Africa declared free from wild polio - Vatican News
Aug 25 2020
Africa declared free from wild polio

By Vatican News

The African continent is now free from cases of wild polio, as global efforts to completely eradicate the virus continue to move in the right direction. Currently, only two countries in the world – Afghanistan and Pakistan – still report cases of polio.

On Tuesday, the Africa Regional Committee for Certification (ARCC), an independent regional body set up by the World Health Organisation (WHO), concluded that the transmission of the wild poliovirus strain has been interrupted in all 47 countries of the WHO African Region. 

This certification comes after Nigeria, the last African country with polio cases, recorded no new cases for the past four consecutive years. This announcement means that five of the six WHO regions, representing 90 percent of the world’s population is polio-free.

Certification of polio eradication is done on a regional basis. A region is only eligible for certification after all countries in the area show proof of the absence of wild poliovirus for at least three consecutive years, and demonstrate a high standard of surveillance for any outbreaks.

Polio, a crippling and potentially fatal infectious disease, has no cure but can be prevented by the administration of a vaccine. It is typically transmitted through contaminated water and usually affects children under five, sometimes leading to irreversible paralysis.

Combatting polio

By 1996, more than 75,000 children across Africa were affected by polio. That same year, the late Nelson Mandela launched the “Kick Polio Out of Africa” program which mobilized health workers and organisations to put in renewed efforts to ensure a polio-free Africa.

The final efforts to eradicate polio in Africa were concentrated largely on northeastern Nigeria after an outbreak was reported in 2016. Before that, the country had gone two years without any cases identified and had even been taken off the global list of polio-endemic countries in 2015.

Leading virologist and chairman of the Nigeria Expert Review Committee on Polio Eradication and Routine Immunization, Professor Oyewole Tomori, said that the country’s journey to eradicating polio began in 1977 when the WHO adopted the Universal Child Immunization Program. The goal, he explained at a press conference on Tuesday, was to vaccinate every child in the world against measles, tetanus, whooping cough and polio by 1990. However, by that deadline, Nigeria was barely able to achieve the 80 percent target.

Tomori explained some of the challenges to achieving this global health milestone include difficulty in accessing some areas in order to reach some populations, as well as a 2003 boycott of vaccines by some states in Nigeria due to unfounded rumors that they caused infertility. 

He recalled that in Kano state alone, approximately 3.7 million children went unvaccinated in 2004 due to the misinformation. The situation was further compounded by the outbreak of armed conflict in northern Nigeria which displaced millions of people. He said some of his colleagues were killed in the line of duty while trying to vaccinate children against polio.

Eradication: Looking ahead

This new certification does not mean that Africa is completely polio-free.

A vaccine-derived poliovirus – a rare mutated form of the virus – still remains in Africa with several dozen cases identified this year. Even though it is not the wild polio strain, it can still emerge among populations living in areas of low immunity.

In addition, immunization campaigns that have been effective in keeping numbers low have been significantly disrupted due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

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Philippine bishops warn against call for revolutionary government - Vatican News
Aug 25 2020
Philippine bishops warn against call for revolutionary government

By Robin Gomes

Fear over a revolutionary government surfaced again in the Philippines after an assembly in Pampanga on August 22 revived a long-running push for the establishment of a revolutionary government headed by Duterte. Citing the need to heal “all the ills of our society”, Duterte’s supporters want him to overthrow his own constitutionally mandated government, dump the Constitution and everything it stands for. 

Tackling real problems

Several Catholic bishops in the Philippines have raised concern over a call for a revolutionary government by supporters of President Rodrigo Duterte, saying it will only end in “chaos” rather than improvement in the country’s situation.

Caritas Philippines director, Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo of Kidapawan, said that the call is not only inciting sedition, but it will, at best, ruin the government.

He warned that instead of solving the nation’s real problems, a revolutionary government will “use the Filipino people as pawns to justify vested interests”. 

Bishop Bagaforo said that rather than focusing too much on dividing the nation, Duterte must commit himself to handle the COVID pandemic more efficiently, support the private sector against recession, maximize government funds to aid education, and do better at defending human rights. The Caritas head urged Filipinos to watch out against “deceiving plots” against democracy and people’s welfare.

Betrayal of nation

Bishop Broderick Pabillo, the Apostolic Administrator of the Manila Archdiocese, agreed with Bishop Bagaforo. Describing a revolutionary government as unjust, immoral and seditious, he said such an act is a betrayal of the nation.

Archbishop Martin Jumoad of Ozamiz said the government should rather focus on the pandemic and the ongoing health crisis.  

For his part, Bishop Ruperto Santos of Balanga said that the proposal is not only unconstitutional but an “open admittance that the present government is a total failure.”

“They want to change the government just to install the same government officials. There is no sense, void of human reason,” he said.

Recalling the bitter experiences of the people under the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos, retired Bishop Arturo Bastes of Sorsogon warned that if such a plan is “pushed through, Filipinos will get impatient and something worse might happen”. 

Retired Bishop Teodoro Bacani of Novaliches denounced the supporters of a revolutionary government as “crazy”. 

Other groups reject the call

According to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), which brings together all the lawyers in the country, “There is no legal, factual, practical, or moral basis for a revolutionary government under the present circumstances.” “If the president truly cares about the country he vowed to serve, he should focus on solving imminent problems and get back to real work which is piling up,” said IBP national president Domingo Egon Cayosa in a statement.

Both the Philippine National Police and the Department of National Defense have said they would not support any calls for a revolutionary government.

The League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP), the formal organisation of all of the Philippines’ 81 provinces, has also rejected the idea of a revolutionary government. According to LPP president, Presbitero J. Velasco Jr., the governor of Marinduque, if the goal is to make way for a federal form of government, there are constitutional means to do so. “An adventurist attempt at a revolutionary government might give the illusion that it is the solution to the problem but it will only aggravate the problem by creating anarchy and destabilisation,” Velasco said.  

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Season of Creation: Jubilee for the Earth - Vatican News
Aug 25 2020
Season of Creation: Jubilee for the Earth

By Lydia O’Kane

From 1 September to 4 October, Christians all over the world will celebrate the Season of Creation, as well as the Day of Creation on 1 September.

As in past years, both the Conference of European Churches (CEC) and The Council of Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE), are encouraging Member Churches in Europe to come together over the course of the month to celebrate the “richness of the Christian faith as an expression to protect our common home.

Creation a gift for mankind

In a statement issued by Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, President of CCEE, and Rev. Christian Krieger, President of CEC, Creation is described as “a gift of God for mankind and for all living beings. It is, therefore, our responsibility to protect it as good and reliable stewards, and as faithful servants of God.”

Pope Francis’s call to protect our common home

They point out that Pope Francis, in his encyclical Laudato Si’, underlines, “the urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development.”

They also stress Pope Francis’s appeal “for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet.”

The eminent theologian Jurgen Moltmann, they highlight, calls for “a discernment of the God, who is present in creation through his Holy Spirit,” a discernment that “can bring men and women to reconciliation and peace with nature.”

Ecumenical dimension

Emphasizing the ecumenical dimension to the Season of Creation, the joint statement gives thanks for the proposal of the late Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I in 1989.

Since that time, the two presidents comment, “the idea of the Season of Creation and its ecumenical spirit has been further confirmed by the European Ecumenical Assemblies organised jointly by CEC and CCEE in Basel 1989, Graz 1997 and Sibiu 2007.”

COVID-19

This year, the Season will be observed in the midst of a global pandemic.

The Coronavirus, the statement reads, has shown “more than ever that we are not isolated from each other and that conditions related to human health and well-being are fragile.”

It goes on to say that the “impact of the pandemic forces us to take seriously the need for vigilance and the need for conditions of sustainable life throughout the earth. This is even more important when considering the environmental devastation and the threat of climate change.”

Jubilee for the Earth

In conclusion, the two presidents invite Christians to celebrate the Season of Creation this year under the heading of Jubilee for the Earth. “The concept of Jubilee,” they note, “is rooted in the Bible and underlines that there must exist a just and sustainable balance between social, economic and ecological realities.”

They also underline that “the lesson from the biblical concept of jubilee points us towards the need to restore balance in the very systems of life, affirming the need for equality, justice and sustainability and confirming the need for a prophetic voice in defence of our common home.” 

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Port Moresby: A year of Waste Management at Don Bosco Technological Institute - Vatican News
Aug 25 2020
Port Moresby: A year of Waste Management at Don Bosco Technological Institute

By Francesca Merlo

A year of Waste Management Plan at the Salesian Don Bosco Technologial Institute (DBTI) in Port Moresby. This is how a group of young people are responding to Pope Francis’s request to care for our common home.

The Strenna

Each year the Salesian Order focuses their work on a Strenna, or theme, released by the Rector Major, Fr Angel Artime. This year’s Strenna is “Good Christians, Upright Citizens”.

An article released on the website of the Episcopal Conference of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands explains that the year of Integrated Waste Management at DBTI is motivated by Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’ year, which began on 24 May. In addition, it emphasises “concrete inititives for the care of the environment as practical ways of exemplifying being upright citizens”.

The article, written by Fr Ariel Macatangay SDB, DBTI treasurer, explains that the council, focusing on Laudato Si’, is “proposing attitudes to be developed each month”. The points of emphasis for the months of June, July and August are the three terms commonly used to designate practical care for the environment: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

Waste Management at DBTI

There is a need for integrated Waste Management for DBTI, writes Fr Macatangay. Despite the numerous efforts focused on waste collections, such as the buying of willie-bins, weekly rubbish collection and selling of scrap metal “we are not sure if our rubbish is disposed of in an environmentally friendly way” and wish that all our waste be properly disposed of, with “our ultimate goal” being “Zero Waste”, he says.

In order to achieve this goal, Fr Macatangay calls for interested volunteers among both students and staff.

“In the meanwhile, efforts at recycling different types of waste are intensifying”, continues the article.

These initiatives at waste management take place even while the COVID-19 pandemic rages on. As of the moment, much of the effort in waste management is exerted by the student and staff residents. Soon, we hope to involve more and more people until every member of the educative pastoral community becomes aware and contributes responsibly for sustainable management of waste.

The future of Papua New Guinea

Finally, Fr Macatangay writes that as in other parts of the world, young people become protagnists of initiatives and concrete actions for the care and preservation of the environment. “We hope that our youths at DBTI and eventually of our locality can sustain their efforts at integrated waste management and contribute in making Papua New Guinea the Paradise of the Pacific”.

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'Women should be celebrated every moment, every hour, every day' - Vatican News
Aug 25 2020
‘Women should be celebrated every moment, every hour, every day’

By Fr. Benedict Mayaki, SJ 

South African Catholic women prayed, inspired, and encouraged each other during a Day of Prayer organized by the country’s Catholic Women Organization (SAUCWO) on Monday.

The online initiative held via zoom had 67 participants at its peak, including representatives from women’s sodalities in dioceses across South Africa, and some representatives from other countries including Kenya, Nigeria and Namibia. The Day of Prayer was themed: “I can’t breathe.”

Day of Prayer

The online encounter began punctually at 2:15 pm with a few words from the moderator, Mahadi Buthelezi who welcomed the participants.

President of SAUCWO, Mrs. Fikile Motsa then gave her welcome address, acknowledging that this is the first meeting of its kind held by the women’s organization.

“It is good to see all of you,” she said. “We have been locked in since March when the Covid-19 pandemic began and we have not been able to have meetings.”

Motsa highlighted that the pandemic has been a difficult time for everyone, bringing isolation, depression, sickness and for some, the painful experience of losing loved ones to death caused by Covid. She also noted that this period has also seen an unfortunate increase in gender-related violence. She, therefore, urged every participant to take home a message of hope for themselves and also for all those they come across.

Following this, an opening prayer was led by Sister Hermenegild Makoro, Secretary-General of the South African Bishops’ Conference, who was also the speaker at the event.

Breath is a sign of life

Sr. Makoro reflected on the image of breath. Giving examples from the scriptures, she said breath was what gave life to the dry bones in the book of the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 37: 5). She also pointed out that in Genesis 2:7, God breathed the breath of life into the nostrils of the first man and he became a living being. Also, Jesus breathed on His disciples in the Gospel of John, when He gave them the Holy Spirit (Jn 20:22).

Breath, therefore, “is the substance of God, the substance of life. It is the Holy Spirit,” Sr. Makoro said, adding that the word for ‘breath’ and ‘spirit’- moya, is the same in many languages in the region.

Women play an important role in Church and society

Given that the initiative falls in August which is dedicated to South African women, Sr. Makoro recalled that the month celebrates the 20,000 women who, in 1956 marched against pass laws requiring black South Africans to carry documentation to prove that they were allowed to be in ‘white’ areas. In this regard, she added, “the important role that women play in our society should be celebrated 365 days, every hour, every moment – and not just in August alone.”

However, lamented the nun, the celebrations this year have been marred by increasing incidents of gender-based violence, rapes and femicides. She gave the example of the bodies of women recently found on a sugar cane plantation in Mtwalume, on KwaZulu-Natal’s South coast, the case of the murder of a 20-year-old Eastern Cape Wits University student on 19 August, and many others that have “disappeared or are forgotten.”

Encouraging the participants, Sr. Makoro said that despite the challenges brought about by the pandemic, they should “remember the beauty of who they are as women, and the important role they play in Church, society and their own families.”

Difficulty breathing

Speaking on the theme of the initiative: “I can’t breathe,” Sr. Makoro explained that it is apt for the occasion especially during this time of Covid -19.

“Breath takes on a new significance today,” she said. “We all have to wear face masks hence many of us feel that we cannot breathe properly.” Besides, “one of the first symptoms of Covid-19 is shortness of breath.”

This difficulty in breathing is not only literal. Sr. Makoro further explained that difficulty in breathing happens for other reasons including the marked increase in mental health problems because of the lockdown and social isolation, and the increasing cases of suicides reported in some places. At the same time, on a global scale, greed and materialism are creating wider gaps between the rich and the poor. We have also “destroyed God’s creation – the very matrix that sustains us and within which we live,” she said.

In particular, due to the closure of churches and the impossibility of celebrating Masses physically together, “we even feel cut off from the very source of life and the presence of God – our breath.”

But, she continued, “we remain people of hope and we believe that this prayer day has been organized as a response to our faith and hope that God will never leave us alone.”

Why women can’t breathe

Focusing her attention on the experience of women locked down at home due to the pandemic, Sr. Makoro gave a litany of reasons why women “can’t breathe”

She said: “I can’t breathe because some of you for the first time had to have 24 hours supervision of your kids which is not easy at all…I can’t breathe meant having your husband around the house for 24 hours and at times you did not know what to do with him…I can’t breathe as there was a feeling of isolation experienced during this time…I can’t breathe because of the loss of my job and my income…”

Continuing, she pointed out that women also find it difficult to breathe because there is a sense of shame to ask for help for fear of being considered as “weak.” Many take the blame for the abuse they experience in their relationships and cover up their scars with make-up. Further compounding the situation, many women are ashamed to go to law enforcement to report abuse because they do not want to respond to embarrassing questions.

For these reasons, the Day of Prayer, “is a call to all women organizations, that we unite in prayer in order to become life-giving to each other, and from this day, we abandon the isolation that has been created by Covid-19,” said Sr. Makoro.

Women “give life” to other women

Women therefore, “should become open to one another,” sharing difficulties and inner feelings and putting shame aside.

The difficulty with sharing, she noted, especially with social media and its consequent invasion of privacy, is that sometimes women sodalities become places of competition instead of a “sanctuary where women can share freely and know that they will be helped, listened to, and given a chance to breathe.”

“I will call on you as women to stop sharing things that block growth and life-giving – sharing about the labels of your dress, the kind of car you drive, the money you spend on cosmetics,” she said. This, “inhibits other women from coming out to say ‘I can’t breathe.’”

“You should be in a position to create that holy safe space where every woman can stand naked in front of each other, tell her story, so that we can become her mouthpiece,” she stressed.

Mary and Elizabeth: Models of supportive women

Sr. Makoro gave the example of when Mary went to visit Elizabeth after hearing that she was with child (Lk 1:39 – 56). She explained that both women, each pregnant with news of joy, became “leaning poles” for one another. “If they did it, why can’t we learn from them and do the same to one another?” she asked.

She pointed out that Mary could not breathe after the annunciation, as she must have worried about the village gossips when she was found with child without being married. Elizabeth created a safe space for Mary where she could open up and tell her story in the joyful prayer of the Magnificat.

Women, therefore, like Elizabeth, should be pregnant with good news of joy, lift one another, strengthen and be there for one another at all times. And, even though there is social distancing, they should find ways of bringing joy to one another, availing themselves of some of the opportunities that technology gives to us.

Sr. Makoro’s talk was followed by a collective prayer of the chaplet of Divine Mercy led by a mother-daughter pair of participants at 3:00 pm. This was followed by particular prayers for an end to the ongoing pandemic, for the people affected by it, for families and widows. After the prayers, some closing remarks were made by the moderator followed by the vote of thanks by Mrs. Motsa. The Day of Prayer ended with a closing prayer by Sr. Makoro.

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'The aliens to watch': how the humble earthworm is altering the Arctic
Aug 25 2020
‘The aliens to watch’: how the humble earthworm is altering the Arctic

They are a gardener’s best friend, good for the soil and a treat for birds. But the humble earthworm may not always be good news, according to a study that suggests invasive earthworms could be making Arctic soils too fertile.

The earthworm is not typically thought of as an invasive species. “Most parts of Europe have earthworms so we never really saw them as a problem,” says lead researcher Dr Gesche Blume-Werry, an ecologist from the University of Greifswald in Germany. But Blume-Werry and her colleagues realised that “more and more spots in the Arctic have worms because humans brought them there”.

Earthworms move at around five to 10 metres a year in the Arctic, but human mobility means they can jump from the UK to Svalbard in a single move. They are reaching remote areas by hitchhiking in the treads of people’s shoes, from being used as bait for fishing and in imported soils for gardening. As the Arctic warms, they are able to colonise more areas.

Early research indicates that the earthworms could have the same effect on Arctic plant productivity as a 3C rise in temperature.

Q&A

What are invasive species?

Show
Invasive plant and animal species are non-native organisms that disrupt the natural balance of ecosystems, often outcompeting native wildlife, which causes their own populations to explode. A minority of non-native species become invasive but common traits include rapid growth, fast reproduction and high resilience to new environments. 

For example, in South Georgia in the Atlantic ocean, the accidental introduction of rodents by whalers devastated bird populations on the islands for 250 years and required a huge mouse and rat eradication programme to protect native wildlife.

Why are they a problem?

Invasive species are among the largest threats to biodiversity in the world because they can permanently alter the healthy functioning of an ecosystem and cause local extinctions, resulting in large-scale economic and environmental damage. Japanese knotweed damages building foundations and flood defences in the UK, costing hundreds millions of pounds to manage every year. 

Other highly problematic invasive species include the European wild boar in the southern US, the North American grey squirrel in Europe and South American water hyacinth in waterways around the world. 

How do they spread?

Human trade, tourism and the pet business have caused large-scale redistributions of plants and animals around the world, driving local extinctions of native organisms. A recent study in the journal Global Change Biology warned that, if left unchecked, the spread of non-native plant and animal species around the globe could lead to cataclysmic loss of biodiversity.

Patrick Greenfield, biodiversity reporter

Typical Arctic temperatures are too cold for decomposers like fungi and bacteria to break down organic matter effectively, causing a lack of nutrients in the soil, which inhibits plant growth. Now, scientists are realising the absence of earthworms is also a key part of the story because they unlock nitrogen, an important component in plant growth.

This summer saw a heatwave in the Svalbard archipelago, Longyearbyen, Norway. Global warming has had a dramatic impact on Svalbard, including a rise in average winter temperatures of 10C over the past 30 years, causing disruption to the local ecosystem.
This summer saw a heatwave in the Svalbard archipelago. Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

They do this by breaking down litter and humus, excreting it in their worm casts. Worms move nutrients down to where roots are, through networks of horizontal and vertical tunnels. Anecic worms (the most common in the UK) make vertical burrows and endogeic worms make horizontal burrows. Earthworms that just work on the surface (epigeic worms) don’t make tunnels and are not considered geoengineers.

Taller, scrubby plants (which have grown better due to nitrogen-rich soils) are more likely to stick out of the snow during winter, and scientists believe this could mean more heat is absorbed, accelerating snow melt.

“You have these changes in albedo [the reflective quality of a surface],” explains Blume-Werry. “If the surface is darker, which happens if plants are not covered in snow, then less light is being reflected and more heat is being trapped. You get this positive feedback to warming. The warmer it gets, the better plants grow, and then you have this kind of cycle of more plant production and warmer temperatures.”

In the northern boreal forests of Canada and the US, earthworms had been absent since at least the last ice age, 12,000 years ago. But as settlers from Europe colonised these lands, they brought earthworms with them in the ballasts of ships and on imported plants. Slowly, these invaders changed the forest ecosystem by converting leaf litter into humus. This altered the delicate relationship between fungi and plants, which changed the pH of the top layers of soil, leading to reduced overall biodiversity, according to 2016 research published in Global Change Biology.

In 2017, a team of scientists went digging for worms in the Arctic. Associate professor Jonatan Klaminder, an environmental scientist at Umeå University in Sweden, who was involved in the research, said he had assumed the climate would be too cold and harsh. He was wrong.

Initially, researchers looked at older sites where nomadic Sami people had gathered reindeer for milking between 1600 and 1900 but did not find any geoengineering worms. The first ones seem to arrive in 1850 when people came to the interior of northern Sweden to try to start farming in the Arctic – unsuccessfully, it turned out. At some of these old sites, earthworms had spread 800 metres away from where humans lived, according to the paper, published in Biological Invasions. In total, earthworms were found at around 20 sites. In some spots the worms were found in even greater abundance than in the forests in Minnesota, where they are considered a serious problem.

Researchers show compost samples to locals in Padjelanta national park, Sweden.
Researchers show local people evidence of the earthworms in Padjelanta national park, Sweden. Photograph: Adrian Wackett/University of Minnesota

Arctic soils around this area generally have 10cm of poorly decomposed organic material, but at the 19th century site in northern Sweden the organic layer on top of the soil and leaf litter had disappeared, just as it had in the northern boreal forests in the US. Most of the spots in which earthworms were found were near human settlements such as old farms, cabins, gardens or fishing sites, which reinforced the idea they were brought in by humans.

Geoengineering earthworms have now established themselves in Arctic soils in North America, Greenland, Iceland, Fennoscandia, and Russia. In the paper scientists warned earthworms “may pose a potent threat to some of the most remote and protected Arctic environments in northern Europe”, and called for immediate action, as the worms are almost impossible to eradicate once they have colonised.

Klaminder says the research is a canary in the coalmine. “During the past 10,000 years we have not had geoeningeering earthworms in the landscape. And suddenly if we introduce them this will change how the system functions, so that’s why we’re seeing a strong impact … If you have 10,000 introduction points then this could be a very rapid process.”

In the latest experiment, Klaminder, Blume-Werry and colleagues wanted to find out what these earthworms do to plant growth. They put soil in containers, or mesocosms, that were 50 x 39 x 30 cm and filled them will heath and meadow vegetation. The containers were kept at Abisko Scientific Research Station, which is 200km north of the Arctic Circle.

A mesocosm with heath tundra vegetation used in experiments at the Abisko Scientific Research Station.
A mesocosm with heath tundra vegetation used in experiments at the Abisko Scientific Research Station. Photograph: Gesche Blume-Werry/CIRC

Around 45 worms were added to half of the mesocosms. To determine root growth scientists put a camera in the soil that took photos of the roots at regular intervals. The “greenness” of vegetation (a measure of photosynthesis and therefore plant productivity) in the different containers was also monitored to work out how much impact worms were having.

The effects caused by geoengineering earthworms were “as strong, or even stronger, than other important environmental drivers in the Arctic”, such as temperature increase, grazing animals and fertilisation using deer faeces, researchers wrote in their paper on the experiment, published in Nature Communications.

Earthworms increased plant nitrogen concentrations on average more than three times as much as a 3C increase in summer temperatures. They caused an increase in plant greenness that appeared similar to the increase caused by a 3C temperature rise. Blume-Werry said the researchers were “super surprised” by the scale of the impact.

Earthworms are not the only invasive species threatening the Arctic. Polar limitations of where species can reach are quickly eroding. In the summer of 2008 scientists sampled the footwear of 259 travellers arriving in Svalbard by plane. They found an average of 3.9 seeds per traveller, which equates to 270,000 seeds for the entire year, according to the team’s paper, published in Biological Invasions. A quarter of the seeds collected germinated under local conditions.

Polar and alpine ecologist Jesamine Bartlett from the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research says there are approximately 8,000 individual dandelion plants that have been creating “enormous lawns”, she says. “What’s alarming is that a couple of years ago there weren’t that many. They’re visually very striking. Every year it changes slightly depending on how warm the summer is.”

Earthworms are also probably a lot more widely distributed than we think, says Bartlett, but there are few specialists working in this area. “I don’t think we’re aware of it at all,” she says. “Some of the major activity in Svalbard has been going on for decades. It’s very likely this could have spread further and no one has done a basic survey of just running through the most populous towns and gone through it to see what is there.”

Detritivores, including earthworms, are some of the most damaging invasive species you can get because if people don’t see them they don’t think they’re a problem. They change the foundations of ecosystems and set a precedent for other invasive species looking to move in. “They are the aliens to watch. Don’t be distracted by the big glossy, invasive plants. See what’s happening in your soil,” says Bartlett, who has set up a “stop Arctic aliens” website to raise awareness about the importance of making sure visitors do not accidentally bring in unwanted species.

Earthworms change the foundation of ecosystems.
Earthworms change the foundation of ecosystems. Photograph: Adrian Wackett/University of Minnesota

Research in this area is still in its infancy, says Marc Macias-Fauria, an ecologist from the University of Oxford who was not involved in these studies. The mecocosm research by Blume-Werry et al was creative, smart and timely, he says, given Arctic ice melt and increasing numbers of humans in the region. It would be interesting to see how growth varies in different Arctic environments, he adds. “The discussion is engaging and exciting but this is a first stage, there are many more questions in front of the paper than behind it”.

In general, big Earth systems – ways of modelling the interacting physical, chemical, and biological processes of our planet – do not look at the impact of animals and vegetation on the land . Instead, models looking at vegetation are usually dictated by research on the climate. There is only one climate model – the Madingley model in Cambridge – that looks at the impact of animals. Macias-Fauria says encouraging more of these big models to incorporate the role of animals is “definitely very welcome”.

Dr Bonnie G Waring, an ecologist at the Grantham Institute, who was not involved in the research, says it highlights how humans change natural ecosystems in myriad ways, not just by burning fossil fuels. “The Arctic is experiencing multiple perturbations that could lead to rapid and profound restructuring of high-latitude ecosystems, and we need to study these disturbances in a holistic way,” she says.

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Devastated by pandemic, tourism sector must be rebuilt in a safe, equitable and climate friendly way – UN chief
Aug 25 2020
Devastated by pandemic, tourism sector must be rebuilt in a safe, equitable and climate friendly way – UN chief

Launching his latest policy brief, on tourism, Secretary-General António Guterres, pointed out that the industry “employs one-in-every-ten people on Earth and provides livelihoods to hundreds of millions more”.

Strong data from the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) shows that 100 to 120 million direct tourism jobs are at risk. And the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) forecasts a loss of 1.5 to 2.8 per cent of global GDP.

Describing tourism as an opportunity to experience the world’s cultural and natural riches, bringing people closer to each other and highlighting our common humanity, Mr. Guterres said: “One might say that tourism is itself one of the wonders of the world”.

A sobering glimpse

Among other things, the brief finds that, due to the unprecedented shutdown of global travel and trade, tourism may be the sector worst affected by the coronavirus. 
“It has been so painful to see how tourism has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic”, the UN chief reflected.

Moreover, there are secondary impacts, such as increase in poaching, as people search for other sources of income.
In the first five months of this year, international tourist arrivals have fallen by more than half and around $320 billion in tourism exports were lost, according to the top UN official. 

“Many are in the informal economy or in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, which employ a high proportion of women and young people”, Mr. Guterres continued.

As for women, rural communities, indigenous peoples and many other historically marginalized populations, “tourism has been a vehicle for integration, empowerment and generating income”, he added.

Conservation pillar

Tourism is also a key pillar for the conservation of natural and cultural heritage. 

“The fall in revenues has led to increased poaching and habitat destruction in and around protected areas, and the closure of many World Heritage Sites has deprived communities of vital livelihoods”, informed the UN chief.

Rebuilding

The Secretary-General underscored the importance of rebuilding the tourism sector in a way that is “safe, equitable and climate friendly”.

Noting that transport-related greenhouse gas emissions could “rebound sharply if recovery is not aligned with climate goals”, he stressed that sustainable and responsible travel is imperative to support the millions that depend on tourism for their livelihoods.

Key areas

Mr. Guterres outlined five priority areas to aid recovery and re-establish an industry that is safe for host communities, workers and travellers.

His first task is to mitigate the socio-economic impacts of the crisis – particularly women’s employment and economic security.
Secondly, he suggests building resilience across the entire tourism sector.

Maximizing technology throughout the industry, including by promoting innovation and investing in digital skills, is his third priority.
His fourth point is to promote sustainability and green growth in managing the shift towards a resilient, carbon-neutral tourism sector.
And finally, he flags that partnerships must be fostered to responsibly ease and lift travel restrictions in a coordinated manner to restart and transform tourism towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Let us ensure tourism regains its position as a provider of decent jobs, stable incomes and the protection of our cultural and natural heritage”, concluded the Secretary-General.

Stronger together

In addition to these priorities, UNWTO underscored that continued coordination and cooperation at every level is critical. 
Emphasizing the guiding principle of “stronger together”, UNWTO’s leadership has warned against the short and long-term consequences of Governments taking unilateral decisions. 

“The situation is changing every day”, said UNWTO chief Zurab Pololikashvili. “It is impossible today to make a forecast for the next year”.

Nuts and bolts

While UNWTO too the lead in drafting the brief, 13 other UN agencies, funds or programmes have contributed, including the International Labour Organization (ILO), UN Women and the UNCTAD. 

Among other things, it found that, due to the unprecedented shutdown of global travel and trade, tourism may be the sector worst affected by COVID-19. 

© UNESCO/Courtesy Visit Isle of Wight – United Kingdom

Isle of Wight Biosphere Reserve in the United Kingdom is developing eco-tourism and testing new measures for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

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Virtual Exhibitors, Agents at Frankfurt to Have Multiple Platforms
Aug 25 2020
Virtual Exhibitors, Agents at Frankfurt to Have Multiple Platforms

The Frankfurt Book Fair is taking registrations for people who will be attending the fair virtually, including publishers, literary agents, and other members of the publishing community. While no schedule of events has yet been announced, the organizers clarified some of the details surrounding how virtual exhibitors, including agents and rights representatives, will be able to participate in the upcoming fair and various opportunities for them to present their work.

Key to this will be the Exhibitor Catalog, which will serve as a focal point for the exhibitor or attendees presence. Each exhibitor will have the ability to create a profile that will include a logo, link to their company’s website, social media buttons, and further information. A one page document, such as a rights guide or company presentation, can be made available here as well. The catalog is expected to go live online by mid-September.

Exhibitors and participants will also be able to list and promote their own physical, digital or hybrid events, either public or private, in a dedicated calendar of events. The calendar, which is also expected to go live by mid-September, will be searchable.

The new Frankfurt Rights platform will serve a digital online catalog of rights available at the fair. Each digital exhibitor, including agents and rights holders,will be allowed a free company profile, where they can upload their rights guides, title information, rights availability, and previews of titles available to international participants after request. This platform is expected to go live by the end of September.

Many publishers, agents and rights holders are well into the process of setting up their own meetings independent of the fair and its various platforms. Unfortunately, without the physical fair to serve as a focal point, the prospect of organizing virtual meetings with vast time differences across the world has proven daunting, with the concern that meetings might last over several weeks.

Riky Stock, v-p of the Frankfurt Book Fair in New York and the individual responsible for overseeing the Literary Agents Center, said that some agents are looking at experimenting with new ways to pitch titles. Among these ideas is to host a single pitch session webinar for numerous people at one time. This format, which was also employed earlier in the year at Bologna, allows the company pitching to reach a wide group all at once. The group might include existing clients and new prospects and help the pitching company reach those who are both high and low priority at the same time.

Cecilia de la Campa, executive director of global licensing and domestic partnerships for Writers House, pivoted to hosting a pitch webinar during Bologna quickly after the in-person fair was cancelled in March. She said that shifting to a webinar format is an effort to make the best out of a challenging and situation and is no replacement for in-person meetings. Nevertheless, she said, “There’s a ton of opportunity with the webinar format: more industry professionals can tune in digitally than would otherwise attend the fair, such as marketing and junior editorial staff from international publishers, film and TV contacts; the recording can be saved/accessed afterwards; we can reach publishers with whom we don’t yet have major business; and we can announce any exciting new deals/sales on the spot to everyone at once.”

She added, “Hopefully, with enough rights teams scheduling webinars, rather than 200+ individual digital meetings stretched over 2 months because of the time-zone constraints, we can all avoid being burnt out! And perhaps we’ll be able to recreate that ‘feeling’ of the fair, with the big presentations and hot projects condensed around the actual week of the book fair.”

At present, fair organizers are planning for a hybrid fair comprised of both virtual and in-person events, though few members from the North American publishing community are expected to make the trip to Germany.

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UN: Over 10,000 Islamic State fighters active in Iraq, Syria
Aug 25 2020
UN: Over 10,000 Islamic State fighters active in Iraq, Syria

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — More than 10,000 Islamic State fighters are estimated to remain active in Iraq and Syria two years after the militant group’s defeat, and their attacks have significantly increased this year, the U.N. counter-terrorism chief said Monday.

Vladimir Voronkov told the U.N. Security Council that Islamic State fighters move freely “in small cells between the two countries.”

He said the Islamic State extremist group — also known as IS, ISIL and ISIS — has regrouped and its activity has increased not only in conflict zones like Iraq and Syria but also in some regional affiliates.

“However, in non-conflict zones, the threat appears to have decreased in the short term,” he said. “Measures to minimize the spread of COVID-19, such as lockdowns and restrictions on movement, seem to have reduced the risk of terrorist attacks in many countries.”


Nonetheless, Voronkov said, “there is a continued trend of attacks by individuals inspired online and acting alone or in small groups, which could be fueled by ISIL’s opportunistic propaganda efforts during the COVID-19 crisis.”

He said the COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the challenges of eliminating the threat of terrorism, pointing to actions by IS and other terrorist groups seeking “to exploit the far-reaching disruption and negative socioeconomic and political impacts of the pandemic.”

But Voronkov said the pandemic’s impact on IS recruitment and fundraising activities remains unclear, and there is no clear indication of a change in the extremist group’s strategic direction under its leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi.

Turning to Africa, Voronkov said the Islamic State in West Africa Province “remains a major focus of ISIL global propaganda, and its total membership of approximately 3,500 makes it one of the largest of the remote `provinces.’” He said it continues to reinforce links with the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, “which remains the most dangerous group in the tri-border area of Burkina Faso, Mali, and the Niger.”

While IS only has “a few hundred fighters in Libya,” he said, they have been exploiting ethnic tensions and represent “a potent threat capable of broader regional impact.” He also pointed to worrying attacks by the Islamic State Central Africa Province in Congo and Mozambique, “including complex attacks and brief takeovers of villages.”

In Europe, Voronkov said, the main threat comes from “Internet-driven, homegrown terrorist radicalization,” citing three ISIL-inspired attacks in France and two in the United Kingdom. He also noted “acute concerns … about radicalization and failed rehabilitation in prisons, and the imminent release of dangerous inmates with a terrorism background or connections.”

In Afghanistan, Voronkov said, ISIL’s affiliate has conducted high-profile attacks in various parts of the country, including Kabul, and seeks to use Afghan territory “to spread its influence across the region” and to attract fighters who oppose the recent peace agreement between the U.S. and the Taliban.

Elsewhere in Asia, ISIL claimed its first attack in the Maldives in April, he said, and attacks on security forces in southeast Asia occur regularly though government counter-terrorism operations have kept up pressure on the extremists.

Voronkov said the COVID-19 crisis has further complicated “the already dire and unsustainable situation” of thousands of people with suspected links to IS who are stranded in camps in Syria and Iraq, especially women and children.

“Repatriation, prosecution, rehabilitation, and reintegration and the protection of the vulnerable have become ever more urgent,” he said.

While some countries have repatriated their nationals, especially children, many have not.

Voronkov reiterated U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ call for all countries to implement international law and bring home all their stranded women, men and children.

“The global threat from ISIL is likely to increase if the international community fails to meet this challenge,” the head of the U.N. Office of Counter-Terrorism warned.

U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft said the United States shares the secretary-general’s concern and has brought back American citizens and prosecuted them where appropriate.

Despite the Islamic State’s defeat on the battlefield, she said, “we must work together to ensure that the population of detained foreign terrorist fighters as well as their family members displaced in Syria and Iraq do not become the nucleus of an ISIS 2.0.”

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, whose country is Syria’s main ally, said the global terrorist threat from ISIL remains high, and its leadership is planning terrorist attacks in the border area between Syria and Iraq.

“At the same time, the terrorists do not intend to give up plans to revive the `caliphate’ in Iraq,” he said. “ISIL continues to build up its combat potential and is seeking to expand the area and scope of terrorist attacks in the country.”

Nebenzia said ISIL’s organization and tactics suggest “that it has now fully transformed into a network structure with a high degree of autonomy of branches and `sleeping cells’ in various countries and regions of the world.”

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Strengthening global cooperation on counter-terrorism must remain a priority during and after pandemic
Aug 24 2020
Strengthening global cooperation on counter-terrorism must remain a priority during and after pandemic

Vladimir Voronkov, Head of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, said the global coronavirus crisis underscored the challenges involved in eliminating terrorism, as he presented the UN Security Council with the latest report on ISIL’s impact on international peace and security. 

“This pandemic environment raises several strategic and practical challenges for counter-terrorism, which we discussed during the Virtual Counter-Terrorism Week organized by my Office last month,” he told Council members during video-teleconference briefing. 

Since the start of this year, the threat has grown in conflict zones, as seen by the regrouping and increased activity of ISIL and some of its affiliates in Iraq and Syria, he explained. 

ISIL expands ‘opportunistic propaganda’ efforts amid pandemic 

In non-conflict areas, the threat seems to have decreased in the short term, with COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions apparently lowering the risk of attacks.   

However, “opportunistic propaganda efforts” by ISIL could be fuelling an ongoing trend of attacks by individuals and small groups, he said. 

Unclear, he added, is how the pandemic is affecting ISIL’s recruitment and fundraising efforts, or whether there is a change in strategic direction under its new leader, Amir Muhammad Sa’id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla. His predecessor, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed during a US military operation in Syria in 2019. 

Putting a spotlight on regional developments, Mr. Voronkov said that ISIL continues to consolidate its position in some parts of the Middle East previously under its control, “operating increasingly confidently and openly”. 

More than 10,000 ISIL fighters are estimated to be active in Iraq and Syria, moving freely in small cells between the two countries, he said, adding that 2020 has seen a “significant increase” in ISIL attacks in both States compared to 2019. 

COVID-19 and suspected terrorists  

The COVID-19 crisis has further complicated the already dire and unsustainable situation of several thousand people – especially women and children – with suspected links to ISIL. Some countries are still repatriating children, but there has been only limited progress on overcoming legal, political and practical hurdles to repatriation, he said. 

“The global threat from ISIL is likely to increase if the international community fails to meet this challenge,” Mr. Voronkov warned, calling for decisive action from Member States on humanitarian, human rights and security grounds. 

Turning to Africa, he described Islamic State in West Africa Province and its 3,500 members as a “major focus of ISIL global propaganda” as it reinforces its links with Islamic State in the Greater Sahara – “the most dangerous group in the tri-border area of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger”. 

While ISIL has only a few hundred fighters in Libya, it is exploiting tensions between ethnic groups and represents a portent threat capable of broader regional impact, he said, adding that ISIL could potentially expand its activities if the conflict in the North Africa nation escalates. 

In Europe, the main threat comes from Internet-driven homegrown terrorist radicalization, he said.  Acute concerns surround the release of prisoners with terrorist background and connections, while the rise of right-wing violent extremism means that intelligence services in some European countries are shifting their priorities away from ISIL. 

Looking towards Asia, he said that ISIL’s affiliate in Afghanistan, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant-Khorasan, remains capable of high-profile attacks – despite territorial losses and the arrest of its leaders – as it seeks to use the country to spread its influence across the region and to attract fighters who oppose the peace agreement between the Taliban and the United States. 

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One step at a time: UN women’s health agency helping shift dangerous social norms 
Aug 24 2020
One step at a time: UN women’s health agency helping shift dangerous social norms 

“As a female traditional leader, my aim is to be a role model within my chiefdom. I want to ensure that we collectively challenge social and traditional norms and practices that negatively affect our women and girls”, said Kawaza, chieftainess of the Chewa people.

Leading more than 650 villages with some 100,000 inhabitants, she is one of many traditional and community leaders throughout Eastern Province who are contesting these dangerous practices. 

“Many girls are forced to drop out of school in order to undergo initiation rites”, which often include inaccurate information about sexual and reproductive health, the chieftainess noted. 

And in some cases, young people are encouraged to “practice” sexual activity that can lead to sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, as well as unintended pregnancy.

“[I] instructed the traditional counsellors who conduct the initiation rites to revise the curriculum to focus only on progressive topics and cultural practices that promote respect for human rights” Chieftainess Kawaza said. 

“I have also issued a directive for all traditional ceremonies to take place only during school holidays”.

Changing minds

The Chieftainess has seen a transformation in perceptions around these practices, and not just in Zambia. Similar efforts are helping to change beliefs and practices all around the world, a new publication shows.

How Changing Social Norms is Crucial in Achieving Gender Equality demonstrates how this approach has successfully helped to end harmful customs in different regions of the world. 

It also highlights common steps that can be applied to changing all kinds of discriminatory norms to achieve gender equality.

A recipe for change

“The second element is discussion, value deliberation and education. It can take place in girls’ schools, among parents groups, through television and radio, or in open spaces,” said Nafissatou Diop, UNFPA’s chief of gender and human rights, who spearheaded the new publication. “Diverse forces and ideas and positions need to be confronted and need to come together in that discussion”.

The key, experts say, is empowering community members to deliberate on how their practices relate to their own deeply held values. And this leads to transformation. 

The steps – the identification of a harmful norm, advocacy by prominent individuals, the exchange of experiences and perspectives within the community, and finally calls for change – can arise organically or be applied deliberately, the new publication notes. 

Stemming female circumcisions 

The approach has successfully driven collective action around the world, reaching millions. 

“One of the successful interventions has been the public declarations of the abandonment of female genital mutilation”, said Lacina Zerbo, who works for UNFPA in Burkina Faso. “More than four million people have publicly abandoned FGM”.

Supported by the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on the Elimination of FGM, similar efforts have reached more than 34 million people in 16 countries and have led to a raft of new laws and policies.

The process, Mr. Zerbo said, depends on “creating trust between community members and influencers or decision-makers”.

‘Influencers are key’

“Influencers are key to transforming norms”, said Ms. Diop. 

She maintained that they can be traditional, religious or political leaders, depending on the context. 

Discussing together

Community members should be encouraged to listen to and reflect on new ideas.  

“The second element is discussion, value deliberation and education. It can take place in girls’ schools, among parents groups, through television and radio, or in open spaces,” Ms. Diop said. “Diverse forces and ideas and positions need to be confronted and need to come together in that discussion”.

Marketplace of ideas

Abandoning detrimental norms is a normal part of progress. 

Ms. Diop pointed out that “from foot binding to different types of gender violence”, over the last few centuries communities have gradually and collectively halted discriminatory social standards.

Virtual world

Recently, with digital platforms and social media, new ideas are never more than a click away and marginalized voices around the world are being amplified.

“With social media, people are able to galvanize and activate change in any part of the world, especially among those battling discriminatory norms,” said Ms. Diop, emphasizing the importance of empowering marginalized groups raise their voices.

“Social media has given communities, and youth, in particular, the power of unity to drive collective change. And this is what we need: collective behaviour to make changes that make the world a more equal place”, she concluded.

UNFPA

Changing harmful social norms makes a difference for women and girls around the world.

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Revealing new book on Scientology by investigator Gabriel Carrion, in 3 languages
Aug 24 2020
Revealing new book on Scientology by investigator Gabriel Carrion, in 3 languages

Reporter Gabriel Carrion launched his book on Scientology and controversies surrounding it with a Church’s spokesperson answering over 50 questions about it.

MADRID/BRUSSELS, SPAIN/BELGIUM, August 24, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ — Journalist Gabriel Carrion has launched his second book on Scientology and the controversies surrounding it with the Church’s European spokesperson answering over 50 of the most asked questions about this religion.

Gabriel Carrion, a writer, scriptwriter, and director, has worked as an investigative journalist since 1985 in the press, radio, and television. Expert in national terrorism, media, sects, and new religious movements, he has published two books on the Spanish terrorist group ETA. Retired in 2004 from much of his public activities, he returned in 2008 to research and investigate his book “Scientology the Longest Battle”[only available in Spanish], which was published in 2011.

An essential book to know in depth the foundations and pillars of a religion, which due to the closeness of its founder allows us to throw more light than shadows on its history”

Gabriel Carrion

Since then, he has published two more books, one of them on self-help, and, after several years, his recently released book on Scientology (in Spanish, French, and Portuguese so far) entitled: “THE POWER OF THE WORD [EL PODER DE LA PALABRA], through the publishing house “Walking Away”.

El Poder de la Palabra, said Carrion to The European Times, sees the light as an essay of questions and answers that responds in a clear, yet simple way, to some of the hottest topics related to Scientology, a subject on which the author plans to publish three more books in the future finishing off a project he began in 2008, and to which, when he expects to finish in 2022, he will have dedicated 15 years of his life.

BookBrushImage 2020 7 24 20 1732

Asked about the book, Carrion stated that:

“When in 1950 L. Ron Hubbard wrote: ‘DIANETICS, The Modern Science of mental Health’, he was possibly unaware of what was coming his way. Shortly thereafter, after further investigation, he felt he had to take an additional step, and so Scientology emerged as philosophical and religious thought that has derived from the sources of its founder, developing exponentially over time. If thousands are its detractors, millions are its followers throughout the world…

“With a controversial record around the world, Scientology and its leader have left no one indifferent. However, the explosion of social media has allowed, often in an orchestrated and tortious way, falsehoods, and comments about L. Ron Hubbard and his Church”.

Gabriel Carrion, writer, free-thinker, and humanist and Ivan Arjona, President of the European Office of the Church of Scientology for Public Affairs and Human Rights, come face to face in THE POWER OF THE WORD to formulate and answer some of the questions being asked by societies around the world, in order to clarify some of the issues that are part of the fabulous world of lies and dogmatic distortions that also exist.

As Carrion describes it: “An essential book to know in depth the foundations and pillars of a religion, which due to the closeness of its founder allows us to throw more light than shadows on its history”.

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Hostilities and a global pandemic: a two-fold challenge for eastern Ukraine
Aug 24 2020
Hostilities and a global pandemic: a two-fold challenge for eastern Ukraine

“I wanted to continue providing people with the assistance and support that they deserve,” says Oleh Mikhalov, about his decision to join WHO in conflict-affected eastern Ukraine, 5 years ago.

The former humanitarian worker was forced to flee his home in 2014 when hostilities broke out in Luhansk. He now works in Sievierodonetsk, a city located in an area of Luhanska Region under government control. His field-based team assesses the provision of local health-care services, identifying acute health needs and ways in which WHO can respond to those needs using existing resources.

In late 2019, following an assessment of health-care services in Sievierodonetsk by Oleh’s team, WHO transferred equipment for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests to the local laboratories, which is now being widely used for COVID-19 testing. As it turns out, the equipment was delivered just in time to aid in the COVID-19 response.

“Thanks to the support provided by WHO, the labs in Luhanska Region were well prepared for this pandemic,” Oleh notes.

Strengthening health systems impacted by conflict

Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the health system in eastern Ukraine was already in a fragile state. Many health workers had left the region, and health facilities had been neglected for years.

The pandemic has placed additional demands on resources-strapped health professionals and further strained an already-fragile health system.

Since 2017, WHO has been supporting local health and laboratory centres in areas under government control through field-based teams.

Once acute health-related needs are addressed, the team evaluates how health services have improved and whether they benefit the people and adhere to WHO standards. Such field teams are instrumental to improving access to services in places where health-care systems have been disrupted or neglected due to years of armed conflict.

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Russia: Statement by the High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell on the suspected poisoning of Alexei Navalny
Aug 24 2020
Russia: Statement by the High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell on the suspected poisoning of Alexei Navalny

The preliminary test results from the Charité – Universitätsmedizin hospital in Berlin indicate that the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned during his stay in Siberia. We are grateful to the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin staff for their treatment of Mr Navalny and wish him a prompt and full recovery.

The European Union strongly condemns what seems to be an attempt on Mr Navalny’s life. It is imperative that the Russian authorities initiate an independent and transparent investigation on the poisoning of Mr Navalny without delay. The Russian people, as well as the international community, are demanding the facts behind Mr Navalny’s poisoning. Those responsible must be held to account.

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Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the alignment of certain countries concerning restrictive measures in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol
Aug 24 2020
Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the alignment of certain countries concerning restrictive measures in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol

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12th anniversary of India’s anti-Christian violence in Kandhamal - Vatican News
Aug 24 2020
12th anniversary of India’s anti-Christian violence in Kandhamal – Vatican News

By Robin Gomes

A group of civil society organizations in India has called for support for a two-week campaign to remember the victims and survivors of the anti-Christian violence 12 years ago, saying many of them are still awaiting justice and compensation.

Hell broke loose on the Christians of Kandhamal on August 25, 2008, with Hindu extremists making them scapegoats for the August 23 murder of Hindu leader Swami ‎Lakshmanananda Saraswati, even though Maoist rebels ‎claimed his assassination.

The National Solidarity Forum (NSF), a network of 70 civil society and rights organizations, among them activists, priests, religious, lawyers, Christians, Hindus and people of other faiths, has called for a fortnight of commemoration of what they describe as the largest organized communal attacks on Christians “in the history of India in the past three centuries.”

Upholding India’s democratic and pluralistic values

In a press release, NSF said the commemoration is in support of the victims and survivors, whose freedom of conscience and religion has been violated. Organizers intend to promote India’s democratic and pluralistic values seen as best practices and as envisaged by the Indian Constitution. 

Due to the restrictions of Covid-19 health protocols, the forum encourages people to organize webinars, issue declarations, hold candle-lit memorials at home for justice, peace and harmony. It also recommends screening of films, videos, photo and art exhibitions on the Kandhamal atrocities, utilizing the social and mainstream media, to spread awareness and information on the event and related issues. 

“We are sure that if all humanitarian forces join hands to build peace, justice and harmony in this country,” the NSF press statement said, “we will be able to achieve results in these dark times and protect the values of Indian Constitution so that no such violence takes place in India.”

Toll of violence

The NSF statement also recounted the heavy loss of property and life in the 2008 anti-Christian violence in Kandhamal. As many as 395 churches and places of worship of Adivasi (indigenous) and Dalit (low caste) Christians were destroyed. Some 6,500 houses were destroyed. More than 100 people were killed, 40 women were subjected to rape, molestation and humiliation and several educational, social service and health institutions were destroyed and looted.

While more than 75,000 people have been displaced, several cases of forced conversion to Hinduism have also been reported.

Justice denied

Of the more than 3,300 complaints filed with the police during the 2008 communal violence, only some 820 were registered. Of these 820, only 518 cases were chargesheeted, while others were declared false. Only 247 of the 518 cases were disposed of. The rest of the cases are pending before the sessions and magistrate’s courts. Many of the accused have been acquitted. 

“None of the criminals responsible for destruction are in jail today,” the NSF pointed out. “The murderers, rapists, looters and destroyers are today running scot-free.” Instead, 7 innocent persons in jail for 11 years with fabricated cases, are now on bail.

The National Solidarity Forum also drew attention to the Dalits, Adivasis, minorities and other marginalised sections of India, saying they continue to face violence and injustice. Of the 122 cases of violence against Christians, only 23 were registered as of June 2020. The NSF noted that attacks on Christians have “increased consistently” since 2014. 

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News – EUTM
Aug 24 2020
News – EUTM
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jQuery(‘.share-button’).popover(‘toggle’);
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});
})();

August 24, 2020 About the EUIPO

Service Charter: second quarter 2020 results available

statistics

The results of the second quarter of 2020 show the effects of the measures taken by the Office to help customers cope with the difficult situation presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two time limit extension decisions by the Executive Director – Decision No EX‑20‑3 and Decision No EX‑20‑4 – were issued concerning all procedural deadlines, including the opposition period. These time limit extensions caused a delay in the registration of EUTMs and international trade marks, with the corresponding impact in the Service Charter results.

The affected timeliness indicators are the EUTM fast track registration, EUTM standard track registration and IRs registration. The Office is closely monitoring this situation and as the two extension decisions came to an end during May, the compliance level is expected to recover during the third quarter.

The Cancellation timeliness indicator continues in action needed. Last year, the Office started implementing a set of measures to improve this area in a sustained manner over time. The results of these measures show a steady improvement in the cancellation timeliness results and currently all pending cases are being notified in compliance with the Office standards, even considering the specific and difficult circumstances due to COVID-19. The Office is positive that it can maintain this situation and a steady state regime will be reached before the end of 2020.

As regards the quality and accessibility indicators, targets are being met. The Office works to provide a continuously improving and evolving service, tightly aligned with users’ needs and expectations.

See the Service Charter

 

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