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.
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden published an article in Foreign Affairs magazine in the March/April 2020 issue titled Why America Must Lead Again and subtitled, Rescuing U.S. Foreign Policy After Trump.
In this important article, he announced that he will convene a Global Summit – something reminiscent of similar initiatives after major international crises and wars – with the key theme of protecting Democracy.
As I have noted in the past, the democratic system of government is being seriously challenged in a number of countries, even in the West.
This is mainly the result of the crises we are going through, like our economic problems and the immigration wave, but also the coming to power of authoritarian leaders – i.e. Putin, Erdogan, etc. – who are trying to undermine democracy while hiding behind a democratic cloak.
This movement has, unfortunately, gained additional acceptance from the fact that President Trump violated the clear rules of the United States’ democratic system of government in ways that no one dared to do in American history – but he also elevated those other leaders with the friendly relations he established with them.
Declarations that the election in the United States invited negative judgments about democracy in the United States sounded oxymoronic – is democracy in America in danger, people would ask. But there was some basis to it.
That's why Biden writes: “During my first year in office, the United States will organize and host a global Summit for Democracy to renew the spirit and shared purpose of the nations of the free world. It will bring together the world’s democracies to strengthen our democratic institutions, honestly confront nations that are backsliding, and forge a common agenda … fighting corruption, defending against authoritarianism, and advancing human rights in their own nations and abroad.”
He added, “as a summit commitment of the United States, I will issue a presidential policy directive that establishes combating corruption as a core national security interest and democratic responsibility, and I will lead efforts internationally to bring transparency to the global financial system, go after illicit tax havens, seize stolen assets, and make it more difficult for leaders who steal from their people to hide behind anonymous front companies.”
“At the same time,” Biden continues, “free speech cannot serve as a license for technology and social media companies to facilitate the spread of malicious lies.”
And he concluded on a note of candor: “American leadership is not infallible; we have made missteps and mistakes. Too often, we have relied solely on the might of our military instead of drawing on our full array of strengths.”
Not anymore.
These sound like great ideas.
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.
ATHENS - The tragedy of the Tempi train collision is a much greater issue than an opportunity for parties to table a motion of censure against the government, but the opposition parties used it anyway "to turn society's pain into a tool to strike at the government and me personally," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday night in parliament.
ATHENS - PASOK-KINAL leader Nikos Androulakis, speaking at the Hellenic Parliament on Thursday, emphasized that there is "an established belief among the Greek people" that the government "operates as a well-oiled machine of corruption, cover-up, and propaganda.
ATHENS — Greece’s center-right government survived a motion of no-confidence late Thursday that was brought by opposition parties over its handling of the country’s deadliest rail disaster a year ago.
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.