Thought

The victory of centrist Emmanuel Macron in France's presidential election, in which he beat far-right candidate Marine Le Pen by a particularly wide margin, is a very positive development on a number of fronts.

It is true that there is an enormous need for measures and initiatives that will provide support to the most vulnerable members of our society, alleviating their anxiety and suffering.

It is not only the fact that we live in oppressive political circumstances, that freedoms are immensely curbed, and that submission is becoming the only option. Worse, we are now supposed to live under the terror of ambivalence.

Yet another new political force has emerged in France, Emmanuel Macron, sending a frisson of relief through the European establishment after he managed to snatch the first round of the French presidential election from Front National leader Marine Le Pen.

On the one hand, we have dozens of public opinion polls pointing to the fact that the government is no longer popular, that it has lost much of its credibility and is lagging significantly behind New Democracy in voter preference, to the extent that many experts believe the situation is irreversible and Greece is facing early elections.

An Athens prosecutor has ordered an investigation into the presence of a cargo container in the capital's central Exarchia Square, which members of anarchist groups set up earlier this month and have dubbed a "political kiosk."

A "political kiosk" that was set up more than a week ago in a red cargo container in central Exarchia Square by self-proclaimed anarchist group members was to officially open on Tuesday afternoon. According to a statement on an anti-establishment website, the kiosk will also be accompanied by works to create a children's playground.

Twenty-eight members of the Rouvikonas (Greek for Rubicon) anti-establishment group and other related groupings were detained in a western suburb of Athens at around noon on Saturday.

Earlier on, members of the self-styled anarchist group had entered a Mikel cafe in Nea Philadelphia and thrown fliers around the coffeehouse.

One does not need to look very hard to find out what it is that makes Greece a "special case," thwarting efforts to pull the country out of the persisting crisis. While being mired in stagnation, public debate revolves around the role and legacy of Greek communist and resistance hero Nikos Beloyiannis.

A global study conduced by Ipsos Mori reveals which the most ignorant countries in the world are. The supposedly most ignorant places in the world have been named based on a survey of people’s knowledge about their own country. The 2016 “Index of Ignorance” includes information from 27,250 interviews of people aged 16 to 64 carried out between September and November.