Cyprus

The Cyprus Football Association has condemned a bomb attack against the car of a top referee, calling it a blight on the island's soccer family and society in general.

The association says it stands by referee Georgios Nicolaou and urges police to track down and bring the culprits of Tuesday's pre-dawn bombing to justice.

Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades has rejected a calendar proposal demanded by Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akıncı for the peace talks to end with a deal before the end of 2016, at a trilateral meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon over the weekend.

The Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders were to come together on Sept. 26 with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the U.N.

The two leaders on either side of Cyprus are set to meet United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sept. 25 on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, as part of efforts to solve the decades-long conflict on the divided Mediterranean island. 

Will there finally be a Cyprus settlement? Can the two communal leaders of the divided eastern Mediterranean island manage to come forward before the end of the year with a deal mutually acceptable for the two people sharing Cyprus as their common homeland?

Mediterranean holiday island Cyprus recorded its highest ever number for August tourism arrivals this year when the figure jumped nearly 17 percent to reach more than 458,000 visitors during peak season, official data showed on Monday.

"August 2016 had the highest volume of tourist arrivals ever recorded in Cyprus during the specific month," the Finance Ministry said.

The Turkish Cypriot administration has opposed a proposal by the Greek Cypriots for the deployment of some 2,500 police officers from the European Union to operate in the divided eastern Mediterranean island instead of a guarantorship system, as part of the recently-accelerated peace negotiations. 

A peace deal can be reached on Cyprus within 90 days if both sides of the divided Mediterranean island are willing and decisive about the issue, Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akıncı has said.

A peace deal can be reached on Cyprus within 90 days if both sides of the divided Mediterranean island are willing and decisive about the issue, Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akıncı has said.

Israel's defense minister says ties between his country and neighboring Cyprus are probably at their best ever.

Avigdor Lieberman said Friday that the two countries are "very, very reliable friends," despite all the political and security problems plaguing the region.