The COMECE 2022 Spring Assembly was held in Bratislava on Thursday 17 March 2022 to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine. Cardinal Hollerich: “Deep respect for all countries welcoming refugees. This sincere solidarity reflects Christian and European values”.
The Bishops of the European Union gathered in Bratislava in the context of the 3rd edition of the European Catholic Social Days, which will take place in the capital city of Slovakia on 17-20 March 2022.
Bishops exchanged on the war currently raging in Ukraine, “a serious threat to peace on the whole European continent and beyond”.
The Bishops delegated by the Episcopates of the EU Member States bordering Ukraine informed the Assembly on actions taken by the local Church, government and society to welcome and integrate refugees fleeing the war from Ukraine. The President of COMECE, H. Em. Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich SJ, expressed his deep respect for all countries welcoming refugees, especially Poland and Slovakia. “This sincere solidarity – he stated – reflects the Christian and European values”.
COMECE 2022 Spring Assembly. (Credit: COMECE)
The Assembly was also an occasion to exchange on the most pressuring challenges in European societies, such as demographic transition and family life, technological and digital transition, and ecological transition. These topics will be on the agenda of the 3rd edition of the European Catholic Social Days.
Following the positive experience of the recent youth conventions organised by COMECE, the Assembly approved the establishment of the COMECE Youth Consultative Network, with the aim to represent the voice of young Catholics in the EU Bishops’ Conferences, promote exchange and dialogue among young people, act as a youth interlocutor of the Bishops of COMECE, and intensify the exchange of good practices, initiatives and projects carried out by the Bishops’ Conferences in the area of EU youth policies.
At the European Times, we have covered the long-time association between the anticult movement, the Russian Orthodox Church and the warmongers in the Kremlin. The piece we publish today shows that in current times, the anti-sectarians, as they call themselves, are working hand in hand with the FSB and other Russian law enforcement agencies, to hunt those Russians who would dare to share messages of peace while the war is ravaging Ukraine.
Below is the full translation of a call that has been posted on the website antisekta.ru, which is the official website of the Centre of Religious Studies – Saratov, headed by Alexander Kuzmin, a Russian Orthodox Priest. This centre is a branch of another organization called Centre for Religious Studiesin the name of Hieromartyr Irenaeus of Lyons, headed by Alexander Dvorkin, an Orthodox theologian who has been criticized in a 2020 report by USCIRF (US Commission on International Religious Freedom) as a major architect of the crackdown on religious minorities in Russia.
Both centres are members of the FECRIS (European Federation of Centres for Research and Information on Sects and Cults), a French-based umbrella organization that gathers anticult associations all over Europe and beyond and is almost utterly funded by the French government.
The text that you will now read, by Alexander Kuzmin, is to be understood in the context of the new Russian law that can send any person in jail for up to 15 years for “discrediting the armed forces” or “spreading fake news about the military”, which includes saying that there is a war in Ukraine, when the Russian government forbade the use any other term than “special military operation”.
And here is the call, welcome back in the USSR:
Address to readers
02.03.2022
Dear friends, and especially respected fathers who know and read me! Many of you are aware that when I am engaged in anti-sectarian activities, I often talk about the fact that sects have long been a tool of the Western secret services. This has become even more important these days, and I have to warn you all. The situation is more than serious!
In social networks and the messaging systems all of us, clerics and laymen, are the object of close attention from the participants of the information war against Russia. The West has long understood that we cannot be defeated at war on the battlefield, as we are able to fight and the whole world knows it, but we have often been losing the information wars, and there is now a growing split in civil society with the efforts of sectarian structures, especially of neo-pagan and pro-Nazi persuasion. The West has decided to rely on information attacks and now the focus of these attacks is on religion.
Through fan mailings, publications in the opposition media, as well as the increasingly brazen use of the individual approach (personal messages, correspondence in comments and even phone calls), many of us these days are convinced by supposedly “ordinary people”, supposedly “peaceful residents of Ukrainian cities” who are supposedly “parishioners of Ukrainian churches”, that suppose “Russia is the aggressor”, that suppose that on purpose “they bomb civilians” and that there are supposedly “mountains of dead conscript soldiers” on Ukrainian soil and so on and so forth in order to sow panic, indignation at the actions of our state authorities, to bring people out to the streets to protest and to induce them to sign various petitions and statements.
Thus, systematically and cynically, human behavioural stability is being undermined, people are being hooked by regularly viewing opposition mass media, and are filled with indignation and anti-Russian sentiments. In particular, our Church is being attacked, priests and laymen are being asked to “pray for the repose of the newly-departed conscripted soldiers,” people are being persuaded to re-post and leave angry comments about the government of our country. Enemies know that if a clergyman becomes the mouthpiece of their ideas, it will have more resonance than if it were a politician or a public figure. Neo-pagans also do this now, hating Christians and everything related to our Christian values, including our patriotism and desire for justice. They are playing on these very feelings.
Please check and recheck the information coming to you, do not give in to provocations, take care of each other and do not rely on emotions and hasty conclusions.
Please also help in monitoring the activities of such provocateurs. Please send screen shots, their designated data (names and surnames, phone numbers and e-mail addresses) for further analysis, which is conducted by our anti-sectarian organizations together with the law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation.
The pro-Putin American alt-right is experiencing a major shift with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. More and more members of this online community are turning against Putin’s regime and supporting Ukraine and its president, Volodymir Zelenskyy. See here how and why this is happening…
The alt-right, the radical right-wing political movement that opposes “mainstream ideology”, can be seen in almost any online community. However, the community that is almost dominated by this ideological movement is the History community. There are hundreds of forums, sites and blogs where the alt-right is predominant and so dominates the conversation.
The forum studied is the site of a popular history channel youtuber, uninvolved politically at first sight, is an example of how the alt-right switched from staunchly pro-Putin to anti-Russia and pro-Ukraine.
Before the invasion, the posts were minorly about history and more about politics/geo-politics. Many users discredited President Biden’s and other European leaders’ claims of the possibility of a Russian invasion, that this crisis was just an excuse for “natotards” and “neo-cons” to go to war. The sentiment about a possible, or imminent, invasion was mostly neutral, there weren’t many posts asking for an invasion…
Before the crisis even began, however, the site’s community constantly praised Putin’s “handling” of the LGBT community and his “anti-feminist” policies. And if the chat wasn’t praising Putin, it was praising politicians and governments associated with him. Politicians like Marie Le Pen, Eric Zemmour and Matteo Salvini were highly esteemed on the site, and the Polish and Orbán’s governments were acclaimed repeatedly for many of their policies against the EU. Still, one of the most debated policies on the site was the “gay-free zones” in Poland. This user reacted:
“Based Poland, (…) they have gay-free zones.”
However, this pro-Putin sentiment quickly waned down as soon as the invasion started. In the chat you see users saying things like:
“I was supportive until they targeted civilians and hospitals”
(Responding to the question “Do you agree with the (…) invasion?”) – “No, at least not anymore”
“Literally the entire site went from pro-Russia to pro-Ukraine in 5 seconds”
“Find it funny how the site’s gone from being overwhelmingly pro-Russia to being overwhelmingly pro-Ukraine”
A poll conducted by a user of the site (polls are a popular feature on the site) asked “Do you support the Russian invasion of Ukraine?”, 32 users answered and the results are the following:
Yes- 18%
No- 65%
See results – 15%
As seen in the poll, there were still some users that supported the invasion, it was even shared a Russian war song in the site’s chat (“March of the Siberian Riflemen”), one user says:
“I support it. With one more defensible border Russia should calm down. But with the way the west is reacting they may not get a chance to.”
“Ukraine is a US vassal state. Russia is doing it to try and prevent western expansion.”
At one point, a user asked the community to “please stop posting about the war in Ukraine (…) the neocons at my school won’t shut up about it”, clearly uncomfortable with the opinion of the majority about the Russian act of aggression against Ukraine.
It was already predictable that this community would applaud the “nationalist militias”, who are considered to be “the only good guys in this fight”. Some users even said that they “are willing to enlist in a war with Russia”. One user goes further and says:
“Hot take but I would like to get militarily involved in Russia. I want to see Moscow in flames and Putin’s head on a spike”.
In the end, though the sentiment on the site is still ambiguous, for example, the fixation with “strong men/leaders” continues, but now reflects on Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy.
“Ukraine, Poland and Hungary (…) are led by strong men who are working to create what they believe to be good times.”
And many criticize the sudden praise that Ukraine and its President are getting on social media. As well as the western community’s response to the conflict.
“The Ukraine flag has become the new Pride/BLM flag for this season”
“The West has no stomach for war and is led by weak men.”
Still, the most bizarre comment was about the wave of refugees, particularly women. A user, reacting to a news story about this event wrote in the chat:
“I’ll not take Ukrainian girls, I rather like having money.”
This misoginous and xenophobic discourse is common practice on the site, a poll conducted before the war asked the site’s community if there were any races that they would never date, one user even wrote in the chat that: “asians and blacks would be unaceptable to me”.
Martin Banks, a well-known British journalist in the EU Bubble in Brussels, was stopped and detained by the British police authorities at the Eurotunnel terminal in Calais. He was interrogated for six hours about his journalistic activities in Brussels by the UK Border Force under “Schedule 3 Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019” without ever being told what he was suspected of.
Martin Banks, 62, is married to a Belgian lady and has two teenage children. He has been a journalist for 42 years and living in Belgium since 2001. On 26 February, they all went to the UK by car for a week’s holiday. He had not been back to his country of origin for two years because of the pandemic.
Human Rights Without Frontiers has met him and collected his testimony.
Eurotunnel Calais Terminal (French Border Control).jpg: Chris Sampsonderivative work: Bonus bon, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
It was about 9.30am when the family arrived at the Eurotunnel terminal in Calais (France), a few days after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. They were stopped as they were going to pass through UK Border Force control and Martin Banks was escorted by three officers into the police station on the “British side.”
He was taken to a small room in the station where he was read his rights by an “Examining Officer” in the presence of another officer. According to the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act of 2019, the real names of the officers cannot be revealed but their identification numbers can be obtained on request. Martin Banks was given this information.
He declined an invitation for legal representation as he did not know why he would need one and because his repeated questions about the nature of the police suspicions remained unanswered.
He was just told he was being detained to be questioned by the UK Border Force in charge of “hostile actors” and “hostile acts” under Schedule 3 of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019. In the meantime, his wife and their two children were staying in their car, unaware of what was happening to their husband/father. In addition, their vehicle was thoroughly searched along with the handbags of his wife and teenage daughterand items were taken away. This experience had reduced both to tears.
Interrogation about his journalistic activities
Over the course of six hours, the examining officer and his colleagues asked him hundreds of questions. These were mainly related to his journalistic work about the coronavirus pandemic, Ukraine and Russia but also about each item collected from his car: a two-year-old issue of the New York Times, dozens of articles printed from the internet, personal notes, etc. He was fully cooperative and volunteered to answer all of them.
Concerning Ukraine, he was repeatedly asked about his visit in the Donbas region 2014-15 when he was on a fact-finding press trip with other international journalists. There were also quite a number of questions about his supposed ties with Russia that he had only visited once, in 1992, soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He answered he had no such contacts.
Martin Banks also had to face numerous questions about the respected private and independent communications company, based in the UK, he works for, how it is financed and what is its “political policy”. He replied he was just a journalist and he did not have that sort of information. There were also questions about his colleagues, their names, their titles… (!)
In this regard, he was asked how he thought his reporting might “influence” policymakers and opinion-makers.
There were also intrusive questions about his own personal finances and income.
DNA, biometric fingerprints and photographs
As the interview approached two hours, he was told the police had to do a “review” of the investigation. This involved him speaking, via the phone on a loudspeaker, to a DS officer (Detective Sergeant) in Dover, Kent.
He was recited his rights, summarised the preceding two hours and also asked more questions.
He was then said there were reasons to continue the “investigation” and taken to another part of the station. There, another officer took his DNA, numerous photographs from various angles and biometric fingerprints.
Afterwards, he was taken back to the interview room. Two hours later, he was told another “review” was necessary, this time by another DS officer who entered the room.
Police produced a copy of a New York Times, dated February 2020, containing an article about the pandemic, not written by him, and bizarrely asked him questions about it.
Several times, Martin Banks was asked about a couple of articles written around mid 2021 which were, in part, critical of the vaccine policy and performance of the UK, but also the EU and Belgium.
He was then again informed that the maximum period one can be detained in such a way is six hours.
Confiscation of his professional laptop and personal belongings
When the six-hour mark was eventually reached, the Examining Officer told him he would have to retain several possessions that the police had taken from his car and that he could retain them for a maximum of seven days.
These were: his laptop; a Belgian mobile phone; a UK mobile phone; five DVDs containing family photos, and a memory card for his camera.
Due to the seizure of the laptop, he could not, as he had planned, use it during the seven days he spent in the UK; he could not make or receive phone calls; he had no access to his emails; he could not take photos of his family holiday and could not, as intended, use the DVDs for a gift for his daughter’s upcoming birthday.
At the end of the six-hour procedure, he was told he would not be arrested or charged, without any further word of explanation.
Much to his surprise, he was asked if and when he (and his family) planned to visit the UK again. He told them they plan to go to the grave of his mother in Manchester in April, which he could not do for two years because of the COVID.
Back from the UK
On 3 March, Martin Banks received a phone call from an officer who told him he could collect back the seized items.
On 6 March, his due date for returning to Belgium, he collected the items from Longport police station, located close to the Eurotunnel site at Folkestone.
The reasons for this horrendous experience which has left Martin Banks and his family traumatised remain unexplainable and unexplained by the British authorities.
What is behind all this?
This deprivation of freedom for six hours of a well-known British journalist based in Brussels is an extremely serious attempt to curtail freedom of the media and journalists all the more so as his laptop was confiscated for seven days.
It can be reasonably assumed that the British authorities had access to all his sources of information and made a copy of this precious material. His family’s private life was also gravely violated.
It can also be suspected that his computer and his mobile phone might not be safe anymore and all his communications might be taped. One can wonder if, beyond Martin Banks, it was not other actors of the European media world that were targeted with this police operation which seemed to have been carefully premeditated and planned.
Vienna (Austria), 17 March 2022 — UNODC’s Youth Forum (28 February-4 March) welcomed its highest-ever number of participants in 2022. 74 young people connecting in from 43 countries were enthusiastic to learn about evidence-based substance use prevention and share each other’s different perspectives and experiences.
Throughout the week, participants embraced take-home messages on evidence-based drug use prevention and imagined how they would like to see positive change reflected in their communities. Youth alumni (participants of previous Youth Fora) warmly welcomed the youth of 2022 and inspired the participants by describing the actions they took after their own experience of the Youth Forum. The young leaders also worked together actively to create a statement of the key messages they wished to convey to the global policymakers attending this week’s 65th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) (14-18 March).
Today, the youth were invited to deliver their Youth Statement 2022 to delegates attending the Plenary session of the CND. Speaking on behalf of all Youth Forum 2022 participants, Ms. Ingrid Engene Gøranson (Norway) and Mr. Carlos Araujo (El Salvador) urged Member States to continue to invest in evidence-based substance use prevention, and in doing so, to “recognize the tremendous competency, capacity, and motivation of youth by creating opportunities for involvement in policy and decision-making.”
“We have a specific goal: for all people to be healthy,” they said. “In pursuing this goal, we must be committed to prevention now, for the success of future generations,” they added. In their joint statement, the youth requested that young people are engaged “not only as instruments, but as the driving force behind the global implementation of evidence-based prevention programs for youth.”
UNODC commends the young leaders on taking interest in and action towards drug use prevention amidst the continuing challenges presented by COVID-19. As the Youth Initiative steps forth into a new decade of action after marking ten years of its launch in 2012, UNODC reaffirms its commitment to support meaningful youth engagement in addressing the world drug problem, in particular through empowering youth voices in the field of substance use prevention.
Statement by Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson on Synchronisation of the Continental European Electricity Grid with Ukraine and Moldova
European Commission Statement Brussels, 16 Mar 2022
Yesterday, the electricity grids of Ukraine and Moldova have been successfully synchronised with the Continental European Grid. This will help Ukraine to keep their electricity system stable, homes warm and lights on during these dark times. It is also a historic milestone for the EU-Ukraine relationship – in this area, Ukraine is now part of Europe.
This project has shown extraordinary cooperation and determination from everyone involved. I want to thank the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO E) for doing a year’s work in two weeks to make this happen. I want to thank the French Presidency of the Council and Member States for their support to this project that is not without risks. And I want to thank our Ukrainian partners – Minister Galushchenko and Ukrenergo in particular – for their heroic efforts in keeping the Ukrainian energy systems working in the middle of a terrible war.
The EU will continue to support Ukraine in the energy sector, by ensuring the reverse flows of gas to the country and the delivery of energy supplies that are badly needed. We are also looking forward to the time when we can continue our excellent cooperation on the green transition and market reforms.
The “right to repair” must encompass designing products that last longer and can be fixed, as well as labelling to better inform consumers and extending guarantee rights.
In a resolution approved on Wednesday with 41 votes in favour, none against and 4 abstentions, the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee stresses that an effective right to repair should address aspects of a product’s lifecycle and take into account product design, as well as the key ethical principles of production, standardisation, information labelling on reparability and on the expected lifespan of a product, consumer guarantees and public procurement.
Tabling the resolution on behalf of the committee, Chair Anna Cavazzini (Greens/EFA, DE) said: “Repairing broken or damaged products means saving money, saving energy and resources, which is more essential than ever for the creation of a resilient single market. To repair their own products enables consumers to quit the throwaway society and to take an active role in shifting to a circular economy. The EU must deliver on the right to repair. Today, the Internal Market Committee clearly defines its expectations for the Commission’s upcoming initiative”.
Ensuring greater access to repair services
MEPs say in the text that a proper “right to repair” should give the repair industry, including independent repairers, and consumers access to repair and maintenance information free of charge.
Concerning digital devices, MEPs argue that “software updates have to be made available for a minimum period of time”, and demand consumers are fully informed at the time of purchase on the availability of updates. These should not lead to a diminished performance of, for example, smartphones.
Practices which unduly constrain the right to repair or lead to obsolescence could be considered as “unfair commercial practices” and blacklisted in EU law.
Incentives for consumers to choose repair over replacement
Measures to motivate consumers to choose repair over replacement are also needed, according to MEPs. These may include the obligation to provide for a replacement good for the duration of a repair for certain products, extending guarantees and granting bonuses for consumers who choose to repair.
Other proposals include:
requirements to design products to be longer-lasting and safely repaired, and their parts easily removed;
harmonised rules for consumer information at the point of sale, including “repair scores”, estimated lifespan, spare parts, repair services, as well as the availability of software updates;
a possible joint manufacturer-seller liability mechanism;
the introduction of durability and repair requirements in a future Ecodesign Directive.
Next steps on “repair”
The draft resolution is due to be voted on by MEPs in April’s plenary session. Parliament has stressed in several instances the importance of the right to repair for consumers as a key pillar of the Circular Economy agenda in the framework of the EU Green Deal. The Commission announced that it would table a proposal amending the Sale of Goods Directive and that is considering to present a separate legislative proposal on the right to repair during the third quarter of 2022.
According to a Eurobarometer survey, 79% of EU citizens think that manufacturers should be required to make it easier to repair digital devices or replace their individual parts, and 77% would rather repair their devices than replace them.
USA: he libraries are meant to provide beauty, access to literature and cultivate a community space in prisons nationwide.
“All of these books carry a kind of history with them,” Betts, 41, said. “And some of it is just the personal history that they carry for me.”
“Shibumi” is just one of the 500 books carefully selected to sit on the specially designed wood bookcases — art that is in a museum but is built for a prison.
The signature Freedom Library created by the MacArthur fellow, poet and lawyer is now on display at the National Building Museum, offering people for the first time a chance to see libraries just like it that are being installed in prisons across the country through Betts’s organization, Freedom Reads. The libraries aim to empower and transform the lives of people in prison through access to literature and beauty — providing books housed in handcrafted shelves designed to encourage community in the center of prison housing units.
“When you pick up a book, that helps you think about what it means to be alive in the world. When you have conversations about what it means to be alive in the world, suddenly, you’re beginning to understand yourself better, and in understanding yourself better, you’re better able to communicate something about your future,” said Betts, who was incarcerated at 16.
Each book was selected with care. “The Wretched of the Earth.” “Tender is the Flesh.” “Black Boy.” There is also “Geek Love,” “The Wedding Party” and “The Lord of the Rings.” From nonfiction to fiction and classic to romance, Betts and his team chose the titles after speaking with novelists, historians, poets and many others.
The space is on display until September in the “Justice is Beauty” exhibit and was created in partnership with Model of Architecture Serving Society (MASS) Design Group, an architecture organization focused on social justice.
“Freedom Reads libraries transform prison spaces, filling them with inspiration and hope,” National Building Museum president and executive director Aileen Fuchs said in a statement. “This landmark installation within MASS Design Group’s Justice is Beauty exhibition at the National Building Museum adds a new layer of meaning and truly reflects MASS Design’s belief that design can, and should, improve people’s lives.”
The libraries were designed with purpose, Betts said, and to address the challenges of current prison libraries that sometimes can offer only limited time to explore and find books because of the nine-to-five schedule that most people in prison work.
Through conversations with corrections leaders, the library was designed to be no more than 44 inches tall, so as to not obstruct lines of sight in housing units. And the multiple module units can be adapted to suit the space available in a prison. The curved design allows for flexibility to fit different spaces, such as a prison cell converted into a library.
The accessibility of the library, with its open, two-sided bookshelves, is meant to be both inviting and communal, Betts said, making it possible for multiple people to browse together. Additional reading benches, also designed for the library, can be added to the space.
Each shelf even has a horizontal divider in the middle to keep the books from falling on top of each other. Its careful architecture was one of the most important elements, said Betts, who knows what the inside of prison walls are like and what makes books so important.
“We’re trying to make this broader case about the fact that people in prison deserve beauty,” Betts said. “They deserve access to beauty.”
A devotion to books and reading has been a constant in Betts’s life.
Before being sentenced to nine years in prison in an armed-carjacking case, Betts read “The Evelyn Wood Seven-Day Speed Reading and Learning Program” book. One of his first jobs out of prison was at Karibu Books, a Black-owned bookstore chain, in Prince George’s County, Md. It’s also where he met his wife, Terese.
One of the Karibu owners was so impressed by Betts’s knowledge of books that he asked him where he graduated from college. But Betts said he hadn’t graduated.
“Oh, where are you going?” the owner asked.
“Man, I just got out of prison,” Betts recalled responding.
“Oh, are you a poet?”
To this, Betts said yes. He began writing poetry while in prison and shared some of his poems with the bookstore owner.
Reading was both his “anchor and boat” throughout his time there, Betts said. It also helped him discover what his future could be.
“Being sent to prison at such a young age … made me want to figure out what I wanted to commit my life to. When I said I wanted to be a writer, it had very little to do with my love of writing, because at that point, I didn’t like writing much at all. I had no experience with creative writing,” Betts said. “But in terms of trying to have something that put me in proximity to books, being a writer was that thing.”
The Suitland native graduated from Prince George’s Community College, the University of Maryland and Warren Wilson College before earning a law degree at Yale. He was admitted to the Connecticut bar on Nov. 3, 2017, days before his 37th birthday.
He has published four books, three works of poetry and a memoir.
In the summer of 2020, he created Freedom Reads, originally named Million Book Project, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The group aims to put books in 1,000 prisons, one Freedom Library at a time, Betts said.
The first libraries have been installed in prisons in Massachusetts and Louisiana.
Tess Wheelwright, the deputy director of Freedom Reads, said the organization has been collaborating with state partners to install libraries in housing units in more prisons nationwide, including Connecticut, Illinois, Colorado, North Dakota and California.
The goal is to install 200 libraries by the end of 2023, and 200 every two years to reach 1,000, Wheelwright said.
“People feel cared for, they feel thought of,” Wheelwright said of the feedback they have received from those inside prisons. “We are hoping that people feel supported in their efforts to reimagine what’s possible for their lives.”
In addition to Freedom Libraries, Betts has other projects through Freedom Reads that include creating book circles to cultivate shared reading communities in prisons and bringing writers and authors to prisons as literary ambassadors.
Some years ago, when asked what he could imagine if there were no limits, Betts said his response was that he would put millions of books in prisons. He understands what books can create.
“In some ways, my whole life has been fundamentally intertwined with the possibilities contained in books,” Betts said. “And not just the possibilities within the stories that’s in books, but the possibilities within the stories that you create with others as you read and contemplate books.”
BRUSSELS, BELGIQUE, March 17, 2022 – The 6th edition will start on Friday 16 Sept 2022 at sunrise in Fiji, until sunset Sunday 18 in Hawaii. Over 4,000 participating venues in 140 countries will be geolocated on the World Wellness Map www.wellmap.org for millions of people to find fun, free, inclusive group activities, classes or workshops nearby.In alignment with the UNITED NATIONS since 2017, World Wellness Weekend (WWW) is supporting SDG 3 “Good Health and Well-being for All” through 5 Pillars of Wellness: Sleep & Creativity, Nutrition & Immunity, Movement & Vitality, Mindfulness & Serenity, Sense of purpose & Solidarity.
During the Covid pandemic, the focus was on boosting VITALITY, SERENITY, RESILIENCY and IMMUNITY. The dramatic events in Beirut, Myanmar, and now Ukraine place SOLIDARITY on the forefront and the necessity of “LIVING WELL TOGETHER”.
Millions of wellness seekers and active travelers are encouraged to team up with a friend (“Wellness Buddy”), family or colleagues to set a specific goal to be “fitter together” and, once achieved, to support the association of their choice in order turn the miles on their pedometer into money. People running on treadmills, walking to work, jogging, cycling or hiking for fun and health, will support those who walk for days to flee war and devastation, leaving everything behind, praying that hope and help is on the way.
WWW is not just a week-end with free activities, each year, before the September equinox. We are a year-round movement and a vibrant network of professionals motivated by making a difference in fitness, mindfulness, well-being, beauty, hospitality, and tourism. We share international best practices to elevate guest experience and drive more clients into spas, clubs, hotels with meaningful activities to enhance healthy lifestyles with a Sense of Purpose.
This would not be possible without the outstanding contribution of 117 volunteers around the globe (WWW Ambassadors and Coordinators) and long-lasting collaboration with leading professional federations like ISPA, IHRSA, CIDESCO, Wellness Tourism Association, Asociacion Americana de Spa, Leading Spas of Canada, Sustainable Spa Association, International Sport Network Organization, International Massage Association, International Sauna Association.
We would like to salute especially the strategic partnership with CENTRED Wellness Travel App, connected to 57 million active travelers; and the outstanding support of Val di Fiemme, Biologique Recherche, WellnessLiving, Immunocologie, mindbody, bbspa, BC Softwear, Tip Touch and Vagheggi.
SAVE the DATE: 6th World Wellness Weekend will be celebrated in 140 countries 16-17-18 Sept 2022. Wellness starts with WE, not ME and it grows with all of US.
Large companies will soon need to publicly disclose detailed information on the way they operate and manage social and environmental risks.
On Tuesday, the Legal Affairs Committee adopted its position on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) with 22 votes in favour and one against. If agreed with EU governments, the bill will make businesses more accountable for their impact on people and the planet, while giving investors and the public access to comparable, reliable and easily accessible information on sustainability.
EU sustainability standards
The text clarifies reporting rules for companies by introducing more detailed reporting requirements into the revamped Non-Financial Reporting Directive, in accordance with the European Green Deal. Disclosed information should be audited, more easily accessible, reliable and comparable, MEPs agreed.
The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) would be tasked with developing the mandatory EU sustainability-reporting standards, covering environmental matters, social affairs, including gender equality and diversity, and governance, including anti-corruption and bribery, which the Commission would then adopt by delegated acts. To achieve this, EFRAG’s funding should be increased and annual discussions held with Parliament, urge MEPs.
Scope, high-risk sectors
The new CSRD rules should cover all large companies (as defined in the Accounting directive), whether listed or not, MEPs agreed. They also voted to include non-EU companies operating in the internal market. At this stage, MEPs believe that small and medium-sized undertakings should be able to adhere to reporting standards on a voluntary basis.
The text also asks the Commission to establish additional reporting criteria for companies with relevant activities in high-risk sectors (textile, agriculture, mining, minerals). MEP further propose to give companies an additional year to adapt to the new rules, with the first public reports due in 2025.
Quote
The rapporteur Pascal Durand (Renew, FR) said: “Long awaited by business and investment leaders, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is a further step in the evolution of our business model and investment practices. The balanced compromise supported by a large majority of political groups should ensure the EU is well equipped to maintain our legal, competitive, environmental and social standards and values, and to negotiate at international level so that they do not disappear or get absorbed into global systems of lower standards”.
Next steps
The Council agreed its general approach on 24 February 2022. Talks with member states can start once the Parliament as a whole approves its negotiating position.
Background
The information that companies are currently obliged to report is largely insufficient for investors and other stakeholders. Reported data can be hard to compare from one company to the next. Investors need to know about the impact that companies have on people and the environment to meet their own disclosure requirements and be better informed on sustainability risks. Such information allows money to be channelled towards environmentally-friendly activities. Problems in the quality of reporting also create a public accountability gap.
