Assad’s government resigns

2011-03-29

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accepted his government’s resignation on Tuesday after nearly two weeks of pro-democracy unrest that has posed the gravest challenge to his 11-year rule.

But the move was unlikely to satisfy protester demands since the cabinet has little authority in Syria, where power is concentrated in the hands of Assad, his family and the security apparatus.

Tens of thousands of Syrians held pro-government rallies on Tuesday, awaiting a speech in which Assad was expected to announce a decision on liftingemergency laws that have served to crush dissent for almost 50 years.

That is a key demand of anti-government demonstrations in which more than 60 people have been killed.

“Spiderman” Climbs worlds tallest building

2011-03-29

A French daredevil urban climber on Monday scaled the world’s tallest building, the 828-metre (2,717-foot) Burj Khalifa in Dubai, fighting winds that delayed his ascent for hours.

Alain Robert, 48, who is also known as the French Spiderman, took about six hours to climb the more than 160-storey building, using a rope and harness as required by organisers.

But he said the safety precautions and the attention from a crowd that had gathered to watch made him more nervous.

“Actually there is huge pressure on me because I know that they have installed everything there; this is for me. There is a giant screen, 50 metres high, 30 metres long. I know everybody is going to look at me so it’s a bit of — a lot of — stress in fact,” Robert said before the climb.

Ponting steps down

2011-03-29

Ricky Ponting, the most successful captain in 134 years of test cricket, resigned as the Australian test and one-day skipper on Tuesday but will continue as a batsman with the team.

The 36-year-old, who has led Australia in one day internationals since 2002 and tests since 2004, had been under increasing pressure after an Ashes defeat to England and a quarter-final exit as defending champions at the World Cup.

“I’ve had the chance to long and hard about it and today I’ve decided to stand down as captain of the test team and the one-day team as of now,” he told a news conference at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).

“The main reason for me is I think it’s the right time.

iPhone 5 Most Probable Intro Day: June 6, WWDC2011

2011-03-29

If you are waiting for iPhone 5, now you have a solid target day: Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference will start on June 6. The iPhone 3G, 3GS and iPhone 4 were all launched at previous WWDCs. In the words of Phil Schiller:

At this year’s conference we are going to unveil the future of iOS and Mac OS. If you are an iOS or Mac OS X software developer, this is the event that you do not want to miss.

Obviously, the future of iOS and Mac OS X are iOS 5 and Lion. Typically, major versions of iOS would be previewed before WWDC, in March. This year, however, Apple hasn’t presented iOS 5 yet. There’s still plenty of time until June, but Schiller’s words and Apple’s invite seem to point out at WWDC as the launch pad for the new iPhone and iPad operating system.

DISY calls for drastic cut in army draft

2011-03-29

THE National Guard should be turned into a semi-professional army and military service should be simultaneously reduced from 24 to 14 months, DISY leader Nikos Anastassiades said yesterday.

Citing studies commissioned by the party, Anastassiades said the lengthy duration of the service was the primary cause of draft dodging, and suggested that creating an army comprising partly professional soldiers and partly conscripts would kill two birds with one stone.

Criticising the AKEL administration for abandoning plans to cut the draft to 19 months, Anastassiades went on to wonder whether the government’s defence policy “is limited to sending emails from the Presidential Palace to the Defence Ministry asking that so-and-so gets preferential treatment”.

Our View: Opponents of peace talks fail to offer viable alternatives

2011-03-29

IN THE absence of any local news worth reporting, the media made a big issue out of DIKO deputy leader, Giorgos Colocassides’ March 25th speech, against the bi-zonal, bi-communal settlement currently being negotiated. The speech became a news item because AKEL decided to respond to Colocassides’ assertion that a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation was a “summary of Turkish demands”. The current negotiations dealt with “dangerous constitutional experimentation” that was doomed to failure, he concluded.

House set to approve compensation for Eurocypria employees

2011-03-29

THE HOUSE Plenum is expected to approve a €7.2 million compensation plan for the employees of bankrupt, state-owned airline Eurocypria this Thursday.

The draft bill was discussed at the House Finance Committee yesterday, which decided to investigate claims by the doomed airline’s 254 former workers that they never received payment for the hours they worked leading up to Eurocypria’s bankruptcy.

The payments owed by the liquidator – amounting to €2.5 million – are in addition to the €1.2 million the workers are seeking from the government in the form of VAT owed.

Central Bank moves ahead with stability fund

2011-03-29

THE Central Bank is drafting regulation to create a financial stability fund, aiming for an initial amount of around €500 million euros through contributions from banks, its governor Athanasios Orphanides said yesterday.

“As an initial target, our aim is to build a fund of around 3.0 per cent of GDP,” Orphanides, a member of the governing council of the European Central Bank (ECB), told lawmakers in parliament.

That figure corresponds to about €500 million, he said. “Our aim is to have this fund ready by September,” Orphanides told the House Finance Committee.

Younger voters lacking interest in May polls

2011-03-29

OVER two-thirds of first time voters seem to be largely apathetic about the May parliamentary elections and have not registered to vote before the April 2 deadline.

So far about 10,000 have registered out of 34,000 of those newly eligible to vote (those who have turned 18 since the last elections), the election service’s Demetris Demetriou said yesterday. Around 148,000 voters are eligible to vote in the 18-30 age group in general but only 110,000 have registered. This marks a generational gap in voting attitudes. For those older than 30, about 10 per cent do not register, Demetriou said.

Injuries as basketball game erupts in violence

2011-03-29

THE Lefkotheo Arena in Nicosia was turned into a battlefield on Sunday night during the first division basketball championship’s semi-final between Cytavision APOEL and Intercollege ETHA, when angered APOEL fans launched a violent attack on all and sundry.

The fans managed – among others – to interrupt the game, injure an on-duty policeman with stones and cause damage inside the stadium and out.

The violence unfolded onto the streets resulting in nearby shops being vandalised.

“We have reached breaking point,” said Justice Minister Loucas Louca yesterday, while the Police Chief asked for a full report on the incident to see if the force could have prevented the violent outcome.

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.