Current Events

Seven dead bodies have been found in a capsized boat

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A search-and-rescue mission of the boat, filled with migrants was done, where the dead bodies were found. Only two were found alive with a greater – unknown number found missing

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The two people found alive were present in international waters over 55.5 kilometers in the south-eastern direction from the island nation

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According to reports, the boat was carrying roughly 20-22 people, and had originally departed from Tartous, Syria

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The island nation of Cyprus is a member country of the European Union. It is located roughly one hundred nautical miles to the west of Syria & Lebanon – both crisis-hit countries

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In early 2024, Cyprus suspended examining asylum applications from Syrian nations, after witnessing a sudden increase in the number of people coming to the island nation

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The biggest discussion in a meeting of the Road Safety Council was the need for newer and stricter rules and regulations for e-scooters amidst concerns for public safety

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According to Alexis Vafeades, the Transport Minister of Cyprus, the authorities are coming up with a suitable set of guidelines for those owning personal mobility devices such as e-scooters in order to maintain a better standard of road safety

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Parallelly, the Public Works Department is preparing their official recommendations on the issue

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The plan at large includes several initiatives, such as increasing fines awarded to those to violate traffic rules and keeping dedicated 30 kilometers per hour zones in over seven different urban spaces in Cyprus

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Vafeades mentioned how the decisions have been informed by facts such as the larger share of traffic accidents happening in cities, rather than inter-city roads. He firmly believes that the initiatives will encourage both cyclists and pedestrians to utilize footpaths and road networks

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The island nation of Cyprus is set to face its third year of major water shortage, with circumstances made worse by destruction of the desalination plant in Paphos due to the fire

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Water Development Department (WDD)’s Senior Engineer Yianna Economidou says that the water reserves in dams have slid down to an all-time low of 25%, even lower than the 47% during the same time in 2024

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Economidou further explained how the inflow in 2025 has slid down to 16 million m³, officially marking the third bad year in terms of water shortage. The expectation of rain to alter the situation is very less

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Furthermore, with the plant in Paphos out of commission, over 30% of the total desalination capacity is tarnished

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Cyprus is set to see a decrease in temperatures, along with partially cloudy skies

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Winds are expected to blow at three to four by Beaufort standards, going in a southeast-to-southwest direction. Meanwhile the seas are expected to be slightly-to-smooth sailing

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Specifically, the temperatures are expected to be around 22°C in the mountainous areas, 26°C in the coasts and 31°C inland

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The situation is expected to change towards the middle of the week, when the skies will turn cloudier and some showers might happen. Thunder showers are also likely

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At this point, the temperatures might further decline to seasonal levels

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Rain has arrived in Cyprus.

Residents are expected to see skies filled with clouds, along with localized showers multiple times a day. Some thunderstorms might also occur.

Sleet and/or snow is expected to occur on higher terrains.

Winds are expected to stay light to moderate and will flow from north-east to south-east. This can make the seas somewhat rougher.

Temperatures are expected to reach around 9°C in mountainous areas and 16°C inland and in coastal areas.

During the night, the showers might continue – and particularly in the coasts. The wind will be at moderate speed of 4 on the Beaufort scale. Temperatures at this time can reach 3°C in the mountainous regions, 6°C inland and 9°C in the coastal areas.

The island nation of Cyprus is all set to join the Schengen region in 2025.

Ekathimerini reported that Nikos Christodoulides, the President of Cyprus has announced the same at the ‘Beyond Sea and Sun’ tourism conference.

He mentioned how Cyprus along with Ireland were the remaining European Union member states which had not yet joined Schengen – primarily since they did not have borders with the European Union.

He thinks that including Cyprus inclusion shall help boost investments and tourism.

Right now, the ministry of foreign affairs has a dedicated team that is supervising the operations.

Security Agency Shin Bet has asked Israeli airlines IsraAir, Arkia & El Al to avoid going to Paphos.

As a result, all of the airlines have decided to halt all Paphos-bound planes, on grounds of confidential security reasons.

A representative for Shin Bet has said that flights shall instead land at Larnaca.

Passengers meant to land at Paphos have asked the Israeli media if they have received any notice of any flights being diverted or canceled.

Ynet says that passengers are not being banned from travelling to Paphos by land once they have arrived in Cyprus.

Doo Group has opened its new office in Limassol.

The company had already received its license to operate in the island nation in 2024, and chose Limassol, its financial capital, as its destination.

However, this is technically the company’s second office in Cyprus, given as its current address is not the one listed on CySEC.

Over eighty employees are currently working in this office space.

The company’s official statement explained how the Cyprus office will play a major role boosting its brand image in EMEA. It shall also work as a strategic hub used to deliver high-quality financial services.

The Doo Group received its license to work as a Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) in September 2024, and announced the same two months later in November.

This license allows it to provide derivative instruments (which includes contracts for difference instruments) all over Europe.

Doo Group also operates in the US & UK, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia & Hong Kong.

Asli Nadir, a well-regarded Turkish-Cypriot businessman died in Nicosia at the age of eighty-three.

He was being treated in the ICU at Nicosia hospital for some time, but his situation got extra critical – this was when his doctors began to ask for blood donors.

Despite initial success, however, Nadir eventually passed away. Nur Nadir, his wife, revealed the sad development on social media.

Ünal Üstel, the Turkish Cypriot PM has expressed his sadness on the matter, calling him a “remarkable” businessperson who made great strides with his acumen.

Born in Lefka in 1941, Nadir moved to London with his family in 1961, and later became an Economics student at Istanbul University. He soon dropped out, however, and embarked on a business career, starting with buying a London-based textile firm.

Nadir invested in various areas and was known to transform small businesses to internationally-renowned enterprises.

He was accused of embezzlement in 1990, and in 1993 he was arrested and subsequently released on a £3.5 million bail.

Over 14 donkeys were found killed in Turkish Cyprus.

The animals were living in Taşkent Nature Park in Karpaz Peninsula and were a major tourist attraction.

The perpetrators of the horrific crime as of yet remain unidentified.

This act has made the residents very angry, given that donkeys are a national Turkish Cyprus symbol.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that the animals might have been shot at a close range.

Several politicians, animal activists and people have expressed their disapproval. The Leader Ersin Tatar has criticized the killings, and vowed to keep track of the investigation himself.

Meanwhile the nature park’s director Kemal Başat emphasized on the lacking in efforts with regards to conservation of donkeys. Especially given as it takes 200 Euros to take care of one donkey for a decade.

While they take care of over three thousand donkeys, they have only seen five being sponsored in the last year.

Several Syrian nations who had sought refugee status in Cyprus due to the decade-long civil war have now voluntary withdrawn the same.

This comes within weeks of the fall of their erstwhile leader Bashar Al-Assad.

Migration Minister of Cyprus Nikolas Ioannides said that over forty asylum requests are being withdrawn per day since the 9th of December. This figure now stands at hundreds who have expressed returning to Syria, withdrawing their applications and even waiving their protected/refugee status.

Several others have simply left the country of their own volition.

In the last few years, several Syrians had come fleeing to the island nation of Cyprus, which pressured authorities to suspend processing applications.

In collaboration with Qatar Energy, ExxonMobil has begun drilling to find natural gas near the Cypriot coast.

Nikos Christodoulides, the President of Cyprus himself announced this on X (formerly, Twitter).

The main reasons behind this move are the requirement for gas in the absence of that supplied by Russia since it invaded Ukraine back in 2022.

Since the East Mediterranean has seen major finds, drilling for gas here has been all but paramount.

Announced originally in November 2024, the operations will start with the Electra and Pegasus wells.

ExxonMobil is present in Cyprus as part of a large consortium of companies which includes TotalEnergies (France), Eni and France’s (Italy) & Chevron (US).

The cabinet of Cyprus has proposed a law that will permit women to serve in the armed forces, right alongside the men.

While men are obligated to provide fourteen months of military service, women are exempt from it.

The bill is still pending approval from the parliament. In the meantime, Vasilis Palmas, the Minister of Defense has said to reporters that they expect to recruit women starting October.

President Christodoulides has welcomed the move, calling it one that fortifies the National Guard’s power while allowing women to make their contribution to the military. It will thus promote the National Guard as an egalitarian institution.

Right now, the Cypriot army consists of twelve thousand members, along with fifty thousand reservists who train on a regular basis.

Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, the President of Egypt has invited Nikos Christodoulides, the President of Cyprus to the Egypt Energy Show (EGYPES).

Karim Badawi, the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Egypt, delivered the invite.

This meeting comes right after the 10th Tripartite Cooperation Summit in Cairo that had the island nation, Greece and Egypt as co-participants. Its aim was to strengthen cooperation between the countries on matters of natural gas.

In the meantime, it is anticipated that several important agreements shall be signed at the EGYPES, particularly so that the “Aphrodite” and “Cronos” gas fields in the Cypriot EEZ can be used.

Signing the agreements will allow the fields to be linked to the facilities in Egypt, which in turn will encourage the production and delivery of natural gas to both local as well as international markets.

President Nikos Christodoulides has accepted the invite, conveyed his thanks and shall bear witness to agreement signing.

More than two hundred schools all over Cyprus got bomb threats, which led them to evacuate people and conduct large-scale police searches.

According to a spokesman for the Police, no explosive was discovered. However, they want to make sure, which is why there are still personnel who are investigating the matter.

Police investigation revealed that the threats had been sent through a temporary email that was linked to Russian servers. However, this is not evidence that the threat itself originated from the country.

The threat itself was in Greek language, and talked about attacks that happened in the past, along with threatening violence.

The police are likening this to a similarly-made fake bomb threat in 2023 – it was finally determined as an incident with little risk.

They have founded a crisis center to ensure the situation is managed properly – and are working in tandem with the Ministry of Education to make sure that everyone remains safe.

Both Europol and Interpol have been informed of the incident.

A similar method of threatening has been made in Hungary and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Tupperware, the staple of many households has shut down in Cyprus, marking the end of its decades long dominance in the household consumer sector.

The development comes after the now-bankrupt company decided to rescind its license for selling its products all over Europe.

The company originally filed for bankruptcy in September 2024 on account of increasing debt and liquidity issues, and informed its Cypriot of such in its announcement.

The household brand first opened its doors in Cyprus in 1966 and has enjoyed popularity in households for its high-quality products and direct method of sales and marketing.

The company’s farewell announcement thanks both workers and customers, while assuring the latter that the remaining products in stock shall stay available to be purchased.

Originally founded in 1946 by Earl Tupper, the company came into the spotlight due to the famous ‘Wonderlier Bowl’ introduced after the second world war. Other products soon followed, and became popular due to them being light in weight yet highly durable and air-tight.

Tupperware introduced its famous ‘home demo’ in 1948 after being spurred by its lack of popularity in supermarkets. The system worked so well that they had withdrawn from supermarkets entirely, instead focusing on their demo format.

The Cyprus Traffic Police has announced that it intends to wrap the uncollected fines awarded to people in the time period of January 2022 to September 2024.

The public is being asked to check if they have any pending fines via the Cypriot contractor website (CyCameraSystem.com.cy). Entering their ID & vehicle registration numbers will provide them with the relevant information.

They can make the payment online via the website of the Police.

People can also find out said details by dialing 80008009 anytime from Monday to Friday and between 8 AM & 5 PM.

Those who are vehicle owners but weren’t driving when they made the traffic will be legally obliged to identify who the driver in question was – also done online. Failure to do so will lead to them being prosecuted under Article 21 of the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Law.

March 31, 2025 has been set as the deadline for this. Those who do not clear their cases will be produced in court and criminal charges shall be brought against them.

The city was hit by fog and heavy rain, as accurately predicted by the Meteorology Department.

The rain started as one intense 30 min episode, followed by shorter-but-still-intense showers.

In addition, the city has been covered with dense clouds and fog, blocking the sun and causing the temperature to stay on the lower end.

The good news is that so far no notable mishaps have occurred – ones that would need the attention of the fire department or the police.

People have nonetheless been asked to be careful, especially with the flooding of some of the main roadways.

A yellow warning has been issued in light of potential thunderstorm occurrence.

People using their cellphones while driving has become a major problem – leading authorities on the island nation to resort to increasing fines.

The Road Safety Council of Cyprus has announced that they are making sharp increases in fines awarded for people committing traffic violations.

Based on the proposal from Marios Hartsiotis, the Justice Minister, an increase in fines have been recorded for the three most common – and detrimental traffic violations.

The fine for riding a two-wheeler without a helmet has increased from €200 to €250, with repeat violators being to be fined €500 unless they go without offence for 3 years.

The fine for using a cell phone whilst driving has increased from €150 to €200. Repeat violations shall be fined €400, as opposed to the previous €300.

Those not wearing their seatbelts shall be fined €150, up from €200. Repeat violators will be awarded €400 in fines.

Two-wheelers without a valid number will be fined €100 (as opposed to the previous €80) for their first violation, and €200 for any subsequent ones, if committed within 3 years of the first one.

Eminent Cypriot journalist Alex Efthyvoulou has passed away at the age of 97.

Many have expressed their sadness at the development. Nikos Christodoulides, the President of Cyprus praised Efthyvoulou, and his presence at some of the island nation’s key events – as well as that of its neighboring countries.

He further added that his name itself represents the values of stability and credibility.

The Cyprus Union of Journalists also praised Efthyvoulou, calling his career and its achievements as those that extended far beyond the island nation. They also mentioned his long-standing contribution to the field, see as how his union membership member was the single number 9.

In 1950, he started his career as a journalist, right at the dawn of Eoka’s rebellion against the British (who ruled the island nation at the time). Efthyvoulou started to send reports of violent incidents to British news outlets like The Daily Telegraph & The Times.

Subsequently, he worked with Associated Press starting 1955, where he reported on developments in both Cyprus and other Middle Eastern countries. He also reported on news from the Middle East on Cyprus radio..

He personally witnessed the 1957 Battle of Macheras, when Eoka rebel Grigoris Afxentiou was neutralized by the British by the latter pouring petrol in his hideout and lighting it on fire.

In 2002, Efthyvoulou retired from his career as a journalist.

His many accolades include being recognized by the International Human Rights Association in during the 1980s, and an honor from the Cyprus Union of Journalists in 2015.

His funeral was held at Nicosia’s Church of Saints Constantinos and Eleni.