Search

1201. EU must go beyond words, Cyprus President says

The EU must go beyond words, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said during a teleconference on Wednesday evening with European Council President Charles Michel, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and EU member states leaders ahead of the European Council Summit that will take place in Brussels on September 24-25....

1202. Driver permit rules stiffer for non-residents

The Cypriot transport ministry has issued tougher rules for some foreigners seeking to obtain a driver’s permit, essentially linking visa status to eligibility while barring refugees with pending applications as well as introducing stricter criteria...

1203. Cyprus adopts new road safety plan for 2021-2030

The Road Safety Council on Wednesday adopted a new strategic plan for 2021-2030 that aims to cut road deaths by half, with the plan to introduce harsher penalties and traffic cameras....

1204. Three new coronavirus cases emerge in Cyprus

Three new coronavirus cases were detected in the Republic of Cyprus on Wednesday when 2,251 tests were conducted, raising total cases recorded since the outbreak of the pandemic to 1,514....

1205. Mountains under orange warning in Cyprus

An orange alert for the mountains has been issued for Wednesday afternoon, with maximum temperatures climbing inland but also rain chances expected later in the week...

1206. Solar panels being installed in over 400 Cyprus schools

Education Minister Prodromos Prodromou said Tuesday that the Cyprus Electricity Authority has begun the process of insulating and installing solar panels at 405 schools across Cyprus, allowing schools to take on the extra electricity load of air conditioners that are desperately needed as the heatwave rages on. Currently, 107 schools have solar panels....

1207. Passports under the watchful eye of the Commission

1208. Charles Michel reiterates EU support for Greece, Cyprus in East Med row

European Council President Charles Michel on Monday reiterated European Union solidarity with Greece and Cyprus during a telephone conversation with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in which the increasingly tense situation in the Eastern Mediterranean was the key topic of discussion, according to sources....

1209. AG announces makeup of new committee to probe passports scheme

Attorney General George Savvides announced the members of the newly-established four-member committee tasked with probing the entire length of the Cyprus Investment Program, which was introduced in 2007....

1210. Return of students to schools postponed one week

1211. Greece and Turkey 'agree' to tone it down

NATO allies Greece and Turkey have agreed to talks to avoid accidental clashes in the Eastern Mediterranean, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday...

1212. Classroom preparations in full swing as first bell edges nearer

With the school year kicking off on Monday, September 7, school authorities are rushing to prepare classrooms that would host students in line with government health protocols....

1213. Greek citizenship to require written exams, interview

Foreign nationals in Greece wanting to acquire citizenship will have to sit and pass written examinations, testing their knowledge of the Greek language, geography and history, according to an Interior Ministry bill that has been submitted for public consultation until September 10. ...

1214. Cabinet throws ball in attorney general’s court

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades is calling on the state’s attorney general to appoint yet another committee to probe golden passport applications to settle a dispute between the auditor general’s office and the interior ministry over the “Cyprus Papers”...

1215. Fierce battle over ‘Cyprus papers’

A fierce battle over documents has began following Al Jazeera’s “Cyprus papers” on golden passports, with the audit office demanding to examine specific files and the interior ministry refusing to hand them over...

1216. Cyprus revises classification of countries for travel

The Cyprus health ministry on Tuesday downgraded Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and Lichtenstein to category B in its three-tier risk-based travel classification system, while Rwanda and Monaco were bumped down to category C....

1217. Old rivalries continue in eastern Mediterranean

Greece has issued a competing navigational telex after Turkey extended seismic surveys in the eastern Mediterranean, with no signs between the two NATO allies of burying the hatchet over old rivalries that continue to this day...

1218. Ankara accuses Athens of beating the war drum

Turkey says the European Union is not sincere in its efforts to weigh in on the maritime disputes in the eastern Mediterranean, while accusing Athens of beating the war drum by intending to expand Greek territorial waters...

1219. EU set to sanction Turkey over ships in disputed East Med exploration area

The European Union is preparing sanctions against Turkey that could be discussed at the bloc's next summit on September 24 in response to the Eastern Mediterranean dispute with Greece, the EU’s top diplomat said on Friday. ...

1220. Tourism sector in Ayia Napa, Protaras records €15m loss in 2020

The tourism sector of the eastern coastal destinations of Ayia Napa and Protaras suffered losses estimated at €15 million during the current tourist season as a result of the stem in tourist arrivals against the backdrop of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic....

1221. International EastMed tension-diffusing efforts battling on

International moves to de-escalate tension in the eastern Mediterranean continued on Tuesday, with the German Chancellor holding a tete-a-tete with the NATO Secretary General and the kickstarting of the informal meetings of EU ministers in Berlin, where regional tensions were at the top of the agenda....

1222. Joint drill makes waves around Cyprus

Turkey issued a new navigational telex on Thursday for gunnery exercises next week in the eastern Mediterranean, following an ongoing joint military drill between Cyprus, Greece, France and Italy...

1223. Borrell to present options for sanctions against Turkey at Gymnich

The European Commission confirmed Tuesday that the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is set to present a list of potential options for sanctions against Turkey during the Gymnich in Berlin on Thursday, with all options expected to be discussed by the 27 EU leaders during a summit in September....

1224. Crowded migrant camp running out of options

Officials at Pournara migrant camp are scrambling to find more space to host asylum seekers, after it emerged that more than half of detainees at the Nicosia facility are under quarantine due to coronavirus measures...

1225. Cyprus domestic tourism scheme to launch in September

The Cyprus deputy tourism ministry announced Monday that a new government scheme aiming to boost domestic tourism is set to be launched in September....

1226. Borrell doubles down on Turkey criticism

EU High Representative on Foreign Policy Josep Borrell scorned Turkey over the weekend, calling on Ankara to end drilling activities off the island of Cyprus and engage in a broad dialogue with the European Union...

1227. Rival warnings keep on in the Mediterranean

Rival warnings continued to be issued over waters in the eastern Mediterranean this weekend, after EU ministers reaffirmed the bloc’s solidarity with Greece and the Republic of Cyprus and Turkey saying it would not “bow to banditry”...

1228. Suspect rearrested in Filipina abuse case

A retired police officer who was accused last month of abusing his Filipina housemaid has been detained again, with police saying his new warrant include new charges of human trafficking...

1229. France testing Paphos National Guard air base

Three aircraft of the French Air Force have since Monday afterrnoon been stationed at the ‘Andreas Papandreou’ air base in Paphos. The presence of the warplanes at infrastructure of the Cyprus National Guard, is not, Kathimerini understands, related to the developing situation in the region....

1230. A second lockdown would be a grim financial equation

With the rise in coronavirus cases which are mainly located within the local community and not just at the country’s points of entry, whispers of a second lockdown looming have resumed....