The play by Singaporean playwright Alfian Sa’at will resonate with Malaysian audiences. — Picture courtesy of Instant Café Theatre
PETALING JAYA, Nov 3 — It is a play that captures the complex nature of religion and love in a multicultural family.
More than a decade since its debut, Nadirah remains just as relevant today, if not more.
Written by Singaporean playwright Alfian Sa’at and set in the Lion City, the award-winning play will be screened virtually to audiences around the globe this month, brought to you by Malaysia’s Instant Café Theatre
The plot follows Nadirah, the popular vice-president of her university’s Muslim Society, played by Sharifah Amani.
She convenes interfaith meetings where she wants to encourage students to talk openly about their faith and to respect one another’s spaces.
Nadirah is the product of an ethnically mixed marriage — her father is Malaysian Malay while her mother is a Singaporean Chinese who converted to Islam.
One day, Nadirah’s mother tells her she’s going to remarry and the man she loves is Robert, a Christian, leaving Nadirah devastated.
How does Nadirah make peace between various religions in school when she’s having the same problems at home?
Can mother and daughter worship different gods?
Although the story is set in Singapore, Malaysians audiences and viewers across the world will resonate with the story as religion increasingly becomes a matter of public contestation, producers of the play said in a press release
Just like many theatre companies around the world, Instant Café has taken their beloved performances to the digital platform to keep the arts alive.
Sharifah Amani and Singaporean actress Neo Swee Lin in a scene from ‘Nadirah’ which will be screened globally this month. — Picture courtesy of Instant Café Theatre
Following last month’s successful one-day screening which sold 749 tickets from 14 countries, requests have been pouring in to rescreen Nadirah.
The production audiences will be watching was performed at the Festival Tokyo in 2016 and stars Malaysian talents Iedil Dzuhrie Alaudin, Farah Rani and Patrick Teoh while Singaporean actress Neo Swee Lin takes on the role of Nadirah’s mother.
Nadirah is presented in English and Malay with English, Malay and Japanese subtitles, directed by Jo Kukathas.
Five per cent of Nadirah’s proceeds will be donated to assist Covid-19 efforts in Sabah where the pandemic has hit poverty-stricken communities.
The rest of the ticket sales will go towards Instant Café’s next project And Then Came Spring with Malaysian-based Afghan refugee company Parastoo.
Instant Café Theatre will be having seven screenings at different times to suit most major time zones around the world.
Tickets are priced at RM13, RM23, RM33, RM55 and RM100 to allow audiences to pay what they can in these difficult times whist helping to rebuild the theatre company.
There are also RM8 community tickets available for those who aren’t able to afford the ticket prices, applicable to those residing in Malaysia.
Nadirah will be screened online from November 19 to 22, visit here for tickets.
A “health and pleasing interconnection between the territory’s resources, human life, activity, on the productive, educative, social, economic and civic levels, care for nature and for creation, respecting the eco-systems and bio-diversity”. These are the words Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, used to describe the Laudato si’ Garden, which rose up in the heart of the Po Delta’s Venice Regional Park. He himself strongly desired that this initiative see the light of day. Present for the inauguration in Rosolina, in the Province of Rovigo on Sunday, 4 October 2020 were the Cardinal and other civic, military and religious leaders. In addition to Rosolina, seven municipalities in the area sponsored it: Ariano nel Polesine, Corbola, Loreo, Porto Viro, Porto Tolle, Taglio di Po.
Sister Alessandra Smerilli, coordinator of the Vatican Covid-19 Committee’s “Economy” task force, explained during the event that the project reveals “a new model of development characterized by respect for the earth and care for each other”. She was also one of the day’s primary coordinators, along with Rosolina’s mayor, Franco Vitale. The Salesian Sister added that it is a sign of how to emerge “better” even from the crisis connected with the coronavirus.
The speakers alternated between people representing various institutions (from Luca Zaia, President of the Region of Venice) and testimonies from others, including that of Cardinal Turkson, Sister Alessandra, “Security” task force coordinator Alessio Pecorario, Beatrice Finh, Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (Nobel Peace Prize 2017).
Father Joshtrom Isaac Kureethadam, the person responsible for the special anniversary Laudato si’ Year and coordinator of the “Ecology” taskforce of the Vatican Covid-19 Commission, wanted to emphasize the “spiritual significance of the garden” during the inauguration, that is, the place “where we are with the Creator, with God Himself”, but also “in community, with the people near us and communion with the earth”. The garden thus becomes a sign of “union with the Creator, union among ourselves and union with the earth and all of the creatures on earth.”
The Orchestra and Maestro Francesco Sartori, Maestro Diego Basso and tenor Francesco Grollo
Musical backdrop
Tenor Francesco Grollo provided the interludes between the various speakers: “Music”, he explained, “is a universal message. It embraces everyone and connects earth and heaven”. Accompanied by the Italian Symphony Rhythmic Orchestra, directed by Maestro Diego Basso, by the Art Voice Academy and Opera House Choirs, he embellished the event with the “Concert for Integral Ecology”, held on a floating platform overlooking the laguna. Those present were captivated by the execution of the pieces “Tu ci sei” (You exist) and “Canto della terra” (Hymn of the Earth), accompanied on the piano by composer Francesco Sartori who wrote the two original pieces inspired by values expressed in Laudato si’. At the end of the performance, members of the orchestra were surprised when they realized that the floating platform had gradually and slowly tilted, following the ripples of the tide. “Nature’s tenderness,” Maestro Basso explained, “accompanied us and brought us where she wanted us to be”.
Presentor Eugenia Scotti with Sister Alessandra Smerilli
The pact between humanity and nature
At the end, Cardinal Turkson inaugurated the Laudato si’ Chapel, a Living Chapel, that recalls the one inaugurated in June in Rome’s Botanical Garden. This was done in the presence of a representative of each continent, so as to establish a sort of global pact between humanity and nature. “We wanted the structure to be simple and quaint so as not to invade the beauty and depth that nature offers us by its very being, but that it might be mingled with it,” explains the Laudato si’ Chapel on the Po Delta’s architect Mario Cucinella. The moment in which he illustrated this aspect of the chapel was particularly moving because it was accompanied by an extraordinary execution of Panis Angelicus and by the rose colors of the sunset that everyone there saw.
Cardinale Turkson blesses the Living Chapel
Reactions from young people
“I am really proud to have this Garden in my own city”, sixteen-year-old Irene Duò from Rosolina declared. She was at the side of Cardinal Turkson and Father Kureethadam during the blessing of the Chapel. Irene continued saying, “I was truly moved when I and the other young people placed a plant in the Cardinal’s hands who then placed it in a small wooden planter. The environmental problem is the most urgent one and during the event I felt strongly responsible for it because I began to understand better that each one of our actions can provide a cleaner environment for those around us”. Twenty-one-year-old Marica Padoan, originally from Treviso who hopes to be a professional photographer, took pictures of the event. “While taking the photos”, she explained, “I became aware of the attention that had been taken to harmoniously place what had been manufactured by people into this Garden. What a gift to discover some of Laudato si’s themes through direct immersion in an extraordinary natural background.”
*Cube Radio – Salesian University Institute, Venice and Verona
A coalition of 14 conservative European parliamentarians, led by the Sweden Democrats, on Monday nominated U.S President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.
”For his courage and commitment to the cause of peace in the Middle East, the Balkans, and on the Korean Peninsula, we wish to nominate United States President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize,” the coalition said in a statement.
”In support of America’s global leadership for peace and prosperity under President Donald J. Trump. Our nomination is the largest nomination yet, with 14 parliamentarians from 11 different European nations nominating Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize,” it said.
The group cited President Trump’s Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and several Arab nations such as the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, and Bahrain.
They also cited the “promising economic partnership for peace” between Kosovo and Serbia, as well as Trump’s efforts on reconciliation between North and South Korea. They said:
Bringing a warm peace to the Balkans, a brighter future of hope in the Middle East, and first steps to reconciliation on the Korean peninsula, few world leaders have done more to build a better world for the Twenty-First Century. President Trump has shown the world that peace is not only possible, but within reach.
“While there is more to do, President Trump’s search for peace has laid the groundwork for another historic peace that will continue to play a vital role in global prosperity beyond his own White House years,” they said.
The nomination comes a day before the U.S. presidential election, on Tuesday, November 3. The group said:
In 2016, President Trump ran on a promise to keep the U.S out of new Middle Eastern quagmires. While America’s global leadership under Trump has proved once more to be the beacon of hope for democracy, human rights and free peoples, the character of his endeavors overseas has stayed consistently true to his promise.
The parliamentarians included:
Swedish MPs Mattias Karlsson, Björn Söder, Tobias Andersson, Sweden Democrats (SWE) Andrew Rosindell, Conservative Party (UK) Thierry Baudet, Party Leader & MP, Forum for Democracy (NL) Iván Espinosa de los Monteros, MP, VOX (ESP) Søren Espersen, Danish People’s Party (DK) Sammy Wilson MP, Conservatives (NIR) Zsolt Csenger-Zalán, Fidesz (HU) Grzegorz Bierecki, Law & Justice (PL) Uldis Budriķis MP, New Conservative Party (LV) Ulf Isak Leirstein, MP, Independent (NO) Sebastian Tynkkynen & Vilhelm Junnila, MP, True Fins (FI)
Follow Breitbart News’s Kristina Wong on Twitter or on Facebook.
When President Donald Trump was elected in 2016, he courted evangelical voters with promises of filling the Supreme Court with justices who could nullify Roe v. Wade and with the nomination of Mike Pence, an evangelical Christian, as his running mate.
In 2020, much is the same for Trump. After almost four years in office, he continues to attract evangelical voters. But now, he’s facing former vice president Joe Biden — only the fourth major-party Catholic presidential nominee.
In this election, both have made abortion — a key issue for many of faith — a topic of discussion.
Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court just weeks after Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. Barrett — who was confirmed to the court by the Senate — had signed her name to ads against abortion.
Biden, on the other hand, has promised to make Roe v. Wade the “law of the land.”
Christianity is the predominant religion among North Carolinians with 77% of adults in the state identifying as Christian, according to the Pew Research Center.
And with North Carolina a battleground state, courting the religious vote is key for each candidate seeking to win one of the proclaimed Bible Belt states.
For the majority of his life, Kyle Sigmon wasn’t involved in politics. When he preaches to his congregation as a pastor, he doesn’t tell people how to vote or talk about politics in general.
He doesn’t see church as a place to tell people how to vote, but rather a place for people to form their opinions.
Kyle Sigmon, associate pastor of FaithBridge United Methodist Church, wants people to look at the words Jesus said and apply them to their lives. (Jesse Barber)
“I want my church, my congregation, my people to just look at Jesus and to learn more about what Jesus wants, how we should live our lives,” said Sigmon, an associate pastor at FaithBridge United Methodist Church in Blowing Rock. “I think that will automatically affect how we vote.”
Sigmon said he started to focus more on politics because of his religious beliefs. Jesus’ teachings and America’s history — the good and bad — really helped Sigmon think about politics in a broader sense and how it can affect others.
The Sermon on the Mount — the longest of Jesus’ sermons recorded in the New Testament — helped Sigmon realize politics are important because the message is about living as one of God’s followers and politics can be part of being a follower of Christ.
The teaching of loving your neighbor as you love yourself is an important factor to Sigmon. Some people go to church every Sunday. Others go multiple times a week. And even more go when they can. Despite attending church or not, their faith has an impact on their lives and when they vote.
“I think as Christians, we actually have to go to the polls and think, ‘how will this person look out for others?’” Sigmon said. “If we really want to love our neighbor, it’s not just literally loving the person who is next door to me, but do I actually have influence systemically?”
And for Sigmon and other people of religious beliefs, voting is a way to bring those values to society.
Historically, religion has always been a key factor in politics — from the time of people riding in horse drawn carriages to self-driving cars.
A History of Religion and Politics
Photo illustration/Liberty Missionary Baptist Church in Meat Camp, North Carolina. (Jesse Barber)
Lerone Martin is an associate professor of religion and politics at Washington University in St. Louis. He is also the director of American cultural studies at the university and teaches African American studies.
“Religion has always been central to political behavior in the United States,” Martin said.
Martin said religion in American politics can be traced back to the abolitionist movement. Abolitionists, Martin said, felt compelled by their faith to fight the legalization of slavery and its practice in the U.S.
“On the other side, you had folks whose faith compelled them to believe that slavery was not just a coherent aspect of their Christian faith, but actually that Christianity gave permission, or directed people, to engage in enslavement,” Martin said.
Lerone Martin is a religion and politics professor at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis. (Courtesy of the John C. Danforth Center)
And to Martin, probably the most outstanding example of religion affecting politics and society is the Civil Rights Movement.
“There were countless civil rights workers who believed that their faith compelled them to demonstrate against the unequal treatment of people of color in this country and to change laws that they believed were unjust,” Martin said.
For example, Martin said, someone like Martin Luther King Jr. would be guided by their faith to know that God is a God of justice. Therefore, because God was a God of justice, the destruction of society should be regulated and geared toward making sure every American is justly treated.
“(His) faith would say what matters — in addition to one’s personal piety — is to make sure that the structures of American society are set up in such a way that every citizen is treated equally and fairly,” Martin said.
People who have that perspective sometimes call themselves “social gospelers” where they would have a “social gospel” that relates to how society should be shaped in a way that treats people equally.
“Throughout American history, some of the largest political movements — both in terms of legislation, but also in terms of activism — have been compelled by a very, very, very strong commitment to religious faith,” Martin said.
Today, Martin said, certain faith groups are associated with particular political parties, which was not always the case.
According to Pew Research, 56% of Evangelical Protestants and 70% of Mormons lean Republican. On the other side, 44% of Orthodox Christians and Catholics lean Democratic.
“People exercise their faith in the way that they vote and I think that’s always been the case historically in this country,” Martin said. “I think we should anticipate that it will continue to be important.”
Religious Influence on Politics
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” – The Amendment of the United States Constitution.
In this long exposure photograph, a billboard along the side of highway 321 near Boone, NC reads, “Jesus is the answer to all your problems.” (Jesse Barber)
In North Carolina, 39% of adults go to church at least once a week while 36% go at least once or twice a month, according to Pew. Another 24% seldom or never attend church Despite attending church or not, faith has an impact on voting.
“Whether consciously or unconsciously, their faith has shaped those ideas of the good, of the moral, and of the ethical,” Martin said. “When they go into the voting booth, they look for the candidate that they believe can help to bring about that kind of society.”
Mikaela McAdams attended The Lamb’s Chapel –– one of the largest churches in her area — while growing up in Burlington.
McAdams wouldn’t just go to church on Sundays, she would practically live there. McAdams said she would be at church seven days a week, and sometimes even slept there.
At the time, her church and her Christian views had a heavy influence on her politics.
“When I was active in church, I wasn’t able to vote, but at the time it had me mentally in this state of ‘Oh, I have to vote for this person, I have to vote for this Republican or Democrat just because I have a Christian belief,’” McAdams said.
McAdams’ is no longer active in the church and lives in Boone with her fiance. She said she could see how much religion affected people’s political views during the 2016 election. McAdams said there was so much bitterness and divide in the church during the election, which distanced her from religion. Because she grew up in the church, she mostly follows people she grew up with in church on social media.
Preachers on Sanford Mall giving sermons out loud about the “sins of man” and “judgement of god.” (Jesse Barber)
“I still see stuff from my family and friends in the church that push their religious beliefs for a political agenda,” McAdams said.
For Alexander Paunovic, religion has a direct bearing on who he votes for.
“I think that the only authority the government has is the authority that’s been granted to it by God,” said Paunovic, who received his religious studies degree from App State. “I’d really have to take anything the Bible says and weigh it up against a political candidate.”
Paunovic, who is a seminary student at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, holds himself to the original Westminster Confession of Faith, which assumes the Bible is the word of God. It gives Paunovic a system of ethics and principles to follow.
“That being the case, the Bible must be our starting point in determining any political position that we hold, or determining what we believe about the role of government in general,” Paunovic said.
Paunovic considers himself an establishmentarian, meaning he believes the government should establish Christianity as the national religion.
One of the only reasons Paunovic would vote for a political candidate is if they declared Christ as king and would enact laws according to that belief.
“Unless that be the case, I probably would never vote for a political candidate,” Paunovic said.
Paunovic does not plan to vote in this election and said he would most likely write in a candidate if he did.
Maggie Watts, a freshman, has a different outlook on how her Christian faith influences her politics.
Watts grew up going to a nondenominational church every Sunday and still goes to church in Boone. She says Christianity influences her vote.
“The biggest thing for me definitely, growing up as a Christian with politics, is always to choose the party or choose a leader that will unify the country the most and would treat the poor and the oppressed with love and give them respect and dignity,” Watts said.
Watts does not believe President Donald Trump lives those Christian values in his life and that his campaign is built on hate — which she said is everything Christianity goes against.
Both conservatives and liberals believe that faith should be more than spoken, it should be lived, Martin said. But, how it’s lived out can be different, which can separate someone from being liberal or conservative based on their faith.
Some believe it’s not just about personal piety, Martin said, but also about thinking about society and making society more just — like Martin Luther King Jr..
“There are others who believe that the primary aim of faith is to the salvation of souls and that’s what we should focus our energy on — not on changing society, but just on changing souls,” Martin said.
A Conservative Leaning
Political science major River Collins, senior, has been the president of the College Republicans at Appalachian State University for about a year. His concentration is in American politics and is hoping to work his way up the political ladder to Congress. (Kara Haselton)
Arianna Moore is the president of the Orthodox Christian Fellowship chapter at App State. She knows some evangelical Christians who are stereotyped as being more conservative. But to her, that comes also from conservatives weaponizing evangelical Christianity.
“It controls its base with manipulative rhetoric and cheap images — like Trump holding the Bible outside of that church for a press conference,” Moore said. “Abuse of these symbols for political gain is a mockery of Christianity and I find it reprehensible.”
Moore is referring to the time President Trump walked across Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., to hold a Bible up in front of the historic St. John’s church for a few pictures. Before he walked across the square, thousands of demonstrators — protesting against police brutality — were removed with tear gas and other forcible measures.
When she tells someone that she’s a Christian, Moore said she feels people automatically assume she’s conservative.
River Collins, president of the App State College Republicans, said he thinks a lot of people associate Christians with the Republican Party.
“Christians are over stereotyped as conservative,” Collins said.
According to Pew Research, 78% of those who “believe in God; absolutely certain” are conservative while 59% of those who “believe in God; fairly certain” are moderate.
Those who attend a religious service at least once a week are 50% more likely to be conservative, according to Pew.
Abortion: A Religious and Political Issue
In 1973, the Supreme Court decided in Roe v. Wade that a woman had the right to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction.
“When it was decided, many of the Protestant denominations, including the Southern Baptist, for example, were fine with Roe v. Wade,” Martin said. “They were like, ‘You know, this is a decision that should be between a woman and her doctor or a woman, her husband and her doctor.’”
In recent years, many states have introduced laws that have severely restricted a woman’s access to an abortion. In June, the Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana law requiring a doctor performing abortions to have admitting privileges to practice at nearby hospitals.
According to the New York Times, that would have left the state with only one abortion clinic.
Many are concerned that Roe v. Wade will be overturned with the confirmation of new Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett — a conservative Catholic appointed to the court by President Trump.
During his campaign in 2016, Trump won over voters with promises to combat abortion and nominate Supreme Court justices who would be open to dismantling Roe v. Wade.
In a June 2019 poll by Monmouth University, one-third of Americans said abortion would be a top issue for them in the 2020 election. Two percent said it was the most important issue.
“What we’re talking about here is what’s been determined as single-issue voters and folks who feel like there’s one major issue for which they vote,” Martin said.
Single-issue voters are typically devoted to one public issue, especially a political one. In terms of abortion, 4% of U.S. adults say they will vote only for a candidate who shares their views on the abortion, according to Gallup.
Paunovic understands why someone would have a single issue when voting.
Arianna Moore a junior studying Public Health stands with her Orthodox study bible outside of her student apartment. Moore said her favorite verses are Proverbs 31:8-9. (Ashley Foreman)
“If it’s something as substantial as millions of babies being killed in the womb, then I would say that that’s a pretty good position to base your politics on,” Paunovic said.
Emma Albertino is the president of App State’s pro-life club, Students For Life. To her, abortion is one of the biggest issues when she goes to vote.
She sees abortion as a topic that surpasses and discussion of religion and politics.
“I am pro-life, because I believe that every life has value from conception until death,” Albertino said. “I do not think that a person’s value changes based on religion, politics, race, sex, gender or any other difference. Philosophically, life has value.”
Without the right to life, Albertino said, no other rights can exist, “including the rights to freedom of religion and freedom of political choice.”
Collins said he’s met Christians who can’t stand the idea of any form of abortion.
Because of that, Collins said he feels people with that belief often gravitate to the Republican Party, which ordinarily supports pro-life candidates and policies.
Despite being pro-life, some Christians still favor the Democratic Party.
“I am very pro-life,” said Sigmon, who is a registered independent. “I think unfortunately, a lot of the people who are very anti-abortion, their pro-life stance kind of ends at birth.”
Sigmon said he feels people aren’t fighting for the life of people after birth.
“They are not also fighting for universal health care, so that that baby and that mother can continue to live healthily and that they have what they need,” Sigmon said. “It’s simply just about birth and I think we should look at all of life if we ought to be pro-life.”
Growing up in the church, McAdams felt she was pressured to vote for a Christian, pro-life candidate because if not, then she wouldn’t be Christian.
“If you don’t vote Republican, if you don’t vote for the pro-life candidate, whoever that may be, you’re wrong,” McAdams said.
Moore and Watts are both Christians and both said they would not get an abortion because it violates their religious beliefs.
Moore, a public health major, looks at the broader aspect of why someone gets an abortion.
According to an anonymous study by the Guttmacher Institute in 2004, one-fourth of women reported they were not ready for another baby as a reason for getting an abortion. Of those women surveyed, 23% reported it was because they could not afford another child.
“Issues like abortion and gay marriage, while important, take the center stage and blind voters to the destructive policies that cut Medicaid, food stamps, and other welfare programs,” Moore said. “If we don’t lift these people out of poverty, if we don’t give them options and support, they’ll feel trapped.”
Florida records every reason for an abortion that occurs in the state. In 2018 in Florida, about 74% of reported abortions were elective and 20% reported it was due to economic or social reasons.
Watts doesn’t just think about abortion when she votes, but the lives of people who are suffering right now from oppression or poverty.
“They need to realize that they are just as important as the lives of unborn children, and that they have to just look to the candidate that’s going to treat them as Jesus would treat them,” Watts said.
Watts said she knows people have questioned how a Christian could vote for a pro-choice candidate, but she views it as voting for someone who is loving and more open to those who are poor.
“And that is exactly what the faith is about — loving thy neighbor, helping the poor,” Watts said. “Neither political party is Biblically sound, so there is no right or wrong answer here in regards to faith.”
Moving Forward
Perkinsville Baptist church’s stained glass illuminated in the night. (Jesse Barber)
Martin said religion will continue to influence politics, but he believes in the future that there are certain trends to watch. One is how people are becoming less affiliated with a religion –– not necessarily those who are not religious, but those who don’t identify with a religion.
From 2009 to 2019, those who identify as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular,” increased from 17% to 26%, according to the Pew Research Center.
Martin also predicts that younger adults will move toward a more liberal understanding of faith. For example, Martin said younger people of faith may not be interested in abortion as much as climate change; or more concerned about poverty over same-sex marriage.
“That might have an impact upon how we understand and experience religion and politics,” Martin said.
Moving forward, Pastor Sigmon hopes more people take the teachings of Jesus Christ more seriously.
“I would like to see more people caring for the marginalized, the oppressed,” Sigmon said. “I would like to see more people fighting for equality and for that to not be a polarizing, partisan issue.”
Special Representative Virginia Gamba stated that “once again children paying the highest price and the COVID-19 pandemic has put an additional burden on them, their families and communities all over the world”.
“Now more than ever we must all act to protect children and support all international efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, particularly in situations of armed conflict”, she asserted.
“I join the UN Secretary-General in his appeal for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world — UN envoy
Ms. Gamba pointed to several incidents, including in Libya, where “the few functional health facilities engaged in the COVID-19 response in Tripoli and Benghazi were repeatedly hit and damaged by shelling”.
And last week in Cameroon, she recalled that “several children were reportedly killed, and several others wounded when a school was attacked in the South-West Region”.
Meanwhile in Somalia, attacks against schools and hospitals by Al-Shabaab continue at “an alarming rate, often in conjunction with other grave violations, such as the abduction and recruitment of children”, added the Special Representative.
“In Afghanistan, indiscriminate attacks on schools, universities and other educational facilities are taking place despite the beginning of historic peace talks”, she continued.
Just today, gunmen disguised as police officers stormed Kabul University, taking hostages, and killing and wounding people.
Keep schools safe
Parties to conflict, whether Governmental forces or non-State armed groups, must keep schools and hospitals safe and not use them for military purposes, urged the UN envoy.
“I join the UN Secretary-General in his appeal for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world and, once again, call upon all parties to conflict to abide by their obligations under international law and prevent attacks against education and health facilities, as wellas other civilian infrastructure and protected personnel”, she concluded.
Tuesday, 3 November 2020, 9:17 am Press Release: Oratia Books
New Zealand author-illustrator duo Dawn McMillan and Ross
Kinnaird will see the latest in their bestselling series of
hilarious ‘bum’ children’s picture books release
simultaneously in North
America, the UK, Ireland,
Australia and New Zealand at the start of 2021.
New
York-based Dover Publications and London-based Scholastic UK
jumped at the opportunity to purchase rights for My Bum
is SO NOISY! from originating publisher Oratia
Books,
after previous titles I Need a New Bum
and I’ve Broken by Bum achieved bestseller status
internationally.
Packed with laugh-out-loud rhymes and
zany illustrations, their latest creation follows our hero
on comical adventures caused by his bum and the astounding
and uncontrollable noises
it makes, building to a
crescendo of hilarity.
The first print run for My
Bum is SO NOISY! will be over 120,000 copies
globally.
“Now more than ever, we could all do with
a laugh – and Dawn and Ross’ books bring laughter in
abundance,” says Fiz Osborne, Editorial Director,
Illustrated Books for Scholastic UK. “We can’t wait to
share My Bum is SO NOISY! with readers next
year.”
Dawn McMillan conjures up the storylines of
the Bum books from her coastal home outside Thames, and Ross
Kinnaird brings them to life from his waterside studio on
Auckland’s North Shore.
“It’s been wonderful to see
the series reach so many readers worldwide, and we hope that My Bum is SO NOISY! will bring more fun and laughter
to kids and adults alike,” they say.
Oratia publisher
Peter Dowling reports that CITIC Press also plans to publish
the new book in China in early 2021.
“We’re
thrilled to be part of Dawn and Ross’ international
success, which proves the appeal of Kiwi creativity
worldwide,” he says.
My Bum is SO
NOISY! By Dawn McMillan and Ross
Kinnaird. Published by Oratia
Books
Publication: early 2021 | ISBN:
978-0-947506-81-0 | RRP
$19.99
20 years of independent publishing is a milestone, but your support is essential to keep Scoop thriving. We are building on our offering with thedig.nz our new In-depth Engaged Journalism platform. Now, more than ever sustainable financial support of the Scoop Foundation for Public Interest Journalism will help to keep these vital and participatory media services running.
(Photo: REUTERS / Gil Cohen Magen)Archaeologist Yosef Garfinkel speaks to the media at Elah Fortress or Khirbet Qeiyafa, some 20 km (12 miles) from Jerusalem, November 2, 2008. Archaeologists in Israel said on Thursday they had unearthed the oldest Hebrew text ever found, while excavating a fortress city overlooking a valley where the Bible says David slew Goliath.
Archeologists have uncovered one of the earliest churches in the Holy Land at the foot of breathtaking waterfalls in the scenic Banias Nature Reserve in Israel’s north.
The church is at a site traditionally believed to be where Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom of Heaven, Christian Today reported.
The rare circa AD 400 Byzantine church was build atop a Roman-era temple to Pan, the Greek god from whom the park takes its name, The Times of Israel reported.
Christian builders in the 4th-5th century modified the Roman pagan temple to fit the needs Christianity, a relatively new religion at the time, University of Haifa Professor Adi Erlich said in a brief Hebrew-language video announcing the find.
Erlich posits that the church was built to commemorate Jesus’s interactions with Peter.
It is in this region that Jesus directed Peter with establishing Christianity with the famous phrase, “You are Peter, and, on this rock, I will build my Church… I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven,” recorded in the Gospel of Matthew 16:18.
The church suffered damage through an earthquake at one point, but was renovated in the 7th century, a press release on the site said.
Israel Nature and Parks Authority head of heritage and archaeology Dr. Iosi Bordowicz said that the Banias National Park has stunning archaeology, spreading from the Roman period through the Crusader era.
Bordowicz said the finds will be conserved and made accessible to the many thousands of tourists who in non-COVID-19 times visit the breathtaking waterfalls from all over the world.
“Public health is more than medicine and science and it is bigger than any individual and there is hope that if we invest in health systems…we can bring this virus under control and go forward together to tackle other challenges of our times”, UN World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists in a regular press briefing.
Speaking via video conference from self-quarantine, having himself been in recent contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, the symptom-free WHO chief noted that over the weekend cases spiked in some countries in Europe and North America.
“This is another critical moment for action…for leaders to step up…for people to come together for a common purpose”, he said. “Seize the opportunity, it’s not too late”.
He also flagged that where cases are going up exponentially and hospitals reaching capacity “patients and health workers alike” are at risk.
“We need countries to again invest in the basics so that measures can be lifted safely and Governments can hopefully avoid having to take these measures again”, the UN agency chief asserted.
As some countries are putting in place measures to ease the pressure of health systems, he attested that building “stronger systems ensuring quality testing, tracing and treatment measures are all key”.
“WHO will keep working to drive forward science, solutions and solidarity”, the WHO chief concluded.
Battling COVID
To understand more about how hospitals can prepare and cope with COVID-19, three guests spoke about how their countries were coping with the pandemic.
The Republic of Korea went from the second highest caseload of coronavirus patients globally to one of the lowest – without having to lock down the country – by drawing on lessons it learned from the 2015 MERS COVID outbreak, according to Yae-Jean Kim, Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunodeficiency Department of Pediatrics, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine.
In addition to rapid PCR swab testing and rapid isolation, she explained that physicians for the Republic of Korea, among other things, developed “drive-through testing facilities”; had a community treatment centre for milder cases; prepared public hospitals for high-risk communicable diseases; and had private hospitals pick up overload cases.
From South Africa, Mervyn Mer, Principal Specialist at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, University of the Witwatersrand, said they worked within their capacity to reach the greatest number of people.
Since the pandemic struck South Africa months after other countries, they used their time to draw up a protocol to maximize “everything we feasibly could”, including expanding the capacity of existing hospitals as opposed to putting up field hospitals, he said.
Meanwhile, new WHO staff member Marta Lado, an infectious disease specialist and chief medical officer of Partners In Health in Sierra Leone, underscored that the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak had that country how to manage infectious diseases through contact tracing, surveillance, critical care and PPE use.
“One of the most important lessons learned is how we were able to develop a critical care training” that covered monitoring patients vital signs and for shock as well as ventilation and oxygen, she detailed.
The NRM is presenting to you a Manifesto for the period of 2021-2026. This Manifesto builds on the big successes of the NRM ever since 1965 when we formed a Student Movement, on the basis of new principles, having come out of the old Political Parties of DP, UPC and Kabakka Yekka, that were based on sectarianism of religion, tribe and gender chauvinism.
Over the years, this Student Movement, came to understand the long journey of 4½ million years of the human race, on this Earth, as well as Africa’s position in that long journey.
In the speech I gave to the Conference in Namboole on the 25th of January, 2020, I pointed out to the country how the human being, initially only living in Africa until about 100,000 years ago, used his unique characteristics of his big brain, a hand that can shape things by holding and working and his bi-pedalism (walking on two legs), to make tools (stone, hammer, chisel, etc.) and use those tools to do work for purposes of producing or catching food (hunting, fishing, agriculture) and improving his quality of life. In that effort, he was assisted by the continuous discovery of new technologies that used the laws of nature to assist production (the invention of fire 1.5million years ago, iron in the year 1200 BC etc.). These continuous discoveries changed the way of living of man and the way he was producing wealth and food or he was catching food (hunting, fishing). The invention of fire enabled man to descend from the trees and live in caves; enabled people to cook (kuteeka), roast (kwootsya), kukara (dry on fire), kutarika (grilling, to smoke), kujumbika (earth-oven, cooking pit), rather than eating the food raw (kukoota, kumeketa); and, eventually, enabled man to get the hard metal of iron (ekyooma) out of the iron ore, a rock or soil, known as obutare.
This ability of man to discover new technologies, reached a watershed point (a revolutionary boundary point) in the year 1440, when a German man by the names of Johannes Gutenburg, invented a Printing Press. Most of the previous tools were powered by human muscle. However, the Printing Press used technology of a screw press. In the year 1698, Thomas Savery, a person from England, invented the water pump that was being powered by condensing steam. Eventually, by the year 1812-1813, the water pump technology, was developed into the steam-engine technology that, started pulling trains. This change by part of the human race from the use of the muscle-power to machine power, came to be known as the Industrial Revolution – the first Industrial Revolution. The second Industrial Revolution was the invention of electricity and the third one was the automation of machines. The human race, is now entering the 4th Industrial Revolution of Artificial Intelligence, machines that have got artificial brains.
This is great for the human race. However, the problem is that Africa, the pioneer of civilization, the origin of the human race, had missed out on these water-shed phenomena. Why? Two reasons. The first, the failure by our indigenous rulers to detect the new danger of Europeans that broke out of Western Europe, blocked by the Ottoman Turks that captured Constantinople (Istanbul) in the year 1453 AD, when they started looking for a Sea route to the East (Asia) to replace the Marco-Polo land route that had been blocked by the Turks. These chiefs, failed to unite us to fight this new danger. Instead, putting on leopard and lion skins, pretending to be those animals in courage, they were busy fighting one another.
Secondly, at the very moment new inventions were being made in Europe and China, Africa came under assault by these new arrivals, starting with the bombardment of Mombasa by Vasco Da Gama on the 7th of April 1498, on his way to India. Indeed, the first slaves were taken from Sierra Leone in the year 1652. By 1862, when the first European arrived in Uganda, Uganda was still a three class society of farmers (livestock and crops) and fishermen, Artisans (black smiths, carpenters, banogoozi – ceramics, bashakiizi – herbalists, bakomagyi – bark cloth makers etc.) and the feudal rulers. The Europeans had used the 400 years since Columbus and Vasco Da Gama, to advance in Science (the steam engine, quinine etc.) and military technology (breech-loaders and the maxim machine gun).
Our chiefs, had misused the 400 years, fighting one another; but the Europeans, had used those 400 years to discover answers to our only reliable defenders: the long-distances of Africa and its jungle, rivers and forests; the mosquitoes and the tsetse flies; and the ferocious-tribesmen, but poorly led by the chiefs, poorly armed and isolated from one another by the same myopic chiefs but also by the difficult terrain.
By 1900, the Conquest of the whole of Africa was complete, except for Ethiopia. As I have told Ugandans repeatedly, this conquest of Africa was potentially fatal. Many of the other Peoples that were conquered, never survived. The Red Indians of North America, the Aztecs of Mexico, the Incas of Peru, the Indians of Bolivia, the Indians of Brazil, the Caribes of the Caribbean, the Aborigines of Australia, the Maoris of New-Zealand, etc. Many of these groups were either exterminated or are still greatly marginalized. Their languages and cultures were replaced by European languages and cultures. The languages in use now in those lands are: English, Spanish, Portuguese and French and not the indigenous languages of those peoples.
By the 1950s, part of Kenya was being called the “White Highlands”. South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia were being paraded around as White Countries. Angola, Mozambique, Guinnea Bissau and Cape Verde and Sao Tome were “Overseas Provinces of Portugal”. The complicating and redeeming factor in Africa were the genes of the Africans and the advanced civilization of Africa. We could not easily die because our cattle, goats, chicken, that stayed with us in our huts, had long inoculated us against the zoonotic diseases. We, therefore, survived in spite of the slave trade, the genocide, the colonial wars, the hard labour etc.
When we, therefore, met at Igongo as CEC on the 23rd of December, 2018, I proposed to CEC in the Paper I presented, that while addressing the issues of Uganda’s Political – Social – Economic metamorphosis, we should ask the following questions:
How was Uganda’s economy in 1900?
How was it in 1962-1971?
How was the economy in 1986?
How is it now?
Where do we intend to take it? And what stimuli shall we use to achieve our goals?
This way of erecting milestones, can help us discipline the discussion. The Manifesto is a voluminous and comprehensive document that has dealt with these questions following my proposal to them. I thank the Manifesto Committee so much that was led by Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu.
Abi took up the post of chief reporter at Farmers Guardian after a stint working for the NFU as part of its government affairs team. …Load More
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EU pledges to learn lessons from coronavirus pandemic with new food security plan
The plan, designed to ensure a continued supply of safe, affordable and nutritious food during crises, will be put together by the Commission alongside a broader Farm to Fork Strategy.
The Farm to Fork Strategy aims to make food systems fairer, healthier and more environmentally friendly, and is part of the European Green Deal which sets out a roadmap to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.
A statement on the European Commission website launching the strategy said: “Food systems cannot be resilient to crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic if they are not sustainable.
“We need to redesign our food systems which today account for nearly one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, consume large amounts of natural resources, result in biodiversity loss and negative health impacts (due to both under- and over-nutrition) and do not allow fair economic returns and livelihoods for all actors, in particular for primary producers.”
The strategy is very wide-ranging, including targets to reduce the use of pesticides by 50 per cent, fertiliser by 20 per cent and sales of antimicrobials for farmed animals by 50 per cent by 2030.
Animal welfare legislation, including on transport and slaughter, is to be revised and certification and labelling on the sustainability performance of food products introduced.
A new set of ‘eco-schemes’ will be developed for farmers, offering funding to boost sustainable practices such as precision agriculture, agro-ecology and agro-forestry, while new revenue streams for sequestering carbon will also be created.
The document goes on to recommend that member states make ‘more targeted’ use of VAT rates to improve diets, by supporting organic fruit and vegetables.
There is a strong focus in the strategy on ensuring other countries move towards sustainable practices alongside the EU.
Importer
The Commission statement said: “The EU is the biggest importer and exporter of agri-food products and the largest seafood market in the world.
“The production of commodities can have negative environmental and social impacts in the countries where they are produced.
“Therefore, efforts to tighten sustainability requirements in the EU food system should be accompanied by policies which help raise standards globally, in order to avoid the externalisation and export of unsustainable practices.”
Proposals to meet this aim include examining EU rules to reduce dependency on soya grown on deforested land and reviewing import tolerances for certain plant protection products.
