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121. North and south touch base on coronavirus

A bicommunal technical committee on health was set to convene on Wednesday to discuss the situation pertaining to the coronavirus outbreak across Cyprus, while it was not clear whether meeting would include discussion on re-opening checkpoints...

122. UNFICYP ready to facilitate discussions for easing of restrictions at checkpoints

UNFICYP said Thursday it stands ready to “facilitate and support” disscussions between the two sides of the divided island once efforts begin for the easing of restrictions at crossing points....

123. Future for rescued refugees in north unknown

The fate of 175 Syrian refugees, trapped in the north of the island amid the coronavirus pandemic, remains unknown while a human rights group is calling on Greek Cypriot authorities to take them in...

124. Cyprus gets tougher with stricter bundle of measures

Stricter measures to contain the spread of coronavirus were announced by the Health Minister on Monday as the island scrambles to curb the steadily rising deaths and infections....

125. North Cyprus bars entry to citizens from all countries, including Turkey

In a further escalation of measures amid the unfolding coronavirus health crisis, the north moved to bar entry from land, air, and sea, to all third country nationals, including Turkish nationals....

126. President: Partial lockdown of airports, schools to remain closed until April 10

President Nicos Anastasiades addressed the nation on Friday night after the week saw cumulative confirmations of coronavirus cases across the divide....

127. Additional COVID-19 protection measures announced in the north

Turkish Cypriot ministers agreed on several additional coronavirus protection measures on Friday during their third emergency session on the unfolding pandemic....

128. UNFICYP urges cooperation in addressing coronavirus emergency

UNFICYP called on the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot sides to maintain communication and cooperation in addressing the coronavirus health emergency, and expressed its readiness to assist toward this end....

129. Turkish Cypriots close two crossings

Turkish Cypriot authorities have shut down two crossings on Thursday for ten days, following the latest developments with the coronavirus pandemic...

130. Cyprus tries to find footing after virus cases

Authorities on the divided island of Cyprus are scrambling to cope with the first three confirmed cases of the coronavirus, while a doctor and a young man in the south are feared to have spread the infection far and wide...

131. First coronavirus case confirmed in the north

The third case of coronavirus was announced on the divided island of Cyprus, after a foreign visitor was confirmed with the coronavirus infection in the north...

132. UN police block protesters at Ledra checkpoint

UN police in Cyprus were taking no chances at the Ledra checkpoint on Monday, blocking Turkish Cypriot demonstrators in the north who wanted to bring flowers to Greek Cypriot riot police behind fortified barricades in the south...

133. Cyprus scrambles to contain coronavirus risk

A police station and an army camp in Nicosia went under quarantine on Sunday following two suspected cases of the coronavirus, with health officials on the edge of their seat waiting for lab test results for over 30 individuals...

134. Police hold the line at Ledra checkpoint

Greek Cypriot police at Nicosia's Ledra crossing thwarted a barricade breach by Turkish Cypriot protesters on Saturday, as demonstrations against the checkpoint shutdown continued on both sides of the divided island...

135. EU criticizes Turkey on migration as border clashes resume

Clashes between Greek riot police and migrants attempting to cross the border from Turkey erupted anew Friday as European Union foreign ministers took aim at what they called “Turkey’s use of migratory pressure for political purposes.” ...

136. British Bases: No plan to shut Pergamos, Strovilia crossings

137. Ledra protester says officer attacked him

A peace activist, who took part in the protest at the Ledra checkpoint last Saturday, says he was the victim of an unprovoked attack by an officer in uniform and that police are trying to build a case against him...

138. Checkpoint closures to be extended until Monday

The closure of four crossing points last Saturday, in what the Government said would be a one-week temporary precaution against coronavirus outbreak, will be extended until Monday, the National Council agreed on Thursday....

139. Two more charged in Ledra protest

Two more people were detained for questioning in connection with the Ledra protest last week, with police seeking out more individuals...

140. Protesters march for checkpoint closings

A large group of protesters flocked to downtown in old Nicosia on Wednesday, condemning a recent barricade breach at Ledra checkpoint and calling for crossings on the divided island to be shut down on a permanent basis...

141. Akinci tells UNFICYP head coronavirus has nothing to do with checkpoint closures

The Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci met with UNFICYP head Elizabeth Spehar on Wednesday to discuss the move by the Greek Cypriot Government to shut four crossings along then UN-controlled Buffer Zone last week....

142. EU interior ministers to pledge ‘all necessary measures’ to stop illegal crossings

EU interior ministers meeting in Brussels on Wednesday will pledge “all necessary measures” to prevent illegal crossings into the bloc’s external borders, according to a draft of their conclusions seen by Kathimerini, which also calls upon Turkey to abide by the terms of a 2016 deal to stem flows in the Aegean....

143. EU Commission notified of checkpoint closures

The European Commission has been informed of the temporary closing of four checkpoints, and said it would continue monitoring the situation closely in order to ensure that each closure and health checks remain in accordance with the Green Line Regulation....

144. State pushes ahead with Ledra protest trial

A Cypriot peace activist, who was arrested after a physical altercation with a soldier during a protest at the Ledra checkpoint, will face trial on multiple charges including assault and unlawful assembly...

145. Man in custody over Ledra protest

A local resident was remanded in custody on Sunday over a Saturday incident at Nicosia's Ledra crossing, when protesters broke through barriers that had been set up in response to the coronavirus threat...

146. Guards use tear gas to disperse hundreds of migrants at Greek-Turkish border

Guards on Greece’s northeastern land border with Turkey made “deterrent use” of tear gas to disperse some 500 refugees and migrants trying to enter the country and the European Union after Ankara loosened controls on migrant flows....

147. Several checkpoints to close for 7 days

The four checkpoints at Ledra Street, Astromeritis, Lefka, and Deryneia will be closed for seven days as of Saturday as part of additional measures to be taken to combat the spread of coronavirus, Health Minister Costantinos Ioannou announced....

148. Syria displacement is worst since conflict began, UN says

More people have fled fighting in Syria over the past 10 weeks than at any other time in the 9-year-old conflict and the city of Idlib, where many are sheltering, could become a graveyard if hostilities continue, two U.N. agencies said on Tuesday....

149. Minister determined to fight ‘green line abuse'

The Cypriot government is cautiously moving forward with plans to reduce illegal migration to Cyprus through the north, including checkpoint stations and surveillance of remote areas along the Green Line...

150. World’s last divided capital

As the world commemorates 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the bullet-riddled sandstone walls of abandoned, crumbling homes and concrete machine gun nests dotting Cyprus' no man's land serve as a jarring reminder of another divided capital — the world's last — on Europe's southeastern frontier...