FRA spoke alongside the Agency’s National Liaison Officer for Italy and a representative of the Italian FRANET partner, Fondazione Brodolini.
FRA’s presentation highlighted some of the main ways that the pandemic and measures to contain it have affected fundamental rights in the EU, drawing on the results of the Agency’s COVID-19 bulletins.
The Working Party discusses the proposed draft Council Recommendation on Roma equality, inclusion and participation.
FRA’s data are the basis for a newly developed portfolio of indicators. The indicators are the baseline for the EU-level targets on minimum progress to be reached by 2030 in the new EU Roma strategic framework for Roma equality, inclusion and participation 2020-2030.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/sltrib/7GACHQUCNFADLJRTD7D2S4LY5Y.jpg?w=696&resize=696,0&ssl=1 "Letter: Don’t politicize religion")
Last night I watched in complete and total disdain as Sen. Mike Lee made the comparison between President Donald Trump and Captain Moroni. As an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who has major concerns and reservations regarding the current president of the United States, this felt very personal.
I felt that this was an incredibly manipulative tactic of using a book that is so precious and important to so many as a tool in gaining votes for President Trump. Even more offensive was the comparison of Captain Moroni to a man like Donald J. Trump. The two men could not be more different. Moroni was a man of character, faith and integrity. His name should never be used in conjunction with our current president’s unless it is to highlight the massive differences between them.
One of the foundations of our country is the separation of church and state. Mike Lee’s use of religion was wrong. I, like others, am also concerned about how this reflects on my religious views to the rest of the world. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a history of being misunderstood, and this adds to the confusion. Because of the senator’s remarks, those who have not read the Book of Mormon and are unfamiliar with Captain Moroni will make incorrect assumptions that could do damage to our integrity.
As I scanned social media to find others’ opinions, I was heartened to see many like-minded individuals who were commenting on Mike Lee’s Instagram and asking for a public apology. This is my intention in writing this letter. Sen. Lee, I am asking you to publicly apologize for your use of the Book of Mormon as a tactic to gather votes. I believe that we are all entitled to our opinions and beliefs in politics, but to bring religion into it, especially as a senator on the national stage, is inappropriate and offensive.
Aubrey Stewart, Springville
By Vatican News staff writer
Archbishop Silvano Maria Tomasi was appointed by Pope Francis on Sunday to be his Special Delegate to the Sovereign Order of Malta. It will be his responsibility to act as interlocutor for the Order’s government in the reform process of its Constitutional Charter and Code.
Archbishop Tomasi, who will be raised to the rank of Cardinal during the Consistory on 28 November, has also been instructed to receive the oath of the person who will be elected Grand Master of the Order of Malta on 8 November, at the end of the Council Complete of State.
80-year-old Tomasi, a naturalized American citizen, is a Scalabrinian priest with a long experience in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He is the former Permanent Observer to the United Nations in Geneva and he collaborates with the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development.
In his letter to Archbishop Tomasi on Sunday, 1 November, Pope Francis writes: “I nominate you as my Special Delegate to the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta (S.M.O.M.), with the task of collaborating, for the greater good of the Order.”
He continued saying “You will “enjoy all the powers necessary to decide any questions that may arise for the implementation of the mandate entrusted to you, to receive the oath of the next Grand Master, and you will be my exclusive spokesperson for all that pertains to relations between this Apostolic See and the Order.”
In an interview with Vatican Radio, Cardinal-designate Tomasi speaks about his new ministry:
The Sovereign Order of Malta is a lay religious order of the Catholic Church since 1113 and a subject of international law. It has diplomatic relations with over 100 states and the European Union, and permanent observer status at the United Nations.
Today, the Order of Malta is active in 120 countries caring for people in need through its medical, social and humanitarian works. It is especially involved in helping people living in the midst of armed conflicts and natural disasters by providing medical assistance, caring for refugees, and distributing medicines and basic equipment for survival.
AT News
KABUL: Amid tensions in France over cartoons denigrating Prophet Mohammad and several knife attacks that followed, French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday that his country has no problem with any religion, signaling his attempt to deescalate the tense situation.
“All religions are freely active in this land. Shame and disgrace can’t be labeled to France,” French embassy in Kabul said in a tweet quoting President Macron.
Macron stated that France was interested in and dependent on peace and coexistence.
The tweet comes after a protest in Kabul on Wednesday against Emanuel Macron’s recent controversial remarks in Islam. Kabul high school students also protested against Macron’s remarks.
Tempers have been running high in Afghanistan ever since tensions broke out in France over cartoons denigrating the prophet. A standoff has erupted between France and Muslim countries after Macron reacted to the beheading of a French schoolteacher who had shown his class cartoons of Prophet Mohammed during a lesson about freedom of speech.
Despite the outcry by Muslim nations around the world over Macron’s remarks, the French president accused Muslims of separatism and vowed not to censor freedom of speech.
French goods have, however, already been pulled from supermarket shelves in Qatar and Kuwait, among other Gulf states, and in Syria people have burned pictures of Macron and French flags have been torched in the Libyan capital Tripoli.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan also weighed in last week and wrote to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg requesting that the social media company ban Islamophobic content on its platform, similar to that in place for the Holocaust.
After Khan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also called on the nation to boycott French goods.
Speaking in a televised speech in Ankara Erdogan said: “Never give credit to French-labelled goods, don’t buy them.”
Vatican News English Africa Service – Vatican City
In July, this year, Cameroon’s Government officials met some of the foremost leaders of the Anglophone separatist groups for the first time since the conflict began in 2017.
In particular the meeting with Julius Ayuk Tabe, a separatist leader currently serving a life sentence in prison on terrorist charges, discussed the possibility of a ceasefire that is yet to be seen concretely.
Notwithstanding recent clashes here and there and the most recent atrocity in the city of Kumba, the Archbishop of Bamenda, Andrew Nkea Fuanya, says that after the talks the situation in Bamenda and some Anglophone regions seem calmer. Bamenda in the northwestern part of Cameroon is the regional capital of the Northwest Region. Kumba in the Southwest of Cameroon is one of the two crisis-hit Anglophone regions.
“There is an atmosphere of greater peace among the population schools have reopened, and many children have returned to class,” the Archbishop told Agenzia Fides.
“From the point of view of the official negotiations, no progress has been made and at least officially we have no news of recent or scheduled meetings.” The Archbisop added, “I think something is happening in secret. For our part, we are doing everything we can to reactivate the dialogue and keep it open at all times in order to find a solution to the conflict as quickly as possible. At the end of September, at the end of the 69th meeting of the Bishops’ Conference of the Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province, we Bishops of the English-speaking regions wrote a public statement. In the letter, we made several requests to the government and the faithful that received much media coverage. Unfortunately, we have not yet received any indication of a response from the government,” said Archbishop Nkea.
In particular, Archbishop Nkea said the Bishops of the Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province have called for the immediate cessation of all forms of armed conflict, the resumption of dialogue, the release of political prisoners as an act of relaxation and the reopening of all schools.
Over 3 000 people have died in the conflict so far, and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes and become Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Some are refugees in neighbouring countries.
Fighting in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon started in 2017 as a result of a government clampdown on peaceful strike action and protests by lawyers and teachers. The professionals complained of marginalisation and unjustified appointment by the French-speaking majority at the expense of professionals in the English speaking areas.
Cameroon’s linguistic divide is a colonial relic that stems from World War I when the League of Nations divided the former German colony of Kamerun between the allied French and the British victors.
(Source: Agenzia Fides)
In a post on Twitter, the EU delegation to the Philippines said the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) is prepared to extend relief aid as they expressed confidence the resilient Filipino nation will recover from the latest calamity.
“Our solidarity with the Filipino people as typhoon #RollyPh batters the country, particularly Bicol region. @eu_echo #EU stands ready to assist in recovery efforts,” the EU delegation in the Philippines tweeted Sunday.
“The resiliency, strength, and courage of the Filipinos will persevere in these trying times,” it added.
The latest remark from the EU delegation came as typhoon “Rolly” slammed into the country with torrential rains and winds. Disaster relief authorities reported that seven people were killed as the typhoon unleashed its fury Sunday. Thousands of families have fled their homes to stay in temporary shelter while some flight and maritime operations were halted due to the onslaught of the storm.
President Duterte has already directed concerned authorities to extend immediate disaster response and relief to the storm-hit communities. Agencies have been asked to take necessary steps to ensure the safety and protection of the people from the typhoon, considered the strongest this year.
(Last Updated On: November 2, 2020) With US elections just one day away, coronavirus cases continued to climb in America at a staggering rate while Midwestern states reported record numbers of hospitalizations.
On Saturday, almost 87,000 new cases were reported, with 909 deaths, according to a Reuters tally.
President Donald Trump, the Republican seeking re-election against Democratic challenger Joe Biden has continued to downplay the virus and accused Democrats of overblowing the pandemic that has killed more 230,000 Americans, more than any other country, Reuters reported.
Biden and fellow Democrats have stated Trump is a poor leader who failed to contain COVID-19 in the United States, which also leads the world in the daily average number of new cases.
This comes after Trump falsely accused doctors of profiting from COVID-19 deaths – a statement that drew harsh criticism from the governor of Wisconsin.
“We have a president that believes that the doctors are at fault, they’re messing with the numbers and he believes that it’s over. It ain’t over,” Democratic Governor Tony Evers told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
“We have hospitalizations going through the roof,” he said. “We absolutely need somebody that understands that this is an issue, it’s a thing. People are dying.”
Biden campaign adviser Anita Dunn meanwhile came out in defense of doctors after Trump’s attack, saying many hospital workers have not had adequate protective gear for a long time.
“These people have been risking their lives since the beginning of this crisis,” she said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Reuters reported that Trump’s comments referred to reports on doctors’ billing practices, Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller said on the same program, without elaborating.
Scott Gottlieb, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner appointed by Trump, told CBS’ “Face the Nation” it was “troubling” to suggest doctors were manipulating data to get higher reimbursements as the country enters a difficult phase.
“Things are getting worse around the country,” and more aggressive actions will be needed to fight the virus’ spread, he said, with December likely to be the toughest month.
Ohio is another state where the infection rate is climbing.
Republican Governor Mike DeWine said: “This thing is really, really spreading in Ohio.”
Speaking to CNN he attributed the increase to more social gatherings, people not wearing masks and letting their guard down.
Meanwhile, Stanford University economists estimated that Trump’s campaign rallies have resulted in 30,000 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, and likely led to more than 700 deaths overall, according to a paper posted over the weekend.
Infectious disease experts have long suspected that Trump’s campaign rallies might be so-called “superspreader events” but scientists have not been able to confirm this partly due to a lack of contact tracing.
Trump has meanwhile repeatedly disdained masks, even after outbreaks affected his own family and a number of White House staffers, Reuters reports.
In contrast, Biden has stuck to federal health guidelines that discourage large, crowded gatherings during his campaign events and he has called Trump’s handling of the virus negligent and irresponsible.
October 31st, 2020 by Zachary Shahan
This title may have caught you off-guard and made you do a double-take. After all, Europe is having a record, blowout, tremendously inspiring year for electric vehicle sales. It seems that every monthly report on European EV sales, including the one we just published, includes an exclamation mark and a ton of new sales records. So, what am I talking about with automakers “slow-walking” electric vehicle (EV) sales in the EU?
Full credit goes to Michael Liebreich, founder of what is now Bloomberg New Energy Finance*, for bringing this to my attention. Well, some credit should also go to the German journalists who mentioned this in a recent story, but here’s Michael’s summary highlight of one key part of the German article:
“Good article (in German) explaining why EU car manufacturers are slow-walking EV sales: 2020 will be taken as baseline for a 37.5% CO2 reduction by 2030. They don’t want to over-deliver this year and face a tougher target. Watch the numbers soar in 2021!”
If you’ve been following along, you know that EV market share has been soaring through the open roof of Camp Nou Allianz Arena the European auto market because: 1) automakers have to pay steep fines or buy expensive credits from Tesla if they don’t meet certain fleet emissions standards, 2) customers actually do want to buy good electric vehicles if automakers produce and try to sell them. In fact, last month, EV sales accounted for 12% of overall auto market sales, a 166% increase over September 2019.
While automakers are certainly working harder to sell EVs in order to not pay sharp fines, it appears that they are also holding back, essentially trying to keep EV sales within an ideal little box.
Let’s add a little nuance here to make sure we tease out the point Michael made briefly above:
European EV sales have been exciting and exhilarating in 2020, one of the best things about 2020 and one of the biggest cleantech wins of the year. 10% plugin vehicle market share is several times higher than 2019’s market share in Europe, and it makes the USA’s 2.3% or so plugin vehicle market share look like a joke. However, José Pontes keeps previewing that 2020 is just the appetizer and 2021 will be #Disruption ’21. This quirk or mistake in EU policy that Michael Liebreich highlighted, combined with lack of ambition and lack of leadership among automakers, explains one reason why that’s the case. It also explains the importance of policy.
The US has a simple federal tax credit for people who buy a new electric vehicle. (Though, buyers of Tesla and GM electric vehicles no longer qualify for this, since they passed 200,000 US plugin vehicle sales and then went through the incentive phaseout period.) This federal tax credit is up to $7500, which is pretty substantial, but it’s a simple policy, one that many car buyers can’t take advantage of, and one that I’m sure most people don’t even know about. More comprehensive policies that essentially force automakers to electrify more vehicles go a lot further in hastening the industry transformation to an electric era. Automakers, like other companies, like and respond to very clear signals about where they should be headed. They will follow regulations, but they will also drag their feet and use delay tactics if there aren’t strong policies persuading them to change.
This is why we need good politicians in office who are capable of paying attention to detail, who can focus enough to determine and include critical nuance and context for new legislation, who will actually try to push industries and society forward instead of trying to drag them backward, and who are just, you know, not crazy sociopaths.
For more analysis of the nuance of European auto policy and how it relates to the speed of change in 2020, look into these 4 stories:
The final piece in that list also highlights a way that automakers have been working to reach the 95 gr/km CO2 standard with minimal effort, minimal appeal to consumers, minimal pace of innovate, minimal change, and, due to faulty analysis, minimal emissions reductions. Instead of going all-in on fully electric vehicles built electric from the ground up, instead of going the full Tesla route and trying to bring low-cost mass-market electric vehicles to the table, most automakers have been rolling out lame, often misused and abused plugin hybrid electric vehicles that do not even live up to their expectations or emissions ratings.
What are solutions to this problem? Michael has an idea, which he proposed in response to the second article in that list above. Check out his brilliant suggestion:
“The EU should close this loophole by using the expected CO2 emissions in the first year(s) of usage.” No, the EU should demand aggregated telemetry data from auto manufacturers, not lab tests or estimates, and use it to set model-level emissions. Manufacturers have the data.
— Michael Liebreich (@MLiebreich) October 16, 2020
However, responding to my followup question about this, Michael indicated that he is unaware of any organized effort to pursue that idea. Perhaps it is a matter that some members of the CleanTechnica community should take up.
Not yet, to my knowledge. But it’s manifestly a good idea (ergo will be fiercely resisted by the incumbency).
— Michael Liebreich (@MLiebreich) October 16, 2020
Do you have any additional thoughts on EU electric vehicle policy, how the market is evolving, and how to improve or hasten the transition to electric vehicles in Europe?
*Check out the history of Bloomberg New Energy Finance here: “The History of Bloomberg New Energy Finance (Michael Liebreich Interview Series).”
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Zachary Shahan is tryin’ to help society help itself one word at a time. He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director, chief editor, and CEO. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about cleantech at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada, and Curaçao.
Zach has long-term investments in NIO [NIO], Tesla [TSLA], and Xpeng [XPEV]. But he does not offer (explicitly or implicitly) investment advice of any sort.
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