https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/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. ...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/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”...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/comment/opinion/golden-passports-scheme-to-remain-as-is
The citizenship-by-investment program will not be terminated, nor will it be suspended for a short period as a way of managing the crisis developing crisis, the government decided during its Tuesday morning coffee at the Presidential Palace. What was strongly tabled was that a potential freezing or termination of the investment program at this point in time would send a message that the government is acting in light of the Al Jazeera publications, and that by extension, that it accepts them....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/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...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/comment/opinion/curtain-rising-for-citizenship-by-investment-program
The Presidency has before it four scenarios for dealing with the issue of purchased citizenships. The most likely possibility is that of suspending the investment program for a short period, as revealed by Kathimerini on Sunday....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/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....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/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....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/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....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/al-jazeera-journalist-denies-political-motives
Cypriot Interior Minister Nikos Nouris is expected on Wednesday to provide answers to Al Jazeera’s “golden passports” story, while the network has rejected accusations of political motives behind the story...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-police-looking-into-al-jazeera-document-leak
Cyprus law enforcement officials have been investigating since June 3 how the foreign media network Al Jazeera, that has this week published a series of articles and videos on the island’s citizenship-by-investment program, got hold of the leaked documents on which it built its exposé....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-golden-passports-under-more-scrutiny
A foreign investigative report says leaked documents from the Republic of Cyprus suggest the island’s government violated its own rules in granting “golden passport” citizenships, with Cypriot officials denying the accusations and raising credibility issues over the report...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-golden-passports-get-popular-amid-pandemic
The Republic of Cyprus’ investment-for-citizenship program proved to be the second most popular scheme of the sorts amid the global pandemic, with new citizenship applications during the first quarter of 2020 marking a 75% increase compared to the same period last year....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/beirut-blast-has-eerie-connections-to-cyprus
Following Tuesday’s deadly explosion in Lebanon, some eerie connections began to emerge in Cyprus, including a Russian national based in Limassol and a Hezbollah-related arrest on the island back in 2015...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-gets-tough-on-golden-passports
A House emergency bill that could allow authorities to revoke dozens of Republic of Cyprus “golden passports” is said to eliminate grey areas that so far prevented the state from revoking ill-gotten investor citizenships...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cabinet-approves-stricter-regulations-for-citizenship-by-investment-program
The Cabinet on Wednesday approved new regulations to the citizenship-by-investment program, an important provision of which ties the program to anti-money laundering legislation, interior minister Nikos Nouris said.
...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-golden-visa-scheme-returns-to-spotlight
Cyprus’ controversial citizenship-by-investment scheme was thrust into the spotlight once again after the investigative journalism platform Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) published an in-depth report on the granting of a ‘golden passport’ to a senior member of the Saudi royal family and six of his family members....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/mixed-reviews-for-cyprus-anti-money-laundering
A US State Department anti-money laundering report on Cyprus includes fewer negative references but still points to vulnerabilities in the island’s financial services and gaming sectors...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/interior-minister-talks-migration-cyprus-investment-program-with-eu-officials-in-brussels
Interior Minister Nicos Nouris informed the EU Commission’s Vice-President Margaritis Schoinas on Cyprus’ needs and the issues the country faces in dealing with the increased flow of migrants, ahead of the presentation of relevant proposals by the Commission next month....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/jho-low-reportedly-spotted-in-wuhan
Malaysian fugitive financier Jho Low, whose Cypriot passport came under scrutiny last year, has been spotted in China’s Wuhan, a city under lockdown due to the Coronavirus...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/president-says-use-of-saudi-businessman-owned-jet-not-a-violation-of-ethics-code
President Nicos Anastasiades acknowledged on Thursday that he could have avoided using a private jet belonging to a Saudi businessman for a family holiday in the Seychelles, but denied that he was in violation of the Ethics Code....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-golden-passports-scheme-a-laundering-risk-says-watchdog
A European money laundering watchdog has cautioned that a secretive investment-for-passports programme run by Cyprus was vulnerable to money laundering and fraught with risk...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-plan-to-strip-citizenship-stalls-in-legal-vacuum
A legal technicality has led Cyprus to temporarily halt a process to strip citizenship from 26 individuals who benefitted from a secretive passports-for-investment scheme, lawmakers said on Monday....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/turkey-deploys-extremists-to-libya-local-militias-say
Syrian militants affiliated with groups such as al-Qaida and the Islamic State group are currently being sent by Turkey to fight on behalf of the UN-supported government in Libya, according to two Libyan militia leaders and a Syrian war monitor....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-hopes-to-join-us-visa-waiver
Cypriot officials say they are setting up a task force aimed at including the country in the US visa waiver programme the soonest possible...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/jho-low-denies-central-role-in-1mdb-scandal
Malaysian fugitive financier Jho Low, whose Cypriot passport came under scrutiny last year, says he was not the mastermind of the 1MDB scandal while confirming rumours he was offered asylum in an unnamed country...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/jho-low-movie-gaining-popularity
A film about Malaysian financier and Cypriot passport holder Jho Low has been steadily gaining popularity, despite legal challenges over copyright infringement and potential defamation lawsuits...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/jho-low-may-have-multiple-passports
Reports suggest that fugitive financier Jho Low may be travelling on foreign passports while Malaysian authorities suspect he may be hiding in the Middle East...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/interior-minister-says-all-have-a-duty-to-preserve-cyprus-hard-fought-reputation
We all have a duty to preserve Cyprus’ good name, Interior Minister Constantinos Petrides said on Thursday, adding that it took a lot of effort to reinstate the country’s fame under adverse circumstances....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/business/growth-momentum-moderates-in-cyprus-according-to-european-commission-autumn-economic-forecast
"Growth momentum moderates" in Cyprus, according to the headline assessment of the European Commission`s Autumn Economic Forecast for the country, presented today by Commissioner Moscovici in Brussels....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/where-is-jho-low
There is plenty of speculation in the media over the whereabouts of fugitive financier Jho Low, with the Malaysian inspector general saying he could resort to “unorthodox methods” to get him back...