THE CENTRAL Bank of Cyprus (CBC) has found the Bank of Cyprus (BoC) and former Laiki Bank guilty of violations of the law and guidelines regarding the sale of bonds but chose not to impose hefty fines given the goings on of the last few months. 

It transpired yesterday that CBC governor Panicos Demetriades sent letters on September 13 to the new BoC chairman Christis Hasapis and Laiki administrator Andri Antoniadou informing them that the law permits the supervisory authority to impose hefty fines for the violations that BoC and Laiki were found guilty of.

Specifically, for Laiki’s violations, the CBC could impose a fine of up to €2,450,000 where as for BoC’s recorded violations of the law and guidelines of bond sales up to €1,225,000.

However, considering recent developments, the raid on uninsured deposits in both banks and the winding down of Laiki, the CBC decided to impose a symbolic fine of €4,000 payable within 14 days on the BoC and nothing on Laiki.

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By Gul Yusufzai

The death toll from a powerful earthquake in Pakistan climbed to more than 230 on Wednesday after hundreds of mud houses collapsed on their inhabitants throughout the remote and thinly populated area, officials said.

Pakistan’s army airlifted hundreds of soldiers to help with the aftermath of the worst earthquake in the South Asian country since 2005 when about 75,000 people were killed in the north of the country.

The Tuesday earthquake, measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale, struck Baluchistan, a huge earthquake-prone province of deserts and rugged mountains, and was felt across South Asia.

It destroyed houses and cut communications with the worst affected district of Awaran, and was so powerful that it caused a small island to emerge from the sea just off the Pakistani coastline in the Arabian Sea.

“We have started to bury the dead,” Abdul Rasheed Gogazai, the deputy commissioner of Awaran, a town of 200,000, told Reuters by telephone from the affected area.

Jan Mohammad Bulaidi, a spokesman for the Baluch government, said at least 239 were killed and 400 injured.

It was hard for rescue teams to reach the area quickly because it is so remote, and some officials said the death toll was likely to rise as emergency workers progressed deeper into the mountains to assess the damage.

Mohammad Shabir, a journalist, described scenes of grief and chaos in villages, saying survivors were digging rows of graves and picking through the debris.

“As far as the human eye can see, all the houses here have been flattened,” he told Reuters from Awaran, adding that rescue teams were on the ground distributing supplies.

The earthquake struck Pakistan at a time when the country was still mourning the deaths of more than 80 Christians in a suicide bomb attack on an Anglican church in the city of Peshawar on Sunday.

To the south, on the beach near Gwadar port, crowds of bewildered residents gathered to witness the rare phenomenon of the island that the quake forced out of the sea.

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By Erika Solomon

Powerful Syrian insurgent units have rejected the authority of the opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC), badly damaging efforts by Western-backed political exiles to forge a moderate rebel military force on the ground.

Thirteen groups, including at least three previously considered part of the coalition’s military wing, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), signed a statement calling for the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad to be reorganised under an Islamic framework and to be run only by groups fighting inside Syria.

The signatories range from hardliners such as the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham battalions to more moderate Islamist groups such as the Tawheed Brigade and Islam Brigade.

“These forces feel that all groups formed abroad without having returned to the country do not represent them, and they will not recognise them,” said the statement read in an online video by Abdulaziz Salameh, the political leader of the Tawheed Brigade.

“Therefore the National Coalition and its transitional government led by Ahmad Tumeh do not represent them and will not be recognised,” he said.

Western powers and their Gulf Arab allies had encouraged the SNC to lead a credible force within Syria under the FSA’s banner and undercut Islamist militant groups piling into the conflict.

This effort to find a partner which the West and its allies could then back with weapons supplies could collapse if the rebel signatories hold their position – some groups have previously backed away from statements with hardline forces.

“If the statement proves to accurately represent the groups mentioned and they do not immediately fall apart again, it is a very big deal,” wrote analyst Aron Lund on the blog Syria Comment.

“It represents the rebellion of a large part of the ‘mainstream FSA’ against its purported political leadership, and openly aligns these factions with more hardline Islamist forces.”

CHRONIC INFIGHTING

Since the 2-1/2-year-old revolt against Assad began, Syria’s opposition forces have been riven with factionalism and rivalries. There have also been tensions between Islamist groups and those that support a secular vision for a post-Assad Syria.

Charles Lister of IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre said the three moderate Islamist groups which signed the statement – the Tawheed Brigade, the Islam Brigade and Suqor al-Sham – had represented SNC’s main rebel presence on the ground.

“The inclusion of the core of the SNC force…effectively depletes the SNC’s armed wing, the Syrian Military Council,” Lister said. “It is likely that the moderate Islamist coalition has ceased to exist as a single organisation structure.”

Islamist forces grew in power as the Syrian conflict changed from peaceful protests into an armed insurgency after a fierce crackdown by Assad’s forces. Militant groups, some linked to al Qaeda, have become even stronger in the ensuing civil war.

Many Islamist groups that do not share al Qaeda’s ideology had maintained a pragmatic stance. But the statement indicates that Tawheed and others have closed ranks with hardliners on the ground rather than the Western- and Gulf-backed SNC abroad.

“These forces call on all military and civilian forces to unite under a clear Islamic framework based on Sharia law, which should be the sole source of legislation,” the statement said.

One of the most radical groups fighting in Syria, al Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, was not involved in the statement, although it was not immediately clear if that was its own choice or because the other groups deliberately excluded it.

Whatever their ideological background, many opposition groups inside Syria are sceptical and resentful of the SNC, a fractious umbrella organisation for opposition groups abroad.

Critics accuse it of not being transparent with funding and in its political processes. They say it is out of touch with people in Syria, where more than 100,000 have been killed and swathes of territory have been destroyed by combat and shelling.

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The Limassol district court issued a two-day remand on Wednesday for four minors following a report by a 13-year-old girl they had sexually abused her.

The court hearing took place behind closed doors.

Police spokesman Andreas Angelides confirmed the four males, reportedly aged between 14 and 17, were under investigation for offences relating to the sexual abuse of a minor. He said the 13-year-old filed a report with her parents on the basis of which police were basing their investigations.

“This is a serious case so we will not mention any details,” Angelides said. But he called parents to be proactive about reporting “any suspicions” to police.

Online news portal Sigmalive said the 13-year-old was forced to have sexual contact with the minors, after coming into sexual contact with one of the suspects who recorded the incident on his mobile phone several months ago and threatened to upload the video online.

Angelides confirmed there were “some threats” but added investigations were now in the hands of police.

According to reports, the issue came to light after the teenage girl confided to her teacher about the alleged abuse.

A fifth teenager, a 13-year-old boy, was also arrested but later released due to the fact he was below the prosecution age, which starts in Cyprus at 14.

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A 42-year-old man from Avgorou reported to police on Tuesday that his 26-year-old neighbour threatened him with a double-barrelled shotgun, police said.

The man visited Xylofagou police station where he reported to officers that his 26-year-old neighbour pointed his weapon at him in an attempt to threaten him.

Officers then visited the 26-year-old’s house and carried out a search where they found 5 shotgun pellets and the shotgun which they confiscated.

The 26-year-old was taken to Xylofagou police station where he was cautioned and then released.

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A 67-year-old Russian tourist died in Ayia Napa on Tuesday around noon while swimming in the sea with his son, police said.

According to reports he had been swimming in a rocky area of the sea with his 43-year-old son when he lost consciousness.

The 67-year-old was pulled from the sea and taken by ambulance to Famagusta general hospital where doctors confirmed his death.

There were no bruises on the man’s body and foul play was ruled out, police said.

His cause of death is due to be ascertained following a post-mortem which is due to be carried out on Wednesdaymorning at Larnaca general hospital.

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Police in Paphos arrested a 29-year-old Syrian man after he attempted to leave the country using a counterfeit Italian passport.

On Tuesday night at 7pm the man, his wife and their four children were stopped at passport control by officers who suspected their documents were forged.

After questioning, the 29-year-old told police he was attempting to travel to Germany with his family.

Police arrested the man and released the remaining family members who police believe were unaware of the forged documents.

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Two policemen from Kato Pyrgos were arrested on Tuesday after officers from the drugs squad searched them and found three grammes of cannabis.

Following their arrest at around 7.15pm, officers then searched the flat the pair live in and found a precision scale which had traces of cannabis on it.

Criminal and disciplinary investigations have been launched against the two.

Morphou drugs squad is investigating the case.

In another drugs related case, a 50-year-old man from Stroumbi was given a three day remand on Tuesday by Paphos district court after he was arrested while watering five cannabis plants. The father of three claimed he was a drug user in the past and had planned to use the plants himself.

The plants had been put under surveillance by officers from the drug squad following a tip-off.

The 50-year-old was arrested after he had approached the area carrying two plastic flasks full of water.

He did not resist arrest, police said.

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FOR YEARS our politicians had been arguing that the only way to solve the Cyprus problem is through direct talks with the Turkish government. This gave rise to the line, repeated by many of them over the years that ‘the key is in Ankara’. They were right, because there could never be a settlement without the agreement and support of the Turkish government, which has been running the occupied north ever since 1974.

For Ankara this was not an option as it had always argued, rather disingenuously, that the Cyprus problem was a bi-communal dispute, which supposedly, had nothing to do with Turkey; the responsibility for reaching a deal belonged to the two communities. There was a departure from this position earlier this week. Greece’s foreign minister Evangelos Venizelos, after a lengthy meeting in New York with his Turkish counterpart Ahmed Davutoglu, announced that his government would meet the Turkish Cypriot negotiator in the Cyprus talks, provided the Turkish government met the Greek Cypriot negotiator.

Although there had been no official confirmation by Ankara, Venizelos said the arrangement was “very important” as it “is a new procedural element, which contributes to creating momentum.” President Anastasiades welcomed the news, saying that Turkey’s involvement would be beneficial to the talks and it was difficult to disagree with him. After 39 years, the Greek Cypriots have had their demand, to speak directly with the Turkish government, satisfied.

In Cyprus there was the predictable knee-jerk reaction by the small hard-line political parties which identified all types of risks. Direct contacts would supposedly lead to the downgrading of the Cyprus Republic (or its disappearance from the talks) and, inevitably the upgrading of the pseudo-state; it would also pave the way for the dreaded ‘four-party conference’ which was by definition a bad thing. It was the usual paranoid rhetoric the hard-liners routinely resort to when there is a move away from the normal procedure that never yields results.

The reality is that Anastasiades achieved the objective of having direct contact with the Turkish government during the talks. There is no harm in the Turkish Cypriot negotiator having direct contact with the Athens government as part of the deal – the agreement has to work both ways. Nobody can say with any certainty that this agreement would make the difference once talks commence, but it is a positive step that could turn out to be a catalyst for real progress. This is what the hardliners fear and not the supposed downgrading of the Republic.

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By Poly Pantelides 

WARNINGS were issued yesterday that not only was Cyprus falling behind in exploitation of its hydrocarbons reserves but also that natural gas should not be seen as the saviour of the economy.

The first warning came from the chairman of the Cyprus National Hydrocarbon’s Company, Charles Ellinas, and the second from Finance Minister Harris Georgiades who said that the economy would need to be back on its feet long before any gas was brought onshore.

Both men were speaking at a Nicosia-based workshop on hydrocarbons and sustainable development in Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean, organised by the University of Nicosia and the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a non-profit body promoting transatlantic cooperation.

“I’m afraid to say that we’re gradually falling behind,” Ellinas said, referring to an increasingly competitive environment in a growing global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market.

By 2020 at the latest, Cyprus should be able to start LNG exports. “The year 2020 is almost like a watershed,” Ellinas said. “The more Cyprus delays, the harder it will be to find buyers and secure sales contracts. Time is the issue.”

Cyprus signed in July a MoU with US-based Noble Energy and its Israeli partners Delek and Avner, with a view to jointly seeking investors for the LNG plant, estimated to cost up to €8 billion.

The aim is agree on a special purpose vehicle by December in order to have an entity dedicated at finding the investors, and then to secure an engineering procurement construction (EPC) agreement with a contractor to start works on the LNG plant by early 2016.

Noble energy is expected to announce the results of its appraisal drilling at the Aphrodite gas field in October to update its 2011 estimates on the natural gas prospects.

Other companies have exploration licenses on other offshore blocks, and the more gas is found, the better Cyprus’ outlook in securing long-term buyers.

But a lot of this is uncertain and Cyprus needs to focus on what is within its control, said senior consultant with global engineering and consulting firm Pöyry, Anastasios Giamouridis. Cyprus can control costs and the relationships it fosters with customers, Giamouridis said. This requires scrutinising contracts and pushing economies of scale, he added.

In the meantime, a gas master plan needs to be developed, Ellinas said. “We are behind, we need to do it,” he said. He also added that as part of the master plan, authorities needed to simplify and modernise procedures to enable big companies to do business more easily.

Ellinas reiterated the need for young Cypriots to seek training abroad in order to be able to find higher skill employment in the natural gas sector. About a third of some 7,500 jobs created as part of construction of a Cyprus-based LNG plant could go to lower skilled Cypriots, Ellinas said. But locals need to seize training and learning opportunities and bodies need to coordinate to maximise employment opportunities for Cypriots, Ellinas added.

Georgiades, also a keynote speaker at the workshop said that Cyprus could not rely on hydrocarbons to fix its economy.

“We are not basing our hopes for recovery on hydrocarbons… That’s an over and above prospect,” he said.

Georgiades said that Cyprus was now on a correction path following an international €10 billion bailout in March and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which has given authorities the “necessary discipline” to enforce structural reforms within a defined timeframe.

In the medium-term, Cyprus should see revenues from its natural gas resources, Georgiades said adding the government was speeding up the necessary processes.

But Cyprus needs to rebuild its economy and lay strong foundations to “maximise prospects,” he added.

Georgiades said Cyprus had avoided the risk of a full collapse of the banking system that followed the EU decision to seize people’s deposits to recapitalise banks.

“The worst is behind us as far as the banking system is concerned,” Georgiades said. “We have exited the danger zone and we are now on a correction path.”

The minister reiterated that capital controls would be lifted in the next few months.

Georgiades pledged that the administration would correct the public deficits created in the past, not through additional tax hikes but by rationalising expenditure.

“There is still a lot of fat in the area of expenditure and public administration,” he said.

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Orestis Vassiliou, state telecoms company CYTA’s union representative who was wanted in connection with a dodgy land deal in Larnaca involving the organisation’s pension fund, was given a seven day remand by Larnaca District Court on Thursday.

He was arrested on Thursday morning at Larnaca airport following his arrival from Athens, police said.

Vassiliou apparently left the country just hours before police executed a warrant for his arrest on Tuesday. Stathis Kittis, the chairman of CyTA was remanded in custody for eight days on Wednesday, along with two other suspects.

Kittis allegedly received €300,000 in kickbacks while the other two suspects, CyTA employee Yiannis Souroullas and his brother Gregoris, a land registry worker, were allegedly linked to a company that also received thousands of euros.

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Police in Nicosia have arrested a 62-year-old man and held him for questioning in connection with a case of stolen property and illegally possessing a gun.
A 37-year-old man had reported to police on Saturday that an excavator, a tractor and other machinery valued at around €10,900 had been stolen from his fenced-off land in Astromeritis.
During their investigations, police carried out a number of searches in the area found part of the stolen goods on Wednesday.
Officers found the stolen excavator in a field in Peristerona, police said.
Following a search at a 62-year-old man’s property in Astromeritis, officers found a number of spare parts, animal feed, a stolen vehicle and a revolver. The revolver was sent for forensic testing.
The 62-year-old was allegedly unable to give satisfactory answers regarding the various items police found and was arrested.
Morphou CID is investigating the case.

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Two men were cautioned, one in Paphos and one in Larnaca, as police continue to clamp down on security firms operating without the relevant permits.
While on patrol at around 6pm on Wednesday, officers from the crime prevention unit in Paphos located a man installing CCTV cameras outside a shop in the town. He did not have the necessary permits to set up the cameras and was cautioned, police said. He will appear in court at a later date.
At 4.20am on Thursday officers from the crime prevention unit in Larnaca spotted a 65-year-old man acting as a security guard outside a shop without possessing the relevant permits. The 65-year-old was also cautioned and will appear in court at a later date.
Paphos and Larnaca crime prevention units are continuing their investigations.

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Consumers and companies continued to withdraw deposits from banks in Cyprus in August, where big account holders in the two largest lenders were forced to take a hit as part of an international bailout.

Private-sector deposits fell by 2.1 percent to 35.9 billion euros after a 2.4 percent fall in July, European Central Bank data showed on Wednesday.

They had peaked at 50.5 billion euros in May of last year and have now lost almost 30 percent of the private-sector deposit base in just 15 months, hitting the lowest level since June 2008.

Banks on the island were shut for nearly two weeks in March after Cyprus agreed a 10-billion-euro bailout, which forced major depositors to pay part of the cost of the rescue.

Capital controls are still in place on the island, with limits on how much people can transfer from their accounts. Cyprus is gradually easing the controls.

The data showed that deposits in other southern European countries mired in the debt crisis remained relatively stable.

Private-sector deposits fell less than half a percent in Portugal in August. They were flat in Greece and up slightly in both Italy and Spain.

Monthly fluctuations in the figures are common, though sharp consecutive drops in countries with stable banking systems are unusual.

The data, which are for all currencies combined, are not seasonally adjusted and differ slightly from national central bank figures. They exclude deposits from central government and banks. (R)

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By Dina Kyriakidou and Daniel Bases

Greece’s far-right Golden Dawn party would damage itself if it tries to force elections by walking out of parliament in a pique over a government crackdown, the country’s deputy prime minister said on Wednesday.

Evangelos Venizelos, who is also foreign minister in a coalition government, was responding to Greek media reports that Golden Dawn, which denies a neo-Nazi label, was considering pulling its 18 deputies from the 300-seat parliament, hoping to force political change.

“This is a kind of political suicide for them,” Venizelos predicted in an interview with the top editors at Reuters in New York. “It’s not a threat. It’s a great opportunity.”

The party did not confirm any plans for a walkout on its website and did not immediately respond to calls from Reuters.

Golden Dawn entered parliament for the first time last year, capitalizing on discontent over a financial crisis that has seen incomes plummet and unemployment rise to nearly 28 percent. A fringe party until recently, it has become Greece’s third most popular political force in opinion polls.

But its support dropped by a third this month after an anti-racism rapper was stabbed to death by a self-proclaimed supporter. Golden Dawn denied it had anything to do with the killing.

Greeks staged protests and the government ordered a crack-down on the party, including an investigation of any possible link to the murder. Athens fired senior police officers suspected of protecting Golden Dawn members.

Human rights groups have long linked Golden Dawn supporters, who dress in black and are often seen giving Nazi-style salutes, to violent attacks on immigrants, something the party denies.

Venizelos said the government was taking all possible legal measures against Golden Dawn, including sending police and prosecutors to investigate other possible criminal activities such as illegal fundraising and links to the underworld.

Greek media reported that Golden Dawn was considering pulling its deputies from parliament in reaction to the crackdown, hoping to force new elections, at least in some constituencies if not nationally, in order to show their standing is strong and to shake the political establishment.

Venizelos said opinion polls showed their standing had quickly declined after the killing, which had unified mainstream political parties against Golden Dawn.

A survey by the ALCO pollsters in the days after the stabbing found support for the party fell by 4 percentage points to 6.8 percent. Nearly 80 percent of Greeks said such violent acts were a threat to democracy.

Venizelos said if the far-right deputies pulled out, elections would take place in only 15 constituencies and give an opportunity for parties to present a united front.

“It’s a great opportunity for the so called constitutional spectrum to organizes a unified reaction against Golden Dawn,” he said.

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By James Mackenzie

Centre-right deputies supporting Silvio Berlusconi renewed threats to resign if their leader is expelled from parliament and the left demanded an end to their “blackmail”, deepening uncertainty in Italy’s fragile ruling coalition.

Italy has been close to crisis since Berlusconi, a partner in the coalition government, was sentenced to four years in prison, commuted to a year under house arrest or in community service, for tax fraud. It included a ban on holding public office that is under appeal.

Late on Wednesday, Berlusconi’s allies made their latest pledge to bring down the government, saying they would resign if a special Senate committee meeting on Oct. 4 voted to strip Berlusconi of his seat.

How serious the threat is difficult to assess following a series of contradictory signals from Berlusconi’s allies in parliament, who are divided between a faction of hardliners and more conciliatory doves.

On Thursday, Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi said there was no joint commitment to stand down by the centre-right and any decision to resign would be up to individual deputies.

“The resignation of the parliamentarians is a decision which will depend on the conscience of each individual,” he told RAI state radio.

However, the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) said the threats risked undermining the government as it grapples with problems such as its strained public finances to the fate of Italian companies including Telecom Italia and national carrier Alitalia.

“Unfortunately, this back and forth with threats weakens an equilibrium which is already very delicate,” Luigi Zanda, Senate floor leader of the PD, told the daily Corriere della Sera newspaper.

PD leader Guglielmo Epifani accused the centre-right of “blackmail” but said the party would not change its approach and would vote to strip Berlusconi of his seat.

Berlusconi’s political fate has been in the balance since last month when Italy’s highest court confirmed the tax fraud conviction, which is likely to trigger his expulsion from parliament under a procedure going through the Senate committee.

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Increasing pressure on the coalition from Berlusconi’s Forza Italia (FI), came hours after Prime Minister Enrico Letta sought to reassure international investors in New York of the country’s stability. The party had stepped back from similar declarations in recent days.

Letta has repeatedly said that Italy needs political stability while it struggles to emerge from more than two years of recession, rein in a 2-trillion-euro ($2.7-trillion) public debt, and bring its budget deficit under control.

President Giorgio Napolitano, who would have to decide whether to call new elections or seek to build a new coalition if the centre-right pulls out of the government, has also repeatedly said he does not want a vote.

But the constant tension between the coalition partners has undermined reform efforts and ensured that weeks have been wasted in wrangling over issues including tax cuts and Berlusconi’s political future.

Financial markets have shown none of the panic seen during previous government crises in 2012 or at the height of the euro zone debt crisis in 2011, but borrowing costs have ticked up during the latest bout of uncertainty. On Thursday, yields on Italy’s 10-year bonds rose by six basis points.

Even as the Senate committee votes on Berlusconi’s future approaches, a battle is looming over sales tax, which is due to rise by one percentage point in October unless the government can find the resources to cancel it.

Berlusconi’s allies are demanding the increase be averted despite the pressure on public finances and a pledge by Economy Minister Fabrizio Saccomanni to resign if the government reneges on its pledge to bring the deficit within European Union limits.

Polls indicate holding an election soon could give a split result like the one which forced the traditionally opposed centre-left PD and the FI to rule together.

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By Sui-Lee Wee

A Chinese court jailed the teenage son of two celebrity army singers for ten years on Thursday for gang-raping a woman in a case that has fanned resentment against the offspring of the political elite who are widely seen as spoilt and above the law.

Li Tianyi, 17, was found guilty of sexually assaulting the woman in a hotel in February. He was one of five accused.

The verdict was a strict warning to the sons and daughters of China’s top-ranked Communist Party officials, who many Chinese say can dodge punishment because of family influence. Li has become the most prominent target of these complaints.

Li’s father is Li Shuangjiang of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), a singer known for performing patriotic songs on television shows and at official events. As dean of the music department for the Chinese army’s Academy of Arts, he enjoys the same treatment as a lieutenant-general, according to the People’s Liberation Army Daily.

Li’s mother, Meng Ge, is also a famous singer in the PLA.

“I think this verdict is unjust,” Chen Shu, one of Li’s lawyers, told reporters. “This decision is based on evidence that is delayed and verbal testimony. This type of verbal testimony is unreliable.”

Chen said Li would appeal.

The case captivated China for months, even more so than the dramatic trial of ousted former senior politician Bo Xilai, and has drawn fresh scrutiny to political aristocrats – called the “second-generation rich” or “second generation of officials” – who are widely viewed as corrupt.

Outside the court, many observers cheered Li’s sentence.

“This case represents the current social climate,” said Ma Haodong. “Everyone is quite angry with the second-generation rich, the second-generation of officials and the second-generation celebrities.”

The case followed a 2011 incident in which Li drove a BMW into another car in Beijing, beat up the couple inside the vehicle and then scoffed at bystanders about calling the police. He was sentenced to a year in a juvenile correctional facility and his father made a public apology.

Another person outside the court, Peng Kefang, held up a banner that said: “Lawyer Tian, the nation’s female compatriots thank you,” referring to the victim’s lawyer.

“I’m quite satisfied with this result,” Peng said. “Because this child is not the same as other children, he is among the wealthy second-generation. They shouldn’t be able to do whatever they want.”

Li was the only one among the accused who has denied the charge, saying he was drunk and had no knowledge of the assault.

Three of the accused apologised in court and their families have given the victim 450,000 yuan ($73,500) in total in compensation, according to Li’s lawyer, Chen.

Li’s case has led to a debate about the rights of women in China. A law professor sparked an outcry after he wrote in his microblog in July that “raping a chaste woman is more harmful than raping a bar girl”. He later apologised.

President Xi Jinping has made addressing discontent over abuses by officials a main goal. Rising mistrust of the government presents a potent risk for leaders who fear social instability.

Even the People’s Daily, the party’s mouthpiece, weighed in on Li’s case when it broke, saying the failure of prominent families to educate their children could “lead to antagonism among the people”.

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By Nemanja Bjedov
MARCOS Baghdatis was beaten by second-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka 6-1, 7-5 in the second round of the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday afternoon.
Wawrinka broke Baghdatis’ serve twice to claim the first set in just 22 minutes. However, the Cypriot improved in the second set and there were no break point opportunities until the ninth service game when the Swiss had a chance to take a 5-4 lead, but 28-year-old Baghdatis managed to hold serve after winning three straight points after some quality serving.
Unfortunately for the Cypriot, he dropped his serve two games later to allow Wawrinka to go 6-5 up, and the world number 10 made no mistake as he served out the match in just over an hour.
Wawrinka, who also beat Baghdatis in the third round of the US Open at the beginning of the month, will now take on the winner of the match between Russian Dmitry Tursunov and Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, while Baghdatis travels to Tokyo where he will participate at the Japan Open Tennis Championships.
This will be the fourth participation in Tokyo for the World No.48 Cypriot who reached the semi-finals of the event last season where he lost to local favorite Kei Nishikori.

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Representatives of credit institutions agreed on Friday to the need for a gradual reduction in lending rates and on reducing costs associated with the restructuring of loans.

During a meeting Friday with Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) Governor Panicos Demetriades credit institutions committed themselves to taking concrete steps towards this goal.

Data provided by the ECB for August showed that despite a dramatic drop in deposits in Cyprus borrowing has become more expensive.

The data indicated that a significant reduction in deposit interest to 2.0 per cent has not brought about any reduction in lending costs.

The ECB reported that interest rates for business loans had increased to 6.5 per cent in July compared with 6.35 per cent in June – the highest in the eurozone.

Interest rates for business loans in Cyprus were almost 3.5 per cent higher than the eurozone average of 3.3 per cent.

And rates on housing loans went up from 5.37 per cent in June 2013 to 5.6 per cent by July.

By comparison, the average interest rate for housing loans in the eurozone was 3.28 per cent.

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By Justin Palmer
With the abundance of flair and attacking talent Tottenham Hotspur acquired knowing Gareth Bale was leaving, it has perhaps been surprising that their impressive start to the season owes a lot to a watertight defence.
Spurs anticipated the arrival of 100 million euros in Bale booty by bringing in the likes of Spain striker Roberto Soldado, Argentine forward Erik Lamela, Denmark playmaker Christian Eriksen and Brazil midfielder Paulinho.
While the new boys have already given more than a glimpse of their talents, the men in white forming an impregnable wall at the back have gone quietly about their business.
Spurs, who host London rivals Chelsea at White Hart Lane in Saturday’s early kickoff (2.45pm), are level on points at the top of the Premier League with neighbours Arsenal and have conceded one goal in nine games in all competitions this season.
That came in a 1-0 loss away to their local rivals on September 1 but, apart from that blip, goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and defenders Michael Dawson, Jan Vertonghen and Kyle Walker, along with Danny Rose and Kyle Naughton, have been rock steady.
Manager Andre Villas-Boas would dearly love a first victory over his former side since they sacked him in March last year and believes Spurs have hit the ground running.
“I think the team is playing very well, we have great strength in the squad, but I think, above all, great team spirit and ambition to do well,” he said after Spurs strolled to a 4-0 League Cup third-round win at Aston Villa this week.
Chelsea, who themselves have only conceded two league goals, won 4-2 at White Hart Lane last season with Juan Mata scoring twice, but the Spain midfielder has been out of favour since Jose Mourinho returned to take charge atStamford Bridge.
Mata has been told by the Portuguese coach that he must improve his defensive work and appeared to have taken the advice on board in their 2-0 League Cup win at Swindon Town on Tuesday when he was afforded only his third start this season.
“If you look at his performance, he made Fernando’s (Torres) chance early in the game, he was involved in the goal… then in injury time he conceded the final corner of the game supporting Ryan Bertrand in the left-back spot,” said assistant coach Steve Holland.
“We were pleased with Juan’s contribution, with and without the ball.”
Fourth-placed Chelsea’s win did come at a cost with midfielder Marco van Ginkel picking up a serious knee injury while Ramires suffered a muscle injury at the top of his thigh.
Leaders Arsenal, who on Wednesday extended their away record in all competitions to 11 successive wins with a League Cup success at West Bromwich Albion on penalties, visit Wales to take on Swansea City (7.30pm).
Arsenal, who along with Spurs have 12 points from five games but with a slightly better goal difference, will be without sidelined winger Theo Walcott who has an abdominal injury.
Champions Manchester United will try to bounce back from last weekend’s humiliating 4-1 drubbing by Manchester City when they host West Bromwich Albion on Saturday (5pm).
United, who beat Liverpool 1-0 in the League Cup on Wednesday, could again be without injured striker Robin van Persie.
The Dutchman has a mild groin strain and was not risked against Liverpool, with United manager David Moyes saying he had only an “outside chance” of featuring against West Brom.
Liverpool’s Uruguay striker Luis Suarez made his comeback on Wednesday from a 10-game ban for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic and is set for his first league start since April when Brendan Rodgers’s team visit managerless Sunderland on Sunday (6pm).
Suarez played for 90 minutes against United, looking a bit rusty but creating a few chances on his return to action.
Bottom side Sunderland, on one point, sacked Paolo Di Canio on Sunday with Kevin Ball taking temporary charge.
Third-placed Manchester City travel south for Saturday’s match with Aston Villa (5pm), who will be missing leading scorer Christian Benteke for four to six weeks with a hip injury.

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