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Local News April 16, 2014

Port workers to strike again after Easter

By Constantinos Psillides

Limassol port workers have decided to go on strike again immediately after the Easter holidays, following the rejection of the labour ministry proposal on Tuesday.

The port workers, who were on strike until Tuesday morning, initially refused to service docked ships on Wednesday morning but finally gave in after port’s officials, union bosses and businessmen pleaded with them to unload the ships. The port workers went back to work but promised to resume the strike immediately after…

International News April 16, 2014

Separatists fly Russian flag over Ukrainian armoured vehicles

Pro-Russian separatists hoisted the Russian flag on Ukrainian army armoured vehicles in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, mocking the pro-Western Kiev government’s attempt to reassert control on the eve of crucial talks in Geneva on the country’s future.

Amid escalating rhetoric between Moscow and Kiev, the incident highlighted defiance by pro-Russian separatists, undermining central government efforts to push armed rebels out of captured buildings in 10 eastern towns without bloodshed.

Government troops had driven armoured personnel carriers flying the Ukrainian flag…

Local News April 16, 2014

Storm over party donation revelations (updated)

By Angelos Anastasiou

Reports on Wednesday that ruling DISY and opposition AKEL received a total of €2 million from Focus Maritime Corporation, owned by Greek shipowner Michalis Zolotas, caused a storm in the political arena, given the connection to former Laiki strongman Andreas Vgenopoulos.

Daily Politis revealed that €1.5 million was donated to AKEL and €500.000 to DISY – in late 2007 and early 2008.

Zolotas is widely perceived as a “close associate and friend” Vgenopoulos. Among other business connections,…

Entertainment April 16, 2014

Bar review: Ammos Beach Bar, Larnaca

By Andreas Vou

The summer season is almost upon us and the last few weeks of sunshine have put most people in good spirits in anticipation of what awaits in the coming months. While it is not quite the 40-degree heat of mid-July, a spot of good weather and a refreshing drink by the beach is enough to change anybody’s mood – and there are few better places to do that than at Ammos Beach Bar.

Ammos has become the…

International News April 16, 2014

Congolese gunmen wound Belgian head of Africa’s oldest park

By Peter Jones

The director of Democratic Republic of Congo’s Virunga Park - Africa’s oldest national park – survived an attack by unidentified gunmen while driving through the country’s volatile eastern borderlands on Tuesday, a colleague said.

Emmanuel de Merode, one of Africa’s leading conservationists, was shot four times on the road linking the park’s headquarters in Rumangabo to Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.

“He was attacked around 4:30 pm (1530 GMT) and was evacuated by the Congolese army,” the colleague said on condition he not be…

Entertainment April 16, 2014

Giving ballet a chance

By Alix Norman

Flagstaff House is beautiful. Home to the family of the Commander of the British Forces in Cyprus, it’s reminiscent of a modern Manderley – the site is truly a ‘jewel in the hollow of the hand’. From the terrace, one can make out a maze of white-gravelled paths snaking through shelving lawns, disappearing among a profusion of bougainvillaea to re-emerge on the horizon. Birdsong echoes over the low stone walls, olive trees rustle in the breeze. There’s…

Local News April 16, 2014

Co-ops to announce scheme to help vulnerable borrowers

By Staff Reporter

Co-ops will next month be announcing a number of initiatives to help vulnerable borrowers, Co-operative Central Bank chief Nicolas Hadjiyiannis said on Wednesday.

He was speaking after a meeting with Archbishop Chrysostomos to whom he handed a cheque for €5,000 to help the needy who are provided for by the Church food bank.

The announcement about helping borrowers in difficulties came a day after the Bank of Cyprus said it had cut the interest rates to the…

International News April 16, 2014

Gunmen kill nine in western Ethiopia bus attack

By Aaron Maasho

Gunmen ambushed a bus carrying dozens of people in western Ethiopia near the Sudanese border, killing nine and wounding six others, state-run media said on Wednesday.

There was no claim of responsibility and no group was blamed for the attack, but Ethiopia says it has thwarted several plots in recent years by Ethiopian insurgents as well as Somali al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab Islamist militants.

A handful of rebel groups are waging low-level separatist insurgencies in Ethiopia, while Ethiopian troops are part of…

International News April 16, 2014

Rivals show force in eastern Ukraine before talks

By Gabriela Baczynska and Thomas Grove

Ukrainian government forces and separatist pro-Russian militia staged rival shows of force in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday amid escalating rhetoric on the eve of crucial four-power talks in Geneva on the former Soviet country’s future.

Government troops drove seven armoured personnel carriers flying the Ukrainian flag into the town of Kramatorsk after securing control of a nearby airfield from the rebels on Tuesday, prompting Russian President Vladimir Putin to warn of the risk of civil war.

But just 15 km away, armed men in different…

Local News April 16, 2014

Family attacked in their home

By Constantinos Psillides

Two men wearing hoods and holding a gun and knife invaded the home of a family in Limassol on Tuesday night, police said on Wednesday.

The two men rang the doorbell at around 8pm and grabbed the woman who opened the door by the throat. The men ordered her to stay in the living room while they made their way to the bedrooms.

According to the police report, the two men tried to attack the woman’s husband…

Local News April 16, 2014

Greens organise Easter egg-painting event

The Green Party will on Thursday give demonstrations in Nicosia and Limassol on more environmentally sound, and safer methods of colouring eggs for Easter.

In an announcement on Wednesday, the party said the best way was to use white eggs, which should be washed or wiped clean and left at room temperature for a few hours before boiling in vinegar.

To make the eggs red, the Greens suggest using beetroot water. For green, spinach, orange, onion skins, yellow, carrots or…

English Premier League Sport April 16, 2014

Wenger gamble on Arsenal’s golden oldies pays off

By Sam Holden

Arsene Wenger took a risk by picking Arsenal’s old guard against West Ham United on Tuesday but it paid off with a 3-1 win as his weary side regained fourth place in the Premier League.

The Frenchman fielded a team with an average age of 29 at the Emirates, with Olivier Giroud their youngest outfield player at 27, as he banked on his golden oldies to get a result.
Wenger, renowned for developing young players, opted…

International News April 16, 2014

Australian State Premier resigns over A$3,000 bottle of wine gift

The premier of Australia’s New South Wales state, Barry O’Farrell, resigned from his position on Wednesday after it was revealed that he had misled a corruption inquiry about accepting a A$3,000 (EUR2037) bottle of wine as a gift.

O’Farrell is the latest official to be caught up in a wide-ranging investigation into corruption in the state that has also ensnared his fellow Liberal Party Senator Arthur Sinodinos, who stood aside as assistant treasurer last month.

The resignation is likely to…

International News April 16, 2014

More than 300 people missing after South Korea ferry sinks (Update 2)

By Narae Kim

Almost 300 people were missing after a ferry capsized off South Korea on Wednesday, despite frantic rescue efforts involving coastguard vessels, fishing boats and helicopters, in what could be the country’s biggest maritime disaster in over 20 years.

The ferry was carrying 459 people, of whom 164 have been rescued, coastguard officials said.

It was not immediately clear why the Sewol ferry listed heavily on to its side and capsized in apparently calm conditions off South Korea’s southwest coast, but some survivors…

Local News Business April 16, 2014

AG hits back at ‘ignorant’ MPs

By Elias Hazou

ATTORNEY-GENERAL Costas Clerides yesterday rejected claims by MPs that authorities were dragging their feet in investigating the circumstances leading up to last year’s collapse of the financial sector, and accused them of ignorance.

In a terse statement, Clerides hit back at certain MPs who a day earlier accused the Attorney-general’s office of taking too long to prosecute.

He was referring to members of the House ethics committee, which is putting together its own inquiry into the financial…

Local News Comment April 16, 2014

Our View: AG was absolutely right to give deputies a telling off

ATTORNEY-GENERAL Costas Clerides felt obliged to respond to accusations that the legal service was taking too long over their investigation into the collapse of the economy and the banking sector. Deputies, on Monday, accused the state legal service of inaction and delay and of failing to prosecute anyone, apart from the former Governor of the Central Bank, Christodoulos Christodoulou, for what had happened to the economy.

Clerides saw the criticism as an attempt to discredit the Attorney-general’s office and the…

Local News April 16, 2014

Deputy fire chief and disaster unit boss were ‘undeniably negligent’ at Mari

By Constantinos Psillides

FORMER deputy chief of the fire service Charalambos Charalambous and former head of disaster response team EMAK Andreas Loizides were undeniably negligent when they didn’t order the evacuation of Mari naval base, state attorney Christina Kythreotou said yesterday.

The state attorney appeared before the Supreme Court on behalf of the Attorney-general’s office to appeal the sentences handed down by the Larnaca Criminal Court to those convicted in the blast. On July 9, the court convicted then defence…

Local News Business April 16, 2014

Energy, tourism, education and science on UAE agenda

By Angelos Anastasiou

CYPRUS and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed a bilateral agreement for cooperation in the air travel services sector and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) on energy, tourism, education and science.

According to an announcement yesterday the agreement and the MoUs were signed in the context of the meeting of President Nicos Anastasiades with the Crown Prince Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi.

In the context of the visit, it has also been…

Local News April 16, 2014

Hasikos orders immigration to speed up teen’s asylum application

By Constantinos Psillides

INTERIOR Minister Socratis Hasikos yesterday ordered Immigration Services to process quickly the asylum application of a 17-year old Somali national, who has been detained at a Paphos police station since December.

According to immigration, the 17-year old was arrested in December when he tried to travel to Norway from Paphos airport along with two others.

Authorities discovered that the passports they held were authentic but belonged to other people. The three were arrested and on January 13…

Local News April 16, 2014

Charities gear up for Easter

By Angelos Anastasiou

THE COMMISSIONER for Volunteerism, Yiannis Yiannaki has issued a plea to the public to continue to support food banks, both with supplies and volunteer service, especially during the Easter period.

In a written statement, the Commissioner’s office noted that the aim was for no citizen to go through the Easter holiday without the basic food items or other essentials.

“Volunteerism continues to be the rising power of the citizenry in providing those less fortunate among us with…

A holiday reminder on departure

Elections in Afghanistan

Philpa Spring Rally

Royals visit New Zealand

Let's go clean

Annunciation holiday in Moscow

Taxi drivers protest

Missing Imperial Faberge eggs in London

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule with President Anastasiades

Divers scan the water for debris of the missing Flight MH370

Hungarian ‘Popeye’ world record breaking attempt

The new Nicosia bi-communal waste-water treatment plant at Mia Milia

The biggest photovoltaic park in Cyprus

Thai elephant battle water with tourists to celebrate Songkran festival

Cabinet goes tech

Ivory destruction in Belgium

Third phase of the Indian general elections

Thunderstorms in Nicosia

Children collect signatures for the Arctic

Paul Exhibition in Basel

Robot Open in Tehran

Earthquake in Nicaragua

Stocktaking at animal park Hagenbeck

Protests against German Chancellor Merkel visit to Greece

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NEWS

Port workers to strike again after Easter

Separatists fly Russian flag over Ukrainian armoured vehicles

Storm over party donation revelations (updated)

Bar review: Ammos Beach Bar, Larnaca

Congolese gunmen wound Belgian head of Africa’s oldest park

Giving ballet a chance

Co-ops to announce scheme to help vulnerable borrowers

Gunmen kill nine in western Ethiopia bus attack

Rivals show force in eastern Ukraine before talks

Family attacked in their home

Greens organise Easter egg-painting event

Wenger gamble on Arsenal’s golden oldies pays off

Australian State Premier resigns over A$3,000 bottle of wine gift

More than 300 people missing after South Korea ferry sinks (Update 2)

AG hits back at ‘ignorant’ MPs

Our View: AG was absolutely right to give deputies a telling off

Deputy fire chief and disaster unit boss were ‘undeniably negligent’ at Mari

Energy, tourism, education and science on UAE agenda

Hasikos orders immigration to speed up teen’s asylum application

Charities gear up for Easter

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