Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 11-11-16

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From: The Cyprus News Agency at <http://www.cyna.org.cy>

CONTENTS

[01] PEACE TALKS - NEW MEETING

[02] FM - EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT - CONTACTS

[03] EUROSTAT - CYPRUS GDP

[04] NOBLE ENERGY - CYPRUS DRILLING

[01] PEACE TALKS - NEW MEETING

This is the first meeting Christofias and Eroglu will have after Octobers meeting in New York with the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki moon.

Speaking after the New York meeting, Ban said the leaders have agreed that efforts are essential over the next two months to move to the end game of the negotiations for a comprehensive settlement to the Cyprus issue.

He also said that the leaders assured him that they can finalize a deal, acknowledging that there is still work to be done and that by January, when they will meet again with the SG, Ban expects that the internal aspects of the Cyprus problem will have been resolved so that they can move to the multilateral conference shortly thereafter.

This has been our fourth meeting together as we work to develop a comprehensive settlement for Cyprus. We last met in July in Geneva. At that meeting we agreed that the sides would intensify the talks in order to reach convergences on outstanding core issues in the negotiations, said Ban.

In his remarks after the meeting, President Christofias said that during the next meeting of the two leaders with the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in January it will become evident if the talks for a Cyprus settlement are moving to the end game of the negotiations.

No great progress was achieved during the meetings to allow for a turning point at the efforts for a Cyprus settlement, he pointed out.

For this reason, he said, the UNSG suggested the two sides meet again with him in the middle of January, following another round of intensive negotiations. The aim, he added, is to bridge the gap which divides the two sides on fundamental aspects of the Cyprus problem, something which is difficult bearing in mind the differences, but not impossible.

He stressed that as long as the talks for a Cyprus settlement continue, we will show good will, will be ready for a solution that will be based on principles and is functional, serving the interests of the people of Cyprus, which has been divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion.

The latest peace effort to find a negotiated settlement began in September 2008, under UN auspices.

[02] FM - EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT - CONTACTS

Marcoullis briefed the MEPs on Cyprus` intensive preparations for its EU presidency and stressed that during that time every possible effort will be made on the part of Cyprus to promote issues such as the Multiannual Financial Framework, financial governance and enlargement whilst at the same time making its own mark with the priorities it has set.

She further spoke of recent developments in the ongoing UN led negotiations which aim to reunify Cyprus, divided since the Turkish invasion of 1974. Until today, she said, the desired progress has not been achieved due to the negative stance of the Turkish Cypriot side, adding that one cannot be optimistic for the immediate future unless the Turkish side changes its position radically.

[03] EUROSTAT - CYPRUS GDP

During the same period, the GDP increased by 0.2% in both the euro area and the EU27. In the second quarter of 2011, growth rates were 0.2% in both zones. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, the seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 1.4% in both zones in the third quarter of 2011, after +1.6% in the euro area and +1.7% in the EU27 in the previous quarter.

During the third quarter of 2011, the GDP in the United States increased by 0.6% compared with the previous quarter. In Japan GDP grew by 1.5% in the third quarter of 2011.

[04] NOBLE ENERGY - CYPRUS DRILLING

``Drilling is underway at the Cyprus A prospect which has an estimated gross mean resource range of 3 to 9 Tcf and a 60 percent probability of geologic success,`` Noble said in a statement, issued Tuesday, on the Company`s current operations, future plans and operational outlook.

Cyprus Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Praxoulla Antoniadou has said the government will proceed with the second licensing round for additional blocks in its EEZ, adding that first indications from the exploratory drilling in block 12, which began on 18 September, will be ready by mid December.

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