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.
With Athens drawing growing interest, especially among the young, for its buzz of coffee shops, restaurants, funky neighborhoods and fun places amid the grime and growing violence, the city was only 89th in Mercer Quality of Living rankings.
Athens was just ahead of Riga, with the Latvian city 90th, and just behind Durban, the South African city at 88th.
For the 10th year in a row, Vienna was ranked number one, followed by Zurich, Vancouver, Munich, Auckland, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Geneva and and Basel, giving Switzerland two cities and Germany three in the top 10.
The key criteria were recreation, housing, economic environment, consumer goods availability, public services and transport, political and social environment, natural environment, socio-cultural attractions, school and education and medical services.
The worst cities on earth, the last five in the rankings, were Khartoum, Sudan; Port au Prince, Haiti; Sana’a Yemen; Bangui, Central African Republic and war-torn Baghdad dead last with remaining violence. The safest city in the world is Luxembourg City in Luxembourg, a noted tax-evasion haven for corporations. The city was 18th overall.
Athens was even behind Detroit, featured in reports has having whole neighborhoods decimated by blight, neglect, abandoned houses, murder and despair.
Mercer wrote that, “Despite still featuring at the bottom of the quality of living list, Baghdad has witnessed significant improvements related to both safety and health services. Caracas, however, saw living standards drop following significant political and economic instability,” with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro a favorite of Greek Prime Minister and Radical Left SYRIZA leader despite that country undergoing food shortages, blackouts and police shooting down demonstrators.
This year, Mercer added safety to its criteria and found that the safest were in Western Europe, led, Luxembourg and followed by Helsinki and the Swiss cities of Basel, Bern and Zurich in joint second.
War-torn Damascus in Iraq was the most dangerous at 231st, just ahead of Bangui in the Central African Republic.
Mercer lists itself as a global consulting leader in talent, health, retirement, and investments.
NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza (AP) — An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst.
NASHVILLE, ΤΝ – With a special event organized by the Hellenic Institute of Cultural Diplomacy - U.
ASTORIA – Greek Minister of the Interior Niki Kerameus offered an informative presentation on postal voting in the upcoming European Union elections for Greek citizens in a well-attended event held at the St.
NICOSIA - A meeting between the ministers of energy for Cyprus and Israel - George Papanastasiou and Eli Cohen - led to an agreement that the countries would make an underwater electric cable link a top priority, linking them to Europe.
LONDON (AP) — The British Museum on Thursday appointed National Portrait Gallery chief Nicholas Cullinan as its new director, as the 265-year-old institution grapples with the apparent theft of hundreds of artifacts and growing international scrutiny of its collection.