Togo to play in Angola despite attack, says midfielder

2010-01-10

Togo’s soccer team has decided to play in the African Nations Cup following a deadly attack on the squad, even though its government has withdrawn the side, French sports newspaper L’Equipe reported on Sunday.

L’Equipe quoted midfielder Alaixys Romao as saying the team had agreed to stay in the Angolan enclave of Cabinda for its first Group B match against Ghana on Monday.

“The decision was taken unanimously,” said Romao, who plays for French club side Grenoble.

Rebels of the Cabindan separatist group FLEC sprayed the Togolese team bus with gunfire on Friday, killing the driver and wounding nine others. Two members of Togo’s soccer delegation died on Saturday and one was undergoing surgery in South Africa.

Own goal saves United, Rosicky rescues Arsenal

2010-01-10

Manchester United and Arsenal failed to take advantage of Chelsea’s inactivity in the snowbound Premier League when they were held to draws by Birmingham City and Everton on Saturday.

United came from behind to draw 1-1 at Birmingham while Arsenal rescued a point when a last-gasp Tomas Rosicky equaliser earned a 2-2 home draw with Everton.

The results left Chelsea, who had their match at Hull City postponed because of the icy weather, clear at the top with 45 points from 20 matches followed by United with 44 from 21 and Arsenal with 42 from 20.

Tottenham Hotspur, who also had Sunday’s trip to Liverpool called off, are fourth with 37 points from 20 games. The only other match due to go ahead is Manchester City’s home game with Blackburn Rovers on Monday.

Snow, freezing weather hit Europe, disrupt travel

2010-01-10

 

Snow and freezing weather swept parts of Europe on Saturday causing travel chaos for thousands and forecasters predicted no let-up in Britain’s harshest cold snap in 30 years.

Rail and air travel were disrupted in Britain, France and Germany. Eurostar, the rail service linking England and France, said it was running around two-thirds of its normal Saturday service from London.

A spokeswoman for the train operator encouraged people not to travel unless the trip was essential.

Forecasters in Britain said icy winds from northern Europe meant the big freeze felt even colder after temperatures fell overnight to minus 14 celsius (7 F) and even lower in some parts of the country.

Film Review: The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

2010-01-10

How to explain the emaciated thinness – the essential nothing-there-ness – of The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus? The film is a puzzle, an obviously big-budget fantasy built on expensive (and often imaginative) visuals but only a wisp of narrative. I don’t mean it’s done badly, I mean there’s (almost) nothing there at all. If they made a music video of Chris de Burgh’s ‘Spanish Train’ – the song about God and the Devil playing poker, then chess, for the souls of the dead – it might have roughly the same content, except it would be 119 minutes shorter. You don’t just wonder how it ended up the way it did; you wonder how it got made at all.

Restaurant review: Dori’s Lebanese takeaway, Paphos

2010-01-10

Takeaways have usually been the preserve of the gastronomically undemanding (not to say desperate) late-night feeders, where a visit to any one of these well known establishments allows one to fill up on a dubious combination of cheap protein, even cheaper carbs and a generous side serving of tongue-coating fats.

Club Review: Dargendo, Limassol

2010-01-10

Dargendo is the latest addition to Limassol’s nightlife and has already managed to attract a loyal clientele, establishing a name as one of the most popular clubs in town. Located off the main Yermasoyia tourist road, the club is housed in a former bouzoukia place, but the building has undergone a month-long, all-encompassing transformation, emerging as an upscale ultra-hip venue.

Profile: Mike Togni the clown

2010-01-10

The most significant thing Mike Togni does during our interview is something he doesn’t do. We’re at the circus, his place of business – the Circo di Barcelona, encamped in Lakatamia as part of its three-month “Cyprus Tour” – talking in a small office, which is already quite unusual for Mike. Mike doesn’t work in an office. Mike is a clown.

Expose your alter ego

2010-01-10

Ever fancied yourself dressed in a leotard posing in a butcher’s shop with your husband dressed as a pig? Or perhaps you have a thing for action movies and would love to be able to jump off a Ninja motorbike in The Matrix style in a cat mask and have someone document this impossible feat? Or maybe you see yourself as a bit of a Mafia boss surrounded by a dark and dingy setting with a penguin in the corner?

Walk through the Nicosia of yesteryear

2010-01-10

There are donkeys tied up on the side of cobbled walkways, women handing out vegetables in a street market and a dark moustached man involved in some sort of barter. The year is 1850 and I’m smack in the middle of Nicosia. Then enter George Chrysanthou, a computer scientist who designs virtual tours and is now responsible for giving people the rare chance to feel like they’ve stepped foot in some sort of time machine that actually does a rather brilliant job.

Plant of the week: Plumbago

2010-01-10

Name: Plumbago (Plumbago Europaea)

Otherwise known as: Common Leadwort, Dentallaria

Habitat: A perennial climbing shrub member of the Plumbaginaceae family, growing up to 4m in well-drained soil and native to the southern Mediterranean. The plant displays alternate, sessile leaves on sturdy stems and produces racemes of white, blue or purple flowers for most of the year. The calyx issues a gum-like substance that is fatal to crawling, non-pollinating insects. All aerial parts of the plant are toxic and will cause severe dermatitis.

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.