Greece

UPDATED: Russian tanker impounded by Greece will be released

ATHENS, April 21 (Reuters) - A Russian tanker impounded by Greek authorities off the island of Evia this week will be released, the coast guard said on Thursday. Greek authorities had said…

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Greece lifts COVID restrictions for summer tourism season

ATHENS, April 13 (Reuters) - Greece said on Wednesday that pandemic restrictions such as mask-wearing indoors and COVID certificates will be lifted throughout the summer tourism period and authorities will…

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Greece seeks war crimes probe in besieged Ukrainian port of Mariupol

ATHENS, April 7 (Reuters) - Greece will ask the International Criminal Court to investigate alleged war crimes in the Russian-besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, home to a large Greek community, its foreign minister…

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Greek workers strike over soaring prices, low wages

ATHENS, April 6 (Reuters) - Greek workers began a day-long nationwide strike on Wednesday over what they call a "deepening crisis" of rising prices and squeezed incomes, disrupting transport, ferries,…

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Greek supermarkets limit flour, sunflower oil purchases as customers hoard

Supermarket chains in Greece said they are restricting how much flour and sunflower oil customers can buy, saying the step was precautionary after seeing demand rise on worries supplies will…

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Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal PMs to hold meeting on Friday

The prime ministers of Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece will meet in Rome on Friday ahead of a regular summit of European Union leaders, the Italian government said. A Greek…

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UPDATED: HSBC sells Greek bank branch business

LONDON, March 14 (Reuters) - HSBC HSBA.L announced on Monday it has agreed to sell its branch operations in Greece to local bank Pancreta Bank, as the lender further sharpens its focus on its…

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Turkey, Greece agree to improve ties amid Ukraine conflict

ISTANBUL, March 13 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis agreed in talks in Istanbul on Sunday to keep communication channels open and improve ties despite disagreements,…

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EPA’s Eye in the Sky: Nafplio, Greece

A picture taken with a drone shows an aerial view of fog surrounding the city of Nafplio, Greece. Photo - EPA-EFE/EVANGELOS BOUGIOTIS

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Greece moves to curb profiteering as fuel, consumer goods prices rise

ATHENS, March 4 (Reuters) - Greece will fix a cap on gross profit margins on fuel, food and other consumer goods to help curb profiteering, its development ministry said, as Western sanctions…

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Greece to send defence supplies to Ukraine

ATHENS, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Greece is sending defence supplies to Ukraine in response to a request from the Ukrainian government, the prime minister's office said on Sunday. Two C-130 military transport…

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Greek December current account deficit widens, tourism revenues up

ATHENS, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Greece's current account balance showed a wider deficit in December last year compared to the same month in 2020 while tourism revenues rose, the Bank of Greece…

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First fatality reported in Greece after blaze on ferry

Firefighters battling a blaze on a ferry sailing from Greece to Italy recovered on Sunday the body of a passenger listed as missing, Greek authorities said. It is the first…

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UPDATED: Passenger found alive after blaze on Greece-Italy ferry – Greek official

CORFU, Greece, Feb 20 (Reuters) - A passenger who was missing after a blaze swept through a ferry sailing from Greece to Italy has been found alive, a Greek shipping…

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‘We saw death in front of us’: Passengers recount Greece-Italy Grimaldi’s ferry fire ordeal

CORFU, Greece, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Shocked and sleep-deprived, passengers rescued from a Greece-Italy ferry that caught fire off the island of Corfu said on Saturday they felt relieved to…

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UPDATED: Fire on ferry travelling from Greece to Italy

ATHENS, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Hundreds of people were rescued from a ferry that caught fire between Greece and Italy in the early hours of Friday, the Greek coastguard said.…

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Greece kicks off tourist season early to meet ‘great demand’

ATHENS, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Greece's tourism minister on Thursday said the visitor season would officially start in March, earlier than previous years, and there were "positive signs" of a…

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Greek December unemployment eases to 12.8%, lowest since July 2010

ATHENS, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Greece's jobless rate dropped to 12.8% in December from an upwardly revised 13.4% in the previous month, the lowest rate since July 2010, data from statistics service…

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Greece achieves small budget surplus in January, to repay IMF loan by March

Greece's central government achieved a primary budget surplus of 17 million euros in January versus a targeted deficit, thanks to higher revenues and lower spending, finance ministry data showed on Tuesday.…

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Greece to repay last IMF loans by March, achieve primary surplus in 2023-FinMin

ATHENS, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Greece will repay the final tranches of bailout loans owed to the International Monetary Fund by the end of March, two years ahead of schedule,…

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Greece steps up measures to fight hooliganism after killing of soccer fan

Greece will tighten rules to combat violence at sports events following the killing of a 19-year-old soccer fan in what was believed to be an attack by rival supporters. Prime…

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Greece cuts property tax to help households hit by surging inflation

ATHENS, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Greece will cut property tax rates by a further 13% to help households struggling with rising inflation and higher energy costs, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis…

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Greek PM survives censure motion tabled over snowstorm

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Sunday won a confidence vote called by the main opposition over his government's handling of a snowstorm last week that stranded…

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Elusive whale stranded near beach in coastal Athens

Rescuers are trying to free a beaked whale which has surfaced in Greek waters, trapped near a beach on the Athens riviera, officials said. The coast guard, veterinarians, volunteers and…

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Greece lifts some of the restrictions as COVID cases ease

Greece will allow music in restaurants and bars again and extend their operating hours as it lifts some of the restrictions imposed last month now that coronavirus infections and the…

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UPDATED: Greek PM apologises for snowstorm ordeal

ATHENS, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis apologised on Wednesday for the state's unpreparedness to deal with the impact of a severe snowstorm that brought transport in…

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Blast in Greek capital Athens damages buildings

ATHENS, Jan 26 (Reuters) - One person was injured and several buildings were damaged by an explosion in central Athens that led to a fire early on Wednesday, officials and…

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Photo Story: Bad weather front Elpis triggers cold wave in Greece

A view of the snowy village on Naxos island, Cyclades, Greece. Frozen temperatures, stormy winds and heavy snowfall have been recorded in Greece since 22 January as a result of…

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Arrests in Albania, Italy and Greece in migrant smuggling investigation

Italian and Albanian police on Wednesday arrested 47 people, 25 in Albania and 22 in Italy and one in Greece, on suspicion of smuggling migrants through the Balkans from Greece…

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Greece receives first Rafale fighter jets from France

ATHENS, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Six new Rafale fighter jets flew low over the Acropolis in central Athens on Wednesday, the first planes purchased under a defence deal with France…

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Quake rattles northern Greece

ATHENS (Reuters) - An earthquake rattled northern Greece on Sunday with no reports of any damage or fatalities. The Athens Geodynamic Institute said the quake, of magnitude 5.4, was at…

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Greece’s Aegean Airlines suspends flights to Beirut after plane damage

ATHENS, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Greece's largest carrier Aegean Airlines said on Saturday it had suspended all flights to Beirut pending the results of an investigation into the cause of…

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Greece extends restrictions to curb Omicron variant

Greece will extend restrictions by a week at restaurants and bars to help curb the Omicron variant, which has dominated the country and was the main driver of a surge…

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Photo story: Weather front ‘Diomedes’ causes floods in Thessaly region in Greece

Α van is stuck in the mud in a flooded farm in the village of Palamas near Karditsa city, in Thessaly, central Greece. The weather front named 'Diomedes' which is…

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Defense minister warns Greece not to test Turkey’s patience

Greece should refrain from testing Turkey’s patience with provocations, including with a threat to extend its territorial waters in the Aegean, Turkey’s defense minister warned. Speaking to a group of…

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Greece reports new high of COVID-19 cases in a day

Greece reported a record 50,126 coronavirus infections on Tuesday, breaking a previous high of 40,560 registered on Dec. 31. As recently as Dec. 27, only 9,284 new infections were recorded…

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Greece COVID-19 cases reach new daily record as Omicron dominates

Greece reported a single-day record high of 35,580 COVID-19 infections on Thursday as the highly contagious Omicron becomes the dominant variant in the country. It was the third successive daily…

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Earthquake rattles Crete

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4 was registered on the Greek island of Crete on Sunday, with no immediate reports of injuries or damage, the country's Geodynamic Institute said.…

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Greece bans public Christmas festivities to curb Omicron spread

ATHENS, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Greece has banned public Christmas and New Year's Eve festivities and mandated mask-wearing in open spaces to help to curb the spread of the Omicron…

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UPDATED: Southern Greece rattled by 5.4 tremor

ATHENS, Dec 18 (Reuters) - An strong earthquake rattled parts of southern Greece on Saturday, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. A tremor with a magnitude of 5.4…

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Greece demands COVID-19 tests from all visitors

Travellers to Greece will need a negative COVID-19 PCR test to enter the country as part of efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the health ministry said.…

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Storms pound parts of Greece, kill one

The driver of a car that was swept away by floods in northern Greece was found dead on Sunday after heavy storms pounded parts of the country on Saturday, causing…

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Greek economic rebound boosted by tourism in third quarter

ATHENS, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Greece's economic rebound from the pandemic was helped by a strong performance in tourism in the third quarter, with the country's annual growth rate remaining…

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UPDATED: Pope ends visit to Greece focused on the plight of migrants

ATHENS, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Pope Francis heard from young people including children of migrants who have fled war or poverty at a school in Athens on Monday, as he…

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Orthodox priest shouts ‘Pope, you are a heretic’ at Francis in Athens

ATHENS (Reuters) -An elderly Greek Orthodox priest shouted "Pope, you are a heretic" as Pope Francis was entering the Orthodox Archbishopric in Athens on Saturday and was taken away by…

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Greece offers COVID vaccine booster three months after initial shots

Greece will offer all adults COVID-19 booster shots three months after they have had their second vaccine shot or tested positive for the virus, down from six months now, to…

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UPDATED: Citing ancient Greeks, Pope Francis laments threats to democracy today

ATHENS, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Pope Francis appealed on Saturday for a return to "good politics", saying democracy has deteriorated dangerously as discontented people are lured by the "siren…

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Pope’s visit to Greece’s Lesbos lays bare divisions over migrants

Lucia Marcano was attending mass last month in the Catholic church on Lesbos when around 50 asylum-seekers from the island's migrant camp turned up, having heard that Pope Francis was…

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Greece’s first case of Omicron variant detected on Crete, Romania investigating two suspected Omicron cases

ATHENS, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Greece has detected its first case of the Omicron coronavirus variant, in a Greek citizen on the island of Crete who had returned from South…

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Greece asks faithful to be COVID-clear to attend church

ATHENS, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Greece introduced new restrictions obliging churchgoers to present negative COVID-19 tests to attend services on Sunday following a surge in infections in recent weeks. Under…

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Greece opens two more holding centres for migrants on islands

Greece inaugurated two more migrant holding centres on islands near Turkey as part of a tougher policy for managing migrant flows that has been critised by rights groups. The conservative…

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Photo Story: Lighting of Christmas tree in Athens

People watch the lighting of the Christmas tree at Syntagma square in Athens, Greece. Via EPA-EFE/GEORGE VITSARAS

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Greek PM says EU should make COVID booster shot a condition for free travel

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis proposed that the EU’s executive arm make having a booster shot against COVID-19 a condition for some Europeans to travel freely across the bloc, amid…

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Russia ‘paying close attention’ to HMS Queen Elizabeth as race to salvage F-35 jet intensifies

The RAF's crashed F-35 jet went down soon after take off, it has emerged as the race to recover the aircraft continues. Defence sources confirmed that since Wednesday’s crash, which…

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Greece imposes further restrictions on unvaccinated

Greece joined several other European countries in imposing more restrictions on those unvaccinated against COVID-19 following a surge in infections in recent weeks. From next Monday, unvaccinated people will be…

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Greece sees 2021 tourism recovering after strong Jan-Aug

ATHENS, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Greece has seen revenues from its key tourist industry in the eight months to August reach half of 2019 levels, its tourism minister said in…

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Vatican releases itinerary of Pope’s visit to Cyprus and Greece

Pope Francis will be travelling to Cyprus and Greece from 2 to 6 December, embarking on his next international apostolic journey to the two nations. The Holy See Press Office released…

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