A 24-HOUR fundraiser for people affected by the crisis will be held on December 7 by the Pancyprian Volunteerism Coordinative Council (PSSE).

“The fundraiser will follow the model of those that were arranged to help those hit by the tsunami in south-east Asia in 2005 and by the fires in Greece in 2007,” president of PSSE, Stavros Olympios said.

Volunteers will man busy road junctions to collect donations of €2 and €5 from drivers. There will also be a charity phone line so people can call up and pledge money as well as bank accounts where people can deposit their contributions.

The fundraiser will take place was part of Volunteer Week, which takes place every year between December 1 and 8. 

“In Cyprus in 2012 hundreds of people are living the nightmare of poverty,” Olympios said launching the event yesterday. “Children and families and people from different vulnerable groups need our help,”

Money generated by the fundraiser will go towards the creation of centres for immediate social aid in each city of Cyprus. These will provide people who are struggling economically to get immediate help without having to go through enormous amounts of red tape. Events will also be organised to promote these centres and let people know where they can find them.

“Money isn’t always enough,” Olympios said, therefore professionals such as doctors, lawyers, psychologists and social workers will be recruited to offer their services free of charge to the public. 

“I’m sure that if we act together, with a spirit of solidarity and cooperation, we can help our society recover,” the council’s honourary president and first lady, Elsi Christofias said.

CYPRIOT composer George Kallis has been commissioned to score the music for the multi-million dollar film Gagarin: First in Space that explores the life of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.

Kallis, who will be working on this project for the next two months, will record the Russian State Symphony Orchestra and Choir in December. 

“It is an honour for me to be involved in a production which is essentially about the life of a modern hero in Russia,” Kallis said.

Yuri Gagarin was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut and was the first human to journey into space. The biopic, directed by Pavel Parkhomenko and produced by Kremlin Films’ Oleg Kapanets, traces the initial steps of Gagarin’s space exploration and leads up to his fatal final flight in 1968.

Kallis was involved with music from a young age. He studied classical piano and violin while growing up in Cyprus and at 18 was awarded a scholarship to the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he graduated with a BM in Composition and Film scoring. He then went on to study with acclaimed British composer Joseph Horowitz at the Royal College of Music where he graduated with a Masters of Music in Composition. 

He has composed music for a number of films including Highlander the Source, Screwed and Joy Division. He composed the score of the opening titles for the BAFTA and EMMY awarded BBC 2 series Horizon, the Discovery Channel Gangs in Prison documentary series and a number of TV spots including McDonald’s US campaign for McDonald’s Earth’s Treasure. 

PEOPLE have started to illegally convert cars to run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and petrol stations are selling LPG to drivers, members of the House commerce committee yesterday said.

The allegations were made by LPG companies who plan to convert cars or sell LPG once a legislative framework is set up that will lift a ban in effect since 1977, the Green party’s MP George Perdikis said, without naming the companies.

Cabinet said in September that it would allow the introduction of LPG cars, a cheaper and greener fuel alternative, but has already pushed back the deadline for creating the legal framework.

The commerce ministry told lawmakers yesterday their proposals for the legal changes will be ready by the end of 2013.

But Perdikis said stakeholders yesterday told the committee that some crews were already converting cars, “which is illegal”.

Drivers need to get permission from the road transport department to convert cars and they cannot convert their cars to run on LPG before the law changes, Perdikis said. 

He said cars that are already built to run on either petrol or LPG are allowed although they cannot run on gas. Custom changes are not allowed, Perdikis said.

LPG-converted cars could be dangerous, said acting head of the commerce committee, DISY’s Zacharias Zachariou.

“People are using these cars without the right infrastructure and proper checks and so several of our fellow citizens are in danger,” he said, adding that law breakers could get their licence suspended.

However, Perdikis said the committee was not provided with any numbers or figures during the discussion except for a photograph of a petrol station in Paphos that had a sign up saying it was selling LPG.

LPG can easily be found since it is used for heating purposes and by factories, Perdikis said. 

But because a law amendment to regulate petrol stations selling it is still pending with the state’s legal services, those selling LPG will have to be caught red-handed to be punished, Perdikis said. 

LPG is a blend of propane and butane that can be produced from natural gas or as a by-product of oil refining. Its emissions are less harmful than petrol and can be about 50 per cent cheaper than conventional fuels though fuel efficiency may be lower than either that of petrol or diesel-run vehicles. Conversion costs between €800 and €1,500 and can take place in two days. 

TURKEY WANTS to stop bankrolling the regime in the north by introducing a series of privatisations in key sectors, it was reported yesterday. 

According to Turkish Cypriot press, the Turkish diplomat stationed in the north, Halil Ibrahim Akca, called for a reduction of the financial assistance given by Turkey to the Turkish Cypriots.

The diplomat reportedly spoke about the need to redirect the hundreds of thousands of dollars in Turkish aid given annually to the breakaway regime from paying the salaries of public sector workers to investment and growth in the private sector.

Akca said Ankara will no longer finance airports, electricity production, telecommunications and the ports in the north, instead encouraging their privatisation.

He further highlighted that when Ankara hears of Turkish Cypriots spending money south of the buffer zone in the government-controlled areas, this makes the Turkish government more reluctant to continue propping up the regime.

The Ankara government, and in particular its Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, believes the Turkish Cypriot authorities spend too much of the approximately US$600 million worth of aid it gives on public sector salaries.

Tomorrow, Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leadership will celebrate 29 years since the unilateral declaration of independence of the ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ which the United Nations Security Council condemned in two separate resolutions.

However, relations between Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots have become increasingly tense in recent years as the latter warn of losing their identity as a result of direct rule from Ankara and the continuous policy of sending mainland Turks and Turkish private capital to the north of the island.

Early last year, Turkish Cypriots held a number of mass rallies in north Nicosia, with thousands of people filling the streets, protesting against an Ankara-inspired economic austerity package and against the privatisation of key enterprises being sold off to mainland Turkish business interests.

Demonstrators held banners calling for self-rule, and against interference by Ankara. Rally-goers carried banners calling on Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party to “get your hands off the Turkish Cypriots”. Some protesters were seen attempting to put up the Cyprus Republic flag on the walls of the Turkish ‘embassy’ in the north, to the displeasure of the mainland Turkish press.  

In turn, Erdogan brazenly called Turkish Cypriots “ingrates” for protesting on the one hand while being fed and maintained by Turkey on the other. 

The Turkish PM further raised the ire of Turkish Cypriots by replacing his ‘ambassador’ to the north with Akca, the chief architect of the austerity package, who made the recent comments on the privatisation of the north’s key sectors.

THE THREE British tourists arrested in connection with the fatal stabbing of a 19-year-old British soldier during a nightclub brawl in Ayia Napa were re-remanded by the Famagusta district court yesterday for a further two days. 

The court gave police another two days to complete the file on the killing of Fusilier David Lee Collins who died minutes after being stabbed in the chest early Sunday morning on November 4 following a club brawl. 

Collins, from Manchester, died just hours before he was due to be deployed to Afghanistan with the 2nd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. The teenage soldier had been clubbing with three other soldiers when they became involved in the brawl with three British holidaymakers from London.

Police are investigating allegations that the fracas started after taunting related to regional rivalry between London and Manchester with the two groups allegedly arranging to meet at a nightclub in Ayia Napa to settle their difference after an argument late on the night of November 3.

The suspects, two of Pakistani origin and the third of Somali descent, were taken into custody minutes after the stabbing and are being held at separate police stations in Dherynia, Xylofagou and Ayia Napa.

Police told the Cyprus Mail they had discovered 11 knives and a knuckleduster during a search of the tourists’ hotel room hours after the stabbing.

The detainees told police they bought the knives in Ayia Napa as presents for their friends back home in London.

Police also confirmed that the knife used to stab Collins was purchased at an Ayia Napa souvenir shop and found at the scene of the crime.

Following the original eight-day remand issued by the Famagusta court on November 5, the three were re-remanded for a further two days yesterday. 

During the first remand hearing, one of the tourists, a 19-year-old, appeared in court with a gash on his forehead and his left hand bandaged. The court heard that he told police he had stabbed the victim in self-defence when his friends were allegedly assaulted by a group of British soldiers. The other two in remand, both 17-years-old, admitted being at the scene of the crime but denied any involvement in the incident. 

The three face possible charges of premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit a crime and possession of an offensive weapon.

If charged with murder, they could face a life sentence.

AN INITIAL round of negotiations with the companies that were awarded offshore gas exploration licences wrapped up yesterday, amid fresh reports over the selection of a French-Russian consortium for the Block 9 prospect.

At the Commerce Ministry,a government-appointed negotiating team held talks with representatives of the TOTAL-NOVATEC consortium that was selected for the Block 9 concession, followed by a meeting with Total E&P Activities Petrolieres that was picked for the Block 11 licence.

On Monday, negotiations were held with officials of the ENI-KOGAS consortium selected for the licences for blocks 2 and 3.

Sources told the Cyprus Mail that full-blown negotiations would get underway in about a fortnight; yesterday the selected companies were asked to come back in two weeks’ time with improved proposals, regarding both the financial and technical aspects of their bids.

Once the negotiations begin in earnest, they could take weeks or months. Commerce Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis said recently that the contracts should be signed in early 2013.

The four offshore prospects are contiguous, lying north and north-east of Block 12, where US firm Noble Energy has a concession to drill and has reported significant gas finds.

Block 9 is considered to be the ‘prime cut’ of the four prospects, having received eight bids in total.

But questions are being asked after it emerged that the government altered the order of ranking of the bids for Block 9, eventually picking the TOTAL-NOVATEC consortium despite it being ranked fourth or fifth.

The government has denied anything untoward in changing the order of ranking for Block 9, arguing that its final decision took into account additional parameters, such as matters of national security.

Two separate assessments of the bids were made: one by the French consultancy Beicip Franlab, the other by the Energy Service of the Commerce Ministry. But the final decision rested with the Cabinet, on the recommendation of the commerce minister.

Daily Phileleftheros yesterday published what it claimed were the full data on the respective scores awarded by Beicip and the Energy Service.

The TOTAL-NOVATEC bid scored 227.7 points, 50 points short of the top-ranked bid submitted by the Italian-Korean consortium consisting of ENI and KOGAS.

A breakdown of the scores showed that TOTAL-NOVATEC’s technical tender got 60.6 points, compared to ENI-KOGAS’s 60.8. On the financial tender, TOTAL-NOVATEC scored 162.1, to ENI-KOGAS’s 216.9.

The paper said also that TOTAL-NOVATEC’s proposal for a signature bonus was 400 per cent lower than that of ENI-KOGAS. The report went on to ask whether, during the negotiations that have now begun, the French-Russian consortium would be able to up its offer to meet that submitted by the top-ranked bidder.

Phileleftheros said moreover that some of the companies not selected for the four licences were now gathering data with a view to contesting the competition process.

PAPHOS IS being put firmly on the map of low-cost airline destinations thanks to the scantily clad cabin crew of budget airline Ryanair.

The latest edition of the now famous Ryanair Charity Calendar - featuring the airline’s more presentable cabin crew wearing as few garments as you’re allowed to take on a Ryanair flight without extra cost - was shot entirely on location in Paphos.

Last June, over 20 cabin crew models arrived in Paphos with photographers to shoot next year’s calendar, the proceeds of which will go to Polish charity TVN Foundation. 

The airline hopes to raise up to €100,000 for the Warsaw-based Foundation which aims to purchase hospital equipment to help children suffering from mucoviscidosis (cystic fibrosis).

Ryanair’s cabin crew have already raised over €500,000 since the first calendar was published in 2008. Around 10,000 copies are circulated per year at €10 each and usually sell out pretty fast. The 2012 edition had already sold out by May.

According to the low-cost airline’s website, the latest calendar shot in Paphos “is hotter than ever, featuring the sexiest Ryanair cabin crew stunners in swimwear and lingerie”. 

The calendar is on sale onboard Ryanair flights, on its website or from TVN Foundation centres across Poland.

Ryanair is noted for its racy calendars and last year came under fire from the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK over images of female cabin crew posing in their underwear, which were published in the UK’s top-selling newspapers.

The Paphos Regional Tourism Board, Hermes airports and Capital Coast hotel hosted the photographers in June for the photo shoot. An announcement released yesterday welcomed the promotion of Paphos as a destination through the calendar which includes shots at locations across Paphos, including Aphrodite’s birthplace, Petra tou Romiou.

Paphos became Rynair’s 50th base earlier this year, from where it was operating 15 destinations, while the low-cost carrier has been flying from Larnaca since 2010. 

THE Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) has promised to look into ways of at least informing customers of major power supply faults after residents of a number of Paphos villages experienced around 90 power cuts in a month.

Simou resident Nick Newton and his wife Anne reached desperation point after they were subjected to 89 power cuts between October 9 and November 11.

“This has been a nightmare for my friends and I as well as my neighbours, both in our village and surrounding villages. We have proof of the number of cuts which have been taking place as some of us have burglar alarms that send text messages when power is lost to the house,” Newton said.

Acting EAC spokesman Yiannis Tsouloftas confirmed the number of cuts and put them down to technical problem that had been very difficult to detect, “connected with the overhead line which supplies these villages”.

“The problem became apparent every time there was bad weather,” he said, adding that staff had tried to solve the problem as soon as they became aware of it but the “tricky technical fault was well hidden”.

According to Newton some of the cuts were of a short duration but others were for as long as eleven hours.

“It is not only the disruptions and inconvenience that these interruptions cause but also the damage caused to computers, internet radios, central heating control units, hard disc drives, food in freezers and so on. Can you imagine resetting the electronic clocks in the house 90 times in one month?”

The Newtons have already had to repair one of their computers and throw away all of the food from the top shelf of their freezer after one of the more lengthy cuts.

Newton said: “we would like the EAC to explain exactly what is happening to the electricity power supply in the villages of Simou, Lasa Fyti and Ayios Dimitrianos. We have tried to find out information but time and again were merely told it’s a fault and we don’t know how long it will take to fix.”

Tsouloftas said on November 11, the area was hit by a power cut again, “so we visited the area to thoroughly inspect the overhead line. Each and every insulator and piece of equipment was checked, we had to interrupt the supply for safety reasons.” Since then, he said, there has been no further cut to supply.

The Newtons say that if they and others affected by the cuts had at least been given some warning by the EAC it would’ve been helpful.

“It has been driving us all crazy, why couldn’t the EAC post a notice on their website for instance.”

Tsouloftas promised he would personally look into ways in which the EAC can better inform customers in cases of major instances.

Newton added: “we are told that we pay the highest prices for electricity in the EU so we should not have to endure this from this monopoly. It appears that we are paying Rolls Royce prices and getting a Reliant Robin in return.”

SPEAKING to journalists before yesterday’s ECOFIN meeting in Brussels, Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly, the perennial optimist, said that “very good progress” had been made in talks with the troika in Cyprus and he expected “a very good result towards the end of the week.” Shiarly’s predictions, with regard to the dealings with the troika, have proved wrong so many times it is very difficult to believe a word he now says.

The minister is not a liar or out of touch with reality, but he is serving under an erratic and unpredictable president who does not want to sign a bailout agreement and has been trying to avoid it. President Christofias has long given up listening to Shiarly, who is not part of the government’s negotiating team and was not even consulted when the counter-proposals were prepared. Simply put, he does not speak on behalf of the Christoifas government.

Could we expect a very good result in the negotiations with the troika towards the end of the week given the way the government has been acting? At the weekend, Christofias told a gathering in Greece that the troika “is setting conditions that are very difficult to accept.” On Monday the government was leaking information that the troika’s representatives were taking “a very tough stance” while yesterday the government mouthpiece Haravghi warned of a “Terror scenario” on its front page, saying the troika’s insistence on the privatisation of semi-governmental organisations had been rejected.

Meanwhile AKEL has been attacking political opponents for “embracing the positions of the troika” and for insisting there should be a deal as soon as possible. Is there an alternative? Not even the Governor of the Central Bank, Panicos Demetriades, a Christofias appointee, seems to think so. On Monday he told Sigma TV that a bailout had to be signed as soon as possible. “It is the only way to end worries about non-payment and viable debt,” he said.

Everyone recognises the desperate situation we are in and the need to sign a bailout now, except Christofias and his AKEL comrades whose irresponsible populism know no bounds. It is quite incredible that they are now taking a stand against the privatisation of semi-government organisations which is necessary to make the eventual debt viable. Funds raised would constitute part of Cyprus’ contribution towards the bailout which is a perfectly reasonable proposal by the troika.

The truth is there is no time left for negotiations and public posturing. The government needs to swallow its pride, forget its populist rhetoric and accept the bailout terms as its finance minister and the Central Bank Governor have been advising it to do. 

THE ISLAND could request a bailout by international lenders by the end of this week, once an assessment by EU and IMF is complete, finance minister Vassos Shiarly said yesterday.

“The troika team has been in Cyprus for a few days. We are making very good progress, and I hope and anticipate a positive outcome toward the end of this week,” Shiarly told reporters in Brussels shortly before a meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN).

He did not elaborate. The finance minister was in the Belgian capital chairing ECOFIN.

Impressions on the progress of negotiations are changing by the hour; just a day earlier, media reports strongly suggested that a deal with the troika was nowhere near.

Mixed signals appear to have become the order of the day.  On Monday the EU’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn seemed to be growing impatient with the pace of Cyprus’ bailout request up to this point.

“It would have been important to achieve an agreement on the memorandum already earlier, because the situation is rather difficult, the economic and financial situation, it's rather difficult,” Rehn said in Brussels when asked about a bailout for Cyprus.

“But things are now moving forward,” he added.

The official’s comments came amid mounting speculation here as to when an overall bailout deal could be clinched.

The next scheduled meeting of the Eurogroup – before which a bailout deal is put for initial approval – is on December 3, although reports yesterday suggested that an extraordinary meeting of the group could be arranged for December 12 specifically to discuss Cyprus.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde left a small window of opportunity regarding aid to the two main Cypriot banks, which may be concluded within a month. 

“As you know there is an assessment of bank recapitalisation needs that is ongoing at the moment that is due to be concluded later in November, early December probably. That's an important factor to really assess the size of what is needed to be done as far as the banking system is concerned in Cyprus,” Lagarde said.

She was alluding to an asset review of Cypriot banks by investment company Pimco; the assessment will determine the extent of the banks’ bailout – the immediate cause behind the island’s request for assistance.

Meanwhile the troika teams continued their contacts here with a series of governmental agencies and regulatory authorities.

Yesterday they met with officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission to discuss issues relating to money laundering. There followed meetings with the Planning Bureau of the Ministry of Health, officials of the Health Insurance Organisation to discuss the proposed implementation of the National Health Insurance System (NHIS), the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority, the Commission for the Protection of Competition, and the Cyprus Tourism Organisation.

In the afternoon, the foreign experts saw representatives of the Interior Ministry, Land Registry and Town Planning.

The troika is said to be revisiting the issue of seizures of properties held against bad loans.

In its economic adjustment programme for Cyprus, delivered to the government in July, the troika had advised that “strong efforts should be made to maximise bank recovery rates for non-performing loans, while minimising the incentives for strategic defaults by borrowers.”

It proposed that “the administrative hurdles and legislative framework currently constraining the seizure and sale of loan collateral will be amended such that the property pledged as collateral can be seized and offered for sale within a maximum time-span of 1.5 years.”

But the government wants to extend the period after which banks can seize and sell such properties, to five years. Moreover, it proposes that owner-occupied housing be exempted from any asset seizures.

Reports yesterday said the international lenders have somewhat softened their stance and are now willing to extend to two years the seizures period for owner-occupied housing.

Today the troika experts will be meeting among themselves to take stock of the bailout negotiations that began on Friday.

They will also likely be meeting with the government’s negotiating team, comprising the finance minister, the commerce minister, the minister of labour and social insurance, the government spokesman and the Under-Secretary to the President.

Heading the troika mission to Cyprus are: IMF economist Delia Velculescu; Philipp Rother, head of the Fiscal Surveillance Section in the Fiscal Policy Division of the European Central Bank; and Maarten Verwey, the European Commission’s Deputy Director-General for Economic and Financial Affairs.

President Demetris Christofias with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and European Parliament President Martin Schulz in

AN APPEAL to stop proposed welfare cuts for families with disabled children was the main theme of a press conference held yesterday by ‘Agkalia Elpidas’, an association of parents and friends of children with cerebral palsy and other types of paralysis.
Currently families are entitled to a minimum of €850 per child a month in welfare support from the government, but proposed cuts could wipe out all of that, leaving some families to fend for themselves at a time of economic strife.
“We believe there should be no cuts to aid given to children with disability,” said the president of Agkalia Elpidas, Elli Philipou. “Groups that are vulnerable must be excluded from austerity measures and protected, especially now during this most difficult period.”
The proposed cuts have yet to be voted on by members of parliament, but the Cyprus Confederation of Organisations of the Disabled (KYSOA) said it was shocked that nobody from the government or welfare office had even consulted them.
“We will be sending our counter-proposals to the government next week,” KYSOA president Christos Nikolaides told the press conference.
Philipou said that a foundation for helping people with disabilities needed to be put in place rather than quick fix solutions.
“We need to build centres with modern specifications to help people with disabilities,” she said.
Another concern that was discussed was the lack of toys or games available at public parks or play places to children with disabilities.
“I have been to 30 or 40 parks in Nicosia and haven’t found one that caters to the needs of disabled children,” one parent said.
The association made it clear that they are not demanding something extraordinary and the equipment needed is not overpriced.
“It’s a very sad feeling to take your (disabled) children to a park and take it for granted that their only option is to sit and watch other children play,” said Yioula Pitsiali, the secretary of Agkalia Elpidas and a mother of a disabled child.
The association also announced they will be hosting a conference on December 14 at the European University of Cyprus where experts will discuss the creation of a proposed multifunctional centre for recovery and therapy on the island.

FORESTRY department officials are patrolling the forests in an attempt to stop people from collecting mushrooms by using garden tools, an announcement said yesterday.
Collecting mushrooms is not against the law as long as collectors pick them by hand and don’t use tools such as pitch forks or rakes as these destroy future growth.
Collecting mushrooms in this way is punishable by one year’s imprisonment and/or a fine of up to €5,000, the forestry department said.
“Early rain and mild autumn temperatures have encouraged mushroom growth in almost all forest areas [and] many of our fellow citizens go to the mountains daily foraging for mushrooms,” an announcement said.
But people try to remove the vegetation covering the mushrooms, usually using pitchforks or rakes. These damage the forest’s ecosystem by killing the small mushrooms that are about to grow, other micro-organisms and local vegetation, the department said.
The department also warned that only those who can tell the difference between poisonous and safe mushrooms should go collecting and then be sure to pick only the part of the mushroom visible above the ground.
Foragers should leave the underground parts of the mushrooms alone as these are the productive fungi which produce future mushrooms.
They should also collect only mature mushrooms that have already released enough spores to ensure future years’ growth, the forestry department said.
“Collection should be done with care and with respect to nature and the mushroom that is being harnessed,” the announcement said.

The red pine mushroom (lactarius deliciosus) is a favourite among foragers

HUNDREDS of cars leaving Nicosia this morning will be stopped to see if they are fitted with the correct, properly maintained tyres.
The Grand Pit Stop campaigners, among them the traffic police, will be checking cars on the Nicosia-Limassol highway between 8am and 1pm, and drivers can stop at the Latsia weighing station to be given maintenance advice and get tyres inflated if necessary.
Properly maintained tyres use less fuel, wear out more slowly and are safer.
Most accidents can be prevented if cars are fitted with the right tyres, kept at the right pressure, the head of a road safety organisation has said.
But over half of all car tyres recently checked across Cyprus were under-inflated, said the head of REACTION, Youth for the Prevention, Marios Stavrou said.
“We started a campaign and discovered that a lot of car tyres had problems, most did not have enough pressure,” he said.
About 600 cars were checked across Cyprus’ five districts between November 1 and 20 and about 55 per cent had under-inflated tyres, he added.
The campaign was carried out with Michelin Tyres who have provided checkers, and the police’s traffic department. Today the Grand Pit Stop campaign hopes to stop double the number they did earlier in the month.
All under-inflated tyres will get pumped up on the spot today.
“We wanted to move beyond words, and act,” Stavrou said.
Drivers should check their tyres before any journey, but since most won’t, REACTION advises checking tyres - for air pressure and wear and tear - once a month and before long journeys.
Buyers of used cars should check to see whether the tyres are those specified by the manufacturer to avoid damaging the car.
A statistical analysis of the campaign results is due end of November, Stavrou said.

Over half the tyres recently checked were under-inflated

WITH Cyprus due to receive a bailout by international lenders, encouraging investment must be a priority, top mandarins told the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency’s (CIPA) annual general meeting (AGM) yesterday.
“It is imperative we strengthen efforts to encourage and convince foreign businesses and investors to include Cyprus as a possible implementation point in their strategic plans when expanding,” Commerce Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis said.
Referring to negotiations with the troika - the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank - Sylikiotis said the EU has learned that any structural changes must take place alongside growth. “Foreign investment movement, especially in strategic sectors of a country, is an important factor in financial growth especially at a time when because of the financial crisis there is a substantial reduction,” Sylikiotis said.
Cyprus asked for help in June after its two largest banks turned to the government for aid because of their exposure to Greek debt. The government had already been shut out of capital markets for over a year, and asked for a comprehensive bailout for its banks and its state fiscal deficit.
President Demetris Christofias - who also addressed the AGM yesterday - said that Cyprus’ role in the debt crisis stems from its banks’ exposure to the Greek economy.
“Left out of the so-called markets and without loan prospects, we were forced to go to the EU’s stability mechanism,” Christofias said. He denied any government responsibility “for any supposed measures the government should have taken and did not”.
“We went to the mechanism to cover the billions the banking system needs,” Christofias said adding that Cyprus hydrocarbons reserves and “balanced measures” could pull the island out of the crisis.
The state-funded CIPA - set up in 2007 to attract foreign investment - can help promote Cyprus as an attractive investment spot, improve the business environment and help out foreign investors, Christofias said.
He said this included the sectors of finance, shipping, education, medical tourism and energy. Christofias said Cyprus was honoured that CIPA was ranked fifth among 189 organisations from across the world for the promotion of foreign investments in a 2012 World Bank report on investment promotion benchmarking.
“During these hard times we absolutely need to attract capital and create new jobs,” he said.
Sylikiotis said that Cyprus could respond to competition by using its natural gas finds, networking with other countries and organisations, and by offering competitive services such as double taxation agreements and low corporate tax rates.
CIPA can help with its network of businesses in Cyprus and abroad, Sylikiotis said.

IN CYPRUS there are no national measures to improve gender balance on boards, a European Commission press release said yesterday.
Women currently represent 4.4 per cent of the board members of the largest publicly listed companies in Cyprus (FTSE/CySE20 index).
This proportion is one of the lowest in the EU and significantly below the EU average (13.7 per cent). The proportions of women board chairs (5.3 per cent) and CEOs (5.6 per cent), on the other hand, are slightly above the EU averages which are 3.2 per cent and 3.3 per cent respectively.
Women account for 3.3 per cent of non-executive directors in the largest publicly listed companies in Cyprus, a significantly lower figure than the EU average of 15 per cent.
The share of women as executive directors in Cyprus is 8.2 per cent compared to the EU average of 8.9 per cent. 
The proportion of women on boards in Cyprus has fluctuated around the five per cent mark since 2003. Over the last five years there is a suggestion of a slight improvement but the rate of change is too slow to have any significant impact, said the Commission press release.
According to Eurobarometer figures, 96 per cent of people in Cyprus (and 88 per cent of Europeans) think that, given equal competences, women should be equally represented in positions of leadership in companies while 91 per cent (and 75 per cent of Europeans) are in favour of legislation on this matter under the condition that qualification is taken into account without automatically favouring one or other gender.
There are around 7,500 publicly listed and EU-registered companies in the EU (2011 figure). The available data indicates that about a third of these are SMEs (companies with less than 250 employees), which means that the legislative proposal is likely to affect a total of about 5,000 companies. Of these, it is estimated that around 100 are listed in Cyprus.

COMPANIES LISTED in EU countries could be forced to have more women on their boards, with a target of 40 per cent by 2020, under rules proposed by the European Commission yesterday.
But states are divided on whether positive discrimination or pan-European rules are necessary, and some such as Britain have said they would oppose a legally binding target.
The rules would apply to the non-executive boards of publicly traded companies with over 250 staff, where the Commission estimates women account for fewer than 15 per cent of positions.
“Priority shall be given to the candidate of the under-represented sex if that candidate is equally qualified as the candidate of the other sex,” a Commission statement said.
The plan was backed by a majority of the body's 27 commissioners yesterday. But it is still at an early stage and details are unclear as talks must take place with member states and the European Parliament, which have to approve it before it becomes law.
It is the first attempt to introduce binding rules for a gender quota across the 27 countries in the European Union.
Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding, from Luxembourg, launched the proposal, and several male commissioners are in favour, including Economy Commissioner Olli Rehn from Finland and the finance commissioner, Michel Barnier of France.
Countries could be obliged to penalise companies who do not favour women, under the rules.
Even though the plan sets the target of women to make up 40 per cent of board members by 2020, opposition to mandatory quotas from several countries means it is not year clear whether this would be legally binding.
“There is still some ambiguity in the text,” said a diplomat from one country that is sceptical about the proposed law.
Nine EU countries, including Britain, the Netherlands and Malta, made clear their opposition to the law in September. But one of the nine, Bulgaria, has since changed its mind, said one EU source.
Britain, the most outspoken critic of EU-imposed quotas, says its voluntary approach is adequate. “We have consistently argued that measures are best considered at national level,” a British government spokeswoman said.
The share of women on the boards of British-listed companies rose to 12.5 per cent in 2010 from seven per cent in 1999.
Norway - not a member of the EU- imposed a 40 per cent quota for non-executive boardrooms in 2003, a target that was reached in 2009. Norwegian companies can be liquidated if they fail to reach the target.
While men dominate boardrooms and public posts in the EU, many women who have risen through company ranks resent quotas, saying that they give the impression that women have not been promoted on merit.  

THE MIGRATION Department is violating the human right to family life and privacy by forcing families with a foreign mother to undergo paternity testing at their expense to prove the father is a Cypriot national, according to the Ombudswoman’s Office. 
Following a series of complaints made in 2011 concerning the practices of the migration department when dealing with families containing a foreign mother and Cypriot father, Ombudswoman Eliza Savvidou launched an investigation into the matter.
The result is the damning report against the department issued on October 31, 2012, which Savvidou said effectively violates human rights.
Given that the practice takes place without any legal or regulatory framework and is not based on clear, specific or objective criteria making the action predictable, transparent, fair and legally sound, “the department is violating the principle of legality and by extension the human right to family and private life”.
“Therefore and by this alone, the practice followed by the department has no legal basis and cannot be tolerated in a rule of law state like ours,” she said. 
Regarding the complaints submitted to her office, Savvidou noted that “in none of the cases put before me did the father doubt the paternity of the child, while the couple and the child had a well-established family life”.
The authorities request a paternity test in three cases. The first follows a request for a residence permit by a third country national, who is the mother of a child with a Cypriot father, where the family has a “problematic history” with the department, like previous charges of entering into a fake marriage or illegal stay in the country. Failure to take the test means the mother in question cannot marry her partner if she has not already done so. Nor can she work or have access to any social or medical benefits. 
The second case is when examining an application for Cypriot citizenship by a third country national who is the mother of child declared to have a Cypriot father.
A third case is if the child was born outside Cyprus, and there is doubt over paternity, or the father’s name on the birth certificate is different, or the child was born within nine months of dissolution of the foreign mother’s previous marriage.
Savvidou points out that none of the above conditions are specified in any law or written regulatory framework. Instead, the decision to demand DNA testing is done on a case by case basis by the head of the Civil Registry and Migration Department, Anny Shakallis, when a “suspect” case comes to her attention.
According to the ombudswoman, despite repeated requests for a written response on the matter from Shakallis, none was given. 
Instead, Savvidou heard orally from the migration head that a paternity test was requested in a few dozen cases. In 99.9 per cent of those cases, the DNA analysis proved the Cypriot partner was the biological father of the child.
The costs to the family are around €1,000 for DNA testing of the mother, father and child. Failure to take the test if requested results in a rejected application, whether that be for a residence permit for the mother or citizenship for the child.
The ombudswoman referred in her report to the European Commission’s guidelines on the issue which specify that to consider a statement of paternity false, the person presenting himself as the father has to know he is not the father and also have no intention of taking on parental responsibility for the child.
She further highlighted that DNA testing for the purposes mentioned above was not very common since most EU member states regulate the matter using “milder measures” like certifying the authenticity of birth certificates, obtaining other evidence, and examining the couple’s history.  
In the UK, it is only used when a person wants to bring his family to the UK from another country and under very strict rules and conditions.
The biggest concern of EU countries is the respect to family and private life. The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the right to family life protects any active parental relationship that develops within a family, even if there is no biological bond between parent and child, and even if there is no marriage between the parental couple.
In respect of private life, this also includes parent’s genetic identity. 
The ombudswoman argued that even if in Cyprus’ case there was a clearly defined regulatory framework, it still couldn’t be considered compatible with human dignity.
Savvidou came down hard on the migration department’s tactics saying they ignore the strong personal ties and relationships of mutual dependence that develop even in non-biological families.
She also finds “seriously problematic” the issue of protecting the confidentiality of the genetic information obtained by the department, since the whole collection, processing, storage, management and destruction of personal data remains “completely unregulated”.
 

THE UNCERTAINTY caused by the government’s stalling over the bailout and made worse by current speculation that it would refuse to sign a memorandum of understanding with the troika have put the ailing Cypriot banks under immense pressure.
They have been on very shaky ground for quite some time, but fears that President Christofias might refuse to sign a bailout are bound to wreck what little public confidence there is left in the banks at present.
Laiki Bank, which has been kept afloat by drawing emergency liquidity, according to reports, has also had to cope, more recently, with a withdrawal of deposits. When the Council of Ministers was informed that the Laiki auditors intended to express reservations about its “ability to continue as a functioning business entity”, the government asked for help from the European Commission which approved the provision of state guarantees to the banking sector of up to €3 billion.
The bank will now issue bonds amounting to €500 million that would be guaranteed by the state. A newspaper commentator concluded that this move would not only improve the capital adequacy and liquidity of the bank but also underline the government’s commitment to providing the banking sector with the necessary support, so that the climate of confidence would return. Could anyone believe that any move, other than the signing of a bailout, by the cash-strapped government would restore confidence in the banks?
The governor of the Central Bank, Panicos Demetriades, who enjoys a good relationship with the Christofias government and assisted its efforts to blame the Cyprus economic crisis exclusively on the banks, does not share this view. Aware of how precarious the situation is, Demetriades declared on Monday that a bailout had to be signed as soon as possible.
But the government disagreed. A presidential palace source, quoted by Sigmalive, yesterday insisted that contrary to what the finance minister had said in Brussels, no progress had been made in the talks with the troika, making it clear that no agreement with the troika was imminent. The same source claimed the finance minister, “in an effort to protect (bank) deposits in Cyprus must express optimism”.
It was a frightening admission. The government was aware that bank deposits had to be protected, but it had no intention of signing the bailout that would see off the very real danger of a run on the banks, the probability of which increases with every day. If there is a collapse of the banking sector, everything the government thinks it is defending by not signing a bailout - CoLA, 13th salaries, the pension system, CyTA, etc - would be lost anyway.

TIME was not the only important factor in the bailout negotiations, President Demetris Christofias said yesterday, as he reiterated that certain political conditions tabled by international lenders would be hard to accept.
Christofias also called on the opposition to stop suggesting he was blocking an agreement, even though one appeared no closer yesterday.
“Certainly the time factor is important in this negotiation,” Christofias said, but it was not the only one.
“In our perception, the substance, the contents of the agreement is the most decisive parameter since it will define the future of the country and the people in the coming years,” the president said.
 Speaking at the AGM of the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency, Christofias said it is a difficult negotiation and “political conditions submitted by the troika are difficult to accept”.
He did not elaborate.
It was the same statement he made last Saturday in Greece, which came to contradict Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly’s comment that progress had been achieved in the negotiations.
The opposition criticised the government over the contradictory statements, as rumours insisted Christofias is trying to avoid putting his name on a bailout agreement.
The president himself, without naming anyone, said people should stop sending messages to Europe “that ministers supposedly want and the president is obstructing the signing of a memorandum”.
Opposition DISY leader and presidential candidate Nicos Anastassiades pointed out the contradictions and voiced hope that the administration, which he said shares the blame for the woes of the economy, would have the courage to sign a deal.
“The measures will be painful, without a doubt. We have lost valuable time,” Anastassiades said during a lunchtime news show on state broadcaster CyBC. “They would have been a lot less painful if only they had listened to us when we warned them.”
Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said the only thing that caused confusion were the contradictory comments made by the opposition.
“On the one hand opposition parties demand a tough negotiation and on the other they accuse the government for supposedly delaying signing the memorandum,” Stefanou said. “What does the opposition really want? Sign a memorandum whose only contents would be the troika’s demands and conditions?”
Asked if he agreed with Shiarly’s comment, Stefanou said “we shall see this at the end of the road.”
The aim was for an agreement as soon as possible, the spokesman said, on condition that the contents are known.
But it appears that it would not be soon enough for the government to receive much-needed cash to cover its increased obligations next month.
The troika delegation currently on the island is not even authorised to close a deal, Stefanou said, because the amount needed for recapitalising the banks is still unknown.
Reports said the administration would need some €350 million in December.
Stefanou did not get into details regarding the negotiations but he repeated that one major sticking point was the disagreement on the amount needed for recapitalising the banks.
That amount is still unknown although the troika’s estimate is around double that of the government’s, hence the former’s stricter austerity measures.
Meanwhile the troika continued its contacts with officials representing various sectors of the economy.
Reports said the lenders, together with the government, will task an independent organisation to review the efficiency of the civil service with special emphasis on tax collection.
The troika has also suggested liberalising legal charges and allowing advertising by law offices - both proposals are rejected by lawyers.

President Demetris Christofias meeting yesterday with trade union representatives, who handed him a memorandum with their positions, on the day of European Action and Solidarity protests

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's four-goal haul against England has given Swedes a timely reminder of the benefits of their multi-cultural society at a time of increasing support for anti-immigration parties.

"Just call it the Zlatan Arena," wrote newspaper Expressen, after the Swedish captain scored four times - including an incredible angled bicycle kick - that gave Sweden a 4-2 win over England in an international friendly at the newFriends Arena.

His goal spree left coach Roy Hodgson beaten for the first time in 90 minutes as England manager. His only other setback was losing to Italy in a penalty shootout in the quarter-finals of Euro 2012.

Ibra's goals came from across his broad register of skills - a classic poacher's effort to open the scoring, a second where he chested the ball to himself and volleyed home, a thundering free kick and the bicycle kick in stoppage time that completed the scoring.

The goals also came on the day a politician from the far-right Sweden Democrats was forced to resign after a film showed him using offensive language about immigrants.

Sweden's national football team has a number of players of different ethnic backgrounds including Ibrahimovic, who is of Bosnian and Croatian descent.

"They probably weren't happy with that, the idiots," second-half substitute Pontus Wernbloom told newspaper Sportbladet, referring to the Sweden Democrats. "I hope Zlatan shut them up."

His midfield partner Kim Kallstrom also spoke to Sportbladet of Ibrahimovic's value as a role model.

"With foreign-born parents and certain problems in society, he can hopefully unify the country in a very good way. Football builds bridges. He's a modern Swede who stands for the new Sweden."

In a column headlined‘Sweden's Pride’, Sportbladet columnist Simon Bank wrote: "We were in Zlatan's arena. We come from Zlatan's country. And if ever we needed symbols and leaders, it is now."

Polls show that support for the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats has risen from six percent at the last election to 11 percent this week.

The country's newspapers highlighted Ibrahimovic's goals in the domestic political context while also delighting in the reaction of their English counterparts.

The British media have been slow to warm to the giant from Malmo as he previously has struggled against their sides in the Champions League but that came to an end at the Friends Arena.

Sportbladet's London correspondent said it had been "my greatest moment in 10 years with the English press pack, and I just have Mr. Ibrahimovic to thank for that."

Ibrahimovic told a news conference afterwards that the breath-taking bicycle kick was the best of his 39 goals for the national side, but it was the first one, the first goal in the new stadium, that gave him the most pleasure.

"I liked the first goal more, because it made history in a new arena. It's not the best goal I have scored, but its the one I have enjoyed the most."

True to form, he didn't mention politics at all during the post-match press conference, preferring to let his feet do his talking for him on the pitch.