Cyprus

Like a schoolkid chastised by a teacher for texting in class, a player at the US Open was caught using his cellphone during a changeover and was admonished by the chair umpire.

Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, the runner-up at the 2006 Australian Open, got in trouble Sunday while losing his fourth-round match against 10th-seeded Gael Monfils of France 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.

When they started at a Beirut hotel back in 1968, neither Greek Cypriot negotiator Glafkos Clerides nor Turkish Cypriot counterpart Rauf Denktaş probably thought the problem of power sharing between their two peoples would outlive them.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Aug. 31 that Turkey will continue to do its part for a just and lasting solution to the Cyprus issue. 

Çavuşoğlu's remarks came during a press conference in Nicosia alongside Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Hüseyin Özgürgün. 

Public prosecutor Evsevia Kormikari has asked a council of prosecutors to reject an appeal by Greek-Cypriot pop singer Michalis Hatzigiannis not to stand trial over charges of failing to declare 5 million euros in his tax declarations during the 2010-2011 period.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish-Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci met in Nicosia's United Nations-patrolled buffer zone on Thursday in a symbolic show of good will after the two sides agreed to relaunch stalled peace talks aimed at reunifying the divided island.

The talks are to start again on June 8, the two leaders agreed.

United Nations human rights expert Karima Bennoune on Thursday slammed the "unjustified" restriction facing religious services in ethnically-split Cyprus.

Turkish Cypriot authorities have restricted the number of visits allowed to Greek Orthodox churches in the north of the island, saying they could not cope with the frequency and demand of such services.

An estimated 204,311 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2016 through May 30, arriving in Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Spain. The International organization for Migration (IOM) announced on Tuesday. 

This compared with 91,860 migrants and refugees who arrived in Europe across the Mediterranean in the first five months of last year. 

Aside from Slovenia, the Commission on Wednesday recommended to the Council of the EU to close the excessive deficit procedure also for Cyprus and Ireland. The deficits are forecast to remain below 3% of GDP in 2016 and 2017.

Greece will not be represented in the Eurovision song contest finals for the first time since the competition’s its inception.  ‘Argo’, the group that performed the song ‘Utopian Land’ did not impress the voting fans in the preliminary finals and was left out of the finals.

STARA PAZOVA - Seasoned coach Slavoljub Muslin has been named the new head coach of the Serbian national football team, the Football Association of Serbia (FSS) has announced.

The FSS Urgent Affairs Committee on Thursday appointed Muslin as the successor to Radovan Curcic.