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World Food Safety Day: From planting to your plate, everyone has a role to play

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United Nations News
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World Food Safety Day: From planting to your plate, everyone has a role to play

Eating contaminated food has caused an estimated 600 million people in the world, or almost one-in-ten individuals, to fall ill – 420,000 of whom die every year, two UN specialized agencies highlighted on Sunday, World Food Safety Day.

Joining forces, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) flagged that “food safety is a shared responsibility” with a role for everyone to play, from governments, industry and producers to business operators and consumers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also shined a spotlight on the importance of monitoring and addressing food safety; adapting food safety systems to respond to supply chain disruptions; and ensuring the continued access to safe food.

The Head of FAO’s Food Safety and Quality Unit attested that in these challenging times, this year’s motto – food safety is everybody’s business – is “more pertinent than ever”.

“No matter what else is going on, every single person still needs safe food every day”, said Markus Lipp. “We cannot let up in our vigilance to ensure that our food is safe”.

An investment in health

Safe food is not only critical to better health and food security, but also for livelihoods, economic development, trade and the international reputation of every country.

“Millions of people around the world depend on international trade for their food security and livelihoods”, the heads of FAO, QU Dongyu, WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Roberto Azevedo, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said in a joint statement. 

“As countries move to enact measures aiming to halt the accelerating COVID-19 pandemic, care must be taken to minimize potential impacts on the food supply or unintended consequences on global trade and food security.”

The agencies maintained that each year, an estimated 700,000 people die around the globe because of antimicrobial-resistant infections.

“Improving hygiene practices in the food and agricultural sectors helps to reduce the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance along the food chain and in the environment”, they explained. 

Emphasizing the need for better data to understand the far-reaching impacts of unsafe food, WHO and FAO upheld that an investment in consumer food safety education  has the potential to reduce foodborne disease and return savings of up to ten-fold for each dollar provided.

“We must ensure that our response to COVID-19 does not unintentionally create unwarranted shortages of essential items and exacerbate hunger and malnutrition”, the FAO, WHO, WTO chiefs stated. “Now is the time to show solidarity, act responsibly and adhere to our common goal of enhancing food security, food safety and nutrition and improving the general welfare of people around the world”.

Food production

Infections caused by contaminated food have a much higher impact on populations with poor or fragile health, impacting infants, pregnant women and elderly and sick people more severely, and sometimes even leading to death, according to WHO.

Meanwhile, throughout the various stages of today’s complex supply chains, opportunities for food contamination prevail, from on-farm production to slaughtering or harvesting and during the course of processing, storage, transport and distribution.

Moreover, the globalization of food production and trade is making the food chain even longer, complicating foodborne disease outbreak investigations and emergency product recalls.

And the effects of food contamination reach far beyond direct public health consequences. It undermines food exports, tourism, food handler livelihoods and economic development, in both developed and developing countries.

To improve food safety, WHO advocates for different governmental departments and agencies – encompassing public health, agriculture, education and trade – to collaborate with each other as well as to engage civil society, including consumer groups.

Addressing the issue

To help ensure food safety and quality control, systems must be strengthened at national, regional and international levels, says FAO.

Among other things, this requires: 

  • Leadership in assessing and developing food control systems, including policy and regulatory frameworks.
  • Institutional and individual management, including the management of food safety emergencies.
  • Sound scientific advice to underpin standards at national, regional and international levels. 
  • Platforms, databases and mechanisms that support dialogue and global access to information.
  • Collection, analysis and communication of food chain intelligence.

Members of the educational program called Preparation for Social Action provide food

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bunch of vegetables - food
Photo by nrd

Food – Members of the Baha’i inspired educational program called Preparation for Social Action (PSA) have taken steps to confront the possibility of food shortages in their communities due to the COVID-19 outbreak.  

The PSA program, implemented in 17 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific, raises capacity in young people to apply knowledge drawn from both science and religion for the development of their communities.  

Many participants in this program are expanding personal gardens and planting crops that can be harvested quickly, so as to create reliable sources of food over the coming months of uncertainty. A group of participants in Uganda is making use of local radio to promote awareness about food production.  

by BIC

WHO joins forces with 17 central European countries to step up tailored COVID-19 response

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Newsdesk
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WHO in Geneva - Copyright THIX
WHO in Geneva - Copyright THIX

A joint task force has been established by WHO/Europe and the Central European Initiative (CEI) to respond to COVID-19 and step up regional coordination to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.

by WHO Europe

Comprising key health officials from the 17 CEI member states, the task force will serve as a strategic platform for updating member states, exchanging information, and sharing experiences, best practices and training. The goal of the task force is to encourage a coherent response and anticipate any unfavourable consequences that may stem from the pandemic while shifting towards easing of restrictions and recovery.

With the CEI Executive Secretariat providing coordination and support, and WHO/Europe contributing scientific advice to the discussions, the twice-monthly meetings will serve as a forum for CEI countries to express their needs and priorities, and establish a common understanding of internationally recommended strategies that are rooted in science and are evidence-based.

Health at the centre of recovery

During the coming weeks, the task force is set to focus on economic and socioeconomic recovery, the recovery of health systems and the safe easing of restrictions. Working groups will be set up as needed to help outline the functions and priorities of the task force, taking a closer look at thematic areas, such as COVID-19 implications for border management and tourism as summer approaches.

The importance of keeping health at the centre of socioeconomic recovery, identifying and evaluating potential risks during the transition phase, easing restrictions safely, and preventing the virus from resurging was stressed by Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, in his address to the member states during the Extraordinary Virtual Meeting of CEI Heads of Government on 15 May 2020.

Through the task force, WHO/Europe, the CEI Executive Secretariat, the countries in the region and experts in various health fields will work together to equip the member states with robust mechanisms to tackle common challenges and strengthen their COVID-19 response, with tangible results for the entire region.

Penguin Random House Will Not Attend Frankfurt

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Juan Sanchez Gil
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Penguin Random House Will Not Attend Frankfurt

Penguin Random House is the last of the Big Five American trade publishers to announce they will not attend this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair.

“As a long-time annual participant in the Frankfurt Book Fair, who believes in its enduring value and importance, Penguin Random House greatly regrets it will neither exhibit at this year’s Fair, nor attend in person, to protect the health and well-being of our employees, authors, and partners,” said the company in a statement. “Our companies will strive to support the Fair’s virtual activities this October.”

Late last month, the Frankfurt Book Fair revealed plans for a smaller event, one limited to 20,000 people at a time, with larger booths spread out over a greater area on the fairgrounds. The fair is also developing a full slate of digital events. “This will not be the same book fair as before,” said book fair director Juergen Boos. “But the changes we make and tools we implement now will help us have a better book fair in the future.”

Previously, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster all said they would not attend the fair, but did not rule out taking part in online programs.

Pope Francis issues ‘game-changer’ document that aims to overhaul Vatican financial investments

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Newsdesk
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By Claire Giangrave

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — As conflict, pollution and a pandemic plague the world, a new document issued by Pope Francis on Monday (June 1) – imposing transparency and efficiency measures within Vatican finances – may seem unimportant. But for observers within and outside the walled city-state, the pope’s move is a “game-changer.” 

The document completely overhauls the way the Vatican invests its money. As veteran Vatican reporter John Allen put it, “nothing Pope Francis has done prior to Monday has greater potential to truly remake the Vatican’s conventional ways and means.”

In the new document, Pope Francis wrote: “In order to allow for a more efficient handling of resources, I have decided to approve a series of norms aimed at promoting transparency, control and competition in the awarding of contracts for goods and services.”

The main takeaways are the creation of a register of vetted contractors who can bid to supply goods and services to the Holy See and the Vatican. Also, the acquisitions are centralized under the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA), which oversees the Vatican’s real estate and financial dealings, or the Government of the Vatican City State, the executive branch at the Vatican.

In an interview published by Vatican News, Vincenzo Bonomo, dean of the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, said the centralization proposed in the document aims at reducing inefficiencies and waste at a time when the world – and the Vatican – are struggling financially due to the pandemic.

“We will be able to eliminate the plague of wastes, losses, and also prevent corruption in all its forms,” Bonomo said.

Once the document is enacted at the end of the month, Vatican departments, such as the Secretariat, will have to file an explicit request for the investment to APSA and the government.

The document also excludes any contract with operators who have a conflict of interest in the deal or have ever been convicted for corruption, fraud, money laundering, financing terrorism or partaking in human trafficking.

Operators may also be excluded from entering a deal with the Vatican if they have evaded taxes in their country of origin, if represented by a trust fund (which allows for the concealment of the identity of participants) or if they reside in a tax haven. Any attempt to acquire advantages or confidential information, any attempt to provide false information, or commitments of grave violations against the environment are also cause for being excluded from providing goods and services to the Vatican and Holy See.ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== Pope Francis issues ‘game-changer’ document that aims to overhaul Vatican financial investments

Pope Francis delivers his blessing from his window at the end of the Regina Coeli noon prayer on May 24, 2020, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. For the first time in months, well-spaced faithful gathered in the square for the traditional Sunday papal blessing, casting their gaze at the window where the pope normally addresses the faithful, since the square had been closed due to anti-coronavirus lockdown measures. Photo by Vatican Media

RELATED: Making sense of the Vatican’s looming financial scandal

Francis’ new norms could prevent the Vatican from entering into deals like the $200 million investment into prime real estate in London that made headlines in 2019 and was described as a “scandal” and “opaque.”

In that deal, the Secretariat for the Economy acquired the services of Gianluigi Torzi, who according to leaked documents earned over $10 million in service fees. Torzi was also flagged by Roman authorities last year for “crimes of false invoicing and fraud.”

All future deals will have to be approved by a judicial committee and any real estate deal must be preceded by an evaluation by APSA or the Government of the Vatican. The president of the Vatican City State Tribunal, Giuseppe Pignatone, appointed by Pope Francis with a background of fighting mafia and corruption, explained in a commentary for Vatican News that the document charges the Vatican judiciary with the responsibility of upholding the new norms.

“This new competence is a manifestation of the trust the Holy Father places on the Vatican judges,” Pignatone wrote. “I can guarantee there will be the utmost effort on our part to deserve it.”

The office of the auditor general, the Financial Information Authority (Aif) and the Secretariat for the Economy will also be charged with identifying fraud and corruption. In the previous weeks, the Vatican announced that its accounting division, the Data Processing Center (Ced), would be placed under the supervision of the Secretariat for the Economy instead of APSA.

As with the decision to move CED under the jurisdiction of the Secretariat for the Economy, the new document applies changes that Cardinal George Pell pushed for in 2017, before he was called back to his native Australia to answer historic sex abuse charges, which he was acquitted from in April.

The document issued on Monday “was born in the Secretariat for the Economy during Cardinal George Pell’s tenure,” a source who participated in the Pell-directed reforms told Religion News Service.

“Various revised drafts of what could be the final document were produced up until Pell’s departure for Australia in the summer of 2017,” the source, who wishes to remain anonymous, said. “In fact, having understood its importance, His Eminence, Cardinal Pell, wrote to the Secretary of State, Card. Pietro Parolin, in June of 2017 to transmit a copy of the latest draft of the proposed document, stress its great importance to the Holy Father’s reforms, and to invite him to coordinate its further development, involving representatives of various other Vatican organisms and entities.”

According to the source, it was the prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, the Rev. Juan Antonio Guerrero, who “provided the final support and push needed to bring the project to fruition.”

“A major milestone has been reached in the Holy Father’s reforms,” the source added.

EEAS congratulates new Kosovo government

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Newsdesk
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EEAS: Kosovo: Joint statement by High Representative/ Vice-President Josep Borrell and Neighbourhood and Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi on the new government.

The European Union congratulates the new Kosovo government led by Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti and looks forward to our joint work to advance EU-Kosovo relations.

The coronavirus pandemic will remain a shared challenge for the foreseeable future and the EU will continue to stand by Kosovo and its people. We also want to see Kosovo advance on its European path. This will require determined reform efforts to strengthen the rule of law, in particular the fight against corruption and organised crime, and to promote socio-economic development.

A swift resumption of the EU-facilitated Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, with the support of EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajčák, is essential to achieve a comprehensive normalisation of relations with Serbia. The EU-facilitated Dialogue is the only way to turn Kosovo’s European future into a reality for its citizens

Frankfurt Launches Facebook Rights Community

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Juan Sanchez Gil
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Frankfurt Launches Facebook Rights Community

The Frankfurt Book Fair has launched a new social media–based community to connect rights holders and facilitate books-to-film pitches and related intellectual property exchanges. The invitation-only platform, called Pitch Your CIP—CIP stands for “creative intellectual property”—resides on Facebook, and has 525 members so far.

“The idea grew out of pitching sessions at the ARTS+ program we have hosted at the Frankfurt Book Fair for the past several years,” said Holger Volland, v-p of the Frankfurt Book Fair, who launched the platform. The program is also an extension of Frankfurt’s sponsorship of pitching sessions at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival.

“We have had hundreds of film producers come to those sessions over the years,” said Volland, who emphasized that building relationships between the books and film sectors required a process of education on both parts. “Each has to learn to talk to each other, which is something that we as a fair always coach people on and hope to facilitate with Pitch Your CIP.”

Frankfurt had also intended to extend their pitching sessions to the Toronto International Film Festival this year, but with much of the world in quarantine, moving the sessions online was the next logical step. “When we do a pitch session at a festival, we typically limit it to 10 books pitched over a 90 minute session, but this way, with two to three pitches a week happening on the platform, we can do a hundred or more this year,” Volland said.

So far, the site has hosted pitches from agent Elisabeth Ruge, owner of Elisabeth Ruge Agentur GmbH in Berlin; Paniz Terachi from the Blue Circle Literary Agency in Tehran; and Maÿlis Vauterin, foreign rights director at Editions Stock in Paris. Pitches are done either through short recorded videos or through live interviews. In addition, the site hosted U.K. video game developer Andy Payne, who is working on a video game adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

“Our intention is to create opportunities for the most diverse group possible, including literary agents, TV streamers, filmmakers, and games developers, for any and all people from the creative communities to connect and trade licenses,” said Volland, who said his hope is for people across a spectrum of disciplines and industries, from museum curators to brand managers to influencers, to join the group, in order to facilitate creative, and even unorthodox, pitches. “For example, I”m friends with the director of the estate of Herbert von Karajan, [the Austrian conductor who led Berlin Philharmonic for three decades]. Karajan, who was a Zen Buddhist, always said he wanted to be reborn as an eagle. I think that with the assets in the estate, it could make for a very interesting pitch and, who knows, maybe even by the end, a valuable product.”

At the moment, Volland said there are no plans to monetize the platform. “It is still a work-in-progress,” he said. “We’ll adapt it to people’s needs as we hear feedback. Right now we are focused on community building and adding value to the group. Our feeling is that now is the time to make deals. Just because people are doomed to stay at home because of the coronavirus doesn’t mean the trade in intellectual property has to stop. In fact, as an industry, we cannot afford for it to stop. If we work hard, get creative, and innovate, it won’t.”

Nadal: “Those who make decisions in politics do so thinking that there are new elections”

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Newsdesk
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The Manacorian tennis player does not believe that we should seek “a new normal” after the coronavirus pandemic, but that this will be the one that everyone accepts

by EuropaPress

The tennis player Rafa Nadal, number two in the world, said he does not think we should seek “a new normal” after the coronavirus pandemic, but that this will be the one that everyone accepts, and regretted that those who “make decisions in politics” do so “thinking that there are new elections”.

“I have very clear opinions, but unfortunately I cannot pronounce myself on whether things are being done well, very well, badly or fatally, because the reality is that what I say in the end is taken as a political issue. We are at such a sensitive time that everything is being politicised,” he said in an interview with El País Semanal.

In this sense, he wanted to distance himself from political parties. “What do I care if Vox, the PP, Podemos, the PSOE, Ciudadanos or whoever does it well? I don’t care about Casado, Abascal, Arrimadas, Iglesias or Sánchez. Let them get us out of this and let us have the least number of deaths and the least economic impact possible,” he said.

“But there is a problem in politics, and that is that those who make decisions, unfortunately, always do so thinking that there are new elections. In an ideal world, it would be very positive if, in a situation like this, those who make the decisions were the best in each field and without any political aspirations,” he said. “A very complicated future is coming and we are going to need the experience of the best to get out of it,” he added.

In addition, the Spaniard said he does not believe in the concept of “new normality”. “I imagine the tracks and full stadiums, which is how I like to see them. You have to be patient and find the medicine, but I don’t believe in looking for a new normality. The new normal will be the one we accept. I like seeing people, hugging people, sharing with people… and we have to look for this again. We can’t just settle for forever keeping our distance,” he said.

Finally, he valued the initiative of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the WTA and the ATP to help more than 800 tennis players outside the ‘Top 100′ who have suffered more acutely from the consequences of the stop by the coronavirus. “I am part of the Players’ Council and I believe we have a responsibility to try to help the sport prevail in the best possible way,” he said.

“Different measures have been taken, and one of them is to create a fund for the 100 best players in the world to contribute an amount of money to help the rest of the players, who are having a hard time and are living difficult situations, and many ATP workers. This is a fund to help the tennis world in general, not just players. In difficult times you are forced to think about the one who is worse off than you,” he concluded.

Did you try Napolitan pizza at La Piola in Brussels?

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la piola pizza
la piola pizza

The pizzeria Piola uses the best ingredients of quality and is directly coming from Italy. Specialty: the “cornicione” and the croutte, it is poured into the buffalo ricotta. But let you also try the suggestions that evolve during the seasons, it will impress you for sure!

Located in Place Saint-Josse, La Piola Pizza offers a variety of pizzas all tastier than the others. Recognized as part of the intangible heritage of UNESCO, the Neapolitan pizzas offered à la carte are made in respect of tradition and are cooked over a wood fire.

Since May 25th, and due to COVID19, they have reinvented themselves, and you find them at

From the big Piola family in Brussels, Piola in Casa: books, wine and pizza delivery.

Piola in Casa is a virtual shop that unites Jacopo, cofounder of Piolalibri and Beit Live, two italian cultural hubs in Brussels, Nicola, creator of the original Piola and now importer of quality wines with DeWine and finally Andrea and Carmine those magicians owners of Piola Pizza, voted one of the 50 best pizzerias in Europe.

How does it work?

1) Do you already know which book or wine to buy? Send us an email with the order and your data to: [email protected]

2) Are you looking for inspiration? Consult our catalogue of books and wines and send us an email to [email protected] with your order

3) Wait for a confirmation email with the details to make the payment by bank transfer

4) After payment, you will receive your order at home in no time

5) Want a pizza? Order directly from Piola Pizza on Uber Eats

Three good reasons to try Piola in Casa:

All italian books at the cover price directly to your home, without delivery costs in a week!

A wide selection of wines, for all budgets, in a couple of days on your doorstep!

You miss the pizza made by someone other than you, Piola Pizza!

Birth of the Settlements, ROMA in Bulgaria

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Newsdesk
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by Jodi Hilton EUPHEMIST

Sitting on a rug spread on the wooden planks of his two-room house, 73-year-old Lazar Asenov skillfully twists willow branches, finishing the basket he is weaving. He learned the craft from his father and grandfather, who were nomadic weavers and horse traders. Lounging on the two beds in the room — the only furnishings — some of his many children and grandchildren watch him work. Four adults and five children share this home in a dilapidated Kremikovtsi neighborhood of muddy streets and brick shacks on the edge of the town of Garmen in Southern Bulgaria

“Simpler and happier” is how Asenov describes his childhood memories of nomadic life.

ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== Birth of the Settlements, ROMA in Bulgaria
Children play between the Kremikovtsi houses in Garmen.

The Kremikovtsi neighborhood, like many others, was established by the Communist government in the 1960s. During this period, the Communist regime forcefully imposed settled way of life on the small number of nomadic Roma who had traditionally led a nomadic lifestyle.

The majority of the Bulgarian Roma had already settled, says Professor Mihail Ivanov, who in the 1990s served as an advisor to President Zhelyu Zhelev on minority issues. He estimates that about 90% of Roma lived in settlements by the late 19th century.

A nomadic group called Kalderash, (Tinsmiths or Tinkers) settled in… READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

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