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1. Religious event in Israel turns deadly

At least 44 people were crushed to death at an over-crowded religious bonfire festival in Israel on Friday, medics said, in what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a 'heavy disaster'...

2. Cyprus scrambles on eve of third lockdown

Cyprus' Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou has announced a two-week lockdown starting Monday, including a revision for Holy Saturday midnight mass after Archbishop Chrysostomos cried foul over rules that were 'unacceptable'...

3. Travel categories of SMS system that returns Sunday

The SMS system that Cyprus was happy to be rid of in late spring last year will be returning on Sunday as the island grapples with the rampant spread of coronavirus that has left the healthcare system increasingly burdened....

4. SMS system returns as Cyprus enters three-week lockdown

Cyprus Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou announced the new restrictions agreed upon by the Cabinet on Friday, which include a clampdown on unnecessary movements, and social and professional gatherings....

5. Cyprus President 'absolutely satisfied' with EC Conclusions

President Nicos Anastasiades expressed absolute satisfaction with the Conclusions of the European Council regarding Turkey’s activities in the Eastern Mediterranean....

6. Cyprus President condemns Vienna attacks

President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades strongly condemned the “heinous attacks” that shook Vienna on Monday night....

7. Greek and Turkish warships in 'mini collision,' says defense source

A Greek and a Turkish warship were involved in a mini-collision on Wednesday during a standoff in the eastern Mediterranean, a Greek defense source said, describing it as an "accident."...

8. Turkey resumes drilling in eastern Mediterranean, Erdogan says

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey had resumed energy exploration work in the eastern Mediterranean as Greece had not kept its promises regarding such activities in the region. ...

9. Church bells toll for Hagia Sophia

Archbishop of Cyprus Chrysostomos has ordered church bells across the island to ring on Friday, marking what he described as a “criminal conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque"...

10. Greek-Turkish ties come under strain

The already tense relationship between Greece and Turkey has been strained further in the wake of Ankara’s leaking of a supposedly secret meeting between Greek, Turkish and German officials following Turkey’s controversial decision to convert Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia into a mosque and amid an increasingly aggressive Turkish stance in the East Mediterranean. The already tense relationship between Greece and Turkey has been strained further in the wake of Ankara’s leaking of a supposedly secret meeting between Greek, Turkish and German officials following Turkey’s controversial decision to convert Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia into a mosque and amid an increasingly aggressive Turkish stance in the East Mediterranean. ...

11. Divided Cyprus reacts to Hagia Sophia

Cyprus has weighed in on Turkey’s controversial decision to allow Muslim prayer inside Hagia Sophia, with different reactions across the divided island and amid reports of nuanced differences in President Erdogan's statements in two different languages...

12. Student’s letter causes media storm

A student in Nicosia is taking social media by storm, after she wrote a letter criticizing school prayer and how religion is being taught in state schools in the Republic of Cyprus...

13. Greek government unveils plan for easing restrictions

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday unveiled a long-awaited plan for the gradual lifting of restrictive measures imposed last month to curb the spread of the coronavirus. ...

14. Lockdown weighs heavily on Orthodox Christians during Easter

15. Bill sparks kosher debate in Cyprus

Animal rights advocates are up in arms over a new government bill that would allow slaughterhouses in the Republic of Cyprus to incorporate kosher rituals, a procedure described by animal rights activists as inhumane...

16. Driver in head-on crash dies in hospital

A young footballer, who was critically injured last week in a road accident, passed away on Thursday after his parents took the end-of-life decision...

17. Iran says military shot down plane in error

Iran said on Saturday it had mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian plane killing all 176 people aboard and voiced its deep regret, after initially denying it brought down the aircraft in the tense aftermath of Iranian missile strikes on US targets in Iraq...

18. Erdogan says Turkey committed to Russian missile defence deal

19. They are not Europe

Britain and the chaos that has taken over the country is the biggest sign of what dangerous populism can do if it is underestimated, but it is not the only example...

20. Europe unites after fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral

21. Death toll at New Zealand mosques rises to 49

22. Requiem for the Missing

When I was writing in 1994 the lyrics to a song called “Tou Vagori” about 1619 missing persons in Cyprus, I never expected less than a year later I would be discovering completely by accident that the correct number was not 1619 and the Missing were not just Greek Cypriots...

23. Turkey's Muslim-friendly holidays find a modest place in the sun

Turkey’s $26 billion tourism industry has been battered by security fears and political disputes in recent years but one corner of the market is quietly growing - beach holidays for conservative Muslims...

24. Turkey says enemies see Greece as 'safe haven'

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement accusing Athens of “protecting the coup plotters”...

25. President offers condolences on the passing of Barbara Bush

A private funeral for former U.S. first lady Barbara Bush, the only American woman to see her husband and son both sworn in as president, will be held on Saturday...

26. Celebrating Israel’s 70th Independence Day in Cyprus

The significant natural gas reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean offer much potential for joint ventures and commercial growth...

27. Woman wounds three at YouTube headquarters in California

The woman approached an outdoor patio and dining courtyard on the campus around lunchtime and began to fire before entering the building...