https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/house-speaker-resigns-over-passport-scandal
House Speaker Demetris Syllouris resigned on Thursday following public outcry over his involvement in a golden passport scandal exposed by Al Jazeera...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/syllouris-accepts-waiving-of-his-parliamentary-immunity
President of the Cyprus Parliament Demetris Syllouris said Wednesday that he won’t stand in the way of his parliamentary immunity being waved to accommodate a probe launched by local police after a fresh batch of Al Jazeera allegations situated him at the epicentre of a massive corruption scandal involving the island’s golden passports scheme....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/judge-in-cypriot-passport-probe-resigns
Retired Supreme Court Judge Costas Pampallis has resigned from his position as a member of an indepednent investigative committee, a team that was tasked to sift through Cyprus’ golden passport scheme in the wake of corruption scandals and systemic failures...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/mokas-refutes-lawyer-s-claim-in-passport-scandal
The Republic of Cyprus’ Unit for Combating Money Laundering (MOKAS) has weighed in on the passport scandal following Al Jazeera’s earth-shuttering investigative report on corruption in the island’s Citizenship by Investment programme...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/police-launch-probe-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...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-on-the-menu-as-eu27-break-bread
European Council President Charles Michel has set aside an entire EU27 dinner to tackle the eastern Mediterranean and EU relations with Turkey, while President Erdogan has sent a letter outlying Ankara's position and a suggested way forward...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/bad-blood-continues-over-golden-passport-probe
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...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/the-eu-did-not-act-in-united-fashion-cyprus-president-tells-le-figaro
In an interview with the French daily Le Figaro published Thursday, President Nicos Anastasiades said that in responding Turkey’s actions in the eastern Mediterranean, the EU did not act in a decisive and united fashion, while refuting that Cyprus vetoed sanctions against Belarus....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/athalassa-national-park-in-troubled-waters
State authorities are warning the public to avoid contact with the water at the lake in Athalassa National park, following reports of dead fish floating upside down at the surface...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/police-request-for-golden-passports-documents-from-parliament-unconstitutional-lawyers-say
Lawyers from whom Parliament requested advice after law enforcement officials said they would crack down on the Cyprus Papers whistleblower(s) said Parliament’s non-compliance with police requests for documents relating to the investment scheme is reasonable, as such a request is “not constitutionally legitimate”....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/new-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...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/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....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/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...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-defends-blocking-migrant-boats
A police task force from the Republic of Cyprus is hoping to hash out a plan with Lebanese authorities to deter “economic migrants” from traveling to the island, as government and state officials rush to respond to criticism over a decision to send back undocumented migrants to the neighbouring country...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/politics-turn-ugly-over-cyprus-papers
The main left party opposition in the Republic of Cyprus is firing back at the government, after reports emerged over threats and a confidential letter about Cypriot golden passports a decade earlier...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/un-closely-monitoring-varosha-developments-unsg-tells-president
The UN is closely monitoring developments with fence-off city of Varosha in the north and is committed to help all parties resume negotiations with the aim of reuniting Cyprus, a letter sent by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to the President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades said....
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/us-concerned-over-east-med-tensions
A US top diplomat has criticized Turkey’s policy in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, while voicing concerns that tensions in the region complicate NATO's efforts to present a united front in the face of Russia's destabilizing activities...
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/nicosia-mayor-weighs-in-on-migrant-housing
Nicosia Mayor Constantinos Yiorkadjis has suggested asylum applicants be barred from residing downtown until their applications are adjudicated, while also calling on the government for a 'clearer housing policy'...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/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...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/greek-and-turkish-warships-in-mini-collision-says-defense-source
A Greek and a Turkish warship were involved in a mini-collision on Wednesday during a standoff in the eastern Mediterranean, a Greek defense source said, describing it as an "accident."...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/berlin-bridge-building-effort-undermined-by-ankara
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday revealed that a secret trilateral meeting between Turkish, German and Greek officials, mediated by Berlin, took place ahead of the European Union Foreign Affairs Council on Monday in the wake of Turkey’s controversial decision to convert Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia into a mosque. ...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-among-five-countries-that-present-unsg-with-note-verbale-on-tukey-libya-mou
Cyprus, Bahrain, Egypt, Greece and Saudi Arabia have presented a note verbale to the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterrres, outlining the reasons why the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Government of the Republic of Turkey and the Government of National Accord of Libya on the delimitation of maritime jurisdiction areas in the Mediterranean in Istanbul on 27 November 2019 should not be registered by the UN Secretariat in the list of international treaties....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/anastasiades-patriotic-realism-dictates-solution-through-diplomacy-not-weapons
Instead of a catastrophic scenario, we opt for diplomacy, the weapons of international law and Cyprus’ status as an EU member state. This is what is dictated by patriotic realism and rationalism, and not a rhetoric of empty slogans. The coming days are crucial as regards initiatives taken by the EU and the US in view of preventing a potential crisis through targeted measures towards Turkey....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/police-suspect-murder-suicide-in-lakatamia
Nicosia police are investigating a possible murder-suicide in Lakatamia, where two bodies were found in an apartment on Monday night...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/student-s-letter-causes-media-storm
A student in Nicosia is taking social media by storm, after she wrote a letter criticizing school prayer and how religion is being taught in state schools in the Republic of Cyprus...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/letter-to-unsg-denounces-turkey-s-violations-of-cyprus-airspace-maritime-zones
A letter dated May 28 sent by the Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the UN Andreas Mavroyiannis to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that denounced Turkish violations of the island’s airspace and maritime zones was released on Thursday as an official document in the General Assembly of the UN Security Council....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-cries-foul-over-turkey-s-pick-at-unga
Cyprus and Armenia have sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General explaining the reasons why the two countries object to the election by silence procedure of Volkan Bozkir of Turkey as President of the UN General Assembly at its 75 session...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/the-growing-complications-of-the-reopening-of-checkpoints
The discussion for the reopening of checkpoints will be anything but an easy feat, as in addition to the role played by the epidemiological situation, the matter is inevitably being politicized in view of ‘elections’ set to take place in the north, but also in light of the UNSG’s report expected around the end of June....