Nicosia (Cyprus), Dec 13 - At first glance, the water flowing into Cyprus' largest reservoir looks like a raging torrent. But in reality, the volume of water that runs from the Kouris river into the dam represents a trickle of what the nearby city of Limassol actually needs.

Huge sand dunes dot the landscape and the fish and birds have disappeared as a crippling drought has made reservoirs, like the Kouros dam, resemble parched dirt bowls during the summer.

Nicosia, Nov 1 - Cyprus has expressed its support for a permanent seat for India in an expanded UN Security Council.

Cyprus President Demetris Christofias while speaking Saturday at a state banquet in honour of visiting Indian President Pratibha Patil said his country considers India a very important country at the regional and international level, Xinhua reported.

Nicosia (Cyprus), Oct. 31 : On the last day of her six-day state visit to London and Cyprus, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil met Cyprus President Demitris Christofias at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, and was told that Cyprus supports India''s bid for permanent membership in the UNSC. India has the world''''s second largest population and is the world''''s largest liberal democracy. It is also the world''''s twelfth largest economy and fourth largest in terms of purchasing power parity. Currently, India maintains the world''''s third largest armed force.

Nicosia (Cyprus), Oct. 31: President Pratibha Patil has asked NRIs in Nicosia to participate in social welfare programmes launched by the Indian government, especially the education and health care sectors which are essential pillars of a society.

"We are expanding our education and health care sectors as essential pillars for building a human resource that is educated and healthy," Patil said at a reception hosted for her by Indian High Commissioner to Cyprus, Ashok Kumar, on Saturday.

Nicosia (Cyprus), October 5 : The survey of a Roman shipwreck dating back to the 2nd century AD has revealed the presence of over 130 ceramic jars, likely to have been carrying wine or oil, which indicates that the Romans may have liked French wine.

According to a report in Cyprus Mail, the survey of the Roman shipwreck near Cape Greco on the Island's southeast coast, has been done by the Department of Antiquities in Cyprus.

"Its location in shallow waters, suggest that either the vessel was nearing an intended port-of-call, or else was engaged in a coasting trade, moving products to market over short distances up and down the coast," said a press release from the Department of Antiquities.

Athens/Nicosia  - Rival leaders on Cyprus have made "significant" progress to reunite the divided Mediterranean island in renewed peace talks after a year-long effort, a UN envoy said Thursday.

"The first reading has now been completed," said Alexander Downer, UN special advisor to the secretary general. "Certainly from the perspective of the United Nations, we would say that this is good progress and it shows that there have been significant progress in these negotiations."

Athens/Nicosia - Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders on the divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus agreed on Friday to open a new checkpoint linking the sides during the latest round of reunification talks, UN official said.

UN officials said the Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat decided during their 34th meeting in the context of direct negotiations for the opening of the Limnitis checkpoint.

Athens/Nicosia  - The European Commission urged Cypriots Thursday to seize a "historic chance" to reunite and end the conflict that has been plaguing the divided island for decades.

"There is a historic chance now to end this conflict once and for all," EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.

"The time is now. Do not allow a situation where the younger generation will accept the status quo," he told journalists during a brief once-day visit to Nicosia.

Nicosia, June 1 : Qatar `s Dohaland firm has announced plans to develop and regenerate a 35 hectare site located in inner Doha. The project will be executed in five stages at a total cost of 5.5 billion dollars and is to be completed in
2016.

Nicosia, May 27 : Flydubai, the state-owned low cost airline of Dubai, has announced that the Emirates Post Office, which has more than 100 offices all over the United Arab Emirates, will act as the airline''s selling agent.

In this innovative move, the Post Office will offer booking facilities, accept payment for reservations made on-line and make or change booking preferences.

In June, the new airline will start flights to Beirut, Amman, Damascus and Alexandria.

Nicosia, May 22: The Emirates Group, Dubai's airline and holiday group, announced on Thursday that its net profit for the year ending March 31 stood at 406 million dollars, representing a 72 percent drop from 1.45 billion dollars during the same period last year.

Middle East's largest airline, however, continues to be one of the best performers in the airline industry globally which last year, due to the recession, lost some eight billion dollars, according to the International Air Transport Association.

Nicosia, May 22 : The United Arab Emirates announced on Wednesday that it decided to withdraw from a planned Gulf Arab Monetary union, something with has been debated for the last 30 years. The decision does not affect UAE's broader membership in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

The decision casts doubts over the future of the project, although the other four countries- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain- reiterated their intention to participate. Two years ago, GCC member Oman announced that it would not join the planned single currency.

Luxembourg/Nicosia - European Union member states must enforce rulings by courts in the Greek half of Cyprus even if they cover property in the Turkish-controlled north of the island, the EU's highest court ruled on Tuesday. "A judgment of a court in the Republic of Cyprus must be recognized and enforced by the other (EU) member states even if it concerns land situated in the north of the island," the European Court of Justice said in a statement.

Nicosia, Apr 23 : The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced a revised outlook for the global air transport industry with losses of 4.7 billion dollars in 2009.

This forecast is significantly worse than IATA''s December forecast of a 2.5 billion dollars loss in 2009, reflecting the rapid deterioration of global economic conditions.

IATA expects industry revenue to fall by 12 per cent to 467 billion dollars.

Nicosia/Ankara  - The conservative National Unity Party (UBP) was winning by a wide margin in premliminary results after Turkish Cypriots voted Sunday in parliamentary elections.

The UBP had 44 per cent with about two thirds of the vote counted, according to Turkish television reports.

The governing left-wing Republican Turkish Party (CTP), which currently has 25 seats in the 50-seat Parliament, was at about 30 per cent.

Nicosia, Apr 15 : The UAE Minister of Economy Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri has said that the worst period for the United Arab Emirates economy was over and described the steps taken by the government to create a sense of stability as positive.

He added that those responsible understood the size of the challenges and were currently well organized.

Nicosia, April 11 - In the face of interminable problems that have beset Iranian efforts to develop the South Pars gas field, the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has warned Royal Dutch Shell and Spanish oil firm Repsol to submit their plans of action for the South Pars gas field and the Persian LNG projects within 45 days, otherwise they will be replaced by other qualified companies.

Athens/Nicosia - The United Nations on Friday said the rival leaders on the divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus have made "real progress" in reunification talks. "They have made real progress," said UN Secretary General's Special Advisor for Cyprus, Alexander Downer speaking to reporters. "They have put more on paper now, of an agreed nature, than any time since 1974."

The UN envoy said there was no fixed deadline to conclude the talks, which were progressing on a chapter-by-chapter basis.

Nicosia, Mar 19 : Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of Abu Dhabi, has denied rumours that his government wishes to acquire companies owned by the Dubai Government.

He attributed the rumours to misinterpretations about the relations between the emirates and stressed that the impact of the global financial crisis on the national economy had been exaggerated.

Nicosia, Mar 17: The Federation of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Chambers of Commerce and Industry have urged the governments of the six states to adopt a more comprehensive aid package aiming to stimulate growth and reduce the effects of the global financial crisis on businesses in the Gulf region.

The Emirates Business wrote on Monday that according to a study it had obtained, the Chambers expected the crisis to spread to other sectors in addition to oil, banks and construction.