Sunday, July 26, 2026
beff08b6-2bd2-4cf4-91bc-90d55a043f8f
| Summary | ⛅️ Mostly clear until evening. |
|---|---|
| Temperature Range | 22°C to 30°C (71°F to 87°F) |
| Feels Like | Low: 74°F | High: 96°F |
| Humidity | 67% |
| Wind | 12 km/h (8 mph), Direction: 216° |
| Precipitation | Probability: 24%, Type: No precipitation expected |
| Sunrise / Sunset | 🌅 05:53 AM / 🌇 07:54 PM |
| Moon Phase | Waxing Gibbous (41%) |
| Cloud Cover | 19% |
| Pressure | 1008.66 hPa |
| Dew Point | 67.49°F |
| Visibility | 6.14 miles |
In the end, Fidias Panayiotou was the only Cypriot MEP who voted to reject the temporary reinstatement of ‘Chat Control’ legislation, which nevertheless passed with what can only be described as Byzantine-like procedures. With the law now in effect until April 2028, it marks a setback for privacy advocates.
Chat Control is the informal term for the EU’s Child Sexual Abuse Regulation (Csar).
Under the guise of combating child pornography, the EU proposes to force every messaging platform – WhatsApp, iMessage, Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, Signal, Gmail and all communication apps – to implement government-mandated scanning technology that will analyse every private communication with artificial intelligence and report suspicious content to authorities.
One attorney and privacy advocate who previously wrote in the Cyprus Mail said this surveillance overreach can lead to a host of nightmarish scenarios – innocent photos of kids sent by parents could bring the police knocking at their door; pictures shared by teenagers get flagged by the AI, incapable of distinguishing context and intent. And so forth.
It’s not just about the violation of privacy as a matter of principle; it’s also the blanket implementation of it.
On July 9 a vote took place at the European Parliament. The proposition being voted on was whether to reject the Council’s position. And the Council’s position was to reinstate a derogation from the ePrivacy Directive – in other words, to keep Chat Control.
Under the rules, an absolute majority was needed for the proposition to pass. Meaning that of the 720 MEPs, at least 361 had to vote in favour of the proposition – to reject the temporary reinstatement of Chat Control until 2028.
Previously, the European Parliament had rejected the extension of Chat Control at a first reading in March. The derogation lapsed on April 3. Then on July 2 the Council adopted its position, sending the file to a second reading.
Next, on July 7 the European People’s Party (EPP) invoked Rule 170(6) to fast-track the file past committee, in the last sitting before recess. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola put the file back on the table at the request of the EPP.
And so, on July 9 – the last session of the European Parliament before recess, when a number of MEPs had already left town – the vote took place.
In this situation, 314 MEPs voted to reject the Council position – falling short of the 361-vote absolute majority required at second reading to reject or amend.
Bottom line: Chat Control is back.
“The deeper worry, for me, is what the sequence teaches. A proposal can be voted down at first reading and still return through a Council position, a second-reading threshold can convert absence into consent and an urgency motion can remove the committee stage days before recess,” Andreas Shialaros, a Cypriot lawyer who’s been tracking the issue closely for some time, said.
“None of that is unlawful, and that is rather the point. The machinery contains enough legitimate routes that a determined institution can simply keep going until the arithmetic falls the right way. Opponents have to win every time, proponents need to only win once.”
How did the six Cypriot MEPs vote? It turns out that only Fidias Panayiotou (Direct Democracy-Independent) voted to reject extending Chat Control legislation.
Elam’s Geadis Geadi (European Conservatives and Reformists) and Disy’s Michalis Hadjipantela (EPP) voted to keep Chat Control.
The other three Cypriots – Loucas Fourlas (Disy-EPP), Giorgos Georgiou (Akel-The Left), and Costas Mavrides (Diko-Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats) – either abstained or were not present.
There’s more. On Wednesday, EU ambassadors approved the written procedure for the temporary framework, derogating from the bloc’s rules on the privacy of electronic communications to combat the spread of child pornography.
Written procedures are normally employed for relatively non-controversial files and allow member states to give their voting preference without a formal meeting.
And a day later, the file was confirmed as adopted with 25 governments in favour; only one voted against while another abstained.
In other words, the member states confirmed the text as it passed in the European Parliament on July 9, including a last-minute amendment removing end-to-end encrypted messaging services such as WhatsApp and Signal from its scope.
At this point, it’s useful to explain what exactly passed through – or engineered, some might say – the European Parliament.
There is no one proposed Chat Control law – there are two in fact, and they’re moving through EU institutions in parallel.
According to an anti control website, Chat Control 1.0 is what went through the European Parliament earlier this month. It’s the so-called ‘temporary’ law, now in force until 2028.
This is a temporary derogation from the ePrivacy Directive that allowed (but did not require) providers to scan private messages of unsuspected users for potential child sexual abuse material. Here, scanning is not mandatory. In practice, it’s used mainly by unencrypted US services such as Gmail, Facebook/Instagram Messenger, Skype, Snapchat, iCloud Mail, and Xbox. Also, it doesn’t include end-to-end encrypted messages, although providers could deploy client-side scanning under this law.
Then there is Chat Control 2.0 – the permanent proposal for Csar. It’s a proposed permanent regulation that would make detection and reporting of child sexual abuse material a legal requirement for digital platforms.
The original proposal mandated scanning of private communications; the Council’s 2025 position shifted to “voluntary” suspicion-less detection. The European Parliament’s position is that scanning of private communications must be limited to individual users or a specific group of users suspected of links to child sexual abuse, and that a court order is required; implementation of the order would then be mandatory. Potentially, it could include end-to-end encrypted messages.
On the permanent proposal, five trilogue rounds have failed to produce a deal. The supposedly final trilogue on June 29 collapsed over suspicion-less scanning; negotiations continue under the Irish presidency of the Council of the European Union.
An EU trilogue is an informal negotiation meeting that brings together the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, and the European Commission. Its goal is to create a quick compromise on new laws.
“Any scanning of the content of private communications must be limited to specific suspects,” MEP Ignazio Marino (Greens/EFA/Italy) told Euronews.
“No child is helped by a law that will be annulled by the Court of Justice,” he added.
The interior ministry on Saturday rejected claims by the Union of Municipalities that the government is shifting the cost of local government reform onto residents, insisting it has more than doubled state funding for municipalities since the reform was introduced.
The union has rejected the government’s proposed mechanism for adjusting the annual state grant and announced measures, but the ministry said the allegations “do not correspond to the actual facts”.
It said the state had significantly increased financial support for local authorities while also absorbing a substantial share of the costs arising from the implementation of local government reform.
The ministry said the €117 million annual state grant, established under the Municipalities Law of 2022, was incorporated into legislation during parliamentary discussions on the reform with the agreement of the Union of Municipalities.
It added that the government itself recognised that the grant could not remain fixed indefinitely and should instead be adjusted to reflect changing economic and fiscal conditions, including inflation.
To that end, the interior ministry, in cooperation with the finance ministry and following consultations with the Union of Municipalities, developed what it described as an objective and predictable mechanism for revising the grant.
Beyond the €117 million annual allocation, the ministry said the government had approved an additional €15 million per year for the maintenance of primary road networks and a further €12 million annually to compensate municipalities for the loss of revenue following changes to development licensing.
According to the ministry, the €15 million was based on a study carried out by the Union of Municipalities itself and was five times higher than its original estimate of €3 million.
Under the government’s proposal, the three grants would be merged into a single annual state grant worth €144 million, securing the funding on a permanent basis while also responding to a request from the municipalities.
The ministry said this represents a 103.4 per cent increase compared with the previous total annual state grant of €70.8 million.
It added that the proposed adjustment mechanism would link future increases to an objective fiscal indicator based on the state’s net primary expenditure, ensuring that government support keeps pace with economic conditions while remaining consistent with the country’s fiscal obligations.
Based on the proposed formula, the ministry said the total state grant is expected to rise from €148 million in 2027 to €160 million by 2030.
It also argued that adjusting the grant every three years would give municipalities greater certainty when planning their budgets and operational needs.
“The government has demonstrated in practice that it supports both the local government reform and the financial sustainability of municipalities,” the ministry said, adding that this support is reflected in the doubling of state funding, additional financial commitments and continued investment in municipal development projects.
The Union of Municipalities had argued that the formula would leave municipalities underfunded and ultimately transfer the financial burden of the reform to local taxpayers.
A wildfire that broke out near Kato Pyrgos Tyllirias in the Nicosia district on Saturday afternoon was brought under full control within 20 minutes after burning a small area of wild vegetation.
According to the forestry department, the fire started at 3.40pm and firefighting teams responded immediately.
The operation involved nine forestry department personnel using two fire engines, assisted by three firefighters from the fire service with one fire engine.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Yiorgos Georghiou puts it bluntly, in the prologue to his book I Was My Own Enemy: “I am not a psychologist. I am not a clinician or a researcher. I am someone who has lived inside this cycle for most of my life – someone who misunderstood it, fought it the wrong way, hid from it, and eventually learned how it works…
“This book is about living inside a mind that refuses to rest.”
We meet at his Nicosia home, a handsome two-storey affair with a view and a Lexus in the driveway. It’s actually his parents’ home; Yiorgos himself is only 22, fresh from his second year of Accountancy and Finance at the University of Leicester.
Inside, there are books on the living-room shelves, mostly non-fiction and a small pile of self-help books – much like the one he himself has written, except that his is based on direct experience. A bit further down is a sort of dining room – really more of a breakfast nook – with a nondescript round table. See that table? he asks. “I couldn’t sit at that table for three years.”
It was about bad energy, he tells me. “My thoughts were making my reality. So if this table had to do with a bad memory, I couldn’t touch it. I couldn’t even look at it.”
Every time he came downstairs, “I was doing this,” he says, shielding his eyes to conceal the offending table. The memory was from when he was in the army – a low point in his life, what he calls “the breaking point” – and came home one day, sat down at the table, and felt his mind “burning” with oppressive thoughts.
“I associated that with the pain, and that was the last time I sat there… Two months ago was the first time I sat down again – after three years. Even my family was emotional.
“It was really sad,” muses Yiorgos, “because my family definitely wants to be next to me. They just don’t know what I’m going through – because they can’t see it, and I can’t show it. I’m a really closed person.”
He’s using the present tense (out of habit, presumably) – but of course he’s talking more about the past, before the recent publication of I Was My Own Enemy. The book, which he started writing last November and finished in June, is a candid memoir that lays bare – for his family, and everyone else too – exactly what he’s been ‘going through’: namely, OCD, obsessive-compulsive disorder.
“We say ‘OCD’ very easily these days,” notes Maria Ioannidou, a psychologist who’s also Yiorgos’ therapist – but, to quote Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride, ‘I do not think it means what you think it means’.
“People think they have OCD because they’re really tidy,” says Yiorgos. “But this is just, like, five per cent of what it actually is.” The other 95 per cent is what he suffers from: “Intrusive thoughts. Being in your mind constantly, so you can’t distinguish what’s real and what’s fake” – and having it take over, to the point where everyday life becomes dysfunctional.
“Maybe you like your cupboard to be really neat,” agrees Maria – “but as long as it doesn’t affect your life, so you’re not like ‘I’m not coming down to the café because I have to tidy my clothes’, then it’s not a disorder.”
Yiorgos’ life was indeed affected, becoming a slave to intrusive thoughts – which everyone has now and then, it’s just that people with OCD are unable to let them go, constructing increasingly elaborate (and irrational, and often self-destructive) behaviours to try and make peace with them.
“My last year at school was a disaster,” he recalls. (He was at the Senior School, hence his fluent English.) “I was a really top student, but at some point my thoughts were so strong that I couldn’t even focus to write the final exam, the A-Level.
“I remember there were questions that my brain told me, ‘Don’t answer this question or your dad will die tomorrow’ – so I wasn’t answering questions. At A-Level! Because my mind was telling me stuff.” He dropped down to an A and two Cs in his last year (after three As the previous year), and was fortunate to be accepted to Leicester. Even there, though, during his first year at uni, his mind was getting in the way – even in multiple-choice exams, “it was telling me ‘Don’t put ‘a’ [as an answer], if you put the letter ‘a’ it means you’ll become a woman in 10 years’ or something… And I was 100 per cent believing it. It was gradually destroying my life.”
By that time, the thoughts were often fully irrational (OCD tends to get worse with age), albeit triggered by anxiety. The most insidious ones, however, stemmed from fear and self-consciousness – the disorder being, in a sense, an extreme form of self-consciousness where every detail gets magnified to monstrous proportions, like the niggly details of an untidy cupboard.
“The first time fear became overwhelming and physical was with something simple: swallowing food,” he writes in the book.
“One day, without warning, the thought entered my mind: ‘What if the food gets stuck in my throat and I choke… and then suffocate?’.
“Once it appeared, it refused to leave. Swallowing, something I had done automatically my entire life, suddenly felt mechanical and deliberate. I chewed more carefully. I hesitated before swallowing. I focused intensely on my throat.
“The more attention I gave it, the tighter it felt.”
Yiorgos was eight at the time, and totally unable to cope with the fear. He stopped eating, he recalls now, “I got really skinny”. Later, the anxiety recurred in different forms – in panic attacks, or anxiety about forgetting to breathe, or about forgetting how to move his eyes.
“My parents were watching their son slowly disappear in front of them,” he writes, of his rapid weight loss as an anxious eight-year-old. “My father didn’t say much. I could see everything in his face instead. The sadness. The helplessness…”
OCD is tough on loved ones too – partly because it’s hard to discern what the problem is. Unlike some severe forms of autism, where the person really does seem locked inside their own head, Yiorgos was otherwise functional, a high achiever and, he says, “really good with people”. (He’s not autistic though he thinks he may be borderline, having a savant-like knack for mental arithmetic.) He’s actually something of a leader, personality-wise – which makes sense since his stress is related to a need for control, and made worse by uncertainty.
He was bullied at school early on, marked out as different by the classic OCD symptoms (touching a table X number of times, and so on), but generally “I don’t have any social anxiety. I’m really open to people, I do events and I’m really, like, an extrovert… But I’m a real over-thinker.”
If that were all, we wouldn’t have much to talk about – but in fact Yiorgos’ life was in the process of unravelling till a couple of years ago, before meds and therapy and the additional therapy of writing the book.
He had no great fear of the army, having done martial arts for many years. Indeed, he joined the commandos, thinking it’d be lots of push-ups and physical fitness – but instead it was peak anxiety, constantly being harried and shouted at.
He dropped out – then was posted to the Green Line, which was just as stressful. “My thoughts were so draining,” he recalls. “I couldn’t even drink water in the base, because it had that bad energy.” (He’d bring water with him, and leave it in the car so it wouldn’t get infected by bad vibes.) “I’d take off my military clothes when I went to bed and put them on again. Take them off, put them on, like nine times…” The other soldiers goggled at his freakishness. Then came university, and getting ambushed by irrational thoughts even in a multiple-choice question.
What would’ve happened, had he gone on like this? What used to happen in the past, before people had access to treatment?
“I think a lot of men were committing suicide from this thing,” he replies soberly – men being famously more reluctant to seek help for mental-health issues. “They were ending their lives from this condition, because they didn’t want to open up. And they got to a point where they couldn’t see light.”
There’s a vicious cycle, says Maria the therapist. “First, the person is socially isolated,” because they’re acting weird and people start to avoid them. The result is depression, feeling helpless and alone, then “an intense feeling of cognitive dysfunction,” the mind trying hard to figure out “what’s real, what’s in my head” – so they start to feel insecure around others, feel uncomfortable, start staying home, and become increasingly cut off.
It’s no secret that anxiety disorders have skyrocketed in Cyprus – starting from the time of Covid though admittedly that was also the time when access to psychologists became available through Gesy, so more cases were being diagnosed – and there is indeed a growing segment of (mostly older) people who’ve withdrawn from society, trapped alone with their anxiety.
Yiorgos is a young man – yet he too was in freefall, his disorder growing worse by the day, until a certain girl appeared in his life.
“I met her in Leicester, she’s Cypriot – and I’m really grateful. It’s like God brought her to me. I was in a really dark place, and I was bringing her down with me…
“But she was by my side, and she stayed, and she’s with me now, and I really hope to marry her in the future.”
The girlfriend (unnamed in the book) was patient, putting up with his odd behaviour, uncomplaining when he couldn’t sleep and kept her up too – but her main contribution was a simple six-word sentence one night, after he’d over-explained an intrusive thought for the umpteenth time:
“Have you ever looked into OCD?”
It seems astounding that, in 20 years, he’d never made the connection – but he had the wrong idea, associating OCD with obsessively neat cupboards and the like. (He may also have been, quite simply, in denial.) That night, he researched the condition for the first time – and found article after article describing, in detail, his own life.
There was a process, of course: deciding – reluctantly, at first – to see a therapist, getting an official diagnosis after years of darkness. But the die was cast. Accepting – and naming – the problem was the game-changer, culminating in the publication of I Was My Own Enemy.
The book is on Amazon (it’s among the top 100 books on OCD worldwide) and in local bookshops. Yiorgos’ next “targets” are translating it into Greek and preparing an audiobook – but meanwhile a lot has changed in his life in general.
He began medication in August 2025, and therapy soon after. He’s also launched a social-media channel called The Indomitable Club – mostly fight clips paired with inspirational quotes – which is growing fast, with 800,000 views for some of its Instagram posts. And, after being unable to complete even multiple-choice tests in his first year at uni – the school didn’t know; “I didn’t even mention all this stuff” – he recently won a prize as the year’s top student in his second year.
It’s not over. It’ll never be officially over. OCD can’t be cured, only suppressed. Even now, though he’s good with people, Yiorgos is something of a loner – happy to go by himself to the cinema, or restaurants – “because I went through all these battles by myself… I like being alone, because it’s how I learned to be”. At the end of his book he lists ‘The 7 Steps to Peace’, how to overcome OCD – but his main suggestion is perhaps the most difficult: ‘Stop Feeding the Compulsion’, i.e. allow intrusive thoughts to exist without reacting to them. But is that really possible long-term, to change the person you are so entirely?
Hopefully. Then again, maybe it doesn’t matter – because, after fighting with himself for 20 years, he can now “see light”, as he put it. Getting through the fear is half the battle. In fact, it may well be the whole battle.
The very last lines of I Was My Own Enemy put it succinctly: “I am still standing. I won”.
A 47-year-old man was remanded in custody for five days on Saturday after police found around 60g of crystal meth in his possession during a patrol in western Limassol.
The arrest was made at around 1.30pm on Friday when officers from the Limassol crime prevention unit on patrols in a village in the district, stopped the man’s vehicle for a check.
A search uncovered a zip-lock bag containing more than 2g of crystal meth on the suspect. Officers then searched the vehicle and found a second concealed bag containing approximately 59g of the drug.
Police also said the 47-year-old was driving with an expired learner’s permit.
The suspect was arrested and taken to the Limassol offices of the drug squad (Ykan), where he admitted that the drugs belonged to him.
He appeared before the district court on Saturday, which remanded him in custody for five days while investigations continue.
Two 30-year-old men were remanded in custody for six days on Saturday after police found more than 500g of cocaine in their possession during a drug trafficking investigation in Limassol.
Officers from the Limassol drug squad (Ykan) are continuing investigations to identify the suspects’ suppliers and associates.
The arrests were made at around 10pm on Friday after officers, acting on intelligence relating to the trafficking and supply of drugs, stopped a vehicle carrying the two men.
A search of the vehicle uncovered a package containing approximately 510g of cocaine.
The two suspects were arrested and appeared before the Limassol district court on Saturday, which remanded them for six days while investigations continue.
Two 34-year-old men were remanded in custody for eight days on Saturday after a police pursuit in Larnaca ended with the seizure of approximately 1.5kg of cocaine.
At around 11pm on Friday a police officer on patrol in the Larnaca district spotted a vehicle being driven suspiciously and signalled for the driver to stop.
Instead, the driver sped away, prompting the officer to pursue the vehicle while calling for backup.
Members of the rapid response unit (MMAD) quickly joined the chase while the driver continued driving dangerously before losing control of the vehicle, which left the road and came to a stop in a ditch.
Officers found two 34-year-old men inside.
A subsequent search uncovered a package containing approximately 1.57kg of cocaine.
The two men were arrested and appeared before Larnaca district court on Saturday, where they were remanded in custody for eight days while investigations continue.
Love & Peace Icetea launched with a simple idea at its core. A premium, lightly sparkling iced tea that blends lifestyle branding with a social mission. The drink comes in 0.33l glass bottles and is currently available in Peach Sugar Free and Lemon flavours.
And it has begun to appear at selected venues across the island, including beach bars, restaurants and brunch spots such as Ammos Beach Bar and Amano Kitchen Bar.
Behind the launch is entrepreneur David Blabolil, who says the idea was born from a desire to combine refreshment with meaning.
“At the times we are living in, a little love and peace is what we need,” he says. “We are not a global giant with huge marketing budgets, but we believe we have a strong story and something real to share.”
Unlike conventional iced teas, Love & Peace Icetea introduces a soft sparkle that gives it a lighter, more festive feel. The brand positions itself somewhere between soft drink and lifestyle beverage, aiming to appeal to a younger, experience-driven audience.
Blabolil is open about the challenges of entering a competitive market dominated by global brands.
“We are just starting and still building partnerships,” he explains. “But we are present in Cyprus already and we are growing step by step. Some of our partners are active on Instagram and helping us spread the word organically.”
Despite the modest beginnings, the ambition behind the project is clear. The drink is designed as a platform for visibility and charity.
A central part of the concept is its charitable contribution. Every bottle sold supports a cause in Cyprus, with the focus on children facing serious illness.
The brand is currently working with the One Dream One Wish association, a foundation active since 1997 that provides support to children with cancer, leukaemia and related conditions.
Blabolil emphasises that the donation model is built directly into the product rather than treated as a side campaign.
“Every bottle we sell means the charity receives a donation,” he says. “We wanted something simple and transparent where people know that their purchase has an impact.”
Although Love & Peace Icetea is a German product, those behind it are keen to make a difference in Cyprus and One Dream One Wish has also welcomed the collaboration.
Its president George Penintaex describes the partnership as a meaningful opportunity to connect with the public in a different way.
“We are very pleased to partner with Love & Peace Icetea to find a new and literally refreshing way to support the foundation and the families we care for,” he says.
The drink’s arrival also coincides with the busy summer season, when Cyprus’ hospitality sector sees increased demand for cold beverages and outdoor experiences.
For Blabolil, this timing is not accidental.
“We launched now because Cyprus in summer is about outdoor life, beaches and social moments,” he says. “It felt like the right environment for something refreshing and positive.”
Beyond its commercial launch, Love & Peace Icetea is also exploring cultural and community involvement. The brand has begun supporting youth initiatives such as dance and sports projects, including local creative groups in Nicosia.
This reflects a broader intention to connect with younger audiences in a more direct and personal way, rather than relying solely on traditional advertising.
Blabolil says the goal is to build something that feels alive in the community.
“We are not trying to be just another drink on the shelf,” he explains. “We want to be part of moments, events and positive energy.”
At its heart, Love & Peace Icetea is built around a straightforward idea. A drink that carries a message of optimism while supporting real families in need.
Blabolil believes this combination is what sets the brand apart.
“If people can enjoy something nice and at the same time help someone else, then we have already achieved something meaningful,” he says.
As the brand continues to expand in Cyprus, its success will depend not only on taste and branding, but on whether consumers connect with its message.
For now, it enters the market with a simple invitation.
So, are you team peach or team lemon?
Cyprus Civil Defence is on heightened alert because of the increased risk of wildfires, with patrols being carried out to support prevention efforts and ensure a rapid response if needed, spokesman Panayiotis Liasides said on Saturday.
“We are on standby and monitoring forecasts issued by the meteorological department. We are in constant communication with the national coordinator for major wildfires, the fire service, the forestry department and all other competent authorities,” Liasides said.
“We have vehicles carrying out patrols and we are in a state of increased readiness so that, should the need arise, we can also provide assistance,” he said.
Liasides also referred to the major wildfires currently affecting Spain and France, saying both countries had initially requested aerial firefighting assistance from Cyprus.
However, he said the requests were later withdrawn after Spain received support from Portugal, while France informed Cypriot authorities that it no longer required aerial assets.
A total of three people are now in police custody in connection with a crystal meth trafficking investigation after a 29-year-old man appeared before the Limassol district court on Saturday.
The court remanded the man for five days.
Two other suspects, a 50-year-old man and a 42-year-old woman, have been in custody since Wednesday after police seized around 150g of crystal meth during a coordinated anti-drugs operation.
The investigation began after officers received information about the trafficking and supply of methamphetamines.
On Tuesday, members of the drug squad (Ykan) placed the suspects under surveillance and observed the older man and the woman travelling by car to a village in the Paphos district, where they met the 29-year-old, who arrived in a separate vehicle.
Police said the 50-year-old was seen handing an object to the younger man after taking money from his pocket. He then allegedly collected another object from the 29-year-old’s vehicle before all three suspects left the scene.
Officers later stopped the 50-year-old and the 42-year-old in the Limassol district. A search of their vehicle uncovered four plastic bags containing a total of 145g of crystal meth, as well as a smoking pipe bearing traces of the drug.
The pair were arrested on the spot for drug offences and were later remanded in custody for seven days by the Limassol district court.
The 29-year-old was initially not located and a court warrant was subsequently issued for his arrest.
Police said he was apprehended on Friday after officers from Ykan, Paphos CID and the Paphos rapid response unit stopped his vehicle in the Paphos district following a tip off.
A search uncovered a further 5g of crystal meth in his possession.
He appeared before the Limassol district court on Saturday, which ordered that he remain in custody for five days.
Police are investigating suspected offences including conspiracy to commit a felony, illegal possession of drugs, possession of drugs with intent to supply, supplying drugs, illegal drug use and money laundering.
Investigations by Ykan in Limassol and Paphos are continuing.
Environmental organisation Terra Cypria renewed concerns on Saturday over construction activity at the abandoned settlement of Trozena, alleging that works are continuing inside the Natura 2000 protected area without the required environmental or planning permits.
The latest claims come months after the project first drew scrutiny, with questions raised over the legality of redevelopment plans for the abandoned villages of Trozena and Gerovasa, located within the Hapotami Special Protection Area, a site protected under the EU’s Natura 2000 network.
Terra Cypria said a site visit on Tuesday found construction activity continuing both within and outside the boundaries of the proposed development.
The organisation alleges that the works are being carried out without environmental approval, planning permission or a building permit, and says the environment department has failed to respond to repeated requests for environmental information.
Terra Cypria said it had first raised concerns in 2025 after a Special Ecological Assessment was submitted for the redevelopment of the two abandoned settlements.
During the assessment process in 2026, it said authorities identified that earthworks and construction had already begun before the necessary approvals had been granted.
According to the organisation, letters sent to the environment department at the time received no response.
In a new letter sent on July 22, Terra Cypria requested an update on the actions taken by the relevant authorities, including the environment department, the game and fauna service and the Limassol district local government organisation (EOA), as well as clarification on the implementation of national and European environmental legislation.
The organisation called on the authorities to enforce the law immediately, ensure the protection of the Natura 2000 site and take all necessary measures to address the alleged violations.
However, Arsos community leader Giannis Giannakis speaking to the Cyprus Mail disputed the allegations.
He said construction works at Trozena had stopped at the end of May and had not resumed since.
He added that a meeting was held at the Limassol EOA last week to discuss the matter and that the community is now awaiting the environment department’s position before any further steps are taken.
The abandoned village became the centre of a debate touching on foreign investment, environmental protection, public access and national identity as the project is a substantial redevelopment of 64 rooms, 16 restored structures, with capacity for 132 visitors.
There are plans for a winery, a large restaurant, wellness facilities, reception areas, glamping infrastructure, and vineyards.
Local development can only be achieved through continuous improvements to people’s daily lives, better infrastructure and close cooperation between central government and local authorities, Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said on Friday night.
Speaking at the annual dinner of the Kellia municipal district and AEK Kellia association, Ioannou said local government reform, now two years into its implementation, aims to create stronger and more effective local authorities that are better equipped to meet the needs of residents.
He said the government remains committed to implementing the reform in cooperation with local authorities so that its benefits become increasingly visible in citizens’ everyday lives.
Referring to Kellia, Ioannou described it as a community with a long history and distinct identity, noting that following the 1974 Turkish invasion it hosted refugees from 34 occupied villages.
He also praised the local community for preserving its traditional character while continuing to develop and adapt to modern challenges.
The minister congratulated AEK Kellia for its longstanding contribution to the community, saying its work through sport, culture and social initiatives helps provide meaningful opportunities for young people while strengthening social cohesion.
Ioannou added that the success of the local government reform depends on cooperation, mutual understanding and a shared vision. He said he was confident that Aradippou municipality, where Kellia is located, has all the necessary conditions to continue its development by making full use of the opportunities offered by the new local government model.
Archaeologists working at the Skalia archaeological site in Kissonerga have uncovered further significant finds from one of Cyprus’ longest-inhabited Bronze Age settlements, Akamas municipality said on Saturday.
The excavation team from the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute (CAARI) and the HARP project, led by Dr Lindy Crewe, continued its work at the site, which was continuously occupied for almost 800 years, from around 2500BC to 1650BC.
According to the municipality, this year’s excavations have provided further evidence of the settlement’s development and have reinforced previous discoveries of what is believed to be one of the world’s oldest breweries, confirming that beer played an important role in the social and ritual life of the settlement’s inhabitants some 4,000 years ago.
To mark the completion of this year’s excavation season, Akamas municipal councillor Neophytos Constantinou visited the site and met the archaeological team.
He thanked Dr Crewe, the archaeologists, researchers and students taking part in the mission, as well as the Akamas school board, which is once again hosting the team.
“It is particularly important to support efforts such as these, which highlight the history of Kissonerga and help preserve our cultural heritage,” Constantinou said.
President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Saturday reaffirmed their commitment to restarting Cyprus settlement talks within the framework of UN Security Council resolutions, as they met in Athens ahead of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ visit to the island next week.
Speaking before their meeting at the Maximos Mansion, Mitsotakis said Greece would continue to stand firmly alongside Cyprus and stressed that neither country would deviate from the UN framework for resolving the Cyprus issue.
“We fully support your initiatives for a meaningful resumption of negotiations, always within the framework of the United Nations Security Council resolutions,” Mitsotakis said. “This is a position from which Greece and Cyprus will never depart.”
He described the timing of the meeting as particularly significant, pointing to heightened tensions in the wider region and renewed diplomatic activity on Cyprus.
Mitsotakis said that Guterres would visit Cyprus next week for the first time in almost two decades for a UNSG, adding that the current momentum created a sense of urgency.
“If real progress is to be made, now is the time to explore the possibilities,” he said, pledging Greece’s continued support for Christodoulides during the upcoming discussions.
The Greek prime minister also highlighted the two countries’ cooperation on civil protection, noting that Greece had deployed two firefighting aircraft to Spain as wildfires continue to affect parts of southern Europe.
Christodoulides said the government’s strategy had succeeded in generating renewed international interest in the Cyprus issue after years of diplomatic stagnation.
“The actions we have taken, the strategy we have followed and our political will have led to this international interest,” he said, referring to Guterres’ visit and increased European Union engagement.
He said it was now widely recognised that the Cyprus problem is also a European issue, pointing to the appointment of a European Commission executive vice-president as the bloc’s special representative for Cyprus as evidence of the EU’s growing involvement.
The president said his objective was for next week’s visit by the UNSG to produce tangible progress towards restarting negotiations from where they broke down in Crans-Montana in 2017.
“We have the political will and we have a clear plan,” Christodoulides said. “Our aim is not only to resume negotiations but ultimately, after 52 years since the Turkish invasion and occupation, to achieve the reunification of Cyprus.”
He also revealed that he had received an initial briefing following Friday’s meeting between the UN secretary-general’s personal envoy Maria Angela Holguin and Turkey’s foreign minister, saying the two leaders would discuss the latest developments during their talks.
Following their private meeting, the two leaders held expanded discussions with members of their respective government delegations.
The family of a British father facing prosecution over the death of his three-year-old son is seeking support from the UK government to allow him to return to Britain for the child’s funeral, according to media reports.
The father, 37, who has been charged with causing death by a rash, reckless or dangerous act, is currently on bail and prohibited from leaving Cyprus pending a court hearing on July 31.
According to media reports, the family hopes the UK’s foreign secretary Ed Miliband will engage with Cypriot authorities on humanitarian grounds to enable the father to attend the funeral after next week’s court proceedings.
The boy died on July 12 after falling from a fourth-floor window at a luxury hotel in Chlorakas, near Paphos, on the first day of the family’s holiday.
Police have said the child fell while playing with his father in a corridor outside the family’s room as they were waiting for a lift. Investigators believe the boy slipped from his father’s grip and fell through an open window.
The father was arrested later that evening and initially remanded in custody for eight days before being released on €20,000 bail.
Under his bail conditions, he was ordered to surrender all travel documents, report weekly to Paphos central police station and remain in Cyprus pending trial proceedings.
Paphos police assistant operations director Michalis Nikolaou told the Cyprus Mail that “a quantity of alcohol” had been found in the man’s blood during testing, and that “this fact will be evaluated by the court which will hear the case”.
High-profile criminal lawyer Christos Triantafyllides stated that “in 46 years as a lawyer, I have never seen anything like this”, and described the earlier lenghty remand decision as a “major mistake”.
Whether all relevant safety requirements at the hotel had been met is also being looked into.
Cyprus’ foreign ministry on Saturday condemned a Russian strike on the Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, which killed civilians and damaged Latvia’s honorary consulate.
“The targeting of residential areas is completely unacceptable. Our condolences go to the families of the victims. We stand in solidarity with Ukraine and Latvia,”” the ministry said in a post on X.
A Russian ballistic missile strike on Friday in Ukraine’s Kyiv region killed 10 people and injured close to 100 at the site of a defence industry event that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said should never have taken place.
Ukraine’s Emergency Services said its crews had completed rescue operations at the site north of the capital.
Pictures posted online by the emergency services showed teams sifting through piles of rubble at the site, adjacent to several houses.
Thirteen people were arrested during coordinated police operations carried out across Cyprus on Friday night as part of ongoing efforts to prevent crime and strengthen public safety.
According to police, the arrests were linked to offences including illegal drug possession, illegal employment, drink driving and other criminal offences.
During the operations, officers stopped 600 vehicles and checked 973 people. They also carried out inspections at 59 premises, resulting in 15 reports for various offences.
Traffic enforcement officers reported 317 drivers for a range of road traffic violations, while a further 11 traffic-related cases remain under investigation. Of those reported, 103 were caught exceeding the speed limit, while 10 vehicles were impounded.
Police also conducted 304 breathalyser tests, with 21 drivers reported for driving under the influence of alcohol.
In addition, two preliminary drug tests were carried out, with both returning positive results.
Police said the targeted crime prevention and enforcement operations will continue on a daily basis, with an increased police presence and intensified checks across the island.
Seasonal low pressure is affecting the area, bringing mostly fine weather on Saturday, with a chance of isolated afternoon showers before temperatures begin to rise again in the coming days.
After early morning low cloud clears, Saturday will be mostly sunny. Later in the day, locally increased cloud is expected to bring isolated showers, mainly over the mountains and eastern parts of the island.
Winds will be southwesterly to northwesterly, initially light to moderate at 3 to 4 Beaufort, briefly strengthening to force 4 and locally force 5, while southeastern coastal areas could see strong winds reaching force 6 later in the day. The sea will be slight to rough, and locally rough.
Temperatures will reach around 34C inland, 30C along the southwest and west coasts, 33C elsewhere on the coast and 25C in the higher mountains.
Overnight, there will initially be periods of increased cloud in the east, where an isolated shower cannot be ruled out. Conditions will gradually become mostly clear, although patches of low cloud are expected to persist in western areas.
Winds will ease from southwesterly to northwesterly at 3 to 4 Beaufort before becoming light and variable overnight. The sea will gradually become slight along southern and eastern coasts, while remaining slight to rough elsewhere.
Temperatures will fall to around 22C inland and along the coast, and to 14C in the higher mountains.
Sunday will be generally mostly sunny, although locally increased cloud during the early afternoon may bring isolated showers, mainly over mountainous areas. Monday and Tuesday are expected to remain mostly clear.
Temperatures will remain largely unchanged on Sunday, staying slightly below seasonal averages, before rising noticeably through Tuesday to above average levels.
The fifth and final production of this year’s International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama arrives soon as the National Theatre of Greece presenting Euripides’ Alcestis under the direction of Dimitris Karantzas. On August 7 and 8, an exciting cast will meet with audiences at the Curium Ancient Theatre.
Iro Bezou performs the title role of Alcestis, while the production also features, among others, Konstantinos Avarikiotis, Dimitra Vlagkopoulou, Giorgos Zygouris, Giannis Niarros, Kostas Nikouli, Aineias Tsamatis and Theodora Tzimou.
Dimitris Karantzas directs the National Theatre of Greece’s production as a contemporary parable with a strong political undertone. A dual-natured play, a constant hovering between life and death, playfulness and nightmare, devastating tragedy and unexpected comedy.
In the play, Admetus can only evade Death’s claim if someone else consents to die in his place. His spouse, Alcestis, offers herself in exchange. Her sacrifice unfolds publicly, before the eyes of the citizens, as a preordained killing – an act that can only be read today as femicide, legitimised by the prevailing societal and political power.
Alcestis is the sole surviving work from the body of ancient Greek tragedy to bring not only Death onto the stage, but also Resurrection. And yet the question remains unresolved: what does it mean to restore life once the sacrifice has already been made? What lies within Alcestis’ deafening silence? And what is the true cost of salvation when it rests upon the self-sacrifice of the most vulnerable?
The director orchestrates Alcestis as a stage experiment, in which music, sound, movement and a balancing act of theatrical style coexist organically, creating a fluid, liminal and ever-changing world.
With a remarkable cast and crew, the production becomes a theatrical argument that does not merely recount the myth, but raises crucial questions about power, gender, sacrifice and society’s responsibility towards the death of the eponymous – and not only – heroine.
The National Theatre of Greece’s production marks the conclusion of this year’s festival, arriving just after Lea Maleni’s production of the Cypriot participation in the festival, with Seven Against Thebes by Aeschylus on July 27, 28, 31 and on August 1.
This production will be presented in Nicosia and Limassol before the Euripides’ Alcestis concludes the festival back at the emblematic Curium Ancient Theatre.
Alcestis
The National Theatre of Greece presents Euripides’ tragedy. Part of the International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama. August 7-8. Curium Ancient Theatre, Limassol. 9pm. With English and Greek surtitles. Tel: 7000-2414. www.greekdramafest.com, www.soldoutticketbox.com
Recent opinion surveys indicate that the affordability crisis is the most pressing concern for Cyprus households. Indeed, many state their inability to cope with daily cost-of-living pressures and doubt that they will be able to maintain their current standard of living once they stop working. And many younger people say that they are increasingly unable to afford decent accommodation in the face of surging housing costs.
Moreover, with prices and costs accelerating since February 2026 owing largely to the impact of the war with Iran, the affordability crisis in Cyprus and most other countries has intensified.
But policy makers need to know which groups of the population are being hit hardest by higher prices and housing costs to devise remedial measures and reforms. Indeed, what is the situation for Cyprus on levels of income, net wealth and regular expenses for the different categories of the household population?
Base data
Importantly, the ECB’s recent Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HCFS) for 2023i provides valuable base data on the net wealth, incomes, and expenses of households in euro area member countries and Hungary and the Czech Republic.
This HFCS reveals that, while Cyprus households on average have greater net wealth than most of their counterparts in the euro area, the levels of incomes of Cyprus households on average are considerably below that of households of many members in the euro area. Indeed, the median annual gross income per Cyprus household was 30.900 euro in 2023, whereas the median for euro area households was 37,100 euro.
Most notably, this ECB survey shows that the bottom 20 per cent of Cyprus households according to income were experiencing difficulties in meeting regular expenses, including debt servicing, and in their ability to save in 2023. The median annual gross income of the bottom 20 per cent of Cyprus households was estimated at 10,300 euro in 2023, with only a lowly 9.8 per cent of these households estimated as having the ability to save. And the median debt service to income ratio of this lower income group of Cyprus households was estimated at a very high 56.7 per cent in 2023 compared with an average of 19.2 per cent for similar euro area households.
What is striking as well is that the middle-income quintile of Cyprus households had a median gross annual income of 29,700 euro in 2023, which was 20 per cent lower than the average for the corresponding income of euro area households. And after taking account of their regular expenses, only 15.1 per cent of this middle group of households in Cyprus had the ability to save compared with a much higher 42.5 per cent for the corresponding quintile of euro area households.
Furthermore, households of young persons in Cyprus of 16 to 34 years recorded a median annual gross annual income of 24,000 euro in 2023, which was over 30 per cent below that of the incomes of corresponding households in the euro area. And most importantly only a mere 18.2 per cent of these younger households had the ability to save to, among other things, have the means to purchase housing and raise a family. In marked contrast, around 50 per cent of the younger households in the euro area had the ability to save.
Although the concerning data for Cyprus on the inability of numerous lower and middle-income households to meet their regular expenses, including many with overwhelming debt servicing payments, refers to 2023, the rise of household real incomes over the last two years and the impact of inflation on real debt has not lessened the affordability crisis for numerous families and generally of the inability of households to saveii.
Even the Cyprus government, which has tended to downplay the financial needs of low-income employees and pensioners, has since early 2025 reduced taxes and provided subsidies to try to make the cost of living more affordable for the population. Furthermore, the government is promising more measures and social security reform over the coming 18 months to deal with the affordability and housing crises.
And the IMF in its recent report on Cyprus, despite being critical of the short-term horizontal policy actions extended by the government to address the cost-of-living pressures on households, calls for temporary, well-targeted measures to assist persons being most adversely affected by the affordability crisis.
Need for substantive measures and reforms
The Cyprus government and international institutions appear to act as though the affordability crisis is temporary and is attributable to external factors. They don’t acknowledge that the relatively low level of incomes and pensions paid to the majority of the population in Cyprus reflect persistent system, structural, and institutional weaknesses, that require fixing with substantive measures and serious reforms to help alleviate the affordability crisis.
Employee incomes
The main source of the incomes of households is the compensation paid for the work of private sector employees, many of which are employed in the low-productivity sectors of the economy. It is estimated that the median income of workers in the leading retail trade, construction, and accommodation and food and beverage service activities sectors, averaged a lowly 1,400 euro per month in 2024 and that these workers received no more than a 5 per cent increase in their wages in 2025.
While raising social benefits and minimum wage regulations can be used to contribute to increasing the incomes of the households of lowly paid workers and pensioners, any substantial and sustained increases in the remuneration of employees, particularly of the much larger group of middle-income workers, will need to be supported by increases in productivity.
Traditionally, the questionable systems of Cyprus enable many employers to make easy profits by eliciting favorable contracts and treatment from the government, evading taxes, and not complying with labor, building, and other regulations including in the exploitation of labor in the payment of incomes, rather than in taking action to raise productivity.
Accordingly, the Cyprus government needs to employ a “stick and carrot approach” using strict and even-handed enforcement of laws and regulations, including combatting prolific tax evasion to iron out the irregularities and corruption of many businesses, and in implementing taxation and spending policies to give incentives to employers to take measures to raise the productivity of their businesses.
More specifically, the government along with employers can play a role in boosting business productivity by, among other things, empowering employees through facilitating investments and training in upgrading their skills and in ensuring worker rights, and by encouraging innovation and the application of advanced technologies, including the efficient use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), with tax incentives and expenditure grants.
Housing
In addition, while young people should benefit from the offering of better jobs associated with efforts to raise productivity there are a number of policy measures that the government and banks could take to support the ability of local citizens, particularly younger persons, to afford the purchase of a house. Surely, the government can rearrange tax incentives much more in favor of the building and buying of lower-cost social housing as against giving generous tax treatment to developers and purchasers, including especially foreign companies, of “more up-market” properties.
Also, banks should devise schemes to offer much higher deposit rates to younger persons savingiii in order to purchase a house, while the government should consider subsidizing mortgage loans to lower-income households, with possibly financing from the proceeds of an extraordinary tax on high bank profits.
Pensions
Against the background of an aging population the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Marinos Moushouttas sees pension reform as the government’s top social priority, aiming at balancing the social security system’s sustainability with the provision of decent, adequate pensions, while at the same time expressing no intention of increasing the retirement threshold beyond the age of 65 years.
Notably, the statements of the Minister don’t give any assurance that minimum pensions will be raised in a timely manner to adequate levels so that pensioners can eke out a decent standard of living. Indeed, with 33 per cent of Cyprus pensioners receiving incomes below the poverty line Moushouttas has said that “raising low pensions to the poverty threshold level was not economically feasible under current conditions” and added that “any further expenditure resulting from changes to benefits must be offset by savings in expenditure elsewhere”.
Indeed, the statement of the Minister seems to reflect the priority of the government in focusing on populist announcements rather than supporting the living standards of existing pensioners and future generations with substantive and timely reforms.
Undeniably, serious reform of the social security system involving the bringing of pensions to adequate levels, increasing the retirement threshold age, and raising contribution rates to the Social Security Fund and the National Health Scheme should be a priority of the government.
Leslie G. Manison is Founder and Consultant, LG Manison Consulting Services, formerly Advisor to the Minister of Finance, Republic of Cyprus. Views expressed are personal. The article is republished from the blog of the Cyprus Economic Society.
I'm currently learning the Go programming language, and I have some background in C++. Is one week enough to learn the basics?
I'm looking for some feedback on this project structure for a Go modular monolith.
I know the Go community usually prefers flatter package structures, and this one has a bit more nesting than what's commonly recommended.
myapp/ |-- cmd/ | `-- api/ | `-- main.go |-- internal/ | |-- order/ | | |-- domain/ | | | |-- order.go | | | |-- order_item.go | | | |-- money.go | | | |-- status.go | | | `-- repository.go | | |-- app/ | | | |-- place_order.go | | | |-- cancel_order.go | | | `-- ports.go | | `-- adapters/ | | |-- postgres/ | | `-- http/ | `-- product/ `-- go.mod The idea is to keep each bounded context self-contained:
domain contains the business logic.app contains the use cases and acts as the orchestration layer between the domain and external adapters.adapters contains things like HTTP handlers and Postgres implementations.I understand this isn't the typical Go style, but I feel the extra nesting makes the boundaries much clearer, especially as the project grows.
Would you consider this good architecture, or is it unnecessarily complex for Go?
If you would structure it differently, I'd love to know why.
| Go on lego, should it exists? maybe not, but i had fun I still need to clean it and OSS it when I have the time, wanted to share my journey, of going low resource barebones [link] [comments] |