Wallabies beat Wales as Williams bows out with try

2011-12-03

Wales winger Shane Williams scored with his final touch in international rugby but he bowed out on a losing note after Australia overcame a sluggish start to win 24-18 in a one-off test at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

The Wallabies produced a strong second-half showing to again defeat Warren Gatland’s side, six weeks after their 21-18 victory in their World Cup third-place playoff in October.

Williams, his country’s all-time record try scorer, took his tally to 58 with a last-gasp touchdown on his 87th and final appearance but it was an otherwise disjointed display from the hosts.

Wales led 6-3 at the break but the game quickly changed after fullback Leigh Halfpenny was sin-binned nine minutes after the restart.

Iran calls for calm in crisis with Britain

2011-12-03

Iran called on the West to avoid a deepening diplomatic crisis following the storming of the British embassy in Tehran, saying it was an issue between Tehran and London alone, Iranian media reported on Saturday.

Britain closed its embassy after Tuesday’s incursion by hardline youths and expelled all Iranian diplomats from London. The fallout for Tehran spread when several other countries recalled their envoys, including France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.

“The British government is trying to extend to other European countries the problem between the two of us,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was reported as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency.

Russia vote watchdog head detained before election

2011-12-03

The head of an independent Russian election watchdog was detained for 12 hours at a Moscow airport on Saturday as part of attempts to stop it monitoring Sunday’s vote for a new parliament, the group’s lawyer said.

Golos leader Liliya Shibanova was held by customs officers at Sheremetyevo airport after returning from a trip abroad on the eve of the election, in which Vladimir Putin’s United Russia is likely to have its huge parliamentary majority reduced.

The Western-funded group’s lawyer, Ramid Akhmetgaliyev, told Reuters the customs officers copied contents of her laptop computer and Golos deputy head Grigory Melkonyants said her laptop had been confiscated.

Panetta: Israel must get to 'damn' peace table

2011-12-03

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta urged Israel on Friday to get back to the “damn” negotiating table with Palestinians and take steps to address what he described as the Jewish state’s growing isolation in the Middle East.

Panetta, addressing a forum in Washington, also made one of his most extensive arguments to date against any imminent military action against Iran over its nuclear program, saying he was convinced that sanctions and diplomatic pressure were working.

“You always have the last resort … of military action. But it must be the last resort, not the first,” Panetta said.

Pressure on Cyprus over EU’s Ankara invite to Syria meeting

2011-12-03

CYPRUS HAS backed down on opposing an invite to Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to discuss developments in Syria with EU foreign ministers in Brussels after coming under “tremendous pressure” from major EU powers. 

According to yesterday’s Phileleftheros, Cyprus gave up its objections during Thursday’s EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting where EU ministers reportedly agreed to invite Davutoglu to Brussels to discuss the Syrian crisis in January, after failing to invite him to Thursday’s meet. 

Davutoglu responded saying he would have to check his calendar before agreeing to attend a new meeting. He was quoted by Turkish daily Today’s Zaman criticising the EU for bowing to pressure from a small country.

Kazamias: Cyprus will solve its own fiscal problems

2011-12-03

THE government and opposition parties yesterday rubber-stamped a fresh austerity package including a two-year wage freeze in the broader state sector to arrest fiscal deterioration and the island’s possible slide into seeking an EU bailout.

The measures also provide for a staggering contribution by private sector workers, including the self-employed who earn over €2,500 per month.

Asked if Cyprus would avoid resorting to the EU support mechanism, Finance Minister Kikis Kazamias said “I am optimistic we will avoid it.” “We want to show our determination, we can solve fiscal problems and we will exert every effort until the last to solve them on our own.”

The pay freeze in the broader state sector included pay-scale rises and cost of living allowance payments.

Our View: Has everyone lost interest in the Cyprus problem?

2011-12-03

WITH THE economy and the drilling for natural gas hogging the headlines, the Cyprus peace talks barely get a mention in the news nowadays. If there is a report on the talks, it is usually buried on the inside pages of the newspapers or in the latter part of the television news. Attempts by some politicians, to spark a Cyprus problem debate, by uttering the familiar, defiant platitudes do not work either, as nobody seems remotely interested.

Proposal to up public service retirement age to 64

2011-12-03

DIKO, DISY and independent MP Zacharias Koulias have tabled two law proposals aimed at increasing public servants’ retirement age to 64 years old.

With the two proposals, submitted at Thursday’s plenary session, government workers will no longer be entitled to a pension until they have reached the age of 64 – the current retirement age is 63.

Furthermore, one proposal seeks to put a freeze on any benefits, meaning someone retiring at 64 years old will receive the same pension that would have been given if he retired at 63.

DIKO Vice president Nicolas Papadopoulos said the proposals would bring some structural changes and assist efforts for economic recovery.

Crossing points close for north census

2011-12-03

CROSSING points allowing access to and from the north will be closed for most of the day tomorrow as the Turkish Cypriot authorities conduct a census, according to a police announcement. 

The UN peacekeeping force and the Bicommunal Contact Group informed police that all checkpoints will be closed from 5am to 6pm tomorrow while the census takes place. 

Police call on members of the public to avoid travel to the north during those hours as access will not be permitted.  

 

Football Association judicial committee member attacked

2011-12-03

A MEMBER of the Cyprus Football Association (CFA) judicial committee was attacked last night by two hooded men.

Police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said the 52-year-old lawyer Telis Misos had walked out of a betting shop in Larnaca a little after 8pm and was heading towards his car when two hooded men hit him with a piece of wood and used a spray on him. 

Police were called to the scene were they collected various pieces of evidence. Misos was taken to Larnaca hospital’s emergency ward where he was treated for abrasions on the scalp and other body parts. His injuries do not appear to be serious. 

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.