By Renee Maltezou

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras faces a vote in parliament on Monday that will decide whether the country goes to snap elections that could bring the leftwing Syriza party to power and derail an international bailout.

In the most hotly contested vote for president since Greece joined the euro more than a decade ago, the result in the final round of voting is likely to be decided by a small handful of deputies.

If lawmakers fail to elect a successor to 85-year-old Karolos Papoulias, a snap election will be held within weeks. Syriza, leading in the opinion polls, vowed again to renegotiate the joint European Union-IMF bailout Greece needs to pay its bills and roll over its debt.

Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras said he had growing support in other countries struggling in the crisis.

“In Europe, sentiment is changing. Everyone is getting used to the idea that Syriza will be the government and that new negotiations will begin,” he wrote in his party newspaper on Sunday.

With financial markets watching closely, former European Commissioner Stavros Dimas, the only candidate in the race, will need 180 votes to be elected. In the previous round of voting, he secured 168 votes, 12 short of the majority required.

Greek bond yields spiked sharply earlier this month after Samaras first announced that he was bringing forward the vote for president by two months in a bid to shore up support for his conservative/centre-left coalition.

Voting is due to start at midday local time, with the result likely around an hour later.

Spyros Lykoudis, an independent who voted with the government in the second round before Christmas, said he was not optimistic that the parties would overcome their differences.

“Unless there is a surprise, unless a party changes its stance, I don’t expect parliament to elect a president tomorrow given the current circumstances,” he told Reuters.

“Nothing can be ruled out, but parties are in any case preparing for elections.”

Samaras, who spent much of Sunday following the dramatic rescue of hundreds of passengers from a burning ferry, has appealed to parliament to support his nominee.

But having offered a deal to bring forward elections scheduled for mid 2016 to the end of next year, he ruled out new concessions to the opposition parties and independents expected to hold the key to the result.

Recent polls have shown Syriza has kept its lead over the ruling centre-right New Democracy party but the advantage has narrowed steadily over the past few weeks and Samaras said on Saturday he was confident of winning any election.

A poll on Saturday by the Alco institute showed Syriza leading New Democracy by 3.3 points, a slightly narrower lead than in the previous poll. It put support for Syriza at 28.3 percent and for New Democracy at 25 percent.

However, the outlook is complicated by the weakness of other parties. Samaras’ coalition partner PASOK faces severe internal tensions and may split and fail to enter parliament, thus hindering the formation of a stable coalition majority.

By Liana B. Baker and Mary Milliken

Sony Pictures said “The Interview” has earned more than $15 million in online sales and another $2.8 million in theaters, an impressive return made possible by the publicity surrounding the cyberattack blamed on North Korea.

The raunchy comedy that depicts the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made almost as much money through online distribution and in limited theaters in its opening weekend as it would have in a wide release that was shelved after threats from hackers.

The studio said on Sunday the film had been purchased or rented online more than 2 million times on the four days through Saturday, making it Sony Pictures’ No. 1 online movie of all time.

“That is a huge number,” said Jeff Bock, a box office analyst at Exhibitor Relations.

“This is almost what it was going to do theatrically before it was pulled. It made about what people expected, but in a completely different way.”

The film that triggered the devastating cyberattack on the studio last month, which the United States says was launched by North Korea, opened Thursday in 331 independent theaters with a $1 million box office and $1.8 million over the subsequent three days, according to Sony. Many filmgoers and theater owners said they supported the film in the name of free speech.

The $44 million film starring Seth Rogen and James Franco had been expected to gross at least $20 million in its opening holiday weekend if it had gone to wide release, according to Boxoffice.com.

After large movie theater chains, like AMC and Regal Entertainment, refused to screen the comedy following threats of violence from hackers who opposed the film, Sony stitched together a limited release in theaters and a $5.99 video-on-demand (VOD) rental and $14.99 purchase option on YouTube Movies, Google Play, Microsoft Xbox Video and a dedicated site starting Dec. 24.

Sony had been fiercely criticized by top Hollywood talent and President Barack Obama for what many considered caving to the hackers. Sony maintained it had no choice but to pull the wide release and immediately began looking for alternative platforms with technology companies.

‘WEIRD WATCHING THIS ON TV’
It was still unclear whether Sony, which is still struggling with the impact of the cyberattack, would recoup the money it spent to make the film and the $30 million or $40 million in estimated marketing costs.

But in a sign of the film’s power and place in the cultural debate, Apple Inc said on Sunday it plans to carry the movie for rental and purchase on iTunes, the biggest and most-popular online content store.

“The Apple component will be significant,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at tracking firm Rentrak. “I’ve heard anecdotes of people who have never downloaded a movie on iTunes doing that for this movie.”

“The Interview” is now considered by experts a test case for simultaneous VOD and theatrical release, a taboo topic for the movie theater chains that want to retain their exclusive window.

“It’ll be interesting to see how quickly industry moves forward with these kinds of services,” Bock said. “This is money they don’t need to share with the movie chains and that’s a big deal. It could shake a lot of things up.”

The film’s unconventional rollout has also been a hot topic on social media. Rogen took to Twitter on Sunday to live tweet a viewing of “The Interview,” in which Rogen and Franco play two journalists who snag an interview with Kim and then are enlisted by the CIA to take him out.

“It’s at this point that I gotta say it’s (expletive) weird I am watching this on TV right now,” Rogen tweeted.

By Paul Carsten

Google Inc’s Gmail was blocked in China after months of disruptions to the world’s biggest email service, with an anti-censorship advocate suggesting the Great Firewall was to blame.

Large numbers of Gmail web addresses were cut off in China on Friday, said GreatFire.org, a China-based freedom of speech advocacy group. Users said the service was still down on Monday.

“I think the government is just trying to further eliminate Google’s presence in China and even weaken its market overseas,” said a member of GreatFire.org, who uses a pseudonym.

“Imagine if Gmail users might not get through to Chinese clients. Many people outside China might be forced to switch away from Gmail.”

Google’s own Transparency Report, which shows real-time traffic to Google services, displayed a sharp drop-off in traffic to Gmail from China on Friday.

“We’ve checked and there’s nothing wrong on our end,” a Singapore-based spokesman for Google said in an email.

Almost all of Google’s services have been heavily disrupted in China since June this year, but until last week Gmail users could still access emails downloaded via protocols like IMAP, SMTP and POP3. These had let people communicate using Gmail on apps like the Apple iPhone’s Mail and Microsoft Outlook.

China maintains tight control over the internet, nipping in the bud any signs of dissent or challenges to the ruling Communist Party’s leadership.

The country is host to the world’s most sophisticated internet censorship mechanism, known as the Great Firewall of China. Critics say China has stepped up its disruption of foreign online services like Google over the past year to create an internet cut off from the rest of the world.

The Google disruption began in the run-up to the 25th anniversary of the government’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989.

Gmail’s setback could make email communication difficult for companies operating in China which use Google’s Gmail for their corporate email system, said GreatFire.

One popular way for companies and people to get around China’s internet censorship is to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) which allows unhindered access to blocked sites and services.

“It’s becoming harder and harder to connect and do work in China when services like Gmail are being blocked,” said Zach Smith, a Beijing-based digital products manager at City Weekend magazine. “Using a VPN seems to be the only answer to doing anything these days online in China.”

By Stelios Orphanides

Finance minister Harris Georgiades said that Cyprus and the euro area in general are concerned about probable political instability in Greece.

Today, lawmakers in Greece meet to elect the country’s new president and if the former European commissioner Stavros Dimas fails to gain a 180 votes, snap elections will be held in a few weeks.

By Evie Andreou

CLOSE to breaking point, and devastated by the recent death of one of their own, some 60 Syrian refugees from the 337 rescued off the coast in September en route to Italy are tired of waiting, they said during a protest they held yesterday outside the House.

The death of the 25-year-old man – he was found hanged in a park near the presidential palace on Friday – motivated the refugees from the Kokkinotrimithia camp to take to the streets, they said.

There are currently 241 people at the refugee camp out of the 337 that were originally rescued. On arrival in Cyprus they were given temporary residence permits and told that the camp was going to close down by December 28. It hasn’t and there is still no official word. The refugees have on several occasions been told to apply for asylum but most want to go to mainland Europe.

Yesterday the 60 or so, including several children, gathered outside the parliament at around noon holding placards and chanting ‘No tents’, ‘Save Us’” and ‘We want to live in a safe country’. They said that they would protest every day until a state official agreed to meet with them. All they want it to be reunited with their relatives in other European countries, they said.

Omar, a man in his twenties who would only give his first name, said that around two weeks ago, several people from the camp had been deceived by a man who had initially travelled with them from Syria. They paid him around €4,000 each after he promised he could get them off the island and into mainland Europe. He then took off with the money.

Omar said people had called their relatives in Syria and Europe in order to collect the money so they could leave Cyprus and now they had nothing.

He also said he death of the 25-year-old made the refugees feel they were not safe.

“We have been there for three months and we want a solution; a few days ago one of us died; we don’t know if he was killed or committed suicide, we are not sure, we need to know what happened,” said Ihab, another man in his twenties.

He said the refugees were tired of just sitting and waiting and that there were many educated people among the refugees who were able and willing to work but there was no opportunity for them to do so in Cyprus due to the economic crisis.

Omar explained how desperate they were to leave the tents and how bad for everyone’s morale the situation was.

He said he applied for a six-month residence permit about a month ago in order to get a pink slip and seek employment but the authorities keep postponing issuing the document.

“Other people applied for this residence permit a few weeks earlier than me but they did not receive anything yet,” Omar said. He added that not everyone could afford to apply since there was a €70 fee for the application.

The refugees also complained about the state of the camp. “Water runs through the tent when it rains. It is cold and there also rats and mice running in the tents” said Nahi, an 11 year-old boy who lives there with his mother, while his father is still in Syria.

Another man stopped by to say that they were grateful to Cyprus for saving their lives but they did not want to live in tents any longer but wanted to leave.

Omar said that their everyday life has been without a purpose for the last three months.

“Every day we come to the city with buses, there is a street here in Nicosia where there is an Arab community, we walk in it, we connect to the internet, then we go back to the camp, we just eat, sleep and nothing more,” he said.

He said the majority of the refugees at the camp were Palestinian Syrians and that their only way out of the country was illegal since their travel documents are valid only for Syria.
“We ran away through Turkey and there we met some people that said they would carry us to Italy in boats or ships,” Omar said. He said that each paid US$ 6,000, (€4,900) even the children.

“When we arrived in Limassol we were told that the Red Cross and Civil Defence were waiting for us and that we would go to hotels where we could eat and rest but when we saw the tents a woman fell on the ground crying and shouting saying ‘we ran from death and now we were will endure a slow death, here at the camp’” said Omar.

He said that many like him fled Syria because they did not want to choose a side.

“It’s like hell… you either have to fight or you end up in jail, or you go missing and no one knows where you are,” he added.

“We just need a normal life like any other human being. We want to study, to work, to make something good out of this life.”

To apply for asylum, Omar said, they needed to produce documents from Syria, which was not easy.

He said they wanted to leave Cyprus because they were not granted full refugee status and are not able to bring their relatives, some of whom are still in war-torn Syria.

Only five people have applied for asylum and are now in the Kofinou reception centre while three unaccompanied children are in Larnaca under the care of social welfare services.

Several of the refugees have managed to leave the country legal and otherwise.

No officials at the interior ministry could be reached yesterday to comment on the protest.

By Gwynne Dyer

BINYAMIN Netanyahu, “Bibi” to both his friends and his ever-growing list of enemies, is running for a fourth term as the prime minister of Israel. He called the election, two years early, because the leaders of two of the parties in his coalition government had become too openly hostile to his policies. So he is rolling the dice again in the hope of being able to form some different coalition.

That’s what he always does. His coalitions draw mainly on the centre-right and, increasingly, the far right, partly because that is where he stands personally on “security” issues and partly because Israel opinion in general has been drifting steadily to the right. But beyond that, he has no fixed policy. His primary goal is to hold his coalitions together and stay in power.

Netanyahu is hardly unique in this. Professional politicians anywhere tend to divide into two types, the “conviction politicians” and the players, with the majority usually in the latter category. He is a tremendously good player of the game, but it has a paralysing effect on Israeli politics.

Since he cannot afford to come down in favour of either a real “two-state” solution that allows for an independent Palestine or a single Israeli-ruled state that permanently controls all or most of the occupied Palestinian territories, Israel never gets to choose between the two. Until, perhaps, now.

Netanyahu’s excuse for refusing to choose has usually been the lack of a valid Palestinian negotiating partner, and there is certainly some basis for that. Mahmoud Abbas, the “President” of the Palestinian Authority, has not faced an election, even within his own Fatah party, for ten years. Moreover, Abbas has no control over the 40 percent of the Palestinian population who live under Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip.

But it is more an excuse than a reason. Genuine negotiations envisaging an Israeli withdrawal from most or all of the West Bank and a real Palestinian state, even a demilitarised one, would destroy any coalition Netanyahu has ever built. Going flat-out with the extreme right-wing project for a “one-state” solution incorporating the whole West Bank but denying Palestinians the vote would do the same. Result: permanent paralysis.

Indeed, Netanyahu has even encouraged Israelis to believe that this peculiar status quo can be a lasting substitute for a negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This is a ridiculous proposition, but it clearly has appeal for Israelis who would like to believe that they can have security without the pain of territorial compromise.

Meanwhile, however, the outside world has been losing patience. Abbas has been pushing for a November, 2016 United Nations deadline to end the Israeli occupation unless two-state negotiations have succeeded by then. And last week the European Parliament voted to recognise Palestine statehood “in principle” as part of the two-state solution, with Jerusalem as the capital of both states.

The EU resolution also said that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are illegal under international law – as indeed they are, but it has not been normal for Israel’s allies and supporters to say so explicitly. (The European Union has granted Israel trading privileges so extensive that it is practically a member economically.) The vote was 498 in favour and only 88 against, and there was a standing ovation in the chamber afterwards.

The rot is spreading rapidly. Four national Western European parliaments – Ireland, the United Kingdom, France and Spain – have recently endorsed resolutions in favour of Palestinian statehood, and Sweden has actually recognised Palestine as a state. Other European Union members are on the brink of doing so, and even Israel’s final line of diplomatic defence, an American veto, is no longer guaranteed.

The United States has used its veto on the UN Security Council to shield Israel from resolutions that criticise the country forty-one times in the past forty years. Indeed, it has used its veto for no other purpose since 1988. Israelis fully expect Barack Obama to use it a 42nd time to defeat Mahmoud Abbas’s appeal for a two-year deadline for an agreement on a two-state solution when it comes before the Security Council, most likely in January.

They are probably right, but Obama will be sorely tempted to let people think that he might not use the veto, and perhaps also to push the Security Council vote down towards the 17 March date of the Israeli election, in the hope of influencing Israeli voters to turn away from Netanyahu.

It’s quite common for Israeli voters to push back when they feel they are under foreign pressure to make concessions, so this could actually play out to Netanyahu’s advantage. A great deal can happen between now and 17 March, so one shouldn’t give too much weight to current polls. But at the moment, the numbers suggest that Netanyahu’s gamble on forming a new coalition may not succeed.

And that might open the way to one last attempt to make the two-state solution work.

Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries

SIX PEOPLE were yesterday charged in connection with the Paphos Sewerage Board scandal. Five of them were members of political parties – two from Diko including the mayor, two from Akel and one from Disy – while allegations have also been made against Edek deputy Phidias Sarikas, who had served as Paphos mayor, and will also be investigated. In short members of the four main parties have been linked to the corrupt goings-on.

All six may be acquitted by the court, but the dark shadow cast over the political parties with regard to their dubious relations with big contractors and developers will remain. It is very difficult to believe that the alleged backhanders which contractors of three different companies claimed they had paid ended up only in the pockets of individuals. Some of the money will almost certainly have gone to party coffers, unless of course contractors made separate payments to the parties in the form of donations.

This is why it is so important for the legislation about party finances must have a provision making it compulsory for parties to publish a full list of the names of those giving funds as well as the amounts. The parties have been arguing against such a provision for years, on the grounds that they would not be able to raise funds if the identity of the donor was known; they argued that individuals and companies did not want their association with a specific party being public knowledge.

Their argument makes sense, but should they not ask why donors would not want their identity revealed? Some might not want to be linked with a party because it could be bad for business but there is also a more dubious reason for the demand for secrecy – cash donations could be with strings attached. A party could protect the interests of a donor on issues of legislation or could champion public projects from which a donor stands to gain. It would be much less likely to do so, if its links to donors are public knowledge.

Transparency is the only way to fight corruption, which is why the parties are so stridently opposed to it and have been doing everything they can to keep it out of the legislation governing party finances. Perhaps the government should send a bill about party funding to the legislature and leave the parties to explain why they were opposed to it. If the president is serious about fighting corruption he should force the parties to adopt transparent practices. We know this is easier said than done but we have to start somewhere if we really want to clean up politics.

By Constantinos Psillides

CANDIDATES for the Paphos mayoral elections will be flocking to the town’s district offices today to submit their bid, surrounded by their friends and supporters.

The election was announced by Interior Minister Socratis Hasikos following the resignation of former mayor Savvas Vergas who is facing charges in a number of scandals. The election is set for January 11.

A total of 10 candidates have already publicly expressed interest in claiming the top spot.

The favourite –based on party strength and not a poll- is Aristos Vassiliades, a chartered accountant with a degree in economics from the London School of Economics, who is supported by AKEL, DIKO and EDEK. Vassiliades, whose name was suggested by the DIKO district committee, is the son of Nicos Vassiliades, an MP with DIKO from 1976 to 1981 and a long-time accountant for the Paphos bishopric.

Phedonas Phedonos, a municipal councillor with ruling party DISY appears to be the second favourite. Phedonos is only backed by his party but made his name known when he allegedly received a threat from Vergas, after taking part in exposing a shady deal the former mayor allegedly made with Aristo Developers.

The Citizens’ Alliance went ahead with their own candidate, supporting party member Doros Paphitis. Paphitis holds a doctorate on Oceanography from the Southampton University.
The Greens’ are also supporting one of their own; Andreas Masouras, a lecturer on Communication and Politics in Media at the Neapolis university in Paphos.

Phedonos is not the only municipal councillor gunning for the mayor’s seat. Andreas Chrysanthou, a municipal councillor from EVROKO, also expressed his wish to enter the race, claiming that was doing so as an independent candidate.

Other independent candidates are Sofia Hampiaouridou, a former model and journalist based in Paphos, the architect Vaggelis Mavronikolas –who announced a 49-point plan to help bring the town back to its feet- and the always present for an election showdown, Andreas Efstratiou. Efstratiou is a staple in all elections, be it presidential, parliamentary, municipal or Euroelections. A bridal wear store owner, Efstratiou used to hold the Guinness Book of World Records entry for creating the longest wedding gown train at 1,362 metres in 2007, a distinction he lost to Lichel van den Ende from Holland (2,488-metres).

Well-known actor Chrysanthos Chrysanthos is the latest addition to the list of candidates. The actor issued a statement yesterday announcing his candidacy and he is backed by the United Fighters of Pafos ’55-’59 and ’63-’64.

According to data released by election commissioner Yiannakis Mallourides, a total of 18,203 people have the right to vote in the election.

Around 12 per cent of the voters are not native Cypriots. The election will commence at 7am on January 11 and wrap up at 6pm with a one-hour break at noon.

INDONESIAN SEARCH AND RESCUE AGENCY CHIEF SAYS 95 PCT SURE DEBRIS OFF KALIMANTAN COAST IS FROM MISSING AIRASIA JET

By Fergus Jensen

Countries around Asia on Tuesday stepped up the search for an AirAsia plane carrying 162 people that is presumed to have crashed in shallow waters off Indonesia, as television showed pictures of objects that could be debris from the jet.

Soelistyo, head of Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, told media the search area in the Java Sea between the islands of Sumatra and Borneo would be expanded.

Authorities would also begin scouring smaller islands and coastal land on Indonesian Borneo, while the United States said it was sending a warship to help in the search.

There have been no confirmed signs of wreckage from the Airbus A320-200 operated by Indonesia AirAsia, which disappeared in poor weather early on Sunday during a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.

The missing plane, with most of those on board Indonesian, could be at the bottom of the sea, Soelistyo said on Monday.

Indonesia’s Kompass TV showed pictures of what looked like large, angular objects floating in the sea. One appeared to be orange and another grey or brown. The largest appeared to be several metres long.

“Hopefully, we will find something definite because I haven’t received anything else,” air force official Dwi Putranto told MetroTV referring to the reported debris.

The Java Sea is relatively shallow, making it easier to spot wreckage in the water, say oceanographers, but strong currents and winds mean any debris would be drifting up to 50 km (31 miles) a day east, away from the impact zone.

“The lesson that should be learned from MH370 is that you need to move quickly,” said Charitha Pattiaratchi, an oceanographer at the University of Western Australia, referring to the Malaysia Airlines flight that went missing on March 8 during a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew and which has not been found.

About 30 ships and 21 aircraft from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea would search up to 10,000 square nautical miles on Tuesday, officials said.

Indonesia’s air force spokesman, Hadi Tjahjanto, said authorities would investigate an oil spill seen on Monday, although a separate possible slick turned out to be a reef.

Searchers had investigated several areas where possible debris had been sighted in the water but had found nothing connected to the missing plane, Tjahjanto told Reuters.

Authorities would also investigate reports from fishermen of an explosion on Sunday morning off an island in the area, Tjahjanto added, although dynamite fishing is common in Indonesian waters.

The U.S. military said the USS Sampson, a guided missile destroyer, would be on the scene later on Tuesday.

“We stand ready to assist in any way possible,” Pentagon spokesman Mark Wright said.

COULD PLANE HAVE STALLED?

Flight QZ8501 had sought permission from Indonesian air traffic control to ascend to avoid clouds just before it went missing.

Online discussion among pilots has centred on unconfirmed secondary radar data from Malaysia that suggested the aircraft was climbing at a speed of 353 knots, about 100 knots too slow, and that it might have stalled.

The plane, whose engines were made by CFM International, co-owned by General Electric and Safran of France, lacked real-time engine diagnostics or monitoring, a GE spokesman said. Such systems are mainly used on long-haul flights and can provide clues to airlines and investigators when things go wrong.

Officials said the sea in the general search area was only 50 to 100 (150 to 300 feet) metres deep, which should help in finding the plane.

“The Java Sea area where they are now searching isn’t even an ocean, it’s more of an inland sea,” Erik van Sebille, a physical oceanographer at the University of New South Wales in Sydney told Reuters.

“It’s so shallow that they may just be able to spot the plane,” said van Sebille, noting that sunlight travels through water up to about 100 metres.

Oceanographer Pattiaratchi said debris would normally be expected to float for about 18 days before sinking.

Three airline disasters involving Malaysian-affiliated carriers in less than a year have dented confidence in the country’s aviation industry and spooked travellers across the region.

In the third incident, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine on July 17, killing all 298 people on board.

NO FOUL PLAY SEEN

On board Flight QZ8501 were 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, and one person each from Singapore, Malaysia and Britain. The co-pilot was French.

U.S. law enforcement and security officials said passenger and crew lists were being examined but nothing significant had turned up and the incident was regarded as an unexplained accident.

The plane, which did not issue a distress signal, disappeared after its pilot failed to get permission to fly higher because of heavy air traffic, officials said.

Pilots and aviation experts said thunderstorms, and requests to gain altitude to avoid them, were not unusual in that area.

The Indonesian pilot was experienced and the plane last underwent maintenance in mid-November, the airline said.

Indonesia AirAsia is 49 percent owned by Malaysia-based budget carrier AirAsia.

The AirAsia group, including affiliates in Thailand, the Philippines and India, had not suffered a crash since its Malaysian budget operations began in 2002.

The plane’s disappearance comes at a sensitive time for Jakarta’s aviation authorities, as they strive to improve the country’s safety reputation to match its status as one of the airline industry’s fastest growing markets.

By Maria Gregoriou

Made any plans for New Year’s Eve? If not then keep on reading. For the first time in history you can enjoy a live, two-way streaming of a performance by legendary German DJ and producer Paul Van Dyk.

The party atmosphere, which will be streamed into the Pavilion hall in Nicosia, really is a way to start off the New Year with a first and wish your way into many more during the year to come. The DJ is all set to perform consecutive exclusive sets to get the party started during peak club hours around the globe.

Watch out because the performance won’t just be jumping and full of energetic fun, it will also be utilising Mixify’s state-of-the-art Clubcast system to live stream through a two-way, interactive HD feed, creating its first ever New Year experience of its kind.

Live from Mixify’s Los Angeles studio personal sets will be performed that will be streamed live across the world, all in a just 24 hours. The man himself has commented on what is to go around the globe in a chain of parties by saying, “The way we produce music, the way we release music and now the way every single one of us experiences live music today has, to a huge degree, changed. Reflecting that change will start this New Year’s Eve with my first ever Clubcast. I can now reach audiences in various parts of the world in a very special way.

“On New Year’s Eve, this means uniting people, a global connection through music and clubbing on six continents for the first time. Wherever you find yourself in the world this NYE, I hope you can join us for this unique experience.”

Founder and CEO of Mixify David Moricca adds: “Clubcast is about powering memorable experiences, creating access, and enabling DJs to connect with their fans around the world despite distance and other travel barriers.

“We’re thrilled to partner with a DJ legend like Paul van Dyk to create the first-ever global New Year’s party through Clubcast”.

Van Dyk, renowned throughout the world for his turntable abilities and knack to keep a party alive for hours on end, is at the peak of his career after consecutive sell-out events all over the world. You are sure to have heard his legendary tracks Another Way, Talking in Grey and Face to Face.

It’s these kinds of hits that have been the DJ’s key to appearing on DJ Mag’s list of top operators for over a decade. Other successes in his career have been a Grammy nomination, collaborations with A-list DJs, pop stars and rock stars, residencies in major venues, and sold out tours. The list goes on with a total of six albums, three remix albums, three video albums, a TV show and more than 60 nominations.

The German legend will not be alone, the DJ lineup includes Jonathan Reyes, Grathian Grow and Paul Angelo.

Get your tickets on www.tickethour.com.cy before they are sold out.

NYE – Live Streaming with Paul Van Dyk
For the first time in history, enjoy a two way live streaming with the famous DJ. December 31. Pavilion, Nicosia. 11.30pm. €10. Tel: 22-322222

By Maria Gregoriou

Has the stress of Christmas gotten to you? Has your belt buckle needed to expand a notch or two? If this is the case or if you just need to relax a little before the New Year, then today the Pop Up festival in Nicosia’s Makarios Avenue is putting on the perfect solution.

This is the second year the street is host to a series of pop up events. There are theatrical performances, arts and crafts, and shops where you can buy unique items but this afternoon there is something a little different: a Yoga and Meditation workshop to prepare for what is ahead in 2015.

The workshop will be run by instructor Athina Georgiou (who prefers to be called Nana) at 4pm until 5.30pm in the basement of the City Plaza and is absolutely free. There will be exercises from Kundalini and Hatha yoga for a calm heart, for making the impossible possible, changing your energy into positivity and creativity and to welcome some good fortune into your life.

Anyone can go along as it is suitable for beginners and those who are already familiar with yoga and its exercises. Georgiou will focus and help each participant to identify their goals and desires.

So if you want to get rid of any negativity you have been carrying around in 2014 and pave the way to a positive 2015 and beyond, Makarios Ave could be your yellow brick road this afternoon.

Yoga and Meditation Workshop
With instructor Athina Georgiou. December 30. Basement of the City Plaza, Makariou Street, Nicosia. 4pm-5.30pm. Free. Tel: 22-797000

Ten thousand euros in cash have been stolen from a home in Emba, Paphos, which was burgled during the short period its owner was absent on Monday night.

Police said the theft was reported by the owner at 10.30pm, half an hour after he returned home to discover it had been broken into and €10,000 in cash stolen.

The man said the burglary took place while he was out between 9.30pm and 10pm

Investigators found that the thief or thieves entered the house by breaching the sliding aluminium kitchen window.

By Ian Chadband

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew is on the verge of taking over at Crystal Palace after being given permission to talk to his former club on Monday.

Newcastle confirmed on their official website that Palace had made a formal approach to speak to Pardew about their managerial vacancy and they had agreed.

“Crystal Palace have offered compensation at a level whereby Alan has now been permitted to speak to them,” the statement said of the manager who joined the club in December 2010.

“As a result of this development today, Alan will not be at training on Tuesday. Training will be the responsibility of assistant manager John Carver.”

The agreement smoothes the way for Pardew’s managerial ‘transfer’ to the club where he was once a favourite as a player.

With Pardew’s Newcastle contract still having six years to run, a compensation package will need to be finalised between Palace’s co-owners and United owner Mike Ashley, who is currently on holiday in Barbados.

If the deal is confirmed, it would mean Pardew leaving a club currently lying 10th in the table for one struggling for survival in the relegation zone in 18th place, having sacked their manager Neil Warnock on Saturday.

Yet after a turbulent time at St James’ Park, where he faced various campaigns calling for his resignation or dismissal, the 53-year-old Pardew would be warmly received back at Palace, the club he helped steer to an FA Cup final as a midfielder in 1990.

Reports in the British media claim that Pardew, whose future looked particularly insecure before Newcastle rallied from their dismal start to the season, had made it clear to Ashley he wanted to go to Palace.

He played for the London club as a midfielder for four years, making 128 league appearances and scoring eight goals.

Pardew’s most celebrated goal, though, was the one that sank Liverpool in the 1990 FA Cup semi-final. Palace went on to lose the final to Manchester United after a replay but it remains the Eagles’ finest achievement.

Speculation about Pardew’s future had been rife since he skipped the post-match news conference after Newcastle had beaten Everton 3-2 on Sunday.

There have also been reports that Pardew, whose family home is in Surrey, much nearer to London than Newcastle, was left frustrated by a meeting with Ashley last month where he was told he would have no money for new signings in the transfer window.

By Andrew Both

English Premier League strugglers West Bromwich Albion have sacked head coach Alan Irvine, the club announced on their website late on Monday.

The Midlands club made the move following a run of seven losses in their past nine games, a series of results that has caused them to slide to 16th place, just one point above the relegation zone.

Irvine becomes the second managerial casualty in three days after relegation-threatened Crystal Palace dumped Neil Warnock on Saturday.

And with Alan Pardew in line to swap Newcastle for Palace, the Premier League managerial merry-go-round has suddenly gathered pace after an unusually quiet start to the season in which nobody was fired for the first four months.

Irvine is the third head coach dismissed by West Brom in little over 12 months, following the short reigns of Steve Clarke and Pepe Mel.

His fate was sealed after a 2-0 away defeat against Stoke on Sunday, which followed a 3-1 home loss to Manchester City two days earlier.

“Securing a sixth season in the Premier League is the over-riding target and sometimes unpleasant decisions have to be taken to serve that imperative,” Albion technical director Terry Burton says on the club’s website.

“Alan has impressed everyone with his manner, dedication and diligence but he knows that results have simply not been good enough.”

Irvine was surprise choice when he was hired as West Brom manager in June this year after the 56-year-old Scot had spent the previous three seasons as youth team coach at Everton.

Bookmakers have installed former Tottenham Hotspur manager Tim Sherwood as favourite to succeed Irvine with ex-Stoke and Crystal Palace boss Tony Pulis close behind in the betting.

West Brom travel to West Ham on New Year’s Day with Rob Kelly, helped by fellow assistant head coach Keith Downing, in caretaker charge.

By Elias Hazou

AN ITALIAN-Korean consortium prospecting for natural gas off Cyprus’ southern coast will proceed to its next target and start drilling sometime during the first fortnight of January, the government spokesman has said.

The official’s statement confirmed that the Saipem 10000 drillship, operating on behalf of the ENI-KOGAS combine, would be relocating to a site dubbed ‘Amathusa’, although local press reports said drilling there could commence as early as January 6.

The ‘Amathusa’ prospect is located some 55 kilometers from the ‘Onasagoras’ well, where recent exploratory drilling did not yield commercially exploitable reserves of natural gas. Both are located within offshore block 9, on concession to ENI-KOGAS.

Drilling at ‘Amathusa’ is expected to take around three months. Preliminary data suggest that, although the geological probability for gas is lower than it was for ‘Onasagoras’, due to its sheer size the prospect could hold substantial gas.

Moreover, ‘Amathusa’ is in close proximity to the ‘Aphrodite’ well in block 12, on license to Texas-based Noble Energy and where sizeable gas reserves were discovered in late 2011.

In addition to block 9, ENI-KOGAS have concessions on blocks 2 and 3. The consortium is contractually obliged to carry out at least four drilling operations during its current exploration programme, expected to last anywhere from 12 to 18 months. Drilling operations began in September.

ENI’s precise schedule after ‘Amathusa’ is still unknown, and will depend on findings there as well as on the analysis of data gathered from the ‘Onasagoras’ well.

A 2010 report by the US Geological Survey estimated a mean of 122 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of recoverable gas in the Levant Basin.

The basin includes Cyprus’ offshore blocks 2, 3, 9 and 12, as well as Israeli gas fields.

So far, about a third of the basin area has been explored. Combined, the finds at Israel’s Leviathan, Tamar and a couple of smaller plays, plus the ‘Aphrodite’ reservoir, come to approximately 40 tcf –about a third of the quantities mentioned by the US Geological Survey.

According to Noble Energy, their ‘Aphrodite’ play has proven reserves of between 3.6 and 6 tcf. It’s understood, however, that privately the Americans have narrowed down the quantities to around 3.1 tcf, based on a 90 per cent probability.

These reserves are not enough for a land-based gas liquefaction facility, and Noble as well as the government are in talks with British Gas for piping the ‘Aphrodite’ gas to Egypt.

By George Psyllides

THERE is no question of a reshuffle at present, the government spokesman said on Tuesday, announcing a party leaders’ meeting with President Nicos Anastasiades on January 12.

Nicos Christodoulides said the president wanted to discuss various matters with the parliamentary party leaders, including developments in the Cyprus problem and the economy.

One issue that will be on the table was foreclosures, the spokesman said, specifically the “developments after parliament’s decision” to suspend the law ostensibly to protect vulnerable groups.

Anastasiades will also explain his proposal for a government of wider acceptance, Christodoulides said, but a reshuffle was not on the cards right now.

“There is no question of a reshuffle at the moment,” he told a state radio news show. First there will be a discussion with the leaders and depending on their response there might be changes in the government formation.
But AKEL, the biggest party after ruling DISY, had already rejected the idea.

Its leader Andros Kyprianou suggested that Anastasiades was effectively asking them to share the responsibility for policies drafted by DISY and Anastasiades.

“This is a world first I think, asking everyone to participate in a government that only follows their positions,” Kyprianou said.

His party’s position was clear, he added: achieve minimum consensus on major issue and leave the wider acceptance government for later.

In a news conference last week, just after returning from New York where he underwent heart surgery, Anastasiades conceded that not everything went well during the first 22 months of his administration and said he was ready to discuss the possibility of a broad government coalition with political parties.

The president said he returned from the US ready to discuss the possibility of forming a government of the widest possible acceptance to tackle the challenges facing the island in the next three years.

“I believe, and I am being direct and honest, that the problems faced by the country cannot be shouldered by one person alone,” he said.

By Stelios Papadopoulos

THE GREEK parliament has failed to elect a new president, triggering a snap general election that could bring the far left SYRIZA party to power and put Greece in a collision with international lenders. Alexis Tsipras the party’s leader, has vowed that if elected, he will demand a sizable write off of Greek sovereign debt and more government spending.

Stavros Dimas, the presidential candidate, captured 168 votes in Monday’s ballot, 12 short of the required majority after the Greek Prime Minister’s appeal for consensus failed to round up additional votes from small opposition parties and independent lawmakers. The failed presidential vote prompted a strong market reaction: Greece’s short-term borrowing costs rose, with the yield on the country’s three year bond yield hitting 11.77%-a record high since the bond was issued earlier this year.

The support for the presidential candidate came only from independent MPs, while the moderate Democratic left and right-wing Independent Greeks resisted the appeal for consensus to complete talks on leaving Greece’s bailout programme. Both parties have been in contact with SYRIZA with a view to cooperating with a future left-wing government, although no details of a specific agreement have emerged. SYRIZA has kept a lead in opinion polls over the governing centre-right New Democracy party since coming first in last May’s European elections.

The government’s consensus measures provided for a participation of the moderate Democratic left in government and elections in late 2015, in exchange for votes in the second and third rounds. However, they did not work. Although they managed to acquire eight more votes compared to the first round, they did not capture the critical votes of the Democratic left and the Independent Greeks.

The government could have captured the pool of 12 independent MPs, but with the exception of three or four of them the rest are one way or another affiliated with SYRIZA. There were some speculations that MPs from the far-right Golden Dawn party might back the presidential candidate, but government members, as well as Dimas himself, have confirmed that no president will get elected with the votes of a far-right party. Furthermore, Golden Dawn stated on its website that “it’s more possible for the sun to rise from the west than for Golden Dawn to vote for Stavros Dimas.” The government has prosecuted Golden Dawn following the death of a left-wing rapper by party members more than a year ago.

The survival of the government depended on the remaining nine MPs of the Democratic left, since some of the left party’s MPs fear its possible absorption by SYRIZA. Such an assessment has however proven wrong. Last May’s euro elections triggered a series of resignations that left the Democratic left with nine MPs and talks about its disintegration.

If one looks at the statements of the resigned MPs before and after their resignations, there is one thing that is common to all of them, namely, the fact that they are protests against what they consider as the party’s move towards SYRIZA.

Spyros Likoudis the leader of the so called “reformist tendency” within the party, had this to say on September 13, four days after he filed his resignation: “Society has crashed DIMAR (Democratic Left) in the recent Euro-elections…” and added that “the existential anxiety has turned a great part of DIMAR’s leadership towards an alliance with SYRIZA.”

DIMAR then was split between a reformist centrist tendency and one leaning towards the more traditional centre left. With the party’s devastating results in the elections, both the centre left and the reformists concluded that voters punished the party’s lack of a clear strategy and identity. Consequently, the party leadership decided that it had to take sides and it chose to side with the centre left.

The centre has suffered massive credibility problems after George Papandreou-the former Premier and leader of the once powerful PASOK party signed the first memorandum in 2009. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that the leaders of DIMAR and SYRIZA had scheduled a meeting for after the presidential vote. It is noteworthy because after the vote DIMAR cannot use the vote of its MPs as a bargaining chip in the negotiations.

Consequently, early elections were not that surprising. The important question is what happens now. According to Euro-intelligence-the blog published by Wolfgang Munchau of the Financial Times-if SYRIZA wins the election, a very likely scenario, it will lack the requisite majority needed to form a government. However, the conclusion is based on the false premise that SYRIZA did not form any alliances. But as this analysis tried to point out, both the Democratic left and the Independent Greeks may very likely form an anti-bailout bloc with SYRIZA.

However, no alliances have been confirmed and it remains to be seen whether such moves, as well as more moderate statements, can attract the more centrist voters.Whether they will be able to carry out their radical proposals is an entirely different question. This will depend on whether SYRIZA can take advantage of the fact that parts of the European establishment wants to use quantitative easing and loosen fiscal austerity. If the party wants to keep Greece within the Eurozone, as they say they do, there is no other way.

When and how this will happen is something only time will tell.

Stelios Papadopoulos is a political risk analyst, Wikistrat researcher and MSc political economy

THE NAVTEX issued by Turkey expired last night which would mean that the Barbaros would have left the Cypriot EEZ. This would leave the Cyprus government in a quandary, as the reason that President Anastasiades suspended participation in the peace talks would no longer exist. It would be entirely possible that next week he would be sounded out by the UN about the setting of a date for the resumption of the talks and he would have no plausible reason to reject the idea as Turkey would no longer be violating the Cypriot EEZ.

However, things are not so simple. Since the issuing of the NAVTEX, Anastasiades has hardened his position and during his first public appearance last week, after his heart surgery, his comments indicated he was not ready to return to the negotiating table. As regards Turkey’s stance, he said “the responses so far are not satisfactory in the slightest,” and stressed that he would not be discussing hydrocarbons with the Turks: “I will never accept those who undermine the Republic of Cyprus becoming partners in a state they do not participate in and also issue threats about plan Bs.”

This defiant talk does not suggest he is ready to return to the talks any time soon, especially now that Turkey is demanding that the issue of hydrocarbons was put on the table. “What is important is that our decisions will be determined by Cyprus’ interests only and not on the suggestions of any third parties that aim at serving their interests,” Anastasiades said last week.

Not surprisingly, the president has the full backing of the majority of the political parties for his tough stance. AKEL appeared to break ranks yesterday, when its leader Andros Kyprianou warned that failure to return to the talks would simply help Turkey realise its objective of partition. Meanwhile the other parties urged the president not to return to the talks and have been repeating their calls for a change of strategy on the Cyprus problem, without offering any clue as to the form the new strategy would take.

While Anastasiades appears to have manoeuvred himself into a corner, this might not be a problem if Turkey decided to issue another NAVTEX or demanded that the hydrocarbons were discussed at the negotiations. At present, nobody knows what Turkey’s plans are, but the current stalemate would suit Ankara – if its ultimate objective is partition – and it would be unwilling to end it.

This stalemate might not be acceptable to the Greek Cypriots that are opposed to partition, but they could well be the minority now.

THOUSANDS of British expat pensioners living in Cyprus will lose out on winter fuel allowances from the British government for winter 2015-16 under new legislation to be passed next week, according to a Daily Mail exclusive published yesterday.

The British government has tabled legislation to Parliament introducing a ‘temperature test’ aimed at curbing the handout to expats living in a number of countries. People in Cyprus, France, Greece, Malta, Portugal and Spain will all lose the right to claim from September 2015, the paper writes.

It quoted Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith as condemning the ‘absurd’ handouts. He pledged to change the rules which have cost the UK taxpayer £130 million in a decade.

The winter fuel allowance is worth at least £200 for the over-62s, rising to £300 for the over-80s.

The handout is supposed ‘to help pay your heating bills’ and designed as a flat sum for all pensioners to put towards the costs of keeping warm during the icy winter months.

But EU rules mean it can be paid to expats if they can show they have a ‘genuine link with the UK’, and the money does not necessarily have to be spent on energy bills.

Britain is spending £22 million a year on winter fuel allowances for people living elsewhere in Europe, despite more than a third living in sunnier climes, the Daily Mail said.

The bulk of the annual handout goes to expats in Spain with £8.7 million, followed by Ireland £5.5 million, France £5.1 million and Cyprus £1.4 million. After that the sums becomes smaller with Portugal coming in at £579,000.

According to the Daily Mail, in 2002-03, a mere 8,000 people in 16 countries claimed at a total cost of £1 million. But by winter of 2013-14 a total of 135,285 people in 30 countries received £133million.

This included 50,000 in Spain, 30,000 in France, 3,300 in Portugal, 8,000 in Cyprus and 2,000 in Greece.

The new ‘temperature test’ to stop payments being made to countries where the average annual temperature is higher than the warmest region of the UK – the South West at 5.6C (42F).

The handouts will still be available to people in 25 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland.

Duncan Smith told MailOnline: “Winter fuel payments exist to help Britain’s pensioners keep themselves warm. It’s absurd and offensive that taxpayers are funding these payments for people who have retired to the Mediterranean and enjoy warmer weather.”

The legislation to introduce the temperature test is expected to come into force next week for winter 2015-16.

Duncan Smith added: “The European Union has frustrated our attempts to address this issue in the past, but with our new temperature-based eligibility criteria we’re able to satisfy EU rules as well as prevent this obscene waste of taxpayers’ money.”

By Stelios Orphanides

The government posted a 223.6 million euros budgetary surplus on a cash basis in January to November, or 1.3 per cent of economic output the finance ministry said. In the respective period last year, public finances showed a 626.7 million euros fiscal deficit or 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product.