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US official says East Med countries, including Cyprus would be regional rather than global energy players

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The Eastern Mediterranean region, including Turkey, Cyprus, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, “will be able to work together to get to a point of cooperation/collaboration for exploiting their resources”, Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs leading the Bureau of Energy Resources at the US Department of State Amos Hochstein has said.
Addressing the Atlantic Council in Washington on the US energy diplomatic priorities for 2015, Hochstein said: “The Eastern Mediterranean is a critical area, because we believe the new discoveries can be used as a vehicle to increase cooperation, to increase collaboration, to support stability, security and prosperity.”
“It is an opportunity, it is a moment in time, but it doesn’t mean it will necessarily happen,” he added.
Hochstein said all the parties in the region would have to take some rational steps that will overcome some of their tendencies and old conflicts in order to make it happen.
“This is an area that every small change can have a domino effect that will take away the gains,” he said, adding however that he was an optimist and believed solutions could be found.
Hochstein also said that Israel and Cyprus had discovered significant resources, but the most likely scenario was that they would be regional and not global players.
“To that end, I said that I was an optimist and that I believe Israel and Cyprus will be in a position to export to Turkey and to Egypt and to Jordan. I still believe that. If look later in my comments there, we talked about the fact that before that to happen there are some hurdles we have to pass. So, I don’t say it will be tomorrow,” he said.
“One thing that stands between us and a lot of these issues is the use of energy not as tool for cooperation but as a weapon.” (CNA)

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Price of nearly 2,000 medicines reduced

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By Staff Reporter
The health ministry on Friday announced that the price of almost 2,000 medicines had been reduced on average by around 15.5 per cent but in some cases the reductions were as high as 80 per cent.
The new prices will come into effect on Monday. The ministry said further reductions of 8-10 per cent would be put in place in March. Also from now on the revision of drugs prices will be done once a year instead of every two years. The recommendations are in line with a report last year from the World Health Organisation that put medicine prices in Cyprus among the highest in the world.
An updated price list includes the maximum retail and wholesale prices of 5,374 medicines, of which 1,968 were reduced while 442 are to remain at current levels. Another 333 drugs were already under a price freeze, which is to remain in force. The remainder, those non-prescription medicines whose price is below €10 are exempt from price controls.
The reductions include for instance a drop in the price of Zithromax antibiotic by over 50 per cent, cholesterol pills Lipitor and Zocor by around 30 per cent, medication for nervous system disorders – Keppra and Ebixa – by around 40 per cent, and musculoskeletal drugs such as Fosamax by 16 per cent.
The ministry said other changes underway included legislation concerning the composition of the audit committee on pharmaceutical prices.
“The primary concern and goal of the health minister is to ensure the unhindered access of patients to medication at affordable prices,” the ministry said in a statement. “Achieving this goal is paramount, especially in view of the imminent implementation of the NHS.” This would also lead to further future reductions.
The ministry said it would continue the social dialogue with all stakeholders, such as pharmacists, drug importers, manufacturers and patients’ groups.

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Hostage taken north of Paris during manhunt for newspaper killings (update 3)

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Police officers create a security zone around an industrial area where the suspects in the shooting attack at the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo headquarters are reportedly holding a hostage, in Dammartin-en-Goele

French anti-terrorist police surrounded a small northern town and helicopters hovered overhead after at least one person was taken hostage in a print works by two men believed to have carried out an attack on a Paris satirical journal.

Earlier, police had chased a vehicle at high speed along the nearby A2 motorway towards Paris as authorities appeared to be closing in on the two brothers. Gunshots rang out and police trucks, ambulances and armoured vehicles descended on the area close to Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport.

Police and anti-terrorist forces blocked all entries to the town of about 8,000, clearly seeking to limit the scale of any siege.

“All residents are requested to remain at home. Children are to be kept safe in school,” the municipal website said.

The danger of hostage taking or of a second attack has been a central concern of security services since the gunmen stormed the Paris offices of the satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday, killing ten journalists and two police officers.

Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told iTELE television he was fairly sure the two suspects were in the building currently surrounded.

“We are almost certain it is those two individuals holed up in that building.”

Yohann Bardoux, a plumber whose office is two doors down from the printing shop where the hostage drama is taking place stayed away from work after hearing gunfire. But he said his mother was in the building next door to the printing shop.

“Of course I’m worried about her, I hope it all comes down soon, and turns out well,” Bardoux said.

“They are everywhere. It’s really jumping. They’ve blocked the whole zones, we’ve got helicopters overhead, the police presence is impressive.”

A senior Yemeni intelligence source told Reuters one of the two suspects, French-born sons of Algerian-born parents, was in Yemen for several months in 2011 for religious studies; but there was no confirmed information whether he was trained by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

The gunmen shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) as they carried out the attack, which has been described by President Francois Holland and other world leaders as an attack on the fundaments of democracy.

The weekly newspaper appears to have been targeted because of its lampooning of Islam and cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.

The fugitive suspects are both in their early 30s, and were already under police surveillance. One was jailed for 18 months for trying to travel to Iraq a decade ago to fight as part of an Islamist cell. Police said they were “armed and dangerous”.

U.S. and European sources close to the investigation said on Thursday that one of the brothers, Said Kouachi, was in Yemen in 2011 for several months training with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), one of the group’s most active affiliates.

A Yemeni official familiar with the matter said the Yemen government was aware of the possibility of a connection between Said Kouachi and AQAP, and was looking into any possible links.

U.S. government sources said Said Kouachi and his brother Cherif Kouachi were listed in two U.S. security databases, a highly classified database containing information on 1.2 million possible counter-terrorism suspects, called TIDE, and the much smaller “no fly” list maintained by the Terrorist Screening Center, an interagency unit.

U.S. television network ABC reported that the brothers had been listed in the databases for “years.”

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Troika technical mission to visit on January 27

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A Troika technical mission is set to return to Cyprus on January 27 for the sixth review of the financial assistance programme, an IMF source told the Cyprus News Agency on Friday.
The mission will focus on the insolvency framework, a “critical priority” for the programme at this stage, the source noted.
“The technical mission is scheduled to begin its work in Cyprus on January 27”, but “a full review mission”, which includes the heads of the Troika, “will begin once the suspension of the foreclosures law is expired. This is the plan at the moment”.
The House suspended in its final plenary session of 2014 the implementation of the foreclosures law until the 30th of January, asking the Government to submit all the five bills of an insolvency framework, which was scheduled to be put into force in January 1 to set up a safety net to protect vulnerable groups from foreclosure of mortgaged property.
The insolvency framework will be the focus of the technical mission due on January 27, the IMF source noted, adding: “this is a critical priority of the program given the high level of non-performing loans”.
So far three bills form the package have been tabled before the House, while the fourth is expected to be approved by the Cabinet in its next meeting.
The fifth bill of the insolvency package is still in the hands of the Troika for scrutiny. “Important and relevant work is in progress on that,” the source said replying to a question.
The IMF official said that the €86 million tranche, halted following the Parliament`s decision to suspend the foreclosures law, will be disbursed when Cyprus fulfills its obligations related to it.
“As a result of the suspension of the foreclosures law, some essential requirements for the completion of the review are missing. At this stage first we will have to see the commitments being met and then we will reassess first at the staff level” the source told CNA.

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It’s a great weekend to plan a wedding

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By Maria Gregoriou

It is the start of the year and many men had the opportunity to pop the big question over the holiday period, and many of them did just that. So what better time for a wedding exhibition?

The Wedding Exhibition 2015 will give all of those ready to make the plunge a lot to consider, and even more to think about this weekend in Nicosia.

Let’s face it the business of getting married is a scary one when you think of everything that needs to be done. There is the church, the venue, the flowers, the rings, the photographer, and much, much more, including the dress.

As this may seem a little overwhelming, the exhibition will feature over 100 companies who are specialised when it comes to weddings in their own sector. And it is not all about making the right choices and making sure your day is perfect, you can also win some wedding services, give in an order for some wedding associated products and get some discount, and also have the chance to sample cake.

Wedding Exhibition 2015
Everything to do with putting a wedding together. January 10-11. ExpoCyprus, G. Seferi, Makedonitissa Area, Engomi, Nicosia. Saturday: 3pm-10pm, Sunday: 2pm-9pm. €5. Tel: 22-315477

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Pensioner dies in crash

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A 71-year-old man, Georgios Trappelides from Ayios Theodoros, Larnaca, died on Friday morning after his car crashed into a parked truck.
According to police reports, at around 8.15am Trappelides, who was headed with his car from Ayios Theodoros towards Pentashinos crashed on the truck that was parked on the left side of the street.
He was transferred to the Larnaca General Hospital where his death was confirmed. A post-mortem is to be carried out on Saturday.

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Missing woman

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missing woman

Police are looking for a 55-year-old woman from Limassol, Athinoula Miltiadou, who has been reported missing from her house since 6.30am on Thursday.
Miltiadous is described as 1.70cm tall, thin and with short tawny hair.
Police are urging anyone who possesses any information that could help trace Miltiadou to contact the Limassol CID or the nearest police station, or call 1460.

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Yannopoulos’s term as interim CEO expires,

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Marinos Yannopoulos

By Stelios Orphanides

Hellenic Bank said the term of its chief executive officer Marinos Yiannopoulos expired.

Yannopoulos’s contribution “to Hellenic Bank was very critical and valuable, as during his four-month term, the stress test conducted by European Central Bank was concluded, the bank was successfully recapitalized and the new strategic and operational plan of the group was formalized,” the lender said in an emailed statement today.

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Three day remand for referee

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The Nicosia District court on Friday ordered the three-day remand of Michalis Argirou, chairman of the association of football referees, in connection with match-fixing allegations made by referee Marios Panayi.
Panayi’s allegations had also implicated Michalis Spirou, a former member of the Cyprus Football Association’s Referee Commission – a body responsible for appointing match officials in football games and deciding on promotions – in 2010 and 2011.
Both men were arrested on Wednesday and brought before the court for remand. On Thursday, the court approved the police’s request for a four-day remand but postponed ruling on a similar request for Argirou for Friday.

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Abu Hamza gets life in prison on U.S. terrorism conviction

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Muslim cleric, Abu Hamza al-Masri, seen leading prayers outside the North London Central Mosque, in Finsbury Park in 2003

By Joseph Ax

Radical imam Abu Hamza al-Masri was sentenced to life in prison on Friday, eight months after he was convicted of federal terrorism charges in New York.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan imposed the sentence on the one-eyed, handless Abu Hamza, whom jurors had found guilty of providing a satellite phone and advice to Yemeni militants who kidnapped Western tourists in 1998, leading to the deaths of four hostages.

The defendant was also convicted of sending two followers to Oregon to establish a militant training camp, and dispatching an associate to Afghanistan to aid al Qaeda and the Taliban against the United States.

“Abu Hamza was not convicted for his words,” federal prosecutor Edward Kim told Forrest prior to the sentencing. “His crimes truly spanned the globe, from Yemen to Afghanistan to the United States.”

Abu Hamza, 56, had gained notoriety for his incendiary sermons at the Finsbury Park Mosque in London, which U.S. and U.K. authorities said helped inspire a generation of militants, including the would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid.

“I still maintain my innocence,” Abu Hamza told the judge prior to being sentenced.

He asked that corrections officials arrange to properly treat his disabilities, and that any prison time not constitute “a backdoor for torture.”

Defence lawyers had urged that Abu Hamza be sentenced to a term shorter than life in prison.

They also said any sentence should take into account their client’s need as a double amputee for specialised medical care, pressing for Abu Hamza to be sent to a medical facility instead of a maximum security prison.

Prosecutors, in contrast, called Abu Hamza a “global terrorist leader who orchestrated plots around the world.”

Abu Hamza, whose real name is Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, testified in his defence at trial. He denied he sent anyone to Oregon or Afghanistan and claimed he acted as an intermediary during the Yemen kidnapping in search of a peaceful resolution.

He also said for the first time that he lost his hands in an accidental explosion in Pakistan while working two decades ago as an engineer, contradicting many reports that he lost the limbs while fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

Abu Hamza has been known for having used a hook in place of his missing right hand.

He spent eight years in prison in Britain for inciting violence before his 2012 extradition to the United States.

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Two injured in Larnaca blast

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Two people were injured on Friday night when a bomb exploded outside an apartment building on Archbishop Kyprianou Avenue in Larnaca at around 10pm.
The two injured were a 45-year-old man and his girlfriend. It was not immediately known if the bomb exploded inside or outside the car. Police had cordoned off the area and were awaiting the arrival of the bomb squad. The couple were taken to Larnaca general hospital and treated at the emergency room. Their injuries were not life threatening.

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Greens demand probe into ‘terrorist’ dog shooting

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dog shot on Paphos airport runway

By Evie Andreou

THE GREEN Party on Friday were scornfully critical of the way a police officer shot dead a stray dog at the Paphos airport runway on Thursday.

“A ‘terrorist’ dog was murdered,” was the title of the party’s announcement in which they asked for a “full, immediate and transparent investigation” into the incident.

According to reports, the dog was spotted wandering near the runway of the airport by air traffic controllers who notified security to remove him.

After unsuccessfully trying to remove the dog, which allegedly attacked them, one of the two officers drew his handgun and shot it.

The party said that they were sceptical of the police explanation, that the dog attacked the officers.

“How is it possible, a stray dog being chased by police officers turning against them instead of running away and as a result one of the police officers shooting the dog in self-defence? How did a dog get into a high security area like the Paphos Airport?” the announcement said.

The party said they expect the police to fully investigate the case.

Police spokesman Andreas Angelides told the Cyprus News Agency that they have initiated a investigation to determine the circumstances of the incident and to determine whether the officer or officers are criminally or administratively liable.

People are condemning the incident on social media and a petition demanding the officer’s dismissal from the police force has already gathered more than 2,600 signatures. The petition is for Cyprus residents only.

PETITION

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Breast cancer treatment upgrade edges closer

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Health Minister of  Philippos Patsalis, presides over the first meeting of the ad hoc Committee on the operation of a specialized Breast Care Unit  in Cyprus.

By Evie Andreou

THE SPECIALLY appointed committee tasked with setting up a specialised breast cancer centre has three months to prepare concrete and detailed proposals, the health ministry announced on Friday.

Health Minister Philippos Patsalis had his first meeting on Friday with committee members which include Europa Donna Cyprus, the Bank of Cyprus Oncology Centre and other doctors specialising in cancer treatment.

In November, the Cabinet approved the gradual conversion of the breast cancer unit housed at Nicosia general hospital into a dedicated breast cancer centre, according to the European Parliament resolution on breast cancer, which calls on member states to ensure nationwide provision of interdisciplinary breast centres in accordance with EU guidelines by 2016.

The committee’s proposals must include needs for additional staff, premises and equipment, the relevant costing and an implementation schedule, the ministry announced after the meeting.

“The creation of a specialised breast centre satisfies a standing demand of Europa Donna Cyprus, follows the European guidelines and the national strategy and the action plan prepared by the national committee against cancer,” the announcement said.

“In 2013, 160 cases were referred to the [existing Nicosia General Hospital] unit, which since 2013 is a member of the European School of Oncology network, and these are expected to rise to 180 this year,” the ministry said.

The unit, which has been operating for five years now, has a multidisciplinary participation of surgeons, plastic surgeons, radiologists, histopathologists, oncologists, radiotherapists and nursing staff, the ministry said.

According to the European Union guidelines, the ministry said, the new specialised breast centre must have a sufficient number of patients in order to be effective and provide constant expertise.

“Furthermore, they must offer constant care to patients with advanced (metastatic) disease … and with high quality services of palliative care,” the announcement said.

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Our View: Mayor has to embrace free market change

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Nicosia mayor Constantinos Yiorkadjis

POLITICIANS, union bosses and pressure groups have always laboured under the illusion that they can impose their ideas on or at least manage the market. They think this could be done by restrictive legislation or government regulations, their objective always being to protect suppliers. In Cyprus, suppliers have always enjoyed protection through price controls, guaranteed profit margins, closed shop and other state regulations, while the interest of consumers have largely been ignored.

These restrictions have been gradually phased out, because of EU membership, but the supporters of market interference remain. Nicosia mayor Constantinos Yiorkadjis appears to have defected to this camp, publicly opposing the extension of the Mall of Cyprus, on the grounds that this would further reduce the number of people visiting the once thriving shopping areas of Makarios Avenue and Stassikratous Street in the centre of the capital.

The Mall is not within the Nicosia municipality’s boundaries, so it is strange that Yiorkadjis should be campaigning against its extension as the decision belongs to the Strovolos municipal council. Even stranger is the fact that Yiorkadjis, who contributed to the revival of Nicosia within the walls, by lifting restrictions such as the prohibitive parking space tax, which was a disincentive to the opening of bars, cafes and restaurants, would take a stand against the free operation of the market.

The run-down part of the capital within the walls has been turned into a vibrant and trendy centre, buzzing with life all hours of the day and night, because restrictions were lifted and market forces were freed. We did not hear the mayor of Engomi complaining because business was taken away from the bars and clubs of his municipality. This is what happens in a free market and Yiorjadjis should not forget that.

The once busy shopping streets of the capital will not be revived by preventing the extension of the Mall of Cyprus. If people prefer to shop in the mall because shops are close to each other, it is easier to drive to and there is no shortage of parking space, no amount of restrictive legislation will change these habits. Surely, it is up to the consumer to decide where he or she will shop and politicians should not try to lead them to the centre of town by restricting their shopping choices at the mall. This is not the way to bring back shoppers to the centre of town.

The market will eventually take care of itself – when rents fall significantly, new shops open and if they are selling products for which there is demand – and people will return to the capital’s shopping streets. Perhaps it would not be as many people as had walked these streets in the past, but our politicians have to accept that consumer habits change.

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Banks misleading borrowers over restructuring loans

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Costas Melas is urging borrowers to claim their rights in court

By Angelos Anastasiou

BANKS AND cooperative credit institutions do not follow the Central Bank of Cyprus’ (CBC) Code of Conduct in restructuring loans, and all borrowers are urged to take their case to court, the Borrowers’ Association head Costas Melas said on Friday.

He was speaking at a joint news conference, representing his association, the Consumers’ Association, the Bondholders’ Association, Quality of Life and Consumers’ Union, the Association for the Protection of Primary Residences, and the Coalition of Small Businesses and Self-employed.

The news conference, Melas said, was organised to help explain the Borrowers’ Association’s December 12 decision to urge borrowers to claim their rights in court.

Melas called on the CBC to take immediate measures for the code’s implementation, and announced the creation of a team of financial consultants that will “see borrowers at no charge, advising them of the type of restructuring they are truly entitled to, and inform them of banks’ obligations, as well as the actions required to safeguard their own rights.

“For those who wish to resort to the courts, documents and templates will be posted on every associations’ websites, which will help borrowers file their own court cases against banks and co-ops, or defend themselves in court,” Melas said.

He added that a Borrowers’ Code is being prepared, which will inform borrowers of their rights and obligations, and that open sessions will be organised in each district to inform borrowers of their rights.

As they are done today, the association’s head said, restructurings result in driving borrowers having to sign new agreements, through which banks and co-ops secure multiple benefits for themselves, like the borrower’s acknowledgment of the alleged amount due, which may include significant overcharges and requests for additional collateral.

“Banks and co-operatives treat borrowers unfairly, misleading them into signing whatever they suggest through unfounded lies, duress, threats and blackmail,” said Melas.

He warned that co-ops trick borrowers into arbitrations, which they misrepresent as loan restructurings, explaining that borrowers who accept arbitrations in fact acknowledge the alleged amount due, which typically includes overcharges.

“The arbitration decision then gets filed as a regular court decision, which entitles the bank to its immediate execution and the foreclosure of the collateral, thus depriving borrowers of their most important constitutional right – the right to a fair trial,” Melas explained.

He argued that it is unfair and illegal for banks to demand the repayment of loans granted with bank bonds – the value of which has been eliminated – as collateral, especially when their sale to private investors was deemed illegal by the CBC, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, and the House of Representatives.

“All the more so, since the elimination of the bonds’ value was owed to the banks themselves,” he added.

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French forces kill newspaper attack suspects, hostages die in second siege

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The body of alleged hostage-taker Amedy Coulibaly (L) lies unattended on the pavement in front of the Hyper Casher supermarket after the police raided the store, in Paris, France 09 January 2015

By Mark John, Ingrid Melander and John Irish

Two brothers wanted for a bloody attack on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo were killed on Friday when anti-terrorist police stormed their hideout, while a second siege ended with the deaths of four hostages.

The violent end to the simultaneous stand-offs northeast of Paris and at a Jewish supermarket in the capital followed a police operation of unprecedented scale as France tackled one of the worst threats to its internal security in decades.

With one of the gunmen saying shortly before his death that he was funded by al Qaeda, President Francois Hollande warned that the danger to France – home to the European Union’s biggest communities of both Muslims and Jews – was not over yet.

“These madmen, fanatics, have nothing to do with the Muslim religion,” Hollande said in a televised address. “France has not seen the end of the threats it faces.”

An audio recording posted on YouTube attributed to a leader of the Yemeni branch of al Qaeda (AQAP) said the attack in France was prompted by insults to prophets but stopped short of claiming responsibility for the assault on the offices of Charlie Hebdo.

Sheikh Hareth al-Nadhari said in the recording, “Some in France have misbehaved with the prophets of God and a group of God’s faithful soldiers taught them how to behave and the limits of freedom of speech.”

“Soldiers who love God and his prophet and who are in love with martyrdom for the sake of God had come to you,” he said in the recording, the authenticity of which could not immediately be verified.

A Yemeni journalist who specialises in al Qaeda said it was clear that AQAP had provided a “spiritual inspiration” for the attack on the newspaper offices, but there was no clear sign that it was directly responsible for the assault.

Following heavy loss of life over three consecutive days, which began with the attack on Charlie Hebdo when 12 people were shot dead, French authorities are trying to prevent a rise in vengeful anti-immigrant sentiment.

Hollande denounced the killing of the four hostages at the kosher supermarket in the Vincennes district of Paris. “This was an appalling anti-Semitic act that was committed,” he said.

Officials said Cherif Kouachi and his brother Said, both in their thirties, died when security forces raided a print shop in the small town of Dammartin-en-Goele, northeast of Paris, where the chief suspects in Wednesday’s attack had been holed up. The hostage they had taken was safe, an official said.

Automatic gunfire rang out, followed by blasts and then silence as smoke billowed from the roof of the print shop. In thick fog, a helicopter landed on the building’s roof, signalling the end of the assault. A government source said the brothers had emerged from the building and opened fire on police before they were killed.

Before his death, one of the Kouachi brothers told a television station he had received financing from an al Qaeda preacher in Yemen.

“I was sent, me, Cherif Kouachi, by Al Qaeda of Yemen. I went over there and it was Anwar al Awlaki who financed me,” he told BFM-TV by telephone, according to a recording aired by the channel after the siege was over.

Al Awlaki, an influential international recruiter for al Qaeda, was killed in September 2011 in a drone strike. A senior Yemeni intelligence source earlier told Reuters that Kouachi’s brother Said had also met al Awlaki during a stay in Yemen in 2011.

TARGETING JEWS
Minutes after the print shop assault, police broke the second siege at the supermarket in eastern Paris. Four hostages died there along with the gunman, Amedy Coulibaly.

Coulibaly had also called BFM-TV to claim allegiance to Islamic State, saying he wanted to defend Palestinians and target Jews.

Coulibaly said he had jointly planned the attacks with the Kouachi brothers, and police confirmed they were all members of the same Islamist cell in northern Paris.

Police had already been hunting 32-year-old Coulibaly along with a 26 year-old woman after the killing on Thursday of a policewoman. The woman, Hayat Boumeddiene, remains on the run.

Paris chief prosecutor Francois Molins told a press briefing that the two Kouachi brothers and Coulibaly had an arsenal of weapons and had set up booby traps. He said they had a loaded M82 rocket launcher, two Kalashnikov machine guns and two automatic pistols on them.

“On the body of one of the terrorists, the demining teams also found a grenade that had been positioned as a trap,” Molins said.

He said Coulibaly had attacked police forces with a Kalashnikov assault rifle and a “Skorpion” military pistol. After he was shot, police found two Russian-made Tokarev pistols, two machine guns, a bullet-proof vest and ammunition in the kosher supermarket.

“The supermarket had also been booby-trapped,” he said, noting that Coulibaly had placed 15 explosive sticks and one detonator in the supermarket.

Altogether 17 victims have died along with the three hostage-takers since Wednesday.

France plans a unity rally on Sunday to protest against the attacks. Among those due to attend are German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Prime Ministers David Cameron of Britain, Matteo Renzi of Italy and Mariano Rajoy of Spain, and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker.

President Barack Obama also expressed U.S. support. “I want the people of France to know that the United States stands with you today, stands with you tomorrow,” he said.

World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder joined the condemnations, saying, “Jewish life in France under threat if terror does not stop”.

HOSTAGES RUSHED OUT
News footage of the kosher supermarket showed dozens of heavily armed police officers outside two entrances. The assault began with gunfire and an explosion at the door, after which hostages were rushed out.

Reuters photographs taken from long distance showed a man holding an infant being herded into an ambulance by police. Others were carried out on stretchers.

French authorities mobilised a force of nearly 90,000 after Wednesday’s attack on Charlie Hebdo, a weekly that has long courted controversy by mocking Islam and other religions and political leaders.

A witness said one of the gunmen in Wednesday’s attack was heard to shout: “We have killed Charlie Hebdo! We have avenged the Prophet!”

The Kouachi brothers are believed to be the hooded gunmen who shot dead some of France’s top satirical cartoonists along with two police officers.

Security sources said the brothers, who were born in France of Algerian-born parents, had been under surveillance and had been placed on European and U.S. “no-fly” lists.

The violence raised questions about surveillance of radicals, far-right politics, religion and censorship in a land struggling to integrate part of its five million-strong Muslim community.

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Nordic countries point the way to cashless societies

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In the Stockholm subway it is impossible to buy a ticket with cash

Nordic countries are leading a shift by rich nations towards cashless societies, providing a test case for whether the lower cost and convenience of using cards and smartphones for payments outweigh the risks of fraud and some people being left behind.

Helped by wide use of computers even among the elderly, broad trust in the state and big business and only small black economies, people in Sweden and neighbouring countries are fast embracing cards, the Internet and apps for financial transactions, and forsaking notes and coins.

“We are headed more and more for a cashless society,” said Jan Digranes, a director at Finance Norway, which represents banks and other financial institutions.

Sweden, home of music streaming firm Spotify and the Candy Crush mobile phone game, ranks top in the European Union for card payments, with 230 transactions per inhabitant in 2012, just above Denmark and Finland and well ahead of Britain on 167, Germany 39 and Italy 28, according to the European Central Bank.

Non-EU members Norway and Iceland are also among top users of cards worldwide, their central banks say.

For banks and businesses, the big benefit is lower costs.

A report by the Norwegian central bank last month said the total cost of each cash transaction — including handling notes and coins in banks — was estimated at 7.1 crowns (EUR0.78) against only 4.1 crowns (eur0.45) per card transaction.

For consumers, abandoning cash is often about convenience, though some are worried the poor, elderly and disabled can lack access to technology and credit, or just prefer notes and coins.

Swedes often make the smallest purchases, such as for chewing gum, with a credit card and can use the Swedish banks’ jointly-developed smartphone app Swish to repay a small debt to a friend. Another app allow drinkers to buy beers in a bar without queuing.

In the Stockholm subway, it is impossible to buy a ticket with cash, while some unemployed people selling street magazines now also accept electronic payments.

Mike Shabwan, selling flowers on a Stockholm square, said sales had risen by 10 percent since he started use the Swedish service iZettle in his smartphone to accept card payments.

“And it is also cheaper and easier for me because the money comes directly into the bank,” he said.

MOBILEPAY
In Denmark, “MobilePay” — an app launched by Danske Bank to allow payments via a smartphone — was judged by public radio as the best new word of the year for 2014. It now has 1.8 million users in a nation of 5.6 million people.

But Jarl Dahlfors, chief executive of cash handling firm Loomis, says the cashless trend may have gone too far for “unbanked people” such as many elderly.

And “do we really want everything we buy to be registered?” he asked, touching on the loss of privacy involved in switching from cash purchases to card and online payments.

Then there are the risks of electronic fraud.

According to Swedish Justice Ministry data, electronic fraud has doubled in the country in the past decade to about 140,000 cases in 2013. The boom is partly because a successful Internet-based computer scam can quickly generate thousands of cases.

To limit risks with MobilePay, Danske Bank advises clients to keep their phones locked when not in use and guard them as they would a credit card or cash.

In Norway, Mastercard is experimenting with a fingerprint identification system developed by Norway’s Zwipe, embedded into credit cards, hoping to make them more secure.

Anna Eriksson, spokeswoman of the Swedish Association of Senior Citizens, said elderly people need guarantees that cash can be used freely everywhere.

“Maybe we need incentives for older people to get an iPad to learn what’s positive about paying bills through a computer,” she said.

Still, there are silver linings, even in the rise of electronic fraud. Bank robberies — which can involve violence — fell in Sweden to a record low of five in 2012 from 16 the year before.

The Swedish central bank is far from phasing out cash; it will launch new notes and coins this year.

But it predicts the amount of cash in Sweden will fall by between 20 and 50 percent by 2020 compared with 2012.

And as the first generation of Internet users grows older, it seems likely that attachments to notes and coins will fade.

“It is an ongoing evolution,” said Peter Fredell, CEO of Swedish Seamless, which developed the payment app Seqr that handles around 3 billion transactions in stores, restaurants and e-trade annually.

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Snow and low temperatures cause problems on road network

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snow

As cold weather conditions continue to grip the island the police on Saturday warned drivers to take care and that only those with chains or four-wheel drive can make it up the mountains.

All roads that lead to Troodos are open only to cars with chains or four-wheel drive as are the following roads:
Agros-Palaichori
Kakopetria-Karvounas
Kkaopetria-Pinewood-Pedoulas
Pedoulas-Kykkos
Prodromos-Lemithou
Kykkos-Kampos
Prodromos-Platres
Milikouri-Kykkos
Kampos-Satvros tis Psokas
Palaichori-Sykopetra
Polystipos-Leivadia
Polystipos-Chandria
Fterikoudi-Alona
Alona-Polystipos
Most roads in mountain and semi-mountain areas are slippery due to frost and police urge drivers to be careful, keep low speed and drive at safe distances from other cars, in addition to keeping the lights on.

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Government wants new privately owned Cyprus Airways, says minister

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Προεδρικό Μέγαρο//Presidential Palace

By Stelios Orphanides

The government wants to establish a new airline to succeed bankrupt Cyprus Airways with the same brand name and company logo in partnership with private investors, transport minister Marios Demetriades said on Saturday.

“We want to initiate the procedure to create a new company in cooperation with the private sector,” minister Marios Demetriades said. “We have already acquired the company logo and brand name and we instructed the commissioner for privatisations to appoint an advisor to have an open and transparent procedure.

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Cyprus Airways downfall was always just a matter of time

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CYPRUS-ECONOMY-AIRLINE

By Jean Christou

IT WAS always going to be a matter of time before Cyprus Airways (CY) went belly up given the way the company was being run into the ground by the interests of successive governments, management and unions.

Was it a miracle then that it lasted over 60 years and survived the aftermath of an invasion before EU accession finished off the job in a mere ten years? No, that was down to decades of protectionism by the state, which has ironically been its undoing in the end. By propping up the airline with millions of euros in an effort to keep it afloat in recent years, the state broke EU rules.

And for anyone who thought the Commission would not play hardball and take down a member state’s national carrier, they only need to look at what happened to Hungary’s Malev in 2012. No one can say Cyprus Airways wasn’t warned.

CY was never ready for air transport liberalisation even after open skies arrived in 2004, and it was still not ready for competition ten years down the line. It has always used unfair competition as an excuse for a state bailout while doing nothing to change how it operated, other than paying lip service to the notion of restructuring plans. People would be made redundant and walk away with thousands only to be re-hired. The major restructuring plan in 2007 saw staff reduced from 1,354 to 1,197 by 2008. This went up to 1,226 in 2009 and 1,389 in 2010 until the most recent cuts.

And when it could no longer ignore the plethora of low-cost carriers swooping in, CY tried to compete by cutting fares. But trying to compete with low-cost carriers on fares alone, without creating a low cost-structure was always going to be a recipe for disaster.

For instance until Friday CY had 560 staff – once upon a time this was close to 2,000 – and was operating only six remaining aircraft from a high of 12. Low-cost Ryanair has 300 aircraft and 8,500 employees. These figures translate into 27 Ryanair employees per aircraft, and for CY, a whopping 93 staff per aircraft. Even as recently as 2009 when CY operated 11 aircraft, it had 1,226 employees, making it 111 staff per aircraft.

Overstaffing has always been a problem with the airline coupled with the sense of entitlement that came with a CY job, especially for pilots, some of whom earned more than the President. Even when the company was clearly in dire straits and their pay was cut, they resorted to the courts to get the money back. They may have shown reasonable – by ordinary standards – salaries on paper but had managed to secure the remainder as tax-free allowances and expenses. CY staff layovers abroad were also legendary, as are past tales of people in the accounts department bringing their knitting to work for want of something to do. Year after year, CY annual reports singled out staff costs as the airline’s biggest expense.

Former chairman Constantinos Loizides once said the biggest financial problems confronting CY were massive overtime costs, sick leave and accumulated leave by pilots.

“We have reached the point where employees call the company to ask how many sick days they have left,” he was quoted as saying. Staff were allowed 13 uncertified sick days every year. They were also for years allowed to count their working hours and allowances from the minute they left their homes to travel to Larnaca airport.

Over the years strike action and walkouts have frequently occurred during the summer peak season, when they had the maximum impact on flights. Pilots once threatened to strike unless four of them were promoted for every two pilots promoted in CY’s charter firm Eurocypria. Unions too were constantly in conflict. When one secured a benefit or pay hike, the rest would kick up a stink until they received the same.

In another well documented case, and one of the few where someone was fired, a CY official abroad fiddled her expenses to the tune of £50,000, submitting receipts in a language other than Greek or English which the company did not check until an eagle-eyed auditor spotted a discrepancy in receipts that turned out to be shoes, cosmetics and other items. The woman in question was very well connected politically, which leads to one of the other main reasons for CY’s demise.

Cyprus Airways was used by successive governments without exception as a means of granting political favours. On top of that every politician and his mother and grandmother… literally… had free travel. Staff were hired irrespective of numbers because they belonged to the right political party and when it came time to be tough on wages or cost-cutting, no government could bring itself to lose the votes of 2,000 people and their families. And you could not get a job on merit.

Add to that the contracts handed out to those close to the board. Because Cyprus Airways operated under company law, which only forbids tender applications from employees of the commissioning company, the airline’s board members, who were not classed as employees, could get away with it, and only a few cases have come to light.

The late DIKO deputy Nicos Pittokopitis once accused former CY chairman Haris Loizides of nepotism, saying the chairman’s family firm supplied the CY catering department with smoked salmon. However he did admit himself to influencing the appointment of the manager of the Paphos airport duty-free shop because he said if he hadn’t, the candidate in question would have been overlooked for the job.

“The director of the duty free has three university degrees and English, German and French,” he said. “If this is nepotism considering people being hired (in CY) who can’t spell their name right and say ‘don’t ask me something in English because I don’t know’… is this nepotism?”

It was also the politicians who appointed those who helped run the airline into the ground.

Former vice chairman Frixos Savvides, who was instrumental in drafting the initial rescue plan, said one of the real issues being ignored was the failings of management.

“They were always ‘on top of things’ and everyone else below them was to be blamed except them. Any time a company goes drastically wrong, the first people that must go must be management,” he told the Sunday Mail in a past interview.

In 2005 another former vice-chairman Achilleas Kyprianou called on the government to come clean and publish the results of two probes into management decisions at the ailing airline. At issue was the leasing, buying and selling of aircraft involving millions in commission. Neither report ever saw the light of day.

International airline consultants Sabre, which drafted one of the two reports, highlighted other unsound choices, such as increasing seat capacity after 9/11, when all other airlines were cutting costs by an average of 12 per cent.

Again it was the state’s decision not to act on the findings as it has always been the state’s decisions that finally led up to the investigation by the European Commission, and the rest as they say, is history… just like Cyprus Airways.

The inaugural flight

The inaugural flight

 

TIMELINE

1947: Cyprus Airways established as a joint venture between the Colonial Government of Cyprus, BEA (British European Airways), and private interests.

1960: The new Cypriot government became the majority shareholder with a 53.2 per cent holding. BEA’s still held 22.7 per cent and private individuals the rest. Cypriot nationals began to be hired and trained

1965: Cyprus Airways began leasing its own Viscounts from BEA for regional routes. The moufflon, was adopted for the airline’s logo.

1974: The Turkish invasion caught all five CY aircraft on the ground, one of which is still lying on the tarmac at the old Nicosia Airport. Operations were suspended.

1975: Operations resume with severe wage cuts

1984: CY takes delivery of its first Airbus A310, one of the first airlines to use the aircraft. By the end of the decade its entire fleet was made up of Airbuses. Profits reached record levels in the mid-1980s and the airline was carrying 740,000 passengers a year.

1992-2000: CY creates Eurocypria charter airline and took over the lucrative Duty Free Shops at the airports. It signed numerous co-operation agreements and was carrying over one million passengers and had a market share of 40 per cent

2000-2010: The airline introduced a new livery and embarked on an ambitious fleet renewal. Hellas Jet was established in Greece. It was losing one million Cyprus pounds a month when it was sold in 2005. Cyprus joins the EU in 2004, bringing with it air liberalisation. CY is unable to compete. In 2006 the government bought Eurocypria and CY embarked on a failed restructuring plan

2010-2014: Profits keep falling, culminating in a loss of €55m in 2012. CY begins to sell off its assets including its three slots at Heathrow. The previous government gives the company illegal state aid in 2012 and 2013

2015: The EU rules the handouts illegal and CY’s operations are suspended

 

DAYS OF DANGER

In 1961, an aircraft jointly operated by BEA and Cyprus Airways crashed in Ankara at take off following instrument failure and in 1967 a CY aircraft broke up in midair on a flight between Athens and Nicosia in what was believed to have been an explosion, killing 66 people. In the seventies three hijackers were flown to Athens aboard a CY plane under police guard to make a connecting flight to Baghdad and in another terror-related incident 15 Egyptian commandos were killed in an exchange of fire with Greek Cypriot soldiers at Larnaca airport while hostages and abductors remained on board a CY plane on the tarmac. In the eighties gunmen seeking freedom seized a CY plane at Beirut and held 12 hostages. They later surrendered. Terrorists were not the only ones to ground a CY flight. In 1998 a squirrel that had been smuggled on board by a child escaped and it took days to find.

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