England take command of third test

2011-08-10

England enjoyed another dominant day against India by bowling the tourists out for 224 on the first day of the third test at Edgbaston on Wednesday before closing on 84 without loss.

Andrew Strauss, who won the toss for the first time in the four-match series, was 52 not out and Alastair Cook was on 27 after India’s pace bowlers were unable to exact any kind of control.

Strauss raised England’s 50 with a square cut for four off Shanthakumaran Sreesanth for his seventh boundary that took him to 31. He later registered his own half-century 13 balls from the close, his first test fifty of the English summer.

Successful debut for Nioplias as Cyprus defeat Moldova

2011-08-10

In their 300th match – and the first under new coach Greek Nikos Nioplias – the Cypriot national football team topped Moldova 3-2 at Nicosia’s GSP Stadium yesterday evening.

The first official game for Cyprus was recorded in 1960, against Israel at the old GSP Stadium in Nicosia, in the qualifications for the 1962 World Cup held in Chile, which ended as 1-1 draw. The 299th match was a friendly encounter against Bulgaria in March at Larnaca’s Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium.

Fitch cuts Cyprus’ rating on fiscal slippages

2011-08-10

 

Fitch cut Cyprus’ credit rating by two notches to BBB on Wednesday due to fiscal slippages, saying the island state was likely to require a bailout to meet its funding needs.

“The two-notch downgrade of ratings to ‘BBB’ reflects the actual and anticipated fiscal slippage, compounded by Fitch’s expectation that the sovereign will be unable to access the international debt markets in order to refinance an increasing debt maturity profile in H211 and H112,” Fitch said in a statement.

The other two main rating agencies, Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s, both cut the island’s rating at the end of July. Moody’s rates Cyprus Baa1, Standard and Poor’s BBB-plus.

 

Cameron pledges crackdown as rioting spreads

2011-08-10

Prime Minister David Cameron said on Wednesday “a fight back is under way” to restore law and order to Britain’s streets but rioting, looting and arson by gangs of youths spread from London to other cities overnight.

Youths fought running battles with police in the northern cities of Manchester and Liverpool as well as in the Midlands.

They smashed shop windows, carted off televisions and designer clothes, and torched buildings as police armed with shields and batons struggled to maintain control.

A boosted police presence meant London itself was relatively quiet after three days of violent unrest that shocked the nation and raised questions about the divided state of modern Britain.

EAC amends power cut schedule in eight areas

2011-08-10

The Electricity Authority (EAC) announced today that  eight Limassol district villages would be affected by an increase in electricity demand this month forcing the EAC to move the eight communities from Zone 5 to Zone 2 on its power cut schedule.

The affected villages are Kapilio, Zoopigi, Kalo Chorio, Louvaras, Ayios Pavlos, Ayios Constantinos, Ayios Mamas and part of Trimiklini, the authority said.

The EAC said the decision was based on increased power demands at mountain resorts during the month of August and that the change would apply from tomorrow to August 21.

Motorcyclist killed

2011-08-10

A 30-year-old motorcyclist was killed instantly during the early hours of yesterday when he collided with a car in the Limassol district, said police.

George Antoniou was driving his motorbike at around 1.50am on Promachon Eleftherias Street in Yermasoyia when he tried to overtake a car from the left.

According to investigators the car, which was being driven by a 19-year-old, also moved to the left and the two vehicles collided.

Antoniou, who was wearing a helmet, was thrown from his bike on to a traffic signal pole at a zebra crossing and killed.

The 19-year-old motorist was unharmed from the accident, police said.

Storm ahead for economic package

2011-08-10

THE government and civil service unions last night rubber stamped a number of measures concerning the public sector that will be part of an austerity package expected to be officially announced today and sent to parliament tomorrow.

Shortly after the measures were announced, DIKO vice chairman Nicolas Papadopoulos said his party – which abandoned the coalition only last week – could not be expected to support the package.

“What we agreed was for a specific contribution on pensions, which everyone says is a time-bomb but it seems some don’t want to do anything to prevent the explosion,” Papadopoulos told Sigma television.

He said that his party would either try to amend the bills or reject them tomorrow.

Our View: Ban’s optimism flies in the face of new realities on the ground

2011-08-10

UN SECRETARY General Ban Ki-moon must be one of the world’s greatest optimists. He issues report after report on Cyprus, sometimes taking a softly, softly approach and other times issuing veiled warnings, but his reports are always hopeful because each time he meets the two leaders, they assure him they want a solution and agree to intensify the negotiations.

It’s been three years as far as the latest round is concerned and the new intensified negotiations lasted only a day and a half before going on hiatus.

Cyprus talks ‘drifting’ but Ban still hopes for convergence

2011-08-10

AT THEIR current slow pace the Cyprus talks are not likely to reach an agreement “for quite some time”, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a draft report issued late on Monday.

Ban said the talks were “drifting” and taking longer than then UN had hoped. The pace needed to be faster. He said that since his last report on Cyprus five months ago, the pace had actually slowed down.

During their meeting with Ban in July in Geneva, the leaders agreed to intensified talks twice a week. They held one intensified meeting on July 25 and another on July 29, which was cut short, and have now taken a two-week break.

They are due to meet Ban again in October in New York, by which time he said they must have reached convergence.

Police check out ‘document tampering’ in blast probe

2011-08-10

DETECTIVES are assessing any information on possible forging of official documents relating to the Mari disaster, the police said yesterday, following media reports that a Foreign Ministry document was tampered with after July 11 in order to let former FM Marcos Kyprianou off the hook.

“Any information and/or clues regarding such an act [of tampering] are being assessed and investigated by the police,” said the force’s spokesman Michalis Katsounotos.

Daily Politis yesterday led with an item claiming that a Foreign Ministry document was altered subsequent to the events of July 11, making it appear as if former FM Kyprianou was in favour of destroying the cargo at the naval base over safety concerns.

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.