By Matt Robinson and Aleksandar Vasovic

Both sides have been burying their dead as Ukraine slides further towards war, with supporters of Russia and of a united Ukraine accusing each other of tearing the country apart.

Tuesday morning was quieter than past days in eastern and southern Ukraine, but the deadliest week since the separatist uprising began has transformed the conflict, hardening positions and leaving little room for peace.

In Kramatorsk, a separatist-held town in the east that saw an advance by Ukrainian troops at the weekend, the coffin of 21-year-old nurse Yulia Izotova was carried through streets stilled by barricades of tyres and tree trunks on Monday. Scattered red carnations traced the route.

At the Holy Trinity Church, seven priests led mourners in prayer for a woman killed by large calibre bullets, which the townsfolk believe were fired by Ukrainian troops.

“They shoot at us. Why? Because we don’t want to live with fascists?” asked 58-year-old passport photographer Sergei Fominsky, standing with his wife among the mourners. “We’re not slaves. We kneel to no one.”

In Odessa, a previously peaceful, multi-ethnic Black Sea port where more than 40 people were killed on Friday in the worst day of violence since a February revolt toppled Ukraine’s pro-Russian president, pall-bearers carried Andrey Biryukov’s open casket from a van to the street corner where he was shot.

A pro-Ukrainian activist, Biryukov, 35, was killed during a day that began with hundreds of pro-Russian sympathisers armed with axes, chains and guns attacking a Ukrainian march, and ended later that night with the pro-Russians barricaded inside a building that was set on fire, killing dozens.

A small crowd of about 50 people stood around the body, covering it with carnations and roses. A Ukrainian flag fluttered in the wind, and a patriotic song about dead heroes was played from a sound system.

Relatives wept and a young woman fell on her knees crying loudly. The corner where the man died was decorated with flowers and small Ukrainian flags.

“The government has failed to protect its own people. The police have failed miserably,” said Nikita, a grizzled 56-year-old with a Ukrainian yellow and blue arm-band.

Sergei, in his 40s, who also came to mourn, said violence “was imported to Odessa”.

“We were proud of Odessa as a unique place where people used to live in peace, regardless of their beliefs and religion and race,” he said. “Now this is all gone.”

The surge in violence has changed the tone of international diplomacy, with even cautious European states speaking increasingly of the likelihood of war in a country of around 45 million people the size of France.

“The bloody pictures from Odessa have shown us that we are just a few steps away from a military confrontation,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in interviews published in four European newspapers.

GOVERNMENT OFFENSIVE

The next few days could prove decisive: separatists in the eastern Donbass region say they will hold a referendum on secession on Sunday May 11, similar to the one that preceded Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

Two days earlier, Friday May 9, is the annual Victory Day holiday celebrating the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany. Moscow has been openly comparing the government in Kiev to the Nazis, and Ukrainian officials say they are worried that the day could provoke violence. In Moscow, there will be a massive parade of military hardware through Red Square, a Soviet-era tradition revived by President Vladimir Putin.

The past few days have seen government forces press on with an offensive but make little progress in the east, where separatist rebels have so far held firm at their main outpost in the town of Slaviansk and shot down three Ukrainian helicopters.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on Tuesday more than 30 separatists had been killed in fighting around Slaviansk, but there was no confirmation of such a figure. The rebels, who triggered fighting in the area on Monday by ambushing government troops, said four of their number had been killed.

At roadblocks in the town, some armed fighters have been replaced by civilians, like Alexandra, in her late 20s, who said she leaves her 10-year-old daughter at home each morning, puts a starting pistol in her belt and walks to the barricades. The tactic of putting civilians at the front could make a government offensive more difficult.

“We have two options – to use heavy artillery … wipe everything out, put the flag up and report that everything has been done. The second option is a gradual blockade, destroying provocateurs and sabotage to prevent injuries among the population. We are carrying out the second scenario,” said acting defence minister Mykhailo Koval, explaining why the operation has taken so long and achieved so little.

Since a pro-European government took power after the uprising that toppled pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich, Putin overturned diplomatic convention by declaring Moscow’s right to send troops across borders to protect Russian speakers.

In March, Russia seized and annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region, and in the weeks that followed, armed separatists have taken control of most of the eastern Donbass coal and steel region, which accounts for around 15 percent of Ukraine’s population and a third of industrial output.

Moscow has tens of thousands of troops massed on Ukraine’s eastern frontier. The outbreak of violence in Odessa, hundreds of kilometres away near a Russian-occupied breakaway region of neighbouring Moldova, means the unrest has spread across the breadth of southern and eastern Ukraine.

Western countries say Russian agents are directing the uprising and Moscow is stoking the violence with a campaign of propaganda, broadcast into Ukraine on Russian state channels, that depicts the government in Kiev as “fascists”.

“Russia sometimes sounds as if it’s refighting WW2. Fascism all over the place. Enemies everywhere. Ghosts of history mobilised,” tweeted Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt.

LIMITED SANCTIONS

However, so far Western concern has not been matched by any serious action that might dissuade Putin. The United States and the European Union have imposed limited sanctions on lists of individual Russians and small firms, but have held back from measures designed to hurt Russia’s economy broadly.

NATO has made clear it will not fight to protect Ukraine, instead beefing up defences of its nearby member states. NATO’s top military commander, US Air Force General Philip Breedlove, said on Monday Russia had used special forces in eastern Ukraine and he now believed Moscow might be able to achieve its goals without resorting to a conventional invasion.

Western leaders have threatened to impose tougher sanctions on Russia if it interferes with presidential elections in Ukraine set for May 25, and most of their diplomacy has been centred around that date.

“If (the election) doesn’t take place, there will be chaos and the risk of civil war,” French President Francois Hollande said. “The Russians, Vladimir Putin, at the moment want this election not to happen so as to maintain the pressure. It’s up to us to convince them.”

Petro Poroshenko, a Ukrainian confectionery baron who is front-runner in the presidential election, said the vote would go ahead despite the unrest: “We hope that we will be able to complete the anti-terrorist operation before the election. And where we cannot do so – we will surround (those places) and not allow them to interfere with the election.”

But Moscow has increasingly dismissed the prospect, suggesting it will not accept the winner of the vote any more than it accepts the interim government in power since February.

“Holding elections at a time when the army is deployed against part of the population is quite unusual,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference.

By Lanre Ola

Suspected Boko Haram gunmen kidnapped eight girls from a village near one of the Islamists’ strongholds in northeastern Nigeria overnight, police and residents said on Tuesday.

The abduction of the girls, aged 12 to 15, follows the kidnapping of more than 200 other schoolgirls by the militant group last month, whom it has threatened to sell into slavery.

Lazarus Musa, a resident of the village of Warabe, told Reuters that armed men had opened fire during the raid.

“They were many, and all of them carried guns. They came in two vehicles painted in army colour. They started shooting in our village,” Musa said by telephone from the village in the hilly Gwoza area, Boko Haram’s main base.

A police source, who asked not to be identified, said the girls were taken away on trucks, along with looted livestock and food.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau threatened in a video released to the media on Monday to sell thegirls abducted from a secondary school on April 14 “on the market”.

The kidnappings by the Islamists, who say they are fighting for an Islamic state in Nigeria, have shocked a country long inured to the violence around the northeast.

They have also embarrassed the government before a World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting on Africa, the annual gathering of the wealthy and powerful, in Abuja from May 7-9.

Nigerian officials had hoped the event would highlight their country’s potential as Africa’s hottest investment destination since it became the continent’s biggest economy from a GDP recalculation in March, but the forum has been overshadowed by the crisis over the girls, whose whereabouts remain a mystery.

That has thrown the government’s failings on national security into the spotlight just when it sought to parade its achievements such as power privatisation and economic stability to top global business people and politicians.

Boko Haram, the main security threat to Africa’s leading energy producer, is growing bolder and appears better armed than ever.

“Many people tried to run behind the mountain but when they heard gun shots, they came back,” Musa said. “The Boko Haram men were entering houses, ordering people out of their houses.”

April’s mass kidnapping occurred on the day a bomb blast, also claimed by Boko Haram, killed 75 people on the edge of Abuja, the first attack on the capital in two years. Another bomb in roughly the same place killed 19 people last week.

 NIGERIA ACCEPTS US OFFER OF HELP

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan welcomed a U.S. offer to send an American team to Nigeria to support the government’s efforts to find the girls, the US State Department said on Tuesday.

The United Nations warned Boko Haram that if they carried out their leader’s threat to sell the girls, they would forever be liable to prosecution for war crimes, even decades after the event.

“We warn the perpetrators that there is an absolute prohibition against slavery and sexual slavery in international law. These can … constitute crimes against humanity,” UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said in Geneva.

The military’s inability to find the girls in three weeks has led to protests in the northeast, Abuja and Lagos, the commercial capital. More are expected on Tuesday in Abuja, just as delegates will be collecting their badges to allow them entry to the hotel where the WEF will take place.

British Foreign Minister William Hague reiterated an offer of help to Nigeria on Tuesday, after calling the abductions “disgusting and immoral”.

Worsening violence so close to the capital has also put the spotlight on security arrangements for the WEF, with a few delegates cancelling, though organisers still expect most to arrive as planned.

Police and military units were deployed outside the Sheraton hotel, where delegates picked up credentials for the forum. A black pick-up truck carrying four men dressed in black with sub-machine guns patrolled, then sped off.

A TOP AKEL MP denied being linked to a suspicious land deal in Larnaca involving the pension fund of state telecoms company CyTA, a court heard on Tuesday.

Police investigator Costas Constantinou told the court he had taken a statement from MP Nicos Katsourides who had acted on his own initiative.
In his statement, Katsourides said he called the police to clarify certain things claimed by another witness.
Katsourides said he had never spoken on the phone about CyTA with a key player in the case, businessman Nicos Lillis, and it was never said he would receive one million euros as part of the whole deal.
“Apart from it being a lie, I have said it in public and I repeat, my bank accounts are at the disposal of the police,” Katsourides’ statement said, which was read in court.
The statement was taken at Katsourides’ home on July 19, 2013 but the MP declined to sign it as is normal.
Asked about this by the defence, Constantinou said the MP did not say why he did not want to sign.
“I wondered why Nicos Katsourides did not want to sign his statement but only he can explain why,” Constantinou told the court.
Lillis and his company, Wadnic, are key players in the case concerning the funding of a multi-million development project – the Aero Centre – in Dromolaxia from the CyTA pension fund, with hundreds of thousands of euros allegedly exchanging hands in kickbacks and greasing political wheels.
The land was sold to Wadnic Trading, which managed to upgrade the coefficients, built on it and sold it on to the CyTA pension fund for some €20 million.
Former CyTA chairman Stathis Kittis and six others – former electricity authority EAC chairman Charalambos Tsouris, a member of the CyTA board at the time, opposition AKEL official Venizelos Zanettou, the director of CyTA’s pay-TV 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, are being tried separately by the Larnaca Criminal Court in connection with the case.

Bank transfers made public
‘Neither I nor my party are without sin’
By George Psyllides
A LIST with the names of companies that transferred money abroad during a bank lockdown last March was made public on Tuesday, as parliament discussed the Ethics Committee’s report of its 18-month probe into the causes of the island’s economic catastrophe.
The lengthy debate was marked by the publication of the list of transfers abroad during the lockdown following a decision to seize deposits to recapitalise lenders.
The list, which also included inflows, was made public by committee chairman Demetris Syllouris.
It concerns transactions carried out by the Bank of Cyprus (BoC) and Laiki between March 20 and 22 and March 19 and 31 respectively.
Banks remained shut between March 15 and March 28 after the Eurogroup decided to seize part of deposits in all banks in Cyprus to recapitalise Laiki and BoC.
This was rejected by parliament and on March 25, the Eurogroup decided to resolve Laiki and seize uninsured deposits in BoC to recapitalise the lender.
Syllouris published the list despite an agreement last week to give the Central Bank until June to process the names and check for irregularities.
The largest outflows recorded where from fuel companies and JCC payments, a card-processing company 75 per cent owned by BoC and the rest by Hellenic Bank, National Bank of Greece, Piraeus Bank, and Alpha Bank.
Publication of the list is expected to cause controversy as one person named has already denied transferring cash abroad. In fact, the businessman said, the amounts concerned one deposit and two payments made locally.
Responding to the publication, the Central Bank “emphatically” pointed it had submitted the data to help the committee in its probe into the causes of the economic collapse.
Summing up the probe’s report, Syllouris blamed the former Central Bank governors and the officials of the Demetris Christofias administration whose “bad and criminal actions” led to Cyprus’ economic collapse.
DISY leader Averof Neophytou called on all parties to unite in the effort to rebuild a stable economy with sound foundations.
He also asked everyone to reflect on their own mistakes, which eventually led to the collapse.
Neophytou said the crisis should be seen as an opportunity to make the necessary changes, which were being constantly postponed “to avoid the political cost. Neither I nor my party are without sin.”
“To satisfy demands and transfer the problems onto the next administration was one of the main characteristics that brought us here,” the DISY chief said.
Neophytou said the problem with the economy was the Cypriot mentality – households, businesses, and the state – that learned to live off borrowed money, creating an artificial prosperity.
Main opposition AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou reiterated that the collapse was mainly the fault of the banks.
AKEL’s administration is considered responsible by the majority of Cypriots for the collapse of the economy.
Kyprianou said there were problems with the state’s finances during the previous government but efforts were being made to correct them.
“In any case, public finances could be kept in check and they were not a reason to resort to the support mechanism,” he said. “What forced us to resort to the support mechanism was the huge hole in the banking sector. A hole that I think was deliberately inflated by our European partners so that they could impose their decisions, which were painful for the Cypriot people.”
However, he said, other expediencies prevailed, and not everyone was able to see the truth.
The expediencies dictated undermining Christofias and AKEL and removing them from power.
“Unfortunately this is what prevailed at the time. Above national interests,” Kyprianou said.
DIKO chairman Nicolas Papadopoulos demanded the punishment of those who led the economy to collapse as well as a review of any potential gaps in the banking and political systems.
However, Papadopoulos said, the catastrophe could have been avoided.
“In the case of Cyprus, it was not only the banking system that failed, but also the political system,” he said.

By Toby Davis

Manchester United’s past and future were on show as debutant James Wilson scored twice in a 3-1 win over Hull City on Tuesday that marked the end of stalwart Nemanja Vidic’s Old Trafford career and set tongues wagging about Ryan Giggs.

Wilson, 19 years old and one of two debutants on show, scored in each half before Matty Fryatt pulled one back for Hull and Robin van Persie added a third for United in their final home game of a turbulent season.

Wilson stole the headlines, but the night belonged to those at the other ends of their careers.

Vidic, who is leaving for Inter Milan at the end of the campaign, played his final home match and Giggs, currently the interim manager, swapped his club suit for a tracksuit and made a substitute appearance that many speculate could be his last.

United stay seventh in the table with 63 points, three behind sixth-place Tottenham Hotspur. Hull, who take on Arsenal in the FA Cup final on May 17, stay 15th.

By Stephanie Robb

Winter is officially on the way out and we are arriving at a season most restaurant goers look forward to, sitting outside, taking in the atmosphere accompanied by a great meal, and Proton Kalamaki offers exactly that. It almost feels as if you have stepped out of Limassol and into a little shop in the centre of Athens.

Located in the Old Castle square, the Proton Kalamaki offers an ideal graphic setting with the ability to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the city without being overwhelmed by it. The specialty of the restaurant, which is hidden in the name itself, relies on the art of the greek souvlaki and an art that they do very well. Nevertheless do not despair as souvlaki is not the only option on the menu.

For starters, head for something Greek – the traditional Cretan ntakos and the saganaki, both well known dishes distinguished by their sublime use of feta cheese. The ntakos are made with rusks, sprinkled with fragrant olive oil, dipped in freshly diced tomato, oregano and lots of feta. The combination might seem simple, yet at times it’s the simplest of things that are the hardest to get right. Known for their hardness, the rusks acquire an incredible texture and taste once combined with the other ingredients. The saganaki, another Greek cuisine staple, is made with fresh tomato, green pepper, virgin olive oil, oregano and feta cheese, wrapped in aluminum foil and cooked on the grill. To those who are true feta lovers the saganaki here is made incredibly. Village salads and assorted dips like tzatziki and tirokafteri, all homemade, are also available.

Moving on to the main menu, the variety that should be expected is dishes made on charcoal grill. You can order pork or chicken souvlaki, both cooked to perfection as they are never overcooked and never become dry. The simplicity of the spices, without having a predominant taste, allows you to enjoy the meat in all its glory. The village souvlaki offers the same, simply cooked meat and is simply delicious. Another great option is the pork fillet – soft pork tenderloin marinated with spices and herbs that is not only affordable but quite filling as well, making it a challenge to some. The meat was soft and melted in your mouth leaving a great aftertaste.

If you are in a large group your best option to enjoy a little taste of everything, is the King Richard’s combination. The combination includes two kalamakia (wooden straws) of pork, two of chicken, two pork burgers, one kalamaki of halloumi, two of mushroom, pieces of chicken of the King and of course, fresh fried potatoes. This plentiful combination allows you to experience an element of the Greek meze and take time to truly enjoy all that Proton Kalamaki has to offer.

As a desert the restaurant offers homemade galatoboureko, which is arguably among the best in Limassol and baklava.

My only negative comment is that I found the fries that accompanied the food rather undercooked. Overall, Proton Kalamari offers a quite genuine experience of Greek cuisine in Limassol.

VITAL STATISTICS
SPECIALTY Greek grilled food
WHERE To Proton Kalamaki, 16 Tsanakale Street, Castle Road, Limassol
CONTACT 25 351919
PRICE single kalamakia from €1.90, King Richard’s combination (for two) €19

The revered Turkish Cypriot Sufi Shaykh Nazim, 92, died around midday on Wednesday. The Shaykh’s condition deteriorated over the last two days and he was placed on a respirator. He has been in hospital for more than two weeks.

His funeral rite was due to take place later on Wednesday at 4.30pm and he was to be  buried in the grounds of his dergah in Lefka.

Mawlana Shaykh, as his followers addressed him, was the leader of the Sufi Naqsibandi-Haqqani Order with millions of followers worldwide.

His son Shaykh Mehmed is his successor as the leader of the Order.

By Tim Cocks

Nigerian police offered a 50 million naira ($300,000) reward on Wednesday to anyone who could give information leading to the rescue of more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by Islamist rebels.

Last month’s mass kidnapping by militant group Boko Haram triggered an international outcry and protests in Nigeria, piling pressure on the government to get the girls back.

Public anger mounted after locals on Tuesday said another eight girls had been seized from the same remote northeastern area by suspected members of the group, which is seeking to carve out an Islamist state.

Police listed six phone numbers in their statement and urged Nigerians to call in with “credible information”.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has threatened in a video to sell the girls abducted on April 14 from a secondary school in the village of Chibok “on the market”.

The United States has offered to send a team to Nigeria to help the search efforts.

The kidnappings, and other attacks by Boko Haram, have overshadowed Nigeria’s hosting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) which is due to start on Wednesday evening.

Where do you live?
I live in Barnet and in Cyprus I live in Paphos. I used to spend four months a year on the island but recently because of health reasons I have to spend less time, I would like to spend more time on the island

Best childhood memory?
I was brought up in India, I was there for the firs 16 years of my life. My best childhood memories were when I was at school in Bangalore. It was a boarding school that was very well regulated, I had got over my malaria and felt very happy there, lots of work, lots of games, lots of outings.

Most frequented restaurant and absolute favourite dish?
The best restaurant for me in Paphos is just round the corner from where I eat when I have a high day or a holiday. I enjoy Cypriot food very much, especially stuffed vegetables. They’re delicious. The thing that really delights me though are the Cypriot potatoes.

What food would you really turn your nose up to?
Any meat dish, I don’t like eating meat. Being brought up in India I have always been a vegetarian.

What did you have for breakfast?
I don’t eat very much, just some tea and toast.

Would you class yourself as a day or night person? What’s your idea of the perfect night/day out?
A day person. My day in Cyprus consists of getting up early, having a cup of tea and going to the bania in Paphos for a swim, staying for a couple of hours and then having some coffee and a very nice Cypriot pastry. In the evening I go out and sit on the water front and have a drink. While I am at the bania I make drawings of the people who are also there, and then I translate them into paintings. Some of these are in the exhibition opening this week.

Best book ever read?
One that made the biggest impression on me is War and Peace. All human behaviour and all human emotion is encountered. There are so many characters in it and every one a living creature. There is not a single boring word. It is probably the greatest novel that has ever been written. At the same time I like to read Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey for the same reasons.

Favourite film of all time?
I would say again a film like Gone with the Wind, a great piece of art always has one of three elements – war, love and death. You get all this in Gone with the Wind

Favourite holiday destination?
Cyprus because of the sea, the beauty of the countryside, sitting having a beer in the evening overlooking the sea, the water is lovely and clean. The best holiday I’ve ever had was in Cyprus. Second best in Venice where I do a lot of painting, I was there just last year

What music are you listening to in the car at the moment?
I can’t drive! I am hopeless when it comes to anything mechanical, I’m not too bad with a bicycle

What is always in your fridge?
Good Greek yoghurt

Dream house: rural retreat or urban dwelling? Where would it be, what would it be like?
I have a passion for the sea, I would buy a place that overlooked Coral Bay.

If you could pick anyone at all (alive or dead) to go out for the evening with, who would it be?
Tolstoy would be marvelous to go out with, he has an inner life, a spiritual existence which communicates itself to whoever he is addressing. I would hope that some of it would rub off on me and make me a more fulfilled and a nicer individual

If the world is ending in 24 hours what would you do?
Settle up my affairs such as they are, have a reasonably good meal and go to sleep

What is your greatest fear?
Suffering

Les Palin
Exhibition of the artist’s paintings and sculptures. Until May 14. Diachroniki Gallery Ledras, 84 Arsinoes Street, Nicosia. Open daily: 10am-7pm except Sundays. Tel: 22-680145

By Angelos Anastasiou

Delegates from the troika’s Cyprus mission resumed their meetings with various government officials and other stakeholders on Wednesday, day two of the representation’s fourth review of Cyprus’ adjustment programme.

Wednesday’s schedule included a 2 pm meeting with federation of building contractors OSEOK, who laid out the critical challenges faced by the construction sector. A key driver of economic growth over the previous decade, the construction industry suffered a serious hit over the last five years, with a reported contraction of 40 per cent in the last year. Sector leaders have variously made dramatic calls to the government, asking it to take measures in support of the struggling industry.

After the meeting, OSEOK chairman Kostas Roushias said that the construction industry employs 28,000, down from over 40,000 in previous years.

He expressed the need for growth incentives in the construction sector and the absorption of European funds.

“There can be no growth without incentives, like a temporary reduction in the VAT rate to 5 per cent for transactions relating to construction projects and the reduction of capital gains taxation,” he said.

Roushias also reported that one in five businesses in the construction industry had suspended its operations, and reiterated his view on the need for the creation of the post of Deputy Minister for Economic Growth.

Later on Wednesday, the troika delegates saw the management of the Bank of Cyprus. The 3 pm session revolved around the burning issue of non-performing loans (NPLs), which threatens the bank’s prospects and has garnered talk of creating a ‘bad’ bank which would buy up the lender’s toxic assets at a discount, thus taking some of the pressure off the BoC’s balance sheet. The move, however, has stalled in search of the necessary funds to purchase the assets.

The issue of NPLs dominated the troika delegation’s meeting with bank employees’ union ETYK, with the union defending its members’ sacrifices and focusing on the need for employers to repay their loans so that banks can return to health.

Speaking after the meeting, ETYK’s vice president Christos Charalambous said the troika had been briefed on the 40 per cent cuts on banks’ payrolls, bonus payments and the need to repay NPLs.

Charalambous said that the union had asked the banks to impose a three-year moratorium on bonuses but was snubbed on the grounds of this being an exclusive management decision. He argued that salary slashes reached 50 per cent at the Bank of Cyprus and roughly 45 per cent in other banks, “the sacrifices that needed to be made by bank employees have been made, and now management is expected to act decisively in collecting non-performing loans.”

Charalambous also attacked employers’ association OEV and said that employers need to start repaying their loans in order to help the banks return to normalcy.

“At last, OEV must pressure its members into paying their NPLs, instead of pressuring ordinary citizens into repaying their loans,” he said. “The largest amounts are owed by OEV members, and that is why the effort should focus on OEV.”

The delegation started its review on Tuesday with a focus on economic issues – NPLs topping the list as the hottest item on the agenda – as well as health issues, where implementation of the long-delayed National Health Scheme (NHS) has become an imperative for the troika. Monday’s kick-off review meeting with Health Minister Philippos Patsalis was rumoured to have produced moderate results as the Ministry’s roadmap to implementation of the NHS – submitted last Friday – left the troika unconvinced as the level of detail on some key points was deemed weak. As confirmed by official stakeholders, additional meetings with the Health Ministry have been scheduled for further deliberations on the issue.

On Thursday, a troika delegation will meet with Labour Minister Zeta Emilianidou regarding the issue of the Minimum Guaranteed Income policy, the introduction of which is part of Cyprus’ adjustment programme obligations.

According to Emilianidou, Thursday’s meeting has been scheduled for 2pm.

This week’s troika meetings focus on the technocratic level, while next week will see political consultations and negotiations in order to finalise the revised Memorandum of Understanding.

By Lanre Ola

The latest big Islamist attack in Nigeria has killed least 125 people, police said on Wednesday after gunmen rampaged through a town in the northeast, near the Cameroon border.

Details emerging of the scale and ferocity of Monday’s massacre in Gamburu underscore how far Nigerian security forces are from protecting civilians in a region where US experts are preparing to help find and free 200 abducted schoolgirls.

Scores of gunmen whom police suspect were from Boko Haram, the al Qaeda-linked group that seized the girls in the same region last week, surrounded Gamburu before dawn on Monday. They sprayed automatic gunfire around the market town, which was crowded with traders gathering before the heat of the day.

Witnesses said they burned down houses and, in some cases, slit people’s throats. A police officer assessing the scene on Wednesday said the death toll had reached at least 125.

Demanding an Islamic state, Boko Haram has been fighting in the northeast for five years but attracted renewed global attention last month with the abduction of girls taking exams in the village of Chibok, also in the south of Borno state.

This week, the United States said Nigeria had accepted an offer of military and civilian experts to locate and recover the 200 or so captives. Britain is also sending a small team and France has also offered assistance.

The international attention has added to pressure on the government to show it is working to protect civilians. Police offered a $300,000 reward on Wednesday for tip-offs, listing six phone numbers for anyone with “credible information” to call.

The kidnappings and numerous other attacks by Boko Haram have overshadowed Nigeria’s hosting of a World Economic Forum, starting in the capital Abuja on Wednesday. Nigerian officials had hoped the event would draw attention to the potential of Africa’s biggest economy as an investment destination.

“HORRIBLE”

A witness to the Gamburu attack, Talatu Sule, said she survived by hiding at home with her children. Afterwards, she went out with the police team to see the devastation.

“I counted 85 dead before I lost interest in counting. This is horrible,” she told Reuters by telephone. “They burned vehicles, cars and 17 trailers loaded with cows and grains in the market.”

A police source said there may be more bodies beyond the town in the bush or in the rows of charred houses.

Public anger mounted after locals on Tuesday said another eight girls had been seized from the same remote northeastern area by suspected members of the group.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has threatened in a video to sell the girls abducted on April 14 from a secondary school in Chibok “on the market”.

Last month’s kidnapping occurred on the day a bomb blast, also claimed by Boko Haram, killed 75 people on the outskirts of Abuja, the first attack on the capital in two years. Another bomb in roughly the same place killed 19 people last week.

President Goodluck Jonathan welcomed the US offer to send an American team to Nigeria to support the government’s efforts to find the girls.

US President Barack Obama said the kidnappings “may be the event that helps to mobilise the entire international community to finally do something against this horrendous organization that’s perpetrated such a terrible crime”.

By Matt Robinson and Darya Korsunskaya

Russian President Vladimir Putin called on pro-Moscow separatists in Ukraine to postpone a vote on secession just five days before it was to be held, potentially pulling Ukraine back from the brink of dismemberment.

It was the first sign the Kremlin leader has given that he would not endorse a referendum planned for Sunday by pro-Russian rebels seeking independence for two provinces with 6.5 million people and around a third of Ukraine’s industrial output.

In what suggested a breakthrough in the worst crisis between East and West since the Cold War, Putin also announced he was pulling Russian troops back from the Ukrainian border.

However, a senior NATO official said the Western alliance had not seen any signs of a Russian pull-back from the frontier, where Moscow has massed tens of thousands of troops, proclaiming the right to invade Ukraine to protect Russian speakers.

“We call on the representatives of southeastern Ukraine, the supporters of the federalisation of the country, to postpone the referendum planned for May 11,” Putin said.

He said this would create conditions for dialogue between the Ukrainian authorities in Kiev and the separatists.

“We’re always being told that our forces on the Ukrainian border are a concern. We have withdrawn them. Today they are not on the Ukrainian border, they are in places where they conduct their regular tasks on training grounds,” Putin said.

The NATO official told Reuters in Brussels: “We have no indication of a change in the position of military forces along the Ukraine border.”

Putin spoke in Moscow after talks with the head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, who said the security and rights body would soon propose a “road map” to defuse the Ukraine crisis.

 PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY

A pro-Russian separatist leader said the separatists would consider Putin’s call to postpone their referendum at a meeting of their self-proclaimed People’s Assembly on Thursday.

“We have the utmost respect for President Putin. If he considers that necessary, we will of course discuss it,” Denis Pushilin told Reuters in Donetsk, a city of 1 million people which the rebels have proclaimed capital of an independent “People’s Republic of Donetsk”.

Since a pro-Russian president was ousted in an uprising in February, Putin has overturned decades of post-Cold War diplomacy by proclaiming the right to send troops to Ukraine and seizing and annexing Crimea.

A rebellion in the east has raised the prospect that Ukraine, a country of around 45 million people the size of France, could be carved up or even descend into civil war, pitting Russian-speaking easterners against pro-European Ukrainian speakers in the West.

Residents in areas held by the pro-Moscow rebels were stunned by Putin’s remarks at a time when the region seemed to be hurtling towards inevitable independence and a week of bloodshed had brought animosity towards Kiev to a fever pitch.

“Maybe Putin doesn’t understand the situation? There is no way this referendum isn’t happening,” saidNatalia Smoller, a pensioner who has been bringing food to rebels manning a roadblock in Slaviansk, a town turned into a fortified redoubt where fighters withstood a government advance this week.

“There’s no turning back now. We won’t retreat. This either ends with our victory or – it doesn’t bear thinking about.”

Nevertheless, experts predicted the separatists would heed Putin’s call to stand down for now.

“Among those confronting Ukrainian troops, a certain logic should prevail under which they understand that without the support of Russia and thereby the Russian army, they could be subjected to heavy military strikes,” said Yevgeny Minchenko, a political analyst friendly to the Kremlin.

RUSSIAN SHARES SURGE

Russian share prices surged after Putin’s remarks, seen as reducing the likelihood of damaging new sanctions. The MICEX index shot up 3.64 per cent.

Ukraine’s government and its Western allies have urgently sought to halt the referendum, which they feared would lead to a repeat of Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March but on a much larger scale. US Secretary of State John Kerry has called the proposed referendum “contrived and bogus”.

Ukrainian government troops have launched a military campaign to retake territory held by separatists this week. Troops briefly captured the rebel-held city hall in the eastern port of Mariupol overnight, but quickly abandoned it, leaving it back in the hands of the separatists.

A week of violence in the east and in the southern city of Odessa, where more than 40 people died in clashes that ended with pro-Russian demonstrators trapped in a burning building, has hardened positions and spread the unrest.

The United States and European Union, which have so far imposed limited sanctions Russian individuals and small firms, have threatened to impose much wider sanctions if Moscow took further steps to interfere in Ukraine. Sunday’s planned referendum was seen as a potential trigger.

Moscow has denied Western accusations that it was orchestrating the rebellion in Ukraine’s east, where Ukrainian forces have been largely unable to reassert control.

TERRITORIAL AMBITIONS

But the seizure of Crimea has been greeted with a wave of patriotic enthusiasm in Russia and Putin has hinted at wider territorial ambitions, referring to southern and eastern Ukraine last month as “New Russia”, a term used in tsarist times.

In Mariupol, where Ukrainian forces briefly recaptured the rebel-held city hall overnight, witnesses said the soldiers left after smashing furniture and office equipment. The smell of tear gas hung in the air inside the building which was largely empty in the morning, with activists in gas masks clearing debris.

Pro-Russian activists were rebuilding barricades outside the building where separatist flags flew and patriotic songs blared from loudspeakers.

“They don’t want us to hold our referendum, but it’s our right. That’s democracy,” a man named Alexander said, before Putin’s remarks. “We could have negotiated but they won’t even talk.”

The prospect that further sanctions might be imposed on Moscow has already hurt Russia’s economy indirectly by scaring investors into pulling out capital and forcing the central bank to raise interest rates to protect the rouble.

A range of European companies that do business in Russia - as diverse as Italian appliance maker Indesit, Danish brewer Carlsberg, Finnish tyre maker Nokian Tyre and Swedish cosmetics firm Oriflame- announced results on Wednesday that blamed the crisis for hurting their bottom lines.

French bank Societe General wrote down the value of its Russian arm Rosbank by $730 million, blaming the economic uncertainty caused by the Ukraine crisis.

Russia’s Finance Ministry predicted on Tuesday that the economy would shrink for a second quarter in a row, putting the country officially in recession.

By Dominic Evans

Hundreds of Syrian rebels on Wednesday abandoned their last stronghold in the heart of Homs city, an epicentre of the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, handing him a symbolic victory weeks before his likely re-election.

Two convoys of buses snaked their way through the crumbling ruins of the besieged city, taking the fighters to safety in rebel-held areas outside the city under a deal agreed between the insurgents and forces loyal to Assad.

The Sunni Muslim fighters had held out in the Old City of Homs and neighbouring districts despite being under supplied, outgunned and subjected to more than a year of siege and bombardment by Assad’s forces.

At the same time as they were evacuated from Homs, dozens of captives held by rebels in the northern provinces of Aleppo and Latakia were also freed as part of the same deal.

But a planned relief convoy trying to reach two rebel-blockaded Shi’ite towns outside Aleppo was turned back by fighters from al Qaeda’s Nusra Front, raising questions about the successful completion of the Homs operation.

Provincial governor Talal Barazi denied reports during the day of any halt to the evacuation, which the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said had transported 400 fighters out of the old city.

Video footage of the first convoy showed a group of men climbing aboard a green bus, watched by around a dozen men in khaki uniform and black flak jackets marked “police”. In front of the bus was a white car with the markings of the United Nations, which helped oversee the operation.

Activists said a total of 1,900 people, mainly rebel fighters, were being evacuated. The Syrian Arab Red Crescent said on its Twitter account it had sent ambulances to take wounded people out of the city centre.

Later video showed them arriving in a rebel-held area north of the city. Unlike what happened in an evacuation of civilians from Homs in February, activists said, they were not detained for checks by security forces and were allowed to keep their light weapons.

 ASSAD GAINS

The evacuation comes after months of gains by the army, backed by its Lebanese militant ally Hezbollah, along a strategic corridor of territory linking the capital Damascus with Homs and Assad’s Alawite heartland on the Mediterranean.

The final rebel withdrawal from the centre of the city, known as the “capital of the revolution” when protests first erupted against Assad in 2011, would consolidate his military control ahead of a June 3 presidential election.

Assad is widely expected to be the runaway victor in the vote, which his opponents have dismissed as a charade.

They say no credible election can be held in a country fractured by civil war, with swathes of territory outside government control, 6 million people displaced and another 2.5 million refugees abroad.

The fighters are expected to leave Homs in up to nine convoys, carefully synchronised with the aid delivery and the release of captives held by the rebels near Nubl and Zahraa, and the town of Kassab in Latakia province.

One activist said a Russian national and several Iranians were among those being released by the rebels. There was no independent confirmation, but Moscow and Tehran have both supported Assad in the three-year-old civil war.

More than 150,000 people have died in the conflict. Millions more have fled their homes and the government has lost control of swathes of territory across the north and east. Fighting regularly kills more than 200 people a day.

Provincial governor Barazi said Wednesday’s operation would ultimately clear the whole of Homs city of gunmen and weapons, suggesting rebels would also be evacuated from the suburb of Al-Waer on the city’s northwestern outskirts.

Rebels in Al-Waer and districts around the Old City have held out against Assad’s forces since the army drove them out of the ruins of Baba Amr district, a cradle of the rebellion, in March 2012.

Since then the army has gradually tightened its grip around the rebel areas, blocking weapons, medical supplies and food. It allowed hundreds of civilians to leave in February after lengthy UN mediation.

By Stephen Wood

Louis van Gaal wants to become the next manager of Manchester United, the Dutchman said on Wednesday.
The Netherlands coach described United as the “biggest club in the world” and said he would “love the job”.

“I hope that I shall be the one. It’s the biggest club in the world and it’s a fantastic challenge,” he told the BBC from the Dutch squad’s pre-World Cup training camp.
But he said nothing had been agreed about him taking over at Old Trafford.

“You (the media) are thinking I’m the man but the most important thing is whether Manchester United are thinking that,” he said.
The 62-year-old has been the favourite to take over at United since David Moyes was sacked last month after 10 months in charge.
British media have reported that Van Gaal’s appointment could be confirmed next week but he could not begin work at United until after the World Cup and he said the speculation would not affect the Dutch team’s campaign in Brazil.

“I have to focus on my job,” he said.
“I am coach of the Dutch national team. I have waited a long time to be in a World Cup, so that’s very important.
“This doesn’t affect me. I have always had offers. I know what the football world is and what it means.”

Van Gaal has won domestic titles in the Netherlands with Ajax Amsterdam and AZ Alkmaar, in Spain with Barcelona and in Germany with Bayern Munich. He also led Ajax to the European Cup in 1995.

United, seventh in the Premier League table, have endured a disappointing season, their first of the post-Alex Ferguson era.
Moyes lasted 34 league games before being replaced on an interim basis by Ryan Giggs who has led them to two wins and one defeat in his three games in charge.

By Toby Davis

Manchester City tightened their grip on the Premier League title race with a 4-0 win over Aston Villa on Wednesday as Edin Dzeko scored twice to leave them needing just a point from the final game of the season.

Dzeko’s double midway through the second half relieved the pressure that had gripped the Etihad stadium and late strikes by Stevan Jovetic and Yaya Toure secured an emphatic victory.

City realistically need just a point from Sunday’s visit of West Ham United to win their second league title in three years.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side moved two points clear of Liverpool at the top of the table but, with a superior goal difference of 13 over their title rivals, a draw would be enough for City to be crowned champions.

At the other end of the standings, Sunderland guaranteed their Premier League survival when goals by Jack Colback and Fabio Borini sealed a 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion which effectively ended Norwich City’s hopes of remaining in the top flight.
With Sunderland moving to 38 points and West Brom one place above the relegation zone on 36, Norwich are three points further adrift with a vastly inferior goal difference.

By Constantinos Psillides

Former convict Andreas Onoufriou, 63, will go on trial on June 5 before the Limassol criminal court, charged with attempted murder of a police officer, illegal transportation of firearms, and conspiring to commit a felony.

Onoufriou appeared before the Limassol district court on Thursday. The court ordered that he remain in custody until the trial.

Onoufriou, who is representing himself in court, objected, arguing that there was no one to take care his 80-year-old mother and his four-year-old boy. He said he was fully cooperating with authorities on his bail conditions set for an older case, and that he felt he would not be safe  at the Central Prison as since he has an open case against former deputy head Giorgos Tryfonides. Tryfonides is no longer at the prisons, having been reassigned months ago.

The prosecution said that Onoufriou shouldn’t be released, arguing that he could escape to the north, he could approach witnesses or simply not show up for court.

Onoufriou won’t be facing the court alone. Along with him are alleged accomplices Christofos Kyprianou, 60 and Michalis Michail, 60. Both of them are facing charges of conspiring to commit a felony. Kyprianou is the owner of the house Onoufriou was using as a refuge to escape capture in Lagia village in the Larnaca district, while Michail allegedly provided the former convict with a hunting gun.

Onoufriou led the police on a five-day manhunt that ended with his arrest on April 29. Police first attempted to arrest Onoufriou a few days earlier, at his apartment in Limassol. Officers were acting on a tip saying that Onoufriou had guns at his home and that he was linked to a string of armed robberies. Armed with a standard issued military rifle, known as a G3, Onoufriou fired at the officers and fled the scene.

He opened fire at police officers again when they tracked him down at his hideaway in Lagia. While the gunfight took place, Onoufriou was with his five-year-old son who he had taken from the care of the convict’s mother and two sisters.

Back in 1996 Onoufriou was sentenced to 18 years in jail for the attempted murder of a judge in Limassol.

In 2012 he was named in a plot to murder then Attorney-general Petros Clerides but the charges were later dropped.

By Alan Baldwin

Formula One’s European season kicks off in Spain this weekend with Lewis Hamilton on a roll and ready to wrest the championship lead from Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton has never won a grand prix in Spain but, after racking up three successive victories for the first time, the 2008 world champion can break new boundaries at the Circuit de Catalunya on Sunday.

“I’m in a good place right now and I’m hoping that this will be the year,” said the Briton, who is four points behind Rosberg despite winning three races to the German’s one.
“The circuit is fantastic, our car has performed well so far and I’m really looking forward to a good race.”

Rosberg was on pole in Spain last year but has also never won there.
Barcelona, the fifth round of the 19-race season that ends in Abu Dhabi in November, could also see the first big shake-up of the pecking order after the opening ‘flyaways’ in Asia and the Middle East.

The return to the sport’s European roots, and its most fervent fans, sees the teams back in their palatial paddock ‘motorhomes’ and represents something of a fresh start.
All the teams plan to bring upgrades and Renault, who power Red Bull and their four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, are confident they can bring much more to the party after a difficult start to the season.

“There are significant improvements to the software that should further enhance driveability and therefore overall performance,” said Remi Taffin, Renault’s head of track operations.
“With three weeks between China and Spain we’ve made a huge amount of progress and in fact this race may well show that the ‘engine race’ is a lot closer.”
If that is the case, then predictions that Mercedes will run away with the season could be premature.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso won in Spain last year, from fifth on the grid, and arrives buoyed by his first podium appearance of the season in China last month when he finished third and way ahead of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.
The Spaniard, who also won his home race with Renault in 2006, can expect an improved car and huge support from the local crowd but Mercedes have not been standing still either.

The dominant team, who have taken every pole position so far and won every race, have also been working flat out to make their car even better.
“Our aim must be to increase the advantage we enjoyed at the last race in China,” said Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff.
“If we are to build a sustained level of success in this sport, any small advantage must be seen as a platform upon which to build a bigger advantage.”

While Hamilton and Rosberg have been out on their own, the gap between the rest of the midfield pack has been far closer and that pecking order could be in for a reshuffle in Barcelona.

The question is which of Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Force India or Williams will make the bigger step.
“Spain is a good leveller,” said Rob Smedley, head of vehicle dynamics at Williams, whose solid results so far have only hinted at the car’s untapped potential.
“We have got a big step coming in all areas of the car,” added the Briton.

McLaren have failed to score a point in their last two outings after a strong start in Australia and have dropped to fifth overall. They too are hopeful a corner has been turned.
“We know the areas where our package falls short, and we’ve taken steps – both short- and long-term – to address those,” said Racing Director Eric Boullier.
“While not all of those will be in evidence in Barcelona this weekend, they mark the start of a fresh push and spirit within the whole organisation.”

By Constantinos Psillides

A 20-year-old soldier from Paphos was arrested on Thursday morning, after leading the police on an extended  car chase through the city, police said.

According to the police report, in the early hours, the 20-year old was spotted by a police patrol running a red light near the courthouse area and was signalled to pull over.

The soldier, who was driving a black pick-up truck, refused to comply and sped away. The police gave chase but lost the truck near the Anavargos area.

The truck was seen by another police patrol car at 4.30am at the Mesogi area. Officers signalled the 20-year-old to stop but he sped away again. According to the report, they notified headquarters and another patrol car that was in the area joined the chase by cutting off the truck.

Instead of stopping, the driver then did a u-turn, crashed into the pursuing patrol car as well as two other cars that were parked nearby. The soldier fled again, only to find a roadblock further down the road.

This time officers shot five times at the truck’s tires but the 20-year-old eluded them once more, this time by partially destroying the wall of a house. He was finally arrested when the car broke down.

The 20-year-old was remanded for two days by the Paphos district court.

In a second car chase that took place on Thursday morning in the Paphos district, police arrested a 26-year-old man who was previously wanted in relation to a series of burglaries and thefts.

According to the police report, the 26-year-old was spotted in a car along with two other men and was asked to stop at a police checkpoint. He sped away and was quickly followed by the patrol car.

A roadblock was set and when he arrived there officers fired three warning shots in the air. The 26-year-old stopped at the side of the road and agreed to a search of his car. Police said they found in his possession “a number of narcotic substitutes in pill form along with a scales”.

The suspect said he was taking the pills for medical purposes. A background check conducted revealed that the 26-year-old had outstanding warrants for his arrest so he was taken to the police station. The two other men were charged and released.

The 26-year-old is expected to appear before the Paphos district court.

By George Psyllides

Casino licences should be expected by Spring 2015, the government said on Thursday, as legislation on the matter was scheduled to be ready at the end of the month.

“We have completed the policy document and legislation is being prepared at this moment to be submitted to parliament by the end of May,” Tourism Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis said.

He added that the government expected to issue the licences eight months after the law was passed, through open tender procedures.

Chairman of the House Trade Committee, ruling DISY MP, Lefteris Christoforou voiced his satisfaction over the development, which could contribute towards attracting tourists.

Costas Costa, his AKEL colleague, reiterated his party’s disagreement with the decision to license casinos.

The previous administration under Demetris Christofias had flatly refused to consider the creation of casinos on ideological grounds, consistently brushing off suggestions that Greek Cypriots could spend their money at casinos in the Republic as opposed to the occupied north, which is currently the case.

On coming to power last year, the government asked the Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) to update a 2007 study into the creation of casinos to help them decide on the form they would take – whether they will be accompanied by other development projects.

In October, a meeting between the president and interested stake holders revealed the single casino licence will provide for an integrated resort in one district plus two more branches, or satellite casinos in two other districts.

The original CTO study into developing casinos predicted annual revenues for the state of between €35 and €50 million, as well as a significant boost in employment opportunities.

A 63-year-old Frenchman was sentenced to jail for eight years on Thursday after he was found guilty of trafficking 3.5 kilos of cocaine.

The man was arrested in the Linopetra area in Limassol on February 2. He admitted to carrying the drugs to Cyprus hidden in the lining of a suitcase.

The court said it took the defendant’s confession, cooperation with police, clean record, and health problems when sentencing.