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160+ Greek and international organizations, urge Greek authorities on refugees at Lesvos

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Lesvos: More than 160 Greek and international organizations, urge Greek authorities to revoke decision to close dignified alternatives in accommodating refugees οn Lesvos

We, the undersigned, call on the Minister of Migration and Asylum, Notis Mitarakis, and the local authorities of Lesvos to repeal their decision to terminate the operations of PIKPA and Kara Tepe facilities for vulnerable asylum seekers on the island of Lesvos. The authorities should not only revoke the decision to shut down these facilities, but in this time of great need, they should further strengthen and protect all dignified alternative solutions for asylum seekers’ housing and protection.

In the last five years, PIKPA and Kara Tepe have sheltered vulnerable people escaping from the deplorable living conditions in the Reception and Identification Center (RIC) of Moria, a dangerous place where residents’ health and safety was continuously in jeopardy. The decision to shut down these facilities comes only a few days after a devastating series of blazes burned camp Moria to the ground, leaving more than 12.000 women, men and children with no access to shelter, food and water.

While a new “emergency” camp has been set up on the island, which is currently hosting former residents of Moria camp, many of the signatories present on the ground report significant gaps in protection, access to electricity, water supply and sanitation, safety and security. For as long as the conditions in the RICs are undignified for human beings, alternative responses will be needed, to protect the most vulnerable. PIKPA and Kara Tepe should now by all means continue to offer accommodation and protection solutions that are appropriate, especially for the most vulnerable, including unaccompanied and separated children, single mothers, victims of torture and ill treatment, male and female survivors of gender-based and sexual violence, and people with disabilities.

PIKPA, an open, self-organised solidarity space, has provided essential services and assistance to refugees on Lesvos since 2012. In 2016, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), awarded the Nansen Refugee Award to one of the co-founders of PIKPA, in recognition of their work saving lives and providing a safe haven for the most vulnerable during the refugee ‘crisis’ in 2015. Today, PIKPA hosts unaccompanied children, single mothers and persons that have suffered torture or ill treatment, as well as many people with heightened vulnerabilities. Survivors of torture and ill treatment suffer from chronic physical pain for years after their abuse, and psychological symptoms such as anxiety, depression, withdrawal and self-isolation, post traumatic stress, known as PTSD etc. PIKPA offers a dignified and safe space for the survivors who would otherwise be continuously re-traumatized in an unsafe environment.
Kara Tepe has been run by the municipality with a capacity of more than 1,000 people. It has offered humane living conditions to vulnerable asylum seekers and families that were transferred there from Moria, including single parents, people with disabilities, and many families with health problems. It has been lauded for its infrastructure and community-like atmosphere.
While it is unclear where current residents of PIKPA and Kara Tepe will be transferred, the undersigned are convinced that going to the new “emergency” camp would endanger their physical and mental health and should be avoided at all costs. In addition, PIKPA and Kara Tepe could actually take in and better provide for the individuals who are more “at-risk” currently residing in the new Lesvos RIC. This would be especially important for people with disabilities, for example, as there are no accessible latrines in the new RIC at this time.

We urge Greece’s national and local authorities:
To immediately halt the closure of PIKPA and Kara Tepe and to support and further enhance their outstanding contributions. At the same time the authorities should seek solutions in line with human rights standards for the operation of the new temporary camp in Lesvos, pursuing the ultimate goal of its steady decongestion, and providing adequate standards in terms of safety, water, sanitation and medical assistance to all residents, until all are moved to safer and dignified accommodation conditions”.

The signatories:
A Buon Diritto Onlus
ActionAid Hellas
Agir pour la paix
Aid Brigade
AITIMA
Amnesty International
Anders Wachsen
ANTIGONE – Information and Documentation Centre on Racism, Ecology, Peace and Non Violence
Are You Syrious (AYS)
ARSIS – Association for the Social Support of Youth
Asociacion Pro Derechos Humanos de Andalucia (APDHA)
Asociación SINGA España
Association européenne de défense des droits de l’Homme (AEDH)
Babel Day Centre
Basta Violenza alle Frontiere
Be a Robin
Better Days
borderline-europe e.V.
Calais Action Brighton
Casetta Rossa
Catch a Smile asbl
Centre Avec asbl
Centre de formation Bienenberg
Changemakers Lab
Choosehumanity
Chorleywood4Refugees
Christian Peacemaker Teams
Christian Peacemaker Teams Netherlands
Church and Peace
Coexistence and Communication in the Aegean
Collectif de soutien de l’EHESS aux sans-papiers et aux migrant-es
Collectif pour une terre plus humaine
Collective Aid
Comité de Solidarité avec le Peuple Grèce de Lyon
Coordindora de Barrios
CPT – Aegean Migrant Solidarity
CRIBS International
CRID – Centre de recherche et d’information pour le développement
Diotima
Danish Refugee Council (DRC)
Defence for Children International
Defence for Children International – Italy
Defence for Children International – Netherlands
Defence for Children International Greece
Defensa de Niñas y Niños – Internacional , DNIEspaña
Défense des enfants International Belgique
Député Wallon (Belgique)
Destination Unknown campaign
Distribute Aid
Doctors Worldwide
Donate4Refugees
ECHO for Refugees
ECHO100PLUS
Ecological Movement of Thessaloniki
European Institute for Progressive Cultural Policies
ELIX – Conservation Volunteers Greece
ENAR – European Network Against Racism
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH – rehabilitate Human Dignity
European Women’s Lobby
Everyday, just a smile
Fenix – Humanitarian Legal Aid
Firetree Philanthropy
Firetree Trust
Fondation Danielle Mitterrand
foodKIND
FORGE for humanity
Fresh Response
Friends Of Refugees
German Mennonite Peace Committee
Glocal Roots
Greek Council for Refugees
Greek Helsinki Monitor
Griechenland Solidaritätskomitee Köln
Heimatstern e.V.
Hello My Friend
Help Refugees / Choose Love
Herts for Refugees
HIAS Greece
HIGGS
Hoffnung leben e.V., Bonn, Deutschland
Hope and Aid Direct
HuBB – Humans Before Borders
Human Rights Watch
Humanitas, Centre for Global Education and Cooperation
Humanity Now
HumanRights360
Initiative for an alternative mental health
Initiative for the Detainees’ Rights
InterEuropean Human Aid Association
International Centre for Refugees ICERAS
International Federation of Social Workers, European Region (IFSW Europe)
International Rescue Committee
INTERSOS
InterVolve
Iride
Jelscha Dietrich
Jesuit Refugee Service Greece
Khora Community Centre
La Luna Di Vasilika ONLUS
Latitude Adjustment Podcast
Le Paria
Legal Centre Lesvos
Lesvos Solidarity
Love Welcomes
Make Mothers Matter
MAMbrella
Medecins du Monde/ Greece
Medecins Sans Frontieres -Doctors Without Borders -MSF
Medico International
Melissa: Network of Migrant Women in Greece
Mennonite Mission Network
Mennonitisches Friedenszentrum Berlin/Mennonite Peace Center Berlin
Migrant Voice
Migrations Libres
MiGreat
Mαζί/Together/معاً
Network for Children’s Rights
One Family-No Borders
One Happy Family
ONGD CEPAC-IB
Open Cultural Center
Organization Earth
Owl’s Watch
Pampiraiki Support Initiative for Refugees & Migrants
Parroquia San Carlos Borromeo
Peaceful Borders
People in motion
Pluspunt Netherlands
Project Armonia
Protestant Association for Conscientious Objectors and Peace (EAK), Germany
Rechtsanwältin
Refugee Aid Network Uk
Refugee Compassion
Refugee Education And Learning International
Refugee Law Clinic Berlin e.V.
Refugee Rescue
Refugee Support Aegean ( R.S.A.)
Refugee Support Europe
Refugee Trauma Initiative
Refugee Youth Service
Refugees International
REFUGYM
RefuNet
Reseau Foi & Justice Afrique Europe Antenne France
Respekt für Griechenland e.V.
Rethinking Refugees – Knowledge and Action
Safe Passage UK
SAO Association for displaced women
Seebruecke Wuppertal
ShowerPower Foundation
Side by Side Refugees
SolidarityNow
Still I Rise
Stop Precarite
Support Art Workers (Greece)
Symbiosis-School of Political Studies in Greece
Terre des hommes Hellas
Thalassa of Solidarity
Vasilika Moon
Velos Youth
Verein FAIR
Voice Of Ezidis
Wiltshire For Refugees
Yoga and Sport For Refugees
Youth for Refugees
Youth organization “Protests”

Also endorsed by:

• Prof. dr. Ilse Derluyn, Centre for the Social Study of Migration and Refugees (CESSMIR), Department of Social Work and Social Pedagogy

• Vassilis Pavlopoulos, Associate Professor of Cross-Cultural Psychology – National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

• Dr. Antonello D’Elia, Presidente di Società Italiana di Psichiatria Democratica Onlus

• Hellen Gerolymatos McDonald, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, MSW, Clinical Associate Professor, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, School of Social Work, U.S.A (The opinions are Hellen McDonald’s and not those of the University of Illinois)

• Luciano Rondine, Settore immigrazione e inclusione sociale, Centro di prevenzione psicosociale Nodo Sankara

• Joanna Kato, chair of Human Rights & Social Responsibility Committee of the European Association for Gestalt Therapy (EAGT)

• Athina Fragkouli, President of the Board of the Society of Social Psychiatry P. Sakellaropoulos

EU urges unity among Nigerians, hails COVID-19 response

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EU urges unity among Nigerians, hails COVID-19 response

unity : The European Union Delegation in Nigeria has called on Nigerians to build on things that unite rather than divide the country, in spite of its diverse cultures and religions.

The Head of the EU Delegation in Nigeria, Ambassador Ketil Karlsen, gave the advice in a broadcast in Abuja to celebrate Nigeria’s 60th independence.

He said the EU was proud that Nigeria has remained united despite its diversity.

“The amazing and rich diversity of Nigeria in terms of culture, language, religion, and ethnicity is simply unique, and a vital strength that should make every Nigerian proud,” Karlsen said.

According to him, togetherness is what defines the potential of Nigeria as a nation.

The envoy said although Nigeria still faces a number of challenges, the important achievements recorded in the 60 years should not be taken for granted.

He said the uninterrupted democratic rule for more than 20 years is worth celebrating too but must be nourished.

While calling for the inclusion of women, youths, and the disabled in the scheme of things, Karlsen said. “History will always judge us by our ability to protect those in our societies that are most in need.”

He said the treatment meted out to women, youth, people with disabilities, as well as the poor and vulnerable in general, would determine the quality of the Nigeria of tomorrow.

The envoy hailed Nigeria’s COVID-19 response, emphasising that the pandemic had demonstrated that investing in people and securing basic social services for all is the most vital priority of any thriving society.
“We have seen that in the swift response to the COVID-19 crisis in Nigeria. When the disease was raging the most within our own borders, we did not forget about our Nigerian friends, and provided massive support when it mattered the most: More than anywhere in the world outside of Europe,” he said.

Karlsen said the EU remains the leading trading partner of Nigeria and the largest investor, just as he reiterated the commitment of the nations that make up the EU to continue to partner with Nigeria and provide ample development and humanitarian aid because “Nigeria matters”.
Guardian

Pompeo presses Vatican to decry China on rights

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Pompeo presses Vatican to decry China on rights

ROME — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the Vatican on Wednesday to join the United States in denouncing violations of religious freedom in China, saying the Catholic Church should be at the forefront in the fight to insist on basic human rights there.

Pompeo made the appeal at a conference on religious freedom organized by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, with top Vatican officials in the audience. It took place at the same time the Vatican is entering into delicate negotiations with Beijing on extending their controversial agreement on nominating bishops for China.

Pompeo has strongly criticized the accord, penning an essay last month suggesting that the Vatican had compromised its moral authority by signing it. His article greatly irritated the Vatican, which saw it as interference in the church’s internal affairs for the sake of scoring domestic political points.

The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said the Holy See was “surprised” by Pompeo’s article. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the conference, Parolin said the private meetings Pompeo had scheduled at the Vatican would have been the more appropriate setting to express his concerns, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

[Video not showing up above? Click here to view » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWZ1z3lwIFM]

Neither Parolin nor Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican foreign minister, mentioned China in their official remarks to the conference, which was held in a hotel reception room near the U.S. Embassy. Both focused instead on the Holy See’s long-standing history of promoting religious freedom as a fundamental human right.

“The question of protecting religious freedom so as to allow the local Catholic Church to exercise its mission remains an indispensable part of the scope and activity of the Holy See,” Gallagher said, criticizing “ideological” threats to religious freedom, such as legislation in some Western nations that redefines traditional concepts of gender.

In his remarks, Pompeo echoed the Trump administration’s harsh criticism of Beijing, which increased after the coronavirus was first detected in China, and as the U.S. Nov. 3 presidential election neared.

“Nowhere is religious freedom under assault more than in China,” Pompeo said, accusing the ruling Communist Party of working “day and night to snuff out the lamp of freedom, especially religious freedom, on a horrifying scale.”

Quoting St. John Paul II, retired Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, Pompeo urged a greater commitment from faith leaders to stand up for all religious believers.

“To be a church ‘permanently in a state of mission’ has many meanings. Surely one of them is to be a church permanently in defense of basic human rights,” he said, quoting a phrase Francis commonly uses.

In his essay published in the conservative magazine First Things, Pompeo said the Vatican-China accord hadn’t shielded Catholics from China’s religious crackdown and suggested that the Vatican had compromised its moral authority by signing it.

“We want every institution to use their power. I happen to think that churches, and the Catholic Church included, have enormous capacity,” Pompeo said Wednesday in defending the essay. “They have historically stood with oppressed peoples all around the world.”

Gallery: Pompeo criticizes China on Vatican visit

[Gallery not loading above? Click here for more photos » arkansasonline.com/101pompeo/]

The Vatican has defended its accord with China, saying it was purely an ecclesial matter about bishop nominations and was not a political or diplomatic agreement. The Vatican has said the agreement had borne “limited” but positive fruit and was worth extending for another determined period of time.

Critics, including the retired Hong Kong archbishop, have said the Vatican sold out China’s underground Catholics.

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers his speech during the “Advancing and Defending International Religious Freedom Through Diplomacy” symposium, in Rome, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Guglielmo Mangiapane/Pool Photo via AP)
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers his speech during the “Advancing and Defending International Religious Freedom Through Diplomacy” symposium, in Rome, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Guglielmo Mangiapane/Pool Photo via AP)
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers his speech during the “Advancing and Defending International Religious Freedom Through Diplomacy” symposium, in Rome, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Guglielmo Mangiapane/Pool Photo via AP)
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo adjusts his face mask prior to a joint news conference with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio in Rome, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. Pompeo is in Italy as part of his six-day trip to Southern Europe. (Guglielmo Mangiapane/Pool Photo via AP)
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers his speech during the “Advancing and Defending International Religious Freedom Through Diplomacy” symposium, in Rome, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Guglielmo Mangiapane/Pool Photo via AP)
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, speaks at a joint news conference with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio in Rome, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. Pompeo is in Italy as part of his six-day trip to Southern Europe. (Guglielmo Mangiapane/Pool Photo via AP)
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers his speech during the “Advancing and Defending International Religious Freedom Through Diplomacy” symposium, in Rome, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Guglielmo Mangiapane/Pool Photo via AP)
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, bumps elbows with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio in Rome, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. Pompeo is in Italy as part of his six-day trip to Southern Europe. (Guglielmo Mangiapane/Pool Photo via AP)

European Council President holds negotiations with Armenia and Azerbaijan – Ria Novosti

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Juan Sanchez Gil
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European Council President holds negotiations with Armenia and Azerbaijan – Ria Novosti

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. On the eve of the EU summit, the President of the European Council Charles Michel is holding talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Armenia and Azerbaijan, ARMENPRESS reports Ria Novosti informs, citing its own sources.

On September 27 early morning the Azerbaijani military has launched a massive cross-border artillery attack on Artsakh, including on civilian settlements. Peaceful settlements are also under bombardment, including the capital city of Stepanakert.

80 servicemen were killed and nearly 120 were wounded in Artsakh from the Azerbaijani attack.

Armenia and Artsakh declared a martial law and mobilization.

According to the latest data, the Azerbaijani side has suffered more than 790 human losses and 1900 wounded as a result of its aggression. The Artsakh side has destroyed a total of 7 Azerbaijani attacking helicopters, 75 UAVs, 137 tanks and armored vehicles, 82 vehicles, 3 heavy engineering armored equipment, 1 aircraft, as well as TOS-1A heavy artillery system.

Editing and translating by Tigran Sirekanyan

U.S. Repatriates Last of Islamic State Suspects Believed Captured in Syria

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U.S. Repatriates Last of Islamic State Suspects Believed Captured in Syria

WASHINGTON — The United States has repatriated and charged the last Americans believed to be detained in Syria and accused of supporting the Islamic State, the Justice Department said on Wednesday. The move could give the Trump administration a stronger hand in its efforts to persuade other nations to repatriate and, when appropriate, prosecute citizens who traveled to the Middle East to support the group.

The Justice Department said that the four repatriated Americans were among about 2,000 men from dozens of countries who were imprisoned in northern Syria and caught for years in legal and political limbo. The four were captured and detained last spring by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

“This is a significant moment in what has been a yearslong effort to bring back the individuals who left the U.S. to fight with ISIS,” John C. Demers, the head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, said in an interview. “Each country should take responsibility for the people who left their countries.”

Two of the suspects, Emraan Ali and Jihad Ali, a father and son, made their initial appearance in federal court in Miami on Wednesday. Emraan Ali traveled to Syria in March 2015 with his family, including his son, and received military and religious training from the Islamic State, the government said in court documents. Mr. Ali and his son were accused of providing, trying to provide and conspiring to provide material support to the group. They were captured in 2019 during one of the Islamic State’s final battles to maintain its territory in Syria, the Justice Department said.

Two other suspects, Abdelhamid Al-Madioum and Lirim Sylejmani, were charged two weeks ago in federal courts in Minnesota and Washington, D.C., with supporting the militant group, efforts that began in 2015, according to court documents.

Though both the Obama and the Trump administrations decided to repatriate and try American detainees, other countries have been reluctant to bring back terrorism suspects because of political and legal hurdles.

But members of the Syrian Democratic Forces are unlikely to be able to detain the rest of the prisoners long-term, particularly as the civil war in Syria continues under President Bashar al-Assad. The Treasury Department on Wednesday also imposed sanctions on nearly 20 people and entities, including the governor of the Central Bank of Syria, in an attempt to restrict funding to Mr. Assad and his government.

Should those international prisoners be released with no plan to charge them or reintegrate them into society, they could pose a terrorist threat.

“We are demonstrating to our international partners that it is not a long-term solution to leave their people imprisoned in Syria,” said John Brown, the F.B.I.’s executive assistant director for national security.

Mr. Brown said that the United States had offered other nations, especially in Western Europe, evidence and intelligence to help them bring charges against the prisoners as well as assistance in drafting legislation to overcome legal hurdles to repatriate their citizens.

The charges against the four American suspects are also the latest example of the Justice Department using the civilian court system to prosecute terrorism cases as the military commissions system at the wartime prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has foundered.

The debate over the use of civilian courts that persisted during the Obama administration has receded as prosecutors repeatedly secured convictions on terrorism charges and judges imposed lengthy sentences on them.

“We’ve done hundreds of terrorism cases in U.S. civilian court since 9/11, and very successfully so,” Mr. Demers said. He said that prosecutors also protected classified information in bringing their cases, putting to rest fears among some in the intelligence community that trials would expose sensitive information and diminish the government’s ability to fight terrorism.

“The system has worked,” Mr. Demers said. “It is something we will continue to use in this administration.”

In all, the United States has repatriated 27 Americans from Syria and Iraq, 10 of whom were criminally charged. The other 17 are the family members of Islamic State suspects or minors who were not charged with crimes.

Mr. Demers said that other Islamic State suspects who have been charged who were not in detention facilities and may also be brought back to the United States to face trial.

Mr. Brown said that the Islamic State was still active and no longer had to entice recruits to travel for indoctrination and military training. Long before its self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq collapsed, the group had begun using social media to recruit members and inspire others to act on their own to conduct terrorist attacks.

Charlie Savage contributed reporting.

Science in brief: From swimming with hammer heads to food fighting back

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Science in brief: From swimming with hammer heads to food fighting back
The pros and cons of swimming with a hammer head

People joke about asking horses, “Why the long face?” We should redirect this question to hammerhead sharks. Their famous head extensions, called cephalofoils, can measure three feet from eye to eye. And scientists are still trying to nail down exactly what purposes they serve.

A study published in Scientific Reports explored how the sharks’ strangely shaped craniums affect how they swim. Although the cephalofoil helped with manoeuvrability it did not seem to generate lift. In fact, it added a lot of drag – so much that some hammerheads may need to use roughly 10 times as much force as other sharks just to get through the water, says Glenn R Parsons, a biological oceanographer and shark specialist at the University of Mississippi and one of the new paper’s authors.

There are some benefits to having a hammer for a head. Most experts agree that the widely-spaced eyes, nostrils and electroreceptors enabled by the cephalofoil’s shape allow the hunters to better pinpoint their prey. The heads can also serve as weapons – biologists have observed a female great hammerhead use her noggin to bludgeon a stingray.

But you have to wonder what it’s like to swim around with that thing.

To investigate, Parsons and his colleagues turned to computational fluid dynamics. There are at least eight hammerhead species. The researchers included all eight species in their study, laser-scanning the heads of preserved museum specimens to “capture the physical shape in minute detail,” Parsons says. Each digitised head was then placed in a virtual underwater environment, allowing the researchers to measure water pressure, drag and flow. They then did the same for a few shark species with more typical pointy heads.

When a hammerhead’s cephalofoil was level – as is typical when they are swimming – it did not generate lift, the researchers found.

But as soon as the cephalofoil was tilted up or down, the force quickly came into play, enabling a rapid ascent or descent. This helps to explain why hammerheads are “much more manoeuvrable than a typical shark,” says Parsons, who thinks the skill may help them snap up food from the seafloor.

– Cara Giaimo

Panurgus banksianus, also known as the large shaggy bee(iStock)
Meet a bee with a very big brain

Panurgus banksianus, the large shaggy bee, lives alone, burrowed into sandy grasslands across Europe. The large shaggy bee also has a very large brain.

Just like mammals or birds, insect species of the same size may have different endowments inside their heads. Researchers have discovered some factors linked to brain size in back-boned animals.

But in insects, the drivers of brain size have been more of a mystery. In a study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, scientists scrutinised hundreds of bee brains for patterns. Bees with specialised diets seem to have larger brains, while social behaviour appears unrelated to brain size. That means when it comes to insects, the rules that have guided brain evolution in other animals may not apply.

“Most bee brains are smaller than a grain of rice,” says Elizabeth Tibbetts, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Michigan who was not involved in the research. But, she says, “bees manage surprisingly complex behaviour with tiny brains”, making the evolution of bee brains an especially interesting subject.

Ferran Sayol, an evolutionary biologist at UCL, and his co-authors studied those tiny brains from 395 female bees belonging to 93 species from across the United States, Spain and the Netherlands. Researchers beheaded each insect and used forceps to remove its brain.

One pattern that emerged was a connection between brain size and how long each bee generation lasted. Bees that only go through one generation each year have larger brains, relative to their body size, than bees with multiple generations a year.

Looking at the bees’ diets revealed a more surprising tendency.

In birds, “we know that species that have a broader diet tend to have bigger brains,” Sayol says. The challenge of finding and consuming a wide variety of foods may demand a large brain. However, Sayol says, “We found the opposite in bees.” The biggest brains were in dietary specialists, such as the aster-loving large shaggy bee.

Sayol speculates that a broad diet might be less of a challenge for bees than it is for birds, because all bees feed on flowers. A bee with a broad diet can fly into a field and drink the first nectar it finds. But a bee with a specialised diet may have to spot its preferred bloom, with its specific colour and fragrance, among a whole field of similar flowers – a task that might require more brain.

Larger brains have also been linked to social behaviour in primates and other mammals. But scientists found no connection between brain size and whether a bee lived in hives like honeybees or was a loner like our big-brained aster-eater.

– Elizabeth Preston

The earliest evidence of a Viking expedition comes from a burial site dated to around 750AD in Salme, Estonia(CC/Public Domain)
The Vikings were more complicated than you might think

Public fascination with the Vikings runs high these days, with several current television series available for bloody binge-watching. But the Vikings have never really gone out of fashion, whether as pure entertainment or because of their real historical importance.

Periodically, scholars remind the public that the people we call Vikings did not think of themselves as a group and were largely, but not universally, from the geographic area we now call Scandinavia. The Viking Age, from roughly 750 to 1050, included brutal raids, extensive trading and commerce and probably a majority of people who stayed home on the farm.

Now, one of the most sweeping genetic surveys of ancient DNA ever done has broadly reinforced the current historical and archaeological understanding of the Vikings, but also offers some surprises about their travels and uncovers some poignant personal stories. Ninety researchers, led by Eske Willerslev, an ancient DNA specialist from the University of Copenhagen, reported in the journal Nature on their analysis of the genomes of 443 ancient humans from Europe and Greenland.

Based on DNA analysis and comparison to modern populations, they found that people genetically similar to modern Danes and Norwegians generally headed west in their raids and trading, while “Swedish-like” people mostly headed east. The findings are based on graves of raiders or traders in England, Ireland, Estonia and elsewhere.

However, they found that this was only a general pattern. Sometimes Swedish-like groups headed west, and the others headed east.

They also found considerable genetic variation in the ancient remains, indicating migration of southern Europeans, before the Viking Age, to the area of Denmark, which undermines any idea of a single Nordic genetic identity.

The earliest evidence of a Viking expedition comes from a burial site dated to around 750AD in Salme, Estonia, where two Viking ships were buried; seven men in one, 34 in another, with weapons, provisions, dogs and birds of prey. No one knows whether this was a raid, or a diplomatic or trading expedition gone wrong, but the men appear to have been killed violently and buried as warriors.

The DNA analysis showed that four of the men were brothers and they were related to a fifth man, perhaps an uncle. One of the report’s authors, Neil Price, an archaeologist at Uppsala University in Sweden, says: “We kind of suspected that you go raiding with your family, but it shows that they really did.”

– James Gorman

Companies are looking for ways to use fungus as an alternative to leather (Bolt Threads)
That mushroom motorcycle jacket will never go out of style

There are traditionally two ways to make a leather jacket. One involves a cow, and takes years. Another involves synthetic fabric, and requires plastic. But there’s a third option: thick sheets of woven fungus, grown over a couple of weeks on anything from sawdust to agricultural waste.

“It feels a bit and smells a bit like mushroom, still, but it looks like a piece of old leather jacket,” says Alexander Bismarck, a materials scientist at the University of Vienna.

Over the last decade, companies in the United States, Indonesia and Korea have touted fungal leather as an ethical and environmentally sustainable replacement for both cow skin and plastic. Previously, there wasn’t much research to support their claims. But a study published by Bismarck and his colleagues in Nature Sustainability finds that fungal leathers stack up quite well when it comes to versatility and sustainability.

Wearing fungal leather doesn’t mean wearing a mushroom motorcycle jacket. Instead, it’s made from a mat of mycelium, the underlying threadlike root networks from which fruiting bodies pop up after a rain. These mycelial mats grow easily on just about any organic material.

Beginning in the 1950s, inventors began to file patents based around fungal mats as a material for paper, wound dressings and a range of other products, but they never fully caught on, says Mitchell Jones, lead author and materials scientist from the Vienna University of Technology.

But in the last decade, companies like MycoWorks and Bolt Threads have begun manufacturing and selling fungal leather products.

“With leather, you’re limited to the skin that an animal produces over its life, whereas mycelial mats can be grown to specifications,” says Sophia Wang, co-founder of MycoWorks.

Bismarck says the potential for custom materials is huge because different kinds of fungus have different properties, such as toughness and water resistance, and there are potentially millions of species to choose from.

Fungal leather is also potentially more sustainable than other leather sources. The tanning process is energy-intensive and produces quite a bit of sludge waste – and the production of synthetic leather requires plastic, which involves oil. “You’re getting a biological organism to do all of your manufacturing for you, so there’s no real energy requirement,” Jones says.

“It doesn’t require light. And once you’ve got this material, you can process it according to quite simple chemical treatments compared to what you would normally do for leather tanning.”

– Asher Elbein

You wouldn’t want to eat this accidentally…(Getty)

Sometimes food fights back

Peering through a microscope in 2016, Dania Albini gazed at an algae-eating water flea. Its gut appeared full and green with all the ingested teeny-tiny Chlorella vulgaris algae. But she also observed bright green blobs of this phytoplankton in an unexpected place: the herbivore’s brood pouch.

“I was really surprised to see them there,” says Albini, an aquatic ecologist then at Swansea University in Wales.

As the colonisation continued, the algae enveloped the tiny creature’s eggs, killing some eggs and resulting in fewer newborns, according to a study led by Albini and published in Royal Society Open Science. With the algae still alive, the researchers suspect that Chlorella deploy an offence strategy as opposed to a typical defence to protect themselves from herbivory.

“You don’t expect a food to attack a predator in this way,” Albini says. “You expect it from a parasite, but not food. It’s fascinating.”

Phytoplankton are typically single-celled photosynthetic organisms that form the foundation of aquatic food chains. Among them are microalgae like Chlorella vulgaris that float on surfaces of ponds and lakes, making them easy meals for widespread zooplankton like Daphnia magna. To keep grazers at bay, some microalgae form spines, release toxins or aggregate to a size that’s larger than a predator can swallow.

But sometimes, Chlorella make their way inside a grazer’s body – not in the belly as food, but into the chamber housing the zooplankton’s offspring. Water circulates through this brood chamber and supplies oxygen and nutrients to the young, and seems to pull in some algal cells. While in this chamber, the researchers found during lab experiments mimicking some natural conditions, the algae were alive and able to double in abundance.

When algae managed to colonise a brood chamber, the zooplankton barely produced any viable eggs. Kam Tang, a plankton ecologist also at Swansea and co-author of the study, reckons that the “biological glue” that Chlorella cells produce helped them stick to each other and possibly to the brood chamber and the eggs, smothering most of the zooplankton’s next generation.

Why do Chlorella engage in this harmful intrusion? The researchers suggest that this offence strategy might protect algae cells from being grazed upon and trigger a reduction in zooplankton populations in lakes in the long run.

But what remains unknown is whether the live Chlorella inside Daphnia brood chambers actually make their way out into the water or remain trapped?

“There is no reason to assume that this is beneficial for the algae,” says Dieter Ebert, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Basel in Switzerland, who wasn’t involved in the study. “They have no chance to get out.”

– Priyanka Runwal

© The New York Times

European financial-crime evaluators make on-site visit to Vatican

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Newsdesk
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European financial-crime evaluators make on-site visit to Vatican

…The tower of the Institute for the Works of Religion, often referred to as the Vatican bank, is pictured in this 2019 photo file photo. European financial crime evaluators from Moneyval began a regularly scheduled visit to the Vatican Sept. 30. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, thanked experts from Moneyval — the Council of Europe‘s Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism — for helping the Holy See in its efforts to ensure transparency and international cooperation in its financial dealings.

The cardinal welcomed the experts to the Vatican Sept. 30 as they began a regularly scheduled, two-week visit.

In the Vatican, he said, there is underway “a progressive implementation of systems that allow a greater control of financial flows that could be exposed to the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing,” which is why “the interventions and recommendations of the Moneyval evaluators are a resource that we treasure.”

The Vatican is unusual among the Moneyval members since its economic activity is not “aimed at creating wealth and well-being” for a nation, the cardinal said, according to Vatican News. “The funds managed by the Holy See and Vatican City State are primarily intended for works of religion or charity.”

“Precisely because of the priority destination of the funds,” Cardinal Parolin said, “it is necessary that the ethical dimension of investments be given special attention.”

Announcing the visit, the Vatican press office had said, “The scope of this phase of evaluations is to assess the effectiveness of the legislative and institutional measures adopted by the jurisdictions in recent years for the prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism.”

According to the Moneyval website, the program is designed to “assess its members’ compliance with all relevant international standards in the legal, financial and law enforcement sectors through a peer review process of mutual evaluations, including assessment of effectiveness of the implemented measures in practice” and to “formulate recommendations on ways to improve the effectiveness of domestic regimes to combat money laundering and terrorist financing and states’ capacities to co-operate internationally in these areas.”

Moneyval made its first on-site visits to the Vatican late in 2011 and early in 2012; the Moneyval report praised efforts under then-Pope Benedict XVI to enact tighter financial regulations and legislation but urged further reforms and the strengthening of offices meant to investigate and eventually prosecute financial crimes.

Moneyval’s third and most recent report on the Vatican, published in late 2017, praised continuing legal reforms under Pope Francis but again expressed concern that the Vatican City State court had yet to prosecute anyone for a financial crime, even if the Vatican’s own Financial Information Authority said it had flagged accounts at the Vatican bank for investigation into suspected “fraud, serious tax evasion, misappropriation and corruption.”

Moria fires aftermath: More than 1,000 asylum seekers relocated from Greece this year

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Newsroom
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Moria fires aftermath: More than 1,000 asylum seekers relocated from Greece this year

Asylum seekers – The group included families with children with special health needs, and more than 50 unaccompanied children, most of whom had been transferred to the Greek mainland after multiple fires destroyed the Moria reception and identification center, located on the island of Lesvos, three weeks ago. 

“We feel grateful for the people that helped us in Greece and we’ll never forget them. We don’t speak German, but we’ll try hard to learn the language. My brothers live in Germany and I’m excited that I’ll see them again after such a long time”, said Lina Hussein from Syria, who travelled with her husband and two sons. 

Sharing the responsibility 

The Hussein family flew to Germany on the 16th flight organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in cooperation with the Greek government through the Special Secretary for the Protection of Unaccompanied Children, and in close collaboration with the European Asylum Support Office (EASO). 

Since the Moria fires, the UN agencies have worked together with the European Commission – the executive branch of the European Union (EU) – and the Greek authorities, to move 724 unaccompanied children from the islands to the mainland in anticipation of their relocation to other European states.  

 They said the relocation initiative, which started last April, has proven to be a workable act of responsibility sharing.  

“This milestone is a remarkable testament that cooperation among partners can change the lives of children and other vulnerable people for the better”, said Ola Henrikson, IOM Regional Director.  

“Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, relocation flights are happening almost every week. We hope this momentum is sustained and expanded, with more European States participating soon.” 

Help during hardship 

The UN partners were also encouraged that other EU Member States have welcomed additional asylum seekers and recognized refugees from Greece at a time of heightened hardship. 

A total of 1,066 asylum seekers have been relocated from Greece to Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg and Portugal, so far this year. 

“Following many calls for enhanced responsibility-sharing in Europe and the particular need to relocate unaccompanied children and other vulnerable people from Greece, we are very pleased to see this taking concrete shape and gradually expanding”, said Pascale Moreau, UNHCR Director for Europe.  

“We are grateful to the countries concerned and hope that more countries follow this positive example and demonstrate their solidarity with Greece.” 

The right to be safe 

Currently, there are nearly 4,400 unaccompanied and separated children in Greece in urgent need of lasting solutions, such as expedited registration, family reunion and relocation.   

Over 1,000 are exposed to severe risks, including exploitation and violence, and precarious conditions in urban centres, the UN agencies warned. 

 “The relocations of unaccompanied minors and other vulnerable children continue to be an important part of protecting the rights of refugee and migrant children”, said Afshan Khan, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, and Special Coordinator for the Refugee and Migrant Response in Europe.   

“These children, many of whom have fled abject poverty and conflict, have the right to be safe and develop to their full potential.”

European Council president makes call to Azerbaijani president

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Juan Sanchez Gil
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European Council president makes call to Azerbaijani president

By Trend


On September 30, President of the European Council Charles Michel made a phone call to President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.


European Council President Charles Michel expressed his concern over the outbreak of military operations on the line of contact, underlining the need for a peaceful settlement of the conflict.


Highlighting the situation over the ongoing military provocation committed by Armenia against Azerbaijan on September 27, President Ilham Aliyev noted that 14 Azerbaijani civilians as well as servicemen were killed as a result of heavy artillery fire opened by the Armenian side on the positions of the Azerbaijani armed forces and residential settlements along the line of contact. President Ilham Aliyev said that the Azerbaijani Army was conducting a counter-offensive in response. “The Armenian leadership is deliberately violating the negotiation process,” the Azerbaijani President noted. “The Armenian prime minister’s statement “Nagorno-Karabakh is Armenia” deals a serious blow to the negotiation process, while his statement “Azerbaijan should negotiate with Nagorno-Karabakh” is an attempt to change the format of the negotiations, which is also unacceptable, as stated by the leadership of the Minsk Group as well.”


The head of state emphasized that Armenia was conducting a policy of illegal settlement of foreign citizens in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, which is a gross violation of international law, and a war crime under the Geneva Convention. President Ilham Aliyev mentioned that the Armenian Prime Minister had decided to set up military units consisting of tens of thousands of volunteers even before the military clashes broke out on September 27, which meant that Armenia was preparing for another aggression.


The head of state noted that the political and military leadership of Armenia bore responsibility for further development of events in the wake of the military provocation of Armenia.




—


Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz         

Listen to older people’s ‘suggestions and ideas’

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United Nations News
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Listen to older people’s ‘suggestions and ideas’ for more inclusive societies, urges UN chief

Listen to older people’s ‘suggestions and ideas’ for more inclusive societies, urges UN chief

“Older people must be a priority in our efforts to overcome COVID 19”, Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message for the 30th anniversary of the International Day of Older Persons, celebrated annually on 1 October.

He shone a light on the need to examine how the pandemic might change how we address age and ageing in our societies, stressing that more opportunities and increased access to health, pensions and social protection for older persons were “crucial”.

In releasing his policy guidance on making the lives of older persons better, back in May, the top UN official pointed out the overall coronavirus fatality rate is higher for them. Because of this greater impact, he maintained that policy interventions must be targeted towards raising more awareness of their special needs.

Caring for others

This year’s observance falls as the world is also marking the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, which Mr Guterres pointed out, “highlights the vital role of health and social workers, such as nurses and midwives”, in responding to the pandemic.  

Against the backdrop that women constitute the majority of these professionals – many of whom are older persons – he upheld that “the people who devote their lives to our care, and to the care of older persons, mothers and children…deserve far greater support”.

Elderly potential 

He said it was important to make concerted efforts across the designated Decade of Healthy Ageing 2020 2030, to improve the lives of older persons, their families and communities. 

“The potential of older persons is a powerful basis for sustainable development”, he flagged.  “More than ever, we must listen to their voices, suggestions and ideas to build more inclusive and age friendly societies”.

‘Invisible’ people

Meanwhile, Claudia Mahler, the UN independent expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, flagged that the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified existing violations of elderly rights.

“Existing inequalities that older persons face in terms of access to health, employment and livelihood are exacerbated”, she said, and yet, “they are chronically invisible”.

Ms. Mahler said that information about older persons is “at best fragmented, at worst, non-existent” in most countries, which is why it’s imperative to shed light on structural and systematic ways in which they are being left behind. 

“Data is a prerequisite for informed and successful public policy making” to close existing gaps, highlight older persons’ contributions to society, illustrate their diversity and change perceptions of later life – “especially for it to be more than an inevitable stage of deficit and decline”, she said.

Prioritize older people

The independent UN expert also called for older persons to be prioritized throughout the recovery phase of COVID-19 and beyond. 

“It is essential to ensure the income security of older persons, in particular older women”, she said, highlighting that “universal old age pensions and adequate entitlement levels” are necessary for “inclusive long-term recovery”.

Moreover, socioeconomic relief measures and safety nets must be adopted immediately. 

In the absence of a dedicated internationally-agreed legal framework, Ms. Mahler spelled out: “We must ensure that responses to this crisis specifically identify and prioritize older persons…during the pandemic response and recovery phases”.

© UNRWA/Khalil Adwan

 

An UNRWA staff member provides medication to an elderly Palestine man in the Gaza strip.

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