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.
NICOSIA — Cyprus is more than doubling the number of officials vetting asylum applications, shortening application deadlines and fast-tracking deportations as part of a new string of measures aimed at tackling a spike in migrant arrivals, the country’s interior minister said Tuesday.
Unveiling the government’s “action plan” to curtail the migrant influx, Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said asylum-seekers from countries deemed “safe” will see their applications processed within 10 days and will have only three days to appeal an immediate deportation order.
The government of ethnically divided Cyprus says it has the most asylum-seekers relative to its population among all other European Union member states — about 3.8% of its population.
The government accuses Turkey of channeling migrants from the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north to the internationally recognized south to purposely alter the country’s demographic character.
Cyprus was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of union with Greece.
The island nation joined the EU in 2004, but only the south enjoys full membership benefits. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence.
Nouris said stiffer penalties and tougher college enrolment criteria will be enacted to counter the large number of sham marriages.
A larger reception center with a capacity to hold 600 people will also be built to accommodate arrivals until their asylum applications are processed, reducing the need for housing and allowances, Nouris said.
The government will seek EU funds to finance construction of new facilities, cover operating costs and purchase equipment to help with stepped-up monitoring of a 120-mile (nearly 200-kilometer) U.N. controlled buffer zone by police and military personnel.
Up to two thirds of migrant arrivals to the south cross from the north.
Nouris said he would intensify contacts with Europe’s border agency FRONTEX to boost cooperation on deportations and containing migrant arrivals.
NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Sabreen Jouda came into the world seconds after her mother left it.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Reggie Bush has his Heisman back.
PHOENIX — An Arizona grand jury has indicted former Donald Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and lawyer Rudy Giuliani along with 16 others in an election interference case.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Police peacefully arrested student protesters at the University of Southern California on Wednesday, hours after police at a Texas university violently detained dozens in the latest clashes between law enforcement and those protesting the Israel-Hamas war on campuses nationwide.
ATHENS, Greece — A far-right Greek lawmaker has been charged with criminal assault for allegedly punching a colleague on the sidelines of a parliamentary debate Wednesday.