By Stelios Orphanides
Hotel operator and villa constructor Claridge Public Limited said it accepted a bid by K.A. Olympic Lagoon Resort Ltd to buy Amathus Beach Hotel Paphos plus two apartments at Apollo Heights for a total of 35 million euros.
The European Central Bank’s bond-buying programme must not be used as a justification by euro zone governments to slacken economic reforms, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday.
The ECB announced on Thursday it would pump hundreds of billions of euros in new money into a sagging euro zone economy despite opposition from Germany’s Bundesbank and widespread misgivings among politicians in the euro zone’s largest economy.
Speaking at a news conference in Florence with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Merkel said she would not comment on the ECB’s move out of respect for its independence. But she stressed that only government reforms could revive the euro zone.
“I don’t have the impression that the decision by the European Central Bank could lead to Italy saying ‘we don’t need to reform anymore’. But I say that this must also apply to everybody — and we will watch this in the coming weeks and months,” Merkel said.
“No central bank in the world will be able replace politics; political leaders have to live up to their responsibilities.”
Merkel had encouraging words for Renzi’s reform efforts in Italy, whose economy has not grown for three years, and Renzi pledged the ECB’s decision would prompt him to accelerate reforms rather than slow them.
Speaking before Michelangelo’s masterpiece statue of David in the city where he was mayor before taking power inItaly a year ago, Renzi said he would “put the turbo” on economic reforms which have been widely criticised as not deep enough.
He welcomed developments including a more flexible stance on budget policy from the European Commission, a planned EU-wide investment programme, euro currency depreciation and the ECB’s newly announced quantitative easing plan.
“All these four factors are extremely important for Italy and what has happened obliges us to do the reforms even faster,” he said.
The two leaders spoke as a small group of protesters dressed up as statues and declared themselves “monuments to poverty”. They demonstrated outside the venue against Europe’s economic policies and the influence they said Brussels and Germany had over southern European economies.
Merkel and Renzi declined to comment on Sunday’s Greek election other than to say they were confident the outcome would not lead to serious problems for the currency bloc.
By Maria Gregoriou
Tomorrow morning the Global Shapers Nicosia Hub in collaboration with the Cyprus Diabetes Association and the Cyprus Turkish Diabetes Association are organising an awareness-raising event at 11am at the Ledra street crossing.
The network of young people who are determined to make a contribution to the community invites everyone to join them to be part of a discussion with experienced dieticians and trainers on how to improve our lifestyle to avoid the risk of diabetes.
During the event everyone present can get their blood tested for diabetes. So if you know that diabetes runs in your family, then this is a great chance to know more and get yourself tested.
This is the first event organised by the newly established Global Shapers Nicosia Hub, which is part of the international Global Shapers Community.
For more information visit www.facebook.com/events/787844514614710/
Shape Your Lifestyle, Fight Diabetes
A diabetes awareness raising event. January 24. Ledra Street/ Lokmaci Crossing, Nicosia. 11am-1pm. Free. Email: nicosia@globalshapers.org
By Maria Gregoriou
If you have children aged two to five, then you can give them a treat and take them to a non-verbal narration of a story tomorrow morning. If it is short notice and you already have plans, you can get a second chance on Monday when the tale will be told all over again.
This story telling is a part of a new series of work to be presented by Theatro Edekanou under the collective name Short Paper Story. This first story to be told by using lots of rolls of paper, improvisation, and movement is about the meeting of two people.
Another kind of story telling will evolve tomorrow at the Little Worry People Art and Drama Studio in Nicosia with a performance of Tarabouska, Would You Like a Place in my Heart? This play also unfolds during the meeting of two people but this time it is at an airport.
The performance will be mostly conducted as pantomime and its main character is a young man who leaves home and sets off for a magical land in search of true love.
On his way he learns how to be more accepting, how significant friendship can be, and how importance patience and persistence are to achieving goals.
These lessons and the magical trip towards love will be brought to the stage by Danish director Torkild Lindebjerg and acted out by Andrei Krupa and Nicoletta Christoforou.
Short Paper Story
A non-verbal narration of a story for children from 2-5-years-old. January 24. Theatre Edekanou, 19 Nikitara, Nicosia. 11am. €5. Tel: 99-849598 or 96-670490. Email: eidekanou@gmail.com
January 26. Kasteliotissa Hall, AGIOS Maronas Street, Paphos Gate, Nicosia. 4pm.
Tarabouska, Would You Like a Place in my Heart?
Theatrical play for children. January 25. The Little Worry People Art and Drama Studio, 2 Orfeos Street, Makedonitissa, Engomi, Nicosia. 11am. €5. In Greek. Tel: 22-590197
Following the closure of Cyprus Airways, the air connectivity of Cyprus with the rest of the world is a priority of his ministry, Communications, Works and Transport Minister Marios Demetriades said on Friday.
Speaking in Limassol, Demetriades said his ministry had already conducted research and taken a number of actions which would be announced soon.
Regarding the creation of a new Cypriot airline, Demetriades said the Privatisation Commissioner was handling the issue. He added that the process of hiring consultants on that issue had already begun.
Demetriades said air connectivity was still high despite the demise of the national carrier, and that almost all of the routes on which Cyprus Airways had been covered. There were several companies interested in filing the gaps, he said.
Cyprus Airways closed down two weeks ago after the European Commission ruled it would have to pay millions in received from the government in illegal state aid. (CNA)
By Robin Emmott
greece will have to ask for a new extension to its euro zone bailout programme before 1.8 billion euros in pending aid can be paid, a senior euro zone official said on Friday, stressing that a new government must first be in place to do so.
Greece’s programme with the euro zone expires on Feb. 28. Although the International Monetary Fund will continue to back Athens, the country needs to be under an European accord to receive the final euro zone loans and to be eligible for support from the European Central Bank.
Without an extension, Athens would also lose access to almost 11 billion euros in euro zone bailout bonds now available to safeguard Greek bank capital needs in the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund.
Given Greek elections on Sunday, one senior euro zone official said it was “on the outer fringes of statistical probability” that the EU, IMF and ECB would complete a long-delayed fifth review of Greece’s international aid programme and release the final euro zone disbursement.
But the official, who declined to be named, played down concerns about a standoff with the leftist Syriza party and international lenders that would drive Greece to bankruptcy and push the country out of the euro zone.
The official said euro zone finance ministers will discuss financing for Greece on Monday at a meeting in Brussels and are expected to signal that they are willing to give Athens more time under a programme.
“Another extension may need to be considered,” the official said, referring to the programme that was originally due to expire at the end of last year. “A precondition for such an extension is that you have to ask for it.”
After two bailouts totalling 240 billion euros ($270 billion) since 2010, the outgoing Greek government wanted to switch back to market financing, while Syriza wants to drop the bailout altogether and says it will demand a debt write-off.
But European Commission President Jean-Claude has said Greece will remain in the euro zone and the official reiterated that there was room to work with Athens whatever the outcome of the elections.
“Sometimes it sounds as if, whatever happens, there will be debt relief. The picture is much more differentiated. There is the agreement under certain conditions to enter into these discussions,” the official said.
By Constantinos Psillides
Road safety NGO “REACTION Youth for the prevention” chairman Marios Stavrou suggested on Friday that drivers repeatedly caught drunk or speeding should have their driving licence revoked for six months, without the case going to court.
“It is a drastic measure but unfortunately drastic changes are needed in preventing road accidents,” said Stavrou, adding that drunk driving and speeding remained the leading causes of fatal road accidents.
Stavrou said all drivers caught drunk driving and those found speeding over 35 per cent of the speed limit should automatically have their licence revoked for six months. He also proposes that if the same driver is caught repeating the offence after the six month sentence has expired, to have his licence revoked for a year and in case he/she causes a fatal road accident –while intoxicated or speeding- to permanently lose their licence.
On December 2013 police released data on road accidents, showing a significant drop compared to previous years.
The decrease marks the continuation of a declining trend in the number of fatal accidents since 2011.
In 2013 the total number of fatal crashes in Cyprus was 41, marking a 19.6 per cent decrease over the previous year, with 44 fatalities, which denotes a 13.73 per cent drop relative to 2012.
In 2011 there were 67 fatal accidents resulting in 71 deaths, which was n increase on 2010 when there were 56 fatal accidents resulting in 60 deaths.
The steady decline in fatal road crashes since 2011 suggests Cyprus is well on its way to meeting the European Commission’s target of reducing road accident deaths by 50 per cent by 2020, relative to 2010 numbers.
By Himanshu Ojha
Brent crude oil rose on Friday after the death of Saudi Arabia’s king added to uncertainty in oil markets, although the new ruler indicated immediately there would be no policy change.
Brent crude rose to a high of $49.80, up $1.28 a barrel, before easing to around $49.20 by 1515 GMT. U.S. light crude oil rose to $46.41, up 10 cents.
King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz died early on Friday and his brother Salman became king of the world’s top oil exporter.
Salman named his half-brother Muqrin as heir and nephew Mohammed bin Nayef, 55, as Deputy Crown Prince, moving to forestall any succession crisis at a moment when Saudi Arabia faces unprecedented turmoil on its borders.
Saudi state television said King Salman intended to keep oil minister Ali al-Naimi in place, suggesting the country’s oil policy would remain unchanged.
Hans van Cleef, senior energy economist with ABN Amro, said oil investors were worried about a possible change in Saudi oil policy and the security of the kingdom, but repeated assurances of continuity from Riyadh, helped calm the market.
“There was only a spike in prices over these tensions and they eased afterwards,” van Cleef said.
The new Saudi king is expected to continue an OPEC policy of keeping oil output steady to protect the cartel’s market share from rival producers.
Abdullah’s death comes amid some of the biggest shifts in oil markets in decades. Oil prices have fallen by almost 60 percent since peaking last June as soaring supplies of shale oil from North America have coincided with cooling demand.
Booming U.S. production has turned the United States from the world’s biggest oil importer into one of the top producers, pumping out over 9 million barrels per day.
Data from the Energy Information Administration on Thursday showed the biggest build in U.S. crude inventory in at least 14 years, driving Brent and WTI prices
To combat soaring output and falling prices, many oil exporters, such as Venezuela, wanted the 12-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut output in order to support prices and revenues.
Yet, led by Saudi Arabia, OPEC announced last November it would keep output steady at 30 million barrels per day.
Many analysts remain bearish on the outlook for oil and this view was echoed by Saudi Prince Alwalees Bin Talal, who told CNBC news that in his view the market had further to fall:
“We have not seen the bottom yet, maybe.”
The USA is trying to create the conditions necessary to restart reunification talks, which stalled after Turkey sent a research vessel inside Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone prompting President Nicos Anastasiades to abandon the negotiating table, the government said on Friday.
Anastasiades discussed the developments in the Cyprus problem with US State Secretary John Kerry on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum at Davos.
During the 45-minute meeting, the president briefed Kerry about his decision to pull out of talks while Turkey continued to threaten, and violate Cyprus’ sovereign rights.
According to an official statement, Kerry reiterated the US position concerning the Republic’s right to exploit the natural resources inside its EEZ.
“He also noted that the US is working to create the conditions necessary for the resumption of substantive talks on the Cyprus problem,” the government spokesman said.
Anastasiades lashed out at the UN and the USA last week, following the publication of UNSG Ban Ki-moon’s UNFICYP report, which the president described as an effort to force his return to the negotiating table while Turkey continued to violate Cyprus’ sovereign rights.
In an interview with private Mega television, Anastasiades said he had received promises from Ban, Kerry, and US Vice President Joe Biden, the Russian foreign minister and even Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, that Turkey was ready to go ahead with talks at the start of October as agreed.
On top of that, the ambassador of a big power – he did not name – had told him that before the start of the talks, Turkey was going to lift the embargo on Cyprus-flagged vessels.
Instead, five days later Turkey dispatched Barbaros to carry out seismic surveys inside Cyprus’ EEZ, he said.
“It is the first time I say it, but patience has its limits.”
Anastasiades said he would not “bow, under any circumstances, and be dragged into talks under threat or blackmail”.
President Nicos Anastasiades will leave on Monday for Saudi Arabia to pay his respects to the Saudi royal family after the death of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud on Friday.
According to a statement from Government Spokesman Nicos Christodoulides, Anastasiades will leave Cyprus directly after a meeting he is scheduled to have in the morning with party leaders to discuss energy, the Cyprus issue and the economy.
From Saudi Arabia, the President will travel the same day to Bahrain on an official four-day visit. It will be his first official visit to Bahrain.
Anastasiades will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides, Energy, Trade, Industry and Tourism Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis, the government spokesman and other officials.
In Bahrain Anastasiades will hold talks with King Ahmad bin Isa Al Khalifa, during which they will discuss issues of regional and international developments, bilateral relations between Cyprus and Bahrain, the Cyprus issue, and the fight against terrorism, the presidential palace said.
Bilateral agreements are expected to be signed in the fields of aviation, the avoidance of double taxation, terrorism, organised crime and drugs, as well as a Memorandum of Understanding in the field of health.
The President will also meet with Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salma Al Khalifa and will address a Cyprus business forum organised by the Cyprus Chambers of Commerce and Industry, which will involved dozens of businessmen from the island.
On the sidelines the Cypriot foreign and energy ministers will have separate meetings with their counterparts.
Earlier on Saturday Anastasiasdes conveyed Cyprus’ congratulations to the new Saudi king, Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the brother of the deceased monarch.
In a written message, Anastasiades spoke of the spirit of enhanced cooperation between the Cyprus and Saudi Arabia.
“The assumption of the King’s duties comes at a very challenging time for the wider region, due to the great instability brought on by prolonged conflicts and the rise of nefarious non-state actors, who aim to destroy norms of international conduct” the announcement continues,” the message said.
“It is the duty of moderate players to increase their coordination and efforts in order to tackle these enormous and multifaceted threats effectively.”
By Constantinos Psillides
A 39-year-old petrol station owner was remanded for five days in custody by the Nicosia District Court on Saturday on suspicion of carrying out an arson attack on the car and home of a rival in an alleged move to intimidate him into raising his prices.
The suspect was one of five men – three of them petrol station owners – arrested in connection with the case on Friday evening.
A 59-year-old, also a petrol station owner, also appeared before court but the judge decided not to remand him in custody, for lack of sufficient evidence
The other three men aged 69, 40 and 51 had already been freed by police. According to police spokesman Andreas Angelides, police had secured testimony linking the 39-year-old to the crimes that include charges of conspiracy to commit a felony, arson, and sending threatening texts.#
On June 8 last year, the car belonging to the wife of the petrol station owner was set on fire. Two weeks later, the couple’s home was targeted in an arson attack on June 21. The interior of the house sustained €18,000 worth of damage.
The reason behind the attacks, according to the police, was the fact that the petrol station owner insisted on selling petrol at a very low price and refused to raise it when the threats started.
Friday’s arrests were the culmination of a seven-month investigation by police. All of the suspects has been named by the petrol station owner but police couldn’t find sufficient evidence to build a case at the time.
That changed when investigators were granted access to the suspects’ phone records. Based on those, police believed they had gathered enough evidence to justify Friday’s arrests. .
E-cigarettes in checked luggage could cause a fire in airliners, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has warned.
“In several incidents both inside and outside the transportation industry, e-cigarettes have overheated or caught fire when the heating element was accidentally activated,” the FAA said in a safety alert issued to airlines.
The FAA said it was recommending to airlines that e-cigarettes be carried in the aircraft cabin instead of in checked luggage that goes into the cargo hold where they could cause a serious fire in mid-flight.
E-cigarettes use battery-powered cartridges to produce a nicotine-laced vapor.
“The agency encourages airlines to communicate this new policy to passengers as widely as possible through their websites, press releases, at ticket purchase, during the check-in process and by other established means to inform passengers about hazardous materials regulations and policies,” it added.
By Maria Gregoriou
For Greeks the week starts on Sunday, so with that in mind we will say that the week ahead is filled with night life and the sound of some good modern and traditional Greek music. If you are not into what the Greeks have to offer on the musical scene why not give it a second chance?
Get your ears ready for some Greek sounds tomorrow and on Monday with performances by pianist Panayiotis Margaris and singer Andriana Mpampali, who will be presenting a concert entitled With the Magic of the Guitar.
In Limassol tomorrow and in Larnaca on Monday the pair will thrill audiences with an electric repertoire. The nights will include solo guitar pieces from Margaris’ album Rock of my Soul, and pieces from his successful record series Café de I Art. The guitarist will also play pieces by Spanish composers and some solo pieces from his latest album, Me Tin Mageia Tis Kitharas (With the Magic of the Guitar).
But of course the concerts will not be only about the guitar. Mpampali will perform songs from her personal discography, which have been rearranged to fit in perfectly with Margaris’ guitar playing.
The duo will also perform some classic Greek songs by composers such as Mikis Theodorakis, as well as some English songs by the likes of Sting and Stevie Wonder.
Now turning to a singer who is known for his, as the Greeks say, alternative music. Yiannis Kotsiras will perform in Larnaca on Wednesday and in Nicosia on Thursday.
The singer started his musical career in 1990 singing Greek folk songs and released his first personal album in 1996. He is the youngest singer to have performed Aksion Esti, a series of poems by Odysseas Elytis put to music by Mikis Theodorakis, and he also performed the song that accompanied the Olympic flame from its initial lighting in Ancient Olympia in Athens to the countries that would take part in the games until it reached back home in 2004.
He has worked with some of the giant names in Greek music such as Haris Alexiou and Dimitris Mitropanos. The singer is currently working on a new album that is being composed by Thanos Mikroutsikos.
Last up is a pair of singers who worked together in the 90s and are making a comeback: Thanos Kalliris and Labris Livieratos.
Kalliris and Livieratos will perform a series of concerts with a little bit of rock, a little bit of laika, and a little bit of pop.
Kalliris was part of the band Bang which represented Greece in the Eurovision song contest in 1987 with the song Stop. A solo artist, he has produced many popular ballads.
Livieratos started his career as an actor. He has composed his own tracks as well as working with well-known Greek lyricists.
With the Magic of the Guitar
Performance with the guitarist Panayiotis Margaris and singer Andriana Mpampali. January 25. Rialto theatre, Limassol. 8.30pm. €15/10. Tel: 77-777745
January 26. Larnaca Municipal Theatre. 8.30pm. €12. Tel: 99-430654
Yiannis Kotsiras
Live performance from the Greek singer. January 28. Skala Studio, 135 Constantinou Kalogera, Larnaca. 9pm. Tel: 24-400119
January 29. Red Music Stage, Nicosia. 9pm. Tel: 22-767711
Thanos Kalliris and Labis Livieratos
Live performance from the Greek singers. January 28 until February 25. Cyrstal Marina Lounge, Limassol Marina. 11pm. Tel: 25-051230
A bomb fixed to the car of a 44-year-old man from Limassol exploded in the early hours of Saturday, police said. No one was injured.
According to the police report, officers received a call at 2.30am saying that a car bomb had exploded. The vehicle had been parked outside the owner’s apartment building.
Police spokesperson Andreas Angelides said the explosive device was improvised and made with a powerful explosive substance.
By Constantinos Psillides
THE Cyprus Football Association (CFA) has decided to refer whistleblower referee Marios Panayi to the association’s disciplinary committee, accusing him of making offensive comments online against members of the Cyprus Referees Association (CRA).
Panayi is also being accused by the CFA of sending an offensive email to CRA chairman Hans Reijgwart.
According to a press release posted on the CFA website, Panayi has been given until Monday to respond to the accusations.
Panayi shocked the football world in December when he called a press conference to report widespread match-fixing orchestrated by CRA and CFA officials. He gave lengthy statements to the police which resulted into two arrests.
Panayi repeatedly pledged to leak a “huge amount of evidence” in his possession if the legal services decided not to pursue the case. The evidence, mostly phone conversations and email exchanges prove, according to Panayi, that CRA members pressured referees to fix matches in exchange for promotion.
The online comment accusations refer to a January 15 post Panayi placed on his Facebook account, where he wrote the names of 10 CRA and CFA officials – including Reijgwart- blaming them for the match fixing. Panayi called on his Facebook followers to “mock and spit on them”.
Two of the individuals in Panayi’s list have already filed a complaint against him with the police.
Panayi did not comment on the latest CFA decision, telling the Cyprus News Agency that “I will speak when the time is right.”
He also implied that he would call a second press conference.
THE left wing Syriza party kept its steady lead on Saturday in the last opinion polls to be issued ahead of Sunday’ general election in Greece, with questions remaining over whether it will be able to govern alone or need the support of a junior coalition partner.
Under election rules, it needs over 40 per cent of the vote to be guaranteed a majority of its own although it could win with slightly less, depending on the results of the other parties.
A roundup of polls conducted by Reuters gave Syriza 31.2 to 33.4 per cent of the vote, improving the expectations given by pollsters only a few days earlier by at least one percentage point.
The ruling New Democracy is seen trailing with a range of 26 to 28.9 per cent, far from any victory hope, even with coalition hopes with any of the smaller parties.
However, the anti-bailout Independent Greeks party has emerged as a potential coalition partner for Syriza should the leftists win.
Although it is a party of the centre-right formed by rebels from Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ New Democracy, the Independent Greeks share Syriza’s opposition to the terms of Greece’s 240-billion-euro bailout by lenders.
For weeks, the party, which had 12 deputies in the last legislature, had looked unlikely to get past the threshold needed to enter parliament, but since January 15, all but two of 18 opinion polls have given it at least the 3 per cent needed.
Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras has urged Greeks to give his party outright victory and has been careful to avoid naming potential coalition partners, although the hardline communist KKE party has ruled out an alliance.
Tsipras has unnerved financial markets with a pledge to overturn austerity and demands a debt write-off from European partners. But his message has resonated with Greeks struggling with unemployment over 25 per cent and wage and pension cuts.
Meanwhile, nearly three years since entering parliament after rousing rallies and food handouts, Greece’s far-right Golden Dawn is running a much quieter campaign for Sunday’s election from a high-security prison.
With most of its top brass jailed pending trial on charges of being in a criminal gang, Greeks have seen little of one of Europe’s most ardent anti-immigrant parties in recent weeks except for the occasional broadcast and odd leaflet.
Golden Dawn, whose leaders deny neo-Nazi sympathies, taps into the same anger at politicians seen as responsible for austerity, wage cuts and record unemployment that is expected to propel Syriza to power.
The party’s resilience on Greece’s turbulent political scene, it ranks as high as third in some polls, raises the prospect of an imprisoned far-right leader being asked to form a government if Syriza and the ruling conservatives both fail to win outright or form a coalition.
“The television stations might present (our candidates) as knife-wielders, criminals, uneducated, immature but as you can see… they represent the best that Greek society has,” boomed the voice of prominent Golden Dawn lawmaker Ilias Kasidiaris from a loudspeaker at a recent gathering in the town of Koropi, south east of Athens.
He was speaking from Korydallos prison, home to some of Greece’s most dangerous criminals, where he is awaiting trial on charges of illegal gun possession.
“Golden Dawn is writing Greece’s modern political history and we will be the winners,” he told around 300 enthusiastic supporters packed into a hall where members sang the national anthem and chanted: “Homeland, honour, Golden Dawn”.
Kasidiaris, leader Nikolaos Mihaloliakos and five other outgoing lawmakers are behind bars, accused of being part of a criminal group that attacks immigrants and leftists, after a party supporter stabbed a prominent left-wing rapper in 2013.
In its manifesto, Golden Dawn, among the furthest parties to the right on Europe’s political spectrum, argues all illegal immigrants should be rounded up, detained and sent home. The party, whose members have been seen doing Nazi-style salutes, also wants tax breaks to boost Greece’s low birth rate to “avoid us becoming a minority in our own country”.
One of the party’s few lawmakers free to campaign, Artemis Mattheopoulos, said the election schedule revolved around infrequent calls with the leadership and prison lockdowns.
“The last election event we held in Thessaloniki had to happen early because at 8 p.m. the prison cell door shuts and communication is cut off so we held the event at 6 p.m. … so that the leader could speak without being worried that his cell door is shutting,” he said, saying the party was being “gagged”.
Seven of the party’s 16 lawmakers are in pre-trial detention and three under house arrest ahead of a trial due this year, as part of a government-led crackdown that was the most significant mass round-up of lawmakers since a military coup in 1967.
In the last nationwide ballot – for European elections held barely eight months ago – Golden Dawn polled nearly one in ten votes to secure a comfortable third position.
The party, which rose from obscurity to enter Greek parliament for the first time in 2012, is now being challenged by the newly-formed centrist To Potami (River) for third place, but pollsters say support for Golden Dawn could be higher than polls indicate.
One of the final surveys before Greece’s last national elections in June 2012 put support for the party at 4.7 percent, days before it achieved a share of 6.9 percent.
“There is a so-called abstaining voter, who doesn’t disclose who they will vote for to pollsters, and this is a factor for the extremist parties,” said George Siakas, pollster and political researcher at the University of Macedonia.
“Every election has its particularities but from 2012 it seems that Golden Dawn has crystallised a voting public… There are people who will vote for Golden Dawn come what may.”
Back in Koropi, Kasidiaris told gathered supporters to cast aside a corrupt Greek elite and send Golden Dawn to a triumphant victory.
“On Sunday, we will get more votes than we did in 2012 and we will be the third-biggest party!” Kasidiaris said, to loud applause and cheering in the hall displaying the party’s swastika-like emblem, which it says is the ancient Greek ‘meander’ symbol. “Don’t believe the fake pollsters.”
The U.S. intelligence community is working to confirm the authenticity of a recording that purports to announce the execution of a Japanese citizen held by Islamic State militants, the White House said on Saturday.
The audio message says that captive Haruna Yukawa has been killed. Islamic State has beheaded several foreign hostages, and in the past has issued videos showing the killings. Reuters could not independently confirm the audio message.
“The intelligence community is working to confirm its authenticity,” U.S. National Security Council deputy spokesman Patrick Ventrell said in a statement.
“The United States strongly condemns ISIL’s actions and we call for the immediate release of all the remaining hostages,” Ventrell said, using an acronym for Islamic State.
“The United States is fully supportive of Japan in this matter. We stand in solidarity with Japan and are coordinating closely.”
Japan condemned the recording and demanded the immediate release of another captive depicted as appearing on the image.
Premier League leaders Chelsea surrendered a two-goal lead to lose 4-2 at home to third tier Bradford City while Manchester City lost 2-0 at home to Middlesbrough on a day of seismic FA Cup shocks on Saturday.
Goals from Gary Cahill and Ramires had Chelsea cruising after 38 minutes of the fourth-round tie at Stamford Bridge but John Stead pulled a goal back before the break and former Chelsea player Filipe Morais equalised.
Andy Halliday made it 3-2 before Mark Yeates’ late goal sent the Bradford fans into raptures.
Manchester City could have few complaints as they were outplayed by Championship (second tier) promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough for whom Chelsea loanee Patrick Bamford scored the opener and Spaniard Kike wrapped it up.
The surprises continued as Tottenham Hotspur lost 2-1 at home to Leicester City while in another all-Premier League tussle, third-placed Southampton lost 3-2 at home to Crystal Palace.
Top-flight Swansea City went down 3-1 at second tier Blackburn Rovers, the visitors ending the match with nine men.
Results from the English FA Cup 4th Round matches on Saturday
4th Round
Saturday, January 24
Birmingham City (II) – West Bromwich Albion 1-2 (halftime: 1-2)
Cardiff City (II) – Reading (II) 1-2 (halftime: 1-0)
Chelsea – Bradford City (III) 2-4 (halftime: 2-1)
Derby County (II) – Chesterfield (III) 2-0 (halftime: 1-0)
Manchester City – Middlesbrough (II) 0-2 (halftime: 0-0)
Preston North End (III) – Sheffield United (III) 1-1 (halftime: 1-0)
Southampton – Crystal Palace 2-3 (halftime: 2-3)
Sunderland – Fulham (II) 0-0 (halftime: 0-0)
Tottenham Hotspur – Leicester City 1-2 (halftime: 1-0)
Blackburn Rovers (II) – Swansea City 3-1 (halftime: 1-1)
Friday, January 23
Cambridge United (IV) – Manchester United 0-0 (halftime: 0-0)
By Alessandra Prentice and Pavel Polityuk
Pro-Russian rebels launched an offensive against the strategic port of Mariupol in eastern Ukraine on Saturday, prompting the European Union’s foreign policy chief to warn of a further “grave deterioration” in EU-Russian relations.
Mariupol’s city administration said the rebels had killed at least 30 people and injured 83 others in the offensive by firing rockets from long-range GRAD missile systems.
The city of 500,000 on the Sea of Azov is vital for eastern Ukraine’s steel and grain exports and also straddles the coastal route from the Russian border to Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula in southern Ukraine seized by Russia last March.
President Petro Poroshenko, pledging to protect Ukrainian territory, said he would convene an emergency meeting of his country’s security council on Sunday.
“Today an offensive was launched on Mariupol. This will be the best possible monument to all our dead,” Russia’s RIA news agency quoted rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko as saying at a memorial ceremony in the separatist-held city of Donetsk.
He said the separatists also planned to encircle Debaltseve, a town north-east of Donetsk, in the next few days, Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.
Eastern Ukraine has seen an escalation of fighting in recent days that Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed on Kiev. The rebels have ruled out more peace talks.
Poroshenko responded angrily to the fighting in Mariupol, a city the rebels tried to capture last autumn before a fragile ceasefire was agreed in eastern Ukraine. Kiev fears the rebels want to build a land bridge from Russia to Crimea.
“We are for peace, but we accept the challenge of the enemy. We will protect our motherland,” Poroshenko said in a statement.
EU APPEAL
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini condemned the Mariupol attack and urged Moscow to lean on the rebel leaders.
“I … call openly upon Russia to use its considerable influence over separatist leaders and to stop any form of military, political or financial support,” she said.
Moscow denies sending forces and weapons to east Ukraine, despite what Kiev and the West say is irrefutable proof. Last week Poroshenko said Russia had 9,000 troops stationed in his country and demanded their immediate withdrawal.
The nine-month conflict, in which more than 5,000 people have been killed, has triggered the biggest crisis in relations between Russia and the West since the Cold War.
Saturday’s attack on Mariupol started in the early morning, said pensioner Leonid Vasilenko, 76, who lives in an eastern suburb of the city.
“The walls were shaking, the window frames were shaking, paint started to crumble off the house,” he said by telephone.
“I hid in the basement. What else can you do? I took the dog and the cat. In the basement you could hear the earth tremble.”
Russia blamed the Ukrainian authorities on Monday for a surge in violence in southeastern Ukraine and urged the West not to show its support for Kiev with actions such as imposing new sanctions on Moscow.
“We see attempts to derail the peace process and attempts again and again by the Kiev leadership to solve the problem by using force to suppress the southeast. These attempts lead nowhere,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference.
