Current Events

Cyprus’ Meteorological Department has issued a yellow warning due to the ongoing strong winds.

Details of the warning reveal that Cyprus will face strong winds of over 7-8 on the Beaufort scale in the coastal areas and 6-7 everywhere else on the island.

Another yellow warning was issued for incoming storms, which has since been withdrawn.

Expected situations include clouds, some localized showers, a potential temperature drop inland, and some snowfall in the mountainous areas.

Larger quantities of snow and rains are expected to continue through the night and well into the coming week. The temperature is then expected to rise but shall still remain at lesser-than-average levels.

To maintain safety, the Cypriot Civil Defense services have asked people to remove any and all objects that the winds could blow away, including holiday season decorations.

A joint study has revealed the shocking statistic of nearly half of all Cypriot women being victims of violence.

The study, done by the collaborative efforts of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and Eurostat, revealed that this distressing average stands higher than those of other EU countries.

According to the study, roughly 44.5 percent of women in Cyprus are victims of partner-initiated sexual, psychological and/or physical violence.

This is far higher than the European Union 31.8 percent average.

Cyprus also scored higher on being sexually harassed in the workplace, with over 39.9 percent having reported being victims, as opposed to the 30.8 percent EU average.

The Cyprus Police has announced that they have arrested over eighty people as a part of their raids.

The police made said as a part of a Cyprus-wide joint operation, with various police divisions and the Aliens and Immigration Service as major participants.

The authorities have deported one-hundred-and-forty-six people, who were living illegally (i.e. did not have any permits). They were all deported to their country of origin – and 5 of them were transported via a FRONTEX-coordinated return flight, with the Belgian government, Coast Guard Agency and European Border as organizers.

This is the fourteenth FRONTEX operation that has the island nation’s police force as a participant.

The Larnaca Police has arrested a man for assaulting a sailor from a ship temporarily stationed on the island nation.

The arrest came after the sailor lodged a complaint with the police, claiming that a man waved his pistol, shouted at him, shoved said pistol in a bag and went forward to attack him.

The sailor hit back and ran, only to be followed by another 3 individuals who started throwing stones at him. He did manage to run away to safety on his boat.

The doctor on board who examined him found that he had sustained various head injuries.

The police’s investigation led them to finding the man with the pistol who initially attacked them. They then arrested him on the basis of a court-issued warrant.

The man, aged 47 has been charged for multiple offenses – including possessing explosives without any license, possessing and transporting a firearm illegally and physical assault.

A bomb exploded while it was in a car.

The car was being driven by an elderly man with no passengers in the early morning before it suddenly exploded.

The explosion happened at around 3 AM in the morning, and alarmed locals living in Limassol’s Agios Athanasios.

Police arrived on the scene soon after, sealed the crime scene and had the Fire Department assist them.

The Limassol CID is investigating the case, which is still in its preliminary press.

No information has been revealed thus far, but the Police has promised to release updates as soon as they have solid materials.

In the meantime, they are expecting statements from the old man’s family members.

The man, aged 78, died on the spot. Some of his remains have been recovered.

The Cyprus Police has arrested a man for trafficking illegal narcotics.

The man, aged 27, was trying to get into the country via Larnaca Airport with several bags of such drugs.

The Police has reported that they found Twenty-Four kgs of cannabis distributed across Forty-One packets upon conducting their search of the man’s belongings.

The young man has been arrested and booked for trafficking narcotics and attempting to import illegal drugs.

As he remains in police custody, further police investigation is underway.

In the wake of large-scale diversion of flights to Cyprus, the airports in the island nation have been put on high alert citing security concerns.

The development comes after Iran launched a missile attack with Israel as its target, which caused several flights to be diverted to Cyprus.

Specifically, 2 Israel-bound flights that took off at Prague and Milan have landed at the Airport in Larnaca.

All airports in Cyprus are currently on standby in case any other Israel-related flights need to be safely landed to avoid additional undesirable circumstances in the already tense current situation.

The island nation recently celebrated its Independence Day with a Military Parade.

The parade, held on the 1st of October in Nicosia’s Iosif Hadjiosif Avenue, had several eminent Cypriots in attendance, from a variety of fields such as politics, religion, and armed forces.

The Greek President, several ambassadors from abroad as well as a few armed forces attachés from abroad were present.

The common people witnessed the parade, having arrived hours prior to 11 AM (starting time for the parade) and saw the flag hosting and 21-gun salute, which kicked off the event.

The national anthem was then sung, with the Cypriot parliament members in the forefront.

The parade then started, beginning with a presentation of National Guard choppers and some British Army aircrafts. This was followed by other presentations from Ambulance Service, Search and Rescue Centre, Fire Department, Civil Defense, Forest Department and of course, the Police.

The parade received high praise from everybody on account of its organization and humble, yet formidable display of the nation’s security strength.

Giorgos Petrou, the Chairman of The Electricity Authority (EAC) has released a statement on the status of a cyber-attack on the organization.

He confirmed that the EAC successfully thwarted the attack – the third one made in the course of 48 hours.

He also explained that given the circumstances, the EAC is periodically monitoring its system and has installed further defense mechanisms in place to shield itself from attacks.

They have also temporarily initiated a special protocol, that is set to activate the moment an attack is being anticipated.

Nikol Pashinyan, the Prime Minister of Armenia has sent his hearty congratulations to Cyprus’ President Nikos Christodoulides on the occasion of the island nation’s Independence Day.

In his letter to the President, Pashinyan expressed his happiness, adding how the nation of Armenia values the warm relations they have with them.

He emphasized on their historical ties, and how they and the island nation have always stood by each other – both on their good and their bad days.

He also expressed his satisfaction on their cooperation in the public sphere, and constructive political stances.

He ended his letter by saying that he hopes their relations go from strength to strength, and that the two nations experience more prosperity as the days pass by.

Military experts are of the opinion that while Cyprus getting caught in the crossfires of Middle Eastern missiles are slim, they could nonetheless happen.

This statement comes after several Cyprus residents saw explosions and light flashes in the sky (especially in the coastal areas), which led to citizens being concerned and seeking answers.

According to Andis Loizos, a Retired Army Colonel Cyprus is not in of Iran’s scope of operations. Furthermore, Cyprus is protected by superpowers like the US, which recently signed several tactical cooperation agreements with the island nation. Last but not least, Iran is currently not in any position to diversify beyond Israel, which itself is a formidable enemy

That said, he cautioned that thanks to Turkey’s involvement in this, there is a small chance of the island nation falling in the line of fire in the future. At the very least, it could mean using North Cyprus and its resources to support Lebanon in the near future.

More importantly, there is a higher (but still, slim) chance of accidental missiles landing in the country.

He also spoke of the British presence in Cyprus, explaining how it also works as a buffer against Iranian attacks.

Conflicting news of the abduction of Israel’s ambassador in Cyprus has been doing the rounds.

Several Cypriot media outlets reported that the Ambassador, along with his 2 bodyguards, was kidnapped from the coast and taken to another location. They further said that Cypriot security forces have confirmed this and that the source of the news is Reuters itself.

Reuters, however, has refuted the news, flatly denying that anything of this kind has happened.

Furthermore, the Zionist Foreign Ministry Office has said no abduction has taken place.

In recent news, the Cyprus Police has arrested a man for blackmailing.

The Famagusta resident, aged 51, was systematically blackmailing another man, aged 37 from the month of November in 2023 till his arrest in the month of October 2024.

He was threatening the 37-year-old for money that he claimed was owed to the older man’s son.

The charges for the arrested also included possessing a weapon against the law.

A court in Cyprus has ordered that the 8 Syrians nationals who were arrested shall be detained for at least 6 days on grounds of them conspiring the funding of a terrorist outfit in Syria.

Christos Andreou, a spokesman for the Police said that the eight people – comprising 7 men & 1 women are currently facing terrorism-related charges, including conspiracy and being part of a criminal group.

Their arrest happened as a part of a series of raids done in Paphos and Limassol.

The raids were initiated due to a tip-off, but did not give any specifics on which “organization” they were trying to fund.

According to Andreou, authorities did not have any clue about an impending attack prior to this.

Further police investigation is currently underway, to find out how the detained might have been able to raise the funds in the first place.

After the 4.9 magnitude earthquake that happened off the Cypriot coast, the island nation saw 2 aftershocks.

Geological Survey Department Director Christodoulos Hadjigeorgiou has revealed that the aftershocks, while unsettling, are a normal part of the Cyprus’ seismic activities.

The main earthquake’s epicenter was 18 kms near Paphos, 13 kms below ground. Its tremors were felt in various places in Limassol and Paphos, as well as a few other sections.

Hadjigeorgiou remarked that the area is noted for producing earthquakes, as it links the arc of Cyprus with a Southern Paphos’ transform fault, which in turn extends all the way to Polis Chrysochous.

This makes light earthquakes a result of the normal seismic activity in the region.

The Cyprus Police have arrested a young man for illegal residency and for stealing a cell phone.

According to Steve Theodoulou, a spokesperson for the Cyprus Police in Famagusta, the man, aged 25, was arrested at 3 A.M. in the morning after a tourist made a report to the Police in Ayia Napa and identified said man as the perpetrator.

She said that the man had duped her into letting him take her cell phone under the pretext of asking for help, then proceeded to run away with it.

The police found the man with the stolen phone, which further cemented their suspicions. They then discovered that he had in fact been living on the island nation with no visa from 2022.

The man shall remain under police custody, pending trial.

Most cars, restaurants and cafes reached at least 90% of their capacity in the month of August.

Federation of Leisure Centre Owners (Osika) President Neophytos Thrasyvoulou revealed the numbers, mentioning how August served as a boom month for most eateries on the island nation.

There have been certain exceptions, like Polis Chrysochous, which got lesser-than-average traffic.

He also mentioned how other recreational centers received an influx of locals visiting their joints.

Thrasyvoulou expects the rise in flights in September & October to push the trend, and hopes that there shall be more visits from tourists alongside the locals.

He imagines that if this continues as expected, the high traffic shall continue all the way till the first half of November – right until the winter closing.

Meanwhile, he recommended that the tourist season should be extended; in order to help it and the economy enjoy its major potential benefits.

The mountain areas of Cyprus have been witnessing a series of storms and rain.

The heavy downpour has caused massive water logging in some areas. In others, many can hear thunder, see darkened skies and thickened clouds – all signals that heavier rains are about to arrive.

These series of weather events are expected to continue for the next couple of days, and the inland is expected to suffer these effects as well.

According to the Meteorology Department, right now the storm and rain is most effective in the north and west areas of the Troodos Mountains, starting at Larnaca and ending roughly at Machairas.

For now, a yellow warning has been issued, in anticipation of storms, rain and perhaps hail.

The Embassy of Cyprus in the UAE is now open for business.

Markos Kyprianou, Cyprus’ Foreign Affairs Minister inaugurated it back in April 2024. He was the guest of his UAE counterpart Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the latter having invited him to see the F1 race.

The embassy premises are located in Abu Dhabi, near Abu Dhabi Secondary School.

Costas A. Papademas, the Ambassador of Cyprus to the UAE expressed his happiness on the development, and remarked how it will serve as the basis for strengthening commercial, economic, cultural and of course political relations.

The embassy shall function at full capacity, offering all consular services such as issuing of passports and visas and attestation documents.

There are around 500 Cypriot citizens living and working in the UAE, and they are mostly concentrated in Abu Dhabi & Dubai.

The dead body of a woman has been found floating in Dasoudi beach in Cyprus’ Limassol.

Initial investigation reveals that there is no suspicious activity, but has so far failed to find out anything about her identity.

Several passers-by on the beach found the woman’s body, and informed the Police of the same.

The Police soon arrived on the scene, pulled the body from the water, loaded her in an ambulance, which took her to General Hospital in Limassol.

She was pronounced Dead on Arrival.

The woman’s clothing was near her body and so far, no marks or injuries suspecting foul play has been found.

The full-scale autopsy is currently underway.