News archive of April 2020

Passengers who have tested negative for the new coronavirus on the Eleftherios Venizelos ferry quarantined off the port of Piraeus are being transferred to the mainland and put up in hotels in the Greek capital.

The Larnaca District Court imposed a 30-day prison sentence and a 700-euro fine on a 52-year-old who had attacked a member of police after the officer fined a relative of his, who he was accompanying outdoors, for violating restriction measures.

The court on Friday found the man guilty of non-compliance with measures in place to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Israel is working with foreign governments and Orthodox Christian leaders in the Holy Land to make sure that one of their most ancient and mysterious rituals - the Holy Fire ceremony - is not extinguished by the coronavirus outbreak, officials said Friday.

President Klaus Iohannis made an appeal on Friday to the Romanians from abroad not to come home this year for the Easter holidays. Iohannis added this necessary appeal saddens him. "My dear ones, do not come home for Easter this year". "This time, the Resurrection of our Lord finds the entire humanity in a deep crisis.

For reasons that had to do with the fact that the newly born nation had to primarily fight against naval isolation, the US developed a close connection with the Eastern Mediterranean from the early days of its existence. In fact, the first international conflict that the US Marines got involved in was that on the "shores of Tripoli" during the First Barbary War of 1801-05.

After having survived Greece's protracted financial crisis, albeit taking some powerful blows, the textile industry is now going under due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Up until a fortnight ago it still remained a dynamic part of the country's export industry, representing 10 percent of total manufacturing exports, channeling 70 percent of its production to international markets.

The number of people who recovered from the coronavirus has exceeded 200,000 worldwide. According to the Worldometer website, the exact number of people who managed to fight the dangerous virus is 200 317 people.

Most of the cured are in China - 76 408 people. Spain is followed by 26 743, Germany - 19 175, Italy - 16 847, Iran - 15 473, France - 10 935 and the United States - 8 878.

Google will publish data on the location of its users around the world today to allow governments to evaluate the effectiveness of the social distance measures introduced to combat the coronavirus pandemic, the company said.

Education Minister Niki Kerameus has said the government is working hard to make sure that the coronavirus pandemic will not push back the dates of the nationwide examinations for university entrance. 

Turkey on April 3 filed an application for the inclusion of four of its cultural values to UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list.