Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights delivered a statement for the launch of an unheard “Quality Rights” e-training that will help, among other things, put an end to systemic abuses in psychiatry and mental health.
Michelle Bachelet:
Greetings to all. Thank you to the World Health Organization for inviting UN Human Rights to take part in the launch and rollout of this vital e-training. It is an honour to participate.
Today’s launch of the Quality Rights e-training is timely, and its focus on mental health, recovery and community inclusion could not be more crucial.
As we are all aware, the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the devastating social impacts of global health crises. The years of neglect and underinvestment in mental health has been heavily exposed, as has the longstanding stigma of mental health conditions and discrimination against people with psychosocial disabilities.
Their human rights are continuously under threat.
We urgently need a paradigm shift. My Office’s recent report on mental health and human rights highlighted that people with mental health conditions and with psychosocial disabilities face all kinds of discrimination. They are often denied legal capacity on the basis of their disability, forcibly admitted to institutional settings, and coerced into treatment.
This is happening because of outdated laws, policies and practices.
Restoring the dignity and rights of people with mental health conditions and with psychosocial disabilities needs to be our priority. We need to discontinue the use of discriminatory laws and practices and advance towards approaches with equality and non-discrimination at their core. Such approaches must conform with international human rights standards as set out in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The Quality Rights e-training will play an essential role in transforming attitudes and practices in mental health. It will provide vital support to countries in their implementation of a rights-based and recovery-oriented approach to mental health services.
I am particularly pleased that the e-training is being integrated and delivered in the context of the Special Initiative for Mental Health. Dr Tedros, I commend you for your vision in creating and accelerating the implementation of this initiative and WHO’s commitment to keep mental health high on the human rights, sustainable development and humanitarian agendas.
My Office is committed to continue our collaboration and to support this excellent initiative. I will be inviting all staff to undertake the training, and – through our web and social media channels as well as at high-level events – to actively disseminate it to relevant audiences throughout the world.
As we recover from the pandemic, we have a crucial opportunity to find the path towards better, more inclusive, sustainable societies. Tools such as this can help us take the steps on that path.
Structural weaknesses in the world’s Least Developed Countries (LDCs) have made them more vulnerable to shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and the current food and energy crises, and the situation could worsen if they do not fully participate in global recovery efforts.
The report provides an overview of progress and challenges these nations face in terms of structural transformation, a just transition to greener economies, and creation of full and productive employment.
Economic and social progress in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) have been slowed by the impact of the #COVID19 pandemic, climate change and the continuing energy and food crises.
“Multiple shocks have put Least Developed Countries under enormous pressure,” said Guy Ryder, the ILO Director-General.
“However, with the right employment and macroeconomic policy measures, new jobs can be created in both existing and new sectors, along with enhanced productivity and innovation driven by investments in green and digital economic opportunities.”
The report examines how digital technologies can deliver huge benefits to LDCs, provided investments are made in capital, skills and knowledge, to support inclusive, decent work.
Numerous vulnerabilities
The 46 nations represent 12 per cent of the world’s population and are characterized by low income levels, vulnerability to economic and environmental shocks, diminished levels of well-being, extreme poverty and high mortality rates.
Their vulnerabilities are largely the result of weak productive capacities associated with inadequate infrastructure, as well as limited access to technologies, according to the report.
Weak institutions, including those relating to work and social protection, are also a factor, while informal employment with no social safety net, is pervasive, representing almost 90 per cent of jobs.
‘Virtuous circle’
The report contains several policy recommendations that promote what the ILO called “human-centred recovery” that is inclusive, sustainable and resilient.
These measures include expanding international assistance and cooperation to strengthen health care and vaccines, and to avoid unnecessary restrictions and barriers to trade and migration.
The report also called for strengthening institutions of work and building capacities to enable fundamental rights, such as freedom of association and collective bargaining, with active engagement of social partners.
“This policy focus would create a virtuous circle that improves trust in government, facilitates a progressive shift to high value-added and environmentally sustainable activities, help reduce poverty and inequality and contribute to social justice,” according to the report.
On Friday, April 29th, The Stephen Leeson Show marked its first anniversary. The show launched in April 2021 as a co-production between singer/songwriter Stephen Leeson and the volunteers at the Scientology Community Centre. It had the purpose to celebrate artists and giving them a platform to reach out, perform and tell their stories in their worst hour – in the midst of the pandemic. It declared a war on the pandemic blues from day one.
“The pandemic was very hard on everyone and has affected the mental health of so many. I found this especially prevalent in the art sector as musicians and performing artists from all walks of life were simply unable to do what they love the most – create. Adding the heavy economic strain they were under on top made the situation unbearable. We had to do something to help,” said Asia Kuzma – a volunteer at the Scientology Community Centre and co-producer of the show.
“I knew Stephen Leeson before the pandemic as a very successful singer/songwriter who was constantly booked out and very busy. When I reached out to him in 2021, Stephen had not performed for a year and had even considered that music might be over for him. But his purpose to create and entertain was rekindled very fast. When he suggested that we co-produce a weekly online show, entirely on a volunteer basis, just to help artists overcome the impact of the pandemic on their mental health, our entire team was immediately on board. Now we have a year of production behind us – something we are really proud of.”
A multi-talented Irish folk singer, songwriter and musician, Stephen Leeson has been on stage for over 20 years. He has been the frontman and lead singer with bands such as Porter Black and Dublin Legacy and has also performed with The Dublin City Ramblers.
Asked about his life before the pandemic, Stephen said he never had less than 10 gigs a week.
“I was in my element and was loving it. When everything suddenly stopped, I found it very hard not to be able to do what I loved the most and this took its toll on me. What we created with this show was lifesaving for me, and for many other artists, I believe. I’m really proud I did something about it and I’m very grateful to the entire team at the Scientology Community Centre for their unwavering support from the very beginning,” said Stephen.
In the past year, The Stephen Leeson Show has welcomed well over 200 artists, including well-known performers like The High Kings, Dublin City Ramblers, The Rock Tenors, Paddy Casey, Johnny Ward and many more. The show has also hosted 3 charity concerts raising close to 15,000 Euros in aid of great causes. It has grown quite popular over the past year and is currently booked out for the coming months.
Stephen Leeson Show 1 year fighting Pandemic Blues 17
The special episode celebrating the show’s first year of production was opened by a spectacular performance of Irish dance by studio2stage, followed by a beautiful medley of songs from Francie Conway, Kenneth O’Regan, Barbara Galvin and Shoe The Donkey band. Stephen Leeson was joined by co-host Angel Brennan – a great singer and entertainer in her own right.
Singer/songwriter and producer Kenneth O’Regan, who has been closely involved with the show, said: “In April of 2021, the Scientology Community Centre decided they wanted to do something to help Irish music artists in their hour of need. That something became The Stephen Leeson Show. In the past year, over 200 artists from all over Ireland performed on the show. The Stephen Leeson Show became an outlet for artists to express their art and stories in a time when no other outlet existed. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
The 1st-anniversary episode of the show is available online here:
In late March, a group of high-level global advertising executives and CEOs initiated confidential talks to pursue aligning around an open letter establishing the conditions for a ‘minimum viable peace’ necessary for companies who have suspended or ceased operations in Russia to consider returning.
Many influential corporations and agencies participated in the early talks; including one international powerhouse valued at over $10 billion with ties to several of the companies who have already exited or suspended operations in Russia.
A full list of signatories of the open letter will be published later this month.
Introduction
Over 750 global businesses from every sector and continent have suspended operations or withdrawn from Russia. They represent a huge part of ‘normal’ life in Russia; the day-to-day brands, businesses, and services that ordinary Russians love, and upon which their routines, identities, and habits depend.
That collective withdrawal represents substantial leverage. The global corporate community will one day return to Russia–when the conditions are right. As global business leaders whose companies are among those 750, we believe there’s an opportunity to outline the conditions under which our community would begin to explore any return, and to agree to those conditions jointly. This is the moment to agree a common baseline that makes clear the ‘minimum viable peace’ upon which even a tentative return would depend. This is not a commitment to return, it’s a common commitment not to return until and unless those most basic conditions are met.
To that end, we are aligning around an open letter to the world, and to the people of Russia, making plain our desire to one day return together, and the terms of that ‘minimum viable peace’. We plan to publish our letter in May, marking May as a traditional month of optimism, where we look, together, towards a peaceful, prosperous future.
Open Letter for Peace in Ukraine
These are dangerous, unsettling times. As businesses which had, until recently, enjoyed operating in Russia, we believe we have a role to play in helping to bring about a safer, more secure, more prosperous future for everyone.
Leaving Russia, our Russian colleagues and customers, was not easy. Together, we want to explain why we made that decision, and also set out the circumstances that would allow us to consider returning, when the time is right.
So, we are today making clear both the common reasons for our having left, and the common circumstances under which we would be able to take those first steps back. We hope that by doing so, we can bring about that future more quickly.
Though we are a group of very different businesses, operating in different ways, we left together, and for the same reasons. Likewise, today we have come together to agree what we see as a ‘minimum viable peace’ that would allow for us to consider a return to Russia.
To satisfy that ‘minimum viable peace’ we need three criteria to be met:
Firstly, for Russian military forces to withdraw from Ukrainian territory.
Secondly, for an independent body to be permitted to investigate potential war crimes.
Finally, for an independent media to be allowed to operate freely in Russia, and for its output to be available to all Russians.
These are challenging times and they call for clarity, so we are collectively making clear that only under these circumstances would we consider returning, re-opening, resuming the activities that matter to our customers, colleagues and partners in Russia.
Press release distributed by Pressat on behalf of Renaissance3, on Sunday 1 May, 2022. For more information subscribe and follow https://pressat.co.uk/
This watch bracelet is made in a single copy, and its price is not announced at the moment.
Italian luxury goods company BVLGARI has unveiled the Serpenti Misteriosi Cleopatra cuff watch inspired by the ancient Egyptian queen Cleopatra, Watch I Love writes.
The watch consists of a bracelet set with approximately 4,000 diamonds and several large gemstones: two pairs of faceted hexagonal amethysts and citrines, aquamarine, tanzanite, green tourmaline and peridot, totalling over 50 carats. Under one of the stones, a 5-carat transparent rubellite, the craftsmen hid a dial encrusted with diamonds.
Serpenti Misteriosi Cleopatra is an abstract interpretation of the snake, which is one of the main symbols of Bvlgari, and although it is rendered in a modern way, significantly different from the traditional jewellery in the form of snakes wrapped around the wrists, its style is reminiscent of the cuff bracelets worn by the powerful rulers of ancient Egypt and herself Cleopatra. Hence the name of the watch.
The cuff is made up of stylized 3D scales, each with a unique shape to achieve the perfect fit and make the watch comfortable to wear.
The BVLGARI jewellery designers worked hand in hand with a team of gemologists to achieve intense colour vibrancy.
The installation of the nine large gems alone took over 470 hours of meticulous work, each cut to its design, sometimes losing up to two-thirds of its volume to achieve perfect clarity, brilliance and colour saturation.
The base of the bracelet is crafted from 18 carat rose gold.
What is the price of such beauty, there is no information yet.
Photo: watchilove.com | Jewelers worked together with gemologists to create jewellery
Ancient treasures. Coins with Cleopatra and ritual room found in Egypt
Archaeologists discovered these stunning finds while searching for the remains of a vast Roman-era complex.
During a recent excavation at a site west of Alexandria, an Egyptian port city on the Mediterranean coast, a team of Egyptologists unearthed a huge Roman-era complex, including evidence of an ancient pottery workshop with the remains of rounded vessels, coins, figurines and even a ritual room.
The site dates back to the Roman period of Egyptian history, which began around 30 BC, but there is also evidence that indicates its use in the later Byzantine period.
Also found at the site were two burials, including a pregnant woman, which are believed to date back to the late Middle Ages.
In addition, the team came across a group of 13 limestone rooms, including a room for worship. According to researchers, they were built during the reign of the Ptolemies. Inside the rooms were found several bizarre animal bones belonging to pigs, sheep, goats and fish, as well as clay containers with animal remains, which are believed to have been used as storage.
On the floor were a large number of coins with images of Alexander the Great, the Greek god Zeus and the last Egyptian queen Cleopatra, one of the most famous pharaohs. Archaeologists have carefully searched for evidence near the center of Alexandria, where she was born and ruled. However, her tomb was never found for 2,000 years after her death. Many believe that her remains were destroyed by a powerful earthquake that hit the coast of Greece in 365 AD.
Recall that in April of this year, an amphora workshop was also discovered in Egypt, which contained various artifacts, including stoves, a large number of coins, terracotta statues and a boat anchor.
Photo: A team of Egyptologists have unearthed a huge Roman-era complex, including evidence of an ancient pottery workshop with remnants of rounded vessels, coins, statuettes and even a ritual room
The grandson of Simeon Saxe-Coburg – Prince Boris Tarnovski will be the guardian of the Crown. This was decided by Simeon II after “many lengthy discussions and reflections”. In his testament, he states that Prince Boris will be only the guardian of the crown, but not the king, because “Bulgaria today is not a monarchy.” The decision of the former prime minister was announced by him in an interview with the periodical of the Sofia Holy Metropolis.
Information about the Guardian of the Crown of Bulgaria is scarce. Prince Boris Tarnovski is the child of Simeon’s eldest son – Kardam Tarnovski, who was injured in a car accident near Madrid in 2008, was in a coma for seven years and died in 2015.
Today his son Prince Boris is 25 years old. He is named after his great-grandfather Boris III and is the only royal grandson with an entirely Bulgarian name. So far, he has been a guest at a number of official royal events in Europe.
Boris was born in 1997, graduated from the European College in Madrid, studied at the St. Gilgen International School in Salzburg.
The heir to the throne is a polyglot – he speaks 4 languages, has an interest in politics, an advocate of green ideas and liberal values. Spanish media write that he loves
See the entire interview, which was published on the website of Simeon Saxe-Coburg:
-Honor and reverence, Your Majesty! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the opportunity to conduct an in-person interview for the Easter issue of the periodical of the Holy Metropolis of Sofia – Diocesan Voice magazine! My first questions are about your childhood. Your Holy Baptism was solemnly celebrated on July 12, 1937, St. Peter’s Day, in the Palace Chapel. It was attended by St. Synod in full composition, your godfather becomes the “patriarch of the Bulgarian army” Gen. Danail Nikolaev, the Minister of War Gen. Hristo Lukov. The water for your Holy Baptism was brought especially for the occasion from the Jordan River, and the cross was donated personally by the Russian Emperor St. Tsar Nicholas II, godfather of His Majesty Tsar Boris III. Is all this true?
-My holy Baptism was performed in the Palace Chapel by the Holy Synod and at the request of my father, my godfather became the “patriarch” General Danail Nikolaev on behalf of the whole army. General Hristo Lukov is not my godfather, but he was certainly present as a member of the government. The cross I received then was actually a gift from St. Emperor Nicholas II and has been with me ever since. It was donated by the emperor to the spiritual mentor of Tsar Boris, Metropolitan Basil.
– We know that during baptism every Orthodox Christian is anointed with the “seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit”. When was performed on you and the second, Royal Anointing – this sacred act, giving special grace to the Orthodox monarch for the preservation of the Church and allowing him to pass through the Royal Doors during the Holy Liturgy in the temple to partake with all his family of the Holy See?
-The Royal Anointing was performed by Sofia Metropolitan Stefan (later Exarch of Bulgaria) after the death of my father in the autumn of 1943. Due to the war and grief for my father, this was done in an intimate setting in the Palace Chapel. I have vivid memories of Grandpa Stefan. After the schism was lifted and already as an elected exarch, he came home to Vrana and then I saw him for the first time in a white veil, and I was very impressed.
-You were raised as the sole heir to the throne and your training and upbringing since childhood have probably taken great care. Your father was baptized in Orthodoxy, and your mother, NV Queen John – in Roman Catholicism. Who was responsible for your Orthodox faith in the Kingdom of Bulgaria and subsequently in the Kingdom of Spain, did you have a spiritual mentor?
-As the Constitution commanded in 1943, my Guardianship was determined, as my spiritual mentor became the Metropolitan of Lovchani Filaret, and with my and my sister’s religious education was charged Father Ivan Sungarski, to whom I still have the dearest feelings. . After September 9, according to the Law of God, our hours were greatly reduced… Father Ivan together with the palace ephemeris, Father Raphael Alexiev, regularly served in our chapel. Father Raphael also celebrated the last funeral liturgy at my father’s second grave in Vrana the day before we left Bulgaria.
Later in exile, the main credit for my and my sister’s Orthodox upbringing was our mother Queen John, which to many may seem a little contradictory, because she was a devout Catholic, but we insisted on strict observance of Orthodox traditions, holidays and customs. Back in Egypt we were visited by the late Metropolitan Andrew of New York, with whom I had many meetings, conversations and correspondence over the years. But I did not have a spiritual mentor in the literal sense of the word in exile. In 1955 I had a meeting in Vienna, which, as you can imagine, was held in complete secrecy, with the blessed Bulgarian Patriarch Kirill, who had come for treatment in the Austrian capital. For both of us, the meeting was surreal… Later, in 1961, I wrote him a long letter asking him for his blessing on my marriage, setting out Pope John XXIII’s position on my marriage to a Catholic. I must admit, with great gratitude to the memory of both, that both the patriarch and the pope approached the subject with paternal care and tact.
– Do you have a memory of meetings with other famous clergymen, for example with St. Seraphim the Wonderworker of Sofia, who in 1939 published his book on the Orthodox monarchy?
– At that time there was no large Orthodox community in Madrid, as it is now. Initially, we worshiped in an apartment, where a modest chapel was built. Subsequently, over the years, I have had the opportunity to speak with dozens of Orthodox hierarchs, both of the Russian Church Abroad, which I remember for their spiritual rigor, and of the heads and hierarchs of the local Churches. In 1965, the Queen and I embarked on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the Holy Land, where I visited Patriarch Benedict of Jerusalem, with whom we remained well acquainted and later had the opportunity to see each other again. In the same year, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of my coming of age, representatives of the Bulgarian emigration from all over the world gathered in Madrid. Then Bishop Parthenius of Lefkada, whose demeanor and deep spirituality I will never forget, baptized my two sons, Kardam and Cyril.
Unfortunately, I did not meet Saint Seraphim of Sofia in person, although I know that my father had an excellent relationship with him. After the beginning of the war, the security measures and so on, it was difficult for all of us to lead a more normal way of life, to move around Sofia. But thanks to you, I read his book, which impressed me a lot!
-You grew up far from Bulgaria, in a Catholic country, but still a monarchy. To what extent do you think the form of government influences the worldview and spiritual attitudes of a nation? Or do you think that the personality of the ruler is more important for the relationship between Church and state?
-Oh, this is a very difficult question for a definite answer. But it would be logical if the head of state is a believer and practices his faith, and gives an example in this direction, people to follow this example. But only form is not leading. As Christians, we know dozens of examples of kings who have attained holiness in their humility and faith. And our own, over 1100 years of Christian history is full of similar examples – St. Tsar Boris-Michael, St. Tsar Peter, even St. Trivelius, about whom, unfortunately, not much is known among people today. For example, the Bulgarian church community in Madrid will bear the name of St. Trivelius, which makes me especially happy.
When the time came for you to return to your homeland, the Bulgarian people welcomed you with great hopes, faith and love. There were probably people who were afraid, and others tried to benefit from it. But many expected you to return as monarch and put an end to an injustice by restoring the Tarnovo Constitution, which had been repealed illegally and by force through foreign rule. Why didn’t you take action in such a direction, such as a national referendum or convening a Grand National Assembly? In your opinion, is there a future for the monarchy in Bulgaria, when the King humbles himself to a citizen without abdicating, and what is it?
– I have answered this question many times. In my personal opinion, in those years when our democracy was still so fragile, such an attempt to return to the Tarnovo Constitution would lead to turmoil and great division of society. And I didn’t want to do that! Remember that for 50 years we were either not talked about or all sorts of lies and insults were fabricated. An example is the term “monarcho-fascism”. Which in itself is an oxymoron! And for the restoration of the monarchy today… Let’s be realistic. And look around. Has the monarchy been restored in Greece, Italy, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro? And whether there is a future for the monarchy at all – of course, but this is a serious philosophical question, which I do not undertake to answer now. Everything is in God’s hands…
-This year we celebrate 1170 years since the reign and 1115 years since the Assumption of St. Tsar Boris-Michael, the Bulgarian Baptist.
What do you think should be the role of an Orthodox Tsar today in improving the interaction between Church and State, in expanding the doctrine, in the unity of the Bulgarians in the country and abroad, regardless of the political situation? What was your role in overcoming the sad schism in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church?
-Look, in the constitutional monarchy the King does not determine the relationship between the state and the Church. This is not in his prerogatives, but undoubtedly, as I said earlier, when a head of state is a believer, it inevitably affects his decisions and a number of spheres of life in the country. The Constitution of Tarnovo is categorical that the Tsar embodies the unity of the nation in all its diversity, but he personally belongs to the Orthodox faith. And this fact did not in the least prevent the King from being the unifier of the whole nation, on the contrary. As for the painful subject of schism, I dare say that my stubborn opinion on the subject was decisive. It is not my self-esteem, much less a lack of modesty! These are the words of many who realize what the political situation was then and what courage this historic decision required. By the way, this is not the first Bulgarian schism in the twentieth century that I face. Ever since 1965, when the whole topic began with the political opposition in the Church and the intentions of some to establish a Bulgarian church abroad, and under my “blessing”, they met with my resolute resistance. I have always tried to remain faithful to the unity of the Bulgarian Church. In the same way, from my first day as Prime Minister, I continued to maintain the established canonical order and end this sad division.
-On May 2, 2015, at a solemn Holy Liturgy in Pliska on the occasion of 1150 of the Baptism of Bulgaria, the Holy Synod of the BOC announced its decision to restore the centuries-old tradition of commemorating the beginning of the Great Entrance of the King of Bulgarians in your face . However, you spoke out against this mention, probably due to the unrest in society and out of humility, so at the moment in some temples in our country it is done, and in others not. But this decision was not only out of personal respect, but rather an official confirmation from St. Synod on the Primordial Responsibility of the Royal Institution for the Unity of Church, State and People. Do you not think that this mention would be important for our future?
– Look, I did not “oppose” this decision of the Holy Synod. I obeyed. In my letter to the Holy Patriarch, I only expressed my wish that the mention of my name should not be seen as an occasion for discord. As an Orthodox Christian, I could not stand it. I asked that this commemoration be at the request of the priest concerned. Until the summer of 1946, this was the case – the King’s name was mentioned in the holy services and the decision of the Holy Synod did not create a new order or change the existing order, much less violate the republican constitution, as ridiculous voices were heard then. And I take this opportunity to thank again the Synodal Metropolitans and all the priests for their prayers and blessings, which we all need so much.
-We know that Their Majesties Tsar Ferdinand and Tsar Boris III have made great efforts for the prosperity of Bulgaria and have contributed to many glorious moments in our history, but also as monarchs are responsible for a number of strife and national catastrophes in the last century. Your Majesty, for what would you ask forgiveness from the Bulgarian people – both for your political and social activities, and as heir to the royal dynasty that ruled Bulgaria for 56 years?
I notice that in recent years a strange kind of revisionism has emerged abroad – to ask for forgiveness for decisions that were made at completely different times and in different conditions. For example, the Pope to apologize for the role of his predecessor Pope Pius XII during World War II, and other earlier events. Or Spain to apologize for the baptism of indigenous peoples in the Americas. And so on and so forth… As an Orthodox Christian, I believe that one should always be ready to ask for and give forgiveness. Sirni Zagovezni is a great example that we have in this direction! But to begin to apologize now for the decisions of other people, in other times, in other realities, especially since these decisions were hardly individual, it seems to me, to put it mildly, illogical and even hypocritical.
Unfortunately, Bulgarians often have the attitude that everything starts with us. We don’t really respect our past and that’s very sad! We are always trying to tear down and try to do everything from the beginning. Look at France – it has gone through all the political regimes. And he is proud of each of them. And this leads to the building of national self-confidence and pride. It would be very good if the content in our textbooks is complete, objective and for the purpose of such education.
-Tell us in a few words about the current activities and future ideas of the Fund for the Preservation of the Historical and Cultural Heritage “Tsar Boris and Queen Johnna” and the Royal Historical Society established at the Vrana Palace. Is the recently restored Palace Chapel already open to visitors?
-More than 10 years ago we created the Fund for Preservation of Historical Heritage “Tsar Boris and Queen John” in order to preserve the royal heritage of Bulgaria with the funds we have. After many years of total indifference, lies and propaganda, my family and I decided that it would be a pity to forget such a rich historical heritage – archives, family paintings and objects, given that they can be made available to the general public. We have taken this task to heart, trying to gather again in Bulgaria a large number of historical objects, exhibits and documents. Unfortunately, even today the period of the Third Bulgarian Kingdom continues to be neglected and subject to ignorance and even insults. That is why I consider the activity of the Fund to be extremely important! Not only as cultural-historical, but also as spiritual, because it also has its spiritual dimensions. Here, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Neophyte and the Holy Synod, the restored Palace Chapel “St. St. Tsar Boris and John the Wonderworker of Rila ”, bearing the names of the heavenly protectors of my late parents. And so the temple is now operational and open to worshipers. Holy Liturgy is often celebrated, which is especially important to me, and I am very happy that we have already had Holy Baptism several times.
-Almost all your heirs are far from Bulgaria, the only one of them is your 15-year-old grandson, His Highness Prince Simeon-Hassan, already lives and studies here. He knows Bulgarian, attends Orthodox services, takes communion – after all, you are his godfather. Probably you and his mother, Her Highness Princess Kalina, are encouraging him to love God and the homeland? Or does he already have a spiritual mentor?
My sons do not live in Bulgaria for obvious reasons – when the changes took place here in 1989, my sons already had jobs, professions, families. It would be impossible for them to leave everything and move here. And while I was prime minister, I deliberately asked them not to even come here, because of the many speculations and attacks on me – that I am restoring the monarchy and the like. So, despite the loneliness of being away from my family, I decided to take this step. Of course, if we are a functioning monarchy, it would be perfectly normal for them to live and work here. But alas, we are not.
-Your Majesty, today you are the only living Orthodox King, not only in Bulgaria but also in the world – may God grant you many more graceful years! But as Christians we learn to be prepared for the moment when we will present ourselves to the Lord, and history gives us a number of unpleasant examples of dynastic disputes. To which of your heirs would you bequeath the responsibility of the Royal Crown, albeit symbolically at the moment, but in the name of continuing our historical tradition of over 13 centuries?
-This is a good question and I’m glad you’re asking me. Especially since I have already encountered speculation on the subject. As is well known, in Europe monarchies are inherited “vertically” – from a parent to a child, “straight descending male line”, as provided by our basic law – the Tarnovo Constitution. Outside of Europe, for example in Saudi Arabia, inheritance is “horizontal” – from brother to brother and so on until this line is exhausted. For us, the question is clear – the eldest son becomes heir to the throne. In this case today, to our great sorrow, my eldest son is gone, so his eldest son is next in line to inherit. But since we are not a monarchy today, one day my grandson Prince Boris Tarnovski will bear the title of Guardian of the Crown. The case is similar in Romania. So I decided after many lengthy discussions and reflections.
Huge thanks, Your Majesty, for your time and for your prayerful intercession before God for the Bulgarian people! Finally – your message to the Bulgarians in the days of the Resurrection of Christ.
Above all, I wish my compatriots and the whole world the peace so necessary for all of us in these difficult days! Along with that – to rejoice and celebrate this brightest day – the day of Christ’s Resurrection!
Photo: Simeon Saxe-Coburg for the first time indicated his choice of heir to the throne – the young Prince Boris (right)
A Brussels private foundation has called on the French Council of State to annul its decree granting French citizenship to former Russian oligarch Sergei Pugachev, AFP reported. The arguments for this call are that he may have acquired this nationality illegally in 2009.
The International Foundation for Better Governance filed a request to that effect in November last year. AFP has received a copy from him. The text claims that at the time of his naturalization, Pugachev, who had just bought the French luxury food company Ediar, had not lived in France permanently or for the past five years. He did not speak French, nor was he assimilated into the French community in the country. And these are all criteria for granting citizenship in most cases, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
In an interview with Marian in February 2019, the businessman, who lives near Nice, highlighted his ties to France. “I feel at home here. I settled here with my family in 1994, after a few years in the United States. My parents are buried here, my sister lives here, my eldest sons grew up here, and my five grandchildren were born here. “he says.
According to the foundation, which is now challenging Pugachev’s French citizenship, it has allowed him to leave the UK illegally, where he has been the subject of a lawsuit over the fraudulent bankruptcy of his Interprombank bank.
Pugachev is a former Russian senator from Siberia. He was once known as the “Kremlin banker” during Boris Yeltsin’s presidency. He then fell into disfavor and was declared wanted by the Russian authorities for financial fraud. He left the country in 2011. Russian authorities demanded and received from the British authorities in 2014 that Pugachev’s assets be frozen and banned from leaving British territory.
In 2016, London’s Supreme Court sentenced Pugachev to two years in prison for hiding some of his assets and leaving the country despite the ban, as he did in 2015 thanks to his French passport obtained in 2009.
Pugachev was the owner of the French company Ediar from 2007 to 2014, and his son Alexander was the owner of France Soire from 2009 to 2012. Pugachev claims that he was deprived of all his business empire in Russia and was forced to sell it for a pittance to Russian state-owned companies. According to him, an investigation was launched in France in 2014.
Sofia has refused to sign new payment terms for Russian natural gas because it considers it at risk of losing control of payments and breaching its contractual obligations, a situation that Bulgaria and other EU member states are likely to face. at a time when Moscow wants to pay in rubles for the raw material, writes the financial publication “Financial Times”.
In an interview, Bulgarian Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov said the Bulgarian government had ruled in connection with the regular payment for Russian gas to be made this month that the legal risks were too great to accept the new payment system, which led to and until the suspension of gas supplies by Gazprom. “As in other countries in Europe the payment for Gazprom’s supplies is approaching, it is very likely that they will also face the same issue,” the minister said.
After the Bulgarian state-owned company Bulgargaz received an official letter from Gazprom Export outlining the new payment terms, “we asked for legal advice from an international company and assessed all the risks involved,” Nikolov said. He added that the risks were many and that if the letter was signed, it would change the existing gas supply contract, establishing a drastic change, including a new two-tier payment system.
Sofia has estimated that after the Bulgarian side deposits its payment in US dollars in the first account opened with Gazprombank, the bank will take control of the money and its conversion, putting it in a second account denominated in rubles. But there was no clarity about the exchange rate, Nikolov explains. “The Bulgarian side would effectively lose control of its money after making a payment in US dollars and would be at risk of breaching its obligations in the event of any omission or problem by Gazprombank in converting the amounts. “Bulgargaz would not have any evidence that it has fulfilled its obligations under the contract,” Nikolov said.
Bulgaria has asked Gazprom for clarification, while Bulgargaz has fulfilled its original agreement by paying $ 50 million to Moscow. But on April 26, Gazprom informed Bulgargaz that it would suspend supplies the next day and returned the money. Nikolov says that there was no possibility for Bulgaria to sign the proposed amendments to the agreement, because “If a person does that, he can be prosecuted for failing to protect state assets or a state corporation.”
Gazprom has not commented on the minister’s opinion. Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia remained “true to its contractual obligations” and added that “there can be no talk of any additional difficulties, complications or any de facto price change. due to, for example, exchange rate differences “.
Nikolov says the decision not to accept the Russian ultimatum was both political and economic. “Political and business decisions are exactly the same here,” he said. “One follows one’s own good will and financial intelligence”
Bulgaria is in talks with EU officials to find and finance alternative supplies, Nikolov added, adding that he expects an agreement within days.
Despite the urgency of the situation and high market prices in general, Nikolov says he does not expect a significant price increase.
Bulgaria is a relatively small market for natural gas with an annual consumption of 3 billion cubic meters. Its long-term contract with Gazprom was due to expire at the end of this year. Alternatives have already been prepared, including new supply routes through neighboring Greece for Azerbaijani gas through Turkish pipelines, as well as liquefied natural gas. Russia’s decision to cut off supplies has now accelerated those efforts, Nikolov said.
He added that Brussels should allow member states to buy gas in bulk, which will help lower prices and provide flexibility to avoid emergencies such as the one in Bulgaria. Nikolov says he is confident that the crisis will help Europe create a new gas supply regime faster and that the EU will emerge stronger from all this. “We have alternatives. The relevant infrastructure is in place. It is only a matter of negotiations,” he said.
Sergei Lavrov: If Bulgaria puts ideology above the interests of its people – this is its choice
The new gas payment scheme is needed to prevent “continued shameless looting by the West,” the Russian foreign minister said.
Most of Russia’s key partners have agreed to pay for natural gas supplies in rubles. The refusal of Bulgaria and Poland to do so is their choice, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying by BNR.
In an interview with Al Arabiya TV, Sergei Lavrov said Russia’s proposed new gas payment scheme was necessary to prevent “the West from continuing the shameless robbery.”
According to him, by freezing half of Russia’s foreign exchange reserves of $ 300 billion, Western countries have misappropriated the money they used to buy Russian blue fuel.
Until the end of March, European companies paid for the gas in dollars and euros, transferring the corresponding amounts to Gazprom’s accounts in Western banks.
The new scheme came into force on April 1st and envisions the dollars and euros going to Russian Gazprombank’s accounts, which will convert them into rubles on the Moscow Stock Exchange.
Bulgaria and Poland have abandoned the new scheme, and Gazprom has cut off gas supplies to them.
Sergei Lavrov believes that negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv on security guarantees could make significant progress if Kyiv was an “honest negotiator”. According to him, the Ukrainian representatives are constantly changing their positions.
Fire was not only important to human life in antiquity but still remains integral to our modern lives. It heats our homes and water, cooks our food, generates electricity, and propels our vehicles, among other things. Yet, given its great complexity, there is still much we don’t know about the complexities of flame behavior.
A team of researchers from academia, NASA’s Glenn Research Center, the agency’s Biological and Physical Sciences Division, and other organizations recently completed a series of investigations on the International Space Station to obtain a better understanding of combustion phenomena. The Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments, or ACME, project’s in-orbit testing began in 2017 and comprised six successful investigations of non-premixed flames of gaseous fuel.
JAXA astronaut Norishige Kanai reconfigures the High Bit-depth Multispectral (HiBMs) camera within the Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR) for the Electric-Field Effects on Laminar Diffusion Flames (E-FIELD Flames) experiment. Credit: NASA
Non-premixed flames, like candle flames, are ones in which the fuel and oxidizer stay separate before reaction or ignition. Premixed flames occur in many of the above-mentioned everyday use scenarios, when the fuel and oxidizer are mixed prior to reaction.
Combustion researchers designed experiments on the space station that analyzed the behavior of spherical flames in microgravity. Credit: NASA
The six ACME experiments were:
Burning Rate Emulator (BRE) – demonstrated materials can burn for minutes in the absence of air flow in crew vehicle atmospheres being considered for future missions.
Coflow Laminar Diffusion Flame (CLD Flame) – yielded benchmark data at sooty and highly-diluted extremes to improve computational models.
Cool Flames Investigation with Gases (CFI-G) – resulted in non-premixed cool flames of gaseous fuels without enhancements, such as heated reactants, pulsed plasmas, or ozone addition, that have been required in ground testing.
Flame Design – demonstrated, for the first time, quasi-steady non-premixed spherical flames, and radiative heat loss leading to extinction for larger flames.
The experiments were conducted with a single modular set of hardware in the space station’s Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR). The tests were remotely commanded from NASA’s Glenn ISS Payload Operations Center in Cleveland.
“Over 1,500 flames were ignited, more than three times the number originally planned,” said Stocker. “Several ‘firsts’ were also achieved, perhaps most notably in the areas of cool and spherical flames.”
Stocker said about 50 personnel from NASA Glenn, academia, and ZIN Technologies, Inc. supported ACME during four and a half years of in-orbit operations. In addition, more than 30 crew members from six countries played an essential role in setting up the hardware for each investigation and replacing gas bottles, igniter tips, and other experiment-specific hardware as needed.
The ACME hardware has been removed from the CIR to make room for the Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction, or SoFIE, hardware that launched in February 2022, which is the next step in NASA’s in-orbit combustion research. The ACME hardware is scheduled to return to Earth in the coming months with the intent to launch again to the space station with future experiments.
