By Steve Tongue

Chelsea stretched their lead at the top of the Premier League to five points on Sunday when they beat London rivals Arsenal 2-0 as surprise package Southampton went down 1-0 at Tottenham Hotspur.

Unfancied Southampton’s first defeat since the opening day of the season allowed champions Manchester City to stay second, while neighbours Manchester United returned to the top four for the first time in more than a year by beating Everton 2-1.

Diego Costa scored his ninth goal in seven league games to tie up the points for Chelsea after Eden Hazard had converted a first-half penalty.

Costa’s strike was set up by a perfect pass from Cesc Fabregas, the former Arsenal midfielder who joined from Barcelona in the close-season.

The victory extended Jose Mourinho’s unbeaten record against Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger to 12 meetings, the two managers being briefly involved in a spat on the touchline when Wenger pushed his opposite number in the chest.

“He was coming to my space,” Mourinho said. “If it was to give an instruction to a player I say OK, but to press the referee to give a red card to an opponent is not fair.

“I don’t think that is the image of Arsene Wenger as an advocate of fair play.”

Wenger said he was responding to a bad tackle, adding: “I went out of my technical area because I wasn’t happy with the challenge and I wanted to see what happened.

“Someone stood in front of me and that was it. I say absolutely nothing else on that.”

Christian Eriksen scored the only goal after 40 minutes as Tottenham won in the league for the first time since Aug. 24, giving manager Mauricio Pochettino a triumph over his former club and successor Ronald Koeman.

Eriksen’s goal enabled Spurs to move up to sixth place.

They are level on points with fourth-placed Manchester United, who shot up six positions with an eventful success against Everton.

Goalkeeper David De Gea saved a penalty from Leighton Baines and earned the gratitude of manager Louis van Gaal with three more fine saves as Everton pressed hard at the end of a feisty affair.

Steven Naismith had equalised for them in between goals by Argentina’s Angel Di Maria and Colombia’s Radamel Falcao — his first for the club.

Athens has issued a strict warning to Ankara, saying: “Either respect International Law concerning Cyprus’s rights over gas and petroleum exploration within its territorial waters and continental shelf, or take the consequences for your EU membership”.

Konstantinos Koutras, spokesman for the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Turkey ought to respect the sovereign rights that the Republic of Cyprus has on its own continental shelf, as a country-member of the UN and the European Union.

“Cyprus cannot tolerate any further violations of International Law”, Mr. Koutras warned, adding that “Turkey’s behavior will decide it’s European future and also the negotiation process on the Cyprus matter.”

Yesterday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry called upon the international community “to take action to prevent the provocative and one-sided steps taken by the Greek Cypriot side”.

Nikos Christodoulides, the Cyprus government spokesman, said that impeding the work of the company which is conducting exploration drills within the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic, does in no way help the normal continuation of the ongoing negotiations for a peaceful solution to the 40 year old division and occupation of the island.

CNA

By George Psyllides

THE SUPREME Court said on Monday it could only rule whether three controversial court decisions regarding three Limassol traffic incidents with two fatalities and one serious injury were wrong as part of an appeals process, and warned against drawing conclusions that damaged public trust in the justice system.

In each of the three cases, public prosecutors charged the drivers, but the sentences handed down by the court were extremely lenient. For the two accidents resulting in the victims’ death the accused were fined €3,000, their driving licences were temporarily revoked, and they received five penalty points, while the driver in the third instance was not punished.

The matter became public last week when the state broadcaster got hold of a letter by Limassol traffic police chief Michalis Katsounotos inquiring about the incidents that took place in 2011 and 2012.

In a statement issued on Monday, the Supreme Court said – without specifying – that in one of the cases the prosecution had withdrawn a drink driving charge resulting in a sentence that did not take this into account.

It also said that the judge was the same in all three cases because she was tasked with handling such cases exclusively for two years.

The court also rejected as “untrue” reports that the defence lawyer was also the same in all three cases.

“The Supreme Court and the Supreme Judicial Council are examining, and will continue to monitor the matter, taking into consideration of course a pending appeal in one of the cases,” the statement said.

The court said the right to sincere critique was a given but it was everyone’s responsibility to avoid drawing conclusions without thinking or checking, which harm the public’s trust in the justice system.

Attorney-general Costas Clerides had ordered a probe into the allegations. The officers looking into the affair have received the files and a report should be ready by Wednesday. Clerides had asked for a report by Monday but an extension was given.

In his letter, Katsounotos asked whether the three defendants were tried on the basis of their social standing, as they are considered to be prominent individuals in Limassol.

He claimed that his department was not informed of the rulings as per due process, and noted that public prosecutors failed to appeal the rulings.

The first case involved former commerce minister from 1988 to 1993 Takis Nemitsas, who in 2012 had run over an underage Russian girl after running a red light, leaving the girl paralysed.

Nemitsas pleaded guilty to the charges, but District Court judge Toula Papapetrou did not impose a sentence.

The second case related to a fatal accident, in which 28-year-old lawyer Oliver Anastasis Neophytou, who had been driving under the influence of alcohol, drove into a woman, a third country national, who had been walking on the pavement.

Neophytou faced four charges – manslaughter, driving while intoxicated, reckless driving, and not keeping his hands free while driving.

He was fined €3,000, his driver’s licence was revoked for six months, and was penalised with six penalty points for the first charge, while the rest were withdrawn.

The third case concerned an accident in which an elderly woman was killed.

Insurance agent Phedonas Michael was fined €3,000, had his licence revoked for one year and was penalised with five penalty points.

By George Psyllides

PAPHOS PROPERTY developer Theodoros Aristodemou, his wife, and two other men, were on Monday referred for trial by the Criminal Court in connection with fraud relating to the demarcation of 177 plots of land.

After a lengthy hearing that finished at around 8pm, the court reserved its decision until Tuesday on whether the suspects will be released pending trial.

During the hearing, police told the court they had managed to link the mobile phone card used to send threatening text messages to key witnesses to relatives of one of the suspects.

Theodoros and Roulla Aristodemou, former municipal engineer Savvas Savva, and Aristo Developers designer Christos Solomonides were arrested in connection with the demarcation of 177 land plots in Skali, Paphos, in 2010.

It emerged that the plans for which the demarcation permits were issued were switched with new plans, which seemed to cede approximately 3,000 square metres, worth hundreds of thousands of euro, previously designated as green space, back to Aristo Developers.

Soula Kouspou, who works for the Paphos municipality’s technical department did not appear before court on Monday. It is understood that she will be used as a prosecution witness.

During her arrival, Roulla Aristodemou, who headed the company’s technical department, shouted that they were scapegoats.

During the hearing, police said they had tracked down the person suspected of sending threatening text messages to a municipal councillor, an employee of the local authority, and a journalist.

The court heard that the perpetrator had used a prepaid card and the source of those messages could not be found. But, another number was also used, registered to a relative of Solomonides.

The relative and his wife were arrested, reports said.

Solomonides is suspected of drafting a fake site map that was found in the file.

By Constantinos Psillides

SERGEI Tyulenev, the 55-year-old Russian suspected of involvement in the theft of a €6 million Edgar Degas picture, was remanded for eight days in custody on Monday by the Limassol District Court.

Police sources told the Cyprus Mail that the 55-year-old remains uncooperative with police investigators.

“He doesn’t answer any question pertaining to the case. He only responds to general questions,” said the source, adding that investigators think that the painting hasn’t left the island.

“Smuggling a painting out of the country is no easy feat. Since we almost apprehended all people apparently involved almost immediately, we think that the painting is still in Cyprus,” explained the police source.

The Russian surrendered himself to the police voluntarily. He walked into Paphos police station on Sunday where he was arrested and transferred to the Limassol Police Station.

Two Cypriot men, 53 and 44, are also in custody regarding the case.

The artwork is believed to be Degas’ pastel on paper, titled Dancer Adjusting Her Shoe, approximately 47cm by 61cm in size and dated late 19th century.

The picture was reported stolen by a 70-year-old art collector last week. The work  – along with other valuables worth €157,000 – was stolen from his home in Apaisia village in Limassol.

According to police sources, the two Cypriots are believed to have put Tyulenev, a Cypriot citizen and resident of Limassol, in touch with the 70-year-old, after the latter expressed interest in selling his estate and part of his vast art collection which included over 250 paintings from famous European painters, as well as sculptures, crystal and Victorian furniture.

The known art collector used to have an insurance policy on his valuable art collection. He did not have an alarm system installed.

However, following the Eurogroup’s decision in 2013 to seize deposits in Cyprus’ two biggest banks, the 70-year-old fell on hard times and cancelled his insurance policy, said the source.

He decided to sell his home and part of his collection, but specifically not the famous work from the great French impressionist which he had inherited.

The last person to show interest in the house and paintings was reportedly Tyulenev. The two Cypriot men arranged a meeting between the Russian and the 70-year-old at his home and then again last Monday at a lawyer’s office.

At the time of the burglary in Apaisia, the 70-year-old was with the Russian discussing the sale deal. Tyulenev reportedly told the seller that he wanted time for his lawyers to go over the contract. During this time, burglars gained entrance to the house by breaking through the front door, using a crowbar.

By Edmund Blair

Kenya’s president said on Monday he would attend a hearing at the International Criminal Court this week, the first sitting world leader to appear in The Hague-based court, although he said he would be going in a personal capacity.

Uhuru Kenyatta told parliament he was appointing his deputy, William Ruto, as acting president in his absence to avoid putting the “sovereignty of more than 40 million Kenyans on trial” and would not attend in his position as head of state.

Kenyatta faces charges of orchestrating ethnic killings after the contested 2007 election. Those charges could be dismissed at Wednesday’s hearing after the prosecution asked for the case to be adjourned as it did not have enough evidence.

Ruto faces separate but similar charges at the court.

Kenya’s Western allies and investors will likely welcome the decision to attend the hearing. Snubbing the court might have led judges to issue an arrest warrant that would have unsettled financial markets and strained diplomatic ties.

“Let it not be said that I am attending the status conference (at the court) as the president of the Republic of Kenya,” Kenyatta said in a speech to explain his decision to put Ruto temporarily in charge while he travelled.

Kenyatta has previously attended hearings before he was elected to office last year. Ruto has gone while in office.

The collapse of the case would be a blow to a court that has handed down just two guilty verdicts, both to little known Congolese warlords, and one acquittal since inception in 2003.

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, wanted for genocide, still travels to countries, particularly in Africa, that have ignored a warrant for his arrest, even when they are court signatories.

In his speech, Kenyatta echoed complaints heard across the continent that the court is biased and focuses on going after Africans.

“CLEAR CONSCIENCE”

“My accusers both domestic and foreign have painted a nefarious image of most African leaders as embodiments of corruption and impunity,” he said, repeating his previous denials of the charges by saying his “conscience is clear”.

He thanked the African Union which last year called for a halt to Kenyatta’s trial, saying serving leaders should not have to stand trial. Kenyatta said that, because Ruto would be in charge, this demand would be upheld.

Kenyatta, from Kenya’s biggest Kikuyu ethnic group, and Ruto, a Kalenjin, were in rival camps in the 2007 election race. They were accused of inciting gangs who butchered people from opposing groups, using machetes and bows and arrows.

Victims of Kenya’s post-election violence have said the failure to secure any convictions so far means no one is being punished for the bloodbath that left about 1,200 people dead.

“We are disappointed, angry and pained as we have come to learn that we shall not get justice after years of waiting and hoping,” said Jacob Owino, a 33-year-old horticultural worker speaking near Naivasha, the site northwest of Nairobi where some of the worst violence in the weeks after the vote took place.

For Kenyatta’s backers, the case has prevented the healing of wounds in a nation where politics runs along ethnic lines.

“We are disappointed with the ICC summons targeting our innocent president,” said Amos Kinuthia, a Kikuyu who lives in the Naivasha-Mai Mahiu camp, where he fled with his family when his home was attacked after the vote.

The prosecution has struggled to gain any momentum in both the Kenyatta and Ruto cases. Several witnesses have withdrawn, with prosecutors alleging intimidation, denied by the defence.

The case has had limited impact on Kenya’s financial markets as it has rumbled on, in part because investors have expected Kenyatta’s trial to fall apart as witnesses have dropped out. Traders said it might have hurt the shilling had he said he would not go, given the uncertainty that could have followed.

By Lawrence Hurley

The US Supreme Court declined on Monday to decide once and for all whether states can ban gay marriage, a surprising move that will allow gay men and women to get married in five additional states, with more likely to follow quickly.

On the first day of its new term, the high court without comment rejected appeals in cases involving five states – Virginia, Oklahoma, Utah, Wisconsin and Indiana – that had prohibited gay marriage, leaving intact lower-court rulings striking down those bans.

As a result, the number of states permitting gay marriage would jump from 19 to 24, likely soon to be followed by six more states that are bound by the regional federal appeals court rulings that had struck down bans. That would leave another 20 states that prohibit same-sex marriage.

But the move by the nine justices to sidestep the contentious issue means there will be no imminent national ruling on the matter, with litigation likely to continue in states with bans.

“Any time same-sex couples are extended marriage equality is something to celebrate, and today is a joyous day for thousands of couples across America who will immediately feel the impact of today’s Supreme Court action,” said Chad Griffin, president of the gay rights group Human Rights Campaign.

Evan Wolfson, who heads the group Freedom to Marry, said while Monday’s action provided “a bright green light” to gay marriage in more states, gay rights advocates still want the high court to intervene and provide a definitive ruling covering all 50 states. “The Supreme Court should bring the country to a nationwide resolution,” Wolfson said.

The justices could take up a future case, but their move on Monday could send a strong signal to lower court judges that rulings striking down marriage bans are consistent with the U.S. Constitution.

Gay couples in affected states are expected to seek marriage licenses immediately because the high court’s action means the appeals court’s rulings are no longer on hold.

Virginia’s Democratic attorney general, Mark Herring, who backs gay marriage, said marriage licenses are expected to be issued starting Monday afternoon. Indiana’s Republican attorney general, Greg Zoeller, said his office would coordinate with local officials to “minimize chaos and confusion at local courthouses.”

The other states that are likely to be imminently affected are North Carolina, West Virginia, South Carolina, Wyoming, Kansas and Colorado.

NO EXPLANATION

The court did not explain why it was not taking up the issue. Among the possibilities are that a majority believes it would be premature to intervene and wants to see more lower court action, or that on this deeply polarized court neither the liberals nor the conservatives could be certain of how the issue would resolved and did not want to risk forcing a national precedent now.

In order for the Supreme Court to hear a case, at least four of the nine justices must vote to hear it.

Most legal experts had believed the justices would want to weigh in on a question of national importance that focuses on whether the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal treatment under the law means gay marriage bans were unlawful.

“We are adapting to a very different world, but it is a profoundly wonderful world,” said ACLU lawyer James Esseks, who represented same-sex couples in the Virginia case.

Opponents of gay marriage said they would continue to defend state bans in court. “The people should decide this issue, not the courts,” said Byron Babione, a lawyer with the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom.

In June 2013, the justices ruled 5-4 to strike down a key part of a federal law called the Defense of Marriage Act that had restricted the definition of marriage to heterosexual couples for the purpose of federal government benefits.

That decision led to a series of lower court rulings favoring gay marriage. But in a separate case decided on the same day, the justices also sidestepped the broader question of whether state bans violated the Constitution but allowed gay marriage in California.

The momentum within America’s courts in favor of gay marriage reflects a sea-change in public opinion in the past decade, with polls showing a steady increase in support. It was only as recently as 2004 that Massachusetts became the first state to allow gay marriage following a state court ruling.

State officials defending their bans counter that the Constitution does not dictate how states should define marriage and that there is no deeply rooted legal tradition that supports a right to gay marriage.

When the nine justices ascended their mahogany bench at 10 a.m., they betrayed no concern for the possible uncertainty or confusion arising from their orders rejecting the same-sex marriage cases. Proceeding with the usual practice, Chief Justice John Roberts announced only that the “orders have been duly entered and certified” and on file with the clerk’s office.

The justices then heard an hour of arguments in a case involving a police search.

By Jean Christou

SIX ISRAELI men are making their second attempt in a year to swim 400 kilometres from Paphos to Herzliya in Israel in six days to try and make it to the Guinness Book of Records for the longest open water group relay swim.

Before they set off on Sunday afternoon, they were given a blessing by Chief Rabbi of Cyprus Arie Zeev Raskin at the Cyprus Jewish Community Centre in Larnaca.  An announcement from the centre said the six would try to break the current record by a group of Americans who swam 366 kilometres in 2012.

During the attempt, each of the six athletes will swim five or six kilometres without a break while the other five teammates remain on board an accompanying yacht.

Last year, the swimmers made a similar attempt, but after three days, covering a total of 180 kilometres, they were forced to give up due to a strong storm.

“However, these brave competitors did not despair, and today they are making a second try,” said the announcement from the Jewish centre.

Earlier that day, Rabbi Raskin presided over a communal prayer service at the Larnaca synagogue where he gave them his blessing. He said the Cyprus Jewish community supported and encouraged any initiative promoting greater international understanding and tolerance among peoples and nations.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz named the six as Udi Arel, Ori Sela, Doron Amosi, Ben Anosh, Luke Shetbon and Oded Rahav. Arel is the oldest at aged 66 and Sela the youngest at 41.

It said after agreeing earlier this year to try again, the group had started training. “Last year it was a bit ‘Israeli’,” said Ori Sela, the team coach. “This time we are much wiser and better prepared.”

He said that having failed once, they would this time around be able to learn from their mistakes.

“Then, we only trained a month in advance,” said Sela. “Today, we have been in the water for months, in every type of weather. The first time we were doing it for the experience and the challenge, but this time… we want and intend to be listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. We need to go through a lot of hardship to get there, but they approved our route and conditions. Personally, stopping last year was very hard.”

According to the newspaper, this year each of the swimmers carried a Radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip, which lets the yacht’s crew know where they are from moment to moment. They are not allowed to use any sort of protective swimming gear or suits and are each scheduled to swim four of five hours a day for the six days. And although they are more prepared this year, the weather will still be a factor in whether they will succeed.

“We will not go out in a storm, but we could very well run into very bad weather,” Sela told Haaretz. The swim is in aid of a cleaner Mediterranean.

By Daren Butler

STREET fighting raged between Kurdish defenders and Islamic State militants who advanced into Kobani on Monday after subjecting the Syrian border town to an assault lasting almost three weeks, a monitoring group said.

Islamic State had earlier raised its black flag over a building in the outskirts and forced thousands more of Kobani’s mainly Kurdish inhabitants to flee for their lives across the nearby border into Turkey.

Islamic State fighters had penetrated about 100 metres into the eastern part of the town, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based group which monitors the war through its sources on the ground.

“The battle has now become street fighting, it is happening inside the town, the eastern part of the town,” the Observatory’s Rami Abdelrahman said.

Islamic State wants to take Kobani to consolidate a dramatic sweep across northern Iraq and Syria, in the name of an absolutist version of Sunni Islam, that has sent shockwaves through the Middle East.

Strikes by American and Gulf state warplanes have failed to halt Islamic State’s advance on Kobani, which it has besieged from three sides and pounded with heavy artillery.

Forced to flee Kobani by the latest fighting, frightened residents crossed into Turkey through Yumurtalik, an improvised border crossing, and ambulances with blaring sirens shuttled back and forth between the Syrian town and Turkey.

“We can hear the sound of clashes on the street,” Parwer Ali Mohamed, a translator for the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), told Reuters by phone as he fled.

“More than 2,000 people including women and children are being evacuated. Turkish police are checking our luggage now,” Ali said.

A black flag belonging to Islamic State was visible from across the Turkish border atop a four-storey building close to the scene of some of the fiercest clashes in recent days.

Mortars have rained down on residential areas of Kobani, and stray fire has hit Turkish territory frequently in recent days wounding people and damaging houses.

Islamic State also fought intense battles over the weekend for control of Mistanour, a strategic hill overlooking Kobani. A video released by the group on Sunday appeared to show its fighters in control of radio masts on the summit, but the footage could not be independently confirmed.

Turkey‘s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party called for street demonstrations in Turkey to protest at Islamic State’s assault on Kobani, where the situation was “extremely critical”.

Militants also carried out two suicide attacks in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakah, the Observatory said, killing at least 30 people.

“The attacks targeted checkpoints run by Kurdish fighters on the western entrance of the city. They occurred within minutes of each other,” Abdelrahman said.

ONCE A HAVEN

Until recently, Kobani had hardly been touched by the civil war that has ravaged much of Syria, and even offered a haven for refugees from fighting elsewhere, as President Bashar al-Assad chose to let the Kurdish population have virtual autonomy.

But beheadings, mass killings and torture have spread fear of Islamic State across the region, with villages emptying at its approach and an estimated 180,000 people fleeing into Turkey from the Kobani region.

On Sunday, a female Kurdish fighter blew herself up rather than be captured by Islamic State after running out of ammunition, local sources and a monitoring group reported.

Turkish hospitals have been treating a steady stream of wounded Kurdish fighters being brought across the frontier.

Witnesses who had fled Kobani said that old women were being given grenades to throw, and young women with no combat experience were being armed and sent into battle.

Kobani’s defenders vowed not to relinquish the town, raising fears of a massacre if Islamic State take control.

“If they enter Kobani, it will be a graveyard for us and for them. We will not let them enter Kobani as long as we live,” Esmat al-Sheikh, head of the Kobani Defence Authority, said by telephone earlier on Monday.

“We either win or die. We will resist to the end,” he added as heavy weapons fire echoed from the eastern side of town.

“WE NEED MORE HELP”

Speaking last week, the co-chair of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) told Reuters that Islamic State had brought large parts of its arsenal from its de facto capital at Raqqa, 140 km to the southeast, to the assault on Kobani.

“If (Islamic State) is defeated here in Kobani, it will be defeated in Raqqa and throughout Syria,” Asya Abdullah said.

“We are happy about the US air strikes. But really, this is not enough. We need more air strikes to be effective against (Islamic State) weapons, to eradicate and destroy (them).”

On Monday, Kurdish politicians confirmed that the PYD’s other co-chair, Saleh Muslim, had met Turkish officials to urge them to allow weapons into Kobani from Turkey.

Turkey has so far made no move to join the fight against Islamic State close to its borders, beyond returning fire at Islamic State fighters in response to mortar shells landing on Turkish territory.

Over the weekend, President Tayyip Erdogan vowed to retaliate if Islamic State attacked Turkish forces, and on Monday Turkish tanks deployed along the border for the second time in a week, some with guns pointing towards Syria, apparently in response to stray fire.

Still, Islamic State’s release last month of 46 Turkish hostages, and a parliamentary motion last week allowing Turkish troops to cross into Syria and Iraq, have raised expectations that Ankara may be planning a more active role.

But Ankara is wary of helping Syrian Kurdish forces near Kobani as they have strong links with the PKK, which the Turkish state fought for three decades.

By Jean Christou

CYPRUS IS to donate ammunition to the Lebanese army to help the neighbouring country hold off Islamic State (IS) militants, Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides said on Monday.

On Sunday Lebanese Shi’ite group Hezbollah clashed with Sunni Islamist insurgents trying to capture land in a mountainous area near the border with Syria. At least 10 Hezbollah fighters were killed and a number of the insurgents.

Kasoulides said the world should be concerned about the developments and other countries, especially EU member states, should do what they could to aid Beirut.

Cyprus, he said, had decided to donate ammunition that could match specific types of weapons available to the Lebanese army.

He said the move was a necessary one due to the island’s geographical position. “The Republic of Cyprus is at the forefront… and is the EU’s outpost in this turbulent region,” he said. So far Cyprus has not become involved militarily in the war against IS other than supporting the use of the British bases, which has been carrying out air strikes on IS positions in Iraq from Akrotiri for the past week.

On Sunday night two Tornados, in support of Iraqi security forces, successfully used Paveway IV precision-guided bombs to attack IS fighters who were holed up in a building near Ramadi, firing on Iraqi soldiers, the British ministry of defence said. It was the fifth air strike against targets in Iraq in almost a week. Cyprus will also allow France the use of the Andreas Papandreou air base in Paphos for support missions to Iraq, but not for military purposes.

“We believe it is our duty to assist the international community in the fight against the Islamic State and it is for this reason we support the efforts and actions taken by SBA Akrotiri and offer facilities to France, as we have been asked to support the fight against terrorism,” said Kasoulides

He said Cyprus was concerned about developments in Lebanon, “a friendly country”, adding that it could ultimately lead jihadists to the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean creating an immediate danger to the island’s safety.

“It may seem remote at the moment… this risk,” he said. “Governments, however, do not operate on the basis of probabilities. They operate on the possibilities, and the possibility is there.”

Lebanon, he said was a country with a lot of inherent difficulties and Cyprus, as the closest EU state, would like to serve as an example to other members of the bloc by donating the ammunition.

“It is as an example which should be followed by other countries according to their own capabilities,” he said.

Asked whether the government had any information about jihadists having entered the north of the island, he said there was no evidence this had occurred. Cyprus was in close contact with other countries monitoring the region, he said.

Kasoulides took the opportunity to slam Turkey for providing support to the rebels. Last week Turkey’s  parliament gave the government powers to order incursions against IS fighters who had surrounded the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani right on the Syrian-Turkish border, and to allow US-led forces to launch similar operations from Turkish territory. Syria’s envoy to the United Nations in Geneva said Turkey wanted to intervene in his country because it was funding the Islamist militants, a claim Turkey denies.

Kasoulides said Turkey, which the international community sees as important for stability in the region, was the same country that had undermined Egypt’s efforts to achieve a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, and he called on the international community to call a spade a spade.

“I wish and hope that the international community will not fall into the trap of Turkey’s requirements and conditions that it has laid down because these terms will not help the battle against ISIS. By contrast, they only serve the interests and aspirations of Turkey against the Kurdish community in Syria,” he said.

“We [Cyprus] have no hesitation and no restraint in voicing our position as loudly as we can even if others choose to keep quiet. We observe Turkey`s actions and if nobody else chooses to shout against these actions, we will,” he said

Kurds protest outside US embassy

Tensions rose outside the US embassy in Nicosia yesterday between a group of Kurdish protesters and police. The protesters were demanding more action by the US against the Islamic State in the region of Kobani, a town on the Syrian-Turkish border where jihadists have gained a foothold.

At some point a few of the protesters broke through the cordon cutting off the entrance to the embassy but police managed to restore order and the demonstration continued peacefully but noisily. Yesterday IS militants raised their flag on a building on the eastern outskirts of Kobani after an assault of almost three weeks, but the town’s Kurdish defenders said they had not reached the city centre. The Nicosia protesters said the US had not done enough to push them back.

By Elias Hazou

THE GOVERNMENT said on Monday it was mulling a range of diplomatic and legal responses to Turkey’s announcement that it is reserving areas for seismic surveys south of the island and within Cyprus’ offshore blocks.

“We consider this development particularly serious,” Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides told a news conference in Nicosia.

Kasoulides said diplomatic and legal responses were being considered, but declined to give details.

The ministries of foreign affairs and energy are jointly preparing a document outlining possible counteractions, to be put to President Nicos Anastasiades, who would evaluate the options and make a decision, Kasoulides said.

Turkey’s reservation of areas off the island’s southern shores are illegal, the chief diplomat reiterated, adding that ongoing peace talks could suffer should Ankara persist with this course of action.

Likewise government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides did not rule out the cancellation of a meeting – scheduled for this Thursday – between the leaders of the two communities.

The president has called a meeting of party leaders at the presidential palace on Tuesday to brief them on the situation and discuss whether the talks with Turkish Cypriots should be interrupted.

An announcement on any decisions would be made after the meeting, sources told the Cyprus Mail. It’s understood that the president cleared his entire schedule for Monday to deal with the issue.

Anastasiades has been in touch with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and his Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos with a view to coordinating the two countries’ response.

Earlier, Konstantinos Koutras, spokesman for the Greek foreign ministry, warned Turkey that Cyprus could not tolerate any further violations of international law,” adding that “Turkey’s behaviour will decide its European future and also the negotiation process on the Cyprus matter.”

Nicosia meanwhile is issuing demarches to international organisations, including the United Nations and the European Union, denouncing Turkey’s latest provocation.

The US State Department on Monday said it recognised Cyprus’ right to develop its resources inside its EEZ, stressing the importance of avoiding activities that could raise tensions in the area.

“We continue to believe that the island’s oil and natural gas reserves as well as all its resources should be fairly shared between the two communities in a comprehensive arrangement,” spokesperson Jen Psaki said.

On the home front, the political opposition stressed the gravity of the Turkish moves, and censured the government for its feeble response.

“So far we’ve had no reaction or comments from the international community,” AKEL’s Giorgos Loukaides said, urging the administration to take concrete steps but avoid “knee-jerk reactions”.

DIKO leader Nicholas Papadopoulos said Turkey’s show of force is rising “dangerously and constitutes an arrogant questioning of the Cyprus Republic’s inalienable sovereign rights”.

“This is an issue that goes beyond the bounds of the Cyprus problem and poses major problems to our country as well as the wider region,” he added.

Last Friday Turkey issued a NAVTEX (Navigational Telex), a notice to mariners advising that it was reserving areas south of Cyprus for seismic surveys from October 20 to December 30.

The surveys will be carried out by the Barbaros Hayreddin Pasa, a seismographic research vessel. However the coordinates reserved under the NAVTEX trespass into offshore blocks 1, 2, 3, 8 and 9 of Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Inside block 9, the area reserved by the Turkish advisory directly borders – but does not overlap – the area where the Italian-Korean consortium ENI-KOGAS is currently conducting exploratory drilling for natural gas, on licence from the Republic of Cyprus.

It is the first time Turkey has reserved areas south of Cyprus – prior advisories had reserved areas southwest of the island, also inside the EEZ. Moreover some of the locations, the Cyprus Mail is told, encroach into Cyprus’ territorial waters, as the reserved area stretches from off the coast of Famagusta, off the coast of Larnaca and reaching waters south of Limassol.

Though the Turkish NAVTEX does not overlap the area where ENI is currently operating, it could hamper future ENI operations at other locations within block 9, sources said.

“Essentially Turkey has bisected the region between Cyprus’ southern coast and Egypt, as if Cyprus does not exist,” said the same sources.

Turkey does not recognise the republic nor Nicosia’s jurisdiction in the exploration area. Cyprus has concluded bilateral agreements with neighbouring countries – Israel, Egypt and Lebanon – delimiting their respective EEZs. The coordinates of the EEZs have been submitted to the United Nations. Cyprus and Turkey concluded no such EEZ agreements.

EEZ agreements fall under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea(UNCLOS), of which Turkey is not a signatory.

Of additional concern to Cyprus is Turkey’s stated intent – again for the first time explicitly – to conduct drilling operations for hydrocarbons south of the island.

On Saturday, on the back of the Turkish NAVTEX, the Turkish foreign ministry issued a press release denouncing the “Greek Cypriot Administration’s (GCA) continuing unilateral research activities of hydrocarbon resources in its so called Exclusive Economic Zone without taking into account the Turkish Cypriots’ detailed and concrete cooperation proposals for a fair sharing.”

The statement added: “Turkey calls on the international community to act in order to prevent the provocative and unilateral steps of the GCA. Until it is done, all kind of support to the TRNC’s future steps of conducting seismic research activities, acquiring a drilling platform and dispatching it to an area to be determined, which are necessary to protect its inherent rights over these resources, will be provided by us.”

Prior to that statement, the Turkish armed forces announced that the warship TCG Gelibolu would continue to monitor the activities of ENI’s drillship in block 9.

The TCG Gelibolu is participating in an ongoing Turkish Navy operation, dubbed ‘Mediterranean Shield’. Under ‘Mediterranean Shield’, Turkish ships are “conducting maritime security operations to provide for the safe and secure movement of vessels at sea and to deter terrorism”.

Meanwhile, and in a possibly related development, Cyprus and the United States will on Tuesday be conducting a joint Search and Rescue (SAR) daylight drill near the island’s coast.

A defence ministry statement said that US naval units and helicopters of the Republic of Cyprus will take part in the aeronautical SAR exercise under the operational control and full coordination of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) Larnaca, in close cooperation with the CPR-6 of the United States Navy.

By George Psyllides

BANKING heavy-weight Josef Ackermann has been proposed as chairman of the Bank of Cyprus board of directors as new shareholders announced a list of candidates ahead of November’s annual general meeting.

Ackermann, former CEO at Deutsche Bank, was proposed by major BoC shareholdersWilbur Ross and Tyrus Capital on Monday ahead of the November 20 AGM.

“The new Board has been selected to add financial expertise and will better reflect the shareholder base following the recent stock issuance,” a written statement said.

Ackermann joined Deutsche Bank’s board of managing directors in 1996, where he was responsible for the investment banking division.

Prior to Deutsche Bank, Ackermann was president of Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (SKA), today’s Credit Suisse.

He held numerous board positions including sitting on the board of directors at Zurich Insurance Group, Royal Dutch Shell plc and Siemens AG, among others.

Ackermann would be joined by Arne Berggren, nominated independently by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; Maksim Goldman, a director of strategic projects at Renova; John Hourican, BoC CEO; Christakis Patsalides, BoC finance director; Wilbur Ross, chairman of WL Ross & Co; Michael Spanos, a former director of the Central Bank of Cyprus; Vladimir Strzhalkovskiy, vice chairman of the BoC board; Ioannis Zographakis, chairman of the BoC audit committee; and Marios Kalochoritis, director of the Bank of Cyprus.

“This group intends to elect Ackermann as non-executive chairman of the board and Messrs. Ross and Strzhalkovskiy as vice-chairmen,” the statement added.

Only Strzhalkovsky and Zographakis remain from the old board, which had been headed by Christis Hassapis.

Strzhalkovskiy currently serves as vice chairman of the board. He held the position of deputy minister of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation for four years (July 2000-November 2004).

The Bank of Cyprus AGM in November is expected to approve the new board.

Board memberships are subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Cyprus.

The BoC board can have up to 13 members.

Ross and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development had taken part in a recent €1.0 billion capital increase that saw new shareholders control some 47 per cent of its stock.

The lender is trying to get back on its feet following the island’s messy bailout in March 2013.

The terms included closure of Laiki Bank, the island’s second biggest, and seizure of deposits to recapitalise BoC.

Last week, Moody’s ratings agency said BoC’s successful capital raise was a positive step towards the lender’s regeneration, but it continued to face acute challenges as non performing loans (NPLs) were expected to rise further.

“The strengthened capital buffers bolster the bank’s loss-absorbing capacity and are a positive step towards the bank’s regeneration,” Moody’s said. “But the extent to which these developments will lead to a sustained improvement in the bank’s financial performance remains unclear, given the acute asset quality pressures the bank faces and its low provisioning against losses from problematic exposures.”

BIOS of the nominees as they were received by the Cyprus Mail

Dr. Josef Ackermann
Non-Executive Chairman Nominee

Dr. Josef Ackermann is the former chairman of the management board and the group executive committee at Deutsche Bank. Dr. Ackermann joined Deutsche Bank’s board of managing directors in 1996, where he was responsible for the investment banking division. Under his leadership, this business unit developed into one of Deutsche Bank’s principal revenue sources and entered the top group of global investment banks.

Prior to Deutsche Bank, Dr. Ackermann was president of Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (SKA), today’s Credit Suisse. Dr. Ackermann has held numerous board positions including sitting on the Board of Directors at Zurich Insurance Group, Royal Dutch Shell plc and Siemens AG, among others. Today, he still holds numerous mandates, amongst them as a member of the Board of Directors at Investor AB, EQT Holdings AB, Renova Management AG and Belenos Clean Power Holding Ltd. Mr. Ackerman also serves as vice-chairman of the foundation board of the World Economic Forum, honorary chairman of the St. Gallen Foundation for International Studies, honorary senate member of the Foundation Lindau Nobel Prizewinners Meetings at Lake Constance, vice chair and a member of the board of trustees of The Conference Board, and advisory director at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, among other posts.

Dr. Ackermann studied economics and social sciences at the University of St. Gallen, where he earned his doctorate, and holds an honorary doctorate from the Democritus University of Thrace in Greece. Dr. Ackermann is also an honorary fellow of the London Business School, was visiting professor in finance at the London School of Economics, and was appointed honorary professor at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt.

Wilbur L. Ross, Jr.
Vice Chairman Nominee

Wilbur L. Ross, Jr. is Chairman of WL Ross & Co. LLC, one of the world’s best known corporate revitalizing firms. Over the past 40 years, Mr. Ross has personally helped turn around banks and other businesses, including the Bank of Ireland, Virgin Money (which last week announced its IPO), Kansai Sawayaka Bank in Japan, Bank United in Florida (which ranks as the largest ever US bank IPO), as well as banks in New Jersey, the US Midwest and the US Pacific Northwest. Most recently, his firm invested in Eurobank in Greece and organized an €500+ million investment in the Bank of Cyprus. Previously, Mr. Ross sold his steel company to ArcelorMittal, of which he remains a director.

Mr. Ross holds degrees from both Yale and Harvard Business School (with Distinction) and serves on the advisory boards of both institutions. Mr. Ross is the only person ever elected to both the Turnaround Management Hall of Fame and the Private Equity Hall of Fame.

Vladimir Strzhalkovskiy
Vice Chairman Nominee

Vladimir Strzhalkovskiy currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Bank of Cyprus. Mr. Strzhalkovskiy has held the position of Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation for four years (July 2000 – November 2004), Chairman of the Executive Board of the World Tourism Organisation (2003 – 2004), Head of the Federal Agency Tourism Organisation (November 2004 – August 2008), member of the Board of Director of the company INTER RAO Ues ( June 2011 – June 2013) and he also served as Chairman of the Board (August 2008 – December 2012), member of the Board (December 2008 – December 2012) and Vice President (December 2012 – June 2013) of the JSC Mining and Metallurgical Company Norilsk Nickel.

Mr. Strzhalkovskiy holds a PhD degree in Economics, specialty “Applied Mathematics”, from Leningrad Institute of Electronic Engineering of V.I. Lenin.

Arne Berggren

Arne Berggren has significant experience in the financial sector previously working in senior roles at Swedbank AB, Carnegie Investment Bank AB, Swedcarrier AB and Nordic American Banking Corp. In addition, Mr. Berggren has served as a senior advisor for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as a member of the IMF Troika team in Spain, the Swedish Ministry of Industry and the Swedish Ministry of Finance and the Bank Support Authority.

Mr. Berggren has held numerous board positions and currently serves on the Board of Directors at LBT Varlik Yönetim AS and DUTB Ldt.

Mr. Berggren holds an M.B.A. from New York University, Graduate School of Business.

Maksim Goldman

Maksim Goldman current serves as Director of Strategic Projects at Renova where he is responsible for coordinating the business development of the most significant assets under management of the Group. Previously, Mr. Goldman served as Deputy Director for Investments of Renova Group, responsible for implementing the investment policy and support of key M&A transactions. During 2005-2007 he worked as Vice President of international legal projects of Sual-Holding, which provided legal support for the international activities of the company, and also took a significant part in the creation of UC Rusal through combination of assets of Sual-Holding, Rusal and Glencore. From 1999 to 2005 Mr. Goldman worked as an associate at Chadbourne&Parke LLP in New York and Moscow.

Mr. Goldman holds a J.D. from the School of Law, University of California (Los Angeles). He also holds a Master of History at the University of California (Los Angeles).

John Hourican

John Hourican currently serves as CEO of Bank of Cyprus and executive member on the Board of Directors of the Bank. Previously, Mr. Hourican served as CEO of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group’s (“RBS”) Investment Bank (Markets & International Banking) from October 2008 until February 2013. Between 2007 and 2008, he served on behalf of a consortium of banks (RBS, Fortis and Santander) as Chief Financial Officer of ABN AMRO Group and as a Member of its Managing Board. Mr. Hourican joined RBS in 1997 as a Leveraged Finance banker. He held a variety of senior positions within RBS’s wholesale banking division, notably on the division’s board as Finance Director and Chief Operating Officer. He also ran the bank’s Leverage Finance business in Europe and Asia.

Mr. Hourican started his career at Price Waterhouse and he is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. He is a graduate of the National University of Ireland and Dublin City University.

Marios Kalochoritis

Marios Kalochoritis currently serves as a director of the Bank of Cyprus. Mr. Kalochoritis is a financial executive with experience in investment banking, hedge fund management, private equity and wealth management. Mr. Kalochoritis currently serves as Head of Investments for a family office in Dubai. Previously, Mr. Kalochoritis spent five and half years in Cyprus where, as the Managing Director, he had set up and ran the operations and risk management of a global macro hedge fund. Mr. Kalochoritis has also served as Senior Vice President at Credit Suisse Bank in Zurich where he was head of business development for Central and Eastern Europe and Turkey. Between 2003 and 2006 he was the Chief Financial Officer for Amana Group in Dubai, a major regional construction group. Mr. Kalochoritis started his career at Enron in Houston where as a financial analyst and later an associate in the finance department he analysed and made investments in oil & gas, energy and other infrastructure opportunities around the world.

Mr. Kalochoritis holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BSc in Finance from Louisiana State University.

Christakis Patsalides

Christakis Patsalides currently serves as the Finance Director at the Bank of Cyprus. From 1989 to 1996, Mr. Patsalides previously worked for the Central Bank of Cyprus, Management of Government External Debt & Foreign Exchange Reserves. In 1996, Mr. Patsalides joined the Bank of Cyprus where he held a number of positions in corporate banking, treasury and private banking, among others. In Mr. Patsalides’s current capacity as Finance Director, he is responsible for Finance, Treasury, Investor Relations, Economics Research and Procurement.

Mr. Patsalides holds a PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics.

Michael Spanos

Michael Spanos, a former director of the Central Bank of Cyprus, is a Managing Director of M.S. Business Power Ltd, providing consultancy services on Strategic and Business Development (since 2008); non-executive Chairman of Lanitis Bros Ltd (since 2008); founding Chairman of Green Dot (Cyprus) Public Co Ltd (since 2004); and member of the Board of Directors of CCI, Coca-Cola Eurasia (since 2012). Mr. Spanos worked at Lanitis Bros Ltd from 1981 to 2008 as Marketing Manager, General Manager and Managing Director. Between 2005 and 2009, Mr. Spanos served as Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Cyprus International Institute (Republic of Cyprus and Harvard School of Public Health). Mr. Spanos also served on other Boards, such as Heineken-Lanitis Cyprus Ltd (2005-2007), Lumiere TV Public Ltd (2000-2012), A. Petsas & Sons Public Ltd (2000-2007) and CypriaLife Insurance Ltd (1995-2000). Mr. Spanos was appointed to the Central Bank of Cyprus Board in May 2013, of which he is a former director.

Mr. Spanos holds a Master’s degree in economics from North Carolina State University.

Ioannis Zographakis

Ioannis Zographakis currently serves as Chairman of the Bank of Cyprus Audit Committee. Mr. Zographakis is a senior executive with a broad and diverse international experience in the banking industry. He has worked for Citibank for over 20 years, in the USA, UK and Greece in numerous capacities. Mr. Zographakis previously served as CEO of Student Loan Corporation, a Citigroup subsidiary and a New York Stock Exchange traded company. Currently, Mr. Zographakis resides in Cyprus where he consults on financial services when requested.

He has been a Director for the Student Loan Corporation in the US, a Director for Tiresias (Greek Credit Bureau) and the secretary of the Audit Committee, a Director and member of the Audit Committee for Diners Club Greece, the Vice-Chairman of the Citi Insurance Brokerage Board in Greece and the Chairman of the Investments and Insurance Supervisory Committee in Citibank Greece.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Imperial College in London and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University in the USA.

By Constantinos Psillides
A 48-year old Cypriot man confessed before a Greek court on Tuesday to running a people smuggling ring.
According to the Cyprus News Agency the man – who was arrested in Thessaloniki last week along with another Cypriot – admitted he was the brains behind the operation. The ring reportedly provided illegal immigrants in Greece with forged documents and arranged for them to be transported to other EU countries.
CNA reports that each immigrant was charged between €3,500 and €4,000.
The second Cypriot man, a pilot working for a Greek airline, is still in custody.
Five other individuals also arrested with the two Cypriots have been released, including the partner of the 48-year old, a Cypriot woman studying in Thessaloniki.
Pantelis Karambinas, defence lawyer for the 48-year old, told CNA that the woman said to investigators that she had no idea of her partner’s business and that she was shocked when she learned about it. “I have absolutely nothing to do with that,” the woman said.
The woman is expected to testify as a prosecution witness.
The 48-year old is also wanted in Cyprus in relation to two fraud cases and forgery, dating back to 2004. He is suspected by Cyprus police of forging bank cheques and other official documents.
The man is due to be tried in Greece regarding the smuggling ring. Regardless of whether he is found guilty or not, he will then be extradited to Cyprus where he will stand trial for the 2004 cases.

By Evie Andreou
With the exception of the Co-op Bank, funds given to banks by the European Investment Bank (EIB) between 2009 and 2011 were not distributed to small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) members of the House commerce committee said on Tuesday.
The committee, which had asked the banks in previous meetings to provide data concerning the period, said that according to the data received, loans of millions of euros were given to large businesses and not to SMEs.
Deputy Zacharias Zachariou said SMEs and especially micro businesses have complained that the money never reached them.
According to the committee, the EIB gave €256 million to the banks, which they added another €256 million and gave loans to 692 businesses.
Committee member Angelos Votsis said that from the money given by the EIB, €50m was given to the Co-op Bank which gave 250 loans to businesses that employ up to nine people.
Votsis added that in Cyprus an SME is considered one that employees two to three people and that the money seems to have been given to bigger SMEs.
An official of the Finance ministry said they are discussing the creation of a supervisory mechanism to control where funds are allocated, but that does not mean funds will be channelled to cash strapped businesses.
The committee once again called on finance minister Harris Georgiades to set up a mechanism that that will directly give loans to SMEs instead of through banks.
Zachariou said the creation of a mechanism independent from banks would ensure the money would go to where it is most needed, whereas the ministry’s proposal would see the money going to businesses that have no real need.
“We will constantly observe the shutting down of small businesses” he said.
He also said that currently business must have two years of profit and not owe any money in state taxes, social security fund or VAT in order to acquire bank loans.
In September, the president and vice president of the EIB were in Nicosia to sign a loan deal with Cypriot banks worth €85 million to be used to finance SMEs.

A 39-year old Sri-Lankan man was seriously injured after falling down a drain shaft, police said.
According to police report, the Sri-Lankan was cleaning a shaft on Nikos Patichis street in Limassol when – for still unknown reasons- he fell and hit his neck and head.
He was rushed to the Limassol General Hospital where he remains in critical condition.

By Constantinos Psillides
A woman whose husband last month died after several items were inserted into his mouth was on Tuesday remanded for three days by the Famagusta District Court.
The 39-year-old Russian woman’s husband died on September 10 at their house in Paralimni.
The husband, a 47-year-old businessman, was found dead on the sofa. A postmortem showed he had suffered a heart attack but the actual cause of death was drowning from blood in his lungs.
Police found multiple objects inside the man’s mouth, which resulted in a number of wounds. The objects included coins, a fork and a pair of sunglasses.
The woman told investigators she found her husband unconscious on the sofa and that she was trying to keep his mouth open by inserting objects into it. She added that when she thought she couldn’t handle the situation she called the police for help.
The Cyprus News Agency (CNA) reports that the woman had psychological issues and she has been under observation at the Athalassa psychiatric hospital since the day of the incident.
The couple have a 10-year-old son who is being looked after by the welfare service.

By Inmaculada Sanz and Kate Kelland

The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that Europe would almost certainly see more cases of Ebola after a nurse in Spain became the first person known to have caught the virus outside Africa.

With concerns growing globally that Ebola could spread beyond West Africa, where it has already killed more than 3,400 people in the worst outbreak in history, Spanish officials tried to reassure the public that they were tackling the threat. But health experts said the risk of a full-blown outbreak outside Africa was slim.

Rafael Perez-Santamaria, head of the Carlos III Hospital in Madrid, where the infected nurse had treated two Spanish missionaries who had contracted the disease in West Africa, said medical staff were “revising our protocols”. Four people including the nurse’s husband were admitted to hospital for observation.

Even though west European hospitals, unlike most of those in the affected parts of Africa, have the facilities to isolate an infected patient thoroughly, WHO European director Zsuzsanna Jakab said it was “quite unavoidable … that such incidents will happen in the future because of the extensive travel from Europe to the affected countries and the other way around”.

Nevertheless, she said that “the most important thing in our view is that Europe is still at low risk, and that the western part of the European region particularly is the best prepared in the world to respond to viral haemorrhagic fevers including Ebola”.

Still, health authorities in the developed world are being forced to re-examine their alertness to a disease that has been raging through Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia since March, killing more than half of those it infects.

The Spanish nurse, Teresa Romero, had gone on holiday in Madrid after the second of her Ebola patients died on Sept. 25, but did not start feeling ill until Sept. 30. Her trade union said she had then asked three times to be tested for Ebola before the infection was finally confirmed on Oct. 6.

NURSES DEMONSTRATING

Dozens of doctors and nurses demonstrated outside La Paz Hospital in Madrid demanding more information about how Romero had caught Ebola, which is not airborne but transmitted through direct contact with the body fluids of a person who, experts say, must already be showing symptoms.

“Given that both the transmission methods and the methods of prevention are well known, it is clear that some mistake was made,” the Madrid College of Doctors said in a statement.

The story of slow response was echoed in Dallas, Texas, where the first Ebola patient diagnosed on U.S. soil, Thomas Eric Duncan, was in critical condition.

Even though Duncan told a nurse he had recently come from West Africa, the hospital initially sent him back to his apartment with antibiotics, only to have him return two days later in an ambulance.

Peter Piot, a professor at the London School of Tropical Medicine who was one of the discoverers of Ebola, said caring for its victims demanded draconian discipline, as the slightest mistake could be fatal.

“It should be a lesson for everybody that you can’t overreact. You can’t overprotect,” he told a WHO science group teleconference.

But he also said such cases would remain rare, with carers most at risk: “There is a difference with what is going on in West Africa. It won’t really give rise to outbreaks.”

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which monitors disease in the EU, said that, while there was a small risk of travellers bringing Ebola in without knowing it, the region’s public health authorities “can efficiently detect and confirm cases of Ebola virus disease and thus prevent its onward spread”.

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday that his government would develop expanded screening of airline passengers for Ebola, both in the United States and in affected parts of West Africa. But the White House said there were no plans for a travel ban, which would only impede assistance to the region.

EXPERIMENTAL DRUGS

In contrast to the vast majority of African patients, some of those in Europe and the United States have been given experimental treatments for Ebola, which has no proven cure.

In Madrid, Romero has received antibodies from patients who survived Ebola. And Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas said Duncan had been given the experimental drug brincidofovir, developed by Chimerix Inc for use against a respiratory virus but untested on Ebola patients.

Spanish authorities said Romero’s husband had so far shown no symptoms of Ebola. The others admitted were a health worker who had diarrhoea but no fever, and a Spaniard who had travelled from Nigeria.

Twenty-two other people who had come into contact with the nurse were not isolated, but were having their temperature taken twice a day.

The Ebola epidemic has overwhelmed the health systems and battered the economies of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, which were showing signs of recovering from a decade of civil wars in the 1990s.

U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Magdy Martinez-Soliman said the crisis was “wiping out livelihoods and basic services, and could undo years of efforts to stabilise West Africa”.

The U.N. Development Program noted that the price of rice was up 30 percent in Sierra Leone, while production had fallen by 10 percent in Guinea as fewer people were tending to crops. With health systems buckling, vaccine coverage in Liberia was down 50 percent.

The World Bank said that, if the response to the epidemic was not stepped up, transport, cross-border trade, supply chains and tourism across West Africa could be severely disrupted, costing the region as a whole tens of billions of dollars.

Fears of economic consequences were felt in Europe too, where travel and leisure shares fell an average 2.4 percent on the London exchange on news of the Spanish Ebola case.

By Fayaz Bukhari

Thousands of Indians fled their homes in the disputed Kashmir region on Tuesday as Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged gunfire again, a day after the highest civilian death toll in a single day in more than a decade.

The mostly Muslim, Himalayan region of Kashmir is claimed by both India and Pakistan and has been a major focus of tension in South Asia. The nuclear-armed neighbours have fought two wars over the territory and clashes break out regularly along their de facto border, the so-called Line of Control.

About 7,000 villagers living around the village of Arnia area in Indian-controlled Kashmir gathered in schools after five Indian civilians were killed and dozens injured in shelling by Pakistani forces close to the border on Monday, according to Shantmanu, a government official in Jammu, a region of Kashmir.

“No one is able to sleep, not even the children. Everyone is hiding and is scared. Bombs are falling through roofs, we can’t sleep under our own roofs, and we have to stay outside,” a villager called Swardin said.

The Indian and Pakistani militaries have traded machine-gun fire and mortar attacks for about a week, in skirmishes that cast a shadow over attempts to improve ties between the rivals.

Pakistan forces fired at 40 Indian army posts early on Tuesday, said Uttam Chand, an Indian police official. Indian forces retaliated with gunfire and mortar bombs, he said.

India and Pakistan continued to exchange small-arms fire in the Poonch area on Tuesday afternoon, according to lieutenant colonel Manish Mehta, a spokesman for the Indian army.

“What we are seeing on the border is unusual in terms of its ferocity and the sudden eruption in violence,” said Brahma Chellaney, a professor of strategic studies at the Centre for Policy Research based in New Delhi. “This is not the average tit for tat that we have seen in the past on the border.”

India says Pakistan supports separatist militants that cross the Line of Control from the Pakistan side to attack Indian forces. Pakistan says India’s military is abusing the human rights of Muslim Kashmiris.

Indian and Pakistani politicians on Tuesday accused each other’s army of unprovoked violations of their border truce, as goodwill that had built up after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in May evaporated in the face of several weeks of sporadic fighting.

Sartaj Aziz, an adviser on foreign affairs to Pakistan’s prime minister, accused the Indian government of failing to prevent the violence and called for an immediate ceasefire. Aziz blamed the Indian government for calling off talks between the two countries’ top diplomats last month.

“The Indian side has shunned all our peace overtures,” Aziz said in a statement. “All our efforts to secure peace and tranquility on the Line of Control and the Working Boundary have elicited no cooperation from the Indian side.”

Indian Home Affairs Minister Rajnath Singh told a newspaper that Pakistan needs to learn that the newly elected Indian government will take a more aggressive approach if it comes under attack on the border.

“If our civilians are killed, India has every right to retaliate,” Singh said in an interview published in the Hindustan Times.

India and Pakistan’s director of military operations spoke on the phone on Tuesday afternoon and both expressed concern about the ongoing ceasefire violations, according to an Indian military official. No steps to resolve the dispute were agreed, the official said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi surprised many observers by inviting his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, to his inauguration in May in an effort to improve ties. But relations have soured since Modi called off a round of talks in August after Pakistan’s envoy in Delhi met with Kashmiri separatists before the proposed dialogue.

Sharif was weakened by opposition protests in August. He won the army’s backing but in the process ceded space to the generals on some issues, including relations India.

Indian intelligence experts now believe Pakistan’s military has asserted full control over the country’s policy towards India after initial attempts by Sharif to reach out to New Delhi.

Modi’s unilateral decision to cancel the foreign secretary talks in August weakened Sharif’s position at home just when he was battling the opposition protests, one former Indian officer with long years of experience in Kashmir said.

A deficit of €105 million in the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation’s (CyBC) employee pension fund calls for immediate action as it poses a dire risk to its very viability, the Auditor General’s annual report said.
The House Oversight committee convened on Tuesday to discuss the report’s findings.
“The situation is dramatic,” CyBC’s head Yiorgos Tsalakos told lawmakers. “Each year about €6.5 million is needed for pension payments alone.”
The pensions of 409 CyBC retirees are covered by the fund, the cumulative deficit of which recorded a spike of €12 million in a single year – from €93 million in 2012 to €105 million in 2013.
Save for a dramatic intervention – like one heard during the session, that the government foot the bill for the broadcaster’s pension payments – the fund is expected to remain viable only until the end of 2015.
Sensing danger, employee unions were quick to pin the fund’s financial predicament on several investments that subsequently went bad.
“Among the Fund’s assets are included significant amounts in deposits, shares and bonds of the Bank of Cyprus and Popular Bank, which lost significant value, thus raising the fund’s deficit,” read the Auditor General’s report.
The report includes a host of irregularities where procedure was not so much circumvented as blatantly ignored, as in the case of 21 correspondents and cameramen whose contracts expired in 2013 and were never renewed, but they continue to work – and be paid – as normal.
But even though the broadcaster relies almost exclusively on annual handouts from the government – over €26 million in 2013 – it appears unable to secure even meagre revenue streams from advertising.
“Considering that total revenues from advertising was €2.1 million, and given that provisions for doubtful debts was €1.03 – a percentage of 47.7 per cent – it emerges that there exists particularly high risk from the inability to collect dues by the Broadcaster, as well as a form of indirect financing of its customers,” Michaelides’ report noted.

By Constantinos Psillides

Civil servants called out of retirement to serve in a different position should get both their salary and their pension from the previous post, the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.
The court was handing down a verdict on an appeal filed by 49 former and current public sector and semi-governmental officials who had been denied their pension while they were drawing a salary. However, the Supreme Court concluded that an article of the State Officials on Pensions Act of 2011 is unconstitutional.
The legislation, drafted by the House of Representatives came as a response to the fact that government officials were receiving multiple pensions as a result of having served in multiple posts in their career.
The House decided then to reform the pension system when it came to high ranking government officials, and significantly cutting back on the amount paid out.
While the core of the legislation still stands, the article in question dictated that no government official should receive a pension while being employed by the state.
The Supreme Court pointed out that the article directly violates article 23 of the Constitution, which protects private property. The court concluded that a pension should be considered as property and as such comes under the protection of article 23 of the constitution.
The court said that while private property laws can be suspended when it comes to the common interest, the state did not sufficiently prove that this is the case.
The government will now have to retroactively pay all pensioners on their payroll, whose pension was suspended as a result of the 2011 act.
The court decision was not unanimous. A seven judge majority decided to strike down the article while two said the appeals should be denied on the grounds of the common interest. The two judges argued that suspending pensions for government employees fell within the scope of reforming the pension system and as such was crucial for the public.
The 2011 act stipulated that the total pension payout amount cannot exceed half the pensionable earnings for any of the pensions concerned.
Previously, supposing someone had held two different positions as a state official and in addition served in the civil service, the first two pensions would be offset against each other, but the third pension (for the civil service) would be paid on top of these two, in full.
The court stance on the subject – considering pension as property – does not bode well for the government since a number of former government officials – including former Central Bank Governor Afxentis Afxentiou – are currently challenging the law in its entirety. A Supreme Court decision favouring the former government officials would result in millions having to be paid back retroactively.