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Austria to close Saudi school for not naming teachers

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The Austrian government wants to make standardised German-language versions of the Koran mandatory

Austria is to close a Saudi school in Vienna for failing to provide the names of its teachers and director and is also looking into allegations that it used anti-Semitic books, Vienna’s school board said on Monday.

Austria’s government wants to push ahead with passing a law which prohibits foreign funding for Muslim organisations and would make standardised German-language versions of the Koran mandatory.

The law, which the government says is aimed at preventing Austrian organisations from turning into recruiting grounds for jihadis, applies to institutions such as mosques rather than schools.

But it set off a heated debate on the role of other Islamic organisations in Austria, where concerns about jihadist violence have helped the FPO, a party critical of Islam, attract a quarter of votes, according to opinion polls.

The Vienna Board of Education decided to revoke the Saudi School Vienna’s right to operate by the end of the school year next summer after it ignored a Dec. 1 deadline to name its teaching staff, a rule all private schools have to comply with, a spokesman said.

The school, which has 150 students and teaches in Arabic, has four weeks to appeal the shut-down and declined to comment on the decision.

The board, which says the school is funded by Saudi Arabia, has also asked it to provide official translations of texts after media reports alleged the school taught anti-Semitic content. The school declined to comment.

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Spreading the word of federation

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The launch of the movement on Sunday

By Constantinos Psillides

THE INAUGURATION of the Federal Cyprus Movement (FCM) on Sunday was a resounding success, according to one of the founding members Sotos Ktoris, who said that he hopes that the movement will foster a federal solution to the Cyprus problem.

More than 200 people, including former President George Vassiliou, were present at an outdoor site at Ayios Sozomenos village where FCM held its first meeting.

The FCM comprises Greek and Turkish Cypriots who consider the development of a “federal conscience” among all Cypriots a prerequisite to reaching a settlement.

According to Ktoris the movement’s aim is to spread the understanding of a federal state.

“We plan to move the debate away from urban centres. We will take it to the villages – each and every one of them – literally sit in the kafenedes and talk to people about federal issues over coffee.”

Long-term, the FCM plans to create an academy that will organise events and lectures on federal issues, with guests and members as speakers.

Ktoris made perfectly clear that FCM is not a political party and has no political aspirations.

“We are not here to get elected to any post. We are here to spread awareness of the benefits of the federal solution and to contribute in any way we can towards that solution,” explained Ktoris, promising a string of events to follow right after the holidays.

Ktoris told the Cyprus Mail that the public should consider a federal solution as a remedy to the island’s troubled past.

“A federal solution is the only way to patch up the wounds left by our troubled past, be it 1963 or 1974. This is the only way to move forward together,” said Ktoris.

 

 

 

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Anorthosis victory marred by racist chants, Othellos Athienou record first win

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pote

By Iacovos Constantinou

In the weekend’s first division football games Anorthosis came back from behind to defeat Omonia while Othellos Athienou recorded their first away win in the first division against Nea Salamina. AEL’s dismal season continued as they crashed to their fourth defeat of the season while Doxa overcame Ayia Napa.

Two second half goals were enough to give Anorthosis all three points against Omonia who had taken a first half lead through a superb strike by Economides. Laifis headed home the equalizer early on in the second half and Makris rolled the ball into an empty net eight minutes from time after a blunder by Omonia’s keeper Moreira.

Anorthosis win was marred by racist chants from a section of their fans towards the end of the game, directed against Omonia striker Pote. This is the second game (first being against APOEL a couple of weeks ago) that the French-born Beninese international was subjected to racial abuse.

Ethnikos Achnas bounced back from a two goal deficit to defeat AEL by 4-2 in a game that will be remembered by referee Masias’s controversial decision to send off AEL’s striker Kantou for a second bookable offence for diving. The score at the time was delicately poised at 2-2.

AEL’s president Andreas Sofokleous issued a statement lambasting the Cyprus Football and claiming that referees intentionally ‘alter’ results.

For the record AEL took the lead through Bebe and Ionitsa while Juninhio pulled one back before the break. With the restart Ethnikos equalized through Adanda and Walder gave them the lead (76th minute) before Adanda got his second, a couple of minutes from the end.

Doxa Katokopias recorded their second win of the season after they defeated fellow strugglers Ayia Napa by 1-0.

The only goal of the game came in the 31st minute through Ramos. The home side were the better side and fully deserved their win against a depleted (through injuries) Ayia Napa.

In the final weekend game Othellos Athienou created an upset by defeating Nea Salamina 1-0 with their rookie keeper Jacouris producing two excellent saves in the final minutes of the game to ensure all three points for Othellos.

The goal that decided the game was a bizarre own goal. In an attempt to clear the ball Salamina’s Leandro hit it straight at his teammate Tsindi and the ball nestled in the back of the net.

The quartet at the top of the table play against each other tonight at 7pm with the top two APOEL and Apollon at home to AEK and Ermis Aradippou respectively.

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Aristo lays off 50 in wake of bad publicity

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ARISTO CASE

By George Psyllides

ARISTO DEVELOPERS on Monday blamed the dismissal of 50 workers mainly on the company’s legal troubles relating to a suspicious land zoning case that saw its owner charged, along with his wife and two others.

The company said it had tried to preserve jobs in the hope that its sales would recover. But it was impossible to do in the near future because the “unprecedented and unjust accusations and actions” have partially achieved their objective, dealing a serious blow to the status and reliability of the company.

Aristo Developers boss Theodoros Aristodemou, his wife and head of design Roulla, draftsman Christos Solomonides, and former municipal employee Savvas Savva had been charged in connection with suspected land-demarcation fraud case in Skali, Paphos.

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

The company spoke of minds who did not hesitate to smear, in the worse way, the “dignity of our society’s benefactors and pillars of the country’s economic development; neither did they hesitate in sacrificing the livelihood of tens of families who are inevitably led to unemployment.”

The company said because of the economic crisis in general and the legal trouble in particular, the company’s revenues fell considerably and despite its financial soundness, its operations shrank significantly.

The company said it was saddened to lay off staff and vowed to fight to turn the situation around.

“Despite the adverse conditions our company is going through, it will continue its course to new successes and we are certain that justice will prevail,” the company said.

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Financial sector workers earn more than double average salary

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By Eleni Courea

FINANCIAL and insurance sector workers in Cyprus earn more than double employees in other sectors make, the EU’s statistical agency, Eurostat, said on Monday.

According to Eurostat, employees in these two sectors earn 106 per cent more than the national average wage in Cyprus which stands at €16.80 per hour.

A similar pattern is observed in Portugal (+167 per cent), Romania (+136 per cent), Latvia (+113 per cent), and Hungary (+110 per cent).

On the other hand, those employed in the European (EU28) tourism and food industries earn around 25 per cent less than the national average.

In Cyprus, the hourly wage for employees in these two sectors is 48 per cent less.

Cyprus is matched only by Ireland and Germany, where employees in the tourism and food industries are paid 49 per cent and 47 per cent less than average respectively.

The Eurostat report said that in 2014, the average wage across all sectors in the EU28 economies stood at €24.20 per hour, while employees in the euro area were paid significantly more at €29.30.

In Cyprus however, the average employee is paid €16.80 per hour.

The highest-paid Europeans are the Danish (€40.10 per hour), the Belgians (€38.00), and the Swedes (€37.30). At the lower end are the Lithuanians (€5.90), the Romanians (€4.10), and the Bulgarians with €3.40 per hour.

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Wanted in connection with armed robbery

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wanted_man

POLICE issued a wanted bulletin on Monday for a man in connection with an armed robbery that took place at a supermarket in the Nicosia district on Sunday at 7.00pm.

According to the police, the man is 1,70 in height, medium build, aged between 30 to 35 and was wearing black jeans, black jacket and a black baseball cap when he committed the robbery.

Police requests anyone who has information on the man’s whereabouts to contact authorities at the toll-free number 1460.

 

 

 

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Two sentenced for Mari released from jail

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Former Defence Minister Costas Papacostas has not spent one night behind bars

By Constantinos Psillides

FORMER fire service chief Andreas Nicolaou and deputy chief Charalambos Charalambous – both convicted for the 2011 Mari naval base explosion – were sent home on Monday.

The men will wear ankle bracelets until the end of their sentence on February 14. They are allowed to go to their jobs and their homes. The ankle bracelets are equipped with a GPS locator and an alarm that goes off if anyone tries to tamper with it or steps out of the pre-assigned perimeter.

Charalambous and Nicolaou were both handed down two year jail sentences in 2013 for reckless and dangerous acts that lead to the death of 13 people in the Mari explosion on July 2011. The island’s largest power station was severely damaged in the blast.

The explosion was caused by nearly 100 munitions containers that were left to boil under the sun at the naval base for two years until the munitions eventually exploded, killing seven sailors and six firemen who were trying to put out the fires that broke out at the storage site.

A third former officer, commander of the disaster response team EMAK Andreas Loizides, refused to wear an ankle bracelet and has opted to return to jail every night after work up to the time he will be officially released.

Former Defence Minister Costas Papacostas – who was sentenced to five years in jail for manslaughter – hasn’t served a day behind bars. He being is held at the Nicosia General Hospital where he remains in reportedly bad health. Former Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou was acquitted of all charges.

Both the convicts and the attorney-general’s office have appealed the sentences, the first claiming that were victimised while the latter demanding harsher sentencing.

 

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Larnaca still reeling from weekend floods (Updated)

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Municipal crews at work trying to clear up the thick layers of mud left behind by the weekend floods

By Evie Andreou

THOSE hit by the Larnaca floods over the weekend will be compensated before the end of the year the Interior Minister Socratis Hasikos said on Monday.

Hasikos said that his ministry would first concentrate on supporting everyone affected and then they would investigate what went wrong.

Poor town planning which allowed houses to be built by rivers, and the failure to build a proper sewerage system have been blamed for the extent of the flooding caused by the weekend’s heavy rains.

Since early yesterday morning, Larnaca and Aradippou municipal crews have been working at full speed to clean the mud from the homes of 15 families that were forced to flee and are temporarily staying in hotels arranged by the authorities. Around 60 people were staying in hotels Hasikos said.

Damage for each of the affected families could amount to thousands of euros as they were left with no furniture, clothes, appliances, food and in many cases cars. To make things worse some families have reported that furniture or appliances put outside to dry had been stolen.

Lisa Kemidji, spokeswoman of the fire service said they received more than 200 calls for help, even after the weather conditions improved, mainly to pump water from flooded houses and basements.

According to Larnaca mayor Andreas Louroudjiatis around 100 houses and business establishments have been flooded in Larnaca and 50 in Aradippou.

He added that many people sought refuge at the houses of relatives and that municipal crews have been trying to clean buildings and roads from the thick layer of mud that the flood left behind.

The heavy rain flooded the river Tremythos in the area of Kalo Chorio, which in its turn flooded the nearby streets, houses and other establishments and carried away cars in some cases with people in them.

According to police reports, around 20 people, including children, were rescued from cars that were trapped in the water.

Officials admitted that the most affected areas, especially Kamares and other areas in Aradippou, have faced the same problem in the past, but not as bad.

“It was a problem that existed in the area, it was manageable, but the volume of rainfall created a situation that was out of control and what we must check is whether there was bad planning,” Louroudjiatis said.

Aradippou mayor Evangelos Evangelides said that the municipality does not have the budget to upgrade the sewage system.

“It costs more than €20m just for the sewage system required to solve the problem,” Evangelides said.

“Residents are not to blame for the poor planning on behalf of the relevant state services,” said Hasikos after visiting the most affected areas on Sunday.

He said that the authorities should either never have given out building permits to houses that had been built too close to the river or should have implemented measures to protect the houses.

The town’s land registry was also flooded it will temporarily provide services through the Famagusta land registry, located right next door.

Hasikos said that crews of the Larnaca district office will register damages until this afternoon and when a report is prepared by his ministry they will submit the budget to the Cabinet for approval.

Wider town planning is also to blame, Hasikos said, but said that responsibility might also lie with the lack of a sewage system and with municipalities that provided building permits.

“Everything will be shown in a clear way, after an investigation starting from today on behalf of the interior ministry,” Hasikos said.

The Larnaca and Aradippou municipalities also called a meeting yesterday with the fire service, electromechanical service, district office, civil defence and sewage board to discuss preventive measures to avoid recurrence of the flooding.

The Larnaca food bank is already collecting electric appliances and furniture to give to the people affected by the flood, while a help line was created – 7000 0011 – for those in need of help and for those that wish to help. An account was also set up at the Famagusta Co-op Bank – 300-34-4004770-2 – for donations for the flood-stricken, while Petrolina company donated €20,000.

Despite this week’s heavy rainfall, the water level in the dams is still low said Andreas Manolis, deputy of the water development department.

He said that the water level is half of what it was during the same period last year.

“It rained in the wrong places,” Manolis said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Three dead in Sydney hostage siege as police storm cafe

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Paramedics remove a hostage with bloodstains on the blankets on a stretcher from the Lindt cafe, where hostages were being held, at Martin Place in central Sydney

By Lincoln Feast and Colin Packham

Australian security forces opened fire on Tuesday as they stormed the Sydney cafe where several hostages were being held at gunpoint, in a dramatic end to a standoff that had dragged on for more than 16 hours.

Media said that three people, including the gunman, had been killed.

Heavy gunfire and loud bangs from stun grenades filled the air shortly after 2 a.m. local time.

Moments earlier at least six people believed to have been held captive managed to flee the scene after several loud bangs were heard coming from the cafe.

Medics were seen trying to resuscitate one person after the raid and took away several injured people on stretchers, said a Reuters witness at the scene in downtown Sydney.

The operation began shortly after a police source named the gunman as Man Haron Monis, an Iranian refugee and self-styled sheikh facing multiple charges of sexual assault, as well as being an accessory to murder.

He was also found guilty in 2012 of sending offensive and threatening letters to families of eight Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan, as a protest against Australia’s involvement in the conflict.

Although he was well known to the authorities, security experts said preventing attacks by people acting alone could still be difficult.

“Today’s crisis throws into sharp relief the dangers of lone wolf terrorism,” said Cornell University law professor Jens David Ohlin, speaking in New York.

“There are two areas of concern. The first is ISIS (Islamic State) fighters with foreign passports who return to their home countries to commit acts of terrorism.

“The second is ISIS sympathisers radicalised on the internet who take it upon themselves to commit terrorist attacks to fulfil their radical ideology.

“We are entering a new phase of terrorism that is far more dangerous, and more difficult to defeat, than al Qaeda ever was.”

During the siege, hostages had been forced to display an Islamic flag, igniting fears of a jihadist attack.

News footage showed hostages holding up a black and white flag displaying the Shahada – a testament to the faith of Muslims. The flag has been popular among Sunni Islamist militant groups such as Islamic State and al Qaeda.

The incident forced the evacuation of nearby buildings and sent shockwaves around a country where many people were turning their attention to the Christmas holiday following earlier security scares.

In September, anti-terrorism police said they had thwarted an imminent threat to behead a random member of the public and days later, a teenager in Melbourne was shot dead after attacking two anti-terrorism officers with a knife.

The siege cafe is in Martin Place, a pedestrian strip popular with workers on a lunch break, which was revealed as a potential location for the thwarted beheading.

In the biggest security operation in Sydney since a bombing at the Hilton Hotel killed two people in 1978, major banks closed their offices in the central business district and people were told to avoid the area.

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DIKO will vote for budget

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Finance Minister Harris Georgiades in heated discussion with deputies at the House

By George Psyllides

PARLIAMENT is expected to approve the state budget by majority vote on Tuesday after former government partner DIKO said it will vote in favour, despite slamming the government’s economic policy.

“Conscious of its responsibility towards the country and our people, and taking into account that any default in payments would not solve our problems but make them worse, the Democratic Party (DIKO) will vote in favour of the 2015 budget,” party chairman Nicolas Papadopoulos said in his speech in parliament.

Papadopoulos, who led his party to abandon the government coalition early this year, has since become a vociferous critic of government economic policy.

“What is important to us is the stability and credibility of our state,” he said. “However, this does not mean we agree with the philosophy of the budget.”

The DIKO leader said the draft was not a “stabilisation budget” as the finance minister had described it in his speech. “We see that it is a budget of stagnation.”

He agreed with the finance minister that growth with borrowed money was not real growth and the island should never go back to excessive borrowing, profligacy, and loss of credibility.

“We agree that borrowing is not the solution. But what solution is the current government proposing for the development of the Cypriot economy?” he asked.

Papadopoulos charged that Cyprus has not seen any investment and there were no incentives for growth.

Public sector reforms were also nowhere to be seen, he said.

He said DIKO’s philosophy was that Cyprus must ask for changes to the bailout terms and towards this the party has opened a dialogue with other parties to draft a national negotiation framework with the island’s minimum demands.

Ruling DISY leader Averof Neophytou sought to reach out to scandal-weary voters, saying his party was ready to clash with the establishment.

“We are in the front line in the battle with the establishment and the mentality of bygone eras,” Neophytou said. “We are ready to shoulder any political cost as long as we secure our country’s future and prospects.”

Neophytou said the 2015 budget would keep Cyprus on the course of restoring its credibility “provided we carry on with the reforms without wavering”.

However, Neophytou acknowledged that the problems of the real economy continued and at the same time institutions were called into question.

“There is total distrust towards the political system. With the bell tolling loudly for everyone, anyone pretending they cannot hear it is committing a crime by turning a blind eye,” he said.

Neophytou said Cyprus should come out of the crisis not only with a better state and a credible economy but also with a democracy of better quality.

“It is now the moment we turned the page. From managing the crisis, which almost destroyed the country, it is the time to enter the new era of creation.”

Averof recognised that his party had also made mistakes but the decision was to rectify them.

“For us, the path of radical change is a one way street. Growth, the country’s strategic direction for tomorrow, is not the job of the (bailout) memorandum. It is our job, the Cypriots’.”

Main opposition AKEL said it will vote against the budget because it only included implementation of the anti-popular objectives of the international lenders and the government.

Andros Kyprianou, the leader of the party that sought the bailout in 2012, called on the government to stop mocking the people with PR spiel.

“The practical relevance are the 66,000 jobless. The thousands of small and medium businesses that closed and those on the brink; 13,000 pupils expecting food from school; 12,500 families who did not celebrate Christmas last year and will not do so this year either,” Kyprianou said.

“And worse of all, there is no effort to assess the effects of the austerity measures on society.”

Kyprianou said the drop in disposable income and the effect of austerity on expectations have led to a significant drop in public and private investment.

“The lack of adequate tools for growth and the insecure production basis show that the prospects for the future are limited.”

Nominally socialists EDEK will also vote against the budget except for defence expenditure.

MP Giorgos Varnava said the party will reject the draft, emphasising the need for resistance to international lenders.

“Our only exit from the economic recession is not the faithful implementation of austerity measures but the course to economic and social growth,” Varnava said,

 

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High school students stage walk out

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students

By Evie Andreou

Any student who abstains from classes will receive an unauthorised absence the education ministry said on Tuesday as secondary school students refused to go to class for one period.

The walk out, lead by student body PSEM, is the first step demanding further aid measures for students of state schools.

PSEM said in an announcement that despite state school being free the cost for each student averages at around €2,500 to €3,000 per year, taking in the cost of school meals, enrolment fees, examination fees, clothing, stationary, participation in field trips, private lessons and bus fares.

“We demand the obvious, which is free education and the minister’s answer was not as helpful as his announcement says,” said PSEM leader Loizos Kyriakides said.

He added that even though PSEM met education minister Costas Kadis two weeks ago and presented him with five proposals on the reduction of costs for all students, they were told there was not much he could do and have received no formal answer to their demands.

One of their demands is the reduction of the €50 enrolment fee for students paid each year.

On Tuesday the ministry called the abandonment of lessons unnecessary and said that improvements of the educational system will not come through absence but through active participation.

“By calling students to abstain from their classes with the justification of the high cost parents face for their children’s schooling, PSEM shows that they ignore the measures the education ministry has implemented for the support of vulnerable groups,” a ministry announcement said.

“What we said was that we will look into their proposals but we look into the implementation of some measures targeted and not as a whole; the measures will cover the needs of the truly vulnerable groups of the population,” Kadis said.

He said the move was inexcusable especially in a period when his ministry is making huge efforts so that all needy students receive free schooling and they also managed to offer these students, among others, free transportation to school.

The measure was not supported by all students however, as DISY’s student organisation Mathitiki Kinisi (MAKI) announced that they would not participate in the demonstration, which they said serves micro-political interests and even though it was announced by PSEM, it was not decided by any of its collective bodies.

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Nicosia children given ‘packages of love’

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Nicosia mayor Constantinos Yiorkadjis (second left) and other members of the municipal council

By Eleni Courea

600 Christmas ‘packages of love’ were given to needy primary school students in Nicosia on Tuesday, distributed by mayor Constantinos Yiorkadjis and members of the municipal council.

These ‘packages of love’ contain shopping vouchers from a Nicosia supermarket, for food for Christmas and New Year’s Day dining table. The supermarket’s provision of vouchers comes after a donation by the Lefkosiazo network of volunteers and from the Nicosia Municipality.

They also include entry coupons to the Christmas Wonderland operating during the holiday season in the Costanza moat and free tickets for the whole family to a children’s production of Aladdin at the Maskarini Theatre.

At the event on Tuesday, the mayor emphasised that local government and civil society rely on private and voluntary initiatives and support to continue implementing social welfare policy.

“Unfortunately, during the past two years the number of needy students at primary schools in the Nicosia municipality has doubled, reaching 600 in 2014,” Yiorkadjis said. However, he said “despite the financial difficulties it has experienced, the municipality secured the money to cover the needs of all 540 students last year.”

He said the municipality’s budget of €6,000 did not cover providing packages for all needy children, but was matched by €6,000 from Lefkosiazo, which meant all their families could be given some relief over the Christmas and New Year holidays.

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Special advisor back for talks meetings

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By Elias Hazou

The UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide is back on the island, where he is scheduled to meet separately with the chief negotiators of the two communities.

The Norwegian diplomat, who arrived here on Tuesday, will on Wednesday hold separate meetings with Andreas Mavroyiannis and Ergun Olgun. He will leave the same day.

On Tuesday evening Eide is to host the annual UN Good Offices Mission in Cyprus reception.

Reports say that Eide’s visit will be mostly routine, with the UN official spending most of his time in discussions with the UN team in Cyprus.

The purpose of the visit is to take stock of the current situation in the Cyprus peace process, already faltering when President Nicos Anastasiades walked out of the talks two months ago.

Anastasiades was reacting to Turkey’s move to dispatch a seismic survey vessel to conduct exploration within the Republic’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) on behalf of the Turkish Cypriots.

During his last visit to Cyprus at the end of November, when he saw the leaders of both communities, Eide failed to get the talks process back on track.

The UN official got the cold shoulder from both communities, which rejected his bridging proposal for getting the talks restarted.

His proposal involved setting up a panel of experts from the two sides to discuss such issues as management of hydrocarbons and pollution, after a settlement. The Greek Cypriots rejected it outright, the Turkish Cypriot side said it did not go far enough.

An idea floated by Turkey’s foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to visit the island in a bid to help reboot peace negotiations between the communities has been roundly rebuffed by the Greek Cypriot political leadership, after Cavusoglu proposed to visit both parts of the island.

In comments on Tuesday in Turkey, Cavusoglu said Ankara wanted negotiations to resume, provided that the rights of Turkish Cypriots on the island’s natural resources – hydrocarbons – are guaranteed.

“During our meeting with [Greek foreign minister Evangelos] Venizelos, we said we would take the necessary steps, on condition that Turkish Cypriots’ rights are placed under guarantee and negotiations will continue.

“We hope these efforts will yield results,” he added.

Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu has meanwhile made public a letter he addressed to the UN Secretary-General, in which he accused President Anastasiades of abandoning the talks because the talks were about to enter the “give-and-take” phase.

The activities of the Turkish vessel Barbaros were only a pretext for Anastasiades to walk out, Eroglu claimed.

Anastasiades himself will not be in a position to resume his official duties anytime soon, as he is convalescing from heart surgery. He is due back to the island next week.

On Tuesday the President received at the New York hotel he is staying Victoria Nuland, the US assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs.
On Wednesday Anastasiades will see UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

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Waterlogged documents to be put in deep freeze

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larnaca documents

By Evie Andreou

To prevent the ink from running, all documents of the Larnaca land registry that were found under water during the catastrophic rainfall at the weekend will be put in the deep freeze.

Interior minister Socratis Hasikos said the documents are to be frozen, after advice from experts.
“It is a way to protect documents, we were told,” Hasikos said.

Reportedly, after a few days, the temperature will be gradually increased until it reaches environment temperatures.

Larnaca Deputy District officer Odysseas Hadjistephanou said that starting on Monday and continuing throughout Tuesday the documents were transferred by truck to Limassol where they will be stored in freezers, according to reports, an ice production company.

The documents, that were stored in the basement’s archives, were retrieved by employees of the land registry who rushed to the building during the storm when the alarm went off, due to the influx of water.

Hasikos had said on Monday that until damage is restored, the public will be served through the Famagusta land registry offices that are right next door.

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First candidate announced for Paphos mayor

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Municipal councillor Andreas Chrysanthou

By Angelos Anastasiou

The European Party’s (EVROKO) Paphos municipal councillor Andreas Chrysanthou on Tuesday announced his independent candidacy for Paphos mayor.

The post was vacated earlier this month after mayor Savvas Vergas resigned while in police custody pending investigation into four cases of alleged abuse of power and financial wrongdoing.

Following Vergas’ resignation, interior minister Sokratis Hasikos announced that mayoral elections would be held on January 11, with candidacies to be submitted by year end.

“The decision wasn’t an easy one to make,” Chrysanthou said in his statement. “But I wanted to give my fellow citizens a non-partisan option.”

With the exception of the Citizens’ Alliance, political parties have thus far shied from backing candidates from their ranks, in response to public dismay at revelations implicating officials from all major parties in alleged corruption.

“I can’t promise much,” Chrysanthou added. “What I can promise, while looking my fellow citizens in the eye, is that I will work hard, honestly and selflessly, as I have as municipal councillor over the last three years for the good of the city.

“The challenges facing us are daunting, but with an extrovert outlook, tolerance, respect towards citizens and a joint effort by all councillors, we can make it.”

Chrysanthou also said that, never one to shy from a fight, he has always been in the frontline, and called on citizens to vote for him for a better Paphos.

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Greek PM Samaras asks for support as key vote nears

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Greece's Prime Minister Antonis Samaras delivers a speech during an event of the Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Enterpreneurship in Athens

By George Georgiopoulos and Lefteris Papadimas

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras begged the Greek parliament on Tuesday not to throw away sacrifices made to keep the country solvent, a day before deputies begin a vote that could force a snap election and reignite financial crisis.

The remarks follow warnings by European and Greek officials of dire consequences if Samaras loses the vote to elect a new president, prompting early elections by February that could topple his coalition government.

“Greeks demand that we fight united, to safeguard everything we achieved with bloody sacrifices in the last few years, and lead them safely to finally exit the crisis,” Samaras said in a statement.

The left-wing Syriza party, which wants to scrap the unpopular bailout package run by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, has accused both the Commission and Samaras of scare-mongering.

Syriza is ahead in the opinion polls but its lead has narrowed as the vote nears and brings closer the prospect of a showdown with the country’s creditors.

Greece has begun to turn the corner after six years of recession and has resumed some borrowing on financial markets but with its economy crushed by the crisis, it still needs the support of European partners to cover all its funding needs.

As tactical manoeuvring continued ahead of voting on Wednesday, several independent deputies, whose support will be crucial, refused to commit to supporting the government but said they would make a decision later.

Samaras has 155 deputies in the 300-member parliament and needs to secure the backing of at least 25 independents to secure the super-majority he needs to win the vote, which takes place in three separate rounds, ending on Dec. 29.

With voting intentions still uncertain, the result could turn on the decisions of a handful of seven or eight parliamentarians from the smaller parties.

The uncertainty has revived memories of the euro zone debt crisis. Financial markets, on edge over an array of threats ranging from the turbulence in Russia to ultra-low inflation, have sold off Greek stocks and bonds heavily in recent days.

The Bank of Greece raised its 2014 gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast to 0.7 per cent but said a return to steady growth was only possible if political parties cooperated.

Wednesday’s vote, which will be followed by a second round on Dec. 23, is not expected to produce a result but will be closely watched for signs of how many independents the government may be able to win over.

Samaras’ spokeswoman Sofia Voultepsi said the government was only concerned by the final result and was not looking at any interim targets, though other ruling party officials have suggested any result short of 160 votes would be seen as a setback.

European Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici avoided commenting on the political standoff during a visit to Athens but praised “impressive” strides made by the government.

“Greek people have suffered enough in the past four years. Now that their efforts are starting to pay off it is time to move on to the next phase,” he said.

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Flood hit Larnaca families to get cash handouts

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By Evie Andreou
All families affected by the weekend’s flood will be given €300 aid to cover basic needs the mayors of Aradippou and Larnaca announced on Tuesday.
Four days after the catastrophic storm that flooded the Kamares area of Larnaca and some areas of Aradippou, district and municipal crews assisted by the army and volunteers were on Tuesday still trying to clean streets and houses with the goal of getting all families who had to flee back home for Christmas.
“It seems however, that more hands are needed so there is a thought to employ unemployed people to help restore the damage,” Larnaca mayor Andreas Louroudjiatis said.
He added that his municipality will also rent 20 cars and give them to families whose cars have been destroyed to facilitate them until state aid arrives.
CyBC reported that after the retreat of the river water, erosion seems to threaten the foundations of some houses and that engineers were expected to evaluate the situation.
Interior minister Socratis Hasikos had said on Sunday that the state would compensate everyone whose property has been damaged by the flood before Christmas.
Deputy Larnaca district officer Odysseas Hadjistephanou said crews of the district office are recording the damage caused to every affected house while officers are evaluating data collected since Sunday to prepare a report that will be sent to the interior ministry as soon as possible.
Damage recording was to be completed by Tuesday afternoon, Hadjistephanou said.
Hasikos added that aid will also be given to residents of Kokkinotrimithia whose houses or shops were flooded during the storms that swept Nicosia early last week.
He said a meeting is to take place at his ministry on Wednesday with everyone involved, the Larnaca and Aradippou municipalities, district office, civil defence, and services of other ministries to discuss immediate measures that need to be taken to prevent such a phenomenon from recurring.
“The first decision will be the cleanup of the river so that water flows unobstructed and second, we have to build walls to avoid the possibility of overflow in the near future,” Hasikos said.
He added that these are quick fix solutions, until a discussion and investigation is made to find the exact causes that will lead to the solution of the problem once and for all.
In the case it is deemed necessary parliament will unanimously vote any complementary budget needed to secure the funds to compensate those affected, House president Yiannakis Omirou said during his visit in the area on Tuesday.
“Lessons should be learned; the town planning and planning regulations should respect the laws of nature because nature is relentless and revenges. Let this be a message to all of us, to all competent authorities and to any person responsible so that there is respect for the laws and rules of nature,” he added.

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Foreign minister welcomes EU report on Turkish accession

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Foreign minister Ioannis Kasoulides in Brussels yesterday with his Croatian counterpart Vesna Pusic

By Constantinos Psillides
Foreign minister Ioannis Kasoulides on Tuesday welcomed the conclusions in a report on enlargement approved by the EU General Affairs Council, saying that Cyprus –backed by Greece and Austria – succeeded in keeping eight chapters of the EU-Turkey accession talks frozen.
Following the Council’s meeting, Kasoulides referred reporters to chapter 23 of the report, which read that “Turkey, despite repeated calls, continues refusing to fulfil its obligation of full, non-discriminatory implementation of the Additional Protocol to the Association Agreement towards all Member States, the fulfilment of which could provide a significant boost to the negotiations process.”
The conclusion refers to Turkey’s continued refusal to recognise Cyprus as a state, despite being the country being a member-state of the EU. Recognising all EU states is a key requirement to entering the bloc, according to the provisions of the Association Agreement. This was further illustrated in another part of the conclusions report, which states that Turkey has not made progress towards the necessary normalisation of its relations with Cyprus.
The Council made clear in its report that recognising all member-states is a necessary component of the accession process and invited the EU Commission to closely monitor the situation in Cyprus. “On this basis, the Council will continue to closely follow and review progress made, in accordance with its relevant conclusions. The Council reiterates its call for progress without any further delay,” the report read.
As part of recognising Cyprus as a member-state of the EU, the General Affairs Council also asked Turkey to extend its readmission agreement signed with the EU to include the Republic, adding that “progress in the dialogue on visa liberalisation will be founded on a performance-based approach and conditioned on effective and consistent implementation by Turkey of the requirements in the visa roadmap”.
Kasoulides claimed that some within the Council wanted to unfreeze the chapters to send a message to all democratic people in Turkey. “I told them that as a European I disagreed with that assessment since the country’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will present it as a personal victory through the media he controls, which coincidentally are the only ones left in Turkey”.
The General Affairs Council also noted that it expects Turkey to actively support negotiations “aimed at a fair, comprehensive and viable settlement of the Cyprus problem within the UN framework, in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and in line with the principles on which the Union is founded. Turkey’s commitment and contribution in concrete terms to such a comprehensive settlement is crucial. Under the current circumstances, the Council considers it more important than ever to ensure a positive climate so that negotiations for a comprehensive Cyprus settlement can resume.”
President Nicos Anastasiades withdrew from the negotiations in October following the dispatch of the Turkish research vessel Barbaros to conduct seismic surveys in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone.

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Green Dot launches awareness campaign to boost recycling

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By Marie Kambas

Green Dot Cyprus launched an awareness campaign on Tuesday to convince Cypriots to recycle more and consume less to lose the unflattering title of being one of the European Union’s top waste producing countries.

Eurostat data says the average Cypriot produces almost 2 kilos of rubbish per day, or 663 kilos per year.

The problem is magnified by the fact that 80 per cent of solid waste is disposed of in unlicensed dumps or landfills, with very little recycling available, Artemis Palaiogianni-Bellou, communications officer for Green Dot Cyprus, said.

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Cyprus parliament approves 2015 budget (updated)

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By Angelos Anastasiou

After a marathon House session, the 2015 government budget was passed on Tuesday, with 29 votes in favour and 26 against.

Ruling DISY’s 20 deputies, former coalition partners DIKO’s eight and EVROKO’s single vote were enough to inch the budget through. Opposition AKEL, EDEK, the Greens and the Citizens’ Alliance voted against it with the exception of the funds allocated for defence, while independent Zacharias Koulias opposed it with the exception of funds allocated for defence, refugees and social welfare.

The vote was preceded by a speech from each deputy, some dominated by reflections on the state of the economy but often veering into topics completely unrelated to the budget – like the Cyprus problem, recently exposed cases of corruption, and alleged collusions between parties.

Predictably, DISY deputies openly supported arguing for the necessity of financial prudence and austerity while opposition deputies blasted the budget’s meagre growth prospects and questioned the government’s intentions.

“A negative impact of economic hardship on the government budget is understandable. What is not understandable is the government’s refusal to create even rudimentary growth prospects, insisting on harsh austerity instead,” charged AKEL’s Aristos Damianou.

“The bitter truth is that we went bankrupt, and if we haven’t realised it then we have a problem,” countered DISY’s Marios Mavrides. “A balanced budget is not an option but a necessity. When a country follows the rule of balancing its budget, it can’t go bankrupt.”

“As wrong as running high fiscal deficits is in boom times, it is equally wrong to cut deficits in slump times. For each percentage point shaved off the deficit, the economy and employment shrink by one point. Not only does austerity solve the problem, it exacerbates it,” argued AKEL’s Pambos Papageorgiou.

FRONT“This budget is one of correction, and in order to restore growth the economy must first be corrected. There is a deficit in the 2015 budget – small, but still a deficit – and we need to stay the course of correction,” DISY’s Prodromos Prodromou said.

DIKO is stuck in opposition but with a strong pro-government faction in its ranks was left to shoulder the burden of passing or rejecting the budget – causing a political crisis to go with the economic one – opting to support it while voicing disagreement.

“The 2015 budget is a budget of austerity, without growth prospects. The numbers may prosper, but the citizens remain on the verge of destitution,” said Fytos Constantinou.

In contrast, DIKO’s former leader Marios Garoyian argued in favour and attacked detractors.

“Instead of devaluing the sacrifices made by Cypriots, we should be expressing our gratitude,” he said. “We must all, prudently and pragmatically, contribute to the Cypriot economy’s exit from the abyss it was staring into. We have no other choice, unless we have decided, once again, to commit suicide.”

“The 2015 budget moves in the direction of economic recovery within the commitments we have made to our international creditors – but that does not mean that we should stop trying to improve them through proper negotiation,” said Angelos Votsis, another member of DIKO’s intra-party opposition.

Another popular topic was the issue of punishment for those to blame for the country’s financial meltdown.

“We continue to implement an adjustment programme that requires painful measures, while a handful of businessmen continue to owe billions and don’t repay them, and others are implicated in scandals and a party of billions, with the culprits of the tragedy remain free. They need to be punished,” said DIKO’s Yiorgos Prokopiou.

“We shall not rest until the big scandals – those that led the economy of Cyprus to destruction – are exposed,” said DISY’s Andreas Kyprianou. “After rescuing the banks, the state should legislate their obligation to shoulder some of the cost.”

Nicos Tornaritis, also of the ruling party, went a step further. “The era of impunity is over,” he said. “Those responsible, irrespective of party, must be tried and punished, and their property seized.”

Possibly the single largest reform project Cyprus has ever undertaken, the National Health Scheme (NHS) was also heavily featured.

“There is no room for putting off implementation of the NHS anymore,” AKEL’s Stella Mishaouli said, before expressing her party’s reservations. “Turning public healthcare facilities into semi-state organisations concerns us inasmuch as they may end up like today’s semi-states – CyTA, EAC, the Ports Authority – which are being privatised.”

“The NHS is a project that has been discussed for decades, but is now a Troika requirement,” said DISY’s Stella Kyriakidou. “The huge social imbalances in healthcare must be remedied through a system offering universal and equal coverage.”

Lofty ideals – and some degree of wishful thinking – were also voiced.

“Our country needs a real leader,” said DIKO’s Athina Kyriakidou. “A leader with vision. A leader to lead and blaze trails. My leader can tell me how we can solve our national problem, and not just repeat what we won’t accept. We need positions, not denial.”

Ditto DISY’s Sotiris Sampson: “this is not the time to seek partisan gains. It is not the time to promote petty politics. It is not the time to point fingers. It is the time for togetherness, collective responsibility, and unity.”

AKEL’s Irene Charalambidou launched a personal attack on President Nicos Anastasiades, making reference to allegations that his daughter’s in-laws transferred millions out of Cyprus days before bank deposits were seized on insider information, and that his law firm – now run by his daughters – was involved in the effort to find a suitor to buy ailing Cyprus Airways.

“Upon assumption of the Presidency by Nicos Anastasiades, we have been witnessing a show featuring in-laws, partners, daughters, and the President’s close circle,” she said. “Normally, one could only find such scenarios in a Brazilian soap-opera, but in Cyprus they have become the reality of the last 20 months.”

Zacharias Koulias, the outspoken former DIKO deputy, presented a conspiracy by the two largest parties, AKEL and DISY, to defeat former President Tassos Papadopoulos and reap the spoils among themselves.

“There is an underground cooperation between the two large parties, which started in 2007 so that Tassos Papadopoulos would lose the elections and they could rotate in the Presidency,” he said.

But he also attacked the Supreme Court for not stepping in to disallow legislation required by Cyprus’ international creditors, likening its judges to Pontius Pilate.

“The Supreme Court did not resist the Troika’s bills,” he charged. “At least Pontius Pilate was just one man – they are 13 and one could support the other.”

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