WCC calls for end to violence affecting places of worship in Holy Land

After Patriarchs and Heads of Jerusalem Churches express concern for Al-Aqsa Mosque worshippers and Sheikh Jarrah families in a 9 May statement over the recent violence in East Jerusalem, World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca in a 12 May Statement on Israel and Palestine expressed mounting concern and profound grief at the rising toll of people killed and injured in the escalating violence in Israel and Palestine.

“We appeal urgently to all parties to step back from the brink of even more deadly and destructive conflict,” Sauca said. “We lament every one of the precious lives already lost, Palestinians and Israelis, in Gaza, in Ashkelon, near Lod, and elsewhere.”

During the demonstrations, tens of thousands of Muslims made their way to Ramadan prayers and activities at the al-Aqsa complex. Israeli police, saying Palestinians were throwing stones, stormed the building and courtyard on Monday with stun grenades and rubber-tipped bullets. Over 200 Palestinians and several officers were injured. Today, armed police clashed again with Muslim visitors.

Sauca urged people to put down their arms, and work to address the injustices and mutual antagonisms that sustain the recurrent cycles of violence. The proper response, instead of violence, should be compassion and justice for the Palestinian people affected by this unfair and unjust situation.

The Israeli army and Palestinian radicals in the Gaza Strip have been exchanging missile strikes since May 10, following the outbreak of violence near the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City. More than 200 Palestinians have been killed since the escalation of conflict with Israel, while about 5,600 people have been injured, the Wafa News Agency stated on Sunday citing the Health Ministry of the coastal enclave. The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement that controls the Gaza Strip, announced a new wave of massive rocket bombardments of Israeli cities and army bases in response to Israel’s strikes, the Gaza radicals said in a statement broadcast by the Sawt Al-Aqsa radio station on Monday.

The statement is in concert with the WCC’s Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI), based on an appeal from local church leaders to create an international presence in the country, accompanies the local people and communities, offering protective presence and witnessing their daily struggles and hopes. EAPPI provides a continuous presence of 25-30 Ecumenical Accompaniers, who serve in the field for three months, accompanying local people and communities, offering a protective presence, and witnessing their daily struggles and hopes. EAPPI is guided by “principled impartiality”: it takes no side in the conflict nor discriminates against anyone, but it is not neutral in terms of human rights and respect for international humanitarian law. Almost 1800 hundred Ecumenical Accompaniers (EAs) have served through the programme, and many of them have stayed involved and interested in working toward a just peace in Palestine and Israel.

A Christian delegation visited the Sheikh Jarrah community on 14 May, standing in solidarity with 28 families who not only face the threat of eviction but are living their day-to-day lives under worsening oppression. Their community has become one with streets full of stones, cars with broken windows, and the smell of “skunk water” used by the police.

We can only solve it through religious peace.

A prominent Israeli orthodox rabbi Michael Melchior has charged that the deadly violence sweeping Israel and Gaza will not be resolved by military might: “We can only solve it through religious peace.” 

Sheikh Imad Falogi, a former Hamas official in Gaza and close colleague of Melchior, says Muslims have no problem with people of the Jewish religion but feel disrespected by Israeli police and throngs of ultranationalist Israelis who visit al-Aqsa and are seen not as engaging in holy activities but as trying to take over “and create problems with Muslims.” When there are political problems, Falolgi adds, “the politicians should come to the rabbis and imams.”

Other Jewish, Muslim and Christian religious leaders in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza have also been calling for nonviolence and mutual respect.

SPIEGEL involved Merkel and Borissov in a scheme to supply low-quality masks from Bulgaria

The German army has ordered protective clothing from Bulgaria for hundreds of thousands of euros, which is of poor quality, but about which Chancellor Angela Merkel seems to have personally spoken to then-Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.

This is what SPIEGEL magazine says in an investigation indicating how the company Venera Style from Haskovo received an offer for such products, although until then it only made clothing. At the beginning of the pandemic, however, Venus offered to deliver two-layer masks – 85% cotton, 15% elastane – to Germany in the spring of 2020.

The publication comes months after the start of a massive scandal over the supply of substandard masks, which accused Merkel’s allies of corruption and put her party – the Christian Democrats – at a disadvantage on the eve of the parliamentary elections.

This is presented as remarkable at a time when Bulgaria needs them as much as Germany and has even imposed an export ban.

“Then why is Bulgaria sending masks to Germany?” The publication asks. And second, this business enjoys the highest level of support, such as that of Chancellor Angela Merkel, Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karenbauer and others, such as the chair of the Armed Forces Procurement Service. Kramp-Karenbauer is even preparing his personal assistant to board a plane to take samples from Sofia.

The Bundeswehr makes quick purchases, although the goods are questionable, as is their quality. “Letters received from SPIEGEL mention political reasons several times.” Protective suits are also sent to the Bundeswehr’s nuclear, biological and chemical weapons protection department.

“Commands from above”

Here SPIEGEL draws attention to the direction of commands “from above” – ​​”not Bulgarian suppliers send their goods to Germany to be inspected, and the personal assistant of the Minister must take samples along with a team ready to fly to Bulgaria.

The next day. “The office and the ministry did not even comment on how much the flight cost or why the issue was so” politically important “- people familiar with the case say such a thing has never happened before.

It turns out that at a time when the Ministry of Health is flooded with proposals for masks and in violation of the procedure under which the Bundeswehr usually places orders. In addition, the production from Bulgaria does not have any identification marks or quality certificates.

In addition, samples show that the products are of poor quality; the conclusion is even that the user of the masks is not protected. It is the same with suits that can only be washed at a temperature of 30 to 40 degrees, which is not enough to eliminate viruses, and therefore can only be used once. However, the procurement service was activated and the process was declared “highly political”. A request is made to conclude the largest possible contract with Bulgarian companies to meet the needs of the army.

This includes orders small for Germany but serious for the clothing company Venus, covered by three contracts for six days: 200,000 masks for 246,000 euros. Another 11,000 protective suits are ordered from other manufacturers, despite obvious doubts about the quality.

Subsequent delivery of samples of suits and visors in April is also of poor quality, without certificates; a license is issued for limited use, the visors – for single use.

“But why are Bulgarian contracts so important in Berlin? The office is silent; talks with international partners are confidential,” SPIEGEL wrote. The magazine asked if the federal government should not have at least checked which companies were involved, especially if they were from a country that is the latest in the EU in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index.

Borissov and the companies in the scheme deny any allegations. In the Bundeswehr, however, protective suits are practically in stock, as are visors – some of these goods are not applicable for medical purposes, others may even be dangerous to consumers.

EU boost for culture | News | European Parliament

, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20210512STO04005/

Chinese persecutors of Falun Gong get sanctions by the U.S.

Falun Dafa reports that “U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has announced sanctions against a Chinese official who perpetrated human rights abuses against Falun Gong practitioners in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province in China.“

“Today I am announcing the designation of Yu Hui… for his involvement in gross violations of human rights, namely the arbitrary detention of Falun Gong practitioners for their spiritual beliefs,” said Secretary Blinken at a press briefing.

Yu and his immediate family are therefor now banned from traveling to the United States.

Mr. Erping Zhang, Falun Dafa Information Center spokesperson stated that they “applaud the US Government and “Secretary Blinken” for issuing these sanctions on this official who “drove tremendous human suffering in Chengu against people who practice or support Falun Gong,”.

“This will surely send a potent message across China that the world is watching and there will be real-world consequences for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners,” Zhang added. “As the news spreads among the CCP’s security apparatus, it will very likely make some think twice about perpetrating further abuses.”

The sanctions were announced as the State Department transmitted its 2020 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom to the U.S. Congress. The report cites illegal arrests, detention, and forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners.

Last year, the U.S. Government sanctioned Huang Yuanxiong, chief of China’s Xiamen Public Security Bureau Wucun police station in Fujian Province for his involvement in gross human rights violations against Falun Gong practitioners.

Yu’s Chengdu City: A Hotbed of Suppression

Chengdu is known as having been particularly harsh in recent years in its crackdown against Falun Gong believers in the city.

Among those victimized in Chengdu during Yu’s tenure as a key official was Ms. Liu Guiying an engineer who was detained for over 20 months without trial and then sentenced illegally in 2018 to three years in prison for practicing Falun Gong and filing a complaint over previous torture and abuse. She subsequently suffered deliberate malnourishment and torture at Chengdu’s Women’s Prison.

Yu’s name was included in a database of 9,000 6-10 officials submitted by Falun Gong human rights workers to the State Department earlier this year.

Former Official of “China’s Gestapo”

Yu is the former director of the CCP’s notorious 6-10 office. Referred to by rights activists as the CCP’s “Gestapo for Falun Gong,” the 6-10 office was an extralegal police task force responsible for carrying out the mission of eliminating Falun Gong.

Established by former CCP leader Jiang Zemin and announced in a speech to elite cadres a month before the campaign against Falun Gong was announced in 1999, the organization has long existed outside China’s legal framework. Jiang granted it wide-ranging powers to use “every means necessary” to wipe out Falun Gong.

In his book A China More Just, human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng describes being shocked by the extent of the 6-10’s operations. “The immoral act that has shaken my soul most is the 6-10 Office and policeman’s regular practice of assaulting women’s genitals,” Gao wrote after his 2005 investigation. “Of those persecuted, almost every woman’s genitals and breasts and every man’s private parts have been sexually assaulted in a most vulgar fashion.”

In addition to torture and sexual abuse, 6-10 Office agents also administratively sentence  Falun Gong practitioners to labor camps and abducted adherents straight from their homes to brainwashing classes. As noted in a 2011 article on the 6-10 Office in the Jamestown Foundation’s China Brief, “transformation” and coercive thought reform are a central aspect of the agency’s activities.

In addition to direct involvement in rights abuses, the 6-10 Office has possessed significant power to force the hands of other Party and government bodies.

“The 6-10 office is just like Hitler’s Gestapo,” says Guo Guoting, a Chinese human rights lawyer in exile. “They are powerful and they got enough financial support from the government so… they secretly control all the Falun Gong practitioners in their local areas.”

In Europe, 24 million of 15-34 young people are using psychoactive drugs

Popularized in the 1960’s by artists and mass media such as : “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” (LSD) by the Beatles, “Cocaine” by J.J. Cale, “Purple Haze” (cannabis) by Jimmy Hendrix, etc., drugs use have extensively developed to become part of our culture since the middle of the last century with the psychedelic musics, the Beat Generation (Kerouac, Ginsberg, Cassady, etc.), the psychologist Timothy Leary “pope of the LSD” and the counter-cultural hippie movement. Drugs invaded all the aspects of society, becoming a symbol of rebellion among the youth, a political, cultural and social dissent and a new style of life. On the last 2020 European Drug Report of EMCDDA mentioned that in Europe, 24 million young people are using psychoactive drugs, of which 18 million use cannabis.

The problem

The main drug used in Europe is the cannabis with marijuana and hashish as joint, bong (smoked), the bhang (a drink) and used in Space cakes. For the youth, cannabis is the entrance door to the world of drugs. If initially it was used as a “soft drug” or “recreative drug” with a 0,2% of THC (the liposoluble psychoactive substance), rapidly with genetic engineering technics it reached a 20-30 % THC range with a toxicity level interfering with many vital functions of the body and worse for children.

Despite the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of the UNODC classifying cannabis on Schedule IV, decades of lobbying and challenges by vested interests, with WHO Recommendations, acting to declassify cannabis and related cannabinoids, it was agreed on December 2, 2020, thanks to some wise government representatives, UNODC, INCB and experts to only re-reclassify cannabis in Schedule I, so, still under control and only accessible for scientific and medical purpose.

The last 2020 European Drug Report of EMCDDA mentioned that in Europe, 24 million of 15-34 young people are using psychoactive drugs (with 18 million of cannabis users) and it is estimated that at least 9,000 overdose deaths occurred, the mean age being 42 but starting at 15 years old.

This report also put the stress on the overall high social costs of drugs supported by the society, going far beyond the use of the drugs themselves:

• for the public health with healthcare and treatment: 135 000 people entered treatment related to cannabis use,
• for the public safety: traffic accidents, gangs, crimes, terrorism,
• for the lost in labor productivity, money laundering,
• for undermining states governance by corruption of officials,
• for the degradation of environment due to waste toxic chemicals, deforestation, soil degradation and water issues .

Moreover, the drug market in Europe is increasing. It represents a minimum of 30 billion Euros per year shared as: some 12 billion for cannabis (39% of the EU drug market ) coming from Morocco and EU; 9 billion for cocaine (31%) from Central and South America; 7,5 billion for heroin/opioids (25%) from Afghanistan; 1 billion for amphetamine and methamphetamine and 0,5 billion for MDMA (5%) from the EU, Middle East (captagon) and Africa.

In addition currently, some 730 new psychoactive substances (NPS) are found on the European retail market, gathering the synthetic cannabinoids, synthetic opioids and benzodiazepines.

And more, the drug market is linked with criminal activities such as human trafficking (sexual exploitation, forced labor, organ harvesting), child exploitation and migrant smuggling.

The solution

A lot has been discussed about the drug problem, Conventions were written and signed by governments, including on the drug protection of the most vulnerable: the children (CRC article 33, 1989).

What is missing is a basic Education on the drug subject: what they are and what they do. This should be set up as an early primary prevention education, before the youth are contacted by the dealers boasting of the illusory quality of their products in order to better trap the ignorant and by omitting to talk about the following disastrous use consequences. This education is first under the responsibility of the parents, then the surrounding civil society and above all implemented by the government, when not serving special interests.

Leonardo da Vinci said already in the 15th century: It is ignorance that blinds us and misleads us and Will Durant in the 20th century added: Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.

To educate the youth and empower them against the harmful effects of drug use are the main priorities of the Foundation for a Drug Free Europe and its hundred associations and groups across twenty European countries, through the Drug Education Prevention Program The Truth About Drugs which are cooperating with more and more countries in the world to put an end to the production by putting and end to the demand. More information about the organization at: www.fdfe.eu

• UNODC: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
• WHO: World Health Organization
• INCB: International Narcotics Control Board
• EMCDDA: European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction
• CRC: Convention on the Rights of the Child

Rachel Zoll, much-admired AP religion writer, dead at 55

Rachel Zoll, who for 17 years as religion writer for The Associated Press endeared herself to colleagues, competitors and sources with her warm heart and world-class reporting skills, died Friday in Amherst, Massachusetts, after a three-year bout with brain cancer. She was 55.

Zoll covered religion in all its aspects, from the spiritual to the political, and her stories reached a global audience. But her influence was far greater than that. Other publications often followed her lead, and AP staffers around the world depended on her generosity and guidance.

“Rachel was one of the most universally beloved colleagues we had,” said AP’s managing editor, Brian Carovillano. “She was also one of the best reporters, on any beat. … She had a knack for finding the story or angle that no one else considered but is packed with insight and surprises.”

“Most importantly,” he added, “she was always the best kind of colleague, always available for help or consultation. … She always had time for everyone.”

Zoll was at the forefront of coverage of two papal transitions, the clergy sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, and tensions within many denominations over race, same-sex marriage and the role of women.

She often broke news, as in 2014, when she was the first to report Pope Francis’ appointment of Blase Cupich to become the new archbishop of Chicago.

But she also told stories in depth: a 2016 election-year piece examining how conservative Christians felt under siege in a changing nation. A series about Christian missionaries from Africa launching initiatives in the United States. A feature about two churches in Georgia — one black, one white — trying to bridge build a connection by confronting racism.

Not all of her stories were so heavy. In 2005, she reported from Tullahoma, Tennessee, on a Bible study class called “Finding the Way Back to Mayberry” developed by two men who believed watching “The Andy Griffith Show” could lead to spiritual enlightenment.

“Mayberry may be fictitious, but its lessons are not,” preacher Pat Allison told Zoll.

Her work was honored repeatedly by the Religion News Association; it gave her a Special Recognition Award in September 2018, saluting her work over the years and her collegiality.

“She was one of the great personalities in the profession –- or really anywhere,” said RNA contest chairman Jeff Diamant at the awards banquet. “This makes it really hard to get mad at Rachel Zoll, even when she beats you on a story in your hometown.”

Frank Baker, who was Zoll’s editor when she joined the AP’s Providence office in 1996, nominated her for the AP’s most prestigious in-house honor -– a Gramling Award, which she won in 2018

“I’ve worked with countless outstanding journalists. None is better than Rachel,” wrote Baker, now AP’s news editor for California. “She never gets outworked. She never gets intimidated by a subject. And she never loses her sense of humor.”

Zoll, who earned a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and a master’s from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, worked in her hometown at The Salem (Mass.) Evening News before joining the AP in Boston in 1995.

She moved on to Providence for a short stay before being appointed correspondent in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1998. She returned to Providence as correspondent the next year, and became a New York-based religion writer in May 2001.

Laurie Goodstein, The New York Times’ religion writer from 1997 to 2019, said Zoll was revered by her competitors on the beat.

“Rachel mastered the art of interrogating powerful religious leaders and holding them to account without being confrontational or disrespectful,” said Goodstein, now the Times’ deputy international editor.

“She would go to the microphone at a press conference, face a panel of Catholic bishops peering down from a dais, and ask the pivotal question that cut right to the heart of the matter,” Goodstein said via email. “Then amidst the hubbub in the press room, she would hammer out a clear, even-handed, compelling story on the religious controversy of the day.”

One of Zoll’s frequent sources was the Rev. James Martin, a Catholic priest who is editor-at-large of the Jesuit publication America. He recalled her laughter, staccato-like and frequent.

“Rachel was not only an amazing reporter, who was dogged in her pursuit of a story, but a wonderful person: warm, smart, funny,” Martin told the AP. “Sometimes when she called me for a story, we spent more time laughing than talking about the story.”

Zoll became ill in January 2018 as she was helping negotiate a major expansion of AP’s religion coverage via a grant from the Lilly Endowment. A few weeks later, she was diagnosed with the incurable cancer glioblastoma.

Even after that diagnosis, her years of source-building and intricate preparation ensured that AP was first to receive the news of the death of renowned evangelist Billy Graham on Feb. 21, 2018.

Zoll was born in Salem, where her father, Samuel Zoll, served as city councilor and mayor before embarking on a judicial career that included 28 years as chief justice of the Massachusetts District Courts. He died in 2011.

She is survived by her mother, Marjorie Aronow Waldman; three older siblings and their spouses — Barry Zoll and his wife, Susan; Cheryl Zoll and Eric Sawyer, and Risa Zoll and Tim Williams; and five nieces.

Cheryl said her sister had other talents, beyond journalism — she was a gifted musician. Over the years, she played piano, French horn and trumpet.

She even joined an all-woman accordion orchestra — the Main Squeeze. In 2006, she recalled a performance at a New York venue when one band member took a sledgehammer to a squeezebox.

“There were times in the first year or so when I wanted to quit. I felt humiliated onstage,” she wrote. “But then I realized that no matter how many times we bombed, it was always great to step outside the dead-seriousness of adulthood and do something ridiculous like playing James Brown with 14 other accordionists while a friend smashed an instrument into pulp in front of a crowd.

“That night at Irving Plaza, I realized how lucky I am: I’m with the band.”

Iceland’s ring road: Europe’s most sustainable road trip

Depending on the time of year, Iceland can be cloaked in an ethereal palette of green or white, as it experiences the lightest of nights or the darkest of days. And either landscape makes for an idyllic backdrop to a road trip that puts sustainability front and centre.

The capital of Reykjavik embodies traditional Scandinavian design and is home to only 200,000 inhabitants (including legendary artist Björk for half of the year), yet innovation is the driving force behind the bright facades. These principles extend throughout Iceland’s countryside – the island nation is mostly powered by geothermal energy combined with other renewable sources that make it close to 100 per cent green.

Travellers seeking to explore the home of the elves – or huldufólk – take to the ring road. This highway that borders the island was carefully built around the residences of these spirits, in order not to disturb them. And tourists can create even less disturbance by renting a whisper-quiet electric car in the capital; it won’t run low on power as there are plenty of high-speed chargers available to use along the route.

Hellisheidi Geothermal Power Plant

(Arni Saeberg)

Opportunities to be a part of the rural environment abound on this classic Icelandic road trip, with wild camping allowed on uncultivated land (as long as it’s for one night only) and free campsites available for those looking to pitch up for longer. For those who prefer two wheels to four, the route is used by so many cyclists that drivers happily share the quiet roads. All journeys turn up something unexpected: multiple waterfalls carve their way through the basalt; lagoons hide among the jagged rock formations; pearlescent glaciers and tiny churches built miles from civilisation appear when you least expect them.

Recommended

The ring road also provides access to the famed geothermal blue lagoon and spa retreat – another example of sustainability, powered by the landscape. It’s built using durable, camouflaging materials to make the structure a continuation of the moss-covered volcanic rock that encircles it, plus has its own sustainable skincare line made from the silica, algae and minerals found here, as well as serving local, organic food in its restaurants.

Multiple waterfalls carve their way through the basalt; lagoons hide among the jagged rock formations

Locally sourced food is easy to come by in Iceland. Everything from tomatoes and cucumbers to bananas – cultivated in geothermal and solar-powered greenhouses outside Reykjavík – is grown here. The abundance of energy and water means that Friðheimar, one of the oldest greenhouses that’s a half-hour drive inland from the ring road, is able to supply 70 per cent of the country’s tomatoes. Dessert sauce, mixers, juice, chutney and pickles all come from their bumper crop. In the restaurant, tourists can enjoy the novelty of a cheesecake made from green tomato, cinnamon and lime followed by a coffee or beer infused with this surprisingly versatile ingredient.

As green as the road trip itself might be, what about the journey to get there? Carbon offsetting is often seen as an abstract, nebulous concept, but not here: Iceland leads the way on carbon capture by dissolving carbon dioxide in water and turning it into rock. It may sound like science fiction, but Carbfix is happy to bring tourists behind the curtain for a guided tour of this ground-breaking facility.

Road trippers can make a stop at the Blue Lagoon

(Blue Lagoon)

Silja Y Eyþórsdóttir from Carbfix offers an insight into Iceland’s sustainable approach, which started much earlier than other countries. “In the 1950s, Iceland decided to move away from fossil fuels for their district heating system and switched to geothermal heat, perceived as an expensive and bold move at the time. The transition came with a lot of investment in new infrastructure, and it wasn‘t easy, but it paid off in the end.”

It’s why they’ve just started building the Coda Terminal facility in west Iceland, where CO2 emissions from Northern Europe will be transported by boat to be turned to stone, providing storage for three million tonnes per year when it’s complete.

Perhaps the huldufólk are sharing their wisdom with their fellow islanders; not only is a trip around Iceland’s ring road beautiful, it could also provide a vision for the sustainable future of travel.

After 8 years, India and European Union to resume free trade pact talks

After eight years, India and the European Union are set to resume negotiations for an ambitious and comprehensive free trade agreement. An announcement on the formal resumption is expected to be made at a virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top leadership of the 27-nation grouping on Saturday.

Official sources in the EU also said the free trade agreement package will include an investment protection pact as well as a framework on geographical indication.

Launched in June 2007, the FTA talks between India and the EU hit a roadblock in May 2013 when the two sides failed to bridge substantial gaps on crucial issues, including tariff, data security status for the IT sector and market access.

India and the EU will agree to resume the negotiations at the virtual summit between Prime Minister Modi and top leadership of the bloc, sources said Thursday.

The two sides are also likely to announce a connectivity partnership at the summit that is aimed at boosting cooperation in sectors like railway, maritime and aviation as well as in the digital domain to bring people of the two sides closer to each other, sources said.

Prime Minister Modi was scheduled to visit Portugal for the India-EU summit but it was called off because of the coronavirus crisis. Both sides then decided to hold the deliberations virtually.

A strategically important grouping for India, the EU as a whole was country’s largest trading partner in 2018. India’s bilateral trade with the EU in 2018-19 stood at $15.6 billion with exports valued at $57.17 billion and imports worth $58.42 billion.

Madrid Popular Party doubles strenght and wins elections

Isabel Díaz Ayuso, a complete unknown without much trajectory only two years ago, is consolidating her position as a political phenomenon. The Madrid president and PP candidate is the big winner of the elections in the Community of Madrid, where she has swept to the point of winning more seats than the three left-wing parties combined, which will allow her to govern comfortably and without needing Vox for every law. The right-wing bloc has clearly strengthened and won 78 seats (65 for the PP and 13 for Vox) compared to 58 for the left (24 for Más Madrid, 24 for the PSOE and 10 for Podemos). Just two years ago, the difference between the two blocs was four MPs. Madrid thus swings even further to the right, but thanks to the spectacular increase of the PP, because Vox is left with a result very similar to that of two years ago.

The hard blow to the left has an immediate consequence: Pablo Iglesias leaves all his positions in Podemos and will not stay in the regional Assembly: “I will not be a stopper for a new leadership. I don’t know what destiny is, walking I was what I was”, he said as a farewell quoting Silvio Rodríguez after pointing to Yolanda Díaz as his successor.

A historic turnout, 11 points higher than in 2019, has not only not lifted the left, but has sunk it much further, especially due to the collapse of the PSOE, which has just won the elections in Catalonia, but has hit a bump in Madrid with a fall of more than 10 points that lead it to have the worst result in its history, and to tie in seats with a formation with hardly any means such as Más Madrid, which at the last moment of the count achieved a historic first place on the left by just over 4,000 votes.

Díaz Ayuso has not achieved an absolute majority – she is just four seats short – but the abstention of Vox would be enough for her to be invested. It now remains to be seen whether or not this group will want to enter the Madrid government, although the results make that possibility unlikely.

The left has failed in its attempt to seek a turnaround by mobilising the southern vote. The key to this fiasco is the PSOE’s collapse, which in less than two years has lost a good part of its support, despite having the same candidate who in 2019 amply won the elections in the community, Ángel Gabilondo, although he was unable to govern because the right-wing bloc had more seats than the left-wing bloc.

Young people key to transforming world’s food systems

The online discussions, which centred around topics such as agriculture, education and climate change, will serve as direct input to a landmark UN Food Systems Summit, due to be held in September. 

More than a plateful 

Transforming food systems is critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said in a video message for the event. 

She highlighted how “food is much bigger than what is on your plate”, noting key connections with health, environment and culture.   

“This is a complex challenge, but only together will we transform our food systems to be more equitable, inclusive and sustainable and deliver the SDGs by 2030”, she said.  

Profit over purpose 

Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, explained why food systems much change on a planet where half of all children do not have access to healthy diets, amid a “worrying increase” in overweight and obesity. 

“Too often, food systems put profit over purpose. This places the most nutritious foods often out of reach for many households”, she said. 

“Families are forced to turn to heavily marketed and unhealthy alternatives. These may be cheaper and more available. But they also lead to poor nutritional outcomes, threatening children’s development and growth and — in the worst cases — survival itself.” 

COVID-19 and rising hunger 

The UN Food Systems Summit is organized around five “Action Tracks” to foster initiatives on issues such as boosting “nature-positive” food production and shifting to sustainable consumption patterns. 

Janya Green from the United States is a youth co-chair on Action Track 1, which covers ensuring access to safe and nutritious food for all.  She has been working on community food gardens since she was 12. 

“As you all know, hunger worldwide is a huge problem. The number of undernourished people continued to increase in 2019.  Even before taking COVID-19 into account, hunger was predicted to rise.  If we do not reverse these current trends, the SDG zero-hunger target will not be met,” she warned. 

Unsplash/Zoe Schaeffer

A woman tends to plants on a small-scale, sustainable farm in Pennsylvania, USA.

‘The future is youth’ 

The pandemic has exposed deep-rooted inequities, including in food systems, the UN Deputy Secretary-General observed. While young people are among those hit hard by the aftershocks, Ms. Mohammed said they have also been resilient, converting challenges into opportunities. 

Agnes Kalibata, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy to the Food Systems Summit, stressed that it would be impossible to hold the event without engaging with youth. 

Ms. Kalibata, who is from Rwanda, recalled that young people make up 77 per cent of the total population in Africa, and around 50 per cent of the global population. 

 “This is about the future”, she said.  “The future is youth. The future of our world is our youth.”

UN forum examines how to make science and technology work better for all

The Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (STI Forum) aims to identify gaps and promote partnerships in efforts to achieve a greener world by 2030. 

In remarks to the forum, the UN Secretary-General emphasized how the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the importance of science, technology and innovation for human well-being and survival, as well as the need for greater global cooperation. 

His statement was delivered by Maria Francesca Spatolisano, Assistant Secretary-General in the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. 

Pandemic sparks innovations 

Addressing the pandemic, the UN chief said not only was a vaccine developed in record time, but the crisis has also increased innovation in medicines and digital communications technologies.   

At the same time, scientific discovery and collaborations have accelerated and new ways of delivering services have proliferated.   

The Secretary-General said these advances hold promise for collective challenges beyond the pandemic, including in limiting climate disruption, reducing inequalities and “ending our war on nature”.  

© UNICEF/Chansereypich Seng

In March, representatives from UNICEF and WHO visited hospitals in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia to monitor the progress of COVID-19 vaccination through COVAX.

Billions still excluded 

However, he noted that billions of people worldwide still remain largely excluded from the benefits of the information and technology revolution, and the pandemic has only exacerbated existing technology divides. 

“It is essential that we work together — across borders, sectors and disciplines — to make science and technology work for everyone”, his statement said. 

“Multi-stakeholder cooperation will continue to be the key, helping us to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, address climate change, end the biodiversity and pollution crises and rise to our other common challenges.” 

Technology for development 

The STI Forum, now in its sixth year, is part of the UN Technology Facilitation Mechanism, an online platform which supports countries in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by their 2030 deadline.   

Through the platform, UN entities, Member States, civil society, the private sector, the scientific community and other stakeholders share information, experiences, best practices and policy advice. 

Last June, the Secretary-General also launched a Roadmap for Digital Cooperation.  Its eight objectives include achieving universal connectivity by 2030 as roughly half the world’s population, or three billion people, most of them women, do not have access to the Internet.