A new ocean has appeared on the world map. The end of a century-old dispute
Jul 1 2021
A new ocean has appeared on the world map. The end of a century-old dispute

The National Geographic Society of the United States announced the official recognition of the fifth ocean – the South, washing the shores of Antarctica. This decision is the result of many years of research efforts. So in the XXI century – although, it would seem, the era of major geographical discoveries is already far in the past – the map of the world has changed.

History of the issue

For the first time the designation “Southern Ocean” was used by the Spanish conquistador Vasco Nunez de Balboa at the beginning of the 16th century, describing the cold currents coming from the south to the shores of South America. Later, Antarctic expeditions equipped ships “to the Southern Ocean”. But officially it appeared, perhaps, only on maps published in Australia – all waters located south of the Australian continent were attributed to it.

The debate over whether to recognize the fifth ocean or not flared up in 1921, the year of the creation of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), designed to coordinate internationally shipping and trade in the oceans. In 1937, the term “Southern Ocean” was officially enshrined in the publications of the IHO.

Scientists supported this – after all, the waters adjacent to Antarctica and united by the Antarctic circumpolar current have a special specificity. In terms of physicochemical and biological characteristics, they are not similar to the other three oceans, merging in the southern circumpolar zone.

However, in 1953, the International Hydrographic Organization canceled its own decision due to the impossibility of drawing clear boundaries of the Southern Ocean. And therefore, to regulate navigation and commercial activities within its limits.

Scientists disagreed: they increasingly mentioned this term in scientific publications, emphasized the uniqueness of the Southern Ocean and the importance of a separate study of its hydrological and biosystems. As a result, in 2000, the IHO again adopted the classification, according to which the oceans were divided into five parts. But in order to make changes to all geographical atlases and textbooks, ratification at the level of official departments of the leading countries of the world was required.

The key was the recognition of the Southern Ocean this year by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Even earlier, in 1999, the term was coined by the American Board of Geographical Names. And now the point has been set – on June 8, World Oceans Day, the National Geographic Society of the United States announced: from now on, the Southern Ocean will be marked on all maps.

The boundaries of the new ocean

The ancient Greeks understood the ocean as the world’s greatest river, which surrounds the land from all sides. It was named after the mythological titan Ocean – the son of Uranus and Gaia, that is, Heaven and Earth, brother and husband Tethys, the goddess of the primeval waters.

From the point of view of geographical science, there is only one ocean on Earth – the World, global water envelope. Everything else is its parts, and how many there are depends on the selection criteria. The simplest and most obvious is the location between the continents, that is, limited land mass on all sides. On this basis, the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Arctic oceans are classified as oceans.

No less important from the point of view of scientists – hydrographers, oceanologists, biologists – and other criteria: the presence of its own water circulation system, their physicochemical characteristics, the species composition of flora and fauna, the scheme of interaction with the atmosphere. And in this regard, the Southern Ocean is an absolutely independent part of the hydrosphere, although it does not have a clearly delineated northern border by islands or continents.

The International Hydrographic Organization, which recognized the Southern Ocean in 2000, determined its territory conditionally – from the coast of Antarctica to the north to the 60th parallel of the south latitude. This decision was taken by a majority vote for formal reasons – the 60th parallel does not cross land anywhere, and it is within these limits that the United Nations Antarctic Treaty operates.

It is clear that geographers were not satisfied with this approach. In their opinion, the northern boundary of the Southern Ocean should be drawn along the Antarctic Polar Front, within which the cold waters of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current circulate. This zone surrounding Antarctica is also called the Antarctic Convergence.

On its northern border, located between the 48th and 61st parallels south latitude, the cold waters of Antarctica flowing northward meet with the warmer Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Heading south, the convergence boundary is precisely defined by the sudden drop in sea water temperature from 5.6 degrees Celsius to below two degrees Celsius. The Antarctic Convergence Line separates two regions that differ in climate and biodiversity.

The boundaries of the Southern Ocean are no less clearly manifested in the bottom topography – in the form of underwater uplifts practically along the entire Antarctic Polar Front.

Areas along the Antarctic Polar Front are extremely rich in fish and marine mammals. The dense cold waters drain here under the warm ones, and the nutrient-rich, rising deep streams form a favorable habitat for Antarctic krill and other marine organisms.

The Atlantic circumpolar current, which moves in a circle from west to east, crossing all meridians, is the most powerful on Earth, it carries a hundred times more water than all the rivers of the world. Scientists believe that it originated 34 million years ago, when Antarctica separated from South America. Moving cold waters along the bottom from Antarctica to the north, it draws in surface warm waters from the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean into the polar region. It is the most important element of the global “conveyor belt” of currents, which determines the heat transfer scheme and regulates the climate on the planet.

Diagram of ocean currents in Antarctica. The boundaries of the Southern Ocean are determined by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, which moves from west to east

The area of ​​the new ocean is 20.3 million square kilometers: this is approximately two territories of the United States. It is larger than the Artic Ocean and the fourth largest in the world after the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian.

The average depth is 3270 meters, and the lowest point of the bottom is at 8264 meters, in the South Sandwich Trench.

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Cash remains in vogue in Switzerland
Jul 1 2021
Cash remains in vogue in Switzerland

Cash remains the preferred method of payment in Switzerland, although during the pandemic wealthy citizens increasingly turned to card payments and payment applications. That’s according to a study by the Swiss Central Bank, quoted by Reuters. About 43% of one-off payments for purchases in supermarkets and restaurants are made in cash, which remains the most popular payment method in Switzerland, according to the study. However, cash has lost its position, as its share amounted to 70% in 2017.

“In terms of the number of payments made, cash continues to be the most commonly used payment instrument by the Swiss population,” said Fritz Zurbrug, vice president of the Swiss Central Bank.

“Compared to 2017, their share has decreased significantly. The pandemic has given additional impetus to this transition from cash to cashless payment methods,” he added.

One third of the payments are made by debit cards, which is an increase compared to the situation four years ago, when 22% of payments in the country were through this method. Credit cards have also increased in popularity over the period. The increase in contactless payments contributes to the rise of card payments.

Mobile payment applications such as Twint and Paypal account for 5% of transactions in Switzerland, while in 2017 their share was almost zero.

“Cashless payment methods have begun to be considered, at least in part, as easier to use than cash,” according to a study conducted in August-November 2020. The growth in online shopping has fueled the popularity of maps and apps during the pandemic, as well as the fact that consumers are shopping more from grocery stores during the pandemic.

As the Swiss slowly withdraw from cash, banknotes in circulation are growing. This suggests that cash is used to store value, according to the Swiss central bank.

The report states that people in the country have stored about 10 billion francs or 12% of banknotes in circulation on rainy days.

Nearly 70% of the population keeps cash at home or in a safe, with most (77%) holding up to 1,000 francs to meet unforeseen expenses or to store value in the long run.

Negative interest rates of the Swiss central bank are not a factor, as most people are not directly affected by them.

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Ethiopia: In the shadow of the elections, Amharas are massacred in silence
Jun 21 2021
Ethiopia: In the shadow of the elections, Amharas are massacred in silence

In the shadow of the national and regional elections and behind the smokescreen of the Tigray conflict, Amharas are victims of repeated massacres in total silence and impunity, several Amharas said at a press conference held on 16 June at the Press Club in Brussels.

Quite a number of such incidents already took place well before the war between the federal and the Tigray regional governments started but failed to sufficiently mobilize the international community. Examples:

In November 2019, 18 Amhara students – 14 young women and 4 young men – from Dembi Dollo University in Kelam Wellega Zone of the Oromia Region were abducted by unidentified people as they fled by bus a fatal ethnic-based attack on Amhara university students. They’re still missing, and we can fear the worst. This stoked anger at the federal government over its inaction and lack of transparency.  

Ethnic violence including rape then affected more than 20 other university campuses in 2019 in the Oromia region and continued in 2020 prompting an estimated 35,000 students to flee.

In early November 2020, at least 100 people from the Amhara ethnic group were killed in an attack by suspected members of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) group.

The attack on Gawa Qanqa village in Guliso District of West Wellega Zone took place just a day after Ethiopian Defense Forces troops surprisingly, unexpectedly & without explanation withdrew from the area. This abrupt withdrawal has raised several questions that have remained unanswered by the government. Witnesses said dozens of men, women and children were killed, property looted and what the militants could not carry away, was set on fire.

In the last few months, a spate of deadly attacks particularly targeted civilians of ethnic Amharas.

On 25 February 2021, at least 12 people, including a seven-year-old child, were hacked to death in two particularly brutal attacks in the villages of Boka and Nechlu, in the eastern part of Oromia, multiple sources told Al Jazeera. 

On 6 and 9 March, 42 people were killed in two separate attacks that targeted Amhara civilians in Oromia’s Horo Guduru Wellega zone, according to Ethiopian state media.

On 31 March, gunmen killed at least 30 civilians in an attack on a village in the West Wellega Zone of Oromia. The victims were ethnic Amharas. A resident of the Babo-Gembel district where the attack took place told AFP news agency that gunmen arrived after 9pm, forced residents to gather outside in a group and shot them dead. The place had no security cover from government security forces at the time.

On 4 April, suspected OLF militias killed more than 17 Amharas in two separate attacks in the Oromia region.

On 16 April, Ataye and surrounding towns in the Amhara Region were destroyed resulting in 300 deaths and 256,000 people becoming homeless.

On 30 April, an armed group identified as the OLA (Oromo Liberation Army) attacked a transport bus traveling from Bure to Nekemte. The attackers rerouted the bus towards the Abay river gorge, took the passengers out and killed 15 of them.

Tewodrose Tirfe, chairman of the Amhara Association of America based in Washington DC, said “in the month of March well over 300 Amharas, including women and children, have been massacred by the OLA”. He also accused the government of being silent and inactive on killings.

Amhara victims frequently testify the massacres on fighters belonging to the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) and regional special forces that are well armed and coordinated.

Societal violence is now undoubtedly on the rise. President of the Genocide Prevention in Ethiopia (GPE) Dr. Senait Senay says, “From 2 September 2020 to May 2021 alone, 2024 ethnic Amharas were targeted and horrifically killed and 2 million displaced in different regions of Ethiopia”, mainly in the Benishangul-Gumuz & Oromia regions. The list also includes over 1000 ethnic Amharas that were murdered in Maikadra by a retreating pro-TPLF militia, a few days after the war between the federal government of Ethiopia and the regional Tigrayan forces broke out, as Amnesty International has reported. 

The successive federal governments of Ethiopia since the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) assumed power in 1991, Ethiopia was transformed to nine new regional states designed according to Article 46 of the 1995 constitution, but the borders of the new regional states crisscrossed former administrative delineations and were simply imposed without popular consent through a referendum or election. The result was Ethiopian citizens were ethnically identified on government issued residence IDs.

The elections in Ethiopia will not be held in 102 of the 547 constituencies, including the 38 constituencies of Tigray due to war, but also in parts of Benishangul-Gumuz, Oromia and Amhara regions, due to the massacres and massive displacement of Amharas.

In the meantime, the EU has withdrawn its Electoral Observation Mission accusing the Ethiopian authorities of not giving assurances on the independence of the mission. After the election, the EU should increase the implementation of its peace-making policies & humanitarian aid in Ethiopia and urge the “new federal government” to address the structural sources of the targeted ethnic attacks, the Amharas said at the Press Club in Brussels.

See press conference here:

Ethiopia masacres
(c) AmharaGenocide.net – CASE_7: THE ACT OF GENOCIDE IN MAI-KADRA, NORTH ETHIOPIA
Ethnic Amharas were Selectively Slaughtered with Machetes, Axes and Knives!Posted on  Apr 6, 2021Happened on Nov 9, 2020
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“Freedom is important. When people choose what they want, it’s good for them and for us!”
Jun 20 2021
“Freedom is important. When people choose what they want, it’s good for them and for us!”

The above quote is from the former president of Iran from the 90s of the last century, Hashemi Rafsanjani, before his death was called the “great king” of politics in Iran because of his influence on it, said something extremely simple, but at the same time more and more  complicated when it comes to the country in question.

Ebrahim Raisi’s victory in the presidential election embodies, above all, that of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the associated revolutionary institutes in the Islamic Republic. Raisi, a former prosecutor and chief judge of the country’s Supreme Court, is widely seen as Ali Khamenei’s future successor, and the presidential institution as a springboard to the ayatollah’s seat. Ali Khamenei himself was the country’s president in the 1980s during the rule of Islamic Republic founder Ruhollah Khomeini.

And although Raisi lost the previous presidential election in 2017 to incumbent President Hassan Rouhani (by almost 20% or 8 million), this time the mullahs’ regime did not take any risks and paved the way for its favorite to the presidency. This was done through the Board of Trustees, a body whose job description is to assess the suitability of candidates for elective positions as to whether they are doctrinably exemplary under Islamic Republic law. This institute disqualified any candidate who could actually be a competitor to Raisi (from the pragmatically conservative Ali Larijani to the reformer and incumbent Vice President Eshak Jahangiri).

As an attempt to mimic the choice given, the Board of Guardians admitted Abdulnaser Hemati, among several other figures, to the race. Being a technocrat, Hemati is unattractive and relatively unknown; he also became an easy target for the country’s hardliners in the run-up to the election, as Hemati was head of the Central Bank of Iran, which has to do with the devaluation of the local rial. With the technocrat’s admission to the election, the mullahs’ regime did something unique: it designed not only who to win, but also against whom to win their favorite.

Hemati’s participation in the election provided two options for reformers and moderate voters in the country: whether to support him with their vote or not to vote at all. Despite calls from reformers such as Mehdi Karubi and Mohammad Khatami for people to go out and vote, most moderate and reform-minded voters chose to stay home, refusing to legitimize the way the regime censored their electoral options.

There was an outflow of voters in the last parliamentary elections in 2020, when the Board of Trustees also did not allow a number of prominent figures to run for the Mejlis, which is why the hardliners won an easy and convincing victory.

Two things apply to the presidency, which constructs both the executive branch and the Majlis in Iran. One is that they – although not always – serve as a vent for the electorate against the regime, because the principle of these institutions is based on the electoral principle. That is why the presidency of the Islamic Republic was won by candidates who are against the regime’s favorites (such as Mohammad Khatami and Hassan Rouhani), and the 2020 Majlis elections edited the current majority of moderates and reformers. The second relevant thing about these institutions, however, is that they do not actually have the kind of power that a presidency (without a prime minister) and a parliament in a republic assume. It is on the basis of the latter that Raisi’s victory in the presidential election will not actually bring about any changes in Iran’s foreign policy. There are three main reasons for this.

Once upon a time, because the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran, Pasdaran, remains the absolute holder in the formation and implementation of the country’s security and foreign policy in the most important regions for Iran (parallel to the fact that Pasdaran is increasingly emerging as a conglomerate with significant economic assets in the country). In protest, although he did not resign, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif resigned two years ago. With President Raisi and the number one diplomat appointed by him, there will be no friction between the country’s foreign ministry and Pasdaran.

Secondly, because Iran’s diplomatic corps is often surrounded by Ayatollah Khamanei’s special envoys (Ali Larijani – for China, Ali Velayati – for Russia; Kamal Harazi – for Germany, etc.).

Third, because important decisions in the country’s foreign policy, including reflecting neighboring departments such as national security and defense, are voted on by the Supreme National Security Council (SJC), in which the foreign minister is only one of 12 (in some cases 13) the member, and the decisions of the SJC shall enter into force after approval by the Ayatollah. However, the President of the country, who has a quota of ministers in this body, is also a voice in the SJC. Therefore, the figure of the president, although not structurally decisive, given that it is blocked by other institutions, the president is not insignificant.

For example, the current Iranian government, led by President Hassan Rouhani, has advocated dialogue with the West and Iran’s economic cooperation with the world. However, Hassan Rouhani’s efforts in these directions were systematically torpedoed by Pasdaran and finally sunk by the US withdrawal from the Nuclear Deal, which led to the resumption of old and the introduction of new sanctions against Tehran. Against this background, Rouhani himself failed to fight for the expansion of civil rights in the country, and the crisis with Kovid – 19 complicated the already complicated by the sanctions situation with the country’s economy.

And this whole set of circumstances has led to widespread frustration among those people in Iran who want to inject them with less ideology and a more decent income. This meant that Ibrahim Raisi could have won this election without relying on the arbitrariness of the revolutionary institutions. Precisely because of the frustration and low mobilization to vote among moderate and reform-oriented voters.

With the victory of Ibrahim Raisi in the presidential election, Ali Khamenei has secured a trusted person to propose the next composition of the government, in which the spaces for points of view other than dogmatic-revolutionary ones will be further narrowed. And in the long run, the main candidate to replace him in the most important position in the country as Iran’s supreme leader. Competitive advantages Raisi’s CV includes things like that he is aware of the regime’s dark secrets (from the seizure of property by people after the 1979 revolution, through his role as a prosecutor in the executions of political prisoners, to the current financial flows around the various religious foundations associated with the ayatollah) and has already been sanctioned by the United States.

Meanwhile, the ayatollah and Pasdaran have lost something convenient for them: the opportunity to blame the moderate government of Rouhani as to blame for any failure of the country’s economic and social systems. Now the mullah regime will have to find another scapegoat.

Neither the appeals from the mosques in Friday prayers nor the television instructions of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei helped. According to preliminary information, the turnout in yesterday’s presidential election in Iran was record low for the standard high in the country (official data will be announced later).

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UNHCR: World leaders must act to reverse the trend of soaring displacement
Jun 19 2021
UNHCR: World leaders must act to reverse the trend of soaring displacement

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is today urging world leaders to step up their efforts to foster peace, stability and cooperation in order to halt and begin reversing nearly a decade-long trend of surging displacement driven by violence and persecution.

Despite the pandemic, the number of people fleeing wars, violence, persecution and human rights violations in 2020 rose to nearly 82.4 million people, according to UNHCR’s latest annual Global Trends report released today in Geneva. This is a further four per cent increase on top of the already record-high 79.5 million at the end of 2019.

The report shows that by the end of 2020 there were 20.7 million refugees under UNHCR mandate, 5.7 million Palestine refugees and 3.9 million Venezuelans displaced abroad. Another 48 million people were internally displaced (IDPs) within their own countries. A further 4.1 million were asylum-seekers. These numbers indicate that despite the pandemic and calls for a global ceasefire, conflict continued to chase people from their homes.

“Behind each number is a person forced from their home and a story of displacement, dispossession and suffering. They merit our attention and support not just with humanitarian aid, but in finding solutions to their plight.”

“While the 1951 Refugee Convention and the Global Compact on Refugees provide the legal framework and tools to respond to displacement, we need much greater political will to address conflicts and persecution that force people to flee in the first place,” said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi.

Girls and boys under the age of 18 account for 42 per cent of all forcibly displaced people. They are particularly vulnerable, especially when crises continue for years. New UNHCR estimates show that almost one million children were born as refugees between 2018 and 2020. Many of them may remain refugees for years to come.

“The tragedy of so many children being born into exile should be reason enough to make far greater efforts to prevent and end conflict and violence,” said Grandi.

The report also notes that at the peak of the pandemic in 2020, over 160 countries had closed their borders, with 99 States making no exception for people seeking protection. Yet with improved measures – such as medical screenings at borders, health certification or temporary quarantine upon arrival, simplified registration procedures and remote interviewing, more and more countries found ways to ensure access to asylum while trying to stem the spread of the pandemic.

While people continued to flee across borders, millions more were displaced within their own countries. Driven mostly by crises in Ethiopia, Sudan, Sahel countries, Mozambique, Yemen, Afghanistan and Colombia the number of internally displaced people rose by more than 2.3 million.

Over the course of 2020, some 3.2 million IDPs and just 251,000 refugees returned to their homes –a 40 and 21 per cent drop, respectively, compared to 2019. Another 33,800 refugees were naturalized by their countries of asylum. Refugee resettlement registered a drastic plunge – just 34,400 refugees were resettled last year, the lowest level in 20 years – a consequence of reduced number of resettlement places and Covid-19.

“Solutions require global leaders and those with influence to put aside their differences, end an egoistic approach to politics, and instead focus on preventing and solving conflict and ensuring respect for human rights,” said Grandi.

UNHCR 2020 Global Trends Report – key data:

  • 82.4 million people forcibly displaced globally (79.5 million in 2019) – a 4 per cent increase
    • 26.4 million refugees (26.0 million in 2019) including:
      • 20.7 million refugees under UNHCR’s mandate (20.4 million in 2019)
      • 5.7 million Palestine refugees under UNRWA’s mandate (5.6 million in 2019)
    • 48.0 million internally displaced people (45.7 million in 2019)
    • 4.1 million asylum-seekers (4.1 million in 2019)
    • 3.9 million Venezuelans displaced abroad (3.6 million in 2019)
  • 2020 is the ninth year of uninterrupted rise in forced displacement worldwide. Today, one per cent of humanity is displaced and there are twice as many forcibly displaced people than in 2011 when the total was just under 40 million.
  • More than two thirds of all people who fled abroad came from just five countries: Syria (6.7 million), Venezuela (4.0 million), Afghanistan (2.6 million), South Sudan (2.2 million) and Myanmar (1.1 million).
  • Vast majority of world’s refugees – nearly nine in 10 refugees (86 per cent) – are hosted by countries neighbouring crises areas and low- and middle-income countries. The Least Developed Countries provided asylum to 27 per cent of the total.
  • For the seventh year in a row, Turkey hosted the largest refugee population worldwide (3.7 million refugees), followed by Colombia (1.7 million, including Venezuelans displaced abroad), Pakistan (1.4 million), Uganda (1.4 million) and Germany (1.2 million).
  • Pending asylum applications globally remained at 2019 levels (4.1 million), but States and UNHCR collectively registered some 1.3 million individual asylum applications, one million fewer than in 2019 (43 per cent less).

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

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Join the World Drug Day campaign, #ShareFactsOnDrugs and #SaveLives
Jun 18 2021
Join the World Drug Day campaign, #ShareFactsOnDrugs and #SaveLives

2021 THEME

“Share Facts On Drugs, Save Lives”

The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, or World Drug Day, is marked on 26 June every year, to strengthen action and cooperation in achieving the goal of a world free of drug abuse.

And each year, individuals like yourself, entire communities, and various organizations all over the world join in on this global observance, to raise awareness of the major problem that illicit drugs represent for society.

Together, we can tackle the world drug problem!

What Can You Do?

All you have to do is #ShareFactsOnDrugs to help #SaveLives.

Do your part and combat misinformation by sharing the real facts on drugs — from health risks and solutions to tackle the world drug problem, to evidence-based prevention, treatment, and care.

1)    Know the facts

2)    Only share information from verified sources, like UNODC

And you can start now. Get engaged by sharing the right facts on drugs right from our Twitter and Facebook channels.

You can also access and share our social media resources and support us in promoting the facts on drugs.

What UNODC Does

Every year, UNODC issues the World Drug Report, full of key statistics and factual data obtained through official sources, a science-based approach and research.

UNODC continues to provide facts and practical solutions to address the current world drug problem, and remains committed to attaining a vision of health for all based on science.

COVID-19 has brought unprecedented public awareness on health, protective measures for staying healthy, and most importantly, and on  protecting each other. A growing sense of global community and solidarity continues to emerge, as does the need to ensure health care for all.

World Drug Day is a day to share research findings, evidence-based data and life-saving facts, and to continue tapping into a shared spirit of solidarity.

UNODC invites everyone to do their part, by taking a firm stance against misinformation and unreliable sources; while committing to sharing only the real science-backed data on drugs and save lives.

By working together, we can tackle the world drug problem.

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What happens if you eat cherries every day?
Jun 15 2021
What happens if you eat cherries every day?

What happens if you eat cherries every day

The season of fruits and berries has arrived. And already on every counter, you can find ripe, tasty, and most importantly, healthy cherries – it’s hard to resist. But what will happen to the body if you include it in your daily diet? Let’s tell you now.

Memory may improve

Sweet cherries are rich in anthocyanin, a compound that has a beneficial effect on memory and brain function in general.

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Counting down to Peace Day, UN chief urges: Stand up against hatred and care for planet 
Jun 13 2021
100 day to anniversary of United Nations “Peace Day”, UN chief urges: Stand up against hatred and care for planet 

Every year on 21 September, the United Nations invites people around the world to celebrate peace by observing 24 hours of ceasefire and non-violence. On Sunday, the UN chief kicked off the 100-day countdown to the International Day of Peace.

As we strive to heal from the COVID-19 pandemic and reimagine a better future for people and planet, Secretary-General António Guterres introduced this year’s theme: “Recovering better for an equitable and sustainable world.”

Regardless of ethnicity, location or religion, the virus attacks everyone.

Confronting this common enemy, we must remember that we are not each other’s enemy.

To be able to recover from the devastation of the pandemic, we must make peace with one another.

“Peace is the foundation of that recovery. The global vaccination effort cannot advance amidst armed conflict”, he said in his countdown message.

Moving forward

Moreover, the top UN official underscored that we cannot build a sustainable, resilient and peaceful world while we are “at war with nature”.

“The world cannot go back to what it was”, he stressed.

The Secretary-General upheld that COVID recovery efforts offer humanity an opportunity to transform its relationship with the environment and the entire planet.

“As we count down to the International Day of Peace, I call on people everywhere to be part of a transformation for peace, by standing up against hatred and discrimination, by caring for the planet, and by showing the global solidarity that is so vital at this time”, he concluded.

Looking back

The International Day of Peace was established by the UN General Assembly in 1981.

Two decades later, in 2001, the Assembly unanimously voted to designate the Day as a period of non-violence and cease-fire.

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Record: A South African woman gave birth to 10 babies conceived naturally
Jun 13 2021
Record: A South African woman gave birth to 10 babies conceived naturally

Gossiame Tamara Sitole, 37, and her husband now have 6-year-old twins

A 37-year-old South African woman broke the Guinness World Record after giving birth to 10 babies in a hospital in Pretoria, Pretoria News reported.

Gossiame Tamara Sitole and her husband Teboho Coteci already have 6-year-old twins and were shocked when doctors initially told Gossiame that they saw 6 babies in the video area. The woman became pregnant naturally and was never treated for infertility, as is common in multiple pregnancies.

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The WHO seeks to end human rights violations in psychiatry
Jun 11 2021
The WHO seeks to end human rights violations in psychiatry

The mental health care services in Europe and globally in the main continues to be provided in psychiatric wards and hospitals. As The European Times is documenting human rights abuses and coercive practices in these facilities are common. The World Health Organization (WHO) in new guidance material released this week evidence that providing community-based mental health care that is both respectful of human rights and focused on recovery is proving successful and cost-effective.

Photo: Alan de la Cruz from Pixabay

Mental health care recommended in the new guidance by WHO should be located in the community and should not only encompass mental health care but also support for day-to-day living, such as facilitating access to accommodation and links with education and employment services.

WHO’s new “Guidance on community mental health services: promoting person-centred and rights-based approaches” further affirms that mental health care must be grounded in a human rights-based approach, as recommended by the WHO Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2020-2030 endorsed by the World Health Assembly in May 2021.

Fast transition to redesigned mental health services required

“This comprehensive new guidance provides a strong argument for a much faster transition from mental health services that use coercion and focus almost exclusively on the use of medication to manage symptoms of mental health conditions, to a more holistic approach that takes into account the specific circumstances and wishes of the individual and offers a variety of approaches for treatment and support,” said Dr Michelle Funk of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Use, who led the development of the guidance.

Since the adoption of the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2006, an increasing number of countries have sought to reform their laws, policies and services related to mental health care. All European countries have signed and ratified this Convention. However, to date, few countries have established the frameworks necessary to meet the far-reaching changes required by international human rights standards.

Reports from around the world highlight that severe human rights abuses and coercive practices are still far too common in countries of all income levels. Examples include forced admission and forced treatment; manual, physical and chemical restraint; unsanitary living conditions; and physical and verbal abuse.

The majority of government mental health budgets still goes to psychiatric hospitals

According to WHO’s latest estimates, governments spend less than 2% of their health budgets on mental health. Furthermore, the majority of reported expenditure on mental health is allocated to psychiatric hospitals, except in high-income countries where the figure is around 43%.

The new guidance, which is intended primarily for people with responsibility for organizing and managing mental health care, presents details of what is required in areas such as mental health law, policy and strategy, service delivery, financing, workforce development and civil society participation in order for mental health services to be compliant with the CRPD.

It includes examples from countries including Brazil, India, Kenya, Myanmar, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom of community-based mental health services that have demonstrated good practices in respect of non-coercive practices, community inclusion, and respect of people’s legal capacity (i.e. the right to make decisions about their treatment and life).

Services include crisis support, mental health services provided within general hospitals, outreach services, supported living approaches and support provided by peer groups. Information about financing and results of evaluations of the services presented are included. Cost comparisons provided indicate that the community-based services showcased produce good outcomes, are preferred by service users and can be provided at comparable cost to mainstream mental health services.

“Transformation of mental health service provision must, however, be accompanied by significant changes in the social sector,” said Gerard Quinn, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. “Until that happens, the discrimination that prevents people with mental health conditions from leading full and productive lives will continue.”

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Patients see restraints as torture
Jun 5 2021
Patients see restraints as torture

The widespread use of a variety of coercive measures has a strong and traumatic impact on patients. Stronger than the psychiatric staff actually believe.

The European Times reported that studies have looked at the patient’s viewpoints of the use of coercion in psychiatric services. In a 2016 study by Paul McLaughlin of the Unit for Social & Community Psychiatry, WHO Collaborating Centre for Mental Health Services Development in England, he and the co-authors reported, that: “qualitative studies consistently show that coercive measures can be experienced by patients as humiliating and distressing.”

Studies make it clear that there may be very serious problems related to the use of force and coercion in psychiatry. The use of seclusion and restrain have been investigated and reported on in hundreds of publications that are available through the medical bibliographical database Medline.

Professor of psychiatry, Riittakerttu Kaltiala-Heino, carried out an analysis of the views of patients who had been subjected to the use of seclusion and restraints. The analysis was based on a review of 300 Medline publications that were available in 2004. In a lecture to the Association of European Psychiatrists’ 12th European Congress of Psychiatry she stated based on this review, that: “in all the studies that have studied patients’ negative experiences the patients have emphasized the experience that it has been a punishment.”

Prof. Kaltiala-Heino specified,

“So, many of the patients think that they have been secluded or restrained because they were punished for some behaviour that was unacceptable or because of a breaking of rules of the board. From more than half of the patients up to almost 90 percent of the patients in various studies have reported that they perceive seclusion as punishment even as torture.”

Coercion causing psychiatric symptoms

Prof. Kaltiala-Heino added, “And patients have also reported increase in a number of psychiatric symptoms including depression, suicidal ideation, hallucinations, loss of contact with reality. So, they feel depersonalized and de-realization experiences have been reported. Patients have also reported persisting nightmares in which they in kind of in their eyes are featured in the seclusion processes, the seclusion situation, the seclusion room of being locking in or tied. It can easily be traced back to the experience of seclusion or restraint.”

The use of such interventions not only may be humiliating and seen as punishment or torture, they also cause strong feeling against the psychiatric staff. In the studies patients talk about, and discuss the anger against the staff who carried out the procedure.

Patients who themselves had been secluded also felt angry and threatened when others were being secluded indicating the lasting traumatic effect the use of seclusion and restraint may have.

Prof. Kaltiala-Heino further noted, that “in most of the studies that have concentrated on patients’ experiences of seclusion and restraint, the negative experiences reported greatly outnumber the positive aspects.”

Psychiatric staff misperceive the actual negative effect

Prof. Kaltiala-Heino said, that from the review of the studies one can conclude that: “staff assumes that patients have a much more positive experiences than what patients actually have.” And she added: “The patients also report much greater variety of negative experiences and much more, much stronger feeling of negative experiences than staff assume they have.”

The misperception goes even further. Prof. Kaltiala-Heino found that: “While staff believes that the seclusion primarily helps the patients, all the patients, the other patients in the ward … when the one who is behaving in the most disturbing and violent way is removed from the interactions. And secondly it benefits the patient her or himself – the target patient. And only in the third rank it is useful for the staff. Then patients who have been secluded actually think that it is the staffs who gains the most benefit of this processes and the least themselves – the persons who was secluded, him or herself.”

Prof. Kaltiala-Heino concluded that despite the research is sporadic and the methodology used is inconsistent that they all nevertheless point in the same direction, that: “the more powerful restriction and the more coercion is used, the more negative the experiences of the patients.”

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UN welcomes creation of GlobE Network to end cross-border corruption
Jun 4 2021
UN welcomes creation of GlobE Network to end cross-border corruption
 © UNODC

New York, 3 June 2021 — The first ever UN General Assembly special session against corruption welcomed the launch of a new global network today to “develop a quick, agile and efficient tool for combatting cross-border corruption offences.”

The Global Operational Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (GlobE Network) offers UN Member States and States parties to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) the ability to connect anti-corruption practitioners with their counterparts in different countries. It provides channels for secure and informal information exchange on specific cases, legislation, intelligence and anti-corruption tools.

“The Network will enable law enforcement authorities to navigate legal processes through informal cooperation across borders, helping to build trust and bring those guilty of corruption to justice,” said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in a special video message. “We expect the Globe Network to empower all countries with practical solutions and tools to track, investigate and prosecute corruption, complementing existing frameworks.”

The GlobE Network was officially launched today at an in-person event at the Vienna International Centre, along with an online option. More than 340 representatives of Member States, anti-corruption authorities and law enforcement networks participated. They discussed the importance of timely cross-border cooperation to end corruption and the unique role of the GlobE Network.

“Conceived during the G20’s first-ever ministerial meeting on anti-corruption in 2020, this network will put into action an important provision of the Convention: the improvement of direct cooperation between law enforcement authorities,” said Ms. Ghada Waly, Executive Director of the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

“Many countries are still not able to access anti-corruption networks whether due to decentralized processes or lack of capacity and resources,“ said H.E. Mr. Mazin Ibrahim M Al Kahmous, President, Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority, Nazaha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. “The G20 ‘Riyadh Initiative’ to create the GlobE Network, is meant to address this gap.”

Initial funding for the GlobE Network was provided by the Government of Saudi Arabia during their G20 Presidency and as the chair of the Anti-Corruption Working Group of the G20. The GlobE Network will be headquartered in Vienna under the auspices of the UNODC.

For a list of speakers at today’s launch event, please click here.

A recording of today’s launch will be made available on the GlobE Network website at https://globenetwork.unodc.org

About the GlobE Network

The Global Operational Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (GlobE Network) is a platform for secure peer-to-peer information exchange and informal cooperation to better track and prosecute cross-border corruption offences and recover stolen assets. Founded in 2021, the GlobE Network is open to anti-corruption law enforcement authorities in all UN Member States and States parties to the UN Convention against Corruption.

Visit: https://globenetwork.unodc.org

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The European Union and the United Kingdom agree on fishing quotas
Jun 3 2021
The European Union and the United Kingdom agree on fishing quotas
RTL.de>

Negotiations lasted six months

After Brexit, many areas of life and the economy between the EU and Great Britain will have to be renegotiated, including fishing. Because important fish stocks will continue to be jointly managed even after Great Britain leaves the European Union. After nearly half a year of negotiations, it is now possible to determine the catch quotas for these commonly used fish stocks.

The European Union Commission announced on Wednesday evening that the successful conclusion of the negotiations that began in January will create a solid basis for further cooperation in the field of fisheries. The agreement sets the total allowable catch for 75 of the joint fishing stocks for 2021 and for some deep-sea stocks for the years 2021 and 2022. It will also provide clarification on access restrictions for species that are not subject to quotas.

The responsible EU commissioner, Virginius Syncevicius, commented that the agreement creates predictability and continuity for the rest of the year. It is beneficial for fishermen, coastal communities and ports, but is also beneficial for the sustainable use of marine resources.

The negotiations were based on the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom agreed upon after Brexit at the end of 2020. In it, the contracting parties set themselves a common goal of “the application of the quota system to the management of common stocks, with a view to preserving the stocks of species that They are caught and gradually reduced by biomass values ​​at the highest possible level that a sustainable yield can be achieved.”

Together with Great Britain, the European Union manages large parts of the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. Fisheries has been the hardest part of the post-Brexit trade deal negotiations between the EU and the UK.(dpa/aze)

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EU Bishops address President von der Leyen: “The EU Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion should have adequate resources”
Jun 3 2021
EU Bishops address President von der Leyen: “The EU Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion should have adequate resources”

 

EU Bishops address President von der Leyen: “The EU Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion should have adequate resources” 

In a letter addressed to EC President von der Leyen on Wednesday 2 June 2021, the Bishops of the European Union recall the need of strengthening the EU Special Envoy of Freedom of Religion or Belief with institutional and financial support. Card. Hollerich: “reasonable and adequate resources are needed to promote this fundamental right under threat in many parts of the world.” 

 

On behalf of the Bishops of the European Union, H. Em. Jean-Claude Cardinal Hollerich SJ, President of COMECE, addressed a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, following the early-May 2021 statement welcoming the appointment of Christos Stylianides as ‘EU Special Envoy on the Promotion and Protection of Freedom of Religion and Belief outside the EU’. 

 

Cardinal Hollerich emphasises the remarkable work done by the EU mechanism since its creation in May 2016. The previous EU Special Envoy addressed challenging situations in many countries where freedom of thought, conscience and religion is seriously threatened or violented, “despite its limited mandate and resources”. 

 

In the letter, Cardinal Hollerich recalls the need of strengthening the EU mechanism, and requests EC President von der Leyen to support it “with reasonable and adequate human and financial resources that enable the EU Special Envoy to carry on his high responsibility, with a more ambitious and defined mandate and capacity”, as expressed by the January 2021 resolution of the European Parliament. 

 

The President of COMECE expresses Bishops’ satisfaction with the recent appointment of Stylianides, whose previous commitment as Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid opened “fresh space for cooperation with Churches and Faith-Based Organisations in humanitarian activities as well as for interreligious dialogue leading to a better protection of human rights and mutual understanding in conflict situations.” 

 

“His appointment – continues the letter – will give voice to the voiceless individuals and communities whose freedom of thought, conscience, and religion are violated, being subject to intolerance, discrimination and, in some cases, even, persecution.”

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Letter (EN)

Press Release: FR – DE – ES – IT

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Council of Europe in big controversy on human rights abuse
Jun 1 2021
Council of Europe in big controversy on human rights abuse

A Committee of the Council of Europe is about to complete the work on a possible new legal instrument, that if approved will authorize states the continued use of practises deemed a violation of human rights by the United Nations. This include such practices as locking up persons or forcing certain medications on people, stated to be suffering from a mental disorder.

The Committee on Bioethics, a Committee working at the Committee of Ministers’ level of the Council of Europe is meeting this week to discuss a final draft of a new legal instrument that was to protect human rights and dignity of persons with mental disorders. The document however has received severe criticism culminating in the United Nations stepping in with a joint statement of its human rights experts requesting the delegates of the meeting to “object to the draft Additional Protocol in the upcoming meeting and we urge the Council of Europe to end legitimising forced institutionalization and the use of coercion against persons with disabilities, including older persons with disabilities.”

“we urge the Council of Europe to end legitimising forced institutionalization and the use of coercion against persons with disabilities, including older persons with disabilities“.

UN Experts

About the draft of Committee on Bioethics of the Council of Europe.

The United Nations experts, which include their Special Rapporteurs on rights to physical and mental health and on disability and the UN Committee specialised on Disability, stated that, “The coercive approach to mental health is doing harm to people with disabilities and we should not go backwards to authorize this outdated approach. People with psychosocial disabilities have the right to live in the community and to refuse medical treatment.”

Parliamentary Assembly of the CoE against the CoE Committe on Bioethics

The statement follows a long series of protests already voiced. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has worked over several years looking in to the matter and already in 2016 issued a recommendation stating that “Involuntary placement and involuntary treatment procedures give rise to a large number of human rights violations in many member States, in particular in the context of psychiatry.”

The Parliamentary Assembly with the Recommendation stated, “While the Parliamentary Assembly understands the concerns that prompted the Committee on Bioethics to work on this issue, it has serious doubts about the added value of a new legal instrument in this field. Nevertheless, the Assembly’s main concern about the future additional protocol relates to an even more essential question: that of its compatibility with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.” (read full Recommendation here)

The Parliamentary Assembly noted that the United Nations’ Committee monitoring this Convention “interprets Article 14 as prohibiting the deprivation of liberty on the basis of disability even if additional criteria, such as dangerousness to one’s self or others, are also used to justify it. The committee considers that mental health laws providing for such instances are incompatible with Article 14, are discriminatory in nature and amount to arbitrary deprivation of liberty.”

Since then, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly issued another recommendation in 2019, “Ending coercion in mental health: the need for a human rights-based approach.” The Assembly reiterated “the urgent need for the Council of Europe, as the leading regional human rights organisation, to fully integrate the paradigm shift initiated by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) into its work regarding the protection of human rights and dignity of persons with mental health conditions or psychosocial disabilities.”(full recommendation here)

In a follow-up Resolution, the Parliamentary Assembly noted that “The overall increase in the use of involuntary measures in mental health settings mainly results from a culture of confinement which focuses and relies on coercion to “control” and “treat” patients who are considered potentially “dangerous” to themselves or others.”

The Assembly based a concern on evidence from sociological research in the field on persons with mental health conditions “points to overwhelmingly negative experiences of coercive measures, including pain, trauma and fear. Involuntary “treatments” administered against the will of patients, such as forced medication and forced electroshocks, are perceived as particularly traumatic. They also raise major ethical issues, as they can cause irreversible damage to health.”

The Assembly further considered that “Mental health systems across Europe should be reformed to adopt a human rights-based approach which is compatible with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and is respectful of medical ethics and of the human rights of the people concerned, including of their right to health care on the basis of free and informed consent.”

Commisioner on Human Rights: the draft provokes disprotection

The Council of Europe’s Commissioner on Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, in a written comment to the Committee on Bioethics called on the Committee to not adopt the new legal instrument. She added that “While noting that the Committee on Bioethics started this work with the commendable intention of improving the protection of persons with psychosocial disabilities with regard to involuntary measures ordered in a medical context, she considers that the draft Additional Protocol [the new legal instrument], rather than satisfying that ambition, unfortunately risks provoking the opposite result.”

Civil society is against the draft

The International NGO Human Rights Watch in a statement on the Committee on Bioethics’ document noted “In what may seem like a contradiction, the Council of Europe—the continent’s leading human rights body—continues to pursue a new legal instrument that would undermine the rights of people with disabilities. Today’s meeting of the Council of Europe’s Committee on Bioethics— the body responsible for this treaty known as the draft Additional Protocol to the Oviedo Convention on Bioethics, signals that states are prepared to adopt new rules regarding forced treatment and detention of people with psychosocial disabilities, despite existing human rights obligations.”

The European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) earlier called upon the Council of Europe Committee on Bioethics to withdraw the document. They followed up with a new statement, that “The draft Additional Protocol creates the risk of a conflict between international norms at the global and European levels” as the document “lacks clear, strong procedural safeguards to ensure respect for the rights of persons with disabilities.”

The European Disability Forum, an umbrella organisation of persons with disabilities defending the interests of over 100 million persons with disabilities in the European Union, together with their members, in particular the European Network of (Ex)-Users and Survivors of Psychiatry, Mental Health Europe, Autism-Europe, Inclusion Europe and the European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities, have been in strong opposition to the drafted new legal instrument and expressed deep concerns over the human rights violations potentially about to be undertaken by the Council of Europe.

These comments of the European disability representative organizations were also endorsed by the International Disability Alliance, an umbrella organisation bringing together over 1,100 organisations of persons with disabilities and their families from across eight global and six regional networks.

Committee on Bioethics is aware of the critics

Ms. Laurence Lwoff, the Head of Council of Europe’s Bioethics Unit told The European Times, that “The delegations to the Committee on Bioethics are aware of the statement released by UN Rights experts which will also be referred to at the meeting by the Chair of the Committee on Bioethics.” She refused that the Committee does have the intention to disregard the views expressed by the UN Rights experts.

The meeting at which the possible new legal instrument will be reviewed starts today. The European Times was informed that “it is not possible to attend the meetings of the Committee on Bioethics (as this is the general rule for any other intergovernmental committees’ meeting) which are not opened to the press.”

The meeting at which the possible new Legal instrument will be reviewed starts today. When the meeting is done, the Committee either have tied down the Council of Europe or as the UN Experts put it, used the “unique opportunity to shift away from old-fashioned coercive approaches to mental health, towards concrete steps to promote supportive mental health services in the community, and the realization of human rights for all without discrimination on the grounds of disability.”

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UNGASS 2021 – World leaders gather at first-ever UN General Assembly Special Session against corruption
Jun 1 2021
UNGASS 2021 – World leaders gather at first-ever UN General Assembly Special Session against corruption
© UNIS Vienna

Corruption thrives in times of crisis and the ongoing global COVID-19 health crisis has not been an exception . The urgent responses required during the pandemic create significant opportunities for corruption.

It is against this backdrop that for the first time in its history, the UN General Assembly is devoting a special session to corruption. From 2 to 4 June 2021, the world will come together at the UN headquarters in New York to discuss challenges and measures to prevent and combat corruption and strengthen international cooperation.

The programme of UNGASS 2021 is available here.

SIDE EVENTS

Starting on 1 June, around 40 events on the sidelines of UNGASS 2021 will be held online, covering such topics as  corruption in the health sector, gender equality and anti-corruption efforts, stolen-asset recovery, whistleblower protection, and the  launch of the GlobE Network an initiative that promotes  quick and efficient global cross-border cooperation to end corruption.

For the list of side events and the agenda go to: ungass2021.unodc.org

UNGASS YOUTH FORUM

From 24 to 26 May, 850 young people from 122 countries gathered online for the UNGASS Youth Forum against Corruption to discuss the effect of corruption on young people, and how the international community can better empower youth to actively engage in and help lead the design of future anti-corruption efforts.

Discussions at the UNGASS Youth Forum are being summarized in a Statement. This call to action from young people will be presented by a Youth Forum representative to world leaders at UNGASS 2021.

More information about the UNGASS Youth Forum is available at: https://ungass2021.unodc.org/ungass2021/en/youth-forum.html

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Masks in the sea became more than jellyfish
May 31 2021
Masks in the sea became more than jellyfish

Global Marine Conservation

Divers on the Greek island of Corfu found more used protective masks than jellyfish at sea.

It turns out that the pandemic has exacerbated the problem of garbage in the seas and oceans.

Disposable masks, which are supposed to protect against the virus, often end up in the water. According to environmental groups, almost 2 billion masks were found last year alone.There are many other organizations working on marine conservation and other environmental issues such as biodiversity and global warming. We list them here both as a public service and to spread the word.

A group of divers from the Organization for the Protection of the Ocean regularly clean the sea near Corfu. They find a lot of plastic, but also more and more waste from the COVID crisis.

Currently, about 130 billion disposable masks are used worldwide – per month. The big problem with these preservatives is that once released into the environment, they do not decompose for up to 450 years.

“We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. Remote from universal nature, and living by complicated artifice, man in civilization surveys the creature through the glass of his knowledge and sees thereby a feather magnified and the whole image in distortion. We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth.”– Henry Beston (authjor of The Outermost House: A Year of Life On The Great Beach of Cape Cod).

There are many other organizations working on marine conservation and other environmental issues such as biodiversity and global warming, they are deeply committed to marine conservation and founded on the concept that, by sharing the wonders of the ocean and marine life, people will be inspired to protect it. We list part of them here both as a public service and to spread the word.

Blue Frontier Campaign: founded in 2003 by David Helvarg, author of Blue Frontier – Saving America’s Living Seas and 50 Ways to Save the Ocean. Blue Frontier works to support seaweed (marine grassroots) efforts at the local, regional and national level, with an emphasis on bottom up organizing to bring the voice of citizen-activists into national decision-making that will impact our public seas.

Conservation International: a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC and operating in more than 30 countries worldwide to apply innovations in science, economics, policy and community participation to protect the Earth’s plant and animal biodiversity in major tropical wilderness areas and key marine ecosystems.

Deep Sea Conservation Coalition: “The NGOs listed in this document jointly call on the UN General Assembly to adopt a resolution declaring an immediate moratorium on high seas bottom trawling, and to simultaneously initiate a process under the auspices of the UN General Assembly to 1) assess deep sea biodiversity and ecosystems, including populations of fish species, and their vulnerability to deep sea fishing on the high seas; and 2) adopt and implement legally binding regimes to protect deep sea biodiversity from high seas bottom trawling and to conserve and manage bottom fisheries of the high seas consistent with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982), UN Fish Stocks Agreement (FSA 1995), UN FAO Compliance Agreement (1993), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD 1992), and the UN FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (Code 1995).”

Environmental Defense: a non-profit organization based in New York bringing together experts in science, law and economics to tackle complex environmental issues that affect our oceans, our air, our natural resources, the livability of our man-made environment, and the species with whom we share our world.

European Network on Invasive Alien Species (NOBANIS): a network of common databases on alien and invasive species of the region. By establishing a common portal access to IAS-related data, information and knowledge in the region is facilitated.

Fauna and Flora International (FFI): aims to change the policy and behavior that contribute to biodiversity loss by engaging a wide range of governments and non-governmental organizations, and by raising the profile of biodiversity within the wider global development debate.

Global Coral Reef Alliance (GCRA): a coalition of volunteer scientists, divers, environmentalists and other individuals and organizations, committed to coral reef preservation. Focuses on coral reef restoration, marine diseases and other issues caused by global climate change, environmental stress, and pollution.

Greenpeace International: Greenpeace’s oceans campaign focusing on three major threats to the world’s oceans: overfishing, pirate fishing, whaling, and intensive shrimp aquaculture.

Institute for Ocean Conservation Science: to advance ocean conservation through science. They conduct world-class scientific research that increases knowledge about critical threats to oceans and their inhabitants, provides the foundation for smarter ocean policy, and establishes new frameworks for improved ocean conservation. The Institute’s research focuses on advancing ecosystem-based fisheries management, a strategy which recognizes that the oceans’ problems are interconnected and that species and habitats cannot be successfully managed in isolation; as well as on advancing knowledge about vulnerable and ecologically important marine animals that are understudied. They are dedicated to developing scientific approaches to sustainably manage forage fish, small schooling fish that are food for marine mammals and seabirds but are being depleted from our oceans.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): The IPCC has been established by World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to assess scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevant for the understanding of climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation.

International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) is an informal partnership between Nations and organizations which strives to preserve coral reefs and related ecosystems around the world. Although the Initiative is an informal group whose decisions are not binding on its members, its actions have been pivotal in continuing to highlight globally the importance of coral reefs and related ecosystems to environmental sustainability, food security and social and cultural wellbeing. The work of ICRI is regularly acknowledged in United Nations documents, highlighting the Initiative’s important cooperation, collaboration and advocacy role within the international arena.

International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW): engages communities, government leaders, and like-minded organizations around the world to achieve lasting solutions to pressing animal welfare and conservation challenges-solutions that benefit both animals and people.

International Maritime Organization (IMO) – IMO’s Intervention Convention affirms the right of a coastal State to take measures on the high seas to prevent, mitigate or eliminate danger to its coastline from a maritime casualty. The International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation (OPRC), 1990 provides a global framework for international co-operation in combating major incidents or threats of marine pollution. A protocol to this convention (HNS Protocol) covers marine pollution by hazardous and noxious substances.

IUCN Global Marine Programme provides vital linkages for the Union and its members to all the IUCN activities that deal with marine issues, including projects and initiatives of the Regional offices and the 6 IUCN Commissions. Its co-ordination role is above and beyond the policy development and thematic guidance that it undertakes to provide to assist governments, communities and NGOs alike.

IUCN Invasive Species Specialist Group: a global group of 146 scientific and policy experts on invasive species from 41 countries. ISSG provides advice on threats from invasives and control or eradication methods to IUCN members, conservation practitioners, and policy-makers. The group’s activities focus primarily on invasive species that cause biodiversity loss, with particular attention to those that threaten oceanic islands.

Nature Conservancy: Climate change isn’t a distant threat it is happening now. The past three years were hotter than any other time in recorded history. The Nature Conservancy is focused on innovative solutions that match the urgency of this crisis. We are protecting & restoring forests, improving working lands, helping communities build resilience & working to ensure a clean energy future. Together with supporters like you, we can halt the catastrophic march of climate change so that our communities can thrive & natural places that renew our spirits can endure.

Ocean Conservancy: serves to protect ocean ecosystems and conserve the global abundance and diversity of marine wildlife through science-based advocacy, research, and public education.

Oceana: a non-profit international advocacy organization dedicated to restoring and protecting the world’s oceans through policy advocacy, science, law, and public education.

Ocean Project: an initiative to raise awareness of the importance, value, and sensitivity of the oceans through a network of aquariums, zoos, and conservation organizations.

OceanCare: committed to marine wildlife protection since 1989. Through research and conservation projects, campaigns, environmental education, and involvement in a range of important international committees, OceanCare undertakes concrete steps to improve the situation for wildlife in the world’s oceans. In 2011, OceanCare was granted Special Consultative Status on marine issues with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

Project Aware Foundation: PADI’s foundation established to help conserve underwater environments through a wide variety of activities including education, advocacy, and action.

Project Seahorse: an international and interdisciplinary marine conservation organization comprised of biologists, development specialists, and other professionals committed to conserving and managing seahorses, their relatives and habitats, through research, education, empowering communities, establishing marine-protected areas, managing subsistence fisheries, restructuring international trade, redressing habitat loss.

Polar Bears International: a nonprofit organization dedicated to the worldwide conservation of the polar bear and its habitat through research, stewardship, and education. We provide scientific resources and information on polar bears and their habitat to institutions and the general public worldwide.

Reef Check: a volunteer, community-based monitoring mechanism operating in more than 60 countries designed to measure and maintain the health of coral reefs.

Reef Relief: dedicated to preserve and protect living coral reef ecosystems through local, regional, and global efforts focusing on science to educate the public and advocate policymakers to achieve conservation, protection, and restoration of coral reefs.

ReefBase: created to facilitate sustainable management of coral reefs and related coastal/marine environments, in order to benefit poor people in developing countries whose livelihoods depend on these natural resources.

The Safina Center: Led by ecologist and author Carl Safina, the Safina Center is comprised of Staff, Fellows and Creative Affiliates who together create a body of scientific and creative works that advance the conservation of wildlife and the environment, and give a voice to nature.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society: an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization whos mission is to end the destruction of habitat and the slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species. Sea Shepherd uses innovative direct-action tactics to investigate, document, and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas.

Turtle Island Restoration Network: fights to protect endangered sea turtles in ways that make cultural and economic sense to the communities that share the beaches and waters with these gentle creatures. With offices in California and Costa Rica, STRP has been leading the international fight to protect sea turtle populations worldwide.

Seal Conservation Society: a non-profit organization protecting and conserving pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and walrus) worldwide by monitoring and minimizing threats to pinnipeds, providing comprehensive information on pinniped-related issues to individuals, groups and the media, and by working with other conservation groups, rescue and rehabilitation centers, research establishments, and governments.

Shifting Baselines: a “media project” — a partnership between ocean conservation and Hollywood to help bring attention to the severity of ocean decline.

Sierra Club: the most enduring and influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. We amplify the power of our 3.5+ million members and supporters to defend everyone’s right to a healthy world.

Society for Conservation Biology (SCB): an international professional organization dedicated to promoting the scientific study of the phenomena that affect the maintenance, loss, and restoration of biological diversity. The Society’s membership comprises a wide range of people interested in the conservation and study of biological diversity: resource managers, educators, government and private conservation workers, and students.

The Species Survival Commission (SSC): “the world’s greatest source of information about species and their conservation needs”. The SSC is a network of some 8,000 volunteer members from almost every country of the world, all working to stop the loss of plants, animals, and their habitats. Members include researchers, government officials, wildlife veterinarians, zoo and botanical institute employees, marine biologists, protected area managers, and experts on plants, birds, mammals, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and invertebrates. SSC produces the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, provides technical and scientific advice to governments, international environmental treaties, and conservation organizations, publishes species Action Plans, and policy guidelines, and implements on-ground conservation projects.

Surfrider Foundation: a non-profit organization that works to protect our oceans, waves, and beaches through its chapters located along the East, West, Gulf, Puerto Rican, and Hawaiian coasts, and with its members in the USA and International Surfrider Foundation chapters and affiliates in Japan, Brazil, Australia, France and Spain.

TRAFFIC: wildlife trade monitoring network that works to ensure that trade in wild plants and animals is not a threat to the conservation of nature. TRAFFIC is a joint programme of WWF and IUCN – The World Conservation Union.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – an international treaty to begin to consider what can be done to reduce global warming and to cope with whatever temperature increases are inevitable. Recently, a number of nations have approved an addition to the treaty: the Kyoto Protocol, which has more powerful (and legally binding) measures. The UNFCCC secretariat supports all institutions involved in the climate change process.

Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS): an international non-profit working toward the conservation and welfare of all cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) by reducing threats to cetaceans and their habitats and by raising awareness about the need to address the continuing threats to their welfare and survival.

WildAid: The illegal wildlife trade is a multi-billion dollar global industry largely driven by consumer demand in expanding economies. While most wildlife conservation groups focus on scientific studies and anti-poaching efforts, WildAid works to reduce global consumption of wildlife products and to increase local support for conservation efforts. We also work with governments and partners to protect fragile marine reserves from illegal fishing and shark finning, to enhance public and political will for anti-poaching efforts, and to reduce climate change impacts.

World Resources Institute: environmental think tank working to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth’s environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations. WRI provides objective information and practical proposals for policy and institutional change that will foster environmentally sound, socially equitable development for.

World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA): WSPA works with more than 449 member organisations to raise the standards of animal welfare throughout the world. Our vision is a world in which the welfare of animals is understood and respected by everyone, and protected by effective legislation.

World Wildlife Fund: WWF’s Endangered Seas Program works in more than 40 countries to campaign, lobby, develop and advocate solutions, commission and publish impartial data, advise, and champion the conservation of the marine environment and sustainable livelihoods.

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The pope asks the Vatican media who reads their news
May 29 2021
The pope asks the Vatican media who reads their news

Pope Francis called on Vatican media officials to justify their work by asking how many people read their news at all. Francis asked this during a visit to the Media and Public Relations Office, which costs the Holy See more than all its embassies around the world. The pope visited the Dicastero per la Comunicazione on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of Vatican Radio and the 160th anniversary of the Vatican newspaper L’Oservatore Romano. Faced with a major pension shortfall and a projected Vatican deficit of 50m euros this year, Pope Francis has ordered a three to 10 percent pay cut for senior Vatican officials and suspended two-year seniority bonuses.

The Holy Father has vowed not to fire anyone to make up for the loss of the financial crisis as a result of the pandemic, which affected one of the Vatican’s main sources of income – ticket sales for Vatican museums. But in a sort of warning to Vatican communications staff, he began his unannounced remarks with the question: “There are many reasons for concern about radio, the newspaper, but one thing touches my heart: How many people listen to radio?” How many people read L’Osservatore Romano? ”The pope asks. He said that they work well, their offices are nice and organized, but there is a “danger” that the result of their work will not go where it should. He warned them not to fall victim to “deadly” functionality – when they do everything they need to do, but they really don’t achieve anything.

The question of the relationship between the costs and benefits of the Vatican’s media operations has been raised many times, as the communications service spends more on the Holy See’s annual budget than any other department. According to the latest figures, the Dicastero per la Comunicazione has a budget of € 43 million for 2021, which is about 20 percent of the Vatican’s total budget. The cost of the service is higher than the total cost of ten other Vatican departments. The Vatican has long justified these costs because communication operations are paramount to the Holy See’s core mission: to spread the Catholic faith throughout the world.

The head of this service, Paolo Rufini, said he understood the pope’s words as an invitation to a creative vision for the future, although he acknowledged the harsh media reality today. He recalled that Francis had told officials to “let reality slap them” and that the comment was a kind of call to wake up. Vatican Radio broadcasts 1,000 radio networks around the world in various languages. L’Oservatore Romano says 21,500 readers read it every day through the print and online versions, although that number rises to 40,000 when the different languages ​​distributed by the dioceses are taken into account.

Vatican News, the Holy See’s main Internet portal, has an average of 21 million page views per month, but it’s not clear how many readers it is.

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Halt legislation on coercive mental health measures in Europe – UN experts 
May 28 2021
Council of Europe wants to enforce harmful coercive psychiatric treaments – UN experts oppose
Independent UN human rights experts called on Friday for a European body of intergovernmental experts to stop legislation supporting coercive mental health measures.
Five UN experts issued a statement calling upon the Council of Europe’s Committee on Bioethics to withdraw a draft  Additional Protocol to the Oviedo Convention – a treaty protecting the human rights of people with regard to biology and medicine – that would codify a  mental health policy based on coercion and bring “stigmatization and fear to people with psychosocial disabilities”.“Overwhelming evidence from the European Disability Forum, Mental Health Europe and other organizations and growing consensus within the United Nations including at the World Health Organization (WHO), show that forced admission to medical institutions and coercive treatments in institutions will bring harmful effects such as pain, trauma, humiliation [and] shame”, the experts said.This is incompatible with contemporary human rights principles and standards.

Quell the draft

If adopted during a vote in early June, the draft Additional Protocol would continue to allow all the 47 State parties of the Council of Europe to use coercive measures against people with mental health conditions, including their forcible committment to psychiatric institutions.

The coercive approach to mental health is “doing harm to people with disabilities” and “we should not go backwards to authorize this outdated approach”, the experts said, adding that individutals with psychosocial disabilities “have the right to live in the community and to refuse medical treatment”.

“We call upon all State delegations to object to the draft Additional Protocol in the upcoming meeting and we urge the Council of Europe to end legitimizing forced institutionalization and the use of coercion against persons with disabilities, including older persons with disabilities”, they underscored.

Be part of the future

The controversial draft treaty has also aroused opposition within Europe and from the international community.

Voices within the Council of Europe, such as the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly and the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights have all been vocal against the draft Protocol.

“When there are efforts worldwide to reform mental health policy, it comes to our surprise that the Council of Europe, a major regional human rights organization, is planning to adopt a treaty that would be a setback to reverse all positive developments in Europe and spread a chilling effect elsewhere in the world”, the experts said.

They stressed that the Council of Europe now has “a unique opportunity to shift away from old-fashioned coercive approaches” to mental health, towards concrete steps to promote supportive mental health services and realize human rights for all “without discrimination on the grounds of disability”.

“We urge the Council of Europe to be part of the future and not part of the past in mental health”, concluded the experts.

Click here for the names of the experts who endorsed in this statement.

Special Rapporteurs and independent experts are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a specific human rights theme or a country situation. They are not UN staff nor paid for their work.

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Hackers attack 70 times per minute
May 26 2021
Hackers attack 70 times per minute
Hackers attack 70 times per minute: what happens when a computer is left unsecured on the internet

Every device connected to the internet has a unique IP address. Those IP addresses are public, and they allow computers to find and communicate with each other via the Internet Protocol. Normally, we want to allow legitimate parties to connect to our IP addresses, and keep out adversaries by using firewalls, authentication, and access control.

But what if we didn’t take any of those precautions? How long would it take for malicious hackers to find and attack your device? What methods would they use? What do they seek? And where do they come from?

Comparitech researchers sought to find the answers to these questions by setting up honeypots—dummy computers designed to lure in attackers so we can record their every step.

Researchers set up honeypot devices emulating a range of internet-accessible services and supporting a wide range of protocols including RDP, SSH, MySQL, VNC, and more. The honeypots were left unsecured so that no authentication was required to access and attack it. Using this method, Comparitech researchers sought to find out which types of attacks would occur, at what frequency, and where they come from.

In total, our researchers found 101,545 attacks in a 24-hour period, or 70 attacks per minute. To give you some idea of how much attacks have increased, a 2007 University of Maryland study recorded a mere 2,244 attacks per day, a fraction of what we recorded in 2021. Read more on the FULL STUDY– Comparitech Study

About Comparitech: A pro-consumer website providing information, tools, and comparisons to help consumers in the US, UK and further afield to research and compare tech services. Founded in 2015, it is now a remote team of 30 researchers, writers, developers, and editors covering a wide range of online services including VPNs, password managers, ID theft protection, antivirus, internet providers, network monitoring. Each month, over 1 million people visit Comparitech.com and trust them to help them make more savvy decisions. Collectively they have produced over 1,200 reviews and guides. They conduct a battery of tests on all products and services they review, such as the 200+ automated speed tests that they perform daily on a wide range of VPNs.

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