Monday, July 27, 2026
97539cb9-2c4f-4856-8a3f-da55ab06c7f5
| Summary | ⛅️ Clear throughout the day. |
|---|---|
| Temperature Range | 22°C to 31°C (72°F to 88°F) |
| Feels Like | Low: 76°F | High: 98°F |
| Humidity | 62% |
| Wind | 11 km/h (7 mph), Direction: 232° |
| Precipitation | Probability: 0%, Type: No precipitation expected |
| Sunrise / Sunset | 🌅 05:54 AM / 🌇 07:54 PM |
| Moon Phase | Waxing Gibbous (43%) |
| Cloud Cover | 3% |
| Pressure | 1011.15 hPa |
| Dew Point | 66.6°F |
| Visibility | 6.22 miles |
The government’s final proposal for pension reform is expected to be decided by August 5, after Labour Minister Marinos Mousiouttas meets Finance Minister Makis Keravnos, the labour minister said on Sunday.
Mousiouttas said the draft bill would then be discussed with President Nikos Christodoulides before being released for public consultation.
The government is aiming to submit the legislation to parliament when it reconvenes in late September, with the reforms due to come into force on January 1, 2027.
The minister said the draft would be presented to trade unions, employers’ organisations and other social partners before consultations are extended to political parties.
“The bill will be given to the social partners and put out for public consultation,” he said, adding that the government’s actuary and technical team would also take part in discussions to explain the proposals and consider suggestions.
Mousiouttas said the formal dialogue would take place through the Labour Advisory Board, with the aim of narrowing differences between unions and employers before the legislation reaches parliament.
He expressed confidence that the government would be able to secure broad consensus, despite disagreements over some aspects of the reforms.
Among the proposed changes are measures intended to improve pensions for groups that face greater barriers to full-time employment, including parents who leave the workforce to care for children, people with disabilities, informal carers and graduates entering the labour market.
The minister said the state would provide subsidised insurance credits to these groups, allowing them to build additional pension entitlements that would increase their retirement income.
Mousiouttas also confirmed that discussions are continuing over the 12 per cent actuarial reduction applied to pensions for people who choose to retire at the age of 63.
He said the reduction was introduced following the 2012 financial crisis as part of the then-government’s negotiations with international lenders to ensure early retirement would not affect the social insurance fund.
The minister clarified and insisted the government had no intention of lowering the statutory retirement age from 65 to 63.
Instead, he said, the reform aims to reduce the impact of the 12 per cent penalty while maintaining the current retirement age.
Back in 2022 the administration of Nicos Anastasiades had floated the idea of abolishing the offset once a retiree reaches the age of 81.
According to mathematical formulas, in order that those retiring at 63 ‘lose out’ – in the form of pension payouts – compared to those retiring at the age of 65, they would have to live beyond the age of 81.
At the time, life expectancy in Cyprus for men was calculated at 80.5 years, and at 84.5 years for women.
The minister said the final figures and detailed provisions would be published when the draft legislation is released.
He acknowledged that trade unions have raised concerns over three main issues within the state pension system: the 12 per cent reduction for early retirement, widowers’ pensions for cases before 2018, and overall pension levels.
He added that a separate issue concerns the second pillar of the pension system, covering provident funds, with trade unions seeking a parallel agreement on those arrangements.
While the government supports efforts to reach such an agreement, Mousiouttas said any delay in negotiations over provident funds “should not hold up the first pillar pension reform bill,”
“I am optimistic,” he said. “It will not be easy, but I believe we can overcome our differences.”
A bicommunal peace group has called for parallel demonstrations in north and south Nicosia on Monday to coincide with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ visit to Cyprus, urging renewed efforts to reunify the island under a federal settlement.
The Bi-communal Peace Initiative – United Cyprus said the rallies, to be held under the slogan “Federal Solution Now”, will begin at 6.30pm, the same time Guterres is due to host President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman for a dinner meeting.
The demonstration in the south will take place at the access road to the UN representative’s office opposite the University of Nicosia, while a parallel gathering in the north will be held at the Kermia (Metehan) roundabout.
The group said it was calling on organisations and individuals from both communities to take part in support of efforts to resume negotiations aimed at reunifying Cyprus as a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, in line with UN Security Council resolutions.
It also called for any renewed talks to build on the convergences achieved up to the 2017 Crans-Montana negotiations and to focus on the remaining issues outlined in Guterres’ six-point framework.
Earlier that day, at 10.30am, a bicommunal delegation representing organisations supporting the initiative is expected to gather at the Home for Cooperation in the buffer zone to welcome the UN secretary-general as he crosses to the north and to present him with a joint message.
In its statement, the initiative described Guterres’ visit as an important opportunity to advance the peace process, while warning that the effort carried risks and required visible support from civil society on both sides of the divide.
Guterres is due to visit Cyprus from July 27 to 29 in what the government has described as the first visit by a UN secretary-general to the island in 16 years.
Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said that the visit was intended to help create the conditions for an informal expanded conference on the Cyprus problem and to support efforts to restart negotiations.
He added that such a meeting could take place before the end of the summer if Turkey adopted what he described as a “more constructive approach” and dropped its insistence on a two-state solution.
Parents often joke about nearing care home age when getting out of the car requires a grunt or two, while their children likewise quip that they should be treated well because it is they who will be choosing their parent’s retirement homes.
But when that time comes, what matters most?
Quality and prices differ from home to home, with the cheapest costing over €1,000 per month plus other expenses not covered, such as medication, physiotherapy, senior nappies, tissues, shampoo and soap, bottled water, snacks, fruit and a visiting hairdresser, to name but a few, which significantly add to the monthly bill.
Given that the average monthly salary in Cyprus is €2,500 gross – averaging €2,100 net – while the minimum wage would bring just over €900 home per month, it is no surprise that for a lot of people homes are out of reach.
But there are other ways to cover the expense. State pensions are not enough on their own as they average around €800 per month, while the social pension is around €420 per month.
Low income pensioners receive a substantial subsidy from the state, which covers the difference between the pension and the cost of the home.
For individuals who do not qualify for subsidies, the cost is covered out of their own pocket.
Some may pay the homes which in some cases exceed €5,000 per month for the basics, while others may opt to employ fulltime domestic help.
In any case, finding a care home is not that easy and one may be placed on a waiting list for those with good ratings.
When choosing a care home for a loved one, people weigh what is more important. A modern, white-washed home may tick a few boxes, but others have said they were glad to choose a cheaper option in an old house where the staff made their family members feel cared for and included.
COST VS QUALITY
Antonis had been looking for a home for his mother and had visited quite a few. The one the family settled on initially cost €1,100 plus anything extra per month and was later increased to €1,200.
“Some are expensive because they offer single rooms, they have a restaurant and the residents can order the food they like,” he explained.
But Antonis disagreed that the ones charging around €5,000 per month did so for the luxuries provided. “Those are so expensive because they are specialised, they offer rehabilitation and constant monitoring. Not everyone needs that.”
Irene said the family was paying €1,200 a month for her father and she was very happy with the home, which provided home cooked meals.
“We have to take in adult nappies, but the home arranges for the medication and we pay it at the end of the month.”
The only thing Irene was not too pleased about was that the home bathed the residents just twice a week and cleaned them with wet wipes on other days.
However, residents were happy and chatty, and loved the owner.
Other homes also have a twice-a-week schedule for baths.
But for Aliki, this is a small price to pay.
“I had an aunt and cousin in a home together. We were paying €1,700 a month for my aunt because she was not mobile and €1,500 for her daughter who is intellectually disabled. We tried a couple of homes before settling on the last one.”
Aliki was concerned about her relatives in one of the homes, as they were strapped to a chair. “The staff did it for the old people’s safety, but I didn’t like it. After my aunt died, I was told that they shut my cousin in her room because she wanted attention all the time. So, we moved her and now we feel she is receiving the attention and care she needs.”
Lefteris agreed it was important to find a home that “feels right”.
His mother was in a home which took care of almost everything. “It is a community care home and the prices are low. But it is not just that. We didn’t have to take anything in.”
He explained that the home had a Gesy doctor coming in and the family could opt to switch to that doctor, who would visit the patients regularly. The home also employed a nurse who was responsible for purchasing the medication and administering it at the right times.
“We were charged for any extra medication at the end of the month. The home also purchased senior nappies in bulk and charged us low prices for the number used during the course of a month. And there was a visiting hairdresser and manicurist/pedicurist.”
Lefteris said that in the five years his mother was in the home until she died, she always looked clean and groomed.
“The food was also good and the rooms were spotless. The residents had hospital beds and the home also arranged for entertainment.”
One thing those who spoke to the Cyprus Mail had in common was that all their loved ones needed some time to adjust. “The first week at any home is hell,” Irene said.
THE LAW
By law, carers must be able to communicate in the language the residents speak and have at least a high school diploma. They must also provide proof of their qualifications, a medical certificate and clean criminal record.
Buildings should be earthquake- and fire-resistant, hygienic and prove safe wiring.
A room in a care home should not be smaller than 5sqm for each resident, excluding the wardrobes and sink. There should be no more than four beds in a room and they should be at least 1m apart. Emergency buttons must also be installed next to each bed and in bathrooms.
If there are more than ten people residing in a home, they should have at least 2sqm each in the dining and entertainment areas.
Every four residents should share at least one bathroom or shower, one sink and a toilet, equipped with handles and space for wheelchairs.
Residents must have their own wardrobes and bedside table, as well as an armchair.
Care homes must have a fenced outside area that provides easy access for cars, as well as lifts big enough for a wheelchair or trolley if there are more than one floors.
Windows must be easy to open and close, and doors must be wide enough to accommodate a standard-sized wheelchair.
Furthermore, care homes must maintain a comfortable indoor temperature and be kept clean at all times, with one cleaner per 45 residents.
The care home must keep a record of the residents’ personal details, medical history and treatment.
During the day, there should be one carer per ten residents who are self-sufficient and per five who are bedridden. During night hours, the ratio is 1:15 and 1:7 until 10pm and 1:25 after 10pm.
Homes with over 30 residents should employ a chef. Whether there is a chef or not, dietary requirements should be met.
The care home should provide entertainment and creative occupation, as well as access to telephones.
Religious beliefs should also be respected.
Individuals who fails to meet the requirements of the law face a €300 fine or up to six months in prison or both.
STATE INFO
According to the available 2024 list, there are 99 retirement and care homes across Cyprus. Of these, three are state-owned, 35 are community-run and 61 are private.
On visiting the webpage of the subsidy scheme for accommodation and care in elderly homes, one is met by a big red banner reading: “Application Submission for Beneficiaries (SEF) is closed. You cannot submit an application.”
Furthermore, the Cyprus Mail contacted the Social Welfare Services, which are responsible for retirement homes, to find out how often the homes are inspected and how they plan to solve the lack of availability problem. Calls were not returned and the email with questions was not answered.
LIVE-IN CARE
Home care service offices operate in all hospitals and most health centres across the island and are free.
There are also private companies offering care services, with prices depending on the services required, and helpers can be hired for about €10 to €15 per hour.
If looking to hire live-in migrant domestic workers, the minimum gross salary is €460, but the monthly cost is typically over €800 when one includes wages, insurance and living costs.
However, not every household is eligible to hire a domestic assistant, as the minimum required annual gross income ranges from €24,000 for couples with no children to €42,000 for a family with three or more children.
A 56-year-old inmate was arrested in the early hours of Sunday while on authorised leave after allegedly being involved in the burglary of a restaurant in Paphos and the theft of around €6,000.
According to the justice ministry, the man had been granted temporary leave to visit his family in Paphos.
Following his arrest, he was taken into custody and is due to appear before the Paphos district court later on Sunday, where police are expected to seek a remand order to facilitate their investigation.
The 56-year-old is currently serving a six-year prison sentence for theft and money laundering.
Having served more than half of his sentence, he had been admitted to the prisons’ rehabilitation programme under which he was granted temporary leave in accordance with prison regulations.
The justice ministry said that, following the man’s arrest, the prison department had immediately launched procedures regarding both the inmate’s participation in the rehabilitation programme and the conditions under which he is serving his sentence.
For generations, camping has been one of the simplest and most affordable ways to experience the island. A tent, a few days away from the city and a chance to wake up beneath pine trees or beside the sea have long formed part of summer life for families, students and outdoor enthusiasts.
This summer, however, finding a legal place to pitch a tent has become increasingly difficult.
The closure of the Polis Chrysochous campsite, the suspension of Platania for upgrading works and uncertainty surrounding the campsite near Troodos square have left many questioning whether Cyprus currently has enough organised camping facilities.
While authorities insist the changes are necessary to improve safety and modernise infrastructure, campers and environmental groups argue that reducing legal options risks pushing people towards unmanaged areas instead. This in turn increases fire risks and rampant littering.
A summer with fewer places to camp
“I have been trying for several weekends with friends to organise a camping trip, but every time we check the options, we realise there is almost nowhere to go,” said Anton Fedorov, who has lived in Cyprus for around 12 years.
Fedorov has camped across the island, particularly in Polis Chrysochous, Troodos and Platania. For him, camping has always offered an affordable way to enjoy Cyprus’ forests and coastline without spending hundreds of euros on accommodation.
“Those places were especially important in summer because they gave people the chance to escape the heat and spend a few days in the mountains, in the forest and in cooler air,” he said.
He believes traditional camping offers something very different from the increasingly popular glamping sector.
“I would not compare camping with glamping. They are completely different experiences. Glamping may be attractive for some people, but traditional camping gives people freedom. It is a simple and affordable way to spend time with family and friends away from daily stress.”
For many campers, the biggest loss has been the closure of the Polis Chrysochous campsite.
Surrounded by eucalyptus trees and located close to the Akamas peninsula, the seaside campsite welcomed generations of families and visitors looking for an inexpensive holiday by the coast. The facilities were shut in 2023, though hardy campers still ventured there. But this year the bulldozers have moved in and firmly fenced off the eucalyptus grove that housed the site.
Former visitor Alex Kalimeri remembers it as more than just a campsite.
“It was somewhere people could relax, swim and enjoy nature without paying hotel prices,” she said.
Local authorities say the redevelopment will improve sanitary facilities, infrastructure and the overall organisation of the site while preserving its character. Investor Costas Myrianthous has also said the aim is to maintain the identity of the campsite while improving safety and facilities.
Some regular visitors remain unconvinced.
They worry that modernisation could change the simplicity that made Polis one of Cyprus’ most popular camping destinations in the first place.
Mountain camping has also become increasingly limited.
Upgrades, closures and uncertainty
According to the forestry department, Stavros tis Psokas remains open, while Kampi Kalogirou has completed upgrading works and is awaiting the necessary approvals before reopening. Platania has been closed since November 5, 2025, with improvement works expected to take around one and a half years.
The situation at the campsite near Troodos square, which is not under the forestry department, remains less clear. Campers have reported that it is unavailable this summer, although no detailed clarification had been provided at the time of publication.
The forestry department says the closures are part of a wider programme aimed at improving public camping facilities rather than reducing access to nature.
Press officer Glaukos Kyriakou said stricter fire safety requirements meant many campsites no longer met modern standards.
“People’s lives could be at risk, so people need to feel safe,” he said.
The upgrades include improved toilets, stronger fire protection measures, environmental improvements and clearer organisation of areas for tents, caravans and vehicles.
“People will not be allowed to enter with vehicles and park wherever they want,” Kyriakou said.
“The aim is for everyone to feel safe and for all citizens to be able to enjoy these areas.”
The department says the improvements are particularly important because campsites are used by families, children, people with disabilities and organised groups such as scouts.
Could fewer campsites create bigger problems?
Environmental organisations accept that protecting forests is essential, particularly during Cyprus’ long, dry summers when wildfire risk is at its highest. They argue, however, that environmental protection should not come at the expense of public access to nature.
The Cyprus Greens described the current availability of legal campsites as “deeply concerning”, warning that closing organised sites without providing alternatives could have unintended consequences.
“When legal, organised spaces are shut down without clear timelines for reopening, people are inevitably pushed towards illegal camping,” the organisation said.
Rather than reducing environmental risks, it argued, fewer legal campsites could encourage people to seek out unmanaged forests, beaches and protected areas where authorities have less oversight.
Friends of the Earth Cyprus echoed those concerns.
The organisation said uncontrolled camping could increase fire risks, littering and disturbance to wildlife, but argued that responsibility should not rest solely with the public.
“When the law restricts camping outside designated areas, the state has a corresponding duty to ensure that a sufficient network of legal, affordable and well managed campsites actually exists and remains operational,” it said.
The group also called for clearer communication from authorities about which campsites are open, which remain closed and when facilities are expected to reopen.
Private camping and the glamping question
The debate extends beyond public campsites.
Private operators say developing camping facilities in Cyprus presents significant financial and regulatory challenges.
According to the deputy tourism ministry, suitable land is expensive and many attractive locations are environmentally sensitive, making new developments difficult to justify commercially.
Tourism officer Marios Chanakas said there is currently little meaningful private sector interest in developing large scale tourist campsites because of the high costs involved.
The ministry also confirmed that the island’s three private camping sites, Polis (now closed), Feggari in Peyia and Aphrodite Family EcoCamping in Neo Chorio, have yet to receive full operating licences, although they continue operating within the existing legal framework.
More than a holiday
Meanwhile, glamping continues to occupy an uncertain position.
Across Europe, luxury camping has expanded rapidly, offering cabins, yurts and furnished tents for visitors seeking greater comfort in natural surroundings.
In Cyprus, however, legislation specifically regulating glamping has twice been rejected by the House of Representatives.
For campers like Fedorov, however, the issue is not about glamping or high end tourism.
“Most people do not need beautiful bathrooms, perfect showers or hotel level comfort,” he said.
“They would be happy with a legal place to put a tent, basic toilets, bins, water and clear fire safety rules.”
He fears that as legal options continue to shrink, more people will begin camping in hidden locations beyond the reach of organised management.
“Camping is not the enemy of nature,” he said. “Unmanaged tourism is.”
As Cyprus upgrades existing facilities and considers the future of nature based tourism, the challenge remains finding a balance between protecting fragile landscapes and ensuring that ordinary people can continue to enjoy them.
For now, campers remain waiting.
Waiting for campsites to reopen, waiting for clearer answers and, perhaps most of all, waiting for somewhere legal to pitch a tent beneath Cyprus’ summer skies.
Electricity storage batteries are expected to arrive in Cyprus in January 2027, with installations due to be completed before the summer, Energy Minister Michael Damianos said on Sunday.
Damianos said contracts had already been signed with the supplier and the Transmission System Operator (TSO) for the battery storage project.
Once operational, the facilities will add 125 megawatts (MW) of energy storage capacity to the country’s electricity system, allowing more renewable energy to be stored instead of being curtailed during periods of excess production.
The minister said the project would help reduce the need to cut renewable energy generation during the summer of 2027, when demand for electricity typically peaks.
Cyprus currently has just over 1,000MW of conventional electricity generation, which is “generally sufficient during the day,” Damianos said.
However, demand often exceeds available capacity during the first few hours after sunset in the summer, when air conditioning use remains high but electricity production from photovoltaic systems has ceased.
He said battery storage would help bridge that gap by storing electricity generated from renewable sources during the day for use during peak evening demand.
Damianos added that terms had already been agreed and granted for a further 150MW of privately owned battery storage projects, which are also expected to come online during 2027.
In addition, the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) is developing its own storage facilities with a combined capacity of 180MW.
Part of those projects, amounting to 80MW and 100MW respectively, is expected to be operational before next summer.
By the end of 2027, several hundred megawatts of battery storage capacity are expected to have been integrated into the national grid, Damianos said.
Asked how electricity demand would be managed until the storage projects are completed, Damianos said “the situation remained manageable,” citing assessments by the TSO.
He said the power supply problems experienced last week were caused by “a fault at one of the EAC’s generators,” and added that both the utility and the transmission system operator were making every effort to maintain electricity supply with the resources currently available.
According to the minister, the greatest pressure on the grid comes during the two to three hours after sunset, when solar power generation stops but demand remains high.
Provided there are no unexpected breakdowns, he said, the system is expected to cope.
In just a few weeks, Cyprus’ longstanding festival dedicated to documentary cinema returns and its programme has been unveiled. A curated selection of films will be screened at Ceronia Hall – Lanitis Carob Mill from August 1 to 8, touching on diverse social topics and themes.
Documentaries that reveal both the dramatic and the humorous facets of contemporary life, that explore pressing issues shaping the world, that approach diversity with empathy and sensitivity and offer cinematic narratives that engage and inspire audiences are coming up.
Award-winning documentaries, acclaimed directors and emerging voices from around the world, including Cyprus, come together in this edition.
The Refugee Experience and War
The festival opens with One in a Million (Itab Azzam & Jack MacInnes), a deeply moving portrait of a young Syrian woman and a chronicle of her journey from the streets of Izmir to Germany, her final destination. Cultural barriers, the challenges of displacement, inner conflict and differing perspectives within the same family lie at the heart of this documentary.
In A Fox Under a Pink Moon (Mehrdad Oskouei), the protagonist is a 16-year-old Afghan refugee in search of a better life. Fear, uncertainty and the violence she endures cast a long shadow over her life. Art, painting and sculpture become her refuge, as well as her path to freedom.
A moving love story set against the backdrop of the turbulent Middle East lies at the heart of Birds of War (Janay Boulos & Abd Alkader Habak). Janay Boulos is a London-based journalist of Lebanese descent who covers the Syrian civil war, while Abd Alkader Habak is a Syrian activist and cinematographer. What begins as a long-distance professional relationship gradually evolves into a profound emotional bond.
Experiences of Otherness
The Georgian documentary A Song Without Home (Rati Tsiteladze) is the portrait of a young trans woman in search of her identity and a new sense of balance far from her homeland. After eleven years of confinement in conservative Georgia, Adelina sets out to build a new life in Vienna. There, she finds work, discovers dance, and gradually attains a newfound sense of balance.
The legendary thriller Cruising, directed by William Friedkin and shot in the ‘80s, is the subject of Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders (Jeffrey Schwarz). Starring Al Pacino, the film follows the investigation into a series of murders targeting gay men. Upon its release, it sparked a storm of controversy, especially for its portrayal of New York’s gay scene.
In In Hell With Ivo (Kristina Nikolova), Ivo Dimchev leaves conservative Bulgaria for New York in search of a place where he can breathe more freely. A musician, dancer, activist, and performance artist, he is provocative, restless, and fiercely unconventional, pursuing his creative vision through every artistic medium. A vibrant portrait of a truly multidimensional artist.
Arts and Artists
Bull’s Heart (Eva Stefani) is a compelling record of the artistic process in the making, as well as a study of Dimitris Papaioannou’s choreographic practice. Filmed over two years across different stages in Paris, London, Vilnius and San Francisco, the documentary follows the development of Transverse Orientation, capturing both the creative process and the performance itself.
A landmark gathering of some of the most influential figures in America’s countercultural and artistic avant-garde lies at the heart of Nova ’78 (Aaron Brookner, Rodrigo Areias). In 1978, New York’s East Village hosted the Nova Convention, an inspiring event dedicated to writer and ‘counterculture icon’ William S. Burroughs. Among those taking part were Frank Zappa, Allen Ginsberg, John Cage, Patti Smith, Philip Glass and Laurie Anderson. An ode to creative freedom, the documentary revisits this electrifying meeting of the American avant-garde.
Barbara Forever (Brydie O’Connor) pays tribute to the legendary figure of experimental and queer cinema, Barbara Hammer (1939–2019). The portrait captured by the director is composed entirely of Hammer’s own voice and images: excerpts from her films alongside previously unreleased material from her personal archive.
Today’s World: Contradictions and Complexities
Presented in collaboration with The Island Club and curated by Androula Kafa, The Urban Condition: An Expanded Screening brings together a wide range of works -from archival footage and artists’ films to music videos- interwoven with live musical interventions. The programme unfolds from the rapid transformation and gentrification of Cyprus’s urban landscape.
Set in the world of high-end art dealing, The Oligarch and the Art Dealer (Andreas Dalsgaard) unfolds as a gripping thriller. At its centre is the bitter clash between Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier and Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev, the billionaire owner of the Greek island of Skorpios. Money, power, deception, ambition and manipulation lie at the heart of the scandal that shook the art world.
A City in the Forest (Lev Omelchenko & Nolan Huber) tells the story of a forest threatened with destruction and the struggle to save it. As the local community mounts a determined resistance against the forces of institutional power, protests and demonstrations are met with violent repression.
An unlikely and seemingly uncinematic subject lies at the heart of The History of Concrete (John Wilson). The construction material that dominates the urban landscape becomes the starting point for a witty, smart and inquisitive documentary infused with understated humour. Using a lightweight digital camera alongside his mobile phone, Wilson adopts an almost naïve visual style to reflect on modern life.
TikTok Never Dies (Hao Wu) follows the legal battle over the proposed US ban of TikTok, the addictive Chinese social media platform. At its centre are three influencers who decide to challenge the government’s attempt to ban the app in the US. Fast-paced, witty and visually inventive, the documentary explores both TikTok’s meteoric rise and its profound impact on contemporary culture.
Human Tragedy
A traumatic event and its aftermath have left an indelible mark on the protagonist of Filthy / Sucia (Bàrbara Mestanza & Marc Pujolar). Bàrbara Mestanza is an actress. The rape she endured years ago was a deeply traumatic experience she has been unable to come to terms with. Now, she seeks justice and a new sense of balance.
The anguish of a father searching for his missing son lies at the heart of Closure (Michał Marczak) from Poland. When his son vanishes without a trace, he refuses to accept the loss without a fight. The camera remains closely focused on his face, his grief and obsession, and his inner conflict as he is torn between the fear that his son is gone forever and the hope that he may still be alive.
Humour and Music
With warmth and gentle humour, The Golden Spurtle (Constantine Costi) follows the annual porridge-making championship held in a picturesque Scottish village. The film turns its gaze both to the village and its eccentric residents, and to the competition and its contestants, creating a series of portraits observed with warmth and affection.
Humorous in tone, Still Pushing Pineapples (Kim Hopkins) centres on an ageing pop star and his attempts to reclaim the spotlight. Dene Michael was once an ‘80s pop sensation, a member of Black Lace and the voice behind the hit Agadoo. Blending humour and emotion with a sense of nostalgia and an undercurrent of melancholy, the film ultimately emerges as a deeply moving portrait.
Places in Turmoil and Forgotten Images
Curated by Marina Christodoulidou and Eleni Tzialli, Translocal Solidarities opens with a presentation of Tokyo Reels by Subversive Films in the Festival’s project space. Focusing on the archive and documentary as sites of historiography, memory and solidarity, Tokyo Reels foregrounds anti-colonial struggles, transnational networks of solidarity, and cinema as a form of political practice. The programme is presented in collaboration with the Limassol Municipal Arts Centre – Apothikes Papadaki.
Do You Love Me (Lana Daher) is a chaotic, deeply personal and utterly captivating documentary portrait of a city: Beirut. Once known as the Paris of the Middle East, the city has a rich and eventful past as well as a compelling present. Scenes from fiction films and documentaries, photographs, TV reports, home movies and images spanning decades, from the 1960s to the present day, through periods of peace and civil conflict, come together to shape the film’s distinctive cinematic portrait.
Cypriot Presence
In 2023, Stephanos Stephanides returned to the Kali Temple in Blairmont, West Bank Berbice, Guyana, where he filmed Hail Mother Kali in 1988. The result of this return is Remembering Mariamman, a journey centred on the goddess Mariamman across Guyana, India, Cyprus and the United States. Mariamman is the Hindu goddess of rain, health and fertility. A poetic meditation on healing and the divine, the film explores migration, displacement, labour, ritual and transoceanic memory.
A forgotten chapter of Cyprus’ colonial past lies at the heart of The Flycatcher (Khalil Betz-Heinemann & Johan Duchateau). Cyprus was the first country in the world to eradicate malaria. Through archival photographs, oral testimonies and personal recollections, the documentary recounts the campaign to eliminate the disease. At its centre is Mehmet Aziz, the public health inspector who led the eradication effort.
21st Lemesos International Documentary Festival
One week of film screenings, documentaries, Cyprus premiers, discussions and parties. August 1-8. Ceronia Hall, Lanitis Carob Mill, Limassol. www.filmfestival.com.cy
Temperatures are expected to climb above 40C from Tuesday and remain at those levels until at least Thursday, a met office official Iasonas Christodoulou said on Sunday.
Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency, Christodoulou said the weather would remain mostly clear over the coming days, with temperatures rising steadily.
On Monday, temperatures inland are expected to reach around 38C, close to the seasonal average for late July.
“From Tuesday onwards, temperatures will exceed 40C,” Christodoulou said.
He added that inland temperatures are likely to remain above 40C through Thursday, with highs of 41C to 42C possible on Wednesday and Thursday.
Christodoulou noted that the average temperature for inland areas at this time of year is around 38C.
“On Monday we will be close to the average values, while from Tuesday through Thursday temperatures will certainly be above normal,” he said.
Meanwhile, meteorological department data showed that rainfall recorded so far in July has reached 5.6mm, or 215 per cent of the month’s long-term average of 2.6mm, based on records from 1961 to 1990.
Journalist Makarios Drousiotis and a woman publicly known as “Sandy” are facing 101 counts after the attorney-general filed a criminal case against them, according to Greek broadcaster ERT News.
The case, due to be heard before the Nicosia criminal court, includes counts relating to the alleged preparation and circulation of forged documents, publication of false news and harassment, according to ERT News.
Both have already been served with the indictment.
The prosecution follows a police investigation launched after Drousiotis, then a parliamentary election candidate, published allegations in March claiming that a network involving members of the judiciary, politicians and business figures in Cyprus and Greece had been involved in corruption and other serious crimes.
The material included allegations of the sexual abuse of a minor, blackmail, corruption and a cover-up, as well as claims of links to the Rosicrucian Brotherhood.
The allegations were based largely on material provided by the woman known as “Sandy”.
The case also attracted attention in Greece after newspaper Documento published messages allegedly involving Greek deputy minister to the prime minister Giorgos Mylonakis.
Mylonakis dismissed the messages as fabricated, filed a criminal complaint with the Greek supreme court prosecutor’s office against those responsible, and later announced legal action against Drousiotis.
According to police findings announced last month, investigators, assisted by Europol and an FBI specialist unit, found no witness testimony, forensic evidence or other objective material to substantiate the allegations.
Police also said the electronic messages central to the case had been fabricated using a mobile application. According to investigators, the woman known as “Sandy” admitted creating the messages and identified the application allegedly used to produce the fake conversations.
Technical examinations also found inconsistencies in operating systems, timestamps and the presentation of the messages.
Drousiotis has consistently rejected the police findings, arguing that the investigation was politically motivated and intended to undermine his role in the separate Mafia State affair.
Under Cyprus law, both defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty before the court.
Nine people were arrested during overnight operations carried out across Cyprus as part of a nationwide crackdown on crime and traffic offences, the police said on Sunday.
Those arrested are suspected of offences including carrying a knife, drug possesion, unlawful possession of property, causing grievous bodily harm, residing illegally in the Republic and drink-driving.
During the operation, police stopped and checked 727 drivers and 372 passengers. Officers also inspected 102 premises, resulting in 23 reports for various offences.
Traffic officers issued 323 citations for a range of traffic violations and opened 18 cases for offences under investigation.
Among the violations recorded were 90 speeding offences. Police also impounded 22 vehicles.
A total of 453 breathalyser tests were carried out, leading to 38 drink-driving reports, while five drivers tested positive in preliminary roadside drug tests.
Two people, including a 15-year-old boy, were arrested in Limassol on Saturday night after a 21-year-old man was stabbed during a fight, police said.
Officers were called to Vasileos Constantinou street, near Tsirio stadium, shortly before midnight following reports of a brawl involving foreign nationals.
At the scene, police found a 21-year-old man with a stab wound to his back, believed to have been inflicted with a knife.
The victim was taken to hospital, where his wound was stitched. He remains hospitalised.
While searching the wider area, police officers located two suspects. One of them was carrying a metal chain and was arrested on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon.
Neither suspect was carrying identification documents and both were initially arrested to establish their identities.
Police later identified them as a 21-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy.
A fire caused extensive damage to the kitchen and interior of a two-storey house in the Nicosia district on Saturday night, the fire service said.
Fire service spokesman Andreas Kettis said the fire is believed to have been caused by an electrical fault.
The kitchen equipment sustained extensive damage, while smoke from the blaze damaged paintwork throughout the house.
In a separate incident, a fire broke out in a truck used to transport recyclable materials at 11.29am on Saturday.
The engine compartment and the interior of the vehicle were damaged.
The fire is believed to have been caused by an electrical or mechanical fault.
The fire service responded to 44 incidents over the past 24 hours, including 18 fires, 19 special service calls and seven false alarms.
During the past week, it responded to a total of 265 incidents. These included 55 urban fires, 32 countryside fires, five road collisions, 26 rescue operations, 109 public assistance calls and 38 false alarms.
Everyone has been asking the same question ever since the visit of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was announced 10 days ago. What is the purpose of his visit? Little has been said about the purpose of visit – the first by a UNSG in 16 years – apart from a UN diplomatic source in Brussels informing the Cyprus News Agency that Guterres would seek concrete results from his meetings before moving the process to a five-party informal conference.
The UN was more forthcoming about his itinerary. His first meeting will be at the presidential palace with President Nikos Christodoulides on Tuesday morning, and it will be followed by a meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman at his office in the north. In the afternoon, he will have meetings with the Committee for Missing Persons, the negotiators and the heads of the technical committees, while in the evening he will host a dinner for the leaders.
On Wednesday morning there will be a meeting with the two leaders, which will be the first time Guterres is meeting Erhurman and Christodoulides together. The last time he had a meeting with the two leaders – July 2025, in New York – Ersin Tatar was still the Turkish Cypriot leader. His visit will end with a 30-minute news conference, just after the leaders’ meeting.
Ban Ki-moon was the last UNSG to visit Cyprus, in 2010, and the lasting memory from that time was the outcry by the Greek Cypriot media and political parties because he visited Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat in his ‘presidential office’ in the north. Ban became the target of nasty criticism, while the idiotic argument that the visit would lead to an ‘upgrade’ of the pseudo-state was repeated ad-nauseam. The same will happen on Tuesday, the UN making it very clear that Guterres’ one-on-one meetings will take place at each leader’s office.
The feared ‘upgrade’ never materialised and neither did the corresponding ‘downgrade’ of the status of the Republic. In fact, nothing came of Ban’s visit, the then president Demetris Christofias engaging in filibustering, which eventually led to the election of the hardline Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu. Only after he was replaced by Mustafa Akinci was there a process, which finally resulted in the Crans Montana collapse of 2017, despite the personal involvement of Guterres.
Why he has decided to undertake another initiative on the Cyprus issue after establishing, nine years ago, that the political will for a settlement did not exist, is the big question. And he is persisting despite the fact that his personal envoy Maria Angela Holguin’s first mission ended in failure, the broad informal meeting he held that included the guarantor powers led nowhere and the two leaders ignored his advice to engage in confidence-building measures. They have proved incapable of agreeing to the opening of another crossing point, after months of bickering, turning a straightforward issue into a zero-sum game.
Nothing has happened in the last 18 months to offer the slightest hint that there is a possibility of a breakthrough or of a discovery of common ground, but Guterres, for unknown reasons, refuses to give up. He sent back Holguin despite the failure of her first mission, while plans to hold an informal five-party conference this month got nowhere, because prospects of success are non-existent.
All this makes his decision to pay a two-day visit extremely difficult to understand. He will be leaving his post in less than six months, the UN is faced with countless, much more urgent problems, so why is he devoting valuable time to the Cyprus problem, which is no threat to world peace or regional stability? Has he been told by Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan, whom he met not so long ago, that Turkey would not adhere to its two-state position if there was a new process?
The Cyprus government spokesman said the visit was “very significant” and that Guterres would try to create the conditions for an expanded informal conference on Cyprus. At least, now we know he would seek concrete results before calling such a conference. Whether he secures these results we will find out in the coming week.
Hey everyone,
As an IAM analyst and software enthusiast, I've always been curious to understand how SSO actually works under the hood.
I tried implementing an OIDC client by myself in Go using Entra ID (an IdP I'm already familiar with), but it was tough to find a straightforward guide.
So I built the authorization code flow using golang.org/x/oauth2 and coreos/go-oidc/v3, handling state, nonce, and PKCE manually. I ended up writing a tutorial on Medium to document the process and open-sourced the code.
Code: Github Repo
Medium: OIDC + Go + Entra ID: From the Login Button to the Callback
I'd really appreciate some feedback or code reviews. Also, if anyone here has experience with Microsoft's official MSAL Go library, I'd love to hear how it compares to this approach.
| submitted by /u/der_gopher [link] [comments] |
I wan to make better cli and tui software but i can't decide which one is the best.
While I see fewer unsynchronized go func() these days, they still appear often enough in regard to fire-and-forget work.
Unmanaged go func() results in unbounded concurrency, memory leaks, and other surprising behavior in a system.
So I traced a few repos at work to see how many of them appear irl. Turns out quite a bit in our huge monorepo.
I explored a tiny task manager that collects tasks as func() closures in a buffered channel and runs them in a bounded pool. It clamps down on unbounded concurrency, is aware of the parent context, allows task-specific timeouts, etc. All that requires less than 25 loc.
Might be interesting to you.
https://rednafi.com/go/supervised-fire-and-forget/
Update: I am aware of errgroup. It is not the right abstraction here as it cancels all inflight tasks if any of them fails. Also, the internal semaphore of errgroup works in a similar way as shown here
| I needed webp encoding in a project that I'm building without cgo, and thus without libwebp. I found gen2brain's webp which uses libwebp compiled to wasm, but I also discovered that this didn't have great performance both in terms of time and memory use. So I decided to port MITH@mmk's webp-rust to Go, and started testing and benchmarking it. In the process I discovered that it wasn't really well optimized, so I spent some time optimizing it including porting some algorithms from It still doesn't beat libwebp itself, which is no surprise, but it does beat libwebp running on wasm. You can see the charts in the repo's readme. So if you find yourself needing an encoder and want to skip cgo, feel free to give my library a shot. [link] [comments] |
I am working with Go native fuzzing and want to make the interesting corpus useful after the fuzz run ends.
The workflow I am considering:
- hash every corpus entry
- classify each input by behavior
- replay the corpus in deterministic tests
- assert no panics
- assert exact validation categories
- add stateful sequence tests for replay and mutation cases
- keep findings in a Markdown log
For Go projects using testing.F, what has worked well for turning fuzz output into long-term regression coverage?
I maintain fitter, an MIT-licensed declarative web-extraction engine. I wanted a demo page that doesn't lie: not a video, not canned output, the actual engine executing in the visitor's browser. GitHub Pages only serves static files, so the answer was GOOS=js GOARCH=wasm.
Demo: https://pxyup.github.io/fitter/ (every example runs live, client-side; there's also a form-based config builder that round-trips to JSON) Repo: https://github.com/PxyUp/fitter
What fitter is, in one paragraph: web extraction as a JSON/YAML config instead of code. A config declares a connector (plain HTTP, headless browser via Chromium/Playwright/Docker, a static value, a file, or an int sequence) and a model (what to extract and the shape of the result): gjson paths for JSON, CSS selectors for HTML, XPath for XML/DOM, and text extraction for PDFs. Configs compose - an array item can fan out into a nested fetch using the parent value ({PL} or an expr-lang expression), which covers the classic "scrape the HTML page for keys, enrich each from the real API" join. Per-host rate limits, retries, placeholders (input, env, cached references like a JWT fetched once), and calculated fields via expr-lang are all part of the config, not your code.
A taste - GitHub repo stats, no code:
json { "item": { "connector_config": { "response_type": "json", "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/golang/go", "server_config": { "method": "GET" } }, "model": { "object_config": { "fields": { "repo": { "base_field": { "type": "string", "path": "full_name" } }, "stars": { "base_field": { "type": "int", "path": "stargazers_count" } }, "vibe": { "base_field": { "type": "int", "path": "open_issues_count", "generated": { "calculated": { "type": "string", "expression": "fRes > 9000 ? \"busy\" : \"calm\"" } } } } } } } } }
The same config runs five ways: one-shot CLI (fitter_cli --path config.json), embedded Go library (lib.ParseCtx), long-running service mode with schedulers and notifiers (Telegram/webhook/Redis/file), an MCP server so LLM agents can author and execute configs locally, and now the browser playground below. Author once, promote from chat answer to cron job to team service without rewriting anything.
Notes from the WASM port, in case you're considering the same:
Getting it to compile was 3 files. The engine imports the Docker SDK and go-rod (headless browser connectors), and both fail on js/wasm (syscall.RawSockaddrUnix, Setpgid). The fix was pleasantly boring: //go:build !js on those three connector files plus one _js.go stub returning a clear "not supported in WASM" error. Everything else - parsers (JSON/HTML/XPath/XML/PDF), expression evaluation, goroutine fan-out - compiled untouched.
Live HTTP works, with a catch. On js/wasm, net/http transparently uses the browser Fetch API - so the demo really fetches from the GitHub/OpenLibrary/CoinGecko APIs (anything that sends CORS headers). The catch that cost me an hour: Go disables the fetch transport when it detects Node (process global), so my Node-based smoke tests failed with dial tcp: Protocol not available while the browser worked fine. Testing trick: delete globalThis.process before instantiating makes Node behave like a browser.
A long-lived WASM process surfaces lifecycle assumptions. Our per-host rate limiter installs its config through sync.Once - perfectly correct for a CLI that runs one config and exits, silently wrong in a page where the same process executes many unrelated configs (first config's limits win forever). If you're porting a CLI to WASM, grep for sync.Once and package-level state first; that's where the bodies are.
Numbers: 29 MB binary with -ldflags="-s -w" (~7 MB gzipped). Blocking calls must leave the JS event loop - the exported function returns a Promise and does the work in a goroutine, or fetch deadlocks.
Happy to answer questions about the port.