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Declaration of the General Secretary of COMECE on the EP discussion on “Global threats to abortion rights”

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COMECE
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Declaration of the General Secretary of COMECE on the EP discussion on “Global threats to abortion rights”
In view of the discussion scheduled for today, Wednesday 8 June 2022, in the European Parliament under the title “Global threats to abortion rights: the possible overturn of abortion rights in the US by the Supreme Court”, the Secretary General of COMECE, Fr Manuel Barrios Prieto, has made the following declaration:

STRASBOURG, FRANCE – Plenary room of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. (Credit: Shutterstock)

We see with surprise that the European Parliament will discuss the impact of a leaked draft opinion of the US Supreme Court concerning abortion. This is an unacceptable interference in the democratic jurisdictional decisions of a sovereign state, a country that is also not a Member State of the EU. The adoption of a resolution by the European Parliament that endorses this interference will only discredit this institution.

In this regard, we would like to reiterate that, from a legal perspective, there is no recognized right to abortion in European or International Law. Therefore, no State can be obliged to legalize abortion, or to facilitate it, or be instrumental to perform it.

The EU should respect the legislative competences of its Member States and the principle of conferral whereby the Union shall act only within the limits of the competences conferred upon it by the Member States in the Treaties to attain the objectives set out therein (Article 5.2 of the Treaty of the European Union). As the Standing Committee of COMECE expressed in a statement in February 2022 the attempt to introduce a supposed right to abortion in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union would be a law “devoid of an ethical foundation and destined to be a cause of perpetual conflict among the citizens of the EU.”

We also note with high concern and regret the negation of the fundamental right to conscientious objection, which is an emanation of freedom of conscience, as declared by Article 10.1 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and recognised by the UN Human Rights Committee (case Jeong et al v. Republic of Korea, 27 April 2011). We are alarmed that the right of health institutions to refuse to provide certain services, including abortion, is weakened or, even, denied. As stated by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in its Resolution 1763 (2010) on the right to conscientious objection in lawful medical care “no person, hospital or institution shall be coerced, held liable or discriminated against in any manner because of a refusal to perform, accommodate, assist or submit to an abortion, the performance of a human miscarriage (…) or any act which could cause the death of a human fetus or embryo, for any reason.”

As the Standing Committee of COMECE highlighted: “We are aware of the tragedy and complexity of the situations in which mothers considering an abortion find themselves. Caring for women who are in a difficult or a conflict situation because of their pregnancy is a central part of the diaconal ministry of the Church and must also be a duty exercised by our societies. Women in distress should not be left alone, nor can the right to life of the unborn child be ignored. They both must receive all necessary help and assistance.”

Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev) has been relieved of his ecclesiastical positions, will lead the Hungarian diocese

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Newsdesk
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Metropolitan Hilarion
Metropolitan Hilarion

At the meeting of St. Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) on June 7, 2022; the Bishop of Volokolamsk Hilarion (Alfeev) was relieved of all his duties so far: chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, permanent member of St. Synod of the ROC and Rector of the All-Church Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies “St. Cyril and Methodius ”(theological educational institution of the ROC for postgraduate qualification). He has now been appointed Metropolitan of Budapest and will head the Hungarian Diocese of the ROC.

The current Metropolitan of Budapest and Hungary. Mark was relieved of his post and thanked for his work.

The place of Mitr. Hilarion as Metropolitan of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate and a permanent member of St. The Synod of the ROC is held by the Korsun Miter. Anthony, who temporarily retained his position as head of the Western European Exarchate and the overseas institutions of the Moscow Patriarchate. He will no longer be responsible for the Korsun diocese. Archbishop Nestor of Madrid and Lisbon is temporarily in charge of this.

Prof. Prot. Maxim Kozlov, who retains his previous positions and the post of chairman of the Training Committee of the ROC.

It is noteworthy that Mitr. Hilarion (Alfeev) was released without “expressing gratitude for the work done”, which in the bureaucratic language of the Moscow Patriarchate means that the change of position is penalty.

Mitr. Hilarion (Alfeev) headed the External Department of the Moscow Patriarchate for thirteen years, taking office in 2009, when he also became vicar of the newly elected Moscow Patriarch Kirill. Until then, he headed the Viennese-Austrian and Hungarian dioceses of the ROC.

He visited Hungary a few days ago, which was probably in connection with his new assignment.

Biographical information:

The new Volokolamsk Metropolitan Anthony (Sevryuk) has an impressive career biography, beginning as the personal secretary of the Smolensk Metropolitan and then Moscow Patriarch Kirill.

Born in 1984 in the town of Kalinin (after 1990 renamed Tver). First, the eighteen-year-old graduated with a gold medal from a lyceum in Tver, then studied at the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary, graduating with honors. His good knowledge of English gave him the reason to be sent to various inter-Orthodox and inter-Christian seminars and conferences. Due to good indicators he was admitted without entrance exams as a student at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy and at the same time appointed an associate of the external department of the ROC-MP, headed by the current patr. Cyril, then Metropolitan of Smolensk. Anton Sevryuk was appointed a lecturer at the Smolensk Theological Seminary. Since February 5, 2009 he has been the personal secretary of Patr. Cyril, and on March 5 he was tonsured a monk named Anthony. Shortly afterwards, he was ordained a hierodeacon, and the following year, 2010, he was ordained a hieromonk. Then he graduated with honors and SPDA. In March 2011 he was appointed clergyman of the Russian church “St. Nicholas ”in Rome, Italy, and on May 30 this year he served in the new Russian church of St. Ekaterina ”in the“ Eternal City ”(in place of Archbishop Filip (Vasiltsev), who came as a representative of the Ministry of Justice in Sofia-Bulgaria). In 2015, he was ordained Bishop of Bogorodsk and appointed Vicar of the Patriarch, while at the same time leading the foreign institutions of the Ministry of Justice and Russian Orthodox parishes in Italy. In April 2016 he was included in the delegation of the ROC for the All-Orthodox Council of Crete, but in early June this year the ROC refused to participate in this council. In the following years he was appointed to new and new positions: head of the Berlin diocese of the ROC, then of the Vienna-Budapest diocese. In 2018 he was promoted to archbishop with the title of Korsunsky (for Western European countries), and in 2019 he was already “Metropolitan of Korsunsky, Western European and patriarchal exarch for Western Europe.”

Siam, New Holland, Ceylon … What are these countries called today?

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News desk
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See what they were called

In 2019, Macedonia changed its name. The Balkan state became the Republic of Northern Macedonia after a long dispute with neighboring Greece. Turkey soon announced that its name would be spelled Turkie in English to avoid resemblance to the word ‘turkey’.

But these are far from the only countries that have changed their name. In fact, many nations have had their own identity crises and have usually changed their names since independence.

Australia

This distant country was once known as New Holland and New South Wales, but its current name was finally established in the early 19th century.

Jordan

This country was called the Emirate of Transjordan before it officially became the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in 1949.

Belarus

From 1920 to 1991, this country was known as Belarus (“White Russia”).

Belize

Belize was once called British Honduras.

Bolivia

Until 1825, this country was called Upper Peru.

Bangladesh

This South Asian country was called East Bengal and Assam, then East Bengal, East Pakistan, and now Bangladesh.

Ethiopia

Before 1974, the lands of Ethiopia were united with Eritrea to form Abyssinia.

Iraq

In 1932, the country gained full independence and was officially called Iraq. It was formerly called the British Mandate of Mesopotamia.

Lesotho

The enclaved state was once a colony of the British crown called Basutoland.

Mexico

Mexico was once part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain until the landmark change of its name in 1821 after the War of Independence.

Myanmar

The country of Southeast Asia was once called Burma and this name is still used in some countries.

Philippines

This country was once part of the Spanish East Indies. The country gained its independence in 1898 and was called the Philippines.

Singapore

Temasek is the early name of Singapore, which received its last in 1819.

Sri Lanka

Since the beginning of British colonial rule, this country has been known as Ceylon.

Suriname

This South American country was once known as Dutch Guiana.

Thailand

This country was known as Siam before it officially became Thailand in 1949.

Togo

Togo was once part of French Togoland, a colonial state of the League of Nations that existed from 1916 to 1960.

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is another country that has changed its name several times. Previous names include Southern Rhodesia, Rhodesia and Zimbabwe-Rhodesia.

Source: StarsInsider

RUSSIA: Strasbourg rules Russia’s ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses in 2017 is unlawful

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Newsdesk
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European Court of Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. (Credit: THIX Photo)

Jehovah’s Witnesses / ECtHR: Russia ordered to pay EUR 59,617,458 ($63,684,978 USD) for pecuniary damage (mainly seized property) and EUR 3,447,250 ($3,682,445 USD) in respect of non-pecuniary damage

Information and text from: JW World Headquarters/HRWF (08.06.2022) –

On Tuesday 7 June, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) released a landmark judgment against Russia in favour of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The ECHR declared—6 votes to 1—that it was unlawful for Russia to ban Jehovah’s Witnesses in 2017.

The court also stated that it was illegal to ban printed publications, periodicals and the official website of Jehovah’s Witnesses. It ordered Russia to discontinue all pending criminal proceedings against Jehovah’s Witnesses, to release all those in prison, as well as to return all the confiscated properties or pay adequate compensation.

Russia was ordered to pay the applicants a total of EUR 59,617,458 ($63,684,978 USD) for pecuniary damage (mainly seized property) and EUR 3,447,250 ($3,682,445 USD) in respect of non-pecuniary damage.

granted: EUR 59,617,458 for pecuniary damage

Jarrod Lopes, spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses states: 

“Jehovah’s Witnesses around the world are thrilled to hear about today’s comprehensive judgment against Russia. The Court vindicated Jehovah’s Witnesses as law-abiding citizens who, as a result of religious discrimination, are being unlawfully prosecuted and imprisoned in Russia. We hope Russia will comply with the Court’s direction to halt the nationwide persecution and to release all 91 Witnesses in prison. Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia eagerly await the opportunity to freely worship in their homeland as millions of fellow believers in over 200 other lands do.”

Significant Facts

  • The European Court stated that Russia “must take all necessary measures to secure the discontinuation of all pending criminal proceedings against Jehovah’s Witnesses, including by reference to the recently amended guidance by the Supreme Court of Russia (see paragraph 126 above), and release of all Jehovah’s Witnesses who have been deprived of their liberty.”
    • Why significant? Usually, the European Court does not articulate what State authorities should do to implement a judgment. Moreover, the conclusion of a judgment is typically limited to the parties of the case. But in today’s judgment, the Court makes a general statement about all Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia. This shows that neither the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses nor any individual Witnesses constitutes a threat to Russia. This confirms that the Witnesses’ beliefs and practices are harmless and deserve full protection because they are not extremists.

  • The Court views Jehovah’s Witnesses as a peaceful, legitimate religion
    • Advocacy that their beliefs are true: “Peacefully seeking to convince others of the superiority of one’s own religion and urging them to abandon “false religions” and join the “true one” is a legitimate form of exercise of the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression.” (right to freedom of religion) (§156)
    • Publications: “The applicants’ religious activities and the content of their publications appear to have been peaceful in line with their professed doctrine of non-violence.” (§157)
    • Website, jw.org: Site content not extremist. And even if some of it was extremist, the authorities should have required to remove the harmful part instead of blocking it all. (§231)
    • Individual believers, including Dennis Christensen: The ECHR stressed that the Russian Courts “did not identify any word, deed or action by the applicants which would be motivated or tainted by violence, hatred or discrimination against others.” (§271)
    • Conscientious Objection and Blood Transfusions: The Court reiterated that these are fundamental rights, which should be respected as part of one’s right to self-determination and freedom of conscience and of religion. (§165, 169)

  • The Court strongly criticized the Russian authorities, asserting the authorities were prejudiced, showed bias, and “had not acted in good faith.” (§187)
    • “Evidence tainted by bias against Jehovah’s Witnesses.” (§180)
    • “The forced dissolution of all religious organizations of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia was not merely the result of a neutral application of legal provisions but disclosed indications of a policy of intolerance by the Russian authorities towards the religious practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to cause Jehovah’s Witnesses to abandon their faith and to prevent others from joining it”. (§254)
    • Serious “procedural flaws”, such as the Court relying on biased expert reports selected by the police and prosecutors, instead of reviewing the publications impartially. (§252)
    • Law on extremism drafted in such a broad and vague manner that it allowed the authorities to act arbitrarily against us. (§272)

  • Russia violated several articles of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms:
    • freedom of thought, conscience and religion (Article 9)
    • freedom of expression (Article 10)
    • freedom of assembly and association (Article 11)
    • Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (the right to respect for property)

  • Judgment for “Taganrog LRO and others v. Russia” (32401/10), was combined with 19 other applications filed by Jehovah’s Witnesses from 2010 to 2019. The total number of applicants is 1444, of which 1014 are individuals and 430 are legal entities (some applicants appear in more than one complaint)

Judgment’s Impact

  • Inside of Russia: Although Russia is no longer a member of the Council of Europe, the case facts took place well before Russia withdrew and was expelled from the Council. Russia has had the opportunity to respond to the arguments in all the cases. Moreover, the ECHR has linked this judgment to the recently amended guidance by the Supreme Court of Russia. Thus, it is obligated to respect its content, all the more so as the content of this judgment applies indistinctly to all Jehovah’s Witnesses.

  • Outside of Russia: For all countries in Europe and elsewhere, the ECHR, which is the most effective international human rights court in the world, has made clear once and for all that Jehovah’s Witnesses are peaceful people, whose beliefs and practices are harmless. It has shown that even though State authorities may dislike their beliefs, they have no right to review their legitimacy, as they fall in the private sphere of every individual. (§172)

Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia

Jehovah’s Witnesses have been present in Russia since 1891. They were banned after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 and criminally prosecuted for practising their faith in the USSR.

After the USSR Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organisations Act was enacted in 1990, the RSFSR Ministry of Justice registered the Administrative Centre of the Religious Organisations of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the USSR. On 29 April 1999 that national religious entity was re-registered as the Administrative Centre of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia (“the Administrative Centre”), under Russia’s new Religions Act.

In order to carry out their religious worship and practice throughout Russia, religious associations of Jehovah’s Witnesses were formed into groups or communities, called “congregations”. They operated under the authority of the Administrative Centre, an umbrella organisation for the Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses. There were approximately 400 local congregations and 175,000 individual Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia. Their places of worship were known as “Kingdom Halls”.

In January 2007 a deputy Prosecutor General sent out a circular letter to regional prosecutors, asserting that Jehovah’s Witnesses represented a public threat:

“Various branches of foreign religious and charitable organisations operate in Russia, whose activities do not formally violate the provisions of Russian law but quite often contribute to the escalation of tensions in society. Representatives of foreign religious associations (Jehovah’s Witnesses, Unification Church, Church of Scientology, etc.), followers of various Oriental beliefs, and followers of Satanism form branches that frequently carry out activities harmful to the moral, mental, and physical health of their members.”

He directed subordinate prosecutors as follows:

“To check whether territorial bodies of the [telecoms regulator Roskomnadzor] … properly execute their legal duty to uncover extremist material in the media belonging to religious associations (Church of Scientology, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and other religious organisations that have their own printing facilities).”

Link to ECHR press release summary (7 pages)

Link to full judgment (196 pages)

Turkey has set 10 conditions for Sweden and Finland to join NATO

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Newsdesk
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Ankara has set 10 conditions for Stockholm and Helsinki, the fulfillment of which could force the Turkish authorities to reconsider their attitude towards the membership of Sweden and Finland in NATO, the Yeni Safak newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The representatives of Sweden and Finland were presented with a package of requests during the May 25 talks in Ankara. In particular, according to the publication, both sides must declare support for Ankara in the fight against terrorist organizations and adopt relevant legislation. Sweden and Finland must close all organizations in their territory that are linked to the banned PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) in Turkey, their assets and media resources, and prevent their reopening. In addition, Ankara is urging Stockholm and Helsinki to lift the embargo on exports of defense industry products and extradite people linked to terrorist organizations. Turkish authorities also want to establish co-operation in the fight against terrorism between the country’s intelligence services.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly stated that Ankara will not support the accession of Sweden and Finland to the North Atlantic Alliance until Stockholm and Helsinki define their attitude towards the terrorist organizations to which Ankara refers the PKK, the so-called People’s Self-Defense Forces (Syrian Kurds) and the “Fetulah Terrorist Organization” (FETO), which the Turkish authorities accuse of being involved in the preparations for the 2016 coup.

Ukrainian soldier purchased Pinzgauer armored all-terrain vehicles for the Armed Forces of Ukraine

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News desk
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Before the war, the man was a successful businessman.

APU received all-terrain vehicles / photo facebook.com/TerritorialDefenseForces

A Ukrainian soldier with the call sign “Mountain” together with his partners purchased Pinzgauer armored all-terrain vehicles for the Armed Forces.

This is reported by the Territorial Defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as reported by Violetta Orlova from unian.net.

Before the war, Gora was a successful entrepreneur. After the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, the man went to defend Ukraine, supporting the army financially.

“All my help to the Ukrainian army is anonymous so that no one knows my last name or sees my face. I do my job, what I have to do in such times. I will be where my help is needed most. I know and understand all needs. After the victory I will definitely reveal myself,” he said.

This time Gora and its partners donated 2009 Pinzgauer armored vehicles to the needs of the army. These are multi-purpose military jeeps that can work both as tractors, and as medical vehicles, and as vehicles for deep reconnaissance, support, and communications.

“One such is dozens, or even hundreds of preserved lives. We are grateful for this powerful support,” the Terroboron noted.

Recall that earlier Andrey Grushko, a resident of the Kherson region, stole an enemy URAL to help the Ukrainian defenders.

All-terrain vehicle Pinzgauer / photo facebook.com/TerritorialDefenseForces

Orthodox activist ran into the authorities because of the Shigir idol

By
Petar Gramatikov
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Orthodox activist Oksana Ivanova from Yekaterinburg is collecting signatures against the initiative of the city authorities to make the ancient Shigir idol a symbol of the city, reports ura.news. The appeal is planned to be sent to Governor Yevgeny Kuyvashev and Mayor Alexei Orlov. Information about this appeared on her personal page on the social network in VKontakte.

“Dear Evgeny Vladimirovich and Alexey Valerievich! I consider it my duty to express to you my concern about the plans to make the Shigir idol a symbol of our city and use its image during the celebration of the 300th anniversary of Yekaterinburg,” Ivanova wrote. “The case when silence can betray God. If you agree, please like and subscribe in the comments. <…> Remember that the more we are, the less likely it is to ignore our opinion,” the activist added.

According to her, the Shigir idol has nothing to do with the 300th anniversary of Yekaterinburg. “At the foundation of the city lies the laying of the Catherine’s Cathedral, the ironworks and the Yekaterinburg Fortress. In a situation where believers were illegally and hooliganously deprived of the opportunity to receive a restored cathedral for the 300th anniversary of the city, this also cynically continues the line of confrontation with the Christian history of Yekaterinburg,” the activist complained.

“No researchers can tell us what is the meaning of what is depicted on the idol. What meaningful message does the Shigir idol contain. I don’t understand what the authorities want to convey with it to the citizens, promoting the Shigir idol in the public field, ”Ivanova summed up.

Earlier URA.RU wrote that an international group of scientists stated that the famous Shigir idol is the most ancient image of evil spirits. In their opinion, the images on the Ural artifact may personify the devil. Wooden sculpture was discovered in the Urals in the second half of the 19th century. Initially, the height of the idol was 5.3 meters, but now, after the loss of the lower part, it reaches 3.4 meters.

Shigir idol from the Urals turned out to be the oldest personification of demons

An international group of scientists has stated that the famous Shigir idol is the oldest depiction of evil spirits. In their opinion, the images on the Ural artifact may personify the devil.

Wooden sculpture was discovered in the Urals in the second half of the 19th century. Initially, the height of the idol was 5.3 meters, but now, after the loss of the lower part, it reaches 3.4 meters. The body of the most ancient artifact is covered with a carved geometric ornament, and faces-masks are carved on its wide planes. In addition, scientists have found another mask on him, writes Gazeta.ru. According to them, they could personify evil spirits or even the devil, and the sculpture itself was used to perform rituals and scare people away from certain areas.

Recall that the researchers of the Shigir idol confirmed the age of the artifact. The Ural sculpture, which was made of wood, is more than 11 thousand years old. As a comparison, we can cite the oldest pyramid – the tomb of Pharaoh Cheops in Giza, which is only 4.5 thousand years old.

Photo: Alexander Mamaev © URA.RU

Letters from great 19th century writers are up for auction

By
Petar Gramatikov
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0

Letters from great French writers of the 19th century – Victor Hugo, Honore de Balzac, Stendhal, Gustave Flaubert, Georges Sand, Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine – will be offered at auction in Paris, AFP reported.

They are part of the collection of the former university professor and lover of literature Jean-Luc Mercier and are offered for sale by the auction house “Cornette de Saint-Cyr”. The auction will be held on June 9.

Participants will be able to bid for a letter from Victor Hugo, written by Brussels in 1866 to journalist and admirer Auguste Vacquerie. The letter, a call against the death penalty, in which the author of “The Doomed” complains that “freedom is denied everywhere, the ideal is violated and reactionaryism thrives” is valued at between 8,000 and 10,000 euros.

Four letters from Gustave Flaubert to his ex-girlfriend, written between 1846 and 1853, were valued at up to 15,000 euros each. In one, Flaubert said of the writing of Madame Bovary: “No lyricism. No reasoning. The author’s personality is absent. It will be sad to read.”

In a letter from 1868 addressed to Flaubert, Georges Sand complained that he lived in isolation. “You, angry troubadour, I suspect you enjoy the craft more than anything in the world,” Sand said.

The twentieth century and especially surrealism are well represented in the collection. A collage by Andre Breton entitled “Ghost Team” is valued at between 10,000 and 15,000 euros, as well as a book in English about Salvador Dali with a dedication drawn by the Spanish artist.

The most expensive lot, valued at between 40,000 and 50,000 euros, is an original edition of Julien Grach’s novel The Shores of Sirte, accompanied by a letter from the author to Jean-Luc Mercier explaining his literary project.

Participants will also be able to bid for an original edition of Emmanuel Arsan’s novel Emanuela, with a nude photo of the author by Pierre Molinier, valued at between 7,000 and 8,000 euros.

A total of 345 lots will be offered at the auction.

Australian grasshopper gave up sex 250,000 years ago – and has no regrets

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Newsdesk
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On Earth, there are many species that consist of only females that breed without the participation of males. It is generally believed that this method of reproduction inevitably leads to negative consequences for the species. But a grasshopper living in Australia has shown that even after a quarter of a million years of life without males, nothing threatens the well-being of the species.

Biology

Most living beings on our planet have two sexes: male and female. This state of affairs seems natural and correct to us, but, as often happens in the wild, not always and not all species follow the beaten path, because there are many animal species in which intraspecific mating does not occur, but they do not die out, but safely still exist.

They continue their race through parthenogenesis, or “virgin reproduction”: unfertilized eggs develop in the bodies of females, from which new individuals are obtained, usually also females. Most often, invertebrate animals (for example, insects and crustaceans) reproduce by parthenogenesis, but it is also found in vertebrates: about 70 species are known, including lizards, frogs, and even some birds, in which reproduction occurs without the participation of male individuals. In mammals, such species are not known in nature, but under laboratory conditions, cubs have already been obtained from same-sex pairs of mice.

It is believed that this method of reproduction is unstable and loses in comparison with the usual sexual one: since daughters are, in fact, clones of their mothers, the genetic diversity of the species is extremely low, and if external conditions change, this can lead to the extinction of the species. However, nature once again decided to dispel our misconceptions: after eighteen years of studying the parthenogenetic grasshopper Warramaba virgo, scientists came to the conclusion that its species has existed for a quarter of a million years and is in no hurry to die out.

According to the results of the study, W. virgo was formed as a result of interspecific crossing of two other sexually reproducing species: W. flavolineata and W. whitei. Initially, scientists believed that the high viability of W. virgo was associated with repeated crosses of parental species and the effect of heterosis, in which hybrids have better characteristics than parental species (an eloquent example is the mule). However, a genetic study of all three species of grasshoppers has shown that this is not the case: W. virgo appeared as a result of a single “wrong” mating, judging by the number of accumulated mutations that occurred about 250 thousand years ago.

Also, W. virgo did not have any advantages over its parents in terms of physiological traits: this species did not stand out either in terms of resistance to heat and cold, or in terms of metabolic rate, or in terms of the number of eggs laid, the rate of development of offspring, and life expectancy. Nevertheless, for a quarter of a million years, W. virgo has successfully existed on the planet and even managed to spread throughout southern Australia, which its ancestors could not achieve.

It turns out that W. virgo has become a parthenogenetic species without any pluses and minuses for itself. But in this case, the question arises why the original species did not completely dissolve in each other, forming a single hybrid population. The scientists decided to test this by artificially crossing W. flavolineata and W. whitei and producing several hybrid females. None of them were able to produce viable offspring, which means that the unique mating that gave rise to W. virgo was also a very successful combination of circumstances, a kind of winning the genetic lottery, thanks to which the new species managed to hold out for so long .. A hybrid individual, obtained in the laboratory: unlike the “wild”, she laid only a few eggs that never hatched.

Further research into parthenogenetic species may allow us to answer questions about the benefits of not only bisexual mating, but avoiding it.

The results of the study are published in the journal Science.

Photo: A virgin grasshopper, or rather a virgin: this whole species consists only of females / ©findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au

Switzerland vetoed Denmark from sending armored personnel carriers to Ukraine

By
Gaston de Persigny
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The Swiss government has vetoed a request from Denmark to allow it to send Swiss-made armored personnel carriers to Ukraine, citing its policy of neutrality, under which it does not supply weapons to conflict zones, Reuters reported. in a statement from the Swiss television “SRF”.

The Swiss Secretariat of State for Economic Affairs (DIPC) has rejected a request from Denmark to allow Ukraine to provide about 20 armored infantry vehicles to the Piranha III, the television said, citing confirmation from the agency itself. DUIS has not yet commented on the information.

Neutral Switzerland requires foreign countries that purchase Swiss weapons to seek permission before re-exporting it. In April, it vetoed the re-export of Swiss-made anti-aircraft ammunition that Germany is sending to Ukraine. She also refused a request from Poland for weapons to help her neighbor Ukraine.

Switzerland has put an end to past practices and imposed EU sanctions aimed at punishing Russia for invading Ukraine, which Moscow describes as a special military operation to disarm and “denazification” the neighboring country. But Switzerland’s neutrality faces its most serious test in decades amid the country’s ongoing debate over how to implement a policy that prevented Switzerland from participating in the two world wars of the 20th century.

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