South Africa and Mexico to play World Cup opener

2009-12-04

Hosts South Africa will play Mexico in the opening match of Africa’s first World Cup finals next year with two former winners, France and Uruguay, also drawn in the same group on Friday.

But if the hosts did not get the easy draw they were hoping for, neither did five times winners Brazil, who play their European cousins Portugal, Africa’s strongest team Ivory Coast and North Korea.

The draw for the 32-nation tournament was made at the end of a 90-minute global television spectacular broadcast to more than 250 million people in a ceremony hosted by FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke and South African actress Charlize Theron.

The opening match will be staged on June 11 at Johannesburg’s Soccer City stadium with the final in the same stadium on July 11.

Leaders take the talks home

2009-12-04

IN WHAT appears to be an eleventh-hour attempt to make progress before Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat stands for re-election in April, the leaders have agreed to meet for two intensive three-day meetings at their respective homes in Kyrenia and Nicosia next month.
News of the planned meetings came yesterday in the wake of earlier news reports that after more than 50 meetings at the United Nations Protected Area (UNPA) in the buffer zone in Nicosia, Christofias and Talat had become “bored” with meeting in the same place week in, week out.

Ban: process should not be seen as zero-sum game’

2009-12-04

U.N. SECRETARY General Ban Ki-moon is “cautiously optimistic” over prospects for a settlement, but advises both sides not to view the process as a “zero-sum game.”
Conversely, in diplomatic language in his latest report on Cyprus, Ban hints the talks are not moving forward as fast as expected, noting that the momentum in the second phase of the negotiations “needs to be maintained or even accelerated.”
President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat have held more than 50 meetings since the talks began last year.

Tense words as EU summit looms

2009-12-04

THE CYPRUS government appears to be keeping all options open regarding next week’s key evaluation of Turkey’s obligations to the EU, despite increasingly clear messages that the EU is not prepared to stir the waters.
Yesterday President Demetris Christofias when asked whether Cyprus still had the right to freeze EU–Turkey negotiation chapters, said: “We have all the rights which every member state has”.
He was commenting on statements made during a talk given to the European Policy Centre, Turkish Minister of State and EU Chief Negotiator, Egemen Bagis warned that any additional sanctions against Turkey would hinder the continuation of talks on the island’s future.

Elders returning to Cyprus next week

2009-12-04

THE ELDERS will make a return visit to Cyprus next Wednesday to open the new Cyprus Community Media Centre (CCMC), supported by the United Nations Development Programme – Action for Co-operation and Trust (UNDP-ACT).
According to the UNDP, the Elders, Desmond Tutu, Jimmy Carter and Lakhdar Brahimi, will be in Cyprus to offer their support to individuals and organisations who seek to build greater trust and dialogue between the communities of the island.

Children serious with H1N1

2009-12-04

NINTEEN children with H1N1 flu are in a serious but stable condition at the Makarios Hospital in Nicosia, it emerged yesterday.
The children are being held for treatment and observation and are said not to be in danger. One however, was in the intensive care unit of the hospital until early yesterday afternoon, when his condition stabilised and he was moved back to the general ward.
His case was complicated due to a secondary infection in the lower respiratory system but was not critical in the end.
The Makarios Hospital is currently offering immunizations only to children aged between 6 months and 15 years and to pregnant women.

Drug users to be given clean needles

2009-12-04

A NEW LAW is on the cards aimed at legalising the handing out of replacement needles to drug users, in a bid to halt the spread of infectious diseases.
A draft legislation under discussion at the House Health Committee is expected to be finalized soon and tabled before parliament.
It envisages the handing out of needles by doctors and pharmacies and perhaps also by qualified professionals such as people working at non-governmental drug rehab centres.
The legislation has the backing of the Ministry of Health; the House Committee will be putting the final touches to the bill when it next convenes.

Helios trial examines technical aspects

2009-12-04

AN EXPERT yesterday explained to the court trying the Helios airline crash the various aircraft operations and parts involved in the chain of events that brought the Boeing 737-300 down in Greece in August 2005 killing all 121 on board.
Theofanis Karathanasis, an avionics expert from Greece, used a slide show to explain the function and parts of various systems including the air-conditioning, pressurisation, equipment cooling and oxygen masks.
He also explained how the aircraft’s doors worked including that of the cockpit.
Karathanasis paid special attention to the pressurisation system, explaining how it worked and what actions flight crew must take in various situations.

Police explore whether Kirilov’s murder was mafia hit

2009-12-04

POLICE investigators are reportedly examining the possibility that the murder of 61-year-old Russian millionaire Yuri Kirilov was a mafia hit.
It has already been confirmed that investigators are looking into his past in Russia in search of a business associate with whom Kirilov may have had differences.
Statements given to police by Kirilov’s friends and business associates in Cyprus have revealed that the 61-year-old maintained a booming business in Russia in the 1990s. Some of these statements also indicated that Kirilov’s business activity got him involved in dangerous circles and that there had been friction in his past business dealings.

Three remanded for Tseri robbery

2009-12-04

THREE men arrested in connection with an armed bank robbery were yesterday remanded in custody by the Nicosia district court.
The suspects were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the morning armed robbery of a cooperative bank at Tseri, outside Nicosia.
Two masked men armed with a double-barrelled shotgun threatened the teller and made off with around €15,000.
The robbers fled the scene in a white Chevrolet pick-up with tinted windows driven by a third person, the court heard.
The vehicle, which had been stolen from Larnaca airport late last month was later found burning near the Tseri industrial estate.
The court heard that a police officer saw a car with three passengers near the scene and recognised the driver being one of the suspects.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.