Turkey considers Syria buffer zone, Annan seeks unity

2012-03-16

Turkey said on Friday it might set up a “buffer zone” inside Syria to protect refugees fleeing President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, raising the prospect of foreign intervention in the year-long revolt.

With the uprising entering its second year, U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan reportedly told the Security Council that Syria’s response to his plans for peace were disappointing and urged major powers to put aside their divisions over Syria.

On the ground in Syria, the violence continued. Syrian forces battled protesters in at least three suburbs of the capital Damascus, opposition activists said. There were also flare-ups in other cities, with a number of deaths reported.

French presidential battle lines drawn on austerity

2012-03-16

France’s main presidential candidates have drawn clear battle lines over austerity, Europe and Germany as opinion polls show the gap between them narrowing five weeks before the first round of voting.

Socialist challenger Francois Hollande, whose wide poll lead over conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy has shrunk in the last week, raised the stakes in a television appearance on Thursday after winning public support from German and Spanish opposition leaders for his stance.

Hollande said that if elected he would not submit a German-inspired European treaty enforcing strict budget discipline for ratification unless it were “completed” by a growth component.

Clooney arrested at anti-Sudan protest in Washington

2012-03-16

Hollywood movie star George Clooney was arrested at Sudan’s embassy in Washington on Friday during a protest against an escalating emergency as the country blocks humanitarian aid from reaching a volatile border region where hundreds of thousands of people are short of food.

Clooney, his father Nick and other anti-Sudan activists ignored three police warnings to leave the embassy grounds and were led away to a Secret Service van in handcuffs, a Reuters journalist covering the demonstration said.

“We need humanitarian aid to be allowed into the Sudan before it becomes the worst humanitarian crisis in the world,” Clooney told reporters just before his arrest.

Church of England's Archbishop of Canterbury to step down

2012-03-16

The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, who has long struggled to prevent a schism over women and gay bishops and same-sex unions, announced on Friday he will step down at the end of the year.

The 80-million-strong worldwide Communion has been threatened with division for several years, with reformists and conservatives failing to bend to his authority or attempts at consensus.

Williams, 61, the head of the Church of England, the Anglican mother church, will return to academia, taking up a role as Master of Magdalene College, a senior role at Cambridge University. He previously taught theology at Cambridge and Oxford universities.

The normal retirement age for Church of England bishops is 70.

APOEL face mighty Real

2012-03-16

APOEL have been rewarded for their remarkable Champions League campaign with a quarter-final glamour tie against nine-time European champions Real Madrid.

Before the draw, APOEL’s players had made no secret of their wish to avoid the Spanish pair of Barcelona and Real if they are to harbour any hopes of making it further in the competition.

However the excitement of facing one of the most illustrious clubs in world football was evident among club officials.

“I didn’t want us to face Real Madrid, but we’re proud to nonetheless. It’s fantastic”, said APOEL chairman Phivos Erotokritou from UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland

Finance minister quits, reshuffle to be announced on Monday

2012-03-16

FINANCE Minister Kikis Kazamias has resigned for health reasons, the government said today, denying reports it was due to disagreements with President Demetris Christofias.

A statement from the government spokesman said Christofias would announce a limited cabinet reshuffle on Monday.

In the statement, Stefanos Stefanou denied reports that Kazamias was resigning because of disagreements with the president.

Go forth and conquer

2012-03-16

An ancient game from China, Go looks set to challenge the popularity of backgammon, finds NAOMI LEACH

The game first surfaced in Cyprus in a shroud of mystery. It was a birthday gift to a young boy, Demetris unlike any game he or his friends had seen before. With no information of the origins or techniques of Go, Demetris failed to find a teacher or opponent on the island. Instead, the game sat in the back of a cupboard for decades unplayed. Finally in 1998, Demetris Regginos could log online, connect with players and unlock the ancient secrets of Go. 

Film review: The Devil Inside* and Chronicle****

2012-03-16

Clearly, these films demand to be lumped together. At the end of a very strange week when the only two new titles in Cyprus cinemas were both ‘found-footage’ dramas – the gimmick being that the footage we’re watching supposedly comes from second-hand sources (CCTV, security cameras) and cameras wielded by the characters themselves – it clearly makes no sense to write about Chronicle then regurgitate the exact same points for The Devil Inside. But they also go together as a kind of case study to be titled ‘Style Isn’t Everything’, showing how the same striking (if slightly clichéd) formal gambit, stretched to almost exactly the same running-time, can result just as easily in excellence or failure. It’s all in the characters.

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.