Karzai says his office gets ‘bags of money’ from Iran

2010-10-26

AFGHAN President Hamid Karzai said yesterday his office receives cash in bags from Iran, but said it is a transparent form of aid that helps cover expenses at the Presidential Palace and the United States makes similar payments.

The comments came after a report on Sunday that Karzai’s chief of staff, Omar Dawoodzai, receives covert bagfuls of money – possibly as much as $6 million in a single payment – from neighbouring Iran in a bid to secure influence and loyalty.

The New York Times, citing an unnamed Afghan official, said that millions of dollars in cash channelled from Iran have been used to pay Afghan lawmakers, tribal elders and Taliban commanders.

German students win Ugly Dance World Cup

2010-10-26

A GROUP of four German high school students took first prize in the final of the Ugly Dance World Cup held in Hamburg this weekend.

The winners from the northwestern German town of Vechta competed against nine other teams from Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland.

“They convinced with epic ugliness, horrible appearance and their signature move – the Shy Dance,” according to the competition’s official website.

But the competition’s organisers said that ugly dance was not necessarily bad.

“It’s so easy to dance nicely, but ugly dancing is an art. We like to call it “ugly aesthetics,” they said.

Religious demands rise in French state schools

2010-10-26

Muslim pupils oppose learning about Holocaust, evolution

* Report suggests training teachers to uphold secularism

MUSLIM pupils and parents in France are increasingly making religious demands on the state school system that teachers should rebuff by explaining the country’s secular principles, according to an official report.

The High Council for Integration (HCI) reported growing problems with pupils of immigrant backgrounds who object to courses about the Holocaust, the Crusades or evolution, demand halal meals and “reject French culture and its values.”

Cameron urges business to drive recovery

2010-10-26

* PM wants £200 billion of infrastructure spending

* Cameron urges firms to turn profits into investment

* Says will do more to boost bank lending to small firms

* Tucker says in BoE’s mandate to ensure no double dip

PRIME Minister David Cameron urged companies yesterday to use more of their profits to expand, and promised to do more to get bank lending flowing to smaller firms as huge cuts in public spending begin to kick in.

Speaking to business leaders, Cameron sought to switch the focus of debate on the economy to growth after unveiling cuts last week which may cost half a million public sector jobs and which some analysts warn could derail Britain’s recovery.

Police bite into dental expense case

2010-10-26

POLICE are investigating how a document went missing from the case file of deputy Attorney-general Akis Papasavvas, who received €17,000 from the state covering his expenses for teeth implants carried out at a private clinic.

The missing document is the final report of the panel of government dentists which examined Papasavvas’ request back in February.

According to daily Politis, which broke the story, Papasavvas’ request was processed swiftly and he received the money within a month.

Papasavvas’ net annual income is in excess of €100,000.

Following the brouhaha over the story, Health Minister Christos Patsalides asked to see the file only to discover that a key document was missing.

APOEL go top in Cyprus after tough battle with AEK

2010-10-26

APOEL Coach Ivan Jovanovic was a happy man after his side beat AEK Larnaca 1-0 in Round 7 of the national football championship to go level on points with Anorthosis at the top of the standings.

“Today’s game was as expected. We faced a team that is doing well and for this reason they were very enthusiastic,” said Jovanovic.

“However, we deserved to win the game as we performed just well enough to get by.

“My players showed seriousness and discipline throughout the game and this was the key to our eventual victory.

“The championship is very difficult this season and as we could see today we need to be constantly in top form.

Papasavvas tooth case is a disgrace

2010-10-26

WHEN THE STATE, unthinkingly, provides ultra-privileges to top state officials that no ordinary citizen of the Republic enjoys, it is inevitable that these officials start to believe that preferential treatment is their entitlement. For instance no individual working in the private sector is eligible to a tax-free expense allowance, whereas top state officials are given €18,000 per year (deputies receive a higher allowance), which is also factored into the calculation of their pensions.

Suspects plead not guilty in Hadjicostis case

2010-10-26

The four defendants in the murder trial of media mogul Andis Hadjicostis will appear in the dock on 9 November after pleading not guilty yesterday to charges of conspiracy to commit murder and premeditated murder.

The defendants are Gregoris Xenofontos, 29, television presenter Elena Skordelli, 42, her 37-year-old brother Tasos Krasopoulis and Andreas Gregoriou, 33.

Xenofontos fled the island for Moldova shortly after the murder until his recent arrest and extradition. He is suspected of being the man who gunned down Hadjicostis, 42, outside his home.

The Sigma boss was shot twice outside his Engomi home on January 11 as he exited his car having just arrived home from work.

CB governor spells out pain of ignoring deficit

2010-10-26

CYPRUS must urgently trim widening public sector deficits to safeguard a nascent economic recovery and avert more dramatic cost cutting which could slash salaries and pensions, Central Bank governor Athanasios Orphanides said yesterday.

He said government estimates of a 6.0 per cent deficit in 2010 – twice the ceiling recommended by the European Union – could prove to be overly optimistic, and it could hit seven per cent of GDP next year – well above a target set by Brussels.

Orphanides, a Governing Council member of the European Central Bank, said delays in cutting spending would amplify the impact of any fiscal consolidation package, and said it could hit pensions and the state payroll.

Social Security deposit dismissed as trickery

2010-10-26

THE government will deposit 200 million euros in the coming days into the Social Security Fund (SSF), the Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis announced yesterday to cries of “accounting tricks” by the opposition DISY and government partner DIKO.

Speaking after a meeting with Labour Minister Sotiroula Charalambous and social partners to discuss how to invest the extra funds, Stavrakis said that for many years the fund has had no reserve.

“We already deposited the first instalment last year,” he said, noting that the second instalment is due to be deposited within the next few days.

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.