Baghdatis through to Kremlin Cup semi-finals

2010-10-23

Marcos Baghdatis progressed to the ATP World Tour 250 Kremlin Cup semi-finals after producing a quality serving display to overcome Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine in straight sets 6-2, 7-6(7) yesterday evening in Moscow.

The Cypriot number one made a quick start to the match as he broke Dolgopolov’s serve in the third service game with a testing forehand crosscourt pass to force an error from the Ukrainian. He then broke his opponents’ serve again in the seventh game to take a 5-2 lead and after an easy game on his serve Baghdatis clinched the opener.

Israeli breaks Iranian’s multi-player chess record

2010-10-23

AN Israeli grandmaster broke an Iranian’s world record yesterday for simultaneous chess games, beating 454 out of 523 opponents in a packed city plaza.

Alik Gershon, 30, took the Guinness crown following almost 20 straight hours spent pacing between game tables lined across Tel Aviv’s Yitzhak Rabin Square.

His 86 per cent win rate outstripped former record-holder Morteza Mahjoob of Iran, who last year bested 397 out of 500 chess players taken on at once in Tehran.

“Hopefully all our wars will be on the chessboard,” Gershon told Reuters, alluding to hostility between Israel and Iran.

Dutch court to start Wilders case over again

2010-10-23

A DUTCH court yesterday approved a request from anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders to have new judges for his trial on charges of inciting hatred against Muslims, forcing the court to start the case again.

Wilders’ lawyer had asked the court to replace the current judges, raising concerns about bias after they did not immediately approve a request to hear an expert witness.

The ruling is a victory for the outspoken Wilders, who plays a key role in supporting the new minority government after his anti-immigration Freedom Party made big election gains.

Nuclear sub towed off the rocks by tugs

2010-10-23

A nuclear-powered submarine which ran aground on a shingle bank yesterday was  towed free last night, the Royal Navy said.

HMS Astute was on sea trials when the rudder of the vessel is thought to have become stuck on a shingle bank on the west coast of Scotland at around 8am yesterday.

The incident happened between the mainland and the Isle of Skye.

There were no reports of any injuries and the Ministry of Defence said it was not a “nuclear incident”.

It is believed a crew transfer from the shore to the submarine was being carried out when the incident happened.

The vessel was towed free by a tug at around 6pm and will now be towed to deep water where a survey will be carried out on its rudder.

Impromptu strike at Paphos delays 12 flights

2010-10-23

 

HUNDREDS of air passengers out of Paphos airport were affected yesterday when 12 flights were halted over a ground-handlers’ dispute that briefly spread to Larnaca airport but was called off before it could damage operations there.

The strike began in Paphos around noon when the two ground services’ companies made 33 employees redundant. The two companies only revoked the 33 redundancy letters after the strike had spread to Larnaca airport.

Ground staff at Paphos Airport held the unplanned strike in the morning – affecting 12 flights in total – while Larnaca workers had just followed suit in the early afternoon, when the decision to revoke was announced and operations went back to normal.

Our View: People’s actions made it necessary for the police to use force

2010-10-23

AS WAS EXPECTED the police came under fire from the politicians and the media for the Wednesday night raid in Ayios Theodoros. We heard the traditional accusation that the police had used ‘excessive force’, while one DISY deputy opted for more poetic hyperbole, claiming that officers acted as if they were conducting a terror raid against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

A TV presenter gave a brief lecture against the police on the Thursday evening news, claiming their actions were out of proportion to the crime being investigated and pointed out that the force kept messing up the more serious cases. For dramatic effect he noted that police were nowhere to be found when a bank robbery was staged in Limassol on Thursday.

Two senior prison guards arrested in contraband affair

2010-10-23

TWO SENIOR prison wardens have been arrested and remanded in custody in connection with the recent find of 11 mobile phones and other contraband in a staff locker room at the Nicosia Central Prison.

The locker was opened at random after one guard was looking for a spare place to store his belongings in.

On Thursday night the police, after securing testimony from an unnamed source, and using DNA testing from the contraband, arrested a 58-year-old guard. The guard has so far denied any involvement in the case.

A few hours later a second guard aged 45 was also arrested.

The two suspects appeared before the Nicosia District Court yesterday and remanded for six days.

Fury in Paphos after CY now axes Birmingham flight

2010-10-23

Cyprus Airways (CY) has cancelled another Paphos-UK flight, dealing the town yet a further blow, officials said yesterday.

The decision to suspend the weekly Paphos–Birmingham route comes within days of the national carrier’s cancellation of the twice-weekly Paphos-Heathrow as of April 2011.

However, bowing to intense pressure the airline yesterday backed down on the Heathrow cuts for the time being, sources said later yesterday. The matter is to be discussed next week.

Speaking about the Birmingham route yesterday, CY spokesman Kyiacos Kyriacou told the Cyprus Mail that finances were at issue.

Health Minister orders review of Papasavvas’ dental bill after paper says state paid out of turn

2010-10-23

HEALTH MINISTER Christos Patsalides yesterday ordered an administrative investigation into allegations made by Politis newspaper that the state paid €17,000 to fix the teeth of Deputy Attorney-general Akis Papasavvas.

The minister ordered the investigation after discovering that certain documents were missing from the case file on Papasavvas regarding his request for the state to cover surgery for ten teeth implants provided by a private doctor.

The deputy AG yesterday categorically denied any wrongdoing or irregularity, pledging to sue the paper for a fifth time.

ESPA votes new committee after weeks of wrangling

2010-10-23

The English School Parents Association (ESPA) has elected its new committee, promising a “peaceful atmosphere” at last, after weeks of political jostling and allegedly spurious allegations between two rival groups.

The groups are the self-styled “Concerned Parents” (a loose association that favours ethnic diversity and Turkish Cypriot inclusion) and the rest, who think the “concerned parents” are Akelites.

Thursday’s election will usher eight candidates from the latter group into the 15 person committee.  However, none are Turkish Cypriot, despite 13 per cent of the school’s students being Turkish Cypriot.

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.