… UK’s exit from the European Union. The warning comes despite businesses … for disruption likely through the EU exit. Craig Humphrey, the … of the United Kingdom and European Union
He said: “The high … the transition arrangements with the EU end in December 2020 …
Midland businesses urged to prepare for new markets ahead of EU exit
Downing Street hits back at EU for ‘unnecessarily difficult’ Brexit talks after France blames UK for deadlock
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The UK Government has said the European Union is making <a href="/topic/brexit" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-4536801-/topic/brexit" data-vars-event-id="c23">Brexit</a> talks "unnecessarily difficult" after <a href="/topic/france" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-4536801-/topic/france" data-vars-event-id="c23">France</a> accused the UK of deliberately stalling in negotiations.
It comes as Britain and the bloc remain in a stalemate as they try to agree on future trade ties.
UK-EU talks ended with little progress last week amid warnings of a no-deal Brexit if key issues are not settled within weeks.
With just four months until the transition period ends, both sides have failed to resolve various sticking points, like fisheries and state aid policy.
French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has now blamed Britain for the deadlock, saying talks are not advancing because of the “intransigent and unrealistic attitude of the United Kingdom”.
He told his country’s ambassadors that the bloc of 27 nations will not buckle under pressure from London.
“On Brexit we always showed unity and proved wrong those who saw signs of an overall implosion of <a class="wpil_keyword_link " href="https://europeantimes.news/category/europe/" title="Europe" data-wpil-keyword-link="linked">Europe</a>," he said.
"It is in staying united that we can stick to our line of a global accord."
But Downing Street hit back, accusing the EU of making it “unnecessarily difficult to make progress”.
A spokeswoman said: “We have been clear from the outset about the principles underlying the UK approach: we are seeking a relationship that respects our sovereignty and which has a free trade agreement at its core, similar to those the EU has already agreed with like-minded countries.
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“However, the EU is still insisting not only that we must accept continuity with EU state aid and fisheries policy, but also that this must be agreed before any further substantive work can be done in any other area of the negotiation, including on legal texts, making it unnecessarily difficult to make progress.
“We will continue to work hard to reach agreement and look forward to the next round taking place next week.”
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It comes after Germany reportedly scrapped plans for Brexit talks at the EU ambassadors summit next week after a "completely wasted" summer of negotiations.
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The German government, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU council, had planned to discuss Brexit during the meeting on September 2, according to the Guardian.
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</aside>But an EU diplomat told the publication that Brexit has been "taken off the agenda" due to the lack of "tangible progress".
While Angela Merkel had been pegged as a potential dealmaker when negotiations resume and enter a critical stage on September 7, the diplomat said: “Over the recent months Franco-German cooperation has gained new traction.
“Given this new reality it would be futile to wait for a white knight from Paris or Berlin to come to the rescue.”
Both sides have said September is an effective deadline for an agreement to allow time for it to be ratified before Britain leaves EU rules at the end of December.
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Armenian Republican Party: European Parliament appoints new Standing Rapporteur on Armenia
Vice-President of the Republican Party of Armenia Armen Ashtoyan today posted the following on his Facebook page:
“I received a message from the European Parliament according to which the European Parliament has appointed a new Standing Rapporteur on Armenia.
Former President of Romania, pro-Azerbaijani Traian Basescu will be replaced by Bulgarian Member of the European Parliament Andrey Kovatchev, who is from a political party that is a member of the European People’s Party and has a good notion of Armenia and the region.”
Healthcare professionals see distinctive role for community during pandemic
JOUBERTON, South Africa — Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals have been working tirelessly to keep people around the globe safe from the coronavirus. The Baha’i World News Service spoke with some Baha’is engaged in this field to highlight a few practical examples of the role of strong community ties in dealing with the health crisis.
In South Africa, Sina Parastaran describes recent efforts of a clinic he operates in the Jouberton township to draw on the strength of the community to respond to different needs arising from the health crisis. “New possibilities emerge when you realize that every human being has the potential to serve their society.”
A group of youth group in Soweto, South Africa, participating in an outdoor devotional gathering while maintaining safety measures put in place by the government. Baha’is working in healthcare in the country have been drawing on the strength of the community to respond to different needs arising from the health crisis.
Prakash Kaushal, a senior medical official in Indore, India, explains the significance of the spiritual life of a community in assisting those who are ill. “A community has a great role in creating a supportive environment for patients and their families. This can be through praying together, staying constantly in touch, and providing them with certain necessities if needed. This is the time the family and the patient need love from the community. This keeps their spirits up and helps them to overcome the disease with a spirit of peace, confidence, and faith in God by surrounding them with love, support and prayers.”
Early on in the pandemic, Nasim Ahmadiyeh, a doctor in a Kansas City, US, hospital, realized how close friendships fostered through years of community-building efforts of the Baha’is of that city could be channeled to assist residents of a neighborhood in which cases of the coronavirus were growing.
Efforts in a Kansas City, US, to mobilize local resources to meet pressing needs have led to a series of discussion spaces—while maintaining safety measures put in place by the government—allowing residents in this neighborhood to consult on various protective measures, including the production of masks for community members.
These healthcare professionals all describe how, in spite of the physical and mental fatigue they experience each day, consciousness of spiritual reality allows them to tap into a vast reservoir of energy and strength. Kgomotso Mabilane, an anesthesiologist in a South African hospital that has had to manage an outbreak in Pretoria, explains that joining others for prayer and reflection on profound concepts found in the Baha’i teachings has helped her and her colleagues to navigate such taxing times with hope and determination.
“The thing about COVID-19 is that it isolates people,” says Dr. Mabilane. “Being part of a community and having support from others is essential. The online devotions that I have with friends not only bring comfort and hope in times of grief, but open my mind to other ways of looking at difficulties we encounter every day, seeing the joy of serving others and the opportunities for personal growth. This is how you go home and become whole again to be of service to more patients tomorrow.”
Parliament in gold to support children fighting cancer | News | European Parliament
Parliament has joined the global Gold September campaign to raise awareness about childhood cancer by lighting up its Brussels building in gold on 1-6 September.
Every year, more than 35,000 children are diagnosed with cancer in Europe. Although the average survival rate at five years is 80%, there are significant differences between European countries due to unequal access to the best care and expertise.
500,000 ;Estimated number of childhood cancer survivors in Europe in 2020
Leukaemia appears to be the most frequent and most lethal cancer in children, accounting for more than 30% of new cases and deaths per year.
Fighting cancer is a priority for the EU. In June, the European Parliament set up a special committee to look at how the EU can take concrete measures to help beat cancer.
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the possibility of improving quality of life for patients and families
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scientific knowledge on prevention and specific action on tobacco, obesity, alcohol, pollution etc.
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how to support research into prevention, diagnosis and treatment of childhood and rare cancers, where an EU approach offers the best chance of success
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early detection and screening programmes
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how to support non-profit clinical trials
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possible EU action to facilitate the transparency of treatment prices to improve affordability and access
Polish EPP member Ewa Kopacz, who is the Parliament coordinator on children’s rights, said: “While we should strive for the prevention of paediatric cancer, we must also work to ensure that all children facing a cancer diagnosis have equal access to treatment and proper care throughout their treatment and recovery.”
The Parliament Vice-President, who is a former paediatrician and health minister, added: “By lightning the European Parliament in gold we send a strong signal of solidarity and support to children and adolescents fighting cancer, their families, childhood cancer survivors and professionals serving them.”
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20200827STO85802
Coronavirus and creation: Bringing lessons learned into prayer, action
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — During the height of the COVID-19 lockdowns in Europe and North America, city-dwellers — including Pope Francis — were struck by the hush on the streets, the blueness of the skies and the songs of birds.
The experience gives added meaning to the theme of the 2020 celebration of the Season of Creation, “Jubilee for the Earth: New Rhythms, New Hope.”
The Season of Creation begins Sept. 1, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, an observance initiated by the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1989 and adopted by Pope Francis for the Catholic Church in 2015. The season runs through Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.
The theme, “Jubilee for the Earth,” refers to the biblical jubilee years in Leviticus 25 — a sacred time every 50 years for renewing one’s relationship with God, restoring justice to individuals and letting the land recuperate.
Father Joshtrom Isaac Kureethadam, an official at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, said the theme was chosen by an ecumenical organizing group before the COVID-19 pandemic began. They wanted to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day April 22.
But, “the theme has become so relevant in the context of lockdown, and the pandemic is still raging across the world,” he said. While the lockdown had a hugely negative impact on the poor, who could not work from home, it “gave us a taste of an environment with much less pollution, the skies were clear, the dolphins came back” to the waters off of Italy.
The “small gap” of the lockdown, he said, showed that, if given a chance, “nature can flourish again.”
In a joint letter urging Christians to mark the celebrations, the ecumenical Conference of European Churches and the Catholic Council of European Bishops’ Conferences said the biblical call to a jubilee “underlines that there must exist a just and sustainable balance between social, economic and ecological realities.”
“The lesson from the biblical concept of jubilee points us toward the need to restore balance in the very systems of life, affirming the need for equality, justice and sustainability and confirming the need for a prophetic voice in defense of our common home,” said the letter released Aug. 25.
Celia Deane-Drummond, director of the Laudato Si’ Research Institute at Campion Hall at England’s Oxford University, said a jubilee implies rest for the land — by, for example, letting a field lie fallow for a year — and rest for human beings, especially those enslaved by others, but also those who feel driven to work almost 24/7 for earnings or status.
“That’s what integral ecology is all about it; bringing together the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor means not focusing on one or the other but both at the same time,” she told Catholic News Service Aug. 25. “Trying to get a balance between those aspects is sometimes quite challenging, but a jubilee is sort of like, ‘Let’s stop and listen and think about how we need to do things differently.’”
The professor, who has doctoral degrees in both biology and theology, said she thinks there are things people learned during the lockdown that will endure. For example, she expects online meetings to continue to replace many international conferences, reducing the carbon footprints of people who fly all over the world for meetings. Also, she said, many people will continue to enjoy beauty they discovered in their own neighborhoods and the joys of walking, hiking or running near home.
But another important aspect of a jubilee is forgiveness, she said. “The tendency is to put too much emphasis on blaming people for the crisis we’re in and not enough on the mercy of God and forgiveness and the possibility of starting again or of doing things differently.”
“I would always want to go back and say, ‘Well it’s not too late’” if an individual or business owner takes responsibility for harming the environment and truly changes, which is different from “green washing,” the practice of marketing a company as environmentally friendly when it is not.
Pope Francis’ call to “listen to the cry of the poor or of our ailing planet” has been consistent since the publication five years ago of his ecological encyclical, “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home.”
But that call has been more insistent during the coronavirus pandemic.
At his weekly general audience Aug. 19, Pope Francis defined as a “scandal” government pandemic assistance to companies that “do not contribute to the inclusion of the excluded, the promotion of the least, the common good or the care of creation.”
“Greedy for profit, we let ourselves get caught up in things, and lured away by haste,” Pope Francis said during a special prayer service in an empty, rain-soaked St. Peter’s Square in March.
People did not “listen to the cry of the poor or of our ailing planet,” he said. “We carried on regardless, thinking we would stay healthy in a world that was sick.”
Father Kureethadam said invoking a jubilee and encouraging prayer is a holistic approach to environmental concern; it includes asking forgiveness of God and of one another.
“Our real hope and prayer is that it will allow us to renew humanity, renew solidarity, renew ourselves in our relationship with God and with one another and the environment,” he said.
Marking the fifth anniversary of Laudato Si’ in May, the pope published a prayer that asked God to “enable us to succeed in listening and responding to the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor. May their current sufferings become the birth-pangs of a more fraternal and sustainable world.”
Copyright ©2020 Catholic News Service / U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Send questions about this site to [email protected]
Europe must clarify position in global economy, Orbán says in Bled
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Europe must clarify its position in the global economy and the related consequences during a panel discussion with other prime ministers from the region at the Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia on Monday, according to a report by state news wire MTI.
Orbán said Europe is “in trouble” as “we havenʼt identified our new position in the global economy”.
He said Europe is no longer a “game-changer”, as are China and the United States, and needs to “clarify” its position and the consequences.
He explained that the “science center” of the modern economy is “related very much to the armies”, and because there is no European army, “we donʼt have the scientific center to be at the forefront of technological advancement”.
Orbán said a common military capacity, enlargement, and a competitive economy, with Central Europe as an engine of growth, are key to Europeʼs strategy for the future.
“Without enlarging the European Union and accepting Serbia as a full member we cannot complete the security architecture of Europe,” he argued.
Addressing questions on concerns over the state of democracy in Hungary, Orbán insisted that Hungaryʼs democracy is of the same quality as those of Germanyʼs or Italyʼs.
“The problem is not the member states and the political systems…the problem is that we donʼt have strong common policies on the three major areas: global competition, good economies, and security enlargement,” he said.
He said a “kind of fight for intellectual sovereignty” is going on in Hungary today, more so than in other countries.
“We are fighting for the sovereignty to have a Christian and democratic approach to the European institutions and politics as such,” he said.
He acknowledged that liberal and conservative political philosophies had been unified in their fight against the totalitarian regime but stressed that the two philosophies are distinct.
“We would like to get back to the age, intellectually, when we can dispute clearly the main values, like family, nation, cultural tradition, religion, migration…We would like to have not just one single concept which must be accepted by everybody, because we donʼt have a liberal concept [for] that, we have a Christian democratic concept [for] all these issues,” he said.
Saving Islam in France from political and ghettoised Islam
The circumstantial electoral alliance between some republican political forces and representatives of a communitarian Islam that took place during these elections is increasingly disturbing.
By placing these self-styled protagonists, who consider themselves the only true representatives of the Muslims of France, in the forefront, our Republic is committing a grave mistake.
In this way, the Republic sells off its founding values, and risks retreating in the face of an aggressive political Islam which does not recognize itself in these values, and which has never wanted to abandon its socio-religious battle. This battle mixes issues such as unemployment and marginalization with religion, as well as all the delicate questions of the identity of French Muslims and their place in the national community.
The majority of these movements adopt an aggressive and confrontational strategy, and not a democratic and consensual one.
The main victims of these unnatural alliances risk being the indispensable and ineluctable reform movement of French Islam and the advance of the Enlightenment.
Between 2015 and 2019, in an immoral and illegal way, many French reformist imams were excluded from their posts as spiritual guides in certain mosques, from chaplaincies and from various charitable associations. The reason: their clear and strong condemnation of the Islamist terrorist attacks, their republican and humanist positions against hatred, separatism and radicalism.
For the republican imams, Muslim thought is reformable and evolutionary. The spiritual foundations of Islam are constant and immutable. But the Muslim elite must abandon the peremptory medieval fatwas, as well as undemocratic totalitarian methods, which impose conflicting and violent interpretations of Islamic religious texts.
The practice of a peaceful religious experience, more serene, human and above all compatible with modernity and contemporary humanistic values needs a courageous adaptation of Islam with European values and specificities. This will avoid an obligatory conflict, wanted and hoped for by Islamists who do not hide their intentions to Islamize Europe, without realizing that their suicidal strategy will lead to the end of Islam in Europe. European Muslims must in no way accept being held hostage in the hands of political Islam directed and financed by Qatar or Turkey. An independent and non-dominant European Islam may be able to adapt to local culture. Any foreign dependence means that Islam could become the cause of a serious and dangerous conflict that threatens social peace in a tolerant and welcoming continent, which for many decades has given so much to Islam and Muslims.
Unfortunately, republican Islam is set to enter a dark and more difficult period precisely because of that circumstantial Islamic-political alliance that emerged during the elections. Political Islam, strengthened by this opportunist alliance, will not fail to designate the republican Muslims and the leaders of these movements as the first victims, so as to bury any hope of adapting the Islam of France to the values of the republic and to the social and cultural characteristics of our democratic societies, values that have endured for centuries.
The humanist imams wept in communion with all the French people for the innocent souls who fell in the Islamist attacks of the Bataclan, of the Hyper Cacher, in Toulouse, in Brussels, in Nice. Now they risk being totally marginalized and disappearing, themselves victims of this storm.
The medium-term result of these alliances will tomorrow’s society increasingly move towards its radicalization, in which the majority of French Muslims, who reject this drift, will be increasingly isolated from the population.
This isolation, sown with hatred and violence, is the goal that the extremists hope for, the fertile ground in which to extend their project on their co-religionists. Stupidly, they dream in the short term of Islamizing French and Western society in its entirety, without realizing that this dominating and suicidal strategy, will mark the end of a peaceful and integrated Islam in France.
In his work “Territoires conquis de Islamisme [Territories conquered by Islamism]”, Bernard Rougier described what awaits us after these municipal elections, despite the efforts of ministers Castaner, Nunez and Belliubet to fight what, in his speech in Mulhouse, President Emmanuel Macron called “Islamist separatism”.
These municipal elections have made clear everywhere in France, the actions carried out by Islamists to seduce Muslim voters, thanks to the presence of Muslim candidates for some parties, who openly competed as Muslims. They are a part of the right-wing, of the ecologists and even of some of the republican right, all looking for voters who could ensure victory.
Instead of presenting themselves as citizens, French Muslims find themselves again taken hostage by conquering Islamism, which exploits the weakness of politicians, as well as the silence of the majority of Muslims, to present themselves as the only spokesmen for French citizens of Muslim confession.
At the local level, this entry of aggressive Islamism, hidden behind a façade of democratism, and through a pitying and intimidating communitarianism, can completely and irreversibly change the national political map and make it falter towards extremism.
In my opinion, the solution to this separatist drift can only be legalistic and republican.
Only a real, republican, voluntary emergency plan for the development, cultural integration, improvement in the daily and economic life of citizens who live in highly, often disadvantaged, Muslim neighbourhoods will be able to fight these “dream merchants” and limit the harmful influence of the various Islamist currents, which have proselytizing and separatist designs.
For those in power, the protagonists, the social workers, as well as for the imams linked to republican and human values, it is now time to take back these areas of ‘no-law’ in order to free them from the clutches of these extremist activists, to reintegrate them back into the place that is theirs: Within the national community.
(*) Imam of Nîmes – Vice-president of the Conference of Imams of France
[i] We thus translate the term “communautarisme”, which indicates a mentality that emphasizes the unity of a group and at the same time the separation from others in society, in a kind of self-ghettoization (ed).
Kickstarting economies without COVID-19 plan, ‘a recipe for disaster’: Tedros
“If countries are serious about opening, they must be serious about suppressing transmission and saving lives”, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, briefing reporters from Geneva. “Opening up without having control, is a recipe for disaster.”
While this may seem an impossible balance, it can be done if countries are in control of transmission, he said. The more control they have, the more they can open.
The reality is that coronavirus spreads easily, he said. It can be fatal for people of all ages and most people remain susceptible.
Prevention, prevention, prevention
To control transmission, he said it is essential to prevent events that lead to outbreaks. COVID-19 spreads efficiently among clusters of people, with explosive outbreaks linked to gatherings at places such as sports stadiums, nightclubs and places of worship.
At the same time, there are ways to hold gatherings safely, Tedros said. Decisions about how and when must be made with a risk-based approach, tailored to local conditions.
Tedros said countries experiencing significant community transmission may need to postpone such events. Those seeing sporadic cases or small clusters, on the other hand, can find creative ways to hold events while minimizing risk.
He advocated a focus on reducing deaths by protecting the elderly, people with underlying conditions and essential workers. Countries that do this well may be able to cope with low levels of transmission as they open.
Individuals must play their part by staying at least one metre away from others, cleaning their hands regularly, practicing respiratory etiquette by wearing a mask and avoiding close-contact settings.
For governments, widespread stay-at-home orders can be avoided if they take temporary, geographically targeted interventions. It is important to find, isolate, test and care for COVID-19 cases – and both trace and quarantine contacts.
WHO guidance for safe reopening
The UN health agency chief said WHO has a range of evidence-based guidance that can be applied in different transmission scenarios, most recently for hotels, cargo ships and fishing vessels.
Meanwhile, the agency is working with its partners through the ACT Accelerator and COVAX Global Vaccines Facility to ensure that a vaccine, once developed, is available equitably to all communities. He thanked the European Commission, which announced today it would join the COVAX Facility, for its €400 million contribution.
Health systems under pressure
To be sure, all countries are under extreme pressure, he declared. A WHO survey on the impact of COVID-19 on health systems in 105 countries found that 90 per cent of those surveyed have experienced disruption to their health services, with low- and middle-income countries reporting the greatest difficulties.
Most nations reported that routine and elective services have been suspended, while critical care – such as cancer screenings and treatment, and HIV therapies – have seen high-risk interruptions in low-income countries.
While many countries are now implementing WHO-recommended strategies to mitigate service disruptions, only 14 per cent have reported the removal of user fees, which WHO recommends, offsetting potential financial difficulties for patients.
He said WHO is also developing the COVID-19 Health Services Learning Hub, a web-based platform that will allow countries to share their experiences.
Aftermath of Beirut explosion
Tedros also touched on WHO’s response to the 4 August blast in Beirut, which injured 6,500 people, left more than 300,000 homeless and severely damaged health infrastructure.
He said the agency is ensuring access to basic health and mental health care for the injured. It is also expanding COVID-19 testing and treatments, buying medicines and protecting health workers.
To sustain these efforts, Tedros said WHO had launched a $76 million appeal. The WHO Foundation on Monday launched a campaign into which any individual or organization can contribute.
“This virus thrives when we are divided,” he said. “When we are united, we can defeat it.”
UNHCR updated recommendations to the EU Financial Framework 2021-2027
World: UNHCR updated recommendations to the European Union Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 (August 2020)
The European Union (EU) is a key partner when it comes to addressing asylum and forced displacement challenges and assisting forcibly displaced people and their hosts abroad and at home. At the first Global Refugee Forum (2019), the EU strongly committed to further engage in forced displacement and asylum, as a reliable partner for protection and solutions.
With more than 79 million people forced to flee – 1% of the world’s population – continued, increased and predictable EU engagement on their behalf is needed now more than ever. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, appeals to the EU to translate its commitment to a reliable partnership on forced displacement and asylum into sound instruments and sufficient resources in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF 2021-2027), both within and outside its borders.
In line with its founding Treaty and its Charter on Fundamental Rights, the EU needs to have adequate mechanisms in place as well as appropriate resources at hand to ensure people in need of international protection can access its territory, benefit from asylum in Europe, and contribute to societies through well-funded avenues for integration. Regarding its investments outside of the EU, with more predictable funding in place, the EU can meet growing humanitarian and development needs, save lives, help to ease pressure on large refugee-hosting countries, and provide forcibly displaced people with a future, wherever they are.