Nov 5 2020

Ahead of global health assembly, WHO stresses need for solidarity, preparation

The reminder comes ahead of next week’s World Health Assembly, the annual meeting of the UN agency’s decision-making body, which normally takes place in May but had to be cut short this year due to the pandemic.

There are more than 47 million COVID-19 cases, and over 1.2 million deaths, according to latest figures. The Assembly will chart the course for response and global health priorities.

Crisis unites the world

“Although this is a global crisis, many countries and cities have successfully prevented or controlled transmission with a comprehensive, evidence-based approach”, said WHO.

“For the first time, the world has rallied behind a plan to accelerate the development of the vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics we need, and to ensure they are available to all countries on the basis of equity. The Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator is delivering real results.”

A second message WHO is highlighting now is the importance of not backsliding on critical health goals, including achieving the “triple billion” targets by 2023.

Don’t neglect health goals

The goal is to see one billion more people worldwide benefiting from universal health coverage, a further billion more better protected from health emergencies, and around a billion citizens enjoying better health and well-being.

The World Health Assembly is attended by representatives from more than 190 countries. Since May, nations have adopted several decisions, including on immunization, healthy ageing, cervical cancer, tuberculosis, eye care and food safety.

The resumed session will discuss a 10-year plan to address neglected tropical diseases, and other concerns such as meningitis, epilepsy and other neurological disorders, maternal infant and young child nutrition, as well as digital health.

Prepare for future pandemics

For its third message ahead of the virtual meeting, WHO stressed the need to prepare now for the next pandemic.

“We’ve seen this past year that countries with robust health emergency preparedness infrastructure have been able to act quickly to contain and control the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus”, said the agency, referring to the virus that causes COVID-19.

The Assembly will consider a draft resolution that aims to strengthen countries’ preparedness, and to ensure they are better equipped to detect and respond to COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

UN boosts efforts

Relatedly, UN leaders working on sustainable development met virtually on Thursday to assess preliminary results and challenges of joint work supporting more than 160 countries and territories during the pandemic.

So far, UN teams have repurposed around $3 billion of existing funding, while also mobilizing nearly $2 billion for these efforts, aimed at helping countries to both overcome the crisis and recover better.

The UN Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG) also outlined some of its actions over recent months.

‘A development emergency of global proportions’

These included supporting authorities with delivering nutrition programmes to nearly five million people, with seven million women receiving maternal health services.

“For the first time, we all recognize this is a development emergency of global proportions. Governments, communities, and citizens have mobilized accordingly – and our UN teams too have stepped up, together, from the onset of the pandemic to address the health, humanitarian and socioeconomic needs. In many ways this is an expression of global solidarity and response to the most vulnerable. But much more needs to be done, even faster,” said Amina J. Mohammed, the UN Deputy Secretary-General and the UNSDG Chair.

UN chiefs have pledged to do more, including to boost data collection as a means to address those most in need

officialinstitutions 0 Comments

Nov 5 2020

Keeping an eye on the grain market – November 4 update

UK traders are starting to look at new crop plantings and potential crop sizes

Alex Black

Alex is business reporter at Farmers Guardian covering areas including commodity prices, imports and exports, property and land across all …Load More

Alex Black

Alex is business reporter at Farmers Guardian covering areas including commodity prices, imports and exports, property and land across all …Load More

UK: Eyes on global markets

UK markets are again waiting to see which way the global markets move next.

November 20 ICE futures have now moved up by close to £30/t since their low in August, mirroring the Chicago Board of Trade corn December contract which rose by £30/t before dropping £5/t in the last week.

The UK market can’t get away from the fact that corn values and FX are driving our prices and are likely to for a while longer.

The last week of October saw the first futures tenders amounting to just 38,700 million tonnes, approximately half of what was seen at the same time last year.

London futures liquidity is certainty struggling in light of the smaller crop but stores that have tendered may find tonnage leaks out reasonably quickly.

Many are starting to look at new crop plantings and potential crop sizes – some areas are struggling with the amount of rain that has fallen in the last few weeks and praying that it won’t be a repeat of last year but others are reasonably well drilled up.

In a world of such uncertainty it’s important to remain positive but realistic when looking at values – much can happen between now and harvest, but prices will ultimately have to reflect global crop sizes and prices.

Cecilia Pryce, Openfield

Global: Global wheat markets ease back from recent highs

Global wheat markets have eased back from the recent highs as conditions in Russia have improved. Scattered showers have increased soil moisture, with further rainfall forecast.

Snow and rain in the US has also improved the outlook and prospect for US winter wheat, with condition scores showing a slight improvement last week.

With 71% of the US winter wheat crop emerged, the USDA rated 43% of the crop in good to excellent condition, up from 41% a week ago but still historically in an overall poor condition.

Corn markets have continued to fall back from speculative investment highs.

Building Covid-19 cases, slowing Chinese purchases and improving conditions in Brazil have all led to an ease in maize markets.

Long-term corn market direction will depend on the La Nina conditions in Brazil where drought fears will maintain a degree of support for corn markets.

Overall oilseed markets have also come off the recent highs. Conditions in Brazil are improving, with rainfall having arrived, and planting progress is catching up.

From an oilseed rape perspective, the additional lockdown measures being put in place across Europe and the UK will prevent a further rally as lockdown restrictions dent demand.

However, from a rapemeal perspective, prices are likely to remain elevated as the domestic supply remains tight and crush margins are eroded.

Peter Collier, CRM AgriCommodities

European: Wheat futures consolidate after last week’s fall from contract highs

Rainfall finally arrived on the dry winter wheat fields of Russia and the US, easing the world market’s immediate concerns over these crops. However, uncertainty concerning their overall potential is likely to continue over winter.

In Western Europe, winter wheat drilling looks set to receive a helping hand thanks to a period of settled weather extending across the continent.

In France, planting has reached 66% which is in line with the average and up from 45% in the previous week. French farmers will be keen to maximise their winter wheat area, having endured similar issues to UK farmers last autumn.

During that time, adverse weather resulted in a 2020 crop that was 25% down on the year.

French wheat is finding increasing levels of export demand, particularly to China. In October, 524,000t of French wheat was shipped there – the largest monthly volume recorded.

In contrast, only one cargo of 6,600t was shipped to Algeria, which is traditionally the largest French export home.

The EU – including the UK – had, at the end of October, reached 6.89mt of wheat exports this season in comparison to 9.73mt this time last year. In its October report, analyst Stratégie Grains increased its EU wheat export estimate for this season by 2mt to 25mt.

This is well behind last year’s shipments which reached 35.5mt and the weekly export pace to date will need to increase by 30% for the rest of the season to avoid an increased carryover of stocks.

This week, the South China Morning Post reported that China was expected to block imports of many Australian industrial and agricultural products, and that it was likely to extend a ban on wheat.

That could well help France extend its wheat shipments to China in the coming months.

Simon Ingle, Frontier

Oilseeds: Planting concerns ease in South America, but La Nina remains in place

World oilseed prices have been on the back foot recently, as southern hemisphere planting conditions improved, in turn easing market concerns.

With most US futures markets having been in highly overbought technical levels, the pullback was seen as a natural market correction and this allowed fresh buying interest to surface, leaving soybean futures around unchanged on the week.

European rapeseed values fared less well. The fresh lockdown measures introduced across the continent are seen threatening biodiesel demand again, as was witnessed during the first lockdown in spring.

Brazilian soybean farmers have been fighting overly dry planting conditions for weeks, delaying progress. But widespread rains of late have allowed the pace to pick up, with farmers reportedly able to drill 1m hectares every day.

They are now around 50% complete, bringing the pace almost in line with historically normal progress.

By contrast, in Argentina, conditions have not materially improved in the last week, and their soybean planting progress remains materially behind normal. Last year, these two countries produced 187mt soybeans, roughly 50% of world supply.

With the La Nina event likely to intensify through to December, bringing dryness to South America, 2021 production levels here are still highly uncertain. As such, oilseed markets will likely remain ‘twitchy’, into Christmas, at least.

Rupert Somerscales, ODA

Organic: Organic maize prices pushed higher

There has been some business in the organic market as a delayed vessel of maize and beans has made those with imported grain sold scramble to replace supplies delayed en route.

This has pushed maize prices higher if offers are forthcoming, with some importers unwilling to make new sales. There are differences of opinions as to whether this is a temporary blip due to a late vessel or a more fundamental lack of supply.

With most organic maize coming from Russia, it would be unusual for supply to be short. Either way it highlights the over-reliance we have on imports and the strategic weakness this creates in our sector.

With the conventional market weakening and the announcement of a further lockdown, feed buyers are rather sitting on their hands and letting the current situation play out rather than take additional cover. It is unclear how demand for feed will be impacted by the lockdown.

Hopefully the dairy industry will be better positioned to cope than in March, especially as supplies will reduce going into winter.

Flour millers are certainly taking cover as they anticipate additional demand and we have made some sales of low quality milling wheat that was likely destined for the feed market which has been a fillip for some.

The uncertainty of Brexit remains a challenge. Gearing up for new processes to maintain supplies of product to Northern Ireland (NI) and the EU is taking time and as December 21 approaches, haulage capacity for long distance lorry movements to NI or the near continent becomes harder.

Farmers are reporting that drilling has progressed well with the majority well drilled up, helped by the early start.

Perceived wisdom is that organic cereals don’t want to be drilled too early to reduce disease risk and it will be interesting to see how crops fare this season given that many went in early.

Some shedding in the strong winds in August has resulted in some high volunteer numbers for some, so hopefully a prolonged winter chill will check the spring drilled invaders.

Andrew Trump, Organic Arable

Newsdesk 0 Comments

Nov 5 2020

United States awaits result of presidential election – Vatican News

By Vatican News staff writer

The outcome of Tuesday’s elections in the United States remained in doubt Thursday, with the closely watched presidential race still undecided.

Under the American system, the president is not chosen by direct vote; rather, voters in each of the fifty states, plus the District of Columbia, choose electors who cast their ballots after the popular vote. 270 electoral votes are necessary to win.

As of Thursday morning, Democrat Joe Biden had a lead in electoral votes, but the incumbent president, Donald Trump, held out hopes for victory in states where counting was ongoing.

Results disputed

Trump supporters were also circulating rumors of irregularities and even voter fraud, and the president’s campaign has launched legal action in several states to verify the legitimacy of the election results. Claims of malfeasance have been vigorously denied by election officials, and media outlets have noted that Trump has provided no evidence of large-scale fraud.

For his part, challenger Joe Biden, the former vice-president under Barack Obama, said he remains confident that at the final tally, he will emerge victorious.

Control of the United States Congress is also up for grabs, although it appears the Democrats will retain control of the House of Representatives, while the Republicans will continue to hold the Senate.

A lengthy process

Experts warn that it could be days before final results are reported, and even longer for legal issues to be resolved. It could be some time yet before the world knows for certain who will be president of the United States.

officialinstitutions 0 Comments

Nov 5 2020

European Union warns no return to pre-Covid pandemic economy before 2023

BRUSSELS: A second wave of the coronavirus pandemic has stalled a nascent recovery in Europe, the European Union (EU) said today, warning that the economy would not return to pre-virus normality before 2023.

“The rebound has been interrupted,” the EU’s economic affairs commissioner Paolo Gentiloni told reporters as he announced new forecasts.

The soured outlook dashed hopes for a quick turnaround of the European economy and raised questions whether more stimulus would be needed to avert more lasting damage.

“We never counted on a V-shaped recovery. Now we know for sure that we won’t have one,” Gentiloni said.

In its forecast, Brussels pointed to a whole series of danger signs, including higher unemployment and soaring debt levels for countries that will need to keep spending to revive their economies.

The European Commission said the eurozone economy would expand by just 4.2% next year, much lower than the 6.1% it predicted in July.

In effect, renewed disruptions across the continent will “put the recovery on hold in the short term”, Gentiloni said, but added that the outlook was subject to “extremely high uncertainty”.

The loss of steam came despite a better-than-expected recovery in the middle of 2020 which limited the depth of this year’s historic recession.

The economy in the 19 countries that use the single currency would crash by minus 7.8 percent in 2020, instead of the minus 8.7 predicted earlier, the EU said.

But, unlike earlier hopes, EU economic output “will not return to pre-pandemic levels by 2022,” warned commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis.

All 19 eurozone countries are mired in recession this year, but three are particularly hard hit – Spain with a dive of 12.4%, Italy at minus 9.9% and France at minus 9.4%.

Germany, the bloc’s leading economy, has limited the damage, with GDP expected to fall 5.6% in 2020.

The downturn has led member states to open the purse strings in the hopes of saving their economies and public deficits have widened to more than 10% in the case of France, Italy, Spain and Belgium.

As a clear consequence, the debt of the member states is expected to soar in 2020 and will exceed 100% of GDP in the eurozone as a whole.

The commission called on the European Central Bank to keep doing all it can to offset the negative consequences of this heavy debt.

So far, thanks to the ECB’s action, the financial markets have shrugged off the extra public spending with borrowing costs currently near record lows despite the high debt.

The EU also underlined the uncertainty of stalled post-Brexit talks, which “clearly weighs on the EU’s economic outlook,” Dombrovskis said.

In another development, the recovery in German industrial orders from the shock of pandemic restrictions slowed in September, official data showed on Thursday, as new measures to tackle a resurgence in cases clouds the outlook again.

“After the first strong recovery following the lockdown in April, industry is continuing to fight its way out of the crisis,” the economics ministry said in a statement.

Industrial orders grew 0.5% month-on-month, compared with a rise of 4.9% in August, as curbs tightened and quarantines became more widespread across Europe to fight a second wave of the pandemic.

The data was below expectations for a 1.5% rise, according to financial services provider FactSet.

The small rise was sustained by domestic demand which went up 2.3% in September, while orders from abroad dipped 0.8%.

Compared with the same month in 2019, industrial orders were down 1.9%.

Manufacturing has benefited from Germany’s economic recovery from May onwards, enabling orders to return close to levels in the fourth quarter of 2019 before the outbreak of the pandemic, the ministry said, “driven by domestic and foreign demand”.

The automotive industry, the engine of the German economy, saw orders rebound strongly at 5.1%, reaching levels 5.8% above February 2020.

Germany’s economy expanded by a record 8.2% in the third quarter as restrictions were lifted and shops and factories reopened.

However, lockdowns announced by Chancellor Angela Merkel to curb the second wave in the country for the month of November will likely hit the economy again. – AFP

Newsdesk 0 Comments

Nov 5 2020

There’s No Good Evidence that Psychedelics Can Change Your Politics or Religion

Psychedelics are psychoactive substances that historically have attracted exaggerations of benefits as well as alarmism. As with most subjects that bring out extreme views, the scientific data provide a more grounded perspective. Sometimes, the scientific data require further clarification. We are responding to a thought-provoking opinion piece by Eddie Jacobs published on October 11, 2020 entitled “What if a Pill Can Change Your Politics or Religious Beliefs? Some could mistakenly take away from the piece an unrealistic impression that is not supported by the scientific data. We worry that this may lead to alarmist reactions.

Jacobs’ piece raises ethical questions regarding emerging research suggesting psychedelics may be effective psychiatric treatments. Specifically, the concern is that psychedelic therapy could shift patients’ political beliefs “in one direction along the political spectrum” or “change [their] religious beliefs.” We agree that as with any emerging medical treatment, psychedelic therapy prompts important ethical considerations; however, we believe that the possibility implied in the headline––that psychedelics prompt substantial change in political and religious beliefs or affiliations––is not supported by the current scientific data.

To be clear, Jacobs did not mention affiliations, but we believe readers might reasonably take away this interpretation. We suggest that there is no evidence that people change political or religious affiliations from psychedelic treatments, and current evidence for other kinds of belief changes is weak. Below, we address the three major studies mentioned in the original article.

The concern about political beliefs largely rests on evidence from a small pilot study of psilocybin for treating depression. The study showed an average reduction on a measure of “authoritarianism” from baseline to one week after psilocybin in seven people. Authoritarianism, as it is operationalized here using five questions that were reduced from the original version of the scale, likely does not fit neatly into a particular political party. Many people, for example, would likely disagree with the scale item “The law should always be obeyed, even if a particular law is wrong,” regardless of political affiliation.

It is also not clear that a reduction in authoritarianism (or increase in libertarianism or social/moral liberalism, the other end of the scale spectrum) holds a relation to present political affiliations. There are abundant historical examples of both left-wing and right-wing authoritarian governments (for example, communism and fascism, respectively). Moreover, in a country such as the United States, the major left-and right-leaning parties have generally had no universal leaning toward either individual freedom or state control. The position taken along this continuum is highly dependent on the subject (for example, business regulation, abortion, gun control, social constraints on sexual behavior). In fact, the developers of the scale in question preferred not to use the term “liberal” in reference to the scale because that term had a political meaning in the United States that went beyond what the scale measures.

Beyond the theoretical issues with mapping authoritarianism onto present political parties, there are also statistical concerns with this study. The finding about reduced authoritarianism barely met the threshold of significance –– and with a one-tailed t-test. A one-tailed test provides a lower standard for achieving significance compared to the much more common two-tailed test. It is unclear if the reduction would have been significant with a two-tailed test. In any case, the effect did not last. At the 7–12 month follow-up the decrease was not significant, even according to the lower standards of the one-tailed test.

Jacobs’ piece alluded to another study about political beliefs, a 1971 study exploring the association between LSD increased liberalism. This study compared three groups: 1) people who had taken LSD as a medical treatment, 2) people who had taken LSD on their own, and 3) people who had not used LSD. Only those who had taken LSD on their own indicated more support for policies like “individual freedom” and “foreign policy liberalism” compared to those who had not taken LSD.

It is possible that those who were willing to take LSD outside of medical treatment may have already been more influenced by the liberal hippie movement that encouraged these beliefs at that time (Jacobs notes that this is correlational and not causal data). Importantly, no differences were found in this study between the political beliefs of those who received LSD under medical treatment compared to those who did not take LSD. Therefore, this study actually suggests that medical psychedelic treatments do not alter political beliefs!

In terms of religious beliefs, Jacobs’ piece points to a concern about belief change on the basis of a survey study by our group at Johns Hopkins. This survey specifically recruited individuals who had a “God encounter experience” after taking a psychedelic outside of a research context. Before having such an experience during their psychedelic session, 21 percent retrospectively identified as atheist, whereas only 8 percent did after the experience. This decrease was accompanied by a decrease in identification with major religions, alongside increases in spiritual types of self-identification.

Crucially though, this study was in no way representative of the general public, as only people who reported encountering “God” or a similar phenomenon were included in the study. This was a very specific sample of people reporting a special kind of experience or interpretation of experience. The study cannot provide an estimate of population rates. Belief changes of a religious type would, of course, be massively inflated in this sample, and it is therefore not appropriate to draw generalized conclusions about belief change from psychedelic treatments based on these data.

Lastly, the piece cites the observation that under clinical conditions psychedelics increase, on average, a personality trait called openness to experience, a finding first reported by our group at Johns Hopkins and now replicated by others. Unlike the political and religious effects, this phenomenon appears more robust. However, while psychedelics might be unique in their ability to prompt a change in a personality trait with a short-term clinical procedure, they are not the only clinical intervention that can cause changes in personality traits. A large meta-analysis of over 200 published studies examining the effect of psychiatric treatments on personality traits found that personality was indeed changed.

Regardless of whether the intervention was a psychotherapy or a medication such as a traditional antidepressant drug, these changes reached a moderate effect size for increases in the trait of emotional stability, similar to the effect size observed for the increase in personality openness to experience from psilocybin. Lastly, the correlation between openness to experience and liberal political views is small, accounting for only around 2 percent of the relationship between the two variables. In other words, the pathway from psychedelics through openness to experience to political belief change is, for all practical purposes, negligible.

While data from studies are always paramount, we note that in the first author’s experience interacting with hundreds of psilocybin study participants, he does not recall any spontaneous claims of changed political or religious affiliation in either direction.

Our primary point here is that that existing data do not suggest that meaningful changes in religious or political beliefs are likely from psychedelic therapy––and certainly not changes in political or religious affiliation. There is some evidence that psychedelic therapy can prompt changes in one’s sense of spirituality, but this term is so broadly and variously defined that it does not even necessarily relate to supernatural beliefs, and it can refer to things like one’s values or sense of connection.

As with many interventions, there are cases in which individuals change in their values, attitudes and/or beliefs after a psychedelic experience. The frequency and magnitude of these occurrences are empirical questions for future research to address, but the current data simply do not support the idea that psychedelic treatments result in meaningful changes in political or religious beliefs or affiliation.

Psychedelic medicine, like any new treatment, no doubt raises important and challenging ethical issues. Consent procedures in psychedelic trials by our research group (and by other groups to our knowledge) already warn that personality and attitude changes are a possibility. Of course, this should also be done with patients if psychedelics are approved as medicine. Psychedelic experiences are sometimes held as among the most meaningful in one’s life, and may be interpreted to have philosophical or spiritual import, likely depending on the orientation of the participant. Such effects present the opportunity for ethical pitfalls by clinicians.

These and other challenges will call for important contributions from ethicists. However, we must also be careful to keep any given concern in perspective and convey realistic risks to the public and patients. From this perspective, we believe, based on the data, that major shifts in political or religious orientation or beliefs are not among the likely risks associated with this treatment. As psychedelic researchers, we believe it is important to remain vigilant against excesses in enthusiasm as well as alarmism.

Newsdesk 0 Comments

Nov 5 2020

EU telecoms firms slam proposed tweaks to EU privacy rules on WhatsApp, Skype

By Foo Yun Chee

FILE PHOTO: A logo of WhatsApp is pictured on a T-shirt worn by a WhatsApp-Reliance Jio representative during a drive by the two companies to educate users, on the outskirts of Kolkata, India, October 9, 2018. Picture taken October 9, 2018. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri/File Photo

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Europe’s telecoms industry on Thursday slammed proposed tweaks to planned EU rules governing Facebook’s WhatsApp and Microsoft unit Skype that would tighten the rules faced by telecoms providers to use electronic communications metadata.

The planned EU rules subject WhatsApp and Skype to the same rules as telecoms providers.

The bloc’s 27 countries have struggled to find common ground on the ePrivacy regulation drafted by the European Commission in 2017 because of disagreement on rules for cookies tracking users’ online activities crucial for targeted advertising, and consent requirements.

Germany, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, shared its proposed tweaks with other EU countries on Wednesday evening.

The document seen by Reuters reduces the legal grounds for telecoms providers to use electronic communications metadata for other purposes or to further process the data, in a blow to the telecoms industry looking to use network location data for smart transport services as a potential money-spinner.

Lobbying group ETNO, whose members include Deutsche Telekom, Orange and Telefonica, and mobile operators group GSMA were scathing about the German proposal.

“Germany’s proposed text fails to bridge the gap between protecting privacy and confidentiality and stimulating innovation in European service providers,” they said in a joint statement.

They urged other EU countries not to back the proposal unless it allows them more freedom to use metadata for legitimate purposes and for further compatible processing.

The bloc will have to agree on a common stand before thrashing out details of the rules with the Commission and European Parliament.

Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall

Newsdesk 0 Comments

Nov 5 2020

International concern for military operations in Ethiopia – Vatican News

By Nathan Morley

The Prime Minister of Ethiopia ordered the military to respond to an attack on an army camp in the regional capital of Mekele by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, known as the TPLF.

On Wednesday, the Ethiopian government also declared a state of emergency in the Tigray district.

Abiy Ahmed cited months of ‘provocation and incitement’ and insisted a red line had been crossed.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for immediate measures to de-escalate tensions.

He also renewed the commitment of the UN to support the government of Ethiopia in its reform efforts aimed at building a peaceful and secure future for all its peoples.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said it is becoming increasing alarmed at the escalation of violence in the country.

“Rising hostilities in the Tigray region threaten the immediate safety of hundreds of thousands of people,’ the NRC said in a statement. ‘Any increase in violence would foreshadow further regional destabilization and humanitarian disaster. We call upon all parties to resolve tensions through dialogue and to take all appropriate measures to end military action’.

The most recent figures from NRC suggest there are currently 1.80 million people internally displaced across Ethiopia and a further 790,000 refugees seeking protection from other conflicts in the East Africa region.

Listen to Nathan Morley’s report

officialinstitutions 0 Comments

Nov 5 2020

5 November 1943: the bombing of Vatican City State – Vatican News

By Francesca Merlo

It was 5 November 1943, World War II was raging and Vatican City was, and remained, a neutral state. This is partly why the attack came as such a surprise: five bombs (one of which did not detonate) were dropped into the Vatican gardens from an unidentified aircraft. Luckily no one was hurt, but many of the buildings suffered huge damage, and guards were left dazed and confused after the explosions knocked them to the ground.

One gendarme, Luigi Turchetto, wrote a note to the Vatican’s Noble Guards, in which he recounted what happened that night. He was on duty at the Vatican train station:

“I distinctly heard the continuous noise of an aircraft flying at low altitude. I could not see it, prevented by the darkness. From the noise of the engine it seemed to me that the aircraft was coming from the northeast. It flew over the Vatican Railway Station and then went a little further away and immediately turned back. I almost immediately heard a hiss and a prolonged burst that gave me the impression of the almost simultaneous explosion of several bombs. The first of them fell on the escarpment near the boundary wall of the Vatican City State on the side of St. Peter’s Station; the second one fell on the terrace of the Mosaic Studio; a third one behind the Governorate Palace and a fourth one in the Vatican Gardens in a location that I could not identify at the moment.”

Pope’s reaction

Pope Pius XII commented, in private, that “there was more respect in Cairo, as the religious center of Islam, than in Rome. And more concretely, we are struck by the need to recognise… that there no longer exists, I do not say Christian conscience, but even the minimum of human understanding and a sense of loyalty in acting that should be enough to leave the successor of St. Peter in the narrow strip of land that still remains.”

Listen to our report

Who dropped the bombs?

Nobody took responsibility for the bombs. The Allies and Axis powers accused each other. One of the theories, following certain clues, was published in the 2010 Italian book “1943: Bombe in Vaticano” by Augusto Ferrari. It describes the possibility that the attack had been orchestrated by the Germans and coordinated by the Fascist Roberto Farinacci, whose aim was to bomb Vatican Radio, that was suspected of transmitting valuable military information to the Anglo-Americans. It is believed that the pilot was “a certain Parmeggiani”, and that the plane had been flown from Viterbo, some 50km from Rome.

This claim was contested one year later, in 2011, by subsequent research (such as that of Gregory Alegi and that of Pietro Cappellari). Ferrari claimed that the plane used was a Savoia Marchetti S.M. 79; yet Alegi and Cappellari claim that the Italian Aeronautica only possessed one of these planes and that it could not, at that time, have been geographically located in Viterbo under German control. Ferrari also claimed that the only two pilots with the name Parmeggiani were elsewhere, and working with the Allies.

In America, a new theory was developed soon after. Again, soon after that.. clues led to ideas and ideas to theories: from the idea that the bombs had been manufactured in the UK to an intercepted phone call between two priests. But each theory, still remains just a theory…

Protection through neutrality

Upon learning of the possible motivation behind the attack, Pope Pius XII asked that the reasons for the attack not be spread by the media, in an attempt to maintain the neutrality of the State.

Throught the war the Pope and the Vatican helped many members of the Italian resistance. It was not easy to hide in Rome, and the Vatican offered protection and exile to those who needed it most. The intermediary position of the Church allowed it to move better to defend and help those in need.

It still remains unclear as to who dropped those first bombs on the Vatican.

Bombs were dropped again on Vatican City State on 1 March 1944, killing one person and injuring another.

officialinstitutions 0 Comments

Nov 5 2020

Pope’s November prayer intention: that progress in robotics and AI “be human” – Vatican News

By Vatican News staff writer

During the month of November, Pope Francis draws our attention to the epochal change that humanity is experiencing thanks to advances in artificial intelligence. He, therefore, invites us to pray that this progress always “serve humankind,” respecting human dignity and taking care of Creation.

True progress

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made exponential advances, as evidenced by its many applications in different fields of knowledge. Today, 37% of organizations in the world have implemented AI in some way (which represents a 270% increase in the past four years).

In “The Pope Video” this month, Pope Francis clarifies that this progress in robotics and AI “can make a better world possible if it is joined to the common good.” In this sense, he hopes for technological progress that does not increase the inequalities in society. If it does, the Pope says, it will not be “true progress”. Such progress does not take into account the dignity of the human person and care for Creation.

Benefits

AI is capable of addressing many problems facing humanity, such as in evaluating the learning capacity of students, in order to detect opportunities for improvement. It can help people with visual or hearing impairments by developing better communication tools (such as converting text to speech or speech to text). AI can also speed up the collection, processing and diffusion of health data to improve the diagnosis and treatment of patients, especially those living in remote areas.

The same applies to the field of ecology. Through AI, it is possible to analyze data on climate change and create models that can help predict natural disasters. It can also be used to create intelligent and sustainable cities by reducing urban spending, improving the resilience of highways and increasing energy efficiency. There are vast possibilities for using this technological progress for the common good, and “The Pope Video” uses images from the Italian Institute of Technology and the Italian multinational energy company, Enel, to show some of these benefits.

Serving humanity

“Innovation,” says Enel’s CEO, Francesco Starace, “has placed at our disposition extraordinary tools that we need to be capable of using in the best possible way.”

He continues, “As Pope Francis reaffirms, it is our task to ensure that the resulting benefits are distributed fairly and create opportunities and wellbeing.” Starace says, “In order to give a positive orientation to our actions and choices regarding the present and the future, we must put respect for people and for the environment at the centre, adopting a vision based on sustainability. Only in this way can technological evolution be an ally of humanity and create opportunities which, up until a few years ago, we couldn’t even imagine.”

The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network is responsible for the diffusion of the Pope’s monthly prayer intentions. In comments on the Holy Father’s prayer intention for November, the network’s international director, Jesuit Father Frédéric Fornos also speaks of the need to channel these rapid technological changes for the “good of all.”

“This month’s prayer intention,” he says, “reinforces the idea that the benefit that humanity has obtained (and will continue to obtain) from technological progress must always take into account as well, and in parallel, ‘adequate development of responsibility and values’.” This, Fr Fornos says, has been underscored by the Pope in his encyclical Laudato si’ and now in his third encyclical, Fratelli tutti, where he says, “How wonderful it would be if the growth of scientific and technological innovation could come with more equality and social inclusion!”

AI, robotics, and other applications of technology, says Fr Fornos, open great challenges for ethics and social justice. “This is why the Pope’s most recent petition is important: to pray that this progress will always ‘be human.’”

The text of the November 2020 prayer intention:

Artificial intelligence is at the heart of the epochal change we are experiencing. Robotics can make a better world possible if it is joined to the common good. Indeed, if technological progress increases inequalities, it is not true progress. Future advances should be oriented towards respecting the dignity of the person and of Creation.

Let us pray that the progress of robotics and artificial intelligence may always serve humankind… we could say, may it “be human.”

officialinstitutions 0 Comments

Nov 5 2020

WHO/Europe and Ukrainian Government sign Biennial Collaborative Agreement for 2020-2021

WHO/Europe and the Government of Ukraine, represented by the Ministry of Health, have signed a Biennial Collaborative Agreement (BCA) for 2020–2021. Signed by Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, and Maxym Stepanov, Minister of Health of Ukraine during a virtual ceremony, the agreement strengthens cooperation to improve the health of the Ukrainian population, and accelerate progress towards universal health coverage and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

“WHO supports Ukraine in building a healthier future for its citizens. To improve the population’s health and access to high-quality health care, this Biennial Collaborative Agreement with the Ukrainian government sets out a framework for cooperation for 2020–2021. The agreement will strengthen the Ukrainian health system and health governance, and help ensure delivery of high-quality, people-centred health services,” said Dr Kluge.

Mr Stepanov added: “The Ministry of Health and WHO have a long history of effective collaboration, contributing to sustainable changes in the health of the Ukrainian population. We welcome the signing of the Biennial Collaborative Agreement with WHO, which will strengthen our cooperation and allow us to establish a long-term health strategy, continue implementing transformative changes in the health system for the benefit of the Ukrainian people and ensure access to essential health-care services, including better access to mental health services and vaccines”.

Based on the European Programme of Work (EPW), WHO’s 13th General Programme of Work (GPW 13) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the BCA aims to support Ukraine in maximizing the opportunities for improving population health, reducing health inequities and strengthening overall health governance in Ukraine.

Priority areas

Under the agreement, the 2 parties agreed to collaborate in 5 core priority areas:

continuous support for the COVID-19 response across Ukraine;
implementation of health reforms and development of a comprehensive national health strategy to achieve the SDGs;
addressing mental health needs and improving access to essential health services;
effective immunization coverage;
response to humanitarian needs in Ukraine.

“Over the past years, Ukraine has made bold steps in reforming its health system to achieve equal access to essential health services, with a focus on primary health care, and has progressed to provide access to affordable, safe and effective medicines and vaccines. In 2020, WHO/Europe is contributing to the COVID-19 response and simultaneously making efforts to continue health system strengthening. Our objective is to collaborate with numerous partners to improve health outcomes for the Ukrainian population in the coming decade,” said Dr Jarno Habicht, WHO Representative and Head of the WHO Country Office in Ukraine.

On signing the agreement, aimed at enhancing strategic collaboration, WHO/Europe and the Ukrainian government will work together to improve access to quality essential health services, medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and devices for primary health care. They will also work towards reducing financial hardships for the Ukrainian population, accelerating the country’s preparedness for health emergencies, strengthening country capacity in data and innovation, and addressing the economic, social and environmental determinants of health.

The BCA is aligned with the European Programme of Work 2020–2025 – “United Action for Better Health in Europe”, adopted earlier this year with the purpose of strengthening the leadership of health authorities in the WHO European Region, while accelerating progress towards achieving the SDGs, and ensuring no one is left behind.

Newsdesk 0 Comments

Nov 5 2020

Gospel Truth: Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, 8 November – Vatican News

From the Gospel according to Matthew
MT 25:1-13

Gospel Truth, Thirty-Second Sunday Ordinary Time

Jesus told his disciples this parable:
“The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins
who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
The foolish ones, when taking their lamps,
brought no oil with them,
but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.
Since the bridegroom was long delayed,
they all became drowsy and fell asleep. Read more

officialinstitutions 0 Comments

Nov 5 2020

Farmers ‘can’t rely on UK workers alone’, government warned

PUBLISHED: 14:04 05 November 2020 | UPDATED: 14:43 05 November 2020

                        <p class="byline">
        <a class="email" href="mailto:sarah.chambers@archant.co.uk" rel="nofollow">            <!-- Author Start -->Sarah Chambers<!-- Author End -->
        </a>            </p>
                                                                                <div class="image article-image standard-image-630 gallery" readability="32">

                                                            <div>         
    </div>    
                            <div class="article-image-info" readability="34">
                                        <p class="article-image-caption">UK workers still only made up 11% of the seasonal farm workforce this year, even after a widely-publicised government-led recruitment drive  Picture: JAMES FOSKETT</p>
                                                            <p class="article-image-copyright">James Foskett Farms</p>
                                </div>
                        </div>

                        <!--PSTYLE=SF Web Summary--><h2>A Suffolk vegetable grower warned his organic business “would finish overnight” if he had to rely on UK labour as the industry seeks clarity on how to source workers post-Brexit.</h2>



        <!-- Article Start -->



<div id="1.6917110" class="object-465"> <em>James Foskett wouldn't be able to continue with his organic operation without his overseas seasonal workforce  Picture: JAMES FOSKETT</em></div>The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) is calling on the government to explain how fruit, vegetable and flower growers in the UK will be able to recruit seasonal pickers next year.

Its industry-wide survey showed that despite the widely publicised Pick for Britain campaign, UK residents still made up only 11% of the workforce this year.

MORE – Grower hopes eastern Europeans laid off from other sectors may help to plug UK-wide hole in seasonal farm workforce
James Foskett — owner of Foskett Farms, near Woodbridge, which grows a range of crops including onions, potatoes, carrots and a range of organic produce — said this year the farm had welcomed between 5% and 10% casual seasonal workers from the UK at any one time.

“Some are quite good workers for going on graders or harvesters on hourly rates but no good for weeding or picking vegetables on piece rates because they can’t do enough in an hour to earn the minimum wage and so we have to make the wages up,” he said.

NFU vice president Tom Bradshaw is calling for government clarity on where farms can source seasonal labour post-Brexit Picture: JOHN COTTLE

“If we had to rely on UK workers our organic business would finish overnight. We just desperately hope we are given an allocation of seasonal workers from Eastern Europe either from the European Union (EU) or not.”

The NFU’s Horticulture Seasonal Worker Survey 2020 was completed by 244 horticultural growers recruiting more than 30,000 people — which equates to just under 50% of the workforce.

You may also want to watch:

NFU vice president Tom Bradshaw — who farms at Fordham, near Colchester — said workers from outside the Uk were “absolutely vital” to the horticultural sector especially as the industry had ambitions to grow more fruit and vegetables.

Seasonal workers hand weeding carrots at James Foskett Farms at Bromeswell, near Woodbridge Picture: JAMES FOSKETT

“We are at a critical time in recruitment for many growers. As freedom of movement ends on December 31, those growers of iconic British daffodils, asparagus, and soft fruits still don’t know where they will recruit experienced workers from.

“The Pick for Britain campaign was a great initiative, and many have suggested we could continue to recruit a domestic workforce for the coming 2021 season and beyond. While there was a fantastic response from Brits to the call for domestic workers this year in extraordinary circumstances, we see from the survey results that they only made up 11% of the workforce. Seasonal work on farm simply isn’t a viable solution for many.

“What we’re asking of them is huge. In reality it means people needing to work in very rural areas, away from their homes and families, where they will only have guaranteed work for between three and six months.”

The survey showed first-time UK resident workers stayed for nine and a half weeks on average, compared to just over 14 weeks for first-time non-UK workers and 18 weeks for returnee non-UK workers.

“Understandably, these workers continued to look for work closer to home, meaning many left farms part way through their contract and leaving growers having to re-recruit, which impacted on overall productivity levels and increased production costs.”

The situation was “easily solved” with the implementation of a seasonal worker scheme, building upon the pilot scheme that has already operated successfully for the past two seasons.

“If this is not in place by the beginning of the year, we would be the only developed country in the world without such a scheme. It would seem remarkable for the government to take such a gamble when it will hit UK businesses at a time when economic recovery is paramount. I call on government to act now, support our ambitions to lead a horticultural revolution in this country, growing the food that is so critical as part of a healthy diet, and ensure growers have an experienced workforce recruited in time to see this ambition become a reality.”

     <!-- Article End -->
              <div id="article-postscript" readability="34">



    <!-- Start Generic PressPatron HTML Element 0952 07/08/2020, ID 7.1100329 -->

p class=”HasContent”>If you value what this story gives you, please consider supporting the East Anglian Daily Times. Click the link in the orange box above for details.

        </div>

Newsdesk 0 Comments

Nov 5 2020

Religion shouldn’t undermine children’s rights in UK, NSS tells UN

The National Secular Society has urged the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) to ensure children’s rights in the UK are not undermined by religion.

The call came in a submission to the committee as it begins its periodic examination of children’s human rights in the UK.

The committee monitors the progress of member states’ implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Education and children’s rights

The report filed by the NSS raised concerns relating to the undermining of children’s rights in faith schools and throughout state education.

It highlighted widespread discrimination against children, some stemming from religious exceptions to equality legislation, including concerns around:

Religious discrimination against children in pupil admissions and other aspects of school life
Children being compelled to take part in religious worship
A failure to ensure religious education is objective, critical and pluralistic
Inadequate access to age-appropriate relationships and sex education which is inclusive and comprehensive.

The report also drew the committee’s attention to severe breaches of children’s rights in religious schools, including unregistered faith schools that operate outside of the law.

The submission expressed alarm at the “unacceptably slow” shift away from religiously segregated schooling in Northern Ireland, where just seven per cent of children attend integrated schools.

It urged the UN to press the UK to phase out religiously segregated state-funded schools in NI and to ensure every child in the UK has the right to access a local publicly-funded secular school.

Forced genital cutting

The submission also expressed concern over the failure to address the forced genital cutting of boys.

The committee has previously recommended that the UK ensure “no one is subjected to unnecessary medical or surgical treatment during infancy or childhood” and “guarantee bodily integrity” – but only in relation to female genital mutilation and intersex surgery.

The NSS submission called for protections from non-therapeutic genital cutting to apply to all children equally, regardless of sex.

Child sexual abuse in religious institutions

The NSS also highlighted serious failings to protect children from sexual abuse in religious settings.

It called on the CRC to recommend the UK adopts a new mandatory reporting law, requiring those in positions of trust toward children or vulnerable adults to report suspected physical or sexual abuse to the appropriate civil authorities.

Comment

NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said: “Too often the individual rights of children are relegated or ignored when they clash with the interests of religious communities.

“We hope this examination compels all governments in the UK to better protect and promote children’s best interests and human rights where religious interests stand in the way of their realisation.”

Notes

Every state that has ratified the convention is required to report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child on how it is fulfilling its obligations. This allows the committee to assess what progress a state is making in implementing the convention. This reporting process happens once every five years.
At this stage civil society groups are invited to submit issues of concern ahead of the 88th pre-session of the CRC.
The UN last examined how well the UK is implementing the treaty in May 2016 and published its recommendations in June 2016.
The NSS has also submitted a report to the committee focusing primarily on child sexual abuse in religious institutions in Germany.

Photo by Toan Nguyen on Unsplash.

Discuss on Facebook

Newsdesk 0 Comments

Nov 5 2020

Nagorno-Karabakh, EU Bishops appeal for intensifying multilateral peace efforts

Nagorno-Karabakh, EU Bishops appeal for intensifying multilateral peace efforts

COMECE calls on the European Union to actively engage for peace in the Nagorno Karabakh region and provide concrete assistance to communities affected by recent flare-up of violence between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Since the end of September 2020, the Nagorno Karabakh has been repeatedly experiencing renewed waves of violence, leading to the loss of lives of many civilians and to the destruction of homes, basic infrustructures and places of worship.

COMECE expresses concerns about the situation in the south Caucasus, currently marked by fragile truces interrupted by armed clashes, causing not only grave material damage, but also spiritual suffering.

In recent weeks, Pope Francis has addressed several appeals to the parties in conflict “to stop the shedding of innocent blood and engage in sincere negotiations with the help of the international community”.

While joining Pope Francis’ prayers for a lasting peace in the region, COMECE welcomes the humanitarian assistance provided by the European Commission to cover the needs of civilians affected by the conflict, and calls on the EU to actively contribute to the OSCE-led negotiation efforts involving all conflict parties and regional stakeholders.

In this context, Fr. Manuel Barrios Prieto, General Secretary of COMECE, appeals on the EU to ensure the protection of places of worship and the safety of all local communities. In the medium and long term, COMECE also enourages the EU to promote integral human development and a strategy on empowering people – especially the youth – at all levels of political, social and economic life in the region.

COMECE 0 Comments

Nov 5 2020

Genmab Announces Phase 3 Study Evaluating Epcoritamab in Patients with Relapsed or Refractory Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma

Genmab Announces Phase 3 Study Evaluating Epcoritamab in Patients with Relapsed or Refractory Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma – Book Publishing Industry Today – EIN Presswire

Trusted News Since 1995

A service for publishing professionals
·
Thursday, November 5, 2020

·
530,082,540
Articles

·
3+ Million Readers

World News

Crisis unites the world

Don’t neglect health goals

Prepare for future pandemics

UN boosts efforts

‘A development emergency of global proportions’

UK: Eyes on global markets

Cecilia Pryce, Openfield

Global: Global wheat markets ease back from recent highs

Peter Collier, CRM AgriCommodities

European: Wheat futures consolidate after last week’s fall from contract highs

Simon Ingle, Frontier

Oilseeds: Planting concerns ease in South America, but La Nina remains in place

Rupert Somerscales, ODA

Organic: Organic maize prices pushed higher

Andrew Trump, Organic Arable

Results disputed

A lengthy process

Pope’s reaction

Who dropped the bombs?

Protection through neutrality

True progress

Benefits

Serving humanity

Priority areas

You may also want to watch: