion. We also had bank losses approximately as follows: Greek bonds, €4 billion; Emergency Liquidity Assistance transferred to Greece for loans of €5 billion; sale of Cyprus bank operations in Greece of €4 billion, and losses on local loans of €10 billion. The grand total is €30 billion, a cause of asphyxia in such a small country. The troika is not needed to assess these figures. They speak for themselves.
The situation for Nicos Anastasiades is not easy at all. He has to create pockets of air in a surrounding apnoea. He requires cash flow for the economy but the banks do not have it. He must create jobs whilst businesses are shrinking. He must revitalise the market at a time when incomes are curtailed and taxes increase. He must bring life back to Cyprus, which was destroyed by a coup de grace carried out by others.
In this deadlocked situation I would propose a strengthening of tourism, which is a goldmine. In the past 12 years the growth in world tourism has been staggering. Whilst international tourism from 2001 to 2013 shot up by 45 per cent, Cyprus tourism shrunk by 10 per cent, which is totally impermissible. In previous years tourism in Cyprus fared much better than international tourism. In addition, as much funding as possible must be put into existing production units and the difficult task of foreign investments must be sought. Above all these are the hydrocarbons. This is the great bet, the vision and the hope, provided we handle the matter correctly.
“Tell me my brother, is it still springtime in Cyprus
like in the past, and is it full of beautiful odours?”……..
The answer back in 1954 was “Yes”. Today, 60 years on, the answer is “No”.
The National Herald, New York’s Greek newspaper, in recent issues has been full of the following very apt descriptions to describe the situation in Cyprus and in Greece: “Unemployed”, “unpaid”, “homeless”, “debts”, “poverty”, “catastrophe”, “crisis”, “depression”, “misery”, “corruption”, “distress” and “deadlocks”. These words must be expelled from our vocabulary and from our lives.
The government has a great task ahead of it: the reconstruction of the country and the punishment of all those responsible. In parallel we must improve ourselves and get closer to virtue just as we did in the past. Then springtime will be back again. Then the good God of Cyprus will return.
Nicos Rolandis is a former foreign minister, commerce minister and member of the House of Representatives
By Loucas Charalambous
WHEN I was writing my comment about the events of 1963 which was published in this space on December 22, I was not aware that the previous evening there was a ceremony in Nicosia to honour the fighters of what is now called the 1963-1964 period. Worse still, I was not aware that ‘honorary’ certificates were handed out by the president of the Republic.
In my comment I had written that what happened in December 1963 was a paranoid act, unique in history as the head of state (Archbishop Makarios) formed a paramilitary organisation and used it to dissolve the state. That today another president of this state (what is left of it) came to reward that foolish political crime confirms what I had written on December 22, that 50 years later we are still guilty of the same naive thinking.
We have learnt nothing from our catastrophic foolhardy behaviour. In fact, President Anastasiades’ behaviour might be even more inappropriate than that of Makarios. At least he, when he was embarking on the misadventure of the ‘Akrita plan’, did not know the tragic consequences.
Today’s president though has the benefit of hindsight. He knows that all the disasters we have suffered since then were essentially consequences of the trouble started by Makarios back then, even if others gave a helping hand to our course towards catastrophe.
I have taken this opportunity to take another look at the Akritas plan. I really believe that you learn from history (at least those who want to learn), which is why I have always had time for documents relating to the 1963 events. Whoever has not read this notorious plan cannot claim to know the Cyprus problem.
Its content, written, according to the late Glafcos Clerides, by the late Tassos Papadopoulos, is arguably one of the stupidest political texts ever put together. It describes, with incredible naivety all the different stages through which the ‘new struggle’ could overturn the agreements establishing the Republic. Makarios and his associates, betraying their simplistic views, considered these an easy target.
They came to the point of deluding themselves – as is made evident in the plan –that it was possible, with their brinkmanship, to even secure the “unilateral right to amend the constitution”. Not only this – they also admitted to setting up an illegal military organisation.
Part of the plan was “the lawful countering by forces of the state or by friendly military forces every intervention from within or outside”. Yet in another part of the plan they showed they recognised the possibility of a Turkish intervention as a result of their machinations. Such an intervention was even described as justified.
Regarding this they wrote: “If an intervention is threatened or implemented before stage (c), (that is before they scrapped the Treaty of Guarantee), then this intervention would be legally possible if not justified as well.” In the end, the intervention from within split Cyprus in two while the outside intervention was not averted by Akritas’ friendly military forces but be US President Lyndon B Johnson who issued an ultimatum to Turkish PM Ismet Inonu.
This was, more or less, how – despite the desperate pleas of Greece which had implored him from April 1963 to stop playing these dangerous games – Makarios and his fighters got the ball of destruction rolling on 21 December 1963. A few weeks earlier, on December 3, they had also placed a bomb at the statue of the EOKA hero Markos Drakos and blamed it on the Turks so as to create the right climate for their misguided schemes.
That was the start of all our problems. Yet 50 years on, we are actually celebrating its anniversary, refusing to learn the lessons of history.
