Bridgetown – The Commissioner for Crisis Management within the European Commission, Janez Lenarčič, says that €17 million in humanitarian aid is being donated to address the needs of the Caribbean’s most vulnerable, which have been worsened by the pandemic.
“The EU continues to provide life-saving humanitarian aid support directly to the most vulnerable population. In Haiti as well as in the rest of the Caribbean, recurrent natural hazards further increase vulnerabilities, while also exacerbated by the coronavirus. In this challenging time, the EU is stepping up its long-standing humanitarian assistance to those most in need,” said Lenarčič, in a statement on Thursday.
From the amount behind donated, Haiti will receive €14 million to address extreme food insecurity, provide protection for migrants and victims of gang violence and increase resilience to disasters.
The EU estimates that 4.4 million people or 40 percent of the Haitian population will need humanitarian assistance in 2021.
“Due to its vulnerability to natural hazards, governance issues and high levels of poverty, Haiti has limited capacity to cope with recurring emergencies. Food shortages, malnutrition, recurrent disease epidemics, and additional humanitarian needs generated by an ongoing socio-political crisis require sustained humanitarian assistance,” the EU said.
Three million euros will go to the other islands to help with disaster preparedness and resilience interventions in at-risk communities.
Since 1994, the European Union has provided €183 million in humanitarian aid to the Caribbean, excluding Haiti.
This funding includes €50.8 million for disaster risk reduction and community resilience. (CMC)
Stephen Boafo believes businesses do not thrive on religion
Becoming successful in business does not depend on your religion; it is about attitude, discipline and knowledge, Mr Stephen Boafo, a Business Consultant, has stated.
He explained that the success or otherwise of any business venture does not only depend on one’s religious standings, but rather adherence to business ethics.
Mr Boafo told the Ghana News Agency in an interview at Tema that entrepreneurship depended on following fundamental principles of economics.
He noted that, the difference between successful and unsuccessful businessmen and women had nothing to do with the religious affiliations.
According to him, it was all about being trustworthy and to ensure that customers were treated well and it would bring repeated purchase.
He advised that finances should be managed well when starting businesses to avoid mismanagement; pricing should be done well in order not to incur cost.
He claimed that some Christian businessmen and women thinks that they can sell their products anyhow with the view that God will definitely bless them, so they do not price their products very well, this is wrong.
Mr Boafo alleged that sometimes some Christians think that by virtue of being Christians their businesses should be successful. “Some Christians would leave their business for days or weeks without opening to go and pray somewhere”.
He added that businesses thrive on principles and once you do not follow the principles, your business would not grow.
15 March 2021 marks ten years since peaceful protests began throughout Syria. Their violent repression by the regime sparked a decade of conflict. The regime’s brutal repression of the Syrian people and its failure to address the root causes of the uprising has resulted in an escalated and internationalised armed conflict. Over the last ten years, countless abuses and violations of human rights, and grave violations of international humanitarian law by all parties, particularly by the Syrian regime, have caused enormous human suffering. Accountability for all violations of international humanitarian and human rights law is of utmost importance both as a legal requirement and a central element in achieving sustainable peace and genuine reconciliation in Syria.
The Syrian refugee crisis is the largest displacement crisis in the world, with 5.6 million registered refugees and another 6.2 million people displaced within Syria, and with conditions not in place for their safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return in line with international law. Furthermore, the conflict has entailed severe repercussions across the region and beyond and fuelled terrorist organisations. The EU recalls that all actors in Syria must focus on the fight against Da’esh. Preventing the resurgence of the terrorist organization remains a priority.
The conflict in Syria is far from over. The European Union remains resolute, continuing to demand an end to repression, the release of detainees, and that the Syrian regime and its allies engage meaningfully in the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2254. Without credible progress and as long as the repression continues, targeted EU sanctions on leading members and entities of the regime will be renewed at the end of May. The European Union has not changed its policy as outlined in previous Council Conclusions and remains committed to the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian state.
The European Union would be prepared to support free and fair elections in Syria in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2254 and under supervision of the UN, to the satisfaction of the governance and to the highest international standards of transparency and accountability, with all Syrians, including members of the diaspora, eligible to participate. Elections organised by the Syrian regime such as last year’s parliamentary elections or the presidential elections later this year cannot fulfil these criteria and therefore cannot contribute to the settlement of the conflict nor lead to any measure of international normalisation with the Syrian regime.
The European Union cannot and will not look away as the future of Syria and its people are held hostage to conflict. On 29 and 30 March, the European Union will co-chair with the UN a fifth Brussels conference on “Supporting the Future of Syria and of the region”, involving the participation of governments and international organisations as well as of Syrian civil society.
The European Union is ready to enhance dialogue among all international actors with influence in the Syrian crisis, and calls on them to join forces at the conference to reaffirm and consolidate strong support for a political solution in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2254, as well as for the tireless efforts of UN Special Envoy Pedersen to advance all aspects of UN Security Council Resolution 2254 in a comprehensive approach. There can be no military solution to this conflict: sustainable peace and stability can only be achieved by a genuine, inclusive and comprehensive Syrian-led political solution, with the full and effective participation of women and the concerns of all segments of Syrian society taken into consideration.
As in previous years, the conference will also generate international financial support to help meet the dramatically increasing humanitarian needs inside Syria, for Syrian refugees, and for refugee-hosting communities and countries in the region. There will be a strong call at the conference for the renewal of UN Security Council Resolution 2533 enabling safe, unhindered and sustained humanitarian access and the cross-border delivery of assistance, essential under current circumstances to meeting the vital needs of millions inside Syria.
Having provided some €24 billion over the past decade, the European Union and its Member States remain the largest contributors to meeting the needs generated by the conflict. The Syrian people continue to have the full political and humanitarian support of the European Union, in the pursuit of a peaceful and sustainable future.
Born March 13, 1911, L. Ron Hubbard once remarked that there are only two tests of a life well lived: “Did he do what he intended? and Were people glad he lived?” In testament to his accomplishment of these tests are his more than 10,000 authored works and 3,000 recorded lectures in Dianetics and Scientology and the hundreds of millions whose lives have been bettered because he lived.
Smithsonian Magazine listed L. Ron Hubbard among the 11 most influential religious figures in American history and one of the 100 most significant Americans of all time.
Publishers Weekly called his seminal work, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, “perhaps the best-selling non-Christian book of all time in the West,” and bestowed its Century Award on the book for appearing on its bestseller list for more than 100 weeks.
His discoveries in the field of the mind, spirit and life have empowered men, women and children from all walks of life. These breakthroughs have freed the addict from drugs, transformed illiteracy into comprehension and restored self-respect and decency. Founder of the only major religion to emerge in the 20th century, millions follow his path to greater ability and spiritual freedom.
“I like to help others and count it as my greatest pleasure in life to see a person free himself of the shadows which darken his days,” he wrote in describing his own philosophy.
“These shadows look so thick to him and weigh him down so that when he finds they are shadows and that he can see through them, walk through them and be again in the sun, he is enormously delighted. And I am afraid I am just as delighted as he is.”
Airing 24/7, the network aims to satisfy the overwhelming curiosity about the religion and its founder as evidenced by the fact that every six seconds, someone searches the question “What is Scientology?” A new genre of religious broadcasting, the network includes original programs including a three-part series L. Ron Hubbard: In His Own Voice, a number of his most popular articles and several of his books on film. The Network also takes viewers into the everyday lives of Scientologists, the Church as an institution and its organizations. It airs at DIRECTV 320 in the U.S. and streams at Scientology.tv, on mobile apps and via Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV platforms.
BAHÁ’Í WORLD CENTRE — Construction of the Shrine of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has passed a significant milestone this week with the pouring of the concrete floor slab for the main edifice and the surrounding plaza. After many stages of preparation, the floor of the central area is among the first parts of the project to reach its final form as some of the walls enclosing the north and south plazas are nearing completion.
These and other recent developments on the site are featured in the images that follow.
Concrete was poured across an area of 2,000 square meters, creating a platform that will be paved with local stone and reach a final floor height of about 3.5 meters above the original ground level of the site.
The concrete surface of the floor slab is smoothed after pouring.
Views of the central plaza area before (top) and after (bottom) this week’s work.
Once the concrete of the plaza floor sets, the construction of the folding walls around the plaza and the pillars of the main edifice can proceed.
Pictured (center) is the purpose-made formwork that will used as a mold for the eight pillars of the main edifice, each of which will stand at 11 meters.
Work continues to advance on the portal walls enclosing the north and south plazas, as well as the pillars that will support the floor of the north plaza (foreground).
Formwork is being raised for the portal wall on the west side of the north plaza.
The portal wall on the east side of the north plaza is nearing completion.
Pictured here are two views of work on the east portal wall of the south plaza. The wall was built up in several layers, and its sloped upper edge is now being completed.
In a view of the site from the west, progress on a path encircling the Shrine can be seen in the foreground.
With the foundations and central floor slab completed and the portal walls nearing completion, the Shrine and its associated structures will begin to take form before long.
Pope Francis on Saturday appointed Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli as the new Apostolic Nuncio to India. Until now, the 67-year-old Italian has been Apostolic Nuncio to Israel and Cyprus, and Apostolic Delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine.
The new responsibility of Archbishop Girelli, who has served in several Holy See’s diplomatic missions in Asia, comes on his 68th birthday.
Born on 13 March 1953 in Predore, Bergamo in northern Italy’s Lombardy region, he was ordained priest on 17 June 1978 for the Diocese of Bergamo. He holds a doctorate in theology and a master’s degree in canon law.
He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See on 13 July 1987, and worked in the Papal Diplomatic missions in Cameroon, New Zealand and at the Section for General Affairs of the Vatican Secretariat of State, and finally in the Apostolic Nunciature to the United States, where he held the rank of Counsellor.
When Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Indonesia on 13 April 2006, he also made him an archbishop. He was consecrated bishop on 17 June 2006.
Later, on 10 October 2006, he was also appointed Apostolic Nuncio to East Timor. On 13 January 2011, he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Singapore, Apostolic Delegate to Malaysia and Brunei, and non-residential Pontifical Representative for Vietnam. He was also appointed Apostolic Nuncio to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on 18 June 2011.
On 13 September 2017, Pope Francis appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Israel and Apostolic Delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine. Two days later, he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio also to Cyprus. Besides his native tongue, he speaks English and French.
Going hand in hand with the hurried third act of Chaos Walking as a movie is a few notable changes to the movie not found in the book. One major plot point of both is Viola needing to contact her ship and in the movie she successfully does so by the end of Chaos Walking. But, in the novels, this doesn’t happen until the second book. Then, there’s a lot that happens on the abandoned ship they use for communication in the film, such as Viola killing him so she can contact said ship, but in the book she does it so Todd doesn’t have more blood on his hands. Plus, in the movie Mads Mikkelsen’s Mayor villain seems to have died in a final face off between him and Todd, perhaps with the possibility of surviving his plummet? But in the books, the Mayor takes over all of the New World, leading into a bigger plotline for him in the rest of the trilogy.
When megachurch pastor J.D. Greear became the 62nd president of the Southern Baptist Convention, he saw all kinds of statistics headed in all kinds of directions.
After decades of growth, America’s largest Protestant flock faced steady decline as many members joined thriving nondenominational evangelical and charismatic churches. Ominously, baptism statistics were falling even faster. On the other side of the 2018 ledger, worship attendance and giving to SBC’s national Cooperative Program budget were holding strong.
But one set of numbers caught Greear’s attention, he told the SBC’s executive committee, as he nears the end of his three years in office.
“Listen, I made diversity … one of my goals coming into this office, not because it’s cool, or trendy, or woke,” he said. “It’s because in the last 30 years, the largest growth we’ve seen in the Southern Baptist Convention has been among Black, Latino and Asian congregations. They are a huge part of our future. … Praise God, brothers and sisters.”
Greear’s blunt, emotional address came during a Feb. 22 meeting in Nashville in which SBC leaders ousted two churches for “affirming homosexual behavior” by accepting married gay couples as members, and two more for employing ministers guilty of sexual abuse.
Those issues loomed in the background during Greear’s remarks, which ranged from a fierce defense of the SBC’s move to the right during 1980s clashes over “biblical inerrancy” to his concerns about “demonic” attacks from social-media critics who are “trying to rip us apart.”
“I’ve read reports online that I was privately funded by George Soros with the agenda of steering the SBC toward political liberalism,” he said. “My office has gotten calls from people who say they’ve heard that I am friends — good friends — with Nancy Pelosi and that we text each other regularly; that I am a Marxist; a card-carrying member of the Black Lives Matter movement and that I fly around on a private jet paid for by Cooperative Program dollars.”
Greear urged a renewed focus on evangelism and church planting, with a steady drumbeat of references to the Great Commission — the command by Jesus that Christians should spread the faith worldwide. After all, back in 2012, the SBC’s national meeting approved the use of “Great Commission Baptists” as an unofficial name — a move hailed by those seeking distance from the term “Southern” and the convention’s roots in an 1845 split over slavery.
“Do we want to be a Gospel people or a Southern, Republican culture people?” asked Greear. “Which is the more important part of our name — the ‘Southern’ or the ‘Baptist’?”
The ultimate challenge, he said, will be creating a “movement of churches that engages all of the peoples in America, not just one kind. … That is very difficult. Bringing together people of different backgrounds and cultures and ethnicities into one body creates challenges, and anybody who says that that’s not true has never actually done it. People bring in their music and their style preferences and political approaches and they all are as passionate about these things as we are, and that creates friction. But it is biblical.”
In recent months, leaders of the SBC’s National African American Fellowship have expressed concerns about statements by seminary presidents that — while condemning racism outright — claimed “affirmation of Critical Race Theory” is incompatible with the Baptist Faith and Message doctrinal statement. Several prominent Black pastors, in response, led their congregations out of the convention.
Greear stressed the need for SBC leaders to commit to more “robust, Bibles open, on our knees” dialogues with Black church leaders on what parts of CRT are inherently secular and clash with biblical teachings on racism and sin.
“We should mourn when closet racists and neo-Confederates feel more at home in our churches than do many of our people of color,” he said.
The painful reality is “that if we in the Southern Baptist Convention had shown as much sorrow for the painful legacy that racism and discrimination have left in our country as we have passion to decry Critical Race Theory, we probably would not be in this mess. It’s not that clarity about the dangers of Critical Race Theory is not important. It is. It’s that, as Jesus said, we’ve ignored some of the weightier parts of the law — justice, mercy and compassion.”
Terry Mattingly leads GetReligion.org and lives in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He is a senior fellow at the Overby Center at the University of Mississippi.
The United States is warning of European Union plans to impose environmental taxes on imports. US special envoy for climate protection John Kerry of the Financial Times said on Friday that such a survey could be only a last resort and would have serious implications for the economy, international relations and trade. The European Union is considering taxing some goods imported from countries with lower environmental standards.
This is to prevent distorting the competition. Additional VAT charges, import duties, and expansion of trade in carbon dioxide emissions rights to other countries are being discussed.
US President Joe Biden wants to focus more on climate protection than his predecessor and has brought the United States back to the Paris Agreement. However, Kerry was reluctant to accept the French proposal that the United States and the European Union should develop a joint environmental financing system. “It goes without saying that the United States has a great interest in preventing excessive regulation,” Kerry told the newspaper. (Abba)
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In the dispute over controls on importing goods to Northern Ireland, the European Union Commission wants to file a lawsuit against Great Britain for violating the Brexit treaty. On Friday, she said the body had received support from member states this week from European Union constituencies. Thus, the procedures could start “from next week.”
Background to this struggle over the extension of the transitional regulations for the import of British goods into Northern Ireland. Britain recently unilaterally extended it until October. The European Union considers this a violation of the Brexit treaty and has threatened legal action.
The Northern Ireland Protocol, which is part of the Brexit treaty, aims to prevent border controls from becoming necessary again between the British province and the European Union member Ireland. Because, according to both sides, this could spark a bloody conflict in Northern Ireland. So controls have to take place between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
According to information from European Union departments, the Commission wants to initiate violations proceedings due to the expanded transitional regulations. She was describing the violations first in a letter calling for a fix. Ultimately, proceedings could lead to the European Court of Justice through a number of stages. It could impose fines on Great Britain if it decided in favor of the European Union.
The commitment of “good faith” was not fulfilled
In the second measure, the Commission wants to activate the dispute settlement mechanism in the Brexit Treaty. She added that Great Britain should be accused of failing to fulfill the “good faith” obligation of the Brexit Treaty.
Here the dispute is handled first in a joint committee responsible for the proper implementation of the withdrawal agreement. If there is no solution there, the European Union can request the creation of an arbitration board.
Its decisions will be binding on both sides. Fines are also possible here. If one party does not abide by the arbitration award, the other party can suspend parts of the withdrawal agreement. (afp)
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