Syrian forces kill 31 ahead of Annan peace mission

2012-03-09

Syrian forces killed 31 people on Friday as they sought to quell demonstrations against President Bashar al-Assad before a peace mission by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, opposition activists said.

Tank rounds and mortar bombs crashed into opposition districts in the rebellious central city of Homs, killing 17 people, activists said, reporting 14 deaths elsewhere in Syria.

“Thirty tanks entered my neighbourhood at seven this morning and they are using their cannons to fire on houses,” said Karam Abu Rabea, a resident in Homs’s Karm al-Zeitoun neighbourhood.

One focus of demonstrations was the anniversary of Kurdish unrest in Syria in 2004 when about 30 people were killed.

Afghanistan, US sign prison transfer deal

2012-03-09

The United States and Afghanistan signed a deal on Friday on the transfer of a major U.S.-run detention centre to Afghan authorities, improving the prospects of a strategic partnership allowing long-term American involvement in the country.

The Strategic Partnership Agreement, which Washington and Kabul have been discussing for over a year, will be the framework for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan beyond 2014, when the last foreign combat troops are due to leave Afghanistan.

Afghan Defence Minister Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak, who signed the deal to hand over the prison at Bagram airbase, said an Afghan commander would soon be appointed to take charge of the facility. The transfer would be completed in about six months.

Italian president condemns botched British raid in Nigeria

2012-03-09

President Giorgio Napolitano led a chorus of condemnation on Friday of Britain’s failure to inform the Italian government before launching a botched rescue mission with Nigerian forces that led to the deaths of British and Italian hostages held by a militant Islamist group.

Briton Chris McManus and Italian Franco Lamolinara, who were kidnapped in May while working for a construction company in northwest Nigeria, were killed by their captors during the raid, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday.

In the strongest Italian condemnation, Napolitano told reporters: “The behaviour of the British government in not informing Italy is inexplicable.”

“A political and diplomatic clarification is necessary.”

No fixation to end Djokovic dominance, says Nadal

2012-03-09

 

RAFA Nadal has lost his last seven matches against world number one Novak Djokovic but the Spaniard denies that he has a burning obsession to beat the Serb.

The pair last met in January’s Australian Open final when Djokovic clinched the title for a third time with an epic 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7 7-5 victory that lasted almost six hours.

While Nadal enjoys a 16-14 career advantage over the Serb, he has been beaten on all types of surfaces in their past seven encounters, all of them in finals.

“I say it always the same, I want to improve for me,” world number two Nadal told reporters while preparing for the Indian Wells ATP Masters tournament in the California desert.

Profile: the low-key way to running a billion dollar business

2012-03-09

 

I meet Andrey Dashin in a conference room on the third floor of Alpari Tower, his company’s Cyprus headquarters, perched along the second Polemidia roundabout in Limassol. As we speak, the Tower is still under construction. Builders hover out front, and the elevator is encased in protective foam – but the grand opening is just days away (it took place last Thursday) and they’re flying in Anna Vissi to sing at the event, thus ensuring maximum publicity. Does Mr Dashin know Ms Vissi personally? “Actually I don’t know her,” he replies smoothly, “but I’ve heard a lot. She is quite famous, and it would be interesting for me to meet her, and to know more about her personality.”

An outlet for the mind

2012-03-09

Nicosia’s Writers’ Workshop has just released its latest poetry book, Synthesis 1, to raise money for children’s books at hospital. NAOMI LEACH meets them

 

“I believe everyone can write. You could write a story about your visit today. Coming on the motorway through the hailstorm, sitting here in this room now listening to it,” begins Hazel Malloch with warm enthusiasm. We sip our hot coffees as the hailstones ricochet off of the glass ceiling and water cascades over the window obscuring the view of the windswept Larnaca beach. We have met in the midst of a thunderstorm, the perfect setting for a dark and twisted gothic novel.

Film review: The Descendants****

2012-03-09

 

Some films operate on the tension between lots of little things. The Descendants, the new film by Greek-American director Alexander Payne, is different, relying on the collision of three big things. The first might be called the Vagaries of Life (or just ‘Life’s a Bitch’), the cumulative sadness of your wife being in a coma, your kids being out of control plus the sudden discovery that your dying spouse was in fact cheating on you. The second is Hawaii, both the concept of the ‘island paradise’ itself and lilting, carefree Hawaiian music on the soundtrack. And the third is George Clooney, his handsome face looking shocked and befuddled by the contrast between the former and the latter.

Bar review: Melibar, Limassol

2012-03-09

One could say that in the past year, Limassol’s old town has become a vast sea of options when it comes to the trendy bars it has to offer. Developments on the bar scene have marked a gradual move away from the commercial style bars Limassol was once so boastful of and a new inclination to the alternative and unique. 

Is it difficult for a new bar to establish its own identity in this new wave of the unconventional? Not for Melibar it isn’t. Original is the first word that comes to mind when describing this addition to the bar scene in the old town. Its name is inspired by the Greek word for honey, and the atmosphere and setting are indeed as pleasant and alluring as the sweetest spoonful of honey.

Canada’s Francophone offering

2012-03-09

THE CONSULATE of Canada is hosting a couple of lectures by two distinguished speakers, within the framework of this year’s Francophone festivities. 

The first lecture, which will take place on Tuesday, will be given by Graham Colville, son of Alex Colville, internationally recognised as one of Canada’s best realist artists. Colville’s lecture entitled Alex Colville the Artist will be in English and accompanied by illustrations of his father’s works.

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.