Current Events

Cyprus’ ground stations in the Air Quality Monitoring Network have detected an unusually high concentration of dust in the air.

To that end, the government has issued a warning, explaining how the vulnerable groups (like children, older persons, and others with comorbidities) – should stay in shelter and away from dust.

They further added that the dust contains several micro particles, which if breathed in will have a detrimental effect on human health.

The warning also urged employers to take adequate technological and organizational measures – especially for those employees who work in open spaces.

Dust is this case refers to any particulate matter in the air that has a diameter of less than 10 μm.

6 individuals are set to stand trial over the alleged plot to attack Israeli citizens.

All of the six in question are facing serious charged – including document forging, terrorism, illegally carrying firearms and taking part in a criminal enterprise.

While the police have not revealed the subjects’ identities, it is widely believed that four of them include a Lebanese-origin Cypriot and a Pakistani national.

All of the four were said to work as food delivery drivers prior to their arrest.

The case originally started when an Azerbaijani hitman was found possessing a silencer and a pistol.

The trial will be held behind closed doors due to security issues, and the suspects shall remain under strict police custody until that point.

The new restrictions to curb the spread of the new Omicron variant has had everyone uneasy, and parents are no exception to this rule.

In yet another incident related to this, the Cyprus police arrested a parent who was protesting outside their child’s school.

The protest, that had been going on for more than 3 days, had a group of parents protesting outside Limassol’s Education Ministry district office on Franklin Roosevelt Avenue – calling out the new measures in place for schools.

The parent in question was arrested after they were found obstructing traffic and the police, and even threatened a policeman after the fact.

The police have arrested a 24-year-old man trying to leave Cyprus on a fraudulent passport.

The man, an Afghan national, was arrested from the airport at 8:30 pm, after the authorities detected fraudulent features on his security documents.

Upon further checking, it was determined that the man was in fact had presented what was a fake Spanish passport.

The man was charged with forgery – his statement to the police revealed that he was in fact an asylum seeker.

A large group of people were seen having picnics outside restaurants Limassol and Nicosia to protest the new rules.

The protest, which was organized by United for Justice Cyprus – a social media group, had people protesting against banning the unvaccinated from public establishments such as coffee shops, restaurants and pubs.

It began at Ledras street and the Limassol castle in Nicosia, with people laying down mats and blankets and sitting down with their containers of drinks and meals. Some were also carrying cool bags and coolers.

Videos were taken on social media, which had several people dancing and celebrating their freedom.

According to the official announcement, the aim of the event was to encourage people to live happily and without fear.

The new rule in place will mandate all those aged 12 and above who are not vaccinated with even a single dose to be banned from all outdoor and indoor public places.

The incident involving the abduction of an Israeli boy has already proven itself as a complicated case.

The man who allegedly kidnapped the child, and who has an Italy-issued warrant for him – was found and arrested in Cyprus.

According to the prosecutors in Italy, Gabriel Abutbul Alon helped Eitan Biran’s grandfather to take the boy to Israel, without any prior consent from his paternal aunt, with whom he was living.

Biren went to live with his aunt after his entire family passed away in a fatal cable car crash in Italy.

The political parties in Turkish Cyprus have agreed to hold the election ahead of time on January 22, 2022.

According to the Parliament Press Office of North Cyprus, the decision was taken after the chairmen of the country’s 6 political parties discussed the issue – under the guidance of Önder Sennaroğlu, the Speaker of the Parliament. They also decided to form a committee which will be working on the changes to be brought forth by the election law.

The new cabinet formed by a coalition government was approved by Ersin Tatar, the President of Turkish Cypriot Nov. 5. Members included the Democrat Party (DP) and the National Unity Party (UBP), with Faiz Sucuoğlu, of the latter acting as the coalition’s chairman.

The first act for Mr. Sucuoğlu was the announcement of his first statement.

The police in Cyprus have arrested 19 civilians as well as 5 business owners on grounds of violating the measures in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

According to a statement by a spokesperson for the Cyprus police, the cops carried out more than three thousand checks – and the actual levels of rule violations were quite alarming. Most people were not wearing masks and using the SafePass when being in crowds and public places.

He further explained the breakdown of checks by district. No violations were reported in Larnaca and Morphou, where 572 and 180 checks were made, respectively. Nicosia saw 1,295 checks and two fines – including one business-person and one citizen, while Famagusta had 461 checks and had 5 citizens fined. Paphos has 290 checks, with 3 citizens and 4 business owners fined. Limassol had the greatest number of bookings, with 10 citizens fined out of a total of 296 checks.

The Cypriot traffic department also carried out 35 checks at airports and ports – however no cases were reported.

A major accident in Limassol has left a driver struggling for his life.

The driver, 49, was gravely injured after crashing into another vehicle being driven by a 19-year-old on Philellinon Street.

The latter sustained a broken nose and was held back for observation, while the former was immediately admitted for surgery after being transferred to Nicosia General Hospital.

The Cyprus government has revealed that it will revoke the passports of 45 citizens who obtained the same under the now-defunct passport scene.

Around 7,000 persons were awarded citizenship under the scheme, in exchange for sizable investments in the country.

It was only after a major expose by Al Jazeera revealed the corruption behind the scheme, the government was forced to cancel the program. However, those who had already obtained citizenship remained in the country.

According to a statement by Marios Pelekanos, spokesman for the government, the cabinet has suspended the citizenship passports of 45 persons, and is currently investigating an additional 47.

The Cyprus Police has fined 4 businesses and 8 people for COVD rule violations within a span of 24 hours.

The Police fined 2 people out of 1,273 checks in Nicosia, 1 person out of 179 checks in Limassol, 3 persons out of 182 checks in Paphos, and 2 people out of 141 checks in Famagusta.

The Police also fined 4 small business owners in Paphos.

No violations were found in Larnaca, Morphou and in the checks made by the Marine and Traffic departments.

Cyprus’ YKAN anti-narcotics squad has apprehended a vehicle driven by a man, 34. Upon searching, they found 2kgs of cannabis and immediately arrested the man.

They then searched his home, where they found more cannabis as well as some relevant tools.

The YKAN squad also separately stopped another car that they perceived to have been moving suspiciously. The passenger in the car tried to run but was caught and arrested. The police recovered 3 Kgs of cannabis along with some relevant tools.

The police also arrested a 4th man, who was found to have been storing 310 grams of the narcotic in his home along with some other evidence of usage.

All the four have been charged and detained, pending further investigations.

As Russia is facing some of toughest measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, many Russian national are fleeing to seaside destinations to escape the perceived life of drudgery at home.

The best example of this can be seen on Russian travel company Orange Sun Tour, whose slogan is “Don’t quarantine, but holiday on the beach!”  Among other destinations, the travel agency has Cyprus on its list.

According to Polina Bondarenko, a travel agent, people are flocking to go to Cyprus, even as the prices have shot up. More interestingly, over 70% of these are fully vaccinated – which is much more than the 33% currently vaccinated in Russia.

The Police in Cyprus has issued an alert asking people to be vigilant about a new scam doing the rounds that intends to get people’s bank account details.

The police say that people are complaining about receiving false messages and alerts of people “hacking” their bank account and being asked to verify their details via phishing websites.

The police clarified questions by stating the no bank ever asks for passwords – no matter what the situation is.

They urged people to stay alert and not reveal any sensitive data to anyone, even if they claim to represent the bank. And if they are entering passwords, they must do so after checking whether the bank website is indeed authentic.

The Cyprus Health Ministry has announced that 2 samples of the Covid-19 Delta+ variant have been detected.

The 2 samples were found out of the 297 that were tested – all of which was done within the sequencing of all new variants of SARS-CoV-2 in samples of positive COVID-19 cases from September to October.

185 of these 279 samples were sent to a special ECDC lab, whereas 94 were sent to a private lab that works as a government contractor.

\While the Delta variant itself was traced in all 279 samples, only 2 showed the Delta+ variant.

While the Delta+ is arguably more infectious, it has not made any significant effects to effect hospitalisation and epidemiological and indices.

The ministry aims to monitor the situation closely and locate newer variants before they spread in the public.

As the world is returning to a sense of normal in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, citizens are now beginning to go back to getting loans and mortgaging their properties.

Within this context, a study by the Land and Survey Department has revealed that Limassol and Nicosia have the largest numbers of mortgages in the island nation.

The study says that as of September 2021, Nicosia had 581 mortgages (worth 84.73 million), in comparison to 2020’s 535 mortgages (worth 112.48 million.

Meanwhile, Limassol showed higher numbers in terms of worth, with 373 mortgages (worth 99.78 million), compared to last year’s 484 mortgages (worth 113.01 million).

Other districts had varying numbers – Larnaca had 238 mortgages (worth 30 million) in comparison to 278 mortgages (worth 36.73 million) in 2020. Paphos had 133 mortgages (worth 18.09 million) compared to last year’s (23.35 million), while Famagusta has the lowest number of mortgages – 72 (worth 16.34 million) this year in comparison to last year’s 77 mortgages (worth 9.94 million).

The Turkish Cyprus government had already been on shaky grounds, which have now shattered as said government collapsed as a result of a political deadlock.

The coalition government finally stepped down after months’ worth of deadlock in the parliament that occurred right after 2020’s presidential elections.

According to a written statement by Ersan Saner, the Turkish Cypriot Premier, the coalition partnership between the Democrat Party (DP), Rebirth Party (YDP) and National Unity Party (UBP) now ceases to exist.

He has quoted the parliament’s inability to agree and the absence of decorum as the reasons for the resignation.

A 58-year-old Russian national behaved improperly and stirred up trouble in a flight from Moscow headed for Cyprus.

The passenger was accounted for his behaviour and was arrested after the plane arrived in Larnaca.

He has been charged with triggering unrest and attacking an officer of the law. The police are currently investigating the case.

The man will be presented before the District Court of Larnaca, where the warrant for his imprisonment is set to be issued.

The Cyprus Police has found a body floating in the sea off of the Lady’s Mile area.

The Cypriot Sovereign Base Areas (SBA) police has stated that the body belonged to a 65-year-old man. The man was a Cypriot citizen and resided in Limassol.

The cause of his death will be determined once the autopsy is complete.

The Cyprus Police has arrested 3 persons at the Paphos and Larnaca airports over using fake IDs to travel to Europe.

One of the 3 persons was carrying an identity card that was in fact reported as stolen since 2017. Meanwhile the other two were using documents that were forged.

All of these three have been placed in prison holding and will be brought before court for their hearing and sentencing.

These arrests include ones in a long line of individuals being detained while travelling via Cyprus with stolen and/or fake documents.