By Patroclos

YOU WOULD have thought we had sunk the Barbaros and forced the Turkish warships to beat a retreat from our EEZ on hearing the triumphal news reports and self-congratulatory accounts by our MEPs from Brussels. And the advanced weaponry with which we had achieved this was a surface-to-sea ballistic resolution.

Thursday’s resolution, approved by the European Parliament, condemned Turkey’s violations of our EEZ, demanded it immediately withdrew its seismic vessel Barbaros and described its actions as “both illegal and provocative”. It was greeted with unrestrained joy in Nicosia, sparking morale-boosting sermons by politicians and hacks about the great things we can achieve when we are united.

“Big victory for Cyprus,” was how the CyBC started its evening news show. Cypriot MEPs who appeared on the show spoke about their triumph in glowing terms and praised each other for the tough battle they gave in Brussels, “resisting, and eventually thwarting the intensive diplomatic pressure and diplomatic mobilisation by Turkey” that wanted to water down the resolution.

But as DISY’s motor-mouth MEP and cliché-monger Lefteris Christoforou said, there was “a change of climate in favour of the Cyprus Republic”, while the “very powerful” resolution “sends powerful messages to Turkey at all levels”. He also maintained that “Turkey took slaps at all levels for the first time.”

AKEL BOSS Andros Kyprianou, however, was not happy at all levels and sought to make this known on the CyBC’s evening news show. He called the station and demanded that he was allowed to talk live on the show, because state TV had not credited our triumph to where it was due – the commie party and its comrades in the European Parliament.

After expressing his sadness over the biased reporting of events in Brussels by the state broadcaster, comrade Andros said he would give the facts. The resolution effort had been started by the Group of the United Left on AKEL’s initiative; it also prepared the ballistic resolution.

In short, most of the work had been done by AKEL which, with the Group of the Left, played a leading role in our big triumph in Brussels. State TV would have mentioned this if it were objective, the sulking Andros told Emilia.

She answered that the corporation had given coverage to the contacts Andros had in Brussels, where he had been when the resolution was being debated by the parliament. But this only elicited another complaint. “CyBC devoted only a few seconds to my contacts,” the self-pitying comrade said.

Next time the CyBC news carries a report I consider biased, I will call and demand to interrupt the show to have my say, just to establish whether the corporation treats everyone who pays for its upkeep equally.

THE RESOLUTION that gave slaps to Turkey at all levels for the first time, “must be utilised” because “it is of exceptional significance” was the consensus among Kyproulla’s great political thinkers. Their idea was that we should send delegations abroad (anything for free travel) using our ballistic resolution to secure support for our cause and put Turkey on the defensive. One commentator, who wrote that the resolution should not be kept in our drawer suggested: “It is politically powerful and offers the prospects for intensifying the reaction and the measures that must be taken in the European field so that Ankara’s piracy could be confronted.” And if this fails we could always send the ballistic resolution to the Barbaros by courier pigeon and pray the captain can read English.

TWO DAYS had not passed since the victorious Cairo summit when Greece managed to puncture the optimism created at that historic meeting, by announcing that Turkey’s PM Ahmet Davutoglu would be paying Athens an official visit in the first week of December.

Just when we thought we were taking steps at isolating the Turks, the Greek government, inexplicably offered them a lifeline. Of course the visit will be used for Greek PM Antonis Samaras to win a few brownie points, as he had done at the European Council meeting, which discussed Turkey’s violations of our EEZ and where he had to represent Prez Nik who was ill.

After the summit Phil reported that Samaras had a tough exchange of words with British PM David Cameron over the wording of the summit’s paragraph regarding Turkey’s violations of the Cypru EEZ. Many wondered what the paper was talking about, considering the text of the announcements issued by the European Council is agreed before the summit and the leaders just approve it, without making any changes to it. There was no excuse to have a row during the summit.

We may read of a similar, tough exchange of words over Kyproulla, after Samaras meets Davutoglu in Athens to temper our disappointment over the meeting.

THERE was more ludicrous news on the EEZ front with Simerini’s banner headline on Tuesday declaring the “Security of EEZ in the hands of Israel.” According to the paper, as Greece was unable to protect Cyprus’ EEZ, because it did not have the means and could not afford the financial cost it asked Israel to do this on its behalf.

The deal would be sealed during Prez Nik’s scheduled visit to Tel Aviv on December 2, the paper authoritatively predicted. The source of this scoop was, believe it or not, an unnamed Greek website, quoting unnamed sources at Greek General Staff. It was probably the same website that had discovered the presence of Turkish submarines in our EEZ.

The website and Simerini did not bother asking whether Israel had agreed to act as the defender of our EEZ, assuming that it would be its pleasure to do so.

PRESIDENTAL advisor for Middle East issues, Dr Eleni Stavrou is convinced Israel will protect our EEZ. She explained her reasoning on a radio show, but shortage of space does not allow us to repeat it here. However, her analysis of what Turkey’s real objectives were, merit a mention, because it shows how poor Nik’s judgement is in picking his presidential advisors.

She said: “With its new invasion, Turkey is not only targeting energy and the interests of the Turkish Cypriots. These are just pretexts. The primary objectives, which are not immediately apparent, are to gain and establish in this vital sea area a powerful bridgehead which in combination with its occupation troops Turkey will use first to blackmail a solution that would lead to seizure of the Cyprus Republic and uprooting of Hellenism and second to interrupt the energy progress of Cyprus…”

The taxpayer is paying Dr Stavrou, who is also a member of the Geo-Strategic Council, some 30 grand a year to provide this simplistic level of analysis to the president. She was initially demanding a fee three times as big but in the end Nik secured her services at a big discount. As a taxpayer that has heard her analyses in full, even at the discounted rate, I think we are not getting much value for money.

POLICE investigators trying to build a case against someone involved in the banking collapse are working round the clock, but have still not achieved the breakthrough that would allow them to prosecute anyone. However they feel the pressure to get a result, especially as Prez Nik desperately wants someone to be charged and, hopefully, put behind bars.

All their efforts are currently focused on getting the former CEO of the Bank of Cyprus Andreas Eliades, but they are having great difficulty finding incriminating evidence. They know that the buying of the Greek government bonds was a piss-poor investment decision, but not a criminal offence. They have travelled to Moscow on more than a few occasions in the hope of finding something they could pin on Eliades with regard to the purchase of the Russian bank Uniastrum, but have drawn blanks every time.

Now, they are pinning their hopes on what happened at the last AGM attended by Eliades in June 2012. At this meeting he had told shareholders that the bank’s re-capitalisation needs would be €200 million, which was quite clearly a lie, because a few days later he raised the sum to €500 million.

Police checked the recordings of the AGM and found that the part in which Eliades was answering shareholders’ questions and gave the €200 million figure had been deleted. If this was deleted on the instructions of the CEO they would have a case against him, but despite calling several employees for questioning, none of them has said they had been ordered to delete the Q&A session.

Without this testimony the police will be unable to bring a case against Eliades because they would be unable to pin any criminal offence against him.

WHILE Eliades deserves to be behind bars for destroying our top bank, it is mind-boggling why the police investigators are not devoting as much time to nabbing the biggest culprit of the banking collapse – the silver-tongued shyster, Andreas Vgenopoulos.

Vgenopoulos caused the total collapse of Laiki as he siphoned money to his Greek banks and gave unsecured loans of hundreds of millions to his friends to prop up the share prices of companies in Greece. The guy plundered Laiki and left it to sink which was much worse than Eliades had done, so why are the cops focusing all their attention on the latter?

Could it be because all the politicians in Kyproulla are terrified of what Vgen might reveal about the donations he made to political parties? DISY and AKEL received some €500,000 each from Maritime Focus (the company that paid Ttooulis €1 million for consultancy services) that was run by Vgen’s friend. There is a suspicion that nobody wants Vgen to open his mouth, which is why he will probably escape prosecution; it helps that Greece’s parties, which also benefited from his largesse, do not want to see him charged.

VGEN does know how to stir things up. He was absolutely right in slamming the boss of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) Demetra Kalogirou for the tiny fine it imposed on Hellenic Bank for the land scam pulled off by the Archbishop with the support of the board in 2012.

Back in 2012, the bank issued capital, but the Archbishop had no money to buy the shares that would allow the Church to maintain its 20 per cent shareholding. So the bank arranged to buy a plot of Church land it did not need, at a grossly inflated price that would cover the cost of the new shares. It spent €15.5 million on that plot (CySEC found there was no need to buy the land) at a time it had a capital shortfall of €66 million.

And for this scam, Hellenic was fined a paltry €100,000, outraging Vgen. Although nobody likes to agree with the shyster, you have to admit that on this he is right. Perhaps Demetra was charitable, aware that the Church has no money, but why were none of the directors or CEO fined for failing to protect the interests of the shareholders?

CYPRUS’ football clubs have been given until Monday to pay the millions they owe to VAT, Inland Revenue and the Social Insurance Fund or face a deduction of points as they will be in breach of UEFA regulations. The deadline was last Friday but they were given until Monday, as if they would be able to come up with the money over the weekend.

Club bosses have asked for a meeting with our magnanimous prez, in the hope that he will give them another extension, as the finance minister has refused to see them. Their debts to the state date back to 2007. If some hapless businessman owed a couple of thousand euros for so long he would be sitting at the same dinner table as Ttooulis Ttoouli.

ONE OF the most indebted clubs is the AKEL-controlled Omonia. The commies managed their club as competently as they managed the economy, burdening it with debts of millions that it could not repay. And they cannot blame Omonia’s financial woes on the banking collapse or the crisis of capitalism.

It is entirely of their own doing, because they never learnt at Marxist school that when you spend loads more than you earn, bankruptcy is a dead certainty. Omonia fans have been demanding the resignation of the club’s board and the sale of the club’s premises so as to generate cash to sign new players. AKEL has rejected the idea even though there is a danger the bank could take over the premises for nothing in order to cover a part of the club’s NPLs.

The comrades could always find a strategic investor to take over its debts and overpaid staff, just like they are demanding for Cyprus Airways. And failing that, they could proceed to the privatisation of Omonia.

THE MAIN slogan on the placards of the protesting Cyprus Airways employees is “The country needs a national carrier.” In the absence of rational economic arguments to support saving the loss-making airline with mounting debts, unions and politicians have turned its rescue into an issue of patriotic necessity.

A country under occupation needed a national carrier so as not to be cut off from the rest of the world was one of the nonsensical arguments heard. It was taken a step further – one of the airlines that expressed an interest in taking it over had been negotiating the sale of a large chunk of its own shares to Turkish Airlines. The deal fell through but the danger of our national carrier falling into the hands of Turkish Airlines would loom if it were sold off to a foreign company, it was claimed.

The taking over of Cyprus’ businesses by foreign interests has been a recurring theme on radio shows and in newspaper columns recently. There is the troika imposing its diktats that would lead to people losing their homes and businesses, the two main Cypriot banks were under foreign ownership and would be merciless in dealing with people not paying their debts, the national carrier was for sale (if a buyer could be found) while privatisation would lead semi-governmental organisations also falling into foreign hands, warn the defenders of Cypriot ownership.

More worrying was that SGOs like CyTA and the Ports Authority which were integrally linked to national security, would no longer be controlled by the government, but by foreign businessmen whose only concern would be maximising profits. They ignore that both our airports have been operated by a foreign company for many years now without our national security ever being put at risk. In fact it has done an excellent job so far. The only negative things that our deputies have found to say about the company was that it charged too much for parking and that it had no right to fine cars that were illegally parked.

While it is true that foreigners might be taking over our ports and telecommunications company, just like they took control of our banks, is it such a bad thing? No, given the way we have run these businesses into the ground, mismanaging them and plundering them. It is no fluke that the foreign owners of Hellenic Bank and the Bank of Cyprus have recruited foreigners as their chief executives. Harsh as it may sound, they have decided that their investments, worth hundreds of millions of euros, would be safer if managed by foreign executives, whose decision-making is unlikely to be influenced by greedy unions, meddling politicians and their incompetent placemen.

Cyprus Airways is at risk of being closed down today because for decades it was run by the destructive coalition of unions, parties and their placemen that created this wreckage of an airline. The Electricity Authority is at risk of suffering a similar fate – its surpluses are declining every year, despite is monopolistic status – once power production is opened to competition. Privatisation is probably the only way to save it. Should we also mention the endemic corruption at these state-owned organisations? The CyTA land scandal is in court, while the CEO of the Ports Authority is under investigation by the police in connection with a case of illegal payments. And now, top brass at the CTO are under investigation for squandering public money.

In short, we have no-one to blame but ourselves for the fact that foreigners will be taking over all our big companies and organisations. We bankrupted the state and called in the international lenders to save us, giving them the right to dictate how we should manage our economy – privatisations were a condition for help being provided. We bankrupted the banks and needed foreign investors to keep them afloat.

Harsh as it may say sound, the ruling clique of politicians, senior public officials, union bosses, and political party hangers-on that have run the country since independence have proved corrupt, self-serving and incompetent failures. Their primary concern in the last 50 years has been increasing their wealth by maximising their share of the spoils of power. Not only have they bled dry the country, but the next two generations Cypriots will be paying off the debts left behind by this self-serving clique that made the arrival of foreign business interests inevitable.

The foreigners will most probably do a better job of running big organisations and services than we have done. One thing is certain – they cannot be any worse.

By Constantinos Psillides

WITH DIVORCE rates steadily on the rise – 2036 divorces out of 5806 marriages in 2012 compared to 1514 divorces out of 5881 marriages in 2005 – bitter child custody battles are an ever increasing concern.

Apart from cases where the mother is non-Cypriot and the father Cypriot, family courts heavily favour the mother, awarding her single custody in nine out of 10 cases and agreeing to a visitation plan for the father.

But proposed new, ground-breaking legislation would allow parents to request equal time with their children. Under the new proposals, the noncustodial parent would be allowed to spend the same amount of time with their child as the custodial one provided strict criteria are met and the child agrees.

Roulla Mavronicola, the EDEK MP who is spearheading this initiative, told the Sunday Mail that the sole concern driving this proposal was the welfare of children.

“The studies we have seen, conducted in Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway, all come to the same conclusion,” she said. “Spending time with both parents is beneficial for child development. We want to incorporate these findings into our legal system and allow loving parents to spend more time with their children should they choose to do so.”

She said the aim was not to intervene but to help.

“If a couple agrees upon a visitation schedule that satisfies everyone involved nobody will force them to change it. This is not how this works. The proposed legislation comes into play only when the couple is in disagreement and go to court to solve their differences. The legislation is there to ensure that both parents, despite of who is awarded custody, have the chance to spend equal amount with their children.”

The EDEK MP said she was well aware that the issue was complicated and that there were many factors to consider. Safeguards would be put in place to ensure that the outcome was best for the child.

“We want the child to feel equally comfortable spending time with both his parents. We don’t want the child packing a bag every time he/she visits the noncustodial parent.” She said.

In a custody dispute the judge makes a decision based on a report drafted by the Welfare Services. Mavronicola said that their goal was to set up a committee that would evaluate the parent requesting for more time, to determine whether they met the set criteria.

This would include whether the parent was abusive, whether they could afford to provide the child with stable living environment and whether they really want to spend more time with their child or simply want to get back at their former spouse.

Asked about the child’s part in the process, Mavronicola said that the child’s wishes would be of paramount importance.

“We won’t force a child to spend more time with a parent if the child doesn’t want to,” she said. “But, in our experience, most of the times when children are asked which parent they wish to stay with they want both. You have to remember; it’s the parents that are getting a divorce, not the children.”

The benefits of spending time with both parents are also backed by experts.

Dr Αnthi Loutsiou, licensed clinical psychologist and director of clinical training in the department of psychology at the University of Cyprus, told the Sunday Mail that scientific evidence from contemporary psychology “has led the field to a paradigm shift towards a perspective that sees fathers and mothers as equally important to a child’s healthy development, with complementary roles, and equally fit to take on the role of the primary caregiver in cases of divorce.”

Dr Loutsiou said that absent extraordinary circumstances, fathers and mothers are equally fit and equally important.

“Two parents, that are otherwise equally fit, should be treated as such, otherwise this is simply gender stereotyping and bias,” she said.

Regarding the proposed legislation, the clinical psychologist argued that from a psychological perspective there was no magic formula that fit all cases since many factors had to be considered. “Different visitation plans will best serve the needs of different children and different families. The compass should always be to serve the best interests of the child involved in the divorce,” she said.

EDEK MP Roulla Mavronicola

Mavronicola hopes that besides contributing to the child’s development, the proposed legislation would also put an end to messy custody battles, where children end up being used as leverage.

“We heard just about everything. Fathers filing for more time with their kids to force their former wives to lower child support; mothers withholding visitation rights to their former husbands in exchange for more money or to get back at them and just about everything in between,” she said.

She said the proposed legislation would put a stop to this.

“Knowing that each parent can unilaterally ask for more visitation rights, and only have to prove to the state that they are fit to do so, will act as a deterrent for those parents who don’t hesitate in exploiting their child in such a manner.”

Giorgos Constantinides – a lawyer specialising in family law – also supports a change in the law.

“Unfortunately children are more often than not exploited in divorce cases to extract some sort of gain, usually monetary. Children are the real victims in divorce cases,” said Constantinides.

The legislation, he said, would likely even out the field for fathers who really care for their children.

“Fathers who honestly care and are not out to harm their wives would definitely benefit from this since they won’t have to jump through hoops to spend more time with their kids. In that respect, this legislation could be helpful,” he said, pointing out that in the case of a custody battle a two afternoon visitation a week and taking the children every other weekend was one of best settlements a father could hope for under present circumstances.

While the MP’s goals are definite, the amendment is still in its early stages.

“The legislation is currently under legal review. When we have a clear legal framework in our hands we will call on the experts, such as child-psychologists and Welfare Services. With their help and input we will polish the amendment and take it for a discussion to the House. If all parties are in agreement then it goes to the plenum,” said Mavronicola, pledging that she would do her best to push through legislation as soon as possible.

She acknowledged that there was opposition, and that she had received calls from mothers protesting her actions and accusing her of proposing legislation that attacks women.

The MP rejected that notion.

“Not only this amendment does not attack women, it actually protects both them and the children. It will aid them should they not be awarded custody. It will significantly reduce the number of lengthy custody disputes,” she explained.

“Children are the ones benefiting them most out of this and in the end that should be everyone’s goal.”

By Andreas Vou

The Cyprus national football team is looking to get back to winning ways on Sunday at the GSP stadium against Andorra following consecutive defeats in their last two Euro 2016 qualifiers.

Pambos Christodoulous’ side inspired a wave of optimism on the island with their opening group game win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. The win drew a massive crowd of 19,164 to the next qualifier in Nicosia against Israel in anticipation of another positive result but were brought back down to earth with a 1-2 defeat. Cyprus were beaten by the same scoreline just days later at the Cardiff City Stadium against Wales.

The new qualification format for the 2016 European Championships make the prospect of reaching a major tournament for smaller nations like Cyprus a possibility as three teams out of each group can make it to the finals of the competition. However, as a result of those two quick defeats in succession, Cyprus need to win, and should, against minnows Andorra, the weakest team in the group according to the FIFA rankings.

Cyprus are currently fourth in the group, just one point behind Belgium in third but have played one game more. Meanwhile, Andorra are rooted to the bottom of Group B having lost all three of their group matches and have conceded 12 goals in the process.

The latest squad includes two promising young players who are in line to make their senior debuts as manager Christodoulou aims to nurture some of the island’s top prospects

After his recent start for APOEL against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, 19-year-old Nicholas Ioannou has been named in the senior squad as has 21-year-old full-back Constantinos Laifis of Anorthosis.

Experienced midfielder Constantinos Makrides was unable to train on Thursday due to injury and faces a race against time ahead of today’s game.

Two of the side’s most important players, Demetris Christofi and Stathis Aloneftis, trained individually on Wednesday in their bid to reach full fitness while Nestoras Mitidis is following an intense regime to be available for selection.

Apollon captain, Giorgos Merkis, spoke of the importance of the match against Andorra, while also stating his and his team-mates’ disappointment at failing to earn points from the last two internationals.

“It is certainly a crucial game for us. We are playing at home, in front of our fans, and we certainly need the three points to continue with confidence in the upcoming games. We could have got a result from the last two matches and it upsets us that we didn’t manage to.”

In regard to possibly qualifying for the Euros, the 30-year-old defender reiterated that the team will not get carried away and will instead analyse each match one by one.

“We have already said that we are the underdogs of the group. We take each game as it comes and, at the end, we will make our judgment depending on the points we will have.”

In charge of the game will be well-known English Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg along with his assistants Simon Beck and Jake Collin.

Cyprus and Andorra have only ever met on one previous occasion, back in 2010, when a Michalis Konstantinou goal handed Cyprus a friendly victory over the principality.

The recent unfavourable results have seemingly not dampened the spirits of the Cypriot faithful as another big turnout is expected on Sunday.

The Cypriot Football Association have made trailer for the upcoming match: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGqCVuFhaAM

By Michael Hann

England manager Roy Hodgson conceded his side played some “sterlie” football but still felt they were worthy winners after recovering to beat Slovenia 3-1 in their Euro 2016 Group E qualifier at Wembley on Saturday.

On a Wembley pitch scarred from last weekend’s NFL game between Jacksonville Jaguars and Dallas Cowboys, an insipid England failed to get anywhere near Slovenia’s ‘end zone’ in the first half and fell behind in the 57th minute when Jordan Henderson headed Milivoje Novakovic’s free kick past Joe Hart.

Striker Wayne Rooney, celebrating his 100th cap, got England out of jail two minutes later, converting a penalty after being fouled in the box and Danny Welbeck completed the turnaround for Hodgson’s men with a quickfire double.

“Games last 90 minutes and you don’t always get exactly what you want from the first minute,” Hodgson told a news conference.

“I thought in the first half we dominated but it was a little bit sterile at times. We weren’t getting the penetration we were looking for or creating the clear-cut chances we were looking for.

“In the second half, especially after Wayne’s quick equalising goal, I thought the game suddenly opened up.

“I thought we played much better and in the end I thought we were good value for our three goals and good value for our victory.”

England captain Rooney was presented with a symbolic golden cap in a glass case before kickoff by Bobby Charlton and Hodgson paid tribute to the Manchester United striker.

“It was a wonderful evening for him,” said Hodgson. “He is very important to English football. I thought it was very fitting that he was able to get his reward on the night when it was all about him.”

England, who have won all four of their Group E fixtures and lead the standings with 12 points, play Scotland in a friendly at Celtic Park on Tuesday and Hodgson will rotate his squad after releasing goalkeeper Joe Hart.

“We have got players that I would like to see and there is potential for me to change things,” he said. “But it’s not going to be a question of sending the bulk of these players home because Scotland is a tough game and we want to go up there with a big team.”

Dutchman Dick Advocaat has stepped down as Serbia coach after a 3-1 home defeat by Denmark in the Euro 2016 qualifiers, the Balkan nation’s football association (FSS) said on Saturday.

“The FSS wishes to thank Advocaat as he has shown utmost professionalism and we are disappointed that our cooperation with him ended so abruptly,” the soccer governing body said.

“We wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”

Advocaat said: “The pressure which was everywhere to be seen was too much to bear by this team and I had never faced such a difficult situation in my entire career.

“Serbia have to move on immediately and find a better way and I thank the FSS for their support throughout.”

Defeat by the Danes in an empty stadium left Serbia’s qualification hopes in the balance.

An outspoken Afghan female lawmaker survived a suicide attack on her vehicle on Sunday but three civilian bystanders were killed, a police spokesman said.

Member of parliament Shukria Barakzai is a women’s rights advocate and a close ally of new President Ashraf Ghani.

Hashmat Stanekzai, a spokesman for Kabul’s police chief, said Barakzai was slightly wounded in the attack but was in good condition. He said three civilians were killed and more than 10 were wounded.

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Sunday that Russia would remain isolated by the international community if President Vladimir Putin continued to violate international law in Ukraine, some of his toughest remarks yet on the crisis.

Putin has come under intense pressure from other leaders at this weekend’s G20 summit in Brisbane over his government’s backing for pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine, where a conflict has killed more than 4,000 people this year.

Obama, who described his meetings with Putin this week as “blunt and business-like”, said that he had made it clear Russia would remain isolated if it continued to provide support to separatist rebels.

“We are also very firm on the need to uphold core international principles. And one of those principles is that you don’t invade other countries or finance proxies and support them in ways that break up a country that has mechanisms for democratic elections,” Obama said at a press conference.

On Saturday, Western leaders warned Putin that he risked more sanctions if he failed to end his country’s backing for the separatists. Russia has denied any involvement.

Obama said more sanctions were a possibility.

“At this point the sanctions we have in place are biting plenty good,” said Obama, speaking after the Group of 20 meeting in Brisbane, Australia. “We retain the capability, and we have our teams constantly looking at mechanisms in which to turn up additional pressure as necessary.”

On Syria, President Bashar al-Assad was warned against his military engaging U.S. warplanes conducting operations against Islamic State militants on its territory.

“We have communicated to the Syrian regime when we operate going after ISIL in their airspace, they would be well advised not to take us on,” he said, using another name for Islamic State.

Obama ruled out a political solution to the civil war in Syria that would leave Assad in power and denied reports that his administration was conducting a formal review of its military policy in the country.

He accepted, however, that it was the “nature of diplomacy”, that Washington would eventually have to deal with some of its rivals to bring peace to the war-wracked country.

“At some point the people of Syria and the various players involved, as well as the regional players, Turkey, Iran, Assad’s patrons like Russia, are going to have to engage in a political conversation,” he said.

BACK TO DOMESTIC AFFAIRS

Switching to domestic politics as he wraps up a week-long swing through Asia, Obama said that he was taking a wait and see approach to the Keystone XL pipeline bill approved by the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives on Friday.

A similar measure struggled to get enough support in the Senate, and Obama has indicated he might use his veto if the bill does get through Congress.

“We are going to let the process play itself out,” he said.

“But I won’t hide my opinion about this, which is that one major determinant of whether we should approve a pipeline shipping Canadian oil to world markets, not to the United States, is ‘does it contribute to the greenhouse gases that are causing climate change?'”

Obama also promised not to allow the threat of another government shutdown to deter him from enacting comprehensive immigration reform despite opposition from Congress.

“I take Mitch McConnell on his word when he says the government is not going to shut down,” he said, referring to the incoming Republican Senate majority leader.

Islamic State militants fighting in Iraq and Syria claimed in a video posted online on Sunday that they had beheaded American hostage Peter Kassig.

The video did not show the beheading but showed a masked man standing with a decapitated head covered in blood lying at his feet. Speaking in English in a British accent, the man says: “This is Peter Edward Kassig, a U.S. citizen.”

Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the footage, which appeared on a jihadist website and on Twitter feeds used by Islamic State.

Kassig, a 26-year-old from Indiana, is also known as Abdul-Rahman, a name he took following his conversion to Islam while in captivity.

Kassig’s parents have said through a spokesperson their son was taken captive on his way to the eastern Syrian city of Deir al-Zor on Oct. 1, 2013.

A former soldier, Kassig was doing humanitarian work through Special Emergency Response and Assistance, an organization he founded in 2012 to help refugees from Syria, the family has said.

If confirmed, Kassig’s beheading would be the fifth such killing of a Westerner by Islamic State, following the deaths of two U.S. journalists and two British aid workers.

In an apparent reference to testimony about Kassig by former fellow captives, the masked man says: “Peter, who fought against the Muslims in Iraq while serving as a soldier under the American army, doesn’t have much to say. His previous cellmates have already spoken on his behalf.”

The announcement of Kassig’s death formed part of a 15-minute video in which the group issued warnings to the United States, Britain and others including Shi’ite Muslims.

It also shows militants beheading several men identified as pilots and officers loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“To Obama, the dog of Rome, today we are slaughtering the soldiers of Bashar and tomorrow we will be slaughtering your soldiers,” the masked militant said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was horrified by the “cold-blooded murder”. Britain’s Foreign Office said it was analysing the video.

Cyprus revived their Euro 2016 qualification hopes with a crushing 5-0 home win over Andorra on Sunday evening.
The all-important three points saw Cyprus climb into third place in the Group B table.

Wales meanwhile held group favourites Belgium to a 0-0 draw in Brussels.
Israel took on Bosnia later on Sunday night.

Results and standings from the European Ch. Qual. Group B matches on Sunday, November 16:

Cyprus 5 Andorra 0
Belgium 0 Wales 0

Standings P W D L F A Pts
1 Wales 4 2 2 0 4 2 8
2 Israel 2 2 0 0 6 2 6
3 Cyprus 4 2 0 2 9 5 6
4 Belgium 3 1 2 0 7 1 5
5 Bosnia 3 0 2 1 2 3 2
6 Andorra 4 0 0 4 2 17 0

By Martyn Herman

A mouth-watering finale to the season ended before it even began on Sunday when Roger Federer was forced to pull out through injury prior to his ATP World Tour Final showdown with world number one Novak Djokovic.

The 33-year-old Swiss, who spent two hours 48 minutes defeating compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka in a brutal semi-final the previous night, announced his decision on court as the17,000-seat O2 Arena filled up for the expected final.

World number two Federer, who was bidding for a seventh title at the year-ender, apologised but told the crowd he was not “match-fit” after developing a back problem.

Looking as stylish as ever as he stood on the blue indoor surface wearing a red and grey cardigan, Federer apologised, saying: “I hope you understand I wanted to come out personally and excuse myself for not playing … I can’t compete without a back at this level.”
Despite the huge anti-climax for the crowd, some of whom had forked out thousands of pounds for a courtside ticket, there was no booing, with applause breaking out as seven-times Wimbledon champion Federer spoke.

Explaining how the injury arose, Federer said later: “I was feeling great until yesterday’s tiebreaker. I felt all of a sudden the back was feeling funny.
“I tried to have treatment on it, medication, just tried to turn around as quick as possible really, but didn’t really feel much of an improvement overnight.”

Djokovic becomes the first player to win the Tour Finals title three years in succession since Ivan Lendl (1985-87) but was not really in the mood for celebrating when he collected the trophy and $1.92 million cheque.
“Obviously not the way I’d like to win this,” the 27-year-old Djokovic, who clinched the year-end world number one ranking for the third time in four years this week, said.

“I feel sorry for Roger. I’ve been in tennis 10 years and I know Roger and Rafa (Nadal) have been the biggest competitors and always give their 100 per cent. If Roger could have come out and played he would have played.
“I’m not the kind of player to celebrate these wins, but I have to celebrate the whole season and this trophy is the crown on the season,” he added.

To appease disappointed fans, home favourite Andy Murray, thrashed by Federer in the week, agreed to play Djokovic in a one-set exhibition match, before partnering John McEnroe in a doubles game against Tim Henman and Pat Cash.

Federer now faces a battle to be fit for the Davis Cup final against France which starts in Lille on Friday.
Along with the Olympic singles title, the Davis Cup is the major honour which still eludes the 17-times grand slam champion, with Switzerland’s hopes resting on the shoulders of him and Wawrinka.

“The way I feel right now there’s no way I can compete at any level really,” Federer said. “Probably in a few days it’s going to be better.”

By Constantinos Psillides

A 17-YEAR-OLD boy, with a long history of delinquent behaviour, was remanded for eight days on Monday in connection with the murder of 22-year-old British Cypriot Michael Antony-Louis Mina in Larnaca on Sunday.

The hearing was held during a closed session, requested by the attorney-general’s office.

The only ones present at the hearing were the suspect’s father and sister.

According to the police report, the 17-year-old ambushed Mina outside his apartment near the Makenzy area at around 6am on Sunday and stabbed him once in the throat. Mina managed to escape but bled to death while trying to get to his car.

The British Cypriot was found dead a little after 6am by a Ukrainian woman who told police she had stepped out to take her daughter to a nearby park. Residents in the apartment building told police that they had heard fighting.

It emerged during the investigation that the 17-year-old had a history with the victim.

Trouble started, according to the report, when the suspect started to date Mina’s ex-girlfriend. The suspect’s girlfriend told investigators that she had driven the suspect to the Larnaca police station on Friday as he had been called in regarding a separate case. As she was waiting outside, Mina drove by and hurled insults at her. According to the police report, when she told the 17-year-old he called Mina and the two agreed to meet and settle their differences face to face.

In his statement, the 17-year-old claimed that Mina called him on Sunday morning and asked for a meeting. The 17-year-old further claims that when they met at Mina’s apartment lobby the victim attacked him on sight. The suspect told investigators that in the process of defending himself he stabbed the 22-year-old in the neck with a special forces, 12cm knife he brought with him for protection. After his arrest, the suspect took investigators to a field in Larnaca where the murder weapon was found buried.

The 17-year-old was arrested at around 10am while hiding at a friend’s house. The 26-year-old friend was eventually charged in writing and released.

Police spokesman Andreas Angelides told the press on Monday that the 17-year-old was a troubled youth, having been arrested on numerous occasions mainly for burglary, arson, drug abuse and car theft. According to the police he was part of 60 separate investigations. He served jail time from July 2013 to October 2013 while on another occasion he received a two-year suspended sentence for car theft.

According to Angelides, the 17-year-old had been due to appear in court on Monday and Tuesday on account of two separate car theft cases. A third case – again regarding theft – was to be tried in early 2015. Angelides pointed out that police had filed a request to keep the boy in custody for these cases, citing his past behaviour, but had been refused by the court due to the offender’s age.

“Police should be able to tackle problems like that. We should have the authority to isolate people that have been proven to be a threat to themselves but most importantly, a threat to others around him,” Angelides said. “Unfortunately, Cyprus lacks the facilities to accommodate young offenders, so they are effectively reformed and re-join society.”

The police spokesperson claimed that the 17-year-old was a very problematic case.

“This is a very troubled young man. Police officers spent a lot of time trying to talk some sense into him. We were even asked to do so by his family. Even the former chief of police showed an interest in the case and sat down with the boy but nothing worked,” he said.

The Cyprus News Agency reported that Giannis Polichroniou, the suspect’s court appointed lawyer, told the court that the state “has utterly failed the 17-year-old”.

“In recent years, we are increasingly coming across cases of underage offenders who are not restrained due to the lack of juvenile correctional facilities, in contrast with other EU countries,” said Polichroniou.

By a Staff Reporter

REFUGEES rescued from a fishing trawler in distress back in September cannot indefinitely stay as guests in Cyprus and must either depart the island or request asylum to legalise their presence here, interior minister Socratis Hasikos said on Monday.

“We have explained to them that they must as soon as possible request asylum so as to legitimise their presence here, and then we shall see what the next steps are,” Hasikos told journalists.

Authorities have informed the refugees that they cannot remain on the island indefinitely while their status is unclear, he added.

“It is up to them to decide what they want to do.”

The minister was being asked to comment on local news reports claiming that the army barracks in Kokkinotrimithia – where the refugees are being temporarily housed – would be shuttered by December 28.

According to Phileleftheros, the bishopric of Tamassos – one of the groups providing assistance to the refugees – disagrees with the barracks’ closure since the people have nowhere to go.

Of a total of 337 refugees, 278 remain in Cyprus. Twenty have received a visa and left for Brazil, another 20 have asked for political asylum and others left through the occupied areas.

The majority are said to be asking to travel to the EU, primarily Germany and Sweden, while some have returned home.

The refugees had sailed from Syria and were headed to Italy when they found themselves in rough seas and put out a distress signal.

They initially refused to disembark the cruise ship that rescued them 50 nautical miles off the coast of Paphos and insisted they be taken to Italy.

By George Psyllides

THE HOUSE Finance Committee on Monday decided to freeze €10 million earmarked for compensating Cyprus Airways employees because the government was not clear about what it intended to do with the ailing airline.

The cash is included in a €158 million supplementary budget submitted by the government.

“Not one cent will be paid until we are given clear explanations on what will happen with the company and how the personnel will be compensated,” committee chairman Nicolas Papadopoulos said.

“If there has been a political decision to close CY then we ought to have clear answers,” he said. “They should tell is if there is an agreement to pay compensation and how it will be allotted.”

Papadopoulos, who is also the leader of opposition DIKO, said no such agreement existed as far as MPs knew and warned the government that it should not consider the parliament’s approval a given.

A finance ministry representative told MPs that no compensation agreement or plan existed.

The supplementary budget will be put to the vote at the plenum but the committee has ‘crossed,’ as the process is known, the amount earmarked for CY. This means that the government will need the committee’s approval for the money to be released.

The government is looking for an investor to put money in the airline but despite interest from Aegean and Ryanair, there has not been anything concrete.

It appears both airlines have their own plans for what is and is not valuable when it comes to CY’s remaining assets.

The airline is also awaiting the decision of the EU on whether Cyprus broke state aid rules by subsidising CY with some €75 million in previous years.

It would be impossible for the airline to survive if asked to return the money.

However, a government source said on Friday that the European Commission seems ready to give a positive response if a strategic investor was found and the company completed a restructuring plan that includes shedding 320 jobs and further cuts in benefits. CY currently employs 560 people.

MOODY’S RATINGS agency on Monday upgraded Bank of Cyprus’ (BoC) long-term deposit ratings to Caa3 from Ca with stable outlook, warning however that the lender still faced immense challenges.

Moody’s said the upgrade primarily reflects the improvement in the bank’s capital buffers, which enhance its capacity to absorb credit related losses.

Following a successful capital increase in August 2014, BoC’s fully loaded Common Equity Tier 1ratio increased to 15.1 per cent from 11.3 per cent in June 2014.

“The strengthened capital buffers have enhanced the bank’s capacity to absorb asset quality pressures and enabled it to pass the European Central Bank’s comprehensive assessment,” Moody’s said.

The upgrade also takes into account the partial reduction in BoC’s Euro-system funding (primarily Emergency Liquidity Assistance) to a still high 29 per cent its assets in September 2014, from 37 per cent as of March 2014.

“Despite the above improvements, the bank still faces significant challenges, underpinning the continued positioning of its ratings near the lower end of Moody’s rating scale,” the agency said.

Non-performing loans according to the Central Bank’s new definition stood at 58 per cent as of June 2014, while 90 plus days due and impaired loans (a more globally comparable ratio) were at 49.8 per cent.

“The rating agency expects some further increase in the NPL ratios, given the continued contraction in economic activity in Cyprus and notes that NPLs tend to peak once the economic recovery takes hold. For Cyprus, this will likely be towards the end of 2015,” Moody’s said.

A former employee of Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bid has accused FIFA investigators of violating confidentiality promises made when she agreed to provide evidence of alleged corruption related to the bid.

On Sunday, former Qatar bid employee Phaedra Almajid sent Michael Garcia, a New York lawyer hired by FIFA to investigate corruption, a two-page complaint.

It alleged that soccer’s world governing body breached its own ethics code by making public information which unmasked Almajid as one of more than 70 witnesses who had cooperated with Garcia’s investigation.

In a report made public earlier this month, Hans Joachim Eckert, a German judge hired by FIFA to evaluate a still-secret investigative report prepared by Garcia about FIFA’s decisions to award the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar, examined “allegations of corruption” which a “whistleblower” had made to Garcia beginning in December 2012.

Eckert’s report said “serious concerns” about the informant’s credibility had been “apparent from the outset”.

It noted that the person at first made public allegations of corruption, then issued a sworn statement retracting them.

Eckert said Garcia’s report concluded that the evidence provided by the informant “could not be relied upon to corroborate” their story and that Garcia also expressed concerns that the informant had “altered evidence”.

Eckert added that FIFA could therefore not rely on the evidence of alleged corruption by the Qatar bid that the informant had supplied.

Almajid said that while Eckert did not identify her by name, in practice his report pointed to her as the informant because it mentioned she was the person who made allegations in public in 2011 about corruption related to the Qatar 2022 bid.

“Within hours of publication of Herr Eckert’s summary, I had already been widely identified as one of the ‘whistleblowers’ in German and British media,” Almajid’s complaint said.

She said this violated public “assurances of confidentiality” that a FIFA lawyer reiterated as recently as “two months ago.”

Almajid reportedly was the source for allegations that Qatar’s World Cup bid paid bribes to three FIFA executives from Africa to secure their support for Qatar’s bid.

FIFA spokeswoman Delia Fischer said in a statement to Reuters that allegations of confidentiality breaches “should be examined” by its disciplinary committee and FIFA “cannot prejudice any decision that said Committee could take in this or any similar situation.”

Tens of thousands of Greeks poured into the streets to march against austerity on Monday in one of the biggest anniversary protests in recent years to mark a bloody 1973 student revolt against the then-ruling military junta.

About 40,000 students, workers and pensioners waving red flags and chanting “EU, IMF out!” marched near parliament to the embassy of the United States, which protesters accuse of backing the 1967-74 military dictatorship.

Clashes broke out as the march ended, and police fired teargas at groups of youths who hurled stones and plastic bottles.

The annual protest is a focal point for Greeks protesting against government policies and in recent years has directed anger at wage and pension cuts imposed under a 240-billion euro bailout by the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

“These policies are disastrous,” said 68-year old dentist Panagiotis Viglas. “We want elections now!”

About 7,000 police officers were deployed to the capital, mainly around the Polytechnic University where dozens are believed to have been killed when tanks smashed through the gates to crush the 1973 revolt. The city centre was shut down and riot police guarded the main Syntagma square.

Tensions were running high even before the march began. Minor clashes broke out last week when police pre-emptively blocked the entrance to the Athens’ Law School to prevent students from occupying the premises ahead of the anniversary.

Greece emerged from a crippling six-year recession this year, data showed last week. But the economic crisis, the country’s worst during peacetime, has forced thousands out of work and eroded living standards.

The main opposition, the anti-bailout Syriza party, is leading in opinion polls. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ government hopes to exit the bailout by the end of 2014, a year ahead of schedule.

Greece’s main labour unions have called a 24-hour strike on November 27 to protest against planned layoffs and pension reform demanded by the EU and the IMF.

A Palestinian bus driver was found hanged in his vehicle on Monday, an incident that led to stone-throwing protests by Palestinians suspecting foul play but which Israeli police, citing autopsy results, termed a suicide.

Youssef al-Ramouni, 32, was found dead at the start of the route he was supposed to have driven late on Sunday, in a district of Jerusalem close to Jewish settlements and Palestinian neighbourhoods.

“The autopsy findings have shown that there was no foul play, meaning that this was a suicide,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

But lawyer Mohammed Mahmoud, who was retained by the family to follow the case, told Reuters: “I totally reject and deny the Israeli claim Youssef committed suicide.”

He said Palestinian pathologist Saber Al-Aloul, who observed the autopsy, had also disagreed with the verdict.

Mahmoud said results of a toxicology test were still pending, “to determine whether Youssef was drugged before he was killed”.

Rumours spread in the Palestinian media that Ramouni had been killed by Jewish assailants.

In Abu Dis, a Palestinian town on the outskirts of Jerusalem, shops closed after news of the driver’s death and masked youngsters blocked roads with dumpsters. Dozens of youths threw stones at Israeli soldiers, who fired tear gas.

Before the autopsy findings were announced, Ramouni’s brother Louy told Reuters there was no way that Youssef, the father of two young children, would have killed himself.

“I saw the body last night and I saw bruises and marks that (showed that) he was beaten up,” he said.

“There were marks of fingers on the body and also on his back there was a bruise, as if he was hit by a hard object.”

Over the past month, five Israelis and a foreign visitor have been deliberately run over and killed or stabbed to death by Palestinians. About a dozen Palestinians have been killed, including those accused of carrying out the attacks.

Residents trace the violence in Jerusalem back to July, when a Palestinian teenager was burned to death by Jewish assailants, an alleged revenge attack for the abduction and killing of three Jewish teens by Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank.

Other triggers have been the summer war in Gaza and a row over access to a Jerusalem compound sacred to Muslims and Jews alike.

Bird flu was found on a duck farm in England on Monday days after it was discovered in Dutch chickens, forcing authorities to destroy poultry and restrict exports, although it was not a strain known to be deadly to humans.

Health officials said the outbreak may have been brought to Europe by wild birds migrating from Asia where millions of South Korean farm birds have had to be destroyed.

“A species of wild swans might be carrying the virus without showing signs of disease,” said the European Commission after adopting emergency measures to contain the outbreak that mirrored those already taken by Britain and the Netherlands.

A spokeswoman at the U.K. Department for Environmental, Food and Rural Affairs said the public health risk was very low and there was no risk to the food chain.

Bird flu was also found on farms in Germany earlier this month. Authorities have yet to determine conclusively whether there is a link between the German, Dutch and British outbreaks, or whether they are related to outbreaks in Asia, but suspect that all are linked.

The German and Dutch outbreaks are of the H5N8 strain, which is highly contagious in birds. H5N8 has never been found in humans, unlike H5N1, which has killed 400 people mostly in Asia and the Middle East since 2003 and caused a global scare.

British authorities said the flu found there was also not H5N1, although they had not yet determined whether it was H5N8. The European Commission said later it probably was H5N8.

The measures being taken “have been effective in the past to contain outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza”, said Linda Klavinskis, a specialist in immunobiology at King’s College London.

“The risk for humans is always a possibility because of the massive shedding of these viruses by infected chicken flocks. However, in my opinion, the chances are very low,” she said.

Deadly H5N1 is still found in a handful of countries after a global outbreak that peaked in 2005-2009. On Monday, the Egyptian health ministry said a 19-year-old woman had died of it, the second person known to have died of the disease this year in the country.

In Britain, authorities imposed a restricted zone for 10 km around the farm in Yorkshire where bird flu was found and announced all 6,000 ducks there would be destroyed.

In the Netherlands, 150,000 chickens were to be destroyed. The discovery near the village of Hekendorp triggered a three-day ban on shipments of all poultry products out of the country, the world’s largest egg exporter. A 10-km exclusion radius imposed around the infected farm will be sealed for 30 days.

By Jean Christou

A DRAFT BILL to modernise company law will be submitted to the House by the end of this month, Commerce and Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis said on Monday.

The minister was speaking at the annual general meeting of the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA). The bill is part of wide-ranging efforts to step up ways to attract foreign investment.

Lakkotrypis also said that the Officer of the Registrar of Companies would be fully digitised by the end of March next year. Already, he said the files of 138,000 active companies were available online.

Between April and October this year company registrations had risen by 20 per cent, the minister said

“Investment opportunities arise today to most sectors of the economy,” he said, citing the hydrocarbons sector and tourism as the main attractions.

To help the process along, Lakkotrypis said Cyprus had secured €952 million in EU structural funding for the period 2014 to 2020, much of which would be made available for programmes and projects supporting entrepreneurship.

“The attraction of foreign investment is a key pillar of the development policy of the government,” he said. “Today, more than ever, it is necessary to strengthen our efforts for Cyprus to become really attractive to foreign investors.”

CIPA chief Christodoulos Angastiniotis said attracting foreign investment was not just a key pillar of efforts for economic growth, “but perhaps our only realistic way of achieving it”.

“Even though the economy is on the right track, there is still a lot that needs to be done. Improving the business climate is a one-way street and we have no choice but to proceed with strategic reforms and improvements,” he said. “We need a simplification of procedures, transparency, speed and sustained support to foreign investors in order to survive in the international environment.”

The findings of the World Bank’s ‘Doing Business Report 2015’ confirmed the need to take and implement drastic measures, he added.

By Evie Andreou

THE HEALTH minister Philippos Patsalis urged smokers that it was never too late to quit the habit on Monday as he launched the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) awareness week.

COPD, which is the third largest cause of death after heart failures and strokes in the world, affects 90 per cent of smokers, and is a lung disease that may progressively lead to death.

“According to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) data, one in 10 adults over the age of 40 may suffer from the disease, while it is estimated that annually 3,000,000 people die worldwide from COPD,” Patsalis said.

Apart from smoking, the disease’s main risk factors are indoor air pollution (such as biomass fuel used for cooking and heating), outdoor air pollution, occupational dusts and chemicals (vapours, irritants, and fumes).

“In Cyprus 4.9 per cent of the population suffer from COPD, but what is noteworthy is the fact that 51.7 per cent of these people did not know they had the disease when they were examined during a research study of the General Nicosia Hospital’s pneumonology clinic in 2008,” Patsalis said.

According to WHO, it is a usual, preventable disease and the most common symptoms of COPD are breathlessness, excessive sputum production, and a chronic cough.

“The impact of the disease is huge both socially and financially. In the EU alone direct costs of the disease amount to €38.6bn,” said the head of the Cyprus pneumonology society Dr Tonia Adamidi.

She said that there was a very simple test that can be taken to show breathing ability and she urged smokers over the age of 40 to take the test.

Patsalis said that since 2010, patients with COPD could seek treatment at the rehabilitation unit of the pneumonology clinic at the Nicosia General Hospital that offers a programme of holistic care to manage the disease.

The head of the association of friends of pneumonology patients, Thekla Kadi said that their aim was to raise awareness on chronic pulmonary diseases that put a strain not only on patients but also their families and that the association needed as much support to be able to continue their work.

She said that some COPD patients are forced to reduce their working hours since it can be quite strenuous for them and in the case of advanced COPD, they are taken care of by their families, which causes both financial and other psycho-social problems.

Patsalis reiterated the importance of a smoking-free life and said that the health ministry would soon promote a new anti-smoking law that will be harmonised with the EU’s 2014 directive on smoking.

On Wednesday, which is world COPD day, the public will have the opportunity to learn about the disease at the Mall of Nicosia and at My Mall in Limassol from 10am until 18pm by doctors and psychologists.

For more information on how can you help the association of friends of pneumonology patients call 99 750 165, 99 750 386.