By Dasha Afanasieva and Ayla Jean Yackley

Riot police clashed with demonstrators in several Turkish cities for a second day on Wednesday as mourners buried a teenager wounded in protests last summer, unrest which a defiant Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan cast as a plot against the state.

Police fired water cannon, tear gas and rubber pellets on a major Istanbul avenue to stop tens of thousands of people chanting anti-government slogans from reaching the central Taksim square. There were similar scenes in the centre of the capital Ankara and in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir.

Berkin Elvan’s death on Tuesday after nine months in a coma touched off the worst unrest in Turkey since the nationwide anti-government demonstrations last June, adding to Erdogan’s woes as he battles a graft scandal that has become one of the biggest challenges of his decade in power.

Crowds chanting “Tayyip! Killer!” and “Everywhere is Berkin, everywhere is resistance” held up photos of the 15-year-old as his coffin, draped in red and covered in flowers, was carried from a “cemevi”, an Alevi place of worship, through the streets of Istanbul’s working class Okmeydani district for burial.

Alevis are a religious minority in mainly Sunni Muslim Turkey who espouse a liberal version of Islam and have often been at odds with Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted government.

Her voice hoarse with tears, Elvan’s mother Gulsum cried out “What am I to do now? They’ve taken my everything,” after his coffin was lowered into the ground at a leafy hill-top cemetery.

Erdogan, campaigning around the country for March 30 local elections, failed to comment on Elvan’s death at two campaign rallies on Wednesday, railing instead against the protesters and saying they would be silenced at the ballot box.

“Trying to set fire to the streets 18 days before elections is not a democratic stance,” he told throngs of supporters at a rally in the southeastern city of Mardin.

He accused a coalition of “anarchists, terrorists and vandals” as well as the opposition and an influential U.S.-based Islamic cleric of stoking unrest to undermine him.

“Scenarios are being prepared to shatter the peace. They are implementing new provocations to stir up the streets,” he said, calling on Turks to be vigilant against such “provocations”.

Those attending the protests said Erdogan’s silence on Elvan’s death, in contrast to President Abdullah Gul and other public figures who issued messages of condolence, highlighted how out of touch he was with a large segment of Turkish society.

“The lack of compassion, the polarising attitude … and the fact he behaves like an autocrat is what brought us here,” said Emre, 32, marching with his father-in-law.

The funeral ceremony was broadcast live on major television news channels, some of which had been criticised for their scant coverage of last June’s unrest.

ERDOGAN RESILIENT

Elvan, then aged 14, got caught up in street battles in Istanbul between police and protesters on June 16 while going to buy bread for his family. He became a rallying point for government opponents, who held vigils at the Istanbul hospital where he lay in intensive care from a head trauma believed to have been caused by a police tear gas canister.

Skirmishes on Tuesday following his death spread to cities including Mersin on the Mediterranean coast, Samsun on the Black Sea and the southern city of Adana.

On Wednesday, Istanbul protesters hurled firecrackers behind police lines, while hundreds of people, including bystanders caught up in the melee, took refuge in a shopping mall and a hotel lobby as police fired tear gas and pepper spray.

Protesters stood by fires at barricades blocking roads around the poor Okmeydani neighbourhood. Signs on shop windows said stores would remain shut for two days, while traders sold black and white flags bearing Berkin’s face.

Two labour unions called a one-day strike while professors at some universities announced they were cancelling classes.

In the eastern province of Tunceli, which has an Alevi majority, around 1,000 school children marched across town and staged a sit-in in front of the offices of the ruling AK Party.

The uncertainty in the run-up to elections has rattled Turkish investors, with the lira languishing at its weakest in five weeks, but has shown little sign so far of seriously weakening Erdogan, fiercely popular in the conservative Anatolian heartlands after a decade of rising prosperity.

“The recent barrage of corruption allegations … appears to have had little impact on Erdogan’s electoral popularity, merely deepening the political divides in an already highly polarised society,” said Wolfango Piccoli, managing director of research firm Teneo Intelligence.

“(But) the death of a child on his way to buy bread for his family is something that cuts across political divides and will have particular resonance amongst the urban and rural poor who form Erdogan’s core support base.”

Istanbul and Ankara have both seen protests in recent weeks against what demonstrators regard as Erdogan’s authoritarian reaction to the graft affair, which has included new laws tightening Internet controls and handing government greater influence over the appointment of judges and prosecutors.

By Staff Reporter

Ryanair said on Wednesday it had extended its groups’ services to Cyprus on ryanair.com, enabling groups and businesses to book the lowest fare group rates.

The service will be followed by a new business product to be unveiled in the summer as Ryanair launches its summer 2014 schedule with 10 European destinations, the airline said but did not elaborate further.

It said Ryanair ‘Groups’ would be of significant interest to all travelling groups including schools, sports clubs and all other large party organizers. With more than 1,600 daily flights, connecting 186 destinations across 30 countries, “both groups and business travellers will save time and money” a statement said.

Ryanair’s Head of Corporate Travel and Groups, Lesley Kane added: “2014 is set to be a very exciting year for Cyprus groups and business customers as Ryanair’s entry into these markets will significantly lower their costs of travel.”

By Chris Francescani and Edith Honan

Two New York buildings collapsed on Wednesday in an explosion believed to be caused by a gas leak, killing two people, injuring at least 22, and setting off a search for more feared trapped in the debris, officials said.

A blast that scattered debris onto nearby rooftops brought down neighboring five-story buildings with a total of 15 apartments at about 9.30am (1330 GMT) on the largely residential block at East 116th Street and Park Avenue in Upper Manhattan.

Clouds of thick smoke billowed from the rubble of the apartment buildings that sat above a ground-level church and a piano store in a largely Latino working-class neighborhood. Officials declined to give a number of people still missing.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who rushed to the scene in East Harlem, where a cascade of twisted and burnt metal blocked the sidewalk and covered parked cars, said preliminary information showed the explosion was caused by a gas leak.

Officials at the press conference said the blast occurred 15 minutes after a resident in an adjacent building called Con Edison to complain of a gas odor.

Hundreds of firefighters were scouring the mounds of debris for survivors and trapped bodies.

“There are a number of missing individuals,” de Blasio said. “We are expending every effort to locate each and every loved one.”

Crews also scrambled to clean up the debris, which littered nearby train tracks and shut down Metro-North Railroad service, ahead of the evening commute.

Neighbors said they thought an earthquake was shaking them from their beds and breakfast tables. The explosion, which could be heard from blocks away, shattered windows around the neighborhood.

“All of a sudden the whole building shook. We had no idea what was going on,” said Robert Pauline, 56, a Columbia University data processor whose apartment six blocks away was rocked by the explosion.

The force of the blast blew Joseph Concepcion, 30, who lives less than a block away, at least an inch off his couch.

“I literally got lifted off my couch, the boom was so strong,” Concepcion said.

President Barack Obama was briefed on the collapse and sent his condolences to the victims’ families and his support to first responders at the scene.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone impacted by this incident,” the White House said in a statement.

Crowds of residents, their faces covered with protective scarves and masks, filled the sidewalks of surrounding streets, which were blocked off with yellow police tape.

“It’s a very active scene. It’s a very chaotic scene,” said Fire Department spokesman Michael Parrella.

Fire trucks used high cranes to spray blasts of water into the rubble, as dozens of ambulances and police cruisers with flashing lights swarmed the scene.

During the morning commute, trains were stopped in nearby stations because of debris on the tracks and passengers were ordered off the Metro-North Railroad cars at the Fordham stop in the Bronx, passengers said.

Metro-North said it had been rerouting commuters to New York City subways and it was not yet clear whether normal train service would resume in time for the evening rush hour.

By Andreas Vou
France have been crowned champions of the 2014 Cyprus Cup after an impressive 2-0 win over England at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia on Wednesday evening .

England qualified for the final in convincing fashion, winning all three group games and scoring seven goals. The French may have reached the final in dramatic circumstances, needing an 89th minute goal to seal their date with England, but they looked superior right from the start in this game.

Going into the tournament as holders, England were looking to avenge the defeat they suffered against France in 2011 – a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory in the quarter-finals of the Women’s World Cup. England had not conceded a goal in the tournament but France had scored seven goals en route to the final of the tournament and were intent on breaching the Three Lioness’ defence.

England have not beaten France since 1974 at this level and it was clear that their poor run was going to continue as the French took a two goal lead within the first 20 minutes.
Gaetane Thiney tapped in the opener after just six minutes with the assist coming from some typically pacy wing-play by Elodie Thomis as England failed to deal with the incoming cross. Twelve minutes later it was 2-0 through Camille Abily who smashed home an angled shot past Siobhan Chamberlain in the England goal from around ten yards.

England were flat throughout the game and did not show their true quality, failing to amass a significant chance on goal other than the one on the hour mark. The two substitutes combined to great effect with Eniola Aluko getting to the byline and cutting the ball back to Jill Scott but the Manchester City striker failed to get clean contact and saw the ball fly over the bar.

France’s victory puts them level with England on two Cyprus Cup successes since its creation in 2008, while Canada have won the cup a record three times.
From the organisers’ perspective, the Cyprus Cup was another success as it has been in each of the seven editions hosted on the island.

The Cyprus Cup is a women’s football tournament hosted annually on the island between the top nations of the sport. It is regarded as one of the most prestigious competitions in the women’s game. Cyprus have never competed in the tournament despite being hosts.

By Bejay Browne

SIXTEEN members of a Paphos walking group will take part in a sponsored coast-to-coast effort to raise funds for a local charity.

The Paphos Happy Wanderers group was established ten years ago and currently boasts 120 members, some of whom will walk 65km to raise funds for the Paphos cancer patients support group, CPSG.

Committee member and avid walker Don Finlayson will be taking part. He told the Cyprus Mail: “As this is a long and at times grueling walk, only our elite long distance walkers will participate. We are hoping to raise one thousand euros for the charity.”

The CPSG supports the Cyprus Association of Cancer Patients and Friends (PASYKAF) through fundraising. They help to provide numerous services including free home nursing, psychosocial support, travel to the oncology centre in Nicosia and a free helpline.

This is the second time the walking group is having a go at the long distance walk from Argaka to Mandria in Paphos. Five or so years ago members completed the course raising hundreds for the same charity.

“My wife Dolly is on the CPSG committee and we are both cancer survivors. The charity undertakes such an important role and the nurses and volunteers do such a wonderful job, we all wanted to do something to help,” he said.

On Monday, March 24, sixteen walkers will set off from Liza’s Place, a restaurant in Argaka, and make the 33 km trip to Kannaviou village. Day two will see them walk a further 30km to Mandria and on to the seafront.

“We will then dip our probably sore feet in the sea,” said Finlayson.

Most of the members of the walking group are retired British expats, although there are a number of younger members and a few Cypriots. Finlayson and his wife moved to Cyprus a decade ago, where he took up walking, something he hadn’t previously done in the UK.

“I was a member of the Forces and quite fit. Walking is a good way to promote a healthy lifestyle and to see the real Cyprus,” he said.

The walking group also organise two or three trips to other areas of the island every year.

The Ayios Georgios resident said this is a superb way to discover the island.

The group will be accompanied by two support drivers to provide back-up and assistance if required and all of the participants are in the process of gaining sponsorship.

“It is proving difficult to get sponsorship at present due to the poor economic climate, but we are hoping that people will help us to raise substantial funds for the CPSG,” he said.

For further information or to sponsor the walkers contact Don Finlayson 99758500

www.cancerpatientssupport.net

By Dominique Miltiadou

“GORDON Ramsay is coming to help Brits in Europe” is what Channel 4 is saying in its search to find struggling restaurants for its new television programme.

The plan is for the controversial TV chef to help British-owned restaurants all over the continent, including eateries in Cyprus, that will be featured in the new series based on the award-winning programme ‘Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares’.

Calling out to those who are “struggling to make ends meet, breaking even or on the brink of bankruptcy” this looks like it will be another drama-filled series.

With 1.7m followers on twitter and his self-description of being “somewhere always near food”, Ramsay has been described as one of the world’s most famous chefs, better known for his “impassioned outbursts.”

His restaurants have also been awarded with several Michelin stars (a hallmark of fine dining quality).

Greece is reportedly the first country the celebrity chef will be visiting between May and June and he has said he is fond of Greek cuisine.

No further information regarding any visit to Cyprus has been disclosed but expats keen to sign up their restaurant for the show can visit http://www.channel4.com/programmes/take-part/articles/all/gordon-ramsay-is-coming-to-help-brits-in-europe .

By Angelos Anastasiou

THE House watchdog committee has formally requested the semi-government power company EAC to provide answers to questions of mismanagement and squandering of funds, as raised by the Auditor General in her annual report for 2012 and during a previous committee session in January this year.

But an EAC official has cited underhanded scheming by the committee chairman that will simply delay providing the necessary answers.

In the letter, addressed to the newly-appointed EAC head Othonas Theodoulou, the committee’s president and DISY MP Giorgos Georgiou reminded the EAC chairman of his legal obligation to submit any and all evidence and documents as requested by the House and lists eight questions to which answers are required.

A detailed report regarding the construction of the Authority’s new regional offices – which were completed in 2012 after a delay of over ten months – budgeted at €6m but ended up costing €20m, is the first item requested.

Some 12,000 wooden utility poles, purchased by the EAC in 2005 without meeting specifications, have been placed, resulting in the need to replace them at a substantial cost. The watchdog committee’s letter asked for all information related to the decision to buy the poles.

A storage warehouse, constructed by the EAC in Polis Chrysochous in 2008 at a cost of €7.5m, remains unutilised to date, and the committee wants an analytical report on the project history.

The watchdog committee also requested information with regard to the EAC’s lease of a storage warehouse in Dherynia, Famagusta, until 2019 at a monthly cost of €4,000 with no get-out clause, which was subsequently deemed unfit for use and turned into a car-park.

Legal advice to the authority, outsourced to the same law firm since 2008 at a cost of €500,000 annually without revisions to the original agreement, also came under the committee’s scrutiny.

The EAC board’s action plan on replacing long-outdated electricity meters with modern ones was also requested.

Some 50 fixed-term contract employees, made permanent by the EAC at an annual cost of €1.3m, were the object of another point raised by the committee, which asked for the criteria and procedure followed in the decision to render them permanent.

Finally, the committee asked the EAC’s board to look into the specifications required in tenders for the supply of urea – a substance used in electricity production to reduce emissions – so that more suppliers can compete and offer lower prices, as during the period 2009 to 2013, a single supplier was paid roughly €5m for a urea supply deal.

Kostas Gavrielides, spokesman for the EAC, said that the power utility will answer the committee’s letter, but added that when these issues were first aired – in January 2014 – the EAC had assured the committee that it could provide satisfactory explanations, pointing out that the letter containing the committee’s questions was only received last week and hinting at foul play by the committee’s president.

“These issues first came up after the January committee session by Mr Georgiou, but not during it”, Gavrielides said, implying that Georgiou had purposefully kept the issues to himself during the meeting with the EAC delegation, only to come out – all guns blazing – right after the meeting before the press.

“From the first moment, we had said that we can provide the answers they were after, once we received a letter listing all their questions in writing – but the letter only came last week.”

In addition to lambasting Georgiou’s “inappropriate” behaviour, Gavrielides also criticised the committee for falling short on accuracy.

“The letter is full of inaccurate assertions and incorrect figures, which would indicate poor research – still, the EAC is in a position to provide answers”, he concluded.

By Eveline Danubrata and Nguyen Phuong Linh

Malaysia’s military has traced what could have been the jetliner missing for almost five days to an area south of the Thai holiday island of Phuket, hundreds of miles from its last known position, the country’s air force chief said on Wednesday.

After a series of at times conflicting statements, the latest revelation underlined that authorities remain uncertain even where to look for the plane, and no closer to explaining what happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 or the 239 people on board.

The flight disappeared from civilian radar screens shortly before 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, as it flew northeast across the mouth of the Gulf of Thailand bound for Beijing. What happened next is one of the most baffling mysteries in modern aviation history.

Malaysian air force chief Rodzali Daud told a news conference that an aircraft was plotted on military radar at 2:15 a.m., 320 km northwest of Penang Island off Malaysia’s west coast.

It was not confirmed that the unidentified plane was Flight MH370, but Malaysia was sharing the data with international civilian and military authorities, Rodzali said.

“We are corroborating this,” he added. “We are still working with the experts, it’s an unidentified plot.”

AGONISING WAIT

According to the data from Rodzali, if it was the missing plane it would have flown for 45 minutes and lost only about 1,500 metres in altitude.

There was no word on which direction it was headed and still no clue what happened aboard, prolonging the agonising wait for news for hundreds of relatives of those on board.

A position 200 miles northwest of Penang, in the northern part of the Strait of Malacca, would put the plane roughly south of Phuket and east of the tip of Indonesia’s Aceh province and India’s Nicobar island chain.

Indonesia and Thailand have said their militaries detected no sign of any unusual aircraft in their airspace.

The position is hundreds of miles west of the point where the Boeing 777-200ER dropped off air traffic control screens. Malaysia has asked India for help in tracing the aircraft and New Delhi’s coastguard planes have joined the search.

Authorities however are continuing to search around both locations – at the last known position of the plane over the Gulf of Thailand and around the radar plotting site where the Malacca Strait meets the Andaman Sea.

In total, the search is over 93,000 sq km, an area the size of Hungary or Indiana.

Until now, there has been no confirmed sighting of the plane or any debris.

A dozen countries are helping Malaysia in the search, with 42 ships and 39 aircraft involved, Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said.

“My heart reaches out to the families of the passengers and crew,” he said. “And I give you my assurance we will not reduce the tempo and that we will not spare any effort to find the missing plane.”

CONFUSING INFORMATION

Malaysia has been criticised for giving conflicting and confusing information on the last known location of aircraft.

Earlier on Wednesday, air force chief Rodzali had denied saying military radar had tracked MH370 flying over the Strait of Malacca.

Vietnam briefly scaled down search operations in waters off its southern coast, saying it was receiving scanty and confusing information from Malaysia over where the aircraft may have headed after it lost contact with air traffic control.

Hanoi later said the search – now in its fifth day – was back on in full force and was even extending on to land. China also said its air force would sweep areas in the sea, clarifying however that no searches over land were planned.

“As long as the plane is not found, we would continue doing our mission,” Vo Van Tuan, spokesman forVietnam Search and Rescue Committee, told reporters in Hanoi.

“We should always keep up hope, there can be miracles, humans can survive for a long time in difficult conditions. We must not give up hope that the missing people are still alive.”

NOTHING RULED OUT

In the absence of any concrete evidence to explain the plane’s disappearance, authorities have not ruled out anything. Police have said they were investigating whether any passengers or crew on the plane had personal or psychological problems that might shed light on the mystery, along with the possibility of a hijacking, sabotage or mechanical failure.

The airline said it was taking seriously a report by a South African woman who said the co-pilot of the missing plane had invited her and a female companion to sit in the cockpit during a flight two years ago, in an apparent breach of security.

“Malaysia Airlines has become aware of the allegations being made against First Officer Fariq Ab Hamid which we take very seriously. We are shocked by these allegations. We have not been able to confirm the validity of the pictures and videos of the alleged incident,” the airline said in a statement.

The woman, Jonti Roos, told Reuters that she and her friend were invited to fly in the cockpit by Fariq and the pilot between Phuket and Kuala Lumpur in December 2011.

“I thought that they were highly skilled and highly competent and since they were doing it that it was allowed,” Roos said. “I want to make it clear, at no point did I feel we were in danger or that they were acting irresponsibly.”

Hugh Dunleavy, the commercial director of Malaysia Airlines, told Reuters there was no reason to blame the crew.

“We have no reason to believe that there was anything, any actions, internally by the crew that caused the disappearance of this aircraft,” he said.

The Boeing 777 has one of the best safety records of any commercial aircraft in service. Its only previous fatal crash came on July 6 last year when Asiana Airlines Flight 214 struck a seawall on landing in San Francisco, killing three people.

US planemaker Boeing has declined to comment beyond a brief statement saying it was monitoring the situation.

By Julian Linden
Canada’s Milos Raonic, one of the biggest servers in men’s tennis, knocked Andy Murray out of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Wednesday.

Despite winning the first set, the Wimbledon champion was unable to contain the raw power of Raonic, who triumphed 4-6 7-5 6-3 in a little over two hours.
Raonic had won two of his previous three matches against Briton Murray and he improved on his head-to-head record with another impressive display built around his booming serve.
He blasted 15 aces past his bewildered opponent, who is one of the best returners in the game, and won a staggering 83 per cent of points when he landed his first serve.

Murray did break Raonic’s serve in the opening set and again in the deciding third but struggled to hold his own serve against the 6ft 5in (1.96 metre) tall Canadian.
Although he has not made it past the fourth of any grand slam, the 23-year-old Raonic has been steadily climbing the rankings since he announced his arrival by winning the 2011 San Jose Open and being named as the ATP’s newcomer of the year.

He won two more titles in 2012 and again in 2013 and made his first Masters finals in Montreal last year.
His next opponent in the quarter-finals will be Ukrainian giant killer Alexandr Dolgopolov who followed up his upset victory over Rafa Nadal on Monday with a comprehensive 6-2 6-4 drubbing of Italy’s Fabio Fognini.

With five of the top nine seeded players eliminated from the prestigious event in the Californian desert, the title is wide open.
Later on Wednesday, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka were all due to play their fourth-round matches.

By Josh Reich
Barcelona eased into the Champions League quarter-finals with a 4-1 aggregate victory over Manchester City on Wednesday and Paris St Germain joined them after overwhelming Bayer Leverkusen 6-1 over the two legs of their last-16 tie.

Barcelona, holding a 2-0 advantage from the first leg, had a penalty appeal waved away after Lionel Messi was brought down in the box early on and Neymar had a goal chalked off for offside after 18 minutes.

Messi hit the post early in the second half before City, with manager Manuel Pellegrini watching from the stands, upped the pressure and Barcelona keeper Victor Valdes pulled off a stunning save to deny substitute Edin Dzeko and defender Pablo Zabaleta fluffed a shot just wide.

Argentine Messi would not be denied a third time, however, taking advantage of Joleon Lescott’s error to clip the ball home after 67 minutes and City’s misery was compounded when Zabaleta was sent off for a second yellow card with 12 minutes left.

City captain Vincent Kompany scored a consolation goal on 89 minutes but Dani Alves restored Barca’s lead in stoppage time.

Any thoughts that Leverkusen, trailing 4-0 after the first leg, would roll over in Paris were extinguished after six minutes when Sidney Sam nodded the visitors in front.
Marquinhos equalised with a header seven minutes later, however, before Leverkusen wasted the opportunity to retake the lead just before the half hour mark when Simon Rolfes’ poor penalty was saved by Salvatore Sirigu.

Ezequiel Lavezzi steered home PSG’s second early in the second half and Leverkusen’s Emre Can received his marching orders for a second yellow card as the hosts cruised to a 2-1 win on the night.

Barcelona and PSG joined holders Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid, who progressed on Tuesday, in the quarter-finals. The final four last-16 ties will be completed next week.

By Staff Reporter

Electricity authority unions have approved the renewal of a €100 million loan to the government for another month,  granted late in 2012 amid warnings of a state default.

Reports earlier this week suggested that unions were opposed to the renewal but on Thursday they decided to agree as a gesture of good will and understanding.

They denied their original reservations over renewing the loan had anything to do with the approval of a bill paving the way for privatisations.

“The (EAC) board should understand however that this money belongs to the workers and, in accordance with prudent management, they should be returned without further delay,” the unions said.

The EAC, state telecoms CyTA, and the ports authority, had agreed to lend cash out of their employee pension funds in December 2012 following stark warnings of imminent default issued by the administration of former president Demetris Christofias.

On Thursday, unions took a shot at Finance Minister Harris Georgiades, who pointed out recently that semi-government organisations did not belong to the workers.

They said they agreed with the statement that the organisations belonged to the taxpayer and they should remain thus “so that the people will not fall prey to speculators and opportunists.”

The unions reiterated their determination to defend their organisation by every legal means possible.

By Huw Jones

Misbehaving bankers and their bosses will have to hand back bonuses up to six years after they pocket them under a rule the Bank of England is proposing to prevent excessive risk-taking.

The aim of the rule put out for consultation by the central bank on Thursday is designed to stop bankers taking huge bets in the knowledge that they could move jobs before any problems come to light. It marks a toughening of current rules that allow only for the cancellation or reduction of parts of bonuses that have been awarded but not yet paid.

British lawmakers called for such a move in a report on banking standards compiled amid public anger at bankers receiving big bonuses even though some banks had to be propped up by taxpayers in the 2007-09 financial crisis and a number of lenders were hit with misconduct fines.

A new clawback rule will necessitate a rewriting of staff contracts to make it a legal requirement for senior bankers to return bonuses if they are found to have misbehaved, even if they no longer work at the bank.

“The policy we are consulting on will ensure bonuses can be clawed back from individuals, where they have already been paid, if it becomes apparent they have put the stability of their firms at risk or engaged in inappropriate actions,” BoE Deputy Governor Andrew Bailey said in a statement.

“This will provide a clear message to individuals of what is expected from them and the consequences of not acting properly,” said Bailey, who also heads the BoE’s Prudential Regulation Authority, which supervises Britain’s banks.

Rob Moulton of Ashurst law firm said clawing back bonuses already paid was politically attractive but tough in practice.

“What happens if the banker has spent it on champagne and drunk it? It will be even harder to claw back from someone who was not directly responsible for misconduct but was a line manager,” Moulton said.

“It may be more PR than practical impact. Do I think bankers won’t come to work in London because of this? No,” Moulton said.

RETROSPECTIVE

The new rule will be applied when there is “reasonable evidence of employee misbehaviour or material error”, if there is a “material downturn” in the bank’s performance or the relevant business unit suffers a material failure of risk management, the BoE said.

Clawbacks will not only be applied to staff directly involved in misconduct, but also to those who could have been “reasonably expected” to be aware of the failure or misconduct at the time and failed to take action.

Bosses of staff caught up in misconduct could also have their bonuses clawed back if they are deemed indirectly responsible or accountable for the failure or misconduct.

The Bank also expects lenders to “take all reasonable steps” to apply the rule to bonuses awarded up to January but which won’t be paid until after that date.

Lawyers said this would need the consent of bankers to alter terms already agreed, a tricky task with staff that have left.

“It would, therefore, be another step towards greater regulation of pay albeit with an understandable risk management focus,” said Matthew Findley, head of share plans at law firm Pinsent Masons.

The public consultation period will last two months and the rule is due to come into effect in early 2015, meaning it will cover bonuses related to this year’s performance.

A six-year cut-off has been proposed because this is the longest period possible under British contract law.

Britain views the ability to claw back bonuses as a better method for dampening excessive risk-taking than the new European Union cap on bonuses that will affect payments made from early next year.

Under the EU rule, bonuses will be capped at no more than fixed salary, or twice that amount with shareholder approval, and will apply to bankers earning more than 500,000 euros ($695,200).

Britain, the base for about 80 percent of the bankers who will be affected, is challenging the rule in the EU’s top court.

By Staff Reporter

Cyprus Airways has agreed to sell its night slot at London’s Heathrow airport for €6.3 million to Middle East Airlines, it was announced on Thursday.

In a statement issued to the stock market, the company said the deal is part of the restructuring plan submitted to the European Commission, which calls for the consolidation of the troubled airline with a view to becoming commercially viable.

As a result, the statement continues, as of March 25, 2014, Cyprus Airways will operate one flight to and from Heathrow, departing Larnaca at 10 am and landing in London at 1.05 pm – local time – with the return flight leaving London at 2.25 pm and arriving to Larnaca at 9.00 pm.

The agreement follows the airline’s failure to sell one of the two slots in January.

The carrier’s negotiations with Qatar Airways over a reported $20 million (roughly €15 million) sale of the time slot collapsed after the Qataris withdrew, citing a confidentiality clause breached when details of the impending deal were leaked to the media.

The ailing carrier is seeking ways to survive, which include implementation of a restructuring plan, the latest in a series.

It is also faced with more turbulence since the European Commission decided to look into whether capital injections from the Cyprus government constitute state aid, forbidden by EU competition rules.

The EC’s ruling, expected near the end of 2014, will decide whether Cyprus Airways will need to return any capital received from the government.

By Erik Kirschbaum

A German court convicted Uli Hoeness of tax evasion on Thursday and sentenced the soccer manager who turned Bayern Munich into one of the world’s most successful clubs to 3-1/2 years in jail.

Prosecutors had argued that Hoeness’s voluntary disclosure – that he had failed to pay taxes – was incomplete and thus did not meet a vital requirement needed for amnesty under German tax laws designed to encourage tax evaders to come clean.

Hoeness has admitted he evaded 27.2 million euros in taxes on income earned in secret Swiss bank accounts but the 62-year-old soccer manager was hoping for leniency in one of the most closely watched tax evasion cases in German history.

The case hinged on the question whether Hoeness, who as a player helped West Germany win the 1974 World Cup, fully cooperated with his voluntary disclosure. It shocked the nation and prompted thousands of tax dodgers to turn themselves in.

By Constantinos Psillides

THE new composition of the Cabinet caused friction on various fronts on Thursday.

President Nicos Anastasiades re-appointed Giorgos Lakkotrypis as energy minister after the latter resigned from DIKO but he failed to bring on board the other three – Fotis Fotiou, Petros Petrides and Kyriakos Kenevezos – who broke ties with the party on Monday, clearly with the aim of remaining in the cabinet.

Instead Anastasiades appointed another card-carrying DIKO member, Marios Demetriades as communications and works minister. DIKO had already warned that the move constituted a hostile act. Ruling DISY was not pleased either.

On Thursday, Petrides let loose on DISY leader Averof Neophytou and at DIKO chief Nicolas Papadopoulos who fired back and then he himself fired a volley at Anastasiades.

Petrides, who was the former health minister and had actually resigned from DIKO – unlike the other two who merely distanced themselves -  in the wake of the coalition withdrawal, accused Papadopoulos of working against the party’s decision to support Anastasiades in the 2013 presidential elections.

Talking on CyBC radio, Petrides said those within Papadopoulos’ circle had asked him to support Giorgos Lillikas, now leader of the Citizen’s Alliance Movement, in the first election round, and Stavros Malas, the AKEL candidate, in the second.

“I don’t want to copy the practices and methods of the current leader of DIKO. He polarised the party when he disagreed with the party decisions. When you disagree with the party majority on major issues then you leave. That’s the rules of politics. I won’t do what the current DIKO leader did in 2013 when the party supported one candidate and he was working for that candidate’s opponents. He worked systematically against a party decision,” Petrides said.

Papadopoulos responded, attributing Petrides’ comments to “bitterness because he didn’t get re-appointed”.

“Those who are dreaming of a DIKO split they can keep on dreaming,” he added.

Petrides also attacked DISY’s Neophytou, saying he was behind Anastasiades’ decision to not reappoint all four of the DIKO ministers.

When the three broke ties with the party on Monday, it was thought that they did so to make it easier for Anastasiades to re-appoint them, without making things worse with DIKO.

Petrides said he held no grudge against the president.

The former Health minister wasn’t the only one Papadopoulos clashed with on Thursday. The DIKO leader accused Anastasiades of interfering with DIKO internal politics and showing a “blatant disregard for the people of DIKO” when he re-appointed Lakkotrypis and Marios Demetriades.

Responding to a comment by deputy government spokesman Victoras Papadopoulos, who said on Wednesday that if DIKO really disagreed with the government it should ask its 42 members that were appointed to semi-government boards to resign, Papadopoulos said he was ready to discuss that provided Anastasiades rescinded the appointment of both Demetriades and Lakkotrypis.

The DIKO leader has accused the government of petty politics and trade-offs.

The deputy spokesman responded: “His [Papadopoulos’ proposal is a clear case of petty politics and trade-offs, and it’s offensive to the president.”

“Mr Lakkotrypis was reappointed as a matter of national interest because his removal from office would disrupt talks on the natural gas. As far as Mr Demetriades goes, he is an exceptional technocrat and that fact that he also had a DIKO membership didn’t count at all,” he added.

He repeated that if DIKO was genuinely in disagreement with the government then it should ask its SGO board members to resign.

The reason the DIKO leader didn’t want to do that was because he didn’t want to disrupt the balance in the party’s central committee.

DISY spokesman Prodromos Prodromou also responded to DIKO accusations. “It’s expected for people to have strong feelings on the subject. The president respects DIKO but the political system dictates that prominent people who can contribute to governmental work have to be utilised,” said Prodromou.

The main criterion the president applied was whether the people appointed had the necessary skills and qualifications.

Also responding to the criticism, government spokesman Christos Stylianides said that reaction by opposition parties was expected but asked them to judge the new cabinet based on results. “So they should wait and see, although in the one year of DISY governing the country was saved from bankruptcy and it’s on its way to reform and modernisation,” he said.

Celebrity Peter Andre, 41, who is engaged to medical student Emily MacDonagh, is planning a massive celebration to mark his second marriage and will have not one, but two ceremonies – one in England and another with his family in Cyprus.

He exclusively told BANG Showbiz: “Definitely, definitely got to do something traditionally English and then we’ll go to Cyprus and do a Greek wedding as well.”

But Andre, who welcomed daughter Amelia with Emily in January, has ruled out a third wedding in Australia, where he grew up.

He quipped: “I’ll be wiped out by the second one! I’m getting old, I can’t be having three weddings. Who does three weddings?”

The proud father-of-three – who also has son Junior, eight, and six-year-old daughter Princess Tiaamii with first wife Katie Price – says he has no plans to slow down his TV career after taking a few weeks of paternity leave, and is more driven than ever to provide for his family.

He explained: “I had three weeks off, but I’m back to work … I’m loving it. I love my job. I love it so much, I get all these different things happening and I’m still here, I can’t believe it.

“As your family’s getting more, you’ve got to work harder, don’t you? It’s so true. At one point last year, I was like, ‘Ah, I don’t know if I want to do this anymore’, but now I want to work harder than I’ve ever worked and I’m loving it.”

By Dominic Miltiadou

CYPRIOTS are producing two kilos of garbage a day which places Cyprus in the first position on the per capita (per person) waste production in the EU.

According to data gathered in 2010 annual production of waste per person amounts to 760kg.

These figures are followed closely by Luxembourg, Denmark and Ireland whose production ranges between 600 and 700kg.

The figures were cited on Thursday at a news conference to announce this year’s ‘Let’s Do It Cyprus’, which will be taking place on April 6.

“We are clean inside of our houses but not outside of them,” said volunteers head Yiannis Yiannakis.

Already 90 municipalities and communities, 51 organisations and 16 government departments, including the president’s office and the defence ministry have registered their support for the event.

‘Let’s Do It Cyprus’ is part of the global campaign ‘Let’s Do It World’ which is ‘one of the fastest-expanding citizen and volunteer movements in history’ as well as the largest of its type in the world.

The movement initiated in Estonia when 50,000 people joined forces in order to get rid of 10,000 tons of illegal garbage. The entire country was cleaned ‘in just five hours.’

Today there are more than 100 countries involved, including Cyprus.

Cyprus has participated once before, in September 2012 when 4,000 volunteers showed up and collected over 20 tonnes of garbage.

‘Let’s Do It Cyprus’ wants to surpass this number of volunteers this year.

The aim is to be as successful as possible in getting rid of all the waste in one day and then maintaining things in that way, organisers said.

A 57-year-old British national drowned on Thursday while diving at a popular dive site in Larnaca.

The man was diving with friends at the site of the Zenobia wreck, when he lost consciousness. Fellow divers brought him ashore and notified authorities.

The diver was taken to Larnaca general hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.

Naval Police divers meanwhile searched the site in an effort to determine the circumstances under which the man drowned.

An autopsy on the man’s body will be carried out on Friday to determine the cause of death.

Parliament on Thursday gave the nod to a law easing the path for Turkish Cypriots residing in the occupied areas to vote in European Parliament elections.

The government bill passed with a plurality, with just 18 votes for, 1 against and 26 abstentions.

As a result Turkish Cypriots will for the first time be able to participate in the European Parliament elections, held in the south. Some 95,000 Turkish Cypriots with a Cyprus Republic ID card would be eligible to cast a ballot as well as stand for election as MEP.

Previously, all Republic citizens eligible to vote had to register with the interior ministry on the electoral roll before being allowed to participate in elections.

Now, Turkish Cypriots will be able to vote for an MEP by crossing the buffer zone and showing their ID cards at a polling station.

The bill had been put to the plenum three times before but voting on it was postponed.

By Alan Baldwin
The prospect of seeing Sebastian Vettel beaten for the first time since last July is just one of the many novelties Sunday’s season-opening Australian Formula One Grand Prix promises to deliver.

Just how much trouble Vettel’s Red Bull team might be in is one of the questions waiting for an answer as the sport’s unpredictable new turbo era whooshes into action at Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit.

The quadruple world champion won the last nine races of 2013 but the 26-year-old German spent much of his time during the pre-season tests in Spain and Bahrain watching the car being worked on in the garage.

Red Bull are braced for a reality check as they and partners Renault work against the clock to fix the troublesome 1.6 litre V6 hybrid turbo engine and its complicated new energy recovery systems.

Rivals Mercedes, under new leadership following the departure of Ross Brawn, have been racking up the laps with far less hassle.
“Mercedes have got a bit of a march on people. They invested more, they invested earlier. They’ve got themselves into a good position,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner told reporters.

“If Mercedes were to finish two laps ahead of the opposition in Melbourne, that wouldn’t be a surprise, based on what we’ve seen in pre-season testing. It’s massive.
“From what we can see at the moment, all the Mercedes powered teams are in pretty decent shape and we’re not.
“We’re on the back foot, and have a lot of ground to catch up,” added the Briton, who now has Australian Daniel Ricciardo in the lineup following compatriot Mark Webber’s retirement.

Horner’s words may be a part of the pre-season mind games, repositioning Red Bull as underdogs but Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have sounded quietly confident about a car that is sleeker than many of its ‘ugly’ new-look rivals.

“With all the changes within the sport and the hard work that’s been going on within the team, I believe this can be our year to really show what we’re capable of,” said Hamilton, the 2008 world champion with McLaren.

“I feel like I’m equipped with the tools I need to succeed. I can’t wait to get started,” added the Briton, whose win in Hungary last July was the last by anyone other than Vettel.
Ferrari will be hoping to challenge with their new lineup of champions following the return of Finland’s 2007 title winner Kimi Raikkonen – triumphant in Melbourne for Lotus last year – to partner Fernando Alonso.

The cars will sound different without the old V8 engines and will also be far less reliable at first, with any repairs likely to take far longer due to the complexity of the power units.
How many cars will start from the grid, let alone finish the race now that fuel economy is a big factor, is another uncertainty. Some insiders have predicted that Sunday evening could see less than half the field reach the chequered flag.

In 1996, when Melbourne first hosted the grand prix, only 11 cars made it to the finish in a race won by Britain’s Damon Hill in a Williams.
That team had a nightmare season last year, the former champions taking only a meagre five points and finishing ninth overall, but they are more optimistic now they have switched Renault power for Mercedes.

Brazilian Felipe Massa, who has joined Williams from Ferrari, lapped faster than anyone in Bahrain testing and was able to put in plenty of laps.
“The new car we have is really well built, good quality… it is very reliable and not slow either so it’s going to be an exciting season,” Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas told Reuters.
“Like I’ve kept saying for a couple of years now, I really think the future of Williams is going to be good and hopefully this can be a step forward from other years.”

McLaren, starting their last season with Mercedes before the switch to Honda, are also looking for a strong start after failing to step on the podium at all last year and ousting principal Martin Whitmarsh.
Jenson Button, who spoke movingly last week of how much he will miss his father in the first race since his death in January, has an exciting new team mate in 21-year-old Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen.

“We’re not the quickest,” said the 2009 champion, who has won in Australia three times in the last five years. “We’re looking at Q3 (qualifying in the top 10) and then a very good points finish at the end, if we can get to the end.”