Four men in their twenties are in hospital in serious condition after they were stabbed and injured by the same man during a fight in a night club in Larnaca early on Saturday.
Among the four, a 21-year-old man suffered a deep wound to the abdomen and underwent surgery at Larnaca General Hospital.
One 23-year-old suffered wounds to the abdomen and chest, another 23-year-old was wounded in the abdomen and a 26-year-old was injured in his left eye. All of the men’s conditions are described as serious but out of danger.
Reportedly the fight broke out at round 12.30am in a club in the Mackenzie area for unknown reasons.
The man suspected to have injured the four men is being sought by the police.

By Martyn Herman

A season that produced the biggest shake-up in men’s tennis for more than a decade draws to a close next week with three ATP World Tour Finals debutants striving to sign off breakthrough years with a large exclamation mark.

US Open champion Marin Cilic, the man he beat in New York Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic, the fresh-faced Canadian with dynamite in his serving arm, will all add plenty to the mix at the glitzy season-ender now in its sixth year of residence at London’s eye-catching O2 Arena.

However, three of the world’s established ‘big four’ will be only too happy to slap down the young upstarts.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic is seeking a third consecutive title alongside the River Thames, one that would seal the world number one ranking and complete a memorable year for the 27-year-old who recently became a father for the first time.

Effervescent Roger Federer, at 33 the oldest player in the eight-man event, is targeting a seventh title at the ATP’s blue riband tournament, and few would bet against the majestic 17-times grand slam champion achieving it.

Britain’s Andy Murray, who produced a dazzling late surge to qualify for London with three titles in his last six tournaments, will also be hungry to launch himself into next year with a first ATP World Tour Finals crown.
And why not? After all, it has been a year of firsts.

“You know, there was Stan’s (Wawrinka’s) first slam, Cilic’s first slam, Nishikori his first final, Raonic in the semis at Wimbledon,” the Scot told reporters on Friday.
“The young guys have improved and got more consistent but they are up against some of the best players of all time so regardless of how much they have improved it’s not going to be that easy to knock them off.”

Murray, absent last year because of back surgery, will open the tournament on Sunday against Japan’s Nishikori with Federer and Raonic, the other two members of Group B, facing off later.

Djokovic, unbeaten in 27 indoor matches, begins his Group A challenge on Monday against Cilic after Wawrinka takes on O2 regular Czech Tomas Berdych.

Djokovic warmed up for the tournament by retaining his Paris Masters title without dropping a set — his first tournament since his wife Jelena gave birth to son Stefan.
“Maybe I should be making more children,” a relaxed Djokovic told reporters. “Jelena won’t like that!”

On the subject of new arrivals, Djokovic said the three first-timers in London underlined a sense of change in men’s tennis which since 2003 has been dominated by Federer, the currently sidelined Rafa Nadal, himself and Murray.

“It’s been a few years now that we’ve four different players winning the grand slam titles,” said Djokovic who claimed a seventh major title at Wimbledon this year.
“There is some change in professional tennis in terms of new players and a new generation challenging the top four who have been winning most of the major titles but I think this is something normal to expect.
“Maybe we expected it a bit earlier.”

Federer, twice a champion at the O2, said this year’s grand slam roll of honour made for exciting times, while firing a subtle psychological salvo at Raonic who he lost to at the Paris Masters last week.
“It’s nice to see new faces out there with Raonic, Cilic and Nishikori,” the Swiss told reporters.
“We’ll see how it plays out this week. You really don’t want to lose your first match in the group because then it’s out of your hands. I lost to Milos in Paris because he played well, but it’s more up to me than him. Looking forward to a re-match.”

Raonic was outclassed by Federer in the Wimbledon semi-finals this year but it has still been a superb year for the Canadian who reached as high as world number six in July.

“This is going to be a new challenge because, as he’s been here many times, I will have to find my game straight away,” the 23-year-old Raonic predicted.

Croatian Cilic, still not completely recovered from a nagging shoulder problem, said his win at the U.S. Open, and Wawrinka’s over Nadal at the Australian Open, had given “new breath” to the ATP Tour.

“I’m really honoured to be here, it’s been an incredible season,” he said. “I feel the door opened a little for the other guys, the second line of players, this year. Maybe we are going to see more new grand slam winners next year.”

For the time being though, a $1.9 million cheque is up for grabs for an undefeated champion in London and few would bet against one of the ‘old guard’ walking off with it.

Any country in the region that shares the same vision of promoting peace, security and prosperity is free to join the efforts of Cyprus, Greece and Egypt, which signed the Cairo declaration on Saturday, president Nicos Anastasiades said.
The declaration was hailed as marking the start of a new era of co-operation between the three by Anastasiades, Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras and Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al Sisi, who held a tripartite meeting in Cairo on Saturday.
Anastasiades said the declaration is an especially important and inclusive document and that this co-operation does not turn against any country but is based on common values and principles like the application of the international law and on the common goal of promoting peace, security and prosperity.
The meeting also saw the issue of energy on the agenda. “It is our conviction that the discovery of significant hydrocarbon deposits in the Eastern Mediterranean can and must be used as a catalyst and motive for the re-enforcement of regional co-operation instead of causing differences,” he said.
Hydrocarbons “is a field on which we will co-operate closely to the benefit of our peoples and to the benefit of the energy supply of the whole of the EU,” Samaras added.
Anastasiades also said the solution of the Cyprus problem will contribute to achieving stability in the region and would serve as a tangible example of solving problems through dialogue and not through military force. He called on Turkey to show the necessary good will and adopt a constructive approach by taking substantial and practical steps toward this direction.
Greece and Cyprus will act as Egypt’s ambassadors in the EU, the president said, and pointed out the need for stability in Egypt, which has great influence in the Arab world and can influence efforts to deal with regional challenges.
“We realised that our views relate in many matters and today we created a very powerful partnership,” Sisi said.
Anastasiades said the declaration is based on four pillars: on political co-operation based on priorities and issues of common interest through common diplomatic actions on a regional and international level; on taking initiatives for the benefit of the peoples of the three countries in the fields of energy, economy, commerce, tourism, culture etc; on the creation of a common front to deal with dangers threatening the Eastern Mediterranean like terrorism, xenophobia and religious segregation; and on becoming a model of a constructive and beneficial co-operation in our troubled common region.
“We stressed the importance to respect Cyprus’ sovereign rights and jurisdiction of its EEZ and called on Turkey to end all of its on-going exploratory activities within Cyprus’ EEZ and avoid similar activities in the future,” the declaration said.
It adds that the discovery of hydrocarbons in the Eastern Mediterranean can be a catalyst for regional cooperation which will be better served with dedication to the international law.
“In this direction, we place emphasis on the ecumenical character of the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea and we have decided to speed up the negotiations for the delimitation of maritime zones, where this has not been defined yet,” the declaration said.
The three countries called for a just and lasting settlement of the Cyprus problem that would reunite the island according to international laws, including the United Nations’ Security Council votes.
The declaration also stressed the determination to continue the struggle of the Egyptian people for democracy and prosperity through the implementation of a road map, including parliamentary elections, which will mark the culmination of the democratic procedure, which is already demonstrated in the adoption of a new constitution and the presidential elections.
Cyprus, Greece and Egypt had agreed on guidelines to continue and improve cooperation between them during a New York meeting between the three countries’ foreign ministers in September.

By Lizbeth Diaz

Forty-three missing students abducted by corrupt police in southwest Mexico six weeks ago were apparently incinerated by drug gang henchmen and their remains tipped in a garbage dump and a river, the government said.

Attorney General Jesus Murillo said three detainees, caught a week ago, admitted setting fire to a group of bodies in a dump near Iguala in the state of Guerrero, where the trainee teachers went missing on Sept. 26 after clashing with local police.

Then, the perpetrators set about removing all the evidence, Murillo told a news conference, showing taped confessions of the detained, photographs of where remains were found and video re-enactments of how the bodies were moved.

“They didn’t just burn the bodies with their clothes, they also burned the clothes of those who participated,” Murillo said, adding the gang members spent over 12 hours torching the remains. “They tried to erase every possible trace.”

The government says police working with a local drug gang abducted the students after the clashes. The kidnapping triggered mass protests in much of the country and seriously undermined President Enrique Pena Nieto’s claims that Mexico has become safer on his watch.

The disappearances have been the toughest challenge yet to face Pena Nieto, who took office two years ago vowing to restore order in Mexico, where about 100,000 people have died in violence linked to organised crime since 2007.
A grim-faced Pena Nieto said the findings had “shocked and offended” Mexico and pledged to round up everyone involved.

“The investigations will be carried out to the full, all those responsible will be punished under the law,” he said.
Dozens of police are among 74 people held in the case.

The scandal has forced Pena Nieto to cut short a planned visit to China next week, and angry relatives of the missing students said the government had only made the announcement to clear the path for the president to go.

“Pena Nieto should think hard about his trip,” said Felipe de la Cruz, father of one of the missing students. “As long as there is no proof, our children are alive.”

The confessions of the gang members pointed to the murder “of a large number of people,” Murillo said, showing a video of one suspect saying the victims had said they were students.

Identifying the remains, which were ground up after burning, was so difficult that it was impossible to say when final results would come in, Murillo said. But there was much evidence “that could indicate it is (the students),” he added.

Teeth of victims found at the scene were so badly burned that they virtually turned to dust upon contact, Murillo said, adding that the remains would be sent to the University of Innsbruck in Austria for final DNA identification.

The government would continue to view the students as missing until their identities are confirmed, he added.
This week, Mexican police captured the former mayor of Iguala and his wife, who the government suspects of being the probable masterminds of the abductions.

Testimony from investigators suggested that the students, from an all-male leftist college, had clashed with the mayor in the past and that the city police had handed them over to local gangsters who killed them.

The case has dented Pena Nieto’s popularity and derailed his efforts to turn public attention toward a string of reforms he passed in the first part of his government, which he hopes will spur stronger growth in Mexico’s misfiring economy.

By Phil Stewart and Roberta Rampton

President Barack Obama has approved sending up to 1,500 more troops to Iraq, roughly doubling the number of U.S. forces on the ground helping Iraqi and Kurdish forces battle the militant group Islamic State, U.S. officials said.

Obama’s decision greatly expands the scope of the U.S. campaign and the geographic distribution of American forces, some of whom will head into Iraq’s fiercely contested western Anbar province for the first time to act as advisers.

It also raises the stakes in Obama’s first interactions with Congress after his Democratic Party was thumped by Republicans in mid-term elections this week. The White House said it would ask Congress for $1.6 billion for a new ‘Iraq Train and Equip Fund’ and billions more for operations to battle the group.

Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said those funds would need to be approved before the first additional forces head to Iraq, something one official speculated could happen in just weeks.

“Iraqi forces are going on the offense now. And what this is designed to do is to help them continue to be able to do that, to improve their capability and their competence on the battlefield,” Kirby said, stressing no American ground forces will take on combat roles.

Alarmed by the advance of Islamic State militants across Iraq, Obama began sending non-combatant troops back to Iraq in the summer for the first time since he withdrew U.S. forces from the country in 2011.

At the time of the withdrawal, the Pentagon boasted of Iraqi military capabilities. But Iraqi forces crumbled in the face of Islamic State’s offensive, exposing the toll sectarian strains and mismanagement took on the military.

Officials denied the new U.S. troop buildup amounted to ‘mission creep’ and said it was justified partly because of new Iraqi Shi’ite Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s efforts to reach out to Sunni tribesmen and new calls from Iraq’s most senior Shi’ite cleric to rush to the Sunni tribes’ aid.
One Obama administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, pointed to an Iraqi plan to “organize and equip 5,000 tribesmen in Anbar.”

“This is now being openly discussed in Iraq and it’s starting to happen,” the official said.
About 1,400 U.S. troops are now on the ground, just below the previous limit of 1,600 troops. The new authorisation gives the U.S. military the ability to deploy up to 3,100 troops.

Kirby said about 870 of the additional U.S. troops would be involved in “hands-on training,” and disclosed that “well over 700 additional trainers will come from foreign governments.”

The Pentagon said it planned to establish several sites across the country to train nine Iraqi army brigades and three brigades of Kurdish Peshmerga fighters. They would be set up in northern, western and southern Iraq.

Kirby said the training would focus on tasks such as battlefield leadership, tactical organization, logistics and intelligence matters.
The remaining 630 or so American forces would help establish ‘advise and assist’ operations centers, adding to similar centers in existence in Baghdad and Arbil.

Kirby said many of the additional American troops would be dedicated to securing bases where training and advising would take place and cautioned that American troops still face risks.

“We already had a couple of military deaths associated with this conflict … Nothing we do is without risk,” he said.
Officials said one location to which military advisers would soon travel was western Anbar province, bordering Syria, where Islamic State fighters are on the offensive.

Iraq’s main military divisions in Anbar have been hit hard. At least 6,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed through June and double that number have deserted, according to medical and diplomatic sources.

The announcement of the force expansion was made on the same day Obama met with members of Congress at the White House and updated them on the fight against Islamic State in Iraq and in Syria.

By Mike Collett

Goals from Gary Cahill and Diego Costa gave Chelsea a deserved 2-1 comeback win at Liverpool on Saturday as they stretched their unbeaten Premier League run to 11 matches from the start of the season.

Chelsea stayed four points clear at the top from Southampton, who won 2-0 at home to Leicester City after Shane Long came on as a 67th-minute substitute and scored with a left-foot shot on 75 minutes and a right-foot effort five minutes later.

Chelsea have 29 points, Southampton 25 with champions Manchester City, who are third on 20 points, playing at Queens Park Rangers in the evening kick-off.

Elsewhere goals were in short supply as Manchester United beat Crystal Palace 1-0 with a 67th-minute effort from substitute Juan Mata, while Burnley beat Hull City 1-0 for their first league win of the season thanks to Ashley Barnes’ 50th-minute header.

West Ham United drew 0-0 at Upton Park with Aston Villa, whose run of six successive defeats came to an end.

The most exciting match of the afternoon came at Anfield where Emre Can scored his first goal for Liverpool with a long-range shot after nine minutes that took a deflection off Gary Cahill’s shoulder leaving Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois stranded.

Cahill pulled Chelsea level after 14 minutes – awarded after the Goal Decision System proved the ball had crossed the line even though his shot was smothered by Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet.

Costa settled the points in the 67th minute when he put Chelsea ahead with a low, powerful drive, but Liverpool thought they should have had a penalty in the 88th minute when Cahill appeared to handle a Steven Gerrard shot.
Their strong claims were denied though and they lost for the third time in a week.

By Mehrdad Balali

IRAN sees no alternative to a diplomatic settlement with six world powers on its nuclear programme and believes both sides are resolved to reach a deal by a self-imposed Nov. 24 deadline, its deputy foreign minister said on Saturday.

Mohammad Javad Zarif is hold talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and senior European Union envoy Catherine Ashton in Oman on Sunday to try to narrow big gaps before full negotiations formally resume in Vienna on Nov. 18.

The decade-long standoff over Western suspicions that Iran has covertly sought to develop the means to build nuclear weapons – something it denies – has raised the risk of a wider war in the turbulent Middle East.

“No middle solutions exist and all our thoughts are focused on how to reach a settlement,” Abbas Araghchi, the deputy foreign minister and Iran’s chief negotiatior, told the state news agency IRNA.

“No one wants to return to the way things were before the Geneva Agreement. That would be too risky a scenario,” he said, referring to the preliminary accord reached a year ago under which Iran has curbed some sensitive nuclear activity in exchange for limited relief from international sanctions.
“Both sides are aware of this, which is why I think a deal is within reach. We are serious and I can see the same resolve on the other side,” Araghchi was quoted by IRNA as saying.

The stickiest unresolved issues are Iran’s overall uranium enrichment capacity, the length of any long-term agreement and the pace at which international sanctions would be phased out, according to Western diplomats involved in the negotiations.

Kerry said on Wednesday the negotiations would get more difficult if the Nov. 24 deadline were missed, and the powers were not – for now – weighing any extension to the talks.

His remarks seemed aimed in part at raising the pressure on Tehran to agree to the deal, which would include tougher U.N. inspections to verify Iran is complying with its provisions.

Iran says it is enriching uranium solely for a future network of civilian nuclear power stations and to yield isotopes for medical treatments.

By Mitch Phillips and Ed Osmand

NEW Zealand showed all their class and experience to grind out a 24-21 victory over England at Twickenham yesterday, weathering an early home storm to totally dominate the second half as England ran out of ideas.

England flew out of the blocks when winger Jonny May showed fantastic pace to score after four minutes but the world champions hit back with an Aaron Cruden try in their first attack after 14.

Three Owen Farrell penalties to two from Cruden gave England a 14-11 lead at the break but New Zealand cut through for Richie McCaw to score early in the second half to make it 16-14 in their favour.

The All Blacks took a stranglehold from then and made their decisive move when Charlie Faumuina scored after a sustained 22-phase forward attack. England were awarded a penalty try at the death but it came too late.

In Cardiff meanwhile, Bernard Foley’s late drop goal and penalty gave Australia a dramatic 33-28 victory over Wales in a pulsating Test mach.

Wales moved 28-27 ahead with a penalty try 15 minutes from the end and looked on course for their first win over the Wallabies in ten matches.

Both sides scored three tries in a fluctuating and expansive first half to leave the scores level at 21-21 at the interval.
Wales scrumhalf Rhys Webb scampered over an early lead but the Wallabies hit back through Israel Folau.

The full-back scored again to put the touring side ahead before George North bust clear for Wales and sent winger Alex Cuthbert over.
Centre Tevita Kuridrani cut through the Welsh defence to restore Australia’s lead but Wales lock Alun-Wyn Jones crashed over to complete a frenetic half.

Foley kicked two penalties early in the second half before the Welsh pack earned a penalty try for the hosts.

By Alan Baldwin

GERMANY’S Nico Rosberg chalked up his 10th pole position of the season on Saturday after beating team-mate Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes sweep of the front row in Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying.

The German seized the top spot with a lap just 0.033 of a second quicker than the world championship leader, who will be chasing his 10th win of the season in Sunday’s race at Interlagos.
Hamilton leads Rosberg by 24 points with two races, and 75 points, remaining.

Brazilian Felipe Massa qualified in third place with Williams team mate Valtteri Bottas fourth. McLaren’s Jenson Button will line up fifth, the first five places all filled by Mercedes-powered cars.

More than 60 per cent of vehicles have the wrong pressure in their tyres, a campaign on road safety conducted by non-governmental-organisation (NGO) Reaction Υοuth for the Prevention has showed.
“Tyres are one of the most important points in a vehicle and they regulate the security of the passengers since they are the only points that touch the road surface,” Reaction chairman Marios Stavrou said.
He added that maintenance and regular checks are the key to safety.
The NGO checked 470 vehicles islandwide between October 29 and November 6 and found 63.8 per cent of those in Nicosia had the wrong tyre pressure, while in Larnaca the percentage rose to 71.4.
Stavrou said nine out of ten trucks checked had also wrong tyre pressure. He said wrong tyre pressure is catastrophic for tyres.
The research showed that there has been a 26per cent increase in worn tyres since last October but those on trucks have been reduced by 20 per cent.
Wrong tyre pressure causes unstable road hold, increases the danger of aquaplaning, means cars take more time to stop when the brakes are hit, and increases fuel consumption.
Stavrou said depending on driving and road condition, if tyres are maintained properly, they can last from 40,000 to 80,000 kilometres.

By Constantinos Psillides

An investigation into the mishandling of funds by the Ergates village council is nearly complete, police spokesman Andreas Angelides told the Sunday Mail.

Police are looking into the dealings of the community council over the 2002-2011 period, when – according to the police – they seem to have mismanaged funds, including awarding contracts to relatives without following proper procedure, dumping garbage in areas around the village and acquiring services from companies owned by council members.

The council is also under investigation for throwing lavish parties for friends and relatives and buying expensive jewellery as gifts, according to the police.

In a coordinated raid two weeks ago in the houses of 12 of the council members police seized a large number of these “gifts”, which included gold crosses and necklaces and some silver decorative ships.

The community council members are under investigation for conspiring to defraud, dereliction of duty, negligence and violating the law on awarding public tenders.

Angelides said the police have all the evidence they need to complete the investigation successfully.

“I don’t know if any one of them will be arrested in the future. That is up to Legal Services. Once our investigation is complete and the report submitted, they will decide what will happen next,” Angelides said.

The case came to light after the current council took office and contacted Auditor General Chrystalla Georghadji to report a number of suspicious dealings authorised by the previous council.

The Auditor-General drafted a lengthy report, which was handed over to the police three weeks ago.

The report is quite scathing. According to the Auditor-General, over the nine-year period the contract for collecting the community’s waste was awarded to a contractor closely related to the wife of the community leader.

The contractor – reads the report – was awarded the contract without first going through a tender process, while the community leader didn’t extricate himself from the decision process as he was legally required to do.

The report also points out that the contractor doesn’t have a waste management licence.

The community’s waste appears to have been dumped in areas near the village and not the Kotsiatis landfill, as per the contract. The report noted that on two separate occasions he was caught by authorities dumping garbage in unauthorised areas.

According to a report submitted by the Nicosia District Office, removing the garbage around the village will cost the state €1.5 million.

For three years – 2008 to 2011 – the Auditor General’s report notes that the contractor was paid €96,680 without issuing receipts or invoices.

The community council is also suspected of acquiring goods and services from companies owned by the community leader and other members of the council and employing an undocumented immigrant.

KYPROULLA has finally found a niche for its regional centre pretensions. Having failed to become a regional centre for healthcare, education, banking, organ transplants, advanced technology, energy, golf and Chinese products, we are now pursuing the idea of becoming a regional centre for co-operation and stability.

The great thing is that this requires minimal planning or work. In fact to become a regional centre for stability we do not have to do anything at all; for co-operation we need to sign some agreements with a couple of neighbouring countries about joint search and rescue operations, tourism and cultural exchanges, which usually involve meetings of committees that do nothing.

Yesterday’s summit in Cairo was an example of this regional co-operation that we have been successfully pursuing. Any country in the region that wants co-operation and stability just has to pick up the phone and call the foreign ministry of the regional centre or write requesting an application form.

It might be a good idea for the governments of Syria and Iraq to apply as the regional centre could provide them with some stability.

BEING a regional centre of co-operation and stability does not mean we will disband the National Guard. On the contrary, last week we held an air, land and sea military exercise in which Greece and Israel also participated.
Greek air force C-130 planes dropped parachutists while Israeli fighter jets also took part, reported several newspapers, which noted that the defence ministry had kept the exercise a low-key affair, although the government spokesman confirmed it had taken place. This was because the government did not want to raise the tension that was caused by the provocations of the Barbaros.

But one newspaper’s defence correspondent read great significance into the exercise. “It sent a clear message to Ankara, underlining the isolation of Turkey, which does not just have Greece and Cyprus in front of it, but also Israel and Egypt, which in different ways are co-operating on many levels with the Cyprus Republic.”

WE DO NOT want to be party-poopers, but from what our establishment has heard the main reason Israeli jets participated was not to so they would be ready to defend Kyproulla in the event of Turkish attack, but so they could try to break the codes used by the Russian-made TOR M1 missiles – by the National Guard targeting the jets with the missile system.

The defence correspondent might also have been disappointed to hear that Greece is not so committed to his fantasy front against Turkey either. When Greek PM Antonis Samaras was asked about reviving the Unified Defence Dogma between Greece and Cyprus in an interview on Sigma TV, broadcast Thursday night, he responded with some impressive platitudes about “the creation of new defence capabilities for Cyprus,” the EU creating “favourable margins for Cyprus,” and of course the “shift in international relations in our surrounding area which has a role to play.”

The answer was an object lesson in the art of evasion, the PM not mentioning the word dogma once in his response. To his credit, he did not offer false hopes, stressing that “Greece is and will remain by the side of Cyprus,” but without the myth of a dogma.

DOGMA zealot Lazaros Mavros who hosts the most patriotically correct radio show on the airwaves could not hide his bitter disappointment over Samaras’ refusal to do for the dead dogma what Jesus had done for the presenter’s namesake 2,000 years ago.

The heart-broken Lazaros had received a sneak preview of the interview and shared his sadness with his listeners before it was broadcast. However in his newspaper column, he has put all his faith in our surrogate mother Russia preparing a Christmas shopping list for Prez Nik to take with him to Moscow’s meeting with President Putin, when it happens.

He urged Nik to visit Moscow as soon as possible and hand Putin a list of military hardware that we needed. His wish-list included S400 missiles, which presumably are an upgrade of the estragoshas we bought 15 years ago and sent to Crete, SU-35 fighter jets that would be stationed at the Paphos air-base, submarines, corvettes and patrol-boats.

As our defence budget could just about buy us a few hundred air-rifles, Lazaros is hoping the weaponry will be a Christmas present from Mother Russia, delivered by Putin dressed as Father Christmas.

THERE IS some substance to the madness. After the Russian ambassador Stansilav Osadchiy met Prez Nik, 10 days ago, and conveyed Putin’s invitation to visit Moscow, Phil reported that a defence agreement would be signed. This agreement would primarily concern facilities that would be offered by the Republic to Russia and discussions were already at an advanced stage, the paper reported.

Its source could only have been the Russian embassy because government sources were telling a very different story. The Russians had asked for military facilities (this could be the reason Lazaros wrote about SU-35 fighters in Paphos), but the government ruled this out. The defence agreement that would be signed between Nik and Vlad would be an update of an old one regarding the maintenance and supply of parts for military equipment by Russia.

According to a skettos-drinking customer, the Russians had hoped to persuade Nik to grant them military facilities now that he was desperate for Moscow’s support and under domestic pressure to seek Putin’s help regarding the EEZ. This was why Osadchiy proposed the meeting with Putin took place within two weeks. Conditions had created an opportunity to secure the facilities mother Russia wanted in the Mediterranean and Moscow felt it could lose this opportunity if it delayed making the deal.

However, now that the government has ruled this out, it would not be a surprised if Putin loses his desire to see Nik and the invitation to Moscow is politely put back a few of years.

MEP AND modern-day Amazon Eleni Theocharous had Turkey on the ropes landing one blow after the other at the latest session of the Joint EU-Turkey parliamentary committee. The fearless Eleni argued against the upgrading of the EU’s customs union with Turkey, which was occupying Cyprus; sanctions would have been more appropriate she maintained.

She also brought up the violations of our EEZ by the Barbaros but on this she spoke more like a poetess than an Amazon. “In Cyprus waters we have a war because of the activities of the Turkish war navy inside the Cypriot EEZ.” First Phil called the incursion of the Barbaros an invasion, Simerini upgraded it to an occupation, but Eleni has outdone them both by calling it a war. As there is a war should not the brave Amazon be on the frontline treating the wounded instead of talking nonsense in Brussels?

ANOTHER female heroine appeared last week defending our national interests abroad and joining the pantheon of 21st century Kyproulla heroes. The president of the Cyprus Hydrocarbons Company Toula Onoufriou threw a wobbly at an energy conference in Tel Aviv when she saw that the pseudo foreign minister Ozdil Nami was participating and immediately put the uppity Turk in his place.

Before reading her presentation Onoufriou had a little rant against Nami, saying she was “shocked” by the presence of “a so-called official from a pseudo-state which is the result of the ongoing occupation and invasion of Cyprus by Turkey.”

The invitation to Nami was “unacceptable and provocative” she told CyBC radio the following day recounting her heroics. She also had a go at the organisers, whose action went against the spirit of co-operation between Cyprus and Israel, she said and they apologised to her. Many participants approached her and congratulated her for her stand, said Toula, who sounded very pleased with her bravery.

DEPUTIES might be brave enough to take on the Troika and the Eurogroup but they would not dare touch the privileges of a few dozen timid, self-serving state officials. Having made a big fuss about the state limos provided to officials they showed remarkable spinelessness by deciding not to do anything about it, passing the buck to the government.

The government came up with a pathetic proposal, which was approved by the House on Thursday, whereby some 30 officials would be entitled to state cars 24/7 while the remaining 70 would be allowed to use a state car only for official business. But the law will come into effect in January 2016, giving the 70 traumatised officials time to grieve and come to terms with the sad loss of their much-loved privilege.

The CyBC’s Kenevezou

AMONG those who would have a state car 24/7 are former presidents of the House. Why? A president of the House is just a deputy who chairs the meetings of the plenum. Former DIKO chief Marios Garoyian was president of the House for three years and we have to provide him with a state limo and chauffeur for as long as he is breathing. Why?
Dr Faustus stepped down as president of the House in 1991 and he still has a state car. He had a hand in the law entitling former House presidents to a state limo and chauffeur for life. In Kyproulla we are good at making laws that cover individual needs.

The law approved on Thursday includes the deputy Attorney-General in the list of those eligible for a state limo 24/7. Rikkos Erotokritou is the only deputy official offered this privilege. The reason – he lives in Limassol and has to drive to Nicosia and back every day so the law has been adapted to his personal needs. In this way the taxpayer picks up his petrol bill and provides him with a chauffeur as well, so he does not have to drive.
If his home was in Athens we would have passed a law providing him with a private jet and pilot to fly him home every day.

IN THE END Prez Nik did not hold the meeting at the presidential palace to help resolve the pay dispute between the management of CyBC and the corporation’s overpaid news presenter Emilia Kenevezou. After the negative publicity he received for intervening in the matter Nik decided he would be better off not helping her keep her salary.

On her return from holiday Emilia was handed a letter giving her eight weeks’ notice. She was informed she could stay in her job if she accepted a 25 per cent pay cut, reducing her earnings from 6 grand a month to €4,500, and agreed to increase her weekly working hours from 23 to 37-and-a-half.

This is known as constructive dismissal. But with Nik fearing the political cost of helping her out, her only hope of preserving her old salary and working hours is for the legislature to pass a law prohibiting the reduction of the salary of female news presenters with straight black hair, attitude and a surname that begins with ‘K’.

APART from tampering with her contract, removing the provision about conflict of interest, Governor Crystal had also tampered with the pay provision, thus netting herself 10 grand a year more than her predecessor. It was cheap and greedy behaviour – as if 182 grand a year was not enough – but exactly what you would expect from a career public parasite that is close friends with parasite leader Glafkos Hadjiklamouris.

The government has been trying to find a way to resolve the issue, as the finance minister values his co-operation with Crystal and does not want her to go. The matter would go away if her estranged husband’s law office stopped representing Andreas Vgenopoulos or her daughter stopped working at her dad’s office. But it would appear that things will not be settled very easily. The rumours are that her ex will not give up representing Vgen and her daughter has refused to quit her job in order to help her mum out of this tricky situation.

How sad it would be if Crystal was forced to resign because her loving daughter wants to carry on defending the man who bankrupted Laiki.

“THE UPGRADING of relations with Israel and Egypt is the answer to Turkey’s provocations by Nicosia which, in the last few days, has become the centre of intense diplomatic and political activity,” reported Sigmalive. The visit of Israel’s foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman on Wednesday was followed by the arrival of Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Thursday while yesterday what was referred to as the ‘summit meeting’ of Greece, Cyprus and Egypt took place in Cairo.

For some time now, politicians, commentators and some academics have been arguing that Cyprus should build alliances with neighbouring countries – as well as distant countries such as the Russian Federation – as a counter to Turkey’s bullying tactics. These calls became much louder after the issuing of the NAVTEX and the entry of the Barbaros, accompanied by Turkish frigates, into the Cyprus EEZ. The general theory is that if Cyprus forged military alliances with countries like Israel, Russia and of course Greece, Turkey would think twice about sending ships into our EEZ and threatening to drill there.

It is a very superficial theory, the assumptions of which cannot stand up to rational scrutiny. The first assumption is based on an over-estimation of Cyprus’ military capability. Cyprus, a tiny country with no military means, would bring nothing to a military alliance apart from its geographical position, so what incentive would any country have to join forces with it? The second erroneous assumption is that there are countries prepared to risk a confrontation with Turkey, not in the defence of their own borders but in order to help Cyprus. Not even Greece is prepared to take such a risk so why do we assume any other country would do so?

The facts do not support this theory. This government has been making overtures to Israel from the day it came to power but has not even secured a commitment for co-operation on the exploitation of natural gas, because Tel Aviv probably has different plans. As for the notion that Israel would join forces with Cyprus at the risk of opening a front with Turkey, it is too ludicrous for words – as if Israel does not have enough enemies in the region and would want to add another. Relations between Tel Aviv and Ankara may be strained at present, but it is a fallacy to think Israel would go out of its way to make them worse.

As for Egypt, its government has enough trouble keeping a lid on its own domestic problems and, quite rightly, does not see a co-operation extending beyond trade and energy. This does not diminish the importance of yesterday’s summit in Cairo, but there is a need to put things in perspective and not build expectations out of possibilities that do not exist. Samaras made this clear, without spelling it out, during his two-day visit. His speeches focused on the protection and support Cyprus could rely on as a member-state of the EU “for which it had become a valuable asset”, implicitly downplaying the security value of regional alliances.

Samaras’ emphasis on the role Cyprus could play for the EU on the energy front was also an answer to our politicians, the overwhelming majority of whom have been calling for a strengthening of ties with Moscow urging the government to enter a defence agreement with Russia and provide it with military facilities on the island. In this way they foolishly think Russia would counter the Turkish threats. All that needs to be said in this respect is that trade between Russia and Turkey is currently worth $35 billion and the presidents of the two countries have said their target was to reach $100 billion by 2020. Only a deluded and naive Cypriot politician could think Moscow would risk alienating such an important trading partner for the sake of Cyprus.

To his credit, Samaras tried to direct us away from this misguided thinking by stressing the importance of belonging to the EU and reminding us that we could play a big part in the Union’s energy policy and planning. This is not to say Cyprus should not pursue regional co-operation and alliances with other countries. Of course it should, because it could only benefit from such co-operation, but there is also a need to keep things in perspective and remind people that no country will take on Turkey on our behalf.

By Elias Hazou

IN A scramble to bring forward the operations of oilfield services behemoths Halliburton and Schlumberger in Aradippou, authorities here seem to have rewritten or even tossed out the rulebook, bending and sometimes outright sidestepping regulations.

The two companies have picked Cyprus for their base of operations in the east Mediterranean. At this stage, they will be working with ENI-KOGAS, currently drilling an exploratory gas well in offshore Block 9.

Halliburton won the contract for drilling, cementing and completion of the ENI wells. Schlumberger’s contract with ENI involves carrying out logging and testing. Some of its logging tools use radioactive sources. Schlumberger also needs storage space for shape charges.

Both companies’ massive facilities are located just off the Kalo Chorio roundabout, 5.5km from Larnaca airport and 7.5km from Larnaca port. The nearest residences are about 1km away. Locals are furious and apprehensive over the lack of public information about the project. Meantime they have filed a complaint to the Ombudsman, and have started an online petition demanding the facilities be removed from the designated area.

On October 23 opposition politicians kicked up a storm at the House plenum when it emerged that Aradippou municipality had granted Halliburton and Schlumberger building permits just two days before a new bill was passed concerning environmental studies for such facilities.

The municipality’s move blew out of the water a tacit deal that no such action would be taken prior to voting on a bill submitted by Greens MP George Perdikis, mandating extra environmental regulations for hydrocarbons-related activities on terra firma.

The following day Aradippou mayor Evangelos Evangelides defended the municipality’s action, insisting that all had been done by the book, and blamed MPs for the muddle.

Speaking on a radio show, Evangelides argued that, since all involved government agencies- town planning, labour inspection – had given the project the nod, his municipality had no choice but to go along.

According to the mayor, Schlumberger was above board in obtaining all the relevant permits. In contrast, he offered, the other company (Halliburton) started construction on its facility without first having secured a building permit.

“The company itself (Halliburton) admitted to this,” said Evangelides.

“Speaking on the record in parliament, the company said it was being encouraged by all the state departments to press ahead because, as it was told again and again, this was a national exigency.”

This episode has been confirmed to the Sunday Mail by a person present at that session of the House environment committee.

When pressed by an MP, the Cypriot contractor hired by Halliburton admitted that they had started building without a permit. Then, to justify this, he blurted out: “So what, half of Cyprus is doing it.”

According to the same source, a Halliburton rep seated nearby looked jaw-dropped on hearing this.

Evanthia Savva, an Aradippou municipal councillor (AKEL), one of the few who voted against the motion to grant the building permits, presented a vastly different analysis to the mayor’s.

Speaking to the media, Savva was adamant that from the outset all procedures followed were illegal or irregular.

For starters, she said, construction began before building permits were issued, and the law clearly prohibits this, with no exceptions.

The Halliburton operation

Savva explained that the facilities in question are located in an area designated for light industry. But the operations of the two companies consist of heavy industrial activity.

Recognising this, she said, the town planning department asked the Cabinet to approve a town planning authorisation by way of deviation from the Larnaca master plan. The Cabinet was asked because the project is on government land. It okayed the authorisation. However, permits or authorisations by way of deviation concern public projects alone – clearly not the case here.

“Are these two companies state corporations? Or are we to believe that they have become state companies by virtue of the fact their premises lie on government land?” the councillor jibed.

Moreover Savva rubbished the mayor’s contention that the municipality’s hands were tied because all the government departments were sanctioning the project.

Where an illegality is noted, she said, a municipality can take recourse to the Supreme Court and ask for the revocation of a town planning permit. But Aradippou municipality did not do this.

What’s more, Savva rejected the notion that all was well when it came to Schlumberger, as the mayor was claiming.

What happened was that a company by the name of Giesel had earlier applied to build a photovoltaic systems manufacturing plant at the same location. Giesel subsequently agreed with Schlumberger to sub-lease the building to them.

Since Schlumberger’s operations were different, this in turn required applying for a change of use on the facility. In January this year the mayor, apparently acting on his own, authorised the change of use without consulting the municipal council.

The application for change of use was filed on January 7. It was approved in record time – two days later.

As a result, said Savva, the town planning department understood the mayor’s endorsement as being the final word from the municipality, and it proceeded to issue a town planning permit for Schlumberger.

Citing the relevant law, Savva said permits do not have retroactive effect.

“You can’t legalise an illegality after the fact,” she noted.

And in a loaded remark, Savva asked why the municipality had met to decide on the building permits on a Tuesday (October 21) when usually it convenes on Thursdays.

To clued-in residents, there was a method to the madness: authorities were fudging the rules to deliver a fait accompli. As sources explained to the Sunday Mail, granting a town planning permit by way of deviation does not require public consultation with the affected communities. But a permit by way of derogation – the procedure that ought to have been followed – does.

Thus, sources say, authorities read the law in such a way as to deliberately dodge public hearings.

Some might dismiss this as nitpicking, particularly when an investment of this magnitude is at stake. It’s no secret that for the average Joe getting a building permit is a red-tape nightmare, which is why many resort to building their homes and premises illegally. And the government often looks the other way.

But in this instance it appears authorities at all levels – local and national – went to the other extreme, displaying an ad hoc approach to the law and bending over backwards to indulge Schlumberger and Halliburton. It’s fair to say they pulled a fast one.

Elena Kalli, one concerned local, is baffled by officialdom’s conduct.

“Neither Halliburton nor Schlumberger would mind forking out a few more thousand euro to pay for an environmental impact study or to comply with additional regulations, in fact they might even welcome it,” she told the Sunday Mail.

“You get the sense that somewhere down the line the companies got caught up in the whole thing, they went along with it, and of course they weren’t about to blow the whistle with authorities going out of their way to ensure the operations begin with minimal resistance.”

Leaving it to the last minute, in mid-August Aradippou municipality finally moved to commission two environmental impact assessment reports for the facilities.

On August 8, Aradippou’s municipal council had decided unanimously to invite tenders for environmental reports. But five days later, August 13, that decision was reversed, with the municipality opting to go for no-bid contracts – again in apparent breach of regulations.

It’s understood that between those two dates a meeting had taken place between a delegation of the municipality and energy minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis. The Sunday Mail understands also that ENI’s drillship was at the time en route to Cyprus from Mozambique.

The municipality awarded two no-bid contracts, one to the University of Cyprus (UCY), the other to the Cyprus University Of Technology (TEPAK).

The UCY report is signed off by one person alone, Panos Papanastasiou, who happens to have worked as a consultant for Schlumberger for a number of years.

Dated September 8, this report was completed in under a month after its commissioning by Aradippou municipality. In all, it cites just six references, three of which are links to the websites of Schlumberger and Halliburton.

The Saipem 10000

By comparison the TEPAK report (dated September 25) is more detailed and exhaustive. Seven people were on the team, including environmental scientists, engineers and chemists. Unlike the former, this report did bother to take on-site air pollution readings, but these were taken before the facilities went fully operational, which seemed to defeat the purpose.

Both reports – which the Sunday Mail has seen – found that no significant air or noise pollution would arise from the two companies’ operations. TEPAK assessed the various parameters as follows: medium risk, within acceptable bounds, from atmospheric emissions, low risk from solid and liquid waste seeping into the ground or waterbed; low risk from storage of explosives; and low risk from radiation.

The companies had furnished authorities with detailed documentation pledging to take all safety precautions in line with international standards: for example the shape charges are to be stored separately from the detonators, and the radioactive sources (used for measurements during offshore drilling) will be stored in thick stainless steel containers and shipped abroad once expended.

Though the companies do have the wherewithal to police their own activities – and it’s in their best interest to ensure nothing goes wrong – who will check them?

As critics point out, Cyprus lacks a radioactive materials management unit, and moreover the labour inspection department has formulated no action plan for handling radioactive waste products. Despite this, the same department rubberstamped the permits.

The environmental reports themselves include a caveat: the associated risks are low, they concur, provided however that the two corporations make good on their assurances to enforce all safety measures.

Neither report mentions Halliburton’s involvement in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Few would disagree that the presence here of these multinationals is a big deal, with possible ramifications beyond monetary and job creation. At a bare minimum, the criticism is this: if the state had to warp its own rules to ensure the facilities were up and running within a reasonable time-frame, what does that say about the system?

Moreover, given the skulduggery on the part of the authorities, how can you now ever convince sceptical locals that the operations are safe – which they may well be.

Toyota is ready to bring nimble, zero-emissions motoring to Europe’s crowded city centres with a fleet of its i-ROAD and COMS ultra-compact electric vehicles. The chic and colourful three and four-wheelers are set to prove how clean and easy urban motoring can be, by taking part in a major pilot programme in the French city of Grenoble.

Toyota is a key partner in the three-year low-carbon car sharing scheme, which is expected to transform the way people plan and make local journeys.

It is supplying 35 of each type of vehicle and is also contributing its Ha:Mo (harmonious mobility) system to manage the scheme day-to-day, following a model that’s already undergone successful trials in Toyota City in Japan.

Known as Cité lib by Ha:Mo, the programme is also supported by the local authorities in Grenoble, the French power supplier EDF, SODETREL, an EDF subsidiary that installs, manages and maintains electric charging points, and well-established local car-share operator Cité lib.

From 1 October, anyone 18 or older who holds a valid driving licence can register with Cite Lib to gain access to the Toyota electric vehicles. Once subscribed to the service, they can download an application on their smartphone, tablet or computer to see the real-time location of vehicles that are charged and ready to use.

People will be able to pick up their car and drop it off at a different location – any of 27 charging stations in the greater Grenoble area – rather than having to make a round-trip. When the vehicle is dropped off, it is plugged into the station to be recharged and ready for the next customer.

The concept is seen as a way of building a better-integrated public transport service, where people collect an electric vehicle from a location near their home or office to drive to a local transport hub for the next stage of their journey. Likewise, people arriving by bus or train can step into a car on arrival to complete the last leg of their trip. The network of charging stations is seamlessly connected to Grenoble’s transport network IT system to make total journey planning easier.

Both Toyota vehicles have been developed as user-friendly transport around town. The i-ROAD is particularly innovative, using a clever Active Lean technology that steers in a similar way to the movements of a skier. It’s not much larger than a motorbike or scooter, but has a full canopy that protects the driver from the elements and gives the kind of secure feeling and comfort of a car.

Takeshi Uchiyamada, Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation, said: “This project came to fruition because all of its partners have the same aspiration — to be a part of creating a future urban mobility.

“Urban mobility solutions will be a key growth area for Toyota in the future. We are very excited to be working alongside the people of Grenoble in solving urban traffic problems,”

During the pilot the programme partners will gather data on technical issues and user behaviour to help shape future mobility initiatives.

Almost all car and van manufacturers have met European carbon dioxide emission limits several years ahead of their deadlines, according to updated information from the European Environment Agency (EEA).

A new EEA report, ‘Monitoring CO2 emissions from passenger cars and vans in 2013′ presents final data for both vehicle types, updating
preliminary data published earlier this year.

The average passenger car sold in 2013 emitted 126.7 grams of carbon dioxide per passenger kilometre (g CO2/km), already below the legal threshold of 130 g CO2/km to be fully reached by 2015. Similarly, the average van sold must have emissions below 175 g CO2/km by 2017, but levels were already at 173.3 g CO2/km last year, according to the updated data from manufacturers and Member States.

There were 11.8 million new cars and 1.2 million new vans registered in the EU in 2013. While both fleets overall are making progress in reducing emission levels, the picture is more mixed when manufacturers are considered individually. Each manufacturer has an individual emissions target, based on the average mass of the vehicles they sell.

Updated data confirms findings from preliminary data published earlier this year, which showed that new cars in 2013 were on average 14 per cent more efficient than those sold in 2010.

Of the individual car manufacturers, Renault had the lowest average CO2 emissions (110 g CO2/km) for new passenger vehicles registered in 2013. Renault, Toyota, Peugeot and Citroen continue to produce most of the lowest-emitting cars.

Of the 84 car manufacturers in Europe, 55 met their individual specific emissions targets in 2013. These manufacturers represent 99 % of all registrations. Manufacturers can also choose to join ‘pools’ in order to meet a collective target. Once pools are taken into account, 72 manufacturers met their allocated targets. Manufacturers selling fewer than 1 000 vehicles may apply for an exemption from targets.

While electric car numbers account for only a small proportion of total registrations, they are increasing rapidly. The number of purely electric cars in the EU has increased from around 700 in 2010 to around 25 000 in 2013. Plug-in hybrid numbers have also increased rapidly over recent years.

Vans sold in 2013 were around 4 % more efficient than those sold in the previous year. The average emissions levels vary by country, with new vans sold in Malta, Portugal and France emitting on average 20 % less than vehicles sold in Slovakia, Germany and the Czech Republic

Of the larger van manufacturers, the Renault fleet had the lowest average emissions, followed by Dacia, Peugeot and Citroen.
Almost all van manufacturers that registered more than 10 000 vehicles met their specific emissions targets for 2013.

Under the current EU regulations on cars and vans, both the test and vehicle monitoring are based on the New European Driving Cycle test, helping ensure that CO2 measurements of different vehicles are made on a comparable basis. However, over past years there has been a growing concern that this standardised test is not representative of ‘real world’ driving conditions.

The EEA report includes a comparison of the reported test cycle CO2 emissions with estimated real world emissions. The assessment shows that real world driving conditions may lead to emissions around a fifth higher on average, and the report shows that the difference may be up to a third higher for larger cars.

A new test known as the Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) will be introduced in the future so that laboratory results may better represent actual vehicle performance on the road.

At least 21 people were killed and around 100 wounded after Syrian army planes bombed a town in northern Syria that is controlled by Islamic State militants, a group monitoring the war said on Sunday.

Syrian military helicopters dropped barrel bombs and warplanes launched air strikes on the town which lies northeast of the city of Aleppo, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

By Inmaculada Sanz and Elena Gyldenkerne

Hundreds of thousands of Catalans are expected to back independence from Spain on Sunday in a symbolic referendum on secession being held across the northeastern region, despite opposition from Madrid.

The “consultation of citizens” follows a legal block by the central government against a more formal, albeit still non-binding ballot which regional leaders had been pushing for.

“If they don’t understand us, they should respect us and each of us go on their separate way,” said Angels Costa, a 52-year-old shopkeeper as she stood waiting in a short queue to vote in Barcelona.

“We would have liked to have been a federal state but that is no longer possible. They’ve trampled on us too much.”

Pro-independence organisations have campaigned vigorously for a big turnout from the wealthy region’s 7.5 million people, and more than 40,000 volunteers were helping set up informal voting stations on Sunday.

Pro-secession politicians hope a high level of support will prompt central government to sit down with them and negotiate more tax and political autonomy, or even convince Madrid to accept a full-blown independence referendum in the future.

Officials from Catalonia’s two main parties, including the centre-right Convergencia i Union (CiU) of regional leader Artur Mas, have suggested that backing from more than 1.5 million citizens would help build momentum for their cause.

“The ideal scenario is the more people the better,” Oriol Junqueras, head of left-wing opposition party Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), said in an interview.

“It’s clear that this consultation … does not give us the democratic mandate we would have in an election, but what’s important is that it is a fresh demonstration of the fact people want to vote, that they are keen to voice their opinion.”

Opinion polls show that as many as 80 percent of Catalans back voting on the issue of Catalonia’s status, with about 50 percent in favour of full independence.

A long-standing breakaway movement in Catalonia, which accounts for one-fifth of Spain’s economic output and has its own distinct culture and language, grew in strength during the recent years of deep recession.

In early September — buoyed by a Scottish independence campaign which ultimately lost out in a referendum — hundreds of thousands of Catalans dressed in the yellow and red of their regional flag packed the streets of Barcelona, forming a huge “V” to demand the right to vote.

Officially suspended by Spain’s Constitutional Court after the Spanish government sought to stop this poll, Sunday’s vote is nonetheless expected to pass off peacefully.

Government sources said it was unlikely the regional police, controlled by Catalan authorities, will stand in the way of people casting their ballots.

Analysts say the poll results should be viewed cautiously, with mostly pro-independence supporters expected to take part, while opponents are likely to shun it.

“While we expect the vote to have a symbolic impact (more than one million people will likely participate) it will not carry significant political implications,” Antonio Roldan, Europe analyst at the Eurasia Group consultancy said in a note.

Heavy shelling around the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk increased strains on a two-month-old ceasefire between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists on Sunday.

Reuters reporters in rebel-held Donetsk said shelling by heavy artillery continued throughout the night and into the early hours, and then picked up again later on Sunday morning.

The shelling appeared to come from areas held by the separatists as well as from positions controlled by the government forces, and could be heard in the centre of the city, which had a pre-conflict population of more than 1 million.

The truce, agreed on Sept. 5, has looked particularly fragile over the past week, with each side accusing the other of violations after separatist elections on Nov. 2 that were condemned as illegitimate by the West.

Residents said there appeared to be fighting near Donetsk airport, around which battles have repeatedly violated the ceasefire in a conflict in which more than 4,000 people have been killed since mid-April.

There were no immediate reports of new casualties. Donetsk’s City Council said in a statement on its website that the shelling had damaged residential buildings and that fire fighters were at the scene of one of the damaged buildings.

The rebels have accused Ukrainian forces of launching a new offensive and Ukraine’s military accused Russia on Friday of sending a column of 32 tanks and truckloads of troops into the country’s east on Thursday. Russia has denied arming the rebels.

Newcastle United recorded their fourth successive Premier League win with a 2-0 victory at West Bromwich Albion and Tottenham Hotspur’s home misery continued in a 2-1 loss to Stoke City on Sunday.

Sunderland and Everton exchanged second-half goals in a 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light.

After a dismal start to the season, goals from Ayoze Perez and Fabricio Coloccini ensured Newcastle’s recent resurgence under their previously beleaguered manager Alan Pardew continued at the Hawthorns.

Perez scored his third goal in three games with a sublime backheel from a Daryl Janmaat cross to put the visitors ahead on the stroke of halftime.

Netherlands right back Janmaat then crossed for defender Coloccini to double Newcastle’s lead after 62 minutes with a close-range header.

Newcastle are now seventh in the table on 16 points from 11 games, a remarkable turnaround for a team who did not record a win until last month.

Tottenham’s fourth home defeat in six league games once again followed a Europa League match on Thursday.

Having won at Asteras Tripolis three days ago, the rigours of juggling continental and domestic competition again proved too much for the north London side against a Stoke side who had previously one just once on the road this season.

Former Barcelona forward Bojan Krkic scored his first Premier League goal with a brilliant solo effort to give Stoke the lead at White Hart Lane after six minutes.

Things went from bad to worse for Mauricio Pochettino’s side when Jonathan Walters tapped in Mame Diouf’s pass 12 minutes before the interval.

Spurs desperately tried to mount a comeback in the second half and Nacer Chadli’s powerful drive made it 2-1 with 13 minutes left but it was too little too late for the hosts.

The defeat piled more pressure on Pochettino with Spurs 12th in the table on 14 points from 11 games. Stoke climbed to ninth with 15 points.

A Leighton Baines penalty 13 minutes from time earned Everton a draw at Sunderland after Seb Larsson had give the hosts the lead.