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TV and lifestyle supplements to see you through the coming week

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August 26, 2012

WIN GREEK LESSONS FOR A YEAR IN PAPHOS INSIDE Cyprus Thousands of white storks make rare appearance 4

World Apple beats Samsung in landmark patent case 10

Motoring Breathtaking McLaren Special Operations X-1 concept unveiled 34

Sport Van Persie up and running in United win 40

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LIVING

Historical quest for ‘lost babies’ Archivist tracks down babies born in island’s internment camps between 1946 and 1949

By Nathan Morley AN ISRAELI archivist on a worldwide quest to track down the lost identities of more than two thousand Jewish babies born at British internment camps in Cyprus is making staggering progress.

Complete official records of the births have never materialised, and it remains unclear whether the documents were destroyed or misplaced by the British Colonial authorities.

For the past two years, Yitzhak Teutsch has been searching for the missing documents that will identify every baby born in the camps between 1946 and 1949.

The camps located in Xylotymbou and Famagusta were operated by the British government for the internment of those who had immigrated or attempted to immigrate to Palestine in violation of British policy.

Teutsch, who works as the archivist for the American Joint Distribution Committee in Jerusalem, says no comprehensive list of the children’s names has ever been found.

“My theory is that someone decided, for some

reason, to throw that list away,” Teutsch told the daily Haaretz. “Perhaps they thought it wasn’t important, or maybe nobody knew the camps would be in operation for so long and consequently the relevant documentation wasn’t saved.”

However, the fruit of his painstaking historical research now appears to be paying off, with the help of the University of Southampton which provided a birth ledger from the camps and from the Atlit National Heritage Site in Israel.

To date, Teutsch has managed to piece together the identities of 1,700 babies and is continuing to search for the birth records of around 500 others.

Surprisingly, his searches at the National Archives and Imperial War Museum in the United Kingdom proved fruitless, but 400 additional names, as well as British police reports were found in the Israel State Archives.

“These people are the only living connection we have to that period,” Teutsch added. “The British soldiers are long gone, the fences were removed and the camps have disap-

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A Mastino Napolitano parades during the International Dog show in Rotterdam yesterday. Dogs can win prizes in the categories of best couple, best baby, best pup and best veteran (AFP)

2 August 26, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Home Weather

Nicosia Troodos

39

30

Paphos

33

Teenagers in motion: the crush for the Friday afternoon bus

36

Larnaca

Limassol

36

TODAY: Hot and sunny. Temperatures will reach 39C inland, 36C in the south and east, 33C in the west and 30C over the mountains.

OUTLOOK: Remaining very hot until Tuesday, when temperatures are set to drop slightly.

YESTERDAY

Nicosia Larnaca Limassol Paphos Paralimni Prodromos

max/min temp 40 - 26 35 - 22 33 - 22 32 - 21 37 - 23 31 - 21

Humidity 10% 31% 59% 69% 24% 17%

All aboard for Napa... if you can get a seat Bus proves popular with teenagers heading to the beach

By Poly Pantelides

SUNRISE: 06.15 am

SUNSET: 19.21 pm

Sunday Mail Established 1945. Number 21,314 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

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ON A relatively quiet Friday afternoon, passengers at Nicosia’s Solomou square bus terminal were already seated twenty minutes before departure for Ayia Napa on a route that has proved very popular this summer.

The last bus on weekdays, including Fridays, leaves at 6.30pm but bus drivers sometimes need to call in extra buses because so many are left behind on the last scheduled run, a parttime bus driver told the Sunday Mail. “But then it takes a while for the next bus to come,” he said.

The bus driver manning the Friday 5.30pm bus to Ayia Napa said he had just done the 4pm route to Nicosia and it was so busy that they used three buses. Buses can seat 55 passengers.

The previous weekend was chaos, said teenager Mary Christodoulou who was back at the bus stop for more punishment. It was right before the biggest holiday period of the summer, when the capital – Nicosia – empties and locals spend days by the beach.

Mary had tried and failed to get the 5.30pm bus that Fri-

Drivers have been called in to lay on extra services day, barely managing a seat on the one an hour later.

Intercity Buses, the company offering public transport routes between cities, offers extra routes on the weekend from June until the end of September but regular bus user Anna, 22, says it’s not enough.

Anna – who uses buses to travel around Cyprus – says that sometimes she has cancelled a daytrip to Larnaca because even though she showed up 30 minutes before she still did not manage to get a seat. “Basically, you can’t make appointment

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to go somewhere,” she said.

“And people push you to get inside.”

Anna is a student from Poland and she said there was no point buying a car for a year’s stay.

She said the service was nice but “you’re not sure if you’re going to get a seat”.

Last Friday, a constant stream of people – mostly tourists, university and school students – filled up almost all remaining seats by departure time but no one was left behind.

However, only a handful of people would manage a seat at the following two stops: the APOEL football club at the end of Makarios avenue and the one by the Nicosia general hospital.

Sitting in the back of the bus for the 6.30pm bus, local students Maria, Marilia and

Ioanna – all aged 17 – said they use the bus regularly to get to Ayia Napa for the weekend. “We don’t have a ride,” Ioanna said, although she was getting a car as soon as she was eligible for a driver’s licence on her 18th birthday.

The other two girls said they weren’t sure they would get a car. On the one hand having a car was more convenient but on the other hand using the bus means you don’t worry about parking or drinking, they said.

School students go for free, a privilege they share with some pensioners, children under the age of 12, and soldiers. For the rest, tickets are cheap with a one way ticket costing €3 on most routes inter-city routes.

For 27-year-old Polish tourist, Maciek, driving is harder because of the left-hand side system and “Nicosia’s narrow streets”. On a visit last year, Maciek rented a car but he says driving confused him. Also, the bus is cheaper, he said.

On weekdays in the summer there are buses from Nicosia to Ayia Napa at 8.30am; 12pm; 2.15pm; 3pm; 5.30pm; and 6.30pm. On Saturdays and Sundays buses start half an hour earlier but there is a break between 10am and 4pm even though the last bus leaves later than on the weekdays at 7.30pm. For more information, visit www. intercity-buses.com or else call 80007789.

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3 SUNDAY MAIL • August 26, 2012

‘State did not spy on sheep farmers’ GOVERNMENT spokesman Stefanos Stefanou yesterday denied reports that agents with the island’s secret service were spying sheep and goat farmers during a protest outside the presidential palace on Friday.

A number of cameramen, photographers and journalists were on site at the presidential palace, featuring the farmers’ second day of protest over a reduction to their subsidy.

The farmers spent most of the day outside the palace, discussing their financial problems and demanding they get 100 per cent of some €12 million they were expecting from the state as subsidy instead of the roughly €5 million they were told the government could spare.

There was talk among the

press that among them was a Central Intelligence Service (KYP) cameraman as well as a photographer.

Daily newspaper Alithia gave space to the speculations, talking of “KYP TV” in its front page.

Socialist party EDEK issued a statement saying that the alleged incident was “an impermissible practice that is a throwback to totalitarian police states”.

“I am amazed, sad and indignant over EDEK’s announcement over a report they did not bother to check,” Stefanou said.

He said that the police were in charge of safety and KYP were not there.

Stefanou said that parties rushing to make statements on unconfirmed reports risked losing the public’s support.

Fires break out in Nicosia FIRE fighters yesterday brought under control four fires breaking out in the afternoon in Nicosia villages close to the buffer zone as well as within the buffer zone in an area close to the disused international airport, forcing the UN to evacuate officers’ homes as a precaution.

The fires mostly ate away at wild shrubs and were thought to be under control by late afternoon. The first was spotted between Peristerona and Orounda at about 1.50pm. Further to the east, between Meniko and Paliometocho a blaze was spotted at 4.07pm while further northeast between Avlona and Denia, a blaze was spotted at 4.30pm. The three blazes close to the buffer zone collectively consumed less than 2.0 square kilometres. The biggest blaze was at Peristerona-Orounda where 1.5 square kilometres of wild shrubs and trees were burnt.

Fire services are investigat-

ing arson and were told that “a man was seen moving about suspiciously in the Avlona-Denia area,” fire services’ spokeswoman Lisa Kemidji said.

About 20 fire brigade vehicles were used and off duty fire fighters were called in to help. In total about 50 fire fighters worked to control the fires. The forestry department, the game fund, district authorities and civil defence mechanisms were mobilised.

The blaze at the United Nations’ protected area (UNPA) ate away 1.5 square kilometres of wild shrubs and started at about 2.28pm. Fire services sent vehicles to help out at the UN’s request.

In Nicosia, smoke could be seen in the semi-occupied municipality of Ayios Dhometios and the Parissinos hill in Engomi.

The UN used two of their own helicopters, several vehicles as well as 200 men in their efforts to control the fire, said UN spokesman Michel Bonnardeaux.

Cypriot MEP to visit Philippines CYPRIOT Member of the European Parliament Eleni Theocharous, will travel to Manila as head of a delegation from the EP and the European National Parliaments.

The delegation will meet the Chairpersons of Philippines House President and Senate, with Senators and Parliamentarians, with NGO’s representatives and with students and Women Organisations.

Issues of human rights, health and education, as well as issues concerning the protection of children will be discussed during the meetings.

Home The department gathers information on people in Cyprus and their habits

Stats department has no central data system However, it is coping well with demands of EU presidency CYPRUS’ statistical services does not yet have an integrated database to allow for more efficient transmission of information but nonetheless is coping well with the demands of Cyprus’ presidency of the EU council, one of the officials in charge said yesterday.

Senior statistics officer George Zeitountsian – one of the heads of a team put together to chair meetings on the EU’s statistical services, Eurostat, said his team was working hard, often doing overtime, to cope with demand.

He was interviewed by the Cyprus News Agency. Asked to expound on how the service could improve, Zeitountsian said they needed an intranet – a computer network to allow sharing of information from different terminals.

“I would be happy if we had a unified system – a database – so that anything I have on my computer, a colleague could also see and process,” Zeitountsian said.

He said that there was a plan to create a common database system that had to be abandoned because of the debt crisis.

“Right now, whatever data I produce and have on my own computer I have to send electronically to a colleague

to study, otherwise he cannot access them.”

But not having access to the latest data produced by colleagues wastes time, he said.

“Because of a lack of a common database system we cannot do what’s called data mining, i.e. extract information,” Zeitountsian said.

Regardless of internal problems, Zeitountsian said that the whole team was coping well, extracting positive comments from many member states.

“I am proud of the work the team has put in, it’s a collective effort. At home you may work on your own but to get the job done a whole team is engaged, scenarios are examined, dossiers are prepared.”

Those dossiers include the statistical programme for the years 2013-2017, statistics on demography, safety from crime, and national and regional accounts in the European Union.

The statistical programme provides a framework for

developing, producing and disseminating statistics and must be finalised before the end of the year.

Zeitountsian said that gathering and interpreting data was also very important visà-vis the debt crisis.

Eurostat aggregates national statistical data, stemming from countries’ national services.

Each country needs to produce accurate data on finances, health, and education as part of its EU obligations.

4 August 26, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Home

Historical search underway to find the ‘lost babies of Cyprus’

The camps located in Xylotymbou and Famagusta were operated by the British government for the internment of those who had immigrated or attempted to immigrate to Palestine in violation of British policy

continued from page one -peared. Only these people remain.”

Most of the displaced people held in the camps were between 13 and 35 years of age, with babies being born at an average of three a day between 1946 and 1949.

Conditions in the camps were notoriously dire, with most of their unfortunate inhabitants having witnessed first hand the horrors of the Holocaust.

The British crackdown on illegal immigration to Palestine was harsh with 39 ships being captured and diverted to Famagusta.

Zehavit Blumenfeld, who now lives near Tel Aviv, was held with her parents at Xylotymbou camp until she was nine months old when her family finally made it

into Israel.

“Mr Teutsch is doing an excellent job by investigating the history of the Jewish children born at the British camps,” she told the Sunday Mail. “After all, 52,000 people were forced to live there and over 2,000 babies were born in them.”

Most of the babies born in the camps will now be aged around 65.

Blumenfeld added that the camps played an important role in the founding of Israel and were an important link in strengthening the chain of long relations between Cyprus and Israel.

Shortly before the proclamation of the State of Israel in May 1948, and faced with world-wide condemnation about the camps, the British began to release prison-

ers in small groups.

Every month about 750 people were freed and given visas to legally enter Palestine.

The past few years have seen a renewed interest in the history of the camps, with academics Gary Gumpert and Susan Drucker currently finalising the production of a documentary film called Memories in Cypriot Soil.

They have accumulated hours of filmed interviews with Cypriots, Israelis and humanitarian aid workers with links to the camps.

The title of the film was inspired by the strange silence and the absence of official information regarding their history.

Last year a lecture by Professor Emanuel Gutmann

entitled, The Jewish Detention Camps in Cyprus, attracted a capacity audience at the University of Cyprus.

Gutmann said the order to build the barbed wire enclosures, which were guarded by British Army conscripts, was among the most controversial decisions made by the Labour government of Clement Atlee.

In an interview with the Cyprus Mail at the time, he expressed support for a monument to be erected at the site of the camps.

“I should support such a move, it should be in the south east where the camps were though, or as near as possible to where they were. People must be able to see it,” he said.

Thousands of storks fly in Unusual appearance of so many birds, although some hit antennas at Akrotiri

By Stefanos Evripidou CYPRUS BORE witness to the rare arrival of thousands of white storks this week, some of which died when they smashed into the antenna installations at the British bases in Akrotiri.

According to Game and Wildlife

Officer Nicos Kassinis, in the last three days, large flocks of ciconia ciconia (white stork), an estimated 2,000 to 3,000, have arrived unexpectedly in the Akrotiri area.

Game Fund officials were in the area monitoring their arrival and departure when they spotted a number of birds strike in th the huge antenna spying inst installations, set up in the British B bases to the g great dissatisfactio isfaction of the lopop cal population.

“We have retrieve trieved four birds so fa far that hit the ant antennas either wh descendwhile in or leaving ing Akrotiri,” s a i d Kassinis.

The wildlife officer explained that white whit storks are soaring migratory migrator birds that glide for miles on upward draughts of air ris rising from the land. As a result, they usually

avoid large expanses of sea, making such large sightings in Cyprus extremely rare.

“They usually fly over the Bosphorus, down to Israel and end up in sub-Saharan Africa. Due to weather changes perhaps, they came to Cyprus,” he said.

Martin Hellicar, a spokesman for conservationist organisation BirdLife Cyprus, said the “amazing appearance” of such a large number of white storks was an extremely “unusual event”.

“The last time we got this many was in 1998,” he said.

The deaths of at least four storks from the huge antenna installations highlighted “how important that area is and our concerns and fears about the installations”, said Hellicar.

“There’s been a lot of talk about doing something for years now. It needs action to mitigate the risk, investments have to be made,” he added.

Kassinis said the Akrotiri peninsula was a “very significant place for migratory birds and internationally important for the eastern Mediterranean”.

The masts that support the antenna are particularly dangerous for birds, especially when they come in at night. And not only to white storks, but other migratory birds that are more frequent visitors to Cyprus such as flamingos, waders and raptors, said Kassinis.

“There is a potential mortality factor, particularly during the migration period which is now until February and in the spring again,” he said, adding, “The antennae are in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The birds around the Akrotiri antenna. Left: a white stork Seemingly resigned to the fact that the antennae will not be removed anytime soon, Kassinis said the next best thing to do would be to “monitor the mortality rate and take mitigation and preventive measures” to reduce the damage.

Asked whether the Game Fund had statistics on the mortality rate at the bases, Kassinis replied that restricted access to the military zone made it near impossible to get real data.

“We regularly monitor birds migrating in the peninsula but not inside the fenced area,” he said.

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If bird strikes are spotted, however, the bases let Game Fund officers in to collect the dead birds.

Kassinis argued that the bases could take certain steps to reduce the risks for migratory birds, including making the antennas more visible and increase monitoring of the situation.

As Hellicar noted though, if bird strikes are not spotted when they happen, then there was no real way of assessing the mortality rate as things currently stand.

“The key thing here is the mortality rate and to get that you need to get into the site regularly to check or else foxes mop up the dead birds and you don’t get a clear picture.

“However, radiation levels are high so to get in you have to close down the system. The bases argue they can’t switch off the antennas regularly for security reasons so you have no data and a vicious cycle,” he said.

According to Hellicar, the Council of Europe’s Bern Convention opened a file on the Akrotiri area in 2004, producing a number of recommendations for the British

Melpo Apostolidou bases to implement on managing the area of the antennae installations.

“On the ground, basically, since 2004, the sum total of what’s happened is zero in terms of implementing steps to reduce the risk for birds,” he said.

The recommendation to monitor bird mortality was stuck in a “vicious cycle”, while the bases are still at the last stage of consultation for drawing up an “integrated management plan for the whole wetland complex of the salt lake and Fissouri marsh”.

“There have been some trials etc, but zero has been done in concrete terms to reduce the potential threat. They need to look at the studies done and decide what can be done to reduce the risks of these installations,” said Hellicar.

Asked to comment, bases spokesman Kristian Gray said: “From 2004, we have implemented every recommendation from the Bern Convention and we are currently commissioning an independent study to look at past studies we’ve done on how to develop a future plan of action.”

5 SUNDAY MAIL • August 26, 2012

Home

Modern habits and increased use of air conditioning relegating midday sleeps to history

By Natalie Hami

A

FEW weeks ago I made a terrible mistake. Seeking a quote for an article I was writing, I called the government official I needed to speak to at home at 3.15pm. The response was immediate and brutal.

“Go to Hell,” I was told.

“Don’t you know what time it is?”

He then went on to harangue me further, before slamming down the phone.

I had, in my ignorance, disturbed his siesta.

Stunned by the vitriol, I went to tell my editor who nodded knowingly.

She explained that when she had been in the newsroom more than a decade ago, the journalists would rush to make all their phone calls before 1pm, or else they would be stuck in the office twiddling their thumbs until four, or in some cases five, when the sacrosanct siesta period would end.

The siesta was officially declared dead in 2007 - for many in the private sector at least - when a law was passed saying shops and offices did not have to shut for three hours each afternoon during the summer months.

“We had the law purely due to the weather - due to the heat - and now businesses are bigger and they have more employees so they can work in shifts,” said Xenios Mamas from the department of labour relations, adding that since 2007 shops can choose whether they wanted to close during those hours.

He said another reason the law changed was because many workers coming in from the villages did not have the option of going home. The far wider availability of air-conditioning in the workplace has also made the afternoon nap less essential for surviving the afternoon heat.

So, has the siesta died?

Obviously not quite, as my phone call made clear. But its survival does seem to depend very much on age, the habits of a lifetime and what type of job you have.

No longer are the main shopping streets deserted in the early afternoons. The big shops, such as Marks and Spencer and Debenhams, work from 9am to 8pm and 8am to 9pm respectively, with employees working in shifts. Not a

The habits of a lifetime are difficult to change for some, especially elderly, people

Siestas are becoming a thing of the past single shop at, for instance, the Mall of Cyprus shuts for lunch.

Many smaller shops also stay open all day. An employee, who preferred to remain anonymous, at a small Mitsingas shoe store on Ledra Street in Nicosia said that she works all the way through lunchtime with no break in the middle.

“We’re never closed at lunchtime. I’m here continually. I don’t do shifts but if it’s necessary someone else will come in,” she said.

Kaitlin Hughes who used to manage a shop down Stassicratous Street, one of Nicosia’s main shopping streets, said that the custom of shutting shop was inconvenient.

“I couldn’t go home as I lived outside Nicosia. I’d only be at home for say an hour if I did and then I’d have to set off again,” she said.

She said it has become easier for people to move around in the heat as there

is air conditioning everywhere.

Most companies also just work through lunch. An employee at the law firm Haviaras and Philippou confirmed that they work through the afternoon, saying that she prefers it that way.

Cyprus Handicrafts

Not only are most big stores working through lunch but most of the younger working generation have forgotten that the siesta ever existed.

Lorena Jimenez Lopez, 26, said that given her work schedule - she works in tax

planning at a Nicosia office - even if she did have the chance to sleep she would find it difficult.

“I think a siesta has to be part of your body’s schedule so even if I rest or lie down, I rarely fall asleep as I am not in that cycle,” she said.

Not even all civil servants - one of the last beneficiaries of the siesta class - are able to enjoy the privilege of a nap these days despite clocking off at 2.30pm.

“I don’t have a nap in the afternoon because even if I leave from work on time I still have to work from home. We have a lot of work because of the EU presidency,” said Tonia Mouski, 27, who works at the health ministry.

Those with flexible working schedules like 31-yearold Orestis Tringides, who has an e-learning company and works from home, get more of an opportunity to sleep.

“I work on a free schedule, so I have the luxury to sleep for four hours in a row during afternoons,” he said.

“Unfortunately the modern mentality of ‘don’t waste any time’ associates the siesta with laziness.”

Small businesses are also far more likely to keep to the old ways.

“I close at lunchtime during the summer mainly because I need the break. I can’t work continuously especially with the heat,” said Charalambia Manoli, a Nicosia seamstress, who has kept the same timetable all her working life.

And for Despo Theodoulou, now in her 80s, the habits of a lifetime simply can’t be broken.

“I have a siesta after lunch,” she said. “It’s a necessity for me because the jobs I do at home in the morning I do very intensively.”

Even when she was younger and working from 8am-5pm, she would still nip home at lunchtime and sleep even if only for half an hour.

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Man under police guard in hospital after fiancé dies in traffic accident

CYPRUS HANDICRAFT SERVICE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE, INDUSTRY AND TOURISM

A 25-year-old Greek Cypriot woman from Limassol was killed on Friday night when she and her British Cypriot fiancé got thrown off a four-wheel motorcycle he was driving in Limassol’s Ayios Sylas.

The 32-year-old driver of the bike apparently hit the pavement at around 10pm and lost control of the vehicle, hitting a parked car.

The couple, who were not sporting helmets, got thrown onto the street where the 25-year-old died on the spot from a head injury, said Limassol traffic police’s Emilios Kafas.

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The 32-year-old was yesterday in Limassol general hospital with non-serious head injuries, under the custody of the police who are investigating manslaughter.

“The way the accident happened, if they were wearing helmets, the girl would not have been fatally injured and [her fiancé] would not have ended up in hospital,” Kafas said.

Between 2007 and 2011, 113 motorcyclists were killed, according to traffic police’s statistical data.

From those killed, the majority, 68, did not have a helmet on.

6 August 26, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Home THE RISE AND FALL OF NADIR’S EMPIRE ASIL Nadir built Polly Peck International from a small fruit trading business into one of the biggest conglomerates in Europe.

Until its collapse in 1990, Polly Peck was the stock market’s fastest growing company.

An investment of £1,000 made in Polly Peck in the late 1970s would have been worth £1 million at the height of its success.

But the dream turned sour and the company collapsed owing £550 million.

Amid plummeting share prices and insider dealing allegations, Nadir fled the UK in 1993 as he was due to stand trial for theft.

He took a late-night flight by private plane to northern Cyprus and remained there, beyond the reach of the UK authorities, until his return in 2010.

Nadir was born in Cyprus in 1941, the son of a Turkish Cypriot businessman who moved his family to Britain in the 1950s.

In the late 1970s, Nadir took control of listed shell company Polly Peck, and used his stock market status to raise the cash to set up a northern Cyprus fruit-packing subsidiary, Sunzest, and Unipac, a cardboard box factory, via a share issue.

During the next four years, Polly Peck expanded into consumer electronics and hotel franchises as well as fruit and vegetable packing.

In 1983, the share price crashed, after hitting a high of £35, after rumours circulated that the Turkish authorities were about to withdraw vital tax concessions.

But by 1990, the share price had recovered and sent the company’s value rocketing.

Some 70 per cent of the profits recorded at Polly Peck’s head office in London supposedly came from the Turkish and Cyprus operations, but few Polly Peck executives understood exactly how they continued to rise steadily.

Bank mandates allowed Nadir and his

At home in Lapta

Why did Nadir This week an Old Bailey London judge years in jail for stealing millions from to London to face after 17 years on the

Nadir as a young businessman directors to make payments on the strength of a single signature, a highly unusual facility for the heads of a public company to have.

In 1989, Nadir did the deal that should have secured his status as a major international player, when he raised £577 million to buy Del Monte.

The acquisition made Polly Peck the world’s third-largest fruits distributor, but caused trouble for the group’s already complicated cash flow.

In summer 1990, persistent rumours about manipulation of Polly Peck’s share price reached an intensity where they could not be ignored by City authorities, including the Serious Fraud Office.

As the City’s investigation was getting under way, Nadir called a board meeting to propose that he bought back the 75 per cent of Polly Peck shares he did not already own.

But five days later, he withdrew the proposal just as abruptly, and in doing so called down the wrath of the Stock Exchange upon his head.

The Stock Exchange alerted the Department of Trade and Industry as well as the SFO, and his creditor banks began to dump shares to try to redeem some of their loans, causing the share price to collapse once again.

The banks appointed auditors, who tried unsuccessfully to get the paperwork on Nadir’s Turkish operations.

That goaded the banks into pressuring the board to put the company into liquidation, which is what happened in October 1990.

In 1994, Polly Peck’s creditors were told they were likely to get only a fraction of the £550 million they were owed, somewhere between £15-£55 million.

Shareholders got nothing.

S ASIL Nadir fought the battle of his life at the Old Bailey this week, the question on everyone’s lips was “Why did he come back?”

And the unspoken thought which went through many a mind was: “Will he make off again?”

For despite sureties, curfews and an electronic tag, the once powerful tycoon still had the cunning of a fox and a substantial family fortune at his disposal.

He slipped out of Britain in May 1993 on a private plane that took him to France and then a jet to northern Cyprus, which had no extradition treaty with the UK. Protesting his innocence and blaming the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for his downfall, even Nadir could not have imagined it would be 17 years before his return.

In the meantime, he lived comfortably in the north, married a new wife 43 years younger than him and built up a media business.

It was not until a judge granted him conditional bail that Nadir was flown in to the UK and attended court to continue where he had left off. ould not leave For Nadir could bsession with behind his obsession e” he had sufthe “injustice” fered.

A

REVENGE ENGE He wanted revenge evenge on the SFO and to make it pay for ar crash of his the spectacular Polly Peck International empire.

Its shares went into free g £160 million fall, dropping er investigain a day after adir’s South tors raided Nadir’s anagement Audley Management any in 1990 (SAM) company s of insider amid rumours dealing. ilar obsesIt was a similar sion which drove the a Harris, SFO’s Lorna backed up by detectives, to nail Nadir all go. those years ago. ing n adverThe two ageing ach other saries faced each in court last year for a ring in pre-trial hearing dge was which the judge ow the asked to throw case out. cused Nadir accused Mrs Harris of a style “Watergate-style ring cover-up” during tion. the investigation. sted Harris protested lled at being called dishonest. urt The court at heard that s some 40 pages of legallyprivileged papers had been mistakenly copied and circulatifted by police sifting through material AM. seized from SAM. Harris, who has now reiscovered the tired, later discovered d not disclose error but did

Happier times: Nadir on a beach in northern Cyprus.

Below: at an Old Bailey hearing earlier this year the extent of it to Nadir’s solicitors despite their complaints.

And the Attorney General unwittingly misled Parliament when Harris omitted to mention that documents had been copied and circulated to SFO investigators in a briefing document.

Justice Holroyde said he did not think her actions had been intended to disadvantage the defence.

But he did not believe Harris, a lawyer, when she told the court she did not think

the solicitors would have wanted to know.

He said: “This failure to be open and frank has proved to be her Achilles heel. This caused her to fall from her high standard.

“I cannot and I do not condone her conduct. On the contrary, I condemn it.”

He refused to throw the case out, but it was part of year-long on-off legal hearings.

Each sitting ended with the judge carefully reminding Nadir that he was on bail and must report to a police station on days the court was not sitting.

Of all his bail conditions, Nadir appeared to have found his electronic tag

7 SUNDAY MAIL • August 26, 2012

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return for trial? sentenced Turkish Cypriot tycoon Asil Nadir to ten his firm Polly Peck International, a trial he returned run. But why would he run such a risk? most worrying.

Any hopes that the judge would remove it after a misunderstanding which led to his arrest a couple of months after his return were soon dashed.

Nadir was questioned by police for four hours after security company Serco said it could get no reply after Nadir’s midnight curfew.

Nadir, who said he had been home all the time, said he found the experience distressing.

But the judge said: “It does not seem to me to be a good enough reason to vary the conditions.”

As the trial approached in January, Nadir seemed less enthusiastic about finally having his day in court.

Just two days before the jury selection process was due to start, Nadir made an 11th-hour attempt to avoid trial.

The judge was forced to put the process off a week while Nadir’s health was investigated.

A letter was produced

in court saying Nadir had been feeling unwell and undergone tests on his heart.

These included an MRI body scan which involved his electronic tag being removed.

A letter from a Harley

Street consultant said the stress of the trial could have consequences for his health - and could even lead to death.

Nadir flew to Turkey in 2002 after collapsing in Cyprus. He underwent sur-

SFO unclear on money recovery THE Serious Fraud Office said “it is not yet clear” how much of the money Asil Nadir stole from Polly Peck International (PPI) can be recovered.

Case Manager from the SFO Clare Whitaker said a claim will be made for compensation, which it is hoped will be given to the administrators of PPI. The company collapsed in 1990 with debts of £550 million, and Nadir was convicted at the Old Bailey of stealing a total of £28.6 million from the company.

Whitaker said: “A claim will be made for compensation which we hope will be awarded to the administrators of PPI. It’s not yet clear how many of the assets will be recoverable.

“We’re pleased that the jury’s verdict has confirmed what we’ve always said, which is that the collapse of Polly Peck was caused by Nadir’s behaviour.

“Nadir is an intelligent man and he had a complex network of companies and trusts in order to route the money out of the jurisdiction and conceal where it had gone from his creditors.”

She said the cost to the SFO of bringing the case to court was around £3 million, but there was work still to be done over the next month in relation to the compensation claim.

gery to clear an artery and implant a mesh support for it, the court heard.

A doctor was instructed to examine the former tycoon for the prosecution and the judge sat late the following week to hear from both medical men.

But after close questioning from Justice Holroyde, Nadir’s man agreed he could undergo a trial if he was given regular breaks.

The prosecution consultant also told the judge Nadir might have been feeling unwell because he had not been taking his blood pressure reducing medication regularly.

When the health condition was raised, the prosecution said there was “a suspicion of manipulation”.

It also emerged that Nadir asked for his bail to be varied on New Year’s Eve so he could stay out until 4am at a hotel.

The judge agreed he could extend his curfew until 2am, but Nadir decided to see the New Year in at home instead.

Life’s a beach: Nadir in Cyprus and (below) attending a hearing at the Old Bailey earlier this year

8 August 26, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

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CYPRUS TODAY Shave your head for charity

Live link: Ballard onboard the Nautilus making a live broadcast. Right: the Nautilus before leaving shore

The thrill of discovering something new underwater Whale bones, sharks, shipwrecks and volcanic rock – Nautilus wraps up

By Nathan Morley Oceanographer and underwater archaeologist Robert Ballard’s two-week exploration into the ocean depths off Cyprus has revealed an amazing array of life forms, shipwrecks and curiosities.

“We have found a lot of fascinating things, when you go where no one has gone before on planet earth - you are not really sure what you are going to find,” Ballard told viewers during a web-cast live from the NV Nautilus.

“For example, on the top of the seamount, we have seen an unusual feeding pattern of whales, which are diving down 4,000 feet and feeding on something at the bottom of the ocean.

We think they are beaked whales, they are very mysterious and we know very little about them.

“They are living in total darkness and feeding in total darkness, we are trying to understand what they are eating as there is no obvious food there,” Ballard said.

Other highlights of the trip included the discovery of the remains of an Ottoman war galley at a depth of 3,000 feet, along with a flintlock pistol which was surrounded by what appeared to be black rum bottles littering the sea floor.

Surprisingly, the metal pistol appeared to be remarkably well preserved, but most of the wood from the ship has deteriorated - eaten away by marine organisms.

For those onshore, the expedition brought underwater technological progress into the fore, as cameras peering into the gloom beamed live, high definition pictures from the bottom of the Mediterranean to the internet.

Mini submarines Hercules and Argus illuminated the gin clear water, as the vessels’ robotic tools, including a claw, gathered sediment samples, rocks and

Ceramic vessels from a shipwreck believed to be 2,300 to 2,500 years old. Below: sealife small sea animals.

Sea life probes included the exploration of an active area of clams and tubeworms on Eratosthenes seamount, which was followed by the discovery of a 2,300-2,500 year old shipwreck complete with a cargo consisting of a selection of ceramic vessels of a variety of sizes and shapes, including two pithoi. Two anchors, a possible bun ingot, and several unidentified artifacts were also photographed at the wreck site which measured 30 metres long and 10 metres wide.

The crew contacted scholars from Harvard University and Wheaton College, who are conducting research on the identification of the shipwreck. Based on the types of ceramics found on the site, they currently estimate that the wreck dates to the 4th century BC. Altogether, over 160 artifacts have been recorded, logged and photographed by geologists and marine biologists since the project began early August.

Cameras also captured the extent of the rubbish

strewn across the seafloor, which included everything from sun beds to garbage thrown from ships.

For Ballard, one of the most fascinating aspects of the trip was the discovery of a mysterious source of methane on the Eratosthenes Seamount.

“We very interested in the side of the seamount, because methane gas in solution is coming out of

the side of it and this is triggering a whole life system – a chemosynthetic life system, similar to what we discovered in Galapagos in 1977. We have an amazing ecosystem living in this environment.”

Many viewers had their breath taken away when cameras revealed a huge shark crossing the ship’s path - that together with live pictures of mating

squid and fossilised whale bones made for fascinating viewing.

The entire expedition has centered on the unique geological features of the Eratosthenes Seamount, which is one of the largest features on the Eastern Mediterranean seafloor.

“Eratosthenes is a very unique feature – this area was once above sea level.

It’s a mountain that is flat topped – which makes it odd to begin with as most mountains aren’t flat.

We’ve also found a geologic formation that does not fit at Eratosthenes. We thought this entire region was capped by limestone, but we’ve found what looks like volcanic rock, has been injected – so there are lots of things going on here,” Ballard added.

Nautilus is now preparing to head north to the Southeast Aegean Sea near Bodrum in Turkey. The ship will soon be fitted with a stateof-the art $2.5 million sonar system, which will enable the team to produce accurate maps of the seafloor.

“The sonar is big and it can make detailed maps.

If you’re an explorer, you want a map. Up until now we feel as if we have been operating off Broadway and now we are ready for Broadway – we are ready to go on a journey around the world to go where no one has gone before, because we will be able to make maps by June next year – we are very excited about that.”

Ballard is best known for leading the team that discovered the RMS Titanic in 1985, he also found the wrecks of the battleship Bismarck and the World War II torpedo patrol boat that John F Kennedy commanded.

Last month he helped to locate the bodies of two Turkish pilots after their jet was shot down by Syria. His R/V Nautilus ship spent a week in the waters between Syria and Cyprus searching for pieces of the plane’s wreckage.

SHAVE your head, cut off your locks, or donate what you can during the month of September to support children with leukaemia.

Fundraisers will be competing against each other with the leader of the team collecting the biggest sums shaving his or her head during a September 20 event at Le Cafe on Nicosia’s Makarios avenue.

“Volunteers express their love and support towards children with leukaemia by shaving their head,” the event’s organisers said.

Companies, individuals, schools or families are welcome to volunteer.

Volunteers may also cut their hair to donate it to charity organisation Wigs for Kids that makes wigs for children undergoing chemotherapy, among others.

People can also donate by calling Charity Direct. Call 90 937045 to donate €5.13 or call 90 938045 to donate €8.54. To sponsor the September 20 event or volunteer to help out call 22-772700

Diver dead A 40-year-old Greek Cypriot diver was discovered dead yesterday in the sea off Yeroskipou in Paphos.

The body carried multiple wounds and the police think the man was hit by a boat.

Police spokesman Nicos Tsapis said that the body was located by a British man who was driving his boat.

Cyprus News Agency said the man had gone diving in the morning.

Jewels stolen THREE men covering their face with surgical masks and caps robbed a jewellery store at 1pm yesterday in Limassol.

One of the three men tried to immobilise the store’s owner at knifepoint, while the other two broke a shop window and got the jewels on display.

In the meantime the owner broke free and challenged one of the three, followed the thieves out of the shop and grabbed one bag containing jewellery, a gun and a knife.

The police are looking for the trio, thought to hail from Eastern Europe.

Bakery robbed A MAN wearing a woolly cap over his head and woollen gloves robbed a Nicosia bakery in the early hours of yesterday.

The man got €400 from the bakery’s two employees whom he threatened with a knife at about 4.20am. The police are looking for him.

9 SUNDAY MAIL • August 26, 2012

World

Greece must be tackled after troika report, says Hollande Samaras: Greece determined to stay in the euro FRENCH President Francois Hollande said Greek leaders must demonstrate their commitment to push through reforms and that Europe must take decisions on the country as soon as possible following a progress report by Athens’ international lenders.

Hollande also said following a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras yesterday that Greece must stay in the euro zone, echoing comments by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who held similar talks with Samaras on Friday.

“Greece must demonstrate again the credibility of its programme and the will of its leaders to go through with it

French President Francois Hollande (right) welcomes Greece’s Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to the end, whilst ensuring it’s bearable for the population,” Hollande told reporters.

“On the European side, we are waiting for the troika report,” he said, referring

to the grouping of the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund.

“Once we have this report, once the commitments ... are confirmed, Europe has to do

what it has to do.

“We’ve been facing this question for two-and-a-half years. There’s no time to lose - there are commitments to reaffirm on both sides, decisions to take, and the sooner

the better. That means after the troika report at the European summit in October.”

Samaras said he had assured the French president that Greece was determined to overcome the debt crisis

and remain in the euro zone, which would show that Europe was capable of solving its problems.

“Some are betting that Greece will not make it. I am here to assure the French president that Greece is determined to make it and it will. It will do whatever is needed to overcome its crisis and remain in the euro zone and play the role it merits in European integration,” he said.

The Greek leader added that economic recovery was crucial to help it meet its targets.

Merkel on Friday reassured Samaras that she wanted Greece to stay in the euro zone, but gave no sign of ceding to his pleas for more time to meet the tough terms of Athens’ international bailout.

Merkel also stuck doggedly to her policy of deferring to the troika report, though she did say that she and Hollande were in no doubt they wanted Greece to stay in the single currency.

The French and German leaders had coordinated their stance on Greece over dinner in Berlin on Thursday.

Tropical Storm Isaac hits Haiti hard

By Susana Ferreira TROPICAL Storm Isaac emerged over warm Caribbean waters yesterday slightly weaker but ready to regroup after dumping torrential rains on Haiti, where thousands of people remain homeless more than two years after a devastating earthquake.

The storm was forecast to sweep over eastern Cuba yesterday and strengthen into a hurricane as it approaches the Florida Keys on a track toward the Gulf of Mexico.

Lashing rains and high winds were reported along parts of Haiti’s southern coast and in the capital Port-au-Prince, where more than 350,000 survivors of the 2010 earthquake are still living in fragile tent and tarpaulin camps.

Intermittent power out-

ages affected the greater Port-au-Prince area early yesterday as Isaac moved across hilly inland areas of the severely deforested Caribbean country.

The centre of Isaac was about 95 miles (150 km) east-southeast of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, early yesterday morning, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

WARNING A hurricane warning was already in effect in the Florida Keys, but the NHC said it was extending this to part of the southwest coast of Florida.

Isaac’s march across the Caribbean comes as US Republicans prepare to gather in Tampa, on Florida’s central Gulf Coast, for tomorrow’s start of their national convention ahead of the November presiden-

tial election.

The convention is expected to proceed as planned but Gulf of Mexico operators began shutting down offshore oil and gas rigs on Friday ahead of the storm.

The biggest immediate concern was heavily deforested Haiti, where Isaac’s rains could trigger deadly flash flooding and mudslides.

The Haitian government and aid groups evacuated thousands of tent camp dwellers on Friday but many Haitians chose to remain in their flimsy, makeshift homes, apparently fearing they would be robbed, said Bradley Mellicker, head of disaster management for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

“There’s a lot of people who are resisting because they are scared of losing what little they have now,” Mellicker said.

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ALEXANDER COLLEGE 71 Eleftherias Ave., (Larnaca-Aradippou Rd), Aradippou 7102, Larnaca, Cyprus | Tel: (+357) 24532373 Email: admissions@alexander.ac.cy | Website: www.alexander.ac.cy | UWE Bristol Website: www.uwe.ac.uk

The highest ranking UK University offering degree courses in Cyprus -The Guardian, UK University Rankings 2012

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10 August 26, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

World

Apple beats Samsung in landmark patent case

NY gunman described as friendly neighbour

Apple awarded over $1 bln in damages

By Daniel Bases A US jury found Samsung had copied critical features of the hugely popular iPhone and iPad

By Gerry Shih and Dan Levine APPLE has scored a sweeping legal victory over Samsung as a US jury found the Korean company had copied critical features of the hugely popular iPhone and iPad and awarded the US company $1.05 billion in damages.

The verdict - which came after less than three days of jury deliberations - could lead to an outright ban on sales of key Samsung products and will likely solidify Apple’s dominance of the exploding mobile computing market.

Apple’s victory is a big blow to Google, whose Android software powers the Samsung products that were found to infringe on Apple patents. Google and its hardware partners, including the company’s own Motorola unit, could now face further legal hurdles in their effort to compete with the Apple juggernaut.

Samsung lawyers were grimfaced in the quiet but crowded San Jose courtroom as the verdict was read, and the company later put out a statement calling the outcome “a loss for the American consumer.”

The jury deliberated for less than three days before delivering the verdict on seven Apple patent claims and five Samsung patent claims - suggesting that the nine-person

panel had little difficulty in concluding that Samsung had copied the iPhone and the iPad. Because the panel found “willful” infringement, Apple could seek triple damages.

Apple upended the mobile phone business when it introduced the iPhone in 2007, and shook the industry again in 2010 when it rolled out the iPad. It has been able to charge premium prices for the iPhone - with profit margins of as much as 58 percent per phone - for a product consumers regarded as a huge advance in design and usabil-

ity.

The company’s late founder, Steve Jobs, vowed to “go to thermonuclear war” when Google launched Android, according to his biographer, and the company has filed lawsuits around the world in an effort to block what it considers brazen copying of its inventions.

The legal win came one year after CEO Tim Cook assumed the helm of the company.

Shares in Apple, which just this week became the biggest company by market value in history, climbed almost 2 percent to a record high of $675 in after-hours trade.

Brian Love, a Santa Clara law school professor, described the verdict as a crushing victory for Apple: “This is the best-case scenario Apple could have hoped for.”

The verdict comes as competition in the mobile device industry intensifies, with Google jumping into hardware for the first time with its Nexus 7 tablet, and Microsoft’s new touchscreen friendly Windows 8 coming in October, led by its ‘Surface’ tablet.

The jury also upheld the validity of Apple’s patents, and said Samsung acted willfully when it violated several of

Apple’s patents. That could form a basis for Koh to triple the damages tab owed by Samsung.

“This is a vindication of Apple’s effort to create significant airspace around their design, and that’s relevant not just forSamsung, but for firms coming over the horizon,” said Nick Rodelli, a lawyer and adviser to institutional investors for CFRA Research in Maryland.

Apple’s lawyers said they planned to file for an injunction against Samsung products within seven days, with a hearing set for September 20.

NEIGHBOURS of Jeffrey Johnson assumed the man who greeted them as he left home in a suit each morning was on his way to work - until Friday when police say he started a gunfight near the Empire State Building that left him and a former coworker dead.

It turns out that Johnson, 58, had not been heading off all those mornings to his job as an accessories designer at Hazan Imports. He lost that position a year ago, police said.

On Friday, armed with a loaded .45-calibre handgun, he returned to his old workplace on West 33rd Street near the Empire Street Building.

At about 9am, he shot and killed 41-year-old Steve Ercolino, a former Hazan colleague, before being killed by police, officials said. Nine bystanders were wounded.

Johnson’s neighbours on Manhattan’s Upper East Side were left wondering how the gunman could be the same quiet apartment resident who doted on his cats and was kind to his neighbour’s dog.

“He wore the same suit every day,” said Gisella Casella, a school crossing guard who lives in the same apartment building as Johnson on East 82nd Street.

“I would only see him in the morning. I thought he went off to work,” she said.

The building superintendent said Johnson passed him every day between 7:30 and 8:30 in the morning on his way to a nearby McDonald’s.

“He says, ‘Hi Bill,’ and keeps going,” said the superintendent, Guillermo Suarez, who is known as ‘Bill’ along the quiet block of residential apartments.

Huge explosion kills at least 19 at Venezuela's biggest oil refinery

By Sailu Urribarri A GAS leak caused an explosion that killed at least 19 people at Venezuela’s biggest oil refinery yesterday and wounded more than 50 in the OPEC nation’s worst industrial accident in recent memory.

The deadly blast follows a string of minor accidents and unplanned stoppages that have afflicted state oil company PDVSA over the last decade, prompting critics to accuse President Hugo Chavez’s government of mismanagement.

It was not immediately clear how the blast would affect operations at the 645,000-barrels-per-day (bpd) Amuay facility, which makes up two-thirds of the world’s second-largest refinery complex, nor for how long output might be affected.

State TV showed footage of smoke billowing from the refinery as dawn broke, and emergency workers were on the scene.

Stella Lugo, the governor of local Falcon state, said the explosion had also hit homes in the area and that a ten-year-old child was among the dead.

“We are deploying our whole fire service team, all our health team, the whole contingency plan on the orders of Comandante Chavez to first of all care for the people affected by this emergency,” Lugo told state TV. Located on a peninsula overlooking the Caribbean sea in the west of Venezuela, Amuay is part of the Paraguana Refining Center, the second-biggest refinery complex in the world with an overall capacity of 955,000 bpd.

11 SUNDAY MAIL • August 26, 2012

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12 August 26, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Opinion Every right to feel anxious about second Russian loan FEARS expressed by members of the financial services sector with regard to the implications of securing a second loan from the Russian Federation are perfectly understandable. Nobody knows the promises President Christofias would have given to President Vladimir Putin for a €5 billion loan which the former seems desperate to secure in the mistaken belief that it would strengthen Cyprus’ bargaining power when discussing bailout terms with the troika.

This desperation could have led Christofias to the type of deal with Putin that would wreck Cyprus’ image as a reliable and secure financial services centre.

The biggest fear of the financial services sector, which makes, by far, the biggest contribution to Cyprus’ GDP, was that Christofias could have offered to furnish the Russian authorities with financial information about Russian companies operating here. If this happened, the damage would be irreparable, as foreign companies

would move to countries that guarantee confidentiality and offer a more secure legal framework for businesses, taking with them billions’ worth of bank deposits.

Nobody is suggesting that where there is suspicion of wrongdoing the law should not be applied. In fact, due legal process would enhance the reputation of the country. When a court order for disclosure of information is secured, there could be no complaints against the authorities.

The fraud office MOKAS did not have to defend its actions with a statement on Wednesday as it had secured a court order for disclosure in the case of the Bank of Moscow dispute.

It is the disclosure of information that might not be secured in the courts that, understandably, is the big concern. And this could have been a condition set by Putin to Christofias, during their telephone conversation of a few weeks ago, for granting Cyprus a second loan. Such a condition would not

Cyprus Mail

be written down anywhere and it would be extremely naive to believe the government’s argument that Putin would grant a second loan in less than a year because of the friendly ties between the two countries. Only a simpleton would buy this myth.

President Putin is not the type of politician who gives loans worth billions because of countries’ friendship. On the contrary, he is a ruthless politician who would extract the maximum return for his government from an alleged act of political friendship. If he could use the loan to get at Russian businessmen he is at odds with, there is little doubt that he would.

In 2003 his government had put huge pressure on the Cyprus government to disclose confidential information regarding the

Khodorskovsky-Yukos case for alleged tax evasion and money laundering. The government did not oblige, for legitimate reasons, enhancing the island’s reputation as a reliable financial centre.

If Russia made a similar request now, having agreed to grant the €5 billion loan, what would be the probability of Christofias turning it down?

An indication of what we should expect was given at a CyprusRussian business seminar held in Limassol in February. In his presentation, the Chairman of the Bank of Moscow, Mikhail Kuzovlev, a trusted associate of Putin, warned that the head of the Russian Central Bank would treat the operations of “Russian banks with Cypriot companies with greater scrutiny.” Citing the legal case involving the Bank of Moscow he said that the Russian courts needed the “collaboration of the Cypriot authorities” and warned that “the situation is closely monitored by leaders of Russia.”

However, the most revealing point made by Kuzovlev was that “the President of Russia has recently demonstrated our willingness to develop our ties by offering Cyprus financial assistance.” He was referring to the €2.5 billion loan, which implicitly necessitated the “collaboration of the Cypriot authorities.” He was almost like the emissary of our paymaster issuing instructions.

The big question is what type of “collaboration” with Russian authorities, with regard to Cyprus-based Russian businesses, would Christofias have to agree to, in order to secure the €5 billion? The financial services sector and everyone who cares about the future of our economy has every reason to feel anxious about the president’s dealings with Putin.

Our only hope now is for Moscow to say ‘no’ to the loan – very likely - and thus spare Christofias the indignity of having to obey Moscow’s diktats for the remainder of his term.

Letters to the Editor Brewing family were treated disgracefully I read an article in your newspaper written by Bejay Browne (Sunday Mail June 17, 2012) regarding the Aphrodite’s Rock Brewing Company. This article aroused my interest, particularly as it involved an investment of, at the time, €750,000, which must be considerably more by now.

I wondered whether the Cyprus government, it’s bureaucrats and the Church have driven them off the island yet.

It seems such a disgrace that a family who are prepared to commit their whole family and their money to a country should be treated in this way.

I live in Bradford in the UK and cannot comprehend how

any Government can be so blinkered in view of the taxes which such a business would bring to them. I must admit that I didn’t realise how the politicians operated in Cyrus or that they presumably employ people to write into the media to defend and praise them.

I will continue to be an avid reader of your newspaper as it fascinates me as to how the majority of people tolerate the political situation, and how the government haven’t learnt from the happenings in Libya, Egypt and Syria.

I look forward to being corrected if I have misconstrued Cypriot politics.

B.Butterfield, UK

Stop building churches So the Church is feeling the pinch of austerity (Cyprus Mail August 22) and Archbishop Chrysostomos calls for a cutting of expenses.

Not that it is of direct concern to the expatriate community, but one does wonder somewhat at the expenditure on the enormous and overwhelming church being built in Paphos’ Tala.

Were there questions ever raised at a time of recession over the necessity and desirability for yet another very large church construction? It will be beautiful, wonderfully fitted out, and a credit to the craftsmen who have been working on it, but during a period when the Archbishop tells us he is worrying about diminishing revenues, was such an enormous commitment for a small community never any kind of concern for him?

Clive Turner, Paphos

It would be better to feed the poor It is so sad that whilst baskets are being placed in supermarkets asking for donations of food for the poor of Paphos just a 10-minute drive away in the small village square of Tala, which already has four or five churches, a huge church is being built at a cost of millions.

More and more people are losing income through no fault of their own, finding it impossible to pay bills and provide for their families with little hope for the future So much could have been achieved with six million euros to lighten the burden of these people. Could somebody out there give a reason?

M Wrigley Peyia

Energy from solar Idea of an erotica fest panels can be stored is simply a We would like to offer some comments and thoughts on the article published in the Cyprus Mail on Thursday August 23, on photovoltaics, which by the way was a very good article by Jacqueline Agathocleous.

Mention is made in the article of the uncertainly of the PV Plant being unable to produce electricity in cloudy days.

This can be offset by the use of smart energy storage systems whereby electricity produced through photovoltaic systems can be stored in batteries and be used whenever required on cloudy days, or fed to the grid, or use directly in home appliances, or accept electricity from the grid.

So the consumer becomes truly a master of his own house on energy matters.

Such smart energy storage systems are now available for residential applications.

In general, photovoltaic systems would pay for themselves in two ways.

The cost for installing a small PV Plant on a house roof of say 5KW is about €10.000 and would produce about 7500KWh per year.

If a normal household of four persons consumes about 6000KWh per year this will effectively mean a saving of around €1,530 per year based at the tariff of €0.255/ KWh (including all other costs) that the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) is charging.

So the investment will be paid off in about 7 years and thereafter Electricity will be provided free for about the next 20 years.

The second way that the photovoltaic system pays off is through the feeding of the excess electricity produced to the grid whereby the producer receives a fixed compensation.

D. Lakis Zotiades, L. Zotiades Trading/Consulting Nicosia

If Cypriot taxi drivers think they have it bad, they should try working in UK To all Cypriot taxi drivers.

There is no upper limit to the number of licences issued by, what was, the PCO in London. Originally controlled by the Met police but now Transport For London under the authority of the Mayor.

If you are caught not using a meter, you will get a six-month ‘holiday’. If you are caught picking up from a bus stop, you will get a one-month “holiday”.

If you are caught with a dirty cab, you will get a four-day ‘holiday’.

There are no MoTs for

black taxis in London. Instead, they have to pass a test that is much, much more stringent than any of you reading this can imagine to the point where the vehicle has to be, and I use the PCO word ‘perfect’.

Nothing extra is allowed on the dashboard, no GPS, cupholder or mobile phone and the radio has to be an approved model - not one you fancied fitting - with standard-sized speakers.

A driver must never smoke and always look casually smart.

A complaint against a

driver will require the driver attending an ‘interview’ to which he will be required to bring witnesses against the allegation and if the complaint is found to be proven, may, depending on the severity of the situation, warrant a further ‘holiday’.

I stopped using Cyprus taxis years ago after numerous drivers refused to use the meter at Paphos airport one night.

I have very intense feelings for them all and wish them well.

Via www.cyprus-mail.com

travesty This letter is in response to Ms Zoe Christodoulides report on embracing the sensual side of erotica (Sunday Mail August 19).

The annual Sex and Erotica Festival will make easy money for the local organisers that cater for the kinky followers who pay to view the debasing of the human body.

It is a travesty they disguise it as the artistic side of sex.

They say that by doing it they hope to progress and open the gates to a more ‘liberal’ community, with the ultimate aim of accepting live sex.

When this takes place they will have earned the five letter job title that starts with P and ends with S. As the Sunday Mail has allowed Zoe to advertise the date, phone number and place of the event, I would like to oppose its success by asking our Church to make a stand on this issue.

How can women, especially those that have experienced giving birth, allow such shameful degradation of our species without even a minor peaceful suffragette-like response?

Would anyone be willing to go anywhere near this lewd underground club hosting this event if they knew that their pictures could be put on Facebook?

A Dinou, Nicosia

Want to send a letter?

You can send letters to the Cyprus Mail by email, fax or post. Letters should include a full postal address (an email address is not sufficient), a daytime telephone number and a reference to the relevant article. A name and address may be withheld from publication if circumstances warrant. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Correspondence will be published at the discretion of the editor. Management is under no obligation to inform readers if, when or where their letters will appear.

13 SUNDAY MAIL • August 26, 2012

Opinion

The Cyprus challenge: a solution paradigm A federation is not the lesser of two evils, it is the embodiment of the evil

I

T IS clear that the major concession made by President Makarios in 1977 - 35 years ago - towards a bi-communal, bizonal federation, while justified in an environment of further threats and instability, was counter-productive and could not work.

It is also evident that the leaders of the Turkish Cypriot community have allowed themselves, willingly or unwillingly, to be influenced – if not manipulated – by the Turkish leaders to further Turkey’s interests, rather than their own, by seeking further concessions and impossible requests.

If Turkey is not interested in a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation with political equality between its own two constituent states, including a “Kurdish Republic of Eastern Turkey” within its own borders, it might be well to consider abandoning its pressure for a federation in Cyprus, and withdraw its military forces from the island. Turkey may not impose on third countries what it does not like for itself.

The re-unification of Cyprus and a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation are not compatible, and this is the reason why after 35 years different political leaders from the two communities have failed to reach an agreement. A bi-communal, bi-zonal federation simply legalises the partition of Cyprus achieved as a result of an invasion and illegal occupation of a third of the island for the past 38 years.

A federation is not the lesser of two evils, it is the embodiment of the evil, the dismemberment of a small island which is now an EU member. The very first United Nations mediator Galo

Plaza realized the negative consequences of a federation from the very beginning – 47 years ago. A federation could only lead to formal partition.

The “reality on the ground” is very artificial if it were not for the presence of some 40,000 Turkish troops in the north of Cyprus. The Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots are very friendly and hospitable Mediterranean people who have no real problem to live together, if and when they are helped to trust each other instead of being brainwashed by negative self-fulfilling prophecies instigated by some local and foreign political or other leaders and some sections of the media.

Imagine Cyprus as a beautiful little island in the Mediterranean where the people of the two communities live together, work together, do business together and play together. An island where everyone lives wherever one likes. An island where there are no foreign military forces. And where all the citizens - Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots - enjoy full

Turkey may not impose on third countries what it does not like for itself

benefits of European Union membership.

This is not wishful thinking. This is a vision partly reflecting on what actually happened in the past, recalling the positive aspects of the past to re-create a better future. This is partly learning from the gaps left carelessly wide open in 1960

by Britain, Greece and Turkey, possibly because they did not know any better.

There is no reason why this should go on indefinitely.

The United Nations (UN) has given its contribution, but it has not solved the challenge. The UN was successful in peacekeeping and in freezing the conflict or negative peace, but it has failed in peace building.

Cyprus needs one or more political parties, and one or more political leaders, preferably from each community to have the courage to forget about a federation and lead the people towards a new reunited Cyprus.

Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots need to be treated equally as citizens of Cyprus, independently of their ethnic origin.

A united Cyprus where Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots enjoy their individual human rights and human needs, including security, identity and recognition, is possible.

This is the right time to lead the people towards a paradigm shift in the resolution of the Cyprus challenge towards real re-unification.

This is the right time because Cyprus has some influence as the Presidency of the European Union; and this is the right time because the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is focusing on conflict resolution

Comment Alfred A Farrugia and reconciliation. This is the right time because Cyprus is in the run-up to another Presidential election.

This is the time for real leaders for peace and unity to stand out.

With the help of the EU and the OSCE, a new leadership in Cyprus could build on the peace constituency that already exists – a peace constituency that several institutions, Fulbright scholars and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) have developed over the years among the people and friends from the two communities.

Funds from the EU could be channeled to develop a bottom-up national strategy of reconciliation among the people of the two communities, especially those who are still suspicious of the other side. What is needed is not opinion polls of what people from the two communities think on the situation, but social, educational and cultural activities that bring down emotional and psychological barriers and create trust, forgiveness and friendships. What is needed is a strategy for transformation, peace and justice. The OSCE with its new focus on reconciliation and with its expertise in working with NGO’s can be invited to lead and give legitimacy to such a national strategy.

The OSCE - with the support of the EU - could deploy a Cyprus Verification Mission, similar to the one deployed in Kosovo in 1998, to put the mind of the Turkish Cypriots at rest that their security will be covered even when the Turkish troops withdraw.

The Turkish Cypriots may or may not have isolated themselves in the past, but the Greek Cypriot political

Cyprus needs leaders to have courage to forget about federation and lead the people to a new reunited island leaders and parties need to go out of their way to embrace the Turkish Cypriots within their ranks and membership.

Political parties from each community could form alliances and work together – in government and in opposition.

Consideration could be given to the possibility of introducing a new form of a parliamentary system of government and democracy, with a Greek Cypriot Prime Minister and a Turkish Cypriot Deputy Prime Minister and a mixed Cabinet of Ministers of a single united Cyprus, where value and merit are not constrained by ethnicity.

Alfred A. Farrugia is a retired diplomat from Malta, who served at the Permanent Mission of Malta to the UN in New York, the Delegation of Malta to the OSCE in Vienna, and the Embassy of Malta in Washington DC, as the Deputy Chief of Mission.

He is conducting research on peacebuilding in Cyprus for a Ph.D. in conflict analysis and resolution at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University.

The opinions expressed are his own and do not reflect those of the authorities in Malta or the University.

A farcical investment in the island of comedy Comment Loucas Charalambous THE ADMINISTRATION of Demetris Christofias shall go down in history as the most laughable of all.

In this country grand projects – political or otherwise – have almost always ended in a farce, but now under Christofias we are breaking new ground. The case involving Yang Qi and the much-trumpeted Chinese investment at the old Larnaca airport, which turned into a joke, is the latest example.

When the fanfare began about the much-touted investment, perhaps no one realised at the time that it would all fizzle out with the Chinese “mega businessman” telling us that he would “temporarily withdraw” his interest because his company is under a judicial investigation in China over allegations

of corruption concerning the matter of Marios Ieronymides, former director of the President’s Diplomatic Office.

Yang Qi even brought with him a Chinese newspaper, which our own Communications Minister displayed to the media in a bid to justify the “temporary” cancellation of the investment.

But a fortnight ago, on August 14, Yang Qi had informed the government in writing that he was pulling out of the investment due to the “lengthy and complex” procedures in Cyprus. Now, he’s telling us that he’s withdrawing his interest not because of lame procedures, but because he’s being investigated about possible corruption. In short, the guy is taking us for the proverbial ride.

This is not just a fiasco; it’s a farce and a joke all in one. Yet in this comedy show, it is not the Chinese businessman who is the true star.

No, the lead roles are reserved for our guys, from the President to the Communications Minister right down to the ministry mandarins who had the gall to cackle in front of the cameras immortalising Yang Qi’s meeting with the minister on Wednesday. The punchline of the joke was delivered on the same night when on television the minister took it upon himself to explain the behaviour of the uncanny Chinese character.

Asked about the aforementioned contradiction, the minister said that Yang Qi “had to say something” so that his company would evade charges of corruption, and that this is why he had cited the lengthy procedures in Cyprus.

Yes, but hold on: wouldn’t Yang Qi have been more credible had he said from the outset that he was pulling out in order to safeguard his company’s reputation after Ieronymides was implicated in the

case? To cap it all, the minister admitted on television that it had not occurred to him to check the date of the article in the Chinese newspaper making corruption allegations in order to see whether it was published before August 14.

A hoot and a half. But fun aside, there’s another facet to the story which is equally interesting, something pointed out by Alecos Constantinides in his column in Alithia newspaper in its August 18 edition.

Frustrated over the publicity surrounding Ieronymides, Yang Qi had threatened to take his investment to Serbia.

As has been published, Mrs. Ieronymides, the former director of the company interested in investing in Larnaca (51 per cent of the company’s shares belong to persons unknown, even though the lawyers who registered the company subsequently said that all the shares belong to Yang Qi) also happens to

be one of the directors of Serbian offshore company Hemslade which has its headquarters in Nicosia.

The offshore company is owned by businessman Miroslav Miskovic, the second richest man in Serbia said to be worth US$2.8 billion.

In 1990 Miskovic was appointed a deputy prime minister under the Milosevic regime.

Miskovic was abducted in 2001 but was released from captivity the next day when a ransom of seven million deutschmarks was paid. He is the founder and CEO of Delta Holdings conglomerate, and has been accused by Serbian media of “buying Serbia with money that was taken out to Cyprus during the Milosevic reign”.

So this is another interesting aspect, which may hold answers to who is really behind the 51 per cent of Yang Qi’s company and to his threats to take his investment to Serbia.

14 August 26, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Opinion

Municipalities can survive but they must think more boldly One London-based Cypriot born councillor says island’s cash-strapped municipalities can save themselves

I

T IS a truth universally acknowledged that looking forward and preparing for the worst case scenario is a better prospect than burying your head in the sand and hoping the problem will go away.

In May 2010 problems were the last thing on my mind when I was elected leader of the council at the London Borough of Merton.

Merton is one of 33 London boroughs which together serve a population of some eight million residents.

Merton alone covers 200,000 of those residents who live in 80,000 houses and are served by 8,000 businesses.

Merton is famous for hosting the Wimbledon Tennis Championships where Marcos Baghdatis is a big favourite. Merton is also known for hosting the first ever meeting of Parliament.

This was under King Henry III at Merton Priory. Another famous name associated with Merton is Lord Horatio Nelson who called this place “my dear, dear Merton” For me at least, May 2010 soon came and went and it wasn’t long before October when the new coalition government informed us that our grant would be cut by 26% over three years as part of the UK’s deficit reduction programme.

We immediately started a comprehensive review of our services. This included looking at every service, every job, every charge, every actual and planned expenditure and, come to that, everything that moved in the town hall.

We asked managers to look at what every service would look like if the cut had been as much as 30%. We could then choose which areas to make a priority- things like libraries and street sweeping, which would not be cut.

All this work with all the numbers associated was presented to every councillor and all stakeholders.

The full package of cuts was decided by the cabinet and then presented to a panel of elected councillors from all parties for close scrutiny. As a result of that forensic investigation, further changes were made.

Finally the council meeting, chaired by our ceremonial mayor, passed a balanced budget. Without this central government would have stepped in to run us.

Not much independence there. We are now midway through the administration and we have saved some £44 million over two years What did this mean for the residents and the staff in

Comment Stephen Alambritis the borough?

Sadly we had to let go of some excellent workers.

From a total of 2,543 employees (excluding schools) we are now down to 2,115 staff. This was done by engaging with our unions. For staff who have stayed with, us a painful pay freeze is in place.

For our part, all councillor allowances are frozen too and we abolished three councillor salaried posts.

All prospective requests for new recruitment are challenged robustly among senior directors.

On services affected, we have stopped collecting garden waste for free and have imposed a modest charge.

We have had to start charging for our pest control service. We have had to let go of our graphics team and increased our charges for our popular translation service.

We have saved money by sharing services with other authorities. In pursuit of

Merton is famous for hosting the Wimbledon Tennis Championships that goal we share our legal department with Richmond council and our personnel department with Sutton council. There is now just one head legal officer and their department and just one head personnel officer and their department across two councils. In undertaking our savings agenda we have maintained services for children and vulnerable groups and our voluntary sector is still thriving. We have not closed any librar-

ies and our refuse collection and street scene services are fully catered for.

We are not in the clear by any means. We still have to find some £17 million of savings in the years ahead.

Tough decisions continue to lie ahead but we will remain business like and those decisions will be taken as they arise.

That future will still see a borough in London that is called Merton. It may be a smaller borough, a leaner

borough, a sharing borough and a more prudent borough, but it is one that is continuing to meet the reasonable expectations of its residents and a borough with its head held high.

Councillor Stephen Alambritis was born in Aradippou. He is the Leader of the Council at the London Borough of Merton and the first Greek Cypriot to lead a council in the UK.

Olympic Games were a triumph over adversity Dear Great Britain SEVEN years ago, you won the bid to host the Olympic Games.

There was an outpouring of joy around the nation as people gathered throughout London to watch the official announcement on giant screens. It was a close contest, as you were challenging New York, Paris, Madrid, each of them unique in their own way.

But you won through sheer force of vision and will.

You were full of optimism and hope as you were also basking in the glow of the Live Aid concert in which you channeled your country’s fundamental decency and idealism towards rallying the world in defence of the poorest and most vulnerable.

The whole width and breadth of the United Kingdom was experiencing a truly unique experi-

Comment Timothy Spyrou ence. You were looking to the future with optimism as you vowed to step up the fight to make poverty history through music. You were looking to the future when you vowed that the London 2012 Olympics would be an embodiment of all that radiates from the British Isles, and that you would leave a positive legacy.

Britain would not only be patriotic, it would be progressive, energetic and global. Britannia would achieve glory in a new world that it will fashion; a world where people can be inspired to strive for themselves and so that they can give back to others.

And then, tragedy intervened.

The terrorists of July 7th 2005

were going to attack Britain sooner or later.

They didn’t know you were going to host the Olympics until the day before. However, as they set off for your train and bus stations, they were secretly happy that they had picked that particular summer morning. Their ideology of division and hatred dictated it.

The Olympics and the Live Aid concerts are instruments in which people of all colours, faiths and nations work with so as to unite the world.

Together, they represent, in small ways, the human spirit of creativity. The weapons that the London bombers used represented all of the tools that are designed to tear the world apart.

And yet, the people of Britain soldiered on, the way their fore-

fathers did before them in the Second World War. While I am not denying that British society doesn’t face serious problems, as exemplified by the riots and the suffering caused by austerity, I feel that the London Olympics of 2012 stands out for the values that hold in place the “great” in Great Britain.

We saw community. We saw creativity. We saw charming eccentricity. We saw enterprise. We saw optimism. We saw resilience.

We didn’t just see all of those values as we danced to the music of Paul McCartney and George Michael, listened with pride to the anthems of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, marveled at the triumph of the Great Ormond Street Hospital children over adversity [in the shape of Lord Voldermort] with the help of Mary Poppins

and Peter Pan. We didn’t just see it as we viewed the 21st century architecture of the Olympic venues in one of civilization’s oldest cities.

We felt it.

We felt it as we saw Mo Farrah win his gold medals for his adopted country, how Heather Mary Stanning fulfilled her ambition from her high school yearbook to achieve an Olympic Gold as she simultaneously brought honour to her fellow soldiers in Afghanistan. We also felt it as Tom Daley kept calm and carried on, despite the early disappointment and the taunts.

In a way, this was the greatest tribute that Britain could give to those who died on July 7th 2005.

From a young Cypriot-American, who cares for Britain and appreciates its grace.

15 SUNDAY MAIL • August 26, 2012

Opinion

Bridge is not a game for faint hearts It is combative, demanding and brings out the worst in us. It is also said to keep the mind active in the elderly

T

HE ‘silly season’ - the holiday month of August - is when commentators write about whatever comes to mind, so this week, I will tell you about my passion for bridge, a card game familiar to those compatriots who studied at British universities, yet unknown to ‘ambelopoulia’ aficionados and the 18,000-odd hillside hunters who were on the rampage last Sunday shooting any feathered thing just a few ‘easy game’ tame pigeons by all accounts.

Bridge is said to keep the mind active, distancing senile dementia in the elderly and enhancing one’s powers of concentration in the not so.

I should explain the rules of the game, but I’d fill the entire page; suffice it to say that it resembles the card game of Belote (Pelota) played by the locals for money in most village cafés. How do I know they play for money? Well, just listen to the way partners scream at one another. We do not scream when playing bridge; we are just plain nasty.

There are two established bridge clubs in Nicosia, the ‘Exclusive’ on Iroon St in the once ‘smart’ suburb of Ayios Andreas, and the Nicosia Bridge Club, which was for years on Kastorias Street, opposite the Central Bank of Cyprus and is now downtown, off Makarious Avenue at the Trust (former clubhouse of the internationally renowned football club, APOEL) and not far from the dress shop which claims to make Cyprus ‘sexy’.

Bridge clubs exist in all major towns - a couple of formerly well patronized ones in Paphos - satisfying the pastime needs of the many ex-pat Brits, whose numbers are dwindling once in possession of title deeds, selling their homes to uninitiated Chinese and Russians, as well as a notable one in the ‘sexless’ village of Lefkara, where villagers have been playing to a high standard ever since an English ‘gentleman’ retired there during colonial times, introducing the game to local silversmiths and lace ‘sweat shop’ owners.

Bridge literature abounds for those who might wish to take the plunge.

You can play online; many websites exist, although ‘bitching’ with one’s presumed partner is not permitted – somehow a cherished part of the game lost.

Bridge is not a game for ‘nice’ people. It is combative, demanding and

uotes of the week “Last night me and my girlfriend watched three DVDs back to back.

Luckily I was the one facing the telly” Comedian Tim Vine, brother of broadcaster Jeremy Vine, delivers what was officially rated one of the best jokes of the Edinburgh Festival fringe

Omar Sharif was a well-known Bridge aficionado

Comment Hermes Solomon brings out the worst in us. Taking the game too seriously can lead to apoplexy, wishing one’s partner dead even. Husband and wife partnerships divorce over it.

International competitions are held annually, players coming from Greece and the Middle East (not Turkey) to compete in a Limassol hotel conference room during two or more exhausting days. Prize money will not make you rich, but the kudos of winning is priceless.

Cyprus has its own international team, its members selected from all the clubs – not that it is world class, but certainly a fine team considering the comparatively small number

‘In Lefkara, villagers have been playing to a high standard ever since an English ‘gentleman’ retired there during colonial times’ of clubs and players throughout the island.

Bridge, like chess, relies on skill not luck, bidding the right contract paramount to success, although a ‘perfect fit’ (perfectly balanced hands) can lead to grand slams (taking all tricks).

I play at my local club twice a week, four or five tables (not the 30 I was accustomed to at the Nottingham Bridge Club) and regard myself as

an average player. My present partner, with whom I’ve been playing this past two years due to ‘losing’ my previous partner at the ripe old age of 86, can be erratic and greedy. He insists on playing the hands no matter the contract (there I’ve done it!

Bitching already…).

Bridge encourages intimacy and contempt equally. Successful partnerships denote a perfect marriage of minds without need of bodily consummation.

Once upon a time I partnered an ambassador’s wife, who took ages to bid or play a hand, diplomatic protocol demanding immoderate patience and exemplary comportment on my behalf at all times, characteristics that do not come to me naturally.

Her perpetual dallying, which resembled metaphysical rumination, had me wondering whether we’d make better lovers than bridge partners?

During our three-year partnership we fell out only once, me blaming ‘ses règles’ and she my impertinence and coarse use of her mother tongue.

Our club comprises a cross section of the aspiring middle class, few millionaires and even fewer paupers.

The average age of members sits around fifty due to several young and attractive women leaving their kids at home with dad for the afternoon.

Were it not for their charmed presence, the club would resemble a care home common room, all of us waiting for Godot.

Yet I cannot think of a more pleasant and mentally active wait, the alternatives being the TV, tempting heatstroke visiting family and friends on summer afternoons, sitting on a park bench reading in the shade, shopping endlessly or walking the dog, the ease of accomplishing the latter two impeded by the lack of decent or accessible pavements in our capital city.

Bridge, an obsession or disease for some, is not a game for faint hearts yet keeps us off the streets and gets us out of our homes.

The perfect player is one who supports/encourages a partner after he/ she has bungled a contract; scolding belongs to the nasty, and as we know, especially at bridge, we all make mistakes occasionally… apart, that is, from the Republic’s president, who is ‘faultless’, and this, not senile dementia, the reason he doesn’t play bridge!

“It might be really sordid and bad sexual etiquette, but whatever else it is, it is not rape” George Galloway defends Julian Assange, who is facing rape allegations in Sweden, and who, according to the Respect MP, is guilty of nothing worse than “bad manners”

“Simon Cowell (above) likes nursery nosh, things like rhubarb crumble, sticky toffee pudding and spotted dick. We all just stuff ourselves silly” Singer Sinitta on holidaying with her former boyfriend “Because of gravity your head ages faster than your feet” Top Gear presenter James May “The older you get, the funnier sex gets. Love doesn’t happen like it does in the movies. No-one looks that amazing in real life, people have to take their socks off - although often they leave them on” Actor Robson Green

“Julian Assange (above) may abseil down from a back window. They should put the SAS round the back of the embassy.

Laundry baskets going out should be gassed” Lord Walsingham on Assange’s haven in Ecuador’s London embassy “Money” Actor Larry Hagman (below third right), who plays JR Ewing in Dallas, when asked what motivated the return of the former TV hit series “Being the child of someone famous is a huge ball and chain around your ankles. It is going to be very difficult” Sir Elton John’s fears for his son, Zachary

“I think it’s easier for a woman as we don’t have any moveable parts. You can just sort of blank out and nobody can really tell what you’re thinking. I think it’s much harder for boys maybe - or not” Actress Kate Beckinsale, on doing love scenes in a movie “The nation can only applaud when politicians offer to have their brains removed” Former home secretary David Blunkett delivers a joke, but he is deadly serious about donating his brain, when he dies, to research on dementia “A fame-hungry jerk” TV star Kim Kardashian’s description of her ex Kris Humphries

16 SUNDAY MAIL • August 26, 2012

Opinion

Cyprus international services sector: where to next for us?

The system must ensure that this confidentiality is protected by law and may not be breached due to the whims of the government

I

N ADDITION to key success factors such as the creation of a favourable and low tax environment, an extensive double tax treaty network with major economic powers, ease of doing business and of course the provision of high quality services by the profession, a viable and credible International Financial Centre must have a reputation of total confidentiality and discreet secrecy (underpinned by strong legislation and independent institutions) as regards the financial dealings and status of the investors choosing such jurisdiction.

This must be complemented by a robust and liquid banking system through which these investment flows may be carried out and which provides absolute comfort that their funds are secure and easily accessible at any time.

The Cyprus international services sector has experienced rapid growth during the past 20 years (despite strong competition from other jurisdictions), firmly establishing the island as a viable and credible financial centre and direct foreign investment jurisdiction. This was due to the vision and initiative of the accountancy and legal profession on the one hand, and the continuing support and cooperation of all past governments which clearly recognised the huge potential of this sector. That is all past governments, save the current one, more of which will be illustrated below.

The direct benefits of this successful drive are numerous and substantial: billions of Euros arising from VAT imposed, income and defence taxes have bolstered state finances over this period, whilst the large cash deposits placed in the Cyprus banks by these international companies (estimated at over €30 billion presently) have provided local banks with much needed liquidity and shielded them from the financial crisis experienced over the past 5 years. In addition, and during a time when the rest of the business sectors of the Cyprus economy have been shrinking, or at

Comment John Mavrokordatosi best, stagnating, pushing the unemployment to historic highs of almost 11%, this services sector has created thousands of new, high quality jobs.

It is estimated that presently, the services sector accounts for over 70% of Cyprus GDP and is worth around €10 billion annually.

Client confidentiality means exactly that – certainty that a legal framework is in place that guarantees that the financial standing and dealings of investors are sacrosanct and may not be disclosed to any other party – be it foreign governments or regulators – without due legal process. This is not to say that where criminal activity is involved the system protects the culprit since this will have the opposite effect and tarnish the reputation of the country. However, the system must ensure that this confidentiality is protected by law and may not be breached due to the whims of the government of the day and its officials for whatever reason other than what is envisaged by law. Independent institutions must be in place to ensure the law, and the constitution of the country, are upheld.

Where a government ignores the above and proceeds with disclosure of information without due legal process or based on suspicion and rumour in order to ingratiate itself or gain favour with that other government or party, then clearly the credibility of the country, not only in the eyes of the foreign investors, but also its own citizens, will be destroyed.

These investors will flee to perceived safer jurisdictions, of which there are many, taking with them their cash deposits. Such an outcome will have catastrophic consequences, not only for the services sector but the banks as well who will see a large amount of their liquidity (estimated at over

An international financial centre must have a reputation of total confidentiality and discreet secrecy €30 billion presently) disappear overnight. The entire Cyprus economy and its international credibility as a financial centre will be irreparably impaired.

Previous governments adhered consistently to these principles; the most notable example of this took place during 2003 when tremendous pressure was brought upon the Cyprus government at the time by the Russian authorities, to disclose confidential information relating to the well known Yukos- Khodorskovsky case for alleged tax evasion and money laundering. The Cyprus government of the day as well as the Central Bank steadfastly refused to do so citing perfectly legitimate reasons.

This stance won Cyprus much admiration and proved a significant catalyst in the increase of international business to date. Any sensible, progressive government would adhere to these policies. The present government led by self- professed communist Demetris Christofias and

his comrades however does not seem to understand the severity of the current position we find ourselves in.

His blind subservience and attempts at the ingratiation of the Kremlin in order to obtain the well-publicised €5 billion loan (with undisclosed, nontransparent conditions) will turn Cyprus into a protectorate of Russia.

Already, requests for confidential and personal information requested

by Russian authorities are being granted by the Cypriot authorities and enforced by MOKAS, the antimoneyl aundering unit.

As if this is not enough, the government has also launched an intensive propaganda war blaming the banking sector exclusively for the all economic ills of the country in order to divert attention away from its complete incompetence, gross economic mismanagement and total failure in taking timely action to avoid the virtual bankruptcy of the State which we face today.

This irresponsible and reprehensible action which has put the bank-

ing sector’s viability and solvency under the investors’ microscope has spooked the market with many of them enquiring whether their funds are safe in Cyprus banks. During June 2012, almost €2.0 billion in deposits left the banking sector.

This government (and every government) must be made to understand that Cyprus does not have a manufacturing base and that its economy is very much services driven.

The economy feeds off and is reliant on this sector. It must be protected at all costs, promoted and should be placed above petty ideology and political leanings which will enable foreign governments to harass their citizens and obtain personal information from local banks and organisations through non-transparent procedures.

Should this government persist with this approach as well as its propaganda against the banks, Cyprus’ economic prospects and international credibility appear bleak indeed.

Media Cold War: but who owns information in the first place?

AN INFORMATION war has erupted around the world. The battle lines are drawn between those governments that regard the free flow of information, and the ability to access it, as a matter of fundamental human rights, and those that regard official control of information as a fundamental sovereign prerogative.

The contest is being waged institutionally in organizations like the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and daily in countries like Syria.

The sociologist Philip N. Howard recently used the term “new cold war” to describe “battles between broadcast media outlets and socialmedia upstarts, which have very different approaches to news production, ownership, and censorship.”

Because broadcasting requires significant funding, it is more centralized – and thus much more susceptible to state control. Social media,

Comment Anne-Marie Slaughter by contrast, transforms anyone with a mobile phone into a potential roving monitor of government deeds or misdeeds, and are hard to shut down without shutting down the entire Internet.

These intra-media struggles are interesting and important. The way that information circulates does reflect, as Howard argues, a conception of how a society/polity should be organized.

But an even deeper difference concerns the fundamental issue of who owns information in the first place.

In January 2010, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton proclaimed that the United States “stand[s] for

a single Internet where all of humanity has equal access to information and ideas.” She linked that stance not only to the US Constitution’s First Amendment, which protects freedom of expression and freedom of the press, but also to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which holds that all people have the right “to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

Many governments’ determination to “erect electronic barriers” to block their citizens’ efforts to access the full resources of the Internet, she said, means that “a new information curtain is descending across our world.”

This larger struggle is playing out in many places, including the ITU, which will convene 190 countries in Dubai in December to update an international telecommunications treaty first adopted in 1988.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been open about his desire to use the ITU “to establish international control” over the Internet, thereby superseding current arrangements, which leave Internet governance in the hands of private groups like the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers and the Internet Engineering Task Force.

The US would never sign a treaty that fundamentally changed Internet governance arrangements, but the point is that many governments will try to use the treaty process to increase their ability to control the information that their citizens can access.

On the ground, governments are often still primarily focused on blocking information about what they are doing. One of the Syrian government’s first moves after it began shooting protesters, for example, was to expel all foreign journalists.

These more traditional tactics can now be supplemented with new tools for misinformation. For close followers of the Syrian conflict, tracking key reporters and opposition representatives on Twitter can be a surreal experience.

In the many manifestations of the ongoing and growing information war(s), the pro-freedom-of-information forces need a new weapon. A government’s banning of journalists or blocking of news and social-media Web sites that were previously allowed should itself be regarded as an early warning sign of a crisis meriting international scrutiny.

Anne-Marie Slaughter, a former director of policy planning in the US State Department and is Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University © Project Syndicate 2012

17 August 26, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

News Review

Demonstrations cause chaos Four months THE LARNACA district court on Monday sentenced a 20-year-old to four months in jail for taking part in a pitch invasion that caused a football game to be abandoned. Christos Gavriel jumped into the pitch several minutes before the final whistle of the August 9 Europa league qualifier between his team Anorthosis and Georgian guests Dila Gori, taking issue with his goalie letting in three goals. Gavriel approached the goalkeeper and asked him “why?” prompting police to arrest him.

Concrete mess COMMERCE Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis on Monday agreed to re-examine alterations made to the concrete standards last year which some experts claim has brought down the quality and durability of today’s buildings.

The announcement to open tenders for studies into the quality of concrete in Cyprus was made after a meeting with the Scientific and Technical Chamber (ETEK).The move is related to a decision last year to alter the concrete standard, which ETEK feels was “a step backwards” in the building material’s production.

Intelligence BRITISH military bases in Cyprus are being used to provide intelligence to Syrian rebels in their struggle with forces loyal to President Bashar al Assad, Britain’s Sunday Times reported last week. The newspaper claimed that British intelligence was helping Syrian rebels launch successful attacks on government forces with information gathered from their listening posts in the British Bases. The report quoted an unnamed Syrian official as saying British spies, based in Cyprus, gather the intelligence then pass it on to Turkish and American sources who pass it on to rebels.

Around 250 potato farmers blocked the Larnaca to Ayia Napa highway on Wednesday protesting over unfair competition from the north Christos Theodorides

More support

New drilling

Nadir jailed

CYPRUS’ FIRST-ever Olympic medal winner Pavlos Kontides on Monday called on the state to invest in the country’s young athletes if it wants to see more medals. Speaking at a press conference in Limassol, Kontides thanked his family for its moral and financial support (to the tune of €100,000 this past year), noting that without their help, he would not be in the position he is in today. Kontides hoped his parents “never again have to put their hands in their pockets” for him.

TEXAS-BASED Noble Energy will apparently commence appraisal drilling within its Block 12 concession sometime between this October and March next year. In the government gazette edition of August 17, the US firm invited bids for two separate contracts which, taken jointly, suggest that it is pressing forward with the natural gas field – approximately nine months after it announced a significant find there.

FORMER fugitive tycoon Asil Nadir was jailed for 10 years on Thursday after a judge said he stole millions out of “pure greed”. Nadir had been a wealthy man and had an extravagant lifestyle when he stole £28.8 million sterling from his company Polly Peck International. Old Bailey judge Justice Holroyde told Nadir: “The company’s money was not your money. You knew that. You nonetheless helped yourself to it. You committed theft on a grand scale. It seems to me that you already had an extravagant lifestyle as a result of your success in business. It follows that you were a wealthy man who stole out of pure greed.”

Poor Church

New board

THE Church of Cyprus is looking into cutting expenses faced with diminishing revenues because of the recession, it emerged on Tuesday.

Archbishop Chrysostomos said wages would be cut, starting at the top and maybe leaving low-earners untouched.

It would be the second time in a couple of years that the Church puts austerity measures in place.

Salary raises and cost of living allowance were cut two years ago for most Church employees but, as with the rest of the economy, things are not getting any better.

AFTER a marathon meeting, the House Finance Committee and the government on Monday agreed on the eight new members of the board of ailing carrier Cyprus Airways. Conclusion of the procedure means CY would receive around €15 million – part of a €31 million share capital increase conditionally approved by parliament last month. The cash will be released by the state when the new board is formally appointed.

QUOTES OF THE WEEK “There are marriages that at come from romances and d there are marriages that come from matchmaking g and dowries” Health Minister and presidential candidate Stavros Malas on a posssible DISY-DIKO alliance e “He experienced things similar to those experienced by Nelson Mandela in South Africa and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in n Turkey” Nur Nadir (right), wife of former Turkish fugitive Asil Nadir sentenced to 10 years in jail “My girlfriend calls me the e food prostitute” Marcos Aristotelous, who’s ho’s finding ways to beat the e recession by scrounging lunch ch off relatives

“How many m versions of the Lillikas can fit in the same L bus, the Lillikas who one bus associated with former asso president Giorgos pre Vassiliou, former Va president Tassos pr Papadopoulos, ADP ISOK, AKEL, Lillikas IS tthe independent, EDEK’s Lillikas or E all together?”

DISY spokesman Haris Georgiades “Perhaps in his desperation a colleague did this [kicked a goat] but [kick actually I think it was a actu plainclothes policeman” plain Representative of the Repr sheep and goat farmshee Evagoras Chrysaners E thou

“I hope that after my success, certain things will change so that financial support is given to the young, because Cyprus has a lot of talent and it has been shown that with the right utilisation and motivation, these kids will follow their dreams in sports and then we will see new successes and more medals” Olympic medal winner Pavlos Kontides “British intelligence is observing things closely from Cyprus. It’s very useful because they find out a great deal” Official source quoted in the Times on the bases in Cyprus “The government’s attempt to constantly transfer its own responsibilities for its own repeated blunders and failures to third parties has become comical” DISY spokesman Haris Georgiades

Solar power THE ENERGY Regulatory Authority (CERA) will soon start a pilot net metering scheme by installing small photovoltaic systems on homes to produce power, with the aim of kitting out all households who want it from 2014. According to CERA vice chairman Constantinos Iliopoulos, the scheme will be tested on 125 volunteer homes for a year, to see if its implementation in all households would be sustainable. If so, the aim is to install the systems on all Cypriot homes from 2014 onwards.

Chinese deal A CHINESE businessman interested in developing the old Larnaca airport building said he withdrew his interest because of the fracas over the alleged involvement of a presidential aide in the process and not the red tape, as he had reportedly said initially. Yang Qi - sole shareholder of Far Eastern Phoenix (FEP) - met Communications Minister Efthimios Flourentzos on Wednesday after the businessman sent the government a letter withdrawing his interest in developing the building, citing time-consuming and complicated state procedures.

Most wanted CYPRIOT authorities are in the final stages of compiling a list of ten persons wanted in relation to “serious crimes”, as part of an endeavour to strengthen EU law enforcement, police spokesman Andreas Angelides has said. Angelides said that each member state will contribute the names of the ten individuals it considers the highest priority to track down. “We are now waiting for our criminal investigation departments to come back to us with their suggestions,” he said.

Higher deficit THE government expects this year’s deficit to reach around 4.5 per cent, instead of the earlier forecast of 3.5 per cent, due to lower-than-expected revenues, its spokesman said on Thursday.

“Our estimate, without taking additional measures, is that the deficit will hover around 4.5 per cent,” Stefanos Stefanou said. The deficit for the first half of the year reached 3.0 per cent, according to finance ministry data. Revenues rose by 1.26 per cent, less than what is forecasted in the 2012 budget.

Dog beaches THE long-awaited dog beaches may have finally been designated, almost a decade after the law stipulating their creation was passed, but the relevant municipalities have apparently made no effort to create the necessary infrastructure for them to operate.

Angry farmers FOUR men were injured on Thursday when police officers tried to stop a group of farmers from moving towards the entrance of the presidential palace, intervening when protesters blocked off a minister’s car. About 200 goat and sheep farmers from across the island gathered in the road just outside the presidential palace’s exterior gates for a planned protest over rising costs and the reduction of a state subsidy. In the ensuing melee the farmers pelted police with stones, and four protesters were injured; two of them were later treated at hospital and released.

18 August 26, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

World in pictures

US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s supporters cheer during a campaign event in Michigan (AFP)

Two giraffes look at each other from the windows of their enclosure during the annual weigh-in at London Zoo (AFP)

People look on as women dressed in 19th century period costume walk at the Luxembourg Gardens as part of a 19th Century Ball in Paris (AFP)

A ‘cosplay’ fan poses during the four-day 2012 Animation and Comics Fair in Beijing. Cosplay has gained enourmous popularity in China despite the concerns of Chinese parents who complain that it is distracting children from their studies (AFP) A dancer, who uses the stage name Makenzy at the Mons Venus Club as Tampa, Florida earnt the title of Strip Club Capital of the World (AFP)

Peru’s ecological police show seized seahorses in Lima where more than 16,000 dried seahorses that were about to be shipped illegally to countries in Asia were seized (AFP)

Fire Brigade reinforcements wait to be airlifted by helicopters to the wildfire in Tabuyo del Monte, near Leon, Spain (AFP)

Children play basketball next to a graffiti depicting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, part of a spontaneous advertising to support his re-election (AFP)

Theun ‘Tremelo Theun’ de Jong of Netherland performs during the 2012 Air Guitar World Championshps in Oulu, Finland. He took third place (AFP)

19 SUNDAY MAIL • August 26, 2012 12

Lifestyle

‘I thought James Bond was real until I was seven’

Nobody does it better - Skyfall producer Barbara Broccoli grew up with 007. The ultimate Bond girl tells Liz Hoggard about life on set and why Fleming was really a feminist

J

AMES Bond film producer Barbara Broccoli is recalling the moment the Queen made her Bond debut during the Olympics opening ceremony. “The taxi pulled up in front of Buckingham Palace and as soon as the audience saw the outline of that leg, they knew it was Daniel. We saw the back of the Queen and everyone I’m sure thought, ‘It’s Helen Mirren.’ And when she turned around it was like a volcanic eruption. How wonderful of her to have done it.”

The daughter of veteran Bond producer Albert R “Cubby” Broccoli and actress Dana Wilson, Broccoli, 52, grew up in a household where bout so James Bond was talked about much she thought he was a real person until she was seven. Her first memory was watching the filming ny in You of the Japanese tea ceremony Only Live Twice with Sean Connery.

6, BrocWhen her father died in 1996, chael G coli and her half-brother Michael anchise.

Wilson took over the 007 franchise. e 50th This year they celebrate the anniversary of Bond. The new movie, Skyfall, released in m October, is directed by Sam Mendes. e Earlier this month the trailer was released. We now know that Bond’s loyalty to Judi Dench’s M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. And Bond fakess his own death. London is a vie. central character in the movie. ises, As with The Dark Knight Rises, ankwith its scenes of bloated bankers and a nascent Occupy movement, she believes Skyfall has a lot to say about contemporary evil. “It’s extraordinary Ian Fleming wrote the ke we’re books 60 years ago. It feels like in the right groove now for what he illainy is had to say about how real villainy coming from individuals - not just uals who political states, but individuals acherous are wielding all sorts of treacherous plans on the earth.” d on any In fact Skyfall is not based Fleming story - there aren’t any left ng some - but they have tried to bring d movies of the feelings of older Bond nguishes into the film. “What distinguishes eroes is Bond from other action heroes shness.” the tongue-in-cheek Britishness.” er-nerdy Q is back - played as a super-nerdy master of spy technology by Ben ans who Whishaw. Good news for fans felt Bond had become a Jason

Bourne-style automaton in the last film, Quantum of Solace. We need more wit and panache - and Mendes sounds the man to deliver it.

“When Daniel suggested him, we were unbelievably thrilled that he would be interested because he is such a fine director.” Of course Broccoli was instrumental in casting Craig in the first place. “One of the things about Daniel is he’s let us into Bond’s inner life, we see and feel him from a much more intimate place. In the books you get a look into his inner conflicts and fears and anxieties, but it’s very hard to put that on the screen without making him look neurotic as a leading man. A lot of the books focus on accidie - this revul revul-

Glamour: Daniel Craig with Bond girls Bérénice Marlohe and Naomie Harris. Above: Craig with Broccoli s sion he had for his pr profession; it’s not eas killing people. easy He fell completely in love with Vesper and she betrayed him, so r he realises, from that poin he can never be point, susc susceptible to a relations tionship again.”

Tha loneliness fuels That Bond’ hedonism. “He Bond’s th voracious aphas this petite ffor life; he’s going to drink and eat and have sex bec because he doesn’t know in the next moment if he’s go going to be killed.

The black humour is his way of dealing with death, he it face.” laughs in its Bon film has a great Every Bond Thi time it’s Oscarvillain. This winning Sp Spanish actor Javier Bardem pl playing Raoul Silva.

“Javier is really extraordith film and the nary in this blonde wig he wears is part of his stor story. He spends a lot of time cre creating a character, s and it’s something he devised w with Sam. It’s very much his mystique - it gives an unnatural element. Javier is a true chame chameleon.

You imagine act like that would an actor

be very intense all the time, but off duty he’s a delight. Getting up in the morning to go to work to spend the day with Daniel Craig and Javier Bardem is pretty fun,” she teases.

Broccoli’s other masterstroke was to make M, the head of the British secret service, a woman - two years after Stella Rimington became DG of MI5 in 1993. So it’s fascinating we finally get M’s back story in Skyfall.

In the trailer we see Silva - who may or may not have worked for MI6 taunting Bond about M’s betrayal: “Mommy has been very bad.”

“M has always been the one authority figure in Bond’s life. She is the only person he can really trust.

I think this story, which I’m not going to tell you very much about,” she says with a glint, “is the heart of the movie. She represents many things to him and it’s wonderful territory to explore. And obviously Sam had directed Judi and Daniel before, so he was excited about working it through emotionally.”

We can also credit Broccoli with tackling the sexism of 007. “Fortunately, the days of Bond girls standing around with a clipboard are over,” she says drily. But she knows Bond isn’t Bond without glamour and gorgeous women. In Skyfall, Naomie Harris plays field agent Eve, while French actress Bérénice Marlohe is the enigmatic Sévérine.

“Actually, when you read the early books, and watch the early films, the women were very interesting, exotic, complicated people. I always get into such an issue when I talk about these things,” she adds, knowing any quote will make headlines around the world. “But they were pretty strong in their own right. Yes, okay, Pussy Galore was a pilot and gay, but that was pretty extraordinary for the time, the fact that she fell into bed with Bond.

“And look at Ursula Andress [emerging from the sea in Dr No]. Yes, she’s the most stunningly beautiful person in the world but her look was very different to what had come before. First of all, she had a very athletic body, and she was also incredibly natural - no make-up, no false eyelashes. I think that image of natural beauty is one we appreciate.”

One senses that Broccoli, elegant, charming, has a core of steel. In the early days, she watched Craig’s back, accompanying him to press conferences, batting off the ferocious criticism that first greeted his casting for Casino Royale. “It’s absurd,” she shudders slightly. “I think that’s the trouble with the internet now. Everyone has an equal voice so people read something - supposedly written with great authority - and it’s by a 12year-old in a little town some place in the United States who’s never seen Daniel Craig, doesn’t know what he’s capable of, and starts this fire. And then it’s given prominence, which is bizarre. Of course we were making the film and we knew what we had, so we just ignored it.”

Divorced, with a grown-up daughter, Broccoli was born in LA, grew up in London. Aged 17 she studied motion picture and television communications at Loyola Marymount University in the US, then joined Eon Productions at Pinewood, responsible for Bond films since 1962, first working in publicity, before she began producing. She was made an OBE in 2008 and has been mentoring young directors. “I despair because women certainly have their voice in so many other areas. I don’t know why it’s been so difficult to get women into the industry in terms of directing film.”

If Kathryn Bigelow can direct the all male Hurt Locker, how about a female director for Bond? “I’d be thrilled.”

20

SUNDAY MAIL •

Reportage

CSI: SOUTH The team worked on the cases of Sarah Payne and Milly Dowler

Hidden away in the shadows of London’s Natural History Museum, a team of scientist sleuths spend their days helping police solve some of the UK’s most baffling murders - with a little help from a lab full of bluebottles.

Justin Davenport investigates IGH above the crowds milling in the imposing main hall of the Natural History Museum, I am in a room hiding a grisly secret.

Tucked away in one of the Gothic towers that stand sentinel over the museum’s entrance, a team of scientists is busy conducting experiments, breeding maggots in the carcasses of stillborn piglets (the room’s secluded location is, wisely, designed to keep the funk of carrion far away from the visitors).

While elsewhere in the museum their fellows are quietly analysing older and less alarming human, animal and plant specimens, the forensic entomology team, along with forensic archaeologists and botanists, are using their

H

skills to unlock the secrets of some of the UK’s most gruesome murders.

We are in the ‘insectary’, where Amoret Whitaker, 47, one of the museum’s two forensic entomologists, is investigating the life cycle of blowflies in order to use the resulting data to help determine the time of death of a recent murder. A motorbike enthusiast, Whitaker came late to the profession, after working in PR and marketing. Her colleague, Dr Martin Hall, 57, a world expert on forensic entomology, has worked at the museum for 23 years, during which time he has helped police in some of the country’s most notorious murder cases. He can’t talk about individual cases but the involvement of scientists

Stunning backdrop: the Natural History Museum, London

from the museum has been documented in several murder trials: museum experts gave crucial evidence in the cases of the schoolgirl Sarah Payne, murdered in West Sussex in 2000, and the killing of teacher Jane Longhurst in Brighton in 2003; they were also consulted about the death of 21-year-old Jo Ramsden, whose remains were found near Lyme Regis in 1992, a year after she disappeared. No one has yet been convicted of her murder.

Genial and exact, Hall explains that establishing time of death is the central question in most killings. For the first three days after death, forensic pathologists (doctors trained in examining corpses) can be pretty accurate in giving time of death,

but after that the role of entomologists becomes crucial.

They are especially interested in blowflies - more commonly known as bluebottles - because they tend to be the first insects to find a corpse and their carnivorous and reproductive habits make them the ‘gold standard’ for measuring how long it has been since a person died.

Whitaker and Hall study the development rates of flies in different scenarios and apply their results to real-life crime scenes; studying the reproductive rate of the flies in situ can give time of death accurate to within 24 hours.

“A female fly moves around on the body and may feed on the body itself,” Hall explains. “If she is ready to lay eggs, she will look for a good site. As she lays them they get fertilised, starting a biological clock ticking, which we can read to work out how long those eggs have been there.” The flies go through

four main stages, from egg to larvae to pupae to fly - the exact rate at which a fly develops, or finds a body, varies according to factors such as temperature, whether the body is covered or not, and whether it is in the open or in a sealed room. This is where the insectary experiments prove invaluable in giving timelines for different scenarios. The team prefer to use the bodies of stillborn piglets to host their subjects in the lab, but more often than not are forced to resort to dog food. Their counterparts in the US conduct similar studies on human cadavers at a facility in Tennessee known as the ‘Body Farm’ but in Britain such experimenting is forbidden.

In her lectures to students, Whitaker shows a slide with a maggot holding a placard with the message ‘Murdered, 3pm, Friday’. In reality, she says, they can’t be quite so exact: “We find it better to

For the first three forensic pathologis in examining corp accurate in giving after that the role becomes say Friday, plus or minus 12 hours.” But their evidence can save police officers huge amounts of time, although not so much as the popular CSI television series might suggest. “There is a ‘CSI effect’, which means that the public, and even the police, think you can solve the crime in an hour and you have all these fancy machines,” she sighs. In fact, the work is

21

• August 26, 2012

H KENSINGTON The sci fi team (from left): Dr Martin Hall, Amoret Whitaker, Heather Bonney and Dr Mark Spencer

On the case: Amoret Whitaker

days after death, sts (doctors trained ses) can be pretty time of death, but of entomologists s crucial slow, hard graft and their kit includes such hi-tech apparatus as a spoon for scooping up maggots, Kilner jars, a net to capture flies and a digital thermometer. It can often take weeks to get results.

I head down to the dusty bowels of the museum to find 29-year-old Heather Bonney, an enthusiastic forensic anthropologist. She specialises in bones, shedding light on

some of the most difficult to solve cases: those where the victim has often lain undiscovered and decomposing for years. Her office in the palaeontology department is like something straight out of an Indiana Jones film. A sign on the door reads ‘Human Remains Unit’ and she sits surrounded by dozens of what appear to be shoe boxes, each one containing a human skull, just a small part of the museum’s 20,000strong collection of human remains, which, when she’s not working on solving a murder, Bonney spends her days cataloguing.

She digs into a box beneath her desk and reappears brandishing a 17th-century thigh bone pulled from a London building site. Bonney’s expertise lies not in establishing time of death but in identifying a body or estimating the year or the general time in which that person lived.

“The majority of my work is

trying to establish whether human remains are old or new. Do we have a suspicious death or is it something older? There are cases where we know the bodies are modern and where we have part of a body, a very decomposed body or a burned body - anything that a pathologist cannot do a traditional postmortem on. We can help build up a biological profile to see who they were; we can look for signs of trauma on the bones or look for past diseases that might help to identify them.”

She is often called to examine remains found on building sites, or bones washed up on the Thames foreshore.

“London has a long history of habitation and many cemeteries are just not recorded, so diggers often come up with something un-expected.” So far this year she has been called to six cases, most of which have turned out to be historical.

The last of the museum’s

crime fighters is Dr Mark Spencer, 44, the friendly, floppy-haired head of botany - or, as he puts it himself, “a botanical tracker dog” - whose passion for plants was born

of a childhood spent wandering Cornwall’s Lizard peninsula. Of Britain’s 500 to 600 murders each year, 30 to 50 of the bodies are dumped in the countryside and this is often where Spencer is called in to help, with his kit of secateurs, plastic bags, a trowel and kneepads. The call usually comes when other techniques, such as entomology, have failed to provide an answer.

The work includes identifying grave sites and analysing plant matter found at crime scenes. Notable cases where forensic botany has played a part include the murders of the Soham schoolgirls and the killing of 13-year-old Milly Dowler, whose body was found in woodland six months after she died. In the Soham case, a botanist made a note of all the plants on the lane where the bodies were found and matched them to pollens found in killer Ian Huntley’s car. Each case is unique and small details that might at first seem inconsequential can often yield vital clues: in one case, Spencer found that a thrush had been using part of the victim’s remains as an anvil to break into snail shells. He was able to study the decomposition of the shells and establish that the body had been there

Crimes are not as quick to solve as in the TV show CSI

for at least two seasons.

Cases can be few and far between, and when not on a police assignment, Spencer spends his time managing the museum’s collection of 630,000 plant specimens, but he is happiest working in woodland. He talks enthusiastically about brambles and stinging nettles, which can reveal telltale clues about murder scenes, including the sites of shallow graves. “I have become quite keen on brambles,” he says. “They tend to grow in habitats, like wasteland sites in cities and towns, where humans tend to do all sorts of bad things. If you get your eye in and look at the cycle of growth, they’re pretty good at giving you a step-bystep guide to the years they’ve been growing.”

But as interesting as they find their work, Spencer insists that the scientists never lose sight of what they are working on and why. “It’s a very intimate thing,” he says.

“I feel a huge amount of respect and duty to these people. You are very much aware that, even though it is scientifically fascinating, you are looking at a person and the last moments of their life.

Sometimes you can see that they were very tragic, very terrifying last moments. That is always with you.”

22 SUNDAY MAIL • August 26, 2012

Property Greek Cypriot honoured with re-election to leading UK body GREEK Cypriot architect Elena K Tsolakis has been re-elected to the governing body of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the UK body for architecture and the architectural profession. Tsolakis will be taking her seat on Council from September 1 as a chartered architect elected for a threeyear term.

RIBA’s 40,000 global members elected five new national representatives for council from their membership. Tsolakis’ nomination was supported by notable international architects including John Assael, the current president of RIBA Angela Brady as well as president-elect Stephen Hodder. Tsolakis had been elected as the only graduate member from 2009-2011.

“I am very pleased and humbled by the support I received by the institute’s membership for my election to RIBA Council. I believe I am the youngest chartered member and one of the few women so it is an honour and a responsibility I take seriously,” Tsolakis said of her election.

Since 2009 Tsolakis has sat on the coveted British Architectural Trust Board at RIBA, among other activities it is the body responsible for one of the

largest and most important collections of architecture in the world. They also run talks, exhibitions, events and awards including the most prestigious architecture award in the UK, the RIBA Stirling Prize. It has been won by the architect Zaha Hadid twice in recent years, the architect responsible for the Eleftheria Square development currently under construction in central Nicosia.

Tsolakis was educated in Australia and the UK and works between London and Cyprus and is a partner of Kyriakos Tsolakis Architects, a family architectural practice based in Nicosia.

The practice’s current projects include the first purpose-built women’s shelter in Cyprus, zero energy residential projects and the redevelopment of Kaoura square in Agros.

She received the British Institution Award from the Royal Academy in 2009 and she has collaborated with artist Alana Jelinek on the images presented at the Whitechapel Gallery in London in 2006. She has been a RIBA panel member for the validation of courses in architecture and a member of the committee Architects for Change, RIBA’s forum on equality and diversity.

Proud: Elena Tsolakis in London

WHAT YOU GET FOR

Zaha Hadid’s vision for the central Eleftheria Square

Development of Nicosia Town needs some new attractions to bring in more visitors

By Antonis Loizou FRICS NICOSIA has no major attractions to attract tourists, or locals. Most Nicosia town people, daily, but especially over the weekends, visit Limassol and Larnaca (especially the first) supporting those towns’ economies, hurting the capital’s income with no reciprocal benefits. So, Nicosia not only does not attract tourists, but in addition a proportion of its local spending power ends up in other towns.

Nicosia could do with a golf course using the sewage water of the town itself (located just within the Turkish held area) or the sewage water of Anthoupolis or the Vathia Yonia at Potamia village.

Of course the ideal situation would have been to have an inter-communal golf course at the Mia Milia area, where Nicosia’s sewage treatment plant is. Nicosia could support a golf course since it not only hosts the largest number of wealthy locals, but it includes all the diplomats and others who are keen golfers.

Other than the Mia Milia area (in the north but close to the sewage plant) localities suitable for this could be the Makedonitissa area, which belongs to the church and/or the Potamia area, which has extensive government owned land. Perhaps the latter could be used in combination within the Race Club which has expressed the wish to relocate there.

Funding is a problem, but if coupled with some property development (for Makedonitissa area or Potamia Race Club) it could be a viable proposition.

Nicosia needs projects, such as Limassol’s promenade and Larnaca’s Phinicoudes beach front. The sea is unbeatable as are the other towns’ quality hotels. The short distance from Nicosia

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From: www.buysellcyprus.com Tel: 26 200000

to the other towns, is another “enemy” for its competitive attraction, since most business people prefer to stay in the seaside towns and commute when they have to, to the capital.

A project which will make some difference, is the new Nicosia square next to the existing town hall, which is expected to be completed within the next two years (now under development), whereas the new House of Parliament and that of the Music Centre have been axed by the prevailing lack of funds. Yet and notwithstanding the funding situation, a decision has been taken to build a new Nicosia museum of international standards, with an estimated cost of approximately €110m. The project will be funded from a special levy set on betting which is estimated to reach (including past savings) around €40m by the end of the year. So, one might think, that all is well regarding the funding of this project at least – but we are sorry to disappoint you. The same funding idea existed four years ago, but then the government took all the money and used it for other urgent needs, leaving Nicosia Museum behind.

Nicosia urgently needs this sort of a project and having spoken to the curator of the Cyprus Museum, the museum is expected to be run on similar lines as the London/British museum. The museum is intended to be open not only for history visits, but it will also contain halls and conference areas, café and restaurants etc, to be used for people’s gathering as is required.

This most progressive idea, is, for us, a most welcome development. It is a project that could attract private investors and tourists, who will come over at least one day during their stay, helping towards its running cost (out of the

two million tourists only 150,000 visit the capital on day trips). We also hope that the museum will become a leader and a beacon to replace the cheap Chinese souvenirs with quality ones, such as Greece and other countries have.

Nicosia has a lot of interesting buildings and museums within the old town, but they are scattered all over the place, making a “cultural” visit difficult (impossible for foreign people) to visit more than one or two destinations in a day.

In addition to the Nicosia museum, we have the Ottoman Kornesios Mansion (a most beautiful building at the time) the Byzantine museum/middle ages, the local modern art centre, the old Kaimakli renovated neighbourhoods, the numerous Byzantine churches and the expected art centre now under construction (Leventis), as well as the Zampelas’ art exhibition.

If we manage to make Nicosia an attractive place for visitors and tourists, it will also help the property market so that this town is also placed on the map of family home purchases. The Qatar property development deal was an ideal development for the capital on this count, which we expected hopefully to be bought by Arabs who do not particularly find the beach/sea, an attraction (they have plenty themselves).

We need an aggressive type of thinking and quoting the Irish Prime Minister “instead of sitting on our butt, let’s get out there and embark on a charm offensive to attract foreign investors”. Perhaps there is some form of a job for this PM in Cyprus, when he retires – after all, we are one large European nation!!

Antonis Loizou & Associates Ltd – Real Estate Valuers & Estate Agents, www. aloizou.com.cy, ala-HQ@aloizou.com.cy

Compiled by Natalie Hami

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23 August 26, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Property

The hideout of gangster Ma Barker for sale Suggested price of $1 million for home of 1930s criminal and ‘public enemy No. 1’

By Barbara Liston THE lakefront Florida retreat where FBI agents gunned down gangland legend Ma Barker in 1935 is up for sale - bullet holes and all.

The two-story frame house in rural Ocklawaha, 100km northwest of Orlando, is the site of one of the most celebrated raids in FBI history and the suggested starting price on bids for it is $1 million.

There have been attempts to patch up and plaster over the bullet holes but Mark Arnold, an agent with Stirling Sotheby’s International Realty, almost makes them sound like part of the attraction of the place.

“It’s like walking into a time capsule in 1935. The fact that it has this extra history is a really interesting cachet,” Arnold said.

He was referring to how Kate ‘Ma’ Barker, who was branded Public Enemy No. 1 by the federal government for a rash of murders, kid-

Bullet holes remain on some of the bedroom furniture near where Kate ‘Ma’ Barker was shot dead by the FBI in 1935 in Ocklawaha, Florida believed by some to have been staged, show Barker lying dead in a second-floor bedroom clutching a machine gun.

But the Barker story is the stuff of gangster legend and crime buffs may put a premi-

Upstairs and downstairs walls are pockmarked with indentations and raised plaster patches where bullets hit, and at least one throughand-through bullet hole remains unrepaired on the staircase napping and robberies committed in the early 1930s, was killed in the house along with one of her sons in a fusillade from federal agents.

Photos released at the time,

um on a prime piece of criminal memorabilia.

The house is 187 sq meters with four bedrooms and 1 1/2 bathrooms. The sale includes 9.5 acres (3.8 hectares) shad-

ed by stands of old oak trees and 1.5 acres (0.6 hectares) of sandy beach on Lake Weir.

Books and movies including the 1970 film Bloody Mama starring Shelly Winters focus on what some see as the mythical Ma Barker. But the real Barker may have had little to do with Hollywood images and the criminal exploits of her four sons.

The four men were members of the ruthless BarkerKarpis gang that rampaged across the South and Midwest in the 1920s and early 1930s. But there has been little evidence to support claims that Barker herself was some sort of stone-cold criminal mastermind.

Arnold said the Ocklawaha house was built as a summer vacation home on Lake Weir in 1930 by Carson Bradford, a wealthy Miami furniture manufacturer and partner in a jai alai concern.

A realtor working for Bradford rented the home to a woman flashing a lot of cash who introduced herself as

Located on Lake Weir, the home where Kate ‘Ma’ Barker was shot dead by the FBI in 1935 remains almost in exactly the same condition it did then in Ocklawaha, Florida Kate Blackburn and her husband. The renters turned out to be Ma Barker and her fugitive son Fred.

According to the property website, www.mabarkerhouse.com, more than 2,000 rounds were fired over four hours in what was the longest and fiercest shootout in FBI history.

Upstairs and downstairs walls are pockmarked with indentations and raised plaster patches where bullets hit, and at least one through-and-

through bullet hole remains unrepaired on the staircase.

A still-serviceable wooden bedroom chair shows gouges from flying bullets.

In the ensuing years, four generations of Bradfords continued to use the house as a summer getaway, Arnold said. The only updates made to the house were in the kitchen. Generations of Bradford children idled away summers at the Ocklawaha house digging around the property in an unsuccessful

hunt for the gang’s stash of stolen money, Arnold said.

“What is remarkable is this family has preserved all of this through four generations and it’s still there and it’s in good shape,” Arnold said. “It just has a few bullet holes.”

He said potential buyers have expressed interest in a variety of uses for the property including a bed-andbreakfast resort. Offers will be accepted until October 5.

Centuries of Chinese gardens in New York exhibit

By Patricia Reaney THE tranquillity and splendour of Chinese gardens are explored in a new exhibition that shows the importance of nature in Chinese art, life and culture spanning 1,000 years.

The exhibit, Chinese Gardens: Pavilions, Studios, Retreats,” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art features more than 60 paintings and textiles, ceramics and photographs of gardens and landscapes through the centuries.

The oldest work in the exhibit, which runs until January 6, is a scroll painting dating to 1050, and the latest pieces are contemporary photographs.

“Everything about the garden is

a distillation and an intensification of what is there in nature. It is that emphasis that man draws inspiration and meaning from, that natural world, and reconfigures it in the garden, just as it is reconfigured in works of art,” said Maxwell Hearn, the head of the Asian art department at the museum and the curator of the exhibition.

The works are featured in eight themed galleries encircling The Astor Court, a Chinese garden modelled on a 17th century scholars’ courtyard in Suzhou, China.

Hearn described the exhibit as revisiting “the idea of Chinese gardens as an abiding theme, a source of inspiration in Chinese art.”

From a huge six-metre-wide

12-panel painting The Palace of Nine Perfections, by the artist Yuan Jiang in 1691 to monastic retreats set in a magnificent setting in Summer Mountains (ca. 1050), the works show how gardens provided sanctuary, solitude, peace and escape, as well as sites for meetings, literary gatherings and theatre performances.

“The garden was the setting for a variety of activities,” Hearn explained.

Like many of the works of art, which are all part of the museum’s permanent collection, Summer Mountains is a scroll, which was meant to be opened gradually.

“It (the painting) is all about travellers finding their way to

these wonderful temples nestled at the foot of these towering mountains,” said Hearn. “But if you weren’t able to do that you unravel the scroll and have the same vicarious experience. That is exactly how these scrolls were described and used in the 11th century.”

The works of art show how gardens were gathering places for prominent people as well as peasants, and how they were more than rocks, plants and trees.

“They are emblems of the human condition and the human interaction with the natural world,” said Hearn. “There is this amazing cumulative effect of gardens as the source of ongoing connectivity with the culture that came before us.”

24 August 26, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Business & Jobs

Offshore companies owning UK residential property need to act There is a window of opportunity to rebase the capital cost as long as this is done before April next year

By Howard Bilton ARLIER this year HMRC announced far-reaching proposals to change the way that non UK companies which owned UK residential property would be taxed.

Previously these companies, like non UK resident individuals, had not been liable to pay Capital Gains Tax. Under the new proposals this would change and those companies would now be subject to CGT, calculated on the difference between the acquisition value and the disposal value.

There are many companies who acquired UK property many years ago so their base value for CGT purposes will

E

be very low. On resale of the property those companies are going to face a very heavy tax bill.

Additionally, companies which own a property worth more than £2 million will now be subject to an annual tax which is being referred to as “Mansion Tax”. The amount will vary according to value but will be a minimum of £15,000 and a maximum of £140,000.

These charges are going to greatly impact on the investment value of such properties. Both charges can be avoided by transferring the property from the company to individual owners but, particularly for older buyers or those in poor health, that will not be attractive as it will mean that the property

is subject to UK Inheritance Tax (IHT) at 40% of the total value if anything happens to the owner. Obviously it won’t concern the owner themselves as the charge will only be triggered when they are past caring but many will be concerned to try and preserve wealth for the benefit of their family and heirs.

For that reason, individual ownership will only seem interesting if the ultimate owners are young and/or intending to sell the property sooner rather than later.

Those owners are likely to be in the minority.

HMRC did announce some exemptions from the new charges.

More detail of those exemptions have now emerged so the planning opportunities have now be-

come clearer.

The first exemption announced was that professional trustees holding residential property would not be subject to these charges.

A discretionary trust is subject to a ten yearly charge which could be for as much as 6% of the capital value of the property. This really represents an attempt by HMRC to claw back some of the 40% IHT which is lost if UK property is held within trust. The way the ten year anniversary charge is calculated is complicated so 6% is certainly the maximum but it will generally work out to be between 3% and 6% depending on value and other circumstances.

Luckily this charge is only payable on the equity in the property. If loans are used to purchase the property, the tax is payable only on the difference between the capital value and the loan amounts.

For this reason, it seems as though a two trust structure may give the best of all worlds. One trust, set up by a non-UK domiciled person, can receive the capital amount needed to purchase the property. That amount is then loaned to another trust which actually buys the property.

The loan amount is then deducted from the value of the property for the purposes of calculating the 10 year tax and that would generally be sufficient to reduce the tax to a nominal or zero amount.

The above does not work for those who are still domiciled in the UK because the transfer of the loan amount into trust would trigger the lifetime IHT charge of 20%.

For UK domiciled persons it is better to use a Qualifying Non UK Registered Pension Scheme (QNUPS). A

Under new proposals companies would now be subject to CGT QNUPS is a trust, a special form of trust so qualifies for the same exemptions mentioned above but also gets special treatment because it is a pension.

The pension trustees are exempt from both CGT and the Mansion Tax and are not subject to the ten year anniversary charge. The terms and conditions necessary for the trust to qualify as a QNUPS do mean that access to the capital is somewhat restricted.

The property can be sold and the money can be reinvested in another property or anything else allowed for under the pension rules but the pension holder would only be able to take the money out of the QNUPS

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according to the rules of the scheme.

Those rules normally restrict the pensioner to taking a lump sum out on retirement and then the rest in annual installments. That restriction may not suit everybody so the two tier trust structure will be preferable for non doms but isn’t an option for UK doms.

Happily, a gift by a non UK company to either a trust or a QNUPS can be made free of SDLT as long as there is no mortgage in place on the property. If there is a mortgage then SDLT is payable on the mortgage amount so the transfer could prove expensive to do now but will result in large savings in the future.

Trusts owning residential property are subject to higher rates of tax on rental income. They pay up to 50%.

To reduce the tax on income the income rights can be assigned to an offshore company wholly owned by the trust. The tax rate is then reduced to 20%.

Anybody who owns UK property worth £2 million or which may become worth £2 million in the future should take action now. There is a window of opportunity to rebase the capital cost as long as this is done before April next year.

Howard Bilton is a UK and Gibraltar barrister, Professor of Law at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego and Chairman of The Sovereign Group.

25 SUNDAY MAIL • August 26, 2012

Business & Jobs

It’s time not timing that reaps rewards

Korean coffee craze may be hit by state curbs

Every market cycle has up and down days.

The real risk is missing out on rally days

By Hyunjoo Jin

“IS THIS a good time to invest?” This is one of the questions wealth advisers are frequently asked, and the answer is “yes” more often than not. In order to protect the value of your savings from inflation, it is generally better to be invested for the long-term rather than wait in the sidelines for a ‘right time’ to invest or trying to time the markets.

Unpredictable events and investor sentiment can have a negative or positive impact on markets, often unexpectedly, and no-one can predict the future. To successfully time the markets you would need to accurately identify both the best time to buy and the best time to sell, and even very experienced investors cannot get this right. You would need to foresee all the factors and trends that contribute to market performance; reacting to current conditions is usually too late.

Time in the markets is the wiser strategy for most investors rather than timing. Every market cycle has up and down days. Often a few very good days account for a large part of the total returns over a market cycle. The real risk of market timing is missing out on the best performing days.

If you are not invested you are likely to miss out on the sudden market rallies that could improve your longterm wealth.

There are many statistical examples to illustrate the cost of being out of the market.

Goldman Sachs calculates that a hypothetical investment in the US S&P 500 index from 1992 to 2011 would have generated an average annual total return of 7.81%, if invested for the whole 5,046 days. If however you missed the 10 best days your average annual return would only be 4.14%.

If you missed the 40 best days, you would have made an average annual loss of

Currencies USD GBP CHF JPY AUD CAD SEK

Bill Blevins is Financial Correspondent at Blevins Franks International.

You need to identify the best times to buy and sell 2.31%. This loss increases to 7.2% a year if you missed the 70 best days.

BlackRock have a similar illustration using the FTSE All-Share index. A hypothetical £100,000 investment would have grown to £598,478 over the 20 years from 1st January 1991 to 15th August 2011.

If you missed the five best days your return would be £186,738 less. If you missed the 25 best days your investment would only have grown to £172,955.

Short-term declines should not detract from the long-

24-Aug-2012

1.2519 0.7894 1.1962 98.23 1.1913 1.2350 8.2061

Investment Bill Blevins

1.2594 0.7941 1.2058 99.02 1.2151 1.2597 8.3702

17-Aug-2012

1.2311 0.7840 1.1963 97.53 1.1674 1.2066 8.1956

1.2385 0.7887 1.2059 98.31 1.1907 1.2307 8.3595

term potential of stockmarket investing. Black Rock have an interesting chart tracing the S&P 500 index from 31st December 1985 to 31st December 2010. It lists the key events that affected the market over his period, including the 1987 stockmarket crash; both Gulf wars; September 11th, subprime crisis and collapse of some of Wall Street’s biggest names in 2008.

Even with these events and resulting volatility, an investment in the US S&P 500 equity index on 31st December 1985 would have

grown to over 10 times its original value in 25 years.

Emotions can also cause people to effectively try and time the market. They sell in falling markets and lock in losses. They buy in rising markets, just as the market peaks.

A study by Barclays Wealth showed the potential dangers of letting emotions control your investment decisions. It surveyed 2,000 high net worth individual investors. It found that investors who make decisions based on emotion rather than strategy lose on average up to 20% of their potential returns over a 10 year period. People who employ an investment strategy tend to feel more satisfied with their financial situation. The group with the highest strategy usage is 12% wealthier than the group with the lowest strategy usage.

Portfolio performance is more significantly determined by asset allocation and diversification than market timing. A wealth management professional like Blevins Franks would review your investments and objectives and help you develop an effective tailormade strategy going forward.

While we advocate the “buy and hold” strategy, this only applies if your portfolio was designed for your specific aims, situation, risk tolerance and time horizon.

Also, buy and hold does not mean buy and ignore. Your portfolio should be reviewed at least once a year to see if it needs re-balancing or if your circumstances have changed.

To keep in touch with the latest developments in the offshore world, check out the latest news on our website www.blevinsfranks.com

10-Aug-2012

1.2256 0.7844 1.1963 96.22 1.1569 1.2087 8.1612

1.2330 0.7891 1.2059 96.99 1.1800 1.2329 8.3244

1wk 1mth 2mth 3mth 6mth 1yr

USD 0.19 0.24 0.33 0.43 0.71 1.04

EUR 0.04 0.08 0.12 0.18 0.47 0.78

THESE days, a stroll on the streets of southern Seoul is just as likely to bring the fragrance of fresh-brewed coffee as that of kimchi or more traditional Korean foods.

Nearly one in every two buildings boasts a coffee shop, from Starbucks to local brands such as Caffe Bene and Angel-in-us Coffee. Despite the existence of shops a mere 70 metres apart, it can still be hard to find a seat on some evenings even though a cup can cost more than a meal.

In short, South Korea, home to the world’s third largest number of Starbucks stores after the United States and Japan, has become a major battleground for coffee chains - so much so that government restrictions may lie ahead.

Though coffee was once a luxury drink, the market in South Korea has grown at a dizzying rate. The number of coffee shops jumped nearly ten-fold to 12,381 during the five years from 2006 to 2011.

South Korean adults consumed an average 338 cups of coffee last year, and coffee imports jumped 44 per cent to 130,000 tonnes over the past four years, said the Korea Customs service.

The value of the market overall has climbed 17 times to 2.48 trillion Korean won ($2.19 billion) during the same time, according to a think tank affiliated with KB Financial Group.

The spark was lit by Starbucks, which entered the market in 1999, analysts said.

“Without Starbucks, there would be no coffee boom here,” said Lee Taek-gwang, a culture commentator and professor at Kyung-hee University in Seoul.

“Starbucks is the symbol of US culture and gained widespread popularity among young Koreans who admire it.”

The number of Starbucks stores more than doubled to 367 over the past five years.

The company said last year that it plans to raise that number to 700 by 2016.

The market for espressos and lattes turned out to be big enough to help boost the fortunes of other coffee chains

GBP 0.52 0.54 0.58 0.69 0.95 1.42

CHF 0.00 0.01 0.03 0.05 0.16 0.36

and individual shops.

“I am very grateful to Starbucks,” said Yeo Seon-koo, who runs Yeondoo, a coffee shop known to aficionados for the quality of its brew and its beans.

“Koreans were previously used to spending 300 won for a cup of coffee, but Starbucks has made them willing to pay nearly 5,000 won, whether they like it or not.”

Asia’s fourth-biggest economy, in fact, now has so many coffee shops that regulators are considering whether or not to impose a “distance” between new franchises to protect them from cut-throat competition.

“A franchise operator allows one store to open very close to another under the same brand, which reduces sales at the existing store significantly. This puts a lot of damage on the existing store,” said an official at the antitrust watchdog Fair Trade Commission.

The FTC will start talks with coffee franchise operators on whether to impose distance and other rules, with the aim of announcing guidelines by September.

It took a similar step in April with bakeries, mandating that there can be no more than one franchise shop every 500 metres when opening a new store.

The move came amid criticism of bakeries linked to large industrial conglomerates, which critics said were hurting smaller-scale outlets.

But whatever the result, the coffee fever is unlikely to cool any time soon.

Crowded: a Starbucks shop in Seoul

JPY 0.11 0.14 0.16 0.19 0.33 0.55

LIBOR RATES (London Interbank Borrowing Rates) AS AT 27/08/2012

CAD 1.02 1.09 1.18 1.29 1.56 2.04

AUD 3.61 3.75 3.87 3.99 4.19 4.51

26 August 26 , 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Business & Jobs

SOUTH Africa is mulling retaliatory measures to protect its centuries-old wine industry and counter job losses caused by a British retailers’ move to buy the product in bulk rather than in bottles, a trade official said.

British retailers including Tesco and J Sainsbury are bottling the wine themselves, leading so far to as many as 700 job losses in South Africa, said Stephen Hanival, of the Department of Trade and Industry.

“We certainly hope that the developments on bulk wine don’t lead to any kind of trade war between either South Africa, the UK or any of the European Union countries with whom we trade extensively,” Hanival said.

“South Africa does have a responsibility to protect its trade interests,” he said.

The bulk buying helps British retailers save costs and package the products in ways that may be more appealing for local customers.

Last year South Africa imported 1.7 billion rand ($204 million) of British whisky. It exported wine valued at 993 million rand to Britain during the same period, a trade imbalance which Hanival suggested could be exploited to South Africa’s advantage.

“Why shouldn’t South Africa be importing bulk whisky from the UK and bottling it locally, so that we can at least attempt to prevent some of the job losses that we’ve seen up to now spreading to other parts of the economy,” he said.

Going for Olympic gold: how much cash you need As in sports, so in economic life: government commitment can start a circle of success, while neglect can trigger a vicious circle of decline

By Robert Skidelsky S OLYMPIC mania swept the world in recent weeks, it transported the host country, Great Britain, to a rare display of public exultation. Indeed, the successes of Team GB produced an upsurge of patriotic rejoicing akin to victory in war.

Britain finished third in the gold medal count, behind the United States and China, much larger countries, but ahead of Russia, which traditionally competes with America for first place.

So, what is the secret of Olympic success? The acquisition of medals, precisely because it gives so much satisfaction, has become the object of scientific inquiry and national endeavour.

Before the 2012 Games, the Financial Times combined four economic models to produce the following “consensus” prediction of gold medals (the actual results are in brackets): 1. United States, 39 (46); 2. China, 37 (38); 3. Great Britain, 24 (29); 4. Russia, 12 (24); 5.

South Korea, 12 (13); and 6.

Germany, 9 (11). The gold medal rankings and overall medal placement (gold, silver, and bronze) were cor-

A

rectly predicted in all cases.

The most striking finding is that the medal count can be predicted with great accuracy from four key variables: population, GDP per capita, past performance, and host status. Everything else – different training structures, better equipment, and so forth – is pretty much noise.

The impact of population and GDP is obvious: a large population increases the chance that a country will have athletes with the natural talent to win medals, and a high GDP means that it will have the money to invest in the infrastructure and training needed to develop medal-winning athletes.

Past performance is also important: the visibility and prestige of a sport increases after Olympic success, as does funding. Medals attract money; failure results in cuts.

Finally, the “home advantage” includes not just the benefit of morale and the opportunity to train in the actual Olympic venues, but also the funding boost that host status brings. In 2004, British athletes received £70 million ($110 million).

By 2008, after London was awarded the 2012 Games, the total was £245 million,

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S.Africa seeks steps to counter British bulk wine buy

and stood at £264 million this year. Over the past ten Olympics, the host country has won 54 per cent more medals on average than when it was not the host. Hosting the Olympics boosts performance before the hosted Games, and has effects that outlast them.

Some sports are more sensitive to income and hostnation effects than others.

Equestrianism, sailing, cycling, and swimming, for example, are far more expensive than running, and this reduces the participation of low-income countries. It is almost impossible for some countries to produce medalwinning athletes in some sports – Ethiopia has only one swimming pool per six million people.

Sometimes, poor countries are priced out of a sport. India was historically strong at field hockey, winning almost all of the gold medals between 1928 and 1968, but, since the Games switched from grass to expensive synthetic turf, the Indians have won just one field hockey medal. Some of the sports at which Britain has done particularly well, like cycling and rowing, are most highly influenced by income and host effects.

IMPROVE Brazil can therefore expect to improve considerably on its modest haul (15 medals) and 21st-place finish when it hosts the 2016 Games. As for the others, the formula for success is fairly simple: select your potentially winning sports, pick the potential medalists in those sports, pour money into them, and stick with both the sports and the players until the medals roll in.

The funding can be corporate sponsorship (as in the United States), state money (as in China), or a mixture of National Lottery and state money (as in the United Kingdom).

Two questions arise. First, why should a country concentrate on accumulating trophies at the expense of other desirable goods? And, second, can the formula for “picking winners” in sports be replicated for competitive success in international trade?

The answer to the first is not obvious. An economist would probably argue that money spent on education, housing, and health care brings more “welfare” than money spent in the quest for medals. When all is said and done, sports is entertainment; the others are necessities.

But that argument ignores the effect of sporting success on national morale, an intangible factor in a country’s success in other,

Only rich nations need think about taking part in sports such as sailing. Above: gold medal winner GB’s Ben Ainslie more “serious,” spheres of endeavour. A country that can succeed in one sphere of peaceful competition is encouraged to feel that it can do well in others.

One can treat this claim with a certain degree of skepticism – after all, the 2004 Athens Olympics failed to produce a Greek economic miracle. But it does lead to the second question: can the methods that produce Olympic winners be applied elsewhere?

Nothing is more discredited in Anglo-American economics than the policy of “picking winners”. The consensus has been that it inevitably leads to the state “backing losers”. Economic success, on this view, is best left to the unfettered play of market forces.

This philosophy has been heavily jolted by two inconvenient facts: the financial collapse of 2007-2008 and the experience of countries like Japan, South Korea,

Taiwan, Germany, and even the US, where economic success depended heavily on sustained government investment of the kind that has produced Olympic medals. As in sports, so in economic life: government commitment can start a virtuous circle of success, while government neglect can trigger a vicious circle of decline.

Nevertheless, the popular hunger for sporting success, and the celebratory outpouring that it evokes, is bound to provoke some disquiet. It seems to mark humanity’s retreat into infantilism. But if the douceur of sports can channel aggressive passions into benign, if trivial pursuits, why should we deny our star performers their heroic stature?

Robert Skidelsky, a member of the British House of Lords, is Professor Emeritus of Political Economy at Warwick University

27 SUNDAY MAIL • August 26, 2012

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Nicosia - email: classified@cyprus-mail.com Limassol - email: limassol@cyprus-mail.com Paphos - email: paphos@cyprus-mail.com

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES ***************************** 3CX Hiring 3CX, a global leader in the telecommunications sector and the company behind the award winning 3CX Phone System for Windows, is seeking a Web Developer and Web Designer for the Marketing Department in our Nicosia, Cyprus office. Web Developer (Cyprus, Nicosia) The successful candidate will possess: • Skills in software programming: PHP, JavaScript, CSS, HTML/ XHTML, SQL and experience with WordPress. • Excellent command of English, both verbal and written. • Ability to work as part of a team. • Knowledge of international web standards and protocols. • Attention to detail.

Within the role, you will be working as part of an internal Marketing Team and will be tasked to: • Work closely with Project Managers and other members of the Marketing Team to develop websites. • Convert images and layouts into CSS/XHTML. • Create and maintain Facebook Applications. • Identify and troubleshoot website errors. To apply please send your CV, including a recent photograph, to jobs@3cx.com. Web Designer (Cyprus, Nicosia) The successful candidate will possess: • Skills and experience in graphics software. • Creativity and imagination. • Attention to detail. • Excellent command of English, both verbal and written. • Ability to work as part of a team. • Knowledge of international web standards and protocols.

• Within the role, you will be working as part of an internal Marketing team and will be tasked to design websites and images for online use.

To apply please send your CV, including a recent photograph, to jobs@3cx.com. ***************************** CHEF WANTED for Hotel Apartments in Ayia Napa.

Please contact 99648808 for more information.

NURSERY NURSES REQUIRED Experience preferred, English/Greek speaking in Peyia/ Coral bay area.

For further information contact us on 99264520 RETIRED DISABLED ENGLISH GENTLEMAN REQUIRES a helper/carer to visit uk on short trips with him (Paphos area). Telephone: mobile 99894139 landline 26621343.

SECRETARY WANTED full/ part time job. Language: Eng-

lish Russian Greek preferable Expert in Microsoft Office & computers. Hard working responsible, long term. Email your CV with personal photo & contact www.citycellwifi. com info@citycellhotspot. com

MISCELLANEOUS CHILDCARE We have fully trained paediatric nurses/ qualified nursery nurses, English and Greek speaking. taking children from 3 months of age offering a range of activities incl: respite services.

For more information contact Tina on 99264520 ***************************** CLAIRVOYANT / MEDIUM, readings, emotional and spiritual healing, classes and short courses. Accurate, honest and confidential service by an experienced English spiritualist medium, based in the Paphos area but willing to travel islandwide Tel: 97801472 / www.yvebrooks. org ***************************** KRISHNAMURTI committee having dialogues on living in an insane world (video and discussions) Tel 99008901, 99445978 ***************************** TO ALL OF YOU WHO ARE GREEK ORTHODOX: The European Union Parliament is pressuring the Turkish Government to restore Saint Sophia Cathedral from a museum into a Greek Orthodox Church. However the Parliament has set a requirement of 1,000,000 signatures on a petition before it makes this conversation a prerequisite for Turkey’s admission into the European Union. You are requested to cast your vote by logging on to a link at www.hagiasophiablog.com.

This is an opportunity for each of you to have an impact on world events. Get as many Greek Orthodox, other Orthodox and Christian friends of yours to sign the petition and make history. ***************************** 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

Nicosia - tel: 22 818583 fax: 22 676385 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 ***************************** DOES SOMEONE ELSE’S DRINKING CAUSE YOU A PROBLEM? Al - Anon is for family and friends of those with a drinking problem. Call Nicosia 99 877205 for more information and details of meetings. *****************************

HEALTH & FITNESS PROFESSIONAL AROMATHERAPY & fully body relaxing massage, at your home or hotel for men & women – Paphos area Call Ulrica on tel : 96853681 to book an appointment ***************************** FULL BODY MASSAGE + relaxing massage for men and women in classy surroundings in Kato Paphos – privacy & discretion. We offer you professional mausseurs, appointments necessary 1 Hour for 35 euro, call 96637039 honest people EIGHTSMILEYS OFFERS SUP (STAND UP PADDLE) LESSONS, RENTALS & SALES. A great way to release tension and stress at the same time exercise your body, made for all ages and genders. Find out more information on www. sup.com.cy facebook: Eightsmileys Kitesurfsup or call on 99355191 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.

PETS FOR SALE A BLACK GIRL AND A RED BOY ENGLISH COCKER SPANIEL PUPPIES, 3 months old, with an

Limassol - tel: 25 761117 fax: 25 761141

excellent pedigree, fully vaccinated, microchip with registration number, lovely natured, DNA tested parents. Living with a family with kids, other dogs and a cat. For information look at www.costopa.net or call 99884578/22383983 Anna ( Nicosia) *****************************

DULUX, A MEDIUM SIZED MALE POODLE CROSS, gray white colour, around 2 years old is looking for a forever home! He is very loving and friendly! 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 Elena on 99520511 Mon-Frid 10-2pm. *****************************

CUTE FEMALE DOG CALLED MAYA, BROWN COLOUR, 3 years old pinscher is looking for a forever home! Sweet natured and polite! Will be a small sized dog. 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 Elena on 99520511 Mon-Frid 10-2pm. *****************************

CUTE MALE PUPPY, GOLD COLOUR, 5 months old Pekingese cross is looking for a forever home! He is very friendly and adorable! Will be a small sized dog. 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 Elena on 99520511 Mon-Frid 10-2pm. *****************************

Paphos - tel: 26 911383 fax: 26221049

PERSONAL 60 YEAR OLD ENGLISHMAN, fit, healthy and working, would like to meet an English speaking, non-smoking lady for socialising, outings etc.Tel or text 96503261 AUSTRIAN ENGINEER, 50 years, searching for a nice women. Mobile: 00491726293462

LESSONS PRIVATE MATHS TUTOR WANTED IN PAPHOS/ LIMASSOL AREA. Must be able to teach maths up to HNC Standard. Call 26 931956/ 99168526 PRIVATE ENGLISH TUITION – UK university graduate (postgraduate 1975), native English speaker, Limassol-based, offers part-time tuition at all secondary school levels, up to and including IGCSE/O-levels. For further details phone 99312567 ART DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION. September - Limassol.

Intensive course Drawing and Painting Tuesday nights. Art &Architecture History Thursday nights. All levels. Portfolio development. UCAS application support. AutoCAD courses. BTEC Level 3 Construction Diploma courses. Registering now! 99409829 info@idclimassol.org DO YOU WANT TO LEARN CHINESE? Experienced private teacher available for Chinese lessons in Cyprus. €30 per lesson. Call for more details. 96864438 PRIVATE TUITION - Experienced, UK-qualified teacher and tutor offers full / part time private home tuition in Maths, English, Science, Geography, History, Business Studies and Economics, from KS3 to iGCSE, AS and A2 levels. Telephone 26642781 or 99318796.

SERVICES

Larnaca - tel: 24 652243 fax: 24 659982

classified contents Employment Opportunities pg 27 Employment Miscellaneous 27 Pets 27 Lessons 27 Health & Fitness 27 Personal 27 Services 27 For Sale Miscellaneous 28 For Sale Land/ Property Business 28 For Sale Motor vehicles 28 Wanted 28 To Let Nicosia 28 To Let Limassol 30 To Let Larnaca 31 To Let Paphos 31 To Let Protaras, Ayia Napa, Paralimni -To Let Athens -Land For Sale Bulgaria -For Sale Limassol 32 For Sale Nicosia 32 For Sale Larnaca 32 For Sale Paphos 32 For Sale Ayia Napa 32 For Sale Famagusta Protaras -For Sale Athens -Property& Home Services display ads 33

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: NEW KINDERGARDEN Opening shortly in Lower Peyia/ Coral Bay area. UK and Cypriot qualified Nursery Nurses speaking Greek and English.

Good rates and sibling discount. For further information

22 = Nicosia 23 = Paralimni/Protaras 24 = Larnaca 25 = Limassol 26 = Paphos

28 August 26, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Advertiser SERVICES

SERVICES

FOR SALE B.P./LAND

contact us on 99264520 email: traininganddevelopment.org. uk SWIFT SERVICE AND REPAIRS air-cons, commercial and domestic fridges and freezers, ice machines, cool rooms, supply and fit air-cons VRV S. Call Nik on 99579602 Limassol.

KEEP YOUR HOME COOLER THIS SUMMER by having Windowfilm professionally fitted. Stops up to 86% of heat from entering your home!

Windowfilm increases privacy, blocks harmful uv-rays which cause fading, reduces glare and saves energy costs on air-con. Also keeps your home warmer in winter. Call Ian on 99979671 HOME SOLUTIONS we do pergolas, ranch style fencing, chain link fencing, decking and all general maintenance work on properties at competitive prices. For free no obligation quotation ring Tyrone on 99177037 covering Paphos, Polis and Pissouri areas.

EXPERIENCED PAINTER at very reasonable prices!

Decorative coatings, house painting, sprits and graphiato, varnishing, damp proofing and protection from humidity for walls and ceilings.

Free estimates! Call Harry on 97768020 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 JURIDICAL SERVICES Contracts, sales agreements, conveyancing, wills, administration of estates, general litigation, power of attorney, land registry matters, companies, translations, immigration

etc... And all legal matters.

Call: Natalia Michealidou – jurist, Paphos Tel: 26 933159 – 99523231 (office hours) *****************************

2.6.12. Tel. 99 621914 LARNACA, ALETHRIKO, PLOTS FOR SALE, 525 sqm, 90% building factor, near highway Limassol-Larnaca, 5 min from airport, quiet residential area, eu 125,000. Half registration fees till the 2.6.12. Tel. 99 621914 FOR SALE OR RENT - Kato Paphos – full moon bar, fully furnished and equipped, large flat screen TV’s + projector, fits 120 people comfortably, incredible opportunity for ready business! Please call: 99493579 FOR SALE factory with showroom, 1050m2, in private land, in Kokkinotrimithia industrial zone. Tel. 99849195.

SHIRT IRONING SERVICE

CHILDCARE

FREE COLLECTION & DELIVERY WITHIN CENTRAL LIMASSOL area

Tel: 96 665404

FOR SALE MISCELLANEOUS 2

BEDROOM ATLAS MOBILE HOME for sale . Granite kitchen surfaces, tiled floors in W.C., Shower room and kitchen REDUCED TO €7,900. Tel. 99416918 or <sandymathie@ hotmail.com> FURNITURE HOUSEHOLD ITEMS: Childs cot / mattress €50 play table and stools €50 Bunk Bed set with ladder/ mattress €100 child’s bike €40 Child’s easy chairs €30 Easel €20 gas BBQ 80 vacuum cleaner Miele €80 Abstract canvasses from €10 ENGOMI 22355790 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 ONE ACRE (3 donums) land for sale Arakapas area Limassol district, with title deeds. Sloping ground with stream and 8 foot waterfall at lower boundary. Naturally growing trees. €40.000 sandymathie@hotmail.com or 99416918 TIMI, plots, a few selected available, sea view, near the 2 golf courses, Venus rock and airport. 60% Building eu 115,000.

Half registration fees till the

From a Cypriot - with 20 years experience in a kindergarten - looking after infants and children at her house in Nicosia

For information call 99781943

WANTED TO RENT garden, prefer furnished, SW of Nicosia (in approx area Lakadamia to Kapedes and Kalo Chorio) alan.tye@birdlifecyprus.org.cy, 22455072, 99089083.

PROPERTY TO LET NICOSIA

FLAT OR HOUSE TO RENT, 2-3 bedrooms, veranda/terrace or

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. (furnished if required). Tel: 97773358.

FLATS/HOUSES RENT studio Strovolos 280, Ag. Andreas 295, 1 bdrm Ag. Andreas 450, Makarios Av. 490, Ag. Antonios 380 2 bdrm Lykavito furnished 600 Acropolis new 650, Ag. Omologites 500, Engomi near universities 540 Strovolos furnished 650 3 bdrm central 700, Kennedy 650, US Embassy independent house gardens 850. POSPORIDES ESTATES REG. 338 99474839 99646822 FOR RENT renovated, cozy one bedroom fully furnished, kitchen fully equiped, AC, great location at Engomi, two blocks from American Embassy. Rent + monthly charges €485. Tel. 99459267. For rent Nicosia FOR RENT two bedroom spacious 100m, fully furnished, kitchen fully equipped, AC cold/hot, parking space, great location on Kennedy ave. one block from Central Bank. Rent €600/month including monthly charges and hot water. Tel. 99459267.

FOR RENT 3-bedroom luxury apartment over 200 sq.m. Very

English-Painter & Decorator

FOR SALE

Fully Qualified 30 years’ Experience

Office furniture and equipment.

Excellent quality, new condition. Modern Hi-Tech design. Including 2 work stations, conference room, Manager Desk, cupboards, Switchboard and more..

Must See!!!

Tel: 25817684

FOR SALE MOTOR VEHICLES BEAUTIFUL BIKE FOR SALE. Better to see to discuss the price. Please call after 18h, Jean at 99087779 DIPLOMAT’S DUTY FREE HONDA CIVIC (FERIO) SALOON – Very low mileage – 35500 kilometres only, 2005, Original Japanese, 1493CC, No. 21CD4/KWS056, Silver, Excellent Condition, Manual, 2 Airbags, Stereo/MP3, Power Steering, Windows, Mirrors, Very Economical, Euro 5,500/negotiable (Duty Free), Contact: Ravi – 97603209 *****************************

WANTED TO RENT

SUMMER OFFER 30% OFF 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

SELEC Fencing & Decking Specialist 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

Tel. SELEC fencing 99176557

TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET NICOSIA

spacious living area extending to a large veranda overlooking the green of the river area.

Bathrooms all marble (one ensuite), modern kitchen. Fully air-conditioned, with underfloor heating, garage for 2 cars and large store. Situated in the exclusive gated development of J&P Glastonos, one of the oldest classy residential areas of Nicosia. Call 99630320 TWO-BEDROOM APARTMENT (113 sq. metres) on Second floor (No lift) in Aglandja, (Nicosia). Fitted kitchen: fridge, gas cooker, built-in electric oven. Bedrooms: built- in bookcases Dining-room: dining-table with 8 chairs Sittingroom: Two 3-seater sofas, One 2-seater sofa and One Armchair with coffee table. Bathroom c/w toilet Guest’s toilet For further info: 99342225 Mrs Philippou HOUSE FOR RENT: 5 bedroom detached house, french ambassador and American heart institute area, easy access to city centre, schools, hospitals, all amenities and motorway, in quiet cul-de-sac, on high ground with views of Nicosia and Pentadaktylos. 3 Baths, garage for 2 cars with automatic doors, bbq, fireplace, oil central heating, airconditioning, fully furnished. €2000 Pm, tel 99 621914 ONE BEDROOM APARTMENT, in small quiet building, new, very spacious, fully furnished and air conditioned. Very good location between Strovolos and Engomi, close to The European University (Cyprus College) and all amenities. Covered parking. Rent

€495/m. Please call 99695382 TO LET 3 bdrm flat Kaimakli area near Frederic. Tel. 99606665. ***************************** 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.

Available end of July - Strovolos €2500 (H5ST10001-R), (photos in the website).

2. 3 bedrs luxury ground floor renovated semi detached house,210sq.m, with central heating, air conditions, solid parquet floor, fire place, big kitchen with all the electric appliances, 2 wc curtains, big veranda, big patio on the back with bbq area, 2 covered parkings in a quiet neighbourhood close to the Embassies –Engomi €900 (H3ENG0002-R), (photos in the website) 3. 4 bedr + separate office space + maid’s room luxury detached house, split level, big open space sitting areas,400sq.m,a/c for hot and cold in all the rooms, NICELY MODERN FURNISHED, swimming pool, big verandas, 2 covered parking, in a very quiet area near Lidl – Latsia

WIN A TRIP FOR 2 TO SOUTH AFRICA IN AID OF PAPHOS HOSPICE Organised by SACY NEWS The SACY NEWS was launched early 2012, and has within a short period, become a popular and well-liked publication among the South African community, and other expatriates living on the island of Cyprus. With the support of the South African Consulate, the SACY NEWS has become a prime media source for all South African Cypriots living in Cyprus.

“We wanted to create a ‘voice’ for all South Africans in Cyprus. The South African community has increased in number, and it was only a matter of time before we had our own community paper,” says Paul Charalambous, editor of the SACY NEWS. The high-quality publication is produced on a bi-monthly basis and is distributed all over the island, free of charge.

The SACY NEWS’ presence as a media sponsor for almost all South African events has spread extensively throughout the island. In recognition of the strong and supportive South African community, the SACY NEWS will be organising the South African New Year’s Eve Ball at the ‘Fifth Floor Restaurant’ in Paphos. This event will become an annual affair on the SACY NEWS calendar. “Everyone is welcome,” says Paul. “We want to revive the traditional South African Greek events we were accustomed to in South Africa.”

The SACY NEWS will be organising competitions on a regular basis to support the many charities on the island. After months of planning, and the support from many sponsors in Cyprus and South Africa, the SACY NEWS recently launched the ‘Win a trip for 2 to South Africa Competition’ in aid of the Paphos Hospice.

This unique prize package, which includes two return tickets to Johannesburg with Etihad Airways and Century Travel, will be complimented by seven nights at the 5-Star Peermont D’oreale Grande at Emperors Palace Hotel, Casino and Convention Resort. The prize includes an additional two nights at Sandton’s premier Michelangelo Hotel, and a further two nights at the Thabana Safari Lodge for an exceptional full board safari experience.

SAFARIS 4 U – A leading group tour operator based in Johannesburg, will provide unique tours to top attractions in Johannesburg, during the course of your stay.

Tickets are on sale from all Paphos Hospice Charity Shops, participating outlets (island wide) and private individuals for the price of € 3 per ticket. The winner will be announced at the South African New Year’s Eve Ball on the 31st December 2012.

For more information on this unique eleven nights prize package to South Africa, contact the SACY NEWS on 96 343 687. You can also visit their page on Facebook.

NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION On May 21st, 2012 in accordance with Section 14.81.1 C of the Liberian Business Corporation ActDogonLtd (“Company”) with registration number C-37274 doing business at 9 Marikas Kotopouli Street, 3030 Limassol the shareholders have agreed to dissolve the Company.

1. All claims against the assets of the Company must be made in writing and include the claim amount, basis and origination date.

2. The deadline for submitting claims is 23rd November 2012 3. Any claims that are not received by the company prior to the date set forth above will not be recognized.

5. All claims and payments must be sent to P. O Box 53766, 3317 Limassol, Cyprus Dated: March 22nd, 2012.

Camilla Strømstad Liquidation board

29 SUNDAY MAIL • August 26, 2012

Advertiser

TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET NICOSIA

€2500 (H4LAT0008-R), (photos in the website).

4. 3 bedr luxry detached house with 1 bedr flat in the basement, floor heating with gass a/c units, big kitchen with electrical appliances, 4 wc, 3 bathrooms, big garden with small pebbles, 2 covered parking, in a quiet area in a dead end. Can be rented furnished or not. AVAILABLE in August – Makedonitissa €1700 (H4MAK0027-R), (photos in the website).

5. 4 bedr+ attic room with shower and wc luxury detached house with separate maid’s room, central heating, a/c, separate office room, sitting and dining areas, big kitchen with dining room and big family room opening to the big garden with grass and bbq area, 2 covered parking, behind General flooring shop – Makedonitissa €3000 (H4MAK0025-R), (Photos on the website).

6. 3 bedr + big attic room which can be used as a bedroom/ office, detached house, central heating, full a/c,3wc, 2 bathrooms, big sitting and dining room, separate kitchen with all the electrical appliances, small garden and patio with bbq area, covered parking, near Apollonion hospital. – Makedonitissa €1200 (H4MAK0016-R), (photos in the website) 7. 4 bedrs new luxury detached house, 330sq.m, central heating, full ac, 2 covered parking’s, big kitchen with sitting room and all expensive elec-

trical appliances, blinds on the windows, lighting fixtures, 2 bedrs with en suite shower and wc, main bathroom with jacuzzi,3rd bedroom with only shower ,swimming pool with wooden deck around, covered patio with nice covered bbq area, opposite a green area in a very quiet area – Strovolos €2600 (H4ST10040-R), (photos in the website).

8. 4 bedr luxury detached house, 350sq.m, central heating, full a/c, office space, separate maid’s room, big storage room, solid parquet floor in the bedrooms, 2 covered parking, swimming pool, garden with trees, veranda with bbq area, big kitchen with all the electrical appliances, big sitting and dining areas, very near to English School, off Athalassas Avenue €2300 (H4ST10036-R), (photos on the website).

9. 3 bedr ground floor semi detached house in very good condition with storage heaters, 5a/c,2wc, big kitchen with cooker and oven, big sitting and dining room, big front veranda, 2 covered parking in a very quiet neighbourhood close to Alpha Mega - Parissinos €550 (H3PA2001-R), (photos in the website).

10. 4 bedr new luxury finished top quality detached house, 290sq.m, central heating, full a/c, master bedroom with ensuite shower/jacuzzi, guest bedroom with shower, main bathroom with jacuzzi, 4wc, fully expensive furnished with 3 LCD televisions, kitchen with very expensive electrical ap-

pliances and family room, garden with grass, big covered patio with bbq area,2 covered parking’s, alarm system, pressure system, - Strovolos €3000 (H4STI0039-R), (Photos on the website).

11. 4 bedr luxury detached house built in 3 plots of land.

Separate maid’s room outside the house, big basement with playroom, office and guest room with separate entrance.

The house has big sitting and dining room, separate family room, separate kitchen, big bedrooms, internal elevator, central heating, full a/c, big yard with tiles, covered kiosk and trees, 2 covered parking, in a quiet area in a dead end opposite Cineplex – Strovolos €3000 (H4STI0042-R), (photos in the website).

12. 5 bedr new luxury finished detached house with separate maid’s room, one of the bedrooms with shower and wc and can be used as guest room,4 wc, solid parquet floor all the house, separate family room with fire place, big sitting room, separate dining room, big kitchen with breakfast area, big outside patio with tiles and bbq area,2 covered parking, electrical appliances in the kitchen, in a very quiet neighbourhood close to CYBC station. Can be rented furnished or not. – Platy Aglantzias €3000 (H5PAG0001-R), (Photos on the website).

13. 3 bedr detached house with extra room for office,250sq.m, central heating independent, 4a/c, big renovated,

TO LET NICOSIA kitchen with cooker and oven, big sitting and dining room with parquet floor and fire place,1bathroom,1 shower,2wc, 2 covered parking, big verandas surrounded by trees and bushes off 28th October street - Makedonitissa €1300 (H4STI0043-R), (photos in the website).

14. 3 bedr luxury house, nicely modern furnished with big sitting and dining areas with bar, central heating, full a/c, big fitted kitchen with TV room, office space, patio area with bbq, covered parking, 3wc, solid parquet floor in bedrooms and granite in the sitting areas, near the MEGA TV station – Archangelos €1300 (H3AR0002-R), (photos in the website).

15. 3 bedr luxury semi detached house with central heating independent, a/c, 3wc, parquet floor, fire place, electrical appliances in the kitchen, curtains, in a very quiet neighbourhood in the area near Falcon school – Strovolos €1500 (H3STI012-R), (photos in the website).

16. 3 bedr + office space +separate maid’s room detached luxury house, 450sq.m, recently renovated, with central heating, full a/c, big sitting and dining area with parquet floor, TV room with fire place, big kitchen with breakfast area and fitted cooker and oven, 4 wc, roller blinds on all windows, very big verandas and yard, covered parking, in a very quiet neighbourhood in the centre of Makedonitissa opposite a playground. €1400 (H4MAK0003-R), (photos in the website).

17. 4 bedrs new luxury detached house, all the bedrooms very big and all with big bathroom/ shower, sitting room upstairs, attic room with shower and wc, office space/maid’ s room with shower and wc, central heating, full AC,450sq.m, big sitting and dining areas, big kitchen with sitting area and fitted cooker and oven,6 wc, 2 covered parking’s, big yard with tiles and garden with grass, bbq area in a very quiet neighbourhood near the CYBC ( RIK) station and near a neighbourhood park – Aglantzia €2000(H4AGZ0005-R), (photos in the website).

18. New luxury 4 bedr + very big 40sq.m attic room with shower and wc semi detached house, 300 sq.m, central heating, full air condition, big sitting and dining areas, 4 wc, 2 showers,1 bathroom, solar heater, pressure system, covered parking, big back yard with tiles, blinds, cooker, oven and, refrigerator in the kitchen, in a very quiet neighborhood and area – Agios Dometios €1500 (H4ADO0004-R). (photos in the website).

19. 4 bedr semi detached house with central heating, 4 a/c, 3 wc, 2 bathrooms, 180sq.m, small yard, bbq area, FULLY FURNISHED, off Costanti-

TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET NICOSIA

noupoleos street near French Ambassador residence – Strovolos €900 (H4STI0043-R), (photos in the website).

20. 4 bedr + 2 separate rooms with showers and wc (120sq.m) detached house with big sitting and dining areas, big kitchen with dining area and family room with fire place, very big swimming pool with bbq area, covered patio, garden with grass, central heating in 4 zones, full a/c, 6wc, 5 covered parking’s, pressure system, opposite Apoel training field.

Can be rented furnished or not. AVAILABLE END OF AUGUST – Archangellos €4000 (H4AR0007-R), (photos in the website).

21. 4 bedrs luxury detached villa built in 5 plots of land, 600sq., central Heating, full a/c, very big garden with grass, big swimming pool 5 x 13, bar with bbq area, office space, TV room with fire place, marble floor, all the bedrooms en suite shower/bathroom, separate self contained apartment for the maid, 2 covered parking in a nice area with easy access to the Limassol road. Can be rented also partially furnished – Latsia €5000(H4LAT0007-R), (photos in the website).

22. 4 bedr luxury detached house, separate maid’s room, 600 sq.m, central heating, full a/c, 6 wc, 4 bathrooms, big sitting and dining areas opening on to the garden, big kitchen with electrical appliances, built in 2 big plots of land with huge garden with grass, swimming pool, 2 covered parking, in a quiet neighbourhood close to Alpha Mega supermarket Engomi - €3700 (H4PA20005-R), (photos on the website).

23. 4 bedr luxury detached house with expensive finishes, office space, separate maid’s room, 3 of the bedrooms with en suite shower/bathroom, floor heating, full air condition, white marble floor all the house, fire place, lighting fixtures, big kitchen with all the electrical appliances, swimming pool with bbq area, small garden,2 covered parking’s in a nice neighbourhood with expensive houses near KEMA building – Platy Aglantzias €3500 (H4PAG0004-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 22-422225/96422225/96422226, www.landtouristestates.com ***************************** LUXURY FLATS: 1. 2 bedr luxury fully renovated apartment, storage heaters, 3 a/c, separate big kitchen, big sitting dining room, fully modern furnished and equipped with solid parquet floor off Prodromou street – Engomi €600 (A2ENG0010-R), (photos in the website).

2. 2 bedr new luxury modern,

2 storey apartment with solid parquet floor, floor heating independent, full a/c, 2 bathrooms, 2 wc, expensive fitted electrical appliances, blinds, covered veranda with very nice view, in a quiet neighbourhood on a modern design building. AVAILABLE 1st of August – Aglantzia €750 (A2AGZ0021-R), (photos on the website).

3. 1 bedr luxury spacious apartment with big sitting room, separate kitchen with electrical appliances, central heating independent with diesel,2 a/c, aluminum shutters in the bedrooms, covered veranda, covered parking, storage room, on a small quiet building in a quiet neighbourhood – Agios Dometios €450 (A1ADO0004-R), (photos in the website).

4. 3 bedr luxury PENTHOUSE apartment with storage heaters, full a/c, office space, very big veranda 100sq.m with nice view and bbq area with bar, NICELY MODERN FURNISHED, 2 bathrooms, 2 storage rooms, covered parking, in a small building near Hilton park and Ippokration hospital – Engomi €1000 (A3ENG0023-R), (photos in the website).

6. 1 bedr luxury fully furnished apartment, 60sq.m, with 2 a/c for hot and cold, spacious, covered parking, on a small building near Alpha Mega supermarket – Dasoupolis €450 (A1DAS0001-R), (photos in the website).

7. 2 bedr brand new luxury finished apartment on a small modern design building with 2 bathrooms, a/c for hot and cold (Mitsubishi), storage heaters can be installed if needed, electrical shutters in the bedrooms, pressure system, water serculation system, solar, electrical appliances in the kitchen, blinds, covered veranda, 2 COVERED PARKING, storage room, near the centre and near traffic lights of Honda showroom. – Agioi Omologites €700 (A2AOM0007-R) 8. 1 bedr, fully furnished and equipped apartment, 50sq.m, 2 a/c for hot and cold, covered verandah, covered parking, ice view off Makarios Avenue between Hilton and DEBENHAMS shop – Nicosia Centre €460 (A1NIC0006-R), (photos in the website).

9. 3 bedr new luxury penthouse apartment on the last floor of a 3 storey building, CH ind, full a/c, pressure system, cooker and oven in the kitchen, blinds in the living room, 2 bathrooms, 130sq.m, big veranda with view, covered parking, 200m opposite Akropolis park. Acropolis €850(A3ACS0039-R), (photos on the website).

10. 2 bedr new luxury finished apartment with a/c for hot and cold, NICELY MODERN FURNISHED, big covered veranda,2 bathrooms,2wc,covered parking, storage room, secured entrance building in a very quiet neighbourhood – Aglantzia €650 (A2AGZ0022-R), (photos in the website) 11. 1 bedr luxury spacious apartment with big sitting and dining room, storage heaters, 2 a/c, cooker, oven, dishwasher, washing machine/dryer, refrigerator in the kitchen,2 wc, 1 bathroom, blinds, big covered veranda, storage room, parking, big common SWIMMING pool. Price includes common expenses – Latsia €500

30 August 26, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Advertiser TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET NICOSIA

(A1LAT0004-R), (photos in the website).

12. 2 bedrs big luxury flat, 110sq.m+big covered veranda, CH ind, 3 a/c, cooker, oven in the kitchen, roller blinds, 2 bathrooms, 2 wc, parquet and granite floor, big bedrooms, big sitting and dining room, covered parking, intercom, on a small building with 6 flats only near Coca Cola factory 2 km from McDonalds in Egomi – Agios Dometios €550 (A2ADO0013-R), (photos in the website).

13. New luxury 2 bedr apartment with nice view, 100sq.m, big sitting & dining area, big separate kitchen with cooker and oven, big covered verandah, 2 wc, storage heaters, 2 a/c, electric shutters in the bedrooms, covered parking and storage room on the 11th floor of a small building with 6 flats only 200 meters for Akropolis park and opposite a small neighbourhood park – Dasoupolis €550 (A2DAS0001-R), (photos in the website).

14.

3 bedr apartment, 140sq.m,central heating independent, full a/c, 2 bathrooms, big separate kitchen with cooker and oven in the kitchen, blinds, covered parking off Kennedy and Markora street walking distance to the centre – Nicosia Centre €550 (A3NIC0023-R), (photos in the website).

15. 3 bedr +separate maid”s room (with shower and wc) & luxury apartment with central heating independent, full a/c,

3wc, 2 bathrooms, big separate kitchen with breakfast area and electrical appliances, big sitting and dining area with solid parquet floor, big covered veranda, blinds, alarm system, 2 parking, in a quiet area off Makarios Avenue near Hilton – Nicosia Centre €1100 (A3NIC0023-R), (photos in the website).

16. New luxury 2 bedr apartment with central heating independent, full ac, fully modern nicely furnished and equipped, big covered verandah, 2 wc, covered parking opposite Hilton, off Makarios Avenue close to the centre – Lykavitos €650 (A2LYK0003-R), (photos in the website) 17. Brand new quality finished 2 storey Penthouse apartment with cozy nicely modern fully furnished apartment, 150sq.m unique design, a/c for hot and cold in all the flat, 2wc, big verandas around the flat, private elevator with lock for the flat , in the centre of Makedonitissa of 28th October street – €1200 (A2MAK0004-R), (photos in the website).

18. 4 bedr luxury floor apartment,250sq.m, office, maid’s room, central heating ind, full a/c,2 showers, 1 bathroom, 3wc, parquet floor, big kitchen with cooker and oven, big sitting area, roller blinds on all the windows, big veranda on a small building off Athalasas Avenue near Alpha Mega supermarket and Areteion hospital – Dasoupolis €1100 (A4DAS002-R), (photos on the website)

19. 3 bedr luxury spacious floor apartment on the 4th floor of award winning building,200sq. m+big covered veranda, central heating independent, full built in air conditions, lighting fixtures, curtains and blinds on all windows, big spacious living room with fire place, big kitchen with double cooker, oven and microwave and breakfast area, double glazed windows, all the bedrooms with en suite shower/bath, big satellite dish with sky decoder,2 covered parking and storage room, close to American embassy and other amenities – Engomi €1600 (A3ENG0025-R), (photos in the website).

room, on a small building in a quiet neighbourhood next to a playground, near Central offices of Cyta and Laiki Head quarters – Dasoupolis €600 (A2DAS0018-R), (photos in the website).

22. 4 bedr new luxury finished apartment, 160sq.m+35sq.m covered veranda, big sitting and dining room, NICELY MODERN FURNISHED, Daikin air-conditions for hot and cold in all the rooms, 2 bedrs with en suite shower/ wc, 4wc, 2 covered parking, in a small modern building off Makarios Avenue in a quiet neighbourhood.

Available in August – Nicosia Centre €1400 (A4NIC0001-R), (photos in the website).

23. New luxury spacious 3 bedr quality apartment, 165sq.m+ big covered verandah, separate floor heating, full a/c, 3 wc, 2 bathrooms (one en suite), solid parquet floor all the flat, big sitting and dining area (can fit 2 sitting rooms and dining table), electrical appliances in the kitchen which has a breakfast area,2 covered parking, storage room in a very quiet green neighbourhood near the centre and Ag. Andreas - AVAILABLE in AUGUST– Nicosia Centre €1450 (A3NIC0004-R), (photos in the website).

24. New luxury 2 bedr apartment, open plan kitchen, 3 a/c for hot and cold, blinds on all the windows, nicely expensive full furnished with real leather sofas, double bed, big dining table, LCD 32”, satellite dish with receiver, internet, very

big bedrooms with big and many wardrobes, covered parking and storage room, in a quiet area near BMH – Aglantzia €620 (A2AGZ0001-R), (photos in the website).

25. 2 bedr new luxury finished and FURNISHED ground floor apartment, 80sq.m +120sq.m veranda and garden, separate floor heating, full a/c, 2wc, aluminum shutters outside the windows, pressure system, fully expensively fitted with electrical appliances in the kitchen, big covered parking and big storage room, off Athallassa Avenue near English School in a small modern building. AVAILABLE 1st of AUGUST – Strovolos €800 (A2ST10023-R), (photos in the website).

26. 3 bed brand new luxury finished apartment in a small modern design building with 2 bathrooms (one en suite), expensive electrical appliances in the kitchen, double glazed windows with electrical shutter, covered veranda, pressure system, solar heater, central satellite antenna, 2 covered parking, storage room, security entrance, close to Honda traffic lights walking distance to the centre – Agioi Omologites €850 (A3AOM0009-R), (photos in the website).

27. 3 big bedrs +office space luxury penthouse floor apartment, renovated, central heating independent, full a/c, 230sq.m, double glazed windows,3wc, 2 bathrooms (one en suite), solar heater, pressure system, SKY satel-

20. 3 bedr new luxury finished penthouse floor apartment, 240sq.m, big sitting and dining area (can fit 2 sitting rooms and dining table), big separate kitchen with cooker, oven, microwave, laundry room and breakfast area, big bedrooms, 3wc, 2 bathrooms, storage heaters, full a/c, blinds on all windows, pressure system, covered parking, big covered veranda, off Iphigenia’s street near Ministry of Education on a small building with 7 flats only. Available in September – Acropolis €1300 (A3ACS0019-R), (photos in the website).

21. 2 bedr new luxury apartment with central heating independent, full a/c, 2wc, big sitting and dining room, separate kitchen with cooker and oven, blinds on all windows, covered veranda, solar heater, pressure system, covered parking, storage

TO LET NICOSIA lite dish, big sitting and dining areas, solid parquet floor all the flat, big kitchen with cooker and oven and breakfast area, very nice view of the old city,40sq.m private roof garden area ,covered parking on a small building in the centre of Nicosia near the Museum and the old Hospital. Available middle 15th of SEPTEMBER –Nicosia Centre €1200 (A4NIC0005-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 ***************************** 2 BDRM flat in the centre of Nicosia. Rent €450. For information call 99453663, 99663927.

LIMASSOL TWO STOREY TRADITIONAL STONE HOUSE in Vasa Kellakiou village furnished with 4 small studios [w.c/shower] and 2 bdrs [bathroom] with large kitchen, living room, wooden balconies, large garden with trees, surrounded by the stonewall courtyard for rent short/long term, only 15 kms from Le Merritien hotel.

Tel: 99 649830 ***************************** HOUSE in Mesa Geitonia for rent. 1st floor, 2 bedroom, full A/C, semi furnished, 4 years

31 SUNDAY MAIL • August 26, 2012

Advertiser

TO LET LIMASSOL

TO LET LARNACA

TO LET LARNACA

TO LET PAPHOS

TO LET PAPHOS

TO LET PAPHOS

old. Balcony. For more info call 99375101. ***************************** TO LET one bedroom furnished flat in Katraki building, 100 metres from the sea and Debenhams Olympia. Price €430 (included common expenses).

Tel: 99406415 Andreas. ***************************** STUDIO FOR RENT 100 metres from the sea, available immediately. furnished, parking available. Rental €325 monthly including levies. 99867267 GROUND FLOOR HOUSE 3 bedrooms in Omonia furnished /unfurnished, fire place in sitting room, main sitting room, kitchen, bathroom, utility, shower with W/C. A/C in bedrooms. Covered parking.

Price €650. Tel 95 116808 OFFICE FOR RENT opposite sea with amazing sea views.

120sqm, 2 bathrooms, kitchen. Security system, cabling and server room ready. Price € 1400/month negotiable tel. 99 330 908 www.cyprusre.com/ listing-LIM-0103

***************************** PROTEA APTS LARNACA Residential and holiday apts for rent monthly or weekly Larnaca – Dhekelia road, close to Golden Bay Hotel 1 & 2 bedroom apts, furnished and with low rent with swimming pool, 2 minutes walking distance from the beach, with a new pedestrian crossing in front of the building. Contact us on 99672466, 99404522, and 99078590 ***************************** LARNACA FLAT FOR RENT: Fully-furnished spacious 2-bedroom first floor flat in central location near Metro supermarket, A/C, private parking, intercom system, en-suite bathroom, small block. Phone: 99354789 ***************************** FULLY FURNISHED one bedroom flat near Larco hotel Larnaca. Price €370. Tel: 99202543 ***************************** 1. K.S.L LETTINGS – APARTMENT FOR RENT Fully Furnished ground floor 2 bedroom apartment, overlooking pool. Beautifully furnished throughout. 350 Euros per calendar month. Larnaca District.

Quote TLL884. Tel. (00357) 24815104

ERTY FOR FREE AND GET WORLD WIDE ADVERTISING – NO TENANT NO FEE ! *****************************

call 99329357 Or please view at are website www.cyprussands.com Fully Registered Company in Cyprus ***************************** CHLORAKA, 2 bedroom apartment, only 5 years old, fully furnished with a/c, lovely, large patio area in rear €300 per month, + communal charges please call Malcolm on: 99127031 - no agents 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. Inf. Mob 99548855 ONE BEDROOM fully furnished apartment for rent in Kissonerga. Near Cynthiana Beach hotel and close proximity to Coral Bay. Overlooking the sea and 100 metres from beach. AC in bedroom. Tel: 99-492521/ 99- 673276 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 ***************************** 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 CONTACTOFFERING FULL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT & RENT COLLECTION SERVICE 1. UNIVERSAL AREA €550 spacious 3 bedroom semi detached house all with en-suite bathrooms plus downstairs guest wc. Large storage room & roof terrace. Enclosed garden with private pool. Drive for off street parking. Available unfurnished with sky satellite. Situated in a great central location.

2. TALA €625 unfurnished modern 3 bedroom detached villa offering total privacy & breathtaking sea views. Includes underfloor heating plus real fire. Master with ensuite. Large storage room.

Shutters & flyscreens. Covered veranda, garden with

mature plants, private pool offering sea views. Off street parking. A beautiful home.

3. KAMARES €675 we are delighted to offer this 2 bedroom 2 bathroom bungalow offering magnificent sea views. Lovely enclosed garden & private pool. Available unfurnished though can be furnished if desired. Includes central heating throughout plus modern gas fire for those winter months.

Outdoor storage facilities, shaded patio area, fly screens & shutters.

4. KONIA €700 new to the market this spacious detached 3 bedroom villa, master with en-suite. Guest wc. Beautifully furnished with quality modern furniture. Separate modern fitted kitchen plus separate utility room. Shutters to all windows. Roof terrace with sea views. Fully enclosed garden with storage shed, covered barbeque area and private pool offering lovely views.

5. PEYIA €700 rental price includes pool cleaning. Unfurnished 3 bedroom bungalow, master with en-suite. Spacious kitchen & living area.

Enclosed garden with well & private pool offering sea views. Covered verandas, private drive for off street parking. Situated in a quiet residential area.

6. PEYIA €750 price includes pool cleaning. If you are looking for a villa with breathtaking views & privacy than this property is for you. This modern detached 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom villas is furnished with modern furniture, including satellite TV. One bedroom & bathroom on ground floor. a spacious enclosed garden with private pool offering stunning views. Off street parking.

7. KOILI €800 brand new modern detached 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom villa. High quality fixtures & fittings. Spacious living area with real fireplace, plus underfloor heating throughout. Enclosed garden with private pool. Total plot size 600 sq meters, covered area 220 sq metres. Available unfurnished. Pets allowed.

8. MESOGI €1250 stunning detached 4 bedroom 5 bathroom villa. One bedroom & en-suite on ground floor. Spacious kitchen with separate utility room. Available unfurnished though includes gas central heating plus real fireplace in living area. Enclosed garden & private pool. Gated entrance with undercover parking. Situated on a private road.

Tel: 97790883 office: 26271858 visit our website for many

more properties www. mrrent-paphos.net email: info@mrrent-paphos.net ***************************** 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. KAMARES - TALA – 2 bed 2 bath fully furnished luxury bungalow set on an elevated plot on this prestigious development. Open plan living area with feature fireplace, dining area. Separate kitchen with D/W etc. Separate utilty room with access to side garden. 2 double , bedrooms, master with en-suite. Family bathroom. Large verandah overlooking the pool. Sep storage room, covered parking and additional store. Swimming pool, and landscaped gardens. Euros 600.00 a month or sensible offers only 2. TRIMITHOUSA 3 bed 2. bath unfurnished apartment/ house set in quiet location with views. Open plan living area and dining area.. Fully fitted kitchen with appliances . Guest WC. 3 double bedrooms. Family bathroom.

Large balcony, off-street parking. Euros 400.00 a month.

3. KATHIKAS – 3 bed,2 bath unfurnished stone bungalow with no immediate neighbours.. Open plan living area with fireplace with log burner..

Fitted kitchen, utility room.

3 bedrooms, master with en-suite. Family bathroom.

Parking, Swimming pool and landscaped garden areas.

Very quiet area. Euros 600.00 a month 4. MESA CHORIO – 2 Bed, 2. bath fully furnished apartment in good location close to ISOP Open plan living area with dining space. Fitted kitchen, 2 double bedrooms, master with en-suite. Family bathroom. Off street parking & comm. Pool. Minutes into Paphos. Euros 425. Or close offers 5. GOUDI (near Polis) Outstanding 3 bed, 3.5 bath unfurnished villa. Set in a rural setting the property enjoys privacy with no immediate neighbours. Open plan living area, spacious fitted kitchen.

Guest WC. Ground floor bedroom with en-suite. Stairs to 2 further double bedroom with en-suite. Breakfast area with hob & fridge and seat-

LARNACA LARNACA FLATS TO LET Fully furnished, spacious 2 bedrooms in central Larnaca.

Near Saint Lazaros Church, 4 minutes walk to Phinicoudes sea front. Small block 2 years old (6 apts) From €400 - to €500. Tel. 99388901 ***************************** 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 ***************************** VERY LONG TERM RENT 160sq.mtrs on ground floor, very clean spacious open plan living. Perfect for expat or retired couple looking for a quiet life in a peaceful area only one minute walk to Orphanides, Marks and Spencer and St. Raphael Clinic. Own courtyard, small dog welcome, sky satellite link, also suitable for office space. Only English spoken on 99890128.

2. K.S.L LETTINGS – Properties Required for waiting Long Term Tenants. We desperately require 2/3 & 4 bedroom villa’s with private swimming pools for waiting tenants in the Larnaca District. Please call us for a free valuation. Tel.(00357) 24815104 3. K.S.L LETTINGS – largest range of properties. Over 200 rental properties in the Larnaca district at the most competitive rates! Flexible contracts available. Tel. (00357) 24815104 4. www.KSLlettings.com – Villa For Rent Fully furnished 3 bedroom Villa with a good-sized rear garden & Communal pool, located in the village of Oroklini. Call for further information quoting Ref. TLL1189.

Tel. (00357) 24815104 CALL 24 815 104 TO ENQUIRE OR ARRANGE A VIEWING – NO OBLIGATION OR FEES. View our full range of over 200 properties by visiting www.KSLlettings.com updated daily. LANDLORDS ADVERTISE YOUR PROP-

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 Forest Fires ..................... 1407

Narcotics Helpline ......... 1410 (Outside hours.............. 22-304160) AIDS Advisory Bureau ................................ 22-302826

PAPHOS TO LET UNIVERSAL – 1 bed apartment - f/f, a/c, wall heaters, communal pool – available for 6 or 12 month rentals. €270. For more information call - 9977 4314 KISSONERGA, 3 bedroom flat, in a block of 4 flats only, fully renovated, 2 baths, 146 sqm closed area, c/h, a/c, covered parking, excellent view of the sea and mountains.

Short or long term rent. Tell 99 621914.

PROPERTY RENTALS From 250 Euros per month. Villas and apartments available.

Also wanted for waiting clients. www.johnalice-properties.com johnalicecy@gmail. com Tel: 00357 99984681 FOR RENT 2 bed townhouse within walking distance to International School, only four houses in the project, free swimming pool and WiFi. Large green areas around.

Please call Demetris at 99 439891, only families and retired please. €350 per month.

2 BEDROOM APARTMENT in the heart of Kato Paphos, the property is situated in a quiet, private complex, next to archeological site overlooking the light house, very reasonable rent, tel : 99411933 6 BEDROOM, luxury detached villa in Chlorakas, for rent.

Breathtaking, unobscured sea and mountain views. Close to all amenities, located in a cul de sac in Melanos area with a private road. 6 bed, 2 bathrooms (+2en suite), utility room, outdoor storage, Jacuzzi, private pool, fully A/C, fitted kitchen, large verandas and landscaped gardens. Long term let or sale by owner, call 99414920 UNIVERSAL AREA, 1 bedroom, furnished apartment, off street parking, quiet area, euro 250 per month, plus electricity, no other charges.

Tel : 96523557 FOR RENT A selection of 1 to 5 bedroom houses & apartments F/F & U/F Universal, Peyia, Tomb of the Kings, Tsada, Timi & Kato Paphos Landlord & Owners please

TO LET ON THE BEACH STUDIO FLAT WITH SUPERB SEA VIEW Newly renovated, fully air-conditioned one bedroom flat, comprising open-plan living room, fully equipped kitchen, bathroom and veranda with direct sea view on the beach next to the Larnaca fishing harbour. Covered parking in gated garage. Long-term rental, furnished €650 or unfurnished €575/month.

Call 99441499, 99431873

Domestic Violence Centre .......................................... 1440 (Emergency Centre for Victims)

Friends for Life Limassol Hospice Care Appeal requires new Friends and Volunteers to help operate their Charity Shops in both Limassol and Larnaca.

Drug Info & Poison Control ............... 1401

This is to help our large volunteer group to expand in the near future.

Cyprus Samaritans ... 77777267

Our aim is to open a Third Shop in the Limassol area due to popular demand.

Police Duty Officer ......... 1499 (Confidential Information)

Please do not forget when clearing your wardrobes and cupboards to remember us.

Airports Larnaca ..........................77778833 Paphos ...........................77778833

Contact Anne 25632446 99269016

Shop hours Mon-Sat. 9.30 -12.30

OFFICE/WAREHOUSE FOR RENT 735m² of office space and 1200m² warehousing available for long term rent on Yianni Kranidioti Avenue very close to Carlsberg Brewery.

Easy access to Nicosia-Limassol highway (only 200 metres).

Loading bays for warehouses and parking space for more than 40 cars. Hidden fuel tank plus car mechanics station.

For more information please call 99218866

32 August 26, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Advertiser TO LET PAPHOS

TO LET PAPHOS

FOR SALE NICOSIA

ing space. Doors out to large covered verandah with panoramic views. Full A/C, C/H, garage, over-flow tiled pool, SKY dish. Villa has substantial insulation to walls and floors.

Large gardens. Euros 800.00 per month.

6. UNIVERSAL AREA. 2 bed fully furnished apartment.

Living area, fitted kitchen. 2 double bedrooms and family bathroom. A/C, balcony, shutters, comm. Pool and parking. Euros 400.00 a montn or offers. 1 & 2 bed apartments available on Universal.

7. TALA - 5 bed, 3.5 bath large fully furnished villa. Very large property with open plan living area. Fitted kitchen, storage cupboard, guest WC. 2 bedrooms, bathroom on this level with small seating area. Ideal for dual living. Stairs up to 3 double bedroom, en-suite & family bathroom. Heated swimming pool, A/C, C/H. Electric gates and garden areas. Parking for several cars.

Euros 1500.00 per month or offers.

8. POLEMI – 4 bed 2.5 bath massive unfurnished apartment with own entrance in large landscaped gardens.

Spacious open plan living area with feature fireplace and dining space Huge fitted

kitchen and breakfast area.

Guest WC with storage area.4 double bedrooms. Master with en-suite bathroom.

Family bathroom. Pretty landscaped gardens, shared pool and off street parking. Quiet rural property.. Euros 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.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.

AYIA NAPA STUDIO 38sqm, furnished and fully renovated, in licensed complex, 500m from the Nissi Beach, short or long term rent. Tel: 99 621914.

PROPERTY FOR SALE

info@centurycyprus.com m m www.centurycyprus.com

FOR SALE PAPHOS

LIMASSOL

PAPHOS

*****************************

HOUSE FOR SALE, TALA, KAMARES VILLAGE IN PAPHOS 245 sq.m, 12 years old, renovated, five bedrooms, master bedroom is en-suite, two bathrooms, underground studio, central heating, air-conditioning, fire place, swimming pool, beautiful garden with amazing sea view, electric garage for two cars:- price €485,000.- Call Helen:- 99497620 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 PAPHOS – 1 Bed apartment in excellent/central location near Carrefour. On 3rd floor with lift and view over green area.

A/c units, dedicated covered parking and swimming pool. €82000, Tel.99442791 UNIVERSAL AREA, 1 bedroom apartment with title deeds, c/p, communal pool in small complex of 8, under cover parking, roof terrace, store room and large balcony overlooking the pool, the sale also includes celing fans, white goods and furniture , bargain at : euro 69.500, Tel : 99131044 FLATS FOR SALE OR RENT: Kissonerga, 3 bedroom flat with title deeds, in a block of 4 flats only, fully renovated, 2 baths, 146 sqm closed area, ch, ac, covered parking, excellent view

NICOSIA ***************************** FOR SALE HOUSE IN NICOSIA beautiful, well situated 4 bedroom plus attic house in Engomi area. Modern kitchen, sitting-dining room incl. fireplace, c/h, a/c, etc. Close to shops, amenities and at the same time in a quiet area.

For viewing please contact 99585695 ***************************** FLAT FOR SALE: 2 BEDROOM FLAT with title deeds, 110 sqm, fully renovated, best central area, 800m from the European University, excellent view, eu 119,000. Tel 99 621914 ***************************** 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. *****************************

The only cruise specialist in Cyprus SEABOURN

FOR SALE LIMASSOL

®

Tel: 70 000 970

SALE LIMASSOL 2 bed flat on beach road; light, airy with balcony. New flooring, a/c units, lift 2nd floor, windows 3 sides, own car space. TITLE DEEDS. €115,000.

Tel 99178141 www.homesinternational.info (Les Bois) *****************************

LARNACA PERVOLIA 4 Bed house for sale with Full Title Deeds. 160m covered on a 285m plot. Private swimming pool, aircon, flyscreens, carport. Built 2007, 5 min walk to Pervolia square, 3 min drive to Faros beach. €220,000, 99051706 JUST ON SEA luxurious two story villa, four en-suite bedrooms, steam baths, roof garden, for sale, at Pervolia beach, 8 kilometres from Larnaca. Asking price €1,499,000.

Call 00357 97790619.

FOR SALE PAPHOS of sea and mountains, half registration fees till 31.12.12. Reduced to eu 135,000,or rent eu 450 pm. Tel 99 621914 2 PROPERTIES BETWEEN POLIS AND LATSI. 2 bed townhouse, village centre €69,000 and quiet 3/4 bed house overlooking bay. 2 bath, c.h. wood burner, a.c. bedrooms, salt water 9x6 pool set in approx 2.500 sq.mts. €444,000 Tel: 99995531 TALA, 5 bdrm villa for sale . Title deeds. Sea and mountain view.

5 en-suite double bedrooms.

Central heating, a/c, fireplace.

Private L shape s/pool and garden area, patio, with bbq, bar and pergola. Car parking. Plot: 620 sq.m. Covered: 285sqm, €458.000. tel. 99587757.

AMMOCHOSTOS 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 AYIA NAPA, rare opportunity, with title deeds, 4 bedroom house, renovated, swimming pool, 300m from best beach, 650 sqm plot. Eu 440,000. Tel 99 621914 AYIA NAPA, studio for sale, 38 sqm, furnished and fully renovated, with title deed, in licensed complex, 500m from nissi beach, eu 52,000, tel. 99 621914

33 SUNDAY MAIL • August 26, 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

ALL SAINTS GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH (ENGLISH) Sunday Divine Liturgy 8-10am. Followed by Fellowship hour (coffee) Services are now being held at the underground Chapel of All Saints of Cyprus at St. Panteleimonos Church Makedonitissa Archangelos (Engomi) For more info please contact Fr. Joseph Coleman Tel. 99938924

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 NEW CHARITYSHOP/T.ROOMS NOW OPEN IN PEYIA. T ROOMS NOW OPEN (next to Peyia Police Station) Volunteers and donations needed please contact Suzanne 99151996 for further information.

NOW OPEN !!!

BOOKSHOP/INFORMATION CENTRE/T-SHOP IN POLIS CONTACT JUDY 99223572 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND DETAILS. PAPHIAKOS & C.C.P. BOOK EXCHANGE SHOP TREMITHOUSA Paphiakos Book Exchange Shop, Tremithousa. Special Tuesday sales held on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Tuesdays of each month. For more information Tel 99771763/99283467 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 Shop No.2 Ap Pavlou Avenue, Kato Paphos Shop No.3 Gr. Afxentiou Avensia Court 3 Larnaca Shop No.4 9 Ayiou Ioanni Street 3061 Limassol Our shops are always happy to receive your unwanted goods!

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.

PAPHIAKOS & C.C.P. ANIMAL WELFARE URGENTLY NEEDS PASTA TO HELP FEED THE DOGS AND SOFT FOOD FOR ALL THE CATS. DONATIONS CAN BE MADE AT THE CLINIC. PLEASE SPONSOR AN ANIMAL OR BECOME A MEMBER TO ENSURE PAPHIAKOS CAN CONTINUE WIH THEIR NECESSARY WORK. Telephone Jan 26946461 ex 114 or 97614008 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!!

THE DONKEYS AT PAPHIAKOS WOULD BE DELIGHTED TO HELP YOU GET RID OF YOUR UNWANTED CAROBS. PLEASE DELIVER TO THE CLINIC AND GIVE THE DONKEYS A SPECIAL TREAT! FEELING THE HEAT? THINK ABOUT THE ANIMALS NEEDING WATER AND SHADE. MAKE SURE DOGS ARE NOT LEFT IN CARS THEY BECOME OVENS IN SUMMER!!

For further advice or assistance contact the clinic 26953496 or visit the website www.cyprusanimalwelfare.com

CHEMISTS NICOSIA SUNDAY 26/08/2012 M. Kyriakoudes, 6B. C Pindarou St. Tel: 22344877, 22773127 (H) D. Sergiou, 18 Delfon St. Tel: 22775613, 22778449 (H) E. Frangouli, 58A Athenon St, Strovolos. Tel: 22314660, 22492935 (H) M. Paranis, 28D Lycavitou St, Makedonitissa. Tel: 22355715, 22354282 (H) A. Hadjiapostolou, 36D K. Matsis Ave. Tel: 22311416, 22510679 (H) LIMASSOL C. Petridou, 12 Omonias Ave. Tel: 25571632, 25752256 (H) M. Michaelides, 369 28 Octovriou, Tel: 25582914, 25763863 (H) P. Panayiotou, Ayias Fylaxeos 225, Tel: 25770930, 25811860 LARNACA A. Evlavis, 34 Gr. Afxentiou Ave. Tel: 24651317, 24662689 (H) E. Papaioannou, 52. 54 Stratigou Timayia St., Tel: 24633150, 24813135 PAPHOS G. Demetriou, 30 Kinira St. Tel: 26942131, 26951370 (H) PARALIMNI P. Yiallourou, 173 1st April St. Tel: 23825979, 23744771 (H)

NICOSIA MONDAY 27/08/2012 D. Evangelou, 34E Metochiou St. Tel: 22774123, 22352123 (H) A. Pontou, 38A Eleftheria St, Anthoupolis. Tel: 22382550, 22384724 H. Christofides, 43A Pericleous St, Strovolos. Tel: 22511351, 22319454 C. Iacovides, 6C Crete St. Tel: 22752877, 22255058 (H) K. Georgiou. Tifa, 100 Kyrenia Ave, Platy. Tel: 22340340, 22514500 (H) LIMASSOL A. Antoniades 70 Saripolou Tel: 25362373, 25398250 or 22337990(H) E. Constantinidou 15 Makedonias K. Polemithia Tel: 25387225, 25736114 (H) N. Mathaiou, 62D Ag. Zonis, Tel: 25375522, 25721678 LARNACA Kaloudi Christiana-Ekavi, 26 Ayion Anargiron Ave Tel: 24624555, 96473516 M. Kyritsis, 107 Dianelou Str., Tel: 24656514, 24625038 (H) PAPHOS M. Eracleous, 31A Acamantidos St. Tel: 26947629, 26954204 (H) PARALIMNI M. Klepiniotou, 16 Agiou Georgiou, Tel: 23820422, 23822330 (H)

CHURCHES

DOCTORS ON DUTY NICOSIA Urologist: Achilleas Corellis, Tel: 70007773, 99562642 Ophthalmologist: Antonis Glikeriou, Tel: 70000171 Gynaecologist: Christos Ppouris, Tel: 22469000, 99680488 Paediatric Surgeon: Eliana Eliadou, Tel: 99384324 Dentist: Kyriacos Sarris, Tel: 22325944, 99800108 LIMASSOL Pathologist: Christos Christodoulou, Tel.: 99454612, 25338618 Surgeon: Kyriacos Tsaggarides, Tel.: 25369030.

Neuro-Surgeon: Christos Kyriakides, Tel: 99696706 Paediatric: Eliaktida Clinic, Tel: 25720200 Paediatric Surgeon: Georgios Hadjiconstantas, Tel.: 25730055, 25723914 Ophthalmologist: Andreas Elia, Tel: 25725134,25353424, 99675811 Doctor: Lampros Theodosiou, Tel: 25581712, 99624372

THE ORTHODOX CHURCH OF AGIOS ARSENIOS, LIMASSOL (near Tsirion Stadium) The Orthodox Liturgy in English Saturday, 4 February at 8:30 am For information please contact: Father M. Spanou at 99 – 401365 (msspanou@googlemail.com)

THE ORTHODOX CHURCH OF ST ANDREW AND ST JOHN THE BAPTIST MESA GEITONIA, LIMASSOL The Orthodox Liturgy in English served fortnightly on Saturdays at 9.00 am. We also hold a Discussion Group every Thursday evening at 7.30 pm For information please call Fr. Christopher Klitou Mobile: 99957144 Fax: 25710318 You can email us at: klitoux@logos.cy.net or visit our website: www.christopherklitou.com

Family oriented evangelical church Contemporary Christian Worship Sunday 10am (Holy Communion - 1st Sunday of the month) Sunday School (Juniors and Teens) Outreach and Evangelism Bible Studies

Tel. 99 293489, 99 279960 Email: immanuel.church.nicosia@gmail.com Website: www.immanuelchurchnicosia.org

DEUTSCHE GOTTESDIENSTE IN ZYPERN

LARNAKA COMMUNITY CHURCH APHRODITE STREET, LARNAKA 10.00 AM MORNING SERVICE and SUNDAY SCHOOL For more details ring Fred 24365152

Nikosia: Am 1. und 3. Samstag im Monat in der St. Paul’s Cathedral um 18 Uhr Limassol: Am 2. Sonntag im Monat im Gemeindehaus in Germasogeia um 11 Uhr Am 4. Sonntag im Monat in der St. Barnabaskirche um 18 Uhr Paphos: Am 2. Samstag in der Kirche an der Paulussaeule um 16 Uhr Agia Napa: Am 4. Sonntag im Monat im Hof des Klosters um 9.30 Uhr

Open Door Baptist Church

Näheres Informationen durch Pfarrer Dr. Herold, Tel 25-317092 oder im Internet www.ev-kirche-zypern.de

9 Larnakos Street Katholiki Area Limassol Sundays: 9:45, 11:00 AM, 1:30 PM Wednesdays: 7:30 PM 25 751193 or 99 758729 www.cbm-odbc.org

GRACE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH Invites you to COME AND EXPERIEBNCE THE LOVE OF GOD WITH US Int. Christian Business Fellowship Meeting Centre Sundays: 10.00am Sunday School 11.00 am Main Service (Dine with us centre services) Wednesdays: Prayer meeting 6pm Address: To Arsinois Str., 1010 Nicosia (Next to Western Union Office to KISA) Contact: 99988900 or 97667932.

VISITORS ESPECIALLY WELCOME!!!

THE REFORMED CHURCH OF LIMASSOL Clear exposition of the Bible in the presence of God, and relevant to our lives.

Our Sunday services start at 10:30 am sharp, and the Wednesday Bible discussion at 7 pm.

International Evangelical Church (Reformed) is located at 352 St. Andrew’s Street. 1½ blocks from Starbucks / Fat Boy, and 1 block from the Municipal Gardens, Zoo. For further information call Steve at 99384742, or email: iee.limassol@gmail.com All are welcome!

NICOSIA CHRISTIAN CENTRE 10 PINDOU STR, ENGOMI, NICOSIA, TEL. 22464375 SERVICES: SUNDAY 10AM, WEDNESDAY 8PM St Barnabas’ Anglican Church 153 Leontiou A Street Limassol www.stbarnabas-cyprus.com Telephone: 25362713 - All welcome HOLY CROSS CATHOLIC CHURCH, PAPHOS GATE, NICOSIA Sunday Masses: Saturdays 6.30 pm, Sundays 8.00am, 9.30am & 6.30pm Weekday Masses: 6.30 pm Monday to Friday Tel: 22662132 Email: holcross@logos.cy.net

GRACE CHURCH, LARNACA 8 Ayiou Neofytou St Sundays 10 a.m.

Also Midweek Meetings Details: Colin 24530700

The Anglican Church of Paphos Ayia Kyriaki (St. Paul by the Pillar) Sunday 8.15am Holy Eucharist 6.00pm Sung Eucharist 4th Sunday 6.00pm Choral Evensong Wednesday 9.00am Holy Eucharist rd 3 Wednesday (BCP) St. Stephen’s, Tala 1st & 3rd Sunday 11.00 am Holy Eucharist 2nd & 4th Sunday 11.00am Morning Worship St. Luke’s, Prodromi 1st & 5th Sunday 9.30am Morning Worship 2nd , 3rd & 4th Sunday 9.30am Holy Eucharist 1st & 3rd Wednesday 9.30am Holy Eucharist 1st Sunday 6.00 p.m. Peace & Wholeness with Holy Eucharist 4th Sunday every quarter 9.30 am Holy Eucharist from BPC Church Office: 26-953044 Fax: 26-952486 Email: anglicancofp@cytanet.com.cy for directions to each church

St Helena’s Anglican Church, Larnaca St Helena’s Court, Grigoris Afx Sunday Service: Holy Communion 9.30 am ALL WELCOME Tel:24651327 office@sainthelenas.com

International EVANGELICAL CHURCH (Reformed) Limassol 352 St. Andrew’s Street (1½ blocks from Starbucks/Fat Boy) Sunday worship 10:30am Wednesday Bible Discussion 7pm For info: 99384742 ALL ARE WELCOME

34 August 26, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Motoring Compiled by Rosie Ogden

850 horsepower Cobra tribute to Carroll Shelby FRIENDS of Carroll Shelby, including Ford Motor Company, Shelby American, Ford Racing and many others have built a unique 2013 Shelby GT500 Cobra as a tribute to the late Carroll Shelby.

Cobra has been the consistent performance label as Shelby worked with Ford for most of the last 60 years, and he was instrumental in the creation of Ford performance vehicles including Cobras, the GT40 and Mustangs since the mid-1960s.

The unique tribute car was unveiled by board member Edsel Ford II, group vice president for sales and marketing Jim Farley, and Shelby American president John Luft at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion where Cobra is the ‘marque of show’ for 2012.

“Even at 89 years of age, Carroll was an inspiration to us all,” says Farley.

“This year marks the 50th anniversary of the original Shelby Cobra. The oneoff car we have created represents the very idea he had about making the 2013 Shelby GT500 into a true Cobra.”

Using the 662-horsepower 2013 Shelby GT500 as a foundation, ‘Friends of Carroll’ created the one-ofa-kind 2013 Shelby GT500 Cobra wide-body Mustang that now generates more than 850 horsepower with the help of a Ford Racing 4.0-litre Whipple supercharger.

Putting that much power to the ground requires plenty of traction, so the 13inch-wide rear wheels are wrapped in massive 345section high-performance tyres for extra grip.

Ford teamed up with Shelby American for several key components on the tribute car. Shelby American provided a specially designed bonnet, new rear wide-body kit, Shelby Wilwood brakes and new 20x13-inch rear and 20x10inch front wheels. The bodywork is finished in the same Guardsman Blue with Wimbledon White stripes that graced so many of the Cobra roadsters built in the

1960s.

“Carroll Shelby changed the performance world forever,” says Luft. “And while he was proud of Shelby American’s achievements, Carroll was far more interested in the next car we would build. You will find the spirit and influence of Carroll Shelby in every future vehicle we build just as you’ll find it in the rear wide-body kit and bonnet integrated into the 2013 Shelby GT500 Cobra.”

“You might also know that Carroll was a philanthropist, noted for supporting causes that moved him,” adds Farley. “In that spirit, this car will be taken on tour around the country, and hopefully will be used in a special way at the end of its tour – a way Carroll would appreciate.”

For more than half a century, Carroll Shelby inspired designers and engineers throughout the extended Ford family. As a teenager, Edsel Ford II worked for Shelby doing a variety of jobs, and countless engineers crossed paths with him over the years, from those who crafted the original GT40 to those working on the 2013 Shelby GT500.

Up until his death, Carroll Shelby remained committed to developing great performance cars. Even at the age of 88, he spent more than five hours driving the most powerful production Mustang ever during engineering validation sessions at Sebring and the Arizona Proving Grounds in late 2011.

During and after-test sessions, Carroll spent hours discussing with engineers what he liked and what needed improvement. “No one who worked with Carroll will ever forget it, and his lessons in vehicle dynamics will be passed along to coming generations” says Ford.

“Sadly, Carroll Shelby is no longer with us, but his spirit lives on with the designers and engineers he interacted with over the years and he will continue to influence Ford performance cars for many years to come,” says Farley.

The unique 2013 Shelby GT500 Cobra has been built as a tribute to the late Carroll Shelby

BREATHTAKING ONE-OFF SUPERCAR PRESENTED AT PEBBLE BEACH

The design team brought together hundreds of images from the world of automotive, architecture, fashion, design and film

McLaren X-1 concept MCLAREN Special Operations (MSO), the division of McLaren Automotive responsible for the delivery of bespoke projects, presented a breathtaking one-off supercar last weekend at the Pebble Beach weekend in Monterey, USA. Called the McLaren X-1 and based structurally on the company’s groundbreaking carbon MonoCell but with a totally unique body, it has been created ‘for an anonymous car enthusiast’.

It’s not every day that a team gets to create something unique in a project that would take the supercar, even

by McLaren standards, to a different level. The challenge began with a special brief.

“One of our clients who already owned a McLaren F1, a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren and now a 12C, wanted a unique car” says MSO Programme Director, Paul MacKenzie. “The conversation began with our Executive Chairman Ron Dennis almost three years ago − before the 12C was even launched. The client wanted a machine that had all the capability of the 12C but wrapped in a unique body that reflected his needs and personality.”

Mackenzie and Design Director Frank Stephenson went to see him to start to explore the sort of car he wanted.

Says Stephenson “The key qualities the client desired were ‘timeless and classical elegance’”.

From the pages of notes taken at the meeting, the design team brought together hundreds of images from the world of automotive, architecture, fashion, design and even film. These were presented to the customer, and then narrowed down to a mood book, full of inspiring images from which the design spirit of this unique car would be derived.

Inspirational cars included a 1961 Facel Vega, a 1953 Chrysler D’Elegance Ghia,

a 1959 Buick Electra, a 1939 Mercedes-Benz 540K and a 1971 Citroën SM. There were various examples of architecture – including the Guggenheim museums in New York and Bilbao – plus a Jaeger LeCoultre art deco clock, an Airstream trailer, a Thomas Mann Montblanc pen, a grand piano – and an eggplant. ‘The client liked the shiny texture of the finish,’ notes Stephenson. There was also a blackand-white photo of Audrey Hepburn.

In the end, a design by McLaren’s Korean-born RCA graduate Hong Yeo was chosen, and completed under the direction of Stephenson.

One of the biggest challenges faced by Yeo was that most cars that embody classic elegance and timeless values have front engines and rear-wheel drive proportions.

This is the exact opposite of a mid-engined supercar. So a new visual language for the car had to be found which led to months of sketching and modelling to ‘find that perfect visual balance’.

In the words of Hong Yeo: “X-1 embodies the McLaren value that every part has to have a purpose. No details are simply visual cues, every one has a purpose. Although I like to think the wide body combined with pontoon style rear fenders will ensure the car

glides when it’s moving just like a superhero’s cape...”

The X-1 is MSO’s most ambitious project to date. It has a whole new body made of advanced materials. Everything is bespoke, even down to the lights and wheels, necessitating new testing and homologation - and meaning the car took two and a half years to build.

A full CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) aerodynamic testing schedule ensured high-speed stability, and the car also completed approximately 625 miles of testing including two intensive testing stints at the Idiada circuit in Spain with chief McLaren test driver, Chris Goodwin. After testing, the whole car was meticulously rebuilt, by hand, to concours standard.

All body panels of the X-1 are made from carbon, and are finished in a rich piano black, as specified by the owner. Body sides are lacquered visual carbon fibre. “The black paint has no metallic or colour tints and is one of the most challenging colours to paint, but the finish is absolutely exquisite and befits the car perfectly” says Stephenson.

Components were tooled exclusively for the car. They even include unique head and tail lights, inspired by the McLaren Speed Marque logo.

The brightwork is machined

from solid aluminium, and a nickel finish is then applied.

The McLaren logo in the nose is specially machined from solid aluminium then nickel plated. Wheels are also unique to the X-1, and are diamond turned with a tinted lacquer to complement the exterior nickel-plated brightwork.

Perhaps the most unusual styling feature is the enclosed rear wheels, an upshot of the owner’s desire to have a car reflecting ‘timeless elegance’.

The wheels are accessed by carbon panels using, what Stephenson calls “some of the most gorgeous hinges you’ve ever seen”.

The unique body of the X-1 means most dimensions have changed. The X-1 is 4658mm long – 109mm longer than a 12C. Width is 2097mm (with mirrors) – an increase of 188 mm. Despite the revised roofline, the height remains the same, at 1199mm. Kerb weight is almost identical (about 1400kg), as the lighter carbon body panels compensate for the greater length and width.

Inside, personalisation includes bespoke Harissa Red McLaren Nappa leather used for the seats, door and roof trim, and switchgear with machined nickel-coated, aluminium bezels. The carbon interior trim has a titanium weave, and special Andesite tufted carpet covers the floor.

The X-1 shares the same major mechanical components as the 12C, including the twin-turbo 625PS engine, giving ‘astonishing’ acceleration and top speed.

The bespoke McLaren Special Operations division was launched at Pebble Beach in August last year. It offers a personalisation service that varies from simple trim changes to a whole new car – as showcased by the X-1. “We can realise almost anything,” says Paul Mackenzie. “The only limit is the size of the customer’s imagination.”

35 SUNDAY MAIL • August 26, 2012

Sport Are videogame players the world’s next Olympians?

By Tom Bartlett

20 million people tuned in to watch live streams of pro event

By John Gaudiosi IT’S not exactly an Olympic sport - not yet, anyway - but as the London Games drew to a close earlier this month, thousands of professional videogame players geared up for an event that for some can be as lucrative as winning a gold medal.

Videogamers gathered in Cologne, Germany last week for the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) competition, a professional videogame tournament.

Professional electronic gaming, or eSports, is relatively new and has been gaining popularity around the world in recent years.

Germany and South Korea are two hot markets, and the United States is quickly catching up.

Pro gamers can earn anywhere from $20,000 to $100,000 or more in winnings and make even more in product endorsements, teaching and other sponsorships. Videogame makers say participating in an event can boost a game’s popularity.

The IEM event in Germany was expected to attract over 250,000 fans, about 10 percent more than last year, to watch the best videogamers in the world compete in games such as “StarCraft II” and “League of Legends”. An additional 20 million people from more than 180 countries tuned in to streams on the Web provided by ESLTV, TwitchTV and CBS Interactive (CBSi) Games.

More than 20,000 fans packed the Anaheim Convention Center in California in June to watch gamers compete for over $200,000 in the Major League Gaming Spring Championship. An additional 35 million online viewers streamed matches for games like “Mortal Kombat”, “Soul Calibur V” and “The King of Fighters XIII”.

“The Internet streaming phenomena is probably the biggest reason eSports

Bolt eyes long jump and 400m at Rio Games

Members of team Counter Logic Gaming from the United States are shown competing during the League of Legends competition of the Intel Extreme Masters Gamescom is having a huge rise right now,” said Sean “Day(9)” Plott, a leading “StarCraft II” eSportscaster - pro gaming’s play-by-play sportscaster. “Streaming has allowed this huge international representation to view matches live or recorded at any time of day.”

Multiple leagues now exist with names such as IGN Pro League (IPL), North American Star League (NASL), Dreamhack, Electronic Sports League (ESL), Global StarCraft II League (GSL) and EVO Championship Series (EVO). And some multiplayer tournaments are set up to mimic any professional sports league.

Indeed, one game gaining traction among fans is “League of Legends”, in which teams of five compete in multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBA). Teams vie for $5 million in prizes in a format that replicates a real sports season and playoffs.

“Just like the NBA (National Basketball Association), we expect the competition to intensify in the playoffs - the Regional Finals and the Season Two World Championship,” said Brandon Beck, co-founder and CEO of Riot Games, which created “League of

Energy drink Red Bull has organised its own competitions, such as the Red Bull Battlegrounds Invitational Legends”.

Games from Riot and other makers such as Blizzard Entertainment have found success as spectator sports because they have features allowing fans to watch the competitions live in arenas, online at home or in places like sports bars. In fact, Blizzard’s “StarCraft II” has become so popular at local watering holes that some gamers have dubbed it “BarCraft”.

“We’ve seen a fair amount of anecdotal evidence that people who discover

‘StarCraft II’ through eSports eventually purchase and play the game,” said Mike Morhaime, co-founder and CEO of Blizzard. “One primary reason we support eSports is to build community and create long-term interest.”

Social media also have had a big role in the gaming leagues’ growth by allowing pro players to connect with their fans and even play against them.

And even though men dominate the players’ groups, women such as Flor-

ence “flo” Yao, Sasha “Scarlett” Hostyn, and Madeleine “MaddeLisk” Leander are rapidly working their way to the top.

Kelly “Mrs. Violence” Kelley, a professional “Call of Duty: Black Ops” player who works with CBSi Games, believes these young women will encourage more female gamers to go pro and compete in the male-dominated eSports arena.

Sponsors have taken notice. Big brands including Dr. Pepper, Sony Ericsson and Bic Razors pay anywhere from $500,000 a year in multimillion-dollar, multi-year deals to connect with the growing audience at league events.

Energy drink Red Bull has organised its own competitions, such as the Red Bull Battlegrounds Invitational in Austin, Texas where 16 of the world’s top “StarCraft II” players competed for $41,000 in front of 5,000 paying fans.

“I think in the future we’re going to see more of these types of events with sponsors getting directly involved and connecting with not only the professional players, but also this growing fan base,” eSportscaster Michael “Husky” Lamond said.

USAIN Bolt is a definite starter for another Olympic Games in four years’ time, opening up the possibility of more sprint records or an attempt at other events, the six-time gold medallist said this week.

Speculation has been rife since the London Games that the Olympic 100 and 200 metres champion could quit athletics and not compete at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

His hunger for success, however, appears to be showing no signs of abating.

“Yes definitely I will be there (in Rio), as long as I’m fit and I’m ready,” Bolt said at a promotional event in Lausanne.

“It’ll be a little bit harder but I’m looking forward to it.”

The possibility of Bolt, also a member of Jamaica’s world record-breaking 4x100 relay team in London, switching from the sprints to the 400 or long jump has long been debated.

American Carl Lewis - who like Bolt claimed back-toback Olympic 100 titles was also a four-time men’s long jump gold medallist, dominating the event from 1984 in Los Angeles to Atlanta in 1996.

“It’s just about making different goals, there’s a lot of things I can do in the sport,” Bolt said.

“My coach wants me to do 400 metres, I want to try long jump.

“I could always try to aim for the records again, so there’s different things but after the season we’ll decide what we want to do and work on that next season.”

The newly-turned 26-yearold also told the Hublot watch event that his dream of one day becoming a football player with his beloved Manchester United still burned bright.

In other news, fans hoping for a reprise of the Olympic sprint duels between Bolt and Yohan Blake will have to wait until next year after it was confirmed that they will not be racing against each other again this summer.

The two Jamaicans returned to competitive action for the first time since London when they lined up in Thursday’s Diamond League meet in Lausanne and they will also both be racing in Zurich this coming week week and in Brussels on September 7.

But at all three meetings, spectators will be denied the chance to see them go head to head as they have opted to compete in separate sprint events.

36 August 26, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Sport EX-SOLDIER DEREK DERENALAGI WAS ONCE DECLARED DEAD BUT REVEALS HOW HE DEFIED THE ODDS

Move over you plastic Brits, here comes the ‘Titanium Brit’

By Matt Majendie

IN BRIEF

THERE are still times that Derek Derenalagi wakes up in the dead of night at his home in Watford, England having had flashbacks to Afghanistan.

Where once those flashbacks had been nightly, now they are more of a rarity but they are never any less vivid and each time his wife, Ana, has to calm down her agitated husband from the vividness of his dream.

The moment his mind goes back to each time is July 19 2007 and he is walking behind an armoured vehicle at 6.30 in the morning to clear a helicopter landing site.

Unbeknown to Derenalagi, 37, and his unit, the area in question was littered with landmines and, as he got the vehicle to reverse, it went over one and blew him 50 metres into the air. Amazingly, he stayed conscious throughout the ensuing trauma. “I was up in the air immediately and, when I landed I didn’t immediately know I’d lost both my legs but I could hear a lot of people screaming and shouting,” he said. “I tried to stand up but I couldn’t.

My whole body felt numb. I looked down to see that my left leg had totally gone, while the other leg was just flesh and bones hanging off below the kneecap, and I had a lot of other injuries. “I was lying in a pool of blood and struggling to breath. My mind was overwhelmed with fear. I thought I wouldn’t see my wife and daughter again so I said a prayer. I said, ‘Dear Lord Jesus Christ, if you’re willing to

use my life to motivate others please give me life again’.

“I decided then that I would make it and then the guys in my unit grabbed me by the arms and lifted me away and took me back to Camp Bastion.

“They just kept on saying, ‘Derek, you’re going to be okay’, and when I asked about my legs, I was told, ‘They’re going to be fine’ but there were a few people standing beside me crying then.”

Back at camp, a nurse repeatedly told him to be strong, which is the last thing he remembers. Shortly afterwards he passed out and was pronounced dead on the operating table.

BODY BAG It was only as he was being placed in a body bag by one of the medical staff that the slightest pulse was detected and the medical staff began to work on him again.

Nine days later, he woke up from his coma at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham with Ana by his side.

“My immediate thought was, ‘What are you doing in Afghanistan? It’s dangerous, it’s a war zone’.”

She reminded him of the explosion and, not longer afterwards, when he said he wanted to go to the toilet, his wife started crying. She could not tell him exactly what had happened so instead took a photograph and showed him that he no longer had his legs.

“She thought I would be devastated and distressed but I told her I was grateful to have had the chance to live,”

he added.

“So I said, ‘Let’s start again’.

I could immediately see the strength come back in her.

She has helped me so much and also my faith in God and I’ve not once questioned God why this happened to me.”

Ana will be among those sitting in the Olympic Stadium on Friday when Derenalagi takes to the circle for the F57/58 discus final, along with one of the members from his unit from the day of the lifechanging explosion.

The road to Stratford has not been an easy one and the physical and mental scars have been hard to bear at every junction. But the former rugby player - “it’s hard to play the sport any more as I don’t have legs,” he says, laughing - has transformed his life and his sporting career.

He is the current European champion in the discus having come from nowhere to win the title in Holland in June beating the defending Paralympic champion Alexey Ashapatov, of Russia, in the process. He is ranked fifth in the world and his goal is quite simple - “I want to be on the podium in London.”

The Fijian-born Derenalagi’s humour is striking. Any suggestions he might not qualify for the British team because of his origins are brushed off.

He likes to joke that he is a titanium rather than plastic Brit. And having defended Britain in war, he rightfully says he sees himself as British.

“I feel honoured to be representing this country,” he said.

Britain should feel similarly honoured to have him among its ranks.

Thrown in: Derenalagi has become a leading discus thrower (top) and enjoys his love of rugby with Lawrence Dallaglio

Olazabal picks Jimenez as fourth Ryder Cup deputy

Sabathia makes successful return for New York Yankees

Baghdatis to begin US Open against Bachinger

EUROPEAN Ryder Cup skipper Jose Maria Olazabal has named fellow Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez as his fourth vice captain for next month’s match against the United States.

Jimenez, 48, will join Dane Thomas Bjorn, Northern Irishman Darren Clarke and Ireland’s Paul McGinley as assistant captains at the Medinah Country Club in Illinois from September 28-30.

“Miguel was Seve Ballesteros’s right-hand man in the 1997 edition and you know he has a very simple and great philosophy - he always sees the positive side and makes people feel better,” Olazabal said yesterday.

NICK Swisher had a productive night with the bat and CC Sabathia made an impressive return from injury as the New York Yankees beat Cleveland 3-1 to hand the Indians a ninth consecutive loss.

Swisher batted in all three New York runs with a first inning double and a two run homer in the seventh, his 100th home run with the Yankees.

Sabathia easily managed seven and a third innings, allowing just the one run, a solo homer to Asdrubal Cabrera in the fourth.

The starting pitcher showed no signs of the sore left elbow that landed him on the 15-day disabled list.

MARCOS Baghdatis will take on German qualifier Matthias Bachinger in the opening round of the US Open at Flushing Meadows in New York.

The 27-year-old Cypriot has beaten Bachinger in all their three previous meetings.

Should Baghdatis overcome the German, he will then face either 14th-seeded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov or American Jesse Levine. Advancing further would likely see him face 18th seed Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in the third round, while defending champion and World No.2 Novak Djokovic could lie in wait in the fourth round.

37 SUNDAY MAIL • August 26, 2012

Sport

Armstrong’s marketing appeal could survive Tour titles loss

India enforce follow-on before rain ends play

Work on cancer seen helping blunt doping allegations

By Sudipto Ganguly

By Phil Wahba and Martinne Geller LANCE Armstrong’s triumph over cancer and his fundraising efforts make him an effective pitchman even after his status as one of history’s greatest cyclists was tarnished by the US Anti-Doping Agency’s decision to strip him of his championship titles, marketing experts say.

Nike, the world’s largest sportswear maker, top beer maker Anheuser-Busch and sunglass maker Oakley, all said they would stand by the 40-year-old American, who on Friday lost his record seven Tour de France wins after he decided to stop fighting USADA charges that he used performance-enhancing drugs.

“Lance has stated his innocence and has been unwavering on this position. Nike plans to continue to support Lance and the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a foundation that Lance created to serve cancer survivors,” Nike said in a statement.

Other sponsors including Trek Bicycle Corp, a leading bike maker, and 24 Hour Fitness, which operates fitness clubs, said they were monitoring the situation.

Texas-born Armstrong has been one of the most successful and polarising cyclists

The US Anti-Doping Agency has stripped the American of his record seven Tour de France titles, but the final decision may be taken by the Court of Arbitration for Sport of all time, surviving testicular cancer to win the Tour de France an unprecedented seven times from 1999 to 2005.

He has become a prominent advocate for cancer research and awareness through the Lance Armstrong Foundation and Livestrong mission.

But Armstrong has also been fighting allegations that he had doped throughout his career. He maintained his innocence in a statement on Thursday, but said he no longer had the stomach to contest the USADA’s charges, saying “enough is enough.”

Robert Boland, professor of sports management at New York University, said Arm-

strong’s extensive work on cancer has made him a hero to many, and will help blunt the impact of the doping allegations.

Livestrong has raised over $470 million for cancer research, in part through the sale of its yellow wristband that became a global phenomenon with over 84 million bands distributed.

“His story has not been diminished. Here’s a guy who essentially was at death’s door with cancer and came back. That example still makes him very compelling,” Boland said.

Still, Boland said it would be difficult for Armstrong to continue to endorse bicycles

or bicycle equipment, since he has now been banned from competitions. “If he can’t show up at certain events, how do you use him?”

Armstrong’s net worth has been estimated at roughly $125 million. According to Forbes magazine, he earns more than $10 million a year in speaking fees and endorsement deals.

Any impact on his earning potential is mitigated by the fact that Armstrong is retired - he last participated in the Tour de France in 2010 - unlike Tiger Woods who almost three years ago faced scandal when he was at the height of his golf powers.

But retired athletes can still

rake in millions from a robust calendar of speaking engagements, such as giving a keynote speech at a trade show.

Indeed, the Lance Armstrong Foundation said that it had seen a 30 per cent spike in donations on Friday, and that the nonprofit group had seen an outpouring of support for the cyclist.

SportsOneSource analyst Matt Powell said some sponsors might downplay Armstrong for a little while but that as long as he is not actually proven to have taken drugs, they should resume.

“I don’t think it will affect his sponsors unless at some point it’s proven that he’s taken drugs,” Powell said.

All Blacks thrash Australia to retain Bledisloe Cup

By Greg Stutchbury DAN Carter ensured New Zealand converted their territorial domination into points as the All Blacks beat Australia 22-0 in their Rugby Championship clash at Eden Park yesterday.

Flyhalf Carter kicked five penalties and converted Israel Dagg’s try to score 17 points for the All Blacks, whose victory ensured they retained the Bledisloe Cup for the tenth successive season and piled the pressure on Wallabies coach Robbie Deans.

New Zealand, who have now held the Bledisloe Cup since 2003, have not lost to Australia at Eden Park since 1986.

They have also won 14 of their 17 Tests against their closest neighbours since Deans took over as coach in 2008.

“To lock the Bledisloe up for another year, I’m very proud

of the way the guys took to their work,” All Blacks captain Richie McCaw said in a pitchside interview.

The All Blacks dominated territory for much of the game, and forced the Wallabies to play much of their rugby inside their own half.

The world champions did not concede a kickable penalty until the 51st minute, though the Wallabies chose to kick for an attacking lineout in the corner and then lost the ball.

“We realised the Wallabies would come back more intensely. They certainly did that but we showed what we were made of when we didn’t have the ball.

“It was about getting the line speed up and knocking them over. There was a period there where we had to defend on our line and got a turnover so I’m very happy there.”

The Wallabies, who had cap-

tain Will Genia sinbinned in the first half for a professional foul, were more combative in contact than they were in last week’s 27-19 loss in Sydney but the backline still lacked punch despite the presence of mercurial playmaker Quade Cooper.

“You have to give credit to this All Blacks side, they’re a great team and they have achieved so much,” Genia said.

“They’re going to turn up every week and to be honest I think we got taught a lesson.”

The All Blacks should have extended their lead throughout the second half but blew several try-scoring opportunities due to poor handling and choosing the wrong option.

At the end of the day a Test match win against the Wallabies you have to be happy, and to do two in a row is great.” McCaw said.

Dan Carter scored 17 of New Zealand’s 22 points

RAVICHANDRAN Ashwin spun a web around New Zealand’s batsmen to capture six wickets as India enforced the follow-on before rain halted their victory charge on day three of the opening Test yesterday.

Off-spinner Ashwin took six for 31, his best test haul, while Pragyan Ojha picked up three wickets to skittle New Zealand for 159 on the stroke of lunch and give the home team a firstinnings lead of 279 runs.

Left-arm spinner Ojha, who opened the bowling in the second innings, then removed Martin Guptill for 16 after India enforced the follow-on with a threat of rain disruptions for the last two days.

“There is some bounce on the wicket. In the second innings it has started turning more,” Ojha told reporters after heavy rain forced the players off the field with New Zealand 41 for one.

“We are confident especially with the way the guys are bowling and how everyone is approaching the game.”

Brendon McCullum (16) and Kane Williamson (three) were at the crease when play ended for the day.

Only 37.3 overs were bowled yesterday after play started an hour late due to morning showers.

New Zealand, resuming on 106 for five, lost a wicket in the second over when Umesh Yadav provided the only dismissal by a paceman in the innings by trapping Kruger van Wyk leg before for a duck.

Ojha then removed Doug Bracewell for 17 before Ashwin was brought into the attack by captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Ashwin, who took three wickets on Friday, wasted no time and took a low return catch to dismiss Jeetan Patel in his first over of the day.

He then struck twice in successive deliveries to send back Trent Boult (four) and Chris Martin (duck) to end New Zealand’s first innings.

Only left-hander James Franklin (43 not out) offered serious resistance and just two batsmen faced more than 27 deliveries.

“Hopefully we shall rectify the few mistakes we made in the first innings and look to stay a lot longer at the crease,” Franklin said.

“It will start with Kane and Brendon on Sunday and now it’s probably all about taking time out of the game and scoring runs along the way.

“It’s a pretty simple formula - just occupy the crease. There has to be a bit of discipline. We can’t solely rely on scoring fast,” added Franklin.

38 August 26, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Sport

Adam targets Man City scalp Champions in for a hostile trip to Anfield

By Brian Homewood

By Ronnie Esplin CHARLIE Adam believes Liverpool’s win at Hearts has set them up perfectly for a shot at Premier League champions Manchester City this afternoon.

Liverpool won 1-0 at Tynecastle in the Europa League on Thursday night, just the result manager Brendan Rodgers was looking for after last weekend’s 3-0 defeat at West Brom.

New boss Rodgers came in for some criticism after the hiding at the Hawthorns but was confident enough to travel to the first leg of their play-off in Edinburgh without Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez, Martin Skrtel and Glen Johnson.

Liverpool wobbled a few times in front of a passionate home crowd, but an own goal by Scotland defender Andy Webster after the break gave the visitors a useful advantage going into the second leg next week.

And, according to Reds midfielder Adam, it is the ideal boost ahead of the visit of City.

“I think that was the biggest thing (about the win),” said the Scotland international. “We bounced back from losing the game at the weekend, which everyone was disappointed with.

“We knew it was going to be a difficult tie but we came through it, we won 1-0 and we look forward to Sunday now.

Goetze gives Dortmund late win in opener

Tough battle: City were held to a 1-1 draw in the corresponding fixture last season and may again struggle to take all three points without injured star striker Sergio Aguero (left) “The champions are coming to Anfield but they know they will be in as hard a game against us, as we know that we are going to have against them.

“Man City are a top team with top players but we have good players as well so we are looking forward to it, it will be a big match.

“We know if we play to the top of our capabilities we will have a right good chance to win the match.”

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini meanwhile claims it is “impossible” for injured striker Sergio Aguero to play for Argentina next month and “ridiculous” he has been called up.

Aguero is out of action with a knee injury after falling awkwardly in last week’s Premier League opener against Southampton and the club are not expecting him back until mid-September at the earliest.

But that has not stopped Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella naming the 24-yearold in his squad for World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay and Peru on September 7 and 11 respectively.

Mancini accepts Argentina have a right under international rules to summon Aguero - and can carry out their own medical assessment if necessary - but he thinks it is a ludicrous situation.

The Italian said: “It is impossible because Sergio needs a minimum of two weeks without training. After two weeks he can start again.

“If in one week if he could be ready to play it is different, but I think he needs another two weeks.

“He can go and fly back quickly. These are the rules and we need to respect them - they are ridiculous rules.”

Wenger: we won’t rush Wilshere

By Jim van Wijk

Jack Wilshere (top) has been out injured for over a year

ARSENE Wenger feels that when Jack Wilshere is up and running again it will be like a new signing for Arsenal, but will not rush the England midfielder back into action.

Wilshere, 20, has not kicked a ball in anger for the Gunners in more than a year, spending the whole of last season sidelined by a niggling ankle problem which also ruled him out of contention for Euro 2012 and the Olympics.

Wenger feels Wilshere is making good progress towards a return by the end of the year, which the manager revealed was one of the reasons why he cooled on a move for Turkey international Nuri Sahin from Real Madrid - who moved to Liverpool on loan on Friday.

“October will be an important month for Jack,” said the Arsenal manager.

“I will promise you that I will be careful, but Jack works very hard.

“Every day he is in early, late going home, is focused and has built up a good basis for his body.

“After how quick he will be sharp again for competition, I don’t know. We will have to wait for at least a month to see that.”

Arsenal lacked a cutting edge in attack against Sunderland on the opening day, playing out a frustrating goalless draw in their first match since captain Robin van Persie was sold to Manchester United for £24 million.

Wenger accepts his frontline - which could again include summer signings German striker Lukas Podolski and France forward Olivier Giroud - must do better at Stoke today.

“Overall we are equipped but up front we have to show we can compensate for the departure of Van Persie,”

the Arsenal boss added.

Stoke, too, were held on the opening day of the new season by Premier League new boys Reading, and Tony Pulis will be hoping that home comforts will be the key to his side taking their first three points of the season against the visitors from north London.

Britannia Stadium has not been an especially happy hunting ground for Arsenal in recent seasons and, in fact, the Gunners have won just one of the last four meetings between the sides when the Potters have had home advantage.

Tony Pulis will be hoping that the physical presence of striker Peter Crouch will help to unsettle the Arsenal defence, and the former Tottenham Hotspur striker will be hoping to open his account for the season with a goal, while likely strike partner Jonathan Walters may also cause the Gunners defence some problems.

MARIO Goetze scored an 81st-minute winner after coming on as a late substitute to give champions Borussia Dortmund a 2-1 home victory over Werder Bremen as the 50th Bundesliga season kicked off.

Werder looked on course to claim a point when Czech defender Theodor Gebre Selassie netted on his Bundesliga debut in the 75th minute.

Six minutes later Robert Lewandowski laid the ball off and Goetze placed a low shot past keeper Sebastian Mielitz to get Dortmund, champions for the last two seasons, off to a winning start.

Marco Reus opened the scoring for Dortmund 11 minutes into his first league appearance following his move from Borussia Moenchengladbach.

“We did a lot of things right and the things we didn’t do right we can improve on,” said Dortmund’s flamboyant coach Juergen Klopp, wearing his characteristic three days’ growth of stubble on his chin.

“We haven’t had a competitive game for 14 weeks so the understanding is not the same.”

According to media reports Reus cost a fee of 17 million euros and Dortmund are hoping he will make up for the absence of Shinji Kagawa in midfield after the Japanese player was sold to Manchester United in the close season.

The 23-year-old made a dream start, rolling the ball into the far corner of the net after Jakub Blaszczykowski’s pass was missed by Aleks Ignjovski and fell at his feet.

Backed as usual by a crowd of 80,000-plus, including the intimidating standing-only Suedtribune, Dortmund initially threatened to swamp Werder.

The visitors came back strongly though as volatile Austrian Marko Arnautovic hit the foot of the post and Eljera Elia forced a good save from Roman Weidenfeller before halftime.

Arnautovic, desperate to prove he has turned the corner after a flurry of disciplinary problems restricted his appearances for club and country last season, was Werder’s most dangerous player and set up the equaliser.

The ball was fed to him on the edge of the area and he floated over a cross which Gebre Selassie, signed after his sparkling performances at Euro 2012, met with a looping header into the far corner.

Polish pair Blaszczykowski and Lewandowski then combined to tee up Goetze and the 20-year-old placed his shot into the bottom lefthand corner three minutes after being brought on.

39 SUNDAY MAIL • August 26, 2012

Sport Brazil not all sunshine and samba, fans warned

By Mike Collett

The Welsh side continued their free-scoring start to the new season as they went top of the Premier League

Rampant Swans on song after thrashing Hammers ‘Two games, six points and two clean sheets - it’s fantastic’ Swansea 3 West Ham 0 SWANSEA continued their free-scoring start to the season as they went top of the fledgling Barclays Premier League with a 3-0 win over West Ham. Angel Rangel opened the scoring when his shot came off ex-Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen and into the net although the Swans’ player was credited with the goal.

Michu and Danny Graham got the other goals as the Swans made light of the departure of former boss Brendan Rodgers.

Rangel was not looking too

far ahead though and told Sky Sports 2: “It’s good not to be conceding goals and good to be scoring them but it’s early days.”

Of his fortuitous goal, he added: “I’ll take it.

“It counts - that is what is important.

“I think overall it was a good performance.”

Winger Nathan Dyer credited Michael Laudrup for their scoring prowess, saying: “He has brought his own ideas in.

“He has given us a more free role to get our shots off.

“We’ve got to work hard now, make sure we have performances like this week in week out.”

Scott Sinclair did not make an appearance for Swansea and Laudrup revealed the pair had spoken on Friday

with the winger not intending to sign a new contract.

Laudrup said: “Scott and I talked about a lot of things.

“The last two or three days lots of things have been going on around him.

“We will see what happens next week.

“If he leaves we will have to take it from there. I really don’t know.”

Of where the Swans find themselves after two games, Laudrup was clearly delighted.

“Two games, six points and two clean sheets - it’s fantastic,” he said.

Opposite number Sam Allardyce bemoaned defensive mistakes which he believed had been pivotal.

He told Sky Sports 2: “Two very poor mistakes by our

Brazil’s 1970 WC keeper Felix dies

By Andrew Downie BRAZIL’S 1970 World Cupwinning goalkeeper Felix, nicknamed ‘Paper’ for his slight frame and the way he flew through the air to make spectacular saves, has died of complications from emphysema. He was 74.

Felix Mieli Venerando (right) played in all six of Brazil’s matches in the 1970 tournament, making several key saves for a team that many consider the greatest of all time.

Some fans considered him the weak link in the team.

However, his team mates stressed he was an key member of the squad and pointed to a save from England’s Francis Lee in Brazil’s narrow 1-0 win in the group stage as one of the crucial moments in the tournament.

“We won that game because of the save from Felix,” captain Carlos Alberto told Radio ESPN. “Without him we wouldn’t have won the competition.”

Quiet, unassuming and popular with his team mates, Felix played for Brazil’s Juventus, Portuguesa and Nacional in Sao Paulo, but he made his name after moving to Fluminense in 1968.

“Supporters should be eternally grateful for the contribution Felix gave to the national team,” Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) president Jose Maria Marin said in a statement.

“He is an idol and will be greatly missed.”

After retiring in 1976, he had brief stints as a manager and goalkeeping coach before leaving the game and working in business with his family. More recently, he worked

coaching poor children.

He is the second of the great 1970 team to die and the first from natural causes.

Full back Everaldo was killed in a car crash in 1974.

The CBF said one minute’s silence would be observed at every Brazilian championship game this weekend.

two most experienced players cost us dearly.

“Those mistakes were punished by Swansea and that was the difference.

“On a good solid basis from last week it looked apparent to me we were in complete control and weren’t under pressure, but to make those sort of mistakes...”

Allardyce also revealed he did not have any immediate plans to buy or sell any players with the transfer window closing at the end of next weekend.

“Not at the moment,” he said.

“We’ve got Crewe in the cup to get through and get a win and then Fulham at home.

“You can never say never when it’s the last few days of the transfer window.”

THE 2014 World Cup in Brazil poses “logistical problems” but the tournament will have added spice because of the country’s obsession with football, England manager Roy Hodgson has said.

Hodgson, speaking at a news conference with Scotland coach Craig Levein, Chris Coleman of Wales and Michael O’Neill of Northern Ireland thought visiting teams and fans would face big challenges in terms of climate and travel.

“They’ve got a major logistical problem on their hands.

It’s a vast country. I don’t think we realise quite how vast,” he said.

“There’s going to be enormous difficulties for the teams that qualify, according to where they’re drawn.

“If you’re down in Porto Alegre, you’ll need a fur coat because they quite often get snow in the south and temperatures reach single figures, certainly, and maybe even sometimes lower.

“And if you find yourself in Manaus then you won’t be sunbathing but you will find 45, 50 degrees of heat and plenty of mosquitoes as well as being near the Amazon jungle.

“Basically when we talk about Brazil we talk about Rio, but not all the teams can be in Rio - some will have to go elsewhere,” he said smiling.

Hodgson also said he had seen a number of potential bases in Rio, Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte for the England squad but was concerned about some aspects of the planning.

“The major problem at the moment is that the local organising committee and the management of FIFA haven’t yet come to a definite decision which training ground will be paired with which hotel.

“It’ll be very difficult to get the type of privacy that national teams prefer, if they can get it, when they go

Premier League standings Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Swansea Manchester United Chelsea Everton Arsenal West Brom City Manchester Fulham Liverpool Manchester City Tottenham Hotspur Newcastle Everton United Manchester Stoke City United Wigan Bolton Athletic Wanderers West Ham BromUtd Stoke FulhamCity Sunderland Newcastle United Arsenal Sunderland Tottenham Aston Villa Hotspur Reading Blackburn Rovers QPR Wolves Norwich City Birmingham Southampton Blackpool Aston WiganVilla Athletic Liverpool West Ham United

P

W

D

L

F

2 37 2 36 2 36 2 36 2 36 1 36 1 37 2 36 2 37 2 37 1 36 1 36 1 37 2 36 2 37 2 37 2 36 2 37 2 36 1 36

2 22 2 21 2 19 1 19 1 17 1 14 1 12 1 13 1 12 1 12 0 10 0 11 0 11 0 10 0 10 0 11 0 8 0 10 0 7 0 7

0 11 0 7 0 10 1 8 0 7 0 14 0 15 0 7 0 10 0 10 1 15 1 11 1 11 1 12 1 10 1 7 1 15 0 9 0 15 0 12

0 4 0 8 0 7 0 9 1 12 0 8 0 10 1 16 1 15 1 15 0 11 0 14 0 15 1 14 1 17 1 19 1 13 2 18 2 14 1 17

8 74 6 67 4 69 4 55 7 59 3 51 2 50 3 46 2 52 1 53 1 45 0 51 0 42 2 45 3 43 1 44 1 36 2 53 1 36 0 41

A Pts 0 35 2 30 1 39 1 33 3 41 2 45 1 45 3 44 2 54 3 68 1 41 0 52 0 56 3 58 5 57 6 63 6 54 5 74 4 59 3 64

6 77 6 70 6 67 4 65 3 58 3 56 3 51 3 46 3 46 3 46 1 45 1 44 1 44 1 42 1 40 1 40 1 39 0 39 0 36 0 33

to major tournaments,” he added.

But first England will have to qualify for the finals from a group that comprises of Montenegro, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova and San Marino.

“The fact that it’s Brazil, we can’t deny adds some spice to this tournament because it is such a major footballing power, has been for so many years,” said Hodgson who was appointed in May following the departure of Italian Fabio Capello.

“It’s a country which is totally dominated by football.

“They’re also known, of course, for their carnivals and party atmosphere. The fans are not going to find that a problem and will be a lot keener to go to Brazil than perhaps some other countries that are occasionally chosen to be a World Cup venue.”

Wales manager Coleman said he was not bothered by any problems having the World Cup in Brazil might pose as he tries to take the team to their first tournament since the 1958 World Cup. “Everyone is saying that it would be special to qualify because it’s in Brazil but it doesn’t matter where it is to us.

“We just want to qualify for a major tournament. If we do it once I believe we will do it again, quick, because we will have momentum and belief.”

Wales face Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Scotland and Macedonia in the qualifiers which get underway in Europe next month.

Premiership results Swansea West Ham

3 0

Aston Villa Everton

1 3

Man United Fulham

3 2

Norwich QPR

1 1

Southampton Wigan

0 2

Tottenham West Brom

1 1

Sunderland Reading

P P

Chelsea Newcastle

L L

Playing Today Stoke v Arsenal, 3.30pm Liverpool v Man City, 6pm

40 August 26, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Sport

Move over you plastic Brits, here comes the ‘Titanium Brit’ 36

Adam targets Man City scalp 38

Van Persie up and running in United win Sprint King Bolt visits beloved Old Trafford Man United 3 Fulham 2

By Simon Stone

S

New boys Robin Van Persie (right) and Shinji Kagawa scored on their Old Trafford debuts

IR Alex Ferguson’s brave decision to drop Wayne Rooney from his starting line-up paid off as new boys Robin Van Persie and Shinji Kagawa scored in Manchester United’s come-from-behind victory over Fulham.

Rooney paid the price for a below-par performance in the defeat at Everton on Monday.

And whilst it is viewed as a reminder from Ferguson that standards have to be higher, the respective performances of Van Persie and Kagawa were such that Rooney cannot be guaranteed a recall.

He will have some time to think about it though after being ruled out for a month after sustaining a nasty gash in stoppage time after being trodden on by Hugo Rodallega - an incident which left United to play out the game with 10 men.

Before then a week of frenzied transfer activity is due, with Rooney’s name doubt-

United he stands: Usain Bolt is a huge fan of the Red Devils less being mentioned, in addition to Nani, who did not even merit a place on the bench.

Ferguson is more concerned about points, which were collected as the firsthalf response of Van Persie, Kagawa and Rafael to Damien Duff’s second-minute effort proved enough despite a Nemanja Vidic own goal.

Rumours swept Old Trafford that Rooney had been axed long before official confirmation was received an hour before kick-off.

However, as he made his way to the home dressing

room after witnessing a powerful first-half display from the hosts, in which Ferguson’s two big summer signings both opened their United accounts, Rooney must have had a worry or two.

For in addition to their goals, Van Persie and Kagawa in particular caught the eye with how easily they fitted into the system.

Kagawa excelled in the hole behind the main striker. His movement, speed and passing kept Fulham on the back foot. And this, shrewd judges from Japan insist, is his best position.

So to where in that, would Rooney fit? It gave a different view to Ferguson’s programme notes, in which he said that anyone who had “fallen out of love” with the club he would “invariably help them on their way out”.

That is not to say such a fate awaits Rooney. Not that Ferguson’s brave move had a particularly impressive start as Bryan Ruiz rolled a freekick into Duff’s path which the Irishman turned home before guest of honour Usain Bolt had even taken his seat.

Coming so soon after that loss at Everton, it was a major test of character for United which they came through with flying colours.

Impressive Everton continue bright start against poor Villa Aston Villa 1 Everton 3

By John Curtis EVERTON confirmed their early season promise as they cruised to victory at Villa Park - and on this evidence Paul Lambert’s side will face a Premier League relegation battle.

First half goals from Steven Pienaar, Marouane Fellaini and Nikica Jelavic demonstrated the visitor’s superiority as they followed up their victory over Manchester United in emphatic style.

Karim El Ahmadi scored a consolation effort but Villa owner Randy Lerner needs to produce his cheque book before the transfer window closes to bolster a squad lacking in league experience.

To add to Villa’s misery, defender Ciaran Clark was sent off after 58 minutes for a professional foul in what was a first home game to forget for former Norwich boss Lambert.

The midlands club were carved open at will by the Merseysiders who could have easily doubled their final tally but for poor finishing.

Of equal concern to Lambert will have been Villa’s lack of creativity and Ever-

The Toffees celebrate a sweet day with an easy win ton keeper Tim Howard was not called upon to make a worthy save until his error gifted El Ahmadi his goal.

Everton needed only three

minutes to silence the home fans who had given a rousing reception to Lambert with a superb strike from Pienaar.

Steven Naismith, who was making his full debut for the Toffees, laid the ball back into the path of the South African who curled a 20 yarder past Shay Given into the top corner of the net.

Then an error by keeper Given gifted Fellaini his second goal in two games after 31 minutes to double Everton’s lead.

Everton found space at will going forward and it came as no surprise when Jelavic made it 3-0 a minute before half-time.

Leighton Baines delivered a left-wing cross and no-one picked up the striker as he drilled a near post shot past Given.

Lambert brought on Brett Holman for Nathan Del-

founeso at half-time but play followed the same pattern after the restart.

Villa did get score a consolation and it came out of the blue when a swerving long range effort from El Ahmadi deceived Howard who could only parry the ball into the net with 15 minutes remaining.

Villa substitute Andreas Weimann hit a post in time added on but a second goal would have given a flattering look to the final score.