Latest Cyprus government News

Egypt and Eni-Total consortium to sign deal on processing Cypriot natural gas for export

Jan. 24, 2025 12:45 PM EST

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Egypt and a consortium made up of energy companies Total of France and Italy’s Eni will next month sign a key agreement to transport natural gas from an undersea deposit inside Cypriot waters to Egypt where it will be liquefied and processed for export, officials said...

US Air Force looks to upgrade Cyprus airbase as humanitarian staging post for the Middle East

Jan. 24, 2025 09:16 AM EST

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Experts from the U.S. Air Force are looking at ways to upgrade Cyprus’ premier air base for use as a humanitarian staging post in future operations in the Middle East, a Cypriot official told The Associated Press Thursday. Cyprus, which is only 184...

Terrorism and drones are top concerns for maritime security companies, UN officials say

Jan. 24, 2025 08:56 AM EST

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Terrorism and the use of new technologies like weaponized drones against merchant shipping has superseded piracy as the top concern for maritime seccurity and it’s up to private companies to employ specific countermeasures to neutralize such threats, United Nations...

Leaders in ethnically divided Cyprus fail to reach deal on new crossing points

Jan. 20, 2025 09:01 AM EST

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A meeting between the two leaders in ethnically divided Cyprus ended without an agreement on Monday, with both sides failing to reach a decision on a deal aimed at building trust that included opening new crossing points across a U.N.-controlled buffer zone. ...

More than 1,000 Syrians have withdrawn asylum applications in Cyprus, another 500 have returned home

Jan. 17, 2025 10:44 AM EST

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — More than 1,000 Syrian nationals have withdrawn their applications for asylum or international protection because they intend to return to their homeland, while another 500 have already gone back, a Cypriot official said Friday. Cyprus’ Deputy Minister for...

Biden issues directive allowing Cyprus to buy American arms from the US government

Jan. 15, 2025 19:13 PM EST

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — President Joe Biden issued a directive Wednesday that allows Cyprus to buy arms from the U.S. government and get surplus American military equipment in a move welcomed as promoting stability in the eastern Mediterranean. From Cyprus’ perspective, the...

Middle East latest: Israel launches new strikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebels

Jan. 10, 2025 17:33 PM EST

Israel’s military says it carried out new airstrikes in Yemen against what it said were Houthi rebel targets. Its statement Friday said fighter jets struck “on the western coast and inland Yemen,” a day after the Houthis launched three drones at Israel. The U.S. military bombed Yemen earlier...

Greeks pay tribute to former Prime Minister Costas Simitis at his state funeral

Jan. 09, 2025 08:48 AM EST

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Mourners lined the street outside Athens' central cathedral Thursday for the state funeral for former Prime Minister Costas Simitis, the architect of Greece’s membership of the European Union’s common currency, who died on Sunday at the age of 88. ...

Turkey insists on two states for ethnically divided Cyprus as the UN looks to restart peace talks

Jan. 08, 2025 13:31 PM EST

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Turkey on Wednesday again insisted on a two-state peace accord in ethnically divided Cyprus as the United Nations prepares to meet with all sides in early spring in hopes of restarting formal talks to resolve one of the world’s most intractable conflicts. ...

Costas Simitis, former Greek prime minister and socialist leader, dies at 88

Jan. 05, 2025 06:06 AM EST

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Costas Simitis, former prime minister of Greece and the architect of the country’s joining the common European currency, the euro, has died at age 88, state TV ERT reported. Simitis was taken to a hospital in the city of Corinth early Sunday morning from his...