SUNDAY MAIL

ELECTIONS ONLINE

SECOND INAUGURATION

INSIDE

Politicians are learning the value of the Twitter and Facebook generation

A muted start to Barack Obama’s second term as US president

TV and lifestyle supplements to see you through the week

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January 20, 2013

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COFFEESHOP: VETERAN NETWORKERS SEIZE THE LIMELIGHT PAGE 17 INSIDE Cyprus Asil Nadir could buy his way out of his British jail 5

World Canada put ‘wrong’ maple leaf on new C$20 bill 9

Lifestyle Alpha’s rocking brand of Christianity centre

Feature David Bowie: classic shots of the great pop idol 20

Sport Super Silva at the double for Mancini’s men back

Noble drilling delay ‘normal’ Officials remain upbeat though date of second drilling has been pushed back twice

By Stefanos Evripidou

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OBLE ENERGY has pushed back the start of appraisal drilling in its Block 12 offshore concession in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), raising questions as to whether it will get the data it needs on the size and quality of hydrocarbon reserves before its current licence expires in October 2013.

Speaking to the Sunday Mail, Energy Service director Solon Kassinis yesterday appeared confident that not only would the US company get the ball rolling before its licence runs out this October, the subsequent drilling operations will provide a muchneeded boost to the local economy.

The daily barrage of speculation about the level of public debt Cyprus will assume has wiped the smile off many faces on the island, but the one area seen as a silver lining in a gloomy indebted future is the burgeoning hydrocarbons industry.

Since negotiations with the troika began for an international bailout, President Demetris Christofias has said on a number of occasions that in the not too distant future Cyprus will be able to pull itself out of economic misery by exploiting the “gift” of its natural resources.

In December 2011, after drill-

ing an exploratory borehole, Noble Energy announced that the ‘Aphrodite’ well in its Block 12 concession held an “estimated gross resource range of 5 to 8 trillion cubic feet (tcf), with a gross mean of 7 tcf”.

However, in recent weeks, commentators have expressed concern at delays in the second ‘appraisal’ well Noble will drill to ascertain the size and quality (and commercial potential) of the Aphrodite discovery, arguing that delays in developing Cyprus’ natural gas industry mean delays in the island’s economic recovery.

Plans were afoot to start a second drilling next month, however this was pushed back to April. In recent days, Noble informed the government that the April deadline also will not be met, with no new date set for work to start on the appraisal well.

Kassinis yesterday rejected allegations of unnecessary delays, saying: “I assure you Noble is trying as fast as possible to get started.”

He argued that Noble and the energy service have already evaluated around 20 tenders announced in relation to auxiliary services needed to get the drilling going. Another five are at the stage of evaluation.

“Noble evaluates the tenders under our auspices, because

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SKIERS FLOCK TO THE SLOPES OF TROODOS

A young skier has a skiing lesson on Troodos where recent heavy snow fall has meant good business for the Ski Federation FULL STORY LIVING PAGE 7 (Christos Theodorides)

Algeria siege ends in bloodshed

By Lamine Chikhi and Abdelaziz Boumzar THE Algerian army yesterday carried out a final assault on al Qaeda-linked gunmen holed up in a desert gas plant, killing 11 of the Islamists after they took the lives of seven more foreign hostages, a local source and the state news agency said.

“It is over now, the assault is over, and the military are inside the plant clearing it of

mines,” a local source familiar with the operation told Reuters.

The state oil and gas company, Sonatrach, said the militants who attacked the plant on Wednesday and took a large number of hostages had booby-trapped the complex with explosives.

The exact death toll among the gunmen and the foreign and Algerian workers at the

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2 January 20, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

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European record for big dams

Weather

Nicosia i

17

Troodos 10

19 Larnaca

Paphos h

Limassoll

19

19

TODAY: A mixture of sunshine, cloud and rain. Temperatures will reach 17C inland, 19C along the coasts and 10C over higher ground.

OUTLOOK: Becoming more settled

YESTERDAY

Nicosia Larnaca Limassol Paphos Paralimni Prodromos

max/min temp 18 - 4 18 - 7 19 - 9 19 - 8 19 - 6 7-2

Humidity 63% 60% 54% 61% 62% 94%

SUNRISE: 06.53 am

SUNSET: 17.03 pm

Sunday Mail Established 1945. Number 21,433 NICOSIA 24 Vass. Voulgaroctonou, P.O. B ox 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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CYPRUS now has more large dams than any other country in Europe, the Minister of Agriculture Sophocles Aletraris said yesterday.

In his address at the inauguration of Solea dam, in Nicosia district, Aletraris said that Cyprus has 56 large dams listed in the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD). With the completion of Solea dam this has increased to 57.

He also said that the total storage capacity of reservoirs in Cyprus stands at approximately 336 million cubic metres, compared to six million cubic metres in 1960.

“This is really impressive if compared with other countries of the same size and level of development as Cyprus,” he added.

He said current water supplies in the reservoirs amounted to 250 million cubic metres or 86 per cent of their total capacity.

“The completion of Solea dam is expected to strengthen significantly the water balance of the region, contributing to the management of water resources,” he said, adding that “the goal of the Solea dam is to meet the irrigation needs of the area.”

Speaking during the inauguration ceremony, President Demetris Christofias said that Cyprus is now fully independent of rainfall and

Water rushes down the hillside to flow into Solea dam which was inaugurated yesterday weather conditions, as a result of proper planning and implementation of water supply infrastructure.

GREEK investment group Marfin (MIG) said yesterday it would take legal action against Cyprus, seeking compensation for the dilution of its holding in CyprusPopular Bank after Nicosia nationalised the lender.

Popular, Cyprus’s secondlargest bank, was nationalised in mid-2012 after its capital base took a severe hit from a writedown in Greek government debt, to which it was heavily exposed.

MIG, which had invested

€823 million in Popular, saw its 9.5 per cent shareholding diluted to 1.5 per cent as a result and wants restitution.

“MIG will send a notice of dispute to Cyprus. The law allows a six-month period for the two sides to resolve the dispute,” a MIG official told Reuters, declining to be named.

No immediate comment was available from the Cypriot government.

MIG said it would provide

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have to face in the future water cuts or water shortage,” Christofias said, as he inaugurated the dam.

Greece’s Marfin in legal move over Popular stake

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further details at a news conference on January 23. An official added the company would go to an international arbitration tribunal if efforts to settle the case failed.

MIG expects other private investors in Popular Bank to become parties in the dispute notice, which will be formally served to the Cypriot government on January 23.

Cyprus now owns an estimated 84 per cent of Popular. The state’s attempts to

save the country’s banks forced it to seek financial aid from EU partners and the IMF in order to recapitalise them and put its economy back on a stable footing.

The bailout is estimated at around €17 billion, equal to the entire output of the Cypriot economy.

Cyprus applied for financial aid last June but some euro zone states like Germany are uneasy about bailing out a country they say lacks financial transparency.

Larnaca pensioners robbed BURGLARS MADE off with over €100,000 worth of cash and jewellery from the home of an elderly couple in Larnaca.

According to a complaint made by the couple to police, between 11.30am and 12.10pm on Friday, burglars stole a safe from a bedroom in the pensioners’ residence. The safe contained, among other things, €70,000, £3,000 sterling and jewellery worth €30,000.

Larnaca police spokesman Christos Andreou yesterday called on the public to avoid keeping large sums of money or jewellery in the home as they have become an easy target for burglars.

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3 SUNDAY MAIL • January 20, 2013

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Archbishop: Makarios would oppose Whoever gets the gas out first has greater say in planned liquefaction plant federation if he were alive today

Noble delays are ‘normal’

THE LATE Archbishop Makarios would withdraw his support for a federation in Cyprus if he were alive today, said Archbishop Chrysostomos II yesterday at a ceremony to celebrate the former leader’s name day in Nicosia.

Speaking outside the historic Church of St Ioannis in the Archbishopric, the primate noted that this year marks 100 years since the birth of Makarios, the Cyprus Republic’s first president after independence from British colonial rule.

Asked whether Makarios had accepted a bicommunal, bizonal federation as a basis for a Cyprus solution, the primate replied: “Makarios accepted a federation with much heartache, so Makarios died and had he lived, he would take it back.”

“He offered a federation, not bizonality, just a federation simply because he had to make that concession to solve the national issue… when he saw that the Turks did not respect this concession, however, in his last speech he spoke of a long-term (problem), and if he had not suddenly left us, he would definitely have withdrawn it, he would not have kept it there,” said Chrysostomos.

Transvestite in Nicosia brothel raid TWO WOMEN and a transvestite male were remanded in custody for four days yesterday by the Nicosia District Court in connection with charges of running a brothel.

Police raided the alleged brothel on Friday night, arresting the 46-year-old Greek Cypriot owner of the flat, a 60-year-old Greek transvestite male who goes by the name of ‘Soula’ and a 30-year-old Polish woman. A fourth person from Greece who was visiting the brothel at the time of the raid was released without charge.

The three are accused of running a brothel in an apartment in old Nicosia.

Police made the raid after an associate went to the flat, allegedly discussed buying the services of the Polish woman with the 46 and 60-year-old and then paid €50 to have sex with the Polish woman.

Police raided the place, arrested the three, and confiscated evidence including a client list.

During their remand hearing at the Nicosia court yesterday, a police officer told the court that the Polish woman was offering sexual services at a cost of €40-50 for 15 minutes.

(Continued from front page) (the costs) are recoverable and we are the main shareholders. Every week we have meetings on this,” he said.

The tender process for the rig that will drill the appraisal well closed three months ago.

The rig is currently working in the sizeable Leviathan field in Israel’s EEZ, and due to a series of problems experienced 34 per cent ‘dead time’.

“These things are normal in this industry,” said Kassinis, adding that one had to factor in bad weather, difficulties in deepwater drilling etc.

The energy service chief further argued that as a result of the tenders process, work has already started in Limassol on the various auxiliary services Noble will be looking to buy in connection with the drilling.

“Before, these services were purchased abroad.

Now, they’re being offered in Cyprus. Work has already begun on a mud plant in Limassol, to produce mud for the drilling,” he said, adding that other related infrastructural works to host vessels that will be connecting with the rig were also underway in the coastal town.

Kassinis said that he was trying to acquire drilling data from another company that

drilled a first well in the Israeli offshore field neighbouring Block 12. The Israeli concession shares the same underwater hydrocarbon structure as the Aphrodite field, meaning that extraction of gas from the same reserve will take place on either side of the line joining the EEZs of Cyprus and Israel.

“We will evaluate their data as well so we are going to have three wells and data and a much more secure picture,” he said.

Commerce Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis said the fact Israel and Cyprus were drilling side by side made the conclusion of a unitisation agreement between the two countries, setting out clearly who does what, imperative.

Asked if he was concerned about the delays in the second well, Sylikiotis said: “I am concerned, and pushing, but they (Noble) do act and work towards that direction.

I hope it will happen by June, but I don’t control the weather, or the ‘dead time’ of the rig when problems arise.”

Regarding the prospect of Noble failing to make any progress before its licence expires in October, he said: “I hope it won’t reach that. Nevertheless, if the study is going very well, cabinet could give

Commerce Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis with energy director Solon Kassinis an extension of one or two months.”

Sylikiotis noted, legally, if the licence expires and Noble hasn’t met its obligations, the state would be within its rights to award the licence elsewhere.

However, the minister expressed confidence that Noble will get the job done in time simply because they

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had to. He suggested that awarding licences to energy giants Total, ENI and Kogas, for another five blocks in Cyprus’ EEZ (which will likely be signed by the end of the month) would provide competition for Noble regarding who will get natural gas from

the underwater reserves and into pipes heading towards Limassol first.

Also, whoever gets the gas out of the well first has a greater say in the construction and operation of the planned liquefaction plant at Vassilikos.

4 January 20, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

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Candidates have discovered the presidential elections are now a social media event

Learning the vote value of a tweet

By Poly Pantelides

A

MONG the thousands watching this week’s presidential debate for next month’s elections on their TV sets, many were also online on social media services Facebook and Twitter in what marks the internet’s first real entry in Cyprus’ political elections.

The three main contenders, Stavros Malas who is backed by ruling party AKEL, DISY leader Nicos Anastasiades who is also backed by DIKO, and EDEK-backed Giorgos Lillikas, discussed the economy for over two hours on Monday night.

The debate on the economy of our indebted island was broadcast live by Cyprus’ four main TV channels Sigma, Mega, CyBC and Ant1.

People could also watch it online.

The debate was watched by over 70 per cent of TV viewers with about 243,000 viewers for the first part and over 189,000 viewers for the second part that started at about 10.30pm, according to AGB Cyprus Nielsen audience measurement.

Compare those numbers to Facebook users in Cyprus and they suddenly seem small.

Over 582,000 people use Facebook in Cyprus or 99.63 per cent of Cyprus’ online population. This means that almost everyone in Cyprus who is online is on Facebook, according to statistics by company Socialbakers that provides social media network statistics.

There are fewer people on Twitter, but users are growing and many of them participated in a lively debate of their own just as the contenders answered journalists’ questions on TV. Twitter’s search functionality allowed strangers to interact by adding the term #cyelections2013 on their comments.

Highlights included the user who proposed a drinking game for the next debate.

You can try this at home.

Simply have a drink whenever a candidate says “I promise”, “I commit” and of course, “banks”.

Another person relished in the prospect of this week’s popular spoof show Patates Antinachtes.

POKING FUN Those who were unconvinced by Lillkas’ proposal to pre-sell part of natural gas found at Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone, which he kept returning to, were quick to poke fun.

“Rumour has it that Lillikas has promised Chuck Norris a ministry, only in this way will he accomplish what he says,” one Twitter user said, referring to the martial artist and actor whose action films’ characters sometimes do accomplish the impossible.

People were also quick to spot inconsistencies and mistakes.

When Malas tried to fudge his ignorance of the price of fuel, hesitantly suggesting it went for €1.17 per litre (he didn’t specify which kind), people were quick to com-

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The Facebook pages of the three main candidates, complete with sponsored ads for Giorgos Lillikas on the pages of his opponents ment. One user joked: “I am the petrol station owner where fuel goes for €1.17,” plenty pointed out that fuel (unleaded 95) actually went for €1.37 at the very least, while another one declared that she would have gone round the world with fuel that cheap.

They were equally unkind to Lillikas who translated directly from English the expression “brain drain” and told a live audience that Cyprus’ “brains are leaking”.

One commenter told Lillikas that his brain was probably leaking natural gas, a dig at Lillikas’ single focus on his natural gas proposal, despite its dismissal by experts.

Anastasiades got off relatively lightly though not without the odd joke about his relationship with the island’s European partners, which monopolised his part of the debate, in light of last week’s high profile European People’s Party summit in Limassol which was attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

One person said he wanted to see Anastasiades and Merkel hold hands.

Joking aside, both on Facebook and Twitter wouldbe voters criticised the contenders for failing to answer questions.

But there were plenty who used the internet to express support for their candidate of choice.

This should come as no surprise as particularly in the case of Twitter, users tend to come from political parties and the media, said Demetris Demetriou, a commentator on technology news and the head of online news portal www.cyprus-

news.eu Nonetheless, the three main contenders are reaching a wide audience on Facebook and Twitter in their electoral campaign.

Nicos Anastasiades who has had an online presence since 2010 has over 10,000 likes on Facebook, and over 1,000 followers on Twitter.

Lillikas who got a Facebook page last year has over 3,360 likes on Facebook and about 400 followers on Twitter.

Latecomer Stavros Malas who only got a Facebook page in December last year has already amassed about 4,220 likes on Facebook and some 320 followers on Twitter.

But all three are using the internet in the same way “to release photographs, videos and news releases”, Demetriou said.

“They are not using social media for interaction and to exchange views,” Demetriou said.

What does happen is that people interact with each other and the candidates’ online presence gives them a platform for discussion, Demetriou added.

Take Anastasiades’ latest clip that was aired during a commercial break on Monday’s debate. Anastasiades’ team shared the video clip on his Facebook page and dozens of people commented. In addition to the expressions of support, people also engaged in debate. But there was no direct interaction with Anastasiades or his team.

FIRST FOR CYPRUS “This is a first for Cyprus, which is a mitigating factor,” Demetriou said adding that their presence was “promising for the future”.

It costs at least €2,000 a month to advertise on Facebook, Demetriou said although TV ads are much more costly, if not as labourintensive.

As it stands, taking the plunge to a different marketing strategy focusing on the internet would require a dedicated team of some ten people to monitor various aspects of a candidate’s online presence - from managing ads, to responding to comments and having dedicated people on specific sites

- as well as a decision to shift budgets to online media, Demetriou said.

And in the coming weeks, we should see more online advertising and in various forms, from banner ads on news websites to promoted news articles and advertising on Facebook, Demetriou said.

He added that all three teams were also using the internet to inform their voters of candidates’ views.

And what definitely happens is that candidates and their teams use people’s social media presence as a way to get feedback on their campaigns.

Malas’ spokesman, the MEP Takis Hadjigeorgiou, was in Strasbourg at the European Parliament for Cyprus’ presentation of the results of presidency of the EU council at the same time as Demetriou who noticed that Hadjigeorgiou was checking out Twitter during the presidential debate.

Expect a more pronounced internet presence in future elections, Demetriou said.

After all, “[politicians’] clients as it were are online”.

Recipes from friends make a cookbook all can enjoy What do you get when you ask your dearest friends from around the world to contribute their favourite, easy to make, fail-proof recipes that are dear to their hearts?

You end up with an invaluable collection of recipes, and personal anecdotes from

each friend, that can be used to feed ourselves and our families, even on those hectic days when time is short.

A Squirrel in your Kitchen, compiled and written by Cyprus-based Mahi Solomou is a nostalgic voyage into the kitchens and hearts of 32 girlfriends (and a male chef

friend) who live around the world. Even the Food Channel host of ‘French Food at Home’, Laura Calder, one of the cookbook’s contributors doesn’t want to spend all day in the kitchen and gives us her thoughts on whipping up a delish red lentil dish – one of her top five dishes. “I love

this dish,” Laura says. “Since it’s vegetarian, anyone can eat it, and it has the convenience of taking only half an hour to cook.”

A Squirrel in your Kitchen is available for download on kindle at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AYXN500

5 SUNDAY MAIL • January 20, 2013

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Further delays to finalising cash needs of banks Bailout decision pushed back yet again THE CENTRAL Bank yesterday announced that consultations on defining a bailout sum for its Greece-exposed banks were still in progress, effectively overshooting a deadline to decide how much aid the cash-strapped island will need from lenders.

Evaluating bank capital needs is crucial to determining how much Cyprus should receive in badly needed financial aid.

“The review of the technical details of the due diligence to estimate the capital needs of Cyprus’ financial institutions is still ongoing. An announcement will be made once this review is completed,” said the Central Bank.

Cypriot banks were badly burnt by an EUsanctioned writedown of Greek sovereign debt held by private investors.

Investment managers PIMCO are carrying out the review of bank capital needs, and its findings are being assessed by a steering committee made up of lenders and Cypriots.

A definitive result had been expected by January 18, but according to Cyprus News Agency (CNA) sources, no agreement was reached on the final amount required for the recapitalisation of the banks during Friday’s teleconference with the steering committee.

An agreement is expected to be reached within the next 10 days, the same sources

added.

A preliminary estimate of a draft bailout deal said Cyprus could need up to €10 billion to plug holes in its banking sector, though this is a worst case scenario.

On that basis, its total bailout including fiscal requirements could reach €17-17.5 billion, equivalent to the island’s annual economic output.

The central bank is working towards reducing the worst case figure to under €9 billion, with the difference apparently playing a decisive role in determining whether Cyprus’ public debt will be sustainable or not post-bailout. Debt sustainability or the lack of it, in turn, will decide whether the troika will demand the privatisation of state or semi-state organisations like CyTA and the EAC before lending Cyprus muchneeded cash.

The delay in concluding with PIMCO means Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly will attend tomorrow’s Eurogroup meeting without a final figure on the recapitalisation needs of Cypriot banks, pushing further back any possible agreement on a Cyprus bailout among the eurozone’s finance ministers.

A European Union official said on Friday that a bailout for Cyprus is likely to be concluded only in the second half of March, after presidential elections next month.

Jailed tycoon Asil Nadir could buy his freedom DISGRACED tycoon Asil Nadir could fly home to northern Cyprus within months if he pays devastated investors £5million, the Daily Mail reported yesterday.

The paper said lawyers for the 71-year-old want to secure a prisoner transfer deal to Turkey, opening the door to his return to northern Cyprus.

But first the former Polly Peck boss must pay the compensation ordered by an Old Bailey judge. As part of the deal, Nadir has already abandoned any prospect of appealing against conviction or sentence and is set to give up his British passport.

It could mean he is returned home less than a year into his ten-year sentence for stealing almost £29million.

The Daily Mail said the release is likely to spark massive anger among tens of thousands of investors who lost money when his empire collapsed in 1990.

It also raises questions about how Nadir could afford to pay £5million when he claims to be bankrupt and living off the generosity of his wife and mother.

He received millions of pounds in legal aid to pay for his defence while living in a £23,000-a-month mansion.

His glamorous second wife Nur, 28, spent the trial shopping in designer West End stores and riding horses before leaving the country when he was jailed.

A source close to negotiations said Nadir, who until recently was held in London’s

Asil Nadir could return to his home in northern Cyprus high-security Belmarsh Prison, is desperate to get out of Britain.

He added: “The suggestion is that once in Turkey he will quickly return to northern Cyprus to serve his time under ‘house arrest’ if at all.”

Nadir returned to Britain from his home in northern Cyprus to ‘clear his name’ in 2010 after fleeing in 1993 before he went on trial.

Last August he was convicted of stealing £28.6million from his Polly Peck International textile empire.

An Old Bailey jury found he raided the company to pay

for his multi-million property empire, racehorses, antiques, fast cars and jewellery.

He was ordered to pay back £5million he received in legal aid or face a further six years in jail.

Giving him two years to pay up, Justice Holroyde rejected his claims of poverty.

But Nadir escaped a colossal potential compensation bill of £61million for pensioners and shareholders who lost their life savings.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman told the Daily Mail: “Nadir owes us £5million. He’s going nowhere until he pays it.”

6 January 20, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

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Green light for real ale Long-awaited licence for family-run brewery issued in the nick of time

By Bejay Browne FAMILY-OWNED Paphos-based micro brewery which has been fighting red tape and bureaucracy in Cyprus for almost three years has finally been granted permission to brew by the government.

The decision came in the nick of time as the Ginn family was on the verge of relocating their business to Malta, after facing delay after delay in Cyprus.

Although Cyprus had always been the first choice of the family, it looked like they were not going to be able to fulfill their dream and they had visited Malta several times in recent months.

“We are all over the moon and would like to thank the government for finally granting us our permit,” Bill Ginn said this week.

In spite of long delays and complacency which the family says was expressed by pernickety officials, they stress that “all of that is in the past” and they are now looking forward to a bright future in Cyprus.

“We really had reached a point where we were physically and emotionally drained.

We were progressing and could have been in Malta in the next week or so,” said Bill.

According to Bill, the family had managed to accomplish in three months in Malta what had taken them almost three years in Cyprus.

Aphrodite’s Rock Brewery Company is Cypriot registered, and will operate out of the premises the family had built in Tsada in Paphos.

Ginn, his wife Jean, and their two daugh-

A

ters, Laura and Melanie, moved to Paphos almost three years ago. Originally from the UK, the family had been living in Abu Dhabi, and Ginn had been running a successful engineering consultancy in Asia and the Middle East for the best part of 20 years. The family is all involved with the brewery.

“The process in Cyprus seemed to go on and on and we were constantly being asked for more things by various departments. We have a lot of friends and supporters here; it’s the ideal environment for us. There are many expats and Cypriots wanting our beers and there is a lot of tourism and potential tourism that could come to the island.”

BUREAUCRACY The brewery had been visited and approved by the department of public health, but bureaucracy continued to hold up the permit.

Driven by a determination to succeed and start up their family business on the island they all love, the Ginns had contacted the Cyprus Ombudsman and the British High Commission. They also highlighted their plight to two MEPs from the area where they previously lived - the constituency of Yorkshire and Humberside - in the UK. “Edward McMillan Scott and Godfrey Bloom were fantastic and put pressure where it was needed.”

The family say they didn’t come to Cyprus naively and thoroughly researched the market before taking the plunge.

They have already invested around 750,000 euros in the new venture and the brew-

Bill Ginn (right) and family at their Aphrodite Rock’s Brewery in Tsada ery has the backing of the usually powerful Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA).

“As entrepreneurs we came to Cyprus and invested time and money as well as creativity. CIPA have the best of intentions, but they don’t have the budget or the power to be able to do what Malta Enterprise (ME) do,” said Bill.

ME is the national economic development agency responsible for promoting and facilitating international investment in the Maltese Islands.

Bill explained that as a government department, ME provided subsidised rentals, assisted with loans and relocation grants, and assigned a team of people to help would-be entrepreneurs work their way through the process.

“Unfortunately, this is not the situation in Cyprus. But this is not a criticism of CIPA they did the best they could,” Bill said.

According to the family, one of the MEPs recently received a letter in Greek which stated that it had been decided that the licence would be granted to Aphrodite’s Rock Brewery Company.

‘We were also notified by CIPA that this was the case. There are some small stipulations to be put in place such as a bond, but nothing like the major headaches which there were before. We are finalising them now.”

Aphrodite Brewery plans to have a selection of their first hand crafted beers available by Easter.

“It is so exciting to be able to bring our beers to Cyprus. We already have advance orders and they haven’t even tasted the beers yet,” said Bill.

There are 7.8 million real ale drinkers in the UK alone, and Aphrodite’s Rock believes that they could attract some of these to Cyprus.

A poker honour fraught with potential mortificaton

By Bejay Browne THAT Cyprus has been chosen to host the prestigious 2013 Nations Cup poker tournament this March would ordinarily be considered an honour.

So why is Antonis Theophanides, vice president of the Cyprus Poker Association (CPA), viewing the event with more than a little trepidation?

To put it simply, he’s scared of the police.

In July last year, police raided two venues in Larnaca and Limassol and arrested 31 CPA members on various charges relating to illegal gambling. Players insisted they were taking part in initial tryouts for the national team and that they weren’t playing for money which is illegal in Cyprus.

In a desperate attempt to ensure over zealous police don’t try and net some of the world’s top poker

players at the upcoming tournament, the CPA has already spoken with the ministries of interior and finance and is preparing the necessary paperwork for a licence to hold the competition.

“This opportunity needs to be recognised for what it is; a major sporting event. There can be no misunderstandings or embarrassment for Cyprus,” Theophanides said.

“This is a great opportunity for Cyprus, as teams from all over the world will be taking part.”

In the arrests last year police also seized equipment and cash, which the CPA said had been collected for membership fees. The arrests shocked CPA members because they had previously been allowed to hold similar tryouts in Nicosia.

“We are still waiting for the outcome of these arrests. The attorney general asked for more information from the police, following our meeting with them at his request, but as yet we haven’t heard any-

The Cyprus poker team with vice-president Antonis Theophanides (centre back row) thing,” said Theophanides.

Although the CPA is government recognised and certified and in December represented Cyprus internationally for the first time ever in the European championships - finishing ninth - members of the CPA were forced underground to carry out later selection games because they feared arrest.

The CPA vice chairman said that the team has already made history as the first ever national poker team to represent the island.

Twelve teams of six players will take part in the 2013 Nations Cup.

These include the top six teams, Estonia, Lithuania, Serbia, Poland, Hungary and Bosnia from a recent qualifying event held in Vienna.

In addition, six seeded teams potentially from the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Denmark or Spain and Cyprus as the host nation, will also participate.

If the budget permits, this may be increased to sixteen participating teams.

The game played will be match poker in which skill is paramount as players at each table are simultaneously dealt the same hands.

“No money whatsoever is involved in these games. There is no buy in and no prize money,” said Theophanides. “The winning team will be given a trophy and gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded to the top three teams.”

The vice chairman said details for the competition are being finalised now, adding that it would probably be held at one of the coastal towns.

“The mentality we have faced from officials so far in Cyprus is not helping at all, but we won’t give up,” he added.

7 SUNDAY MAIL • January 20, 2013

Home

The 6D cinema should open in Nicosia next month

A film for all your senses Fog, water, movement and tickling: a new level of cinema viewing

By Peter Stevenson THE CONTINUING transformation of Nicosia’s Ledra Street is about to receive a sensual boost with the upcoming opening of a 6D cinema at the junction of Ledra Street and Onasagorou.

People may have heard of 3D but 6D? The Sunday Mail spoke with the creative director of MoviXD, the 6D cinema chain which already has a branch at Mackenzie beach in Larnaca, 26-yearold Nastia Motovilova, to find out the difference.

“The term ‘6D’ is used to describe a cinema which offers the 3D visual experience along with added effects.

There is a lot of confusion in the terminology; there is 4D, 5Ds and 6D cinema terms currently used in the market, all used to describe the type and amount of inhouse effect,” she explained.

“In the Nicosia branch we will have specially designed smart chairs that will provide movement, vibration, air and water blasts, strobe lighting, leg and neck ticklers and fog.”

The first 6D cinema opened in Larnaca last March and currently only screens short animated films, with high intensity effects. The opening of the Nicosia location will see the introduction of longer feature films.

Motovilova and the managing director flew over to Austria last week to complete the final meeting with the technical crew tasked with assembling the com-

Smart chairs provide movement, vibration, air and water blasts, strobe lighting and leg and neck ticklers

plex new facility in Nicosia.

“We are installing extremely high-tech custom-built projection systems to accommodate the Nicosia cinema,” she said. “We cannot confirm the opening date due to this. We believe we should be up and running at the start of February - but in this industry there are almost always unpredictable delays.”

Although there are no plans to expand further than Nicosia and Larnaca the response has been very positive and 6D cinema has so far been a relative success.

“People simply love it. The staff working on location always comment on what a pleasure it is working there just for seeing the happy and excited expressions of people coming out of the cinema,” Motovilova told the Mail.

Motovilova admitted she was a tech geek and a real

fan of 6D. “The concept was to create something that will provide the viewer with the ultimate sensory experience. We watch films and read books to escape reality, to get lost in a world of possibilities or live experiences we wouldn’t dare enter in our real life. We will soon be able to offer just that!”

MoviXD will be the first cinema worldwide to programme effects and publicly screen high intensity documentary films.

“Hollywood films have not yet been screened in 6D cinemas. There are only a few worldwide, hence this will be an experience that people would have a very hard time finding elsewhere,” she said.

The short films currently airing in Larnaca last from between seven and seventeen minutes with €10 entrance for adults and €5 for children under 12.

8 January 20, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

World

African leaders meet to finalise Mali force

UN clinches deal on mercury emissions

Questions over mission

By Tom Miles

By Joe Bavier AFRICAN leaders meeting in Ivory Coast yesterday were expected to sign off on a regional mission that is due to take over from French forces fighting al Qaeda-linked militants in Mali, but is still short on financing and planning.

France has carried out air strikes and scrambled ground troops to halt an Islamist advance, acting to prevent militants from tightening their grip on Mali’s northern desert zone and using it as a springboard for attacks in Africa and on the West.

The crisis has forced African nations to accelerate their own planned mission to Mali, which was originally not expected before September.

A Western diplomat following the process said there were many uncertainties, even though heads of state were expected to formally confirm pledges to dispatch some 5,000 African soldiers to join French forces in Mali.

“That’s the process. But the content is still a bit of a question mark and that’s hopefully what they’re going to explain to us now,” the diplomat said, asking not to be named.

Nigeria and Togo have already started their deployments, with Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad expected soon. But the diplomat said the mission, which secured United Nations Security Council backing late last year, remained “fluid”.

“The troops are meant to go with 10-day self-sufficiency.

But there’s nothing in place to say what happens after,” the diplomat said. “Who’s going to pay for this, and what mechanisms are going to pay for it?

The money is a big question.”

The bombing of a rebel column by French war planes and helicopters has halted an advance towards the central Malian towns of Mopti and Sevare. Dozens of air raids and the deployment of French ground troops have helped Mali’s disorganised army fight back.

Nigerian soldiers, part of the Economic Community of West African States troops, in training

MORE than 140 countries have reached a deal to cut mercury emissions after all-night talks in Geneva, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said yesterday.

The agreement aimed to phase out many common household products that use the liquid metal, like thermometers and some fluorescent lamps, and reduce emissions from power plants and cement factories, UNEP spokesman Nick Nuttall told Reuters.

“A treaty to start to begin to rid the world of a notorious health-hazardous metal was agreed in the morning of January 19,” Nuttall said.

The Minamata Convention on Mercury - named after the Japanese city where people were poisoned in the mid-20th century from industrial discharges of mercury - could take three to five years to come into force, UNEP said.

Small-scale gold miners, who use mercury as a catalyst to separate gold from its ore, would also be protected in the deal that took three years to negotiate, it added.

United States to remove naked x-ray scanners over privacy issues AIRPORT scanners with their all-too revealing body images are to be scrapped, America’s transport authority says.

The Transportation Security Administration said the controversial scanners that used a low-dose X-ray would be gone by June because the company that makes them cannot resolve the privacy issues.

Other airport body scanners, which produce a generic outline instead of a naked image, are staying.

The US government rapidly stepped up its use of body scanners after a man sneaked explosives on to a flight bound for Detroit on Christmas Day 2009.

At first, both types of scanners showed travellers naked. The idea was that security workers could spot both metallic objects like guns as well as non-metallic items such as plastic explosives. But the scanners also showed every other detail of the passenger’s body.

The TSA defended the scanners, saying the images could not be stored and were seen only by a security worker who did not interact with the passenger.

But the scans still raised privacy concerns and Congress ordered that they either produce a more generic image or be removed

by June.

On Thursday Rapiscan, the maker of the X-ray, or backscatter, scanner, admitted that it would not be able to meet the June deadline.

People pass through the first full body scanner, installed at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago The TSA said that it had ended its contract for the software with Rapiscan.

The agency’s statement also said the remaining scanners would move travellers through more quickly, meaning faster lanes at the airport. Those scanners, made by L-3 Communications, used millimetre waves to make an image. The company was able to come up with software that no longer produced a naked image of a traveller’s body.

The TSA will remove all 174 backscatter scanners from the 30 airports they are used in now. Another 76 are in storage. It has 669 of the millimetre wave machines it is keeping, plus options for 60 more, TSA spokesman David Castelveter said.

Not all of the machines will be replaced. Castelveter said some airports that now have backscatter scanners will go back to having metal detectors - what most airports used before scanners were introduced.

The Rapiscan scanners have been on their way out for months, in slow motion.

The government had not bought any since 2011. It quietly removed them from seven major airports in October, including New York’s LaGuardia and Kennedy airports, Chicago’s O’Hare, and Los Angeles International. The TSA moved a handful of the X-ray scanners to very small airports.

At the time, the agency said the switch was being made because millimetre-wave scanners moved passengers through faster.

9 SUNDAY MAIL • January 20, 2013

World

ARMY KILLS 11 MILITANTS BUT SEVEN MORE HOSTAGES DEAD

Canada put ‘wrong’ maple leaf on new C$20 bill, says expert

By Randall Palmer

Abdul Rahman al-Nigeri (right), a Nigerian fighter close to al-Mulathameen Brigade leader Moktar Belmoktar, is the man who reportedly led the hostage-taking operation. A soldier (left) is seen at the 10km checkpoint to the gas plant

Algeria army siege ends in bloodshed (Continued from front page) plant near the town of In Amenas close to the Libyan border remained unclear.

Earlier yesterday, Algerian special forces found 15 burned bodies at the plant.

Efforts were under way to identify the bodies, the source told Reuters, and it was not clear how they had died.

Sixteen foreign hostages were freed yesterday, a source close to the crisis said. They included two Americans, two Germans and one Portuguese. Britain said fewer than 10 of its nationals at the plant were unaccounted for.

The attack on the plant swiftly turned into one of the biggest international hostage crises in decades, pushing Saharan militancy to the top of the global agenda.

It marked a serious escalation of unrest in northwestern Africa, where French forces have been in Mali since last week fighting an Islamist takeover of Timbuktu and other towns.

The captors said their attack was a response to the French offensive. However, some US and European officials say the elaborate raid probably required too much planning to have been organised from scratch in the week since France launched its strikes.

Scores of Westerners and hundreds of Algerian workers were inside the heavily fortified gas compound when it was seized before dawn on Wednesday by Islamist fighters who said they wanted a halt to the French intervention in neighbouring Mali.

Hundreds escaped on Thursday when the army launched a rescue operation, but many hostages were killed.

Before the final assault, different sources had put the number of hostages killed at between 12 and 30, with many foreigners still unaccounted for, among them Norwegians, Japanese, Britons and Americans.

The figure of 30 came from an Algerian security source,

who said eight Algerians and at least seven foreigners were among the victims, including two Japanese, two Britons and a French national. One British citizen was killed when the gunmen seized the hostages on Wednesday.

The US State Department said on Friday one American, Frederick Buttaccio, had died but gave no further details.

Leaders of Britain, Japan and other countries have expressed frustration that the assault was ordered without consultation and officials have grumbled at the lack of information.

France’s defence minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, declined to criticise the Algerian response to the crisis, however.

“The Algerian authorities are on their own soil and responding in the fashion they can. The overriding mission is to tackle the terrorists,” he told France 3 television.

The base was home to foreign workers from Britain’s BP , Norway’s Statoil, Japa-

nese engineering firm JGC Corp and others.

The apparent ease with which the fighters swooped in from the dunes to take control of an important energy facility, which produces some 10 per cent of the natural gas on which Algeria depends for its export income, has raised questions over the value of outwardly tough Algerian security measures.

Algerian officials said the attackers may have had inside help from among the hundreds of Algerians employed at the site.

France says the incident proves its decision to fight Islamists in neighbouring Mali was necessary.

THE Bank of Canada has barked up the wrong maple tree with its new plastic banknotes, using a foreign Norway maple leaf as the emblem on the notes instead of the sugar maple that the country has on its national flag, an eagle-eyed Canadian botanist says.

The untrained eye might not at first spot the difference between the maple leaf on the new $20, $50 and $100 bills and the North American sugar maple.

But it is clear to Sean Blaney, a botanist who tracks plants for the Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre in New Brunswick, and who brought it first to the attention of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

“The maple leaf (on the currency) is the wrong species,” he told Reuters.

He said the Norway maple has more lobes or sections and has a more pointed outline than the sugar maple, and the lobe that rises in the centre is shorter than the sugar maple’s.

The Norway maple was imported from Europe and is now also common in North America. Blaney said it was probably the most popular tree along streets in central and eastern Canada.

“It has naturalised to

Canada,” he said. But it’s not the grand sugar maple.

The central bank said the image on the new bills was purposefully designed not to represent any specific species but rather to be a combination of various kinds.

“It is not a Norway maple leaf. It is a stylized maple leaf and it is what it ought to be,” said Bank of Canada currency spokesman Julie Girard.

She said the banknote designers created the image with the help of a dendrologist, a botanist who specialises in trees and shrubs.

“On the advice of this expert, steps were taken to ensure that the design of the leaf in the secondary window is not representative of a Norway maple,” she said, adding that it was less rectangular than a Norway maple.

Blaney is not buying the explanation. “I think it’s just an after-the-fact excuse,” he said.

“That may have been their intention, to not have it be a specific species of maple, but they should have drawn it differently if that were the case, because the maple that they’ve drawn is quite clearly a Norway maple.”

The Bank of Canada had to apologise in August after news broke that it replaced the picture of an Asian lab assistant on its new C$100 banknote with a woman who looked more Caucasian.

Canada is known for the sugar maple, but the Bank of Canada has put a foreign Norway maple leaf on its new currency

10 January 20, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

World feature

Far less dazzle for second inauguration Deficit, gun control and immigration set to be Obama’s main challenges

By Jeff Mason

U

S PRESIDENT Barack Obama will take the oath of office for the third, fourth and final time today and tomorrow during an inauguration celebration that kicks off his second term in a more muted tone than his historic swearing-in four years ago.

High unemployment and partisan fights over fiscal policies have drained some of the hope that marked Obama’s first swearing-in after he swept to victory on a mantle of change in 2008 to become America’s first black president.

This time around, there is a less festive inauguration.

Today, following a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, Obama will be sworn in officially at the White House at 11:55 am EST (1655 GMT), meeting the constitutional requirement that he do so on January 20. That portion will be private - except for a media presence - with a small audience of mostly family members.

Obama repeats the procedure tomorrow during a public ceremony at the US Capitol.

Both times he will be sworn in by Supreme Court Justice John Roberts who, in 2009 after flubbing the oath the first time, administered it to Obama again in the White House the day after his inauguration. The president’s two recitations this year will be the third and fourth time he has taken the oath.

It will be only the second time he has made an inaugural address, however, and millions worldwide will be watching. Some 800,000 people are expected to flock to Washington for the event, down from a record 1.8 million in 2009.

Obama is expected to talk about the need for political compromise where possible - a nod to the divisive fights with the Republican-led House of Representatives over the “fiscal cliff” and raising the US debt ceiling.

He will emphasise that the values on which the United States was founded should still guide the country in the 21st century and encourage Americans to make their voices heard to influence lawmakers’ actions, according to an administration official.

He will also touch on the goals he hopes to address in his second term, while leaving detailed policy blueprints for his State of the Union address next month, the official said.

Deficit reduction, gun control, im-

President Barack Obama and top US officials receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden which ended with his death in the Situation Room of the White House, on May 1, 2011 Barack Obama takes the Oath of Office as the 44th president of the United States from US Chief Justice John Roberts on January 20, 2009.

In his debut at swearing in the next president, the Supreme Court chief justice stumbled over the oath

Obama wipes away a tear as he speaks about the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut migration reform, and energy policy are likely to be top priorities in his second term.

Obama has been working on his inaugural address at the White House, scrawling out drafts by hand on yellow legal pads.

While second inauguration speeches rarely go down in history, tomorrow’s address is a rare opportunity to face millions of television viewers and seek support for upcoming fights with the men and women who work in the Capitol building behind the podium where he will speak.

The White House views the two speeches - he delivers his State of the Union address before Congress on Febuary 12 - as two parts of a package, with the first one spelling out a vision and the second one specific policy proposals.

“The president, I think, is very appreciative of the fact that the American people have given him this

opportunity to deliver a second inaugural address,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters this week.

“He believes that we have work to do, and he believes that both the agenda he has put forward so far and the agenda he will put forward in the future will help this country move forward in a variety of ways,” Carney said.

After lambasting Republican opponent Mitt Romney during the campaign for remarks that dismissed nearly half of the US electorate, Obama is likely to offer some words of humility and resolve to represent even those who did not vote for him last year.

After the speech Obama and his wife, Michelle, will join Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, at a luncheon at the capitol. Later the two couples will take part in the inaugural parade, returning to the White House in a motorcade and likely getting out to walk part of the way, waving at the crowd and surrounded by Secret Service members.

After viewing the rest of the parade from a spot in front of the White House, the Obamas will attend two official inaugural balls, dancing for the cameras and, in the first lady’s case, donning a gown that will be scrutinised closely for its style and fashion sense.

The inauguration weekend started yesterday when Obama, Biden, their families and cabinet members participated in a day of service, hoping to encourage Americans to follow suit with volunteering projects nationwide.

Obama comforts North Point Marina owner Donna Vanzant as he tours damage done by Hurricane Sandy in Brigantine, New Jersey, on October 31, 2012 (above) Obama hugs first lady, Michelle Obama, after she introduces him at a campaign event at East Davenport in Iowa last August (left)

Obama will aim to be more assertive in his second term AMERICANS should expect a more assertive President Barack Obama in his second term as he faces tough battles with Republicans, one of his top aides said this week.

Nancy-Ann Deparle, deputy White House chief of staff and one of the highest-ranking women in the White House, left on Friday after four years as an architect of Obama’s 2010 healthcare overhaul.

In a farewell interview in her West Wing office steps away from the Oval Office, Deparle expressed confidence that the healthcare law is being implemented as planned, is cutting healthcare costs and is slowly but surely on track despite many concerns about it from some Republican governors.

Deparle dismissed concerns raised by some that the president is turning his back on diversity by failing to nominate a woman to one of the three top Cabinet positions, with white males picked to head the departments of State, Defence and Treasury.

“I’ve never experienced that from the president. I’ve always felt that he is surrounded by strong women,” she said.

In the days before starting his second term tomorrow, Obama signalled a more confrontational approach to dealing with Republicans by insisting, for example, that he will not negotiate over a rise in the debt ceiling and by approving 23 executive actions that do not need congressional approval to try to reduce gun violence.

Deparle predicted more such executive actions in Obama’s second term and more efforts to engage the American people on what is at stake for them.

“I think you will see a more assertive approach to enlisting the American people to help with getting the change that we want from Congress,” she said.

She pointed to a number of executive steps that Obama took last year under the “we can’t wait” programme of pushing ahead with items that do not need congressional approval.

“I think you’ll see more of his flexing his authority to use executive action, to take executive action in areas so he can do everything he can,” Deparle said.

11 SUNDAY MAIL • January 20, 2013

News Review Face off THE first televised live presidential debate for next month’s elections took place on Monday night with the three main contenders focusing on the economy and the responsibilities that a future administration will have to shoulder in the wake of the long-awaited bailout agreement and a forthcoming time of austerity. Inevitably much of the debate dealt with the banks, the troika and the financial crisis in general, but each candidate was quizzed on topics specific to their candidacies.

Presidential candidates share a joke before first TV debate

Mari payout FOR THE first time since the Mari blast of July 2011, the state appears to have openly accepted civil liability for the Mari incident, having agreed to pay a large chunk of the repair costs for the damaged Vassilikos power plant. The admission - albeit an indirect one - came from Attorney-general Petros Clerides during a discussion at the House finance committee on Monday. Clerides informed MPs of the deal clinched between the state and the insurers and re-insurers. The parties agreed to settle out of court, whereby the electricity authority (EAC) will receive €132.5m in total from the plant’s insurers, Atlantic Insurance.

VAT hike THERE was more misery for consumers on Monday as VAT rose by one percentage point to 18 per cent, bumping up the already high cost of electricity and fuel. It was the second increase in VAT in 10 months, in line with measures included in a preliminary bailout agreement with international lenders.

In March last year, VAT went up by two percentage points to 17 per cent. It is set to rise to 19 per cent in 2014.

The new rate will affect the price of a number of goods and services including petrol, electricity, telecommunications, alcohol, tobacco, and clothes.

Flood of fines A POLICE campaign to target those who haven’t paid their fines by stopping them at airports has led to a deluge of offers from offenders seeking to pay their outstanding debts, police said on Monday. Police have so far collected over €390,000 in outstanding warrants since the new campaign began on January 7, with people calling in at police stations to see if they owe the state money, police officer Demetris Pitsillides said. The ‘voluntary’ payments far exceed the €14,500 collected from executing 80 warrants from those stopped at airports.

Transparency CYPRUS is not a hub for money laundering and eurozone peers should decide quickly on the island’s bailout bid, Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly told a German newspaper. Shiarly said money laundering existed everywhere, including in Germany, but that Cyprus was fighting it resolutely. A number of lawmakers from Germany’s parliament, which would have to approve any bailout, have already voiced concerns about a rescue for Cyprus, one of the bloc’s smallest economies and a popular tax haven for wealthy Russians.

Staff cuts BANK OF CYPRUS (BoC), the island’s biggest lender, said on Monday it had cut staff in Greece by 300 people through a voluntary exit programme expected to save it some 12 per cent per year. The lender, forced to seek state support after incurring heavy losses from its exposure to Greek debt, said it has also cut its branch network by 11, bringing the total number down to 177. “Further cuts in the network are scheduled in 2013,” BoC said. BoC said the latest departures will cut staff down to 2,650 from 3,077 at the beginning of 2012.

Money, money, money Feeling the heat DEMETRIS Christofias was forced to go on the defensive on Tuesday at the European Parliament when several MEPs took pot shots at Cyprus over money laundering allegations, and at the Cypriot president’s own communist background. Christofias was in Strasbourg for a review of the Cyprus EU presidency where he told European lawmakers he believed austerity was the wrong approach to the financial crisis. During his address, Christofias Christofias had to endure criticism and the sarcastic remarks from a Belgian MP, who even addressed him in Russian.

Theatre needed AKEL in Paphos is intent on preventing the construction of a new town hall, claiming the money would be better spent on a municipal theatre. Paphos councillor and member of the administrative committee Giorgos Siaelis said: I want all works on the new town hall to cease; instead turning the building into a new theatre for Paphos, as we don’t have one to speak of.” He said it was even more important as Paphos

A man walked into a police station Wednesday carrying a bomb he found on his driveway, saying he wanted officers to examine it, triggering the evacuation of the complex

would be the European cultural capital in 2017. The current municipal theatre - the Markideio – is old, outdated and small, only able to hold an audience of around 400.

Property taxes THE CABINET on Wednesday approved new immovable property tax (IPT), which exempts property of up to €40,000 at 1980s values, but also scrapped the tax-free threshold.

The bill is in line with a preliminary bailout agreement and could fetch the government some €120 million in 2013.

The government expects to collect at least €90 million, meeting its obligation to international lenders, it said. It was rejected by the House on Thursday.

Power struggle COMMERCE MINISTER Neoclis Sylikiotis on Wednesday called on legislators and state officials not to let the troika have a say over the country’s hydrocarbon resources, indicating that the power struggle between the government and troika over natural resources has yet to be resolved.

“Neither the fire fighters nor the army officers knew ew exactly what was in the containers” Greek officer Theodoros Groutsis “Nobody has proved so far that we offend against the rules or even support money laundering” Finance minister Vassos Shiarly (right) “I cannot understand why hy we unfortunately continue ue to not make our children n wear seat belts in the back ack seats, leaving them exposed to any danger that at may appear at any given n moment” Haris Evripidou from the he traffic police

“The technocrats who represent the troika promote the same failed recipes of one-sided old faile austerity, leading millions of strict au European Europe citizens into poverty, deprivation and social exclusion” depriva President Demetris Pre Christofias “Mr President you are going from the [Russian] rouble to the rubble” Belgian MEP Derk JanEppink, to Christofias “It’s going to boomerang “I on consumers, because o with a price cap, retailers w are thinking: ‘heck, why a not sell at the maximum n permissible price’?” p Loucas Aristodemou, L head of the Cyprus Conh sumers & Quality of Life s Union U The T families of these people did not want them p and a they were chucked into Athalassa. Most of i

THE CYPRUS Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA) on Wednesday decided to cancel the price increase imposed on energy bills by the electricity authority (EAC) on January 1 based on a recalculation of the fuel cost formula. CERA released an announcement saying it has instructed the EAC to suspend the fuel adjustment imposed after a rise in fuel costs last November was passed on to the consumer. The decision will come as good news to consumers who feared yet another hike in electricity prices.

Milk prices THE commerce minister on Wednesday issued a decree putting a cap on the wholesale and retail price of milk that will come into effect on Monday.

The cap is €1.41 per litre for retail and €1.32 per litre for wholesale, including VAT, Commerce Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis said.

The minister said the decree aimed at protecting consumers and local production, which would be affected by successive price hikes.

DIKO surprise

QUOTES OF THE WEEK “Anastasiades is no one’s slave” DISY leader Nicos Anastasiades during the presidential ential debate

No EAC rise

them came here when they were children and they grew up in the mental hospital” Yiannis Kalakoutas, the Mental Health Services Director “In all the years I have been an MP whenever an IPT bill came to parliament it ended up being shredded to pieces” AKEL MP Nicos Katsourides “The Finance Ministry responded [to the troika] that it would study the matter. This does not mean that they are adopting the troika’s position. It is one thing to study something, and quite another to adopt it” Commerce Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis on the gas furore “The programme has not been concluded because there are clearly financing issues that need to be resolved in order for a programme to be accepted and for the debt to be sustainable”.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde

NICOLAS Papadopoulos on Thursday resigned his position as vicechairman of DIKO, citing his publicly-avowed disagreement with the party’s endorsement of the candidacy of Nicos Anastasiades for president.

In a written statement, the son of former President Tassos Papadopoulos said the move was a “political act of disagreement with the decision to back Mr Anastasiades.” He went on to clarify that he was not leaving DIKO, noting that he would retain his position as party cadre and MP.

In the spotlight A RECORD 11 people submitted their candidacy on Friday at the Hilton in Nicosia for the February 17 presidential elections. Cameramen, photographers and journalists stalked the comings and goings of the candidates as they each came at a set time with their respective supporters for an orchestrated dance that started at 9am sharp and was over by noon. Meanwhile, parliament has decided to keep ballots open for an hour longer on voting day. Voters will have until 6pm to vote on February 17.

12 January 20, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Opinion Troika more trustworthy monitor of gas fund COMMERCE Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis has come to exemplify the arrogance and autocratic style of the outgoing government.

Like his president, he believes he is the arbiter of the country’s best interests and anyone who questions his decisions is dismissed as an enemy of the state. On Wednesday, he publicly laid into his ministerial colleague Vasos Shiarly and finance ministry officials whom he accused of failing to deal with the troika seriously.

On Friday he accused opposition politicians of being in cahoots with the troika in order to hurt the country.

The reason for his outbursts was the finance ministry’s failure to inform him that the troika had written to it asking that the bill for the establishment of a National Fund for Hydrocarbons be put on hold. The troika wanted the bill blocked until it could have consultations with government because it believed some of the provisions were in violation of the memorandum of understanding. Its main objections were that the fund was

not “based on a solid legal base and governance structure, drawing on internationally recognised best practices” that would ensure transparency, accountability and effectiveness.

Under the preliminary agreement with the troika, the government was expected to “prepare and adopt legal steps enabling the establishment of a resource fund, which should receive and manage the public revenues of offshore gas exploitation.” But first it had to “undertake a study on the financial aspects of the transition towards the exploitation, use and export of natural gas, as a first step in the formulation of a comprehensive development plan for the re-arrangement of the Cypriot energy sector.”

None of this was done by Sylikiotis, but the commerce ministry prepared a bill for the resource fund, which was sent to the troika by the finance ministry, as it was obliged to do under the preliminary bailout agreement. The troika informed the finance ministry of its objections and its demand

SundayMail for additional consultations. This put paid to the plans of Sylikiotis who was unable to suppress his anger once he found out what had happened.

Sylikiotis, as if to emphasise the government’s lack of trustworthiness, insisted that Shiarly should have simply briefed the troika about the resource fund bill, but not entered into consultations with it. He claimed, misleadingly, the memorandum did not stipulate that the agreement of the troika was required for any bills regarding natural gas. He also made out that passing bills, without consulting the troika, was a matter of national sovereignty.

But why is Sylikiotis in such a rush to have the bill for the establishment of the national fund for hydrocarbons approved? He claimed that this would enable us to collect €200 million in signing on bonuses for the fund, from the

companies that were awarded exploration rights in the second round of licensing. If the money was paid after the signing of the memorandum of understanding it would go towards the debt rather than the fund which, supposedly, needed to start spending on infrastructural work. How peculiar that the government which has delayed every important decision it had to take, regardless of the negative consequences of its procrastination, has found a sense of urgency, a month before it is set to step down.

Why the mad rush to collect the €200 million before it steps down?

How honourable is it for the government to go out of its way to try to cheat our lenders, who will loan us €17 billion, by secretly passing the bill? This is nothing more than small-time shabbiness, which at least the finance minister, to his credit, refused to be a party to.

The fact is that the AKEL government has been desperate to collect the signing-on fees. When the second licensing round was announced last year, Sylikiotis

had assured everyone, that there would be no time to assess the tenders and that the contracts would be signed by the next government.

Not only did the AKEL government assess the applications, it is eager to sign the contracts and collect the signing-on fees before it leaves office, hence the big hurry to establish the resource fund. A fund before the detailed action plan for energy was formulated and submitted to the troika, as agreed, in the second quarter of this year, makes no sense.

All we can say is that the troika’s intervention should be welcomed and the taxpayer should not see the provisions of the memorandum about hydrocarbons as a violation of sovereignty. On the contrary, giving the technocrats of the troika a big say in the drafting of the plan for hydrocarbons is an excellent idea. They can be relied to put in place the right legal and political framework for the rational management of hydrocarbons. We cannot say the same for Sylikiotis and the government.

Letters to the Editor

In suppport of What about the money Stavros Malas laundering from India?

This is likely pointless but I’ll say it anyway

With regard to your editorial ‘Imperative to tackle damaging allegations of money laundering in the Cyprus Mail on January 15, you argue that ignoring or dismissing lightly these allegations are likely to damage Cyprus’s future as an international financial centre.

Two misleading aspects emerge from all the brouhaha: firstly, that only Russian money launderers are the suspected culprits and, secondly, Cypriot apologists assert that if it happened at all it was all during the 1980s and 90s as current anti-money laundering measures in Cyprus are very robust.

If the above assertions were true, how can the cur-

I recently visited an ex-communist EU member country.

I was amazed that a country Cypriots call ‘gyftous’ (gypsies) has a government plan for stray dogs.

All dogs are microchipped, neutered/spayed. They always have food and clean water and are not chained, giving them the chance to protect themselves from the cold and oppressive summer heat.

Shame on you Cypriots who have your dogs chained in the middle of fields with no protection from the elements, and no food and no water. Why do you breed dogs? Why do you buy dogs? Why? I suppose I will not get an answer and to be honest with you I don’t care. You are more than useless.

All too often in presidential elections, attention is focused on the personal attributes and qualities of the candidates, and for good reason.

No one wants a President who lacks the core characteristics of the highest integrity in public office. It is also the case that the political philosophy and the man in person cannot be separated.

Who do you trust to be the next President? The candidate with a vision of caring capitalism that gives something back to society?

A candidate whose personal qualities can unite a disillusioned electorate in a nation that has paid a heavy price for the mistakes of a few in the recent past?

A candidate who believes in an egalitarian society which bridges the gap between the haves and the have nots, a gap forever widening in the current global recession?

A candidate of the highest credentials, a revered

scientist in his profession and well respected for his contribution to public office as a former Health Minister?

Stavros Malas is such a candidate. A man with vision and the courage and conviction to see that vision through. A man of substance and Cyprus’s only real hope for the future.

Campaign slogans are often just slogans, but Malas’ slogan ‘A New Face, A New Vision, A New Era’ is exactly what he offers.

Hope!

A principled and determined man with a genuine desire to soften the bitter pill of the troika’s Memorandum of Understanding, reaching out to people at a time of so much uncertainty.

This nation needs sound, responsible government and a credible leader, not hollow promises and unworkable policies that will drive it further into the ground.

Niki Pachomiou, Limassol

KEO maker for President There is a man in Limassol I don’t know his name He is very good at what he does And brewing is his game I don’t mean brewing coffee Or even brewing tea What he brews is KEO And he will do for me You know when you’re in Cyprus

How hot the sun can get Cold KEO is the only drink To keep your whistle wet So this man in Cyprus Whose skill is heaven sent For brewing nectar of the gods Should be the President Terry Pappoo Rawson, Limassol

rent criminal prosecution in India of the former Indian Telecommunications Minister, Mr Andimuthu Raja, be explained?

He is alleged to have received some €479m in bribes to favour particular telecom companies bidding for 2G mobile frequency spectrum allocations.

A large proportion of the bribes were alleged to have been sent abroad for him via Cyprus, using a network of 22 Cyprusregistered dummy companies, all registered at the same Cyprus address.

Monies were then alleged to have been forwarded from the company accounts to accounts con-

trolled by Mr Raja’s wife in Mauritius and elsewhere.

The above allegations were revealed by Indian government investigators before the court proceedings began in 2011.

It will be interesting to see what details about the Cyprus connection emerge in court from the 80,000 page charges sheet against Mr Raja.

Moreover, how will those who assert that money laundering in Cyprus is exaggerated and a thing of the past respond to the inevitable accusations from those MEPs and other European politicians who are already sceptical?

Dr Alan Waring, Larnaca

Anastasia Soteriou, Nicosia

MOKAS had no competency What’s with to investigate Serbian money all the men in

I refer to the article published in your January 13 edition by Patroclos titled ‘Clapped out commie rulers’.

At the end of the article in the last two paragraphs the author refers to the recent meeting of the Minister of Finance with the EU ambassadors on money laundering issues.

Reference is made to me personally, saying that as the Head of MOKAS “I did not do anything in the case of Serbian people’s money arriving in Cyprus etc…”

Apart from the very humiliating and defamatory reference and innuendos for me personally, it is not an accurate reference.

It should be clarified that MOKAS was established in 1997, following the enactment of the relevant law in 1996.

The facts referred to in the article took place before those years and the relevant

law had not retrospective effect.

Therefore, MOKAS had no competence to investigate the matter. This was confirmed by the then Attorney General.

The authorities of Cyprus (not MOKAS), following advice from the Attorney General, cooperated with the Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague and the Central Bank gave to the investigators of the Tribunal all relevant documents from the Banks in relation to those transfers of money.

In view of the above, I request to have a correction in your newspaper by Mr. “Patroclos” stating the real facts.

Eva Rossidou-Papakyriacou, Senior Counsel of the Republic, Head of the Unit for Combating Money Laundering

black?

With the women members of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra now in colourful outfits, why are the men still in black?

Saturday’s performance was a real treat – not only excellent music, including the Greek composer Joseph Kaisari – (actually better than the Strauss, in my humble opinion) but the colour – orchestra members donned football scarves. Come on men, get moving, colourful suits please.

Penny Douglas, Limassol

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13 SUNDAY MAIL • January 20, 2013

Opinion A new Western war against Islamist extremists has started, but will it end up like Afghanistan?

The French will learn that Mali is no Libya “T

HOSE days are over,” said France’s President Francois Hollande last month, when asked if French forces would intervene in the war between Islamist insurgents who have seized the northern half of Mali and the government in Bamako. But the days in question weren’t over for very long. Last Friday France sent a squadron of fighter-bombers to the West African country to stop the Islamist fighters from taking the capital.

“We are making air raids the whole time,” said French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. “They are going on now. They will go on tonight. They will go on tomorrow.”

Some 550 French combat troops are on the ground already, with up to 2,500 more to follow. Contingents of soldiers from the neighbouring countries of Nigeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger and Togo are scheduled to arrive as early as next week. It has turned into a real war.

It has also turned into a Westernrun war in a Muslim country, despite the discouraging precedents of Afghanistan and Iraq. The government of Mali has asked for French help, and on Monday the United Nations Security Council unanimously supported France’s military intervention. The army of Mali, such as it is, will theoretically be in charge of the war – but everybody knows that the Malian army is useless.

In fact, the presence of Mali’s army at the front is usually counterproductive, as it is brutal, militarily incompetent, and prone to panic flight. The other African armies are of variable quality, but it is obviously French troops, and especially

The Malian army is brutal, militarily incompetent, and prone to panic flight

Comment Gwynne Dyer French air power, that will decide the outcome of the war. So has France bitten off more than it can chew? Is this going to end up like Afghanistan and Iraq?

The supporters of the war prefer to compare it with last year’s Western military intervention in Libya, another French initiative that was decided over one weekend. They like that analogy better because the Libyan intervention ended tolerably well, with the overthrow of the dictator, a democratically elected government, and no Western casualties.

But the differences between Libya and Mali are greater than the similarities.

In Libya the rebels were trying to rid the country of Muammar Gaddafi, a loony, friendless dictator, and create a democratic future. The decision to intervene was made in Paris in only two hectic days, when it appeared that Gaddafi’s mercenary troops were about to overrun Benghazi and massacre the rebels.

NATO served as the rebel air force, but no Western troops fought on the ground. And it worked.

With Mali, once again it was decided in a couple of days, and once again France has taken the lead.

Once again Britain is sending some help as well (transport aircraft, but no troops or combat aircraft), and the United States is providing dis-

‘The Islamist rebels are fanatical, intolerant, and violent, but they are well armed creet logistical support. (US Air Force tankers refuelled the French fighters on their way to Mali.) But that’s where the similarities end.

The West is supporting the government, not the rebels, in Mali. That government, behind a flimsy civilian facade, is controlled by the same thugs in uniform whose military coup last March, just one month be-

fore the scheduled democratic election, created the chaos that let the Islamist rebels conquer the northern half of the country. The young officers who now run the country are ignorant and violent, and having them on your side is not an asset.

The Islamist rebels are fanatical, intolerant, and violent, but they are well armed (a lot of advanced infantry weapons came on the market when Gaddafi’s regime collapsed) and they appear to be well trained.

They have almost no popular support in 90-per cent-Muslim Mali, whose version of Islam is much more moderate, but they have terrified the population of the north into submission or flight.

The insurgents are not short of money, either, as they receive secret subsidies from several Arab monarchies in the Gulf that have persuaded themselves, strangely, that subsidising radical Islamist movements in the far-flung fringes of the Muslim world is a good way to avoid being overthrown by radical Islamists at home. They are formidable opponents, and the war to free northern Mali may be long and hard.

Until recently the rebels seemed to be confined to Mali’s desert north, but last week they began to advance into southern Mali, where nine-tenths of the country’s 14 million people live. The Malian army collapsed, and Western intelligence sources estimated that the Islamists would capture the capital, Bamako, within two days. That would effectively give them control of the entire country.

Mali has long, unguarded borders with seven other African countries, and it is only 3,000 km from France.

So President Hollande ordered immediate military intervention to stop the Islamist advance, and we’ll all worry about the long-term consequences later. The next Western war against Islamist extremists has already started, and the question is whether it will end up like Afghanistan.

Nobody would like to know the answer to that more than the French.

Except, of course, the Malians.

Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries

It’s time to set up a political psychiatric ward Comment Loucas Charalambous I WOULD like to make a suggestion that I believe would contribute to the raising of the quality of our political life. We should set up a political psychiatric ward. This would operate along the same lines as a psychiatric hospital in which people with psychological problems are treated.

The political psychiatric hospital would offer treatment (in the form of reality checks and political training) to our politicians who are suffering from job-related ailments. The legislature could pass regulations and procedures so that any politician who engages in demagoguery or makes grossly stupid suggestions would be taken

there.

Presidential candidate Girogos Lillikas could be the first man to check in to this facility.

His ingenious suggestion for the pre-selling of the natural gas in Block 12 in order to free ourselves from the troika and the bailout would make him eligible for treatment. He repeated his proposal during last Monday’s TV debate. “We say that we can, in 2013, exploit the natural gas and disengage from the memorandum.”

As is well-known, the amount required to save the state and the banks from bankruptcy is estimated in the region of €17 billion. The memorandum, if God permits, will be signed in March. Lillikas will pull off a miracle bigger than those of Christ. Within nine months, he will not only find buyers and

pre-sell natural gas worth €17 billion but also collect the money. And come Christmas he will invite our international lenders to Cyprus, pay them back the €17 billion and tell them to go to hell.

According to the most optimistic forecasts, we will not be able to supply natural gas until 2019. We are now at the start of 2013, which means we have another six years ahead of us. Several experts have questioned Lillikas’ idea, but for the sake of argument I will accept that their views were invalid. I will accept that, in nine months, Lillikas will be able to sell gas worth €17 billion.

But even in such a case, there is one thing I cannot understand, considering we need the billions this year. Would the buyers, to whom we sell the gas that will

not be supplied to them until 2019, pay us from now? Would they give €17 billion in 2013 for the gas we would not give six to seven years?

Pre-selling does not mean pre-payment. Pre-buying usually means I agree to buy something in the future and will pay for it when I take delivery of it.

This is how business transactions have been conducted on this planet, so far.

If Lillikas is able to find such big idiots in the world that he can sell them gas worth €17 billion in six years but collect full payment now we will have to admit that Cyprus has unearthed the greatest economic mind of the world, the smartest businessman in the history of commerce or the biggest miracle-worker since Christ.

It would be horribly unpatriotic not to vote for Lillikas in the elections and deprive our country of a president with the most unique intellect in the history of mankind.

I have another suggestion to make. If, God forbid, Lillikas’ ground-breaking inspiration fails, as an alternative we should ask for tenders for the pre-sale of all reserves of political stupidity, plus those we would produce in the next seven years.

These could be certified by the doctors of the political psychiatric ward and we could collect payment now.

I do not know the current price of political stupidity on the world markets, but if we do find buyers this could prove another way of ridding ourselves of the troika and cursed memorandum by the end of 2013.

14 January 20, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Opinion

A mixed bag of candidates Eleven candidates are standing in the presidential elections, though only three are real contenders Comment Hermes Solomon

K

OSTAS KYRIACOU, known as ‘Outopos’, is a farmer, who studied philosophy at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He is divorced with three children. He hopes to create four city-states in Cyprus: three for Greek Cypriots and one for Turkish Cypriots. Weddings would be forbidden and free love abound. He calls for “an Earth without mountains, an endless valley which could feed and nourish 57 billion”. His goal is for a single world government; a unique language and culture. In contrast to the three main candidates, he seems committed to his beliefs, as crazy as they seem.

SOLON GEORGIOU, (Independent) is a retired administrator of Cyprus Airways. His slogan is From the People, For the People. “After much reflection, and with full understanding of the responsibility I have towards my compatriots, my aim is to solve the problems faced by businesses freed of political intervention. My mind is free of political distortions or financial commitments,” he says. On his website somebody wrote: “With that mindset, given that Cypriots are donkeys, the president must be one also; better the son of Annou remains,” referring to Christofias, who is known as the son of Annou.

MAKARIA ANTRI STYLIANOU is assistant head of Aglantzia Primary School and a member of the Civil Defence, where she specialises in First Aid. She joined the National Guard and Ministry of Defence in 1991 and in 1993 studied at Ioannina University, where she gained a doctorate in teaching. A single par-

GEORGIOS LILLIKAS of no specific party, supported by EDEK, EVROKO (part) and Greens (part), STAVROS MALAS of AKEL and NICOS ANASTASIADES of DISY, supported by DIKO (part) EVROKO (part) and Greens (part) need no introduction.

In total, 11 candidates of which the last three are the only realistic contenders, having featured last Monday evening on a TV ‘head to head’, where Nicos was his usual cocky and domineering self, at one point losing his temper and often interrupting Stavros, who bravely defended the same old ‘party line’.

Georgios was calmly ‘holding back the night’ by repeating his ‘questionable’ proposals for getting Cyprus out of the ungodly mess that Stavros and his lot caused and Nicos and his lot will only perpetuate. He promised to rid the country of the ‘old guard’ and introduce ‘new young blood’.

Candidate and artist Loukas Stavrou ent family of four - her manifesto claims that “some steal and others pay”. She wants “a referendum here and now” concerning troika memoranda and she attacks “the past 38 years of deception inflicted on 1974 refugees by all political parties”.

ANDREAS EFSTRATIOU is a businessman from Paphos. In 2003 he won 606 votes and in 2008, 713 votes. His company, Efstratiou Weddings is a rapidly expanding leader in wedding planning and organisation. “The mission is clear: To provide any kind of assistance, guidance and support to all who choose us to organise their wedding in Cyprus”! Yes Andreas, but we’re talking about presidential elections!

LOUKAS STAVROU (EDIK) is an artist and a pro-Hellenic nationalist who wants a new, not given, constitution and shared government with Greece, where Turkish Cypriots salute the Cyprus/Greek flag only. He wants much more ‘democracy’ at local government level His election website (National Themes) is thorough and persuasive. He paints landscapes in the style of a former German chancellor, circa 1933, but nowhere near as well. He wants us to rearm and oust the invader!

GEORGIOS CHARALAMBOUS (ELAM) stresses the need for a nationalist presence since, “no other candidate seems to be up to the challenges of the times”. ELAM is against any federal type of solution; the Cyprus problem is one of invasion and occupation by a foreign country. Golden Dawn’s MP, Ioannis Lagos expressed his full support of ELAM while recalling GD’s rapid rise in Greece, certain that ELAM will follow a similar path and soon take its rightful place in the ‘hearts of Hellenism’ in Cyprus.

PRAXOULLA ANTONIADOU (EDI) who heads the United Democrats (former president Vassiliou’s now defunct party) said times are so tough that “we would be unworthy of being called a political party if we did not state our presence with our proposals … espe-

UNASKED QUESTIONS

Outopos wants a single world government and marriage to be banned cially since we assessed that none of the other candidates offer any prospect of hope for the country.” She hopes to continue singing (out of tune) and dancing her way to the top with her husband on TV shows. We all love her, but not for president!

LAKIS IOUNNOU (LASOK) believes that now is the time for change and for people to take a stand against “what is taken for granted in Cyprus”. He worked in London at citizen advice bureaus and has a legal background and an English wife. He hopes to attract the Anglo-Cypriot voter as well as those of nonCypriot origins with the right to vote. But there aren’t too many of the latter, Lakis!

Unfortunately, TV questioners did not ask Nicos to respond to defamatory attacks against his deceased father, who was chief of police under the Nicos Sampson regime, nor ask him to declare the origin of his family fortune, which has hugely fructified in the years since he instructed party faithful to vote in favour of the Annan Plan.

Stavros was not asked to justify his personal indebtedness to banks or his sacrificial candidacy as fall guy for ‘the party’, nor was Georgios asked to explain how he managed to amass over four million euros (thus far declared) having been a mere politician all of his working life, and whether he speaks French (he studied at the Institute of Political Science in Lyon) better than Christofias speaks Russian, never mind English!

On the night, Giorgios could have been mistaken for a celebrity wax figure on loan from Madame Tussauds, and Stavros for a pubescent public school boy, while Nicos smirked superciliously, overtly confident of winning outright in the first round.

Of the three main contenders, I have a sneaky feeling that Giorgios, with his lime green necktie and suave and unflappable manner, could be our next president after Nicos Papadopoulos of DIKO resigned as party vice-president, refusing to support DISY’s Anastasiades in favour of Georgios, though any presidential power will be negated by troika memoranda.

Perhaps that’s why Georgios refuses to sign one!

This week, the Royal Bank of Scotland valued our hydrocarbon wealth at between 50 and 500 billion euros. Maybe Georgios has a point, but managing such presumed wealth will require great leadership and introduction of ‘new young blood’, lest it end up in the pockets of the ‘artfully old’ and undeserving.

The Syrian crisis and its effect on the Middle East Comment Andrestinos Papadopoulos WE start with a supposition which has the guarantee of becoming reality, namely that President Assad and his Baath regime will be overthrown. The only question is when.

Today, we are facing an impasse, after 21 months of conflict which has left 60 thousand dead, thousands of refugees and a country in ruins.

President Assad, in a speech delivered on January 6, offered no concessions and vowed never to talk to foes he branded terrorists and Western puppets, while the UN-Arab League mediator, Lakhtar Brahimi ruled out a role for President Assad in a transitional government, stressing that “In Syria… what people are saying is that a family ruling for 40 years is a little bit too long”.

The Syrian foreign ministry reacted vehemently, denouncing Brahimi as “flagrantly biased”, without, however, excluding working with him to find a political solution to the crisis.

A similar deadlock exists at the diplomatic level between the United States and Russia.

On January 11, their envoys met in Geneva with Brahimi and called for a political solution to end the conflict, but reached no breakthrough. The US position is that Assad has lost all legitimacy and must step aside, whereas Russia insists that Assad must not be forced out by external powers and that his exit cannot be a precondition for a Syrian political dialogue. This disagreement is also reflected in the UN Security Council which is unable to reach a decision because of a Russian veto which is conveniently being used by Western powers as an excuse for inaction.

Syria is at the epicentre of a troubled region where Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey are competing for regional mastery and religious confrontation between Sunnis and Shiite has reached its climax.

As a result, the interaction of these events determines the stand of countries which play a role in the region.

Turkey’s friendly relations with Syria belong to the past. Today, Turkey openly supports the Syrian opposition, offering refuge to the members of the National Syrian Council, arming the Free Syrian Army and accepting thousands of Syrian refugees on her territory.

In response, President Assad has allowed the establishment of PKK bases on the frontiers with Turkey, knowing that the Kurdish question is of serious concern to Turkey.

Turkey’s action in the Middle East should be viewed within the framework of her ambition to become a regional power, which she is encouraged to pursue by her economic strength, the diminished influence of the USA in the region and the negative stand of Europeans towards her EU accession.

Turkey’s ambitions, however, are limited by Egypt’s dynamic return to the international scene and its opposition to Turkey’s hegemony

in the region. Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi has already asked President Assad to relinquish power and proposed the creation of a quartet (Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran) to solve the crisis.

On the opposite side are the supporters of Syria: Russia and Iran.

The erstwhile ally and supplier of arms to Syria has a naval base in Tartous, which allows it to have an important role in the affairs of the Middle East and explains the support for Assad.

As far as Iran is concerned, it should be mentioned that Syria is the only country among Arab states with which Iran has excellent relations. On the one hand, Iran is using Syria in order to strengthen the Shiite community of Lebanon by sending arms and money to Hezbollah, whereas on the other hand Syria is benefitting from Iran’s commitment to undermine Israel.

Irrespective of these competitions, if eventually the Assad regime falls there will be a chain of consequences. Iran will suffer a major defeat. It will lose its only Arab

ally and Hezbollah’s strength will be weakened in Lebanon, where the antagonism of pro-Syrians and anti-Syrians threatens the delicate balance achieved after a long civil war between Christians, Sunnis and Shiites. Furthermore, a fall of Assad will bring power to a variant of the Muslim Brotherhood and with the changes brought about by the “Arab Spring” Israel will be surrounded by hostile Sunni powers which will strengthen Hamas at the expense of Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah.

The only strategic benefit for Israel will be the weakening of Iran, although the danger of its nuclear programme will continue to exist.

Finally, success or failure of political Islam will have repercussions not only in the region, but also in the Muslim countries of the Balkans, the Caucasus and Central Asia. It is, therefore, for these reasons that we will be following closely developments in Syria this year as well.

Andrestinos Papadopoulos is a former ambassador of Cyprus

15 SUNDAY MAIL • January 20, 2013

Opinion London: home to eight million people - including me

uotes of the week “I’m going to go and do the lottery”.

What a witness claims the Vauxhall crane driver said after his lucky escape from the helicopter crash

From a cosy pond to the scary ocean

“I do it wherever I am. In the hotel room, or in a quiet space. Sometimes I do it between the sheets so I don’t even have to get out of bed”.

How former teen idol Donny Osmond records his radio show “I grew up in the South.

I heard ‘nigger’ all the time. I’m not disturbed by it”.

Samuel L Jackson, star of Django Unchained, discusses director Quentin Tarantino’s controversial script

My funds are running out. It’s time to find a job

T

HINGS in Cyprus are bad. Really bad. Everyone says so.

“Now is the time to go and get your CV out there. Greeks, Italians, Spaniards, they’ve all made the jump. We’re next on the list. Better to get out first before a flood of Cypriot CVs hit the European market and yours is lost in the masses,” says my younger sister, a 32-year-old media professional who keeps her eye on the ball.

But where does one go? What does one do? And will what you find be any better than the situation you’re already in?

Four months ago I decided to move to London. Well, I tell a lie. I actually decided to move here last March after a conversation with my former boss, who, in no uncertain terms, made it clear I would be made redundant.

“The money simply isn’t there,” he said. “I wish it was, but it isn’t.”

And so today I find myself living in London, home to eight million people - including me.

Thankfully I don’t live alone. My boyfriend got a job here in August and we moved into our one bedroom basement flat a month later. To be honest I don’t know if I’d have had the confidence to make the move if he hadn’t made it with me. Too used to my home comforts or the Cyprus bubble as I once heard life in Cyprus described.

Living in London has been a huge learning curve. They say you either love a big city, or hate it. For the time being I’m sitting on the fence. I can see why one would love it and I can also see why one would hate it. My boyfriend would tell me those are my Libran tendencies coming out; an innate desire to strive for balance and equilibrium, weighing up both the good and the bad of any situation.

To date I have no job, my savings are fast running out, and I miss friends and family like crazy. That’s the bad.

On the upside I am living with my gorgeous boyfriend, have my health and like the cold more than the heat. I also

A letter from London Alexia Saoulli feel as if anything is possible in London as long as I go out and make it possible. That’s another half point to London (going out and doing it on your own is hard in a big faceless city where you know no one and no one knows you hence why it only gets half a point instead of a full one). When I was living in Cyprus I didn’t feel that. It was too small and advancement seemed possible only through nepotism. Minus one point to Cyprus.

This game of weighing up the pros and cons between the two cities (I don’t care if people think of Nicosia as a village, to me it’s a city, my city, albeit a small one) is something I do often and I have to stop it. I keep reminding myself that London is my new home, and that if I’m to really make a go of this I have to try and lay down roots here. This is easier said than done when I take to change like root canal treatment.

Friends and acquaintances in Cyprus are always saying how lucky I am to be living in London and how amazing it must be. They hear the word London and you see their eyes light up and take on a faraway dreamy look as they say “Oh London! I love London”.

And I guess it would be amazing if I lived here the way I used to holiday here: extravagantly. The problem is you can only do that if you’re a multimillionaire with an unlimited income at your disposal and an oil well to your family name. And as much as I may dream it, the reality is I’m not a multimillionaire, I do not have an unlimited income at my disposal, and my father is not a Saudi sheik.

People always think the grass is greener on the other side. I suppose that’s only natural when feelings of envy, jealousy and inadequacy seem to

be part of our human make-up. I used to think living in London would be the be all and end all. I didn’t quite take into account the daily hardships of a big city. Take travelling. It is roughly 30 minutes to anywhere you want to go from here. Now that isn’t far for London, but when you consider it’s a trip from Nicosia to Larnaca, well that puts things into perspective doesn’t it? Imagine you live in Nicosia and your work place, friends and family are all in either Larnaca or Limassol.

Now if you’re a born and bred Cypriot, which I practically am, then that’s a very rude awakening. We Cypriots are so used to a different way of life. Where driving to Zorpa, which is only a four minute walk from your house, is par for the course. Here, people make do without a car as it’s more hassle than it’s worth.

So here’s what I’ve decided to do. I have decided to take one day at a time.

It’s all I can do. I’m sure I’ll continue to compare the two cities and feel very homesick at times but since I’ve decided there is no going back at this point, then I have to integrate myself here and immerse myself into London life, with all its ups and downs.

I also have to buckle down and find a job ASAP. Working is not only necessary for financial survival but also for mental health. I used to think that being a lady of leisure would be fun. I can now firmly say that it is no such thing.

Unless you have a purpose to your day there is no point in getting it started.

And if you don’t get your day started then you end up spending it in bed.

That sounds like a luxury to people who work really hard. I know because I used to work really hard until I lost my job.

Now I feel like a small fish in an ocean and I’m struggling to find my way. I used to live in a pond and this ocean is very different to that pond. I’m hoping that with time I’ll settle in and find that it’s not so bad here, and that in fact it’s actually damned exciting.

get a decent cup of coffee, for love or money. I got down on my hands and knees and prayed for Starbucks to take the move across the pond, and now you find them on every block”.

Downton Abbey star Elizabeth McGovern, who plays Lady Grantham in the popular TV series

“In this business it is very tough to maintain a relationship because we are like gypsies - always on the move”.

Hollywood star Jessica Chastain “A bunch of bed-wetters in bad wigs”.

Commentator Julie Burchill, whose description of transsexuals provoked a chorus of protests

“Women can chase apartments and jobs, but not men. It’s biology”.

Ellen Fein, co-author of women’s dating guide The Rules “You should have seen me a couple of days ago.

I had just got back from a trip to Spain, where I didn’t really wash for a week. My hair was in dreadlocks and my nails were filthy. That’s the real me”.

Actress Gemma Arterton who says she is determined to stay in touch with her working-class roots “Happy 2013. I am not on a detox. I am not on a diet. I know New Year is cleansing and all that.

Not this year. Can’t do it”.

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow “When I moved here in the early Nineties, I found it quite difficult to adjust in part because I couldn’t

“I am done with keeping up with the new kids on the block. They don’t care about me and, well, I now find I don’t care about them either. I have joined the iPod-in-thecar generation instead, playing my favourite stuff from years ago” Singer Barry Manilow, who is approaching 70

“I have finally cracked how to stay away from the snack drawer past 7pm. It’s simple: go to bed at 6.30pm”.

Broadcaster Chris Evans on resisting cravings

16 January 20, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

World in pictures

Serena Williams of the US gestures during her women’s singles first round match at the Australian Open

(AFP)

A horseman jumps over a bonfire in the Spanish village of San Bartolome de Pinares to open the celebrations for the feast of Saint Anthony (AFP)

A Sadhu or Holy Man comes up after dipping in the waters of the Sangham during the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad

A woman next to an ice sculpture during the 15th International Sculpture Symposium Snow Kingdom 2013 in Pustevny, Czech Republic. The event is attended by around ten thousand visitors (AFP) A worker stands in the tunnel of the North-South subway line in Amsterdam, which was due for completion last year but was delayed due to structural and financial problems

The lights of the Empire State Building illuminate the fog in New York. During 2012, the building’s lamps and floodlights were replaced with LED fixtures, increasing the available colours from nine to over 16 million (AFP)

People light candles and pray during a memorial service for the victims of the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake, at a park in Kobe, Japan (AFP)

A model presents a creation by designer Patrick Mohr during the Autumn/Winter 2013 shows of the MercedesBenz Fashion Week in Berlin (AFP)

A policewoman looks at a damaged crane that was hit by a helicopter following the crash in central London (AFP)

17 SUNDAY MAIL • January 20, 2013

Coffeeshop

Networkers in the limelight THINGS seem to have turned out perfectly for Tof the Terrible. His delaying tactics and time-wasting have achieved the desired result for him and ensured he will leave without having signed the cursed, neo-liberal memorandum.

News from Brussels is that the memorandum will be finalised and signed in the second half of March, long after the great leader retires to his dacha in Kellaki. He will leave boasting that he kept his promise not to sign an agreement that included the privatisation of the semi-governmental organisations.

An EU official who briefed hacks in Brussels on Friday attributed the delay in the signing of the memorandum to the comrade’s refusal to agree to the privatisation of SGOs, which would have made the debt sustainable. This may give him bragging rights and allow the commie demagogues to adopt an anti-bailout stance in March, but the SGOs will not escape privatisation.

His achievement would serve AKEL’s propaganda purposes, which is all that matters to the dithering Dikomo div.

THE ONLY matter on which the government has never dithered or employed delaying tactics was on the signing of the contracts for natural gas.

Not only did it initiate the second licensing round, claiming at the time that the signing of the contracts would be left to the next government, commerce minister Neoclis Sylikiotis is now hell-bent on getting them signed before he leaves office.

We have not seen the government showing such urgency about anything in five years.

Sylikiotis has even set up a National Fund for Hydrocarbons which would receive the €200 million the government estimates to receive in bonus signature fees when the contracts for hydrocarbon exploration are signed with the oil companies. By rushing everything, Sylikiotis claims the troika would not be able to get its hands on the 200 million (and use it against the loan) that would pay for urgently needed gas infrastructure projects.

What infrastructure projects did he have in mind, considering that the government has not bothered drafting the comprehensive plan for the energy sector that is stipulated by the memorandum and will have to be approved by the troika?

The time-frame for the plan is the second quarter of this year so there would not be much use for the 200 million before July, unless Sylikiotis in the next months plans to secretly invest in infrastructure work that we will not need.

SUPERCILIOUS Sylikiotis’ silly scheme suffered a serious setback last week as the troika wrote to the finance ministry telling it that the establishment of the hydrocarbons fund, which he was trying to rush through parliament, would be in violation of the preliminary agreement.

The minister lost it when this was relayed to him on a morning radio show, lambasting his colleague Vasos Shiarly and finance ministry officials, for having consultations with the troika on the matter. Our only obligation was to inform the troika about our plans, he barked at the presenter before embarking on a rant about national sovereignty.

The political parties refused to approve the bill for the resources fund, prompting Sylikiotis to accuse them of serving the interests of the troika and obeying its

PETROL PRICES ACCORDING TO STAVROS MALAS

commands. Shiarly, his ministry officials and deputies should be congratulated for siding with the troika as it is the only way to protect the country from the AKEL scourge.

A government which for five years has been putting AKEL’s interest above the country’s is not going to change its philosophy one month before it is set to leave office. We will all sleep safer knowing that the troika has taken control of energy policy out of the hands of AKEL’s super-minister. The government has caused enough catastrophes and should take it easy in its last month.

“ONLY 14 minutes separate us from the big confrontation,” declared the over-excited CyBC news boss, with unnatural jet-black hair and no sense of perspective, on Monday night ahead of the televised debate of the three main presidential candidates.

If he was doing a preview of a World Cup Final I could understand him building up viewers’ expectations and counting the minutes to kickoff, but counting the minutes to a political debate guaranteed to numb minds and kill the senses, only a TV presenter could have done, without a hint of irony.

And you could accuse Yiannis Kareklas of many things, such as his self-importance, his over-zealousness and his bad choice of hair-dye, but never of being ironic. In order to help us get through the 14 minutes of suspense, before the big event, he asked questions of studio guests, starting with Olympic bore and former finance minister Kikis Kazamias.

A smart move, because after two minutes of listening to Kikis, viewers were indeed counting the seconds for the big confrontation and when it started thought it was scripted by Quentin Tarantino.

THE BIG confrontation was a big disappointment, according to the thrill-seekers who watched the whole show and the four hacks asking the questions made a big contribution in ensuring this.

Why for instance does the CyBC’s Emilia Kenevezou always ask about the privatisation of the SGOs? Is she afraid that CyBC would be privatised and her fat salary reduced, or is she a commie?

Most newspapers expressed shock that Stavros Malas did not know what the price per litre of petrol was, when asked by one of the smart-ass hacks. But why did he have to know? Why did they not ask the Fuhrer the price of field cucumbers (as opposed to those grown in greenhouses) which last weekend were selling for an extortionate €5 a kilo?

And Lillikas could have been asked about the price of a kilo of potatoes.

One of our customers, who watched it, concluded that Malas seemed the most decent of the

An imaginary petrol station selling petrol at Malas prices. Malas did not know the price of petrol when he was asked in Monday’s TV presidential election debate. He said it was ¤1.17 a litre when it is around ¤1.40 three candidates. In what way, he was asked by a metrios drinker.

Well, if my daughter was to marry one of them I would be much happier if she chose Malas, he said.

BUTTERING up the right people and networking have always been a surefire method for pursuing social and professional advancement. Millionaire candidate Giorgos Lillikas has a natural talent for this, as his career history shows.

He has worked his way into the hearts of George Vass, comrade Tof, the Ethnarch and finally Dr Faustus, each time using his chosen mentor’s backing to climb higher.

Vass introduced him to the political scene, Tof helped him become a deputy, the Ethnarch appointed him foreign minister and Faustus made him a presidential candidate.

Nobody uses influential people for his own ends so clinically. And while Giorgos profits politically, his wife’s advertising company Marketway profits financially from his merciless networking, according to a report in last Sunday’s Politis.

When he was AKEL deputy, Marketway won the advertising account for the presidential election campaign of AKEL candidate Giorgos Iacovou; the company also did the ‘No’ campaign in the 2004 referendum collecting a cool 800,000 euros; and in 2008 Marketway handled the Ethnarch’s unsuccessful re-election campaign which, according to Politis cost about €3 million.

You have to admire Giorgos’ selfimprovement skills, even if this indicates he would make a lousy president.

ANOTHER renowned networker, although not in Lillikas’ league, is Vassilis Rologis, the Chairman of the Bank of Cyprus (London).

Rologis’ talent for networking and using people landed him the chairmanship of Cyprus Airways, Chamber of Commerce, General Insurance and briefly the B of C. He was ousted as chairman of

the B of C by the then Governor of the Central Bank, Ttooulis TToouli some seven years ago, but refused to surrender his seat on the bank’s board which he still has. Rologis, man who has done little in his life other than play the big-shot, has had a seat on the B of C board since the ‘80s and is currently fighting to hold on to it despite Central Bank Governor Panicos asking for his and another three directors’ resignation.

Two of the four have given up their seats and Rologis has written back to say he would also step down but at a time of his own choosing - presumably in five or 10 years. This was a stalling tactic as he has already been contacting people who could help him keep his B of C seat. He asked for the help of the DISY fuhrer, who we hear has already contacted Professor Panicos to put in a good word for Rologis.

He then begged the former chairman of the B of C Aristo Developer, who has close ties with the Archbishop, to arrange a meeting with Chrys so he could ask for his help. The man is desperate to stay on, especially now that he is chairman of the B of C (London) and can play the big-shot banker to the UK Cypriots who might even buy the myth.

ROLOGIS, who usually gets his way by mercilessly pestering people in a position to help him, has also launched a charm offensive on Professor Panicos, who will have the final say over whether he will stay on the board. We hear that he has twice wined and dined Panicos in London. The first time the professor was the guest at a dinner attended by most members of the bank’s board. The second time, dinner in London was a more private affair. Both times the bill was paid for by the bank, a point Panicos should note as it is a bit unfair that B of C shareholders are pay-

ing for Rologis’ efforts to remain a director for another 20 years.

SPEAKING of the Central Bank, we find it very strange that the bank employees’ union ETYK has not protested against the governor’s decision to re-hire two employees who had taken early retirement. When this was done in the past, the ETYK boss Loizos Hadjicostis raised hell, but this time he has said not a word.

Someone obviously has got him by the balls. Could his silence have anything to do with the fact that he worked closely with Andreas Vgenopoulos, the man who singlehandedly destroyed Laiki, and the Central Bank could, at any time, use this against him?

EMPLOYEES of the Cyprus Weekly were not smiling when they left Friday’s meeting with Nicos Pattichis, the head honcho of the Phil group which owns paper. How could anyone smile after being told that the paper would become a daily and they would have to produce six editions a week, working nights and Saturdays?

The big boss hoped to cut the losses of the newspaper by going daily and staff were told that if they did not agree the paper might have to fold. Not much of a choice, but staff were given until tomorrow to think about Patt’s proposal and give their response. The question is what would the new daily be called?

Would it be the Daily Cyprus Weekly or the Cyprus Weakly Daily? And will the Weekly maintain, its legendary slogan, ‘The paper that lasts the week,’ when it will want people to buy its sister paper every day?

TWENTY-EIGHT days left until the presidential elections, 35 for the second round and 39 before our great leader goes home, content that CyTA remains a state organisation.

18 SUNDAY MAIL

Reportage

Thank God for r Alpha’s charismatic Christiani More than 20 million people have taken the Alpha Course, even the new Archbishop of Canterbury.

So why are the alpha Alphas so keen to distance themselves from the flashy hedge-funders and DB7driving devotees who helped the church on its way up?

Alex Preston takes a trip to Alpha central, Holy Trinity Brompton, to investigate HE LEADERS of the Alpha Course are angry. The terrifyingly successful evangelical Christian movement that sprang out of an unremarkable church near Harrods in central London has been in the spotlight. The new Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, got hooked on Alpha 30 years ago as a way of coming to terms with the death of his seven-month-old daughter in a car accident.

In the 1980s, he was a regular worshipper at Alpha’s headquarters, Holy Trinity Brompton in Knightsbridge (HTB if you’re on the inside).

Partly as a result of his own rather unconventional background - at least for an archbishop - the world has been turning its attention to the global phenomenon that is the Alpha Course and par-

T

Alpha HQ Holy Trinity Brompton SW7

ticularly the glittering jewel at its heart: HTB. Welby has been described as ‘the ultimate Alpha male’, while one newspaper went so far as to say that HTB had ‘landed its first Archbishop’.

Alpha grandees, though, aren’t happy with the tone of many of these articles. Welby, you see, is representative of a type that HTB is looking to leave behind - alpha Alphas: bankers and hedge-fund managers using the church as a way of negotiating the ethical pitfalls of careers that are dictated by the amoral vicissitudes of the markets.

Welby, like Alpha’s founding team of Sandy Millar and Nicky Gumbel (the latter is the current vicar of HTB), was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge.

Welby’s mother is Lady Williams of Elvel, his great-un-

Celebrity follower Geri Halliwell

cle the former Conservative Deputy Prime Minister Rab Butler. Welby worked in the finance department of the French oil giant Elf Aquitaine and then as treasurer of Enterprise Oil in London before leaving to train for the priesthood in 1989. He may struggle to convince his flock that he knows much about the tribulations of everyday people; he has a holiday house in France and lists his hobbies as ‘most things French and sailing’.

The Alpha Course holds itself out as ‘an opportunity to discuss the meaning of life’, a forum for discussing ‘the big questions’. Set up at HTB in 1977, the movement took off under the stewardship of Gumbel, a former corporate lawyer who started running the course in 1990 and quickly expanded outside the church’s SW7 heartland.

In the 1980s, when Welby attended, Alpha may have been merely a place for Flaming Ferrari types to repent their junk-bond sins. But Gumbel’s focus on making Alpha a low-pressure venue for the uncertain, agnostic or merely curious to explore the subject of religion over a (free and usually not terribly good) meal swiftly turned it into a formidable power in the sleepy Church of England.

With Gumbel’s informal, chatty style and a focus on rock music - members of the multimillion-selling, Grammy-nominated folk rockers Mumford & Sons worship there - it became particularly successful at attracting the young. In 2009 Gumbel interviewed Tony Blair in front of a 1,200-strong HTB crowd, which received a standing

ovation. Gumbel is a member of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation.

Senior Alpha figures I spoke to insisted that the course strictly avoids making clear its position on controversial issues such as gay marriage (Justin Welby is anti) and the ordination of women (Justin Welby is pro). Nicky Gumbel’s book Searching Issues, although not taught on the Alpha Course, is sold in the shop in the crypt of HTB and urges compassion ‘toward those for whom their homosexual orientation is a daily struggle’. More traditional Church figures frown at the charismatic elements of Alpha such as speaking in tongues - where members are possessed by the Holy Spirit and chant in a kind of heavenly language - and faith healing.

I attended the Alpha Course in 2005 as research for The Revelations, my novel about a (fictitious) evangelical movement that targeted young, wealthy Londoners. I was working for a Berkeley Square finance company at the time and remember the unsettling feeling as I marched off to the Wednesday-night prayer meetings that half of the Mayfair hedge-fund community was coming with me.

There were three sharp-suited bankers in particular who accompanied me on my journey to HTB. By the end of the course we were chatting happily, talking about the warm glow that emanated from the inconspicuous church behind the far grander Brompton Oratory.

The crowd at those meetings was a heady mix of bankers, hedge funders in chinos and button-down collars, and horsey young women in pink pashminas and quilted gilets. Cut-glass accents rose into the church’s airy heights, bright white smiles flashed across the room during the discussion group afterwards.

The leaders of our session were a young man in property and his fund-manager wife.

I first came across the Alpha Course when I was at Oxford University, where a group of young, attractive people at the periphery of my set attended a weekly prayer meeting at St Clement’s Church.

Due in part, I’d imagine, to

The Alpha Course holds itself out as ‘an opportunity to discuss the meaning of life’, a forum for discussing ‘the big questions’ the fragile, blonde-haired beauty of many of the girls in the Alpha group, I found more and more of my friends joining. Some are still HTB regulars. And they are all City types.

But now Alpha wishes to distance itself from stories of multimillions taken in the

HTB collection plates - at the height of the boom years of the last decade a rumoured £5 million was taken at HTB alone; the latest figures show the turnover of Alpha at close to £10 million per annum. Alpha may have been born with a silver spoon in its mouth, but you’re now as likely to see

The Alpha course is an introduction to the community

19 • January 20, 2013 Gotta have faith Tony Blair has addressed the HTB congregation

s rocking brand off ity Celebrity followers: Bear Grylls and Mumford & Sons below

Alpha male co founder and vicar of HTB Nicky Gumbel

those familiar Alpha Course signs in run-down inner cities as in leafy SW postcodes.

It would seem that much has changed since I attended the Alpha Course seven years ago. Ken Costa, the chairman of Alpha’s international arm and a successful banker (his CV lists senior roles at La-

zard and UBS and he has just joined DMC, a private equity firm set up by a group of former Goldman Sachs employees), insists the image of HTB as attracting only “postuniversity yuppie professionals” is a myth. The church and two ‘overspill’ locations in London welcome 5,000

worshippers each week, from what Costa assures me is “a very broad-based group”. He says that people travel from across London to attend the church. “Very few people live in the parish because it’s so expensive. Who can afford to live in Knightsbridge?” Ken Costa, I’d imagine, but I let it pass.

More than 20 million people have now taken the Alpha Course worldwide, including Geri Halliwell, Bear Grylls and Jonathan Aitken in the UK. It is taught in 112 languages in 70,000 churches.

There is no North Korean Alpha - yet - but it’s present in pretty much every other country, and has branched out from its roots, with versions tailored for Catholics, Orthodox, Baptists and a host of other Christian religions. Alpha operates in 85 per cent of British prisons.

In an age where the fusty old CofE is fighting a losing battle to persuade the country of its relevance, Alpha is an astonishing exception. As Costa puts it: “Religion has been dismissed, and yet this is the most successful part of religion in the country.”

For HTB, it’s a harder sell. If you stand on the Brompton Road on a Sunday evening, you’ll see a flotilla of expensive cars nosing their way into parking spaces in front of the serene £5 million houses that surround the church, arriving early to secure prime pew positions at evensong. In winter the men might have stepped straight off the grouse moor lots of mustard corduroy and Holland & Holland check; in summer they look like they’ve

been sailing (perhaps with Justin Welby) in their Aubin & Wills polo shirts and Sebago loafers.

I put this to Costa and he allows a brief tremor of anger to enter his voice. Sunday evensongs have a particular makeup, he says, but other services attract a very different crowd.

People focus so much on the City-boy worshippers at HTB that the message about the good the church does can be overlooked - initiatives such as the William Wilberforce Trust, which works with churches around the world to look after the neediest in their community, and HTB’s initiatives in prisons and with ex-offenders and addicts. “Of course people will say that the vicar is an Etonian and the Archbishop is an Etonian, as if this proves something,” Costa says. “What we are all trying to do is to feed the hungry, help the needy, the homeless, giving them a place to sleep… to get them back on their feet.”

The day after I speak to Costa, I receive a text from HTB’s genial head of PR, Mark Elsdon-Dew, suggesting I contact an HTB regular, Gary Flynn, to get another side of the story. I call Gary late on a Saturday evening. He has a rolling Cockney brogue and speaks with engaging fluency about the role that the church has played in rescuing him from the edge of despair – “God’s been brilliant,” he says at one point. Until he came to HTB, Gary’s life lurched from tragedy to tragedy. His father was killed by a stray bullet at Deepcut Army Barracks, his brother died not long afterwards. Gary attempted suicide, taking an overdose aged 18. He lost a child to cot death. There were problems with drugs: “Every pint would be followed by a line,” he told me. He buried himself in his work, setting up a scaffolding firm, and moved into a £1 million house with a swimming pool. Then, in his early forties, he was told he had bowel cancer. His business collapsed, he lost his home and moved into a caravan.

At this point, Geoff, a friend of Gary’s who runs a fruit and veg stall dragged him along to an Alpha meeting at HTB. It wasn’t the wellheeled Wednesday-night session, but a morning course run by Nicky Gumbel’s wife Pippa. “We were three big blokes,” Gary tells me. “Me and my mate with a veg stall and Tommy, who has a flower shop in Wimbledon. We’d all suffered from drug addiction.

Tommy had a gambling problem.” And despite the fact that HTB seemed, as Gary admits, “quite a middle-class sort of place”, he was made to feel welcome. “That surprised me - me being what you might call common.”

Gary is engagingly open about the make-up of the congregation at some HTB services: “There’s a lot of professional people there. Nice suits. They speak well.” His voice takes on a rich wistfulness when he speaks of another of HTB’s attractions. “The

“Religion has been dismissed, and yet this is the most successful part of religion in the country.” first Sunday service I went to, there was just this crumpet everywhere.” (One former member I spoke to described Alpha as “a dating service for poshos”.) With his new-found faith, though, Gary was able to resist temptation.

He describes his conversion, during the weekend retreat that is the centrepiece of the Alpha Course, as resembling Holman Hunt’s painting The Light of the World. The weekend away is where the real work of the Alpha Course gets done. Held at hotels and conference centres outside London, the retreat allows members to spend time in prayer, to get to know the other members, to give themselves up to speaking in tongues.

It’s free (although donations

are welcomed) and some of the discussion group at the Alpha Course I attended described it as a life-changing event.

For Gary, it was a turning point. “I went home from that weekend with so much peace in my heart,” he says. Gary has readily accepted some of the more controversial aspects of Alpha. He speaks in tongues.

He also believes in the healing power of prayer, telling of how he prayed for Geoff the fruit and veg man. “Geoff had a really bad cough for several weeks. We prayed for him and he hasn’t coughed since. It’s a miracle.”

Gary’s business is flourishing again, and he has set up a new firm employing former prisoners and the homeless.

He has four young men living in his scaffolding yard at the moment, all of whom he has persuaded to attend Alpha at HTB. “I’m hoping, in the next few years, to get my own collar, so to speak.”

There’s an easy cynical line to be taken with regard to the charismatic Christianity that emanates from HTB. The rocking and shaking in the aisles, the relentlessly upbeat, guitar-accompanied nature of the message, the Boden-catalogue vibe of (at least a part of) the congregation - Jesus’ warning about a camel passing through the eye of a needle seems to be handily shoved to one side by many of those who roll up to the church in their DB7s.

But there’s another story here that has been lost in the noise. The story of people like Gary, the story of the thousands of homeless, destitute, hopeless, who find shelter at HTB and its sister churches.

This is a place doing genuine good in the world, and if a few bankers get to feel good about themselves in the process, perhaps that should be a price we’re willing to pay.

20 January 20, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Feature

All the young dudes As Bowiemania is rekindled, devoted fan Nicholas Coleridge teams up with the V&A to chart the ch-ch-changing images that have defined the great pop icon

H

AS any rock star collaborated with a wider range of important creative photographers, over a longer period, than David Bowie? The trajectory of his image, and its projection across four decades, tracks the history of photography during the period.

Brian Ward, Bruce Weber, Brian Duffy, Masayoshi Sukita, Lord Snowdon, Frank Ockenfels, Anton Corbijn: all played a role in amplifying, refining ng and sometimes even defining the Bowie image, mage, as surely as Holbein’s bein’s portraits of Henry y VIII or Van Dyck’s of Charles I did for or their respective ve patrons centuries s earlier.

From the very y beginning, Bowie e had an unerring g instinct for who o to entrust with h his album cov-ers and collateral al publicity - over er time, he sought ht out the most interesting, modish sh and often challengnging photographers ers to interpret each ch new phase of his journey as an arttist. Of course, it helped that he is good-looking and photogenic.

In the entire archive hive of

Hot shots: Bowie in a striped bodysuit designed by Kansai Yamamoto for the Aladdin Sane tour 1973. Above: with his wife Iman in 2008

Bowie portraits and stage age shots, running to tens of thousands usands of images, almost none are re unflattering. As early as the mid-1960s, when his career had scarcely arcely begun, the photographs that survive show him poised and nd cool.

I have always loved Doug McKenzie’s 1966 “mod look” k” shot of a 19-year-old Bowie, which ich somehow, in its brooding existentialxistentialism, presages the whole e later period of his life in Berlin - it could have been taken in Unter U den Linden. It already has s the hallmark Bowie look to it, i staring into the camera lens s through narrowed eyes, some somewhat ewhat intense, somewhat sceptical, s a little bit vulnerable, vuln nerable, a little bit camp. camp p. You see the same look k in Frank Ockenfels’ s sitting for the Reality y album cover 37 ye years ears later, and the same sam me floppy fringe, come to that.

Although Bowie’s Bowie e’s status as musical genius would be intact if he’d never ne ever been photographed at a all, if he’d been as ug ugly gly as sin and a lifelong recluse, re ecluse, we diehard Bowie fans f were far from indifferent indiffferent to the photographic photogra aphic images. Brian n Ward’s cover shoot in the e Heddon Street t e l ephone box bo ox for the Ziggy Stardust Sta ardust al-

bum remains an iconic imag image ge of the age - I work in the Soho o area of London and neverr to this day miss an oppor-tunity for a quick Heddon n Street detour, on my way y back from meetings.

But it was Ward’s earlierr portrait for the Hunky y Dory album thatt touched me first: the e androgynous Pre-Rapp-haelite, fuzzy and softsofftt focus, which always s makes me think k of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando. If I had d to choose my fa-vourite Bowie im-- a g e of all time, it would wo ould d be Masayoshi Sukita’s 1972 “backstage by door” shot, taken att the height of the Ziggy y Stardust period. I love everything about it: posed but not over-posed, grungy y but glamorous, seedy butt chic, the three blocks off backstage typography (“To o Stage” with the arrow and d the two “Exits”) satisfying-ly juxtaposed with the e shoulders of his jacket..

And, obviously, one covets the trousers too.

It was striking, when selecting my 16 all-time bestt Bowie images, how often one e reverted to Sukita. Perhaps itt took a Japanese eye to do jus-tice to the highgloss veneer and d ironic nihilism of the unfolding g Bowie oeuvre. Nobody recorded the Ziggy and Aladdin Sane eras better than Sukita (the 1972 portraits with red guitar and in a Yamamoto costume and, perhaps most of all, the 1973 handon-thigh pout-shot against a red background, are all classics) but his style evolved in sync with the artist to produce the defining images of the Heroes period and beyond.

I have frequently pondered on the 1978 Tokyo subway shot, with Bowie strap-hanging on a latenight Tube train - one senses he wasn’t a frequent public transport-user at this point in his career. But it has a peculiar magic.

I admire Bruce Weber’s 1977 portrait with Bowie’s face in shadow, because it comes from a completely different place aesthetically, harder and American, with

Both sittings are meticulously stage-managed and artificial but express important aspects of Bowie’s personality and allure

Clowning about: Bowie shot filming the Ashes to Ashes video in 1980. Below (from top): an image from Frank Ockenfels’s shoot for Bowie’s 2003 album Reality, cover shots for the albums Heroes by Masayoshi Sukita and Hunky Dory

by Brian Ward

no no lingering Ziggyi s m s .

Only O ly the On e cigarette c i garette e survives s u rvives Bowie’s late-1970s style trans-formation. And I like the bravery - the impertinence - of obscuring his face. It would be disallowed as a passport shot, but you know who it is immediately by the body language.

I have selected two strongly stylised portraits by contrasting photographers, the Dutch born Corbijn and the very British Snowdon, which nevertheless bear some artistic resemblance: Corbijn’s Elephant Man shoot of 1980, with diagonal shafts of light across Bowie’s face, and the almost Beatonesque 1995 portrait

by Snowdon, in which Bowie poses in a white tuxedo and looks disconcertingly like David Beckham.

Both sittings are meticulously stage-managed and artificial but express important aspects of Bowie’s personality and allure.

Similarly, the 1980 Brian Duffy Ashes to Ashes image demands inclusion, since it encapsulates a decisive transition point in the Bowie aesthetic - with half a nod back to the late 1960s mime-class days of Lindsay Kemp, but foretelling the impending era of Tin Machine. My final choice is neither a studio portrait nor a performance picture, but a red carpet pap shot by Stephen Lovekin of Bowie and his wife Iman arriving at a New York fundraiser. I

include it because, unlike every other rock star in the world, with the exception of Bryan Ferry, Bowie still looks great and cool and trim and enviably young, 43 years after the first photograph in this portfolio was taken. There is something gratifying and optimistic in this fact, in knowing that one’s heroes don’t have to grow old.

21 SUNDAY MAIL • January 20, 2013

Business & Jobs

Low inflation is not good news Countries in recession normally do not have inflation and may have deflation HE INSPIRATION for this article arose from Cyprus news broadcasts stating that the ‘best’ (that is the lowest level) of inflation in the eurozone in 2012 was in Greece and that Cyprus (with France) was second in this dubious ranking.

The implication was that this was a success and that both countries had done better than their euro-partners, with a hint that the economies may be turning a corner and getting out of recession. I therefore, thought it necessary to bring some reality into the picture and explain that countries in recession normally do not have inflation, and may have deflation (price levels falling). In other words the announced success in inflation was in fact a reflection of how serious the recession is, and should not be cause for rejoicing or ‘besting’ other eurozone countries.

To put matters into perspective the table below compares eurozone economic growth, and recession (negative growth) with inflation in 2012, as presented by Eurostat. It can be seen that Greece does have the deepest recession with minus six per cent GDP, and the lowest level of inflation (0.3 per cent). Cyprus comes in third in recession rankings with Italy and Slovenia, all with minus 2.3 per cent GDP performance, and has the second lowest inflation (1.5 per cent), the same as France that is teetering on the verge of recession but not quite there yet.

This generally assumed relationship between recession, unemployment and falling or low price changes is consistent with events on the ground in Greece and

T

Comment Costas Apostolides Cyprus, as well as France, but the pattern in the other recession-inflicted eurozone states is not in line with the theory. It will come as no surprise to people in Cyprus that the jokers causing inflation are primarily energy, and especially electricity prices, suggesting that much of the problem arises from external factors (oil prices).

In this respect Greece and Cyprus would at least please the International Monetary Fund in that their competitiveness appears to have been improved against the eurozone states, because prices have risen less than in other member states. Therefore the products and services offered by others are relatively more expensive.

Nevertheless this has been achieved at very high social cost, especially in Greece.

There were eight eurozone states in recession in 2012, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Italy, Spain, Netherlands and Belgium, which with the exception of Greece and Cyprus all had inflation rates above the benchmark 2 per cent. Furthermore there were another six states, on the edge of the cliff face of recession, with less than 1 per cent growth. These are Finland, Luxembourg, France, Ireland, Germany and Austria. With all the big guns of the zone facing problems, the only countries with significant positive growth were Malta, Estonia and Slovakia, and they

could not provide the weight to keep the eurozone out of recession. Eurozone GDP fell by less than one per cent in 2012 (-0.4 per cent).

The recession countries facing the highest inflation were Spain (3 per cent), and Netherlands (3.4 per cent), which means that Spain in particular is jammed between a rock and a hard

place, if you excuse an American expression. Austria at 2.9 per cent inflation is close to such levels of inflation, and Estonia and Slovakia are at 3 per cent or above, but they are growing.

Overall inflation in the zone was 2.2 per cent.

When expenditure categories are considered, the highest inflation rates in Europe

EUROZONE GROWTH AND INFLATION Real GDP Growth %

Inflation Rate %

Greece

-6.0

0.3

Portugal

-3.0

2.1

Cyprus

-2.3

1.5

Slovenia

-2.3

3.1

Italy

-2.3

2.6

Spain

-1.4

3.0

Netherlands

-0.3

3.4

Belgium

-0.2

2.1

Finland

+0.1

3.5

Luxembourg +0.4

2.5

France

+0.2

1.5

Ireland

+0.4

1.6

Germany

+0.8

2.0

Austria

+0.8

2.9

Malta

+1.0

2.8

Estonia

+2.5

3.0

Slovakia

+2.6

3.4

Eurozone

-0.4

2.2

Sources: Eurostat Annual Inflation 16.1.13. Eurostat Autumn Economic Forecast

were for energy, and especially electricity, food and tobacco, transport which is dependent on energy, and housing. Presumably the high prices for oil and other fuels are a major factor, while alcohol and tobacco may be influenced by tax increases (Eurostat does not provide analysis).

Overall the omens are not good for the eurozone economies, and the projection for 2013 is not encouraging with virtually zero growth predicted. All the

major economies, Germany, France, Italy and Spain will be essentially in stagnation, and the few bright spots are likely to be small countries.

Recovery is not anticipated until 2014, and even then it is expected to be a weak overall at 1.4 per cent GDP real growth.

Costas Apostolides is chairman of EMS Economic Management Ltd costas.a@ highwaycommunication. com)

àôêàôòÆâ Îþàô¼àôÆ ÈÇÙ³ëáÉÇ Ü³ñ»Ï ì³ñųñ³ÝÁ ³ÝÙÇç³Ï³Ý ϳñÇùÁ áõÝÇ áõëáõóãÇ ÙÁ, áñ ϳñ»Ý³Û ¹³ë³õ³Ý¹»É ѳ۳·Çï³Ï³Ý ÝÇõûñ, ³ñ»õÙï³Ñ³Û»ñ¿Ýáí£ Â»ÏݳÍáõÝ»ñÁ ³ÝÑñ³Å»ßï ¿ áñ áõÝ»Ý³Ý Ñ³Û³·Çï³Ï³Ý áñ³Ï³õáñáõÙ, ÷áñÓ³éáõÃÇõÝ »õ ÎÇåñáëÇ Ù¿ç ³ß˳ï»Éáõ Çñ³õáõÝù£ ¶ñ³õáñ ¹ÇÙáõÙÝ»ñÁ, ³ÝÓÝ³Ï³Ý ïáõ»³ÉÝ»ñ »õ ³ÝÑñ³Å»ßï ÷³ëï³ÃáõÕûñ e-mail-áí ϳ٠ӻé³Ùμ Û³ÝÓÝ»É í³ñųñ³ÝÇ îÝûñ¿Ýáõû³Ý, ³Ù»Ý³áõßÁª 28 ÚáõÝáõ³ñ 2013 ÙÇÝã»õ Ï¿ëûñ£ e-mail £ nareg@cytanet.com.cy лé.£ 22-422218 ÎÆäð²Ð²Ú ì²ðIJð²Üܺðàô Ð඲´²ðÒàôÂÆôÜ

22 January 20, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Business & Jobs

A new era in tax reporting The US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act is a game changer THE ISLE of Man has agreed to automatically exchange tax information with the UK. Jersey and Guernsey want to make this a global initiative. The US is forcing financial centres to automatically report on American clients.

We are entering another new era in local and international efforts against tax evasion and fiscal fraud.

Sharing and reporting in-

formation will play a major role. There have been major developments in international tax planning over the last decade. There are still more to come.

The new US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) aims to ensure that the US tax authorities, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), obtains information on financial accounts held by US taxpayers any-

where in the world. Foreign Financial Institutions have to report their American clients’ affairs to the IRS. In other words, the US is attempting to force financial centres to automatically exchange tax information on US clients.

The incentive for them to do so is pretty high. If they fail to comply their revenues from US sources will suffer a 30% withholding tax.

Columbia Shipmanagement Ltd – one of the world’s leading ship management companies, located in Limassol, is looking to recruit a:

TECHNICAL SUPERINTENDENT for large Container vessels Candidate Profie A reliable team player with seafaring experience onboard large container vessels or technical skills acquired by working experience in this field in the position of Chief Engineer Able to work effectively in an international environment English language proficiency is essential Have basic computer skills Willing to travel Responsibilities Technical operation of large container vessels Budget Management Develop and maintain in-depth ongoing knowledge of the technical status of the assigned vessels (preferable experience with electronic engine operation) Ensure that annual costs develop in line with ‘best market’ practices Plan and monitor major technical projects for the assigned vessels including the preparation of specs, supervision and negotiation of costs Ensure the vessels are fully certified according to international standards and requirements Liaise with Class and Authorities, manufacturers and repair contractors Work closely with insurance and claims, QA, crewing and marine departments Monitor and report on general ship condition towards managers and owners by completing Technical Audit Reports Ensure cost effective sourcing of technical goods and services for vessels of the fleet Reports to: The Fleet Manager

The Isle of Man announced in December that it will enter into an automatic tax information sharing agreement with the UK, similar to the agreement it intends to sign with the US to comply with FATCA. Once in place, it will give HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) access to more information about potentially taxable money held in the Isle of Man. HM Treasury Secretary David Gauke commented: “for years people said this couldn’t be done”.

The government is now pressuring the other Jersey and Guernsey and the British Virgin and Cayman Islands to accept similar agreements.

I would expect other countries to later expect similar agreements with offshore centres. This is why attempting to hide assets from local tax authorities is so risky – one day, somehow, they will come to light.

Isle of Man Chief Minister Allan Bell explained that its agreement with the UK will serve to demonstrate the island’s superior level of regulation and improve growth prospects for the local economy.

“The US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act is a game changer in relation to

transparency and the automatic exchange of information agenda”, he said. “It will be used as the lever and model by many countries for equivalent information to be provided to them.”

He continued: “Such is its reach and effect, FATCA may even overtake the proposed changes in the EU savings directive.

This government considers, therefore, that automatic exchange of tax information in something like the volume and form required by the USA under FATCA will become part of the international standard. It is clear that the next two years will see massive changes in the way in which nations co-operate in the field of international taxation issues.”

The Channel Islands, Jersey and Guernsey have held exploratory talks with the UK authorities but have so far said they will not implement anything yet. They are not against this automatic exchange of information as such, but rather want the UK to “promote the adoption of automatic exchange of information worldwide to ensure that a level playing field is achieved for all finance centres”.

In a joint statement, the islands said they share a

Investment Bill Blevins Bill Blevins is Financial Correspondent at Blevins Franks International common commitment with the UK to combat tax evasion and participate in international efforts to combat fiscal crime.

For clarification on the latest local and international tax regulation developments, and advice on the most effective legitimate tax mitigation arrangements for you, speak to an advisory firm like Blevins Franks which keeps fully up to date and has decades of experience advising British expatriates.

The tax rates, scope and reliefs may change. Any statements concerning taxation are based upon our understanding of current taxation laws and practices which are subject to change. Tax information has been summarised; an individual should take personalised advice.

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

VACANT POSITION IN THE CYPRUS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA The Cyprus Symphony Orchestra Foundation invites applications from EU citizens for the position of 2nd Horn: Applications: - Completed Application Form which can be downloaded from the CySO website www.cyso.org.cy - Short Curriculum Vitae - A recorded performance (Audio CD or Video) of a performance with works of the candidate’s choice.

Offer: A full time contract and an attractive remuneration package

Deadline: Applications must reach the CySO offices (Address: Cyprus Symphony Orchestra Foundation, P.O. Box 28922, 2084 Acropolis, Nicosia, Cyprus), with the indication HORN AUDITIONS 2013, no later than Friday 15th of February 2013 at 14:00.

Please send your CV to: Email: a.neokleous@csmcy.com Columbia Shipmangement Ltd P.O. Box 51624 Limassol 4043

Applications can also be sent by email to a.antoniou@cyso.org.cy, however the recorded performance must be sent by post.

All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence

More information available on the CySO website www.cyso.org.cy

Currencies USD GBP CHF JPY AUD CAD SEK

18-Jan-2013

1,3335 0,8343 1,2467 119,82 1,2565 1,3045 8,5855

1,3442 0,8410 1,2618 121,27 1,2883 1,3376 8,8029

11-Jan-2013

1,3208 0,8180 1,2070 117,43 1,2375 1,2882 8,5010

1,3315 0,8246 1,2216 118,85 1,2689 1,3208 8,7162

04-Jan-2013

1,2990 0,8080 1,2017 113,77 1,2333 1,2732 8,4203

1,3095 0,8145 1,2162 115,14 1,2645 1,3054 8,6334

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

USD 0,18 0,20 0,25 0,30 0,49 0,81

EUR 0,02 0,05 0,10 0,14 0,24 0,46

GBP 0,48 0,49 0,50 0,51 0,66 1,00

CHF 0,00 0,00 0,01 0,02 0,08 0,26

JPY 0,10 0,13 0,15 0,17 0,27 0,47

LIBOR RATES (London Interbank Borrowing Rates) AS AT 21/01/2013

CAD 1,00 1,05 1,15 1,23 1,51 1,93

AUD 3,04 3,14 3,17 3,22 3,35 3,65

23 SUNDAY MAIL • January 20, 2013

Property

Art not only for the top ‘one per cent’ says Christie’s chief Auction house’s 2012 art sales at record £3.9b as Asia drops sharply but private sales surge

By Mike Collett-White

W

HEN the public sits up and notices the art market, it is usually when an anonymous buyer pays a mind-boggling sum to acquire a prized painting or sculpture.

In 2012, Edvard Munch’s The Scream fetched a record $120 million, a Mark Rothko abstract soared to $87 million and a Renaissance drawing

by Raphael sold for $48 million - all in a year when making ends meet was most people’s priority.

Yet Steven Murphy, the first American to head the auctioneer Christie’s since its creation in 1766, is convinced the key to future success after another bumper year of sales lies not with the “one per cent”, but a much broader pool of art lovers.

The 58-year-old, who worked in publishing and music before his surprise appointment to the head of the world’s largest auction house two years ago, wants to rid the art world of its stuffy image as a club exclusively for the rich.

“It’s sexy and it’s cool and it’s news to talk about the most important work in a single sale on a single evening, but one has to be careful of the myopia as a business of focusing only on that very important activity,” Murphy said.

“Twenty per cent of our buyers this past year were brand new to Christie’s, never bought here before,” he said from the company’s headquarters in central London, sitting beneath a small Picasso being sold next month.

He was referring to one of the encouraging statistics in the company’s annual sales report, which on Thursday showed record revenues of £3.9 billion in 2012, a rise of 10 per cent on 2011.

In 2009, when the art market contracted sharply due to the global financial crisis, sales were just £2.1 billion.

The overall increase in 2012 came despite a slump in Christie’s auction sales of Asian art, which fell by a

quarter to £415 million after providing the engine for growth in recent years.

Competition from Chinese auctioneers and the end to a speculative bubble in some Asian art contributed to the decline, but Murphy said the region had the potential to grow again longer term.

“I think the opportunity in Asia is far bigger than any of us in the art business have truly tapped into,” he said.

In contrast, Christie’s saw private sales surge 26 per cent to £631 million, and Murphy expected deals behind closed doors to be key in maintaining growth in 2013 and beyond.

“Look for a big increase in our private sales activity,” he said. “Our current clients want to do more of that.”

Murphy, whose laid-back manner stands out in the London art scene, said he was convinced more private sales did not mean less business in the auction room, still the mainstay of Christie’s income.

A key part of Murphy’s strategy since arriving has been to build its online presence, both by attracting visitors to the website and encouraging them to bid over the internet.

From six online-only auctions in 2012, the company will hold more than 30 in 2013, and while digital sales tend to be for more modestly priced items, Edward Hopper’s October on Cape Cod sold for $9.6 million to an internet bidder in November.

“One of the things that is driving the opportunity for a company like Christie’s is cultural,” he said.

“There is a huge cultural surge around the world toward the experience of art.

Museum attendance is way up on the previous year and the year before that...People are accessing art on their iPads, on their laptops, on their iPhones.”

By expanding its online presence, Christie’s aims to capture more business in the mid to lower-tier markets, away from the multi-milliondollar deals that grab the headlines.

Murphy pointed to a 20 per cent rise in sales at Christie’s South Kensington offices, which specialise in lower-end art and antiques.

For Christie’s, that sector is key in terms of the bottom line because profits from it outstrip those from more high-profile post-war, contemporary, impressionist and old master art, Murphy said.

He believes that only a “tiny percentage” of clients are buying art purely as a

“commodity”, or alternative investment at a time when stocks and bonds have delivered modest returns while some artists’ values soar.

“From the top end, no-one has bought a Rothko for more than $30 million who doesn’t want the Rothko and at the middle and lower end the purchaser of the £20,000 Jasper Johns lithograph... really wants that work,” he argued.

“What is happening is that people of wealth are choosing

Overseas buyers returning to Paphos FIGURES released by the department of lands and surveys earlier last week show that the property purchase contracts in favour of overseas buyers throughout Cyprus and especially in Paphos, in December increased compared to December 2011.

It was the second month in succession that property sales to overseas buyers have improved and a sign that they may returning to the island. As Sakis HadjiAlexandrou, Leptos Group Marketing Manager said, half of those

contracts were for properties in Paphos where sales more than doubled compared with December 2011.

This is because Paphian property developers have put much effort into opening up new markets and especially the markets of China, India, Egypt and Lebanon. Also Paphos is a wonderful place to buy property because is rich in beauty and blessed with a strong cultural legacy, with a wealth of nature and archaeological sites.

Art for the masses: Christie’s Steven Murphy. Big hitters (left): The Scream and October in Cape Cod

not to invest in other areas, and therefore they have more available for the activity they already love, so it’s not money management as much as personal choice.”

And if equities start to pick up again?

“I am here to say that when the markets go up there is more money to spend so actually our sales go up, so we don’t want to see the stock market do anything but go up.”

Christie’s, a private company owned by French billion-

aire Francois Pinault, does not report profit or loss, only sales.

Its main rival is Sotheby’s, slightly smaller in terms of sales. Sotheby’s, listed in New York, posted auction sales of $4.4 billion last year versus $5.3 billion at Christie’s.

Murphy confirmed the company was in the black. When asked whether it was more profitable now than when he joined in late 2010, he replied: “I can say that we’re very happy. There’s wind in our sails.”

German solar power hits new high Three bedroom villa with pool in Kamares village, Paphos

NEW solar power installations in Germany hit a record high last year but tapered off in the fourth quarter as subsidies were cut to curb costs to consumers, Environment Ministry data showed.

Capacity grew by more than 7.6 gigawatt (GW), breaking the previous records of 7.5 GW in 2011 and 7.4 GW in 2010, and far above the 2.5 to 3.5 GW Berlin would like to see each year.

The solar boom has been encouraged by generous feed-in tariffs, which are guaranteed to generators for 20 years to encourage carbon

free power to gradually replace fossil fuels.

But renewable energy has become politically divisive as businesses complain the shift away from nuclear power towards subsidised renewables is adding to consumer costs and jeopardising economic growth.

The government agreed last year to cut the level of feed-in tariffs - the industry’s lifeblood as long as solar power is more expensive than conventional forms of energy to produce - in order to reduce the pace of installations.

24 January 20, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Property LEGAL ISSUES WITH GEORGE COUCOUNIS

Immigration permit for investors from third countries buying homes

The Bad Bank will take over securities held by banks that went bad

Property supermarket on way? The Bad Bank

By Antonis Loizou FRICS IT IS inevitable, under the prevailing circumstances, that there are hundreds or around a thousand unsold units on the market, especially those which are of special appeal to foreign demand. This market source has reduced in number, as well as in budget and as we have said before, the British market, which had up to the year 2008 been the main demand share, reduced its budget from the average €500,000 to now around €200,000-€300,000 and the Russian demand, which is increasing, has reduced its budget from its original of €1m+ to around €500,000.

Statistics show the downturn in both foreign and local demand. In 2009 1,761 units were sold to foreigners, which increased to 2,030 in 2010, falling to 1,652 in 2011 and1,304 in 2012 (up to November). For locals the figures were 6,509, 6,568, 5,366 and 4,470.

What is important is that all the banks have numerous properties on their books for sale, from distressed buyers and non-performing loans. So two years ago we came up with the idea to provide a comprehensive sale guide for them to promote them as an investment both locally and abroad on a wide scale, with a separate website and separate promotion. We came up with the idea also to set up a marquee

in Paphos and Nicosia as an open exhibition for sales. A sort of a real estate supermarket for all budgets and localities. This idea has been adopted by the proposed ‘Bad Bank’ which will be created in Cyprus, ie a bank that will take over all securities held by banks which went bad. For this to be successful however, the following parameters must be decided on.

Where does the building permit stand and the procedure (where deeds not available) regarding the title issue.

Those with problems which can be relatively easily solved either using the Building Amnesty procedure and/ or prevailing problems with buyers must be solved ahead of time.

The Bad Bank and/or Financing banks must come up with cash to complete uncompleted projects and to be prepared to finance worthy new potential buyers. If not and this Bad Bank expects to sell unfinished whole projects with problems it will be disappointed.

Properties with building/maintenance problems must be made up before they are catalogued under civil engineers’ supervision, so that latent defects are not covered up.

Banks must be prepared to sell at a loss and including the cost of the repairs and maintenance, permits etc.

Sales costs are also to be included

WHAT YOU GET FOR

in the sales price as well as any balance due including property tax, common expenses etc.

The participants (vendors/banks/developers) must all be prepared to lose from 2008 values by approximately 30 to 40 per cent depending on the competitiveness of the property, but on the other hand one expects the owners/buyers to reduce their risks, since not only loan interest will be on the increase (interest rates could reach 13 per cent pa), but unused properties will need annual maintenance expenses and property taxes which might end up as large amounts. Those who will enter the deal will be released from the financiers’ charges up to the point of sale.

Supermarket type ‘opportunities’ are expected to be published by the Bad Bank (see Ireland and Spain’s example) with a special website as well as international exhibitions in the UK, Russia, China, Arab countries etc. To this end, the laws regarding foreign property companies to invest must change. We are all learning by coming new to this experience but this new Bad Bank system must not be looked upon as a foolproof way out.

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

THE relevant regulation applied by the Ministry of Interior in August 2012 aims to attract third country nationals who intend to invest in Cyprus, an effort which seems to be effective taking into account the interest shown by Chinese citizens to invest mainly in Paphos and Limassol. The purchase of immovable property secures an immigration permit for their families and themselves.

Everyone involved should properly manage this prospect, especially in times of economic crisis, in particular the relevant authorities, the developers and estate agents, who should demonstrate maximum responsibility to prove the value of the island to investors/ immigrants. Taking advantage of this opportunity will certainly help the financial situation of our country and all must show honesty and credibility avoiding the recent mistakes with other investors.

The new regulation provides that an applicant – a third country national investing in Cyprus - is entitled to a residence permit as long as he fulfils the following criteria:- (a) He has a secured minimum annual income of €30,000, which is increased by €5,000 for each dependent person. The said income should derive from salaries abroad and it must be proven through a certificate issued by the tax authorities of his country, banks, tenancy agreements, certificates of shares etc. (b) He must submit a sale contract already lodged with the Land Registry or a title deed of a property in Cyprus, of minimum purchase price of €300,000 and the relevant receipts for the payment of at least €200,000. The purchase price does not include VAT or the transfer fees. (c) He must submit a confirmation letter from a Cypriot bank stating that he has depos-

ited a minimum of €30,000 which will be pledged for a period of at least three years. All the amounts should be proven to have been transferred to Cyprus from abroad. (d) He must submit a clean criminal record from the authorities of his country of origin, if he resides abroad and he should not constitute in general a threat against public order or security. (e) He must state in writing that he does not intend to work or engage in any business in Cyprus, and (f) he must visit Cyprus at least once every two years, even for a day.

Dependent persons are the applicant’s spouse and children under the age of 18 and requirement (f) concerns them, too. The acquisition of the immigration permit does not give the visa holder the right to travel to other EU countries, unless he acquires a relevant visa. Moreover, the visa holder cannot work in Cyprus, unless through a limited company of international activities, but he can become a shareholder in a Cypriot company. The relevant application is submitted to the Civil Registry and Migration Department or to the District Offices and when approved, a fee of €119,17 is payable. All the documents submitted must be officially certified and translated by the PIO. In the event the applicant sells the immovable property or becomes a permanent resident of another country (not his own), the permanent permit will be withdrawn and the relevant authority reserves the right for periodic checks to verify compliance with the above requirements.

George Coucounis is a lawyer specialising in the Immovable Property Law, based in Larnaca, Tel: 24 818288, coucounis.law@ cytanet.com.cy, www.coucounislaw.com

€300,000 compiled by Peter Stevenson

How much: €300,000 What you get: This luxurious four-bedroom house has a fully fitted kitchen. It also comes with a covered parking area, veranda and garden 10 minutes from the beach.

From: www.foxrealty.com.cy Tel: 80080082

How much: €300,000 What you get: This three-bedroom, stone built bungalow with a private pool is situated on the outskirts of Droushia Village. This property enjoys unobstructed views of the Chrysochous bay.

From: www.buysellcyprus.com Tel: 26 200000

How much: €300,000 What you get: This spacious three-bedroom house in Ayia Thekla in the Famagusta district comes with a private swimming pool and BBQ area.

From: www.propertyincyprus.com Tel: 70003211

25 SUNDAY MAIL • January 20, 2013

ADVERTISER helps you find what you’re looking for

Advertiser Only

€14 (plus VAT)

a week for classifieds (up to 40 words)

Send your classified by fax or email and pay by credit card, cheque or cash. It couldn’t be simpler!

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

MISCELLANEOUS **************************** ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS CYPRUS Is drink costing you more than just money? AA could be the answer.

Meeting at the following locations/days. Call to speak to an AA member.

Ayia Napa Monday 97798043 Larnaca Tuesday (Polish spk) 96616589 Thursday 24645523 / 99259264 Limassol Tuesday / Wednesday / Friday / Saturday 25368265 / 99559322 Nicosia Wednesday/Sunday 99013596 Paphos Tuesday / Thursday / Saturday 99916331 / 99399240 Details of meetings are available on www.aa-europe.net ****************************

LESSONS **************************** PRIVATE TUITION Experienced, UK-qualified teacher offers full-time or part-time private home tuition in Maths, English, the Sciences, I.C.T., Geography, History, Business Studies and Economics, from KS3 to iGCSE, AS and A2 levels. 9 years experience in Cyprus; references available.

Telephone 99318796 ****************************

UPHOLSTERY, RUG, BLINDS + CURTAIN Cleaning Rugs from 20€ - Carpets from 38€ Fabric Suites form 85€ - Leather Suites from 95€ - Mattresses from 25€. Curtains, Roman blinds, Vertical Blinds need to be surveyed. Collection Service available. For a free quotation call Mark on 70006766 All areas **************************** DO YOU WANT A SHINY LOOKING FLOOR? Full repair & restoration of chipped, scratched, dull and stained, Marble, Terrazzo, Stone & Ceramic tiled floors and surfaces.

Professional cleaning, repair & sealing of internal/external ceramic tiles & grout lines. For a free professional consultation & demonstration contact Mark at Premier on 70006766 or 96333961 All areas

**************************** 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 ****************************

PETS ****************************

Nicosia - tel: 22 818583 fax: 22 676385 She is good with other dogs, children and cats. At the Nicosia Dog Shelter, many more dogs and puppies like this one are looking for forever homes !

To provide a temporary foster home or to adopt contact on 99520511 mon-frid 10-2pm.

****************************

GRAY is a loving gentle female, 4 months old. She is beagle cross. She is very clever, playful and loving. Gets on well with other dogs. At the Nicosia Dog Shelter, many more dogs and puppies like this one are looking for forever homes !

To provide a temporary foster home or to adopt contact on 99520511 mon-frid 10-2pm. ****************************

JOB WANTED

SERVICES EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES **************************** EXPERIENCED TUTOR WANTED FOR THE BIOMEDICAL ADMISSIONS TEST (BMAT) I seek an experienced tutor for private instruction in Nicosia, on Part A of the BMAT test (Aptitude and Skills). Please email at: georgebmat@gmail.com or call at: 99657768. ****************************

PERSONAL **************************** SMART GERMAN BUSINESSWOMAN, 43, living in Cyprus, seeks a nice, intelligent man for marriage. Pls write with picture to: salieris@ymail.com.

OREO is a female dog, 8 months old. She is dachshund cross.

**************************** 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.

FOR SALE BUSINESS/ PROPERTY/LAND

****************************

**************************** CHIMNEY SWEEP, when did you last have your chimney swept or log burner cleaned?

Build-up of soot can cause respiratory problems and fires. All areas, call Dave, a professional sweep, now on 99819137.

Also available for weddings. www.paphosluckychimneysweep.com **************************** 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 **************************** PROFESSIONAL UPHOLSTERY CLEANING, also carpets, rugs and mattresses.

Special offers now available.

For a quote call Rickys Cleaning Services on 99131044 (all areas) rickyscleaningservices@gmail.com ****************************

HEALTH & FITNESS

****************************

**************************** YOUNG MAN from Sri Lanka with release paper is looking for any job in Nicosia District.

Speak Greek and English language. For info contact 97841633.

MIKI is a male poodle x terrier dog, 1.5 year old. He is smart and well behaved young dog.

Great with children. At the Nicosia Dog Shelter, many more dogs and puppies like this one are looking for forever homes !

To provide a temporary foster home or to adopt contact on 99520511 mon-frid 10-2pm. ****************************

Limassol - tel: 25 761117 fax: 25 761141

****************************

****************************

Paphos - tel: 26 911383 fax: 26221049 climate control, power steering, electric windows, 6 airbags, central locking, cruise control, computer board, alloy wheels, and many extras. €6500 ono. Contact: 99022779 - Nicosia

FOR SALE MISCELLANEOUS **************************** FOR SALE FURNITURE in excellent condition, at very low prices. 1. NATUZZI brown suite 3-seater €400 - 2-seater €300.

2. Pine, round light brown dining table + 4 chairs €70. 3. 1 1/2 size bed + mattress + side cupboard €80. 4. Student desk €50. 5. Dark wood chest, 3 drawers €40. 6. ARGO airconditioning unit, as new €150. 7. LG washing machine (2 years) €200. Other household items. Tel. 99511430, Nicosia.

PROPERTY TO LET NICOSIA ‘PROPERTY BUSINESS FOR SALE’ ‘Unique Opportunity to purchase FREEHOLD stonebuilt village property currently operating as a Cafe, with fully equipped kitchen.Seating for 40. Potential for further expansion. Easily converted to residential dwelling.

Viewing highly recommended.

Greatly Reduced. Details ring Tel: 99864097’ – Paphos Area **************************** PRIME LAND IS AVAILABLE FOR LONG LEASE IN LIMASSOL. 40, 000 sq.m., zoning Ka7 (80% - 45% - 3 stories). Regular amphitheatrical shape overlooking Ladies Mile. Close to New Limassol Hospital with direct access to Limassol – Paphos Highway. Water supply, electricity and telephones are readily available. Suitable for immediate development. Ideal for various health facilities and resorts, holiday centres, commercial and shopping centres, entertainment enterprises etc. Information: Tel. 22 674338, 99621554 FOR SALE LAND in Anthoupoli (half plot) 288 sq.metres. for information 99621554.

FOR SALE MOTOR VEHICLES MINI COOPER 2005. Full mini spec., long MOT. Mileage 52K. Excellent condition. Priced to sell €4.750. Call 99531267.

2005 MINI 1 1.6 taxed MOT one owner good all round 6000 Euros O.N.O Tel: 99096902 – Paphos area.

FORD FOCUS GHIA (2006) diesel, 1600cc, 98000km, blue, automatic - tiptronic. dual zone

****************************

LUXURY 6 BEDROOM HOUSE IN A QUIET AREA IN LATSIA. The house has been constructed with the most modern building materials and one can enjoy all comforts of modern life. The house has 3 storage rooms 3 kitchens, 2 covered garage, housekeeper’s room, study room, en-suite bathroom – master bedroom, walk in closet, Jacuzzi, c/h, a/c, and fireplace. Rent €5.000pm.

Call 99609239 or 99424106. ***************************** 2 BEDROOM flat, fully furnished.

Fully A/C, small block, 3rd floor. Covered parking. Central heating. Near Hilton hotel off Makarios Avenue. €480pm. Tel 99444336 ***************************** FLATS/HOUSES for rent 1 bdrm in Aglantzia near the new university semi-furnished €430, 1 bdrm with furniture in Engomi €280, 1 bdrm in Akropoli near Philips college €450, 2 bdrm €550, Strovolos brand new 3 bdrm €650, Penthouse 3 bdrm roofgarden €850, detached house Aglantzia 2 bdrm big yard €450, detached house Pallouriotissa 3 bdrm €550. STAVRINOS REAL ESTATE AGENCE A.M. 497 A A 166/E Tel: 99666703 email: yemo@cytanet.com.cy ***************************** FOR RENT or sell: 2 bed-room flat in Nikis Avn in Nicosia, 80 m. Completely renovated, with

Larnaca - tel: 24 652243 fax: 24 659982

classified contents Employment Opportunities pg 25 Employment Miscellaneous 25 Pets 25 Lessons 25 Health & Fitness 25 Personal 25 Services 25 For Sale Miscellaneous 25 For Sale Land/ Property Business 25 For Sale Motor vehicles 25 Wanted -To Let Nicosia 25 To Let Limassol 28 To Let Larnaca 28 To Let Paphos 28 To Let Protaras, Ayia Napa, Paralimni -For Sale Nicosia 29 For Sale Limassol -For Sale Larnaca -For Sale Paphos 29 For Sale Ayia Napa -For Sale Famagusta Protaras 29 For Sale Athens -Property& Home Services display ads --

abbreviations bdrm c/h a/c s/pool f/f apt pm pw sw nw st rd p/s c/l swb r/cass e/w

bedroom central heating air conditioning swimming pool fully furnished apartment per month per week south west north west street road power steering central locking short wheel base radio cassette electric windows

Please note tel nos. that begin with: 22 = Nicosia 23 = Paralimni/Protaras 24 = Larnaca 25 = Limassol 26 = Paphos

26 January 20, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Advertiser TO LET NICOSIA electric supplies. Excellent for office or flat. 3 bed-room flat with electric supplies and some furnitures in Nicosia near Central Bank, 140m. Completely renovated like new. For info call mob: 99460860. ***************************** STROVOLOS 4 bdrm., house, c/h, a/c from €1000 now €800, Mak/ ssa f/f house, pool, 4 bdrm., 4wc, 2 shower €1700, Kornos villa, pool, mature garden €4000 (2) penthouse luxury Acropolis 1 bdrm, f/f, centre €450. For info www.markidesestates.com Markides 22378898, 99464764, Reg. No. 487, E16 ***************************** FLATS/HOUSES FOR RENT studio Acropolis €300, 1bdrm P/ssa €450, Aglantzia €350, Str/los €350, Acropolis €350 2bdrm Lycavito furnished €530, Acropolis €550, Ag. Dometios €500, 3bdrm Nikis av. €550 Str/ los G/F €660, Tymbos independent €800, Ag. Omologites colonial listed building swimming pool maids room €2,500.

PROPERTY FINDER LTD. 99474839 99646822 A.M.627 A.A.108/E ***************************** STUDIO flat in Pallouriotissa (next to McDonald) furnished €280.

For info call 99606984. ***************************** TO LET spacious 2 bdrm apartment in a small building in Strovolos area near ARETAIEION hospital (dead-end) with independent petrol heating, 3 a/c, water pressure system, satellite. Directly available. TEL.: 96275151 ***************************** FLATS TO LET - Nicosia: A wide selection of furnished & unfurnished in all areas of Nicosia.

NIKARIA ESTATE LTD Theo

TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET NICOSIA Loizides 22761616 / 99660050 nikaria@cablenet.com.cy

floor, fire place and bar, big kitchen with all electrical appliances and sitting room with fire place, maid’s room, floor heating, full a/c, blinds on the windows, master bedroom with en suite bathroom and shower, big bathroom for the other 3 bedrooms and extra shower in the 5th bedroom - Strovolos €2500 (H5ST10001-R), (photos in the website).

***************************** 2 BDRM flat (almost new, 4 years old) at Lycavitos with good area near University of Cyprus with fully equipment kitchen, a/c in all rooms. For info call 96530532. ***************************** MODERN 2 BDRM, first floor flat in attractive building in Anthoupolis, very quiet area between the Grammar School and the European University, also very convenient for Pascal and Highgate Schools and the University of Nicosia. Large front veranda, all appliances, modern fittings, light and bright. Furnished or unfurnished €550p.m.

Call 99900177. ***************************** 2 ROOMS €125 each, near McDonald’s Engomi only Philippine girls. Call 99663927. ***************************** FOR RENT 3 B/R apartment fully furnished close to Central Bank.

3 W.C., fully air-conditioned extra storeroom, owned covered parking. Excellent condition. Information: Tel. 99621554 ***************************** 3 BEDROOMS flat on second floor in a block of six flats, in a nice position at Strovolos area, fully a/c, c/h, covered parking place for one car, recently painted. Rent €650pm. (furnished if required). Tel: 97773358. ***************************** LUXURY HOUSES: 1. 5 bedrs detached house, 550sq.m, built in 2 big plots of land, big garden with grass, big swimming pool with extra fence for children and big covered patio with bbq area, big reception areas with marble

2.

3 bedrs luxury terraced house,210sq.m,central heating, full a/c, marble floor in the sitting areas and solid parquet floor the stairs and bedrooms,4 wc,3 bathrooms the 2 en suite ,big verandas, electrical appliances in the kitchen,3 covered parking, roof garden access, in a quiet neighbourhood on Mon Parnas hill – Engomi €800 (photos in the website).

3. 2 bedr fully renovated semi de-

TO LET NICOSIA tached house 120 sq. m, a/c for hot and cold, small yard, FULLY FURNSIHED or not, double glazed windows with aluminum shutters, in a quiet area off Nikis behind Burger King - ACROPOLIS €600 (H2ACS0001-R), (photos in the website).

4. 3 bedr luxury semi-detached house with character, 200sq.m, central heating, full ac, sitting and dining room with fire place, big kitchen with cooker and oven, dishwasher and refrigerator, nice mature garden with flowers, trees and small garden with grass, covered parking, 3wc, 2 bathrooms in a quiet neighborhood. Available middle of January. Agios Andreas - €1200 - H3AAD0001-R (photos in website).

5. 3 bedr luxury detached house, 200sq.m, central heating, full a/c, 3wc, blinds and curtains,

TO LET NICOSIA open plan kitchen with cooker, oven and dishwasher, veranda with bbq, good size garden, covered parking, storage room, alarm system, in a quiet area – Archangellos €1100 (photos in the website).

6. 3 bedr+big attic room with shower and wc luxury new house, 210sq.m, central heating, full a/c, 4wc, blinds on all windows, cooker and oven in the kitchen, small garden, covered parking near Alpha Mega supermarket - STROVOLOS €1100 (H4ST10007-R), (photos in the website).

7. 3 bedr detached ground floor house with separate maid’s room, with very big garden with grass(200sq.m) and covered patio with bbq and bar, central heating, full a/c, 180sq.m, FULLY FURNISHED or NOT, 2 covered parking, storage room, in a

TO LET NICOSIA very quiet neighborhood opposite Acropolis park - Acropolis €1000 - H3ACS0004-R (photos in website).

8. 4 bedr very big luxury semi detached house 350sq.m, with big separate basement 80sq.m with 2 rooms, sitting room, kitchen and bathroom. Consists of big sitting and dining areas upstairs, big kitchen with big family room and breakfast area, big bedrooms, 3 showers, 1 bathroom, central heating, full a/c, black out blinds on all windows, cooker and oven in the kitchen, covered parking and patio with bbq in a very quiet neighbourhood close to Makarios foorball stadium. Available END of February - Makedonitissa €1500.

9. 4 bedr new luxury detached house build in a big plot of land, central heating, full a/c, 2 bedrs with en suite shower, 4 wc, bathroom

27 SUNDAY MAIL • January 20, 2013

TO LET NICOSIA with jacuzzi, big open space sitting and dining areas, 330sq.m, big swimming pool 5x10, big garden with grass, big covered patio with bbq area, roller blinds and curtains on all the windows, electrical appliances in kitchen, covered parking, in a quiet neighbourhood off Tseriou avenue. AVAILABLE end of February –Strovolos €1800 (photos in the website).

10. 4 bedr semi detached house with central heating, 4 a/c, 3 wc, 2 bathrooms, 180sq.m, electrical appliances, small yard, bbq area, off Kostantinoupoleos street near French ambassador residence.- STROVOLOS €700 (H4ST10043-R), (photos in the website).

11. 4 bedr new luxury finished detached house with central heating independent, full a/c, 3wc, 2 bathrooms, big kitchen with cooker oven, dishwasher and big family room, aluminum shutters in all the house, separate big sitting and dining room with parquet floor, 2 covered parking, alarm system, big covered patio, SWIMMING POOL, in a newly built area near Falcon

Advertiser TO LET NICOSIA

school – Strovolos €2000 (photos in the website).

12. 4 bedr luxury detached house, 350sq.m,central heating, full ac, big garden with fruit trees, grass and swimming pool 6 X 12,2 covered parking, electrical appliances in the kitchen, 4 years old in a very quiet area 25 min from the centre – DEYTERA €2000 – H4DEF0001-R (photos in website).

13. 3 bedr ground floor house with big separate 80sq,m room with shower and wc for multi use, central heating independent, full a/c, 2wc, 2 shower,1 bathroom, fully furnished, small garden, bbq area, parking, on a small building in a very quiet area near Agios Vasilios church.

Strovolos - €900 - H4ST10028-R (photos in website).

14. 4 bedr new luxury finished top quality detached house, 290sq.m, central heating, full a/c, master bedroom with en suite shower/jacuzzi, guest bedroom with shower, main bathroom with jacuzzi, 4w , fully expensive furnished with LCD televisions (all furniture and ap-

TO LET NICOSIA TO LET 3 bedroom house situated on a dead end street next to a small quiet park near Falcon School. Has an En-suite master room, large study room, central heating, a/c and fire place in the living room.

For enquiries tel 99660758

TO LET NICOSIA pliances cost 100,000 EURO), kitchen with very expensive electrical appliances and family room, garden with grass, big covered patio with bbq area,2 covered parkings, alarm system, pressure system, in a nice quiet neighbourhood - Strovolos €2000 (photos in the website).

For many more properties with photos visit our website at www.landtouristestates.com which is updated daily. LANDTOURIST ESTATES LTD 22422225/96-422225/96422226, www.landtouristestates.com

***************************** LUXURY FLATS: 1. 3 bedr luxury finished spacious floor apartment with very big sitting and dining areas with family room with fire place, solid parquet floor all throught, central heating independent, full a/c, all the bedrooms with en suite shower/bathroom, 4wc, big kitchen with all the electrical appliances, blinds on all windows, big covered veranda, covered parking, big storage room, on a small 3 storey building in a quiet

TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET NICOSIA in the kitchen, covered parking in a quiet area in a small modern building near Acropolis Park.

Dasoupolis €400 (photos in website).

neighborhood – Agios Andreas€ 1300 – A3AAD0005-R (photos in website).

2. 1 bedr spacious fully luxury renovated apartment,60sq.m, big sitting and dining room, big bedroom, fully newly modern furnished with LCD TV 32’, covered veranda, covered parking, storage heaters, full a/c, near Cyta, Laiki and Hellenic Bank headquarters – Dasoupolis €550 (photos in the website).

3.

2 bedr penthouse apartment,100sq.m + 80sq.m veranda with flowers and bbq, big sitting and dining room with big 60” TV, storage heaters, full a/v, 2 wc, en suite bathroom/ jacuzzi, roman blinds, cooker, oven, microwave, washing machine and refrigerator in the kitchen, covered parking, near Metro supermarket – Aglantzia €600 (photos in the website).

4. A1DAS0010-R, 1 bedr luxury spacious apartment with big sitting and dining room, big bathroom, big bedroom with shutters, covered veranda, storage heaters, 2a/c, cooker and oven

5. 2 bedr new modern luxury finished apartment with parquet floor, central heating independent, 2 a/c, modern kitchen with all fitted expensive electrical appliances, blinds on the windows, big covered veranda, FULLY NICELY FURNISHED, covered parking in a quiet neighborhood off Kallipoleos street – Lykavitos €650 (photos in the website).

6. 2 bedr luxury finished apartment on a small building with 4 flats only, central heating with petrol independent, full a/c, 2 bedrooms with en suite bathroom/ shower, separate guest wc, NICELY MODERN EXPENSIVE FURNISHED, big covered veranda, covered parking, storage room, in a very quiet neighbourhood very close to Junior school and the park – Agioi Omologites €800 (photos in the website).

7.

4 bedr luxury apartment,250sq.m,

floor office,

FOR SALE – JAGUAR XJ6 (2003) BLACK, TIPTRONIC, P/M/ P/W, LEATHER POWER SEATS, NAVIGATION, CD CHANGER, CLIMATE CONTROL, TV, DVD, CRUISE CONTROPARKTRONIC, ALARM ETC PRICE: €19,700 Tel. 99628928

TO LET NICOSIA maid’s room, central heating ind, full hidden wall unit a/c,2 showers, 1 bathroom, 3wc, parquet floor, big kitchen with cooker and oven, bbq on the veranda in the kitchen, big sitting area, roller blinds on all the windows, alarm system, big veranda on a small building off Athalasas avenue near Alpha Mega supermarket and Areteion hospital – Dasoupolis - € 1100 - A4DAS0002-R (photos in website).

8. A1ACS0007- R, 1 bedr luxury spacious apartment with 2 a/c for hot and cold, electrical appliances in the kitchen, big bedroom, covered veranda, blinds, covered parking, in a quiet area near Acropolis park. NICELY FURNISHED. Acropolis €450 (photos in website).

9. New top quality 2 bedr apartment, 93sq.m+20sq.m veranda, on a small modern building with 6 flats only. Central heating independent, full a/c, 2 bathrooms, 2wc, fully fitted kitchen with all the electrical appliances, water pressure system roller blinds and shutters on windows, big sitting and dining room, big bedrooms, covered parking and storage room, in a quiet neibourhood near Akropolis park. AVAILABLE middle of February – Acropolis €850 (photos in the website).

10. 2 bedr luxury apartment with 3 a/c for hot and cold, big covered veranda, covered parking and storage room, NICELY FURNISHED, near Acropoli park behind Tseriotis showroom – ACROPOLIS - €450 – A2ACS0033-R (photos in website).

11. 3 bedr luxury spacious ground floor apartment with separate entrance, big verandas and gar-

28 January 20, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Advertiser TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET NICOSIA

den, big sitting and dining room, central heating independent, full a/c, 2wc, very big master bedroom, electrical appliances in the kitchen, aluminum shutters on windows, parquet laminate floor all the flat, covered parking, storage room, in a very quiet neighbourhood in a dead end street, off Athalasas Avenue behind Stephanis near English School €650 (A3ST10030-R), (photos in the website).

12. 2 bedr luxury apartment with central heating independent, full a/c, electrical appliances in the kitchen, blinds, big covered veranda, in a small 2 storey building in a quiet area behind Tymvos – MAKEDONITISSA - € 500 – A2MAK0008-R (photos in website).

13. 3 bedr luxury apartment with central heating independent, full a/c, 2 bathrooms, parquet floor, big sitting and dining area, big covered veranda, covered parking, storage room, blinds, shutters in the bedrooms, big kitchen with all expensive electrical appliances, off Makarios avenue near the centre – Nicosia Centre€ 800 – A3NIC0025-R (photos in website).

14. 3 bedr spacious luxury finished apartment 150sq.m+30sq.m covered veranda, central heating independent with petrol,full wall a/c units, solid parquet floor, expensive electrical appliances in the kitchen, 3wc, curtains and blinds on windows, 3 COVERED PARKING,storage room, near Pizza Hut in Strovolos €1100 (photos in the website).

15. 2 bedrs new luxury apartment, sitting room open plan with kitchen which includes cooker, oven, refrigerator and washing machine, 2 wc, central heating, full

AC, blinds on the windows, very big covered verandas, covered parking and storage room in a dead end off Athalassas avenue near Laiki popular bank and Hellenic bank headquarters. - DASOUPOLI €500 (A2DAS0006-R), (photos in the website).

16. 3 bedr new luxury ground floor apartment, with separate big TV room or guest room, 225sq.m, big kitchen with all the electrical appliances and breakfast area, 4 bathrooms, 4 wc, 2 bedrs with en suite bathroom, floor heating independent, full a/c, blinds on all the windows, marble and parquet floor, big veranda with bbq, small garden, closed 2 covered parking with remote control, in a very quiet area very close to Junior school and 50 metres from the park. FULLY NICELY FURNISHED – Agioi Omologites €1200 (photos in the website).

For many more properties with photos visit our website at www.landtouristestates.com which is updated daily. LANDTOURIST ESTATES LTD 22422225 / 96-422225 / 96422226 www.landtouristestates.com

***************************** 2 BDRM flat in the centre of Nicosia. Rent €450. For information call 99453663, 99663927.

TO LET LIMASSOL ing water consumption, electricity and refuge collection. Mob: 96381524(cy) Mob (UK) 0044 7714400279.

***************************** GROUND FLOOR HOUSE, furnished renovated this year. Laminated parke floor, and big wardrobes in the 3 bedrooms. Rent €590.00 Tel 99497576 99886775 *****************************

LARNACA BEAUTIFUL HOUSE FOR RENT, 4 bdrms, kitchen, lounge, 3 bathrooms, a/c units, central heating. €650 per month, new hospital area, Larnaca. Telephone: 99478749. ***************************** 1. Superior Real Estate Larnaca.

Town centre, fully furnished one bedroom apartment available for immediate occupation. Ref. TLL341. Tel 24815926 2. Superior Real Estate Larnaca.

Stunning two bedroom fully furnished apartment in Oroklini.

Ref. TLL1574 Please call to arrange a viewing Tel. 24815926 3.

*****************************

LIMASSOL ***************************** PROPERTY TO LET - A 2 bdrm furnished flat in Yermasoyia (close to Miramare Hotel) and 20 yds from the beach. It consist of 55sq.mtrs of balcony, private access and swimming pool €550/month (ono) exclud-

www.SuperiorRealEstateLarnaca.com – LARGE RANGE OF RENTAL PROPERTIES. From studio apartments to 5 bedroom villas for rent, all properties have detailed descriptions, professional photographs. Interactive Virtual/Video Tours. Please visit our website. www.SuperiorRealEstateLarnaca.com

4.

www.SuperiorRealEstateLarnaca.com. License No. 419.

LANDLORDS AVERTISE YOUR PROPERTY WITH US FOR FREE. Tel. 24815926 Email. info@superiorrealestatelarnaca.com *****************************

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TO LET LARNACA 2 BDRM ground floor semi-furnished in Larnaca, Dhekelia road opposite Marine club 30 metre from the beach €450. Stavrinos Real Estate R.B. 497 L/N 166/E Phone: 99666703 email yemo@ cytanet.com.cy FLAT IN CENTRAL LARNACA, Stasinou St, f/f, a/c, one bedroom, Off street car parking.

Foinikoudes, Zenonos Kiteos shops 200 metres. Rent €350 p/m. Tel: 24 815104/9939 5954 2 BEDROOM NICOLADES SEA VIEW CITY BLOCK, a/c’s in all rooms, private parking, sea view, walking distance to everything, can be used for office or residential. €750, minimum 12 months contract. 99320077 Larnaca FOR RENT 2 bed, 2 bath, new built apartment, in a quiet scenic location In Alethriko, Larnaca 5 min. to Larnaka, 5 min. to the beach Fully furnished, A/C, communal pool, under covered parking, Long term rent, €350.00 per month For more info pls call 99639378 FULLY FURNISHED one bedroom flat near Larco hotel Larnaca.

Price €370. Tel: 99202543

PAPHOS ONLY €225/MONTH! Two bedroom unfurnished, freshly renovated flat in Geroskipou. Spacious, plus many extras: large backyard for bbq/entertaining

TO LET PAPHOS and new pergola, private covered parking, storage area, covered verandah, a/c, new curtains, quiet complex. Close to Geroskipou square and short walk to beach.

Probably best rental bargain on the market! Please call: 26910322, 99-347502.

***************************** PAPHOS RENTALS SECTION TREMITHOUSA - Very sought after Village location, Modern 2Bedroom Townhouse, F/F to a high standard, Lovely Communal Pool, set within a very small complex, Quiet Location, Uninterrupted, Sea views, parking, Early viewing highly recommended, 400 Euros PAPHOS - Very large 3 Bedroom Apt, Fully Furnished to a very high standard, Would suit 3 Professionals sharing, Within close proximity to Hospital and Court, Central Heating, 2 Bathrooms, Laundry, 350 Euros.

TALA - Luxurious 3/4 Bedroom Villas, F/F to a very high standard,2 bathrooms,2 en-suites, own swimming pools, landscaped Gardens with Spectacular Sea views, 700 Euros.

EMPA - Immaculate, Spacious 2 Bedroom, U/F, Corner House, Large kitchen, Patio, Quiet location, Must be seen, 300 Euros URGENTLY WANTED – Bungalows 2/3 Bedrooms MORE PROPERTIES AVAILABLE FOR INFORMATION PLEASE CALL 99862922

TO LET PAPHOS ***************************** GREAT VALUE STUDIO FLAT FOR RENT - large modern studio flat in small residential block, in central Paphos, 5 minutes from town centre, 2 minutes from motorway, and 10 minutes from Kato Paphos. Separate Living area/kitchen and bedroom. and shower room. Fully furnished (washing machine etc.) and air conditioning. Covered veranda, and undercover designated parking. Only €215/month inc. Communal charges. Phone 99-310481. ***************************** MR RENT PAPHOS, THE LEADING PROPERTY RENTAL AGENCY IN PAPHOS OFFICE: 26271858 (00357) IF YOU HAVE A PROPERTY TO RENT PAPHOS LONDON TRAINED HAIRDRESSER **SPECIAL OFFERS** *Free Cut & Blowdry (worth €25) with any Colour Service* *Gents Cut & Style 8 euro* Claim your reward by simply quoting ‘Cyprus Mail’ (valid until 28th Feb ‛13) VENUS BEACH HAIR SALON Find us -1 Venus Beach Hotel, Tomb of Kings.

Call Michelle: 99760543 or 26949200 (ext 350) Visit: facebook.com/VenusBeach HotelHairSalon for more info.

29 SUNDAY MAIL • January 20, 2013

TO LET PAPHOS WE ARE THE RENTAL AGENCY TO CONTACT OFFERING FULL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT & RENT COLLECTION SERVICE 1. UNIVERSAL AREA €400 spacious 2 bedroom 2 bathroom ground floor apartment, master with ensuite. Situated on small, peaceful complex with communal pool. Fully furnished with modern furniture including plasma TV & satellite. Allocated off street parking. Good-sized enclosed patio with barbeque. website reference number: RTL_645 2. PEYIA €450 brand new modern 2 bedroom townhouse situated on a quiet complex. Master with ensuite, family bathroom & downstairs guest wc. Fully furnished with modern furniture including fly screens & plasma TV. Enclosed rear garden. Private undercover parking & storage space. Pets allowed at owners’ discretion. website reference number: RTL_658 3. ANARITA €500 modern detached 3 bedroom villa, master with ensuite shower room, family bathroom & downstairs guest wc. Modern fitted kitchen with appliances if required. Enclosed garden with private pool. Available unfurnished. Pets allowed at owners’ discretion. website reference number: RTL_659 4. KISSONERGA €550 modern detached 3 bedroom villa situated in a quiet residential area.

Master bedroom with ensuite, separate kitchen, downstairs guest wc. Enclosed garden offering private pool & off street parking. Available unfurnished though can include kitchen appliances. Pets allowed at owners’ discretion. website refer-

Advertiser TO LET PAPHOS

ence number: rtl_501 5. TALA €725 modern 3 bedroom detached villa located in a peaceful residential area between Tala & Kamaras offering sea & mountain views. Separate kitchen with top brand appliances inc dishwasher. Includes central heating, flyscreens & sky satellite.

Private pool & enclosed garden with storage. Available unfurnished or furnished. website reference number: RTL_566 6. CHLORAKA €750 modern detached 4 bedroom 3 bathroom villa with ground floor bedroom & bathroom.

Beautifully furnished with good quality modern furniture includes sky satellite, fly screens & feature fireplace with modern gas fire. Private pool offering views of the sea. Off street parking. Situated within walking distance of bus routes & shops. website reference number: RTL_611 7. MESOGI €800 modern detached 4 bedroom villa, master with ensuite, family bathroom & downstairs guest wc. Available unfurnished with gas central heating. Enclosed garden with private pool offering sea views.

Pets allowed at owners’ discretion.

8. TALA €900 a charming detached 4 bedroom villa with character, situated on a corner plot in a quiet residential area with breathtaking sea views. Spacious living rooms with central heating & real fireplace. Separate kitchen & dining room.

Good-sized garden offering private pool and stone-built barbeque area.

Undercover parking. Available fully furnished. website reference number: RTL_638

TO LET PAPHOS Tel: 97790883 office: 26271858 visit our website for many more properties www.mrrentpaphos.net email: info@mrrent-paphos.net

unfurnished, gas central heating, large verandas, lovely mountain views, very quiet and tranquil area, €500 per month o.n.o. Call: 99479006

****************************** EMBA, 3 bedroom detached house, with attached separate one bedroom apartment, large garden, mountain and sea views, unfurnished, €600 p/m o.n.o – agents welcome, call : 99683379

PAPHOS / PEYIA VILLA, villa for rent in Peyia, 4 bedroom, 4 bathrooms, large sitting-dining area, fully airconditioned and heated, unfurnished, panoramic views, large parking, low rent contact: 99490953, 26815534

****************************** LONG TERM RENTALS 1. Geroskipou A large 2 bed apartment with large balcony facing the sea, fully furnished, covered parking, a/c €345 pcm 2. Tala 2 bed fully furnished apartment. Stunning sea views, large balcony, well kept gardens, communal pool, and quiet area. €350 pcm 3. Peyia Large 3 or 4 bed detached villas, secluded position, large private pool, a/c, and parking. Unfurnished or furnished.

Very nice, well worth seeing. €650pcm & €750pcm 4. Kato Paphos Furnished 1 bedroom apartment, a/c, private parking, well kept garden, communal swimming pool, large balcony with sea view. From €300 pcm REDUCED THIS IS JUST A SMALL SELECTION OF PROPERTIES THAT ARE AVAILABLE. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THESE AND MANY MORE PLEASE CALL EITHER 96 545 174 OR E-MAIL ON info@unique-consultancy.eu LANDLORDS; WE NEED YOUR PROPERTIES NOW. PLEASE CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY IF YOU HAVE A PROPERTY FOR RENT. ******************************

****************************** FOR RENT A selection of 1 to 5 bedroom houses & apartments F/F & U/F Universal, Peyia, Tomb of the Kings, Tsada, Timi, Chlorakas & Kato Paphos Landlord & Owners please call 99329357 Or please view at are website www.cyprussands. com Fully Registered Company in Cyprus

FOR SALE Semi-detached house in Archangelos area split level on a hill, no houses in front, 3 big bedrooms, 2 big bathrooms and TV room big lounge & dining area, fireplace, fitted kitchen, 40 sq.m. store room, C/H, A/C, solar.

For information call: 99496541

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

APHRODITE HILLS - Villa share at this amazing resort? Now available for discerning people, luxury double rooms, each with own en suite and heating unit and plus of large lounge/dining/kitchen area, external patios, gardens and swimming pool. Fully furnished and equipped €800pm plus share of running expenses, min period 6 months or yearly contract renewal. To enquire (or view from January 2013) ring 99178141. A chance not to be missed! ****************************** KILI – PAPHOS, 3 bedroom villa, with swimming pool and garden,

CATERING EQUIPMENT: • 2 stand up freezers

AIDS Advisory Bureau ................................ 22-302826

• chafing trays

Domestic Violence Centre .......................................... 1440 (Emergency Centre for Victims)

• catering tables

Drug Info & Poison Control ............... 1401

• glassware, cutlery

Police Duty Officer ......... 1499 (Confidential Information)

Forest Fires ..................... 1407 Airports Larnaca ..........................77778833 Paphos ...........................77778833

****************************** FLOWRON PROPERTY RENTALS: Offering a full range of property services, the company you can TRUST. EMBA 4 bed furnished villa in a lovely location of Emba. Very private grounds, completely on its own, closed garage, kitchen, downstairs bedroom, 3 upstairs, private pool, garden. Ref: Emba €850 ANARITA 3 bedroom villa nicely furnished in a great location, walking distance to the village square, Kitchen with all appliances, granite work tops, 3 upstairs bedrooms, master en suite shower, family bathroom, flyscreens, private pool, outside barabeque area with sink Ref: 855 €600 SECRET VALLEY 3 bed Bungalow furnished to a very modern standard, fully furnished, 3 bedrooms, en-suite in 2 of the bedrooms, private pool, easy maintenance gardens, nice valley views: Ref 1017 €800 CHLORAKA A large modern furnished Town House, furnished to a very high standard, downstairs bedroom, 3 upstairs, en suites, bathroom, private pool, decking, fanastic sea views Ref: 806 €850 TALA A modern part furnished 3 bed Villa with amazing views, private pool. This property has an elegant design, with quality interior fittings,Italian kitchen, 3 upstairs bedrooms with master en suite central heating, AC, private pool, flyscreens Ref: 988 €750 SECRET VALLEY 3 bed villa nicely furnished, 3 upstairs bedrooms, AC, easy manageble gardens, private pool, off street parking.

Ref 1035 €700 TSADA Large 5 bedroom villa furnished, top quality fixtures and furnitures, fire place, central heating, AC, downstairs bed-

FOR SALE – PAPHOS

Narcotics Helpline ......... 1410 (Outside hours.............. 22304160)

Cyprus Samaritans ... 77777267

TO LET PAPHOS

• industrial oven • thermo boxes • tablecloths with frills • All in excellent condition at reduced prices

please call : 99532841

TO LET PAPHOS room, kitchen, utillity room, 4 bedrooms upstairs, large living areas, closed garage, private pool, peaceful location, near to the Tsada golf area. Ref: 955 €1400 CHLORAKA 3 bedroom ground house offered unfurnished, large rooms, fire place, AC, in residential area, nice location, walking distance to shops. Ref 1196 €350 Please call for a free viewing on Office 26600450 Mobile: 97614070 many more properties on our website at www. flowron.com - Your Vision is our Mission LANDLORDS IF YOU HAVE A PROPERTY FOR RENT, PLEASE CALL US!!!!!! ***************************** PEYIA – 3 bedroom villa with modern quality furniture and finishes. Central heating, sky, alarm, infinity pool and stunnning sea and mountain views €700 per month, call: 99389426 BRAND NEW APT, opposite Poseidonio Gym, near Carrefour, F/F, a/c, great quality, 1 bdrm, from €340p.m.Tel 99403261

***************************** RENTAL POINT - PAPHOS PROPERTIES AVAILABLE TO RENT IN THE PAPHOS DISTRICT. JUST A SMALL SAMPLE OF AVAILABLE PROPERTIES. ALL TYPES OF PROPERTY URGENTLY REQUIRED FOR LONG TERM RENTAL. CALL 97648440 FOR MORE INFORMATION. LANDLORDS CALL IF YOU HAVE A PROPERTY FOR RENT.!!!

1. MESA CHORIO – 2 bed 2 bath fully furnished ground floor apartment set on an elevated position on this prestigious development. Open plan living area.

Good sized kitchen. 2 double, bedrooms, master with en-suite shower room. Family bathroom.

Large patio areas with enclosed gardens and lovely sea views.

Covered parking and security gates.. Comm swimming pool. €425.00 or near offer 2 EMBA 3 bed 2 bath unfurnished villa in handy location close to the shopping areas. Property also has separate 1 bed apartment on the lower level. Large open plan living area and dining area. Fully fitted dining/kitchen with appliances . Guest WC. 3 double bedrooms one with ensuite. Family bathroom. Separate 1 bed apartment on lower level.

Perfect for dual living. Small garden & and parking. €550.00 a month.

3. GIOLOU – 5 bed unfurnished villa consisting of 3 bed, 2 bath main house (bungalow) with self contained 2 bed apartment with own entrance. Main house, open plan living area, beamed ceilings with feature fireplace. Dining space and kitchen. 3 bedrooms, master with en-suite and family bathroom. Covered balcony with sea and rural views, swimming pool and garden areas.

Lower level apartment reached via the main house or separate entrance. Large open plan living area, kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms. €850.00 per month 4. TALA – 3 bed 3 bath quality furnished villa. Set in enclosed gardens the villa consists of open plan living area with dining space. Fully fitted kitchen with all appliances, door to rear garden. Storage room. Ground floor bed room with adjacent shower.

Stairs to two double bedrooms both en-suite, one with Jacuzzi tub. Small seating area with adjacent balcony. Pool and off street parking. Lnadscaped gardens €750.00 per month or close offers only 5. TRIMITHOUSA – 4 bed, 3.5 bath unfurnished villa set in quiet location. Open plan living area.

Fully fitted kitchen. Ground floor bedroom with en-suite shower.

Guest WC. Stairs to 3 more bedrooms, one with en-suite and family bathroom. Garden areas, large terraces and feature BBQ area and pergola. Private pool,

TO LET PAPHOS garage. Never been occupied.

Available 1 Feb. €725.00 per month OVNO. 6. UNIVERSAL AREA – 2 bed fully furnished apartment. Living area, fitted kitchen. 2 double bedrooms and family bathroom. A/C, Enclosed garden area. Comm pool and parking. €375.00 a month or offers. 1 & 2 bed apartments available on Universal starting at €250per month.

7. LOWER PEYIA – 3 bed, 2.5 bath part furnished villa situated in quiet cul du sac. Open plan living and dining area with doors out the to pool and garden.. Very large breakfast fitted kitchen. Doors out to garden and pool. Separate guest WC. Stairs to 3 double bedrooms.

Master bedroom very large with en-suite shower. Family bathroom. Private pool, gardens, shutters. €550.00 per month or close offers only.

8. STROUMBI – 3 bed 2.5 bath large unfurnished villa in quiet village area. Spacious open plan living area with feature fireplace and dining space Good sized fitted kitchen and breakfast area. Guest WC with storage area.3 double bedrooms.

Master with en-suite bathroom.

Family bathroom. Enclosed gardens, pool and off street parking. Realistically priced €550.00 per month. OVNO FOR FULL LISTINGS OF APARTMENTS/TOWNHOUSES 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.

PROPERTY FOR SALE NICOSIA REDUCED, new, three bedroom luxury flat, 165sq metres, for sale. Covered verandas, underfloor heating, three baths, 4th floor with views of the Pendadactylos mountains. Centrally located, behind Gabrielides lights, €375.000. (Original selling price €433.000). If interested, please call 22768833, leave telephone and name.

PAPHOS FLAT FOR SALE 1 bdrm at Peyia village with title deeds, fully furnished. €65.000. For information call 99526562.

UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY IN LOFOS/ TALA, 2 three bedroom detached villas on large plot.

House 1 with studio flat & pool.

Both open plan with A/C, provision for C/H, BBQ, pergolas, gardens, private drives, sea/ mountain views, SEPARATE DEEDS. Available together or separately.

Tel: 96718163/ 96366419 Price: €399,000 & €299,000

PROTARAS 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. *****************************

30 January 20, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Advertiser FOR PAPHIAKOS ANIMAL WELFARE SOS HELPLINE, 24 HOUR MEDICAL EMERGENCY SERVICE - CALL 99655581 CONTACT DETAILS FOR PAPHIAKOS. Paphiakos & C.C.P. Animal Welfare Education/Information Centre, No. 12 Dedalos Building, 8049 Kato Paphos PO Box 61272 8132 Kato Paphos Web. www.cyprusanimalwelfare.com www.facebook/paphiakos Email info@cyprusanimalwelfare.com Larnaca Emergency Service - The contact point for animal emergencies in Larnaca is Maria at the Paphiakos Animal Welfare Charity Shop, telephone 24623494 or 99325897 STOP, SHOP AND GIVE TO THE ANIMALS! ALL DONATIONS ARE WELCOME AT OUR CHARITY SHOPS! PAPHIAKOS & C.C.P. ANIMAL WELFARE Registered Charity No 1529 Contact our shops and we can take your clutter The Charity Shops are located at: Shop No.1 Agapinoros Street, Kato Paphos Tel 26910325 Shop No.2 Ap Pavlou Avenue, Kato Paphos Tel 26942894 Shop No.3 Gr. Afxentiou Avensia Court 3 Larnaca 24623494 Shop No.4 9 Ayiou Ioanni Street 3061 Limassol 25561695 Peyia Information Centre & Shop & T Rooms 26622828 Polis Information Centre & Shop & T Rooms 99223572 Book Exchange Shop Trimithousa 99771763 Our shops are always happy to receive your unwanted goods!

NOW YOU CAN HELP BY COLLECTING YOUR ALUMINIUM CANS AND HANDING THEM IN AT ANY PAPHIAKOS CHARITY SHOP OR THE CLINIC. SAVE AN ANIMAL AND SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT!!

PAPHIAKOS CAR BOOT SALE EVERY SATURDAY at the Ambassador Restaurant and outside in the grounds at Paphiakos. Free parking. Sellers from 7am, buyers from 8am. For information & bookings please call MIKE on 96702600.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS FOR PAPHIAKOS CHARITY NO. 1529 WORLD ANIMAL DAY. On Thursday October 4th Paphiakos will be micro chipping pets for only €20 including all the paperwork. For further information telephone 26953496.

To celebrate World Animal Day on Thursday October 4th Paphiakos will be offering free spaying/neutering for all feral and unwanted animals as they do throughout the year. Contact 26953496 for further details.

PAPHIAKOS SHELTER OPEN DAY The Open Day will be held on Sunday October 7th between 10am and 3pm. It will be a Family Fun Day out with a lot of different activities. There is car parking, toilets and refreshments on site so enjoy and join in the celebration of animals and what they bring to our lives. Entrance is €2 CHARITY HAIR CUT. On Thursday 4th October 09.30-17.30 without an appointment Andri at Atlantic Bay Hotel (2nd Floor) will be charging €5 for a haircut with all proceeds going to Paphiakos. Telephone Suzanne on 99151996 or Andri on 99604783.

PAPHIAKOS CHRISTMAS BAZAAR. Saturday November 24th 9am – 3pm at the Crazy Spoon Restaurant. For further details contact 99151996. Stalls, Santa’s Grotto, Donkey Rides, Pirate Pat and many more.

CHEMISTS NICOSIA SUNDAY 20/01/2013 A. Eracleous, 12 D. Akrita St. Tel: 22433480, 22332622 (H) K. Savvides, 4 Ifigeneias St, Akropolis Tel: 22495463, 22340305 (H) K. M. Leonidou, 177 Makarios Ave, Kato Lakatameia. Tel: 22383566, 22358486 (H) M. Gregoriou, 65C D Prodromou St,Strovolos. Tel: 22664750, 22354282 L. Socratous, 24C Peraios St, Strovolos. Tel: 22422279, 22321828 (H) LIMASSOL M. Pahoumis, 56 Ay Filaxeos St. Tel: 25374449, 25721781 (H) A. Papachristodoulou, corner Gropious & V. Constantinou St. Tel: 25338363, 25346494 (H) N. Leonidou 60 Kolonakiou Ayios Athanasios Tel. 25327766, 25727942 (H) LARNACA P. Christoforou, 1 Glastonos St, Tel: 24652702, 24360054 (H) A. D. Koulouma, 16A Larnaca. Limassol Rd. Tel: 24642333, 24661155 (H) PAPHOS S. Varnavidou, 62B N. Nicolaides Ave. Tel: 26943424, 26949727, (H) PARALIMNI P. Yiallourou, 173 1st April St. Tel: 23825979, 23744771 (H)

NICOSIA MONDAY 21/01/2013 G. Ktena, 14 Spyrou Kyprianou Ave. Tel: 22760951, 22492381 (H) Y. Toumba, 86C Athalassa & Dorion Ave, Strovolos. Tel: 22313677, 22499681 (H) Ch. Nicolaou, 145 Kyrenia Ave, Anglanja. Tel: 22335477, 22450313 (H) E. Korfiati, 31 Kantaras, Tel: 22324205, 22354014 E. Kontopoullou, 36, Grigorni Afxentiou, Tel: 22770150, 97627448 LIMASSOL E. Constantinidou 15 Makedonias K. Polemithia Tel: 25387225, 25736114 E. L. Petrakis, 135 Makarios Ave. Tel: 25730050, 25755516 (H) A. Koupepas 37B Anikodomiseos Ayios Athanasios Tel: 25724545, 25322840 (H) LARNACA P. Apostolides, 20 K. Lysiotis St. Tel: 24627213, 24423271 (H) N. Aspri, Artemidos Ave. Tel: 24624928, 24622102 (H) PAPHOS M. Eliadou, corner Anexartisias and Eptanisou. Tel: 26941100, 26944544 PARALIMNI I. Pittatzis, 7 Ay. Georgiou St. Tel: 23822577, 23827058 (H)

SATURDAY SERVICES NICOSIA St Paul’s Church Hall, Byron Ave LIMASSOL ‘Meeting Point’, 193A Christodoulou H’pavlou, opp Molos Park on beach rd BIBLE STUDY FOR ADULTS & CHILDREN 10.00 am Nicosia • 10.30 am Limassol FAMILY WORSHIP SERVICE 11.30 am Nicosia • 11.45 am Limassol Pastor: Branislav Mirilov 96702349 Info: Nsia 96207014 • Lsol 99322614 www.adventist.org | www.hopetv.org

DOCTORS ON DUTY NICOSIA Pathologist: Silvia Lazaridou, Tel: 99917333 Ophthalmologist: Antonis Glikeriou, Tel: 70000171 Gynaeocologist: Pieris Pieri, Tel: 22339169, 22665777, 99665855 Paediatric Surgeon: Eliana Eliadou, Tel: 99384324 LIMASSOL Pathologist: Savvas Ioannou: Tel.: 25372003, 99070777 Surgeon: Petrovits Elias, Tel.: 25343833, 99622077 Surgeon: Marios Philippou, Tel.: 25382115.

Neuro-Surgeon: Michalakis Spirou, Tel.: 99624939 Paediatric: Andreas Pasias, Tel.: 25586144, 25753330, 99681166 Paediatric Surgeon: Georgios Hadjiconstantas, Tel.: 25730055, 25723914 Ophthalmologist: Andreas Elia, Tel.: 25725134, 25353424, 99675811 Cardiologist: Constantinos N. Kyriacou, Tel.: 99511589, 25108850 Doctor: Christos Kipri, Tel.: 99543887, 70001170

AYIA NAPA and DHERYNIA (Anglican Church in S.E Cyprus) Sunday Worship 9.30am Morning Prayer every Sunday morning at St Constantinos & Eleni Chapel, Dherynia (near Hospital in Dherynia) 11am at Scandinavian Church, off Nissi Avenue (opp Tassia Maris Hotel), Ayia Napa nd 6pm at St Constantinos & Eleni (2 week) Chaplain : Revd Simon Holloway M.A. Tel: 97 839349 www.angsecyp.org Visitors especially welcome

31 January 20, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Compiled by Rosie Ogden

Motoring

One in three would spend more for a green car ACCORDING to a Ford-sponsored survey of 6,000 people, one in three Europeans would spend more to buy an environmentally-friendly car, even though 71 per cent say they have reduced overall spending as a result of the economic recession, and 68 per cent consider fuel-efficiency when driving.

The survey also shows that 53 per cent consider climate change to be the world’s biggest issue and 57 per cent would prefer to lead a more environmentally conscious lifestyle. 60 per cent prefer to choose models from carmakers that have targeted a reduction in environmental impact.

“The survey shows that even in economically difficult times there is a

clear desire for vehicles that are more environmentally friendly,” said Barb Samardzich, vice president Product Development, Ford of Europe.”

Ford commissioned the survey to better understand the opinions and attitudes of Europeans across a range of mobility issues – from car sharing to green driving to the future of the internal combustion engine.

In 2013 Ford will introduce to Europe its first ever zero-tailpipe emissions passenger car - the Focus Electric - to be joined later by hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles The Ford Eco Mode coaching system, now also available in the Fiesta, rewards drivers for using fuel-efficient driving techniques by displaying up to

five “petals” on each of three “flowers” that represent gear-shifting, speed and anticipation. Ford customer training has found that enhanced eco-driving skills can result in 10 per cent longterm fuel savings.

“The majority of car buyers prefer fuel-efficient vehicles, even if only a minority feel they can afford to invest in one given the current economic climate,” said Andreas Ostendorf, vice president, Sustainability, Environment & Safety Engineering, Ford of Europe. “Through its ECOnetic variants and range of 1.0-litre EcoBoostequipped vehicles, Ford is providing the right balance between climate protection, social equity and customer acceptance.”

Ford commissioned the survey to better understand the attitudes of Europeans across a range of mobility issues

Insurance myths dispelled Know exactly what you are covered for WE’VE all heard the urban legends that can cloud popular opinion, and there are plenty in the world of motor insurance. So read on, and be prepared for some nasty shocks as we dispel the myths, amend the misconceptions and clear up the confusion.

What you learn may well lead you to think again about your insurance and have you diving for cover of a different kind.

If you think any of the following affects your cover, check with your insurance agent - some cases may be different, but it’s worth knowing exactly what you are covered for.

Myth 1: I can drive other people’s cars on my insurance You might think so but it’s not that simple. Many policies give extensions that cover the insured whilst he/ she is driving other cars.

However, they are usually littered with restrictions.

The main one is that the cover given is Third Party Only, regardless of whether your own policy is Comprehensive. And this only applies if the other car has its own insurance. So if you take your parents’ car for a spin and have a crash it isn’t covered - even if it is insured - only any damage to a third party you might cause in the accident. And it’s important to realise that a ‘driving other cars’ extension only applies to private vehicles, and is often unavailable to drivers under 25.

If you want to drive another person’s car, the best solution is to get yourself added to their policy as a named driver. You can do this on a day/week/month/year basis to suit the situation.

Myth 2: It’s cheaper to insure my vehicle under my parents’ name NO! It’s a popular miscon-

What you learn may well lead you to think again about your insurance and have you diving for cover of a different kind ception and often used by young people who get their parents to insure the vehicle with them as named drivers.

Insurers call this ‘fronting’, i.e. where a high risk tries to hide behind a lower one, and although possible to do, there are nearly always problems if a claim is made.

Insurers regard fronting as a form of fraud: they consider they are being denied an accurate premium for the real risk involved. As a result, young people who try and get insurance quotes under their parents’ name will usually find little difference in the premium, as insurers nearly always base their rate on the risk posed by the worst driver on the policy.

Far better to bite the bullet and take out insurance in your own name. It won’t ac-

tually be much more expensive and it will start to earn you the valuable No Claims Bonus that can reduce your premium by up to one third after the first year.

Myth 3: Insurance becomes much cheaper when I reach 25 Not so. The biggest reduction in premium is when you reach 21-- research shows that a motorist can expect a premium reduction in the region of 30% at that age.

REDUCED PREMIUM Your premium will continue to reduce as you get older but at a much lower rate (less so after reaching 25). And if you took out your first policy aged 20 and had one year’s No Claims Bonus by age 21, the premium reduction is 45% on average.

That’s a saving well worth making.

Myth 4: The car is insured, therefore so is the monster sound system I put in it It isn’t. Most policies make only a small provision for the in-car stereo - basically to cover the system that came with the car - or a minor upgrade. If you have spent a lot of money on the latest sounds around and your system is worth more than the policy limit, you will lose out on a claim. You need to take out a separate policy and pay an additional premium to cover the sound system.

Myth 5: Modifications do not affect insurance premiums Wrong! Even basic changes and modifications to a car, like fitting non-standard alloy wheels or a rear spoiler

will make getting insurance more difficult and could increase premiums by up to 25%. And if you attempt to make your car look better than it is, you increase the risk of theft. So expect to pay much higher premiums, even if the performance of the vehicle is unchanged.

Most importantly, tell your insurer about any modifications, even minor changes.

If you don’t and you make a claim you could find the policy is declared null and void and you will lose everything.

Myth 6: I have 15 days grace on insurance renewals You don’t. You cannot rely on a period of grace after your insurance has expired, especially if you have not told your insurance company you intend to renew your

policy with them.

Importantly, claims of having a grace period will not be accepted by the police as proof of insurance if you are stopped during this period you could be prosecuted for not having insurance. Also, any cover that is in force will only comply with the Road Traffic Act minimum: this means only a third party will be covered - not you or your vehicle.

These are only a few of the most common myths surrounding motor insurance.

There are others, so the best advice is: if in doubt check the facts with your insurer.

Ask questions, be honest, and accept that what you want may come at a price.

Only you can decide if you want to pay it, but at least you now know what some of the limitations are.

32 January 20, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Sport Harbaugh brothers trying again for Super Bowl first NFL title game could be a family affair

By Julian Linden

By Larry Fine

IN BRIEF

A YEAR after becoming the first brothers to face each other as NFL head coaches, John and Jim Harbaugh are once again one win away from taking their sibling rivalry to new heights in the Super Bowl.

John’s Baltimore Ravens play the New England Patriots for the AFC title while Jim’s San Francisco 49ers play Atlanta for the NFC crown and wins by each would turn the Super Bowl into a family affair.

The Ravens coach has already made his weekly phone call to the 49ers coach, this time touching on the explosiveness of the Patriots, who were beaten 41-34 by San Francisco at Gillette Stadium last month after coming back from a 28-point deficit.

“We have a little bit,” John Harbaugh told reporters at a news conference this week when asked about discussing New England. “We probably will some more.”

Details were not made available under the cloak of family secrets.

“I can’t tell you,” John Harbaugh said. “He has so much respect for them. In all honestly, what is there to say? There’s nothing really that they have that we don’t have.

“There aren’t any revelations there. Tough place to play - great, great team. You get a lead, it’s going to be tough to hold onto it. I think

Lifetime ban is ‘death penalty,’ claims Armstrong

Sibling rivalry: John’s (right) Baltimore Ravens play the New England Patriots for the AFC title while Jim’s San Francisco 49ers play the Atlanta Falcons for the NFC crown we may have mentioned that once or twice,” he said with a laugh.

It is no secret that coaching is in their blood as the Harbaugh brothers grew up watching their father, Jack, operate as a football coach in a 41-year career from the high school level up through the college ranks.

John Harbaugh, the elder brother by 15 months, went straight into coaching after his days as a defensive back at Miami University (Ohio), and eventually graduated from special teams coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles into the Ravens top job.

Jim Harbaugh went from University of Michigan quarterback to a 15-year NFL career that took him from the Chicago Bears to Indianapolis, Baltimore, San Diego and Carolina.

He moved from the head coaching position at Stanford University, where he guided 2012 top NFL draft pick Andrew Luck, into the 49ers job, following a path taken by former San Francisco coach Bill Walsh.

Jim clearly picked up his unbridled energy and optimism from his father, paying tribute to him at the 2006

news conference announcing his hiring at Stanford.

“I vow I will attack this endeavour with enthusiasm unknown to mankind,” Jim Harbaugh said, echoing the parting words his father delivered to the boys each day before dropping them off at school.

Asked how his team would prepare for the Falcons and the hostile environment of the Georgia Dome, the Niners’ coach said: “We are just going to plow ahead with our focus ... and then go out and compete like maniacs.”

The brothers, who shared a bedroom for close to 18 years, remain close.

“It’s a pretty cool thing,” John said about a possible Harbaugh Bowl in New Orleans for the NFL title. I’m very proud of Jim.” Said Jim: “I’m proud of my brother and what he’s ac-

complished and proud of our guys for being in the position they’re in and ready to forge ahead.”

Jack Harbaugh and his wife, Jackie, watched their sons win their respective NFL playoff games and in an embarrassment of weekend TV riches which also saw son-in-law Tom Crean coach the University of Indiana basketball team to a win over Minnesota in their TV room in the basement of their Wisconsin home.

“He was excited,” Jim Harbaugh said about the phone chat with his father after the games.

“My parents are in their 70s. That’s a lot of excitement. That’s a lot of action.

That’s like going back-toback-to-back like three 24 episodes in a row,” he said in reference to the TV series.

“It’s not easy.”

LANCE Armstrong says he received the ‘death penalty’ for using performanceenhancing drugs and lying about it for over a decade, but the disgraced cyclist still harbours a strong desire to compete and hopes his lifetime ban will one day be lifted.

In contrast to the impassive confessions to doping Armstrong gave in the first part of his interview with US talk show host Oprah Winfrey on Thursday, Armstrong struggled with his emotions as he discussed the impact his fall had had on his family.

Eyes welling up, Armstrong, 41, recalled the moment he told his children the accusations against him were true and said the fallout from the affair had left his mother ‘a wreck’.

The most humbling moment had come when he had to stand aside from Livestrong, the cancer foundation he established, he said.

“The ultimate crime is the betrayal of these people who support me and believed in me and they got lied to,” he said.

Critics said Armstrong had shown little sign of contrition on Thursday, but in the second part of the interview aired on Friday there appeared to be genuine remorse.

The Texan conceded he deserved to be punished for years of doping that helped him win a record seven Tour de France titles.

However, he said the penalty he was given by the US AntiDoping Agency was much harsher than the sanctions dished out to other selfconfessed cheats, who were given lesser sentences for testifying against him.

“I am not saying that’s unfair, I’m saying it is different.

I deserve to be punished but I am not sure I deserve the death penalty.”

Sorry England thrashed by McIlroy needs time to bed in Ferrari put ‘dream team’ India again in one-dayer new clubs, says manager pairing on hold for now HOMETOWN hero Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit the winning runs on Ranchi’s big day as England’s batsmen floundered for the second time in a week.

The unfashionable cricketing outpost was hosting its first ever international fixture and 39,000 rapt fans saw the local boy pull Steven Finn for four to ensure a fairytale seven-wicket win.

Dhoni’s arrival at the crease came late in the game and his most telling contribution came when he won the toss and asked England to bat first, a decision that found the tourists in dire form as they slumped to 155 all out.

WORLD number one Rory McIlroy always knew it would take time to adjust to his new Nike equipment and will not be perturbed at missing the cut in the Abu Dhabi Championship, according to his manager.

McIlroy, who signed a multi-year contract with the U.S. sportswear firm on Monday that according to media reports is worth around $250 million, carded his second successive three-over 75 on Friday and failed to qualify for the final two rounds here.

“It’s going to take time,” manager Conor Ridge told reporters. “He’s got to work the clubs in gradually.”

FERRARI have ruled out a ‘dream team’ pairing of Formula One world champions Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel at least for the time being, team principal Stefano Domenicali said this week.

Vettel secured his third successive title for Red Bull last season, becoming the youngest triple champion at 25, and has dismissed speculation that he already has a pre-contract to join Alonso at Ferrari in 2014.

Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemolo said last month that Vettel was a “potential Ferrari driver for the future” but he has also spoken against having “two roosters in the same hen house.”

33 SUNDAY MAIL • January 20, 2013

Australian Open THE TWO TEENAGERS ARE TIPPED TO RISE TO THE TOP OF THE WOMEN’S GAME

Rising stars: American Sloane Stephens (left) beat Britain’s Laura Robson 7-5 6-3 yesterday in a match-up that could become the rivalry of the future

Stephens and Robson offer glimpse of burgeoning rivalry

By Simon Cambers THE Australian Open offered a glimpse of what could become the rivalry of the future as American Sloane Stephens beat Britain’s Laura Robson in a third-round battle yesterday.

The two teenagers battled it out in front of a raucous crowd, with 29th seed Stephens eventually coming through 7-5 6-3 to take her place in the last 16.

The match was played on Show Court 2, only the fourth biggest court at Melbourne Park, and Stephens said she thought the pair were destined for bigger stages soon.

“We’re turning into the FedNadal rivalry,” said Stephens,

who now plays Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia in the fourth round.

“When I saw the court, I was like, ‘wow, really, we’re on this court?’ I mean, it is what it is but I don’t think we’ll play that court ever again.”

Robson has been tipped for the top ever since she won junior Wimbledon in 2008 while Serena Williams has said that Stephens has what it takes to become the best in the world.

“Whenever we play, we have good matches so it could be a big rivalry,” she said. “It’s obviously going to take a while but the matches are good. So we’ll see.”

The American turns 20 in March while Robson, who beat eighth seed Petra Kvi-

tova in round two, is 19 next week.

The pair have known each other since their early junior days and their mothers are such close friends that they were even in touch straight after yesterday’s match.

“Right after I got off the court, my Mum texted me and she was like: ‘great job, good fight.’ And she said, Cathy says, great job and good luck in the next round.

That’s Laura’s mom.

“Laura and I are good friends.

She’s obviously a good player.

We’re going to have a rivalry, all that good stuff.”

The left-handed Robson, whose performance was affected by pain in her serving shoulder, praised the American’s performance.

“I thought Sloane played very well,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll play Sloane a lot in the future. I think after today she’s going to be top 20, so good for her.”

Stephens also beat Robson last week in the WTA event in Hobart but Robson, who did most of the attacking, said she felt like she was getting closer.

“I thought there were a fair number of long rallies today which there weren’t in Hobart, so that’s probably a good thing. I thought we both played a bit better than we did last week.”

Stephens said she was settling into life at the top level of the Tour but warned there was plenty more to come from her this year.

“Honestly I haven’t played my best tennis,” she said.

“Sometimes it’s just going to be like that. Sometimes it’s going to be ugly and you just have to work your way through.

“It hasn’t been the prettiest, but mentally it’s been beautiful.”

Robson, who made the last 16 at the US Open last September, said she had plenty to build on from her performance in Melbourne.

“Last year I lost here 6-2 6-0 first round,” she said. “It’s a massive improvement.

“There are still so many things that can be worked on but I toughed out two wins and today I thought Sloane played pretty well. So it was still a pretty good tournament.”

Flipkens flying high after life-threatening blood clots

By Simon Cambers

On the comeback trail: Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens faces mighty Maria Sharapova today in the last 16

FEW people enjoy the long flight from Europe to Australia but for one player in Melbourne, it is even worse than most.

Nine months ago, Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens stepped off a flight from Thailand and felt like her calves “were about to explode”.

Used to pain as a professional athlete, Flipkens shrugged it off and played another tournament that week, but eventually consulted a doctor, to be told she had blood clots in both legs.

“I didn’t think in the beginning about blood clots so I was still playing and

getting treatment,” world number 43 Flipkens said.

“Two days after, I was supposed to leave for Japan for the Fed Cup and the doctor told me: ‘if you step on the plane, you will probably come out of it blue’. That was the moment I was getting scared.”

On Friday, Flipkens reached the last 16 of a grand slam for the first time with a 6-2 4-6 6-3 win over Valeria Savinykh of Russia.

She will play in-form Maria Sharapova today.

Now, getting on a plane is almost like a military exercise for Flipkens. On go the compression socks to combat deep vein thrombosis and then, if the flight is longer than three hours, she has to take blood thin-

ners.

“The blood thinners are by injection, in the belly,” she said. “Once you get used to it, it’s fine but in the beginning it’s the worst.”

It was a tough time for Flipkens, whose ranking slipped from 182nd to 262nd and who was struggling to break through to the elite of the women’s game.

But things became even worse when just a couple of weeks later, the Belgian Tennis Federation decided to take away her funding because her ranking had dropped.

“I found out in April about the blood clots and at the end of April they decided not to support me anymore,” the 27-year-old said.

Federer slaps down Tomic after Del Potro upset (Continued from back page) Williams, seeking a sixth title at Melbourne Park, also wobbled a bit at 3-0 down in the second set against world number 72 Ayumi Morita after losing her serve for the first time in the tournament.

The third seed showed no discomfort from the ankle strain she sustained in the opening round, however, and stormed back to win the next six games and dismiss the Japanese 6-1 6-3.

“I feel good,” the 31-yearold American said. “I feel today was actually a really good match for me. I was involved in a lot of longer points, something I definitely wanted.”

US Open champion Murray berated himself for playing ‘nonsense’ tennis at times but eventually broke down his Lithuanian practice partner Ricardas Berankis 6-3 6-4 7-5 after a tricky 132 minutes in the Melbourne sun.

“Sometimes when you are struggling, you get very frustrated,” said the British third seed. “I need to strike the ball better. My timing was off and I was leaving a lot of balls very short and allowing him to dictate some of the points.”

Murray will next face Gilles Simon after the Frenchman beat compatriot Gael Monfils, 8-6 in a deciding fifth set in a marathon encounter.

Ninth seed Richard Gasquet’s progress was by no means smooth and he was a set and a break down before he charged back to beat Croatian Ivan Dodig 4-6 6-3 7-6 6-0.

His seventh-seeded compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had an easier day, hammering Blaz Kavcic 6-2 6-1 6-4 as the Slovenian paid the price for the nearly five hours he spent in the sweltering heat on Thursday in his secondround tie.

“We have a lot of good players,” said Chardy. “I think everybody starts to play well this year. I don’t know what is the thing. We just play good.”

Japan has also had a good tournament but Kimiko Date-Krumm’s fairytale run came to an end with a 6-2 7-6 defeat to Serbian Bojana Jovanovski, who was born two years after her 42-yearold opponent made her debut at Melbourne Park.

British third seed Andy Murray is safely through

34 January 20, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Sport Saints fans warn of protest at Adkins’ sacking

Wenger hopes his young guns can fire Arsenal

By Ossian Shine

Tough test awaits today at Stamford Bridge

By Jim van Wijk MANAGER Arsene Wenger feels Theo Walcott’s new contract means Arsenal now have the “strong nucleus” of young committed players ready to drive the club onto success once again.

Walcott, 23, joined fellow England internationals Jack Wilshere, Alex OxladeChamberlain, Kieran Gibbs and Carl Jenkinson as well as Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey in tieing his future to the Gunners after finally signing an extension, said to be worth £100,000-a-week.

Having seen the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and, last summer, Robin van Persie all move on in recent seasons, Wenger hopes Walcott can now go on to fulfil his undoubted potential at Emirates Stadium.

“Theo’s contract extension now gives us a strong nucleus of ambitious young players who have committed to the club and want to be successful with us as a group,” the Arsenal manager said.

“We are all delighted that Theo has signed a new contract.

“He joined us as a 16-year-old and since then has developed very well to become an extremely important player for both Arsenal and England.”

Walcott is Arsenal’s leading scorer this season with 14 goals, which includes two hattricks.

It had been suggested part of any new deal was subject to Arsenal meeting Walcott’s desire to be deployed more in his preferred role as a central striker.

Gunners boss Wenger, though, last week insisted there was no such clause, and that he would never agree to tactical demands from any player.

Walcott was back on the flank for the midweek FA Cup third-round replay victory over Swansea, with France international Olivier Giroud leading the attack.

Wenger is playing his cards close to his chest regarding Walcott’s involvement today when the Gunners travel to Stamford Bridge to play Chelsea.

“Theo is a strong player and also a great person, and the combination of his ability and pace always make him such a valuable asset either from the flanks or down the middle,” Wenger said.

Walcott would have been a free agent at the end of the season, and had been linked with a move away from Emirates Stadium during the January transfer window - with both Liverpool and Manchester City said to be monitoring developments.

However, the England forward stressed his desire was always to stay at Arsenal, the club he joined as a raw teenager from Southampton seven years ago.

Now his future is resolved, Walcott has targeted helping drive the Gunners on to deliver a first trophy since the 2005 FA Cup. “I have made it clear from the start that I wanted to stay at Arsenal, so I am pleased we have agreed a deal that everyone is happy with,” Walcott said.

“What is important now is for the team to realise its potential and win trophies.”

Walcott continued: “I am very happy to have signed a new contract here at Arsenal - thanks to everyone for their continued support, especially the manager, everyone at the club and most importantly the fans.”

Rafael Benitez meanwhile thinks John Terry’s return to action could give Chelsea the steel they have been lacking in recent weeks.

Chelsea’s grip on a Champions League qualification place has loosened of late thanks to a woeful run of home form which has seen the club win just one league game at Stamford Bridge since Benitez took charge in November.

Terry has been training for two weeks as he attempts to recover from knee ligament damage, and for Benitez, the 32-year-old’s return can not come soon enough.

“We have some good players. Some of them show more character,” Benitez said when asked about Terry’s comeback.

I’m here to stay: Arsenal forward Theo Walcott has ended uncertainty over his future by signing a new contract

Rooney facing battle for starting spot against Spurs

By Simon Stone

The England striker failed from the spot for the second time this season on Wednesday when he blazed over

WAYNE Rooney cannot be certain of his place in the Manchester United starting line-up against Tottenham today, let alone his status as penalty taker.

The England striker failed from the spot for the second time this season on Wednesday when he blazed a secondhalf effort over in the FA Cup win over West Ham. It led to former skipper Roy Keane claiming the responsibility would be taken away from him by manager Sir Alex Ferguson, with 21-goal Robin van Persie the most obvious replacement.

However, having only just recovered from the knee injury he sustained in training on Christmas Day, and with Ferguson aware he usually needs a few games to recover match fitness, Rooney has no guarantees about even start-

ing at White Hart Lane.

“We have to think about it,” Ferguson told MUTV of the penalty conundrum.

“I am not going to make a rash decision.

“We will see how Wayne has come through first. He will be involved at Tottenham but whether he starts or is on the bench, we have to make that decision.

“Once we do that we will know who is going to be taking the penalties.”

That sounded very much like Rooney being on the bench this weekend, as even if he played, van Persie surely will become the favoured penalty expert.

Having already won at Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City this season, United are looking to claim another notable away win.

Nothing can be taken for granted, though, because Tottenham were worthy winners at Old Trafford in

September, since when Ferguson has detected further improvement under Andre Villas-Boas, who opted not to turn his back on England despite being axed after only eight months at Chelsea.

“He had that short spell at Chelsea and could have said I will stay in Portugal because it is a bit mad in England,” said Ferguson.

“But he has taken the challenge.

“In fairness he has gone to a good club with a good history.

That has been the persuader really and he has coped well.

“He has got them playing the way he wants them, which is what every coach wants.

“He has got his philosophy and ideas across and that has got them to a really good position.

“They will be challenging for the top four. I don’t think there is any doubt about that.”

ARGENTINE Mauricio Pochettino inherits a Southampton squad in shock and a fan-base in revolt after replacing Nigel Adkins as manager of the Premier League club.

Supporters of the south coast side say the former Espanyol boss can expect a fans’ protest in his first match in charge, at home to Everton tomorrow, as they express disgust at the sacking of a man who led Saints to back-to-back promotions.

Adkins was shown the door by executive chairman Nicola Cortese on Friday despite a barnstorming draw at European champions Chelsea midweek, and a victory at Aston Villa last weekend.

Fans are being urged to wave white handkerchiefs at St Mary’s Stadium to draw attention to their anger.

“As Spanish supporters wave white hankies as a form of protest it seems an appropriate way to protest at Nicola Cortese’s ruthless treatment of Nigel Adkins,” Perry McMillan of the Southampton Independent Supporters Association said.

“It’s important we send out this message and as this match is live on TV and will be seen throughout Europe, it’s a great opportunity to show how we feel.

“When you think about how hard Adkins worked to get us into the Premier League, this leaves a bitter taste,” he told Southampton’s local newspaper The Daily Echo.

After a shaky start to the season in which they lost eight of their first 10 Premier League matches, the Saints have suffered only two defeats in their last 10 league outings.

But it proved too little too late as Cortese swung the axe, saying a new man was needed given the long-term ambitions of the club.

Adkins reportedly left the club in tears, and his backroom staff were dismissed with him.

Southampton had won 54 per cent of their matches under Adkins - a better record than any Saints manager in more than 100 years.

That figure, though, is massaged by those games in the second and third tiers in which Adkins won promotion.

There are a number of former Saints bosses with a better winning record than Adkins’s 23 per cent in the top flight, lending weight to Cortese’s decision.

Still, fans and players past and present were struggling to come to terms with the news.

35 SUNDAY MAIL • January 20, 2013

Sport Hodgson seeks a little help from his friends

By Martyn Herman

It’s me again! Luis Suarez scored his seventh goal in three matches against Norwich at Anfield yesterday

Liverpool silence Canaries Suarez and Sturridge torment Norwich in five-star display Liverpool 5 Norwich 0

By Carl Markham NORWICH must be sick of the sight of striker Luis Suarez as he scored his seventh goal in three matches against them to help Liverpool return to winning ways.

The Canaries’ nemesis, after hat-tricks in his previous two outings against them, struck the second after Jordan Henderson’s well-taken opener.

New £12million signing Daniel Sturridge became the first Reds player since Ray Kennedy in 1974 to score in his first three matches before Steven Gerrard’s strike and Ryan Bennett’s own goal completed the rout.

It took Liverpool’s tally against Norwich in the last three league matches to 13, most of which have gone to Suarez.

Only Ian Rush, with nine, has scored more goals against them for Liverpool.

Questions had been asked about whether Suarez, who now has 20 goals for the season, and Sturridge could play together and how manager Brendan Rodgers would accommodate the pair.

The Uruguay international dropped into a deeper role off the front man but it did not lessen his impact as he was a constant thorn in Norwich’s side.

After a promising 45 minutes in the defeat at Old Trafford last week, the pair continued to build on their fledgling relationship with Sturridge’s awareness and dummy for Suarez’s goal the highlight.

Suarez avoided two crunching tackles, the second pushing the ball into the path of Henderson, who drove a first-time shot high past Mark Bunn for only his fourth goal in 74 appearances to open the scoring.

Boosted by his goal Henderson attempted a swerving 30-yard effort which Bunn held but the goalkeeper was powerless to prevent Suarez making it 2-0 in the 37th minute.

Sturridge cleverly allowed Lucas Leiva’s through-ball to pass through his legs for the Uruguayan to run onto and he coolly slotted in a shot off the far post with his weaker left foot.

Sturridge became only the seventh man to find the net in each of his first three appearances for the club just before the hour.

Henderson switched the ball out to the right for Stew-

All square in big Nicosia derby APOEL 1 Omonia 1

By Nemanja Bjedov ARCH-RIVALS APOEL and Omonia played out a 1-1 draw in the opening match of Round 18 of the Cyprus football championship yesterday at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia.

Omonia started the match on top and, for the first 15 minutes, had the vast majority of possession and two decent chances. However, when Helio Pinto scored for APOEL after a quarter of an hour, the game turned in favour of the designated hosts.

Gustavo Manduca provided the assist for the goal, which was eventually allowed despite protests from the visitors that the ball had gone out of play prior to the final pass.

Apart from one chance for Omonia forward Freddy, it was all APOEL until the end of the first half with Efstathios Aloneftis missing a great opportunity to increase his side’s lead just after the half hour mark.

After the interval Toni Savevski’s Omonia retook the initiative as they looked for an equaliser and, on the hour mark, they managed to get back on level terms when Nigerian defender Rasheed Alabi connected with Joao Alves’ cross to head the ball home past the helpless Urko Pardo.

Omonia must have finished happier with the point as they had to play the final twelve minutes without Renato Margaca who was sent off for a professional foul on Danish winger Mikkel Beckmann, who made his debut for APOEL. Margaca spent only five minutes on the pitch as he was previously introduced for Alves in the 73th minute.

APOEL tried to pile pressure on Omonia’s defence in the final stages of the match but Ohad Levita was confident in the visitors’ goal as he made several good saves to provide his team with a positive result.

Beckmann had his first chance for APOEL in the last minute, but his header was easily dealt with by Levita.

art Downing to drive a firsttime cross for Sturridge to convert from close in.

Gerrard then added the fourth when Glen Johnson’s run down the left presented him with a chance which he drilled home low from 25 yards.

Substitute Raheem Sterling may yet be awarded the fifth as it was his run and shot which was turned into his own net by Ryan Bennett.

After last week’s disappointing defeat to Manchester United a third successive home victory was just what was required but, as Rodgers knows, consistency is the key to success.

The initial indications from the performances of Suarez and Sturridge together suggests now at least Liverpool have a fighting chance of finishing off teams and stringing results together.

AS the latest custodian of the England team, Roy Hodgson knows the buck stops with him when it comes to results but he believes a brainstorming session with those who went before him could help him restore the country’s footballing pride.

One of the most highly-paid and prestigious jobs in world football has been too much for a succession of some of the game’s most decorated coaches - the task of emulating the class of 1966 always ending in frustrating failure.

Several of them sat beside Hodgson at the Connaught Rooms near London’s Covent Garden this week as the Football Association launched its 150th anniversary year celebrations on the site of the former Freemason’s Tavern where the FA was born and the rules of the game were penned.

Fabio Capello, Sven-Goran Eriksson, Terry Venables and Graham Taylor, as well as Hodgson, watched as 150 years of English football history was projected on a screen, including the iconic image of the late Bobby Moore hoisting aloft the old Jules Rimet trophy at Wembley in 1966.

Since that day, England have huffed and puffed but failed to reach such heights with depressing regularity.

With World Cup qualification still by no means certain,

Roy Hodgson (left) poses for pictures with former England managers Fabio Capello, Sven-Goran Eriksson, Terry Venables and Graham Taylor

Premier League standings Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Manchester United Manchester City Chelsea Chelsea Arsenal Tottenham ManchesterHotspur City Everton Liverpool Arsenal Tottenham Hotspur Liverpool Everton Swansea Stoke City West BoltonBrom Wanderers Stoke City West Brom Sunderland Fulham West Ham Utd Newcastle United Norwich City Sunderland Fulham Aston Villa Southampton Blackburn Rovers Newcastle United Wolves Reading Birmingham Wigan Athletic Blackpool Aston WiganVilla Athletic QPR West Ham United

Hodgson will need all the help he can get over the coming months and seemed pleased to be surrounded by some of his predecessors.

“Fabio was quite talkative,” Hodgson, who was given the job before the Euro 2012 finals after Capello quit, told reporters.

“It would be nice to have a brainstorming session if the five of us could get together in a room, and you could add Kevin Keegan and Glenn Hoddle to that as well.

“We could compare notes and ideas.”

Hodgson’s reign has so far been steady and far from spectacular. A limited style of play ended in quarter-final defeat by Italy in Euro 2012 and draws against Poland and Ukraine in their World Cup qualifying group mean they trail tiny Montenegro and face some crucial fixtures this year.

Failure to qualify from a comfortable group is unthinkable.

“We must make sure we keep our eyes firmly focused on the goal of Brazil,” Hodgson said.

“The first thing we have to do is qualify, that’s vitally important. And when we qualify we have to give a good account of ourselves in Brazil and, once you are there, you have a chance of winning it, who knows?”

Asked if England could make an impact in Brazil, Hodgson said: “There’s always hope.

Hope springs eternal.”

P

W

D

L

F

22 37 23 36 22 36 22 36 22 36 21 36 23 37 23 36 22 37 23 37 23 36 22 36 23 37 23 36 22 37 23 37 23 36 23 37 22 36 23 36

18 22 15 21 12 19 12 19 9 17 9 14 9 12 8 13 10 12 6 12 7 10 7 11 6 11 6 10 5 10 5 11 4 8 5 10 4 7 2 7

1 11 6 7 6 10 4 8 10 7 7 14 7 15 9 7 3 10 11 10 7 15 6 11 8 11 7 12 7 10 6 7 7 15 4 9 7 15 9 12

3 4 2 8 3 7 6 9 3 12 5 8 7 10 6 16 9 15 6 15 9 11 9 14 9 15 10 14 10 17 12 19 12 13 14 18 11 14 12 17

56 74 45 67 45 69 39 55 35 59 40 51 40 50 34 46 31 52 22 53 27 45 25 51 24 42 33 45 30 43 28 44 28 36 25 53 17 36 18 41

A Pts 29 35 19 30 21 39 27 33 26 41 24 45 28 45 27 44 30 54 27 68 31 41 28 52 39 56 40 58 40 57 41 63 43 54 43 74 42 59 37 64

55 77 51 70 42 67 40 65 37 58 34 56 34 51 33 46 33 46 29 46 28 45 27 44 26 44 25 42 22 40 21 40 19 39 19 39 19 36 15 33

Premiership results Liverpool Norwich

5 0

Man City Fulham

2 0

Newcastle Reading

1 2

Swansea Stoke

3 1

West Ham QPR

1 1

Wigan Sunderland

2 3

West Brom Aston Villa

L L

Playing Today Chelsea v Arsenal, 3.30pm Spurs v Man United, 6pm Playing Tomorrow Southampton v Everton, 10pm

36 January 20, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Sport

Harbaugh brothers trying again for a Super Bowl first 32

Five-star Liverpool silence Canaries 35

Super Silva at the double for Mancini’s men Champs City easily dispose of Fulham Manchester City 2 Fulham 0

By Andy Hampson

D Classy: 17-time grand slam champion Roger Federer put local upstart Bernard Tomic firmly in his place to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open

Fed slaps down Tomic after Del Potro upset

By Nick Mulvenney ROGER Federer was in no mood to let a trend develop after the first real upsets of the week at the Australian Open tennis yesterday and slapped down local upstart Bernard Tomic with authority to reach the fourth round.

Juan Martin del Potro stunned Federer to win the US Open in 2009 but the Argentine sixth seed was on the receiving end of the shock yesterday when an inspired Jeremy Chardy led a four-strong French charge into the last 16.

Serena Williams and Andy Murray never looked like losing sometimes challenging contests earlier in the day but defending champion and world number one Victoria Azarenka had a closer call and was forced to dig deep for her victory.

All eyes were on the evening match in Rod Laver Arena, however, where Tomic had been talking up his chances of translating his good early-season form into a victory over a player rated by many as the best to ever pick up a racket.

Tomic gave his best and came within two points of winning a thrilling secondset tiebreak but the 17-time grand slam champion simply upped the gears, pulled out a couple of extraordinary winners, and raced away to a 6-4 7-6 6-1 victory.

“I had to be able to bring the whole repertoire to the court today, defence and offence, which I enjoy,” said the second

seed, who next faces rising star Milos Raonic, before offering some advice to Tomic.

“I think it’s important to be confident but obviously you respect the game and you respect the other players. I think he has a lot of respect for me.”

Del Potro battled back from two sets down to level his third-round contest but the mercurial Chardy grabbed a break in the decider and held his nerve to serve out for a 6-3 6-3 6-7 3-6 6-3 win.

“I had nothing to lose today so it was easy to play,” said the world number 36.

“It’s a big win for me, maybe the best of my career.”

After five days without any upsets of note at the year’s first grand slam, two came along within minutes.

As Chardy was packing up his rackets on Hisense Arena, Italian Andreas Seppi was securing his place as the Frenchman’s next opponent by wrapping up a 6-7 6-3 2-6 6-4 6-2 win over Croatian 12th seed Marin Cilic, a semi-finalist in 2010.

Azarenka had to come back from a break down in the deciding set to avoid the same fate against injury-hampered American Jamie Hampton and her relief at her 6-4 4-6 6-2 win was clear.

“She took a medical timeout but she rips winners all over the place,” said Azarenka. “I was like: ‘Can I have a back problem? I’m feeling great but I’m missing every shot’.”

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AVID Silva struck in each half as champions Manchester City cut Manchester United’s lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League to four points.

The Spaniard fired home a rebound after just two minutes and then struck a sublime second in the 69th minute as the champions enjoyed a comfortable win over Fulham at the Etihad Stadium.

Silva could have completed a hat-trick moments later but shot narrowly wide.

City will hope the victory puts pressure back on United ahead of their tricky trip to Tottenham this afternoon.

Roberto Mancini’s men looked confident from the outset against a side that had won just two of their previous 14 league games.

They made a blistering start as Edin Dzeko took up an early attack and was allowed to shoot from 25 yards.

Mark Schwarzer parried his fierce effort but Fulham had been caught short and Silva followed up to rifle in the rebound.

Fulham were unable to get anything going in response and Gareth Barry took command in midfield.

Twice Barry won possession to set moves in motion that led to chances, the first as he released Silva down the left. The Spaniard curled in a good cross for Dzeko but the Bosnian headed straight at Schwarzer.

Barry then stole the ball to set up a City counter-attack but Carlos Tevez was also unable to beat Schwarzer.

Ashkan Dejagah played in Dimitar Berbatov just before the break but City held firm as Vincent Kompany denied the Bulgarian the chance to shoot.

Fulham made a positive start to the second half as they created a chance for Steve Sidwell outside the area but he sliced well wide

Can you hear us? Manchester City cut rivals United’s lead at the top of the Premier League table to four points and City upped the tempo.

City doubled their lead with 20 minutes remaining following some brilliant play

by Tevez and Silva.

The Spaniard started the move, finding Gael Clichy out wide and the left-back’s pass inside was cleverly flicked back into Silva’s path

by Tevez.

Silva then did the rest, running into the area and hitting a delicate left-foot lob over Schwarzer to score off the post.

STILL CELEBRATING The crowd were still celebrating the goal when Silva went close to claiming a hattrick, running through in almost identical fashion but this time rolling a low shot inches wide of the far post.

Thereafter City were never in any danger and played plenty of possession football and almost carved out chances at will.

Dzeko went close with a

fierce drive before Mancini decided to give fit-again Sergio Aguero a run-out in the latter stages.

Dzeko curled another effort narrowly wide before playing in Aguero with a fine pass.

Aguero took the ball in his stride but then took a heavy touch as he tried to go round Schwarzer and failed to connect with a shot.

He had another opportunity as he raced through moments later but, in his first outing since tearing a hamstring on New Year’s Day, was perhaps rusty as he shot wide.

Dzeko should have scored a third in injury time but somehow scooped over from six yards with the goal at his mercy.