CYPRIOTS spent £3.3 million a day or a total of almost £1.2 billion on credits cards both on the island and abroad in 2007, JCC statistics released yesterday showed.
The figures represent an increase of 16 per cent on domestic purchases and 32 per cent on buying abroad compared to 2006.
THE SEVEN remaining Iraqis atop a tower on the British bases at Episkopi came down yesterday evening, ending a seven-day protest they hoped would secure them British passports.
“They came down at 6pm of their own free will,” said bases spokesman Captain Nick Ulvert.
A UKRAINIAN woman was killed in a road accident in Nicosia yesterday, the second fatality in a tragic 48 hours on the road, while a motorcyclist was last night fighting for his life after being hit by a car in a separate accident.
THE ROAD Transport Department yesterday began accepting applications from people wishing to withdraw cars over 20 years old from circulation.
According to the scheme, the government will offer between £150 (€256) and £1,000 (€1,708) as incentives for withdrawal, with the relevant bill providing £5 million (€8.56m) a year for the withdrawal of three categories of cars.
BRITISH AIRWAYS has re-introduced its two-piece hand baggage allowance for customers transferring through and departing from Heathrow, as well as a number of other UK airports.
POLICE WERE yesterday called to investigate a bomb scare at the Nicosia courts.
According to a police spokeswoman yesterday, a call was made to Simerini newspaper saying a bomb was about to go off in the specific area; the paper in turn informed the police.
THE COMMUNICATIONS Ministry yesterday opened the new ambulance lane in Kalamon Avenue in Nicosia.
The lane is part of a host of measures aimed at easing the traffic problem surrounding the new Nicosia General Hospital and offering faster access to ambulances.
AYIOS ANTONIOS high school in Limassol will introduce a camera surveillance circuit in its premises, in an effort to put an end to incidents of vandalism that have been plaguing the school.
A DUTCH couple were arrested at Paphos airport yesterday after police found 18kg of cannabis in their luggage.
The seizure is the latest in several drug hauls over the last week, which has seen over 20kg of cannabis confiscated by police.
TWO WEEKS after euro adoption, more than 90 per cent of all transactions are being carried out in the new currency, the EU’s latest monitoring report on Cyprus said.
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.
