Recent deep cuts to overseas aid budgets by governments, will have “direct, negative impacts” on the ability of the world to reach the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UN chief warned on Friday.
Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his concern over the fall in Overseas Development Aid (ODA) following a meeting of the UN Chief Executives Board, which brought together the heads of 30 entities, to discuss ways of alleviating the crises holding back economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and boost implementation of the SDGs.
At a time when global conflicts are at their highest levels since the creation of the @UN, investing in development is the best way to prevent crises and maintain peace – @antonioguterres following the spring session of the UN’s Chief Executives Board: https://t.co/wBRUDMrE2z
He noted that the current “moment in history” had thrown up “cascading challenges” including a climate emergency, uneven economic recovery, and the triple crisis of food, energy and debt, all exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mr. Guterres said that a critical ingredient of the UN’s ability to “rescue” the SDGs and provide lifesaving humanitarian assistance was “predictable and additional funding”, underpinned by the commitment of nations to provide 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income, to overseas aid – a target adopted in a UN General Assembly resolution, for advanced economies, back in 1970.
He acknowledged that a number of countries have met, “and in some cases” gone beyond, the threshold.
Commitments reversed
“However, there are recent indications that other Member States are making deep cuts of ODA, in a reversal of their commitment”, he said.
“This will have direct negative impacts on the achievements of the Sustainable Development Goals. This is alarming and I urge Member States to reconsider, given the dire consequences for the vulnerable among us in these turbulent times.”
He reiterated the UN’s commitment to strengthened coordination in support of “coherent” national strategies for reaching the ambitious targets of the SDGs, agreed by 193 countries in 2015 – a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and make peace and prosperity accessible to all.
“We can deliver results and ensure they meet the needs and rights of the people whom we are meant to assist”, said the UN chief.
“At a time when global conflicts are at their highest levels since the creation of the United Nations, the evidence demonstrates that investing in development is the best way to prevent crises and maintain international peace, which remains the UN’s central mission. Prevention remains at the heart of my agenda.”
Strengthening national capacities to detect the travel of terrorists and other serious criminals using passenger data: First Meeting of the West Africa Regional Informal Working Group (IWG)
Freetown (Sierra Leone) 12 May 2022 – Whether it be tourists hungry for adventure, businesspeople eager to negotiate cross-national deals, or far-flung families looking to reunite, the appetite for global connectivity has grown exponentially since the advent of international air travel. Indeed, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of combined domestic and international travels reached a staggering peak of 4.5 billion in 2019.
Nevertheless, though this global connectivity offers us myriad benefits, it can also be exploited by terrorist entities and criminal groups looking to carry out their criminal activities across borders. Now, as global travel rebounds in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, these groups will also resume their use of air, land, and maritime borders across the globe.
West Africa is no exception. In countries like Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, terrorist armed groups have widened their presence. Identifying, detecting, and intercepting these terrorists – which include Foreign Terrorist Fighters – and other serious criminals is of paramount importance to ensure the safety of populations around the world. Collection and processing Advance Passenger Information (PAI) and Passenger Name Records (PNR) can help prevent their travel and prevent the spread of terrorism.
From 12-13 May, 70 representatives from border law enforcement, security and civil aviation agencies from 17 West African countries met this week in Freetown for the First Meeting of the West Africa Informal Working Group (IWG) in the framework of the Countering Terrorist Travel Programme.
“This meeting is an opportunity to raise awareness about the spread of terrorism through the movement of Foreign Terrorist Fighters,” said H.E. Mr. Jacob Jusu Saffa, Chief Minister of Sierra Leone, showcasing Member States’ willingness to engage with the UN system on the key issue of countering terrorist travel.
AIRCOP, through its recognized specific operational experience and support to inter-agency unit working on air passenger data (the AIRCOP Joint Airport Interdiction Task Forces), oversees Pillar 2 of the CT Travel, which focuses on the institutional set up and operationalization of the PIUs. Effective PIUs, well-established within national security architectures, allow for an efficient collection of API/PNR data and will be given tools to properly analyse and use this wealth of information. Trainings on data protection, confidentiality and human rights play a key role is the development of this capacity.
Within the framework of the CT Travel Programme, the West Africa IWG was launched to foster the sharing of best practices, lessons learned and enable the widest possible cooperation and exchange of information between the PIUs of the region. West Africa has the highest concentration of beneficiary member states of CT Travel and AIRCOP is implemented in 15 airports of the region.
The event allowed participants to gain a better understanding of the efforts being made by Member States in the region, thanks to a regional situational analysis of API and PNR systems shared by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). International databases, API and PNR collection in various cross-border transportation modalities, legal frameworks, and real-time communication channels were key points of discussion.
“It is by analyzing all travel modalities at the national and international levels and by adopting a common approach among all countries in the region that we will be more proactive in our fight” noted Dr Amado Philip de Andrés, UNODC Regional Director for West and Central Africa at the meeting. “Passenger Name Record data processing will be a major undertaking for your countries in the coming years and will require the implementation of efficient infrastructures”.
Countering terrorist travel is key to counter the spread of the terrorism threat, but also to ensure the smooth operations of commercial airports, which are key components of Member States’ economic development, allowing for exchanges, travel and trade. Informal Working Groups for other regions where the CT Travel is active will be developed in the coming months.
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AIRCOP is implemented by UNODC in partnership with INTERPOL and the World Customs Organization, aims at strengthening the capacities of international airports to target and intercept high-risk passengers, cargo and mail, as a contribution to the fight against illicit drugs and other illicit commodities (such as wildlife products or falsified medical products), terrorism-related threats (such as arms or potential foreign terrorist fighters), trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants. It also aims at facilitating communication and coordination between origin, transit and destination countries to disrupt cross-border illicit flows and criminal networks. AIRCOP is active in more than 40 countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, South-Eastern Europe and South-East Asia.
The CT Travel Programme, UNOCT’s flagship global initiative which assists beneficiary Member States in enhancing their national capabilities to detect and intercept terrorists and serious criminals by using API and PNR data, is currently supporting 52 beneficiary Member States across the globe. The Programme also promotes regional cooperation through enhanced information exchange and sharing of lessons learned and good practices.
A warning for tourists currently in Sri Lanka, a popular in Russia resort in the Indian Ocean, was published by the Russian Foreign Ministry. The department stressed that the political situation in the country is tense to the limit, and law enforcement officers were ordered to shoot to kill, tourprom.ru reports.
Recall that the reason for the mass protests was an acute shortage of food, as well as fuel and gas. Protests quickly took on a mass character – including rioters setting fire to the houses of government officials. For example, they set fire to the house of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who had previously resigned. According to official figures, 8 people died and at least 230 were injured. The authorities of Sri Lanka on the eve ordered to shoot protesters without warning.
In this regard, the Russian Foreign Ministry recommended that Russian tourists in Sri Lanka not leave their hotels. “Despite the fact that there are no rallies in the resorts of the island, a difficult situation remains in the state,” the warning says.
“Russian tourists are strongly advised not to leave their places of residence until the curfew is lifted. Travel to the airport is possible with a passport and an air ticket, which must be presented at the request of the police at checkpoints, ”the Russian Foreign Ministry added.
The work of the circulation is filled with all sorts of inconveniences. This is the possibility to bathe only in special places in the parking lots, and the difficulties with preparing hot food, which is why truck drivers almost constantly eat in dubious places, and quite uncomfortable bed in the cabin, if it can be called at all such.
The new truck from the Chinese car company Geely can solve these problems.
The Chinese manufacturer presented a competitor to the Tesla Semi truck. It is a model with a built-in kitchen, shower and even a bedroom. According to Geely, Homtruck, who was recently introduced to the world, is called to become “the tug in which you feel at home.” Hence the name of the truck.
The car is filled to the brim with all sorts of amenities that will make traveling for truck drivers much more comfortable.
Traditionally, there is a bed, but as for its amenities, you can talk for an hour. The sleek cab of the new Homtruck looks like a machine that came to us from a very distant future.
The truck is equipped with everything you need. Inside there is a shower cabin with toilet and sink. There is also a bed and a glass roof through which you can observe the starry sky or raindrops.
Homtruck is also equipped with a kitchenette. In it one can prepare a hot dinner and never eat dried sandwiches of dubious quality again.
The truck even has a kettle for hot water and a refrigerator, which means that one can stock up on food for a few days. A small washing machine is hidden behind a hatch on the other side of the truck. The driver’s cab is also more comfortable. In this model it is made of durable plastic, soft to the touch fabric and bamboo.
A futuristic video was used for the presentation of the truck. It was shared by the manufacturer Geely.
The video shows the truck driver drinking all the way to a bamboo seat while the truck is driving alone, yet the autopilot system is on.
Geely officials say Homtruck can transport goods autonomously.
Specifications
Homtruck will come with several different powertrain options, including an all-electric and hybrid version
The electric version will use the technology to replace the batteries, so the driver will be able to “charge” the truck in minutes.
This means that instead of turning it on and waiting for a long time, the driver will stop at a special station and put fully charged batteries. Like Tesla, Homtruck will also be able to receive updates online.
He will also be able to analyze traffic, recommend routes, inform the driver when to load and connect to online platforms for tracking deliveries.
On May 13, 1981, in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, thousands trembled in anticipation of seeing Pope John Paul II.
Instead of a holiday, however, the meeting with the pope turns into a real tragedy, when four shots drown out the cheers of the assembled crowd and he falls badly wounded. Rifleman Mehmet Ali Agca, a member of Turkey’s ultranationalist Gray Wolves, has been arrested and sent to an Italian prison to serve a life sentence.
Agca was arrested and later sentenced to life in prison by an Italian court. According to his testimony for complicity in the preparation of the attack, the Bulgarian citizens Sergey Antonov – head of the office of BGA “Balkan” in Rome, and the employees of our embassy in Italy lieutenant colonel are suspected. Zhelyu Vasilev and Todor Aivazov.
Unlike Sergei Antonov, the two diplomats managed to return to Sofia, but for Antonov the assassination cost him a lifetime. He remained in custody from November 1982 to March 1986, after which he was released due to lack of evidence of involvement in the assassination. Accused, he remains forgotten by almost everyone until the end of his days. The Bulgarian government is not defending Sergei Antonov.
During his visit to Bulgaria in his meeting with President Georgi Parvanov, the Pope admitted that he never believed that Bulgaria was involved in the attack. This finally dispels doubts and conspiracy theories about this.
At the request of Pope Agca, he was pardoned by Italian President Carlo Champi in June 2000, but was repatriated to a Turkish prison where he was serving a sentence for the murder of a Turkish journalist.
Husbands from India are suing their son, demanding that he and his wife give them a grandson of up to one year or otherwise pay compensation in the amount of 615,000 EUR, AFP reported.
Sanjeev and Sadhana Prasad say they have spent their savings raising and training their son, who is now a pilot, and organizing a lavish wedding for him. Now they want a grandson or a return on their investment.
“Our son has been married for six years, but he and his wife are still not planning a baby. If we at least had a grandson to spend time with, our pain would be bearable,” the couple said in a lawsuit filed in Haridwar court. last week.
The claim of 50 million rupees (615,000 EUR) includes the cost of a wedding reception at a five-star hotel, a luxury car worth 76,000 euros and the couple’s honeymoon payment abroad, the Times of India reported.
The parents added that they paid $ 62,000 to train their son to pilot in the United States before he returned to India without a job, the newspaper said.
“We also had to take out a loan to build our house, and now we are experiencing a lot of financial difficulties. We are also mentally upset because we live alone,” the couple said in their complaint.
According to the couple’s lawyer Arvind Kumar, the appeal will be considered by the court on May 17.
In India, several generations, including grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews, often live under one roof. In recent years, however, the trend has changed, with young couples tending to distance themselves from their families. Many women, at the same time, like the daughter-in-law in this case, prefer to emancipate themselves and pursue a career instead of staying at home and looking after children.
Caffeine, like tobacco and alcohol, is a stimulant that makes you feel different than you really are. According to The Sun and an expert who spoke with the publication, there are eight signs that you can recognize caffeine addiction.
Coffee and tea are the most popular forms of caffeine. In addition, many soft drinks, energy drinks, chocolate, and medications also contain this compound.
Several times, studies have linked it to a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease, increased life expectancy, and better heart health. In general, health experts say that caffeine is probably safe for most healthy adults when limited to 400 mg per day, which is equal to about four cups of coffee.
But everyone has a different level of tolerance to caffeine, and this can cause a number of side effects, some of which are unfavorable. For example, Lenstore, a contact lens retailer, researched the warning signs of caffeine addiction, ranging from blurred vision to muscle tremors and insomnia. It said that mood can be worsened by too much caffeine or by avoiding it. And in case of any deviation, you should contact a specialist. Let’s list the signs of “caffeine addiction”.
First, it’s anxiety. Giving up your morning coffee can cause anxiety. At the same time, participants who used it noted that caffeine itself causes disturbing thoughts. This is because caffeine releases adrenaline, the “fight or flight” hormone. With increasing doses of caffeine, some people may feel jittery, anxious, and jittery.
Second, insomnia. Caffeine’s job is to keep you awake, so consuming it during hours too close to bedtime puts people in the danger zone. Third, i.e. 33 percent of people admit that caffeine prevents them from falling asleep at night, which is a symptom of insomnia. Caffeine can stay in the body for hours on end. Consider cutting back on your tea and coffee intake from lunch so you’ll be sleepy by the evening, experts suggest.
Thirdly, headaches. One in five people said that caffeine gives them a headache. Meanwhile, headaches are often a symptom that people experience from coffee withdrawal, so if you want to cut down on caffeinated beverages, the side effect is inevitable.
The compound constricts blood vessels in the brain. When you stop taking it, these vessels dilate again and can cause pain, the doctors explained. This can last for a couple of weeks, which is one of the reasons for reducing caffeine intake.
Fourth, dizziness. Too much coffee can cause mild dizziness. Caffeine is a stimulant, like tobacco or alcohol, that reduces blood flow to the brain. With excessive use, mild dizziness is often felt.
Fifth, muscle tremor. This may manifest as hand shaking or eye twitching. With excessive consumption of the substance, the muscles can be depleted of oxygen, causing them to spasm.
Sixth, high blood pressure. Each person’s blood pressure response to caffeine is different, but some may experience a sudden spike in just after a cup of coffee.
According to the World Health System, drinking more than four cups of coffee a day can increase blood pressure. And it’s thought to be more likely when combined with the nicotine found in tobacco and e-cigarettes.
High blood pressure, referred to as hypertension, has a number of causes, so caffeine alone is unlikely to control this condition. However, people with hypertension should stay away from this source of energy. Hypertension has a number of deadly complications, including heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, and dementia.
Seventh, eye problems. High blood pressure can put pressure on the eyes. The tiny blood vessels that supply blood to the eyes can be damaged when blood pressure is too high, which can cause a number of vision problems. This includes retinopathy and choroidopathy, which cause blurred vision, bleeding in the eye, and even complete loss of vision.
Recent studies have shown an association between high intake and risk of glaucoma. Glaucoma can have a range of symptoms including redness of the eyes, eye pain, seeing rings around lights, blurred vision, and blindness if left untreated.
And the last – confusion and hallucinations. Caffeine overdose is extremely rare, Healthline said. But the signs will include confusion and hallucinations. On a smaller scale, caffeine can make you irritated, especially if you’re going through withdrawal. Increased adrenaline can also cause hallucinations or brain fog. At this point, it may be best to cut back on your caffeine intake.
More than 1,000 wedding reservations have already been made in the resort of Ayia Napa
Wedding tourism on the Island of Aphrodite – Cyprus, is recovering after two failed years due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is also one of the options for alternative tourism, through which the Mediterranean country seeks to attract more guests, BNR reported.
The upcoming wedding season in Cyprus is expected to be successful, surpassing even the record pre-pandemic 2019 for tourism on the island, according to optimistic of the most preferred municipalities for wedding ceremonies.
Reservations for more than 1,000 weddings have already been made in the municipality of Ayia Napa, a famous resort on the east coast of the island.
There are more than the number of marriages in 2019, when they were 900. In the pandemic 2020 on the Cypriot coast of the Mediterranean, only 100 couples said their “yes”, and last year they were about 350.
Most of the wedding guests who will welcome Ayia Napa this year are from Lithuania, Estonia and Poland.
Paphos, on the west coast of the island, which is another popular wedding destination, is also preparing for many newlyweds, traditionally mostly from the UK. Due to the pandemic, a number of their wedding reservations from 2021 have been transferred to this year.
The island of Aphrodite is one of the leading European wedding destinations. The wedding industry is a significant business in Cyprus and an important source of income for municipalities.
The following letter has arrived in the editorial office of the Russian Orthodox magazine Foma (named after St. Thomas the Apostle):
Tell me why the Church forbids magic after it works? I recently heard a priest warn his parishioners about the dangers of healing with baths and special prayers. This has always amazed me. I don’t even understand what is wrong with God here, when it really helps people get rid of pain? Why does the Church define healers as servants of the devil, and how then do they differ from the Blessed Matron, from the elders, from the priests, whose prayers also often perform miracles? What is it, that church healers are in competition with their “non-systemic colleagues”?
And what is wrong with, for example, harmless divinations that can not cause any physical harm? It seems to me that one of the Fathers of the Church (perhaps following his pride) has simply said once that healing, healing, and all other magic are manifestations of the dark forces, and people have accepted this as true, blindly following the established rules ”of the Church.
Respectfully yours, Nikolai, Pskov Region.
How does the Church relate to magic and why, says psychologist Alexander Tkachenko
Conspiracy theory – who is behind the witches and folk healers?
The shortest answer to this, dear Nikolai, may be this:
The Church forbids magic, precisely because what is not mentioned in your question “this” really works.
And now it’s time to talk in more detail about what exactly “this” is.
For the uninitiated, magic is an analogue of the term “black box” used in cybernetics. There they call a device in a circuit whose principle of operation is unknown. All that is known is that the signal passing through it changes its characteristics at the output. And what exactly happens inside the “black box” does not matter. Let’s say that specialists have to test the work, for example, on a telephone exchange. For this purpose, they will not check in detail all the details and diagrams of a very complex device, but will simply ring all the lines. And if there is an output signal, then the device is working. And everything that is between the input and output signal is exactly this “black box”.
There are devils lurking in the black box…
We use the “black box” method every day and in our daily lives, as unexpected as it may sound. For example, a person has a headache. And what does he do? That’s right – take a pill, say Analgin (signal at the entrance to the system). After a while, the head stops hurting (signal at the exit). What happens in the body after the small pill gets into it, the person usually does not care at all. All that matters to him is that his headache is over.
But what if instead of taking an Analgin tablet, he injects himself with a potent drug, such as morphine? From the point of view of the “black box” principle, nothing will change: there is medicine at the entrance and a result at the exit in the form of relief from suffering. So “this” works. But after some time, the use of opium in humans will inevitably cause problems that are far more serious than ordinary headaches.
Therefore, morphine, like a number of other drugs, is kept on a strict record and is prescribed only with prescriptions, which are checked in the pharmacy three times. And doctors, long tired of such warnings, again and again categorically forbid self-medication, knowing what sad consequences the principle you have stated can lead to “but it works”. Yes, it works. However, if you do not know how and why, you are always at risk. Sometimes – at the risk of death.
Magic from this point of view is a classic “black box”. Someone’s cheek was swollen, the doctors were treating, treating, but something didn’t work out. He went to the “healer”. She ran her hands over his face, whispered incomprehensible words, sprayed her cheek with “charged” water. And the next morning the swelling was as if it was gone! And what happened? What is the principle of this treatment? What is at its core? This is not important to a person at all. He is overjoyed that his pain is over.
So, Nicholas, the Church strictly forbids such methods of treatment, precisely because these methods work, but the “healers” themselves vaguely explain the essence of their action, or do not explain it at all. As already mentioned – a typical “black box”.
And since this is not about electricity or pharmacology, but about “spiritual energies” and “ethereal biofields”, it may suddenly turn out that there is the most common rage in this “black box”. Yes, yes, this same fallen angel. An evil spirit, an enemy of God and a murderer of men.
Or maybe not; or it may be as you write, Nicholas. It could be a strange phenomenon, the individual ability of individuals, the still unknown possibilities of our nature, etc., etc. Yes, anything can be. Theoretically. And then what to do? Should we play Russian roulette with our salvation?
Isn’t this the sapper’s textbook choice – whether to cut the red wire of the bomb or the blue one? If you knew, you are lucky. If you make a mistake, however, there will be nothing to bury.
But in a spiritual sense it is still simpler for the sapper. If he perishes saving people (that is, in the language of the gospel, he gave his life for his friends), he will be met by angels in the afterlife, and Christ will tell him, “All you have done for one of these little ones. you did it for me. Come, blessed by My Father, and inherit the Kingdom prepared for you! ”
The client of the magic receptions can live long in this world, thanks to the efforts of his “healers”. But after death, he will finally see face to face who is really behind these amazing and incomprehensible healings. And only then will he understand what true happiness is. But it’s too late. The demon from the “black box” does nothing for the people without bringing to his account the retribution for the “services” rendered. By giving him (even unconsciously) his body for healing, man has in fact made a deal with the evil spirit and submitted his soul to his will. His whole life from that moment on has passed under the sleepless “patronage” of a being whose sole purpose is the eternal destruction of his “ward”. This is who such an unfortunate person is waiting for. It’s scary to even imagine what that means – to be in the community of a murderous demon after your death. And it all started with some trifle, a swollen cheek.
The existence of God, demons, angels cannot be proved rationally; no doubt it is achieved by faith. However, as Pascal says, a thought experiment can be made: “If there is no God and I believe in Him, then I lose nothing. But if there is a God and I do not believe in Him, then I lose everything.
Karma and its adherents
It is from this loss of everything that the church protects its members, even in those cases where the “healers” are not just charlatans, but actually have an extensive and in some cases completely successful practice. But the Church does not do this for competition reasons.
Saint John Chrysostom wrote: “Let us be sick, it is better to stay sick than to fall into wickedness for the sake of liberation from disease. The demon, even if healed, would do more harm than good. It will benefit the body, which will soon die and rot, but will harm the immortal soul. Even if, by God’s permission, demons sometimes heal (with spells, etc.), such healing is a test for faithful Christians. And not because God does not know their faithfulness, but because they learn to accept nothing from demons, even healings. ” As you can see, Nikolai, this is not even about some “redistribution of the market.” “We’d better stay sick…” – that’s the whole competition.
Yes, there have always been people in the Church whom God has given the gift to heal from diseases. But we can distinguish them from the magicians on one of the most basic grounds – that they never attribute the performed healings to themselves, to their abilities, to their connections with the “etheric world”.
At all times they preach with a loud voice that the true healer of souls and bodies is only our Lord Jesus Christ, Who created man and is therefore able to heal every disease. And they always direct their prayers for healings to Him, to the Mother of God, to the holy favored ones of God.
Another important point: holy healers have always been church people. Either they were clergymen – bishops, priests and deacons, or pious lay people who regularly pray in the temple, do not miss worship, confess, partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Which is not the case with “sixth generation hereditary magicians-healers.” Magicians can also declare themselves Orthodox, adorn themselves with crosses from head to toe, make an iconostasis on each wall of their reception room, hang a chandeliers in front of the icons and smoke incense during their magic sessions. But do these people go to church? How often do they confess and receive communion? Who is their clergyman? Did he bless them for their “healings”? There will be no simple answers to these simple questions. While it is possible that they asked for a blessing, they certainly did not. Priest Daniil Sisoev (shot in 2009, having received repeated threats for his active missionary work and denunciations of paganism and Islam), describes a case from his practice when he was approached for such a blessing:
Yes, I have been blessed to practice so-called “folk medicine”. This often starts with a lie. First, “Bless me with herbal medicine!” Well, the Church doesn’t mind herbal medicine. And then there was a similar dialogue:
– How exactly will you treat?
– I will treat with herbs. And in order to act better, I will read prayers to them.
– And who told you to read such prayers? And what are these “prayers”?
– Well, some spiritual forces joined us, an angel (or a saint) came to us.
“Are you sure it came from God?”
– But how can you think that the one who came to me is not a saint ?!
Of course, I have not given any blessing to such people. I am not aware of any cases where priests have given such blessings. “
To all this we can add that for the magicians adorned with crosses and icons, healing is only one of the other services, along with “breaking spells and attracting magic for love, removing the crown of celibacy, diagnosing karma” and all other types magical events. Even just on the list of “services” offered, it is easy to see that behind the activities of such healers are the aforementioned “black boxes” with demons lurking inside.
Source: The article by Alexander Tkachenko was published in the magazine foma.ru
A whale with 15kg of plastic in its stomach was found dead on a beach on the Greek island of Rhodes last Monday. This was revealed by the results of the autopsy, quoted by local media on Wednesday.
The marine mammal is a beaked whale and has a body length of 5.3 meters. Fishing nets, ropes, plastic bags, plastic cups and packaging and many other debris were found in his stomach.
According to Anastasia Comnin, a professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Veterinary School who performed the autopsy, he explained that the large amount of plastic in the whale’s stomach did not allow him to eat properly, so he literally died of starvation and exhaustion.
This type of waste has long-term harmful effects not only on the health of these mammals, but also on all marine life.
Greek Deputy Environment and Energy Minister George Amiras said the problem of plastic waste in the Mediterranean is becoming more serious, so everyone needs to think and change their lifestyle and daily habits. Amiras urges his compatriots not to be indifferent to the Greek seas and the beautiful animal species that inhabit them.