By Evie Andreou

WITH TEN schools still without head teachers and many teachers still waiting to find out at which school they will be based, teachers returned to work on Monday after their long summer break.

Despite the shortage of head teachers, Education Minister Costas Kadis said that this year the situation had much improved.

“We are satisfied,” the minister said on Monday. “At the ministry we have worked systematically for many months now to be prepared for the new school year.”

Kadis said that the school year was beginning with the fewest possible problems and that staffing was better than last year, when many schools operated without headmasters or deputies. He promised that teacher transfers would be finished before classes start properly next Monday for primary school students and Wednesday for high school students.

The minister added that school books have already been delivered and that building and maintenance works should be finished before students arrived.
“Where works continue, all necessary measures will be taken so that schools operate safely,” Kadis said.

The minister had said last week that 42 schools would have to operate with building work going on, an outcome of the economic crisis which saw some contracts interrupted because the contractors could not fulfil their obligations and the ministry had to call back offers.

Kadis also said that a small number of teachers, employed by the ministry on contracts, would be out of work this year as approximately 1,100 fewer high school students would be attending this year.

“The ministry took a series of measures in order to absorb as many teachers as possible, but teacher numbers cannot increase while student numbers go down,” Kadis said.

Teachers’ union OELMEK chairman Dimitris Taliadoros said transfer delays were a result of promotions not being announced earlier and that he expected that the problems to be solved within the week. He added that by mid-September, head teachers should have been appointed to the ten schools that do not have them.

Some 107,776 students will be attending state’s schools this year.

By Tony Goodson

Manchester United dominated Europe’s transfer activity as the transfer deadline window slammed shut on Monday, manager Louis van Gaal taking his summer spending spree to more than 150 million pounds ($249 million).

The former Netherlands coach, without a Premier League win this season and hammered 4-0 by third tier MK Dons in a League Cup match last week, signed versatile Dutch international Daley Blind for 14 million pounds ($23.25 million) from Ajax.

Rumours swirled that the move for Radamel Falcao had gone awry over a failed medical exam as the deadline closed on Monday, but the Colombian striker’s one-year loan deal with an option to buy was finally announced some 90 minutes later.

“I am delighted to be joining Manchester United on loan this season,” 28-year-old Falcao, who scored 11 goals in 20 appearances for AS Monaco, said on United’s website (www.manutd.com).

“Manchester United is the biggest club in the world and is clearly determined to get back to the top. I am looking forward to working with Louis van Gaal and contributing to the team’s success at this very exciting period in the club’s history.”

Last week, United broke the British transfer record in signing Angel Di Maria for 59.7 million pounds ($99.16 million) from Real Madrid and started their summer dealings with the 29 million pound ($48.17 million) capture of midfielder Ander Herrera from Athletic Bilbao.

Winless after three games in the Premier League, the rash of signings may appease the critics who have clamoured for an injection of new blood at the fallen giants.

United will recoup some of the fortune spent after selling England forward Danny Welbeck to Arsenal, while Mexico striker Javier Hernandez has also departed on a season-long loan to Real Madrid.

Arsenal did not disclose details, but British media reported the transfer fee for 26-cap England forward Welbeck at 16 million pounds.

“Everyone at Arsenal welcomes Danny to the club and looks forward to his contribution in an Arsenal shirt this season,” the team said of the 23-year-old, expected to make his Gunners debut at home to Manchester City on Sept. 13.

Hernandez joins Real after spending four years at United, scoring 37 times in 102 Premier League appearances.

Blind, 24, signed a four-year deal and reunites with Van Gaal after working with the Dutchman at Ajax and the Netherlands national team.

“I am delighted Daley has signed. He is a very intelligent and versatile footballer,” Van Gaal said.

“Daley is a great reader of the game, he has played under my philosophy over a number of years and he will be a great addition to the team.”

FRENZIED DEALS
Most of Europe’s top sides had done their big money deals before deadline day but a host of clubs took advantage of the frenzy that usually accompanies the end of the window.

Hull City broke their club record fee in completing the signing of 24-year-old Uruguay striker Abel Hernandez from Italian club Palermo on a three-year deal, with the option of a fourth year.

The exact fee was not revealed, but Hull confirmed it was more than the 7 million pounds ($11.63 million) paid to Tottenham for Jake Livermore in June.

Hull also landed a trio of midfielders on loan – Mohamed Diame from West Ham United, Gaston Ramirez from Southampton and France midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa from Newcastle United.

Crystal Palace’s new manager Neil Warnock took Scottish international James McArthur from Championship (second tier) side Wigan Athletic on a three-year deal, shortly after snapping up Tottenham reserve defender Zeki Fryers.

“Thanks Wigan for an amazing four years. They will always have a place in my heart but time for a new chapter with Crystal Palace,” McArthur said on Twitter.

Newly-promoted Queens Park Rangers, whose manager Harry Redknapp is known for his extensive deadline day dealings, signed Brazilian international Sandro from Tottenham for an undisclosed fee.

The 25-year-old midfielder agreed a three-year deal, according to the QPR website (www.qpr.com).

Redknapp, who signed Sandro four years ago during his spell as manager at White Hart Lane, was delighted.

“Sandro’s a proper footballer and a top class professional. He’s an absolutely fantastic signing for us,” Redknapp said.

“He brings energy, aggression, power and quality. They call him the Beast. He’s not only a top quality footballer, but a fantastic boy as well. He’ll lead by example for us.”

Sandro admitted Redknapp played a key role in his decision to move across London from White Hart Lane.

“I like new challenges and this is one I’m really looking forward to. Working with Harry again, who I share a great relationship with, is very special to me,” he said.

Tottenham, under new manager Mauricio Pochettino, were also active in acquiring former France under-21 international midfielder Benjamin Stambouli and loaning Lewis Holtby to Hamburg SV.

Manchester City, big spenders in the past, released England defender Micah Richards to Serie A Fiorentina on loan.

“Now there are no more doubts. The wait is over,” the Italian side announced on their website (www.fiorentina.it).

They also let 29-year-old Spanish striker Alvaro Negredo, signed from Seville last year for 16.4 million pounds, leave on loan to Valencia.

Sunderland signed 26-year-old Argentine playmaker Ricky Alvarez, capped seven times for his country, from Inter Milan and Uruguay international defender Sebastian Coates from Liverpool on season-long loans.

Netherlands midfielder Marco van Ginkel, 21, left Chelsea to join AC Milan for the season on loan. He follows Fernando Torres out of Stamford Bridge, the Spanish striker joining the Italians on a two-year loan on Sunday.

The island’s recession-hit economy contracted at a slower pace in the second quarter thanks to strong tourism arrivals, official data confirmed on Wednesday.

Cyprus recorded a seasonally adjusted 0.3 per cent drop in output in April-June from the previous three months, the  statistics office said, unchanged from its flash estimate released on August 14.

It was the slowest quarterly pace of decline since the first quarter of 2012. The tourism and trade sectors registered growth, the statistics office said.

Tourism represents about a 10th of the Cypriot economy.

Arrivals were up an estimated 6 per cent in the first half of the year, while revenue from the sector rose 8.9 per cent from January-May year-on-year, according to the latest official data available.

International lenders expect the island’s economy will shrink by about 4.2 per cent this year, compared to a 5.4 per cent contraction in 2013. On a yearly basis, the economy contracted 2.5 per cent from April to June, compared to -3.9 per cent in the first quarter of the year. (Reuters)

By Constantinos Psillides

Police are seeking a man who racked up a bill of over €6,000 at a Limassol hotel during the month of August and then disappeared without paying a cent.

On Wednesday, police issued a wanted bulletin for Ioannis Shacolas, 40.

According to the police report, Shacolas stayed at a beach hotel in Limassol from July 31 to August 30 and ran up a tab of €6,250 which he never paid.

Shacolas appears to have told the hotel management that his expenses would be covered by a well-known known local businessman. He even faked a call to the hotel by pretending to be the businessman in question, asking whether his ‘acquaintance’ had checked in at the hotel.

On August 30 Shacolas left the hotel, never to be seen again. When hotel management contacted the businessman to settle the expenses they were told that he had no knowledge of the 40-year old. The hotel then reported the case to the authorities.

While Limassol police did not give out the name of the businessman, the suspect has the same surname as Cyprus’ top entrepreneur, Nicos Shacolas, though they are not related.

Police said it was not the first time the wanted man had pulled the same scam. He had previously tried it at other hotels in Larnaca and Paphos.

Limassol police spokesman Ioannis Soteriades told the Cyprus Mail that Shacolas had gone to prison for his scams but was back to his old tricks after his release.

Besides the Limassol hotel case, Shacolas also has pending cases in court regarding a numbers of other scams.

Police are asking anyone who has knowledge of Shacolas whereabouts to contact authorities at the 1460 toll-free number.

By Padraic Halpin

Ireland’s budget deficit is set to fall to 4 percent of GDP this year thanks to an economic recovery that may also eliminate the need for Europe to ease the burden of the country’s bank debt, Finance Minister Michael Noonan said on Wednesday.

A sharp rise in Dublin’s tax take and in economic activity so far this year will see Ireland better its deficit target of 4.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) for 2014 and close in on the EU target of 3 percent by the end of 2015.

Noonan said on Tuesday that far fewer spending cuts and tax hikes would be needed in the last in a long line of austerity budgets next month after the government collected 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) or over 4 percent more tax than expected in the first eight months of the year.

“I don’t think I’ll have to increase taxes very much in the budget or (spending minister) Brendan Howlin won’t have to cut expenditure very much further,” Noonan told national broadcaster RTE.

“Because we’re not spending the extra tax that’s come in, the 4.8 (percent deficit) by the end of the year will be around 4 (percent) so we’re halfway there and of course the base for taxation will go up next year as well.”

The government has said it wants to offer low and middle-income workers a tax break in October’s budget and Noonan said that he may have to raise taxes elsewhere in order to fund tax reliefs and make the required adjustment.

Noonan added that he would use next month’s budget speech to outline plans for the following year’s budget as well as offering a roadmap for what the government would do for the next three or four years if re-elected in 18 months time.

He cautioned that the government could not risk the success that has seen unemployment fall below the euro zone, exports rebound and consumers begin to spend again by playing fast and loose and looking to win votes.

But he said there was no reason why the economy could not grow by 3 percent a year for the next decade, crediting a prudent fiscal policy that contrasted with Italy and France who he said were “floundering” because they chose a different path.

BANK DEBT
Noonan, who will meet European Union officials next week to seek their approval to refinance its bailout loans from the IMF, gave the first signal on Wednesday that the government was less concerned about pursuing its long-standing goal of having Europe retrospectively recapitalising its banks.

“If we were to give our bank shares to the European fund, they’d give us a lump of money to take off the debt. Now that’s not as attractive a deal anymore because our bank shares have become very valuable,” Noonan said.

“It will depend on the negotiating position but I’m coming around to the view that we will probably have a better option of selling AIB (Allied Irish Banks ) over time to the market than using the money to reduce the debt and we’d probably get more out of it.”

Ireland had described a pledge two years ago by euro zone leaders to allow rescue funds to directly recapitalise banks as a “game changer”, as it sought to claw back some of the 64 billion euros it pumped into its stricken lenders.

However Ireland’s two main banks, including 99-percent state owned AIB, have since returned to profit and demand for Irish assets has risen dramatically, prompting the change of course.

“Politically and most likely commercially, the easier and more attractive option now would appear to be to reprivatise AIB on the state’s own terms and retain control over the disposal strategy,” said Ciaran Callaghan, a banking analyst at Merrion Stockbrokers.

“The banking assets in Europe and particularly in Ireland have rebounded quite significantly from their lows. The actual quantum that the government could recoup from a sale or a partial disposal of AIB is likely to outweigh the price it could achieve from a sale to the ESM

Employees at the Zenon bus company in Larnaca have announced an indefinite strike as of September 11 because they say management has not paid their August wages, nor their benefits for the past ten months.

A written statement from unions SEGDAMELIN-PEO OMEPEGE-TEC and DEOK, said social insurance, provident fund, medical and welfare had not been paid since 2013. It also called on the company to pay the August wages.

By Gareth Jones and Vladimir Soldatkin

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday a deal to end fighting in eastern Ukraine could be reached this week, a clear attempt to show the West he was trying to deescalate the conflict despite renewed shelling.

After speaking with Ukraine’s Petro Poroshenko, Putin said their views on ending the violence were “very close” and Kiev and the rebels could reach an agreement by Friday, much-needed respite for the Ukrainian leader battling a crumbling economy.

But hopes of peace were clouded by Western concerns that the announcement was timed by the Kremlin to wrong-foot NATO on the eve of a summit that will discuss the crisis and to sow doubt in the European Union over imposing new sanctions against Moscow.

U.S. President Barack Obama said a ceasefire would succeed only if Moscow stopped sending troops to Ukraine.

New shelling of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, sending plumes of grey smoke from near the city’s airport, also undermined confidence in an end to hostilities.

“The parties reached mutual understanding on the steps that will facilitate the establishment of peace,” Poroshenko’s office said, amending an earlier statement that had spoken of agreement on a “permanent ceasefire”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the leaders agreed on steps towards peace but not a ceasefire because Russia was not a party to the conflict, which has killed more than 2,600 people since April and caused the worst crisis in relations between Russia and the West since the Cold War.

Putin sounded upbeat in comments to reporters during a visit to Mongolia.

“Our views on the way to resolve the conflict, as it seemed to me, are very close,” he said, outlining the seven steps he had put forward to secure a resolution to the crisis.

These steps, he suggested, should include a prisoner exchange and the creation of a humanitarian corridor for refugees and aid supplies. He called for Ukrainian troops to pull back and for rebels to cease offensive operations.

The West accuses Russia of arming the rebels and sending troops into Ukraine to turn the tide of fighting in the almost five month-old conflict. Moscow denies the charges.

“We have consistently supported the effort of president (Petro) Poroshenko of achieving a meaningful ceasefire that could lead to a political settlement,” Obama said in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, during a visit intended to underline U.S. commitment to a frontline NATO state.

“So far it hasn’t helped, either because Russia has not been serious about it or it’s pretended that it’s not controlling the separatists, and separatists, when they thought it was to their advantage, have not abided by the ceasefire.”

CONFUSION

Although there was confusion over what had been agreed by Kiev and Moscow, the sides’ statements pointed to a degree of progress that might yet influence EU leaders as they consider introducing new sanctions against Russia as early as Friday.

Sanctions were first imposed on Russia in the crisis after it annexed the Crimean peninsula in March following the removal of a Ukrainian president sympathetic to Moscow.

But in a contradictory signal on Wednesday, Moscow announced plans for huge military exercises this month by the strategic rocket forces responsible for its long-range nuclear weapons. It said the manoeuvres in south-central Russia would involve 4,000 troops and extensive use of air power.

The timing appeared calculated to show NATO and the United States Moscow’s military strength.

“In terms of actions, we’ve seen aggression and appeals to national sentiments that have historically been very dangerous in Europe and are rightly a cause of concerns,” Obama told a news conference in Tallinn.

“No realistic political settlement can be achieved if effectively Russia says we are going to continue to send tanks and troops and arms and advisers under the guise of separatists, who are not home grown, and the only possible settlement is if Ukraine cedes its territory or its sovereignty.”

Despite Russia’s denials it has any military presence in Ukraine, Western governments say they have overwhelming evidence that it has sent in troops and tanks to rescue the separatists from defeat and enable them to turn the tide of the conflict.

Under NATO’s treaty, an attack on any member state would be treated as an attack on all alliance members. The Baltic states including Estonia joined NATO and the European Union (EU) in 2004. Ukraine is not a member of either alliance.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Berlin that NATO would guarantee the sovereignty of the Baltic States at the alliance’s summit in Wales this week but would not change its treaties with Russia.

She said that all measures decided by NATO at the summit would comply with treaties between NATO and Russia, but NATO also had to improve its ability to react quickly in the region.

By Nicholas Vinocur

French President Francois Hollande’s former companion writes in a tell-all book to be published this week that months after their public breakup he was trying to win her back with flowers, dinner invitations and barrages of text messages.

Valerie Trierweiler, a journalist for glossy magazine Paris Match, lived with Hollande at the Elysee presidential palace for a year and a half until a gossip magazine exposed his secret relationship with actress Julie Gayet, 42, in January.

After her breakup with the president, Trierweiler, 49, granted interviews and kept up a weekly literary column.

But her 320-page book – written in secret and due to be published on Thursday – describes as yet unknown episodes including how Hollande tore a bag of sleeping pills out of her hand when she tried to swallow them during their breakup, according to excerpts published by Paris Match.

Trierweiler also writes of her own “uncontrollable” jealousy toward Segolene Royal, the woman with whom Hollande had four children over quarter of a century and who is now a minister in his government.

She also speaks of coldness and mean-spirited stabs, and of his attempts to win her back after their breakup by sending up to 29 text messages in a day.

“The news of Julie Gayet was on the morning news,” reads one excerpt of the book, titled “Thank you for this Moment”.

“I run into the bathroom. I take the little plastic bag containing the sleeping pills. Francois follows me. He tries to tear away the bag. (…) He catches the bag, which tears (…) I manage to gather up some of them. I want to sleep, I do not want to live the hours to come.”

She was briefly hospitalised at that time.

Olivier Royant, editor-in-chief of Paris Match, said on BFMTV that Hollande only became aware of the book on Tuesday. The president’s office had no immediate comment.

His allies rushed to contain any potential damage to Hollande, who is the most unpopular president in France’s postwar history and is struggling to shore up an economy plagued by unemployment at more than 10 percent, near record highs.

Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll, a friend of Hollande’s, said the country had more important issues to deal with than the president’s private life.

“We have enough serious, weighty issues,” he told i>Tele. “We haven’t got a lot of time, so we can’t afford to lose it.”

But, asked whether being in office had changed Hollande, as Trierweiler alleges in her book, Le Foll added: “It’s true that the presidential role is a burden, a responsibility before the French, which is exceptionally weighty.”

“All of that takes a toll on a man.”

Claude Bartolone, the Socialist speaker of parliament, told BFMTV that he would not read the book and was no supporter of “paparazzi politics”.

Right-wing opponents, while also saying they would not read the book, said the excerpts offered insight into the personality of a president often accused of being aloof and indecisive.

“Clearly, in this case, beyond his private life this is about the temperament of a man whose cynicism and whose indifference are worrying,” said Brice Hortefeux, a member of the centre-right UMP opposition and former interior minister.

Unemployment was down by 5.9 per cent in August compared to the same month last year, data released on Wednesday by the Cyprus Statistical Service showed.

The number of jobless people registered at the District Labour Offices by the end of August 2014, reached 45,583.

Based on the seasonally adjusted data which show the trend of unemployment, the number of registered unemployed for August 2014 increased to 47,865 persons compared to 47,826 in July.

Compared to August 2013, a drop of 2,868 in unemployed persons or 5.9 per cent was recorded, mainly in the sectors of trade  - a drop of 1,511 unemployed – construction 1,003, education 950,  manufacturing 520, professional, scientific and technical activities 340 and financial and insurance activities 339.

At the same time unemployment rose in the areas of public administration, which showed an increase of 670 unemployed, accommodation and food service activities showed an increase of 155 and newcomers in the labour market an increase of 1,011.

By Balazs Koranyi and David Mardiste

The United States plans to fight Islamic State until it is no longer a force in the Middle East and will seek justice for the killing of American journalist Steven Sotloff, President Barack Obama said on Wednesday.

He added destroying the militant group will take time because of the power vacuum in Syria, the abundance of battle hardened fighters that grew out of al-Qaeda in the Iraqi war, and the need to build coalitions, including with local Sunni communities.

Islamic State released a video on Tuesday showing the beheading of the US journalist, the second American hostage to be killed within weeks, in retaliation for US air strikes in Iraq.

“The bottom line is this, our objective is clear and that is to degrade and destroy (Islamic State) so that it’s no longer a threat not just to Iraq but also the region and to the United States,” Obama told a news conference.

“Whatever these murderers think they will achieve with killing innocent Americans like Steven, they have already failed,” Obama said. “They failed because, like people around the world, Americans are repulsed by their barbarism. We will not be intimidated.”

US and British officials both examined the video, showing the same British-accented executioner who appeared in an August 19 video of the killing of US journalist James Foley, concluding it was authentic.

The United States resumed air strikes in Iraq in August for the first time since the pullout of US troops in 2011 and Obama said the strikes are already proving effective.

“Those that make the mistake of harming Americans will learn that we will not forget and that our reach is long and that justice will be served,” he said.

“This is not going to be a one-week or one-month or six month proposition because of what’s happened in the vacuum of Syria, as well as the battle hardened elements of (Islamic State) that grew out of Al Qaeda in Iraq during the course of the Iraq war … it’s going to take time for us to be able to roll them back.”

The White House said late on Tuesday that Obama was sending three top officials – Secretary of State John Kerry, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel and counterterrorism adviser Lisa Monaco – to the Middle East “in the near-term to build a stronger regional partnership” against Islamic State militants.

By Saliou Samb and Daniel Flynn

Guinea’s government said on Wednesday that Ebola had spread to a previously unaffected region of the country, as US experts warned that the worst ever outbreak of the deadly virus was spiralling out of control in West Africa.

Guinea, the first country to detect the haemorrhagic fever in March, had said it was containing the outbreak but authorities announced that nine new cases had been found in the southeastern prefecture of Kerouane.

The area, some 750 km southeast of the capital Conakry, lies close to where the virus was first detected deep in Guinea’s forest region. The epidemic has since spread to four other West African countries and killed more than 1,500 people.

“There has been a new outbreak in Kerouane but we have sent in a team to contain it,” said Aboubacar Sikidi Diakité, head of Guinea’s Ebola task force. He insisted the outbreak was being contained.

The nine confirmed cases were in the town of Damaro in the Kerouane region, with a total of 18 people under observation, the health ministry said in a statement.

The latest outbreak started after the arrival of an infected person from neighbouring Liberia, the ministry said. Guinea has recorded a total of 489 deaths and 749 Ebola cases as of Sept. 1.

President Alpha Conde urged health personnel to step up their efforts to avoid new infections.

“Even for a simple malaria, you have to protect yourselves before consulting any sick person until the end of this epidemic,” Conde said in a televised broadcast. “We had started to succeed but you dropped the ball and here we go again.”

Cases of Ebola have been reported in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal and Democratic Republic of Congo. The cases in Congo, which include 31 deaths, are a separate outbreak unrelated to the West African cases, however, the World Health Organization has said.

OUTBREAK NOT UNDER CONTROL

In a stark analysis last week, the WHO warned that the Ebola epidemic in West Africa could infect more than 20,000 people and spread to 10 countries. It outlined a $490 million roadmap for tackling the epidemic.

Doctor Tom Kenyon, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Centre for Global Health, said on Wednesday the outbreak was “spiralling out of control” and he warned that the window of opportunity for controlling it was closing.

“Guinea did show that with action, they brought it partially under control. But unfortunately it is back on the increase now,” he told a conference call. “It’s not under control anywhere.”

He warned that the longer the outbreak went uncontained, the greater the possibility the virus could mutate, making it more difficult to contain. Ebola is only transmitted in humans by contact with the blood or bodily fluids of sick people, though suspected cases of airborne infection have been reported in monkeys in laboratories.

A senior U.S. official rebutted a call from medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) for wealthy nations to deploy specialised biological disaster response teams to the region. MSF on Tuesday had warned that 800 more beds for Ebola patients were urgently needed in the Liberian capital Monrovia alone.

“I don’t think at this point deploying biological incident response teams is exactly what’s needed,” said Gayle Smith, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Development and Democracy on the National Security Council.

She said the U.S. government was focusing efforts on rapidly increasing the number of Ebola treatment centres in affected countries, providing protective equipment and ensuring local staff received training.

“We will see a considerable ramp-up in the coming days and weeks. If we find it is still moving out of control we will look at other options,” Smith told a conference call.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said on Tuesday a federal contract worth up to $42.3 million would help accelerate testing of an experimental Ebola virus treatment being developed by privately held Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc.

Human safety trials are due to begin this week on a vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline Plc and later this year on one from NewLink Genetics Corp.

By Daria Sito-Sucic and Maja Zuvela

Bosnian police detained 16 people on Wednesday on charges of financing terrorist activities, recruiting and fighting for radical groups in Syria and Iraq, authorities said.

The arrests were made in 17 raids by a combined 200 police across the Balkan country, the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) said in a statement.

It was the first such security sweep since April, when Bosnia introduced jail terms of up to 10 years for citizens who fight or recruit fighters for conflicts abroad.

The move was aimed at discouraging young Bosnians, some of whom particularly from rural areas have in recent years adhered to the puritanical Sunni Muslim Wahhabi sect, from going to fight in Syria.

“The suspects are connected to financing, organising and recruiting Bosnian citizens to depart for Syria and Iraq, and taking part in armed conflicts in Syria and Iraq, fighting on the side of radical terrorist groups and organisations,” SIPA spokeswoman Kristina Jozic told a news conference.

Experts estimate that several hundred people have left Bosnia, where Muslims make up 45 per cent of the population, heading for Syria. Some of them reportedly crossed into Iraq this year to fight for the Islamic State group.

Several dozen have been reported killed, the latest case of which involved a young Bosnian who died in a suicide attack in Iraq in early August, according to local media.

Most Bosnian Muslims, known as Bosniaks, practice a moderate form of Islam.

SALAFI LEADER REPORTED DETAINED

The police have confiscated a large amount of weapons and ammunition in the raids, said Jozic. She added that 15 more people were found at the locations of the raids and they will be investigated. The operation was still under way.

Jozic declined to identify the suspects. But a regional television station reported that Bilal Bosnic, unofficial leader of the ultra-conservative Salafi movement in Bosnia, had been arrested at his family home in the western town of Buzim.

Bosnic last month reportedly called publicly on young Muslims to join the ranks of the Islamic State.

The Federation television station showed footage of arrests in the northern village of Gornja Maoca, home to members of the radical Wahhabi movement.

Jozic said that SIPA had compiled several reports on people suspected of involvement in organising terrorist activities but that they were out of the country and warrants had been issued for them.

Experts say the trend towards more radical forms of Islam may be due to the influence of Islamist fighters or Mujahideen who came from Iran and Arab states during the Bosnian 1992-95 war to fight alongside the Muslim Bosniaks against the Orthodox Serbs and Catholic Croats.

Many young Muslims from the Balkans, including Serbia, Kosovo and Macedonia, have become radicalised to fight for global Islamic causes in recent years.

Last month, Kosovo police arrested an imam on suspicion of recruiting Kosovars to fight in Iraq and Syria after 40 men had been rounded up and ordered to remain in detention.

A missing persons report has been filed for 24-year-old, Giorgos Stavrou who has been missing since Tuesday.  Stavrou is from the village of Frenaros.

He is described as being 1.70 metres tall, thin build, short brown hair, and brown eyes.

If anyone knows anything about Stavrou’s whereabouts they should contact the Dherynia police station or the nearest police station, or contact the citizens hot line at 1460.

By Angelos Anastasiou

THE ECONOMIC impact on Cyprus of the Russian embargo on agricultural products from the European Union was raised by President Nicos Anastasiades with the European Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht on Thursday during a meeting at the Presidential Palace.

In the meeting, De Gucht updated Anastasiades on the EU’s attempt to secure access to new markets, like the US or Canada, as well as other options to compensate member states for their losses.

According to Commerce Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis, who was also present, the EU’s trade relations with neighbouring countries, as well as recent developments with regard to the Ukrainian crisis were discussed.

“The president raised the issue of countermeasures imposed by the Russian authorities against EU member states and how they impact our country, to a larger extent than they impact other European countries, precisely because exports to Russia form a larger part of our total exports,” Lakkotrypis said.

“The Commissioner listed the measures considered by the EU, primarily in trying to access new markets – he mentioned the US and Canadian markets – and, failing that, examining other options of compensating member states for their losses,” he added.

Asked to comment on whether the EU was determined to continue the policy of sanctions against Russia, Lakkotrypis said that “further measures are under discussion at present, and Cyprus, via its foreign ministry, is keeping a close eye on developments.”

The value of Cyprus’ annual exports to Russia amounted to approximately €13.5 million in 2013.

“We can assume that the likely impact for 2014 will be at or near this level,” Lakkotrypis said.

With regard to who would foot the bill for any compensation payable, Lakkotrypis offered little clarity.

“That is under discussion on an EU level, and on the level of agriculture ministers,” he said. “The issue is under discussion and my understanding is that a Council session has been scheduled for Friday – we’ll see what comes out in the coming days.”

Police have issued a wanted bulletin for Andreas Kanaris, 58, in relation to the investigation regarding land fraud in Limassol.

Kanaris is suspected with conspiring with two other Greek Cypriots, 56 and 57, to sell a plot of land belonging to an elderly couple from Nicosia.

The two other suspects were remanded for eight days by the Nicosia District court on Wednesday.

According to the police report, one of the two men currently in custody rented the plot for business purposes, but along with the rest, presented the land registry with forged documents, claiming that the plot belonged to him and that he wanted to sell it.

The plot, estimated to be worth €230,000, was sold for €107,000. Police suspects that Kanaris was the one who arranged the transaction.

Once the elderly couple realised that their land was sold illegally, they reported the case to the police.

RYANAIR, Europe’s largest budget airline, and Greece’s Aegean were among nine companies that submitted non-binding proposals for the acquisition of Cyprus Airways (CY), Transport Minister Marios Demetriades has said.

Demetriades told Reuters “more than half” of the 15 parties that earlier made an initial expression of interest and signed a non-disclosure agreement had submitted non-binding business proposals by the time the deadline expired on Wednesday evening.

“I would say the response is encouraging, but we have to assess the non-binding proposals to see what they contain,” he said.

According to Cyprus News Agency, along with Ryanair and Aegean, Israel’s Arkia Airlines is one of the nine companies that filed non-binding proposals before the deadline.

The state, which owns more than 90 percent of CY, invited companies to submit expressions of interest in July. The loss-making airline has struggled to survive against cheaper competitors for years despite several attempts at a turnaround.

About a third of the parties that submitted non-binding business proposals were airlines, Demetriades said.

A government-appointed commission will now assess the proposals and decide “within the next few days” which parties would be short-listed and invited to submit binding offers, he said yesterday.

The goal is to have a strong, local airline, which will serve the country`s passengers and employ as much personnel as possible, Demetriades added.

Responding to criticism of “selling out” the national airline, the minister said without a strategic investor, the company would be forced to shut down in the medium-term.
Attracting foreign investors should be a main objective, he said, noting that the interest shown by foreign companies was a sign that confidence was returning in the country`s economy.

Cyprus Airways has recently resorted to selling assets to stay afloat, including its slots at London’s Heathrow airport.

It is also under scrutiny by the European Commission, which is investigating the terms of a €73 million rescue package in 2012 and a €31.3 million capital increase in early 2013 to establish whether they violated state aid rules.

The EU rules permit a government to provide rescue and restructuring aid to a company in difficulty once over a period of 10 years. Cyprus Airways previously received government aid in 2007.

Commuters could see the installation of telematic systems on public transportat within two years, Transport Minister Marios Demetriades said on Thursday.

He said that under the new system electronic boards would be installed at bus stops that would inform commuters how long it will be before a bus arrives, and what number bus it will be, based on a signals system in each vehicle. The system is already in place on the public transport networks in many European capitals.

Demetriades said the ministry was announcing a tenders process for the installation of the system, and once it was chosen, the project would be completed within 18 to 24 months.

By Terry Wade

BP Plc was “grossly negligent” for its role in the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico four years ago, a US district judge said on Thursday in a ruling that could add billions of dollars in fines to the more than $42 billion in charges taken so far for the worst offshore disaster in US history.

Shares of BP traded in the United States fell 5 per cent, or $2.40, to $45.31, eroding about $8.8 billion of its market value. BP shares traded in London closed down nearly 6 per cent, the worst one day slide in more than four years.

US District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans held a trial without a jury last year to determine who was responsible for the April 20, 2010 environmental disaster. Barbier ruled that BP was mostly at fault and that two other companies in the case, Transocean Ltd and Halliburton, were not as much to blame.

“The Court concludes that the discharge of oil ‘was the result of gross negligence or willful misconduct’ by BP, the ruling said.

BP said it would appeal the ruling. “The law is clear that proving gross negligence is a very high bar that was not met in this case,” BP said in a statement. “BP believes that an impartial view of the record does not support the erroneous conclusion reached by the District Court.”

The disaster struck the US Gulf coast when a surge of methane gas known to rig hands as a “kick” sparked an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig as it was drilling the mile-deep Macondo 252 well off Louisiana. Eleven workers were killed and the rig sank two days later.

The well spewed oil into the Gulf of Mexico for nearly three months, fouling the shorelines of several states.

Barbier said BP should have been extra careful because deepwater drilling is inherently risky. The judge faulted BP employees for misreading the results of a test on the stability of the Macondo well, suggesting that its blowout could have been prevented.

“Today’s ruling dramatically increases BP’s liability for civil penalties under the Clean Water Act,” said David Uhlmann, a legal expert at the University of Michigan.

BP has already been forced to shrink by selling assets to pay for the cleanup. Those sales erased about a fifth of its earning power.

Jason Gammel, an equity analyst at Jefferies in London wrote: “Even in the event of a maximum fine, we believe that BP has sufficient liquidity to meet its obligations. We further expect that a worst case scenario of fine level would not be paid in the near term; we would expect a lengthy appeals process first. We thus do not believe there is risk to the current BP dividend.”

Barbier has yet to assign damages from the spill under the federal Clean Water Act. A gross negligence verdict carries a potential fine of $4,300 per barrel fine.

BP says some 3.26 million barrels leaked from the well and the US government says 4.9 million barrels spilled. The statutory limit on a simple “negligence” is $1,100 per barrel.

Previous calculations by Reuters have shown fines could run to $17.6 billion in the costliest scenario under a ‘gross negligence’ finding. The biggest fine under a simple ‘negligence’ ruling could run to just $4.5 billion.

The judge apportioned 67 per cent of the fault to BP, 30 per cent to Transocean, which owned the drillship, and 3 percent to Halliburton, which did cement work on the Macondo well.

Transocean and Halliburton have sought to limit their liability from the spill and their shares were slightly lower after the ruling.

Barbier is set to assign damages after a third phase of the civil trial over the accident, scheduled for January 2015. The two earlier phases of the trial looked at how to apportion blame among BP and its partners and the second phase examined how much oil spilled.

Even after the Clean Water Act fines are set, BP may face other bills from a lengthy Natural Resources Damage Assessment, which could require BP to carry out or fund environmental restoration work in the Gulf, and other claims.

The case is In re: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig “Deepwater Horizon” in the Gulf of Mexico, on April 20, 2010, US District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, No. 10-md-02179.

By Michelle Moghtader

Iran’s central bank has received a total of $1 billion of previously frozen oil revenue from Japan under the terms of an extended nuclear agreement with six world powers, state news agency IRNA reported on Thursday.

Iran and the United States, China, France, Germany, Britain and Russia agreed in July to extend a six-month interim accord until November 24 after they failed to meet a July 20 deadline for reaching a long-term deal to end their nuclear dispute.

In return for continuing action to curb its nuclear programme, Iran would receive $2.8 billion during the four-month extension of its funds held in foreign banks, in addition to $4.2 billion paid during the January-July period.

US officials say more than $100 billion of Iran’s funds are held abroad and are difficult to access because of tightening sanctions on the major oil producer in recent years.

The UN nuclear agency confirmed on August 20 that Iran was moving to meet the requirements of the extended agreement, paving the way for some of the money to be released.

Citing the Iranian central bank’s public relations office, IRNA said Japan’s central bank deposited the funds in two instalments at the Iranian central bank’s account in Oman.

Japan, China, India and South Korea are the biggest buyers of Iranian crude. Japan, along with South Korea and India, cleared some of its oil dues earlier under the payment schedule agreed with the six powers in the interim agreement.

The nuclear negotiations are due to resume later this month in New York. The six powers want Iran to significantly scale back its uranium enrichment programme to make sure it cannot produce nuclear bombs. Iran says the programme is peaceful.

Under the interim deal that was reached in Geneva in November and took effect in January, Iran agreed to halt its most sensitive nuclear activity in exchange for some sanctions easing. It was designed to buy time for talks on a long-term settlement.

By Lanre Ola

Hundreds of civilians are fleeing Nigeria’s northeastern city of Maiduguri as fears grow that Islamist Boko Haram militants may try to assault the Borno state capital after seizing towns and territory around it, residents said on Thursday.

Heavily-armed Boko Haram fighters using captured military vehicles and weapons have taken towns and villages to the north, east and south of Maiduguri in the last few weeks and days in an apparent strategy to encircle the city and hold territory.

Apprehension among Maiduguri residents grew after fierce fighting since Monday between Nigeria’s military and attacking Boko Haram fighters over the town of Bama, 70 km southeast of Maiduguri. Thousands have fled Bama amid conflicting reports of who has control.

The militants, who have issued videos of themselves storming into towns with guns blazing aboard trucks mounted with heavy machine guns, also took the smaller town of Bara on Tuesday, to the southwest of Maiduguri.

Boko Haram, whose leader Abubakar Shekau last month declared a “Muslim territory” in the northeast after capturing the town of Gwoza on the Cameroon border, is believed to be trying to mimic the example of the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq which announced the creation of a separate caliphate there.

“They are creating territory for themselves … they have seen what IS have done, so they are trying to imitate them,” Musa Sumail, a human rights activist in Maiduguri who reports on the violence in the northeast, told Reuters.

The Borno state government and the armed forces have said Bama remains under government control, but did not immediately respond to calls asking for updates on the security situation.

Travelers packed bus stations in Maiduguri seeking transport westwards towards Damaturu in neighbouring Yobe state, the only safe exit route out. Vehicles laden with passengers and possessions were also seen on the Maiduguri-Damaturu road.

“I’m leaving now because people keep saying Boko Haram may attack Maiduguri anytime and it is possible,” said Saka Lawal, a car mechanic who was leaving with his wife and two children.

Civil servants, traders and even the families of soldiers were among those moving out, residents said.

President Goodluck Jonathan’s government and the armed forces have faced mounting public criticism of their apparent inability to check Boko Haram’s five-year insurgency, which has ravaged the poor northeast corner of Africa’s biggest economy.

US CONCERN

Boko Haram’s intensifying attacks in Sub-Saharan Africa’s No. 1 oil producer, which counts the United States among its crude export markets, were a serious threat to the country’s security, the top US diplomat for Africa said on Thursday.

“We are very troubled by the apparent capture of Bama and the prospects for an attack on Maiduguri, which would impose a tremendous toll on the civilian population,” Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield told a bilateral security meeting in the capital Abuja on Thursday.

Nigeria’s oilfields on its southern coast have not been affected by the Boko Haram attacks so far.

Nigeria holds a presidential election in February in which southerner Jonathan is expected to seek re-election. Many believe domestic political tensions stemming from the historic rivalry between Nigeria’s mostly Muslim north and largely Christian south is also stoking the persisting violence.

Popular anger spiked after Boko Haram abducted more than 200 teenage northeast schoolgirls in mid-April, triggering a social media campaign that gave global prominence to the group.

The Sunni jihadist movement, whose name means “western education is forbidden”, has killed thousands since launching an uprising in 2009 to establish an Islamic state. Outside the northeast, it has claimed shootings and bombings across the north and, more sporadically, in the federal capital Abuja and even in the southern coastal commercial hub Lagos.

Counter-terrorism experts say links exist between Boko Haram and other Islamist movements, such as al Qaeda’s North African franchise and Somalia’s al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab, but there has been little evidence so far of extensive cooperation.

The United States, Britain, France and Israel have been providing intelligence and training support to Nigeria’s armed forces, but this cooperation has been hampered by persistent allegations of rights abuses leveled against the military. Rights groups have accused the military of executing and torturing suspects, and killings civilians, charges it denies.