cyprus mail newspaper

Cyprus Mailwww.cyprus-mail.com

By Elias Hazou

A FINALISED ‘take it or leave it’ rescue plan for Orphanides Supermarkets is to

be put to suppliers some-time in the next few days, and its rejection could spell the demise of the debt-ridden company.

A draft of the plan, drawn up by the company’s ex-ternal auditors KPMG, was yesterday presented to the chain’s suppliers and to representatives of the Bank of Cyprus.

KPMG’s sustainability report is said to envisage the continued operation of the company for one to two months, by which time it should become appar-ent whether an “adminis-trative restructuring” can keep the chain afl oat.

Under the plan, priority would be given to repaying suppliers, with the rest of the revenues going toward paying salaries, the elec-tric bill and other essential services.

It’s also understood that the current owners would be excluded from decision-making.

During yesterday’s meet-ing hosted at the head-quarters of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KEVE), affected suppliers raised a number of queries and additional proposals.

KPMG said it would take

these into consideration and formulate a fi nal plan, to be put before suppliers and to the banks sometime over the next few days.

According to Panayiotis Loizides, KEVE secretary general, the fi nalised draft would be of the “take it or leave it kind.”

If the suppliers don’t go for it, then matters would take their course, he said, alluding to a winding up of the company.

“The plan is a last-ditch bid to save the company,” added Loizides.

Since the announcement that the chain was going into receivership, various proposals have been put on the table to keep the company running. The fu-ture looms uncertain as the company’s two main creditors, Popular Bank and the Bank of Cyprus - collectively owed at least €140 million - rejected the appointment of an admin-istrator to oversee a re-structuring.

Orphanides additionally owes €85 million to suppli-ers and €10 million to other creditors, and posted a loss of €17.7 million for the fi rst three quarters of the year.

The company’s largest commercial creditors then proposed that a strategic investor take over and, fail-ing that, the chain would be placed in administra-tion.

CYPRUSChristofias:

history will

vindicate me

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€1Friday, December 28, 2012

SPORTTitle race not

finished yet, says

City keeper

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A man yesterday installs one of the panels of new Waterford crystal on to the giant ball that annually marks the new year over Times Square in New York City. Thousands gather in the square each year for the event (EPA)

Last-ditch plan to save failed Orphanides supermarkets, says KEVE chief

FILMCloud Atlas

opens on big

screens today

centre

Suppliers told to ‘take it or leave it’

Englishman wakes up after stroke and starts to speak WelshAN Englishman has woken up after a stroke and started speaking Welsh.Alun Morgan, 81, was evacuated to Wales during the Second World War and during his time there he never picked up the native tongue.His wife Yvonne was the only person who could understand him and had to translate for doctors.Morgan, from Bathwick, Bath, Somer-set, told the Bath Chronicle: “I don’t remember anything from the time of my stroke.“But gradually I started speaking a few words in Welsh.

“This was strange because I’d not lived in Wales since I was evacuated there during the war.”Doctors have diagnosed Morgan with aphasia, a form of brain damage that causes a shift in the brain’s language centre.The most common cause of aphasia is stroke, but gunshot wounds, blows to the head, other traumatic brain inju-ries and brain tumours can also cause aphasia.It can also result in a disorder known as Foreign Accent Syndrome, which causes a sudden change to speech so that a na-

tive speaker talks with a foreign accent.Researchers at Oxford University have found that patients with Foreign Accent Syndrome have suffered damage to tiny areas of the brain that affect speech.The result is often a drawing out or clipping of the vowels that mimic the accent of a particular country, such as Spain or France, even if the sufferer has limited exposure to that accent.The syndrome was fi rst identifi ed during the Second World War when a Norwegian woman suffered shrapnel damage to her brain and developed a strong German accent.

1.3294€ 0.8240€For a full list of exchange rates, see page 10

EXCHANGE

TODAY: Cloudy patches with scattered showers. Temperatures will reach 18C inland and along the coasts and 10C over higher groundOUTLOOK: Instability and drizzle to persist from Saturday to Monday, with a small dip in temperatures also due

YESTERDAY: Max Temp Min Humidity PollutionNicosia 19 - 8 53% Medium/LowLarnaca 20 - 10 75% Low/LowLimassol 21 - 11 65% Medium/LowPaphos 19 - 11 67% LowParalimni 19 - 10 76% LowProdromos 13 - 8 82% Low

Worldwide

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

Weather

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

SUNRISE: 06:54am SUNSET: 4:42pm

Paphos

Larnaca

Paralimni

Troodos

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2 Friday, December 28, 2012 CYPRUS MAIL

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10Nicosia

Limassol

Cyprus MailEstablished 1945. Number 21,415

NICOSIA 24 Vass. Voulgaroctonou, P.O. Box 21144, 1502 NicosiaTel: 22-818585, Fax: 22-676385 email: [email protected] 5A Nicolaou, Pentadromos Centre, Thessaloniki St, Tel: 25-761117, Fax: 25-761141 email: [email protected] Tel: 24-652243, Fax: 24-659982PAPHOS 62 Apostolou Pavlou Avenue, Offi ce 2, 8046 Paphos, Tel: 26 911383 Fax : 26 221049 email: [email protected]

Athens 17 CloudyBudapest 8 CloudyBucharest 5 CloudyBrussels 9 CloudyCairo 20 CloudyCopenhagen 4 CloudyDamascus 12 HazeDublin 6 CloudyFrankfurt 8 Light RainGeneva 8 RainyIstanbul 13 ClearLondon 8 Drizzle

Madrid 3 FogManchester 5 Local ShowersMoscow 0 SnowOslo -7 ClearParis 10 CloudyPrague 7 CloudyRome 14 CloudySarajevo 4 HazeSofia 6 Light RainStockholm 1 SnowTel Aviv 20 CloudyVienna 11 Cloudy

Home

CHEMISTSNICOSIAI. Kitiris, 63 Metochiou St. Tel: 22774950, 22774368 (H)N. Nouris, 33 A. B D. Akritas Ave. Tel: 22751801, 22374323 (H)M. Charalambous, 48A Armenia Ave, Acropolis. Tel: 22426655, 22492968 (H)A. Christodoulou, 73C Stadiou St, Strovolos. Tel: 22590396, 22512252 (H)Ch. Kari, 50 Andrea Avraamide, Tel: 22771999, 22351072LIMASSOLAri Terides, 181 Leontiou A Tel: 25340872, 25714469 (H)H. Papadopoullou, 20 Nafpliou St. Tel: 25355624, 25591887

(H)K. Skourou, 43 Panayioti Anagnostopoulou, Kato Polemidia, Tel: 25715991, 25332047LARNACAA. Sergiou, 17 Makarios III Ave. Tel: 24623110, 24530445 (H)C. Paschali, 53 Grivas Dighenis Ave., Tel. 24662233, 24667077PAPHOSS. Socratous, 52 Agapinoros St, Kato Paphos. Tel: 26949855, 26221966, (H)PARALIMNICh. X. Alapai, 8 Gr. Dighenis Ave. Tel: 23742002, 23744155 (H)

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ON THIS DAY DECEMBER 281935

Pravda publishes a letter by Pavel Postyshev, who revives New Year tree tradition in the Soviet Union.

1950The Peak District becomes the United Kingdom’s fi rst National Park.

1980A shake-up of broadcasting franchises paves the way for breakfast television.

1993British customs offi cials seize £70m of Colombian cocaine thought to be linked to the Mafi a.

2000US retail giant Montgomery Ward announces it is going out of business after 128 years.

2007Nepal declares a federal democratic Republic by interim parliament, abolishing the monarchy.

WHAT THE MAIL SAID25 years ago Wednesday December 28, 1987

The population of Cyprus rose in 1986 to 677,200 from 669,500 the previous year, recording a 1.2 per cent in-crease. Fertility was well above replacement levels, having only temporarily fallen below replacement during 1974-75 as a result of the Turkish invasion.

35 years ago Friday December 28, 1977The House of Representatives called for the publication of the Human Rights Commission’s report on Cyprus’ recourse against Turkey for human rights violations in Cyprus. The Human Rights Commission report found Turkey guilty of serious violations of human rights in Cy-prus, but the Committee of Ministers of Europe decided to shelve the report for nine months.

45 years ago Saturday December 28, 1967Akis Petris was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment by the District Court of Nicosia after he was found guilty of defrauding the government in respect of veterinary drugs while holding the post of Director of Veterinary Services and being a member of the tender board. He was found guilty on four of nineteen charges against him and was sentenced on three of them to one year’s imprisonment for each charge.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

This Rolex handout photo released yesterday shows supermaxi yacht Wild Oats XI on record pace during the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race (AFP)

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

QUICK CROSSWORD 2272

Across

1 Tidings (4)8 Vanquishing (10)9 Young salmon (4)10 Manner of speaking (8)12 Wicket (5)13 Everybody (3)16 Visual (6)17 Off course (6)18 Crucial (3)21 Brief (5)22 Breed of cattle (8)24 Outlet (4)25 Contemptuous (10)26 Pip (4)

Down

2 Springiness (10)3 Clamber (8)4 Short violent wind (6)5 Aspic (5)6 Omen (4)7 Fever (4)11 Kind of pear (10)13 Ararat boat (3)14 Non-clerical (3)15 Old records (8)19 Exit (6)20 Fetter (5)22 Assistant (4)23 Endanger (4)

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3CYPRUS MAIL Friday, December 28, 2012

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Road tax deadline PEOPLE need to renew their vehicles’ 2013 road tax between January 7 and February 4, the road trans-port department has said. Vehicles need to have a valid MOT certifi cate be-fore a road tax disc can be renewed. Those who do not intend to renew their driving licence are nonetheless legally required to let the road transport depart-ment know they will be withdrawing their car from circulation.Failing to renew road tax for three consecutive years turns the money owed into a civil debt, payable at court, and forces drivers to re-register. Vehicle own-ers can renew their road tax online at any citizen’s service centre, banks or fi nancial institutions, at the road transport depart-ment’s offi ce or else online at: http://rtd.mcw.gov.cy

Holiday traffic violations MORE than 2,300 people were fi ned over the Christ-mas period for a host of traffi c violations includ-ing speeding and driving whilst under the infl uence of alcohol according to po-lice. Checks were carried out between December 21 and December 27 nation-wide.More than 400 people were fi ned for driving under the infl uence of alcohol. A total of 4,063 checks were carried out islandwide with most of the drink driving cases coming from Nicosia and Limassol. During the same period drivers were checked for seat-belts, helmets, mobile phones, speeding and other traffi c offences. A to-tal of 1,698 incidents were reported, with speeding being the most frequent offence. 659 people were written up for other traffi c offences.

CYPRUSTODAY

Russia rules out bilateral deal with CyprusBy Elias Hazou

RUSSIA does not intend to grant Cyprus an inter-state loan because the associated risks are too great to be assumed by any single creditor, Russia’s depu-ty fi nance minister has said.

“We have no specifi c plans or instructions to do so,” Sergei Storchak said in a December 24 interview with news agency Bloomberg in Moscow.

“It’s obvious that no single creditor can work with Cyprus alone,” he added. “Anyone who steps up on an individual basis to fi nance that country’s govern-ment or to help recapitalise its banks would be tak-ing an enormous risk.”

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin had said his country would consider giving fi nancial assist-

ance to Cyprus as a part of an international rescue package after the euro area takes a unifi ed stance on aiding the island. Expanding on this, Storchak said Russia does not rule out taking part in a bailout, though not as “major creditors.”

If a group of lenders were formed to help Cyprus, it would be based on Cyprus’ membership in the Euro-pean Union, he said. Last year Cyprus borrowed €2.5 billion from Russia to help the government stabilise its fi nances; that loan matures in 2016.

And earlier this year, it emerged that the admin-istration was seeking an additional €5 billion from Russia; the lion’s share of a new loan would have gone towards propping up the banks and thus avoid resorting to the EU support mechanism.

Cyprus’ two largest lenders currently need a combined €2.3 billion to recapitalise. The govern-ment’s inability to borrow from markets – given

the sovereign junk bond rating – to bolster the banks forced it to request EU assistance back in June. Cyprus may need as much as €17.5 billion, almost the size of its economy, to pay its bills and recapitalize banks, Finance Minister Vassos Shi-arly has said.

The island’s public debt is forecast to exceed 89 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year – not counting the banks’ capital needs.

Back in May, the state pledged to underwrite Pop-ular Bank’s attempt to raise €1.8 billion in equity, after private demand for shares in Popular’s rights issue was minimal.

There is growing speculation that the country’s debt to GDP ratio – a key indicator of the health of an economy – could reach 120 per cent, the level deemed unsustainable by the International Mon-etary Fund.

Pimco report to be verifiedBoC issues profi t warning as Popular details Greek cuts By Elias Hazou

THE CENTRAL BANK is to-day expected to announce the name of the consultancy se-lected to verify a due diligence of Cypriot banks carried out by investment company Pim-co.

Pimco has already released an interim review; its full re-port is scheduled to be deliv-ered by January 15, six days before the next meeting of eu-ro-area fi nance ministers. The interim report was submitted to a steering committee com-prising potential lenders and Cypriot authorities.

In the meantime the Central Bank, a member of the steer-ing committee, asked that a consultancy review and ver-ify the methodology used by Pimco.

Following a tender selection process, the name of the con-sultancy is expected to be re-vealed today. It’s understood the fi rm will deliver its verdict before January 15, the date on which Pimco is expected to disclose its full report.

Central Bank sources said yesterday the consultancy has been hired to offer assistance on “highly technical data” within the Pimco report.

“We wanted to double-check that the diligence is accurate…leaving no room for doubt as to the [capital] needs of the banks,” the same sources

said. This, they stressed, did not involve checking Pimco’s method of calculating banks’ non-performing loans (NPLs); that issue has long been set-tled.

The banks’ recapitalisation needs will determine the size of bailout required by Cyprus.

Meanwhile yesterday, the island’s second largest lender Popular Bank announced a voluntary exit plan for its some 3,000 employees in Greece, offering packages of up to €120,000.

According to reports, those under the age of 45 will be of-fered four-tenths of their sal-ary for every year of service; employees aged 45 to 55 will receive 100 per cent of their salary for each year of service; and those aged 55 and above will get 1.25 salaries for every year of service.

A similar plan was made available to staff in Cyprus, with about 100 employees opt-ing to take early retirement.

Amid mounting capital losses, Popular has called an extraordinary general meet-ing for February 13. The group sustained losses of €1.7 billion during the fi rst three quarters of the year due to increased risk and goodwill write-offs.

Having acquired €1.8 billion worth of shares in Popular in May, the state passed a direc-tive aimed at downsizing the group’s operations as part of a cost-cutting drive. Under the

directive, the group’s payroll must be additionally reduced by at least 8 per cent within 2013.

And the Bank of Cyprus (BoC) announced yesterday, that the group’s results after tax and before the impair-ment of Greek government bonds for the fi nancial year ending December 31 2012 are expected to have a signifi cant negative deviation compared

to the 2011 results. The deviation is mainly due

to increased provisions for impairment of loans (due to the continuing deteriorating economic conditions and the adoption of stricter assump-tions in the context of the Pimco review) as well as re-duced operating income, the bank said.

The revised profi t results would impact the group’s

capital adequacy ratio; the bank forecast that, as of De-cember 31 2012, its Core Tier 1 capital ratio could go under 5 per cent.

“On the basis of the above expectations…the bank is in contact with the relevant supervisory authorities and troika, aiming at fi nding the best possible solution for all parties involved,” the state-ment said.

The revised profi t results would impact the group’s capital adequacy ratio

4

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Friday, December 28, 2012 CYPRUS MAIL

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Armed gang involved in sheep rustling GANGS of animal rustlers are targeting livestock in areas close to the UN-controlled buffer zone according to police. Most recently, livestock from the areas of Dali, Lympia, Potamia and Athienou have been stolen. “The police are looking into the case and the possibility that the gangs cross over from the north although nothing has been confi rmed,” police spokesman Andreas Angelides said.The most recent incident, according to police, involved fi ve young people, between the ages of 20 and 22 who stole around 40 sheep at gunpoint in the village of Athienou at 9pm on Christmas Day. The 74-year-old owner of the sheep and his 69-year-old wife reported to police they were tied up while the robbers loaded the sheep on their truck before stealing his mobile phone, his car keys and slashing his car’s tyres. The value of the sheep is estimated to be around €4,000. Farmers from the affected areas have demanded that police take measures to protect their property. In re-sponse, the police have increased their patrols along the buffer zone. They are calling on people who see anything suspicious on their land or property to inform them but to avoid attempting to resolve the problem themselves as gangs are often armed.

Suspected wife killer to face trial A 62-YEAR-OLD former policeman is due to stand trial for the premeditated murder of his wife, aged 56, who was found dead in the couple’s living room in early December.Larnaca district court has referred the 62-year-old to criminal court where he is due to appear on February 14, facing premeditated murder charges.On December 10, the man’s next-door neighbour in the Larnaca district called the police after the 62-year-old knocked on his door at about 10:30pm to tell him he found his wife shot dead in the living room, Larnaca police spokesman Christos Andreou told the Cyprus Mail.The 62-year-old then fainted, but later told the police that he was in the bathroom when he heard a gunshot and went in the living room to fi nd his wife dead on their sofa, Andreou said.The man claimed that his wife killed herself, but police investigators ruled out suicide. The court ordered that the 62-year-old be held in custody until trial starts.

ELAM to front presidential candidate THE NATIONAL Popular Front ELAM – the extreme right wing party with links to their Greek counterparts Golden Dawn – has announced that it will vet a presi-dential candidate for February’s upcoming presidential elections.ELAM said yesterday at a news conference in Limassol that it was their duty as the country’s up-and-coming power to propose a candidate at a diffi cult time for the country, state broadcaster CyBC said.The candidate is due to be presented this Sunday in Nicosia in the presence of Golden Dawn deputies from Greece, Ilias Kasidiaris and Yiannis Lagos. In the meantime, ELAM said that they will distribute food, clothes and toys “to our vulnerable compatriots” this Saturday in Limassol. ELAM – which was registered as a party last year – failed to secure a seat in parliament during elections in May 2011, though it secured 1.08 per cent of all votes or 4,350 votes, which is close to the minimum require-ment of 1.8 per cent of total votes. The four newcomer parties got 2.13 per cent between them.

CYPRUSTODAY

Cyprob raises its head as elections draw closeCandidates row over four-party meet as Bagis stirs it upBy Stefanos Evripidou

AFTER MONTHS of wran-gling over the economic woes of the country, the government and opposition yesterday joined forces to reject Turkish reports of a UN proposal to hold a four-party conference on the Cyprus problem.

The realignment of stars was brief however as the various factions within the Cypriot political system soon turned on each other to blame their opponents for giving Turkey the chance to push for a four-party conference through their alleged playmaker, UN special adviser on Cyprus Al-exander Downer.

According to Turkish press reports, Turkey’s EU Minis-ter Egemen Bagis raised the prospect of a multilateral con-ference attended by Greece, Turkey, the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leadership af-ter next February’s presiden-tial elections.

Bagis referred specifi cally to an alleged proposal by Downer to have Turkish Cypriot lead-er Dervis Eroglu meet with Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras and the next Cypriot president with Turkish PM Tayyip Erdogan.

Bagis described this propos-al as “incomplete”, saying the UN should take it a step fur-ther and arrange a four-party conference.

Government spokesman Ste-fanos Stefanou on Wednesday rejected the notion of holding four-party talks, accusing Tur-key of attempting to deviate from the current negotiating process based on the relevant UN resolutions.

Regarding a multilateral conference on the Cyprus problem, Stefanou said: “This is a procedure that we reject. It was emphatically rejected by the President of the Republic when Tur-key attempted to promote a meeting between Mr (Me-hmet Ali) Talat (the former leader of the Turkish Cypriot community) and the Greek Premier, following the presi-dent’s desire to meet with the Turkish leadership to explain his vision for a Cyprus solu-

tion,” the spokesman said. Stefanou also took pot shots at presidential contenders, DISY leader Nicos Anastasia-des and EDEK-backed Gior-gos Lillikas, accusing both of sending the wrong messages to Turkey.

Anastasiades’ proposal to broaden the peace talks to include Turkey at the nego-tiating table was helping the latter promote its four-party conference, claimed Stefanou.

Meanwhile, Lillikas’ propos-al to start negotiations from scratch would lead to making void the UN resolutions on Cyprus thereby freeing Tur-key to pursue its policy of up-grading the breakaway regime in the north, he added.

All parties yesterday voiced their opposition to Bagis’ suggestion, including DISY which wants to see a change to the current format. DISY’s election partner DIKO went as far as to point the fi nger at Downer, accusing him of working behind the scenes to let Turkey off the hook.

According to a source with knowledge on the negotiation process, Downer has raised the issue of getting the next Cypriot president to meet with Erdogan as well as Ero-glu with Samaras, though the focus appears to be on the former as Greece is no longer considered to have a very in-fl uential role in the negotia-tions.

He has fl oated a number of ideas to see how the peace talks could restart after the February elections.

There is talk about fi nding ways to get the EU and Tur-key more involved this time, though fi rst Downer will have to fi nd a way to overcome the obstacle placed by the Turk-ish Cypriots.

Eroglu has set as a precondi-tion to returning to the table the imposition of a timetable.

The UN is aware that any fi xed timetable could simply hand Eroglu an invitation to “wait it out” until the time-frame expires and then pursue wholeheartedly independence for the breakaway regime.

Instead, Downer will have to fi nd a way to address the issue of timeframes in a more crea-

tive manner so that Eroglu will agree to come to the table but will not be allowed to sit idly on it once he gets there.

One report in Kibris Postasi suggested the UN plans to ini-tiate cross-community meet-ings, followed by fi ve-party talks, including Greece and Turkey with the UN Secre-tary-General present in an ef-fort to bang out a result on all pending chapters in the talks, taking a head-on approach, as opposed to going through the talks chapter by chapter.

Meanwhile, Bagis contin-ued his tactic of stimulating debate in yesterday’s Kibris newspaper, describing as a great embarrassment for the EU the bankruptcy of the country holding the EU presi-dency.

He cheekily suggested Cy-prus request a loan from the Turkish Cypriots “just as it gets its electricity and water when it needs it”, despite the fact that the ‘TRNC’ itself is surviving almost entirely on Turkish handouts.

Bagis: Greek Cypriots should borrow from ‘TRNC”

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JOB VACANCY The British High Commission Nicosia is seeking to recruit a

Pensions Scheme Administrator

Job Description This is a part-time position that requires a self-starter with good numeracy, computer, communication and organisational skills, who can deliver time sensitive results on a monthly basis and is able to work initially up to five days a month. Duties include: � Calculating and paying pensions on a monthly basis. � Corresponding with relevant Local Authorities. � Providing support to Pensioners covered by the scheme. � Administer a dedicated IT system (training given) and pension records.

Key Competencies required. Delivering results Problem solving Managing Self, Others and Resources Communicating Qualifications, Qualities and skills � Excellent inter-personal and office organisational skills. Able to work with a diverse range of

cultures and people of differing views and opinions. � Ability to work under pressure, unsupervised and as part of a team. � Capacity to deal patiently and effectively in a wide range of situations, including dealing with the

public. � Fluent Greek and English (written and spoken) and good telephone manner. � Proficient and accurate typing. � Numerate and proficient in IT including: Microsoft Word (essential) and Excel (essential). Applications in writing with details of: past experience, qualifications and CV should be sent by email to the following address: [email protected] by Friday 25 January 2013. The Grade for the Pensions Scheme Administrator is Locally Employed Grade III. Salary will be on a per diem basis negotiable. A shortlist of applicants will be invited for interview by 1st February 2013 with interviews being conducted the following week. The successful candidate will have a six month probational period. The British High Commission is an equal opportunities employer with family friendly policies. We welcome applications from suitably qualified individuals, regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability or age. All applications are treated on merit. Applications are encouraged both from those who may be looking for long term employment and from those who may be seeking employment for a fixed period of time. The successful candidate will need to undergo a security clearance process.

Famagusta petrol stations threaten strike that could spread islandwidePETROL stations in Famagusta said they would go on strike for 48 hours on January 2, the Petrol Station Owners’ Association said yesterday.

The construction of yet another new pet-rol station on the main Paralimni-Ayia Napa road was what prompted the strike. The as-sociation said there are too many stations, yet licences are still being issued.

“In the last four years we have contacted the ministries of interior, commerce, the de-partments of planning and of public works, the police and others, concerning the con-struction of new petrol stations,” said the association.

The licences are issued based on a 1971 law “which should be reviewed”, according to the association. “A year ago it was agreed that, within three months, licences for new petrol stations would not be issued,” it said.

Construction of new petrol stations requires environmental studies and safety checks. “It doesn’t mean that just because the old law says you can build a petrol station every 500 metres, you should,” he added.

The Petrol Station Owners’ Association warned of an islandwide strike if, within 48 hours of the Famagusta district strike on January 2, new licences are still being is-sued.

“All new petrol stations should be checked for violations and any petrol stations that have not yet been built, but have licences should not begin construction, given the large number of petrol stations, which is 35 per cent more than necessary,” the associa-tion said.

“A petrol station is an investment of about €1.5m. Not to mention the cost for the land and the reserves.”

New public service hours as of next weekCIVIL servants will have their working hours extend-ed from January 1 under the bailout terms, but will no longer have to work Wednes-day afternoons.

Working hours will be, Monday to Friday, from be-tween 7.30am and 8.30am until 3pm or 4pm in the af-ternoon, depending on what time they come in. “The new working hours will apply until August 31,” senior ad-ministrative offi cer for the Public Service Commission, Argyroulla Pelengari told the Mail. “It is a transitional period for those civil serv-ants who have children in kindergartens and schools who have already made ar-rangements for this school year,” Pelengari explained.

From September 1, next

year employees will be ex-pected to be at work be-tween 8am and 9am until 3.30pm or 4.30pm on fl exi-time. “Although the timeta-ble has a one hour window for employees’ arrival and departure, the head of each department can decide to bring in half the department

within the fi rst half hour window and the other half in the second window to make sure there is always someone available to help the public,” Pelengari said.

Civil servants already working in shifts will not be affected by the new timeta-ble changes.

Suppliers told: take or leave it Company might not be saved(continued from front page)But there is broad consen-sus that the company may be unsalvageable, and that the banks and suppliers would recoup their debt only if the chain’s assets are sold. The chain’s real estate is said to be worth about €340 million.

Another pitch would have the suppliers joint-ly buy out the company and use future revenues to gradually settle what they are owed. An initia-tive has been undertaken by the company Cypra Ltd for the creation of a new chain bearing the name “Orfanides Nea Epohi” (Orphanides New Era). In the meantime a number of

major suppliers are report-edly planning to sue the company for compensa-tion. Others are invoking clauses in their insurance contracts relating to the company’s failure to pay them for a period more than six months.

Under these contracts, merchants are bound to stop supplying goods if they have not received pay-ment for over six months.

Some 1,250 people are on Orphanides’ payroll, while 2,000 more work on the supply end. The closure of the island’s largest super-market chain could trans-late into a €400 million loss for the economy, according to one estimate.

Transport ministry investigating bus personnel invoicesTHE MINISTRY of communi-cations and works has asked the police to carry out inves-tigations into reports that offi cials at the Nicosia Bus Company (OSEL) have been refuelling their own cars and charging the government.

“The ministry will not pay money that it has been wrong-ly charged by the companies,” Communications Minister Efthymios Flourentzos said yesterday.

The ministry asked the po-lice to intervene after it re-ceived reports that managers and stockholders from OSEL had allegedly been refuelling their luxury cars and putting the charges on invoices that are then sent to the ministry.

The ministry is obliged to reimburse the bus companies as part of the agreement in place. Investigations are at an advanced stage according to Flourentzos who denied claims by the bus company that the agreement covered the costs for some personnel. “Their personal vehicles are covered by their salaries while invoices cover fuel to com-pany vehicles,” the minister said. “We are waiting for the results of the investigations,” he added.The Orphanides Express shop in Old Nicosia yesterday: doors still open but for how long

A transitional period coming for civil servants


Home

Suspect in Christmas shootout with cops dies from his bullet wound SAVVAS Xenophontos, the Greek-Cypriot man who was involved in a car chase and shootout with the police on Christmas Eve, was killed by a bullet from a fi rearm according to state pathologist Eleni Antoniou.

Xenophontos was in a car with two Greek Pontians that had failed to stop at the police’s insistence in the early hours of Decem-ber 24.

The culprits sped away and were followed by po-lice patrols and motorcy-cles that were later joined by members of the anti-riot squad and crime pre-vention unit.

CHASED

They were chased across Tseri Avenue into the vil-lage of Marki where police managed to cut them off.

A gun battle between the police and the three perpe-trators ensued, culminat-ing in Xenophontos injury. Despite being rushed to hospital and being operat-ed on, he did not survive.

State pathologist Eleni Antoniou in the presence of state-pathologist Ni-cholas Charalambous and private pathologist Marios Matsakis, on behalf of the family, carried out a post-mortem on Wednesday morning.

According to Antoniou, the victim was shot in the back from a distance and the bullet passed through his body.

“Nicholas Charalam-bous and I will be taking a closer look at the victim’s clothes, the car the three men were driving and the police vehicles involved in the chase to determine exactly what happened,” Matsakis told the Cyprus Mail.

“All of the evidence will be gathered by police and handed over to the Attorney-general, Petros Clerides as soon as pos-sible,” police spokesman Andreas Angelides said.

Two offi cers sustained light arm injuries during the Christmas Eve inci-dent.

Drunk driver to be charged on three counts in Filipino deathTHE 26-year-old drunk driver who hit and killed a domestic worker while she was sweeping the pavement outside her workplace last Saturday will be charged on three counts, said police yesterday.

The 28-year-old Filipino domestic worker was killed at around 6.40am on De-cember 22 in Limassol when she was sweeping the pavement in between two parked cars after a drunk driver hit one of the cars, throwing her onto the other vehicle.

The driver, a 26-year-old Cypriot man, was three times over the alcohol con-sumption limit, with a fi nal breathalyser test showing 72 microgrammes of al-cohol per 100 millilitres, although the legal limit is 22 microgrammes, police said.

The domestic worker was taken by ambulance to Limassol hospital, where the doctor on duty announced her dead on arrival.

The 26-year-old was remanded in custody for two days after which he was released pending charges that will be fi led in court.

According to police sources, the driver was remanded in custody for two days because that was all the time needed by police to complete their investigations. They are now in the process of preparing a charge sheet which will include the following three charges: causing death by negligence; driving under the infl u-ence impeding his ability to drive safely and driving over the legal limit.

The maximum jail sentence for the following charges is four years in jail, said the police source.

Generous EAC retirement deal superseded by bailout termsTHE FINANCE ministry has informed the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) that it will not give the go-ahead to plans to streamline the company as agreed be-tween the authority and the energy regu-lator last year, the EAC has said.

The plans were agreed last year, before Cyprus requested a bailout from its Eu-ropean partners. Since then, a series of cost-saving measures have been passed in parliament that impact the broader civil sector including the EAC, affecting

the calculation of pension benefi ts and the one-off retirement bonus, among oth-ers, making the previous deal much more attractive.

In 2011, the EAC agreed with the energy regulator, CERA, that it would start cut-ting staff numbers by 2.0 per cent in 2013, with a 2.0 per cent cut applicable each year from 2013 until 2017 (a fi ve year pe-riod).

The EAC employs around 2,500 people and would start making about 50 people

redundant each year eventually ending up with 250 fewer staff by 2017.

The plan was to encourage people to retire voluntarily by offering a compensa-tion package to anyone between the ages of 50 and 61 years who had already served 25 years with the authority.

But the fi nance ministry had recently in-formed the EAC in writing “that it does not wish to push forward the rationalisa-tion plan,” EAC spokesman Costas Gavri-elides said.

Lawmakers this month passed a much-stricter series of changes to pension and retirement bonuses in the broader civil sector, as part of a cost-saving push agreed between Cyprus and its international lenders, who are due to bail the island out. The changes incorporate taxation, and reduced pensions as compared to the generous retirement package that would have fallen under the old EAC deal.

The fi nance ministry did not respond to a request to comment yesterday.

Christofias says history will vindicate him‘I’m leaving with bitterness because I was subject to harsh and unfair attacks’By Stefanos Evripidou

WHEN PRESIDENT Dem-etris Christofi as leaves offi ce next February, he will do so confi dent that history will vindicate his decisions, de-spite feeling bitterness for the “harsh and unfair” criti-cism levelled against him in the last fi ve years, he told Haravghi newspaper in a two-part interview.

The fi rst part was published on Christmas Day, where Christofi as bemoaned the “harsh and unfair attacks” he had to endure during his tenure.

“The class, ideological, fac-tional and social hatred of the president was so great that it reached the point where some were calling the presi-dent a murderer,” Christofi as told Haravghi.

Asked how he feels about handing over the reins of state next March, the presi-dent said he had “mixed feel-ings”.

“On the one hand I’m leav-ing with bitterness because I was subject to harsh and unfair attacks, that no other president had to endure. Some may think that with these harsh attacks they were undermining and hu-miliating the president. What they succeeded in doing was to undermine and humiliate the institution of the presi-dent’s offi ce. There is nothing worse in a democracy than undermining the institutions. Unfortunately this happened

continuously,” he said. De-spite facing a barrage of criti-cism for his handling of the economy, Christofi as main-tained that the government did a good job under extreme conditions.

“We were unlucky because during our presidency we had to deal with capitalism’s worst crisis. I am confi dent though that history will vindicate us, because we have done a lot of work and innovatively in vari-ous sectors. For this work, I am satisfi ed,” he said.

Asked to comment on criti-cism that Cyprus requested support from the European Stability Mechanism because the government failed to take adequate measures, he re-plied that Cyprus was forced to apply for a bailout only be-cause of the banks’ exposure to the Greek economy.

“The whole of Europe ac-knowledges this, the Greek prime minister boldly said it, and yet the opposition in Cy-prus insists on blaming the government for everything”.

He argued that when Cyprus was shut out of the interna-tional markets in April 2011, public debt was at 60.8 per cent and the public defi cit at 5.3 per cent while the corre-sponding average for the Eu-rozone was 85.1 per cent and 6.0 per cent respectively.

When Cyprus requested a bailout, the public debt reached 74 per cent and pub-lic defi cit 5.8 per cent, fi gures that were still favourable when compared to Europe, he said.

Christofi as argued that any objective person could see that Cyprus did not request a bailout because of the coun-try’s fi scal situation.

“If that was the reason then the markets would have closed for the majority of member states in the Euro-zone long before they did for Cyprus and many countries would seek recourse to the (European stability) mecha-nism,” he said.

In the second part of the in-terview published yesterday, Christofi as highlighted the “glaring contradictions” in the positions of two presiden-tial candidates, Nicos Anas-tasiades and Giorgos Lillikas, on the Cyprus problem.

The outgoing president questioned how DIKO could collaborate with DISY when the latter’s candidate, Anas-tasiades, insists on including Turkey directly in the peace negotiations in an effort to achieve a loose, decentralised federation.

He also questioned how Anastasiades can claim to want to withdraw all propos-als submitted by Christofi as in the peace talks when they constitute improvements on provisions that the DISY leader had previously accept-ed.

In a broadside at Lillikas’ proposal to start peace ne-gotiations from scratch, Christofi as questioned how anyone could believe that the deadlock could be broken by essentially going after a uni-tary state solution when the

opposing side refuses to ac-cept the current model of a bicommunal, bizonal federa-tion. “The fatal result would be to lose our support base and lead to a fi nal partition,” he said. Christofi as voiced his support to AKEL-backed

candidate Stavros Malas, noting that he was the only candidate appealing to the Turkish Cypriots, thereby showing an understanding of how important they were to reaching a fair and functional solution.

Christofi as: economic crisis was just bad luck

Britain


Boxing Day sales spark frenzy of shopping Online purchases set a new record for buying BOXING Day set a new British record for online shopping, fi gures showed today as crowds descended on high streets once again for another day of frenzied sales.

While thousands of shop-pers queued outside stores up and down the country to get ahead of the game, mil-lions more made the most of tumbling prices from the comfort of their own homes.

Britons spent 14 million hours trawling websites on Wednesday, paying around 113 million visits to online retailers on what became the UK’s biggest day for in-ternet shopping, analysts said.

Web sales were up by 17% on Boxing Day last year, ac-cording to market data fi rm Experian.

Figures were slightly lower than the 126 million online visits predicted for Boxing Day, something experts at-tributed to a “sales creep” which saw retailers begin to slash prices before Christ-mas.

James Murray, digital in-sight manager at Experian, said: “Boxing Day set a new British record for online shopping with 113 million visits going to retail web-sites in a single day.

“However, with a number of the major retailers bring-

ing their sales forward to Christmas Eve, the impact of that was that Boxing Day was slightly muted and not as prolifi c as we forecast.”

Figures show that Christ-mas Eve was 86% bigger than last year as a shopping day, and Christmas Day was 71% bigger.

While Boxing Day fell short of expectations, online shop-ping is still set to be up on last year by about 30%.

The fi gures emerged as stores threw open their doors yesterday morning, of-fering further discounts and sparking scenes of mayhem on shop fl oors.

It was another busy day in London’s bustling West End where footfall hit record lev-els - up 31.3% on Boxing Day last year.

Similar scenes played out across the rest of the coun-try as retailers offered hefty discounts in a bid to lure shoppers and compete with online rivals.

The British Retail Consor-tium (BRC) said the dash for discounts was boosted by consumers who were feel-ing the pinch.

BRC spokesman Richard Dodd said: “Customers are under lots of fi nancial pres-sure and are really keen on seeking out value and taking advantage of bargains.

“Today (yesterday) will be

another big day when some retailers will launch their sales and that will help to continue the momentum.”

Kent’s Bluewater shopping centre, which welcomed 130,000 visitors on Wednes-day- some of whom queued from 1am - said it was ex-pecting an even busier few days as of yesterday.

The mall, which predicts some 900,000 people will surge through its doors dur-ing the next six days, is open until 10pm.

Robert Goodman, Bluewa-ter’s general manager, said: “Boxing Day’s momentum has continued into Thurs-day, with the opening of the John Lewis clearance sale being a major draw.”

Customers at Brent Cross shopping centre, in north London, queued outside the John Lewis and Fenwick stores which also started their sales.

Among the most popular

items being snapped were designer handbags, TVs, fragrances, laptops and bed linen, a spokesman said.

Brent Cross centre manag-er Tom Nathan said: “While we had some pre-Christmas

sales and promotions here before the big day, it seems to have had no impact whatsoever on some serious purchasing in the more tra-ditional sales period which started on Boxing Day.”

Shoppers reach out for discounted perfumes at Selfridges in central London

Clegg warns Tories over EU stanceDEPUTY Prime Minister Nick Clegg has issued a warning to the Tories to concentrate on fi ghting the “fi restorm” in the eurozone rather than trying to re-ne-gotiate Britain’s member-ship of the European Union.

As David Cameron pre-pares to deliver a keynote speech in the new year set-ting out his vision of Brit-ain’s future in the EU, the Liberal Democrat leader said the UK should have the confi dence to take the lead in Europe.

The Prime Minister is widely expected to demand a repatriation of powers from Brussels as the price of agreeing fi nancial reform of the eurozone, with the promise of a referendum of the 2015 general election.

But in an interview with The Guardian, Clegg insist-ed that talk of a referendum was premature and amount-ed to no more than “politi-cal shadow boxing”.

“What we really should be doing is just focusing on the kind of economic fi re-storm at hand, working co-operatively to help them to put out the fi re in the euro-zone and to come out of this phase of economic emergen-cy,” he said.

8

World


Bush Senior in intensive careFORMER President George H.W. Bush, who led a coalition that ejected Iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991, is in intensive care at a Houston hospital in “guarded condition,” fam-ily spokesman Jim Mc-Grath said Wednesday.The 88-year-old was admit-ted to hospital November 23 for bronchitis.“The president is alert and conversing with medical staff, and is surrounded by family,” McGrath said in a statement.“Following a series of set-backs including a persist-ent fever, President Bush was admitted to the inten-sive care unit at Methodist Hospital on Sunday where he remains in guarded condition,” McGrath said. “Doctors at Methodist continue to be cautiously optimistic about the cur-rent course of treatment.”

Mubarak movedEGYPT’S public pros-ecutor has ordered that ousted President Hosni Mubarak be moved to an army hospital from his prison clinic on recom-mendations from a medical report, security sources said yesterday.It was not yet clear when Mubarak would be moved and what those recom-mendations were, security sources told Reuters.“Mubarak will head to Maadi military hospital,” an army source told Reu-ters. Maadi is a suburb of Cairo.

Tea boss killedHUNDREDS of Indian tea estate workers surrounded a plantation owner’s home and set it on fi re, killing him and his wife, police say.Offi cers recovered the charred bodies of the couple from the burned remains of their house in remote Tinsukhia district, in India’s north-eastern state of Assam.The plantation had been rocked by labour trouble over the past few months and some workers had been suspended a few weeks ago.

Minister sackedIRANIAN President Mah-moud Ahmadinejad yes-terday dismissed his only female cabinet minister, Health Minister Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, after she criticised her colleagues for failing to provide funds to import vital medicines.Appointed in 2009, Dastjerdi was the fi rst woman government minister since the Islamic Republic was established in 1979. While seen as politically conservative, the gynaecologist has ad-vocated a greater role for women in society.

WORLDTODAY

US snow storm batters NortheastA POWERFUL winter storm responsible for wind, snow, tornadoes and a fl urry of traf-fi c accidents battered the US Northeast yesterday, cancel-ling hundreds of airline fl ights but also reviving what had been a snowless ski season.

The storm dumped a foot (30 cm) of snow on parts of the United States with the heaviest snow falling across northern New York and into New England, the National Weather Service reported.

“It feels lovely to have won-derful snow for the kids to play in, and I think it’s the kind of snow that’s good for making forts and snowmen,” said Katryna Nields, a musi-cian in Conway, Massachu-setts, who was outside her home shovelling snow.

“It’s just the kind of snow you want for between Christ-

mas and New Year’s,” she added.

The National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for parts of Penn-sylvania, New Jersey, New York and New England and coastal fl ood advisories from New York’s Long Island to southern Maine.

Airlines cancelled nearly 700 fl ights yesterday after 1,500 US fl ights were cancelled on Wednesday, according to FlightAware.com, a website that tracks fl ights.

Some fl ights into and out of the three major New York City area airports - Newark Liberty International, John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia - were de-layed due to the weather, the Federal Aviation Adminis-tration reported.

The weather service fore-

cast 12 to 18 inches (30 to 46 cm) of snow for northern New England, accompanied by freezing rain and sleet, creating hazards on the high-ways and at airports.

The snow also brought re-newed hope for winter recrea-tion across upstate and west-ern New York.

About 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 cm) of snow fell on Buf-falo overnight. Light snow and freezing drizzle persist-ed throughout the morning hours, with as much as an-other inch or two possible in some areas.

Before Wednesday evening’s snow, Buffalo was 23 inches (58 cm) below average for this time of year, the weather service said. “It’s just a re-minder, winter is here,” said Tom Paone of the National Weather Service in Buffalo.

A cyclist pushes his bike through a winter snowstorm in New York City on Wednesday (AFP)

Son of assassinated Bhutto launches political careerBhutto’s son makes his fi rst major addressTHE only son of assassinated former Pakistani prime minis-ter Benazir Bhutto told hun-dreds of thousands of sup-porters yesterday, the fi fth anniversary of his mother’s death, that he would carry forward her legacy, an appear-ance designed to anoint him as a political heir.

“I am the heir to the martyr,” Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, 24, told the crowd in the south-ern province of Sindh, refer-ring to his mother and to his grandfather, the founder of the current ruling party who was hanged by a former mili-tary ruler.

“If you kill one Bhutto, there will be a Bhutto in every house.”

Bhutto was joined by hun-dreds of high-ranking offi cials, including the current presi-dent, his father Asif Zardari, to commemorate his mother’s killing in a gun and suicide attack during a 2007 political campaign rally.

Making his fi rst address to a mass rally televised live, he said: “Bhutto is not a name, it is an obsession, a passion, a love. You can chain our feet to the ground but we will still keep moving.”

Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf told followers waving

the Pakistan People’s Party’s green, black and red fl ag that the Oxford-educated Bhutto “will prove to be an important turning point for democracy and politics”.

Bhutto was named party chairman after his mother’s death, but his father was named co-chair due to his youth.

He is still not old enough to contest the elections sched-uled for spring - the minimum age is 25. Bhutto, who has his mother’s good looks, will only

turn 25 in September.Zardari, locking arms with his

son and waving to the crowd, said: “Bilawal has completed his studies, but the time has now come to complete his po-litical training, to stay in Pa-kistan among its people and learn from them.”

Benazir Bhutto’s killer has never been caught and a UN inquiry found that Pakistani authorities had failed to pro-tect her or properly investi-gate her death. The UN also said that high-ranking Pa-

kistani offi cials had tried to block its investigation.

In a 30-minute address de-livered alongside his mother’s onion-domed tomb, Bhutto denounced the courts for what he said was the slow pace of the trial of her alleged killers. He also touched on women’s rights, insurgent violence and the economy.

Benazir Bhutto has become a powerful symbol for the rul-ing party, which often refers to her as a martyr. The capi-tal’s airport and a scheme to give cash to poor families have been named after her. Offi cials hang her portraits on walls.

The Bhuttos championed the rights of the poor in a country where feudal landlords owned vast tracts of land and agri-cultural workers often live in deep poverty. Many rally par-ticipants waved portraits of Benazir Bhutto wearing her trademark white headscarf.

Her husband, elected follow-ing her death, is less popular. Zardari was jailed on corrup-tion charges from 1996 to 2004 that he says were politically motivated.

The president is locked in a power struggle with the Su-preme Court, which has been battling to reopen corruption cases against him. Zardari’s aides say he has immunity.

Many Pakistanis are angry that Zardari’s government has failed to tackle pervasive cor-ruption or end the daily power cuts that have brought its in-dustrial sector to its knees.

The elections should mark the fi rst time in Pakistan’s his-tory that one elected civilian government hands power to another.

Above: Pakistani policemen monitor yesterday the site where former premier Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in Rawalpindi in 2007. Below: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari

Taliban seize at least 22 men from regional paramilitary forceTHE Pakistani Taliban have seized at least 22 men from a regional paramilitary force in attacks on three checkpoints in northern Pakistan, a re-gional offi cial said yesterday.

Taliban and other Pakista-ni sources put the number higher.

The raids close to the pro-vincial capital of Peshawar follows two high-profi le at-tacks in the city this month, underlining the Taliban’s willingness to take on the Pakistani state amid specula-tion of divisions among senior Talibani leadership.

At least 22 men were miss-ing, two had been killed and one was injured after militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and rifl es launched the overnight attacks, said Naveed Akbar, a regional of-fi cial whose remit covers the Levies, or tribal force, units.

Other Pakistani offi cials said at least 30 men had been taken, a fi gure echoed by Tal-iban spokesmen.

Eight of the paramilitary soldiers have been killed, Tal-iban spokesman Mohammed Afridi said in Khyber agency, or region. He said the group

had captured 30 soldiers. An-other spokesman, Ihsanullah Ihsan, said 33 were taken.

Military sources said no sol-diers or police were missing. The Levies is a force raised from the tribes and support-ed by the Pakistani govern-ment.

9

World

CYPRUS MAIL Friday, December 28, 2012

The Shura Council - Egypt’s upper house of parliament

is seen meeting in Cairo on Wednesday

Resignations a setback for MursiIslamist minister and Christian MP resignBy Tamim Elyan and Shaimaa Fayed

AN Islamist minister quit Egypt’s government yester-day, the second cabinet res-ignation this week as Presi-dent Mohamed Mursi tries to shore up his authority and gather support for unpopular austerity measures.

An economic crisis and a battle over a new constitu-tion have underlined bitter divisions between Mursi and his opponents and delayed a return to stability almost two years since a popular uprising.

Rivals accuse Mursi, who won Egypt’s fi rst freely con-tested leadership election in June, of polarising society by foisting a divisive, Islamist-leaning constitution on the country and using the auto-cratic ways of his deposed predecessor Hosni Mubarak.

Deadly violence preceded a referendum on the basic law, dealing a blow to a struggling economy. Mursi’s political rivals refused to accept the result - the text won about 64 per cent in the vote - and they reject his call for nation-al unity talks.

In a move that may preempt

a planned reshuffl e by Mursi, parliamentary affairs minis-ter Mohamed Mahsoub an-nounced he was quitting be-cause he disagreed with the slow pace of reform.

“I have reached a clear con-clusion that a lot of the poli-cies and efforts contradict with my personal beliefs and I don’t see them as repre-sentative of our people’s as-pirations,” he said in his res-ignation letter.

Communications Minister Hany Mahmoud quit earlier this week, citing his inability to adapt to the government’s “working culture”.

Earlier yesterday, a Chris-tian member of Egypt’s up-per house of parliament, Na-dia Henry, quit a day after the Islamist-dominated chamber took over legislative author-ity under the new constitu-tion.

MINORITIES

The constitution crafted by an Islamist-dominated assembly is meant to be the cornerstone of a democrat-ic and economically stable Egypt after decades of au-thoritarian rule. The opposi-tion says it does nothing to protect minorities.

Mursi says the constitu-tion and an upcoming vote to re-elect the lower house of parliament will help end squabbling among feuding politicians.

He and his Muslim Brother-hood allies say ordinary peo-ple are fed up with street pro-tests that often turn violent and want the government to focus on urgent bread-and-butter issues.

The strife has cast doubt on the government’s ability to push through the spending cuts and tax hikes needed to secure a vital $4.8-billion In-ternational Monetary Fund loan.

The Egyptian pound tum-bled to its weakest in almost eight years against the dollar this week as people rushed to withdraw savings from banks.

The resignations this week come ahead of a promised cabinet reshuffl e. Cabinet sources have told Reuters as many as eight cabinet mem-bers from second-tier minis-tries might go next week.

Mursi is also promising incentives aimed at mak-ing Egypt - once a darling of emerging market investors - an attractive place to do business again.

Russia’s Putin signals that he will sign US adoption banPRESIDENT Vladimir Putin signalled yes-terday he would sign a bill barring Ameri-cans from adopting Russian children into law and sought to forestall criticism of the move by promising measures to better care for his country’s orphans.In televised comments, Putin tried to appeal to people’s patriotism by suggest-ing that strong and responsible countries should take care of their own and lent his support to a bill that has further strained US-Russia relations.“There are probably many places in the world where living standards are higher than ours. So what, are we going to send all

our children there? Maybe we should move there ourselves?” he said, with sarcasm.Parliament gave its fi nal approval on Wednesday to the bill, which would also introduce other measures in retaliation for new US legislation which is designed to punish Russians accused of human rights violations.For it to become law Putin needs to sign it.“I intend to sign not only the law ... but also a presidential decree that will modify the support mechanisms for orphaned children ... especially those who are in a diffi cult situation, by that I mean in poor health,” Putin said.

Syria envoy Brahimi calls for political change to end conflictTHE international envoy seeking a solution to Syria’s 21-month-old confl ict said yesterday political change was needed to end the vio-lence which has killed 44,000 people, and called for a tran-sitional government to rule until elections.

Speaking in Damascus at the end of a fi ve-day trip dur-ing which he met President Bashar al-Assad, Lakhdar Brahimi did not offer details, but said only substantial change would meet the de-mands of ordinary Syrians.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov added to the envoy’s call for a peaceful so-lution, when he told a senior Syrian diplomat that only a “broad inter-Syria dialogue and political process” could end the crisis.

Brahimi’s push for a transi-tional government suggested he was trying to build on an international agreement in Geneva six months ago which said a provisional body - which might include members of As-sad’s government as well as the opposition - should lead the country into new polls.

But the mainly Sunni Mus-lim Syrian rebels have seized the military initiative since the Geneva meeting in June and the political opposition has ruled out any transitional government in which Assad,

from Syria’s Alawite minority, plays a role.

Rebel fi ghters resumed at-tacks yesterday against the military base of Wadi Deif, next to Syria’s main north-south highway linking Aleppo with Damascus. Around the capital, Assad’s forces have tried for weeks to dislodge rebels from suburbs ringing the east and south of the city.

“Certainly it was clear in Geneva, and it’s even clearer now that the change which is needed is not cosmetic or superfi cial,” Brahimi told a news conference in Damascus before leaving Syria. “I believe the Syrian people need, want and aspire to genuine change

and everyone knows what this means,” he said.

“A government must be cre-ated ... with all the powers of the state,” Brahimi added. He said it should hold power for a transitional period until elec-tions - either for a new presi-dent or a new parliament - are held. “This transitional proc-ess must not lead to the ... col-lapse of state institutions. All Syrians, and those who sup-port them, must cooperate to preserve those institutions and strengthen them.”

Radwan Ziadeh of the oppo-sition Syrian National Council dismissed Brahimi’s proposal as “unrealistic and fanciful” and said a transitional gov-ernment could not be built on the same “security and intel-ligence structure as the exist-ing regime”.

Russia’s Lavrov met Syr-ian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Makdad in Moscow yesterday and underscored “the lack of an alternative to a peaceful resolution of (Syr-ia’s) internal confl ict through a broad inter-Syria dialogue and political process”, a Rus-sian Foreign Ministry state-ment said. But it made no mention of ways to achieve those goals. Syrian and Leba-nese sources said Makdad had been sent to Moscow to discuss details of a peace plan proposed by Brahimi.

International peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi

By Fred Barbash

PRESIDENT Barack Obama was fl ying back to Washington yesterday, and the top Republican in Con-gress planned to speak with House of Representative slawmakers as the clock ticked toward a year-end deadline for action to avert the looming “fi scal cliff” tax hikes and spending cuts.

Markets around the world awaited action in Washing-ton to prevent tax hikes on nearly all Americans and the deep automatic government spending cuts due to kick in at the begin-ning of next month that could push the U.S. econ-omy back into recession. Such action, however, re-mained far from certain, with Republicans and Democrats each insisting the other side move fi rst amid continuing partisan gridlock.

Air Force One carrying Obama from Hawaii took off early for a journey that can take nearly half a day. The US Senate was sched-uled to meet later last night but on matters unrelated to the “fi scal cliff.” The Demo-

crats control the Senate and the Republicans con-trol the House. Senate Ma-jority Leader Harry Reid on Wednesday said through a spokesman that the Senate-was ready to consider any bills coming from the House but would take no action on its own.

Speaker John Boehner and other House Republican leaders, who said on Wednes-day they were willing to take up a “fi scal cliff” measure only after the Senate acts on one, planned a conference call with Republican House members yesterday.

THREE DAYS

The expectation for the call was that lawmakers would be told to get back to Washington within 48 hours to consider anything the Senate might pass. Weath-er permitting, that would bring them to Washington with perhaps three days left before the deadline for ac-tion. Storms affecting the

Midwest, the South and the Northeast played havoc with airline schedules.

“This isn’t a one party or one house problem. This is (that) leaders in both par-ties in all branches of the government are not willing to make the deal that they know they have to make. Everybody wants their stuff but doesn’t want to give up what they don’t want to give up,” Republican US Repre-sentative Steven LaTourette told CNN yesterday.

The House and Senate passed bills months ago re-fl ecting their own sharply divergent positions on the expiring low tax rates, which went into effect during the administration of Republi-can former President George W. Bush.

Democrats want to allow the tax cuts to expire on the wealthiest Americans. Re-publicans want to extend the tax cuts for everyone.

“We’re in an economy now that is fragile - still recover-ing, all too slowly. These tax

cuts must be extended for the middle class. We need to protect the middle class from that huge tax increase,” Democratic Senator Rich-ard Blumenthal told CNN.

While Obama and congres-sional leaders have said that they are willing to negotiate, no substantive discussions are known to have taken place over the holidays and the gap between them ap-pears to remain.

A senior Obama adminis-tration offi cial told report-ers travelling with Obama that Republican leaders in Congress should step up to head off the looming tax and spending hit.

Congress has proven that it can act swiftly once an agreement is reached. Hope persisted that Republicans and Democrats might come up with a resolution before New Year’s Day that might at least postpone the im-pact of the tax hikes and spending cuts while further discussions take place. On that basis, world shares and

the euro edged higher yes-terday. “There is still hope for a last-minute deal, oth-erwise we’re in for a cor-rection in January. People have already priced in an agreement. Without it, the market can’t stay at these levels,” a Paris-based trader said.

BATTLE

Another battle is just over the horizon in late January or early February over rais-ing the debt ceiling, which puts a limit on the amount of money the U.S. govern-ment can borrow to pay its debts and can be raised only with the approval of Congress. Republican lead-ers have said they will in-sist on more budget cuts as a condition of raising the ceiling. Without any action, the U.S. Treasury said on Wednesday the government is set to reach its $16.4 tril-lion debt ceiling on Decem-ber 31.

The Treasury Depart-ment said in a statement it would begin “extraordinary measures” to buy time. Many analysts believe the government can stave the default date off into late February.

Business

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

Buying Selling

Pound St 0.8240 0.8158

US Dollar 1.3294 1.3162

Australian $ 1.2933 1.2613

Canadian Dol. 1.3301 1.2973

Swiss Fr 1.2157 1.2011

Denmark Kr 7.5511 7.3647

Japan Yen 114.1961 112.8339

Norwegian Kr 7.4794 7.2948

Polish Zloty 4.1604 4.0576

Romanian Leu 4.5082 4.3314

Russian Ruble 40.9399 39.9291

Swedish Kr 8.7173 8.5021

Prosecutors in Greece comb through Swiss accounts listGREEK prosecutors are checking a list of possible tax cheats, court sources said yesterday, in a case that has highlighted Athens’s failure to crack down on tax evasion, one of the factors behind the country’s fi nancial crisis.

Given to Greece for a sec-ond time by French authori-ties on December 21, the list contains hundreds of names of Greek account holders at global bank HSBC (HSBA.L) in Switzerland, which author-ities want to investigate over suspected tax evasion.

The affair has enraged the public and opposition par-ties already furious over the failure of consecutive govern-ments to crack down on the rich and powerful, while years of recession have wiped out a fi fth of economic output and hammered middle-class liv-ing standards.

France originally handed over the list to Athens in 2010. But former Greek govern-ment offi cials did not act on it, fuelling public anger and prompting suspicion that some names were erased be-fore it was handed over to parliament earlier this year.

To put an end to the con-fusion, Greek prosecutors travelled to Paris last week to re-obtain the original list. They are now cross-checking the two documents to fi nd out if any names were removed. “There might be a preliminary fi nding by Monday on whether the list was tampered with,” a court offi cial told Reuters.

The list originates from wide-ranging data stolen by a former HSBC employee, which Paris obtained. Greeks have dubbed it the “Lagarde List” after Christine Lagarde, the head of the Internation-al Monetary Fund who was French fi nance minister when the list was originally handed over. Greece has so far failed to convict any big names of tax evasion, fuelling popular disenchantment with a politi-cal class.

The high speed train of the new 2,298-kilometre (1,425-mile) line be-tween Beijing and Guangzhou waits to start its inaugural journey in Beijing yesterday, the world’s longest high-speed rail route. The link is the latest milestone in the country’s rapid and – sometimes trou-

bled – super fast rail network. The opening of the new line means passengers will be whisked from the capital to the southern commer-cial hub in just eight hours, compared with the 22 hours previously required (AFP)

Obama heads back to DC as ‘cliff’ deadline nears

US President cuts short Christmas break in Hawaii as all eyes turn to fi scal cliff

Japan retail investors pour $2.3b into fund investing in North AmericaJAPANESE retail investors poured about $2.3 billion in a mu-tual fund that mainly invests in US, Mexican and Canadian shares, the biggest subscription since October 2006, a distribu-tor of the fund, SMBC Nikko Securities, said yesterday.

The country’s third-largest money manager, Nikko Asset Management, launched the Japan domiciled fund, called Nikko Gravity Americas Fund, which attracted 200.1 billion yen ($2.3 billion) at the launch - the third biggest subscription ever.

Its subscription ceiling is set at 300 billion yen.Cash-rich Japanese investors heavily bought the Nikko Gravi-

ty fund on expectation of strong potential US. economic growth with the recent rise in the dollar against the yen encouraging their interest, an offi cial at SMBC Nikko said. The fund makes

allocations in line with its model portfolio, which gives a 64 per cent weighting in US shares, 14 per cent in Mexican shares, 10 per cent in Canadian shares and the rest split in Latin American countries including Columbia and Brazil, Nikko Asset’s docu-ment on its website showed.

The fund’s allocations in sectors include 20 per cent in energy followed by 15 per cent each in fi nancial and information tech-nology. Japan’s $720 billion mutual fund market is the second-largest in the Asia-Pacifi c region after Australia and the eighth-largest in the world. Japanese individuals hold a massive 1,500 trillion yen in personal assets of which 57 per cent is held in low-yielding bank and postal savings, while less than 4 per cent is invested in mutual funds, Bank of Japan data shows.

Opinion

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And this man is Turkey’s minister for Europe? IF THERE’S one thing Turkish politicians are not short of, it’s chutzpah. Ankara’s min-ister for Europe, Egeman Bagis, sparked off an internal row on the Greek Cypriot side yesterday by raising the issue of a four-party conference on the Cyprus issue but that in itself – and the parties’ reactions - are noth-ing new. They need something else to focus on as election fever heats up.

But it was Bagis’ comments on Cyprus’ fi nancial crisis that provided a bit of light re-lief. Turkish press quoted him as saying that the economic situation in Cyprus did not make Turkey happy and that to ‘hit a coun-try when it was down’ has no place in Turkish culture.

Then he went ahead and did just that. ‘It is really thought-provoking that a coun-

try that possesses the bloc’s rotating presi-dency is in a position to declare its bankrupt-cy in terms of the European Union’s founding philosophy,’ said Bagis.

It got even better when he said that the ‘im-proving’ state of northern Cyprus was ready to ‘help the south’. ‘The Greek Cypriot ad-ministration could get a loan from the north just like they receive electricity and water when they need it,’ he said.

He added that if President Demetris Christofi as was anxious over the economic crisis and wanted to apply to ‘Turkish Cy-prus, we are ready to lend a hand to Greek Cypriots as their neighbour’. The economic crisis was a result of ‘non-logical obstinacy of Greek Cypriots’ he said.

To outsiders, Bagis’ offer might sound generous, apart from the blatant untruths he came out with.

Firstly, Greek Cypriots do not receive electricity and water from the north. Where electricity is concerned, it’s been quite the reverse for decades. Electricity was tempo-rarily bought from the north during the Mari crisis, for an amount running into the mil-lions.

But Bagis’ biggest porky was suggesting the ‘TRNC’ could loan money to the Cyprus government when the regime in the north is totally reliant on handouts from Turkey, and almost as broke in relative terms as we are.

Only yesterday, binmen in the north were out protesting because they have not been paid for three months, and they’re just one sector of the north’s economy facing auster-ity imposed by Ankara.

Bagis’ version of ‘lending a hand’ to Greek Cypriots would also come with the strings of recognition for the ‘TRNC’. Of course he knew such an offer could not and would not ever be accepted, yet he didn’t want to ‘hit a country when it was down’ although that’s exactly what he did.

The Turkish side is always clamouring for a share in the island’s oil and gas wealth yet their generous offer, a la Bagis, unsurprising-ly doesn’t stretch as far as sharing our debt.

And this man is Turkey’s minister for Eu-rope? God help everyone.

IN THE past couple of months Turkish Prime Min-ister Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears to be increasingly

worried, and he is not the only leader feeling so, about the bloodshed in Syria. Rightly so. He sharply criticised the UN Se-curity Council for failing to take action in order to stop Syria’s internecine war.

He exclaimed: ‘How sad [it] is that the United Nations is as helpless today as it was 20 years ago when it watched the massacre of hundreds of thou-sands of people in the Balkans, Bosnia and Srebrenica’ adding that Syria would go down in his-tory as a UN failure much like in Bosnia in the 1990s. “The world body of superpowers is repeat-ing mistakes that led to massa-cres in Bosnia in the 1990s”.

How ridiculous it is for Mr Er-dogan to seek to offend our in-telligence in such a gross way. The list of instances of selec-tive memory inconsistencies and double standards is end-less. But let us examine here his claim that the UN Security Council is ineffectual. Is it the Security Council’s fault that calls for ceasefi re are not heed-ed and agreed ceasefi res are not observed in armed confl icts or acts of aggression?

Erdogan’s selective memory comes into play with a single purpose in his mind: to white-wash his country’s criminal record towards its neighbours. In 1964 Turkey napalmed Cy-prus burning alive non-combat-ant Greek Cypriot population.

The UN Security Council sent to the island a peace-keeping force, so-called bi-communal talks for political transition

were initiated whereas Ankara received a stern warning to re-spect the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus not only by the UN SC but importantly also from the US President Lyndon Johnson.

How did Ankara pursue the UN bodies resolutions and ad-monitions? Already a year later the UN SG Special Representa-tive Galo Plaza produced a re-port, the upshot of which was that Ankara through its proxy, the Turkish Cypriot leadership was bent on pursuing sectarian-ism, geographical segregation and ultimately partition.

With the supply of arms fl ow-ing from the Turkish mainland to the island incessantly, help-ing to consolidate rebel Turk-ish Cypriot breakaway armed enclaves, in the same way that the Syrian rebels are lavishly trained and supplied arms to-day, ten years later Ankara in-vades the island.

On the very day of the inva-sion, July 20, 1974, the Security Council, which Mr Erdogan to-day is very keen to brand as in-effectual, convenes and issues a resolution containing an agreed ceasefi re for of July 22 (SC Res. 353).

What ensued is well known for those of us who delve deeply into the study of Turkish policy and tactics whereas for those who consciously or subconsciously chose to employ a selective type of memory, the historic facts of Turkish aggression through the

bullying and invading the neigh-bours, committing atrocities go unrecorded.

For the record: not only An-kara showed gross disrespect to the SC agreed ceasefi re but it launched a second offensive on August 14, 1974 in which the Turkish invading forces engaged in a rampage of looting, pillage, rape and ultimately expulsion of one third of the island’s Greek Orthodox population from their 30-centuries-old ancestral homes.

To this day, Mr Erdogan’s gov-ernment not only refuses to re-spect the sovereignty and ter-ritorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus, worse, it grossly de-

nies its existence - even though the RoC was at the helm of the EU, the very European club that Ankara seeks to join. Ask any Turkish offi cial, he would invari-ably say: such a country (Cy-prus) does not exist.

Turkish ‘observance of inter-national law’ repeats itself be-tween1960-74. In preparation for a meticulously planned invasion Ankara clandestinely ships arms and ammunitions and Turkish Army offi cers to train the Turk-ish Cypriot rebels. The invasion is self-conveniently and hypo-critically dubbed by the Turkish Chiefs of Staff as ‘Cyprus peace operation’.

Decades later in 2012, Ankara is orchestrating the insurgency in neighbouring Syria by feeding arms and training Sunni rebels.

Last May, Michael Weiss, Lon-don’s Daily Telegraph corre-spondent embedded himself with Syrian rebels in Southern Turkey. He sent the following report that speaks for itself:

“Rebel sources in Hatay told me last night that not only is Turkey supplying light arms to select battalion commanders, it is also training Syrians in Is-tanbul. Men from the unit I was embedded with were vetted and called up by Turkish intelligence in the last few days and large consignments of AK-47s are being delivered by the Turkish military to the Syrian-Turkish border. No one knows where the guns came from originally, but no one much cares.”

� Dr Yiorghos Leventis is Di-rector of the Nicosia-based International Security Forum think tank www.inter-securi-ty-forum.org.

The selective memory of Turkey’s Erdogan

Dr Yiorghos LeventisComment

Egypt and the not so bad new constitutionEGYPTIAN politics over the past nine months has not been an edi-fying sight, but the new constitu-tion does not spell the end of de-mocracy in Egypt. It scares the 36 per cent of Egyptian voters who rejected it, but their fears are probably misplaced.

The revolution was made in the big cities, mostly by people who were secular in outlook. However, most Egyptian voters live in rural areas that are de-vout and deeply conservative, so three-quarters of the votes in the fi rst free election went to Islamic parties.

The Freedom and Justice Party, the political vehicle of the Muslim Brotherhood, got almost half the votes but it did not really get a mandate to im-pose strict Islamic law on Egypt. Some of its votes came from peo-ple who wanted that, but some came from people who value the Brotherhood’s charitable work, or were just grateful for its role as the only real resistance dur-ing the decades of dictatorship.

The Brotherhood’s last politi-cal platform in 2007 called for a board of Muslim clerics to su-pervise the government. It also insisted that only Muslim men could become president. “The state which we seek can never be presided over by a non-Mus-lim,” said Mohammed Mursi, who drafted that platform and

is now president of Egypt.Maybe Mursi still privately

thinks that, or maybe he has re-alised that these rules are unac-ceptable in a democracy where all citizens are equal. It doesn’t matter. The new constitution does not contain any such provi-sions, and the main reason is ob-viously the Brotherhood’s tacit bargain with the armed forces.

The deal, which guarantees the military’s privileges, was neces-sary to persuade the staunchly secular armed forces to accept an Islamic party in government, but it had a price: the new gov-ernment could not be TOO Is-lamic. This posed a problem for Mursi, because Muslim Broth-erhood activists wanted to use their political power to entrench “Islamic” rules in the new con-stitution.

So Mursi had to walk a fi ne line. He had to put enough Is-lamic language into the consti-tution to mollify his own sup-porters, but not so much that the military would break their alliance with him. He didn’t walk that line very well. The whole constitutional process

was a poisonous battle even before Mursi became president last June. In April the Supreme Judicial Council, whose mem-bers had all been appointed by the Mubarak dictatorship, dis-solved the newly elected House of Representatives on a fl imsy pretext, and also dismissed the constitution-writing assembly that it had chosen.

But the upper house of par-liament is also dominated by Islamist parties, and it simply appointed another constituent assembly with the same make-up. After that it was open war.

By October most of the non-Is-lamists in the second constituent assembly had walked out, and the Supreme Judicial Council was about to dismiss that body too. Mursi’s clumsy response was to grant himself unlimited powers and forbid the judiciary to dismiss the assembly.

There was an outcry by the opposition, a fractious coalition of leftists, liberals and Chris-tians, and the protestors were instantly back on the streets. But the constituent assembly promptly rendered the whole crisis unnecessary by passing the new draft constitution in a 29-hour marathon sitting, so Mursi cancelled his special pow-ers – and on 22 December, Egyp-tians ratifi ed the new constitu-tion by a 63.8 per cent majority.

Small crisis, not many hurt. The army got what it wanted: hence-forward, the minister of defence must be a serving offi cer, and the military will effectively con-trol its own budget. The parlia-ment cannot even debate it. The Brotherhood got less of what it wanted, but there are bits of Is-lamic language in the constitu-tion to keep the activists happy. For example, Article 2 of the old constitution (1971) says: “The principles of Sharia are the main source of legislation.”

The new one still says that, but Article 219 adds: “The prin-ciples of Sharia include general evidence and foundations, rules and jurisprudence as well as sources accepted by doctrines of Sunni Islam and the majority of Muslim scholars.” And what practical difference does that make?

As for the frantic haste with which the constitution was passed – after two years of revo-lutionary upheaval, the Egyp-tian economy desperately needs the political stability that a new constitution and fresh elections (due in February) will provide. It’s not a plot. It’s just the poli-tics of necessity.

� Gwynne Dyer is an inde-pendent journalist whose arti-cles are published in 45 coun-tries.

Turkish PM Tayyip Erdogan

Gwynne DyerComment

Showbiz


Kate Winslet ties the knot for a third time

THE Revolutionary Road ac-tress has tied the knot with her third husband in a pri-vate ceremony in New York.

The Oscar-winning actress was reportedly given away by her Titanic co-star Leonardo DiCaprio when she wed Ned RocknRoll in front of her two children and a small number of friends.

Their marriage plans had been kept a closely guarded secret following their engage-ment in the summer.

Kate, 37, separated from her second husband, Ameri-can Beauty and Skyfall di-rector Sam Mendes, with whom she has a son, Joe, in 2010 after nearly seven years of marriage.

This followed the split from her fi rst husband, assistant director Jim Threapleton, in December 2001.The cou-ple, who have one daughter, Mia, had only been wed three years when they divorced.

RocknRoll, 34, who changed his name from Abel Smith, is the nephew of Sir Richard Branson. Their wedding took place in a converted barn and was attended by just six friends from each side, The Sun reported.

Kate’s spokesman said: “I can confi rm that Kate Wins-let married Ned RocknRoll in New York earlier this month in a private ceremony attend-ed by her two children and a few friends and family.

“The couple had been en-gaged since the summer.”

But when her father Robert was asked about the wed-ding, he said: “What are you going on about?”

Ned’s family were equally shocked, with his father Rob-ert saying: “It’s not some-thing I know of — but noth-ing would surprise me with those two.”

The actress achieved world-wide fame for her role in the 1997 blockbuster Titanic, starring opposite DiCaprio. Kate accepted a CBE earlier this year for services to dra-ma. At the time, she spoke of her love of acting but said being a mother was the “best job”.

Parents were not even aware of the nuptials

The best man: Leonardo DiCaprio gave Kate away in the private ceremony attended by a few friends and the actress’ children

Third time lucky: Kate Winslet marries Ned RocknRoll in secret ceremony in New York

TRIBUTES have poured in for TV producer Gerry Anderson, of Henley-on-Thames, who created 1960s children’s puppet classics Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons.

He was 83 when he died on Wednesday and had been suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease since ear-ly 2010. His condition had deterio-rated in the past six months and he died peacefully in his sleep, Jamie Anderson said.

Anderson wrote on his website:

“He died peacefully in his sleep, having suffered with mixed demen-tia for the past few years.”

Anderson, who also created the hit puppet TV show Stingray, is survived by his wife and four chil-dren.

Having been diagnosed with mixed dementia at the age of 81, he and his son Jamie became active supporters of Alzheimer’s Society, recently taking part in the Society’s fl agship fundraiser Memory Walk.

Jeremy Hughes, chief executive

at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “Gerry Anderson has been an outstanding supporter of Alzheimer’s Society and campaigner on behalf of people with dementia.”

Anderson began his television ca-reer in the 1950s and established himself as one of Britain’s leading creative brains over a career span-ning nearly six decades, master-minding the live-action science fi c-tion shows UFO and Space: 1999, as well as the thriller series The Pro-tectors.

Nick Williams, chairman of Fander-son, the Gerry An-derson apprecia-tion society, paid tribute to him, saying: “Gerry’s legacy is that he in-spired so many peo-ple and continues to bring so much joy to so many millions of people around the world.”

Gerry Anderson, Thunderbirds creator, dies aged 83

THE ‘Diamonds’ singer - who reconciled with the ‘Turn Up The Music’ hitmaker earlier this year before announc-ing their split this month - looked smitten with Chris as they spent Christmas Day together watching the LA Lakers basketball team. The two could be seen cheering and sipping drinks, with Rihanna occasionally whispering in Chris’ ear and cuddling him. She was also wearing a gold collar neck-lace believed to be a gift from Chris, who is still on proba-tion for beating her in 2009.According to gossip web-

site TMZ, the two singers had arrived in the same car but entered Staples Center separately, before meeting up inside. However, it seems Rihanna still faces competi-tion from Chris’ ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran to fully win his heart and the pair seem to be going to great lengths to outdo each other on social networking sites.A source told The Sun newspaper: “Rihanna and Karrueche are really fi ght-ing over Chris and have been sending each other coded messages online for weeks.“They hate each other but

Chris seems content to carry on with them at the same time. They were competing over Christmas to send Chris the most loved-up messages possible.“Rihanna may have got Chris on Christmas Day but he sees no reason not to see Karrueche too.”Earlier this month, Rihanna, was left reeling when he was pictured enjoying a meal with Karrueche in Dubai, and she wrote on her Insta-gram: “Being single sucks. The only thing I get to do anymore is whatever I want to do (sic).”

Chris Brown (L) and Rihanna laugh together while sitting courtside at the NBA game between the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas Day

Rihanna and Chris Brown are back together - again

ACTRESSES Natalie Port-man and Kristin Stew-art are Hollywood’s most bankable stars and provide studios with the highest average returns for their fi lms, according to Forbes.com.

Academy award winner Portman topped the list of best actors for the buck, providing about $42.70 (26.49 pounds) for every dollar she earns.

Black Swan, for which she won her best actress Oscar, was produced for an estimated $13 million and earned $329 million in glo-bal box offi ce sales.

“We estimate that for every dollar Portman is paid by the studios, she returns $42.70. Compare that to Eddie Murphy, our most overpaid star, who re-turns $2.30 for every dollar he gets paid,” Forbes.com said.

Twilight star Stewart was not far behind, bringing in $40.60. She also topped the Forbes list of highest-earning actresses with an estimated $34.5 million in salary in 2012.

“Stewart was able to earn a ton over the last three years and offer a healthy return thanks to Twilight,” according to Forbes.com. “Even though she was paid $25 million to star in the last two fi lms, she was clearly worth the money.”

Forbes.com analysed sal-aries, estimated box offi ce grosses from the actor’s last three fi lms over the previous three years to cal-culate the studio’s return on investment. The most bankable stars tended to be featured in the most profi table fi lms.

Stewart may have had a bad year due to her af-fair scandal with director Rupert Sanders but that did not hurt her fi nancial viability.

She was second on the list with Twilight franchise and Snow White and the Hunts-man. The young star re-turned an average of USD 40.60 for every dollar she earned. She is followed by Shia LaBeouf (USD 35.80).

Stewart’s two co-stars in the Twilight fi lms were also good investments for the studio. Robert Pattin-son came in fourth with a return of $31.70 and Taylor Lautner was No. 6, mak-ing $29.50 for the studio for every dollar he was paid.

J-Lo’s extortion lawsuit against driver dismissedTHE 43-year-old singer-and-actress had fi led a $20 million case against former chauffeur Hakob Manou-kian in response to his own lawsuit against her - in which he claimed he was forced to resign from his job - but Los Angeles Superior Court Justice Joseph Kalin granted a motion from the driver’s attorney to strike the star’s cross-complaint at a hearing on December 21.In her countersuit, Jenni-fer alleged Hakob became obsessed with power and wanted to control her entire security team and get more money for doing it. When he was turned down, the ‘On the Floor’ hitmaker claimed he retaliated by threatening to spill confi dential informa-tion that would be highly embarrassing.Jennifer says the driver threatened that if he wasn’t paid $2.8 million he would take his information to authorities and have her criminally prosecuted.However, the ex-employee had claimed Jennifer was trying to punish him for fi ling a legitimate employ-ment lawsuit against her.Hakob had claimed he was forced to resign after being publicly berated by the former American Idol judge’s manager Benny Medina.His case is scheduled to go to trial in May 2013.

Portman & Stewart are most bankable

Idaho, California best for menAMERICAN men looking for the best place to fi nd happi-ness, health and a good quality of life might consider heading to Boise, Idaho, or San Jose and San Francisco in northern California. The three western US cities top the list of the 100 best towns for men in a new ranking compiled by Men’s Health magazine, while Charleston, West Virginia, Philadel-phia and Birmingham, Alabama are considered the worst.Boise, which jumped from fi fth place last year, scored high marks for the physical and mental health of its residents, its low crime rate and short commuting times - an average of just 18 minutes.San Francisco, which consistently ranks high, impressed with its small percentage of obese people, low number of smokers and highly educated and fi t population. San Jose had very low death rates from cancer and heart disease, the

lowest percentage of smokers in any of the 100 cities in the ranking, and not much crime. At the opposite end of the list, high cancer rates, violent crime and poor fi tness levels as-sured Birmingham last place. In addition to Philadelphia and Charleston, West Virginia, the bottom fi ve included Toledo, Ohio and St. Louis, Missouri. New York ranked 33rd.

Online urologist ratings positiveRATINGS for urologists on doctor review websites were typically positive in a new analysis, but on average each doc-tor had only two or three patient scores.That suggests that although a little poking around online may be useful for people wondering about a new doctor, users should be cautious about how much to read into such limited information, researchers said.“The biggest stumbling block at present for these sites to really be useful for patients is just the very limited number of reviews that exist,” said Dr. Peter Lindenauer of Baystate Medical Center in Springfi eld,Massachusetts, What’s more, he said. “You need to be aware that these websites are not regulated - there’s no verifi cation that the patients were actually patients.” Nor are they a “random sample” that represents everyone who sees a given doctor, he added. Previous studies have analyzed these rating sites across the board, but for the new report, researchers from Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois want-

ed to look at how urologists, in particular, were reviewed. Urologists specialize in disorders of the urinary tract in men and women.

Healthier snacks, fewer caloriesKIDS given a combination of cheese and vegetables will eat only about a quarter as many calories as those given potato chips, according to a new study.“Like it or not, children like foods that are energy-dense and not those that are nutrient-rich. That is because chil-dren are still growing. That is basic physiology,” said Adam Drewnowski, director of the Nutritional Sciences Programme at the University of Washington, who was not part of the study.The fi ndings suggest that swapping out potato chips for cheese or vegetables might help reduce the amount of calo-ries kids eat at snack time, said Adam Brumberg, one of the authors of the study and the deputy director of the Food and Brand Laboratory at Cornell University.The study, which was funded in part by the cheese maker Bel Brands USA, involved 183 kids. Each was put in a room to watch TV and eat a snack - 45 were given potato chips, 36 cheese, 59 raw vegetables and 43 cheese and vegetables. After 45 minutes the researchers measured how much food the children had eaten.They found that kids in the chip group ate by far the most calories - 620 on average.


Health

Health bites

KIDS who have food allergies or are overweight may be es-pecially likely to get bullied by their peers, two new studies suggest.

Not surprisingly, researchers also found targets of bullying were more distressed and anx-ious and had a worse quality of life, in general, than those who weren’t picked on.

Bullying has become a con-cern among parents, doctors and school administrators since research and news sto-ries emerged linking bullying - including online “cyberbul-lying” - with depression and even suicide.

“There has been a shift and people are more and more rec-ognising that bullying has real consequences, it’s not just something to be making jokes about,” said Dr Mark Schus-ter, chief of general pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School, who wrote a commentary published with the new research.

Studies suggest between one in ten and one in three of all kids and teens are bullied - but those fi gures may vary by location and demographics, researchers noted. The new fi ndings come from two stud-ies published in the Journal of Pediatrics.

In one, Dr Eyal Shemesh from the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York and his colleagues surveyed 251 kids who were seen at an allergy clinic and their parents. The children were all between age eight and 17 with a diagnosed food allergy.

Just over 45 per cent of them said they’d been bullied or

harassed for any reason, and 32 per cent reported being bullied because of their allergy in particular. “Our fi nding is entirely consistent with what you fi nd with children with a disability,” Shemesh told Reu-ters Health.

A food allergy, he said, “is a vulnerability that can be very easily exploited, so of course it will be exploited.”

The kids in the study were mostly white and well-off, the researcher said - a group that you’d expect would be target-ed less often. So bullying may be more common in poorer and minority children who also have food allergies.

But allergies aren’t the only cause of teasing and harass-ment by peers. In another

study, researchers from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, found that al-most two-thirds of 361 teens enrolled in weight-loss camps had been bullied due to their size.

That likelihood increased with weight, so that the heavi-est kids had almost a 100 per cent chance of being bullied, Rebecca Puhl and her col-leagues found. Verbal teasing was the most common form of bullying, but more than half of bullied kids reported getting taunted online or through texts and emails as well.

Shemesh’s team found only about half of parents knew when their food-allergic child was being bullied, and kids tended to be better off when

their families were aware of the problem. He said parents should feel comfortable ask-ing kids if they’re being both-ered at school or elsewhere - and that even if it only hap-pens once, bullying shouldn’t be ignored.

“We want parents to know,” he said. “Start the conversa-tion.” “Parents whose kids have a food allergy should re-ally be aware that their kids have the kind of characteristic that often leads to being bul-lied,” Schuster told Reuters Health. “They should be work-ing with the school to handle the food allergy in a way that isn’t going to make it more likely that their kids will be bullied - and they need to be attuned to their kids.”

Extra weight and allergies tied to school bullyingStudies suggest between one in ten and one in three of all kids and teens are bullied, according to studies

STRUGGLING TO describe her son, Suzanne Kolen of Long Island, New York, uses a friend’s recent descrip-tion: He’s the 13-year-old boy bouncing down the road in the rain looking very much like Winnie the Pooh’s friend, Tigger.

“He’s a genuinely happy kid,” Kolen says of her son, a bright boy who loves nature and paleontology and has nev-er been defi ned by his diagno-sis of Asperger’s syndrome, a mild form of autism marked by social awkwardness and narrow interests that make personal relationships chal-lenging.

Matthew’s diagnosis will soon be dropped in the fi fth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Men-tal Disorders or DSM-5, the American Psychiatric Asso-ciation’s diagnostic reference book, to be subsumed into the broader category of autism spectrum disorder.

Although autism can range from highly functioning indi-viduals like Matthew to those with severe speech and intel-lectual disabilities, in general individuals struggle with diffi -culties in communication, be-haviour and social interaction.

Dropping the Asperger’s di-agnosis in the new DSM, due out this spring, has caused consternation for some fami-lies.

“One of the biggest concerns is that some who are higher functioning will no longer meet the more stringent cri-teria and will therefore have diffi culty getting services,” says Dr. Elizabeth Laugeson, an autism researcher at the University of California Los Angeles.

An analysis by Dr. Fred Volkmar of the Yale School of Medicine released earlier this year suggested as many as 45 per cent of those cur-rently diagnosed with autism or a related disorder would no longer qualify under the new defi nition.

Laugeson said Volkmar’s analysis was based on a review of older medical records that might not have captured all of the symptoms that would qualify a person for an au-

tism diagnosis under the new standard. The jury is still out in terms of how the change will play out in routine prac-tice, she said: “We really need to see it in action.”

To ease fears that some indi-viduals will no longer be eligi-ble for services and insurance coverage, the APA task force recommends that people al-ready diagnosed with an au-tism-related disorder, such as Asperger’s, would be grandfa-thered in.

Kolen, who has never been caught up in labels, says she is not concerned about the change.

Although Matthew was of-fi cially diagnosed with As-perger’s in second grade, his preschool teachers were the fi rst to point out his differenc-es. By age 4, he began applied behaviour analysis or ABA therapy, a specialized type of therapy used to treat autism.

“That really put us on a good path,” Kolen says, adding that at that age, “no one was willing to put a label on him, but they would treat what they saw.” In addition to Asperger’s, Mat-thew is now being treated for attention defi cit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD and has re-cently developed some issues with anxiety - conditions that commonly accompany autism spectrum disorders.

Like many on the autism spectrum, Matthew fi nds it diffi cult to make eye contact. “I can’t stare into someone’s eyes,” he says. “It just hurts.”

On Wednesdays, Matthew attends a social group with other young people on the autism spectrum, where they work on improving their so-cial skills.

While they all have the same or similar diffi culties, they can recognize social awkwardness in others.

Kolen says her son still strug-gles with the give and take of conversation. “It’s very diffi -cult for him to allow the oth-er person to speak. He’s still tends to dominate.”

But Matthew is bright, and she believes with enough practice, he will learn how to respond appropriately to so-cial cues, even if he’s “a little rough around the edges.”

What’s in a name? Losing Asperger’s label not such a big change

Kids in the study were

mostly white and well-off

Cloud Atlas(See page opposite)

Our rating: N/A

An… [What If…](See page opposite)

Our rating: N/A

Wreck-It RalphWreck-It Ralph is a videogame villain who longs to be as beloved as his game’s perfect hero, Fix-It Felix. Problem is, nobody loves a villain. Ralph somehow needs to transform himself into a hero – so he sneaks into a first-person-shooter war game, planning to win a medal, but soon wrecks everything, accidentally unleashing a deadly enemy that threatens every game in the arcade. Ralph’s only hope? Vanellope von Schweetz, a young troublemaking “glitch” from a saccharine cart-racing game who might just be the one to teach Ralph what it means to be a Good Guy. Directed by Rich Moore. DUBBED INTO GREEK. In 3D. (Kids’ cartoon, 101 mins.)

Our rating: ��

Life of PiGrowing up in Pondicherry, India during the 1970s, Piscine, known to all as Pi (played as a teenager by Suraj Sharma, as an adult by Irrfan Khan), has a rich life. His father owns a zoo, and Pi spends his days among tigers, zebras, hippos, and other creatures. But after Pi attempts to befriend a Bengal tiger, named Richard Parker, the young boy learns a harsh lesson from his father about the relationship between human and beast. As circumstances worsen for them, the family decides to move to Canada, hitching a ride on a Japanese cargo ship – but Pi soon finds himself in the company of a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan and Richard Parker after a shipwreck sets them adrift in the Pacific Ocean. Directed by Ang Lee. In 3D. (Drama, 127 mins.)

Our rating: ��

ArbitrageOn his 60th birthday, New York hedge-fund magnate Robert Miller (Richard Gere) is the very picture of a successful businessman. Behind the façade of success and wealth, however, Miller is desperately trying to complete the sale of his trading empire to a major bank before the enormity of his fraud is exposed. Struggling to conceal his duplicity from loyal wife Ellen (Susan Sarandon) and brilliant daughter and heir-apparent Brooke (Brit Marling), Miller is also hiding an affair with French art-dealer Julie (Laetitia Casta). Just as he’s about to unload his troubled empire, an unexpected bloody error forces him to juggle family, business and crime – but a cop (Tim Roth) is on his case. Directed by Nicholas Jarecki. (Dramatic thriller, 107 mins.)

Our rating: ��

ZarafaA grandfather tells his grandchildren the story of Maki, a young boy who escapes from slave traders, befriends a giraffe (the title

character), crosses the desert, meets a pirate, and a few other things on a trip that takes him from Africa to Paris. Directed by Remi Bezancon and Jean-Christophe Lie. DUBBED INTO GREEK. (Kids’ cartoon, 78 mins.)

Our rating: N/A

The Hobbit: An Unexpected JourneyA hobbit named Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) is swept into a quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen), Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild, through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever … Gollum. Also starring Richard Armitage and Andy Serkis. Directed by Peter Jackson. In English, with occasional dialogue in made-up languages with Greek subtitles. In 3D. (Adventure fantasy, 169 mins.)

Our rating: ��

Seven PsychopathsIrish screenwriter Marty Faranan (Colin Farrell) has come down with a bad case of writer’s block. He has the title for his next script, ‘Seven Psychopaths’, but is struggling to write it. Billy (Sam Rockwell) is Marty’s best friend, an unemployed actor and part-time dog-napper, who wants to help Marty by any means necessary. Hans (Christopher Walken) is Billy’s partner in crime; they snatch dogs, then return them and claim the reward – but they get in trouble when they dog-nap Bonny the shih tzu, whose owner Charlie (Woody Harrelson) is a psychopathic gangster. Now Marty’s going to get all the inspiration he needs for his subject matter – as long as he lives to tell the tale. Also starring Abbie Cornish and Tom Waits. Directed by Martin McDonagh. (Dark comedy, 110 mins.)

Our rating: ��

Shadow DancerSingle mother Collette McVeigh (Andrea Riseborough) is a Republican living in 1993 Belfast with her mother and hardliner IRA brothers. When she’s arrested for her part in an aborted IRA bomb plot in London, an M15 officer called Mac (Clive Owen) offers her a choice: lose everything and go to prison for 25 years, or return to Belfast to spy on her own family. With her son’s life in her hands, Collette chooses to place her trust in Mac and return home. But when her brothers’ secret operation is ambushed, suspicions of an informant are raised and Collette finds herself and her family in

grave danger. Also starring Gillian Anderson. Directed by James Marsh. (Drama, 101 mins.)

Our rating: �

Hotel TransylvaniaWelcome to the Hotel Transylvania, Dracula’s lavish five-stake resort, where monsters and their families can live it up, free to be the monsters they are without humans to bother them. It’s a special weekend and Dracula has invited some of his best friends – Frankenstein and his wife, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, the Werewolf family and many more – to celebrate his beloved daughter Mavis’ 118th birthday. For good old Drac, catering to all of these legendary monsters is no problem; but everything could change for the over-protective dad when one ordinary human guy stumbles on the hotel and takes a shine to Mavis. Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky. In 3D. DUBBED INTO GREEK. (Cartoon comedy, 91 mins.)

Our rating: ��

LawlessIt’s 1930, and America is in the grip of Prohibition. The Bondurant brothers, timid Jack (Shia LaBeouf), tough-as-nails Forrest (Tom Hardy), and psychotic Howard (Jason Clarke), are bootleggers, making ‘moonshine’ whisky which they sell to friends and neighbours – including the local sheriff – in Franklin County, Virginia. Their livelihood is threatened by the arrival of Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce), a ‘special deputy’ from Chicago who has come to Virginia to stop those who violate the law of the land. What that means is that those who pay a fee are allowed to continue bootlegging while those who don’t are shut down, often by force. The Bondurants refuse to give in to Rakes, and their stubbornness instigates a war. Also starring Jessica Chastain, Gary Oldman and Mia Wasikowska. Directed by John Hillcoat. (Crime drama, 116 mins.)

Our rating: ��

Rise of the GuardiansJack Frost (voice of Chris Pine) is chosen to join an elite group

of superheroes – the so-called ‘Guardians’, namely Santa Claus (voice of Alec Baldwin), the Easter Bunny (voice of Hugh Jackman), the Tooth Fairy (voice of Isla Fisher) and the Sandman, whose job is to protect children everywhere. Jack is an unwilling hero; he’d prefer to roam the world on his own, freezing ponds and causing snow days – but the world’s children are threatened by Pitch (voice of Jude Law), a.k.a. The Boogie Man, who wants to turn dreams into nightmares and banish belief in Santa, Bunny, and Tooth. Jack reluctantly agrees to help and, in the process, discovers the true hero within. Directed by Peter Ramsey. In 3D. (Cartoon adventure, 97 mins.)

Our rating: �

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2Bella (Kristen Stewart) is enjoying her new life and new powers after the birth of Renesmee, her daughter with vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). Soon, however,

their family bliss is threatened again, by a new menace. The vampire Irina (Maggie Grace) believes a child like Renesmee could challenge the power and existence of the Volturi. As Irina rallies the Volturi to destroy this potential threat, Bella and the Cullens – together with any allies they can assemble – prepare for a crucial battle to protect their family. Also starring Taylor Lautner and Billy Burke. Directed by Bill Condon. (Fantasy drama, 115 mins.)

Our rating:��

SkyfallA hard-drive listing all NATO operatives undercover in terrorist

organisations is stolen, and used to make M (Judi Dench), the head of British Intelligence, look bad. Though not in peak condition after a near-death experience, secret agent James Bond (Daniel Craig) sets out to recover the drive, which leads him to mystery man Silva (Javier Bardem) – a psycho who’s nursing a grudge, and has a revenge scheme in mind. Also starring Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes and Albert Finney. Directed by Sam Mendes. (Action-drama, 143 mins.)

Our rating: ��

SUMMARIES

14 CYPRUS MAIL Friday

FilmES

Lawless

Seven Psychopaths

Wreck-It Ralph

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Cloud Atlas

Cloud AtlasDirected by: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski & Lana Wa-chowskiStarring: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Ben WhishawUS/Germany 2012, 172 mins.

Showing from today at the K-Cineplex and K-Cineplex (Mall of Cyprus) in Nicosia, the Rio and K-Cineplex in Limassol, the K-Cineplex in Larnaca and the Orasis in Pa-phos.

THE PLOTSix separate stories that

take place across a 500-year slice of time beginning in the mid-19th century and ending in a distant post-apocalyptic future, with themes recurring in different ways from one story to another. Everything is connected: an 1849 diary of an ocean voyage across the Pacifi c; letters from a com-poser to his friend; a thriller about a murder at a nuclear power plant; a farce about a publisher in a nursing home; a sci-fi tale of a rebellious clone in futuristic Korea; and the tale of a tribe living in post-apocalyptic Hawaii, far in the future.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAIDPro:“This remarkable adaptation

of the supposedly ‘unfi lma-ble’ novel by David Mitchell achieves near-perfection on virtually all levels. It’s likely to divide mainstream audiences,

but what at fi rst seems to be an ultra-convoluted series of

interconnected story lines – six of them, with each

major actor playing multiple roles over

multiple centu-ries – quickly t r a n s f o r m s into a fi lm of aston ish ing depth and in-sight. ‘What’s it about?’ is

going to

be the major question going on (even for those who’ve read Mitchell’s audacious, best-selling novel). The answer, in brief, is ‘the interconnected nature of life’…

“Every action or inaction in-cites a kind of butterfl y effect that ripples through human history long after any one character has passed from this mortal coil. Really, this is the single most narratively ambi-tious fi lm I’ve seen in years. Even more amazing is that Tykwer (Run Lola Run) and the Wachowskis (The Matrix trilogy) pull it off with equal measures of compassion for the human spirit, cliff-hanging storytelling that sucks you in and keeps you rapt for nearly three hours, and a deeply em-pathetic moral centre.

“Evil is all over the place in Cloud Atlas – in the futuris-tic megalopolis of Neo Seoul it seems to have the ultimate upper hand – but the fi lm ends on a thrilling, majes-tic note of hope. More than one audience member I saw the fi lm with left the theatre stunned, or wiping tears from their eyes, or both. Cloud At-las is that powerful.”

Marc Savlov, Austin Chroni-cle (US)

Pro/Mixed:“An artichoke that fi res la-

sers; montages that span the ages; Jim Broadbent saying ‘ruddy’; women on conveyor belts in the nuddy; evil oil par-tisans; bed-hopping artisans; parasitic brain worms; Halle Berry with a perm; sex, death, love, space; cannibals, para-bles, war, race.

“Tom Tykwer and Andy and Lana Wachowski are bank-ing on there being something in that lot that catches your eye. The co-directors of this adaptation of David Mitch-ell’s Booker prize short-listed novel, who reportedly coaxed $100m out of independent fi n-anciers to convert the book to the screen, have taken a big risk with this roaming behe-moth of a movie.

“They tackle the complexity of the novel by introducing two innovations – one surprisingly deft and one absolutely daft … The three directors have care-fully re-arranged the chro-nology, splicing between the stories based on theme. It’s a daring shuffl e, but it works. By zipping back and forth across the timeline they’re emphasis-ing Mitchell’s original message – that the human experience is essentially universal across the ages.

“Tykwer and the Wachowskis’ other twist on this karmic ho-kum – to cast each of their ac-tors in multiple roles across the stories, regardless of age or race – is less successful … There isn’t a make-up artist in the world who can make the

switch from Tom Hanks as a boozy 21st-century Irish au-thor to Tom Hanks as a wire-whiskered 19th-century ship’s doctor look like anything oth-er than Tom Hanks trying on a new nose…

“Cloud Atlas carries all the marks of a giant folly, and those unfamiliar with the book will be baffl ed. Yet it’s hard to wholly condemn the directors’ ambition – this is fast-paced and cleverly as-sembled, with the best of the performances shining through the prosthetics (Hugh Grant makes great play of the clutch of villains he’s dealt). The Tykwer/Wachowski collective offer everything here. Chances are there’s something in the hodgepodge for you.”

Henry Barnes, The Guard-ian (UK)

Anti:“I haven’t read Mitchell’s

book, but in many ways the fi lm adaptation would seem to refl ect the point of view of co-director Lana Wachowski – who was born Larry and has transitioned from male to fe-male since the release of the last Wachowski fi lm, Speed Racer. Formally, [the fi lm is] an experiment in the self-de-signed mutability of the body (up to and including male ac-tors playing women and at least one star apparently cast as a character of a different race); thematically, it builds to a series of variations on the idea that we’re all the same on the inside … and should all be entitled to the freedom to look and behave in the manner most true to our inner selves.

“This altruistic message is great in theory, but it’s con-fused by the fi lm’s abysmally inconsistent, tone-deaf execu-tion, and contradicted by its videogame casualness when it comes to violence. A mani-festo in the form of an enor-mously budgeted quasi-sci-fi

epic, Cloud Atlas is evidently personal, defi antly sincere, to-tally lacking in self-awareness, and borderline offensive in its gleeful endorsement of re-venge violence against anyone who gets in the way of a good person’s self-actualization. The rest of the time, it’s just insipid, TV-esque in its limited visual imagination, and dra-matically incoherent.”

Karina Longworth, LA Week-ly (US)

An… [What If…]Directed by: Christoforos Pa-pakaliatisStarring: Christoforos Papa-kaliatis, Marina Kalogerou, Giorgos ConstantinouGreece 2012, 111 mins.In Greek.Showing from today at the K-Cineplex and K-Cineplex (Mall of Cyprus) in Nicosia, the Rio and K-Cineplex in Limassol, the K-Cineplex in Larnaca and the Orasis in Pa-phos.

THE PLOTOn a night in 2009, in the

Plaka neighbourhood of Ath-ens, Demetris (Christoforos

Papakaliatis) has a choice. He can either take his dog for a walk – in which case he’ll meet Christina (Marina Kalogerou) – or stay home, in which case he’ll fall victim to a robbery. In the fi rst scenario he’ll get a chance to alleviate his loneli-ness, experience a powerful love affair, fatherhood, but also unemployment and infi -delity. In the second he’ll keep living alone, facing the conse-quences of the Greek reces-sion. A simple ‘what if’ will decide his destiny and happi-ness.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAIDPro/Mixed:“Even if you didn’t know it

going in, it’s obvious from the fi rst moment: aestheticised faces, wild romanticism, idyl-lic cinematography, stylized sex, tear-drenched scenes in hospitals, violent outbursts and separations, honeyed nos-talgia, a light dusting of phi-losophy to a non-stop music soundtrack … yes indeed, it’s Papakaliatis. In this case, in an extended TV episode with a slightly higher budget, he elects to play in Greek a story that’s already played in many

other languages again and again in a plethora of versions – the story of the hypothetical aspect of our lives. That’s why there’s such a strong sense of déjà vu in this collection of stolen goods from Kieslowski, Sliding Doors, One Day, the list is a long one.

“Behind its dramatic tricks, however, the exaggerations that prompt you to nudge the person sitting next to you in shared mockery, and the poetic sensibility (it tries to pack a lot into an already overloaded suitcase, going from human relationships to the Greek recession and all the way to existential yearn-ing), it nonetheless has that youthful zest that can still carry you away. It works hard – its technique, especially the transitions between the two parallel stories, can only be described as impeccable – and creates a sugary real-ity amid love, passion, sweet melancholy and dreaminess. Oh well, a little arrested ado-lescence doesn’t hurt once in a while.”

Alexandra Vetta, myfi lm.gr (Greece)

(translated from the Greek)

NEW FILMS

y, December 28, 2012 15

For full cinema listings see page 16 Television 17

Crossword 18

Sport 25-28

Step Up 4

An (What If)

Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas

NICOSIACloud Atlas (N/A)K-Cineplex (Screen 4) at 7 and 10.15pm, weekends also at 3.30pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 4) at 7 and 10.15pm.

An… (12)K-Cineplex (Screen 2) (in Greek) at 5.35, 7.55 and 10.15pm, weekends also at 3.25pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 2) (in Greek) at 5.35, 7.55 and 10.15pm, weekends also at 11am, 1.10pm and 3.25pm.

Wreck-It Ralph (K)K-Cineplex (Screen 3) (in Greek) at 5.35pm, weekends also at 3.25pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 3) (in Greek) at 5.35pm, weekends also at 11am, 1.10pm and 3.25pm.

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

Arbitrage (12)K-Cineplex (Screen 3) at 7.50 and 10.20pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 3) at 7.50 and 10.20pm.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (12)K-Cineplex (Screen 1) at 7 and 10.15pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 1) at 7 and 10.15pm.

Hotel Transylvania (K)K-Cineplex (Screen 1) (in Greek), weekends only at 3.15pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 1) (in Greek, in 3D), weekends only at 11.20am, 1.20pm and 3.15pm.

Rise of the Guardians (K)K-Cineplex (Screen 1) (in Greek) at 5.05pm; K-Cineplex (Screen 5) (in English) at 5.05pm, week-ends also at 3.10pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 1) (in Greek) at 5.05pm; K-Cineplex, Mall of Cyprus (Screen 4) (in English) at 5.05pm, weekends also at 11.15am, 1.15pm and 3.10pm.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (12)K-Cineplex (Screen 6) at 7.50 and 10.15pm.

LIMASSOLCloud Atlas (N/A)Rio 1 at 4.30, 7.35 and 10.30pm; K-Cineplex (Screen 4) at 7 and 10.15pm.

An… (12)Rio 2 (in Greek), weekdays at 8 and 10pm, weekends at

8.10 and 10.10pm; K-Cineplex (Screen 2) (in Greek) at 5.35, 7.55 and 10.15pm, weekends also at 3.25pm.

Wreck-It Ralph (K)Rio 2 (in Greek) at 6pm, weekends at 4.30 and 6.20pm; K-Cineplex (Screen 3) (in Greek) at 5.35pm, weekends also at 3.25pm.

Life of Pi (K)Rio 4 at 5.30, 8 and 10.15pm; K-Cineplex (Screen 5) at 5.30, 7.50 and 10.15pm, weekends also at 3.05pm.

Arbitrage (12)Rio 3 at 10.30pm; K-Cineplex (Screen 3) at 7.50 and 10.20pm.

Zarafa (K)Rio 2 (in Greek) at 4.30pm, weekends at 3pm.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (12)Rio 3 at 4.30 and 7.35pm; K-Cineplex (Screen 1) at 7 and 10.15pm.

Seven Psychopaths (18)Rio 5 at 10.05pm.

Shadow Dancer (12)Rio 6 at 5.30 and 7.45pm.

Hotel Transylvania (K)Rio 3 (in Greek), weekends at 2.50pm; K-Cineplex (Screen 1)

(in Greek), weekends at 3.15pm.

Lawless (15)Rio 6 at 10.05pm.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (12)Rio 5 at 7.45pm.

Rise of the Guardians (K)Rio 5 (in English) at 3.30pm (weekends only) and 5.30pm; K-Cineplex (Screen 1) (in Greek) at 5.30pm; K-Cineplex (Screen 4) (in English) at 5.05pm, weekends also at 3.10pm.

LARNACACloud Atlas (N/A)K-Cineplex (Screen 4) at 7 and 10.15pm, weekends also at 3.30pm.

An… (12)K-Cineplex (Screen 2) (in Greek) at 5.35, 7.55 and 10.15pm, weekends also at 3.25pm.

Wreck-It Ralph (K)K-Cineplex (Screen 3) (in Greek) at 5.35pm, weekends also at 3.25pm.

Life of Pi (K)K-Cineplex (Screen 5) at 5.30, 7.50 and 10.15pm, weekends also at 3.05pm.

Arbitrage (12)K-Cineplex (Screen 3) at 7.50 and 10.20pm.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (12)K-Cineplex (Screen 1) at 7 and 10.15pm.

Hotel Transylvania (K)K-Cineplex (Screen 1) (in Greek), weekends only at 3.15pm.

Rise of the Guardians (K)K-Cineplex (Screen 1) (in Greek) at 5.05pm; K-Cineplex (Screen 5) (in English) at 5.05pm, weekends also at 3.10pm.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (12)K-Cineplex (Screen 6) at 7.50 and 10.15pm.

PAPHOSCloud Atlas (N/A)Rio 5 at 7 and 10pm.

An… (12)Rio 6 (in Greek), weekdays at 8.30 and 10.30pm, weekends at 5.30, 7.30 and 9.30pm.

Wreck-It Ralph (K)Rio 7 (in Greek) at 5.30pm, weekends at 11am, 3.30pm and 5.20pm.

Life of Pi (K)Rio 3 at 3pm (weekends only) and 5.30pm; Rio 7 at 7.30pm; Rio 1 at 10.30pm.

Arbitrage (12)Rio 4 at 7.30 and 9.45pm.

Zarafa (K)Rio 5 (in Greek) at 5pm, weekends at 11am, 3.30pm and 5.30pm.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (12)Rio 6, weekdays only at 5.30pm; Rio 1 at 7.30pm; Rio 7 at 9.45pm.

Seven Psychopaths (18)Rio 3 at 10pm.

Hotel Transylvania (K)Rio 1 (in Greek), weekdays only at 5.30pm; Rio 6 (in Greek), weekends only at 11am and 3.30pm.

Shadow DancerRio 2 at 5pm (weekends only) and 7.30pm.

Rise of the Guardians (K)Rio 4 (in English) at 5.30pm, weekends also at 11am and 3.30pm; Rio 1 (in Greek), weekends only at 11am, 3.30 and 5.30pm.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (12)Rio 3 at 7.45pm.

Skyfall (12)Rio 2 at 9.30pm.

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

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

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

listingsTodayMusic

Thanos Mikroutsikos – Rita Anto-nopoulouFamous Greek composer Thanos Mikroutsikos meets Rita Antonop-oulou and present a piano-voice programme with surprises. December 28. Rialto Theatre, Limassol. 8.30pm. €18/12. Tel: 77-777745

Vasilis PapakonstantinouFamous Greek rock singer performs live. December 28. Aloft Music Bar, 6 Makariou III Avenue, Ayia Napa. 11pm. €30. Tel: 99-637831

Theatre

GourouniasmataSilver Spotlight presents the new musical for children by Katerina Christofidou and Aigli Spyridaki. December 28. Melina Merkouri Hall, Famagusta Gate, old Nicosia. 4pm. €10. In Greek. Tel: 97-876760

Other Events

Sonic Arts 6.0 CyprusA celebration of the launch of the Sonic Arts 6.0 Cyprus’ album featuring compositions by Cypriot sonic artists. December 28. Pantheon Cultural Asso-ciation – Tritos, 40 Evagorou, Nicosia. 9pm. Free. [email protected]

TomorrowExhibition

WomenSolo sculpture exhibition by Dinos Michaelides. Opens December 29, 7.30pm until January 15. Gallery Glo-ria, 3 Zinonos Sozou Street, Nicosia. Monday-Friday: 10.30pm-12.45pm and 5pm-8pm. Saturday: 10.30pm-12.45pm. Tel: 22-760286

Music

Thanos Mikroutsikos – Rita Anto-nopoulouFamous Greek composer Thanos Mikroutsikos meets Rita Antonop-oulou and present a piano-voice programme with surprises. December 29. ShowRoom Café, 21 Makariou Avenue, Larnaca. 10pm. €20. Tel: 24-102762

Theatre

All I Want For Christmas.....A play staged by Antidote Theatre, written and performed by Catherine Beger. December 29. Larnaca Youth Foundation, near Ayios Lazaros Church. 5pm. In English. €7/5. Tel: 96-216435

GourouniasmataSilver Spotlight presents the new musical for children by Katerina

Christofidou and Aigli Spyridaki. December 29-30. Melina Merkouri Hall, Famagusta Gate, old Nicosia. 11am and 4pm. €10. In Greek. Tel: 97-876760

A Play about... TrashThe theatre group Point To, in col-laboration with Scarabeo Lounge Bar, presents the comedy directed by Evagelia Onoufriou. December 29 and 5, 12, 19, 26 January 2013. Scarabeo Bar, 4 Nikokreontos Street, Nicosia. 9.30pm. €10. In Greek. Tel: 99-935777/99-740773

OngoingOther Events

First International Christmas FairIncludes a wide range of events and concerts for families and children. December 14-Janaury 1. Christmas Fair, Sea Road, Between McDonalds and Pascucci Café, Yermasoyia. All day event. Tel: 97-745594

7 films: Harun FarockiA selection of screenings by legendary German filmmaker, critic and teacher followed by discussion and talk with the artist. Within the framework of the opening ceremony of a new contempo-rary art centre. Until February 15. Point Centre for Contemporary Art Megaron Hadjisavva, 2 Evagorou Street, Nicosia. Every Wednesday through Sunday from

11am-5pm. Tel: 22-662053. [email protected]

Bidoun LibraryA mobile library consisting of books, magazines and other printed matter about the Middle East. Within the frame-work of the opening ceremony of a new contemporary art centre. Until February 15. Point Centre for Contemporary Art Megaron Hadjisavva, 2 Evagorou Street, Nicosia. Tel: 22-662053. [email protected]

Theatre

MiseryStephen King’s psychological thriller staged by Satiriko Theatre. Every Fri-day and Saturday. Until December 29. Vladimiros Kafkarides Cultural Centre, 11-15 Vladimiros Kafkarides Street, Aglantzia. Every Friday at 8.30pm and Saturday at 11pm. In Greek. Tel: 22-312940/22-421609. email: [email protected]. www.satiriko.com

65 MinutesA performance by the Theatro Dentro within the framework of the 4th X-Dream Festival. Until December 30 and January 3-5. 9pm. (Additional per-formance on January 5 at 10.30pm). ARTos Cultural and Research Founda-tion, 64 Ayion Omoloyiton Avenue, Nicosia. In Greek. Tel: 99-384606

Just Broken UpAct Theatre presents play by Vassilis Myrianthopoulos & Vangelis Hatz-inikolaou. Cyprus Dialect Adaptation

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

Spring AwakeningTHOC presents work by Frank Wede-kind, directed by Dimitris Lignadis. Until January 26. THOC New Theatre Build-ing, 9 Gregori Afxentiou, Nicosia. Every Wednesday through Sunday at 8.30pm. In Greek. Tel: 77-772717/22-864300

The Elephant ManTheatro 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

Social SecurityTHOC presents a play by Andrew Bergman. Until January 27. THOC New Theatre Building, 9 Gregori Afxentiou, Nicosia. Friday through Sunday. Friday & Sunday at 8.30pm, Saturday at 6pm and 8.30pm. Tel: 77-772717/22-864300

Exhibition

Exhibition of paintings and other works of ArtGroup exhibition. Until December 28. Diachroniki Gallery Ledras, 84 Arsinoes Street, Nicosia. Open daily: 10am-7pm except Sundays. Tel: 22-680145

Venezuela’s Dancing DevilsPhotographic exhibition. Until December 28. Cultural Centre ‘The Mills’, Kaimakli, Nicosia. RSVP tel: 22-445 332. E-mail: [email protected]

The Art of Xmas FairFun and amazing art at very attractive prices. Until December 29. Thiseas Art Gallery, 9 Thiseos Street, Limas-sol. Tel: 99-674243

Terra Mediterranea – In Crisis Group contemporary art exhibition curated by Yiannis Toumazis scrutinis-ing the current turbulence experienced globally, from both a political and a poetic stance. Until December 30. Ni-cosia Municipal Arts Centre 19, Palaias Ilektrikis, Nicosia. Tuesday-Saturday: 10am-3pm and 5pm-11pm. Sunday: 10am-4pm. Tel: 22-797400. [email protected]. www.nimac.org.cyThe project includes a second contemporary art exhibition curated by Re Aphrodite team. Until December 30. Ethological Museum – The House of Hagjigeorgakis Kornesios, 20, Patriarxou Grigoriou, Nicosia. Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 8.30am-3.30pm. Wednesday: 8.30am-5pm. Saturday: 9.30am-3.30pm. Tel: 22-305316

Beyond Dress CodeAn extensive and comprehensive documentation of traditional Greek dress. Until December 31. Marfin Laiki Bank Cultural Centre, Byron Avenue Museum, 32 Byron Avenue, Nicosia. Monday-Friday: 10am-1pm & 4pm-8pm. Saturday: 10am-2pm. Tel: 22-718605


film

s

TELEPHONE NUMBERS:

K-CINEPLEX: 7777-8383

RIO LIMASSOL: 25-871410

RIO PAPHOS: 26-207000

17

Television

By Preston Wilder

CAPITALCYBC 1 CYBC 2 ANTENNA MEGA SIGMA PLUS TV

Skellig: The Owl Man (LTV3, 18.00)How do you feel about fl ying? It’s supposed to be ev-eryone’s big dream - soaring through the air, free as a bird, blah blah blah - but it looks a bit risky to me; a person could break a leg or something. Our juvenile hero gets to fl y in this British kids’ movie, based on a prize-winning book, but only after he meets Skel-lig (Tim Roth), a weird and cantankerous “owl man” who lives in the garage of his new house. “Who are you?” asks the wonder-struck kid. “Something like a bird,” replies Skellig. “Something like an angel?” asks Kid - and Skellig nods, later showing angel-like skills in curing Kid’s sister who was born with a heart con-dition. Made for TV, and a wee bit distressing for very

young children, but still a welcome change from the usual slick cartoons and smart-aleck tweens. “At my school there were two camps, the [Harry Potter and the] Chamber of Secrets camp and the Skellig camp,” recalls a British fan at the Internet Movie Database; “I was in the latter”. I don’t know, fl ying on a broomstick seems so much more sensible. Made in 2009.

Good Will Hunting (Novacinema4, 21.00)Best put-down ever comes from a friend whose par-ents watched this Oscar-winning drama some years ago: “I don’t know why they call it Good Will Hunting,” mused his dad after it was over, “it’s not that good”.

My friend’s dad was right - but there’s no point tell-ing that to the Academy, not when they found a fi lm which combined (a) a story about disability, (b) a story about psychotherapy, (c) a chance for Robin Williams to do his patented loveable-maverick schtick (he won an Oscar) and (d) the emergence of a hot young team in Matt Damon and Ben Affl eck. They wrote the script and Damon also plays Will Hunting, a troubled, autis-tic maths genius who works as a lowly janitor at MIT rather than use his exceptional gifts; can ‘unconven-tional’ shrink Williams manage to connect with this mixed-up young man, helping him fi nd closure and a happy ending? Two Oscars and a box-offi ce gross of over $100 million says ‘You bet!’. Made in 1997.

06.10 The Del Monte Heirs (rpt)07.00 Protoselido08.20 Eleni10.20 Vasiliki (rpt)11.10 7 Ouranoi kai Synnefa Alites (rpt)12.00 Mesimeri Kai Kati14.20 Aspra Balonia (rpt)15.20 Magazino18.00 News18.05 Ti Tha Fame Simera Mama18.30 The Del Monte Heirs 19.30 7 Ouranoi kai Synnefa Alites20.20 News21.20 Oikogeniakes Istories 22.20 FILM: Miracle In Manhattan

The kindly Mrs Merkle helps a department-store manager save the business and fi nd love. Sequel to family drama Mrs Miracle, with Doris Roberts, Eric Johnson and Jewel Staite. 2010.

00.00 News00.05 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

An elite team of police forensic evidence investigation experts work their cases in Las Vegas.

01.00 Dekati Entoli (rpt)01.40 Alithinoi Erotes (rpt)02.30 Mila Mou (rpt)03.00 Otan Megaloso (rpt)03.30 Eleni (rpt)

06.15 Emeis Ki Emeis (rpt)07.00 Koinonia Ora Mega08.00 Nea Mera10.00 Proino Mou12.45 Enimerosi Tora14.00 Kelmmena Oneira (rpt)15.00 Eheis Meson16.00 Yia Sena

Local talk-show.18.00 News18.10 Master Chef

Greek reality competi-tion show where ama-tuer chefs compete against each other in weekly challenges.

19.20 Eftyhismenoi Mazi (rpt)

Greek comedy series.20.20 News21.15 Klemmena Oneira 22.10 Porta Kleidomeni23.10 FILM: Radio

A high-school foot-ball coach takes a learning-disabled man under his wing - but the teacher’s kind actions cause outrage in the community. Drama, with Cuba Gooding Jr and Ed Harris. 2003.

00.00 News00.50 I Apli Methodos Ton Trion (rpt)01.30 Yia Sena (rpt)03.30 Enimerosi Tora (rpt)04.20 Proino Mou (rpt)

06.45 Proti Enimerosi08.15 Kali Sas Mera11.00 Kaftes Piperies (rpt)11.30 Istories Tou Horkou (rpt)

Local comedy series, which happens to be the longest-running show on TV.

12.00 Apo Mera Se MeraCurrent affairs pro-gramme.

15.30 Entehnos16.00 Mazi Sto CyBC18.00 News18.15 Kaftes Piperies

Live cookery show.19.00 Paizoume Kypriaka

Local game show, ask-ing questions having to do with Cypriot dialect.

19.20 Moiraia FengariaLocal drama series inspired by Maro Kranidioti’s book ‘Otan i Moira Apofasizei’.

20.00 News21.15 Tete A Tete

Tasos Tryfonos inter-views Greek celebrities from the world of showbiz.

22.45 Local Sketch (rpt)23.00 Christmas Songs23.30 New23.45 Kaftes Piperies (rpt)00.45 Patates Antinahtes (rpt)

Local satirical show, using comedy sketch-es and embarrassing TV clips to skewer local politicians.

01.30 More Repeats

07.00 NRG Zone08.00 Kids’ TV16.30 FIFA World Cup 2014 Magazine17.00 Jamie’s Family Christmas

Jamie Oliver shares his secrets for achieving a stress-free family Christmas.

18.00 Biz/Emeis18.50 News In English19.00 News In Turkish19.10 UEFA Euro 50 Classic Matches (rpt)

Two episodes. A chance to relive some of the greatest mo-ments the tournament has produced in it’s 50 years.

20.10 NRG Zone21.00 FILM: Gracie!

Story of singer and comedienne from Rochdale, Gracie Fields and her relation-ship with Italian-born Hollywood director Monty Banks and its staggering repercus-sions. Biopic, starring Jane Horrocks and Tom Hollander. 2009.

22.30 Top Gear Middle East Special

Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May follow the path of the Three Wise Men across the Middle East, driving open-top sports cars through southern Turkey, Iraq and Syria.

23.20 Repeats

05.30 Erotas (rpt)06.20 Proini Enimerosi06.50 Me Agapi07.00 Deliyianneio Parthenagogeio (rpt)07.50 Englimata (rpt)08.40 Lyke, Lyke Eisai Edo (rpt)10.20 Panselinos (rpt)11.15 Galileo (rpt)12.10 Niose Me (rpt)13.00 News13.20 Mera Mesimeri14.00 Konstantinou Kai Elenis (rpt)14.50 To Kafe Tis Haras (rpt)15.45 Oneiropagida (rpt)17.40 Aiyia Fuxia (rpt)

Local smash-hit com-edy series, with village setting. Interrupted by News at 18.00.

19.30 Niose Me20.15 News21.30 Dancing With The Stars

Celebrities and pro dancers train and compete in a ballroom dancing competition.

00.10 News00.15 Sports News00.30 Ola Bahalo Fetos01.40 Synora Agapis (rpt)02.30 I Agapi Irthe Apo Makria (rpt)03.20 News04.40 Deal (rpt)

06.45 Star News07.20 Fotis - Maria Live Best Of07.50 Mesimeriani Meleti Best Of09.00 Exelixeis Sti Showbiz09.30 Mila Best Of10.55 Nistikoi Praktores (rpt)11.50 Kids’ TV12.30 Star News13.00 Mesimeriani Meleti15.30 Kids’ TV17.15 Exelixeis Stin Showbiz17.50 Fotis Maria Live 19.40 Mila

Discussions about various issues based on woman’s life.

21.15 Exelixeis Stin Showbiz22.00 FILM: The Dukes Of Hazzard

Cousins Bo and Luke Duke, with a little help from their cousin Daisy and Uncle Jesse, egg on the authorities of Hazzard County, Boss Hogg and Sheriff Coltrane. Comedy, starring Seann William Scott. 2005.

23.40 FILM: Fists Of FuryA kung-fu fi ghter avenges his relatives, slain by their gangster boss. Martial arts fi lm, starring Bruce Lee. 1971.

00.30 LTV Sports News01.30 Star News02.00 Repeats

06.40 Kids’ TV08.35 S’Agapo (rpt)09.25 Akti Oneiron10.00 Ston Asterismos Tis Imeras11.00 Kouzina Me Apopsi11.30 Remington Steele12.30 Milagros13.25 Kids’ TV15.00 Top Models15.50 S’Agapo16.40 Sabrina, To Koritsi Tis Agapis17.30 Akti Oneiron18.15 Pacifi c Blue

With News at 18.30.19.15 News19.50 Sports Time20.05 Rubi 21.00 FILM: View From The Top

A small-town girl dreams of a high-fl ying career with a airline, but her plans get in the way of true love. Romantic com-edy, starring Gwyneth Paltrow. 2003.

22.45 FILM: ControlA sociopath on death row is given a chance to live if he agrees to take part in a chemical behavioural modifi -cation programme. Thriller, starring Ray Liotta. 2004.

00.40 FILM: By The Sword A former fencing cham-pion starts working as a caretaker at an acad-emy and must face up to his past mistakes. Drama, with F Murray Abraham. 1991.

01:20 Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps 01:50 Tribal Wives 02:45 The Weakest Link 03:30 EastEnders 04:00 Doctors 04:30 Money 05:20 Tribal Wives 06:15 The Weakest Link 07:00 Teletub-bies 07:25 Balamory 07:45 Forget Me Not Farm 08:00 Show Me Show Me 08:25 Tikkabilla 08:55 Teletub-bies 09:20 Tweenies 09:40 Com-edy Countdown - 10 10:10 Comedy Countdown - 9 10:40 The Weakest Link: Touch of Class 11:30 East-Enders 12:00 Doctors 12:30 Jam And Jerusalem: Xmas 2007 13:10 Tribal Wives 14:00 Mastermind 14:30 Keeping Up Appearances 15:00 The Weakest Link 15:45 Eas-tEnders 16:15 Doctors 16:45 Jam And Jerusalem: Xmas 2007 17:25 Tribal Wives 18:15 The Weakest Link 19:00 Big Cat Diary 19:30 Doc-tors 20:00 Doctor Who: The Next Doctor 21:00 Comedy Countdown - 8 21:30 Comedy Countdown - 7 22:00 BBC Proms 2010: Last Night Of The Proms 23:25 Sport Relief 2012 - Sport Relief Spoofs 23:55 Alan Carr: Chatty Man 24:40 Mi-chael McIntyre’s Comedy Road-show

07:00 How It’s Made ; 07:25 Wheeler Dealers 08:15 American Chopper 09:10 Dirty Jobs 10:05 Deadliest Catch 10:55 Superhu-

man Showdown 11:50 How We Invented The World 15:25 Over-haulin’ 16:20 Mythbusters 17:15 Dirty Jobs 18:10 Deadliest Catch 19:05 Ultimate Survival 20:00 How It’s Made ; 21:00 Bear’s Mission Everest 22:00 Curiosity 00:00 True Csi - True Csi 02:50 Curiosity 04:50 Bear’s Mission Everest 05:45 How Do They Do It? 06:10 Overhaulin’

09:30 Motorsports: Gta Road To Dubai 09:45 Ski Jumping: World Cup Russia 11:15 Winter Sports: Ski Pass 11:30 Alpine Skiing: World Cup Austria 12:30 All Sports: Watts 13:30 All Sports: Eurosport Top 10 14:00 Alpine Skiing: World Cup Austria 15:30 Ski Jumping: World Cup Russia 16:00 Ski Jumping: World Cup Switzerland 18:00 All Sports: Watts 19:00 Football: Euro Legends 21:00 All Sports: Watts 22:00 Strongest Man: Champions League Martinique 23:00 Tractor Pulling: European Championship Denmark 00:00 Equestrian: Horse Racing Time 00:15 Motorsports: Gta Road To Dubai 00:30 Tennis: Mats Point 01:00 Tennis: Us Open New York

05:40 Desperate Housewives 06:25 Castle 07:10 Modern Family 07:35

New Girl 08:00 Body Of Proof 08:50 Anthony Bourdain: No Reserva-tions 09:40 Desperate Housewives 10:25 Castle 11:10 Modern Family 11:35 New Girl 12:00 Happy End-ings 12:25 Don’t Trust The B...In Apartment 12:50 Glee 13:40 Body Of Proof 14:30 Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations 15:20 Desperate Housewives 16:05 Castle 16:50 Modern Family 17:15 New Girl 17:40 Body Of Proof 18:30 Jamie’s Best Ever Christmas 19:20 Desper-ate Housewives 20:10 Castle 21:00 Happy Endings 21:25 Don’t Trust The B...In Apartment 21:50 Glee 22:40 Modern Family 23:05 New Girl 23:30 Happy Endings 23:55 Don’t Trust The B...In Apartment 00:20 Glee 01:10 Castle 02:00 Des-perate Housewives 02:45 Modern Family 03:10 New Girl 03:35 Rita Rocks 04:00 Body Of Proof 04:50 Jamie’s Best Ever Christmas

07:00 Pawn Stars 07:30 Storage Wars 08:00 American Pickers 09:00 American Restoration 09:30 Stor-age Wars 10:00 Pawn Stars 10:30 Storage Wars 11:00 Ancient Aliens 12:00 Lancaster At War 13:00 Ax Men 14:00 American Pickers 15:00 American Restoration 15:30 Stor-age Wars 16:00 Lancaster At War 17:00 Ax Men 18:00 American Pick-ers 19:00 American Restoration 19:30 Storage Wars 20:00 Pawn

Stars 20:30 Storage Wars 21:00 Ancient Aliens 22:00 High Hitler 23:00 Mankind: The Story Of All Of Us 01:00 Ancient Aliens 02:00 Man-kind: The Story Of All Of Us 04:00 American Pickers 05:00 American Restoration 05:30 Storage Wars 06:00 Ancient Aliens

07:30 Reservation Road 09:30 Nev-erending Story Ii: The Next Chapter 11:15 School For Scoundrels 13:15 Election 15:00 Videofashion 15:40 Einstein And Eddington 17:15 Philadelphia 19:30 Hollywood Buzz 20:00 LTV Sports News 21:00 Akeelah And The Bee 23:00 Life As We Know It 01:00 Hustler TV 02:30 Somewhere 04:15 White Countess 06:30 LTV Sports News

07:00 Chowder 07:25 The Marvel-

ous Misadventures Of Flapjack 07:50 The Tom & Jerry Show 08:15 Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get A Clue! 08:40 Loonatics Unleashed 09:05 Superman: The Animated Series 09:30 The Looney Tunes Show 10:00 Tak & The Power Of Juju 10:30 Fan-boy & Chum Chum 11:00 The X’s 11:30 Ni Hao, Kai-Lan 12:00 Dora The Explorer 12:30 Spongebob Squarepants 13:30 The Mighty B! 14:00 Hey Arnold! 14:30 Icarly 15:30 Justice League Unlimited 16:00 Legion Of Super Heroes 16:30 Young Justice 17:00 2011 World’s Strongest Man 17:30 Planet Speed 18:00 Barclays Pre-mier League World 18:30 NBA Action 19:00 La Liga World 19:30 Barclays Premier League 2012-13 21:30 A’ Division Cyprus Soccer Championship 2012-13 23:30 Barclays Premier League Preview 00:30 ATP World Tour Uncovered 01:00 Barclays Premier League Review 02:00 La Liga Review 2012-13 03:00 Makeover: Hunt Dog Edition 03:30 NBA 2012-13 06:00 Winter X-Games 13

07:15 Two And A Half Men 08:00 Eastbound & Down 08:35 The Closer 09:20 Harry’s Law 10:05 Chuck 10:50 2 Broke Girls 11:15 Bones 12:45 Underbelly 13:35 Two And A Half Men 14:25 The Closer 15:15 Harry’s Law 16:05

The Big Bang Theory 16:30 Ac-cording To Jim 17:15 The Mental-ist 18:00 C.S.I. New York 18:55 Underbelly 19:45 Gossip Girl 20:30 Entourage 21:00 Ncis: Los Angeles 22:30 Southland 23:20 Shameless 00:15 The Fifth Patient 01:45 Nine 03:45 The Big Bang Theory 04:10 According To Jim 04:55 The Mentalist 05:40 C.S.I. New York 06:25 Underbelly

07:30 Action Zone (E) 08:00 La-dyhawke 10:15 Adventures In Babysitting 12:00 Secret Garden, The 14:00 Lethal Weapon 4 16:15 Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Un-leashed 18:00 Skellig 20:00 Dis-tinguished Gentleman, The 22:00 Everybody Wants To Be Italian 00:05 Daring! Tv 03:15 Crackie 04:45 Social Network, The 06:45 Without A Paddle: Nature’s Call-ing

05:10 The Siege 07:05 Tt3d: Clos-er To The Edge 08:50 Salvation Boulevard 10:30 Cine News 11:10 Prom 12:55 Bright Star 15:00 «Love Stories» Monte Carlo 16:55 Larissa Empisteftiko 18:35 Mad On Novacinema 19:15 Chalet Girl 21:00 Ncis X 22:00 Desperately Seeking Santa 23:35 R.T.T. 01:10 Cine News 01:40 Seeking Justice 03:25 Sanctum

05:25 Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost 07:00 Scusa Ma Ti Chiamo Amore 08:50 Cine News 09:40 Mr. Pop-per’s Penguins 11:20 The Help 13:50 The Back-Up Plan 15:40 The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn 17:40 Spotlight On 18:15 Twins 20:05 Shanghai 22:00 Largo Winch 2: The Burma Con-spiracy 00:05 Wings Of The Dove 01:50 Battle: Los Angeles 03:45 Cine News 04:40 Casino Jack

21:00 S.W.A.T. 01:10 Cine News 01:30 Adult Zone 03:20 Reindeer Games

18:50 Emma 21:00 Good Will Hunt-ing 23:10 Never Been Kissed 01:00 The Hours 03:00 The Beaver

07:00 Somebody Up There Likes Me 08:50 White Heat 10:40 Lo-gan’s Run 12:35 Never So Few 14:35 Tom Thumb 16:05 Home From The Hill 18:30 American in Paris, An 20:20 Blackboard Jungle 22:00 Skyjacked 23:40 Cannery Row 01:40 Coma 03:35 Meet Me In St: Louis 05:25 Fury

The Help (Novacinema2, 11.20)

Skellig: The Owl Man


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every column and every

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digits 1-9. There’s no

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PREVIOUS DAY’S SOLUTIONS

Across 1 Teenage trouble spots? (4)8 & 9 Flower in a cathedral tower? (10,4)10 Still time at the end of the day (8)12 A lot of money perhaps going up the

chimney (5)13 Also Dan performing (3)16 Obvious statement about rust I’m

removing (6)17 Rotten card in exchange (6)18 Lively but not starting to be inquisitive

(3)21 Grounds for instance included by doc-

tors (5)22 Annoy Tim moving a silvery-white ele-

ment (8)24 Met once going round the college (4)25 & 26 With pioneering ideas beating the

clock? (6,4,4)

Down

2 Writer not coming up to the city (10)3 Elect about 100, almost 100 choosing

the best out of everything (8)4 Man organising events (6)5 Brought the present (5)6 Mount in Corfu Jill found! (4)7 Sandy needed some small amount of

force (4)11 Messy place to eat? (6-4)13 A member’s current unit (3)14 Thirsty being teetotal (3)15 Geraint’s becoming most cross (8)19 Price of freedom (6)20 Acute pain (5)22 French cleric be supporting Jack (4)23 Expression of impatience about fi ne

cluster (4)

CRYPTIC CROSSWORD 2272


HORO

SCOP

E

ARIES March 21 - April 20

TAURUS April 21 - May 21

GEMINI May 22 - June 21

CANCER June 22 - July 22

LEO July 23 - August 22

VIRGO August 23 - September 23

LIBRA September 24 - October 23

SCORPIO October 24 - November 22

SAGITTARIUS November 23 - December 21

CAPRICORN December 22 - January 20

PISCES February 20 - March 20

AQUARIUS January 21 - February 19

Between now and the end of the year, the Sun and Pluto are side by side. This can give you tremendous food for thought when it comes to your role in life. If you feel unrec-ognised, or frustrated due to unemployment, your frustra-tions can mount. However, your ruler Mars and Uranus are asking you to think of innovation, and fresh approaches.

Your antenna for the truth, or at least what you believe is the truth and to be valid and authentic, is set to be turned to max. This can be inspiring at one level, because this will give you a wonderful ability to cut through what you see as anyone’s bluff, and get to what’s real. The downside is that you can be so evangelical that it gets people’s backs up.

If you are desperate to improve your lot fi nancially, there may be a temptation towards forcing issues, or anything to do with property, in a way which is unethical, or at least underhand. Yet if you feel a powerful corporation has ex-ploited people, you may feel you are within your rights to push the boundaries of what is legal. Proceed with cau-tion, if so.

You may fi nd yourself drawn magnetically to someone to-day. In fact, this can be so through to the end of the year. It may be hard to pin point why, but something about them can seem irresistible. Perhaps they are enticing from an attraction view point. Conversely, and ironically, if you are in an unsatisfactory tie, all its downsides can seem more to the fore.

You can sometimes resist what you see as roles at work that you perceive as being below your dignity. Yet much is changing within you now Leo, not least you are appreciat-ing more and more the virtues of basic security. So, if em-ployment is on your mind, why not consider a wider range of possibilities. One could turn out to be the perfect fi t.

Earlier this month you had a strong desire to do something more creative, to cut loose and show there is much more to you than just a dedicated provider of a reliable service, or a solid employee. If you feel really strongly about this, now it can become something of a burning need to ex-press yourself, but this can also provide great motivation.

If you have got time on your hands, you might fi nd yourself delving into the family’s background. Some new snippets of information shared over Christmas may have intrigued you, and now you can want to delve that much deeper. If you love handicrafts, this can be a fi ne time to refurbish or renovate an old piece of furniture or artefact.

Your zodiac sign has what is known as a fi xed quality. This means once you form an opinion or judgement, you don’t usually give up on it that easily. Some of the things you hold dear, may have been learned long ago, but are they still relevant in the here and now? This would be an ex-cellent time to scratch beneath the surface of your own beliefs and prejudices.

Your attitude to money comes under astral scrutiny now. If you are someone with an intrinsic dislike of the material-istic side of this time of year, you may delight in avoiding the sales, and scorn those who love them. On the other hand, you may want to go for it. If the latter tends to sweep you along, be sure of your motives before bending the plastic.

As you look back over 2012 what do you see? Are you pleased with your progress, after all, you can be very goal orientated. Or do you feel things have stalled? If it’s the lat-ter, it may be because actually what you want is changing too. So, as you begin to think of what you want from next year, it would be of little surprise if some kind of transfor-mation shapes up.

With Mars in your sign forging an enabling angle to your co-ruler Uranus, that side of you which revels in being a rebel, can come to the fore. This may see you in the mood to shock someone, or shake up your own life if it seems a bit tame. Equally, this is a time when you can get closer to your deepest needs and psyche and suss out what you really need.

Even if you have been happily at the core of a circle of people, Christmas may have shown up some of the poli-tics in this group, in a less than glowing light. Perhaps you are feeling pushed out in some way. Or maybe you have become bored with the same old, same old. This can be a time when such bonds can strengthen, but weaker ones can break down.

MEDIUM

HARD EASY

HARD

18

CRYPTIC: Across – 1 Scintillate; 9 Moist; 10 Mega-ton; 11 Offbeat; 13 There; 14 Try; 15 Gable; 16 Cue; 17 Rebel; 19 Redwood; 21 Descent; 23 Ri-pon; 24 Playing-card. Down – 2 Chiefl y; 3 Nitre; 4 Ism; 5 Legatee; 6 Tithe; 7 Import trade; 8 Inde-pendent; 12 Tiber; 15 Gallery; 16 Chopper; 18 Basil; 20 Doric; 22 Ten.

QUICK: Across – 1 Implication; 9 Egypt; 10 Meissen; 11 Isotope; 13 Dated; 14 Lie; 15 Hedge; 16 Pie; 17 Tamar; 19 Wash-out; 21 Napping; 23 Adorn; 24 Merrymaking. Down – 2 Maypole; 3 Lotto; 4 Cam; 5 Twiddle; 6 Onset; 7 Legislating; 8 Inad-vertent; 12 Endow; 15 Harrier; 16 Pronoun; 18 Maple; 20 Slack; 22 Gym.

Answers to crossword 2271

19

Advertiser


Nicosia - tel: 22 818583

fax: 22 676385

Limassol - tel: 25 761117

fax: 25 761141

Paphos - tel: 26 911383

fax: 26221049

Larnaca - tel: 24 652243

fax: 24 659982

Nicosia - email: classifi [email protected] - email: [email protected] - email: [email protected]

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

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Only

€14 (plus VAT)

a week for classifi eds(up to 40 words)

MISCELLANEOUS

*****************************ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS -

CYPRUS Is drink costing you more than

just money? AA could be the answer.

Meeting at the following loca-tions/days. Call to speak to an AA member.

Ayia Napa Monday 97798043Larnaca Tuesday (Polish spk)

96616589 Thursday 24645523 / 99259264

Limassol Tuesday / Wednesday / Friday / Saturday 25368265 / 99559322

Nicosia Wednesday/Sunday 99013596

Paphos Tuesday / Thurs-day / Saturday 99916331 / 99399240

Details of meetings are avail-able on www.aa-europe.net

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

HEALTH & FITNESS

ACUPUNCTURE, cupping, skin honing, massage. For the alle-viation of aches, pains, stress and rehabilitation from illness or injury. Qualifi ed Chinese practitioner. Pafos [Konia] 9922 1851.CLINICAL PI-LATES. Personalised Clinical Pilates by Physiotherapists in Nicosia. Individual assess-ment and supervision of ex-ercises. “Clinical pilates” is a modifi ed form of therapeutic exercise used by physiother-apists to assist in the rehabili-tation and prevention of mus-culoskeletal injury especially lower back pain, sacro-iliac pain and neck pain. More info on 22446988.

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PERSONAL

*****************************GERMAN BUSINESS MAN

50 years, searching for a nice women. Mobile: 00491736590562

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LESSONS

*****************************TIME FOR A CAREER

CHANGE? Learn how to teach English! The London Teacher

Training College is offering TEFL Certifi cate courses in Cyprus. For more information call now on 99839307.

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PETS

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TAG 87, a very handsome young male wirehaired pointer cross around 1,5 years old. 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 tempo-rary foster home or to adopt contact on 99520511 mon-frid 10-2pm.

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LOUISE, she is around 1 year old Segugio Italiano cross and she is not suitable for hunting.She will make a per-fect pet as she loves cuddles , hugs and kisses. Very play-ful gentle girl ,friendly with other dogs and loves kids! At the Nicosia Dog Shelter, many more dogs and pup-pies like this one are looking for forever homes ! To provide a temporary foster home or to adopt contact on 99520511 mon-frid 10-2pm.

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OZZY is an adorable male which came into the shelter almost a year ago! The per-son who found him wanted to help increase his re-homing chances so he sponsored his neutering...! But Ozzy has since been sitting in the shel-ter wishing for a new family... !But he has a great character and is only around 2 years old! At the Nicosia Dog Shel-ter, many more dogs and pup-pies like this one are looking for forever homes ! To provide a temporary foster home or to adopt contact on 99520511 mon-frid 10-2pm.

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SERVICES

*****************************BDL SHIPPING Worldwide ani-

mal transportation, Home re-movals including small loads Vehicle import & export, Gen-eral collection and delivery (including IKEA), Rubbish re-moval plus general transpor-tation & shipment. Competi-tive rates. Phone: 99239311 Web: www.bdlcyprus.com

*****************************PROFESSIONAL UPHOL-

STERY CLEANING, also car-pets, rugs and mattresses. Special offers now available. For a quote call Rickys Clean-ing Services on 99131044 (all areas) [email protected]

*****************************DO YOU NEED A WEB-SITE

BUT ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE COST? Web design & hosting at excep-tionally low prices, experi-enced designer & program-mer , your dream web-site is only a phone call away. Don’t delay!!! Call Andros for a free quote or consultation on 99335078, [email protected], - islandwide

*****************************CHIMNEY SWEEP, when did

you last have your chimney swept or log burner cleaned?

Build-up of soot can cause respiratory problems and fi res. All areas, call Dave, a professional sweep, now on 99819137. Also available for weddings. www.paphoslucky-chimneysweep.com

*****************************DO YOU WANT A SHINY

LOOKING FLOOR? Full re-pair & restoration of chipped, scratched, dull and stained, Marble, Terrazzo, Stone & Ce-ramic tiled fl oors and surfaces. Professional cleaning, repair & sealing of internal/external ceramic tiles & grout lines. For a free professional consulta-tion & demonstration contact Mark at Premier on 70006766 or 96333961 All areas

K.D.FLYSCREENS LTD We manufacture top quality slid-ing screens, opening doors and roller systems. We also do repairs. For a FREE QUOTE please contact Phone: 99119582 Website: www.kd-fl yscreens.com

WE UNDERTAKE REFUR-BISHING of houses or holiday homes, construction of pergo-las, undertaking of plumbing, house painting, garden work. For information call JIMMYS: 96587137, MELIS: 96547879

FOR SALE MISCELLANEOUS

FAR INFRARED SAUNA-ROOM I sell my Sauna room for €1200. Imported new but not used. Costed €1800. Call 99 643397

*****************************CLOTHES STOCKS AND

SHOP FITTINGS FOR SALE. Excellent women’s brands for sale including Italian, Span-ish and French clothes and shoes. Also women’s dum-mies and modern wall fi ttings (clothes rails.) Selling at very low prices for clearance. Tel: 99-168943

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FOR SALE BUSINESS/ PROPERTY/LAND

FOR SALE 721SQ.M. PLOT AT A PRIVILEGED LOCATION IN STROVOLOS AREA. THE PLOT IS ON A PARALLEL OF IOSIF HADJIOSIF AVE. & LAODIKIAS, BETWEEN THE TRAFFIC LIGHTS OF K. THEODOROU AND STAV-ROU AVE. AND IS CLOSE TO A BUS STOP. TEL: 99321785, 22421785

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

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LARNACA, Alethriko, plots for sale, 525 sqm, 90% building factor, near highway Limas-sol-Larnaca, 5 min from air-port, quiet residential area, eu 109,000. Half registration fees till the 31.12.12. Tel. 99 621914

*****************************PRIME LAND IS AVAILA-

BLE FOR LONG LEASE IN LIMASSOL. 40, 000 sq.m., zoning Ka7 (80% -45% - 3 sto-ries). Regular amphitheatri-cal shape overlooking Ladies Mile. Close to New Limassol Hospital with direct access to Limassol – Paphos Highway. Water supply, electricity and telephones are readily avail-able. Suitable for immediate development. Ideal for various health facilities and resorts, holiday centres, commercial and shopping centres, en-tertainment enterprises etc. Information: Tel. 22 674338, 99621554

FOR SALE LAND in Anthoupoli (half plot) 288 sq.metres. for information 99621554.

WANTED TO RENT

FLAT OR HOUSE TO RENT, 2-3 bedrooms, veranda/terrace or garden, prefer furnished, SW of Nicosia (in approx area Lakatamia to Kapedes and Kalo Chorio) [email protected], 22455072, 99089083.

FOR SALEMOTOR VEHICLES

*****************************FORD FOCUS GHIA (2006)

diesel, 1600cc, 98000km, blue, automatic - tiptronic. dual zone climate control, power steering, electric win-dows, 6 airbags, central lock-ing, cruise control, computer board, alloy wheels, and many extras. €7500 ono. Contact: 99022779 - Nicosia

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PROPERTYTO LET

NICOSIANICOSIA

*****************************HOUSE FOR RENT, at Deftera,

12 minutes from Nicosia, 6 years-old, excellent condition, 3 bdrm, 3 w/c, fully a/c, kitch-en with electrical appliances, store-room, satellite disk, 80sq.mtr garden with lawn. Please call 99573688.

*****************************FLATS TO LET - Nicosia: A

classifiedcontents

bedroomcentral heatingair conditioningswimming poolfully furnishedapartmentper monthper weeksouth westnorth weststreetroadpower steeringcentral lockingshort wheel baseradio cassetteelectric windows

bdrmc/ha/c

s/poolf/f

aptpmpwswnwstrd

p/sc/l

swbr/cass

e/w

abbreviations

Please note tel nos. that begin with:

22 = Nicosia

23 = Paralimni/Protaras

24 = Larnaca

25 = Limassol

26 = Paphos

EmploymentOpportunities pg -- EmploymentMiscellaneous 19Pets 19Lessons 19Health & Fitness 19Personal 19Services 19For SaleMiscellaneous 19For Sale Land/Property Business 19For SaleMotor vehicles 19Wanted --To Let Nicosia 19To Let Limassol 21To Let Larnaca 21To Let Paphos 21To Let Protaras,Ayia Napa, Paralimni --For Sale Nicosia 23For Sale Limassol --For Sale Larnaca --For Sale Paphos 23For Sale Ayia Napa --For Sale FamagustaProtaras 23For Sale Athens --Property& Home Servicesdisplay ads --

20

Advertiser


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wide selection of furnished & unfurnished in all areas of Ni-cosia. NIKARIA ESTATE LTD Theo Loizides 22761616 / 99660050 [email protected]

*****************************2 BDRM fl at (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.

*****************************FOR RENT spacious modern 5

Bedr house, next to Metro Su-permarket, Strovolos, Nico-sia. Furnished, 3 Restrooms, air-conditioning throughout, central heating, extra offi ce room, amble storage spaces, covered garage, verandas with pergola, garden, barbe-cue area, quiet street in a qul de sac. Call 99606856.

*****************************TO LET 3 bedroom house situ-

ated 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 fi re place in the liv-ing room. For enquiries tel 99660758

*****************************LUXURIOUS APARTMENT

FOR RENT A luxurious one fl oor 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 bath-rooms, big dining and sitting rooms, kitchen and a huge veranda. Approximate cov-ered area 250 sqm. Monthly rent €1400.00 o.n.o. Tel: 99622370. www.parcon.com.cy

*****************************MODERN 2 BDRM, fi rst fl oor

fl at in attractive building in Anthoupolis, very quiet area between the Grammar School and the European University, also very convenient for Pas-cal and Highgate Schools and the University of Nico-sia. Large front veranda, all appliances, modern fi ttings, light and bright. Furnished or unfurnished €550p.m. Call 99900177.

*****************************2 ROOMS €125 each, near Mc-

Donald’s Engomi only Philip-pine girls. Call 99663927.

*****************************FOR RENT 3 B/R apartment

fully furnished close to Cen-tral Bank. 3 W.C., fully air-conditioned extra storeroom, owned covered parking. Ex-cellent condition. Information: Tel. 99621554

*****************************3 BEDROOMS fl at on second

fl oor in a block of six fl ats, in a nice position at Strovolos area, fully a/c, c/h, covered parking place for one car, re-

cently painted. Rent €650pm. (furnished if required). Tel: 97773358.

*****************************LUXURY HOUSES:1. 5 bedrs detached house,

550sq.m, built in 2 big plots of land, big garden with grass, big swimming pool with ex-tra fence for children and big covered patio with bbq area, big reception areas with mar-ble fl oor, fi re place and bar, big kitchen with all electrical appliances and sitting room with fi re place, maid’s room, fl oor heating, full a/c, blinds on the windows, master bed-room 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 bath-rooms, parquet fl oor through-out the house, big sitting and dining area, big kitchen with family room opening onto the swimming pool which has big covered area with wood-en deck, bbq area, covered parking, in a very quiet area behind Apoel football training ground - Archagelos - €1700 (photos in website).

3. 2 bedr fully renovated semi detached house 120 sq. m, a/c for hot and cold, small yard, FULLY FURNSIHED or not, double glazed windows with aluminum shutters, in a quiet area off Nikis behind Burger King - ACROPOLIS €600 (H2ACS0001-R), (pho-tos in the website).

4. 3 bedr luxury semi-de-tached house with character, 200sq.m, central heating, full ac, sitting and dining room with fi re place, big kitchen with cooker and oven, dish-washer and refrigerator, nice mature garden with fl owers, trees and small garden with

grass, covered parking, 3wc, 2 bathrooms in a quiet neigh-borhood. Available middle of January. Agios Andreas - €1200 - H3AAD0001-R (pho-tos in website).

5. 4 BEDR spacious luxury de-tached house with central heating, full a/c, 3wc, big sit-ting and dining area, big sep-arate 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 fi eld – 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 supermar-ket - STROVOLOS €1100 (H4ST10007-R), (photos in the website).

7. 3 bedr detached ground fl oor house with separate maid’s room, with very big garden with grass(200sq.m) and covered patio with bbq and bar, central heating, full a/c, 180sq.m, FULLY FUR-NISHED or NOT, 2 covered parking, storage room, in a very quiet neighborhood op-posite Acropolis park - Acrop-olis - €1000 - H3ACS0004-R (photos in website).

8. H4LAK0002-R, 3 bedr + of-fi ce 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, dishwash-er and dryer, parquet fl oor 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 sepa-rate bedroom in the basement luxury detached house(all the bedrooms with en suite bath-rooms/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 fl oor all the house, big sitting and dining room with fi re place, big fully equipped kitchen with break-fast area and family room, big overfl oor, swimming pool with covered patio area with fully equipped bar(bbq, fridge, freezer, cooker), mature gar-den around the house, 2 parking places, alarm system near the Cyprus Conference Centre- PLATY AGLANTZIAS €3500 (H5PAG0002-R), (pho-tos in the website).

10. 4 bedr semi detached house with central heating, 4 a/c, 3 wc, 2 bathrooms, 180sq.m, electrical appli-ances, small yard, bbq area, off Kostantinoupoleos street near French ambassador res-idence.- 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 FUR-NISHED AND EQUIPPED, in a quiet area in a dead end close to all amenities and schools. - ANTHOUPOLIS €1300 (H4ANT0002-R), (pho-tos in the website).

12. 4 bedr luxury detached house, 350sq.m,central heat-ing, full ac, big garden with fruit trees, grass and swim-ming 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 (pho-tos in website).

13. 3 bedr ground fl oor 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 fur-nished, small garden, bbq area, parking, on a small build-ing in a very quiet area near Agios Vasilios church. Stro-volos - €900 - H4ST10028-R (photos in website).

14. 3 bedr detached house with extra room for offi ce, 250sq.m, central heating in-dependent, 4a/c, big reno-vated kitchen with cooker and oven, big sitting and din-ing room with parquet fl oor and fi re place, 1bathroom, 2 shower, 3wc, 2 covered park-ing, double glazed windows and shutters in bedrooms, big verandas surrounded by trees and bushes off 28th Oc-tober street in the central part of Makedonitissa - Makedoni-

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21

Advertiser


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tissa - €1100 – H3MAK0004-R (photos in website).

For many more properties with photos visit our web-site at www.landtouristes-tates.com which is updated daily. LANDTOURIST ES-TATES LTD 22-422225/96-4 2 2 2 2 5 / 9 6 4 2 2 2 2 6 , www.landtouristestates.com

*****************************LUXURY FLATS:1. 3 bedr luxury fi nished spa-

cious fl oor apartment with very big sitting and dining areas with family room with fi re place, solid parquet fl oor all throught, central heat-ing independent, full a/c, all the bedrooms with en suite shower/bathroom, 4wc, big kitchen with all the electrical appliances, blinds on all win-dows, big covered veranda, covered parking, big storage room, on a small 3 storey building in a quiet neighbor-hood – Agios Andreas- € 1300 – A3AAD0005-R (pho-tos in website).

2. AINIC0006- R, 1 bedr., fully furnished and equipped apartment, 50sq.m, 2AC for hot and cold, covered veran-dah, covered parking, nice view, off Makarios avenue between Hilton and DEBEN-HAMS shop. Nicosia centre, € 450 (photos in website).

3. 3 bedr new luxury big apart-ment 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, cov-ered 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 , cen-tral heating ind, 2 a/c, big covered veranda and cov-ered parking in a quiet area behind the Municipal build-ing – Agios Dometios - € 660 - A2ADO0004-R (photos in website).

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

7. 4 bedr luxury fl oor apartment,250sq.m, offi ce, maid’s room, central heating ind, full hidden wall unit a/c,2 showers, 1 bathroom, 3wc, parquet fl oor, big kitchen with cooker and oven, bbq on the veranda in the kitchen, big sit-ting area, roller blinds on all the windows, alarm system, big veranda on a small build-ing off Athalasas avenue near

Alpha Mega supermarket and Areteion hospital – Dasoupo-lis - € 1100 - A4DAS0002-R (photos in website).

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

9. 3 bedr new luxury fi n-ished PENTHOUSE apart-ment 150sq.m internal areas+120sq. verandas, solid parquet fl oor all the fl at, big bedrooms, big sit-ting 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 (pho-tos in website).

11. 3 bedr luxury spacious ground fl oor apartment with separate entrance, big ve-randas and garden, big sit-ting and dining room, central heating independent, full a/c, 2wc, very big master bed-room, electrical appliances in the kitchen, aluminum shut-

ters on windows, parquet laminate fl oor all the fl at, cov-ered parking, storage room, in a very quiet neighbourhood in a dead end street, off Atha-lasas Avenue behind Stepha-nis near English School €650 (A3ST10030-R), (photos in the website).

12. 2 bedr luxury apartment with central heating inde-pendent, full a/c, electrical appliances in the kitchen, blinds, big covered veranda, in a small 2 storey building in a quiet area behind Tymvos – MAKEDONITISSA - € 500 – A2MAK0008-R (photos in website).

13. 3 bedr luxury apartment with central heating independent,

full a/c, 2 bathrooms, parquet fl oor, big sitting and dining area, big covered veranda, covered parking, storage room, blinds, shutters in the bedrooms, big kitchen with all expensive electrical appli-ances, off Makarios avenue near the centre – Nicosia Centre- € 800 – A3NIC0025-R (photos in website).

14. 4 bedr new spacious luxury fi nished fl oor apartment with fl oor heating independent, full a/c, 3wc, electrical appli-ances in the kitchen, blinds on all windows, very big 50sq.m covered veranda, fi re place, covered parking and big overfl oor heated cov-ered swimming pool on the ground fl oor, on a small 3 sto-

rey building in a quiet neigh-borhood near a playground and near Ippokration private hospital Engomi - €2000 - A4ENG0003-R (photos in website).

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

16. 2 bedr luxury apartment with a/c for hot and cold, NICELY MODERN FURNISHED, cov-ered parking, off Stavrou Av-enue behind Coffee Beanery. PRICE INCLUDES COMMON EXPENSES – STROVOLOS - € 550 – A2ST10051-R (pho-tos in website).

For many more properties with photos visit our website at www.landtouristestates.com which is updated daily. LANDTOURIST ES-TATES LTD 22-422225 / 96-422225 / 96422226 www.landtouristestates.com

*****************************2 BDRM fl at in the centre of

Nicosia. Rent €450. For in-formation call 99453663, 99663927.

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

LIMASSOLLIMASSOL

*****************************GROUND FLOOR HOUSE, fur-

nished renovated this year. Laminated parke fl oor, and big wardrobes in the 3 bedrooms. Rent €590.00 Tel 99497576 99886775

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

LARNACALARNACA

*****************************2 BEDROOM NICOLADES SEA

VIEW CITY BLOCK, a/c’s in all rooms, private parking, sea view, walking distance to eve-rything, can be used for offi ce or residential. €750, minimum 12 months contract. 99320077 Larnaca

*****************************FOR RENT 2 bed, 2 bath, new

built apartment, in a quiet sce-nic location In Alethriko, Lar-naca 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 bed-

room fl at near Larco hotel Larnaca. Price €370. Tel: 99202543

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

PAPHOSPAPHOS

PAPHOS / PEYIA VILLA, villa for rent in Peyia, 4 bedroom, 4 bathrooms, large sitting-din-ing area, fully airconditioned and heated, unfurnished, pan-oramic views, large parking, low rent contact: 99490953, 26815534

*****************************3 BDRM VILLA with pool for

Card designed by Martin Sebok, Year 3 (Age 7)

THE MANAGEMENT, STAFF & PUPILS OF

THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF PAPHOS

WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

Let us welcome the New Year

with health, hope & love. This year, instead of sending Christmas cards, the school has made a

donation of 950 to the children’s ward of the General Hospital.

22

Advertiser


TO LET PAPHOSTO LET PAPHOS

rent furnished or unfurnished, garden, garage (covered) near Tsada golf course, Tel: 99603330.

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

APHRODITE HILLS - Villa share at this amazing resort? Now available for discerning people, luxury double rooms, each with own en suite and heating unit and plus of large lounge/dining/kitchen area, external patios, gardens and swimming pool. Fully furnished and equipped €800pm plus share of running expenses, min period 6 months or yearly contract renewal. To enquire (or view from January 2013) ring 99178141. A chance not to be missed!*****************************MR RENT PAPHOS, THE

LEADING PROPERTY RENT-AL AGENCY IN PAPHOS OF-FICE: 26271858 (00357) IF YOU HAVE A PROPERTY TO RENT WE ARE THE RENTAL AGENCY TO CONTACT OF-FERING FULL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT & RENT COLLECTION SERVICE

1. UNIVERSAL AREA €450 spacious 3 bedroom fi rst fl oor apartment, master with en-suite. Situated on small com-plex with no pool. Fully fur-

nished 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, stor-age & sunbathing deck.

2. SEA CAVES €500 we are de-lighted to offer this detached 2 bedroom villa situated on a corner plot in a quiet residen-tial area offering sea views. Gated drive for off street park-ing. Fully enclosed good sized low maintenance garden with private pool offering privacy and shaded areas. Available unfurnished or part furnished. Pets allowed at owners dis-cretion. Website reference number: RTL_482

3. KISSONERGA €550 modern detached 3 bedroom villa situ-ated in a quiet residential area. Master bedroom with ensuite, separate kitchen, downstairs guest wc. Enclosed garden of-fering 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 look-ing for a villa with breathtak-ing views & privacy than this property is for you. This mod-ern detached 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom villa is furnished with modern furniture, includ-ing satellite TV. One bedroom & bathroom on ground fl oor. A spacious enclosed garden with private pool offering stun-ning views. Off street parking. Website reference number:

RTL_4015. CHLORAKA €750 modern

detached 4 bedroom 3 bath-room villa with ground fl oor bedroom & bathroom. Beauti-fully furnished with good qual-ity modern furniture includes sky satellite, fl y screens & fea-ture fi replace with modern gas fi re. Private pool offering views of the sea. Off street parking. Situated within walking dis-tance of bus routes & shops. Website reference number: RTL_611

6. KATO PAPHOS €800 large 4 bedroom detached villa situat-ed in the sought after residen-tial area of Limnaria. Walking distance to the beach and the many amenities of Kato Pa-phos. Spacious living accom-modation offering an enclosed garden with c/pool. Fully fur-nished with modern furniture & solar panels. Website refer-ence number: RTL_442

7. ANAVARGOS €895 we are delighted to offer this unique 5 bedroom 3 bathroom rustic country home offering spa-cious living accommodation with large gardens, private pool & stone built bbq & enter-tainment area. Fully furnished with log burner for those win-ter months. A real character home worth viewing. Pets allowed. Website reference number: RTL_635 offers con-sidered.

8. TALA €900 a charming de-tached 4 bedroom villa with character, situated on a cor-ner plot in a quiet residential area with breathtaking sea views. Spacious living rooms

with central heating & real fi replace. Separate kitchen & dining room. Good sized gar-den offering private pool and stone built barbeque area. Undercover parking. Available fully furnished. Website refer-ence number: RTL_638

TEL: 97790883 OFFICE: 26271858 VISIT OUR WEB-SITE FOR MANY MORE PROPERTIES www.mrrent-paphos.net Email: [email protected]

*****************************FOR RENT A selection of 1

to 5 bedroom houses & apartments F/F & U/F Uni-versal, Peyia, Tomb of the Kings, Tsada, Timi, Chlora-kas & Kato Paphos Land-lord & Owners please call 99329357 Or please view at are website www.cyprus-sands.com Fully Registered Company in Cyprus

*****************************A DELIGHTFUL AND SPA-

CIOUS 1 bedroom apart-

ment, F/F, top fl oor, new, located at a peaceful loca-tion just 500 from St. George hotel in Chloraka. A+ quality apt. Within walking distance to amenities, part of a beau-tiful building with swimming pool, list and other ameni-ties. Only €250p/m Other apts also available near Carrefour in the Centre of Paphos. Call 99403261, 26934650

*****************************FLOWRON PROPERTY

SERVICES LTD: PROVID-

TO LET PAPHOSTO LET PAPHOS TO LET PAPHOSTO LET PAPHOS TO LET PAPHOSTO LET PAPHOSTO LET PAPHOSTO LET PAPHOS TO LET PAPHOSTO LET PAPHOS

23

Advertiser


ING AN EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE FOR TENANTS AND LANDLORDS: PROP-ERTIES AVAILABLE FOR RENT LONG TERM RENT-AL, PROPERTIES WANTED: FULL PROPERTY MANAGE-MENT WITH KEY HOLDING AND RENT COLLECTIONS OFFERED

ANAVARGOS: 1 to 3 Bed-room 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 park-ing. Prices from 300-400 Eu-ros per month. Ref 7777 Price 300-400

ANARITA: 3 bed nicely fur-nished villa in the centre of Anarita village with private pool, off street parking. Prop-erty has a modern kitchen with granite work tops, sitting and dining area, guest wc. Upstairs 3 bedrooms Master with en suite shower, sepa-rate family bathroom. Outside shaded pergolas. Ref 855 Price 600

SECRET VALLEY: 3 bed villa fully furnished 3 bedroom villa with private pool. Nice furni-ture, master bedroom with on suite shower, family bath-room, 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 fi re place. Outside heated pool, off street parking, landscaped gardens and great views. Ref: 1151 Price 1800

TIMI: 3 bed nicely furnished vil-la with large sitting and dining areas, fi re place, full AC. Up-stairs large family bathroom, 3 bedrooms, master bedroom having en suite shower and walk in wardrobes. Off street parking, private pool Ref: 722 Price: 600

PEGEIA: 4 bed villa with stun-ning situated in a lovely quiet location in Pegeia offered un-furnished. The property has 2 down stairs bedrooms, a large sitting room with fi re 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 mod-ern with fi re place, downstairs bedroom with en suite, kitch-en and separate utility room, 3 additional bedroom upstairs with master en suite, fam-ily 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 resi-dential area, property has off street parking, private pool, central heating and AC, modern kitchen, sitting/din-ing area, guest wc, upstairs 3 bedrooms with master en suite, family bathroom, sea views. Ref: 988 Price: 750

OFFICE: 120 MAKARIOS AVENUE, PAPHOS. OF-FICE: 26600450 MOBILE: 97614070 many properties available on WEB: www.fl owron.com Email info@fl owron.com

*****************************PEYIA – 3 bedroom villa with

modern quality furniture and fi nishes. Central heating, sky, alarm, infi nity pool and stunnning sea and mountain views €700 per month, call: 99389426

*****************************BRAND NEW APT, opposite

Poseidonio Gym, near Car-refour, F/F, a/c, great qual-ity, 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 URGENT-LY REQUIRED FOR LONG TERM RENTAL. CALL 97648440 FOR MORE IN-FORMATION. LANDLORDS CALL IF YOU HAVE A PROP-ERTY FOR RENT.!!!

1. MESA CHORIO – 2 bed 2 bath fully furnished ground fl oor apartment set on an el-evated position in this pres-tigious development. Open plan living area. Good sized kitchen. 2 double, bedrooms, master with en-suite shower room. Family bathroom. Large patio areas with enclosed gar-dens and lovely sea views. Covered parking and security gates.. Comm swimming pool and landscaped gardens. €425.00 a month. 2 bed apart-ment same complex €400.00 a month.

2 MESOGI 3 bed 3 bath fur-

nished apartment in handy location close to the shop-ping areas. Large open plan living area and dining area.. Fully fi tted dining/kitchen with appliances . Guest WC. Utilty room. 3 double bedrooms one with en-suite. Fam-ily bathroom. Balcony & and parking. €500.00 a month. Suit non-drivers!

3. TOMB OF THE KINGS – 3 bed fully furnished apartment in established block. Own en-trance via stairway. Open plan living area. Dining kitchen. 3 bedrooms and family bath-room. A/C, sat TV. Internet available. Large balcony area. Parking. €350.00 per month

4. TALA - 3 bed 3 bath qual-ity furnished villa. Set in en-closed gardens the villa con-sists of open plan living area with dining space. Fully fi tted kitchen with all appliances, door to rear garden. Storage room. Ground fl oor bedroom with adjacent shower. Stairs to two double bedrooms both en-suite, one with Jacuzzi tub. Small seating area with adja-cent balcony. Pool and off street parking. Landscaped gardens €750.00 per month or close offers only

5. SEA CAVES – 2 bed, 2 bath fully furnished large town-house set in quiet location. Open plan living area. Fully fi tted kitchen. 2 double bed-rooms and family bathroom. Garden area and parking. Realistically priced. Suit re-tired people or those want-ing a quiet area. €400.00 per month

6. UNIVERSAL AREA. 2 bed ful-ly furnished apartment. Living area, fi tted kitchen. 2 double bedrooms and family bath-room. A/C, Enclosed garden area. Comm pool and park-ing. Euros 375.00 a month or offers. 1 & 2 bed apartments available on Universal starting at €250 per month.

7. LOWER PEYIA - 3 bed, 2.5 bath part furnished villa situ-ated in quiet cul du sac. Open plan living and dining area with doors out to pool and garden. Very large breakfast fi tted kitchen. Doors out to garden and pool. Separate guest WC. Stairs to 3 dou-

ble bedrooms. Master bed-room very large with en-suite shower. Family bathroom. Pri-vate 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 fi replace and dining space Good sized fi tted kitchen and breakfast area. Guest WC with storage area.3 double bed-rooms. Master with en-suite bathroom. Family bathroom. Enclosed gardens, pool and off street parking. Realistically priced €550.00 per month. OVNO

FOR FULL LISTINGS OF A PA R T M E N T S / T O W N -HOUSES AND VILLA PLEASE CALL FOR DE-TAILS. ALL TYPES OF PROPERTY URGENTLY RE-QUIRED FOR LONG TERM RENTAL LANDLORDS/OWNERS PLEASE CALL.

PLEASE CALL 97648440 or email:- [email protected]

*****************************REFURBISHED stone-built

village house located in Kili Paphos. Consists of 3 large rooms 1 small. Traditional wood burnt fi replace, fully tiled secluded yard and ga-rage. Tel: 99210610.

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

PROPERTYFOR SALE

NICOSIANICOSIA

*****************************NICOSIA, FLAT FOR SALE: 2

bedroom fl at with title deeds, 110 sqm, fully renovated, best central area, 800m from the european university,excellent view, eu 99,000. Tel 99 621914

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

PAPHOSPAPHOS

*****************************PAPHOS, FLATS FOR SALE

OR RENT: kissonerga, 3 bed-room fl at with title deeds, in a block of 4 fl ats only, fully renovated, 2 baths, 146 sqm closed area, ch, ac, covered parking, excellent view of sea and mountains, half registra-tion 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 fl oor, 1 bathroom, kitchen, large veranda, pri-vate parking, A/C, satellite TV. Near bus route, shops, banks, quiet apartment. Full furniture. Communal pool. 92 sq.m cov-ered area. Full TITLE DEEDS. REDUCED €92,000

*****************************PAPHOS 1 bedroom apartment,

fantastic central location, lounge/kitchen, bathroom, ve-randa, covered parking, com-munal pool, Furnished. Near all amenities. TITLE DEEDS NOW REDUCED €45,000.

*****************************1 BEDROOM APARTMENT,

TOMBS OF KINGS AREA, close to the sea, large private roof terrace with electric and water, covered parking, ve-randa, furnished, swimming pool. Full TITLE DEEDS, was €95,000 reduced to €65,000.

*****************************Chlorakas, 2 bedroom town-

house. Exceptional sea views. New kitchen, bedrooms and bathroom. Private parking, On mains sewage system. Com-munal pool. A/C, quality fi x-tures. Fully furnished. Security barrier. FULL TITLE DEEDS Now €92,000 Call 99716390.

*****************************FOR SALE special offer, €79,

000 fi rst fl oor 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.

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

FAMAGUSTAFAMAGUSTA

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

TO LET PAPHOSTO LET PAPHOS TO LET PAPHOSTO LET PAPHOS TO LET PAPHOSTO LET PAPHOS TO LET PAPHOSTO LET PAPHOSTO LET PAPHOSTO LET PAPHOS FOR SALE PAPHOSFOR SALE PAPHOS

U SEFUL PHONE NUMBERSPOLICE DIVISION HQ

Nicosia ........................22 802 020

Limassol ......................25 805 050

Larnaca .......................24 804 040

Paphos ........................26 806 060

Famagusta ..................23 803 030

Drug Law Enforcement Unit......................................... 1498(Confidential Information)

Rescue Co-ordination Centre ............................. 1441(Immediate Response Service for Aeronautical or Maritime Accident & Incidents)

Game Fund Service:(Wildlife and hunting)Central offices (Nicosia): 22-867786, 22-867897Nicosia: 22-664606, 99-445697Limassol: 25-343800, 99-445728,Larnaca/Famagusta: 24-805128, 99-634325Paphos: 26-306211, 99-445679

Forest Fires ..................... 1407

HOSPITALS ........ 1400

Nicosia General .............22-801400Nicosia Makarios ...........22-405000Limassol Old ................25-305333Limassol New ................25-801100Larnaca Old ...................24-630312Larnaca New .................24-630300Paphos ..........................26-821800Famagusta ....................23-821211

Narcotics Helpline ......... 1410(Outside hours.............. 22-304160)

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)

AirportsLarnaca ..........................77778833Paphos ...........................77778833

FOR SALESemi-detached house in Archangelos Semi-detached house in Archangelos

area split level on a hill, no houses area split level on a hill, no houses

in front, 3 big bedrooms, 2 big in front, 3 big bedrooms, 2 big

bathrooms and TV room big lounge & bathrooms and TV room big lounge &

dining area, fireplace, fitted kitchen, dining area, fireplace, fitted kitchen,

40 sq.m. store room, C/H, A/C, solar.40 sq.m. store room, C/H, A/C, solar.

For information call: 99496541

24

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 PaphosPO Box 61272

8132 Kato Paphos

Web. www.cyprusanimalwelfare.comwww.facebook/paphiakos

Email [email protected] Emergency Service - The contact point for animal emergencies in Larnaca is Maria at the Paphiakos Animal Welfare Charity Shop,

telephone 24623494 or 99325897STOP, SHOP AND GIVE TO THE ANIMALS!

ALL DONATIONS ARE WELCOME AT OUR CHARITY SHOPS!PAPHIAKOS & C.C.P. ANIMAL WELFARE

Registered Charity No 1529Contact our shops and we can take your clutter

The Charity Shops are located at:Shop No.1 Agapinoros Street, Kato Paphos

Tel 26910325Shop No.2 Ap Pavlou Avenue, Kato Paphos

Tel 26942894Shop No.3 Gr. Afxentiou Avensia Court 3 Larnaca

24623494Shop No.4 9 Ayiou Ioanni Street 3061 Limassol

25561695Peyia Information Centre & Shop & T Rooms

26622828Polis Information Centre & Shop & T Rooms

99223572Book Exchange Shop Trimithousa

99771763Our 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 PAPHIAKOSCHARITY NO. 1529

WORLD ANIMAL DAY.On Thursday October 4th Paphiakos will be micro chipping pets for only €20 including all the paperwork. For further information telephone

26953496.To celebrate World Animal Day on Thursday October 4th Paphiakos will be offering free spaying/neutering for all feral and unwanted animals as

they do throughout the year. Contact 26953496 for further details. PAPHIAKOS SHELTER OPEN DAY

The Open Day will be held on Sunday October 7th between 10am and 3pm. It will be a Family Fun Day out with a lot of different activities. There is car parking, toilets and refreshments on site so enjoy and join in the celebration of animals and what they bring to our lives. Entrance is €2

CHARITY HAIR CUT.On Thursday 4th October 09.30-17.30 without an appointment Andri at Atlantic Bay Hotel (2nd Floor) will be charging €5 for a haircut with all

proceeds going to Paphiakos. Telephone Suzanne on 99151996 or Andri on 99604783.PAPHIAKOS CHRISTMAS BAZAAR.

Saturday November 24th 9am – 3pm at the Crazy Spoon Restaurant. For further details contact 99151996. Stalls, Santa’s Grotto, Donkey Rides, Pirate Pat and many more.

AYIA NAPA and DHERYNIA (Anglican Church in S.E Cyprus)

Sunday Worship 9.30am Morning Prayer every Sunday

morning at St Constantinos & Eleni Chapel, Dherynia

(near Hospital in Dherynia) 11am at Scandinavian Church, off Nissi

Avenue (opp Tassia Maris Hotel), Ayia Napa

6pm at St Constantinos & Eleni (2nd week) Chaplain : Revd Simon Holloway M.A.

Tel: 97 839349 www.angsecyp.org

Visitors especially welcome

S A T U R D A Y S E R V I C E S

N I C O S I A St Paul’s Church Hall, Byron Ave L I M A S S O L ‘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


SportSpurs show injury-hit Raptors no mercyTHE San Antonio Spurs took advantage of Toronto’s injury woes to snap the Raptors’ fi ve-game winning streak with a 100-80 home victory on Wednesday.San Antonio used a balanced attack, with all 12 of their players registering points, to systematically break down the visiting Raptors and ended Toronto’s longest win-ning run of the season.Tim Duncan led the way with 15 points, Manu Ginobili added 14 off the bench and the Spurs (22-8) stretched their Southwest Division lead to two games over Memphis.None of Toronto’s (9-20) fi ve starters reached double-fi g-ures, although reserves Amir Johnson and Alan Anderson each fi nished with 12 points to pace the Raptors.DeMar DeRozan had enjoyed strong performances against San Antonio in the past but only managed eight points in the latest encounter.“Maybe he just had one of those nights where he wasn’t feeling it, but it’s better than the 25 he usually scores on us,” Spurs coach Gregg Popo-vich told reporters. The Raptors had managed to string together a succes-sion of victories prior to Wednesday’s game despite missing center Jonas Valan-ciunas, guard Kyle Lowry and forward Andrea Barg-nani through injury.Toronto managed to stay pretty close to the Spurs until the latter stages of the third quarter, where San Antonio broke free with a 13-2 run that put them 70-55 ahead.“We just came out more aggressive (in the second half) and realised we didn’t play well in the fi rst half,” Ginobili said. The victory was the second straight blowout for the Spurs, who routed Dallas 129-91 on Sunday.This time, San Antonio bare-ly had to exert themselves as they utilised the com-plete roster, and while Tony Parker registered 13 points and seven assists, it was the 45 points from the bench that made the difference.

Australia’s Clarke caps a banner year in style

By Ian Ransom

MICHAEL Clarke’s inspired century at the Melbourne Cricket Ground yesterday ticked off another mile-stone for Australia’s high-fl ying captain, but was also a stunning riposte to crit-ics who had suggested he should never have been se-lected.

Having sustained a ham-string injury in the fi rst test in Hobart, Clarke was given until the last minute to prove his fi tness and only announced himself ready to take on Sri Lanka on the morning of the second test.

Meanwhile, young seamer Mitchell Starc, 100 per cent fi t and champing at the bit, was rested despite a fi ve-wicket haul that helped drive the hosts to victory in Hobart.

Pundits and former play-ers cried double-standards. Clarke, a selector himself, simply put his head down to score 106 and surpass Ricky Ponting as his coun-try’s most prolifi c test run- scorer in a calendar year.

The four-hour innings of 14 boundaries, while not with-out chances, broke the hearts of Sri Lanka and helped drive Australia to a mammoth fi rst innings lead of 284.

“In regards to beating Ricky, in my eyes he was certainly the greatest bats-man I was lucky enough to play with so to beat any record that Ricky holds is very special that’s for sure,” the 31-year-old Clarke told reporters after notching his fi fth ton for the year.

“Numbers have never re-ally bothered me too much.

It’s nice to be making runs and leading by example as one of the leaders in the team and the captain of the team, I think it’s really im-portant that the captain is doing that.”

Clarke’s 22nd test century made him fourth on the all-time list with 1,595 runs for the year but he is unlikely to get another chance to reel in Mohammad Yousuf (1,788), Viv Richards (1,710) or Graeme Smith (1,656) this year.

Australia may not need a second innings to wrap up the test and take an unas-sailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, so Clarke was disappointed not to have made more runs after being

dismissed slashing an edge to the slips.

That also broke his perfect record in 2012 of going on to make double-tons after passing 100.

“I thought it was a poor shot, especially at that time, we’d just seen off the second new ball so it was probably the best time to bat and again it shows for the next couple of guys that we lost three wickets quite quickly together,” added Clarke, who became the fi rst man to hit four double-centuries in a calendar year in 2012.

“I guess with regards to my form it’s about - enjoy this time and make the most of it because there’ll

come a time where you nick the fi rst few and get a cou-ple of ducks.”

Clarke, backed up admira-bly by the evergreen Mike Hussey in recent tests, brought Shane Watson into his orbit on day two, with the bulky all-rounder com-posing 83 in a welcome re-turn to form.

The pair put on a record fourth-wicket partnership of 194 against their op-ponents at the MCG but Watson was left to rue an-other missed opportunity to post a century.

Watson has only convert-ed two of his 19 half-cen-turies into tons, his last a 126 against India in Mohali more than two years ago.

Form a strong reply to those criticising his selection

Smashing form: Michael Clarke (above) has surpassed Ricky Ponting as Australia’s most prolifi c test run scorer in a calendar year

IN B

RIEF Race favourite Wild Oats XI was on track to smash their

own record for the Sydney to Hobart yacht race as they crossed the treacherous Bass Strait yesterday.The Mark Richards-skippered super-maxi was being pushed along by strong northerly winds and reaching speeds of 24 knots at 0400 GMT (1500 AET) with about 240 nautical miles to reach the fi nish line in Tasmania.They were about 33 nautical miles ahead of last year’s winner Ragamuffi n Loyal.Wild Oats set the record of one day, 18 hours, 40 minutes and 10 seconds in 2005, when they not only took line honours but also won the overall handicap title as well.

Wild Oats on track for record Sydney-Hobart win

Plushenko makes successful comeback in Sochi champs

Drogba to lead seasoned Ivory Coast at Nations Cup

Yevgeny Plushenko made a triumphant comeback at the Russian fi gure skating championships in Sochi on Wednesday, when he eased to his 10th national men’s title in his fi rst competition in nearly a year.The 30-year-old, widely regarded as the most gifted skater of his generation, said he was looking forward to returning to Sochi in February 2014 when the Black Sea resort will host the Winter Olympics.“This is my fi rst competition in a long time so I’m quite happy with my performance here,” Plushenko, who won both the short programme on Tuesday and Wednesday’s free skate, told reporters at the Iceberg Olympic arena.

DIDIER Drogba will lead a vastly experienced Ivory Coast squad in the African Nations Cup fi nals starting next month which includes a recall for Wigan Athletic striker Arouna Kone.Drogba, Emmanuel Eboue, Didier Zokora, Bou-bacar Barry, Arthur Boka, Siaka Tiene and the Toure brothers, Kolo and Yaya, head to a fi fth suc-cessive tournament.The widely travelled Kone, who competed at the Nations Cup fi nals in 2006 and 2008, is back along with Spanish-based midfi elder Romaric, who has also missed out in recent years.

Murray makes early exit in Abu Dhabi eventANDY Murray was yester-day defeated in straight sets by Janko Tipsarevic in this week’s exhibition tourna-ment in Abu Dhabi.Murray, the world number three, fell to a 6-3 6-4 loss against Tipsarevic on the opening day of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship.The Serbian progressed to the semi-fi nals with the victory, where he will face Spain’s world number 11 Nicolas Almagro, who came in as a late replacement follow-ing the withdrawal of Rafael Nadal due to a stomach virus.The match started off evenly and continued on serve until Murray was broken in the fourth game by Tipsarevic, who took the fi rst set.Murray opened the second with an ace, but Tipsarevic, ranked ninth in the current ATP standings, hit back, claiming a break of serve. The set progressed with the reigning US Open champion trailing the 28-year-old at 5-3 after some loose play.Serving to stay in the match, the Scot handed the advan-tage to his opponent with a double-fault, before a cross-court winner and shot down the line helped him on the way to making it 5-4 in the second set.Tipsarevic was therefore given the chance to serve for victory and earned himself two match points as Murray was unable to clear a smash to the baseline. The Serbian duly served out the game and booked his place in the semi-fi nals and a match against Almagro.

Murray was defeated in straight sets by Tipsarevic

26

Sport


Osman: we’ll provide a challenge for ChelseaMIDFIELDER Leon Osman is optimis-tic Everton can follow up their battling win over Wigan with a more stylish one against Chelsea this weekend.The Merseysiders had to grind out vic-tory against a well-drilled but luckless Wigan side in heavy rain at Goodison Park on Boxing Day.A defl ected strike from Osman and a Phil Jagielka header gave the Toffees what proved a decisive lead, but they needed to hang on for a 2-1 win after Arouna Kone poked in a scrappy late reply.The win over the struggling Latics kept David Moyes’ men joint fourth in the Barclays Premier League and in good heart for the different challenge presented by third-placed Chelsea this weekend.Osman said: “It is always a little more diffi cult at Christmas time with peo-ple’s moods and the way the weather

was, so it was a terrifi c three points to dig it out against a good Wigan side.“Chelsea are coming here on Sunday full of form now but we are confi dent and hopefully we will make a good game of it. We are certainly a develop-ing team and have developed a lot over the last year or so.“We are playing some good football and we tend to show that more when we play against the teams at the top end of the table.”Victor Anichebe blazed a good chance wide for Everton after just 13 seconds but Wigan went on to control large spells of the fi rst half with little reward.Everton upped the tempo after the break and hit the bar through Thomas Hitzlsperger before Osman broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute with a shot which went in off Gary Caldwell’s arm.Osman, 31, said: “The rules say that when you hit a shot and it’s on target

it’s your goal.“Obviously it did take a defl ection and the keeper may well have saved it with-out the defl ection but it’s gone in and I’m happy we opened the scoring.”Osman was then involved in a contro-versial incident as Shaun Maloney went down under his challenge in the area, but referee Lee Mason gave no penalty - much to the visitors’ anger.“It is ultimately what the ref sees and the ref decided not to give it,” said Os-man, when asked about that incident.Everton doubled their lead when Jagiel-ka crashed in a header off the bar from a cross by Phil Neville, who was playing his 500th Premier League game.Despite that second blow, Wigan made life uncomfortable for the hosts after Kone pounced on defensive uncertain-ty eight minutes from time, but Ever-ton held on to extend their unbeaten run to seven games.

The Merseysiders had to grind out victory against a well-drilled but luckless Wigan side at Goodison Park

UEFA to appeal sanctions over Serbia v England U-21 clash

UEFA is set to appeal against all the sanctions imposed in relation to the controversial Serbia v England Under-21 play-off in October, including the punishments imposed for racist abuse by Serbian supporters.

Serbia’s Under-21 side were ordered to play one match behind closed doors and the national federa-tion were fi ned £65,000 in relation to the racist be-haviour of their supporters during the match at the Mladost Stadium in Kru-sevac on October 16.

The punishment, im-posed by UEFA’s inde-pendent control and disci-plinary panel on December 13, was widely criticised for being too lenient.

“UEFA, via the UEFA disciplinary inspector ap-pointed to the case, has decided to appeal all the sanctions,” read a state-ment on UEFA’s offi cial website.

The 2013 European Un-der-21 Championship play-

off second leg was marred by racist chanting and scenes of violence.

England were also cen-sured, with Steven Caulk-er and Tom Ince receiving

two and one-match bans respectively for their in-volvement in the brawl sparked by racist abuse di-rected at Danny Rose.

UEFA president Michel

Platini was understood to be considering an appeal to increase the severity of the sanctions against the Serbian team given the na-ture of the incidents.

Wednesday’s statement continued: “As per the UEFA disciplinary regu-lations, the UEFA disci-plinary inspector has the right to open disciplinary investigations and to lodge appeals against decisions taken by the control and disciplinary body.

“Having reviewed the motivated decisions for the sanctions imposed in this specifi c case, which have also been provided to all parties, the UEFA dis-ciplinary inspector felt it necessary to immediately confi rm his intention to appeal on UEFA’s behalf,” it said.

The UEFA disciplinary inspector has until Janu-ary 8 to lodge the appeal, the same deadline to which the Serbian and English Football Associations must adhere to if they also wish to appeal against the sanctions.

UEFA additionally banned Serbian coaches Andreja Milunovic and Predrag Katic from all football-related activities for two years, with the fi -nal six months of that sus-pended for a probationary period.

Serbia’s Goran Causic was suspended for four matches, while Ognjen Mudrinski and Filip Mal-basic were given three-game bans. Nikola Ninko-vic was suspended for two fi xtures.

Clarke backs under fire FortuneSTEVE Clarke defended Marc-Antoine Fortune after QPR manager Harry Red-knapp accused the West Brom striker of deliberately fouling Robert Green in the run up to the Baggies’ win-ning goal at Loftus Road on Wednesday.

QPR boss Redknapp angri-ly hit out at Fortune and ref-eree Chris Hoy Wednesday night for failing to see what he thought was a blatant foul on his goalkeeper in the 2-1 defeat at Loftus Road.

Fortune backed in to Green as he came to collect a ball that had looped up off Armand Traore and the R’s stopper duly dropped the ball in to his own net.

Redknapp branded Foy’s handling of the situation as “awful”, but Clarke thinks the referee was right to let the goal stand.

“I didn’t think it was a foul,” Clarke said. “I was confused. I just saw the ball go up and then in the net. I’ve seen it on the video and I don’t think he has done a lot wrong. I didn’t think it was much of a foul to be honest.

“That’s why he’s there and that’s we pay him all that money.”

Djibril Cisse scored 22 min-utes from time, but Rangers could not fi nd a second to equalise Green’s own goal and West Brom’s opener, which came courtesy of a 30-yard drive from Chris Brunt.

Given that the result leaves QPR six points adrift of safety having played one more game than 17th place Southampton, Redknapp was furious at seeing a po-tentially vital point slip through his fi ngers.

“It was a blatant foul,” he said. “I hate hearing man-agers moan about decisions and getting robbed. I don’t do that or slag referees off or moan about decisions.

“Once a year I might, I might have the hump with a referee, I never knock on their door but that today was poor, two vital decisions that would be so important to us went against us.”

Reds manager Rodgers bemoans soft goals conceded to StokeLIVERPOOL manager Brendan Rodgers was unhappy with the soft goals his side conceded in the 3-1 de-feat to Stoke.

Despite taking the lead through a Ste-ven Gerrard penalty awarded after just 32 seconds two Jon Walters goals, either side of a Kenwyne Jones header, extend-ed Liverpool’s winless streak at the Bri-tannia Stadium to fi ve matches.

Rodgers felt his side needed more resilience to combat Stoke’s physical pressure. “We conceded soft goals after a great start,” he said. “A bit of magic by

Luis (Suarez) got our fi rst penalty of the season, Steven sticks it away perfectly and we are 1-0 up at a diffi cult place to score goals.”

He added: “We wanted to gain the ini-tiative from that but the nature of the goals we conceded was very soft and if you do that it is always going to be up-hill in terms of getting a result.

“The fi rst one is unfortunate as Martin Skrtel slips and Walters fi nished well, but the other two goals we have to be better than that. It was too soft: a cor-ner that sneaks in at the near post and

then from a throw-in.“It is not all about football. You have

to earn the right to play, particularly coming here. I have no doubt about the characters we have but tonight it was too easy.”

Stoke boss Tony Pulis was pleased with the way his side fought back after conceding the early goal, saying: “It was a great result and performance.

“I thought the response after going a goal behind after just 30 seconds was ab-solutely fantastic and epitomises what the group are about at the moment.”

Platini could push for heftier Serbia sanctions

Controversial clash: the 2013 European Under-21 Championship play-off second leg was marred by racist chanting and scenes of violence

Unhappy: Rodgers

CYPRUS MAIL Friday, December 28, 2012 27

Sport

Mata hungry for more after landmark gameCarrow Road clash sees Spain forward’s 13th goal in all competitions this termBy Ben Rumsby and Mark Bryans

JUAN Mata celebrated a landmark game and goal in his Chelsea career before declaring he was hungry for even more.

Wednesday’s 1-0 win at Norwich was Spain forward Mata’s 50th appearance in the Barclays Premier League and came less than a season and a half after he joined the Blues.

Carrow Road also wit-nessed his 13th goal in all competitions this term, already bettering his tally from the whole of the last campaign.

Rarely has a foreign player made such a seamless ad-justment to English foot-ball as former Valencia star Mata, who has enjoyed the unwavering confi dence of all three Chelsea managers he has played under.

Last season, he featured in 34 of Chelsea’s 38 league games, while this term he has played a part in 16 of 18.

But despite his 50 match-es being the most of any outfi eld player at the club

over the same period, Mata had no intention of allow-ing his team-mates to catch him up.

“I want to play more, I want to keep playing, keep train-ing, keep enjoying this club and this Premier League,” he told Chelsea TV.

Modestly describing his goals tally as “not bad”, he added: “I’m very happy with how it’s going - the season - for me and for the team and I just have to keep work-ing.”

CLUB REVIVAL

When Mata works, almost invariably so do Chelsea.

His six goals in eight games have co-incided with the club’s revival under interim boss Rafael Benitez.

Mata’s dip in form before that also tallied with the Chelsea slump that saw Roberto Di Matteo sacked.

Indeed, the club were be-coming too reliant on Mata’s goals and assists under Di Matteo and it is crucial they do not fall into the same trap again.

Benitez appears to recog-nise the need to spread the

load around the team, his decision to move David Luiz from defence into midfi eld once again proving inspired on Wednesday.

Mata said of the Brazilian’s transformation: “I’m not surprised.

“I know that he’s a very, very good player, top player.

“He’s able to play in dif-ferent positions, at centre-back, in midfi eld. He’s a complete football player.”

Mata stressed the impor-tance of Chelsea keeping a clean sheet yesterday in what was only their second 1-0 win of the season.

“Our four defenders were really good,” he said.

“All the team played like a compact team, like Rafa wanted.”

He added of his goal: “The most important thing is that it was the winning goal.”

That winner saw Chelsea close to within four points of second-placed Manchester City with a game in hand, while remaining 11 behind runaway leaders Manches-ter United.

Mata said: “These three points gave to us a lot of confi dence to be closer to

the Manchester clubs.”Norwich boss Chris

Hughton was also upbeat after his side reached the halfway point of the season comfortably in midtable, 10 points clear of danger.

Two straight defeats have done little damage follow-ing a 10-game unbeaten run that left the Canaries

on 25 points.Hughton said: “If you had

offered that to me at the start of the season then cer-tainly I would have taken it.

“You only have to look at this Barclays Premier League week in, week out and see some of the results and I think that emphasises the good run we went on.”

Catch me if you can: Mata made his 50th Premier League appearance with Wednesday’s 1-0 win at Norwich

Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert insists his side will be fine despite Spurs routASTON Villa boss Paul Lambert insists his young team will be fi ne as they try to move on and fi nd a positive response after suf-fering two successive hammerings over the festive period.

Lambert’s side went into their Boxing Day home clash with Tottenham looking to bounce back from their demoralising 8-0 defeat at Chelsea three days earlier, only for Jermain Defoe’s 14th club goal of the season and Gareth Bale’s fi rst Barclays Premier League hat-trick to see Spurs run out comfortable 4-0 winners.

Things are looking worrying for Villa, who lie 16th in the table - three points above the relegation zone.

Their manager is adamant the mood in the camp will not be an issue, though, ahead of Saturday’s crunch encounter with 18th-placed Wigan at Villa Park.

“They will be fi ne,” Lambert said.“Whether we win, lose or draw, we always

try to treat them the same way and try to keep their spirits the same.

“One thing in football is that you can’t dwell on it and you have to bounce back - there is no other way.”

Bale was the undoubted star of the show as Tottenham ran Villa ragged, the winger twice going close to netting in a goalless fi rst half before following up Defoe’s 57th-minute opener by converting in the 61st, 73rd and 84th minutes to give the score-line an appearance that more accurately refl ected the visitors’ dominance through-

out the contest.It took the 23-year-old Wales internation-

al - scorer of a famous Champions League treble against Inter Milan in 2010/11 - to 10 club goals for the current campaign, and Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas af-terwards hailed Bale as one of the world’s best players.

The Portuguese said: “He is up there with the best.

“He is showing tremendous skills and tal-ent. I think he is improving every day - he is such a young player - and he is helping the team. He is one of our major assets.

“His personality is wonderful. He is go-ing through an excellent moment of his professional and personal life, and we are benefi ting from that.”

Asked if he thought Bale could get even better, Villas-Boas - who has stressed his confi dence the player will not leave Tot-tenham in the January transfer window - said: “I think so. You always expect that the team can make an individual even better.

“The team changes so much from one year to another, and as he keeps learning, he will feel even better and probably his performances will improve.”

The result ensured Tottenham kept up their push for Champions League foot-ball, moving them up to fourth - level on points with fi fth-placed Everton and sixth-spotted West Brom, who both also won on Wednesday.

Gareth Bale (centre) was the undoubted star of the show as Spurs ran Villa ragged on Wednesday

Blackburn sack Berg after 57 days in charge BLACKBURN Rovers sacked Henning Berg yes-terday after only 57 days and 10 games in charge, becoming the second man-ager to depart a foreign-owned English Champion-ship (second division) club in the space of a few hours.The Norwegian was axed by Blackburn’s Indian owners after a 1-0 defeat at Middlesbrough on Wednes-day, their fi fth loss in six games which left the club languishing in 17th place. Under Berg, Blackburn won just once.Berg’s dismissal follows hot on the heels of Sean O’Driscoll’s departure from Nottingham Forest with the Kuwaiti-owned former European champions sacking the Irishman late on Wednesday, hours after they had beaten Leeds United 4-2 at home.Berg, who won the Premier League as a Blackburn player in 1995, was ap-pointed on Oct. 31 after the resignation of predeces-sor Steve Kean at the end of September following relegation from the top fl ight and months of angry protests from fans.Supporters have long been venting their frustration at owners Venky’s although the team topped the sec-ond tier before Kean’s exit.Blackburn said on their website (www.rovers.co.uk) that 43-year-old Berg, assistant Eric Black, fi rst-team coach Iain Brunskill and goalkeeping coach Bobby Mimms had all been fi red.“This decision has been taken following a very disappointing sequence of results,” the statement read.Venky’s director Balaji Rao told the Times of India newspaper: “We have not been doing well and drop-ping points and losing matches quite often. I want to go up.”O’Driscoll was sacked by Nottingham Forest despite the club sitting in eighth place, one point away from the top six.“We are looking to bring in an ambitious manager with Premier League experi-ence,” said chairman Fa-waz al-Hasawi, adding that Forest’s lack of consistency under O’Driscoll was a ma-jor factor in the decision.

Under Berg (above) Black-burn won only once

Sport28 Friday, December 28, 2012 CYPRUS MAIL

Blackburn sack Berg after 57 days in charge 27

Australia’s Clarke caps banner year in style 25

No FA action to be taken following Fergie ref rowMANCHESTER United manager Sir Alex Ferguson will not face punishment for confronting referee Mike Dean at Old Trafford on Wednesday, the Football As-sociation has confi rmed.The Scot was furious after Dean overruled assistant Jake Collin and awarded Newcas-tle’s second goal in the Red Devils’ 4-3 win.The FA yesterday confi rmed no action would be taken against the Red Devils boss as Dean made no reference to Ferguson confronting him in his report. Ferguson approached Dean as he made his way out for the second half, before rounding on the fourth offi cial Neil Swarbrick and Collin.Dean did not send Ferguson off during the match, which ended with United going seven points clear at the top of the Pre-mier League thanks to their win and Man-chester City’s 1-0 defeat at Sunderland.Ferguson was furious that Dean allowed a Jonny Evans own goal to stand after Collin had fl agged for offside against Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse.Ferguson said: “The referee changed the linesman’s mind.“He said it was an own goal. But if you see it again, and the referee can’t, the guy is in an offside position, then he pulls Evans’ arm.“If that is not interfering, what is? I think it was a bad decision.”The Premier League issued a clarifi cation, backing Dean’s decision, confi rming that “as Cisse did not play the ball, then he was not interfering with play”.The league also stated that: “It is also the case that Cisse didn’t interfere with the opponent”.Javier Hernandez’s 90th-minute winner gave United the spoils as they fought back

three times from a goal down to edge out Newcastle in an enthralling encounter.Meanwhile, Rio Ferdinand has demanded United sort their defensive problems out before they start to eat away at their season.Incredibly, the Red Devils have now con-ceded 28 goals this season, only fi ve fewer than QPR who are presently languishing at the foot of the table.To put that into context, at the half way point of the campaign, they have now exceeded the number of goals they con-ceded in three of their most recent title-winning seasons - 2007, 2008 and 2009.In all competitions, that fi gure now stands at 40, during which time they have kept just four clean sheets. In addition, they have now gone behind 16 times, 11 of which have ended in victories.They are quite shuddering statistics. And everyone in the United camp admits they must be corrected.“We are concerned,” said Ferdinand.“When you are conceding goals at any level you want to put it to a stop.“This season we have let in far too many goals and we need to change that.“We need to make a big effort now to push on.“We are in a good position but if we are to maintain where we are, we need to sort ourselves out.”Ferdinand’s words were echoed by cen-tral defensive colleague Evans, who feels it is only a matter of time before United fi nally resolve their defensive issues.“We know what is going on,” he said.“Defending is a mindset. You have to be mentally prepared to defend and want to defend.”

The Scot was furious after referee Dean overruled his assistant and awarded New-castle’s second goal in the Red Devils’ 4-3 win at Old Trafford on Boxing Day

‘Title race is not over yet’

By Damian Spellman,

M anchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart has warned arch-rivals Man-

chester United that the title race is far from over despite their seven-point lead.

The 25-year-old England in-ternational was a disappoint-ed man after former club-mate Adam Johnson sneaked a long-range shot past him at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday to condemn City to a third successive 1-0 Bar-clays Premier League defeat at Sunderland.

The defeat saw the champi-ons slip further off the pace as they attempted to reel in United, who had to come from behind three times be-fore eventually beating the Black Cats’ north-east neigh-bours Newcastle 4-3 at Old Trafford in stoppage time.

Blues boss Roberto Man-cini was quick to point out that the season was only at the halfway stage as he as-sessed the implications of an unexpected defeat, and hav-ing seen his side chase down United at the back end of the last campaign to snatch the title in a dramatic fi nale, Hart remained equally bullish.

He told the club’s offi cial website, www.mcfc.co.uk: “We have had leads, United have had the lead - it’s to-ing and fro-ing at the moment.

“We are a team of winners. It’s hard and it hurts, but we have got to move on. It is hard to lead and it is hard to chase too.

“We have clawed points back before, we proved it at the end of last year. We have just got to believe.”

Sunderland’s record against City is remarkable - they were the only side to leave the Eti-had Stadium last season with a point - and Mancini joked afterwards that they would not travel to Wearside during the 2013-14 campaign.

In the short term, the Ital-ian’s focus will be on Satur-day’s trip to Norwich, where his side won 6-1 in April and where a repeat of that result, if not the scoreline, would be hugely welcome.

Hart said: “The only way we can change it is by winning here next year - but for now,

we only have Norwich on our minds.”

City had their chances at the Stadium of Light, but were denied by a combina-tion of the woodwork and goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.

The Belgium internation-al made three outstanding saves, from Yaya Toure and David Silva before the break and Sergio Aguero after it, and his efforts did not go un-noticed by the man at the op-posite end of the pitch.

Hart said: “Simon Mignolet has had a magnifi cent game. He’s a brilliant goalkeeper, I have watched him closely in other games.

“Sunderland defended for their lives and it just wouldn’t go in for us.”

Hart himself had to get down superbly to turn away Steven Fletcher’s 25th-minute strike as Sunderland, having weathered an early storm, started to make an impact.

But when the game’s deci-sive moment arrived, he was unable to prevent Johnson, who left City in the summer having found himself surplus to requirements, from steal-ing the headlines.

City were furious not to be awarded a free-kick for Craig Gardner’s challenge on Pa-blo Zabaleta immediately before Carlos Cuellar slipped the ball to the winger, and he cut inside and drilled a spec-ulative effort towards the near post.

Mancini later absolved Hart of blame, although admitted he might have been antici-pating a cross rather than a shot, but he could not get across his goal in time to pre-vent the ball from ending up in the bottom corner.

Hart said: “First and fore-most, someone stamped on Zaba - it was a blatantly ob-vious foul - but what can you do?

“I was in my position for the shot, and that’s where you will see me again on Sat-urday.

“But he struck it well with just enough wobble to beat me.”

The 1-0 defeat at Sunderland on Wednesday saw cham-pions City slip further off the pace

Hart says Man City’s fortunes will change again

Still bullish: Joe Hart

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