Archaeologists have been looking for frescoes for four years in order to put them together later.
In the Provençal city of Arles, France, a team of archaeologists in one of the houses discovered historically valuable wall paintings from the 1st century BC, The Guardian reports.
Since the beginning of excavations, 800 boxes with fragments of wall paintings have been collected there.
This city has the House of the Harper, which was built between 70 and 50 BC by Italian craftsmen. It was built around a central atrium with a large pool to collect rainwater for the household. The building is considered an outstanding monument of ancient architecture and interior decoration.
There, ancient experts opened their workshop to showcase their skills and craftsmanship. They tried to piece together a huge mosaic of magnificent frescoes.
In total, since the beginning of excavations in April 2021, archaeologists have already collected 800 boxes with fragments of wall paintings, some of which were recovered from the excavated walls of the building, and the other part was found in ruins.
According to experts, to collect all the frescoes, which occupy more than 220 square meters, will have to work until at least 2023.
The most interesting thing is that fragments of a mosaic were found there, the size of which was no more than the length of the nail.
However, scientists also collected them, washed them and placed them in boxes, so that later they could see how they fit into the overall picture of the mosaic. In total, the specialists spent 1800 hours to sort out the parts, and this is not the end.
In addition, according to archaeologists, the House of Harpers was deliberately destroyed 20 years after its construction. A new building was built in its place, which has preserved a work of art. After that, three more houses were erected on the same site.
To begin excavating the site of this house, the team used a special camera to explore the basements. This is how they discovered the Harper’s House under the existing building.
The walls of one of the rooms in the villa appear to have been covered with a gallery of large figures, including a harpist and pedestals, and stood out against a bright red background.
Experts say that the decoration and large-scale depictions of figures, called intaglio, were discovered in Italy but are unknown in France.
The variety and exceptional quality of the decor give a unique insight into late Roman decorative styles, especially the wall paintings of the late Pompeii period.
In 2013, the first excavations took place, and more than a meter under the existing building, the Harper’s House was discovered.
For four years, archaeologists have been looking for frescoes and collecting fragments.
Now experts are putting the pieces together to show them in the museum.
The Christie’s auction house estimates that they could reach 3.7 million euros
A new challenge for connoisseurs of jewelry with opportunities – two diamond bracelets by Maria-Antoinette are sold at auction, organized by the auction house “Christie’s”, BTA reported.
The bidding is organized for November 9 in Geneva.
The preliminary estimate of the products is from 1.8 million to 3.7 million Euros.
“This price is determined not only by the value of the diamonds, but also by the ability to wear jewelry ordered personally by Queen Marie Antoinette,” said Marie-Cecil Sizamolo of Christie’s.
Each of the bracelets is inlaid with three rows of diamonds. The two can be combined in one necklace. The gems are between one and four carats. According to the auction house, the total diamonds of the two pieces of jewelry are between 140 and 150 carats. The bracelets will be sold in one lot. Of course, Christie’s expects the price of the jewelry to be exceeded many times over.
In 2018, a diamond pendant for a necklace by Marie Antoinette was put up for auction for 1.8 million euros, but reached 31.8 million euros.
The wife of King Louis XVI of France ordered the bracelets from the jeweler Charles Auguste Bomer in 1776 in Paris. Their price is 250 thousand pounds, which at that time was an extremely high amount.
Locked up, why? She had been deprived of her liberty simply because she was somewhat confused and had played loud music late in the evening. A neighbour had called the police, who found her home messy and requested her to be examined. She was not psychotic, and did not believe she needed professional assistance. She knew well what could happen, she had been locked up in a psychiatric ward some years ago. She was nevertheless taken to the local psychiatric hospital where she was locked up an hour later.
She had not committed any crime, wasn’t suicidal nor dangerous to anyone. The 45-year-old woman was known to her friends as a peaceful Christian and active in her community. But sometimes her life got a little too rattled and this was the case here. She knew she needed a chill out and so was going on holiday, and was playing music while packing for her trip the following day. Her mind was a bit somewhere else when the police rang the bell for the second time that evening. She couldn’t explain it away and ended up in the closed psychiatric ward.
The above story may not be unusual in Denmark, as more and more people are being locked up in psychiatric wards. And it is not only happening to dangerous insane criminals, it happens to a wide number of persons. Despite a restrictive law, explicit safeguarding protocols, and a clear policy of reducing the use of coercive measures in psychiatry, last year saw the highest number of persons being deprived of their liberty in psychiatry. And it has been steadily increasing for years.
The Psychiatry Act
There are several ways a person can be deprived of his or her liberty in psychiatry in Denmark. The circumstances, criteria and safeguards against abuses are laid out in the special law, the Psychiatry Act. Deprivation of liberty and the use of coercion or force may be applied when it is not possible to obtain the person’s voluntary cooperation and the intervention is considered to be in accordance with the minimum means principle [less intrusive intervention].
The law require that a person can and must be detained if he or she is in need of treatment, will not voluntarily accept an offer of admission and the following conditions are met:
the person is insane or in a state corresponding to insanity and
It is unreasonable not to detain the person in order to provide treatment because: (a) The prospect of recovery or of a significant and decisive improvement in the illness would otherwise be substantially impaired; or (b) The person poses an imminent and substantial danger to himself or others.
No court hearing is to be held for the deprivation of liberty to be legal. It can be executed the moment a psychiatrist has confirmed that according to his opinion the treatment that he believes he can provide is necessary. The subjected person can complain, but this does not prevent the execution of the deprivation of liberty.
This has led to an ever-increasing use of this means effectively detaining thousands of persons every year.
3 stats on involuntary commitments
Eugenics
The possibility to target such a wide range of persons with the serious intervention – deprivation of liberty – has its roots in the 1920s and 1930s, when eugenics became a prerequisite and an integral part of the social development model in Denmark. At that time more and more authors expressed the wish that even non-dangerous “deviants” could be forcibly admitted to a mental facility.
The driving force behind this idea was not a concern for the individual, but a concern for society or the family. An idea of a society where the “deviant” and “troublesome” elements had no place.
According to then renown Danish Public Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Otto Schlegel, in an article of the Danish Weekly Journal of the Judiciary, all the authors, except one, thought that “the possibility of compulsory hospitalisation should also be open to some extent to persons who are probably not dangerous but who cannot act in the outside world, the troublesome insane whose behaviour threatens to destroy or scandalize their relatives. Curative considerations have also been thought to justify compulsory hospitalisation in certain cases.”
Thus, the Danish Insanity Act of 1938 introduced the possibility of detaining non-dangerous insane persons. The driving idea behind the idea of depriving the concerned of his or her liberty, and thereby removing those who could not function adequately in society – the so-called troublesome and deviant insane who was not dangerous – was not a concern for the individual, but a concern for society. It was not a compassionate concern or an idea of helping people in need that led to the introduction of this possibility in the legislation, but an idea of a society in which the deviant and “troublesome” elements had no place. After all, their behaviour could threaten to destroy or scandalize their relatives.
The deprivation of liberty of the insane was historically based on a principle of emergency law. Up to 1938, the legal basis for depriving the insane of their liberty was still to be found in Danish Law 1-19-7 of 1683 and in later legislation. The rules on the deprivation of liberty of the insane covered only insane persons who might be considered dangerous to the general safety or to themselves or their surroundings.
With the eugenics influenced Insanity Act of 1938 this changed, and the possibility to detain non-dangerous persons who are being pointed out as a societal trouble case has been maintained since in the newer Psychiatry Act.
Retainments
Deprivations of liberty in to psychiatry in addition to picking people up in their homes or from the street can also be done to persons who voluntarily hospitalize themselves.
If a person who admitted himself to a psychiatric hospital request to be discharged, the senior physician must decide whether the patient can be discharged or must be forcibly retained. The person’s wish to be discharged may be explicit (he or she demands to be discharged), but it may also be a behaviour of the person which must be equated with a wish to be discharged.
According to the law a voluntarily admitted patient can and must be detained if the person requests discharge at a time when the he or she meets the conditions for compulsory admission under the Psychiatric Act.
Prior to this, the patient’s consent to continued voluntary admission shall be sought in accordance with the principle of minimum means.
For more than 25 years there has been a very pronounced political and governmental will to decrease the use of coercion in psychiatry in Denmark. Yet, this intention is not reflected in the daily life and practice in the psychiatric wards. Thus, one also notes a significant increase of involuntary retainments.
In addition to the regular involuntary commitments and retainments, there is yet another less obvious procedure that is used to enforce commitments in to psychiatric wards without it appearing as an involuntary commitment, despite it is against the consent of the person concerned. This is court ordered convictions to psychiatric treatment according to the Criminal law. Thousands of persons today thus live in society but can be picked up at any time they would not follow treatment instructions and locked up in a psychiatric ward. When this is done, it is not considered an involuntary commitment.
Law causing coercion
The deprivation of liberty in to psychiatry is increasing year by year over the last decades and is far in excess of the psychiatric inpatient increase or population growth.
With the efforts of shifting Danish governments and the unanimous political intention to decrease the use of coercive measures in psychiatry, the allocation of resources and central administrative efforts to effectuate this one can only see the mere fact of the existence of the legal possibility to use or require the use of coercion as the reason for the sliding practice, with increasing deprivations of liberty in psychiatry.
NATO’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and the extremely rapid occupation of the capital, Kabul, by the Taliban, followed by the collapse of the withdrawal of Western troops and personnel, is a game changer in relations between Turkey and the Alliance.
After the failed coup against Erdogan in 2016, Turkey’s position has changed systematically. Turkey’s president approached Russia by acquiring S-400 missile systems, reheated the frozen Mediterranean conflict with Greece and France, and signed a security protocol with Hamas in Israel’s detriment. All these geopolitical games have shown that Turkey considers itself a regional power and behaves as such, even if it affects the interests of some NATO allies.
Not infrequently, political, and military analysts have spoken of Turkey’s withdrawal from NATO or the relocation of the US nuclear arsenal from the Incirlik base.
Turkey profits from the Afghan crisis
At this time, the United States is feeling the full withdrawal from Afghanistan and the US image in the international arena is visibly affected. Biden cannot take on a conflict, even a diplomatic one, with Turkey, because it has to deal with multiple internal issues, plus China’s expansion and Russia’s geopolitical games.
The European Union is preparing to receive a massive wave of migrants and elections are approaching in Germany and France, so a diplomatic conflict with Turkey is out of the question.
Erdogan feels the international situation is complicated and sees an opportunity he cannot miss. Turkey assumes an active role in front of NATO in Afghanistan and in front of the EU by agreeing to stop, or at least block for a while the inevitable wave of migrants. Thus, the leader from Ankara positions Turkey as a very important player in the Middle East (diplomatically supported and with NATO information) and also benefits from European money to stop migration. It’s a new form of win-win, where the winner, on all fronts, is Turkey, while the rest of the pack seems happy enough to have some mild form of containment over a situation without solution.
The Islamabad-Kabul-Ankara Axis
Ankara holds a special position in Afghanistan, primarily due to the Muslim religion, but also due to geography, the two states having a common border. Turkey has participated in NATO missions in Afghanistan from the beginning, since 2002, but Turkish military troops have never participated in combat operations, limiting themselves to guarding and training.
Analyzing the current situation, we can see that Turkey has prepared its strategy for Afghanistan in advance. For 10 years, the Turkish military ran a hospital in Kabul that served Afghans in a neighborhood inhabited mainly by the Pashtun community, the same community from which most Taliban come.
Turkey withdrew about 1,000 Turkish citizens from Afghanistan, but more than 4,000 preferred to remain in Afghanistan. In other words, under the leadership of the Taliban, the Turks will continue to produce, do business and work in Afghanistan.
The current situation dictates that Turkey and Pakistan are the states with the most important levers on the new establishment in Kabul, but the situation may change, especially after the active involvement of Russia, China and Iran.
Ankara’s medium and short term strategy
Turkey is militarily and logistically involved in several areas (military in Syria, Libya and Iraq and logistically in Ukraine and the Caucasus). This type of involvement brings benefits in the medium and long term, but costs enormously. The Turkish economy is on a downward slope. Under these conditions, Turkey is expected to implement a political rather than military strategy in Afghanistan and to request financial support for ground missions from NATO, from the EU for anti-migration policy or from Qatar, a state that supports various Erdogan projects.
We must not forget that Turkey is ruled authoritatively by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and state policy, whether internal or external, is subordinated to its needs. Thus, the sultan needs a clearing of the image for the 2023 elections and may want the role of regional leader who has successfully managed the situation in Afghanistan.
The crisis triggered by the withdrawal of allies from Afghanistan and Erdogan’s clever moves reposition Turkey in relation to the US and the EU. Ankara is currently the best connected NATO state in the Middle East and this gives Erdogan an interesting set of cards that he will play in order to assert leadership and to project power.
On Monday August 30, at the University of Munster, the European Academy of Religion – a research initiative on religion launched under the high patronage of the European Parliament, offering an exchange platform to scholars, universities, centers, research infrastructures, scientific journals and publishers coming from Europe and the surrounding regions – launched its annual meeting of 2021, in a hybrid format, with on-site and online sessions.
University of Munster, Germany, screenshot
The President of the Academy, Prof. Hans Peter Grosshans (WWU Münster) in an official statement on their website said: “The Münster conference of the European Academy of Religion will discuss these and many more questions which are raised when studying the relation of religion and change.”
One of the first sessions was called “Gnosticism and New Religions: The Case of L. Ron Hubbard” and tackled the topic of Scientology as a modern gnosis. The session was moderated by Rosita Soryte, board member of the European Federation for Freedom of Belief. Three panelists approached the topic from different angles.
Aldo Natale Terrin, a Roman Catholic priest teaching at the Santa Giustina Institute in Padova, had already written a comprehensive book on the similarities between Scientology and gnosis as well as with other religions, including eastern religions. In his presentation, he developed the fact that the comparison between Scientology and Gnosticism is evident, based primarily on several principles, including its explanations relating to the fall of the spirit, the conception of the world as matter, and the need to recover the knowledge of the hidden “divine spark” that lies in human spirits in order to return to the divine. He added that there are other manifestations of Scientology that can be compared to Gnosticism giving a number of other examples of this. He concluded by quoting the Italian Humanist Agostino in his Prisca theologia (Ancient theology), an expression which means “that there is a ‘eternal core’ of shared wisdom in all religions, synthesized as a Transcendental doctrine”, saying that “surely Gnosticism and Scientology belong to this Great Tradition”.
Then Massimo Introvigne, managing director of the CESNUR (Center for Studies on New Religions) and editor-in-chief of the daily magazine Bitter Winter, furthered the discussion by reviewing how in the 60s and 70s, some antagonists to Scientology attempted to take advantage of the relationship of Scientology’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard, with several Gnostic traditions and movements before he founded Scientology, in order to depict him as being associated with black magic. Introvigne reviewed different angles that attempted to discredit Hubbard at that time, and debunked the idea that he would have been so motivated. While Hubbard had indeed expressed interest in magic and found it praiseworthy in its attempt to overcome materialism, he also considered that magic was likely to fail as it depended too heavily on rituals and beliefs. He concluded by stating that Hubbard’s assessment of magic (and of Aleister Crowley, the famous British magus who leaded the Ordo Templi Orientis) was in fact surprisingly modern and close to that of more modern academics.
Finally, Eric Roux, chair of the European Interreligious Freedom for Religious Freedom and also a European religious leader of the Church of Scientology, made a presentation based on some of the writings of L. Ron Hubbard, where the Scientology Founder acknowledged that Scientologists are in fact Gnostics, in the sense that “they know that they know”. Scientology, Roux said, is “a quest for liberating knowledge, a desire to transcend the consequences of a ‘spiritual fall’ which has made the spirit prisoner of its own traps, and this can only remind one of ancient Gnostics themes”. He made comparisons between the aspirations of those ancient Gnostics and some of the “gradient scales” and axioms that exist in Scientology demonstrating that the purposes were similar. “Of course,” Roux said, “Scientology is a religion of the 20th century and its quest for knowledge therefore necessarily involves other tools than those that existed in ancient Greece or in the early days of the Christian era. Nevertheless, the result is that Scientology is Knowingness, awareness, and personal freedom for the individual, and this Gnosis,” he concluded.
Faith Vonic is a 25 years old Afropop and “Hipco” (HipHop) Female Artist born and raised in Liberia, West Africa. She started singing at the age of 10 at her school and covering various musical artist on her YouTube channel. In 2012, she began writing and producing her own records, and officially began her journey as a dynamic cutting edge Artist within the Liberian music industry. Her distinct sound and knack for creativity and pushing the envelope has made Faithvonic a force to be reckoned with, rising to the top of the music industry.
Faith was raised by a single mother in Liberia, with challenging circumstances including being a survivor of SGBV and mental abuse at a young age. Music became faith coping/ escape mechanism during her childhood, and she utilized her music as the medium to communicate and express her experiences, feelings, and thoughts with the intention to help and inspire other young girls who may have been in similar situations. Through the confidence brought by her music and talent, she decided to turn her passion into a career.
Faith stage name was inspired by both a combination from her first name and mother’s name; as she applauds her mother’s strength as a driving force behind her music journey. Her mother’s name is Yvonne, so Faith +Yvonne birth the stage name FaithVonic.
In 2014, faith came in contact with ActionAid Liberia as an effort to provide Ebola awareness support through a collective music group called LATA. Since then Faith has been partnering with AAL through Activista, Safe Cities Campaign, and has also been a Girls Rights Ambassador for ActionAid on various interventions. As a youth activist, Faith works with young girls across the country empowering them to advocate for their rights, and supporting them around building their self-confidence and self –esteem.
In addition to being a musical artist, Faith is also a budding fashion designer, graphic designer, content creator, and video director expanding her portfolio, versatility, and market reach. Furthermore, Faith has 4 siblings and loves being a sister and role model to them.
Faith’s goal is to see more Liberian young women with the confidence to utilize music, art, and creative activism to express themselves and advocate for their rights.
“The love I have for music is one of the best way I can express my feelings and also inspire others”
FaithVonic, 22
She believes through her music the world gets to see her Country Liberia and the beauty of it from all angles. With 60% of Liberia’s population being under 35, and the increased impact of COVID-19 on young people and especially young women, Faith knew she needed to utilize her talents to support awareness initiatives, even in her own way – utilizing creative activism. Faith also knew the country is at a pivotal moment, and hadn’t survived the Ebola outbreak, solidarity music was needed to bring the country/region/continent together, highlighting our strength, beauty in our diversity, and hope that we can once again overcome another pandemic even amid challenges. In collaboration with ActionAid Liberia, Faith was able to birth the “Africa Fight” Coronavirus Awareness Song- which will be officially released on all platforms soon.
Today we honour and remember the victims of acts of violence based on religion or belief.
Across the world, we continue to witness a rise in hate speech, intolerance, and even physical violence and attacks on individuals, groups, and sites, purely because of their religious beliefs or significance.
This violence often goes hand-in-hand with the infringement of other fundamental rights, including the right to freedom of thought or conscience. The COVID-19 pandemic, which has fueled racism, stigma, and disinformation, often targeting ethnic and religious minorities, has further exacerbated this dangerous convergence.
Despite the risks, victims continue to speak out with great courage to defend their rights. I stand in full solidarity with them — and with the determined efforts of civil society actors, community and faith leaders, to mobilize against any act of violence or discrimination.
“States have the primary responsibility to prohibit and deter discrimination and violence and to protect the human rights of religious minorities”
António Guterres, UN Secretary General -August 22nd, 2021
States have the primary responsibility to prohibit and deter discrimination and violence and to protect the human rights of religious minorities and ensure that perpetrators of these crimes are held accountable. At the same time, the international community must do more to support the victims of these heinous acts, as well as those who are working to address the root causes of intolerance and hate. I have made tackling this issue a priority, including through initiatives like the Call to Action for Human Rights, the UN Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech, and the UN Plan to Safeguard Religious Sites.
Freedom of religion or belief is a human right, enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Today, this right is being tested.
Let us commit to turning the tide on this appalling trend, to building more inclusive and peaceful societies, where diversity is celebrated as a richness that strengthens us all.
Message for the commemoration of the 2021 International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief
Human Rights Related to Freedom of Religion or Belief
Freedom of religion or belief, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to peaceful assembly and the right to freedom of association are interdependent, interrelated and mutually reinforcing. They are enshrined in articles 18, 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Upholding these rights plays an important role in the fight against all forms of intolerance and of discrimination based on religion or belief.
The open, constructive and respectful debate of ideas, as well as interreligious, interfaith and intercultural dialogue, at the local, national, regional and international levels, can play a positive role in combating religious hatred, incitement and violence.
Furthermore, the exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and full respect for the freedom to seek, receive and impart information can play a positive role in strengthening democracy and combating religious intolerance.
Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief
There are continuing acts of intolerance and violence based on religion or belief against individuals, including against persons belonging to religious communities and religious minorities around the world, and the number and intensity of such incidents, which are often of a criminal nature and may have international characteristics, are increasing.
That is why the General Assembly adopted the resolution A/RES/73/296, titled “International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief” strongly condemning continuing violence and acts of terrorism targeting individuals, including persons belonging to religious minorities, on the basis of or in the name of religion or belief.
The Member States reaffirmed their unequivocal condemnation of all acts, methods and practices of terrorism and violent extremism conducive to terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations, wherever and by whomsoever committed, regardless of their motivation, and reiterated that terrorism and violent extremism as and when conducive to terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations, cannot and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group.
The General Assembly decided to designate 22 August as the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief.
The General Assembly, in its resolution A/RES/73/296, designated 22 August as the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief recognizing the importance of providing victims of acts of violence based on religion or belief and members of their families with appropriate support and assistance in accordance with applicable law.
It strongly deplored all acts of violence against persons on the basis of their religion or belief, as well as any such acts directed against their homes, businesses, properties, schools, cultural centres or places of worship, as well as all attacks on and in religious places, sites and shrines that are in violation of international law.
A previous resolution establishing the International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism (A/RES/72/165) also recognized that working together to enhance the implementation of existing legal regimes that protect individuals against discrimination and hate crimes, increasing interreligious, interfaith and intercultural efforts and expanding human rights education are important first steps in combating incidents of intolerance, discrimination and violence against individuals on the basis of religion or belief.
By proclaiming an International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief, the General Assembly recalled that States have the primary responsibility to promote and protect human rights, including the human rights of persons belonging to religious minorities, including their right to exercise their religion or belief freely.
One very important thing is that, in fact, people who visit the mountains need to be literate about where they are going, which has been a big problem in recent years. Everyone thinks that the mountain is something wonderful and wonderful, with flowers and herbs, where he can do whatever he wants. In fact, this is not the case. This mountain has its own life and rules that we must follow. One thing is clear – that nature is exploited, in the case of mushrooms, herbs, etc., regardless of the fact that in it find peace various protected species. We have to be very careful and cautious when we go to the mountains. Therefore, we can consult with representatives of the nearby hunting or forestry. People will kindly explain to us where we can and where we cannot go, where it is not allowed or not recommended, where we run the risk of encountering this type of conflict. Keep in mind that the bear is one of the most non-confrontational animals in the mountains. She can feel and smell you for miles and run away. Another issue is that the bear in this case was placed in an ambush situation – there were groups on both sides to pick mushrooms. And she, of course, began to do the most normal thing – to exercise her instincts for self-preservation. So my opinion as a person who has been in the mountains for many years, has met all kinds of wild animals, including bears, is to be careful where we go. In this case, too, the bear should not be punished, as it acted at the first sign to save its life and defend itself.
What should be our reactions when meeting a bear?
The main thing we have to observe in an area with bears is to talk out loud, to make noise. It would be good to buy a simple whistle, to talk, and not be quiet. The bear will sense us and retreat. She is a non-aggressive creature. When searching for food, sometimes he may not hear us, we may meet and be surprised. If this happens, there are a few rules. First, let’s not look the bears in the eye. We should slowly leave the backpack on the ground, facing it, but lower our heads. Then we have to slowly move away. The bear will growl, turn, maybe see what’s in the backpack. The idea is to leave her something to distract her from us. In the more unacceptable version, it is possible for the bear to chase us. If it’s flat or uphill, we have absolutely no chance. But due to the anatomical specifics of her front paws, which are a little shorter, we have a chance to save ourselves if we start running from a high slope down.
Are teddy bears the most dangerous?
The bears are very curious and agile. If we see a little bear, it should be a clear sign that mom is around and that we need to get away as quickly as possible.
The City is now obliged to grant an eBike to a member of this Church.
According to the court, the German Constitution protects Scientologists - Practice of the City of Munich violates religious freedom and equal treatment guarantee.
The written judgment of the Bavarian State Administrative Court of Appeal (file no. 4 B 20.3008) in the case of a Munich Scientologist against the city of Munich is now available. The case dealt with the city E-Mobile Funding Directive, issued for the purpose of environmental protection, and the city´s refusal to provide a grant for the purchase of an E-Bike to the plaintiff, solely by reason of her adherence to Scientology.
The Bavarian State Admin Court condemned the city practice with unmistakable words as an unjustified interference in the religious freedom guarantee of Art. 4 of the German Constitution and as a violation of Art. 3 of the Constitution which prohibits unequal treatment before the law. The court stated:
„The exclusion of applicants, who feel bound by the Scientology teachings, from the circle of recipients of grants [for an E-Bike] also constitutes a violation of fundamental rights in a multiple way. It is incompatible with the freedom of religion or philosophy and does not satisfy the equal rights requirements of the Constitution.“
Bavarian State Administrative Court, 2021
As the Federal Supreme Admin Court had judged already in 2005, also the Bavarian State Admin Court confirmed that the plaintiff and generally all members of the Church of Scientology can „in any case claim the fundamental right of Art. 4 sect. (1) of the Constitution.“ Art. 4 sect. (1) of the German Constitution guarantees the inviolability of the freedom of belief or the religious and philosophic denomination. By denial of the requested grant, the City of Munich had violated this in a multiple way.
The city was not allowed to generally require the revelation of the religious or philosophical conviction and blanketly exclude Scientologists from its funding program for E-Bikes. The court found „Measures from public authorities that are aimfully directed against the practice of a freedom right protected by Art. 4 sect. (1) of the Constitution, at any rate constitute indirect interferences with a fundamental right. These prerequisites are fulfilled in the case of the exclusion of Scientology adherents from the funding program of the defendant when connected to their personal belief.“
On the prohibition of unequal treatment practices, the court found that the city´s exclusion practice violates the fundamental equal rights principles of the Constitution. The court stated: „Also for reasons of equal treatment, the exclusion of Scientology-members and -adherents from the funding program of the defendant must be considered as illegal. It violates Art. 3 sect. (1) and (3) of the Constitution“, that is to say, it violates the fundamental principle that all people are equal before the law and that they must not be subjected to disadvantages by reason of their belief or religious or philosophical conviction.
The spokesperson of the Church of Scientology of Germany was happy to comment on the judgment:
„With the above a German Court for the first time called a spade a spade. We are happy that this discriminatory city practice towards Scientologists was finally „red-carded“ which it had deserved since long. This is a victory for religious freedom for all people who are subject to disadvantages in Germany by reason of their religious belief.“
Last september 2020, Scientology had requested the UN to launch an investigation on Germany for violating religious freedom, and in fact the Special Rapporteur on FORB Ahmed Shaheed, had previously written a letter to the German government inquiring them for such discriminatory practices. While the Scientologists still have some work to do to get their rights respected by German officials, it seems that international exposure and above all, proper abidance to the law and justice system, is paying off.
Photo: Steffen Flor, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Emirati national Aisha Al Yazeedi, a research scientist at the NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) Center for Astro, Particle, and Planetary Physics, has published her first research paper, featuring some key findings on the evolution of galaxies.
Galaxies eventually undergo a phase in which they lose most of their gas, which results in a change into their properties over the course of their evolution. Current models for galaxy evolution suggest this should eventually happen to all galaxies, including our own Milky Way; Al Yazeedi and her team are delving into this process.
Composite RGB image of the Blob Source extracted from the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys (Dey et al.(2019), legacysurvey.org). MaNGA _eld of view is shown in orange. Gray box corresponds to the GMOS _eld of view. Credit: Dey et al.(2019), legacysurvey.org
Commenting on the findings, Al Yazeedi said: “The evolution of galaxies is directly linked to the activity of their central supermassive black hole (SMBH). However, the connection between the activity of SMBHs and the ejection of gas from the entire galaxy is poorly understood. Observational studies, including our research, are essential to clarify how the central SMBH can influence the evolution of its entire host galaxy and prove key theoretical concepts in the field of astrophysics.”
Titled “The impact of low luminosity AGN on their host galaxies: A radio and optical investigation of the kpc-scale outflow in MaNGA 1-166919,” the paper has been published in Astronomical Journal. Its findings outline gas ejection mechanisms, outflow properties, and how they are related to the activity of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the center of the host galaxy.
To that end, the paper presents a detailed optical and radio study of the MaNGA 1-166919 galaxy, which appears to have an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN). Radio morphology shows two lobes (jets) emanating from the center of the galaxy, a clear sign of AGN activity that could be driving the optical outflow. By measuring the outflow properties, the NYUAD researchers documented how the extent of the optical outflow matches the extent of radio emission.
Superposition of optical z-band MzLS image isophotes (gray color) and our highest spatial resolution radio image in S band (in blue). Optical image has a spatial resolution of 0:0084, while S-band radio data { 0:009. Credit: NYU Abu Dhabi
Al Yazeedi is a member of NYUAD’s Kawader program, a national capacity-building research fellowship that allows outstanding graduates to gain experience in cutting-edge academic research. The three-year, individually tailored, intensive program is designed for graduates considering a graduate degree or a career in research.
Her paper adds to the growing body of UAE space research and activities. The UAE has sent an Emirati into space, a spacecraft around Mars, and recently announced plans to send a robotic rover to the Moon in 2022, ahead of the ultimate goal to build a city on Mars by 2117.
The above figure is a GMOS outflow map with radio contours overlaid in black. The outflow velocities show a clear spatial separation of “red” and “blue” components. It strongly suggests a biconical outflow and nicely shows the correspondence between the optical outflow and radio emission. Credit: NYU Abu Dhabi
Emirati women are playing a key role in the research and development behind these projects. The Mars Hope probe science team, which is 80 percent female, was led by Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Sciences and chairperson of the country’s space agency.
Reference: “The impact of low luminosity AGN on their host galaxies: A radio and optical investigation of the kpc-scale outflow in MaNGA 1-166919” 3 August 2021, Astronomical Journal. DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/abf5e1
