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1021. 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...

1022. Opposition turns up pressure over passports

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...

1023. EC: Cyprus, Malta golden passport schemes in violation of EU law

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....

1024. Cypriot minister has one regret over passports

Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides, who oversaw Cyprus' disgraced golden passport scheme while he was serving as interior minister, says he should have pushed harder to end the program much sooner...

1025. Cypriots rise up against corruption

A crowd of protesters gathered outside Filoxenia Conference Centre in Nicosia on Wednesday evening, calling on House Speaker Demitris Syllouris to resign after he was featured in an Al Jazeera undercover story on corruption...

1026. Probe launched against Al Jazeera operation

The state attorney ordered a probe following a complaint filed by high-profile Cypriot officials targeted by an Al Jazeera secret investigation on corruption, with members of the public outraged as more shocking revelations emerged in a new Cyprus Papers video...

1027. Al Jazeera strikes again at Cyprus Papers

Al Jazeera’s investigative unit struck again on Monday with new Cyprus Papers material, involving a report accompanied by a one-hour video depicting undercover reporters who visited Cyprus and posed as representatives of an imaginary ultrarich investor, Mr X, who was convicted for palm-greasing and money laundering, to ‘test’ whether local authorities would still be willing accept his hefty investment and provide him with Cypriot citizenship....

1028. Passport revocation inquiries move forward

Cypriot authorities have identified seven individuals or foreign investors who could potentially be stripped of their Cypriot citizenship, after an internal probe pointed to forged documents or misleading information during the golden passport application process...

1029. MBA scholarships at CIIM for Oil & Gas Management

1030. Cabinet approves revocation of seven citizenships

The Cabinet on Wednesday gave the green light for the initiation of the process for the revocation of Cypriot citizenship granted to seven persons through the Investment Program. ...

1031. Cyprus downgrades four countries in updated travel list

The Republic of Cyprus on Tuesday downgraded four countries in its three-tier risk-based classification of countries, with the updated travel list to come into effect on October 9....

1032. Bad blood continues over golden passports

A prolonged and bitter dispute between the interior minister and auditor general, over probing Cyprus’ golden passports scheme, was renewed this week following a mini report with details on a number of applications through citizenship by investment...

1033. Coronavirus measures bring sharp drop in EU asylum applications

First-time asylum applicants in the EU recorded a sharp drop of almost 70% during the second quarter of 2020, mainly as a result of coronavirus emergency measures imposed by member states from March, Eurostat figures showed Wednesday....

1034. Nearly 100 asylum seekers flown out of Cyprus

Fourteen unaccompanied minors have been transferred from the Republic of Cyprus to Finland, while another 84 foreign nationals were flown back to their countries in what the government described as ‘voluntary returns'...

1035. Parliament passes bills to streamline asylum procedures

The House on Friday passed three amendments to the Refugee Law, streamlining asylum procedures....

1036. Berlin to take in 1,553 refugees from Greece

As Germany indicated on Tuesday that it would take in more than 1,500 refugees from Lesvos and other Greek islands, the Greek government welcomed the move, indicating however that it should not be seen as rewarding irregular immigration. ...

1037. Yiolitis clarifies role in passport applications

Cypriot Justice Minister Emily Yiolitis has issued a statement on Twitter concerning her involvement in “golden passports” applications during the time when she was a founding partner at a law firm...

1038. Thousands protest after Greek refugee camp burns down

Thousands of protesting refugees and migrants left homeless on the Greek island of Lesbos after fires destroyed the notoriously overcrowded Moria camp gathered on a road leading to the island's main town Friday, demanding to be allowed to leave....

1039. 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...

1040. ECHR asks Cyprus to explain boat incidents

The European Court of Human Rights has asked the government of the Republic of Cyprus to answer questions concerning recent refoulement of undocumented travelers at sea, in response to a request of an interim measure from a local attorney handling another case...

1041. Passports under the watchful eye of the Commission

1042. 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....

1043. Urgent meeting after weekend refugee arrivals

Cypriot Interior Minister Nicos Nouris has called for an emergency meeting following a number of arrivals of undocumented migrants over the weekend, with some of them transported back to Lebanon and others facing the prospect of crowding into an already maxed-out facility...

1044. 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. ...

1045. 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”...

1046. 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...

1047. House President calls for suspension of 'golden passports' scheme

House President Demetris Syllouris has formally suggested to President Nicos Anastasiades that the Cyprus citizenship-by-investment scheme is paused until decisions for its improvement or even complete termination are taken, and called for a meeting of party leaders to discuss the scheme that has recently attracted international attention after a document leak led to a series of articles and videos published by the media network Al Jazeera....

1048. EU mulls legal action against Cyprus 'golden passports'

The foreign media network Al Jazeera, that has this week been publishing a series of articles and videos on the murky side of the Cyprus ‘golden passports’ program after it was leaked classified documents, reported that the European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders is looking into the possibility of legal action against Cyprus....

1049. Entrance fees to be scrapped at 12 Cyprus museums

Entrance fees will be scrapped at 12 museums across Cyprus in a bid to boost visitors....

1050. Cyprus takes a stab at Al Jazeera 'propaganda'

The daily publication of reports by the foreign media network Al Jazeera targeting the Cyprus citizenship-for-investment programme after gaining possession of over 1,400 leaked documents has sent the Cyprus government rushing to set the record straight....