Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is expected to visit Cyprus on October 29, barring unforeseen circumstances.

Talks are expected to cover bilateral relations, the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and developments in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The visit was first reported by the Palestinian ambassador to Cyprus, Abdallah Attari, in an interview with Phileleftheros.

The trip comes as the government faces criticism over its increasing support for Israeli interests in Cyprus.

Akel has attacked the creation of a Cyprus chapter of the Israel Allies Foundation by six MPs from Disy, Diko and Elam, which the party has said undermines the credibility of Cyprus in its efforts to press Turkey internationally on its ongoing occupation.

Cyprus and the Palestinians drew close in the 1960s and 1970s, when Archbishop Makarios steered the island away from its expected trajectory towards NATO and instead into the Non-Aligned Movement alongside Egypt and the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

In September 1985 three gunmen from the PLO unit Force 17 killed an Israeli couple, Reuven and Esther Paltsur, and their friend Avraham Avneri aboard a yacht in Larnaca marina.

President Spyros Kyprianou condemned the killings and urged both sides to keep their conflict off Cyprus.

Cyprus rejected an Israeli extradition request and tried the three men itself, and Israel bombed the PLO headquarters in Tunis days later.

In February 1988 the PLO bought the Cypriot ferry Sol Phryne at auction in Limassol, renamed it Al Awda, “the Return”, and planned to carry 135 Palestinian deportees to Haifa.

Three PLO officials were killed by a car bomb in Limassol that weekend, and a limpet mine crippled the ship within days.

Cyprus recognised the State of Palestine immediately after its declaration in 1988.

A Cypriot representative office opened in Ramallah in 2009, and after the UN General Assembly vote of 2012, was upgraded to a full embassy, among the first in the EU to do so.

When Abbas visited in June 2022, then President Nicos Anastasiades pledged that close ties with Israel “would not be to the detriment of the legitimate rights of the Palestinians”.

President Nikos Christodoulides visited Ramallah in 2023 and laid a wreath at Yasser Arafat’s tomb, and in March 2024 the first aid ship for Gaza left a Cypriot port.

Israel once declared Androulla Vassiliou, wife of former president George Vassiliou, persona non grata after a delegation she led tried to meet Arafat, who was confined to his compound in Ramallah.

Abbas, has led the Palestinian Authority since 2005, with his Fatah-dominated authority governing parts of the West Bank, while Hamas ran the Gaza strip.

Many Palestinians regard the authority as corrupt and criticise its security cooperation with Israel.

Communities have been invited to submit projects for a new €3.5 billion funding round, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Wednesday during a visit to the village of Sykopetra in Limassol.

Speaking at the opening of the Prophet Elias community park and mini football pitch, Christodoulides said the government would decide on projects across Cyprus worth that sum in the new period.

He urged the community council to put forward projects, alone or with neighbouring communities, so they could be approved next September.

He said the government had shown through its projects that rural and mountain areas were a priority.

He cited the 2024 decision to keep Kampos primary school open when it had only one pupil.

Many more children now attend, he said, because the school drew young parents to the village.

He said communities needed infrastructure, especially in Limassol, so that young couples could return, and that the aim was for villages to grow beyond 120 residents.

The community council’s contribution to development projects has been cut to 5 per cent.

Christodoulides said support for equipping the clinic at the community stadium should be taken for granted.

For community toilets, he asked the council to say how much was needed for studies, to be handled through the commissioner for mountainous communities.

A house renovation for an office and a thematic museum would be supported once plans were mature and permits secured.

He said the Palaichori to Sykopetra road widening, or a new link to Apliki, concerned the Nicosia district governor Constantinos Yiorkadjis, and promised to return to see whether work could proceed in phases.

Police deported 19 third-country nationals on Wednesday, a day after arresting them in Limassol for residing in Cyprus illegally.

Twenty individuals were arrested on Tuesday during an operation in the city, after officers found them in an apartment complex.

The immigration service carried out the removals, working with the deputy migration ministry, while procedures to deport the twentieth person are ongoing.

Akel’s central aim in the 2028 presidential election is “progressive change” delivered by a united effort of forces, secretary-general Stefanos Stefanou said on Wednesday.

Speaking in Nicosia at the presentation of the book “Studies on the History of the Left in Cyprus”, Stefanou said the change must rest on “a common progressive programme” and end in victory at the polls.

“Experience had shown that in a world dominated by the institutions, policies and power of big capital, a left-wing government faces great challenges and dilemmas”, he said.

Stefanou said Akel’s ability to shape a political agenda with broader goals was “the objective basis of collaborations”.

He recalled earlier alliances, among them the United Front of Workers and Employees of Limassol in 1943 and the National Liberation Coalition, which operated from 1948 to 1953.

He traced the party’s relationship with power to 1962, when its 10th Congress decided to give Archbishop Makarios critical support.

Akel claimed no part in government and set no conditions beyond “the defence of Cypriot independence”.

It later made agreement on a programme for governance a condition of backing any candidate, he said, as with the Minimum Programme of 1983 in support of Spyros Kyprianou and again in 1988 with Giorgos Vassiliou.

The next stage was Akel’s entry into a governing coalition, with its own cadres serving in the government of Tassos Papadopoulos.

Stefanou said the left wing “must listen to the needs of society, firmly defend workers, democracy, peace and other universal values, join forces and transform demands into collective action”.

Parliament republished the asset declarations of MPs on its website on Wednesday afternoon, a day after withdrawing them over the accidental posting of material the law does not allow to be made public.

By 8.30pm, statements for 53 of the 56 MPs were online, those missing being Michalis Kounounis, Michalis Paraskevas and Demetris Souglis.

The House said on Tuesday that all former, newly elected and re-elected members had submitted the required statements, which its services would post gradually.

Parts of the statements that the legislation does not provide for publishing were then found to have been posted by mistake, and the declarations were temporarily taken down.

House president Annita Demetriou has ordered an investigation. She asked the services for a report of facts on exactly what happened and for strict compliance with all that the law requires. The issue is expected to go before the House institutions committee.

Alma MP Irene Charalambides wrote to Demetriou saying the House had breached its own legislation.

According to her letter, the site carried material the law expressly bars from publication, including personal data of spouses and reconciliation statements submitted to the tax commissioner.

The statements stayed online until late on Tuesday, despite Parliament’s announcement that they had been withdrawn.

Charalambides said the law was passed by the House “to serve transparency without sacrificing the rights of third parties”.

“The issue is not technical. It is a question of accountability,” she wrote, adding that “a simple apology would not close the matter”.

Disy MP George Pamboridis raised the prospect of criminal liability, saying the Attorney General’s office should prosecute if the data was found to breach the law, and called the presentation of declarations “populism” that “feeds gossip and nothing more”.

The Personal Data Protection Authority has asked for the disputed data and links to be removed from websites where they remain accessible.

It is awaiting formal notification of the breach under Article 33 of the General Data Protection Regulation, which requires this without undue delay and, where feasible, within 72 hours.

The republished statements include those of the party leaders, with Demetriou’s declared net worth being €239,550 as of 4 June 2026, with real estate worth €222,500, deposits of €133,100 and four loans totalling €144,050.

Akel secretary general Stefanos Stefanou declared €116,488, while Elam president Christos Christou declared €52,345.

Diko president Nicolas Papadopoulos declared €958,124, mostly in property received through inheritance.

Alma leader Odysseas Michaelides declared €212,783, including 22 inherited properties declared at zero value, among them property and plots now in the occupied north.

All 27 EU member states have backed a joint statement rejecting the Turkey-Libya maritime memorandum, which the EU said on Wednesday, “violates the sovereign rights of third States” and “does not comply with the Law of the Sea”.

The statement, issued by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, said the 2019 memorandum is “null and void and cannot produce legal consequences for third States”.

The EU said it “deeply regrets” its ratification by the Libyan parliament on 20 October.

The bloc said its position was “firm and clear” and had been set out in European Council conclusions in December 2019 and repeated in June 2025.

It said it has a strategic interest in a stable and secure Eastern Mediterranean and called on all countries to respect the sovereign rights of every member state, in line with EU law and international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Kallas added that good neighbourly relations and progress on the Cyprus settlement process were of high importance.

European Council president Antonio Costa and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen offered “solidarity” to Greece and Cyprus.

They said the agreement “does not comply with the law of the sea” and reiterated the EU’s “well-known position against any outside interference in Libya”.

The Libyan parliament voted unanimously on Tuesday to adopt the agreement.

It states that the exclusive economic zones of Libya and Turkey share a border in the Mediterranean, located south-east of the Greek island of Crete.

Turkey signed the deal in 2019 with the Libyan government of national accord, but it had not been ratified by Libya’s legislature until now.

The government of national unity replaced that administration in 2021 and is the only internationally recognised government of Libya.

Turkey’s MIT intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin was in Libya on Tuesday to meet Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah.

The Cypriot foreign ministry called the memorandum “illegal, null and void”, while Athens said, “geography and the international law of the sea do not change with unilateral, legally unfounded parliamentary decisions”.

Both countries are signatories to the UN convention on the law of the sea, though Turkey is not, and Libya signed it in 1984 but never ratified it.

Egypt said on Wednesday that it categorically rejects the ratification by the Libyan parliament of a 2019 maritime memorandum with Turkey, warning Ankara that it will not allow its sovereign rights in the Eastern Mediterranean to be questioned.

In a Foreign Ministry statement, Cairo said the memorandum is “absolutely null and void” and produces no legal effect for Egypt.

It said the deal violates the principles of the law of the sea and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which govern the delimitation of exclusive economic zones and continental shelves.

The ministry described the memorandum as a clear violation of Egypt’s sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf.

It said Egypt had opposed the agreement before and rejects any act by any party based on it.

As the memorandum contradicts Egypt’s declared maritime borders, Cairo said it “reserves its right to protect its rights” under international law and to confront any attempt to violate them.

The Libyan parliament voted unanimously on Tuesday to ratify the agreement, about seven years after it was signed by the internationally recognised Libyan government and Turkey.

Israel also condemned the vote, with its foreign ministry saying on X that the decision “violates the sovereign rights of our close allies in the region”, and that “unfortunately, once again we see Turkey acting with the aim of destabilising the Eastern Mediterranean region,” it said.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas raised the issue with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Brussels on Wednesday.

She said she told him the vote “infringes upon the sovereign rights of third states”.

European Council president Antonio Costa and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen earlier said they “deeply regret” the ratification.

They likewise said the deal “does not comply with the law of the sea” and “is null and void”.

Greece and Cyprus object to the agreement on the grounds that Turkey and Libya do not share a maritime border, since islands are each entitled to a full exclusive economic zone.

Greek Cypriot negotiator Menelaos Menelaou said on Wednesday that problems over the routing of the Pyroi crossing point “have been overcome”, although a dispute over a second crossing point still stands in the way of an agreement.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, Menelaou said the remaining obstacle was the Turkish Cypriot demand that the Louroujina to Lympia crossing be included in any such deal.

He said the Louroujina issue remains open and has not yet been reconciled with the Greek Cypriot proposal for a crossing at Kokkina.

The earlier dispute concerned the route of the proposed road from Athienou through Pyroi to the Nicosia suburb of Aglandjia.

The Greek Cypriot side treats it as a single crossing, while the Turkish Cypriot side objected to a road running through so many kilometres of the buffer zone, arguing that it created security complications.

Menelaou told the Cyprus Mail the route now sits roughly evenly, between the government-controlled areas and the occupied north.

Pyroi is a ruined village in the north, inside a Turkish military zone, whose residents have been displaced since 1974.

Athienou lies on the government-controlled side, and a crossing would cut the drive from there to Nicosia from up to an hour to about ten minutes.

Christodoulides said on Tuesday that he had given Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman two new proposals on crossing points, one of which had already been rejected.

Erhurman separately confirmed late on Tuesday that he had rejected a proposal to open the fenced-off area of Varosha under United Nations administration and the port of Famagusta under European Union control.

He said formal negotiations could not begin until the sides agree on methodology and make progress on confidence-building measures.

New crossing points are the most concrete of those measures, as both sides agreed on a package of four after an enlarged meeting in Geneva in March 2025, when UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told each side to suggest two.

The Greek Cypriot side proposed the Athienou to Aglandjia road, with a crossing at each end, while the Turkish Cypriot side proposed Mia Milia and Louroujina.

The package has since stalled, for during Guterres’ visit in July, sources told the Cyprus Mail that the Greek Cypriot side suggested opening only two of the four, with Louroujina shelved, which the Turkish Cypriot side refused.

Staffing shortages of about 10 per cent persist in all-day schools in primary and secondary education, MPs heard at the House education committee on Wednesday.

Committee chairman and Diko MP Chrysanthos Savvides said the scheme began in 1999 with nine school units and now covers 383, with participation having risen from 7,000 pupils to 18,000.

“Something right is being done” by the education ministry, he said, but urged that the staffing gap “should be eliminated by next year”.

A new list of appointees has been created for the schools in the hope of easing the problem.

He said technical and vocational schools had shown interest but had no units available.

Akel MP Christos Christofides said the ministry should now make sure all-day schools open on the first day of term and that teachers know their postings by the end of summer.

“It is not possible for parents who planned to take their children to all-day schools to not know what to do with them for about a month,” he said.

Late hiring was pulling teachers from full-time schools and from private schools, which had reported closing classes when staff left mid-year.

Disy MP Prodromos Alampritis said steps had been taken “in the right direction”, with the optional schools now opening a week earlier.

Ninety teacher positions in optional all-day schools had still not been requested. He said teachers should be told by June where they will work in September, and proposed converting most contracts to 29 hours “so that they are more attractive to teachers”.

Elam MP Sotiris Ioannou, whose party registered the issue, said parents were entitled to “a more substantial and supportive approach” from the state.

He said a child’s right to withdraw from the programme, for tutoring or sport, should be respected, and that its optional nature should not stop the search for solutions so that children do not leave.

British Cypriot businessman John Christodoulou said on Wednesday that he believes he can find a solution to the Cyprus problem, as he considers standing in the 2028 presidential election.

Speaking to ANT1, Christodoulou said he could not accept that no decision had been reached in 52 years.

“I am a refugee, we need to go back to our homes, we must confront the Turk who stole our land. For 52 years, no one has managed to do it, I think I can.”

He said he would make a final decision on standing for election in January after speaking to his family.

“If I am ultimately a candidate and the people want me, then I will be there to help.”

Christodoulou said colleagues and friends had warned him against standing. remarking that “they tell me that my life will change and that I might ruin it”, he said.

The interview followed a statement issued on Tuesday in which he confirmed his interest in the presidency.

He said Direct Democracy leader Fidias Panayiotou was not the only individual urging him to stand, and that he would serve only “if he could make a genuine difference”.

“I am not a politician. I have never wanted to become one,” he said.

He said his aim was “a country where nobody goes hungry, nobody is left homeless, and nobody is afraid to walk home at night”.

Local media reported that Panayiotou had raised his name with party leaders, including Akel, to explore a joint candidacy, and had received no answer.

Akel secretary general Stefanos Stefanou played down speculation that his party was sounding out candidates, while Direct Democracy is also in talks with Odysseas Michaelides’ Alma party regarding a joint candidate.

Christodoulou owns Yianis Group, which holds hotels and flats in Canary Wharf and elsewhere in Britain.

The Sunday Times Rich List 2026 puts his wealth at £2.7 billion. In Cyprus he is active mainly through the Yianis Christodoulou Foundation.

In 2021 he was reported to be close to a £30 million takeover of Omonia football club, but talks with majority owner Stavros Papastavrou reportedly collapsed.

His British business affairs have drawn scrutiny, for in 2012 hotel owning companies in the group went into administration, costing him a Manchester Marriott and a Park Inn near Heathrow.

In 2022 he reportedly admitted to a tribunal that residents at 1 West India Quay had been overcharged by 26 per cent on utilities.

In March 2024 the UK government began legal action seeking £20.5 million from his companies towards fixing unsafe blocks at Canary Riverside.

Dust from Syria and Lebanon is reaching Cyprus this week, with more episodes expected in the coming days.

Met office spokesman Andreas Chrysanthou said that it was unusual to see dust this often at this time of year.

Dust is expected to blow in from the east tonight and tomorrow, though Chrysanthou said the island was under no significant burden for now and concentrations should stay low in the coming days.

The weather will stay mostly clear and warm, with highs of 28C expected in Nicosia, up from 25C earlier this week.

In Troodos temperatures should stay at around 9C, after dropping to 6C, while Limassol and Paphos will see 16C to 18C.

Chrysanthou said temperatures would stay one or two degrees above recent levels until Friday, close to normal for the time of year.

Next week is expected to look very different, with rain and storms possible from the middle of the week.

The maritime boundary agreement reached between Turkey and Libya, which was ratified by the Libyan parliament on Tuesday, “infringes on the sovereign rights of third states”, the European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday, after she met Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Brussels.

“I had an extensive discussion with my colleague Hakan Fidan on a range of issues. Good neighbourly relations and advancing the Cyprus settlement process are of high importance. I raised yesterday’s Libyan vote … and stressed that it infringes upon the sovereign rights of third states,” she said after the meeting.

Away from the matter of the eastern Mediterranean, she said that she had also spoken to Fidan about “Russia’s dangerous Black Sea escalation”, which has seen commercial vessels be targeted by missile fire, and that she had “emphasised the need to step up the pressure on Moscow to end the war”.

“The EU and Turkey both support a Black Sea freedom of navigation arrangement,” she said.

She said that she and Fidan had also “addressed developments in the south Caucasus and across the Middle East”, and on this front said that “Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and Yemen are textbook terror tactics and must end”, and that “in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran is making shipping dangerous and expenses”.

“Freedom of navigation must be restored without tolls or fees,” she added.

Fidan made no statement after the meeting.

Greece, Cyprus believe islands are entitled to full EEZ

The maritime agreement was unanimously passed by Libya’s parliament on Tuesday, some seven years after it had initially been signed by the internationally recognised Libyan government and Turkey in 2019.

However, Greece and the Republic of Cyprus object to the deal, saying that Turkey and Libya do not share a maritime border because islands are each entitled to a full exclusive economic zone, and that therefore, the sea in question belongs to Cyprus and Crete. Turkey’s position is that islands are not entitled to a full EEZ.

Wednesday’s meeting came after European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had said that they “deeply regret” the Libyan parliament’s ratification of the deal, which, they said, “infringes upon the sovereign rights of third states”, “does not comply with the law of the sea”, and “is null and void”.

“We reaffirm our solidarity with Greece and Cyprus. We reiterate the EU’s well-known position against any outside interference in Libya,” they said.

On the other side of the argument, Turkey’s presidential press office director Burhanettin Duran described Tuesday’s vote as “an important advancement towards protecting the shared rights and interests of both nations in the eastern Mediterranean, establishing maritime jurisdiction areas on the basis of equity, and strengthening regional cooperation”.

“Under the leadership of our President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey will continue to safeguard its rights and interests within the Blue Homeland, while further developing its relations with friendly and brotherly Libya and promoting equitable resource sharing, peace, and stability in the eastern Mediterranean”.

The third-grade teacher of Stylianos Constantinou told the Nicosia district court on Wednesday that he informed the headmaster regarding marks on the boy’s body which had been attributed to his father.

The witness said it was his duty to inform a member of the school’s violence prevention team and that the headmaster was one.

He said there were indications of beatings and that the child had said they came from his father.

The prosecution cited an education ministry manual that requires school staff to report cases when told a child is experiencing domestic violence.

The incident occurred when Stylianos was in second grade, when the boy complained of back pain during class, whereupon the school matron and speech therapist called the teacher to see the marks.

Stylianos took his own life at the age of 14, with the trial examining whether family or state service negligence contributed to his death.

On Monday the same teacher described the boy as a gentle child who saved school food for his siblings and resembled “a saintly recluse”.

He said Stylianos arrived with dirty clothes and an unpleasant odour, and that the school tried to support him.

The defence also questioned him regarding statements made in his main testimony that were absent from his testimony in 2020, which the witness said he had testified unprepared and emotionally charged.

On the decision to end the boy’s school escort, he said it was collective and that he had reservations.

He said he was told the matter would be reviewed if problems arose, and rejected the suggestion that he had agreed the child no longer needed support.

He said the canteen head had agreed with the mother that Stylianos would receive food and that she would pay for it, and that the child also received free meals through a ministry programme.

He had no personal knowledge that there was no food at the home, as he had not visited the family, and the information came from what the child told his escort.

He said the boy’s clothes smelled strongly of farm animals and ruled out mould as the cause. “I don’t think clean clothes can absorb such a bad smell just by being next to dirty clothes,” he said. He said he or his wife bought clothes for the boy but kept no receipts.

Cyprus Airways will be launching daily direct flights between Larnaca and London Stansted on April 23, 2027, expanding its network between Cyprus and the United Kingdom.

The new year-round service will provide additional travel options for holidaymakers, business travellers and people visiting friends and relatives, the airline announced on Wednesday.

Stansted offers access to central London, the capital’s northern and eastern areas, and the wider south-east of England.

Cyprus Airways chief executive Thanos Pascalis said the new route would strengthen links between Cyprus and one of its most important international markets.

“The United Kingdom is a particularly important market for Cyprus, with strong demand across leisure, business and visiting friends and relatives,” he said.

The airline said the service would give passengers greater choice and flexibility, and reinforced its commitment to expanding direct connections from its Larnaca base.

The announcement follows plans for new year-round services to Munich and Rome Fiumicino.

Cyprus Airways also operates scheduled flights to Paris, Milan Malpensa, Athens and Heraklion, alongside seasonal summer routes to Barcelona, Venice and selected Greek islands.

Its Middle East network includes year-round services to Tel Aviv, Beirut and Dubai, as well as charter operations to other destinations.

Flights to London Stansted are available through the Cyprus Airways website, mobile application and travel agents.

The airline, operated by Charlie Airlines Ltd, is based at Larnaca International Airport and operates Airbus A320 and A220 aircraft.

It employs more than 210 people and holds International Air Transport Association Operational Safety Audit certification.

President Nikos Christodoulides received a delegation from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) at the presidential palace on Wednesday, with both sides pledging to strengthen relations between Cyprus, the United States and Israel.

The delegation was led by outgoing Aipac president Dr Bernard Kaminetsky and president-elect Yehuda Neuberger, who stressed that Aipac would continue to back Cyprus’ interests in Washington.

Talks reportedly covered the Cyprus issue and efforts to accelerate the “3+1” mechanism, which brings together Cyprus, Greece and Israel with the United States.

Members also attended a Nicosia ceremony honouring Jewish refugees and the children born between 1946 and 1949 at the former British military hospital.

Six MPs recently launched a Cyprus chapter of the Israel Allies Foundation (IAF), those being Andreas Apostolou and Chrysis Pantelides of Diko, George Karoullas and Charalambos Petrides of Disy, and Sotiris Ioannou and Marios Pelekanos of Elam.

A Cyprus chapter of Transatlantic Friends of Israel (TFI) had likewise been set up two weeks earlier with MPs from the same parties.

Akel called the move “extremely provocative” and accused the three parties of turning parliament into a lobby for Israel.

Aipac is an American pro-Israel lobbying group that advocates policies strengthening the US-Israel relationship.

It was founded in 1954 as the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs by Isaiah L Kenen, a lobbyist for the Israeli government.

It is considered one of the most influential lobbying groups in the United States and reports more than five million members and 17 regional offices.

Critics have condemned Aipac as being an agent of the Israeli government and does not represent the diversity of views among American Jews.

Health Minister Neophytos Charalambides on Tuesday urged members of the public to learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and how to use defibrillators, stressing that immediate action by ordinary citizens can mean the difference between life and death.

Speaking at a Cyprus Resuscitation Council event to mark World Restart a Heart Day, Charalambides emphasised the importance of public awareness and training in responding to cardiac arrest.

“Cardiac arrest is an emergency in which every second counts,” he said. “Early recognition, an immediate call for help and the start of cardiopulmonary resuscitation can make the difference between life and death.”

The minister stressed that lifesaving intervention is not solely the responsibility of healthcare professionals.

“Most of us associate saving a life with healthcare professionals. In the case of cardiac arrest, however, first aid may need to be provided by a relative, a colleague or a passerby,” he said.

He noted that the first few minutes before an ambulance arrives are critical, making public familiarity with CPR and automated external defibrillators (AEDs) essential.

“These are skills that can prove decisive in saving a human life,” he said, adding that education and the wider dissemination of this knowledge should be a priority.

Charalambides praised the Cyprus Resuscitation Council, which is marking 20 years of activity, for its contribution to raising awareness and encouraging more citizens to receive training.

The minister said improving the prevention and effective response to cardiac arrest required cooperation between the state, healthcare professionals, educational institutions and civil society.

“Behind every cardiac arrest is a person, a family and a life that deserves every possible chance,” he said.

“Every citizen who receives training and every defibrillator that is available and accessible can strengthen efforts for timely intervention.”

He encouraged people to attend CPR courses and promote similar training in workplaces, schools and communities.

“I hope we never have to put what we learn into practice,” Charalambides concluded. “But if we do, we may become the reason another person’s heart continues to beat.”

Disy president Annita Demetriou has left open the possibility of supporting President Nikos Christodoulides in the second round of the presidential election should the Disy candidate fail to qualify.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Demetriou said it was her priority, as well as that of other party figures, that “left-wing policies do not come to power”.

Disy deputy chairman Efthymios Diplaros and former parliamentary representative Nikos Tornaritis have previously expressed the same position.

She was responding to a proposal by former president Nicos Anastasiades for a preliminary agreement between Christodoulides and Disy.

Under it, whichever side is eliminated in the first round would commit to backing the other against the candidate supported by Akel.

Demetriou said she understood the concern of Anastasiades and party officials, which she described as “preventing the left from taking power”.

She however expressed confidence that the party’s candidate would convince voters and reach the second round, and urged members to “convince the public of our own proposals”.

Demetriou also referred to her decision to withdraw her candidacy for the Disy nomination.

She said party supporters now felt relieved, but cautioned that “unity is not ensured from one day to the next”.

On the arrangement between Averof Neophytou and Giorgos Pamborides, she said both men had committed to supporting whoever secures the party’s nomination.

Police have launched an investigation into the management of Roman Abramovich’s assets through Cypriot companies.

Speaking before the House institutions committee on Wednesday, police spokesman Andreas Anastasiades said the inquiry would be carried out with the other competent bodies and was expected to take about six months.

The case dates back several years, but police said the passage of time did not remove the legal basis for investigating it.

A justice ministry spokesperson said the information was being evaluated and that an investigation would follow if indications of offences emerged.

The move follows an investigation published on October 12 by BBC Panorama and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).

It alleged that Deloitte Cyprus signed off backdated paperwork for Abramovich companies.

Deloitte Cyprus told the Cyprus Mail it “acts in compliance with applicable laws”.

Committee chairman and Disy MP Demetris Demetriou said the purpose of the session was a supervisory review and not a recital of history.

“We are not here merely to say that these things happened years ago,” he said.

“Otherwise, this committee becomes a group therapy session, and I am not willing to go down that road.”

Alma MP Irene Charalambides said the case went back to 2006, when Cyprus operated in a different financial environment.

She said the authorities must tell the House whether current procedures could prevent a repeat, and asked whether the government could assure that past weaknesses had been addressed and that no similar revelations would emerge about recent years.

The committee heard that the main allegation was that an audit firm encouraged a client to backdate documents to secure a tax benefit or alter the presentation of financial statements.

The finance ministry’s permanent secretary, Andreas Zachariadis, said the public audit oversight authority (Adeelep), created in 2017, had contacted the firm involved and received its own interpretation.

He said the case dated from 2003 to 2006 and that obtaining information on it “is not easy”.

The authority had “no jurisdiction over events before it was established and holds disciplinary rather than criminal powers”, he said.

Conduct of this kind today could lead to proceedings and sanctions, up to removal from the profession.

They said audit quality had improved since oversight of the profession began in 2017, making incidents like those described for 2006 harder to repeat.

The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus (Selk) said it was examining the reports but could not give absolute assurance that similar cases would not recur.

Its representative said Selk has no criminal investigation powers and refers evidence of offences to prosecutors.

He said the licence of the person named in the BBC article was revoked in 2023.

The anti-money laundering unit (Mokas) said it had received no report on the case, and that it possesses no power to conduct criminal investigations but could assist police if asked.

Tax Commissioner Soteris Markides cautioned that there were time limits on the tax years in question that could be examined, while other attending authorities said they lacked jurisdiction over events that predated their creation.

The Central Bank said it was examining whether any Cypriot bank was involved, although none had yet been identified.

It said it could demand corrective measures or impose fines if breaches were found, and that the banking system had changed substantially since the financial crisis. The Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) said that though it now holds greater powers it cannot bring criminal prosecutions.

The Bar Association said it could impose substantial administrative fines.

Two former directors of Blue Ocean Yacht Management Ltd are due to stand trial at the Limassol district court on November 26 over €25 million in unpaid VAT.

The company managed Abramovich’s superyachts, which together were worth about €1.2 billion.

Akel MP Christos Christofides, who appeared in the BBC documentary, said he wrote to Markides the day after publication asking for checks on possible offences and on whether money that escaped the treasury could be recovered. He said this was “money of the Cypriot people that could go to our education, to health, to people in need and not end up with billionaires”.

He insisted tax cases completed in 2016 remained within the period that could be examined.

Abramovich himself has insisted that he took independent professional tax and legal advice and acted on it, and his lawyers have denied any role in alleged tax evasion.

Former independent MP Alexandra Attalides, who had originally pressed the tax department to act, said it was “unbelievable that the supervisory bodies were so incompetent”.

The energy ministry on Wednesday said it is no longer accepting applications for people to receive grants as part of the “save and upgrade homes” scheme, as all the available funds have now been allocated, just a day and a half after applications opened.

It said that interest in the scheme was “particularly high”, and that this had meant that after applications opened on Tuesday, the planned €20 million budget had already been reached, and that as such, an extra €7.5 million was then allocated to the scheme from funds which had been allocated but not used for previous government schemes.

Now, however, with that amount also having been reached, the ministry says it is no longer accepting applications.

It had initially been foreseen that applications would remain open until December 30, with the scheme having been devised to allow homeowners to undertake a range of projects on their homes to improve their energy efficiency.

These include the installation of thermal insulation, the replacement of windows and doors, the installation of solar water heaters, the installation of high-efficiency air conditioning units, and the installation of solar panels.

Beneficiaries were entitled to a maximum of €32,000 per household.

The European Parliament on Wednesday voted to approve the proposal for the European Union’s budget for next year put forward by Cypriot MEP Michalis Hadjipantela, of Disy, and his Latvian co-rapporteur Nils Usakovs.

Their joint proposal passed by 400 votes to 189, with 84 abstentions. Of the Cypriots, Hadjipantela voted in favour of his own proposal, as did fellow Disy MEP Loucas Fourlas, Diko’s Costas Mavrides, and Direct Democracy Cyprus leader Fidias Panayiotou.

Akel’s Giorgos Georgiou voted against the proposal, while Elam’s Geadis Geadi abstained.

The proposed budget foresees that the EU will make €194 billion worth of commitments and €203.3bn worth of actual payments over the course of the year, with Hadjipantela and Usakovs having reversed all the cuts which had been made to it by the Council of the EU when it agreed its own position in July.

Additionally, the committee’s position includes more spending not only than the Council’s, but also than the European Commission’s position, which had been published in June, and from which the Council had made its cuts.

This is because the committee had voted to approve €1.17bn of extra spending next year compared to the commission’s position, including €260.5 million for the Connecting Europe facility, the EU’s funding instrument for infrastructure investment, and the instrument through which the EU offered grants for the Great Sea Interconnector.

Other increases include an extra €85m for the European agriculture guarantee fund, through which the EU pays farmers directly, and a €20m increase for support for young farmers.

Additionally, increases in funding amounting to €140m have been granted for the EU’s neighbourhood policy, through which the EU offers funding and partnerships for countries in eastern Europe and north Africa.

‘Efficiency cannot simply mean making cuts’

Hadjipantela on Tuesday said of his plans that “at a time when the European Union faces growing security challenges, we must ensure that our institutions possess the necessary means to carry out their mission effectively and independently.”

“Let me be clear: budgetary discipline is non-negotiable. European taxpayers expect us to manage public funds responsibly and to remain efficient, while avoiding unnecessary expenditure,” he said.

On this front, he said that “all institutions must identify opportunities for savings and improve the way they operate”, and that the European Parliament itself “is called upon to continue improving how it manages and spends its budget”.

However, he stressed, “efficiency cannot simply mean making cuts without regard for the responsibilities which our institutions are required to fulfil.”

“We must avoid a situation where cuts create operational problems or, worse still, lead to higher costs in the future. The goal is to strike the right balance,” he said.

He later said that the EU’s various institutions “have already made significant efforts to improve their efficiency and save resources”, and that “these efforts must continue, and should be accompanied by a realistic assessment of the tasks and obligations incumbent upon each institution.”

With the parliament now having approved Hadjipantela and Usakovs’ proposal, the “conciliation committee” of the parliament and the Council will convene on November 3 with the aim of reaching a compromise between the two institutions by November 16.

Should a provisional agreement be reached by that date, the joint text will then be voted on both at the Council and at the parliament for final approval.