Monday, May 4, 2026
5fa20d68-cc43-4e9b-83e6-68f2ee1d0f42
| Summary | ⛅️ Light rain until evening and windy until night. |
|---|---|
| Temperature Range | 14°C to 18°C (56°F to 65°F) |
| Feels Like | Low: 44°F | High: 57°F |
| Humidity | 66% |
| Wind | 29 km/h (18 mph), Direction: 237° |
| Precipitation | Probability: 100%, Type: rain |
| Sunrise / Sunset | 🌅 05:55 AM / 🌇 07:34 PM |
| Moon Phase | Waning Gibbous (59%) |
| Cloud Cover | 71% |
| Pressure | 1010.31 hPa |
| Dew Point | 49.11°F |
| Visibility | 5.79 miles |
Our food, the environment and even in our bodies – microplastics can be found almost everywhere. Here in Cyprus, many beaches have already become colourful mosaics created by plastic debris in all shapes and sizes.
The density of microplastics averages 337 particles per square metre on Cyprus beaches, a new study found, bringing into focus the problems caused by the accumulation of these tiny pieces of plastic.
“Generally, most of the plastics come from land but then once they enter the marine environment they can drift away and go back to the shore where they break down from weathering processes and then head back to the sea in broken pieces,” says Ioannis Savva, lead author of the study, recently published in the Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering.
Savvas’ study investigates microplastics ranging from one to five millimetres, as well as mesoplastics ranging from five to up to 25 millimetres.
According to the study, most of the fragmented plastics found offshore on Cyprus’ beaches were already circulating in the marine environment, rather than stemming directly from local coastal runoff, pointing to offshore contamination as its main driver.
“So all these plastic fragments we saw here in Cyprus, they are all broken pieces of plastics that have been drifting all around the Eastern Mediterranean region,” Savva explains.
The study, conducted with samples from 16 beaches all over the island, each consisting of four individual samples, found one beach reaching an average of 2422 microplastic particles per square metre, with individual samples of up to 4020 particles in the same ratio.
Even higher levels have been recorded in a follow-up study currently being prepared, with individual samples reaching up to 20,600 plastic particles per square metre.
Savva’s study marks the first comprehensive scientific study investigating micro- and mesoplastic pollution on the shores of the island.
“Basically, our study represents the baseline levels of microplastics and mesoplastics,” Savva says, “this sort of differentiation just indicates the different size ranges of the plastics we’re dealing with (…) that are pretty harmful to the environment.”
Although a similar study was conducted in the north, it utilised an alternative measurement system, rendering it unsuitable for comparison.
“There was one study in the north where they sampled in a different methodology so we couldn’t really compare, even though we really wanted to,” he says.
The findings of the study, however, reveal that microplastic pollution levels vary significantly depending on the location, depending on the hydrodynamic exposure – the strength of tides and other influences.
One example of such varying exposure is Dune beach in the western part of Akrotiri. There, pollution levels were particularly high as the site is highly exposed to hydrodynamic forces, hence receives a lot of debris and plastic.
“It looks like a colourful beach,” he says.
But that is not the only difference revealed by Savva’s research. In fact, the measurements revealed substantial discrepancies in pollution levels depending on the time they were carried out, whether in spring or autumn.
“We had two sites, where in our spring sampling we went to the site and due to erosion half of the beach was gone and the plastics with it,” Savva says.
In his study, he refers to shorelines as “temporary reservoirs for microplastic”, as rain, sunshine and forceful waves can significantly impact the amount of plastic waste accumulated on beaches.
“Winds change, surface currents change, as do underwater currents, which can alter the path of plastics,” he explains.
“All plastic derived chemicals can disrupt the endocrine system and plastics have this very special feature where they attract organic chemicals from the background environment especially in the sea,” Savva says.
These organic chemicals are usually human-produced and synthetic, such as fertiliser, to which the plastics then attach in high concentrations.
Marine life then feeds on them, having the plastics travel all the way through the food chain, eventually ending up on our plates.
The overall health implications that plastics have are rather new and still undergoing a lot of research.
And while these are not an actual part of the study, the broader implications give an idea of the significance of Savva’s research, which primarily focuses on the environmental impacts of microplastics.
“The baseline levels are rather important because that’s where you have a line where you can compare it in the future,” Savva explains.
According to Savva, there are currently no other studies that have analysed microplastic pollution in Cyprus, however, he adds that the fisheries department has recently launched a study that is still ongoing.
“We did not find any other studies in the published literature,” he says.
The lack of research leads to a lack of knowledge, making efforts to combat or prevent pollution even more difficult.
“Through the study we developed an allocation scheme that helps authorities to identify these kinds of shorelines that are heavily affected by marine based inputs and not directly from land based activities,” Savva says.
This is crucial information for authorities that wish to allocate resources and implement strategies to manage offshore contamination
But if most of the plastic debris actually comes from floating around in the Eastern Mediterranean, can local intervention actually help?
“The best-case scenario would be to get grants to have a multinational sort of dealing with plastic pollution in the Eastern Mediterranean, a sort of regional hub,” Savva says. “Meanwhile, our approach can support more targeted and effective coastal management, helping authorities prioritise clean-up and prevention efforts.”
On a hillside above Peyia, there is a villa which looks rather like any of the others, but if you enter inside take care not to trip over people doing yoga stretches and squirming puppies.
The villa is both a yoga retreat and a temporary home for rescue puppies, each one passing through as they move towards something more permanent.
The villa accommodates a variety of activities such as Puppy Yoga sessions, casual gatherings called “Coffee, Cake & Cuddles”, and walks along the Paphos harbour and the EDRO III shipwreck. Visitors come for the yoga experience, which is meant to be gentle, calming, and then something different.
Five puppies live in the villa. They are not owned by the retreat. “I collaborate with two organisations: AIRS Foundation and STAR (Stronger Together Animal Rescue),” Ines Brendel says. “I have a foster agreement in place with the AIRS Foundation. Both organisations are responsible for the adoption decisions, and the international placements. They organise and manage the process of matching the puppies with families abroad.”
The puppies stay with Ines until they reach around four months of age. During this time, they learn the basics of trust, which includes being handled, hearing everyday sounds, and meeting various people. This is a small but crucial window of time.
Some puppies have simple stories, while others have complicated ones. Hooper had a rough start. He was found in a field with his brother, Henry, and taken to the AIRS Foundation shelter. While there, another dog attacked him, leaving a serious bite on his neck.
“At one point, it was unclear if he would survive. After treatment at the vet, he went to the villa for recovery. The first days were intense; he needed constant attention and couldn’t be left alone. He showed no aggression, just uncertainty. He was cautious and watchful, affected by his past,” Ines says.
His progress was slow. At first, he sat nearby during yoga sessions, just observing. Gradually, he started to approach people. One day, he climbed into someone’s lap and stayed there. From then on, he became more relaxed, moving with confidence and becoming a calmer, more trusting dog. Now, he is seen as balanced and friendly. This week, he will fly to England to join his new family.
Nala’s story is special. She was found abandoned in a field with six siblings during winter and taken in by the AIRS Foundation. Her big moment came during a Puppy Beach Walk in Paphos, where a family of four met her. Their daughter felt an immediate connection, but the family needed time to decide. They came back the next day for a quieter visit, and the bond deepened.
They soon decided to adopt Nala, and the AIRS Foundation handled the process. Nala then flew to Germany with a volunteer and now lives with her new family.
“Not all puppies have found homes yet. Currently, three are being fostered after being abandoned near a bin in Polis. Two were so young they needed to be hand-fed but are now getting stronger,” Ines says.
This quieter work at the villa is less visible than yoga sessions or beach walks, but it’s vital to the mission. It’s not just about giving visitors a good time; it’s also about preparing these animals for a better life.
At the end of the day, when visitors leave and the villa is silent, the puppies sleep. Some, like Hooper, will leave soon. Others, like Nala, will follow, while a few are just starting their journey.
Each one stays for a brief period. But for most of them, this time is sufficient.
Since assuming office three years ago, the government has demonstrated in practice its determination to move forward with substantive reforms focusing on the child, the mother and the family, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Sunday.
At an event celebrating mothers of large families, in a speech delivered on his behalf by Deputy Social Welfare Minister Klea Hadjistefanou Papaellina, he said today, we honour 250 mothers and with them we honour all women who give their best every day for the family and society.
“With the aim of truly supporting large families, the family and children as a whole, we have implemented in the last three years a series of specific policies, that simultaneously respond to one of the most critical issues facing our country, the demographic problem,” he said.
Since the first day of taking office, he said the government has implemented a series of measures to support families, such as increasing the child allowance by five per cent and removing income and property limits for families with five or more children, thus ensuring universal support for these families.
The number of optional all-day schools increased and that from the 222 primary and secondary schools that operated in the 2022-2023 academic year, 326 are now operating, with a further 60 planned for 2026-2027.
Referring to tax reform, Christodoulides said, among other things, that the government has provided for increased and progressive tax exemptions for children, which increase with each child, recognising the real needs of families.
On pension reform, he said that within this framework, periods of childcare will be recognised as insured periods, even for women who have never worked, while periods of informal care for members of their family will be recognised in the same way.
Regarding the crisis in the region, he said that the Government had acted immediately and responsibly to address the effects of the geopolitical turmoil, saying that with full awareness of the pressures on households, they have already implemented an additional package of measures since the beginning of April.
This package includes the reduction of consumer tax on motor fuels, the subsidy of employment in the tourism industry, as well as zero VAT on basic food items, such as meat and fish.
“These interventions, combined with the further reduction of VAT on electricity that follows, constitute a practical response to external turmoil. We are leveraging our fiscal resilience as a real shield of protection, allocating a total of more than €200 million to ensure that economic uncertainty will not harm the cohesion of our society,” he concluded.
A new yellow warning was issued by the met office on Sunday afternoon, with isolated storms set to hit across the island from 7pm on Sunday to 8am on Monday.
During this time, strong thunderstorms are expected, with rainfall likely to reach up to 55 millimeters per hour.
Hail is also expected in some areas.
At the same time, the winds are expected to be strong, reaching up to 7 Beaufort, while during a storm gusts could be stronger.
On the highest peaks of the mountains, snow or sleet could fall.
As part of an ongoing investigation. Nicosia CID arrested a Special Police Officer on Saturday, the police announced on Sunday.
He was immediately suspended, following instructions of the chief of police.
According to reports, the officer was suspended after his wife reported him for threatening to kill her.
There are many different flowers in bloom now including roses, which flower all year round in some gardens, and mostly with a sweet perfume.
In my garden my favourite is Rosa banksia, which has dear little yellow flowers, although there are some bushes of them that have white flowers, but alas both have no perfume.
What kind of plants should you grow to attract bees and butterflies to your garden? Flower colour is an important factor. Bees prefer shades of blue through to purple, which is probably why you find them hovering on lavenders and rosemarys.
Butterflies seek flowers with colours like yellows and whites, and you may see many of them around your citrus fruit trees, but there are exceptions to that rule.
Some insects are drawn to the perfume of the flowers, although it would seem that they don’t like the perfume of peppermints, cloves or those from the geranium family.
If you want to attract insects to your garden and you have lots of space, then consider bulbines or bulbinellas, both of which grow well here, and attract much wildlife, but they can take over your garden if you are not careful, so you have to keep them trimmed back.
A popular shrub or small tree, which seems to attract the same insects is Leucophyllum frutescens (the Texas Ranger), which flowers and flowers again, especially after a shower of rain, when its dusky rose-pink flowers quickly open up. You can cheat by spraying the top of the bush with water and it will produce even more flowers.
Wisteria, that charming climber, which will drape itself all over a railing or fence in no time at all, is another of my favourite plants and the flowers also attract insects by the score even though the flower panicles are very short lived and may drop in any heavy rain.
Prunus trees were originally non local having their origins as far apart as China to Asia Minor and will grow in our gardens up to 1000-1500 metres elevation. Citrus trees also emanated from China in the main, but have adapted to the Cyprus climate exceedingly well.
All prunus and citrus trees are known as hermaphrodite, which means that they have the characteristics of both male and female flowers. Prunus fruits are known as ‘drupes’, fleshy one-seeded fruits, whilst citrus fruits are botanically known as ‘hesperidium’, which means modified berries containing seeds (pips in some cases).
Most houses here have a fruit tree or two in their gardens. Oranges and lemons are usually the favourites and perhaps an olive, if there is space.
May is the last month to feed them with 20.10.10 fertiliser – just where the feeding roots are, between the trunk and the canopy of the tree and then no more until December. As the citrus flowers begin to fade, the process of making the fruits begins.
I am always being asked about growing other fruit trees. The only known apple that will grow up to 300 metres elevation, is one called Anna, which was bred in Israel. Although many varieties of apples are available here, they are generally grown at higher elevations. Some fruits need a ‘chill period’ during their dormant time, cherries in particular, so grow better away from the coast.
Stone-fruit trees are liable to exude resinous gum from time to time. Frequently little or no harm results, but sometimes the gum is the symptom of a disease of bacterial origin, often called canker. Another symptom of canker can be seen when new leaves have circular dark-brown spots.
Spores enter trees through wounds that have not healed over, sometimes caused by winter pruning. In these cases, whole branches may die back quite suddenly, sometimes in the middle of the summer and eventually the trees may have to be destroyed.
Cut back diseased branches to at least six inches behind the canker and burn them if you are able to. When pruning, do ensure that you thoroughly clean your pruning knife or saw, so as not to transfer the canker to other trees.
The gum appears on branches and sometimes on the trunk from what looks like little round insect holes. Use ‘Cuproxat’, a copper-based liquid and similar to ‘Murphy’s Copper Fungicide’, to try and eliminate this problem.
Using 50ml of ‘Cuproxat’ in 10 litres of water spray the trees as the buds begin to swell but I hasten to add not when the flowers are open. Remember to wear eye protection when you do this and wash your hands well afterwards.
It is not all easy to grow fruit trees. Leaf curl is one of the most common diseases of peaches, nectarines and almonds. This is a spring problem when the young leaves develop distorted and puckered patches and whitish green or pink blisters, which redden and become thickened until the leaf may be destroyed.
Later on in the year foliage may be covered with a white powdery bloom and fruit may also carry warty spots. If the disease is not treated then these trees are likely to have distorted leaves, which fall prematurely. Loss of leaves means fruit set is poor and they do not fully develop. Twigs may also be attacked and die back as a consequence.
A reminder to clear up old foliage under trees, whether they be ornamental or fruit-bearing, or you will find that any rain or watering will be wasted as it can’t soak though the earth. Polygala trees shed all year round, flowers and dead leaves, and can make a thick crust if not cleared up regularly.
There are a lot of bugs around in May as temperatures shoot upwards. You can deal with greenfly, blackfly and brown-fly, either by using a chemical spray or water with a drop or two of washing-up liquid. Watch out for these pests on pomegranates, almonds, apricots and peaches.
The biggest problem with fruit trees here in Cyprus is the Mediterranean fruit fly. Only lemons, pecans and loquats seem to escape, perhaps because of their thick skins. It takes a mere twenty days for an egg to become a mature fertile egg-laying adult, so smart action is required unless you want your fruits to be full of little white maggots.
Moving on to summer flowering plants you may like to try agapanthus, originally from South Africa, that just love a sunny position in the garden or veranda. You can plant the bulbs or better still at this time of year, buy some of these gorgeous summer flowering plants already potted up when you know that they are more likely to flower.
Some gardeners tell me that their agapanthus don’t flower at all and it may be that they are too crowded together. They like to be planted quite deeply in a moist but well-drained soil and grown in full sun, so bear that in mind. They may not flower if their roots are too restricted.
Mine have been in pots for years and years and yet flower every year. In places like Australia and New Zealand I have seen them growing profusely along the edges of roads with huge flower heads and without any special care at all!
If you have had no luck with agapanthus, try Hemerocallis (Day Lilies). These Asian origin plants also like to be planted in full sun to partial shade. They benefit from some regular watering but do not like to be waterlogged.
Remember to remove dead flowers daily, which should encourage more blooms to appear. As they are perennials, clumps will eventually form and can be divided up every few years or so.
These lovely plants in wonderful colours of gold, deep red, purple and white belong to the iris family and are classed as the most beloved flowers in the world. They are often chosen by brides for their wedding bouquets because of their delightful perfume.
The grow well in our spring gardens here with lots of sunshine to bring out the flowers, some single and others double. Rather like many other plants that grow well here, they started life in eastern Africa, mainly Kenya.
They also grow well in pots, so if you garden on a veranda, you should be able to grow them. Although they grow from a corm they are classed as herbaceous plants, which just means that they will/should come up every year.
They don’t like cold winters though, but by keeping them in a rich well-drained soil, they will probably survive. Plant the corms about 2 inches deep and watch for the growth which could be quite tall and need some eventual staking.
In the autumn as the stems and leaves die, you can leave the corms in the ground or dig them up and keep them somewhere dry until replanting time. Freesias can produce little bulbils along the stem as well, which should eventually grow if left in the ground. The corms will also have side growths which when planted will eventually flower – what a bonus!
On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, marked around the world on May 3, the government reaffirms its absolute respect for the institutional role of journalists, the independence of the media and the right of citizens to be informed freely, pluralistically and reliably, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Sunday.
“In an era of speed, misinformation, technological change and intense public debate, free and responsible journalism becomes even more important. Democracy needs control, criticism, research, revelation, the opposite point of view.
“It needs journalists who can work without fear, without pressure, without threats and without institutional obstacles,” he added.
The Republic, he continued, governed by the rule of law, protects and strengthens the environment in which journalism can carry out its mission.
“This means transparency, access to information, respect for criticism, protection of press officers and continuous strengthening of institutional guarantees that serve freedom of expression.”
The government, he said, approaches criticism as an integral part of democratic functioning. Disagreement, when done with evidence and responsibility, strengthens the public debate, and a strong public debate means more informed citizens, more mature democracy.
But, Letymbiotis added, is accompanied by a common responsibility: “to protect the truth from distortion, information from manipulation, public discourse from toxicity and society from misinformation”.
The answer to these challenges is more transparency, more accountability, more institutional maturity, Letymbiotis concluded.
Today we honor all those who serve information with professionalism, consistency and a sense of responsibility. We honour journalism that controls power, gives a voice to citizens, highlights injustices, sheds light on unseen aspects of public life and contributes to the quality of our Democracy.
Freedom of the press is a basic foundation of Democracy. And for the Republic of Cyprus, its protection is not just an institutional obligation. It is a political position, a European principle and a democratic duty.
For its celebratory 25th anniversary, the International Pharos Chamber Music Festival presents an exceptional breadth of chamber music. From May 29 until June 4, the festival will offer six chamber concerts at the Royal Manor House in Kouklia, performed by 20 of today’s leading international virtuosos. Events will culminate with a spectacular orchestral concert on June 6 at the Pharos Arts Foundation’s open-air venue The Olive Grove, featuring two of the festival’s soloists alongside the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra and the Cyprus Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Continuing its long-standing tradition, the festival maintains a core of musicians who return year after year, enriched by guest soloists, bringing a fresh perspective to each concert. Among the artists making their festival debut this year are violinist Anton Sorokow – renowned soloist and for two decades the First Concertmaster of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra; cellist Claudio Bohórquez – winner of the Geneva, Rostropovich and Pablo Casals Competitions and one of today’s leading cellists with a busy international career spanning the world’s foremost orchestras and festivals; and the legendary violinist Boris Belkin – universally regarded as one of the great performers of our time.
The festival will also welcome the return of three remarkable ladies, all with thriving international careers: cellist Jing Zhao – celebrated for the depth of her musicality and virtuosity; violinist Elly Suh – winner of more than 10 prestigious international competitions and one of today’s foremost interpreters of Paganini; and, after more than a decade, violinist and violist Yura Lee – First Prize winner across four categories at the prestigious ARD Competition, and one of the few artists equally virtuosic on both instruments, with an international career extending over more than three decades.
This year’s festival is marked by a striking wave of debut appearances, including the Venice-born pianist Pietro De Maria – who rose to prominence after winning the Alfred Cortot International Piano Competition at the age of 13 and has since established himself as one of the most acclaimed pianists of his generation; and the outstanding Irish pianist Finghin Collins – who came to international prominence after winning the Clara Haskil Competition in 1999 and has since developed a distinguished international career as one of Ireland’s most significant musical figures.
Joining them is the wonderful young Cypriot pianist Christos Fountos – recent prize-winner at the prestigious Busoni International Piano Competition, who has already established a strong presence as both a soloist and chamber musician.
Another brilliant Cypriot artist returning to the festival is Mavroudes Troullos – established today as one of the most prominent bassoonists of his generation and hailed by the press as “a musician of great sensitivity”.
The festival also welcomes back Niek de Groot – one of the world’s most celebrated double-bassists, known for his close collaboration with composers such as Kurtág, Stockhausen and Gubaidulina, and Enrico Pace – a pianist in constant demand on the international stage as both a soloist and chamber musician, praised for his “lithe, characterful, and sensitive” approach.
The 25th International Pharos Chamber Music Festival will also welcome for the first time Sharon Kam – one of today’s leading clarinettists, who has been described by the press as “a most imaginative and individual artist”; the exciting horn player Ben Goldscheider – Principal Horn of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra; and the sublime soprano Anush Hovhannisyan – a compelling interpreter of emotionally complex repertoire and leading roles across Europe’s most important opera houses for over a decade.
Last but certainly not least, the festival will welcome the exceptional soloists who form the central pillar and the very artistic core of the event each year: the spectacular first concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic Daishin Kashimoto; the Artistic Director of the Festival Alexander Chaushian – universally acclaimed as one of the finest cellists of his generation; the talented Italian violinist Fabiana D’Auria; the brilliant violists Diemut Poppen and Samuel Barsegyan.
Following the chamber concerts in Kouklia, the festival will conclude with the gala concert at the Pharos Arts Foundation’s open-air venue The Olive Grove in Delikipos, where violinist Boris Belkin and pianist Finghin Collins will join forces with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra and the Cyprus Youth Symphony Orchestra – this year’s festival resident ensembles – in a side-by-side performance under the baton of Yiorgos Kountouris.
25th International Pharos Chamber Music Festival
Leading international virtuosos perform live concerts. May 29-June 6. Royal Manor House, Kouklia, Paphos. The Olive Grove, Delikipos, Nicosia district. 8.30pm. www.pharosartsfoundation.org. Tel: 22-663871
More than 390,000 foreigners visited the north during January and February this year, mostly from Turkey, according to Turkish Cypriot newspaper Kibris on Sunday.
It also reported a significant increase in visitors from Germany.
According to the report, the number of German tourists visiting has risen by 74.9 per cent in a year. In the first two months of the year, 4,817 Germans visited.
It also referred to a reduced number of Iranian visitors, which fell by 28.8 per cent, from 4,752 to 3,385.
From the total 390,516 foreign visitors in the first two months, 345,847 were Turkish, and 44,669 from elsewhere.
After the Germans, the largest group was from Pakistan (2,704, a rise of 38 per cent over the same period last year).
The number of Israeli visitors also increased, from 1,360 to 1,676 or by 23.2 per cent.
According to the ‘ministry of tourism’ 460,031 arrived by sea and air, again the majority of which were Turkish.
One lane of the Ayia Napa to Larnaca closed by police at around 1pm on Sunday was re-opened about 90 minutes later, according to a police announcement.
The closure followed a traffic accident on the highway near Livadia.
Police called on drivers in the area to be careful.
Two people were arrested on Sunday by the drugs squad Ykan after a search of their home uncovered various suspect items.
The search of the couple’s- a 33-year-old man and a 34-year-old woman – home uncovered 136g cannabis, 12g cocaine, 2g amphetamines, 20 ecstasy tablets, a precision scale and an amount of cash.
The two are being held to help with police enquiries.
Ykan Limassol is continuing investigations.
Cyprus will further strengthen its relations with the Gulf countries, Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said on Sunday, adding that he will soon undertake another tour of the region.
Speaking to Phileleftheros, he said that the island is “close to all the countries where we have relations”.
He recalled the presence of leaders from the countries of the region at the informal European Council in Nicosia a week ago.
The presence of the leaders from Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan as well as the head of the Gulf Cooperation Council was an important event not only for the Cyprus Presidency but also for the European Union itself, he said.
“With the Gulf we will strengthen our relations” because it is something “very important that will continue,” he said.
“The facts are changing and we are not mere observers,” he added.
“We understand,” he said, “that the efforts that are being made and our foreign policy may bother Turkey, but that is not what will determine our policy.”
He also said that the Cyprus presidency of the EU Council was not affected in any way by the Turkish moves.
A football fan arrested after an incident of violence at a lower league football match on Saturday, was remanded in police custody for three days by Larnaca district court on Sunday.
The match was between Rotsides Mammari and Apop Parekklisias.
Towards the end of the match an unknown person threw a plastic bottle that hit the assistant referee. At the same time, a second person ran onto the pitch and punched the same official.
The referee was taken by ambulance to Larnaca general hospital where he was examined by doctors and released.
Police later arrested a 38-year-old from Limassol after an arrest warrant was issued against him.
The man was named by local media as Costas Nicolaou, a candidate for MP with the Active Citizens-United Hunters party, and also one of the leaders of a recent farers protest at the Rizoelia roundabout over the government’s foot and mouth policy.
The game, part of a knock out contest for promotion to the lowest Cyprus Football Association division, did not continue. Rotsides Mammari was ahead 1-0 at 90+5 minutes into the game, and a decision from the league organiser on the result.
President Nikos Christodoulides leaves on Sunday for Yerevan, Armenia, where he will participate in a European Political Community (EPC) summit the following day.
During the work of the summit, Christodoulides will take part, in a coordinating role, in a discussion of the Plenary Session of the EPC, on the subject of European security and with the participation of the leaders of Britain, France, Italy and the President of the European Commission.
It is the first time that Cyprus assumes a special role in a Plenary Session of the EPC, and in addition to the introductory speech, Christodoulides will make the concluding remarks.
The EPC is an intergovernmental forum for political and strategic discussions about the future of Europe, established in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[
Defence and security issues are among the key priorities of the Cyprus presidency of the EU Council with actions aimed at strengthening the EU’s deterrent capacity.
The President will also participate in a debate on European connectivity and economic security, as well as in separate multilateral meetings on Moldova and on the fight against drugs in Europe.
On the sidelines of the Summit, Christodoulidis will have bilateral meetings with heads of state and government as well as heads of international organisations.
He will be accompanied by the deputy government spokesman Yiannis Antoniou, deputy director of his diplomatic office Nektarios Sotiriou and other officials.
Press freedom is not going through its best of its days either in Cyprus or internationally, chairman of Union of Cyprus Journalists Giorgos Frangos said on Sunday, stressing that Cyprus’ plummet down the World Press Freedom Index should concern us all.
Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency on World Press Freedom Day celebrated around the world on May 3, he said it is a day of reflection.
“Normally today we should celebrate this day, but freedom of the press is not having its best of its days. This is a day of reflection for both journalists and citizens who want to be informed comprehensively and objectively,” he said.
Earlier this week the Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index saw Cyprus ranked 80th out of 180 countries, a fall from 77th place in 2025 and 65th in 2024.
Cyprus had previously been in a position lower than 50, Frangou said.
The Index, he said, takes into account many factors, including issues with the golden passports, the issues of corruption and vested interests.
“Looking at the countries close to Cyprus on the Index does not reflect well on the country,” he said. “With Greece, we are lowest of all EU countries, while Senegal an Sierra Leone are in the positions immediately above Cyprus,” he added.
Frangos stressed this should concern everyone, competent bodies and civil society as a whole as it reflects institutional problems.
He said there are a number of bills heading towards parliament, “which attempt to control journalistic content, criminalise journalistic activity and remove personal data”.
Frangos expressed disappointment because the government bill “instead of focusing on the protection of journalists and journalistic sources, focuses on cases where the removal of journalists’ personal data is legalised”, saying that this issue provokes the reactions of the entire journalistic world and all the bodies involved in journalism.
The die has been officially cast on the redevelopment of the Polis Chrysochous campsite, with bulldozers having entered the site this week and the municipality confirming it will remain closed until next summer.
The protracted project is now finally moving forward under the direction of Cypriot investor, Costas Myrianthous, marking a decisive shift after years of uncertainty and increasing stagnation.
The once thriving coastal campsite at Polis Chrysochous, picturesquely framed by the Akamas cape and famous for its eucalyptus trees, was never an upmarket destination. It catered mostly for the alternative crowd who fell in love with its laidback, relaxed atmosphere and did not mind the basic facilities on offer.
It offered a welcome contrast to more regulated and built up tourist facilities such as those in Protaras, Limassol and Paphos.
Alex Kalimeri, a frequent visitor to Polis, remembers days spent “swimming to the rocks and back” and evenings where “watching sunset here was something unlike anywhere else on the island”.
Like many others she fears what the planned redevelopment will mean.
The site has officially been closed since 2023 following the transfer of full control to the local authority after a protracted legal dispute with the former manager.
Under the current plan, the site is set to include the demolition of ageing structures and the construction of new facilities such as a beach restaurant, modern sanitary blocks, a recreation centre and upgraded infrastructure.
Plans also provide for paved internal roads, designated private caravan areas, improved utility connections, alongside a small artificial pond to manage water from a natural spring.
Since shutting shop in 2023, the campsite devolved into a state of total deterioration.
Basic infrastructure such as toilets remained in place, but without maintenance and having been taken off the grid, the site devolved into a state of absolute squalor for the now ‘illegal’ campers who still used the facilities.
The beachside bar, once a favoured spot for a cocktail as the sun set, stood empty, neglected and at the mercy of the elements.
Originally developed in the late 1970s by the now-defunct Cyprus Tourism Organisation, the campsite was later managed by a private operator before being leased to the Polis Chrysochous municipality in 2011.
Over time, the facility fell into disrepair, with ageing infrastructure, hygiene concerns and mounting complaints about management.
Efforts to modernise the site were repeatedly delayed by a dispute between the municipality and the operator, who claimed rights to remain based on past investments.
The standoff escalated into legal proceedings initiated in 2017, preventing any meaningful upgrade for years.
The deadlock was only resolved in October 2023, when the two sides reached an out-of-court settlement.
The agreement provided for the immediate return of the site to municipal control and the recognition of outstanding rental arrears.
Despite the municipality regaining control, progress remained markedly stagnant till late last year, when Myrianthous, cousin to Edek MP and prominent Paphos accountant Elias Myrianthous, was awarded the tender for redevelopment, with a projected budget of around €2.5 million.
During this hiatus however, the physical condition of the campsite deteriorated significantly.
Environmental concerns were raised as parts of the characteristic eucalyptus grove, a defining feature of the campsite, were cut back and felled.
Ecologists’ MP, Charalambos Theopemptou, described the eucalyptus trees, specifically eucalyptus gomphocephala, having originally been introduced during the British period, as “a unique species” forming part of the area’s identity.
While admitting that the trees’ branches “have a tendency to fall and leave deadwood around”, this did “not justify the excessive cutting” which he had observed in recent years.
He further remarked that the site’s abandonment left it vulnerable to illegal tree felling.
The Polis campsite, once a cornerstone of Cyprus’ touristic assets, instead became a symbol of squandered opportunities.
Its prolonged closure removed a major low-cost accommodation option, particularly affecting domestic tourists.
For former campers, the site’s decline carried a personal dimension. Kalimeri recalled the site as “a place full of fond childhood memories, where we could go and truly unwind from it all”.
Remarking on the present state of affairs, she lamented its decline, describing the site’s current condition as “truly heartbreaking to see, when I went back it was like walking around a former warzone it’s just so desolate”.
Over time, the campsite’s informal character also contributed to tensions regarding its future.
While some advocated for minimal intervention to preserve its natural appeal, others argued that significant investment was needed to bring it up to modern standards.
Previous operators maintained that modest upgrades would suffice.
The former manager argued at the time that only “some minor adjustments” could improve the site without altering its character, warning that large-scale redevelopment risked undermining its appeal.
Others, including local authorities, maintained that a comprehensive overhaul was necessary to ensure safety, hygiene and long-term viability.
Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, Myrianthous insisted that the “character of the campsite is not open to discussion and redevelopment will ensure its preservation”.
Furthermore, he assured that “concrete renderings of the proposal will be released within the next three to four weeks”, with current work focusing on clearing out the site in preparation for further phases.
Mayor Yiotis Papachristofi has repeatedly emphasised the site’s importance to the region, describing it as “a popular holiday spot in an area, until recently, lacking large-scale tourist accommodation”.
He has also highlighted its natural advantages, calling it “a privileged location surrounded by eucalyptus trees and a beach which is second to none”.
Papachristofi stressed that “the present agreement includes obligations to maintain the site and deliver the planned upgrades within the specified timeframe, with penalties of up to €100,000 for non-compliance.”
Under proposed terms, the operator would manage the site under an initial 29-year lease, potentially extending to several decades.
Reflecting on the changes now at hand, Kalimeri was hesitant, questioning the broader trajectory of development on the island.
“Is it not enough that they bulldozed the caravans in Akamas? Is it not enough that they encroached on to the last stretch of this rock we haven’t ruined with hotels and villas? For God’s sake can we save nothing from the hands of the developers?”
Two events in Limassol planned to take place on Sunday have been cancelled due to the bad weather.
In the Footsteps of the Lanitio and Love without Limits – Adopt a Friend, which were both planned for Sunday will no longer go ahead.
Meanwhile, the Akrotiri Spring Festival organised by the Akrotiri Environmental Educational centre will proceed with a limited number of activities.
The Lanitio event had been organised by graduates of the school and a new date is expected to be announced soon.
The Adopt a Friend event, organised by the Animal Welfare Committee of Limassol municipality was due to encourage the adoption and correct treatment of animals.
The Spring Festival’s planned bike ride did not take place but indoor activities will go ahead as planned.
Fire broke out among four ambulances parked outside the Royal Artemis Medical Center in Yeroskipou, Paphos at about 1am on Sunday.
The ambulances were parked one next to the other outside the main entrance to the clinic.
The fire was put out by members of the fire service.
The damages to the fronts of the vehicles has yet to be deteremined.
Police spokesman Kyriacos Theodorou said police and fire officials who visited the site said the fire was arson.
Evidence taken from the scene, he said, will be sent away for examination.
On Friday, the same clinic was under attack as a hand grenade was thrown into the house of the owner in Ayia Marinouda.
For that case, police have arrested one suspect, aged 59.
According to the police, prior to the hand grenade incident there was also an attempt to burn down the house.
A pensioner involved in a traffic accident on Wednesday died of his injuries overnight, police said on Sunday morning.
The 87-year-old was named as Lefteris Koumoulis, from Mammari.
He had been in a critical condition at Nicosia general hospital since the crash on Griva Digeni in Kokkinotrimithia.
At 11am on April 29, while Koumoulis was driving his car along the road, he lost control of the car, as a result of which he crashed into a small van being driven by a 35-year-old.
He was then taken by ambulance to Nicosia general where he was diagnosed with multiple breaks and was kept in hospital where he was in the intensive care unit.
The other driver was also taken to Nicosia general where he was treated in accident and emergency and sent home.
A yellow weather warning in place since 9am will stay in force until 5pm on Sunday afternoon, the Met office said as storms are set to hit the entire island.
Isolated storms starting from the west are then expected to cover the rest of the island.
Strong winds will bring hail while rain in some parts is expected to pass 35mm an hour.
Heavy rainfall in Troodos is expected to see more water run into the dams.
It will also feel cold as the temperature will be four to seven degrees lower than the average for the time of year, reaching tio 20-23C.
After midnight, the weather is set to get worse with storms, strong winds and even the possibility of snow in the mountains.
The bad weather will continue on Monday morning, and although it will clear up in the afternoon, the temperature will still be several degrees cooler than normal for the time of year.
hi I’m a high school freshman. I wanna start learning programming mostly to do something creative and related to storytelling while getting a “respectable” degree according to my parents (computer science). I wanna make an isometric hack and slash similar to hades with some lore I’ve been working on. I know I should probably start with a smaller project, but this is what I want to work on so why not? what programming language, game engine, framework what ever should I start with, please?
Thx in advance!!
heya!!
I recently got a free steam license after making a simple game in godot, and now, I’m at the point where I’ve been approved into steamworks!
what has really been scaring me for quite a while, is that nobody would play my game at all. Not just because my game would suck, but because nobody even sees my game at all.
I’m honestly pretty aware that my games are crap, which is why I’ve already decided that my game will be short, free, and simple (yet hopefully still fun and a bit special), but I still really want my game to be seen by at least someone.
Because of this, would any of you recommend that I quickly push something that’s presentable as a page for wishlists, and any upcoming events within a month (clearly shows what the game will be, a small variety of decent areas and enemies), or open my page shortly before my release (showing almost exactly what the complete game will be, a lot more content in general).
sorry if this post is a bit odd or has been asked before, this has just been at the front of my mind for a while, and I especially don’t want to waste this opportunity.
| hello! i am sam and im hosting a game jam! this is meant to be an beginner friendly jam, so anybody can join! doesn't matter if you never made a single game in your life, work an 9-5 everyday, or locked in a room and haven't seen the sky in days.. but thats besides the point, the main goal is to make a game in 10 days or less! for more info visit the jam page! [link] [comments] |
thoughts on a sandbox open world rogue like where you travel to areas on a 2d map, but the areas you go to are 3d environments. It would be like looking at a map as an adventurer and then when going to areas on that map, you're in first person in 3d environments instead of the game being only 2d. like doors of trithius. a 2d map where you go to areas and load into 2d explorable areas. but instead of the areas being 2d, theyre 3d
For context, Ive made some basic games in Godot and Unity. Ive always wanted to make a game engine just to learn what its like, and maybe make a game or 2 in it. Most of my actual games would probably be made in legitimate engines, but this would he a cool experiment. Since Im very familiar Ive decided to make a 2d engine using js and canvas/webgl. Is this feasable? How could I package any games made with this into an executable?
Hey there!
Long story short: I am DIY'ing custom controller with FFB and am looking for a game/sandbox/platform where I can test and tune settings for rumble and etc. Importantly I need to track and follow every mouse/controller/input device so I can make effects in response to that.
The simpler the better and sadly I am limited to MacOS.
Any ideas, recommendations are greatly appreciated.
Hey everyone,
I’m currently wrapping up the first chapter of a point & click game built in Unity 2022 with Adventure Creator. Release is getting close, and I’m starting to think about the next chapters.
This raises a question: would it make sense to move the project to Unity 6.x going forward, or is it safer to stick with 2022 for consistency?
A few specific concerns:
How stable is Unity 6.x in production for existing projects (not fresh starts)?
Any known issues or friction when using Adventure Creator with newer Unity versions?
From your experience, is the upgrade effort usually worth it mid-project, or does it tend to slow things down more than it helps?
For context, the game is fairly classic point & click (Adventure Creator handles most of the logic), not something heavily dependent on cutting-edge Unity features.
I’m trying to avoid unnecessary risk this late in development, but also don’t want to lock myself into an older version if upgrading early for future chapters is the smarter move.
Would appreciate any feedback or experiences before I make a call on this.
Thx!
This question is about progression and "punishment" when you loose. A lot of games will make you loose progression when you loose. This creates tension and thus, make the game feel "hard". They'll often do that with extra lives
However, a common sentiment is that redoing the same things over and over is annoying, which is a fair point tbh.
So how do you make your game "hard", but not annoying and repetitive when it's not a randomised or procedural generated one?
For example, in Shovel Knight, a typical action 2d platformer, there's no extra lives and no Game Overs. So when you die, you just loose money. And even then, you can get that money back. But you get thrown back to the last checkpoint, so you loose all that progress you've made up to that point. And some might argue that getting back to were you died at can be pretty annoying especially when you keep dying over and over.
So is there a way to "fix" that, and make games just hard and not "annoying" or is that actually an immutable part of hard difficulty? Would a game where there's nothing to lose even be fun?
Now, some other games do something else entirely : instead of making you lose progress, you lose something else (collectibles, equipment, etc). That "something" can more or less be important in order to progress. But then another problem arise : when it's not important, where's the risk then, where the challenge? Some players might not care about what they've lost and just move on. And if it's important to progress, are they just stuck at the same spot, doomed to redo the same stuff over and over until they find a way to progress? Wouldn't that more or less be the exact same problem as the initial one?
For this reason people that suck at Mario 64 would just keep dying over and over and never unlocking new levels. They wouldn't loose progress per se, they'd just be stuck. And if people aren't patient, they might give up on your game.
What do you think?
| Focused on readability — separating player, threats, and rewards, plus reducing background noise. Anyone else dealing with readability problems in chaotic scenes? [link] [comments] |
| wishlist: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4580790/Mine_Mage_Minion/ music: MAB-502 - It won't come back [link] [comments] |
Building a puzzle game on steam with levels (like candy crush, where's my water).
Each level has a hint and a solution. However, im not sure if its good practice to just allow the player to have access to hint and solution immediately for all levels. I expect each puzzle to take on avg 5 mins for easier levels and 10-20 mins for later levels.
Should I add a timer before I allow them to see solution or how does it work? On mobile, its usually watching an ad or spending currency but that's something not allowed and I would not do for now.
I also prefer to have transparent pricing and not lock solutions behind paywall since they can google it anyway if the game gains traction.
As the title suggests this is a question about scaling in regards to pixel art. It's basically the one thing I can't seem to wrap my head around. I am using Aseprite to create the art. Accessories and items are made in 64x64, The shop set piece is made in 320x180. I am wondering what the overall frame size should be so that these items look good and I wont have to resize or draw them? Would 1920x1080 be good? When exporting sprites should I be exporting them with a resize of 25% or 100%? I feel very stupid and would love to get some clear answers besides "it depends on what you want".
I’ve always used Windows, but I’m now wondering whether I should buy a Mac for myself. I mostly develop WebGL games with Unity (maybe 10-20% of my games are windows/ios builds), and I occasionally do some web development.
I’ve tried my girlfriend’s Mac, and the only thing I find confusing is how file management works on macOS. That might simply be because I’m used to the way Windows handles files.
I use three monitors while developing, so I assume I would need some kind of docking station if I switched to a Mac.
Money is not a major factor here.
Is Windows still the best option for game development, or should I make the switch to Mac?
What are the benefits of choosing macOS/Windows?
I have wanted to make a 3D SimTower-like game since 2008 (back in grade school). I never had the ambition to make my own game from the ground up, always contributing to open source projects or making mods. I went to college and learned programming but I haven't used any of my programming or IT skills much since I became unemployed (and subsequently got a bit of a windfall). I taught myself pixel, vector, and 3D art. I turned my freshman programming project battleship game back in 2016 in C into a simple ASCII SimTower-like demo in C++. I made a board game in Tabletop Simulator and scripted it. I'm not looking to make money per sé, I just want to make my dream into a reality.
What should I do? How should I start? What kind of game engine should I use? This is mostly a passion project but also a way to refresh my skills.
Hey everyone,
I have a sincere question for other full time game developers out there.
How do you actually balance your life?
I work for a game studio during the week, so I am constantly at my desk. When the weekend finally rolls around, I plan to play some games, maybe watch something, or just go outside and touch grass. But since I am also developing my own side project, my weekends end up going entirely to that.
The hardest part is that when I am not working on my project, I feel incredibly restless. I cannot enjoy anything else because my mind is constantly telling me I should be working.
My question is, how do you find a balance? Or is this just the reality of being a game dev?
I would love to hear how you all handle this. Thanks.
So here’s the situation - I released a game back in 2023. Won’t name it because I’m not trying to self-promote here.
It did okay. Not a hit or anything, but not a total flop either - especially considering the kind of game it was, how little marketing it had, and how much time I put into developing it.
Now in 2026, I kind of want to revisit that idea because I still think there’s something there. The plan is to improve the core loop based on what I learned from the first game and make something better out of it.
My main concern is the visual side of things.
I’m more of a coder than an artist, and I made a lot of the assets for the first game myself without really thinking, “what if I ever want to make another game in this style again?”
So now I’m stuck wondering how to approach this.
At what point does reusing visual assets start feeling lazy?
Is it normal if the second game ends up looking pretty similar as long as the gameplay/design is meaningfully improved?
For context, the first game was basically a Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy-style game. After the feedback I got on it, the idea now is to improve that formula and release a second game in the same general lane.
Would really appreciate thoughts from people who’ve been in a similar spot.
Hey everyone,
I’ve released a few small games recently (mostly short horror experiences and one small multiplayer party game), but I’m running into a pretty discouraging issue: they’re getting almost no visibility at all.
No downloads, no comments it honestly feels like they don’t exist once they’re out.
I’ve been trying to learn more about marketing (watching videos, reading posts, etc.), but I feel kind of stuck. A lot of advice points toward grinding TikTok/Instagram, but I don’t really use those platforms and forcing myself to create content for them feels exhausting and not very genuine.
So I wanted to ask:
I genuinely enjoy making games it’s one of the few things I really like doing but putting in all that work and then seeing zero engagement after release is pretty demotivating.
I’d really appreciate any honest advice or direction.
Hello, this is not meant to be a rant or anything just want to get some things off my chest, maybe giving some perspective to people in similar situations.
I opened my steam page in late october last year,
to be fair it was quite lackluster back then, I could not really draw back then, the visuals just weren't there yet, also the capsule was created by myself so....well, to sum things up, it wasn't that great, the game itself was also terribly unpolished -> I created the steam page way to early
Meanwhile I made a lot of adjustments, mainly to the game itself, improved the polish, improved my art skills, music, mechanics,... everything.
I am not really into marketing ( like most people I assume), also if my goal would have been to achieve a financial success, marketing would have involved a lot of research/preparation long before I even started making the game, but like I said, I am fine with not selling a lot of copies, but I would probably be lying to myself, saying I wouldn't like to see atleast some kind of traction someday.
That said, even though the numbers may not look really good, I will still give it my all, finish the game and make it as good as it can be. Absolutely not going to pivot :)
Thanks for reading all this.
There is something that has caught my attention lately: games with millions of dollars spent on them are reaching incredibly low player counts, yet these companies don't close down and continue on their way as if nothing happened. Even more interesting is the almost complete lack of advertising for these games. It’s as if they don't do any marketing just so players won't buy them.
The latest example is Aphelion. It was released 5 days ago, but right now there are only about 50 people playing it on Steam. This would be a bad number even for a solo dev, so how does a game with dozens or even hundreds of devs survive this?
Hello, I am playing around in Unreal Engine 5 and I would like to create my own assets, let's say a a red traffic cone with white stripes:
My idea is to model it in Blender but what about the texture/material? Do I make that in Blender too or should I do it in Unreal Engine? What's the good way to make "simple" assets like traffic cones?
Thank you for any help.
| submitted by /u/RezaSi_ [link] [comments] |
Hi guys, I worked on something i think is cool a few months back. I made a LSHT Datastore with golang using the bitcask model. I implemented auto-segments creation when a limit is reached, and offset mapping to an in-memory hash index.
I'm still working on the Compaction but I would love to hear you guys thoughts on it
repo link: https://github.com/thobbiz/thobbiz-kv
I've been using Firecracker microVMs for a couple of years, and eventually I ended up with several hacks to suit my development needs, which turned into Banger.
It's basically a "give me a clean Linux sandbox" in one command, with opinionated defaults and a few options.
For convenience, VMs are available to the host via SSH, with a local domain <vm-name>.vm that resolves to it. You can also keep VMs around, stop them and come back to them later.
I took the decision of defaulting to a customized Debian image designed to mimic a real development environment, so it ships with development tools like git, mise, and Docker.
As a nice unintended side-effect, AI agents seem to learn how to work with Banger quite easily from the CLI.
I'm sharing this is to enable more people to work with hardware isolated environments in their own hardware without having to subscribe to a cloud provider.
I'd really appreciate any feedback.
| submitted by /u/Savings-Square572 [link] [comments] |
Just use slog for structured logging in Go. This zerlog/zap APIs are a pain to deal w/. In 99% of cases, the few extra allocations made by slog simply doesn’t matter.
But the cost of wrangling externel API is there forever. Also, at a fairly large scale,(1000+ k8s pods) we have rarely experienced slog to be reason of tail latency spike. So it makes little sense to default to an idiosyncratic library now that slog is here.
It's better to go with the default and only switch if you have measured slog to be the bottleneck (which it rarely is)
W/ LLMs, now I'm seeing clankers pulling in all three libs in the same codebase & making a mess out of it. Add that with other OTEL circus, half of your codebase turns into this unmaintainable plumbing mess.
Wanted to get some feedback from pros who have used Pulumi with Go and how your experience was overall.
Considering Go has a strong infra heritage and Pulumi is for provisioning infra via code, this seems to me like a logical combination. I am net new to IaC but also learning Go.
Building a personal project, so I figured to head straight for Pulumi over learning Terraform/OpenTofu.
I did search but not much mentioned so wanted to get something more recent. Seems to be a lot of good feedback on Pulumi in r/DevOps but no mention there of Go specific use in Pulumi.
Thanks for your support !
Earlier this week I shared a demo running Llama 2 13B on hardware where it barely fits.
It worked, but everything was running on CPU — GPU was basically idle.
I just pushed GPU acceleration.
Instead of loading everything into RAM and then trying to move things to VRAM, the loader now checks available VRAM and RAM at startup and places tensors directly where they belong.
On Llama 2 7B Chat:
What’s happening under the hood:
It’s still slow — not trying to pretend otherwise.
But now the architecture is where I wanted it:
VRAM → RAM → NVMe as actual tiers, with automatic placement depending on what's available.
Repo: https://github.com/AteniaEngine/ateniaengine
Happy to answer questions or go deeper if anyone’s interested.
As a side project this last month I gave it a try to create a small online rust game that is terminal based. My father was a long time sailor, so I chose the sailing theme in his memory!
It is all on one server, and it uses real OpenStreetMap data to render the full Stockholm archipelago. You can sail around, chat with other players, and explore my father's favorite anchor points. I think it became quite neat!
Hope some of you like it, and if so we might see each other on there when we wait for our pipelines to finish at work!
Try it directly by running:
brew install dtennander/black-sea/black-sea Hello!
I built a Tauri v2 desktop app in Rust to orchestrate development environments on immutable Linux (Bazzite / Kinoite).
The core problem I ran into: On immutable systems, you can’t rely on a traditional “host-level” workflow. Instead, you end up juggling:
Keeping those in sync manually becomes surprisingly messy, especially for workflows like Python/AI where you need strict environment isolation.
So I built Bazzite Architect: A small orchestrator that manages Podman (rootless), Distrobox, and DevContainers, and keeps them in sync via a local manifest.
Tech stack:
Some implementation details I’d love feedback on:
tokio::spawn_blocking for system calls (Podman, filesystem ops).unwrap() with // SAFETY: commentsWhat I’d love feedback on:
Happy to get roasted — I want to improve and learn new stuff 🙂
Thanks!
Working on a cursed little side project. picokubelet is a no_std Rust kubelet running on an ESP32-S3 (Waveshare ESP32-S3-ETH) that registers itself as a worker node in a real k3s cluster. The scheduler treats it as legitimate. The container runtime version is reported as lies://0.1.0.
bash $ kubectl get nodes NAME STATUS ROLES AGE VERSION clusterpi-leader Ready control-plane,master 547d v1.31.1+k3s1 [...] esp-node-01-guenther Ready <none> 15h v1.31.1-picokubelet
Stack: - esp-hal + embassy on no_std - embedded-tls to the k3s API server (cert verification off for now) - WS2812 status LED on its own embassy task, driven via RMT, Signal-based state machine independent of the network code - Two reconciler tasks (lease renewal at 10s, node /status PATCH at 300s or on condition flip) sharing one ApiClient behind embassy_sync::mutex::Mutex - Hand-rolled JSON serialization with typed models (no serde yet) - Wall clock anchored from the HTTP Date header on /version (no RTC)
What works: - Registration, Lease renewal, status reporting with - MemoryPressure tied to actual heap free bytes, lastTransitionTime semantics that only advance on flip (not every heartbeat) - recovery from Wi-Fi disconnects without state loss. Yesterday it survived a real BeaconTimeout (RSSI -90 dBm, full TLS reset mid-renewal). The lease counter continued unbroken through the reconnection.
What doesn't and never will: - pods. There are no pods.
Repo, README, and the architecture writeup: https://github.com/cedi/picokubelet
Two questions for the no_std embedded folks:
I went with one shared ApiClient behind an embassy mutex rather than one client per reconciler task. The trade-off was ~32KB of TLS buffers vs ~96KB, with negligible contention given the cadences. Anyone done this differently and regretted it either way?
The JSON is hand-rolled (write! into heapless::String). Pod theater is next and will need to parse JSON, not just emit it. Is serde-json-core actually viable for streaming a long-lived watch response, or should I be looking at something else?
Hello everyone, I have been learning ML in Python for some time now, and want to learn Rust to develop projects in it.
I have basics of ML done, and I want to create a project that does the following-
I recnetly created an ACID DBMS with Proper Hashing & Encryption as a project. The Datatypes were fixed, but I followed Transaction Control like we do for traditional RDBMS.
I want to create a simmilar DBMS in Rust, but on top of it add tools to analyze the Databases we will have, this will be 2 projects working together.
I will build the base DBMS with some basic features, nothing too fancy. But, I will go all in on the ML part.
I will provide a full panel for Regression Analysis, Classification and Clustering to cross-validate the results of each other and more stuff I have planned.
I thus wish to learn basics to intermediate level of Rust, and then how to do ML in it. Plus build an UI for my project.
This must seem ambitious, but I really want to develop this and thus learn Backend + ML along the way.
Please point me to good resources for Rust, ML in Rust and UI.
Feel free to discuss anything with me, Thank you for reading this post! I am really happy to finally become the part of the Rust Community < 3
Hi everyone, I’m looking for early-stage projects to contribute to. I’m particularly interested in fast-paced backend projects in Rust as I begin my open-source journey.
I have one year of experience with Rust and have built several small projects. I’m now looking to gain industry exposure through open source.
If the projects are related to Web3 or blockchain, that would be a plus.
stumbled on this and thought it deserved more visibility — RHWP is a viewer/editor for HWP and HWPX, the Korean word-processor format from Hancom that ~50M people use daily but historically has had no real OSS reader (think "the Microsoft Word of Korea" with a strong proprietary lock-in).
built in pure Rust with a WASM compile target. same parser runs:
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/ty9aa4edhyyg1.png){kind=link}
@rhwp/editor full UI, @rhwp/core API)cargo build, Rust 1.75+)HWP/HWPX is genuinely nasty to parse — proprietary binary container, encrypted streams, embedded compound documents — so the format reverse engineering is the bulk of the work. currently 1,100+ tests covering edge cases, v0.7.9 just shipped (Apr 30), and the maintainer is merging external contributor PRs.
the methodology side caught my eye too: the author keeps detailed AI-pair-programming notes in mydocs/ (2,200+ files documenting design decisions, prompts, and how Claude Code was used as an implementation partner while the human kept architecture ownership). worth a read whether or not you care about HWP.
repo: https://github.com/edwardkim/rhwp (MIT)
not my project — just a fan sharing because rust+wasm for proprietary-format parsing feels like a niche that deserves more attention here.
(disclosure: posted via my own reddit MCP — https://github.com/cskwork/reddit-mcp)
Hi, folks,
Wanted to share a good example of Arc type making real difference in a runtime.
With this you can simply select 2 different payloads and compare them to each other, for example useful for deep data structure comparison (like an API response in JSON/XML).
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I'm trying to learn Rust by rewriting a 2D fluid simulation I wrote in C++. I've hit a wall with the compiler/analyzer that I cannot wrap my head around and LLMs aren't giving me anything too helpful. I'm using nalgebra for Vector/Matrix operations, which seems to be where this issue is coming from...
I've got the following code, where I'm iterating over my sim's particles field, which is a Vec of Particles, whose definition is also below.
use std::fmt; use nalgebra::DMatrix; use nalgebra::Vector2; use rand::RngExt; struct Particle { pos: Vector2<f32>, vel: Vector2<f32>, } //... fn grid_to_particles(&mut self) { for i in 0..self.particles.len() { let foo = self.particles[i].vel; //... } self.particles.iter_mut().for_each(|p| { let foo = *p.vel; //... }); } The rust analyzer is telling me that foo has type Vector2<f32> in the for loop, which makes sense to me as that is the type I assigned in the Particle struct. foo in the for_each() method however, apparently has type XY<f32>. At first I thought this was just the analyzer hallucinating, but attempting to compile yields an error because I'm attempting to subtract an XY<f32> type from a Vector2<f32>.
I cannot understand where this XY type is coming from. I can compile with the full implementation of the first for loop, but the for_each() loop seems like to more idiomatic way to write this function. I can post the complete file, but I don't think the rest of it is relevant to this question.
Thanks in advance!
