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☆ Food Aid From Cyprus Reaches Starving People in Northern Gaza, Says Charity
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( March | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

NICOSIA (Reuters) - A U.S.-based charity said a consignment of almost 200 tons of food aid had reached starving people in northern Gaza on Tuesday, a week after being despatched via a maritime route from the Cypriot port of Larnaca. World Central Kitchen (WCK), working with the United Arab Emirates and Spanish charity Open Arms, sent the food via the 200-mile (322-km) sea route from Larnaca to a makeshift jetty off Gaza. War in Israel and Gaza View All 222 ImagesA U.N.-backed report said on Monday that famine was "imminent" in the northern Gaza Strip, where some 300,000 people are trapped by fighting. Across the whole Gaza Strip, the number of people facing "catastrophic hunger" has risen to 1.1 million - half the population. "WCK is ready to send tonnes of food weekly to Gaza with support from the international community," WCK said in a statement.

Persons: WCK, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, Michele Kambas, Gareth Jones Organizations: United Arab, Spanish, Food Programme Locations: NICOSIA, U.S, Gaza, Cypriot, Larnaca, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Cyprus

☆ Netanyahu Is Pursuing War 'For His Personal Career', Palestinian FM Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

NICOSIA (Reuters) - Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday of caring only about his political survival as attempts to end the conflict in Gaza appeared inconclusive. War in Israel and Gaza View All 206 ImagesMaliki, a member of the Palestinian Authority running the West Bank, said it was imperative to find ways to prevent an attack on Rafah. Photos You Should See View All 22 ImagesIn Jerusalem, there was no immediate reply from Netanyahu's office to a request for comment on Maliki's remark. Cyprus, the closest EU member state to the Middle East, has proposed setting up a dedicated, one way maritime corridor to deliver aid directly into Gaza. "We agree that the escalating humanitarian needs call for a scaled up, unhindered flow of aid," the Cypriot minister said.

Persons: Riyad al, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Maliki, Constantinos Kombos, Michele Kambas, Maayan Lubell, William Maclean Organizations: Palestinian, Hamas, Palestinian Authority, West Bank Locations: NICOSIA, Gaza, Israel, Rafah, Palestine, Cypriot, Jerusalem, Cyprus

☆ 'Way too early' to declare victory over inflation, says ECB's Nagel
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Joachim Nagel, President of Germany's federal reserve Bundesbank addresses the media during the bank's annual news conference in Frankfurt, Germany March 1, 2023. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNICOSIA, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Euro zone inflation will carry on declining in the months ahead but at a slower pace, Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel was quoted as telling Cypriot newspaper Kathimerini on Sunday. "We have not yet won the fight against inflation," said Nagel, who visited Cyprus last week. "Add in a scenario where an escalation of geopolitical tensions could imply higher inflation and it becomes clear that it would be way too early to declare victory over high inflation rates," said Nagel, an influential voice on the ECB's rate setting Governing Council. "All in all, I expect inflation to carry on declining, but at a slower pace and with possible bumps along the way," Nagel said.

Persons: Joachim Nagel, Kai Pfaffenbach, Nagel, " Nagel, Michele Kambas, David Goodman Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Cypriot, Central Bank, ECB, Thomson Locations: Frankfurt, Germany, Rights NICOSIA, Cyprus

☆ From trauma to rainbows; Israel festival survivors heal in Cyprus
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILIOU, Cyprus Dec 1 (Reuters) - Deep within the lush mountainous forests of Cyprus, survivors of the Oct. 7 music festival bloodbath in Israel practice yoga, paint and meditate as they try to come to grips with the trauma. Israeli businessman Yoni Kahana, who operates the retreat on the east Mediterranean island, is hosting survivors free of charge. Aided by an Israeli NGO, IsraAID, the Secret Forest retreat in the mountains above Paphos in western Cyprus has a steady rotation of festival survivors seeking solace. He said more than 1,800 Israelis had signed up to a programme which includes yoga, therapy sessions, hiking and meditation overseen by up to 20 volunteer therapists. Many trauma survivors turn to art in an attempt to externalise their feelings, painting with red, white and black, the colours of trauma, before adding rays of sun, a rainbow, or a flower, said therapist Lilach Galkin.

Persons: Matan Madar, Dor, Neta Cohen, Yoni Kahana, Rahamim, Lilach Galkin, Hope, I've, Michele Kambas, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: Hamas, Thomson Locations: MILIOU, Cyprus, Israel, Gaza, Israeli, Paphos

Climate Change Conference (COP 28) that opens on Nov. 30 in Dubai. Neither floods nor fires are new to Greece but with climate change, they are becoming a frequent disruptor to an economy dependent on tourism and farming. "We have to change our prediction methods," Skylakakis said, acknowledging the rapid pace of climate change. Mitsotakis has urged the EU to top up its solidarity fund and help countries tackle the impact of climate change. Adaptation measures worth 67 billion euros could reduce that loss to 510 billion euros, the country's leading economic think tank IOBE said in a February report.

Persons: Louisa Gouliamaki, Dimitris Kouretas, Kouretas, Theodore Skylakakis, Storm Daniel, Kostas Agorastos, Giorgos Stasinos, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Sokratis Famellos, Skylakakis, Thanos Giannakakis, Nikos Papathanasis, Miltiadis Gkouzouris, Mitsotakis, Petros Varelidis, Lefteris Papadimas, Renee Maltezou, Michele Kambas, Daniel Flynn Organizations: Reuters, United Nations Environment Program, Mount Olympus, HVA, Chamber, European, Justice, EU, Water Management, Environment Ministry, Thomson Locations: Vlohos, Greece, Greece's, Thessaly, Europe, Dubai, Los Angeles, Dutch, Athens, Thessaly's, Mouzaki, Netherlands

[1/4] A girl holds a ballon at the Jewish synagogue in Larnaca, which is coordinating aid to hundreds of Israelis on the island fleeing violence, Cyprus October 12, 2023. Larnaca, hosting Cyprus's biggest airport, has seen a swell of expatriate Israelis, including reservists, using it as a transit point to get on the next available flight to Tel Aviv. It has also seen an influx from Israel of people who lost their homes, Chief Rabbi Arie Zeev Raskin said. Raskin, who has been in Cyprus for more than 20 years, said there were about 2,500 Israelis in the Larnaca area at present, including traumatised children. An informal network of Israelis were working in every Cypriot city to offer first response aid and accommodation, he said.

Persons: Yiannis, Rabbi Arie Zeev Raskin, Raskin, Michele Kambas, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Larnaca, Cyprus, Israel LARNACA, Israel, Gaza, Tel Aviv, Auschwitz, East, Cypriot

☆ ECB policies are taming inflation, but uncertainty persists-Herodotou
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LIMASSOL, Cyprus, Oct 6 (Reuters) - The ECB's monetary policy transmission is working to tame inflation, though material uncertainty persists in the euro area, ECB policymaker Constantinos Herodotou said on Friday. "The recent increase in energy prices could transmit again to the rest of the economy and have an upward pressure on prices," Herodotou, who is also governor of Cyprus's central bank, told a conference in the city of Limassol. "The liquidity conditions in the euro area banking system is another area to monitor, since it plays a role for transmitting monetary policy and, consequently, affects inflation," he said. The ECB has raised its deposit rate to a record high 4% but has signalled a pause for the months ahead on tentative signs inflation is coming under control. Headline inflation in the 20 countries using the euro eased to 4.3% in September, the lowest pace since October 2021, from 5.2% a month earlier.

Persons: Constantinos Herodotou, Herodotou, Michele Kambas, Alison Williams, Christina Fincher Organizations: ECB, Thomson Locations: LIMASSOL, Cyprus, Cyprus's, Limassol

☆ Ex-Goldman Sachs trader to lead Greece's leftist Syriza party
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Renee Maltezou | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/7] The newly elected leader of Syriza leftist party, Stefanos Kasselakis walks outside the party's headquarters in Athens, Greece, September 25, 2023. Syriza was catapulted to power at the height of Greece's debt crisis in 2015, but lost to the conservative New Democracy party in 2019 and in June 2023. Kasselakis replaces Alexis Tsipras, a firebrand leftist whose anti-austerity rhetoric rallied voters around Syriza during the debt crisis. After coming to power, Tsipras was forced to accept a third international bailout and more austerity. Since Kasselakis is not a lawmaker, he will most likely need to appoint a party deputy to lead Syriza's parliamentary group.

Persons: Stefanos, Louisa Gouliamaki, Syriza, Alexis Tsipras, Goldman Sachs, Effie Achtsioglou, Kasselakis, Joe Biden, Tsipras, Nikos Pappas, Tyler Macbeth, Renee Maltezou, Michele Kambas, Emelia Organizations: REUTERS, ATHENS, Sunday, Syriza, New Democracy, ERT, Democratic, firebrand, Facebook, Kasselakis, Thomson Locations: Athens, Greece, Kasselakis, Achtsioglou, United States, Syriza, Cyprus, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

☆ Greek rescue teams move into worst-hit flood villages
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis Acquire Licensing RightsATHENS, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Rescue teams took people out of floodwaters in inflatable boats and in bulldozers on Saturday as they moved into villages hit hardest by a sweeping rainstorm that killed at least 10 people in central Greece this week. Authorities, who have struggled to evacuate people from flooded areas, raised the death toll to 10 people on Friday afternoon. On Saturday, rescue teams were moving into villages near the city of Larissa and close to the River Pineios. Extreme weather events have struck across the globe in recent weeks, with floods in Scandinavia, southeast Europe and Hong Kong. Reporting by Stamos Prousalis, Renee Maltezou, Lefteris Papadimas and Michele Kambas Editing by Frances KerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Storm Daniel, Alexandros Avramidis, Stamos Prousalis, Renee Maltezou, Lefteris Papadimas, Michele Kambas, Frances Kerry Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, pummelled, Authorities, Thomson Locations: Greece, Palamas, pummelled Greece, Larissa, Thessaly, Karditsa, Athens, Thessaloniki, Scandinavia, Europe, Hong Kong, India

Homes were carried away by torrents, vital infrastructure was destroyed and crops in the country's second-largest tract of farmland wiped out. "I don't think we have realised the magnitude of this disaster yet," Professor Efthymios Lekkas, a disaster management expert, told state broadcaster ERT on Friday. "We have been on the mountain," Dimitris, one of the stranded villagers, told Skai television. One of the breadbaskets of Greece, Thessaly represents about 15 percent of the country's annual agricultural output. ($1 = 0.9328 euros)Additional reporting by Michele Kambas; Writing By Michele Kambas; editing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Louisa Gouliamaki, Efthymios Lekkas, George Tsatrafyllias, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Kostas Agorastos, Dimitris, Lekkas, Michele Kambas, John Stonestreet Organizations: REUTERS, Greece Storm ebbs, ERT, Thomson Locations: Larissa, Greece, Thessaly, London, Thessaloniki, Vlochos, Karditsa

☆ Mining magnate Steinmetz held in Cyprus on Romanian warrant
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz leaves the courthouse after a verdict on corruption charges, in Geneva, Switzerland January 22, 2021. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsJERUSALEM, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Israeli mining magnate Beny Steinmetz has been detained in Cyprus on a Romanian-issued arrest warrant, a spokesperson for Steinmetz said on Sunday. Steinmetz is at the centre of a case dating back several years relating to his involvement in a group that allegedly tried to illegally secure land rights in Romania. He has already faced arrest in some other European countries on the Romania-issued warrant but was cleared. Steinmetz was detained on Thursday "during his arrival at Larnaca airport, due to a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) issued by the Romanian authorities, which has already been cancelled in various European countries, among them Greece and Italy," his spokesperson said.

Persons: Beny Steinmetz, Denis Balibouse, Steinmetz, Steven Scheer, Ari Rabinovitch, Michele Kambas, Susan Fenton Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Cyprus police, State, Thomson Locations: Geneva, Switzerland, Cyprus, Romanian, Romania, Larnaca, Greece, Italy, Guinea

☆ Cyprus police make more arrests as racism-fuelled violence spreads
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NICOSIA, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Police in Cyprus have made 20 arrests after a spate of racism-fuelled violence against migrants which erupted in the west of the island last week and spread to its southern city of Limassol in a weekend rampage. Last week Syrians living in Chlorakas, a village in western Cyprus, were targeted by hooded attackers in sporadic incidents over two days, leading to 22 arrests. Overnight Saturday to Sunday, three people from southeast Asia were attacked and robbed, state media said. Among the victims of the weekend's violence were a group of visitors from Kuwait, according to social media accounts of witnesses. "This isn't the Cyprus I was born, raised, had a family and am getting old in," he said.

Persons: Kyriakos Kouros, Michele Kambas, Ros Russell Organizations: Police, Migrants, Reuters, Turkish, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thomson Locations: NICOSIA, Cyprus, Limassol, Chlorakas, Asia, East, Africa, Turkish, Kuwait

☆ Netanyahu rues his foreign minister's disclosure of meeting with Libyan counterpart
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JERUSALEM, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday appeared to shift blame to his top diplomat for the disclosure of a secret meeting with the Libyan foreign minister that has caused a backlash in Tripoli. Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen's office on Aug. 26 went public with his having met Najla Mangoush, his Libyan counterpart, in Italy earlier in the month. The statement came on the heels of an Israeli media report about the meeting. The news triggered protests in Libya, which does not recognise Israel and where pro-Palestinian sentiment is strong, and led Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah to fire Mangoush. In the ANT1 interview, Netanyahu called the handling of the Cohen-Magoush meeting "an exception to the rule".

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Eli Cohen's, Najla Mangoush, Abdulhamid, Netanyahu, I've, Cohen, Dan Williams, Michele Kambas, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Libyan, Cypriot TV, Thomson Locations: Tripoli, Israeli, Italy, Libya, Israel, United States

The Chevron office is pictured after the U.S. government granted a six-month license allowing Chevron to boost oil output in U.S.-sanctioned Venezuela, in Caracas, Venezuela December 2, 2022. The Chevron-led (CVX.N) consortium proposed connecting the Aphrodite gas field via a subsea pipeline and existing infrastructure to Egypt, where the gas can be sold in the domestic market or liquefied and shipped to Europe, which has largely been cut off from Russian supplies. The partners have engaged in a new round of talks with the Cypriot government, Israel's NewMed (NWMDp.TA), which is a partner in the Aphrodite field, said earlier this week. Chevron is a partner in the field with NewMed and Shell (SHEL.L). "We believe it is important that Aphrodite is expeditiously developed for the benefit of Cyprus, the Eastern Mediterranean region and European and other international markets," Chevron said.

Persons: Gaby Oraa, George Papanastasiou, Papanastasiou, Israel's, Biden, expeditiously, Chevron, Mark Potter, Leslie Adler Organizations: Chevron, U.S, REUTERS, Washington, Cypriot Energy, Reuters, Cypriot, Shell, Cypriot Government, Thomson Locations: Venezuela, Caracas, Cyprus, U.S, Egypt, Europe, Republic of Cyprus, United States, Ukraine, Nicosia

☆ UN peacekeepers hurt in Cyprus buffer zone clash with Turkish forces
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

U.N. peackeepers were manhandled by personnel in Turkish Cypriot police and military uniforms, a witness said. Turkish Cypriot bulldozers had moved U.N. trucks, cement bollards and barbed wire in the United Nations-administered buffer zone splitting the island. The controversy is centred around plans by Turkish Cypriot authorities to build a road traversing the territory which the United Nations says is under its control. Turkish Cypriot authorities are planning to build an 11.5 km road linking Pyla/Pile to a neighbouring community which lies in breakaway north Cyprus. It had been in talks with Turkish Cypriot authorities over their plans, and work had started without the requisite agreement from the U.N., Siddique said.

Persons: Scuffles, Aleem Siddique, Siddique, Michele Kambas, Angus MacSwan Organizations: United Nations, Turkish Cypriot, . Security, UN, Greek Cypriot, The United Nations, Turkish, Thomson Locations: NICOSIA, Turkish Cypriot, Cyprus, Turkish, British, United States, Britain, France, United, Pyla, United Nations, Greek

☆ Greece and Cyprus welcome EU bid to re-engage with Turkey, but urge caution
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis walk during a welcome ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus July 31, 2023. The division of Cyprus between its Greek and Turkish Cypriot populations, a source of friction between Greece and Turkey, has also been an impediment. Cyprus was divided after a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a Greek Cypriot coup engineered by the military junta then ruling Greece. It is represented in the EU by an internationally-recognised Greek Cypriot government. In recent years the Turkish Cypriot side has advocated a two-state settlement, rejected by Greek Cypriots.

Persons: Nikos Christodoulides, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Yiannis Kourtoglou, Mitsotakis, Christodoulides, Ersin Tatar, Michele Kambas, Conor Humphries Organizations: Cyprus, REUTERS, Monday, European Union, EU, Christodoulides, Cypriot, United Nations, Turkish Cypriot, Greek, Thomson Locations: Nicosia, Cyprus, Yiannis, Yiannis Kourtoglou NICOSIA, Greece, Turkey, Ankara, Turkish, EU, Cyprus's, Cypriot, Turkish Cypriot

ATHENS, July 19 (Reuters) - Wildfires burned for a third day west of the Greek capital Athens on Wednesday, as authorities braced for a new heatwave stoking tinderbox conditions across the country. At first light, air water bombers resumed operations over the towns of Mandra, west of Athens, and Loutraki, close to the Corinth canal which separates mainland Greece from the Peloponnese. Firefighters worked throughout the night to keep flames at bay and away from a complex of coastal refineries. Dozens of homes were gutted and hundreds forced to flee towering flames which seared through hamlets on Tuesday. A year later, 101 people died in the seaside town of Mati, east of Athens, after a wildfire razed the town in a matter of hours.

Persons: Vassilis Varthakogiannis, Kostas Tsigas, Greece's, imploring, Andreas Theodosiadis, Michele Kambas, David Holmes Organizations: Firefighters, Traffic, Thomson Locations: ATHENS, Athens, Mandra, Corinth, Greece, Peloponnese, Italy, France, Rhodes, Dervenochoria, Mati

ATHENS/ROME, July 13 (Reuters) - Southern Europe sweltered under a fierce heatwave on Thursday, with a warning that temperatures could hit record highs for the continent next week. Health authorities issued a top, red alert warning for 10 Italian cities for the next two days, including Rome, Florence, Bologna and Perugia. Weather forecasts and official records are based on the air temperature which is significantly lower than the land surface reading. The record European temperature of 48.8C was registered in Sicily in August 2021 and could be exceeded next week, according to the European Space Agency. "With this solitude and this heat emergency, we see an explosive mix," he told a press conference.

Persons: Europe's sweltering, Luca Lombroso, Marco Impagliazzo, It's, Michele Kambas, Pietro Lombardi, Emma Pinedo, Keith Weir, Crispian Balmer, Emelia Organizations: Italian Meteorological Society, Health, Agency's Sentinel, European Space Agency, Catholic, Thomson Locations: ATHENS, ROME, Southern Europe, Islands, Italy, Cyprus, Greece, Athens, Europe's, Lodi, Rome, Florence, Bologna, Perugia, Spain, Extremadura, Sicily

☆ Casino operator Melco eyes new markets with Cyprus resort launch
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Lawrence Ho, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Melco Resorts and Entertainment, speaks during a press conference at the City of Dreams Mediterranean, Europe's first integrated resort, outside Limassol, Cyprus July 11, 2023. REUTERS/Yiannis KourtoglouLIMASSOL, Cyprus July 11 (Reuters) - Asian casino operator Melco Resorts & Entertainment has launched an entertainment and gaming complex in Cyprus, marking its first foray into Europe as it seeks to tap new markets. The "City of Dreams Mediterranean" had total investment of more than 600 million euros ($659.46 million) making it one of the largest development projects of its kind undertaken in Cyprus. "City of Dreams Mediterranean ..allows Cyprus to unlock new markets in the region and beyond," said Lawrence Ho, chairman and CEO of Melco. Ho said Melco was now focused on fully developing the Cyprus project before considering whether to fan out to the rest of Europe.

Persons: Lawrence Ho, Ho, Melco, Michele Kambas, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Melco Resorts, Entertainment, REUTERS, Kourtoglou, Reuters, FIFA, Thomson Locations: Limassol, Cyprus, Kourtoglou LIMASSOL, Europe, Macau, Manila, Philippines, Israel, North Africa

EUROPE'S FAR-RIGHT RESURGENCEGains by the far right in Greece mirror a trend in several other European countries. Support for Germany's anti-immigrant AfD party is at its highest since the wake of Europe’s migrant crisis in 2018, in Italy a former far-right activist is prime minister and in Sweden a far-right party has joined the government. Some analysts said Mitsotakis's hard line on migration gave licence to a more xenophobic narrative from the far right. However, some said ultra-nationalists had claimed the turf on the far right because Mitsotakis was shifting to the centre. The Spartans party are led by businessman Vassilios Stigas.

Persons: Ilias Kasidiaris, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Akritas Kaidatzis, Mitsotakis, Akis Georgakellos, Vassilios Stigas, Golden Dawn, Golden, Kasidiaris, Michele Kambas, Renee Maltezou, Edmund Blair, Christina Fincher Organizations: Spartans, Greek coastguard, New Democracy, Aristotle University, EUROPE'S, SPARTA, Twitter, Thomson Locations: ATHENS, Europe, Greece, Thessaloniki, Italy, Sweden, Turkey, Athens, Golden, Greece's, Kasidiaris, Golden Dawn

[1/24] New Democracy conservative party leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis speaks to supporters outside the party's headquarters, after the general election, in Athens, Greece, June 25, 2023. Fringe parties of the political left and right - including an anti-immigrant party calling themselves the Spartans - got a foothold in parliament. The system used in Sunday's poll gave the leading party bonus seats depending on voter support. The Spartans party, which said Greece was threatened by uncontrolled migration, was the surprise of the campaign. It was set to gain 4.7 of the vote and up to 13 seats in parliament, based on the early results.

Persons: Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Kyriakos, Mitsotakis, Tsipras, Zoe Constantopoulou, Plefsi Eleftherias, Giorgos Katzimertzis, Ilias Kasiadiaris, Gina Kalovyrna, Michele Kambas, Renee Maltezou, Lefteris, Frances Kerry, Emelia, Giles Elgood, Mark Porter Organizations: New Democracy, REUTERS, Syriza, Spartans, European Union, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Athens, Greece, ATHENS, Kasidiaris

☆ Greeks vote in repeat election, likely to return conservatives to office
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Mitsotakis's New Democracy party won an election on May 21, 20 points clear of the leftist Syriza party that ruled Greece from 2015 to 2019. Mitsotakis, prime minister since 2019, stepped down in favour of a caretaker premier after the inconclusive vote last month, as required by the constitution. The boat had been shadowed by the Greek coast guard before it sank: the coast guard has said that the occupants refused all offers of help. Mitsotakis, whose administration has taken a hard stance on migration, said "wretched traffickers" were to blame for the disaster and praised the coast guard for rescuing people. Tsipras has questioned why the coast guard did not intervene earlier.

Persons: Kyriakos, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Syriza, Alexis Tsipras, Mitsotakis, Tsipras, Michele Kambas, Frances Kerry Organizations: Greek, New Democracy, REUTERS, Democracy, Thomson Locations: Athens, Greece, Stoyan, ATHENS, Libya, Italy, Europe

☆ All you need is love, say LGBTQ+ activists on divided Cyprus
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Members of Cyprus's LGBTQ+ communities from both sides attend the annual bi-communal LGBTQ+ Pride at Ledra Palace inside the UN buffer zone in Nicosia, Cyprus, June 17, 2023. REUTERS/Yiannis KourtoglouNICOSIA, June 18 (Reuters) - Separated by politics but united in pride, members of LGBTQ+ communities came together in celebration late on Saturday in the no-man's-land that splits Cyprus in two. Cyprus was split by ethnic violence which culminated in a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek inspired coup. Saturday's Pride event is just the second to bring together members of LGBTQ+ communities from both sides of the divide. Activists said that despite the physical boundary, the island's LGBTQ+ communities were becoming more integrated and reflective of a multi-cultural Cyprus which includes ethnicities other than just Turkish and Greek Cypriots.

Persons: Yiannis Kourtoglou, Erman Dolmaci, Dolmaci, Alexandros Efstathiou, Efstathiou, Michele Kambas, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: REUTERS, United, Turkish Cypriot, LGBT Pilipinas, Queer, Thomson Locations: Ledra, Nicosia, Cyprus, Yiannis, Yiannis Kourtoglou NICOSIA, Cyprus's, United Nations, Turkish, Saturday's, Queer Cyprus

☆ Emotional reunion amid despair as Greece searches for shipwreck survivors
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Lefteris Papadimas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In the immediate aftermath of the disaster 104 survivors and 78 people who drowned were brought to shore by Greek authorities, but nothing has been found since. They wept and hugged through metal barricades, erected by Greek police around a warehouse in Kalamata where survivors had been sleeping for the past two days. Survivors who spoke to Greek authorities said they paid $4,500 each to go to Italy. The group, Alarm Phone, said it had alerted Greek authorities and aid agencies hours before the disaster unfolded. Greek authorities denied accounts that surfaced late on Thursday that the boat flipped after the coastguard attempted to tow it.

Persons: Mohammad, Fadi, Fedi, Stelios Misinas, Nikos Alexiou, Renee Maltezou, Michele Kambas, Alex Richardson Organizations: Reuters, REUTERS, Greek coastguard, coastguard, ERT, Authorities, Thomson Locations: Greece, Syrian, KALAMATA, Greek, Kalamata, Pylos, Syria, Netherlands, Italy, Egypt, Tobruk, Malakasa, Athens

☆ Greece hunts for survivors of migrant shipwreck
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KALAMATA, Greece, June 15 (Reuters) - Rescuers were scouring the seas off Greece on Thursday in a massive search operation as hopes dwindled for survivors of a shipwreck that killed at least 79 people, in one of Europe's deadliest such disasters in recent years. As dawn broke on Thursday, a coast guard vessel sailed into the nearby port city of Kalamata, transferring victims of the year's deadliest shipwreck off Greece. [1/3] Men transfer body bags carrying migrants who died after their boat capsized in the open sea off Greece, onboard a Hellenic Coast Guard vessel at the port of Kalamata, Greece, June 15, 2023. Aerial pictures released by the Greek coast guard showed dozens of people on the boat's upper and lower decks looking up, some with arms outstretched, hours before it sank. Greece is one of the main routes into the European Union for refugees and migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

Persons: Nikos Alexiou, Stelios Misinas, Stamos Prousalis, Michele Kambas, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: Authorities, Organization for Migration, Skai, Hellenic Coast Guard, REUTERS, European Union, NATO, United Nations, Thomson Locations: KALAMATA, Greece, Pylos, Kalamata, Tobruk, Italy, East, Asia, Africa, Libya, Europe

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