UN decries Latin America prison conditions

2012-02-17

The United Nations called on Friday for an independent investigation into a prison fire that killed hundreds in Honduras, and denounced what it said was a wave of prison violence in Latin America fuelled by poor conditions and overcrowding.

Survivors of the fire that killed more than 350 inmates in Comayagua prison on Tuesday night accused guards of leaving prisoners to die inside their cells and shooting at others who tried to escape the flames.

The UN human rights office “fully supports the establishment of a thorough independent investigation into the cases of the fire and into whether the conditions at the prison contributed to the enormous loss of life”, Rupert Colville, spokesman of U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, told a briefing.

Spurs take circus to Stevenage in FA Cup

2012-02-17

Tottenham Hotspur will hope to ride the wave of Harry Redknapp euphoria as they seek to live up to their newfound status of FA Cup favourites when they travel to Stevenage on Saturday.

With Premier League leaders and holders Manchester City ousted in the third round by Manchester United, who were then knocked out by Liverpool in the next round, Redknapp’s men are strongly fancied to win a first FA Cup since 1991.

Spurs make the short trip to the League One (third division) side whose reward for reaching the fifth round of the competition for the first time is a meeting with the big boys.

Rich shouldn't pay taxes, Santorum backer says

2012-02-17

In an age of rising income inequality, one of the big questions is what impact the growing gap will have on democracy. Francis Fukuyama worries about it in this month’s Foreign Affairs magazine, in an essay that bears the worrying subtitle, “Can Liberal Democracy Survive the Decline of the Middle Class?” President Barack Obama, as he signalled again with his budget this week, is putting the issue at the centre of his re-election campaign.

The powerful connection between money and politics is also on vivid display in the roller-coaster Republican race, where Rick Santorum owes his surge in part to the generosity of the Wyoming multimillionaire Foster Friess, whose Super PAC helped keep Santorum’s candidacy alive by running TV ads on his behalf.

UK spies: Charlie Chaplin's real name a mystery

2012-02-17

The real name and birthplace of legendary silent-film star Charlie Chaplin is shrouded in mystery, Britain’s domestic spy agency concluded after a probe into US claims he was a communist sympathiser, documents released on Friday revealed.

British MI5 agents were asked in 1952 to investigate Chaplin’s background by the FBI, which believed he was using an alias and that his real name was Israel Thornstein, over long-running US suspicions about the actor’s left-wing leanings.

Chaplin, one of Hollywood’s first and greatest stars famed for his “Little Tramp” character, believed he was born on April 16, 1889, in south London.

Feet in the clouds

2012-02-17

The latest experience for thrill seekers looks deceptively easy discovers ZOE CHRISTODOULIDES

 

Monday morning in the office usually follows a familiar pattern. There are heaps of emails to sort through, calls to be made, and plenty of planning for the week ahead. But this Monday things have taken a dramatically different turn as I find myself suspended 11 metres above the ground and my legs turning to jelly.

Orphanides: EU leaders have failed to convince they can tackle the crisis

2012-02-17

Central Bank Governor Athanasios Orphanides said yesterday that the main problem with Europe’s debt crisis was the governments’ failure to convince they can tackle it.

”The problem lies mainly in government. EU leaders failed to persuade that they can address the problem effectively,” Orphanides said.

He said the eurozone has to convince investors and this can be achieved if it immediately implements a strict fiscal contract.

Speaking at a Cyprus Economic Society event last night, Orphanides also said waning cooperation and solidarity has severely damaged mutual trust enjoyed by the eurozone in the past two years.

Film review: The Muppets ***

2012-02-17

 

Kermit says the f-word in The Muppets – not ‘frog’ but ‘family’ (as in ‘We are a family’) which, to be honest, was never what the Muppets were all about. The denizens of The Muppet Show, the late-70s TV show that marked a generation, were by no means saccharine; they were showbiz hucksters, old-time vaudevillians donning faded props and costumes, doing whatever it took to keep the show going from one song number to the next. Calling the Muppets “goody-goody” relics who’ve become irrelevant in a “hard, cynical world” – as implied here – is nostalgia of the worst kind, the kind that’s nostalgic not so much for the actual show as the simple childhood days one associates with it.

Restaurant review: Il Bacaro, Nicosia

2012-02-17

 

It has been rumoured for some time that there is an outstanding lunch-time venue lost among the roadworks and traffic jungle around the area once dominated by the old Milano. The directions were quite simple: coming from town turn right at the Harley-Davidson lights and Il Bacaro is on the corner of the next turning on the left, opposite Hellenic bank.

We arrive early on a wet Wednesday and secure the only table for two that doesn’t have a reserved sign on it. The furnishing is solid and simple; my Italian companion who believes that design has never improved beyond the city limits of Milan is quite impressed by the ambience: she informs that the colour scheme is crushed cardinal and reminds me that she once decorated our house in Surrey with it.

Bar review: Lush Beach Bar, Larnaca

2012-02-17

The current weather might recall anything other than the great memories of the summer spent at a beach bar but there is a spot on the Makenzie strip that has adapted its establishment to make it as luring as it is in mid July

While the term ‘something for everyone’ is bandied about, in the case of Lush Beach Bar & Restaurant there is no more applicable term.

There is a large outdoor seating area consisting primarily of large, comfortable couches as well as the traditional set of stools surrounding the outside bar. A similar setup is replicated inside with the addition of several rows of dining tables for the restaurant, that serves until around 11pm

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.