Political philosophy

The world's defense expenses rose 4 percent in 2019, compared to the previous year, a report released by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) revealed on Feb. 14. 

The report -- Military Balance 2020 --, which was revealed at the Munich Security Conference, showed the year 2019 posted the largest annual increase in defense spending during the last decade.

The public sector is under constant fire, accused of being problematic, unproductive, and often even corrupt. However, we tend to forget that, to a significant degree, we are the Greek state. Many are employed in the public sector and we elect the officials responsible for staffing it - and supposedly evaluating the performance of that staff and ensuring that everything is above board.

With opinion polls strongly favouring the centre-right and reformist parties, they and their presidential ally have every motive to push for snap elections as a way to resolve the current political crisis.

It has plenty of good reasons for doing so. Fidesz has not only dismantled democracy and the rule of law in Hungary, but also demonised the EU as a tyrannical institution that is supposedly robbing Europeans of their freedom.

Three people were arrested in a counter-terrorism operation early Thursday morning, including a prison escapee.

According to information, authorities detained Yiannis Michalidis, an alleged member of the urban guerrilla group Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire, who had escaped from the agricultural prison of Tyrintha in the Peloponnese on June 2019.

The government has made the decision to assume responsibility before Parliament for amending the law on local elections so that the voting system bestows legitimacy on elected mayors, as the current mechanism restricts the right of dissatisfied citizens to replace a mayor who does not his or her job, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said on Wednesday.

The Presidential Institution continued to uphold the rule of law and the interests of citizens, to set the agenda on important topics, to stimulate the debate between institutions and citizens, to work for the modern development of Bulgaria, to uphold the Bulgarian interest. The report won't be a self-promotion because the evaluation is given by the public.

China's finance ministry and China's National Health Commission have allocated nearly $ 9 billion to fight the spread of the coronavirus, Reuters reported.

The death toll has jumped to 81 people today. The government has decided to extend the lunar New Year holidays and a number of large companies have stopped work or ordered their employees to work from home.

The new Greek president, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, will do her best to help a society with a long democratic tradition to heal the wounds of the past. She also highlighted the importance of the rule of law, and noted her dedication to working with the Parliament, the government and the opposition to achieve the highest possible consensus.

A new draft bill on electoral law was introduced to the parliament plenary on Thursday that foresees a change in the simple proportional representation legislated by the previous SYRIZA government.