Manchester City back in the hunt for League Cup glory

2012-01-09

Manchester City’s dreams of winning an FA Cup and League double ended on Sunday but Roberto Mancini’s men get the chance to bounce back immediately when they face Liverpool in the semi-final of the League Cup on Wednesday.

Whoever comes through that two-legged tie will meet the winners of the all-Championship (second division) semi-final being contested by Cardiff City and Crystal Palace in the final at Wembley on Feb. 26.

City ended a 35-year wait for a trophy when they won the FA Cup last season and, although they fell at the first hurdle when Manchester United beat them 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium, they still remain in the hunt for three trophies.

China warns US to be ‘careful’ in military refocus

2012-01-09

China’s Ministry of Defence warned the United States today to be “careful in its words and actions” after announcing a defence rethink that stresses responding to China’s rise by shoring up US alliances and bases across Asia.

The statement from the ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng was Beijing’s fullest reaction so far to the new US strategy unveiled last week. It echoed the mix of wariness and outward restraint that has marked China’s response to the Obama administration’s “pivot” to Asia since late last year.

Merkel tells Greece to hasten debt deal

2012-01-09

German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Greece today it would not be possible to give further aid without rapid progress on its second rescue package, including a voluntary write-down on Greek debt held by private creditors.

“We must see progress on the voluntary restructuring of Greek debt,” Merkel told a joint news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Berlin.

“From our point of view, the second Greek aid package including this restructuring, must be in place quickly. Otherwise it won’t be possible to pay out the next tranche for Greece.”

Merkel said she would talk about Greece with International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde in Berlin on Tuesday.

British PM pushes for swift Scottish independence vote

2012-01-09

Prime Minister David Cameron said Scotland should hold an independence referendum as early as next year, clashing with the Scottish National Party (SNP) which wants more time to rally support for a break from the United Kingdom.

Cameron, who opposes Scottish independence, said uncertainty about the 300-year-old union between England and its smaller northern neighbour was creating problems for business and harming investment.

“If (SNP leader) Alex Salmond wants a referendum on independence, why do we wait until 2014?” Cameron told Sky News.

“This is very damaging for Scotland because all the time business is asking: ‘is Scotland going to be part of the United Kingdom? Are they going to stay together? Should I invest?'”

Iran starts underground nuclear work, condemns American to die

2012-01-09

IRANIAN and Western sources said on Monday Iran had switched on a uranium enrichment plant deep inside a mountain, a momentous step that aggravates Tehran’s nuclear dispute with the West.

In a separate development that will infuriate Washington, Iran also announced that it had sentenced to death an Iranian-American dual citizen it arrested last month as a spy.

The moves come at a time when new US sanctions imposed over Iran’s nuclear programme are causing real economic pain. Tehran has responded with threats to international shipping that have spooked oil markets. And a parliamentary election in two months is widening Iran’s internal political divisions.

Baghdatis faces Tursunov test in Sydney

2012-01-09

Marcos Baghdatis will take on Russian Dmitry Tursunov in the opening round of the ATP World Tour 250 Apia International Sydney in the early hours of this morning.

Baghdatis and Tursunov have met only once so far on the tour and that was seven years ago in the first round of the US Open when the Russian eventually came out victorious 6-4, 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-2 after just under three hours of playing time.

Should the Cypriot number one overcome Tursunov, he would then take on the local wild card entrant Matthew Ebden who surprised the seventh-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain in his first round encounter 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. The top-se eded Argentinean Juan Martin del Potro could be a potential opponent for Baghdatis in the quarterfinals.

Arnal Conde scores twice as Alki upset APOEL

2012-01-09

APOEL’s manager Ivan Jovanovic was frustrated after his team suffered an unexpected 2-1 defeat against Alki in Larnaca over the weekend, to start the new calendar year in the worst possible way.

“It was a very difficult game and I believe that we deserved the final result as we were simply not good enough,” admitted Jovanovic. 

“Our midfielders were not performing well and this gave confidence to our opponents that they could take all three points from this game, especially after they equalised. 

“This is absolutely unacceptable.

“In the second half we missed many chances to score and then, in a defensive mistake, provided Alki with the chance to win and they grabbed it. 

Iran sentences US-Iranian man to death for spying

2012-01-09

IRAN’S Revolutionary Court has sentenced an Iranian-American man to death for spying for the CIA, the student news agency quoted a judiciary official as saying, a move likely to aggravate US-Iranian tension already high because of Tehran’s nuclear work.

Western nations have recently expanded punitive economic sanctions against Iran over suspicions it is trying to develop atomic bombs under the cover of a civilian atomic energy programme. The Islamic Republic denies this.

“Amir Mirza Hekmati was sentenced to death … for cooperating with the hostile country America and spying for the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency),” ISNA news agency quoted judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei as saying.

A place on earth

2012-01-09

 

THEO PANAYIDES meets a psychic although she is able to offer no insights for what to expect in 2012

 

I suspect it’s the contrast that shocks me. I’m sitting in a big house in a well-heeled suburb of Limassol, talking to 75-year-old Joan Bunyan. It’s normally a quiet street, but today we’re talking over the racket of the Public Works Department fixing the asphalt. They come fairly often, says Joan, but only do a small section each time, so it’s over quite quickly. The house is cosy. There are Christmas decorations on the walls. The tablecloth on the dining-room table has a black-and-white African design. Then suddenly we’re contacting the spirit of my dead grandfather.

Film review: Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol ****

2012-01-09

 

If you watched the trailer for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol you may have noticed something strange, namely that it wasn’t being sold as a Tom Cruise vehicle. Tom was there, of course, playing Ethan Hunt, leading light of the IMF – not the International Monetary Fund but the Impossible Missions Force, though the two often seem like the same thing – but he wasn’t the main attraction. The trailer focused on the daring stunts and hi-tech gadgets, not so much on Tom looking heroic – because Tom Cruise is divisive nowadays, his sometimes extreme public persona (Oprah’s couch, the Scientology) alienating many of his ex-fans. 

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.