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From Turkey to Italy, from Greece to Moldova, 2023 was eventful. But even in difficult times, there are always individuals and organisations that make a difference through their actions. BIRN presents some such positive examples.

Some gave a helping hand to those in need in a difficult time, such as this year was. Others challenged controversial decisions…and succeeded. Others literally saved lives through smart moves.

Countries in Central and Southeastern Europe are ending another eventful year in which some people and organisations made their mark through tireless, inspiring actions.

Czechia: Lawyer who gave society its #MeToo moment

“He who speaks the truth is simply persuasive,” Adela Horejsi said in an interview with local online magazine CzechCrunch. But when the “he” is a “she”, and the truth in question threatens to rattle the cage of a man in a position of power, truth-telling can be a Herculean and strenuous task.

It was a task that Horejsi, 42, took on with empathy and expertise as she fought to defend the rights, safeguard the dignity and give a voice to her clients – women who had accused former MP Dominik Feri of rape and sexual harassment.

Before his fall from grace, Feri was one of the rising stars of Czechia’s younger and more progressive generation of politicians. The country’s youngest-ever and first black MP (he is partly of Ethiopian origin), he was selected by “Politico 28 – Class of 2019” as one of the figures most likely “to shape the future” of his country.

Known for his characteristic afro hairstyle and gentlemanly fashion style, he rose to wider fame in the COVID-19 era, when his frequent Instagram posts explaining rules and regulations became a go-to platform that cut through the government’s chaotic and muddled communications. The third Czech to pass the million-followers mark on social media, he would change his country’s fate – but in a way few would have predicted.

After an extensive two-year investigation, the Prague district court in November found Feri guilty on all charges of the indictment: two cases of rape and one attempted rape.

Sentencing him to three years in prison, the judge highlighted that the victims had presented their cases “factually, chronologically and logically” – testament to the meticulous work of Adela Horejsi with her clients on a topic where the slightest incoherence can prove fatal to the credibility of the case.

Previously better known for her work in cases relating to obstretic violence, Horejsi – alongside other activists and organisations who have been advocating for victims of sexual violence – has proven instrumental in changing the tone of a debate that was highly toxic and victim-blaming in the early days after the publication of their testimonies, by shifting the focus back on the experience and trauma suffered by the women.

Further cementing 2023 as a landmark year in the protection of women from sexual harassment and violence, the Czech government earlier this month approved a new legal definition of rape based on the absence of consent rather than the use of force – a change long advocated by activists. The impact of the Feri case, and of the courageous work of Horejsi and her clients, on this newfound perspective, shouldn’t be underestimated.

Hungary: Brave campaigner for right to dignified death

Daniel Karsai had a good life – until about two years ago. The constitutional lawyer, who had climbed mountains in Nepal and Peru and had an active sporting career in football and jiu-jitsu, believed the best was yet to come. But then he was diagnosed with a wasting disease that gradually paralyses the muscles and leads to a terrible death, all while completely conscious, as it does not affect the sufferer’s mental abilities.

Karsai decided not to wallow in self-pity but to fight: not against the disease, which is incurable, but against the Hungarian legal system, which he says denies him a “dignified death”. Under current law, any form of active euthanasia is banned, and anyone who helps assisted suicide – even outside Hungary’s borders – can face up to five years in jail. In a high-profile case in November, Karsai challenged this at the European Court of Human Rights, ECHR.

In a moving plea, the already frail, wheelchair-bound lawyer asked the court to help him “open a door” when he can no longer do so, saying he was also fighting for others facing similar circumstances. Karsai’s case has deeply moved Hungarian society. Pictures of him sitting alone in the Hungarian parliament, completely ignored by the passing ruling Fidesz party MPs (except for one), went viral and have become a symbol of the insensitivity of a ruling elite that claims to follow Christian values but seems to have lost its sense of humanity. It has also sparked a debate across party lines, between left and right, believers and atheists, young and old. Tamas Fabiny, an Evangelical Lutheran bishop in Hungary, pledged his support to Karsai and thanked him for finally initiating a meaningful debate where reasonable arguments and human perspectives clash, in this “painfully divided, often hate-filled, society”.

“This case touches my life very personally, but it is also a wonderful professional challenge because it is about the limits of human life and human rights, freedom and human dignity,” Karsai said in an interview. “It’s the biggest case of my life, also from a professional point of view.”

Polls suggest that 70 per cent of Hungarian society believes some form of euthanasia should be legalised. Karsai’s case may speed up a long-overdue reform of the penal code. He may not live to see the moment, but that would be his legacy.

North Macedonia: IT man who donates computers to poor kids

Borce Stamenov is an IT engineer from the small town of Kavadarci. Some seven years ago, a woman came into his office asking if they had any spare old computers. Borce assembled one, and when he took it to the woman’s family, he was moved and inspired.

The joy he saw in the eyes of her three little children, who never had a computer, and the realisation that what they were so joyous about was someone’s discarded PC, which they’d considered “garbage”, sparked a great idea.

Why not do this for others in need as well? And why not use social networks, where he was already active, to call for more donations?

That’s how he launched Doniraj Kompjuter “Donate a computer”. The first 100 donated computers soon led to 200 and more. Borce says he could not stop because what he was doing filled him with joy as well.

“I always get very emotional responses. Plus, I have a feeling that I am also doing this to show to people that if you have a good idea you should act, and you can do a lot,” Borce told BIRN.

For the first two years, he did this all alone, calling people and firms to donate their old or new computers, refurbishing them and then sending them to poor families, of which there are plenty in North Macedonia, unfortunately.

He was then joined by another volunteer. This year there are four in total, doing all the volunteer work in their free time.

But their transparency on social media has brought them trouble as well. This summer, days after Borce announced that they would take a short break for a vacation, a robber broke into their workshop, stealing some of their most powerful computers that they have been preparing for gifted students.

It all ended well, however. Police soon found the thief and returned the computers.

Meanwhile, the initiative has grown.  By the end of 2023 they hope to have donated 3,000 computers in total over all the years.

The end of this year was a time for recognition. The initiative won the “Meto Jovanovski” state award, given for excellence in promoting, protecting and improving human rights.

While Borce says his priority will always be to give computers directly to children in socially vulnerable families, the initiative has also equipped 40 schools with IT classrooms, many of them in remote rural areas where the information gap is felt the most.

“We are not trying to replace the state, but we are trying to help it,” Borce explains.

Greece: NGO finding new ways to save marine eco-systems

The Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation, a non-governmental environmental organization whose aim is to protect marine and island ecosystems, has introduced Artificial Intelligence records in a move to record the populations of marine mammals such as bottlenose dolphins, blow whales and others.

To this end, they are cooperating with an international scientific team.

“We do not feel like heroes; we feel it is important to recognize the effort and inspire others who really want to contribute to the protection of the environment because it is a common responsibility that we all share. If there is not substantial cooperation, with a result, then we will not be able to change things. We can make a difference wherever we are,” Anastasia Miliou, marine biologist and director of research at the Archipelagos, told BIRN.

Archipelagos is based on the Greek island of Samos and, since 1998 has been working on protecting marine biodiversity in the northeastern Mediterranean, especially the Greek seas and islands. Some 100 people from 43 countries with four boats and research bases in the Aegean work together through applied scientific research, education, conservation actions and community engagement. Their aim is to prevent further disasters and protect the important biodiversity of the Greek seas, explains to BIRN Anastasia Miliou, marine biologist and research director of the institute.

Archipelagos’s fields of action include the investigation and protection of Greek deep waters, the deep-sea corals, which are more than 7,000 years old, endemic seagrass meadows, the forests of the Mediterranean, over-fishing, rare species, cetaceans, the seven species of marine mammals that migrate and live permanently in Greek seas, sea turtles, and more.

Archipelagos, in collaboration with other organisations from different countries, has made a database of more than 80,000 photos of sea mammals to be able to use AI algorithms to improve their re-recognition. So far, Archipelagos has identified 172 dolphins by their characteristic markings. Now, with AI technology, they will be able to increase the ability to re-identify species.

“We have been recording sea mammals for 25 years under good or relatively mild weather conditions; most of the year, we don’t know we don’t how they act. So, we have a lot of knowledge gaps that make them difficult to manage and protect. New technologies help us to fill these knowledge gaps,” Miliou said.

Montenegro: Environmental champion who doesn’t fear politicians

This year, Montenegro’s Environmental Protection Agency chief, Milan Gazdic, won praise from citizens simply because he rose above the political interests of those who’d appointed him and acted independently in a country where corruption, political ties, and environmental devastation are routine.

During the last year, Gazdic included civic organisations in his Agency work and pointed to various cases of environmental devastation in the country. Even though the government appointed him in February 2022, Gazdic acted independently.

Former Environmental Agency managements tolerated authorities’ and investors’ projects that exploited the country’s rivers and coastline for decades, despite civic activist warnings.

“In Montenegro, everyone wants to bypass the law in one way or another, so problems arise when you insist on law implementation. We will work according to the rules, so everyone should be used to the new Agency practice,” Gazdic told BIRN.

On May 15, Gazdic officially involved civic activists in the prevention of Illegal fishing in the environmentally endangered Lake Skadar. The agency gave them official permission to use drones and cameras to monitor the lake and locate poachers in one of Europe’s last freshwater wildernesses.

In April, civic organisations called on the authorities to protect Gazdic from the pressure of investors and some government officials. Gazdic was criticized by the authorities in the town of Gusinje on April 5, after the Environmental Agency banned a music festival in the mountains of Prokletije National Park.

Gazdic stresses that there is often pressure on Agency management from some political officials and investors.

“There is always a lot of pressure. Investors and people who do not understand nature protection say the Agency is holding back the country’s development. The agency is dealing with the environmental protection that affects people’s health, which is the basis of the country’s development,” Gazdic told BIRN.

On August 19, the Agency rejected the Ministry of Capital Investments’ request to open three stone pits near the UNESCO-protected town of Kotor. On August 18, it filed criminal charges for illegal logging in the national park of Durimitor but also called on authorities to stop illegal construction in the protected area and popular tourist destination.

On June 10, 2023, Gazdic said that Montenegro, as a touristic destination, should not allow illegal construction and usurpation of land because it could endanger the landscape.

On September 20, 1991, Montenegro became the first country in the world to declare itself an “ecological state” and vowed to safeguard its natural resources.

In last year’s annual report on Montenegro’s progress towards membership of the European Union, the European Commission warned that the country needed to improve its waste management, water quality, nature protection, and climate change efforts.

Bosnia: Quick-thinking pensioner who halted killer’s rampage

August 11 was a regular Friday morning for most locals in the small town of Gradacac in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina. The streets were crowded with people visiting the street market, running errands and finishing tasks before the August heat forced everyone into hiding.

Hasan Jasarevic, 77, who usually works Thursdays and Fridays in his son’s hunting equipment shop in the centre of Gradacac, could hear the police and ambulance sirens while he was behind the counter.

“I thought there’d been a car accident,” Jasarevic told BIRN, from his home in Bosanski Samac, on the banks of Sava river on the northern border with Croatia.

“Soon after, I heard screeching tires in front of the shop, when a man wearing only shoes and shorts, covered in blood, walked into my shop,” he remembered.

Later, Jasarevic would find out that this was Nermin Sulejmanovic – a man who had just killed his ex-wife while livestreaming it on Instagram.

“He pointed a pistol to my head and said: ‘Give me all the 9mm ammunition you have,’” Jasarevic continued.

That morning, Sulejmanovic, a body builder with a thick criminal file, had been on a killing spree. Besides committing one of the most shocking femicides in Bosnia’s recent history, he killed two others – a father and a son – while wounding three others, including a police officer.

Without a second thought, Jasarevic grabbed seven boxes of starting ammunition – fake bullets used to start races – and gave them to Sulejmanovic, potentially saving more lives that day.

“I was not scared at that moment,” Jasarevic recalled, and continued: “I’s been a prisoner in the war and saw a lot of death during that war.”

While leaving the shop, Sulejmanovic dropped one of the boxes on the floor, but just left it there and left.

“At that moment, my older granddaughter who had already seen what he (Sulejmanovic) has done over social media, came into the shop and just said: ‘Grandpa, have you seen what he has done?’” Jasarevic remembered. The fear came at that point, he recalls.

“I locked the shop, took my hunting gun and locked my granddaughter and myself in the apartment above the shop,” he said, adding that he informed his son of what just happened and asked him to call the police.

“I have seen a lot of death, and could never shoot a person, but I still took my gun with me,” he admitted.

In the meantime, a massive manhunt was underway. Hundreds of police officers were looking for Sulejmanovic who, thanks to Jasarevic’s quick reaction, had only three bullets left. He used one of them to commit suicide as the police closed the ring around him.

Later, Jasarevic was awarded the “Zlatni Zmaj” (Golden Dragon) award, the highest recognition of the town of Gradacac, while his act has been celebrated in the shock that followed the events.

Serbia: Advocates for women’s inheritance rights in patriarchal society

When it comes to women rights and their systematic discrimination, much of the talk refers to the representation of women in institutions or gender sensitized language.

An initiative for women’s inheritance rights, “How much is my share?” has gone deeper than that, showing how patriarchy works subtly and, linked with state law, discriminates against women and pushes them into poverty.

In Serbia it is widely considered that a female child should not take the family inheritance, as it is expected that women will leave the parents’ home on marriage and contribute to another family through domestic work and childbearing. That is why traditional customs suggest that all the family’s possession go to the male heir.

“How much is my share?”, started by the Women’s Association of Kolubara District, ZUKO, and 14 other organisations, wanted to tackle this.

Their research done throughout Serbia showed that almost half of women, 44 per cent, renounce their inheritance in favour of male relatives. If they find themselves in a situation of existential threat, because they gave up their inheritance, they may lose their right to social assistance.

Jelena Ruzic, President of the Women’s Association of Kolubara district, ZUKO, told BIRN that it all started with their work with women in villages that depend on agriculture.

“We realized, working with these women …  that there is a big gap when it comes to property ownership in terms of gender. Then we started digging more into the causes,” she explains.

To raise awareness of the importance of claiming rights to inheritance among Serbian women, the 15 organisations formed a Coalition for Equal Inheritance and started a media campaign on a topic that is rarely ever talked about. The campaign also provides free legal assistance to women who are in the inheritance process.

Ruzic says she realized through her interviews with women that 95 per cent of them had not paid any attention to the issue, saying they first heard about it through the campaign “How much is my share?”

“That shows that gender patterns are so strong that is hard to change them. In our tradition, sisters are valued as people who are strong and who will do everything for others. It is hard to escape that feeling of value through sacrificing for others,” she said.

She is happy that their campaign has raised awareness in different parts of society.

“Civil society organisations, media and even decision makers are all now aware of the problem. That is not an adequate change, but it is a start,” she emphasizes.

Poland: Movie director who challenged negative stereotypes about migrants

Agnieszka Holland, an internationally-renowned Polish film director, in 2023 made the movie that, according to her, moved audiences most in her entire career – about refugees and migrants trying to cross the Belarus-Polish border. But she was demonised by the then Polish government and right-wing media in an almost rabid attack that forced her to hire private security.

In the movie Green Border, which premiered in early September, Holland used three inter-connected stories – of a Syrian refugee family, a Polish border guard and a group of activists helping the migrants – to bring to a wider audience events taking place on the Belarus-Poland border since the summer of 2021.

In an interview with BIRN in October, Holland explained that the early days of the Belarus-Poland border crisis reminded her of events in 1938 at Zbaszyn, on the former German-Polish border, where thousands of Jewish people of Polish origin were stuck for months, facing illness and death, after Nazi Germany deported them and Poland refused to let them back in, having previously removed their Polish citizenship.

“Symbolically speaking, we could say this was the beginning of the Holocaust,” Holland explained.

For many, the movie was very important because it brought to the general public – in a relatable manner – a crisis that had been happening for two years but which still remained unknown – or misunderstood – because of the massive propaganda around the subject promoted by the nationalistic Law and Justice PiS government.

Green Border quickly became the most watched Polish movie of the year and stirred strong responses among audiences: “The reactions I get from the audience at the screenings is something I have never experienced before in my life,” Holland said. “It feels like collective therapy. People get together and speak about things they never spoke about before in cinemas.”

And it’s precisely for that reason – that it caused a strong reaction in many – that the government sought to discredit it, with key members of the governing camp, including President Andrzej Duda, criticizing it without even seeing it.

Former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro went as far as to compare the movie to Nazi propaganda (linking to a common trope of PiS, that anyone criticizing the government is serving foreign, particularly German, interests). That was particularly offensive to Holland, whose father was Jewish and who has family members that were killed in the Holocaust.

Holland sued Ziobro and hired guards to protect her in the period of most intense attacks. But she remains hopeful that the backlash was worth it, for making a movie that hopefully not only informs but also changes the minds of some of those that used to get their knowledge of the topic before only from governmental sources. In the end, Holland said, what matters is “to give a voice to the voiceless”.

Moldova: ‘Good Samaritan’ who helps Ukrainian refugees, cancer victims

Doina Cernavca, 38, is one of the most famous activists in Moldova for the projects and charity projects she leads for people in need. Until last year, she was mainly active on behalf of people in need from Moldova. But the situation changed with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Her NGO, “Help a Person”, was present from the first day of the waves of Ukrainian refugees who decided to leave Ukraine through Moldova, especially women and children. About one million Ukrainian refugees have transited or stayed in Moldova so far.

“We were the first in Moldova to open the doors and gates at Casa Bună and we organised the largest collection of humanitarian aid for refugees,” the former journalist told BIRN.

In 2022 alone, Cernavca collected more than 300 tons of aid for Ukrainian refugees through her humanitarian association and delivered 10,000 portions of food daily.

Cernavca says she witnessed the human dramas of women who received calls that their husbands had died at the front, or that Russia had bombed their home towns entirely and they would no longer be able to return.

“Last year, we had the biggest impact on helping refugees. In 2023, we were more on programs to support children and women,” she said.

“With our help and the volunteers from the Endava company, the Ukrainian children had IT lessons, and the women had conversation clubs with specialists who helped them move on with their lives,” she added.

Cernavna went through an emotional experience of her own about half-a-year ago that would mark her. Her father died of cancer. But she turned this pain into force and founded “Casa Valeriu” [Valeriu’s House] in her father’s memory. Cancer patients and those who come to Chisinau for cancer treatments are housed here free of charge and offered meals, as well as psychological counselling.

“The first question by those who call us and reserve a bed on the phone, two or three times, is if everything is really free. Yes! Because we are a community of people for people, we survive on donations from people and partners and sponsors,” she says.

Patients with oncological problems who come to Casa Valeriu, she says, are very warm people who understand that the success of their treatment depends a lot on them.

“We are trying to instil in them a dose of optimism and confidence as it must be good and there is no other way. As long as people want to go forward, we give them all the necessary support,” she concludes.

Romania: ‘Agent Green’ taking on trophy hunters and forest chainsaws

Gabriel Paun, 46, and the NGO he leads, Agent Green, are some of Romania’s most influential campaigners for saving the environment and wildlife. However, they have long gone beyond internal borders in their multiple activities.

In 2023, Agent Green was energetically involved in saving bears in the forests of Romania from trophy hunters and from high-ranking officials who lobbied for this activity with the official excuse that the bears had become dangerous, so they must be neutered and killed in order not to be a public danger.

“It’s clear that I ruined some plans for him that he wanted to do quietly, but he couldn’t, “ he said of former environment minister Tanczos Barna. “He just had to start this absolutely terrible campaign, in which during the two years of his ministry he managed to demonise this species [bears],” Paun told BIRN.

Romania is one of the last bastions of bears in Europe, maintaining and important balance in the ecosystems. Most unofficial estimates put the bear population at least 6,000, around 60 per cent of the total European population, excluding Russia.

Because of that, Paun says, there is a big lobby by wealthy hunters in Europe to hunt in the Romanian forests.

In May 2021, a scandal erupted after an Austrian prince, Emanuel von and Zu Liechtenstein, killed a bear called Arthur, who was one of the largest specimens in Europe. The prince admitted killing the bear but said he did it legally. He claimed the animal was dangerous.

Paun told BIRN that the threat arose after the trophy hunting industry and industrial farmers teamed up to hunt this species, which is crucial to the health of nature.

He is also in direct contact with the European Commission and MEPs to stop the illegal deforestation of forests in Romania, which occurs through the impotence, or collaboration, of the Romanian state and in the absence of adequate internal legislation and with few coercive instruments at the European level.

Forests represented 43 per cent of the surface of the European Union in 2022. According to Romania’s National Institute of Statistics, INS, Romania’s forest fund has grown steadily in the last 15 years. According to them, Romania has more than 6.6 million hectares of forests, which cover around 29 per cent of the country.

But, according to a Greenpeace report from 2022, about six hectares of forest disappear from Romania every hour.

“The idea is that we move the topic of deforestation and show it as one of national security. That’s where our new audience is. The south of the country must be massively reforested to prevent desertification,” he concludes.

Bulgaria: Couple who challenged anti-LGBT discrimination

2023 was a key year for Bulgaria’s embattled LGBT+ community, both for good and bad.

In the repeat general elections in April, the pro-Russian Bulgarian Socialist Party started a campaign focused on promoting a referendum “against gender ideology”. In June, right before the annual Sofia Pride, another pro-Russian party, Revival, organised a series of protests against the screenings of a Belgian gay drama Close, deeming the movie immoral. In July, te far-right figure Boyan Rasate was convicted for hooliganism for vandalising the Rainbow Hub LGBT community centre in 2021. Later in the year, a trans protester initiated a hunger strike in front of Sofia’s Justice Palace after the court rejected her request to change her ID documents to match her gender identity – a consequence of a controversial ruling by the Supreme Court which further limited the rights of transgender people in Bulgaria.

But some good news came in September, when the European Court of Human Rights told Bulgaria to create a legal framework that allows same-sex couples to receive adequate recognition and protection. The case, led by human rights lawyer Denitsa Lyubenova, concerned a same-sex couple, Darina Koilova and Lili Babulkova, whose marriage in the UK in 2016 was repeatedly not recognised by Bulgarian institutions.

In 2017, on the basis of the constitution defining marriage as a contract between men and women, the Sofia municipality declined to make their union legal in Bulgaria. The couple, both translators in their thirties, has been vocal in their intentions and managed to gain considerable media attention, gaining valuable visibility for the LGBT+ cause as well. The ruling is expected to be a major factor in further cases and the developments around Koilova and Babulkova have now become symbolic for the uphill battle that the country’s LGBT community is facing.

The couple was also given the annual award for “Persistence and Bravery” by the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee.

In a different case from in June last year, the Strasbourg court  ordered Bulgaria to pay compensation to the mother of a 26-year-old man killed in a homophobic murder in Sofia in 2008.

Kosovo: ‘Serb Traitor’ who sheltered journalists from violence

Mladen Perovic, from Zvecan, in Serb-majority northern Kosovo owns the café where Kosovo Albanian journalists found shelter during the violent clashes between local Serb protesters and KFOR soldiers on May 29.

Perovic told the media on May 31: “When I arrived at around 10 am journalists were already there; it was a good place to report and naturally when I opened, they all went in the café.” He opened up around 10 am, “when it was obvious the protest would last”, so people could refreshen themselves and use the bathroom.

After the protest escalated, he said he “ran away from the café” to be safe, “but after some time, when the situation stabilised, concerned about my private property, I went back to my bar where the journalists were”.

They had been trapped there for around three hours, from around 2 pm to 5 pm, as it had been the only safe place for them to be.

Perovic helped the journalists leave the safely. He told the media that he decided to close his café and had asked the protesters if they would allow the journalists safe passage; they had responded that “nobody will touch them”.

Perovic said he was later called a “traitor” for having assisted the journalists. “I do not know what I have done to be called a traitor and be targeted,” he said.

Croatia: Volunteer rescuers who don’t hesitate when life is in danger

Croatia’s Mountain Rescue Service consists of experienced and selfless people who save life without asking for anything in return

After the catastrophic earthquakes that hit Turkey in February, members of the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service, HGSS, were among the first to come to the rescue. It is a non-profit volunteer organization that deals with searching and rescuing people.

In the same hour, after learning about the earthquake, HGSS members reacted immediately and started preparations. They sent one medical team, consisting of one doctor and two medical technicians, three K-9 search teams consisting of dogs and their handlers, and nine drones and their pilots, a total of 15 HGSS members, with the necessary logistics. “In such disasters, when floods and earthquakes are a question, no country can do it alone because all systems are paralyzed. That’s why we sent help as soon as possible,” recalls Marko Rakovac, executive head of HGSS.

Interestingly, after the earthquake in 2022 in central Croatia, in Sisak-Moslavina County, Turkey was the first country to offer a helping hand and send housing containers and heaters for people who’d lost their homes.

In September 2023, 15 HGSS members went to Turkey again at the invitation of the Turkish authorities to rescue the American speleologist Mark Dickey from the Morca cave in southern Turkey, at a depth of 1,000 meters.

When Marc Dickney was trapped at the bottom of the cave on September 2 they rescued him alive on September 11, again proving that they are one of the best teams in Europe.

“We knew what was happening, so we reacted immediately. It was a specific situation because you need people who know how to move along vertical lines, some of which are up to 300 meters deep,” Rakovac told BIRN, saying that HGSS never hesitates when human life is at stake.

HGSS was founded in 1950 as a sub-commission of the Croatian Mountaineering Association, and since 2001 has been a separate legal entity.

Annually, they stage about 800 interventions, of which about 550 are rescues on mountains, 250 are searches for missing people, about 30 are interventions in or on water and about 20 are by helicopter.

HGSS is a rare organization that has never been associated with any negative connotation or anything else that could threaten their reputation in the public.

“Saving someone’s life is a special feeling. When we start an action, we never know how it will end and whether we made a good decision at a certain moment. Stress is always present. But when someone’s life is saved, the ‘universe’ rewards it all,” Rakovac says.

Italy: Woman demanding justice for her sister’s murder

Elena Cecchettin didn’t flinch in front of the journalists of the Italian national TV show “Dritto e Rovescio” on the night of November 19. It was the day before the body of her sister, Giulia, was found, where it had been hidden by her former boyfriend, Filippo Turetta.

The case sparked an outcry in Italy. Giulia Cecchettin was the 105th victim of femicide in 2023, according to the Italian statistics body, ISTAT.

She was reported missing on November 11 together with Turetta. The couple had been separated for several months, but she had agreed to see him that night. Social media users mobilised, sharing pictures of Giulia in the hope that she would be found, though many started to fear for the worse. Their fears were confirmed on November 18. The next day, Turetta was arrested in Germany, where he had fled after reportedly committing the crime.

Elena Cecchettin looked straight at the camera. “In these days, there has been talk about Turetta, and many people have spoken about him as if he were a monster, like someone sick. But he is not a monster … he is a healthy son of the patriarchal society.”

The dignity, lucidity and strength of the young woman is humbling. Alone in front of the media, she transformed her personal pain into a public and political statement. She brought to the forefront of public discussion years of reflections and demands of feminist movements. She asked all men and the Italian state to take responsibility for what had happened and for letting such crimes continue to happen again and again.

In the next days, however, she was attacked several times. A regional councillor of vice-premier Matteo Salvini’s League Party, Stefano Valdigambero, raised suspicions of her own involvement in the killing, and concerns over her affiliation with cults. Far-right and men’s right movements made her the centre of conspiracy theories regarding alleged movements that aim to emasculate men.

But she didn’t stop. Together with her father, Gino Cecchettin, she has continued to demand public accountability for her sister’s death. “Make sure that Giulia is the last one.”

Albania: students challenging law that aims to limit their rights

Not long ago, Albania’s government, through an unusual law, prohibited medical students from leaving from the country for five years after finishing their studies.

But for many students this was a “no go” since the start. Students protested, boycotted the academic year and took the matter to the Constitutional Court, which has suspended the law until a definitive decision.

“The protest started on June 20. Since then, there has been no stopping, because the protest is not just a gathering in the square; we have gathered, protested, boycotted school, we have met the President … We tried to be everywhere,” Dea Guri, one of the students that have protested against the law, told BIRN.

“It was very tiring for us to protest at the peak of the heat, in 40 degrees, it was also the exam period, the summer season. But we all found time to protest, react and gather. And then we came back with a four-week boycott. It has been a very intense and tiring period,” she added.

On July, Prime Minister Edi Rama delivered the five-year ban himself, wanting to send a “message”, while presenting it.

“Every medical student who enters the University of Medicine will have to first familiarize himself with the fact that medicine has as many studies’ years as there are, and then in order to be equipped with a diploma, they must spend five years in the service of this people,” Rama said.

But many education experts have opposed the idea, saying that it would not be productive deeming it a “populist–communist law”.

Another student who has also been protesting against the law, Rei Haluli, told BIRN: “It’s been one of the most beautiful experiences I’ve had, because we all came together and had a goal”.

“When the law was approved, we stayed until the early hours of the morning, we wanted to talk in the parliament, as a group of interest; it is the most normal thing, but this was not allowed by the speaker,” Haluli said.

Turkey: Volunteer Who Lost His Job Saving Quake Victims

Turkey’s worst-ever quake disaster in February 2023, registering 7.8 and 7.6 on the Richter scale, devastated 11 provinces in the country’s south and south-east, killing at least 55,000 people and leaving millions more homeless.

Search-and-rescue units, police, the military, fire fighters, miners, construction workers and volunteers from Turkey and abroad united to save lives of people trapped under the rubble.

In a collective effort, they were the heroes of Turkey in 2023 – but some of the rescuers suffered real-life consequences for their sacrifice.

Burak Kesici, a 26-year-old hotel worker at the time, was fired from his job after he promptly travelled to earthquake-hit Hatay to help.

When he learned of the scale of the calamity in the earthquake zone, he immediately started a journey there to try and save lives.

“After I got verbal permission from my supervisor to go for three days, I went to the provincial headquarters of the Workers’ Party of Turkey, TIP, and we gathered whatever supplies we could get. Later, we travelled to Hatay with a convoy of a truck and three cars,” Kesici said.

The TIP, a new generation left-wing party, was one of the first groups that reacted to the earthquake and mobilised its members and volunteers.

“When we decided to go, we did not think we would be involved in search-and-rescue missions because we were not professionals. However, when we arrived, we saw the calamity,” Kesici recalled.

Kesici said they could not sleep in the first days because of the trauma and horror they had experienced.

“We saved many lives, but I cannot forget one survivor: Nebil. On the third day of the quake disaster, we entered a building which was about to collapse. Nebil was screaming for help … However, his young daughter died next to him,” Kesici recalled.

When Kesici returned to Mersin, after an absence of a week, he slept for an entire day. When he asked about returning to his job, his supervisor told him he did not need to return at all.

“Then, they threatened me, and they said they would not even give me my salary and compensation. Later, this was covered by the media. The day the news article published, I saw that the money was in my bank account,” Kesici said.

Kesici was only one of many volunteers who lost their jobs. Many miners, construction site workers and other volunteers were also reportedly fired by their employers.

The week Kesici spent in Hatay changed his life.

“Previously, I had studied journalism but I did not finish the faculty. After everything we went through [in Hatay], I have decided to become a paramedic to save lives professionally in an event of another such disaster,” Kesici concludes.

[21st-century-witch-hunt]

The violent persecution of alleged "witches" has become a much deadlier, more widespread issue over the last 50 years than it ever was during the 300-year span of the European and Colonial Witch Trials -- and the issue is only getting worse.

CW: this post involves an ongoing human rights issue, with references to religious violence, child abuse, and murder

Violent attacks against alleged "witches" are becoming increasingly common in both rural and urban population centers throughout the world, and much of that violence occurs in places where religious fundamentalism (especially Evangelical Christianity) has collided with severe socio-economic instability. It is especially common for young children to be targeted in these attacks.

Between 1960 and the year 2000, it's estimated that more than 40,000 people in Tanzania alone were murdered due to the belief that they were "witches." Many others have been killed in similar incidents in more than a dozen other countries (on several different continents). 

Over the course of the last 100 years, it's estimated that there have been hundreds of thousands of deaths related to witchcraft allegations. Millions of people have also faced other forms of persecution, including imprisonment, torture, starvation, mob violence, branding, burning, flogging, public humiliation, and arson attacks. Many have been subjected to less violent forms of persecution, including abandonment, the confiscation of land and/or property, and the loss of parental or custodial rights; they are often denied access to education, employment, housing, and/or healthcare, too.

Millions of people are currently suffering as a result of these practices, and much of the abuse is now inflicted upon young children, who face allegations of being "child witches."

This issue is especially apparent in Nigeria, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Angola, South Africa, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Micronesia, Vanuatu, and India, but it has also been documented in countries like Nepal, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Syria, Saudi Arabia. Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Bolivia, Haiti, Poland, and the UK.

And it's only getting worse -- this issue is continuing to spread throughout different parts of the world, often facilitated by the destabilizing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the escalation of economic, environmental, and political crises, along with the rising popularity of Christian fundamentalism (or, in some cases, Islamic fundamentalism). As a result, acts of violence targeting "witches" have become increasingly normalized and are occuring with greater frequency throughout much of the world. The formal persecution of so-called "witches" by various governments has also become more common.

These are just a few examples of the "witch-hunting" incidents and issues that have developed over the last few decades:

It's estimated that most of the 25,000-50,000 children who live on the streets of Kinshasa (in the Democratic Republic of the Congo) were originally abandoned because their families believed that they were "witches." Many of these children were still just infants when they were abandoned.

Thousands of churches/pastors in the DRC, Angola, and Nigeria are known to perform "deliverance" ceremonies (i.e. exorcisms) on alleged "witches" for financial gain; the same pastors are usually the ones who identify these "witches" in the first place. Human Rights Watch and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees both estimate that as many as 50,000 children, having been identified as "witches," may still be imprisoned in religious buildings throughout the DRC, where they await "deliverance" ceremonies in which they often face abuse, violence, torture, and sometimes even death under the pretense of spiritual cleansing. During the "deliverance" ceremony, some victims are forced to drink battery acid, or the battery acid may be poured into their eyes, and many of the children are permanently blinded or disfigured by chemical burns.

In Ghana, a series of settlements known as "witch camps" have been established to provide shelter/safety to women who have been branded as "witches." Many of these women are widows with small children, and the children are often sheltered in the camps alongside their mothers. Local schools generally refuse to provide these children with an education. It is estimated that the "witch camps" in Ghana currently house between 1,000 and 2,500 women in total, along with hundreds of children, and some women have been residing in the camps for more than 40 years.

In India, records indicate that more than 2,500 people who were accused of practicing witchcraft were then captured, tortured, and killed between the years 2000 and 2016.

From 1996 to 2001, more than 600 so-called "witches" were killed in the Limpopo Province of South Africa.

When a wave of "witch-hunts" swept through East Java (Indonesia) in 1998, more than 200 people were killed over the course of just a few months.

From 2010 to 2011, more than 20 elderly women were murdered in Zimbabwe after facing allegations of witchcraft.

In 2008, the Gambian government imprisoned 1,000 alleged "witches" in a detention center, where they were tortured and forced to consume a dangerous hallucinogenic concoction.

In 2007, more than 200 suspected "witches" were killed within a single province in Papua New Guinea.

Reports indicate that thousands of women in the Indian state of Jharkand are formally accused of practicing witchcraft each month, and that hundreds of these women are beaten, tortured, and/or killed. In some of the most violent cases, the victims have had their eyes gouged out, and some have been set on fire. Others are forced to endure forms of public humiliation.

In May of 2008, 15 alleged "witches" in a region of Kenya were set on fire and executed by an angry mob.

In recent years, at least five different individuals have been officially executed by the government of Saudi Arabia on charges of practicing "sorcery." Other purported "sorcerers" have been tried and convicted in Saudi Arabia, though some have received public floggings (and other forms of torture) instead of the death penalty, and some are currently in prison awaiting trial. Saudi Arabia also has the dubious distinction of having its own official, state-sponsored "Witch-hunting Task Force."

Between the years 2000 and 2010, at least six children in the UK were also killed due to "child witch" allegations, and several other cases of non-lethal abuse have been documented there.

This form of violence has been on the rise for several decades now, and it occurs in many different cultural contexts. It goes without saying that there is no simple, one-size-fits-all explanation for all of these incidents, nor is there a simple explanation for the beliefs that have led to such practices. Religious rhetoric is obviously a driving factor, but there are other circumstances that may also contribute, including socio-economic disparities, social frustrations, a lack of resources, a compulsion to assign blame, the fear of "Otherness," etc. -- essentially the same factors that have always contributed to the witch-hunt phenomenon, and to scapegoating at large.

But there are some interesting trends that appear in the cases from West Africa, Central Africa, and Melanesia, where violent attacks against "witches" are especially prevalent: it's clear that these acts of violence are often intertwined with a particularly dangerous blend of Evangelical Christianity and socio-economic instability.

In Nigeria, for example, popular Pentecostal preachers like Helen Ukpabio have explicitly promoted the belief in "child witches," and they have encouraged the parents of the accused "witches" to subject their children to the cruel, abusive, and often violent exorcism rituals that are offered by local preachers...for an enormous fee, of course.

This article explains how religious leaders in Nigeria will often perpetuate and then exploit the belief in "child witches:"

The devil's children are "identified" by powerful religious leaders at extremist churches where Christianity and traditional beliefs have combined to produce a deep-rooted belief in, and fear of, witchcraft. The priests spread the message that child-witches bring destruction, disease and death to their families. And they say that, once possessed, children can cast spells and contaminate others.

The religious leaders offer help to the families whose children are named as witches, but at a price. The churches run exorcism, or "deliverance" evenings where the pastors attempt to drive out the evil spirits. Only they have the power to cleanse the child of evil spirits, they say. The exorcism costs the families up to a year's income.

During the "deliverance" ceremonies, the children are shaken violently, dragged around the room and have potions poured into their eyes. If the ritual fails, the parents know their children will have to be sent away, or killed. Many are held in churches, often on chains, and deprived of food until they "confess" to being a witch.

The ceremonies are highly lucrative for the spiritual leaders, many of whom enjoy a lifestyle of large homes, expensive cars and designer clothes. Some Nigerians blame the increase on one of the country's wealthiest and most influential evangelical preachers. Helen Ukpabio, a self-styled prophetess of the 150-branch Liberty Gospel Church, made a film, widely distributed, called End of the Wicked. It tells, in graphic detail, how children become possessed and shows them being inducted into covens, eating human flesh and bringing chaos and death to their families and communities.

Mrs. Ukpabio also wrote a popular book which tells parents how to identify a witch. For children under two years old, she says, the key signs of a servant of Satan are crying and screaming in the night, high fever and worsening health - symptoms that can be found among many children in an impoverished region with poor health care.

It's important to note that these "exorcism" and "witch-hunting" rituals have no real precedent among the native cultures of Nigeria -- they are a product of the modern rise of religious fundamentalism, the spread of Evangelical Christianity, widespread inequality and strife, and a general commitment to spiritualism. When those elements are combined, they form the perfect recipe for violence.

As this article explains: 

Although traditional beliefs in witch doctors are not so deeply buried in people's memories, and although there had been indigenous Christians in Nigeria since the 19th century, it is American and Scottish Pentecostal and evangelical missionaries of the past 50 years who have shaped these fanatical beliefs.

There is a degree of volatility that often arises when Evangelical beliefs about spiritual warfare, Satan, strife, and witchcraft are preached to communities that are already facing severe socio-economic challenges, especially in places where the scars of colonialism are still fresh.

The uncertainty and strife that often exists within these communities is framed as a direct consequence of "Satanic" influences that have infiltrated the community itself, manifesting in the form of an actual person...and the most vulnerable people (i.e. children, widows, elderly women, and disabled people) are usually singled out as those manifestations of evil. They are viewed as Satanic emissaries who are directly responsible for causing tragedy and hardship within the community, and the accused "witches" must then be punished and purged. They are a perfect target for all of the community's frustrations.

Similar circumstances can also be found in many parts of Melanesia -- especially in Papua New Guinea, where extreme Pentecostal rhetoric has likewise interacted with existing conditions to encourage the (often violent) persecution of alleged "witches."

This excerpt from The Introduction to Pentecostal Witchcraft and Spiritual Politics in Africa and Melanesia describes the religious rhetoric that has developed in Papua New Guinea:

In 1992, a well-orchestrated upsurge of third wave evangelism and apocalyptic thinking took off in the Mountain Ok area, which had a considerable influence on people’s lives and thinking. Jorgensen (2005) specifically addresses a local movement called "Operation Joshua" and the centrality of "spiritual warfare" within it. The focus of this movement was to attack directly invisible evil forces such as witchcraft and sorcery through "spiritual mapping," "healing," and "crusades." Through this confrontational, aggressive, and effective form of evangelism numerous charismatic movements and campaigns found their way into PNG, Fiji, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.

During an intensive period in 2014, the entire Christian congregation of the small island of Ahamb in Vanuatu came out of their church building and besieged every corner of their island in order to drive out demons and evil spirits. It culminated in a witch hunt, where people of the congregation ganged up on accused witches, and in the end killed them by hanging them in the community hall.

The author also notes the influence of similar Pentecostal rhetoric in the "witch-hunts" that have taken place in certain parts of Africa:

... the demonization of children also highlights the crucial role played in the persecution of "witches" by the Christian Pentecostal sects that have proliferated in urban and rural Africa during the last twenty years ... the connection between Pentecostalism and the persecution of witches is well documented, possibly providing a clue to the rapid expansion of witch-hunting in so many different parts of the planet. ...

Through books and open-air sermons in market centers and other public spaces, evangelists increased people’s anxiety about their social environment, preached a connection between Satan, illness and death and incited a spiritual warfare of sorts.

I know this is a very lengthy post, so I'll try to wrap it up. I just wanted to share some of this information, along with the following list of advocacy and aid groups,  because very few people seem to be aware of the fact that this issue even exists.

Advocacy & Humanitarian Aid Groups:

Land of Hope

Safe Child Africa

South African Pagan Rights Alliance

Relief for Witch-Hunt Victims (Hexereianklagen)

Stop Sorcery Violence

Bethany Children's Trust: SCWA

Stop Child Witch Accusations

Sources & More Info:

The New York Times: The Persecution of Witches, 21st Century Style

BBC: Branded and Beaten: the children accused of witchcraft and murder

Reuters: Killing of Women, Child "Witches" is on the Rise, U.N. Told

CNN: Abuse of Child "Witches" on the Rise, Aid Group Says

New York Times: Women in Gambia Describe Torture After Ex-President Called them Witches

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: Witchcraft Allegations, Refugee Protection, and Human Rights (PDF)

Reuters: Children Accused of Witchcraft Find Solace in East Congo Shelter

Sydney Morning Herald: East Java Villagers Hunt Witches to Put an End to Nightmares and Sickness

Scientific American: Witch Hunts Today

Journal of Early Child Development and Care: Branding and the Abuse of African Children in the UK

[brookston]

Holidays 3.11

Holidays

Alphabet Day

Cornish Heath Day

Daily Newspaper Day (UK)

Debunking Day

Dream Day

European Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Terrorism (EU)

Frankenstein Day

Human Services Day

International Day of Startups

Johnny Appleseed Day

Key Deer Awareness Day

Lend-Lease Day

Mahasivarathri Day (Sri Lanka)

Maha Shivaratree (Mauritius)

Mandrake Day (French Republic)

Moshoeshoe Day (Lesotho)

Mount Etna Eruption Anniversary Day

National Covid-19 Day

National Day of Observance for COVID-19 (Canada)

National Debunking Day

National Dream Day

National Funeral Director and Mortician Recognition Day

National Healing Headbands Day

National Immune System Day

National No-Code Day

National Payton Playmaker Day

National Promposal Day

National Singles Day (UK)

National 311 Day

National Wash Your Nose Day

Nina Hartley Day

Press Day (Tajikistan)

Prime Time Day

The Snowy Day

Solo Poly Day

Victims of Terrorism Remembrance Day (EU)

Wash Your Nose Day

Women Physicians Day (Canada)

World Day of Muslim Culture, Peace, Dialogue and Film

World Plumbing Day

Worship of Tools Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Apple Appreciation Day

National “Eat Your Noodles” Day

National Sofrito Day

Oatmeal Nut Waffle Day

2nd Monday in March

Adelaide Cup Day (South Australia) [2nd Monday]

Bock Beer Day [2nd Monday; also 3.20]

Canberra Day (Australia) [2nd Monday]

Commonwealth Day (a.k.a. Empire Day; UK, Commonwealth nations) [2nd Monday]

Eight Hours Day (Tasmania) [2nd Monday]

Fill Our Staplers Day [Monday of 2nd Full Week]

Labour Day (Victoria, Australia) [2nd Monday]

National Butcher’s Week begins (UK) [2nd Monday]

National Napping Day [Monday after DST]

Wildlife Week begins [2nd Monday]

Workplace Napping Day [Monday after DST]

World Salt Awareness Week begins [2nd Week in March]

Weekly Holidays beginning March 11 (2nd Week)

International Brain Awareness Week [thru 3.17]

Turkey Vultures Return to the Living Sign [thru 3.17]

Independence & Related Days

Cheslovian Federation (Declared; 2003) [unrecognized]

Crudaith (Declared; 2014) [unrecognized]

Lithuania (from USSR, a.k.a. Day of Restoration; 1990)

Montgomery Convention approved Confederate States constitution (1861)

Sorrenia (Declared; 2013) [unrecognized]

Taranaki Province Day (New Zealand)

Xarbarstan (Declared; 2020) [unrecognized]

Festivals Beginning March 11, 2024

Feis Ceoil (Dublin, Ireland) [thru 3.22]

Indiana Tourism Conference (Evansville, Indiana) [thru 3.13]

SXM Festival (Grand-Case, Saint Martin) [thru 3.18]

Taste the Grapes: Lost in Space Edition (Munich, Germany)

Feast Days

Alberta of Agen (Christian; Saint)

Angus, the Culdee (Christian; Saint)

Aurea (Christian; Virgin)

Bela Lugosi Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Benedict of Milan (Christian; Saint)

Bunching of Fairies for the Second Flight (Shamanism)

Constantine (Christian; Saint)

Douglas Adams (Humanism; Saint)

Douglas Adams Day (Pastafarian)

Eulogius of Cordova (Christian; Martyr)

Feast Day of Hercules/Herakles (Ancient Rome/Greece)

Felire Oengusso Day (Celtic Book of Days)

Flower Sisters Witches of Belvoir Day (Pagan)

Gyalpyo (a.k.a. Gyallo Loshar; Nepal)

Jacques de Molay Day (Everyday Wicca)

Johnny Appleseed Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Kenneth Hayes Miller (Artology)

Marduk’s Day (Pagan)

Nora Nicks (Muppetism)

Óengus of Tallaght (Christian; Saint)

Pythagoras (Positivist; Saint)

Sophronius of Jerusalem (Christian; Saint)

Tessa Margaret Redi (Christian; Virgin)

Vindicianus (Christian; Saint)

Islamic Moveable Calendar Holidays

Ramadan, 1st full day  (Islamic) [through April 9] (a.k.a. …

Awal Ramadan (Afghanistan, Malaysia)

Beginning of the Holy Month of Ramadan (Maldives)

Puasa (Brunei)

Ougadi (Myanmar)

Start of Ramadan

Ugaadi (Mauritius)

Lunar Calendar Holidays

Blue Dragon Festival (Chinese) [2nd Day, 2nd Moon]

Zhonghe Festival (Chinese) [2nd Day, 2nd Moon]

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

The Adam Project (Film; 2022)

All Things Bright and Beautiful, by James Herriot (Book; 1975)

Birds in the Spring (Disney Cartoon; 1933)

Complicated, by Avril Lavigne (Song; 2002)

Contrasts in Rhythm (Disney Cartoon; 1955)

Dangerous Woman, by Ariana Grande (Song; 2016)

A Day at the Zoo (WB MM Cartoon; 1939)

Donald’s Better Self (Disney Cartoon; 1938)

Don Carlos, by Giuseppe Verdi (Opera; 1867)

Everything Everywhere All At Once (Film; 2022)

Fellini Satyricon (Film; 1970)

Four Weddings and a Funeral (Film; 1994)

Goon From the Moon (Mighty Mouse Cartoon; 1951)

Homeless Hare (WB MM Cartoon; 1950)

The Hudsucker Proxy (Film; 1994)

The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (UK TV Series; 2001)

I Will Always Love You, by Dolly Parton (Song’ 1992)

Less Than Zero, by Elvis Costello (Song; 1977)

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (Animated Disney Film; 1977)

Mars Needs Moms (Animated Film; 2011)

Metal Health, by Quiet Riot (Album; 1983)

Minnie the Moocher (Betty Boop Cartoon; 1932)

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Animated Studio Ghibli Film; 1984)

On Violence, by Hannah Arendt (Science Book; 1970)

Operation Cold Feet (Chilly Willy Cartoon; 1957)

The Original Soundtrack, by 10cc (Album; 1975)

Penny Antics (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1955)

Porky’s Movie Mystery (WB LT Cartoon; 1939)

Princess of Thieves (Film; 2001)

A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry (Novel; 1959)

Rigoletto, by Giuseppe Verdi (Opera; 1851)

Ringing Bell (Animated Film; 1978)

Robin and Marian (Film; 1976)

Robots (Animated Film; 2005)

The Sea Haunt (Animated TV Show;Jonny Quest #26; 1965)

Stand and Deliver (Film; 1988)

10 Cloverfield Lane (Film; 2016)

Texas Tom (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1950)

THX 1138 (Film; 1971)

Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation (WB Animated Film; 1992)

Turning Red (Animated Pixar Film; 2022)

Two Little Lambs (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1935)

When the Wind Blows (Animated Film; 1988)

Today’s Name Days

Alram, Rosina (Austria)

Blanka, Kandid, Tvrtko (Croatia)

Anděla (Czech Republic)

Thala (Denmark)

Aigar, Ain, Ainar, Innar, Inno (Estonia)

Kalervo (Finland)

Rosine (France)

Alram, Rosina, Ulrich (Germany)

Szilárd (Hungary)

Costantino (Italy)

Agita, Konstantīns (Latvia)

Gediminas, Konstantinas, Vijolė (Lithuania)

Edvin, Tale (Norway)

Benedykt, Drogosława, Edwin, Kandyd, Konstanty, Konstantyn, Prokop, Rozyna, Sofroniusz (Poland)

Sofronie (Romania)

Angela, Angelika (Slovakia)

Áurea, Ramiro (Spain)

Edvin, Egon (Sweden)

Alberta, Albertina, Angus, Connie, Constance, Constantine, Consuela, Consuelo, Elberta, Ramiro (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 71 of 2024; 295 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 11 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Nuin (Ash) [Day 23 of 28]

Chinese: Month 2 (Ding-Mao), Day 2 (Jia-Xu)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025)

Hebrew: 1 Adair II 5784

Islamic: 1 Ramadan 1445

J Cal: 11 Green; Foursday [11 of 30]

Julian: 27 February 2024

Moon: 3%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 15 Aristotle (3rd Month) [Aristippus]

Runic Half Month: Beore (Birch Tree) [Day 2 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 82 of 89)

Week: 2nd Week of March

Zodiac: Pisces (Day 22 of 30)

Calendar Changes

Adar II (ʼĂḏār; only in leap years) [אֲדָר / אֲדָר ב׳] (Hebrew Calendar) [Month 12 of 12]

Ramaḍān [رَمَضَان] (Islamic Calendar) [Month 9 of 12] (Burning Heat)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 3.11

Holidays

Alphabet Day

Cornish Heath Day

Daily Newspaper Day (UK)

Debunking Day

Dream Day

European Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Terrorism (EU)

Frankenstein Day

Human Services Day

International Day of Startups

Johnny Appleseed Day

Key Deer Awareness Day

Lend-Lease Day

Mahasivarathri Day (Sri Lanka)

Maha Shivaratree (Mauritius)

Mandrake Day (French Republic)

Moshoeshoe Day (Lesotho)

Mount Etna Eruption Anniversary Day

National Covid-19 Day

National Day of Observance for COVID-19 (Canada)

National Debunking Day

National Dream Day

National Funeral Director and Mortician Recognition Day

National Healing Headbands Day

National Immune System Day

National No-Code Day

National Payton Playmaker Day

National Promposal Day

National Singles Day (UK)

National 311 Day

National Wash Your Nose Day

Nina Hartley Day

Press Day (Tajikistan)

Prime Time Day

The Snowy Day

Solo Poly Day

Victims of Terrorism Remembrance Day (EU)

Wash Your Nose Day

Women Physicians Day (Canada)

World Day of Muslim Culture, Peace, Dialogue and Film

World Plumbing Day

Worship of Tools Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Apple Appreciation Day

National “Eat Your Noodles” Day

National Sofrito Day

Oatmeal Nut Waffle Day

2nd Monday in March

Adelaide Cup Day (South Australia) [2nd Monday]

Bock Beer Day [2nd Monday; also 3.20]

Canberra Day (Australia) [2nd Monday]

Commonwealth Day (a.k.a. Empire Day; UK, Commonwealth nations) [2nd Monday]

Eight Hours Day (Tasmania) [2nd Monday]

Fill Our Staplers Day [Monday of 2nd Full Week]

Labour Day (Victoria, Australia) [2nd Monday]

National Butcher’s Week begins (UK) [2nd Monday]

National Napping Day [Monday after DST]

Wildlife Week begins [2nd Monday]

Workplace Napping Day [Monday after DST]

World Salt Awareness Week begins [2nd Week in March]

Weekly Holidays beginning March 11 (2nd Week)

International Brain Awareness Week [thru 3.17]

Turkey Vultures Return to the Living Sign [thru 3.17]

Independence & Related Days

Cheslovian Federation (Declared; 2003) [unrecognized]

Crudaith (Declared; 2014) [unrecognized]

Lithuania (from USSR, a.k.a. Day of Restoration; 1990)

Montgomery Convention approved Confederate States constitution (1861)

Sorrenia (Declared; 2013) [unrecognized]

Taranaki Province Day (New Zealand)

Xarbarstan (Declared; 2020) [unrecognized]

Festivals Beginning March 11, 2024

Feis Ceoil (Dublin, Ireland) [thru 3.22]

Indiana Tourism Conference (Evansville, Indiana) [thru 3.13]

SXM Festival (Grand-Case, Saint Martin) [thru 3.18]

Taste the Grapes: Lost in Space Edition (Munich, Germany)

Feast Days

Alberta of Agen (Christian; Saint)

Angus, the Culdee (Christian; Saint)

Aurea (Christian; Virgin)

Bela Lugosi Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Benedict of Milan (Christian; Saint)

Bunching of Fairies for the Second Flight (Shamanism)

Constantine (Christian; Saint)

Douglas Adams (Humanism; Saint)

Douglas Adams Day (Pastafarian)

Eulogius of Cordova (Christian; Martyr)

Feast Day of Hercules/Herakles (Ancient Rome/Greece)

Felire Oengusso Day (Celtic Book of Days)

Flower Sisters Witches of Belvoir Day (Pagan)

Gyalpyo (a.k.a. Gyallo Loshar; Nepal)

Jacques de Molay Day (Everyday Wicca)

Johnny Appleseed Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Kenneth Hayes Miller (Artology)

Marduk’s Day (Pagan)

Nora Nicks (Muppetism)

Óengus of Tallaght (Christian; Saint)

Pythagoras (Positivist; Saint)

Sophronius of Jerusalem (Christian; Saint)

Tessa Margaret Redi (Christian; Virgin)

Vindicianus (Christian; Saint)

Islamic Moveable Calendar Holidays

Ramadan, 1st full day  (Islamic) [through April 9] (a.k.a. …

Awal Ramadan (Afghanistan, Malaysia)

Beginning of the Holy Month of Ramadan (Maldives)

Puasa (Brunei)

Ougadi (Myanmar)

Start of Ramadan

Ugaadi (Mauritius)

Lunar Calendar Holidays

Blue Dragon Festival (Chinese) [2nd Day, 2nd Moon]

Zhonghe Festival (Chinese) [2nd Day, 2nd Moon]

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

The Adam Project (Film; 2022)

All Things Bright and Beautiful, by James Herriot (Book; 1975)

Birds in the Spring (Disney Cartoon; 1933)

Complicated, by Avril Lavigne (Song; 2002)

Contrasts in Rhythm (Disney Cartoon; 1955)

Dangerous Woman, by Ariana Grande (Song; 2016)

A Day at the Zoo (WB MM Cartoon; 1939)

Donald’s Better Self (Disney Cartoon; 1938)

Don Carlos, by Giuseppe Verdi (Opera; 1867)

Everything Everywhere All At Once (Film; 2022)

Fellini Satyricon (Film; 1970)

Four Weddings and a Funeral (Film; 1994)

Goon From the Moon (Mighty Mouse Cartoon; 1951)

Homeless Hare (WB MM Cartoon; 1950)

The Hudsucker Proxy (Film; 1994)

The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (UK TV Series; 2001)

I Will Always Love You, by Dolly Parton (Song’ 1992)

Less Than Zero, by Elvis Costello (Song; 1977)

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (Animated Disney Film; 1977)

Mars Needs Moms (Animated Film; 2011)

Metal Health, by Quiet Riot (Album; 1983)

Minnie the Moocher (Betty Boop Cartoon; 1932)

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Animated Studio Ghibli Film; 1984)

On Violence, by Hannah Arendt (Science Book; 1970)

Operation Cold Feet (Chilly Willy Cartoon; 1957)

The Original Soundtrack, by 10cc (Album; 1975)

Penny Antics (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1955)

Porky’s Movie Mystery (WB LT Cartoon; 1939)

Princess of Thieves (Film; 2001)

A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry (Novel; 1959)

Rigoletto, by Giuseppe Verdi (Opera; 1851)

Ringing Bell (Animated Film; 1978)

Robin and Marian (Film; 1976)

Robots (Animated Film; 2005)

The Sea Haunt (Animated TV Show;Jonny Quest #26; 1965)

Stand and Deliver (Film; 1988)

10 Cloverfield Lane (Film; 2016)

Texas Tom (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1950)

THX 1138 (Film; 1971)

Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation (WB Animated Film; 1992)

Turning Red (Animated Pixar Film; 2022)

Two Little Lambs (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1935)

When the Wind Blows (Animated Film; 1988)

Today’s Name Days

Alram, Rosina (Austria)

Blanka, Kandid, Tvrtko (Croatia)

Anděla (Czech Republic)

Thala (Denmark)

Aigar, Ain, Ainar, Innar, Inno (Estonia)

Kalervo (Finland)

Rosine (France)

Alram, Rosina, Ulrich (Germany)

Szilárd (Hungary)

Costantino (Italy)

Agita, Konstantīns (Latvia)

Gediminas, Konstantinas, Vijolė (Lithuania)

Edvin, Tale (Norway)

Benedykt, Drogosława, Edwin, Kandyd, Konstanty, Konstantyn, Prokop, Rozyna, Sofroniusz (Poland)

Sofronie (Romania)

Angela, Angelika (Slovakia)

Áurea, Ramiro (Spain)

Edvin, Egon (Sweden)

Alberta, Albertina, Angus, Connie, Constance, Constantine, Consuela, Consuelo, Elberta, Ramiro (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 71 of 2024; 295 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 11 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Nuin (Ash) [Day 23 of 28]

Chinese: Month 2 (Ding-Mao), Day 2 (Jia-Xu)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025)

Hebrew: 1 Adair II 5784

Islamic: 1 Ramadan 1445

J Cal: 11 Green; Foursday [11 of 30]

Julian: 27 February 2024

Moon: 3%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 15 Aristotle (3rd Month) [Aristippus]

Runic Half Month: Beore (Birch Tree) [Day 2 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 82 of 89)

Week: 2nd Week of March

Zodiac: Pisces (Day 22 of 30)

Calendar Changes

Adar II (ʼĂḏār; only in leap years) [אֲדָר / אֲדָר ב׳] (Hebrew Calendar) [Month 12 of 12]

Ramaḍān [رَمَضَان] (Islamic Calendar) [Month 9 of 12] (Burning Heat)

[mysticalkingdeer]

Can crowdsourced information during times of crisis (e.g. pandemic, natural disasters) mobilise the public into action (e.g. get to safety, assist those in need, communicate important information, etc.)?

Crowdsourcing for Crisis Response: Mobilizing the Public into Action

Access to timely and accurate information can be a lifeline in times of crisis, such as a pandemic or natural disaster. Crowdsourcing, the practice of gathering information from a large group of people, has emerged as a valuable tool for mobilizing the public into action during times of crisis. By harnessing individuals' collective knowledge and actions, crowdsourced information can provide real-time updates, identify needs, and coordinate relief efforts, enabling communities to respond effectively and recover from disasters.

The Power of Crowdsourced Information

Crowdsourced information can be collected through various channels, including social media platforms, dedicated websites, and mobile applications. These platforms allow individuals to share their experiences, report on local conditions, and request assistance, creating a rich data stream that can inform emergency response strategies and resource allocation.

Harnessing the Collective Wisdom of the Crowd

During the 2011 South East Queensland floods, ABC's @ABCemergency Twitter account became a central hub for crowdsourced information, providing real-time updates on flood conditions, road closures, and evacuation routes. The account's tweets were widely shared and retweeted, amplifying the reach of critical information and enabling individuals to make informed decisions about their safety.

Mobilizing Public Action: From Information to Action

Crowdsourced information can also empower the public to take action and support those in need. By sharing firsthand accounts of local conditions, individuals can identify gaps in relief efforts and mobilize their resources to provide assistance. For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic, crowdsourced maps and online platforms connected volunteers with individuals needing food, supplies, and transportation. https://www.ifrc.org/press-release/red-cross-providing-life-saving-assistance-hundreds-thousands-displaced-ukraine

Case Studies: Crowdsourcing in Action

The 2010 Haiti earthquake and the 2015 Nepal earthquake provide compelling examples of how crowdsourcing can mobilize the public into action. In Haiti, crowdsourced mapping tools like OpenStreetMap and Crisis Map were crucial in identifying areas requiring immediate attention and coordinating relief efforts. Similarly, in Nepal, crowdsourced information helped identify the most affected areas, coordinate search and rescue efforts, and direct relief supplies to those in need. https://www.floodmanagement.info/crowdsourcing-and-crisis-mapping-in-flood-management/

Addressing Challenges and Ensuring Accuracy

While crowdsourcing offers immense potential for mobilizing the public in crises, addressing the associated challenges is essential. The rapid spread of misinformation and disinformation on online platforms poses a significant threat, requiring effective filtering and verification mechanisms. Additionally, ensuring the privacy and security of personal information shared through crowdsourced media is paramount.

Recommendations for Effective Crowdsourcing in Crisis

To maximize the effectiveness of crowdsourcing in times of crisis, consider the following recommendations:

Establish clear guidelines for reporting information and sharing content.

Implement robust verification mechanisms to filter out misinformation and disinformation.

Protect the privacy and security of personal information collected.

Encourage collaboration and coordination among organizations using crowdsourced information.

Integrate crowdsourced data into official response strategies and decision-making processes.

Conclusion: Crowdsourcing as a Catalyst for Collective Resilience

Crowdsourcing has emerged as a powerful tool for mobilizing the public into action during times of crisis. By harnessing individuals' collective knowledge and actions, crowdsourced information can provide valuable insights for emergency response efforts, empower individuals to take action, and facilitate the coordination of relief efforts. As we navigate an increasingly interconnected world, crowdsourcing is poised to play an even more critical role in building resilient communities and responding effectively to future crises.

[bills-bible-basics]

Coronavirus: Latest Statistics on Bill's Bible Basics Blog https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/coronavirus-latest-statistics-bills-bible-basics-blog/ NOTE: Be advised that due to the ongoing situation regarding the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, this blog post will be updated frequently, as my time permits, until world health officials determine that the virus has peaked, and is on a steady downward trend worldwide. CORONAVIRUS LATEST STATISTICS Last Updated On: Saturday, February 27, 2021 Last Updated At: 01:24 PM ChST (Chamorro Standard Time/GMT+10) Total Countries Infected: 192 Please note that the accuracy of the figures which are shared in this BBB Blog post is based on two things: 1. The honesty and accuracy of the governments and health institutions which are reporting these statistics. 2. The level of testing which is being conducted by each nation which contributes statistics to this list. Having said that, because some nations have been very slow to conduct tests, and/or have a very limited number of test kits in their possession, it is most probable that the figures listed below are far below reality. In short, the more tests each nation conducts, the more accurate these statistics will become over time. However, they will never be completely accurate due to a variety of reasons, which I explain in my series "Coronavirus: Just the Facts, Ma'am", as well as in other BBB Blog posts. Nations With 1000+ Confirmed Cases: Note: To see a complete list, please go to https://www.billkochman.com/covid-19.html Country Confirmed Active Deaths Recovered Total 113,375,335 46,932,969 2,515,896 63,926,470 USA 28,484,429 27,974,106 510,323 None India 11,063,491 155,986 156,825 10,750,680 Brazil 10,455,630 922,787 252,835 9,280,008 Russia 4,175,757 350,799 83,900 3,741,058 United Kingdom 4,175,315 4,041,088 122,648 11,579 France 3,746,707 3,399,320 85,738 261,649 Spain 3,188,553 2,969,035 69,142 150,376 Italy 2,888,923 404,664 97,227 2,387,032 Turkey 2,683,971 98,754 28,432 2,556,785 Germany 2,436,506 126,155 69,750 2,240,601 Colombia 2,244,792 43,400 59,518 2,141,874 Argentina 2,098,728 154,007 51,887 1,892,834 Mexico 2,069,370 265,670 183,692 1,620,008 Poland 1,684,788 235,883 43,353 1,405,552 Iran 1,615,184 175,363 59,899 1,379,922 South Africa 1,510,778 34,577 49,784 1,426,417 Ukraine 1,381,273 148,244 27,146 1,205,883 Indonesia 1,322,866 158,408 35,786 1,128,672 Peru 1,308,722 52,070 45,903 1,210,749 Czechia 1,212,780 137,698 19,999 1,055,083 Netherlands 1,093,899 1,063,943 15,626 14,330 Canada 866,735 30,261 21,915 814,559 Chile 816,929 23,578 20,400 772,951 Portugal 802,773 72,037 16,243 714,493 Romania 795,732 39,479 20,233 736,020 Israel 770,780 39,356 5,697 725,727 Belgium 763,885 741,879 22,006 None Iraq 688,698 45,155 13,365 630,178 Sweden 657,309 644,483 12,826 None Pakistan 577,482 22,285 12,804 542,393 Philippines 571,327 34,498 12,247 524,582 Switzerland 554,932 227,371 9,961 317,600 Bangladesh 545,424 41,531 8,395 495,498 Morocco 482,994 5,999 8,608 468,387 Austria 454,860 19,088 8,515 427,257 Serbia 453,240 448,826 4,414 None Japan 429,860 15,614 7,818 406,428 Hungary 419,182 86,488 14,795 317,899 United Arab Emirates 385,160 6,425 1,198 377,537 Jordan 383,912 35,422 4,650 343,840 Saudi Arabia 376,723 2,549 6,483 367,691 Lebanon 369,692 80,032 4,610 285,050 Panama 339,781 9,125 5,820 324,836 Slovakia 303,420 41,154 6,966 255,300 Malaysia 295,951 27,994 1,111 266,846 Belarus 284,500 7,800 1,957 274,743 Ecuador 282,599 28,069 15,713 238,817 Nepal 273,984 936 2,771 270,277 Georgia 270,137 2,605 3,485 264,047 Kazakhstan 260,384 20,470 3,160 236,754 Bolivia 246,822 44,164 11,577 191,081 Bulgaria 245,627 32,005 10,128 203,494 Croatia 242,097 3,046 5,503 233,548 Dominican Republic 238,205 45,960 3,082 189,163 Azerbaijan 233,989 2,297 3,213 228,479 Tunisia 231,964 27,077 7,942 196,945 Ireland 218,251 190,587 4,300 23,364 Denmark 210,900

6,328 2,354 202,218 Costa Rica 204,341 24,442 2,800 177,099 Lithuania 196,690 11,202 3,225 182,263 Kuwait 189,046 10,841 1,072 177,133 Slovenia 188,676 12,948 3,823 171,905 Greece 188,201 87,998 6,439 93,764 Moldova 183,338 14,551 3,899 164,888 Egypt 181,241 30,724 10,590 139,927 West Bank and Gaza 180,848 13,624 2,019 165,205 Guatemala 173,814 6,890 6,348 160,576 Armenia 171,510 5,162 3,183 163,165 Honduras 168,243 98,719 4,099 65,425 Qatar 162,737 9,673 257 152,807 Paraguay 157,603 22,990 3,152 131,461 Ethiopia 157,047 20,146 2,340 134,561 Nigeria 155,076 20,630 1,902 132,544 Burma 141,875 7,242 3,198 131,435 Oman 140,588 7,342 1,562 131,684 Venezuela 138,295 6,578 1,338 130,379 Libya 132,458 10,792 2,174 119,492 Bosnia and Herzegovina 130,979 10,061 5,071 115,847 Bahrain 121,127 6,886 442 113,799 Algeria 112,805 31,986 2,977 77,842 Kenya 105,467 17,093 1,853 86,521 Albania 105,229 35,466 1,756 68,007 North Macedonia 101,762 7,748 3,119 90,895 China 100,885 490 4,834 95,561 Korea, South 89,321 7,393 1,595 80,333 Kyrgyzstan 86,142 1,618 1,463 83,061 Latvia 84,983 9,304 1,601 74,078 Ghana 82,586 5,419 594 76,573 Sri Lanka 82,430 4,346 459 77,625 Uzbekistan 79,804 849 622 78,333 Zambia 77,639 3,938 1,066 72,635 Montenegro 74,789 8,544 994 65,251 Norway 70,564 51,944 622 17,998 Kosovo 68,451 7,419 1,592 59,440 Estonia 62,830 13,764 575 48,491 Singapore 59,913 81 29 59,803 El Salvador 59,866 2,713 1,841 55,312 Mozambique 58,218 17,799 613 39,806 Uruguay 56,542 6,929 601 49,012 Finland 56,407 15,665 742 40,000 Afghanistan 55,696 3,969 2,442 49,285 Luxembourg 55,110 2,986 637 51,487 Cuba 48,441 4,392 314 43,735 Uganda 40,322 25,372 334 14,616 Namibia 38,424 2,012 418 35,994 Zimbabwe 36,044 2,042 1,463 32,539 Cameroon 35,714 2,569 551 32,594 Cyprus 34,181 31,893 231 2,057 Senegal 34,031 4,797 857 28,377 Cote d'Ivoire 32,478 857 190 31,431 Malawi 31,675 12,455 1,037 18,183 Sudan 30,284 5,543 1,878 22,863 Australia 28,965 5,154 909 22,902 Botswana 28,371 4,817 310 23,244 Thailand 25,809 774 83 24,952 Congo (Kinshasa) 25,691 6,698 707 18,286 Jamaica 22,471 8,827 413 13,231 Malta 21,982 2,582 313 19,087 Angola 20,759 948 504 19,307 Madagascar 19,831 238 297 19,296 Maldives 19,479 2,417 60 17,002 Rwanda 18,689 1,129 258 17,302 Mauritania 17,187 214 439 16,534 Eswatini 16,972 2,081 650 14,241 Guinea 15,894 926 89 14,879 Syria 15,467 4,812 1,018 9,637 Cabo Verde 15,253 353 146 14,754 Gabon 14,564 1,338 83 13,143 Tajikistan 13,308 0 90 13,218 Haiti 12,352 2,426 247 9,679 Belize 12,293 142 315 11,836 Burkina Faso 11,939 393 142 11,404 Andorra 10,822 318 110 10,394 Lesotho 10,491 6,454 292 3,745 Suriname 8,913 352 170 8,391 Congo (Brazzaville) 8,820 1,673 128 7,019 Bahamas 8,519 1,031 179 7,309 Guyana 8,513 373 195 7,945 Mali 8,358 1,653 350 6,355 Trinidad and Tobago 7,704 120 139 7,445 South Sudan 7,597 3,400 90 4,107 Togo 6,730 1,126 82 5,522 Somalia 6,687 2,680 223 3,784 Nicaragua 6,445 2,047 173 4,225 Djibouti 6,062 105 63 5,894 Iceland 6,049 14 29 6,006 Equatorial Guinea 5,957 261 91 5,605 Benin 5,434 1,116 70 4,248 Central African Republic 5,004 21 63 4,920 Niger 4,740 318 172 4,250 Gambia 4,691 454 148 4,089 Chad 3,957 369 138 3,450 Sierra Leone 3,884 1,193 79 2,612 San Marino 3,671 374 73 3,224 Comoros 3,558 159 144 3,255 Saint Lucia 3,356 409 35 2,912 Guinea-Bissau 3,241 596 48 2,597 Barbados 2,994 691 33 2,270 Eritrea 2,847 587 7 2,253 Mongolia 2,831 679 2 2,150 Seychelles 2,592 318 11 2,263 Liechtenstein 2,564 26 54 2,484 Vietnam 2,426 552 35 1,839 New Zealand 2,372 66 26 2,280 Yemen 2,267 206 627 1,434 Burundi 2,143 1,367 3 773 Liberia 2,010 41 85 1,884 Monaco 1,942 227 23 1,692 Sao Tome and Principe 1,745 381 28 1,336 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1,519 665 6 848 Papua New Guinea 1,228 370 12 846 For those of you who may have possibly missed some of my previous coronavirus-related writings, following is a list of everything I have written to date regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

I believe that you will find a lot of useful, factual, instructive and Scriptural information in this material. Please feel free to share this list on your own timelines, pages, in your Facebook groups, and on any other social networks where you happen to participate. Thank you so very much, and God bless you! Bill's Bible Basics Coronavirus Information Center: Bill's Bible Basics Coronavirus Information Center Bill's Bible Basics Articles: BBB Article: "Coronavirus: Just the Facts, Ma'am": https://www.billkochman.com/Articles/coronavirus-1.html BBB Article: "COVID-19, Financial Assistance and Christian Love": https://www.billkochman.com/Articles/covid-19-financial-assistance-christian-love-1.html BBB Article: "Coronavirus: Defiant Christians, Stay Home!": https://www.billkochman.com/Articles/coronavirus-defiant-christians-stay-home-1.html BBB Article: "COVID-19: Exposure Logging and Contact Tracing: Is It Safe?": https://www.billkochman.com/Articles/COVID-19-ExposureLogging-ContactTracing-1.html Bill's Bible Basics Blog Posts: BBB Blog Post: "Coronavirus: Latest Statistics - Bill's Bible Basics Blog": https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/coronavirus-latest-statistics-bills-bible-basics-blog/ BBB Blog Post: "Stop Joking About the Coronavirus": https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/stop-joking-about-the-coronavirus/ BBB Blog Post: "Coronavirus: God Will Silence the Fools": https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/coronavirus-god-will-silence-the-fools/ BBB Blog Post: "Coronavirus: Be Still and Know That I Am God": https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/coronavirus-be-still-and-know-that-i-am-god/ BBB Blog Post: "Is COVID-19 the New Normal? : Don't Freak Out! Trust the Lord!": https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/is-covid-19-the-new-normal-dont-freak-out-trust-the-lord/ BBB Blog Post: "Helpful Tips Regarding Using Face Masks and Respirators": https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/helpful-tips-regarding-using-face-masks-and-respirators/ BBB Blog Post: "Coronavirus: Why Do You Condemn Your Brethren?": https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/coronavirus-coronavirus-why-do-you-condemn-your-brethren/ BBB Blog Post: "Coronavirus: Are You Distracted?": https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/coronavirus-are-you-distracted/ BBB Blog Post: "Coronavirus: Wake Up, Already!": https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/coronavirus-wake-up-already/ BBB Blog Post: "Coronavirus: 40 Bible Verse Lists Regarding God's Love, Patience, Wrath, Judgments and Repentance": https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/coronavirus-40-bible-verse-lists-regarding-gods-love-patience-wrath-judgments-and-repentance/ BBB Blog Post: "Coronavirus: Where is Your Common Sense?": https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/coronavirus-where-is-your-common-sense/ BBB Blog Post: "Coronavirus: More Useful Information": https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/coronavirus-more-useful-information/ BBB Blog Post: "The Doctor Anthony Fauci Debate: My View": https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/the-doctor-anthony-fauci-debate-my-view/ BBB Blog Post: "Coronavirus: How to Respond to the Pandemic": https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/coronavirus-how-to-respond-to-the-pandemic/ BBB Blog Post: "Coronavirus: Face Masks or Bandanas?": https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/coronavirus-face-masks-or-bandanas/ BBB Blog Post: "Coronavirus and Beards and Mustaches": https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/coronavirus-and-beards-and-mustaches/ BBB Blog Post: "Coronavirus: Do You Need A Psychiatric Evaluation?": https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/coronavirus-do-you-need-a-psychiatric-evaluation/ BBB Blog Post: "COVID-19: Attention iOS Users! This May Be of Interest to You if You Use the "Maps" App!": https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/covid-19-attention-ios-users-this-may-be-of-interest-to-you-if-you-use-the-maps-app/ BBB Blog Post: "Apple iOS 13.7 Introduces COVID-19 Exposure Notifications With No Need For 3rd Party App":

https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/apple-ios-13-7-introduces-covid-19-exposure-notifications-with-no-need-for-3rd-party-app/ BBB Blog Post: "Coronavirus: Are Vaccine Passports Inevitable?": https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/coronavirus-are-vaccine-passports-inevitable/ BBB Blog Post: "Coronavirus: Don't Be So Harsh!": https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/coronavirus-coronavirus-dont-be-so-harsh/ Bill's Bible Basics Poetry: BBB Poem: "Coronavirus Kooks": https://www.billkochman.com/Poetry/coronavirus-kooks.html https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/coronavirus-latest-statistics-on-bills-bible-basics-blog/?feed_id=79356&_unique_id=6514f13eed747&Coronavirus%3A%20Latest%20Statistics%20on%20Bill%27s%20Bible%20Basics%20Blog

[creatiview]

[ad_1] To mark World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day, the UN agency has released a report highlighting progress and challenges in delivering care for these 20 conditions, which mainly affect the world’s poorest people. NTDs are caused by a variety of pathogens including viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi and toxins, and can be deadly.  Other examples are Buruli ulcer, Chagas disease, chikungunya, rabies, scabies and yaws. Stigma and hardship They are mainly prevalent in tropical areas, primarily in locations where water safety, sanitation and access to healthcare are inadequate. These diseases often cause life-long stigma, and resulting economic hardship, and have devastating health, social and economic consequences. Although nearly 180 countries and territories reported at least one case of NTDs in 2021, just 16 nations account for 80 per cent of the global burden. Globally, some 1.65 million people are estimated to require treatment for at least one of these diseases. “Around the world, millions of people have been liberated from the burden of neglected tropical diseases, which keep people trapped in cycles of poverty and stigma,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General.  “But as this progress report shows, we still have a lot of work to do,” he added. Building on progress The report showed that the number of people requiring NTD interventions fell by 80 million between 2020 and 2021.  Furthermore, eight countries had eliminated at least one of these diseases during this period.  As of last year, the number stood at 47 countries, and more were on the road to achieving this target. These accomplishments build on a decade of significant progress, said WHO, with 25 per cent fewer people requiring interventions in 2021 than in 2010.  Additionally, more than a billion people were treated for NTDs each year between 2016 and 2019. The COVID-19 impact However, the COVID-19 pandemic has also had significant impact on community-based interventions, access to health facilities, and on supply chains for healthcare products.   As a result, 34 per cent fewer people received treatment between 2019 and 2020, even if a general resumption of activities sparked an 11 per cent increase in recovery the following year, with roughly 900 million people treated. In 2020, WHO’s governing body, the World Health Assembly, endorsed an NTD road map for the coming decade, and the report emphasizes the need for more action and investment to reverse delays and accelerate progress. Accountability, financing and partnerships Promoting country ownership and accountability, as well as sustainable and predictable financing, will be key to providing quality NTD services. WHO also stressed the importance of multi-sectoral collaboration and partnerships.Last week, the UN agency signed a new agreement with Gilead Sciences, a research-based American biopharmaceutical company, for the donation of 304,700 vials of AmBisome, an antifungal medicine used to treat visceral leishmaniasis in countries most impacted by the disease, such as Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Nepal, Somalia and South Sudan. This new three-year collaboration, which extends a previous agreement to 2025, is estimated at $11.3 million and also will support improved coverage and access to diagnosis and treatment. WHO urged more partners and donors to fill existing gaps that hamper the full-scale implementation of NTD activities at the global and local levels. [ad_2] Source link

[sagunpaudel]

Call for Abstracts! National COVID-19 Symposium

Call for Abstracts! National COVID-19 Symposium

The National COVID-19 symposium scientific committee invites submission of the original work on COVID-19 case management. The National Conference aims to bring together the lesson learnt during the management of COVID-19 in Nepal. Submission are open for; Oral presentation Poster presentation Abstract can submitted by scanning the QR code or via email. Date of conference: 29-30 December 2022…

[kwttoday]

Nepal - Rise in Covid19 cases cause hospital beds shortage

Nepal – Rise in Covid19 cases cause hospital beds shortage

Nepal – Rise in Covid19 cases cause hospital beds shortage “A total of 5,763 Covid-19 cases were confirmed in the last 24 hours,” Nepal’s Ministry of Health and Population said late Saturday. The last record of highest coronavirus cases in a day was reported on October 21 last year, when the Nepali government reported 5,743 cases. Along with rising cases, hospitals are running out of beds which…

[harpianews]

COVID-19 numbers in SE Asia stagnant in last one month mainly due to stagnant cases in India: WHO

COVID-19 numbers in SE Asia stagnant in last one month mainly due to stagnant cases in India: WHO

The WHO said the COVID-19 numbers in the South-East Asia region peaked in early May and have stabilized substantially over the past month, mainly due to steady and steady decline in cases in Indonesia and Myanmar in India . . The COVID-19 weekly epidemiological update issued by the World Health Organization on August 10 said that the South-East Asia region has reported more than 799,000 new…

[widelyvision]

Nepal confirms presence of third and new variant of coronavirus - Times of India

Nepal confirms presence of third and new variant of coronavirus – Times of India

KATHMANDU: After confirming two variants of coronavirus, Nepal on Tuesday confirmed that there were cases of third variant B.1.617.2 in the country. Nepal’s Ministry of Health and Population said three variants of the virus have been detected. “B.1.617.2 is the new variant seen in India while B.1.617.1 is the one seen in the UK. Earlier last year, Nepal reported the variant arising from China.…

[iliyad]

everything that has happened in 2020, in case you forgot

because it’s been a long year. counts up to december 20. i tried to get in as much as i could, but there will still be some things missing, because it's been a long year.

january (timeframes will be rough)

australian bush fires

persian gulf crisis

taal volcano eruption

impeachment trial of donald trump

covid-19 pandemic what else is there to say?

the united kingdom’s withdrawal from the european union

february

delhi riots

collapse of malaysia’s coalition government

stock market crash

luxembourg made public transport free

conditional peace agreement between the united states and the taliban

march

afghanistan war crimes inquiry authorised to proceed

tokyo summer olympics postponed to 2021

north macedonia joins nato

russia-saudi arabia oil price war

april

united states designates a white supremacist group as a terrorist group for the first time

opec and allies agree to cut oil production by 9.7 million barrels a day

united states suspends funding to the world health organisation

nova scotia attacks

israeli politicians agree to form a unity government

iran deploys first military satellite

king salman declares people will not be executed for crimes committed as minors

the pentagon officially releases three ufo videos

colombia formalises its membership of the oecd

may

venezuelan dissidents and american private military attempt to infiltrate venezuela and remove president maduro from office

scientists discover parasitic microbe blocking mosquitos from carrying malaria

first black hole discovered in a star system visible to the naked eye

styrene gas leak in india

cross-border clash at the nantha lu crossing between chinese and indian soldiers

konarak vessel incident

fossil analysis indicates modern humans may have arrived in europe thousands of years earlier than thought

maternity hospital stormed by gunmen in afghanistan

discovery of millipede fossil as the world's oldest-known land animal dating c.425 million years

east africa floods

palestine terminates all agreements with israel and the united states after israel plans to annex the jordan valley

cyclone amphan

united states announces withdrawal from open skies treaty

mining company rio tinto destroys sacred aboriginal caves at juukan gorge in australia

george floyd is killed, beginning mass global protests against police racism and brutality

costa rica becomes first central american country to legalise same-sex marriage

chinese government votes for legislation granting powers to suppress democracy movement in hong kong

rwandan court sentences former mayor to life imprisonment for role in rwandan genocide

first crewed spacex flight is launched

june

state of emergency declared by russia after 20 thousand tons of oil leaks into ambarnaya river

libya’s government claims control of tripoli

turkish and iranian forces begin air and artillery strikes against kurdish forces in iraqi kurdistan

north korea demolishes kaesong’s inter-korean liaison office

solar eclipse

7.5 magnitude earthquake in oaxaca, mexico

historic three-party coalition government formed in ireland

china passes hong kong national security law

july

russian voters support constitutional amendment allowing vladimir putin to seek two further six-year terms

landslide at jade mine in myanmar

bulgarian protests against boyko borisov’s government

mass graves uncovered in burkina faso believed to be the result of extrajudicial executions by government forces

turkish president orders the hagia sophia in istanbul to be reverted from a museum to a mosque

china floods

twitter accounts of prominent politicians, ceos and celebrities hacked in bitcoin scam

flooding of the brahmaputra river

nasa launches mars 2020 rover mission

august

barakah nuclear power plant in the uae becomes first commercial nuclear power station in the arab states

beirut explosions

belarusian protests sparked by controversial presidential election

vladimir putin announces russia’s approval of world’s first covid-19 vaccine

israel and uae agree to normalise relations

stranded japanese ship breaks in mauritius and spills one thousand tonnes of oil into the ocean

coup d'état takes place in mali

africa is declared free of wild polio

amazon ceo jeff bezos becomes first person ever with a net worth exceeding us$200 billion

hurricane laura

japanese prime minister shinzo abe resigns after seven years

september

an agreement is signed to transition sudan into a secular state

largest find of mammoth skeletons at construction site for airport in mexico city

pope benedict xvi becomes longest-living pope

kosovo and serbia announce normalisation of economic relations

bahrain and israel agree to normalise relations

typhoon haishen

announcement of detection of phosphine in venus’ atmosphere

first discovery of perfectly preserved cave bear remains in siberia, believed to be 22 thousand - 39 thousand years old

venezuelan government is accused of crimes against humanity by human rights council

france, germany, and the united kingdom reject china’s claims to the south china sea

oldest known copy of any work by william shakespeare, a 1634 edition of the two noble kinsman, is found in spain

documents of the financial crimes enforcement network are released, detailing suspicious transations valued at over us$2 trillion

microsoft buys zenimax media in the biggest and most expensive takover in the video game industry

deadly clashes erupt between armenian and azerbaijani forces in nagorno-karabakh

october

the european union launches legal action against the united kingdom for overriding sections of the brexit withdrawal agreement

new caledonia votes against independence from france

mass protests break out in kyrgyzstan against controversial parliamentary election

thai protests

new zealand prime minister jacinda ardern's labour party wins second term in office by a landslide, gaining the first parliamentary majority since introduction of new voting system in the early 90s

nasa's osiris-rex spacecraft becomes their first probe to retrieve samples from an asteroid

geneva consensus declaration on women's health and strengthening families is signed by 34 countries

falkland islands declared free of land mines

israel and sudan agree to normalise relations

nasa confirms existence of molecular water on the moon

7.0 aegean sea earthquake

typhoon goni

november

amhara women, children and elderly killed in ethiopia

tumblr melts down over supernatural ship “destiel” (dean winchester and castiel), causing this site to crash several times

united states election concludes joe biden as president of the united states, STATES FLIP DATA

hurricane eta

united states exits the paris climate change accord

armenia and azerbaijan sign ceasefire agreement

hong kong pro-democracy lawmakers resign en masse

nasa and spacex launch to the international space station

hurricane iota

brereton report into australian war crimes during the war in afghanistan released

indian farmers’ protest

iranian nuclear scientist mohsen fakhrizadeh is assassinated

koshobe massacre

lunar eclipse

protein folding is solved

december

arecibo telescope collapses

the united kingdom approves covid-19 vaccine

three activists jailed in hong kong for part in democracy protests

united nations commission on narcotic drugs votes to remove cannabis from dangerous drugs list

united states announces withdrawal from somali civil war

russia begins mass vaccination against covid-19

venezuelan parliamentary election

the united kingdom begins mass vaccination against covid-19

report into the christchurch mosque shootings released

nepal and china officially agree on height of mount everest

israel and morocco normalise relations

end of nicolas sarkozy corruption trial in france

the european union agrees to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% over the next decade

bhutan and israel normalise relations

the international criminal court accuses the philippines of crimes against humanity in its war on drugs

the united states accuses switzerland and vietnam of currency manipulation

a new, highly-infectious strain of covid-19 begins to spread through the united kingdom and europe

[jedi-anakin]

2020 – what happened so far

(it’s impossible to include all, but I try my best)

January

January 1 – Palau became the first country to ban sun creams containing ingredients that are harmful to coral and marine life.

January 2 – The government of New South Wales, Australia, declares a state of emergency whilst the government of Victoria, Australia declares a state of disaster amid large bushfires that have killed as many as 500 million animals.

January 3 – A US drone strike at Baghdad International Airport kills Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

January 5 – Iran pulls out of the 2015 nuclear deal, will not limit its uranium enrichment.

January 7 – 56 people are reported killed and over 200 injured in a crush at the funeral of general Qasem Soleimani in the city of Kerman, Iran.

January 7 – A 6.4 magnitude earthquake in Puerto Rico, island's largest in a century, kill 1 person and destroy 800 homes.

January 8 – Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 is shot down by Iran's armed forces shortly after takeoff from Tehran Imam Khomeini Airport, killing all 176 people on board.

January 8 – Duke and Duchess of Sussex announce they are stepping back as "senior" royals, will work towards becoming financially independent.

January 16 – The impeachment trial of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, begins in the US Senate.

January 26 – Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant dies in a helicopter crash.

January 30 – The World Health Organization (WHO) declares the outbreak of the disease as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

January 31 – The United Kingdom and Gibraltar formally withdraw from the European Union at 11PM (GMT), beginning an 11-month transition period.

January 2020 was the hottest January in recorded history according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

February

February 3 – Cruise ship Diamond Princess with 3711 passengers quarantined in Yokohama port, Japan after cases of coronavirus found on board.

February 5 – The US Senate acquits US president Donald Trump on articles of impeachment.

February 8 – 20 people dies in a mall shooting in Thailand.

February 9 – Deaths from the Coronavirus overtake those of Sars (2003) with 813 deaths worldwide.

February 10 – More than 30 bushfires put out by heaviest rainfall for 30 years in New South Wales, Australia, helping end one of the worst bushfire seasons ever, 46 million acres burnt, over 1 billion animals killed, 34 people dead.

February 11 – Snow falls in Baghdad, Iraq, for only the second time in a century.

February 23 – First major coronavirus outbreak in Europe in Italy with 152 cases and three deaths, prompting emergency measures, locking down 10 towns in Lombardy.

February 23 – China's Supreme Leader Xi Jinping describes the country's coronavirus outbreak as the China's largest health emergency since 1949.

February 24 – Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein found guilty of rape and a criminal sexual act.

February 29 – Luxembourg becomes the first country in the world to make all public transport in the country (buses, trams, and trains) free to use.

February 29 – A conditional peace agreement is signed between the United States and the Taliban in Doha, Qatar. The U.S. begins gradually withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.

March

March 8 – Italy places 16 million people in quarantine, more than a quarter of its population, in a bid to stop the spread of COVID-19. A day later, the quarantine is expanded to cover the entire country, becoming the first country to apply this measure nationwide.

March 9 – International share prices fall sharply in response to a Russo-Saudi oil price war and the impact of COVID-19. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) plunges more than 2,000 points, the largest fall in its history up to that point. Oil prices also plunge by as much as 30% in early trading, the biggest fall since 1991.

March 11 – The World Health Organization declares the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic with 121,564 cases worldwide and 4,373 deaths.

March 11 – Harvey Weinstein is sentenced to 23 years in prison for a criminal sex act and rape in New York.

March 12 – Global stock markets crash. The Dow Jones Industrial Average goes into free fall, closing at over −2,300 points, the worst losses for the index since 1987.

March 13 – The government of Nepal announces that Mount Everest will be closed to climbers and the public for the rest of the season due to concerns from the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia.

March 14 – Spain goes into lockdown after COVID-19 cases in the country surge.

March 16 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls by 2,997, the single largest point drop in history and the second-largest percentage drop ever at 12.93 percent, an even greater crash than Black Monday (1929).

March 17 – European leaders close the EU's external and Schengen borders for at least 30 days in an effort to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.

March 17 – The island of Luzon, the largest island of the Philippines, is placed under the enhanced community quarantine due to the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

March 18 – The European Broadcasting Union announces that the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 will be cancelled due to COVID-19 in Europe, the first cancellation in the contest's 64-year history.

March 20 – The worldwide death toll from COVID-19 surpasses 10,000 as the total number of cases reaches a quarter of a million.

March 20 – Smoke from Australian bushfires killed more people than the fires - 417 vs 33 according to new study published in "Medical Journal of Australia."

March 22 – A prison riot in Colombia, which was sparked by coronavirus fears, left 23 inmates dead and another 83 injured.

March 24 – Indian PM Narendra Modi orders a 21 day lockdown for world's second most populous country of 1.3 billion people.

March 26 – Global COVID-19 cases reach 500,000, with nearly 23,000 deaths confirmed. American cases exceed all other countries, with 81,578 cases and 1,180 deaths.

March 28 – North Korea launched an unidentified projectile off the coast of Japan. This is the sixth launch in the last month.

March 30 – The price of Brent Crude Oil falls 9% to $23 per barrel, the lowest level since November 2002.

March 30 – The International Olympic Committee and Japan suspend the 2020 Summer Olympics and are rescheduled for July 23 to August 8, 2021.

April

April 2 – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 1 million worldwide.

April 5 – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitted to hospital suffering from coronavirus COVID-19.

April 7 – Japan declares a state of emergency in response to COVID-19, and finalises a stimulus package worth 108 trillion yen (US$990 billion), equal to 20% of the country's GDP.

April 10 – The death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 100,000 globally.

April 14 – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it expects the world economy to shrink 3%, the worst contraction since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

April 14 – US President Donald Trump freezes funding for the World Health Organization pending a review, for mistakes in handling the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and for being "China-centric", prompting international criticism.

April 15 – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 2 million worldwide.

April 16 – 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment in 4 weeks (5.2 million in the last week), wiping out 9 1/2 years of job gains.

April 20 – Oil prices reach a record low.

April 25 – The global death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 200,000.

April 27 – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 3 million worldwide.

April 28 – US Department of Defense releases three declassified videos of possible UFOs from 2004 and 2015.

April 30 – British Captain Tom Moore, who raised more £30 million for the National Health Service walking in his garden, turns 100 and made an honorary colonel by the Queen.

May

May 5 – The UK death toll from COVID-19 becomes the highest in Europe.

May 6 – Irish organisation repays a 170 year old favor, raising over $2 million (to date) for US Navajo Nation and Hopi Reservation badly affected by coronavirus. In 1840s Choctaw Nation sent $170 to aid Irish potato famine.

May 6 – Hungary has become the first EU member state to lose their democractic status according to the NGO Freedom House.

May 10 – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 4 million worldwide.

May 12 – Gunmen storm a maternity hospital and kill 24 people, including two newborn babies, in Dashte Barchi, a majority-Shia neighborhood of Kabul, Afghanistan.

May 13 – Every African country now has cases of coronavirus COVID-19.

May 14 – The UN warns of a global mental health crisis caused by isolation, fear, uncertainty and economic turmoil.

May 16 – 118-year old American department store JC Penney files for bankruptcy.

May 19 – Greenhouse gas emissions dropped 17% worldwide in April 2020 when world was in lockdown, in study published in "Nature Climate Change."

May 19 – Two dams on Tittabawassee River in central Michigan breached by floodwaters, forcing evacuation of thousands of residents.

May 21 – Cyclone Amphan makes landfall in eastern India and Bangladesh, killing over 100 people and forcing the evacuation of more than 4 million others. It causes over US$13 billion in damage, making it the costliest cyclone ever recorded in the North Indian Ocean.

May 26 – George Floyd, an African-American man dies after he was handcuffed and lying face down on a city street during an arrest, Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer kept his knee on Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds despite he was pleading for breath.

May 26 – Costa Rica becomes the first Central American country to legalise same-sex marriage.

May 26 – Twitter adds warning labels to warn about inaccuracies in US President Donald Trump's tweets for the first time.

May 26 – After a recording by a bystander about the arrest of George Floyd went viral the four officers who were present were fired. The same day a demonstrations and protests took place in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area.

May 27 – The Chinese National People's Congress votes in favour of national security legislation that prevents subversion, terrorism, separatism and foreign interference in Hong Kong.

May 27 – Spain begins 10 days of mourning for victims of COVID-19.

May 28 – The United States Department of Justice released a joint statement with the FBI, saying they had made the investigation into George Floyd's death "a top priority".

May 29 – Derek Chauvin was arrested and charged him with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, becoming the first white officer in Minnesota to be charged for the death of a black civilian.

May 30 – The first crewed flight of the Dragon 2 is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first manned spacecraft to take off from U.S. soil since 2011. The next day the spacecraft successfully reached the International Space Station (ISS).

May 31 – Since May 26 over a 100 city in all 50 states in the US was held supporting those seeking justice for George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement, and speaking out against police brutality.

May 31 – The hacktivist group Anonymous released a video after remaining silent for 3 years demanding justice for George Floyd.

May 31 – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 6 million worldwide.

[newsaryavart]

नेपाल में कोरोना का तांडव, पीएम ओली अब भी ‘मजबूत’ इम्यून सिस्टम के भरोसे Edited By Priyesh Mishra | नवभारतटाइम्स.कॉम | Updated: 22 Jun 2020, 04:07:00 PM IST नेपाली पीएम केपी शर्मा ओली

[vilaspatelvlogs]

नेपाली PM केपी ओली के इस दावे को भारत ने बताया झूठा, दिया मुंहतोड़ जवाब

नेपाली PM केपी ओली के इस दावे को भारत ने बताया झूठा, दिया मुंहतोड़ जवाब

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नेपाल

नेपाल के प्रधानमंत्री केपी शर्मा ने कुछ वक्त पहले दावा किया था कि भारत से वापस लौटे लोगों के कारण नेपाल में कोरोना संक्रमितों की संख्या में इजाफा हुआ है. नेपाल के इस दावे का भारत ने विरोध किया है.

नेपाल के प्रधानमंत्री केपी शर्मा ओली (फाइल फोटो).

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