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211. Jho Low wanted to be a Cypriot banker

A British investigative journalist told an audience in Nicosia that Cypriot-naturalized financier Jho Low had tried to use contacts with Kuwaitis to buy a bank on the island where the Malaysian fugitive could launder stolen money...

212. Legal defends blacked out passport report

The Legal department in the Republic of Cyprus has issued its final report on golden passports, but its decision to include privacy issues as a reason to black out information has come under media scrutiny...

213. 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...

214. ELAM throws hat in speakership race

Cyprus’ nationalist party ELAM says its president will seek the speakership of the House, following Sunday’s parliamentary elections that doubled the party’s seats while mainstream political movements lost ground...

215. Ruling party wins as largest parties shrink

The ruling conservative party in the Republic of Cyprus came on top following Sunday’s parliamentary elections, but DYSI along with leftist AKEL, the two mainstream parties, both saw many supporters choosing smaller tickets...

216. Women and children allowed off refugee boat

Close to a hundred Syrian refugees were spotted on board a vessel on Wednesday off Cyprus’ Cape Greco, with reports saying half of them were women and children while coast guard officials ordered the men to remain on the boat...

217. 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...

218. 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...

219. Stars in Al Jazeera video face committee

220. Greek far-right MEP arrested in Brussels

Convicted Golden Dawn lawmaker Ioannis Lagos was arrested in his home in Brussels on Tuesday, shortly after a European arrest warrant was issued for the far-right MEP, according to sources. ...

221. 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...

222. Cyprus’ famous pelican dies peacefully

Cyprus’ famous pelican Kokos died of old age this week, after living a long and full life and only days before he was due to put smiles on thousands of visitors in Kato Paphos...

223. 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...

224. Jiu Jitsu director says Cyprus losing out

The director and producers of martial arts movie Jiu Jitsu sought audience with Cyprus’ finance minister this week over delayed cash rebate payments, with reports saying the film makers are also ticked off by an unflattering audit report on the country’s Olivewood scheme...

225. 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'...

226. 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...

227. Syrian refugees escorted to Cape Greco

A total of 75 undocumented migrants from Syria reached the Republic of Cyprus on Monday, after a Cypriot coast guard vessel escorted their wooden boat to Cape Greco...

228. When the lights of the Palace begin to dim

The testimonies of 2013, say that in those critical days of the savings levy, there was a crowd of people on the hill of the presidential palace....

229. Emails from Cyprus connect dots on Jho Low

New information published by OCCRP suggests that Henley & Partners identified Jho Low as a high-risk client but worked with him anyway through a Cypriot company to get him a golden passport...

230. 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...

231. President blames CIP failure on recklessness

Cyprus’ disgraced Citizenship by Investment Programme took a heavy toll after it was 'recklessly promoted' overseas, according to President Nicos Anastasiades, who testified on Tuesday before an independent committee, while telling reporters later that he would not revisit the matter until after probe findings are concluded...

232. 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...

233. Teacher ready to sue over Twitter search

A teacher who won an appeal following an unlawful police search, in connection with a Twitter parody account complaint filed by Justice Minister Emily Yiolitis, has vowed to sue the state saying she was targeted because of her activism...

234. President lashes out at critics

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades in a televised address on Thursday rejected allegations of corruption within his office and administration, accusing the opposition and media of singling out his former law firm for being involved with golden passports and appealing on the political parties’ patriotism to support a new strategic plan to fight corruption...

235. 15 law firms being audited for involvement in 'golden passports'

Interesting new details on the involvement of law firms in the island’s disgraced citizenship-by-investment programme were presented before the Investigative Committee by the head of the Cyprus Bar Association, Christos Clerides....

236. 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...

237. Dueling small parties help pass budget

The House in the Republic of Cyprus approved a revision of the government’s 2021 state budget on Thursday, following a month of consultations between the administration and small opposition parties that offered additional amendments to the bill...

238. MPs vote on budget hanging by a thread

The House takes another vote on the state budget on Thursday, with representatives expected to pass the bill narrowly following behind-the-scenes consultations since the first time it was rejected in mid-December...

239. Former FinMin tells passport probe he shares part of blame

Former Finance Minister Harris Georgiades told the independent investigative committee probing the citizenships by exception granted via the Republic’s nixed ‘golden passports’ program that “as a member of the Council of Ministers, I have a portion of the blame”. ...

240. 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...