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Review: Tea For Two, Paphos

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By Bejay Browne

Tea For Two on Poseidonos Avenue in Kato Paphos is in a prime location on the seafront and is one of a chain of three café bars which were established in 1991.

In the current economic climate, this small chain is thriving due to good quality, affordably priced food and drink and friendly and welcoming service. If you’re looking for a taste of Cyprus this isn’t the place to visit, as it’s very British in both décor and cuisine.

However, if English food is you thing, or you feel like a sundowner, be it a cocktail, a beer or a glass of wine, a tempting ice cream or dessert, you won’t find anywhere better in Paphos.

The décor is a garish red and white, and plastic tables and chairs deck out both the interior and exterior covered areas. This tea-room, café bar won’t win any style awards but it is practical and is a gem of its type. Toilets are kept spotlessly clean – something most guests usually look out for – and friendliness of staff is paramount.

If you choose to eat, portions are large and tasty and range from a full English breakfast to steak and kidney pie and chips and if you still have room for more, desserts are delicious. The food is simple and hearty and standards are kept high.

The drinks are reasonably priced and range from teas and coffees, to alcoholic beverages. Tea for Two also caters for families and high chairs are available on request. Large parties can also be accommodated. The outlet on Poseidonos Avenue is popular and busy and often packed, but the turnaround is quick and guests are never left waiting too long. Views of the sea from the top floor are the best; this is also a good place to people watch and relax.

The venue is ideally situated for tourists, as a number of hotels and holiday accommodation is close by. It’s within a short walk of the harbour in Kato Paphos and parking can usually be found in the backstreets behind the café.

The chain also has an outlet on the Tomb of the Kings Road and a third in the centre of Paphos town. All are good and offer the same high levels of service but for views and ambience, the Kato Paphos branch is the favourite.

If you’re on a budget and you want value for money, this venue is well worth a visit. Staff say that many of their clients are holidaymakers in Paphos who visit time and again during each single trip.

Tea for Two
When: open all day – until 10pm
Where: Poseidonos Avenue, Kato Paphos

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‘Happily ever after’ a long way off for Bank of Cyprus CEO

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Bank of Cyprus Chief Executive John Hourican

By Laura Noonan

If John Hourican manages to drag Bank of Cyprus back from the brink of collapse, it would resurrect a financial institution, a national economy and his own career.

Deposed less than a year ago as Royal Bank of Scotland’s head of investment banking, 43-year-old Hourican faces what is likely to be his defining legacy in trying to resuscitate the stricken Cypriot lender.

For now, the outcome is far from clear.

Hourican takes issue with the romanticised version of his decision to up sticks to Cyprus last November, six months after becoming the most high-profile victim at RBS of a rate-rigging scandal which the bank said the Irishman had no knowledge of.

“I think they (observers) read too much into motivation and into the planning of people’s careers,” said Hourican, who was paid 7.5 million pounds by RBS for 2011 and earned 141,000 euros for his first two months as Bank of Cyprus CEO. “I took the job because it was in front of me. I have never had a masterplan.”

The fates of Bank of Cyprus and the Cypriot economy are intertwined. The island suffered the worst economic growth in the euro zone in 2013 and is expected to repeat that in 2014. The bank accounts for about 30 percent of the country’s lending.

Europe is watching to see how Cypriot banks can recover after seizing funds of depositors to shore up capital, a precedent that informed a new EU-wide banking deal.

Russians, who were among the biggest losers in the deposit grab, remain wary of putting cash into the banks and are watching to see if their one-time haven can be restored.

But on the anniversary of its rescue, Bank of Cyprus is in a perilous state, with mounting loan losses, falling deposits and a still-fragile economy threatening its revival.

UPPING THEIR GAME

Over half of Bank of Cyprus’s loan book is classed as non-performing, and while Hourican says there has been some recent stabilisation, the chief financial officer at rival Hellenic Bank, Antonis Rouvas, told Reuters he could not predict at what level the banking system’s bad debts would stabilise.

They already make up than 40 per cent of total lending across the sector, a tally unmatched in the euro zone and well above the 30 per cent of neighbouring crisis-hit Greece.

Moves by local lawmakers could make things even worse. Marios Clerides, the chief executive of the Co-operative Central Bank (CCB), told Reuters his bank could need another bailout on top of the 1.5 billion euros it got in February if proposed new laws to protect private homes from repossession are enacted.

“You have to see the political environment we’re working in,” he said of banks’ scant progress with non-performing loans. “The politicians want us to handle things with a velvety touch. The troika wants us to handle them aggressively. We are trying to handle them as best we can.”

RBS’s former deputy head of non-core operations, Euan Hamilton, is leading Bank of Cyprus’s efforts to stem the tide of loan losses. Customers falling behind on their loans are now contacted by the bank as soon as they stop paying and independent experts review business plans of ailing customers before loans are restructured.

Bankers want the state to strengthen their hand by introducing new laws to help them foreclose on the assets pledged as security to back loans, a measure championed by the EC/IMF/ECB teams overseeing Cyprus’s bailout.

“The objective is not to penalize householders, but banks need to have the tools to collect their money,” Rouvas said.

Hourican and Rouvas are optimistic that lawmakers will come good, but others are not so sure. “People of influence have loans with the banks,” said one experienced senior Cypriot banker, pointing to the unpredictability of parliament.

RESTORING TRUST

The most famously invoked parliamentary veto came last March, when politicians refused to sanction initial plans to seize deposits agreed between the government and EU leaders.

A year on, scars from the eventual deposit seizure are still raw, even for depositors at unaffected banks like CCB.
“We say ‘we’re well capitalised’, but there is no trust,” said Clerides. “We say that you are insured (for deposits under 100,000 euros). Their reaction is ‘what guarantee can you give that they won’t change the law?’.”

Andreas Neocleous, a Limassol lawyer who advises Russian clients, says he doesn’t expect them to bring any more money into the island even if the political situation at home worsens. “They fear that the banking system is still sick,” he said.

Capital controls, introduced to avoid mass withdrawals after the deposit grab, helped contain the fall in Bank of Cyprus’s deposits in the last six months of 2013 to 2 billion euros.

“We’ve analysed the hell out of that,” Hourican said on the subject of what would happen to his bank’s 15 billion euros deposit book when the controls are fully lifted.

He expects restrictions within Cyprus to be eased over the coming months, but thinks restrictions on bringing money out of the country are likely to last another year. Between now and then, he must make Bank of Cyprus strong enough to withstand the hit.

BUILDING

The bank hired HSBC to review its business plan, including examining the feasibility of splitting itself into a good bank with healthy loans backed by deposits, and a bad bank with troubled loans backed by fresh funding.

“Although Cypriot banks have never been heavily reliant on the bond market, looking at what Greece’s Piraeus has been able to achieve in recent weeks, I don’t think it would be a surprise to see a Cypriot bank in the market,” said Dierk Brandenburg, a senior bank credit analyst at Fidelity, referring to Piraeus’s raising of 500 million euros on March 18.

Relisting shares, which were suspended in March 2013, is on the to-do list but Bank of Cyprus is likely to ask for an extension of the suspension when it runs out in July, Hourican said.

“A relisting of the stock for some of them (shareholders) would be an indication of progress. To me, there are other indications of progress we need to have in place first,” he said, pointing to the bank’s need to reduce its 10 billion euro reliance on last-resort central bank funding, tackle non-performing loans and sell non-core assets.

The bank is reforming how it lends, moving away from collateral-based lending to look at cash flow.

Hourican spent 16 years at RBS, where he overhauled the investment bank, cutting 10,000 staff and closing operations in 14 countries. A former colleague said he lost his job after RBS’s investment banking arm fell out of political favour.

Hourican said he wants to “leave something lasting”, but said he is not after a headstone that credits him with saving Bank of Cyprus.
“I am absolutely not that narcissistic,” he said. (Reuters)

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Need for further dialogue on all aspects of Cyprus problem

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It appears there was a need for further dialogue on all matters relating to the Cyprus problem, President Nicos Anastasiades said on Monday, following a meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu.

Speaking at the presidential palace after the meeting, which lasted two hours and 45 minutes, Anastasiades said they reviewed “the progress or non progress, based on the positions tabled by the two sides.”

“It appears there is a need for further dialogue regarding all the matters relating to the Cyprus problem,” he said.

The Greek Cypriot side, Anastasiades said, pointed out the Turkish Cypriot side’s inconsistency with the joint communiqué agreed between the two sides on February 11.

“The other side expressed certain positions or views about the Turkish Cypriot concerns and what has been agreed is that this dialogue, at least regarding the sides’ initial positions, should be concluded at the earliest,” Anastasiades said.

He added that there would then be a second phase where the two sides will discuss in detail what has been submitted so far.

The United Nations said the two sides have agreed to continue the screening process and to conclude it as soon as possible in a bid to enter the next stage of the talks.

According to a statement read by Acting Special Adviser to UNSG on Cyprus Lisa Buttenheim, the leaders met “in a friendly atmosphere and reviewed the progress of the discussions undertaken thus far between the negotiators.”

“They agreed to continue the screening process and to conclude this phase as soon as possible with a view to entering into the next stage of the structured negotiations”, she added.

Anastasiades and Eroglu have agreed to “meet again in a month’s time or earlier if necessary.”

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Faltering United face ultimate Bayern test

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Tough task: the Red Devils will need Wayne Rooney to be at his very best if they are to stand even a slight chance against the German juggernauts and Champions League holders

By Rex Gowar
Manchester United, comprehensively outplayed by local rivals Liverpool and Manchester City at Old Trafford recently, face an even tougher challenge when holders Bayern Munich come calling in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

Languishing seventh in the Premier League after a dismal first season under manager David Moyes, United are huge underdogs to get through the two-legged quarter-final against the Bundesliga champions.

Moyes will take little comfort from results at the weekend when Bayern’s 19-match league winning streak ended in a 3-3 home draw with Hoffenheim after surrendering a 3-1 lead while United thrashed Aston Villa 4-1 in the Premier League.

United are a far cry from the team who commanded unreserved respect around Europe during Alex Ferguson’s heyday but their home form in the Champions League this season has been good, in marked contrast to their woeful Premier League record at Old Trafford.

The English champions have won their first four home matches in the competition, something they last did in the 2007-08 campaign when they made it six out of six and went on to lift the trophy for the third time in Moscow.

But Bayern, managed by Pep Guardiola who outfoxed United in the 2009 and 2011 finals as Barcelona coach, have won their last seven Champions League away games. They also beat United on the away goals rule when the teams met at the same stage in 2010.

“We cannot allow Manchester United’s current position in the Premier League to affect our mindset for this game,” Bayern captain Philipp Lahm told uefa.com.
“We will travel to Manchester in order to play attacking football and score goals. I don’t think it matters if you play the away leg first. Last year we played at home first a lot of the time and still managed to win the trophy.

“The most important thing for us will be to score goals in the away leg,” added Lahm, whose side overcame Arsenal on the basis of their away results in the last-16 this season and last.
Moyes can take heart from his team’s recovery in their last-16 tie against Olympiakos Piraeus when they won 3-0 at Old Trafford thanks to a Robin van Persie hat-trick after losing the away leg 2-0.

Van Persie will miss both games against Bayern through injury but Wayne Rooney is enjoying a prolific run, the England striker’s two goals against Villa taking his tally to five this month and 15 in the league this season.

Speaking at his press conference yesterday, Moyes said United have belief. “We go into the game knowing on our day we’re as good a side as any,” said the Scot. “We must show it, we have belief.
“All the players want to play, I can tell by their training and attitude. They all want to play in the big games and this is a big game.”

Ryan Giggs, who could make his final Champions League appearance at Old Trafford, added: “We don’t see us as underdogs. We’re United playing at home in the Champions League. We’re looking forward to it.”

The tie brings together two teams who have lifted the European Cup eight times between them and they met in the 1999 final in Barcelona when United snatched an extraordinary 2-1 victory from the jaws of defeat with two stoppage-time goals.

The defeat rankled with Bayern for years but they have beaten United every time they have met since and it would be a huge surprise if the German team fail to make the semi-finals.

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Tourism revenues down in January

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ÊÏÓÌÏÓ ÐÁÑÁËÉÁ

Tourism revenues fell 0.5 per cent year-on-year in January, to €30.7 million, the island’s statistical service said on Monday.

It followed a drop in arrivals by 3.8 per cent to 40,675, from 42,286, in January last year.

Tourism revenues recorded a significant increase – 8 per cent — in 2013, reaching €2.08 billion compared with €1.92 billion in 2012.

 

 

 

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Halloumi export industry in danger, cheesemakers say

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halloumi

By Angelos Anastasiou

THE Association of Cyprus Cheesemakers has accused the government of failing to act timely and decisively in protecting the trademark of halloumi cheese against a Greek company’s application to register it for commercial use, risking disastrous effects to the €75 million-a-year export industry.

Cyprus owns the trademark name for halloumi as of 2000, but in December 2013 Greek cheesemaker Vermion was announced to have applied for the right to call one of its products ‘halloumi’, allowing a three-month window for any objections to be raised.

The window expired in mid-March, but the only objection was filed by the cattle-farmers’ association, while the commerce ministry – legal owner of the trademark – took no action.

“Although our association had provided the competent authorities with the product in question, the ministry failed to act timely to stop such incidents,” the statement said.

“Instead, their action has been limited to filing charges against Cypriot halloumi producers and forbidding them from entering halloumi products in international exhibitions.”

As the sole legal owner of the halloumi trademark, the commerce ministry was the only appropriate body to file an objection to Vermion’s application, the cheesemakers argued.

“Our association unfortunately owns no trademarks, and as a result has no legal right to challenge anyone from trading products under the ‘halloumi’ brand”, the statement said.

The cheesemakers’ association predicted very dire consequences as a result of the government’s inaction, including a dramatic decrease in halloumi exports in excess of 50 per cent, a sharp increase in unemployment, and significant price hikes in locally-produced halloumi.

The statement also protested the agriculture ministry’s position with regard to the acceptable milk proportions in halloumi production, which mandates a 51 percent minimum of goat milk. The association deemed the figure “unrealistic” as available milk quantities in the Cyprus market do not allow for the use of such a high percentage of goat milk in halloumi production.

“Our association has submitted studies determining achievable proportions, based on real figures and the availability of milk,” the statement said.

“Our position is based on our many years of experience, blends the positions of other stakeholders (cattle and goat farmers), and offers a fair solution without compromising the country’s economy,” it concludes.

Ministry officials could not be reached for comment.

 

 

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Greek betting firm OPAP misses forecast

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By Angeliki Koutantou

Greek gambling monopoly OPAP posted on Monday a 72 percent drop in 2013 net profit, driven down by a new tax the country slapped on the firm to help it plug its budget shortfall.

Net profit fell to 141 million euros, missing an average analyst forecast of 152.7 million euros in a recent Reuters poll.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 67 percent to 221.7 million euros, below market expectations. The company’s guidance for EBITDA was 242 million euros.

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Erdogan victory puts icy Turkey-EU relations in deep freeze

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There was little if any criticism from major European capitals against  Erdogan's internet clampdown.

Sunday’s resounding victory by the ruling AK Party in Turkey’s local elections, undiminished by what some call an authoritarian turn by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, is likely to put already cool relations between Ankara and Brussels in the chiller.

After months of revelations of high-level corruption and the furore caused by the government’s blocking of Twitter and YouTube, Turkey finds itself at sharp odds with the European Union, which it has been negotiating to join since 1999.

Too much has been invested in the process to call talks off – trade, energy and infrastructure links make it as hard to break off as to push ahead. But the EU is very unlikely to nudge Ankara’s accession hopes along until Erdogan shows he is prepared to protect civil liberties, justice and the rule of law – and govern like a mainstream European prime minister.

As if to underline that point, the European Commission delivered a terse statement within hours of final results showing AKP won 46 percent of the nationwide vote, a significantly higher tally than many expected.

“Following the overall worrying developments which have taken place over the past three months, Turkey … now urgently needs to re-engage fully in reforms in line with European standards,” a Commission spokeswoman said.

“It also needs to reach out to all citizens, including those which are not part of the majority vote, in order to build the strongest possible engagement on reforms needed to make progress on EU accession.”

There is scant evidence Erdogan is listening, or feels he needs to. As leader of a country of nearly 75 million people which acts as an energy and trade hub and an anchor in an often unstable region, he sees Turkey as holding an upper hand.

His attitude to EU membership since coming to power has been summed up as “Europe needs Turkey more than we need them”. That self-confidence will only have been reinforced by Sunday’s results, which give him a powerful mandate.

“He’ll be feeling 500 feet tall today, which makes him ruthless and able to do anything,” said Amanda Paul, a Turkey expert at the European Policy Centre, a Brussels think-tank.

“It’s a lot of power in the hands of a man who has become increasingly unpredictable and authoritarian,” she said, suggesting it would have an impact on EU relations.

“We’re going to go through quite a rough period now. It’s safe to say that 2014 isn’t going to deliver any serious steps forward when it comes to accession.”

“ZERO INFLUENCE”

Part of the problem is that Brussels has next to no leverage over Ankara – and Turkey knows that very well.

While the EU could freeze negotiations launched in December on visa liberalisation, something Turkey had long yearned for, officials say that is not going to happen. Making travel visa-free would benefit the EU as well as Turkey, and to halt negotiations now is seen as an excessively tough sanction.

Instead, the approach is to remain as constructively engaged as possible, even if no progress on membership is made. In terms of geopolitics, regional security and NATO, of which Turkey is a core member, that is seen as the most rational attitude.

“We don’t want to open a new front with Turkey, especially in the current geopolitical context with the Ukraine crisis,” said a senior EU official involved with enlargement issues.

“Turkey has NATO’s second largest army, it’s a potential energy hub, and it is sensitively positioned close to Syria and Iran. The business community is also not at all tempted by a clash with Turkey.”

Another consideration is Cyprus; Turkey is critical to efforts to keep the divided island’s recently revived peace process on track. That in turn has implications for Europe’s energy security, with Cyprus sitting on sizeable gas reserves.

Perhaps the clearest indication of Europe’s ambivalence is how little criticism major capitals such as Berlin, Paris and London have expressed about Erdogan’s internet clampdown.

While it can be debated who needs the other more, what is indisputable is that Turkey and Europe have far-reaching mutual interests that trump short-term political considerations.

European leaders may disapprove of Erdogan’s actions, but he remains the prime minister they have to deal with, and there is a good chance he will secure a fourth term in elections in the spring of next year – giving him a hold on power until 2019.

Given that calculus, better to keep ties on ice while hoping for a change in attitude over time.

“International leaders will need to deal with the person who is running Turkey, all the more as he is confirmed as the strongman,” said Sinan Ulgen, the chairman of Edam, a foreign policy think-tank.

“For better or worse, both sides will muddle along, and, yes, the EU will have zero influence on Turkey’s domestic conduct.”

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Elton John to marry as Britain legalises gay marriage

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John and Furnish pose at the 2014 Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscar Party in West Hollywood

Legendary pop singer Elton John will marry long-time partner David Furnish now that Britain’s legalisation of gay marriage has been put into effect, the singer said in an interview on Monday.

John, 67, told NBC’s “Today” host Matt Lauer that he and Furnish, who were one of the first couples to become united when Britain legalised the Civil Partnership Act in December 2005, will marry in a small ceremony this year, as early as May.

“We’ll do it very quietly,” the singer said. “But we will do it and it will be a joyous occasion and we will have our children.”

John and Furnish have two children born via surrogate, Zachary, 3, and one-year-old Elijah. The singer said he was “very proud of Britain” and the progress made to make gay marriage legal.

“Having our civil partnership was an incredible breakthrough for people that have campaigned for a long time – through the ’60s and the ’50s in England when it was so hard to be gay and hard to be open about it. And it was a criminal act,” the singer said.

“So for this legislation to come through is joyous, and we should celebrate it,” he added.

John is one Britain’s most prominent musicians and gay celebrities, and has often used his status in the music world to make a statement on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. Earlier this year, the singer wrote a 500-word statement criticising Russia’s ban on homosexual propaganda.

Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron hailed the country’s first gay marriages last week when the law came into force, saying that no one should be denied their right to marry because of their sexual orientation.

The decision has caused rifts in Cameron’s Conservative Party where many are opposed to same-sex marriage as it goes against their Christian beliefs.

The 2005 Civil Partnership Act allowed same-sex couples to have the same legal rights as marriage, but not the distinction of marriage.

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Russian PM Medvedev angers Ukraine by visiting Crimea

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Medvedev meets with children as he visits an upper secondary school in the Crimean city of Simferopol

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev flaunted Russia’s grip on Crimea by flying to the region and holding a government meeting there on Monday, angering Ukraine and defying Western demands to hand the peninsula back to Kiev.

But in a gesture that could ease tension in the worst East-West stand-off since the Cold War, Russia pulled some troops back from near Ukraine’s eastern border.

President Vladimir Putin told Germany’s Angela Merkel that he had ordered a partial drawdown in the region, the German chancellor’s spokesman said. The Defence Ministry said a motorised infantry battalion, which numbers between 300 and 1,200 men, had been pulled back to its base.

However, Medvedev’s visit taunted Western leaders by underlining their inability to force Putin to relinquish Crimea, seized after the overthrow of Russian-backed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich and formally annexed on March 21.

Accompanying Medvedev, outspoken Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin - who has been targeted by Western sanctions – left no doubt about the symbolism of the trip, saying on Twitter: “Crimea is ours. Basta!”

The Ukrainian government denounced the visit, a few hours after the latest round of crisis talks between Russia and the United States ended inconclusively, as a “crude violation” of the rules of diplomacy.

Putin and Merkel also discussed by phone ways of stabilising Ukraine and another former Soviet Republic, Moldova. A Kremlin statement quoted Putin as calling for a comprehensive solution that would end what he called a “blockade” of Moldova’s breakaway region of Transdniestria.

Soon after Medvedev landed with cabinet members in Crimea’s main city of Simferopol, he held a government meeting on moves to revive the region’s struggling economy, including by creating a special economic zone to ease tax and customs duties.

In comments that made clear Russia had no plans to give back the region, he set out moves to increase wages for 140,000 state workers in Crimea, boost pensions, turn the region into a tourism hub, protect energy links, end reliance on Ukraine for water and improve its roads, railways and airports.

Ukraine sent a protest note to Moscow over Medvedev’s trip, declaring that “the visit of an official person to the territory of another state without preliminary agreement is a crude violation of the rules of the international community.”

Medvedev landed in Simferopol hours after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Paris late on Sunday and reiterated that Washington considered Russia’s actions in Crimea ”illegal and illegitimate”.

Kerry said resolving the crisis over Ukraine depended on a pull back of what the United States has put at up to 40,000 Russian troops near Ukraine’s eastern border.

The United States and Russia’s top diplomats also continued talks by phone on Monday, officials said. A senior State Department official said Lavrov’s call was to inform Kerry of the pullback of one battalion from the border.

Russia has described the troop buildup as part of war games. Ukrainian Major-General Oleksandr Rozmaznin, told journalists in Kiev that the number of troops near the border had been reduced but that might just reflect a scheduled rotation of conscripts.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the slight reduction in troop numbers was a small signal that the border situation was becoming less tense.

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PSG must go up to another level v Chelsea, says Blanc

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Jose Mourinho is attempting to become the first manager to win three European Cups with different clubs

By Julien Pretot
Paris St Germain must be ruthless in front of goal when they take on 2012 winners Chelsea in a Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday, according to coach Laurent Blanc.

The Ligue 1 champions-elect are on an eight-game winning streak in all competitions but the former France centre-back knows Chelsea, under Jose Mourinho, have the experience and defensive know-how to strangle any opposition.

“We will have to be more efficient,” said Blanc. “We will have fewer chances and those we create we will have to convert.
“We know we need to be at another level,” he added of the Parc des Princes clash.

Blanc’s expensively-assembled squad have no equals in the domestic league, leading second-placed Monaco by 13 points with seven games left this season.
PSG also sailed through to the knockout stages of the Champions League from a group featuring Anderlecht, Portoand Olympiakos Piraeus before dismissing Bayer Leverkusen in the last 16.

The key to both games against Chelsea could be Blanc’s red-hot striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The Swedish international is the runaway leading scorer in Ligue 1 this term with 25 goals, 11 ahead of team mate Edinson Cavani and Alexandre Lacazette of Olympique Lyon who share second place.
Ibrahimovic has also excelled in the Champions League, bagging 10 goals in this season’s competition.

PSG, perhaps with one eye on the Chelsea game, produced a below-par performance at Nice on Friday and needed an own goal to secure a 1-0 win.
The Ligue 1 leaders are expected to be at full strength although they have a slight doubt over Thiago Silva.
The Brazilian centre back is likely to have to play in a face mask after fracturing his cheekbone two weeks ago.
Silva and full back Gregory van der Wiel, who is recovering from a knee injury, were rested against Nice.

The last time Chelsea visited the Parc des Princes in the 2004-05 group stages, for Mourinho’s first European game as the London club’s manager, they beat PSG 3-0.
Mourinho will be desperate for a reaction from his players after they delivered an abject show in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at struggling Crystal Palace.
Chelsea were sluggish in midfield and toothless in attack, prompting the Portuguese to say their Premier Leaguetitle ambitions were now a thing of the past.
Gary Cahill, one of four defenders to escape Mourinho’s wrath on Saturday, said it was a painful experience for the squad.

“It hurts losing any football match and it certainly hurt at the end of the game because we knew how vital three points would be,” said Cahill.
“It was massively disappointing, the feeling at the end of the game was horrible, but all we can do is keep pushing … we have to bounce back.”

Mourinho says his side will give a better account of themselves in Paris than they did at Crystal Palace.
The only consolation, he said, was that the whole squad should be sufficiently motivated by a glamorous Champions League night in Paris facing PSG in the quarter-final first leg.

“Paris is the kind of match they feel comfortable to play,” he said. “Big match, great stadium, opponents with top quality, they will be fine. They will be in their natural habitat in that match. They can do a good match there.”
Mourinho is attempting to become the first manager to win three European Cups with different clubs after his successes with Porto in 2004 and Inter Milan six years later.

Midfielder Nemanja Matic and winger Mohamed Salah are ineligible, after joining Chelsea in the January transfer window.
Brazilian playmaker Willian should be back after being rested at Palace while Mourinho is hoping Samuel Eto’o can return up front after suffering a hamstring problem against Arsenal two weekends ago.

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Strike Wednesday on Limassol buses

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WORKERS at Limassol’s bus company (EMEL) will stage a 24-hour strike on Wednesday because they did not receive their entire salary for March.
Unions said they were saddened to announce for umpteenth time that they were going on strike to claim the workers’ self-evident rights.
“It is neither our desire, nor our objective to create problems to the public,” the unions said in a statement.
They said measures would be lifted if the company paid the salaries.
Workers will gather at the old hospital bus station where they will decide on further strike measures if their demand is not met.

 

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April 1 pranks kept alive

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pitsilldes

DESPITE the absurdness of the times we live in making it ever harder to separate fact from fantasy, April Fools’ Day pranks are an annual tradition and this year the island’s media made no exception.
The astute reader will have noticed the Cyprus Mail’s Aryan homophobic humour, outlining that heterosexual Caucasian males can now join a group that allows them to unite against all others to their hearts’ content. Under a name vaguely reminiscent of Michael Moore’s 2001 smash hit quasi-political critique, the fictional organisation for the protection of Straight White Males’ rights already has its hands full.
Daily Politis had DISY MEP Andreas Pitsillides replacing Christos Stylianides as government spokesman – with Stylianides sure to win an MEP spot in the upcoming Euro-elections – and leaving deputy spokesman Victoras Papadopoulos (or ‘gentle giant’) fuming and roaring moans of injustice. According to Politis, President Anastasiades and DISY head Averof Neophytou decided to offer Pitsillides the spot as a reward for his polymathy and linguistic fluency, both written and oral – traits the young theologian most certainly possesses.
In a lie that drew some criticism of bad taste by readers, Alithia daily reported that the President’s meeting with Nikolas Papadopoulos last week included issues at least as important as their disagreements on the Cyprus problem, or their spiteful behaviour since the February 11 joint communiqué. The talk produced an important agreement to reinstate former Defence Minister Fotis Fotiou.
Simerini informed the world of a dramatic barrage of arrests relating to the banking meltdown. Twelve people were reportedly arrested by police during Monday night, of whom eight were former high-ranking bankers from the two giants with clay feet – Bank of Cyprus and Laiki – and four were politicians. The story was also uploaded to the paper’s affiliated online news portal but appears to have been taken down following reader charges of insensitivity to people’s despair in the comments section.
AKEL mouthpiece Haravgi said that the Archbishop’s comments on last week’s incident of violence at a bicommunal peace event in Limassol – he condemned it – caused ELAM to stage a protest outside the Arhbishopric, requesting that His Beatitude refuted his earlier assertions. The Archbishop had stirred up a controversy in 2010 when he said that he agreed with several of ELAMites’ positions, which are “crystal clear”, and has long been considered a sympathiser, but caught most in Cyprus by surprise when he not only condemned the violence but also personally called Mehmet Ali Talat – guest speaker at the Limassol peace event – to express his dismay at the “extremist action.”

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A day to honour those who gave lives for freedom

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?a?ed????? ?a?? ????? ??????//Saint John’s Cathedral

By George Psyllides

CYPRIOTS should pay their dues to those who gave their lives for freedom, President Nicos Anastasiades said on Tuesday, as Cyprus marked the 59th anniversary of the EOKA (National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) uprising which sought to get rid of British rule and unite the island with Greece.
Church services and other events were held across the island to celebrate the anniversary of the 1955 to 1959 armed struggle.
“It is a day of honour for the heroes and the fighters of the freedom movement,” Anastasiades said. “A day of honour for Ethnarch Makarios (the island’s archbishop at the time and first president) and General (Georgios Grivas) Dhigenis, who led the struggle, and a day of reflection for us.”
Speaking after the service at the church of Ayios Ioannis in Nicosia, Anastasiades said Cypriots must unite and “give what they owe to those who gave their lives so we can live free.”
Anastasiades later attended a memorial service at the Imprisoned Graves, led by Archbishop Chrysostomos.
The Imprisoned Graves is a small cemetery, inside the Central Prison compound, where 13 EOKA fighters are buried.
Nine were hanged by the British, three were killed in action, and one died from battle wounds in hospital.
“The united few are victorious, this is the message the 1955 to 1959 fighters are sending,” Chrysostomos said.
In a speech in Larnaca, Agriculture Minister Nicos Kouyialis said the best memorial for the EOKA heroes would be the liberation and reunification of the island.
“We are ready for a viable solution that will liberate and truly reunify the country, our people, the institutions, and the economy,” Kouyialis said. “We will exhaust all possibilities at the negotiating table, despite the difficulties, so that the entire people of Cyprus would be able to live freely in their country and build a common peaceful future together.”
EOKA’s aim to rid Cyprus of British rule was met when on August 16, 1960 Cyprus achieved independence from the United Kingdom.
However, its primary aim of Enosis, union with Greece, was denied, sowing the seeds of instability in the new republic.
A successor organisation, EOKA B, undermined the new state, and with the support of the right-wing military junta in Greece, carried out attacks on government targets, left-wingers and Turkish Cypriots.
Its actions eventually led to the July 15, 1974 coup and the Turkish invasion five days later, which split the island.

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With an eye on Crimea, Bosnian Serb leader calls for confederation

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Milorad Dodik, president of Bosnia's autonomous Serb Republic

Emboldened by events in Ukraine, the leader of Bosnia’s Serbs called on Tuesday for Bosnia to become a confederation of three states, and again threatened a referendum on secession if the proposal fails.

Milorad Dodik, president of Bosnia’s autonomous Serb Republic, has long advocated Bosnia be scrapped as a state, but has grown increasingly bold as elections approach in October that threaten to shake his 8-year grip on power.

Dodik, who has courted Russian political backing, has seized on Crimea’s referendum to split from Ukraine – which was followed by Russian annexation – as a prime example of self-determination in action, unnerving Western capitals uncertain about his true intentions.

“Our next step is the opening of a dialogue … on the restructuring of Bosnia as a confederation consisting of three states,” he told a news conference in the Serb Republic’s administrative centre, Banja Luka.

“If this proves impossible, Republika Srpska retains the right to hold a referendum on its status.”

A confederation is a non-starter for Bosnia’s Muslim Bosniaks – the chief victims of Bosnia’s 1992-95 war – but may win some support among ethnic Croat hardliners who have long called for their own entity within Bosnia.

After a war in which some 100,000 people were killed, a U.S.-brokered peace deal split Bosnia into two highly autonomous regions – the Serb-dominated Serb Republic and the Federation, populated mainly by Bosniaks and Croats.

The two regions are joined by a weak central authority, while the Federation itself is split into ten cantons, creating a highly-decentralised and unwieldy system that is frequently paralysed by ethnic bickering.

Under the peace accord, neither region has the right to secede or can be scrapped.

The Bosnian Serbs have resisted any reforms at the state level that they see as infringing on their autonomy, slowing progress towards the European Union and NATO, which fellow ex-Yugoslav republics Croatia and Slovenia have already joined.

CRIMEA “CONVENIENT”

British politician Paddy Ashdown, a former international overseer in postwar Bosnia, accused Russia last month of stoking Serb separatist sentiment, citing among other things Moscow’s offer of a loan to the Serb Republic after the International Monetary Fund halted funding for the country. [ID: nL6N0MF3YT][ID: nL6N0LX4F1]

Dodik said he expected a first installment of 70 million euros ($95 million) in April. Another 200 million euros were available over the coming year, he said, but did not specify the terms of the loan or whether it came from the Russian state or through a commercial bank.

Most analysts say Dodik’s rhetoric has more to do with playing the nationalist card among voters than any real intention. Serbia, which fomented the war in Bosnia but has swung behind the goal of EU membership since the fall of strongman Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, will not want to be seen to be encouraging the breakup of Bosnia.

Crimea was “convenient” for Dodik, said Sarajevo-based Kurt Bassuener, a senior associate at the Democratisation Policy Council think-tank.

“But obviously this is unlike Ukraine – Bosnia does not border Russia, there is no Russian troop presence here, and I don’t foresee the Russians flying paratroopers to Republika Srpska to support its independence bid.”

Aleksandar Trifunovic, editor of the Banja Luka web portal “Buka”, said Dodik’s comments should be seen in the context of parliamentary and presidential elections due in mid-October, with Dodik’s party losing ground in opinion polls.

Dodik has threatened a referendum “so many times in public, and so many times it has proven fruitless”, he said.

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Gas prospecting to be speeded up

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gas

By Elias Hazou
CYPRUS is seeking to speed up prospecting for hydrocarbons in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) with a view to clinching a binding agreement for an onshore gas liquefaction terminal, energy minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis said on Tuesday.
“We are currently trying to expedite exploration and drilling procedures… and we hope to have a positive outcome soon, enabling faster exploration for more natural gas reserves,” the minister said.
“Prospects are encouraging although patience is needed,” he added.
Later this year – most likely in the fourth quarter – Texas-based Noble Energy are due to carry out exploratory drilling in a field other than ‘Aphrodite’ in their Block 12 lease.
Also, the Italian-Korean consortium ENI-KOGAS – with concessions on blocks 2, 3 and 9 – are expected to drill their first exploratory well in the second half of the year.
And French energy major Total, granted concessions on blocks 10 and 11, have said they will start drilling around mid-2015.
At the same time, said Lakkotrypis, the government is pressing ahead with talks geared at signing a final project agreement with Noble for a land-based LNG plant.
“Right now we are negotiating with the Block 12 consortium, led by Noble. The purpose is to agree a project agreement, which is basically the terms governing the operation of the terminal,” he said.
The government is hopeful that progress in the talks can be achieved over the next few weeks, added Lakkotrypis.
But he urged patience: “It is not like oil which one can exploit almost immediately. Natural gas needs infrastructures and patience, as we are talking about exploring at huge depths of over 5,500 metres. It takes time.”
Talks with Noble have been stalled for months, apparently over government dithering on what its own stake in the LNG terminal should be, but also due to a reshuffle at the national oil and gas company.
But an even larger obstacle looms: the lack of gas to justify the operation of an onshore LNG plant – a massive project requiring billions in investment.
So far the proven reserves in Cyprus’ EEZ are not sufficient for a land-based LNG terminal, which requires at least 5.5 trillion cubic feet (tcf) for a single train, or production line.
Publicly, back in December Noble reiterated that the ‘gross resource range’ at ‘Aphrodite’ was between 3.6 tcf and 6 tcf, with a mean of 5 tcf – under the LNG plant’s operating threshold.
But even that resource range is tentative, as it’s based on a 50 per cent probability. Privately, the Americans have assigned a 90 per cent probability to the presence of 3.1 tcf at ‘Aphrodite’.
To make the LNG project viable, more resources are needed; these could come either from additional discoveries in Cypriot waters, or by pooling Cypriot and Israeli reserves, though the latter is considered highly unlikely.
Speaking at the Gastech 2014 conference held in Seoul, South Korea in late March, Gregory Beard, commercial manager for LNG at Noble Energy, said: “The good news is there have only been two wells drilled in Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone.” However, he added that field development costs could be substantial.
There have also been reports that Noble has proposed a floating (offshore) natural gas solution.
According to news website newzup.net, the Americans made the pitch during a meeting in Nicosia with the President in December. There, Noble proposed a combination of small-scale LNG projects (based on offshore, floating technology) and compressed natural gas to develop Block 12.
In such a scenario, comparatively small amounts of gas would be exported by ship to Greece and Italy, the rest going to Vassilikos (by carriers, not a pipeline) for electricity production.

 

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Cyprus on track with adjustment, risks include Ukraine: IMF (updated)

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Long queues for ATMs as the banks remained closed for nearly two weeks

By a staff reporter
TACKLING the increasing problem of non-performing loans (NPL) is a key challenge facing Cyprus’ banks, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a report published yesterday as it urged the speeding up of a “strong legal framework to facilitate foreclosures”.
The IMF report said the banks need to focus on dealing with the high level of NPLs, further normalising payment flows, maintaining fiscal prudence, and stepping up the implementation of the ambitious fiscal structural reform agenda.
It said the banking sector was showing signs of stabilisation but the outlook remained challenging, with rising unemployment and falling credit, and particularly the upward spiral in non-performing loans.
Non-performing loans (NPLs) in the island’s banking sector, including co-ops, rose to €27.5b in January, compared with €26.9b the previous month, Central Bank data showed last month. NPLs in commercial banks reached 41.7 per cent, or €21.2b, compared with €20.8b in December 2013. The respective figure for co-ops was 47.5 per cent, or €6.4b, compared with €6.04b at the end of the year.
“Risks to programme implementation remain significant, including due to remaining financial sector vulnerabilities and diminished political support following the breakup of the governing coalition,” the IMF report said.
To enhance confidence in the financial sector it said the authorities should promote further measures on governance of banks and strengthen supervision, including close monitoring of progress in implementation of the restructuring plans.
It said the authorities had implemented a code of conduct and an overall framework for managing arrears, and banks and co-ops had created specialised units for dealing with problem loans.
“Ensuring that financial institutions have adequate policies and operational ability to halt and reverse the trend of deterioration of their assets are critical to successful restructuring and long-term viability,” said the report. “It is equally important to apply as soon as possible a strong legal framework to facilitate foreclosures,” it added.
Parliament is currently debating the issue with a view to protecting first-home owners but it is believed that thousands of foreclosures are already underway.
Yesterday’s report, which followed an IMF review of the island’s economy after last year’s bailout, said that while deep, the recession in 2013 was not as severe as anticipated.
Growth projections remain unchanged, with a deep contraction expected in 2014 and a modest and credit-less recovery taking hold in mid-2015, the IMF said.
Cyprus received a €10 billion bailout from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF, known as the troika, and has been subjected to three evaluations so far by its lenders.
The IMF said the programme was on track and fiscal targets were met with considerable margins – delays in the implementation of structural reforms have recently been overcome.
Growth projections for 2014 and beyond remain unchanged, and given limited new data for this year, the 2014 growth projection was maintained at – 4.8 per cent.
“This is consistent with a slowing rate of output decline during this year, as the uncertainty and immediate effects of the crisis are wearing off, domestic payment restrictions are gradually lifted , and the negative fiscal impulse declines relative to last year.”
The IMF said both private consumption and investment were expected to continue to contract, albeit at a lower rate than last year, with the contribution of the foreign balance moderating.
The modest recovery, projected to take hold by mid-2015, is expected to be credit-less, led by tourism and other service sectors, which are relatively less indebted, exhibit lower NPLs, and are likely to finance activity and exports through generation of positive cash flow.
As regards unemployment and inflation it is noted that they were revised down modestly.
In 2014, the average unemployment rate was revised down to 19.2 per cent from 19.8 per cent to account for the 2013 outturn and for the deceleration in the rate of increase in recent months.
The IMF suggested that a change in depositor sentiment, in the context of important relaxations of payment restrictions underway, could risk destabilising the system and exacerbating the recession.
The Ukraine crisis could also weigh in on the economy through a flight in capital from non-resident depositors of foreign banks in Cyprus, which may affect the business service sector.
On the upside, if trends of economic activity observed in the second half of 2013 continue, growth in 2014 and beyond could be better than anticipated, the IMF said.

 

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NATO to bolster forces in East Europe, sees no Russian pullback

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NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Ukraine

By Adrian Croft

NATO studied new steps to bolster its military presence in eastern Europe on Tuesday while saying it saw no sign that Russia was withdrawing tens of thousands of troops from the Ukrainian border.

Foreign ministers from the 28 members of the Western military alliance met in Brussels for the first time since Russia’s military occupation and annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region triggered the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War.

They were discussing ways to boost NATO’s military presence in former communist central and eastern Europe to reassure allies rattled by Russia’s moves.

They will also step up cooperation with Ukraine and decide whether to cut the alliance’s relations with Moscow beyond the steps it has already taken, which include halting lower-level meetings with Russian counterparts.

Calling Russia’s actions unacceptable, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said: “Through its actions, Russia has undermined the principles on which our partnership is built, and has breached its own international commitments. So we cannot go on doing business as usual.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Germany’s Angela Merkel in a phone call on Monday he had ordered a partial withdrawal of Russian troops from the eastern Ukrainian border, the German chancellor’s spokesman said.

But Rasmussen said NATO saw no sign of this.

“Unfortunately, I cannot confirm that Russia is withdrawing its troops. This is not what we are seeing,” he told reporters.

As NATO ministers met, Russia warned Ukraine against integration with NATO, saying Kiev’s previous attempts to move closer to the defence alliance had had unwelcome consequences.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk has said the country’s new pro-Western leadership is not seeking membership of NATO, but NATO is expected to step up cooperation with Ukraine’s armed forces by training officers, holding joint exercises and promoting reforms.

The United States and its allies have made clear they have no military plans to defend Ukraine, which is not a NATO member, but they have assured allies in eastern Europe, which joined NATO in the last 15 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, that they will be protected.

ALL OPTIONS

Diplomats said the ministers would consider options ranging from stepped-up military exercises and temporarily sending more forces to eastern member states to the permanent basing of alliance forces in those countries – a step Moscow would view as provocative.

Rasmussen said NATO was “considering all options” to enhance its defences.

The United States and other NATO allies have already responded to the crisis by offering more planes to take part in regular NATO air patrols over the Baltic States. The United States has beefed up a previously planned training exercise with the Polish air force.

In another sign of NATO support, Romanian President Traian Basescu said the United States has asked to boost the number of troops and aircraft it has stationed at an airbase in his country.

NATO allies differ on how aggressively they should ramp up forces in eastern Europe in response to Russia’s actions with eastern European states keen for more NATO support while Western European countries, further away from Russia, are wary of antagonizing Moscow.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday that the pace at which NATO was increasing its military presence in Poland was unsatisfactory.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who said earlier he would be satisfied if NATO located two heavy brigades in Poland, said on arrival at the NATO meeting that he would welcome any NATO forces being stationed there.

A NATO military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russia still had some 35,000-40,000 troops stationed near the Ukraine border and that there was no sign of any significant reduction.

The Russian forces included mechanised infantry, armoured units, special forces, logistics units and “fairly substantial numbers” of planes and helicopters, the official said.

There was also little evidence that the troops were there for training, the official said. There were some exercises but other units were moving to a location and staying put.

“It’s an indication of troops given orders to deploy somewhere and awaiting further orders,” he said.

The Russian forces did not pose a threat to NATO countries but could pose a threat to Ukraine, the official said.

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Election protests in Turkey as opposition cries foul

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Riot police use water cannon to disperse protesters outside the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) in Ankara

By Jonny Hogg and Gulsen Solaker

Riot police fired water cannon in Ankara on Tuesday to disperse thousands of Turks demanding a partial recount in national polls that saw Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party sweep the electoral map.

The Islamist-rooted AK Party kept control of the two biggest cities, the financial centre Istanbul and the capital  Ankara, and increased its share of the national vote in Sunday’s municipal elections despite a corruption scandal dogging Erdogan’s government.

The opposition said it would contest some of the results.

The crowd, calling for a recount of the Ankara result which was particularly close, gathered in front of the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) chanting “Thief Tayyip!” and “YSK, the people are with you!” before the riot police moved in.

No official results have yet been announced, but the tally published by Turkish media put the AK Party on around 44 percent of the nationwide vote to 26-28 per cent for the opposition CHP.

The election in NATO’s only predominantly Muslim state took place amid a fierce power struggle between Erdogan and US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom he accuses of pursuing a dirty campaign of anonymous postings of audio recordings that implicate the prime minister in graft.

Erdogan denies corruption, just as Gulen denies any role in the recordings obtained from secret government communications.

Opposition supporters, many of them students who answered calls on social media, packed the basement of the main opposition CHP headquarters, working shifts through the night as they searched results sheets for signs of fraud.

“Whatever the election results are, it will unfortunately go down in the history of our democracy as a dubious election,” the CHP’s defeated mayoral candidate in Istanbul, Mustafa Sarigul, told a news conference.

“The theft of a single vote is a black mark for democracy.”

Erdogan, flanked by his family, gave a victory speech to thousands of cheering supporters on Sunday from the balcony of the AKP headquarters as fireworks lit the midnight sky.

The result was a bitter disappointment for the CHP, despite the rise in its share of the national vote. The party failed to shrug off its image as a bastion of the secularist elite, aloof from the realities of life for the majority in this socially conservative nation of 77 million people.

The CHP is challenging the result in Ankara and in the southern coastal city of Antalya, traditionally a CHP stronghold that fell to the AKP.

Sarigul also called for a recount in Istanbul, while the CHP’s Ankara mayoral candidate, Mansur Yavas, said his party would go to the constitutional court if necessary.

CLASHES IN THE SOUTHEAST

Despite a turbulent political past, previous elections in Turkey have been largely seen as free and fair.

The vote in southeastern Turkey, where a ceasefire has been holding since last year as part of an effort to end a three-decade insurgency by Kurdish militants, was marred by isolated violence. The pro-Kurdish BDP extended its control of provinces in the region, according to unofficial results.

Eight people were killed in two separate shoot-outs in villages in the southeastern provinces of Hatay and Sanliurfa near the Syrian border on the day of the vote itself during clashes between supporters of rival candidates for local office.

Riot police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters outside local government offices in the southeastern district of Ceylanpinar near the Syrian border on Tuesday after results there showed an AKP victory, security sources said.

The clashes were sparked by rumours of fraud, including the burning of ballot slips, according to Hurriyet. The pro-Kurdish BDP party was challenging the result.

The newspaper meanwhile said ballots stamped with votes for the CHP and the nationalist MHP partyhad been found in rubbish bags at six schools in a district won by the AKP in the otherwise MHP-dominated southern province of Osmaniye.

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United hold Bayern, Barca and Atletico draw

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The Red Devils took the lead through Nemanja Vidic (left), but Champions League holders hit back, leaving the tie evenly poised

By Tom Hayward
Bayern Munich and Barcelona were held to 1-1 draws against Manchester United and Atletico Madrid respectively in their Champions League quarter-final first legs on Tuesday.

Bayern, overwhelming favourites in the tie, dominated possession at Old Trafford but were left to rue their lack of cutting edge when Nemanja Vidic rose highest to head in Wayne Rooney’s corner in the 58th minute.

The holders hit back in the 67th minute with Bastian Schweinsteiger expertly steering home from a Mario Mandzukic knock-down.
Schweinsteiger was sent off in the 90th minute for a second booking and will miss the return leg next week.

Atletico substitute Diego opened the scoring at the Nou Camp with a sensational long-range strike for the La Liga leaders who lost top scorer Diego Costa with a hamstring injury in the 30th minute.

Barcelona drew level in the 71st minute with Neymar meeting Iniesta’s defence-splitting pass with a sublime first-time finish into the far corner.
Barca pressed for a late winner but Atletico held on and will take a vital away goal back to the Vicente Calderon stadium.

In the other quarter-final fixtures, 2012 champions Chelsea travel to Paris St Germain while nine-time winners Real Madrid host last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday.

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