Ban Ki-moon

Reports of UN Special Envoy Espen Barth Eide returning to Cyprus after talks in Switzerland to reunify the ethnically split island collapsed were not confirmed by Cyprus's government on Wednesday.

Reports of UN Special Envoy Espen Barth Eide returning to Cyprus after talks in Switzerland to reunify the ethnically split island collapsed were not confirmed by Cyprus's government on Wednesday.

"Despite their best efforts, they have not been able to achieve the necessary further convergences on criteria for territorial adjustment that would have paved the way for the last phase of the talks," said a statement issued by the U.N. spokesperson in Cyprus. 

BELGRADE - First Deputy PM and FM Ivica Dacic will be representing Serbia at Wednesday's United Nations Security Council meeting on a report by the UN secretary-general on the work of UNMIK, the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Gambia has notified the United Nations of its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which will take effect on Nov. 10, 2017, U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said on Nov. 14, making it the third country to quit The Hague-based tribunal. 

The Cyprus peace talks made "significant progress" after five days of negotiations at the Swiss resort of Mont Pelerin, according to the United Nations, which said that the effort will resume on November 20.

A deal to unify Cyprus is within reach, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Nov. 7 as he opened a latest round of negotiations.

"The prospect of a solution in Cyprus is within their reach," said Ban as he opened a round of talks in a snow-bound hotel overlooking Lake Geneva in Switzerland on Nov. 7. 

"Expectations in both communities are high," he added. 

A deal to unify Cyprus is within reach, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Monday as he opened talks aimed at resolving one of the world's longest running political crises.

The Mediterranean resort island has been split since 1974, when Turkish troops occupied its northern third in response to an Athens-inspired coup seeking union with Greece.

Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akıncı called Nov. 2 for "realism and reasonable" approaches from the Greek Cypriots ahead of U.N.-backed talks aimed at reunifying the Mediterranean island.

A deal to find a peaceful solution to the more than 40-year-old conflict on the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus is closer than ever and could be clinched by the end of this year, a senior U.N. envoy said Nov. 1.