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☆ Friends From the Old Neighborhood Turn Rivals in Big Tech’s A.I. Race
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Cade Metz | Nico Grant | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Today, they are two of the most powerful executives in the tech industry’s race to build artificial intelligence. Dr. Hassabis, 47, is the chief executive of Google DeepMind, the tech giant’s central research lab for artificial intelligence. Mr. Suleyman, 39, was recently named chief executive of Microsoft AI, charged with overseeing the company’s push into A.I. In 2010, they were two of the three founders of DeepMind, a seminal A.I. research lab that was supposed to prevent the very thing they are now deeply involved in: an escalating race by profit-driven companies to build and deploy A.I.

Persons: Mustafa Suleyman, Hassabis, Demis, —, Suleyman Organizations: National Health Service, Queen Elizabeth’s, Google, Microsoft, Big Tech, DeepMind Locations: Syrian, Cypriot, London

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A United Nations official said on Tuesday that her experience in negotiating an end to decades of conflict in her native Colombia may help her as she seeks to rekindle talks over Cyprus’ ethnic division. “I was part of that team that we finally reached a peace agreement” in Colombia, Holguín told reporters after her first meeting with the Greek Cypriot President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides. Only Turkey recognizes a 1983 Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence and maintains more than 35,000 troops in the island’s northern third. Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots say the only way to peace is a two-state deal, ditching an agreement to reunify the island as a federation composed of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot zones. "Certainly, we believe that if there’s the same political will from the other side, the resumption of talks can happen very quickly.”

Persons: María Ángela Holguín Cuellar, Holguín, Nikos Christodoulides, ” Holguín, It’s, Ersin Tatar, Antonio Guterres, –, Constantinos Letymbiotis, “, ” Organizations: United Nations, Cypriot, Turkish Cypriot, Greece Locations: NICOSIA, Cyprus, Colombia, Turkish, Turkey, Turkish Cypriot

☆ U.S. and U.K. launch new strikes against Houthi sites in Yemen
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

An RAF FGR4 Typhoon takes off from Royal Air Force (RAF) Akrotiri military airbase in Greek Cypriot to conduct its mission against the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen on January 12, 2024. The U.S. and British militaries launched a fresh round of strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen Monday, defense officials said. The attacks, which were carried out by manned aircraft and ships, marked the second time the two militaries launched strikes against Houthi sites in Yemen. Since then, the U.S. has struck several Houthi targets on its own. The group says the strikes are in retaliation to Israel's bombing of Gaza following Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Persons: Biden Organizations: RAF, Royal Air Force, NBC News, U.S Locations: Greek Cypriot, Yemen, U.S, Iranian, Red, Gaza, Israel

☆ Cyprus police make more arrests as racism-fuelled violence spreads
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NICOSIA, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Police in Cyprus have made 20 arrests after a spate of racism-fuelled violence against migrants which erupted in the west of the island last week and spread to its southern city of Limassol in a weekend rampage. Last week Syrians living in Chlorakas, a village in western Cyprus, were targeted by hooded attackers in sporadic incidents over two days, leading to 22 arrests. Overnight Saturday to Sunday, three people from southeast Asia were attacked and robbed, state media said. Among the victims of the weekend's violence were a group of visitors from Kuwait, according to social media accounts of witnesses. "This isn't the Cyprus I was born, raised, had a family and am getting old in," he said.

Persons: Kyriakos Kouros, Michele Kambas, Ros Russell Organizations: Police, Migrants, Reuters, Turkish, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thomson Locations: NICOSIA, Cyprus, Limassol, Chlorakas, Asia, East, Africa, Turkish, Kuwait

☆ UN peacekeepers hurt in Cyprus buffer zone clash with Turkish forces
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

U.N. peackeepers were manhandled by personnel in Turkish Cypriot police and military uniforms, a witness said. Turkish Cypriot bulldozers had moved U.N. trucks, cement bollards and barbed wire in the United Nations-administered buffer zone splitting the island. The controversy is centred around plans by Turkish Cypriot authorities to build a road traversing the territory which the United Nations says is under its control. Turkish Cypriot authorities are planning to build an 11.5 km road linking Pyla/Pile to a neighbouring community which lies in breakaway north Cyprus. It had been in talks with Turkish Cypriot authorities over their plans, and work had started without the requisite agreement from the U.N., Siddique said.

Persons: Scuffles, Aleem Siddique, Siddique, Michele Kambas, Angus MacSwan Organizations: United Nations, Turkish Cypriot, . Security, UN, Greek Cypriot, The United Nations, Turkish, Thomson Locations: NICOSIA, Turkish Cypriot, Cyprus, Turkish, British, United States, Britain, France, United, Pyla, United Nations, Greek

☆ Greece and Cyprus welcome EU bid to re-engage with Turkey, but urge caution
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis walk during a welcome ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus July 31, 2023. The division of Cyprus between its Greek and Turkish Cypriot populations, a source of friction between Greece and Turkey, has also been an impediment. Cyprus was divided after a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a Greek Cypriot coup engineered by the military junta then ruling Greece. It is represented in the EU by an internationally-recognised Greek Cypriot government. In recent years the Turkish Cypriot side has advocated a two-state settlement, rejected by Greek Cypriots.

Persons: Nikos Christodoulides, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Yiannis Kourtoglou, Mitsotakis, Christodoulides, Ersin Tatar, Michele Kambas, Conor Humphries Organizations: Cyprus, REUTERS, Monday, European Union, EU, Christodoulides, Cypriot, United Nations, Turkish Cypriot, Greek, Thomson Locations: Nicosia, Cyprus, Yiannis, Yiannis Kourtoglou NICOSIA, Greece, Turkey, Ankara, Turkish, EU, Cyprus's, Cypriot, Turkish Cypriot

☆ ‘Wham!’ Review: They Made It Big, Then Broke Up
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Wesley Morris | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The new documentary about George Michael, Andrew Ridgeley and the music they made as Wham! — it’s just called “Wham!” — found me in a moment of need for a nostalgic, fantastical elixir, something short, sweet and tangential to my feeling of national blues. For one thing, Wham!, the duo, made soul music that popped. And the movie dances past all of the thorny moral and ethical questions of white people making Black stuff. The disembodied voices of Michael and Ridgeley guide the whole thing — rumination and memory as narration.

Persons: George Michael, Andrew Ridgeley, —, George, Barry Manilow, Freddie Mercury, Billy Joel, Oates, Chris Smith, Michael’s, ”, Ridgeley’s misapprehended, “ Son, Albert, Michael, Ridgeley, Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, Richard Simmons Organizations: BBC Locations: England, scrapbooks

☆ All you need is love, say LGBTQ+ activists on divided Cyprus
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Members of Cyprus's LGBTQ+ communities from both sides attend the annual bi-communal LGBTQ+ Pride at Ledra Palace inside the UN buffer zone in Nicosia, Cyprus, June 17, 2023. REUTERS/Yiannis KourtoglouNICOSIA, June 18 (Reuters) - Separated by politics but united in pride, members of LGBTQ+ communities came together in celebration late on Saturday in the no-man's-land that splits Cyprus in two. Cyprus was split by ethnic violence which culminated in a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek inspired coup. Saturday's Pride event is just the second to bring together members of LGBTQ+ communities from both sides of the divide. Activists said that despite the physical boundary, the island's LGBTQ+ communities were becoming more integrated and reflective of a multi-cultural Cyprus which includes ethnicities other than just Turkish and Greek Cypriots.

Persons: Yiannis Kourtoglou, Erman Dolmaci, Dolmaci, Alexandros Efstathiou, Efstathiou, Michele Kambas, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: REUTERS, United, Turkish Cypriot, LGBT Pilipinas, Queer, Thomson Locations: Ledra, Nicosia, Cyprus, Yiannis, Yiannis Kourtoglou NICOSIA, Cyprus's, United Nations, Turkish, Saturday's, Queer Cyprus

BRUSSELS, May 12 (Reuters) - Turkey's elections on Sunday are a key moment not just for the country itself but also for its European neighbours. Its internationally recognised government, composed of Greek Cypriots, is an EU member, while the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state is recognised only by Ankara. However, EU officials see little sign that Kilicdaroglu would change much on Cyprus. EU leaders designated Turkey as a candidate to join the bloc in 2004 but the talks ground to a halt years ago. There is already a lot of European money that has made its way to Turkey," said a European diplomat.

☆ Cyprus leaders meet as peace talks remain deadlocked
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Iakovos Hatzistavrou/Pool via REUTERSNICOSIA, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Leaders of Cyprus's estranged Greek and Turkish communities met on Thursday as a deadlock persisted in peace talks on the ethnically divided island. The meeting was the first for newly elected Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, the new Greek Cypriot leader, and Ersin Tatar, the Turkish Cypriot leader. Cyprus was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 after a brief Greek-inspired coup, with Greek Cypriots living in its south and Turkish Cypriots in an unrecognised breakaway north. "The present state of affairs cannot be the solution to the Cyprus problem, not for Greek Cypriots, or Turkish Cypriots," Christodoulides said after the two-hour meeting with Tatar. "I didn't hear anything I didn't expect from Mr Tatar," Christodoulides said.

☆ Cypriot diplomats face off in cliffhanger presidential vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Supporters of Cyprus presidential candidate Nikos Christodoulides are seen in front of a poster, at the campaign headquarters a day ahead of the presidential elections, in Nicosia, Cyprus, February 11, 2023. REUTERS/Louiza VradiNICOSIA, Feb 12 (Reuters) - A runoff election on Sunday to select the president of Cyprus pits two career diplomats against each other in what could be a cliffhanger vote that has split the political right. His candidacy was given a boost this week when DISY said its members should vote with their conscience. The DISY leadership were angered after Christodoulides, a former party member, broke ranks to run as an independent. read moreLeading DISY party members have since come out in support of each candidate.

☆ Cyprus heads to polls to pick new president with runoff expected
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Michele Kambas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NICOSIA, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Cyprus votes on Sunday for a new president in an election unlikely to produce a clear winner, setting the stage for a runoff on Feb. 12. Polling stations will open at 0500 GMT and close at 1600 GMT, with the result expected within two hours of stations closing. Opinion polls suggest none of the frontrunners will muster an outright majority, leading to a runoff. "On foreign policy I think Christodoulides is going to be closer to how Anastasiades has been in his final years," she added, calling that policy "more assertive". Cyprus has complied with all EU sanctions against Russia, a close ally, following the war in Ukraine.

☆ Vote for me! Cyprus clerics scramble to get public vote
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus is one of the few Orthodox Churches worldwide to recognise the independence of the fellow-Orthodox Church of Ukraine, in a move which triggered a rift within the Cypriot church in 2020. Chrysostomos had recognised the independence of the Ukrainian church away from Moscow's influence, butting heads with clerics considered pro-Russian. Today it has business interests as diverse as real estate to Cyprus's award-winning KEO beer. "In Cyprus the flock has the privilege of choosing who will be its shepherd," said theologian Theodoros Kyriakou. Reporting by Michele Kambas, Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A quiet US move in the Mediterranean may help put more pressure on Russia, but not everyone in NATO is happy about it
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Constantine Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The US lifted its 35-year-old arms embargo on the Republic of Cyprus in September. But the US decision has rankled Turkey, which is at odds with NATO ally Greece over the island. Increased cooperationThe Cypriot Underwater Demolition Team and US Naval Special Warfare Task Unit Europe train in Cyprus in September 2021. "This is a landmark decision, reflecting the burgeoning strategic relationship between the two countries, including in the area of security," Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiades said after the announcement. Cyprus is one of many points of contention between Greece and Turkey, whose worsening relations have worried other NATO members.

☆ Turkey to re-inforce military presence in northern Cyprus -Erdogan
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ISTANBUL, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Turkey will re-inforce its military presence in northern Cyprus after the United States lifted defence trade restrictions on Cyprus, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday. Speaking in a televised interview with broadcaster CNN Turk, Erdogan said the lifting of the restrictions was "inexplicable in terms of content and timing." We cannot," he said, adding that Turkey already has 40,000 troops on the island and will reinforce them with land, naval and aerial weapons, ammunition and vehicles, Erdogan said. Since then, Cyprus has been run by a Greek Cypriot administration in the south that Ankara does not recognise. The breakaway Turkish state on the northern side of the divided island is only recognised by Ankara.

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