It’s hard to feel too sorry for anyone wealthy enough to own a new Rolls-Royce, but there’s bad news for these folks in the European Union because the illuminated Spirit of Ecstasy badge is no longer available. Making matters worse, the light-up hood ornament needs to be removed from any Rolls that currently has it.
The cause of this weird decision is that the illuminated sculpture does not comply with the new EU light pollution regulations. After disconnecting it, Rolls will refund owners for the price of the option and replace the hood ornament with a silver-plated Spirit of Ecstasy. Note that this only applies to vehicles in the EU, and models elsewhere are still free to light up the lady.
“In February 2019 we sent our dealers a bulletin saying we were removing the option of an unlit Spirit of Ecstasy. It was no longer to be sold to customers. It came off the options list,” a Rolls-Royce spokesman told The Daily Mail. “Sadly, we are telling our customers that we will by law have to disconnect their Spirit of Ecstasy.”
What’s not clear is what happens if owners simply don’t bring their Rolls-Royce to a dealer to remove the illuminated Spirit of Ecstasy. It’s hard to imagine the cops pulling over someone in a Phantom just because there’s a light-up hood ornament.
The latest Rolls-Royce to join the range is the new Ghost. It now rides on the dedicated Rolls-Royce Architecture of Luxury platform and has an interesting suspension setup with a damper on the upper wishbone that helps create an even smoother ride. There’s also a GPS-aided transmission to make motoring in the sedan even more luxurious. Prices start at $332,500.
Books about President Donald Trump are fueling a record year for political books, with sales up nearly 100% from 2019.
According to The Wall Street Journal, political book sales increased 85% this year through September, while political e-book sales were up 20%. Many of the books are about Trump, his administration, his inner circle, and how he governs.
“2020 is on track to be the biggest year for political books since we began tracking U.S. book sales in 2004,” NPD BookScan’s Kristen McLean told the Journal.
The sales figures are expected to surge again next month when former President Barack Obama releases the first volume of his memoir. The Journal noted that the first run includes 3 million hardcover copies.
As of Monday morning, the top 20 political books being sold on Amazon include Bob Woodward’s “Rage” (No. 4), Dan Bongino’s “Follow the Money: The Shocking Deep State Connections of the Anti-Trump Cabal” (No. 5), and Michael Cohen’s “Disloyal: A Memoir: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump” (No. 16).
The Journal reported that overall book sales are up 6% (print) and 7.6% (e-books) this year, despite the fact that many stores were closed for weeks, if not months, because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The challenges America is grappling with continue post election regardless of the election outcome,” Penguin Random House’s David Drake told the Journal.
This is a book for the adventurers – for the intrepid explorers who thrill to the words ‘off the beaten track’!
It’s correctly, and unpretentiously, entitled Topographical Maps of Cyprus – but don’t let that fool you! Yes, the book is packed with detailed maps of the Troodos range (right from the Akamas peninsula to the foothills of Larnaca) but this is so much more than a cartographical guide.
Nature trails (including length, duration, and degree of difficulty) and picnic sites are meticulously listed; medieval bridges, watermills, and even tar kilns are discussed and precisely grid referenced; the renowned painted churches and monasteries of Troodos and environs are cleverly highlighted. There’s even a section on the wineries of the region and, since safety is paramount for those who venture into the wilds, there’s a lovely bit about Hiking Safety. ‘Never hike alone,’ we’re admonished. And among other sensible suggestions, we get: ‘Take plenty of water, don’t pack too heavy, dress in layers, start early, pace yourself, and look out for snakes, spiders and other critters’!
The majority of the book consists, of course, of the maps: meticulously researched, compiled, and charted by cartographer Michael Savvides. A member of the Council of the Cyprus Mountaineering, Climbing and Orienteering Federation, and founder of the hiking and orienteering club Orientaction, Michael is a trailblazer who introduced orienteering to Cyprus some 10 years ago now.
“I have always loved exploring,” he enthuses. “It’s such a challenge to find yourself alone in unknown territory, combining your physical and mental abilities to overcome the challenges you face. Orienteering itself,” he adds, “is such a character-building sport. And though it’s relatively new to the island, it took off immediately; to date we’ve already held three major international orienteering events in Cyprus!”
As a local pioneer of the sport, Michael was often sought out by those who shared his passion. “Over the years, many people asked me where they could find large-scale maps of certain parts of Cyprus,” he continues. “But while there are small-scale maps aplenty, mostly aimed at tourists and travellers, larger scale maps just didn’t exist. Perhaps the area that was most frequently requested,” he adds, “was that of the centre of the Troodos Range. And of course, it wasn’t available. So I set out to create it….”
“Then,” he laughs, “another fervent hiker asked me to add in the Akamas Peninsula. And someone else suggested I also map the biking regions around Larnaca… And slowly, slowly, the one original map grew into a book of the whole Troodos region!”
Unlike your average tourist guide, Topographical Maps of Cyprus is a mine of information for “explorers, researchers, runners, and hikers,” says Michael. “It’s a database of geographical, historical, architectural, religious, and viticultural information, which also includes a list of every village and all the major footpaths. Footpaths,” he continues, “which I have walked myself – hiking thousands of kilometres in a bid to ensure the information is absolutely correct. Nowadays, many cartographers work from satellite imagery, sitting in an office far removed from the landscape. But when you make a map you have to be aware of what the terrain looks like on the ground; if you’re familiar with the territory you’re mapping, then you don’t mistake satellite imagery of a white line for a track when it’s actually a river!”
Six years of painstaking work in the making, Topographical Maps of Cyprus has been drawn from Michael’s own reconnaissance, along with data from a plethora of “books, old maps, new maps, and information from international organisations.”
Comprised of 10 main sections, the book covers the Akamas Peninsula, the town of Polis to the west of Paphos Forest, Paphos Forest, Esouza Valley, the central Troodos Forest, the wine region of Krasochoria, the Pitsillia region, Macheras Forest, the Stavrovouni region, and the hilly area west of Larnaca town. Each of the ten sections includes at least eight detailed maps, each map in turn covering an area of five by seven kilometres.
Drawn to a scale of 1/25,000, so that each centimetre on the map represents 250 metres on the ground, the 90 maps include everything any intrepid traveller could wish for. Contours appear every 10 metres, and highways, roads, dirt tracks and footpaths are all clearly marked. Manmade sites of interest – including buildings, vineyards, churches, chapels and mosques, mills, quarries, fishing shelters, kilns, lighthouses, and even water tanks – appear throughout. And among the more natural features of the landscape, we get cliffs, forests, wild vegetation, tree plantations, seasonal streams, rocks, and (worthy of their capital letters) Huge Rocks – many of which are also marked as climbing fields, should you be so inclined!
Best of all, everything is so precisely grid referenced that you can set your GPS by the coordinates, arriving at the exact spot you intended. “All maps are GPS compatible,” we’re told in the introduction. “Coordinates taken from a GPS receiver can be drawn directly on to the maps.” And with this, Michael has effectively put an end to the days of driving (or stumbling) in circles, desperately trying to find the Venetian bridge/rock-climbing spot/picnic site you’re after!
A pioneering book, there’s a follow-up in the works (which will include the Diarizos and nearby river valleys, along with the Commandaria region) which Michael plans to release in 2021. But until then, Topographical Maps of Cyprus is proving to be an excellent source of information: “It’s a ‘live’ book,” Michael enthuses. “Not something you keep on your bookshelf, but something that goes in your car or your backpack everywhere you do. It’s for the adventurers,” he grins. “The explorers amongst us…”
Madame Chair, honourable members of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs,
Thank you for inviting me to present the Eurosystem report on a digital euro.[1]
The quest to ensure that means of payment are fit for purpose has characterised economic history.
In the provision of money by the sovereign, Europe can boast of a primacy dating back to ancient Greece[2] and the Roman era.[3] The search for sound money continued in the “dark” years of the High Middle Ages, despite the resumption of bartering; in the eighth century the monetary reform of Charlemagne spread out in many European countries.[4]
The evolution of money over the centuries and across different regions has reflected changes in economic life, in technology, and in societal beliefs and behaviours. When Marco Polo visited China in the 13th century, he was shocked to discover paper money, which we now know had already been used there for centuries. He called its creator a perfect “alchemist”.[5] Today, digitalisation is spreading to all areas of our life, including the way we pay. So I do not expect anyone to find the idea of a digital currency as astonishing as Marco Polo found the idea of paper money.
Nowadays, central banks are entrusted with the fundamental task of providing citizens with costless access to simple, secure and risk-free means of payment that can be used on a large scale. Delivering on this task requires central banks to analyse relevant developments in society and adapt accordingly.
In order to be able to give Europeans easy access to a safe form of central bank money in a society that is moving increasingly quickly towards digital payments, the ECB’s Governing Council has decided to advance work on the possible issuance of a digital euro.
Should the need arise, we want to be ready to introduce a digital euro: a form of central bank money that would complement cash, not replace it. Together, these two types of money would be accessible to all, offering greater choice and easier access to ways of paying.
After publishing our report on a digital euro on 2 October, we are now in a phase of listening and experimentation. Our exchange today is a key step in this phase and marks the launch of the ECB’s public consultation.[6] I will come back to this consultation in a moment. But first I will outline the characteristics of a digital euro, as well as the advantages and the challenges it could present. I will also discuss some scenarios that could require the ECB to issue a digital euro.
We already have an array of choices when it comes to retail payments: central bank money in the form of cash, commercial bank money – for example, digital bank deposits – and non-bank digital money (such as payment cards). What we do not have is a digital currency that is issued by the central bank and that we can use for all our daily transactions, including in e-commerce.
A digital euro would fill this gap: it would be an electronic form of central bank money accessible to all citizens and firms – in other words, a digital equivalent of euro banknotes. It would provide costless access to a simple, risk-free and trusted digital means of payment, accepted throughout the euro area. In the digital era, it would preserve the public good that the euro provides to European citizens.
Compared with existing means of digital payments, a digital euro would provide added value in several ways. First of all, it could be used for payments anywhere, by anyone and at any time – just like cash in the physical world.
Second, it would bring simplicity: a digital euro should be designed to be easy to understand, easy to use and easy to transfer. Regardless of its features or the technology it would be based on, people from all groups in society should be able to use it in their daily lives. This is because making a payment is about more than just exchanging money for goods and services: it is a form of social interaction made possible by money, which has been described as “the most universal and most efficient system of mutual trust ever devised”[7].
Finally, a digital euro would increase privacy in digital payments thanks to the involvement of the central bank, which – unlike private suppliers of payment services – has no commercial interests related to consumer data. Ensuring privacy is an essential element of modern democracies and part of our European values. Payments must also respect people’s right to privacy in the digital era, and the design of a digital euro would have to respect this principle. This is a core aspect we will look at – indeed, we have already started exploring possible ways of enhancing privacy.[8]
At the same time, payments in a digital euro – just like any form of payment – would have to respect the rules on countering money laundering, the financing of terrorism and tax evasion. This would enable public authorities to combat any illegal activity more effectively.
To summarise, the digital euro would still be a euro, only in digital form. It would both shape and promote the digitalisation of payments, while reducing the associated risks. This would in turn support the ongoing digitalisation and modernisation of the European economy.[9]
Why might we need a digital euro?
A digital euro would be critically important in a number of scenarios, which are analysed in our report.
In particular, it would be needed in the event that citizens become reluctant to use cash as they go digital. This is not the situation we face today: cash is still the most common way of making retail payments in the euro area. However, its role as a payment instrument is diminishing – in some countries rapidly so – as consumers are increasingly paying electronically:[10] as a proportion of all physical retail payments, cash payments decreased from 79% in 2016 to 73% in 2019. This trend has accelerated during the pandemic – with a vast majority of consumers expecting to continue using digital payments as often as they do now, or even to use them more often in the future.[11] And because of this trend, we may see a further increase in the uptake of international card schemes and solutions such as payment wallets and apps developed by large technology firms.
A digital euro would ensure that even in a situation where there is rapid digitalisation in the world of payments, sovereign money remains at the core of the European payment system. This would contribute to financial inclusion. It would also shield us from the risk that a private or public digital means of payment issued and controlled from outside the euro area could largely displace existing domestic means of payment. Such a development would raise regulatory and financial stability concerns and could even put Europe’s monetary and financial sovereignty at risk.
How could a digital euro be introduced? Legal considerations and possible challenges
A digital euro would raise legal, technological and policy questions that we need to address.
Let me start with the legal basis. Today, only euro banknotes and coins are legal tender under EU primary law. This means they can be used to pay anywhere in the euro area.[12] Therefore, a key issue discussed in the report is the importance for a digital euro to have legal tender status. Indeed, central bank money is a public good. Euro banknotes fulfil the core function of providing people with risk-free central bank money. It is crucial to ensure that, as a form of public money, a digital euro enjoys universal reach and acceptance, as the legal tender status provides.
The introduction of a digital euro also raises technical challenges. Some are related to information technology and cyber risks, which will need to be managed effectively. Others are related to design choices. In this respect, we can leverage the experience gained in past projects that have put us at the frontier of payments.[13]
Finally, the design of a digital euro would have to be consistent with key policy objectives. In particular, its design should address the possibility that investors could rapidly move significant amounts of bank deposits into a digital euro, with potential adverse effects on the banking sector and financial stability. We are exploring design strategies to address this and other challenges, and we will assess them in depth. For instance, we could set the necessary incentives through the remuneration of digital euro holdings, to make sure the digital euro is an attractive means of payment, not a form of investment.[14]
What next? Exploring design options, consulting the public and working together
Our report also describes the design options we are considering. We will explore all aspects of different options: whether they are technically feasible, whether they comply with the principles and policy objectives of the Eurosystem, and whether they satisfy the needs of prospective users.
But introducing a digital euro is more than a technical question. The value of money – in both physical and digital forms – is rooted in citizens’ trust. Acceptance by the public is crucial. For this reason, today we are launching our public consultation. We are seeking feedback on the design and on the financial and social issues surrounding the possible introduction of a digital euro.
We welcome everyone’s views: citizens, merchants, the non-financial sector, professionals from the financial industry, technology companies, and academics. We encourage everyone to take part.
After the public consultation and a period of preparatory work, the ECB’s Governing Council will decide – towards the middle of 2021 – whether to initiate a fully-fledged project that should lead us to define the specific characteristics of a digital euro and get ready for a possible launch. This journey will require prudence and perseverance.
Conclusion
Let me conclude. Since the introduction of the euro, the ECB has been responsible for preserving citizens’ trust in our currency. Today, support for the single currency stands at record high levels.[15] To be successful, a digital euro would also have to enjoy strong support from the public. It would be a digital symbol of progress and integration in Europe. And it would support the international role of the euro.
Issuing a digital euro would be relevant for almost everything the ECB does. And it would affect our society as a whole. This is why we are seeking, through the public consultation we are launching today, an intense and open dialogue on our recent report with citizens and other stakeholders.
Together with European institutions and authorities, in primis the European Parliament, we will discuss the framework that would be necessary to introduce a digital euro. As co-legislators and representatives of European citizens, you will have a fundamental role to play in the process. I therefore very much look forward to our first exchange today.
This review is part of our community-driven book tournament, The Big Community Book-Off. With your help, we’re finding the best books across categories (from bread to pasta, one-bowl to weeknight-friendly, and cake to cookies, to name a few), and putting them through a series of rigorous reviews—considered, tested, and written by none other than you. And so, let’s hand it off to our community members Erin, Ruth, and Shereen. Here are their reviews of your five favorite vegetable-forward books—and their nail-biting verdict on which one reigned supreme.
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<hr class="divider--ornament"/><!-- text -->When a Food52 editor connected the three of us over email, we quickly figured out what we had in common. Nope, we’re not vegetarians, not one of us. But we’re all obsessed with fresh produce and cook vegetarian much of the time.
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The democratic opposition in Belarus, Guapinol activists and Berta Cáceres, and the Archbishop of Mosul were shortlisted for the 2020 Sakharov Prize on Monday.
Following a joint vote by MEPs in the Foreign Affairs and Development committees on Monday 12 October, the finalists for the 2020 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought are:
The democratic opposition in Belarus, represented by the Coordination Council, an initiative of brave women and political and civil society figures;
Guapinol activists and Berta Cáceres in Honduras;
Mgr Najeeb Michaeel, Archbishop of Mosul, Iraq.
Next steps
The European Parliament’s Conference of Presidents (President and political groups’ leaders) will select the final laureate on Thursday 22 October. The prize itself will be awarded in a ceremony in Parliament’s hemicycle on 16 December.
Background
The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought is awarded each year by the European Parliament. It was set up in 1988 to honour individuals and organisations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms. It is named in honour of Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov and the prize money is 50 000 euros.
Last year, the prize was given to Ilham Tohti, an Uyghur economist fighting for the rights of China’s Uyghur minority.
Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee signaled on Monday that they will not raise Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett’s religion during a days-long hearing.
While a number of Republicans last week accused Democrats of preparing to use Barrett’s faith against her, it was exclusively GOP senators who brought it up on the first day of her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee — and Democrats said they intended to keep it that way.
“I and my colleagues will focus, Judge Barrett, on your legal writings, your opinions, your articles, your speeches as a law professor and judge,” Sen. Chris Coons Christopher (Chris) Andrew CoonsDemocrats preview strategy on Barrett’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings this week Schumer: Trump’s Supreme Court nominee should recuse from health care, election cases Sunday shows – Coronavirus stimulus, Barrett hearings share spotlight MORE (D-Del.) told Barrett during his opening statement during Monday’s hearing.
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Sen. Dick Durbin Richard (Dick) Joseph DurbinHirono commits to avoiding ‘irrelevant’ questions about Barrett’s religion during her confirmation hearing Graham says SC people of color can go anywhere in the state but ‘need to be conservative, not liberal’ Sunday shows preview: Trump, top Republicans recover from COVID-19; stimulus bill remains in limbo MORE (D-Ill.), asked if he believed any Democrat on the committee would bring up Barrett’s religion, said, “Can’t think of a single one.”
Democrats have warned that raising the issue would only provide election fodder for Republicans, who have accused Democrats of trying to apply a “religious test.”
Democratic presidential nominee Joe BidenJoe BidenTrump asks campaign to schedule daily events for him until election: report White House pushes to hold next week’s canceled debate Trump hoping to strike last-minute nuclear arms deal with Putin before election: report MORE, who was a longtime member and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said separately on Monday that he believed Barrett’s faith should not be part of the debate over her nomination.
“No. I don’t think there should be any questions about her faith,” Biden told reporters.
Biden instead said Democrats should keep the focus on health care. Democrats on the panel homed in on the potential impact Barrett, if she’s confirmed, could have on the Affordable Care Act, as well as Trump’s push to get a justice on the bench before the Nov. 3 election.
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p class=”p1″>But Republicans have pointed back to remarks made by Sen. Dianne Feinstein Dianne Emiel FeinsteinJudiciary Committee Democrats pen second letter to DOJ over Barrett disclosures: ‘raises more questions that it answers’ Hirono commits to avoiding ‘irrelevant’ questions about Barrett’s religion during her confirmation hearing Amy Coney Barrett tells Senate panel she signed ad decrying Roe v. Wade as ‘infamous’ MORE (D-Calif.), who while questioning Barrett in 2017 about if she could separate her beliefs from her job as a judge, said, “The conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you.”
Even though no Democrats brought up Barrett’s faith as the hearings got underway, Sen. Josh Hawley Joshua (Josh) David HawleyCruz says he raised concerns with Trump over Gorsuch and Kavanaugh before nominations Ted Cruz, Mark Cuban spar over NBA viewership tweet GOP Sen. Thom Tillis tests positive for coronavirus MORE (R-Mo.) argued that by bringing up Griswold v. Connecticut, a 1965 ruling on contraception use, Coons was, in effect, raising questions about Barrett’s faith.
“Now I just heard my colleague Sen. Coons make a reference to an old case, the Griswold case, which I can only assume is another hit at Judge Barrett’s religious faith referring to Catholic … beliefs,” Hawley said. “I don’t know what else it could be since no one has challenged this case, it’s not a live issue and hasn’t been for decades.”
Coons had pointed to several cases, including saying that he was worried that cases like Griswold v. Connecticut “may be in danger of being stripped down.”
Coons, asked about Hawley’s statement, brushed off the question, saying that he had been focused in his opening statement on health care and would stay focused on that.
“I’m not going to help Sen. Hawley run for president, I mean my focus today was on the concerns that I’m hearing from Delawareans which was that there is a Supreme Court case a week after the election where the Affordable Care Act is at risk,” Coons told reporters.
The Foundation for Book Culture and the Promotion of Reading of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association announced on Monday that Anne Weber had won the 2020 German Book Prize.
The winner was announced just before the opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair. A record 206 submissions were considered overall, including several big literary names.
Anne Weber’s “Annette, in HeldinenposAnnette, ein Heldinnenepos, is a biographical epic portraying Anne Beaumanoir. Born in 1923 in Brittany, she was “a member of the communist resistance as a teenager, rescuer of two Jewish youths, a neurophysiologist in Marseille after the war, sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1959 for her involvement in the Algerian independence movement.”
A celebration of German-language literature
Twenty novels made the longlist, which was then narrowed down to a shortlist of six finalists. These novels discussed themes of identity, history and fantasy and one epic. None of the bigger literary stars made it onto the shortlist.
The 2019 winner was Sasa Stanisic, who received the award for his book Herkunft (Origin).
The jury of the German Book Prize 2020, from left to right: Maria-Christina Piwowarski, Chris Möller, Denise Zumbrunnen, Katharina Borchardt, Felix Stephan, David Hugendick, Hanna Engelmeier
The accolade celebrates literary achievements by awarding €25,000 ($29,700) every year to the best German-language novel. The award aims to “draw attention beyond national borders to authors writing in German, to reading and to the keynote medium of the book,” according to the German Book Prize Academy’s website.
Founded in 2005, the prize is seen as the German equivalent to the UK’s Booker Prize or France’s Prix Goncourt.
The five other authors who make the shortlist are awarded €2,500 each.
The German Book Prize jury is made up of members of the book and media industry chosen yearly by members of the German Book Prize Academy.
High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet said that in examining “the legacy of some of the most appalling chapters in human history”, the historic conference in South Africa, and resulting declaration inspired by the host nation’s struggle against Apartheid, is a work in progress, she reminded the Intergovernmental Working Group on the declaration’s Programme of Action.
Durban was the first UN Conference to address the historical roots of contemporary racism and acknowledge slavery and the slave trade, as crimes against humanity.
Recent months, however, have been a reminder that “there is still a long way to go for human rights to be equally enjoyed by all”, flagged the UN rights chief, naming COVID-19 a “stark” example of a recent obstacle.
Ms. Bachelet noted that the pandemic has taken more than a million lives, prompting the deepest economic recession since the Second World War. She said more than 100 million people may be pushed into extreme poverty, the first global rise since 1998.
“As we have seen since the beginning of this crisis, while the virus itself does not discriminate, its impacts certainly do”, she attested, painting a picture of those whose voices are silenced and interests rarely served, as being worst affected by COVID-19, through health or socio-economic repercussions.
Systemic discrimination
Among them are the indigenous, people of African descent and those belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, whose rights have been denied by systemic racial discrimination.
Ms. Bachelet emphasized that those suffering racial discrimination, more often work in the informal sector, many living in poverty and at risk of losing their jobs, with no social protection.
“Yet again, those facing racial discrimination are most often the ones with fewer conditions to study at their homes, fewer digital skills and limited or no access to the Internet. Some may even never return to school”.
Still, despite overwhelming evidence, a lack of disaggregated data on how the COVID-19 pandemic has been affecting victims of racial discrimination are underestimating – or even denying – disparities and human rights violations. MW
Scapegoating migrants
The pandemic has also revealed the additional vulnerability of migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and Stateless people, Ms. Bachelet pointed out.
We have seen a rise in discriminatory and xenophobic attitudes — UN human rights chief
Without State protections and with serious restrictions on their rights, many are harassed, arbitrarily arrested and face mass deportation.
“We have seen a rise in discriminatory and xenophobic attitudes affecting Asians and people of Asian descent, which often lead to violence”, Ms. Bachelet underscored. “Even before the pandemic, we were witnessing a worldwide increase in negative stereotypes against certain groups”.
Migrants and other racially discriminated groups are often the scapegoats for problems, particularly in relation to housing and employment shortages, according to the High Commissioner.
Women facing ‘excessive burden’
The crisis is disproportionately impacting women as well, particularly those already facing gender, race and ethnic discrimination.
“They are subject to an excessive burden of unpaid work, increased poverty, job insecurity and limited access to public services”, the UN rights chief said. “Women have also been on the frontlines of response to the health crisis and are more exposed to infection”.
Greater equality is “an ethical obligation…a pre-requisite for overcoming these crises and a requirement to recover from COVID-19 and build back better”, she upheld.
UN Women/Ryan Brown
After surviving military enslavement in Guatemala, Maria Ba Caal received help through an emergency grant from the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture.
Deutsche Welle: You stuck to your plans to hold the Frankfurt Book Fair in a slimmed-down form. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the fair as we know it had to be canceled and will now take place as a predominantly digital book fair from October 14-18, 2020. What will it be like?
Juergen Boos: The fair will actually take place in the Frankfurt Festhalle, and there will be events in the city, but the exhibition halls will remain empty. That’s why we had to set up a comprehensive digital concept in addition to this decentralized fair. It takes into account the needs of the trade and the rights trade, but of course also focuses on the books and the authors. We have set up a digital book festival and a virtual broadcasting center, where we will broadcast from the Frankfurt Festhalle to the whole world.
Will the Book Fair ever be the same again?
I think so. In any case, it will be very similar. We are now testing what works digitally. How do the economic transactions work? How does digital interaction with the audience work? Of course, we will continue to use whatever works next year. But yes, we will meet again physically, because otherwise the creativity, the opportunities, the trust that personal encounters create will be lost.
In 2019, the exhibition halls of the Frankfurt Book Fair were busier than ever before. In 2020, they will remain empty.
Is it already possible to gauge what has been lost?
This year, the industry has lost the opportunity to have this type of personal encounter. It doesn’t only concern Frankfurt, but also Leipzig [book fair, which was canceled in March: Eds.]; the encounters with the audience, with the authors. Here in Germany, LitCologne [book festival] didn’t take place. Internationally, the trade fairs in London and Bologna didn’t happen either. Beijing used to be international, but this year the fair there was purely local, and even virtual. We are really longing to meet again.
Last year you had a record number of visitors and almost 7,500 exhibitors. How can publishers present their new publications this year?
Last year was a record year for us. We had more trade visitors and higher audience figures than ever before, and we were more international than ever. Of course, we couldn’t foresee what was coming. But years ago, we were adjusting to the fact that many things could be communicated digitally and done virtually. Now we had to speed up the process.
We created a rights platform, but we also actually created opportunities for publishers to present themselves internationally to the digital world. We use many different channels: television, YouTube, Instagram, all types of social media. It required a lot of professionalism and a lot of external support to do this in just a few months. Now we are finally ready to go!
Persecuted Turkish writer Asli Erdogan was in Frankfurt for the 2019 fair. In 2020, authors and democracy activists like Hong Kong’s Joshua Wong will make digital appearances
The fair also considers itself a platform for human rights and freedom of speech, it has continued or even initiated such discussions. How do you intend to replace this?
We have a decidedly political program that we are developing together with the German Foreign Office, called “Der Weltempfang” [literally, “the World Reception”; the fair’s socio-political stage], and we were actually able to transfer this to the digital realm by producing many political discussions beforehand.
I thought for a long time about the messages we wanted to send with the fair’s opening, which will take place in the Festhalle. I invited David Grossman, a writer whom we admire very much because he is also a decidedly political writer. He can’t travel here from Israel, of course, so we will connect with him digitally.
Hugs, like the one between 2019 Peace Prize winner Sebastiao Salgado and director Wim Wenders, will not be possible at the 2020 award ceremony
The German Book Prize is always awarded on the eve of the opening of the Book Fair and will also be digital. What role do awards play for the industry?
As events, I think prizes and award ceremonies play an important role in drawing attention to books, to storytelling. A prize creates publicity, it affirms the author’s work and is an incentive to continue writing. The German Book Prize, and also the Peace Prize, which will be awarded at the end of the Book Fair in St. Paul’s Church, are particularly important. But also, the other lesser-known awards that will be given out this week, such as the Litprom Prize for an author from Africa, Asia or Latin America — the only prize of its kind — are very important.
The interview was conducted by Sabine Kieselbach and translated from German.
