According to IOM, in the past two months alone, nearly 375,000 Afghans left Pakistan, primarily utilizing the Torkham and Spin Boldak border crossings, near Kabul and Kandahar, respectively.
The number of daily border crossings has skyrocketed from 200 to a staggering 17,000, creating an unprecedented strain on resources and infrastructure.
“Their situation is desperate; most people told us they were forced to leave the country and leave belongings and savings behind,” said Maria Moita, IOM Afghanistan Chief of Mission.
“People arriving in Afghanistan are extremely vulnerable and need immediate support at the border as well as for the long term in the areas of return,” she added.
The crisis has unfolded following Pakistan’s implementation of the “Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan,” which set a 1 November deadline for the “voluntary return” of all undocumented Afghans in Pakistan to their home country.
Response efforts
Critical aid, encompassing shelter, water, sanitation, essential household items, healthcare, protection, nutrition services, and cash assistance for basic needs, transportation, and food, are being delivered by an IOM-led border consortium.
However, the surge in forced returns has necessitated the establishment of larger reception centres to provide assistance to returning Afghans before they proceed to their intended areas of return.
“This is a significant humanitarian crisis and funds are urgently needed to continue providing immediate assistance after arrival to ensure a safe and dignified return,” said Ms. Moita.
Urgent support needed
As the crisis unfolds, the border consortium has launched an initial appeal for support, anticipating the need for a revision and additional resources. The situation is particularly challenging for women and girls in Afghanistan, and with winter approaching, the need for international support is even more urgent.
After decades of conflict, instability and economic crisis, Afghanistan will struggle to absorb the high number of returning families, many of whom have not lived in the country for decades if ever, according to IOM.
“With over six million people already internally displaced throughout the country, Afghans returning from Pakistan face a precarious, uncertain future,” the agency said.
Afghanistan currently has the third-largest number of internally displaced people globally.
The warning comes as aid agencies scramble to respond to a fresh wave of displacement sparked by the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Darfur region of Sudan, with reports of mass killings, rapes and widespread destruction.
The crisis is occurring amid the ongoing war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) which erupted in April.
More than 2.3 million people in Chad, including 1.3 million children, were already going hungry due to climate impacts, rising food and fuel prices, declining agricultural production and intercommunal tensions.
The country is hosting more than a million refugees – among the largest and fastest-growing refugee populations in Africa.
“It is staggering but more Darfuris have fled to Chad in the last six months than in the preceding 20 years. We cannot let the world stand and allow our life-saving operations grind to a halt in Chad,” said Pierre Honnorat, WFP’s Country Director in Chad.
Aid suspension imminent
Mr. Honnorat appealed for greater support to help Sudanese refugees who “cross the border with nothing but harrowing tales of violence.”
“Cutting assistance paves the way for crises of nutrition, crises of instability, and crisis of displacement,” he warned.
WFP said it will be forced to suspend assistance to internally displaced people and refugees from Nigeria, Central African Republic and Cameroon starting in December.
The suspension will be extended in January to 1.4 million people across the country, including new arrivals from Sudan.
The UN agency is seeking $185 million to support its operations over the next six months.
The Monitoring Mission stated that the casualty figure represents deaths verified according to its methodology, cautioning that the actual figure may be significantly higher given the challenges and time required for verification.
“Ten thousand civilian deaths is a grim milestone for Ukraine,” said Danielle Bell, head of the Monitoring Mission, adding that the war, now entering into its 21st month, “risks evolving into a protracted conflict, with the severe human cost being painful to fathom.”
Monitoring also showed that a significant number of civilian casualties occurred far beyond the frontlines, primarily attributed to the Russian armed forces’ deployment of long-range missiles and loitering munitions against targets in populated areas across the country.
“Nearly half of civilian casualties in the last three months have occurred far away from the frontlines. As a result, no place in Ukraine is completely safe,” Ms. Bell warned.
Meanwhile, in New York, the UN Security Council met to discuss the situation in Ukraine, where ambassadors were briefed by senior officials.
Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General in the Department of Political Affairs, warned that there are indications that attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine may escalate further during the upcoming coldest season.
“The impact for millions of Ukrainians will be dire as they brace themselves for the second war-time winter,” he said.
Relentless conflict
Recent developments highlight the relentless nature of the conflict, he added, noting that Russian aerial attacks persist across the country, with Kyiv experiencing missile strikes for the first time in two months on 11 November.
While the capital escaped casualties that night, attacks on Kyiv and its surroundings continue, including drone strikes over the weekend. Other parts of Ukraine, including the city of Kherson, recaptured by Ukraine over a year ago, continue enduring regular intense bombardments, resulting in civilian deaths, Mr. Jenča said.
Miroslav Jenča (on screens) briefing the Security Council.
Humanitarian situation
He also informed Security Council members that the humanitarian situation is rapidly deteriorating, exacerbated by attacks on energy infrastructure and anticipation of frigid weather conditions.
A Winter Response Plan, developed by the UN and its partners in collaboration with Ukrainian authorities, is in full swing, he said, calling for urgent international support to provide essential resources for 1.7 million people in need.
Humanitarian agencies are unable to reach around four million Ukrainians in Russian-controlled areas of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine due to limited access, Mr. Jenča said, stating:
“Humanitarian partners are ready to expand operations in these areas – if given access and adequate support.”
Domestic and global food security
Also briefing the Council, Matthew Hollingworth, Country Director for the World Food Programme (WFP), spoke of the impact of the Russian invasion on food security within Ukraine and globally.
“Today, because of hostilities, Ukrainians are being cut off from accessing markets to buy food, and farmers have reported that they can no longer produce food – a situation that has a dramatic impact inside and outside of Ukraine,” he said.
The situation is particularly dire in settlements near front lines, amid fears that it will only worsen in the winter.
“Around one in five Ukrainian families face some level of severe food insecurity. The closer someone lives to hostilities, the more critical are those needs,” he said.
Impact over years to come
Mr. Hollingworth also informed ambassadors that fields in Ukraine are contaminated with mines and unexploded ordnance and households are unable to grow food to feed themselves.
He added that if attacks on such food infrastructure and the blockage of sea export routes continue, “it will dramatically impact the agricultural production outlook over years to come.”
“This export of produce means that people are fed around the world. It is important to remember that Ukraine accounted for nine per cent of global wheat exports, 15 per cent of maize export, and 44 per cent of sunflower oil exports before February 2022,” he said.
Volkswagen has unveiled its latest compact cars equipped with a voice assistant powered by ChatGPT technology at the CES electronics trade fair in Las Vegas.
The interior of the new Volkswagen Golf GTI with an integrated ChatGPT technology. Image credit: Volkswagen
The integration of ChatGPT functionality with the automaker’s IDA voice assistant has been accomplished through collaboration with Cerence Inc and using its Cerence Chat Pro technology. The chatbot allows drivers to control in-car entertainment and seek information by having content read aloud during their journeys.
Volkswagen claims to be the first volume manufacturer to make this technology a standard feature in its compact segment cars.
This advancement allows future Volkswagen models equipped with the IDA voice assistant to provide drivers with seamless access to a growing artificial intelligence database.
This chatbot integration is now part of the next-generation infotainment system available in various Volkswagen models, including the ID.7, ID.4, ID.5, ID.3, the all-new Tiguan, the all-new Passat, and the new Golf.
It offers enhanced functionalities beyond traditional voice control. The IDA voice assistant can now manage infotainment, navigation, air conditioning, and respond to general knowledge queries. As the AI capabilities continue to expand, drivers can expect even more comprehensive information, enriching conversations, addressing queries, and providing vehicle-specific details—all hands-free.
For the driver, there is no need to undergo any training or modify the driving style. No new accounts, app installations, or ChatGPT activation is required. Activating the voice assistant is as simple as saying “Hello IDA” or pressing the steering wheel button.
IDA automatically determines the priority of tasks, whether it involves executing a vehicle function, searching for a destination, or adjusting the temperature. In cases where the Volkswagen system can’t provide an answer, the query is sent anonymously to AI, and the familiar Volkswagen voice responds.
To maintain the highest level of data protection, ChatGPT does not access any vehicle data, and questions and answers are promptly deleted.
A new “digital twins” computational framework captures personalized arterial forces over 700,000 heartbeats using smartwatch data to better predict risks of heart disease and heart attack.
Biomedical engineers at Duke University have developed a method using data from wearable devices such as smartwatches to digitally mimic an entire week’s worth of an individual’s heartbeats. The previous record covered only a few minutes.
Called the Longitudinal Hemodynamic Mapping Framework (LHMF), the approach creates “digital twins” of a specific patient’s blood flow to assess its 3D characteristics. The advance is an important step toward improving on the current gold standard in evaluating the risks of heart disease or heart attack, which uses snapshots of a single moment in time — a challenging approach for a disease that progresses over months to years.
The research was conducted in collaboration with computational scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and was published on November 15, 2023, at the International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis (SC23). The conference is the leading global conference in the field of high-performance computing.
“Modeling a patient’s 3D blood flow for even a single day would take a century’s worth of compute time on today’s best supercomputers,” said Cyrus Tanade, a PhD candidate in the laboratory of Amanda Randles, the Alfred Winborne and Victoria Stover Mordecai Associate Professor of Biomedical Sciences at Duke.
“If we want to capture blood flow dynamics over long periods of time, we need a paradigm-shifting solution in how we approach 3D personalized simulations.”
A smartwatch – illustrative photo. Image credit: Al Amin Mir via Unsplash, free license
Over the past decade, researchers have steadily made progress toward accurately modeling the pressures and forces created by blood flowing through an individual’s specific vascular geometry. Randles, one of the leaders in the field, has developed a software package called HARVEY to tackle this challenge using the world’s fastest supercomputers.
One of the most commonly accepted uses of such coronary digital twins is to determine whether or not a patient should receive a stent to treat a plaque or lesion. This computational method is much less invasive than the traditional approach of threading a probe on a guide wire into the artery itself.
While this application requires only a handful of heartbeat simulations and works for a single snapshot in time, the field’s goal is to track pressure dynamics over weeks or months after a patient leaves a hospital. To get even 10 minutes of simulated data on the Duke group’s computer cluster, however, they had to lock it down for four months.
“Obviously, that’s not a workable solution to help patients because of the computing costs and time requirements,” Randles said. “Think of it as taking three weeks to simulate what the weather will be like tomorrow. By the time you predict a rainstorm, the water would have already dried up.”
To ever apply this technology to real-world people over the long term, researchers must find a way to reduce the computational load. The new paper introduces the Longitudinal Hemodynamic Mapping Framework, which cuts what used to take nearly a century of simulation time down to just 24 hours.
“The solution is to simulate the heartbeats in parallel rather than sequentially by breaking the task up amongst many different nodes,” Tanade said. “Conventionally, the tasks are broken up spatially with parallel computing. But here, they’re broken up in time as well.”
For example, one could reasonably assume that the specifics of a coronary flow at 10:00 am on a Monday will likely have little impact on the flow at 2:00 pm on a Wednesday.
This allowed the team to develop a method to accurately simulate different chunks of time simultaneously and piece them back together. This breakdown made the pieces small enough to be simulated using cloud computing systems like Amazon Web Services rather than requiring large-scale supercomputers.
To put the mapping framework to the test, researchers used tried and true methods to simulate 750 heartbeats — about 10 minutes of biological time — with the lab’s allotment of computing time on Duke’s computer cluster.
Using continuous data on heart rate and electrocardiography from a smartwatch, it produced a complete set of 3D blood flow biomarkers that could correlate with disease progression and adverse events. It took four months to complete and exceeded the existing record by an order of magnitude.
They then compared these results to those produced by LHMF running on Amazon World Services and Summit, an Oak Ridge National Laboratory system, in just a few hours. The errors were negligible, proving that LHMF could work on a useful time scale.
The team then further refined LHMF by introducing a clustering method, further reducing the computational costs and allowing them to track the frictional force of blood on vessel walls — a well-known biomarker of cardiovascular disease — for over 700,000 heartbeats, or one week of continuous activity.
These results allowed the group to create a personalized, longitudinal hemodynamic map, showing how the forces vary over time and the percentage of time spent in various vulnerable states.
“The results significantly differed from those obtained over a single heartbeat,” Tanade said. “This demonstrates that capturing longitudinal blood flow metrics provides nuances and information that is otherwise not perceptible with the previous gold standard approach.”
“If we can create a temporal map of wall stress in critical areas like the coronary artery, we could predict the risk of a patient developing atherosclerosis or the progression of such diseases,” Randles added. “This method could allow us to identify cases of heart disease much earlier than is currently possible.”
CITATION: “Cloud Computing to Enable Wearable-Driven Longitudinal Hemodynamic Maps.” Cyrus Tanade, Emily Rakestraw, William Ladd, Erik Draeger, Amanda Randles. SC ’23: Proceedings of the International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis. November 2023. Article No.: 82, Pages 1–14. DOI: 10.1145/3581784.3607101
Viet-Hoang Nguyen (de:Benutzer: Viet2001), CC BY-SA 3.0 DE , via Wikimedia Commons
Serving as the Vice President of the European Parliament for the Renew group until last December 31st, Nicola Beer brings a wealth of experience to her new role. She has played a part in committees focusing on economics and monetary affairs foreign affairs and industry and science. One notable achievement includes her role as rapporteur for the Critical Raw Materials Act, which was successfully passed in the European Parliament on December 12th.
Nicola Beer’s political journey
Nicola Beer‘s political journey began in 1991 when she became a member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP). Over time she has held positions such as State Secretary for European Affairs in Hesse and Minister of Culture from 2012 to 2014. In 2017 she became a member of the Bundestag. From 2013, to 2019 she served as Secretary General of the FDP.
Nicola Beer’s appointment, to the EIB Board of Directors comes after a proposal from the government and the formal decision of EU member states, who’re shareholders of the EU bank. Until now there haven’t been any Germans among the eight Vice Presidents on the EIB Board of Directors throughout outgoing President Werner Hoyers term, which ended on December 31 2023 and who has been replaced by Nadia Calviño from Spain.
EIB President Werner Hoyer expressed his enthusiasm for Beer joining the Board of Directors stating, “I’ve known Nicola Beer as an European for years. I’m delighted that she is joining us to contribute to the work of the EU bank benefiting both people and economies in the European Union.”
Honoured by the appointment
In response to her new role, Nicola Beer expressed her honor. She stated, “Being appointed as Vice President of the European Investment Bank is truly an honor. The EIB is one of the worlds financial institutions and a significant player in climate financing.” She emphasized how EIB plays a role in enhancing European economy competitiveness driving innovation and fostering partnerships.
The EIB holds importance within the European Union. Its Board of Directors serves as its body responsible for overseeing day, to day operations. Nicola Beers selection, as a member of the EIB Board of Directors comes after fulfilling the protocols involving EU member states and the governments proposal.
The European Investment Bank as part of the EIB Group focuses on providing long term financing to support investments that align with the objectives of the EU. It is worth noting that the EIB has recently increased its financing for energy projects showcasing a commitment to sustainability and climate neutrality. The banks dedication to innovation funding and its efforts in discontinuing support for fossil fuels further solidify its reputation as a leading institution that embraces thinking financial practices.
Nicola Beer’s appointment not only represents a personal achievement but also signifies progress towards achieving gender diversity in leadership positions within influential European institutions. As she assumes her responsibilities all eyes will be on Beer and the EIB as they navigate through challenges and opportunities, in shaping both the economic and environmental landscape of the European Union.
1. Those who reproach the fact that before their exodus, at the command of God, the people took from the Egyptians vessels of all kinds and clothing and so set off (with these things), from which the tabernacle was made in the wilderness, then they blame themselves ignorant of God’s justifications and His orders, as the presbyter also says. For if God had not deigned to do this in the representative exodus, then no one could now be saved in our true exodus, i.e. in the faith in which we stand and through which we were separated from among the pagans. For we all belong to either a small or a large property, which we acquired “from mammon of unrighteousness.” For where do we get the houses in which we live, the clothes with which we cover ourselves, the vessels with which we use, and everything else necessary for our daily life, if not from what, being pagans, we acquired out of our own greed or received from our pagan parents? , relatives or friends, having acquired it through untruth? – I do not say that we gain it now that we have become believers. For who sells and does not want to make a profit from the buyer? And who buys and does not want. to profitably purchase something from a seller? What industrialist is engaged in his trade not in order to eat through it? And do not the believers who are at the royal court use supplies from Caesar’s property, and do not each of them, according to his ability, provide for the poor? The Egyptians were indebted to the people (Jewish), according to the former goodness of Patriarch Joseph, not only with their property, but also with their lives; and what do the pagans owe us for, from whom we receive both profits and benefits? What they acquire with difficulty, we believers use without difficulty.
2. Until that time, the people of the Egyptians were in the most grievous slavery, as the Scripture says: “The Egyptians did great violence to the children of Israel, and made life hateful for them with hard work, clay and mud-making, and all the work in the fields and all kinds of work, with which they greatly oppressed their”; They built fortified cities for them, worked hard and increased their wealth over many years and all kinds of slavery, although they were not only not grateful to them, but also wanted to destroy them all. What injustice was done if they took a little from a lot? and when could we have had great wealth, if we had not been in slavery, and come out rich, received very little reward for our great slavery, and come out poor? As if someone free, forcibly taken away by another, served him for many years and increased his wealth, and then received some allowance and, apparently, had something from his wealth, but in fact, from his many labors and from his great acquisition, he took little and left, and someone would have blamed him for it, as if he had acted unfairly; then the judge himself will rather seem unfair to the one who was forcibly taken into slavery. Such are also those who accuse the people who have taken little from much, and do not blame those themselves who did not give any gratitude due for the merits of their parents, and even brought them into the gravest slavery, and received the greatest benefit from them. These (accusers) say that (the Israelites) acted unfairly, taking for their labors, as I said, unminted gold and silver in a few vessels, and about themselves they say that they – we must tell the truth, although this may seem funny to some – they act justly when, for the labors of others, they carry in their purses minted gold, silver and copper with the inscription and image of Caesar.
3. If we make a comparison between us and them, then who will receive more justly – the people (Israel) from the Egyptians, who were their debtors in everything, or we from the Romans and other nations who owe nothing to us? And the world enjoys peace through them (the Romans), and we walk the roads without fear and sail wherever we want. Against such people, the words of the Lord will be very helpful: “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see (how) to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” For if the one who accuses you of this and boasts of his knowledge, separated himself from the society of the pagans and did not have anything alien, but was literally naked and with bare feet and lived homeless in the mountains, like some animal that eats herbs , then deserves leniency because he does not know the needs of our community. If he uses what people call foreign, and (at the same time) condemns the prototype of this, then he shows himself to be very unfair and turns such an accusation against himself. For he will find himself carrying with him something that is not his own and desiring what is not his; and that is why the Lord said: “Judge not, lest ye be judged, for with the judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged.” Not that we do not punish those who sin or approve of evil deeds, but that we do not unjustly condemn the orders of God, since He is justly concerned (^with everything that will serve for good. For, since He knew that we would make good use of our property that we have to receive from another, he says: “Whoever has two clothes, give to the poor, and whoever has food, do the same. And: “I was hungry, and you gave Me food; I was naked, and you clothed Me.” And: “When you do alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” And we turn out to be right when we do any kind of good, as if redeeming ours from someone else’s hands: I say “from someone else’s hands” not in in the sense that the world would be alien to God, but because we receive gifts of this kind from others, like those (Israelites) from the Egyptians who did not know God – and through this very thing we build the abode of God in ourselves, for with God dwells in those who do good, as the Lord says: “Make for yourself friends with unrighteous wealth, so that when you flee, they will receive you into eternal abodes.” For what we acquired through unrighteousness while we were pagans, having become believers, we turn to benefit the Lord and are justified.
4. So, this was necessary first in mind during that transformative action, and from those things the tabernacle of God is built, because those (Israelites) received justly, as I showed, and in them we were foreshadowed, who were then supposed to serve God through the things of others “For the whole procession of the people from Egypt, according to the dispensation of God, was the type and image of the origin of the Church, which had to be from the pagans, and therefore He at the end (of time) brings her out from here into her inheritance, which not Moses the servant of God, but Jesus the Son of God gives as an inheritance. And if anyone takes a closer look at the words of the prophets about the end and what John the Lord’s disciple saw in revelation, he will find that the nations will accept the same plagues in general that then struck Egypt piecemeal.
Source: St. Irenaeus of Lyon. 5 Books Against Heresies. Book 4. Ch. 30.
About the author: The Moscow Patriarchate has imposed a ban on the ministry of Fr. Alexey Uminsky, who is no longer the head of the Church of the Holy Trinity on Khokhlovska Street in the Russian capital. This was reported by the Russian opposition media “Radio Liberty” and the TV channel “Dozhd”, referring to the journalist Ksenia Luchenko and parishioners of the church where Fr. Alexey. According to information from the same media, instead of Fr. Uminsky, the Holy Trinity Church has appointed the scandalous priest Andrey Tkachev, known for his support for Russia’s war against Ukraine and his advice on violence against women, as the rector.
I have a feeling that the level of aggression is not decreasing. Aggression is wave-like. It does not need occasions, objects are always sought and always found for it. Aggression in society always overflows, is redirected from one channel to another. An object of some kind of hatred arises, so we must direct the aggression in this direction.
When the level of aggression reaches such a heightened level, then it is already poured out on specific people. Then people begin to simply destroy each other – in the most brutal, most inhuman way. Then it goes away. Aggression is always present in our society, and it is incurable. No one is concerned with curing society of aggression.
Aggressive society is very comfortable, easily controlled from above. You just have to find an object for the aggression. On a state scale, aggression can be a very “useful” thing. It infects people, mobs them, deprives them of their individual consciousness and turns them into a collective unconscious.
And this way of thinking the person then brings with him to the Church. It is very comfortable to live with. Not long ago, I read one of the letters of the apostle Paul, in which there were such words: “I declare to you, brothers, that the gospel that I preached is not human, because I neither received it nor learned it from a man, but by revelation Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:11-12). Very important words about what we Christians are dealing with, that there is nothing there that was invented by man.
By itself, the Gospel is a very uncomfortable book that does not allow a person to live in those paradigms in which only aggression can exist: “own-stranger”, “friend-enemy”, “near-far”. If it was a human book, like many of the religious human books, then the enemy would be indicated. “His-foreigner” would definitely be clearly described. It would be clearly stated who is “own” and who is “foreign”, and what are the parameters of “own”, who should be helped, who should be served, with whom should be shared, and who is the one not to be shared with, who we can lie to, who it is necessary to destroy.
So the Gospel is such a book that does not give man human ways to feed his aggression and multiply it. However, people often come to the Church who are not transformed or who live with ideologues, with ideologies instead of a living faith. Ideology is always a human thing, and the Christian faith is not human. It is a gift of God, a gift from the unattainable God who became Man. And it is very uncomfortable to deal with such a non-human religion, and that is why the desire to replace the Christian faith, to replace the Gospel with some ideology, constantly appears.
Wherever ideology appears, even under the sign of Christianity, under the sign of Orthodoxy, whatever, there immediately appear the enemies – of this ideology, of this faith, of the Church.
And there are too many enemies – you don’t need to look for them, they will be found immediately. And then this aggression, which could be healed by the mercy of Christ, by the love of Christ, including by our repentance, our change, cannot be like poison squeezed out of man. Quite the opposite – suddenly this aggression acquires its good meaning, becomes a good, acquires power because it can be used against the common enemy. Then it doesn’t go anywhere, it just gets another name.
They were not the class enemies, they were not the enemies of the people – the enemies immediately appear in the Church, her enemies: those who are foreign, who are not your own, who you can always separate. Someone is a fundamentalist for you, and you are a liberal for them. And at that moment, people suddenly begin to feel so much “love” for each other, so ready to utter nasty, vile curses and insulting names, forgetting that they partake of the same Cup.
The question even arises among them: “Can we partake of a Chacha with such people?” Can any people, if we don’t like them, be Christians at all?”.
So this aggression can perfectly exist in the Church as well. Then it flows into an aggressive and malicious declaration of one’s own faith, which is done with an almost benign goal – the protection of our sanctuaries.
We saw how last year all this terrible, sinful aggression suddenly began to be understood by some people as a way of defending the faith, as Christian behavior.
I remind you that the Gospel bequeathed to us is not a human gospel, there are no ideologies there. Therefore, aggression has no place in the Gospel, and therefore only the Christian is able to heal this aggression in society, who can love his enemy, so that he does not respond to a blow with a blow, but hate with hate. We have this opportunity.
We could give this world an example of how aggression heals, but alas, we haven’t yet.
Source: Archpriest Alexy Uminsky, Oksana Golovko, Archpriest Alexy Uminsky – about aggression in the Church (And why the Gospel does not divide the world into “us” and “strangers”), April 14, 2021. Read on Pravmir: https://www.pravmir.ru /agressiya-i-xristianstvo-kak-my-sovmeshhaem-nesovmestimoe-video-1/ : “Anger, rudeness – towards acquaintances and complete strangers – it seems that this has almost become the norm of communication on social networks. Has the level of aggression in society increased? Or, on the contrary, does it spill out onto the Internet, leaving real life? What is happening to us, why are we dividing everyone into camps, groups of “us” and “strangers,” reflects Archpriest Alexy Uminsky. “Pravmir” again publishes a video recording made in 2013.”
Note: So far, there is no official announcement from the ROC about the removal of Prot. Alexei Uminsky and his imposed ban. Father Alexey has been the chairman of the Holy Trinity Church for more than thirty years. The repression against him began last year, when he gave an interview in which he did not hide his anti-war views. He is a well-known publicist, the author of a large number of articles on various topics: from pastoral ministry to Christian pedagogy to commentaries on current events. He is known for his active civil position on a number of important public issues, defends those persecuted for political reasons, criticizes the authorities for violating the rights of citizens.
In his address at a parish meeting at the end of December, Fr. Alexey touches on the issue of Christian peacemaking, which is “unbearable to hear in a world where people tear their hearts out in search of justice and which is always achieved through the violence of some over others. Only violence must defeat other violence, otherwise it is not fair. To be a Christian is to make up your mind. No one can force a person to become a Christian. However, if we have once decided on this, then let us do it properly. Even if it doesn’t work out completely… Otherwise, we will have to subdivide the Gospel, make it a convenient book for us and say that we are Orthodox, without adding – Christians. Let us first of all be Christians, and then we will necessarily be Orthodox. And if for us the external ideological form is more important than the gospel words – then something is wrong here”.
Social media cites another announcement by journalist Ksenia Luchenko that another well-known Moscow priest, Vladimir Lapshin, has also been removed from the position of chairman of the Assumption Church in Moscow, which happened at the end of December. Vladimir is known as one of the last students of Fr. Alexander Men. This change in the leadership of this temple was not officially announced on the website of the Moscow Patriarchate.
These actions of patriarch Cyril are a sign that the repression against the opponents of the war among the priests is deepening and affecting iconic clerics known not only in Moscow, but throughout Russia and abroad. The replacement of Fr. Alexey Uminsky with Andrey Tkachev is a clear demonstration of the line that supports the leadership of the Moscow Patriarchate – to impose an aggressive and violent Christianity, incompatible with the image of Christ, but fitting the state policy of Putin’s Russia.
The European Union has expressed its support for the recent appointment of María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar, the former Foreign Minister of Colombia, as the new Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General on Cyprus. This move is seen as a pivotal step in revitalizing the stalled peace negotiations in the region and is a testament to the EU’s unwavering commitment to finding a lasting solution to the Cyprus issue.
The appointment of María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar comes at a crucial time when the last formal negotiations in Crans Montana in 2017 have yet to yield a sustainable resolution1. The EU’s top representatives, High Representative Josep Borrell, and Commissioner Elisa Ferreira, have welcomed this development, recognizing the importance of this role in the broader context of European security and cooperation2.
The EU has reiterated its readiness to actively support the UN-facilitated process with all the tools at its disposal. The bloc’s dedication to a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus issue is grounded in the UN framework, adherence to relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and the foundational principles of the EU itself, including the acquis. This integrated approach underscores the EU’s holistic commitment to regional stability and the rule of law.
Cyprus’s strategic location in the Eastern Mediterranean makes it a key area for security and stability. The EU recognizes that fostering cooperation in this region is more important than ever, given the current geopolitical climate. The appointment of a new UN Personal Envoy is not only a step towards peace in Cyprus but also an opportunity to enhance cooperation and pursue joint approaches that benefit the broader region.
María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar’s Diplomatic Expertise
María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar brings a wealth of diplomatic experience to the table, having served as Colombia’s Foreign Minister. Her expertise in international relations and conflict resolution will be invaluable assets in her new role as the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy on Cyprus. Her appointment is a clear signal of the international community’s renewed focus on the Cyprus issue and its potential resolution.
The road to peace in Cyprus is fraught with challenges, but the EU’s support for María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar’s appointment is a positive sign of progress. As the new envoy embarks on her mission, the EU, along with the UN, will be closely monitoring and supporting the process, hoping to bridge divides and establish a lasting peace that respects the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Cyprus.
Conclusion
The appointment of María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar as the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy on Cyprus is a significant development in the quest for peace in the region. The EU’s endorsement of this decision reflects its commitment to supporting Cyprus and ensuring stability in the Eastern Mediterranean. With renewed diplomatic efforts and international support, there is hope for a peaceful future for Cyprus.
The European Union’s response to the appointment of María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar as the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy on Cyprus is a clear indication of its commitment to resolving the long-standing conflict on the island. The EU’s support for the UN’s efforts and its readiness to provide assistance throughout the peace process are important steps towards achieving stability and cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean. With Holguín Cuéllar’s extensive diplomatic experience and the EU’s active involvement, there is renewed optimism for a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus issue that aligns with both UN resolutions and EU principles.
Once upon a time in a land not far from our wildest imaginations there existed an annual celebration of immense magnificence involving not just one or two but three esteemed kings. This was no royal procession with regal figures waving from their carriages. It is the tale of the Three Wise Men, also known as the Magi, who embarked on an extraordinary journey across vast deserts and realms guided solely by a celestial beacon that outshone any contemporary GPS system.
As January 6th approaches, while some are recuperating from their New Years Eve festivities others are eagerly preparing for a day filled with intrigue, generosity and perhaps even indulging in a slice of Kings Cake. Welcome to the Feast of the Epiphany my friends; where brilliance can be found not in the splendid decorations but also, within the stars that grace this remarkable narrative.
Now let us acquaint ourselves with our characters. Balthazar, Melchior and Gaspar. The original bestowers of gifts whose ability to traverse the globe makes Santas single night journey seem like childs play.We’ve got Balthazar, dressed in his Babylonian attire; Melchior, the knowledgeable Greek with a fondness for prophecies; and Gaspar, the youngest among them a trendy Mede with an envy inducing collection of spices. These three individuals are not merely kings; they can be considered the worlds equivalent of the Avengers. However of fighting crime their mission is to deliver gifts.
A Celestial Announcement on Social Media
So how did these esteemed personalities end up following the path? It all began with a star that defied convention. Announced the birth of a unique kind of king. This was no celestial body; it served as the universes way of sending a notification without relying on social media platforms.. Just like any influential figure on social media it managed to capture the attention of our trio who were fascinated by astronomy.
The Journey: Camels, Desert Sands and Occasional Oases
Picture this; three kings accompanied by their entourages loading camels with luxury gifts from times. There were no gift receipts or express shipping options to them; instead they relied on navigating through open deserts using stars as their guide, towards a shared destination.
They journeyed through sand dunes. Evaded potential dangers, all the while perhaps engaging in debates over who should take the lead in guiding the camel caravan.
The Presents: Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh
Skipping through their travel montage the Magi eventually arrived not at a grand palace but at a modest dwelling in Bethlehem.
They arrived bearing gifts that would make any baby shower unforgettable; gold for royalty frankincense for divinity and myrrh for mortality— concepts for a young child but these individuals were focused on symbolism.
The Afterparty: Dreams and Detours
After their visit as they dreamt of things (or whatever was considered delightful back then) they received a warning in a dream to take an alternate route, on their way home. It turns out that King Herod, the reigning ruler wasn’t particularly thrilled about a king emerging.
Therefore our wise trio decided to avoid him by taking a longer path back to prevent spoiling the surprise of the newborn king’s whereabouts.
Legacy: Cake, Crowns and Parades
Fast forward millennia later and the journey of the Three Kings is still highly significant.In regions children eagerly place their shoes outside hoping for treats from passing monarchs while in other places a slice of Kings Cake carries the exciting possibility (or reward) of discovering a small figurine inside—and the honor of hosting next years celebration.
Lets not overlook the parades. From New Orleans to Madrid people wear crowns throw beads and commemorate the journey of the Magi with floats that make Mardi Gras seem like a prelude.
The Main Idea: A Cosmic Quest for Everyone
So, what is the essence behind this age old tale? Maybe it signifies that certain journeys are worth enduring a bit of sand in your shoes.. Perhaps it emphasizes that genuine wisdom lies in pursuing your own guiding star wherever it may lead.. It could simply be that everyone adores an engaging story with a joyous ending.
Regardless of the interpretation the Feast of Epiphany holds significance than just being another day on the calendar; it serves as a reminder of an era when three kings, from distinct lands united for a universal quest bringing gifts and leaving behind a legacy characterized by unity, generosity and an air of enchantment.
As you indulge in a slice of Kings Cake take a moment to think about Balthazar, Melchior and Gaspar—the wanderers of the road. Their incredible journey reminds us that some of the stories are those that have been shared and retold over generations and across different cultures under the glow of a guiding star that once led wise men towards a fresh start.
So there you have it—a captivating exploration spanning through time itself honoring the influence of the Three Kings. Whether you’re fascinated by history captivated by legends or simply enjoy indulging in cake the Feast of the Epiphany is a tradition that continues to capture hearts and ignite imaginations, around the globe.
