By Leika Kihara and Tetsushi Kajimoto

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday that he would call an early election to seek a fresh mandate for his economic policies, and postpone an unpopular sales tax rise, a day after data showed the economy had slipped back into recession.

The world’s third-biggest economy unexpectedly shrank for a second consecutive quarter in July-September, a sign the pain from an initial rise in the sales tax to 8 percent from 5 percent in April was lasting longer than expected.

Abe said he would delay a second increase to 10 percent that had been scheduled for October 2015 for 18 months. He added he would dissolve the lower house on Friday for an election that must be held within 40 days. The vote is expected on Dec. 14.

The prime minister – who returned to power in December 2012 pledging to revive growth with a radical mix of hyper-easy monetary policy, spending and reform – insisted his policies were working and challenged the opposition to come up with an alternative.

“I am aware that critics say ‘Abenomics’ is a failure and not working but I have not heard one concrete idea what to do instead … Are our economic policies mistaken, or correct? Is there another option?” he asked at a televised news conference. “This is the only way to end deflation and revive the economy.”

But Abe pledged that the sales tax rise, needed to fund swelling social security costs and curb Japan’s massive public debt, would be implemented without fail in April 2017.

Abe is seeking to renew his mandate just as doubts about the success of his strategy are deepening.

No election for parliament’s lower house needed to be held until late 2016. But Abe is hoping to cement his grip on power before his support ratings, now below 50 percent in some surveys but still sturdy by Japanese standards, slip further.

His voter support took something of a hit from funding scandals in his cabinet last month, and next year he is expected to tackle unpopular policies such as restarting nuclear reactors that went off-line after the 2011 Fukushima crisis.

FLAG OF FISCAL REFORM

Critics say that Abenomics has benefited big companies and affluent city dwellers by weakening the yen and boosting the stock market, but that ordinary Japanese have been hurt because inflation has outpaced wage increases.

Abe said consumption was stalling despite other positive signs and he would prepare stimulus steps, especially for smaller firms and regions.

European shares followed Tokyo higher on hopes for further stimulus, but Japanese media reports said the package would be modest at around 2-3 trillion yen ($17-$26 billion).

Measures will include shopping vouchers to promote consumption, a government official said.

The sales tax has been a jinx for Japanese leaders in the past, several of whom lost their jobs over the levy. A hefty majority of voters were opposed to raising it now.

Still, Abe took care to avoid the impression that Japan was abandoning fiscal reform despite a public debt that is already twice the size of the economy.

“We are by no means surrendering the flag of fiscal reform,” he said. “(The tax rise) will not be delayed a second time.”

The bad economic news has given the opposition camp ammunition for the election campaign, although the parties are weak and divided and likely to have trouble cooperating.

Tatsuo Kawabata, a senior official of the opposition Democratic Party, told a news conference that the prime minister was attempting to cover up signs that Abenomics was failing.

Few expect the LDP and its smaller ally to lose their majority. But financial markets and analysts are now contemplating the possibility that the ruling bloc might fare less well than initially anticipated and that Abe could emerge weaker after the vote.

Abe said he would resign if the ruling coalition, which now holds two-thirds of the seats in the chamber, failed to win a majority.

“A recession will give opposition party attacks on Abe more salience, suggesting the possibility that the ruling coalition could lose seats,” wrote Tobias Harris at consultancy Teneo Intelligence. The LDP and the Komeito party now hold a two-thirds majority in the lower house.

Abe, who is serving his second term as prime minister after a troubled 2006-2007 term, inherited the sales tax plan from his predecessor based on a ruling-opposition party agreement in which he played no direct part.

By Maayan Lubell

Two Palestinians armed with a meat cleaver and a gun killed four worshippers in a Jerusalem synagogue on Tuesday before being shot dead by police, the deadliest such incident in six years in the holy city amid a surge in religious conflict.

Three of the victims held dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship and the fourth man was a British-Israeli national, police said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to respond with a “heavy hand”, and again accused Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of inciting violence in Jerusalem.

Abbas condemned the attack, which comes after weeks of unrest fuelled in part by a dispute over Jerusalem’s holiest shrine.

A worshipper at the service in the Kehillat Bnei Torah synagogue in an ultra-Orthodox neighbourhood of West Jerusalem said about 25 people were praying when shooting broke out.

“I looked up and saw someone shooting people at point-blank range. Then someone came in with what looked like a butcher’s knife and he went wild,” the witness, Yosef Posternak, told Israel Radio.

Photos distributed by Israeli authorities showed a man in a prayer shawl lying dead, a bloodied butcher’s cleaver on the floor and prayer books covered in blood.

“We are viewing this as a terrorist attack,” said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, who confirmed the four dead and that the two assailants, both from predominantly Arab East Jerusalem, had been shot dead by police.

Israel’s ambulance service said at least eight people were seriously wounded.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said it carried out the attack, which it called a “heroic operation”.

Israeli police and the U.S. State Department identified one of the dead as Rabbi Mosheh Twersky, who taught at a Jerusalem seminary. Twersky was from a Hassidic rabbinical dynasty and a grandson of Joseph Soloveitchik, a renowned Boston rabbi who died in 1993.

Twersky and two other victims, Aryeh Kupinsky and Cary William Levine, were U.S. citizens, according to the State Department and the Israeli police, which said they were also Israeli nationals. The British-Israeli killed in the attack was named by the police as Avraham Shmuel Goldberg.

In a statement, Abbas said: “The presidency condemns the attack on Jewish worshippers in one of their places of prayer in West Jerusalem and condemns the killing of civilians no matter who is doing it.”

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry described the attack as an act of “pure terror”.

Israeli Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said he was seeking a partial easing of gun controls so that military officers and security guards could carry weapons while off-duty.

“MARTYRS”

Palestinian radio described the attackers as “martyrs” and the Islamist group Hamas praised the attack. Loudspeakers at mosques in Gaza called out congratulations and youngsters handed out candy in the streets.

Palestinian media named the attackers as Ghassan and Udai Abu Jamal, cousins from the Jerusalem district of Jabal Mukaber, where clashes broke out as Israeli security forces moved in to make arrests.

“Hamas calls for the continuation of revenge operations and stresses that the Israeli occupation bears responsibility for tension in Jerusalem,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.

The synagogue attack came a day after a Palestinian bus driver was found hanged in his vehicle in Jerusalem. Israel said he committed suicide, but his family said he was attacked.

Netanyahu said the synagogue attack was a result of incitement by Hamas and Abbas.

“We will respond with a heavy hand to the brutal murder of Jews who came to pray and were killed by lowly murderers,” he said.

At a meeting of parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defence committee, Yoram Cohen, head of the internal Shin Bet security service, appeared to take a softer line toward Abbas, saying he was not espousing terror, according to a political source.

But Cohen added: “There are those in the Palestinian public who might interpret his comments as legitimation for terror attacks”.

Violence in Jerusalem, areas of Israel and the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories has surged in the past month, fuelled in part by a dispute over Jerusalem’s holiest shrine, and Abbas has said Muslims have a right to defend their sacred places if attacked.

Five Israelis and a foreign visitor were killed in the Palestinian attacks that preceded Tuesday’s incident. About a dozen Palestinians have also been killed, including those accused of carrying out the attacks prior to the synagogue assault.

Residents trace the violence in Jerusalem 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.

The summer war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and a row over access to a Jerusalem compound that is sacred to Muslims and Jews alike have also triggered violence.

The synagogue attack was the worst in the city since 2008, when a Palestinian gunman killed eight people in a religious school.

By Costas Pitas

Britain said on Tuesday that tests had confirmed an outbreak of bird flu on a duck farm in northern England was the H5N8 strain, the same as the form of the virus which has hit a Dutch chicken farm and a German turkey farm.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said a cull of 6,000 ducks on the farm in east Yorkshire was continuing and should be completed later on Tuesday.

“The advice from the Chief Medical Officer and Public Health England remains that the risk to public health is very low,” said a Defra spokeswoman.

“The Food Standards Agency have said there is no food safety risk for consumers.”

A 10-km restriction zone was placed around the farm after the outbreak was discovered.

The World Health Organisation has said other bird populations in Europe were likely to be infected with the virus and it was probable that there would be human cases.

World football’s governing body FIFA on Tuesday lodged a criminal complaint over the “possible misconduct of individual persons” in connection with the awarding of hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Last Thursday FIFA said there were no grounds to reopen the controversial bidding processes, following a long-awaited report compiled by chairman of the investigatory chamber of FIFA’s Ethics Committee Michael Garcia.

However, FIFA president Sepp Blatter confirmed on Tuesday that, on the recommendation of FIFA ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, it was “his duty” to lodge a complaint to the Swiss courts.

Former US attorney Garcia said last week that the governing body had misrepresented his findings, plunging FIFA into a fresh crisis after continued misgivings about how Russia and Qatar were handed the next two World Cups.

Eckert, at the time, ruled that any improprieties uncovered by Garcia were too minor to require new bidding.

Answering questions on FIFA’s own website, Blatter said on Tuesday: “I lodged the criminal complaint upon the recommendation of Judge Eckert.

“I cannot, however, comment on any possible criminal offences. I am not a lawyer. I also was not the addressee of the investigatory report, which I have never seen.

“However, given Judge Eckert’s recommendation, it was my duty – as the President of FIFA – to lodge the complaint.”

Rejecting calls to publish Garcia’s report in full, Blatter said FIFA had no authority to do that.

“If FIFA were to publish the report, we would be violating our own association law as well as state law,” said the Swiss.

By Evie Andreou
Government doctors will not enter a dialogue with the health minister until they see bills relating to the creation of a National Health Scheme (NHS), they said on Tuesday.
The doctors staged a two-hour work stoppage on Monday and on Tuesday were due to have a meeting with health minister Philippos Patsalis.
The minister called the doctors’ work stoppage unnecessary and reiterated it is only through dialogue and consent that problems can be solved.
The doctors have complained they haven’t seen the proposed NHS legislation and that when they do the minister expects them to respond within a very short time frame.
“The health minister has repeatedly told PASYKI’s board of directors the bills will be given to them as soon as they are prepared,” the ministry said.
It added they will also be given to all affected parties to be discussed at the joint labour committee for consent.
Patsalis has pledged to fully implement the NHS by July 2016, well within the time-frame set by the Troika. The bills are to be handed to parliament by the end of the month.

The new Akrotiri Environmental Centre opened on Tuesday embracing some of the most innovative and environmentally friendly building concepts, including a photovoltaic system on the roof which provides approximately 50 per cent of its energy requirements, the British bases said.
The Akrotiri Salt Lake and Marsh, which hosts the largest number of water birds in Cyprus, was designated as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention in 2003 and is one of only two Ramsar sites on the island.
Meanwhile, the Akrotiri peninsula itself hosts more than 30 different orchid species, representing around 60 per cent of the orchid interest on island and the flora of the area includes more than 800 plant species, 10 of which are included in the Red Data Book (endangered flora) and are only found in Cyprus on the Akrotiri Peninsula.
Approximately 300 bird species have been recorded on the peninsula and the SBAs are home to the last breeding colony in Cyprus of the impressive Griffon Vulture.
The centre, overlooking the salt lake, was officially opened by Education Minister Costas Kadis, and Sovereign Base Area Administrator Major General Richard Cripwell, who described it as “one of the most important projects in the SBAs”.
“This is confirmation that we now have the best facilities to enable further constructive collaboration of the many separate organisations involved in presenting the outstanding environmental importance of the Akrotiri Peninsula and other important features of the SBAs and beyond,” said Cripwell.
The centre is a shared facility, whereby teachers and children from the Republic will join others from the SBAs and those in the Akrotiri community to participate in environmental education programmes and research.
It will host daily visits from the Cyprus community and schools from across the island, whose children will be able to take advantage of the fully-interactive educational experience set against a backdrop of some of the most spectacular wetlands areas on island.
Since 2007, the old environmental centre, which was recognised as part of the Cyprus Network of Environmental Education Centres, has hosted more than 50,000 school children and more than 20,000 other visitors and with its new facilities and location, that number is expected to increase dramatically.
Speaking prior to cutting the official ribbon, Kadis paid tribute to the hard work that has been completed by both Cyprus and the SBAs to make it happen.
“The operation of this centre is the result of a long-term and systematic effort and close co-operation of the Ministry of Education and Culture with the British Bases and the Akrotiri Community,” he said.
“The operation of the centre at its new premises marks a new era for the Akrotiri Community and the Network of Environmental Education Programmes. The bioclimatic design of the centre, the modern technological installations, and its excellent scientific equipment render this centre a benchmark not only in Cyprus but in the Middle East in general.”

For more information call the Environmental Centre on 25 826562

By Constantinos Psillides
Two people arrested in connection with the case of stolen luxury cars from the UK have been charged and released.
Police arrested a 61-year-old man who bought one of the seized cars, along with a 30-year old who, according to police, at the time the car was seized was trying to hide it.
They were both questioned, charged in writing and let go. The 61-year-old is the father of one the suspects already in custody in connection to the case.
Police also said that five out of the seven limousines seized on Sunday have been returned to their owner after investigators concluded they have not been reported stolen.
Five luxury cars were seized last week, including three Range Rovers and a BMW X3.
Limassol police spokesman Ioannis Soteriades said on Tuesday the investigation into the criminal ring suspected of importing the stolen cars is on the right track.
The ring, according to the police report, forged ownership documents by registering the stolen cars in the EU countries so they could legally import them to Cyprus, while also altering their Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).
The case came to light after the British owner of a stolen BMW contacted British authorities to report that his car’s GPS gave a signal from Cyprus.
The luxury vehicles were found at the lot of a car importing company in Limassol, whose 37-year-old owner is now in custody. Also in custody are the 46-year-old owner of a car lot in Paralimni, two brothers from Sotira aged 22 and 27, a 33-year-old from Vryssoules and a 32-year-old from Limassol.
They are under investigation for conspiracy to commit a felony, forgery, circulating false documents, obtaining money under false pretences, accepting stolen goods and altering vehicle registration numbers.

By George Psyllides
The tourism organisation’s (CTO) board on Tuesday denied any wrongdoing in a deal with Forbes magazine to promote Cyprus, as a war of words with the body’s director continued.
The board was responding to allegations expressed by Marios Hannides regarding the deal, worth around €170,000, involving the CTO, the Bank of Cyprus and the island’s investment promotion agency.
Hannides himself is facing charges of fund misappropriation, which the board considered serious enough to interrupt his contract. Tourism officer Michalis Metaxas has also been suspended in connection with the affair.
Hannides does not recognise the board’s decision, which he says must be ratified by the cabinet to take effect.
In a two-page statement issued on Tuesday, the board said it took the decision in July this year taking into account the need to promote the island’s economy and tourism industry in an internationally renowned magazine.
Hannides, the board said, did not express any view about the procedure, which did not include the invitation of tenders.
In addition, he had been informed via email about the contents of the deal before it was signed and ratified, and of the marketing department’s agreement.
“Signing the memo is automatically interpreted as an endorsement,” the board said.
If he had a different view he should have submitted it in writing in time and not after the fact.
Drafting a memo to express disagreement almost one and a half months later is interpreted as an act with an ulterior motive.
The board said it was a matter of promoting tourist investment and not an advertising campaign that would have necessitated tender procedures.
Following any other procedure meant missing the deadline because of the time-consuming processes.
The CTO’s internal audit service has confirmed the board’s position, the statement said, adding that the effort was fully legal.

By Elias Hazou
The government said on Tuesday it would not agree to any process linking the issue of natural gas to peace talks.
“Any proposal to discuss the issue of hydrocarbons prior to a settlement cannot be accepted,” government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said.
“The natural resources of the Republic belong to the state and it goes without saying, as it has been repeatedly affirmed, that following a settlement of the Cyprus issue the Turkish Cypriots will enjoy the benefits arising from… these natural resources.”
While Turkish provocations inside the Exclusive Economic Zone continue, the Greek Cypriot side cannot take part in peace talks, Christodoulides added.
“It is clear,” Christodoulides said, “that the illegal actions of Turkey within the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic of Cyprus do not in any way intend to serve the interests of the Turkish Cypriots.”
He was speaking after a meeting between President Nicos Anastasiades and party leaders at the Presidential palace.
The purpose of the meeting was to devise a strategy aimed at foiling efforts to link hydrocarbons exploration to reunification talks.
Following the meeting, neither party leaders nor foreign minister Ioannis Kasoulides made comments to the press.
A new meeting between party leaders with the President has been scheduled for next Tuesday.
Speaking to the state broadcaster earlier in the day, the government spokesman said Nicosia rejects any effort at linking hydrocarbons to the peace talks process, including a formula floated by UN Special Adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide.
After the President broke off talks with the Turkish Cypriots, Eide proposed a twin-track process whereby an advisory panel would be set up to deal with technical aspects of managing natural gas and energy in a reunified island, parallel to the peace negotiations proper.
The bridging proposal was rejected by both sides; Turkish Cypriots had wanted natural gas to be incorporated directly into the talks, while Greek Cypriots dismissed outright any discussion of hydrocarbons prior to reunification.
It is not clear whether Eide will be pitching a new compromise arrangement when he arrives here next Monday.
According to the spokesman, if Nicosia did accept such proposals, then each time Turkey put forth a new demand it would despatch the Barbaros seismic research vessel into Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
From the government’s standpoint, Christodoulides said, “natural gas is the greatest incentive to Turkey to work toward a settlement of the Cyprus issue; any other formula would constitute a disincentive and the optimal scenario for those who are pushing for a Plan B.”
Urged by opposition parties to take a tough stance, Anastasiades has said he will not return to the negotiating table unless Turkey first cancels a marine advisory – issued last month – and withdraws its seismic research vessel from the EEZ.
Reports say that, confronted with a possible new proposal from the UN, the government will roll out a prior agreement, struck between President Demetris Christofias and former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, which provided for the two communities sharing in hydrocarbons revenues but only subsequent to a comprehensive settlement.
The war of words between Nicosia and Ankara meanwhile persisted, with Turkey’s foreign minister Ankara does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus nor the latter’s jurisdiction in the EEZ.
Turkey’s research ship, the Barbaros, is currently conducting surveys within the EEZ. The swathe reserved by Turkey for seismic surveys is adjacent to – but does not trespass into – offshore Block 9 where an Italian-Korean consortium is currently carrying out exploratory drilling for gas on behalf of Cyprus.

Cyprus is second in the EU when it comes to fatal road accidents that involve young people, Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou said on Tuesday at a seminar on road safety.
He said that 35.9 per cent of the people who died in road accidents this year were aged 25 or under.
So far in 2014, 39 deaths were recorded in 38 road accidents and 14 of the victims were aged between 14 and 25.
“These unpleasant statistics make the general mobilisation of society necessary in our struggle to educate current and especially young drivers,” Nicolaou said.
He said that according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) road accidents are estimated to be the third largest cause of death by 2020 and that the government is determined to drastically reduce them by adopting the European goal of a 50 per cent reduction of victims by 2020.
“The complexity of the problem of road accidents and its social dimension dictate collective efforts and the involvement of all social carriers so that the desired results are achieved,” Nicolaou said.
He urged every driver to reflect on the consequences of reckless driving and set a good example to new drivers.
In July alone, seven people died in a week from different road accidents including two 20 year-olds and two teenagers.

A 72-year-old British man has been remanded in custody for six days in connection with sexually abusing a minor over three decades ago in the UK.

The man, who lives in Tremithousa, Paphos, was arrested on Tuesday night on a European arrest warrant issued by British authorities.

He will remain in custody while authorities consider an extradition request.

He is wanted for sexual offenses against a minor, allegedly perpetrated in Britain between 1979 and 1986.

No more information was immediately available.

By Rupam Jain Nair

Indian police on Wednesday deployed water cannon and a baton charge in storming the hermitage of a self-styled religious leader who is resisting arrest for murder, discovering six bodies in an operation to evacuate thousands of his followers.

Police brought out 10,000 people, many held against their will, from the hermitage of Satguru Rampalji Maharaj, a controversial guru who is based in Haryana, 170 km northwest of the capital New Delhi.

Thousands were still holed up in the sprawling compound, which suffered huge damage after police breached a human chain of men, women and children in a bid to arrest the 63-year-old Rampal.

“The godman was using his devotees as a human shield,” senior police officer S.N. Vashist told reporters.

Police officials said the bodies of five women and one infant had been found. There were no bullet marks or injuries on the dead and they did not die in the rescue. Their bodies will be sent for postmortem examinations.

Tensions rose last week after a judge ordered Rampal’s arrest over a 2006 murder case, in which he is accused of telling supporters to open fire on villagers, killing one and injuring six.

The guru has ignored more than 40 summons to go to court. His followers had said he was not in the 12-acre (5-hectare) walled compound, but receiving medical treatment at an undisclosed location.

Rampal heads a sect that worships the 15th-century poet and mystic Kabir, who is known for a message of tolerance that is followed by people of varied faiths.

Some of those evacuated told police they had been held against their will for days, and given little food or water.

“We are trying to restrain the use of force because we know that many followers are being compelled to fight by Rampal,” said Vashist. “He is trying to avoid arrest in every possible way.”

The foreign ministry on Wednesday condemned an attack in a Jerusalem synagogue that left five people dead and seven more injured.

In a statement, the ministry said it “strongly condemns yesterday’s (Tuesday’s )attack, during prayer, in a place of worship in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem” and deplored “the loss of life of five innocent victims and injury to seven others.”

“We express our condolences to the grieving families along with our wishes for a speedy recovery for those injured in this attack,” the statement said, adding that “it is imperative that all places of worship be safeguarded and left outside any possible conflicts.”

Two Palestinian men attacked the West Jerusalem synagogue with a gun and meat cleavers before being shot dead.

Jerusalem has seen weeks of unrest, partly fuelled by tension over a disputed holy site.

By Gustavo Palencia

A Honduran beauty queen has been found murdered just days before she was due to compete in the Miss World pageant in London, police said on Wednesday.

The bodies of Maria Jose Alvarado, 19, and her sister Sofia, 23, were found buried near a river in the mountainous region of Santa Barbara in western Honduras, said Leandro Osorio, head of the criminal investigation unit.

Alvarado, a student who aspired to become a career diplomat, had been due to take part in the Miss World events that start on Thursday and culminate in the final in London on Dec. 14.

She and her sister had been missing since Thursday, when they were seen leaving a party in a car without a license plate in Santa Barbara, a coffee-growing region where drug gangs are active.

“I can confirm that the Alvarado sisters were found … We also have the murder weapon and the vehicle in which they were transported to the site where they were buried,” Osorio told local television.

Interior Minister Arturo Corrales told Honduran media that Plutarco Ruiz, the boyfriend of the beauty queen’s sister, was responsible for the crime. Police arrested Ruiz and another man on Tuesday, confiscating two pistols and their pick-up truck.

Honduras is the world’s most violent country with a murder rate above 90 people per 100,000.

Drug cartels use Honduras as a staging post for US-bound cocaine from South America, aggravating violence in the impoverished Central American nation that has helped spark a surge in illegal immigration to the United States.

Last April, Alvarado was crowned Miss Honduras World 2014, beating 18 other contestants to the top spot. She could not live without lip gloss or the Web site Wikipedia.org according to her official bio on the Miss World competition page.

The daughter of a lower middle class family from Santa Barbara, Alvarado had worked as a model for local department stores.

Julia Morley, chairman of the Miss World Organisation, which began in the United Kingdom in the 1950s, said the group was “devastated by this terrible loss of two young women, who were so full of life.”

The organization would say prayers for the dead women in a service on Sunday and hold a fundraiser to donate money for a children’s home in Honduras chosen by their mother, she added.

By Toby Davis

Critically injured French Formula One driver Jules Bianchi is no longer in an artificial coma but remains unconscious, his family said in a statement on Wednesday.

Bianchi, who suffered the most serious F1 race injury since Ayrton Senna died in 1994 when he crashed into a recovery tractor in the wet at the Japanese Grand Prix on October 5, has been transferred from Yokkaichi to a hospital in Nice.

“Almost seven weeks after Jules’ accident at Suzuka Circuit, and following a challenging period of neurological intensive care, we are able to announce that Jules has made an important step,” the statement read.

“Jules is no longer in the artificial coma in which he was placed shortly after the accident, however he is still unconscious. He is breathing unaided and his vital signs are stable, but his condition is still classified as ‘critical’.”

The family said the driver’s recovery had entered a new phase concerned with “the improvement of his brain function” and his condition had improved sufficiently for him to be transferred back to France, where he arrived on Wednesday.

“We are thankful that the next phase of Jules’ treatment can continue close to home, where he can be surrounded and supported by his wider family and friends,” the statement added.

“We have nothing but praise for the outstanding care provided by the Mie Prefectural General Medical Centre since the accident. We owe the medical staff there an enormous debt of gratitude for everything they have done for Jules, and also for our family, during what is a very difficult time for us.

By Mark Lamport-Stokes
Tiger Woods has lashed out at veteran golf writer Dan Jenkins for penning a fake satirical interview with the 14-time major winner, describing the parody as “a grudge-fueled piece of character assassination”.
Jenkins, who was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011, wrote the piece for Golf Digest and among various topics he took aim at Woods’ reputation as a bad tipper, his failed marriage and his six-year title drought in the majors.
Woods has rarely taken exception to negative articles previously but he responded in a column on Derek Jeter’s website, The Players Tribune (www.theplayerstribune.com) this week.
“Did you read Dan Jenkins’ interview with me in the latest Golf Digest? I hope not. Because it wasn’t me,” Woods wrote in a piece entitled ‘Not True, Not Funny”.
“It was some jerk he created to pretend he was talking to me. That’s right, Jenkins faked an interview, which fails as parody, and is really more like a grudge-fueled piece of character assassination.
“Journalistically and ethically, can you sink any lower?”
Woods went on to say he felt he had a good sense of humour and was “more than willing” to laugh at himself.
“In this game, you have to,” he wrote. “I’ve given lots of interviews to journalists in all that time, more than I could count, and some have been good and some not so much.
“All athletes know that we will be under scrutiny from the media. But this concocted article was below the belt,” said Woods, who has not played since his missed cut at the PGA Championship in August as he recovers from a back injury.
Jenkins wrote his comments in a column titled ‘My (Fake) Interview With Tiger’, followed by an asterisk and the sub-title: ‘Or how it plays out in my mind’.
In the article, the 84-year-old Jenkins ‘questioned’ Woods on the car crash in late 2009 that led to revelations about his multiple extra-marital affairs and the break-up of his marriage.
Q. You haven’t talked about it, but after all of those New York Post front pages during the scandal, what’s the moral of your story?
A. That’s easy. Don’t get caught.
Q. You named your yacht Privacy. Because you’re a worldwide celebrity, do you really expect and demand privacy?
A. I thought about renaming it Serenity, but that pretty much went out the door when the nine-iron hit the window of the Escalade.
After Woods had published his response, Jenkins tweeted: “My next column for Tiger: defining parody and satire. I thought I let him off easy.”

By Constantinos Psillides

LARNACA District Court remanded two men for two days in custody on Wednesday, in connection with the murder of 22-year old British Cypriot Michael Minas Loizou.

The British Cypriot was stabbed in the neck outside his apartment in the Makenzy area by a 17-year old, in the early hours of Sunday. The two had personal differences and the teenager had been dating the victim’s former girlfriend.

The 17-year old is in custody and has already admitted to the crime, leading police to the murder weapon, a 12cm special forces knife. He maintains that he killed the victim in self-defence, telling police that Loizou called him and arranged for a meeting so they could settle their differences. The 17-year old told investigators that the victim also pulled a knife on him and that he was only defending himself.

The two arrested men, a 27-year old and a 34-year old, admitted to being with the alleged attacker at the time of the murder.

While the 34-year old admitted to knowing the teenager, he had initially told investigators that they weren’t together on the night of the murder.

His statement was contradicted by the 27-year old, who police arrested following reports that he was seen driving the 17-year old before the murder. The second suspect told investigators that all three were together.
According to the police report, the 27-year old said that the three of them were at the older suspect’s house drinking beer and that the teenager had a knife with him. He said in his statement that the suspected murderer told them of the victim and how he wanted to track him down and “deal with him.” He added that both he and the 34-year old tried to calm him down and talk him out of meeting Loizou.

At around 3am all three got in the 27-year old’s car and went for a drive.

The teenager told them to parked in front of Loizou’s apartment. The 34-year old, according to his statement, stepped out of the car and sat on a bench while they waited for the victim to return home.

An hour later, Loizou drove into the parking lot and the teenager got out of the car to meet him. The 34-year old told investigators that he heard the young perpetartor calling out to the victim, saw him walking up to the 22-year old and slap him in the neck. “I thought it was a slap. That’s what it looked and sounded like to me. I left on foot, but I didn’t know that he had stabbed him,” he said, according to the police report.

The 34-year old left the area on foot while the teenager got into the car with the 27-year old and drove off.
The 27-year old told police that the first thing the 17-year old said when he entered the car was “let’s go, let’s go, cause I think I killed him.” The driver said that he argued with the suspect and that he initially told him to get out of the car, but in the end decided to drive off with him. They headed for the 34-year old’s house where the attacker got out and buried the knife.

He then called the 34-year old and told him that the 22-year old “had kicked the bucket” and begged him for help. They agreed to meet outside the Ayios Lazaros church in Larnaca where the 27-year old and the 34-year old decided not to tell police anything, unless they were caught.

Meanwhile, reports have surfaced highlighting the state’s inability to deal with delinquent criminals.

Daily Politis run a report yesterday saying that the mother of the alleged attacker had pleaded repeatedly to the police and the courts to lock her son up so he wouldn’t be out on the streets. The mother said that whenever she asked for her son to stay in jail she was told that due to his age he couldn’t be kept in custody.

Reports suggest that the teenage attacker had already spent four months in jail in July-October last year for car theft, while he also received a two-year suspended jail sentence for the same crime. He was to appear before court on November 17 and 18 and in January in relation to three other cases of car theft.

By George Psyllides

BANK of Cyprus (BoC) shareholders will vote on Thursday morning for a new board of directors, following a €1.0bn capital increase in the summer.

Out of the current board members, up for election will be the bank’s CEO John Patrick Hourican, deputy chairman of the board Vladimir Strzhalkovskiy, Ioannis Zografakis and Marios Kalohoritis.

Candidates nominated by the company’s stockholders are Josef Ackermann, Arne Berggren, Maksim Goldman, Christodoulos Patsalides, Mihalis Spanos and the bank’s major stockholder Wilbur Ross.

Zaharias Paleksas will also be a candidate for the board. His name was put forward by the association of former Laiki bank depositors (SYKALA).

The bank’s new board of directors will number more than seven people but no more than 13, in agreement with recent internal regulation changes.

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

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

The terms included closure of Laiki Bank, the island’s second biggest, and seizure of deposits over €100,000 to recapitalise BoC.

Moody’s ratings agency upgraded Bank of Cyprus’ long-term deposit ratings on Monday 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 the capital increase in August, BoC’s fully loaded Common Equity Tier 1 ratio increased to 15.1 per cent from 11.3 per cent in June.

By Angelos Anastasiou

THE board of semi-state Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) has decided to forward the case of procuring faulty electricity poles, the replacement of which ended up costing it a reported €10 million, to the Attorney General’s office to determine any criminal offences, the power company said on Thursday.

The faulty poles – 33,000 in number – were imported by the Authority between 2005 and 2008, but were later determined to not meet the specifications regarding the quality of the wood and the insulation.

In a statement, the EAC said in addition to forwarding the findings of an internal probe on the issue to the Attorney General, it would also forward a copy to Energy minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis for his consideration.

“The issue of the faulty poles, which was recently discussed by the EAC board and the House Watchdog committee, was examined during a board meeting on Tuesday,” the statement said.

“During the meeting, an administrative report prepared by the Authority’s executive director was studied and discussed,” it added.

The statement concluded that in addition to forwarding the report to the Attorney General and the Energy minister, the board ordered a disciplinary investigation against an EAC employee for his role in the order.

By Constantinos Psillides

THE Cyprus Airways (CY) pilots’ union PASYPI has added another name to its list demanding resignations, this time targeting Communications and Works minister Marios Demetriades.

Following a demand for the resignation of the CY board, the union now wants Demetriades to step down for bungling the process to find a strategic investor for the ailing airline.

PASYPI cites accusing Demetriades of “manipulating the process of finding a strategic investor and selling off the company’s assets, with the ulterior goal being to shut down the airline and sell it at a bargain price to competitors.”

Having been tasked with overseeing the process to finding an investor by evaluating bids by other airlines, the committee comprising Finance minister Harris Georgiades, Energy minister Giorgos Lakkotripis and Demetriades settled on two rival candidates, Aegan Air and Ryanair.

The union said the minister excluded “other interested parties based on ‘quality’ criteria and failed to adequately respond to a letter sent by the EU Commission on Competition, a failure aimed at raising the chances for a rejection from the EU Commission,” the union said.

CY is waiting on a Commission all-clear, regarding a €73m rescue package the company received in 2012, and a €31.3m capital increase in early 2013.

PASYPI also said that the minister ignored the advice of former presidential aviation adviser Christos Petrou, who resigned on Monday, who had claimed that Demetriades refused his advice on ways to save the airline.

Demetriades was also accused of keeping the company board in the dark and not trying hard enough to save the carrier, “as have other ministers in EU countries. They stood by their national carriers and had their state-aid approved.”