Hamburg - Champions League hopefuls Chelsea suffered an unexpected defeat Tuesday on a night of surprises in the lucrative Champions League.

Also on the night Inter Milan and Liverpool had to come from behind to snatch late draws in their group matches, while Barcelona and Sporting Lisbon became the first clubs to go through after making sure of finishing in the top two positions in Group C.

Last year's finalists Chelsea lost their Group A game in Italy against AS Roma 3-1 and had Portuguese international Deco sent off, while Liverpool needed a last-minute penalty in their Group D game against Atletico Madrid for a 1-1 draw at home.

Nicosia, Oct 29 : Real Estate Developer Limitless, part of the Dubai World Conglomerate, has invited construction firms to submit bids for the second phase of earthworks on the 11 billion dollars Arabian Canal project. 

The contract involves the excavation of about 300 million cubic meters of earth along an 8.5 kilometre stretch of the canal’s route.

The 75 km-long Arabian Canal waterway, which will be up to 150 metres wide and six meters deep, will start near the Dubai Marina area, flowing inland around the planned Jebel Ali International Airport and will enter the sea once again at the outer end of the Palm Jebel Ali. 

Athens/Nicosia - Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders met on Wednesday to discuss power-sharing and governance in the latest round of talks on ending their decades-old conflict and reuniting the island.

It was the sixth meeting between Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat since they launched a new round of peace talks on September 3. The two leaders are scheduled to meet again on November 3.

Athens/Nicosia  - The drought-stricken island of Cyprus welcomed its first rain storm in recent months Wednesday which ended up causing flooding to many parts of the eastern Mediterranean island.

Heavy storms forced the closure of two main roads in the capital Nicosia and emergency crews were called in to evacuate more than 300 homes due to heavy flooding.

Cyprus, which is heavily reliant on rainfall for water supplies, is suffering one of the worst droughts and water shortages in the past 100 years.

Nicosia, Oct 21 : Qatar Petroleum has awarded Punj Lloyd the engineering, procurement, installation, and commissioning of the Strategic Gas Transmission Project, worth 800 million dollars.

The project includes the laying of 211 km of a 36-inch diameter pipeline with associated stations and infrastructure.

Nicosia, Oct