Cyprus News Agency

Cyprus, Greece and Israel have announced they will sign an agreement next week designed to combat marine pollution.

Cypriot Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment Nicos Kouyialis described the deal as "significant" for the respective countries and the region.

Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiades pays a two-day official visit to Moscow on October 23-24, at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to a statement, the President of Cyprus will meet with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Monday and President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

Cypriot banks need to apply "additional and persistent" efforts to wrestle down a stockpile of nonperforming loans (NPLs), the European Central Bank's Daniele Nouy said in an interview published on Monday.

Nouy, who heads banking supervision at the ECB, said there had been uneven progress on handling the problem at banks in Cyprus.

Cypriot banks need to apply "additional and persistent" efforts to wrestle down a stockpile of non-performing loans (NPLs), ECB's Daniele Nouy said in an interview published on Monday.

Nouy, who heads banking supervision at the European Central Bank, said there had been uneven progress across banks on handling the problem.

With 66 new HIV infections reported last year between January and October, Cyprus health authorities say there has been a rise of cases in the past two years.

Moreover, authorities point to 80 HIV infections in 2015 compared to 41 in 2010.

Two Greek Cypriot men were arrested and detained by Turkish Cypriot police on Wednesday night after allegedly strayed into the buffer zone in Athienou.

According to reports from the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), two men – a 45-year-old from Troullous and a 78-year-old from Nicosia – had attempted to visit a quarry used for producing gypsum plaster when they were detained.

Greece's Foreign Ministry hit out Monday at the United Nations special envoy for the Cyprus issue, Espen Barth Eide, after taking umbrage at comments by the Norwegian which suggested that Nicosia and Athens had not accepted a proposal by Turkey that would have led to the gradual withdrawal of troops from the island.

Turkey’s insistence on continuing the guarantees treaty, rights of intervention in Cyprus and a permanent Turkish military presence on the island were responsible for the deadlock at the Crans Montana talks on the Cyprus issue, Cyprus government spokesman Nikos Christodoulides said on Saturday.

Nicosia has reacted to objections from Turkey to planned hydrocarbon exploration in block 6, within the island's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), that was recently licensed to a consortium of Italy's Eni and France's Total.

Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said he and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres share the view that progress in efforts to reunify the island is unlikely before next month's referendum in Turkey.