Nine British soldiers are facing charges in Cyprus after an incident in the coastal town of Ayia Napa on Friday night, the UK's Ministry of Defence said today.

A British soldier who died in Cyprus when he was crushed by a four-ton truck was on his final training exercise to become an officer, the British Ministry of Defence said today.

British troops joined hundreds of Cypriot firefighters today to battle a major forest fire that raged out of control in the south of the island, gutting factories and houses.