Nicosia

Troubled oil importer and retailer Silk Oil has been acquired by Cypriot group Petrolina, the latter announced on Tuesday.

Petrolina (Holdings) Public Ltd stated that its new 100% owned subsidiary P.W. Bunkering Services (East Med) Ltd proceeded on December 31 to the acquisition of 100% of Silk Oil's share capital, in the context of the Cypriot group's further expansion in Greece.

A bomb went off outside a medical center in Nicosia in the wee hours Monday morning, with police saying high explosives were used in the incident.

According to police, an explosion and ensuing fire took place Monday early morning around 1.30 a.m. outside an establishment on Strovolos Avenue in Nicosia.

The Center for European Constitutional Law, the School of Law of the University of Nicosia and the Syntagma Watch Observatory are co-hosting an online event on Wednesday, titled "Freedom of Speech and the Pandemic," starting at 6.30 p.m. To find out more, visit cecl.gr.

Joe Biden and his foreign policy team are more familiar with Greek issues than any other American administration in history, Endy Zemenides, executive director of the Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC), tells Kathimerini.

The once ghost town of Varosha in Turkish Cyprus has been opened for bicycle tours after it was opened to civilians on Oct. 9 in the wake of a visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

A defense agreement signed between France and Greek Cyprus is against the 1960 treaties that provide equilibrium between Turkish and Greek Cypriots on the island and poses a risk for the already fragile stability and security, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a written statement over the weekend.

Hundreds of Greek depositors have joined forces against the Republic of Cyprus in demand of compensation over a 2013 haircut on uninsured bank deposits, calling on MPs to push their claim before it goes to international mediation.

While Athens and Nicosia are making an effort to enhance alliances and collaborations with key international players in the geopolitical and economic arena, there is a parameter that will always have its own added value and that is the Greek diaspora.

Deniz Birinci had just hours to stuff her and her baby daughter's belongings into suitcases and bin bags on March 16 before the two sides on the divided island of Cyprus imposed lockdowns to halt the spread of the new coronavirus.

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy has derided the European Union as a "mouthpiece for the maximalist policies of the Greek Cypriot-Greek duo."