Theo Panayides

“I need to be released from here,” was the last message received by the Cyprus Mail from Katina Baird, the Larnaca restaurateur (owner of Katina’s Tasty Food Caribbean restaurant) ...

We spoke to Israelis at Larnaka Airport who’ve been trapped overseas by the war and are now returning through Cyprus – as well as a group of American Jews who’...

Quarrying in the Pentadaktylos mountain range constitutes “rapacious development with very serious consequences on the natural environment”, Stelios Michael, director of the mines and quarries service, told Phileleftheros last week. ...

Sounds like hype, but it’s actually true: there’s nothing else in Cyprus like the Images and Views of Alternative Cinema festival. This is partly for boring practical reasons. ...

Andreas Andreou is quite young – he turns 34 this month – but he’s already been on TV several times, plus radio and print media: CyBC, Sigma, 24 Ores on Alpha, interviews with ‘...

We follow Togolese asylum seeker Jacqueline and her husband Madoubele on an ‘experiential walk’ to the places in old Nicosia which have meant most to them during their six years ...

It’s every parent’s nightmare – and not just parents, either. Your child (or spouse, or friend, or loved one) is an addict. They’re in the grip of something ...

What’s behind the recent boom in stand-up comedy, a cultural sea change that’s propelled the number of local stand-ups to around three dozen from practically none? Constantinos Psillides ...

A quiet Sunday morning, a small three-star hotel in Yermasoyia on the ‘wrong’, suburban side of the highway. A modest swimming pool, an importunate cat that jumps on our table – ...

We talked to Louis Allan, a Cypriot on a six-day hunger strike (from May 5-10) to protest the blockade and famine in Gaza, who’s also going to be perched ...

Members of the House human rights committee came out with guns blazing this week, proposing changes in insurance law to end “discrimination” against elderly drivers. Independent MP Alexandra Attalidou led ...

A day after the 21st anniversary of the 2004 referendum on the Annan plan – a referendum which ended with the Greek Cypriots rejecting the plan, while the Turkish Cypriots accepted it – ...

I’m afraid we have no answer to explain what happened in Peru last August, at the World Athletics U20 Championships. That was the event where 19-year-old Iosif Kesidis won ...

A visit to the Nicosia Dog Shelter, which has been operating in the buffer zone near the old airport for the past 40 years.

‘This is all legal, right?’ I ask Jenna (aka Miss Jenna Linn), sitting at Bean Bar in central Nicosia where her appearance has already drawn an appraising, not entirely approving ...

Every edition of Cyprus Film Days is subtly different to all the others. This year’s – the 23rd, would you believe, taking place on April 4-12 – will surely go down ...

An odd coincidence took place last week. First came the controversy around a government bill on the right to protest – the proposed ‘Public Gatherings and Parades Law of 2025’, essentially seeking ...

There’s a funny – and revealing – moment at the Cyens Centre of Excellence in Nicosia, in the midst of a presentation on ‘Virtual Production and XR Technologies in Cyprus’ by ...

We talked to delivery drivers on the streets of Nicosia, asking about the difficulties and challenges of the job.

The question whether cannabis should be legalised for recreational use is a contentious one – and not as clear-cut as most people think. Libertarians declare, quite simply, that the state has ...

Antonis Koupparis shows me videos on his phone. The clips are mostly CCTV footage, plus videos he shot himself: a low-res litany of crime and disorder in the walled city ...

The fact that the roadworks on Trikoupi street in old Nicosia have been delayed is probably the least remarkable thing about them. Trikoupi – heading north from Ochi square, right at ...

On my way to the Oleander Institute – actually to Myrsini’s studio in old Nicosia; the institute has no physical office – I spot a grey-haired couple in their golden years ...

We asked a selection of Greek Cypriots in Nicosia if they think too much land in Cyprus (and occupied Cyprus) is being bought by foreigners, and how they feel about ...