April • 2019
Marcos was great, he delivered our request as per requirements and was thorough and pleasant to deal with. Thanks!
Marcos A.
Nicosia, Cyprus
2 reviews$200 - $800 / Day
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News Cameraman, Photojournalist and Fixer covering news and features in Cyprus, Greece and the Middle East. Work published in The Guardian, Time, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, Vice, AJ+ and others.
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Cyprus activists: Flamingos at risk at lead-lined salt lake
The Larnaca salt lake network welcomes as many as 15,000 or more flamingos through the winter. The flamingo is one of the most common species of winter bird in Cyprus, as they migrate from colder climates, arriving with the first rains. Birdlife Cyprus director Martin Hellicar says flamingos are vulnerable to ingesting tiny lead shotgun pellets lying on the lakebed as they feed. Just like other birds, flamingos swallow small pebbles during feeding to help with digestion, but can't distinguish between pebbles and pellets. "In Cyprus, we have determined the most important areas for flamingos - like the Larnaca salt lake," says Hellicar. "The (safety) gaps that exist, and the threats for the flamingo and other species, has to do with (wetland) management." Cyprus Wildlife figures show that in the first two months of last year, 96 flamingos found dead at Larnaca salt lake network died as a result of lead poisoning after ingesting the pellets. "The source appears to be (shotgun) pellets from hunting. It's the only area in the Larnaca salt lake network where hunting is permitted, not inside, but near the lake," says Hellicar. Cyprus Veterinary Services official Panayiotis Constantinou, who has conducted autopsies on dead flamingos, says the birds died after absorbing lead from the tiny pellets lying at the bottom of the salt lake. "These pellets were found during an autopsy of dead flamingos in the lab," he explains. Hunting is banned around most of the salt lake, but hunters still search for game around the lake network's southern tip where the sport is permitted. A sport shooting range near the northern tip of the lake network was closed nearly 18 years ago and authorities proceeded with a clean-up of the lakebed in that area to remove pellets. But Hellicar says the clean-up was apparently incomplete and that a European Union-funded study is currently underway to identify which areas contain significant amounts of pellets in order to again sweep them clean. He says that preliminary results of that study show that lead levels in the lake network's southern tip are "very high" most probably due to lead shotgun pellets used by hunters. According to Hellicar, the problem is compounded by poaching in the area, where many types of birds are shot, apart from those that authorities have designated as legitimate game. "As a conservation group, we believe that if a definitive solution on illegal hunting in the area isn't found - and because there is this serious problem with pollution there - we want this area to be closed off permanently," he says. But Cyprus Hunting Federation official Alexandros Loizides claims hunting in a 200-meter swath near the lake network's southern tip isn't the real problem, since only about a half-dozen hunters go in search of duck there. He says he's unaware of any flamingo deaths in the area and faults pesticide and fertilizer runoff from nearby farmers for creating the pollution problem there. "It's a 200-metre swath of land where hunting is permitted under the European Union's wetlands rules, where five or six hunters every day can hunt for ducks," he says. "We haven't had any incidents of dead flamingos appearing in that specific area. There are ways to clean up the lead, we'll clean up what we have to."
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Cypriots protest against coronavirus 'SafePass'
(18 Jul 2021) Thousands of protesters gathered outside the Cypriot Presidential Palace in the capital Nicosia on Sunday to demonstrate against the government's decision to introduce a 'SafePass' for people entering public sector establishments. Cyprus has seen an alarming increase in COVID-19 infections, prompting the government on Friday to announce new regulations. They include proof of COVID-19 status for access to public transport, banks, state services, businesses and to visit care homes. Dance clubs will only be open to the vaccinated and recently recovered. The 'SafePass' can be a vaccination card, a negative PCR or rapid lateral flow test, or a certificate of COVID-19 infection within the last six months. According to a health ministry report on Saturday, just over 60% of the Cypriot population is now fully vaccinated.
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Greece: Police arrest protesters commemorating teenage victim
06.12.2013 --Thousands of protesters rallied at Athens University Friday, to commemorate the 2008 police killing of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigiropoulos. Police used tear gas and several arrests were made. Grigiropoulos was shot during a confrontation with police in Athens, sparking two weeks of riots in the Greek capital.
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Greece: Families of survivors from "Greek Lampedusa" arrive
A total of 16 Afghan and Syrian refugees arrived at the port of Piraeus, Thursday, after 12 people drowned following an incident involving the Greek coast guard pulling a refugee boat towards the Turkish coast.
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Greece: Riot police boot teachers out of government occupation
Public sector teachers were removed from the office of the Greek Minister of Structural Reform in Athens on Thursday. The teachers, who were recently made redundant, had occupied the building for several hours. Riot police used shields to push the protesters back before securing the area.
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Greece: Defiant protesters take on police and troika despite ban
Hundreds of protesters clashed with police during an anti-troika protest in central Athens on Tuesday evening. Protesters rallied despite the Greek authority's decision to restrict all rallies and marches in central Athens during the EU Finance Ministers' meeting which takes part in Athens as part of Greece's EU presidency.
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