Current Events

More than ten thousand people have reportedly visited Cyprus’ Travel Expo.

The event, held on the fairgrounds, had visitors from all over the country as well as the world – all of whom were excited and impressed to see the available travel packages.

A collaborative effort by Display Art Plc and the Association of Cyprus Travel Agents (ACTA), the expo was indeed a resounding success – having civilians and stakeholders of the tourism industry coming together to explore tourism further.

The ACTA’s press release said that attendees were able to browse through a myriad of travel packages – and got clarity on things like experiences and destinations, and of course choosing the packages most suited to them.

The organizers, who themselves were very impressed, expressed their emotions by calling the Expo a “triumph.” Several have remarked that they would be happy to play the same, if not a better role in the event in the following year.

The event has several famous participants, including the Cyprus Agrotourism Company, the Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Tourism, regional Cypriot boards, and of course, the Greek National Tourism Organization. Several niche tourist organizations were also present, as were tourism specialists from other European countries such as Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary. Travel agency reps, airline official, cruises and local municipalities were also among the hundreds who participated.

Israel’s Geological Institute has discovered a canyon under the water near the Cypriot coast.

The canyon in question, which has been named Eratosthenes (being near to a famous now-underwater mountain with the same name) has been estimated to be as old as five-and-a-half-million-years-old, around the time the Messinian event happened.

Said to have been buried at the dawn of the Messinian times, the canyon has been measured to lie five-hundred meters deep and ten-kilometers-wide.

Geologists say that the canyon must have formed when the Mediterranean Sea level lowered due to rising salt levels. This led to the creation of gravity currents i.e. the proliferation of thick solutions that ultimately caused the seabed to subsidize and destabilized the slopes.

They further mentioned how the discovery of the Eratosthenes canyon puts the Messinian event in a more detailed light.

Often called the salinity crisis – this was an epic geological happening where the Mediterranean Sea fell into a state of total or partial desiccation state.

Singer Silia Kapsis is all set to go to Malmö in Sweden to participate in Eurovision 2024 – where she will be representing the island nation.

Kapsis, aged 17, shall be performing her song titled “Liar.”

Speaking at the Eleftherios Venizelos Airport, where she had her photos taken while holding the flag of Cyprus, Kapsis expressed her immense excitement at the opportunity.

She mentioned that while there is some anxiety, it is an opportunity of a lifetime and she will do her best to stay as relaxed as possible.

Kapsis will be representing Cyprus at Eurovision’s first semi-final’s first half.

Several predictions are already being made on the eurovisionworld.gr website, where “Liar” stands away from the top 10 songs.

Meanwhile, odds for betting suggest the song will land at approximately twenty-fourth place.

Greek musician and composer Dimitris Kontopoulos produced and composed the “Liar” song himself.

The Criminal Court of Larnaca has found a man guilty of trafficking drugs, and subsequently sentenced him to serve 5 years in prison.

The man, aged 29, was stopped by drug squad (Ykan) members of the Cyprus Police on a road in rural Larnaca during the afternoon.

The police found his movement suspicious, and proceeded to make a search of the car – this is where they found 1600 grams of cannabis, packed within 2 nylon packets.

Ykan law enforcement proceeded to make a search of the man’s home; they uncovered 10 more similar packages full of cannabis – these weighing 269 grams in total.

The man was already booked at this point and the case was registered for trial on an immediate basis at the criminal court, where the rest of the proceedings and sentencing took place.

A child’s death at the Makarios hospital is being claimed as one stemming from medical negligence, according to the parents.

Kessariani Piripitsi, aged 8, passed away in suspicious circumstances at the hospital. The exact conditions under which she was placed are currently under investigation.

According to a statement to AlphaNew by police spokesman Christos Andreou, Miss Piripitsi’s mother is making an official claim that her daughter died due to mistakes made by staff from the medical team.

Right now, officers are investigating the issue; just as the body itself is being examined for clues.

According to Ioannis Generalis, the lawyer of the Piripitsi family, Kessariani’s kidneys had failed – the main reason why she had undergone multiple rounds of hospitalization.

A young man lost his life after his car went off a cliff and into a ravine in Agia Fyla in Limassol.

Marios Charalambous, the chief of Limassol Traffic Police said that they received a call from a driver in distress. The fire brigade, an ambulance and of course the police were immediately dispatched along with rescue teams.

The latter soon discovered the car in the ravine’s base, and the man was found in the wreckage.

Firefighters finally extracted his body from the destroyed car and took him to Limassol General Hospital, where he was declared dead-on-arrival.

Police investigation showed that the car he was in collided with a guardrail and went right into the ravine, which was 50 meters deep.

In a much awaited development, singer Tom Jones is all set to perform in Cyprus in July as part of his ongoing “Ages & Stages” Tour in 2024.

The event, regarded to stand as a one-of-a-kind experience for audiences in Cyprus will feature some of the Welsh singer’s albums over the years.

Sir Tom Jones is regarded as a giant of the global music industry – with over thirty-six Top 40 hits, several Grammys, the Music Industry Trust Award and over one hundred million in record sales.

“Ages & Stages” will showcase the highlight of Tom Jones’ creation in their entirety – and will include all types of his songs in a sequence personally arranged by him.

Marina Hadjimanolis, Cyprus’ Deputy Minister of Shipping has revealed that the missile-hit ship True Confidence no longer any Cyprus nationals on it.

Deputy Minister Hadjimanolis (who is in Brussels attending the Belgian President’s seminar on EU Council on the living conditions of the seafarers) revealed that the ship in question does not hoist the Cypriot flag, is not publicly or privately owned by the island nation. That said, it does have a company that manages it – one that has its offices in Cyprus.

This news comes after Reuters recently revealed that at least 2 sailors lost their lives in the attack by the Houthis.

In a bid to further its diplomatic stance, Armenia is set to start its mission in the island nation of Cyprus.

According to a statement by Ararat Mirzoyan, the Armenian Foreign Minister made in a joint press conference with his Cypriot counterpart in Yerevan, the Armenian government plans to open their mission within the year.

He further added that this development will help forge better relations between the two countries, and better cooperation in the region in general.

A worrying trend reveals that over 25% of all students have been victims of bullying.

A statement by the “Hope for Children” CRC Policy Center, which conducted the study that makes this reveal – said that that many students have admitted to have been bullied – either physically or online.

The Policy Center made these findings in its study on school violence conducted, which it conducted for the National Strategy for Prevention and Management of School Violence (held between 2018 and 2024).

The results of the research reveal that verbal and social bullying are the most rampant, followed by cyberbullying.

The study also urged for finding better methods of interventions and establishing more comprehensive support structures for both prevention and management of such situations.

The weather in the coming days, dubbed ‘Stinky Thursday’s’ is likely to have partly cloudy skies, and might have people experience isolated episodes of rain showers and generally stormy weather.

While the inland is most likely to experience the turbulence, Cyprus’ east and south could also get rain and storms.

Temperatures inland are expected to go up to 21 degrees Celsius, while those in the hills as well as coasts are expected to go up to 10 degrees Celsius.

Winds could go up to 5 on the Beaufort scale, with winds going north-westwards.

The mountainous areas might get frost during the night time.

Two monks from the Monastery of Saint Avvakoum (Habbakuk) in the village of Fterikoudi have been booked for embezzlement and sexual assault.

The monks in question have been found to have engaged in sexual activities in the monastery itself.

The matter became worse when, in the face of their denial, hard evidence emerged in the form of CCTV footage that pretty much proves the allegation to be true.

The development spurred the Bishop of Tamassos and Oreinis – the jurisdiction to which the Saint Avvakoum Monastery belongs, to close shut down the establishment and communicate with the Holy Synod.

The Synod, in return, will most likely defrock said monks. The monks themselves have asked for the same to keep more scandal at bay.

The monks’ offenses also include exploitation of finances.

Specifically, they were instrumental in luring thousands claiming “miraculous” events, such as dripping of myrrh and tears coming from photos. The monks were actively promoting this via both social media and mainstream one. They even encouraged people to donate offering – which was found in a cumulating “stash” of valuable items and money – with a combined worth of one million Euros.

Furthermore, the monks each had bank accounts with huge balances, and even used some of the money to buy property in Cyprus and in Piraeus, to use as they saw fit.

A Syrian national who arrived to Cyprus with his 4 children on a migrant boat is burying one of them, who died in the boat from starvation.

According to Christos Andreou, a spokesperson for the Cyprus Police, the boat which left Syria in the middle of February used up its fuel tank and continued to sail on the seas with no destination in sight before ultimately being spotted by Cypriot Coast Guard.

The man said that he had wrapped his son in a blanket roughly 2 days before being found, only to be horrified once Cypriot authorities mentioned that the number of children found were not equal to the number declared.

It was then that he realized that his son had in fact died.

Three others could not be located and have been declared missing. Meanwhile two more are currently under Intensive care in the hospital.

Eleven minors on the boat, though, are safe and in good health.

The Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs is accusing Cyprus of actively supplying “weapons from Western nations” to Israel to use against Gaza.

This development, which is happening weeks after the island nation working as a home for UK’s military base and by extension “helping out” Israel to continue its “atrocities” on the Gaza Strip.

Minister Hakan Fidan spoke about Cyprus’ role in the war at the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC), adding that Turkish Cyprus shall not support these endeavors and will aim to serve Gaza’s humanitarian needs.

Fidan continued to mention the UK’s increasing presence in Cyprus – chiefly the RAF Akrotiri, which serves as a collection-and-distribution point for delivering supplies to Israel.

Temperatures are set to rise in the week, along with some dust circulation.

According to the Cypriot Meteorological Office, temperatures are expected increase overall, standing at around 22 degrees Celsius in the mountainous regions, 29 degrees Celsius inland and 25 degrees Celsius in the coastal areas.

Temperatures post-sunset is set to stand at around 12 degrees Celsius in the mountainous regions and 16 degrees Celsius inland and in the coastal areas.

The week is expected to become progressively warm followed by temperatures reaching 36 degrees Celsius i.e. the seasonal average by the latter end of the week.

2 short movies have received accolades internationally.

According to the island nation’s Ministry of Culture, the movies – namely, Savvas Stavrou’s “Buffer Zone” and Constantinos Nikiforou’s “Taxi” have won big prizes on the global scale.

“Buffer Zone” is a tale of soldiers on opposite sides in Cyprus’ Buffer zone who find common ground via music. The film has already had several awards to its name, and won the Greek Film Festival’s Best Short Film prize – including a 500 Euros cash award.

On the other hand, “Taxi” is about a female cab driver who always talks to her customers about her spouse’s death – keeping them engaged in her conversations and of course, the story. It was featured in the Greek Film Festival held in San Francisco and also secured a seat in the comedic section of the European Independent Film Festival.

Cyprus’ Troodos Mountain ranges are buried under snow due to recent heavy snowfall.

In the central square, the depth of the snow measures to around 27 centimeters, making the landscape look like the clichéd Christmas snow-laden scene.

Contributing to the situation is “Dawn.” a low-pressure system consisting of both temporarily and partly cloudy skies that permeate all over the region.

The meteorological department predicts that the weather in the next few days would have the same type of weather, along with isolated rain showers and possible occurrence of a storm – especially in the mountainous and south-eastern regions. Mountains on a higher altitude might even see some snow.

A teenaged student from Agios Vasileios Gymnasium was stabbed by a knife in Strovolos.

Philenews reported that in the evening hours, the teenager who was stabbed came back home with his stab wound, and claimed it happened due to falling off of his bike.

However, his mother’s constant questioning led him to confess that it happened because of a time.

The mother admitted her son into the hospital almost immediately, where the attending doctor confirmed the fact.

The doctor added that while the injury is major, no important organ was affected.

The police are currently investigating the incident. They have already arrested another teenager and are questioning him and his parents.

Cyprus is all set to see the opening of two brand new golf-themed resorts in the next few years.

The resorts are part of the island nation’s latest investment efforts to bolster the economy, make jobs and get more visitors.

The Limassol Hills Golf Resort features among one of the projects. Designed by Cabell B. Robinson, the resort has over seven hundred and fifty villas, apartments and townhouses constructed near a golf course with eighteen holes and over six thousand four hundred square feet worth of area. The resort, which is being developed right now, will include other facilities, like a wellness center, a spa, stores, offices and several types of eateries.

Lanitis Golf Public Co (co-owned by the Maltese investor consortium and the Lanitis Group) is developing the property and announced that it will deliver the first golf course and residential properties in late-2024.

The second biggest project among these is the Eagle Pine Golf Resort. Located in Limassol and made by Aristo Developers, this Graham Marsh-designed resort shall also include an eighteen-hole golf course, along with flats, stores, offices, a premium hotel, a club house, golf instructor, spas and eateries. They are yet to announce when they shall open the establishment.

Right now, Cyprus has 4 golf resorts – Elea Estate, Minthis, Aphrodite Hills and Secret Valley.

The Government of Cyprus is prioritizing establishing an independent authority for food safety, to make sure that chain of control from farm to table gets supervised with utmost protection and health safety.

Said Authority will function to serve several purposes, including dealing with emergencies pertaining to food safety.

Currently, there are independent authorities for food safety in every EU country bar Cyprus. On a pan-European side, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) performs a similar function.

Keeping this in view, establishing a similar organization in Cyprus would be highly instrumental for its citizens.