Category Archives: Cyprus

EU citizen who applied for pre-settled status is to be deported from Scotland

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Greek Cypriot Costa Koushiappis to be removed from UK even though his application is pending with Home Office

An EU citizen caught up in a Home Office backlog of applications for post-Brexit residency status is to be deported by Border Force officials in Scotland.

Costa Koushiappis, 39, who is Greek Cypriot, has been told to show up at Edinburgh airport at 7am on Friday to be forcibly put on a flight to Amsterdam just weeks after he received an email from the Home Office to say it could take a further 24 months to process his application for status.

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ECHR ruling for Cyprus asylum seekers may embolden refugees in buffer zone

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Lawyers predict more claims after ‘perfect win’ for two Syrian asylum seekers pushed back to Lebanon

A ruling by the European court of human rights ordering authorities in Cyprus to pay damages to two Syrian refugees found to have been prevented from applying for asylum has been welcomed as a “perfect” victory by campaigners.

Lawyers said Tuesday’s judgment would encourage others to follow suit, including an ever-growing group of asylum seekers stranded in the UN-patrolled buffer zone of the war-split country.

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Australia news live: NSW police minister says pro-Palestine protests must remain peaceful or ‘you can expect to be arrested’

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A pro-Palestine rally will take place in Hyde Park from 1pm today, after NSW police previously attempted to stop it from happening in federal court. Follow the day’s news live

Australians arrive in Cyprus after being evacuated from Lebanon

Some images are coming through of Australian citizens, residents and their families arriving at Larnaca airport in Cyprus after being evacuated from Beirut yesterday.

This is a tragedy that has been playing out in the Middle East. It is obviously difficult. It is obviously complex.

That is a patent lie, and it’s an intentional lie, and it’s a lie intended to create division within Australian politics and from there, within Australian society.

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‘You basically have free hot water’: how Cyprus became a world leader in solar heating

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The country, which has more 300 days of sunshine a year, has embraced rooftop systems that harness the sun’s energy

The Thriamvos company truck pulls up at noon outside the four-storey building in the heart of Nicosia.

It’s the third rooftop installation of a solar-powered water heating system that Petros Mihali and his assistant, Soteris, have made in the Cypriot capital since their working day began at 7am.

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South mourns and north rejoices as Cyprus marks 50 years of ethnic division

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Greek Cypriots in south wake to air raid sirens reminiscent of invasion while Turkish-occupied north celebrates

Cyprus has marked the landmark anniversary of 50 years of ethnic division amid markedly contrasting scenes: mourning in the south and celebration in the north.

At 5.20am Greek Cypriots in the internationally recognised south awoke to air raid sirens reminding them of the arrival of thousands of invading Turkish troops on the eastern Mediterranean island five decades ago. In the Turkish-occupied north, the milestone event was cause for joy, with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, flying in to attend a military parade and fly-past commemorating the “peace operation”.

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Cyprus stresses neutrality after Hezbollah threat over Israel war

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Officials say Cyprus is ‘pillar of peace’ amid shock at warning it could become a target for Lebanese group

Cypriots have reacted with shock after threats from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah that Cyprus could become a target if it allows Israel to use its territory in any conflict between the two sides, who diplomats fear are on the brink of a fully fledged war.

Despite the EU expressing unreserved support for its easternmost member, it was clear on Thursday that the Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s warning had set off alarm bells in Nicosia where officials insisted the island republic remained a “pillar of peace” in an otherwise volatile region.

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Hezbollah leader: Cyprus will be target if it lets Israel use its territory in conflict

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Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warns of ‘war without rules’ if Israel launches full-scale invasion against Lebanese militia

The leader of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, warned of a war “without rules or ceilings” in the event of a full-scale Israeli offensive against the Lebanese militia, as he threatened that Cyprus could become a target if it allowed Israel to use its territory in any conflict.

Cyprus and Israel have a bilateral defence cooperation agreement which has seen the countries conduct joint exercises.

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Charity hopes to send second food aid ship to Gaza in next few days

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Pallets with 50% more supplies than first boat, Open Arms, being loaded in Cyprus

The charity sending food aid to Gaza on a ship travelling across the Mediterranean from Cyprus is loading a second boat with supplies, which it hopes will set off in the coming days.

Pallets containing 300 tonnes of food aid – 50% more than the first shipment – are expected to be screened and loaded by the end of Thursday, but there is no indication yet when it will leave the port of Larnaca.

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First aid ship to Gaza leaves Cyprus port in pilot project

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Charity ship seen sailing out of Larnaca towing barge containing 200 tonnes of flour, rice and protein

An aid ship that has been docked in Cyprus for close to a month has finally set sail for Gaza, taking almost 200 tonnes of aid in a pilot project to open a new sea route for aid to a population on the brink of famine.

A video showed the Open Arms boat departing the Mediterranean island’s southern port of Larnaca at an unknown time early on Tuesday. Government officials in Cyprus had said the exact timing of the vessel’s departure would not be released for security reasons.

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Gaza food aid ship stuck at Cyprus with ‘technical difficulties’

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Vessel carrying 200 tonnes of provisions to alleviate looming famine now not sailing from Larnaca on Sunday as planned

An aid ship carrying 200 tonnes of food to alleviate looming famine in the Gaza Strip remained docked in Cyprus on Sunday night, despite the push for maritime aid in the face of stalling ceasefire talks and the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The Cyprus government spokesperson, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, told the island’s official news agency that the exact timing of the vessel’s departure would not be made public for “security reasons”. It was later reported that due to “technical difficulties”, it might not depart until Monday morning.

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Aid ship expected to leave Cyprus for Gaza faces logistical delays

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Open Arms vessel, loaded with humanitarian supplies, is waiting for approval from Israel before leaving

A Gaza-bound aid ship expected to make the maiden voyage along a new maritime corridor from Cyprus has yet to set sail because of logistical challenges.

Government officials confirmed on Saturday that while a vessel belonging to Open Arms, a Spanish search and rescue group, had been loaded with food, water and other supplies and was ready to depart the Mediterranean island, it was unlikely to leave before Sunday.

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‘Who is going to distribute it?’: the key flaw in US’s plan to build aid port in Gaza

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‘You need drivers, trucks and a distribution system that doesn’t exist,’ says president of Refugees International aid advocacy group

The US plan to build a floating port off the Gaza coast is a bold move, reminiscent of the Mulberry harbours built after D-day in Normandy, but there are serious concerns that what relief it brings will be too little too late for Palestinians facing starvation.

“When we talk about the sea route, it’s going to take weeks to set up and we are talking about a population that is starving now. We have already seen children dying of hunger,” said Ziad Issa, the head of humanitarian policy at the ActionAid charity.

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More than 400,000 songbirds killed by organised crime in Cyprus

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Report links rise in birds trapped for human consumption to cuts in anti-poaching resources in area of British military base

More than 400,000 songbirds were trapped and killed in Cyprus last autumn as part of a recent increase in wildlife crime, according to a new report.

Organised crime networks use decoys and speakers playing birdsong to lure these small birds – including garden favourites such as robins and sparrows – to land in bushes or orchards, where they catch them with “mist” nets or branches covered in glue. They are then sold via the hidden market to restaurants to be eaten as a local dish called “ambelopoulia”, which consists of pickled or boiled songbirds.

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Cyprus faces backlash over use of British bases to bomb Houthis

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President accused of allowing country to become a target because of ‘complicity in bloodshed of Gaza’

The Cyprus government is facing growing criticism over British military bases on the island being used by UK and US forces to stage airstrikes on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

President Nicos Christodoulides has been accused by activists of turning a blind eye to the risks the EU’s most easterly state might confront if the strategic facilities on the island continue to be deployed in military operations.

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Trial opens in Turkey over deadly hotel collapse during earthquake

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Hearing in Adiyaman involves 11 defendants accused of ‘conscious negligence’ while overseeing building’s construction

Turkey has opened the first major trial linked to the construction of buildings that crumbled in two earthquakes last year that claimed more than 50,000 lives.

The hearing in the south-eastern city of Adiyaman involves 11 defendants accused of “conscious negligence” while overseeing the construction of the Isias hotel.

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Cyprus police investigate how Russian tycoon moved £1bn on day he was put under sanctions

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Cypriot government and EU respond to revelations over apparent role of local companies in helping oligarchs shield wealth

The Cyprus police force is investigating how an oligarch attempted to transfer a £1bn stake in a public company on the day he was placed under EU sanctions, government insiders have told the Guardian.

News of the involvement of the financial crime squad came as the Cypriot government and the European Union responded to revelations that local service providers appear to have played a key role in enabling Russian oligarchs to shield assets from EU sanctions within days of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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Putin ally wired £3.7m into UK via Cyprus after Ukraine invasion, documents suggest

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Petr Aven, a UK-based billionaire who owns a Surrey mansion, is under UK and EU sanctions

He is a billionaire Russian oligarch who has been closely linked to Vladimir Putin for three decades.

And for years Petr Aven also enjoyed the trappings of London high society, as a trustee and donor of the Royal Academy of Arts, as well as owning three multimillion-pound UK properties, including one in the ultra-wealthy Surrey enclave of Virginia Water.

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Cyprus to clamp down as investigation reveals oligarchs moved assets after Ukraine invasion

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Biggest ever leak of financial data from Cyprus raises concerns over EU state’s role in managing Russian fortunes

Cyprus has vowed to tighten controls on its financial sector as an investigation published by the Guardian and its reporting partners reveals oligarchs transferred hundreds of millions in assets while sanctions loomed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The role of the blue-chip accountants PwC Cyprus and other advisers in managing transactions as Vladimir Putin’s forces launched their assault has emerged from Cyprus Confidential, a cache of 3.6m files leaked by an anonymous source to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and Germany’s Paper Trail Media, which shared access with the Guardian and other reporting partners.

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Five detained in Cyprus after British woman accuses them of gang-rape

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Alleged victim says she was sexually assaulted by a group of Israeli men while on holiday in Ayia Napa

A group of young Israeli men have been detained in Cyprus after local police said they needed time to investigate accusations of gang-rape from a British woman on holiday in Ayia Napa.

The five men, all aged 19 or 20, were remanded on order of a district court magistrate in Famagusta for a further eight days after their arrest late on Sunday. The Briton, who is 20 and cannot legally be identified, told police she had been sexually assaulted by the Israelis after being “taken by force” from the pool area of her hotel to her room.

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Cyprus authorities appeal against ruling that allowed David Hunter to walk free

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British man found not guilty of murdering wife faces further legal proceedings and possibility of jail

A British pensioner found not guilty of the premeditated murder of his cancer-stricken wife faces further legal proceedings – and potentially jail – after Cyprus’s highest legal authority appealed against the decision of a district court that allowed him to walk free.

In a shock move, initiated at the 11th hour, the office of the island’s attorney general announced on Thursday it would appeal against the sentence and acquittal of David Hunter.

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