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Saturday, June 27, 2026

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• Wild pre army hairstyles of Paralimni villages to go on show

  A photographic exhibition examining a tradition among teenage boys preparing to enter the army seen in Famagusta villages in the Kokkinochoria area will be staged at Serena Beach in Protaras next week.

  Titled Moikanes (Mohicans), the one-day exhibition by Cypriot visual artist Nikolas Louka will take place on July 3, where photographs will focus on the elaborate mohawk hairstyles styled by young men from the Kokkinochoria villages before beginning compulsory service in the National Guard.

  The exhibition explores the hairstyle as both a visual symbol and a social ritual.

  Participants spend months growing their hair before gathering with friends to shape and dye it using improvised materials including glue, reeds, and string.

  The preparation can take between six and eight hours and is conducted collectively by the boys in shacks and temporary spaces used for the occasion.

  According to the exhibition, the tradition is believed to date back to the 1980s and has been passed between generations of would-be soldiers.

  Louka presents the practice as a “moment of transition”, capturing what organisers describe as the period between “rebellious adolescence and military service”.

  The project documents the hairstyle as “an ephemeral sculpture on the body”, created to draw attention and be photographed before being shaved off as military service begins.

  The exhibition will remain open from midday until midnight and will conclude with a party at the venue.

  Louka studied photography in Athens before moving to London in 2011, where he founded E2 Studios and worked with international publications and brands including British Vogue, Prada and Sony.

  Since returning to Cyprus in 2024, he has continued developing projects both locally and abroad.

• May tourist arrivals down 4.9 per cent

  The impacts on tourism from recent developments in the region have so far been manageable despite arrivals dropping by 4.9 per cent compared to 2025, Deputy Minister of tourism Costas Koumis said on Friday.

  “[We are optimistic] about the positive course of the market, pointing out that the Deputy Ministry will continue to closely monitor the development of air connections,” he said.

  Koumis assured that his ministry is closely monitoring developments whilst evaluating data, and added that so far, the impacts on tourism remained manageable, with May arrivals recording a slight decrease of 4.9 per cent compared to the corresponding period in 2025, which is similar to the levels seen in 2024.

  The deputy ministers’ remarks came amid a meeting with the ambassador of Kuwait, Abdullah Alturki, during which Koumis and Alturki announced the resumption of flights between both countries, noting that this created “positive prospects for the further strengthening of tourism relations between the two countries.”

  Stressing the “excellent relations” between Cyprus and Kuwait, Koumis highlighted the importance of continuing efforts to boost tourist interest between the two countries, with the aim of both increasing the frequency of direct flights and extending the duration of the flight schedule.

• Turkey warned against not inviting Cyprus to Cop31 summit

  Turkey has been warned by the European Union against not inviting a delegation from the Republic of Cyprus to attend November’s Cop31 climate summit, which will take place in the Turkish city of Antalya.

  The matter was raised by Cypriot Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou during Thursday’s meeting of EU climate ministers, with it having been widely reported that Cypriot officials were not invited to preparatory meetings organised by Turkey earlier in the year, despite the island holding the Council of the EU’s rotating presidency.

  Last month, news website Politico quoted diplomats as having said that Turkey did not invite Cyprus to a Cop31 briefing in New York, and then objected when Cypriots attempted to attend the briefing alongside the EU’s delegation.

  At the time, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet had reported that Turkish officials had “rejected the criticism, asserting that Ankara is under no obligation to invite an entity it does not recognise diplomatically”.

  The newspaper added that Turkey “reiterated its longstanding position on the Cyprus issue, emphasising that Greek Cyprus does not represent the entirety of the island”.

  On this occasion, however, Turkey appears to have denied assertions that it intends to not invite a Cypriot delegation in November, with Reuters quoting Turkish diplomatic sources as having said that Cypriot delegations had been invited to “all Cop31-related events under the coordination of the UN”.

  Those sources, it reported, had said that the New York briefing had been organised by the Turkish government independently of the Cop structure.

  “The various contacts and meetings conducted by our country in the lead-up to Cop31 are events organised at the national level for purposes of preparation, consultation, and promotion,” the sources are quoted as having said.

  Additionally, the sources reportedly pointed out that the official process of inviting leaders and delegations to the November summit has “not yet begun”.

  Nonetheless, European Climate Commissioner Wokpe Hoekstra was keen to set his stall out, and warned that “we are not going to accept” the prospect of Cyprus not being invited to the summit.

  “The full solidarity of the other 26 will apply,” he said, in reference to the EU’s 26 other member sttates, adding that “there are 27 member states that need to be treateed in the same way”, and that “this is a union of 27, full stop”.

  Likewise, Poland’s secretary of state for climate affairs Krysztof Bolesta said that “if Cyprus is unfairly treated, we should not be going to Turkey”, while Irish Climate Minister Darragh O’Brien told Reuters that his country stands in “full solidarity with Cyprus”, and that “this situation doesn’t need to escalate”.

  Turkey has been designated as a co-host for November’s summit, alongside Australia, with Turkish Environment Minister Murat Kurum designated as the chairman of Cop31 and Australian Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen set to preside over negotiations between political leaders at the Antalya summit.

  A host country does not have the right to unilaterally exclude any United Nations member state from the negotiations, but it is epected that a series of other events and agreements will be held and reached during the 12-day event in November.

  Azerbaijan hosted the Cop29 summit in 2024, with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides being received in Baku as the president of Cyprus, and his Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos meeting his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov on the sidelines of the event.

  That invite came despite Azerbaijan typically maintaining a closer relationship with the Turkish Cypriots, as demonstrated by the fact that when Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman in April, the Azerbaijani govenrment referred to Erhurman as the “president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” in its official release.

  Aliyev has previously used the same title to refer to Erhurman’s predecessor, Ersin Tatar, and also promised on the sidelines of last year’s Antalya diplomacy forum to ensure that the north will gain international recognition.

  “We are only thinking about how we can help our brothers protect their state … They deserve this in terms of history and what they have done,” he said.

• Drones to fly over motorways to collect traffic data

  Several drones will be flying over the island’s motorways to collect traffic data in the period from June 29 to July 9.

  The drones will be deployed along selected sections of the Nicosia-Limassol motorway stretching from Alambra exit to Kornos exit, the route between Nicosia and Larnaca from Lymbia to the Rizoelia junction, as well as between Larnaca and Ayia Napa, where they will be flying from the Rizoelia junction to the exit for Xylofagou.

  The public works department said that the flights will be carried out parallel to the highway and away from traffic in the districts of Famagusta, Larnaca and Nicosia.

• Addictions authority’s annual report urges investments in prevention and treatment

  The adoption of a holistic, human-centered approach is essential for the combatting of addictions, president of the Cyprus National Addictions Authority Christos Minas said on Friday.

  “The treatment of drugs cannot be limited to repression. It requires a holistic, scientifically based and human-centered approach,” he said.

  Speaking at the presentation of the authority’s annual report on the occasion of the international day against drug use and trafficking, Minas emphasised that investments into harm reduction, prevention, treatment and social reintegration were crucial for combatting drug abuse and trafficking.

  The international day, he said, was “an important reminder of the collective responsibility we have as a society towards a phenomenon that continues to affect human lives, families and communities across the world.”

  Minas advocated increased investment in prevention, treatment, harm reduction and social reintegration, while ensuring respect for international law and human rights.

  Presenting the findings of the report, head of the authority’s policy department, Byron Gaist, said that the most important achievements in terms of preventive measures were the development and promotion of a policy plan and procedures for the prevention, detection and treatment of the use of alcohol and illicit substances in the working environment, as well as continuation of the implementation of the memorandum of cooperation with the defence ministry.

  In terms of treatment, a notable achievement documented in the report is the successful completion of the three-year support programme for individuals using psychoactive substances, residing at the Kofinou migrant reception centre.

  In addition to preventive measures and treatment efforts, Gaist added that another important aspect was analysing urban wastewater in all five Cypriot provinces, with four samples taken throughout the year to monitor seasonal and geographical variations.

  A Europe-wide study published in spring found a sharp increase of amphetamines and methamphetamines across Cyprus.

  In a joint statement, the Cyprus National Addictions Authority and the University of Cyprus revealed that, although Cyprus continues to exhibit lower levels of drug use than the European average, the data indicate a “clear shift in usage patterns”, with increasing trends in certain substances and significant local variations, particularly in urban and tourist areas.

• Court rejects attempt to block construction of asphalt plant in Mitsero

  An attempt to block the construction of an asphalt plant in the Nicosia district village of Mitsero was rejected by the administrative appeals court on Friday, with the court allowing the plant’s construction to go ahead pending an appeal against the planning permission filed at the court of appeal.

  The case had been filed by the village councils of Mitsero and seven other nearby villages – Agrokipia, Ayios Ioannis, Kato Moni, Arediou, Meniko, Malounta and Orounta – with the aim of preventing the plant’s construction.

  Planning permission for the plant had been granted with the hope that it would replace the asphalt plant in Dali, where residents have long-held complaints regarding the plant, given that it is located near the town’s schools, and due to the “unbearable” smell of the fumes.

  The eight villages’ councils had argued that the construction of a new plant in Mitsero could cause irreparable damage to the environment and to public health in the area, but the court of appeal found that this had not been adequately proven.

  As such, construction of the new plant can now go ahead, pending a final hearing at the court of appeal, where it will be definitively decided whether the plant can be constructed.

• Police investigate baby death

  The police have launched an investigation after a 12-month-old baby died on Thursday evening.

  The baby had reportedly been “feeling unwell” in the days prior to Thursday, and was taken to the Limassol general hospital shortly before his death.

  According to the Cyprus News Agency, the case is being treated as a “sudden” death. The body will undergo an autopsy in the coming days.

• Man remanded over Tremithousa shooting

  A 36-year-old man was remanded in custody for six days on Friday in connection with the shooting at a house in the Paphos district.

  The Paphos district court granted the police request to detain the suspect while investigations continue.

  Gunshots were fired at the entrance of a house in Tremithousa, Paphos, in the early hours of Wednesday.

  The police said the gunshots were fired at 3.45am and the incident was reported at 7am.

  There are two people living in the house, aged 41 and 38. No one was injured in the incident.

  The suspect was arrested on Thursday after evidence emerged during police investigations.

• One injured in Limassol-Paphos motorway crash

  One person was injured in an accident on the Limassol-Paphos motorway on Friday.

  The crash occurred at a short distance from the tunnel, forcing the closure of the left lane to traffic.

  The injured person was taken to hospital.

• Unified Schools highlighted at MoU signing with Special Olympics

  Unified Schools, an initiative to promote athletics and leadership opportunities between those with and without intellectual disabilities in schools, was highlighted at an event between Special Olympics Cyprus and the education ministry on Friday, which signed a memorandum of understanding to formalise their partnership.

  Special Olympics is a nonprofit sports organisation for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

  Education Minister Athena Michaelides said the Unified Schools philosophy fits in with the ministry’s goal of promoting “a modern, democratic and people-centered school.”

  The Unified Schools programme was implemented as a pilot during the 2025-2026 school year. Fourteen elementary and secondary schools participated in the pilot over the course of five months, and 130 activities were carried out.

  The collaboration between the ministry and Special Olympics aims to “offer all children more opportunities for participation, collaboration, learning and personal development”, Michaelides said.

  “True inclusion is not built with words,” she continued. “It is built every day in classrooms, on playgrounds, on sports fields and through the human relationships formed in places where everyone feels they belong.”

  The government’s education bill that takes steps to meet the needs of individual students and develop more robust special education services in schools is currently in the public consultation stage.

  In a statement, Special Olympics said the partnership will “work towards a society free of discrimination, where sports and education will serve as bridges to inclusion, equality and respect for human dignity.”

• Court rejects Turkish Cypriot Paphos airport owner’s compensation claim

  An application for a total of €41 million worth of compensation from the Republic of Cyprus filed by the displaced Turkish Cypriot owners of land on which both Paphos airport and the Andreas Papandreou airbase was built has been rejected by the court of appeal, the legal service said on Friday.

  The applicants had initially filed a lawsuit at the Paphos district court in 2022, before filing a suit at the court of appeal after the district court had rejected their initial application.

  Alongside the compensation, the applicants wished to have the right to use of the land transferred from the guardian of Turkish Cypriot properties to them, so as to allow them to sell it to the airport’s administrator.

  Compensation had been requested for an “illegal intervention” in the land’s usage on the part of the Republic of Cyprus and for the violation of the applicant’s human rights, among other things.

  The court of appeal rejected the applicants’ claim on three counts, first of all saying that it rejected their assertions that they were “expelled” from the property in 1974.

  “We do not accept this claim, [as] in 1974, as is well known, there was a regulation where movement was not mandatory for everyone, but by the choice of each citizen, and as such, some Turkish Cypriots live in the free areas after 1974, without having been expelled or forced by the Republic of Cyprus to abandon their property,” it said.

  Regarding the applicants’ claim that the Republic of Cyprus illegally intervened in the property, the court stated that “while there was an intervention in the occupation [of the property], the exceptional situation declared by the Republic of Cyprus continues to remain in force”, having been declared in 1974.

  “Therefore, the intervention is lawful, based on the authority of the guardian [of Turkish Cypriot property] by the provisions of the legislation. All the appellants are Cypriot citizens, Turkish Cypriots, who do not have their legal residence in areas controlled by the Republic. Consequently, their property … was correctly and legally placed under guardianship,” it said.

  Additionally, the court ruled that given that one of the heirs to the property had not been mentioned in the case, the guardian “had an obligation to ensure that if it approved” the transfer of the land’s use, “the right of an heir to the property would not be violated”, given that the applicants then intended to sell it.

  As well as ruling against the applicants, the court ordered that they pay legal costs to the Republic of Cyprus.

  The Republic of Cyprus’ regime regarding the issuing of compensation for and restitution of Turkish Cypriot property is not codified in the way that it is in the Turkish Cypriot community, where the Immovable Property Commission was created in 2005, though Turkish Cypriot applicants have been awarded compensation in the past.

  By contrast, the IPC handles claims for compensation, restitution of Greek Cypriot-owned property in the occupied north and land exchanges filed by Greek Cypriot refugees and their descendants, and was in its own right recognised as an effective domestic remedy by the European Court of Human Rights.

  According to its latest figures, released on June 22, a total of 8,670 applications have been lodged with the IPC, of which 3,288 have been concluded.

  The IPC has awarded exactly STG£662,933,062 (€767,043,385) in compensation and has also ruled for exchange and compensation in two cases, for restitution in seven cases, and for restitution and compensation in eight cases.

  Additionally, it has delivered a decision for restitution after the Cyprus problem in one case, and in another ruled for partial restitution.

• Govt launches easy to read disability action plan to widen access

  The government presented an ‘easy to read’ format of Cyprus’ national disability action plan in Nicosia on Friday, marking the first official release of the policy aimed at people with intellectual disabilities and those who face linguistic or cognitive barriers.

  The publication is intended to make the state’s disability policy easier to understand while broadening access to public information.

  Social Welfare Deputy Minister Clea Hadjistefanou-Papaellina said the initiative should become the foundation for wider use of the format across the public sector.

  “Today’s presentation does not mark the end of an effort, but the beginning of a new path,” she said.

  “A path that we aspire to lead to the broader integration of the ‘text for all’ format in public documents, policies, informational material and state services.”

  She said the disability action plan forms the state’s main policy framework for promoting the rights of people with disabilities, covering areas including education, employment, accessibility, as well as healthcare.

  Papaellina said accessibility extends beyond physical infrastructure.

  “Without understandable and accessible information, there can be no meaningful participation in political and public life,” she said.

  She added that 54 people with intellectual disabilities and people on the autism spectrum took part in evaluating and testing the document before publication, describing the process as putting into practice the principle of “Nothing for us without us”.

  Senior social inclusion department official Vasiliki Fragkaki said access to information is fundamental to exercising rights.

  “Access to information is not a privilege. It is a right,” she said.

  “When information becomes truly accessible, people with intellectual disabilities can participate equally, make decisions about their lives and claim their rights as active citizens.”

  Disability advocacy group (Epana) officer Maria Georgiou said converting the original strategy, which exceeded 60 pages, took up to five months, and included creating 95 original illustrations to support understanding.

  The final publication also includes alternative text for every image, allowing screen reading software to access the content for people with visual impairments.

  During the discussion, representatives of disability organisations called for Cyprus to develop its own expertise in accessible publications and for future work to include people with severe communication difficulties who rely primarily on images.

  Organisers said cooperation with local universities is already under way as part of efforts to expand specialist knowledge in the field.

• New DNA method to identify Cyprus’ missing from Turkish invasion

  Cyprus has begun using an advanced DNA testing method to identify the remains of Greek Cypriot soldiers and civilians who went missing during the Turkish invasion of 1974 after conventional techniques failed for decades due to the bones having been exposed to chemical substances.

  In an announcement issued on Friday, the presidential commissioner’s office explained that the new process uses ‘massive parallel sequencing’, a modern genetic analysis technique capable of extracting information from remains that could not previously be identified through standard DNA testing.

  The programme follows a cabinet decision on April 21 to allocate €1 million for specialised genetic testing.

  The work is being carried out by the genetics institute (CING) under a scientific protocol agreed with the state’s anthropologists.

  Laboratory procedures have already begun, with the first bone samples undergoing analysis.

  Initial testing is focusing on skeletal remains considered the most suitable for both anthropological and genetic examination, while further sampling will continue under an agreed scientific strategy.

  For decades, the affected remains could not be reliably identified because earlier chemical treatment had damaged the genetic material needed for conventional DNA analysis.

  Officials said the new methodology creates “a new scientific possibility” for examining those remains and could provide answers that had previously been beyond reach.

  The office said the work will continue through close cooperation between scientific teams, with “absolute respect” for the humanitarian nature of the issue and the families of the missing and the fallen.

  It added that the technology offers “a new perspective” for families who have waited for decades to learn the fate of their relatives.

  The government said the issue of missing persons remains first and foremost a humanitarian matter.

  It reaffirmed its commitment to using every available scientific, institutional and financial resource until answers are provided “to the last family of a missing person.”

  Since then, bicommunal teams of archaeologists and scientists have conducted more than 1,700 excavations across the island, exhuming over 1,700 sets of remains.

  Using forensic and DNA analysis, more than 1,050 individuals from the official list of missing persons have been identified and returned to their families for burial.

  The programme addresses cases dating from intercommunal violence in the 1960s and the Turkish invasion of 1974.

  Out of a total of 2,002 recorded missing persons from both communities, around 800 remain unaccounted for.

  According to widely cited UN and Council of Europe records, the Turkish invasion of Cyprus resulted in around 3,000 deaths, the displacement of approximately 160,000 Greek Cypriots and 40,000 Turkish Cypriots, as well as documented cases of systemic rape and other serious human rights violations committed during and after the fighting.

• Keravnos hails agreement on monitoring of EU budget

  Finance Minister Makis Keravnos on Friday hailed the striking of an agreement among the European Union’s member states on a mechanism to monitor and evaluate the bloc’s next multiannual financial framework, its budget for the period covering the years between 2028 and 2034.

  “Every budget needs appropriate oversight and evaluation. The multiannual financial framework is no different. The new performance regulation is geared towards delivering maximum transparency, maximum accountability and maximum visibility for the EU budget,” he said.

  He added that “in short, it is about making sure that it delivers for member states, regions, beneficiaries and citizens alike”.

  The mechanism, known as the “performance framework regulation”, aims to simplify the means through which the multiannual financial framework is monitored, with the council saying that it aims to “increase coherence between budgetary programmes, reduce complexity for beneficiaries, boost transparency and lower costs across the board”.

  As such, the regulation, as agreed by member states on Friday, will set out principles and targets, including what the council described as the principle of doing “no significant harm” and principles related to gender equality and the environment, across the multiannual financial framework.

  It also aims to harmonise the system through which EU spending is monitored, as well as “optimising budget performance reporting”, including through the creation of a new, online “single gateway”.

  Additionally, it will bring about common rules regarding the evaluation of programmes and activities.

  Friday’s agreement will allow the Council of the EU to enter negotiations with the European Parliament regarding the monitoring mechanism’s makeup, with the council saying that its position will aim to provide “legal certainty, operational stability and flexibility” to member states.

  The council said it wishes to strengthen the monitoring of the principle of doing “no significant harm”, with particular regard to the environment, by asking that the European Commission devise a methodology for assessing compliance with it.

  It also said it wishes to “improve efficiency and cut down on administrative burdens”, and as such, said that it would push for reporting requirements for member states regarding their use of EU funds to be “proportionate” and “in accordance with the ‘once-only principle’”.

  The agreement comes as member states begin to coalesce around a common negotiating position for the multiannual financial framework, with a partial agreement also having been reached regarding the Horizon Europe programme – the EU’s research and innovation funding mechanism.

  In recent weeks, partial agreements among member states regarding funding for the EU’s foreign policy arm, known as “Global Europe”, and on competitiveness were also reached, after the Cypriot government, in its capacity as the holder of the Council of the EU’s rotating presidency, had submitted a budget proposal, known as a “negotiating box”, earlier this month.

  Regarding that proposal, President Nikos Christodoulides had said at last week’s European Council summit that Cyprus had “achieved our goal of presenting a negotiating box with figures and securing partial general approaches on the key financial instruments and on other sectoral proposals”.

  On this matter, he acknowledged the discord among other member states regarding the Cypriot government’s proposal, saying that in his own intervention during the summit, “I told my colleagues that I see it as a success the fact that not a single one of you is 100 per cent satisfied with the figures” put forward by the Cypriot government.

  “This is precisely because it must be a balanced compromise,” he said, before stressing the “utmost importance” of reaching a conclusion and having the budget itself ready by the end of this year.

  While no politician has publicly confirmed the reason for this, it is widely understood that the EU and its 27 member states plan to do this to ward off the risk of elections next year in France and Poland – and the possible election of the far right in both countries – derailing efforts to reach an agreement.

• Court permits hearsay evidence in Stylianos case ahead of teacher’s testimony

  The Nicosia district court ruled on Friday to admit hearsay testimony in the criminal proceedings concerning the death of 14-year-old Stylianos Constantinou in 2019, paving the way for evidence from his former preschool teacher to be heard next week.

  The court confirmed that Konstantina Papachristodoulou will testify on next Tuesday to provide evidence regarding statements allegedly made to her by the deceased relating to abuse concerns.

  The case continues to examine the circumstances surrounding the boy’s death and potential failures by family members and state services.

  The defence had objected to the admission of the teacher’s account, arguing that it contained statements attributed to a person who cannot be cross examined.

  Prosecutors argued that the material was admissible under evidential rules, including provisions relating to domestic violence cases and established exceptions to the hearsay rule.

  In its ruling, the court stipulated that the law does not impose automatic exclusion of hearsay evidence but rather requires judges to assess such material in context and determine the weight it should be given.

  The judgment emphasised that admissibility depends on the overall fairness of the proceedings rather than rigid exclusion rules.

  The court also addressed safeguards linked to fair trial rights under article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

  It said concerns may arise where hearsay forms the sole or decisive evidence in a case but stressed that this must be assessed in light of the full evidential picture and any compensatory safeguards available to the defence.

  The ruling allows the prosecution to proceed with the testimony of Papachristodoulou, whose evidence relates to accounts allegedly given to her by the deceased during his early childhood.

  Those accounts are said to concern alleged abuse within his home environment.

  The court is also examining whether state services and individuals within the family bear responsibility for failures in safeguarding the child prior to his death.

• Paphos man remanded in opium poppy case

  A 38-year-old Paphos resident was remanded for eight days by the Paphos district court on Friday, one day after the suspect was arrested for the importation of dried poppy pods.

  According to the police, evidence against the suspect emerged during an investigation into a package that arrived at Larnaca airport with approximately half a kilo of dried poppy pods.

  The police drug squad Ykan stopped the suspect while riding a motorcycle in Paphos and found 1g of powder, suspected to have come from dried poppy pods, during the search.

  The suspect was remanded to facilitate investigations. The case is one of a series of actions taken by Ykan this week to combat the importation and trafficking of drugs, particularly opium poppy products.

  On Thursday, five people were also issued eight-day remand orders after the police found 20.78kg of dried poppy pods.

  In the past two weeks, 30kg of opiate-based substances, largely dried poppy pods, were found in an investigation into an alleged opium ring that operated on TikTok. Most recently, in connection with the suspected ring, a 35-year-old was arrested in Nicosia on Sunday after being found with 10kg of dried poppy pods.

• Limassol municipality receives machine to clean beaches

  The Limassol municipality on Wednesday received the beach-cleaning machine Beach Tech 5500.

  The three-wheel device has a loading volume of 1.3 cubic metres and is set to assist the local authority in efficiently cleaning the city’s long stretch of sandy beaches.

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• A taste of modern Nicosia

  A quarter of a century ago, Esperidon street – the road the Deliyard eatery now calls home – was something of an anomaly in central Nicosia.

  Flanked on both sides by busy thoroughfares, it somehow remained largely untouched by the commercial and residential development that transformed the surrounding area.

  Back then, one of the few apartment buildings on the street housed a business on the ground floor that was considered quaint even at the time and would be viewed as an outright anomaly today: a local, independent bakery.

  The dusty fields are long gone, replaced by towering, glass-clad monuments to economic progress.

  Gone too is the bakery, replaced by Deliyard, a restaurant decorated in a minimalist Millennial style that, to its credit, actually resembles a delicatessen. Baked goods, desserts and poke bowls sit chilled and visible, tempting customers from behind glass displays.

  Normally packed with diners, the restaurant is unusually quiet on the Friday evening my faithful dining companion and I arrive for dinner. This has less to do with Deliyard and more to do with football, as the 2026 Fifa World Cup has just kicked off.

  I am reminded of just how much things have changed not only as we scan a QR code attached to a glass puck on the table to load the menu, but even more so when we hail a cheerful young waiter to order drinks.

  Our cash, he informs us matter-of-factly, is no good here. Plastic only.

  Metal, too, I imagine, is accepted, but that is somewhat outside my tax bracket.

  Deliyard offers a varied dining menu that – while not seasonal – still changes and rotates with a fair degree of frequency. Being a deli-inspired locale, evergreens such as sandwiches, wraps and salads feature prominently, but there is more to the menu than that, with noodles, pasta, chicken schnitzel and beef burgers all making an appearance.

  As the drinks arrive, we order panko prawns for starters, followed by creamy pesto chicken pasta and prawn soba noodles to share.

  The prawns arrive encased in a rich golden-brown crust. Delicately seasoned and without a hint of excess oil, the crispy panko exterior gives way to melt-in-your-mouth prawns. Though accompanied by a sweet chilli sauce, they are just as delicious on their own.

  As we finish the starter, the mains make their entrance.

  The buckwheat soba noodles arrive in a large bowl looking positively lively. Hues of yellow pineapple, bright orange carrot, green snow peas and microgreens flecked with red pomegranate seeds make the dish visually striking. Mixed with the zesty homemade ponzu sauce, the noodles make for a delightful summer dinner – filling without ever feeling heavy.

  Similarly, the creamy pesto chicken pasta lands with a vibrant green hue courtesy of the basil. The pasta is cooked al dente, as are the pieces of chicken breast, which can so easily become dry and bland when overcooked. Wonderfully seasoned so that no single element overpowers another, every bite feels complete and harmonious, with the rich pesto sauce tying everything together. The dish feels like a warm hug.

  The more I looked around the restaurant, the more it felt like a reflection of the city outside its doors.

  Change is inevitable. The dusty fields have become office towers. Bakeries have become delicatessens. Menus have become QR codes, reservations have become obsolete and cash has become an inconvenience.

  Most people call that progress.

  Yet for all the changes that have swept through not only this corner of Nicosia, but the world at large, one thing remains reassuringly constant: good food is still the foundation of a good restaurant.

  And Deliyard understands that better than most.

  VITAL STATISTICS:

  SPECIALTY: Contemporary European

  WHERE: Deliyard, Esperidon 17, Nicosia, Cyprus

  WHEN: Weekdays 7am to 11pm; Weekends 8am to 5pm

  CONTACT: 22 525017

  HOW MUCH: Starters: €3.5-€7; Salads/poke bowls/noodles: €7-€12; Sandwiches €4-€15

• Turkish Cypriot who designed north’s flag given platform at Nicosia exhibition  

  Friday’s opening of a new exhibition at the Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre (NiMAC) has drawn political criticism after the Ecologists objected to the participation of Turkish Cypriot artist Emin Cizenel, citing his role as the designer of the flag used by the north.

  The exhibition, A Slight Indisposition, brings together 16 emerging and established contemporary artists from Cyprus and abroad.

  It is due to open at NiMAC amid objections from the Ecologists, who argued that Cizenel’s inclusion carries political significance beyond his artistic work.

  In a statement issued hours before the exhibition opened, the party said Cizenel is known “not only for his artistic career, but also as the creator of the flag of the pseudo-state“, describing it as “a symbol of the Turkish occupation and partition of Cyprus.”

  While recognising that “art is certainly a space for freedom of expression and creation”, the Ecologists argued organisers must also consider “the political and social dimensions of their choices” when inviting artists associated with symbols “associated with the island’s partition.”

  The party further stressed that “historical memory and sensitivity towards the events that continue to affect the present and future of Cyprus cannot be set aside in the name of a supposedly neutral cultural approach.”

  Cizenel, originally from the village of Malia in Limassol, studied painting at the Istanbul Academy of Fine Arts before continuing his education in Vienna.

  Çizenel is recognised as the designer of the flag adopted by the north, which itself was controversially emblazoned upon the Pentadakytlos mountain range since the early 1980s.

• Safety ramps for animals to be installed in artificial lakes

  The forestry department on Friday said that a total of 75 safety ramps will be installed in artificial lakes across the island to help animals enter and exit the waters safely.

  “This project is considered extremely important as each year incidents of both wild and stray animals being trapped are recorded,” the department said.

  According to the forestry department, animals are often unable to climb up steep or slippery banks, which can result in exhaustion or, in the worst case, drowning.

  “With the installation of 75 ramps, safe escape routes are created, contributing significantly to reducing animal losses and strengthening the protection of our fauna and biodiversity,” it added.

  The cost of the project is estimated at €17,000 and will be overseen by the forestry department.

Github

• Track total merges by adoption phase in enterprise and organization reports

  Building on the AI adoption phase cohorts added to the Copilot usage metrics API, organization and enterprise reports now report the total number of pull requests merged by each adoption phase.

  What’s new

  The totals_by_ai_adoption_phase breakdown previously reported per-user averages only. Each entry now also includes a total for pull request merges:

  • total_pull_requests_merged: The total number of pull requests merged on that day by users in that adoption phase.

  This complements the existing per-phase avg_pull_requests_merged and is available in 1-day and 28-day reports.

  Why this matters

  • See each phase’s share of merged pull requests: With a total rather than just an average, you can calculate what proportion of all merged pull requests each adoption phase contributed.
  • Compare absolute throughput across phases: Totals make it easier to understand proportional user behavior, rather than solely relying on per-user averages.
  • Measure adoption impact on delivery: Track how pull request throughput shifts as users progress through AI adoption phases.

  Important notes

  • These metrics are available to enterprise administrators and organization owners who have access to Copilot usage metrics through the REST API.
  • total_pull_requests_merged uses the same attribution as the existing avg_pull_requests_merged, so the two values are consistent with one another.

  Visit the Copilot usage metrics API documentation to learn more.

  The post Track total merges by adoption phase in enterprise and organization reports appeared first on The GitHub Blog.

• MAI-Code-1-Flash for Copilot Business and Copilot Enterprise

  MAI-Code-1-Flash, Microsoft AI’s in-house coding model, is now generally available for GitHub Copilot Business and Copilot Enterprise, building on its recent expansion across Copilot surfaces. Purpose-built for coding and optimized for GitHub Copilot, MAI-Code-1-Flash delivers fast, low-latency responses that make it well-suited for high-volume, iterative agentic coding workflows where speed and efficiency matter most.

  This model is billed at provider list pricing under usage-based billing. See Copilot’s pricing for models and requests for details.

  Enabling access

  Copilot Enterprise and Copilot Business plan administrators must enable the MAI-Code-1-Flash policy in Copilot settings before users can access it. See Managing policies and features for Copilot in your enterprise.

  Learn more

  To explore all models available in GitHub Copilot, see our documentation on supported models and get started with Copilot.

  Share your feedback

  Join the discussion within GitHub Community.

  The post MAI-Code-1-Flash for Copilot Business and Copilot Enterprise appeared first on The GitHub Blog.

• GitHub Desktop 3.6: Worktrees and deeper Copilot integration

  GitHub Desktop 3.6 brings more of your day-to-day Git flow into one place with GitHub Copilot now powering commit authoring and merge conflict resolution, plus new Git worktree support.

  The problem

  More and more development happens with the help of AI and coding agents, which raises the bar for the everyday Git moments in between. A few of those moments still pull you away from your flow: commit authoring needs more control and better alignment with repository standards, merge conflicts remain one of the most intimidating Git workflows, and working across multiple branches at once often means stashing changes, switching branches repeatedly, or creating extra clones.

  A new foundation for Copilot

  Copilot in GitHub Desktop now runs on the Copilot SDK, the shared foundation behind both the enhanced commit message experience and the new merge conflict workflow.

  Beyond those features, the SDK also unlocks more flexibility in how Copilot runs. Every Copilot feature in GitHub Desktop now includes a model picker so you can choose from the models available to you through GitHub. You can also use bring your own key (BYOK) to connect a third-party provider or a model running locally on your machine.

  Author commits with more control

  GitHub Desktop’s commit message generation feature is now more powerful and customizable. It picks up custom instructions from your .github/copilot-instructions.md and AGENTS.md files, and honors commit metadata rules defined for your repository. This way generated messages match your style and stay within your repository’s standards.

  Resolve conflicts with Copilot

  Merge conflicts are now easier to navigate with AI-assisted resolution in GitHub Desktop. When you hit a conflict, Desktop can help explain the conflicting changes and suggest a resolution that you can review, accept, or edit before completing the merge.

  Work across branches in parallel

  GitHub Desktop now supports Git worktrees, so you can work across multiple branches at once without repeatedly stashing changes, switching branches, or cloning the same repository. This is especially handy alongside coding agents, which often spin up worktrees to run isolated, parallel sessions.

  Getting started

  GitHub Desktop 3.6.0 is available now for macOS and Windows. GitHub Desktop is free to download and use, and Copilot-powered features require access to GitHub Copilot.

  Automatic updates roll out progressively, or you can download the latest release from github.com/apps/desktop. To learn more about these workflows, see the GitHub Desktop documentation.

  Have feedback or found an issue? Open an issue in the desktop/desktop repository.

  The post GitHub Desktop 3.6: Worktrees and deeper Copilot integration appeared first on The GitHub Blog.

Reddit

r/golang

• I built a lightweight, native Go playground using Wails to completely skip package main boilerplate.

  Hi r/golang ,

  I wanted to share a tool I’ve been working on for the past few months.

  Every time I wanted to quickly experiment with a new GitHub library, try an algorithm, or test a small snippet of Go code, I found myself going through the same tedious friction: opening VS Code, initializing a temporary directory, running go mod init, and typing the usual package main / func main() boilerplate just to see a 5-line output.

  To solve this, I built GoLab (https://www.playgolab.com/). It’s a desktop Go playground powered by Wails that gives you instant inline results as you type, completely wrapping the boilerplate under the hood.

  Key features I focused on:

  • No Boilerplate Required: You can write pure logic straight away; the app handles the smart wrapper automatically.
  • Real-time Standard Library Autocomplete: Built-in suggestion engine for local variables and the standard library.
  • Third-Party Module Manager: You can visually go get and import any library directly from GitHub or the Go ecosystem instantly.
  • High-Fidelity ANSI Colors: Full support for colorful console logs right in the output panel.

  I'm sharing the screenshots below of how the interface looks (I'm a big fan of deep slate dark themes). I would absolutely love to hear your feedback, feature requests, or thoughts on how to improve the workflow!

  submitted by /u/morjuax
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• Launching my first Go app/site on a Digital Ocean droplet using Docker. Any security gotchas or performance tips I should know about?

  I'm new to Go and not much of programmer (though I love it!). None of the code is AI generated, but I use Claude for learning and to help figure out some error messages.

  The app is very simple. It's a little CRUD app for a friend to sell stuff. There's no ecommerce or AI integration. On the public side there's a contact form and a place for users to add testimonials.

  I've tried to keep things inline with OWASP's recommendations, but wanted some human feedback to make sure it's as locked down as possible.

  submitted by /u/aegloswinterborn
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• NSQ or NATS or Other

  Hi,

  I am in a situation where an application(go based) sends messages to various systems like Slack and/or Rackspace email. In some cases I get a denial of service (DOS) for my email and the server crawls. I was thinking instead of sending an email/message I have the application send it to a message queue since its much more economical and more robust. I was wondering if NSQ or NATS can do it? In some cases I send close to 20k messages per minute. My thinking is if I have a bulk of similar message (from + subject + 5 mins time bound) I have something to send a email/message digest saying "hey, you are DDOSing the systems, here is a sample message". I would also like to preserve the messages for 24-36 hours. Any thoughts or ideas?

  submitted by /u/uragnorson
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• sqlc: how to generate the type of a query selected columns to be an array of nullable strings

  i have the following sql as part of one query

  array_agg(active_ingredients.name)::text[] AS active_ingredients_names, 

  how do i tell sqlc to generate the type for the ListRow to be an array of string pointers instead of pure strings

  type ListRow struct { ActiveIngredientsNames []string ... other fields } ListRow struct { ActiveIngredientsNames []*string ... other fields } 

  submitted by /u/Competitive-Dirt-213
  [link] [comments]
• goldr: Go + HTMX framework I’m already using in production

  Hi,

  I built goldr, a server-first Go framework for building templ + HTMX web applications. I created it because I wanted the structure and ergonomics of a modern web framework, but without moving my app into SPA, hydration, or client-state territory. I'm already using Goldr in production, and the main goal is to keep Go web apps easy to see, run, debug, and ship as they grow.

  Repo: https://github.com/mobiletoly/goldr

  Goldr gives you:

  • filesystem routes under app/routes
  • route-local pages, HTMX fragments, and POST actions
  • nested layouts based on the route tree
  • reusable mounted route subtrees, so the same workflow can live in multiple parts of an app without copying route folders
  • generated URL helpers, so templates and redirects do not copy path strings
  • visible HTMX in .templ files
  • live reload with route generation, templ generation, app restart, asset fingerprinting, and browser reload
  • fingerprinted and embedded static assets using simple directory conventions
  • CLI inspection for routes, layouts, HTMX references, and packaged assets
  • a browser visual inspector that can outline which layout, page, fragment, or labeled component produced a page region

  The part I like most is that the app still feels like a Go app. Goldr does not own your server, middleware, auth, sessions, database layer, asset compiler, deployment, or client state. It gives structure around the boring repeated parts while leaving application policy explicit.

  A route tree looks like this:

  app/routes/ layout.go layout.templ route.go page.templ users/ route.go page.templ frag_table.templ by_id/ route.go page.templ 

  Goldr turns that into generated net/http dispatch and URL helpers, while the source files stay ordinary Go and templ.

  Goldr is still pre-v1, so APIs may change, but it is already useful enough that I'm using it for real production work.

  Repo: https://github.com/mobiletoly/goldr

  submitted by /u/Adventurous-Action66
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• Title: agilePool — A different approach to Go goroutine pooling (up to 31% faster than ants)

  Hi Gophers,

  I'd like to share a Go worker pool I've been working on: agilePool.

  Most pools out there (e.g., ants) keep goroutines alive permanently — they block on a channel waiting for work, even when idle. That's the classic "trade memory for speed" strategy.

  agilePool takes the opposite route: goroutines exit immediately after finishing their task, and new ones are started on demand.

  • Each goroutine dies after its job is done.
  • Only a lightweight worker struct is recycled back into the pool.
  • When you need a worker, the pool grabs one and launches a fresh goroutine.
  • When there's no work, zero idle goroutine stacks remain in the system – no wasted memory.

  ⚡ Benchmark (10 million tasks / 20K capacity)

  Library	Time	Memory	Allocs
  agilePool	5.63s	502 MB	20,189K
  ants	8.20s	569 MB	20,117K
  Pond	10.10s	681 MB	20,542K

  👉 31% faster than ants, 12% lower memory usage.

  The reason: by avoiding idle goroutine stacks, we significantly reduce GC pressure – and that saving more than compensates for the cost of creating goroutines when needed.

  🎯 Adaptive Scheduler (key differentiator)

  Unlike fixed‑capacity pools, agilePool has a built‑in adaptive scaler:

  • Samples submission and consumption rates every 10ms.
  • Uses a sliding‑window median to calculate the ideal concurrency level.
  • Automatically scales up under bursts, and down during lulls.
  • Works like a PID controller – you don't need to guess the right pool size.

  ✨ Features at a glance

  • ♻️ Goroutines exit on idle – zero stack footprint when there's no work.
  • 📈 Adaptive scaler – self‑tuning based on real‑time load.
  • 📦 4 pluggable idle containers – choose between:
    • LinkedList
    • MinHeap (LRU)
    • Slice
    • RingQueue
  • 🔓 Unbounded task queue + backpressure support.
  • 🚦 Block / Non‑Block submission – with Context cancellation & timeout.
  • 🔁 Exponential backoff retries (TaskWithRetry).
  • 🛡️ Panic recovery + graceful shutdown.
  • 🪵 Custom logger – plug in your own logging implementation.

  Links

  • Project: https://github.com/Yiming1997/agilePool
  • Benchmarks: https://github.com/Yiming1997/agilePool-benchmark

  I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, or benchmark results from your own use cases. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

  Cheers 🚀

  submitted by /u/PeterPeng1997
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• Go and WASM: a lovely couple

  This is a story about the three issues I faced when compiling my game to WASM, and how I fixed them.

  Recently I wanted to publish my game, which is built in Go, and decided that WASM was the way to go. If it plays in a browser, it plays almost everywhere. I'd never worked with WASM before. The instructions in the engine docs were clear and simple, so there were no hiccups there. Five minutes later, my game written in Go was running in the browser. Woohoo!

  GOOS=js GOARCH=wasm go build -o asset/wasm/game.wasm cmd/game/main.go 

  Isn't that incredible?

  But there were actually a few hiccups that I discovered later.

  1. You can't access the file system from a WASM build

  Well, totally expected. But I hadn't thought about it ahead of time.

  My assets were already embedded into the binary with the //go:embed directive, which I absolutely love. But I also needed to save the game settings to the user's machine. Normally I'd use os.UserConfigDir(), which is incredibly convenient... except it doesn't work in WASM. Understandably.

  So how do you fix that?

  You just create two files with the exact same function name but different implementations, then specify build tags at the top of each file:

  //go:build !js || !wasm package config import ( "os" ) func Load() ([]byte, error) { dir, err := os.UserConfigDir() // ... 

  and

  //go:build js && wasm package config import ( "syscall/js" ) func Load() ([]byte, error) { ls := js.Global().Get("localStorage") // ... 

  Problem solved!

  The same function has two different implementations. Thanks to build tags, Go simply picks the correct one. This is genius.

  2. You can't open links in WASM the same way you do on desktop

  This was the next hiccup I found.

  And you know what?

  Exactly the same solution: build tags.

  //go:build !js || !wasm package game import ( "github.com/pkg/browser" ) // OpenURL opens a URL in a new browser tab. func OpenURL(url string) error { _ = browser.OpenURL(url) return nil } 

  and

  //go:build js && wasm package game import "syscall/js" // OpenURL opens a URL in a new browser tab via the JavaScript window.open API. func OpenURL(url string) error { js.Global().Call("open", url, "_blank") return nil } 

  And that just works.

  3. You can't cut/copy/paste in WASM like you do on desktop

  You know what I did? Exactly the same thing as before: build tags

  --

  Maybe there's something I haven't discovered yet, but if I do I'll let you know.

  Happy go'ing!

  submitted by /u/ognev-dev
  [link] [comments]
• NYC Backend / Go Engineers

  We're hosting a small engineering meetup with the team at Hearth on July 1st in NYC.

  Current topics we're working on:

  • Migrating a Ruby on Rails monolith to Go services
  • AI voice agents handling real customer conversations
  • Long-running workflow orchestration
  • Payments and financing infrastructure at scale

  Hearth serves 15,000+ SMB contractors across the US and has originated over $1B in financing.

  Small group, technical discussion, drinks and food provided.

  RSVP: https://hearth-engineering-meetup.netlify.app

  submitted by /u/SP_PharsalusCap
  [link] [comments]