Wales beat Pumas in final World Cup warm-up

2011-08-20

Wales ensured they would be leaving for the World Cup in good spirits with a 28-13 victory over Argentina on Saturday in their final warmup game before the tournament in New Zealand.

A slow first half came alive in the last four minutes with Andy Powell and Alun Wyn Jones scoring tries in quick succession and James Hook adding the conversions that gave the hosts a 14-3 lead at the break at the Millennium Stadium.

The Pumas had led through a Felipe Contepomi penalty in a game where players were out to impress their coaches before Monday’s deadline to name their final 30-man World Cup squads.

Mistakes crept in for a tired-looking Argentina as Hook kicked Wales further ahead before George North powered through for the third try.

Wake-up call for Baghdatis in Winston-Salem

2011-08-20

Marcos Baghdatis has suffered a significant rankings drop after a succession of early exits during the Olympus US Open Series, and will now be looking to return to form at the ATP World Tour 250 Winston-Salem Open at the Wake Forest University.

The eighth-seeded Cypriot has received a first-round bye and will take on the winner of the clash between American Ryan Sweeting and Olivier Rochus of Belgium in the second round.

Four Foreign Ministry officials under scrutiny

2011-08-20

FOUR SENIOR Foreign Ministry officials, including the permanent secretary, are under investigation for their alleged involvement in fabricating an internal memo regarding last month’s naval base explosion.

The Cabinet yesterday appointed a state prosecutor to investigate the foursome’s possible involvement in “serious disciplinary offences”, said government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou.

Later in the day Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis confirmed she had applied in writing to the Public Service Commission (PSC) for her subordinates’ suspension.

The PSC will have the final say whether to go ahead with their suspensions.

First criminal charges filed over explosion

2011-08-20

POLICE YESTERDAY filed the first criminal cases on the Mari naval base blast against three National Guard (NG) officers, it transpired last night.

According to state broadcaster CyBC, police investigations into the July 11 blast which killed 13 firemen and soldiers and incapacitated the island’s biggest power plant, led police to file two cases against the National Guardsmen, two of whom are senior officers, at the Nicosia District Court.

Citing sources, the broadcaster said the first case involves two military officials charged with three offences: obstructing police investigations, neglect of duty and conspiracy to commit an offence.

Forty days on, the tears still roll

2011-08-20

TEARFUL, wailing and angry relatives of the 13 victims of the July 11 tragedy who attended the 40 day memorial service yesterday accused the government of abandoning them.

Officials and relatives stood in front of table carrying the pictures of the victims one kilometre away from the site of the blast at the Evangelos Florakis naval base in the Limassol district.

Crying relatives started shouting against those responsible, breaking the one minute’s silence after the service.

Relatives asked the Defence Minister Demetris Eliades why no one had personally delivered the death notice to them.

“Are we only worth a letter?” an angry relative asked the minister.

Fire chief appeals his suspension

2011-08-20

SUSPENDED FIRE Chief Andreas Nicolaou has appealed to the Supreme Court against his suspension following the Mari naval base blast, arguing the decisions is “void” and “illegal”.

Nicolaou appealed to the country’s top court on Thursday, claiming the decision to suspend him on July 27 following the launch of criminal and disciplinary investigations against him was “void, illegal and lacking any legal effect”.

Dangerous munitions still stored in residential areas

2011-08-20

THE NATIONAL Guard has continued to store aged, obsolete and useless munitions in a residential area, almost a month after announcing their destruction it emerged yesterday.

An unknown quantity of Bofors 40 mm shells, whose gun is no longer in service in Cyprus, is due to be destroyed (as of Monday) but incredibly they are still being stored in the village of Palodhia, near Limassol yesterday.

A defence ministry statement said yesterday that the destruction of “Obsolete and useless” munitions would begin at the Ayia Fyla firing range on Monday.

The announcement came a month after the defence ministry said 128,000 of the same type Bofors rounds – which had been deemed dangerous – were due to be destroyed.

Just because you’re paranoid…

2011-08-20

AKEL and DISY yesterday locked horns for the umpteenth time in the ongoing political spat between the government and opposition over the Evangelos Florakis debacle.

DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades reiterated his demand for President Demetris Christofias’ resignation and said the president should take political responsibility for the July 11 tragedy.

Anastassiades said if Christofias insisted on clinging to his presidential seat, proclaiming it was his right to govern based on his election to office, then Christofias should answer to the people and call new elections.

So many problems, so little time

2011-08-20

ANYONE TRYING to forecast what will come out of next Thursday’s parliamentary session on the economy was left staring into a crystal ball yesterday as parties and unions played hopscotch over the current package of measures.

Opposition party DISY appeared to backtrack on its demand for raising the retirement age to 65; the finance minister said he’d “try” and get legislation prepared for a second package of measures by next week, while public servants union PASYDY claimed it has never agreed to raise VAT to 17 per cent.

Furore over Polish football fans coming through the north

2011-08-20

TROUBLE IS brewing ahead of Tuesday’s UEFA Champion’s league match between APOEL and Poland’s Wisla Krakov, when hundreds of Polish fans are due to fly to Cyprus via Tymbou/Ercan airport in the north.

An article on the APOEL fan site,  apoel .net , was yesterday calling on the club to check boarding passes and passports of visiting fans and barring entry if they had entered Cyprus via the north.

Despite their requests, however, the club yesterday sought to reassure visitors that the club was neither able, allowed or willing to bar entry.

In the meantime, the foreign ministry is taking steps – via the Cypriot Ambassador in Poland and to the Polish Ambassador in Cyprus – to try and ensure Polish fans enter the island through legal routes.

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.