The island’s Supreme Court on Friday ruled as unconstitutional four bills passed by opposition parties to limit the scope of a law on foreclosures.

The bills, which threatened to derail Cyprus’ bailout adjustment programme, had been referred to the court by President Nicos Anastasiades.

The court’s decision was unanimous

Approval of the bills by parliament prompted the so-called Troika (IMF, EU, ECB) of international lenders to withhold the next tranche of bailout assistance because the bills violated the terms of Cyprus’ bailout agreement.

Under a €10 billion bailout agreement, Cyprus had to introduce effective legislation on foreclosures of mortgaged properties.

The IMF said it was in close contact with the Cypriot authorities, however the Troika has not yet set a date for the return of its mission to Cyprus pending the Supreme Court ruling.

“The IMF team and our partners ended the fifth review of the program at the end of July. Since then we are urging the authorities to further strengthen the legislative package on foreclosures to ensure that the process is effective, which we believe will help Cyprus with the high level of non-performing loans, restart flowing of bank credit and return to growth” IMF Spokesman Gerry Rice said. “A legislative package consistent with these goals is needed for the conclusion of that fifth review of the program.”

“We are aware that proposed changes to the foreclosure process are currently with the Supreme Court. So, we remain in close contact with the supreme authorities on this issue” he said, adding however that “I don’t have anything now on the return of the mission.”

By Sam Holden

Manchester United are likely to welcome back captain Wayne Rooney from suspension for their visit to Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday, hoping the striker can add to his record scoring tally in the derby.

Rooney, who missed three matches because of a red card last month, tops the all-time goalscoring list for Manchester derbies having netted 11 in 22 games for United.

The return of the England striker will add a further spring to manager Louis van Gaal’s step, after United snatched a 1-1 home draw with league leaders Chelsea last week thanks to Robin van Persie’s stoppage-time goal.

“It’s a massive boost for us to have him back,” United defender Luke Shaw told British media this week. “It’s something I think he’s looking forward to. Wayne hates sitting on the sidelines watching.”

The 20-time English champions, after a dreadful campaign last term under David Moyes, have endured a torrid time away from home so far this season and are six games without a win on the road in the league, their worst run for 18 years.

Van Gaal and some of his new-look team will be experiencing a Manchester derby for the first time but Shaw, a close-season signing from Southampton, is sure the recent arrivals understand the fierce rivalry.

“It’s pretty obvious what this match means to the fans and the club,” the 19-year-old said. “I don’t think I need to be told about it and the others (new signings) will be aware too.
“It’s a massive occasion for everyone involved in it. We need to come out firing on Sunday.”

United’s indifferent away form has been costly, with the team eighth in the table on 13 points, 10 adrift of Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea at the summit.

City have suffered their own stuttering start to their title defence and a 2-1 defeat at in-form West Ham United last weekend left them third on 17 points.

Boss Manuel Pellegrini is not concerned by the champions’ form and pointed out they are in a better position than they were this time last season.
He was also unmoved by Rooney’s United return.

“I think Rooney is a very important player for Manchester United but I think that big teams never depend on one player,” he said.
Following their draw at Old Trafford, Chelsea will be looking to steal a march on their Manchester rivals when they host their own local adversaries Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.

In scintillating form since the start of the season, Mourinho’s men have dropped only four points in their opening nine games, conceding late goals to draw at both City and United, and have a four-point lead at the top of the table.

They are likely to have Diego Costa available again after he missed the trip to Old Trafford due to a hamstring problem and the Spain striker will be looking to add to the nine league goals he has scored in seven appearances this season.

QPR climbed off the foot of the table with a 2-0 home win against beleaguered Aston Villa on Monday but with all of their seven points this season coming at Loftus Road, their hopes of a surprise result at Chelsea will be slim.

With the loss to Harry Redknapp’s side, Villa extended their run of five straight league defeats without scoring a goal.
Paul Lambert will hope his side can score their first in over eight hours of football to reignite the early season form that saw them reach second in the league when they host Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, who are enduring their own slump.

Second-placed Southampton look to continue to dumbfound their pre-season critics when they travel on Saturday to Hull City, who proved a stern test for Liverpool in a goalless draw at Anfield last weekend.

Another team exceeding all expectations, fourth-placed West Ham, follow their victory at home to the champions with a very different test at mid-table Stoke City.

A late Mario Balotelli-inspired comeback helped Liverpool book their place in the League Cup quarter-final with a 2-1 home win against Swansea City on Tuesday, and the Italy striker will target a first league goal for the Reds when they visit Newcastle United early on Saturday.

England winger Theo Walcott could make his first appearance for Arsenal after 10 months out with injury to heap more misery on bottom club Burnley, who visit the Emirates Stadium having garnered only four points this season.

The number of workers employed directly or indirectly by the government fell by 2,520 to 65,811 in the second quarter of 2014 compared to a year before, the statistical service said on Friday.

The drop was mainly on a reduction of the central government workforce which fell by 1,502 to 54,010, Cystat said in a statement.

The number of workers employed by the local administration fell by 286 to 4,361, while that at state owned companies fell by 732 to 7,440, the statement said.

Compared with the previous quarter, the total number of public workers rose in April to June by 262, according to Cystat.

Paphos mayor Savvas Vergas and three others will be charged in writing in connection with threatening text messages sent to witnesses in a suspicious land zoning case involving a prominent developer.

The decision was taken on Friday during a meeting at the state legal service.

The four face charges relating to conspiracy to commit felony, issuing threats, and interference in judicial proceedings. The case will be submitted at the district court.

The mayor was arrested earlier in October in connection with threatening text messages sent to four people, including himself.

Two of the recipients were witnesses in a land zoning case involving Aristo Developers boss Theodoros Aristodemou. Threatening texts were also sent to a journalist.

The other three suspects are Vergas’ close associate Maria Solomonidou, who owned the phone used to send the messages, her husband Constantinos Sifantos, and her father Elias Solomonides.

Police had initially detained Solomonidou, her husband, and her father, in connection with the messages.

It later transpired that Vergas had bought the mobile phone used to send the messages, a fact he did not deny.

The mayor claimed he bought the phone for Solomonidou who was responsible, among other things, for handling the municipality’s social media accounts.

During questioning, Vergas told police that he was at the town hall when he received the threatening message but authorities determined that Solomonidou and the mayor were at the same location when the messages were sent.

Her father sought to shoulder the blame but police were not convinced.

Solomonidou is the sister of Aristo Developers designer Christos Solomonides, arrested along with his boss, the latter’s wife Roulla Aristodemou, and former municipal engineer Savvas Savva, in connection with forgery and fraud in the demarcation of 177 plots of land on behalf of the company.

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 euros, previously designated as green space, back to Aristo.

Revenue from tourism fell 7.2 per cent in August compared with 2013 to €324.3 million even as arrivals rose 5.9 per cent in the same month, the statistical service said.

Between January and August, revenue from tourism rose 2.8 per cent to €1.4 billion compared with the respective period last year, Cystat said in a statement on Friday.

The London-based World Travel and Tourism Council estimates the contribution of tourism to Cyprus’ economy at 25 per cent this year.

By Isaac Abrak

A car bomb exploded at a crowded bus stop in the northeast Nigerian city of Gombe, killing at least 10 people and wounding several others near the end of the morning rush hour on Friday, a source in the emergency services said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, but Islamist group Boko Haram has been blamed for a string of bomb attacks in the region this year. Gombe is close to Nigeria’s northeast Borno state, the epicentre of the insurgency.

Witness Godfrey Anebo told Reuters he saw emergency workers pull eight people from the wreckage, all of whom appeared to be dead.

“I am not sure what the death toll will be at the end but it will shoot up very high because the bus stop was very full of commuters,” Anebo said.

The emergency services official at the scene told Reuters at least 10 people had died. The military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The government announced a ceasefire with Boko Haram nearly two weeks ago as part of efforts to negotiate the release of more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by the group in April.

But violence has soared since, further denting public confidence in the government’s efforts to end the conflict .

Boko Haram has killed thousands of people and abducted hundreds since launching its uprising in Africa’s largest oil producer in 2009.

The militants, who want an Islamic state in the region, seized control of the northeast Nigerian town of Mubi on Wednesday and Thursday, robbing banks, burning down houses, killing dozens of people and forcing thousands to flee, witnesses said.

The government has said criminal groups caught up in the insurgency are behind some of the recent violence. Since Boko Haram itself is highly fragmented it is impossible to guarantee all factions will respect the ceasefire.

Suspected insurgents killed at least 17 people and abducted dozens in a series of attacks in the centre of Borno state last weekend, officials said. At least 25 girls were kidnapped from a remote northeastern town a few days earlier.

By Angelos Anastasiou

President Nicos Anastasiades on Friday issued a surprisingly scathing statement lambasting Central Bank governor Chrystalla Georghadji for the alleged removal of wording in her contract pertaining to conflict of interest arising from blood relatives, and accusing her of lying about encounters she claimed to have had with him.

Earlier, an irate Georghadji left a tumultuous House Watchdog committee session after being grilled on potential conflict of interest arising from her daughter’s involvement in representing ex-Laiki Bank strongman Andreas Vgenopoulos in a legal case brought against him by legacy Laiki, which is answerable to the Resolution Authority – headed by the governor of the Central Bank.

Upon her departure, Georghadji said she had arranged a meeting at the Presidential Palace in advance and that she thought the House session would have been concluded by then.

She told deputies that she has been the recipient of threatening letters, but warned that “if some thought that their money entitles them to run Cyprus, that will not be the case with me.”

“When I took over at the helm of the Central Bank, I had been aware of the dangers – but I dared not imagine the extent of the sordidness I was to find,” she said.

But when asked by committee members whether the threats are being issued from within the Central Bank, she sidestepped the question saying she would report everything once she had access to sufficient evidence.

Pressed to reveal details about her contract of employment as governor, Georghadji said her contract resembles those of former governors Christodoulos Christodoulou and Afxentis Afxentiou, but was differentiated to those of more recent governors Panicos Demetriades and Athanasios Orphanides.

“My contract does not include a clause found in Mr. Demetriades’ contract, which prohibited the governor, his or her spouse, or any first-degree relative from employment in any banking, financial, commercial, industrial, agricultural or other business in a way that is in conflict with the duties of the governor,” she said.

According to Georghadji, this clause was not included in her contract as it is not required by law. She noted that President Anastasiades had been informed of the omission in the law.

She said she had been presented with two contracts, but the Central Bank’s legal consultant advised her that her contract should reflect the provisions of the Central Bank law.

She further claimed that when the issue of a potential conflict of interest due to her daughter representing Andreas Vgenopoulos, she had a conversation with Anastasiades who allegedly told her he knew the source of the attacks against her.

Further, Georghadji said that her former husband’s law firm – at which her daughter is employed – took Vgenopoulos on as a client in December 2012, while her daughter started working there in February 2014.

Attorney-general Costas Clerides confirmed that there are no legal issues in the matter, but warned that the governor’s blood relationship with Vgenopoulos’ legal consultant could conceivably influence ongoing legal proceedings.

“In her capacity as governor of the Central Bank, [Georghadji] could influence the case, were she so inclined,” said Clerides. “Having said that, the choice of doing so or not lies with each official’s personal integrity.”

But in any case, he said, the governor’s contract was not reviewed by Legal Services as it was a matter between the two counterparties.

Immediately after leaving the House session, Georghadji was hurriedly summoned to the Presidential Palace, and shortly thereafter, Anastasiades issued an unusually harsh statement refuting her claims of personal conversations with him.

“In order to restore truth, I wish to report the true facts,” Anastasiades’ statement opened.

He recounted instructing the head of the President’s office, as in the case of every new appointment, to prepare the appointment contract.

“On my instructions, the Director of my Office also sent Mrs Georghadji a copy of her two predecessors’ contracts, so she could be made aware of the terms of her appointment,” Anastasiades said.

“Mrs Georghadji returned the contract to the Director of my Office with no mention of removed clauses relating to conflicts of interest due to blood relatives’ employment.”

In addition to this omission, he added, Georghadji had never in any way informed him that her daughter was employed at her ex-husband’s law firm, but “even worse, that said law firm were the legal representatives of Laiki Bank’s former chairman Andreas Vgenopoulos.”

“I am further saddened by Mrs Georghadji’s allegation that, following revelations of her former husband and her daughter with Mr Vgenopoulos, she discussed the matter with me, and that I allegedly told her that I had been aware of the source of the attacks against her,” Anastasiades charged.

“I am obliged to clarify that I will not tolerate anyone using my name, or offer cover to anyone who abuses the trust I have shown them by citing me in order to evade their legal obligations,” he added.

Anastasiades said the only thing he felt he should apologise for is the failure to meticulously check the signed contract for any changes made by the appointee.

“I must reiterate that my earlier commitment for zero tolerance on issues that may be deemed or perceived as a violation of the principles of good administration by anyone also applies to Mrs Chrystalla Georghadji,” Anastasiades said.

Following the President’s statement, DISY, DIKO and the Citizens’ Alliance called for Georghadji’s resignation as the only way to safeguard the credibility of the institution.

AKEL also issued a statement criticising Anastasiades and ruling DISY for their “deafening silence” over the issue, which it claimed to have raised two months ago.

The communist party called for a thorough probe into the matter, in order to reveal the true facts.

AKEL argued that in light of the revelations of a possible conflict of interest, Georghadji “ought to make her decisions.”

By Zandi Shabalala

A suspect in the killing of the captain and goalkeeper of South Africa’s national football team has been arrested after witnesses picked him out in an identity parade, police said in a statement on Friday.

The police said Zanokuhle Mbatha, 25, had been charged in connection with the case. Local media said the charges included murder.

Football star Senzo Meyiwa was hit by a single gun shot to the chest on Sunday night while confronting two intruders at the home of his girlfriend, actress and singer Kelly Khumalo.

He will be buried on Saturday and his death has highlighted the phenomenon of gun violence in South Africa, coming just days after disabled track star Oscar Pistorius was jailed for shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

The National Prosecuting Authority said Mbatha had made a brief appearance in the Boksburg Magistrate court east of Johannesburg. His case was adjourned until Nov. 11.

Even though South Africa’s murder rate has been gradually dropping, it remains one of the world’s most violent countries, with police recording more than 17,000 murders last year, or 31 per 100,000 people – seven times the rate in the United States.

Meyiwa, 27, who also played for professional club Orlando Pirates, had legions of fans in sports-mad South Africa and police, under huge public and political pressure, have launched a massive hunt for his killers.

“Whilst we are pleased with the progress we are making and the overwhelming support from members of the public, there is still a lot of work to be done to finalise the investigation and ensure that we can link all suspects to the murder,” the police statement said.

“Given the fact that our investigations are at a very sensitive stage, we will only be in a position to update the nation during a media briefing on Monday, 3 November 2014.”

This weekend’s Johannesburg derby between Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates was postponed as a mark of respect. The derby is usually played in front of 90,000 fans.

By Joel Page

A Maine judge on Friday imposed limited restrictions on an American nurse who treated Ebola patients in Sierra Leone and rejected a bid by state officials for more stringent measures.

The confrontation between Kaci Hickox and officials in the state of Maine has become the focal point of a dispute pitting several US states opting for strict quarantines against the federal government, which opposes such measures.

Hickox’s lawyer called the ruling a “terrific win” and Maine Governor Paul LePage said that while he was disappointed, the state would abide by the judge’s order.

Hickox, 33, tested negative for Ebola after returning from working for Doctors Without Borders in Sierra Leone. She also objected when the state of New Jersey put her into isolation when she arrived at Newark airport.

Charles LaVerdiere, chief judge of Maine District Court, in an earlier temporary order dated on Thursday had instructed Hickox to avoid “public places” like shopping centers and maintain a 1-meter distance from others at the state’s request. That came hours after she defied Maine officials, left her home and went for a bike ride with her boyfriend.

On Friday, after a hearing held by telephone, LaVerdiere said Hickox only would have to continue direct monitoring of her health, coordinate travel plans with health officials and report any symptoms.

“As governor, I have done everything I can to protect the health and safety of Mainers. The judge has eased restrictions with this ruling and I believe it is unfortunate. However, the State will abide by law.”

The nurse’s lawyer, Norman Siegel, told Reuters Hickox is very happy with the decision. “It’s a terrific win for Kaci,” he said. “It validates what she’s been saying.”

Siegel said Hickox had readily agreed to the restrictions and would not seek to challenge them in court.

State troopers who had been stationed outside her home in the small town of Fort Kent, along the Canadian border, departed after the judge’s action. Outside her two-story home, numerous journalists and television news trucks remained. The local police chief had earlier entered the home but afterward declined to tell reporters what was discussed, saying it was a “good morning conversation.” Hickox did not appear in public.

Sierra Leone, where Hickox volunteered, is one of the three impoverished West African countries at the heart of the outbreak that has killed about 5,000 people.

Medical professionals say Ebola is difficult to catch and is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids from an infected person and is not transmitted by asymptomatic people. Ebola is not airborne.

Public health experts, the United Nations, federal officials and even President Barack Obama have expressed concern that state quarantines for returning doctors and nurses could discourage potential medical volunteers from fighting the outbreak in West Africa.

Hickox had given Maine a deadline of Thursday to lift an order that she remain at home until Nov. 10. The state did not lift the 21-day quarantine.

The nurse previously blasted New Jersey Governor Chris Christie after she was taken from Newark’s airport and put in isolation in an unheated tent before being taken to Maine to spend the rest of her 21-day quarantine at home. Twenty-one days is the maximum incubation period for Ebola.

US public concern about the virus is high even though only one person in the country is currently being treated for it, a New York doctor, Craig Spencer, who cared for patients in West Africa. Spencer, 33, was in serious but stable condition, New York’s Bellevue Hospital said on Thursday.

In New York on Friday, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power defended federal guidelines for monitoring healthcare workers returning from the three Ebola-stricken countries.

Power spoke at a Reuters Newsmaker event hours after returning from a four-day trip to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

She said she believed current federal guidelines for returning healthcare workers balanced “the need to respond to the fears that this has generated” in the United States with the known science on the disease.

By Steve Scherer and Massimiliano Di Giorgio

Italy said on Friday it would close a sea rescue mission that has saved the lives of more than 100,000 migrants from Africa and the Middle East, a move one rights group warned could lead to a “surge of deaths” in the Mediterranean.

Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said the Mare Nostrum or “Our Sea” mission would end to make way for a smaller European Union scheme – and to help relieve the strain on Italy’s public finances amid a three-year economic slump.

“Mare Nostrum is closing down because it was an emergency operation,” Alfano told a news conference.

The Italian navy began Mare Nostrum just over a year ago when more than 360 men, women and children – mostly Eritreans – drowned when their overcrowded boat capsized a mile off the Sicilian island of Lampedusa.

Even with five warships on permanent patrol in the waters between Sicily and North Africa — backed up by helicopter, plane and drone surveillance — about 3,300 migrants have died attempting the crossing this year, the UN refugee agency estimates.

Alfano said Italy had spent 114 million euros to operate the mission over the past year and the closure would reduce spending “to zero”.

Italy would still respect the rules of the sea and respond to SOS calls, he said, adding that cutting spending would not necessarily lead to more tragedy.

“The number of people who die is not proportionate to the number of euros spent,” Alfano said.

Human rights activists warned that the closure was likely to lead to many more people drowning.

“There are no alternative routes to reach Europe, and conflicts are on the rise not only in Syria but also Iraq and other places. So there will be a greater risk of more sea tragedies without Mare Nostrum,” Stefano Di Carlo, Doctors Without Borders operational chief in Italy, told Reuters.

“There is a very high risk is that there will be a surge of deaths at sea,” said Riccardo Noury, an Italian spokesman for Amnesty International.

Most of those seeking to enter Europe through Italy via the Mediterranean are refugees, including tens of thousands fleeing Syria’s civil war and a similar number escaping forced military conscription in Eritrea, the UN refugee agency says.

People smugglers have taken advantage of Libya’s political instability and lawlessness to send convoys off its coast, making as much as a half million dollars from each overcrowded and rickety boat, according to Interior Ministry estimates.

TRITON

Italy has long called for the EU to do more to help migrants. Earlier this month, Rome finally agreed to start working with a more limited rescue mission called Triton, overseen by EU border control agency Frontex.

Twenty-one EU countries are contributing, but the mission will be limited to patrolling the waters within 30 nautical miles from the Italian coast, while Mare Nostrum reached all the way across the Mediterranean to the coast off Libya.

Any migrants picked up will still be brought to Italian ports and housed in immigration centres, though the vast majority of those who have been rescued over the past year did not stay in Italy for long, moving quickly onto other EU countries.

Earlier this month, speaking on the anniversary of the Lampedusa tragedy at a meeting of his left-wing party faithful in northern Italy, Renzi said Mare Nostrum would not be abandoned until “the EU comes up with something just as good or better”.

Noury at Amnesty said it was “clear” that Renzi had broken his word.

“He was speaking to a crowd that wanted to hear those things, but today Alfano said the opposite. There’s no coherence between what Renzi promised and what happened today,” Noury said.

Police fired shots at the tyres of a car carrying two Paphos men who were later arrested for possession of drugs and other offences.

The car was seen moving suspiciously on the Choletria road at around 6pm on Friday. Officers instructed the driver to pull over but he accelerated in a bid to escape.

Police said the driver tried to ram the officers’ vehicle repeatedly, prompting them to fire shots at its tyres in an effort to immobilise it.

The two passengers of the car refused to get out, police said.

A subsequent search found two grammes of cannabis. The pair were arrested for possession, obstructing police, and traffic violations.

A suicide car bomber killed at least 11 members of the security forces and wounded more than 20 civilians near a police checkpoint in eastern Logar province in Afghanistan on Saturday, local officials said.

The Taliban did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack and could not be reached for comment, but the militant group carry out daily attacks on the country’s army and police.

“The suicide bomber detonated his car near a residential area in Azra district of Logar, killing four army soldiers and seven local policemen,” Din Mohammad Darwish a spokesman for Logar’s governor said.

Violence has increased in Afghanistan over the past year as foreign troops prepare to withdraw by the end of 2014.

The government is reluctant to release figures on casualties, but more than 4,000 police and soldiers were killed fighting Taliban insurgents in 2013 and this year’s toll is expected to be higher.

Afghanistan’s president Ashraf Ghani, who took office about a month ago after months of destabilising deadlock over who won the election, said he hoped to achieve peace with the Taliban.

“Peace is not easy but is a mandatory,” Ashraf Ghani told a news conference in Kabul on Saturday, two hours after the attack. “If it was easy then it could be achieved during the past years.”

Islamic State militants have executed 85 more members of the Albu Nimr tribe in Iraq in a mass killing campaign launched last week in retaliation for resistance to the group’s territorial advances, a tribal leader and security official said on Saturday.

Sheikh Naeem al-Ga’oud, one of the tribe’s leaders, told Reuters that Islamic State killed 50 displaced members of Albu Nimr on Friday. In a separate incident, a security official said 35 bodies were found in a mass grave.

The sustained bloodshed shows how the al Qaeda offshoot has proven resilient despite U.S. airstrikes against militant targets in parts of Iraq and Syria it controls.

It has been killing at will, with no signs that Iraq’s armed forces will come to the tribe’s rescue anytime soon.

Members of the Albu Nimr tribe had held out for weeks under siege by Islamic State fighters in Anbar Province to the west of Baghdad, but finally ran low on ammunition, fuel and food.

Hundreds of tribal fighters withdrew and hundreds of members of the tribe fled their village. Islamic State rounded many up and shot them at close range. Over 300 people have been executed since the killing began in the middle of last week.

A team of technocrats from the troika of international lenders will be arriving on the island later this month to assess the insolvency framework prepared by the government to complement the law on foreclosures.

According to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) the experts are expected on the island on November 10.

During their stay, they will hold meetings with political parties to exchange views on the framework, which aims at providing a safety net for certain vulnerable groups who may be at risk of losing their homes and business because of the downturn.

The aim is to have the framework ready by the end of the year.

The government is already discussing the bills forming it with political parties who had been asked to designate one expert each.

Main opposition AKEL chose to sit on the fence, refusing to send an expert.

Despite efforts to find common ground on the national health scheme (NHS), it was obvious there will be disagreements, Health Minister Philippos Patsalis said on Saturday, as draft legislation concerning the NHS will be heading to parliament in around 20 days.

“There are many differing views arising from the lengthy dialogue we conducted with all political parties, unions, professional organisations, workers, and the public,” the minister said, adding that it was clear that red lines would have to be breached in the effort to overhaul the island’s health system.

Putting a new health system in place is included in the terms of the island’s bailout.

“The red lines set by the parties involved are so many there is no common denominator on which everyone agrees,” he said.

Patsalis said Cyprus had to take the “creative leap” so as to move forward.

The minister added that he would continue talking to all involved to achieve the highest consensus.

By Bejay Browne

A PAPHOS based charity which is helping to feed hundreds of needy families in the district has issued an urgent plea for help as it struggles to keep up with the burgeoning numbers seeking assistance.

Solidarity was set up in 2012 and helps all those in need, of any nationality or background. Pavlina Patsalou heads up the Paphos-based charity along with George Sofokleous.

In just two years, the number of desperate families and individuals on the poverty line has exploded, Patsalou said, adding that the charity is helping more than 900 families, with new daily cases increasing dramatically.

“Every day we have desperate people coming to us who have nowhere else to turn. We are handing out emergency food supplies to people, mostly Cypriots, who have no income, no savings, mounting debts and no food. It’s heartbreaking.”

Patsalou said many of them have young children or infants.

Weekly food parcels are handed out to the needy, providing them with the basic essentials or whatever other food is donated.

The charity founder stressed that although economically times are tough for most people, Solidarity urgently needs public support. If people could manage to donate even one euro a month, the charity would be able to help many families, she said.

Patsalou said the charity is fearful about the coming weeks as winter draws in and many hotels in the district will close for this period; increasing the number of people without an income.

“Every day the welfare office is sending us three more families which they are unable to handle and we won’t turn anyone away.”

The charity is one of many organisations, churches and associations which are helping to feed the needy in Paphos. Patsalou said that thousands of people are living in poverty and that without help they would literally starve.

“The state does nothing to help and they don’t seem to care. I don’t know what it will take for them to understand how desperate the situation is,” she said.

Unemployment in Paphos is high and although some of the families seeking help are foreign residents, most of the families are now Cypriot.

“We hand out at least 200 loaves of bread a day as well as pastries; these are donated from local bakeries.”

Patsalou said that there is an urgent need for nappies and baby milk which are costly but vital for the health and wellbeing of tens of babies in Paphos.

The charity said that many people are now unable to afford a doctor and are turning to the charity for help. “We try and help with free doctors where we can and we are also grateful to have the help of Dr. Christos Demetriou, who is a pediatrician and sees children for free.”

Solidarity is aiming to have a continuous string of regular fundraising events to ensure there is some sort of a cash flow which can be used to buy food.

“More and more families that literally have nothing in their cupboards are coming to see us as emergencies. It’s very hard to see so much pain every day. I really feel for these people and couldn’t imagine being in their place.”

For the last three months, Patslaou has opened her children’s clothes shop seven days a week. The extra money earned from these longer hours she has donated to the charity and raised 430 euors which was used for coupons to buy powdered babies milk.

Donations of foods such as long life milk, pasta, rice, tinned goods, pulses, babies’ powdered milk and nappies are urgently needed, as stocks are running low.

And it’s not just the essential food staples that people need, said Patsalou. Shampoo, soap, washing powder, cleaning materials and toilet paper are also required.

“Some people are very shy to come to Solidarity, but without any help they would starve, so they have to come. I don’t know where it will end. This is going to be a hard winter.”

The charity recently handed out 300 school uniforms as part of a joint initiative with USB bank.

A fund raising event and food drive will be held at ‘Looney Land’ at Paphos Mall on Sunday from 11.30am to 5pm. There will be numerous family activities and a food collection point

Donations may also be taken to Patsalou’s shop, any of the drop-off points listed on the website www.solidaritypaphos.com, or the Solidarity house in Paphos with prior arrangement.

For information call Pavlina Patsalou on 99220152.

By George Psyllides

CENTRAL Bank Governor Chrystalla Georghadji said on Saturday she did not intend to resign her post, a day after President Nicos Anastasiades launched a scathing attack against her for the alleged removal of wording in her contract pertaining to conflict of interest arising from blood relatives, and accusing her of lying about encounters she claimed to have had with him.

Parties demanded an investigation as questions were also raised concerning the handling of the affair by the presidential palace.

Reports also suggested Georghadji had fallen foul of the establishment, targeted by people she had irked during the seven months at the helm of the Central Bank, but also when she was the island’s auditor-general.

The Central Bank governor, currently abroad, has not commented on the president’s surprisingly scathing statement on Friday afternoon, apart from saying she did not intend to resign.

Earlier, an irate Georghadji left a tumultuous House Ethics Committee session after being grilled on potential conflict of interest arising from her daughter’s involvement in representing ex-Laiki Bank strongman Andreas Vgenopoulos in a legal case brought against him by legacy Laiki, which is answerable to the Resolution Authority – headed by the governor of the Central Bank.

She told MPs her contract did not include a clause found in the contracts of two former governors, which precluded them, or their spouse, or any first-degree relative from employment in any banking, financial, commercial, industrial, agricultural or other business in a way that is in conflict with the duties of the governor.

Georghadji said the clause was not included in her contract as it is not required by law. She noted that President Anastasiades had been informed of the omission in the law.

But Anastasiades denied knowing, conceding however that no one had bothered reading the signed contract after it was returned to them by Georghadji.

The president said he had instructed the head of his office, as in the case of every new appointment, to prepare the appointment contract.

“On my instructions, the Director of my Office also sent Mrs Georghadji a copy of her two predecessors’ contracts, so she could be made aware of the terms of her appointment,” Anastasiades said.

“Mrs Georghadji returned the contract to the Director of my Office with no mention of removed clauses relating to conflicts of interest due to blood relatives’ employment.”

In addition to this omission, he added, Georghadji had never in any way informed him that her daughter was employed at her ex-husband’s law firm, but “even worse, that said law firm were the legal representatives of Laiki Bank’s former chairman Andreas Vgenopoulos.”

“I am further saddened by Mrs Georghadji’s allegation that, following revelations of her former husband and her daughter with Mr Vgenopoulos, she discussed the matter with me, and that I allegedly told her that I had been aware of the source of the attacks against her,” Anastasiades charged.

However, beyond the blatantly sloppy way with which the Palace admittedly handled the contract, observers questioned the claim that Anastasiades did not know. The story had been in the news for at least two months, even if Georghadji had not informed him.

Main opposition AKEL, who saw its own appointment to the post resign seven months ago after just two years in office, pounced on the opportunity to criticise Anastasiades and ruling DISY.

The party accused them of doing or saying nothing for two months and only reacting when the governor told MPs that the president knew about the clause.

AKEL demanded an investigation into the matter, as did EDEK.

Parties wasted little time on Friday to demand Georghadji’s resignation, something they failed to do in the case of Paphos mayor Savvas Vergas, who is facing charges in connection with sending threatening texts and is also under investigation for other matters. Vergas belongs to DIKO.

Parties also failed to issue any form of statement concerning the imprisonment of former Central Bank governor Christodoulos Christodoulou for tax offences.

Daily Politis sought to explain this by listing people whom Georghadji may have upset.

First there were the two law offices that represented the ex-Laiki administrator, with which Georghadji had disagreed with. Politis said in one case, Anastasiades himself had intervened, asking her to back down.

There was also the issue with the Bank of Cyprus board on which parties and various law offices had members. The governor had asked all of them to resign in light of the lender’s recapitalisation and new shareholding structure. DIKO chairman Nicolas Papadopoulos publically reacted charging that two of the new members were clients of Anastasiades’ law office.

Hitting back, government spokesman Victoras Papadopoulos said this sounded like the pot calling the kettle black.

“It is high time that Mr Papadopoulos stopped invoking Russian depositors [as a smokescreen] to protect people who are closely associated with him on the board of Bank of Cyprus,” he said.

Politis went a step further, reminding its readers that as auditor-general, Georghadji in 2007 issued a damning report suggesting a link between the law office of Papadopoulos’ father, Tassos, who was president at the time, and a French company gunning for a contract to supply Cyprus with liquefied natural gas to Cyprus.

There was also a damning report about the trade minister at the time, Giorgos Lillikas, and his connection with a company that clinched tourism promotional contracts during the 2004 Athens Olympics.

World number one Novak Djokovic took a further step towards becoming the first player to retain his Paris Masters title when he saw off Japanese sixth seed Kei Nishikori 6-2 6-3 on Saturday to set up a final with Milos Raonic.

Canadian seventh seed Raonic earlier qualified for Sunday’s showpiece match, his second at Masters level, by downing Czech fifth seed Tomas Berdych 6-3 3-6 7-5.

“The final tomorrow, it’s just about really buckling down, hoping to play another great match, and making the most of the opportunity ahead,” said Raonic.

Serbian Djokovic, who is on a 26-match winning streak indoors, was never threatened by Nishikori, who beat him at the U.S. Open but lacked energy after battling for almost three hours until late with David Ferrer in the last eight on Friday.

Djokovic extended his advantage over Roger Federer in the battle for the year-end number one spot to 910 points.

He raced to a 4-1 lead and never looked back, appearing effortlessly to send his opponent chasing the ball to every corner of the court.

Following an early exchange of breaks, Djokovic stole Nishikori’s serve again in the sixth game of the second set and it proved enough.

On a surface that keeps changing over the years, no player has retained their title at Bercy in a tournament held near the end of an energy-sapping season.

It will be followed from November 9-16 by the ATP World Tour Finals in London, for which Nishikori and Raonic qualified on Friday.

The big-serving Raonic, runner-up at the Montreal Masters last year, followed up his quarter-final defeat of second seed Federer by beating Berdych, the 2005 Paris champion.

After firing down 21 aces against Federer, Raonic had to wait until the fifth game to serve his first on Saturday but by that time he had already broken Berdych for a 3-1 lead.

Although Berdych read his serve pretty well, Raonic held and bagged the opening set when his opponent’s sliced backhand sailed long.

Berdych, however, broke in the second game of the second set as Raonic netted a backhand, before holding serve to level the tie.

The third set was a much more balanced affair until Raonic set up the first couple of break points, which were also match points.

He needed only one, wrapping it up when Berdych netted a backhand before smashing his racket on the ground in frustration, having made four consecutive unforced errors, including two straight double faults, in an awful game.

“I just totally messed it up with the last game,” said Berdych. It was definitely the worst game I ever played here in this tournament this year.”

Raonic added: “In a very uncharacteristic way, he sort of just gave me a big opening, and I did good enough to make the most of it.”

By Alexander McCowan

THE European Division 2B opener for Cyprus against Andorra in Paphos on Saturday was nothing like the walkover so many pundits were predicting.

The Andorrans came out determined to squash the opposition: the Moufflons being the only small country in Europe without a major sponsor and whose players are all amateurs. The Andies are semi-pros and well financed.

Until half-time it looked like their prediction was correct. The Moufflons were weak and disorganised, when the iconic George Agathocleous was sent off, it looked liked curtains for the world record holders. However, the second half was, as they say, another story.

In the first half the Andies dominated, and in the view of some observers, bullied the Cypriots, but the Moufflon backs, who were always superior, came into their own after half-time. The boot of the ever reliable Zavalis, the speed of Jack Antoniou, the Henley express, and new man Steve Awoa—da rock—turned everything around.

With gorgeous George back on the field the Cypriots triumphed 30-10.

By Mike Collett

League leaders Chelsea were made to battle for a narrow 2-1 win over strugglers Queens Park Rangers at Stamford Bridge as they maintained their unbeaten start in the Premier League on Saturday.

The winner came from Eden Hazard who scored with a 75th minute penalty after Charlie Austin had pulled strugglers QPR level in the 62nd minute.

Oscar had put Chelsea ahead with a curling shot with the outside of his right foot in the first half.

Chelsea moved on to 26 points from 10 matches and stayed four points clear of second-placed Southampton, who won 1-0 at Hull City with Victor Wanyama crashing home a speculative 40-metre shot after three minutes as the Saints won for the 10th time in 11 matches in all competitions.

Arsenal left Burnley without a win in their first 10 games by beating them 3-0 at the Emirates with Alexis Sanchez scoring twice and Calum Chambers also finding the net to move the north Londoners above West Ham United into fourth place.

West Ham, who slipped back to fifth, came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Stoke Cityat the Britannia Stadium.

Newcastle United maintained their recent revival with their third straight league win, beating Liverpool 1-0 at St James’ Park with Spain Under-21 international Ayoze Perez scoring the winner 17 minutes from time.

Everton and Swansea City, who had Jonjo Shelvey sent off, drew 0-0 at Goodison Park while West Bromwich Albion won 1-0 at Leicester City with an own goal from Esteban Cambiasso just after halftime giving the Baggies the points.

Champions Manchester City host Manchester United on Sunday when Aston Villa play Tottenham Hotspur before Crystal Palace play Sunderland on Monday.