By Stelios Orphanides

Bank of Cyprus’s chief executive officer John Hourican said the lender is “at war with circumstance,” as its ratio of non-performing loans remains “still unacceptable” even after it stabilised.
While addressing shareholders at a meeting in Nicosia today, the Bank of Cyprus CEO said that the lender, which uncovered plans to have its shares listed at the Cyprus Stock Exchange and Athens Exchange by the end of the year, “will continue to delicate extraordinary effort to tackling the very high level of arrears and non-performing loans.
For full story

By Bill Trott

MIKE Nichols, a nine-time Tony Award winner on Broadway and the Oscar-winning director of films such as Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Graduate and Carnal Knowledge, died on Wednesday at age 83, ABC News said.

No director ever moved between Broadway and Hollywood as easily as Nichols and he was one of the few people to win Oscar, Tony, Emmy and Grammy awards.

Nichols, whose career first blossomed with a comedy partnership with Elaine May in the late 1950s, was married to Diane Sawyer, former anchorwoman of ABC’s World News Tonight broadcast. ABC News President James Goldston announced his death in a memo to news staff, saying Nichols “passed away suddenly on Wednesday evening.”

“In a triumphant career that spanned over six decades, Mike created some of the most iconic works of American film, television and theatre,” Goldston said. “He was a true visionary.”

Nichols was born Michael Igor Peschkowsky in Berlin, where his parents had settled after leaving Russia. He came to the United States at age 7 when his family fled the Nazis in 1939.

He grew up in New York feeling like an outsider because of his limited English and odd appearance – a reaction to a whooping-cough vaccine had caused permanent hair loss. As a University of Chicago student, he fought depression but found like-minded friends such as May.

In the late 1950s, Nichols and May formed a stand-up team at the forefront of a comedy movement that included Lenny Bruce, Jonathan Winters and Woody Allen in satirising contemporary American life. They won a Grammy in 1961 for best comedy album before splitting, partly because May liked to improvise and Nichols preferred set routines.

Nichols came to be a directing powerhouse on Broadway in the mid-1960s with Barefoot in the Park, the first of what would be a successful relationship with playwright Neil Simon. Later he would do Simon’s The Odd Couple, Plaza Suite and The Prisoner of Second Avenue and Time magazine called him “the most in-demand director in the American theatre.”

“I never worked with anyone in my life – nor will I ever work with anyone – as good as Mike Nichols,” Simon told the New Yorker.

In all, he won best-director Tonys for his four collaborations with Simon, as well as for Luv in 1965, The Real Thing in 1984, Spamalot in 2005 and a revival of Death of a Salesman in 2012, and best musical award as a producer of Annie in 1977.

When he was ready to try movies, Nichols made an impact on American cinema with three influential movies in a five-year period.
The first starred Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in a 1966 adaption of the Edward Albee play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. It was nominated for an Oscar in all 13 categories in which it was eligible and won five of them, although Nichols did not take the best director award.

He followed that up a year later with The Graduate, starring a little-known Dustin Hoffman as an aimless college graduate seduced by an older woman before falling in love with her daughter. Nichols was rewarded with an Academy Award for his direction and the movie, thanks to several memorable lines and the music of Simon and Garfunkel, became a ’60s cultural touchstone.

In 1971, Nichols put out Carnal Knowledge, which created a sensation because of its sexual nature. The manager of a theatre in Georgia was arrested for showing the film and had to appeal his case to the US Supreme Court before being exonerated.

In a Los Angeles Times interview Nichols described directing as “a long, long skid on an icy road. … If you’re still here when you come out of the spin, it’s a relief.”

Sometimes Nichols’ movies did go off the road. Catch-22, Day of the Dolphin and The Fortune were generally considered unsuccessful and he did not make a feature film from 1975 until rebounding with 1983’s Silkwood, for which he was nominated for another Oscar.

In the second act of his movie career he also directed Heartburn, Simon’s Biloxi Blues, Postcards from the Edge, Regarding Henry, The Birdcage, Primary Colors, Charlie Wilson’s War and Working Girl, which earned him another Oscar nomination.

He won an Emmy in 2001 for Wit and another in 2003 for Angels in America, a TV miniseries about the AIDS epidemic.

In the mid-1980s, Nichols suffered a psychotic breakdown, which he said was related to a prescription sedative, that made him so delusional he thought he had lost all his money.

Despite his urbane, intellectual manner, Nichols once had a reputation as an on-the-set screamer. Meryl Streep told the Hollywood Reporter, “He was always the smartest and most brilliant person in the room – and he could be the meanest, too.”

The actress said that changed after Nichols married Sawyer, his fourth wife, whom he met in a Paris airport while awaiting a Concorde flight.
Nichols had three children from his earlier marriages.

By Julien Pretot

SWITZERLAND’S Roger Federer, who has been hampered by back problems, has been named to play in the second singles rubber of the Davis Cup final against France’s Gael Monfils on Friday.

The 17-time grand slam champion, looking to give the Swiss a maiden title in the team competition, withdrew from the ATP World Tour final against Novak Djokovic in London last Sunday.

But the world number two was back in training on Thursday at Lille’s Pierre Mauroy stadium, where the tie will be played indoors on clay in front of some 27,000 fans.

“Things have been going well out there this morning. I was really happy with the way I felt,” Federer, who made his decision to play after Thursday’s early practice session, told a news conference following the draw ceremony.

Asked if he was 100 per cent fit, Federer said: “Only the match gives you the answer. I’m just pleased that I can play tomorrow, give it a go. Things have been going well.”

Federer’s inclusion did not surprise the French.
“It is not a surprise for us, we prepared ourselves to play against Roger and Stan,” said France captain Arnaud Clement.
“He’s had three days to rest and before that he played his best tennis (in London) so it’s all good for him,” said Monfils, who lost to

Federer in five sets in the U.S. Open quarter-finals in September and has never beaten him in five matches on clay.

Switzerland’s world number four Stan Wawrinka will open proceedings against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Friday in what is expected to be a close battle.

“We always play close matches, determination will be the key,” said Tsonga, who has a 3-2 record against Wawrinka.
“It’s going to be a bit different here, it’s on indoor clay and there will be more pressure,” said Wawrinka.

Switzerland captain Severin Luthi named Marco Chiudinelli and Michael Lammer to play in Saturday’s doubles against Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet but he has until one hour before the start of the match to change his lineup.

Federer will face Tsonga in the reverse singles with Wawrinka playing Monfils in the potentially deciding fifth match.
France are trying to win the Davis Cup for the 10th time, having last lifted the title in 2001. They lost in their last two finals against Russia in 2002 and Serbia in 2010.

The team led by Clement beat holders Czech Republic in the semi-finals while Switzerland defeated Italy.

By Daniel Dickson

A Swedish appeals court rejected on Thursday an appeal by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to revoke a detention order over allegations of sexual assault, but called on prosecutors to make more effort to question him.

The 43-year old Australian has been stuck inside Ecuador’s London embassy since June 2012 to avoid a British extradition to Sweden. Sweden wants to question him on allegations of sexual assault and rape but insists he must come to Sweden first.

Assange’s lawyers have argued the arrest warrant should be repealed because it cannot be enforced while Assange is in the embassy and Swedish prosecutors had not travelled to London to interrogate him.

“There is no reason to set aside the detention solely because Julian Assange is in an embassy and the detention order cannot be enforced at present for that reason,” Svea Court of Appeal said in a statement.

The court also said Swedish prosecutors had not made enough effort to interrogate Assange at alternative venues.

“The Court of Appeal … considers that the failure of the prosecutors to examine alternative avenues is not in line with their obligation … to move the investigation forward,” it added.

Assange, who denies the allegations, says he fears that if Britain extradited him to Sweden he would then be extradited to the United States where he could be tried for one of the largest information leaks in U.S. history.

Swedish prosecutors want to question Assange over the allegations made by two female former WikiLeaks’ volunteers in 2010.

He was taken into custody in London but freed on bail, later claiming political asylum in Ecuador’s embassy.

The Court of Appeals said Assange could choose to leave the embassy, although he would then be arrested by British police.

By Robert Evans

The death rate in the Ukraine conflict has increased in the past eight weeks despite the declaration of a ceasefire in September, the United Nations said on Thursday.

In total, more than 4,300 combatants and civilians have been killed in eastern Ukraine since pro-Russian rebels seized border regions in April. Nearly a million people have fled the area, with a surge in the past two months, the UN said.

Since a formal ceasefire was agreed by Ukraine, Russia and the rebels in early September, an average of 13 soldiers, rebels, and civilians had died every day, a report by UN human rights monitors said.

The previous report issued on Oct. 8 had put the daily death toll at 10.

“Respect for the ceasefire has been sporadic at best, with continued outbreaks of fighting and shelling resulting in an average of 13 people a day being killed during the first eight weeks of the ceasefire,” the report said.

There was a total breakdown of law and order in the two rebel self-proclaimed states around the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, with people at the mercy of armed militants, it said.

It also cited credible reports from different sources of “hundreds of people in military-style clothing” moving back and forth across the Ukraine-Russia border in recent weeks.

“The continuing presence of a large amount of sophisticated weaponry, as well as foreign fighters that include servicemen from the Russian Federation, directly affects the human rights situation,” the report said.

It did not specifically say the servicemen were Russian troops. Russia denies it has forces in Ukraine, saying only “off-duty” soldiers may be there.

Schools in rebel-controlled areas, which call themselves the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, now only teach in Russian, a violation of the rights of Ukrainian-speaking children, it said.

U.N. official Gianni Magazzeni told a news conference that the numbers of people who had fled the east into other parts of Ukraine had surged over the past two months from around 275,000 to 467,000. More than 500,000 are reported to have gone to Russia.

By George Psyllides
The labour ministry will pay €41 million more in social spending next year, Minister Zeta Emilianidou said on Thursday, mainly because of the introduction of the guaranteed minimum income (GMI).
Emilianidou said 92 per cent of her ministry’s budget, or €843 million, concerned social transfers, which increased by €41 million.
“It is important that there is an increase in social spending during the difficult time of the economic crisis,” she told the House Finance Committee.
The minister attributed the rise in social spending on the introduction of the GMI. The government has earmarked €208 million compared with €160 million budgeted for state benefits in 2014.
Some 2,000 beneficiaries have received their GMI since July when applications were submitted.
The minister said “no one will go without GMI during Christmas.”
Responding to criticism about delays, Emilianidou said it would not be right to approve applications just because there was pressure.
“We have a duty to check their assets,” she said.
Emilianidou said 2,500 benefits recipients do not wish to apply for the GMI either because they found work, or because they do not want the ministry to check their financial standing.
The reviews have already unearthed widespread abuse of the system.
There have been instances of welfare recipients who own blocks of flats and hundreds of thousands of euros in deposits, and others who continued to receive benefits even after the beneficiaries’ death.
“We find many cases of people who own substantial property – for example, blocks of flats which they rent out – but have declared no income from it,” Emilianidou said earlier this month.
“In others, applicants have stated one bank account in their name, but we found three or four more, containing deposits in excess of €300,000. There have been cases of owners of property valued in excess of €1.0 million, as well as cases where benefits were being received even after the beneficiary’s death in 2010.”

By Louis Charbonneau and Parisa Hafezi

A deadline for resolving a 12-year-old dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme may be extended from Monday until March, because of sharp disagreements between Tehran and Western powers, officials close to the talks said on Thursday.

US Secretary of State John Kerry was due to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif later on Thursday in Vienna with European Union envoy Catherine Ashton to try to break the stalemate.

Washington and its allies had hoped this week’s Vienna talks would be the culmination of months of difficult diplomacy between Iran and the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China on a comprehensive agreement.

The aim is to remove sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs on its atomic programme, but the talks have long been deadlocked: the timing for lifting sanctions and future scope of Iran’s uranium enrichment are key stumbling blocks.

“Important points of difference remain,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told a joint news conference with Kerry, who met him in Paris on his way to Vienna on Thursday.

The UN nuclear chief Yukiya Amano on Thursday highlighted another hurdle: Iran has yet to explain suspected atomic bomb research to the UN nuclear agency, one of the conditions of the six powers for lifting sanctions.

The latest round of talks between the six and Iran began on Tuesday and are likely to last right up to the self-imposed Nov 24 deadline for a final agreement.

“Some kind of interim agreement at this point is likely, or perhaps at best a framework agreement by Monday that needs to be worked out in the coming weeks and months,” a Western diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

US Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken said this week a comprehensive deal would be difficult, but not impossible to achieve by Monday. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said he was not optimistic but that there may be a way of extending the deadline.

A senior Iranian official had similar expectations.

“We need more time to resolve technical issues and don’t forget that the time frame for lifting sanctions is still a huge dispute,” the Iranian official said, adding that an extension until March was a possibility. Western officials also suggested March was an option, with a resumption of talks in January.

The officials said, however, that Iran and the six were not actively discussing an extension yet and would push for a deal by the deadline, which has already been extended from July.

“The talks have been going in an overwhelmingly tense atmosphere. Time is running out,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti news agency. Various meetings were under way and noone was talking about prolonging the talks, he said, adding: “I hope we will reach an agreement before Nov. 24.”

Officials close to the negotiations, which began in February, say that Iran wants all key sanctions on oil exports and banking terminated almost immediately, not merely suspended as the United States and European officials have said.

Tehran rejects Western allegations it is amassing the capability to produce atomic weapons and has refused to halt its enrichment programme.

It has been under international sanctions for eight years and the US, European Union and UN measures have slashed its oil exports, causing inflation to soar and the value of its currency to plummet.

TIMING

Western powers say the sanctions can be suspended gradually and in line with moves by Iran to restrain its nuclear activities and terminated only after Tehran has demonstrated full compliance with the terms of any deal.

They also want Iranian restrictions to last for 20 years, while Iranians are pushing for either months or a small number of years, diplomats say.

Western officials say Iran has refused to budge on enrichment, despite repeated offers of potential compromises by the six powers, including the United States.

Tehran may consider keeping fewer enrichment centrifuges as long as they are advanced, to keep the volume unchanged, Western officials say, adding that this represents no compromise at all.

They say the West is willing to compromise but Iran is not largely because Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has not given the negotiators the freedom to do so.

“The ball is in the Iranian camp and to be honest we have a feeling that we’re treading water at the moment,” a senior Western diplomat said. “The main obstacle is that the decisions have to be made by the Iranian leadership.”

The Iranians, however, pin the blame on Western powers, which they accuse of expecting too much from Tehran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday that Iran would resist Western pressure to make what it considered to be excessive concessions in the Vienna talks.

By Stephen Kalin and Maggie Fick

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi suggested on Thursday he was considering pardoning journalists of the Qatar-based Al Jazeera television station jailed in his country for nearly a year.

Human rights groups condemned the trial of the journalists as a sham, Western governments have decried the verdict, and the United Nations questioned Egypt’s judicial independence. The affair has contributed to tensions between Egypt and Qatar.

The three journalists were sentenced in June to between seven and 10 years in jail on charges including spreading lies to help a “terrorist organisation”, an allusion to the banned Muslim Brotherhood, in a ruling that sparked a global outcry.

“Let us say that this matter is being discussed to solve the issue,” Sisi said in an interview with France 24 when asked if he could pardon the journalists.

Asked if a decision might be made soon, he said: “If we find this appropriate for the national security of Egypt, we will do it.”

Relations between Egypt and Qatar have been strained since mid-2013 when then-army chief Sisi ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi and cracked down hard on his Muslim Brotherhood, arresting thousands of supporters.

But those tensions have showed signs of easing recently. Qatar expelled prominent Brotherhood leaders in September and Egypt on Wednesday welcomed an agreement to end an eight-month dispute amongst Gulf Arab states over Qatar’s support for the Islamist group.

Sisi has previously refused to intervene in the al-Jazeera case, suggesting that doing so would undermine judicial independence. But he said in July he wished the journalists had been deported and not tried, a view he reaffirmed on Thursday.

Another option would be for Sisi to utilise a decree he issued last week allowing him to repatriate foreign prisoners and raising the prospect that Australian Peter Greste and possibly Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy could be deported to face trial or complete their sentences at home.

The third Al Jazeera journalist behind bars, Baher Mohamed, is Egyptian, so would not be expected to benefit.

Al Jazeera has called the accusations against its three journalists absurd.

In response to Sisi’s comments, a spokesman for the network said in an emailed statement: “The Egyptian authorities have it in their power to release our journalists. World opinion expects this to happen speedily, and for all three to be freed.”

By George Psyllides

FORMER president Demetris Christofias on Thursday denied blame in the collapse of Laiki Bank, which brought Cyprus to the brink of collapse.

Christofias was commenting on a report published by the New York Times on Wednesday.

The leaked report had been commissioned by the Presidental Palace but the author or authors have not been disclosed.

The report said Christofias’ government avoided resorting to the European Financial Stability Fund and found an assistant in keeping the bank in operation, Athanasios Orphanides, governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus at the time.

Orphanides, who already knew the bank was insolvent and was hence barred from receiving any liquidity, was the only person who could have stopped the plan, according to the report.

“Since November 2011, the CBC knew that providing liquidity to an insolvent institution was a breach of Article 123 of the EU Treaty and Article 121 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks,” the report said. The CBC also knew, from the opinion expressed by the ECB, that the Management of Financial Crises Law was in breach of the aforementioned Treaties. However, the CBC had given its consent to its enactment by the House of Representatives on December 30, 2011.”

The finance ministry prepared a bill allowing the government to take over a failing bank on October 25, the eve of Greece’s haircut, as the restructuring is also known. It added that the cabinet approved the draft legislation on the same day.

Christofias, Kikis Kazamias, the finance minister at the time, and the governor of the CBC, were all aware of the impact the haircut would have on Laiki’s capital.

Christofias said the government had not been informed of any “catastrophic” results because of the write-down. They expected that Bank of Cyprus would cover its needs, while Laiki would need some €1.5bn in state support, which could have been covered by issuing bonds.

The former president said ELA was the responsibility of the CBC and parliament had been informed that Laiki had drawn some €9bn by the time it was nationalised in June 2012.

Laiki’s support was welcomed with celebrations from the opposition, Christofias said.

“Everyone said that Laiki should not close because it would take Bank of Cyprus and our entire banking system with it,” he said.

Regarding the seizure of deposits, which took place in March 2013 – some 15 days after Nicos Anastasiades came to power — Christofias said no one had ever hinted anything to him.

However, ruling AKEL chairman Andros Kyprianou had said on February 8 that Cyprus was being pressured by international lenders for depositors to contribute.

By Constantinos Psillides

EMBATTLED Paphos mayor Savvas Vergas is expected to announce on Friday he is stepping down, reports late on Thursday night said.

Vergas’ party DIKO neither confirmed nor denied the reports.

“We shall await developments (on Friday) before making any comments on the subject,” party spokesperson Christiana Erotokritou told the Mail.

News outlet Sigmalive said pressure was now being brought to bear on Vergas straight from the top – his party boss Nicholas Papadopoulos.

For DIKO, the report said, the straw that broke the camel’s back were the latest revelations – and investigations – concerning the tennis court Vergas had built adjacent to his Paphos home.

Following a string of alleged improprieties implicating the mayor, earlier in the day ruling party DISY joined those asking for Vergas’ resignation, with the DISY municipal councillors announcing that they would refuse to sit in any more meetings with Vergas at the chair.

Vergas suspended his participation in municipal affairs on October 23 but has not officially quit.

DISY’s call for Vergas’ resignation followed that of socialist party EDEK and the Greens.

Vergas himself is a prominent member of DIKO, having helped current party leader Papadopoulos secure a victory over his opponent, Marios Garoyian, in last December’s party leadership election.

DIKO hasn’t yet asked for Vergas’ resignation but the leadership suspended him from taking part in any party activity.

It is said that Papadopoulos cannot afford to stay silent for much longer.

DIKO members have already made their displeasure known, with Aglantzia municipal councillor Marinos Kleanthous issuing a statement yesterday demanding that his party strikes Vergas off the party register and demand his resignation.

“Every man is of course innocent until proven guilty. But aren’t his exploits enough to enrage any one of us involved in local government? The way he carried himself, perpetuating the “the municipality c’ est moi” mentality, isn’t that alone enough for the party leadership to kick Vergas off the party? What more is there to be proven? Hasn’t Savvas Vergas offended us enough?” read Kleanthous’ statement.

Interior Minister Socratis Hasikos told the press in October that he sent a letter to Vergas asking him to resign his post, so the police investigation can go on unobstructed.

By MacDonald Dzirutwe

Eleven people were killed and dozens injured in a stampede at a stadium in Zimbabwe, as thousands of people at a church service tried to leave through the same exit, police said on Friday.

Around 30,000 people packed into a stadium in Kwekwe, 213 km west of Harare, on Thursday evening to listen to Walter Magaya, a pastor who draws huge crowds, Senior Assistant Commissioner Shadreck Mubaiwa told Reuters.

When the service ended the congregation rushed towards a single exit, in a stampede that killed four people on the spot. Another seven were pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

“Police tried to rescue people but they were overwhelmed by the crowds. It is unfortunate that people wanted to rush out, which made it difficult to contain the situation,” Mubaiwa said.

Mubaiwa said police were still investigating the cause of the stampede. Some people who said they had been at the service took to social media to accuse police and local government officials of opening only one exit.

Magaya was quoted by the online version of the state-owned Herald newspaper as saying that although the incident occurred after he left, he would take responsibility.

“This was our event and as a church we have to take the blame for the tragedy,” he was quoted as saying.

“It is still too early to say what caused the stampede but the fact that the stampede took place at the venue means that part of our system failed to function.”

Zimbabwe, hit by economic turmoil in recent years, has seen a rise in the number of “prosperity gospel” pastors, who preach that faith in Jesus Christ can lift people out of poverty.

In a country where 80 percent of the working population are unemployed, thousands flock to Pentecostal churches to contribute a chunk of what little they have in return for the promise of miracles to enrich them.

In September a building collapsed at a church compound in Nigeria run by popular preacher T.B. Joshua, killing 116 people, 81 of whom were South Africans.

ON MONDAY the Pharos Arts Foundation will present a concert with international rising opera star Cypriot soprano Zoe Nicolaidou, clarinettist George Georgiou and pianist Annini Tsiouti at the Shoe Factory in Nicosia as part of its Cyprus Artists Series.

The three artists will come together to perform a diverse programme with chamber music, songs and Lieder by Schubert, Spohr, Villa-Lobos, Weiner, Lovreglio and the world premier of Guyot’s Liber baruch. Nicolaidou studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna – Magister Artium. She has performed under the guidance of such conductors as Philippe Jordan, with whom she performed Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Bernharndt Kontarsky on Fenelon’s Faust, and Dan Ettinger to bring to life Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro.

In 2011, she received the award for the most promising young singer of the season, Le Prix Lyrique du cercle Carpeaux. In 2012 and 2013 she was invited back to the Opéra Bastille, under the baton of Evelino Pido, to perform the role of Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro, and made her debut at the Rudolphinum in Prague in the world premiere of Kabat’s piece for string quartet and soprano Misterium Fidei.

The soprano won the Schlossoper Haldenstein International Singing Competition in 2007, and she was also a finalist of the Hilde Zadek Singing Competition during the dame year in Vienna. She has recently received the 2013 Kyrenia Opera Award.

Joining her will be clarinet player Georgiou who began clarinet lessons at the age of nine and continued to study the instrument at the City University in London and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, also in London.
As a soloist he has appeared with the Moscow Vistuosi, as well as performing in a number of recitals in Cyprus, UK, Ireland, Greece, Italy, Malta and USA. Georgiou has collaborated with several renowned musicians around the globe, including Vladimir Spivakov, Movses Pogossian, Rohan de Saram, the Chilingirian String Quartet and the Apple Hill String Quartet.

He has also collaborated with many young Cypriot composers in their new works, of which he has given the world premieres, and several works for clarinet and bass clarinet have been dedicated to him.
Completing the trio is piano player Tsiourti who started taking piano lessons at an early age at Ethnikon Odeion Kyprou. After obtaining her diploma she continued at the École Normale de Musique de Paris, where she studied piano and chamber music. She was awarded the Ville de Paris bursary for her studies at the Conservatoire Claude Debussy and she also studied Musicology at the Sorbonne University where she obtained her Masters degree specialising in the piano music of Nikos Skalkottas.

Triourti has appeared in many international festivals and has given concerts in Europe and the Middle East, as a soloist, accompanist or as part of chamber music groups. She has been living and working in Cyprus since 2008, where she is still actively involved in the contemporary music scene and has given first performances of many works by Cypriot composers.

Concert
The Pharos Arts Foundation presents soprano Zoe Nicolaidou along with clarinettist George Georgiou and pianist Annini Tsiouti. November 24. The Shoe Factory, Nicosia. 8.30pm. €15/10. Tel: 22-663871

Cyprus Airways (CY) chairman Makis Constantinides said on Friday he could not get the necessary number of board members to meet and discuss a plan he drafted in a bid to rescue the ailing airline.

“I prepared a new plan. I am trying to do something with the board, the board is not available for certain reasons and this is not what’s best and it is annoying,” he told the Cyprus News Agency.

The necessary quorum is five out of the eight members.

Constantinides suggested people had not really grasped the gravity of the situation.

“That is why I feel that something must be done and I have taken this on personally,” he said, without disclosing any details of the plan.

“I have the plan ready, I decided how to handle it and you will hear some news in the coming days.”

Constantinides said CY expected to record over €16 million in losses in 2014 instead of €10 million the previous chairman had announced in parliament.

“I am concerned about the ignorance concerning the situation we are going through,” he said. “Complacency bothers me.”

The airline is waiting for an EU decision on whether Cyprus broke state aid rules by subsidising it with around €75 million in previous years.

A decision to return the money would mean the end of the company.

A government source said last week that the EU could give a positive response if a strategic investor was found and the company completed a restructuring plan that included shedding 320 jobs and further cuts in benefits. CY currently employs 560 people.

Talks with two potential investors have not yielded any results so far.

Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides said on Friday that the government was looking into setting up an escrow account where it could deposit part of the natural gas revenues to be used for future generations.

The foreign minister sought to clarify a statement made during a lunch on Thursday, which, as he said, was wrongly interpreted.

“I did not say that the revenues in question will be exclusively earmarked for the Turkish Cypriot community to satisfy Turkey’s demands,” Kasoulides said in a written statement.

“I said that the Republic is examining the creation of the said account … where part of the revenues from hydrocarbons could be deposited and through investment, they could benefit the future generation of Cypriots, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots,” he said.

Turkey, which supports a Turkish Cypriot breakaway state in north Cyprus, disputes Nicosia’s rights to search for gas.

Greek Cypriots say Turkish Cypriots can share potential benefits, but only when there is a peace deal.

Anakara has sent a research vessel, the Barbaros, to carry out seismic surveys close to exploration sites that Cyprus has already licensed to Italy’s ENI, France’s Total and U.S. Noble Energy.

The move prompted President Nicos Anastasiades to pull out of reunification talks.

By Alan Baldwin

Lewis Hamilton claimed an early advantage over Mercedes team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg on Friday with the fastest lap in practice for Formula One’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The Briton, chasing his second title, was quickest in the afternoon and after-dark floodlit sessions at the glittering Yas Marina circuit that hosts Sunday’s decisive ‘duel in the desert’.

The bragging rights were limited, however, by the slender margin between the two with Hamilton 0.133 faster in the first session and a mere 0.083 in the cooler evening conditions.
He produced his best lap of one minute 42.113 after nightfall.

“I’ve just got to drive the way I usually do and what will be will be,” said Hamilton. “I feel good in the car. Undoubtedly, there is more time to find so I’ve got to go and chip away at it tonight.”

The other drivers waged a familiar battle to be best of the also-rans, but with an even greater gap than usual.
Spaniard Fernando Alonso, preparing for his last race with Ferrari, was third quickest in the opening session but a massive 1.7 seconds off Hamilton’s pace.

Hamilton leads Rosberg by 17 points but, with double on offer for the first time, the spectre of mechanical failure hangs over Sunday’s race.
The 2008 champion need only finish second, however, to be champion even if Rosberg wins.
Mercedes are also on course for a record 16 wins in a season, having already notched up an unprecedented 11 one-twos.

McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen filled third spot in the second session, when Alonso stopped on track without setting a time, but was still 0.782 off the pace
Quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel, last year’s race winner, was fourth fastest in both sessions as he geared up for a farewell to Red Bull before replacing Alonso at Ferrari.

Britain’s Jenson Button, maybe facing his last race in Formula One, improved to eighth for McLaren after a troubled first session.
Mercedes-powered Williams, who stopped their cars in the first session after they shed bodywork on track, had a normal second stint with Finland’s Valtteri Botttas fifth.

The first session also saw some less familiar names in action, with Britain’s Will Stevens slowest as he prepared for a race debut with administrator-run Caterham.

Hong Kong Chinese racer Adderley Fong gained some experience at Sauber.

By Alessandra Prentice

US Vice President Joe Biden on Friday condemned Russia’s behaviour in Ukraine as “unacceptable” and urged Moscow to abide by a September peace deal and pull military forces out of the country.

Addressing himself rhetorically to Russian President Vladimir Putin after holding talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Biden said: “Do what you agreed to do, Mr. Putin.”

The high-level US visit to Kiev took place with diplomatic efforts stalled on ways of restarting the peace deal signed by Ukraine, Russia and pro-Moscow separatists fighting in the east.

Ukraine and Western powers have accused Russia of backing the separatists and sending in its own troops – allegations dismissed by Moscow.

Both sides have also accused each other of violating the ceasefire and Ukraine said on Friday that its territory had come under cross-border artillery fire from inside Russia for the first time since the truce came into force.

Biden’s visit to Kiev took place on the first anniversary of the decision by the government of Ukraine’s then president Viktor Yanukovich to ditch a political and trade pact with the European Union in favour of renewed ties with Russia.

The move provoked protests from tens of thousands of Ukrainians and led to the ousting of the Moscow-backed Yanukovich. It triggered the worst confrontation between Russia and the West since the Cold War after Russia annexed Crimea in March and backed the eastern separatists.

Tensions still simmering in Ukraine’s war-wracked society came to the surface on Friday when Poroshenko went to pay tribute to the 100 or so protesters who were killed in February by police snipers before Yanukovich fled.

Relatives of those killed, frustrated by the government’s failure to bring officials of the Yanukovich government to book, shouted, “Where are their killers?” and “Down with Poroshenko!”

They also attacked him for failing to keep a promise to confer the title of national hero on the victims, which would bring financial benefits to the families of those killed.

Poroshenko later returned to the scene to pledge that he would sign a decree to officially designate the victims, known as the “Heaven’s Hundred”, as national heroes as promised.

Biden, appearing alongside Poroshenko, said Russia’s annexation of the Crimea and backing for the separatists represented a “flagrant violation of the bedrock principles of the international system.”

He said the United States would always support a democratic, reformist Ukraine, but he made no specific mention of any fresh military aid which Kiev has appealed for.

A statement from Biden’s office said that, pending Congressional approval, the White House would commit $20 million to supporting reform of Ukraine’s law enforcement and justice sectors.

By Jonathan Allen and John Irish

Iran and the United States on Friday intensified efforts to overcome deep divisions in talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme days ahead of a deadline for agreement.

With the deadline for a deal to defuse a 12-year stand-off over Iran’s nuclear ambitions due to expire on Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif unexpectedly met for a second time in Vienna on Friday evening.

The United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China began a final round of talks with Iran on Tuesday, looking to clinch a pact under which Tehran would curb its nuclear work to help ensure it cannot be diverted to bomb-making in exchange for a lifting of economically crippling sanctions.

But officials close to the negotiations in Vienna said at mid-week the two sides remained deadlocked on key issues, were unlikely to secure a definitive accord by Nov. 24, and might need to extend the deadline.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Kerry agreed that “additional efforts” were needed to reach a deal by the self-imposed deadline, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said.

“The sides did not rule out the possibility of holding a ministerial meeting of the parties to the talks on Iran’s nuclear programme, if the prospect for progress appears,” the ministry said in a statement.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said after separate meetings on Friday with big power peers in Vienna: “These are complex issues and there are still significant gaps between the parties. We’re all going away to have technical discussions with our experts and we’ll resume again over the … weekend.”

Western powers suspect Iran has aimed to covertly acquire a nuclear bomb capability from its enrichment of uranium. Iran says the programme is for producing civilian energy only. The lingering dispute has raised fears of a wider Middle East war.

Zarif cancelled announced plans to return to Tehran for top-level discussions with the deadline looming, Iranian media reported. The reason for his reversal of course was not immediately known.

“The talks have not reached a stage that necessitates Zarif to go to Tehran,” an unnamed senior member of the Iranian delegation told the IRNA and ISNA news agencies. “Therefore he is not going to Tehran and the talks will continue.”

U.S. and French officials said earlier that Kerry and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius would return to Paris later in the day for consultations. US officials said Kerry would still travel to Paris after his meeting with Zarif. Both Kerry and Fabius were expected to return to Vienna during the weekend.

Kerry spoke on the telephone with Lavrov on Friday and the two men agreed that “additional efforts” were needed to secure a deal by Monday, Moscow’s Foreign Ministry said.

A source close to the talks told Reuters that Zarif had received a document from the powers that outlined the main principles of a possible agreement on removing sanctions on Tehran in exchange for limits on its nuclear programme.

STICKING POINTS

Western diplomats told Reuters earlier this week that a US-drafted proposal shown to Iran at preparatory talks in Oman earlier this month called for the Islamic Republic to reduce the number of its uranium enrichment centrifuges to 4,500, well below the current 19,000 Tehran now has installed.

Iran has about 10,000 of those machines in operation. Iranian officials have refused to reduce the volume of uranium they are capable of enriching, a stand Western officials say is unacceptable as this would potentially allow Tehran to amass enough fissile material for an atomic bomb in little time.

This is a major sticking point in the talks.

Another sticking point is the pace and sequencing of sanctions relief. Iran wants them terminated swiftly, not suspended and gradually scrapped, depending on the degree of Iranian compliance with the deal terms, as the West wants.

Another dispute is over the deal’s duration — the powers want it to be up to 20 years, Iran wants this much shorter.

“We have to get more flexibility from the Iranians,” Britain’s Hammond told reporters upon arrival. “In return we are prepared to show some flexibility on our side. But time is short, we are up against a deadline here.”

An interim accord struck on Nov. 24 last year yielded steps by Iran to curb some sensitive nuclear activity, such as higher-grade enrichment, in return for some sanctions relief. That pact will expire on Monday.

By Amanda Becker

US House Speaker John Boehner said on Friday that President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration has sabotaged chances for bipartisan legislation.

Boehner said House Republicans intend to fight the president’s action, which was announced on Thursday, but did not detail a course of action. He indicated Obama’s decision to use his executive authority and bypass the US Congress, where immigration legislation has stalled, could taint future efforts.

“All year long I have warned the president that by … threatening action repeatedly on immigration, he was making it impossible to build the trust necessary to work together,” Boehner told reporters. “With this action, the president has chosen to deliberately sabotage any chance of … bipartisan reform that he claims to seek.”

Obama, in a televised speech from the White House on Thursday night, said he intended to sign an order that would ease the threat of deportation for some 4.7 million undocumented immigrants, setting up a clash with congressional Republicans who opposed the move.

Obama is set to sign the immigration order Friday afternoon at a high school in Las Vegas.

By Julien Pretot

Gael Monfils upset Roger Federer 6-1 6-4 6-3 to help France level the Davis Cup final with Switzerland 1-1 on Friday.

After Stan Wawrinka gave the Swiss a 1-0 lead by beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-2, Monfils was at his best against world number two Federer who has recently been hampered by back problems.

The doubles will be played on Saturday, with the reverse singles on Sunday on the clay of the Pierre Mauroy stadium.
France, who last lifted the trophy in 2001, are looking to win the Davis Cup for the 10th time while Switzerland are seeking their maiden title.

Speaking to reporters, Tsonga rued a lack of crowd support as a record attendance could not bring the best out of the French number one.
Some 2,500 Switzerland fans, among a 27,432 crowd, were frequently more vocal than the massed home support under the closed roof.

“When the teams were introduced, they (the Switzerland fans) applauded Stan more than us, Roger more than us. We heard the Swiss spectators more than we heard the French ones,” a dejected Tsonga told a news conference.
“Stan, for example, announced that the ball was out, and it was in. I just went to check the mark, and I was booed in my own country – maybe not by the French spectators but by the Swiss spectators. It’s annoying.”

Tsonga, however, did little to spark cheers from the crowd with an uninspiring display in the face of a fired-up Wawrinka, who peppered the court with winners.
“We need to go and get the enthusiasm of the French crowd by the quality of our game,” Tsonga added.
“It’s because I was not winning today maybe that this happened. I’m hoping that for the next matches it’s going to change.”

Wawrinka said that the configuration of the arena, with many of the seats close to the court reserved for VIPs, might have played a role in muting the home support, especially since the Swiss fans were closer to the action.
“I think because of the match maybe we were having more support from the Swiss people than the French guys,” he said.
“I think it’s tough to get all the noise from the people really upstairs.”

Yet Wawrinka said that his performance was the main reason for the dampened atmosphere.
“They didn’t have the chance to do something for him,” he said.
“I think it’s maybe a little bit easy for him to say the crowd wasn’t supporting him enough. I think it’s just because on the court I was the better player and that’s it.”

By Angelos Anastasiou

FORMER presidential media adviser Makarios Droushiotis will be called to explain the whereabouts of a note Central Bank governor Chrystalla Georghadji claimed she had attached to her employment contract when she returned it for President Nicos Anastasiades’ signature, it emerged on Thursday.

In a letter of response addressed to the House Ethics committee, head of the President’s Office Panayiotis Antoniou said no such note was found in the archived documents received from Georghadji.

On Tuesday, Antoniou had told committee members that he had been abroad on a trip when the contract was being finalised and negotiated, and that in his absence the matter was being handled by Droushiotis.

At the same session, Georghadji told deputies that, following informal meetings with both the Attorney General and the Central Bank’s legal adviser, she had amended the contract template she had been sent by Antoniou so that it would match the provisions of legislation governing the Central Bank’s operation.

She removed a clause forbidding the governor’s first-degree relatives from being employed in any occupation related to the Central Bank, and replaced it with the wording of the relevant law on the governor’s obligations – i.e. forbidding the governor, but not the governor’s immediate family, from such practice.

Georghadji also added a provision to her contract – also in line with legislation – that allowed her the raises given to permanent staff, which translated to an annual €10,000 salary bump, which she waived.

She claimed that when she returned the contract to the Presidential Palace for Anastasiades’ signature, she attached a note listing the changes she made.

But the note was nowhere to be found, said Antoniou.

“I advise you that no note by the governor of the Central Bank was found in the Presidency’s Archives relating to her terms of employment,” his letter said.

“With regard to the names of individuals employed at the Presidential Palace who were, in my absence, in any way involved in the preparation of the contract, according to the information I was given, these include Mr Makarios Droushiotis, who resigned his post as at the end of last month.”

Droushiotis left the Presidential Palace and was hired at the office of European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides in Brussels, upon assumption of his duties on November 1.