Rooney sends United top after Suarez snubs Evra

2012-02-11

Wayne Rooney fired Manchester United to the top of the Premier League on Saturday after they beat Liverpool 2-1 in a match marred by Luis Suarez’s refusal to shake Patrice Evra’s hand before the kickoff.

There were few first-half chances as the spotlight fell on pre-match events when Suarez, who had served an eight-game ban for racially abusing Evra, ignored the Frenchman’s outstretched hand in a snub United boss Alex Ferguson branded disgraceful.

Rooney struck twice in three minutes at the start of the second half to turn the focus back to the title race as the champions jumped above Manchester City at the top of the table.

Cyprus take 2-1 lead over Morocco in Davis Cup

2012-02-11

Marcos Baghdatis and Rares Cuzdriorean teamed up for a doubles win that put Cyprus up 2-1 over Morocco in a best-of-five Davis Cup Europe/Africa Group II first round series at the Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Center in Limassol Saturday afternoon.

The Cypriots lost their service just once in a 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 victory over Morocco’s Anas Fattar and Younes Rachidi.

Iran to announce nuclear progress – Ahmadinejad

2012-02-11

 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday that the Islamic Republic, targeted by tougher Western sanctions, would soon announce advances in its nuclear programme.

He was speaking on the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed Shah. Tens of thousands of Iranians joined state-organised rallies to mark the occasion.

“In the coming days the world will witness Iran’s announcement of its very important and very major nuclear achievements,” Ahmadinejad told a crowd at Tehran’s Azadi (Freedom) Square in a speech relayed live on state television.

UK police arrest five at Murdoch's Sun newspaper

2012-02-11

British police on Saturday arrested five people at The Sun newspaper, its parent company News Corporation said, as part of an investigation into illegal news gathering that forced the closure of another of the firm’s British tabloids.

Media sources said a police officer and defence ministry employee were among eight people arrested in total on Saturday, in a branch of the inquiry named Operation Elveden which is investigating bribes to police in return for story tip-offs.

“Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officers from Operation Elveden today arrested five employees of The Sun newspaper. Searches have taken place at the homes and offices of those arrested,” News Corporation said in a statement.

Syria forces shell Homs, Russia to oppose UN resolution

2012-02-11

 

Syrian forces bombarded districts of Homs city on Saturday in a campaign to crush a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, whose ally Russia said it would not support an Arab peace plan circulating at the United Nations.

Activists said seven people were killed in the latest attacks in a week-long government siege of Homs, which has been at the heart of the uprising which broke out 11 months ago.

Mohammed Hassan, an opposition campaigner in the western city, told Reuters by telephone that a 55-year-old woman was among those killed by shellfire on the Bab Amro district.

The bloodshed followed Friday’s violence, when bombings targeting security bases killed at least 28 people in Aleppo and rebel fighters battled troops in a Damascus suburb after dark.

Our View: No end in sight for Greek economic crisis, even with €130b bail-out

2012-02-11

AFTER the all-night meetings and prevarication by the politicians, Greece appeared to have reached a deal with the Troika over the drastic austerity measures that would have to be taken for the €130b bail-out. But this was not the end of the protracted saga, as finance minister Evangelos Venizelos found out when he met with eurozone counterparts in Brussels on Thursday.

Cyprus hopes for 400,000 Russian tourists in 2012

2012-02-11

 

SEVEN new airports from the Russian Federation will be offering flights to Cyprus this year, the Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) said yesterday.

“We hope to have over 400,000 tourists from Russia in 2012,” CTO head Alecos Orountiotis said at a news conference.

Last year over 330,000 Russian tourists visited Cyprus, over 100,000 more than the year before when about 224,000 came and about 230,000 more from 2005 when 97,000 Russian people visited.

Seven new airports in the Russian Federation will now be offering flights from Perm, Arkhangelsk, Kemerovo, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk, Omsk and Nizhny Novgorod.

Paedophile jailed for 25 years

2012-02-11

NICOSIA Criminal Court yesterday convicted a 44-year-old father-of-two to 25 years in prison, after he was found guilty of raping two young girls aged 6 and 8, and indecently assaulting another six.

The court heard how the 44-year-old paedophile had lured two girls to his home last March, by showing them his four puppies. While they were at his home playing with the animals, he violently raped both. The shocking details of the case are unprintable. 

It emerged that he also raped the six-year-old on two other occasions.

The 44-year-old, whose two own two children are now adults, was also found guilty of indecently assaulting six other girls, aged between eight and 11 years old.

Pyla university to open in October

2012-02-11

CONSTRUCTION of a modern €53 million campus has begun in Pyla to accommodate the first British university on the island, University of Central Lancashire Cyprus, (UCLan Cyprus).

UCLan Cyprus will open in October this year and students will have the option of studying their programme entirely in Cyprus or transferring for part of their studies to the UK. They expect to have 5,000 students initially. All courses will be taught in English.

“UCLan Cyprus will add strength to Cyprus’ growing Higher Education sector and assist the Cyprus government in further establishing the island as an educational Centre of Excellence in the region and beyond,” said a statement from the university yesterday.

Evretou dam overflows

2012-02-11

A HOUSE near Evretou Dam was evacuated for precautionary reasons yesterday, after it became the seventh dam to overflow in Paphos.

Even though the water hadn’t reached the Skouli village house, inhabited by a Dutch couple, the local authorities deemed it wise to remove them just in case.

The move followed the uproar of recent days by residents, concerned there could be some serious damage when the dam overflowed.

Polis Chrysochous Mayor Angelos Odysseos yesterday said he was pleased it eventually overflowed without problems.

And the Paphos Water Development Department’s district engineer, Vasos Socratous, said the dam was now considered “completely safe”.

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.