Landforms

Thunderstorms and heavy rain were reported in parts of western Greece since early Friday, including the Ionian islands.

The weather front, according to the Meteo weather service of the Athens National Observatory, is going to move slowly eastward and affect almost all of Greece, with the exception of the island of Crete.

A British minister on Friday said Britain "deplored" any drilling in waters close to Cyprus as a row escalated between Nicosia and Turkey, which was poised to start searching for oil and gas south of the island.

Turkey is sending an oil and gas drilling ship to waters off southern Cyprus where Greek Cypriot authorities have already awarded exploration rights to Italian and French companies, according to Turkish statements on Thursday.

Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria have decided to launch a joint initiative for migrants in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Greek Ministry of Citizens Protection announced in a press release. The initiative will be presented to the Council of Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs of the European Union on 7-8 October in Luxembourg.

Following its publication in Greek last year, "The Last Monk of the Strofades: Memories from an Unknown Greek Island" is now available in English from Abbeville Press.

Deputy Citizens' Protection Minister Lefteris Economou says that 250 people will be transferred from the overcrowded Moria migrant camp on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos to the mainland by the end of Monday.

Turkish police early on Sept. 30 seized nearly 1 ton of drugs in the Aegean province of Izmir.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades has not ruled out a meeting with Turkish-Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci in October under the auspices of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, which could pave the way for an informal five-party meeting including Greece and Turkey.

Italian authorities have closed two lanes and evacuated several mountain huts after experts warned that one of the glaciers of massive Mont Blanc could collapse. Experts watching the glacier estimate that since the end of August it has been sliding down at a speed of 50-60 cm per day. Authorities acknowledge that it is impossible to predict when the huge mass may collapse. 

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades has deplored Turkey's "gunboat diplomacy," saying that Ankara's illicit activity in the Eastern Mediterranean undermines the prospects of reaching a settlement on the ethnically-split island.