Maltese MEP Roberta Metsola was elected as First Vice-President of the European Parliament, replacing Mairead McGuinness who became European Commissioner.
Until the deadline on Monday, the only MEP to have been nominated for the post was Ms Metsola, who was put forward by her political group, the EPP. As a result, she was declared elected by the President on Thursday. Ms Metsola is the first Maltese MEP to become a Vice-President.
After her election Ms Metsola said, “It is a tremendous honour to have been elected First Vice-President. I will continue to be a strong voice for European citizens and for Malta and continue to work to build bridges across the political divide.”
“With the economic and health recovery from the COVID pandemic, terror threats, the Brexit negotiations, a new US President, the situation in Belarus, continued migration challenges, and a new rule of law framework all high on the agenda, I, together with President Sassoli and the other Vice-Presidents, will continue to play my part in ensuring that the European Parliament remains a strong link between citizens and the European decision-making process.”
Background
Roberta Metsola was first elected to the European Parliament in 2013. She was re-elected in 2014 and 2019. She was previously a lawyer by profession, specialising in European law and politics.
Between 2004 and 2012, Ms Metsola worked in the Permanent Representation of Malta to the EU. She subsequently joined the team of the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, as a legal advisor.
Within the European Parliament, Ms Metsola is the EPP’s Group Coordinator in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and heads her national party’s delegation within the EPP group. She is also the Co-Chair of the EP Anti-Corruption Intergroup.
Born in 1979, Ms Metsola is married and is the mother of four boys. She graduated from the University of Malta and the College of Europe in Bruges.
A man in Washington waves an American flag with the words “Biden Harris” near the White House Nov. 8, the day after the news media called the presidential election for Democrat Joe Biden. (CNS/Reuters/Erin Scott)
Religious voters were pivotal to President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump in the 2020 election, but political divisions by race and sect run deep among voters of faith, speakers said in a Nov. 10 panel discussion hosted by Georgetown University’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life.
“This election was a referendum on the soul of the country,” said Elizabeth Dias, a national correspondent for The New York Times who covers faith and politics. “What is it that we want to become as a country? Who are we, who do we want to be as a people?”
Elana Schor speaks during a Nov. 10 panel on faith and the 2020 election hosted by Georgetown University’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life. (Georgetown University screenshot)
Religious voters played a significant role in the election on both sides, said Elana Schor, a national reporter on religion and politics for the Associated Press.
Throughout the campaign, Biden emphasized his Catholic faith and reached out to voters across a wide range of religious groups, she said.
“That decision by the Biden campaign to invest in that way of speaking about their candidate was a big step forward for Democrats, who have historically ceded that ground to Republicans,” Schor said.
Trump’s campaign also made headway among Latino voters by appealing to evangelical and Catholic Latinos in politically important locations. Conservative Catholic groups such as CatholicVote and the Susan B. Anthony List spent record amounts to support Trump, said Chris White, NCR’s national correspondent.
“[Trump’s campaign] was constantly broadcasting that message, that ‘we’re here for your priorities,'” Schor said, reflecting on Trump’s response to conservative religious voters. “The Trump campaign has a lot to feel good about in terms of faith outreach.”
Although Biden won both the electoral college and popular vote, historic turnout and strong support for Trump in certain communities speaks to deep divisions in American society that have existed for centuries, Dias said.
Elizabeth Dias speaks during the Nov. 10 panel on faith and the 2020 election. (Georgetown University screenshot)
On the one hand, the Black Lives Matter movement’s moral force motivated Black voters in crucial states for Democrats, Dias said. Democrats attempting to sway religious voters often pointed to racial justice, rather than abortion, as the preeminent moral issue of the day, in contrast to appeals often made by the religious right, she said.
“The role of Black Lives Matter in becoming … an absolute stake in the ground for what morality is and should be in this country was a huge mobilizing force across the country in key states,” Dias said.
Black churches, she said, played a major role in securing Biden’s nomination as the Democratic Party’s candidate.
On the other hand, white evangelicals and Catholics favored Trump, with 57% of white Catholics backing Trump, down slightly from 64% in 2016, according to AP Votecast.
During Trump’s presidency, white evangelicals and the religious right have reached the “pinnacle” of their political power in the United States, with three Supreme Court appointees under Trump and hundreds of new appointments to lower courts that will reshape the judiciary branch for decades, Dias said.
She said white evangelicals and white Christians more broadly flocked to Trump out of a sense of resentment and fear about their status in the nation.
“I’m not sure we can really say this was a resounding defeat of their values,” Dias said. “I think we have a giant cultural war going on, and we are going to have to continue to reckon with that.”
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For many Catholics, abortion is still the most important political issue, White said, superseding other priorities Pope Francis has outlined, such as concern for migrants’ rights. Some painted Biden as a fake Catholic because of his pro-choice policies.
“If you’re a single-issue voter, and you’re a Catholic and abortion is that single issue, you’re going to have a hard time getting your mind around that this guy can reconcile being a Catholic with having a pro-choice view, at least when it comes to public policy,” White said. “The pro-life lobby will resist him at every turn because of this.”
While Biden won the overall Latino vote, he did not do as well as expected among certain Latino communities, particularly in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas and Miami-Dade County in Florida, White said.
Mark Shields speaks during the panel on faith and the 2020 election. (Georgetown University screenshot)
“The attitude of the press and of the public at large, of viewing Latinos as a monolith, was set on its ear,” said Mark Shields, a political commentator for “PBS NewsHour.”
The panelists speculated on whether Biden, as president, would be able to bring together vastly different interests to work together on legislative priorities.
Shields was optimistic, saying Biden is known for his ability to work across the aisle.
Schor and Dias, for their part, said the divisions were serious and would be difficult to bridge. Dias said the nation may even be more politically polarized than in 2016, judging by the high turnout.
In his victory speech on Nov. 7, Biden asked Americans to put aside divisions and strive for unity, Dias said.
“My question is — will that tone and will that plea from him actually work on the ground with people?” she said. “And my sense from talking to hundreds and hundreds of people this cycle is that people are very set in what they think.”
Chris White during the panel on faith and the 2020 election on Nov. 10 (Georgetown University screenshot)
Some, such as Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, have congratulated Biden and appealed to Catholics to work together after the election. Others have questioned the election results, apparently amplifying Trump’s baseless claims about election fraud, White said.
“They’re going to have to do some soul-searching. … Religious leaders would be wise to drive their constituencies toward truth,” White said.
Dias said racial and religious divisions in the U.S. are not new, and will likely shape Biden’s presidency. The forces and systems that created them trace back to the beginning of the enslavement of Black people on the continent, she said.
“These are questions that every generation needs to address,” she said. “And we are in the thick of it in this country.”
[Madeleine Davison is an NCR Bertelsen intern. Her email address is [email protected].]
The great furor over the poppy ban at Whole Foods lasted less than one news cycle last week, thanks to the full-throated outrage from political leaders all over Canada.
Imagine how long Quebec’s secularism bill — which bans a lot more than poppy-wearing — would have lasted with similar shock and condemnation from those same politicians.
Sanctimony is never in short supply in the realm of politics, but we seem to have entered the season for freedom-of-expression lectures in Canada.
The views, opinions and analyses expressed in the articles on National Newswatch are those of the contributor(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the publishers.
LOS ANGELES:American rapper Cardi B has apologised for appropriating Goddess Durga’s image for a magazine cover shoot.
The 28-year-old musician recently appeared on the cover of Footwear News magazine, posing as Goddess Durga with shoes in her hands, while promoting her first line of sneakers with Reebok.
In the magazine’s cover photo, Cardi B is seen holding a shoe while multiple arms stretched out around her from her shoulders.
The singer was then slammed on social media with many Indian users claiming that she has insulted the Hindu goddess, while others took offence to her outfit.
On Wednesday, Cardi B took to her Instagram story and apologised to her Indian fans.
In a video message, the musician said, “When I did the shoot, the creatives told me I was going to represent a Goddess; that she represents strength, femininity and liberation, and that’s something I love and I’m all about.”
“And though it was dope, if people think I’m offending their culture or their religion I want to say that was not my intent.
I do not like offending anyone’s religion; I wouldn’t like it if someone did it to my religion,” she added.
Cardi B maintained that her intention was not to disrespect anyone’s god.
“When people dress as Virgin Mary and Jesus, as long as they do it in a beautiful, graceful way”.
But I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful; maybe I should have done my research.
I’m sorry, I can’t change the past but I will do more research for the future,” she added.
The Dalai Lama has appealed to world leaders to take urgent action against climate change, warning of ecological destruction affecting the lives of billions and ruining the planet, including his birth country, Tibet.
As well as global climate change, industrial projects such as mining, damming and deforestation are leading to the Tibetan glacier melting at a faster rate, contributing in turn to further global warming.
Before the Chinese occupation there was almost no Tibetan industrialization, damming, draining of wetlands, fishing and hunting of wildlife. Tibet remained unfenced, its grasslands intact, its cold climate able to hold enormous amounts of organic carbon in the soil.
China has now moved millions of Tibetan nomads from their traditional grasslands to urban settlements, opening their land for the extraction of resources and ending traditional agricultural practices which have sustained and protected the Tibetan environment for centuries.
As a call to action he has brought out a new book declaring that if Buddha returned to this world, “Buddha would be green”.
In an interview for Channel 4 News and the Guardian, the Buddhist spiritual leader spoke from the Indian city of Dharamsala, where he has been exiled for six decades. He warned that “global warming may reach such a level that rivers will dry” and that “eventually Tibet will become like Afghanistan”, with terrible consequences for at least a billion people dependent on water from the plateau “at the roof of the world”.
The Tibetan plateau, dubbed the “Third Pole” and part of the “Roof of the World”, holds the third largest store of water-ice in the world and is the source of many of Asia’s rivers. Tibetan climate also generates and regulates monsoon rains over Asia.
For China’s government, Tibet’s water is another resource to be exploited, for hydro-electric power, diversion to supply people elsewhere in China, bottling as a consumer product, and even as a source of strategic influence over countries downstream who rely on water from Tibet’s rivers.
Damming has taken place or will soon take place on every major river in Tibet. These dams change water flow, create new lakes, disturb local ecosystems and have significant effects downstream, including stopping the flow of silt which makes agricultural land fertile. Dams and infrastructure such as new roads can force Tibetans from their land.
In a massive engineering project, China even plans to divert water from Tibet to feed 300 million of its own citizens.
The 85-year-old Nobel peace laureate is considered by his followers to be the earthly manifestation of an enlightened one who has chosen rebirth in order to help liberate all living beings from suffering through compassion.
Lhamo Thondup, as he was named at birth, was discovered as the latest incarnation of the Dalai Lama when he was just two years old. He uses Zoom to communicate with people around the globe these days, unable to travel or invite visitors because of the coronavirus pandemic.
He insists, as he announced in 2011, that he is retired from politics and his leadership of the struggles for Tibetan freedom from China, and that ecology is now the thing that is “very, very important” to him.
In the week the Cop26 UN climate conference was to have been held in Glasgow, he says has high expectations of world leaders, and wants them to act on the Paris climate agreement.
Free Tibet is calling for international recognition for Tibet at the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow in 2021.
Help us secure a place for Tibet at COP26. Sign our petition today and in the autumn we will take your signatures to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Environmental Affairs of participating countries.
Tibetans deserve representation and a say in their own environment.
“The United Nations should take a more active role in this field,” he says. Asked whether world leaders are failing, he says: “The big nations should pay more attention to ecology. I hope you see those big nations who spent a lot of money for weapons or war turn their resources to the preservation of the climate.”
The Dalai Lama says that if he joined a political party now, “I would like to join the Green party. Their idea is very good.”
The Dalai Lama has been known to put his foot in it with inadvertent enthusiasm, such as when he said it was possible he could be succeeded by a woman, but that she should be “very, very attractive”. He later made clear that he had meant no offence and said he was deeply sorry that people had been hurt by his words.
His suggestion for how to make world leaders see sense on climate change may also raise eyebrows, but again seems to be the product of a lively 85-year-old sense of humour. The Dalai Lama chuckles as he suggests we should lock them all in a room and “pipe carbon dioxide into it until they realise what climate change really means”. He explains that “people who have a certain luxury sort of style of life in a room without proper oxygen” would realise “it is very difficult”.
The Dalai Lama says he is in favour of large-scale tree planting to help tackle climate change. He also believes meat consumption worldwide should fall dramatically, but explains that since his own decision to go vegetarian in 1965, health problems have led doctors to advise him to resume eating a little meat.
He says his greatest personal contribution to fighting climate change is education and promoting the concept of compassion. The Dalai Lama is most passionate when talking about his idea of oneness among 7 billion people. “We see too much emphasis on my nation, my religion, their religion. That really is causing all these problems due to different religions and different nations are fighting. So now we really need oneness.” He even says he can now live as one with China, which he claims is “the biggest Buddhist population now”.
A Changpa nomadic shepherd watches over his pashmina goats near Korzok, a village in the Leh district of Ladakh. Many are rethinking their way of life, in part because of climate change. Photograph: Noemi Cassanelli/AFP/Getty Images
Nearing the end of this life, the Dalai Lama has not publicly explained how his reincarnation should be sought, or whether a 15th Dalai Lama should be found at all. He jokes that in his next life “I may be born on the Moon or Mars. Then I will starve.”
In the past he has raised the idea of being the last in the line of Dalai Lamas, perhaps to prevent China naming a politically cooperative successor. For now, he says he wants to leave that decision to others. “As long as I live I should be useful to help other people. Then after that, not my business. These are the concerns of other people.”
His advice for the rest of us living through the coronavirus pandemic is similarly practical, crediting an unnamed Indian scholar with the idea that “If there’s a way to overcome [coronavirus], then no need to worry. If there is no way to overcome, then it’s no use to worry too much either.”
The environmental changes wrought by the coronavirus were first visible from space. Then, as the disease and the lockdown spread, they could be sensed in the sky above our heads, the air in our lungs and even the ground beneath our feet.
Joint statement by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Sub-Regional Representation for Central Asia, and WHO/Europe
12 November 2020
As Tripartite partners, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Sub-Regional Representation for Central Asia, and WHO/Europe are united in support of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) 2020.
Since 2015, WAAW has been focusing on awareness-raising and education towards the responsible and prudent use of the antimicrobials. Previously World Antibiotic Awareness Week, the name was changed this year to World Antimicrobial Awareness Week to reflect the breadth of the initiative. Antimicrobials include antibiotic, antiviral, antifungal and antiprotozoal agents, which are critical tools for treating diseases in humans, animals and plants.
WAAW is particularly important this year as the COVID-19 crisis is increasing the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials, including antibiotics. Unless something is done, this could worsen the growing, long-term problems of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The Tripartite recognizes the need for access to antimicrobials, as they are essential to ensure human and animal health, food supply, and food safety. However, countries need to step up implementation of their national AMR strategies and policies across sectors, as well as their commitment to tackling the emergence of AMR.
AMR is a global crisis. There is no time to wait. Everyone has a role to play in preserving the effectiveness of antimicrobials. The Tripartite calls on their Member States to strengthen measures to combat AMR, widely publicize the global challenge and encourage people to change their behaviour regarding the use of antimicrobials. Human and animal health agencies, the environment and food sectors, as well as civil society must unite efforts to preserve antimicrobial efficacy through a multisectoral One Health approach.
The AMR crisis applies to everyone. So, let us act for the sake of all humanity.
/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/politics/political-opinion/2020/11/11/canadas-federal-leaders-will-defend-your-right-to-wear-a-poppy-just-dont-ask-them-to-stick-up-for-your-freedom-of-religion/blanchet.jpg?w=696&resize=696,0&ssl=1 "Canada’s federal leaders will defend your right to wear a poppy, Just don’t ask them to stick up for your freedom of religion")
