The number of building permits issued in May 2012 declined by 10.56% year on year, marking a further deterioration of the construction sector amid the financial crisis. According to figures released today by Cyprus Statistical Service, building permits for the first five months of the current year marked a decrease of 6.4% The number of

Cyprus marked its highest Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) in July 2012 with 3.8% from 3.5 in July 2011, figures released today by Cyprus` Statistical Service. In the first seven months of the current year HICP reached 3.4% compared with 3.6% in the corresponding period of 2011. The largest yearly increase was recorded in

Pop singer Madonna donned the trademark balaclava worn by punk band Pussy Riot during a concert in Moscow to demand Russia free three group members on trial for bursting into a Russian Orthodox church and singing a protest against Vladimir Putin. The U.S. singer also stripped to a black bra to show the band's name

Emergency workers and troops rushed food, water and clothes to nearly 850,000 people displaced and marooned from deadly floods spawned by 11 straight days of southwest monsoon rains that soaked the Philippine capital and nearby provinces. About 60 percent of Manila, a sprawling metropolis of about 12 million people, remained inundated on Wednesday, Benito Ramos,

European shares and the single currency edged lower after three days of solid gains on Wednesday as investors await the next moves by central banks to tackle declining global growth and Europe's fiscal crisis. Risky assets began rising on Friday after U.S. jobs data eased concerns over global growth but kept hopes intact for a

Syrian rebels trying to fight off an army offensive in Aleppo said on Tuesday they were running low on ammunition as President Bashar al-Assad's forces encircled their stronghold at the southern entrance to the country's biggest city. Assad, dealt another political blow on Monday with the defection of his prime minister, has reinforced his troops

Kuwaiti lawmakers boycotted a parliament session on Tuesday to foil another attempt to swear in a new cabinet – a move that makes the assembly's dissolution likely and throws the U.S. ally into more turmoil. It was the second such boycott in a week, and the decision rattled the Kuwaiti stock market. The dispute centres