Italy

According to the data of the site for monitoring the pandemic "Worldometers", 2.000.223 people have died in the world so far as a result of COVID-19 infection. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, 93.443.135 people have been infected with the virus, and 66.682.010 have recovered.

Germany's total coronavirus cases topped two million on Jan. 15, as Chancellor Angela Merkel pushed for a "significant" tightening of restrictions to slow the infection rate.

The Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) has reached a plateau of its 16 billion cubic meters (bcm) annual capacity, the CEO of the company running the pipeline said on Jan. 14. 

Wholesale electricity rates jumped 10% in December from the previous month, while dropping just 1% from a year earlier, according to the monthly analysis of the local energy market by the Institute of Energy for Southeast Europe (IENE) that showed the average rate at 58.93 euros per megawatt-hour.

Greece ranks fourth among the most popular destinations for Europeans planning their holidays, according to a report commissioned by the European Union that has not yet been published in its entirety.

The survey shows Greece has climbed one place in the top 10, leapfrogging over Germany among the preferred destinations for Europeans for 2021.

Any information on the origin of the coronavirus causing Covid-19 that will be collected during the WHO mission in China will be valuable. Discovering the origin of a virus, we will be prepared for other risks of virus transmission from animals to humans, told BNR virologist Assoc. Prof. Lyubomira Nikolaeva-Glomb from the National Center for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases.

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias met with his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio in Rome Wednesday.

Despite the positive atmosphere of the meeting, Dendias expressed Athens' disappointment over Rome's stance at the recent European Council on the issue of sanctions against Turkey.

Italy was plunged into political crisis on Jan. 13 after former premier Matteo Renzi withdrew his party from the ruling coalition, risking the collapse of the government in the middle of a raging coronavirus pandemic.

Greek industrial production recorded the second largest percentage increase among European Union member-states in November 2020, Eurostat said in a report on Wednesday.

The EU executive's statistics agency said industrial production in Greece grew 6.3% in November from October and rose by 8.8% in comparison with November 2019. 

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias met with his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio in Rome on Wednesday.

In a tweet, Dendias said that talks focused on bilateral relations and cooperation, as well as recent developments in the eastern Mediterranean and the broader region.