On Tuesday, the Culture Committee called for EU rules to ensure a fair and sustainable environment for music streaming and to promote cultural diversity.
In a resolution adopted by 23 votes to 3 and 1 abstentions, MEPs in the Culture and Education Committee urge for imbalances in the sector to be addressed, as they currently leave a majority of authors receiving very low revenues. The “pre-digital royalty rates” currently applied must be revised, they say, condemning the payola schemes that force authors to accept lower or no revenues in exchange for greater visibility.
EU legislation to support authors
Even though streaming platforms dominate the music market and have been growing steadily for the last eight years, there are no EU rules regulating the sector, MEPs stress. The situation is aggravated by the decline in the overall value of music products, with revenues concentrated in the hands of major labels and the most popular artists, the rise of AI-generated content and, according to studies, streaming fraud (i.e. bots manipulating streaming figures), and manipulation and illegal use of music content by platforms.
MEPs call for an EU bill to oblige platforms to make their algorithms and recommendation tools transparent and to guarantee that European works are visible and accessible. It should also include a diversity indicator to assess the array of genres and languages available and the presence of independent authors.
Rules should oblige streaming platforms to identify right-holders via the correct allocation of metadata to help their works to be discovered, as well as to prevent e.g. streaming frauds used to reduce costs and lower value. A label should inform the audiences about purely AI-generated works, they add.
Finally, MEPs ask the EU to invest more in European music, including local and niche artists or artists from vulnerable communities to offer a more diverse repertoire, as well as to support authors in the digital transformation of their business models.
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“The success story of music streaming services has its own paradoxes. The majority of authors and performers, even those with hundreds of thousands of reproductions each year, do not receive remuneration that allows them to afford a decent living. It is of paramount importance to recognise the role authors play in the music sector, review the revenue distribution model that streaming services use and explore proportionate and efficient solutions, to promote cultural diversity”, said lead MEP Ibán García Del Blanco (S&D, ES).
Next steps
The Plenary vote on the non-legislative resolution is scheduled for the January 2024 Strasbourg session.
Background
Digital music platforms and music sharing services currently provide access to up to 100 million tracks either for free or for a comparatively low monthly subscription fee. Streaming represents 67% of the music sector’s global revenue, with an annual revenue of 22.6 billion USD.
Liège, shopping destination: trendy boutiques and traditional markets
Liège, the charming Belgian city located in the Walloon region, is much more than just a tourist destination. Known for its rich cultural and historical heritage, Liège is also an attractive city for shopaholics. With its trendy boutiques and traditional markets, the city offers a unique shopping experience that will delight lovers of fashion, design and local products.
Shopping enthusiasts will be enchanted by the trendy district of Liège, located around rue Neuve and rue Saint-Gilles. These lively streets are full of designer boutiques, trendy clothing stores and original concept stores. Fashion enthusiasts will find what they are looking for in the boutiques of renowned Belgian brands, such as Maison Martin Margiela, Dries Van Noten and Raf Simons. Design lovers will be delighted by the concept stores, such as Hunting and Collecting or La Manufacture, which offer a cutting-edge selection of clothing, accessories and designer objects.
But Liège is not limited to trendy boutiques. The city is also full of traditional markets where you can discover local products and crafts from the region. The Market Square market, which takes place every Sunday morning, is a must for lovers of fresh produce. There you will find seasonal fruits and vegetables, cheese, cold meats, bread and many other local delights. It’s the ideal place to stock up on local products and meet passionate producers in the region.
Another market not to be missed is the Batte market, which is held every Sunday morning along the banks of the Meuse. This market is one of the largest markets in Europe and attracts thousands of visitors every week looking for bargains and a variety of products. You’ll find everything from clothes and jewelry to decorative items, books and even pets. It is a true paradise for bargain hunters and flea market enthusiasts.
In addition to these traditional markets, Liège also offers numerous shopping events throughout the year. The Christmas market, held every year during the holiday season, is one of the most popular in Belgium. The city streets are transformed into a real Christmas village, with wooden chalets offering handcrafted gifts, culinary specialties and attractions for young and old. This is the perfect opportunity to do your Christmas shopping while enjoying the festive atmosphere of the city.
Finally, for lovers of antiques and vintage objects, Liège is full of specialized shops. The Saint-Pholien district, located a few steps from the city center, is known for its numerous antique and flea market shops. There you will find antique furniture, vintage decorative objects, rare books and many other hidden treasures. It’s the ideal place to find unique pieces and add a touch of originality to your interior.
In conclusion, Liège is an essential shopping destination in Belgium. With its trendy boutiques, traditional markets and shopping events, the city offers a unique experience for lovers of fashion, design and local products. Whether you are looking for trendy clothing, fresh products or vintage objects, Liège will seduce you with its varied offering and its friendliness. So, don’t hesitate any longer and set off to discover this dynamic city full of surprises.
In France, the Senate is working on a bill to “reinforce the fight against cultic deviances”, But its content seems to pose serious problems for experts in freedom of religion or belief and scholars of religion.
On November 15, the Council of Minister of the French Republic sent a draft law to the Senate aimed at “reinforcing the fight against cultic deviances”. The bill will be debated and voted upon at the French Senate on December 19 and then sent to the National Assembly for review before final vote.
Of course, “fighting against cultic deviances” would seem to be very legitimate, if anyone could come with a legal and accurate definition of “cultic deviance” or even “cult”. However, besides the title of the bill, it’s its content that appears to be highly problematic in the eyes of FoRB (freedom of religion or belief) experts and religious scholars.
Its article 1 aims to create a new crime defined as “to place or maintain a person in a state of psychological or physical subjection resulting from the direct exercise of serious or repeated pressure or techniques likely to impair their judgement and having the effect of causing serious impairment of their physical or mental health or leading this person to an act or abstention which is seriously prejudicial to them”. Again, with a rapid reading, who would be against punishing such bad behaviour? But the devil is in the detail.
The return of the “mind control” theories
“Psychological subjection” is a synonym of what is usually called “mental manipulation”, “mind control”, or even “brainwashing”. That is clear when you read the “study of impact” of the French government, which tries to justify the need of such a new legislation with great difficulty. These vague concepts, when applied to criminal law and religious movements, have been finally debunked as pseudo-scientific in most of the countries where they had been used, with the exception of some totalitarian countries like Russia and China. In the US, The 1950’s concept of “mind control” that was used by the CIA to try to explain why some of their soldiers developed sympathy for their communist enemies, started to be applied by some psychiatrists to new religious movements in the 80s. A task force of psychiatrists was created to work on “Deceptive and Indirect Methods of Persuasion and Control” by minority religions and they rendered a “report” to the American Psychological Association in 1987. The official answer from the Ethical board of the American Psychological Association was devastating. On may 1987, they rejected the authors notion of “coercive persuasion”, declaring that “in general, the report lacks the scientific rigor and evenhanded critical approach needed for APA imprimatur”, and adding that the authors of the report should never publicize their report without indicating that it was “unacceptable to the board”.
The APA answer to mind control theories
Just after this, the American Psychological Association and the American Sociological Association submitted an amicus curiae briefs to the US Supreme Court in which they argued that cultic brainwashing theory is not generally accepted as having scientific merit. This brief argues that cultic brainwashing theory does not provide a scientifically acceptable method for determining when social influence overwhelms free will and when it does not. Consequently, US courts have repeatedly found that the weight of the scientific evidence has established that the anti-cult brainwashing theory is not accepted by the relevant scientific community.
But France (or at least the French civil servants who drafted the law, but also the government which endorsed it) do not really care about scientific accuracy.
Italy and the “Plagio” law
A law similar to the one proposed in the French bill actually existed in Italy from 1930 to 1981. It was a fascist law called “plagio” (which means “mind control”), that entered the following provision in the Criminal Code: “Whoever submits a person to his own power, in order to reduce her to a state of subjection, is punished with imprisonment for five to fifteen years”. Indeed, that’s the very same concept than the one contained in article 1 of the French bill.
The Plagio law became famous when it was used against a well-known Marxist gay philosopher, Aldo Braibanti who had taken into his home two young men to work as his secretaries. According to the prosecution, he brought them to a state of psychological subjugation with the aim of making them his lovers. In 1968, Braibanti was found guilty of “plagio” by the Rome Court of Assizes, and sentenced to 9 years of prison. On final appeal, the Supreme Court (going even beyond the decisions of the lower courts) described Braibanti’s “plagio” as a “situation in which the psyche of the coerced person was emptied. This was possible even without resorting to physical violence or the administration of pathogenic drugs, through the combined effect of various means, each of which alone might not have been effective, while they became effective when combined together.” Following this conviction, intellectual like Alberto Moravia and Umberto Eco, and a great deal of leading attorneys and psychiatrists, petitioned for the abolition of the statute on “plagio.”
Whilst the conviction was never overturned, it created debates in Italy for years. The criticism of the law was of two kinds. One was from a scientific point of view: most of the Italian psychiatrists believed that “plagio” in the sense of “psychological subjection”, did not exist, and others were arguing that in any case, it was too vague and undetermined to be used in criminal law. The second kind of criticism was political, as critics argued that the “plagio” was allowing ideological discrimination, like in the case of Braibanti who was convicted out of a patent homophobic point of view, because he was promoting an “immoral lifestyle”.
Ten years after, in 1978, the law was then applied to pursue a Catholic priest, Father Emilio Grasso, accused of having practiced “mind control” on his followers. Emilio Grasso, a leader of a Charismatic Catholic community in Italy, was accused of having created psychological subjection on his followers to have them work as full-time missionaries or volunteers for charitable activities in Italy and abroad. In Rome, the court in charge of assessing the case raised the question of the constitutionality of the crime of “plagio”, and sent the case to the Italian Constitutional Court.
On 8 June 1981, Constitutional Court declared the crime of plagio unconstitutional. According to the Court’s decision, Based on the scientific literature on the subject, whether from “psychiatry, psychology or psychoanalysis,” influence or “psychological subjection” are a “normal” part of relationships between humans: “typical situations of psychological dependency can reach degrees of intensity even for long periods, such as a love relationship, and the relationships between priest and believer, teacher and pupil, physician and patient (…). But practically speaking it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish, in situations such as these, psychological persuasion from psychological subjugation, and to differentiate between them for legal purposes. No firm criteria exist for separating and defining each activity, tracing a precise boundary between the two.” The Court added that the crime of plagio was “a bomb about to explode in our legal system, since it can be applied to any situation that implies the psychological dependence of a human being on another.”
That was the end of psychological subjection in Italy, but apparently, that’s not sufficient to prevent the French government from coming back with the very same fascist concept today.
Who could be touched?
As stated by the Italian Constitutional Court, such a concept “can be applied to any situation that implies the psychological dependence of a human being on another”. And that’s definitely the case for any religious or spiritual group of any denomination, moreover if there is social or governmental hostility against them. The assessment of the impairing effect of such a “psychological subjection” will have to be entrusted to expert psychiatrists, who will be asked to give an opinion on the characterization of a concept that has no established scientific basis.
Any priest could be accused of maintaining the faithful in a state of “psychological subjection”, as could be a yoga teacher or a rabbi. As told us a French lawyer about the bill: “It is easy to characterize serious or repeated pressure: repeated orders given by an employer, a sports trainer, or even a superior in the army; an injunction to pray or to confess, can easily be qualified as such. Techniques for altering judgment are in everyday use in human society: seduction, rhetoric and marketing are all techniques for altering judgment. Could Schopenhauer have published The Art of Always Being Right under the influence of this Project, without being accused of complicity in the crime in question? Serious impairment of physical or mental health is also easier to characterize than it might at first appear. In the run-up to the Olympic Games, for example, a top-level athlete under repeated pressure could suffer a deterioration in his or her physical health, for example in the event of injury. A seriously prejudicial act or abstention covers a wide range of behaviors. An army soldier, under repeated pressure, will be driven to actions that could be seriously prejudicial, even in a military training context.”
Of course, a conviction based on such a vague legal concept could lead to a final conviction of France by the European Court of Human Rights. As indeed, in its decision Jehovah’s Witnesses of Moscow and Others v. Russia n°302, the Court already tackled the subject of “mind control”: “There is no generally accepted and scientific definition of what constitutes ‘mind control'”. But even if that was the case, how many persons will be wrongly convicted to jail terms before the first decision from the ECHR will come?
The provocation to abandon medical treatment
The draft law contains other controversial provisions. One of them is in its article 4, which aims to criminalize “Provocation to abandon or refrain from following a therapeutic or prophylactic medical, when such abandonment or abstention is presented as beneficial to the health of the persons concerned, whereas, given the state of medical knowledge, it is clearly likely to have serious consequences for their physical or mental health, given the pathology with which they are afflicted.”
In the post-pandemic context, everyone is of course thinking about people advocating for not taking vaccines and the challenge it represented for the governments pushing for vaccination. But as the law would apply to anyone “provocating” generally on social medias or in print medias, the danger of such a provision is more broadly concerning. In fact, the French Council of State (Conseil d’Etat) rendered an opinion on this provision on November 9:
“The Conseil d’Etat points out that when the incriminated facts result from general and impersonal discourse, for example on a blog or social network, while the objective of protecting health, derived from the eleventh paragraph of the Preamble to the 1946 Constitution, may justify limitations on freedom of expression a balance must be struck between these constitutional rights, so as not to jeopardize the freedom of scientific debate and the role of whistle-blowers by criminalizing challenges to current therapeutic practices.”
Finally, the French Council of State advised to withdraw the provision from the bill. But the French government could not care less.
Anti-cult associations given the thumbs-up
The draft law, which in fact appears to be the result of an important lobbying of French anti-cults associations belonging to FECRIS (European Federation of the Centers of Research and Information on Sects and Cults), did not leave them without compensation. With article 3 of the law, anti-cult associations will be allowed to be legitimate plaintiffs (civil parties) and bring civil actions in cases involving “cultic deviances”, even if they have not personally suffered any damage. They will only need an “agreement” from the Ministry of Justice.
Actually, the study of impact attached to the bill, names the associations that are supposed to receive this agreement. They are all known to be exclusively funded by the French State (which makes them “Gongos”, a coined term to mock pretended non-governmental organizations which in fact are “governmental-non-governmental organizations), and to target almost exclusively religious minorities. With that article, no doubt that they will saturate the judicial services with untimely criminal complaints against movements they disapprove of, in this case religious minorities. That, of course, will jeopardize the right to a fair trial for religious minorities in France.
It’s also interesting to note that several of these associations belong to FECRIS, a Federation that The European Times has exposed as being behind Russian propaganda against Ukraine, accusing “cults” to be behind the “Nazi cannibalistic” regime of President Zelensky. You can see FECRIS coverage here.
Will the law on cultic deviances be passed?
Unfortunately, France has a long history of messing up with freedom of religion or belief. While its Constitution calls for respect of all religions and respect of freedom of conscience and religion, it’s the country where religious symbols are forbidden in school, where lawyers are also forbidden to wear any religious symbols when entering courts, where many religious minorities have been discriminated as “cults” for decades, and so on.
So it’s unlikely that French MPs, who are usually not interested in questions of freedom of religion or belief, understand the danger that such a law would represent for believers, and even for non-believers. But who knows? Miracles happen, even in the country of Voltaire. Hopefully.
The Environment and Civil Liberties committees adopted their position on creating a European Health Data Space to boost personal health data portability and more secure sharing.
The creation of a European Health Data Space (EHDS), empowering citizens to control their personal healthcare data and facilitate secure sharing for research and altruistic (i.e. not-for-profit) purposes, took a step forward with the adoption of a draft Parliament position by the committees on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, and on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. MEPs adopted the report on Tuesday with 95 votes in favour, 18 against, and 10 abstentions.
Better healthcare with portability rights
The law would give patients the right to access their personal health data across the EU’s different healthcare systems (so-called primary use), and allow health professionals to access data on their patients. Access would include patient summaries, electronic prescriptions, medical imagery and laboratory results.
Each country would establish national health data access services based on the MyHealth@EU platform. The law would also set out rules on the quality and security of data for providers of Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems in the EU, to be monitored by national market surveillance authorities.
Data-sharing for the common good with safeguards
The EHDS would make possible the sharing of aggregated health data, including on pathogens, health claims and reimbursements, genetic data and public health registry information, for reasons of health-related public interest, including research, innovation, policy-making, education, patient safety or regulatory purposes (so-called secondary use).
At the same time, the rules would ban certain uses, for example advertising, decisions to exclude people from benefits or types of insurance, or sharing to third parties without permission. Requests to access secondary data would under these rules be handled by national bodies, which would ensure data is only provided in an anonymised or, if necessary, pseudonymised format.
In their draft position, MEPs want to make explicit permission by patients mandatory for the secondary use of certain sensitive health data, and provide for an opt-out mechanism for other data. They also want to give citizens the right to challenge a decision of a health data access body, and allow non-profit organisations to lodge complaints on their behalf. The adopted position would also expand the list of cases where a secondary use would be banned, for example in the labour market or for financial services. It would ensure that all EU countries receive sufficient funding to provide protections for the secondary use of data, and protect data falling under intellectual property rights or constituting trade secrets.
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Annalisa Tardino (ID, Italy), Civil Liberties Committee co-rapporteur, said: “This is a very important and technical proposal, with huge impact on, and potential for, our citizens and patients. Our text managed to find the right balance between a patient’s right to privacy and the enormous potential of digital health data, which is meant to improve healthcare quality and produce healthcare innovation.”
Tomislav Sokol (EPP, Croatia), Environment Committee co-rapporteur, said: “The European Health Data Space represents one of the central building blocks of the European Health Union and a milestone in the EU’s digital transformation. It is one of the few pieces of EU legislation where we create something completely new at the European level. The EHDS will empower citizens by enhancing healthcare at a national and cross-border level, and will facilitate the responsible sharing of health data – boosting research and innovation in the EU.”
Next steps
The draft position will now be voted on by the full house of the European Parliament in December.
Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection has approved the Parliament’s draft negotiating position on a new regulation improving the road safety of mobile working equipment.
Cars, lorries and buses are not the only machines that circulate on public roads. Occasionally, working equipment such as construction or agricultural machines also have to use our roads to get from one worksite to another. This, however, can cause dangerous traffic situations because work machinery may not be adequately lit in the dark or their driver’s range of vision can be limited, for example.
Until now it was up to the member states to set road safety norms for such machines. But in March 2023, European Commission proposed new rules to address the road safety risks and market fragmentation at the EU level. And, today the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection adopted Parliament’s draft negotiating mandate on this proposal.
The Commission wants to establish a number of road safety requirements that cover for example brakes, steering, field of vision, lighting, dimensions and many other elements. Manufacturers would have to comply with these requirements and submit their machines for road safety testing and compliance checks before putting them on the EU market. If a machine passes the tests, it will be issued a certificate that allows the same type of machinery to be sold in all the EU. Thereafter, the manufacturer’s production processes would be regularly checked to make sure new machines remain compliant with the rules.
Scope
According to the initial proposal the regulation would cover working equipment with up to three seats (including the driver’s) and a maximum design speed of under 40km/h. Tractors, quadricycles, trailers or machinery primarily intended for the transport of persons or animals would not be covered. Machinery that would circulate only in the territory of one member state or that is produced only in small series would also be excluded from the scope.
MEPs have further specified that the regulation should cover only new machinery made by an EU manufacturer or new or second-hand machinery imported from a third country. Additionally, MEPs want to include towed equipment and leave out field-testing prototypes.
Information exchange and transition period
The proposal foresees a cooperation and information exchange mechanisms for the member states so that all countries would be immediately notified of any problems with a specific piece of equipment and of any new machinery allowed to circulate on European public roads.
Importantly, the regulation would also set a transition period of 8 years during which the manufacturers would be able to choose whether they want to apply for the EU certificate or keep complying with relevant national laws only.
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After the vote, Parliament’s rapporteur for the file, Tom Vandenkendelaere (EPP, BE), said: “Today, we took the first step towards completing the European single market for non-road mobile machinery. This proposal makes it possible for producers to have machines such as construction machines, harvesters and city mowers type-approved in one Member State gaining access to the whole Single Market. Compared to the 27 separate approval regimes today, we deliver towards EU manufacturers by decreasing the administration and all related costs. The result is this excellent balance between streamlining procedures and upholding the strongest safety requirements for these machines across the Union.“
Next steps
The report was adopted at the Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee with 38 votes for, 2 votes against and 0 abstentions. The committee also agreed to start interinstitutional negotiations based on this report (37 votes for, 0 against and 2 abstentions). This decision will now have to be announced at the next plenary and if it is not challenged, the Parliament will be ready to start negotiations with the Council on the final form and wording of the regulation.
Uniform rules on Advance Passenger Information collection aim to boost the EU’s security and its ability to fight and prevent serious crime.
The Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee today adopted two draft reports on collecting Advance Passenger Information (API) to enhance security at the EU’s external borders and to boost the prevention of and fight against crime. They were adopted with 50 votes in favour, 7 against, and 0 abstentions (border management) and 53 votes in favour, 6 against, and 1 abstention (law enforcement).
The new rules will require air carriers to collect and transmit passenger data systematically to competent authorities. They will apply to flights arriving in an EU country from a third country in the case of border management, and also to flights departing from an EU country in the case sharing data with law enforcement. Additionally, EU countries can choose to apply the latter rules to selected flights within the EU.
The collected data will include the passenger’s name, date of birth, nationality, passport details, and flight information. To harmonise data collection, the new laws specify the data elements to be collected. Also, data quality will be improved, as it can only be collected in a uniform and automated way, replacing manual logging.
EP pushes for proportional and court-compliant rules
In their position, MEPs have sought to limit the types of API data to what is necessary, respecting proportionality and fundamental rights, and in accordance with European Court of Justice case-law, and exclude biometric data from the scope. They emphasise that collecting API data is not a reason to check travel documents before boarding, for instance when travelling within the Schengen area. Instead, the data would be collected during check-in procedures.
Also, MEPs want to shorten the time period of airlines and border authorities storing API data after the departure of a flight from 48 to 24 hours, unless travel facilitation measures by the airline require more time. MEPs have also proposed to add a new article ensuring that API data collection does not lead to discrimination based on sensitive features such as sex, gender, ethnic origin, language, minority status, disability or religion. Finally, Parliament wants fines of up to 2 % of an airline’s global turnover if they systematically or persistently violate the rules.
The continuing crisis in Morocco’s education sector is raising concerns about the devastating consequences that could result from current management. After years of failure of the Moroccan education system, the confidence of the majority of citizens seems to have eroded, raising questions about the responsibility of the government led by Aziz Akhannouch, the current Prime Minister and a businessman with billionaire connections.
Reports, both international and national, continue to highlight the alarming state of education in Morocco. According to a Bank al-Maghrib study, the illiteracy rate in Morocco stands at 32.4%, highlighting the persistent shortcomings of the education system. What’s more, 67% of Moroccan children fail to answer a single reading comprehension question correctly, revealing a profound crisis in the acquisition of fundamental skills.
Against this backdrop, the responsibility of the government, led by businessman and Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, is becoming a matter of concern, not least because of its role in defining policies and budget allocations. Statistics from the Ministry of National Education show that the proportion of the budget allocated to education remains below international recommendations, not exceeding 5.5% of GDP in 2006.
The scarcity of financial resources allocated to education, as highlighted in a UNESCO study, highlights the political choices that can have a negative impact on the education sector. As Prime Minister and a major player in the government, the responsibility of Aziz Akhannouch and his government team for the education crisis is indisputable. Political decisions, including administrative centralisation and the lack of support in rural areas, are contributing to worsening educational disparities.
It is imperative that the government, under the leadership of Aziz Akhannouch, assumes its share of responsibility for the education crisis by recognising the existing shortcomings and taking concrete steps to reform the system. This involves a review of budgetary policies, structural reforms and a commitment to quality education for all Moroccan citizens. In short, the government’s responsibility for this educational crisis cannot be ignored, and significant action is needed to ensure a brighter educational future for Morocco’s youth.
The strikers, demanding the cancellation of all disciplinary decisions and sanctions linked to their militant activities, firmly reject the statute, both in form and content. Their call also includes a pressing demand for higher pay and pensions. Unfortunately, this situation is having a negative impact on students, who are suffering the repercussions of this conflict.
In the shadow of this persistent educational crisis, the responsibility of the government, embodied by Aziz Akhannouch, Prime Minister and billionaire businessman, is highlighted. The need for far-reaching reforms in the Moroccan education system is becoming imperative to ensure a more promising educational future for the country’s young people.
The government and its Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch had promised to create a million jobs and lift a million families out of poverty. The government majority parties had also promised to raise teachers’ salaries to 7,500 dirhams at the start of their careers, with an increase of around 300 dollars, as well as to increase the salaries of health sector workers.
After an inflation of intentions and promises, we are now living in a worrying silence, with a government that says nothing about the fight against corruption or tax reform.
The Vatican has confirmed the ban on Roman Catholics from membership in Masonic lodges. The statement comes in response to a question from the Philippine Roman Catholic bishop, who is seeking advice on how to deal with the increasing number of his parishioners who are members of Masonic lodges.
In its November 13 response, the Vatican responded that Roman Catholic Christians, lay and clerical, are prohibited from membership in Masonic lodges. It refers to the last official ruling from 1983, signed by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (and finally Pope Benedict XVI from 2005 to 2013), which said that Roman Catholic Freemasons were “in a state of grave sin” and therefore not may receive communion. The reason is that the principles of Freemasonry are “inconsistent with church teaching” and their “practices and rituals”.
In the Philippines Freemasonry among Roman Catholic Christians is becoming fashionable. Christian Masons assist the priests in administering communion, and several high-ranking members of the local synod are also members of a Masonic lodge.
The Vatican advises Philippine bishops to “carry out a catechesis accessible to the population on the causes of incompatibility between the Catholic faith and Freemasonry” in all parishes. They should also consider a public statement on the matter, said the letter, signed by Prefect of the Faith Victor Fernandez and countersigned by Pope Francis.
The Russian delegation will participate in a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OSCE in Skopje, after Bulgaria, as promised to North Macedonia, opened the airspace for the Russian Federation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, quoted by TASS and BTA.
“Now it seems that Macedonia has invited us to the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OSCE. Bulgaria seems to have promised Macedonia to open its airspace. If it works out, we will be there,” the minister said, speaking at the Primakovski readings forum.
From November 29 to December 1, Skopje will host the OSCE summit, which the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia and OSCE Chairman-in-Office Bujar Osmani described as “the biggest event in the history of North Macedonia”.
76 delegations of OSCE member states and OSCE partners are expected to arrive in Skopje, represented mainly by foreign ministers.
Bulgaria allows Sergey Lavrov’s plane to pass through Bulgarian airspace. This was reported to TASS by the ambassador of Russia to Bulgaria, Eleonora Mitrofanova. She specifies that a positive response was received to Moscow’s note about the foreign minister’s plane flying over to go to the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in the OSCE meeting in Skopje.
“A positive response was received to our note about the passage of Lavrov’s plane through the airspace of Bulgaria. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria officially informed us that the flight in the sky above the country for our minister is permitted,” Mitrofanova told TASS. Earlier, Lavrov himself stated that the Russian delegation will take part in the OSCE meeting in Skopje if Bulgaria opens its airspace for the flight of the delegation of the Russian Federation.
Before the permission was given by the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Commission stated that the flight of the Russian foreign minister did not violate the sanctions of the European Union.
Photo: H. E. Eleonora Mitrofanova, ambassador of Russia to Bulgaria
By Hasanboy Burhanov – Founder of the political opposition movement Free Uzbekistan
Manipulating the mass consciousness of Muslims
Turkish President Recep Erdogan, who considers himself “a great defender of Palestinians and Islam in the international arena,” speaking at a meeting of his party’s Parliamentary Group on Wednesday, November 15, said, “I clearly state this: Israel is a terrorist state. If Israel continues massacres, it will be condemned around the world as a terrorist state” ( https://www.iletisim.gov.tr/turkce/haberler/detay/cumhurbaskani-erdogan-ak-parti-tbmm-grup-toplantisinda-konustu-15-11-23 ).
During the hour-long emotional speech, Erdogan pledged to continue to defend the militant group Hamas, saying it was the political party chosen by the Palestinians.
On the same day, Emine Erdogan, the wife of the Turkish President, while speaking at the “One Heart for Palestine” summit in Istanbul, pointed out the religious dimention of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict: “I wonder how you will explain to Prophet Ibrahim that you killed more than 4,000 children for the sake of your twisted ideology?” (https://tccb.gov.tr/haberler/410/150196/emine-erdogan-filistin-icin-tek-yurek-zirvesi-ne-katildi ).
Apparently Emine Khanum does not believe that every human being will be held accountable for his deeds before Almighty Allah on the Day of Judgement. Otherwise, she and her husband would not manipulate the religious feelings of Turkish citizens for their own selfish purposes.
At the same time, the presidential couple does not mention that the Palestinian paramilitary groups, of which there are a couple of dozen according to various estimates, are divided along two ideological lines: Marxist-Leninist and Shiite. The extreme left-wing paramilitary groups are supported by China and other states with communist ideology, while the Shiite militants are supported by Iran. Members of Hamas, despite their adherence to the Sunni school of belief, have long been funded and coordinated by Iran and Russia.
And the most important thing that the Turkish “defenders of Islam” do not voice is that Iran, together with Putin’s regime, is pursuing a deliberate policy of Shiitisation of the Sunni population not only in the Middle East but also in Central Asia.
If we call things by their names, those people who call on the Islamic world to support and join the Palestinian militants to participate in a worldwide “jihad” against Israel, wish for the destruction of Sunni Muslims and the establishment of communist dictatorships in the world.
Erdogan’s “jihad” against Assad
Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Recep Erdogan has repeatedly threatened Bashar al-Assad on his Twitter account and through the press, calling him a terrorist.
– “Now they are talking about figures of 600 (thousand), but no. In my opinion, about 1 million people have been killed in Syria. This death toll is still continuing” – 29.11.2016 (https://www.bbc.com/turkce/38145760 ).
During these years, there have been relentless calls from the territories of Russia and Turkey for Muslims in neighbouring countries to do their religious duty and take part in the “jihad” against the Assad regime in Syria. Tens of thousands of naive Muslims from Turkey and the CIS countries, having become hostages of false propaganda, died in a foreign country for the ambitions of hypocritical politicians.
But times have changed, President of Turkey Recep Erdogan has forgotten his threats, he no longer wants to hold Bashar al-Assad accountable for the massacres of the Syrian people. He doesn’t mind sitting at the same table with a tyrant who has drowned hundreds of thousands of innocent Syrians in blood.
The heads of the relevant ministries of Turkey and Syria have already met in Moscow on several occasions to discuss the normalisation of Syrian-Turkish relations. On November 11 this year, Recep Erdogan and Bashar al-Assad met in Riyadh, attending the joint Summit of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which was dedicated to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
As of March 2023, the death toll in Syria’s civil war is estimated at 913,000.
Ignoring the calls of the lying jihadists, the Muslims of the Central Asian countries should concentrate all their strength and capabilities to fight Putin’s viceroys, who are promoting the revival of the USSR-2 project.
Illustrative Photo by Pixabay:https://www.pexels.com/photo/low-section-of-man-against-sky-247851/
Source: Political Opposition Movement “Erkin O’zbekiston” (Free Uzbekistan), Dusseldorf, Germany
