Electrification seems to be the future for heavy transports. But this places new and high demands on planning for vehicle use and charging. In collaboration with Scania and Ragn-Sells, researchers at Linköping University have launched a project with the final aim of developing calculation software for planning routes for electric trucks.
Two trucks on a road – illustrative photo. Image credit: İsmail Enes Ayhan via Unsplash, free license
In Sweden alone there are currently about 85,000 heavy goods trucks on the road, almost all of them diesel-powered. Most are owned by haulage companies tasked with delivering and collecting goods at many different locations at specific points in time while driving as economically as possible.
Maximising heavy transport vehicle fleet efficiency requires advanced route planning based on mathematical optimisation models and large-scale calculations.
But the heavy transport sector is facing a change, with electrification at its centre, making earlier route optimisation models obsolete.
Charging an electric car – illustrative photo. Image credit: Tommy Krombacher via Unplash, free license
“Planning will be more sensitive. Planning for traditional vehicles hasn’t required taking into account how far a full tank will get you. You only had to refuel quickly at the next petrol station and continue. Electric vehicle transport involves many more parameters, which makes route planning calculations more advanced,” says Elina Rönnberg, senior associate professor in the Department of Mathematics at Linköping University, LiU.
Dynamic methods
Factors that may affect the planning of a route include location of charging stations, number of vehicles charging at a given time, weather, driving style, accidents, etc.
With heavy transport haulage companies needing to plan the routes for a whole vehicle fleet, up to 40 electric trucks to be used as efficiently as possible, the scope of calculations increases further.
“If you’ve planned a route and the weather gets colder than you expected, this will affect the range, and you might not reach the next charging station. This means that the methods we are developing must also be dynamic, as external circumstances impact these vehicles more,” says Daniel Ljung, associate professor in the Division of Vehicular Systems.
Heavy transport, truck, sustainable transportation – artistic impression. Image credit: Sven Brandsma via Unsplash, free license
Scania is not only a project partner and one of the financers of the project, but also one of the world’s largest truck producers. They see a demand for electric heavy vehicles. But before production is tailored to meet demands, they need to know the opportunities for and challenges of electrified heavy transport.
“Our customers depend on reliable and efficient heavy goods trucks and electrification has the potential to lower costs. However, they are more expensive to purchase and more complex to manage. Thusly, more advanced software is needed but so far there are no algorithms that can handle the necessary complexities. That is why more research is needed,” says Viktor Leek, engineer and project manager at Scania.
Electric Heavy Transport Utilisation
The final aim of the project is to develop calculation software for planning routes for a fleet of electric heavy vehicles.
“The software should be able to provide both rough overall planning, plan individual routes in detail, and make adjustments when parameters change. It should be an aid in the electrification, a tool for doing this in a good way. We are pleased that we can combine industry needs with academia’s knowledge about vehicles and large-scale calculations. In this way, we link theory and practice to make a tangible difference for the good of society,” says Elina Rönnberg.
The name of the project is Condore (Customer Oriented Operations Research for Electrification) and it has a total budget of SEK 27 million.
Scania and the Swedish Energy Agency have contributed equal funding. At LiU, two doctoral students are active in the project: Svante Johansson, industrial doctoral student in the Division of Vehicular Systems at the Department of Electrical Engineering, and Lukas Eveborn, doctoral student in the Department of Mathematics’ group Mathematics and algorithms for intelligent decision-making.
In the first article of this series, I discussed the cooperation between the special anti-trafficking Argentinian agency PROTEX and the professional anti-cultist Pablo Salum.
This article was originally published by Bitter Winter under the title “Anti-Cult Repression in Argentina 2. PROTEX and Pablo Salum” (18 August 2023)
It is time for the U.S. Department of State, USCIRF, and other international institutions to condemn human rights and freedom of religion abuses by PROTEX.
The latter’s favorite technique is to interview and weaponize so-called “survivors” and victims of any religious or belief community, that he labels with the magic repulsive word “cult,” and to publicize their—unverified—declarations on YouTube and social media. These disgruntled former members are supposed to reflect the hidden, true horrible face of various religious or belief groups, including inside mainline religions. The style is tabloid and populist. The objective is to be a source of breaking news, create the buzz and draw attention to his own person.
Anybody wanting to settle scores with a religious or belief movement he or she had problems with, directly or indirectly, is welcome on the YouTube channel of Salum, as it was also the case with a former member of the Soka Gakkai, a Japanese Buddhist movement.
Pablo Salum also directed PROTEX to attack the Christian lay movement “Cómo vivir por fe” (How to Live by Faith), the Argentinian branch of the Australian new religious movement “Jesus Christians” making a vow of poverty. The manipulation by Salum of a former member raising the spectre of forced organ donation was denounced by the Argentinian judge who found no crime in the case, as Bitter Winter found out after some serious investigation.
Argentinian members of “Cómo vivir por fe.” They successfully resisted Pablo Salum’s and PROTEX’s false accusations.
In July last, PROTEX raided 38 centers of the well-known Evangelical NGO REMAR. Pablo Salum boasts, rightly or not, that he was “involved” in the operation but what is sure is that this crackdown in Argentina created a scandal in the Evangelical community internationally. REMAR is indeed a respected NGO specialized in the rehabilitation of drug addicts and (paradoxically) women victims of real trafficking. In several countries, REMAR cooperates with the government. In Argentina, PROTEX claims that what they do is “trafficking”…
The harmful influence of Pablo Salum on religious tolerance in Argentina should not be underestimated.
On 1 August, a “collective of organizations and individuals fighting for the eradication of human trafficking in Argentina,” the “Stop Human Trafficking Network” (Red Alto al Tráfico y la Trata – RATT), organized and transmitted on the Senate’s TV channel a conference titled “Cults and Human Trafficking” (“Sectas y trata de personas”) which is now available on YouTube. The conference was held in a room of the Senate and there were approximately 100 people in the audience, plus the people watching the TV channel. The speakers were the senator who hosted the event, Dr Daniel Bensusán; the authorities of the RATT, Viviana Caminos and Nancy Rodriguez; both the former (Zaida Gatti) and the new (Norma Mazzeo) coordinators of the “National Program for the Rescue and Accompaniment of Victims Affected by the Crime of Trafficking in Persons”; a lawyer sponsoring victims of human trafficking, Dr Sebastian Sal; a “survivor” of the Opus Dei and, closing the conference, Pablo Salum.
Salum’s destructive role in the PROTEX operation against the Buenos Aires Yoga School (BAYS)
On 12 August 2022, PROTEX worked in tandem with police SWAT teams and with Pablo Salum when it launched a military-style police raid on the BAYS members-owned building, starting with the cafe on the ground floor.
Carlos Barragán, a professional stage magician, who was arrested and detained for about three months until all the charges against him were suddenly dropped, explained in an interview in Buenos Aires with Susan Palmer, an Affiliate Professor in the Religions and Cultures Department at Concordia University in Montreal (Canada) and director of the Children in Sectarian Religions and State Control project at McGill University (Canada), supported by the Social Sciences and the Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC): “Pablo Salum had told PROTEX that I had in my house—in my ‘bunker’ (as Salum calls it)—all the blackmail material for the extortion of rich men who were offered our women. He said videos of sex acts were taken so that we could extort money from them. So, the police smashed their way into my house and stole over 4,000 VHS, expecting to find blackmail material, but of course, all they found were my historic collection of magic shows, and the VHS series on our philosophy classes in BAYS.”
As a self-appointed judge, jury, and executioner, Salum has already decided that the BAYS leader should go to jail. From Twitter
This incident has destroyed the magician’s whole career. “Lie, lie and there will always be something left,” according to the saying.
Five women older than 50 years, three in their forties and one in mid-thirties were surprisingly said by the state agency PROTEX to have been victims of sexual exploitation by BAYS. The nine women vividly denied they had ever been prostitutes and exploited as such by BAYS. They are currently trying to sue the two PROTEX prosecutors in charge of the case.
A false victim (45 years) of alleged sexual exploitation, from a Jewish family, graduated from university with a MBA and who has been working for years in his father’s TV production company, told Susan Palmer: “Pablo Salum posted photographs of me and my dad and some of our employees at the TV station on Twitter. One woman resigned because she feared her image would be tainted working with us. My boyfriend, he lost his job in the real estate company, and he is now trying to rebuild his career. He started a new realtor business, he has a degree in this field. The mother of my boyfriend was one of those accused of human trafficking.”
The fabricated accusations also ruined the professional activities of other false victims and in several cases disturbed their relations with their partners.
US human rights reports and Argentina
Yet, it seems that the Argentinian authorities prioritize the instrumentalization of the BAYS case to endorse the dangerous brainwashing pseudoscience theory rejected by the academic world.
Argentina has the best ranking of the 2023 US Annual Report on Trafficking in Persons and an institution like PROTEX is undoubtedly necessary to combat labor trafficking and sexual exploitation. Yet, it is difficult to understand why the Argentinian authorities, and PROTEX in particular, go on using as a source an anti-cult activist who is now known for using defamatory hate speech against a wide range of religious and belief groups, spreading fake information and all sorts of lies about them with dramatic consequences for his victims.
The US also has other state mechanisms monitoring the harmful activities of anti-cult activists, such as the Department of State and USCIRF (US Commission on International Religious Freedom).
On 24 July 2023, USCIRF published a report titled “Religious Freedom Concerns about Religious Freedom in the European Union” in which a section was devoted to the anti-cult issue and was stressing that “Several governments in the EU have supported or facilitated the propagation of harmful information about certain religious groups.” This is also the case with Argentina.
The US Annual State Department Report on Religious Freedom around the world and the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) should grant more attention to anti-religious hate speech in Argentina. Both the US Department of State and USCIRF are in the best position to warn PROTEX against their questionable implementation of the national Law No 26.842 on Prevention and Punishment of Human Trafficking and Assistance to Victims and the creation of false victims, such as in the BAYS case.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the Department of Energy’s largest multidisciplinary laboratory, and Fairbanks Morse Defense (FMD), a portfolio company of Arcline Investment Management, have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on the development and integration of alternative fuel technologies aimed at reducing the marine engine’s reliance on fossil fuels.
FMD will incorporate the research and development conducted at ORNL into its engine design technology.
ORNL will collaborate with Fairbanks Morse Defense on decarbonization efforts to develop alternative fuel technologies for marine engines. Image credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
Marine engines heavily rely on diesel fuel, which constitutes a significant annual expense for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). However, global decarbonization efforts are expected to limit the availability of diesel fuel and drive-up costs. Alternative fuel technologies are needed.
In anticipation of this shift, the DOD is exploring options to transition its marine engine technology to low-lifecycle carbon fuels (LLCF) such as methanol, ammonia, hydrogen, and biodiesel, as alternative fuels.
“Oak Ridge is a leader in decarbonization research, clean energy technology development, and defense manufacturing,” said Moe Khaleel, Associate Laboratory Director for National Security Sciences.
“Collaborating with a trusted national security partner like Fairbanks Morse Defense will enable us to translate our scientific expertise into deployable technologies for the Department of Defense.”
Under the terms of the MOU, ORNL will leverage its research and development expertise, while FMD will contribute its power and propulsion design and manufacturing proficiency to promote the use of LLCFs in marine engines.
FMD will define the performance and durability requirements and design testing components, while ORNL will provide research support in combustion strategies for LLCFs, high-temperature materials, additive manufacturing, elastomer compatibility, and corrosion.
“As climate change impacts our global waterways, these changing and unpredictable impacts directly affect our ability to protect the freedom of the seas,” said George Whittier, FMD CEO.
“We’re fully committed to supporting the Department of Defense’s 2030 decarbonization goals with fuel and engine technologies that will create a more sustainable future for the Navy, and we look forward to working with ORNL to explore these possibilities.”
Additional partnership intentions from the MOU include the following:
Collaborating on program development to identify and secure external research and development opportunities.
Establishing a single-cylinder research engine laboratory dedicated to exploring breakthroughs in areas such as safe fuel handling, LLCF combustion strategy, and experimental engine hardware configurations.
Supporting alternative fuel combustion development strategy through modeling studies that employ advanced analytics such as computational fluid dynamics simulations using high-performance computing resources.
UT-Battelle manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory for DOE’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the U.S. DOE’s Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://energy.gov/science.
Candle lighting in memory of the heroes. Photo credit: The European Times.
In Geneva, Switzerland on August 18 2023 the peaceful city again became the center of global compassion and unity as the United Nations observed World Humanitarian Day (August 19th). This annual event commemorates the Canal Hotel bombing in Baghdad back in 2003, where 22 UN staff members lost their lives. It not only honours those who made the ultimate sacrifice in humanitarian service but also highlights the tireless efforts of countless individuals and organizations from both the United Nations and Civil Society as a whole working towards alleviating suffering and upholding human dignity worldwide.
On Saturday, August 19th, 2023 people around the world come together to remember an occasion that forever changed humanitarian work. Two decades ago on this day, a devastating attack in Iraq claimed the lives of 22 colleagues within the United Nations.
In order to pay tribute to this event the United Nations has designated it as World Humanitarian Day (WHD). It serves as a moment for UN personnel and others involved in humanitarian endeavours to honour their fallen comrades. These lives were tragically cut short due to conflicts escalating tensions, disregard, for international human rights and humanitarian law deliberate attacks and misinformation spreading.
Every year a special ceremony takes place at the Palais Wilson in Geneva the headquarters of UN Human Rights. It’s a time for colleagues, family members and friends to come together and honour those who have passed away. This year the attendance at the morning ceremony nearly doubled. The room was filled with people sitting in every chair and many UN staff stood well. In that room, emotions ranged from grief to pride, hope and determination. They were united by their commitment to continue their work “No What,” which has become their motto for this 20th anniversary. People of different religions and beliefs attended the ceremony. Christians, Muslims, Humanists, Scientologists, Buddhists. All silently offering prayers for the fallen heroes and their families.
One touching story that exemplifies the mission of carrying on the work of those who have left us is that of Mattia Sélim Kanaan. He was born three weeks before his father Jean Sélim Kanaan tragically lost his life at the age of 33 while serving as Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq. Laura Dolci Kanaan, his widow has taken up the torch. Now serves as Secretary of the Universal Periodic Review, for Human Rights Council. Today Mattia Sélim Kanaan is a 20 year old student eagerly anticipating what lies ahead.
Reflecting on the two decades that have elapsed, Kanaan asserts,
“Twenty years is a long time, almost the equivalent of a new generation, a generation of new hope that can and must do its best in these uncertain times. My generation has to look up with pride to heroes like the ones of Baghdad – people that decided to put their talents and ambitions at the service of humanity… Their fighting spirit has stayed with us and is a bright and powerful light that guides and directs us in our lives.”
One individual who showed resilience during the tragedy is Dhafer Al Hussini, currently based in Geneva. He worked as part of the staff in Baghdad when the incident occurred and he vividly remembers how it had a significant impact on them. Several people had to leave their positions out of fear for their safety or due to contract non renewals. However Al Hussini remained steadfast. Determined, drawing inspiration, from the wisdom shared by someone he greatly respected, “Never be lonely on the path to truth due to its lack of paths.” This sentiment fortified his commitment to serve the cause of humanity with courage, defining it as the chosen path.
Survivor Shawbo Taher-Al-Talabani. Photo credit: The European Times
Shawbo Taher-Al-Talabani, now retired after years of dedicated service for the UN, takes us back to the ordinary morning of 19 August 2003. Office chatter was punctuated by laughter from Sergio Vieira de Mello, the Secretary General’s Special Representative for Iraq, and his Special Political Adviser, Ghassan Salamé. Little did they know, these moments of levity would be their last in that space. The tranquility was shattered at 4:30 p.m. by a deafening blast, altering lives forever.
Taher-Al-Talabani poignantly recalled,
“Many fell down; some never got up again, others were amazed to be still in one piece; incredulous to be still breathing. Those few long hours that afternoon seemed like an eternity… Some of us returned to our modest hotels, dazed with sadness, waiting anxiously to see who would re-join the usual crowd … and waiting for those who never will, Sergio, Nadia, Jean-Selim, Rick, Saad, and 17 other colleagues we lost that day.”
World Humanitarian Day also serves as a moment to honor the memory of colleagues lost in other tragic incidents in places like Afghanistan, Haiti, and Rwanda. UN Human Rights Chief, Volker Türk, eloquently captured the sentiment at the memorial ceremony, stating,
“It is very important that we honor their memories, that we cherish their memories, that we take from their lives, from their service to human rights, to development, to peace something that keeps within us and lives further.”
Latter in the day, at 4 pm, the heart of the event with the Commemoration Ceremony ot the Room XX of the Palais des Nations. People gathered as speeches and shared reflections filled the room with their echoes. A poignant video, created by the United Nations to conmmemorate those fallen in 2003 served as a reminder of the circumstances that led to this event.
The United Nations Secretary General, Mr. António Guterres delivered a message by video to the assembly through a video emphasizing the lasting importance of efforts. Ms. Tatiana Valovaya, Director General of the United Nations Office at Geneva gave a speech highlighting how solidarity is crucial in times of adversity.
A moment of silence enveloped the room as everyone paid tribute to those who lost their lives. Mr. Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights took stage to reflect on the courage and resilience that define humanitarian work.
Survivors shared moving testimonials that added a personal touch to the ceremony. Mr. Mujahed Mohammed Hasan recounted his experience as a survivor of a terrorist attack in Baghdad back in 2003—an inspiring testament to human strength, amidst difficult circumstances.
Representing the family of Jean Selim Kanaan Ms. Laura Dolci emphasized the impact of humanitarian work on those it touches, sharing the last message that she received from her husband, who said that they “can not abandon the iraki people, we must continue to help them”.
The presence of dignitaries, representatives and active members of civil society added significance to the occasion. Ambassador Abdul Karim Hashim Mostafa, Permanent Representative of Iraq expressed a message of unity and determination. Ambassador Julien Thöni, Deputy Permanent Representative of Switzerland highlighted the efforts needed to address global challenges.
A musical interlude by the United Nations Music Club and UN Choir in Geneva brought an atmosphere to the ceremony showcasing the power of art in conveying shared human experiences.
At 5;00 PM a Wreath Laying Ceremony took place outside Room XX at Palais des Nations. Ms. Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service guided the proceedings. Ms. Tatiana Valovaya, Director General of the United Nations Office at Geneva and Mr. Volker Türk United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights paid tribute by laying wreaths—an act honouring lives dedicated, to humanitarian causes.
At 5;20 PM as the sun started to set a reception was hosted by OCHA and the Permanent Mission of Switzerland. It was a kind gesture that allowed participants to engage in conversations and foster collaboration which had been a prevalent theme throughout the days events. The area outside Room XX, in Palais des Nations, turned into a hub for dialogue creating connections that will undoubtedly contribute to humanitarian efforts.
In the heart of Geneva, World Humanitarian Day 2023 brought the principles of compassion, unity and resilience to life.
As the world pauses to reflect on this somber anniversary, it is imperative that the resilience, dedication, and sacrifice of these fallen heroes continue to inspire and guide the ongoing efforts toward a more just and compassionate world. Their fighting spirit remains a beacon lighting the path for future generations to follow, ensuring that their legacy endures through the ages.
GENEVA (18 August 2023) – On the occasion of the International Day to commemorate victims of acts of violence based on religion or belief, a group of UN experts* issued the following joint statement:
“In 2019, 22 August was designated by the United Nations General Assembly as the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief, deploring the widespread violations suffered by individuals – including migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and persons belonging to minorities – who are targeted on the basis of religion or belief.
Back in 1981, it had taken some two decades for the international community to finally adopt the UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. That Declaration acknowledged the great suffering brought about by the disregard and infringement of human rights including of freedom of religion or belief. It noted that for those that profess religion or belief, this constitutes one of the fundamental elements of their conception of life and therefore also of their freedoms.
On this, the 75th anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), there is a particular resonance with the 1981 Declaration’s emphasis that the use of religion or belief for ends inconsistent with the UN Charter, the UDHR and other instruments is inadmissible and condemnable (Article 3).
The international community resolved to adopt all necessary measures to speedily eliminate and combat intolerance and discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, observing that this can stem from any actor whether a State, business, institution, group of persons, or person. Intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief is defined as: “Any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on religion or belief and having as its purpose or as its effect nullification or impairment of the recognition, enjoyment or exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms on an equal basis” (Article 2.2).
Regrettably, such impairments and violations continue to plague us from every direction in every corner of the world. 42 years on from the 1981 Declaration, this year’s international day to Commemorate the Victims of Acts of Violence based on Religion or Belief offers the opportunity to make visible the multiple, daily and egregious violence that takes place based on religion or belief, and to seek to respond to its root causes, urgently and with far greater determination.”
Music has the power to move our souls, transport us to different realms, and evoke a range of emotions. Behind these awe-inspiring melodies and breathtaking compositions, lie the secrets of the musical geniuses – the great composers and songwriters who have left an indelible mark on the world of music. What makes these creators stand out from the rest and how do they manage to captivate our hearts and minds? Let us delve into their world and uncover the secrets that lie within.
I. Ethereal Inspiration: The Muse of Great Composers
One of the intriguing aspects of musical geniuses is their ability to draw inspiration from unexpected sources, leading to extraordinary compositions. Behind every masterpiece lies a story or narrative that ignited the creative spark. Some composers, like Ludwig van Beethoven, found inspiration in nature, carefully observing the symphony of sounds around them. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral” beautifully captures the essence of nature, evoking the rustling of leaves and the flowing of rivers.
Others, such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, were able to tap into the divine, effortlessly translating their thoughts and emotions into celestial music. Mozart’s composition, “Requiem in D minor,” is said to have been his own interpretation of his impending death. The emotional depth and spiritual resonance of this piece continue to captivate audiences to this day.
The secret lies in the ability of these musical geniuses to be receptive to the beauty that surrounds them, whether in the natural world or within the depths of their own souls. Their melodies become a vessel through which they can express their innermost thoughts and emotions, transcending the limitations of language and touching the hearts of millions.
II. Continued Innovation: The Evolution of Songwriting
While some artists may find comfort in sticking to a formula that works, musical geniuses are constantly pushing the boundaries of what is perceived as possible in the realm of music. They have an insatiable thirst for experimentation, often blending different genres, styles, and even musical instruments to create something entirely new and unique.
Take, for example, the brilliance of Queen’s Freddie Mercury, who fearlessly merged rock, opera, and pop, resulting in unforgettable songs like “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The composition, structure, and intricate harmonies in this epic masterpiece remain unparalleled in the music industry.
Similarly, the iconic Beatles revolutionized songwriting, their unparalleled harmonies and innovative studio techniques transforming popular music forever. Songs like “A Day in the Life” or “Strawberry Fields Forever” showcased their willingness to experiment with unconventional structures and instrumentation.
The secret lies in their willingness to take risks and refuse to conform to societal norms. These musical geniuses are unafraid to challenge themselves and their audiences, ensuring a continuous evolution of their craft.
In conclusion, the secrets behind musical geniuses lay in their ability to find inspiration in the extraordinary and translate it into captivating compositions. Additionally, their obsession with innovation and constant desire to push boundaries ensures that their musical legacy remains timeless and unmatched. As we continue to enjoy the fruits of their labor, we can only hope that future generations of composers and songwriters find inspiration in their extraordinary journeys.
Russia’s Zenit Bank believes it is at risk of possible losses related to a loan granted in October 2021 in which it participated – but was then blacklisted
A Moscow court has banned the Swiss bank UBS and its acquired Credit Suisse from disposing of shares in their Russian subsidiaries. This is shown by court documents published after a request by the Russian “Zenit Bank”, which fears losses if the Swiss creditors leave Russia, Reuters reported.
Zenit Bank has submitted a statement to the court stating that it believes the Russian subsidiaries of UBS and Credit Suisse are preparing to cease their operations in Russia. This would expose the Russian bank to potential losses related to a loan granted in October 2021.
The Russian bank then joined an agreement to provide a syndicated loan to Luxembourg-based agricultural firm Intergrain, for which Credit Suisse acted as loan agent.
In November 2021, Zenit Bank transferred $20 million to Intergrain. However, after the western sanctions imposed on the bank, “Credit Suisse” has informed it that it will not transfer payments to it related to the loan for “Intergrain”.
Credit Suisse and UBS declined to comment on the matter when asked by Reuters.
Court documents also show that Zenith Bank has filed for interim measures, asking the court to seize funds belonging to Credit Suisse and UBS, as well as prohibit their disposal of shares.
The request of the Russian creditor for confiscation of funds was not satisfied, and the next court session is scheduled for September 14.
Last week, a Moscow court seized assets in Russia of US-based Goldman Sachs, including a 5 percent stake in Children’s World, the country’s largest toy retailer.
Meanwhile, Russia’s ruble has depreciated sharply in recent months, and the country’s central bank has stepped in to try to stem the slide, the Associated Press reports.
So far, the authorities have refrained from acting, as the weakening ruble has benefited the budget. However, a weaker currency also carries the danger of higher prices for ordinary people, and the government is finally stepping in to try to buck the trend.
The Associated Press points out key factors to know about what’s happening to the ruble:
Basic economic factors play a role, but things do not end there. Russia is selling less abroad — mostly reflecting declining oil and natural gas revenues — and importing more. When goods are imported into Russia, people or companies must sell rubles for a foreign currency such as the dollar or euro, and this depresses the ruble.
Russia’s trade surplus (meaning it sells more goods to other countries than it buys) has shrunk, and trade surpluses tend to support national currencies. Russia used to run a large trade surplus due to high oil prices and a collapse in imports after the invasion of Ukraine. However, crude oil prices have fallen this year, and Russia is also finding it harder to sell its oil because of Western sanctions, including price caps on crude oil and petroleum products such as diesel.
“Significantly weaker inflows of foreign currency due to the drop in exports is a key factor” in the depreciation of the ruble, according to the Kyiv School of Economics.
Meanwhile, nearly a year and a half after the war began, Russian imports have begun to recover as the Russians find ways around sanctions. Some trade is diverted through Asian countries that have not joined the sanctions. Importers, on the other hand, find ways to transport goods through neighboring countries such as Armenia, Georgia and Kazakhstan.
At the same time, Russia has increased its defense spending, for example by pouring money into companies that make weapons. Companies have to import parts and raw materials, and some government money finds its way into workers’ pockets, mostly because the country faces a labor shortage. That government spending alone, along with India and China’s willingness to buy Russian oil, is helping the country’s economy perform better than many expected. The International Monetary Fund indicated last month that it forecast the Russian economy to grow by 1.5 percent this year.
A weaker ruble makes inflation worse as it makes imports more expensive. And the ruble’s weakness is increasingly passed on to people through the prices they pay. In the last three months, inflation reached 7.6 percent, despite the central bank’s target level of 4 percent.
Higher interest rates will make it more expensive to get credit and this should limit domestic demand for goods, including imports. So the Russian Central Bank (RBC) is trying to cool the domestic economy to lower inflation. The bank raised its benchmark interest rate from 8.5 percent to 12 percent at an emergency meeting yesterday after the ruble’s depreciation was criticized by a Kremlin economic adviser.
Russia’s exports have shrunk because Western allies boycotted Russian oil and imposed a price cap on its supplies to other countries. Sanctions prevent insurers or logistics companies (most of which are based in Western countries) from working with contracts for Russian oil above $60 a barrel.
The cap and boycott, imposed last year, have forced Russia to sell at a discount and take expensive measures such as buying a fleet of “ghost tankers” that are outside the reach of sanctions. Russia also halted most natural gas sales to Europe, its biggest customer.
Oil revenue shrank 23 percent in the first half of the year, but Moscow still earns 425 million dinars a day from oil sales, according to the Kyiv School of Economics.
However, higher oil prices have recently sent Russian supplies above the price ceiling, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its August report.
The resumption of imports shows that Russia is finding ways around sanctions and boycotts. It has become more expensive and difficult, but if someone needs an iPhone or a Western car, they can find one. So the depreciation of the ruble is due to the sanctions, successful efforts to circumvent their effects and Moscow’s military efforts.
“The cheaper ruble partly reflects the consequences of the sanctions, but does not point to an underlying economic crisis,” said Chris Wafer, CEO of Macro Advisory Partners.
In fact, the depreciating ruble has helped the government in some important ways.
A lower exchange rate means more rubles for every dollar Moscow receives from sales of oil and other products. This increases the money the state can spend on defense and social programs aimed at mitigating the effects of the sanctions on the people of Russia.
“What the central bank and the finance ministry have done in the last few months is try to offset the decline in the dollar value of oil receipts with the weaker ruble so that the deficit in the form of spending is contained and more manageable Wafer points out.
Amid sanctions and restrictions on taking money out of the country, the ruble’s exchange rate is largely in the hands of the central bank, which can advise major exporters when to exchange their dollar earnings for Russian rubles.
When the ruble crossed the threshold of 100 rubles per dollar, the Kremlin and the Central Bank drew the line.
“The weakness was planned, but it went too far and they want to turn things back,” added Wafer, who said the ruble will trade in the middle of the 90-ruble-to-the-dollar range in the coming months, roughly where the government wants it.
The inflation caused by the devaluation of the ruble has hit poorer people harder than others because they spend more of their income on basic necessities like food.
Travel abroad – which is mostly enjoyed by a minority of residents of prosperous cities such as Moscow and St Petersburg – is becoming much more expensive due to the weak ruble.
In any case, public outrage has been limited given the measures imposed by the authorities to criticize the military “operation”, including the threat of imprisonment.
Illustrative Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/bank-banknotes-bills-business-210705/
On 12 August 2022, in the evening, about sixty people in their sixties were attending a quiet philosophy class in a coffee shop located on the ground-floor of a ten-floor building in the State of Israel Avenue, in a middle-class district of Buenos Aires when suddenly all hell broke loose.
This article was originally published by Bitter Winter under the title “Anti-Cult Repression in Argentina 1. PROTEX and Pablo Salum” (17 August 2023) A special agency against human trafficking cooperates with a bizarre anti-cult activist who regards even the Catholic Carmelite nuns as a “cult.”
Fully armed SWAT team police led by PROTEX—a state agency dealing with human trafficking, labor and sex exploitation of persons—broke the door of the meeting place and by force entered the building which was the seat of a yoga school, 25 private apartments and professional offices of a number of its members. They went up to all the premises and without knocking or ringing the bells, they violently opened all the doors by force, seriously damaging them.
According to a complaint by a person whose name was not officially disclosed, the founder of the Buenos Aires Yoga School (BAYS) recruited people through deceit in order to reduce them to a situation of servitude and/or sexual exploitation. The plaintiff chose afterwards to reveal his name and to boast about its initiative on his YouTube channel, his social media, and media in general: Pablo Gaston Salum.
In 2023, several scholars in religious studies were invited to Argentina to attend a panel in an international human rights event co-organized by the government and UNESCO. They took this opportunity to study the BAYS case.
Pablo Gaston Salum, born in 1978, had a hectic schooling and life. In 1990 and 1991, while he was living with his mother, a BAYS follower, he stopped attending his classes and had to repeat the 6th grade of his elementary school. In 1992, after (according to her report) beating his mother, he was taken in by his father. He was then 14 years old and his elementary school was still not finished. One year later, he quarreled with his stepmother and went to live at a friend’s family but at their own expense. After some time, they asked him to leave.
In 1995, he went back to the home of his father who after some time and some more quarrels declared him a runaway to the police. In the meantime, he tried to continue his studies in a secondary school but dropped out again. He went back again to his mother’s and continued his turbulent life with his parents.
In 1996, as he did not want to study any more or to work and was violent with his mother, his older brother German Javier, a former but not disgruntled follower of BAYS, took him at home. Despite his new human environment, his violence did not diminish and his brother German with another person filed a complaint against him for death threats. He was then detained by the police for two days. And Pablo Salum resumed his nomadic life, staying then with his stepfather Carlos Mannina, a former but not disgruntled BAYS member, already separated from his mother years before.
In the meantime, his brother had a successful professional life as the director of a real estate agency in Buenos Aires, and his sister has been working abroad for more than ten years as a nurse after having studied in the US.
The fantasies and the lies of Pablo Salum
Pablo Salum claims on his Instagram profile Pablogsalum to have founded the Freeminds Network (Red Librementes), a de facto association which is not known to be officially registered as a civic association. He also presents himself as a human rights activist and “the creator of the law of assistance to victims and relatives of coercive cults.”
The website Celeknow.com, which among other miscellaneous topics publishes gossips about a wide range of personalities in the spotlight, presents him as “a worker fighting for human and animal rights,” as well as “a social worker” and “an activist fighting against coercive cults.”
Nothing indicates that he has the profile of a human rights defender and no other professional website than his does.
Boasting on social media of alleged achievements such as “the creation of a law against cults” looks more like megalomania than a reality. Pablo Salum is not a lawmaker elected by the Argentinian people. Modesty is one of the main characteristics of a human rights defender. He does not have that quality. He constantly disguises reality and openly lies about his family life in order to present himself as a victim, a survivor of something fictitious, and an anticult crusader as this provides him opportunities to be interviewed by the media.
Pablo Salum is just a blogger and an influencer who wants to be in the spotlight as it can also be seen on his videos. The Argentinian authorities prosecuting BAYS on the basis of his declarations should reconsider the reliability and the relevance of their source of information in this regard.
Pablo Salum claims to have left the so-called “BAYS cult” at the age of 14, to which his mother and his older brother and sister belonged and are still allegedly under its grip. In the Argentinian media and in his own videos, he claims to be a “survivor,” to have lost track of his family—his mother, brother and sister—while weeping with a deceptive pathos over his lack of contact with them. He even goes so far as to declare that they have been “kidnapped” by the “cult.” For sure he is a good comedian.
The reality is very different and it is surprising that most Argentinian journalists do not bother to do the slightest verification about what he says and claims to be. A 15-minute video prepared and supplied to “Bitter Winter” by BAYS members (not involved in the investigation), ex-members and relatives, reveals irrefutable evidence of Pablo Salum’s fabrications and silenced disturbing facts about his conflictual relations with his family.
Pablo Salum’s mother has never changed her address since her son left. As for his brother German and his sister Andrea, all you had to do to get in touch with them was to google their names. Pablo Salum’s declarations about them are just all lies.
When somebody as strange as Pablo Salum is invited to the Argentinian Senate to talk about “cults,” we understand Argentina has a problem. From Facebook.
Salum siding with China’s dictatorship against persecuted religious minorities
In the area of freedom of religion or belief, Pablo Salum is certainly not a human rights activist. As a free thinker, he is even hostile to such a freedom.
In May 2022, he took sides with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) against Falun Gong practitioners tweeting “Remember that Falun Dafa is a dangerous coercive organization #Secta of Chinese origin that is operating in Argentina and other countries WITH IMPUNITY as seen in this photo. It would be good if you alert the public.” Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have largely documented the cases of illegal detention and forced organ harvesting of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners by the Chinese government. Salum has taken an opposite direction.
Explanatory Bible, or Commentaries on all the books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament: in 7 volumes / ed. A. P. Lopukhin. - Fourth edition, Moscow: Dar, 2009 (in Russian)
By Prof. A. P. Lopukhin
Matthew 6:12. and forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors;
The Russian translation is accurate, if only we admit that “we leave” (in the Slavic Bible) – ἀφίεμεν is really set in the present tense, and not in the aorist (ἀφήκαμεν), as in some codices. The word ἀφήκαμεν has “the best attestation”. Tischendorf, Elford, Westcote, Hort put ἀφήκαμεν – “we left”, but the Vulgate is the present (dimittimus), as well as John Chrysostom, Cyprian and others. Meanwhile, the difference in meaning, depending on whether we accept this or that reading, is significant. Forgive us our sins, because we ourselves forgive or have already forgiven. Anyone can understand that the latter is, so to speak, more categorical. Forgiveness of sins by us is set as a condition for forgiveness of ourselves, our earthly activity here serves as a model for the activity of heaven.
The images are borrowed from ordinary lenders who lend money, and debtors who receive it and then return it. The parable of the rich but merciful king and ruthless debtor can serve as an explanation for the petition (Mt. 18:23-35). The Greek word ὀφειλέτης means a debtor who must pay someone ὀφείλημα, money debt, other people’s money (aes alienum). But in a broader sense, ὀφείλημα generally means any obligations, any payment, to give, and in the place under consideration this word is put in place of the word “sin”, “crime” (ἀμαρτία, παράπτωμα). The word is used here on the model of the Hebrew and Aramaic “lov”, which means both debt (debitum) and guilt, crime, sin (¬¬ culpa, reatus, peccatum).
The second sentence (“as we forgive” and so on) has long led interpreters into great difficulty. First of all, they discussed what to understand by the word “how” (ὡς), whether to take it in the strictest sense or in an easier one, in relation to human weaknesses. Understanding in the strictest sense made many church writers tremble at the fact that the very size or amount of divine forgiveness of our sins is completely determined by the size of our own ability or ability to forgive the sins of our fellowmen. In other words, divine mercy is defined here by human mercy. But since a person is not capable of the same mercy that is characteristic of God, the position of the one who prays, who did not have the opportunity to reconcile, made many shudder and tremble.
The author of the work “Opus imperfectum in Matthaeum” attributed to St. John Chrysostom testifies that in the ancient Church those who prayed completely omitted the second sentence of the fifth petition. One writer advised: “Saying this, oh man, if you do so, i.e. pray, think about what is said: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God” (Heb. 10:31). Some, according to Augustine, tried to make some kind of detour and instead of sins they understood monetary obligations. Chrysostom, apparently, wanted to eliminate the difficulty when he pointed out the difference in relations and circumstances: “The release initially depends on us, and the judgment pronounced on us lies in our power. What judgment you yourself pronounce on yourself, the same judgment I will pronounce on you. If you forgive your brother, then you will receive the same benefit from Me – although this last is actually much more important than the first. You forgive another because you yourself have a need for forgiveness, and God forgives Himself without needing anything. You forgive a brother, and God forgives a servant, you are guilty of countless sins, and God is sinless. Modern scholars are also aware of these difficulties and try to explain the word “how” (ὡς), apparently correctly, in a slightly softened way. A strict understanding of this particle is not allowed by the context. In the relationship between God and man, on the one hand, and man and man, on the other, there is no complete equality (paritas), but only a similarity of argument (similitudo rationis). The king in the parable shows more mercy to the slave than the slave to his comrade. Ὡς can be translated as “like” (similiter). What is meant here is a comparison of two actions by kind, not by degree.
Conclusion
Let us say that the idea of the forgiveness of sins from God under the condition of the forgiveness of the sins of our neighbors was, apparently, alien at least to paganism. According to Philostratus (Vita Apollonii, I, 11), Apollonius of Tyana suggested and recommended that the worshiper turn to the gods with such a speech: “You, oh gods, pay me my debts, – my due” (ὦς θεοί, δοίητέ μοι τὰ ὀφειλόμενα).
Matthew 6:13. and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
The words “and do not bring in” immediately make it clear that God leads into temptation, there is a reason for it. In other words, if we do not pray, we may fall into temptation from God, who will lead us into it. But is it possible and how is it possible to attribute such a thing to the Supreme Being? On the other hand, such an understanding of the sixth petition, apparently, contradicts the words of the Apostle James, who says: “in temptation (at the time, in the midst of temptation) no one says: God is tempting me, because God is not tempted by evil and Himself does not tempt anyone” (James 1:13). If so, then why pray to God so that He does not lead us into temptation? Even without prayer, according to the apostle, he does not tempt anyone and will not tempt anyone. Elsewhere the same apostle says: “My brethren, receive with great joy when you fall into various temptations” (James 1:2). From this we can conclude that, in at least some cases, temptations are even useful, and therefore there is no need to pray for deliverance from them. If we turn to the Old Testament, we find that “God tempted Abraham” (Gen. 22:1); “The wrath of the Lord kindled again against the Israelites, and he stirred up David in them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah” (2 Sam. 24:1; cf. 1 Chr. 21:1). We will not explain these contradictions if we do not admit that God allows evil, although He is not the author of evil. The cause of evil is the free will of free beings, which is split in two as a result of sin, i.e. takes either a good or an evil direction. Due to the existence of good and evil in the world, world actions or phenomena are also divided into evil and good, evil appears like turbidity in clean water or like poisoned air in clean air. Evil can exist independently of us, but we can become participants in it by virtue of the fact that we live in the midst of evil. The verb εἰσφέρω used in the verse under consideration is not as strong as εἰσβάλλω; the first does not express violence, the second does. Thus “do not lead us into temptation” means: “do not lead us into such an environment where evil exists”, do not allow this. Do not allow us, due to our unreason, to go in the direction of evil, or that evil approaches us regardless of our guilt and will. Such a request is natural and was quite understandable to the hearers of Christ, because it is based on the deepest knowledge of human nature and the world.
It seems that there is no particular need here to discuss the very nature of temptations, some of which seem beneficial to us, while others are harmful. There are two Hebrew words, “bahan” and “nasa” (both used in Ps. 25:2), which mean “to try” and are used more often of a just test than an unjust test. In the New Testament, only one corresponds to both of these words – πειρασμός, and the Seventy interpreters translate them into two (δοκιμάζω and πειράζω). The purpose of temptations may be that a person be δόκιμος – “tested” (James 1:12), and such an activity may be characteristic of God and useful to people. But if a Christian, according to the Apostle James, should rejoice when he falls into temptation, because as a result of this he may turn out to be δόκιμος and “receive the crown of life” (James 1:12), then in this case he must also “pray for preservation from temptations, because he cannot claim that he will overcome the test – δόκιμος. Thus Christ calls blessed those who are persecuted and reviled for His name (Matt. 5:10-11), but what kind of Christian would seek slander and persecution, and even strive for them strongly? (Tolyuk, [1856]). The more dangerous for a person are temptations from the devil, who is called πειραστής, πειράζων. This word eventually acquired a bad meaning, as well as used several times in the New Testament πειρασμός. Hence, the words “lead us not into temptation” can be understood as temptation not from God, but from the devil, who acts on our inner inclinations and thereby plunges us into sin. The understanding “do not introduce” in a permissive sense: “do not allow us to be tempted” (Evfimy Zigavin), and πειρασμός in a special sense, in the sense of a temptation that we cannot endure, must be rejected as unnecessary and arbitrary. If, therefore, temptation in the place under consideration means temptation from the devil, then such an explanation should affect the subsequent meaning of the words “from the evil one” – τοῦ πονηροῦ.
We have already met this word, here it is translated in Russian and Slavonic indefinitely – “from the evil one”, in the Vulgate – a malo, in the German translation of Luther – von dem Uebel, in English – from evil (also there is an English version from the evil one. – Note ed.), i.e. from evil. Such a translation is justified by the fact that if it were to be understood here as “from the devil”, then there would be a tautology: do not lead us into temptation (it is understood – from the devil), but deliver us from the devil. Τὸ πονηρόν in the neuter gender with an article and without a noun means “evil” (see comments on Matt. 5:39), and if Christ meant the devil here, then, as it is rightly noted, he could say: ἀπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου or τοῦ πειράζ οντος. In this regard, “deliver” (ῥῦσαι) should also be explained. This verb is combined with two prepositions “from” and “from”, and this, apparently, is determined by the real meaning of this kind of combinations. One cannot say about a person who has plunged into a swamp: deliver him from (ἀπό), but from (ἐκ) a swamp. One might suppose, therefore, that in verse 12 it would have been better to use “of” if it were speaking of evil rather than the devil. But there is no need for this, because from other cases it is known that “to deliver from” indicates a real, already occurring danger, “to deliver from” – an assumed or possible one. The meaning of the first combination is “to get rid of”, the second – “to protect”, and the thought of getting rid of the already existing evil to which a person is already subject is not completely eliminated.
Conclusion
We note that the two petitions set forth in this verse are considered by many sectarians (Reformed, Arminian, Socinian) as one, so that the Lord’s Prayer has only six petitions.
Doxology is accepted by John Chrysostom, the Apostolic Decrees, Theophylact, Protestants (in the German translation of Luther, in the English translation), as well as Slavic and Russian texts. But there are some reasons to think that it was not said by Christ, and therefore it was not in the original gospel text. This is primarily indicated by differences in the pronunciation of the words themselves, which can also be observed in our Slavic texts. So, in the Gospel: “for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen,” but the priest says after “Our Father”: “for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever and ever.”
In the Greek texts that have come down to us, such differences are even more noticeable, which could not be if the doxology were borrowed from the original text. It is not in the oldest manuscripts and the Vulgate (only “amen”), it was not known to Tertullian, Cyprian, Origen, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Jerome, Augustine, St. Gregory of Nyssa and others. Evfimy Zigavin directly says that it was “applied by church interpreters.” The conclusion that can be drawn from 2 Timothy 4:18, according to Alford, speaks against doxology rather than in favor of it. The only thing that can be said in its favor is that it is found in the ancient monument “The Teaching of the 12 Apostles” (Didache XII apostolorum, 8, 2) and in the Pescito Syriac translation. But in the “Teaching of the 12 Apostles” it is in this form: “because Yours is the power and the glory forever” ς); and the Peshitta “does not stand above suspicion in some interpolations and additions from the lectionaries.” It is assumed that this was a liturgical formula, which over time was included in the text of the Lord’s Prayer (cf. 1 Chronicles 29:10-13).
Initially, perhaps only the word “amen” was introduced, and then this formula was spread partly on the basis of existing liturgical formulas, and partly by adding arbitrary expressions, just as the gospel words spoken by the Archangel Gabriel are common in our church (and Catholic) song “Virgin Mary, Rejoice”. For the interpretation of the gospel text, doxology either does not matter at all, or has only a small one.
The issue is important for children’s and public health.
Children can recognize if the person in front of them is sick, a scientific study found, reported “Medical Express”.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), infections are the leading cause of death in children. Children are also more vulnerable to infection.
Understanding children’s ability to recognize when the person in front of them is sick and to avoid them is important for child and public health. According to earlier studies, adults can recognize the signs of illness in the person opposite them and avoid contact with them accordingly.
Scientists from the universities of Miami, Hong Kong, Duke University and James Madison University have prepared a collection of photos of people sick with viral diseases such as COVID-19, as well as completely healthy or already cured patients. The results of the scientific study, published in the magazine “Child Development”, show that adults and children who have reached the age of 8-9 are able to recognize the “sick face”. The study is among the first to use photographs of the same people in different phases – sick, cured, completely healthy.
There were 160 participants in the study – children aged 4-5 years, children aged 8-9 years and adults. Participants answered the questions online.
The children were shown two pictures of the same person, a sick one and a healthy one, and were asked the question “Which of the twins would you like to sit next to at dinner?”
The second part of the study included a question about which of the pictures the person did not feel good about.
According to the results, children aged 8-9 are able to recognize and avoid sick people. Adults are even more observant, and children in the 4-5 year group are the least observant. This shows that observation develops over the years.
Illustrative Photo by Naomi Shi: https://www.pexels.com/photo/three-toddler-eating-on-white-table-1001914/
