THE ISLAND has experienced a 15 per cent drop in rainfall since 1970, while the demand for water has increased by three to four per cent on average every year.
With the capacity in the dams currently at a mere 9.2 per cent, compared with 23 per cent at this time last year, it’s obvious that we have a serious water shortage problem.
THE CREDIT market is in line for a shake-up after January 1, with interest rates on borrowing likely to go up for some and down for others, according to market analysts.
Interest rates on existing loans are likely to drop temporarily, while new loans could become more expensive.
THE PRICE of bread, pasta and confectionery are set to go up at the beginning of next year following further increases in the international price of wheat.
Flour Millers’ Association president Dinos Mitsides said the price of durum wheat was expected to increase by around 28 per cent, while the price of soft or strong flour was set to increase by seven to 10 per cent.
CYPRIOT lender Marfin Popular Bank (MPB) said yesterday it had agreed to acquire a 50.4 per cent stake in RPB Holding, which controls Russian lender Rosprombank, for €83 million.
STUDENTS and teachers at the Apostolos Markos lyceum in Archangelos, Nicosia, yesterday presented the pilot project of the installation and operation of a bio-diesel unit in the school premises.
THIS AUTUMN has been the worst for illegal bird trapping in Cyprus in four years.
Field data gathered under a continuing BirdLife surveillance programme showed that an additional cause for concern is the overwhelming evidence of widespread availability of trapped birds (ambelopoulia) in local restaurants, selling for up to £3 (€5) per bird.
ORPHANIDES hypermarkets will round down their prices on January 1 when the island adopts the euro.
The public company’s commitment to round down its prices on all 65,000 products was made in March and yesterday the hypermarket chain demonstrated exactly how it planned to make good on its promise.
THE ISLAND’S population increased by 1.6 per cent in 2006, mainly as a result of an increased net migration balance.
According to the Statistical Service’s latest demographic report, the population in the government-controlled area of the country was estimated to be 788,700 at the end of last year, compared to 766,400 in 2005.
THE KING of Sweden yesterday bestowed Nicos Shacolas with the country’s oldest and most distinguished decoration, the Order of the Polar Star, in recognition of his services to Sweden.
TODAY, Europe will complete the extraordinary process of reunification that began with the domino collapse of Communist regimes across Eastern Europe in 1989, extending the Schengen area across all the former Eastern Bloc countries that joined the EU with Cyprus in 2004.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
