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T WAS hailed as a historic $1 billion deal marking a major step towards ending Ukraine’s reliance on imported Russian gas.

But the ballyhoo had no sooner died down after the signing of the gas terminal deal than the alleged Spanish partner disowned it and the mysterious outsider involved vanished, leaving Ukrainian officials humiliated and embarrassed.

The deal at the centre of the high-profile signing ceremony on November 26 had seemed to tie in Spain’s Gas Natural Fenosa as the main investor in building a liquefied gas (LNG) terminal on the Black Sea Coast - a strategic project for which the former Soviet republic has long been looking for foreign support.

But, to the surprise of Ukrainian officials including Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and Yuri Boiko, the country’s powerful fuel minister, who both attended the ceremony, the Spanish energy company swiftly denied joining any consortium.

In the ensuing confusion, attention focused on the identity - and role - of the Spanish-speaking man who had signed on behalf of the company - a bald figure with a tufty beard who was wellknown as a middle-man in

deals between Spanish companies and Ukraine.

He was identified by Ukraine’s state investment agency - whose chief Vladislav Kaskiv was co-signatory of the agreement - as Jordi Sarda Bonvehi, who Reuters has learned is a 43-year-old ski instructor-turned-businessman from the Barcelona region.

But Gas Natural said Bonvehi did not work for the company and, in a statement on November 28, suggested it might consider taking legal action.

Bonvehi himself slipped away after the ceremony, left

the country and his whereabouts are unknown although he was said to be in Spain last week.

Speaking by mobile phone with Reuters, a man who identified himself as Bonvehi conceded he had not been authorised to sign for Gas Natural. “I thought I could sign it and then settle it with the company,” he said.

In subsequent telephone conversations with Reuters in Spain, apparently the same person declined to answer questions by telephone, but said that at some point he would make a statement.

Collapse of the LNG termi-

seated at a round table opposite Fuel Minister Boiko and Kaskiv.

Speaking to Reuters on November 30, Kaskiv said Bonvehi emerged as a signatory at the Kiev ceremony in the absence of any other Spanish officials. He now admits though that Bonvehi had no authority to sign for Gas Natural.

Ukrainians say that no mon-

Bonvehi worked as a go-between in deals for Spanish companies and the Ukrainian authorities and is listed as general director of the Ukrainian branch of Grupo Hera, whose speciality is given as waste-recycling on its website.

The Hera company name is still listed on an intercom panel at the three-storey building in Kiev from where

it operated. But the first-floor office is occupied by another firm which says it has nothing to do with Hera.

Bonvehi has travelled around Ukraine on business ventures and in September attended the YES conference, an annual economic forum in Yalta, where he took part in LNG discussions, energy officials say. A photograph from the conference shows him

the financing for the LNG terminal, the first to be built in Ukraine.

Prime Minister Azarov, seizing on the moment to symbolically launch a new land pipeline to connect with the planned terminal, spoke of a “really historic moment... the first real big step towards energy independence”.

But within a short time, Gas Natural came out with a flat denial of any participation.

“Gas Natural has not signed any contract to invest in an LNG plant in the Ukraine, nor are we leading any consortium to develop such a terminal... nor are we studying anything along these lines,” it said.

So where did the mystery Spanish signatory appear from? And why did the Ukrainian side think it had the grounds for a deal?

In Spain, family members said Bonvehi, who left home when he turned 20 and became a ski instructor in Andorra, moved to Ukraine 10 years ago after visiting as a tourist and marrying a Ukrainian.

His father, Joan Sarda, who still lives near Barcelona, was quoted by a local newspaper, Regio7, as saying his son set up two local businesses in Spain in 2008. Both concerns, which are registered as being involved in real estate, had been inactive for years, the father said.

“Jordi... was never interested in business, neither in mine nor in that of his brothers or anyone else’s. He never demonstrated any interest in business whatsoever,” the father was quoted as saying. Joan Sorda could not be reached independently by Reuters for comment.

Speaking to Reuters, Bonvehi’s brother, Oriol Sarda Bonvehi, said Bonvehi had visited his parents on November 30 and then disappeared again. “He never told me anything about it (his business).

But to reach as far as he did he must be good at business, no?”

People who have followed the case in Ukraine say

Ukraine is currently powered by gas imported from Russia nal construction deal, particularly in such humiliating circumstances, is a setback for the Kiev government which is desperate for alternative energy sources to wean itself off dependency on Russian gas.

Apart from figuring in energy discussions, Bonvehi has travelled to at least two parts of Western Ukraine where he sought to interest local au-

Fuel minister Yuri Boiko

I

$1b deal for gas terminal signed with mystery man who is ski-instructor-turned-businessman report mforth h and and Pavel Polityuk Richard Balmforth

thorities in waste-recycling waste recycling projects, local officials say.

Neither deal came to anything, they said. “We had a visit but it came to nothing.

We talked and that was all.

There was not a single phone call from them afterwards,” said Viktor Dobrorez, who heads the local investment department in the town of Khmelnitsky.

Gas Natural, a leading LNG operator with stakes in liquefaction plants in Egypt and Qatar, says its engineering unit carried out a viability study into the LNG project at the behest of the Kiev government. The company says such studies do not necessarily entail final participation in a contract.

In a press statement after the signing, the Ukrainian state investment agency initially identified the Spanish signatory as a Gas Natural executive called Jordi Garcia Tabernero.

Gas Natural immediately denied this too, saying that Tabernero, the company’s managing director of communications, had not been in Ukraine then. At the time of the signing, he had been in his Barcelona office, it said.

It has declined to make any further statements on the matter beyond what it said in the immediate aftermath of the signing.

Ukrainian officials now ac-

cept the deal is no longer valid and had been signed with an unauthorised person.

Bonvehi, they say, acted “at his own discretion” and exceeded his authority.

The planned LNG terminal, to be built near Odessa, would receive liquefied gas by tanker from foreign suppliers and then re-gasify it for feeding into Ukraine’s pipeline network.

The collapse of the deal is all the more embarrassing because the Kiev government often uses its LNG potential

as a card to play in talks with Russia as it strives for a more equitable relationship and cheaper gas.

Ambitious LNG plans foresee imports of about 10 billion cubic metres of gas in 2018 when the planned onshore terminal would be up and running - roughly a quarter of Ukraine’s current gas consumption levels.

Kaskiv, head of the state investment agency whose job is to identify foreign investors for key national projects, had been seeking foreign financ-

ing for some time for the LNG project.

A 39-year-old former journalist who was once a foreign investment adviser to jailed ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Kaskiv was named to head the agency in December 2010. But despite a worldwide road show banging the drum for Ukrainian projects, his agency has notched up few successes.

Kaskiv said he feared the collapse of the deal would hand a “trump-card to opponents” of LNG development in Ukraine

- meaning Russia - though officials say they will continue the search for foreign investors despite the setback.

Kiev-based diplomats said they had been surprised when the signing with Gas Natural was announced since a deal on the highly ambitious project was not known to be near.

In the initial post-signing euphoria, Kaskiv said the deal provided for Gas Natural taking the lead in a group of foreign investors who would provide over 90 per cent of

Bonhevi (circled) at a meeting in Kiev and (right) signing the gas deal

Kaskiv said he feared the collapse of the deal would hand a ‘trump-card to opponents’ of LNG development in Ukraine meaning Russia

ey was lost - apparently ruling out immediate financial gain as a motive. They do not talk of duplicity, only of a “misunderstanding”.

“It (the signing) was the pressure of circumstance because at the last minute it became clear that there was no-one from the Spanish side who could, as far as we understood, sign the document,” Kaskiv said.

“This person did not simply appear out of nowhere. He took part in negotiations and clearly positioned himself as a participant in the negotiating process in the preliminary stages when other official persons were there,” he said.

But he admits Bonvehi did not have the legal right to sign for Gas Natural. “There was no legal document that would have authorised him to be the signatory of the agreement. But given that he had been participant in all preliminary stages of negotiations - things were clear for us,” he said.

Pressed on how Bonvehi had therefore been allowed to sign, Kaskiv said: “It was a mistake... We discussed this question with him just before the signing and in the course of this discussion we took this decision (to allow him to sign).”

On the Ukrainian side, Kaskiv’s role is likely to come under scrutiny in a government commission of inquiry which was set up last week.

Speaking to Reuters on the same day, he suggested that the Ukrainian side were still hoping for a top-level meeting with Gas Natural executives to clear things up.

“We have not received any clarifications beyond the information that they (Gas Natural) had not taken any decision at that particular time and that they are carrying out an investigation among themselves to clarify relations with Mr Bonvehi,” Kaskiv said.

Was there any duplicity? “I know there is no doubt that he (Bonvehi) took part in negotiations at various stages.

As for what happened at the time - we are waiting impatiently for some clarification from the Spanish side.”

Historic moment: Prime Minister Azarov

Riddle persists of Ukrain ne gas deal that never was

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CYPRUS MAIL Tuesda ay, December 11, 2012

Cyprus Mail

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 CYPRUS MAIL

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Tuesday, December 11, 2012

AVB mourns late goals in Everton defeat

‘BRILLIANT SECOND HALF’ The visitors almost went 2-0 ahead but Gylfi Sigurdsson’s shot hit the crossbar.

“To be fair, Everton had a first half where they could have scored, that’s the reality.

“But we managed to hold on to that 0-0, then had a brilliant second half and to see it escape from us in the last minutes is difficult to take.”

Everton manager David Moyes said

his team had been on the wrong end of some late dramas and it was about time fortune favoured the Toffees.

“After the few finishes like that where we have lost points we were due one,” he said. “If Everton hadn’t won we would be sitting here asking how we hadn’t. We played terrifically well and the attacking play we had was fantastic.”

Everton, who have yet to lose at home this season, looked vulnerable after Dempsey’s goal as Moyes changed things around in the hope of grabbing an equaliser.

“I actually think our poorest passage of play was in that last 10 minutes,” said Moyes. “We were trying to move players around, it was scrappy and we had tried everything to get ourselves an opening.

“But we kept at it and we got it in the end.”

Test for Mancini as City navigate choppy waters

Nine charged after derby trouble

No room for slip-ups in packed festive period

NINE people have been charged after Sunday’s derby between Manchester City and Manchester United, police said yesterday, although they are still trying to identify the person who threw a coin at Rio Ferdinand.

United defender Ferdinand was cut just above his left eye after being hit by the coin while celebrating Robin van Persie’s late goal which gave the Premier League leaders a 3-2 win at City’s Etihad stadium.

“Despite fierce rivalry and high tension there was no major disorder,” Greater Manchester Police chief inspector Steve Howard said in a statement.

City fan Matthew Stott, 21, ran on to the pitch and tried to reach Ferdinand as he was recovering, but was restrained by the home side’s goalkeeper Joe Hart.

Stott, one of two men charged with pitch encroachment, issued an apology yesterday, saying: “I would like to apologise to all those affected by my actions yesterday particularly Mr Ferdinand and the other players.

“I am extremely ashamed of my actions. I have let myself down, my family down, my fellow fans down and Manchester City Football club. I intend to write personally to Mr Ferdinand to express my extreme regret and apologies and also apologise to Manchester United and their fans.

“I would like to thank Joe Hart for his actions when I came on the pitch.”

By Martyn Herman

B

anished from Europe, under attack from Manchester United and struggling to keep Mario Balotelli on the leash, no wonder Roberto Mancini’s coiffured hair is turning grey.

Having masterminded Manchester City’s first English title for more than 40 years last season, after ending their long trophy drought by winning the FA Cup 12 months earlier, the Italian might have anticipated some smooth waters this season.

They are turning increasingly choppy, however, following United’s last-gasp 3-2 victory in the derby, after which Mancini could not resist pointing the finger at some of his players.

He did not hold back when discussing his reasons for hauling Balotelli off just after halftime and mocked Samir Nasri when suggesting that there were only “two and a half players” in the wall when Robin van Persie fired a stoppage-time winner.

City’s first league defeat of the season, an unlucky one at that, hardly represents a crisis and Mancini was quick to predict that his side will win the league and FA Cup double this season, but the

Toure, whose goal sparked City’s comeback from 2-0 against United on Sunday, said his side had to buckle down to regain their form

coming months will be a test for Mancini.

Out of the League Cup and the Champions League before Christmas after finishing bottom of their group, maintaining harmony in a squad bulging with internationals, many of whom kick their heels on the bench, will not be easy.

League games will come thick and fast over the holiday period and City need a calming hand on the tiller if Mancini’s bold claim does not return to haunt him.

Three of City’s next four matches are away from home, and while trips to Newcas-

tle United, Sunderland and Norwich City, should hold no fears for Mancini’s team, they know they can ill-afford any slip-ups.

Midfielder Yaya Toure, whose goal sparked City’s comeback from 2-0 down against United on Sunday, said the team had to buckle down and work hard to repair the damage done by two draws and a defeat in their last four league games.

“We have to forget what we have done in the past. This year will be tough, but we have a fantastic squad and we have the confidence to keep

going until the final day,” he told City’s website (www. mcfc.co.uk) yesterday.

“Last year was fantastic, but we have to realise that sometimes you go through tough periods - we can turn this around. When the chips are down, that’s when the tough really get going and we will show why we are champions.

“Disappointing though this defeat is, it only makes us more determined to win the title. We have to be strong mentally and strong in every other way as well, but our championship challenge is not finished.”

Those comments will be music to the ears of Mancini.

While his vast spending power is the envy of virtually every manager in the world, Mancini’s demeanour during matches often resembles that of a scientist struggling to keep the cork on a test tube full of highly volatile chemicals.

With so many egos colliding in the soap opera world of the Premier League, it only takes a couple of setbacks to start tongues wagging and Mancini’s man management skills will be tested to the full over the coming months.

SPORT

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Nicosia marathon was not good for everyone

Test for Mancini as City navigate choppy waters 32

Taylor Swift the ‘Yoko Ono’ of One Direction

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Drugs and fuel prices too high Auditor-general’s 2011 report calls for clampdown on lawyers and better pricing policies for fuel and drugs

By Elias Hazou

W

ASTEFUL public sector spending, crooked lawyers, plus high medicine and fuel prices were the main concerns of Auditorgeneral Chrystalla Yiorkadji as she handed over her 2011 report to President Demetris Christofias yesterday.

With the standard of living set to worsen in times of austerity, household expenses on medicines becomes all that more important. The Auditor-general said what stood out for her this year were the high prices of drugs and fuel.

A retail price analysis of some 750 drugs available both here and in Greece demonstrated that prices in Cyprus were on the whole much higher, she said.

She said what’s more, the purchase of medicines by the public sector leaves a lot to be desired: in 2011, 79.7 per cent of the drugs were bought from just 20 of a total of 88 suppliers. And 25 specialised medicines (out of a total of 1,500 brands purchased) accounted for as much as 38.7 per cent of total expenditures.

“It has been observed that in several cases only one operator takes part in the bidding competitions for the procurement of medicines,” the report

notes, explaining that a lot was being spent on patented drugs that are more expensive than generic medicines.

Taking into account that every year the public spends €250 million on drugs, about €110 million worth from the public sector and the rest from private pharmacies, Yiorkadji said she would characterise this issue as being “one of great importance”.

Yiorkadji noted that there were serious deficiencies in the pricing of drugs; first, the failure to examine the mechanism for pricing policy at least once a year and, secondly, the lack of revision or updating of the list every year.

She said that by updating the price list more often, medicine prices could be reduced by up to 20 per cent. “And I imagine there would also be savings for consumers,” she added.

The last update, she said was in 2009 and because of that consumers have not benefitted from lower prices since then.

Another issue that stands out was the prices of petroleum products. Yiorkadji said she had forwarded her suggestions to the commerce minister who is in the process of revising current procedures, “taking

TURN TO PAGE 3

Europe in the 21st century: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, the leaders of former traditional enemies, celebrating the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union STORY PAGE 9

It’s official: by 2030 the future belongs to Asia

By Tabassum Zakaria CHINA’S economy is likely to surpass the United States in less than two decades while Asia will overtake North America and Europe combined in global power by 2030, a US intelligence report said yesterday.

“Meanwhile, the economies of Europe, Japan, and Russia are likely to continue their slow relative declines,” it said.

The report, Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds, was issued by the National Intelligence Council, an analytical arm of

the US government’s Office of the Director of National Intelligence. In addition to US intelligence analysts, the report includes the views of foreign and private experts.

It is the fifth report of a series - the previous one was released in 2008 - that aims to stimulate “strategic thinking” among decision makers and not to predict the future. The reports intentionally coincide with presidential election years to offer insights on global trends to new administrations.

Despite the economic power of China, the United States is expected to retain

its superpower status because it still is the only country able to pull together coalitions and mobilise efforts to deal with global challenges, analysts said.

“China isn’t going to replace the US on a global level,” Mathew Burrows, counsellor to the National Intelligence Council, said at a media briefing. “Being the largest economic power is important ... (but) it isn’t necessarily the largest economic power that always is going to be the superpower.”

China recognises that it cannot play that

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their 25 goals in the last 10 minutes of games.

“It’s difficult to take,” the Spurs coach told the team’s official website.

“The last minutes were our best with Clint’s goal ..., we kept the ball and played well, but then the game changed completely against the run of play.”

CYPRUS

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Everton scored twice at the death on Sunday to vault to fourth in the League and leave Villas-Boas distraught

TOTTENHAM Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas is used to seeing his team concede late goals, but Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at Everton, where the home side scored twice at the death, was hard for the Portuguese to swallow.

Leading 1-0 at Goodison Park through Clint Dempsey’s goal 14 minutes from time, Spurs were primed to take all three points, win their fourth consecutive game and keep the heat on third-placed Chelsea in the Premier League.

However, Steven Piennar scored against his old club to equalise in the 90th minute before Nikica Jelavic grabbed the winner in added time, vaulting Everton into fourth and leaving Villas-Boas distraught.

Spurs have kept a clean sheet only once away from home this season, a 3-0 win at Fulham earlier this month, and have conceded 10 of

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Muller hails recordbreaking Messi 30

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Tuesday, December 11, 2012 CYPRUS MAIL

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Court is shown Mari victims’ last moments

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Nicosia 17

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Twenty minutes before the blast, chief fireman Yiorgos Yiakoumi said the footage could be used for training

19 1 LLarnaca

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TODAY: Mostly fine. Temperatures will reach 17C inland, 19C along the coasts and 7C over higher ground OUTLOOK: Cloudy patches and scattered showers due Wednesday and Thursday. Sunshine returns on Friday YESTERDAY:

Max Temp Nicosia 17 Larnaca 19 Limassol 21 Paphos 21 Paralimni 19 Prodromos 7

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Min 11 13 14 14 13 5

Humidity 81% 82% 56% 63% 84% 98%

SUNRISE: 06:45am

SUNSET: 4:35pm

Pollution Low/Low Low/Low Low/Low Low Low Low

Air quality in Cyprus is assessed with the aid of a network of nine advanced monitoring stations.

Data is recorded hourly.

Information provided by the Air Quality Section of the Department of Labour Inspection (DLI)

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EXCHANGE

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By Poly Pantelides LARNACA Assizes yesterday watched several videos taken on mobile phones owned by two of the victims of last year’s blast at Mari who unintentionally filmed the last moments of several of their co-victims as they were called in to respond to what they thought was just a fire.

Twenty minutes before the blast that killed him, chief fireman Yiorgos Yiakoumi who died at the age of 30 was heard saying the footage could be used for training purposes.

The footage was instead used by the court that witnessed the events prior to the explosion, and the prosecution that argued that the danger to their lives had not been

clear to the victims. Yiakoumi was among the 13 killed at Evangelos Florakis naval base when a set of munitions in 98 containers exploded after being exposed to the elements for over two years.

His mobile videos show Yiakoumi with fireman Panayiotis Theofilou, 30, who also died in the blast, driving a fire track and moving towards a naval base guardhouse.

Their chief sergeant, Andreas Papadopoulos – also a blast victim – told them to “go round” in order to approach the site, where the containers could be seen and heard hissing and in flames.

“Are you filming?” Theofilou asked Yiakoumi, at a later point.

The final video shows the burning containers, as the fire truck that Yiakoumi

and Theofilou were in descended. Another fire fighter is seen sitting in his truck, door open, trying to put on his mask.

The court yesterday also heard from Constable Christodoulos Antoniou who lost partial vision in his right eye and went blind in his left eye because of the blast, while watching the fire on a hill from the Vassilikos’ power plant across the base.

The plant was crippled by the blast and Antoniou – caught in the explosion’s sweep along with sixty others – was taken to Israel for treatment.

“I remember I was hit by something like thunder and then I woke up in Israel,” he said in his testimony, read out on his behalf.

Antoniou said he could remember a fire truck trying to

spray water on the containers that were too far away. In the weeks and months after the blast, it transpired that according to standard emergency response guidelines, water should not have been doused at all on the containers, because the cargo contained gunpowder.

The trial’s defendants are former foreign minister Marcos Kyprianou, former defence minister Costas Papacostas, former national guard deputy chief Savvas Argyrou, former fire service chief Andreas Nicolaou; deputy fire chief Charalambos Charalambous; and former disaster response squad (EMAK) commander Andreas Loizides.

They are charged with causing death by want of precaution, and homicide by gross negligence.

QUICK CROSSWORD 2259 Across

Down

1 Figurative (12) 7 Lounged (8) 8 Patch up (4) 9 Heather (4) 11 Lasting twelve months (8) 12 Motorless plane (6) 14 Alarm-bell (6) 16 Block (8) 19 Latvian port (4) 21 Let fall (4) 22 Implied (8) 23 Generous (5-7)

1 Fresco (5) 2 Presumed (7) 3 Convenient (5) 4 Shining (7) 5 Make petty objections (5) 6 Bemoaning (9) 10 Niggardly (9) 13 Daily round (7) 15 Transporter (7) 17 Sot (5) 18 Conical tent (5) 20 Performed (5)

For a full list of exchange rates, see page 12

CHEMISTS NICOSIA N. Demetriades, 272 Ledra St. Tel: 22665755, 22420283 (H) E. Piera Issegiek, 23C Nikis Ave. Tel: 22490580, 22499232 (H) S. Papanastasiou, 320A Arc Makarios III. Tel: 22372337, 22321430 T. Argyrou, Pavlou Mela 28B, Engomi, Tel: 22658628, 22427414 C. Hatzigiannis, 49B Arch Larnakos, Aglantzia, Tel: 22333311 22436322 LIMASSOL K. Michaelidou, 1E Ay. Zonis St., Tel: 25363546, 25722589 (H)

P. Ioannou, 8, Dodekanisou Tel. 25364188, 25332618 (H) Ch. Charalambous, 56 Miltonos Ave. Tel: 25710330, 25770285 (H) LARNACA M. Severis, P. Valdaserides St. Tel: 24639410, 24662497 (H) A. Kalaitzi, New Hospital Road.

Tel: 24638387, 24639719 (H) PAPHOS D. Hadjicharalambous, 104 Ellados Ave. Tel: 26822627, 70008181, (H) PARALIMNI P. Loizou, 150 Gr. Dighenis Ave. Tel: 23821368, 23823608 (H)

For cryptic crossword and answers to the previous quick crossword see page 27

ON THIS DAY DECEMBER 11 1918

25 years ago Friday, December 11, 1987

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (d. 2008), Russian writer, noted for exploring issues of political ideology in the USSR, is born on this day.

President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev ended their summit yesterday and Reagan called it a clear success. With a smiling Gorbachev at his side on the White House lawns after their last session of talks, Reagan said “I am pleased to report that upon completion of our business this summit has been a clear success”.

1936 Edward VIII becomes the first English monarch to voluntarily abdicate the throne, after announcing his desire to marry his mistress Wallis Simpson caused a constitutional crisis.

1946

Cyprus Mail Established 1945. Number 21,402 NICOSIA 24 Vass. Voulgaroctonou, P.O. Box 21144, 1502 Nicosia Tel: 22-818585, Fax: 22-676385 email: mail@cyprus-mail.com LIMASSOL 5A Nicolaou, Pentadromos Centre, Thessaloniki St, Tel: 25-761117, Fax: 25-761141 email: cyprusmail@cytanet.com.cy LARNACA Tel: 24-652243, Fax: 24-659982 PAPHOS 62 Apostolou Pavlou Avenue, Office 2, 8046 Paphos, Tel: 26 911383 Fax : 26 221049 email: paphos@cyprus-mail.com

WHAT THE MAIL SAID

The United Nations establishes the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund to provide relief and support to children living in countries devastated by war.

1994 Russian president Boris Yeltsin orders ground troops into Chechnya after a two-week bombing campaign fails to bring the break-away territory to heel.

1997 The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change opens for signature.

35 years ago Sunday, December 11, 1977 US Secretary of State Cyrus Vance said today a Geneva conference remained the ultimate goal for a comprehensive Middle East peace settlement but next week’s Cairo meeting was a step on the way. Vance was speaking to reporters after talks with President Sadat.

45 years ago Monday, December 11, 1967 The Cyprus problem is expected to be among the subjects to be discussed by the Ministerial Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance which opens in Brussels on Wednesday. The question is expected to be discussed both in the context of the Alliance’s survey of the world’s trouble spots as well as in direct discussions between the Foreign Ministers of Greece, Turkey and Britain.

CYPRUS MAIL Tuesday, December 11, 2012

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Waste and more waste in semi-government and public sectors In 2011, overtime and allowances in the police force amounted to €33 million, almost 17 per cent of the annual payroll which was €198 million. Most importantly, around €14.7 million was paid on the Sunday and public holidays allowance (during regular shifts),€11 million on the “shift allowance,” and €3.3 million on “overtime remuneration.” Around half of overtime pay (€1.59 million) related to policing sports events.

Due to accumulation of leave, police officers often leave the force one or two years before retirement. The large accumulation of leave upon retirement, which was an entitlement when the officer was serving at a lower salary level, leads to increased costs because the outstanding holiday payment are made on the basis of the most recent salary. During 2011, this cost the taxpayer € 2.1 million.

In 2011, €532,109 in total was given in interest-free loans for the purchase of vehicles to employees of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus. Out of 20 such loans provided, several were given to persons who had not applied for travel allowance over the past five years, “begging the question as to how these employees were considered/approved as commuting employees.”

Complaints made to the citizens’ hotline (1460) are not officially logged, making it impossible to determine whether the complaints have been recorded and/or investigated.

Complaints are usually recorded as handwritten notes, and in the event of serious complaints, the person answering the phone fills out a form that is sent on to the relevant police department.

Based on the concession agreement for the management of Larnaca and Paphos airports by the strategic investor, the Republic of Cyprus should provide rescue and firefighting services at the airports provided that the strategic investor will supply the necessary equipment. “The strategic investor has not complied to date with all the requirements of the Fire Department for grant of such equipment,” the report says.

The report says there needs to be better pricing policy in the management of water supply between domestic and irrigation charges. The adoption of appropriate pricing policy, “which ensures that users provide incentives for efficient use of water resources” is also required by the Water Framework Directive, the report said.

On overtime employment of medical staff, the report said the control system had serious weaknesses and deficiencies, too many to document, which left too much room for exploiting the system. The report recommends an overhaul.

The Civil Aviation Department is facing difficulties in collecting debts and its backlog in 2011 was € 23.1million.

There were also flight delays due to inadequate staffing at the Nicosia control centre and resulting in the inability of Cyprus to meet its obligations arising from regulations and directives of international organisations and the EU.

Drug and medicine prices set too high Auditor-general’s report homes in on prices and evasion (Continued from front page) into account the recommendations of the audit office”.

When the survey was conducted by the office, she said, “The prices were higher than they should have been” and provided “specific suggestions”.

There’s a great deal the public sector could do to limit wasteful spending and improve revenue collection, the Auditor-general’s report said.

According to the report, on 31 December 2011 the state was owed €603 million in unpaid taxes, €971 million including penalties and interest.

On tax evasion, the Auditor-general zeroes in among others on registered lawyers. A sample check revealed that most lawyers who received payment after claiming legal aid expenses did not submit invoices and therefore did not pay VAT on these payments despite the fact many of these professionals were listed on the VAT register.

Moreover, several registered lawyers are “unknown” to tax authorities, the report says. In one documented case, a female lawyer not on the radar of the taxman was discovered to have purchased a luxury car.

“We see people who hold considerable property, whether a luxury car or boat, whether it’s buying property at auction... some of them are unknown to the Inland Revenue or they declare incomes much lower than those justifying their assets,” she said.

In addition, several persons registered with the Lawyers’ Pension Fund failed to submit income tax statements for one or more years.

The number of unexecuted warrants during the last 13 years had soared by a factor of six, the report says.

Police data valued these warrants at €135 million, of

Auditor-general Chrystalla Yiorkadji handing over her 2011 report to President Demetris Christofias yesterday

which €95m belonged to the state.

In 2011 some €19.9 million was paid to asylum seekers and protected persons; €9.8 million was paid to 830 asylum seekers. In several cases, due to technical foulups, applicants who were rejected by the Refugees Review Board continued receiving cheques.

Last year the state owed landowners some €530 million for expropriations, while delays in determining the final expropriation amount burdened the state with additional interest payment costs.

The Auditor-general advises that, in the wake of the Mari disaster of July 2011, authorities should reconsider concentrating large industrial facilities all in the same area (Vassilikos): the EAC’s power plant, the petroleum fuel storage terminal and the planned natural gas liquefaction terminal.

SEMI-GOVT FINANCES EAC Net surplus before taxes: €75.48 million (2011); €101.85 million (2010) Cost overruns: Purchase of electricity from third parties: €24,508,998 Rental of temporary power units (generators): €16,411,247 Repair work on Vassilikos power station: €8,579,269 Upgrade works on Moni power station: €429,945 Average cost per employee (including social security contributions): €57,975

CyTA Net surplus before taxes: €81.72 million (2011); €79.44 million (2010) Number of employees: 2266

(2011); 2289 (2010) Expenditures on wages, allowances and employer’s contributions: €152.24 million (2011); €148.02 million (2010) Average cost per employee: €67,185 (2011); €64,667 (2010)

CyBC Revenues (including state grant): €36.9 million (2011); €45.1 million (2010) State grant for 2011: €30.1 million (82 per cent of total revenues) Deficit before taxes: €5.0 million (2011); €2.1 million surplus (2010) Average cost per full-time employee: €80,740 (2011); €79,012 (2010)

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Tuesday, December 11, 2012 CYPRUS MAIL

4

Home Samaras pays tribute to Tassos Papadopoulos

Clarifications still being sought from Pimco on the banks A STEERING committee studying a preliminary report on the recapitalisation needs of Cypriot banks has asked the company undertaking the due diligence for clarifications, the Central Bank said yesterday, as reports said Cyprus and international lenders disagreed on the amount.

The report outlines how much money would be necessary to recapitalise the island’s banks but an official overall figure has not been made public.

State broadcaster CyBC reported last night that international lenders insisted on €13 billion, while Cyprus puts the figure at under €10 billion.

The amount needed to recapitalise the banks is key to concluding a comprehensive bailout deal with international lenders.

A rough working assumption for Cyprus’ bailout deal has been that the banks need around €10 billion to recapitalise, almost 60 per cent of Cyprus’ entire annual output.

Cyprus is concerned that its debt would be deemed unsustainable, meaning additional austerity or the privatisation of semi-state companies.

Central Bank spokeswoman Aliki Stylianou said the USbased company’s responses to the questions were expected at some point yesterday “We must wait for the scenery to clear, the questions answered, the methodology check completed and then we will be in position to give something specific,” Stylianou said.

The steering committee is made up of representatives from EU institutions and the IMF or troika and Cypriot authorities.

The bailout requirement report was carried out by Pimco, an investment company best known as the world’s biggest bond trader.

It involved an asset review of five Cyprus-based banks and a stress test to determine the capital needs of each. It also covered a representative sample of co-operative credit institutions.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras speaks at the memorial service for Tassos Papadopoulos on Sunday

GREEK Prime Minister Antonis Samaras described former President Tassos Papadopoulos as “a beacon and a symbol of Hellenism” during a memorial service on Sunday.

“In these difficult times the Greek nation needs leaders, and Tassos Papadopoulos shows us the way,” Samaras said in a glowing tribute to Papadopoulos who passed away four years ago from cancer. The Greek premier attended the service, at the invitation of the Papadopoulos family.

The service, held at the Ayios Nikolaos Church in Kato Deftera, was attended by presidential candidates Nicos Anastasiades, Stavros Malas and Giorgos Lillikas. Undersecretary to the President Titos Christofides attended on behalf of the state. President Demetris Christofias did not attend.

Samaras had arrived here on a private visit on Saturday evening, and was hosted by Christofias at the president’s residence in Kellaki.

Property tax uproar grows

By George Psyllides LAWMAKERS yesterday asked the government to amend a bill that increases annual immovable property tax (IPT) as part of the island’s bailout, as various interest groups suggest it is unfair and would only lead to bigger problems.

Landowners, property developers and hoteliers warn that the changes, which hike up the taxes currently based on 1980 values, will drive the economy deeper into recession.

Hoteliers yesterday suggested that the bill was unconstitutional and warned that they would file an appeal with the Supreme Court. Haris Loizides, Chairman of the hotels association PASYXE, said the bill increased the tax a hotel had to pay nine-fold. Loizides said a hotel that paid €27,600 in IPT last year would have to pay €253,380 in 2013.

Loizides said international lenders had asked for €60 million from immovable property

MPs have asked the government to amend a bill that increases (IPT) as part of bailout taxation whereas the government bill provides for €180 million. The chamber of commerce and industry (KEVE) said the bill was unacceptable and that it would be impossible for the government to achieve the target.

KEVE proposed a flat rate of 1.5 per thousand that they say would raise €60 million.

The chairman of the developers Pantelis Leptos said it was an unfair bill that would act as a deterrent for investment.

The preliminary agreement between Cyprus and international lenders provides for updating the 1980’s property prices by applying the consumer price index (CPI) over 1980 to 2012 and amending tax rates for the value bands.

Until now, immovable property tax was calculated based on the value of the property

on January 1, 1980.

Under the new regime, the taxable figure would be the result of multiplying the value of the property in 1980 by around 3.5 – the CPI, according to deputy land registry director Andreas Socratous The updated value will then be taxed by applying the new rates. The first €150,000 is tax-free. From then on: €150,001- €500,000 coefficient of 6 per thousand, €500,001€1,000,000 coefficient of 8 per thousand, €1,000,001 and above coefficient of 10 per thousand.

The director of the inland revenue department rejected suggestions the legislation was unconstitutional.

Giorgos Poufos said lenders had imposed “very conservative” calculations to be sure the target amount would be collected. Acoording to IRD

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data, 44,000 people would have to pay IPT under the new regime. While 293,000 would be exempted because their property was worth less than the tax-free threshold.

From the 16,000 affected companies, 8,900 would be exempted for the same reason, while 2,500 would pay €111 million.

The state expects to collect an additional €18.9 million from 1,450 people whose property is worth over €1 million. Some €40 million will be paid by 38,500 people. Main opposition DISY deputy chairman Averof Neophytou asked the government to find a fairer solution.

“If there is a will, we can find fairer solutions,” he said.

Neophytou suggested the tax would hurt middle income people. “A middle class family who owned property worth €300,000 by 1980 prices paid €375 up until 2011; today they would have to pay €6,450. We are talking about 17 times more taxes,” Neophytou said.

Their property would now be valued at around €1 million.

Ruling AKEL MP Yiannos Lamaris said his party wants to make a lot of amendments if it was allowed – not only as regards the IPT. He added however that 90 per cent of the people did not fall in any of the IPT tax bands.

The matter was discussed by the House Finance Committee, which also looked into several other austerity bills agreed with international lenders.

Before it was a bill that cut allowances to large families and students who voiced their opposition. Large family organisation chairman Paraskevas Samaras said it was a “multiple hit.” The measures, he said, were wrong and unfair Civil servants also protested, saying they were “under persecution.” They were complaining about a bill that changes public sector work hours in a bid to cut overtime and shift pay.

Some 20,000 people who live in the mountains are also complaining after the government decided to cut the heating fuel allowance afforded to them in winter.

Large families, teacher unions and people with disabilities, will hold protests against the austerity outside parliament on Wednesday.

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CYPRUS MAIL Tuesday, December 11, 2012

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Home

Flooded for the second time in only three days

Larnaca’s Athienou residents were also up to their shins in flood water yesterday

‘This is like biblical catastrophe for us.

We are retired. Who’s going to help us?’

RESIDENTS of a Limassol neighbourhood were up in arms yesterday after seeing their properties flooded for the second time in three days following heavy rain.

People living on Vasileos Constantinou Street said they were up all night on Sunday trying to keep the rain out of their homes as the fire service scrambled to pump water from properties and rescue trapped drivers.

“This is like biblical catastrophe for us. We are retired. Who’s going to help us?” one distressed resident told state radio.

A second resident said they hardly got any sleep in the past few days, trying to protect their belongings and worrying about their safety.

The storm flooded several underground areas while many vehicles got stuck in flooded roads.

The fire service responded to 11 calls for help in the Limassol area and several in Paphos.

Limassol Mayor Andreas Christou visited the affected areas and promised that temporary measures will be taken to alleviate situation until storm drains were constructed.

“This will stop the water from flowing with such speed in these areas,” Christou said.

The mayor said crews have found that one pipeline that channelled runoff water was underperforming and instructions have been given for its repair.

Christou said the problem could only be solved once and for all with the construction of the sewage system, which has been on the cards since 2010.

The meteorological service said more rain can be expected this week with the weather improving at the weekend.

Two pet dogs shot dead in Pera Pedi TWO pure-bed German Shepherds, a seven-year-old female and a three-yearold male were found on Sunday by their owner, shot and lying in a pool of blood while they were out for a walk with him and his son.

Police are looking into the crime in the Pera Pedi area of Limassol.

The owner, lawyer Neoclis Neocleous said he had brought the two pets on a walk with his son Alexis, at around 9am on Sunday. The dogs wandered off ahead and shortly after Neocleous said he heard two shots around 200m in the distance.

When the dogs didn’t return as expect-

ed, the worried owner began searching along with his son. They then found the two dogs dead.

Neocleous said he saw a pick-up truck leaving the area and gave the information to police and the Game Fund.

He is also offering a €1,000 reward for information leading to the culprit or culprits.

The offender has not yet been caught but Neocleous is hopeful that the case will be solved. “The police became very involved and I really am astonished by how fervently they looked into the case”, he said.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 CYPRUS MAIL

6

Home Schools in dispute over land lease

CYPRUS TODAY Jewellery heist in Limassol FOUR individuals wielding bats and what appears to be a fake pistol, yesterday robbed a Limassol jewellery shop, taking expensive watches, gold items and diamonds worth thousands of euros.

Police said the heist took place just after 5pm. They said one of the perpetrators posed as a customer – dressed in a suit – to fool the staff into opening the controlled entrance to the shop. As soon as the door opened, three hooded individuals, wielding bats and a pistol, rushed inside, threatening the owner and two female employees. The robbers smashed the glass display cases, taking a number of watches and jewellery.

The owner tried to stop them, succeeding in snatching back part of the loot and removing one perpetrator’s hood. The robbers hit the owner before fleeing, but after dropping what appeared to be a replica pistol during the fracas.

One of the thieves left on foot while the other three abandoned the scene in a car that was parked behind the shop.

The owner was treated in hospital and released. Police were looking at the footage from the security cameras.

By Peter Stevenson

Shop owner robbed in his car A 57-YEAR-OLD shop manager was robbed at gun-point during the early hours yesterday in Nicosia, police said.

According to the police press office, the man was driving his car on Tseriou Avenue in Strovolos, when the passenger of the car in front of him got out and approached him, pointing a gun and taking three envelopes containing the weekend’s takings of around €1,300. The armed man then took the 57-year-old’s phone and car keys and threw them into a near-by field before hopping back into other car and getting away with his accomplice. The robber is described as being of thin build, 1.75 metres tall and was wearing a black jacket, dark trousers and a balaclava. Police did not say whether the victim had managed to get the licence plate of the vehicle.

Two more die on island’s roads A 67-YEAR-OLD man from Aradippou died in a car accident yesterday morning police said. The car hit the pavement before hitting a pole and stopping. The 67-year-old was found unconscious by neighbours before being taken to Larnaca General Hospital where his death was confirmed.

In a second accident over the weekend, A 23-year-old Romanian man died on Sunday morning after crashing his car on the road between Mathiatis and Ayia Varvaras, police said. The man crashed into a road-side ditch before he was found by approaching drivers. He was taken to Nicosia General Hospital where his death was confirmed.

Cyprus marks EU Nobel win NEARLY 200 schoolchildren from Greek Cypriot, Turkish Cypriot and international schools as well as members of bi-communal youth organisations came together yesterday at EU House in Nicosia to celebrate the award of the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize to the EU and watch live the Awards Ceremony from Oslo.

In an informal setting, the pupils had the opportunity to air their views on the EU and its contribution to peace as well as on issues of more direct interest to Cyprus. Former President George Vassiliou, was amongst the guests.

NOTICE

NOTICE

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF PAPHOS Appl. No. 302/2012

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF PAPHOS Appl. No. 301/2012

In the matter of JOHN WILLIAM STEWART MAHONY late of Tala Deceased

In the matter of DAVID GEOFFREY BROOKS late of Tala Deceased

Notice is herby given that after the expiration of eight days from today, an application will be made at the Probate Registry of the District Court of Paphos for the issue of the Grant of Probate of the Will of JOHN WILLIAMS STEWART MAHONY late of Tala, deceased, to the named Executor of the Will of the above deceased, LOUCAS MAVRIKIOS, Advocate, of Paphos.

Notice is herby given that after the expiration of eight days from today, an application will be made at the Probate Registry of the District Court of Paphos for the issue of the Grant of Probate of the Will of DAVID GEOFFREY BROOKS late of Tala, deceased, to the named Executor of the Will of the above deceased, LOUCAS MAVRIKIOS, Advocate, of Paphos.

Chrystalleni L. Mavrikiou Advocate of the named Executor of the Last Will of the aforesaid deceased

Chrystalleni L. Mavrikiou Advocate of the named Executor of the Last Will of the aforesaid deceased

Protesting outside the palace over what they said were empty promises, former employees for the Kofinou slaughterhouse said yesterday they had reached the end of their tether waiting eight months to be paid redundancy and benefits “We can’t take it anymore,” said one man. He was among 28 who were laid off in April

Domestic stabbing was self defence AG rules Limassol woman will not be charged

By Poly Pantelides A LIMASSOL woman, 34, who was remanded in connection with the stabbing of her 39year-old husband will not be prosecuted, Attorney-general Petros Clerides has said.

The woman was arrested over a week ago in a state of shock after her husband was found dead at their home following a domestic dispute.

“I have suspended prosecution on the grounds of selfdefence,” Clerides said. The Greek-Cypriot woman was arrested on November 30 after police found her Romanian husband dead in their kitchen in Limassol’s Kapsalos area.

When police got to the scene, the woman was in a state of shock a few metres way from the house.

She was suspected of stab-

bing her husband after an argument when she had pleaded with him to stop drinking.

According to reports, she had tried to take his glass away and he hit her. In response, she stabbed him with a kitchen knife in the chest.

The couple has been married for three years and were preparing to host guests to celebrate her husband’s name day. The man has a daughter from his first marriage, who lives in Romania.

The court remanded the 34-year-old but the Attorneygeneral who is constitutionally granted the last word in all criminal cases said that the woman had killed her husband in self-defence. He would not comment further and it was yesterday not clear whether or not Clerides suspended prosecution or else just withdrew the case before

any charges were filed.

Because Cyprus is a former British colony, the island’s legal system follows to a large extent English and Welsh law.

The British Self Defence Governing Body which governs self defence in the UK, has an overview of the relevant laws that are guided under the principle of “reasonable force” and the right of persons to defend themselves against aggressors. As of late October 2012, the law said that people “may do, but only do, what is reasonably necessary”.

Asked whether there was any precedent of this kind in Cyprus, a criminal lawyer speaking on condition of anonymity, said there were but were not published as they are not court cases that are usually made public.

The lawyer said that there are no legal guidelines as there are in the UK. “The Attorneygeneral may be using his own guidelines,” the lawyer said.

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EAC moves to winter schedule THE ELECTRICITY Authority of Cyprus has started its winter schedule for its customer service centres.

Between Monday and Friday offices will be open between 7.45am and 1.45pm, with offices being open throughout the day on Tuesday and Thursday, between 7.45am and 5.15pm.

The schedule will apply up until Friday, May 31 and switch back to the summer schedule on June 1.

A ROW over government land that houses the English School alumni association (ESOBGA) has erupted between the English School and Junior School.

The Junior School has leased the land from the government for 99 years and wants ESOBGA to vacate their clubhouse, which was only built a few years ago. The disputed land, which is technically forest area, is 23,000 square metres in size and situated right next to the Junior School in a densely populated neighbourhood. The English School claims that the land was illegally leased to the Junior School.

The land comes under the control of the English School board, according to chairman Antonis Valanides. “According to law, the land that the English School is on as well as the property on that land is governed by the school’s management board,” Valanides said.

“During no point in the procedure were we consulted or involved in the procedure by the government to lease the land to the Junior School for €1,000 for the next 99 years.”

The English School says that the board of the Junior School want the land so they can build the new premises of the Senior School on it. Chairman of the Junior School and Senior School board, Nick Papandreou categorically denied this.

“The leased land will be exclusively used as a school yard and sports ground and there will be no felling of trees and contrary to what has been published, the leased land has not been upgraded to allow buildings to be constructed,” he added Magda Nicholson, the head of ESOGBA spoke of her surprise after receiving an eviction notice from Papandreou, an English School alumnus, back in August. “We have had such great relations with the Junior School over the years and it came as such a shock when I was handed the notice back in August, considering we allow them to use our grounds for various purposes, something we continue to do despite this issue,” Nicholson said. The grounds have recently been renovated since the previous building’s roof caved in, thanks to donations from former students, at a cost of €300,000.

The Junior School in a statement said the land has been leased from the Republic, which is the owner according to the school, under fully lawful procedures. The English School has filed an injunction against the Junior School to prevent them from building on the land and they are also trying to annul the lease agreement. The Junior School said it has had the lease agreement with the government since June 5, 2012 and it was only the good relationship that they have with the English School that has prevented them from forcing ESOBGA’s removal.

CYPRUS MAIL Tuesday, December 11, 2012

7

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Nicosia Marathon... good for some Participants praise event but drivers and shopkeepers in town had a rough day of it

By Peter Stevenson THE NICOSIA Quantum Marathon may have gone without a hitch for participants on Sunday but for motorists and shopkeepers it was an nightmare.

Huge swathes of roads and streets were blocked to traffic and anyone who did venture towards the city centre faced hours of sitting in their cars with no idea when or where they would be able to park, or when they might be able to escape the chaos.

Shop-keepers hoping for some much-needed custom on the first Sunday opening of the Christmas period were also inconvenienced as many did not manage to get through the road-blocks in time to open their premises early.

Those who had shops on streets blocked from traffic had no hope of seeing any custom that day.

‘We tried to get down town every which way,” said one Nicosia woman.

“We tried every known way into the old city but they were all jammed. In the end we went up to the Mall. It was pretty packed so a lot of people had more sense than to try and go into town.”

Many people tried take advantage of the Sunday opening. “I thought I would go in early, get what I needed from a shop in Ledra Street and get back home with a minimum of fuss,” said one 65-yearold shopper. “I saw on the news that the marathon was taking place, but they didn’t mention which roads were going to be closed and what times,” she said.

“Police were allowing cars through but once they were through they were then being stopped,” she

continued. “At one point I didn’t think I was going to make it out of Nicosia, I just couldn’t see a way out.” But Nicosia’s police traffic chief Demetris Demetriou said yesterday there had been plenty of announcements throughout last week about the marathon, and what route it would be taking.

“Announcements were made on television regarding the event, detailing which roads would be closed and between what times,” the Demetriou said. “There were even broadcasts every two hours on the radio about it but people just didn’t listen.” “ However he did say a meeting would be held tomorrow to discuss what went wrong, and what the police could have done better during the marathon,” Demetriou said.

The capital’s streets were crawling with officers on Sunday but not all of them were helpful, according to one marathon participant.

In a letter to the organisers to congratulate them on the event but also to complain about an police officer who pestered them to hurry up, participant Costa Costanti wrote, “We want to complain about a very rude police officer who insulted our team during the 10km road race. Near the section of the race where the Greek Embassy is, he started to follow us closely in his car and hurled abuse at us for walking and not running.

He stalked us, and humiliated some of the members of the team who were unable to run fast due to disability.”

On behalf of the organising committee of the marathon, Giorgos Loucaides, who is also the president

The start of the marathon in Nicosia on Sunday. Around 7,000 people took part in the various races of DROMEA running club yesterday expressed his satisfaction at the smooth running of the event, despite the traffic problems.

“It is important to emphasise that an event like this with so much scope has many benefits for our society,” Loucaides said. “The fact that seven thousand people had the opportunity to take part and enjoy themselves and to exercise speaks for itself,” he added. “It should also be noted that shops and cafés were open and managed to draw in the crowds of people that went into town either to watch the marathon or take part, helping sales,” he concluded.

Loucaides also noted that money collected from participants would go directly to different charities that support people suffering from heart-disease and cancer.

(CNA)

BARCLAYS PORTFOLIOS SICAV

Société d’Investissement à Capital Variable Registered office: 2-4, rue Eugène Ruppert, L-2453 Luxembourg R.C.S. Luxembourg B 120390 (the "Company")

NOTICE OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY Notice is hereby given of the annual general meeting of shareholders of the Company (the "AGM") to be held at 2-4, rue Eugène Ruppert, L-2453 Luxembourg on 20 December 2012 at 11.00 am Central European Time (“CET”) with the following agenda: 1. Hearing of the approved statutory auditor’s report and the report of the directors and approval of the audited financial statements of the Company for the financial year ended 31 August 2012 2. Discharge of the directors 3. Re-appointment of Mr Philippe Hoss, Mr Patrick Zurstrassen, Mr Adrian Wood and Mr William Mussat as directors 4. Remuneration of the independent directors 5. Re-appointment of the approved statutory auditors (réviseur d'entreprises agréé) 6. Any other business which may be properly brought before the meeting Resolutions to be taken on the above mentioned agenda will require no quorum and will be passed if at least a simple majority of the shares present or represented at the AGM and voting (not including abstentions), vote in favour. Each share is entitled to one vote.

A shareholder may act at the AGM by proxy. A form of proxy will be available from the registered office of the Company. The proxy will remain in force if the AGM, for whatever reason, is postponed and for the reconvened AGM (if any).

By order of The Board of Directors

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 CYPRUS MAIL

8

World

DJs ‘shattered, gutted’ after prank call led to nurse’s death DJs’ show terminated while radio firm suspends prank calls

By Rob Taylor TWO Australian radio announcers who made a prank call to a British hospital treating Prince William’s pregnant wife Kate broke a three-day silence on Monday to speak of their distress at the apparent suicide of the nurse who took their call.

The 2DayFM Sydney-based announcers, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, said the tragedy had left them “shattered, gutted, heartbroken”.

Greig and fellow presenter and prank mastermind Christian have been in hiding since nurse Jacintha Saldanha’s death and the subsequent social media outrage at their prank.

Their show, “Hot 30,” has been terminated, the station’s parent company, Southern Cross Austereo (SCA), said in a statement on Monday. SCA also announced a companywide suspension of prank calls.

Greig told Australian television her first thought when told of Saldanha’s death was for her family.

“Unfortunately I remember that moment very well, because I haven’t stopped thinking about it since it hap-

pened,” she said, amid tears and her voice quavering with emotion. “I remember my first question was ‘was she a mother?’”

“I’ve wanted to just reach out to them and just give them a big hug and say sorry.

I hope they’re okay, I really do. I hope they get through this,” said a black-clad Greig when asked about mother of two Saldanha’s children, left grieving their mother’s death with their father Ben Barboza.

Saldanha, 46, was found dead in staff accommodation near London’s King Edward VII hospital on Friday after putting the hoax call through to a colleague who unwittingly disclosed details of Kate’s morning sickness to 2DayFM’s presenters.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said news of the Saldanha’s death was “shocking”.

“I just feel incredibly sorry for her and her family. It’s an absolute tragedy this has happened, and I’m sure everyone will want to reflect on how it was allowed to happen,” he said.

The hospital at which Saldanha worked told the BBC it had not disciplined her for taking the prank call.

Police said a post-mortem ex-

Lisha Barboza stands with her father Ben while he holds a picture of his wife, nurse Jacintha Saldanha, as they leave the Houses of Parliament in London yesterday amination would be conducted today.

A recording of the call, broadcast repeatedly by the station, rapidly became an internet hit and was reprinted as a transcript in many newspapers.

But news of Saldanha’s death sparked the internet firestorm, with vitriolic comments towards the DJs on Facebook and Twitter.

Christian said his only wish was that Saldanha’s grief-

stricken family received proper support.

“I hope that they get the love, the support, the care that they need, you know,” said Christian, who like Greig struggled to talk about the tragedy.

Both Greig, 30, and Christian were relatively new to the station, with Greig joining in March and Christian having been in the job only a few days before the prank call after a career in regional radio.

THE FAMILY of nurse Jacintha Saldanha “miss her every moment of every day,” MP Keith Vaz said last night.

Flanked by Jacintha’s husband Benedict Barboza and her two teenage children, the politician said they had been left “devastated” by the loss of a “loving mother and a loving wife”.

The nurse’s brother Naveen told the Daily Mail his sister was a devout Roman Catholic and would have been “devastated” by her unwitting role in the breach of medical confidentiality.

After meeting the family in Parliament, Vaz, who earlier criticised the hospital for not providing Barboza and his children enough support, spoke briefly outside the Commons on their behalf.

He said: “They just want me to say that they are extremely grateful to the public here in the United Kingdom and throughout the world who have sent them messages of condolences and support following the death of Jacintha - a loving mother and a loving wife.

“This is a close family.

They are devastated by what has happened. They miss her every moment of every day.”

Bid to quash Hillsborough verdicts

By David Hughes and Paul Keaveny

Fans on the pitch receiving attention after being crushedat Hillsborough, during an FA Cup semi-final football match

THIS WEEK IN YOUR

A FORMAL application to quash the verdicts of the original Hillsborough inquests has been made by the government’s top lawyer.

Attorney General Dominic Grieve said there was a “good” case for setting aside the accidental death verdicts and holding new hearings into the deaths of the 96 Liverpool fans killed in the 1989 football stadium disaster.

The move comes after a damning report into the tragedy revealed a cover-up which attempted to shift the blame on to the victims.

Grieve will appear in person at the High Court to argue that new evidence means there should be fresh inquests.

He said: “I believe that the case for the High Court to quash the original inquests is a good one.

“My application has now been lodged with

the court. It is my intention to appear to argue the case at the hearing that will take place in the High Court.”

Ninety-six Liverpool supporters died in the crush at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough stadium on April 15, 1989, where their team were to meet Nottingham Forest in an FA Cup semi-final.

Anne Williams, whose son Kevin died in the disaster, wrote on Twitter: “Just received e mail the Attorney General is sending kevins case to the divisional courts seeking a new inquest his death.”

More than 105,000 people have signed an epetition calling for a fresh inquest into Kevin Williams’ death to be held swiftly as his mother is suffering from cancer.

Williams, 60, who has made four submissions to overturn the verdict of her son’s inquest to different Attorney Generals over the years, said this is what she had been waiting 23 years for.

SundayMail

WIN A SHISEIDO SET WORTH €254 ENTER OUR COMPETITION (living page 28)

BRITAIN in brief Plans to cut whiplash claims THE GOVERNMENT will unveil plans to reduce the huge number of whiplash claims which have been pushing up insurance premiums.

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling yesterday launched a consultation on creating new independent medical panels to improve diagnosis of whiplash injuries.

This aims to ensure that genuine claims can still go ahead, but exaggerated, misrepresented or fraudulent claims are robustly challenged.

The government said it has taken action after figures showed there had been a 60 per cent rise in personal injury claims related to road accidents since 2006, despite vehicles becoming safer and a 20 per cent reduction in the number of reported accidents over the same period.

Top Net query: what is love?

THE QUESTION “what is love?” has perplexed Britons in 2012, according to research by Google.

It compared the “what is” queries from this year with 2011 and found that “what is love?” had the most amount of traffic over a sustained period in 2012 compared with last year.

Love was followed in the “what is” category by iCloud, 3G and Scientology.

Google, also revealed the top-trending people of 2012.

Singer Whitney Houston, who died in February, topped the list, followed by the Duchess of Cambridge and Take That star Gary Barlow.

Euro 2012 was the toptrending search of 2012, followed by Olympic tickets.

Andy Murray was the most searched for British Olympian, and Usain Bolt topped the global Olympian category.

Children’s series Mike The Knight was the toptrending TV show, followed by thriller Homeland and Towie.

CYPRUS MAIL Tuesday, December 11, 2012

9

Europe

The top peace award for often fractious union Peace prize recognises EU’s post-war reconciliation Critics say EU undeserving at a time of economic crisis Britain’s Cameron leader among handful to stay away

Presidents of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso (left), the European Council Herman Van Rompuy (centre) and the European Parliament Martin Schulz

By Luke Baker and Balazs Koranyi THE EUROPEAN Union received the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday, an award which some past winners called unjustified but European leaders defended for recognising the stability and democracy brought to the continent after two world wars.

Appropriately for a set of institutions with no single leader, the EU sent three of its presidents to collect the award at a ceremony in Oslo’s City Hall attended by 20 EU heads of state or government.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who won the prize in 1984 for his campaign against South African apartheid, said it was wrong to recognise the EU as it was an organisation based on “military force”, and others have criticised the decision because the bloc is mired in economic and financial crisis.

But the Norwegian Nobel committee that bestows the award focused on what the EU had achieved over the past six decades to bring peace and security to once-warring nations, and

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande the leaders of former enemy countries share a joke yesterday. Right: European leaders and dignitaries sitting in the grand City Hall in Oslo

to stitch back together the torn fabric of the “old continent”.

Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council that represents EU leaders, invoked his own family history to highlight how raw the memories of World War Two remain.

“As a child born in Belgium just after the war, I heard the stories first hand,” he said in his acceptance speech. “In 1940, my father, then 17, had to dig his own grave. He got

away; otherwise I would not be here today.

“So what a bold bet it was for Europe’s founders to say, yes, we can break this endless cycle of violence, we can stop the logic of vengeance, we can build a brighter future.”

During the ceremony, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande sat next to each other in the front row, occasionally smiling and chatting, as if to un-

derline how enmities of old can be transformed into alliances.

But British Prime Minister David Cameron, whose relationship with the EU is increasingly troubled, did not attend the ceremony.

Many people still find it difficult to understand why the EU and its 27 member states should receive the award.

Europe is suffering feeble economic growth or recession, soaring unemployment and a number of countries

Major witness in Berlusconi sex trial suddenly leaves for United States

By Manuela D’Alessandro MILAN magistrates ordered police yesterday to search for a Moroccan nightclub dancer at the centre of a sex trial involving Silvio Berlusconi, now seeking a fifth term as prime minister in an election next year, after she failed to show up in court.

The incident, two days after Berlusconi announced he was planning to run in an election expected in February, came as a reminder of the sex scandals that plagued his last government and precipitated his demise.

Karima El Mahroug, better known by her stage name of “Ruby the Heartstealer”, was due to testify yesterday but did not provide any valid justification for her absence, prosecutor Ilda Boccassini said in court.

El Mahroug’s lawyer said she did not know where her client was.

Boccassini accused Berlusconi’s lawyers of deliberately delaying the trial, where the former premier is accused of paying for sex with El Mahroug when she was

Seeking fifth term Silvio Berlusconi under 18, to avoid a verdict in the middle of the election campaign.

Eighteen is the legal age limit for prostitution in Italy.

“This is a strategy to delay the proceedings while the election campaign gets under way,” Boccassini said in court.

Berlusconi’s lawyer, Niccolo Ghedini, in turn said the prosecutors were trying to hasten a verdict before the election, now expected in February rather than March or April after Prime Minister Mario Monti said at the weekend he would resign early.

“It is the magistrates who have started

the election campaign,” he told reporters outside the court.

The presiding judge in the case ordered police to search for El Mahroug “throughout the national territory” and the trial was adjourned to Dec. 17. However, El Mahroug’s lawyer, Paola Boccardi, said she did not know whether Ruby would show up then.

“I tried reaching her but her cellphone is off. She sent me a text saying she was abroad but I have no information about this trip and I don’t know when she will be back,” she said.

El Mahroug’s testimony in court has been requested by Berlusconi’s defence team. Italian media said a few days before yesterday’s hearing that Ruby had suddenly decided to travel to the United States.

A verdict, which could deal a blow to Berlusconi’s comeback hopes were he to be found guilty, is expected early next year.

The trial, in which dozens of aspiring showgirls have described the so-called “Bunga Bunga” parties at Berlusconi’s residences, is the most sensational of Berlusconi’s legal cases.

that share the single currency are unable to pay their debts. It has been called the worst economic crisis since World War Two. The financial pain has provoked social unrest in a number of member states, notably near-bankrupt Greece, and in many countries the European Union has become a byword for disorder and mismanagement, not democracy and human rights.

However, in its citation, the

Nobel committee focused on the EU’s role in reconciling old hatreds, with the emphasis on how Germany and France had overcome their past to stand together.

From just six countries which agreed to pool their coal and steel production in the 1950s, the EU now stretches from Portugal to Romania, Finland to Malta and sets rules and regulations that have a bearing on more than 500 million people.

France confident Berlusconi won’t be returned to power FRENCH Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici voiced confidence in Italy’s future reform path yesterday despite a new political crisis, forecasting that ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi would not return to power.

“The direction that Italy has been going in for the last year and a half is a solid direction, there is no reason to worry,” Moscovici told Reuters in an interview.

“Berlusconi is returning to politics but I’m convinced that he will not return to power,” he said.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said on Saturday that he would stand down once the 2013 budget is approved, after losing the support of Berlusconi’s centre-right PDL, the largest party in parliament. Berlusconi said he would run for office again.

Monti’s announcement sparked fears Italy could stray from the path of economic reform after general elections which are now expected to be brought forward to February.

The euro fell yesterday and Italian shares and bond prices tumbled.

“We continue to have confidence in Monti’s government and our Italian partners,” Moscovici said, adding that “questioning” in financial markets was normal during an electoral period.

Moscovici said that it was not necessarily a bad thing that Berlusconi had provoked the latest political crisis. “He is not the worst opponent that the progressive or simply serious forces could have.”

The new political crisis risks reigniting tensions in Europe’s debt crisis, after a recent lull thanks in part to leaders’ pledge to build a banking union with a European Central Bank-led supervisor.

(Markets rattled by Monti decision Page 12)

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 CYPRUS MAIL

10

World

Mursi gives army powers of arrest for referendum Army pledges it is a short-term measure

By Alistair Lyon and Marwa Awad EGYPT’S Islamist president has asked the army to help secure a constitutional referendum he is determined to push through despite the risk of more deadly violence between his supporters and opponents accusing him of a power grab.

Seven people were killed and hundreds wounded last week in clashes between the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood and their critics besieging Mohamed Mursi’s grafďŹ ti-daubed presidential palace. Both sides plan mass rallies today.

The elite Republican Guard has yet to use force to keep protesters away from the palace, which it ringed with tanks, barbed wire and concrete barricades after last week’s violence.

Mursi, bruised by calls for

his downfall, has rescinded a Nov. 22 decree giving him wide powers but is going ahead with a referendum on Saturday on a constitution seen by his supporters as a triumph for democracy and by many liberals as a betrayal.

A decree issued by Mursi late on Sunday gives the armed forces the power to arrest civilians and refer them to prosecutors until the announcement of the results of the referendum, which the protesters want cancelled.

Despite its limited nature, the edict will revive memories of Hosni Mubarak’s emergency law, also introduced as a temporary expedient, under which military or state security courts tried thousands of political dissidents and Islamist militants.

But a military source stressed that the measure introduced by a civilian gov-

ernment would have a short shelf-life. “The latest law giving the armed forces the right to arrest anyone involved in illegal actions such as burning buildings or damaging public sites is to ensure security during the referendum only,� the military source said.

Presidential spokesman Yasser Ali said the committee overseeing the vote had requested the army’s assistance. “The armed forces will work within a legal framework to secure the referendum and will return (to barracks) as soon as the referendum is over,� Ali said.

Protests and violence have racked Egypt since Mursi decreed himself extraordinary powers he said were needed to speed up a troubled transition since Mubarak’s fall 22 months ago.

Dozens of newlywed couples have their ďŹ rst dance at a mass reception in Seattle

Same-sex couples rush to marry in Seattle HUNDREDS of well-wishers braved cold and rain to celebrate 133 weddings at Seattle City Hall on Sunday, marking the ďŹ rst day that same-sex couples could marry in Washington state.

Washington, Maine and Maryland last month became the ďŹ rst US states to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples by a popular vote, in a leap forward for gay rights. “It means that I can use the word husband without question or explaining,â€? said Corianton Hale, a 34-year-old graphic designer, who was one of the ďŹ rst to tie the knot at City Hall. He married freelance copywriter Keith Bacon, 44.

“We originally registered to come down here to get married at City Hall because we thought we’d just get in and get out,� said Bacon. “It ended up being this incredible experience.�

About 300 people waited outside City Hall in frigid drizzle to cheer couples as they descended the steps to street level, some throwing rice, blowing bubbles and handing owers to the newlyweds. “I’ve always said Seattle is a wonderful place to be gay, because it’s got so many wonderful straight people in it,â€? said Dan Savage, local author, gay rights activist and syndicated sex advice columnist who married Terry Miller.

Chavez leaves for cancer treatment

cytavision

cablenet

VENEZUELAN President Hugo Chavez left for Cuba early yesterday for another round of cancer surgery, two days after he said tests showed “malignant cells� had appeared in the same part of the body where he had earlier undergone operations.

Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said Chavez’s Havana-bound plane had left Caracas at about 1:30 a.m.

On Saturday, Chavez said he would undergo another operation in the coming days. “Unfortunately, during these exhaustive exams they found some malignant cells in the same (pelvic) area� he said then. “It is absolutely necessary, absolutely essential, that I undergo a new surgical intervention.�

On Sunday, in his ďŹ rst public acknowledgement that he might have to step down, Chavez said his vice presi-

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez blows a kiss from the door of the airplane before departing to Cuba yesterday dent and foreign minister, Nicolas Maduro, would take over if he becomes incapacitated.

He urged supporters to back Maduro if there was a new vote.

His departure from ofďŹ ce, either before or after the

scheduled Jan. 10 start of his new term, would trigger an election within 30 days. It would also mark the end of an era for the Latin American left, depriving it of one of its most acerbic voices and the region’s loudest critic of Washington.

ELECTRICITY AUTHORITY OF CYPRUS Interruption of supply The Electricity Authority of Cyprus announces that electricity supply will be interrupted between 8:00 and 12:00 on Thursday 13th of December 2012 in the following areas: Orounda, Kato Moni, Ayia Marina Xyliatou, Xyliatos, Ayios Georgios Kafkallou, Kapoura and Panayia areas, Mitsero, Agrakipia (part of)

facebook.com/NRGTV twitter.com/nrgmtv

youtube.com/mtvnrg

SINCE IT IS NOT CERTAIN THAT THE ELECTRICITY SUPPLY WILL BE INTERRUPTED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE OF THE PERIOD STATED, INSTALLATIONS IN ALL PREMISES MUST BE REGARDED AS BEING “ALIVE� DURING THESE HOURS. We regret any inconvenience which may be caused by the interruption of supply, but this is necessary due to work on the high voltage system.

CYPRUS MAIL Tuesday, December 11, 2012

11

World

The future belongs to Asia A cyber arms race is ‘likely to occur’ and bioterror weapons will spread

Frail: Nelson Mandela

Mandela remains in hospital

By John Mkhize NELSON Mandela, the 94-year-old former South African president and revered anti-apartheid leader, underwent more tests in hospital yesterday after having a good rest on his second night in the facility, the government said.

A statement from the office of President Jacob Zuma, who visited the Nobel Peace laureate on Sunday, gave no details other than to say, “President Mandela had a good night’s rest” and was “in good hands”. It also thanked members of the public for their messages of support.

Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula told reporters after paying Mandela a visit in Pretoria’s “1 Military” hospital that he was doing “very, very well”. The military is responsible for the health of sitting and former South African presidents.

When Mandela was admitted on Saturday, officials stressed there was no cause for concern although domestic media reports suggested senior members of the government and people close to him had been caught unawares.

(Continued from front page) role of organising across regions and across state-nonstate boundaries, he said.

The health of the global economy increasingly will be linked to progress in the developing world rather than the traditional West, the report said.

“As the world’s largest economic power, China is expected to remain ahead of India, but the gap could begin to close by 2030,” it said.

“India’s rate of economic growth is likely to rise while China’s slows. In 2030 India could be the rising economic powerhouse that China is seen to be today. China’s current economic growth rate - 8 to 10 per cent - will probably be a distant memory by 2030.”

Economic growth in emerging markets was expected to drive technological innovation and flows of companies, ideas, entrepreneurs and capital to developing countries will increase, the report said.

“During the next 15-20 years, more technological activity is likely to move to the developing world as multinationals focus on the fastest-growing emerging markets and as Chinese, Indian, Brazilian, and other emerging-economy corporations rapidly become internationally competitive,” the report said.

“Technology will continue to be the great leveller. The future Internet ‘moguls’ - as with today’s Google or Facebook - sit on mountains of data and have more real-time information at their fingertips than most governments.”

That data will enable private companies to influence behaviour on as large a scale as government entities.

The widespread use of new communications technologies will mean social network-

China’s economy will overtake the United States by 2030, according to a new report ing will enable citizens to join together and challenge governments, as seen in Middle East, but will also provide governments “an unprecedented ability to monitor their citizens,” the report said.

In the Middle East, the youth who drove the Arab Spring will give way to a gradually ageing population and with new technologies starting to provide the world with other sources of oil and gas, the Middle East economy will need to increasingly diversify, the report said.

But the key will be the political landscape.

“On the one hand, if the Islamic Republic maintains power in Iran and is able to develop nuclear weapons, the Middle East will face a highly

Strauss-Kahn lawsuit with hotel maid settled for undisclosed sum DOMINIQUE Strauss-Kahn and a hotel maid who accused the former International Monetary Fund chief of sexually assaulting her in a New York hotel last year agreed yesterday to settle her civil lawsuit against him for an undisclosed sum.

At a brief hearing in New York State Supreme Court in the New York City borough of the Bronx, Justice Douglas McKeon said the terms of deal would remain confidential.

Strauss-Kahn was not required by the judge to appear personally in New York. His accuser, Nafissatou Diallo, was present as the judge had ordered.

The agreement ends a legal saga that began when Diallo, 33, told police that Strauss-Kahn attacked her in his suite at the Sofitel Hotel in Manhattan on May 14, 2011. Her suit alleged that a naked Strauss-Kahn emerged from the bathroom in his $3,000-a-night suite and forced her to perform oral sex.

Nafissatou Diallo

Dominique Strauss-Kahn

The scandal forced Strauss-Kahn to resign his post as head of one of the world’s most influential international finance organisations and wrecked his hopes of running for president in his native France.

Prosecutors initially expressed confidence in the evidence, including DNA that showed a sexual encounter. But they dropped the case in August 2011 after

developing concerns about Diallo’s credibility, including what they said were inconsistencies in her account of what happened immediately following the incident.

McKeon also said a separate lawsuit filed by Diallo against the New York Post over the tabloid’s report that she was a prostitute had been settled as well.

Terms for that were also not released.

unstable future,” the report said. “On the other hand, the emergence of moderate, democratic governments or a breakthrough agreement to

resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could have enormously positive consequences.”

Islamist terrorism might end by 2030, but terrorism is un-

likely to disappear completely because states may use such groups due to a “strong sense of insecurity,” the report said.

The next two decades will see a spread of lethal technologies and a “wider spectrum of more accessible instruments of war” especially precision-strike, cyber and bioterror weapons.

“A cyber arms race is likely to occur” as states seek to defend infrastructure against cyber attacks and to incorporate cyber weapons in their arsenals.

“The degree to which cyber instruments will shape the future of warfare is unclear, however,” it said.

War historians believe cyber power may end up similar to early 20th century projections of air power, which played a significant role but did not turn out to be the war-winning capability that some enthusiasts had predicted.

“The potential opened up by information technology is for future ‘do-it-yourself’ revolutions conducted by networked social movements that employ information technologies which communicate and collaborate with like-minded individuals,” it said.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 CYPRUS MAIL

12

Business Japan enters a slight recession

By Kaori Kaneko JAPAN’S economy contracted for a second straight quarter in JulySeptember, revised government data showed yesterday, indicating that weak global demand nudged the export-reliant economy into a mild recession.

Analysts expect another quarter of contraction in the final three months of this year due to sluggish exports to China, keeping the Bank of Japan under pressure to loosen monetary policy as early as this month.

“There have been some positive indicators out in October but there is still a good chance that Japan’s economy will suffer another contraction in the OctoberDecember quarter,” said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute in Tokyo.

“The Bank of Japan may ease policy this month, as suggested in remarks by Deputy Governor Kiyohiko Nishimura last week. The bias is for further easing, so even if the central bank stands pat this month it will likely act in January.”

Japan’s gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 0.9 per cent in July-September from the previous quarter, revised government figures showed, unchanged from preliminary data reported last month. That compared with economists’ median forecast for a 0.8 per cent contraction.

The figure translates into an annualised contraction of 3.5 per cent in real, price-adjusted terms, also unchanged from the preliminary data issued last month.

The government revised GDP figures for April-June to show a small contraction of 0.03 per cent.

Rates These Bank of Cyprus rates for telegraphic transfer transactions (spot deals) apply to yesterday, but provide a good guide to today’s value against the euro.

Buying Selling Pound St

0.8092 0.8012

US Dollar

1.2967 1.2837

Australian $

1.2467 1.2159

Canadian Dol.

1.2901 1.2583

Swiss Fr

1.2146 1.2002

Denmark Kr

7.5525 7.3661

Japan Yen

106.9579 105.6821

Norwegian Kr

7.4287 7.2453

Polish Zloty

4.1752

4.0722

Romanian Leu 4.6248 4.4434 Russian Ruble 40.3477 39.3515 Swedish Kr

8.7416 8.5258

Greek debt buyback offer is extended until today

Markets rattled

by Monti’s exit Calls grow for Monti to stay in politics

By James Mackenzie EUROPEAN partners heaped praise on outgoing Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti yesterday, and called for the next government to stick to his reform agenda after his surprise decision to resign rattled financial markets.

Monti’s weekend announcement that he would step down early - made after former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s PDL party withdrew its support for his technocrat government - pushed up Italy’s borrowing costs and prompted a stock market sell-off.

The campaign for an election expected in February is likely to be fought over Monti’s reform agenda, which Berlusconi said had condemned Italy to recession and forced him reluctantly to run for a fifth term as prime minister.

By contrast, senior Europeans warned that Monti’s

policies must continue to prevent a return of the crisis which brought him to power a year ago to avert a Greekstyle collapse.

“Monti was a great prime minister of Italy and I hope that the policies he put in place will continue after the elections,” European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said in Oslo, where he was part of a European Union delegation receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.

The comments echoed similar remarks in the past two days from European policymakers ranging from French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius to the head of the European bailout fund Klaus Regling and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos warned that instability in Italy could spill over and put Spain’s fragile public finances at risk of further turmoil.

After several weeks of calm, markets bridled at the prospect of Berlusconi’s return to lead the centre-right, just over a year after a financial crisis drove the scandalplagued billionaire from office to be replaced by Monti’s technocrats.

Opinion polls suggest Berlusconi has little chance of re-election. The centre-left Democratic Party (PD) under Pier Luigi Bersani holds a strong lead and is likely to form the next government on a broadly pro-European platform, largely in line with Monti’s agenda.

Berlusconi’s strategy appears more designed to ensure he retains influence in the next parliament with a substantial voting bloc that, among other things, can protect his business and personal interests.

The main measure of investors’ confidence, the spread between Italian 10-year government bonds and their

By George Georgiopoulos and Jan Strupczewski

Prime Minister Mario Mont lower risk German equivalent, widened to 362 basis points from 325 late on Friday, reflecting worries over a return to the political uncertainty which dogged Italy last year.

Milan’s blue-chip share index dropped over 3 per cent, with sharper falls in banking stocks that are seen as most vulnerable to a renewed debt crisis.

“You can expect a sharpening in anti-austerity, antireform rhetoric...and this will probably translate into a higher risk premium on Italian assets,” said Goldman Sachs analysts Silvia Ardagna and Francesco Garzarelli.

The first car plant in decades poised to close in Germany

By Christiaan Hetzner GENERAL Motors Co’s Opel unit came a major step nearer to closing its Bochum plant in Germany, telling the roughly 3,000 workers it had not changed its mind about ending vehicle production in 2016.

Opel said it had made rigorous efforts to rescue car manufacturing at the plant but these had come to nothing. “The main reasons are the dramatic declines in the European car market and the enormous overcapacity in the entire European auto industry,” it said in a statement.

Although the crisis in Europe’s auto industry has already prompted Ford and Peugeot to announce this year plans to each close a passenger car plant, Bochum would be the first to close in Germany in decades.

Opel interim Chief Executive Thomas Sedran told a meeting of Bochum’s workforce at the RuhrCongress convention centre yesterday that management saw no alternative to ending car making.

The planned measures at

A worker entering a truck loaded with Opel cars at the Opel assembly plant in Bochum Bochum, coinciding with the end of the lifecycle of the Zafira Tourer MPV model, were first announced in mid-June, when management and unions agreed to negotiations over Opel’s German operations that employ 20,800.

Some jobs will still be saved at the site.

“We have the clear intention to secure a significant number of Opel jobs (in Bochum), in the warehouse and possibly in component manufacturing,” said GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky

in the statement.

About 430 people are employed in Bochum’s warehousing operations in a joint venture with partner CAT Logistics, now called Neovia Logistics Services and minority owned by Caterpillar.

Germany’s trade surplus narrows as demand weakens for exports GERMANY’S trade surplus narrowed in October to its lowest level in over half a year as exports posted meagre growth in the face of weakening demand from the country’s recession-hit

European partners.

The figures added to evidence that Europe’s largest economy will contract in the fourth quarter of the year amid a slowdown in foreign sales, long a driver

of German growth.

Imports rose 2.5 per cent in October, far stronger than a 0.3 per cent increase in exports that followed a 2.4 per cent decline in September, data from the Federal

Statistics Office showed.

“The eurozone recession is likely to continue to weigh on German exports,” Christian Schulz of Berenberg Bank said in a research note.

GREECE extended its offer to buy back debt until today, seeking more bids from bondholders after falling short of a target to retire bonds worth 30 billion euros at a cost of just 10 billion euros.

The buyback is designed to provide for about half of a 40-billion euro debt relief package for Athens agreed last month by the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

Its success is crucial to ensuring Greece’s debt is put back on sustainable footing and - more immediately - to unlocking badly-needed aid for the country.

Despite the initial lack of investor interest, the scheme is expected to ultimately hit its targets since Greek banks - whose own fate depends on a successful buyback - are expected to stump up the shortfall.

A total of 26.5 billion euros was tendered at an average price of 33.4 per cent of face value when the offer expired on Friday, a senior eurozone official told Reuters.

SCHEME REVIEW That would mean Greece would still have 1.15 billion euros left over from the 10 billion euros it was allotted to spend to retire outstanding debt. Assuming the same average price, it could buy an extra 3.5 billion euros worth of bonds.

Greece’s debt agency extended the offer to 1200 GMT today following Friday’s deadline.

“The aim is to reach the 30 billion euro target on the face value of debt to be bought back,” said a government official, who declined to be named, adding the aim was to use all of the 10 billion euros given by lenders for the buyback.

Eurozone finance ministers will meet on Thursday in Brussels to review the buyback operation and formally release the next disbursement of loans to Greece under its second international rescue programme.

“We are confident that there is still scope for additional tenders by domestic and international investors to ensure a successful debt buyback,” European Commission spokesman Simon O’Connor told a regular briefing in Brussels.

A senior Greek banker who spoke on condition of anonymity said Athens aimed to use the additional day to get another 3 to 4 billion euros worth of bonds offered for exchange.

“This will be easily covered

by Greek banks, if foreign bondholders do not offer more,” the banker told Reuters.

Greek banks and insurers had tendered about 10 billion euros of bonds.

CYPRUS MAIL Tuesday, December 11, 2012

13

Opinion

The only way to stop people asking for favours is not to grant them THERE is nothing more amusing than hearing our politicians taking a principled public stand against nepotism or cronyism – traditionally known as rusfeti – especially after one of them has been caught at it. As soon as the revelation is made, instead of showing their solidarity for their colleague, they take the moral high ground spouting platitudes about their commitment to meritocracy and fair play.

The latest politician to be exposed was DIKO leader Marios Garoyian.

Phileleftheros published copies of faxes sent from Garoyian’s office, when he was House president, listing citizens’ names and the favour done for them, or the favour they were seeking, and how it should be dealt with.

The faxes had been sent before the 2011 parliamentary elections, the objective obvious.

When a politician is caught, his reaction is as predictable as the stance of his allegedly horrified colleagues – the favour is done to right a wrong against a citizen. In the latest case, DIKO issued a statement saying the “support for a just request or resolution of a problem that causes a citizen distress does not constitute rusfeti, when this is done on the basis of the principles of equality.” It was presumably on the “basis of the principles of equality” that DIKO had arranged a permanent job at the CyBC for someone.

A similar defence was put forward by the AKEL chief Andros Kyprianou in 2010 when his secretary mistakenly sent the media an e-mail listing requests for favours received by the party – all these citizens had also been unjustly treated by the system and wanted nothing more than fairness from the party. Kyprianou, at the time, also said that parties received countless requests from citizens every day.

The truth is that if the parties did not engage in rusfeti, they would not receive countless requests every day.

These would have eventually dried up, but clientelism, thanks to the parties, is a key part of politics and it is very difficult to take seriously any politician who pontificates against it. Of course, politicians might claim they have no choice but to engage in this form of corruption, as deputies who do not do favours are rarely re-elected. Citizens expect deputies to do them favours.

This is how the system works.

And there has been no change under the current government despite president Christofias’ assertion on Sunday that “I am being persecuted because I do not allow rusfeti.” He added: “It is a matter of principle for me.” Was he being ironic, or did he believe what he said?

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Prizes are for heroes I

NSTITUTIONS are not lovable. They are rule-bound and dull; they have routines, committees, agendas, budgets – and rows about budgets. If they are successful, they go on forever.

Prizes are for heroes. Like heroes, prizes blaze and are gone.

Prizes belong to those who make great discoveries, write great poems, or discover new ways of living – to the bringers of new things. Institutions are dull – that is their purpose – but those who found them may also be creators, even heroes.

There is no single founder of the European Union. Many people, perhaps even hundreds, contributed. But, as the EU accepts the Nobel Peace Prize for 2012, three in particular deserve to be honored.

Robert Schuman was born in Luxembourg in 1886. A German citizen who served in World War I, he became a Frenchman when Alsace-Lorraine was restored to France. During World War II, involved with the Resistance, he was arrested and interrogated.

He escaped and survived, all the while continuing to believe in Germany’s defeat and in Franco-German reconciliation. After the war, he returned to politics.

Schuman was France’s foreign minister in May 1950, facing grand strategic questions is on the organization of European and Atlantic co-operation. Prime Minister Georges Bidault put forward proposals for machinery to co-ordinate the Western European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty, the Council of Europe, and the OEEC (the forerunner of the OECD). But other, more practical questions on postwar recovery and relations with Germany were more pressing.

The most urgent was the German request to increase steel production from 10 million tons to 14 million – well above French levels. But, as the defence minister, René Pleven, told his British counterpart, Manny Shinwell, French recovery would be blocked unless Germany’s problems could also be resolved. And for Schuman himself, there was

Comment Robert Cooper the question of what he should say at the three-power (United States, United Kingdom, and France) meeting on May 11, where policy toward Germany was to be discussed.

The policy he proposed was the work of Jean Monnet. Monnet was born two years after Schuman in Cognac, into a family whose business sold brandy worldwide. He was a man of charm and determination – known to his friends for being obstinate, “like a peasant determined to sell a cow,” but an inspirational figure for those who worked for him.

During WWI, Monnet worked in London organising allied shipping with British, American, and Italian counterparts. His business experience gave him contacts across both the Channel and the Atlantic, as well as an ability to see things in quantitative terms. After WWII, he was head of post-war planning in France, playing a key role in implementing the Marshall Plan.

Monnet had some knowledge of coal and steel, having been involved, as a League of Nations official, in finding a settlement for the question of Upper Silesia after WWI. The solution, which involved joint PolishGerman management of an industry across national borders, was hated in Germany; but it worked, and it survived for most of the interwar period. Monnet sent his proposals – worked out with Paul Reuter, a lawyer and confidant of Schuman – first to Schuman in late April, and then, when he received no response, to the prime minister’s office.

In fact, Schuman took the plan to the Cabinet on May 3, where he mentioned it right at the end and in such a low voice that no one understood what he was saying. He raised it again the following week, also quietly, but by then Monnet and others had lined up support from key minis-

Institutions not so lovable ters and the prime minister. Before that, however, Schuman had talked to the third key actor.

This was US Secretary of State Dean Acheson. The conversation took place at a reception for Acheson given by the US ambassador, who was on his way to London for the three-power meeting. For once, a cocktailparty conversation meant something.

Acheson should be remembered as one of the EU’s founders. He was the architect of NATO; and it was only when the fundamental problem of European security had been solved that it became possible to think in the creative terms of the Schuman Plan. Moreover, the US was the only benevolent power left standing in Western Europe at

the end of WWII. Without its consent, nothing was possible.

Acheson understood that the Schuman Plan, though modest and limited to dealing with industrial matters, was in reality more far-reaching than anything Bidault was proposing. And he gave more than consent. In his biography of Jean Monnet, François Duchene comments that “perhaps the most extraordinary feature of the Schuman Conference [which approved the idea of a Coal and Steel Community] was the enormous, almost internal role that the Americans played.” So it has been ever since.

The EU has contributed to the longest period of peace in European history. NATO, too, is a part of the story. But the EU has created a political society in Europe such as has never existed before: a continuous process among Europe’s nations that enables adaptation of policies and institutions to tackle problems as they arise – and to tackle them together.

There is much that is wrong with Europe, and much will need to change to solve the problems of the euro. But if we recall the problems that Europe faced in the 1950’s, there is no reason to suppose that this cannot be done.

One can understand why the Nobel Committee does not award prizes posthumously. If it did, the prize for literature would be an annual battle between Shakespeare, Dante, and Goethe. But we should also understand that this year’s award honours not so much a very imperfect set of institutions as it does the three men who founded them.

Robert Cooper, former Director-General of Political and Military Affairs of the EU Council of Ministers, and a former chief foreign policy adviser to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, served most recently as Counsellor in the European External Action Service. © Project Syndicate 2012

Italy gives new bite to euro zone crisis DON’T start putting out the tinsel yet. Just when we thought we had a smooth glide path into Christmas the euro zone has bitten back.

Over the weekend, Italy’s Mario Monti called Silvio Berlusconi’s bluff and said he was pulling the government down which will mean early elections in February.

The budget bill will be passed and then the country will be in a potentially precarious state of limbo as parliament is dissolved. Italian bond futures have opened more than a point lower, which denotes a reasonable measure of alarm, although the safe haven Bund future has only edged up so we’re far from panic mode.

The big question is whether a government results that will stick to Monti’s agenda and whether he himself will have a prominent role to play in the administration.

There are constitutional difficulties to keeping Monti as prime minister since he has said he would not stand at the election, though he

Comment Mike Peacock has also said he would be prepared to step in again if no stable government is formed. Most likely, presuming a government is elected that supports his reforms, is that he will play a key role but not take the top job.

That would not be possible if Berlusconi’s bloc won – the result that would really spooks markets – but on the basis of the old adage that the assassin never wears the crown, this should not be good for Berlusconi.

Well behind in the polls, he now has less time to turn things around and could be blamed by the public for withdrawing support for Monti’s technocratic government. Centre-left leader Bersani looks to be in pole position and is signed up for much of Monti’s reform agenda.

But if we get a messy, frac-

tured result in February, bond market pressure could seriously escalate again. In a country that must be wearying of its economic plight and deep recession, nothing is certain.

If markets do react nervously, the backwash will lap at Spain’s shores and, if it persists, could possibly tilt the balance in favour of Madrid seeking help from the euro zone rescue fund and the ECB. But we’re a long way from that yet. Much of this may be up for discussion in Oslo today where EU leaders are heading to pick up the Nobel Peace Prize. With an EU summit due at the end of the week it would seem too good an opportunity for meangingful talks to turn up.

Most important to watch on that front will be Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande who have yet to find sufficient common ground on plans for a banking union to allow the process to proceed, one part of a wider Franco-German froideur

that has developed.

Even the first step – crossborder banking supervision under the ECB – has hit a roadblock over a disagreement about how much scope the ECB should have. Ministerial talks are due this week to try and cue something up for the leaders’ summit.

The other big rolling saga is the Greek bond buyback which must attract enough private investors to hand their paper back at 30-40 percent of face value in order to wipe 20 billion euros of the country’s debt pile.

Fall short and the new deal struck with the EU and IMF could start to fray.

The offer, which was supposed to close on Friday, will now run until today, suggesting Athens has not hit its target yet.

But it is probably only a few billion short so it’s hard to believe things are going to fall apart over that and the likelihood is that the euro zone will agree to start bailout loans flowing again before the week is out.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 CYPRUS MAIL

14

Showbiz

Rihanna forgives Chris for Paris night out RIHANNA has forgiven Chris Brown for enjoying a night out in Paris with his ex-girlfriend.

The ‘Diamonds’ singer - who recently rekindled her on-again/off-again romance with the 23-year-old R&B star despite him still being on supervised probation for beating her in 2009 - was said to be livid that he was spotted out on the town with his model ex Karrueche Tran in the French capital on Friday night after his concert.

A source told The Sun newspaper: “She can’t get it into her head that Chris will never change.

“She’s given him so many chances since he beat her up in 2009 and he still keeps hurting her by partying with girls.

“Letting Karrueche meet him is yet another blow for Rihanna that will further disgust her fans. They are already

Jenni Rivera dies in crash MEXICAN-American singer Jenni Rivera died in a plane crash after the small jet she was travelling in went down in northern Mexico, her father said on Sunday. investigators found the remains of Rivera’s Learjet, which disappeared from the radar 62 miles from the northern city of Monterrey at about 3.30am local time/4.30am EST. Speaking after the wreckage was discovered, the singer’s father, Pedro Rivera, told Telemundo television all seven of the people on board the plane, including two pilots, had died.

“Everyone was lost,” Rivera said, flanked by two sons.

It was not clear what caused the crash.

Rivera, 43, was heading for the city of Toluca in central Mexico after a concert in Monterrey on Saturday night.

A mother of five, Rivera was a renowned performer of the Nortena and Banda musical styles.

Rivera was renowned as a Nortena and Banda artist

raging that she is back with him.”

The insider also revealed that the 24year-old singer was originally planning to be in Paris with Chris, after joining him in Germany for his ‘Carpe Diem’ tour dates there earlier this month.

ANGRY TWEETS The source said: “She was meant to stay with Chris in Paris -- but it looks like she gave it a miss and will head straight to Manchester tonight (Sunday) to perform on The X Factor final’s results show.”

Rihanna posted a series of angry tweets that appeared to be aimed at Chris on Friday.

She wrote: “Examine what you tolerate” and “Goodbye muthaf*****”, followed by “You give, you get, then you give it the f*** back”.

Previous reports indicated that Karrueche was only joining Chris on his tour for professional reasons, as she is the designer of the clothing line ‘The Kill’ and accompanied her brand partner Ugo Mozie, who is also Chris’s celebrity stylist, on the trip.

But Rihanna already appears to have forgiven Chris for spending time with the model, as she posted a new picture of her lying in his arms earlier on Sunday, captioned: “Damn ....... I miss my n***a #thuglife #BFFlife”.

In February 2009, Rihanna’s scheduled performance at the 51st Grammy Awards was cancelled. Reports later surfaced regarding an altercation with Chris, who was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats.

In March, 2009, Brown was charged with assault and making criminal threats.

The on-off couple seem to be back on, despite Chris spending time with his model ex-girlfriend in Paris

Taylor Swift branded the Yoko Ono of One Direction Harry warned he could end up in a song if he ‘hurts’ her TAYLOR Swift has been branded the Yoko Ono of One Direction.

There are fears the 22-yearold singer’s relationship with Harry Styles might lead to the break up of the “Little Things” hitmakers, in the same way John Lennon’s widow was blamed for splitting up The Beatles in 1970.

A source said: “It’s really not far off from the Yoko situation.”

Comparisons between Taylor and Yoko – who Sir Paul McCartney recently distanced from any blame following the group’s split - have intensified since Harry travelled on the blonde beauty’s private jet from New York to Britain, separate from the group, on Saturday.

A source added to The Sun newspaper: “There was loads of room for the rest of the band in Taylor’s luxury jet but he didn’t even suggest they travelled together.”

One Direction – who are also made up of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne – had to fight their way through a crowd of screaming fans at London’s

Harry travelled on the blonde beauty’s private jet from New York to Britain, separate from the group, on Saturday Heathrow airport, which saw Liam given a painful Chinese burn by one of their overly enthusiastic supporters.

Harry, 18, has also been warned against hurting Taylor, who is known for penning heartfelt songs about her ex-boyfriends, to avoid being the subject of one of her future hits.

Troy Tomlinson, head of the “I Knew You Were Trouble”

hitmaker’s Sony Nashville label, said: “If you’re going to do Taylor Swift wrong as a boy, you’ll wind up in a song.”

Meanwhile, Taylor herself gets “nervous” when her minders send picture messages of her stalkers.

The 22-year-old singer hates talking about her crazed fans because she gets worried they might try to “steal her” one day, and as a result she

is “so grateful” for her “amazing” security team for making sure she stays safe.

She said: “I get nervous when I have stalker incidents. I try not to talk too much about it because it scares me. Sometimes you get a dude who kind of wants to steal you.

“That’s why I’m so grateful I have people looking after me, like Dennis [her body-

guard]. Over the past couple of years it’s got worse. I get told if there’s been an attempt or a threat.

“My security text me a picture and say, ‘Look out for this dude; he’s driven across the country, he’s off his meds,’ or something like that. No one has ever been successful in getting into my house or anything like that. I have an amazing security team.”

Rod Stewart is obsessed with Downton Abbey Homeland’s Damian Lewis learning to tap ROD Stewart is apparently obsessed with Downton Abbey.

The 67-year-old rocker is watching the popular period drama for the second time after introducing it to wife Penny Lancaster and the pair love its “intelligent storytelling”.

Rod said: “I’ve always enjoyed Downton Abbey but my wife didn’t know much about it, so we recently went back to the beginning and watched it all again. It’s really intelligent storytelling. Our favourite character is Lady Mary.”

However, if someone else in Rod’s house wanted to watch a different programme while Downton Abbey is on, that isn’t a

problem. He added: “We have a democratic house, so everyone watches what we want.

We have more than one TV.” Rod isn’t the only famous fan of the British drama series.

It was recently claimed US First Lady Michelle Obama’s office had got in touch with British network ITV to ask if they could send over the DVD of the third series as it is not due to air in the US until January. A source said: “We know it’s very popular in America as it’s so quintessentially British. We’d heard the Obamas liked to watch it but we were very surprised when someone from the First Lady’s office got in touch asking for the series.”

DAMIAN Lewis is learning to tap dance.

The actor - who has daughter Manon, six and son Gulliver, five, with wife Helen McCrory - copes with being separated from his family while he is filming Homeland in North Carolina by learning new skills.

He said: “I’m learning to tap dance. That’s what I love doing.”

Claire Danes, Damian’s co-star even bought him a Gene Kelly box set for inspiration.

Damian also loves to sing with his costar Many Patinkin, who used to star on Broadway.

He told People magazine: “We just break

out into a cappella. We did “Bohemian Rhapsody” together. He corrects me on the words.”

The 41-year-old actor has previously spoken of how close he is to co-star Claire and insists he doesn’t get embarrassed when they have intimate scenes together.

He said: “I always invite her round for brunch - Eggs Benedict is my specialty.

“We don’t even get embarrassed about our sex scenes - they’re more like awkward adolescent gropes.”

Earlier this year, on October 22, the popular series was confirmed as being renewed for a third season of 12 episodes.

CYPRUS MAIL Tuesday, December 11, 2012

15

Environment

Despair after climate meet but the UN still offers hope UN process has to accelerate before 2015 as many leave Doha conference in despair

By Barbara Lewis and Alister Doyle AT THE end of another lavishlyfunded UN conference that yielded no progress on curbing greenhouse emissions, many of those most concerned about climate change are close to despair.

As thousands of delegates checked out of their air-conditioned hotel rooms in Doha to board their jets for home, some asked whether the UN system even made matters worse by providing cover for leaders to take no meaningful action.

Supporters say the UN process is still the only framework for global action. The United Nations also plays an essential role as the “central bank” for carbon trading schemes, such as the one set up by the European Union.

But unless rich and poor countries can inject urgency into their negotiations, they are heading for a diplomatic fiasco in 2015 - their next deadline for a new global deal.

“Much much more is needed if we are to save this process from being simply a process for the sake of process, a process that simply provides for talk and no action, a process that locks in the death of our nations, our people, and our children,” said Kieren Keke, foreign minister of Nauru, who fears his Pacific island state could become uninhabitable.

The conference held in Qatar - the country that produces the largest per-capita volume of greenhouse gases in the world - agreed to extend the emissions-limiting Kyoto Protocol, which would have run out within weeks.

But Canada, Russia and Japan - where the protocol was signed 15 years ago - all abandoned the agreement. The United States never ratified it in the first place, and it excludes developing countries where emissions are growing most quickly.

Delegates flew home from Doha without securing a single new pledge to cut pollution from a major emitter.

So far, UN climate talks have missed just about every deadline. The rich nations of the world promised two decades ago to halt their rise in greenhouse gases.

They failed. Next, they promised a sequel to Kyoto by 2009. They failed again.

Now they have a 2015 deadline to get a new global, binding deal in place, to enter into force after the extension of Kyoto expires in 2020.

For the first time, it would apply to rich and poor countries alike.

Workers in the devastation of Typhoon Bhopa, which hit the Philippines during the meeting in Qatar But with the world’s nations divided over who must pay the cost, the task of reaching accord seems beyond the capabilities of the vast corps of international delegates.

Meanwhile, the world’s weather is only getting more unstable. As the Doha talks dragged on, Typhoon Bopha in the Philippines left nearly 1,000 people dead or

missing.

Hurricane Sandy last month was a reminder that even rich countries are not safe from extreme weather, which scientists say will become ever more common as the world heats up.

A series of reports released during the Doha talks said the world faced the prospect of 4C of warm-

ing, rather than the 2C limit that nations adopted in 2010 as a maximum to avoid dangerous changes.

According to the World Bank, that would mean food and water shortages, habitats wiped out, coastal communities wrecked by rising seas, deserts spreading, and droughts both more frequent

POOR TO SEEK CLIMATE CHANGE COMPENSATION DEVELOPING nations will push next year for a radical UN mechanism to compensate them for the impact of climate change, such as droughts or rising sea levels, despite reluctance among wealthy states which would have to foot the bill.

A meeting of almost 200 countries in Qatar over the last week agreed steps towards addressing losses and damage from global warming in what some analysts called a big shift for the United Nations-led talks.

Developed nations fear such a system could be hugely costly for Western governments, most of which are struggling now to cut huge budget deficits. The United States insists any money would have to come from $100 billion in aid already promised from 2020 to help poor countries cope with global warming, delegates said.

Helen Clark, head of the UN Development Programme, warned developing nations against expecting too much

of “pretty stressed Western economies. In the end, you can’t squeeze blood from a stone,” she said.

Developing nations are nevertheless signalling a big push in 2013. “We look forward to the establishment of the international mechanism next year,” Nauru’s Foreign Minister Kieren Keke said at the end of the meeting, speaking for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).

If set up, the new system could help nations to recover from storms that may become more powerful due to climate change.

Until a few years ago, the focus in UN talks on climate change was on cutting greenhouse gas emissions. That shifted in the mid-2000s to include ways to adapt to floods, heatwaves and rising seas. Now, the push to set up ways to compensate for loss and damage is an admission that there will be changes - such as sea level rise or ocean acidification - that can’t be adapted to.

Early warming prediction ‘accurate’ Russia target lets emissions rise SCIENTISTS who made the first long term global prediction of climate change in 1990 have proved surprisingly accurate so far, an experts’ assessment has found.

The first Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report published in 1990 forecast the extent to which the world was likely to warm by 2030.

According to this initial estimate, average global temperatures were likely to rise by between 0.7C and 1.5C.

Half way through the period, the forecast appears to be close to the observed trend, said the experts.

It predicted a rise of 0.35C to 0.75C up to 2010, compared with actual measurements of 0.35C or 0.39C, depending on the methods used.

Yet the 1990 report did not foresee the eruption of Mount Pinatubo, the collapse of Soviet Bloc industry or the rapid growth of Asian economies, all of which would be expected to have an impact on climate.

RUSSIA plans to set itself a binding 2020 goal for carbon emissions, a top climate change official said - the only problem is it would allow them to rise.

Russia’s emissions plunged after the collapse of Sovietera smokestack industries to 2.21 billion tonnes in 2010, or 34 per cent below 1990 levels, according to the latest data available from the nation’s official statistics.

However, it is still the world’s fourth biggest emitter of greenhouse gases behind China, the United States and India.

Alexander Bedritsky, Russia’s special envoy for climate change said work had begun work on establishing a legally binding target.

The goal would be in the range of 15-25 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020, he said. That would allow a rise from current levels.

and severe. Most impact would be borne by the world’s poorest.

“The alarm bells are going off all over the place,” Alden Meyer, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, said. “We are in a crisis and treating it like a process where we can dither away for ever.”

Action at ground level has had a positive impact, even as the UN dithers. Investment in carbonfree renewable energy hit a record $260 billion in 2011.

In the United States, the discovery of techniques to produce natural gas from shale has cut the cost of gas, which has reduced emissions from the world’s biggest polluter by replacing coal, a bigger carbon emitter, for power generation.

But although US emissions nearly a quarter of the world’s total - have fallen, for the world as a whole this year they are expected to rise by 2.6 per cent, up by 58 per cent since 1990. Emerging economies led by China and India account for most of the growth.

Negotiators say ultimately politicians - distracted by other events - need to become engaged.

“It (the environment) is no longer on the front page with the political and financial crisis. That is the reason why heads of state have to turn to this,” the European Union’s chief negotiator Artur Runge-Metzger said.

The conference is an easy target for cynics - not least because it was held in Qatar, a desert kingdom that exports carbon-producing fossil fuel and uses the proceeds to fund a lavish lifestyle for many of its 2.5 million people.

A country that burns fuel to desalinate water and build golf courses in the desert seems like an odd place to talk about curtailing consumption. But supporters say bringing producers like Qatar into the consensus for change is a step forward.

Business leaders are also getting involved.

“A lot of CEOs from the region have turned up. A lot of them are talking about sustainability and resource efficiency. That’s no longer a dirty word,” said Russel Mills, global director for energy and climate policy at Dow Chemical Co. Still, even with the best of intentions, UN diplomats are unlikely ever to deliver change at the pace scientists seek.

“Science is demanding immediate and drastic action,” Christiana Figueres, head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, said. “Policy, economics and financing cannot move in drastic fashion.”

Norway to pay Brazil $180m NORWAY has agreed to give $180 million to Brazil as part of a broader $1 billion deal for slowing deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, Oslo’s environment minister has said.

Norway has promised $1 billion each to Brazil and Indonesia for protecting their tropical rainforests and warned Jakarta earlier this year that its progress in reforming its forestry sector will not be sufficient to meet its pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 26 per cent by

2020.

Deforestation in Brazil fell to the lowest level in 24 years in 2012, its government said, and the latest agreement brings Norway’s total contribution to the Amazon Fund to $670 million.

“These efforts have tremendous positive effects for biodiversity, the livelihoods of local communities and indigenous peoples, and local and global rainfall patterns,” Baard Vegar Solhjell Norway’s environment minister said.

CYPRUS MAIL Tuesda

16

Reportage

Riddle persists of Ukrain Bonhevi (circled) at a meeting in Kiev and (right) signing the gas deal

$1b deal for gas terminal signed with mystery man who is ski-instructor-turned-businessman report mforth h aand nd Pavel Polityuk Richard Balmforth

I

T WAS hailed as a historic $1 billion deal marking a major step towards ending Ukraine’s reliance on imported Russian gas.

But the ballyhoo had no sooner died down after the signing of the gas terminal deal than the alleged Spanish partner disowned it and the mysterious outsider involved vanished, leaving Ukrainian officials humiliated and embarrassed.

The deal at the centre of the high-profile signing ceremony on November 26 had seemed to tie in Spain’s Gas Natural Fenosa as the main investor in building a liquefied gas (LNG) terminal on the Black Sea Coast - a strategic project for which the former Soviet republic has long been looking for foreign support.

But, to the surprise of Ukrainian officials including Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and Yuri Boiko, the country’s powerful fuel minister, who both attended the ceremony, the Spanish energy company swiftly denied joining any consortium.

In the ensuing confusion, attention focused on the identity - and role - of the Spanish-speaking man who had signed on behalf of the company - a bald figure with a tufty beard who was wellknown as a middle-man in

nal construction deal, particularly in such humiliating circumstances, is a setback for the Kiev government which is desperate for alternative energy sources to wean itself off dependency on Russian gas.

Apart from figuring in energy discussions, Bonvehi has travelled to at least two parts of Western Ukraine where he sought to interest local au-

Fuel minister Yuri Boiko

deals between Spanish companies and Ukraine.

He was identified by Ukraine’s state investment agency - whose chief Vladislav Kaskiv was co-signatory of the agreement - as Jordi Sarda Bonvehi, who Reuters has learned is a 43-year-old ski instructor-turned-businessman from the Barcelona region.

But Gas Natural said Bonvehi did not work for the company and, in a statement on November 28, suggested it might consider taking legal action.

Bonvehi himself slipped away after the ceremony, left

the country and his whereabouts are unknown although he was said to be in Spain last week.

Speaking by mobile phone with Reuters, a man who identified himself as Bonvehi conceded he had not been authorised to sign for Gas Natural. “I thought I could sign it and then settle it with the company,” he said.

In subsequent telephone conversations with Reuters in Spain, apparently the same person declined to answer questions by telephone, but said that at some point he would make a statement.

Collapse of the LNG termi-

waste recycling thorities in waste-recycling projects, local officials say.

Neither deal came to anything, they said. “We had a visit but it came to nothing.

We talked and that was all.

There was not a single phone call from them afterwards,” said Viktor Dobrorez, who heads the local investment department in the town of Khmelnitsky.

Gas Natural, a leading LNG operator with stakes in liquefaction plants in Egypt and Qatar, says its engineering unit carried out a viability study into the LNG project at the behest of the Kiev government. The company says such studies do not necessarily entail final participation in a contract.

In a press statement after the signing, the Ukrainian state investment agency initially identified the Spanish signatory as a Gas Natural executive called Jordi Garcia Tabernero.

Gas Natural immediately denied this too, saying that Tabernero, the company’s managing director of communications, had not been in Ukraine then. At the time of the signing, he had been in his Barcelona office, it said.

It has declined to make any further statements on the matter beyond what it said in the immediate aftermath of the signing.

Ukrainian officials now ac-

cept the deal is no longer valid and had been signed with an unauthorised person.

Bonvehi, they say, acted “at his own discretion” and exceeded his authority.

The planned LNG terminal, to be built near Odessa, would receive liquefied gas by tanker from foreign suppliers and then re-gasify it for feeding into Ukraine’s pipeline network.

The collapse of the deal is all the more embarrassing because the Kiev government often uses its LNG potential

ay, December 11, 2012

17 Whatson

18-19

TV & puzzles

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ne gas deal that never was

as a card to play in talks with Russia as it strives for a more equitable relationship and cheaper gas.

Ambitious LNG plans foresee imports of about 10 billion cubic metres of gas in 2018 when the planned onshore terminal would be up and running - roughly a quarter of Ukraine’s current gas consumption levels.

Kaskiv, head of the state investment agency whose job is to identify foreign investors for key national projects, had been seeking foreign financ-

ing for some time for the LNG project.

A 39-year-old former journalist who was once a foreign investment adviser to jailed ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Kaskiv was named to head the agency in December 2010. But despite a worldwide road show banging the drum for Ukrainian projects, his agency has notched up few successes.

Kaskiv said he feared the collapse of the deal would hand a “trump-card to opponents” of LNG development in Ukraine

- meaning Russia - though officials say they will continue the search for foreign investors despite the setback.

Kiev-based diplomats said they had been surprised when the signing with Gas Natural was announced since a deal on the highly ambitious project was not known to be near.

In the initial post-signing euphoria, Kaskiv said the deal provided for Gas Natural taking the lead in a group of foreign investors who would provide over 90 per cent of

the financing for the LNG terminal, the first to be built in Ukraine.

Prime Minister Azarov, seizing on the moment to symbolically launch a new land pipeline to connect with the planned terminal, spoke of a “really historic moment... the first real big step towards energy independence”.

But within a short time, Gas Natural came out with a flat denial of any participation.

“Gas Natural has not signed any contract to invest in an LNG plant in the Ukraine, nor are we leading any consortium to develop such a terminal... nor are we studying anything along these lines,” it said.

So where did the mystery Spanish signatory appear from? And why did the Ukrainian side think it had the grounds for a deal?

In Spain, family members said Bonvehi, who left home when he turned 20 and became a ski instructor in Andorra, moved to Ukraine 10 years ago after visiting as a tourist and marrying a Ukrainian.

His father, Joan Sarda, who still lives near Barcelona, was quoted by a local newspaper, Regio7, as saying his son set up two local businesses in Spain in 2008. Both concerns, which are registered as being involved in real estate, had been inactive for years, the father said.

“Jordi... was never interested in business, neither in mine nor in that of his brothers or anyone else’s. He never demonstrated any interest in business whatsoever,” the father was quoted as saying. Joan Sorda could not be reached independently by Reuters for comment.

Speaking to Reuters, Bonvehi’s brother, Oriol Sarda Bonvehi, said Bonvehi had visited his parents on November 30 and then disappeared again. “He never told me anything about it (his business).

But to reach as far as he did he must be good at business, no?”

People who have followed the case in Ukraine say

it operated. But the first-floor office is occupied by another firm which says it has nothing to do with Hera.

Bonvehi has travelled around Ukraine on business ventures and in September attended the YES conference, an annual economic forum in Yalta, where he took part in LNG discussions, energy officials say. A photograph from the conference shows him

Bonvehi worked as a go-between in deals for Spanish companies and the Ukrainian authorities and is listed as general director of the Ukrainian branch of Grupo Hera, whose speciality is given as waste-recycling on its website.

The Hera company name is still listed on an intercom panel at the three-storey building in Kiev from where

seated at a round table opposite Fuel Minister Boiko and Kaskiv.

Speaking to Reuters on November 30, Kaskiv said Bonvehi emerged as a signatory at the Kiev ceremony in the absence of any other Spanish officials. He now admits though that Bonvehi had no authority to sign for Gas Natural.

Ukrainians say that no mon-

Historic moment: Prime Minister Azarov

Kaskiv said he feared the collapse of the deal would hand a ‘trump-card to opponents’ of LNG development in Ukraine meaning Russia

Ukraine is currently powered by gas imported from Russia

ey was lost - apparently ruling out immediate financial gain as a motive. They do not talk of duplicity, only of a “misunderstanding”.

“It (the signing) was the pressure of circumstance because at the last minute it became clear that there was no-one from the Spanish side who could, as far as we understood, sign the document,” Kaskiv said.

“This person did not simply appear out of nowhere. He took part in negotiations and clearly positioned himself as a participant in the negotiating process in the preliminary stages when other official persons were there,” he said.

But he admits Bonvehi did not have the legal right to sign for Gas Natural. “There was no legal document that would have authorised him to be the signatory of the agreement. But given that he had been participant in all preliminary stages of negotiations - things were clear for us,” he said.

Pressed on how Bonvehi had therefore been allowed to sign, Kaskiv said: “It was a mistake... We discussed this question with him just before the signing and in the course of this discussion we took this decision (to allow him to sign).”

On the Ukrainian side, Kaskiv’s role is likely to come under scrutiny in a government commission of inquiry which was set up last week.

Speaking to Reuters on the same day, he suggested that the Ukrainian side were still hoping for a top-level meeting with Gas Natural executives to clear things up.

“We have not received any clarifications beyond the information that they (Gas Natural) had not taken any decision at that particular time and that they are carrying out an investigation among themselves to clarify relations with Mr Bonvehi,” Kaskiv said.

Was there any duplicity? “I know there is no doubt that he (Bonvehi) took part in negotiations at various stages.

As for what happened at the time - we are waiting impatiently for some clarification from the Spanish side.”

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 CYPRUS MAIL

18

What’s on

films

(K) All Audiences (12/15/18) No admittance to Under-12s/ 15s/ 18s (N/A) Not Available

Times are subject to change, so check first with cinemas before you head out

NICOSIA Shadow Dancer (12) K-Cineplex (Screen 4) at 10.15pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 3) at 10.15pm.

Tel: 7777-8383 Hotel Transylvania (K) K-Cineplex (Screen 3) (in Greek, in 3D) at 5.35pm, weekends also at 3.30pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 3) (in Greek, in 3D) at 5.35pm, weekends also at 11.30am, 1.30pm and 3.30pm. Tel: 7777-8383 Lawless (15) K-Cineplex (Screen 6) at 5.35, 7.50 and 10.20pm, weekends also at 3.25pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 4) at 5.35, 7.50 and 10.20pm, weekends also at 11am, 1.15pm and 3.25pm. Tel: 7777-8383 Rise of the Guardians (K) K-Cineplex (Screen 2) (in Greek, in 3D) at 5.30pm, weekends also at 3.25pm; K-Cineplex (Screen 5) (in English, in 2D) at 5.30, 7.50 and 10.15pm, weekends also at 3.25pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of k, in Cyprus (Screen 2) (in Greek, lso at 3D) at 5.30pm, weekends also pm; 11.20am, 1.20pm and 3.25pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 0, 7.50 5) (in English, in 2D) at 5.30, so at and 10.15pm, weekends also pm.

11.20am, 1.20pm and 3.25pm.

Tel: 7777-8383

Killing Them Softly (18) K-Cineplex (Screen 3) at 7.50 and 10.15pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 3) at 7.50pm.

Tel: 7777-8383 Frankenweenie (12) K-Cineplex (Screen 1), weekends only at 3.30pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 1), weekends only at 11.30am, 1.30pm and 3.30pm.

Tel: 7777-8383 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (12) K-Cineplex (Screen 1) at 5.35, 7.45 and 10.15pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 1) at 5.35, 7.45 and 10.15pm. Tel: 7777-8383 Taken 2 (12) K-Cineplex (Screen 4) at 8pm.

Tel: 7777-8383 Skyfall (12) K-Cineplex (Screen 2) at 7.40 and 10.20pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 2) at 7.40 and 10.20pm.

Tel: 77778383

CINEMA WEBSITES: K-Cineplex: http://kcineplex.com, Friends of the Cinema Society: http://www.ofk.org.cy

Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (K) K-Cineplex (Screen 4) (in English, in 2D) at 5.30pm, weekends also at 3.30pm. Tel: 7777-8383 Un Cuento Chino (in Spanish, with Greek subtitles) Cine Studio, tonight and Thursday at 9pm, presented by the Friends of the Cinema Society.

Tel: 96-420491, www.ofk.org.cy Cyprus, the Other Reality (in Greek, call for details of subtitles) Eirini Hall (Peace Room) at 7.30pm. Tel: 99-434923 Allonsanfan (in Italian, call for details of subtitles) Eirini Hall (Peace Room) at 9pm. Tel: 99-434923

LIMASSOL Shadow Dancer (12) Rio 6 at 5.30pm (weekends only) and 7.45pm. Rio 5, weekdays at 10pm, weekends at 10.10pm. Tel: 25-871410; K-Cineplex (Screen 3) at 10.15pm. Tel: 7777-8383 Hotel Transylvania (K) Rio 2 (in Greek, in 3D), weekdays we weeken 3, at 6 and 7.45pm, weekends 8.15pm Tel: 4.45, 6.30 and 8.15pm.

K-Cine 25-871410; K-Cineplex (in Greek, in 3D) 5.35pm, 5.3 weekends also 3.30pm.

Tel: 7777-8383

Lawless (15) Rio 6, weekdays at 10pm, weekends at 10.10pm. Tel: 25-871410; K-Cineplex (Screen 4) at 5.35, 7.50 and 10.20pm, weekends also at 3.25pm. Tel: 7777-8383 Rise of the Guardians (K) Rio 4 (in English, in 2D), weekdays at 7.45 and 10pm, weekends at 3, 4.50, 6.35, 8.20 and 10.10pm; Rio 1 (in English, in 2D), weekdays only at 6pm; Rio 3 (in Greek, in 3D), weekdays at 6pm, weekends at 2.50, 4.40 and 6.25pm. Tel: 25-871410; KCineplex (Screen 2) (in Greek, in 3D) at 5.30pm, weekends also at 3.25pm; K-Cineplex (Screen 5) (in English, in 2D) at 5.30, 7.50 and 10.15pm, weekends also at 3.25pm. Tel: 7777-8383 Killing Them Softly (18) Rio 3 at 10.35pm. Tel: 25871410; K-Cineplex (Screen 3) at 7.50pm. Tel: 7777-8383 Frankenweenie (12) K-Cineplex (Screen 1), weekends only at 3.30pm. Tel: 7777-8383 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (12) Rio 1, weekdays at 7.55 and 10.10pm, weekends at 3, 5.15, 7.45 and 10pm. Tel: 25871410; K-Cineplex (Screen 1) at 5.35, 7.45 and 10.15pm. Tel: 7777-8383

Taken 2 (12) Rio 5 at 5.30pm (weekends only) and 7.45pm. Tel: 25-871410 Skyfall (12) Rio 3, weekdays at 7.50pm, weekends at 8.10pm; Rio 2 at 10pm. Tel: 25-871410; KCineplex (Screen 2) at 7.40 and 10.20pm. Tel: 7777-8383

LARNACA Shadow Dancer (12) K-Cineplex (Screen 4) at 10.15pm. Tel: 7777-8383 Hotel Transylvania (K) K-Cineplex (Screen 3) (in Greek, in 3D) at 5.35pm, weekends also at 3.30pm. Tel: 7777-8383 Lawless (15) K-Cineplex (Screen 6) at 5.35, 7.50 and 10.20pm, weekends also at 3.25pm. Tel: 7777-8383 Rise of the Guardians (K) K-Cineplex (Screen 2) (in Greek, in 3D) at 5.30pm, weekends also at 3.25pm; K-Cineplex (Screen 5) (in English, in 2D) at 5.30, 7.50 and 10.15pm, weekends also at 3.25pm. Tel: 7777-8383 Killing Them Softly (18) K-Cineplex (Screen 3) at 7.50 and 10.15pm. Tel: 7777-8383

Frankenweenie (12) K-Cineplex (Screen 1), weekends only at 3.30pm. Tel: 7777-8383 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (12) K-Cineplex (Screen 1) at 5.35, 7.45 and 10.15pm. Tel: 77778383 Taken 2 (12) K-Cineplex (Screen 4) at 8pm.

Tel: 7777-8383 Skyfall (12) K-Cineplex (Screen 2) at 7.40 and 10.20pm. Tel: 7777-8383 Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (K) K-Cineplex (Screen 4) (in English, in 2D) at 5.30pm, weekends also at 3.30pm. Tel: 7777-8383 A Serious Man Larnaca Municipal Theatre, Thursday at 8.30pm, presented by the Larnaca Film Society. Tel: 99-658831, www.lfcinema.org

PAPHOS Hotel Transylvania (K) Rio 1 (in Greek, in 3D), weekdays at 6, 7.45 and 9.30pm, weekends at 3, 4.45, 6.30, 8.15 and 10pm; Rio 3 (in Greek, in 2D), weekends only at 4 and 5.45pm. Tel: 26-207000

Taken 2

listings Today Exhibitions Constantinos Stefanou Solo painting exhibition. Opens December 11, until 7.30pm January 5. Morfi Gallery, 84 Agkyras St, Limassol. Monday-Saturday: 10am1pm. Tuesday-Friday: 5pm-8pm.Tel: 25-378733. www.morfi.org Venezuela’s Dancing Devils Photographic exhibition. Opens December 11, 7.30pm until December 28. Cultural Centre ‘The Mills’, Kaimakli, Nicosia. RSVP tel.22 445 332 E-mail: embaven_chipre@hotmail.com

Music Tenors of the XXI Century Christmas Concert by the most famous Russian tenors from the elite Opera Theatres. December 11. Larnaca Municipal Theatre. 8.30pm. €20/10 (for children up to 12 years old). Tel: 24-665795. www.tickethour.com.cy

Theatre A Play about... Trash The theatre group Point To, in collaboration with Scarabeo Lounge Bar, presents the comedy directed by Evagelia Onoufriou. December 11.

Scarabeo Bar, 4 Nikokreontos Street, Nicosia. 9.30pm. €10. In Greek. Tel: 99-935777/99-740773

Other Events Survival of the Euro: Views of a Sympathetic Outsider Lecture by Richard N. Cooper Maurits C. Boas Professor of International Economics Harvard University discussing the implications of a common currency.

December 11. Conference Hall, Bank of Cyprus Headquarters, Nicosia. 7pm.

Tel: 22-208700. events@cyi.ac.cy A Girl who Doesn’t Talk Actor Lefteris Zabetakis will present Donna Kaparti’s newest book, the writer will then talk about the book, discuss with the audience and sign copies. December 11. Temporary Space, 33 Aischylou Street, Nicosia.

7.30pm. Tel: 99-274788/22-766736

Tomorrow Exhibitions Unity – Unity Solo painting exhibition by Pavlos Samios. Opens December 12, 7.30pm until January 12. Apocalypse Gallery, 30 Chytron Street, Nicosia. Monday- Friday: 10.30am1pm and 5pm-8pm. Saturday: 10.30am-1pm. Tel: 22-766655 Alexandros G. Michaelides Solo painting exhibition. Opens December 12, 7pm until December 21.

Blob Creative Space, Arch Makariou, City Plaza, Nicosia, Monday-Saturday: 2pm-7pm. Tel: 99-657277

12-12-12 Group fine art exhibition. Opens December 12, 7.30pm until January 12. Elefsis’, 7 Aischylou street, Laiki Yitonia, Old Nicosia. Opening hours: 10am-2am. Tel: 99-51679/99-870869 Doros Heracleous Solo art exhibition. Opens December 12, 7.30pm until December 27. Gallery Gloria, 3 Zinonos Sozou Street, Nicosia. Monday-Friday: 10.30pm12.45pm and 5pm-8pm. Saturday: 10.30pm-12.45pm. Tel: 22-760286

Music Incurable Romantics Jazz Concert with Sarah Fenwick on vocals & Marinos Neophytou on guitar. Theatro Ena, Nicosia. December 12. 8.30pm. Tel: 22-348203 Tenors of the XXI Century Christmas Concert by the most famous Russian tenors from the elite Opera Theatres. December 12. Rialto Theatre, Limassol. 8.30pm. €20/10. Tel: 77777745. www.tickethour.com.cy

Dance Thirty Eight Thousand Dragons Chorotheatro Omada Pente presents its 23rd production, a co-production with the Theatre Development Company of Limassol (ETHAL), choreographed by Chloe Melidou. December 12 & 14-15. Technohoros ETHAL, 76 Franklin, Roosevelt Avenue, Limassol.

8.30pm. €8/5. Tel: 99-349265

Commandaria Night An authentic and unique Cypriot menu that has been created especially to accompany Commandaria, along with an introduction about the drink by George Kasianos, sommelier and wine author. December 12. Archontiko Papadopoulou, 67 Makariou III Avenue at Kornos. 8pm. €32 per person (includes the dinner, commandaria and all taxes). Tel: 22-531000 The Landscape Architecture in Europe Today: Experiences of Landscape Design in Italy Lecture with guest speaker from Italy. December 12. Neapolis Universoty Pafos Amphitheatre. 6.30pm8.30pm. Tel: 26-843320. events@ nup.ac.cy. www.nup.ac.cy

Ongoing Other Events Small Volunteers Campaign collection of new Christmas gifts for needy families. Until December 16. Nicosia Presse Café Cross Ledra and St. Anthony, as well as in stores Costas Theodorou and Original Marines (102 Pericles Street, Strovolos, 28th Oct Street, 12 Makedonitissa), Limassol (Zavos Shopping Center, 25 Street Kolonaki, 25 Street), Larnaca (80 Zenon Kitios) and Paphos (92 Makarios Avenue).

Tel: 22-818884

European Political Thought A series of seminars to be presented

by Dr Eleni Papamichael, followed by a discussion. Participants to more than six seminars will be awarded Diplomas of Attendance. Until January 23. M106 (Millennium building 1st floor) at the University of Nicosia 8.45pm. Every Wednesday. €50. Monitoring individual lectures €10. Tel: 22-841600/ 99-536311 and/or cceia@unic.ac.cy

Theatre 4 one-act plays Plays seamlessly tied together with live music, in a natural scenic space in a beautiful restored mansion at Lympia. Until December 19. Shilas Mansion, 4 Dimokratias Street, Lympia, Nicosia. Every Wednesday at 8pm. €5 with free drinks. Tel: 99-787090 Death and the Maiden Satiriko Theatro presents play by Chilean playwright Ariel Dorfman.

Until December 21. Vladimiros Kafkarides Cultural Centre, 11-15 Vladimiros, Kafkarides Street, Aglantzia, Nicosia. Every Thursday and Friday at 8.30pm. In Greek. Tel: 22-312940/22-421609 Just Broken Up Act Theatre presents play by Vassilis Myrianthopoulos & Vangelis Hatzinikolaou. Cyprus Dialect Adaptation

by Christiana Artemiou. Until January 6. Latsia Municipal Theatre, 57 Yiannos Kranidiotis Avenue, Nicosia. On specific days at 8.30pm and 6pm on Sundays. €20. Tel: 77-777181

For a full guide to the week’s events and regular meetings, make sure you get a copy of the Sunday Mail

The Elephant Man Theatro Ena presents a play by Bernard Pomerance, translated and directed by Andreas Christodoulides.

Until January 27. Theatro Ena, 4 Athinas Avenue, Nicosia. Every Friday through Sunday at 8.30pm.

In Greek. €15/12. Tel: 22-348203

Exhibitions AAH-OOOH-GAH a Hornlike Sound Signifying the End of the World Solo art exhibition by Nayia Savva.

Until December 12. the Container space, 6 Australia, Limassol ANTI-DORA Pegasus Art Foundation organises a big Charity fair and silent Auction where small pieces of Art will be exhibited with the occasion of the Festive season. Until December 13.

Pegasus Art Foundation – 55 Art Studio. 23, Andreas Drousiotis Street , Plateia Heroon, Limassol. Part of the money will go towards, funding a new school in Ethiopia. Tel: 25-340739 or E-mail: cymakart@cytanet.com.cy ID Euro-Signs and Icons Project focuses on semiology and semiotics of contemporary art. Until December 13. Artspace Art Studio 55, Limassol. Daily: 5.30pm-8 .30pm. Tel: 25-340739/99-603316

CYPRUS MAIL Tuesday, December 11, 2012

19 To have your event included for FREE in our listings, send details to: Arts Editor, Cyprus Mail, PO Box 21144, Nicosia. Fax: 22-676385.

Email: whatson@cyprus-mail.com Please send your information as early as possible. Include full details, a contact number and good quality photos

Review Theatre Old school stageing reveals inner beauty FOR THOSE reminiscing over productions of the past, productions that run over two hours and feature an interval, frequent musical blackout periods between scenes, empty tea-cups that cause the actors to (very obviously) slurp air, and an overall atmosphere of sheer theatricality, you won’t want to miss Theatro Ena’s staging of The Elephant Man. For what it was, very little could be flawed in the show.

Yet the recurring thought in my mind throughout the two hour period in which I was, surprisingly, quite absorbed by the plot, was ‘Wow. This kind of theatre still exists?’

The original script by Bernard Pomerance was staged both in London and on Broadway in 1979, where it snagged several awards for best play.

Based on the true story of Joseph Merrick, a man with severe physical deformation, the production pivots on his close friendship with surgeon Frederick Treves, who discovered him in a circus freak show. The integral messages of the play, which still remain highly pertinent today, are somewhat lost in this simple classical portrayal of the production, which serves primarily to tell the story; to entertain and to move its spectators.

Yet, in rhythm with the elected style of the play, the actors perform impressively under the direction of Andreas Christodoulides. In particular Andreas Araouzos does not disappoint in the role of the doctor, supported well by

On The Scene Other Events Spot the object LOOK UP, look down, look all around because you never know where you’ll find the object of the month.

Manolis Michailides, who portrays his superior (and also effectively doubles as the cruel circus master). Penny Finiri shines as the dazzling actress who falls for Merrick, while Sotiris Mestanas, who takes on the leading role, makes a notable attempt at a highly challenging role, capturing the child-like innocence of this historically virtuous character.

Set and costumes designed by Michael Kakouris are minimal but effective. Yet in terms of the play’s most obvious challenge, the company’s attempt at shaping the elephant man’s face, back and arm, felt overly theatrical and unnecessary – Pomerance notes in the preface to the script that any attempt to re-create Merrick’s physical appearance would not only ‘counterproductive’ but ‘distracting from the play’. Much more suitable would have been simple facial scarring, and a heaviness to the walk, rather than an exaggerated limp. The simplicity of this image would thus have left interpretations open far beyond the limitations of this particular story, allowing the ‘inner’ beauty of this impressive man to prevail above the obvious.

Nevertheless, it was precisely the ‘old-school’ stageing that rendered this production highly watchable, and invoked the patience in a TV-driven audience to forgive both its length and its constant blackout-pauses. So if you’re up for a ‘blast from the past’, The Elephant Man is on Friday through Sunday until January 27 at Theatro Ena. The Elephant Man Theatro Ena presents a play by Bernard Pomerance, translated and directed by Andreas Christodoulides. Until January 27. Theatro Ena, 4 Athinas Avenue, Nicosia. Every Friday through Sunday at 8.30pm. In Greek. €15/12. Tel: 22348203

By Eleni Cosma

Taking a child, especially ally a smaller one, to a museum um can be a dicey proposition.. Will they care about a 300 year old canvas with a picture ure of some fruit? Could they hey grasp the importance of ay a thousand year old clay hat pot? Maybe not, but that an certainly does not mean that family fun cannot be had at a stately museum.

A nightmare before Christmas

VIOLINIST Aleksey Igudesman and pianist HyungKi Joo bring their blend of zany comedy and brilliant music to the Rialto stage this Sunday.

Igudesman and Joo are both serious musicians, but together, they’ve cracked up Europe’s most esteemed concert halls with their antics. Classical videos don’t often go viral on YouTube, but this duo have gathered millions of hits to date, with their distinctive and entertaining theatrical shows, which combine comedy with classical music and popular culture.

Joo, born in England to South Korean parents and Leningrad-native Igudesman are lifelong friends and collaborators. They met when they were 12 years old as students at the distinguished Yehudi Menuhin Conservatory, named after the world-famous violinist. After attending separate music schools - Igudesman to Manhattan School of Music and Joo to the Vienna Conservatory they reunited in Vienna in 2004 and created their first groundbreaking show: A Little Nightmare Music.

Although comedy and classical music might seem like an oxymoron, these two artists have fused the two effortlessly. They are often cited as heirs to the legacy of Victor Borge, the Danish-American comedian and concert pianist. According to the pair the show is all about nightmares that can happen in the span of a concert, such as when the lights go out or when a mobile rings.

The show contains musical puns and insider jokes and the duo throw in plenty of slapstick and general clowning around, so that all audiences, no matter how versed they are in classical music, have something to enjoy. Musically, both are fine players. They each have a command of their instruments and amazing technique.

Without giving too much away, in one section of the show, Joo vacuums the stage with a hose that suddenly sucks up Igudesman’s bow while he plays. In another skit the pianist takes to sweeping with a broom under the performing violinist’s feet, forcing Igudesman to keep jumping – into an Irish jig.

Here’s a pr proven method for occupying children (and even adults) a at a museum with activ an activity that is amusing, intera interactive and even educational With the Christmas tional. spirit in mind, the Leventis Muni Municipal Museum, is organi ganising a Treasure Hunt thr throughout December, w whereby visitors are a asked to Spot the o object of the month

Since the success of A Little Nightmare Music, they’ve written other comic programmes, toured the world and performed with classical luminaries such as violinist Gidon Kremer and pianist Emmanuel Ax. The two have also teamed up with actors, such as John Malkovich and former James Bond Sir Roger Moore, on several occasions in aid of UNICEF. These two have performed in classical concert halls as well as in stadiums in front of crowds of 18,000.

The success of Igudesman & Joo has overtaken the partners’ individual careers as soloists and composers. Individually, Igudesman has worked with musicians ranging from Academy Award-winning Hollywood composer Hans Zimmer to multi Grammy Award-winning vocalist Bobby McFerrin.

Joo has worked with Academy Award-winning composer Vangelis and was chosen by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Billy Joel to arrange and record Joel’s classical compositions on a CD, which reached no.1 on the Billboard Charts.

On New Year’s Eve, 2011, at the Vienna Konzerthaus, with the help of 100 violinists from all over the world, Igudesman & Joo set the world record for the most Dancing Violinists performing together on stage.

Many of their compositions and jokes seem to remark on how this world can at times take itself much too seriously. It’s a great addition to the usual classical music concert series – a welcome night of fun and light-heartedness combined with fantastic showmanship and music-making.

Most importantly, behind all the laughs is the very serious mission of winning new audiences and making classical music accessible to a wider audience.

Igudesman & Joo: A Little Nightmare Music Violinist Aleksey Igudesman and pianist Hyung-Ki Joo present a unique and hilarious theatrical show, which combine comedy with classical music and popular culture. December 16. Rialto Theatre, Limassol. 8.30pm. €20/15. Tel: 77-777745

By Ledha Socratous

within the museum’s collections and win a 10 per cent discount on all items at the museum’s shop.

The idea is to boost attendance and increase interest among the public about the museum and its activities. This is also a fun way for new visitors to be introduced to the museum, but it’s also entertaining for anyone who has already been there.

Application forms are available from the Museum Shop. Find the

object of the month by observing small and large display cabinets of the museum. Fill out on the application form, the location of the object and your personal details.

Hand in the application form to the shop and you will automatically be entitled to a 10 per cent discount.

For further information and the terms of participation you can contact the museum on 22-661475 or email: info@leventismuseum.org.cy

For a full listing of the day’s events see facing page

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 CYPRUS MAIL

20

Television CYBC 1 06.45 08.15

Proti Enimerosi Kali Sas Mera Local variety show, with entertainment options, cookery tips and more.

11.00 11.30

Kaftes Piperies (rpt) Istories Tou Horkou (rpt)

CYBC 2 07.00 08.00 16.30

Apo Mera Se Mera Current affairs programme.

15.30

Entehnos Local cultural programme.

16.00 18.00 18.15

Mazi Sto CyBC News Kaftes Piperies Live cookery show.

18.45

17.00

18.00 18.50 18.55 19.40 20.10 21.00

Paizoume Kypriaka

20.00 21.15 22.00

22.35

Ego Ki Esi

23.15

15.00 16.10 17.00

Lost

Eponymos News Repeats

00.00

17.50

Proini Enimerosi Me Agapi Deliyianneio Parthenagogeio (rpt) Englimata (rpt) Lyke, Lyke Eisai Edo (rpt) FTHIS Panselinos (rpt) Ekeino To Kalokairi (rpt) Niose Me (rpt) News Mera Mesimeri Vals Me 12 Theous (rpt) Oneiropagida (rpt) Tha Vreis To Daskalo Sou (rpt) Ekeino To Kalokairi (rpt) Aiyia Fuxia (rpt) With News at 18.00.

19.30 20.15 21.15 22.10 23.10 00.10 00.15 00.30 01.40 02.30

Criminal Minds Fifth season. ‘Our Darkest Hour’. When L.A. is hit by a series of power cuts, a serial killer emerges from hiding and strikes under the cover of darkness. Last in series.

Local comedy series.

22.30 23.30 23.45

12.10 13.00 13.20 14.00

Biz/Emeis (rpt) News In English News In Turkish UEFA EURO 50 Classic Matches (rpt) NRG Zone FILM: I’ll Be Home For Christmas

Sixth season. ‘What They Died For’. Locke devises a new strategy; Jack’s group searches for Desmond.

News Vimata Stin Ammo Local period drama, based on true events.

09.40 10.20 11.15

Kati Psinetai (rpt)

A college student faces assorted obstacles as he makes a crosscountry journey to be with his family for the festive season.

Seasonal comedy, starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas. 1998.

Moiraia Fengaria New local drama series inspired by Maro Kranidioti’s book ‘Otan i Moira Apofasizei’.

08.30 09.05

Amateur chefs each stage a dinner party to find who will be crowned the winning host.

New season of local game show, asking questions having to do with Cypriot dialect.

19.20

06.20 06.50 07.00

NRG Zone Kids’ TV Euromaxx DW-TV’s magazine show, bringing you the latest on lifestyle and entertainment in Europe.

Local comedy series, which happens to be the longest-running show on TV.

12.00

ANTENNA

03.20 04.10 04.40

Niose Me News Vals Me 12 Theous Ekeino To Kalokairi Proedrikes Ekloges News Sports News Radio Arvila Synora Agapis (rpt) I Agapi Irthe Apo Makria (rpt) News (rpt) To Kafeneio (rpt) Deal (rpt)

MEGA 06.15 06.40 07.00 08.00 10.00 12.45 14.00 15.00

Emeis Ki Emeis (rpt) Diktiotheite Kai Exelihtheite Koinonia Ora Mega Nea Mera Proino Mou Enimerosi Tora Klemmena Oneira (rpt) Eheis Meson Local investigative show looking at alleged abuses of power, often reported by viewers.

16.00 18.00 18.20 19.20 20.15 21.15 22.10 23.10

Yia Sena News Eisai To Tairi Mou (rpt) Eftyhismenoi Mazi (rpt) News Klemmena Oneira Enoha Mystika FILM: Impact Point When beach volleyball star meets news reporter, strange things start happening to her and those around her.

Thriller, starring Brian Austin Green. 2008.

00.00 00.10 01.00 03.00 04.30 05.40

News I Apli Methodos Ton Trion Yia Sena (rpt) Charlie’s Angels Proino Mou (rpt) I Dipsa (rpt)

Repeats

SIGMA 06.30 07.00 08.20 10.20 11.10

12.00 14.20

PLUS TV

The Del Monte Heirs (rpt) Protoselido Eleni Vasiliki (rpt) 7 Ouranoi kai Synnefa Alites (rpt)

06.45 07.20

Trashy sounding local drama series.

09.30 10.55

Mesimeri Kai Kati Aspra Balonia (rpt)

07.50 09.00

Cooking show, with helpful tips on eating well and nutrition.

Yet another local drama series.

15.20 18.00 18.05 18.30

Magazino News Ti Tha Fame Simera Mama The Del Monte Heirs Latin American telenovela.

19.30 20.20 21.20 22.20

00.10 00.15

11.50 12.30 13.00 15.30 17.15

7 Ouranoi kai Synnefa Alites News Aspra Balonia (rpt) Al Tsantiri News Best Of

17.50 19.40

A highly successful live satirical comedy show that features Lakis Lazopoulos giving ‘his version’ of the news.

22.15

21.15

23.15

00.00 01.10 02.00

06.50 08.15 08.40 09.25 10.00 11.00 11.30 12.30 13.30 14.55 15.45 16.35 17.30 18.15

LTV Sports News Star News Repeats

Kids’ TV Magikos Kosmos S’Agapo (rpt) Akti Oneiron Ston Asterismos Tis Imeras Kouzina Me Apopsi Capital Sports Milagros Kids’ TV Top Models S’Agapo Sabrina, To Koritsi Tis Agapis Akti Oneiron Pacific Blue With News at 18.30.

19.15 19.50 20.05 21.00

News Sports Time Igeia Kai Zoi FILM: The Night We Called It A Day A 1970s Australian promoter gets a job managing a Frank Sinatra tour, only to end up at the centre of a national scandal. Fact-based drama, starring Dennis Hopper. 2003.

Exelixeis Sti Showbiz Presidential Elections Eleventh Hour (rpt) First and only season of American drama, starring Rufus Sewell.

‘Savant’. Dr Hood is asked to investigate when autistic teenagers begin disappearing in mysterious circumstances before being found a month later exhibiting symptoms of savant syndrome.

News CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (rpt)

Dekati Entoli (rpt) Alithinoi Erotes (rpt) Mila Mou (rpt) Otan Megaloso (rpt) Eleni (rpt)

Kids’ TV Star News Mesimeriani Meleti Kids’ TV Exelixeis Sti Showbiz Fotis - Maria Live Mila Talk-show, specialising in “confessions” and revealing interviews.

An elite team of police forensic evidence investigation experts work their cases in Las Vegas.

01.00 01.40 02.10 03.00 03.30

News Fotis - Maria Live Best Of Mesimeriani Meleti Best Of Exelixeis Sti Showbiz Mila (rpt) Nistikoi Praktores (rpt)

CAPITAL

22.55

FILM: Sugarland Express Action, starring Goldie Hawn. 1974. See Pick Of The Day.

01.00

FILM: Deadly Water a young man who witnessed his parents being brutally killed by an evil octopus-like creature and years later embarks on a mission to destroy the beast. Sci-fi horror, starring Charlie O’Connell. 2006.

Season of the Witch (LTV, 14.30)

01:10 Sport Relief 2012 - Little Britain’s Big Swim 02:10 Last Of The Summer Wine 02:40 The Weakest Link 03:25 EastEnders 03:55 Doctors 04:25 Last Of The Summer Wine 04:55 Lark Rise To Candleford 05:45 The Green Green Grass 06:15 The Weakest Link 07:00 Tellytales 07:10 Boogie Beebies 07:25 Teletubbies 07:50 Balamory 08:10 Tellytales 08:20 Boogie Beebies 08:35 Teletubbies 09:00 Balamory 09:20 Garth And Bev 09:30 Buzz & Tell 09:35 As Time Goes By 10:05 The Green Green Grass 10:35 The Weakest Link 11:20 EastEnders 11:50 Doctors 12:20 Lark Rise To Candleford 13:10 The Diamond Queen 14:00 Last Of The Summer Wine 14:30 The Green Green Grass 15:00 The Weakest Link 15:45 EastEnders 16:15 Doctors 16:45 Lark Rise To Candleford 17:35 The Diamond Queen 18:25 The Weakest Link 19:10 EastEnders 19:40 Doctors 20:10 Born And Bred 21:00 Big Top 21:30 The Impressions Show With Culshaw & Stephenson 22:00 Rock & Chips 23:30 2 Point 4 Children 24:00 Dad’s Army 24:30 My Family: Xmas Special 2005

07:00 How It’s Made ; 07:25 Wheeler Dealers 08:15 American Chop-

per 09:10 Dirty Jobs 10:05 Deadliest Catch 10:55 Ultimate Survival 11:50 How Do They Do It? 12:15 How It’s Made ; 12:40 Extreme Engineering 13:35 Overhaulin’ 14:30 Wheeler Dealers 15:25 American Chopper 16:20 Mythbusters 17:15 Dirty Jobs 18:10 Deadliest Catch 19:05 Ultimate Survival 20:00 How It’s Made ; 21:00 Mythbusters 22:00 Mighty Planes 23:00 Dangerous Flights 00:00 Aircrash Confidential 01:00 Airplane Repo 01:55 Mythbusters 02:50 Mighty Planes 03:50 Dangerous Flights 04:50 Aircrash Confidential 05:45 How Do They Do It? 06:10 Overhaulin’

09:30 Ski Jumping: World Cup Russia 10:00 Curling: European Championship Sweden 12:00 Biathlon: World Cup Austria 13:00 Equestrian: Horse Racing Time 13:15 Football: Eurogoals 14:00 Curling: European Championship Sweden 16:00 Football: Eurogoals 16:45 Snooker: Uk Championship Canada 18:00 Curling: European Championship Sweden 20:00 Biathlon: World Cup Austria 21:00 Ski Jumping: World Cup Russia 22:00 Boxing 00:00 Motorsports: Gta Road To Dubai 00:15 Fia World Touring Car Championship – 01:15 Curling: European Championship Sweden

05:40 Off The Map 06:25 Castle 07:10 Modern Family 07:35 Happy Endings 08:00 The Gates 08:50 Jamie’s Fish Supper 09:40 Off The Map 10:25 Castle 11:10 Modern Family 11:35 Happy Endings 12:00 Raising Hope 12:25 Melissa & Joey 12:50 Glee 13:40 The Gates 14:30 Masterchef 15:20 Off The Map 16:05 Castle 16:50 Modern Family 17:15 Happy Endings 17:40 The Gates 18:30 Masterchef 19:20 Off The Map 20:10 Castle 21:00 Raising Hope 21:25 Melissa & Joey 21:50 Glee 22:40 Modern Family 23:05 Happy Endings 23:30 Raising Hope 23:55 Melissa & Joey 00:20 Glee 01:10 Castle 02:00 Off The Map 02:45 Modern Family 03:10 Happy Endings 03:35 Rita Rocks 04:00 The Gates 04:50 Masterchef

07:00 Pawn Stars 07:30 Storage Wars 08:00 American Pickers 09:00 American Restoration 09:30 Storage Wars 10:00 Pawn Stars 10:30 Storage Wars 11:00 Ancient Aliens

12:00 Pawn Stars 12:30 Cajun Pawn Stars 13:00 American Restoration 14:00 American Pickers 15:00 American Restoration 15:30 Storage Wars 16:00 Pawn Stars 16:30 Cajun Pawn Stars 17:00 American Restoration 18:00 American Pickers 19:00 American Restoration 19:30 Storage Wars 20:00 Pawn Stars 20:30 Storage Wars 21:00 Ancient Aliens 22:00 Storage Wars 23:00 American Pickers 00:00 Pawn Stars 00:30 Storage Wars 01:00 Ancient Aliens 02:00 Storage Wars 03:00 American Pickers 05:00 American Restoration 05:30 Storage Wars 06:00 Ancient Aliens 07:30 Action Zone 08:00 Black Rain 10:15 Case 39 12:15 Pleasan TV ille 14:30 Season Of The Witch 16:10 Action Zone 16:40 Special Relationship 18:15 Peggy Sue Got Married 20:00 LTV Sports News 21:00 Too Big To Fail 23:00 Easy A 00:40 Hustler TV 03:15 Fifth Patient 04:45 Midnight In Paris 06:30 LTV Sports News

07:00 Chowder 07:25 The Marvel-

ous Misadventures Of Flapjack 07:50 The Tom & Jerry Show 08:15 Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get A Clue! 08:40 Loonatics Unleashed 09:05 Superman: The Animated Series 09:55 The Looney Tunes Show 10:20 Tak & The Power Of Juju 10:45 Fanboy & Chum Chum 11:10 The X’s 11:35 Ni Hao, Kai-Lan 12:00 Dora The Explorer 12:25 Spongebob Squarepants 13:15 The Mighty B! 13:40 My Life As A Teenage Robot 14:05 Hey Arnold! 14:30 Icarly 15:20 Shaggy & ScoobyDoo Get A Clue! 15:45 Justice League Unlimited 16:10 Legion Of Super Heroes 16:35 Young Justice 17:00 NBA Action 17:30 Barclays Premier League World 18:00 Liga Bbva 2012-13 20:00 Planet Speed 20:30 Makeover: Hunt Dog Edition 21:00 La Liga Review 2012-13 22:00 ATP World Tour Uncovered 22:30 Bmx Supercross World Cup 23:00 Copa Del Rey 2012-13 03:00 Barclays Premier League 2012-13

07:15 Chuck 08:00 2 Broke Girls 08:30 Supernatural 10:00 According To Jim 10:45 How To Make T N America 11:20 Pan Am 13:00 Strike Back 13:50 Chuck 14:35 Supernatural 16:05 Eastbound & Down 16:35 Aliens N America 17:00 Two And A Half Men 17:25

The Closer 18:10 Harry’s Law 18:55 Strike Back 19:45 According To Jim 20:30 The Big Bang Theory 21:00 The Mentalist 21:45 C.S.I. New York 22:30 True Blood 23:30 Tell Me You Love Me 00:25 Chain Of Fools 02:05 Cookie 03:40 Eastbound & Down 04:10 Aliens N America 04:30 Two And A Half Men X 04:55 The Closer 05:40 Harry’s Law 06:25 Strike Back

07:15 Last Starfighter, The 09:00 Shutter Island 11:30 Takers 13:30 Citizen Usa: 50 State Road Trip 14:30 Action Zone (E) 15:00 Diamonds (Part 1) 16:30 Diamonds (Part 2) 18:15 My Afternoons With Margueritte 20:00 Somewhere 22:00 Machete 00:05 Daring! Tv 03:45 What’s Up, Doc? 05:30 Lesbian Vampire Killers

05:00 We Need To Talk About Kevin 07:00 In Love And War 08:55 The Romantics 10:35 Films And Stars 11:20 The Smurfs 13:10 Oranges And Sunshine 15:00 «Love Stories» La Chance De Ma Vie 16:40 Flight Of The Phoenix 18:40 Hollywood 1on1 19:20 Monsters 21:00 C.S.I. Xii 22:00 Nysos 2: To Kynigi Tou Chamenoy Thisavrou 23:55 Barney’s Version 02:10 Majority 04:00 Le Divorce

06:15 Stolen Lives 07:50 Cine News 08:50 Extreme Measures 10:50 The Muppets 12:35 Cine News 13:25 Home Alone 15:10 Gattaca 17:00 Stars In Style 17:35 The Talented Mr. Ripley 22:00 Phone Booth 23:30 Largo Winch 2: The Burma Conspiracy 01:35 Twelve 03:15 Cine News

19:05 Route Irish 21:00 Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story 22:40 Cine News 23:00 How I Met Your Mother 00:40 Cine News 01:30 Adult Zone

19:15 From Time To Time 21:00 One True Thing 23:15 Good Will Hunting 01:25 Something Borrowed

07:00 Tunnel Of Love, The 08:35 Bhowani Junction 10:25 Adam’s Rib 12:05 Kiss Me Kate 13:50 Champ, The 15:55 Tender Trap, The 17:50 Sandpiper, The 19:45 Anchors Aweigh 22:00 Ryan’s Daughter 01:25 Whose Life Is It Anyway? 03:20 Hill, The 05:25 Crest Of The Wave

By Preston Wilder

Too Big to Fail (LTV, 21.00) This is where it all began, at least if you believe those (we’re looking at you, Mr. Christofias) who blame our island’s ills on the global financial crisis. “I’m sorry, let me see if I understand this,” says James Woods, scrunching up his face and gesturing manically as only James Woods can: “Are you directing us to put Lehman into bankruptcy?”. Woods plays Dick Fuld, CEO of Lehman Brothers - the giant investment bank that was always deemed ‘too big to fail’ - and he’s part of a starry cast, also including Paul Giamatti, William Hurt and Billy Crudup; I could mention who all these people play, but I’m not sure how much titles like ‘Treasury Secretary’ and ‘Federal Reserve Chairman’

Too Big to Fail

mean to non-American readers - which of course is the problem with this smart, ambitious HBO drama, telling the tale of the Wall Street crash (and subsequent bailout) of 2008. It’s a good story, but it means knowing something of how the US system operates as well as being familiar with things like junk bonds and mortgage-backed securities. Too American, too financial; still sadly relevant. Made for TV in 2011.

The Sugarland Express (Capital, 22.55) Will Steven Spielberg win his third Oscar for Lincoln?

He’s the bookies’ favourite - but I like to think back to an earlier time, when Spielberg wasn’t a revered 60-

something making films about American presidents but a hungry 20-something making films about an escaped Texas jailbird and his trashy (but good-hearted) wife. That’s Sugarland Express, Stevie’s big-screen debut (he’d previously worked in TV) and a film where his virtues and vices are already apparent: on the one hand, great cinematic skill and a knack for warm, winning characters, on the other a tendency to overdo everything - and the film goes wrong when our fugitive couple (the wife played by Goldie Hawn) start being chased by literally hundreds of police cars (though it’s based on fact, so maybe it really happened that way).

Still good fun, full of zest and energy; one year later came Jaws, and the rest is history. Made in 1974.

CYPRUS MAIL Tuesday, December 11, 2012

21

CRYPTIC CROSSWORD 2259 1

2

3

4

7

9

PREVIOUS DAY’S SOLUTIONS

5

6

8

10

11

12

13

16

17

21

14

15

18

19

HOW TO PLAY: Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1-9. There’s no maths involved, you solve the puzzle with reasoning and logic.

With the ‘X’ sudoku, the shaded X must also contain the numbers 1-9.

20

EASY

EASY

MEDIUM

HARD

22

1 Perfect pattern (5) 2 Note it is the obvious choice (7) 3 Make a record score (5) 4 He chases ship’s officer round the bend (7) 5 Beat beans and lentils (5) 6 Ruler got a new controlling device (9) 10 Making things more equal before night begins? (7,2) 13 Bill has heart trouble going round another part of the body (7) 15 Not an original way to catch mice? (7) 17 Gert and I removed the beast (5) 18 Weight of carton nett included (5) 20 Tutor initially replaces learner in ruined folly that’s very tall (5)

Rating EASY

1 Sounds a suitable publication for obituaries (7,5) 7 One with a secretary perhaps is an absolute ruler (8) 8 Pull eastwards on the toboggan (4) 9 King clearly included (4) 11 Homely pest? (8) 12 Enthusiast to laze about (6) 14 Record half of it with energy and repeat it from memory (6) 16 Divert attention from Diana’s pamphlet (8) 19 Plain alternative for knitters (4) 21 Keen giant has lost his head (4) 22 Restrain worker on strike (8) 23 Road that goes on forever? (9,3)

Rating HARD

Down

Rating MEDIUM

Across

Rating MEDIUM

23

Answers to crossword 2258

HOROSCOPE

CRYPTIC: Across – 1 Hissed; 4 Bucket; 7 Partisan; 8 Nick; 9 Organ recital; 13 Sentry; 14 Rebate; 15 Moved to tears; 18 Stet; 19 Scabbard; 20 Acidic; 21 Tartan. Down – 1 Hippo; 2 Scrag; 3 Destroyed; 4 Bun; 5 Constable; 6 Escalator; 10 Rheumatic; 11 Activated; 12 Cormorant; 16 Await; 17 Sedan; 19 Sac.

QUICK: Across – 1 Citric; 4 Impugn; 7 Libretto; 8 Roam; 9 Out of the wood; 13 Spoton; 14 Random; 15 Policy-holder; 18 Clay; 19 Crossbow; 20 Bridal; 21 Matron. Down – 1 Cello; 2 Tibet; 3 Catatonic; 4 Ido; 5 Personnel; 6 Grandiose; 10 Unpopular; 11 Outplayed; 12 Earthworm; 16 Debar; 17 Rowan; 19 Col.

ARIES March 21 - April 20

LEO July 23 - August 22

SAGITTARIUS November 23 - December 21

It’s a great time to validate yourself and your ideas. You may be successful in launching a new plan or project.

Aside from this, razor sharp thinking may be your best bet if you’re working on a business proposition today. It’s possible that friend may try to impose on you, but stand your ground and things should eventually go your way.

Friends you haven’t seen lately may be thinking about you, perhaps it’s time to pay a visit. Your social life continues to buzz, and as Mercury zips into Sagittarius today, you may find that romance is on the agenda as well. It’s a great time for travel and work of a creative nature. Later on, you may enjoy entertaining at home.

As Mercury re-establishes into your sign, you may be in a chattier mood than usual. Your thinking may be deeper too, and you may even be asked to take a leadership role in a group activity. It’s important for you to be able to express your ideas and thoughts, and to get feedback. Others will encourage you to do what you have to do Archer.

TAURUS April 21 - May 21

VIRGO August 23 - September 23

CAPRICORN December 22 - January 20

You may need to be tactful with both business and personal relationships. Try to avoid an argument if you can.

It is possible a worthwhile investment tip is in the air, so listen and watch out for it. Make plans to take a trip or study course. This can also be a good time to revise your investment strategy as well. Be totally open-minded.

You may find that neither you nor your partner wants to budge an inch in a certain matter. However, something has to give. Try to avoid arguments and do your best to find a workable solution. Your home zone is in focus, so perhaps it’s time to get ready for the festivities. Think about de-cluttering and some sprucing up.

Mixed trends may be affecting your social picture. It’s possible that you’ll have a great time with one friend, while another turns out to be dour and unexciting. Don’t take it too personally, as they may have issues they are dealing with.

However, you may have too much to do to be worrying about others. Progress can be made in your work hopes.

GEMINI May 22 - June 21

LIBRA September 24 - October 23

AQUARIUS January 21 - February 19

Don’t be so caught up in your own thoughts that you fail to see the value in what another has to say. Your partner may have something important to share with you, and paying attention could mean that an ongoing problem is easily resolved. Extra responsibilities may keep you busy. Why not unwind tonight with an activity that relaxes you?

You may feel keen to get your house in order with Mars egging you on. Clearing out clutter is one way to make space for the festive decorations. However, don’t let someone’s indifferent attitude get to you. Instead, get out and do some Christmas shopping. If your budget is already in place, there’s less chance you’ll spend too much today.

Today, mixing business with pleasure may not be recommended, although as Mercury re-engages in your social zone, this is a time to get into the networking habit once again. Festive parties bring the spirit of the season into the workplace. You may have a chance to enjoy mixing with those you rarely get the chance or time to speak to.

CANCER June 22 - July 22

SCORPIO October 24 - November 22

PISCES February 20 - March 20

Your passions may quicken, especially if your latest love interest seems more forthcoming. If single, you may meet someone new and exciting. Your intuition can put you on track, so pay attention to those subtle hints. You can also count on it at work, when a coincidence may enable you to take advantage of a truly golden opportunity Cancer.

It could be a banner time for you in business, especially as you are currently in vogue, so do put your mind to things.

Though career matters may seem uncertain in some respects, current influences are on your side as far as cooking up new deals and snapping up lucrative contracts are concerned. All you need is the inner confidence.

If you’re single, you may be romantically drawn to a person from a different cultural background. There is still a powerful focus that encourages you to move out of your comfort zone. Today, as the Moon continues in Scorpio, it suggests that a conversation may attract you to someone who seems mysterious and magnetic. Will you take it further?

22

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 CYPRUS MAIL

Advertiser

ADVERTISER helps you find what you’re looking for

Only

€14 (plus VAT)

a week for classifieds (up to 40 words)

Send your classified by fax or email and pay by credit card, cheque or cash. It couldn’t be simpler!

Nicosia - email: classified@cyprus-mail.com Limassol - email: limassol@cyprus-mail.com Paphos - email: paphos@cyprus-mail.com

MISCELLANEOUS

Nicosia - tel: 22 818583 fax: 22 676385

massage-against stress, back pains, headache. Nicosia for appointment call on 97696795.

Limassol - tel: 25 761117 fax: 25 761141

SERVICES

***************************** *****************************

NOTICE is hereby given that.

ROJINA JOSHI of IPATEIAS 8 LYCAVITOS, NICOSIA, CYPRUS, has applied to the minister of the interior for naturalisation and any person who knows any reason why naturalisation should not be granted is hereby invited to send a written and signed statement of the facts to the Minister of Interior, Nicosia *****************************

NELLIA AGUILAR from Philippines, legally working and living in Nicosia has lost her Cyprus Alien Registration Certificate #. 5684553, Cyprus Work Permit #. 5684553 and most importantly, her Philippines Passport #. XX3537747 in Nicosia recently. Anybody who finds her documents can please inform your nearest police station or call me on 96261201 or email me on nellia.aguilar@yahoo.com.

ACUPUNCTURE, cupping, skin honing, massage. For the alleviation of aches, pains, stress and rehabilitation from illness or injury. Qualified Chinese practitioner. Pafos [Konia] 9922 1851. *****************************

CLINICAL PILATES. Personalised Clinical Pilates by Physiotherapists in Nicosia.

Individual assessment and supervision of exercises.

“Clinical pilates” is a modified form of therapeutic exercise used by physiotherapists to assist in the rehabilitation and prevention of musculoskeletal injury especially lower back pain, sacro-iliac pain and neck pain. More info on 22446988.

TAG 175, a female dog around 1.5 years old. She is very lovable and she will definitely be your best friend. At the Nicosia Dog Shelter, many more dogs and puppies like this one are looking for forever homes! To provide a temporary foster home or to adopt, contact on 99520511 monfrid. *****************************

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PETS *****************************

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HEALTH & FITNESS *****************************

MAJESTIC BODIES *Stop smoking *Stress *Control your weight *Panic attacks.

Try Hypnotherapy Ring Chrisanthy 97749109 Counsellor/Clinical Hypnotherapist from Australia (Greek & English speaking) *****************************

HARMONY AND BALANCE! Anti cellulite treatment, reflexology, aromatherapy,

LILLY, a beautiful and sweet pekingese mix female looking for a loving home. Likes children very much and will do ok with other dogs. At the Nicosia Dog Shelter, many more dogs and puppies like this one are looking for forever homes! To provide a temporary foster home or to adopt, contact on 99520511 mon-frid. x****************************

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TASHA a female terrier mix, around 1,5 years old. She is extremely friendly dog and she is very very sweet and clever. She is looking for a forever home! At the Nicosia Dog Shelter, many more dogs and puppies like this one are looking for forever homes! To provide a temporary foster home or to adopt, contact on 99520511 mon-frid. *****************************

DO YOU NEED A WEB-SITE BUT ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE COST? Web design & hosting at exceptionally low prices, experienced designer & programmer , your dream web-site is only a phone call away. Don’t delay!!! Call Andros for a free quote or consultation on 99335078, info@akalou.com, - islandwide CHIMNEY SWEEP, when did you last have your chimney swept or log burner cleaned?

Build-up of soot can cause respiratory problems and fires. All areas, call Dave, a professional sweep, now on 99819137. Also available for weddings. www.paphosluckychimneysweep.com

PERSONAL

AUSTRIAN INGENEUR, 50 years, searching for a nice women. Mobile: 004917365562 or 00491726293462

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ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS - CYPRUS Is drink costing you more than just money? AA could be the answer.

Meeting at the following locations/days. Call to speak to an AA member.

Ayia Napa Monday 97798043 Larnaca Tuesday (Polish spk) 96616589 Thursday 24645523 / 99259264 Limassol Tuesday / Wednesday / Friday / Saturday 25368265 / 99559322 Nicosia Wednesday/Sunday 99013596 Paphos Tuesday / Thursday / Saturday 99916331 / 99399240 Details of meetings are available on www.aa-europe.net

PROFESSIONAL UPHOLSTERY CLEANING, also carpets, rugs and mattresses.

Special offers now available.

For a quote call Rickys Cleaning Services on 99131044 (all areas) rickyscleaningservices@gmail.com

PRIVATE TUITION Experienced, UK-qualified teacher offers full/part-time private home tuition in Maths, English, the Sciences, Geography, History, Business Studies and Economics, from KS3 to iGCSE, AS and A2 levels.

9 years experience in Cyprus; references available. Telephone 99318796 *****************************

TIME FOR A CAREER CHANGE? Learn how to teach English! The London Teacher Training College is offering TEFL Certificate courses in Cyprus. For more information call now on 99839307. *****************************

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DO YOU WANT A SHINY LOOKING FLOOR? Full repair & restoration of chipped, scratched, dull and stained, Marble, Terrazzo, Stone & Ceramic tiled floors and surfaces. Professional cleaning, repair & sealing of internal/ external ceramic tiles & grout lines. For a free professional consultation & demonstration contact Mark at Premier on 70006766 or 96333961 All areas *****************************

K.D.FLYSCREENS LTD We manufacture top quality sliding screens, opening doors and roller systems. We also do repairs. For a FREE QUOTE please contact Phone: 99119582 Website: www.kdflyscreens.com *****************************

WE UNDERTAKE REFURBISHING of houses or holiday homes, construction of pergolas, undertaking of plumbing, house painting, garden work. For information call JIMMYS: 96587137, MELIS: 96547879

FOR SALE MISCELLANEOUS

Paphos - tel: 26 911383 fax: 26221049

cept design, €350 buyer to collect. Limassol area. Tel 99201904 WIND TURBINE 600W-1000W with professional grid tie inverter with built-in brake. Will also throw in cable to wire it all up. Only used for four months selling due to upgrade €425 phone 99983543 *****************************

IPHONE 3GS white 16gb.

Brand new, only been turned on to make sure it is ok. €21000 phone 99983543 *****************************

CLOTHES STOCKS AND SHOP FITTINGS FOR SALE. Excellent women’s brands for sale including Italian, Spanish and French clothes and shoes. Also women’s dummies and modern wall fittings (clothes rails.) Selling at very low prices for clearance. Tel: 99-168943

FOR SALE BUSINESS/ PROPERTY/LAND PRIME LAND IS AVAILABLE FOR LONG LEASE IN LIMASSOL. 40, 000 sq.m., zoning Ka7 (80% -45% - 3 stories). Regular amphitheatrical shape overlooking Ladies Mile. Close to New Limassol Hospital with direct access to Limassol – Paphos Highway.

Water supply, electricity and telephones are readily available. Suitable for immediate development. Ideal for various health facilities and resorts, holiday centres, commercial and shopping centres, entertainment enterprises etc.

Information: Tel. 22 674338, 99621554 FOR SALE LAND in Anthoupoli (half plot) 288 sq.metres. for information 99621554.

WANTED TO RENT FLAT OR HOUSE TO RENT, 2-3 bedrooms, veranda/terrace or garden, prefer furnished, SW of Nicosia (in approx area Lakadamia to Kapedes and Kalo Chorio) alan.tye@birdlifecyprus.org. cy, 22455072, 99089083.

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L-SHAPE SOFA, long 5 seats.

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Larnaca - tel: 24 652243 fax: 24 659982

classified contents Employment Opportunities pg -Employment Miscellaneous 22 Pets 22 Lessons 22 Health & Fitness 22 Personal 22 Services 22 For Sale Miscellaneous 22 For Sale Land/ Property Business 22 For Sale Motor vehicles 22 Wanted -To Let Nicosia 23 To Let Limassol 24 To Let Larnaca 24 To Let Paphos 25 To Let Protaras, Ayia Napa, Paralimni -For Sale Nicosia 26 For Sale Limassol -For Sale Larnaca -For Sale Paphos 26 For Sale Ayia Napa -For Sale Famagusta Protaras -For Sale Athens -Property& Home Services display ads --

abbreviations bdrm c/h a/c s/pool f/f apt pm pw sw nw st rd p/s c/l swb r/cass e/w

bedroom central heating air conditioning swimming pool fully furnished apartment per month per week south west north west street road power steering central locking short wheel base radio cassette electric windows

Please note tel nos. that begin with: 22 = Nicosia 23 = Paralimni/Protaras 24 = Larnaca 25 = Limassol 26 = Paphos

23

CYPRUS MAIL Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Advertiser FOR SALE MOTOR VECHICLES sedan, colour silver, very good condition, many extras.

Private sale. Price €4,750.

Contact John on 97750490 (Limassol)

TO LET NICOSIA maid’s room and large garden. Call 99883521 *****************************

MERCEDES BENZ, Model 2003 C180, Compressor Manual (5+1), White colour, Electric window, A/C, good condition, 5300€ Contact No: 97888026

TO LET 3 bedroom house situated on a dead end street next to a small quiet park near Falcon School. Has an En-suite master room, large study room, central heating, a/c and fire place in the living room. For enquiries tel 99660758

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MINI COOPER (2005) 1600cc, 52.000 miles, British racing green/Blk roof, full mini spec., bluetooth, fitted, MOT 15/07/14, €5.995 ono. Contact 99531267 Pyla.

FOR RENT OR SELL: 2 bedroom flat in Nikis Ave in Nicosia, 80 m. Completely renovated, with electric supplies.

Excellent for office or flat. 3 bed-room flat and some furnitures in Nicosia near Central Bank, 140 m. Completely renovated like new. Mob : 99 460 860

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FORD FOCUS GHIA (2006) diesel, 1600cc, 98000km, blue, automatic - tiptronic. dual zone climate control, power steering, electric windows, 6 airbags, central locking, cruise control, computer board, alloy wheels, and many extras. €7500 ono.

Contact: 99022779 - Nicosia *****************************

PROPERTY TO LET NICOSIA *****************************

NEW LUXURY residence for rent, located in a prestigious area in Strovolos. It offers spacious living rooms, 3 bedrooms en-suite, 2 kitchens,

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LUXURIOUS APARTMENT FOR RENT A luxurious one floor apartment situated in central Nicosia in an area of exceptional Beauty at 3 Museum Street, is available to let. It has been recently renovated and consists of four bedrooms, two bathrooms, big dining and sitting rooms, kitchen and a huge veranda. Approximate covered area 250 sqm. Monthly rent €1400.00 o.n.o. Tel: 99622370. www.parcon.com. cy *****************************

FLATS / HOUSES FOR RENT: studio Aglantzia €350, 1bdrm Ag. Andreas furnished €425, Hilton €400, Strovolos €350,

TO LET NICOSIA Acropolis €380, Kennedy furnished €400, 2bdrm Ag. Dometios €400, Lykavitos €550, Kennedy €400, Acropolis rear house €300, 3bdrm m/ssa with garden €500, Str/ los €400, Acropolis €550, 4 bdrm new house Dasoupolis €1,200, Acropolis g/f €800.

21 PROPERTY FINDER A.M. 627 A.A.108 / E 99474839, 99646822 *****************************

MODERN 2 BDRM, first floor flat in attractive building in Anthoupolis, very quiet area between the Grammar School and the European University, also very convenient for Pascal and Highgate Schools and the University of Nicosia. Large front veranda, all appliances, modern fittings, light and bright. Furnished or unfurnished €550p.m. Call 99900177. *****************************

2 ROOMS €125 each, near McDonald’s Engomi only Philippine girls. Call 99663927.

TO LET NICOSIA (furnished if required). Tel: 97773358. *****************************

LUXURY HOUSES: 1. 5 bedrs detached house, 550sq.m, built in 2 big plots of land, big garden with grass, big swimming pool with extra fence for children and big covered patio with bbq area, big reception areas with marble floor, fire place and bar, big kitchen with all electrical appliances and sitting room with fire place, maid’s room, floor heating, full a/c, blinds on the windows, master bedroom with en suite bathroom and shower, big bathroom for the other 3 bedrooms and extra shower in the 5th bedroom - Strovolos €2500 (H5ST10001-R), (photos in the website).

2. H3AR0004-R, 3 bedr luxury detached house with central heating, full a/c, 3wc, 2 bathrooms, parquet floor throughout the house, big sitting and

TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET NICOSIA

dining area, big kitchen with family room opening onto the swimming pool which has big covered area with wooden deck, bbq area, covered parking, in a very quiet area behind Apoel football training ground - Archagelos - €1700 (photos in website).

3. 2 bedr fully renovated semi detached house 120 sq. m, a/c for hot and cold, small yard, FULLY FURNSIHED or not, double glazed windows with aluminum shutters, in a quiet area off Nikis behind Burger King - ACROPOLIS €650 (H2ACS0001-R), (photos in the website).

4. 3 bedr luxury semi-detached house with character, 200sq.m, central heating, full ac, sitting and dining room with fire place, big kitchen with cooker and oven, dishwasher and refrigerator, nice mature garden with flowers, trees and small garden with grass, covered parking, 3wc, 2 bathrooms in a quiet neigh-

borhood. Available middle of January. Agios Andreas €1200 - H3AAD0001-R (photos in website).

5. 4 bedr new luxury detached house, separate maid’s room, central heating, full Ac, 260sq.m, big kitchen with all the electrical appliances, blinds on all the windows, 4wc, 2 showers, 1 bathroom, 2 covered parking, big garden with grass in a quiet neighbourhood in a dead end near French Ambassador house - Strovolos €1400 (H4ST10045-R), (photos in the website).

6. 3 bedr+big attic room with shower and wc luxury new house, 210sq.m, central heating, full a/c, 4wc, blinds on all windows, cooker and oven in the kitchen, small garden, covered parking near Alpha Mega supermarket - STROVOLOS €1200 (H4ST10007-R), (photos in the website).

7. 3 bedr detached ground floor

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FOR RENT 3 B/R apartment fully furnished close to Central Bank. 3 W.C., fully airconditioned extra storeroom, owned covered parking. Excellent condition. Information: Tel. 99621554 *****************************

3 BEDROOMS flat on second floor in a block of six flats, in a nice position at Strovolos area, fully a/c, c/h, covered parking place for one car, recently painted. Rent €650pm.

English-Painter & Decorator

SELEC Fencing & Decking Specialist

Fully Qualified 30 years’ Experience

For all your Garden and Security Fencing ♦ Quality approved workmanship ♦ 15 years experience + guaranteed work ♦ English workers ♦ also garden gates ♦ sheds ♦ chain link fencing ♦ free estimates ♦ all types of fencing & decking

ALL AREAS • External & Internal painting • Damp Damage Repairs • Spritze Repairs • Free Estimates + very clean work • All areas. All types of woodwork stained and preserved • All work guaranteed

Tel. Tony on 99176557

Tel. SELEC fencing 99176557

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Offering readers great value Motor insurance in Cyprus

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Abbeygate CYPRUS 1

24

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 CYPRUS MAIL

Advertiser TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET NICOSIA

house with separate maid’s room, with very big garden with grass(200sq.m) and covered patio with bbq and bar, central heating, full a/c, 180sq.m, FULLY FURNISHED or NOT, 2 covered parking, storage room, in a very quiet neighborhood opposite Acropolis park - Acropolis €1200 - H3ACS0004-R (photos in website).

8. H4LAK0002-R, 3 bedr + office space luxury detached house, built on a big plot, 350sq. m, big swimming pool with cover, garden with grass, big sitting and dining room, separate family room, central heating, a/c, curtains on all the windows, cooker, dishwasher and dryer, parquet floor throughout the house,3wc, 2 bathrooms, 2 covered parking in a quiet area on the borders of Strovolos with Lakatamia Lakatamia- €1600 (photos in website).

9. 3 bedr upstairs and 2 separate bedroom in the basement luxury detached house(all the bedrooms with en suite bathrooms/shower), also separate kitchen and sitting room in the basement which has also separate entrance from the house, central heating, full a/c, solid parquet floor all the house, big sitting and dining room with fire place, big fully equipped kitchen with breakfast area and family room, big overfloor, swimming pool with covered patio area with fully equipped bar(bbq, fridge, freezer, cooker), mature garden around the house, 2 parking places, alarm system near the Cyprus Conference Centre- PLATY AGLANTZIAS €3500 (H5PAG0002-R), (photos in the website).

10. 4 bedr semi detached house with central heating, 4 a/c, 3 wc, 2 bathrooms, 180sq.m, electrical appliances, small yard, bbq area, off Kostantinoupoleos street near French ambassador residence.- STROVOLOS €700 (H4ST10043-R), (photos in the website).

11. 4 bedr luxury semi detached

house with good size garden with grass, big covered patio with bbq area, central heating, a/c units, 3wc, 2 bathrooms, 2 covered parking, FULLY FURNISHED AND EQUIPPED, in a quiet area in a dead end close to all amenities and schools. - ANTHOUPOLIS €1300 (H4ANT0002-R), (photos in the website).

12. H4AGZ0010-R, 3 bedr RENOVATED GROUND FLOOR HOUSE with big separate 1 bedroom flat with multi room, big sitting and dining room , separate tv room, big kitchen with family room and fitted cooker and oven, 3wc, 2 bathrooms, very big 5 X 6 bedrooms with solid parquet floor, central heating with petrol independent, a/c units, double glazed windows with shutters, big verandas around the house, in a very quiet neighbourhood 200metres from FRENCH school and near Athalassas park Aglantzia - €1300 (photos in website).

13. 3 bedr ground floor house with big separate 80sq,m room with shower and wc for multi use, central heating independent, full a/c, 2wc, 2 shower,1 bathroom, fully furnished, small garden, bbq area, parking, on a small building in a very quiet area near Agios Vasilios church. Strovolos - €900 - H4ST10028-R (photos in website).

14. 3 bedr + big attic room with shower and wc luxury new house,210sq.m, central heating, full a/c, 4wc, blinds on all windows, cooker and oven in the kitchen, small garden, covered parking near Alpha Mega supermarket - Strovolos - €1200 – H4ST10007-R (photos in website).

15. 3 bedr detached house with extra room for office, 250sq.m, central heating independent, 4a/c, big renovated kitchen with cooker and oven, big sitting and dining room with parquet floor and fire place, 1bathroom, 2 shower, 3wc, 2 covered parking, double glazed windows

and shutters in bedrooms, big verandas surrounded by trees and bushes off 28th October street in the central part of Makedonitissa - Makedonitissa - €1100 – H3MAK0004-R (photos in website).

For many more properties with photos visit our website at www.landtouristestates.com which is updated daily. LANDTOURIST ESTATES LTD 22-422225/96422225/96422226, www.landtouristestates. com

ing – Agios Dometios - € 660 - A2ADO0004-R (photos in website).

6. 2 bedr luxury spacious apartment on a small modern building with central heating independent(with petrol), full a/c, solid parquet floor, big bedrooms, big sitting room with open plan kitchen, big covered veranda, FULLY MODERN FURNISHED, covered parking off Makarios avenue in a quiet area near the centre – Nicosia Centre- € 800 – A2NIC0030-R (photos in website).

7. 4 bedr luxury floor apartment,250sq.m, office, maid’s room, central heating ind, full hidden wall unit a/c,2 showers, 1 bathroom, 3wc, parquet floor, big kitchen with cooker and oven, bbq on the veranda in the kitchen, big sitting area, roller blinds on all the windows, alarm system, big veranda on a small building off Athalasas avenue near Alpha Mega supermarket and Areteion hospital – Dasoupolis - € 1100 - A4DAS0002-R (photos in website).

8. A1ACS0007- R, 1 bedr luxury spacious apartment with 2 a/c for hot and cold, electrical appliances in the kitchen, big bedroom, covered veranda, blinds, covered parking, in a quiet area near Acropolis park. NICELY FURNISHED. Acropolis €450 (photos in website).

9. 3 bedr new luxury finished PENTHOUSE apartment 150sq.m internal areas+120sq. verandas, solid parquet floor all the flat, big bedrooms, big sitting and dining room, big semi separate kitchen with electrical appliances, home cine ma with big screen, LCD tv, covered parking in a quiet neighborhood near CYTA, Laiki + Hellenic bank headquarters and French school. CAN BE RENTED ALSO expensive MODERN furnished – Dasoupolis - € 1200 - A3DAS0019-R (photos in website).

10. A2AOM0009-R 2 bedr luxury finished apartment in a small building with 4 flats only, central heating with petrol independent, full a/c, 2 bedrooms with en-suite bathroom/shower, separate guest wc, NICE MODERN EXPENSIVE FURNITURE, big covered veranda, covered parking, storage room, in a very quiet neighbourhood very close to Junior school and the park - Agioi Omologites - € 800 (photos in website).

11. 3 bedr luxury spacious

ground floor apartment with separate entrance, big verandas and garden, big sitting and dining room, central heating independent, full a/c, 2wc, very big master bedroom, electrical appliances in the kitchen, aluminum shutters on windows, parquet laminate floor all the flat, covered parking, storage room, in a very quiet neighbourhood in a dead end street, off Athalasas Avenue behind Stephanis near English School €700 (A3ST10030-R), (photos in the website).

12. A2LYK0006-R, 2 bedr penthouse apartment with big veranda 60sq.m, storage heaters, full a/c, 2 bathrooms (one en suite), big sitting room, big separate kitchen with cooker and oven, blinds, covered parking near Agios Antonios market CLOSE TO THE UNIVERSITY. Lykavitos €510 (photos in website).

13. 3 bedr luxury apartment with central heating independent, full a/c, 2 bathrooms, parquet floor, big sitting and dining area, big covered veranda, covered parking, storage room, blinds, shutters in the bedrooms, big kitchen with all expensive electrical appliances, off Makarios avenue near the centre – Nicosia Centre- € 800 – A3NIC0025-R (photos in website).

14. 4 bedr new spacious luxury finished floor apartment with floor heating independent, full a/c, 3wc, electrical appliances in the kitchen, blinds on all windows, very big 50sq.m covered veranda, fire place, covered parking and big overfloor heated covered swimming pool on the ground floor, on a small 3 storey building in a quiet neighborhood near a playground and near Ippokration private hospital Engomi - €2000 A4ENG0003-R (photos in website).

15. 2 bedrs new luxury apartment, sitting room open plan with kitchen which includes cooker, oven, refrigerator and washing machine, 2 wc, central heating, full AC, blinds on the windows, very big covered verandas, covered parking and storage room in a dead end off Athalassas avenue near Laiki popular bank and Hellenic bank headquarters. - DASOUPOLI €550 (A2DAS0006-R), (photos in the website).

For many more properties with photos visit our website at www.landtouristestates. com which is updated daily. LANDTOURIST ESTATES LTD 22-422225 / 96-422225 / 96422226 www.landtouristestates. com

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LUXURY FLATS: 1. 3 bedr luxury finished spacious floor apartment with very big sitting and dining areas with family room with fire place, solid parquet floor all throught, central heating independent, full a/c, all the bedrooms with en suite shower/bathroom, 4wc, big kitchen with all the electrical appliances, blinds on all windows, big covered veranda, covered parking, big storage room, on a small 3 storey building in a quiet neighborhood – Agios Andreas- € 1300 – A3AAD0005-R (photos in website).

2. AINIC0006- R, 1 bedr., fully furnished and equipped apartment, 50sq.m, 2AC for hot and cold, covered verandah, covered parking, nice view, off Makarios avenue between Hilton and DEBENHAMS shop. Nicosia centre, € 450 (photos in website).

3. 3 bedr new luxury big apartment 150sq.m+big 25sq.m veranda with very nice view, big sitting and dining areas, big separate kitchen with all the electrical appliances, big bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, storage heaters, full a/c, shutters and blinds on the windows, covered parking in a quiet neighborhood off Prodromou close Ministry od Defence – Engomi- € 700 – A3ENG0026-R (photos in website).

4. A1DAS0010-R, 1 bedr luxury spacious apartment with big sitting and dining room, big bathroom, big bedroom with shutters, covered veranda, storage heaters, 2a/c, cooker and oven in the kitchen, covered parking in a quiet area in a small modern building near Acropolis Park. Dasoupolis €400 (photos in website).

5. 2 bedr new luxury modern furnished apartment , central heating ind, 2 a/c, big covered veranda and covered parking in a quiet area behind the Municipal build-

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2 BDRM flat in the centre of Nicosia. Rent €450. For in-

TO LET NICOSIA formation call 99663927.

99453663,

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LIMASSOL 4

BEDROOM HOUSE IN EPISKOPI Split level 4-yearold house detached with central heating, a/c all over the house, lounge dinning room, separate kitchen, utility room, en-suite master bedroom, parking, three wcs. Price 800 euros (negotiable) 25337400 3 BEDROOM HOUSE IN YPSONAS 3-year-old two storey detached house situated in a private area of Ypsonas with separate kitchen, lounge dinning room,garden, parking en-suite master bedroom a/c all over house. 25 337400 Price 700 euros 2 BEDROOM COTTAGE FOR RENT IN LANIA VILLAGE in a quiet and peaceful area, fully furnished, storage heaters, a/c, rent €300 per month.

Minimum contract 1 year. Info mob 99548855 FOR RENT new ground floor terrace studios for rent in Kouka village (20 minutes from Limassol) in a quiet and peaceful area fully furnished €180 per month minimum contract 1 year. For info mob 99548855 *****************************

GROUND FLOOR HOUSE, furnished renovated this year. Laminated parke floor, and big wardrobes in the 3 bedrooms. Rent €590.00 Tel 99497576 99886775

LARNACA 1 BEDROOM two-storey maisonette for rent 200m from the sea on Larnaca-Dhekelia Road. No communal expenses fully furnished, heating and a/c, 1 bathroom - 270 euro a month . Call 99449556 *****************************

FOR RENT spacious 3 bedroom apartment with balcony situated in centre of town, semi furnished. Please call 99311152 *****************************

FOR RENT 2 bed, 2 bath, new built apartment, in a quiet scenic location In Alethriko, Larnaca 5 min. to Larnaka, 5 min. to the beach Fully furnished, A/C, communal pool, under covered parking, Long term rent, €350.00 per month For more info pls call 99639378 *****************************

FULLY FURNISHED one bedroom flat near Larco hotel Larnaca. Price €370. Tel: 99202543 *****************************

25

CYPRUS MAIL Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Advertiser TO LET PAPHOS PAPHOS *****************************

MR RENT PAPHOS, THE LEADING PROPERTY RENTAL AGENCY IN PAPHOS OFFICE: 26271858 (00357) IF YOU HAVE A PROPERTY TO RENT WE ARE THE RENTAL AGENCY TO CONTACT OFFERING FULL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT & RENT COLLECTION SERVICE 1. TSADA €380 charming 2 bedroom 2 bathroom bungalow with gas central heating throughout, log burner in living area and real fireplace in bedroom, perfect for those winter months. A fully enclosed pretty courtyard offers stunning views. Available furnished. Pets allowed at owners discretion. Website reference number: RTL_644 2. UNIVERSAL AREA €450 luxury modern 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment. Available fully furnished with modern furniture including plasma tv & satellite, fully equipped modern kitchen with top brand appliances. Situated on top floor with lift. Complex with communal pools & indoor gym. Great central location walking distance to bus routes & shops. Website reference number: RTL_395 3. KISSONERGA €550 modern detached 3 bedroom villa

TO LET PAPHOS

TO LET PAPHOS

TO LET PAPHOS

TO LET PAPHOS

situated in a quiet residential area. Master bedroom with ensuite, separate kitchen, downstairs guest wc. Enclosed garden offering private pool & off street parking.

Available unfurnished though can include kitchen appliances. Pets allowed at owners discretion. Website reference number: RTL_501 4. CHLORAKA €750 modern detached 4 bedroom 3 bathroom villa with ground floor bedroom & bathroom.

Beautifully furnished with good quality modern furniture includes sky satellite, fly screens & feature fireplace with modern gas fire. Private pool offering views of the sea.

Off street parking. Situated within walking distance of bus routes & shops. Website reference number: RTL_611 5. PEYIA €850 luxury spacious 3 bedroom 3 bathroom villa with automated garage, situated in a private residential area offering breathtaking sea views. This desirable villa offers central heating & real fireplace for those winter months. Manicured garden & private pool. Hot tub & bbq area. Modern fitted kitchen, separate utility room & games room. Website reference number: RTL_ 270 6. SECRET VALLEY €850 modern 3 bedroom bungalow, master with ensuite. Spacious modern kitchen, fully furnished with modern furniture. Landscaped garden with

private pool offering stunning views. Situated in a quiet residential area. Website reference number: RTL_651 7. ANAVARGOS €895 we are delighted to offer this unique 5 bedroom 3 bathroom rustic country home offering spacious living accomodation with large gardens, private pool & stone built bbq & entertainment area. Fully furnished with log burner for those winter months. A real character home worth viewing. Pets allowed. Website reference number: RTL_635 offers considered.

8. TALA €900 a charming detached 4 bedroom villa with character, situated on a corner plot in a quiet residental area with breathtaking sea views. Spacious living rooms with central heating & real fireplace. Separate kitchen & dining room. Good sized garden offering private pool and stone built barbeque area.

Undercover parking. Available fully furnished. Website reference number: RTL_638 TEL: 97790883 OFFICE: 26271858 VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MANY MORE PROPERTIES www.mrrentpaphos.net Email: info@ mrrent-paphos.net

€335 pcm including all bills 2. Tala 2 bed quality furnished apartment. Stunning sea views, large balcony, well kept gardens, communal pool, quiet area. €375 pcm 3. Chlorakas Large 4 bed detached villa, secluded position, large private pool, a/c, and parking. Unfurnished.

Very nice well worth seeing. €800 pcm reduced 4. Peyia Unfurnished 2 bed 2 bathroom house, a/c, ceil-

ing fans, fly screens, storage, satellite TV, private parking, swimming pool, From €350 pcm REDUCED THIS IS JUST A SMALL SELCTION OF PROPERTIES THAT ARE AVAILABLE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THESE AND MANY MORE PLEASE CALL EITHER 96 545 174 OR E-MAIL ON info@unique-consultancy. eu LANDLORDS; WE NEED YOUR PROPERTIES NOW.

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Long Term Rentals 1. Chlorakas 1 bed ground floor furnished apartment with central heating, communal pool and parking, sky TV.

TO LET PAPHOS PLEASE CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY IF YOU HAVE A PROPERTY FOR RENT. *****************************

1. UNIVERSAL – superb 2 bed furnished apartment for rent.

Lovely quiet complex with pool, private parking, entry phone system & storage room. €350 per month.

2. UNIVERSAL – one bed furnished apartment on 2nd floor, small quiet well maintained complex with sea

26

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 CYPRUS MAIL

Advertiser TO LET PAPHOS

TO LET PAPHOS

views. €300 per month.

3. UNIVERSAL – 2 two bed, 2 bath apartments on superb quiet complex, with 3 pools, gym, sauna, jaccuzi & bowling green. 1 apt furnished, 1 unfurnished from €400 per month.

4. TALA – 2 two bed, 2 bath villa style apts on stunning quiet complex with 4 pools, with off road and underground parking. 1 apt furnished 1 U/F from €360 per month.

PLEASE CALL 96203009

furnished, air conditioned throughout, communal swimming pool, covered parking, close to all amenities, euro 330 p/m 4. CHLORAKA, 3 bedroom furnished villa with pool, amazing views, master en-suite, in cul-de-sac, fully airconditioned with fireplace, euro 700 p/m PLEASE CALL : 99 387842

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FOR RENT A selection of 1 to 5 bedroom houses & apartments F/F & U/F Universal, Peyia, Tomb of the Kings, Tsada, Timi, Chlorakas & Kato Paphos Landlord & Owners please call 99329357 Or please view at are website www.cyprussands.com Fully Registered Company in Cyprus *****************************

1. MANDRIA, 2 bedroom apartment, fully furnished with modern furniture, separate kitchen, communal swimming pool, air conditioning throught, 2 balconies euro 375 p/m o.N.O 2. SEA CAVES, 3 bedroom bungalow, specially fitted for people with disabilities , stunning sea views, free wi-fi, fully furnished with modern furniture, swimming pool, all bedrooms with en-sute, utility room, air conditioning throughout, shutters, very green and secluded area euro 1100 p/m o.N.O 3. EMBA, 2 bedroom apartment, 2 bathroom, modern

FOR SALE Semi-detached house in Archangelos area split level on a hill, no houses in front, 3 big bedrooms, 2 big bathrooms and TV room big lounge & dining area, fireplace, fitted kitchen, 40 sq.m. store room, C/H, A/C, solar.

For information call: 99496541

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CHLORAKAS, 2 bedroom apartment, fully furnished, large veranda, very quiet location, communal pool, Euro 280 – o.n.o Please call: 99699019 /26910140 *****************************

A DELIGHTFUL AND SPACIOUS 1 bedroom apartment, F/F, top floor, new, located at a peaceful location just 500 from St. George hotel in Chloraka. A+ quality apt. Within walking distance to amenities, part of a beautiful building with swimming pool, list and other amenities.

Only €250p/m Other apts also available near Carrefour in the Centre of Paphos. Call 99403261, 26934650 *****************************

PAPHOS RENTALS SECTION TREMITHOUSA - Very sought after location, Modern 2 Bedroom, F/F, Town House, Lovely Communal Pool, Sea views, Early viewing highly recommended, 400 Euros PAPHOS - Very large 3 Bedroom Apt , Fully Furnished to a very high standard ,Would suit 3 Professionals sharing, Within close proximity to Hospital and Court, Central Heating, 2 Bathrooms, Laundry, 350 Euros.

TALA - Luxurious 4 Bedroom, F/F to a very high standard, 2 bathrooms, 2 en-suite, Swimming Pool, Landscaped Garden and Spectacular Views, 700 Euros.

EMPA - Immaculate, Spacious 2 Bedroom, U/F, House, Large kitchen, Patio, Quiet location, Must be seen, 300 Euros WANTED - 2 bedroom furnished properties MORE PROPERTIES AVAIL-

U SEFUL PHONE NUMBERS POLICE DIVISION HQ

HOSPITALS ........ 1400

Nicosia ........................22 802 020 Limassol ......................25 805 050 Larnaca .......................24 804 040 Paphos ........................26 806 060 Famagusta ..................23 803 030

Nicosia General .............22-801400 Nicosia Makarios ...........22-405000 Limassol Old ................25-305333 Limassol New ................25-801100 Larnaca Old...................24-630312 Larnaca New .................24-630300 Paphos ..........................26-821800 Famagusta ....................23-821211

Drug Law Enforcement Unit ......................................... 1498 (Confidential Information) Rescue Co-ordination Centre ............................. 1441 (Immediate Response Service for Aeronautical or Maritime Accident & Incidents) Game Fund Service: (Wildlife and hunting) Central offices (Nicosia): 22867786, 22-867897 Nicosia: 22-664606, 99-445697 Limassol: 25-343800, 99-445728, Larnaca/Famagusta: 24-805128, 99-634325 Paphos: 26-306211, 99-445679

Narcotics Helpline ......... 1410 (Outside hours.............. 22304160) AIDS Advisory Bureau ................................ 22-302826 Domestic Violence Centre .......................................... 1440 (Emergency Centre for Victims) Drug Info & Poison Control ............... 1401 Cyprus Samaritans ... 77777267 Police Duty Officer ......... 1499 (Confidential Information)

Forest Fires ..................... 1407 Airports Larnaca ..........................77778833 Paphos ...........................77778833

TO LET PAPHOS ABLE FOR INFORMATION PLEASE CALL 99862922 *****************************

FLOWRON PROPERTY RENTALS, YOUR NUMBER ONE CHOICE FOR RENTAL PROPERTIES. LOOKING FOR A RELIABLE AND EFFICIENT PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COMPANY, CALL THE EXPERTS TODAY!!

TIMI 3 bed modern villa with wood burner, Ac, offered fully furnished. Spacious living areas with 2 sitting areas, big kitchen,3 upstairs bedrooms, master on suite shower, family bathroom, Small private pool, off street parking. Quite location not far from the village amenities. Paphos Town.

Ref: 722 price €600 KISSONERGRA A bed luxury villa on its own private grounds, with fantastic views of the sea, private pool, Modem Furnishings, quality appliances, downstairs bedroom, large kitchen, upstairs bedroom with en suite, family bathroom. Ref 0000 Price €950 ANARITA A 3 bed villa offered furnished , with private pool, in nice quiet cul-de-sac, off street parking, AC. quality kitchen, 3 bedrooms upstairs.

Ref 855 price €600 PEGEIA A superb character 4 bedroom villa, with beams, fire place, central heating. Italian kitchen, sitting and dining areas, 3 good size bedroom, with downstairs bedroom with en suite. Outside mature gardens, private pool, fantastic views, peaceful location. Ref: 765 Price €900 Mandria A modern unfurnished 4 bed Villa with private pool.

Downstairs bedroom with shower, sitting room with log burner, 3 bedrooms upstairs, master bed with en suite shower room. Property has private fence and pets are welcome. Ref 1174 price €700 YEROSKIPOU 2 bed furnished apartment with communal pool, gym, under cover parking on modern new complex Apartment is furnished, with bathroom, modern kitchen and blinds + AC Ref: 1164 price €350 ARMOU A 3 bedroom fully furnished bungalow with private pool. Nice clean modern property with log burner, 3 good size bedrooms, master en suite, large family bathroom, garage, fantastic views of the sea. Ref 854 Price €750 MANDRIA Modern 2 bedroom apartment, offered furnished.

TO LET PAPHOS

TO LET PAPHOS

Property is modern and has a large outside veranda, great views, large communal pool.

Not far from all local amenities. Ref: 882 Price €400 Please call for a free viewing on Office 26600450 Mobile: 97614070 many more properties on our website at www.flowron.com - www. paphospropertycyprus.com LANDLORDS IF YOU HAVE A PROPERTY FOR RENT, PLEASE CALL US!!!!!!

Your Vision is our Mission

Open plan living area. Dining kitchen. 3 bedrooms and family bathroom. A/C, sat TV. Internet available. Large balcony area. Parking. €350.00 per month 4. TALA - 3 bed 3 bath quality furnished villa. Set in enclosed gardens the villa consists of open plan living area with dining space. Fully fitted kitchen with all appliances, door to rear garden. Storage room. Ground floor bedroom with adjacent shower. Stairs to two double bedrooms both en-suite, one with Jacuzzi tub.

Small seating area with adjacent balcony. Pool and off street parking. Landscaped gardens €750.00 per month or close offers only 5. SEA CAVES – 2 bed, 2 bath fully furnished large townhouse set in quiet location.

Open plan living area. Fully fitted kitchen. 2 double bedrooms and family bathroom.

Garden area and parking.

Realistically priced. Suit retired people or those wanting a quiet area. €400.00 per month 6. UNIVERSAL AREA. 2 bed fully furnished apartment.

Living area, fitted kitchen. 2 double bedrooms and family bathroom. A/C, Enclosed garden area. Comm pool and parking. Euros 375.00 a month or offers. 1 & 2 bed apartments available on Universal starting at €250 per month.

7. LOWER PEYIA - 3 bed, 2.5 bath part furnished villa situated in quiet cul du sac. Open plan living and dining area with doors out to pool and garden. Very large breakfast fitted kitchen. Doors out to garden and pool. Separate guest WC. Stairs to 3 double bedrooms. Master bedroom very large with en-suite shower. Family bathroom. Private pool, gardens, shutters. €550.00 per month or close offers only.

8. STROUMBI– 3 bed 2.5 bath large unfurnished villa in quiet village area. Spacious open plan living area with feature fireplace and dining space Good sized fitted kitchen and breakfast area. Guest WC with storage area.3 double bedrooms. Master with ensuite bathroom. Family bathroom. Enclosed gardens, pool and off street parking.

Realistically priced €550.00 per month. OVNO FOR FULL LISTINGS OF A PA R T M E N T S / T O W N HOUSES AND VILLA PLEASE CALL FOR DETAILS. ALL TYPES OF PROPERTY URGENTLY REQUIRED FOR LONG TERM RENTAL LANDLORDS/ OWNERS PLEASE CALL. PLEASE CALL 97648440 or email:inforentals@aol.

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PEYIA – 3 bedroom villa with modern quality furniture and finishes. Central heating, sky, alarm, infinity pool and stunnning sea and mountain views €700 per month, call: 99389426 *****************************

BRAND NEW APT, opposite Poseidonio Gym, near Carrefour, F/F, a/c, great quality, 1 bdrm, from €340p.m.Tel 99403261 *****************************

RENTAL POINT - PAPHOS PROPERTIES AVAILABLE TO RENT IN THE PAPHOS DISTRICT. JUST A SMALL SAMPLE OF AVAILABLE PROPERTIES. ALL TYPES OF PROPERTY URGENTLY REQUIRED FOR LONG TERM RENTAL. CALL 97648440 FOR MORE INFORMATION. LANDLORDS CALL IF YOU HAVE A PROPERTY FOR RENT.!!!

1. MESA CHORIO – 2 bed 2 bath fully furnished ground floor apartment set on an elevated position in this prestigious development. Open plan living area. Good sized kitchen. 2 double, bedrooms, master with en-suite shower room. Family bathroom.

Large patio areas with enclosed gardens and lovely sea views. Covered parking and security gates.. Comm swimming pool and landscaped gardens. €425.00 a month. 2 bed apartment same complex €400.00 a month.

2 MESOGI 3 bed 3 bath furnished apartment in handy location close to the shopping areas. Large open plan living area and dining area..

Fully fitted dining/kitchen with appliances . Guest WC. Utilty room. 3 double bedrooms one with en-suite. Family bathroom. Balcony & and parking. €500.00 a month.

Suit non-drivers!

3. TOMB OF THE KINGS – 3 bed fully furnished apartment in established block.

Own entrance via stairway.

THE DEVONSHIRE RESTAURANT GOOD HOME COOKING- RUN BY FAMILY-ESTABLISHED 1988

TO LET PAPHOS com *****************************

REFURBISHED stone-built village house located in Kili Paphos. Consists of 3 large rooms 1 small. Traditional wood burnt fireplace, fully tiled secluded yard and garage. Tel: 99210610.

PROPERTY FOR SALE NICOSIA FOR SALE PENTHOUSE between Armenias Str and Hilton Hotel. 3 bedroom, main bedroom with shower, c/h, fireplace, large verandas.

For more information please call: 99467596.

PAPHOS KATO PAPHOS UNIVERSAL, large 2 bedroom apartment, ground floor, 1 bathroom, kitchen, large veranda, private parking, A/C, satellite TV. Near bus route, shops, banks, quiet apartment. Full furniture. Communal pool. 92 sq.m covered area. Full TITLE DEEDS. REDUCED €92,000 PAPHOS 1 bedroom apartment, fantastic central location, lounge/kitchen, bathroom, veranda, covered parking, communal pool, Furnished. Near all amenities. TITLE DEEDS NOW REDUCED €45,000.

1 BEDROOM APARTMENT, TOMBS OF KINGS AREA, close to the sea, large private roof terrace with electric and water, covered parking, veranda, furnished, swimming pool. Full TITLE DEEDS, was €95,000 reduced to €65,000.

Chlorakas, 2 bedroom townhouse.

Exceptional sea views. New kitchen, bedrooms and bathroom. Private parking, On mains sewage system. Communal pool.

A/C, quality fixtures. Fully furnished. Security barrier. FULL TITLE DEEDS Now €92,000 Call 99716390.

UNIVERSAL AREA, 3 bedroom detached villa, covered area 122 sqm, master bedroom en-suite, air conditioned throughout, all white goods, solar panels, garden irrigation, plot size 273 sqm, communal pool, euro 165.000 o.v.n.o. – title deeds available Call : 99682644- no agents FOR SALE special offer, €79, 000 first floor apartment in Protaras, fully furnished with 2 bedrooms and a swimming pool. Walking distance to the beach of Ayia Triada and all amenities. Tel: 97 608941. *****************************

• BE ASTOUNDED BY OUR LOW WINTER PRICES !

• OPEN ALL WINTER 7 DAYS A WEEK !

• SUNDAY ROAST LUNCH & DINNER FOR ONLY EURO 6.95 !!!

• BOOKINGS FOR PRIVATE PARTIES AVAILABLE AT VERY LOW PRICES !

• OPEN FOR CHRISTMAS DAY LUNCH & NEW YEAR’S EVE CALL PETER NOW FOR ANY ENQUIRIES: 96870774 – PAPHOS

FOR SALE Well-kept detached bungalow on the edge of Pano Kivides. Quiet location with open view. Kitchen/diner 5.55m x 3.75 Separate lounge of similar size. Two bedrooms, with A/C, fitted wardrobes.

Good size bathroom. Mains drainage. Entrance hall, used as an office. Gas CH. All new double glazed windows. Conservatory 7.26m x 2.46m. Outside, plot in excess of 700 sq. m.. Large covered area including brick built workshop 5.3m x 4.8m . Hot tub. Car port, TITLE DEEDS. Euros 198000. Private sale. No agents. No VAT. Why pay for a building site with no services when you could move into a comfortable home, with no hassle, but lots of potential, for less?

Tel. 99995906 or 99995992.

27

CYPRUS MAIL Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Advertiser FOR PAPHIAKOS ANIMAL WELFARE SOS HELPLINE, 24 HOUR MEDICAL EMERGENCY SERVICE - CALL 99655581 CONTACT DETAILS FOR PAPHIAKOS. Paphiakos & C.C.P. Animal Welfare Education/Information Centre, No. 12 Dedalos Building, 8049 Kato Paphos PO Box 61272 8132 Kato Paphos Web. www.cyprusanimalwelfare.com www.facebook/paphiakos Email info@cyprusanimalwelfare.com Larnaca Emergency Service - The contact point for animal emergencies in Larnaca is Maria at the Paphiakos Animal Welfare Charity Shop, telephone 24623494 or 99325897 STOP, SHOP AND GIVE TO THE ANIMALS! ALL DONATIONS ARE WELCOME AT OUR CHARITY SHOPS! PAPHIAKOS & C.C.P. ANIMAL WELFARE Registered Charity No 1529 Contact our shops and we can take your clutter The Charity Shops are located at: Shop No.1 Agapinoros Street, Kato Paphos Tel 26910325 Shop No.2 Ap Pavlou Avenue, Kato Paphos Tel 26942894 Shop No.3 Gr. Afxentiou Avensia Court 3 Larnaca 24623494 Shop No.4 9 Ayiou Ioanni Street 3061 Limassol 25561695 Peyia Information Centre & Shop & T Rooms 26622828 Polis Information Centre & Shop & T Rooms 99223572 Book Exchange Shop Trimithousa 99771763 Our shops are always happy to receive your unwanted goods!

NOW YOU CAN HELP BY COLLECTING YOUR ALUMINIUM CANS AND HANDING THEM IN AT ANY PAPHIAKOS CHARITY SHOP OR THE CLINIC. SAVE AN ANIMAL AND SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT!!

PAPHIAKOS CAR BOOT SALE EVERY SATURDAY at the Ambassador Restaurant and outside in the grounds at Paphiakos. Free parking. Sellers from 7am, buyers from 8am. For information & bookings please call MIKE on 96702600.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS FOR PAPHIAKOS CHARITY NO. 1529 WORLD ANIMAL DAY. On Thursday October 4th Paphiakos will be micro chipping pets for only €20 including all the paperwork. For further information telephone 26953496.

To celebrate World Animal Day on Thursday October 4th Paphiakos will be offering free spaying/neutering for all feral and unwanted animals as they do throughout the year. Contact 26953496 for further details.

PAPHIAKOS SHELTER OPEN DAY The Open Day will be held on Sunday October 7th between 10am and 3pm. It will be a Family Fun Day out with a lot of different activities. There is car parking, toilets and refreshments on site so enjoy and join in the celebration of animals and what they bring to our lives. Entrance is €2 CHARITY HAIR CUT. On Thursday 4th October 09.30-17.30 without an appointment Andri at Atlantic Bay Hotel (2nd Floor) will be charging €5 for a haircut with all proceeds going to Paphiakos. Telephone Suzanne on 99151996 or Andri on 99604783.

PAPHIAKOS CHRISTMAS BAZAAR. Saturday November 24th 9am – 3pm at the Crazy Spoon Restaurant. For further details contact 99151996. Stalls, Santa’s Grotto, Donkey Rides, Pirate Pat and many more.

AYIA NAPA and DHERYNIA (Anglican Church in S.E Cyprus) Sunday Worship 9.30am Morning Prayer every Sunday morning at St Constantinos & Eleni Chapel, Dherynia (near Hospital in Dherynia) 11am at Scandinavian Church, off Nissi Avenue (opp Tassia Maris Hotel), Ayia Napa nd 6pm at St Constantinos & Eleni (2 week) Chaplain : Revd Simon Holloway M.A. Tel: 97 839349 www.angsecyp.org Visitors especially welcome

28

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 CYPRUS MAIL

Sport John eyes bout with magical foe Marquez

Malaysia seasonender for Fraser

UK Athletics head coach Peter Eriksson has welcomed Paula Radcliffe’s determination to resume her career next year, insisting only she knows when it is time to retire.

Radcliffe was unable to compete in the marathon at this summer’s London Olympics due to injury, and lost her Lottery funding as she is no longer seen as a realistic medal contender in global championships.

But despite turning 39 next Monday, the marathon world record holder said she is “desperate” to return to competition in 2013.

“I know she had an operation on her foot and it will take some time for her to get back to running, but I see it as very positive if she is still hungry to perform,” Eriksson told the Victoria Derbyshire programme on BBC Radio Five Live.

“If she does the right things and doesn’t push it too hard, I think she will be fine.

“The athletes know by themselves when it’s time to retire and they have to come to terms with that on their own, it’s nothing you force people into.

“She is a very talented athlete and if she is hungry to race then I think that’s great for us.”

Eriksson was appointed in October and is helping to oversee UKA’s plans for a single high performance institute in Loughborough.

Loughborough will be used as “the engine” of British athletics according to Eriksson, but the Swede acknowledged that the likes of Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis and Adam Gemili will not be required to use the facility on a full-time basis.

Gemili’s coach Michael Afilaka lost his full-time position with UK Athletics recently and the 19-yearold world junior champion does not want to move from his London base to work with another coach in Loughborough.

Indonesian wants to be the next to take on Mexican

Rolling with the punches: Manuel Marquez’s stunning sixth-round knockout of Manny Pacquiao (left) has made the Mexican welterweight a hot commodity

AUSTRALIAN Marcus Fraser will take part in the season-ending Iskandar Johor Open in Malaysia this week hoping to leapfrog Thai stalwart Thaworn Wiratchant and claim his first Order of Merit title on the Asian Tour.

Second-placed Fraser trails Thaworn by $25,261.90 ahead of the $2-million event which starts on Thursday, with the Australian taking part after initially suggesting he may skip the event to play a OneAsia tournament at home.

Fraser has pocketed $652,344 from his limited 10 Asian Tour appearances this year and took part in OneAsia’s Australian Open last week allowing Thawaron to stretch his lead at the Thailand Golf Championships.

Thaworn, who turns 46 later this month, could have all but assured he would become the oldest golfer to win the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit title but a poor display with the driver on Sunday led to a 77 and a disappointing tied 36th finish.

“It is still an open race. It is going to be interesting,” said the Thai, who has won three of his 26 Asian Tour events this year.

“I struggled with my driver in the final round (in Thailand) so I hope it will work for me in Johor.

“Winning the Order of Merit again is definitely going to be a big achievement as it shows that age is not barrier to success.”

John (48-0-2 22 knockouts) was named the WBA’s fighter of the decade earlier this year, but has long been criticised for not fighting more in the United States, the traditional home base of the sport where the likes of Marquez and Pacquiao have regularly fought.

The Indonesian’s last two bouts have taken place at the Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore, part of a five-fight series before retirement, John said previously.

Order of Merit bid: Thaworn

IN BRIEF

Radcliffe decision to carry on welcomed

By Patrick Johnston UNBEATEN Indonesian featherweight Chris John already has one win over Juan Manuel Marquez and after seeing the Mexican knock out Manny Pacquiao on Saturday he is keen to move up in weight and face him again.

Marquez’s stunning sixthround knockout of Pacquiao, considered one of the all-time greats of the sport, in Las Vegas on Saturday has made the Mexican welterweight (55-6-1 40 knockouts) a hot commodity.

The 39-year-old has not ruled out a fifth bout against Pacquiao, with undefeated American lightwelterweight Brandon Rios also a possibility, but John believes he should be next in line for a shot at the Mexican, possibly at lightweight.

“I will fight Marquez at any weight because it is big money,” the 33-year-old was quoted as saying in yesterday’s Straits Times. “I am a much better boxer than him and I have more speed and skill.”

The duo met in Indonesia in 2006 with John claiming a unanimous points decision victory to defend his WBA featherweight title, though Marquez was unhappy at being docked points in the late rounds for low blows.

John’s Australian promoter, Angelo Hyder, told the newspaper the fight could happen in a neutral venue.

“Marquez and his team have always disputed the decision, even though all

three judges gave it to Chris, and so boxing in a neutral place like Singapore could make the fight happen,” he was quoted as saying.

“We will approach them and try and get the fight because this is unfinished business.”

While John has long fought at featherweight (126 pounds), Marquez has been boxing in the welterweight and light welterweight divisions over the last couple of years.

The Mexican last boxed

as low as lightweight (136 pounds) in a 2010 world title victory over Australian Michael Katsidis.

Marquez, who contemplated retirement before beating Pacquiao, looked extremely comfortable at 147 on Saturday.

“He is a massive puncher and knocked Manny Pacquiao clean out with one punch and it is my job to make sure I do not get hit with the same punch,” John said.

“I want the fight and will win again.”

Thunder storm past Pacers Packers rally to tame Lions at McIlroy scoops 2012 to eighth successive win a snowy Lambeau Field European writers award OKLAHOMA City’s high-octane offence has powered the team to the best record in the NBA, but it was defence that got the job done on Sunday as the Thunder rolled to their eighth straight win, a 104-93 victory over the visiting Indiana Pacers.

Oklahoma City, who came into the game averaging more than 106 points, trailed the Pacers by four midway through the third quarter before surging with a 17-3 run.

“We really got after it on defence in the second half,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “We made them take tough shots in the third and fourth quarters and made them miss.”

THE Green Bay Packers were rocked by two early Detroit touchdowns on Sunday but fought back to record their customary victory over the Lions at a snowy Lambeau Field.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers rallied the Packers to a 2720 win over the visiting Lions, who slipped to their fifth straight defeat and have not tasted victory at Green Bay since 1991.

The win lifted the 9-4 Packers into a one-game lead over Chicago in the NFC North.

“It was an ugly win, but ugly wins are a lot better than tough losses,” Rodgers told reporters after throwing for just 173 yards in brutal weather conditions.

WORLD number one Rory McIlroy won the 2012 European Golf Writers Trophy yesterday after a spectacular season during which he landed his second major title and topped the money-list on both sides of the Atlantic.

The 23-year-old Northern Irishman, who added the US PGA Championship to the US Open crown he bagged in 2011, finished ahead of Europe’s triumphant Ryder Cup team in the voting.

“Wherever we play, the golf writers are there helping to promote our sport and give a voice to golf and therefore I am delighted to win their award,” he said in a statement.

CYPRUS MAIL Tuesday, December 11, 2012

29

Sport

Mouflons closing in on rugby world record

By Alexander McCowan

The triumphant Mouflons now head up division 2C and will finish this section of the season playing Hungary away

THE Cyprus Mouflons continued their pursuit of the rugby world record of consecutive unbeaten international games when they hammered Slovenia 49-8 this weekend before a record crowd at Pafiakos stadium.

Cyprus took the field on Saturday without three of their stars: the centre pairing of ‘gorgeous’ George Agathocleous and Reno Iounnides, both recovering from surgery, and ‘Limassol express’ Phidias Efthymiou sustaining injury during the warm-up.

Nevertheless, in the game’s opening minutes Marcos Holden, the regular full-back, touched down for an unconverted try, with Matt King crossing the Slovenian line twice within eight minutes to take the score to 17 points without response from the opposition.

The Cypriots were dominant in all the set pieces with Jonathan Pettemerides claiming all the line-out work and giving the Slovenians no chance. In the

36th minute Holden landed a penalty, taking the score to 22 without reply, but moments later Nened Yovenovic, the outstanding player on the other side touched down for the Slavs’ first score.

Within one minute of half time, Tom Loisides ensured that the Mouflons left the field 27-5 to the good.

A whisker into the second half saw the ever-reliable Holden score with a follow up by the team captain, Tony Thoma taking the score to 37-5. The Cypriot were overwhelmingly superior in all departments with the play-maker, Andy Binicos, getting on the sheet and this shortly followed by back row star, Marco Mladanovitch to bring the score to 49-5, but in the game’s dying seconds a little indiscipline by the home side saw Yovanovitch slot a penalty which brought the final score to 49-8 Man of the match was awarded to Marcos Holden for his two tries, three conversions and one penalty.

The result now gives Cyprus 17 consecutive wins which takes them within one game of equalling Lithuania’s record,

and with Bulgaria booked as the next home game - who were dispatched 94-5 the last time they met the Cypriots - it would appear that the bookies are not offering much by way of odds.

The Mouflons now head up division 2C and will finish this section of the season by playing Hungary away.

“Given the late changes to our backs, this was a very competent display,” Coach Paul Shanks said. “The lads did everything that was asked of them and more; I’m very proud to be their coach.”

Team manager Theo Lenos was equally impressed with the side’s performance stating: “It appears after five years of campaigning the Cypriots are beginning to recognise that they have a winning international team that will not only bring home the world record, but is recognised by our peers for the brilliant attacking style of play, and the way we conduct ourselves on and off the field. Our players are a credit to the country.”

The next home game will be against Bulgaria in March at Pafiakos stadium.

England are set on finishing the job in final Test

Cowan plays down Hobart pitch fears

Cook’s tourists on verge of making history as they take a 2-1 lead into Nagpur battle

By David Clough ENGLAND were set to travel yesterday from Kolkata to Nagpur, determined to finish what they have started in their two famous back-to-back Test victories over India.

Alastair Cook’s tourists will take a 2-1 lead into the final Test on Thursday, knowing they are on the verge of modern cricket history.

If they can beat India again in Nagpur - a draw is highly unlikely, with the hosts sure to order a spinners’ pitch to give them a chance of levelling the series after all - England will have achieved what so few before them have.

It was back in the 1980s, against the then all-conquering West Indies, that India last lost three successive Tests at home.

England have not won a series here since 1984-85, and no tourists have done so for the past eight years.

After their seven-wicket win, on the back of the captain’s own record-breaking 23rd Test century, Cook’s men took the opportunity Sunday night to celebrate their success so far - but as of now the hard work will recommence.

Batting coach Graham Gooch, a veteran in his playing days of three Test tours to India, knows from his own experience how difficult it is to win here - and he knows too that Cook’s Eng-

India skipper Dhoni (L) has a preference for pitches which provide some help from the outset for bowlers land will not easily squander what they have earned.

“I don’t think for one minute that the guys think the job is done,” he said.

“We’re 2-1 up with one to play. We want a positive result in Nagpur.

“I don’t think I’m giving anything away by saying it’s going to be a result pitch in Nagpur. If I was India I would want a result pitch to take my chances.”

The last two Tests were played too on surfaces which gave the bowlers plenty to work with - Mumbai, in particular, for the spinners while reverse-swing was the major weapon for the seamers at Eden Gardens.

Gooch has no argument at all with India captain Ma-

hendra Singh Dhoni’s preference for pitches which provide some help from the outset for the bowlers.

“The things MS Dhoni has said after Mumbai, I totally agree with,” he said.

“He wants to play on pitches that produce results, and I don’t have a problem with that.

“I’d rather have a pitch that produces a result than one that produces 600 v 600.

“So we know it’s likely to be a pitch where it will be tough for the batsmen, with the ball turning.

“But after our last two performances, we can go there with confidence - and we’ve got to make sure we bring our A game to Nagpur.”

If England can beat India again in Nagpur, they will have achieved what so few before them have accomplished

AUSTRALIA opener Ed Cowan expects the Blundstone Arena wicket to provide a favourable batting surface in the first Test against Sri Lanka, which gets under way on Friday.

There have been concerns the pitch in Hobart, which twice this season has claimed Sheffield Shield teams for fewer than 100 runs, could be too bowler-friendly.

Tasmania were dismissed for 95 in November, while Western Australia were skittled out for just 67 in a four-day clash there later in the same month.

But Cowan said the wicket, which he believes he has “conquered” during his time with Tasmania, would suit his patient style at the top of the order.

“I think it’ll be a pretty good batting wicket, having just had a look at it,” the lefthander said.

“The Shield wickets over the last couple of years have been good to bat on if you’re willing to bat time and that suits my game.

“It feels like a wicket that I’ve conquered probably over the last couple of years in bowler-friendly conditions.”

Cowan made six and 26 against South Australia in his only Shield game at the ground this season.

The 30-year-old believes the wicket has generally been better to bat on as games go on, but said it looked in good shape.

“We’re used to playing on pretty juicy wickets, but having seen the wicket out there at the moment it looks in pretty good nick,” Cowan said.

“I think it’s been a wicket that’s almost accelerated the game in reverse. There are grounds around the world and around the country that deteriorate as the game goes on. This probably gets better to bat on and history suggests that.”

30

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 CYPRUS MAIL

Sport

Stramaccioni satisfied with Inter progress INTER Milan boss Andrea Stramaccioni felt Sunday night’s defeat of Napoli showed his team are firmly on the right track.

The Nerazzurri leapfrogged Napoli into second spot in Serie A with a hard-fought 2-1 win at the San Siro.

Fredy Guarin and Diego Milito got the Inter goals, with Edinson Cavani’s second-half strike proving nothing more than a consolation as Inter’s tactics of attempting to contain Napoli’s attacking threat paid dividends.

Stramaccioni said: “We prepared for this game with the aim of stopping Napoli from doing what they are good at, not letting Cavani unleash his quality and limiting (Marek) Hamsik’s space.

“We succeeded by going about our jobs very carefully.”

Stramaccioni has been in the job less than nine months after succeeding the sacked Claudio Ranieri but he is confident Inter are making solid progress.

‘BIG WIN’ He added: “It was a big win, just as we turned in big performances in the other matches against our direct rivals and showed that we can give anyone a game. “(Napoli boss Walter) Mazzarri has honed his team year on year, whereas Inter have just started building theirs now.

“We’re in the first year of our project but I’m delighted with how we’re doing. We’ve got a very close-knit group, we prepare for matches carefully, the lads have really applied

themselves. I have a lot of respect for these players.”

Inter are four points behind defending champions Juventus and president Massimo Moratti hopes that gap can be bridged, but warned their form must improve against some of Serie A’s lesser lights.

He told the Inter website: “Our focus is very high in the big matches, both from the players and the coach, who really does his homework.

“I think he tries to do likewise against the others but perhaps there’s just a little less concentration.”

Moratti refused to speculate on whether the club would allow Stramaccioni to strengthen his squad in the January transfer window.

“We’ll talk about that in due course.

We’ll see what we need and then look at how to move.”

The Nerazzurri leapfrogged Napoli into second spot in Serie A with a hard-fought 2-1 win at the the San Siro

Transformed Pastore a boost for PSG

Muller salutes ‘incredible’ Messi’s goal-scoring powers

A NEW role for Javier Pastore and the Argentine’s transformed attitude will be crucial for Paris St Germain as they bid to make it three wins out of three with a tricky Ligue 1 trip to Valenciennes today.

Pastore has been shifted from a central midfield position to the right flank and delivered two sterling performances in a 2-1 Champions League win against Porto last Tuesday and a 4-0 thrashing of Evian Thonon Gaillard in Ligue 1 on Saturday.

“He is transformed,” coach Carlo Ancelotti told reporters after Pastore, who had been hugely disappointing this season after joining for a then French record 42-million euros ($54.30 million) fee from Palermo last year, created the first two goals against Evian.

“His attitude on the pitch has changed. He has worked for the team, he has defended well and his skills made the rest.”

PSG are second in the standings with 29 points from 16 games and trail leaders Olympique Lyon, who travel to basement side Nancy tomorrow, by five points.

“This position in the midfield has forced me to defend more, but this is what I have been training for,” Pastore told reporters.

While PSG visit one of the two teams who are unbeaten at home, Lyon face a seemingly easier task against Nancy, who have not won away all season.

Bottom club Nancy have drawn their last four games having wasted an early lead on three occasions..

Meanwhile, Olympique Marseille, third on 29 points, should welcome the chance to play an away game at Bastia after losing their last two home matches and conceding seven goals in the process.

Tomorrow’s game, however, will be played behind closed doors after Bastia were sanctioned following crowd incidents in the league match against neighbours AC Ajaccio earlier in the season.

Messi breaks record for most goals in calendar year GERD Muller yesterday hailed Lionel Messi as “an incredible player” after the Barcelona star broke his record for the most goals in a calendar year.

Muller grabbed 85 goals for Bayern Munich and West Germany in 1972 and the mark stood for 40 years until Sunday night when Messi netted his 85th and 86th goals of an incredible 2012 in Barca’s 2-1 win at Real Betis.

Muller led the tributes today, telling Sport1.de: “My record stood for 40 years - 85 goals in 60 games - and now the best player in the world has broken it, and I’m delighted for him.

“He is an incredible player, gigantic.”

Muller, whose record as Germany’s all-time top goalscorer is also under threat from Miroslav Klose, now hopes Messi will add to his tally before the end of the year.

“He’s such a nice and modest professional and I hope he gets one or two more goals in 2012 and that he can then hold onto the record for the next 40 years,” he added.

“He’s fantastic. He only has one defect and that is that he doesn’t play for Bayern Munich!”

Messi’s Barca team-mates were also in awe of his achievement.

Spain defender Gerard

Supernatural: the Barca star netted his 85th and 86th goals of an incredible 2012 in a 2-1 win at Real Betis on Sunday

Pique told El Mundo Deportivo: “Leo is supernatural, he has no limits and we always have to remember everything that he’s given us.

“We have to enjoy him every single minute that we have him now.”

Barca midfielder Sergio Busquets added of Messi: “He is the best in the world and I’m very happy he’s broken that record and I hope he gets more.”

A host of other Barca players also took to Twitter to offer their congratulations to

Messi, including Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, Victor Valdes, Javier Mascherano, Thiago and Jose Pinto.

As well as passing Muller, Messi’s double against Betis sent him clear of Cesar Rodriguez as Barca’s all-time leading league goalscorer after they had been level on 192 before the match.

Earlier this year Messi became Barca’s record scorer after moving past the tally of 232 official goals set by Rodriguez during the 1940s and ’50s.

The Argentina captain has

also claimed a host of other individual records during a remarkable career that looks certain to include many more memorable moments in the future.

Barca sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta believes the magnitude of Messi’s achievements may not fully sink in until further down the line.

“I’m sure that we will really appreciate Leo’s records over time. They happen so quickly that they seem to be just one more thing. It all seems very simple but it’s very difficult

to describe it,” he told Canal Plus.

The man himself was typically modest and insisted he derived more pleasure from helping Barca preserve their six-point advantage at the top of the Primera Division standings than he did claiming another personal landmark.

“The record is great for what it means, but the most important thing is that the team won and that we maintained the distance with the teams behind us,” Messi told the club’s website.

Atletico striker Falcao hails unforgettable La Liga night by netting five times RADAMEL Falcao hailed an “unforgettable night” after the coveted Atletico Madrid striker hit five goals past Deportivo Coruna on Sunday to become the first man to achieve the feat in Spain’s top league in more than a decade.

Fernando Morientes was the last player to score five in a match play-

ing for Real Madrid against Las Palmas in February 2002 and Falcao was the first to do so for Atletico as they thrashed Depor 6-0 to stay in second place, six points behind leaders Barcelona.

“I scored five in a game when I was little in Bogota,” the Colombian known as “the tiger” said on Atleti-

co’s website (www.clubatleticodemadrid.com).

“And I got four playing for Porto against Villarreal, but never five as a professional,” he added.

“I was very excited when I came to Atletico Madrid. It was a personal challenge to play in this great league with such a lot of good players

“I am enjoying it. I have a great squad around me who are supporting me and helping me a great deal to develop as a professional.”

Falcao took his tally in La Liga this season to 16 in 15 matches, three more than Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and seven behind top scorer Lionel Messi of Barcelona.

CYPRUS MAIL Tuesday, December 11, 2012

31

Sport

‘Technology can be used against diving’

Doxa overcome AEK 2-1 to extend their winning streak to six

Players’ union boss statement follows Cazorla controversy

By Nemanja Bjedov

Arsenal playmaker Santi Cazorla won a controversial first-half penalty over West Brom after going to ground following a challenge by Steven Reid (left)

DESPITE being tipped for a relegation struggle after earning a promotion to the top flight last season, Doxa Katokopia continue to surprise, topping AEK 2-1 to extend their undefeated streak to six matches at Larnaca’s GSZ Stadium on Sunday.

“In the first half AEK were better than us as they controlled the ball well and deservedly went ahead,” said Doxa coach Marios Constantinou. “In the second half we improved, especially in the first 20 minutes. It seemed they were pleased with a 1-0 lead, so we went for it and got the equaliser.

They then started to pile on pressure, but we were able to ... score again late in the match, not giving them much time to respond.

“We have to remain as serious as we are at the moment, stay down to earth and humble.”

Nassir Maachi opened proceedings with his fourth goal of the season after 27 minutes, but Ricardo Fernandes levelled midway in the second half, while Ivory Coast midfielder Gaossou Fofana set up the final score in the last minute of regulation.

“I believe they wanted to win much more than we did.

I take full responsibility for this result as I did not manage to convince my players that this would be a difficult match,” assessed AEK’s

to recommending to the FA whether action should be taken if there is a player who blatantly looked to claim a free-kick or a penalty when there’s no possibility of an offence being committed.”

In an interview given to the Daily Telegraph two months ago, Cazorla revealed that he views diving as “not something that should be a big controversy”.

The Spaniard is set to be omitted from Arsenal’s squad for tomorrow’s Capital One Cup quarter-final

Victorious Doxa did not buckle under AEK pressure

By Duncan Bech PLAYERS’ union boss Gordon Taylor has called for technology to be used in the fight against diving in the wake of the Santi Cazorla controversy.

Simulation has once again become a talking point after Arsenal playmaker Cazorla won a first-half penalty in Saturday’s 2-0 victory over West Brom after going to ground following a challenge by Steven Reid.

Replays showed there had been no contact between the players and Baggies boss Steve Clarke condemned referee Mike Jones for missing what he viewed as a blatant dive.

Gunners team-mate Mikel Arteta defended Cazorla, and while Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Taylor did not wish to comment on this specific case he believed the use of technology would help referees make the right calls.

“This has been a non-stop subject for a long time now - how we best deal with it given the pace of the game and the difficulties for referees and the assistant referees to judge,” Taylor told Sky Sports News.

“I think it’s going to be inevitable that if technology comes in for goalline decisions and penalty decisions, then it will help in these situations.

“Other sports move on and use technology and do all they can to be as successful as football, so we’ve got to keep at that cutting edge.

“I’m not saying change for change’s sake but change if it makes the game better and there’s more justice done.....

“Also for a long time we’ve been talking about a panel of former players, referees, former managers, to look at such incidents with a view

coach Ran Ben Shimon. “Although we hit the crossbar in the last chance of the match, we did not deserve to even get a draw as our attitude was off from as early as the kick-off.

“We will work very hard to bring the team back on the right track. In general, I think we had a very good first half of the season and we will try to be even better in the second round,” he added.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Anorthosis beat APOEL in Nicosia, with Jan Rezek scoring the winner nine minutes into the match, while both Apollon and Omonia also celebrated narrow 1-0 victories away from home over Ayia Napa and Nea Salamina respectively.

“We made many mistakes and were giving the ball away easily. We lost the match because we were simply not good enough and they were well prepared for what we had,” said APOEL’s coach Ivan Jovanovic.

“Obviously losing a match like this one creates a negative atmosphere, but we should focus on correcting our mistakes and not on losing hope.”

On Sunday Alki beat Ethnikos Achnas 2-0 away from home, while after a goalless first half Olympiakos defeated AEP Paphos 3-1 at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia.

In the final match of Round 13, AEL drew 1-1 with Enosis Neon Paralimni at Limassol’s Tsirion Stadium yesterday evening.

at Bradford with manager Arsene Wenger expected to rely on his fringe players, but his actions have highlighted a problem that Taylor agrees must be addressed.

“I don’t want to personalise it because he wouldn’t be the first player accused of diving and he won’t be the last, but it’s an issue that we all need to address,” Taylor said.

“Management, coaching staff, players and supporters have all got to buy into this and condemn it.

“We must make sure the game is played according to the spirit of the game and the letter of the law.

“We’ve got to give the referee and his assistants every possible opportunity to get their decisions right because virtually every Sunday and Monday morning now we have decisions complained about.

“We must also look at matches reflectively and take later action, rather than just say ‘leave it how it was from the referee and we all move on’.”

Cyprus Standings

Benitez brushes off Chelsea pressure in Japan CHELSEA interim coach Rafael Benitez feels no pressure to win the Club World Cup in Japan despite his team crashing out of the Champions League in midweek, the Spaniard said yesterday.

Benitez, runner-up as Liverpool manager at the 2005 Club World Cup in Japan, brushed off fears that a slip-up this time might cost him his job.

“With the economic crisis around the world everybody is under pressure,” he told reporters after Chelsea’s arrival in the Far East. “I don’t have a problem with pressure. The future is the next game and the one after that.”

Chelsea face Mexico’s Monterrey in Yokohama on Thursday, and will hope to meet either South American champions Corinthians or Egypt’s Al-Ahly in the final on December 16.

“It’s a massive competition,” Benitez said. “Everybody here has the same idea

as me - to win every trophy.

“It doesn’t matter if we are in the Champions League or not,” added Benitez, who won the Club World Cup with Inter Milan in 2010 in Abu Dhabi.

“It’s a great opportunity and we’re here to win. We won our last two games and we’re playing well.”

With striker Fernando Torres rediscovering his scoring touch with four goals in two games, including two in Saturday’s 3-1 win at Sunderland, Benitez backed his players to continue their recent improvement.

“Fernando is in a good position now because the team is creating more chances and because the team is doing well,” said Benitez, who replaced the sacked Roberto Di Matteo last month.

“I can communicate with him in a different way and work with him but the main thing is his team mates playing well.”

Goalkeeper Petr Cech said the dethroned European champions could live with the pressure of being labelled favourites to win the Club World Cup at the first attempt.

“We came to win the competition and will try to prove it on the pitch,” he said.

“You can only play in this competition if you win the Champions League and I’ve had to wait eight years to get here.

“As the boss said, the last two results were very good for us so we’ll try to carry that momentum and hope it takes us through.”

Cech also gave the goal-line technology being used in Japan by FIFA for the first time the thumbs-up.

“I’m very happy with the decision,” Cech said with a sideways glance at Benitez, whose Liverpool side knocked Chelsea out of the 2004-05 Champions League through Luis Garcia’s “ghost” goal.

Team 1. Anorthosis 2. APOEL 3. AEK 4. Apollon 5. AEL 6. Omonoia 7. Doxa 8. Paralimni 9. Olimpiakos 10. Alki 11. Ayia Napa 12. Salamina 13. Achna 14. Paphos

P

W

D

L

F

13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13

11 10 9 8 6 6 5 3 4 2 2 1 0 3

2 1 1 2 6 4 2 5 4 3 1 3 6 2

0 2 3 3 1 3 6 5 5 8 10 9 7 8

30 30 20 20 22 19 12 10 14 8 5 6 6 12

A Pts 7 7 9 9 12 10 15 18 18 20 26 18 19 26

35 31 28 26 25 22 17 15 13 9 7 6 6 2

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 CYPRUS MAIL

32 England set on finishing the job in final Test 29

Sport

Muller hails recordbreaking Messi 30

AVB mourns late goals in Everton defeat

Everton scored twice at the death on Sunday to vault to fourth in the League and leave Villas-Boas distraught

TOTTENHAM Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas is used to seeing his team concede late goals, but Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at Everton, where the home side scored twice at the death, was hard for the Portuguese to swallow.

Leading 1-0 at Goodison Park through Clint Dempsey’s goal 14 minutes from time, Spurs were primed to take all three points, win their fourth consecutive game and keep the heat on third-placed Chelsea in the Premier League.

However, Steven Piennar scored against his old club to equalise in the 90th minute before Nikica Jelavic grabbed the winner in added time, vaulting Everton into fourth and leaving Villas-Boas distraught.

Spurs have kept a clean sheet only once away from home this season, a 3-0 win at Fulham earlier this month, and have conceded 10 of

their 25 goals in the last 10 minutes of games.

“It’s difficult to take,” the Spurs coach told the team’s official website.

“The last minutes were our best with Clint’s goal ..., we kept the ball and played well, but then the game changed completely against the run of play.”

‘BRILLIANT SECOND HALF’ The visitors almost went 2-0 ahead but Gylfi Sigurdsson’s shot hit the crossbar.

“To be fair, Everton had a first half where they could have scored, that’s the reality.

“But we managed to hold on to that 0-0, then had a brilliant second half and to see it escape from us in the last minutes is difficult to take.”

Everton manager David Moyes said

his team had been on the wrong end of some late dramas and it was about time fortune favoured the Toffees.

“After the few finishes like that where we have lost points we were due one,” he said. “If Everton hadn’t won we would be sitting here asking how we hadn’t. We played terrifically well and the attacking play we had was fantastic.”

Everton, who have yet to lose at home this season, looked vulnerable after Dempsey’s goal as Moyes changed things around in the hope of grabbing an equaliser.

“I actually think our poorest passage of play was in that last 10 minutes,” said Moyes. “We were trying to move players around, it was scrappy and we had tried everything to get ourselves an opening.

“But we kept at it and we got it in the end.”

Test for Mancini as City navigate choppy waters

Nine charged after derby trouble

No room for slip-ups in packed festive period

NINE people have been charged after Sunday’s derby between Manchester City and Manchester United, police said yesterday, although they are still trying to identify the person who threw a coin at Rio Ferdinand.

United defender Ferdinand was cut just above his left eye after being hit by the coin while celebrating Robin van Persie’s late goal which gave the Premier League leaders a 3-2 win at City’s Etihad stadium.

“Despite fierce rivalry and high tension there was no major disorder,” Greater Manchester Police chief inspector Steve Howard said in a statement.

City fan Matthew Stott, 21, ran on to the pitch and tried to reach Ferdinand as he was recovering, but was restrained by the home side’s goalkeeper Joe Hart.

Stott, one of two men charged with pitch encroachment, issued an apology yesterday, saying: “I would like to apologise to all those affected by my actions yesterday particularly Mr Ferdinand and the other players.

“I am extremely ashamed of my actions. I have let myself down, my family down, my fellow fans down and Manchester City Football club. I intend to write personally to Mr Ferdinand to express my extreme regret and apologies and also apologise to Manchester United and their fans.

“I would like to thank Joe Hart for his actions when I came on the pitch.”

By Martyn Herman

B

anished from Europe, under attack from Manchester United and struggling to keep Mario Balotelli on the leash, no wonder Roberto Mancini’s coiffured hair is turning grey.

Having masterminded Manchester City’s first English title for more than 40 years last season, after ending their long trophy drought by winning the FA Cup 12 months earlier, the Italian might have anticipated some smooth waters this season.

They are turning increasingly choppy, however, following United’s last-gasp 3-2 victory in the derby, after which Mancini could not resist pointing the finger at some of his players.

He did not hold back when discussing his reasons for hauling Balotelli off just after halftime and mocked Samir Nasri when suggesting that there were only “two and a half players” in the wall when Robin van Persie fired a stoppage-time winner.

City’s first league defeat of the season, an unlucky one at that, hardly represents a crisis and Mancini was quick to predict that his side will win the league and FA Cup double this season, but the

Toure, whose goal sparked City’s comeback from 2-0 against United on Sunday, said his side had to buckle down to regain their form

coming months will be a test for Mancini.

Out of the League Cup and the Champions League before Christmas after finishing bottom of their group, maintaining harmony in a squad bulging with internationals, many of whom kick their heels on the bench, will not be easy.

League games will come thick and fast over the holiday period and City need a calming hand on the tiller if Mancini’s bold claim does not return to haunt him.

Three of City’s next four matches are away from home, and while trips to Newcas-

tle United, Sunderland and Norwich City, should hold no fears for Mancini’s team, they know they can ill-afford any slip-ups.

Midfielder Yaya Toure, whose goal sparked City’s comeback from 2-0 down against United on Sunday, said the team had to buckle down and work hard to repair the damage done by two draws and a defeat in their last four league games.

“We have to forget what we have done in the past. This year will be tough, but we have a fantastic squad and we have the confidence to keep

going until the final day,” he told City’s website (www. mcfc.co.uk) yesterday.

“Last year was fantastic, but we have to realise that sometimes you go through tough periods - we can turn this around. When the chips are down, that’s when the tough really get going and we will show why we are champions.

“Disappointing though this defeat is, it only makes us more determined to win the title. We have to be strong mentally and strong in every other way as well, but our championship challenge is not finished.”

Those comments will be music to the ears of Mancini.

While his vast spending power is the envy of virtually every manager in the world, Mancini’s demeanour during matches often resembles that of a scientist struggling to keep the cork on a test tube full of highly volatile chemicals.

With so many egos colliding in the soap opera world of the Premier League, it only takes a couple of setbacks to start tongues wagging and Mancini’s man management skills will be tested to the full over the coming months.