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Vatican Museums: Come, let us worship #8 – Vatican News

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Vatican Museums: Come, let us worship #8 - Vatican News

Most Holy Mother of God – Our Lady “of the Sign”, Slavic-Macedonian art (17th-18th cent.), tempera and gold on chestnut tablet, © Musei Vaticani

This tablet depicts the Virgin presenting the Child Jesus on her chest within a circle that recalls the sun, while her arms are raised in the ancient pose of the person in prayer. The tradition behind this representation is extremely ancient, and very common in the East. It is called “of the Sign” because it recalls the prophecy of Isaiah (7:14): “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign; the young woman, pregnant and about to bear a son, shall name him Emmanuel.”

© Musei Vaticani

“The first duty of all those who recognize in the Mother of Christ the model of the Church, is to unite themselves to her in giving thanks to the Most High for working great things in Mary for the benefit of all mankind.”

(Pope St. Paul VI – Apostolic Exhortation “Signum Magnum” – 1967)

Under the direction of Paolo Ondarza
#BeautyThatUnites
Instagram: @vaticanmuseums @VaticanNews
Facebook: @vaticannews

Akeredolu to Nigerians: Don’t to allow religion, politics to us

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Akeredolu to Nigerians: Don’t to allow religion, politics to us

Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has urged Nigerians not to allow their differences in religion, politics and even social stratification to create artificial and needless boundaries in other to achieve a greater state.

This was contained in the Governor’s New Year Message made available to newsmen on Friday in Akure by the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Donald Ojogo.

Akeredolu expressed optimism that the best of all is embedded in every individual as long as the resolve to surmount challenges was placed above “self-abnegation”.

He said: “Humanity has never been insulated from challenges and clearly too human challenges have never remained invincible and endlessly insolvent. Undoubtedly, Year 2020 was fraught with a web of challenges.

“All the same, our individual and collective approach to Year 2021 remains a potent force that can open our minds to the hidden and exploitable opportunities required for fresh paths of growth and development.”

He said losing faith in ourselves and the nation was not an option but a clear route to self-abnegation.

“We only require a new approach, fresh ideas for results of uncommon nature to face the unusual times,” Akeredolu said.

UK completes its economic break from the European Union, ending five-decade partnership and turning the page on Brexit

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UK completes its economic break from the European Union, ending five-decade partnership and turning the page on Brexit

Akeredolu urges Nigerians not to allow religion, politics to divide them

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 Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has urged Nigerians not to allow their differences in religion, politics and even social stratification to create artificial and needless boundaries in other to achieve a greater state.This was contained in the governor’s New Year Message made available to newsmen on Friday in Akure by the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr Donald Ojogo.

Akeredolu expressed optimism that the best of all is embedded in every individual as long as the resolve to surmount challenges was placed above “self-abnegation“.

“Humanity has never been insulated from challenges and clearly too human challenges have never remained invincible and endlessly insolvent. Undoubtedly, Year 2020 was fraught with a web of challenges.

“All the same, our individual and collective approach to Year 2021 remains a potent force that can open our minds to the hidden and exploitable opportunities required for fresh paths of growth and development,’’ the governor said.
He said losing faith in ourselves and the nation was not an option but a clear route to self-abnegation.“We only require a new approach, fresh ideas for results of uncommon nature to face the unusual times, “ Akeredolu said. (NAN)

Ramli Ibrahim dances through arts, religion and politics INTERVIEW | Our youths recognise Lady Gaga but may be completely ignorant of what is a rebab, erhu, veena or sapeh. S Thayaparan 6 h ago

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Ramli Ibrahim dances through arts, religion and politics INTERVIEW | Our youths recognise Lady Gaga but may be completely ignorant of what is a rebab, erhu, veena or sapeh. S Thayaparan 6 h ago

INTERVIEW | The emphasis on our humanity needs to comprehensively be incorporated into our education system and into our day to day life, said Indian classical dancer Ramli Ibrahim.

An accomplished dancer and trainer, the Kajang-born Ramli established his Sutra Dance Theatre in 1983.

In a recent interview, he spoke about the obstacles he faced as a Malay Muslim, problems in getting federal or state funds for Indian dance productions and the influence of national politics on arts and culture.

In fixing arts and culture in 2020, you wrote: “Taking away the extremist and sometimes confusing Islamic factors out of our arts and culture policies and doing away with some Islamic religious requirements.” How did these factors influence your journey as a young artist, and how do they influence young artists today?

As a Malay Muslim who has made Indian classical dance not only his vocation but also his lifetime pursuit, I have encountered my share of flak and obstacles from various Islamic agencies and some of the more religious members of the Muslim community.

Personally, I have never thought my involvement in Indian classical dance was a problem with being a Muslim. In actual fact…

Brexit: Britain finally ends European Union era, as Covid restrictions put dampener on celebrations

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Brexit: Britain finally ends European Union era, as Covid restrictions put dampener on celebrations

Britain’s long and sometimes acrimonious divorce from the European Union ended Thursday with an economic split that leaves the EU smaller and the UK freer but more isolated in a turbulent world.

Britain left the European bloc’s vast single market for people, goods and services at 11pm London time, midnight in Brussels, completing the biggest single economic change the country has experienced since World War II. A different UK-EU trade deal will bring new restrictions and red tape, but for British Brexit supporters, it means reclaiming national independence from the EU and its web of rules.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose support for Brexit helped push the country out of the EU, called it “an amazing moment for this country.”

“We have our freedom in our hands, and it is up to us to make the most of it,” he said in a New Year’s video message.

READ MORE:
* New Zealand exporters told to prepare for ‘significant changes’ from post-Brexit deal
* Brexit deal secured: Boris Johnson praises agreement, Scottish First Minister labels it ‘disastrous’
* Brexit deal is too little, too late for Britain’s car industry

Matt Dunham/AP

People raise a glass and celebrate in Parliament Square as the bell known as Big Ben strikes 2300, and Britain ends its transition period and formally leaves the European Union in London.

The break comes 11 months after a political Brexit that left the two sides in the limbo of a “transition period” – like a separated couple still living together, wrangling and wondering whether they can remain friends. Now the UK has finally moved out.

It was a day some had longed for and others dreaded since Britain voted in a 2016 referendum to leave the EU, but it turned out to be something of an anticlimax. UK lockdown measures to curb the coronavirus curtailed mass gatherings to celebrate or mourn the moment, though a handful of Brexit supporters defied the restrictions to raise a toast outside Parliament as the Big Ben bell sounded 11 times on the hour.

Francisco Seco/AP

British citizens, who live in Belgium, hold candles and Union flags during an anti Brexit vigil in front of the UK mission building at the European quarter in Brussels.

A free trade agreement sealed on Christmas Eve after months of tense negotiations ensures that Britain and the 27-nation EU can continue to buy and sell goods without tariffs or quotas. That should help protect the 660 billion pounds in annual trade between the two sides, and the hundreds of thousands of jobs that rely on it.

But companies face sheaves of new costs and paperwork, including customs declarations and border checks. Traders are struggling to digest the new rules imposed by the 1,200-page trade deal.

Leon Neal/AP

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson signs the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement at 10 Downing Street, London on December 30, 2020.

The English Channel port of Dover and the Eurotunnel passenger and freight route braced for delays as the new measures were introduced, though the pandemic and a holiday weekend meant cross-Channel traffic was light, with only a trickle of trucks arriving at French border posts in Calais as 2020 ended.

The vital supply route was snarled for days after France closed its border to UK truckers for 48 hours last week in response to a fast-spreading variant of the virus identified in England.

The British government insisted that “the border systems and infrastructure we need are in place, and we are ready for the UK’s new start.”

But freight companies were holding their breath. Youngs Transportation in the UK suspended services to the EU until January 11 “to let things settle.”

Gareth Fuller/AP

The last ferries cross the border into northern Europe before the Brexit transition period concludes, and Britain begins its new relationship with the trading bloc from January 1.

“We figure it gives the country a week or so to get used to all of these new systems in and out, and we can have a look and hopefully resolve any issues in advance of actually sending our trucks,” said the company’s director, Rob Hollyman.

The services sector, which makes up 80 per cent of Britain’s economy, does not even know what the rules will be for business with the EU in 2021.

Many of the details have yet to be hammered out. Months and years of further discussion and argument over everything from fair competition to fish quotas lie ahead as Britain and the EU settle into their new relationship as friends, neighbors and rivals.

Matt Dunham/AP

Due to the coronavirus pandemic and the restrictions on gatherings people were moved on by police if they met in any number.

Hundreds of millions of individuals in Britain and the bloc also face changes to their daily lives. Britons and EU citizens have lost the automatic right to live and work in the other’s territory. From now on, they will have to follow immigration rules and obtain work visas. Tourists face new headaches including from travel insurance and pet paperwork.

For some in Britain, including the prime minister, it’s a moment of pride and a chance for the UK to set new diplomatic and economic priorities. Johnson said the UK was now “free to do trade deals around the world, and free to turbocharge our ambition to be a science superpower.”

Conservative lawmaker Bill Cash, who has campaigned for Brexit for decades, said it was a “victory for democracy and sovereignty.”

That’s not a view widely shared across the Channel. In the French president’s traditional New Year’s address, Emmanuel Macron expressed regret.

Johanna Geron/AP

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signs the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement at the European Council headquarters in Brussels.

<

p class=”sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph”> “The United Kingdom remains our neighbour but also our friend and ally,” he said. “This choice of leaving Europe, this Brexit, was the child of European malaise and lots of lies and false promises.”

The divorce could also have major constitutional repercussions for the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland, which shares a border with EU member Ireland, remains more closely tied to the bloc’s economy under the divorce terms, a status that could pull it away from the rest of the UK.

In Scotland, which voted strongly in 2016 to remain, Brexit has bolstered support for separation from the UK. The country’s pro-independence First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: “Scotland will be back soon, Europe. Keep the light on.”

Many in Britain felt apprehension about a leap into the unknown that is taking place during a pandemic that has upended life around the world.

“I feel very sad that we’re leaving,” said Jen Pearcy-Edwards, a filmmaker in London. “I think that Covid-19 has overshadowed everything that is going on. But I think the other thing that has happened is that people feel a bigger sense of community, and I think that makes it even sadder that we’re breaking up our community a bit, by leaving our neighbours in Europe.

<

p class=”sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph”> “I’m hopeful that we find other ways to rebuild ties,” she said.

What The European Union And China Investment Agreement Will Mean For Future Retail Trade Deals

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What The European Union And China Investment Agreement Will Mean For Future Retail Trade Deals

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UK enters ‘new chapter’ outside European Union as Brexit transition period ends

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UK enters ‘new chapter’ outside European Union as Brexit transition period ends

… relationship between Britain and the EU as sovereign equals, joined by … European Union, with both European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council … made in Europe.”
The European Parliament is expected to examine the …

The Best YA Books Of 2020 And 5 New Ones To Watch For In 2021

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The Best YA Books Of 2020 And 5 New Ones To Watch For In 2021

2020 has been a year everyone wants to forget in many ways. But for publishing, it was actually an amazing year—and that includes the collection of young adult (YA) novels.

The best YA books of the year touched on serious issues and examined current events through unique viewpoints.

Keep in mind that “best” doesn’t correlate with “notable.” For example, while Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, was certainly notable, it wasn’t one of the

year’s most surprising or imaginative efforts.

Here are 10 YA books that stood out in 2020, as well as five more that look the most promising for 2021.

Best YA Books of 2020

Camp by L.C. Rosen

Boy meets boy, boy ignores boy, boy gives himself a masc makeover to get boy’s attention, boy meets boy again and sparks finally fly. The book takes place at an LGBTQIA+ camp, and it gives both boys strong backstories so that their actions make sense, even when you want to scream at them. The secondary characters are a delight.

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Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

One of the most gifted poets of her generation, Acevedo takes a storyline that might feel like “too much” in the hands of another writer (long-lost sisters) and turns it into another masterpiece. She uses language in unexpected and lyrical ways.

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

So many books are about relationships. While the protagonist falls in love in this gem, the book is, at its heart, about Felix’s relationship to himself. Callendar spins a tight mystery while also exploring issues of identity and class, without seeming heavy-handed.

The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson

The final in Johnson’s trio of Truly Devious books brings the mystery series to a satisfying conclusion. The three books manage to be both eerily atmospheric and impressively modern, balancing between two eras and doing it well.

Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know by Samira Ahmed

The imaginative premise of this book follows two teenage girls living 200 years apart yet somehow connected through their struggles. They have big choices to make, and watching them navigate through the parts of their lives they want to change makes this a page-turner.

We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez

This novel about three young people fleeing Guatemala through Mexico makes immigration policy relatable for teens through outstanding storytelling. At times thrilling, at times heart-wrenching, the book stays with you long after you finish reading it.

We Are Not Free by Traci Chee

Another timely look at race, this time through the eyes of second-generation Japanese-Americans, teenagers whose lives are changed by the incarceration camps in the United States during World War II. The book follows them as they fight through the trauma of racism and injustice.

Punching the Air, by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

One of the best-reviewed YA books on GoodReads this year, Air tells the story of a boy who’s wrongly incarcerated—something Salaam, one of the “Exonerated 5,” knows all too much about. Amal Shahid sees his chances of becoming an artist dim as he fights to prove his innocence after his conviction.

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown

Combining folklore, fantasy and a critical examination of refugee policy, Wraiths became an instant bestseller last summer. It’s hard to put down this action-packed book; luckily it’s part one of a duology.

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

The debut rom-com is just as adorable as the title, putting a new spin on the old “friends to enemies” trope. There’s definitely a “You’ve Got Mail” feel to this book, which also features the protagonists’ family businesses at war.

Five to Watch for in 2021

Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson

Her fantastic debut, You Should See Me in a Crown, was another 2020 favorite, and Johnson’s second book deals with themes of loss and (again!) music.

Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas

Thomas’ superlative The Hate U Give gets a prequel following Starr Carter’s father, Maverick.

The Electric Kingdom by David Arnold

This takes place in the aftermath of a pandemic; need we say more?

The Nobleman’s Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks by Mackenzi Lee

The third in the historical Montague siblings series introduces the youngest of the trio. There better be a lot of Percy, too.

Indivisible by Daniel Aleman

Mateo comes home from school and finds his undocumented parents have been taken by ICE.

Britain completes formal economic break with European Union

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Britain completes formal economic break with European Union



LONDON (AP) — Britain’s long and sometimes acrimonious divorce from the European Union ended Thursday with an economic split that leaves the EU smaller and the U.K. freer but more isolated in a turbulent world.

<!-- text -->
        Britain left the European bloc’s vast single market for people, goods and services at 11 p.m. London time, midnight in Brussels, completing the biggest single economic change the country has experienced since World War II. A different U.K.-EU trade deal will bring new restrictions and red tape, but for British Brexit supporters, it means reclaiming national independence from the EU and its web of rules.

<!-- zone -->

                <!-- text -->
        Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose support for Brexit helped push the country out of the EU, called it “an amazing moment for this country.”

<!-- fixed -->
                            <!-- hearst/ads/medium_rectangle_A300.tpl -->



“We have our freedom in our hands, and it is up to us to make the most of it,” he said in a New Year’s video message.

<!-- text -->
        The break comes 11 months after a political Brexit that left the two sides in the limbo of a “transition period” — like a separated couple still living together, wrangling and wondering whether they can remain friends. Now the U.K. has finally moved out.

<!-- fixed -->
                            <!-- hearst/ads/medium_rectangle_B300.tpl -->


It was a day some had longed for and others dreaded since Britain voted in a 2016 referendum to leave the EU, but it turned out to be something of an anticlimax. U.K. lockdown measures to curb the coronavirus curtailed mass gatherings to celebrate or mourn the moment, though a handful of Brexit supporters defied the restrictions to raise a toast outside Parliament as the Big Ben bell sounded 11 times on the hour.

<!-- fixed -->
                            <!-- hearst/ads/medium_rectangle_S300.tpl -->


A free trade agreement sealed on Christmas Eve after months of tense negotiations ensures that Britain and the 27-nation EU can continue to buy and sell goods without tariffs or quotas. That should help protect the 660 billion pounds ($894 billion) in annual trade between the two sides, and the hundreds of thousands of jobs that rely on it.

<!-- relatedlinks -->
                                        <!-- /relatedlinks float -->
                <!-- text -->
        But companies face sheaves of new costs and paperwork, including customs declarations and border checks. Traders are struggling to digest the new rules imposed by the 1,200-page trade deal.

<!-- text -->
        The English Channel port of Dover and the Eurotunnel passenger and freight route braced for delays as the new measures were introduced, though the pandemic and a holiday weekend meant cross-Channel traffic was light, with only a trickle of trucks arriving at French border posts in Calais as 2020 ended. The vital supply route was snarled for days after France closed its border to U.K. truckers for 48 hours last week in response to a fast-spreading variant of the virus identified in England.

<!-- fixed -->
                            <!-- hearst/ads/duplicatable.tpl -->


The British government insisted that “the border systems and infrastructure we need are in place, and we are ready for the U.K.’s new start.”

<!-- text -->
        But freight companies were holding their breath. Youngs Transportation in the U.K. suspended services to the EU until Jan. 11 “to let things settle.”

<!-- text -->
        “We figure it gives the country a week or so to get used to all of these new systems in and out, and we can have a look and hopefully resolve any issues in advance of actually sending our trucks,” said the company's director, Rob Hollyman.

<!-- text -->
        The services sector, which makes up 80% of Britain’s economy, does not even know what the rules will be for business with the EU in 2021. Many of the details have yet to be hammered out. Months and years of further discussion and argument  over everything from fair competition to fish quotas lie ahead as Britain and the EU settle into their new relationship as friends, neighbors and rivals.

<!-- text -->
        Hundreds of millions of individuals in Britain and the bloc also face changes to their daily lives. Britons and EU citizens have lost the automatic right to live and work in the other’s territory. From now on, they will have to follow immigration rules and obtain work visas. Tourists face new headaches including from travel insurance and pet paperwork.

<!-- text -->
        For some in Britain, including the prime minister, it’s a moment of pride and a chance for the U.K. to set new diplomatic and economic priorities. Johnson said the U.K. was now “free to do trade deals around the world, and free to turbocharge our ambition to be a science superpower.”

<!-- text -->
        Conservative lawmaker Bill Cash, who has campaigned for Brexit for decades, said it was a “victory for democracy and sovereignty.”

<!-- text -->
        That’s not a view widely shared across the Channel. In the French president’s traditional New Year’s address, Emmanuel Macron expressed regret.

<!-- text -->
        “The United Kingdom remains our neighbor but also our friend and ally,” he said. “This choice of leaving Europe, this Brexit, was the child of European malaise and lots of lies and false promises.”

<!-- text -->
        The divorce could also have major constitutional repercussions for the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland, which shares a border with EU member Ireland, remains more closely tied to the bloc’s economy under the divorce terms, a status that could pull it away from the rest of the U.K.

<!-- text -->
        In Scotland, which voted strongly in 2016 to remain, Brexit has bolstered support for separation from the U.K. The country’s pro-independence First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: “Scotland will be back soon, Europe. Keep the light on.”

<!-- text -->
        Many in Britain felt apprehension about a leap into the unknown that is taking place during a pandemic that has upended life around the world.

<!-- text -->
        “I feel very sad that we’re leaving,” said Jen Pearcy-Edwards, a filmmaker in London. “I think that COVID has overshadowed everything that is going on. But I think the other thing that has happened is that people feel a bigger sense of community, and I think that makes it even sadder that we’re breaking up our community a bit, by leaving our neighbours in Europe.

<!-- text -->
        “I’m hopeful that we find other ways to rebuild ties,” she said.

<!-- text -->
        ___

<!-- text -->
        Associated Press writers Renee Graham in London and John Leicester in Le Pecq, France, contributed to this report.

<!-- text -->
        ______

<!-- text -->
        Follow all AP stories on Brexit at <a href="https://apnews.com/Brexit" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://apnews.com/Brexit</a>