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PM urges EU action to ease Brexit tensions in NI

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called for “urgent action” from the EU amid rising tensions over post-Brexit checks at Northern Ireland ports.

UK and EU leaders are to hold talks to try to resolve the trade issues between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Checks on goods were suspended on Tuesday after threats to staff.

The UK government wrote to the European Commission overnight, calling for temporary lighter enforcement of the rules to be extended until early 2023.

But Northern Ireland’s First Minister, Arlene Foster, issued a warning against “just kicking things down the road”, telling BBC Radio Ulster: “We need to find solutions that are sustainable, that are workable and long lasting.”

On Tuesday, Mr Johnson said the EU had “undermined” the Brexit deal by threatening emergency controls of Covid vaccine exports across the Irish border.

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said the threat had been a “mistake that shouldn’t have happened”.

But he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there was a separate issue to address over trade rules, and it was Brexit “causing all of this tension” – not the measures being put in place.

Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove, who will be representing the UK government in talks with the EU Commission’s Maros Sefcovic and Northern Ireland’s devolved administration, said a three-month grace period with lighter enforcement of EU rules should be extended beyond March.

The UK government wrote to the European Commission on Tuesday night to outline the changes it wanted made, which would continue temporary exemptions for supermarket goods, pharmaceuticals, chilled meats and parcels crossing from GB to Northern Ireland.

According to a copy of a letter seen by the BBC, the UK would want these exemptions to stay in place until 1 January 2023.

It comes after hauliers experienced problems transporting goods from Great Britain.

Some parcel deliveries were stopped and supermarkets struggled to restock some products last month, although some of these problems have since been resolved.

“Trust has been eroded, damage has been done and urgent action is therefore needed,” Mr Gove told the House of Commons on Tuesday, adding that supermarkets and other businesses needed to be sure they could continue to supply consumers.

Mr Gove has also asked the EU to examine its decision to ban the import into Northern Ireland of some items like seed potatoes, and the UK wants the Irish government to be able to negotiate a deal with the UK to remove barriers to pets being taken across the Irish Sea.

Ahead of the meeting, Mr Sefcovic tweeted that the protocol was “a cornerstone” of the agreement between the UK and EU, and “the only way to protect Good Friday Agreement”.

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Analysis box by Laura Kuenssberg, political editor

What happens to parcels or dogs moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland might sound like small issues.

But they are huge, because they threaten to break one of the things that was part of the promise in the post-Brexit protocol – that what happened would not disrupt the daily lives of people living in Northern Ireland.

And, as we have seen in the past few days, this combination of all of these small changes could destabilise the very sensitive balance in Northern Ireland between the two different communities.

The government has no intention of ditching this protocol. That is not going to happen, even though the past few days have given the DUP and some Eurosceptics reason to call again for it to be abandoned.

But the government is really clear that they want to very quickly persuade the EU, as one minister put it to me, to start being pragmatic about this, rather than being purist.

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When the Brexit transition period ended in January, Northern Ireland remained in the EU single market while the rest of the UK left, meaning that checks had to be carried out on goods arriving from Great Britain.

Unionists have criticised these rules, known as the Northern Ireland protocol, as damaging to trade and posing a risk to UK unity. In recent days, graffiti opposing the Irish Sea border has been painted in some loyalist areas, referring to staff carrying out checks on goods at ports as “targets”.

Stormont suspended physical checks on food consignments at two ports on Tuesday amid the security concerns, although police said paramilitary groups are not involved.

Mr Johnson said on Twitter that his commitment to people of Northern Ireland and the union was “unshakeable”.

He called for “urgent action from the EU to resolve outstanding problems” with the way the protocol was implemented, to preserve the Good Friday Agreement and ensure “Northern Ireland benefits from Brexit just like every other part of our United Kingdom”.

Recent moves by the EU had “undermined the protocol and understandably provoked concern”, he said.

Ireland’s Mr Coveney said “elements of protocol are causing problems” and the two sides “need to focus on improving” it, but he said Brexit was to blame for growing tensions in Northern Ireland, rather than the protocol itself.

He told Today: “Senior political figures need to talk seriously now about trying to diffuse tension which is clearly there and need to talk about how we can make protocol work effectively.

“[The protocol] is an Irish and British and EU negotiated solution, an agreed solution to try to limit the disruptive impact of Brexit on Ireland and Northern Ireland.

“What is causing all of this tension is Brexit, not the protocol. The protocol is an attempt to try and reduce tension and solve problems linked to Brexit.”

‘Calling for calm’

Amid a dispute with manufacturers over supplies, the EU on Friday briefly threatened to use an emergency measure to override part of the deal and restrict the export of vaccines.

It was concerned that Northern Ireland could be used as a way to bypass export controls, using its place in the single market as a backdoor to the rest of the UK.

The dispute has intensified pressure among some unionist politicians to end the checks on goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, with the DUP saying it intends to work with other unionist parties to send a message that Northern Ireland must be “freed from the protocol”.

Ms Foster, the party’s leader, is due to meet Mr Johnson on Wednesday morning, to discuss her concerns before attending the talks with the EU Commission in the afternoon.

Also at the talks will be Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Fein’s vice-president and Northern Ireland’s deputy first minister, who said the DUP was “whipping up hysteria” while others were “calling for calm and resolution”.

Mr Coveney said the move by the Commission on Friday had been “a mistake”, adding: “It should not have happened and would not have happened if there had been the appropriate consultation.”

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What is the NI protocol?

Part of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, the NI protocol guarantees an open border between the EU and Northern Ireland, with no controls on exported products.

It was introduced to avoid creating a hard border on the island of Ireland.

Instead there are checks on some products travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

This is because Northern Ireland in effect remains part of the EU single market for goods while the rest of the UK has left.

However, Article 16 of the protocol part of the deal allows the EU and UK to choose to suspend any aspects they consider are causing “economic, societal or environmental difficulties”.

The EU announced it would trigger the clause to control exports of vaccines to Northern Ireland, but later reversed the decision.

Unionist parties in NI have been pressing the UK government to use Article 16 to reduce checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain.

Forum for tackling misinformation on health and NCDs

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Forum for tackling misinformation on health and NCDs

WHO has created a forum for tackling misinformation on health and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).

The WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases is bringing together a broad range of stakeholders in a series of meetings to gather the necessary expertise to tackle health disinformation and help build a toolkit of policy initiatives for the future.

Misinformation and disinformation on NCDs

Every day we are exposed to a huge amount of information and more and more people are looking for advice on health issues digitally via search engines and social media. While wider access to health information can be positive, the rapid spread of inaccurate facts on health topics can lead to serious consequences.

The abundance of information – some accurate and some not – that has come with the COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance on health issues. Misinformation, which is the unintentional spreading of false information, as well as disinformation, created with the intention of spreading false information for profit or causing harm, have proven to be very dangerous to public health.

It is clear that misinformation can influence people’s decisions on health. However, although NCDs are an area where behaviour and its determinants play a crucial role, the impact specifically related to NCDs has not yet been taken up. To address this issue, WHO/Europe is launching a project to bring together different parts of society to share innovative practices and work together on policy initiatives to tackle misinformation on NCDs and associated risk factors.

Even though misinformation and disinformation on risk factors associated with NCDs existed before the pandemic, with false announcements of the alleged beneficial characteristics of alcohol consumption, unhealthy diets or the use of tobacco reappearing in the media at alarming rates, the amount of misinformation surrounding NCDs has increased substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“False and inaccurate information related to the risk factors for noncommunicable diseases is a huge challenge,” says Dr Nino Berdzuli, Director of the Division of Country Health Programmes at the WHO Regional Office for Europe. “And with people seeking dietary advice, lifestyle counselling, and even treatment online, this can lead to serious consequences. It reveals the importance of having trustworthy, evidence-based sources for information on health which the public can trust and that will allow informed and sound decisions.”

However, the experience gained in tackling the so-called infodemic related to COVID-19 has given valuable insights to address the spread of false information on risk factors connected to NCDs. Existing innovative practices can serve as a model to contribute to digital literacy around NCDs and help citizens to critically analyse health information online.

Bringing stakeholders together to tackle misinformation

In order to conduct further research into the key actions that can help individuals, community leaders, governments and the private sector to manage misinformation related to NCDs and associated risk factors, the WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases is hosting a series of meetings aimed at discussing the topic with a broad range of stakeholders, collecting inputs from Member States, the media and social media sectors as well as civil society. The outcomes of the 3 meetings will contribute to create a joint triple entente of stakeholders, which will provide valuable inputs and help build a toolkit of policy initiatives for the future.

Debating robust policy and regulatory changes at the level of sources of health information, as well as a commitment for a strong investment in e-health literacy among the general population, can contribute to safer physical and digital spaces. This is in line with the core priorities of the WHO European Programme of Work 2020–2025, promoting health and well-being for all.

Mrs. Keckley’s Book and Mrs. Lincoln’s Reaction

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It wasn’t enough that she was an ex-slave and a woman. It wasn’t enough that she was just a seamstress for Mary Todd Lincoln and became her confidant and best friend. It wasn’t enough when she wrote a book, she said, to support Mrs. Lincoln in her efforts to sell her old dresses.


But it was way too much when her 1868 book, Behind the Scenes, Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House became an expose of her “friendship” with Mrs. Lincoln.


The book had two major parts.


First, it was one of many slave narratives, tracing the injustices that Mrs. Elizabeth Keckley had suffered as a slave, including her rape and subsequent life as a “sex slave.” She records, to a degree, her indignant and harrowing experiences, including the terrible treatment by her masters and mistresses, and even her half-brother. While readers are told of her difficult fight to buy herself and her son, the book is a bit sketchy and limits her readers’ responses. Absent, for example, are the names of her owners. Mrs. Keckley excuses her “owners’ names” because it would be embarrassing to her perpetrators.


As a slave narrative, then, the book is only ordinary, with so many competing books on the market, such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin, far surpassing Mrs. Keckley’s in even the basics of sentimental and alarming detail. Although most slave narratives are quite sentimental, describing the many whippings, in great detail, and highlighting the harsh treatment slaves received, Mrs. Keckley’s book suffers from a lack of details about these actions.


Second, the other part of the book records her friendship and support of Mrs. Lincoln’s emotional state, her time with the Lincoln family, and reflections of the bond she had with Mrs. Lincoln. Mrs. Keckley soon earned the trust of Mrs. Lincoln, who called Mrs. Keckley “my best living friend.” Mrs. Keckley, for example, was there the night the Lincolns’ young son, Willie, died, watching over him as the President and First Lady were hosting a reception at the White House. The Lincolns periodically checked in on Willie who steadily got worse before succumbing to typhoid fever.


Mrs. Lincoln also requested that Mrs. Keckley be at her side while President Abraham Lincoln slowly succumbed to an assassin’s bullet. Realizing how much Mrs. Keckley meant to Mrs. Lincoln, one group frantically went to find Mrs. Keckley, only to get lost in the process.


Yet Mrs. Keckley was there for the First Lady’s grieving process, Mrs. Lincoln telling someone that Mrs. Keckley “watched faithfully by her side.”


But Mary Todd Lincoln was practically inconsolable. She once summarized her state of mind: “I had an ambition to be Mrs. President; that ambition has been gratified, and now I must step down from my pedestal.”


To Mrs. Keckley’s credit, she didn’t give up on the grieving widow while others criticized the First Lady for her months of grieving. In fact, Mrs. Lincoln extended the whole grieving process by wearing a widow’s habit for the rest of her life.


At the time, it seemed that nothing could break the bond between Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckley. But the publication of her book in 1868 did lasting damage to the relationship with Mrs. Lincoln. Particularly, the book’s publication so marred and so angered the First Lady that the friendship they once knew was no longer a bond that would not break. What Mrs. Keckley’s book said then created so deep a wound that it never healed.


One of Mrs. Lincoln’s contentions was the publication of the intimate letters between Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckley. Mrs. Keckley claimed that the publishers felt that the letters were “sensational” enough to “spice up” an otherwise dull tome. But Mrs. Keckley, in truth, had secured the letters from Mrs. Lincoln, creating lasting doubt on Mrs. Keckley’s story and purpose. But Mrs. Keckley’s retort was that she only wanted the public to know about Mrs. Lincoln’s financial problems.


Mary Todd Lincoln’s Many Debts Unknown to the President


Lincoln’s assassination had another effect that Mary Todd Lincoln hadn’t planned on. Prior to the awful night at Ford’s Theatre, Mrs. Lincoln had incurred a number of outstanding debts that she hadn’t told her husband about, hiding the costs in the gardener’s account and budget. Lincoln was not in favor of the many projects that Mrs. Lincoln had for the White House.


In fact, Lincoln pooh-poohed Mrs. Lincoln’s attempt to re-do the White House, labeling her efforts a “bunch of flubadubs,” using good money, he reasoned, that could better go to the troops. But she paid little attention and routinely exceeded the amount of money in charges at elite stores in New York and Boston. While Congress had allotted certain monies for the “freshening” of the people’s house, she continued to spend extravagantly and thoughtlessly, despite Congress and her husband’s efforts to stop her.


Now those bills had come due and she was without enough money to pay them.


The Old Clothes Scandal


But now, Congress balked at paying the bills. Realizing her fate, Mrs. Lincoln had to come up with some money-making method of paying all the bills. She hit upon the idea of selling the old dresses she had worn during her term as First Lady. She imagined that many of Lincoln’s admirers would jump at the chance of buying them. To assist her, she and Mrs. Keckley again went to New York to find someone to mastermind the sale.


Yet, the whole scheme soon leaked to the press, whose relationship with Mrs. Lincoln was tenuous at best. The press often called her the “rebel in the White House.” There were even hints in the press that she also was a “spy,” who had leaked information that would be helpful to the Confederacy.


But the sales of the used dresses went nowhere, a ploy in the end that cost money instead of earning any.


She again asked Congress for more and more money, funds that Congress soon found to be unnecessary and ultimately denied the requests. Part of their reaction could be traced to her attitude. She boasted that President Lincoln, the dead martyred President, “saw my rich dresses and [was] happy to believe that the few hundred dollars that I obtain[ed] from him supply all my wants.”


At the same time, Mrs. Lincoln received some good news about her finances when she found a friend in Judge Dan Davis, who arranged for her to receive an inheritance that made the former First Lady financially comfortable. In spite of the money given to Mrs. Lincoln, she designated none for Mrs. Keckley to help deal with Mrs. Keckley’s indebtedness for material that Mrs. Keckley herself had charged, expecting to be paid back. Mrs. Lincoln seemed to have forgotten her “best friend” amid her financial recovery and would not deign to give her seamstress any of the money.


But money wasn’t the only slight Mrs. Keckley suffered.


When Mrs. Keckley’s book was published, the public began to view Mrs. Lincoln in a more focused light. It quickly became a kind of guidebook for Mrs. Lincoln’s uncontrolled disposition. In Mrs. Keckley’s book, Mrs. Lincoln was often portrayed as a petulant, self-centered, narcissistic person—traits that Mrs. Lincoln did not display openly to the entire world. But Mrs. Keckley’s book revealed many particular instances; for example, the publication of intimate letters between Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckley provided the specific examples that the press only knew in part. In fact, the letters verified to the press that some of their own misgivings about the First Lady were true.


Mrs. Lincoln sought answers about her suspicions of Mrs. Keckley, convincing herself that she was the object of terrible cruelty. Mrs. Lincoln then saw a sinister side to the publication of the Mrs. Keckley-Lincoln letters and quickly reached conclusions about Mrs. Keckley’s reasons for including the letters. In fact, Mrs. Lincoln remarked that she now “understood” what “evil” use the letters served.


Now, Mrs. Lincoln felt “betrayed,” likening it to the gross insult she had received from Lincoln’s law partner, William Herndon, who told Mary Todd about the Abe Lincoln-Ann Rutledge romance in New Salem, Illinois, when Lincoln was a resident there.


Feeling deeply hurt, Mrs. Lincoln then called Mrs. Keckley “that colored historian.” The former First Lady maintained that Mrs. Keckley had no right whatsoever to relate the events that transpired at the White House. Others said Mrs. Keckley was nothing but a “gossip monger.” One critic accused Mrs. Keckley of imposing herself in the everyday life of the Lincoln family, using that as a “cover” for the close friendship between the First Lady and Mrs. Keckley merely to gain information about the Lincolns. A reviewer even called Mrs. Keckley a ‘treacherous creature,” while another said that the lesson of the experience was that educating blacks was “a dangerous act.”


To many, then, Mrs. Keckley—an ex-slave at that—had described to the world what went on in the White House in her “tell-all” book. It was way beyond good taste in their view.


Robert Lincoln, Mrs. Lincoln’s son, convinced the publisher to halt production of the embarrassing work, but it was again published to low sales in the early 1900s.


Ardently arguing her case, Mrs. Keckley tried to explain that she, too, had been duped by her publisher, but to no avail. She again tried to defend the book as a way to spur sales and alert the public of Mrs. Lincoln’s financial condition. Mrs. Keckley put it more gently and thought that Mrs. Lincoln “labored under pecuniary embarrassment.”


Apparently, Mrs. Lincoln remained cautious of Mrs. Keckley’s intentions and continued to believe that Mrs. Keckley had “betrayed” her.


The deep and abiding friendship and trust they once enjoyed had been destroyed.


And Mrs. Lincoln’s response to the entire relationship, whether intended or not, followed the script that Mary Todd Lincoln seems to have written for herself.


Dr. Marshall Myers, 313 Dylan Court, Richmond, KY 40475

Here Are the 14 New Books You Should Read in February

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Here Are the 14 New Books You Should Read in February

The best new books arriving in February offer something for everyone. Memoirs from Rebecca Carroll and Randa Jarrar explore questions of identity and belonging. New fiction from Brandon Hobson and Chang-rae Lee follow characters as they navigate how the past has impacted their present. And Henry Louis Gates, Jr. weaves together over 400 years of history in his sweeping account of the Black church in America. These books are accompanied by dazzling short story collections, heartbreaking debuts and more. Here, learn more about the 14 new books you should read in February.

Milk Fed, Melissa Broder (Feb. 2)

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Rachel is a 24-year-old obsessed with counting her calories. Every part of her routine is regimented, from the chemical sweeteners she uses in her breakfast to the hours she spends on the elliptical, pedaling to absolutely nowhere. This all changes when her therapist asks her to cut off communication for 90 days with her mother—the woman whose own body image struggles shaped her daughter’s warped relationship with food. Enter Miriam: a young Orthodox Jewish woman who works at the frozen yogurt store Rachel frequents. She encourages Rachel to indulge and the two develop an unexpected bond, which author Melissa Broder explores in this thrilling examination of hunger, desire, faith, family and love.
Buy Now: Milk Fed on Bookshop | Amazon

Surviving the White Gaze: A Memoir, Rebecca Carroll (Feb. 2)

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In her memoir, WNYC cultural critic Rebecca Carroll details her aching journey to understanding her racial identity. Growing up, Carroll was the only Black person in her small New Hampshire town, where she lived with her adoptive white parents. Later, her youth was further complicated by the presence of her birth mother, a white woman, who constantly tore apart her daughter’s sense of self. In reflecting on her relationships with her adoptive parents, birth mother and overwhelmingly white town, Carroll looks at what it means to belong, revealing in harrowing terms what she had to endure in order to heal.

Buy Now: Surviving the White Gaze on Bookshop | Amazon

The Low Desert: Gangster Stories, Tod Goldberg (Feb. 2)

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The fast-paced fictional crime stories in Tod Goldberg’s latest collection feature a cast of characters navigating mysterious, tragic and occasionally funny situations. One piece follows a waitress on the hunt for her missing daughter, another captures what happens when a drug dealer meets a lawyer and a clown at a bar. These 12 stories, set in the same universe as Goldberg’s 2014 novel, Gangsterland, are anchored in southern California’s Inland Empire, and coalesce into a stirring portrait of the region.

Buy Now: The Low Desert on Bookshop | Amazon

The Removed, Brandon Hobson (Feb. 2)

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In his devastating new novel, Brandon Hobson dissects a Cherokee family’s grief over the loss of their teenage son. It’s been 15 years since police fatally shot Ray-Ray, and his parents, older sister and younger brother are achingly reminded of his loss as the anniversary of the tragedy is just days away—and coincides with their annual family bonfire. Flipping between the voices of the family members, Hobson depicts the lingering effects of trauma, and the way grief informs memory and love.

Buy Now: The Removed on Bookshop | Amazon

Love Is An Ex-Country: A Memoir, Randa Jarrar (Feb. 2)

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Writer and performer Randa Jarrar takes a cross-country road trip, from California to Connecticut, and brings readers along for the ride in her new memoir. Her journey frames Love Is An Ex-Country, which examines events on the road. Jarrar, a Muslim Arab-American, details a confrontation she has with a racist truck driver, the visit she makes to the neighborhood where her immigrant parents lived in Chicago and more. The author reflects on everything from her relationship with her body image to the domestic assault she experienced as a child, and then years later as a wife. Throughout, Jarrar shares how she learned to celebrate who she is in a country built against her.

Buy Now: Love Is An Ex-Country on Bookshop | AmazonHow the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House, Cherie Jones (Feb. 2)

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Lala lives in Baxter’s Beach, Barbados, a fictional resort town at the heart of Cherie Jones’ debut novel. She’s a hair braider stuck in a doomed marriage, which is made all the worse when her husband Adan’s burglary of a nearby beach mansion does not go as planned. The incident not only forever alters Lala’s life, but that of Mira, a former local who is on vacation with her family and staying in the house of the botched robbery. Adan’s criminal act sets off a chain of consequences that are devastating for all involved. In tracing the paths of the two women, Jones illustrates the complexities of race and class in an evolving tourist town, moving between perspectives of a cast of characters to reveal the horrific aftermath of a crime gone wrong.

Buy Now: How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House on Bookshop | Amazon

Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019, Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain (editors) (Feb. 2)

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Beginning in 1619, Four Hundred Souls charts 400 years of African American history—with Black voices at the center. The anthology features 90 writers, with each taking on a different five-year period to provide a kaleidoscopic and impressive approach to retelling history. Their various pieces—written as essays, short stories, poems and more—showcase the enormous range of Black experiences in America, underlining that Blackness, and the history of Black people in America, can’t be defined by a singular narrative.

Buy Now: Four Hundred Souls on Bookshop | Amazon

My Year Abroad, Chang-rae Lee (Feb. 2)

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While caddying at a golf course back home in the States, Tiller, an American college student, meets Chinese-American entrepreneur Pong Lou. Though he didn’t know it at the time, their fateful meeting transforms Tiller’s life in ways he never imagined. Pong invites Tiller on a business trip across Asia, and it’s there that Tiller becomes Pong’s protégé. But Chang-rae Lee’s latest novel is about much more than a wild adventure abroad: The narrative flips between the past and present, where Tiller must process the impact that these travels had on him. It’s an energetic but tender exploration of cultural immersion, ambition and pleasure that takes many unexpected turns.

Buy Now: My Year Abroad on Bookshop | Amazon

Milk Blood Heat, Dantiel W. Moniz (Feb. 2)

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Eleven stories set against the backdrop of northern Florida comprise Dantiel W. Moniz’s electric debut collection. The characters in Milk Blood Heat are quietly forced to contemplate some of life’s biggest questions about death, friendship, womanhood and love. Among them are the estranged siblings on a road trip with their father’s ashes, an inseparable pair of adolescent friends rocked by tragedy and a woman haunted by the daughter she miscarried. Together, their stories, along with several others, create a tapestry of intimate moments punctuated by Moniz’s tight, uncompromising prose.
Buy Now: Milk Blood Heat on Bookshop | Amazon

Fake Accounts, Lauren Oyler (Feb. 2)

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Right before the inauguration of Donald Trump, the unnamed narrator of Lauren Oyler’s debut novel discovers that her boyfriend is not who she thought he was. While secretly scrolling through his phone, she learns that he’s a popular anonymous Internet conspiracy theorist. After the dissolution of their relationship does not go as she planned, the narrator finds herself no longer tied to New York and moves to Berlin. What ensues is a sharp meditation on the impact of living so much of our lives online, and the significant influence that often has on how we think of others and ourselves.
Buy Now: Fake Accounts on Bookshop | Amazon

How to Not Die Alone, Logan Ury (Feb. 2)

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As the title suggests, dating coach Logan Ury’s new book seeks to help those looking to find a long-lasting love. Ury, who is the Director of Relationship Science at Hinge, breaks down what makes a relationship work and why in her data-driven guide, which blends research with real-life stories. The book covers everything from tips on how to navigate online dating to what you should look for in a long-term partner.
Buy Now: How to Not Die Alone on Bookshop | Amazon

Kink: Stories, R.O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell (editors) (Feb. 9)

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In the introduction to their new collection, editors R.O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell declare that they want to take kink seriously. The fifteen stories that populate their anthology of literary short fiction certainly do that, investigating the intersection of love, desire and control in pieces that transport readers to therapists’ offices, dungeons and a sex theater in 20th-century Paris. These narratives seek to analyze how gender and politics inform pleasure and power, and are written by the very best of the genre—including Alexander Chee, Roxane Gay and Carmen Maria Machado.
Buy Now: Kink on Bookshop | Amazon

The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (Feb. 16)

ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== Here Are the 14 New Books You Should Read in February

In this sprawling companion book to his new PBS documentary series, historian Henry Louis Gates, Jr. combines reflections on his childhood with centuries of history in his thoughtful examination of the Black church in America. Blending research, interviews with scholars and insights from his own life, Gates illuminates the central role of the Black church in the movement for social justice and the support network it has been for a community often in need of safe spaces. Unafraid to be critical, especially in detailing the church’s stances on issues related to gender and sexuality, Gates’ work is as comprehensive as it is celebratory.

Buy Now: The Black Church on Bookshop | Amazon

Appropriate: A Provocation, Paisley Rekdal (Feb. 16)

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Creative writing professor Paisley Rekdal tackles the definition of cultural appropriation and how it fits into our current political climate in her collection of essays, structured as a series of letters to an imagined student. Rekdal picks apart the hotly debated topic of who gets to tell what story as she examines the evolution of cultural appropriation as it pertains to literature. In her scrutinization of authorship, Rekdal points to bigger questions surrounding whiteness, identity and empathy.
Buy Now: Appropriate on Bookshop | Amazon

EU says ‘regrettable’ choice by Kosovo for Jerusalem embassy

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epa08979997 A Kosovo police officer walks between national flags of Kosovo and Israel while the virtual ceremony to establish diplomatic ties between the two countries took place at the building of Kosovo's foreign ministry in Pristina, Kosovo, 01 February 2021. Israel's and Kosovo's foreign ministers held a virtual ceremony on Monday 01 February to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries after deal brokered by former U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in September 2020. EPA/VALDRIN XHEMAJ

BRUSSELS – EU foreign policy spokesperson Peter Stano said Tuesday that Kosovo’s decision to open an embassy in Jerusalem is “regrettable” and “moves Kosovo away from the EU position on the question of Jerusalem’s status”.

Stano’s comments came regarding recent developments on the normalisation of relations between Israel and Kosovo.

“All embassies of EU member states and European delegations are in Tel Aviv,” Stano said, highlighting that Brussels’ position on the question “has not changed”.

Stano said the EU has always supported a two-state solution with Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and Palestine, and “a final solution on Jerusalem’s status as the future capital of both states must be found through direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians”.

“Kosovo has indicated EU integration as its strategic priority and we expect it will act consistently,” he said.

International community must act after Myanmar coup, say Christian leaders

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International community must act after Myanmar coup, say Christian leaders
(Photo: Reuters / NLD / Handout)Nobel peace prize laureates, Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi (R) and South African social rights activist and retired Anglican bishop Desmond Tutu (L) speak at Suu Kyi’s house in Yangon, February 26, 2013.

Christians from different traditions are looking to the international community to take action after a military coup in Myanmar – also called Burma where politicians, journalists and human rights activists were arbitrarily locked up.


A Catholic Mission leader in Australia said on Feb.1 he has “tremendous concern” for the people of Myanmar after the military coup that has resulted in the arrest of civilian leaders, and the cutting of flights and the internet.

The military in Myanmar staged the Feb. 1 coup and detained top political leaders, including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint.

A Nobel Peace Pirze laureate, Suu Kyi received strong criticism during her leadership for not speaking out on the perecution of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority.

The military declared a state of emergency and said General Min Aung Hlaing would be in charge of the country for 12 months because the government had not acted on the military’s claims of fraud in November’s elections and because it allowed for an election despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Twelve months could easily lead to 12 years in terms of the military’s past performance. Let’s hope not,” Melbourne director of Catholic Mission, Kevin Meese, said.

Military rule in Myanmar lasted from 1962 to 2011 before resuming again with the latest coup.

Buddhist account for some 88 percent of the country’s 57 milliojn people while just ocer 6 percent are Christians and more than 4 percent Muslims.

In the UK, Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s Senior Analyst for East Asia, Benedict Rogers, called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of lAung San Suu Kyi, Win Myint and other pro-democracy leaders following their arrest in the coup.

“The events of the past few days and especially the past 24 hours are a desperate step backwards for Burma,” he was quoted as saying by Christian Today.

“We urge all sides to engage in meaningful dialogue, peaceful talks and negotiation.

“We urge the military to respect the democratic process, and we call for international mediation to help all sides to reach an agreed way forward.”

TARGETTED SANCTIONS

Failing this, Rogers said the international community should impose the “toughest possible” targeted sanctions on Myanmar’s military leaders and their enterprises, as well as foreign investment in those enterprises.

The UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet had said was “gravely concerned” at the removal of the civilian government in Myanmar and the arbitrary detention of dozens of political leaders, human rights activists, journalists, and others.

“There are also disturbing reports of journalists being harassed or attacked, and restrictions on the Internet and social media – which will restrict access to information and freedom of expression at this critical and frightening time for the people of Myanmar,” the UN human rights chief said.

When Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, the Norwegian Nobel Committee dubbed her struggle against the country’s military junta “one of the most extraordinary examples of civil courage in Asia in recent decades,” The Washington Post reports

“Even now, after her reputation has been tarnished by allegations that as Myanmar’s leader she turned a blind eye to ethnic cleansing and genocide, there are few who doubt Suu Kyi’s bravery. Many, however, would question her wisdom,” wrote the  Post.

She was the daughter of a revered independence figure, and placed under house arrest shortly after returning to Myanmar in 1988.

She stood her ground, refusing to relent or retreat and suffered 15 years of house arrest, becoming a global symbol for democracy.

After Suu Kyi’s arrest on Feb. 1 and amost three decades after her Nobel Peace Prize win, there is little global support for her after her journey from political prisoner to pariah politician, according to the Post.

Buddhist Times News – Suu Kyi Detained; India Expresses Concern

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Shyamal Sinha
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Buddhist Times News – Suu Kyi Detained; India Expresses Concern

Myanmar military on Monday, 1 February, declared a one-year state of emergency in the country after detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior figures from the ruling National League for Democracy’s (NLD) party, news agency AFP reported quoting TV channels.

By   —   Shyamal Sinha

Myanmar, also known as Burma, was ruled by the armed forces until 2011, when democratic reforms spearheaded by Aung San Suu Kyi ended military rule.

She spent nearly 15 years in detention between 1989 and 2010. She was internationally hailed as a beacon of democracy and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.

The development comes amid reports of a military coup in Myanmar just months after Suu Kyi’s party NLD swept the general elections.

According to news agency IANS, the military-backed opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in Myanmar has been disputing the results of the general elections held on 8 November last year, in which the NLD secured way above the 322 seats required to form the government.

It was the second general polls since 2011, when the military rule ended in the country. The reports of a coup surfaced after the country’s army earlier last week warned that it will take action if the complaints about alleged election fraud were not addressed.

Sources had earlier told IANS that a military coup appeared to be a likely outcome given China’s grip over the internal situation in the country.

Myanmar’s military junta, which ruled the country through the 90s and 2000s, has had the backing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). After a long struggle against the military regime for nearly two decades, Suu Kyi-led Myanmar transitioned into a partial democracy in the last five years.

Suu Kyi, a former Nobel laureate, however, faced widespread criticism from the West when her government expelled around 700,000 Rohingya Muslims accused of perpetrating Islamist terrorism and propagating separatism. In a case filed by a group of Islamic countries at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, she has been accused of genocide of Rohingyas.

At home, however, “the Lady”, as Ms Suu Kyi is known, remains wildly popular among the Buddhist majority who hold little sympathy for the Rohingya.

However, her government, whose survival depends on the military, not only stood by the army, but also began engaging Beijing to secure investments. For China, Myanmar is of strategic importance due to its access to the Indian Ocean, the main route for China’s oil imports from the Middle East.

Beijing is keen on the development of overland routes for oil and gas pipelines via the Kyaukphyu special economic zone (SEZ) and deep-sea port, which will allow it to bypass the South China Sea where the US and Japan are challenging its sovereignty.

While New Delhi has been interested in Myanmar’s entry into Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) grouping against Beijing, China seems to have extended its backing to the military in Myanmar, amid the rapidly evolving situation in the region.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India on Monday expressed concerns over the developments in Myanmar and urged that the rule of law must be upheld.

“We have noted the developments in Myanmar with deep concern. India has always been steadfast in its support to the process of democratic transition in Myanmar. We believe that the rule of law and the democratic process must be upheld. We are monitoring the situation closely,” the MEA said.

The US too expressed concern saying that it was ‘alarmed’ at the reports emerging from Myanmar.

“The US is alarmed by reports that Burmese military has taken steps to undermine country’s democratic transition, including arrest of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian officials in Burma. President Biden has been briefed by NSA,” White House Spokesperson Jen Psaki was quoted by news agency ANI as saying.

“We continue to affirm our strong support for Burma’s democratic institutions and in coordination with our regional partners, urge the military and all other parties to adhere to democratic norms and the rule of law, and to release those detained today,” she added.

She further said that the US opposes any attempt to alter outcome of the elections or impede Myanmar’s democratic transition and will take action against those responsible if these steps aren’t reversed.

The United Nations too condemned the detention of Suu Kyi and other political leaders of the country.

“The Secretary-General strongly condemns the detention of State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint and other political leaders on the eve of the opening session of Myanmar’s new Parliament,” Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General said in a statement.

“He expresses his grave concern regarding the declaration of the transfer of all legislative, executive and judicial powers to the military. These developments represent a serious blow to democratic reforms in Myanmar,” the statement further said.

Murray Hiebert, a Southeast Asia expert at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said the situation was a challenge for the new U.S. administration.

“The U.S. as recently as Friday had joined other nations in urging the military not to move forward on its coup threats. China will stand by Myanmar like it did when the military kicked out the Rohingya,” he said.

source – PTI ,Quint.

Impact of COVID-19 on cancer care has been ‘profound’, warns UN health agency 

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officialinstitutions
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Impact of COVID-19 on cancer care has been ‘profound’, warns UN health agency 

More than a year since the new coronavirus crisis began, its impact on cancer care has been stark, with “50 per cent of governments (having) cancer services partially or completely disrupted because of the pandemic”, said Dr André Ilbawi, from WHO’s Department of Noncommunicable Diseases. 

“Delays in diagnosis are common. Interruptions in therapy or abandonment have increased significantly,” he continued, adding that this would likely have an impact in the total number of cancer deaths in coming years.  

Pressure to deliver 

“Healthcare professionals have been under great stress to deliver services and there are significant reductions in research and clinical trial enrolment. To state it simply, the consequences of the pandemic on cancer control efforts have been profound.” 

An unspecified number of countries “of all income levels” had been affected, the WHO medic continued, although some wealthier nations had managed to counter the effects of the pandemic, including the Netherlands, where special programmes have been set up to speed up access to cancer diagnosis and treatment for those with symptoms.  

Amid uncertainty over which COVID-19 vaccine might be most suitable for cancer patients, given the increased vulnerability of some individuals, Dr Ilbawi said that data from ongoing clinical vaccine trials had yet to be published. 

“We do appreciate that cancer patients are being noted in these clinical trials because evidence has shown that cancer patients are at greater risk for COVID-related morbidity and mortality because of their immuno-suppression”, he said. 

Trillion-dollar issue  

According to the WHO, the economic burden of cancer on communities is huge and increasing; in 2010, its cost was estimated at $1.16 trillion. 

“In 2020, the number of people diagnosed with cancer globally reached 19.3 million, with the number of people dying increasing to 10 million”, said Dr Ilbawi. 

According to the agency, there were 2.3 million new breast cancer cases in 2020, representing almost 12 per cent of all cancer cases. It is also the leading cause of cancer death worldwide among women. 

Speaking via Zoom in Geneva ahead of World Cancer Day this Thursday, Dr Ilbawi noted that “for the first time, breast cancer now constitutes the most commonly occurring cancer globally, followed by lung, which has historically been leading cause in most of, of cancer, and third colorectal”. 

Worldwide burden  

The WHO official warned that the burden of cancer is expected to rise further in the years ahead for a variety of reasons including population growth, with the number of new cases worldwide in 2040 likely to be 47 per cent higher than in 2020.  

The greatest increases will be in low and middle income countries where late-stage diagnosis and lack of access to quality and affordable diagnosis and treatment are common, the UN agency said in a statement. 

Highlighting efforts to tackle cervical cancer, WHO noted that it is the fourth most common cancer among women globally, with an estimated 604,000 new cases in 2020 and 700,000 cases and 400,000 deaths forecast in 2030.  

Sufferers from poorer countries are disproportionately affected, with nearly 90 per cent of global deaths in 2020 from cervical cancer occurring in low and middle income nations. 

Diagnose and treat quickly 

Underscoring the benefits of early diagnosis and appropriate treatment, the UN health agency appealed for better availability of human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) and low-cost approaches for screening and treating pre-cancer “before it progresses to invasive cancer”, in addition to new approaches to surgical training.  

“To get on the path to eliminate cervical cancer, we must achieve three targets by 2030: 90 per cent of girls fully vaccinated with the HPV vaccine by 15 years of age, 70 per cent of women screened using a high-performance test by age 35 and again by 45 and 90 per cent of women identified with cervical cancer treated,” WHO said. 

Achieving these targets would lead to a decline in cases of more than 70 per cent by 2050 and help to avert 4.5 million cervical cancer deaths.

Recordjaar voor financiering EIB Groep in Nederland – €3,18 miljard geïnvesteerd

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Recordjaar voor financiering EIB Groep in Nederland - €3,18 miljard geïnvesteerd
©EIB

“In 2020 lieten we zien dat investeren in economisch herstel niet ten koste hoeft te gaan van steun aan klimaatactie en innovatie. Al onze doelstellingen hangen met elkaar samen. Europa kan alleen sterker uit deze crisis komen door te investeren in de groene en digitale economie van de toekomst, niet in de structuren uit het verleden. Daarbij moeten we er wel voor zorgen dat geen enkele regio in Europa achterblijft en moeten we samenwerken met onze partners buiten de EU”, zei EIB-president Werner Hoyer

Dat de financiering van de EIB Groep in Nederland een recordhoogte bereikte, was mede te danken aan de inspanningen van het EIF, dat zo’n €1,3 miljard beschikbaar maakte. Middels steun voor microfinanciering met Qredits, equity-investeringen in 13 fondsen, en garanties aan onder meer ABN Amro en Aegon, werd Nederland één van de belangrijkste landen voor EIF-investeringen in 2020. Ook een samenwerking met Invest-NL om samen het “Dutch Future Fund” op te zetten was hierbij een belangrijke ontwikkeling.

De EIB zelf maakte iets meer dan €2 miljard beschikbaar voor projecten in de energie- en watersector, de zorg, en het MKB. Met 34% van alle EIB-investeringen werd het belang van klimaat onderstreept, zo kreeg HVC een lening voor de uitbreiding van haar warmtenetten en tekende waterbedrijf Vitens een lening voor het toekomst- en klimaatbestendig maken van haar waternetwerk. Door een contra-garantieconstructie tussen EIB en EIF, ter ondersteuning van een grote MKB-faciliteit met ING Bank, komt het totale investeringsniveau in Nederland afgelopen jaar uit op € 3,18 miljard[1].

De recent toegetreden vicepresident voor de Benelux, de Belg Kris Peeters, stelde: “Het is een duidelijk signaal dat de EIB Groep samen met de lidstaten de maatschappelijke uitdagingen van vandaag aan gaat. Behalve de steunmaatregelen om de economische gevolgen van de corona-uitbraak in te dammen, die in het investeringsvolume van het EIF in Nederland extra sterk tot uiting komen, staat de EIB Groep er als het aankomt op klimaatinvesteringen, iets dat we in de komende jaren ook in Nederland zeker verder zullen uitbouwen.”

[1] Volume EIB en EIF is opgeteld € 3,3 mld, maar aangezien de ING-operatie een contragarantie-structuur tussen EIB en EIF betreft, komt het, om dubbeltelling te voorkomen, uit op € 3,179 mld.

The EIB Group boosts financing for the Western Balkans in 2020

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Newsroom
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The EIB Group boosts financing for the Western Balkans in 2020

  • In 2020, the EIB increased its investments in the region by almost 50%, reaching €873 million in financial commitments

  • Lilyana Pavlova, EIB vice-president for the Western Balkans, highlights the EIB’s substantial contribution to social and economic development in 2020, laying the groundwork for further investment under the European Commission’s Economic and Investment Plan

  • The EIB has already mobilised over €1 billion of financing as part of Team Europe’s COVID response for the region

As presented at a press conference today, the European Investment Bank Group (EIB) invested €873 million in the Western Balkans in 2020, increasing its financing in the region by 50% compared to 2019. It provided extensive support to the recovery from COVID-19 under the European Union’s Team Europe initiative to help the most affected sectors.

In line with the European Union’s focus on connectivity, the majority of the investment, €531 million, was allocated to constructing and modernising transport infrastructure in the region, this includes a major investment on Corridor Vc in Bosnia and Herzegovina that also benefited from a €12 million grant provided under the EU Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF). The EU bank supported a diversified portfolio of investments in key sectors for the region, including a €65 million investment for digitalising over 1 500 schools across Serbia. This project will facilitate the introduction of IT equipment and high-speed internet, while some 50 000 teachers will be able to receive training in digital skills. In keeping with the Bank’s climate goals, an €11 million investment for wastewater infrastructure in Kosovo* will improve access to water for some 90 000 people in the Gjilan/Gnjilane municipality.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) received significant support from the EIB Group (the EIB and the European Investment Fund, or EIF) in 2020 with a €320 million investment for the banking sector to support small businesses. The Group has strengthened its instruments that support the private sector and is leveraging EU budget guarantees and risk-sharing solutions further to improve the competitiveness of local companies and entrepreneurs. Strong support for the private sector is necessary to achieve the region’s transition towards a greener, more inclusive and sustainable economic model. Going forward, the Group intends to build on successes such as the WB EDIF (Western Balkans Enterprise Development & Innovation Facility) Guarantee Facility – managed by the EIF – that has supported thousands of local SMEs and jobs and has been recently topped up by DG NEAR (Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations) as part of the response to the COVID-19 crisis. The EIB has also expanded its support for the preparation and implementation of investment projects by providing technical assistance worth €17 million under the Economic Resilience Initiative and the WBIF.

The EIB is playing a leading role in Team Europe’s response to the COVID crisis, committing €1.7 billion of the €3.3 billion total announced at the EU-Western Balkans Zagreb Summit in May 2020. To date, the Bank has mobilised over €1 billion to accelerate the recovery from COVID-19 in the Western Balkans. The funds were channelled to provide immediate assistance for the healthcare and private sector, especially small companies, the hardest hit by the pandemic.

EIB Vice-President Lilyana Pavlova, who is responsible for the Western Balkans, said: “I am delighted that the EIB Group has almost doubled its investment volume for the Western Balkans in one of the most challenging years in recent history. However, we will not stop there, but will continue to provide our full support to help the region overcome the COVID-19 crisis, advance with EU integration and accelerate the much needed economic transformation into a green and digital market. We are particularly proud of the EIB’s first impact finance loan that will boost youth employment and women’s entrepreneurship, while triggering investment in the digitalisation of the private and public sector.”

In 2021, the Bank plans to deliver more support for climate action, the recovery of SMEs, connectivity, the digital transformation and projects encouraging inclusive employment. All of these initiatives are part of the European Commission’s Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans. The EIB Group looks forward to working with all of its partners on implementing this major plan that aims to mobilise up to €9 billion for inclusive growth, sustainable transport, the digital and green transformation and the creation of a common regional market, with €20 billion in investment also expected to be leveraged by the Western Balkan Guarantee Facility.

* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence. 

About the EIB in the Western Balkans

The EIB is one the leading international financiers in the Western Balkans. Over 2009-2020, the Bank financed projects totalling €8.6 billion in the region. Besides continuing its support for the reconstruction and upgrading of public infrastructure, the EIB has expanded into many new areas since 2010, including healthcare, research and development, education and SMEs.

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