Money from the European Union’s Covid-19 recovery fund will be spent on a green and digital transformation in Ireland, according to the Finance Minister.
Ministers have been taking submissions on how to spend Ireland’s €853 million share in grants from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
The RRF will make some €672.5 billion in loans and grants available to support reforms and investments undertaken by EU member states.
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said the Government is examining some specific areas for spending, though no final decisions have been taken.
“My judgement is that the three priority areas that the RRF plan will look to deliver in Ireland will be about a green transition in Ireland, will be about how we can better fund the digital transformation of our economy, and then finally also in the area of skills,” he said.
Eurogroup meeting
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It comes as a meeting of the Eurogroup, chaired by Minister Donohoe who was elected its president in July 2020, took place on Monday.
The informal meeting of finance ministers from across the eurozone was briefed by Dr Mike Ryan and Dr Bruce Aylward of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on how the Covid-19 pandemic is evolving amid a vaccine rollout.
In a statement, the Department of Finance said a debate on the prospect of a gradual reopening of European economies was informed by the briefing from Dr Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, and Dr Aylward, senior advisor to the WHO’s Director General.
We now need to ensure that we work harder than ever to build on the unprecedented economic support measures
“The expertise and experience of Dr Ryan and Dr Aylward provided the backdrop for an insightful and engaging discussion on the evolving social and economic challenges we face due to the Covid-19 pandemic at a national, European and global level,” Minister Donohoe said.
“We now need to ensure that we work harder than ever to build on the unprecedented economic support measures already agreed to deliver the coordinated support, reforms and sustainable growth our citizens and economies need.”
With the European Commission forecasting that economic growth is expected to resume in spring, eurozone ministers also discussed the coordination of national economic and budgetary policies.
Ministers endorsed a staged approach to budgetary discussions at the Eurogroup, the Department of Finance said.
Developments in the solvency of the corporate sector were also discussed, with the group noting “the need to continue to carefully monitor the solvency situation in the corporate sector, so as to protect jobs and to effectively target supports”.
The “potential opportunities and advantages but also the risks” of an enhanced international role of the euro currency were also assessed.
BRUSSELS, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) — China became the main trade partner of the European Union (EU) in 2020, with exports and imports both increasing despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Eurostat said on Monday.
According to the EU’s statistical service, the bloc’s imports from China throughout the year 2020 grew by 5.6 percent year-on-year to 383.5 billion euros (465 billion U.S. dollars), and exports grew by 2.2 percent to 202.5 billion euros.
At the same time, the trade in goods with the United States, which had topped the EU’s trade partners list until early 2020, saw substantial decline in both ways.
The EU also witnessed higher trade volume with the rest of the world in December 2020, up by 6.6 billion euros from the same month in 2019, a first year-on-year increase since it was hit by the pandemic.
The single market suffered a decrease of 9.4 percent in exports of goods and 11.6 percent decrease in imports in 2020. With industries largely affected by the containment measures last year, energy recorded by far the sharpest drop among all sectors, followed by food and drink, raw materials and chemicals.
The Eurostat release on Monday coincided with China’s official data published in mid-January, which showed the trade with the EU grew by 5.3 percent to 4495.77 billion yuan, or nearly 600 billion euros, in 2020.
While China’s total goods imports and exports expanded 1.9 percent year on year to 32.16 trillion yuan (about 5 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2020, hitting a record high, the surge in trade with the EU was more than double the average growth rate.
The result fully speaks for “the strong resilience and importance of China-EU economic and trade cooperation,” said Zhang Ming, head of the Chinese Mission to the EU, at a webinar last month with the European thinktank, Friends of Europe.
Washington [US], February 16 (ANI): In the latest attempt to tighten its grip in Tibet, China is forcing the Tibetans to pay less attention to their religion and show more enthusiasm for president Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to a report by The Economist.
Beijing has also intensified its efforts to eradicate the Dalai Lama from the religious lives of Tibetans to crush their identity.
The Chinese government occupied Tibet in 1950 and has ever since tried to control the region.
The Dalai Lama, whom China views as overseer of an “evil clique” that seeks to split Tibet from China, escaped to India in 1959 and the 10the Panchen Lama (Lobsang Trinley Lhundrup Choekyi Gyaltsen) stayed behind in Tibet. He spoke against Chinese rule many times and wrote a report chronicling Tibet’s famines in the 1960s.
As per The Economist, the Tibetan religion like that of Muslim followers in Xinjiang is undergoing what the CCP term as “sinicisation”.
In Tibetan and Xinjiang, the Chinese authorities have launched attacks on people’s religion and cultural traditions.
While the Uyghurs have been moved to “re-education camps”, the Tibetan farmers have been moved to modern housing in or near towns and cities. Moreover, the Tibetan language has been replaced with Mandarin similar to that in Xinjiang.
“Surveillance has been stepped up. Networks of informers relay information to the state; smartphones are tapped. Just as Uyghurs can no longer make pilgrimages to Mecca, it has become almost impossible for Tibetans to travel to India to attend religious teachings given by the Dalai Lama, as many did before Xi took power in 2012,” The Economist said.
Unlike the Uyghurs, the Tibetans are allowed to use social media apps such as WeChat but with restrictions such as posting images of Dalai Lama can be an imprisonable offence.
“It seems these policies are aimed at creating future Tibetans who will not know about the Dalai Lama as having any role in Tibetan Buddhism except as an enemy,” Robbie Barnett, a scholar of Tibetan culture, was quoted as saying by The Economist. (ANI)
“No matter how hard the reality we are facing is, we must keep believing that God is love,” wrote Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo of Jakarta in a pastoral letter. “Just like last year, we enter the Lenten season during a difficult time caused by the coronavirus which has shaken all fields of life,” he recalled in the letter that was read in churches of the archdiocese on Sunday.
Ash Wednesday is the first of the 40 days of Lent (excluding Sundays), during which Christians give in a special way to prayer, penance, fasting, abstinence and good works, in preparation for their most solemn feast of Easter that commemorates Jesus’s glorious resurrection from death. Ash Wednesday takes its name from the ash that is placed on the foreheads or heads, reminding Christians of death and the need for repentance. Ash Wednesday, this year, falls on Feb 17.
In his message, the Archbishop of Jakarta reminds his faithful that the pandemic is “not a punishment given by God because of our sins but is one of the horrible signs of the times, of which we must find the meaning from the perspective of our faith”.
He recalled a prayer that Pope Francis uttered during a special moment of prayer that he presided over in Rome’s St. Peter’s Square on March 27 last year, as death tolls soared in Italy amid a nationwide lockdown to fight the spread of the coronavirus.
Making right choices
“You are calling on us to seize this time of trial as a time of choosing,” the Pope prayed. “It is not the time of your judgement, but of our judgement: a time to choose what matters and what passes away, a time to separate what is necessary from what is not. It is a time to get our lives back on track with regard to you, Lord, and to others,” the Holy Father said.
Cardinal Suharyo acknowledged that “choosing what matters and what passes away” is not easy, as many tend to take the easy paths of fun. “Lent,” he pointed out, “is a special time given by the Church to all of us to train ourselves to choose the right way.” “Just like a man with leprosy who refused to give up to his helplessness and chose to get his life back on track with regard to God,” he said Catholics in the Archdiocese of Jakarta want to “choose the right way in this difficult time”.
Lenten slogan
The 70-year old cardinal, who is also president of the Bishops’ Conference of Indonesia, formulated a slogan for Lent: ‘Love More, Involve More, Be Blessings More.’ He hopes “it will not be just a nice slogan but will be a guide for all of us to move forward as followers of Christ”. He said Catholics can put this slogan without breaking health and social distancing protocols and by joining in the government’s Covid-19 vaccination drive, officially launched last month.
Indonesia has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. The health ministry reported 10,029 new cases of infection on Feb. 16, bringing the total to 1,233,959. The death toll rose by 229 to 33,596.
Lent culminates with the Holy Week, which celebrates the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, or Easter, which this year falls on April 4. (Source: UCANEWS)
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<strong>In January, an average of €9.2 billion in shares was traded in Amsterdam per day, according to Britain's <em>Financial Times</em> (FT). That trading volume was a four-fold increase over December, the final month of the UK's Brexit transition period.</strong>
Most significantly, this statistic means Amsterdam is now the largest European centre for equity trading.
Turquoise, a trading platform, moved because Brussels does not grant the British stock exchange regulator the same status after Brexit as regulators in the European Union. In other words, the EU and the UK do not recognise each other’s rules.
Without a so-called “equivalence clause”, European trading platforms had to move to Amsterdam, Dublin, and Paris. As a direct result, about €6.5 billion in deals disappeared from London.
According to Bloomberg, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs actively lobbied to entice financial trading firms to relocate there. In addition, managers of those companies would be driven around Amsterdam free of charge for appointments with regulators, real estate agents and executives of flash trading companies.
CBOE (Chicago Board Options Exchange) and FT declared Amsterdam the “early winner of Brexit”.
Analyst Anish Puaar of Rosenblatt Securities remains positive about the situation on the London stock exchange. He calls it “symbolic” that London is losing its status as a European trading centre, but also sees it as an opportunity for the British to “find their own trading niche,” NL Times reported.
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WASHINGTON (RNS) — References to faith were a constant at last week’s impeachment trial for former President Donald Trump, with Democrats appearing especially comfortable invoking religion when discussing the attack on the U.S. Capitol by insurrectionists on Jan. 6.
Religious rhetoric was common during Trump’s first impeachment proceedings in 2020 as well, when Republicans and Democrats engaged in a theological war of words that culminated with Trump delivering a scathing speech before the National Prayer Breakfast in which he challenged the public faith expressions of political opponents such as Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The pattern repeated this go-round, but it was Democrats who appeared most eager to utilize faith-infused arguments, signaling a resurgence of religious rhetoric among liberals.
One of the trial’s earliest religious moments surrounded Trump defense lawyer David Schoen, who was seen repeatedly covering his head when he paused to drink water in the Senate chamber. Some mocked Schoen’s habit, but the move likely had religious origins: Schoen, an Orthodox Jew who often wears a kippa, reportedly declined to wear the traditional Jewish head covering during his remarks because he didn’t “want to offend anybody.”
According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, many Jews not only recite a blessing that mentions God when eating or drinking, but also believe one’s head must be covered to say God’s name.
Attorney David Schoen covers his head for a moment during the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, Feb. 9, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. Video screengrab via CSPAN
However, most other religious references were made by the Democratic House managers. On Wednesday, the gaggle of lawmakers was spotted by a New York Times photographer huddling for a prayer led by Rep. Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania. According to a spokesperson for Dean’s office, the congresswoman told Rep. Jaime Raskin of Maryland about a brief prayer she learned from her uncle, who served as a Catholic priest for 50 years. Upon hearing it, they called over the group of House managers.
“May God grant success to the work of our hands,” she said.
Religion showed up again later that day when Rep. Eric Swalwell referenced Scripture while discussing police officers who defended the Capitol from the violent mob. The congressman noted he comes from a law enforcement family, then highlighted the efforts of Officer Daniel Hodges, a Washington D.C. Police officer who was on the frontlines of the skirmish with the insurrectionists.
“In many law enforcement families, we pray for our loved ones, and we know the Scripture of Matthew 5:9, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God,’” Swalwell said. “In the (video) you will see how blessed we were on that hellish day. We had a peacemaker like Officer Hodges protecting our lives, our staffs’ lives, this Capitol and the certification process.”
Swalwell then played footage of Hodges crushed in a doorframe between police officers and the mob, bleeding and howling in pain as insurrectionists forcibly removed his mask and screamed in his face. (Hodges survived the encounter.)
Notably absent from the arguments of House managers were any references to the faith of the insurrectionists, despite numerous examples of religious expression during the attack — especially forms of Christian nationalism. House managers played clips of insurrectionists Jacob Chansley and Couy Griffin, for instance, but did not focus on their religious leanings: Chansley led a prayer in the Senate chamber during the attack, and Griffin was filmed praying before the masses in front of the Capitol.
Trump’s team also largely ignored the religious elements of the attack, although they did cite religious terminology as part of an unusual argument. They rejected the insinuation by House managers that a Trump supporter’s reference to bringing the “calvary” to Washington on Jan. 6 — a quote from a tweet that was later retweeted by then-President Trump — was an appeal to warlike violence.
A Trump supporter carries a Bible outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Instead, Schoen insisted the phrase was not a misspelling of cavalry, or mobile soldiers, but an intentional reference to Christianity.
“The tweeter promised to bring the Calvary, a public display of Christ’s crucifixion, a central symbol of her Christian faith with her to the president’s speech, a symbol of faith, love and peace,” Schoen said. “(House managers) just never want to seem to read the text and believe what the text means.”
Schoen did not explain what, exactly, “the calvary is coming, Mr. President!” would mean for attendees of a Trump rally.
Their arguments did not appear overly persuasive to lawmakers like Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana who repeatedly praised the presentation of House managers. But when asked midway through the trial if he had “any doubt” Trump was responsible for the attack on the Capitol, he demurred by citing the Bible, saying: “There is a Proverb: Your mind is persuaded but you should hear the other side.”
On Friday, U.S. Virgin Islands House Delegate Stacey Plaskett — who often wore a gold cross around her neck during media interviews about the trial — pushed back against efforts by Trump’s legal team to compare unrest surrounding racial justice protests in the summer of 2020 to the insurrection. While decrying what she argued was a tendency by the defense to use clips featuring women of color, she made a reference to a religious group that protested in solidarity with racial justice protesters.
“This summer, things happened that were violent,” Plaskett said. “But there were also things that gave some of us Black women great comfort — seeing Amish people from Pennsylvania standing up with us. Members of Congress fighting up with us.”
It was unclear which instance Plaskett was referring to, although one group that was often described as Amish that participated in protests last year was in fact part of the Church of God.
Faith reappeared on Saturday during closing arguments delivered by Raskin, a co-founder of the Congressional Freethought Caucus who identifies as both a humanist and “emphatically Jewish.” While discussing the horrors of the attack on the Capitol, Raskin explained he was “never a great Sunday school student” but could recall at least one Scripture passage from memory.
He said: “One line always stuck with me from the Book of Exodus as both beautiful and haunting — even as a kid, after I asked what the words meant: ‘Thou shall not follow a multitude to do evil.’”
Religious references persisted even after the trial concluded with Trump’s acquittal, with Cassidy and six other Republicans siding with Democrats in a 57-43 vote that nonetheless fell short of the 67 votes needed to convict. When Swalwell was asked by MSNBC to explain why House managers ultimately decided against calling witnesses in the trial, he defended their decision by invoking the almighty.
“We could have called God herself and the Republicans weren’t going to be willing to convict (Trump),” he said. “So we’re proud of the case we put forward.”
Swalwell’s use of female pronouns for God sparked pushback from some conservative outlets, but the idea that God can be referred to by multiple gender pronouns — or transcends gender altogether — is common in many Christian circles.
February 15, 2021 (KHARTOUM) – European Union diplomats in Khartoum urged the Sudanese government to take bold reforms to halt the deteriorating economic situation in the country.
Hamdok government had failed to stop the collapse of the Sudanese pound as one dollar is sold for over 400 pounds; while in January it was sold for over 250 pounds. However, the official exchange rate is 55 pounds for one dollar.
Also, the inflation rate in Sudan for the month of January jumped to 304.33% compared to 269.33% in December 2020, which represents n increase of 35 points.
On Monday, the head of the Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan received a number of EU diplomats to Sudan including ambassadors of the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.
Following the end of the meeting, Robert van den, Head of Delegation of the European Union to Sudan told the media they discussed with al-Burhan a range of issues related to the recent political developments and the formation of the new transitional cabinet, tensions with Ethiopia, and the economic situation.
Dool said they briefed al-Burhan about the current size of the EU support to the democratic transition process and the humanitarian assistance to Sudan.
“We noted that the pressure on the Sudanese people is palpable, but we also noted that the government has to take bold and fast solutions to reform the economy,” he stressed.
The government has implemented a number of economic reforms and ended the fuel subsidy but it is reluctant to liberalize the currency and to end administrative controls over foreign exchange.
A week ago, a Western diplomat told Reuters that donors countries are frustrated by the government delay to float the pound would not trigger more pressure on the pound or inflation since almost all transactions are already carried out at black market rates.
The message from donors to Sudanese authorities was: “This will unlock huge amounts of financing, grants, assistance, development, investment, and the situation is just becoming worse and worse day by day,” the diplomat told Reuters.
The delay of the pound liberalization in exchange rate reform is holding up the launch of a family support programme to pay a monthly $5 cash subsidy to 80% of Sudan’s population.
“Some $400 million in aid and World Bank pre-arrears clearance grants for the first phase of the programme has been withheld because the money would be worth much less if converted at the official exchange rate,” further said Reuters.
Recently, a series of protests denounced the government’s failure to redress the economic situation, as Prime Minister appeared under pressure from the left groups.
Now, with his recently-formed all parties government, it is not clear if he would keep on reforms and meets the IMF requirements for debit removal and get the needed economic support from the international financial institutions.
EU Ambassador Dool said they also discussed the situation of the eastern Sudan border with Ethiopia, as the two sides are massing troops, creating conditions for a conflict that would destabilize the whole region.
He said they expressed “concern about the troubled period the Horn of Africa is currently traversing”.
“We commended the constructive role played by Sudan as the Chair of IGAD and declared our support for a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the tensions between Sudan and Ethiopia,” he further stressed.
COMECE-FAFCE joint Webinar on “The Elderly and the Future of Europe”
Following the publication of a joint Reflection Paper on “The Elderly and the Future of Europe“, COMECE and the Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe are glad to invite you to an online event to reflect on the role of the elderly in a context of pandemic and demographic change. The event will be held on Monday 1 March 2021, from 15:00 to 16:15 (CET).
The current Covid-19 pandemic revealed hidden vulnerabilities in our societies, with the elderly often in the periphery of daily life. According to COMECE and FAFCE, it is time to recognize the crucial role of the elderly, protecting, promoting and including them, ensuring their full participation in our communities.
How can we better include the elderly in our societies? How can we encourage the EU and national policy makers to develop a change of paradigm and regenerating our way of thinking in times of demographic change and in the context of the current Covid-19 pandemic?
Let’s discuss together with H. Em. Card. Jean-Claude Hollerich SJ, President of COMECE, Mr Vincenzo Bassi, President of FAFCE, Mrs Gabriella Gambino, Under-Secretary of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, MEP Romana Tomc, Co-chair of the EP Intergroup on Demographic Challenges, Family-Work Life Balance and Youth Transitions, and Mr Ettore Marchetti, Policy officer of the European Commission on Pensions and Active ageing.
The event will be moderated by Andrea Gagliarducci, Journalist and Vatican analyst.
Registration open until Sunday 28th February 2021.
In September, the European Commission proposed a new Pact on Migration and Asylum to improve the EU migration policies. The new regulation is designed to implement efficient border procedures and oblige all the EU states to contribute to the migration system.
“The EU has acknowledged the failure of its old policies. While the new migration pact aims to balance responsibility-sharing across the EU, it is copying many of the previous flawed policies with member states already questioning its purpose,” Shilhav said, adding that “Greece, overwhelmed with a backlog of asylum applications, has harshened its stance on asylum. Reforms to Greek asylum law, increased use of detention and more barriers to access asylum are just some of the measures taken.”
<
p class=””>According to the Advocacy Officer at the Greek Council for Refugees Spyros-Vlad Oikonomou, the 2016 agreement between the EU and Turkey on the migration to Europe through Greece only aggravated Europe’s refugee crisis as Athens failed to deal with the huge flow of migrants.
“Particularly since the EU-Turkey deal was struck, the EU and its member states have been trying to export its responsibility to protect refugees and asylum seekers. In Greece, the deal saw harsher laws, overcrowded camps and a failing reception system. Europe must overhaul its asylum laws to protect the rights of those seeking safety while honouring the principle of solidarity between member states,” Oikonomou said.
According to the International Rescue Committee, over 50,000 refugees are now living in Greece, including over 3,000 women and children migrants travelling alone. The humanitarian situation in Greece harshly deteriorated after, in September, a fire on the island of Lesbos destroyed Moria refugee camp, which hosted more than 12,000 migrants.
On 4 February 2021, cancer survivor, inspirational leader and motivational speaker Aron Anderson was announced as WHO/Europe’s Cancer Ambassador.
Since losing the use of his legs after his cancer diagnosis at the age of 8, Aron has made it his life’s mission to not let his wheelchair be an obstacle. Instead, he has embarked on a series of ambitious adventures, from hiking the world’s highest mountains and parachuting from airplanes to cycling across Europe and skiing across Antarctica to reach the South Pole.
The ambassadorship is linked to a new pan-European movement – United Action Against Cancer – which aims to eliminate cancer as a life-threatening disease.
“I’m deeply honoured that WHO chose me for this important mission. As a cancer survivor myself, I was lucky to get a second chance at life,” Aron said when asked about his nomination. “And now I want to help as many people as possible to get that second chance at life, too.”
This is the first time that WHO/Europe has nominated its own ambassador to create a grassroots movement to inspire action and change behaviours related to cancer risk factors. United Action Against Cancer also aims at raising awareness of the important role of early diagnosis in saving lives and the need for better access to palliative care.
“Having our own Cancer Ambassador, someone who will be a powerful role model to the millions of young people in our Region, is a very important tool in our ongoing efforts to improve the health of the people we serve,” said Nino Berdzuli, Director of the Division of Country Health Programmes at WHO/Europe. “I’m sure he will inspire many around us to make the right choices and adopt a positive and can-do mindset.”
Aron will work closely with WHO/Europe on a range of advocacy and awareness-raising activities, encouraging people – especially young people – in the WHO European Region to curb risky behaviours that are likely to lead to cancer.
