General News
Meropi Kyriacou Honored as TNH Educator of the Year
NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.
Despite repeated cuts to benefits during a nearly nine-year-long economic and austerity crisis, state spending in Greece as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is still the highest in the European Union, while for health care and education it’s near the bottom.
The ruling Radical Left SYRIZA of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras came to power in 2015 with pledges to protect the country’s most vulnerable, workers, pensioners and the poor and restore health and education budgets but continued cuts to meet the demands of international creditors.
Pensions in Greece account for 29 percent of state spending.
State spending overall was sixth highest among the 28 EU countries, statistics from the bloc’s numbers agency Eurostat showed.
Greek health care spending was only 11.1 percent, 25th, while education was 27th among the 28 states.
Three rescue packages of 326 billion euros ($369.99 billion) have gone mostly to repay banks, the Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-ECB-ESM) and the European Stability Mechanism.
That left little for health care and education and other sectors that have remained underfunded and understaffed despite Tsipras’ promises he would help those who needed it the most, including less spending for at-risk families and the unemployed, even though the Premier has gone on a barrage of handouts during an election year.
On an EU level, state expenditures reach 45.8 percent of GDP, based on 2017 figures. The figure has dropped from 2012, when it reached 48.9 percent of GDP, said the business newspaper Naftemporiki. State spending as a percentage of GDP reached 47.3 percent, the eighth highest amongst the EU’s 28.
Spending on all types of social security benefits in Greece reached 19.4 percent, when the EU average was slightly lower, at 18.8 percent. A further breakdown shows 13.8 percent of spending (as a percentage of GDP) for retirement benefits; 2.1 percent for bereavement benefits; 0.6 percent for family subsidies and children; 0.5 percent for jobless benefits and 0.9 percent for “other expenditures,” which are not defined.
NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.
CAIRO — Stalled talks aimed at securing a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas are expected to restart in earnest in Qatar as soon as Sunday, according to Egyptian officials.
Days after a Russian missile struck near where Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was in Odessa meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Greece moved to send more guns and ammunition to help against Russia’s ongoing invasion there.
UPPER DARBY, PA – The Saint Demetrios Greek School in Upper Darby held a celebration on March 17 in honor of March 25th, 1821.
MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin basked in a victory early Monday that was never in doubt, as partial election results showed him easily securing a fifth term after facing only token challengers and harshly suppressing opposition voices.
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Monday, their first interaction in more than a month, as the divide has grown between allies over the food crisis in Gaza and conduct of the war, according to the White House.