Reuters

After standing empty for two months, Greece's ancient sites, including the Acropolis Hill towering over Athens, will reopen to visitors on May 18, authorities said on Thursday.

The ancient monuments were closed along with museums in mid-March in Greece's lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Restrictions have gradually been eased this week.

A strong earthquake struck south of the Greek island of Crete on Saturday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The magnitude 5.9 quake was at a relatively shallow depth of 10 km (6 miles), EMSC said.

Greek retail sales by volume rose 3.5 percent in February compared to the same month a year earlier after a downwardly revised 6.2 percent increase in January, statistics service ELSTAT said on Thursday.

Retail sales were led higher by cosmetics and pharmaceuticals and food stores, the data showed.

Italy's Italgas is still very interested in Greek gas distribution network DEPA and is waiting for Athens to publish a short list, the group's CEO Paolo Gallo said on Wednesday.
In February Greece's privatization agency said it had received nine expressions of interest for the sale of DEPA Infrastructure.

Greek private sector bank deposits rose in March for the second month in a row, central bank data showed on Wednesday.

Business and household deposits increased to 145.08 billion euros ($157.44 billion) from 142.24 billion in February, Bank of Greece data showed.

Turkey's confirmed cases of Covid-19 increased by 2,357 in the past 24 hours, and 99 more people have died, taking the death toll to 2,805, Health Ministry data showed on Sunday.

The total number of cases in the country stood at 110,130, the data showed, the highest total for any country outside Western Europe or the United States.

Ratings agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) has kept Greece's credit rating stable at BB-, three rankings below investment grade, but has revised its outlook to stable from positive given the adverse effects the coronavirus pandemic will have on the economy.

S&P said Friday it expects Greece's economy to contract by about 9% in 2020, before rebounding in 2021.

Southern European bond yields fell by about 10 basis points on Friday as markets remained focused on European Central Bank action to mitigate eurozone economic stress and prevent Italy's credit rating from tumbling into junk territory.
European Union leaders agreed a 1.5-trillion-euro rescue package but delayed a decision on the program's details until the summer. 

Cyprus extended a ban on commercial air traffic until May 17 on Friday to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
The ban, first introduced on March 21 and extended by decrees since then, would now extend from April 30 to May 17, Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos said in a tweet, citing a decision by the island's cabinet.

European Union Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton said on Friday the EU was heading this year towards a 5-10 percent economic contraction due to the new coronavirus outbreak.