Current Events

Cyprus has successfully tested over 12% of its total population for the novel coronavirus.

Health minister Constantinos Ioannou recently revealed to the House health committee that the island nation is now the sole country in all of the European Union to achieve this status.

He further added that Cyprus will continue its contact tracing to further test people for the deadly pandemic-causing virus.

Minister Ioannou went on to explain how over €6.7m has been spent thus far over testing, and that the expectations are for prices to go down further.

Tests in Cyprus currently cost €65, only second to Romania’s €63 – which is the cheapest in the European Union.

According to Google, many “hacker-for-hire” firms that are backed by the Cypriot government are now targeting consulting firms, healthcare facilities and financial institutions all over the island nation.

Google went on to say how they sent over 1700 warnings to users whose accounts were compromised by these government-based hackers. Clearly exploiting the coronavirus pandemic, they use phishing and hacking techniques under the guise of messages related to COVID-19.

Google’s Threat Analysis Group says that many of these “hacker-for-hire” firms are actually based in India. They have been creating Gmail accounts that spoof top organizations such as the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The coronavirus pandemic has led to lockdowns all over the world, with all forms of transport suspended till further notice. With no trains or planes in sight, all travel plans, and trips have been foreseeably canceled. This has not, however, stopped the wealthy and affluent in Russia from fulfilling their plans.

Private jet companies have reported a sharp rise in demands of planes from rich Russian nationals who wish to spend time away in Europe away from their home country.

Many of these have close relations with countries such as the UK or Cyprus – be that the form of owned property, close relatives, permanent residency or even dual nationality.

Believing that their private homes abroad would be safer than those at home, these people have been seeing paying a lump sum of anywhere between 16,000 to 25,000 euros per flight. Notably, this would generally be the cost of the air fare of more than 13 passengers.

A massive fire burned more than 2½ hectares worth of vegetation in Cyprus’ Softades area.

The fire broke out in the early hours of the morning on the road from Kiti to Mazotos. The vegetation it destroyed included olive and eucalyptus trees, reeds and other wild plants and vegetation.

It took over 2 hours of fighting before the firefighters finally brought it under control. More than 4 vehicles from the Larnaca station were used for this purpose.

Rumors have finally been put to rest as Norwegian energy company Hoegh LNG has finally confirmed that it had indeed submitted a proposal to install of a Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FRSU) in Cyprus.

According to a statement from the company itself, officials sent letters to President Nicos Anastasiades along with finance and energy ministers, where they highlighted the key benefits and advantages to installing an FSRU in Cyprus, and especially at Vasiliko.

Hoegh LNG went on to add that the main purpose behind sending these letters was to help the government understands more regarding the proposal that had officially been submitted to Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (Cera).

In the meantime, CERA itself, refused to make any comments due to the ‘under-review’ status of the application.

The proposal in question includes installing said FSRU at Vasiliko in Quarter 1 of of 2021, along with a pipeline that would to transport gas to EAC’s power plant, as well as other potent users.

In news that indicates hard time for the Cypriot economy, a Eurostat report has revealed that over 40% of exports have dropped in the period of January to February in 2020.

According to the report, the value of exported goods reached around €0.4 billion – around €0.1 billion less than the average €0.3 billion.

In the meantime, imports remained steady at €1.5 billion – out of which, €0.8 billion was from the EU while the remaining €0.6 billion was from other parts of the world.

This means that Cyprus faced a -€1.0 billion deficit in the aforementioned January-February period.

The struggling economy of the EU along with the growing crisis of the coronavirus pandemic are being touted as the main reasons for this downturn.

The coronavirus pandemic and its resulting lockdown have kept many on the edge, and many are resisting and violating the law. In the latest incident, over 80 persons were arrested within 12 hours in the space of Saturday night and Sunday morning during the Easter weekend.

The police, who carried out over 4,000 during the time booked violators of the lockdown. They conducted checks 976, 815, and 311 checks in Nicosia, Limassol and Larnaca, booking 31, 20 and 16 persons respectively.

Others were booked in Famagusta and adjoining areas, where over a thousand were checked.

In a news that reveals much about Cyprus’ demographics, a Eurostat study has shown that Cyprus some of Europe’s lowest birth rates.

According to data obtained from the study, countries with the lowest birth rates in Europe included Luxembourg (at 1.38 births per woman), Greece (1.35), Cyprus (1.32), Italy (1.29), Spain (1.26) and Malta (1.23).

In the meantime, highest birth rates were observed in Czech Republic (at 1.71 births per woman), Denmark (1.73), Ireland (1.75), and Sweden and Romania (tied at 1.76). France was seen having the highest birth rate at 1.88.

Meanwhile, for 2018, the average birth rate for all of European Union (EU) was 1.55, as of 2018.

Amidst severe tensions with Cyprus and Greece, and the coronavirus pandemic to boot, the Turkish Navy was seen carrying out operational readiness exercises in the Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean seas.

The military exercise included several unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and helicopters, a maritime patrol aircraft, and 27 warships participated actively in the training.

The military drill is being touted as bad news as Ankara is currently on bad terms with both Nicosia and Athena due to its forced hydrocarbon drilling activities.

On the 21^st of April, the government of Cyprus called Turkey’s drilling activities an “act of piracy” that breached the island nation’s rights. Greece had released a statement criticizing Turkey as well.

Turkey, on the other hand, made it clear that its drilling activities were on the west of island, which they regard as well within its rights.

In what is being considered great news amidst the looming pandemic, The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has not reported any new COVID-19 cases in the last week.

In a statement to the media, Turkish Cypriot Health Minister Ali Pilli revealed that in 2,868 conducted in the last few weeks, not a single sample tested positive. He went on to say that 546 persons were tested on Friday alone, with no positives.

The last positive case in Northern Cyprus was confirmed on April 17. This was after the first case was reported in the territory on March 10 – a tourist from Germany. 108 cases have been reported there so far, and 4 persons have died.

Over 8,423 persons have been tested for the disease so far.

Cyprus has been receiving medical supplies to combat the coronavirus crisis – the island nation is currently accepting its fifth consignment of medicines and supplies from China.

In a statement to the press, Health Ministry of Cyprus announced that the consignment will contain shoe covers, protective masks, and testing swabs – all of which are necessary equipment for medical professionals.

Donated by China, the supplies, once received, will be distributed to State Health Service hospitals for usage.

The island country has so far used around 35 tons of medical supplies donated by China.

The Chinese Embassy in Cyprus recently said in a statement to the press that Health Ministry has expressed its regards to China for their kind contribution. Huang Xingyuan, the Chinese Ambassador to Cyprus went on to praise the preventative efforts made by the Cypriot authorities in his social media account.

Cyprus currently has a total of 795 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.

The lockdowns put in place have inconvenienced many, and tourists are no exception. In Cyprus alone, hundreds of tourists have been left stranded.

British tourists standred here, however, are about to get a reprieve, the British government is making arrangement to fly them out of the island nation.

In one of the biggest repatriation missions of recent times, the British government will be sending 10 flights to rescue all British tourists who are currently left stranded due to ongoing travel restrictions.

The flights, which will run from April 25 to April 30, will be operated by Aegean Airlines. The flights will arrive to Larnaca and return to Edinburgh, Heathrow, and Manchester.

The meaure has been taken by the Foreign Office seeing the plight of stranded tourists and the ban on flights that is set to remain at least till April 30.

A statement by the Foreign Office clarified the situation, saying that while all commercial flights have been banned, few cargo and humanitarian flights will still be allowed on a case-by-case basis.

In what is being considered a breather for the frontline fighters in the novel coronavirus pandemic, retail giant Lidl has collected €40,000 to be donated to the Cyprus Red Cross Society.

The amount, which was collected through the Favorina initiative, was sourced from selling Favorina products at 17 Lidl stores on the island nation in the months of March and April.

The company sent a heartwarming message to patrons by showcasing Favorina products as their Easter specials to support the Cyprus Red Cross Society (CRCS). The organization, which has been working tirelessly to manage the pandemic, will be receiving the €40,000 financial reward.

The money was specifically collected by donating €0.30 from every sold product under the Favorina label. The collected grand total of €40,000 will be used to support the vulnerable, the elderly, and migrants, tending to their alimentary needs.

Besides the donation, Lidl Cyprus has also donated “Love Packages.” These include food and essentials for citizens in need.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the death of several industries and business, and the Cyprus tourism industry is no exception. As a result of the nationwide lockdown that been put in place to curb the spread of the pandemic, tourist arrivals in the island nation has fallen manifold.

According to statistics, the percentage of tourist arrivals has fallen by a record-breaking 67.4% – going down from 169,934 in March 2019, to 55,342 in March 2020.

This is due to the lockdown that has been imposed from 15 March. It includes bans on entry and exit to the country for all residents and non-residents, including tourists. This led to the number of tourist arrivals falling by leaps and bounds.

Arrivals from the UK fell by a record 70.2% in March 2020 (as opposed to the same time last year), while that from Russia and Greece declined by 60.8% and 66.6% respectively.

This has been a very bad news for the country’s economy, especially after it enjoyed a record 3.97 million visitors in 2019.

In the latest instance of migrants seeking asylum, a boat with around a hundred migrants reached the southern part of Cape Greco.

The Cypriot Coast Guard is currently on the way to offer them necessary supplies but will not be able to allow them to enter the country due to the lockdown in place to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The boats currently lies around 10 nautical miles off of the south coast of Cape Greco.

A pipe bomb has exploded right outside MC Digital Media Group’s office building.

The building currently houses the Cyprus Times along with other media outlets that the group owns. The offices are located in Limassol in south Cyprus.

The windows were cracked, and some minor damage was sustained by the building. No one was injured.

According to Myriella Avraamidou, the editor-in-chief of Cyprus Times, the attack was related to the reporting activities of the news outlet. That being said, she had neither heard of nor received any threats regarding any of the articles before the bombing.

So far, the police have negated any personal motivations behind the attack. They are currently investigating ties between the bombing and the journalistic activities of the outlets of MC Digital Media Group.

In order to assist the needs of the elderly without exposing them to the coronavirus, Lidl outlets in Cyprus will open in the country for the early hours exclusively for the elderly and the disabled.

All of the 17 Lidl stores on the island nation will be open daily from Mondays through Saturday s from 7am to 10am, and on Sundays from 8am to 10am. in all 17 Lidl stores in Cyprus.

All customers will be expected to follow the staff members’ guidelines and instructions at the entrances and follow all safety protocols.

Vassiliki Adamidoum, the Communications, Corporate Responsibility and Social Media Manager of Lidl in Cyprus has said that during trying times such as this, Lidl and all of its employees are committed to work towards the benefits of those who need their care.

Popular sports team AC Milan has secured a sponsorship from ROInvesting, a popular Cyprus-based trading platform.

ROInvesting, which is keen to feature AC Milan’s logo and showcase their services to a global audience, is yet to reveal the exact details of the partnerships. It does, however, seem like it is one of the many partnerships that Ivan Gazidis has been working on in the last few months.

Reciprocally, AC Milan has added ROInvesting’s logo into its its own website in a third tier along with the other sponsors, namely PES2020, Boglioli, Piquadro and Peroni.

The designation given to the company is the Official CFD Partner for AC Milan. CFD, here, stands for ‘Contracts for Difference’ – the service that ROInvesting provides to the team.

In the latest case of curfew violation, 24 persons were arrested for violating curfew by holding a house party.

The party in question was held in an apartment in the first few hours of the curfew in Larnaca. An anonymous tip led the police to the gathering, which clearly ignored the decree of having only a few household members available at any point of time. All of the members present were fined €150 and released.

Had thos incident happened after the passing of the curfew law, the fines would have been at least double (at least €300 spot fine per person).

According to police spokesperson Christos Andreou, the public must act as a neighborhood watch and inform authorities should they observe any curfew violations.

In a new move to curb the deadly disease, Turkish Cyprus’ government has declared a full curfew to keep itself out of community transmission.

The curfew, which will come in action from March 31 and remain till April 5, will remain in effect from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily. These curfews will not be partial ones, and residents will not be allowed to go out unless they have a perfectly valid reason and/or are facing an unavoidable emergency.

Turkish Cypriot Deputy Foreign Minister Kudret Özersay, who made the announcement, explained how the curfew is stricter than before, and how making home visits is not allowed nay longer. He added that while essential services such as supermarkets will continue to work, they will close down at 8 p.m. Özersay went on to call on municipalities to ensure that all supermarkets were taking the required measures to maintain hygiene, and that the staff was being regularly screened for symptoms.

The curfew decision has been announced after a cabinet meeting that was held to discuss the recent development underlying the COVID-19 pandemic.

Turkish Cyprus has around 70 confirmed cases thus far. The death toll stands at 1, a tourist from Germany who passed away from complications due to the virus.