In her remarks to the event, Ms. Mohammed noted the far-reaching social, economic, and health impacts of the pandemic, the disproportionate effect that it has had on the most marginalized populations, and the 70 million extra people who have been pushed into poverty as a result of measures taken to curb the spread of the virus.
“COVID-19”, said the deputy UN chief, “has made it evident that we must build a new future through transformative changes that prioritize equity, resilience and sustainability”.
We must build a new future through transformative changes that prioritize equity, resilience and sustainability Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General
The Open Dialogue on Science for Development in the Context of COVID-19, billed as a first-of-its-kind event, was convened by the UN and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, to highlight the importance of science and global collaboration.
The discussions between the senior representatives of research institutions and senior UN officials were based on partnership strategies, including the UN Research Roadmap for the COVID-19 Recovery, released in November 2020.
With the virus exposing stark global inequities, the roadmap is designed to address the complex health, humanitarian and socio-economic consequences of COVID-19, while boosting speedy recovery efforts, and encouraging targeted research for data-driven responses that focus particularly on the needs of people being left behind. Many of the experts who contributed to the Roadmap also participated in the Open Dialogue.
CDC
A scientist tests a sample suspected of containing a bacterial toxin.
Closer collaboration
The event served as a stepping-stone towards the UN’s aim of ramping up progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, through closer collaboration between researchers, funding agencies, governments and civil society organizations, as well as UN entities.
“To succeed, we need solutions and global action that is focused, coordinated and unified”, declared Ms. Mohammed. “It will require new and strengthened partnerships across the global research community and between researchers, research funding organizations and the United Nations”.
Germany’s health minister said he expects the European Union’s drug regulator to authorise a coronavirus vaccine made by AstraZeneca on Friday, but it may not be recommended for older adults because of insufficient data.
Jens Spahn said it was not clear whether the decision by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) would explicitly recommend against using the vaccine in people over 65, or whether it would merely note the lack of data for older people, meaning “no restrictions but caution in certain areas”.
Germany will adjust its own guidance once it sees the EMA’s decision.
“We don’t expect an unrestricted approval,” Mr Spahn told reporters in Berlin.
“The data available for older people, and that’s been the debate in recent days, isn’t sufficient for that.”
While the AstraZeneca vaccine has been authorised for all adults in other countries, only 12% of the participants in its research were over 55 and they were enrolled later, so there has not been enough time to get results.
A decision on whether to approve AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine for the European Union is due on Friday (Silvia Izquierdo/AP)
A recommendation that only people under 65 get the vaccine could complicate the rollout in many European countries that have focused on giving shots to older people first.
Whatever the recommendation, the three million doses Germany expects to receive from AstraZeneca next month would be used, but perhaps for younger people, Mr Spahn said.
On Thursday, a draft recommendation from Germany’s vaccination advisory committee said the AstraZeneca vaccine should only be given to people aged 18-64 for now.
Britain’s medicines regulatory agency also acknowledged the limited data in older people but still cleared the shot last month for all adults, with some caution for pregnant women.
A separate study testing the AstraZeneca vaccine in the US is still under way.
The AstraZeneca shot would be the third Covid-19 vaccine given the greenlight by the EMA, after ones made by Pfizer and Moderna. Those were authorised for all adults.
(PA Graphics)
The expected authorisation of the AstraZeneca vaccine comes amid a bitter dispute between the drugmaker and the 27-nation bloc over expected supply delays.
On Friday, the European Union made public a redacted version of the contract it agreed with AstraZeneca.
The EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, published the text of the advance purchasing agreement after consulting the British-Swedish company.
Earlier this week, the EU lashed out at the drugmaker after it said it would not be able to deliver the 80 million doses that it hoped to provide and could only supply 31 million.
The AstraZeneca vaccine has already been authorised in several countries, including Britain, India, Argentina and Mexico.
The World Health Organisation is also reviewing it; a recommendation from the UN health agency would allow its purchase and distribution to developing countries from a global programme known as COVAX.
Separately, the EMA said on Friday that no new side effects linked to the coronavirus vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech were identified in the regulator’s first safety update.
Its expert committee assessed reports of people who died after getting the vaccine and said their review “did not suggest a safety concern”.
Earlier this month, Norwegian officials amended their vaccination advice to say that doctors should assess frail and severely ill elderly people to decide if they should be immunised.
The EMA concluded that safety data collected on the Pfizer vaccine are “consistent with the known safety profile of the vaccine” and noted that severe allergic reactions are a known, rare side effect.
The EMA authorised the Pfizer vaccine on December 21 and granted it a conditional licence; Pfizer and BioNTech must submit safety reports every month in line with a heightened monitoring process.
The agency said “there are no recommended changes regarding the use of the vaccine”.
The consultation paper contains proposals which ensure that the supervisory fees charged to credit rating agencies (CRAs) reflect the costs of registration, certification and on-going supervision whilst remaining proportionate to CRAs’ turnover.
ESMA’s main proposals are to charge:
A single registration fee of €45,000;
Annual supervisory fees of €20,000 to registered CRAs with annual revenues of between €1 million and €10 million;
An annual endorsement fee of €20,000 to all CRAs endorsing credit ratings for use in the EU; and
Annual fees to all certified CRAs.
ESMA’s proposals are also intended to align the approach to collecting CRA supervisory fees with the approach taken under ESMA’s other supervisory mandates so that the fee collection process becomes easier to administer in future.
The aim of this consultation is to gather stakeholder views on the appropriateness of the proposals and their likely impact. These views will help ESMA prepare Technical Advice for the European Commission on changes to the Delegated Regulation on fees charged to CRAs.
ESMA seeks feedback on its proposals from CRAs and their auditors, firms considering registration as Credit Rating Agencies and firms applying for certification status. The consultation paper may also be of interest to trade associations representing CRAs and users of credit ratings.
Next steps
The public consultation is open until 15 March 2021. Responses should be submitted using the form available on ESMA’s website. The responses to the Consultation Paper will inform ESMA’s Technical Advice to the European Commission on the revision of the Delegated Regulation, by 31 June 2021.
FILE PHOTO: The facade of the European Commission headquarters is reflected in the windows of the EU Council building in Brussels, Belgium, May 20, 2015. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/File Photo
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission has told Google, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft to continue monthly reports on their efforts to tackle fake news, especially on COVID-19, for another six months.
Social media and online platforms have come under fire globally over the spread of fake news, leading to calls for regulators to force them to do more or face cumbersome rules.
The companies, together with TikTok and advertisers, have signed the European Union’s code of practice to tackle the spread of disinformation on their platforms, and had to submit reports on their efforts during an initial six-month period.
The reports will continue for another six months because of their relevance during the virus pandemic, the EU executive said.
The companies have been told to provide more data on how disinformation spreads during the coronavirus crisis and on the granular impact of their actions in EU countries.
“The pandemic has become a breeding ground for false claims and conspiracy theories and platforms are important amplifiers of this type of messages,” Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova said in a statement.
“We must continue working together to improve our fight with disinformation, but we need more transparency and better effort from the online platforms,” she said.
The European Union is “not fit for purpose” in the task of reducing poverty in Europe and Brexit risks exacerbating the problem, the UN’s special envoy on human rights has said after a two-month investigation.
Prof Olivier De Schutter, who was given access to senior officials across the bloc’s institutions, said the EU’s “constitutional framework” was driving a race to the bottom in corporation and income tax and salary levels.
A lack of harmonisation on those issues, coupled with the 1997 stability and growth pact that imposes ceilings of 3% a year in national budget deficits and 60% of GDP on public debt, were major constraints on progress, he said.
The internal competition to cut taxes and wages as member states sought to attract investment risked being further fuelled by Brexit, said De Schutter, as the UK sought to find a competitive advantage over the 27 member states of the EU.
Taxation is set by national governments but there is “soft” internal pressure within the bloc to rein in the most egregious policies that would no longer apply to the UK, De Schutter said.
The UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights said the UK’s departure could weaken further the ability to restrain fiscal hawks in EU governments lobbying to attract investment.
He said: “Unfortunately, when countries have to think about how to reform taxation, they will be looking behind their shoulder at Singapore-upon-Thames and asking whether they are not, you know, shooting themselves in the foot.
“That, they’re already doing among themselves, but at least there’s greater transparency and there’s some form of pressure within the EU. But that is something the UK will not be involved in any more. So, the means of coordination to soften the competition are going to be lacking.
“I think it’s going to add pressure on member states and make it perhaps more difficult to achieve the lofty goals they would like to set for themselves.”
De Schutter said he had found “good intentions” within the bloc’s institutions but the EU does not currently have a target for reducing poverty within its 27 member states. The previous target of taking 20 million people out of poverty by 2020 was missed by 8.7m people.
One in five people – more than 92.4 million or 21.1% of the EU population – still experiences poverty, defined as having an income below 60% of national median income. A total of 19.4 million children, representing 23.1%, live in poverty across the bloc.
De Schutter, who was appointed to his role in May last year, said: “My sense now is there’s a big fear that if a new target is announced it will again be a failure.”
The UN envoy publishes his report as the EU is about to agree on projects that will be financed by the bloc’s €750bn coronavirus recovery fund.
De Schutter said that for all the EU’s institutional faults, there was an opportunity to turn around a record of failure – but that there was scant evidence that poverty reduction was a focus.
He said: “The impression I had, having spoken with the teams in France, Italy, and in Spain, having prepared the national recovery residence plans, is everyone was working under pressure of the clock ticking. They have to imagine very quickly how to spend this money.
“The initial drafts were sent to the commission for reaction to be given in October/November, and they prepare the final plans by April, and it’s very difficult to wisely spend money when you’re under such pressure. And so, for example, the consultations with social partners were reduced to a minimum. And very often people in poverty were not involved.
“So the priorities were set based on a technocratic assessment of what needs to be done. And on the windfall effect of these European funds, but not on the sound assessment of the social needs. I think that may lead to natural recovery and visitor resilience plans that are not fully tailored to the needs of people in poverty.”
De Schutter’s report advises that the EU sets a target of 50% poverty reduction by 2030 and that the pursuit of this is taken into account when the commission issues its country-specific recommendations on economic and social policies, known as the “European semester goals”. He is also asking that investment in children’s education and training is not included in the stability and growth pact calculations of budget deficits.
He said: “It’s now or never that we can rethink the EU and avoid this mismatch that still exists between the economic dimension and the organisation of competition across the internal market on one hand, and the social dimension, which has only very timidly emerged recently.”
Churches-EU Dialogue: Ecumenical delegation meets with Portuguese EU Presidency
An ecumenical delegation of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) and the Conference of European Churches (CEC) participated in an online meeting on 28 January 2021 with Mr Nuno Brito, Permanent Representative of Portugal to the European Union, exchanging on the priorities of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
An important topic of discussion was the participation of Churches in the upcoming Conference on the Future of Europe. The delegation also emphasised the importance of maintaining a constructive dialogue and interaction with the EU Presidencies, in line with the Article 17 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU), as has been done in the past.
It was also stressed that the Churches, alongside other stakeholders, are able to provide significant inputs for an institutional structure that wants to serve better the Common Good, reducing the distance between the EU institutions and the citizens and promoting dialogue and policies centered on persons, families and communities.
Ambassador Brito highlighted that “Churches in Europe play an important role in reminding our societies that Europe is based on the centrality of the human dignity and that we should not be afraid of our neighbours”.
During the meeting, the delegation also presented a joint contribution comprising of reflections, proposals and policy recommendations, addressing pressing priorities for the Portuguese EU Presidency.
The delegation of European Churches, especially in the context of the challenging COVID-19 pandemic, highlighted the need for the Portuguese Presidency to promote European recovery enhanced by the green and digital transitions, to deliver the EU’s Social Pillar as a key element in ensuring a fair, inclusive, green and digital transition and to strengthen the strategic autonomy of a Europe open to the world. Churches urged the Presidency to promote dialogue and the unity of the EU Member States so as to reinvigorate hope, trust and credibility.
“Our common European values – respect for human dignity and human rights, freedom, democracy, solidarity, equality and the rule of law – need to be continuously strengthened in order to reaffirm our commitment to the vision of the European Union as a true community of values that contributes to the shared and sustainable future of the world”, the delegation shared with Ambassador Brito.
COMECE and CEC also welcomed the ambitious, forward-looking and value-oriented Programme of the Portuguese EU Presidency and its commitment to strengthen Europe’s resilience and people’s confidence in the European social model by promoting a Union based on solidarity, convergence and cohesion, especially “the coordinated approach towards climate change, digital transition and social welfare designed to promote a free, environmentally responsible, socially strong, sustainable and healthy way of life in the context of the recovery”.
Meetings with rotating EU Council Presidencies are part of a long-standing tradition supported by Article 17 TFEU, which foresees an open, transparent and regular dialogue between the EU institutions and Churches and religious associations or communities.
The meeting was held by video conference due to the sanitary measures enacted to face the Covid-19 pandemic. The EU Churches’ delegation was composed of:
Fr. Manuel Barrios Prieto, General Secretary of COMECE;
Dr Jørgen Skov Sørensen, General Secretary of CEC;
José-Luis Bazán, COMECE Legal advisor for Migration and Asylum and Religious Freedom.
CSC – IT Center for Science is an integral part of the Finnish national research system. Its mission is to develop, integrate and offer high quality IT services for research, education, culture, public administration and industry.
To take AI development in pathology to the next level, a European consortium combining leading European research centres, hospitals as well as major pharmaceutical industries, is going to develop a repository for the sharing of pathology data. The 6-year, €70 million project called BIGPICTURE, will herald a new era in pathology.
Pathology is the cornerstone of the workup of many diseases such as cancer, autoimmune diseases, of the follow up after transplantation and is also critical for the evaluation of the safety of drugs. It’s based on the examination of tissue samples (slides) under the microscope. However, despite its pivotal role, it still relies heavily on the qualitative interpretation by a qualified pathologist.
While the microscope symbolizes the profession, the digitalisation of slides in recent years ignited a revolution: not only images can now be shared and accessed from distant locations, they can also be processed by computers. This opens the door for artificial intelligence (AI) applications to assist the pathologist and help study diseases, find better treatments and contribute to the 3Rs (replace, reduce, and refine animal use in research). However, the development of robust AI applications requires large amounts of data, which in the case of pathology means a huge collection of digital slides and the medical data necessary for their interpretation. Sharing these has so far remained challenging due to the data storage capacity required to host a sufficiently large collection and to concerns regarding the confidential character of the medical information.
To allow the fast development of AI in pathology, the BIGPICTURE project aims to create the first European, ethical and GDPR-compliant (General Data Protection Regulation), quality-controlled platform, in which both large-scale data and AI algorithms will coexist. The BIGPICTURE platform will be developed in a sustainable and inclusive way by connecting communities of pathologists, researchers, AI developers, patients, and industry parties.
The project is divided into four main aspects that concern the large-scale collection of data. First, an infrastructure (hardware and software) must be created to store, share and process millions of images that can be gigabytes each. Second, legal and ethical constraints must be put in place to ensure adequate usage of data while fully respecting patient’s privacy and data confidentiality. Then, an initial set of 3 million digital slides from humans and laboratory animals will be collected and stored into the repository to provide data for the development of pathology AI tools. Finally, functionalities that aid the use of the database as well as the processing of images for diagnostic and research purposes will be developed.
BIGPICTURE is a public-private partnership funded by IMI, with representation from academic institutions, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), public organisations and pharmaceutical companies, together with a large network slide contributing partners. The consortium partners involved in the project are:
Academic institutions: Radboud University Medical Center (NL), Linköping University (SE), Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (UK), University Medical Centre Utrecht (NL), Uppsala University (SE, ELIXIR node), Haute Ecole Spécialisé de Suisse Occidentale (CH), Eindhoven University of Technology (NL), University of Warwick (UK), Technical University of Munich (DE), Medical University Graz (AT), Institut Pasteur (FR), University of Liege (BE), University of Semmelweis (HU), National Cancer Institute (NL), Region Östergötland (SE), Medical University Vienna (AT), University of Marburg (DE), Helsingin ja Uudenmaan sairaanhoitopiirin kuntayhtymä (FI),
Pharmaceutical companies: Novartis Pharma AG (CH), Janssen Pharmaceutica NV (BE), Bayer AG (DE), Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH (DE), Novo Nordisk A/S (DK), Pfizer Ltd (GB), Roche (CH), Sanofi Aventis recherche et Développement (FR), Institut de Recherches Internationales Servier (FR), and UCB Biopharma SRL (BE).
Other public & private organisations: CSC – IT Center for Science Finland (FI, ELIXIR node), Biobanks and biomolecular resources research infrastructure (AT), Azienda Ospedaliera Per L’Emergenza Cannizzaro (IT), Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.(DE), Deutsches Institut für Normung E.V. (DE), European Institute for Innovation through Health Data (BE), European Society of Pathology (BE), Digital pathology association (US), GBG Forschungs Gmbh (DE), ttopstart (NL), Sectra AB (SE), Cytomine SCRLFS (BE), Stichting Lygature (NL), Owkin (FR), Deciphex (IE), MedicalPhit (NL), Timelex (BE),
In this large-scale project, CSC – IT Center for Science, together with the Universities of Linköping and Uppsala, will build a platform with secure data access mechanism for receiving and storing pathological images and their descriptive data. The implementation utilizes the service components developed in the European life sciences infrastructure ELIXIR and in the Nordic Tryggve project. In particular, CSC has developed tools for research data access mechanism that play a key role in this project.
– When the CSC’s users can apply for access to comprehensive pathological image datasets, that data combined with the unique HPC computing resources near by, will be an enticing opportunity to drive digital innovations like diagnostic algorithms,” says Tommi Nyrönen, the Head of Node of ELIXIR Finland from CSC.
BIGPICTURE starts on 1st February 2021 and will run for 6 years. However, the platform is meant to last, and the consortium will elaborate sustainability plans to maintain and continue to develop the platform beyond this term.
More information
Contact in Finland: Tommi Nyrönen, CSC, +358 50 381 9511, tommi.nyronen at csc.fi
Interview requests and other media questions can be directed towards: [email protected]
Acknowledgement of support and disclaimer
This project has received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 945358. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program and EFPIA. www.imi.europe.eu This communication reflects the consortium’s view. Neither IMI nor the European Union or EFPIA are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
Guaranteed investments in countries with many children at high risk of poverty
At least 3 % of the budget to be spent on food aid and basic material assistance
A quarter of the funding goes to social inclusion, including integration of third country nationals
On Thursday, Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement on the EU Social Fund+ that contributes to social inclusion, job opportunities and fighting poverty.
The new ESF +, part of the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2027, will amount to €87 995 billion in 2018 prices.
Supporting youth and children at risk of poverty
According to the deal, EU countries where the number of children at a high risk of poverty is above the EU average will have to spend a minimum of 5% of the ESF+ resources on actions that contribute to children’s equal access to free healthcare, free education, free childcare, decent housing and adequate nutrition. Other member states also have to allocate part of their funds to beating child poverty.
All member states will have to address youth unemployment in their spending programmes, a problem that has been aggravated by the COVID-19 crisis. In countries where the number of young people currently not in employment, education or training (NEET-rate) is above the EU average, 12.5% of the fund will be spent on combating youth unemployment. These can be measures such as vocational education and training, in particular apprenticeships, and school-to-work transition.
Helping those who need it most
The Parliament negotiated to have a budget dedicated to combatting extreme poverty in each member state. At least 3% will be spent on those who need it most through food and basic material assistance or by addressing material deprivation, which is defined as an inability to pay for unexpected expenses, adequate heating, nutritious meals or durable goods.
Other measures agreed
25% of the funds will be earmarked for social inclusion, including the socio-economic integration of disadvantaged groups;
Adequate funding for capacity building for social partners in member states;
Safeguards to ensure that projects funded by EU money fully respect fundamental rights.
“Today is a good day for Europe. We agreed to support workers, youth, children and students with almost €90 billion.
I am confident that this money will target those who really need it: people without a job, those who want to improve their skills, children in poverty, and youth who should be given all the opportunities to work, train and study. This is a clear example of how the European Union makes a concrete, positive impact in the lives of its citizens.”
Rapporteur David Casa (EPP, MT)
Next steps
Both Parliament as a whole and Council now have to endorse the agreement.
Background
The European Social Fund has been investing in citizens for over 60 years. It contributes to social inclusion, job opportunities, fighting poverty, education, skills and the employability of young people, as well as in better living conditions, health and fairer societies. At the same time, the individual projects and programmes developed must contribute to improving economic, social and territorial cohesion.
The new ESF+ merges the existing European Social Fund (ESF), the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI), the Fund for European Aid to the most Deprived (FEAD), the Employment and Social Innovation Programme (EaSI) and the EU Health Programme.
The Irish port of Rosslare has seen a staggering increase in traffic since the Brexit transition period ended, as hauliers seek new routes bypassing Britain to link the Republic with the EU.
“Since the first of January, we’ve seen a 476-percent increase in freight to mainland Europe when compared to last year,” port manager Glenn Carr told AFP.
“We’ve gone from three direct services a week to mainland Europe to now 15.”
Jutting out of the morning fog, a giant ferry makes its landing from the French port of Dunkirk — tracing a new route opened by Danish firm DFDS on January 2.
On the sloping approach to the docks, a sign welcomes the steady stream of traffic to “Rosslare Europort: the gateway to Europe” Photo: AFP / Paul Faith
Soon afterwards, a ship from Cherbourg pulls alongside and lowers its ramp — churning the slate-grey waters of the harbour on Ireland’s southeast coast.
Meat trucks and tankers roll onto the dock. Drivers work together — shouting in French — to delicately reverse a flatbed packed with farm machinery.
Spanish hauliers wait in their cabs for the sailing to Bilbao.
On the sloping approach to the docks, a sign welcomes the steady stream of traffic to “Rosslare Europort: the gateway to Europe”.
Among the forest of lorry trailers parked on Rosslare’s docks, one colour stands out — the canary blue of Amazon Prime trailers Photo: AFP / Paul Faith
Britain left the EU in January 2020 after a seismic referendum in 2016 which voted to sever ties with the bloc. But the full effects were felt only with the end of the so-called “transition period” at the start of 2021.
With Britain now outside the customs union and the single market, new checks and paperwork are snarling traffic at the island nation’s borders.
Delays and hurdles mean Irish hauliers are re-thinking the UK’s “landbridge” route they have traditionally taken to EU markets.
Pre-Brexit, more than 150,000 trucks transported three million tonnes of freight to and from the EU in this way — driving across Britain, crossing the Irish Sea and English Channel by ferry.
Since January 1, companies have slapped steep “import fees” on some items Photo: AFP / Paul Faith
But in the early days of January, Dublin Port — a key link in the “landbridge” — experienced a lull in traffic and some sailings were cancelled.
In Rosslare — the second busiest freight hub in Ireland — there are signs logistics firms may be charting a new course to Europe: the one with least resistance.
“When you look at the end-to-end delivery of a trailer to the market, what we’re seeing and what we’re being told now is that it’s not much different from the landbridge,” said Carr.
“However, the big benefits are, you’ve no paperwork, your drivers are well rested, you’re saving on fuel.”
Among the forest of lorry trailers parked on Rosslare’s docks, one colour stands out — the canary blue of Amazon Prime trailers.
Dozens are dotted throughout the port and “tugmasters” — squat, truck-like vehicles used to load unaccompanied freight — shunt them to and fro at pace.
Online shoppers in Ireland — a nation of just five million — often rely on British sites serving larger UK markets to fulfil their orders.
However, since January 1, amazon.co.uk has imposed steep “import fees” on some items — to cover “border taxes, customs duties and fees levied in the country of importation”.
Reports earlier this week suggested people in the British province of Northern Ireland will also see their menu of Amazon products shrink as the site de-lists products due to Brexit customs rules.
But Irish customers can avoid fees and disruption by shifting their allegiances to Amazon proxies in EU markets — amazon.fr, amazon.es and amazon.de.
Already there are signs that the habits of retailers and shoppers alike have changed in the post-Brexit landscape.
“A lot of the major retailers in Ireland are now bringing their products for their shelves directly in from mainland Europe now,” explained Carr.
“We’re seeing big customers, the likes of Amazon, now bringing in a lot of freight on a daily basis.”
(Photo: REUTERS / Kyodo)People wait in queue to offer prayers for the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing, in the rain at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, in this photo taken by Kyodo August 6, 2014, on the 69th anniversary of the world’s first atomic bombing.
Religious leaders in Hiroshima and Nagasaki are welcoming the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, even as Japan’s Christian council “regrets” that their government has not supported or ratified the treaty.
Hiroshima was the first city to be atomic bombed in an act of war, and Nagasaki suffered a similar nuclear bombing just says later.
“We ask the government of Japan to sign the nuclear weapons ban treaty as soon as possible,” the National Christian Council in Japan said in a Jan. 27 statement, saying that the treaty “collects the wisdom of humanity,” and is “a major step in humanity’s long walk toward hope and ideal.”
Religious leaders in Hiroshima and Nagasaki expressed both a sense of encouragement and determination to move forward for a world free from nuclear weapons, the World Council of Churches reported.
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted in the summer of 2017, in hopes of bringing new momentum to the push to curb the deadliest armament in the world. But even then, it was seen more as a moral statement than an enforceable ban.
The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons treaty outlawing nuclear weapons went into effect on Jan. 22, having been ratified by at least 50 countries, NPR reported.
The treaty was adopted in mid-2017, in hopes of bringing new momentum to the push to curb the deadliest armament in the world. But even then, it was seen more as a moral statement than an enforceable ban.
So, the ban is largely symbolic: The United States and the world’s other nuclear powers have not signed the treaty.
The TPNW outlaws the creation, ownership and deployment of nuclear weapons by signatory states and places obligations on them to assist other victims of nuclear weapons use and testing.
“For the first time in history, nuclear weapons are going to be illegal in international law,” Elayne Whyte, Costa Rica’s former U.N. ambassador who oversaw the treaty’s creation, told NPR.
Rev. Yoshitaka Tsukishita, board chair of the Hiroshima Religious Federation told the World Council of Churches, “I have been encouraged by the fact that wishes of the hibakusha have become a global public opinion and the nuclear weapons ban treaty was adopted and has come into force.
“But there is still a long way to the total ban. I hope that more countries will ratify it.”
In a Jan. 22 declaration, the Hiroshima Religious Federation, a group that includes communities of Shintoism, Buddhism and Christianity, said that they “wholeheartedly welcome” the entry into force of the treaty.
They said they “pray that more countries and regions will adopt this treaty and move forward to the total abolition of nuclear weapons.
“We appeal to all people all around the world.
“We do not need nuclear weapons! Let us raise our voices together for the total abolition of nuclear weapons from the world. Let us move forward together on the road toward the total abolition of nuclear weapons,” the declaration concluded.
Tsukishita, a 78-year-old atomic bomb survivor in Hiroshima and pastor of Hiroshima Tobu Church of the United Church of Christ, has shared his written testimony of suffering on 6 August 1945, when he was two years, eight months old.
“Immediately after I was watching parachutes [from the B-29 heavy bombers of the US military], the atomic bomb exploded,” he wrote. “At the same time as my older brother shouted, ‘Mom, the sun is falling down,’ two of us were blown off by the blast.”
Pope Francis expressed support for the TPNW at his weekly Vatican appearance appealing to all nations to work toward a world without nuclear weapons.
(Photo: Courtesy Vatican Press Office)An image by American photographer Joseph Roger O’Donnell that Pope Francis is circulating, under the heading “The fruits of war.”
