With V.A. Kolokoltsev, Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation
Archpriest Alexander Novopashin, Russian correspondent member of the FECRIS (European Federation of Centres for Research and Information on Sects and Cults[1]), recently called Ukrainian “Nazis”, “Satanists” and “cannibals”. On July 20, in a lengthy interview for his birthday, he continued supporting the war in Ukraine, in a quite pro-Kremlin paranoid rhetoric:
“Russia has always been a bone in the throat of the United States, Great Britain and their satellites. They spared no expense to weaken our country, divide the peoples, and ultimately take over our territory, our natural resources. All these years, we managed to hold back their onslaught, to more or less effectively resist”, he answered to the question “what do you think is the main threat that our country is currently fighting?”
In the straight line of Patriarch Kirill and the Kremlin, he considers the war to be done for “protecting Russian civilization, protecting the Russian world.”
Again, even inside Russia, Novopashin considers there are threats that are not sufficiently addressed by the authorities. These threats are what he calls cults, citing Pentecostals and neo-pagans. “Such associations are under the scrutiny of Western intelligence agencies (usual rhetoric from FECRIS). They even get financial help. To then use for their own purposes. For example – I have said this more than once and will say it again – it is reliably known that neo-pagan and neo-Pentecostal organizations took an active part in the “orange revolution” of 2004 and the “Euromaidan” of 2014 in Kyiv”.”
Talking about his anti-cults center called The Information and Advisory Center for Sectarianism at the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, an affiliate organization linked to FECRIS, Novopashin said: “has been one of the most famous centers of its kind in the country for many years. They call us and come not only from the city and the region, but also from other cities and regions. Questions about sects are also addressed from the “other side”, from abroad. Nothing has changed in our work over the past quarter of a century.”
Praising Vladimir Putin for his support to the Russian Orthodox Church, Novopashin reminded that: “[Putin] repeatedly speaks of the need to protect the traditional Russian spiritual and moral values, the bearer of which for more than two thousand years has been the Russian Orthodox Church. It, the Church, is assigned a certain role in countering extremism and terrorism.” This discourse about the sportection of “spiritual values is not without reminding the Nazi Heydrich directive (Nuremberg D-59) in 1937, which refered to a list of “Cults” to be destroyed by the Reich in order to protect the “spiritual health” of German citizens.
Vladimir Putin must have been pleased with Novopashin, because by decree of the President of the Russian Federation of July 15, 2022, for his great contribution to the preservation and development of spiritual, moral and cultural traditions, as well as many years of fruitful activity, Archpriest Alexander Novopashin was awarded the Order of Friendship.
Russian representative of FECRIS: “Russia has always been a bone in the throat of the US, UK and their satellites” 2
[1] FECRIS is a French-based umbrella organization that coordinates with member associations in more than 40 EU countries, and beyond. It was created in 1994 by a French anti-cult association named UNADFI and receives all of its funding from the French government
Fior is a young and beautiful singer who just released her third single: “Overdose”. Fior was already known as a rising model, and in 2022 she decided it was time to start her musical career for real, a dream she had since she was a kid. And as for everything she does, she does it well and all the way!
“Overdose” is a great track that you will enjoy, but first, we had the opportunity to have an open conversation with Fior, which we transcribe for you here at The European Times:
Bro: Hi Fior, let’s start by the beginning. I’d like to know when and how you realized that you were a professional artist, that you were going to give your life to it, and what obstacles you met to start.
Fior: When I was eight years old my father bought me a toy piano and I taught myself to play by ear, so I suppose that was when I discovered my love for music. But it wasn’t until I discovered Adele when I was 13 years old that I realized this is what I want to do with my life. Even though I was too young to understand or have experienced the things that Adele was singing about, the way that she made me feel in my soul, I knew that I wanted to make people feel that way one day. She inspired me to teach myself how to sing and write music. The biggest obstacle I have had to overcome is my confidence. Even though I’ve been singing and songwriting since I was 13 it took me until I was 20 to finally share my music with anyone outside of my home. I still get nervous singing in front of other people, I’m not sure that’s something that ever goes away but I hope with time it gets easier. But I love nothing more than being in the studio making music, I could spend forever in a recording booth. I just really love to sing my heart out.
A nice talk with rising pop singer Fior who just released "Overdose" 7
Bro: I understand that, and it’s a blessing you finally overcame your confidence issue. So, got it for the studio, and I can definitely feel it when I hear your songs. Then what about singing on stage?
Fior: I only put out my first single this year in January so I haven’t started touring yet, but I’ve been working with a movement coach pretty consistently for the last year and I’ve also shot four music videos so I’m definitely becoming more comfortable with an audience as I practice. I’ve also had the chance to perform at a live music night in Miami Beach that was a lot of fun, and I love to pop into karaoke at whenever I can as I find that to be great rehearsal for performing in front of a crowd without any pressure.
So I would say that even though it makes me absolutely terrified I still give performing my all. Believe it or not some of the biggest artists in the world have all been very vocal about their terrible stage fright, Adele, Barbara Streisand, Rhianna, Katy Perry, Cher! So it brings me comfort that I’m not alone in feeling this way, it’s part of the journey, and I am really looking forward to touring so I can conquer my fears!
Bro: Great. I look forward to it and sure, you won’t be the first to be terrified by stage performance! So should we focus a bit on your single « Overdose »? It’s not speaking about drugs. It’s about love addiction. “Craving it”, you say. What’s behind this? Personal story? I don’t want to be too curious, but I try to understand what’s your motivation in that song, where it comes from and what you want to convey?
Fior: I would call it a lust song. Romantic attraction is a curious chemistry. When you meet someone new and begin to fall for them there’s an electric feeling in your veins, butterflies in your stomach, just an overall rush of adrenaline. That euphoric feeling is very addictive. For attraction junkies it’s hard to accept when the intoxication fades, you’re always looking for another high, and it can become a cycle of preventing true love because you’re overdosing on new love.
Bro: Got that. So, what’s the message, besides the lust (if there is one)?
Fior: It’s really both a message and an introspection on how toxic these behaviors can be. If you’re addicted to the lust that comes with a new relationship it can lead to bad choices and also make it hard to move beyond the early stages of romance to a long term commitment.
I definitely advocate for long-term relationships, but I have been guilty in the past of staying in a unhealthy relationship for too long because I was always trying to get back the euphoric feeling from the start of the relationship. This is something I addressed in my first single ”Let Me Go”. But I have since learned that healthy couples trade the wild excitement of that early stage for the security of attachment, and it’s important to work on healthy relationships to keep the fire alive.
Bro: Thank you Fior for your honesty and openness in discussing these difficult issues. But your song does the job, it definitely has an empowerment feeling for those confronting such situations. So, to finish this interview, could you first tell us what are your plans for 2022 / 2023? And then the last question: how do you see your life in 2033? Like that, when we’ll meet again in 10 years, we’ll have fun comparing reality and you ideas, whatever happened in between.
A nice talk with rising pop singer Fior who just released "Overdose" 8
Fior: I’ve been in the studio pretty much every day working on new music, I’m planning to put out at least two new singles and music videos before the end of this year. Two of my songs were just picked up by Spotify editorial playlists this week so I’m really empowered and excited about that. I also have a music video for Overdose premiering in the next couple weeks. And I’m also working on an EDM EP that I plan to release in the first quarter of 2023. I’m a very versatile artist, and a huge fan of EDM too. I never want to stop pushing boundaries in music. Next year I’ll be ready to start performing gigs, hopefully touring in festivals and clubs. And in 10 years from now I believe I will have made my mark in music and be touring the world stage! It’s what I’ve always imagined for myself since I was a little girl!
Bro: Thank you Fior. I have no doubt you will accomplish your dreams and give others all what you have to give. And let’s make an appointment for same date in 2032! Meanwhile if you pass by Brussels or Paris, give a call.
The fall of the Italian government led by Mario Draghi on July 20 caused a shock in the country for three main reasons. The first is that Draghi, who was president of the European Central Bank between 2011 and 2018, enjoys an unparalleled reputation in Italy as a competent and authoritative public servant, and Italian public opinion assigns him a far higher rating than any of the party leaders who are running for his job now. The second is that Draghi’s firm Euro-Atlantic leadership has made Italy a relevant player in the Russia-Ukraine crisis. The third reason is that precisely that combination of Euro-Atlantic reliability and personal authority has made Draghi the guarantor of the many benefits that Italy derives from its cooperation with the European Union. The Draghi government’s program coincided with the reforms of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, allowing Italy to receive a total of around 200 billion euros (11% of its GDP) from the European Union by 2026. Thanks to these huge resources the country has a chance to overcome the 30-year stagnation of its economy, the consequences of the health crisis of 2020, and the geopolitical and economic traumas produced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
For all these reasons there was a reaction of bewilderment and even indignation in the country when the parties’ political gimmicks brought down Draghi’s broad unity government after 17 months. The political consequences are hard to fathom. Before Draghi’s resignation, polls showed that an early vote would favor the only opposition party, Brothers of Italy, a rising political formation on the far right of the parliamentary spectrum led by Giorgia Meloni. It is a party that is often identified with “post-fascist” nostalgia, combining evocative nationalist sentiments with an aspiration for social and ethnic uniformity, and which has strong affinity with the authoritarian model today represented in Europe by the Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán. Credited in the polls with the potential vote of almost one in four Italians, Brothers of Italy could lead a right-wing coalition to obtain a majority of seats in the Italian parliament.
Draghi’s fall may seem outlandish to foreign observers. But the intensification of political turmoil was inevitable as the end of the legislature approached. The 2018 elections gave rise to a populist legislature with the majority of seats assigned to two parties that shared similar demagogic rhetoric and ended up governing together for roughly one year: the Five Star Movement, conventionally placed on the left of the political spectrum, and the League on the right. After two governments led by Giuseppe Conte and characterized by an unusual level of incompetence, in February 2021 Mario Draghi received the mandate to lead a government of national unity. The only political formation that did not participate in the Draghi government was Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy.
In July 2022, the approaching end of the legislature in spring 2023 awakened the instincts of all Italian parties. Since the never-resolved crisis of political credibility that arose with the corruption scandals of the early 1990s, no government majority in Italy has ever been reconfirmed in the next election. Thus it has been consistently convenient for all political parties to present themselves to the voters from the opposition benches. In the last months of this legislature, the more populist government parties ran for the door.
The first move, the last serious mistake in an endless chain, was made by Five Star Movement leader Conte preannouncing his exit from the governing coalition. The right-wing parties immediately understood that Conte had broken the alliance with the other large party on the left, the Democratic Party, a strong supporter of Draghi. In the event of an election, therefore, the left camp would not have been able to form a coalition. Immediately, the right-wing parties that were participating in the government — Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia and Matteo Salvini’s League — brought about the fall of the government and — together with Brothers of Italy — called for new elections. Draghi could not help but climb the Quirinale hill and give President Sergio Mattarella his resignation.
The coincidental action of Conte, Salvini, and Berlusconi raised the suspicion that the fall of Draghi was the work of the influence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who saw Draghi as the leader of the larger European Union countries most strongly opposed to the Russian military and diplomatic strategies. There is abundant proof of Putin’s interest in Italy’s political development, but no evidence yet of Moscow’s direct influence on the three leaders who conspired against Draghi. However, Berlusconi and Salvini are at risk of being blackmailed by Putin, having cultivated business relations with Moscow, either personally or through members of their parties.
In this situation, President Mattarella’s reaction was perhaps the decisive factor in the whole story. Instead of carrying out arduous consultations to save the legislature, the president of the republic called new elections at the shortest possible notice, on September 25. In this way, Mattarella gave the parties just one month to present by August 21 their lists of candidates. It is an extremely short period to reduce the conflicts and infighting that characterize the potential coalitions of the right and of the left.
The schedule is even more demanding if one considers that the elections will be conducted under a new electoral law. This new law reduces the number of seats in the Chamber of Deputies from 630 to 400 and cuts the Senate from 315 to 200 seats. Furthermore, the new provisions make it more difficult to form tactical coalitions as in the past, built more to steal votes from opponents than to affirm unified programs and a single coalition leader.
Unity is problematic on the left. After the Five Star Movement broke with the Democratic Party, the latter must seek new alliances in the center rather than on the left. Much of the Democratic Party’s hopes rest on future cooperation with Carlo Calenda’s Azione, a new centrist political formation that has been on the rise and drains support from Berlusconi’s party.
However, the lacerations are perhaps just as deep on the right, where Meloni claims the right to be or choose the leader of a new government under a previous agreement with Forza Italia and the League that assigned the leadership of a right-wing coalition to the party with the most votes. Berlusconi is by no means of the same idea, and it cannot be excluded that he and Salvini join forces to have a different prime minister. Brothers of Italy, at that point, could stand alone at the polls rather than run with the others in a coalition. To avoid that eventuality, a preliminary agreement between Meloni, Berlusconi, and Salvini was reached on July 27. But the agreement does not seem watertight: Brothers of Italy’s current advantage is given by its role as the sole opposition party during the whole duration of the past legislature. It is unlikely that this advantage can last once Meloni becomes the government’s leader, and in a matter of months, Berlusconi and Salvini would be tempted to challenge Meloni.
Mattarella’s choice to start the election now forced the parties to expose their weaknesses in public. Under the new electoral law, a little more than a third of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies are elected under the first-past-the-post system rather than allocated with the proportional system. Depending on who wins about 30 more competitive seats, one coalition or the other should win an absolute majority. Confidential polls of mid-July assigned an 80% probability of a victory by the right-wing coalition. Meloni, Salvini, and Berlusconi are still the frontrunners, but today the vote looks more uncertain than it looked then.
And now for the dream. Should no absolute majority emerge from the vote, the parties would be unable to form their favored ruling coalitions in a fragmented parliament. In that case, Mattarella would have to search for another super-partes (impartial) leader to form a cross-party coalition or technical government, a tradition ingrained in Italian politics since the country’s unification in 1861. A solid number of Italians hope that, come October, Italy’s party leaders will be forced to knock on the door of Mario Draghi’s sheltered house in Umbria, resurrecting after 2,500 years the legend of Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, the Roman consul who in an emergency was asked to leave his retirement in the countryside and resume power.
Thank you for having me with you here today. It is a privilege, but more importantly it is a responsibility for me, as the President of the European Parliament to again have the honour of addressing the Verkhovna Rada on this important day.
The Day of Ukrainian Statehood is always important but this year, the anniversary has taken on an ever more important meaning. All of Europe marks this day with you. In solidarity. In friendship and in a bond as Europeans that I hope will be formalised soon.
Today we celebrate not only the foundations of Ukrainian statehood, but also the courage, determination and resolve of all Ukrainians fighting to preserve Ukraine’s statehood and its territorial integrity. For all those who have died and who give their lives still.
Today is symbolic not just for Ukraine and for Ukrainians but for all of Europe. It is the day that we reaffirm our commitment to Ukraine as a European nation. As a nation free to make its own choices. Free to choose its own destiny. Free and proud to stand up for the values that bind us all.
Putin wants a future – where history can be re-written, where spheres of influence exist, iron curtains are drawn closed, where might is right, and where personal liberty and dignity denied. With their actions, it is clear that Russia wants a return to a past we had consigned to history books. A past where Europe’s geographical integrity and Europe’s freedom to choose with whom to cooperate and how to integrate is called into question. For him the real enemy is democracy, freedom and truth. Our way of life is seen as a threat to autocracy. That is what is at stake.
That is a past we can never return to. We will never accept the invasion of a peaceful and independent European country like Ukraine.
We will never turn a blind eye to the atrocities and crimes committed by Russia on Ukrainian soil. What happened in Irpin, in Bucha, in Mariupol, in so many other cities.
We will never forget that over six million Ukrainians were forced to flee the country and another eight million have been displaced internally.
And we will always remember the courage, the defiance, the resistance of Ukrainians, your resistance, who fought through pain and sorrow to inspire the world.
Friends, dear colleagues, let me say that we are with you and we will be with you when we start to re-build and make new again.
On this important day for independent and sovereign Ukraine, I want to assure you that Ukraine belongs with us. With nations that cherish the values of freedom, independence, democracy, the rule of law, the respect for human rights.
Your place, as cemented already by Grand Prince Volodymyr the Great, is among European nations.
And now, the torch is in your hands to take it further.
With us, you are among equals, among friends. We will stand by Ukraine’s side in times of tragedy as in times of prosperity.
These are not just words.
Granting Ukraine candidate status on 23 June confirms our commitment to walking side-by-side towards your full membership of the European Union. It may not be an easy road, but the European Parliament, your strongest advocate, is there for you, to assist you on every step of the way. We are ready to provide expertise and advice to strengthen your parliamentary democracy. We will also continue to support the Verkhovna Rada with any help you may need to operate smoothly under these very difficult circumstances and with any assistance needed to fight the consequences of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
On behalf of the European Parliament, I assure you that we will dedicate all resources, energy and know-how available to helping the Verkhovna Rada. A strong parliament is crucial for the stability of any democracy.
And we will go further.
When I was there with you, at the Verkhovna Rada on 1 April, I said that we will together rebuild Ukraine – every city and every town from Mariupol to Irpin, from Kherson to Kharkiv.
Today I will go further. This is an opportunity to transform Ukraine. To build-back better. A modern Ukraine. A sustainable Ukraine. A resilient Ukraine.
The Ukraine Solidarity Trust Fund together with the Ukraine reconstruction platform and Ukraine’s Recovery Plan are our masterplan. But we also know that Ukraine needs resources coming from different sources – from international financial institutions, but also from the private sector and from frozen assets. Rest assured that the European Union will continue to look for all the means to achieve this.
The European Parliament together with the Verkhovna Rada will continue to follow closely the coordination of finances and spending for the relief and reconstruction. In this context, the strengthening of Ukrainian state institutions, which play a crucial role in implementing reforms consistent with Ukraine’s European path, is vital.
Friends, we know that you and your citizens are not only fighting for your own freedom but you are fighting for ours too. I know how essential it is for the rest of the democratic world to continue to provide military support to Ukraine, and as I promised you and President Zelenskyy on 1 April 1 in Kyiv, I and the European Parliament will continue to do everything in our power to see that happen.
Dear President,
Dear Speaker,
Dear Members,
Dear colleagues,
Dear friends,
Thank you for your commitment to Europe.
Thank you for your extraordinary efforts, for your remarkable sacrifice and for your personal commitments in sustaining a vision of a European future for your country, against all odds.
A top UN-appointed human rights expert on Thursday raised the issue of an alleged “double standard” in Poland and Belarus towards those forced to flee the war in Ukraine.
Mr. González Morales was referring to third country nationals who had been based in Ukraine at the outbreak of the war, particularly people of African descent and other racial and ethnic minorities, who he maintained had not found it so easy to integrate into Polish communities.
“Even for those that have fled the same war, although all were accepted for entry into Poland and have received assistance from the State, third country nationals are not protected under the same legal framework,” Mr. González Morales said, adding that “this double standard approach” had prompted a sense of discrimination among third country nationals.
“Those with specific vulnerabilities including the ones with irregular migratory status face heightened difficulties in obtaining residence permits and proper shelter.”
The Special Rapporteur’s comments came at the end of his official visit to Poland and to Belarus – including the border area between the two countries.
Weaponising the vulnerable
That was where tensions flared late last year when between 2,000 and 4,000 migrants – many from Syria, Iraq and other parts of the Middle East – were forced to camp out in freezing conditions, before the political dispute was resolved.
Mr. González Morales said that although the border area was “relatively calm compared to last winter”, some migrants who included new arrivals had remained stranded between Poland and Belraus, “and subject to violence and pushbacks from both sides”.
On the Belarusian side, migrants had been put in “de facto detention” at a closed Temporary Logistical Centre, where they were now sheltering.
Children and pregnant women shut in
On the Polish side of the border, the Special Rapporteur explained with concern that “migrant children and those with their families – and pregnant women – remain detained in closed immigration facilities”.
He insisted that children and other vulnerable individuals “should not be locked up” because of their migration status.
“Alternative reception and care options exist in Poland,” Mr Morales said, before urging the authorities “to immediately release unaccompanied children, children with their families, pregnant women and individuals with mental conditions into open facilities”.
The Polish government had provided “significant support to a huge number of refugees fleeing Ukraine”, the Special Rapporteur continued.
He added that this State assistance, combined with the “solidarity and generosity” of Polish people to Ukrainian people, had resulted in more than two million of them staying in Poland.
“This explains why I do not see refugee camps in Poland,” Mr. González Morales noted.
Mandeep Dhaliwal, the director of HIV and health at the UN Development Programme (UNDP) is concerned that the proliferation of such laws is hampering the UN’s response to the virus, which is also being hit by a host of interconnected global crises.
Mandeep Dhaliwal: It is a pivotal time and opportunity to galvanize people around getting the AIDS response back on track. For the UNDP, the HIV/AIDS response is all about reducing inequalities, improving governance, and building resilient and sustainable systems, and this is really where we need to step up action if we’re going to regain lost ground.
UNDP
UN News What are the links between HIV/AIDS and development?
Mandeep Dhaliwal: HIV and other health issues are drivers and indicators of human development. For example, the war in Ukraine is having a dramatic effect on the cost of living, and 71 million people in the developing world have fallen into poverty in just three months.
That has consequences on everything from the financing of HIV/AIDS programs, to access to services, prevention, and treatment.
We’re seeing widening inequalities within and between countries, and we know that, in these kinds of crises, the impact is disproportionately borne by the most vulnerable and marginalized in our communities.
We’re seeing the cascading effects of multiple overlapping crises: the COVID pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the financial crisis, the food and energy crisis, and the climate crisis.
All of these are contributing to backsliding on HIV, and a decline in the resources available to countries. There is an incredible strain on already fragile, weak, and often fragmented health systems, and COVID has just deepened that.
There are 100 million displaced people. It’s a global record, and they’re at increased risk of acquiring HIV. They face barriers to accessing HIV and health services and are often cut off from support networks.
Economic growth prospects are down. The World Bank projects that 52 countries will face a significant drop in their spending capacity through 2026.
These 52 countries are important because they’re home to 43 per cent of the people living with HIV worldwide. But now, the HIV response, especially in Africa, is in jeopardy.
UN News: Do you think we can eradicate AIDS?
Mandeep Dhaliwal:I think we can get to the end of AIDS as a public health threat, but that’s going to require an urgent scale up of efforts in the next five years, to really address some of the persistent challenges in the AIDS response, particularly around young and adolescent women in sub-Saharan Africa, and marginalized populations globally.
This includes men who have sex with men, sex workers, transgender people, and people who use drugs, who’ve always been more vulnerable and at greater risk of acquiring HIV.
And that requires removing punitive and discriminatory laws which keep these people away from services, and away from accessing prevention. The data demonstrates that countries that have removed these kinds of laws do better in terms of HIV responses.
Unfortunately, that’s not the norm, and most of the countries with these laws are not on track to reforming their legal and policy environments.
So this conference is also an opportunity to bring attention to the historic targets which were adopted by Member States in the2021 political declaration on HIV[these targets involve major reductions in reducing HIV/AIDS related stigma, criminalization, gender inequality and violence]
If we can achieve that, we can get to the end of AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
UN News: When the theme for this conference – re engage and follow the science – was chosen, was that a message to those governments who put these laws in place?
Mandeep Dhaliwal: Yes. There’s a lot of science out there now which shows that decriminalization yields public health and HIV benefits. Prevention is more effective particularly in marginalized populations. It leads to better access to services and social support.
It is also a message to not forget about HIV. There’s still a job to be done, and we have to regain the ground we’ve lost over the last couple of years.
A family undergoes a HIV screening test at home in southwest Côte d’ivoire.
UN News: Against the backdrop of this very difficult international landscape, what do you think is the best-case, realistic outcome of this conference?
Mandeep Dhaliwal: One is a commitment to drive action on removing punitive and discriminatory laws, eliminating stigma and discrimination, and protecting people from violence.
The other is a commitment to follow the science. Science is moving at a pace that we’ve not seen before. For example, there is now a long acting anti-retroviral, which would be very good for prevention in key populations. But it needs to be priced at a point that makes it affordable and accessible in developing countries.
I’m hoping that the conference addresses this issue because it’s a theme that has run through the COVID pandemic, certainly around COVID vaccination, and it’s a theme that the HIV community is familiar with, especially when it comes to access to treatment.
We’ve had 40 years of the HIV pandemic and we were making progress, but you can’t take progress for granted.
We are entirely capable of dealing with multiple pandemics at the same time: HIV, TB, malaria, COVID, and now Monkeypox, which has been declared a public health issue of international concern.
We can do it, but it requires investment, action, and commitment. We should all be advocating for the full replenishment of theGlobal Fundto fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which will take place at the end of September in New York.
We really have to step up our investment, our action, and our commitment to finish the job on HIV because the best way to be better prepared for future pandemics is to deal with the ones that you’ve already facing.
LONDON — What is the role of journalists in promoting understanding and dialogue, especially in a media environment that is often driven by sensationalism?
This was among the questions explored by two experienced journalists in the United Kingdom—a former BBC reporter and a writer for The Guardian newspaper—along with members of the Bahá’í Office of Public Affairs of that country in a recent podcast produced by that Office titled In Good Faith: Truth and Standards in Media.
“Writers have to be free from prejudice, fair-minded, and be able to look at issues with a sense of justice,” said Carmel Kalani, of the Office of Public Affairs.
Ms. Kalani drew on an analogy from the Bahá’í teachings to describe the power of the media in raising public consciousness, stating: “Newspapers, social media, and other forms of media are like ‘the mirror of the world.’ They are ‘endowed with hearing, sight, and speech.’”
One of the implications of this, she said, is that articles and other forms of expression by journalists have the potential to inspire in all of us a sense of oneness with our fellow human beings.
“When journalists tell a story, they shape the world we live in, they shape what we see as possible,” said Ms. Kalani, explaining that the media can unlock the “immense capability of people to bring about unity and peace.”
Slideshow 3 images
In recent years, the Office has brought together many journalists, representatives of civil society, and leaders of faith communities to examine different aspects of the media in light of spiritual principles, such as the oneness of humanity.
Despite this tremendous potential, certain practices place pressure on journalists to produce reports that are sensationalist, such as surprising people in distress for an interview.
“There’s something called the ‘door-knock’ in journalism, whereby you have to go and knock on somebody’s door, who’s in the middle of a story, usually through no fault of their own… and ask them for a comment on their doorstep,” said John McManus, former BBC reporter and head of communications for the Jesuits in Briton.
“It [is] purely to fill time and a news story,” continued Mr. McManus, as he explained that this approach typically does not yield any new facts. Instead, it caters to the audience’s appetite for the dramatic and can distract attention from the real issues.
Mr. McManus added that many journalists are uncomfortable with practices in their field that lead to sensationalist news coverage and stressed the importance of empathy and preservation of human dignity when reporting. “At the heart of all these stories are human beings with feelings. … They’ve all got family. So I always try to remember that, [which] moderates my thinking and actions.”
Remona Aly, a reporter for The Guardian, stated: “You have this sense of responsibility to whoever you’re interviewing. … I really try hard to maintain that protection. I say [to the interviewee] ‘you can look over the article afterwards so that you’re comfortable with it.’”
Discussions also looked at how biases and false dichotomies can reduce multi-faceted issues to simplistic representations of reality that reinforce social, political, economic, and religious divides, leading to sensationalist news coverage.
Mr. McManus, speaking about the responsibility of journalists to maintain objectivity, stated: “Things are not black and white. You can hold two different points of view in your mind which are both correct, because we know that human life is infinitely varied and complex.”
Reflecting on this discussion, Nancy Warren, of the Bahá’í Office of Public Affairs, explains that this podcast series is part of the ongoing efforts of the Office to contribute to the discourse on the constructive role of media in society.
“People begin their journalistic career with very high ideals, but they eventually find it difficult to write in a way that is in line with their principles,” she says.
“The forums offered by the Office—be they podcasts, online discussions, or in-person gatherings—provide a space for journalists to explore prevalent issues in their field in light of spiritual principles that resonate with their moral convictions.”
Slideshow 3 images
The podcast series “In Good Faith,” produced by the Bahá’í Office of Public Affairs in the UK, invites journalists to profound discussions on how the media can play a constructive role in society.
First, let me say it is always a particular pleasure to visit our neighbors at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Lise, thank you so much for hosting us. It’s wonderful to be here.
And Rina, to you, to our special envoy, to the team working with you, to the many others who are involved with today’s launch, I am grateful for all you’ve done to bring all of us together today, but for the work that’s being done every day that I’ll have a chance to talk about over the next few minutes. But to our colleagues across the entire U.S. Government, civil society, thank you as well for supporting equality, supporting opportunity, for women and girls across Afghanistan.
And a special thanks to the extraordinary panelists that we’ve had today. I’m really looking forward to getting a chance to speak with you directly shortly. But as you all know, they’ve served in Afghanistan in different ways, in different roles, but there is one thread that runs throughout their public service. Each has helped strengthen the rights of Afghan women and girls, as well as members of other vulnerable groups, for decades.
Today, they represent many others across Afghanistan and around the world who have dedicated their lives to this deeply vital and deeply honorable mission.
As the panelists made clear, we meet at a difficult time for Afghan women and girls.
Since the Taliban took over a year ago, they’ve reversed a great deal of the openness and progress that had been made over the previous decades. They’ve silenced civil society and journalists. In March, they banned independent international media like Voice of America and BBC from airing in Afghanistan. They continue to intimidate and censor Afghan media outlets. They stifled the free practice of religion for Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
Perhaps most notably, they failed to respect the human rights of women and girls. Instead, under the Taliban, women and girls have largely been erased from public life. As a report released yesterday by Amnesty International showed, the Taliban have systematically restricted women and girl’s rights to free movement, decimated the system supporting domestic violence victims, and contributed to surging rates of child, early, and forced marriage.
The Taliban’s decision to ban girls from attending secondary schools, a decision that happened while some girls were literally walking to school and others were already sitting at their desks, was a reversal of commitments they made to the Afghan people and to the world. For 314 days and counting, the girls of Afghanistan have sat at home while their brothers and cousins have been receiving educations. It’s a terrible, terrible waste.
It’s especially difficult to accept because we all remember how different it was not so very long ago. Prior to the Taliban’s takeover, thousands of women across Afghanistan held public office from the village level right up to the national level. Women entered professions previously closed to them. They started businesses. They were doctors, nurses, scientists, artists. And women didn’t just study in schools across Afghanistan; they ran them.
These gains weren’t felt only by women and girls. As we’ve seen again and again throughout history from country to country, when equality and opportunity increase for one group of people, they tend to increase for other groups as well. As the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan were strengthened, we saw members of various ethnic and religious communities – Hazaras, Hindus, Sikhs, Sufis – take more prominent roles in Afghan public life. Afghans with disabilities did as well. The LGBTQI+ community found ways to build a community. So the changes in Afghanistan during the past year have been painful for so many.
We continue to urge the Taliban to reverse their decision on girls’ education, to make good on their commitment to the Afghan people, to allow girls to learn. The evidence is overwhelming. Investing in girls’ education, women’s political inclusion, it leads to stronger economies. It leads to healthier individuals and families. It leads to more stable, more resilient societies. These are the things that people of Afghanistan want for their futures. That’s why so many members of Afghan society – men and women, rural and urban dwellers, religious scholars, people across religions and cultural backgrounds – have all, all called for the Taliban to let women and girls go to school again.
The United States will continue to amplify these voices and do all that we can to support progress for Afghan women, girls, and other at-risk populations.
Earlier this year, we joined partners across the international community – including the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, the European Union, and others – urging the Taliban to let girls go back to school.
Last month, we supported a Human Rights Council urgent debate that allowed us to hear directly from Afghan women leaders. We co-sponsored a resolution that will allow us to hear from them again this coming September. And as we help enable their voices to be heard, others will hear them as well.
Over the past year, we’ve continued our partnerships with Afghan civil society groups working on issues of equality, inclusion, opportunity for women, religious and ethnic communities, and other at-risk populations.
And critically, with today’s launch of the U.S.-Afghan Consultative Mechanism, we are taking these relationships to the next level. That’s why I’m so pleased about today.
It’s going to make it easier for Afghan civil society groups to communicate and collaborate with American policymakers across a whole range of shared priorities – from supporting income-generating activities for Afghan women, to strategizing ways to help Afghan human rights monitors safely document abuses, to devising new methods to promote religious freedom.
What we want to do is to make our partnerships with Afghan civil society more effective, more rigorous, more productive, more purposeful. And that’s what this new initiative is all about.
So let me simply share my profound appreciation for our American civil society partners, who do critical work to support women leaders and civil society organizations in Afghanistan, and for our Afghan partners for sharing your perspectives, for sharing your recommendations.
What’s remarkable to me and I think to so many of us is how, even in the face of threats, violence, intimidation, the women and girls of Afghanistan – and other vulnerable, targeted people – have simply refused to back down. These groups have never stopped believing in a brighter future for their country. They are determined to do all they can to make that future real.
The women who have taken to the streets to protest for their rights are one such group.
In December, when members of the Afghan National Security Forces were targeted despite the Taliban’s supposed amnesty, women protested. In January, when female public servants were dismissed from their jobs, women protested. In March, when the Taliban instituted an edict directing women to cover their faces in public and to only leave home when, quote, “necessary,” women protested.
Many of them have said they will never, never stop raising their voices.
The work we’ve done here today will ensure that we – and people around the world – continue to hear them, continue to listen to them, as we work together for a more stable, peaceful, prosperous, and free future for Afghanistan and for every Afghan man and woman.
Thank you very much. Thank you all for joining us today. (Applause.)
By Benedict Mayaki, SJ – Pope Francis, on Thursday evening – the fifth day of his Apostolic Journey to Canada – presided at Vespers with Bishops, clergy, consecrated persons, seminarians and pastoral workers at the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec.
During his homily at the event, the Holy Father highlighted the significance of meeting at the Cathedral of the Church, whose first bishop, St. François de Laval, opened the Seminary in 1663 and devoted his ministry to the formation of priests.
He pointed out that readings at the vespers speak about elders (presbyters), noting that St. Peter urged them to tend the flock of God willingly, and so, the Church’s pastors are invited “to show that same generosity in tending the flock, in order to manifest Jesus’ concern for everyone and his compassion for the wounds of each.”
Tending the flock, the Pope said, should be done “with devotion and tender love” – as St. Peter urges – guiding it and not allowing it to go astray, because “we are a sign of Christ.” Pastors should do this willingly, not as a duty, like professional religious personnel or sacred functionaries but “zealously and with the heart of a shepherd.”
The Pope pointed out that the pastors too are “tended” with Christ’s merciful love and feel the closeness of God. This, he affirmed, is “the source of the joy of ministry and above all the joy of faith.”
Christian joy
“Christian joy is about the experience of a peace that remains in our hearts, even when we are pelted by trials and afflictions,” the Pope said, “for then we know that we are not alone, but accompanied by a God who is not indifferent to our lot.”
He explained that this is not a “cheap joy” like the world sometimes proposes, or about wealth, comfort and security, rather, “it is a free gift, the certainty of knowing that we are loved, sustained and embraced by Christ in every situation in life.”
Threats to joy of faith
Reflecting on the joy of the Gospel in our communities, the Pope pointed at secularization as one of the factors that “threatens the joy of faith and thus risks diminishing it and compromising our lives as Christians.”
He laments that secularization has greatly affected the lifestyle of contemporary men and women, who relegate God to the background. “God seems to have disappeared from the horizon, and his word no longer seems a compass guiding our lives, our basic decisions, our human and social relationships,” the Pope said.
Considering the ambient culture, Pope Francis cautions against falling “prey to pessimism or resentment, passing immediately to negative judgments or a vain nostalgia.” He, rather elaborates two possible views of the world: the “negative view” and the “discerning view.”
Negative v. discerning views
The first view – the negative – is “often born of a faith that feels under attack and thinks of it as a kind of “armour”, defending us against the world,” the Pope said, adding that this view complains that “the world is evil, sin reigns” and risks clothing itself in a “crusading spirit.”
The Pope warns against this, as it is “not Christian” and “not the way of God.” He notes that God detests worldliness and has a positive view of the world, blesses our life and makes himself incarnate in historical situations to “give growth to the seed of the Kingdom in those places where darkness seems to triumph.”
We are called “to have a view similar to that of God, who discerns what is good and persistently seeks it, sees it and nurtures it. This is no naïve view, but a view that discerns reality,” Pope Francis insists.
Secularization and secularism
To refine our discernment of the secularized world, the Holy Father recommends drawing inspiration from Paul VI who saw secularization as “the effort, in itself just and legitimate and in no way incompatible with faith or religion” to discover the laws governing reality and human life implanted by the Creator. Paul VI also distinguished between secularization and secularism which generates subtle and diverse “new forms of atheism,” including consumer society, pleasure set up as a supreme value, a desire for power and domination, and discrimination of all kinds.
As Church and as shepherds of God’s People and pastoral workers, therefore, the Pope says it is up to us to “make these distinctions” and “make this discernment”, adding that if we yield to the negative view, we risk sending the wrong message – as though the criticism of secularization masks “the nostalgia for a sacralized world, a bygone society in which the Church and her ministers had greater power and social relevance.”
Secularization: a challenge for our pastoral imagination
Secularization, continued the Pope, “demands that we reflect on the changes in society that have influenced the way in which people think about and organize their lives” – not the diminished social relevance of the Church.
Consequently, “secularization represents a challenge for our pastoral imagination,” and “an occasion for restructuring the spiritual life in new forms and for new ways of existing.” Thus, a discerning view “motivates us to develop a new passion for evangelization, to look for new languages and forms of expression, to change certain pastoral priorities and to focus on the essentials.”
Communicating the joy of the faith
Pope Francis goes on to stress the importance of communicating the Gospel and the joy of faith to today’s men and women, insisting that it is a proclamation of “a witness abounding with gratuitous love” that should take shape in “in a personal and ecclesial lifestyle that can rekindle a desire for the Lord, instil hope and radiate trust and credibility.”
Indicating three challenges that can shape prayer and pastoral service, the Pope said that the first is “to make Jesus known,” and return to the initial proclamation, amid the spiritual deserts created by secularism and indifference. He added that we must find new ways to proclaim the Gospel to those who have not yet encountered Christ and this calls “for a pastoral creativity capable of reaching people where they are living, finding opportunities for listening, dialogue and encounter.”
An occasion for conversion
The second challenge -witness- said the Pope, requires us to be credible, as the Gospel is preached effectively “when life itself speaks and reveals the freedom that sets others free, the compassion that asks for nothing in return, the mercy that silently speaks of Christ.”
On this note, the Pope thought of the Church in Canada that has been set on a new path after being hurt by the evil perpetrated by some of its sons and daughters. The Holy Father also spoke of the scandals of sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable people.
To defeat the culture of exclusion, Pope Francis advocates that bishops and priests start from themselves and should not feel themselves superior to our brothers and sisters. Likewise, pastoral workers should “understand service as power.”
Fraternity, the third challenge, means the Church will be “a credible witness to the Gospel the more its members embody communion, creating opportunities and situations that enable all those who approach the faith to encounter a welcoming community one capable of listening, entering into dialogue and promoting quality relationships.”
The UN health agency on Thursday recommended the use of a new long-acting “safe and highly effective” prevention option for people at “substantial risk” of HIV infection, known as cabotegravir (CAB-LA).
New World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines advise countries to use the new potentially game-changing drug which is not yet available for sale, as a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV, and as part of a comprehensive approach to prevent the virus from spreading.
Those using most PrEP medications on the market, have to remember to take their medication daily, a greater challenge for what is a preventative medicine.
“Long-acting cabotegravir is a safe and highly effective HIV prevention tool, but isn’t yet available outside study settings,” said Meg Doherty, Director of WHO’s Global HIV, Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections Programmes.
The drug was approved in the United States last December, and the United Kingdom the following month.
Key populations – including sex workers, men having sex with men, intravenous drug users, people in prisons, transgender individuals, and their sexual partners –accounted for 70 per cent of global HIV infections last year.
Moreover, 4,000 new infections that occurred every day in 2021, were within that group.
As HIV prevention efforts have stalled, the new guidelines were released ahead of the 24th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2022) – which officially begins on Friday – with 1.5 million new HIV infections last year, the same as in 2020.
“We hope these new guidelines will help accelerate country efforts to start to plan and deliver CAB-LA alongside other HIV prevention options, including oral PrEP and the dapivirine vaginal ring,” said the WHO official.
Game-changer drug
CAB-LA is an intramuscular injectable, long-acting form of PrEP.
The first two injections are administered four weeks apart, followed thereafter by an injection every eight weeks.
In randomized controlled trials, the antiretroviral was shown to be safe and highly effective among cisgender women, cisgender men who have sex with men, and transgender women who have sex with men.
Together, these landmark studies found that use of CAB-LA resulted in a 79 per cent relative reduction in HIV risk compared with oral PrEP, where adherence to taking daily oral medication was often a challenge, according to WHO.
Long-acting injectable products have also been found to be acceptable and sometimes preferred in studies examining community PrEP preferences.
A woman is tested for HIV in Uttar Pradesh, India.
Coalition force
The UN health agency also launched a new coalition to accelerate global access to the drug.
Convened by WHO, Unitaid, UNAIDS and The Global Fund, the coalition will identify interventions needed to advance near and long-term access to CAB-LA, establish financing and procurement for the drug, and issue policy guidance, among other activities.
“To achieve UN prevention goals, we must push for rapid, equitable access to all effective prevention tools, including long-acting PrEP,” said Rachel Baggaley, WHO’s Lead of the Testing, Prevention and Populations Team at Global HIV, Hepatitis and STI Programmes.
“That means overcoming critical barriers in low and middle-income countries, including implementation challenges and costs.”
Key actions
WHO will continue to support evidence-based strategies to increase PrEP access and uptake, such as through adopting and including CAB-LA in HIV prevention programmes.
It is also working with Unitaid and others to develop projects that answer outstanding safety issues and implementation challenges.
And the WHO Global PrEP Network will host webinars to provide up-to-date information on CAB-LA to increase awareness.
In April, it was added to WHO’s list of Expressions of Interest for prequalification evaluation by the health agency.
Prevention choices
Both oral PrEP and CAB-LA are highly effective.
The new CAB-LA guidelines are based on a public health approach that considers effectiveness, acceptability, feasibility and resource needs across a variety of settings.
They are designed to help CAB-LA delivery and the urgently needed operational research on address implementation and safety and will inform decisions on how to successfully provide and scale up CAB-LA.
The guidelines highlight critical research gaps, and also recognize that accessing current PrEP services are challenging for some.
“Communities must be involved in developing and delivering HIV prevention services that are effective, acceptable and support choice,” WHO spelled out.
