Behavior

The closure of universities as part of the first round of restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus earlier this month has prompted some Greek students to vote in favor of online classes in the event that faculties are forced to close again, for instance if minority groups decide to hold sit-ins.

Just a couple of weeks ago it would have seemed unbelievable that our lives would be overturned; now we think that we may never put the nightmare behind us and return to that recent normality.

A patient being sent to the Shefqet Ndroqi Hospital for Lung Diseases in Tirana on Sunday. Photo: Malton Dibra/LSA

Prime Minister Edi Rama said that anyone who complains about the heavy fines should understand that the penalties are "not [meant] to collect money for the state, but to protect the people from violations that threaten their health in this war situation".

Experts underlined the need for a more targeted approach to bullying, particularly at school, at a seminar organized by the Hamogelo tou Paidiou (Child's Smile) charity at the Education Ministry on Friday.

Will anything change at the First High School of Vyronas in eastern Athens after a 17-year-old boy was viciously assaulted by six fellow students while defending his sister from bullies on the afternoon of February 10? The teenager ended up in hospital for taking a stand and demanding an explanation from the other boys as to why they were picking on his younger sister.

Education Minister Niki Kerameus yesterday condemned the attack on Monday on a teenager by fellow pupils at a high school in Vyronas, eastern Athens. 

"The Ministry of Education will be relentless toward such behavior," Kerameus said during a visit to the school. She said a team of psychologists and social workers would be sent to the school.

The parents of three children aged 11, 17 and 19 years old were found dead in their bed in an apartment in downtown Athens' Metaxourgeio district in the early hours of Friday, possibly as a result of inhaling fumes from a gas heater.

More than 5,700 hate crimes were reported last year in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) region, a report said on Nov. 15. 

The upcoming anniversary of the 1973 student uprising at the Athens Polytechnic on November 17 is a test for everyone. The government will obviously be judged on its operational management. But the event will also be a test for the opposition - both leftist SYRIZA and the smaller parties.

The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD25) started on Nov. 12 in Nairobi under the shadow of the diverging views of the conservative and liberal governments on sexual and reproductive health.