Ukrainian forces desperately tried to hold back Russian forces in this village near Kyiv. “Continue to attack, hold the checkpoint,” a soldier shouted.
But it isn’t easy. Footage showed Ukrainian troops maneuvering through a forest, trying to escape apparent sniper fire and other attacks. “Two tanks are coming in,” a soldier radioed to fellow fighters.
The battle in this Kyiv region village isn’t an isolated incident. Intelligence sources say Russian forces are within 10 miles, some 25 kilometers, away from the center of Kyiv.
Shootings, sirens, and explosions have also been heard in many other cities across Ukraine as Russian troops try to encircle critical targets.
The besieged cities of Kharkiv, Mariupol, Mykolaiv, and Sumy have been enduring relentless shelling as well as freezing temperatures. Many residents are without power and have little food or water. Dead bodies have been seen lying on the streets.
Ukrainian authorities say Russian forces shelled a mosque in Mariupol, where more than 80 adults and children were sheltering. It was not clear how many casualties there were.
Risking lives
Despite setbacks, hundreds of residents risked their lives in the south-eastern city of Melitopol to protest against the abduction of its mayor by invading Russian forces. Ukraine’s President Zelensky demanded his immediate release and accused the Russians of “moving to a new terror stage.”
Moscow has defended what it calls “a special military operation” in Ukraine to protect Russian interests and called Ukraine’s pro-Western government Nazis.
Amid the ongoing fighting, the leaders of France and Germany have been holding another round of phone talks with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in an attempt to reach a ceasefire.
But there are no signs of peace returning soon to this devastated land. The conflict has now sent 2.5 million Ukrainians fleeing to neighboring countries. Among the arrivals are children left alone by family members in Ukraine who cannot care for them.
Poland said some 1.6 million refugees arrived on its territory alone. In contrast, Moldova, one of Europe’s poorest nations, said it was near the “breaking point” as it copes with a massive influx of fleeing people.
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and others escaping the war have also entered Hungary and nearby nations.
BNL BNP Paribas and the EIB Group: €470 million credit line to support businesses
European Commission Press release Luxembourg, 14 Mar 2022
The new operation being undertaken by BNL BNP Paribas and the EIB Group, which comprises the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF), focuses on the real economy and is aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises (with fewer than 250 employees), which will represent at least 50%, and mid-caps (companies with fewer than 3 000 employees). The operation is being backed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the main pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe.
The operation is named Minerva 2 and is technically a synthetic securitisation (with no asset assignment) of a portfolio of the bank’s performing loans. The EIF has issued a guarantee for a tranche worth approximately €94 million, with an EIB counter-guarantee, which will enable BNL to provide new subsidised loans worth up to €470 million to Italian companies dealing with the impact of the pandemic on the economy and the business sector during this critical stage of national recovery.
This is the fourth operation between the EIB and the BNP Paribas Group, two of which have been undertaken with the lead bank BNP and two with BNL. A total guarantee of €402 million will enable companies to receive new loans worth some €2 billion.
Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, said: “I welcome this financing support for small and medium-sized businesses in Italy, backed by the Investment Plan for Europe and based on guarantees from the EIB and the EIF. The financing made available through this operation will allow businesses to continue their path to economic recovery after the pandemic crisis, creating and sustaining jobs in the process.”
“This deal with BNL BNP Paribas will provide new subsidised financing for small and medium-sized enterprises, the driving force behind the Italian economy. Last year, the EIB Group assisted with the liquidity requirements of more than 47 000 Italian companies with €6.86 billion,” said EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti.
EIF Chief Executive Alain Godard added:“Italy is one of the European countries with the largest number of small and medium-sized enterprises, and giving them access to financing is a key element to encouraging inclusive economic recovery. Thanks to this agreement, the EIB Group and BNL BNP Paribas will be able to provide €470 million to support the investment requirements of Italian SMEs.”
Elena Goitini, Chief Executive Officer of BNL and Head of the BNP Paribas Group in Italy: “BNL BNP Paribas confirms its proximity to individuals and businesses throughout Italy thanks to a new organisational and business model that is even more transversal and specialised, with a view to meeting the expectations and requirements, in particular of entrepreneurs, who need a solid, experienced and reliable partner to accompany and support them. We also seek and create the best possible synergies with highly reputable operators, such as the EIB Group, because we understand the need to work together to help the country recover and start growing, especially at this critical social and economic juncture in the wake of the pandemic.”
The support is aimed at the industrial, agricultural, tourism and service sectors and is intended for investments in tangible and intangible assets made within a three-year horizon, and in particular acquisitions, restructuring, extensions of buildings used for the productive activity of the company, research and innovation, and working capital requirements related to the company’s operating cycle.
The Minerva 2 operation sees BNL BNP Paribas and the EIB Group build on the positive experience of working together on Minerva 1 in 2018, with the help of the EFSI to boost growth and employment throughout Europe.
Minerva 2 is one of the first synthetic operations to be designated STS (simple, transparent and standardised), which is a regulatory framework for securitisations recently included in EU law that is intended to guarantee the suitability of these products, differentiating them from more complex and higher risk financial instruments, while ensuring that the lending bank makes a profit.
Additional information:
The European Investment Bank (EIB) finances projects in four priority areas: infrastructure, innovation, climate and environment, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Between 2019 and 2021, the EIB Group provided €36 billion in financing for projects in Italy.
The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank Group. Its central mission is to support Europe’s micro, small and medium-sized businesses by helping them to access finance. The EIF is also active in supporting climate fund investments and infrastructure with a strong focus on environmental sustainability. In this role, the EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth and employment.
The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) is the main pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe. It provides first loss guarantees that enable the EIB Group to invest in riskier projects. The projects and agreements approved for financing as part of EFSI have to date attracted investments totalling €546.5 billion, benefiting more than 1.4 million SMEs. In Italy, total EFSI financing currently stands at €13.3 billion and has been used to activate €77 billion in additional investments.
BNL has been in business for over 100 years and is now one of the main Italian banking groups and among the best known brands in Italy, operating nationwide. BNL offers a wide range of solutions, products and services, from the most traditional to the most innovative, to meet the varied needs of its customers (individuals and families, businesses, authorities and institutions). Since 2006, BNL has been part of the BNP Paribas Group, which is present in 68 countries, employing more than 193 000 staff members, including 148 000 in Europe, where it has four domestic markets: Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg. BNP Paribas holds key positions in its major business sectors: Domestic Markets, International Financial Services and Corporate & Institutional Banking. Like the BNP Paribas Group as a whole, BNL is particularly committed to economic, social and environmental sustainability; a #PositiveBanking strategy that embodies the bank’s determination to use its business to have a positive impact on customers, staff and the community as a whole, helping to build a more sustainable future.
UN rights chief to visit Xinjiang in May, activists demand release of delayed China report
By Shyamal Sinha
On September 1, 2018 Michelle Bachelet assumed her functions as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights was established in 1993 and Ms. Bachelet is the seventh Commissioner.
The United Nations rights chief Michele Bachelet announced on Tuesday that her long-delayed visit to China and Xinjiang, also known as East Turkestan, a sensitive region inhabited by Uyghur Muslims, will come to fruition in May this year. “I am pleased to announce that we have recently reached an agreement with the government of China for a visit,” Chief Bachelet told the UN human rights council, adding that the preparations for her visit will be underway in April and the trip is expected to take place in May.
Meanwhile, around 200 rights groups have demanded that the UN release its long-postponed report on the human rights atrocities in Xinjiang committed by China ahead of Bachelet’s visit. “The release of the report without further delay is essential – to send a message to victims and perpetrators alike that no state, no matter how powerful, is above international law or the robust independent scrutiny of your office,” the statement issued on Tuesday read. In January, reports said that China reportedly agreed to allow Michelle Bachelet to visit the so-called Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) only after the Beijing Winter Olympics.
During the Winter Olympics, UN Secretary-general Antonio Guterres said that he expected Bachelet to make a “credible” visit to China. With this new development, one of the prominent human rights organizations will visit the sensitive region, where US government and lawmakers in five western countries have declared the treatment of the Uyghurs a ‘genocide’. China has vocally denied all charges of detention camps, as it still maintains that the it instead runs vocational training centers in the region, a measure Beijing says is to counter extremism.
The human rights chief has been seeking a diplomatic visit to the sensitive region, with her office has been negotiating the terms of since September 2018. Chief Bachelet is under growing pressure from the Western states to investigate Xinjiang with unfettered access to investigate the growing claims of genocide in the region. “I continue to discuss with China modalities for a visit, including meaningful access, to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. I hope this can be achieved this year, particularly as reports of serious human rights violations continue to emerge,” she was quoted as saying in June last year.
Diplomats in Geneva hailed the news of Bachelet’s visit.
“We welcome any effort to shed light on the systemic violations of human rights in Xinjiang,” said British ambassador Simon Manley. “We look forward to her report into the situation.”
The French mission in Geneva also welcomed the announced visit as “a positive development”.
It stressed though that the visit “must not obscure the urgency of publishing the report” on the rights situation in Xinjiang.
Observers in Geneva suggest the report has been ready since last August, but it remains unclear when it will be made public.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, 31 attacks on health care have been documented by the World Health Organization. These incidents have killed and injured civilians, as well as destroyed facilities and ambulances, disrupting access to essential health services.
“Today, we call for an immediate cessation of all attacks on health care in Ukraine. These horrific attacks are killing and causing serious injuries to patients and health workers, destroying vital health infrastructure, and forcing thousands to forgo accessing health services despite catastrophic needs”, the heads of UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Population Found (UNFPA) declared in a joint statement published on Sunday.
The agencies’ leaders said that to attack the most vulnerable – babies, children, pregnant women, and those suffering from illness and disease, as well as health workers risking their safety to save lives – is “an act of unconscionable cruelty”.
More than 4,300 births have occurred in Ukraine since the start of the war and 80,000 Ukrainian women are expected to give birth in the next three months while oxygen and medical supplies, including for the management of pregnancy complications, are running dangerously low.
“The health care system in Ukraine is clearly under significant strain, and its collapse would be a catastrophe. Every effort must be made to prevent this from happening…International humanitarian and human rights law must be upheld, and the protection of civilians must be our top priority”, the UN top officials warned.
They added that it is also critical that humanitarian partners and health care workers are able to safely maintain and strengthen essential health service delivery, including immunization against COVID-19 and polio, and the supply of life-saving medicines for civilians across Ukraine as well as to refugees crossing into neighbouring countries.
“UNICEF, UNFPA and WHO are working with partners to scale up life-saving services and support to meet urgent health needs. We must be able to safely deliver emergency medical supplies – including those required for obstetric and neonatal care – to health centres, temporary facilities and underground shelters”, the agencies highlighted.
Dr. Natalia Kanem (UNFPA), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus (WHO) and Ms. Catherine Russell (UNICEF) also called for an ‘immediate ceasefire’ with unhindered access to humanitarian assistance.
“A peaceful resolution to end the war in Ukraine is possible”, they urged.
On 5 March 2022, children and families reach Berdyszcze, Poland, after crossing the border from Ukraine, fleeing escalating conflict.
Deaths and injuries keep rising
The civilian toll of the war in Ukraine keeps rising. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has documented 1,663 civilian casualties in the country: 596 killed and 1,067 injured (From 24 February to 12 March).
Most of the civilian casualties were caused by explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multi-launch rocket systems, and missile and airstrikes.
The agency believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, especially in Government-controlled territory and especially in recent days, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration.
“This concerns, for example, Izium (Kharkiv region), and Mariupol and Volnovakha (Donetsk region) where there are allegations of hundreds of civilian casualties. These figures are being further corroborated and are not included in the above statistics”, OHCHR explains.
In their latest report, the Office noted the report of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, according to which as of 9 a.m. (local time) 13 March, 85 children had been killed and more than 100 injured.
They also confirmed receiving the report of the Head of the Investigative Department of the National Police of Kharkiv Region, according to which as of 6 p.m. (local time) 12 March, 205 civilians had been killed in the region.
Mariia Shostak’s baby son, Arthur, in the basement of a maternity hospital in Kyiv, where Mariia and other new mothers and their families took shelter.
Needs also rising
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the human and socioeconomic costs of the ongoing hostilities in Ukraine continue to mount.
Larger scale evacuations continue to be carried out in parts of eastern and northern Ukraine, although they have been repeatedly delayed due to active hostilities in some of the hardest-hit areas, like Mariupol (Donetska oblast, east).
At the same time, the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance continues to be scaled-up, reaching over 600,000 conflict-affected people whose needs continue to grow by the hour.
Since Russia’s military offensive began in Ukraine on 24 February, WHO has worked around the clock to ensure a constant flow of health supplies so that neighbouring countries have the infrastructure and expertise to meet urgent needs of refugees, and to support Ukraine’s health system to meet the immediate health needs of people within Ukraine’s borders.
Coordinating humanitarian health assistance for people in need
The current estimated number of people impacted in Ukraine is 18 million, of which 6.7 million are internally displaced. Nearly 3 million people have fled the country. Supply chains have been severely disrupted. Many distributors are not operational, some stockpiles are inaccessible due to military operations, medicine supplies are running low, and hospitals are struggling to provide care to the sick and wounded.
WHO is coordinating with partners the provision of humanitarian health assistance, both within Ukraine and on its borders, and providing technical support and surge staff. WHO is providing support across Ukraine through the Country Office, the Regional Office for Europe in Copenhagen, as well as from its headquarters in Geneva.
Delivering life-saving medical supplies
As the Health Cluster Lead Agency, WHO is working with partners to alleviate shortages of life-saving equipment and medication, such as oxygen and insulin, surgical supplies, anaesthetics, and transfusion kits to collect, test and safely transfuse blood. Oxygen generators, generators to maintain electrical supply in affected health facilities, defibrillators, monitors, anaesthesia drugs, rehydration salts, gauze and bandages are among the medical supplies WHO and partners are shipping into Ukraine to save lives and maintain health services.
On 5 March approximately 600 doses of anti-tetanus toxoid reached Kyiv, and 36 tonnes of vital medical supplies reached Lviv, from where they are being distributed to health facilities across the country.
On 8 March WHO delivered 10 tonnes of trauma and emergency surgery kits to Kyiv, to be distributed to warehouses in 7 regions: Kyiv, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Zaporizhia, Zhytomyr and Cherkasy.
On 9–11 March 9 shipments of 10 tonnes each were dispatched to Kharkiv via Poltava; to Sumy via Poltava; to Dnipro; to Kherson via Dnipro; to Mariupol via Dnipro; to Mykolaiv; to Zhytomyr; to Zaporizhia; and to Cherkasy. Each shipment serves 150 trauma patients and 15 000 primary health care patients for 3 months.
On 12 March 2 ventilators were delivered to hospitals in Kyiv and 14 tonnes or 52 cubic metres of trauma kits and essential medicines for primary health care reached Lviv.
WHO is in constant dialogue with Ukrainian authorities. All supplies are distributed in close coordination with the Ministry of Health, based on WHO critical needs assessments, public health risk, service assessments and logistic capacity. The coming days and weeks will see a constant flow of medical supplies, as part of an effort to ensure people’s access to essential drugs and medical care.
Scaling up surveillance of hazards and diseases
To support operations in and into Ukraine, a WHO support hub is being established in Poland. WHO has also scaled up surveillance and health information dissemination to detect and respond to outbreaks early and better understand needs, threats and health service availability.
WHO and partners have updated the Public Health Situation Analysis for Ukraine, covering health needs and threats to the population. WHO and the Health Cluster also launched the mapping tool 3W, showing who does what and where. Event-based surveillance activities for various potential hazards are also ongoing, including through Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS).
Reporting and condemning attacks on health care
WHO’s mandate for the surveillance of attacks on health care is based on the World Health Assembly Resolution 65.20 adopted in 2012, which requested WHO to provide leadership at global level in collecting and reporting information on attacks on health care. WHO created the Attacks on Health Care initiative to systematically collect evidence on attacks, to advocate for the end of such attacks, and to promote best practices for safeguarding health care from attacks. We report through the Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care.
As of 12 March WHO had verified a total of 31 attacks on health care between 24 February and 11 March 2022, resulting in 12 deaths and 34 injuries, of which 8 of the injured and 2 of those killed were health workers. More attacks are being verified.
WHO strongly condemns acts of violence against health care. Every single attack deprives people of life-saving services. Attacks on health care are violations of international humanitarian law and human rights.
Susan Shapiro believes you are never too old to publish. I am living proof. After decades dreaming of being a writer, I read The Byline Bible, took her online class and followed her technique. It worked; I quickly sold a dozen personal essays in my mid-fifties. I’m not alone. This is the typical trajectory for thousands of her students of all ages.
A best-selling author and popular Manhattan writing professor, Shapiro has published 17 books she admits her conservative Jewish family hates. After teaching at NYU, The New School and Columbia University, she launched private online classes and seminars during the pandemic.
Despite her expansive international remote reach, her proudest feat was getting her 87-year-old mother to Zoom into a book event last week moderated by Rabbi Jennifer Kaluzny at Temple Israel in their Michigan hometown.
Shapiro was launching The Book Bible: How to Sell Your Manuscript – No Matter What Genre – Without Going Broke or Insane. Her funny and wise new writing guide offers concrete advice on navigating the intimidating world of books.
Having sold hardcovers and paperbacks spanning eight different literary genres, Shapiro is uniquely positioned to offer practical guidance about tackling every kind of marketable category. The Book Bible spent a month as Amazon’s No. 1 pick on book publishing.
‘THE BOOK BIBLE’ (credit: COURTESY SUSAN SHAPIRO )
Helping people publish well is not merely a job for Shapiro. It is a mitzvah-laden mission.
Her dedication to giving back runs deep. “My mother, Miriam, was an orphan, who adored the four older brother and sisters who took care of her, and always wanted a big family,” Shapiro explained. “I thought my father, Jack, became a doctor to help save his mother and sister from breast cancer. My parents were both very nurturing, gave to charity and helped out friends and relatives in need. They taught us that tzedakah and acts of kindness are the best mitzvahs.”
Shapiro writes about books, education and antisemitism for Tablet, The Forward and Lilith, as well as The New York Times; The Washington Post; O, The Oprah Magazine; Wired and The New Yorker online. Her last novel, World In Between was set partly in Israel, where she’s visited beloved relatives many times, as well as interviewing her favorite poet, the late Yehuda Amichai.
After honoring her greatest mentors in Only As Good as Your Word: Writing Lessons from My Favorite Literary Gurus, Shapiro explored her therapy with a brilliant addiction specialist who helped her quit cigarettes, alcohol and drugs in her memoirs Lighting Up and its recent sequel, The Forgiveness Tour, a Jewish Book Council pick.
She pays it forward by guiding a new generation of writers she mentors for life. Basking in the success of her students, she recently celebrated Judy Batalion’s The Light of Days winning the 2021 National Jewish Book Award. In Book Bible, she quotes many former pupils who’ve made literary splashes, including: Seth Kugel, Alyson Gerber, Abby Sher, Liza Monroy, Aspen Matis, Joseph Alexiou, Zibby Owens, Amy B. Scher, Leah Koenig, Sari Botton, Cat Marnell, David Goodwillie, Jeff Henigson and Renée Watson.
“You know you’re old and in trouble when you’re name-dropping all of your famous students,” she jokes.
Shapiro is fiercely dedicated to building a strongly supportive writing community celebrating each other’s accomplishments.
Wanting her students to be good literary citizens, she encourages them to “buy and read the kind of books you want to write. Go to events for other authors and support bookstores and literary organizations. I buy and read five newspapers a day because I don’t think you can expect to be paid by newspapers if you’re only reading them for free. I believe in Karma.”
If you have a book in you waiting to be told, The Book Bible urges you to commit by carving out daily writing time.
After complaining of writer’s block, her best-selling cousin, the late Howard Fast, author of Spartacus and The Jews: Story of a People, told her “Plumbers don’t get plumber’s block. Don’t be self-indulgent, just get to work. A page a day is a book a year.”
This work ethic began young in Shapiro’s life: “I remember in first grade I won an award for filling out the most notebooks in the history of Shaarey Zedek Hebrew school, twelve hundred blue notebooks crammed with Hebrew letters. In my family, achievement was redemption.”
Luckily for us, she is now totally addicted to helping us all see print. Her mottos are “The first piece you write that your family hates means that you’ve found your voice,” “Writing is a way to turn your worst experiences into the most beautiful” and “Publishing well is the best revenge.” The Book Bible will certainly help you get out there and get published. Thankfully, at any age.
Thanks to The Book Bible, the author is working on an essay collection about family legacy, loss, and living fearlessly with third-generation lymphoma. lisajwise.com
University of Houston Researchers Exploring the Bounds of Room-Temperature Superconductivity.
In the simplest terms, superconductivity between two or more objects means zero wasted electricity. It means electricity is being transferred between these objects with no loss of energy.
Many naturally occurring elements and minerals like lead and mercury have superconducting properties. And there are modern applications that currently use materials with superconducting properties, including MRI machines, maglev trains, electric motors, and generators.
Usually, superconductivity in materials happens at low-temperature environments or at high temperatures at very high pressures. The holy grail of superconductivity today is to find or create materials that can transfer energy between each other in a non-pressurized room-temperature environment.
If the efficiency of superconductors at room temperature could be applied at scale to create highly efficient electric power transmission systems for industry, commerce, and transportation, it would be revolutionary. The deployment of the technology of room temperature superconductors at atmospheric pressure would accelerate the electrification of our world for its sustainable development. The technology allows us to do more work and use less natural resources with lower waste to preserve the environment.
There are a few superconducting material systems for electric transmission in various stages of development. In the meantime, researchers at the University of Houston are conducting experiments to look for superconductivity in a room-temperature and atmospheric pressure environment.
Paul Chu, founding director and chief scientist at the Texas Center for Superconductivity at UH and Liangzi Deng, research assistant professor, chose FeSe (Iron (II) Selenide) for their experiments because it has a simple structure and also great Tc (superconducting critical temperature) enhancement under pressure.
UH professors Liangzi Deng and Paul Chu’s research focuses on room-temperature superconductivity. Credit: UH
Chu and Deng have developed a pressure-quench process (PQP), in which they first apply pressure to their samples at room-temperature to enhance superconductivity, cool them to a chosen lower temperature, and then completely release the applied pressure, while still retaining the enhanced superconducting properties.
The concept of the PQP is not new, but Chu and Deng’s PQP is the first time it’s been used to retain the high-pressure-enhanced superconductivity in a high-temperature superconductor (HTS) at atmospheric pressure. The findings are published in the Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism.
“We waste about 10% of our electricity during transmission, that’s a huge number. If we had superconductors to transmit electricity with zero energy wasted, we would basically change the world, transportation and electricity transmission would be revolutionized, “Chu said. “If this process can be used, we can create materials that could transmit electricity from the place where you produce it all the way to places thousands of miles away without the loss of energy.”
Their process was inspired by the late Pol Duwez, a prominent material scientist, engineer and metallurgist at the California Institute of Technology who pointed out that most of the alloys used in industrial applications are metastable or chemically unstable at atmospheric pressure and room temperature, and these metastable phases possess desired and/or enhanced properties that their stable counterparts lack, Chu and Deng noted in their study.
Examples of these materials include diamonds, high-temperature 3D-printing materials, black phosphorus and even beryllium copper, which is notably used to make tools for use in high explosive environments like oil rigs and grain elevators.
“The ultimate goal of this experiment was to raise the temperature to above room temperature while keeping the material’s superconducting properties,” Chu said. “If that can be achieved, cryogenics will no longer be needed to operate machines that used superconducting material like an MRI machine and that’s why we’re excited about this.”
Reference: “The Retention and Study of High-Pressure-Induced Phases in High- and Room-Temperature Superconductors” by C. W. Chu, L. Z. Deng and Z. Wu, 20 January 2022, Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism. DOI: 10.1007/s10948-021-06117-0
Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, on Sunday reiterated that the Holy See’s is willing to do everything possible in order to help bring the war in Ukraine to an end confirming his availability to act as a mediator in talks between Moscow and Kyiv.
Speaking shortly after Pope Francis’ urgent and repeated appeal to stop the war “in the name of God”, Cardinal Parolin was interviewed by Italian state television. Recalling his conversation just days ago with the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergej Lavrov, the Cardinal explained that while having taken note of the Holy See’s proposal, on the Russian side “there have been no signals so far” that suggest it is inclined to take advantage of the opportunity.
The Cardinal also pointed out, however, that “it is not important that the Holy See’s offer be accepted. The important thing is that a way is found to put an end to all that is happening,” and he expressed his hope that ongoing contacts and other mediations will have a positive outcome.
On the other hand, Cardinal Parolin said, the Church is doing a lot, recalling the Pope’s repeated appeals for peace, prayer initiatives, solidarity, and continued contacts with the Apostolic Nuncio in Kyiv.
The Cardinal Secretary of State also stressed the importance of the many demonstrations calling for an end to the conflict in Ukraine, recalling that, during the Angelus, the Pope invited everyone to join “in calling for an end to the war.”
Signs of hope
Even in Russia, he noted, there are many movements for peace, and this is a sign of hope.
Finally, commenting on Pope Francis’ words at this Sunday’s Angelus, Cardinal Parolin said he was impressed not only by the Pope’s words, which were strong and incisive, but also by the way in which he spoke revealing the pain that he feels.
“That can only be so. We are all grieved and appalled at this war that makes no sense.”
While letters from religious personalities questioning the Patriarch of Moscow Kirill on his moral responsibility in the face of the war in Ukraine are multiplying, the latter seems to be sticking to his positions.
The origins of the confrontation in Ukraine lie in the relationships between the West and Russia and it has become part of a strategy to weaken Russia, Moscow Patriarch Kirill has said in a letter to the World Council of Churches.
Kiril’s March 10 letter was in response to one sent March 2 by World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Ioan Sauca asking Patriarch Kirill to mediate so that the war in Ukraine can be stopped.
The United Nations Refugee Agency said March 11 that more than 2.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded on Feb. 24.
Kiril is known to have the ear of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Russian patriarch made no mention of the suffering Ukraine’s civilans face as thier cities are bombarded and hundreds of them are killed and maimed.
This tragic conflict has become a part of the large-scale geopolitical strategy aimed, first and foremost, at weakening Russia.
Patriarch of Moscow Kirill
“And now the Western leaders are imposing such economic sanctions on Russia that will be harmful to everyone.”
The Russian Orthodox Church is the biggest from the Orthodox tradition in the WCC, which is a fellowship of 352 churches from more than 120 countries, representing over 580 million Christians worldwide.
The WCC includes most of the world’s Orthodox churches, scores of Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed churches, as well as many United and Independent churches.
‘RUSSOPHOBIA SPREADING’
Kiril wrote that the Western leader make their intentions obvious – “to bring sufferings not only to the Russian political or military leaders, but specifically to the Russian people. Russophobia is spreading across the Western world at an unprecedented pace.”
The National Catholic Reporter wrote on March 8, Kirill, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, had already refrained from criticizing the Russian invasion – alienating many in the Ukrainian Orthodox churches who had previously stayed loyal to the Moscow patriarch during a schism in their country.”
Kiril said the WCC he hopes “that even in these trying times, as has been the case throughout its history, the World Council of Churches will be able to remain a platform for unbiased dialogue, free from political preferences and one-sided approach.
The WCC letter was sent on to the Russian patriarch on March 2, the sixth day since the Russian invasion of its neighbor that has drawn widespread global condemnation from countries and at the United Nations.
“It is with great pain and with a breaking heart that I am writing to Your Holiness,” wrote Sauca who is from the Orthodox Church of Romania.
“The tragic situation of the war in Ukraine has brought tremendous suffering and loss of lives.”
Separately in a statement on March 11 the World Council of Churches said it “is appalled by the escalating impact of the conflict in Ukraine on civilians – the women, men and children of Ukraine – and by what appears to be increasingly indiscriminate attacks,”
Sauca said. “The airstrike on the Mariupol Hospital No.3 on 9 March, attacks affecting other hospitals, schools, kindergartens and residential areas, and the rising toll of civilian deaths and injuries all indicate that international humanitarian law is being disregarded.”
More: “The President of the CEC to Patriarch Kiril: Your silence disappoints and frightens” Here
This animation shows the path light will follow as it hits the primary James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) mirror, and is reflected to the secondary, and then in through the aft optics assembly where the tertiary and fine steering mirrors are. The light is then reflected and split and directed to the science instruments by pick-off mirrors. JWST is a three-mirror anastigmat telescope. Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)
This week the Webb team continued to make progress in aligning the telescope to the NIRCam instrument. Between taking the data to understand the optical components, we continue to check out the science instruments. The NIRSpec instrument includes a microshutter array of a quarter-million miniature movable windows, each 0.1 by 0.2 millimeters in size. The microshutter array allows scientists to target specific galaxies in fields they are studying, while closing the windows on the background or other objects which would contaminate the spectra. We have begun testing the mechanism and electronics that control and actuate the microshutters.
In recent weeks, we shared a technique for theoretically modeling the early universe. Today, we will discuss an observational program to help us answer some of those questions. Massimo Stiavelli, the Webb Mission Office head at the Space Telescope Science Institute, tells us about his planned investigations of the first stars and galaxies:
“The chemical composition of the early universe, just after the big bang, is the product of the nuclear processes that took place in the first few minutes of the universe’s existence. These processes are known as ‘primordial nucleosynthesis.’ One of the predictions of this model is that the chemical composition of the early universe is largely hydrogen and helium. There were only traces of heavier elements, which formed later in stars. These predictions are compatible with observations, and are in fact one of the key pieces of evidence that support the hot big bang model.
“The earliest stars formed out of material with this primordial composition. Finding these stars, commonly dubbed as the ‘First Stars’ or ‘Population III stars,’ is an important verification of our cosmological model, and it is within reach of the James Webb Space Telescope. Webb might not be able to detect individual stars from the beginning of the universe, but it can detect some of the first galaxies containing these stars.
“One way to confirm whether we are finding the first stars is to accurately measure metallicities of very distant galaxies. The astronomical term, metallicity, is a measurement of the amount of material heavier than hydrogen and helium – so a low metallicity galaxy would indicate it was made up of these ‘First Stars.’ One of the most distant galaxies discovered so far, known as MACS1149-JD1, is confirmed to be at redshift 9.1 and emitted the light we see when the universe was only 600 million years old. The light from this distant galaxy has been traveling ever since then and is just reaching us now.
“In the first year of Webb science, I have an observing program to study this galaxy and determine its metallicity. I will do this by attempting to measure the ratio in the strength of two spectroscopic lines emitted by oxygen ions, originally emitted at violet-blue and blue-green visible light (rest frame wavelengths at 4,363 angstroms and 5,007 angstroms). Thanks to cosmological redshift, these lines are now detectable at the infrared wavelengths that Webb can see. The use of a ratio of two lines of the same ion can provide an exquisite measurement of the gas temperature in this galaxy and, through relatively simple theoretical modeling, will provide a robust measurement of its metallicity.
“The challenge is that one of these lines is usually extremely weak. However, this line tends to get stronger at lower metallicity. So if we failed to detect the line and measure metallicity for MACS1149-JD1, that would likely mean that it has already been enriched by the heavier elements, and we need to look further and harder. Whether using my data or with future programs, I fully expect that during its operational lifetime Webb will be able to find objects with metallicity sufficiently low to hold keys for understanding the first generation of stars.”
Massimo Stiavelli, Webb Mission Office head, Space Telescope Science Institute
Written by:
Jonathan Gardner, Webb deputy senior project scientist, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Alexandra Lockwood, project scientist for Webb science communications, Space Telescope Science Institute
