Members of the Delian League

As pressure remains high on the Aegean islands - with thousands of migrants continuing to arrive and few leaving - European officials are urging the Greek government to accelerate the processing of asylum applications.

A handful of islands in the eastern Aegean - Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Kos and Leros - continue to bear the brunt of daily arrivals from neighboring Turkey.

As the trilateral naval exercise Noble Dina 2017, with the participation of Greece, the US and Israel, came to a close Thursday afternoon with a ceremony at the Israeli Navy headquarters in Haifa, Greek military authorities were put on heightened alert after Turkey issued another navigational telex (navtex) saying that one of its research vessels will conduct "scientific exploration" on Friday

The Cycladic Art Museum in Athens has extended until April 9 its exhibition "Cycladic Society," showcasing more than 200 exhibits from the museum's permanent collection, as well as antiquities from the National Archaeological Museum, the Paul and Alexandra Kanellopoulos Museum and the archaeological museums of Naxos, Apeiranthos, Syros and Paros.

The mayors of Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Leros and Kos - the five eastern Aegean islands worst hit by the refugee crisis - secured a European Union pledge of 50 million euros in emergency assistance during their recent trip to Brussels, they told reporters in Athens on Thursday. 

Greece and Cyprus can expect more tourists in the following at least three years after the deal TUI UK and BookYourWeddingDay.com signed. People from the USA, China and Europe are visiting Greece to get married in one of the beautiful islands.

The most popular destinations are Santorini, Mykonos, Paros, Skiathos, Corfu etc.

Vedema, a Luxury Collection Resort in Santorini has won the Most Romantic Resort Hotel Award in the world by travel site lovetravelawards.com for 2017. The announcements on the top hotel brands took place last week in Venice. Love Travel Awards reward the most romantic hotels in the world with the resort from Santorini being the only one from Greece.

In the latest of a series of incidents between Greece and Turkey in the Aegean Sea, Turkish survey vessel TCG Cesme is currently sailing in international waters between Greeks islands and mainland Greece, according to NAVTEX (244/17) -an international safety signal/warning information to ships- issued by the Turkish government on Wednesday.

The recent spike in Turkish provocations in the Aegean and incendiary comments emanating from Ankara are aimed at testing Greece's resolve, according to Greek analysts.

Greek authorities are planning the creation of pre-departure detention facilities on the eastern Aegean islands, where thousands of migrants and refugees remain stranded, so as to accelerate returns to Turkey.

Sergey Kravchenko, a world famous Russian violinist, will start giving classes to young talents in the Mediterranean province of Antalya as part of a project. 

Kravchenko, 71, said he admired Antalya after giving two concerts in 2006, which prompted him to buy a holiday house in 2010.