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Cypriots Celebrate Tsiknopempti With Record-High Meat Consumption

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

February 16, 2026

Record Demand For Grilled Meats

In a striking display of culinary tradition, Cypriots celebrated Tsiknopempti with an explosive surge in meat consumption, particularly favoring pork souvlaki, ribs, and sausages. According to Costas Leivadoti, President of Meat Retailers, demand doubled compared to an ordinary day, especially for products ideal for grilling.

Consumer Preferences And Market Trends

Most shoppers gravitated toward familiar, easy-to-cook options such as sausages, ribs, steaks, and especially pork souvlaki, a pattern that has remained consistent in recent years. Purchasing activity began intensifying from Wednesday afternoon and continued into the early hours of Thursday, keeping butcher shops busy throughout the day. Indicative prices placed pork souvlaki at around €6 per kilogram, with volumes significantly higher than seasonal averages.

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Business Booms Beyond The Home

Heightened demand was also evident across the hospitality sector. Restaurants, taverns, and grill houses reported strong reservations, takeaway orders, and bookings. Several venues reached capacity or sold out of key menu items by midday, underscoring Tsiknopempti’s importance as one of the most profitable days of the year for food service businesses in Cyprus. Fanos Leventis, General Manager of the Owners Association of Leisure Centers, compared the day’s turnover to an additional weekend peak.

Diverse Celebratory Choices

While many adhered to the customary meat feast, some citizens opted for alternative culinary celebrations. The Animal Party (Κόμμα για τα Ζώα), in a public statement, encouraged adopting a plant-based approach by choosing vegetables, legumes, and other non-animal products. This suggestion adds an intriguing dimension to the cultural and commercial landscape of Tsiknopempti.

Maintaining Tradition Amid Changing Tastes

Alongside grilled meats, customary side dishes and sweets continued to feature prominently on festive tables. Local bakeries and specialty confectioners reported steady demand for both savory and sweet treats that traditionally accompany Tsiknopempti gatherings. Together, these elements highlight how the celebration remains both a cultural cornerstone and a significant economic boost for retailers and hospitality businesses across Cyprus.

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Google Cloud Outage Disrupts Banking And Digital Services Across The UK

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

October 20, 2026

A power outage at a Google Cloud data centre near London disrupted services across the UK on Tuesday, affecting banks, businesses and other digital platforms. Google said the incident was caused by a power event at its cloud operations, with full recovery expected by around 1300 GMT.

The disruption began at 0608 GMT and affected Google Cloud services in the europe-west2 region, which is hosted in London. In an initial update, the company reported elevated error rates and intermittent network failures across multiple services as engineers worked to restore operations.

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Banking Services Hit By The Disruption

Revolut was among the most visibly affected companies, with customers reporting problems with ATM withdrawals, bank transfers and card top-ups. A source close to the matter linked the issues to the Google Cloud outage.

Traditional banks also reported disruptions. Lloyds said some customers were experiencing problems with its app and online banking, while HSBC confirmed difficulties accessing its services. HSBC added that it was monitoring the situation and noted that other organisations were affected as well.

Disruption Spreads Beyond Finance

Downdetector, which tracks online service disruptions, recorded hundreds of reports involving other businesses, including property website Rightmove and the Royal Mail postal service. The reports suggested that the outage was affecting multiple parts of the UK’s digital economy.

The incident highlights the risks facing businesses that depend on shared cloud infrastructure. Even a temporary failure at a single provider can disrupt services across several sectors, from banking and payments to logistics and consumer platforms.

Companies Reassure Customers

Revolut said it had been working to resolve the issue since it was identified and apologised to affected customers. The company also confirmed that customers’ money and data remained safe.

As cloud platforms underpin an increasing share of digital commerce, the outage illustrates how disruptions to critical infrastructure can spread far beyond the provider itself, affecting businesses and customers across the economy.