Our View: When church and politicians compete to police morals
The separation of Church and state is a fundamental pillar of liberal democracy and efforts have been made for many decades now to get organised Churches out of politics. This ...
An energy reset is happening around the world
The global climate summit COP30 that took place in Brazil in November fell short of expectations. It is not that the world is not concerned about climate change or that ...
A throne made of sand
“Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”Nothing beside remains.The lone and level sands stretch far away.— Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ozymandias
Percy Shelley’s Ozymandias is not a ...
World trade war is alive and kicking
On December 16, two contrasting articles appeared in the Financial Times that spoke volumes about the very different approaches to world trade currently at play. One was written by Peter Navarro, ...
Happy Same Year!
It is December 28, which means many of us are deep into the Season of Delusion, a magical period when grown adults behave like weird Elfies drunk on mulled wine. The ...
2026 offers glimmer of hope for Cyprus, elsewhere not so much
A review of the year and predicting the shape of things to come in 2026 and beyond must begin with events at home. The Cyprus Mail is of course a Cypriot ...
Our View: Are we burying our heads in the sand over Nazi behaviour?
The furore over photos of teenagers signalling Nazi salutes and their swastika handiwork around school property at Larnaca’s Vergina high school ten days ago died down over Christmas week ...
Missed opportunities on budgets and tax reform
In recent days the government of President Nikos Christodoulides and MPs approved the government budgets and a tax reform. In doing so they have missed real opportunities to support policies ...
The enduring power of journalism in a world of more media and less freedom
A vast amount of information has not necessarily meant more reliable information, writes James Rodgers, a former BBC correspondent who held postings in Gaza, Moscow and Brussels
On December 10, the ...
Scene is set for another process of interminable talks
The Christmas and New Year period is traditionally a time associated with peace, reconciliation and goodwill, but as Europe looks towards 2026, the prospects are shaped less by seasonal sentiment than ...
What world was Jesus born into?
A historian describes the turbulent times of the real nativity
By Joan Taylor
Every year, millions of people sing the beautiful carol Silent Night, with its line “all is calm, ...
Cyprus eyes a role on the world stage
But it has to dump a lot of baggage first
By Kerry Abbott
When Cyprus hosted the conference of European Small States in September, it was not so obvious that ...
Our View: Love it or hate it, Christmas endures in good times and bad
Every year hundreds of thousands of words are published in the run up to December 25 on Christmas vs everything.
It’s too secularist and materialistic, Bing Crosby’s White Christmas ...
Ghosts of Christmas past
Scrooge’s ghosts terrified him; I love mine. First, Bridget, my mother, and Aunt Emma, a child waking very early on Christmas morning finding gifts from Daddy na Nollaig (Santa). ...
Our View: High price shows govt is being consistently ripped off
It is very easy to understand the outrage of Paphos Mayor Phedonas Phedonos for having to pay an extortionate price for a beach cleaning machine, also known as a ‘beach ...
Derzhavnost and ‘Respect’
The Russian word ‘derzhavnost’ is usually translated as ‘great power status’, but the real meaning is closer to the gangland concept of ‘respect’. The word was beyond the reach of ...
Our View: New report highlights lamentable public transport
In the Fiscal Council’s 2025 report released a few days ago, there was a short but damning comment relating to the transport ministry’s 2026 budget and its planning up to 2028 ...
From embargoes to strategic partnerships
The recent lifting by the US and Norway of the long-standing arms embargoes on Cyprus is not about weapons. It is about strategy. It is about recognition that Cyprus has ...
Character matters for the survival of democracy
The above headline was the subtitle of my column of December 1, 2024. In it, I argued that Donald Trump was unfit for the role of President of the United States. Events ...
BBC lawsuit could sink US special relationship
Defamation is a niche branch of the law for the rich and powerful but the $5 billion claim by President Trump against the BBC for defaming him is off the scale. ...
Tales from the Cofeeshop: Life at Versailles, Kyproulla edition
THE PRESIDENTIAL palace would be more aptly named the Palace of Versailles if you consider the number of courtiers it has on its payroll with fancy titles.
In total some 140 ...
Our View: A mild tax reform backed by a comfortable majority
Unless something totally out of the ordinary happens on Monday the legislature will approve the government’s tax reform package, as the three parties supporting it have a majority. After ...
Our View: Land of Dreams scandal exposes state-sanctioned corruption
The Anti-Corruption Authority issued a damning report about the way state services completely disregarded the rules and lawful procedures in issuing permits to the Land of Dreams development in Trimiklini. ...
Rubio’s strategy: the tail wags the dog?
US President Donald Trump has ordered “a total and complete” blockade of all ‘sanctioned’ oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuelan ports, which is technically an act of war. How seriously ...