Stéphane Dujarric described the direct transfer of money, mostly to those who have been displaced and lost their jobs due to the fighting, as “a continuation of crucial assistance that we, along with our partners, have provided in most regions of Ukraine”.
He said last year, some six million people across different parts of Ukraine had been provided with cash, and this year more than $200 million had been transferred to help Ukrainians meet their basic needs.
“This was made possible through the coordinated efforts of [more than] 20 partners, including UN agencies, national non-governmental organizations and international non-governmental organizations as well”, said Mr. Dujarric.
One billion target
He added that the target overall, was to provide cash assistance to around 4.4 million people, transferring close to $1 billion in total.
And overall, humanitarians are hoping to provide some kind of relief to more than 11 million people of the nearly 18 million who need assistance in Ukraine.
“To this end, we and our partners requested $3.9 billion for the response”, the UN Spokesperson continued. “So far, we received a total of $900 million so we count on the international community to sustain its support to the humanitarian response in the country, as the war continues to drive a grave humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, particularly in the east and the south.
Over the weekend, the UN managed to provide shelter materials and other vital items to more than 1,500 people in a community along the Dnipro River in Kherson region.
It’s the first time that aid workers have managed to reach the area just a few hundred metres from the frontline, “where the level of destruction is appalling”, according to the UN humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) in Ukraine.
UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the country, Denise Brown, said on Monday that in getting two convoys into the Donetsk and Kherson regions last Friday, UN teams were “inching our way towards the frontline, to relieve the suffering of these communities who are under constant shelling”.
The UN chief spoke earlier in the day to President William Ruto of Kenya and with the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Moussa Faki.
Mr. Guterres will attend a virtual meeting on Sudan on Thursday, bringing together the AU Chairperson, the Secretary-General of the Arab League, the Executive Secretary of the East African bloc, IGAD, and other relevant organizations, to discuss ways the international community can help end the violence and restore order inside Sudan.
“Obviously, today he will continue to be fully engaged, making phone calls, trying to secure a 24-hour ceasefire, which will enable a much-needed reprieve to all affected civilians in Khartoum,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told journalists attending his daily noon briefing in New York.
The UN Special Representative in Sudan, Volker Perthes, also continues engagement with parties on the ground, key Sudanese leaders and Member States, in trying to secure an immediate de-escalation in the fighting.
The crisis between the Sudanese armed forces and formerly allied Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries emerged as the country appeared to be returning to the path towards democratic transition. The sides are at odds over the process of restoring civilian rule.
New 24-hour ceasefire
The deadly clashes erupted on Saturday. An initial 24-hour ceasefire, announced for 6 pm, local time, on Tuesday, collapsed within minutes of the deadline.
The parties committed to a new 24-hour truce on Wednesday, also beginning at 6 pm, local time, but some international media reported that the shelling has continued.
The UN, AU and IGAD – known as the Trilateral Mechanism – issued a statement appealing to the sides “to create necessary conditions during this period for the civilians to seek safe shelter, food and medical care.”
Devastating impact on civilians
Mr. Dujarric said the continued heavy fighting is having devastating consequences for civilians, as well as UN staff and other members of the international community.
“We reiterate to the parties to the conflict that they must respect international law,” he said.
“They are obliged to protect civilians and ensure the safety and security of all United Nations and associated personnel as well as their premises, our assets, and trapped civilians must be able to receive assistance, access essential supplies and evacuate to safer zones as needed.”
Vital supplies dwindling
As the crisis deepens, humanitarians warn that people are running out of food, fuel and other vital supplies, and many urgently need medical care.
“We desperately need a humanitarian pause so that wounded and sick civilians can reach hospitals,” Mr. Dujarric said, adding “people in Khartoum have been unable to safely leave their homes to buy food and other essential items for days.”
He reported that the humanitarian response remains severely hampered, calling for an end to attacks against aid workers and looting of humanitarian facilities.
“Humanitarians must be able to safely carry out their work. Aid agencies must be able to safely move staff and replenish critical supplies,” he stressed.
Health system concerns
The UN is also worried that Sudan’s healthcare system could completely collapse as hospitals need additional staff and supplies, including blood.
The violence and attacks have forced 16 hospitals across the country to close, nine in Khartoum alone, Mr. Dujarric said, citing the World Health Organization (WHO). Another 16 hospitals, including in Darfur states, could close soon due to staff fatigue and lack of supplies.
“It goes without saying that we condemn all attacks on health personnel, on facilities and ambulances – which is putting more lives at risk,” he said. “These are flagrant violations of international law, and they must stop.”
Sudanese refugees seek safety in neighboring Chad following an outbreak of violence in Darfur.
Sudanese refugees arrive in Chad
As fighting rages on in Sudan, humanitarian agencies are also monitoring the arrivals of new Sudanese refugees in neighbouring Chad, a representative of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said early on Wednesday.
UNHCR’s Laura Lo Castro tweeted about a joint mission conducted with the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and Chad’s national commission in charge of refugees, to observe the influx of new Sudanese refugees in the east, “assess urgent needs and agree on [a] response plan”.
She said there were an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 new refugees in the first three sites visited.
Any new arrivals will be entering a situation marked by soaring humanitarian needs and chronic underfunding.
Just last week, before the military power struggle erupted in Sudan, WFP warned that hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced people in Chad could face hunger because there was no funding for food assistance beyond this coming May.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine apparently contains secret U.S. nuclear technology, which is why the United States has warned Moscow not to touch it.
Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Image credit: IAEA Imagebank via Flickr, CC BY 2.0
This warning about sensitive nuclear technology that is physically located in the Zaporizhzhia power plant was officially stated in a letter from the U.S. Department of Energy sent to the Russian state company Rosatom on March 17, 2003, according to the article published by CNN which refers to a Ukrainian media resource RBC Ukraine.
It is not known what specific American technologies are deployed in the Ukrainian energy facility.
Director of the Department of Energy’s Office of Nonproliferation Policy, Andrea Ferkile wrote in a letter to the CEO of a Russian state-owned company Rosatom that Ukraine’s Zaporozhye nuclear power plant “contains US-origin nuclear technical data that is export-controlled by the United States Government.”
The letter explicitly noted that goods, software, and technology are subject to US export controls, particularly when there is a potential for their use in a manner that harms US national security interests.
The Ukrainian nuclear power plant is still operated and maintained by Ukrainian workers and nuclear specialists. However, the facility is de facto controlled by Rosatom after it was occupied by the invading Russian army.
This is probably the first publicly known case when the U.S. Department of Energy has warned the Russian state-owned company that any actions by citizens or organizations of the Russian Federation with American technology which is present in Ukraine are illegal.
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The wreck of the royal ship Vasa was recovered in 1961 and is remarkably well preserved after more than 300 years underwater in Stockholm harbor
An American military laboratory has helped the Swedes confirm what had been suspected for years: a woman was among the dead on a 17th-century warship that sank on its maiden voyage. This was announced last week by the museum where the ship is exhibited, AP reported.
The wreck of the Royal Warship Vasa was recovered in 1961 and is remarkably well preserved after more than 300 years underwater in Stockholm harbour. Since then, the ship has been housed in the Vasa Museum, one of the biggest tourist attractions in the Swedish capital, where visitors can admire its exquisite carvings.
About 30 people died when the Vasa capsized and sank just minutes after leaving port in 1628. They are believed to have been crew members, and the identities of most of them are unknown.
For years, there had been indications that one of the victims, known as “Ge,” was a woman because of the shape of the hip bone, Fred Hawker, head of research at the Vasa Museum, said in a statement.
Anna Maria Forsberg, a historian from the Vasa Museum, specified that women were not part of the crews of the Swedish fleet in the 17th century, but could be on board as guests. Sailors were allowed to take their wives with them on board unless the ship was going to battle or on a long voyage.
“We know from written sources that about 30 people died that day,” Forsberg says, adding: “So it is likely that she was a sailor’s wife who wanted to come with him on the maiden voyage of this new, impressive ship “. She also said that the exact number of people on board that day is not known, “but we estimate that there were about 150 people, with the assumption that another 300 soldiers were to be taken on board further in the archipelago.” .
Since 2004, the Vasa Museum has collaborated with Uppsala University’s Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, which has been examining all the skeletons to learn as much as possible about the different people on the doomed ship. “Extracting DNA from bones that have been on the seabed for 333 years is very difficult, but not impossible,” says Marie Allen, professor of forensic genetics at Uppsala University. “Put simply, we found no Y-chromosomes in the ‘Ge’ genome, but we couldn’t be completely sure and wanted the results to be confirmed,” she explained.
So the Swedes turned to the Delaware-based DNA Identification Laboratory for the US Armed Forces. “Thanks to the forensic medical expertise in a new test, we were able to confirm that the individual ‘Ge’ was a woman,” explained Alain.
The Vasa, which was due to head to a naval base near Stockholm to wait for troops to board, is believed to have sunk because it had no ballast to counteract its heavy guns.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces are using inflatable and wooden decoys to confuse the Russians and reduce the lethal threat posed by the Russian combat drones and other weapons in the Russian army’s arsenal.
Example of an inflatable tank. Image credit: Inflatech
Warfare based on deception is known since the first ancient wars. And even when technology has advanced to the current level, different methods to conceal the real military forces are still being used.
Drones, ranged weapons and other technological advances have significantly changed the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine. But dummies are a very effective method to fight these new threats, writes The Economist.
Inflatable tanks
The Russian military constantly reports having destroyed innumerable units of M142 HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems. Kiev, for its part, claims that not a single HIMARS has been lost since the United States began supplying them last July. What is the reason for such a mismatch of combat statistics?
The reason why this happens may look way too simple, and even a bit amusing.
Ukraine has a fleet of wooden replicas of HIMARS, which are mounted on heavy trucks. But its military forces have an even longer experience in using decoys. Since 2018, Ukraine has started using inflatable models of heavy armored vehicles and weapon platforms, explained Andrijus Rymaruks, a representative of the “Return Alive” foundation.
Inflatable Decoys of HIMARS and some kind of Main Battle Tank possibly an M1A1 Abrams produced by the Czech Company Inflatech have been Photographed, however their CEO has refused to say if his Decoys are going to Ukraine but that Sale are indeed up almost 30% since last year. pic.twitter.com/W3gc2CY7ln
Wooden “equipment” is heavy and consists of several parts. To transport it, a cargo vehicle is needed. Furthermore, an engineering team has to assemble and dismantle them, as needed. Meanwile, the inflatable structure is made of nylon fabric, is cheaper to produce, light enough to carry in a backpack.
According to an engineer from the Czech company Inflatech, which produces mock-ups of armored cars, these systems are installed very quickly: you only need to turn on the pump and in ten minutes a “brand-new copy” of HIMARS is ready.
Tanks, artillery, mortars, machine guns – you name it. It is possible to make nylon, rubber, or wooden analog for almost any type of military equipment.
The Russian Federation also has factories for the production of inflatable structures, including fighter jets and missile systems. From a distance – like, for example, when observing the territory from a high-altitude drone or satellite imagery – the airbase with these dummies will seem overcrowded with combat aircraft.
Difficulties arise when replicating some specific parts of armored vehicles, such as the antennas of radar systems. According to an engineer at Inflatech, the tanks’ cannons are too long, so aluminum tubes are used instead of inflatable parts. Inflatech’s orders have increased by 30 percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.
In turn, decoy layouts and the overall production technology were also improved. Now, a fake tank – inflatable or wooden – is practically indistinguishable from a real one from a distance of five meters. Which, in fact, seems difficult to believe, but these are the words of military officers.
In order to confuse the thermal imagers of drones, the inflatable mock-ups are equipped with reflectors and false thermal signature generators, which imitate the signal obtained after a projectile hits a real tank.
Currently, such decoys are mainly used to reduce the threat posed by the Russian Lancet drones, which are considered the most dangerous aircraft of their kind. The operating range of Lancet drones is 40 km, and they can carry up to 3 kg of explosives.
But not only drones can be fooled by these measures. Enemy artillery also wastes tons of ammo to hit fake structures.
In the history of the wars of the last millennium, the main platform of conflicts was Europe. But thanks to extraordinary decisions taken after the Second World War (for example, instead of continuing the confrontation, Germany and France created a structure of mutually beneficial relations – the European Union), the idea of a new war was practically excluded from the relations between the historical opponents. Unfortunately, some institutions created in the second half of the last century have proved to be less effective. The United Nations has failed since its creation to prevent any major wars, mainly due to the lack of mechanisms to resolve military conflicts by diplomatic means if Security Council members are involved in the conflict. Nor has it been able to establish an effective institution of negotiation between Council members in military conflict.
The world needs a new institution and also a different vision of relations between countries. The world needs to be more united and fairer for all, where today’s adversaries become allies. Indeed, there is a lack of a project that brings together all the countries of the world in a common cause.
In the modern world, there is only one absolutely neutral and “equidistant” centre that can create the conditions for dialogue between countries in conflict. This is Pope Francis, who in the global negotiation process offers real hope that it is possible to emerge from the conflict in Ukraine into a new creative reality. Francis, on the one hand, is irreconcilable with the evils of war; on the other hand, he maintains his political neutrality with all parties to the conflict, and this creates a new basis for the dialogue of civilisations.
The Pope acts as a moderating arbiter in the search for a just world and a peace formula that satisfies all, offering the Vatican as a platform for the negotiation processes of the conflicting parties. Here it is important to emphasise that the Vatican is a neutral state, the Pope is its head, and in his service to peacebuilding, he can rise above the confessional framework of Catholicism, presenting the Vatican not as the “capital of the Church”, but as an international platform for dialogue between countries of different traditions and cultures. I can imagine the presence in the Vatican of Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist and Confucian representatives, even atheists, with the Pope acting as a moderator.
In this context, the Vatican is the key piece in the jigsaw of the international relations system, the subject of law that is capable of restarting the UN’s activities, making them viable and effective. It is called upon to become an institution in which peace negotiations between the members of the Security Council become effective. To this end, the Vatican and the figure of the Pope are transformed from symbols of the West, i.e. a part of the Western ghetto, to the centre on a truly universal scale, a unifying symbol of East, West, North and South. Pope Francis’ reforms, often criticised by the Catholic faithful, actually point the way in this direction: out of the Western ghetto towards the construction of a single world, just for all.
Wars will not disappear as long as history lasts. But one thing is clear: the fewer wars there are, the closer we will be to the Kingdom of Heaven. And the role of the Pope and a new Vatican as the new Jerusalem are key in this process.
Chinese youth took the exam for civil service positions this year, amid rising youth unemployment.
Government jobs are usually considered lucrative in China. The move to public office came shortly after Xi Jinping won the position of China’s leader for an unprecedented third term.
Before him, the unity is in the eyes of the dominant Chinese Communist Party. This means that the party will increase the activity in the economy, including in front of the business.
Millions of citizens seeking civil service must take the Chinese Civil Service Exam, which begins to run for the Chinese People’s Republic of China before the end of the year.
The modified exam consists of two parts, which includes the writing of an essay, called “šen lun” or “concrete writing and protection of the argument”.
The text includes, among other things, the current report of the National Committee of the Communication Ministry of China and other rules and warnings. The exam covers and tests language skills, data analysis, quantitative methods, “assessment and reasoning” and “health assessment”.
The state increases the rate of sales at the national level by about 15% to 20%, so it is necessary to put on the insurance policy.
It is the only known remnant and the fourth manuscript so far that attests to an Old Syriac language version and offers unique access to the earliest translations of Gospel texts
A researcher from the Austrian Academy of Sciences has discovered a unique fragment of a 1750-year-old translation of the New Testament in the Vatican Library, DPA reported.
The two pages were found hidden in another manuscript, already copied twice. They represent the almost complete 12th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, medievalist Gregory Kessel announced on Thursday.
It is the only known remnant and the fourth manuscript so far that testifies to an Old Syriac language version and offers unique access to the earliest translations of Gospel texts, experts believe.
The Syriac language is a dead literary language – an Aramaic dialect that arose in the 1st century AD. from a local Aramaic dialect. It was important to Christian literary and religious texts.
According to the academy, dating of the Syriac translation found it to have been written at least a century before the oldest extant Greek manuscripts.
The chapter was translated in the 2nd or 3rd century and deals, among other things, with behavior on the Sabbath.
For example, while the original Greek Gospel of Matthew, chapter 12, verse 1 says, “At that time Jesus went through the fields on the Sabbath; and His disciples were hungry and began to gather ears of corn and eat,” the Syriac translation says: “[. ..] began to pick ears of corn, rub them in their hands and eat them.”
About 1,300 years ago, a scribe in Palestine erased the original Gospel book written in Syriac text, the academy found. In the Middle Ages, parchment was scarce in the desert, so sheets were often reused.
Until recently, only three manuscripts containing an Old Syriac translation of the Gospels were known. The newly found manuscript fragment can be seen as a fourth textual monument, the Austrian Academy of Sciences said.
Photo: The fragment of the Syriac translation of the New Testament under ultraviolet light / Vatican Library
Scientists have performed a CT scan of the mummy of Jed-Hor from Heidelberg, Germany, which represents an elderly man who lived in Egypt, apparently in the 4th-1st century BC. Examination of his skull showed that he had suffered from acute mastoiditis, which probably caused fatal complications such as meningitis or brain abscess. It appears that some type of therapeutic compress was applied to the man’s temple bone, which was not removed during mummification. This is reported in an article published in the European Annals of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Diseases. Large-scale excavations in Egypt continued for more than a century. During this time, thousands of well-preserved ancient bodies have come to the disposal of researchers, many of which are still poorly studied. In recent years, the modern methods of paleoradiology have come to the aid of scientists, which made it possible to achieve significant progress in the study of bioarchaeological materials.
Unlike traditional pathological examinations, modern imaging techniques (such as computed tomography and 3D reconstruction) allow mummified bodies to be examined as sparingly as possible. For example, traces of heavy metal poisoning can be detected, the causes of death of certain people can be determined, and museum exhibits can be checked for authenticity. Roman Sokiranski of the Varna Medical University, together with his colleagues from Germany and the USA, conducted research on the mummy of Jed-Hor, kept in the German city of Heidelberg. It is believed to have originated in the Egyptian city of Ahmim and dates back to the Ptolemaic dynasty (4th – 1st century BC) – scientists plan to establish a more precise age using radiocarbon analysis. Researchers have determined that the mummy belonged to an elderly man who lived around 50 years. After death, the causes of which remain unclear to researchers, his internal organs and brain were removed, the body embalmed, then wrapped in resin-soaked linen bandages and covered with a thin layer of natural bitumen.
With the help of computed tomography, the researchers decided to find out what health problems this man had. The scientists found that the tympanic cavity, the external auditory canal and some other places were filled with a gray substance that looked like dried pus. Additionally, on the outside of this man’s right temporal bone lies a compress measuring approximately 7×10×0.7 centimeters, which is significantly different in density from the surrounding linen bandages covering the mummy. According to the researchers, the mummified Jed-Hor apparently suffered from acute mastoiditis. Scientists suggest that this inflammatory disease led to the development of severe intracranial complications (for example, meningitis or brain abscess), from which the man eventually died. At the same time, the discovered compress, according to the authors of the work, may have been a means of treatment – perhaps it was soaked in some kind of healing agent (from oil or honey to cat or crocodile excrement). In this case, however, it remains unclear why this compress was not removed during mummification.
Waist-high machines that greet guests, guide them to their tables, deliver food and drinks, and carry used crockery and utensils to the kitchen – you may have seen them in restaurants. Some have cat-like faces and even purr if you pat them on the head.
But are robots the waiters of the future? The restaurant industry is increasingly trying to answer this question.
Many believe that robot waiters are the solution to the industry’s understaffing. Sales of this type of robot have skyrocketed in recent years, and tens of thousands are already gliding through restaurant lounges around the world.
There’s no doubt in my mind that the world is moving in that direction, says Dennis Reynolds, dean of Hilton College at the University of Houston. The college’s restaurant turned to the services of a robot last December, and according to Reynolds, it has eased the workload on staff and made service more efficient.
Others say that robot waiters are nothing more than a gimmick, and that there is a long way to go before they can replace humans. They cannot take orders, many restaurants have staircases, summer gardens and other physical obstacles that robots cannot adapt to.
“Restaurants are pretty chaotic places, so it’s very difficult to implement automation in a really effective way,” said Craig le Clair, Forrester’s vice president of automation research.
However, robots are spreading. The California company “Bear Robotics” introduced its Servi robot in 2021, and by the end of the year, 10,000 such robots are expected to work in 44 US states and abroad. China’s Pudu Robotics, established in 2016, has already provided over 56,000 robot waiters worldwide.
“Every restaurant chain is moving toward as much automation as possible,” said Phil Zheng of Austin, Texas-based manufacturer Richtech Robotics. “In the next year or two, we’ll see them everywhere.”
In the summer of 2021, Li Chai fails to hire staff for his restaurant Noodle Topia in Madison Heights, Michigan and purchases the robot BellaBot from Pudu Robotics. The robot was so successful that Chai bought two more, and now one robot guides diners to their tables while the other delivers the bowls of hot dishes. Employees stack the used utensils on the third robot, which carries them to the kitchen.
Chai now needs only three employees for the same volume of work that previously employed five or six people. It also saves him money. The robot costs him about 15,000 US dollars, and the cost for the employee is 5,000-6,000 US dollars per month.
Chai said the robots allow human waiters to pay more attention to customers, which increases their tips. Customers often post photos with the robots on social media, and this encourages others to visit the restaurant as well.
The relationship between robots and human employees is different. Betsy Giron Reynosa, who works with BelaBot at Sushi Factories in West Melbourne, Florida, says the robots could be a problem. “You can’t tell him to move or anything,” she said. He says there are also customers who don’t want to interact with the robot. But in general he counts it as a plus. It saves her trips to and from the kitchen and gives her more time for customers.
Labor shortages have accelerated the entry of robots globally, Le Clair said. In the U.S., the restaurant industry employed 15 million people as of the end of last year, down 400,000 from pre-pandemic times, according to data from the National Restaurant Association. According to a recent survey, 62 percent of restaurant owners say they don’t have enough staff to meet customer needs.
Pandemic concerns about hygiene and the adoption of new technologies such as QR code menus set the stage for the entry of robots, said Karthik Namasivayam of Michigan State University’s College of Business.
“Once a restaurateur begins to understand and work with one technology, other technologies no longer scare him as much,” he said. Namasivayam notes that public acceptance of robot waiters is already quite high in Asia. Pizza Hut, for example, has 1,000 robot waiters in China.
In the US, robots are entering restaurants more slowly, but some chains are already testing them.
Expectations are that about 30 percent of restaurants will continue to employ human waiters and be perceived as more upscale, while the rest will increasingly rely on robots in the kitchen and lounges. Economic factors are also on the side of robots, he says – the cost of human labor will continue to rise, but the cost of technology will fall.
However, this is not the future that everyone would like to see. Saru Jayaraman, who advocates for higher pay for restaurant staff as president of One Fair Wage, says restaurants could easily solve their understaffing problems by paying their employees more.
“People don’t go to a restaurant to be served technology,” she said. “They go for the experience – theirs and the people they care about, to be served by a person.”
