by Charlie Charalambous NICOSIA, Cyprus (AFP) — Cyprus said Tuesday it was closing schools in the capital, banning mass gatherings and locking down two major hospitals to combat novel coronavirus, after three people on the Mediterranean island tested positive for the illness. The Republic of Cyprus had on Monday reported its first two cases of the disease, including the chief heart surgeon at its biggest hospital. And on Tuesday, the Turkish-controlled north of the island […]
Tag: cyprus
Cyprus reports first 2 coronavirus cases, all EU states now hit
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AFP) — Cyprus on Monday reported its first two confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, meaning that all 27 European Union member states have now reported infections. Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou said the two cases were both Cypriot men who had recently travelled home from overseas, and had been among dozens of people tested. “Two of… 50 samples were positive, so these are the first cases of the coronavirus in Cyprus… there […]
Cyprus court hands 7 life terms to ‘first serial killer’; four of seven victims were from PHL
A Greek Cypriot army captain who murdered five women and two girls was handed seven life sentences Monday in an unprecedented serial killing case that has shocked the Mediterranean island. Nikos Metaxas, 35, had pleaded guilty to the premeditated murders, all targeting foreigners, which sparked anger over perceived police racism. Three of his victims were Filipinas working there, while another girl — the seventh victim recovered by authorities — was a daughter of one […]
Cyprus racers show budget solar cars have a sunny future
by Isabelle WESSELINGH and Emily IRVING-SWIFT NICOSIA, Cyprus (AFP) — Venetia Chrysostomide fastened her helmet and rolled her solar-powered car into the sunny streets of Cypriot capital Nicosia for a race to showcase such vehicles’ eco-friendly potential, even on a budget. The 16-year-old’s 5,000-euro (nearly $5,700) car is one of that took part in Sunday’s three-hour “Cyprus Institute Solar Car Challenge”, running solely on the Mediterranean island’s most plentiful resource: sunshine. Many of the drivers […]
Cyprus’s emblematic wild sheep lock horns with mountain farmers
by Claire Gounon GERAKIES, Cyprus (AFP) — Surveying his orchard in the Troodos Mountains, Cypriot farmer John Papadouris is convinced the island’s treasured wild sheep would have destroyed his crop without action. With the males’ distinct arched horns, the mouflon is a national symbol of Cyprus, where it has roamed for thousands of years and is protected by law. But after making their home in the western forests of Paphos, they have been creeping east […]
Cyprus justice minister resigns over public outcry on gov’t response to serial killings; victims included Filipina OFWs
by Charlie Charalambous Agence France Presse NICOSIA , Cyprus (AFP) — Cyprus Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou said he resigned on Thursday after a public outcry over the botched response to the serial killing of seven foreign women and girls, including two Filipina domestic workers and a child. Nicolaou said he tendered his resignation to President Nicos Anastasiades for reasons of “principle and conscience”, while adding he had no personal involvement in the case that […]
Police in Cyprus continue search for 6-year old Filipino girl, other victims of serial killer as public outrage grows
Bodies of 3 Filipina domestic workers killed by Greek Cypriot officer already found A general view shows the Red Lake, a suspected dump site for a suspected serial killer, in Mitsero village, southwest of the capital Nicosia on April 26, 2019. – Cypriot authorities were combing lakes for the remains of three women and a girl, all Filipinos, dumped by a suspected serial killer, in a hunt for bodies that has shocked the island. (Photo […]
3 Filipino women murdered in first recorded serial killing in Cyprus; killer confesses to 7 killings
Authorities in Cyprus on Thursday uncovered a body of a woman, the third Filipina murdered by a suspected serial killer who had confessed to seven killings. This came as police widened a probe into the murders which were done by a 35-year old Greek Cypriot army officer who admitted to killing the three Filipinas whom he had reportedly met through an online dating site. The suspect, who is now in police custody, had even identified […]
Turkey condemns ‘unacceptable’ EU comments on Greece, Cyprus
ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — Turkey on Friday condemned a statement by European Union leaders bitterly critical of Ankara’s policies towards bloc members Cyprus and Greece, raising tensions just days ahead of a key summit. “The statement that was issued contained unacceptable comments against our country that serve the interests of Greece and the Greek Cypriots,” foreign ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy told reporters in response to Thursday’s EU statement. EU President Donald Tusk and European Commission […]
New party gives voice to Russian speakers in Cyprus
LIMASSOL, Cyprus (AFP) – Muscovite pensioner Svetlana Bogomilova emerges from a Russian grocery store into the Mediterranean sunshine near the Limassol beachfront in Cyprus. “It is very convenient here,” the retired teacher told AFP as a family with a pushchair strolled by chatting in Russian. “There is everything you could need.” Across the European Union’s most easterly member it is easy to spot the influence of the island’s sizable Russian-speaking community. In the seaside city of Limassol […]
Cyprus struggles to tackle ‘industrial’ songbird poaching
Volunteers and police in Cyprus are struggling to tackle illegal songbird trapping operations that kill millions of birds a year and net huge profits for poaching gangs. (AFP Video) https://youtu.be/y1VEvRgFPIU
Deal to unite Cyprus ‘close’: UN chief
by Ben Simon / Fulya Ozerkan Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) – A deal to end decades of division in Cyprus is close, UN chief Antonio Guterres said Thursday, as he led a crunch conference on solving one of the world’s longest-running political crises. Guterres was undertaking his first foreign trip as the United Nations’ secretary general seeking a breakthrough at a Geneva summit that involves rival Cypriot sides as well as Greece, Turkey and […]





