Man City end tough week with win at Blackburn

2011-10-01

Manchester City’s tough week ended on a high note on Saturday when they won 4-0 at Blackburn Rovers to maintain their unbeaten start in the Premier League and stay level on points with Manchester United at the top of the table.

Champions United also maintained their unbeaten start with a 2-0 home win over Norwich City thanks to a second half goals from Anderson and Danny Welbeck. They stay top on goal difference from City with both teams taking 19 points from their opening seven games.

In the day’s lunchtime kickoff, Liverpool won 2-0 at Everton in the 185th Merseyside league derby with late goals from Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez. Everton played for more than an hour with 10 men after Jack Rodwell was sent off in the 23rd minute.

Baghdatis advances to his 11th career final in Kuala Lumpur

2011-10-01

Marcos Baghdatis has beaten World No. 15 Viktor Troicki of Serbia 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals of the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur.

The Cypriot number one snapped a five-match losing streak against Top 20 opponents with a straight set victory over Troicki who was looking to boost his outside chances of qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

Two service breaks were exchanged in the opening stages before Baghdatis broke the Serbian in the eighth game to clinch the opener. He then broke Troicki three times in the second set to wrap up the victory in 84 minutes.

England edge Scotland to reach quarter-finals

2011-10-01
England needed a late try from winger Chris Ashton to overcome a fired-up Scotland 16-12 and creep into the quarter-finals of the World Cup as Pool B winners on Saturday.
The 2003 champions, who just needed to avoid defeat by seven or more points to progress, looked like losing before Ashton crossed two minutes from time to give them a perfect four wins out of four matches.
They now face another familiar foe in France in a quarter-final clash back at Eden Park next Saturday after the French earlier reached the last eight in even more ignominious fashion with a loss to Tonga in Wellington.
“It was incredibly difficult and full credit to Scotland, they played a fantastic match,” England captain Lewis Moody said in a pit

Stoner storms to pole for Japan MotoGP

2011-10-01

Honda’s Casey Stoner set a lap record with a time of one minute 45.267 seconds in Saturday’s qualifying to take pole for the Japanese Grand Prix as the Australian closes in on a second MotoGP world title.

The 2007 world champion was more than two tenths quicker than defending title holder Jorge Lorenzo’s Yamaha at Motegi’s Twin Ring circuit, with Italian Andrea Dovizioso third on the grid after clocking 1:45.791 for Sunday’s race.

It was Stoner’s 10th pole of the season and he holds a 44-point lead over Lorenzo in the standings with four races remaining this season.

“Everything has gone fantastically very well so far this weekend,” said Stoner, winner of last year’s race for Ducati.

Christofias: our rights are non-negotiable

2011-10-01

CYPRUS’ right to search for and exploit possible natural gas reserves in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is a non-negotiable sovereign right, President Demetris Christofias said, as he called on Turkey to respect international law.

The president said the hydrocarbons presented a chance for Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots to solve the Cyprus problem soon.

In an address last night to mark Independence Day, Christofias said exploring for natural gas was Cyprus sovereign right and “I again want to stress to all those attempting to dispute this right: Our country’s sovereign rights are non-negotiable.”

The president asked for the rights of the country and its people to be respected.

‘Don’t give up on the buses’

2011-10-01

 

THE PUBLIC bus system has taken off in leaps and bounds in just over a year and the government must not give up on it, former communications and works minister Nicos Nicolaides said yesterday. 

The bus companies that comprise the public transport network told parliament on Thursday that they would not be able to meet running costs on a €46 million 2012 budget which would be mostly spent on covering fuel costs, they said. 

“Of course there is a financial crisis … but we have to have a long term view of this issue and not a short sighted one,” EDEK MP Nicos Nicolaides told the Cyprus Mail. 

Embassy apology after Congressman’s airport run-in

2011-10-01

THE US embassy in Nicosia yesterday sent an apology to the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) after a US  Congressmen had a run-in with their security staff at Larnaca’s VIP terminal on Thursday.

The incident occurred after US Congressman Dan Burton and several accompanying staff arrived to board their private flight to Istanbul.

Police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said yesterday the DCA staff at the airport insisted on searching the congressman before boarding. Burton refused, and a verbal altercation ensued.

“What happened was that the congressman went to the VIP terminal in embassy cars. No one was escorting them from the foreign ministry” Katsounotos said.

Safety and security up to scratch at airports

2011-10-01

SECURITY in both Cyprus’ airports is working “very well” and in line with the EU standards, Communications Minister Efthymios Flourentzos said yesterday.

The minister was speaking during a visit of the island’s main airport in Larnaca, to get a first-hand view of how the airport operates.

“I’ve visited the baggage area where there is a very high level of security and there is no reason for concern,” Flourentzos said. He said the security guidelines followed are those set by the European Commission. 

The minister added that the authorities’ effort was to try and predict the likelihood of anything going wrong and dealing with it ahead of time.

Flourentzos also met officials from airport operator Hermes and the Civil Aviation Department.

Church grateful to Menil Foundation for frescoes return

2011-10-01

ARCHBISHOP Chrysostomos II yesterday praised the Church’s resolve in succeeding to bring back to Cyprus two 13th century frescoes that were stolen from a church in northern Cyprus after the 1974 Turkish invasion.

The Archbishop was speaking in a press conference yesterday at the Archdiocese, where all the people involved in the frescoes’ repatriation effort were present; including state attorney, Stella Ioannidou, Director of the Department of Antiquity Maria Hadjicosti and the Foreign Ministry Director dealing with the Cyprus question and Turkey, Andreas Kakouris.

The Archbishop explained the procedure by which the frescoes were secured and highlighted the good will of all the participants of the negotiations.

Online gambling affecting legal bets

2011-10-01

 

THE spread of illegal online gambling establishments has contributed to a significant drop of legal betting, a top lawmaker said yesterday, as parliament continued discussion of a bill regulating online gaming.

Head of the Legal Affairs Committee, DISY MP Ionas Nicolaou, said data submitted showed a 20 per cent drop in the turnover between 2008 and 2009 – from €107 million to €82 million – which remained the same in 2010.

Nicolaou said one could link the fall to the appearance, during that period, of many so-called online casinos.

Horserace betting was also hit, recording a 20 per cent drop between 2008 and 2009 and 10 per cent in 2010.

Online gambling allows punters to bet illegally on foreign horse races.

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.