Cyprus Mail newspaper

Cyprus Mail www.cyprus-mail.com

Saturday, January 5, 2013

€1

CYPRUS

SPORT

LIFESTYLE

Polling stations in 27 cities abroad for elections 4

Minnows hoping to embarrass titans in FA Cup back

Cider: the golden apple of brewers’ eyes

Tomorrow in

FREE with your Sunday Mail People Inside the mind of star documentary film maker Harun Farocki

Culture

Time runs out for fine cheats Grace period ends as checks due to begin at island’s airports from Monday

By Poly Pantelides

A

Exhibition looks at the codices and machines of Leonardo Da Vinci

Fashion The good news is the e sometimess frumpy cardi is back in style

Showbiz The fashionable life of Grace Coddington

Competition Win a spa treatment at Saint Raphael Resort

centre

S OF Monday police will start checking everyone leaving Cyprus through the island’s airports for those who have until now dodged paying fines or other outstanding payments to the state or courts, and those who don’t pay up will be arrested, police said yesterday.

Members of the public, among them politicians, lawyers and prominent individuals, collectively owe the state €135 million in penalties, fines, overdue alimony payments, social insurance, and taxes. The police chief has warned that people would be made to pay “whoever they are.”

From Monday a monthlong trial period involving checks, arrests, and payment collections at airports will begin.

Police official Demetris Pitsillides said yesterday that though they would be evaluating cases individually, the force would be strict and there could be arrests. “Without the threat of imprisonment, we will not have the desired results,” he said. He said that the police had given people a grace period over the Christmas holidays, but their time was up.

Once someone is fingered as a dodger at the airport, they will be escorted to ATMs to withdraw money to pay their penalty and if they are unable to pay on the spot arrangements

may be made for them to pay as soon as they return from their journey abroad, Pitsillides said.

“We have standing instructions to have a police officer pay a visit on the day after [the traveller returns],” Pitsillides said. Some of the millions in outstanding payments have been pending for decades, and courts have so far issued about 160,000 warrants.

Police were previously criticised for not taking action to execute warrants with the force saying they could not locate people, even the public figures, and members of the force itself.

Auditor general Chrystalla Georghadji even said that the police were enabling the status quo, telling the House Watchdog committee that a glance at who owes money to the state would demonstrate how easily some of the people on the list could be found.

About 750 warrants worth €800,000 involve lawyers, and 2,000 warrants involve civil servants, Georghadji told the House in November. Members of the agricultural payments organisation had 4,000 warrants between them while there were 600 warrants pertaining to companies owing a total of €3.0 million.

At least the police will not have to arrest their own this time. Some 300 of their own had warrants issued in their names but they were served after Georghadji informed the police chief in writing.

RECORD NUMBER OF FLAMINGOS

Around 20,000 flamingos were recorded in Cyprus during December which is a record, according to the Game Fund (Christos Theodorides) SEE STORY PAGE 3

School ‘all shook up’ over sexy Elvis musical ELVIS Presley, whose gyrating hips caused an uproar in the 1950s, has become the centre of a controversy at a Utah high school where a parent complaint prompted officials to revise a musical featuring the music of the late “king of rock ‘n’ roll.”

The Jordan School District in a Salt Lake City suburb said the reworked production of All Shook Up at Herriman High School allowed it to avoid cancelling the show, as it had announced on Wednesday it was doing.

A parent complained about a song in the play, which appeared on Broadway in 2005, and about scenes the parent contended were too sexually suggestive, said Steven Dunham, a spokesman for the school district. Dunham said he did not know the name of the song

in question. School officials first thought the copyright on the musical, by playwright Joe DiPietro, would prevent them from making changes, which is why they cancelled it, Dunham said. School officials have since worked it out with the publisher of the musical.

“They agreed to allow us to make the changes necessary to meet community standards,” he said. “We said, ‘Great, this is what we wanted all along.’”

A cross-dressing element in the musical will remain in the production to be staged next month at Herriman High School, which is about 20 miles south of Salt Lake City.

All Shook Up features the music of Presley and a story based on William Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night.

Saturday, January 5, 2013 CYPRUS MAIL

2

Home PICTURE OF THE DAY

Weather Paralimni

Nicosia 15

4

Troodos Troo

16 16

Larnaca

16 1

16

Paphos

Limassol

TODAY: A mixture of sunshine, cloud and rain. Temperatures will reach 15C inland, 16C along the coasts and 4C over higher ground OUTLOOK: Remaining unsettled, with snow expected over the Troodos mountains. Feeling colder YESTERDAY:

Max Temp Nicosia 16 Larnaca 17 Limassol 16 Paphos 16 Paralimni 16 Prodromos 8

-

Min 7 9 12 12 9 5

Humidity 78% 83% 88% 77% 75% 92%

SUNRISE: 06:55am

SUNSET: 4:49pm

Pollution Low/Low Medium/Low Medium/Low Low Low Low

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

Data is recorded hourly.

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

Worldwide Athens Budapest Bucharest Brussels Cairo Copenhagen Damascus Dublin Frankfurt Geneva Istanbul London

14 10 2 9 19 7 16 10 10 6 9 10

Cloudy Cloudy Cloudy Drizzle Cloudy Drizzle Clear Cloudy Cloudy Clear Cloudy Cloudy

Madrid Manchester Moscow Oslo Paris Prague Rome Sarajevo Sofia Stockholm Tel Aviv Vienna

8 9 1 1 9 9 14 5 6 5 20 10

Clear Cloudy Snow Cloudy Drizzle Cloudy Cloudy Light Fog Cloudy Cloudy Clear Cloudy

EXCHANGE

€

1.3107

€

0.8153

For a full list of exchange rates, see page 10

A man dressed as an astronaut walks down the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris yesterday

(AFP)

QUICK CROSSWORD 2278 Across

Down

1 Very attractive (8) 6 IOW resort (4) 8 Antelope (6) 9 Resuscitate (6) 10 Earner (11) 11 Vinegary (6) 14 Loud noise (6) 16 Disposition (11) 20 Bomb-hole (6) 21 Empty container (3-3) 22 Orange skin (4) 23 Vikings (8)

2 Disband (5) 3 Grantee (anag.) (7) 4 Smooth (5) 5 Sooner (7) 6 Black bird (5) 7 Assorted (7) 12 Clique (7) 13 V-shaped band (7) 15 Purify (7) 17 Alloy (5) 18 Following (5) 19 Detect (5)

CHEMISTS NICOSIA T. Nicolaou, 35 Stasinou Ave. Tel: 22345116, 22432916 (H) M. Menikos, 73A Larnaca Ave, Anglanja. Tel: 22332165, 22330865 (H) L. Varelia, 6C Achaion St. Tel: 22776861, 22770981 (H) G. Ploutarchos, 34C Tseriou Ave, Strovolos. Tel: 22311995, 22325995 (H) 102 V. Ch. Papaprodromou, 59, Ifigenias Acropolis, Tel: 22210303, 22491165 (H) LIMASSOL Chr. Kourtellou, 84 Macedonias & Vas. Constantinou, Tel: 25870288, 25737455 (H) A. Syngelidou, 36Z Karaiskakis

St. Tel: 25746522, 25341824 K. Makridou, 66A Miltonos, Tel: 25712790, 25746954 (H) LARNACA A. Evlavis, 34 Gr. Afxentiou Ave. Tel: 24651317, 24662689 (H) V. Moyseos, PEO, Tel: 93 Ermou St., Tel: 24655312, 24626553 PAPHOS L. Chrisostomou (P.E.O. No. 2), 31B Danais St, Kato Paphos.

Tel: 26964837, 26221624 (H) PARALIMNI R. Kefala, 111 1st April St. Tel: 23730116, 23821516 (H)

For cryptic crossword and answers to the previous quick crossword see page 18

ON THIS DAY JANUARY 5 1933

28 years ago, Saturday January 5, 1985

Construction starts on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, USA.

The investigators into the killing of Greek Cypriot fashion magnate Aristos Constantinou in London on New Year’s Day have not been able to make any arrests. The predominant theory is that there were two burglars in his mansion and they pumped seven bullets into his body when he had a go at them.

1976 Ten Protestants are brutally gunned down in Northern Ireland, in what is believed to be a revenge killing after the recent murder of five Catholics.

1981

Cyprus Mail

In Britain, Peter Sutcliffe, the ‘Yorkshire Ripper’, who killed 13 women in four years, is formally charged in court.

Established 1945. Number 21,421 NICOSIA 24 Vass. Voulgaroctonou, P.O. Box 21144, 1502 Nicosia Tel: 22-818585, Fax: 22-676385 email: mail@cyprus-mail.com LIMASSOL 5A Nicolaou, Pentadromos Centre, Thessaloniki St, Tel: 25-761117, Fax: 25-761141 email: cyprusmail@cytanet.com.cy LARNACA Tel: 24-652243, Fax: 24-659982 PAPHOS 62 Apostolou Pavlou Avenue, Office 2, 8046 Paphos, Tel: 26 911383 Fax : 26 221049 email: paphos@cyprus-mail.com

WHAT THE MAIL SAID

1985 The world first learns about Israel’s Operation Moses, in which thousands of Jewish Ethiopian refugees have been airlifted out of Sudan, fleeing the famine in Ethiopia.

1993 A tanker carrying 85,000 tonnes of crude oil is aground in hurricane force winds off the Shetland Islands.

38 years ago, Sunday January 5, 1975 The Coca Cola workers’ strike enters its fourth day and no new developments are likely to emerge before tomorrow when the board of directors of the company will consider the situation. The workers accuse the company of unilateral violation of the conditions of work and of refusing to recognise the trade unions and to negotiate with them.

48 years ago, Wednesday January 5, 1965 Renos Boyoukos, the youth shot and wounded in the spine during the Enosis demonstration in Limassol on December 18 is leaving Nicosia this morning in the Viscount plane for London. He will be accompanied by doctor Hadjiminas, his father and a nurse. All expenses are being covered by the Cyprus government.

CYPRUS MAIL Saturday, January 5, 2013

3

Home Four people remanded following separate drug busts in Limassol and Larnaca

By Peter Stevenson POLICE in Larnaca arrested two men from Nicosia, aged 45 and 64, late on Thursday after 112 grammes of heroin were found in their possession.

Larnaca District Court ordered their remand for seven days yesterday.

The court heard that the two men, who were arrested after a coordinated operation by members of the drug squad, were known to police from different runins in the past.

The 64-year-old TurkishCypriot had been imprisoned for four years in a drug-related case while the 45-year-old Greek-Cypriot is a known user according to the police.

The drug squad said they had received information recently that the 64-yearold was trafficking hard drugs from the occupied areas to the Greek-Cypriot side, and had been put under close surveillance.

On Thursday night, the Greek-Cypriot man visited him in Larnaca and after a while left in the 45-yearolds car, which was seen crossing to the north.

According to police reports, around 20 minutes later the two men returned from the north and were heading down the Larnaca – Dhekelia coastal road near the village of Livadhia when they were stopped by drug squad members.

Two plastic bags were found in the car containing a total of 112 grammes of heroin, said police.

They said the way in which the drugs were packaged indicated that they were ready to be sold to users.

PACKAGE Also in Limassol police arrested a man and woman on Thursday for the illegal possession, importation and use of drugs, as well as the intent to supply others.

According to police the woman went to the post office to pick up a package which had been sent from the US. Customs detected suspicious material inside the package and reported it immediately to the drug squad, police said.

The package was opened in the presence of the woman in question, revealing other small packages with what the police believe to be synthetic drugs in, weighing 220 grammes.

Police arrested the woman who gave up her alleged accomplice and both were remanded in custody for four days.

The influx of flamingos this year is partly due to the unexpectedly cold weather in Turkey

(Christos Theodorides)

Record number of flamingos

By Peter Stevenson RECORD numbers of birds have flocked to Cyprus’ wetlands this winter as their migration patterns coincided with extensive rainfall over the months of September and October according to the Game and Fauna Fund.

“Around 20,000 flamingos were recorded in Cyprus during December which is a record and we also saw between 15,000 and 16,000 flamingos recorded in November which is also a record,” senior member of the Game and Fauna Fund, Nikos Kassinis said yesterday.

Overall around 25,000 birds in total were recorded in Cyprus during December which, according to

Around 20,000 of the birds were recorded in December, according to the Game Fund Cyprus Birdlife campaigns manager, Martin Hellicar, is down to a number of reasons. “The first factor is the weather conditions further north in Turkey, and with temperatures there dropping rapidly, many birds have flown to Cyprus to warmer climes,” he explained.

“The second factor is having the right levels of water in our salt lakes, which there was, thanks to all the rain we had in September and October,” he continued. “And the third factor is having an adequate amount of brine shrimps, flamingos’

UN’s Downer to meet Eroglu on January 15 UN SPECIAL envoy Alexander Downer will be returning to the island this month to meet Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu, according to reports yesterday.

Eroglu was quoted saying in the Turkish Cypriot media that he will meet with the Australian on January 15. The Turkish Cypriot leader estimated that meetings between representatives of the two communities will likely take place in April, giving the new President of Cyprus who will be elected in February time to form a government and implement economic measures.

Eroglu said Downer will also meet with Greek Cypriot representatives during his visit to the island later this month.

He repeated his call for a four or five-party conference with the guarantor powers to resolve all pending issues in peace talks halted by Eroglu earlier this year in protest the Cyprus Republic taking over the rotating EU presidency.

Both Eroglu and Turkey are calling for any new round of peace talks that may be launched after the February elections to have a clearly defined time limit.

“While the Greek Cypriot side wants open-ended negotiations, I believe we will reach some consensus on this issue,” said Eroglu.

He also said Downer wants to change the format of negotiations so that when one chapter is being discussed, another related chapter can also be brought to the table.

“Certainly when he comes he will raise these issues and we will evaluate them,” said Eroglu.

main source of food, in the lakes,” he concluded. Flamingos’ main destinations in Cyprus are the salt lakes in Akrotiri and Larnaca although some can also be seen at Oroklini marsh according to Hellicar.

Despite record numbers of birds descending onto the island’s salt lakes and wetlands there was a decline in the number of wild ducks spotted in Cyprus.

“In December, under 2,000 wild ducks were counted,” Kassinis said.

“This is because ducks are considered winter birds and during December we had

unseasonably high temperatures,” he explained.

According to the Game and Fauna Fund, the duck population has fluctuated from 3,500 in 2010 to 4,500 in 2011 reaching a low of 1,700 last year. In contrast, the number of flamingos has risen, with just 3,500 recorded on the island in 2010, 12,000 in 2011, and reaching 20,000 last year.

The year that passed also saw the first instance of flamingos attempting to mate.

“General conditions on the island were conducive to breeding,” Hellicar told the Cyprus Mail. “Unfortunate-

ly there was no success for what would have been the first ever time those types of birds had managed to mate,” he explained.

Attempting to count the amount of birds coming and going from the island is not an easy task according to Hellicar. “If you are trying to count the birds you will need a telescope and a good viewing point,” he explained.

“But because the birds are constantly moving you can really only count in tens and hundreds,” he added.

“Any number you get will always be an estimate,” he concluded.

The birds are expected to leave towards the end of winter around March, but that depends largely on the water levels.

TEMPLE COURT CHAMBERS – LONDON & CYPRUS 8A, 28TH October Avenue, 1st Floor – Office 101 2414 Engomi, Nicosia

TEMPLE COURT CHAMBERS OF LONDON IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE OPENING OF ITS NICOSIA ANNEX. TEMPLE COURT CHAMBERS CYPRUS & LONDON SPECIALISE IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LITIGATION, COMPANY FORMATION AND CORPORATE LAW, FAMILY LAW & EMPLOYMENT LAW. TEMPLE COURT CHAMBERS CYPRUS & LONDON IS A DIRECT ACCESS BARRISTERS CHAMBERS. WE ACCEPT INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL JURISDICTIONS INCLUDING THE UNITED KINGDOM AND CYPRUS. FOR ALL ENQUIRIES PLEASE CONTACT US AT : 22 270 407 / 8 STELIOS KTENAS : 99 639 428 FAX : 22 270 108

BY EMAIL : andriatemplecourtchambers@gmail.com WEB PAGE : www.templecourt.co.uk

Saturday, January 5, 2013 CYPRUS MAIL

4

Home

A new era for Orphanides as suppliers take over

By George Psyllides A GROUP of suppliers will be taking over control of a number of outlets belonging to Orphanides Supermarkets – the island’s biggest chain – in a bid to keep the beleaguered company going, it emerged yesterday.

According to an announcement, suppliers would take over management of a number of outlets for a period of 10 years with a view to se-

curing the supermarkets’ ability to meet their obligations. They will also employ the chain’s workers under the same conditions.

“It is certainly a positive development in the sense that everyone’s effort is to keep this supermarket alive,” said Marios Tsiakkis, deputy secretary general of the chamber of commerce and industry.

The new entity, Orphanides New Era is viewed positively by the banks, the announcement said. It is understood that banks have

not given the go ahead yet and will not do so before scrutinising the figures and ensuring they are viable. The company owes some €140 million to the Bank of Cyprus and Popular and around €100 million to other creditors.

Some 1,250 people are on Orphanides’ payroll, while 2,000 more work on the supply end.

The closure of the island’s largest supermarket chain could translate into a €400 million loss for the economy, according to one estimate.

With the implementation of the agreement,

Polling stations to cover 27 cities

Police disapprove of the state’s apology to Egyptian ambassador

By Stefanos Evripidou

Cypriot expats will be able to vote in 13 countries

By Stefanos Evripidou INTERIOR MINISTER Eleni Mavrou yesterday officially proclaimed February 17 as the date of the presidential elections.

If none of the candidates garner more than 50 per cent of the vote, then a second round is scheduled for a week later on February 24.

The minister yesterday also appointed the Chief Returning Officer Andreas Assiotis and the rest of the Returning Officers in Cyprus’ election districts and abroad.

According to a decree published in the official gazette, Mavrou has set January 18 as the date for presidential contesters to submit their candidacies.

So far, nine people have announced their intention to run in February’s elections.

The incumbent, President Demetris Christofias, will not seek re-election.

Although counting is not done yet, Mavrou estimates around 545,000 voters will end up on the electoral roll,

15,000 of whom will be voting from abroad.

The minister said around 27 electoral stations will operate in almost as many cities abroad. Exactly how many cities are to set up election stations for overseas Cypriots were announced later last night (see below).

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, Electoral Service head Demetris Demetriou said he expected stations to be set up in 13 countries, to meet the requests of around 15,000 overseas Cypriots who registered an interest in voting in this year’s elections. The majority are in the UK and Greece.

According to the law, to set up an electoral station in a foreign city, at least 50 eligible voters have to register an interest in voting there. In Moscow, for example, this number was not met. However, the chief returning officer has the right to say he won’t set up voting booths in a foreign city, even when the minimum quota is met.

For example, the quota

OFFICE/WAREHOUSE FOR RENT 735m² of office space and 1200m² warehousing available for long term rent on Yianni Kranidioti Avenue very close to Carlsberg Brewery.

Easy access to Nicosia-Limassol highway (only 200 metres).

Loading bays for warehouses and parking space for more than 40 cars. Hidden fuel tank plus car mechanics station.

For more information please call 99218866

the company said it hopes Orphanides Supermarkets would continue to provide consumers quality products at low prices for many years.

The new regime aims to gradually repay the old debts and respond to the outlets’ immediate obligations.

It is expected that the new scheme would yield enough profit to pay off the debt to creditors long before the 10 years expire. The board will have seven members – four from the group of suppliers.

Around 15,000 will vote from abroad in February election was met for New York, the only city in the US where more than 50 voters registered an interest. Now, Assiotis has to decide whether it is worth the cost of sending public officials to the East Coast for the February 17 election, and possibly have to send them back a week later for a second round.

And also, how feasible it is, given that the election closes at 5pm locally, meaning 10am New York time.

As is typical for Cypriot governance, there are no criteria or guidelines defined

by law on how the chief returning officer should decide whether to set up an electoral centre abroad or not, leaving it entirely to his discretion.

Demetriou notes that whatever he decides, he will have to justify his position to the parliamentary parties, providing some kind of checks and balances.

“We will try to use our embassies’ staff where possible to save money on sending public servants and paying for flights and hotels etc,” said Demetriou.

THE 27 VOTING CENTRES Greece: Athens, Salonika, Ioannina, Larissa, Patras, Volos, Rhodes, Komotini and in Crete, Heraklion and Rethymno UK: two centres in London, one each in Leeds, Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham The rest: Budapest, Hungary; Sofia, Bulgaria; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Prague, Czech Republic; Paris, France; Doha, Qatar; New York, USA; Manama, Bahrain; Brussels, Belgium; Berlin, Germany and Vienna, Austria

THE POLICE yesterday weighed in on the debate on the diplomatic fiasco at Larnaca airport last week, voicing their disapproval of the state’s formal apology to Egypt over the affair.

Police association head Andreas Symeou argued that the government wrongly apologised for the police’s handling of a diplomat who refused to go through the proper security checks at the airport.

The diplomatic incident occurred last Saturday when Egyptian ambassador Menha Mahrous Bakhoum went to escort her family to the departure lounge of Larnaca airport to see them off.

When police asked the ambassador to take off her boots at the security screening point, Bakhoum refused.

A video of the incident taken by airport surveillance cameras and made public

by Sigmalive.com showed the diplomat arguing with police over their demand for her to follow normal screening procedures.

At one point, a policeman is seen grabbing her arm, which set off a series of unfortunate incidents. A member of her entourage tried to protest, prompting police to push him back. Bakhoum then tries to move forward. A policewoman uses her body as an obstacle to prevent her from passing the security zone at which point the Egyptian diplomat gives the woman a forceful slap. This in turn, leads around five policemen to surround Bakhoum as one officer puts her hands behind her back and leads her away.

The diplomat was taken to a room where she allegedly pulled the wig of one of the senior police officers present.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, diplomatic sources have described the incident as “frightfully unfortunate”.

Under EU regulations, everyone apart from a select few (heads of state etc) are subject to security checks at airports, painting an unflattering picture of Bakhoum trying to use her position to bypass the country’s laws.

At the same time, diplomatic sources highlighted that the police were also at fault when they manhandled and seemed to detain the ambassador who is afforded diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention.

In an effort to draw a line

under the incident and avoid creating unnecessary friction with a powerful regional neighbour with which Cyprus shares a sea border and estimated underwater gas reserves, the government released an apology to the Egyptian ambassador on Tuesday.

On the instructions of the President, Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou Marcoullis publicly expressed her “regrets and apologies for the treatment of the ambassador, which was not in conformity with the principle of inviolability of the person and respect of diplomatic representatives”.

However, the matter did not end there. On Thursday night, Sigma TV news broadcast video footage of the fracas, without specifying the source of the video, further adding to the debate on the correctness of the principle of diplomatic immunity, as well as the people skills of the Cyprus police force.

RELATIONS One government source frowned upon the release of the video by Sigmalive, saying it was causing national damage. Yesterday, Symeou swam upstream against the efforts of the foreign ministry not to strain relations between Cyprus and the newly-formed government in Egypt.

“First of all, we disapprove of the ambassador’s behaviour. What message do we send, when we as a state apologise to any lady who broke the law, regardless of her immunity. And we ask, if our ambassador did the same in Egypt where they would be now?” asked Symeou.

Symeou claimed the police were right to react the way they did after she slapped an officer, because until that point Bakhoum had yet to show her diplomatic ID and prove she had immunity.

“Until she showed her ID to prove she is an ambassador, the officer on duty did what he had to do...But we disagree with the apology. Just because someone has diplomatic immunity it doesn’t mean they should go around hitting police officers because they want to,” he said.

Symeou claims to be the union boss of the police force, a position which Chief of Police Michalis Papageorgiou does not recognise, citing an opinion by the Attorney-general which ruled Symeou’s election invalid.

CYPRUS MAIL Saturday, January 5, 2013

5

Home

Petrol stations reopen as islandwide strike called off Interior minister agrees to review and impose stricter restrictions on licences

By Poly Pantelides PETROL station owners yesterday called off an indefinite Cyprus-wide strike after the interior minister agreed to review and impose stricter restrictions on licences for new stations.

The petrol station owners want to restrict the number of petrol stations – they say there are over 300 – so they can remain viable.

On Thursday afternoon they announced an all-out indefinite strike, after their peers in the Famagusta district shut down shop because a licence was issued for a new petrol station on the Paralimni-Ayia Napa road.

Motorists formed queues to fill up their tanks on Thursday night but operators stopped their plans yesterday afternoon, when Interior Minister Eleni Mavrou met with them and agreed to review 29 licences issued over the past two years.

“We will meticulously examine the licences issued recently… wherever there are any irregularities we will also take necessary measures,” Mavrou said.

Mavrou agreed to revoke any licences contravening the principles of “necessity and viability,” the petrol station owners’ association said.

The deputy head of the petrol station owners’ association Stathis Spartiatis said that they would specify those principles in a meeting next week but will include restrictions on the numbers

of petrol stations, bearing in mind how many stations there are in a given area.

This will also impact new licences.

A petrol station needs to sell 3.8 million litres of fuel a year to be viable, Spartiatis said.

The association has previously said petrol stations earn between 1.0 cent and 4.0 cent per litre – the remainder goes to the government - placing the upper end of petrol stations’ revenue at €152,000 a year before expenses.

Spartiatis said that because there are too many petrol stations, most now sell 3.2 million litres a year, which at 4.0 cent a litre earned would come to €128,000.

“In addition to the 29 licences already issued, there are also 45 pending with town planning and between 20 to 25 licences pending with local authorities.

“You realise that if they are all approved, there’ll be over 400 of us,” he said.

“Then, in a few years stations will start shutting down,” he added.

Asked about the roughly 150 unlicensed petrol stations on the island, Spartiatis said that that matter had to do with a bureaucratic system requiring a new licence whenever they change anything to do with a station, from getting a new pump to changing a window.

However, even when petrol stations violate health and safety regulations, shutting them down is tricky.

Eleni Mavrou (centre back) meets petrol station owners A petrol station caused a fuel leak in Larnaca last year, but was reopened in September after Larnaca mayor Andreas Louroudjiadis said the legal framework prevented him from ordering the station to close.

Although local authorities said the station was safe, parliament’s environment committee has said they need to update the 1968 law but are waiting for legal services to finish processing a bill.

Meanwhile, Paphos police had to break up a scuffle yesterday when three petrol station owners used their tankers to block the entrance to another station that was operating normally and breaking the strike.

Greek Pontians in Paphos say 70 Jobless number per cent of them are unemployed jumps to 41,625 SEVENTY per cent of the 5,000 Greek Pontians living in Paphos are now unemployed according to the head of the Ayios Tryfonas club for Greek Pontians in the district, Raoul Tsachides.

“The majority of those unemployed now were previously working in the hotel and construction industries,” he said.

Tsachides expressed his satisfaction with the increase in Russian visitors to Paphos over the last two years as it has resulted in an increase in Greek Pontian employment in the tourism industry, even if only on a seasonal basis, as many speak Russian themselves.

“A new wave of tourists from Russia is expected during the summer and I hope that local operators keep their word and create new positions in the next years to stop mass departures, mainly from Paphos,” Tsachides said.

According to Tsachides the large number of departures has dealt a blow to Paphos and he expressed his disappointment that a number of employers in the hotel industry are firing Greek Pontians in favour of European nationals.

“It is very difficult for those who have bought houses here, have their children enrolled in schools in Paphos and have debts in banks to leave Cyprus,” he said.

“Greek Pontians, in contrast to most European nationals, spend whatever money they have earned while working on the island on local products and services,” he concluded.

THE jobless rate jumped 26.5 per cent year-on-year in December, reaching 41,625, the statistical service said yesterday.

Based on seasonally adjusted data, the number of registered unemployed for December 2012 rose to 40,184, compared to 39,116 in November.

The annual rise was mainly observed in the sectors of trade – 1,960 people – accommodation and food service, 1,506, construction, 1,440, manufacturing, 755, and public administration, 519.

Unemployment also rose among newcomers to the market where an increase of 674 people was recorded. The average number of registered unemployed for 2012 reached 36,362 people compared with 28,276 in 2011 – a 28.6 per cent rise.

Unemployment is expected to reach 13.8 per cent this year and peak at 14.2 per cent in 2014 before falling.

(Christos Theodorides)

CB boss to meet the ambassadors of eurozone members CENTRAL Bank Governor Panicos Demetriades will on Monday meet the ambassadors of eurozone member-states in a bid to convince them of his determination to consolidate the island’s financial sector.

Reports said the issue of money laundering will also be discussed in light of recent foreign media reports, particularly in the German press.

There have been several articles in the German media recently with European politicians expressing concern over handing bailout money to Cyprus when there were question marks over Russian money and allegations of money laundering.

Early in December last year, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said: “We expect complete financial transparency from Cyprus relating to money laundering issues, which fulfil EU standards and international requirements.”

Saturday, January 5, 2013 CYPRUS MAIL

6

Home ‘I’m not trying to be a perfect writer but I want to touch the hearts of people’

Teaching children to care for animals

By Zoe Christodoulides “I LOVE animals,” declares 75-year-old Claire Oechslin with a broad smile.

“But believe me, cruelty exists everywhere in the world.

It’s not just in Cyprus.”

At this point Claire rummages through her hand bag and hands over a copy of her recently published book characterised by an illustrated white donkey gracefully jumping across a rural landscape.

Documenting the trials and tribulations of the little Grizoulla, the author is deter-

mined to spread the message that young and old must treat animals with the upmost care and respect.

So very intent is she on making her point known that Claire spends a great number of mornings dashing between primary schools around the capital to teach children about the life of animals and the various situations they have to deal with when coming into contact with humans.

“I teach children how to treat animals well, helping them understand that they have deep feelings and can offer their owners love and affection,” she explains. “Then

Claire Oechslin, 75, wants to help children to understand that animals should be treated with care and respect I’ll read from my books and the children will sit back and listen in awe.” The publication aims to both educate and entertain, as young ones are given the chance to follow Grizoulla and her faithful friend Oreo on their journey through

the sometimes harsh world of a donkey’s life in Cyprus.

Grizoulla is Claire’s second novel and follows a heartwarming story of an immigrant feline a few years back.

Youshka the Cat documents an animal’s life that is turned upside down by a move from the sunny Mediterranean to eastern Canada, where snow, culture shock and love await.

“I’m not trying to be a perfect writer but I want to touch the hearts of people. And that’s what they seem to feel when they read the stories. They may be geared to children but I’ve even had pensioners reading these stories.”

Born of Swiss descent in Lebanon, Claire lived in a number of countries until she settled in Cyprus thirty years ago, with a brief few years in Canada in between.

As a child at primary school she would often return home with all sorts of rescued animals - from puppies and kittens to tortoises and birds - while her adult life has seen much time spent volunteer-

ing in sanctuaries and welfare organisations. “What I really want people to understand is that animals need to be cared for and unfortunately some tend to think that they are nothing, as if they don’t have feelings,” she says.

With both of the tales in the books told from the point of view of the animals, the personification acts as a reminder that they too have feelings, be it pain or joy. But more than just literature that seeks to speak out about animal rights, there is also a good bit of history thrown in for good measure.

In the Grizoulla tale, young readers are given the chance to go back in time as they find out about the lives of donkeys in Cyprus years ago as they are given insight into the daily grind of a donkey in the mountain village of Kakopetria. Soon enough, Grizoulla is separated from her mother and taken for work in Larnaca.

“It describes the life working on the salt lake from sunrise to sunset as so many donkeys used to do years ago,” pro-

claims Claire. “As years went by unwanted donkeys were often abandoned in random spots and left to die. But in this tale, Grizoulla eventually finds a sanctuary and is rescued.”

“The kids love to hear the stories and they really come to realise that they should take care of the animals that they see around them and certainly not abuse them,” says the author.

As for her opinion on the way animals are treated by the population as a whole here in Cyprus, Claire adamantly speaks out about against poisoning that focuses on cats and dogs in particular.

“But truth be told, since I arrived in Cyprus in the 1980s, things really have improved drastically. You certainly don’t see as many cats and dogs run over as you used to,” admits Claire.

Youshka the Cat and Grizoulla: The Little White Donkey are available from the Moufflon Bookshop in Nicosia for €8 each

Actor playwright John Waterhouse passes away

By Chris Ekin-Wood ACTOR and author John Waterhouse passed away in Paphos General Hospital on New Year’s Day following a heart attack.

A loveable man with a brilliant sense of humour he was born in Kings Lynn, Norfolk on February 29, 1928.

When he left school, and after completing his National Service, went into the theatre. He a professional actor for more than 13 years during which time he met and married the actress Jacqueline Bellhouse.

In 1958, he wrote his first play Off The Rails, which was quickly followed by Pillar To Post, A Drop In The Ocean, Six Of The Best, We’re Frying Tonight and Just The Ticket which were all performed by popular comedy actors of the day. During 1960-1980 he went on to co-write the musical Man In The Moon

starring Charlie Drake, the film He’ll Have To Go featuring Bob Monkhouse, Alfred Marks and Hattie Jacques plus numerous short plays and sketches for television.

In 1982 he and his wife came to live in Cyprus since whe he wrote a novel Swindley And The Golden Fleece, published two collections of short stories “he Paradise Collection and Good Night, Bad Dreams along with 20 one-act plays, the last of which, Fit To Drop was published in 2012.

John’s wife died in 1987. His autobiography A Stage In My Life has a poignant ending which reads: “Every life has to have an end and as much as I may protest it, I am coming to the end of mine. I have said it all and done it all well, maybe not quite all. But in the telling and the doing I realise the past was not all that long ago, in fact it only seems like yesterday. Should I have anything that requires

to be said and done tomorrow, it would be as well if I were to say and do it quickly.

There has been much in my life for which I should thank God, but above all I thank Him for having given me the splendour of an unbridled imagination and the talent to amuse”.

John is survived by his daughter Sarah. The funeral will take place on Monday at the Paphos Metropolitian Cemetery at 11am.

CYPRUS MAIL Saturday, January 5, 2013

7

Britain BRITAIN TODAY Sun slaps back at Argentina BRITAIN’S biggestselling newspaper had a simple message for Argentina in an editorial published yesterday in the South American country: “HANDS OFF” the Falkland Islands.

The seven-paragraph epistle, penned by the populist Sun tabloid and published in Argentina’s main English language newspaper, came in response to fresh demands from President Cristina Fernandez to open talks over the sovereignty of the South Atlantic archipelago.

The two countries fought a 10-week war in 1982 over the remote islands, which are part of Britain’s self-governing overseas territories and are known in Argentina as Las Malvinas.

Britain won the war but Argentina started pressing its sovereignty claim anew last year after oil exploration began in waters near the islands.

New treasure trove declared MOST of a collection of new items found close to where the Staffordshire Hoard was previously discovered have been declared a treasure trove.

The 81 items of gold and silver, which date to the seventh century, will now be handed to the British Museum’s valuation committee, which will assess their worth, South Staffordshire Coroner Andrew Haigh told an inquest in Stafford. It will then be up to Staffordshire County Council and neighbouring councils to raise the money to buy the items for the nation.

Cattery blaze TWO cats are confirmed dead and at least 18 unaccounted for after a blaze ripped through a cattery, firefighters said yesterday.

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue service battled the blaze at the cattery in Stafford Road, Cannock, at 5.30am. A spokesman confirmed the brigade was not treating the fire as suspicious and said several of the missing cats might have escaped unharmed.

Taliban target girl Malala leaves hospital Malala, dad likely to stay on long term in UK

By Katie Hodge and Richard Vernalls A PAKISTANI girl shot in the head by the Taliban has been discharged from hospital.

Malala Yousafzai, 15, was targeted for backing women’s rights to education in her home country and was later flown to the UK for specialist care.

British doctors have been delighted with her recovery which will continue at her family’s temporary home in the West Midlands.

Malala left the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham (QEHB) on Thursday after doctors decided she was well enough to be treated as an outpatient.

She will visit the hospital regularly to attend clinical appointments and is due

to return for cranial reconstructive surgery in the next few weeks.

Dave Rosser, medical director at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Malala is a strong young woman and has worked hard with the people caring for her to make excellent progress in her recovery.

“Following discussions with Malala and her medical team, we decided that she would benefit from being at home with her parents and two brothers.

“She will return to the hospital as an outpatient and our therapies team will continue to work with her at home to supervise her onward care.”

Malala left hospital as it emerged she was likely to secure permanent residence in the UK after her father was granted a job with the

Man undergoes UK’s first hand transplant A 51-YEAR-old man has become the first person in the UK to have a hand transplant in an operation that took place in Leeds.

Doctors at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) said Mark Cahill underwent the complex, eight-hour procedure on December 27 when a donor hand became available.

They said a new technique was used which involved Cahill, from Greetland, near Halifax, West Yorkshire, having his non-functioning right hand removed during the same operation as the donor hand was transplanted.

This procedure allowed very accurate restoration of nerve structures and is believed to be the first time this approach has been used, surgeons said.

“When I look at it and move it, it just feels like my hand,” the BBC reported Cahill as saying. “Right now it feels really good, it’s not a lot of pain, it looks good, it looks a great match and I’m looking forward to getting it working now.”

The hospital said Cahill lost the use of his right hand due to severe gout.

Malala Yousafzai (R) was targeted by the Taliban for backing women’s rights to education in Pakistan The teenager, from the town of Mingora in the Swat district of Pakistan, was pictured embracing medical staff as she walked out of hospital on Thursday. Over the past couple of weeks she has taken regular “home

leave” to spend time with her father, mother Toorpekai and younger brothers, Khushal and Atul.

Her lengthy ordeal began when she was severely injured in a school bus shooting on October 9.

THIS WEEK IN YOUR

SundayMail Always the same Inside the mind of documentary film maker Harun Farocki

Transplant patient Cahill (R) Consultant plastic surgeon Professor Simon Kay, who led the surgical team, said: “This operation is the culmination of a great deal of planning and preparation over the last two years by a team including plastic surgery, transplant medicine and surgery, immunology, psychology, rehabilitation medicine, pharmacy and many other disciplines.

“The team was on standby from the end of November awaiting a suitable donor limb, and the call came just after Christmas. It was extremely challenging to be the first team in the UK to carry out such a procedure.”

Mortgage approvals at 10-month high MORTGAGE approvals to home buyers climbed to a 10-month high in November in a further sign that a multi-billion-pound scheme to boost lending is having an impact.

Bank of England figures showed there were 54,036 approvals for house purchase during the month worth £8.1 billion - the highest number since January last year.

The latest figures add to evidence that a government initiative launched in August to encourage banks to lend to households

Pakistani consulate in Birmingham.

Ziauddin Yousafzai has been appointed education attache for three years, with the option of an extension for a further two years.

He and his daughter have had threats made against their lives by the Taliban since the shooting.

The Pakistani High Commission’s decision makes it more likely Malala and her family will remain in Britain long-term.

The appointment came after Pakistan’s president Asif Ali Zardari visited Malala and her father in hospital on December 8.

Zardari was said to have assured Yousafzai the Pakistani government would pay for Malala’s treatment and all the family’s needs while in the United Kingdom.

and firms by giving lenders access to cheap finance is working.

The number of mortgages on the market has seen a significant increase since the funding for lending scheme began and lenders have been aggressively slashing their rates.

On Thursday, the Bank published its latest survey of lenders, which found that mortgage availability rose significantly in the final three months of 2012, setting a new high since the survey began in 2007.

Da Vinci Codices and machines drawn up by the great man on display

Exercise burn Can exercise help detoxify the body?

Experts are divided

Saturday, January 5, 2013 CYPRUS MAIL

8

World WORLD TODAY Hungary vote move barred HUNGARY’S ruling Fidesz party abandoned plans yesterday to force millions of voters to sign up to be able to vote at national elections in 2014, after the country’s top court found parts of its proposed reforms unconstitutional.

The Constitutional Court ruling and the retreat represent a major blow to conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who swept to power with a two-thirds majority in 2010 parliamentary elections.

Orban’s Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance approved a new voting system in November in one of the most hotly contested steps of a twoyear flurry of reforms that included a new constitution and a swathe of laws that critics say entrench Fidesz’s power.

The changes proposed

by Fidesz and approved in parliament without support of the opposition, would have required 8 million voters to register in person or online at least two weeks before elections in 2014.

Orphans die in shelter blaze A FIRE at a private shelter for orphans and abandoned children in central China has killed at least seven youngsters and left an unknown number of others injured.

The official website China.org.cn said yesterday the fire broke out at the shelter that was being run from a woman’s home in Lankao county of Henan province.

The website cites police at the site as saying many children had been hurt in the fire, though the specific number was not immediately available.

The woman who owned the home, Yuan Lihai, had for years been a street vendor in Lankao when she became locally known for sheltering abandoned children, the website said.

Philippines shooting A MAN fatally shot seven people and wounded six others before being shot dead by police in the Philippines.

Cavite provincial governor Jonvic Remulla said the dead in the rampage in Kawit township, 10 miles south of the capital Manila, included a pregnant woman and a sevenyear-old girl.

Remulla said the gunman was Ronald Bae. A radio report citing a doctor said Bae was 30.

Venezuela’s Chavez fighting lung infection VENEZUELA’S ailing President Hugo Chavez is being treated for a respiratory deficiency after complications from a severe lung infection, the government said yesterday.

Information minister Ernesto Villegas provided the update on the president’s condition, reading from a statement saying Chavez’s lung infection had led to “respiratory deficiency” and required strict compliance with his medical treatment.

The government expressed confidence in the medical team in Cuba treating Chavez, who is battling cancer and has undergone four operations.

Chavez, 58, has not been seen or heard from since his December 11 cancer surgery, and speculation has grown that his illness could be reaching its final stages.

The president’s elder brother Adan and National Assembly president Di-

osdado Cabello joined a parade of visitors who saw Chavez in Havana this week, and then returned to Caracas on Thursday along with vice president Nicolas Maduro.

Chavez’s health crisis has raised contentious questions ahead of his swearing-in for a new presidential term set for January 10, including whether the inauguration could legally be postponed, Supreme Court justices might travel to Havana to administer the oath of office, and, most of all, what will happen if Chavez cannot begin his new term.

“Chavez has faced complications as a result of a severe respiratory infection.

This infection has led to respiratory deficiency that requires Commander Chavez to remain in strict compliance with his medical treatment,” Villegas stated, reading the statement on television.

The statement raised the possibility

that Chavez might be breathing with the assistance of a machine. But the government did not address that question and did not give details of the president’s treatment.

The government expressed confidence in Chavez’s medical team and condemned what it called a “campaign of psychological warfare” in the international media regarding the president’s condition. Officials have urged Venezuelans not to heed rumours about Chavez’s condition.

In its latest statement, the government did not point to any particular rumours but said “this campaign aims ultimately to destabilise the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ... and end the Bolivarian Revolution led by Chavez”.

Venezuela’s opposition has demanded that the government provide more specific information about Chavez’s condition.

Chavez has not been seen or heard from since his December 11 cancer surgery

‘Japan must heal wounds of its wartime excesses’ South Korea, Japan tension over history, island

By Jack Kim SOUTH Korea’s presidentelect said yesterday that Japan needed to come to terms with its colonial history as tension between two Asian allies of the United States simmered over Japan’s rule of Korea and an island dispute.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in a December 31 interview he wanted to issue a statement that would supersede a landmark 1995 apology for Japan’s military aggression, a move bound to raise hackles in South Korea, ruled by Japan from 1910-1945, and in China, where bitter wartime memories run deep.

Japan’s top government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, confirmed yesterday that Abe wanted to issue his own “forward-looking” statement, but also told reporters the 1995 statement by thenpremier Tomiichi Murayama would stand.

“The two sides must have a correct view of history and pursue a future of reconciliation and cooperation,” South Korean President-elect Park Geun-hye told Abe’s aide, Fukushiro Nukaga, in Seoul,

South Korea’s president-elect Park Geun-Hye (R) shakes hands with Fukushiro Nukaga, a special envoy of Japanese PM Shinzo Abe at Park’s office in Seoul yesterday (AFP) according to her spokeswoman, Cho Yoon-sun.

A “correct view of history” is shorthand for South Korea’s desire for Japan to acknowledge its wartime and colonial excesses, something Tokyo says it has already done.

“The older generation must

make the commitment to try to heal the wound, and must not become an obstacle to opening the way for the future generation.”

China’s Foreign Ministry said the Murayama statement was a “solemn declaration of attitudes and promises” made to countries in

Asia victimised by Japanese invasion and colonisation.

“We hope Japan can adopt a spirit of reflecting on history and facing the future, and properly handle relevant issues,” ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing.

A handful of protesters as-

sembled at Gimpo Airport outside Seoul ahead of Nukaga’s arrival and one stabbed himself in the stomach with a small knife and was thereafter taken to hospital.

Tensions over territorial claims and reparations and an apology for Korean sex slaves, known as comfort women, who were forced to work at Japanese military brothels, have spilled into the diplomatic arena as well as economics.

South Korea cancelled plans for an intelligence deal last year, while a $57-billion currency swap to shore up Asia’s second - and fourth - largest economies was allowed to lapse after South Korea’s current president visited the disputed island.

On Thursday, a Seoul court ruled that a Chinese citizen who carried out an arson attack on the Yasukuni Shrine for war dead in Tokyo could not be extradited to Japan as he had committed a “political crime” and might not get a fair trial.

Abe told reporters in western Japan that the ruling was “extremely regrettable”.

Nukaga echoed that stance but said he had conveyed a message from Abe seeking to improve ties and invited Park to visit Japan soon, Kyodo news agency reported.

Park is the daughter of military strongman Park Chung-hee who established diplomatic ties between the two countries in 1965 after more than a decade of tortured talks brokered

by Washington, winning aid that helped his industrial drive that propelled South Korea from poverty to rich nation status.

‘Ghost gum’ trees destroyed in suspected attack A PAIR of “ghost gum” trees in Australia’s outback made famous in watercolours by Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira have been destroyed in a suspected arson attack, shortly before they were due to be placed on a national heritage register.

Namatjira is credited with bringing ghost gums, native trees featured in Aboriginal Dreamtime stories and named for their white bark that glows in moonlight, to wider public consciousness as a symbol of Australian identity.

Northern Territory Indigenous Advancement Minister Alison Anderson said the pair of ghost gums that frame the West MacDonnell Ranges and feature in many of the late Namatjira’s works were found burnt to the ground a few days ago.

“In his watercolours he brought the beauty of the Central Australian landscape to the world and helped make it a symbol of Australian identity,” Anderson said.

Authorities believe the fire was likely

deliberately lit.

Susan McCulloch, author of McCulloch’s Encyclopedia of Australian Art, told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper the destruction of the ghost gums was “appalling and a tragic act of cultural vandalism”.

Born in the Northern Territory in 1902, Namatjira held his first exhibition in 1938 and painted for the next two decades, earning international acclaim before his death in 1959.

Remains of the ‘ghost gum’ trees seen after the fire

CYPRUS MAIL Saturday, January 5, 2013

9

World

Abbas predicts end of Netanyahu weak, wavering, says ex Palestinian split at rally Shin Bet chief Fatah stages first rally in Gaza since 2007 Hamas conflict

By Nidal al-Mughrabi PRESIDENT Mahmoud Abbas predicted the end of a five-year split between the two big Palestinian factions as his Fatah movement staged its first mass rally in Gaza with the blessing of Hamas Islamists who rule the enclave.

“Soon we will regain our unity,” Abbas, whose authority has been limited to the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the 2007 civil war between the two factions, said in a televised address to hundreds of thousands of followers marching in Gaza yesterday, with yellow Fatah flags instead of the green of Hamas.

The hardline Hamas movement, which does not recognise Israel’s right to exist, expelled secular Fatah from Gaza during the war.

It gave permission for the rally after the deadlock in peace talks between Abbas’ administration and Israel narrowed the two factions’ ideological differences.

The Palestinian rivals have drawn closer since Israel’s assault on Gaza in November, in which Hamas, though battered, claimed victory.

Egypt has long tried to broker Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, but past efforts have foundered over questions of power-sharing, control of weaponry, and to what extent Israel and other powers would accept a Palestinian administration including Hamas.

An Egyptian official told Reuters Cairo was preparing to invite the factions

A Palestinian man climbs an electric pole as others watch a rally marking the 48th anniversary of the founding of the Fatah movement, in Gaza City yesterday for new negotiations within two weeks.

Israel fears grassroots support for Hamas could eventually topple Abbas’ Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank.

“Hamas could seize con-

trol of the PA any day,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.

The demonstration marked 48 years since Fatah’s founding as the spearhead of the Palestinians’ fight against

Israel. Its longtime leader Yasser Arafat signed an interim 1993 peace accord that won Palestinians a measure of self rule.

Hamas, which rejected the 1993 deal, fought and won a Palestinian parliamentary election in 2006. It formed an uneasy coalition with Fatah until their violent split a year later.

Though shunned by the West, Hamas feels bolstered by electoral gains for Islamist movements in neighbouring Egypt and elsewhere in the region - a confidence reflected in the fact Friday’s Fatah demonstration was allowed to take place.

“The success of the rally is a success for Fatah, and for Hamas too,” said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.

“The positive atmosphere is a step on the way to regain national unity.”

Fatah, meanwhile, has been riven by dissent about the credibility of Abbas’ statesmanship, especially given Israel’s continued settlement-building on West Bank land. The Israelis quit Gaza unilaterally in 2005 after 38 years of occupation.

“The message today is that Fatah cannot be wiped out,” said Amal Hamad, a member of the group’s ruling body, referring to the demonstration attended by several Abbas advisers.

“Fatah lives, no one can exclude it and it seeks to end the division.”

In his speech, Abbas promised to return to Gaza soon and said Palestinian unification would be “a step on the way to ending the (Israeli) occupation”.

THE former head of Israel’s internal security service said yesterday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was wavering and weak in an unusually personal condemnation of the right-winger, who enjoys a strong lead in polls ahead of the January 22 election.

Yuval Diskin, who retired as Shin Bet chief in 2011, last year warned that Netanyahu sought a “messianic” war with Iran.

His new criticism was potentially more potent given that Shin Bet duties include vetting civil servants’ psychological fitness for security posts, though there was no indication Diskin was citing any official assessment of the prime minister.

“At play inside Netanyahu, in my opinion, is a mix of ideology, a deep sense that he is a prince of a ‘royal family’ from the Jerusalem elite, alongside insecurity and a deep fear of taking responsibility,” Diskin said in a frontpage interview published by Israel’s biggest-selling daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

Ridiculing what he deemed Netanyahu’s “zig-zag” style in decision-making, Diskin added that the prime minister “has no strong core, no tough kernel about which you can say, ‘Know what?

In an extreme situation, in a crisis situation, I can follow him. I can trust him’”.

Yedioth, which has often editorialised against Netanyahu, published a response by the prime minister’s office dismissing Diskin’s remarks as “fatuous”. The statement accused Diskin of being motivated by politics and resentment at not having been chosen to head the Mossad spy service when he left the Shin Bet. An Israeli official, who de-

Netanyahu enjoys a strong lead ahead of January polls clined to be named, played down the impact of Diskin’s remarks.

The Shin Bet does not conduct psychological “profiling” of prime ministers, the official said, predicting that the public would perceive Diskin as having voiced his own opinion only.

A Diskin confidant, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to Reuters that he had sought the Mossad post, but argued that the former Shin Bet chief saw in it the opportunity “to ensure the right decisions are made on national security”.

Topping these concerns is the Iranian nuclear programme, in which Israel sees a mortal threat and against which Netanyahu has threatened military strikes.

Israel’s threat has complicated diplomatic efforts to find a solution with Tehran which denies it is seeking to make nuclear weapons and has pledged wide-ranging reprisals if attacked.

EU says no date for Iran talks, hopes for new round Lebanon asks for $180m to aid Syrian refugees THE European Union says no date has been fixed for further talks on Iran’s nuclear programme, while hoping they will be soon, an EU foreign affairs spokesman said.

He was reacting to comments from Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, who said earlier yesterday the country had agreed to hold talks in January with the six major powers - represented by the EU - about its atomic programme.

Saeed Jalili, Iran’s national security council secretary, said in India that Iran had “accepted that these talks should be held in January, but until now, the details have not been finalised”. He was speaking through a translator.

THIS WEEK IN YOUR

However, the EU spokesman would not say whether the powers had agreed to further talks with Iran.

Discussions on a date and venue are still ongoing, said Michael Mann, a spokesman for EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, who leads negotiations on behalf of the six powers - the United States, Russia, France, Britain, Germany and China.

The six powers are trying to use a mix of diplomacy and sanctions to rein in Iran’s uranium enrichment programme, which they want to ensure is aimed only at civilian purposes, such as energy.

LEBANON, now a haven for 170,000 Syrians fleeing civil war, has asked foreign donors for $180 million to help care for them and said it will register and recognise refugees after a year-long hiatus.

The Beirut government has officially sought to “dissociate” itself from the 21-month-old struggle in Syria, nervous about the destabilising impact of the increasingly sectarian conflict in its bigger neighbour on its own delicate communal balance.

But there has been pressure from humanitarian agencies and the public to do more to help Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

SundayMail

WIN A RASUL TREATMENT AT ST RAPHAEL

ENTER OUR COMPETITION (living page 28)

The cabinet, which approved the measures after a six-hour session on Thursday night, rejected a proposal by Energy Minister Gebran Bassil, a Christian, to close the border to stop the influx into Lebanon, where mainly Sunni Muslim Syrian refugees now account for almost 5 per cent of the population.

Bassil belongs to the Free Patriotic Movement, part of a political alliance with Shi’ite Muslim militant group Hezbollah, which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

However, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech on Thursday that the border should stay open for refugees.

Saturday, January 5, 2013 CYPRUS MAIL

10

Business EU says its Google case not impacted

US activity picks up, hopes for eurozone rise

A DECISION by U.S. regulators to end a probe into whether Google Inc hurt rivals by manipulating internet searches will not affect the European Union’s examination of the company.

“We have taken note of the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) decision, but we don’t see that it has any direct implications for our investigation, for our discussions with Google, which are ongoing,” said Michael Jennings, a spokesman for the European Commission, the EU executive.

US services sector expands in December, hiring up

US PROBE ENDS US regulators on Thursday ended their investigation into the giant internet company, which runs the world’s most popular search engine.

Other internet companies, such as Microsoft Corp, had complained about Google tweaking its search results to give prominence to its own products. But the FTC said there was not enough evidence to pursue a big search-bias case.

The European Commission has for the past two years been investigating complaints against Google, including claims that it unfairly favoured its own services in its search results.

Google presented informal settlement proposals to the Commission in July.

On December 18 the Commission gave the company a month to come up with detailed proposals to resolve the investigation.

If it fails to address the complaints and is found guilty, Google could eventually be fined up to 10 per cent of its revenue - a fine of up to $4 billion.

Rates

Buying Selling Pound St

0.8153 0.8071

US Dollar

1.3107 1.2977

Australian $

1.2644 1.2332

Canadian Dol.

1.3053 1.2731

Swiss Fr

1.2163 1.2017

Denmark Kr

7.5525 7.3661 115.1317 113.7583

Norwegian Kr

7.3740 7.1920

Polish Zloty

4.1452

4.0428

Romanian Leu 4.5008 4.3243 Russian Ruble 39.9431 38.9569 Swedish Kr

BUSINESS activity in the United States perked up in the final month of 2012, surveys showed yesterday, while hopes grew that Europe may be through the worst of its economic slump.

Britain’s vast services sector, however, contracted for the first time in two years, suggesting the broader economy probably shrank as well in the final three months of 2012.

The Institute for Supply Management said its index of US service firms grew at its fastest clip in 10 months in December, boosted by a rise in new orders. The pace of hiring in the sector hit a five-month high.

Throughout the US economy, employers added 155,000 new workers last month.

Gains were distributed broadly, from manufacturing and construction to health care, which economists say suggests the economy would probably grow by about 2.0 per cent in 2013.

“The overall tone was one consistent with modest economic growth,” said Joshua Shapiro, chief US economist at MFR, a global consulting firm based in New York.

The 17-country eurozone, on the other hand, prob-

The 17-country eurozone probably closed out the year in recession, though evidence that the pace of contraction in the service sector had slowed suggested a turnaround ably closed out the year in recession, though evidence that the pace of contraction in the service sector had slowed suggested things may be turning around.

“I think (the eurozone PMIs) are showing a decisive bottoming-out of activity,” said James Nixon, chief European economist at So-

ciete Generale.

“Now, the actual levels of the surveys are still consistent with GDP declining, but at least things aren’t getting worse any faster.”

According to financial information firm Markit, the eurozone’s composite PMI, which measure the activity of thousands of companies,

rose to 47.2 last month, its highest since March.

The decline eased among firms such as banks and restaurants, which comprise the bulk of the eurozone economy, though things looked worse for manufacturers.

“The surveys at least bring some substance to the belief

Swiss bank Wegelin & Co to close after guilty plea

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

Japan Yen

By Steven C. Johnson and Andy Bruce

that the worst is over and that a return to growth is in sight for the region in 2013,” said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.

The UK services PMI, however, slipped to 48.9 from 50.2, sagging below the 50 mark that divides expansion and contraction for the first time in two years.

“The broader picture is that for some time the economy has been bouncing around the bottom ... and I think this is likely to stay with us for the next couple of quarters,” said Rob Wood, chief UK economist at Berenberg Bank.

Survey compiler Markit said the figures suggest Britain’s economy shrank 0.2 per cent in the final quarter of 2012, a slightly bigger drop than most other privatesector forecasts.

Yesterday’s European data followed news that China’s services sector saw its slowest rate of expansion in nearly a year and a half in December, although the HSBC services PMI still pointed to a modest revival in economic growth.

Fears that China’s economy would hit the skids kept investors on their heels in early 2012, but data in the second half of the year suggested the world’s second biggest economy would avoid a hard landing and continue to grow modestly.

With Europe likely to remain in recession, the world economy will increasingly depend on China and the United States to provide the fuel for continued growth.

Recent US data, particularly form the labour market, has been encouraging, not least because firms continued to hire in December despite a looming government budget crisis that many feared would bring on recession in 2013 if not solved.

8.6335 8.4203

WEGELIN & Co, the oldest Swiss private bank, has said it will shut its doors permanently after more than two-and-a-half centuries, following its guilty plea to charges of helping wealthy Americans evade taxes through secret accounts.

The plea, in US District Court in Manhattan on Thursday, marks the death knell for one of Switzerland’s most storied banks, whose original European clients pre-date the American Revolution. It is also potentially a major turning point in a battle

by U.S. authorities against Swiss bank secrecy.

A major question was left hanging by the plea: Has the bank turned over, or does it plan to disclose, names of American clients to US authorities? That is a key demand in a broad US investigation of tax evasion through Swiss banks.

“It is unclear whether the bank was required to turn over American client names who held secret Swiss bank accounts,” said Jeffrey Neiman, a former federal prosecutor involved in other Swiss bank investigations who is now in private law practice in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

“What is clear is that the Justice Department is aggressively pursuing foreign banks who have helped Americans commit overseas tax evasion,” he said.

Charles Miller, a Justice Department spokesman, declined to comment immediately.

Wegelin admitted to charges of conspiracy in helping Americans evade taxes on at least $1.2 billion for nearly a decade. Wegelin agreed to pay $57.8 million to the United States in restitution and fines.

The plea marks the death knell for one of Switzerland’s most storied banks, whose original European clients pre-date the American Revolution

Otto Bruderer, a managing partner at the bank, said in court that “Wegelin was aware that this conduct was wrong.”

He said that “from about 2002 through about 2010, Wegelin agreed with certain US taxpayers to evade the U.S. tax obligations of these US taxpayer clients, who filed false tax returns with the IRS.” When Wegelin last February became the first foreign bank in recent memory to be indicted by U.S. authorities, it vowed to resist the charges. The bank, founded in 1741, was declared a fugitive from justice when its Swiss-based executives failed to appear in U.S. court.

The surprise plea effectively ended the US case against Wegelin, one of the most aggressive bank crackdowns in US history.

“Once the matter is finally concluded, Wegelin will cease to operate as a bank,” Wegelin said in a statement on Thursday from its headquarters in the remote, small town of St. Gallen next to the Appenzell Alps near the German-Austrian border.

But the fate of three Wegelin bankers, indicted in January 2012 on charges later modified to include the bank, remains up in the air. Under criminal procedural rules, the cases of the three bankers Michael Berlinka, Urs Frei and Roger Keller - are still pending.

Although Wegelin had about a dozen branches, all in Switzerland, at the time of its indictment, it moved quickly to wind down its business, partly through a sale of its non-US assets to regional Swiss bank Raiffeisen Gruppe.

CYPRUS MAIL Saturday, January 5, 2013

11

Opinion

AKEL and the government have a nerve calling anyone a liar THE RESPONSE of the government and AKEL to the interview given on Sigma TV by the former Central Bank Governor Athanasios Orphanides was the predictable one. Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou described the interview as “a nauseating crescendo”, accusing Orphanides of “re-emerging with the well-known lies and well-known wretchedness against the president, the government and AKEL.” The AKEL spokesman Stavros Evagorou, appearing on the same television channel on Thursday night, took great offence at the exgovernor’s claim that AKEL and the government were “immersed in corruption” adding that the party was considering filing a libel suit against him. AKEL’s indignant spokesmen did not bother informing the public which the lies were, apart from the obligatory denial to the charge of corruption. It was enough to declare Orphanides a liar and repeat the official propaganda that the banking crisis was exclusively the result of his inadequate supervision of the banks.

But was it? In the interview Orphanides, repeated the series of events that led to the need for a bailout, which could have been avoided had President Christofias agreed to the fiscal consolidation measures that his finance minister had told the European Central Bank the government would take by the end of May 2012.

The finance ministry prepared a raft of measures that would ensure the fiscal deficit for the year would be brought down to 2.5 per cent of GDP (Christofias had also signed an EU agreement to this effect earlier) as he had promised the ECB. Had the measures been passed, the ECB would have carried on accepting Cyprus government bonds as security for providing liquidity assistance to the banks, as it had done in the case of Greece and Ireland. But Christofias, in his wisdom, vetoed the measures despite Shiarly having secured the support of the opposition parties, declaring that he would not take any more measures against the workers and that it did not matter if the deficit was higher than the 2.5 per cent he had officially agreed to. Before the end of June the government was obliged to seek a bailout so that the banks could draw liquidity from the ECB. Are these lies? No, these are the facts which not even the government and AKEL propagandists could deny. It is true that the banks, in particular Laiki, faced serious problems but these could have been manageable if the government kept its promise to undertake fiscal consolidation. This would have allowed it to carry on using its bonds as security at the ECB and the eventual bailout needs would have been much smaller. But instead the government played up the problems of the banks, so as to shift attention away from the president’s criminally irresponsible choices.

A president and government that are considered totally untrustworthy by all our EU partners, because they have repeatedly failed to honour agreements they made, have a nerve calling anyone a liar.

Want to send a letter?

Send letters to the Cyprus Mail by email, fax or post.

They should include a full postal address (email address is not sufficient), daytime phone number and reference to any relevant article. Names and addresses may be withheld from publication if circumstances warrant. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

Correspondence will be published at the discretion of the editor.

Falling birthrates: the threat and the dilemma W

HICH IS the more powerful agent of social change: fear or sympathy? Women in rich and middle-income countries may soon find themselves enrolled in a real-life experiment testing this proposition. That is because birthrates are dropping in much of the world. Demographics may soon rocket to the top of the political agenda, demanding an entirely new way of thinking about women and motherhood and the economy.

One reason for the shift was, as it were, born in the USA. That is because, for a long time, the United States has watched declining birthrates in places like Western Europe, Russia and even China with an air of superiority. The United States, lusty and fertile, was bucking the demographic trends.

Then, new data showed that in 2011 the U.S. birthrate fell to the lowest level ever recorded: 63.2 babies per 1,000 women of childbearing age.

Crucially, immigrant women, whose fecundity had been holding up the U.S. figures, opted out of the maternity ward in the greatest numbers. According to analysis done by the Pew Research Centre, the birthrate for women born in the United States fell by 6 per cent between 2007 and 2010. For foreign-born women in the United States, the drop was 14 per cent. Among Mexican immigrant women, the rate plunged 23 per cent.

This is a big change for the United States, bringing the birthrate in the country more closely in line with those of the rest of the developed world. The total fertility rate in the United States, a measure of the total number of children the average woman is likely to have, was 1.89 in 2011.

A recent study led by Joel Kotkin for the Civil Service College of Singapore found that the U.S. rate was edging toward European numbers: 1.54 for Greece, 1.48 for Italy and 1.5 for Spain. In rich

Comment Chrystia Freeland Asian countries, including Japan and Singapore, the rate has fallen even more sharply. Even in many middle-income and poor countries, the level has fallen below the replacement rate of 2.1 – to 1.89 in Vietnam and 1.9 in Brazil. These figures, particularly the recent decline in the United States, have prompted a chorus of cultural lamentation.

Kotkin, for example, sees the falling birthrate as the central feature of what he calls “postfamilialism,” a new form of social organisation that prizes liberation, personal happiness and perhaps even a “hip” urban aesthetic over the more traditional values of community and self-sacrifice.

This cultural critique – made, not accidentally, mostly by men – misses the central fact about falling birthrates. They are, above all, driven by decisions by women. And, in the countries where we have seen birthrates drop, they are about decisions driven by women who face three defining facts.

First, women have the historically unprecedented power to control their own fertility.

Second, the old close-knit family and community ties that once supported child rearing have been severed by industrialisation and urbanisation, and not much has emerged to take their place.

Third, women’s economic circumstances have been transformed. Women in countries where birthrates have fallen tend to be richer than were previous generations with higher birthrates or their sisters in countries where the birthrate is still high.

But that shift masks some other important characteristics in the life of the middle-class woman in middle- and high-income countries.

The decline has prompted a chorus of cultural lamentation She is more likely than ever to work – and to need to work to maintain her family’s middleclass status.

She is also more likely to live in a society in which a great deal of time and money must be invested in each child to ensure his or her future success. And, particularly in Europe and the United States, family income has probably stagnated or increased only marginally over the past decade, and certainly since the recent recession.

It is tempting, particularly if you happen to be an affluent man, to frame any choice about childbearing in the lofty language of moral philosophy, to see it as a decision between valuing personal fun in the present over service in the interests of others – one’s children and one’s society – in the future.

But the truth is that for most women, children are the most delightful and luxurious of con-

sumer goods. (Full disclosure: I am the mother of three.) They are, however, expensive, both in terms of time and in terms of money, and more and more women in middle-income and upper-income societies are judging, with considerable sadness, that they simply cannot afford to have as many children as they would like.

This is where the question of fear versus sympathy comes in.

For decades, feminists have been demanding that we come up with better ways for women to be both mothers and full members of modern society. That has often been dismissed as a “women’s issue.” So we have not addressed it – and now women are voting with their wombs.

Before long, we will collectively begin to appreciate that the future of our societies, and indeed of humanity itself, depends on finding a better, collective solution to this predicament.

Before we condemn the Greeks on migrants...

THE AIR smells of smoke: olive wood. Late into the night tractors laden with hessian sacks make their way to brightly illuminated village presses.

The fine weather over New Year has rallied all to the fields to harvest the green gold. For in Messinia, there is no space, no matter how hard to reach or unpromisingly small, that cannot support an olive tree.

It’s the time of year when city boys return from Athens to their grandparents smallholdings.

They’ll be pleased that if Samaras, the Peloponnesian, achieves nothing else, the new motorway joining Athens airport to Kalamata has cut the journey in half, to around two hours. Even so, there are not enough hands to help, without the migrant ones of Albanians and Romanians and, as in our small town, British.

With the rise of Golden Dawn and the damning Amnesty re-

IDLE IDL LE CCHATTER HATT Lauren O’Hara beeplauren@yahoo.ie

port on the treatment of immigrants in police custody, Greece has taken, some say totally deserved, a grilling.

They are accused of racism and xenophobia, of brutality and incitement to hatred.

There is no doubt that the prison cells of Athens see their share of abuse. Along with the rest of Europe, the rise of the far right encourages the fear and suspicion of strangers who threaten jobs. But I have some sympathy with the Greeks.

For years, they have been

raising the issue with the EU of the number of illegal immigrants breaching their porous borders by boat, road and foot.

For years, that have explained they have not had the resources to monitor the situation properly, that Turkey turns a blind eye and waves, the mainly young men, through. Economic refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and beyond, sent out by their families to forage the riches of the West and send home the spoils.

Young men, with no papers, no documentation: forced often, like the North Africans swarming into southern Italy, to make dangerous and expensive journeys only to find no welcome.

It is estimated that 80 per cent of all illegal immigration enters the EU via Greece. For many migrants that is where they stay. Greece is being urged to detain them, deal with

them, but how can such a small country in such dire economic straits be the EU’s border control? Of course, the bands of illegal migrants that huddle at the unofficial job centres of city street corners like in any country in Europe some will be used for daily cheap labour in fields and factories.

No questions asked. All over Europe heavy manual work from construction to cultivation has been reliant on such cheap labour, but times have changed. Austerity and auditing are reducing the opportunity.

Without work, no legal right of abode (unless they can claim refugee or asylum status) this underworld of desperate workers are forced to beg, steal or move on to survive.

But before we condemn the Greeks, we should ask what the US, Russia or China would do? I think we know that answer.

Saturday, January 5, 2013 CYPRUS MAIL

12

Showbiz

Hunger Games, Hobbit most-anticipated films

Adele’s 21 scores again as 2012’s top album

‘People love mega-franchises and that’s what gets them excited’

By Eric Kelsey

By Eric Kelsey THIS year will look a lot like 2012 at the box office, with The Hunger Games and Hobbits at the top of cinemagoers must-see lists, according to a survey by ticket-seller Fandango released yesterday.

The second installment in The Hunger Games trilogy, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which is set for a November release, topped the list as 2013’s most-anticipated blockbuster.

The first film in the life-ordeath thriller series starring Jennifer Lawrence, raked in some $687 million at the worldwide box office in 2012.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, director Peter Jackson’s second installment in the The Hobbit series of elves and dwarves, ranked second on the survey that polled more than 2,000 moviegoers during the final week of 2012. It is scheduled to hit the big screen in December.

“People love the mega-franchises and that is what gets them most excited,” Dave Karger, Fandango chief correspondent, told Reuters.

“The first Hunger Games whetted peoples’ appetites for more. The same can be said for The Hobbit and Iron Man.” The superhero thriller Iron Man 3 starring Robert Downey Jr. ranked third on the list and is set for a May 3 release.

Star Trek into Darkness the follow-up to 2009’s Star Trek science-fiction adventure - and The Great Gatsby

The second installment in The Hunger Games trilogy, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which is set for a November release, topped the list as 2013’s most-anticipated blockbuster starring Leonardo DiCaprio rounded out the top five.

Both films are set to open in May. The heavy dose of franchise films on the list indicates how familiarity can build buzz among moviegoers, Karger said.

“In the case of The Hunger Games, many people who loved the movie have read the other books so they’re

excited to see it brought to life,” he said. “The same with The Hobbit too.

“Some people say, ‘Where is the originality?’ but the fact of the matter is that these franchises are what people get most jazzed about.”

The survey also asked film fans to vote on the sexiest man and woman on the big screen in 2013, as well as best villain, breakout stars

and best apocalyptic films.

Mila Kunis, who stars in upcoming film Oz: The Great and Powerful, was voted sexiest actress, while Channing Tatum was voted sexiest man for Paramount’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Both films are set for March releases.

Ben Kingsley (Iron Man 3) was voted most-anticipated villain, and June’s zombie thriller World War Z starring

Brad Pitt was voted mostanticipated apocalyptic film.

British actress Alice Eve was voted biggest breakout actress for Star Trek while fellow Brit Henry Cavill got the nod as biggest breakout actor for playing Superman opposite Russell Crowe and Amy Adams in Man of Steel, which will be released in June.

Helen Mirren ‘happy’ with Snoop to show kids pot smoking location of Hollywood star OSCAR-WINNING actress Helen Mirren finally got her wish yesterday, receiving a star along the Hollywood Walk of Fame right next to dashing fellow Briton Colin Firth.

“I couldn’t be prouder and more happy that I’m actually going to finally lie next to Colin Firth, something I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time,” Mirren said wryly.

Mirren, 67, who won the best actress Oscar for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth in 2006’s The Queen, was honored with the iconic terrazzo and brass star along Hollywood Boulevard in the historical heart of the US film industry.

Mirren’s star, the 2,488th since the Walk of Fame began in 1958, serves as a de facto lifetime achievement award for those in the entertainment industry.

Firth, who received his Walk of Fame star in 2011, won an Oscar as best actor for his portrayal of Britain’s King George VI in 2010’s The King Speech.

“Well I’m very pleased and proud and I think it’s very good for the British monarchy that here on Hollywood Boulevard, the King and the Queen are going to actually sleep together, for the rest of history,” said Mirren said at the unveiling.

The actress posed for photographers lying on her side next to her star and blew kisses to the crowd.

Writer and director David Mamet introduced Mirren.

“Helen’s performances reap higher praise than being praised, they’re loved,” Mamet said.

“And by one who’s had the absolute kick of working with her, I want to say as (British poet) Rupert Brooke said, somewhere there will be a little piece of foreign ground that is always a bit of England, and that’s right there,” Mamet said.

Snoop Lion’s love of marijuana is well-known

THE hitmaker - who recently reinvented himself as reggae star Snoop Lion from hip-hop artist Snoop Dogg - plans to demonstrate a safe way for his kids Corde, Cordell and Cori to use marijuana if they want to smoke it when they are older.

He told GQ magazine: “It’s not that I would ever push weed on our kids, but if they wanted to, I would love to show them how, the right way, so that way they won’t get nothing put in their s**t or overdose or trying some s**t that ain’t clean.”

Snoop recently spent the festive season with his family and he stuffed his children’s stockings full to the brim with expensive gifts.

He said: “The kids love the Dogg but they’re loving the Lion too. I like to spend Christmas with my family. I’m on the road so much that it’s important that I make time during the holidays. My kids are very fortunate and I’ve been known to stuff a few stockings at Christmas time.”

BRITISH singer Adele’s Grammy-winning 21 scored a rare feat in 2012 as it topped US album sales for a second straight year, beating out US country-pop star Taylor Swift’s Red, Nielsen Soundscan said yesterday.

It was the first time a single album had been a top-seller for two years in a row since Nielsen began tracking album sales in 1991, the organisation said.

But US album sales overall fell 4 per cent in 2012 to 315.96 million albums, after 2011 saw a rare 3 per cent bump in sales.

Adele’s 21 sold 4.41 million units in the United States in 2012 to top Swift’s Red, which sold 3.11 million copies. In 2011, 21 sold 5.82 million units.

“It’s a sort of a once-ina-lifetime album,” Keith Caulfield, associate director of charts at Billboard, told Reuters of 21. “Only a few of these albums come along in history.”

The heartbreak record earned Adele six Grammy Awards in early 2012, boosting the profile of the 24-yearold singer and songwriter, who records on indie label XL Recordings.

The album sold at a furious pace, reaching the 10 million albums-sold plateau in the span of two years, Caulfield noted. The last album to achieve that feat was boy band ‘N Sync’s No Strings Attached, which was released in 2000.

“It’s really the right combination of artistry and hit singles,” Caulfield said of 21’s success.

“She really crossed over from pop to Latin to adult contemporary to dance,” he added. “Young and old consumers bought it, and because of its mixture of fans, she was able to sell it as well as she did.”

Adele’s success came despite the drop in 2012 US album sales.

“2011 was a fluke,” Caulfield said. “A year gain in album sales is a mega achievement. ... It’s the way the market works now, people buy songs and not albums.”

Indeed, digital song sales rose 5 per cent in 2012 to a record high 1.336 billion downloads.

The year’s best-selling albums in the United States had a particularly British flavour as Swift was the lone American in the top five.

Swift records for the independently owned Nashvillebased Big Machine, distributed by Universal Music Group.

British boy band One Direction’s Up All Night, released in 2011, placed third with 1.62 million units sold, while their 2012 follow-up, Take Me Home, took the fifth spot with 1.34 million units sold.

Britain’s folk revivalists Mumford & Sons placed fourth with their album Babel selling 1.46 million units.

CYPRUS MAIL Saturday, January 5, 2013

13

Tech

‘Reclusive North Korea to host Google chief Schmidt’ Failing the new test is a strong indication of guilt, but passing does not necessarily indicate innocence

New test tougher for liars to beat A NEW test has been created to catch out people who can trick a normal lie detector.

Researchers at the UK’s University of Portsmouth have developed the system which relies on the liar avoiding revealing any guilty information.

For their experiment, 86 people were asked to commit a mock crime by stealing a data file in the form of a PDF named “delta” from a computer with a distinct yellow background.

A further 82 people allocated to the control group had no knowledge of the crime.

All of the participants were then subjected to the Symptom Validity Test which requires people to choose one word from a pair of words.

Each pair contains a word relating to the crime and a neutral word not related to the crime.

In this experiment, published in Legal and Criminological Psychology, crimerelated words included PDF, delta and yellow and neutral words included JPEG, bravo and red.

In the test, innocent people with no knowledge of the crime chose an equal number of crime-related and neutral words. Liars, on the other hand, chose the crime-related words just 33 per cent of the time and 40 per cent scored below chance and failed the test after choosing three or fewer crime-related words.

If someone fails the test, it is a strong indication of guilt.

However, the researchers warn that passing the test does not indicate innocence and it is possible to beat the test by using a strategy.

Researcher Dom Shaw said: “What is unique about this study is that we found a pattern in the guilty participants’ responses.

“Our results suggest that ... some liars worked out that avoiding too many crimerelated words would appear suspicious.

“As a result, they started including more crime-related words to appear as if they were choosing purely by chance.”

AP report says trip could occur as early as this month GOOGLE Inc’s executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, will travel this year to reclusive North Korea, where Internet use is subject to some of the world’s tightest controls, the Associated Press reported this week.

Schmidt, one of the highest-profile leaders of the US technology industry, could visit as early as this month, the AP said on Wednesday.

The announcement was made days after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the third member of his family to rule the country since its inception in the Cold War, signalled a willingness to improve relations with South Korea.

It was unclear who Schmidt will meet or what his agenda might be, the AP reported.

Internet access is largely restricted to all, but the most influential officials of the reclusive state. Media content is also rigidly controlled, although basic 3G cellphone use is said to be rapidly expanding.

Google did not directly respond to a question about whether Schmidt was going to North Korea, although a spokeswoman’s response suggested a visit would not be for company business.

“We do not comment on personal travel,” spokeswoman Samantha Smith said when asked about the AP report.

Do no evil: the Asia Foundation believes the planned trip by Schmidt (pictured) to North Korea would be in line with the technology giant’s broader vision of bringing ‘the Internet to the world’

Schmidt, Google’s main political and government relations representative, has also been a prominent supporter of President Barack Obama.

Google famously espouses a “do no evil” philosophy and campaigns for Internet freedom. It pulled its search service from mainland China in 2010, relocating it to Hong Kong because it said it could not conform with censorship requirements.

Last year, the company flew in North Korean defectors from Seoul for a panel discussion at a summit it host-

ed focusing on global illicit networks. It has also hosted North Korean officials in Silicon Valley, according to the Asia Foundation, which cohosted part of a trip by the North Korean delegatiopn.

“I think this is part of Google’s broader vision to bring the Internet to the world, and North Korea is the last frontier,” said Peter Beck, the South Korean representative of the Asia Foundation, a non-profit organisation. “I suspect that Google’s visit is more philanthropic than financial.”

‘Apple testing new iPhone, iOS 7’

By Chandni Doulatramani APPLE Inc has started testing a new iPhone and the next version of its iOS software, news website The Next Web reported.

The company’s shares rose as much as 4.3 per cent but eased a little to trade up 3 per cent at $546.11 by mid-day Wednesday on the Nasdaq.

Application developers have found in their app usage logs references to a new iPhone identifier, iPhone 6.1, running iOS 7 operating system, the website reported.

Apple’s iPhone 5 bears the identifiers “iPhone 5.1” and “iPhone 5.2” and is powered by the iOS 6 operating system.

Developer logs show that the app requests originate from an internet address on Apple’s Cupertino campus, suggesting that Apple engineers are testing compatibility for some of the

Apple’s iPhone 5 bears the identifiers ‘iPhone 5.1’ and ‘iPhone 5.2’ and is run by the iOS 6 operating system popular apps, the website reported.

“Although OS and device data can be faked, the unique IP footprint leading back to Apple’s Cupertino

campus leads us to believe this is not one of those attempts,” the website said.

Raymond James analyst Tavis McCourt, however, expects the next version of the iconic smartphone to be called iPhone 5S and not iPhone 6.

Apple typically tags the interim version of its phones with an “S” before moving on to a new version. iPhone 3GS followed iPhone 3G and the iPhone 4S followed iPhone 4.

McCourt also said he wouldn’t be surprised if Apple looked at an earlier launch because of the stress on its supply chain caused by late-year launches.

Apple launched iPhone 5 in September and it has been reported that the new iPhone will be released in the middle of 2013.

Techradar.com reported last month that Apple could unveil the next version of its iPhone as early as the spring of 2013.

Beck said the North Korea delegation had been shown a Google Earth view of their capital Pyongyang.

Schmidt is writing, with former US state department official Jared Cohen, a book due in April called The New Digital Age. It will address how the Internet and technology can empower people and drive fundamental social, political and economic change.

“Perhaps the most intriguing part of this trip is simply the idea of it. The restricted control of information lies at the heart of the DPRK state and

yet it is about to host one of the West’s greatest facilitators of borderless information flows,” said Victor Cha, a senior adviser and Korea expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

The DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the North’s official name.

“If Google is the first small step in piercing the information bubble in Pyongyang, it could be a very interesting development,” Cha wrote on the centre’s website on Wednesday.

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

The bridge was the first in the US with piers in open sea

Golden Gate bridge In 1933, construction work on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge began on the Marin County side. It was the first in the US to have piers built in open sea, and also first to span the outer mouth of a major ocean harbour. The chief engineer was Joseph B. Strauss. The length of the main structure of the bridge is 8,940 feet, with towers rising 746 feet above the water and a minimum clearance of 220 feet. Its first public use was on Pedestrian Day on May 27, 1937, and it was ceremoniously opened for vehicles the following day.

CYPRUS MAIL Satur

14

Lifestyle The golden apple o A worker holds a bottle of Strongbow Gold cider as she stands next to the production line at the Stassen brewery

A pint of cider

While they may be drinking less, consumers are willing to pay more for premium long drinks such as cider, which has spurred a flurry of acquisitions and product launches

By Philip Blenkinsop

A

LMOST A thousand years since the Norman conquest made cider popular in Britain, brewers are launching cider invasions of their own, with the United States the main battlefield.

Cider, or hard cider as Americans call it, promises growth in developed markets at a time when consumers are drinking less beer but

are willing to pay more for premium products, such as independent “craft beer”, flavoured lagers or indeed cider.

It tends to draw drinkers away from wine rather than eating into beer sales, attracts more women than does beer and commands a higher profit margin.

In volume terms, cider is only about 1 per cent of the beer market, but prices are much higher. The United States accounts for about a

Newlylabelled bottles of Strongbow Gold cider

fifth of global beer sales of $500 billion a year, so each per centage point increase there for cider could add well over $1 billion to the total revenue of cider makers such as world number one Heineken and number two C&C. While increasing wealth makes emerging markets a bright spot for brewers, beer consumption in Europe and North America has been in decline for years and is expected to keep falling.

“Mass-produced beers have suffered due to the surge of craft beers in the United States ... Big brewers feel the threat. Cider could be the escape hatch,” said Spiros Malandrakis, senior drinks analyst at market research group Euromonitor.

While they may be drinking less, consumers are willing to pay more for premium long drinks such as cider, which has spurred a flurry of acquisitions and product launches.

This year MillerCoors has acquired the third largest US cider producer Crispin, and Ireland’s C&C Group, maker of Magners, has bought Vermont Hard Cider Company, which makes the leading US brand Woodchuck.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s number one beer maker, launched Michelob Ultra Light Cider in the United States in spring, a year after its Stella Artois Cidre hit the market in Britain. Angry Orchard, a unit of craft brewer Boston Beer Co., went nationwide at the same time.

Heineken, with 24 per cent of the market, this year bought a Belgian ci-

der innovation centre and said it would take back US distribution rights for topselling brand Strongbow from Vermont Hard Cider from 2013.

Cider has already had a renaissance in Britain, spurred by the 2005 arrival of C&C’s Magners, advertised as a drink poured over ice at a time when extra-cold beers were in vogue.

New flavours have also helped expand cider’s appeal beyond middle-aged men to younger men and women and have made it an all-season beverage, not just a summer drink.

Social media have helped the spread, with women posting far more messages related to cider than beer.

References to final exams, partying and dance festivals demonstrate its appeal to

younger drinkers.

In Britain, the sector grew 24 per cent in volume terms from 2006 to 2011, according to market research group Mintel, though it stalled somewhat in 2010 and 2011.

Over the same period, beer sales have fallen 23 per cent.

Cider makes up 15 per cent of the long drinks market in Britain.

Sales are expected to rise 12 per cent from 2011 to 2016, says Mintel, and by 29 per cent, or 5.2 per cent a year, according to Euromonitor.

It sees UK beer sales down 9 per cent in that period.

While Britain represents almost half of the 1.8 billion litres drunk globally last year, the United States is almost virgin territory. Americans drank just 59 million litres last year, 15 times less than Britons in a country with

New flavours have a cider’s appeal bey men to younger me have made it an all not just a su five times more people. Cider made up 0.3 per cent of beer market volume.

However, that small base is growing fast, with ciders branding themselves as a healthier alternative - made from apples and free from gluten - and appealing to the sweeter palates of young people there.

rday, January 5, 2013

15 Television

17

Crossword

18

Sport

of brewers’ n no more contain 5 per cent than 25 apple juice, shop sales of fruitred ciders flavoured have grown by 80 per cent in the past year, with ons of ginadditions ger, honey, rhubarb, cloudberries, red berries e. or lime. ce, where France, rinks made only drinks ively from exclusively s can be apples called cider, is the only maarket in jor market which cider sales are forecast to fall in the 2011-2016 d, accordperiod, ing to Euromonihich sees an tor, which overalll 8 per cent e there. decline The entrance of larger producers has also meant large marketing budgets. Magners alone spent an estimated 45 million pounds ($73 million) following its 2005 UK launch, boosting both its own brand and the sector as a whole.

AB InBev has also put advertising muscle behind its cider brands in the United States.

Something similar might be expected from Heineken when it regains control of Strongbow there.

A second factor supporting growth is distribution and packaging. In 2009, cider was present in fewer than 10 per cent of US convenience and grocery stores, according to Nielsen. Now it is in at least 70 per cent of them.

Until Strongbow’s US entry in 2003, US cider was almost exclusively high strength and sold in large bottles. Now smaller bottles, cans and boxes have made it an easier drink in bars and at home.

For a flavour of the future, the Stassen cider plant in eastern Belgium offers clues.

The Stassen family has been making cider in the pretty market town of Aubel near

also helped expand yond middle-aged en and women and -season beverage, ummer drink Research firm Nielsen says 38 per cent of US cider drinkers are under 35 years old, against 17.5 per cent for beer, and half earn $70,000 or more, against 38 per cent for beer.

In the year to the end of November, off-premise sales have jumped 75 per cent, according to Nielsen.

That compares with 23

per cent for flavoured malt drinks, such as AB InBev’s Bud Light Lime-a-Rita, 14 per cent for craft beer and just 0.7 per cent for mainstream premium light beer.

A 24-bottle case of premium light beer retails for about $20. Craft beer and cider normally cost at least $30. If cider can also match craft beer’s 7 per cent of the US market, that would spell a lot of high-margin growth.

“Ten years ago, no one would have expected craft beer to have risen so much.

We think in cider similar things can happen,” said Joris Brams, director of C&C’s international operations, cider could rise to between 2 or 3 per cent of the market in five years.

Cider was a mainstream drink in the United States

before German immigrants established large-scale lager production in the mid-19th century, but it fell away after the prohibition era.

“We see cider getting rediscovered there,” Heineken global brand manager Willem Jan van der Hoeven told Reuters in an interview at the company’s Amsterdam headquarters.

Euromonitor expects US cider sales to grow 10.6 per cent on average, or 65 per cent overall, from 2011 to 2016, with beer as a whole down 1 per cent.

It also sees strong growth in South Africa, the world’s second largest market, with 48 per cent expansion over the five years to 2016.

Innovation is a key factor in cider’s present and expected growth.

In Britain, where cider need

A worker stands near a tank of apple cider at the production line of the Stassen brewery

25-28

eyes

the Dutch and German borders since 1895, building a factory in 1937.

Gradually, they have expanded from cider production to product development.

R&D chief Jean-Pierre Stassen says the company was the first to make flavoured ciders, adding peach in 1987, later cherry, lychee and raspberry.

“At the time, other companies said it was crazy, it was sacrilege ... but people bought it,” he said over the din in the company’s bottling house.

Jean-Pierre, whose brother Philippe is managing director, has an enthusiasm undimmed by three decades in the industry and struggles to think of any fruit that would not work.

Stassen has worked with the biggest players in the industry, including world number two C&C Group, and helped develop AB InBev’s Stella Artois Cidre. Heineken bought Stassen this year.

Strongbow Gold, a sweeter variant of Strongbow developed by Stassen, is sold in Italy and Hungary and is set for other markets in 2013.

Longer term, Stassen’s orchards are seeking to develop an apple with red flesh that will produce a red cider, richer in tannins and more akin to red wine. First results are due in 2015. It is unlikely to be commercially available until 2022.

This highlights one of the limits to cider’s expansion; it typically takes seven years to produce a fruit-bearing orchard. Grapes can be ready for wine-making after three, while barley for beer can grow in a single season.

But geographically, expansion prospects are sizzling.

C&C has already started bringing Magners to China, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand and South Korea and is in talks with Taiwan.

“It’s hot, but really small,” says Heineken’s Van der Hoeven. “Still, a niche across the globe can be very valuable.”

Saturday, January 5, 2013 CYPRUS MAIL

16

What’s on

films

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

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

NICOSIA

11am, 1.10pm and 3.25pm

Jack Reacher (15) K-Cineplex (Screen 4) at 5.25, 7.50 and 10.15pm, weekends also at 3pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 1) at 5.25, 7.50 and 10.15pm, weekends also at 11.30am and 3pm

Life of Pi (K) K-Cineplex (Screen 6) at 5.30, 7.50 and 10.15pm, weekends also at 3.05pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 5) at 5.30pm, weekends at 11.30am and 3.05pm

House at the End of the Street (15) K-Cineplex (Screen 5) at 7.55 and 10.20pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 5) at 7.55 and 10.20pm

Arbitrage (12) K-Cineplex (Screen 3) at 10.20pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 3) at 10.20pm

Cloud Atlas (15) K-Cineplex (Screen 3) at 7pm, weekends also at 3.30pm; KCineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 4) at 7 and 10.15pm An… (12) K-Cineplex (Screen 2) (in Greek) at 7.55 and 10.15pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 2) (in Greek) at 7.55 and 10.15pm Wreck-It Ralph (K) K-Cineplex (Screen 2) (in Greek) at 5.35pm, weekends also at 3.25pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 2) (in Greek) p , weekends also at at 5.35pm,

Telephone no:

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (12) K-Cineplex (Screen 1) at 7 and 10.15pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 3) at 7pm Hotel Transylvania (K) K-Cineplex (Screen 1) (in Greek, in 2D) at 5.10pm, weekends only at 3.15pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 3) (in Greek, in 2D) at 5.10pm, weekends only at 11.20am, 1.20pm and 3.15pm Rise of the Guardians (K) K-Cineplex (Screen 5) (in English, in 2D) at 5.05pm, weekends also at 3.10pm; KCineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 4) (in English, in 2D) at 5.05pm, weekends also at 11.15am, 1.15pm and 3.10pm Elles (in French, with Gree Greek subtitles) Cine Studio, Sunday at 8pm, Tuesday and Thursday at 9pm, presented by the Friends of the

K-Cineplex: 7777-8383 Rio Limassol: 25871410 Rio Paphos: 26-2070000

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

Cinema Society. Tel: 96-420491, www.ofk.org.cy

LIMASSOL Jack Reacher (15) Rio 1 at 5, 7.45 and 10.10pm.

Tel: 25-871410; K-Cineplex (Screen 4) at 5.25, 7.50 and 10.15pm, weekends also at 3pm

Greek), weekdays only at 6pm The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (12) Rio 3 at 4.30 and 7.35pm. Tel: 25-871410; K-Cineplex (Screen 3) at 7pm Seven Psychopaths (18) Rio 6 at 10pm

House at the End of the Street (15) Rio 6 at 5.30 and 7.45pm; Rio 3 at 10.30pm. Tel: 25-871410; K-Cineplex (Screen 5) at 7.55 and 10.20pm

Hotel Transylvania (K) Rio 3 (in Greek, in 3D), weekends only at 2.50pm. Tel: 25-871410; K-Cineplex (Screen 3) (in Greek, in 2D) at 5.10pm, weekends only at 3.15pm

Cloud Atlas (15) Rio 5 at 10pm. Tel: 25-871410; K-Cineplex (Screen 4) at 7 and 10.15pm

Rise of the Guardians (K) Rio 1 (in English, in 2D), weekends only at 3pm. Tel: 25-871410; K-Cineplex (Screen 4) (in English, in 2D) at 5.05pm, weekends also at 3.10pm

An… (12) Rio 2 (in Greek) at 8 and 10.10pm. Tel: 25-871410; K-Cineplex (Screen 2) (in Greek) at 7.55 and 10.15pm Wreck-It Ralph (K) Rio 2 (in Greek) at 6pm. Tel: 25871410; K-Cineplex (Screen 2) (in Greek) at 5.35pm, weekends also at 3.25pm Life of Pi (K) Rio 4 at 5, 7.45 and 10pm. Tel: 25-871410; K-Cineplex (Screen 5) at 5.30pm, weekends at 3.05pm Arbitrage (12) K-Cineplex (Screen 3) at 10.20pm Zarafa (K) Rio 2 (in Greek) at 4.30pm, weekends also at 3pm; Rio 3 (in

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (12) Rio 5 at 5.30 and 7.45pm Elles Rio 5, Monday at 8.30pm, presented by the Limassol Cine Club. www.cinelesxi.org

LARNACA Jack Reacher (15) K-Cineplex (Screen 1) at 5.25, 7.50 and 10.15pm, weekends also at 3pm House at the End of the Street (N/A) K-Cineplex (Screen 4) at 5.35, 7.55 and 10.20pm, weekends also at 3.30pm

Music Nicosia Loop Festival Music festival with a host of local and foreign bands and artists with live looping and similar techniques to create music in a live context.

January 5 & 6. Melina Merkouri Hall, Famagusta Gate, Athina Avenue, Nicosia. 7.30pm. email: culturalservice@nicosiamunicipality.org.cy. Tel: 22-797650/70-007610 Les Troyens – The Met: Live in HD Live broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera of New York in high-definition. January 5. Rialto Theatre, Limassol. 7pm. €20/15.

With Greek and English Subtitles Tel: 77-777745. Online ticket: www. rialto.com.cy

Theatre A Play about... Trash The theatre group Point To, in collaboration with Scarabeo Lounge Bar, presents the comedy directed by Evagelia Onoufriou. January 5, 12, 19, 26. Scarabeo Bar, 4 Nikokreontos Street, Nicosia. 9.30pm. €10. In Greek. Tel: 99-935777/99-740773 Just Broken Up Act Theatre presents play by Vassilis Myrianthopoulos & Vangelis Hatzinikolaou. Cyprus Dialect Adaptation

by Christiana Artemiou. January 5-6.

Latsia Municipal Theatre, 57 Yiannos Kranidiotis Avenue, Nicosia. 8.30pm and 6pm on Sundays. €20. Tel: 77-777181 Kali-Kantzar & Co A musical directed by Lea Maleni with music by Dimitris Zavros. January 5 until February 10. THOC New Theatre Building, 9 Gregori Afxentiou, Nicosia. Every Saturday and Sunday at 6pm. In Greek. Tel: 22-864300

Other Events Inspiring Minds in Hard Times Workshop for young professionals that aims to provide a deep understanding on how to handle the economical and psychological crisis.

January 5. CIIM, 21 Akademias Avenue, Aglantzia, Nicosia. 10am2pm. €20 all proceeds will be given to the Rotary Club Nicosia Aspelia Scholarship Fund. RSVP: 99-538859 or info@rotaractaspelia.com

Tomorrow Music Fusion Music Pop meets opera meets show-tunes with Tina Chester: Soprano and Andrew Oliver: Piano. January 6.

Pelendri Symposio Tavern, Limassol.

Concert 12 noon, lunch 2pm. €27 inc. lunch and first drink. Reservations - Tel: 99404348

Natassa Theodoridou and Helena Paparizou A big festive party with two popular Greek singers. January 6. Pavilion, Lakatameia, Nicosia. 10.30pm. €35/90. Tel: 22-322222 Nikolas Metaxas A live acoustic performance by local artist. January 6. MOV Music Stage, 17 Andrea Drousioti Street, Heroes Square, Limassol. 9pm. €12. Tel: 96-888201

Monday Music George Tsalikis – Thelxi – Konstantinos Galanos Live performance with three popular Greek singers. January 7. Blinkers Club, 5 Andrea Avraamidi, Engomi, Nicosia. €15/20. Tel: 70002355/22-351550

Tuesday Music Fusion Music Pop meets opera meets show-tunes with Tina Chester: Soprano and Andrew Oliver: Piano. January 8.

Kathikas Yiannis Tavern. Concert 7pm, dinner 9pm. €20 inc. dinner.

Reservations - Tel: 26-633353

House at the End of the Street (15) Rio 4 at 7.30 and 9.45pm

An… (12) K-Cineplex (Screen 2) (in Greek) at 7.55 and 10.15pm

An… (12) Rio 6 (in Greek) at 7.30pm; Rio 5 (in Greek) at 10pm

Wreck-It Ralph (K) K-Cineplex (Screen 2) (in Greek) at 5.35pm, weekends also at 3.25pm

Wreck-It Ralph (K) Rio 6 (in Greek) at 5.30pm, weekends also at 11am and 3pm

Life of Pi (K) K-Cineplex (Screen 5) at 5.30, 7.50 and 10.15pm, weekends also at 3.05pm The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (12) K-Cineplex (Screen 3) at 7 and 10.15pm Hotel Transylvania (K) K-Cineplex (Screen 3) (in Greek, in 2D) at 5.10pm, weekends only at 3.15pm Rise of the Guardians (K) K-Cineplex (Screen 6) (in English, in 2D) at 5.05pm, weekends also at 3.10pm To Rome With Love Thursday at 8.30pm, presented by the Larnaca Cinema Society.

Tel: 99-658831, 99-462903. www.lfcinema.org

PAPHOS

Life of Pi (K) Rio 3 at 5, 7.30 and 10pm Arbitrage (12) Rio 7 at 10.30pm Zarafa (K) Rio 5 (in Greek) at 5.30pm, weekends also at 11am and 4pm The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (12) Rio 7 at 7.30pm, weekends also at 4.30pm; Rio 6 at 9.45pm Hotel Transylvania (K) Rio 7 (in Greek, in 3D), weekdays only at 5.45pm, weekends only at 11am and 2.50pm Rise of the Guardians (K) Rio 4 (in English, in 2D) at 5.30pm, weekends also at 11am and 3.30pm; Rio 1 (in Greek, in 3D), weekends only at 11am and 3pm

Jack Reacher (15) Rio 1 at 5, 7.30 and 10pm

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (12) Rio 2 at 7.30pm, weekends also at 5.15pm

Cloud Atlas (15) Rio 5 at 7pm

Skyfall (12) Rio 2 at 9.45pm

listings

Jack Reacher

Today

Cloud Atlas (15) K-Cineplex (Screen 6) at 7 and 10.15pm

Theatre Social Security THOC presents a play by Andrew Bergman. January 8-9. Rialto Theatre, Limassol. 8.30pm. In Greek. The performance on January 9 will be with Greek and English surtitles. Tel: 77-777745

Ongoing Other Events 7 films: Harun Farocki A selection of screenings by legendary German filmmaker, critic and teacher followed by discussion and talk with the artist. Until February 15. Point Centre for Contemporary Art Megaron Hadjisavva, 2 Evagorou Street, Nicosia. Every Wednesday through Sunday from 11am-5pm.

Tel: 22-662053. www.pointcentreforcontemporaryart.com Bidoun Library A mobile library consisting of books, magazines and other printed matter about the Middle East. Until February 15. Point Centre for Contemporary Art Megaron Hadjisavva, 2 Evagorou Street, Nicosia. Tel: 22-662053. www. pointcentreforcontemporaryart.com

Theatre 65 Minutes A performance by the Theatro Dentro within the framework of the 4th X-

Dream Festival. January 3-5. ARTos Cultural and Research Foundation, 64 Ayion Omoloyiton Avenue, Nicosia. 9pm, January 5 at 10.30pm. In Greek. Tel: 99-384606 Mazi Elia Ioannidou and Stavros Poyiatzis present a humorous musical about a fashion house. January 3-5.

Strovolos Municipal Theatre, Nicosia.

8.30pm. €15. The net proceeds will be donated to the Cyprus Anticancer Association. Tel: 97-895259 www.soldout-tickets.com.cy The Elephant Man Theatro Ena presents a play by Bernard Pomerance, translated and directed by Andreas Christodoulides.

Until January 27. Theatro Ena, 4 Athinas Avenue, Nicosia. Every Friday through Sunday at 8.30pm. In Greek. €15/12. Tel: 22-348203 The Magic Flute The Children’s Stage of Satiriko Theatre presents play adapted and directed by Thanasis Theologis. Until January 27. Vladimiros Kafkarides Cultural Centre, 11-15 Vladimiros Kafkarides Street, Aglantzia, Nicosia.

Every Sunday at 10.30am. €10. In Greek. Tel: 22-312940/22-421609 Noah’s Family A theatrical play for children written

by Xenia Kalogeropoulou and Thomas Moschopoulos. Until February 3. THOC New Theatre Building, 9 Gregori Afxentiou, Nicosia. Every Sunday at 10.30am. In Greek. Tel: 22-864300

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

Social Security THOC presents a play by Andrew Bergman. Until February 3. THOC New Theatre Building, 9 Gregori Afxentiou, Nicosia. Friday through Sunday. Friday & Sunday at 8.30pm, Saturday at 6pm and 8.30pm. €12/6.

In Greek. Tel: 77-772717/22-864300 Spring Awakening THOC presents work by Frank Wedekind, directed by Dimitris Lignadis.

Until February 9. THOC New Theatre Building, 9 Gregori Afxentiou, Nicosia. On specific days at 8.30pm.

In Greek. €12/6. Tel: 77-772717/22864300 Misery Stephen King’s psychological thriller staged by Satiriko Theatre. Every Friday and Saturday. Until February 13. Vladimiros Kafkarides Cultural Centre, 11-15 Vladimiros Kafkarides Street, Aglantzia, Nicosia. Every Wednesdays and Fridays at 8.30pm.

In Greek

Exhibition Constantinos Stefanou Solo painting exhibition. Until January 5. Morfi Gallery, 84 Agkyras St, Limassol. Monday-Saturday: 10am1pm. Tuesday-Friday: 5pm-8pm.Tel: 25-378733. www.morfi.org Do You Have New Plans?

Group mixed-media art exhibition.

Until January 7. Is Not Gallery, 11 Odysseus, Chrysaliniotissa, Nicosia.

Monday-Saturday: 10am-1pm and 4pm-8pm. Tel: 22-343670

17

CYPRUS MAIL Saturday, January 5, 2013

Television CYBC 1 07.15

Oikogeneia Solomou (rpt) Local series with events unfolding in a Cypriot village before and after the Turkish invasion of 1974.

08.00 10.30

Moiraia Fengaria (rpt) Paizoume Kypriaka

CYBC 2 07.00 08.00

17.00

14.00 14.30

Edoxe Ti Vouli Kai To Dimo News Me Kali Parea Vivian Kanari hosts new show featuring a mix of news, information and live music.

16.30

Vimmata Stin Ammo (rpt) Two episodes of local period drama, based on true events.

18.00 18.15

19.30 20.00 21.30

18.50 19.00 19.10 21.00

News Repeats

07.20

Fireman Sam, The Legend of Frosty the Showman, etc. Shown till 12.30, then repeated till mid-afternoon.

07.50

FILM: The Santa Clause

08.20 09.10 10.00 10.50 11.40 12.30 14.20 16.00

Candid Camera Unsuspecting people react to bizarre events.

17.50

News In English New In Turkish NRG Zone Weekend FILM: Meet The Parents

19.30 20.20 21.30 22.20

22.40

Cirque Du Soleil Delirium Touring multimedia stage show by Cirque du Soleil featuring live music, video projections, and performances by acrobats and other circus.

00.10 00.45 02.40

News In English & News In Turkish (rpt) Me Kali Parea (rpt) Euronews

Cheek To Cheek (rpt) Oi Men kai Oi Den (rpt) Vodka Portokali (rpt) 40 Kimata (rpt) Super Babas (rpt) Ta Koritsia Tou Baba (rpt) Galileo (rpt) Yia Tin Agapi Sou (rpt) O Polemos Ton Astron (rpt) Ekeino To Kalokairi (rpt) Niose Me (rpt) With News at 18.00.

A male nurse decides to delay proposing until he’s won over his girlfriend’s father, a former CIA agent who doesn’t suffer fools gladly. Comedy, with Ben Stiller. 2000.

Local Sketch News Savvato Ki Apovrado Variety show, with wellknown guests pretending to have a good time for the benefit of You At Home.

23.30 23.45

18.35

News Patates Antinahtes (rpt) Local satirical show, using comedy sketches and embarrassing TV clips to skewer local politicians.

NRG Zone Kids’ TV

A moody businessman accidentally sends Santa Claus to the great grotto in the sky and has to don the red suit himself. Christmas comedy, with Tim Allen. 1994.

Local game show, asking questions having to do with Cypriot dialect.

13.00

ANTENNA

Vals Me 12 Theous News Me To Dexi (rpt) FILM: Under The Tuscan Sun While on vacation, a just-divorced writer buys a villa in Tuscany on a whim, hoping it will be the start of a change for the better in her life. Romantic drama, starring Diane Lane. 2003.

00.15 00.20 00.30 01.40

06.30 07.40 09.40 10.30 11.20 12.10 13.10 14.00 16.10 17.20 18.00 18.20 20.15 21.20 22.20

I Dipsa (rpt) Yia Sena (rpt) Kid’s TV Mia Stigmi Dio Zoes Games (rpt) Klemmena Oneira (rpt) Chuck Mousiko Kouti Live (rpt) Anonymous (rpt) Master Chef (rpt) News Epta Thanasimes Petheres (rpt) News Anonymous FILM: Made Of Honour A single man realises too late that he’s in love with his engaged best friend, and resolves to sabotage her wedding.

Romantic comedy, starring Patrick Dempsey. 2008.

00.00 00.10

News FILM: Against The Dark As vampires take over the world, a swordwielding warrior steps forward to protect the last survivors of the human race. Action thriller, starring Steven Seagal. 2009.

News Sports News Vradi Me Ton Petro Kotsopoulo Blackout Game show which places contestants in complete darkness to compete in challenges.

02.40 03.50 04.40

MEGA

02.20

Repeats

SIGMA 07.00 08.30 10.00 14.00 14.50 16.40

Zoi Podilato (rpt) Kids’ TV Mes Stin Kala Hara Oikogeneiakes Istories (rpt) Aspra Balonia (rpt) Efta Ouranoi kai Synnefa Alites (rpt)

PLUS TV 06.50 07.50 12.05 13.00 13.40

Entertainment magazine featuring segments on cooking, health, fashion, lifestyle issues and more.

With News at 18.00.

18.10

The Cooking Factory Greek cookery show.

19.00

Pame Paketo (rpt) Popular talk-show that deals with human interest stories such as reuniting people, fulfilling dreams.

20.15 21.20

23.10 23.50 23.55

15.10 16.40

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (rpt) News The 4400 (rpt)

17.30

04.00

Mes Stin Kali Hara (rpt) Magazino (rpt)

21.00 22.30 23.15

15.55 16.00

Greek FILM: Kamikazi Tsantakias Vathi Kokkino Kostakis Ki Yioi

18.00 18.55 19.05 19.55 20.05 21.00

00.50 02.00

Remington Steele News Acapulco HEAT News Rubi FILM: A River Runs Through It Two fly-fishing sons of a Presbyterian minister - one reserved, one rebellious - grow up in rural Montana. Drama, starring Brad Pitt.

1992.

23.20

FILM: Harley Davidson & The Marlboro Man A retired rodeo performer teams up with a biker to help save their favourite bar.

Adventure, starring Don Johnson. 1991.

01.10

FILM: No Way Back Action adventure, starring Russell Crowe.

1996.

Local comedy series.

Doureios Ippos (rpt) News Fab 5 (rpt)

Kids’ TV Telemarketing Greek FILM: I Kravgi Mila Mou Prasina Kouzina Me Apopsi (rpt) News FILM: First Daughter The daughter of the US president enrols at college as a normal student, but is unaware a special agent is keeping an eye on her.

Romantic comedy, with Katie Holmes. 2004.

With News at 17.30.

FILM: A Man For All Seasons Henry VIII’s plan to divorce his wife leads to a clash with his lord chancellor Sir Thomas More and the Catholic Church. Historical drama, starring Charlton Heston and Vanessa Redgrave. 1988.

FBI agents investigate the sudden reappearance of 4,400 people who mysteriously vanished 50 years ago.

00.40

Mila (rpt) Discussions about various issues based on a woman’s life (men, relationships, sex, kids etc.) with showbiz guests.

18.40

07.00 11.05 13.20 15.10 15.25

Mesimeriani Meleti Best Of Stin Kouzina Me Ti Dina (rpt) Cooking show, with helpful tips on eating well and nutrition.

Hosted by Dina Nikolaou.

News FILM: Smooch An aristocrat who has lost his memory is taken in by an 11-yearold girl, and ends up falling for her mother.

Romantic comedy, with Kellie Martin and Simon Kassianides.

2011.

Star News (rpt) Kids’ TV LTV Sports News (rpt) Star News Fotis - Maria Live Best Of

CAPITAL

LTV Sports News Repeats

Larry Crowne (Novacinema1, 14.05)

06:15 The Weakest Link 07:00 3rd & Bird 07:10 Nina and the Neurons 07:25 Tikkabilla 07:55 Me Too! 08:15 3rd & Bird 08:25 Nina and the Neurons 08:40 Tikkabilla 09:10 Me Too! 09:25 The Weakest Link 10:10 Doctor Who: Voyage Of The Damned 11:20 New Tricks 12:10 King Edward VII: King of Pleasure 13:00 Apes in Danger 13:25 The Impressions Show With Culshaw & Stephenson 13:55 Last Of The Summer Wine 14:25 The Weakest Link 15:10 Casualty 16:00 EastEnders 17:55 My Family 18:25 The Weakest Link 19:10 Doctor Who 20:00 Comedy Countdown - The Winner 21:00 Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow 21:45 Alan Carr: Chatty Man 22:30 Alan Carr: Chatty Man Xmas 2012 23:15 Victoria Wood - What Larks! 00:00 Sport Relief 2012 - Sport Relief Does The Apprentice 01:30 Last Of The Summer Wine 02:00 Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow 02:45 The Weakest Link 03:30 Alan Carr: Chatty Man 04:15 Alan Carr: Chatty Man Xmas 2012 05:00 Victoria Wood - What Larks! 05:45 Last Of The Summer Wine

07:00 How It’s Made 07:25 Rides 08:15 Fifth Gear 09:10 Mega Build-

ers 10:05 Mighty Ships 10:55 Dangerous Flights 14:30 Extreme Engineering 15:25 Man Made Marvels Asia 16:20 Mega Builders 17:15 How It’s Made 18:10 Crisis Control 19:05 Mythbusters 20:00 How It’s Made 21:00 Auction Hunters 22:00 Auction Kings 23:00 Gi Dough 00:00 Secrets Of Bin Laden’s Lair 01:00 Could You Survive?

01:55 Auction Hunters 02:50 Auction Kings 03:50 Gi Dough 04:50 How It’s Made 05:15 Crisis Control 06:05 Mega Builders

09:30 Biathlon: World Cup Germany 10:15 Nordic Combined Skiing: World Cup Germany 11:30 Ski Jumping: World Cup-Four Hills Tournament Austria 12:00 Ski Jumping: Women’s World Cup Germany 13:30 Cross-Country Skiing: World Cup-Tour De Ski Italy 15:30 Biathlon: World Cup Germany 16:45 Nordic Combined Skiing: World Cup Germany 17:00 Ski Jumping: World Cup-Four Hills Tournament Austria 18:30 Biathlon: World Cup Germany 20:00 Snooker: European Tour Germany 22:30 Tennis: Atp Tournament Doha 00:00 Rally: Rally Raid Dakar 00:30 Rally: European Rally Championship Austria 01:00 Ski Jumping: World Cup-Four Hills Tournament Austria 01:30 Biathlon: World Cup

talist, The 12:30 Necessary Roughness 13:15 Closer, The 14:15 Ncis: Los Angeles 15:00 According To Jim 03:00 Underbelly

Germany 02:30 Rally: Rally Raid Dakar

05:40 Work Of Art: The Next Great Artist 06:30 Desperate Housewives 10:20 Modern Family 11:10 New Girl 12:00 Happy Endings 12:25 Don’t Trust The B...In Apartment 12:50 Masterchef 14:30 Body Of Proof 18:30 Tabatha’s Salon Takeover 21:00 Jane By Design 21:50 Revenge 22:40 Raising Hope 23:05 Melissa & Joey 23:30 Glee 00:20 Castle 04:25 Modern Family

07:00 Ancient Aliens 10:00 American Pickers 12:00 Soviet Storm: WWII In The East 14:00 Pawn Stars 16:00 Ancient Aliens 19:00 Storage Wars 20:00 Pawn Stars 21:00 American Pickers 22:00 Storage Wars 22:30 Storage Wars 23:00 Pawn Stars 00:00 Soviet Storm: WWII In The East 01:00 Storage Wars 02:00 Pawn Stars 03:00 American Pickers 06:00 Soviet Storm: WWII In The East

07:30 Hollywood Buzz 08:00 Special 09:30 Yogi Bear 11:00 Riding Tornado 13:00 Safe Passage

08:15 Skellig 10:15 St. Trinian’s Ii: The Legend Of Fritton’s Gold 12:15 Soccer Nanny 14:00 Winning Season 15:45 Lethal Weapon 4 18:00 Year Without A Santa Claus 19:45 Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows 22:00 High Life 23:30 Action Zone 00:05 Daring! TV 03:30 Road Trip: Beer Pong 05:15 Last Samurai 15:00 Fair Game 17:00 Pre-Game 18:00 A’ Division Cyprus Soccer Championship 2012-13 20:00 Ltv Sports News 21:00 Hearts In Atlantis 23:00 White Countess, The 01:15 Hustler Tv 03:00 Brighton Rock 05:00 Tenure 06:30 Ltv Sports News

08:15 Wonder Pets 08:40 Dora The Explorer 09:05 Ni Hao, Kai-Lan 09:30 Spongebob Squarepants 09:55 Tak & The Power Of Juju 10:20 Fanboy & Chum Chum 10:45 X’s, The 11:10 Mighty B!, The 11:35 My Life As A Teenage Robot 12:00 Hey Arnold! 12:25 Icarly 12:50 Icarly 13:15 Legion Of Super Heroes I 13:40 Max Ad-

ventures 14:05 Geisco Pba Team Shootout 14:35 Barclays Premier League 2012-13 16:30 Geisco Pba Team Shootout 17:00 Barclays Premier League 2012-13 19:00 Nba 2012-13 21:00 Liga Bbva 2012-13 23:00 Planet Speed 23:30 Volvo Ocean Race 00:30 2011 World’s Strongest Man 01:00 Liga Bbva 2012-13 03:00 Toyota Australian Football International 2012 03:30 Planet Speed 04:00 Rugby World Cup Winners 05:00 Liga Bbva 2012-13

07:15 Gossip Girl 08:00 Friends 08:30 Big Bang Theory, The 09:00 According To Jim 09:55 Two And A Half Men 10:45 Bones 11:30 Men-

06:30 Man Of The House 08:10 My Week With Marilyn 09:50 Cine News 10:45 Welcome To The Sticks 12:30 Beethoven’s Christmas Adventure 14:05 Larry Crowne 16:40 Cine News 17:00 Super 8 19:00 Miral 22:00 One For The Money 23:40 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol 01:55 Cine News 02:35 ; The Change-Up 04:30 The Ward

06:30 American Gangster 09:05 Cine News 09:45 In Time 11:35 The Muppets 15:30 The Conspirator 17:35 Mad On Novacinema 18:15 One Day 20:05 Limitless 23:50 Killer Elite 01:50 Robinson Crusoe 03:20 Cine News

06:40 Cine News 07:30 The Negotiator 09:50 City Hall 11:45 Cine News 12:25 Encounter With Danger 14:00 Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost 15:35 Love To Kill 17:10 Shanghai 19:00 Loufa Kai Parallagi: Sirines Sti Steria 21:00 Strange Crime 23:00 Colombiana 00:55 Cine News 01:30 Adult Zone 03:25 Fright Night

05:50 Majority 07:40 Cine News 08:05 Kathe Savvato 09:45 Cars 2 11:35 Spinning Into Butter 13:00 There’s Something About Mary 15:00 Kate And Leopold 17:00 Footloose 19:00 In Love And War 21:00 Home Alone 22:50 A Better Life 00:30 Manuale D’am3re 04:15 Take Me Home Tonight

07:00 Adam’s Rib 08:40 Edge of the City 10:05 Logan’s Run 12:00 Where Eagles Dare 14:30 Raintree County 17:10 Casablanca 18:50 Doctor Zhivago 22:00 Clash Of The Titans 00:00 Dirty Dozen 02:25 Across The Wide Missouri 03:45 American in Paris n 05:35 Bad Day At Black Rock

By Preston Wilder

A Man For All Seasons (Plus TV, 18.40) Charlton Heston. Big hunk of beef, innit. Ben Hur and so forth. All-American gun nut, right? Actually, no: the late Mr. Heston was a serious actor with a taste for the classics - he made a couple of Shakespeare films in the early 70s - and also played Sir Thomas More (the role that won Paul Scofield an Oscar) in this made-for-TV adaptation of Robert Bolt’s play. More is Chancellor in the turbulent court of King Henry VIII, and refuses to go against his conscience by endorsing the King’s wish to divorce Wife No. 1 so as to marry Wife No. 2 even if it costs him his head. Heston is powerful and speaks the lines well (he’d played the role onstage) -

and he also managed to attract the likes of Vanessa Redgrave (as More’s wife) and John Gielgud (Cardinal Wolsey), making for a prestigious bit of filmed theatre.

Though he was a gun nut as well. Made in 1988.

One For the Money (Novacinema1, 22.00) One for the money, two for the show. Three to get ready and go, Katherine Heigl, go! Ms. Heigl is apparently over, her ‘frosty’ image and general reputation for being hard to work with having scuppered her Hollywood career, downgrading her to B-movies like this lame action comedy. The setting is working-class New Jersey where bubbly Kath gets a job as a bounty

One For the Money

hunter (!), going after old flame Jason O’Mara who’s wanted for murder. The idea is to make Heigl ‘edgier’, moving beyond her rom-com persona - which is why she gets involved with a violent boxer, an Asian stoner and a couple of trash-talking hookers on a street corner (“We got this good cop / bad cop thing going. Except we’re hookers”) - but it’s all a bit incompetent, not to mention tasteless, the kind of film that goes from a decomposing body in a barrel (unseen, fortunately) straight to a slapstick climax with ditzy Kath looking for her gun in her handbag. Not a great start to 2013, what with this and The Darkest Hour yesterday, but it’s bound to get better. Just as long as it doesn’t involve Katherine Heigl. Made in 2012.

Saturday, January 5, 2013 CYPRUS MAIL

18

CRYPTIC CROSSWORD 2278 1

2

3

4

8

5

PREVIOUS DAY’S SOLUTIONS

6

7

9

10

11 12

17

15

18

20

19

EASY

MEDIUM

HARD

21

Down

1 He should help you if you start to act dumb (8) 6 Stop distributing letters (4) 8 Urges, say, song medley (4,2) 9 Not much like Bo-Peep (6) 10 Immaturity – or a time for affection? (6,5) 11 Agree to trick the dog (6) 14 Large number of towns, one’s in South Africa (6) 16 Somehow checks a neat gamble (4,7) 20 Writing unscripted part! (6) 21 Brother doing nothing with horse’s headgear (6) 22 No right to have awfully cruel piece of evidence (4) 23 Old woman getting on with being destructive (8)

2 Prerogative that’s morally justifiable (5) 3 Young boy with one in a raincoat coming from the lodge (7) 4 Worried about the future perhaps (5) 5 Journalist following race broadcast (7) 6 The bread’s mine, thank you (5) 7 Eli is as confused in Central Europe (7) 12 Topical sort of illusion (7) 13 Spoke about it in a rush (7) 15 Moving backwards and forwards on this horse (7) 17 Kay exchanged fine blade (5) 18 Book one left with US sponger (5) 19 Endless greeting for a wise man (5)

Rating EASY

Across

Rating HARD

23

Rating HARD

22

14

MEDIUM

Rating MEDIUM

16

13

HOW TO PLAY: Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1-9. There’s no maths involved, you solve the puzzle with reasoning and logic.

With the ‘X’ sudoku, the shaded X must also contain the numbers 1-9.

Answers to crossword 2277

HOROSCOPE

CRYPTIC: Across – 1 Student nurse; 7 Regarded; 8 Muck; 9 Made; 11 Reigning; 12 Abided; 14 Galore; 16 Stock-car; 19 Mice; 21 Moan; 22 Radiated; 23 Stormtrooper. Down – 1 Strum; 2 Dead-end; 3 Nadir; 4 Nodding; 5 Roman; 6 Eccentric; 10 Albatross; 13 Decorum; 15 Lumbago; 17 Congo; 18 Radar; 20 Eider.

QUICK: Across – 1 Come off worst; 7 Loose-box; 8 Vert; 9 Calf; 11 Emigrate; 12 Apollo; 14 Lovely; 16 Frenetic 19 Bide; 21 Stow; 22 Obviated; 23 Substitution. Down – 1 Colic; 2 Easeful; 3 Fable; 4 Waxbill; 5 Rover; 6 Throttled; 10 Apparatus; 13 Outpost; 15 Vibrant; 17 Nawab; 18 Covet; 20 End-on.

ARIES March 21 - April 20

LEO July 23 - August 22

SAGITTARIUS November 23 - December 21

Career matters may be a big issue as you think up ways to increase your standing and make a name for yourself.

Be persistent - don’t go off the boil. You may feel like a social butterfly out enjoying yourself and ready to have some fun. The Moon makes a very pleasant aspect today, so romance and entertainment plans can be quite stimulating.

And easy-going romantic atmosphere can make today a little special. You may have work or health issues on your mind too. Try to deal with these first of all, as having them niggling away may be both off putting and exhausting. A partner may be in a feisty mood, so you may end up in a sparring match - but kissing and making up later on could be fun.

A social event could have romantic potential, or may bring the opportunity to make a new and supportive friend. As the Moon aspects Venus, you may find that you warm to someone naturally and sense with them as a companion you could make a great team. Financially, you seem to be very much on the ball. A sound budget could work wonders.

TAURUS April 21 - May 21

VIRGO August 23 - September 23

CAPRICORN December 22 - January 20

Today’s Moon puts a pleasant spin on work matters, as cooperation makes even the most troublesome issues easier to resolve. You may find yourself in a sporty mood, or at least keen to get down to some exercise. Even time spent outside should give you a boost. You may be coming up with some very inventive ways to improve your standing.

It’s a good day to get some special bargains for the home, such as soft furnishings or even decorating materials. Giving your abode a makeover, yet within your budget, can see you feel better in the process. Your creative energies are at a peak, and so can be your romantic inclination.

Be sure to invest time and energy into the right projects or person.

Let your intuition guide you if you need to make a career decision today. It could save you a lot of time and energy, plus bring you a unique opportunity. You seem to be very assertive about getting what you need or about expressing yourself. It might help to listen to what your partner or other close associates have to say. Try to be receptive.

GEMINI May 22 - June 21

LIBRA September 24 - October 23

AQUARIUS January 21 - February 19

Think about how to increase income through creative ideas and projects. If you’re looking for bargains in the sales, you should do really well today, as the Moon makes a positive aspect to Venus. Better still, someone close may get you something you’ve always wanted. A good day to have lunch with a friend and discuss your plans for the year ahead.

It’s a positive and upbeat day when you can ask for what you want with the possibility that you may just get it. A lovely aspect may be perfect for connecting with friends or family perhaps over lunch or a drink. Romance wise, there is a positive energy which may encourage you to be quite competitive concerning your current love situation.

Your dreams may be important. If you found yourself wondering about a powerful experience you had overnight, it may be worth your while to spend some time reflecting on it, especially if it brings up powerful feelings or memories.

Something profound may be trying to break through into your consciousness. This could bring empowerment and inspiration.

CANCER June 22 - July 22

SCORPIO October 24 - November 22

PISCES February 20 - March 20

It’s a homely kind of day, when you may feel inclined to laziness, and to kicking back and chilling out. At the same time, certain people in your life may be expecting a lot, so you’ll need to be quite firm with them. Mars in your joint financial zone may be encouraging you to sort out shared money matters. You may feel like rebelling, but would it be wise?

You may be in an indulgent mood, especially when it comes to shopping. It’s a good time to stock up with bargains, but you may have a tendency to buy more than you need, just because it’s cheaper than usual. You seem to be very busy researching your options, and researching subjects of interest in general. A new discovery could be a big plus.

All the fun is happening at home. Allow the playful side of your nature to come out and entertain everyone. When you are not too busy, you have a delightful wit and a great sense of fun that could have everyone laughing. Invest some energy in your family and social life and you won’t be disappointed. Why not arrange an impromptu get-together?

19

CYPRUS MAIL Saturday, January 5, 2013

ADVERTISER

Advertiser Only

helps you find what you’re looking for

€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

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES ***************************** EXPERIENCED GARDENER WANTED 1 day per week for Aphrodite Hills villa. Must be knowledgeable and have own equipment to deal with grass cutting, bush and tree pruning, leaf and trimmings blowing and take away cuttings etc. References essential 99279205 **************************** JOB PURPOSE: Myproperty Cyprus requires a business development manager that speaks Chinese and English fluently to contact real estate agents and immigration consultants in China.Send e-mail to: trisokkas@mypropertycyprus.com or call 96659500 ****************************

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

STERY CLEANING, also carpets, rugs and mattresses.

Special offers now available.

For a quote call Rickys Cleaning Services on 99131044 (all areas) rickyscleaningservices@gmail.com **************************** 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 **************************** K.D.FLYSCREENS LTD We manufacture top quality sliding screens, opening doors and roller systems. We also do repairs. For a FREE QUOTE please contact Phone: 99119582 Website: www.kdflyscreens.com **************************** WE UNDERTAKE REFURBISHING of houses or holiday homes, construction of pergolas, undertaking of plumbing, house painting, garden work.

For information call JIMMYS: 96587137, MELIS: 96547879 ****************************

Nicosia - tel: 22 818583 fax: 22 676385 Friendly, attentive and athletic.

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

LOUISE, she is around 1 year old Segugio Italiano cross and she is not suitable for hunting.

She will make a perfect pet as she loves cuddles, hugs and kisses. Very playful gentle girl, friendly with other dogs and loves kids! 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. ****************************

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

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

SERVICES **************************** BDL SHIPPING Worldwide animal transportation, Home removals including small loads Vehicle import & export, General collection and delivery (including IKEA), Rubbish removal plus general transportation & shipment. Competitive rates. Phone: 99239311 Web: www.bdlcyprus.com **************************** PROFESSIONAL UPHOL-

TAG 87, a very handsome young male wirehaired pointer cross around 1,5 years old.

OZZY is an adorable male which came into the shelter almost a year ago! The person who found him wanted to help increase his re-homing chances so he sponsored his neutering...! But Ozzy has since been sitting in the shelter wishing for a new family...!

But he has a great character and is only around 2 years old! 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

HEALTH & FITNESS ***************************** ACUPUNCTURE, cupping, skin honing, massage. For the alleviation of aches, pains, stress and rehabilitation from illness or injury. Qualified Chinese practitioner. Pafos [Konia] 9922 1851.

CLINICAL PILATES. Personalised Clinical Pilates by Physiotherapists in Nicosia. Individual assessment and supervision of exercises. “Clinical pilates” is a modified form of therapeutic exercise used by physiotherapists to assist in the rehabilitation and prevention of musculoskeletal injury especially lower back pain, sacro-iliac pain and neck pain. More info on 22446988. *****************************

FOR SALE BUSINESS/ PROPERTY/LAND **************************** TIMI, PLOTS, a few selected available, seaview, near the 2 golf courses, Venus rock and airport. 60% Building factor, eu 99,000. Half registration fees till the 31.12.12. Tel. 99 621914 **************************** LARNACA, Alethriko, plots for sale, 525 sqm, 90% building factor, near highway Limassol-Larnaca, 5 min from airport, quiet residential area, eu 109,000. Half registration fees till the 31.12.12. Tel. 99 621914 **************************** 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 ***************************** FORD FOCUS GHIA (2006) diesel, 1600cc, 98000km, blue,

Paphos - tel: 26 911383 fax: 26221049 automatic - tiptronic. dual zone climate control, power steering, electric windows, 6 airbags, central locking, cruise control, computer board, alloy wheels, and many extras. €6900 ono.

Contact: 99022779 - Nicosia

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

PROPERTY TO LET NICOSIA FOR RENT - Spacious one bedroom apartment, on second floor of small block of flats near the American Embassy, big veranda, bathtub (not shower) wood floors, concealed lighting in all areas, provision for surround system, granite counters in the kitchen, built-in oven, refrigerator, washing machine, ceramic hob unit, solar water heater, instant water heater in the bathroom, A/C in the bedroom, double bed with side tables, bar furniture, roller blinds on the windows and veranda doors, covered parking. Price €470.00 the month. For Information 99-660350 ***************************** TWO FLATS FOR RENT in central area of Ay. Omologites.

They consist of 2 bedrooms an extra dining room as a third bedroom. Furnished or not. Fire place, covered parking and no common expenses. Rent €430 p.m. Information 99651156 ***************************** 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 ***************************** BEAUTIFUL listed house for rent in the village of Agrokipia, 2 bedroom, large living room with fireplace, large garden. Rent €550 per month negotiable.

For info please call 99358863, 97643896. ***************************** FLATS TO LET - Nicosia: A wide selection of furnished & unfurnished in all areas of Nicosia.

NIKARIA ESTATE LTD Theo Loizides 22761616 / 99660050 nikaria@cablenet.com.cy ***************************** 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. ***************************** 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

Larnaca - tel: 24 652243 fax: 24 659982

classified contents Employment Opportunities pg 19 Employment Miscellaneous 19 Pets 19 Lessons -Health & Fitness 19 Personal -Services 19 For Sale Miscellaneous 19 For Sale Land/ Property Business 19 For Sale Motor vehicles 19 Wanted -To Let Nicosia 19 To Let Limassol 21 To Let Larnaca 21 To Let Paphos 21 To Let Protaras, Ayia Napa, Paralimni -For Sale Nicosia 23 For Sale Limassol -For Sale Larnaca -For Sale Paphos 23 For Sale Ayia Napa -For Sale Famagusta Protaras 23 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

20

Saturday, January 5, 2013 CYPRUS MAIL

Advertiser TO LET NICOSIA the living room. For enquiries tel 99660758 ***************************** LUXURIOUS APARTMENT FOR RENT A luxurious one floor apartment situated in central Nicosia in an area of exceptional Beauty at 3 Museum Street, is available to let. It has been recently renovated and consists of four bedrooms, two bathrooms, big dining and sitting rooms, kitchen and a huge veranda. Approximate covered area 250 sqm. Monthly rent €1400.00 o.n.o. Tel: 99622370. www.parcon.com.cy ***************************** 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

TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET NICOSIA

area, fully a/c, c/h, covered parking place for one car, recently painted. Rent €650pm. (furnished if required). Tel: 97773358.

aluminum shutters, in a quiet area off Nikis behind Burger King - ACROPOLIS €600 (H2ACS0001-R), (photos in the website).

***************************** LUXURY HOUSES:

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).

1. 5 bedrs detached house, 550sq.m, built in 2 big plots of land, big garden with grass, big swimming pool with extra fence for children and big covered patio with bbq area, big reception areas with marble floor, fire place and bar, big kitchen with all electrical appliances and sitting room with fire place, maid’s room, floor heating, full a/c, blinds on the windows, master bedroom with en suite bathroom and shower, big bathroom for the other 3 bedrooms and extra shower in the 5th bedroom - Strovolos €2500 (H5ST10001-R), (photos in the website).

2. H3AR0004-R, 3 bedr luxury detached house with central heating, full a/c, 3wc, 2 bathrooms, parquet floor throughout the house, big sitting and dining area, big kitchen with family room opening onto the swimming pool which has big covered area with wooden deck, bbq area, covered parking, in a very quiet area behind Apoel football training ground Archagelos - €1700 (photos in website).

3. 2 bedr fully renovated semi detached house 120 sq. m, a/c for hot and cold, small yard, FULLY FURNSIHED or not, double glazed windows with

5. 4 BEDR spacious luxury detached house with central heating, full a/c, 3wc, big sitting and dining area, big separate kitchen with electrical appliances and family room, big bedrooms, blinds, bbq area, garden, 2 parking(one covered), in a very quiet area near Apoel training field – ARCHANGELOS - €1200 – H4AR0016-R (photos in 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

TO LET NICOSIA patio with bbq and bar, central heating, full a/c, 180sq.m, FULLY FURNISHED or NOT, 2 covered parking, storage room, in a very quiet neighborhood opposite Acropolis park - Acropolis - €1000 - H3ACS0004-R (photos in website).

8. H4LAK0002-R, 3 bedr + office space luxury detached house, built on a big plot, 350sq. m, big swimming pool with cover, garden with grass, big sitting and dining room, separate family room, central heating, a/c, curtains on all the windows, cooker, dishwasher and dryer, parquet floor throughout the house,3wc, 2 bathrooms, 2 covered parking in a quiet area on the borders of Strovolos with Lakatamia - Lakatamia€1600 (photos in website).

9. 3 bedr upstairs and 2 separate bedroom in the basement luxury detached house(all the bedrooms with en suite bathrooms/shower), also separate kitchen and sitting room in the basement which has also separate entrance from the house, central heating, full a/c, solid parquet floor all the house, big sitting and dining room with fire place, big fully equipped kitchen with breakfast area and family room, big overfloor, swimming pool with covered patio area with fully equipped bar(bbq, fridge, freezer, cooker), mature garden around the house, 2 parking places, alarm system near the Cyprus Conference CentrePLATY AGLANTZIAS €3500 (H5PAG0002-R), (photos in the website).

10. 4 bedr semi detached house with central heating, 4 a/c, 3 wc,

TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET NICOSIA

2 bathrooms, 180sq.m, electrical appliances, small yard, bbq area, off Kostantinoupoleos street near French ambassador residence.- STROVOLOS €700 (H4ST10043-R), (photos in the website).

11. 4 bedr luxury semi detached house with good size garden with grass, big covered patio with bbq area, central heating, a/c units, 3wc, 2 bathrooms, 2 covered parking, FULLY FURNISHED AND EQUIPPED, in a quiet area in a dead end close to all amenities and schools.

ANTHOUPOLIS €1300 (H4ANT0002-R), (photos in the website).

12. 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. 3 bedr detached house with extra room for office, 250sq.m, central heating independent, 4a/c, big renovated kitchen with cooker and oven, big sitting and dining room with parquet

SELEC Fencing & Decking Specialist For all your Garden and Security Fencing ♦ Quality approved workmanship ♦ 15 years experience + guaranteed work ♦ English workers ♦ also garden gates ♦ sheds ♦ chain link fencing ♦ free estimates ♦ all types of fencing & decking

Tel. SELEC fencing 99176557

floor and fire place, 1bathroom, 2 shower, 3wc, 2 covered parking, double glazed windows and shutters in bedrooms, big verandas surrounded by trees and bushes off 28th October street in the central part of Makedonitissa - Makedonitissa - €1100 – H3MAK0004-R (photos in website).

For many more properties with photos visit our website at www.landtouristestates.com which is updated daily. LANDTOURIST ESTATES LTD 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 neighborhood – Agios Andreas- € 1300 – A3AAD0005-R (photos in website).

2. AINIC0006- R, 1 bedr., fully furnished and equipped apartment, 50sq.m, 2AC for hot and cold, covered verandah, covered parking, nice view, off Makarios avenue between Hilton and DEBENHAMS shop.

Nicosia centre, € 450 (photos in website).

3. 3 bedr new luxury big apartment 150sq.m+big 25sq.m veranda with very nice view, big sitting and dining areas, big separate kitchen with all the electrical appliances, big bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, storage heaters, full a/c, shutters and blinds on the windows, covered parking in a quiet neighborhood off Prodromou close Ministry od Defence – Engomi€600 – A3ENG0026-R (photos in website).

4. A1DAS0010-R, 1 bedr luxury spacious apartment with big sitting and dining room, big bathroom, big bedroom with shutters, covered veranda, storage heaters, 2a/c, cooker and oven in the kitchen, covered parking in a quiet area in a small modern building near Acropolis Park. Dasoupolis €400 (photos in website).

5. 2 bedr new luxury modern furnished apartment , central heating ind, 2 a/c, big covered veranda and covered parking in a quiet area behind the Municipal building – Agios Dometios - € 660 - A2ADO0004-R (photos in website).

6. 2 bedr luxury spacious apartment on a small modern building with central heating independent(with petrol), full a/c, solid parquet floor, big bedrooms, big sitting room with open plan kitchen, big covered veranda, FULLY MODERN FURNISHED, covered parking off Makarios avenue in a quiet area near the centre – Nicosia Centre- € 800 – A2NIC0030-R (photos in website).

7.

4 bedr luxury floor apartment,250sq.m, office, maid’s room, central heating ind, full hidden wall unit a/c,2 showers, 1 bathroom, 3wc, parquet floor, big kitchen with cooker and oven, bbq on the veranda in the kitchen, big sitting area, roller blinds on all the windows, alarm system, big veranda on a small building off Athalasas avenue near Alpha Mega supermarket and Areteion hospital – Dasoupolis € 1100 - A4DAS0002-R (photos

21

CYPRUS MAIL Saturday, January 5, 2013

Advertiser TO LET NICOSIA in website).

8. A1ACS0007- R, 1 bedr luxury spacious apartment with 2 a/c for hot and cold, electrical appliances in the kitchen, big bedroom, covered veranda, blinds, covered parking, in a quiet area near Acropolis park. NICELY FURNISHED. Acropolis €450 (photos in website).

9. 3 bedr new luxury finished PENTHOUSE apartment 150sq.m internal areas+120sq. verandas, solid parquet floor all the flat, big bedrooms, big sitting and dining room, big semi separate kitchen with electrical appliances, home cine ma with big screen, LCD tv, covered parking in a quiet neighborhood near CYTA, Laiki + Hellenic bank headquarters and French school. CAN BE RENTED ALSO expensive MODERN furnished – Dasoupolis - € 1200 - A3DAS0019-R (photos in website).

10. 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 garden, big sitting and dining room, central heating independent, full a/c, 2wc, very big master bedroom, electrical appliances in the kitchen, aluminum shutters on windows, parquet laminate floor all the flat, covered parking, storage room, in a very quiet neighbourhood in a dead end street, off Athalasas Avenue behind Stephanis near English School €650 (A3ST10030-R), (photos in the website).

TO LET NICOSIA (photos in website).

14. 4 bedr new spacious luxury finished floor apartment with floor heating independent, full a/c, 3wc, electrical appliances in the kitchen, blinds on all windows, very big 50sq.m covered veranda, fire place, covered parking and big overfloor heated covered swimming pool on the ground floor, on a small 3 storey building in a quiet neighbourhood near a playground and near Ippokration private hospital Engomi €2000 - A4ENG0003-R (photos in website).

15. 2 bedrs new luxury apartment, sitting room open plan with kitchen which includes cooker, oven, refrigerator and washing machine, 2 wc, central heating, full AC, blinds on the windows, very big covered verandas, covered parking and storage room in a dead end off Athalassas avenue near Laiki popular bank and Hellenic bank headquarters. - DASOUPOLI €500 (A2DAS0006-R), (photos in the website).

16. 2 bedr luxury apartment with a/c for hot and cold, NICELY MODERN FURNISHED, covered parking, off Stavrou Avenue behind Coffee Beanery.

PRICE INCLUDES COMMON EXPENSES – STROVOLOS - € 550 – A2ST10051-R (photos in website).

For many more properties with photos visit our website at

TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET LARNACA

TO LET PAPHOS

www.landtouristestates.com which is updated daily. LANDTOURIST ESTATES LTD 22422225 / 96-422225 / 96422226 www.landtouristestates.com

room first floor flat in central location near Metro supermarket, A/C, private parking, intercom system, en-suite bathroom, small block. Phone: 99354789

***************************** 2 BDRM flat in the centre of Nicosia. Rent €450. For information call 99453663, 99663927.

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

LIMASSOL ***************************** GROUND FLOOR HOUSE, furnished renovated this year.

Laminated parke floor, and big wardrobes in the 3 bedrooms.

Rent €590.00 Tel 99497576 99886775 *****************************

LARNACA ***************************** ON THE PHINIKOUDES PROMENADE. An unobrstructed, panoramic view of the sea and the marina. An exclusive superb 1 bdrm on the 4th floor on the beach. Fully renovated, brand new. Has fitted new kitchen, w/m, fully a/c and sauna room!! Also suitable for office use. Must see to appreciate. Rent €520. Call 99222197, 99541828. ***************************** LARNACA FLAT FOR RENT: Fully-furnished spacious 2-bed-

FOR SALE – PAPHOS

***************************** 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 KILI – PAPHOS, 3 bedroom villa, with swimming pool and garden, unfurnished, gas central heating, large verandas, lovely mountain views, very quiet and tranquil area, €500 per month o.n.o. Call: 99479006 ***************************** 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 Euro 215/month inc. communal charges. Phone 99310481.

PAPHOS / PEYIA VILLA, villa

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

TO LET PAPHOS 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 *****************************

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

English-Painter & Decorator Fully Qualified 30 years’ Experience ALL AREAS • External & Internal painting • Damp Damage Repairs • Spritze Repairs • Free Estimates + very clean work • All areas. All types of woodwork stained and preserved • All work guaranteed

Tel. Tony on 99176557

CATERING EQUIPMENT:

12 months car insurance for the price of 10

• 2 stand up freezers

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).

• industrial oven

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

• tablecloths with frills

• stand up wine fridge • chafing trays • thermo boxes • catering tables

Benefit from this fantastic discount through The Daily Mail & Mail on Sunday

• glassware, cutlery

Offering readers great value Motor insurance in Cyprus

• crockery in excellent condition at reduced prices

please call : 99532841

PLUS

UK & Cyprus PLATED CARS GUARANTEED FOR LIFE PROTECTED BONUS* (*subject to no changes on the policy)

2 more exclusive offers to Daily Mail & Mail on Sunday readers:

12 months home insurance for the price of 10 15% discount on Travel Insurance Fast, friendly response. Get your quote TODAY! Simply call one of our telephone numbers listed below and speak to one of our English speaking team:

Cyprus (00-357) 268 19175 or e-mail us via: www.abbeygateinsure.com/cyprus

The way insurance should be.

Abbeygate is the trading title of Wyedean Insurance Services Ltd who are authorised and regulated in the UK by the FSA. This company is wholly independent of the Daily Mail & Mail on Sunday, divisions of Associated Newspapers Ltd. Associated Newspapers Ltd are not a party to, or involved in, any insurance arrangements.

Abbeygate CYPRUS 1

22

Saturday, January 5, 2013 CYPRUS MAIL

Advertiser TO LET PAPHOS

TO LET PAPHOS

2013) ring 99178141. A chance not to be missed! ***************************** MR RENT PAPHOS, THE LEADING PROPERTY RENTAL AGENCY IN PAPHOS OFFICE: 26271858 (00357) IF YOU HAVE A PROPERTY TO RENT WE ARE THE RENTAL AGENCY TO CONTACT OFFERING FULL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT & RENT COLLECTION SERVICE 1. UNIVERSAL AREA €450 spacious 3 bedroom first floor apartment, master with ensuite.

Situated on small complex with no pool. Fully furnished with modern furniture, fully equipped kitchen with dishwasher. Balcony leads to a large private roof terrace with shaded barbeque area offering views of the sea, storage & sunbathing deck.

2. SEA CAVES €500 we are delighted to offer this detached 2 bedroom villa situated on a corner plot in a quiet residential area offering sea views. Gated drive for off street parking. Fully enclosed good sized low maintenance garden with private pool offering privacy and shaded areas. Available unfurnished or part furnished. Pets allowed at owners discretion. Website reference number: RTL_482 3. 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 reference number: RTL_501 4. PEYIA €700 price includes pool cleaning. If you are looking for a villa with breathtaking views & privacy than this property is for you. This modern detached 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom villa is furnished with modern furniture, including satellite TV. One bedroom & bathroom on ground floor. A spacious enclosed garden with private pool offering stunning views. Off street parking. Website reference number: RTL_401 5. 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 6. KATO PAPHOS €800 large 4 bedroom detached villa situated in the sought after residential area of Limnaria. Walking distance to the beach and the many amenities of Kato Paphos. Spacious living accommodation offering an enclosed garden with c/pool. Fully furnished with modern furniture & solar panels. Website reference number: RTL_442

TO LET PAPHOS

TO LET PAPHOS

TO LET PAPHOS

7. ANAVARGOS €895 we are delighted to offer this unique 5 bedroom 3 bathroom rustic country home offering spacious living accommodation with large gardens, private pool & stone built bbq & entertainment area.

Fully furnished with log burner for those winter months. A real character home worth viewing.

Pets allowed. Website reference number: RTL_635 offers considered.

A DELIGHTFUL AND SPACIOUS 1 bedroom apartment, F/F, top floor, new, located at a peaceful location just 500 from St. George hotel in Chloraka. A+ quality apt. Within walking distance to amenities, part of a beautiful building with swimming pool, list and other amenities. Only €250p/m Other apts also available near Carrefour in the Centre of Paphos. Call 99403261, 26934650

TIMI: 3 bed nicely furnished villa with large sitting and dining areas, fire place, full AC. Upstairs large family bathroom, 3 bedrooms, master bedroom having en suite shower and walk in wardrobes. Off street parking, private pool Ref: 722 Price: 600

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

****************************** FLOWRON PROPERTY SERVICES LTD: PROVIDING AN EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE FOR TENANTS AND LANDLORDS: PROPERTIES AVAILABLE FOR RENT LONG TERM RENTAL, PROPERTIES WANTED: FULL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT WITH KEY HOLDING AND RENT COLLECTIONS OFFERED

TEL: 97790883 OFFICE: 26271858 VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MANY MORE PROPERTIES www.mrrent-paphos.net Email: info@mrrentpaphos.net ****************************** 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

ANAVARGOS: 1 to 3 Bedroom apartments available near to the general hospital, furnished or unfurnished. All properties, have white goods and are modern. The building has a lift and off street parking. Prices from 300-400 Euros per month. Ref 7777 Price 300-400 ANARITA: 3 bed nicely furnished villa in the centre of Anarita village with private pool, off street parking. Property has a modern kitchen with granite work tops, sitting and dining area, guest wc. Upstairs 3 bedrooms Master with en suite shower, separate family bathroom. Outside shaded pergolas. Ref 855 Price 600 SECRET VALLEY: 3 bed villa fully furnished 3 bedroom villa with private pool. Nice furniture, master bedroom with on suite shower, family bathroom, 2 bedrooms with twin beds.

Dining area, kitchen, guest WC, off street parking, private pool.

Modern Villa. Ref: 1035 Price 700 SERCRET VALLEY: 4 bed beautiful furnished bungalow to the highest of standards, with large bedrooms - en suites, Modern large kitchen fully equipped, sitting and dining area with fire place. Outside heated pool, off street parking, landscaped gardens and great views. Ref: 1151 Price 1800

PEGEIA: 4 bed villa with stunning situated in a lovely quiet location in Pegeia offered unfurnished.

The property has 2 down stairs bedrooms, a large sitting room with fire place, central heating, kitchen with Stylish design, dining area. Upstairs 2 bedrooms, large outside veranda. Outside stunning views Private pool.

Ref: 765 Price: 900 MESGOI: large unfurnished villa situated in a residential area.

Property is very modern with fire place, downstairs bedroom with en suite, kitchen and separate utility room, 3 additional bedroom upstairs with master en suite, family bathroom. Outside private pool, fully fenced and private, nice views, pets welcome, suit family with children going to local international school. Ref: 783 Price: 750 TALA: A family home offered part furnished in a quiet residential area, property has off street parking, private pool, central heating and AC, modern kitchen, sitting/dining area, guest wc, upstairs 3 bedrooms with master en suite, family bathroom, sea views. Ref: 988 Price: 750 OFFICE: 120 MAKARIOS AVENUE, PAPHOS. OFFICE: 26600450 MOBILE: 97614070 many properties available on WEB: www.flowron.com Email info@flowron.com ****************************** 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

TO LET PAPHOS 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 en-suite. 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 ensuite 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

U SEFUL PHONE NUMBERS Proudly Presents

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)

Tickets Adults €10 Under 16s €5 Under 10 Free TICKETS BY RESERVATION ONLY CONTACT 99934668 OR EMAIL abfchairman@gmail.com

Book early to make sure you get a seat!

(Limited number available at the Box Office on the night)

Bar opens at 6pm – Enjoy your BYO picnic outside

Game Fund Service: (Wildlife and hunting) Central offices (Nicosia): 22867786, 22-867897 Nicosia: 22-664606, 99-445697 Limassol: 25-343800, 99-445728, Larnaca/Famagusta: 24-805128, 99-634325 Paphos: 26-306211, 99-445679

Narcotics Helpline ......... 1410 (Outside hours.............. 22304160) AIDS Advisory Bureau ................................ 22-302826 Domestic Violence Centre .......................................... 1440 (Emergency Centre for Victims) Drug Info & Poison Control ............... 1401 Cyprus Samaritans ... 77777267 Police Duty Officer ......... 1499 (Confidential Information)

Forest Fires ..................... 1407 Airports Larnaca ..........................77778833 Paphos ...........................77778833

23

CYPRUS MAIL Saturday, January 5, 2013

Advertiser TO LET PAPHOS 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, 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.

TO LET PAPHOS 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 ***************************** NICOSIA, FLAT FOR SALE: 2 bedroom flat with title deeds, 110 sqm, fully renovated, best central area, 800m from the european university,excellent view, eu 99,000. Tel 99 621914 *****************************

PAPHOS ***************************** 3 BEDROOM APARTMENT. Large living room and sepa-

FOR SALE PAPHOS rate kitchen. Excellent views to the sea and the harbour.

Double glazing and fly screens throughout. Off peak electric heating. Window shutters to all main rooms and an intruder alarm fitted. Lift and car park.

Euro 120.000 ono, Call: 26 947315 ***************************** PAPHOS, FLATS FOR SALE OR RENT: kissonerga, 3 bedroom flat with title deeds, in a block of 4 flats only, fully renovated, 2 baths, 146 sqm closed area, ch, ac, covered parking, excellent view of sea and mountains, half registration fees till 31.12.12.Reduced to eu 135,000,or rent eu 450 pm.

Tel 99 621914 ***************************** KATO PAPHOS UNIVERSAL, large 2 bedroom apartment, ground floor, 1 bathroom, kitchen, large veranda, private parking, A/C, satellite TV. Near bus route, shops, banks, quiet apartment. Full furniture. Communal pool. 92 sq.m covered area. Full TITLE DEEDS. REDUCED €92,000 ***************************** PAPHOS 1 bedroom apartment, fantastic central location, lounge/kitchen, bathroom, veranda, covered parking, communal pool, Furnished. Near all amenities. TITLE DEEDS NOW REDUCED €45,000. ***************************** 1 BEDROOM APARTMENT, TOMBS OF KINGS AREA, close to the sea, large private

FOR SALE PAPHOS roof terrace with electric and water, covered parking, veranda, furnished, swimming pool. Full TITLE DEEDS, was €95,000 reduced to €65,000. ***************************** Chlorakas, 2 bedroom townhouse. Exceptional sea views.

New kitchen, bedrooms and bathroom. Private parking, On mains sewage system.

Communal pool. A/C, quality

FOR SALE PAPHOS fixtures. Fully furnished. Security barrier. FULL TITLE DEEDS Now €92,000 Call 99716390.

FOR SALE FAMAGUSTA FAMAGUSTA

***************************** FOR SALE special offer, €79, 000 first floor apartment in Protaras, fully furnished with 2 bedrooms and a swimming pool. Walking distance to the beach of Ayia Triada and all amenities. Tel: 97 608941.

***************************** AYIA NAPA, studio for sale, 38 sqm, furnished and fully renovated, with title deed, in licensed complex, 500m from nissi beach, eu 49,000, tel. 99 621914

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

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

24

Saturday, January 5, 2013 CYPRUS 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.

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

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

25

CYPRUS MAIL Saturday, January 5, 2013

Sport Australia rue run outs despite taking lead

By Nick Mulvenney

Australia’s captain Michael Clarke (left) reacts as team mate Mike Hussey, playing his final Test, is run out

AUSTRALIA blew the chance to take an iron grip on the third Test against Sri Lanka yesterday and instead scrabbled to a 48run first innings lead after reaching 342 for six at the close of the second day’s play.

Phil Hughes and David Warner got the hosts off at a canter on a glorious morning with half centuries in a partnership of 130 as Australia looked to build a big total in their bid to sweep the series 3-0.

Two run outs, including

one for Mike Hussey in his final Test, and a couple of soft dismissals, however, left Sri Lanka bowling at Matthew Wade, who had survived a good few scares to reach 47, and Peter Siddle (16) when stumps were drawn.

Australia captain Michael Clarke also made 50 but will probably remember the day more for having given the call for the risky single that saw Hussey dismissed for 28 by Dimuth Karunaratne’s direct hit.

“Today we could look back and feel we could have been in a better position, it would have been nice to

have a couple of wickets less,” said Hughes, who hit a stylish 87, told reporters.

“But that’s the position we’re in now, 40-odd run lead and we’re well balanced in this game.”

Sri Lanka, who made 294 in their first innings, showed considerably more fight than they had in the innings and 201 run defeat in Melbourne last week and they were only a couple of dropped catches from being right back in the match.

“A number of young players have come in and shown that they’ve got some guts and the desire to play at

Poulter seeks final piece in major puzzle

Olympic mountain biker Stander is killed

Englishman confident ahead of season debut

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

IN BRIEF

STILL feeling a little giddy after a barn-storming finish to his 2012 campaign, Ian Poulter is itching to plug the only hole in his otherwise glittering career by winning a major championship.

The fashion-conscious Englishman, widely regarded as one of the best putters in the game, has achieved virtually everything else in professional golf and says landing one of the four majors would fulfil a long cherished dream.

Poulter will launch his 2013 campaign this weekend at the PGA Tour’s season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii and readily admits he has been unable to work out the final piece of the major puzzle.

“I don’t know what it takes,” the flamboyant Englishman told Reuters in a recent interview. “If it means taking off 20 weeks before playing in a major, then I would take 20 weeks off. If it means playing five in a row to win one, then I would do that.

“I’ve tried a lot of things

but I just need to keep doing what I am doing, to be honest with you. I just need to keep working on the same things.

“You need to ride a bit of luck in these majors at certain times to be able to pick one up. No question, I’d really love to win one.”

Poulter rebounded from a slow start to last season with a spectacular run of success and consistency that included three top-10 finishes in the majors and his second World Golf Championships (WGC) crown.

“It was an amazing back half of the season,” said the 36-year-old, who sealed a two-shot victory in the elite HSBC-WGC Champions Tournament at Missions Hills in China in November.

“The first part of the year was very solid, then three top-10s in the majors ... I must be doing something right. And then I got to the Ryder Cup and backed that up with some great golf.”

Late on the second day of the Ryder Cup at Medinah Country Club, Poulter provided the spark which inspired Europe’s astonishing,

come-from-behind victory over the United States.

The matchplay specialist finished with five consecutive birdies to earn one of two valuable points in the fourballs, giving his team a slim hope of retaining the trophy as they headed into Sunday concluding 12 singles trailing 10-6.

“I still get goosebumps just talking about it,” Poulter said of his scintillating display in the fourballs. “How it happened I just don’t know.

It all happened in slow motion.

“It was amazing to see the atmosphere change in the team room that night,” he recalled. “The spirit, it just changed. Guys were pumped up ... we just felt there was that little glimmer of hope.”

Poulter was one of eight European players who won that Sunday and ended the week at Medinah with a perfect 4-0-0 record as his team stunningly triumphed by 141/2 points to 13-1/2.

“That Ryder Cup far surpasses anything I’ve ever felt before on a golf course,” said the 12-time European Tour winner.

this level,” coach Graham Ford Said.

“On the other hand... we might have been in a better position. Although we’re still in the game, we could have been in quite a powerful position.”

Hughes and Warner, who hit a pugnacious 85, had plundered runs in the opening session against a patched-up pace attack in almost perfect batting conditions.

The only wicket to fall before lunch was that of opener Ed Cowan, who gave a precursor of what was to come when he ran himself out for four.

Ian Poulter’s Ryder Cup heroics sparked Europe’s amazing comeback against the United States

SOUTH African Burry Stander, one of the world’s top mountain bike athletes, was struck by a minibus taxi and killed while cycling on a coastal road in his home country, police said yesterday.

Stander, 25, narrowly missed out on a medal at the London Olympics, coming in fifth in the men’s cross country event. He has been one of the top cyclists on the World Cup circuit over the past few years.

Police said Stander was killed on Thursday while cycling alone. He died at the scene of the accident in Shelly Beach, about 75 miles southwest of Durban.

“The taxi driver allegedly stopped after the accident until the arrival of the police.

No arrest has been made at this stage,” police said.

Stander was one of the biggest stars in South Africa’s cycling community and his death touched off a flood of comments on social media.

“This is a massive tragedy and we are all stunned at the suddenness and impact that this will have on everybody in the world of cycling,” KZN Mountain Biking, which represents Stander’s home province, said.

England captain Sinfield voted the world’s best

Thorpe targets a top-level return to the swimming pool

Novak shines as Knicks end Spurs’ win streak

LEEDS Rhinos and England captain Kevin Sinfield has won the 2012 Golden Boot, the annual award for the world’s best rugby league player.

The 32-year-old Lancastrian is only the fourth English player to win the award.

He beat Wigan full-back Sam Tomkins and Australians Cameron Smith, Ben Barba, Cooper Cronk and Nate Myles to lift the prize.

Sinfield led the Rhinos to World Club Challenge success against Australian champions Manly Sea Eagles, and a sixth Super League title in nine years, collecting the Harry Sunderland Trophy as man of the match.

FIVE-TIME Olympic swimming champion Ian Thorpe says he can still make an elite-level comeback, despite failing to qualify for the London 2012 Olympics.

The Australian, 30, who last year revealed he suffered from “crippling depression” in his career, could try to return for 2013’s World Championships.

“I still have a life in the pool,” Thorpe told BBC World Service.

“I simply didn’t have enough time before London to prepare the way I wanted to and I had to compromise.

“Now I can do exactly the training that I need to do with time on my side and I can get a really good preparation.”

BENCH player Steve Novak led a sizzling threepoint shooting display as the New York Knicks mixed spectacular offense with a much improved defense to stun the red-hot San Antonio Spurs with a 100-83 win at Madison Square Garden.

With Novak making five-of-seven attempts from beyond the arc to total 15 points and Carmelo Anthony adding a game-high 23, the Knicks snapped the Spurs’ seven-game winning streak in rampant style.

There were further stellar contributions from the New York bench with J.R. Smith weighing in with 20 points and Amare Stoudemire 10.

26

Saturday, January 5, 2013 CYPRUS MAIL

Sport Amateurs Arras enter new dimension for PSG Cup tie

Serie A resumes as major transfer rumours abound Speculation is dominating the headlines

By Brian Homewood SERIE A re-starts at the weekend amid a bewildering whirlwind of transfer rumours including a reported race to sign Didier Drogba and even a possible home-coming for Manchester City’s maverick forward Mario Balotelli.

Leaders and champions Juventus, eight points clear of second-placed Lazio, should at least maintain that lead with a straightforward home match against Sampdoria as the championship reaches the halfway mark.

Lazio also have a home game against relegationbattling opponents as they host Cagliari but it is the transfer talk, rather than the championship itself, which has dominated headlines following the opening of the January window.

According to the rumour mill, Juventus are vying with Milan to sign Ivory Coast and former Chelsea forward Didier Drogba from Shanghai Shenhua.

Drogba signed a two-anda-half year deal reportedly worth around $300,000 per week in June, but the Shanghai-based Oriental Sports Daily said last month the 34-year-old was owed wages following a long-running equity row at the club.

Juventus have also opened

negotiations with Athletic Bilbao for striker Fernando Llorente.

Milan, who are lying an unimpressive seventh and host bottom club Siena on Sunday, have been at the centre of the intrigue.

Massimiliano Allegri’s team are expected to part company with at least one, and possibly both, of their Brazilian forward pair of Alexandre Pato and Robinho, with the former reported to be on the brink of signing for world club champions Corinthians.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, that could make funds available to sign either Drogba or Balotelli, or even both.

Despite this, Allegri said this week that Milan’s emphasis would remain on developing younger players.

“The club president has taken the right path, no one in Italy can afford players earning six to seven million euros a year, and certainly not any team which wants to comply with the (UEFA) financial rules” he told Gazzetta in an interview.

“In Italy there are clubs that will finish in the red, but as I said at Milan we’re concerned only about ourselves and happy with our chosen philosophy.

“The youth sector will become increasingly important, along with the synergy

between the club, first team and youth sector.”

At Milan’s neighbours Inter, the speculation has cantered around playmaker Wesley Sneijder whose return to training on Thursday failed to quell the rumours.

The Dutchman was asked by the club to extend his contract from 2015 to 2016 for the same overall payment in a move criticised by the world players’ union FIFPro. Since then, he has been left out of the team.

Inter have made their first move in the transfer window by signing 35-year-old striker Tommaso Rocchi, ending his spell of eight seasons at Lazio where he has made only three appearances this season.

Inter, level with Fiorentina in third place and one point behind Lazio, visit Udinese on Sunday while Fiorentina, who have been linked with a bid for AS Roma striker Pablo Osvaldo, host Pescara.

Inter have run into a minicrisis after winning only two of their last seven games following their 3-1 victory at Juventus.

“We have to keep believing it’s possible all the way and hope that we’re still in with a shout heading into the last month,” said Javier Zanetti.

“We’re going to give it everything we’ve got in all the competitions then we’ll see where it gets us.”

Rumours include a reported race to sign Didier Drogba (top) and the departure of ‘contract rebel’ Wesley Sneijder from Inter Milan

Coentrao indiscipline unwelcome distraction for Real

By Iain Rogers

Fullback Fabio Coentrao (left) allegedly returned to training late after the festive season and will be sanctioned

STUTTERING La Liga champions Real Madrid spent much of the first part of the season dealing with reports of dressing room rifts and player discontent and are facing another headache as they prepare for Sunday’s game at home to Real Sociedad.

Local media reported that fullback Fabio Coentrao had returned late from the Christmas and New Year break and coach Jose Mourinho had demanded the stiffest possible punishment for his Portuguese compatriot.

A club spokesman declined to confirm the reports but they are the latest distraction for a team that needs to focus all its energy on getting back to winning ways and cutting the yawning 16-point gap to unbeaten leaders Barcelona.

Real are third after 17 matches, seven adrift of second-placed Atletico Madrid,

and have already dropped more points than during the whole of their title-winning 2011-12 campaign.

Coentrao’s indiscipline adds to Mourinho’s selection problems in defence, with Pepe recovering from ankle surgery, fellow centre back Sergio Ramos suspended and fullback Marcelo out injured.

Forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who is not scoring at anywhere near the same rate as last term and has been linked in the media with a move away from Spain, called for unity on Wednesday and insisted that Real can still catch Barca, who host city rivals Espanyol on Sunday.

“The important thing is to win and be together, both the team and the fans,” Ronaldo told a news conference.

“The league is tough, but it is still mathematically possible for us to win and we have to keep the belief until the end,” the Portuguese international added. “It will be an uphill struggle.”

Barca, meanwhile, have

made a record start to the season and the only points they have dropped were in a 2-2 draw at home to Real in October.

The players, led by the prolific Lionel Messi, are united behind coach Tito Vilanova, who returned to work earlier than expected on Wednesday after undergoing a throat operation two weeks ago.

Cesc Fabregas, Adriano and Alex Song, who picked up minor injuries at the end of last year, were declared fit.

Promising winger Isaac Cuenca, brought into the first team under Vilanova’s predecessor Pep Guardiola, also trained with his team mates as he continues his recuperation from a serious knee injury sustained at the end of last season.

Atletico, resurgent under Argentine coach Diego Simeone, kick off the New Year with a trip to Real Mallorca on Sunday, when striker Radamel Falcao, playmaker Arda Turan and centre back Miranda are all suspended.

AMATEURS Arras will enter a new dimension if they can conjure an upset against big-spending Ligue 1 leaders Paris St Germain in the French Cup last 64 at the weekend, says defender Tony Kociszewski.

With no all-Ligue 1 clashes, the attention is on clubs in lower divisions hoping to emulate last year’s finalists Quevilly, a third-tier side who upset Marseille and Rennes on their way to the Stade de France.

Players at northern club Arras, battling to keep their spot in the fifth division, have been experiencing a new celebrity status since the draw offered them a prestigious clash against Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s PSG on Sunday.

“It’s crazy at work. I can’t focus on my job even for two minutes because there’s always someone telling me: ‘So what, Zlatan?’ or ‘How is Zlatan the star going ?’” full back Tony Kociszewski told French radio RMC. “Even the sales director asked me if he could keep on using the familiar ‘tu’ to talk to me or had to use the ‘vous’ because I’ve entered a new dimension.

“I think we would really enter a new dimension if we beat them,” added Kociszewski.

Facing PSG and it’s starstudded squad has become a great challenge for most of the top-flight teams let alone players who have to make their living away from football.

PSG, who were dumped out of the League Cup by St Etienne in the quarterfinals, are seeking a ninth victory in the competition and are expected to be near full-strength.

“The French Cup is an important competition.

We want to do well,” coach Carlo Ancelotti told a news conference in Doha where the squad spent a few days during the winter break.

Brazilian recruit Lucas Moura, who made his debut in a 5-1 win in a friendly against Qatari club Lekwiya on Wednesday, could play his first official game after joining PSG this week on a five-year deal.

Holders Lyon start the defence of their title against third-tier Epinal on Sunday, where they will have to deal with freezing cold in eastern France after they flew to Morocco to prepare for the second part of the season.

Forwards Jimmy Briand and Alexandre Lacazette could return from injury for Lyon, while playmakers Clement Grenier and Yoann Gourcuff are still doubtful after they missed the last three games in December.

Record ten-time winners Marseille, who last lifted the trophy in 1989, face a trickier home tie on Sunday against 2009 winners Guingamp, fifth in Ligue 2.

CYPRUS MAIL Saturday, January 5, 2013

27

Sport

Balotelli will be given ‘100 more chances,’ says Mancini

Cyprus football set to resume after break

Man City manager plays down spat with striker

By Nemanja Bjedov

MANCHESTER City boss Roberto Mancini says he will give Mario Balotelli “100 more chances” after insisting his spat with the striker was not a fight.

Photographs showed the pair being separated at training on Thursday.

But Mancini said of the incident with his fellow Italian: “No fight, not true. The pictures are worse.

“I will give him another 100 chances if I think it’s possible he can change. I give him another chance, sure, because he is 22 and he can make a mistake.”

The latest in a series of controversies involving Balotelli saw the 22-year-old pictured in a confrontation with his manager.

The images appear to show Mancini shouting and gesticulating at his player, who has scored three goals in 21 appearances this season.

One photograph shows the pair face to face with Mancini pulling Balotelli’s training bib, while in another the striker seems to be pulled away by a member of staff.

Mancini suggested the incident was blown out of proportion and maintained that Balotelli does have a future with the club, but

Tempers boil over: Roberto Mancini (left) and Mario Balotelli squared off in Thursday’s training after the manager got upset with a tackle made by the controversial striker on one of his teammates only if he improves his behaviour.

“It wasn’t bad,” he explained. “We were playing a game, Mario kicked his team-mate and I said to him ‘go inside, leave the pitch’.

“He said ‘no’ so I took his shirt and pushed him off the pitch. This is really what happened. Nothing special.

“Mario is like this but my thoughts on his future do not change, this is not im-

portant. The problem could be himself. If he doesn’t change, for him it will be very difficult in the future.

For him, not me.

“Mario could stay with me one day, one month, five years. He is 22 years old. He needs to change. His problem is for himself.”

When asked whether he lost his own temper, Mancini replied: “No. For the first two seconds, yes, but

after three or four seconds he didn’t want to leave the pitch. For me he should leave.”

QPR boss Harry Redknapp said he thought Balotelli’s problems with Mancini and Jose Mourinho, who managed the forward at Inter Milan, pointed to an individual who needed to change his ways.

“It can’t be easy to deal with him,” said Redknapp.

“It must be difficult for Roberto to deal with him.

You only have to see the way he is.

“If Mourinho has a problem with him and can’t handle him, he’s got to be difficult hasn’t he? The boy’s a good player but obviously there is a problem there somewhere with his attitude.

“I think the only person that could help him is himself.”

‘Proud’ Ba signs for Chelsea

The Senegal striker joined the European champions from Newcastle for an undisclosed fee

DEMBA Ba insisted it was an easy decision to sign for the Champions League winners after his move to Chelsea was confirmed by the club yesterday.

The Senegal striker has signed a threeand-a-half-year contract after his move from Newcastle for an undisclosed fee. The London club had triggered a £7 million release clause in his Magpies contract.

Ba, 27, who will be eligible for selection for today’s FA Cup third-round match at Southampton, will wear the number 29 shirt.

He told Chelsea’s official website: “It feels good to be here, I’m very happy and very proud.

“When the club who won the Champions League wants you, the decision is very easy.

This club is massive and that’s something that helped the decision a lot. It was not a hard one.

“It was important for me, and for Newcastle, to get my future sorted and now we can move on. Now they have the whole month to buy someone and for me as well, the sooner the better. Now I am here I just need to get settled in.”

Ba is joint-third in the Premier League scorers table this season with 13 goals so far.

The transfer puts the seal on a stunning rise from the lower reaches of French football to the European champions.

Born in the suburbs of Paris, Ba played for Port Autonome du Havre, Montrouge and third division side Rouen before moving to Mouscron, in the Belgian top flight.

He then moved to Hoffenheim, helping them win promotion to the Bundesliga, and was signed by West Ham two years ago.

Newcastle swooped after the Hammers were relegated that season and Ba played a pivotal role as the Magpies finished fifth in the top flight last season.

Chelsea will not lose his services for the African Nations Cup later this month as Senegal have not qualified.

In other news, manager Sam Allardyce sees no reason why Joe Cole cannot force his way back into the England squad after rejoining boyhood club West Ham on a free transfer from Liverpool.

The 31-year-old has signed an 18-month contract at Upton Park to end a miserable spell at Anfield.

Cole won the last of his 56 caps in the World Cup defeat to Germany in South Africa but Allardyce believes should the midfielder rediscover his top form with the Hammers then he would start to attract interest from Roy Hodgson as he prepares for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

“There is still an awful lot of football left in him, and Joe feels he needed a break somewhere and recreate himself,” said Allardyce.

THE Cyprus football league resumes this weekend after a ten-day winter break, with six teams in contention for the top four spots which lead into the title race playoffs.

Toni Savevski’s Omonia are two points behind fourthplaced AEL and they start the new year against AEK at the GSZ Stadium in Larnaca, tomorrow afternoon at 5pm. AEK are currently six points ahead of them in third place.

“I believe that AEK should be considered as favorites for this match. Hopefully the break for the holidays will not affect us and we can continue in the same winning rhythm. AEK move the ball well and we need to be patient and efficient in front of their goal to get a positive result,” said Savevski, whose side are on a five-match winning streak.

“We are Omonia and regardless of any existing problems we might have, we will not be satisfied with any other outcome but victory. We lost a lot of points in the first half of the season and now we need to do whatever we can to get back into the title race if possible.

“We must take AEK seriously and show them the respect they deserve as they beat us in the reverse fixture this season. However, I believe that we pretty much know what to expect so it will be down to us to get what we want from this match,” he added.

In the second match scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at 6pm, APOEL host Alki at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia, with coach Ivan Jovanovic confident that his side will perform well despite the short break in the championship: “I think we only skipped one Sunday so we tried to rest a bit as we have many matches coming our way this month, starting with Alki. We played one friendly over the last ten days, against PAEEK, and I tried to give some more playing time to players who were not involved much lately,” he said.

Jovanovic will not be able to count on Tasos Kissas and Aldo Adorno who are injured, while Marcelo Oliveira, Mario Budimir and Christos Karipidis are still not match fit so they will also miss out against Alki.

AEL and Apollon open Round 16 in what should be an entertaining city derby at the Tsirion Stadium this afternoon at 2.30pm, while at 5pm Ayia Napa face Nea Salamina.

An hour later, league leaders Anorthosis take on Doxa Katokopia, while AEP Paphos and Ethnikos Achnas host Enosis Neon Paralimni and Olympiakos Nicosia respectively.

Saturday, January 5, 2013 CYPRUS MAIL

28 Poulter seeks final piece in major puzzle 25

Sport

Balotelli will be given ‘100 more chances,’ says Mancini 27

Minnows hoping to embarrass titans in FA Cup Liverpool and Newcastle eyed as scalps

By Tom Pilcher

A

Cyprus star Marcos Baghdatis has started the new season in impressive fashion

Baghdatis, Murray through to semi-finals in Brisbane MARCOS Baghdatis upset third seed Gilles Simon 6-3 6-4 to book his place in the semi-finals of the Brisbane International yesterday.

The Cypriot, who is ranked 36 in the world, won 78 per cent of his first serves against Simon and broke the Frenchman three times on his way to a comfortable victory.

“I played one of my best matches lately, especially from the baseline and forehand wise. It is definitely a great psychological boost for me to win in this fashion and if I continue to be as aggressive as I was today then I can only get even better,” said Baghdatis after the match.

His opponent for a place in the final will be 21-year-old Grigor Dimitrov, after the Bulgarian toppled seventh seed Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-3 6-2 in another upset.

Dimitrov is the youngest man ranked in the top 50 and has played Baghdatis twice before, with both men winning one match each. They have never faced each other on hard courts though.

“Dimitrov might be an easier opponent than Murray on paper, but that does not really mean anything. He is a very good tennis player and I believe he will be a tough test for me.

“However, I am confident on the court and as long as I execute my game plan I should be alright,” Baghdatis added.

The Limassol native, who has reached the quarter-finals or better in Brisbane for the past two years, has not dropped a set this tournament as his love affair with Australia continues.

He now holds a 38-14 career record Down Under and made his sole Grand Slam final at the Australian Open in 2006 when he lost to Roger Federer.

His last title was also in Australia in

2010 when he won the Sydney International.

Later in the day, Britain’s Andy Murray reached the last four with a straight sets victory over Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin.

The top seed beat the 26-year-old 6-4 7-6.

US Open and Olympic champion Murray struggled in his opening three-set win against John Millman but looked more comfortable in his second match of the year.

Murray, 25, will play fifth seed Kei Nishikori of Japan today.

Murray said: “For the most part it was pretty good quality. He served well for the majority of the first set, and especially well at the beginning the second.

“I didn’t really have that many chances on returns, so I needed to serve well.

That helped.”

In the women’s draw meanwhile, Victoria Azarenka’s preparations for this month’s Australian Open took a blow yesterday when the world number one withdrew from her semi-final against Serena Williams due to injury.

The Belarussian now faces a race against time to be fit for the first grand slam of the season, which begins at Melbourne Park on January 14, after a toe problem led to her late withdrawal from the clash against the American.

According to reports, Azarenka had a bad pedicure ten days ago which has resulted in an ingrowing toenail.

The Australian Open champion will not play another match before she opens the defence of her title and while the injury is to the big toe on her right foot, Azarenka expects to be fully fit for Melbourne.

“I am not concerned about that,” she told reporters.

WINNER with Chelsea, Uruguay’s Gus Poyet describes the FA Cup as the “greatest” in the world and this weekend his Brighton and Hove Albion side join other smaller clubs hoping to embarrass some Premier League titans.

Poyet’s Championship (second division) team kick off the third round of the world’s oldest knockout competition against top flight Newcastle today (2.30pm), a rematch of last year’s fourth-round clash which Brighton won.

Minor-league club Mansfield Town will get their time in the spotlight tomorrow (6pm) when they host seventime winners Liverpool, who are in the midst of another inconsistent season.

Among the all top-flight clashes are holders Chelsea’s visit to Southampton (5pm) and Premier League leaders Manchester United’s trip to West Ham United (7.15pm), both today, while tomorrow, Swansea City host Arsenal (3.30pm).

Poyet, 45, said he was itching for another go in the FA Cup, first contested in 187172 and which welcomes the 20 Premier League clubs in the third round.

“When you are a foreigner watching English football and you see that red carpet and the managers with the big flower, any player who comes to England is thinking that if they’re lucky enough, they will be able to play once in the FA Cup final,” Poyet told the FA’s website.

“I say this coming from Uruguay, where there is no cup and from Spain where there is the Copa del Rey, but the FA Cup is the greatest cup in the world.”

Poyet the player helped Chelsea hoist the 2000 FA Cup with the Londoners winning the trophy four times since, including last year, to take their overall tally to seven.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, whose first title in 26 years at Old Trafford was the 1990 FA Cup, will make changes for the West Ham match given their strength in depth and the allure of the competition diminishing slightly for top clubs in recent years.

The FA Cup’s most successful side with 11 titles but seeking a first triumph since

Brighton, who beat Newcastle at the same stage last year (top), face a rematch today, while lowly Mansfield are looking forward to a glamour tie with Liverpool 2004, United have been in scintillating form of late having notched 10 goals in winning their last three league games.

“It is anyone’s guess how you stop them. We might have to build a wall in front of our goal, I don’t know,” said West Ham midfielder Mark Noble.

Also today Premier League champions Manchester City, who ended a 35-year title drought with FA Cup success in 2011, host second-tier club Watford (5pm) bossed by Gianfranco Zola.

BASEMENT SIDE Premier League basement side Queens Park Rangers will get no respite when highflying West Bromwich Albion pay them a visit (5pm).

Fears over fifth tier Mansfield’s pitch will be playing on both their and Liverpool’s minds ahead of Sunday’s clash after dire weather wreaked havoc in England in the past few weeks.

“The water is just not draining away. If you throw a ball up it just won’t bounce,” manager Paul Cox told local

paper the Mansfield Chad.

“All we can do now is hope for Sunday.

“We want to be able to give the best account of ourselves that we can in front of a worldwide TV audience.”

The three other minor league clubs still in the competition will be licking their lips at the prospect of a headline-grabbing upset after all were handed intriguing encounters.

Today, Macclesfield Town host second-tier leaders Cardiff City (5pm) while Luton Town welcome four-time winners Wolverhampton Wanderers (5pm).

Hastings United, 17th in the Ryman Premier League (seventh tier), visit second-tier club Middlesbrough today (5pm) hoping the 131 places between the sides will not be too obvious.