In today’s episode, a crucial meeting between trade unions and employers’ organisations has ended in deadlock over reinstating the cost of living allowance (CoLA), with the labour minister – acting as mediator –scrambling find the sweet spot by early next week amid the threat of widespread strikes.

Meanwhile, doctors and nurses at state hospitals have decided to go on a two-hour work stoppage next week, in a bid to exert pressure for having certain collective agreements renewed.

In a joint statement, the unions said they were taking the action because the state health services organisation had not kept up its obligations in drawing up a new collective agreement for staff.

Elsewhere, the rising cost of living, poverty and migration are the biggest concerns among citizens in Cyprus, according to the latest Eurobarometer survey.

All this and more in the Cyprus Beat briefing brought to you by the Cyprus Mail.