Al Qaeda's affiliate in Iraq has claimed responsibility for a spate of attacks across the country targeting mostly Shi'ite Muslim targets this week that killed and wounded hundreds of people. The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) said in a statement posted on radical Islamist websites on Tuesday that it was behind the recent attacks, which

The Troika mission to Cyprus (European Commission, ECB and IMF) will meet here today, in separate meetings, trade unions representatives as well as the two main employers’organizations. On Tuesday, the Troika met Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly and Central Bank Governor Panikos Demetriades and later on the Ministerial Committee, responsible for economic issues. The Ministerial Committee

Ministerial Committee responsible for economic issues had on Tuesday its first in dept discussion with the representatives of the Troika. A Troika mission (representatives of EU Commission, European Central Bank and IMF) returned to Cyprus on Monday, as part of the Republic’s application for financial assistance from the EU bailout mechanism, to negotiate with the

Until the end of 2012 we must have specific proposals for bringing natural gas to Cyprus, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Neoklis Sylikiotis has said. Speaking on the sidelines of the Annual General Meeting of Natural Gas Public Company (DEFA), Sylikiotis said that, following a Cabinet’s decision, a process for importing natural gas from

Cypriot athletes who are going to compete in the London Olympics to begin July 27 are gathering in the British capital while the delegation from the Cyprus Olympic Committee is doing its best for their accommodation and stay in the city until the end of the games on August 12. On Monday the first athletes

Deputy Minister for European Affairs Andreas Mavroyiannis said Tuesday he was optimistic but also realistic about an agreement on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2014-2020 by the end of the year. The Deputy Minister was speaking at a press conference after the conclusion of Tuesday’s EU General Affairs Council, chaired by Mavroyiannis in Brussels. He

**Outbound tourism also up** Tourism arrivals leapt by 9.7% over the year earlier in June despite a fall in the number of arrivals from the UK, which remains by far the largest market. Arrivals of tourists reached 329,977 in June 2012 compared with 300,817 in June 2011. The Russian market continued to bound ahead, with

Research and development (R&D) spending in Cyprus is inching up each year but is still tiny as a proportion of GDP according to the results of an ad hoc survey carried out by the Statistical Service. Total R&D expenditure in 2010 is estimated at EUR 86.2 mln , or 0.50% of GDP , compared with

Construction prices were stable in June, giving some respite to construction companies, whcih ahve seen a massive decline in business. According to the Statistical Service the price index of construction materials rose by 0.07% over the previous month in June. In January – June 2012, the construction materials price index rose by 1.29% compared with

Industrial turnover fell by 2.1% over the year earlier in April, with the manufacturing subindex dropping by 6.1%. In the period January-April 2012, industrial turnover fell by 2.8% compared with the same period of the previous year.