COVID-19 rates are on the rise in the Americas, where new infections and fatalities have been steadily increasing over the past four weeks, the regional office of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.
More than 918,000 cases were recorded last week, a 27.2 per cent increase over the previous week, and over 3,500 deaths, latest information from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has revealed.
Eighteen nations saw spikes in hospitalizations, while admissions to intensive care rose in 13 countries and territories.
“The rise in cases should serve as a wake-up call. When people get sick, hospitals get overwhelmed, health systems are challenged, and the number of deaths rise,” said Dr. Carissa Etienne, the PAHO Director, speaking during her weekly media briefing.
North America accounted for more than half of all infections in the region. Cases there have been climbing for the past seven weeks, driven by new infections in the United States, which recorded more than 605,000 new cases, a 33 per cent increase.
The largest rise in cases occurred in Central America, where infections soared by 80 per cent, while in South America, Brazil recorded more than 120,000 cases – a nine per cent increase.
Meanwhile, Argentina saw almost 34,000 cases, which is a staggering 92 per cent rise over the previous week. Other countries in the subregion also experienced surges, while Venezuela, Paraguay and Brazil recorded an increase in deaths.
Cases in the Caribbean have been increasing for five consecutive weeks. Infections rose 9.3 per cent, and deaths 49 per cent, when compared with the previous week. Fourteen countries and territories also reported increases in hospitalizations.
Dr. Etienne urged governments to take stock and act on these numbers. “The truth is this virus is not going away anytime soon,” she said.
Healthcare workers in Burzaco, Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina (file photo).
Following a period of lower coronavirus transmission, many national and local authorities are abandoning mask mandates and physical distancing requirements, and have reopened borders. However, many people in the Americas are still at risk.
Only 14 of the 51 PAHO countries and territories have reached the WHO target of vaccinating 70 per cent of their populations. Discrepancies still exist in coverage for at-risk and vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, people with pre-existing conditions, and indigenous and afro-descendant communities
Dr. Etienne underlined that wearing masks and practicing physical distancing are still valid measures to lower virus transmission.
“Governments should continue to monitor the COVID-19 trends closely, adapt their guidance to protect the most vulnerable, and always be ready to scale up these social measures whenever there is an increase in cases or deaths,” she said.
The public can also play a part by embracing vaccines, masks and other protective measures, she added.
Learning from the pandemic
Dr. Etienne has recommended that countries should not forget lessons learned over the past two years of living with the new disease.
They must keep focus on the virus, amid a steady decline in testing. Even in places where self-tests are available, results are not always reported to health authorities.
“Testing and surveillance are our eyes and ears for this pandemic and can help governments make informed decisions,” the PAHO chief said, underscoring the importance of maintaining and strengthening related infrastructure.
At the same time, governments must also keep investing in their health systems to react quickly to any new developments, and to address health needs beyond COVID-19.
Dr. Etienne recalled that when COVID-19 vaccines were first rolled out over a year ago, the concern was over equity and ensuring enough doses to cover the most vulnerable people.
“Supply was the most significant barrier throughout 2021. That is no longer the case,” she said. “We have sufficient doses to cover those most at risk, and we have an obligation to do so.”
A publishing house known for supporting local creative works and not shying away from tomes on political issues has said that the organizers of the Hong Kong Book Fair have rejected its application to exhibit.
In response, Hillway Culture said it would set up another book show that “truly belongs to Hongkongers” instead.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the publisher said it was notified by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) that its application to participate in the Hong Kong Book Fair 2022 was not accepted.
Hillway Culture said it had participated in the book fair twice in the past. In January this year, it applied to take part in the book show according to the standard procedure.
“The application process and communication have been smooth as usual. HKTDC also sent an email earlier to inform us about participating in a booth selection meeting on May 6 at 10am,” the post read.
“However, HKDTC suddenly called us at 7pm on May 5, claiming that there was a ‘technical problem’ and that the booth selection meeting had to be temporarily canceled.”
Hillway Culture added that the organizers sent another email at 11pm, reiterating that “due to unforeseen technical problems”, the selection would be delayed, and new arrangements would be announced as soon as possible.
However, the publisher said it received an email from HKDTC on Monday, notifying it that its application was not accepted and its deposit would be refunded.
Hillway Culture added that, since there was no explanation, it called the organizers on Tuesday to find out why, but was just told that “no more information could be provided.”
The publishing house said it did not see any reason for its application to be rejected given that it had been an exhibitor in the past and has no record of violating any rules. Moreover, it applied for a bigger booth area and would have been paying more participation fees this year, it added.
It said the organizers’ handling led it to suspect there is an inside story to the rejection.
The annual Hong Kong Book Fair is one of the largest book shows in Asia.
For many years, it was regarded as a bastion of publishing freedom, with the event drawing many mainland Chinese who would buy books banned on the mainland.
However, at last year’s fair – the first to be held after Beijing imposed the national security law in Hong Kong – many booksellers and publishers steered clear of books that could be seen as violating the law by some, especially politically sensitive tomes.
Hillway Culture was one of the few booths that still exhibited such books, with some groups reporting it for selling three titles that they claimed violated the security law.
The publisher said police officers later inspected its booth and told it that there were no problems with its books.
It added that HKTDC did not give it any warnings or mention anything about violations.
Hillway Culture reiterated that it has always indicated its willingness to follow the procedures of HKTDC and law enforcement agencies in its interviews with the media.
“We are well aware that we are not a publishing organization that is close to the official position, but allowing the general public to express dissent and recognize voices from across the spectrum is what it should be like to respect Hong Kong’s core values such as freedom of speech and freedom of the press,” said Hillway Culture in its statement.
It also expressed great regret over HKTDC’s decision.
Responding to queries from Coconuts, an HKTDC spokesman said: “In organizing any event, it is not uncommon that some applications may not be successful. We do not comment on individual cases.”
In its Facebook post, Hillway Culture also announced an alternative book fair it is organizing, which roughly translates as the “Hongkonger Book Fair”.
“As the name suggests, we hope to hold a book fair that truly belongs to Hongkongers and one that Hongkongers deserve to own,” said the publisher.
According to its event page, the tentative date of the book show will be somewhere in July or August for five to seven days.
It will be held online and in person in Wan Chai, Causeway Bay, Mong Kok or other accessible spots.
The Moldovan President addressed the Parliament on 18 May. Discover how the EU is supporting Moldova, especially following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu was in the Parliament to discuss the war in Ukraine and its impact on her country, which has played a major role caring for Ukrainian refugees.
Welcoming the Moldovan President to the Parliament, Parliament President Roberta Metsola praised the country for taking in Ukrainian refugees and said the Parliament supports Moldova’s EU application: “We know that Moldova is looking at us with a sense of purpose. Every country must follow its own path, its own timeline, but we must not be afraid to use the power of Europe to improve people’s lives, to change generations. And this is why the European Union needs to send a clear and firm political message that we recognise the European aspirations of Moldova and your efforts in implementing key reforms that bring your country closer to us. Moldova belongs in the European family.”
“Almost half a million Ukrainians crossed our border, and around 90,000 are still with us, hosted by my big-hearted fellow citizens,” Sandu told MEPs. “Half of the refugees today are children. And this constitutes 10% of the total number of children in the country.”
She called for support for Moldova’s bid to join the EU: “I ask you to increase the EU’s support for Moldova – for the sake of Moldovans who want to preserve their democracy and freedom, but also for the sake of Europe – to have a stable, predictable and reliable partner and contributor to peace in its eastern neighbourhood.
“Our independence, peaceful development, economic and political reforms must have an anchor and this anchor is a clear perspective of EU accession, the status of a candidate country.”
Existing cooperation
The EU and Moldova enjoy close ties. In 2014 they concluded an association agreement as well as a deep and comprehensive trade agreement, which entered into force in 2016. The EU is Moldova’s largest trading partner.
Application for EU membership
On 3 March 2022, Moldova submitted a formal application for European Union membership, a decision that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In a resolution adopted on 5 May, Parliament welcomed Moldova’s formal EU membership application and said the EU should grant it candidate status.
Old Orhei Monastery at sunrise in Moldova Republic
War in Ukraine
Moldova has been significantly affected by the Russian war against Ukraine. Since the start of the invasion nearly half a million Ukrainian refugees have arrived, of which about 90,000 remain. On 24 March, Parliament consented to Frontex operational support for Moldova, including at its borders with Ukraine. On the same day, MEPs also agreed to provide Moldova with €150 million in macro-financial aid to cover part of its external financing needs. Shortly afterwards, a European Parliament delegation travelled to Moldova to assess the situation there.
The war in Ukraine has led to lost trade and higher energy and transport prices in Moldova.
In the resolution adopted on 5 May, MEPs called on the EU to provide more support to Moldova, for example through new macro-financial assistance, further transport and trade liberalisation measures and continued support for refugee management and humanitarian efforts.
Transnistria
There are also concerns about the security situation in Transnistria, the Russian-backed breakaway region on the Moldovan-Ukrainian border, where several “security incidents” were reported in April. Moldovan authorities called these a provocation with the aim of destabilising the region.
On 5 May, MEPs said they considered these incidents dangerous acts of provocation in a highly volatile security situation. The also reiterated Parliament’s support for a “comprehensive, peaceful and lasting political settlement of the Transnistrian conflict,” i.e. based on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Moldova within its internationally recognised borders, and with the removal of Russian forces based there.
The importance of mass casualty training in the context of the war in Ukraine: an interview with Professor Johan von Schreeb
Johan von Schreeb is Professor of Global Disaster Medicine in the Department of Global Public Health at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, and leads the Centre for Research on Health Care in Disasters, a WHO collaborating centre that runs courses in global disaster medicine. Most recently, he has been rolling out mass casualty training in Ukraine and neighbouring countries.
What is your background and your experience of dealing with mass casualty situations?
I am a medical doctor trained in general surgery. I’ve done several missions around the world over the last 35 years, starting with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Afghanistan, dealing with natural disasters as well as conflicts.
From 2014, I was WHO’s Emergency Medical Team Coordinator, which included providing trauma-care support in Mosul, Iraq, in 2016–2017, and conducting trauma-care trainings in the active conflict zones of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, in 2017 and Yemen in 2018. In 2021, I continued to support WHO in Lebanon following the explosion in Beirut, and conducted trainings on mass casualty management in Iraq.
My role started as a trauma surgeon, but as time has gone on, I have taken on more of a coordinating position, trying to get all the different emergency actors together, working with ministries of health in affected countries, ensuring that standards are applied and making sure staff on the ground get appropriate training.
What has your role been during the Ukraine war?
WHO asked me to coordinate international assistance to Ukraine, focusing on trauma and rehabilitation. The context has been quite complex. On the one hand, you have a well functioning health system, with something like 1600 hospitals spread around the country, employing thousands of skilled surgeons. But on the other hand, these surgeons are not really used to dealing with the types of injuries that we are now seeing in this conflict, which creates a real challenge for the health system.
So, my role is to try to support the Ministry of Health, the surgeons and the hospitals with our team of international experts, but to do that in a respectful way. We try to cover the gaps, to add additional knowledge and to put into practice our expertise in managing casualty surges.
Why is training local staff so important?
As I mentioned, health staff are not used to dealing with the types and numbers of injuries that you get in war situations. Many conflict-related injuries can lead to heavy bleeding, so time is the crucial factor. Everyone involved in what we call the trauma pathway needs to know what they are doing to get the patient stabilized as quickly as possible. Those on the spot, close to the injured person, need to immediately try to stop the bleeding by applying pressure, or by using a tourniquet if it’s an injured limb. Then, the most important thing is to transport the patient as fast as possible to a hospital where they can surgically stop the bleeding; otherwise, the patient is likely to die.
What does the mass casualty management training consist of?
We simulate a range of injuries on around 60 artificial patients and then take our trainees through how to effectively manage the patient flow. This starts with initial patient assessments – checking airways, breathing, circulation, disability and exposure – which most emergency physicians already know. However, doing this in a trauma setting and with many patients at once can be a real challenge.
We also consider how the emergency room needs to be prepared to receive large numbers of patients and teach the trainees how to triage, or sort the patients with a colour-coding system, depending on the severity of their injuries and their priority for surgery. Obviously, those requiring resuscitation or with critical injuries are considered code red and taken into the emergency room as soon as possible, so they can rapidly get the care they need to hopefully save their lives.
What value does WHO bring to the training and to mass casualty situations?
WHO’s Emergency Medical Teams have been in existence for over 10 years, so we have a lot of accumulated knowledge and experience from a range of emergency situations. We also have academic experts who work with WHO to publish papers and update protocols, to make sure that what we teach is really up to date. It’s thanks to all this combined experience and expertise that WHO is able to develop good guidelines and good minimum standards, and to implement everything in a systematic way while involving staff in the affected countries.
What is the context in Ukraine, and what impact has this had on what you deliver in the training?
It’s important to stress that what we teach has to be adapted to the particular context – you cannot do the same type of training in Ukraine as you would in Somalia, South Sudan, or Afghanistan, for instance. Prior to the conflict, Ukraine had a strong health system, with many skilled doctors and nurses and a lot of hospitals. Sadly, several facilities have since been subject to bombing and are destroyed.
At the moment, it’s often a real challenge to get close to where the wounded patients are, as they are usually in insecure areas of active conflict that are hard to access. Despite this, the Ukrainian health system is managing well to deal with injured patients, either at the site of injury or by transporting them for surgery elsewhere.
Even so, there are gaps in knowledge and resources which we are trying to fill. For instance, we are seeing very complicated injuries, such as open fractures and nasty wounds from flying shrapnel that are really difficult to manage, so we’ve brought in orthoplastic surgery specialists to work alongside local surgeons. We’re also seeing many children with fractured limbs, so have introduced a type of metal system that allows surgeons to stabilize fractures from the outside.
A particularly important part of this gap-filling has been to ensure there is a functioning blood bank, because with heavily bleeding patients you need around 10 times more blood than you would expect for a normal trauma patient.
So, while there are some gaps to be filled, training Ukrainian surgeons and health-care staff to continue this work will help them develop their skills in areas that you only get in mass casualty situations.
How many people have participated in the training in Ukraine?
In addition to the hands-on training, which has so far involved 200 participants, we’ve been doing a twice-weekly webinar on damage control surgery, which has been attended by over 450 participants each time from all over Ukraine.
Students on all our courses have been very attentive and keen to learn, because they know the mass casualty situations we simulate are something they could very easily have to deal with in real life. Indeed, yesterday, we ran a workshop on mass casualty management in a hospital which 3 weeks ago had to deal with 100 injured patients because of a bombing. So, for many, dealing with mass casualties is already a sad and stark reality.
How could this training be of long-term benefit?
Surgeons nowadays tend to be specialized in 1 area of expertise. This training means they broaden their skills and knowledge to manage a range of different types of injuries, which is beneficial to the national health system when surge capacity is needed. It also means they could consider joining international emergency medical teams to be deployed to other mass casualty situations around the world as needed, and train up the next generation of surgeons in the process.
Rev. Brian Fesler, pastor of the Church of Scientology Nashville and new president of the Religion Communicators Council national Board of Governors.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, May 18, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — At its 2022 national convention, Religion Communicators Council (RCC) elected Rev. Brian Fesler, pastor of the Church of Scientology Nashville, as president of its board of governors.
“I am excited and honored to serve with the distinguished members of the executive committee,” said Fesler. “These people have dedicated their careers to forwarding religious and spiritual values with excellence. Supporting that work is what RCC is all about.”
Religion Communicators Council was founded in 1929 as an organization for communications and public relations professionals, with membership open to those associated with Protestant denominations. In 1972, RCC opened membership to all religious faiths, which now includes more than 60 different faith-based institutions in the United States and abroad.
Past RCC president Nadine Monn said Rev. Fesler’s “leadership on interfaith partnerships and dedication to communications excellence will be a benefit to our professional association as we continue envisioning what RCC looks like in the coming years.”
In addition to his role on the board, Rev. Fesler served this year as coordinator of the DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Awards, honoring excellence in religion communication. This is the second consecutive year of his organizing 50 communications professionals to judge nearly 200 submissions from RCC members for awards involving periodicals, audiovisual publications, writing, artwork and design.
Rev. Fesler has served as senior pastor of the Church of Scientology Nashville since 2009. Long known in the Nashville community for his work to bring people together in celebration of diversity, Rev. Fesler was treasurer on the Nashville Board of the Interdenominational Ministers Fellowship in 2014 and 2015 under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Judy Cummings, then pastor of New Covenant Christian Church (DOC). He is a fixture on the steering committee that plans Nashville’s annual Martin Luther King Day march and convocation. He is active in interfaith work and community outreach programs including drug prevention and chairs the annual Tennessee celebration of International Human Rights Day.
“In this time of confusion, worry, and lack of social interaction, it is more important than ever for the religious community to reach its members and counsel those in need,” said Fesler, “The RCC is vital to our world today. I look forward to working with the executive committee and board to further the RCC mission.”
From its beginnings, the Church of Scientology has recognized that freedom of religion is a fundamental human right. In a world where conflicts are often traceable to intolerance of others’ religious beliefs and practices, the Church has, for more than 50 years, made the preservation of religious liberty an overriding concern.
The Church publishes a religious freedom blog to help create a better understanding of the freedom of religion and belief and provide news on religious freedom and issues affecting this freedom around the world.
The Founder of the Scientology religion is L. Ron Hubbard and Mr. David Miscavige is the religion’s ecclesiastical leader.
For more information visit the Scientology website or Scientology Network.
COMECE and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) invite you to participate in the 2nd edition of the Catholic Youth Convention on the Future of Europe, to be held on Tuesday 31 May and Thursday 2 June 2022 on the theme “Sharing our dreams on the future of Europe”. Registration now open
Screenshot of the 2021 Catholic Youth Convention. (Credit: COMECE)
The event is organised in the context of the 2022 “European Year of Youth” and at the conclusion of the plenary of the Conference on the Future of Europe. Participants will be able to enter into dialogue with EU policymakers from the EU institutions on the following 3 topics (see draft programme: 31 May – 2 June):
Youth and South-East Europe(31 May) – with EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi;
The Future of Christian Democracy(2 June) – including welcoming remarks by H.Em. Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich SJ, President of COMECE;
Dialogue withRepresentatives of the Plenary of the Conference on the Future of Europe(2 June).
Participants will include young people delegated by the Bishops’ Conferences of the EU, and young people from the network of the COMECE Youth Platform. This event is also open to all people who are interested to hear the voice of young people regarding the Future of Europe. Young people from all around Europe are strongly encouraged to participate.
The event will take place online, via Zoom. Registration for the 2nd Catholic Youth Convention on the Future of Europe is now open.
Vienna (Austria), 18 May 2022 – Last Monday, on the opening day of the thirty-first session of the Commission of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ), a special event was held taking stock and reporting on initiatives launched since the adoption of the Kyoto Declaration.
The Kyoto Declaration came out of the Fourteenth United Nations (UN) Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and was adopted by consensus in Kyoto on 7 March 2021. Member States recommitted to a multilateral approach in preventing and combating crimes and promoting the rule of law and reaffirmed that the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is the leading UN entity supporting them in this approach.
Japan’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UNin Vienna, Takeshi Hikihara, chaired and moderated the special event, during which initiatives were reported on including those funded by Japan and implemented by UNODC.
Ambassador Hikihara is also chairing the CCPCJ at its thirty-first session. In his opening remarks , he underlined that “scaling up the implementation of crime prevention and criminal justice policy commitments is one of the key priorities of our commission”.
In her intervention, Ms. Ghada Waly, Executive Director of UNODC, recalled that the “crime congresses have long played an essential role in developing and agreeing holistic justice solutions to strengthen the rule of law and help build a resilient, inclusive society that leaves no one behind”.
Another speaker, Ambassador Xavier Sticker of France, stressed the importance of furthering initiatives to combat crimes that affect the environment at all levels, by using the tools provided by the Kyoto Declaration and exchanging good practices among experts.
The special event also featured interventions by Japan’s State Minister and Assistant Vice-Minister of Justice, the UN Asia and Far East Institute, and the Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, as well as UNODC. Additionally, it included a panel discussion with national experts that participated in the negotiations of the Kyoto Declaration.
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The CCPCJ is the UN’s principal policymaking body in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice and works to improve international action to combat national and transnational crime and make criminal justice administration systems fairer and more efficient.
The Kyoto Declaration called upon the CCPCJ to adopt policy and operational measures appropriate to following up on the declaration, to identify innovative uses of any information that details progress made in its implementation, and to engage with other relevant stakeholders and strengthen global partnerships that will advance crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law.
The European Commission risks undermining the integrity of the EU administration without a more robust approach to the movement of staff to the private sector, the Ombudsman concluded following a broad inquiry into ‘revolving doors’.
While the Commission has made improvements since the last Ombudsman inquiry, it still needs to do more. The Commission should:
1. Forbid jobs temporarily if they pose risks that cannot be offset by restrictions or if restrictions cannot credibly be monitored and enforced.
2. Make its approval of a new job conditional on the staff member obtaining a commitment from the new employer to publish any restrictions on its website.
3. Publish the decisions on staff members’ new jobs faster.
“The movement of regulators into sectors they formerly regulated has become a problematic issue in Brussels, yet this is not fully reflected in how the EU administration deals with the matter,” said European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly.
“There is a tendency to underestimate the corrosive effects of officials bringing their knowledge and networks to related areas in the private sector.
The EU administration is at a critical point in its treatment of ‘revolving doors’. Failing to control the practice now will allow the embedding of a culture that may erode public confidence in the integrity and expertise of the EU institutions.
Permanent jobs in the EU administration imply a commitment to the public good over the long term. They should not be seen as a stepping stone to related jobs in the private sector,” said the Ombudsman.
The inquiry covered a sample of 100 decisions taken by the Commission in 2019-2021, across 14 Directorates-General, all Commissioner cabinets, the Commission’s Legal Service, and the Secretariat-General. Of these 100 decisions, the Commission prohibited only two activities. The Ombudsman did not find maladministration, see here for the inquiry findings.
Today, the Ombudsman is also launching her Annual Report for 2021, with complaints related to transparency and accountability accounting for the biggest proportion of inquiries (29%).
The Report documents the Ombudsman’s work on improving public access to documents, including by publishing a guide for the EU institutions to help them fully meet their obligations in this area. It gives details on a range of inquiries including whether Frontex’s complaints mechanism could be made more accessible, how the Commission ensures Croatian authorities respect fundamental rights in the context of border management operations, and how the European Investment Bank should improve transparency about the projects it finances.
In 2021, the Ombudsman opened 338 inquiries – of which six were on her own initiative – while the average length of time for an inquiry was less than four months.
The Annual Report also features the European Ombudsman’s new logo – officially launched today – representing the office’s mission: accountability, transparency, and trust.
The safety and security of religious communities in France were addressed in a training conducted by the Conference of European Churches (CEC) in Paris. Held as part of the Safer and Stronger Communities in Europe (SASCE) project, the event brought together French church leaders and staff members.
The training held on 16 May was significant, as France has experienced several terrorist attacks in the past years, including a number of churches that were directly affected.
During the meeting, CEC Executive Secretary for Human Rights, Dr Elizabeta Kitanovic, presented SASCE materials to the participants, including guides for community members, church leaders and staff members, as well as practical guides and videos produced for law enforcement.
The materials shared with the participants included a recommendation from SASCE to create a Crisis Management Team on every diocesan level in case of climate emergency, terrorist attacks, or any other emergency that could put the security of a religious community in danger.
Rev. Christian Krieger, president of CEC, attended the event, representing the Reformed Church in Alsace and Lorraine. “We are grateful to receive this important material in French. As this topic is very sensitive, the church leaders need time to study these necessary materials and to have further and deeper discussion about the awareness of security threats in France.”
Funded by the European Commission, the SASCE project is an outcome of a European interfaith partnership, representing Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities. CEC is working together with religious partners to assist in the protection of places of worship across Europe.
Xerxes I, who ruled the Persian Empire in the 5th century, goes down in history with his military invasion of Greece, marked by the battles of Thermopylae, Salamis and Plateia. But according to historians, this invasion became known not only for its battles, writes Ancient Origins. In 480 BC. Xerxes’ army advanced on the Hellespont (Dardanelles), which separated Asia from Europe. In order to quickly transfer his army to the opposite shore, the Persian king ordered the construction of a 1.2 km pontoon bridge across the strait. The bridge was built, but before the Persian army could take advantage of it, a storm broke out at sea and destroyed the structure. Enraged, Xerxes ordered his soldiers to punish the sea for disobedience. By order of the king, the sea was whipped 300 times and pierced with red-hot iron to obey Xerxes.
In addition, according to historical records, the engineers involved in the construction of the pontoon bridge were beheaded. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote that the bridge was eventually built. More than 600 boats were tied with ropes, which allowed Xerxes I’s army to cross to the opposite shore.
It is known that crossing the strait takes the Persians 7 days and nights. But for Xerxes and his army, all is in vain. The Persians were defeated by the Greeks and when they retreated to the bridge, they found that the sea had destroyed the bridge again.
Photo: The Scourging of the Hellespont (illustration from 1909). Public Domain
