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Malta challenges EU trucking rules in court
Malta has filed a complaint before the Court of Justice of the European Union against new trucking rules which the government says will undermine the country’s competitiveness.
The new rules force trucking companies to provide a paid rest period of around 45 hours every three to four consecutive weeks, at “the employer’s establishment or to the drivers’ place of residence”.
Trucks will also have to return to the company’s headquarters every eight weeks, in a move designed to prevent haulage companies from trying to register in other EU countries to take advantage of lower taxes.
Maltese operators Attrans told Times of Malta the rules would cost the company between €500,000 and €1 million because of the need to buy more trucks and employ more people.
In a statement on Saturday the government said the two specific rules were not part of the original proposals presented by the European Commission but were only added towards the end of the legislative procedure, despite the objections of several member states, including Malta.
“These measures were therefore not subject to a proper impact assessment by the EU institutions. A KPMG study commissioned by the government shows that both these rules are expected to have a negative impact on Malta, making road haulage operations more costly, mainly as a result of Malta’s geographic position, and having also a negative impact on the environment,” the government said.
Malta is arguing that the measures violate the EU Treaty provisions and lead to distortion of the EU Single Market by including measures that serve to disrupt road haulage operations, increase costs for consumers and exports, and disproportionately and adversely affect Malta as a peripheral and island member state.
Malta is therefore requesting the Court of Justice to annual these measures.
The government said other member states have also initiated a similar annulment action on the measures, or are in the process of doing so.
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Michael Gove accuses the EU of trying to ‘tie our hands indefinitely’
Michael Gove today told Michel Barnier ‘the ball is in your court’ if the European Union wants trade talks with the UK to resume as he said the bloc had given Britain ‘no choice’ but to step up its preparations for a no deal split.
The Minister for the Cabinet Office said Brussels had shown in recent weeks it was ‘not serious’ about striking a deal because it had failed to compromise on key issues.
He said he still hoped a deal could be done in the coming weeks but stressed that for the UK to consider going back to the negotiating table the EU will have to drastically overhaul its approach.
He borrowed a term from Star Trek as he said the EU was trying to ‘keep us in their tractor beam’ and suggested Brussels had broken its word by failing to agree to a Canada-style free trade agreement.
His intervention came after Boris Johnson warned businesses to prepare for leaving the bloc without a trade deal when the standstill post-Brexit transition period ends in December after EU leaders refused to bow to his negotiating deadline.
Michael Gove today said the UK had ‘no choice’ but to prepare for leaving the EU without a trade deal
Mr Gove said the ‘ball is in his court’ as he was asked whether formal trade talks with Michel Barnier could resume
Mr Johnson had set a European Council meeting last Thursday as the deadline for agreeing the broad outline of a trade agreement.
But the two sides remain deadlocked in a number of crunch areas, including on post-Brexit fishing rights with French President Emmanuel Macron adamant he will not drop his hardline stance on keeping current levels of access to British waters.
The summit saw EU leaders agree to talks continuing but they gave no ground and said it was for the UK to make the next move, prompting a furious response from Mr Johnson who said Britain would now step up its preparations for a no deal divorce.
The UK has made clear it is willing to restart trade discussions but only if the EU completely changes its negotiating stance, with the two sides now locked in a high stakes game of brinkmanship.
Mr Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, had been due to come to London next week but those talks have now been cancelled.
Mr Gove told Sky News: ‘Well, the ball is in his court. We have made clear that we need to see a change in approach from the European Union.
‘I know that he will be calling David Frost over the course of the next few days. Let’s see if the European Union appreciate the importance of reaching a deal and the importance of moving ground.’
Mr Gove had previously estimated there was a 66 per cent chance of a trade deal being agreed with the EU.
Asked what his new estimation was, he replied: ‘Less. I think it is less but I can’t be precise. One of the reasons why it is less is the position that has been taken in the last couple of weeks by European Union leaders.
‘What we have seen and what our negotiators have found is the European Union side have not been willing to produce the detailed legal text, they have not been willing to intensify the talks in a way that would indicate that they were actually serious about reaching an agreement.
‘At the same time they have also insisted both that we accept a level of control over our autonomy that an independent country can’t really accept and at the same time they are saying they should continue to have exactly the same access to for example our fishing waters and our fishing stocks as before and so that seems to me to be the behaviour of an organisation and an institution that is not serious about making the compromises necessary to secure a deal. I still hope we will get a deal though.’
Writing in The Sunday Times, Mr Gove had said: ‘Unless the EU makes a fundamental change, we’ll leave on Australian-style terms trading on WTO rules.
‘It is not my preferred destination, and there will be turbulence en route.
‘I am not blasé about the challenges, but if the choice is between arrangements that tie our hands indefinitely, or where we can shape our own future, then that’s no choice at all.’
Australia has no comprehensive trade deal with the EU and it also does far less business with Brussels than the UK.
A no deal split would see the EU impose tariffs on UK goods, with business groups warning this would damage British firms at a time when they can least afford it because of the coronavirus crisis.
Mr Gove, who has long warned against a no deal split, said the UK will be ‘flexing every muscle to be match fit for January 1’ and that the Government will not be ‘squeezed or sandbagged into acquiescing to anyone else’s agenda’.
He suggested the EU had broken its word by failing to offer the UK a Canada-style agreement.
‘The terms on which Canada and the EU waive tariffs on each other’s goods is all we seek,’ he said.
Emmanuel Macron has stuck to his hardline stance on post-Brexit fishing rights – one of the crunch areas where talks remain deadlocked
‘That’s what the EU said it would offer us but at the eleventh hour it seems the bloc won’t take yes for an answer.’
He added: ‘The EU wants to keep us in their tractor beam. It’s independent life, Jim, but not as we know it.’
Mr Gove’s intervention comes after Government sources claimed the EU had treated trade talks more like ‘performance art’ than serious negotiations.
In a blistering attack, insiders accused EU negotiators led by Mr Barnier of using the meetings to ‘shore up their domestic position’ – with particular criticism levelled at French President Emmanuel Macron.
‘There are signs that EU leaders, worried about the prospect of populist politicians such as Marine Le Pen, have decided that they would put domestic politics ahead of agreeing a free-trade agreement with the UK,’ said one source close to the talks.
The Government is today launching a public information campaign to encourage businesses to prepare for Britain’s departure on January 1.
A TV advert with the slogan ‘Time is running out’ will air tonight on ITV.
Vatican Museums: everything is connected #3 – Vatican News
Mermaid Fountain, Rose Garden, Vatican Gardens, photo by Nik Barlo jr © Musei Vaticani
“The Creator does not abandon us;
He never forsakes His loving plan or repents of having created us.
Humanity still has the ability to work together
in building our common home.”
(Pope Francis, Laudato si’, 13)
Under the direction of Paolo Ondarza
#SeasonOfCreation
Instagram: @vaticanmuseums @VaticanNews
Facebook: @vaticannews
European Union deplores strikes on Ganja resulting in civilian loss of life and serious injury
Baku, October 17, AZERTAC
The European Union deplores the strikes on the Azerbaijani city of Ganja during the night of 16-17 October resulting in civilian loss of life and serious injury, says a statement by the organization on the strikes on the city of Ganja.
“All targeting of civilians and civilian installations by either party must stop.
The ceasefire of 10 October must be fully respected without delay,” the statement adds.
AZERTAG.AZ :European Union deplores strikes on Ganja resulting in civilian loss of life and serious injury
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‘For promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion’: FIR against actor Kangana Ranaut, her sister
By: Express News Service | Mumbai |
Updated: October 18, 2020 8:48:34 am
Updated: October 18, 2020 8:48:34 am
<span itemprop="image" itemscope="" itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject">
<meta itemprop="url" content="https://images.indianexpress.com/2020/10/kangana-rangoli-new.jpg"/><meta itemprop="width" content="1200"/><meta itemprop="height" content="667"/></span><span class="custom-caption"> <span class="ie-custom-caption">Actor Kangana Ranaut with her sister Rangoli Chandel. [Instagram/Rangoli Chandel]</span></span>POLICE REGISTERED an FIR against actor Kangana Ranaut and her sister Rangoli Chandel at Bandra on Saturday afternoon, based on a private complaint filed before a metropolitan court.
The women were booked under sections pertaining to committing malicious or deliberate acts with the intention of outraging religious feelings of citizens, sedition, promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence or language and common intention of the Indian Penal Code.
According to police, the FIR states that through their tweets, the sisters tried to “malign the Indian Constitution and image of the Maharashtra government, hurt sentiments of Muslims and tried to create division between Hindus and Muslims”.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone IX) Abhishek Trimukhe said the investigating officer would begin gathering evidence and verify the allegations made in the complaint.
The complaint filed before the court stated that Ranaut was “creating divisions between communities and spreading communal hatred”. The court had ordered an FIR to be registered against the sisters on Friday.
“On prima facie perusal of complaint and submissions… I found the cognizable offence has been committed by the accused. Total allegations are based upon comment on electronic media, Twitter and interviews. The accused used social media like Twitter. Thorough investigation is necessary by the expert… search and seizure is necessary in this case,” Metropolitan Magistrate Jaydeo Khule said in his order. He had directed the concerned police station to investigate the complaint.
The complaint was filed by Munawwar Ali Sayyed, a casting director and fitness trainer. In his complaint, he stated that he had worked with well-known film directors and had, for the past few months, been observing on social media that Ranaut “is continuously defaming Bollywood film industry and is portraying people working in Bollywood films as a hub of nepotism, favouritism, drug addicts, communally-biased people, murderers, etc” through her tweets and television interviews. “…(this) is creating a very bad image of Bollywood in the minds of people and even creating a communal divide and rift between people of two communities and in the mind of common man”.
He also stated that a rift was being created between artistes of different religions. The complaint referred to various tweets by Ranaut over the past few months, including a tweet where she referred to Mumbai as POK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir).
The complainant also stated, “Police investigation is necessary to ascertain the real motive behind such hate tweets, and who are the people backing such hatred to create communal tension and sentiments.”
Lawyer Rizwan Siddiquee, representing Ranaut, said, “This shall be dealt with on merits as per procedure of law. Right of speech and expression should not be construed as promoting communal disharmony.”
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Groundbreaking for House of Worship celebrated across DRC
KINSHASA, Democratic Republic Of The Congo — Construction of the national Bahá’í House of Worship in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was inaugurated on Sunday with a groundbreaking ceremony on the site of the future temple and broadcast on national television. Situated on the outskirts of Kinshasa, the site was host to government officials, representatives of religious communities, and traditional chiefs. At the same time, celebrations were held across the vast country as countless people joined in prayer to mark this important milestone.
The National Spiritual Assembly, in a letter written for the occasion, says that the House of Worship embodies the essential elements of the Bahá’í concept of worship and service, “both so vital to the regeneration of the world. Therein lies the secret of the loftiness, the potency, and the unique position of the House of Worship as one of the most outstanding institutions conceived by Bahá’u’lláh. … The ceremony today has great significance, comparable to the sowing of a seed in the soil in the hope of seeing it grow and, before long, produce the most valuable fruits.”
The arrival of this long-awaited moment and what it represents has stirred communities throughout the country. Bashilwango Mbaleeko, secretary of the Regional Bahá’í Council of South Kivu, explains that although people throughout the vast country of the DRC are physically distant from the site, the spirit of oneness already emanating from that spot is fueling their efforts to serve their society with greater intensity. “Every step of progress has been celebrated across South Kivu and the country. We see the rise of this edifice as an outcome of decades of efforts toward social transformation.”
Lavoisier Mutombo Tshiongo, the secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the DRC, says that the presence of diverse people at the event signifies the unifying role of a House of Worship. “This is not only a Bahá’í place of worship, it is a House of Worship for everyone to offer prayers to their Creator. This temple will be the embodiment of unity and represents a new milestone in the development of Congolese society. In one of His writings, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has said that raising up such places of worship will allow people ‘to gather together, and, harmoniously attuned one to another, engage in prayer; with the result that out of this coming together, unity and affection shall grow and flourish in the human heart.’”
The immense impact of prayer on the patterns of community life was discussed by traditional chiefs in the Western Kasai region who had gathered on Friday to reflect on the House of Worship. Chief Bope Ngokadi of Mpempe village said, “We see in the Bahá’í devotional gatherings the involvement of diverse people; we are all walking together in unity. Praying has brought a positive impact, the village has changed. I have changed.
“People who were always in conflict and not talking together are now together in harmony. The power of the Word of God is immense. This is what has united those who were in conflict.
“Even as the chief of this locality I was not always united with other officials, but we have become so through devotional gatherings. This is what has allowed us to live as one community. This is what the House of Worship represents.”
The groundbreaking ceremony coincided with the Bahá’í Holy Day celebrating the Birth of the Báb. Current health guidelines allowed for a beautiful gathering to take place with the necessary protective measures. The ceremony, which was broadcast online through a live stream and covered on national TV news channels, culminated with the laying of a symbolic first stone on the spot where the new edifice will rise.
Plans to build a national House of Worship were announced in 2012. Since then the Bahá’ís of the DRC have been identifying architects and a suitable site for this unique structure.
This House of Worship is one of several Bahá’í temples under construction around the world, each with a unique design that reflects the unifying roles of worship and service. The design of the House of Worship in Kinshasa is inspired by traditional artworks, structures and natural features of the DRC. The image of the Congo River, whose tributaries gather rain from every part of the country into one great stream, symbolizes a coming together and uniting of the world and is expressed through the patterns that will adorn the outside of the dome in a style reminiscent of the artwork of various Congolese peoples.
How I never returned Gilda Cordero Fernando’s book
(June 2010)
In June 2005, a fortnight after the birthdays of my mom and Gilda Cordero Fernando (they are the same age, both born in 1930, my mom on June 7 and Tita Gilda on June 4), I came across an engaging online news story. The item from the San Francisco Chronicle was titled: “Book returned to library 78 years later.”
It was about a borrowed book, Rudyard Kipling’s “Kim,” that was due Aug. 29, 1927, but was only returned in 2005 by the nephew of a deceased aunt who forgot to return it to an Oakland public library. In short, it took almost eight decades for the book to be returned to the library’s shelf.
This story reminded me of my sister Nor‘s recollection that I, at around age 10, borrowed a book from our grade school library that I never returned. And this was more than 40 years ago.
The book’s title: “The Butcher, the Baker, the Candlestick Maker,” a collection of short stories, published in 1962. The book’s author: Gilda Cordero Fernando.
I cannot recall if GCF’s stories were required reading in grade school. But having borrowed the book and kept it, I must have liked its content. The book is now missing and is probably sitting on the shelf of a relative or a friend. But if I had to pay the compounded fine, the amount would be a princely sum, perhaps equivalent to the price of all of GCF’s publications.
Nor, who was then Grade 3 at Institucion Teresiana, stumbled upon the book, noticed that it was overdue, and read it. This was the beginning of her fascination with GCF’s works.
Nor said she developed her early love for reading, partly from her curiosity about the books that I borrowed, including the Hardy Boys series and a book on American basketball, which perhaps I did not return to the library either. In hindsight, Nor said that I already had signs of having an attention deficit disorder (ADD) during childhood, which might explain why I forgot to return the books. Simply said, there was no malice on my part in not returning books.
Unreturned but lost
But was having ADD the reason that I didn’t return GCF’s book? Or was it because the book reminded me of Mol, GCF’s second son, who was my classmate and pal? “Pal”—that was how we classmates addressed one another in grade school. When we reached high school, this address metamorphosed into “Pare” or the hippie expression “Hey, man.”
In high school, Mol got a failing grade in Filipino and thus had to repeat third year. It’s impossible for a Pinoy who looks very indio and who speaks the native tongue naturally to get a failing mark in Filipino. Mol’s crime was that he uttered a rather vivid but vulgar and disparaging description of an old maid who taught Filipino. The mischievous remark eventually reached the teacher.
I narrated to Tita Gilda this version of why Mol flunked a subject that no one should fail. This was after she received the Gawad Tanglaw award from the Ateneo de Manila University in 2008. In jest, I told her that she could have included in her speech of acceptance a reminder of the nasty experience that her second son went through.
The unreturned but lost book now serves as a remembrance of my connection with GCF and her children. I also became close to her oldest son Bey (may he rest in peace)—we were together in the halcyon days of martial law student activism. Upon early retirement from law practice, he appointed himself the chef of the well-liked Crescent Moon, which we frequented.
And there’s Wendy, GCF’s only daughter—the creative architect and artist, whom I met through my mom and aunt. Wendy is known for her finely crafted paper lamps. Our home—the different rooms and the garden—has become a showcase of Wendy’s wonderful lamps.
Through the years, we have collected all sorts of things associated with Tita Gilda—Wendy’s lamps, ceramic pieces done by Bey’s wife Lanelle (including a set of blue pottery consisting of miniature native jars, which Bey encouraged me to get from Lanelle’s shop), GCF’s books, of course, as well as clippings of her newspaper essays, and a GCF painting titled “Aimez Vous Brahms? “
The subject of the painting is a pleasingly plump woman, seated comfortably with her legs crossed, seemingly caught in a reverie but actually listening intently to recorded music.
This painting reveals how funny and honest GCF is. In her annotation of the painting, Tita Gilda wrote: “That’s a musical composition based on a classical piece. I didn’t know how to draw a gramophone so I just let her hear it.”
But of all things related to Gilda, her “The Butcher, the Baker, the Candlestick Maker” is what I cherish most.
Different appreciation
Nowadays, I do have a different appreciation of this book. I connect it to my economics training. GCF’s title is uncannily similar to Adam Smith’s most famous statement, a quotation that every economist knows by heart: “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.”
So, did GCF pick up the butcher and the baker from reading “The Wealth of Nations?” (But why not keep the alliteration by maintaining the brewer? Why substitute the brewer with the candlestick maker?)
My peer, Guy Estrada Claudio, answered my question: “Methinks the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker come from a traditional nursery rhyme. So maybe Adam Smith must need to explain why the brewer.” Amazing, economics, the queen of the social sciences, is founded on a nursery rhyme!
Guy likewise pointed out that “these nursery rhymes, being a mother-and-child sort of thing, are a good foundational paradigm.”
Voila! Guy’s insight explains why GCF’s book mattered to me—it symbolized some sort of attachment between mother and child. I saw my mom in her—beauty and brains.
Much later in life, before I got married, I joined a meeting for a cause, which was likewise attended by my late Tita Paula Malay and GCF. We were seated at the same table for lunch. I cannot recall what the meeting was all about, but I cannot forget that lunch. It was not about the culinary experience. It was about GCF serving food to me. She even scooped out the meat of the alimango for me and placed it on my plate. Wow, what tender loving care! I was thrilled by her attention.
It’s fun and exciting to be in Tita Gilda’s company. My affection for her—which began with my liking for “The Butcher, the Baker, the Candlestick Maker”—has only grown through the years. —CONTRIBUTED
The author wrote this as a tribute to Gilda Cordero Fernando on her 80th birthday 10 years ago. “She loved it,” according to her daughter Wendy. GCF died on Aug. 27.
Maher: Democrats Should Make Barrett’s Religion an Issue – SCOTUS ‘Packed, with Catholics’
On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher stated that Democrats should make Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s religion an issue, and instead of the court being “packed, with Catholics” there should be a “healthier balance” of religious beliefs on the court.
Maher said, “Democrats have to stop talking about packing the Supreme Court. Because it’s already packed, with Catholics…and once Mitch McConnell and company are done Fed-Exing Amy Coney Barrett to the bench, seven of the nine justices will be Catholic. And look, I have nothing against Catholics, except my entire upbringing. But they are only 20% of the population. If seven out of nine justices were Jews or Muslims or Buddhists would that be okay? And if faith is this super important element of life, as Barrett and her Republican supporters say it is, shouldn’t we have a healthier balance on our highest court?”
He concluded, “Chuck Schumer said Democrats won’t make Barrett’s religion an issue, but they should. Because being nuts is relevant.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
European Parliament launches an award in memory of journalist who investigated Azerbaijani corruption
The Bureau of the European Parliament has approved a “Daphne Caruana Galizia’ prize for “outstanding journalism work” in honour of the murdered Maltese journalist, killed in a car bomb on October 16, 2017, in an attack that Maltese police have said was intended to silence her work on unveiling corruption and money-laundering in her country, New Europe reports.
The €20,000 prize will be awarded on a yearly basis as of October 2021 to journalists or team of journalists for their outstanding journalism work based on the principles and values of the European Union, and the candidates will be judged by a panel of independent journalists.
“The Daphne Caruana Galizia prize will strengthen investigative and courageous journalism and press freedom. The importance of investigative journalism has been demonstrated by Daphne and many others through revelations about various tax and corruption stories in recent years,” said Sven Giegold, MEP of the Greens/EFA group, who attended the Parliament’s missions to Malta over recent years.
Caruana-Galizia’s brutal assassination prompted an outcry over the authorities’ handling of the case, eventually forcing Maltese Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat to step down and businessman Yorgen Fenech to be arrested in 2019. One of her revelations pointed the finger at Malta’s prime minister, Joseph Muscat, and two of his closest aides, connecting offshore companies linked to the three men with the sale of Maltese passports and payments from the government of Azerbaijan.
