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Amidst surging COVID numbers, WHO chief urges: ‘take heart and take action’

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Amidst surging COVID numbers, WHO chief urges: ‘take heart and take action’

Every death is someone’s parent, partner, child, or friend, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organiztion (WHO), told the briefing. He noted that exactly a year ago, fewer than 1,500 cases of COVID-19 had been reported.

‘Take heart, take hope’ 

Vaccines have given the world hope, which, according to the WHO chief is why “every life we lose now is even more tragic”. 

“We must take heart, take hope and take action”, he said, reiterating his call for health workers and older people in all countries to be vaccinated within the first 100 days of 2021. 

Brink of catastrophe 

Last week, Tedros said that the world stood on “the brink of a catastrophic moral failure” if it does not deliver equitable access to vaccines.  

Two new studies show that “it wouldn’t just be a moral failure, it would be an economic failure” too, he said. 

An International Labour Organization (ILO) analysis released on Monday, found that $3.7 trillion was lost last year in terms of working hours. 

While the report projected that most countries will recover in the second half of 2021, depending on vaccination rollout, it recommends international assistance for low and middle income countries to support vaccine rollout and promote economic and job recovery programmes. 

At the same time, a study commissioned by the International Chamber of Commerce Research Foundation, makes a strong economic case for vaccine equity.  

“It finds that vaccine nationalism could cost the global economy up to $9.2 trillion, and almost half of that – $4.5 trillion – would be incurred in the wealthiest economies”, the WHO chief said. 

Growing vaccine divide   

Meanwhile a financing gap for the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator this year stands at $26 billion, according to the UN official, saying that if fully funded, it would return up to $166 “for every dollar invested”. 

While so-called vaccine nationalism “might serve short-term political goals”, he upheld that it is in every nation’s own medium and long-term economic interest to support “vaccine equity”, reminding that until the pandemic is ended everywhere, it won’t be eradicated anywhere. 

“As we speak, rich countries are rolling out vaccines, while the world’s least-developed countries watch and wait”, he said. “Every day that passes, the divide grows larger between the world’s haves and have nots”. 

Buddhist Times News – Kargil to be developed as adventure tourism destination: Union minister

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Shyamal Sinha
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Buddhist Times News – Kargil to be developed as adventure tourism destination: Union minister

By  —  Shyamal Sinha

Located in the centre of the Himalayan region with the most pleasing natural beauty, majestic hills and tremendous potential for adventure activities, Kargil is the second largest urban centre of Ladakh. It is situated at an altitude of about 2704 m, and 204 km from Srinagar in the west and 234 km from Leh in the east. The town is nestled along the rising hillside of the Suru basin. It is the confluence point of the Drass and Wakha tributaries of the Suru River.

The Centre is committed to create international level infrastructure in Ladakh’s Kargil district to make it an adventure tourism destination, Union Minister Prahlad Singh Patel said on Sunday.

Interacting with reporters during his visit to Linkipal Ski Slopes here, he also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has planned to promote adventure tourism in areas which have lot of potential but have remained unexplored due to various reasons.

‘Kargil is one among them. The government of India is fully committed to create international level tourism infrastructure in the district so that a feasible environment is created for tourism and employment opportunities,’ the tourism minister said.

Patel said that after Ladakh became a Union Territory in 2019, he along with a high-level team from the Ministry of Tourism and Culture visited Ladakh to hold meetings with the hill councils of Kargil and Leh to discuss and draw up plans for the development of the tourism sector.

‘The Ministry of Home Affairs has opened over 100 peaks for mountaineering in the country for domestic as well as foreign tourists to promote adventure tourism, which also includes several peaks of Kargil district,’ he said.

Facilities will be created to give training and technical support to people here and empower them adequately to create skilled manpower to serve tourists in the most professional manner, the minister said.

‘Regular training and refresher courses will be organised to achieve this goal which would prove a right step in the direction of quality tourism,’ he said.

Patel also thanked the chief executive councillor of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil, for his assurance to provide land for developing ski slopes at Kargil and said the tourism ministry will provide adequate funds for the development of this area.

The minister was also briefed by experts on the feasibility of opening a skiing and mountaineering institute and creating facilities like ski-lifts at Linkipal Ski Slopes.

Patel directed officers to submit a detailed project report in this regard to the tourism ministry so that work for development of Linkipal Ski Slopes can be started in this summer season once land demarcation and other necessary formalities are fulfilled.

Officers were also directed create basic infrastructure to ensure setting up of initial facilities before going into the whole project.

Patel also stressed that the DPR should be designed in such a way that tourists experience world class snow skiing facilities and hospitality.

During the minister’s visit, local skiers put forth their demands for installation of cable cars, construction of a resting room, providing snow grooming machines and snow ski equipment.

Patel also visited the Bodhisattva Maitreya statue and the Shargole Cave Monastery and also interacted with the locals and the folk artistes.

Summer (April to June) is the best time to visit Kargil. During this period of the year, the town stays comparatively warm with cooler nights. Visitors can expect a pleasant experience as the climate stays quiet and calm with clear views all around.

Buddhist Times News – Urge India to refrain from complicating situation along border, says China

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Shyamal Sinha
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Buddhist Times News – Urge India to refrain from complicating situation along border, says China

Zhao Lijian, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson speaking at a press briefing on MondayBeijing [China], January 25 (ANI): Days after a physical brawl between the Chinese and the Indian Army took place on January 20 along the Line of Actual Control in Sikkim, the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday “urged” India to “refrain from actions that might complicate the situation along the border”.

Speaking at a press briefing, Zhao Lijian, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, also claimed that the Chinese border troops are “committed to upholding peace and tranquillity along the border with India”.

“I would like to stress though that China’s border troops are committed to upholding peace and tranquillity along the border with India,” he was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera.

“We urge the Indian side to work in the same direction as us and refrain from actions that might escalate or complicate the situation along the border,” he said while adding that both countries will take “proper actions to manage their differences and take concrete actions to safeguard peace and stability along the border”.

This comes after the Indian Army had confirmed that a physical brawl between the Indian and Chinese soldiers took place on January 20.

“It is clarified that there was a minor face-off between Indian Army and Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops at Naku La, Sikkim on January 20. It was resolved by local commanders as per established protocols,” the Indian Army said.

According to earlier sources, soldiers from both sides were injured during the brawl.

This comes amid the ongoing standoff between India and China.

In June last year, 20 Indian soldiers, including a Colonel, lost their lives in the face-off in clashes with Chinese troops in Galwan Valley.

The ninth round of Corps Commander Level talks between India and China to address the ongoing military standoff in Ladakh ended at 2:30 am on Monday.

The meeting lasted for more than 15 hours after starting at 11 am on Sunday at Moldo opposite Chushul in the Eastern Ladakh sector.

The two countries have been engaged in a stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) since April-May last year. While China began amassing massive military strength along the LAC, India responded with a befitting build-up.

Multiple rounds of talks have failed to yield any significant result in defusing border tensions. (ANI)

Brazilian bishops decry conditions in prisons – Vatican News

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Brazilian bishops decry conditions in prisons - Vatican News

By Lisa Zengarini

Amidst growing cases of COVID-19 infection and Covid-related deaths, Brazilian prisons have also recorded a significant increase of torture and inhumane treatments incidents, a recent Church report says.

According to the Report “The Pandemic of Torture in Prison”, which was published on January 22, between March 15 and October 31st the Prison Ministry Office of the Bishops’ Conference of Brazil (CNBB) received 90 complaints of ill-treatments all over the Country, against 53 in the same period of the previous year. Commenting the increase, Lucas Gonçalves, Coordinator of the national Prison Ministry, says the report confirms that torture “is not a matter of the past, but something that is well present in prisoners’ daily life in Brazil”.  Violence includes physical abuse, as well as humiliating treatments and deprivations, like denying yard time to prisoners. Moreover, the report points out that inmates are denied access to health treatment, food and personal hygiene items: nearly 75% per cent of the claims concern violations of the basic right to healthcare. 

Most claims, however, are ignored by judiciary authorities, who are inclined to believe they are false. Often the State even refuses to enquire the cases: only 8 claims out of the 90 reported by the Prison Ministry were followed by an investigation.

Impact of pandemic on prison inmates

The Church report emphasizes the dramatic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the over-populated Brazilian prisons, also criticizing President Jair Bolsonaro for continuously underplaying the Coronavirus crisis. With over 800.000 inmates, men and women, Brazil is the third Country in the world, after China and the United States, with the highest prison population, making prisoners particularly exposed to the infection, which has recorded an increase by 800 per cent between May and June last year. In the same  period the death-toll in Brazilian prisons increased by 100 per cent

According to the national Prison Ministry, the pandemic has highlighted the “cruelty” of Brazilian prison system, as well as its discriminatory nature against certain ethnical communities. The report aims at bringing to light this dark reality, while advocating for a change and for alternatives to jail incarceration.

European Parliament to commemorate 76 years since the liberation of Auschwitz

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Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, Poland - Some views of the Auschwitz-Birkenau old concentration camps, in Oświęcim - A barbed wire fence around the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp

A virtual ceremony, including speeches by European Parliament President David Sassoli and guests, will be held on Wednesday 27 January.

The European Parliament will mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day with a virtual ceremony, 76 years after the Auschwitz Nazi concentration camp was liberated on 27 January 1945. You can follow the ceremony live here.

The ceremony will be opened at 10.00 with a speech by the President of the European Parliament David Sassoli and a performance of traditional Yiddish songs by Gilles Sadowsky (clarinet) and Hanna Bardos (voice).

This will be followed by remote speeches from the President of the Conference of European Rabbis, Chief Rabbi of Moscow, Mr Pinchas Goldschmidt and from Mr Gyula Sárközi, dancer, choreographer and representative of the Roma community.

The commemoration will conclude with a minute of silence in honour of the victims of the Holocaust and the prayer El Maleh Rahamim, recited by Israel Muller, Chief Cantor of the Great Synagogue of Europe in Brussels.

***

Pinchas Goldschmidt (born 21 July 1963 in Zurich/Switzerland) has been the Chief Rabbi of Moscow since 1993, serving at the Moscow Choral Synagogue. He also founded and has been the head of the Moscow Rabbinical Court of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) since 1989. Since 20011, he has served as President of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER), which unites over seven hundred communal rabbis from Dublin to Khabarovsk.

Gyula Sárközi (born 12 January 1962 in Budapest/Hungary) is a dancer, ballet master and choreographer as well as founder of the Madách School of Musical Dance and Vocational High School. From 1982 to 2009, he worked at the Hungarian State Opera House as soloist and ballet master. In 2001, he founded the Madách School with the aim of training professional musical dancers. Coming from a poor Roma family, Mr Sárközi considers it important to support disadvantaged children in their education.

Sri Lanka: ‘Forced’ cremation of COVID victims’ bodies must stop – UN rights experts

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Sri Lanka: ‘Forced’ cremation of COVID victims’ bodies must stop - UN rights experts

In a joint appeal, Special Rapporteurs Ahmed Shaheed, Fernand de Varennes, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule and Tlaleng Mofokeng, said that the practice ran contrary to the beliefs of Muslims and other minorities.

It ran the risk of increasing prejudice, intolerance and violence, they said in a statement, insisting that no medical or scientific evidence indicated that burying the deceased increased the risk of spreading communicable diseases such as COVID-19.

To date, more than 270 COVID-19 deaths have been reported in Sri Lanka; a significant number have come from the minority Muslim community.

All of the deceased were cremated in line with amended health guidelines for COVID-19 patients, which were issued on last March.

‘Aggressive nationalism’

“We deplore the implementation of such public health decisions based on discrimination, aggressive nationalism and ethnocentrism amounting to persecution of Muslims and other minorities in the country” the experts said.

“Such hostility against the minorities exacerbates existing prejudices, intercommunal tensions, and religious intolerance, sowing fear and distrust while inciting further hatred and violence”, they added.

“We are equally concerned that such a policy deters the poor and the most vulnerable from accessing public healthcare over fears of discrimination”, they said, noting that it would further negatively impact the public health measures to contain the pandemic.

‘Immediate’ cremation

Information received by the experts indicates that cremation often takes place immediately after test results are provided, without granting family members reasonable time or the opportunity to cross check or receive the final test results.

There have been several cases of cremations based on erroneous information about COVID-19 test results, the experts said.

They noted that the President and Prime Minister had instructed the health authorities to explore options for burials in Sri Lanka.

Disregard

“However, we are concerned to learn that the recommendation to include both cremation and burial options for the disposal of bodies of COVID-19 victims by a panel of experts appointed by the State Minister for Primary Health Services, Pandemics and COVID Prevention, was reportedly disregarded by the Government”, they said.

“We strongly urge the Government of Sri Lanka to stop the forced cremation of COVID-19 bodies, to take all necessary measures to combat disinformation, hate speech and stigmatization” of Muslims and other minorities, “as a vector of the pandemic, and to provide remedy and ensure accountability for cremations that were carried out by error.”

Special Rapporteurs and independent experts are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council and are neither UN staff nor paid for their work.

Racism webinar touches on religion, faith

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Newsdesk
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Racism webinar touches on religion, faith

STAMFORD — Fittingly, Stamford Stands Against Racism’s first discussion on racism and faith opened with a prayer.

“We come together today in a spirit of listening and learning — to engage with one another around the topic and the plague that is often taboo to discuss in our culture: racism,” said the Rev. Shelley Donaldon of First Presbyterian Church.

“It is racism that plagues us all regardless of who we are, or where we come from, or what race we identify as,” she continued. “May these conversations help guide each of us in our lives. May it be so.”



Donaldson closed with an “amen,” before turning back to the group.

The meeting, moderated by diversity consultant and longtime member of St. Mark’s Church in New Canaan Lise Leist, brought together faith leaders from across lower Fairfield County to talk about how race impacts their lives, faiths and collective work.

A second discussion on the topic is set for Jan. 26.

“Justice. Justice you shall pursue, the Torah tells us,” said Cantor Jill Abramson of Congregation Shir Ami in Greenwich. “And we cannot pursue justice, right now, without addressing racism.”

Leist navigated a conversation between Abramson, the Rev. Dr. Michael Christie of Stamford’s Union Bapist Church and Maher Hussein, President of the Islamic Center of N.Y., also in Stamford.

While Abramson maintained that the work of faith is synonymous with the work of anti-racism, Christie reminded the audience that religious institutions have oftentimes upheld systemic racism in the United States.

“The church is not innocent with this. They’re probably the most guilty party,” said Christie. “The church has to really own… the historical role of the church in structural racism and white supremacy Christianity, which we’ve kind of seen played out in the evangelical movement.”

But faith can also help communities of color move through the racial traumas that they face, Christie said, particularly for Black and brown people.

“A good example: A lot of black culture, in terms of our dancing and our music, we … now are discovering through the sciences… it’s our way, in part, of intuitively … dealing with trauma,” he added. “The way we express ourselves in churches, dancing and clapping our hands, (it’s) another way of the community dealing with the trauma.”

Hussein, in contrast, spoke to the value of watching Muslims of all races worship together at the Islamic Cultural Center. In his experience, worship in Islam hasn’t been divided by race in the same way other faiths have in America.

“I see the difference between an African American and white church. But as a Muslim, we don’t have that,” said Hussein. “We all pray equal.”

The webinar was the first of two installments on the intersections of race and religion.

In partnership with Stamford Cradle to Career and Community Health Center, Stamford Stands Against Racism has held other talks that highlight the relationship between race and non-profit work, how adverse experiences impact children of color, and processing trauma.

Cradle to Career and Stamford Stands Against Racism will hold its second discussion on race and religion from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Jan. 26 via Zoom at https://bit.ly/2KNeRzn.

Beginning review – shocking but shallow tale of religion and bigotry

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Peter Bradshaw
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Beginning review – shocking but shallow tale of religion and bigotry

This is the much-admired feature debut of Georgian director Dea Kulumbegashvili, part of the official selection for last year’s cancelled Cannes film festival, where it might well have been a shock-cinema talking point had the event gone ahead. It is co-produced by the Mexican film-maker Carlos Reygadas, whose influence is very apparent, and the movie as a whole is an intensely, indeed overbearingly, curated and controlled experience. It is a succession of disquieting tableaux, shot mainly from fixed camera positions in which the relevant action can be happening very far away, and one of the speakers can be off-camera for long periods: a cinema in the high style of Haneke, Farhadi and Kiarostami.

Yana (Ia Sukhitashvili) and David (Rati Oneli, the co-writer) are a devout Jehovah’s Witness couple with a child who preside over a newly-built prayer house in a remote community. When a religious meeting is firebombed by bigoted locals, David makes an official complaint to the (equally bigoted) police about their marked lack of effort or interest in finding the culprits, and makes a trip to Tbilisi to discuss matters with community elders. Meanwhile, Yana is left behind and is menaced and assaulted by someone claiming to be a cop.

The central rape scene is very disturbingly shot and there is also what I admit is a potent final sequence, imagining some kind of retribution or spiritual degradation happening to the assailant in geological time. But there is something inert and frankly shallow in the film: a refrigerated mannerism in which rape and religious beliefs are both kinds of arthouse artefact, not made any more authentic or compelling by the suggestions of Yana’s own ambiguous attitude to what has just happened.

Kulumbegashvili’s style is confident, if derivative. Her technique now has to evolve away from these self-conscious influences.

• Beginning is available on Mubi from 29 January.

Chiesi USA, Inc. Receives Top Employer in the U.S. Certification for 2021

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Newsdesk
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Chiesi USA, Inc. Receives Top Employer in the U.S. Certification for 2021


Chiesi USA, Inc. Receives Top Employer in the U.S. Certification for 2021 – Book Publishing Industry Today – EIN Presswire




















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China Catching Up to US in Artificial Intelligence, Brexit to Hit EU’s AI Capabilities, Report Says

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China Catching Up to US in Artificial Intelligence, Brexit to Hit EU's AI Capabilities, Report Says

China is catching up to the United States in the ongoing rivalry for the top spot as the global leader in artificial intelligence (AI), research from a top think tank on science and technology revealed on Monday.
Despite the US leading in the development and implementation of AI, China is quickly rising and the European Union is lagging behind the former two, the report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation found.
According to the 2020 report, the US holds the leading position at 44.6 out of 100 points, with China catching up at 32 points and the EU at 23.3 points, respectively.

While the US leads in startup investment and research and development (R&D), China was making significant progress and held the largest number of supercomputers in the world at 214, compared to 113 and 91 in the US and EU, respectively

“The Chinese government has made AI a top priority and the results are showing. The United States and European Union need to pay attention to what China is doing and respond, because nations that lead in the development and use of AI will shape its future and significantly improve their economic competitiveness, while those that fall behind risk losing competitiveness in key industries,” Daniel Castro, ITIF innovation centre director and lead report author said as quoted by the South China Morning Post.

But the EU was behind in investments, including venture capital and private equity funding, but scored higher in the number of published research papers compared with the US, the report added.

China, the EU and US had published 24,929, 20,418 and 16,233 reports on AI in 2018, respectively, it read.

The EU’s AI capabilities had also been diminished by the United Kingdom’s exit from the bloc “both in absolute terms and on a per-capita basis”, the report added.

China Steps Up Made in 2025 Initiative, Funding Amid Trade War

The report comes amid China’s increased efforts to invest in emerging technologies via a $1.4tn initiative in line with the State Council’s Made in China programme aimed at decoupling the mainland from foreign technologies. The plan will invest in new technologies in AI, semiconductors, green energy, 5G and infrastructure, among many others, over the next five years.
The news follows Washington’s acrimonious trade war with Beijing under the Trump administration, who restricted numerous Chinese tech firms from access to US technologies, including major chipmakers and software firms in May 2019.
The former Trump administration also blacklisted key Chinese firms such as Huawei, ZTE, Shanghai-based chipmaker SMIC, and over 70 others in recent months, citing national security concerns, which Beijing has repeatedly refuted as false.

Washington also blocked access to Beijing-based tech firm Xiaomi and telcos such as China Unicom, China Mobile and China Telecom in a last-ditch effort for US president Donald Trump to expand his administration’s trade war before leaving office.

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