Rooney on target again as Man United go top

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney was on target again to help the hosts crush bottom club Portsmouth 5-0 and return to the top of the Premier League on Saturday.

The England international pounced just before halftime followed by two own goals and strikes by Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov to take United to 56 points, one ahead of Chelsea who entertain third-placed Arsenal on Sunday.

Earlier, Liverpool overcame the dismissal of Sotiros Kyrgiakos to beat Everton 1-0 in a fierce Merseyside derby at Anfield to move into the top four for the first time since October. Dirk Kuyt headed the winner 10 minutes after halftime.

Ten-man Liverpool beat Everton in feisty derby

Liverpool overcame the early sending-off of defender Sotiros Kyrgiakos to beat city rivals Everton 1-0 in a fiercely-contested Premier League Merseyside derby at Anfield on Saturday.

Kyrgiakos was red-carded for a challenge on Marouane Fellaini after 34 minutes but Liverpool won the game with a Dirk Kuyt header early in the second half.

In-form Everton rarely threatened an equaliser and also ended with 10 men after midfielder Steven Pienaar was sent off for a second yellow card in stoppage time.

Everton were unbeaten in nine league games since losing at home to Liverpool in November but the home side were also on a good run as they seek to claw their way back into the top four.

Is the government coalition unravelling?

UNCERTAINTY REIGNS over the future of the government coalition with the domestic political front showing signs of disarray in the wake of the UN Secretary-General’s visit and the conclusion of the intensified negotiations.

Following President Demetris Christofias’ briefing of the National Council on Friday, rumblings are once again being heard among government partners DIKO and EDEK regarding their potential departure from the coalition. Despite informing party leaders of the areas where convergence had been found, the president was only able to win the backing of his own party AKEL regarding his handling of the talks, with even pro-solution DISY keeping a distance.

Tales from the Coffeeshop: Punishment inflicted for visiting

EVERYONE appeared to be pulling fast ones and setting traps before, during and after Ban Ki-moon’s much-hyped visit to the island of martyrdom and victimhood.

But what do you expect when the hastily-arranged visit itself was declared a diplomatic scam by several of our conspiracy-busting hacks and politicos. It was allegedly set up by the devious Big Al and the Yank at UN HQ Lyn Pascoe, who forced Ban to visit by feeding him misleading information about the peace talks.

Renovation work begins on buffer zone ‘Home’

A GROUP of historians and educators from across the divide yesterday celebrated the start of renovation work on the first civil society home to straddle the buffer zone.

The inter-communal Association for Historical Dialogue and Research (AHDR) has spent three years fund-raising and lobbying to get all the permits, contracts of sale and general support needed to turn the run down house sitting opposite the Ledra Palace hotel in Nicosia into a Home for Cooperation.

With work due to start this week, the association yesterday held a street festival to mark the occasion in the traditional Cyprus style using grilled meat, music and games, green veg and zivania as handy aides.

Our View: Without suffocating timeframes, the talks are free to go on forever

LAST WEEK we had expressed the hope that, failing all else, the UN Secretary-General’s presence in Cyprus would at least help instill a sense of urgency in the very slow-moving peace process.

Although Ban Ki-moon received assurances from President Christofias that he would propose a framework for the continuation of the negotiations until the end of March, the latter made no commitment to more rounds of intensive talks like those held in January.

A streetlight named ‘inefficient’

THE streetlights in common usage throughout Cyprus have been described as poorly designed and inefficient by Environment Commissioner Charalambos Theopemptou, who has called for their replacement.

“We have to re-examine our street lighting such that we have more productive energy usage,” said Theopemptou.

The current streelights in use in Cyprus are not designed to send their light in a downwards direction but are actually angled slightly upwards.  This angling combined with their specific design makes them inefficient at lighting the roads at night.  The common street light in use today throughout Cyprus “scatters its light everywhere and in all directions”, according to Theopemptou.

Much-resented water restrictions lifted but measures still needed to reduce waste

AN island-wide end to much-resented water restrictions was announced this week by Agriculture Minister Michalis Polynikis following a spell of heavy rain that has filled reservoirs to almost 50 per cent capacity.

The decision has no doubt been welcomed by residents and the island’s hapless farming community.

In an official statement on Monday, Polynikis was keen to attribute the abundance of water to the Ministry’s skilful management. “We are close to resolving this lingering problem, particularly as a result of the desalination plants and recent rainfall,” he said.

The educated consumer is our best customer

THE Cyprus Union of Consumers and Quality of Life has organized a series of educational seminars for families running from February until roughly the end of May.  The aim of the programme is to teach consumers how to secure their rights and engage in the correct sort of consumer behaviour which will help in improving their quality of life.

The seminars are designed to be attended by parents in the company of their children and are built around the theories of Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky, the founder of cultural-historical psychology.  The course structure is formulated to encourage cooperative behaviours between parents and children on the basis of the idea that the role of the adult is critical in the intellectual development of the child.

Archbishop of Finland on visit to island

THE Orthodox Archbishop of Karelia and All Finland, Leo Makkonen, is currently on the island for a one week visit.  Archbishop Leo is scheduled to meet with President Christofias at the Presidential Palace at 9:30am on Monday.

Whilst the majority of the religious Finnish population comes under the domain of the Evangelical Lutheran Archbishop of Turku, 1.1 per cent of the population are adherents of the independent Finnish Orthodox Church which was, until 1923, part of Russian Orthodoxy.  The Finnish Orthodox Church is now an autonomous Orthodox Archbishopric of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.