Popular Bank gets support from State

The House of Representatives late last night approved legislation providing for state support to the island’s second largest lender. The item was passed with 43 votes for, none against, and three abstentions.

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Popular Bank seeking state aid

THE Popular Bank said yesterday it was in talks with the finance ministry and the Central Bank about state guarantees to raise fresh capital after being battered by the Greek debt write-down.

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15 firms to bid for gas drilling rights off Cyprus

Major oil and gas companies such as Russia’s Novatec, Italy’s ENI, France’s Total, and Malaysia’s Petronas are among 15 firms and consortiums that are seeking to carry out exploratory drilling for gas deposits off southern Cyprus, the island’s commerce minister said Friday, despite Turkey’s strong objections.

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BIRDS have flocked here in dramatic numbers this winter with heavy rainfall turning the island’s wetlands into great spots for wildlife, the Game Fund said yesterday.

Pink flamingos, the birds that stop over at Cyprus’ salt lakes, looking incongruous just a stone’s throw away from Larnaca airport, came in their thousands in December.

A total of 12,093 flamingos were spotted in December last year, way more than the 3,500 spotted in 2010 and the most since 2000, when only 1,692 were seen.

Some 21,160 birds were spotted in total for December 2011, an impressive number that can only be rivalled by looking back seven years to 2004 when 24,300 birds were spotted.

The Game Fund said there were some 4,558 ducks of different species spotted in December last year as well as over 1,000 coots – the black water birds with a white stripe on their forehead.

The salt lakes in Akrotiri and Larnaca brought in most birds with 7,452 and 10,389 respectively while Oroklini Lake also brought in some 1,428 birds including the largest amount recorded in one wetland in Cyprus of the small duck garnagey.

The game fund said increased human activity and the (usual) lack of rain made protecting Cyprus’ wetlands difficult.

The main ones are the salt lakes in Akrotiri and Larnaca, which attract important species.

But there is a number of dams and smaller lakes in Paralimni, Oroklini and Achna which are also important, the Game fund said.

Pollution and failing to use water resources correctly are dangers to all these wetlands, the Game Fund said.

Tomorrow is World Wetlands Day.