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1. Cypriot banks dump Russian client accounts

Russian nationals in the Republic of Cyprus are facing bank account closures as the island’s financial institutions are choosing to axe client accounts to avoid sanction violation risks, but some fear an indiscriminate sweep may affect innocent customers...

2. California: Use of police dogs to be curbed due to racial bias

The California Assembly's Public Safety Committee has approved a bill that would ban the use of police dogs for arrests, apprehensions and crowd control, apparently a first-in-the-country measure....

3. US report: Harsh conditions in Cyprus prisons

The US State Department's Human Rights in Cyprus 2022 report highlights significant human rights issues in Cyprus. The report states that there were credible reports of harsh conditions in prisons and detention centers, particularly for asylum seekers....

4. Chinese spy balloon contained surveillance equipment

The Chinese spy balloon that the U.S. shot down over the Atlantic Ocean last weekend carried high-tech equipment capable of collecting communications signals and other sensitive information, the U.S. government said Thursday....

5. Airlines to oppose France's ban on short-haul flights

French and European airlines plan to invoke their rights to freedom of movement in protest to the environmental restrictions on short-haul flights, which France has partially banned and Brussels has approved in December....

6. UN chief sees no common ground in divided Cyprus

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' report on the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, released on Wednesday night as an official document of the Security Council, number S/2023/3, records the lack of common ground between the two sides for peace talks leading to a mutually agreeable solution...

7. Turkish asylum applications in Germany increased by 216%

A total of 20,802 asylum applications from Turkish nationals were received by authorities in Germany in the first 11 months of 2022, marking a significant increase compared to 7,873 applications filed under the same purpose during the same period in 2021....

8. No travel restrictions for Chinese arrivals in Greece and Switzerland

Greece and Switzerland will not impose travel restrictions for arrivals from China despite the current COVID-19 situation on the latter....

9. Cyprus undecided as divided EU debates Chinese travel

Nicosia failed on Tuesday to reach a decision on whether COVID measures should be imposed on travelers from China, with officials this week pointing to a new effort by the European Union to coordinate a response to Beijing’ move to ease restrictions...

10. Former Pope Benedict XVI dies

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the shy German theologian who tried to reawaken Christianity in a secularized Europe but will forever be remembered as the first pontiff in 600 years to resign from the job, died Saturday...

11. Do officials care about the violence on the football pitches?

12. British business travelers being turned back from EU countries

British business travelers are being turned back from European countries for going against post-Brexit movement restrictions that will be applied more rigorously once the European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) is introduced in November next year....

13. Greece accuses EU of using Med countries like a refugee ‘parking lot’

Greece on Monday urged the European Union to lift movement restrictions for refugees recognized by individual nations, accusing the bloc of applying a double standard when dealing with Ukrainians fleeing the war compared with the victims of other conflicts....

14. Iran: Pro-regime marchers calling for execution of protesters

State-organized demonstrations took place in several Iranian cities on Friday to counter anti-government protests triggered by the death of a woman in police custody, with some marchers calling for the execution of rioters....

15. Will the riots in Iran be the catalyst for an uprising?

Riots erupted during the funeral of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in Iran. Amini died under dubious circumstances last Friday after being arrested by the country's morality police....

16. Turkey threatens Cyprus and East Med security over arms issue

Turkey has threatened Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean and condemned the United States after the US decided to lift an arms embargo on Cyprus....

17. Ayia Napa Marina opens its doors to four-legged visitors

The management of Ayia Napa Marina, in the context of serving its visitors and customers and respecting animals, informs that it applies the relevant regulations and best practices regarding the entry of animals into the Marina's premises....

18. Cyprus hopeful about EU migration pact

The interior ministry in the Republic of Cyprus says an EU council draft that makes adoption of asylum and migration rules a priority includes a Green Line reference, seen by Nicosia as an important step in its attempt to block flows from the northern part seen by the south as 'instruments of Turkey'...

19. Seniors in Cyprus remain skeptical of fourth shot

A spectacularly small number of people over 60 got their fourth COVID jab so far in the Republic of Cyprus, with the health ministry contemplating to lower the age threshold at a time while medical experts advocating for the vaccine are jumping ship on the immunity debate...

20. Guterres: 'More direct contact between the two communities is needed'

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged the leaders in Cyprus, President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar to encourage more direct contact and cooperation between the two communities, expressing his concern about the likelihood that the already difficult climate between the parties could worsen....

21. Op-ed: The handmaidens of the right

It was the decade of the 70s when my friend Katerina and I were students at Pierce College in Athens. With our group of friends we spent happy, carefree days exploring the old city, its galleries and parks, its nightspots and museums....

22. Leaked SC abortion ban could also apply to rape and incest victims

Twenty-two states have abortion bans that would become law almost immediately if a leaked Supreme Court decision on abortion rights goes into effect....

23. EU parliament votes to keep EU Digital COVID Certificate in place until June next year

The Parliament of the European Union has given the green light to the Member States to keep the EU Digital COVID Certificate in place until June next year....

24. Restrictive measures to be lifted completely

With the epidemiological picture showing a small but steady improvement, the road to normalcy is wide open, with the agenda including the lifting of more restrictions and ultimately the introduction of new significant relaxations....

25. Unvaccinated Djokovic could skip French Open, Wimbledon

If forced to choose, Novak Djokovic said he would skip the French Open and Wimbledon, foregoing the chance to overtake Rafael Nadal’s record haul of 21 Grand Slams titles, rather than get vaccinated against COVID-19....

26. After two years of closed borders, Australia welcomes the world back

Australia said on Monday it will reopen its borders to vaccinated travelers this month, ending two years of misery for the tourism sector, reviving migration and injecting billions of dollars into the world No. 13 economy....

27. Cyprus keeps hopes up as Wonder bids farewell

Wonder of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship left Limassol on Thursday at 4:30pm after a short visit to pick up crew and renew the company’s commitment to Cyprus at a particularly tough time for both the industry and the island looking to rebrand itself...

28. Freedom of movement within the EU will no longer be regulated by country of origin

After calls to simplify COVID travel rules within the EU, EU Ministers meeting at the General Affairs Council in Brussels agreed on Tuesday that the three main criteria for travel within the EU will be vaccination status, covid test results or recovery certificates....

29. Europe continues to be in the deep red on the COVID-19 ECDC map

The epidemiological situation in the European Union and the European Economic Area remains serious and has not significantly changed, according to the latest epidemiological map on the spread of COVID-19 by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)....

30. Germany readies its air force to transport covid patients to other parts of the country

Germany readied its air force to transfer COVID-19 patients from overwhelmed hospitals in the south as national case numbers rocketed and a new virus variant in South Africa caused widespread alarm....