🧀**Halloumi from northern Cyprus will finally be able to go to the EU — 5 years after approval (and Cypriots are not exactly happy about it)
**Exports of Turkish Cypriot halloumi to the European Union via the Green Line may begin after a five-year pause. Inspections of producers have been assigned to the Paris-based bureau Bureau Veritas. The law has allowed exports since 2021, but all this time no sanitary inspectors were appointed.

📜 What happened in 2021:
The European Commission granted halloumi PDO status (Protected Designation of Origin) and allowed the sale of Turkish Cypriot halloumi into the EU via the Green Line, provided it meets European safety standards.

🏭 Who will export:
Four PDO-certified producers (Gulgun, Arden, Garanti, Meric) and 24 dairies in the north. In total, since 2021, the EU has allocated about €30 million for the program, including €6.5 million in 2024.**
**⚠️But there is a problem — foot-and-mouth disease:
Exports are directly dependent on livestock health. Cyprus has been experiencing a foot-and-mouth outbreak since March. Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman has proposed creating a joint technical committee on halloumi for veterinary coordination between the two communities.**
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**⛽️ Cyprus Consumer Association: new fuel price hikes — increases without warning
**Today, April 16, a fuel price increase was recorded. One importing company announced a rise in 95-octane petrol by 2 cents per liter. However, 22 gas stations of another company raised prices without any announcement at all.

📊 What happened:
— 22 stations raised prices silently; their company did not notify of any increase
— Of these, 7 raised prices even higher than the level announced by the other company
— At stations belonging to the company that did announce a rise, prices increased by exactly 2 cents (or less)

🗣️ Association statement:
"It is unfortunate that the competent authorities monitoring prices and promising measures are essentially doing nothing. Their statements are for show, with no real effect."**
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🥤**Cyprus second in the EU for plastic bottle consumption: 16.6 bottles per person per year
**According to a European Commission report for 2022 (published in April 2026), Cyprus ranks second in the European Union for single-use plastic bottle consumption per capita — 16.6 bottles. Only Malta is higher, at 22.8. For comparison, in Finland it is about 3 bottles per person.

📊 Recycling rates:
— Plastic bottle collection rate in Cyprus is only 45.62% (EU average is 71%)
— By 2025, the EU target is 77%; by 2030 — 90%
— Germany, Finland, Denmark and others have already achieved these targets thanks to deposit return systems

🗑️ Overall waste situation on the island:
— Recycling rate is about 15–16% (EU average ~49%)
— 59–77% of waste goes to landfills
— Cyprus risks failing to meet European recycling targets

💰 What will change:
Cyprus has already passed a deposit return system law. For each bottle, an additional 5–10 cents will be added at purchase, which can be refunded by returning the empty container to a reverse vending machine (tartomat). Owners of large supermarkets (200 m² and above) will be required to install such machines.**
**👉The exact launch date has not yet been announced, but the process is underway. For residents, this means slightly higher upfront costs, but with the ability to get money back — and less plastic in landfills and the sea.**
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⚽️**Cyprus launches "Blood League": football fans compete in blood donation
**The Cyprus Red Cross, the Blood Centre, the Cyprus Football Association, and the Ministry of Health have announced the launch of the "Blood League" — an unusual competition between football club fans. The campaign runs from March 30 to June 20.
**
🩸 **How to participate:
Simply go to any donation centre wearing your club's colours (scarf, shirt, badge) or just name your team. Each donor scores one point for their club.

🏆 Who wins:
The club whose fans donate the most blood will be crowned champion of the Blood League. The winner will be announced at a special ceremony.

🗣️ Miltos Miltiadous (Secretary of OSAK, President of the Cyprus Thalassaemia Association):
"We regularly face blood shortages, especially for patients with thalassaemia who need constant transfusions. This initiative engages young people and creates healthy competition. Blood is life."**
👉The project brings together sport and donation, turning helping others into a competition between fans.
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🚨**Overnight police raids: 275 fines and 8 vehicles impounded
**Police carried out another large-scale overnight operation across Cyprus.

🚗 468 vehicles were stopped, 581 people were checked.

📝 275 traffic fines were issued, 115 of them for speeding.

🍷 132 alcohol tests — 4 positive.

🚘 8 vehicles were impounded.

🏪 45 establishments were checked — no complaints.

Police continue enhanced raids every day. If you are behind the wheel — don't drink, don't speed, and make sure your documents are in order.**
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🏨**850 hotels in Cyprus without licenses: parliament grants extension until 2028 — despite criticism
**Parliament has extended the transitional regime for unlicensed hotels and accommodation facilities. The vote was 25 in favor, 1 against, and 15 abstentions. They can now operate legally until December 31, 2028.

📜 Background:
The problem is over 20 years old. After planning incentives were introduced in 2013, hotels actively expanded and renovated but did not complete paperwork. By March 2023, only 5–6% of properties had licenses. Currently, about 45% are licensed, but AKEL MP Kostas Kostas claims that fewer than 25% are actually licensed, and more than half have not even submitted applications.

⚖️ Why the law was passed this way:
The president returned the previous version, pointing to inequality between legal hotels and those that ignored requirements for years. The government submitted a new version — a simple extension of the transitional period until 2028, conditional on meeting basic safety requirements.

🗣️ MP reactions:
— Kyriakos Hadjiyannis (DISY), author of the previous law, abstained: "Endless extensions are a dead end. 850 properties still without licenses."
— Kostas Efstathiou (independent) — the only vote against: "It is unacceptable that the state cannot bring order to a sector on which the economy depends."
— Kostas Kostas (AKEL): "Some do nothing because they know they will get an extension. Parliament had a gun to its head."**
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🔍**Body in Akamas: identity unknown, cause of death undetermined
**The autopsy of a man found in the sea off Akamas on Monday has yielded no answers. Coroner Nikolaos Charalambos was unable to determine either the identity or the cause of death due to advanced decomposition of the remains.

🕵️ What is known:
— The body was discovered by a 48-year-old fisherman around 5:45 AM
— Police cordoned off the area and collected samples for analysis
— A possible link to missing persons is being investigated**
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📦Parcel with 400 grams of cannabis: 23-year-old arrested in Nicosia
Police have arrested a 23-year-old man on suspicion of illegal importation, possession, and preparation for drug trafficking.

🕵️ How he was found:
On April 15, YKAN (drug enforcement unit) officers together with customs discovered a parcel from abroad at the Nicosia postal sorting center. Inside was a package containing 400 grams of cannabis.

⚖️ What next:
A court arrest warrant was issued. The man was detained yesterday evening. Today he will be brought before the Nicosia District Court to decide on pre-trial detention.
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💊590 cannabinol products found in Limassol warehouse — 58-year-old arrested
Police have arrested a 58-year-old man on suspicion of illegal importation, possession, and preparation for drug trafficking.

🕵️ What was found:
Yesterday, YKAN (drug enforcement unit) officers together with customs searched a container in a Limassol warehouse. They discovered:
— 150 paper bags containing 590 products containing cannabinol (CBN — a Class A drug) and cannabidiol (CBD)
— 100 cannabis-infused candies

⚖️ What next:
A court arrest warrant was issued. The man was detained yesterday evening. Today he will be brought before the Limassol District Court to decide on pre-trial detention.
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📣Strovolos: election ads without a permit — municipality threatens fines and removal
The Strovolos municipality (a suburb of Nicosia) has recorded the illegal installation of banners and advertising structures on building facades, fences, and other public spaces. Violations have increased ahead of the parliamentary elections.

⚠️ What is being violated:
All billboards and banners must have a license in accordance with the law. Unauthorized placement:
— spoils the city's aesthetics
— creates road safety risks

⚖️ What are the consequences:
The municipality demands the immediate removal of illegal structures. Otherwise:
— authorities will dismantle them themselves
— offenders (including building owners) will be issued out-of-court fines
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💉Three arrested for heroin possession with intent to supply — YKAN busts group in Larnaca
Police have detained three individuals on suspicion of illegal possession and preparation for drug trafficking. The operation was carried out by the YKAN (drug enforcement unit) in Larnaca.

🕵️ How they were arrested:
Yesterday around 3:30 PM in Larnaca, police stopped a car with a 26-year-old driver and passengers aged 30 and 23. Inside the vehicle, they found 26 nylon bags containing heroin with a total weight of 14 grams.

🏠 Home search:
At the suspects' place of residence, €190 in cash was discovered and seized. A 24-year-old woman who was in Cyprus illegally was also found there and detained.

📋 Additional violations:
— The 30-year-old and 23-year-old were in Cyprus illegally
— The 26-year-old driver had no license and no fitness certificate

⚖️ What next:
All three have been arrested under court warrants and are in custody. The investigation is being continued by YKAN Larnaca.
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🏚️Nicosia: 1,466 problematic buildings, but only four at risk of collapse
After responsibility for dangerous structures was transferred to District Self-Government Organizations (EPAs) in April 2025, an additional 268 buildings were added to the existing 1,198. That brings the total to 1,466 problematic structures. However, only four of them are truly dangerous.

📍 Where are these four?
— One in central Nicosia (three people live there, two of them elderly)
— The rest are in camps in Strovolos

🏛️ What are authorities doing?
The Nicosia EPA is in contact with the relatives of the elderly residents. Eviction and relocation procedures are underway to house them in other buildings. The remaining 1,462 structures require maintenance or repairs but do not pose a threat to the lives of their occupants.

💰 Financial problem:
The ministry has announced €2 million but has not explained how to access this money. The EPA took on these powers "fighting" — they have neither the services to process claims nor the revenue to support dangerous buildings.

🗣️ Nicosia EPA Chairman Konstantinos Giorgadzis:
"We need to find ways to apply the legislation as quickly as possible. The danger level of each building must be determined."
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🗓Today is the last day to pay for national exams — April 17
The Ministry of Education reminds that the deadline to pay fees for the 2026 national university entrance exams (Panhellenic Exams) expires today, April 17, at 23:59.

⚠️ If you missed the deadline:
There are 5 additional days — until Wednesday, April 22 (23:59). To take advantage, you must:
— send a request for late payment, fee exemption, or refund to [email protected]
— attach all required documents

📞 You may also contact the Exam Service by phone: 22 582 933 and 22 582 934 (during working days and hours).

🚫 Important: After April 22 at 23:59, no further requests will be accepted. Unpaid applications will be cancelled, and the candidate will not be able to take the exams for admission to higher education institutions in Cyprus and Greece.
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📵Cyprus prepares law: social media banned for children under 15
The government has officially announced that the minimum age for social media registration will be 15. The bill is already being drafted and will be presented soon .

How it will work:
— Age verification will be done through the "Digital Citizen" app. The system will connect to the national population registry and confirm age without sharing unnecessary personal data .
— Teenagers aged 14 and over are already integrated into this system, so technically everything is ready .
— The ban will apply not only to obvious social media platforms but also to gaming websites with a high risk of addiction .

Who will impose fines and how:
If Cyprus passes its own law, it will be able to impose sanctions on platforms that violate it. However, the law must be harmonized with other EU regulations .

When to expect it:
The technical groundwork will be ready by early 2027 . Consultations are currently underway with other EU countries that have already introduced or are introducing similar restrictions .

Context: Cyprus is not alone in this decision. Greece has already passed a similar law (effective January 2027), and France and Austria have also introduced age restrictions.
👉At the EU level, a special app for anonymous age verification has been developed — it is already being tested in seven countries, including Cyprus.
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📉Middle East war hits Cyprus tourism: 30% below expectations
The situation in the Middle East has caused serious damage to Cyprus's tourism sector. According to estimates, the drop in tourist arrivals is at least 30% below forecasts. Travelers are reorienting toward calmer destinations in the western Mediterranean.

✈️ At Paphos Airport:
Traffic is not dead, but neither is it thriving. Planes are arriving, but not in large numbers. The main issue is not how many flights, but how much money they bring in. And that is where the problem lies.
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🐷Foot-and-mouth disease in Cyprus: over 1,200 pigs culled in Paliometocho in one day
In the Paliometocho area (Nicosia district), veterinary services continue mass culling of pigs due to the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. Over the past 24 hours alone, more than 1,200 pigs have been destroyed. Since the start of the epizootic, about 37,000 animals have been culled in infected zones (2.6% of cattle and 6.6% of sheep and goats).

⚠️ What authorities are doing:
— Carrying out planned euthanasia in infected and contact holdings
— Asking residents not to hinder the work of veterinarians
— Urging the public to report suspicious symptoms in animals
— Requiring strict biosecurity measures on farms
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⛽️ Prices in Cyprus are lower than in Denmark, but drivers are still unhappy: the gap with wages
Consumer Protection Service Director Konstantinos Karagiorgis states that Cyprus is among the EU countries with the lowest fuel prices. Drivers are outraged — they are comparing not with Denmark, but with their own wages.

📊 Current prices (mid-April 2026):
— 95-octane petrol: €1.48–1.55 per liter
— Diesel: €1.55–1.62 per liter

Over the past week, prices have risen by 2–4 cents depending on the region.

🌍 For comparison:
In the Netherlands, Denmark, and Finland, a liter of petrol often exceeds €2. Cyprus, like Malta, Greece, and Spain, pays more due to full dependence on imports and transport costs.

🗣️ Andreas K., a Limassol taxi driver:
«I fill up three times a week. Every time the price goes up by a few cents. With my salary, that's already noticeable. We're not comparing with Denmark — we're comparing with our own incomes.»
📌What affects prices:
— Full dependence on imports (no domestic refineries)
— Expensive delivery
— Taxes and excise duties
— Small market size → weak competition
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⚖️Court rejects dairy producers' appeal over €2.1 million fine
The Supreme Constitutional Court of Cyprus has rejected an appeal by the Cyprus Animal Producers Organization (POA) and upheld the Competition Protection Committee's decision to impose a €2.1 million fine for antitrust violations.

💰 How the fine was broken down:
— €600,000 — for price fixing in contracts with livestock farmers
— €600,000 — for including exclusive clauses restricting competition
— €100,000 — for the practice of "equal milk production" (production quotas)
— €800,000 — for setting inflated and illegal prices as a monopolist

⚖️ Appeal arguments:
The organization complained about the lack of impartiality of the committee chair, the committee's dual role (investigator and judge), limited judicial review, and violation of the right to access data.

🗣️ Court ruling:
The court ruled that the appeal arguments were unfounded and that the original decision was correct. It confirmed the legitimacy of the process, the correctness of the committee's findings, and compliance with administrative law.
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⚖️Lawyer Achilleas Dimitriadis on the "Santi" case: police are confused, independent investigators are needed
Prominent lawyer Achilleas Dimitriadis spoke about the high-profile "Santi" case on Alpha TV. According to him, the investigation has reached a dead end, and public trust in the rule of law has been undermined.

🔍 What's wrong with the investigation:
— Police have not clarified what in the case is real and what has been fabricated, even though 12 offenses have already been committed
— It appears that the investigation is turning against "Santi" herself — police apparently received testimony from her that all the messages are false and constructed for specific purposes
— Police manipulation does not help restore trust

📰 Journalists' responsibility:
Dimitriadis noted that journalists also bear responsibility for cross-checking information — in some cases, that was not done.
💡Solution:
"If the police cannot — lacking the know-how, independence, or compelling evidence that they can investigate effectively — the civil authorities must make a decision and appoint independent investigators. Only then can the problem that plagues society be solved," the lawyer stated.
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🧠Nasal spray against brain aging: restores memory and reduces inflammation
Scientists at Texas A&M University have developed a nasal spray with microRNA that significantly reduces inflammation in the brain and restores mitochondrial function, helping brain cells produce energy.

🔄 Results in animals:
The treatment led to memory improvement and faster adaptation within just a few weeks after only two doses. The effect lasted for months.

⚙️ How it works:
The spray enters the brain, suppresses key inflammatory pathways that become overactive with age, and restores mitochondrial function. This helps combat neuroinflammation — a process linked to cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease.
💡What this means for the future:
The study is published in the Journal of Extracellular Vesicles. The treatment has not yet been tested in humans, but the results indicate that the aging process in the brain can not only be slowed but potentially reversed. In the future, such an approach could aid in rehabilitation after strokes or traumatic brain injuries.
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💰Central Bank of Cyprus issues commemorative €2 coin for EU Council Presidency
On April 17, the Central Bank of Cyprus announced the issuance of a commemorative €2 coin dedicated to the Cypriot Presidency of the EU Council (first half of 2026). Sales will begin on April 20.

🎨 Coin design:
The obverse features the logo of the Cypriot Presidency (artist Marios Kourofexis). 27 intertwined elements (Lefkara embroidery, UNESCO) symbolize the EU member states. At the center is the Cypriot sun, a symbol of renewal. The coin is minted by the Paris Mint.

📊 Mintage and formats:
— 15,000 pcs. Proof (case) — €20
— 5,000 pcs. Brilliant Uncirculated (capsule) — €3
— 5,000 pcs. BU (gift card) — €8
— 250,000 pcs. BU (rolls of 25) — face value + 5%

🏛️ Where and when to buy:
First phase (April 20 – May 29):
— April 20–24: for dealers and numismatic organizations (10% discount from 20 coins)
— April 20 – May 29: open sale at CBC cash desks and online (up to 3 coins in cases, 2 in gift cards, 2 in capsules per person)
👉Second phase (from June 2 — while stocks last):
Only at CBC cash desks, up to 3 coins of each type per day.
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🌊Cyprus among 49 countries discussing security of the Strait of Hormuz
Iran has announced the opening of the strait to commercial vessels — but only until the end of the two-week ceasefire (approximately until April 22). Brent crude dropped 10.7% to $88.73 per barrel, but Trump stated that the blockade of Iranian ports remains in place until a full agreement is reached.

🗣️ What happened at the Paris summit:
The meeting took place on April 17 on the initiative of Macron and Starmer. Forty-nine countries and the International Maritime Organization participated. The US and Israel were not invited as parties to the conflict. Cyprus was represented by Foreign Minister Konstantinos Kombos (via video link, on behalf of the President).

⚓️ Main proposal:
To establish a "strictly defensive" multinational mission — the Strait of Hormuz Maritime Freedom of Navigation Initiative — to escort commercial vessels and conduct mine clearance. Launch conditions: Iran does not fire on ships, and the US does not block the strait.
🇨🇾What about Cypriot vessels:
19 ships under the Cypriot flag remain in the Persian Gulf. All of them and their crews are safe. Cyprus is the third largest shipping flag in the EU and the tenth largest in the world. The country is coordinating its position with its EU partners.
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