20 March 2013/08 Jumada l-Ula 1434/30 Esfand 1391/09 Yi-Mao (2nd month) 4711

The Cypriot Parliament has rejected the privately funded bailout plan.  36 politicians voted against it, 19 abstained.  Not one politician voted for it!

The bailout would have placed a high tax on bank accounts, and would have affected individuals and large investors.  Russian officials complained because Russian banks have large accounts in Cyprus and would have had to pay $168 million in taxes!

Over the weekend, Cypriot banks closed down, including their ATMs, because people were rushing to get their cash out. The bank closures not only affected Cypriots but British Red Coats stationed there.

The United Kingdom has what’s called sovereign military bases in Cyprus. The U.K. Defence Ministry confirmed that they’ve flown nearly $1.3 million USD to their British Forces Cyprus personnel. They will also allow personnel to have their paychecks deposited in U.K. based accounts.