Cyprus Beat

In today's episode, the police investigated nearly 500 cases of domestic violence and issued 93 arrests during the months of September and October, statistics released on Tuesday showed.

Meanwhile, around 500 of the 570 buses which were taken off the road on Monday are now back in service, Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades said.

Elsewhere, Cyprus urgently needs to upgrade its electricity grid to enable further penetration of renewables, helping drive down the cost of power, the energy regulator advised.

All this and more in the Cyprus Beat briefing brought to you by the Cyprus Mail.

In today’s episode, schools and commuters descended into chaos after more than 500 buses were taken out of service amid fears they were not safe for use.  In other news, a team of US experts from the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has arrived in Cyprus to investigate sanctions violations, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis confirmed. And the government has confirmed having received a request by US energy giant Chevron seeking an extension to the completion of a key engineering study for the Aphrodite natural gas project. 

All these stories and more in your Daily News Briefing, brought to you by the Cyprus Mail. For more news updates, visit www.cyprus-mail.com

In today's episode, President Nikos Christodoulides on Sunday paid an impromptu visit to Ayios Dhometios, and specifically to the area of Maria’s House in the buffer zone inspect measures taken, following a Turkish incursion last week.

Meanwhile, the government will announce when automatic fire extinguishing systems for buses will be acquired, following a school bus fire last week.

Elsewhere, over a thousand people gathered in Nicosia on Sunday to march in support of a ceasefire in Gaza, as Israeli bombing continued.

All this and more in the Cyprus Beat briefing brought to you by the Cyprus Mail.

In today's episode, the audit service and the presidential palace were sparring again on Thursday, after the former released a special report saying use of service vehicles to transport the president’s children by themselves was illegal, which then led to a further row over the renovations at the presidential palace.

Meanwhile, government spokesman, Konstantinos Letymbiotis confirmed the activation of diplomatic and military measures along the UN buffer zone, following incursions by the Turkish army over the past few days.

Elsewhere, a Limassol court this week ruled in favour of a group of depositors with now-defunct Laiki (Popular) Bank who saw their savings wiped out in the March 2013 ‘haircut’, awarding them €5.7 million in compensation.

All this and more in the Cyprus Beat briefing brought to you by the Cyprus Mail.

In today's episode, the audit service and the presidential palace got into a row on Wednesday after reports indicated that an announcement is due to be issued on President Nikos Christodoulides’ overtime hours and stipends paid to him from 2013 to 2018, when he was serving at the presidential palace on secondment from the foreign affairs ministry. In other news, during a blood donation event organised by the Palestinian embassy in Nicosia to commemorate the victims of the conflict in Gaza, Palestinian ambassador Abdallah Attari said the ultimate goal of his people “is to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.” And a group of 179 newly sworn police officers officially pledged their commitment to uphold the laws of the Republic at the Cyprus police academy on Wednesday.
All these stories and more in your Daily News Briefing, brought to you by the Cyprus Mail. For more news updates, visit www.cyprus-mail.com

Meanwhile, Energy Minister George Papanastasiou conceded that Cyprus cannot become an energy hub in the eastern Mediterranean, as it lacks the necessary infrastructures.

Elsewhere, “all is calm” in the buffer zone around the Ayios Dhometios area, Unficyp spokesman Aleem Siddique said, after alleged Turkish Cypriot incursions in the area on Monday.

All this and more in the Cyprus Beat briefing brought to you by the Cyprus Mail.

In today’s episode, members of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (Unficyp) have been placed on alert after reports appeared late on Monday of a contingent of Turkish Cypriot soldiers who gathered in the buffer zone near the Ayios Dometios checkpoint in Nicosia, purportedly for construction work.

Elsewhere, President Nikos Christodoulides met with the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha.

All this and more in the Cyprus Beat briefing brought to you by the Cyprus Mail.

In today’s episode, Giorgos Perdikis has told Green Party members “for God’s sake come and talk to me about it” if they have a problem with how the party is being run under his leadership, after being re-elected as the party's leader.

All this and more in the Cyprus Beat briefing brought to you by the Cyprus Mail.

In today’s episode, MPs heard that significant legal and staffing challenges are slowing down the creation of a deputy ministry for migration, which has been deemed an important move for Cyprus given the huge uptick in arrivals of asylum seekers over the past decade

Elsewhere, the third Cyprus-Serbia intergovernmental cooperation summit led by the two countries’ presidents Nikos Christodoulides and Aleksandar Vucic took place on Thursday in Belgrade.

All this and more in the Cyprus Beat briefing brought to you by the Cyprus Mail.

In today's episode, the attorney general dampened hopes for criminal convictions over sanctions evasion on Wednesday, after he told deputies those may be difficult to achieve but pledged there would be thorough investigation over the allegations which came to light through the ‘Cyprus Confidential’ publications last week.

Meanwhile, contractor Cyfield announced that it would be stopping the road network in the Akamas peninsula as of Wednesday until all issues are settled, while the government was heavily criticised as “pathetic” for being unable to coordinate the works.

Elsewhere, a thorough investigation is underway into reported cases of pharmacists practising with fake degrees, the pharmaceutical services said.

All this and more in the Cyprus Beat briefing brought to you by the Cyprus Mail.