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No margin for error as arch-rivals take centre stage

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Manchester United and Liverpool face a crunch showdown at Old Trafford on Sunday

By Mike Collett
Two fiercely intense, always passionate, local rivalries with even more spice than usual take centre stage in the Premier League this weekend when Manchester United face Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur play Arsenal.

The teams occupy four of the top six positions in the table and none can afford to lose in their pursuit of either the title or a top-four finish and the prospect of Champions League football next season.

The other two places in the top six are filled by leaders Chelsea, who travel to Aston Villa, and Manchester City, who are at FA Cup semi-finalists Hull City.
A win for Chelsea on Saturday would lift them to 69 points and put them 10 clear of Liverpool and Arsenal who are not in action until Sunday.
Manchester City, who were knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona on Wednesday, are nine points behind Chelsea with three matches in hand. Chelsea will have eight games left after this weekend, City 11.

Tottenham start the weekend in fifth place on 53 points with United sixth on 48 and with a game in hand on Spurs.
Judging by their entwined histories, more than a century of loathing between the fans, dramas and controversies – even before this season’s earlier meetings are taken into account – events at White Hart Lane and Old Trafford are likely to overshadow everything else.

Both Spurs and Arsenal have plenty to prove in their third meeting of the season following Arsenal’s 1-0 league win in September and their 2-0 victory in the FA Cup third round at the Emirates in January.

Arsenal were knocked out of the Champions League on Tuesday when they drew 1-1 at Bayern Munich but lost 3-1 on aggregate and they come to White Hart Lane without £42 million record signing Mesut Ozil.

The German picked up a hamstring injury in Munich and according to manager Arsene Wenger will be out for several weeks.
Arsenal reached the FA Cup semi-finals with a 4-1 victory over Everton last weekend and retain an outside chance of winning the title but their league form has dipped lately with just one win from their last four matches.

Spurs are looking to bounce back from the disappointment of losing 4-0 to Chelsea last Saturday and 3-1 at home to Benfica in the Europa League on Thursday.
Manager Tim Sherwood strongly criticised his players for showing a lack of commitment after they had defenderYounes Kaboul sent off and conceded all four goals in the last 30 minutes at Stamford Bridge.

Kaboul’s red card was rescinded by the FA so he can play on Sunday and there will be no doubting Spurs’ commitment against Arsenal who will be playing their 999th match under manager Arsene Wenger.

Manchester United and Liverpool get Sunday’s action rolling with a lunchtime kickoff at Old Trafford with United showing signs of improvement after what has been a difficult first season for manager David Moyes.

United, who have not finished outside the top three for 23 seasons, have not been in the top five since mid-November but they have kept clean sheets with two wins and draw in their last three league matches and could close the gap on Spurs to two points if they win and Spurs slip up.

“To see Man City doing well, and particularly Liverpool, is really difficult,” United striker Wayne Rooney told Inside United magazine.
“It’s not nice when we know we are capable of being up there challenging and we haven’t been doing that this season.
“However, it means we have to step up and get back up there because the feeling we’ve had this season is not a nice feeling at all to have. As a group of players and a team we haven’t been good enough this season and we have to put that right.”

Liverpool beat United 1-0 at Anfield in the League on September 1 and lost 1-0 to them at Old Trafford in the League Cup three weeks later.
They are 11 points ahead of United and are on course to finish higher than them for the first time since 2002.
Brendan Rodgers’ side have been playing outstanding attacking football all season which has carried them to second place and, for once, they will start as slight favourites against their arch-rivals.

“It’s always a massive game but the difference this time is that Liverpool must be favourites. I can’t remember the last time a Liverpool team went to Old Trafford in that position,” former striker Robbie Fowler told the Liverpool Echo.
“On paper it’s a game Liverpool should win. They’re in great form and I am quietly confident Liverpool can get a big result there. People talk about how far United have dropped but I also look at it from the other side – how far Liverpool have come.”

With four successive league victories Liverpool will be optimistic they can win at Old Trafford for the first time since a 4-1 success five years ago.
Should they do so it would fuel the belief that they can still snatch a long-overdue league title, something they last achieved in 1990.

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Heads roll in co-op sector

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CO-OPS

A NUMBER of co-op officials have been dismissed mainly because they had granted loans irresponsibly, it emerged on Friday, as the new Central Co-operative Bank (CCB) top brass warned it will not tolerate practices that prevailed in the past.

Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency, CCB board chairman Nicolas Hadjiyiannis confirmed the dismissals but avoided divulging any details.

“We’ve had some cases where administrative decisions were taken, including dismissals,” he said. “They were cases that were known for some time. Our line is clear, zero tolerance.”

The CCB chairman stressed however that the process did not constitute a purge.

“We are moving forward with a clear strategy of transparency and effectiveness,” he said earlier Friday.

Media reports said the cases concerned between two and five general secretaries who had been handing out loans liberally.

Hadjiyiannis said experts were also looking into whether legal measures could be taken against them.

The co-operative movement is currently undergoing what is perhaps the biggest overhaul in its history, as it comes under the ownership of the state.

As part of the island’s €10 billion international bailout, co-ops will receive €1.5 billion in taxpayers’ money.

The sector will also be reduced in size through mergers and will come under the supervision of the Central Bank.

Hadjiyiannis said the mergers will be concluded on March 22.

As part of the sector’s restructure, the island’s 93 co-operatives will be merged into 18 with some 25 per cent of the 410 branches expected to go.

Like commercial banks, co-ops also have to deal with the effects of the recession on their loan portfolio.

Around 30 per cent of their loans, or €4bln are classified as non performing (NPL)

The CCB has set up a unit to manage NPLs, currently in the process of being staffed.

The plan is for the unit to handle NPLs of over €200,000, while the smaller loans will be handled at branch level.

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New cabinet members sworn in (updated)

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The new ministers. Costas Kadis (L) Marios Demetriades (C) and Philippos Patsalis (R)

Three new ministers were sworn in on Friday, amid reports that President Anastasiades has decided to appoint former education minister Kyriacos Kenevezos and former defence minister Photis Photiou ambassador to Greece and presidential aide respectively.

As DIKO members, the two, along with former health minister Petros Petrides, fell victim to this week’s cabinet reshuffle, which was triggered when the party’s leadership decided to withdraw from the government coalition – to which they were junior partners – citing disagreement over the terms agreed by Anastasiades for the resumption of negotiations on the Cyprus problem.

They were replaced by Costas Kadis, who took the education portfolio, Marios Demetriades, who will head the communications ministry, and Philippos Patsalis, assigned the health ministry.

Former communications minister Tasos Mitsopoulos was re-assigned the defence ministry.

Fourth DIKO member, Energy Minister George Lakkotrypis remained in his post. He resigned from DIKO earlier this month.

Speaking at the affirmation ceremony on Friday, Anastasiades implied he had been forced  to acceptthe resignation of the  DIKO ministers.

“I admit being faced with torturing dilemmas that pitted constitutional obligations and political ethics against human feelings towards esteemed associates,” he said, adding that in the end “personal feelings had to take a backseat to the duty of being president, and in the interest of preserving unity I was saddened to accept the resignation of three close and esteemed associates.”

DIKO’s decision to exit was heavily criticised by an extremely vocal fraction within the party, which included the four ministers, stirring up talk of “two DIKOs”, one aligning with the official leadership of Nicolas Papadopoulos and another rallying behind his predecessor Marios Garoyian – who had forged the alliance with Anastasiades when he held the party’s reins.

Perhaps hoping to retain their posts, the four ministers broke party ranks shortly after the decision to leave the government was ratified and waived their party membership in protest, with former health minister Petrides claiming that Anastasiades had confided in him a few days before the reshuffle was announced that he was “considering keeping the cabinet intact.” He later retracted the assertion.

Despite initial reports that Anastasiades would keep all four DIKO ministers, reports claimed a last-minute intervention by DISY leader Averof Neophytou changed things, leading to the removal of Kenevezos, Photiou and Petrides.

However, speculation was rife on Friday that Anastasiades has decided to appoint Kenevezos to the Athens embassy and add Photiou to his team of aides at the presidential palace.

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Northern Ireland’s richest man among four dead in crash

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Police direct traffic near the scene at Gillingham, Norfolk, Britain where the civilian helicopter crashed killing all four occupants, 14 March 2014.

By Ian Graham

Northern Ireland’s richest man Edward Haughey was among four people killed when a civilian helicopter crashed in eastern England on Thursday evening, the pharmaceutical company he owned said on Friday.

The helicopter came down in Norfolk, 180 km (112 miles) northeast of London, in what witnesses told the BBC was foggy weather. Four males died in the crash, local police said.

Among them was Haughey, 70, a member of Britain’s upper house of parliament who was Northern Ireland’s richest man with an estimated wealth of £600 million ($1 billion), according to the Sunday Times newspaper’s annual Rich List.

Haughey, who also served in the upper chamber of parliament in the Irish Republic where he was born, was the founder and chairman of Northern Ireland-based Norbrook Laboratories, the largest privately owned pharmaceutical company in the world.

The company employs over 1,700 people and former Northern Ireland economy minister Reg Empey said Haughey had brought quality employment to the British province during the “darkest days” of its 30 years of paramilitary violence.

“This tragic accident has cut short the life of a man who had still much to give,” Empey said in a statement.

The crash occurred some 70 km (45 miles) from the crash in January of a U.S. military helicopter on a training mission in which its four crew members died.

Last November, 10 people died when a helicopter crashed into a crowded bar in Scotland’s second city, Glasgow.

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A minute with Peter Droussiotis President of the National Federation of Cypriots in the UK

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Where do you live?
I live in London with my wife Carolyn and three daughters Isabella, Alexandra and Theodora.

Best childhood memory?
Riding pillion on my dad’s motorbike on the old Nicosia road with the wind blowing against my face! It gave me a strange feeling that anything was possible and a sense of freedom.

Most frequented restaurant and absolute favourite dish?
HIX Mayfair at Brown’s Hotel, London for Dover Sole with steamed spinach

What food would you really turn your nose up to?
Kentucky Fried Chicken does not agree with me!

What did you have for breakfast?
Weetabix mixed with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and skimmed milk; decaffeinated green tea.

Would you class yourself as a day or night person? What’s your idea of the perfect night/day out?
I enjoy days and nights equally as they have different qualities. The perfect day out is a relaxing walk in the countryside or by the sea. I enjoy nights out at the theatre, the opera or at a nice restaurant with good friends.

Best book ever read?
Zorba the Greek by Nicos Kazantzakis for Zorba’s spirit of adventure and love of life

Favourite film of all time?
2001: A Space Odyssey because it was a seminal piece of work, brilliantly imaginative and definitely ahead of its time; the film’s vision of man’s place in the universe and its portrayal of humanity’s unending technological optimism, despite the risks, appealed to me greatly.

Favorite holiday destination? What’s your dream trip?
I love holidays in Cyprus because it’s a country close to my heart but also an island with an abundance of diverse natural attractions and interesting people. My family and I feel comfortable in the familiar surroundings of places we know and visit every year, whether by the sea or in the mountains. By contrast, one of the best holidays we had, as a family, was to New York which competes with London as one of the best world cities. My dream trip would be on a yacht with family and friends exploring the Aegean and its islands –something I have never done yet.

What music are you listening to in the car at the moment?
Classical music; BBC Radio 3.

What is always in your fridge?
Fruit!

Dream house: rural retreat or urban dwelling? Where would it be, what would it be like?
Maybe I am asking too much, but right now I would like to have both! Urban dwelling for day to day living (I love London, its rich cultural diversity, its politics and its pace) but I also dream of a rural retreat where I can get away from the ‘cacophony’ of life and relax totally. My ideal retreat would be a place in a serene location by the sea or in the mountains – I love Cornwall and the Lake District in England, Platres in the Troodos mountains and the Akamas coast in Cyprus.

If you could pick anyone at all (alive or dead) to go out for the evening with, who would it be?
Alexander the Great, because I would want to hear from him what drove him to achieve so much while still so young.

If the world is ending in 24 hours what would you do?
Have a marathon Greek BBQ in the garden with close family and best friends. Hopefully, the sun will be out before the world ends!

What is your greatest fear?
Losing the respect of my family, friends and colleagues.

Tell me a joke…
The first time my wife saw me cut off the end of a cigar she said, “Why don’t you buy them the right size?” – one of legendary comedian Tommy Cooper’s timeless jokes!

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Battle to avoid the drop hots up in Cyprus

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Anything but a home win over AEK Kouklion will almost certainly send Enosis Neon Paralimni to the second division

By Iacovos Constantinou

WITH two more rounds to go before the football championship enters the playoff stage, the top six teams have already booked their places. At the wrong end of the table though, the second spot (Alki got the other one a long time ago) that leads to automatic relegation is still awaiting a suitor with three teams embroiled in the struggle.

Two of these teams, Enosis Neon Paralimni and AEK Kouklion meet each other at the Tasos Markou stadium in Paralimni and anything but a home win will almost certainly send Enosis to the second division. A point will give AEK the chance to try and beat the drop in the playoffs.

The third team in the mix is Aris Limassol who face inconsistent Anorthosis at the Tsirion stadium. Under Dutch coach Tom Caanen, Aris have shown immense improvement and only a series of unfortunate refereeing decisions has kept them just two points off the drop.

Leaders AEL are at home to Doxa Katokopias and they should have few problems in recording their 18th win. AEL need the points to maintain top spot while the visiting team, Doxa, are in a relatively safe league position and will be more concerned with their upcoming Cup semi-final tie early next month.

Second-placed APOEL will be without two of their most influential players, Morais in midfield and De Vincenti in attack. Aloneftis and Vinicius were also doubtful but they have recovered and have been included in the squad. They will have to overcome Ethnikos Achnas who were desperately unlucky not get something out of last week’s visit to the GSP stadium against Omonia.

Omonia, with their former player Costas Kaiafas taking over as coach earlier this week, travel to Larnaca to face Ermis Aradippou. A win for the Nicosia giants will put them above Ermis on goal difference. On the other hand Ermis, buoyed by their recent cup success, will be content with a share of the spoils.

Third placed Apollonas face a tricky tie against unpredicatable Nea Salamina at the Ammochostos stadium but should prove too strong for the home side. The team from Limassol needs all three points to keep up the pressure on the two teams above them.

Finally AEK Larnaca take on relegated Alki in a game which the home team should win comfortably.

Saturday March 15th
Aris v Anorthosis, AEK Larnaca v Alki, Enosis Neon Paralimniou v AEK Kouklion, APOEL v Ethnikos Achnas (all 16.00) Ermis Aradippou v Omonia (18.00)

Sunday March 16th
Nea Salamina v Apollon, AEL v Doxa Katokopias (16.00)

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CyTA land trial adjourned until March 28

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By staff reporter

The case against seven suspects implicated in a suspicious land deal involving the pension fund o state telecoms company CyTA was adjourned on Friday to give time to the defence to study thousands of pages of evidence.

Defence lawyers asked Presiding Judge Nicos Sandis for time to study some 7,000 pages of documents that include phone records, bank statements, and records of an independent probe into the matter.

They also repeated they intended to request that their clients were tried separately.

Prosecutors had said they would object to separate trials.

The trial was adjourned until March 28.

The suspects are former CyTA chairman Stathis Kittis, former chairman of the electricity authority EAC Charalambos Tsouris, a member of the CyTA board at the time, AKEL official Venizelos Zanettou, the director of CyTA’s television arm and SEK union rep Orestis Vasilliou, CyTA employee Yiannis Souroullas and his brother Gregoris who works at the land registry, and businessman Antonis Ioakim, a shareholder in Wadnic, the company involved in the €20.5 million deal.

They have not been formally charged yet.

Charges include conspiracy to commit felony, fraud, theft, bribery, abuse of power, and money laundering.

The offences were committed between 2009 and 2013.

The land deal in question involved the purchase by CyTA’s pension fund of office space in Dromolaxia at a price several times the going market value.

Claims have since surfaced that millions were paid in kickbacks to make the deal possible.

 

 

 

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30,000 uninsured vehicles on the roads

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cops check cars

By George Psyllides

An estimated 30,000 vehicles on the road are without insurance, officials said on Friday, warning that it was a phenomenon that directly affected road safety.

“The economic situation but also human irresponsibility constitute the factors for the rise,” said Marios Stavrou, chairman of REACTION Youth for Prevention, a non-profit organisation. “Driving uninsured vehicles is taking alarming proportions in recent years and is certainly a phenomenon that directly affects the levels of road safety in our country.”

Stavrou said there were 772,000 registered vehicles in 2012, meaning that one in 25 was without insurance.

And collisions involving uninsured vehicles were increasing. In 2012, authorities recorded 806 incidents involving uninsured vehicles.

The majority of those involved drivers under 25 – 32.1 per cent.

It was followed by the 41 to 50 age group – 17.7 per cent.

Limassol has been in the lead between 2008 and 2014, having the most collisions involving uninsured cars, 39.1 per cent. It is followed closely by Nicosia with 38.5 per cent.

On Friday, REACTION embarked on an information campaign in a bid to properly inform people on the consequences of driving without insurance.

“The need for properly informing the public, especially the youths, is considered urgent,” Stavrou said.

The campaign ends on August 31.

 

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Leaked documents purport to reveal Turkish graft allegations

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Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab is presented as the ringleader

By Humeyra Pamuk and Nick Tattersall

A Twitter account behind a string of leaks in a Turkish corruption scandal has posted what it presented as prosecution files accusing former government ministers of involvement with an Iranian businessman in a bribery and smuggling racket.

The posting late on Thursday is the latest blow to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in a corruption scandal which has grown into one of the biggest challenges of his 11-year rule, and which he says is orchestrated by his political enemies to undermine him weeks ahead of important local elections.

Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the documents.

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The Twitter account using the pseudonym @HARAMZADELER333 posted links to two documents, purportedly prepared by prosecutors and based on police files, from a long-running investigation that became public on Dec. 17 with a series of dawn raids.

Former interior minister Muammer Guler, former economy minister Zafer Caglayan and former environment minister Erdogan Bayraktar each saw a son detained in those raids. All three resigned just over a week later.

Former EU minister Egemen Bagis was replaced in a reshuffle.

The former ministers, all named in the documents, have denied any wrongdoing. They could not immediately be reached for further comment on Friday.

The first 299-page dossier contains what it says are wiretap transcripts, surveillance photographs and other documents it cites as evidence of a “criminal organisation” facilitating Iranian money transfers via gold smuggling and other forms of trade, including supposedly of food and medicine.

Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab is presented as the ringleader, with three of the former ministers, two of their sons, the former general manager of state-run lender Halkbank and other Turkish officials alleged to have been involved in facilitating his activities.

Zarrab’s lawyer Seyda Yildirim said she could not comment because investigations were ongoing. Former Halkbank general manager Suleyman Aslan, also detained on Dec. 17 but released last month, could not be reached. Halkbank, which has repeatedly said its Iran dealings are entirely lawful, declined to comment.

U.S. officials have sought to prevent Turkish gold exports from providing a financial lifeline to Tehran, which has been largely frozen out of the global banking system by Western sanctions over its disputed nuclear programme.

Turkey has bought natural gas and oil from Iran through an indirect system whereby Iranian exporters received payment in Halkbank lira accounts and used that money to buy gold. The bulk of that gold is then shipped from Turkey to Dubai, where Iran could import it or sell it for foreign currency.

GOLD SMUGGLING

Turkish officials and foreign diplomats have repeatedly said that Turkey’s energy and gold trade with Iran does not in itself breach international sanctions or contravene any laws.

But the purported prosecution dossier paints a picture of a network of bribery and smuggling around the trade itself.

In one example in the document, wiretapped phone calls between Zarrab and Caglayan’s office are cited as showing how Caglayan intervened on Zarrab’s request to prevent the seizure at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport of a plane from Ghana carrying 1.5 tonnes of gold bullion without proper documentation.

Halkbank’s Aslan is described in the prosecution document as actively involved in advising Zarrab on other ways of handling Iranian payments when the gold trade came under tighter scrutiny.

A commentary on parts of the evidence in the dossier said Guler had aided Zarrab by facilitating Turkish passports for him and his associates and by reassigning a police officer who grew suspicious about Zarrab’s activities. Surveillance photographs in the dossier meanwhile purport to show Zarrab’s associates delivering a shoebox of cash to Bagis.

Wiretap recordings purportedly of conversations between Zarrab and one of his associates are also cited as evidence that Guler wrote letters of reference to two Chinese banks vouching for Zarrab’s activities, after his businesses in China started running into difficulties.

“Soon enough half of the cabinet is going to vouch for us,” one of Zarrab’s close associates is quoted as saying in the transcript of a telephone conversation.

Former environment minister Bayraktar is named in the second 32-page document, which details separate allegations of corruption in the approval of construction projects in Istanbul. Construction magnate Ali Agaoglu, also named in that dossier, told Reuters he had not read the file and declined to comment.

PARLIAMENT TO RECONVENE

Police files on the four ex-ministers were sent to parliament in late February, where a summary would usually be read aloud to deputies. However, the assembly went into recess ahead of March 30 municipal elections period shortly afterwards and the files have been kept under lock and key ever since.

Parliament speaker Cemil Cicek, a senior member of Erdogan’s AK Party, said parliament would reconvene for an extraordinary session on March 19 after the main opposition party demanded it be recalled to hear the allegations.

Erdogan has cast the graft investigation as a plot to smear him by Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based former ally with influence in Turkey’s police and judiciary.

Erdogan’s advisers have said Gulen’s network illegally tapped thousands of phones, including the prime minister’s, over years to blackmail and concoct criminal cases as part of a campaign of covert influence over the state.

Gulen and his followers have denied orchestrating the corruption investigation or conspiring against the government.

The scandal has shown little sign so far of seriously weakening Erdogan ahead of the municipal elections. He remains fiercely popular in the conservative Anatolian heartlands for overseeing a decade of rising prosperity in Turkey, with most of the country’s electoral map AK Party orange.

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Time of the essence on Varosha, says Kasoulides

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Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides said on Friday that the give-and-take part of the Cyprus talks would probably begin next month.

In an interview with London Greek Radio, Kasoulides also said that the ghost town of Varosha should be returned prior to a referendum on a solution as part of confidence building measures. Time was running out, he said, because there were a lot of factors to take into account, such as reconstruction and infrastructure work, which take time.

The fenced off area of Famagusta must be returned to UN administration prior to the referenda, which would take place once an agreement is reached.

He also said if Turkey wished to see its closed chapter with the EU opened, it should act accordingly, Kasoulides said. No chapters would be opened “for free”.

On the talks themselves, he said the first meetings have been completed and those to come would be looking at the how close or how far the two sides were on different issues.

“The next step I believe will be to attempt to approach these differences or reduce these differences, and that is expected to be in April,” he said.

Talks resumed on February 11. The two leaders are set to hold their second meeting at the end of March while their negotiators usually meet twice a week at the UN Protected Area in Nicosia.

Their latest meeting was on Friday, lasting two and a half hours.

They will meet again on March 24.

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Five betting shops raided by Paphos police

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Five betting shops were raided in Paphos on Friday night, in a coordinated effort by police to battle illegal gambling. According to a police report, officers confiscated 27 computers.

Officers entering four different betting shops, from where they confiscated the computers. A search at a fifth betting shop yielded nothing.

 

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Car destroyed in arson attack

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unnamedcar

The car of a British Cypriot man in Larnaca was destroyed on Friday night, as a result of arson, police said. The €30,000 car was parked in Aristolelis Valaoritis street, near the Larnaca port entrance.

According to the Larnaca fire department, the fire was spotted at around 10.30pm and the authorities notified. Two fire trucks arrived at the scene and put the blaze  out, according to the report but the car was already destroyed.

Investigation began on Saturday morning. Police and fire department experts concluded that the car was doused with a flammable substance. Police are continuing their investigation.

 

 

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Tanker of suspected stolen Libyan oil spotted off Cyprus

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tanker

Cypriot marine authorities were on Saturday monitoring a tanker, suspected of transporting stolen quantities of oil from Sidra port of Libya.

According to the foreign ministry, the government, as well as other neighbouring countries, received a request from the government of Libya to assist in the return of the stolen oil.

On Friday the tanker ‘Morning Glory’, suspected of carrying oil was detected at 18 nautical miles from Cyprus in international waters.

The tanker did not ask to dock at a Cypriot port.

On Saturday the tanker changed course and was headed in a southeasterly direction in international waters, authorities said.

Coast guard units were still monitoring the tanker in cooperation and coordination with other countries in the region and with the Libyan government. (CNA)

 

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New arrest in case of Peristerona shoot-out

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police-tape

By Constantinos Psillides

A 29-YEAR-OLD man was arrested on Saturday in connection with the shoot-out that took place in Peristerona village,  in the Nicosia district on February 28, according to police spokesman Andreas Angelides.

Angelides said police were led to the suspect after a witness implicated him in the shooting. He faces charges of conspiring to commit a felony, attempted murder and illegal transportation of a gun and ammunition.

A suspect who was already in custody in connection with the case has been released, said the police spokesman.

“The 29-year-old says he knows nothing about the case. We have already completed a large part of the interrogation work but our investigation continues. If any other evidence comes up you can rest assured that there will be more arrests,” said Angelides.

Asked whether the police had a clear indication yet of what transpired the night of the shoot-out, Angelides said police were investigating two possible murder attempts. “As far as motive is concerned, the investigation is ongoing and we are expecting that through witness accounts we will establish precisely what happened that night,” he said.

The shoot-out took place outside a restaurant in Peristerona on the night of February 28. Two suspects, Giorgos Zavrantonas and Koullis Koshiaris, were found injured outside a restaurant at around 8.30pm.
Police arrested the pair, as well as two other suspects who accompanied them. Authorities were treating the incident as a murder attempt but it was not immediately clear who was trying to kill whom.

Another aspect puzzling authorities was the fact that Zavrantonas was meant to be abroad as part of the witness protection programme.

Zavrantonas had been in jail for attempted murder but was freed after he gave police information about other crimes.
It is thought that he returned to Cyprus through the north.

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Crimea to vote in Russia referendum, Moscow vetoes UN move (Updated)

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Ukrainian tank takes part in the military exercise near Kharkiv

Pro-Russian leaders in Crimea made final preparations on Saturday for a referendum widely expected to transfer control of the Black Sea region fromUkraine to Moscow, despite an outcry and threat of sanctions from the West.

Russia vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution that declared the referendum invalid, as Ukraine’s defence ministry said it scrambled aircraft and paratroops to confront a Russian encroachment beyond Crimea’s regional boundary.

Ukraine’s new rulers accused “Kremlin agents” of fomenting deadly violence in the Russian-speaking east and urged people not to respond to provocations Kiev fears Moscow may use to justify further incursions its takeover of Crimea. Russia issued a new statement saying it was ready to protect Ukrainians from nationalist militants it said were threatening eastern cities.

Sunday’s vote in Crimea, dismissed by Kiev and Western governments as illegal, has triggered the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War and marks a new peak in turmoil in Ukraine that goes back to November when now ousted President Viktor Yanukovich walked out on a trade deal with the European Union.

Though the situation was calm on the Black Sea peninsula itself on Saturday ahead of the vote, tensions remained high in eastern Ukraine where two people were killed in Kharkiv late on Friday.

Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov, whose election in a closed session of the regional parliamentis not recognised by Kiev, said there were enough security personnel to ensure the poll would be safe.

“I think we have enough people – more than 10,000 in the self-defence forces, more than 5,000 in different units of the Interior Ministry and the security services of the Crimean Republic,” he told reporters.

In Kiev, the Ukrainian parliament voted to dissolve the Crimean regional assembly which has organised the referendum and backs union with Russia.

And on Kiev’s Independence Square or Maidan – lodestar of the revolt against the Moscow-backed Yanukovich – hundreds of people chanted “Crimea is Ukraine! Crimeans, we support you!”

One Ukrainian nationalist leader in the Kiev legislature said the Crimean assembly must be sanctioned to discourage separatist movements in the mainly Russian-speaking east.

Aksyonov and Moscow do not officially recognise that Russian troops have taken control of Crimea, and say that thousands of unidentified armed men visible across the region belong to “self-defence” groups created to ensure stability.

But the Russian military has done little to hide the arrival of thousands of soldiers, along with trucks, armoured vehicles and artillery. Masked gunmen surrounding Ukrainian military bases in Crimea have identified themselves as Russian troops.

“REAL DANGER” OF INVASION

Moscow leases the Crimean port of Sevastopol from Kiev to station its Black Sea Fleet. Under the deal it can station up to 25,000 troops there but there movements are restricted onshore.

Polling stations will open at 8 am (0600 GMT) on Sunday and close 12 hours later. Preliminary results are expected within hours of polls closing on Sunday night.

Crimea’s electorate of 1.5 million, according to a format of the ballot paper issued last week, will choose between one of two options – but both imply Russian control of the peninsula.

Many of the ethnic Russians who have a majority on the peninsula seem likely to back the first option on the ballot, union with Russia, if only for economic reasons. A second option is independence, initially within Ukraine, that Crimea’s new leaders say they will use as a basis for accepting Russian rule.

Ethnic Tatars, Sunni Muslims of Turkic origin who make up 12 percent of Crimea’s population, have said they will boycott the referendum, despite promises by the authorities to give them financial aid and proper land rights.

Acting Ukrainian president Oleksander Turchinov referred to three deaths in two days in two eastern cities – Donetsk and Kharkiv – and said there was “a real danger” of invasion by Russian troops across Ukraine’s eastern border.

Populations of both cities have large numbers of Russian- speakers, significant since Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to protect ethnic Russians and Russian-speakers in Ukraine. His foreign ministry said on Saturday it would consider requests from people in Ukraine for protection – similar language to that used to justify Moscow’s move in Crimea.

Addressing members of Yanukovich’s party, Turchinov said: “You know as well as we do who is organising mass protests in eastern Ukraine - it is Kremlin agents who are organising and funding them, who are causing people to be murdered.”

Two men, described by police as pro-Russian demonstrators, were shot dead in a fight in Kharkiv late on Friday. A Ukrainian nationalist was stabbed to death when pro-Russia and pro-Ukraine demonstrators clashed in Donetsk on Thursday.

Turchinov, quoted by local media, closed the parliamentary session by saying: “The situation is very dangerous. I’m not exaggerating. There is a real danger from threats of invasion of Ukrainian territory and we will reconvene on Monday at 10.”

DEFENDING “COMPATRIOTS”

Russia has refused to recognise the new Western-backed interim administration in Kiev. Its foreign ministry unnerved the new authorities in Kiev by saying clashes in Donetsk showed Ukrainians had lost control of the situation there.

Ukraine’s interior minister accused ousted president Viktor Yanukovich of promoting unrest with “extremist Russian forces”. Arsen Avakov issued an appeal on Facebook: “Don’t let them manipulate you! Stop this hysteria … This isn’t a game of toy soldiers – this is a real conflict and people’s real lives.”

Two men, aged 21 and 30, were killed in Kharkiv by buckshot late on Friday when pro-Russian demonstrators besieged an office of the far-right Ukrainian nationalist group Right Sector, which rose to prominence fighting riot police in Kiev over the winter.

Police said 32 Right Sector activists and six pro-Russian demonstrators were detained and a number of weapons seized.

Kharkiv governor Ihor Baluta, newly appointed by the interim authorities in Kiev, said the “well-planned provocation by pro-Russian activists” began when unidentified men in a minibus provoked a confrontation with pro-Russia demonstrators and then drove off. When pursuing demonstrators caught up with the vehicle, it was parked outside the nationalists’ building.

The Right Sector spokesman, quoted by Interfax-Ukraine news agency, said his group had taken no part in the initial clash and believed the minibus was left outside its office by others.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it had information that armed Right Sector militants were opening an “eastern front” and planning to reinforce their activists in eastern cities.

Western powers, preparing economic sanctions against Russia over Crimea, largely dismiss Russia’s characterisation of the new authorities in Kiev as the successors of Nazi-allied Ukrainian forces which fought the Red Army in World War Two.

Authorities in Kharkiv banned political gatherings that were planned in the city over the weekend. In Donetsk, hundreds of people rallied in Lenin Square, flying Russian flags and calling for a referendum in the region similar to that in Crimea.

In Moscow, a large crowd estimated by witnesses at some 30,000 demonstrated against Russia’s action in Ukraine, the biggest protest against Putin in two years. At a smaller rally, people chanted “Crimea is Russia!” and “No to fascism!”

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England crush Italy but still need French favour

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England's Farrell scores during match against Italy in their Six Nations rugby union match at Olympic Stadium in Rome

By Terry Daley

England scored seven tries in an emphatic 52-11 victory over Italy on Saturday but their hopes of winning the Six Nations championship still depend on Ireland losing or drawing with France later in the day.

England, hoping to cancel out Ireland’s 49-point advantage, looked to be chasing a big score from the start and led 24-6 at halftime after two tries from Mike Brown, named man of the match for the third time in the tournament, and one for Owen Farrell, who again was faultless with eight out of eight kicks at goal.

Jack Nowell, with his first international try, Mako Vunipola and replacement centre Manu Tuilagi, in his first appearance for England in a year, crossed after the break as England looked on course for the huge win they needed to give them a chance of the title even in the case of an Irish victory in Paris.

However, an interception score by Leonardo Sarto after 68 minutes took the wind out of their sails, before captain Chris Robshaw finished on a high by claiming England’s seventh at the death.

Having scraped three narrow wins on their last three visits to Rome, it was another hugely impressive performance by Stuart Lancaster’s team, who have eight points from four wins following an opening-game defeat in Paris.

LANCASTER PROUD

“We scored some great tries and came here and scored 50, not many teams do that,” Lancaster told the BBC.

“I’m proud of the boys. We were not quite in our shape in the first half, there were some errors but we have a great squad developing and I am very proud.

“Overall we take the bigger picture – the Scotland, Ireland and Wales performances and I don’t think many teams will come here and win like this.”

Robshaw added: “Plus-50 points is what we wanted to do, it’s just a shame we conceded that try. Now we just have to sit and wait.

“We were focused, ready and came here with the objective of getting 50. We left a few opportunities out there but that’s one for another day. Unfortunately we conceded. If we hadn’t we’d have been in a good position.”

Ireland, with a points difference of +81, and France (+3) each have six points going into their game in Paris (1700GMT).

Any Irish win will give them the title and a fitting farewell for retiring centre Brian O’Driscoll. France need a 70-point win to top the table, while a third successive draw in the fixture would leave England top for only the second time since 2003.

Italy end the championship with five defeats for the first time since 2009, while Wales play Scotland in Cardiff (14.45) in Saturday’s other game.

BRILLIANT OFFLOAD

After a penalty each England scored their first try in the 13th minute after their first extended period of possession.

After sucking in Italy’s robust defence the ball was worked left, where a brilliant offload from Luther Burrell allowed Brown to burst past Italy’s backs.

Burrell almost let the hosts in for a score when his poor pass was fumbled by Nowell, and it was only a superb last-ditch tackle on Sarto from Farrell that saved England’s blushes.

Orquera closed the gap with a second penalty in the 23rd minute but flyhalf Farrell extended the away side’s lead to 17-6 just after the half hour with a neat try under the posts.

Brown gave England hope they could overturn the massive points gap to Ireland a minute before the break, scoring his second after a lovely passing move.

The start of the second half was as scrappy as the first, and it took England 12 minutes to get more points on the board when Nowell nipped in after good work at a scrum deep in Italy’s 22.

Two tries in six minutes from Vunipola and Tuilagi made it 45-6 but a try gifted to Sarto extinguished England’s chances of overtaking Ireland 12 minutes before the end, a minute after Tuilagi’s touchdown.

Robshaw ended the match on a positive note in added time when he took George Ford’s pass to score.

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One in five women have been victims of physical abuse

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Violence-against-women

One in five women in Cyprus over the age of 15 have been the victims of physical or sexual violence at the hands of a partner.

The figure was cited on Saturday by Ombudswoman Eliza Savvidou at an event organised to raise awareness of violence against women.

Savvidou said the figure of one in five could even be higher as many women choose not to go to the police.

She also said that 39 per cent of women over 15 in Cyprus have suffered psychological violence at the hands of a partner.

Although the rates were lower than the EU average, Savvidou said they were high enough and demonstrates that the problem of violence was real and very serious.

Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou, who also addressed the event, said his ministry was working on a series of legal measures that would criminalise all forms of violence against women and to increase the penalties under those laws that already exist.

It is also considering the accession of Cyprus to the Council of Europe`s Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.

“The government places this serious issue of violence against women among its high priorities and we are determined to take all necessary measures to address it,” he pledged. (CNA)

 

 

 

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Eleven remanded after volleyball clashes

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Anorthosis won the game 3-1 set

By Constantinos Psillides

Eleven people from Nicosia were remanded for three days on Saturday by the Limassol court after the Omonia- Anorthosis volleyball match on Friday turned violent.

The match was held in Limassol but only Anorthosis fans were allowed by authorities to attend. Twenty-seven Omonia fans were also given a pass. According to the police, the fans on each side began cursing at each other and after the game ended a glass panel over the Omonia fans was shattered by what was believed to be a rock thrown at them.

Police said the fans then clashed with each other and someone opened a door on the west side of the court from where approximately 100 hooligans wearing bicycle helmets and hoods came flooding in, brandishing sticks, iron bars and throwing flares.

Police tried to disperse the hooligans, who started throwing rocks at officers and damaging cars in the parking lot. Police reinforcements arrived and 11 people were arrested. One of the suspects had 2.5 grammes of cannabis in his possession, police said. After searching his home later, police said they found eight more grammes.

Anorthosis won the game, 3-1 set.

 

 

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Supreme Court overrules forced resignations of three officers in 2005 brutality case

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court demo     5

By Constantinos Psillides

THE Supreme Court has overruled the forced resignations of three police officers convicted in 2011 of beating up two students during a routine check along the Armenias street in Nicosia in 2005.

The Court overturned a decision made by the police force disciplinary board, which decided that the officers should be forced to resign in light of the crime they had been convicted of.

The three officers were initially acquitted of all charges by the Criminal Court but the Supreme Court ordered the case to go through trial again. The accused pleaded guilty in charges of assault and causing actual bodily harm and in 2011 were sentenced to 12 months in jail with a three-year suspension.

The police disciplinary board handed down its own sentence, which initially was an eight-day paid suspension. Police chief Michalis Papageorgiou subsequently filed an appeal against the punishment on the grounds it was inadequate and the Appeals Board reversed the decision ordering instead that the officers should resign.

The Supreme Court in its decision issued on Friday said the Appeals Board was had not maintained impartiality at “every step of the process” as it was of “paramount importance” to do so.

The Supreme Court also decided that by participating in the Appeals Board, the Chief of Police had nullified any notion of impartiality, since he had adopted his predecessor’s opinion that the crimes the officers were accused of were so grave they merited a disciplinary hearing.

The Court based its decision on the fact that when Papageorgiou asked for a Appeals Board member to be substituted due to promotion, he referred to a previous letter sent by his predecessor Charalambos Koulentis as “my previous letter”.

The Court maintained that by being an ex officio member of the Appeals Board the police chief’s presence resulted to an unfair hearing.

 

The Court also remarked that being asked to resign was too harsh a punishment as it was second only to being fired. In the decision,  the Court noted that the Appeals Board accepted as mitigating circumstances the officers’ lack of previous criminal record, as well as the fact that they had been out of the job for seven years. “One wonders what their decision would be, if they hadn’t accepted the mitigating circumstances,” the ruling states.

The Supreme Court also cited the extensive negative media coverage during the case, which it said, should also count as a mitigating circumstance.

The brutal beating of the two victims only came to light after a member of the public filmed it and had it published by Politis newspaper. The story shocked and angered the nation and resulted in weeks of demonstrations.

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10-man City keep title hopes alive with win at Hull

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Soccer - Barclays Premier League - Hull City v Manchester City - KC Stadium

Manchester City bounced back from their FA Cup and Champions League exits to win 2-0 at Hull City despite playing for 80 minutes with 10 men to keep alive their Premier League title hopes on Saturday.

City, who climbed to second in the table, had captain Vincent Kompany sent off after 10 minutes for hauling down striker Nikica Jelavic on the edge of his own box.

They went on to win with goals from David Silva and Edin Dzeko.

League leaders Chelsea, who have six points more than City but have played two more matches, were playing Aston Villa at 17.30 GMT.

Liverpool and Arsenal, who are third and fourth, play at Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur respectively on Sunday.

At the other end Fulham stayed bottom but won for the first time since New Year’s Day and for the first time since Felix Magath became coach.

They beat Newcastle United, without suspended manager Alan Pardew in the stadium, 1-0 at Craven Cottage with a second-half winner from Ashkan Dejagah.

Three of the four relegation-threatened teams immediately above them avoided defeat.

Crystal Palace, slipped a place to 17th despite drawing 0-0 at Sunderland, who moved up a spot to 18th.

West Bromwich Albion, without a win in their first seven matches under Spanish coach Pepe Mel, finally ended that sequence with a 2-1 come-from-behind win at Swansea City with goals from Stephane Sessegnon and Youssouf Mulumbu five minutes from time. They went up one place to 16th.

Cardiff City lost 2-1 at Everton, where Seamus Coleman scored the winner with almost the last kick of the game, and slipped back to 19th.

In the other two games Stoke City beat West Ham United 3-1 while two late goals could not save 15th placed Norwich City from a 4-2 defeat at Southampton.

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