Broad counter-attack rescues England

2011-07-29

Stuart Broad launched a late counter-attack with a blazing 64 to help England fight back against India on the first day of the second test on Friday.

India were 24 for one at the close after England had been bowled out for 221 after tea with rookie opener Abhinav Mukund out to the first ball of the innings, caught in the gully by Kevin Pietersen off James Anderson.

Although India finished with the upper hand, England would feel they had clawed their way back into the game after they were reduced to 124 for eight at tea. Broad’s innings came from only 66 balls and he added a crucial 73 with Graeme Swann (28) for the ninth wicket.

Sky Sports, BBC win Formula One TV rights

2011-07-29

 

The BBC and Sky have won the UK’s live television rights to Formula One between 2012 and 2018, in a move that will see the national broadcaster air just half of a season’s races as the sport goes to UK Pay-TV for the first time.

A joint statement on Friday said Sky would show all races, qualifying and practice sessions live while the BBC would show half the races and qualifying sessions, including the British and Monaco Grands Prix and the season finale.

The BBC will have a highlights package for all of the race weekends it is not covering live, while its Radio Five channel will continue to cover every live race.

No holding back for the All Blacks, says McCaw

2011-07-29

Keeping something in reserve with half an eye on this year’s World Cup is just not in the All Blacks’ DNA, skipper Richie McCaw said on the eve of New Zealand’s Tri-Nations opener on Friday.

Defending champions after sweeping the competition last year, the All Blacks open the shortened 2011 campaign against a South Africa team badly beaten by Australia last week and severely weakened by injury.

With huge pressure from an expectant nation that they will win the World Cup on home soil later this year, was there not a temptation just to hold something back for the Sept 9-Oct. 23 tournament?

Norway ends search for bodies at island

2011-07-29

  • Ends search on island for bodies after shootings
  • Police to interrogate Breivik again on Friday
  • Right-wing warning for Europe, former PM says

NORWEGIAN police yesterday ended a six-day search for bodies on the island where anti-Islamist extremist Anders Behring Breivik killed 68 people and say they are increasingly certain he acted alone.

Breivik, 32, killed a total of 76 people in a bomb attack in central Oslo followed by the shooting rampage at the island summer camp for the ruling Labour Party’s youth wing.

“The search at Utoeya (island) has been completed,” police Chief of Staff Johan Fredriksen told a news conference.

NYC hospital use palm scans to identify patients

2011-07-29

 

A NEW York City hospital has stopped asking many patients to dig out health insurance cards and fill in endless forms, instead identifying them by scanning the unique lattice of veins in their palm.

The new biometric technology at New York University’s Langone Medical Centre is expected to speed up patient check-ins and eliminate medical errors.

Studies have shown that hospital errors are behind as many as 98,000 deaths a year in the United States.

“The primary reason we actually got into this was patient safety,” Bernard Birnbaum, the centre’s vice dean and chief of hospital operations, said in a telephone interview.

The system does not require the patient be conscious at the time of check-in.

Unions accuse government of harming pension talks

2011-07-29

  • Public sector workers say plans mean working longer and paying more to get smaller pension

 

UNIONS accused the British government yesterday of undermining talks on public sector pension reform and warned widespread action was likely after it announced plans to increase many workers’ contributions.

Ministers and union chiefs are currently negotiating plans to reform pensions – a move the government says is essential because people are living longer.

The proposals, which the Treasury said would deliver £1 billion of savings in 2012-2013, would see contributions of those earning under  £15,000 a year remain the same, while higher earners would pay up to 2.4 per cent more.

The appliance of science

2011-07-29

 

The recent winner of science contest FameLab is an enthusiastic and bubbly proponent of the miracle of life finds THEO PANAYIDES

 

Our View: Whistleblowing law would need to tackle culture of self-advancement

2011-07-29

ENVIRONMENT Commissioner Charalambos Theopemptou raised a very interesting issue on his blog. He suggested that Cyprus followed the example of other countries and set up a legal framework for whistle-blowing. This would provide legal protection to any person who reported dishonest or illegal activities in a government department, public organisation or company.

The law would protect such an individual from prosecution, for violating bureaucratic regulations or from wrongful dismissal at a private company. It is aimed at encouraging people to speak out when they are privy to information about wrongdoing or practices that put public health and safety at risk. In the US there has been a law to protect whistle-blowers since 1863 and, although revised, is still in force.

Ministers quit, President stays

2011-07-29

 

PRESIDENT Demetris Christofias said yesterday he had no intention of quitting after his Cabinet resigned in the wake of the July 11 blast and amid growing talk of an EU bailout.

“The people elected me, and it is to the people that I am accountable. Not to media,” he told newsmen after being asked if he would step down.

Earlier in the day, Christofias convened an emergency session of the Cabinet where he asked his ministers to tender their resignations with a view to a government reshuffle.

The move came after the remaining two ministers belonging to junior coalition partner DIKO handed in their resignations on Wednesday night.

‘Chistofias has lost the trust of the people’

2011-07-29

PRESIDENT Demetris Christofias should resign and be replaced by a universally accepted candidate who would only remain in power for 18 months – the remainder of the current administration’s term, main opposition DISY MEP Ioannis Kasoulides said yesterday.

Speaking at a news conference, Kasoulides, who ran against Christofias in the 2008 elections, said the difficult times the country was going through “and the critical 18 months that will follow, required all parties to assume responsibility.”

“Only such an initiative would afford a way out and will convince the people that they have a leadership worthy of the circumstances,” Kasoulides said.

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.