A massive explosion ripped through a Cypriot naval base today after a brush fire detonated stored gunpowder, killing 12, wounding 62 and prompting the resignations of the country’s defence minister and top military chief.

About 400 protesters called for Syrian President Bashar Assad to quit during a peaceful demonstration in front of the Syrian embassy in the Cypriot capital.

THE corpse of former Cypriot president Tassos Papadopoulos was found reburied in another grave three months after it was dug up and stolen.

The body of former President Tassos Papadopoulos has been stolen from its grave, police in Cyprus said today.

CARLO ANCELOTTI insists he is not feeling the pressure ahead of their Champions League clash with unfancied Apoel Nicosia following their shock domestic defeat by Wigan on Saturday.

IT WAS a faintly eerie feeling to sit high up in the press box before kick-off in the GSP Stadium on Saturday night and take in a scene which suggested time had stood still.

The Republic of Ireland will have their first training session on Cypriot soil today in advance of tomorrow's World Cup qualifier.

The Republic of Ireland squad fly out to Nicosia later on today in advance of Saturday's World Cup qualifier meeting with Cyprus.

GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI has expressed his disappointment at Stephen Ireland’s decision not to resume his Irish career and suggested that the player could live to regret it.

AND so the week begins as it’s sure to go on, with Irish footballers being asked as many questions about a World Cup game against Cyprus which took place three years ago as about the World Cup game against Cyprus that’s coming up in just five days’ time.

CYPRIOT President Tassos Papadopoulos was eliminated yesterday from Cyprus’s presidential run-off in a huge surprise after a cliff-hanger election that saw three candidates neck-and-neck until the last minute.

The European Commission is expected to recommend today that the EU partially suspend entry talks with Turkey, officials said.

The European Commission has threatened Turkey with the possible suspension of membership talks unless it does more to protect human rights and implements a customs pact with EU member Cyprus.

Marcos Baghdatis had never won a match on grass until one month ago and had responded to a first round defeat to Romanian wild card Andrei Pavel in Halle by insisting: “Grass is for playing football”.

EU leaders today put aside questions over what to do with their embattled constitution for at least two more years, opting instead to focus on promoting Europe to their citizens by pressing ahead with economic reforms and a common immigration policy.

The chief Athens coroner today said toxicological tests on the remains of the co-pilot, three flight attendants and two passengers from the crashed Cypriot jetliner showed they were not rendered unconscious by breathing carbon monoxide.

Derek Gatopoulos, Athens

A five-year-old boy who was aboard the Cypriot airliner that crashed in Greece was still alive – but only for a second – after the plane slammed into a mountainous area north of Athens, a coroner said today.

A child aged about five of six who was aboard the Cypriot airliner that crashed in Greece was still alive after the plane slammed into a mountainous area north of Athens, Greek state television quoted a coroner as saying today.

Autopsies on a total of 20 bodies from the Cypriot airliner that crashed in Greece have shown they were alive when the plane went down, an Athens coroner said today.

A jet with 115 passengers and six crew members on board crashed today north of Athens, the country’s defence ministry said, and it was not clear if the pilots were conscious or at the controls when it went down.

Teenager Dizzee Rascal has become the first rapper to win the prestigious Panasonic Mercury Music Prize.

ALEX FERGUSON will put his trust in misfiring striker Ruud van Nistelrooy when Manchester United launch their latest Champions League quest at Old Trafford tonight.

A EUROPEAN rape crisis helpline is being set up in response to the growing number of women who are raped and sexually assaulted while on holidays.

Tourists staying at a Cypriot sea front today found themselves with a dozen unexpected guests - swarthy Palestinians the Israelis regard as senior terrorists.