Cypriots Celebrate Tsiknopempti With Record-High Meat Consumption

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

February 16, 2026

Record Demand For Grilled Meats

In a striking display of culinary tradition, Cypriots celebrated Tsiknopempti with an explosive surge in meat consumption, particularly favoring pork souvlaki, ribs, and sausages. According to Costas Leivadoti, President of Meat Retailers, demand doubled compared to an ordinary day, especially for products ideal for grilling.

Consumer Preferences And Market Trends

Most shoppers gravitated toward familiar, easy-to-cook options such as sausages, ribs, steaks, and especially pork souvlaki, a pattern that has remained consistent in recent years. Purchasing activity began intensifying from Wednesday afternoon and continued into the early hours of Thursday, keeping butcher shops busy throughout the day. Indicative prices placed pork souvlaki at around €6 per kilogram, with volumes significantly higher than seasonal averages.

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Business Booms Beyond The Home

Heightened demand was also evident across the hospitality sector. Restaurants, taverns, and grill houses reported strong reservations, takeaway orders, and bookings. Several venues reached capacity or sold out of key menu items by midday, underscoring Tsiknopempti’s importance as one of the most profitable days of the year for food service businesses in Cyprus. Fanos Leventis, General Manager of the Owners Association of Leisure Centers, compared the day’s turnover to an additional weekend peak.

Diverse Celebratory Choices

While many adhered to the customary meat feast, some citizens opted for alternative culinary celebrations. The Animal Party (Κόμμα για τα Ζώα), in a public statement, encouraged adopting a plant-based approach by choosing vegetables, legumes, and other non-animal products. This suggestion adds an intriguing dimension to the cultural and commercial landscape of Tsiknopempti.

Maintaining Tradition Amid Changing Tastes

Alongside grilled meats, customary side dishes and sweets continued to feature prominently on festive tables. Local bakeries and specialty confectioners reported steady demand for both savory and sweet treats that traditionally accompany Tsiknopempti gatherings. Together, these elements highlight how the celebration remains both a cultural cornerstone and a significant economic boost for retailers and hospitality businesses across Cyprus.

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Copyright Law Struggles To Keep Up With AI Training

by News Editor

August 24, 2026

Courts Are Still Applying Old Copyright Rules To AI

AI companies train models on enormous amounts of published material, including books, articles and academic research. Whether using that content without authors’ permission violates copyright law remains unresolved.

Much of the debate centres on fair use, which allows copyrighted material to be used without permission in certain circumstances. Courts consider factors such as the purpose of the use, how much material was involved and its impact on the original market.

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Anthropic Case Sets An Important Precedent

A major case involving Anthropic and a group of authors provided one of the clearest rulings so far. Judge William Alsup found that using copyrighted books to train AI models was lawful, comparing the process to people reading and studying literature before creating something new.

Anthropic was nevertheless ordered to pay $1.5 billion in a settlement. The penalty concerned books the company had obtained from illegal online libraries rather than the AI training itself.

For AI companies, that distinction could prove significant because it separates studying copyrighted material from directly copying it.

Competition Could Be The Key Issue

A case involving Thomson Reuters and Ross Intelligence offers a different perspective. A court ruled that Ross could not claim fair use after using Reuters’ copyrighted material to develop a competing AI-powered legal research platform.

The decision suggests courts may be less willing to consider AI training fair use when copyrighted content is used to build a product that directly competes with the original.

For authors, an unresolved question is whether AI-generated content should be considered competition for the works used to train these models.

The Law Has Yet To Catch Up

US copyright law predates generative AI by decades, leaving courts to apply old principles to new technology. Questions also remain over copyright protection for AI-generated works. In Thaler v. Perlmutter, a court ruled that material created entirely by AI cannot receive copyright protection.

Major AI companies remain involved in copyright litigation, and different courts could reach different conclusions. For now, there is no universal rule: the legality of AI training will depend on the circumstances of each case and how courts ultimately interpret copyright and fair use.

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