Britain Flies 1M Euros to Troops in Cyprus

How's this for a tangible sign of the banking mess in Cyprus: Britain's Royal Air Force is flying in a plane loaded with 1 million euros so its troops stationed there don't get stuck without cash, reports the Independent. The defense ministry made the move after the crisis raised fears that ATMs and debit cards would stop working. Troops also get the option of having their pay deposited into UK bank accounts instead of Cypriot ones.

"We're determined to do everything we can to minimize the impact of the Cyprus banking crisis on our people," says a ministry spokesman. Britain, which doesn't even use the euro as its national currency, has about 3,000 troops and 500 civilian personnel in Cyprus, reports Yahoo News. (More Cyprus stories.)