Federer beats Ferrer to reach London final

2011-11-26

Defending champion Roger Federer overcame some dogged resistance by Spain’s David Ferrer to reach the final of the ATP World Tour Finals on Saturday, winning 7-5 6-3 at the O2 Arena.

The Swiss, bidding for a record sixth title at the Tour finale, needed the best part of an hour to take the opening set off one of the most tenacious competitors in tennis, but was untroubled after breaking through early in the second.

Federer will face the winner of today’s other semi-final between French powerhouse Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Czech Tomas Berdych in Sunday’s final. Should he win the title he would pocket the $1.63 million jackpot for an undefeated champion.

EuroBasket 2013 qualifying seedings unveiled

2011-11-26

FIBA Europe has announced the seedings for the EuroBasket 2013 and the EuroBasket Women 2013 Qualification Rounds as well as the 2011 Youth European Championships 2012 Draw last week, with the draws taking place in a small city near Munich in a week time.

With the results of the EuroBasket 2011 campaign taken into account, the Cypriot men’s national team has been placed in the fifth seedings group alongside Belarus, Slovakia, Romania, Albania and Luxembourg. 

Serbia, Turkey and Germany will be the top seeded nations together with Finland and Georgia who made it to the Second Round in Lithuania and Croatia who post the better coefficient among the teams which ended their campaign after the EuroBasket 2011 First Round.

Windies force thrilling draw in final test

2011-11-26

West Indies snatched a thrilling draw with the scores level after India failed to score the three runs they needed for victory in the last over on a riveting final day of the third and final test on Saturday.

Needing two runs to win off the last ball, Ravichandran Ashwin and Varun Aaron scampered a single before Ashwin was run out while going back for an improbable second run, with India finishing on 242 for nine.

It was only the second time that a test has been drawn with the scores level. The other instance was when England failed to beat Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in 1996.

Seventeen wickets fell on the Wankhede Stadium pitch, which was a batting paradise on the first four days with both teams posting huge first innings totals.

Egypt protesters clash with police, one dead

2011-11-26

Protesters demanding an end to army rule clashed with police firing tear gas near Egypt’s parliament building on Saturday in a flare-up that cast another shadow over a parliamentary election billed as the nation’s first free vote in decades.

Protesters said one man, Ahmed Sayed, 21, died after being hit by a state security vehicle. His death was the first since a truce between police and demonstrators on Thursday calmed violence that had killed 41 people in Cairo and elsewhere.

Egypt’s Interior Ministry said the vehicle had hit him by accident.

Hundreds of demonstrators camped overnight in Cairo’s Tahrir Square ahead of the election, due to start on Monday in Cairo, Alexandria and some other areas.

Arab League prepares for Syria sanctions

2011-11-26

 

Arab officials will prepare plans for sanctions against Syria on Saturday over its failure to let Arab League monitors oversee an initiative aimed at ending a violent crackdown on protesters seeking an end to President Bashar al-Assad’s rule.

Damascus missed a Friday deadline to sign an agreement under which the Arab League planned to send observers to Syria, where the United Nations says 3,500 people have been killed since the start of the uprising in March.

Despite Syria’s pledge this month to withdraw its army from urban areas and let in the monitors, the violence has continued, prompting reprisals from the Arab League, stinging rebukes from Turkey and French proposals for humanitarian intervention.

National marches back to power in New Zealand

2011-11-26

The ruling centre-right National Party returned to power in a crushing win in New Zealand’s general election on Saturday and secured the backing of minor parties to ensure a majority for asset sales and welfare reforms.

National, led by former foreign exchange dealer John Key, was sitting on 48 percent share of the vote on election night. That would give the party 60 seats in the 121-seat parliament from its current 58.

Key was guaranteed a second three-year term with the return of current coalition partners, free-market ACT and centrist United Future, each with one member.

“New Zealand has voted for a brighter future, and there will be a brighter future,” Key, draped in blue and white streamers, told ecstatic supporters.

Pakistan stops NATO supplies after raid kills 28

2011-11-26

 

NATO helicopters attacked a military checkpoint in northwest Pakistan on Saturday, killing up to 28 troops and prompting Pakistan to shut vital supply routes for NATO troops fighting in Afghanistan, Pakistani officials said.

The attack is the worst single incident of its kind since Pakistan uneasily allied itself with Washington in the days immediately following the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. targets.

It comes as relations between the United States and Pakistan, its ally in the war on militancy, are already badly strained following the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. special forces in a secret raid on the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad in May.

Pakistan called that raid a flagrant violation of its sovereignty.

Strike chaos looms at Heathrow

2011-11-26

AIRLINES have been asked to halve the number of international passengers flying into London’s largest airport next Wednesday because of fears of long delays and overcrowding when border staff join a mass strike over public sector pensions.

Airports operator BAA, owned by Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial, yesterday warned of delays of up to 12 hours for passengers arriving at Heathrow.

The government is flying home embassy staff and training volunteers from other departments to reinforce during the strike and help ensure passports are checked as quickly as possible at ports and airports.

Our View: Anti-competitive sales law allowed to hold sway in a bid to keep votes

2011-11-26

EARLIER this month Limassol district court acquitted the Ermes Department Stores of violating the anachronistic, pre-EU membership sales law. The company had been charged with advertising discount prices outside the shop sales period designated by the commerce and industry ministry, as if we operated under a command economy.

It was the second time in a few months Ermes had won such a court case. In July another court acquitted the company in a case involving similar charges. Both courts accepted the company’s position which argued that the sales law was in violation of an EU directive on unfair commercial practices. 

Cyprus and Lebanon hold lengthy discussions on EEZ

2011-11-26

CYPRUS and Lebanon yesterday held lengthy discussions in a bid to settle the neighbouring country’s concerns over the delineation of their respective exclusive economic zones (EEZ).

No official announcement was made after the talks that started in the morning and carried on until the late afternoon.

Lebanon’s concerns appear to be a stumbling block to the ratification of a 2007 agreement signed between the two countries, delineating their offshore boundaries. 

It is thought that the reason for the delay in Lebanon ratifying the deal is its dispute with Israel over the precise location of their maritime border.

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.