Divided regions

Cyprus relaxes banking restrictions

Cypriots can now cash cheques and have higher limits on transactions. Also in business news: Switzerland will grant 500 Croatian workers access to the country's labour market.

Banking regulations were imposed last year as part of the austerity measures in Cyprus. [AFP]

Bank of Cyprus will release some of the 933 million euros of deposits still frozen under a recapitalization of the bank last year, it said on Wednesday. [Reuters]

North Korea is preparing a nuclear test in the coming days, a South Korean government official has warned.

According to the anonymous official cited by CNN, the entrance to North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test site was sealed, a sign of completed preparation for a nuclear test.

New sewage plant contributes to peace in Cyprus

Development of a new sewage treatment plant in Nicosia brought the Turkish and Greek communities together with a new hope of peace and tolerance.

UN peacekeeping troops patrol the Green Line in Nicosia. [AFP]

Hundreds of Greek Orthodox pilgrims, some coming home after 40 years of forced exile, commemorated the crucifixion of Jesus in a rare Good Friday service in northern Cyprus.

The latest death toll from the capsized ferry off the coast of South Korea has climbed to 4, with 292 people still unaccounted for.

The Sewol Ferry was carrying 459 people from the port city of Incheon to the resort island Jeju when it capsized at around 9 AM local time on Wednesday, CNN reports. 325 of the passengers were school children from the capital Seoul.

A new sewage plant was opened in Cypriot capital Nicosia by the mayors of northern and southern part of the city as a joint initiative of the city's Greek and Turkish population.

The high-tech plant costs EUR 29 M, with a third of the money provided by the European Union, BusinessWeek reported.

The Spanish Parliament has rejected a request by the Catalan authorities to hold a referendum on independence on 9 November.

Following 7-hour debates, a total of 299 MPs opposed the motion, with 47 votes in favor and one abstention, according to reports of the BBC News.

The votes in favor came from Catalan and Basque nationalist parties.

EU supporting water treatment effort in Cyprus

Cyprus's economic crisis could hasten a deal to end decades of enmity between the island's estranged Greeks and Turks, its outgoing United Nations envoy said on Thursday.

Reunification talks resumed between the two sides on February 11.