Daily News Briefing

In today’s episode we hear that during the two years of restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic, police carried out 3.2 million checks on the public and issued 42,482 fines, raking in almost €6 million for state coffers from the 16,474 fines that were paid.

There’s also the opening of Makarios Avenue in Nicosia as a “shared space” for pedestrians and authorised vehicles, in what the municipality hopes will lead to more environmentally friendly use of the road.

Elsewhere the Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC) said they were currently assessing a bid by a foreign investment fund to acquire a second major hospital in Nicosia, amid concerns that the concentration of hospitals under a single holding company may lead to an oligopoly in the healthcare sector.

In other news, President Nicos Anastasiades said on Thursday that Paphos has re-emerged as a ‘centre of intellect’, and praised the mayor and the local council for their diligent efforts in upgrading the city’s infrastructure.