LEDRA MURDER - LENGTHY SENTENCES IMPOSED ON FIVE MEN

 Filenews 2 November 2020

The perpetrator of the murder committed on Ledra Street on the night of 21 June with a 21-year-old man from India was sentenced to life in prison after a fierce brawl between his fellow citizens. Four others involved were sentenced to years in prison.

It is noted that six persons involved in the case were brought before the court and the defendant who inflicted the fatal stab wounds on the 21-year-old accepted the sentence of life imprisonment. Three other defendants were given a 14-year prison sentence, while a fifth defendant in possession of a knife before the scuffle was given a 17-year prison sentence. The last four were charged, among other things, with attempted murder. One of the six was suspended at the request of the prosecution.

According to the facts of the case, the defendants, in their entirety, on the evening of 21 June went to the area around Ledra, with knives and offensive objects with them in order to use them to attack another group of their fellow citizens. A fierce scuffle ensued between the two groups, resulting in the 21-year-old being killed while the other defendants attempted to kill two other people.

After the deadly attack on the 21-year-old, the assailant fled along with the other defendants and another person still wanted by authorities.

For its part, the defense of the four defendants noted that they did not go to the scene after premeditation to kill, while they claimed that they were not in possession of knives and were at the scene when a fight broke out between the two groups.

Source: eyenews

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CORONAVIRUS -' 50' THE AVERAGE AGE OF THOSE HOSPITALISED

 Filenews 2 November 2020

The average age of those hospitalized with coronavirus at Famagusta Hospital, which functions as a Reference Hospital, decreases day by day. As the Medical Director of Famagusta Hospital, Amalia Hatzigiannis, stated in Alpha's midday broadcast, the average number of patients hospitalized with coronavirus has now fallen to 50 years, which shows that the coronavirus does not leave the younger generation unaffected.

It is worth noting that on 24 October, the day on which the last epidemiological bulletin of the Ministry of Health was issued, 33 people were hospitalized with Covid-19 with their median age being 58 years.

It is noted that 25 people are currently being treated at the Reference Hospital, four of whom are in the Increased Care Unit. Today, one person was discharged, and as Mrs. Hatzigiannis those who receive discharge continue to be self-contained at home, while some continue to take medication.

The average hospitalization at the Reference Hospital is ten days.

It should be stressed that as of today the Reference Hospital has been reinforced with additional medical and nursing staff, while as a Clinic Covid-19 will also operate the Pathological Department of Famagusta Hospital, which has 24 additional beds.

Source: eyenews

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APOEL APPOINT FORMER IRELAND BOSS McCARTHY AS COACH

 Cyprus Mail 2 November 2020 - by Reuters News Service

APOEL Nicosia on Monday unveiled former Ireland manager Mick McCarthy as their new coach on a 19-month contract to May 2022, the Cyprus club said.

McCarthy, a former Ireland international, twice coached Ireland as well as Sunderland, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Ipswich in England.

McCarthy’s assistant Terry Connor is also brought in, the club said in a statement.

APOEL, the island’s most successful club, are currently in 10th place in the Cypriot First Division with two wins from eight matches after a poor start to the season.

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FIRST CYPRUS OPEN A BIG SUCCESS

 Cyprus Mail 2 November 2020 - Press Release

Tournament winner Callum Shinkwin and Cyprus Deputy Minister of Tourism, Savvas Perdios, pose with the trophy

England’s Callum Shinkwin hailed a “one in a million” moment after defeating Finland’s Kalle Samooja in a play-off to win his first European Tour title in the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Open.

Shinkwin birdied the first extra hole to secure victory after the pair had finished tied on 20 under par.

The 27-year-old, who lost a play-off for the Scottish Open in 2017 after missing from four feet to win on the 72nd hole, had earlier produced a spectacular finish to set the clubhouse target following a closing 63.

Shinkwin was two shots behind with two holes play but birdied the 17th and then holed from 50 feet for an eagle on the 18th to complete a back nine of 29.

“I could see the scoreboard and Kalle was on 19 (under) and I was on 18,” Shinkwin said. “There was no chance really to hole that putt normally, it was one in a million you’re going to hole it from that distance and my aim was to try and two putt.”

Samooja needed to match Shinkwin’s eagle to win in regulation and saw his long-range attempt run five feet past the hole, but held his nerve to hole the birdie putt to force extra holes.

The 32-year-old then left himself with an almost identical birdie putt to extend the play-off, but pushed it agonisingly wide of the hole.

Whilst looking forward to this week’s Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown (November 5–8), we just cannot resist looking at the number of the previous days:

• 27 different nationalities played in this Cyprus Open
• 105 players were competing for a total prize fund of one million euros
• Television reach of 735 million in 47 countries, including 19 hours of live coverage across the four days of the tournament.

It has been a hard year for tourism around the world. During these hard periods, our island had just enjoyed one of the greatest promotional opportunities.

People who have never been to Cyprus before, are using all contact channels to express their admiration towards the Aphrodite Hills Resort’s facilities, the nature and beauty of the island and the amazing sunny weather in the middle of autumn.

The European Tour and ISM are working hard to deliver the same quality at this week’s tournament.

The new 2030 National Strategy for Tourism is certainly to bring profound results in diversification and to keep the sector on its growth trajectory for the next decades.

Golf tourism is growing steadily thanks to the island’s year-round good weather and due to facilities like the ones at Aphrodite Hills Resort.

The Deputy Minister of Tourism, Savvas Perdios congratulated the organisers and the winner and expressed his satisfaction for the event happening in Cyprus for the first time and wished to be able to welcome the tournament again next year and in the years to come.

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CORONAVIRUS - RESIDENTS OF OLD PEOPLE'S HOME RETESTED AFTER 28 POSITIVE CASES [Limassol]

 Cyprus Mail 2 November 2020 - by Evie Andreou

Authorities retested staff and residents of an old people’s home in Limassol on Monday, after 28 people were reportedly found positive for coronavirus through rapid tests.

The results are expected within the day, it was announced on Monday.

Spokesman of state health services organisation (Okypy) Charalambos Charilaou, told state broadcaster CyBC on Monday that 110 test samples have been collected from staff and residents at the Sokration home and are being processed through the PCR method. The results will be ready within the day, he said.

A 91-year-old woman who died from coronavirus last Saturday was a resident.

The management of the home, according to the health ministry, had arranged for tests for staff and residents that were carried out by a private lab with a large number of them found positive for the virus on Sunday. Reports said 28 people were found positive, 20 residents and eight staff members.

Since the tests were carried out by a lab that is not recognised by the health ministry and it carried out the procedure with rapid tests, Okypy staff went to the home to get PCR samples from staff and residents.

The ministry said it wanted to have the people there retested as the residents belong to the vulnerable groups and their health must be safeguarded. It added it also wanted to investigate the extent of the spread within this particular nursing home.

In the meantime, the 91-year-old woman’s family have accused the nursing home of not duly following the necessary protocols.

The woman’s granddaughter told Sigmalive on Monday that one of the staff members, a nurse, had been found positive for the virus more than a week ago. The nurse had presented symptoms on October 10 but tested negative. She was sent home and after getting tested two more times, she was found positive the third time.

The granddaughter said she was notified on October 27 after the nurse tested positive that her grandmother had been taken to the Famagusta hospital after presenting symptoms. She died a few days later.

Her grandmother had been admitted to the home on October 3. A few days ago when she learned that there was a positive case at the home, she was given reassurances that there was no reason for concern.

She said that it took the home 17 days to decide to test its residents.

Head of Sokration, Maria Socratous said that after the nurse was found positive, on October 25, they did notify the relatives of the residents. She added, however, that the nurse had been in self-isolation for 15 days.

The labour ministry was also notified to check whether the management of the facility was observing all protocols, the health ministry said.

 

 

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WITH ONE DAY TO GO, TRUMP CASTS DOUBT ON INTEGRITY OF PROLONGED VOTE COUNT

 in-cyprus 2 November 2020 - by Annie Charalambous

President Donald Trump has cast doubt on the integrity of the U.S. election again, saying a vote count that stretched past Election Day would be a “terrible thing” and suggesting his lawyers might get involved.

With one day to go until Tuesday’s election and trailing Democratic rival Joe Biden in opinion polls, Trump raced through battleground states in a late hunt for support, while Biden implored attendees at two rallies in the pivotal state of Pennsylvania to get out and vote.

Americans have rushed to vote early, already casting nearly 60 million mail-in ballots that could take days or weeks to be counted in some states – meaning a winner might not be declared in the hours after polls close on Tuesday night.

“I don’t think it’s fair that we have to wait for a long period of time after the election,” Trump told reporters before a rally in North Carolina. Some states, including Pennsylvania, do not start processing mail-in votes until Election Day, slowing the process.

Trump has said repeatedly without evidence that mail-in votes are prone to fraud, although election experts say that is rare in U.S. elections. Mail voting is a long-standing feature of American elections, and about one in four ballots was cast that way in 2016.

Democrats have pushed mail-in voting as a safe way to cast a ballot during the coronavirus pandemic, while Trump and Republicans are counting on a big Election Day in-person turnout.

“We’re going in the night of – as soon as the election is over – we’re going in with our lawyers,” Trump told reporters without offering further explanation.

Trump denied an Axios report that he has told confidants he will declare victory on Tuesday night if it looks like he is ahead, even if the Electoral College outcome is unclear. But he said it was a “terrible thing” that ballots would be counted after Election Day.

Asked about the Axios report, Biden told reporters between campaign stops in Philadelphia: “The president’s not going to steal this election.”

Trump, aiming to avoid becoming the first incumbent president to lose a re-election bid since fellow Republican George H.W. Bush in 1992, trails Biden in national opinion polls.

But the race is seen as close in enough battleground states that Trump still could achieve the 270 votes needed to win in the state-by-state Electoral College that determines the victor. Trump held rallies in Michigan, Iowa, North Carolina and Georgia, and planned a late one in Florida.

Biden, the former vice president, made several appearances in closely contested Pennsylvania, the state where he was born and one that is crucial to his quest for the White House.

“There is nothing he can do to stop this nation from voting,” Biden told a drive-in rally in a parking lot outside a Philadelphia church, where supporters honked their car horns in approval.

“He knows that if you get to have your say, he doesn’t stand a chance. But the American people will not be silenced,” Biden said.

Trump, buffeted by snow flurries in Washington, Michigan, a town north of Detroit, wore his trademark red cap emblazoned with the words “Make America Great Again” as he promised a boisterous crowd he would lead a recovery from the pandemic, which has killed more than 230,000 Americans and hammered the economy.

“I’m delivering the great American comeback, and we’re not having any lockdowns,” Trump promised.

‘NEVER HAD ANYTHING LIKE THIS’

Biden criticized Trump for encouraging his supporters after they harassed a Biden campaign bus in Texas. A caravan of vehicles bearing Trump campaign flags surrounded the bus carrying campaign staff on a highway on Friday, forcing the campaign to cancel two events.

“We’ve never had anything like this. At least we’ve never had a president who thinks it’s a good thing,” Biden told reporters.

Trump on Saturday retweeted a video of the incident and wrote: “I LOVE TEXAS!” In Michigan, he asked supporters if they had seen videos of “our people” with the bus.

“It was Trump Trump Trump and the American flag,” Trump said.

The FBI said on Sunday it had opened an inquiry into the Texas incident. The president later criticized the investigation, tweeting: “In my opinion, these patriots did nothing wrong.”

Biden is ahead 51% to 43% nationally in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, taken Oct 27-29. The race remains a toss-up in Florida, North Carolina and Arizona, Reuters/Ipsos polls showed, as Trump trails by 7 percentage points in Pennsylvania and 10 points in Michigan and Wisconsin.

In his 2016 victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton, the real estate developer and reality TV personality-turned-politician was propelled into the White House by victories in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, states that for decades had gone into the Democratic column.

A record-setting 92.2 million early votes have been cast either in-person or by mail, according to the U.S. Elections Project, representing about 40% of eligible voters.

The early surge has led Michael McDonald of the University of Florida, who administers the project, to predict a turnout rate of about 65% of eligible voters, the highest since 1908.

(Reuters)

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MONDAY NOVEMBER 2 - CORONAVIRUS GLOBAL UPDATE

 in-cyprus 2 November 2020 - by Annie Charalambous

More than 46.37 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 1,198,168​ have died, according to a Reuters tally.

Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:

England’s lockdown could be extended until next year

The one-month lockdown for England announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson this weekend could be extended as Britain struggles to contain a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior cabinet member said on Sunday.

Johnson will say on Monday there is no alternative but to lock down England as lawmakers prepare to vote on Wednesday on measures to contain the pandemic.

Government scientific adviser Jeremy Farrar said he had high hopes vaccines would make a big difference to the pandemic next year, even if they might not be perfect.

British drug maker AstraZeneca said on Sunday Britain’s health regulator had started an accelerated review of its potential coronavirus vaccine.

China shows off organised “overkill” lockdown and testing

China’s strict formula of immediate lockdowns and mass testing even at the first signs of infection has been vital to its success in controlling the disease, allowing its economy to quickly recover from the crisis, officials say.

The highly orchestrated strategy – described as “overkill” even by its own proponents – is unique among major economies at a time when Europe and the United States are facing a massive surge of new cases and often chaotic policies.

Key to the programme are factors unique to China, including the Communist Party’s tight grip on all aspects of society.

Authorities have unimpeded access to personal information as part of an expansive surveillance network, regions are required to share resources, the mass testing system is highly structured around specific targets and testing is mandatory.

Global guidelines for airline passenger testing

A global aviation manual now under review by a UN body and expected in November, suggests global guidelines calling for the use of tests with a sensitivity and specificity of 95% when screening passengers to detect the novel coronavirus ahead of flights, three sources familiar with the matter said.

WHO’s top emergency expert Mike Ryan said on Friday that travelling was now “relatively safe” and posed a “relatively low” health risk although there was no “zero risk”. More advice on risk management processes would be released soon, he added.

Japan’s largest airport on Monday opened a novel coronavirus testing facility aimed at outbound travellers who need proof they are virus-free, as it takes steps to reopen international travel that has been largely grounded for months by the pandemic.

Brazilians protest mandatory immunization, Chinese vaccine

More than 300 Brazilians gathered on São Paulo’s main commercial thoroughfare on Sunday to protest state Governor João Doria’s support for mandatory COVID-19 immunization and testing a potential vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac.

Doria has previously spoken in favor of making immunizations mandatory, once vaccines are available, sparking a spat with President Jair Bolsonaro who vows it will be voluntary. The Supreme Court’s chief justice has said the court will ultimately decide on the issue.

In São Paulo, the Sinovac vaccine is being tested as part of phase III clinical trials with support from the Doria government.

Brazil has the third-worst outbreak of coronavirus globally, with 5.5 million cases, after the United States and India, according to a Reuters tally.

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DIKO SUBMITS 11 PROPOSALS TO COMBAT CORRUPTION

 in-cyprus 2 November 2020 - by gavriella

The Democratic Party (DIKO) submitted 11 proposals in order to combat corruption.

Specifically:

1. Unobstructed access of the Auditor General’s office to all documents and elements of each case it wants to investigate.
2. Establishing criteria on incompatibility to the appointment of former ministers, MPs, or mayors to the positions of Attorney General and assistant Attorney General must become incompatible.
3. Establishment of a really Independent Authority Against Corruption which will not be appointed by the government but will be approved by the Parliament.
4. Establishment of a special Advisory Body for Combatting Corruption that will comprised of specialists.
5. Annual check of the property of political persons, independent officials, high-level officials, and mayors.
6. Upgrading and modernization of the MP’s asset and funds declaration.
7. Immediate promotion of the legislation on whistleblowers.
8. Appointment of non-executive members in the councils of semi-governmental organizations, who will check the remaining Administrative Council.
9. Immediate release of all decisions by the Ministerial Council regarding the President, the Ministers and members of their family.
10. Immediate release of all decisions by the Ministerial Council of the last seven years regarding the President, the Ministers and members of their family.
11. Establishment of a list of Department’s interchangeability in the public service.

At the same time, DIKO is ready for any activity or discussion of additional measures to face corruption.

The party noted that in recent years the Anastasiades/DISY government has changed the character of the country with corruption, disrespect of the institutions, attacks to independent authorities, even frightening journalists, supposedly as a joke. As a result the country has been internationally defamed, the institutions have been undermined, pubic money has been wasted, and the society has turned against the state and the politicians.

(philenews)

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FARAGE TRIES TO HARNESS COVID LOCKDOWN ANGER TO TAKE ON PM JOHNSON

 Cyprus Mail 2 November 2020 - by Reuters News Service

Nigel Farage is back!

Nigel Farage, the British politician who helped force a Brexit referendum and successfully campaigned to leave the European Union, will fight Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s COVID-19 lockdown by recasting his small Brexit Party as Reform UK.

Cast by his supporters as the godfather of Brexit, Farage said Johnson had terrified the United Kingdom into submission over Covid-19 and squandered vast amounts of taxpayers’ money while holding out hopes of a “miraculous” vaccine.

“The single most pressing issue is the government’s woeful response to coronavirus,” Farage and Brexit Party chairman Richard Tice said in a joint article in The Daily Telegraph.

“Ministers have lost touch with a nation divided between the terrified and the furious. The debate over how to respond to COVID is becoming even more toxic than that over Brexit.”

Johnson on Saturday ordered England back into a national lockdown from Thursday morning after the United Kingdom passed the milestone of one million COVID-19 cases and a second wave of infections threatened to overwhelm the health service.

The United Kingdom, which has the biggest official death toll in Europe from COVID-19, is grappling with more than 20,000 new coronavirus cases a day and scientists have warned the “worst case” scenario of 80,000 dead could be exceeded.

Farage, a former commodities trader, has transformed British politics over the past decade by poaching Conservative voters to force a succession of prime ministers toward ever tougher positions on Europe.

TRUMP ALLY

Farage, whom U.S. President Donald Trump calls a friend, has spoken alongside the president in the election campaign.

He said lockdowns don’t work.

Instead, Farage proposed targeting those most a risk, like the sick and the elderly, but said ordinary people should not be criminalised for trying to live normal lives such as meeting family for Christmas.

“The rest of the population should, with good hygiene measures and a dose of common sense, get on with life. This way we build immunity in the population,” he said.

The perceived electoral threat to the Conservatives from the United Kingdom Independence Party which Farage formerly led was one of the main reasons then-prime minister David Cameron decided in 2013 to promise the Brexit referendum.

Shunned by the British political establishment, Farage, backed by Eurosceptic financiers, helped sell Brexit to millions of voters in England and Wales who felt ignored by the mainstream Conservative and Labour parties.

The party will be recast as Reform UK — a nod to his view that the country is in urgent need of fundamental reform.

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CORONAVIRUS - 'ELDERS PARLIAMENT' CANCELLED

 Cyprus Mail 2 November 2020 - by Jonathan Shkurko

A previous meeting of the Elders Parliament

A session of the ‘Elders parliament’ scheduled for Wednesday has been cancelled because of the recent spike in coronavirus, it was announced on Monday.

The reason behind the decision was to protect those taking part, who belong to a vulnerable group and therefore more at risk for getting infected, head of the Pancyprian Volunteerism Coordinative Council Elias Demetriou said.

The session, which has been held for 21 years, usually discusses problems faced by the elderly at the House of representatives.

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