https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/blame-game-in-full-swing-after-budget-vote
The government in the Republic of Cyprus faced an unprecedented challenge on Thursday, after failing to pass a 2021 budget in the House, with lawmakers approving stopgap measures to keep making payments for the next couple of months...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/state-budget-battles-rage-on-in-cyprus
Ruling party DYSI has been mounting a campaign over the last 24 hours to secure votes to pass the state budget, which is up in the air over golden passport probe wars, with added pressure also causing rifts even within smaller parties...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/police-focus-on-larnaca-in-passport-probe
Police in Larnaca carried out searches on Tuesday in connection with an ongoing criminal probe into golden passports, with reports saying investigators were focusing on at least five persons of interest but were not calling them suspects...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-asked-to-explain-passport-probe-impasse
The Cypriot government says it will comply with a request from an international organization of audit institutions, which asked to hear the administration’s view over the golden passports probe impasse after the state’s auditor sought support from the global network...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/golden-passport-findings-hard-to-come-by
The president of the Cyprus Bar Association says he has received adequate information from the audit office in connection with golden passports, adding that other agencies and officials have refused to share their findings citing direct orders from the interior minister...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/finmin-confirms-cyprus-won-t-reinstate-‘golden-passports-scheme
Finance minister Constantinos Petrides assured that the government will not be reinstating the Cyprus Investment Program (CIP), that was shut down after the shocking corruption revelations that emerged through an Al Jazeera investigation and the subsequent stark criticism by the European Commission. ...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/state-budget-up-in-the-air-over-golden-passports
Opposition parties are cranking up the pressure on Interior Minister Nikos Nouris, who has been refusing to hand over files in connection with the golden passports scandal, with the Democratic Party making good on its promise not to vote the state budget later this month if there is no transparency...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cabinet-shrinks-oversized-security-detail-for-vips
Party leaders and former state officials in the Republic of Cyprus will see their security detail downsized following a Cabinet decision on Thursday, also tasking police to evaluate the size of the presidential guard...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/president-says-anti-corruption-measures-to-be-announced-by-year-s-end
The new anti-corruption measures will be announced to the public before the end of the year, President Nicos Anastasiades said Wednesday, noting that the delay is due to the government’s efforts to take into account the suggestions of all stakeholders....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/auditor-general-makes-jiu-jitsu-move
The audit office is reportedly preparing an unflattering report on Cyprus’ film industry government scheme, with local media suggesting some type of possible connection between newly-established Olivewood and golden passports...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/government-ups-rhetoric-against-auditor
The Cypriot government hinted over the weekend it might refer the auditor general to the Supreme Court over “indecent” behaviour, after the audit office published yet another damning report alleging offences in a Cabinet decision to grant investor passports to individuals linked to a casino project without meeting the criteria...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/al-jazeera-turns-attention-to-jho-low
Cypriot-naturalized citizen Jho Low, the Malaysian fugitive financier whose golden passports came under scrutiny last year, was back in the news this week after Al Jazeera published a video with actual voice recordings of 'the biggest fish' seeking a way out of the 1MDB colossal scandal...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/elusive-businessman-with-cyprus-ties-pops-up
The whereabouts of elusive Russian hedge fund manager German Lillevali, who was linked to a flurry of companies in Cyprus after he became a resident, are no longer a mystery after reports that he was detained in the US on an immigration violation but released due to overcrowding amid the coronavirus pandemic...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/al-jazeera-video-stirs-privacy-debate
The former speaker of the House is reportedly calling on the chief of police to investigate two Al Jazeera journalists, saying they violated his rights when a hidden camera was used to capture footage that became part of the network’s corruption investigation known as The Cyprus Papers...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/comprehensive-anti-corruption-proposals-in-the-pipeline
President Nicos Anastasiades will soon be presenting a package of proposals for the strengthening of transparency, accountability and the rule of law, deputy government spokesman Panayiotis Sentonas said Monday....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/citizens-to-protest-over-passport-probe
A new demonstration will take place outside the Presidential Palace on Friday, with protesters gathering to express their frustration over the government’s handling of the golden passport scandal and demand that officials take ownership of the crisis...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/passport-committee-shuns-media-over-covid
The special investigative committee probing the passport scandal in the Republic of Cyprus cited the pandemic this week after banning reporters from hearings, while it was unclear how Thursday’s additional COVID measures would further affect media coverage...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/‘wanted-man-takes-police-to-supreme-court
A foreign national who says he was living in Denmark with his family ended up being detained in Bulgaria on a Cypriot warrant, with his lawyer saying it was issued without due diligence...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/roxy-s-charo-takes-cyprus-to-echr
A Dominican woman, who was recognized as a sex trafficking victim after her ordeal in the capital’s Roxy strip club over a decade ago, is taking the Republic of Cyprus to the European Court of Human Rights, after the country’s Supreme Court sided with a lower court judge who threw out her lawsuit seeking damages...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/anti-corruption-measures-on-the-way-anastasiades-says
President Nicos Anastasiades said Friday he will be announcing new measures aiming to crack down on corruption next week.
...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/police-search-homes-offices-of-those-implicated-in-al-jazeera-video
Police on Thursday searched the homes and offices of the people embroiled in the Al Jazeera video on the Cyprus Papers that caused ongoing political turmoil on the island.
...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/foreign-investors-rush-to-meet-deadline
Days before Cyprus’ Citizenship by Investment Programme is set to go offline, interior ministry officials and paralegals kicked things into high gear to handle the last batch of petitions by foreign investors before the programme ends on Sunday...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/constitutional-crisis-unfolds-over-passports
An unprecedented constitutional crisis has been unfolding in the Republic of Cyprus, with the attorney general publicly scolding an inquisitive auditor general and asking him to back off from seeking access to files in connection with golden passports linked to a casino project...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/fresh-total-lockdown-out-of-the-question-for-cyprus-govt
Finance minister Constantinos Petrides on Monday strongly refuted the possibility of Cyprus entering a second lockdown, such as the one it was plummeted into in March as a result of the outbreak of coronavirus....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/attorney-general-calls-auditor-‘to-order
Cypriot Attorney General George Savvides issued a stern warning on Saturday, calling to order the state’s auditor general over his insistence on examining specific golden passport case files linked to a casino project on the island...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/mps-reject-dissolution-of-parliament-amid-passports-scandal
After officially electing AKEL MP Adamos Adamou as the new House President following the resignation of Demetris Syllouris amid intense backlash against his involvement in the recent golden passports scandal, MPs on Thursday debated on whether parliament should be dissolved making way for early elections, with the proposal eventually rejected with 26 votes in favour and 30 against....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/opposition-turns-up-pressure-over-passport-scandal
Parliament in Cyprus is expected to debate proposals over the passport scandal, including whether a new law can force the government to hand over files to the auditor general as well as a freeze on pending applications allegedly being squeezed through before the disgraced scheme is set to go on hiatus...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/reynders-golden-passport-schemes-must-be-abolished
The EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders briefed the plenary of the European Parliament on Thursday on the Commission’s decision to initiate infringement proceedings against Cyprus and Malta in view of their ‘golden passports’ schemes which appear to be in violation of EU law....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/president-defends-block-on-audit-office
President Nicos Anastasiades invoked the Constitution during a televised interview, saying the job description of the auditor general, who is currently seeking information on foreign nationals linked to a casino project, does not authorize him to 'have a say in everything'...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/ec-launches-infringement-procedures-against-cyprus-golden-passports
The European Commission launched infringement procedures against Cyprus and Malta on Tuesday in response to their ‘golden passport’ schemes, and allowed a two-month period for the countries to respond in writing to the Commission’s warning letter....