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1. International reaction to Christodoulides' election

Reports on the results of the presidential election in Cyprus are dominated by what will happen the following day in Cyprus and the surrounding area. ...

2. Energy poverty: The nightmare that everyone is attempting to alleviate

"Energy poverty is a major social issue with a direct impact on health that affects approximately 54 million Europeans. High energy prices, low incomes, and damp, unhealthy homes with poor insulation all contribute to higher rates of energy poverty," according to a statement published on the website of the European Committee of Regions on June 2019....

3. Will the riots in Iran be the catalyst for an uprising?

Riots erupted during the funeral of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in Iran. Amini died under dubious circumstances last Friday after being arrested by the country's morality police....

4. Cyprus starts golden passport trial with a paradox

A defense attorney in the golden passport trial set to begin next month raised a conflict of interest on Monday, when his client and former House speaker along with three other defendants appeared for their arraignment before a Nicosia district judge...

5. Cyprus' RCB Bank and its Kremlin ties

On March 24, Cyprus’s fourth-largest bank announced it would wind down its banking operations in the wake of the “volatile geopolitical situation” caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a month earlier....

6. More ‘Golden Passports’ revoked

The Council of Ministers decided last week to revoke the citizenship of four more Russians, including their family members, who obtained ‘Golden Passports’ under the island’s disgraced Citizenship by Investment scheme that was brought to an abrupt end in November 2020....

7. Ukraine-Russia: Anti-war protests around the world

Thousands of people have taken to public squares and Russian embassies across the globe to protest President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine....

8. Cyprus awaits Brussels decision on golden passports

The President’s Cabinet in the Republic of Cyprus has approved at least 390 golden passport applications despite European warnings after the program was scrapped last year, with Interior Minister Nicos Nouris saying he has already explained the logic to the European Commission but hasn’t heard back yet...

9. Cyprus wants clean slate in naturalizations

The government in the Republic of Cyprus has laid out a new blueprint for naturalizations of foreign investors and skilled immigrants, pointing to a departure from the country’s disgraced golden passport scheme while respecting the EU position on citizenship criteria...

10. Chaos as Biden defends withdrawal

Thousands of people desperate to flee Afghanistan thronged Kabul's airport on Monday after the Taliban seized the capital, prompting the United States to pause evacuations, as President Joe Biden confronted mounting criticism over the US withdrawal...

11. Nicosia reacts to new Al Jazeera video

Nicosia has refuted allegations concerning a Cypriot minister and his trips to London, in reaction to an Al Jazeera secret investigation into how convicted criminals could take on new identities and launder money through ownership of English football clubs by deceiving authorities...

12. Al Jazeera publishes prequel to The Cyprus Papers

A new documentary by Al Jazeera on football corruption in Britain includes allegations that a Cypriot minister flew to London to arrange paperwork at a consular office for a Russian national who was wanted by Interpol and unable to travel under his real name...

13. Anastasiades feels vindicated by passport probe

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades says a final report on the island’s disgraced golden passport scheme has alleged no deceit on his part, with the commander in chief apologizing for mistakes made under his administration which he attributed to lack of regulations and oversight over the years...

14. Cyprus’ passport committee issues final report

Over half of the golden passports approved by the President’s Cabinet in the Republic of Cyprus were illegal, a special committee has found, and it is now up to the attorney general to ascertain whether any ministers may have had fraudulent intent...

15. Legal battle heats up in golden passports

The top two chief law enforcers in the Republic of Cyprus are taking the parliament to court over a resolution, in which members called on the two officials to recuse themselves in the golden passport probe after raising conflict of interest issues...

16. Palestinians rally in Nicosia but show not strong

Demonstrators gathered in downtown Nicosia over the weekend to protest against Israeli action in Gaza, while a pro-Palestinian group pulled out at the last minute citing a number of concerns over the event...

17. Israel destroys Gaza tower housing media

Israel destroyed a 12-storey tower block in Gaza housing the offices of the U.S.-based Associated Press and other news media on Saturday, saying the building was also used by the Islamist militant group Hamas...

18. Syllouris declines questions in passport probe

A former Cypriot parliamentary speaker secretly filmed in an expose on a now discredited cash-for-passports scheme declined to answer questions on Wednesday into his role in a scandal which rocked the island nation...

19. Stars in Al Jazeera video face committee

20. Director wants passport probe clear his name

A civil servant, whose name was dropped by the former House speaker during a secret video recording by Al Jazeera, says he did not get involved with golden passports during his tenure as director of the interior ministry, vowing to take legal action if an investigative committee failed to clear his name...

21. Interim report on golden passports delivered

An interim report on the golden passport scandal in the Republic of Cyprus says just over half of citizenships granted by the executive branch were not approved lawfully...

22. Gloves are off again over golden passports

Cyprus’ auditor general told a House committee this week that the Cabinet used old rules to approve over two hundred golden passports after the cutoff date for an investigation ordered by the attorney general, who pushed back on the criticism saying there was 'no bottom to the abyss'...

23. Cyprus hurries to clean up company registry

Energy Minister Natasa Pilides has called on business stakeholders in Cyprus to embrace a new effort of recording and updating true information about beneficiaries of companies, saying a new digital registry can bolster transparency on the island...

24. Damning State Dep. report highlights Cyprus human rights issues

A US State Department country report on human rights practices in 2020 proved damning for Cyprus which was found to have had significant human rights issues last year....

25. Defying clampdown, Cyprus activists to protest again over graft

Anti-corruption campaigners in Cyprus will protest again on Feb. 20, they said on Tuesday, after a violent clampdown by police at an event on Feb. 13 drew widespread condemnation....

26. Former AG says he cautioned over passports

The state’s former attorney general says his department had cautioned the government years ago that the country’s golden passport scheme might have been incompatible with European law, essentially contradicting the executive branch's position that nobody had said anything...

27. Cyprus president testifies on golden passports

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades is expected to testify on Tuesday before the independent committee probing corruption allegations in the country’s golden passport scheme, just days after he lashed out at critics during a national address on the fight against corruption...

28. Lawyer says Al Jazeera took him out of context

Cypriot attorney Andreas Pittadjis, who was targeted in an Al Jazeera undercover investigation into allegations of corruption over golden passports, took to social media to reiterate his position he did nothing illegal, accusing the foreign network of being dishonest...

29. Reporters to sit in on golden passport hearings

A number of reporters will be allowed from now on to attend ongoing probe hearings into alleged corruption in connection with Cyprus’ disgraced Citizenship by Investment Programme, with journalists being asked to commit in advance not to breach data privacy laws...

30. Cypriot FM visits Gulf before US inauguration

Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides flew to the United Arab Emirates on Monday to hold a private meeting with his counterpart, days after the two countries signed a military cooperation agreement but also days before a changing of the guard in Washington could spell trouble for US arms sales to Gulf states...