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Mediart

2022

Development of tobacco products: looking at the future

31/5/2022

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Tobacco comes from the plan "Nicotiana Tabacum", discovered when the American continent was discovered in 1492. Tobacco in America was used in religious and magical ceremonies, in medicine and even some tribes consumed it as food. Soon tobacco consumption spread to Europe and became popular among affluent classes. However not being until the nineteenth century that tobacco starts to be consumed in the form of cigars and later cigarettes.

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Nowadays there’s multiple tobacco products like cigarettes, smokeless tobacco to chew, cigars, dissolvable tobacco, electronic cigarettes, hookah, pipes and other less known products. Some of which are becoming very popular, especially among teenagers, but are less know than conventional cigarettes in terms of safety and health consequences.
So now products like electronic cigarettes which are devices with a battery, a solution of nicotine, flavouring and other chemicals that create an aerosol inhaled into the lungs, and hookah which is a waterpipe that heats tobacco and cools down the smoke produced by passing it through water, are being as regulated and taken into consideration for antitobacco campaigns as the well-known cigarettes.
As for the future of tobacco products, we don’t know if new products will emerge, but for sure we need to be ready to study and regulate them and to keep working together towards a healthier future in terms of our health, the health of those who surround us and the environment.
LAURA SOLANA LOPÉZ
Laura is a Spanish volunteer involved in the World  No Tobacco Day. 
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the winding road to kosovo's indipendence

30/5/2022

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The Balkan peninsula has been, over the centuries, the scene of clashes between numerous actors. If many frictions have been resolved, the tensions between Kosovo and Serbia have continued to this day, showing no sign of abating. To seek a solution to the conflict, since 1999, Kosovo has been the subject of the UNMIK (United Nations Mission In Kosovo) peacekeeping mission, the only United Nations mission currently existing on European territory.

The underlying causes of such a profound tension are to be found in the differences between the Serbian and Albanian populations, the two ethnic groups that today compete for the Kosovar region. The differences are certainly social and cultural, and language is an important point of confrontation. The Albanian population, despite the various dominations, in particular the Ottoman one, has constantly maintained a completely native language which, although it has absorbed elements from both Turkish and Serbian, is an entirely different language from the Serbo-Croatian language of Slavic lineage and even more different from Turkish.
Furthermore, although not central, religion plays a certain role in the friction: during the Ottoman rule, the Albanians had converted to the Muslim religion while the Serbs had rigidly maintained their Orthodox beliefs.

After the Second World War, Kosovo returned under the control of the new federal Yugoslavia led by Tito, whose charisma had managed to compact the mass of Slavic peoples under the red flag: it is thanks to his figure that tensions have found a respite, even though remaining latent. Kosovo in the aftermath of the war was in an uncomfortable position: during the conflict it had welcomed the annexation of Albania to the Italian protectorate, the population had cooperated extensively with the occupying forces and had conducted large-scale violence against the inhabitants of Serbian ethnicity. However, over the years, Tito proved to be condescending to the requests of the Kosovar people, first recognizing the status of "Autonomous Territory" to Kosovo and then that of "Autonomous Province", on a par with the Republics of the rest of Yugoslavia.

With Tito's death in 1980, both Pan-Slavism and Socialism, the fundamental glues of the fragmented Yugoslav society, quickly began to fade away. In the following decade, tensions were mounting. In Serbia, Milosevic was elected president in 1989, riding on nationalist ideals and bragging about the return of a "Great Serbia". The clashes between the Yugoslav republics culminated in a terrible civil war in 1991. After 4 years, with the Dayton agreements, Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina achieved independence, marking the end of Yugoslavia, whose territory was now confined exclusively to Serbia and Montenegro.

Kosovo officially remained under the control of Belgrade, not even being mentioned in the Dayton agreements. Frustration among the Kosovars was increasing and the armed confrontation seemed ever closer, with thousands of young people joining the ranks of the UÇK, the National Liberation Army founded a few years earlier. In 1997, the UÇK proclaimed an insurrection in the eastern Drenica region, waging a series of attacks on police and federal institution buildings. The following year, Serbian paramilitary squads attacked Prekaz; the conflict was now inevitable. Both sides were guilty of actions contrary to international war law: Yugoslav soldiers often made disproportionate use of force, without paying too much attention in distinguishing civilians from insurgents and did not refrain from looting and burning the houses of the villages; UÇK members deliberately targeted the Serbian civilian population through kidnappings and killings, forcing them to flee their homes.

The growing violence of the clashes between Serbs and Kosovars prompted the governments of the United States, Russia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy to reactivate a Contact Group, already used in previous years, to exert political and diplomatic pressure on the Yugoslav authorities in order to suspend the repression operations undertaken by the Serbian police in the Kosovar region. On March 31, 1998 the Security Council, in condemning the acts of violence committed by both warring parties, adopted the first of a series of binding resolutions under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, ordering the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to reach a political solution to the crisis by following the guidelines dictated by the Contact Group. After an apparent progression of negotiations, the conflict re-erupted in 1999 when the anti-terrorism units of the Serbian police executed 45 civilians in the village of Raçak, in central Kosovo. NATO was therefore taking a place side by side with the United Nations, acquiring a central position within the complicated negotiation process.

A final attempt od mediation was made by the Contact Group in Rambouillet, France, where difficult negotiations were carried out between the Albanian guerrillas and the Yugoslav government from the beginning of February 1999. The requests of the two parties immediately appeared difficult to reconcile: the UK, thanks to a special pressure from the then United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, accepted the clauses of mediation, clauses not accepted by the Serbian government, arguing that these terms they represented a disguised independence for Kosovo and a humiliation for the country.

Less than a week later, on March 24, 1999, at the proposal of General Clark, NATO Secretary Solana authorized the start of military operations. Over the next three months, Alliance air units conducted some 38,000 sorties, during which they dropped more than 23,000 bombs. The NATO bombings continued unabated until the first days of June, when Miloševic surrendered and decided to negotiate. On 9 June, in Kumanovo, Macedonia, the warring parties finally reached an agreement: the government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, under continuous NATO air raids, agreed to every request from the international community, also accepting heavy restrictions on its sovereignty.

On 10 June 1999 the Security Council adopted the resolution 1244/99, deciding the deployment of an international peace mission called UNMIK (United Nations interim administration Mission in Kosovo) composed of both civilian forces and military and security personnel. For the first time in its history, the United Nations has placed a territory under its direct control. The resolution divided the mission into four pillars, each headed by an international organization and with specific tasks to perform. The interim civil administration was entrusted to the United Nations. Responsibility in humanitarian matters was entrusted to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which was supposed to ensure the rapid return of the more than 800,000 refugees and displaced persons. Responsibility in humanitarian matters was entrusted to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, with the task of ensuring the rapid return of more than 800,000 refugees and displaced persons. Finally, the European Union leaded the process of material and economic reconstruction of the region.

The Council identified as the competences of the international civil mission: to define a provisional form of autonomy and self-government for the region; perform basic administrative functions as long as necessary; oversee the development of local government authority and democratic processes, including the holding of free and fair elections; guarantee humanitarian assistance to refugees and displaced persons caused by the conflict and ensure their return to their homes.

After over twenty years, the UNMIK mission is still in place, the only United Nations mission still in the European territory. Over the years it can be said that the Republic of Kosovo has taken several steps towards full statehood: Kosovo has its own government structure which, through the police bodies and the new armed forces, actually controls a large part of the country. However, despite the onerous commitment by international and regional organizations, the results relating to the state building process remain uncertain as well as the achievement of the objectives relating to respect for human rights, the rule of law and the development of democratic institutions. International missions still perform indispensable functions on behalf of Kosovar institutions, which do not appear capable of fully guaranteeing neither an autonomous and efficient judicial system nor the security of the entire region, especially in the northern area where the influence of Belgrade is still evident.Furthermore, the fragility and weakness of the Kosovar state emerge even if we analyze the international relations that Pristina maintains with other state actors.
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In conclusion, it seems possible to state that despite the consistent efforts and important progress achieved in recent years, with specific reference to the protection of human rights and the construction of democratic institutions, Kosovo's path towards full statehood has not yet been completed.
GIUSEPPE MENEGUS
Giuseppe is an Italian volunteer involved in the International Day of UN Peacekeepers.
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The struggle of the movie industry

20/5/2022

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In March 2020, covid 19 pandemic emerged and has been challenging everyone. The access to culture has been more complicated for many people. During lockdowns, cultural places were shut down, cultural workers were in forced unemployment, they couldn’t practice their jobs even if they wanted to. For example, in the film industry,10 million of jobs has been lost in 2020. Indeed, the global film industry had already suffered a loss of revenue of US$7 billion and forecasts estimated a loss of US$160 billion over the next five years. 

The movie industry was already going badly because of platforms like Netflix, amazon prime or Disney +, where people can watch movies and series more easily, without moving from their home, and for less money than in movie theaters. Covid 19 has accelerated this digitalization and shutting down movie theaters for more than hundred days didn’t help the film industry to get better. The movie production has decreased like the investments and the release of many movies has been postponed because of the pandemic. 


However, some production companies managed to release some movies while the movie theaters were shut down. One such example was Universals’ Trolls World Tour
 which it released exclusively to digital rental instead of in theaters. It managed to earn over $100 million dollars in its first three weeks, leading Universal to announce that in the future it would release its movies simultaneously in theaters and on digital rental. This has led to tension between Universal and movie theater chains, with some threatening to not play Universal films in their theaters if this comes to be. 


More than that, a popular independent film festival, SXSW was cancelled. In response, Amazon Prime offered to host films that would have played there and pay the film makers. While few accepted over concerns with future distribution issues, nearly 40 accepted the offer. 


Therefore, we can say that on one hand, online movie platforms are threatening the movie industry but on the other hand, in difficult period like covid 19 pandemic, these kind of platforms can help movie producers to release their artwork on time, and more people can watch it. 

CÉLIA DOMEN
Célia is a French volunteer involved in the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development. 
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There is no tomorrow without bees

18/5/2022

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“There is no tomorrow without bees” says Alexis Papadopoulos who has been working as a beekeeper, as a side job, for 20 years. To stress the importance of bees he used a powerful quote by Einstein “If the bee disappeared off the face of the Earth, man would only have four years left to live. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man." 
Why “no man”?  Because ⅓ of the food we eat are made by bees and if they were to disappear it would lead us to have an unbalanced diet and then, ultimately, disappear. This is the reason why, insists Alexis, farmers should stop using pesticides. They are one of the main reasons why bees are unable to feed and die. Siding pesticides, there are other significant threats: Varroa mite, habitat loss and poor nutrition.

Varroa mite attaches itself to the honey bee, sucking its blood. Once the bee returns to the hive, the varroa mite will spead.

Habitat loss. There is also a significant threat against bees from our changing land use. As cities grow and agriculture becomes more intensive, bees are losing the wild spaces, hedgerows and meadows where they can find flowers and food. 

Poor Nutrition. Some human farming practices such as those of monoculture farming are making it more challenging for the bees to forage a well-balanced diet. It limits the bees’ diet to one type of pollen for extended periods of time, making them more susceptible to chemical pesticides, parasites, and pathogens, as their immune systems aren't as strong.

So, with a 2.96 million decline in honey bee colonies over the years only in the US, what can we do?
The answer is awareness. “Once people know what bees do, they will act”, says Alexis.
JOAN ANIS
Joan is an Italian volunteer involved in the World Bee Day. 
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The history of the internet

17/5/2022

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The Internet started in the 1960s as a way for government researchers to share information. Computers in the '60s were large and immobile and in order to make use of information stored in any one computer, one had to either travel to the site of the computer or have magnetic computer tapes sent through the conventional postal system.
 
Another catalyst in the formation of the Internet was the heating up of the Cold War. The Soviet Union's launch of the Sputnik satellite spurred the U.S. Defense Department to consider ways information could still be disseminated even after a nuclear attack. This eventually led to the formation of the ARPANET, the network that ultimately evolved into what we now know as the Internet. ARPANET was a great success but membership was limited to certain academic and research organizations who had contracts with the Defense Department. In response to this, other networks were created to provide information sharing.
 
January 1, 1983 is considered the official birthday of the Internet. Prior to this, the various computer networks did not have a standard way to communicate with each other. A new communications protocol was established called Transfer Control Protocol/Internetwork Protocol . This allowed different kinds of computers on different networks to "talk" to each other. ARPANET and the Defense Data Network officially changed to the TCP/IP standard on January 1, 1983, hence the birth of the Internet. All networks could now be connected by a universal language.

UNIVAC I (the name stood for Universal Automatic Computer) which was delivered to the Census Bureau in 1951. It weighed some 16,000 pounds, used 5,000 vacuum tubes, and could perform about 1,000 calculations per second. It was the first American commercial computer, as well as the first computer designed for business use. (Business computers like the UNIVAC processed data more slowly than the IAS-type machines, but were designed for fast input and output.) The first few sales were to government agencies, the A.C. Nielsen Company, and the Prudential Insurance Company. The first UNIVAC for business applications was installed at the General Electric Appliance Division, to do payroll, in 1954. By 1957 Remington-Rand (which had purchased the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation in 1950) had sold forty-six machines.
 
In conclusion,“The Internet has changed and will continue to change the way we organize,development and functioning of economic, social, cultural, educational,politics . Thus, the emergence and development of the Internet has changed the world with a fantastic rhythm, suddenly changing our view of the world and forcing us to we adapt our thinking and beliefs to new trends and discoveries of technology, technology and innovation. The Internet connects us to the reality of world life, information flows at a fantastic speed and the level of communication is high. The online marketplace is a free marketplace, with hundreds of millions of usersfor business development. The Internet is also the basis of e-commerce in Romania it gained an extraordinary momentum with the year 2004. The activity of marketing has taken an extraordinary leap in speed and promotion marketing of a product or brand. The Internet is the gateway to success and to succeed we must find the right key. The Internet can change the world, but the world must also change your deep mentalities rooted in habits unprofitable for the community. Change in institutional and structural structures functioning of an economy would be beneficial, but it is not desired because the struggle for power it is very fierce, or change for some means loss. Young people are the ones who can change the face of the world, they can change the institutional structure which do not meet the requirements of the new company.
ANDREI BARBA
Andrei is a Romanian volunteer involved in the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day
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The journey of the birds

13/5/2022

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You have probably all seen birds flying in a "V" shape: this is the bird migration. And every year in May we celebrate this event.

What is bird migration ? 

Bird migration is a regular seasonal movement between breeding areas and other areas. Every year, the birds leave their breeding grounds to go to their wintering grounds. It is a cycle, which they have recorded in their genes. 

Their instinct is to leave. But above all the cooling temperatures and the depletion of resources. They are looking for food and a place to build their nests. When the weather gets cooler, they leave the North for the South.

There are two kinds of migration:

*Winter migration (January-June). They leave their winter nests to breed. This is often a move to the northern hemisphere. 

*Autumn migration (August-January). These are often movements to the Southern Hemisphere.

But before migrating they have to prepare themselves for this long journey. Before leaving, they fill up on energy and strength. Some of them double their weight. This period is called the "agitation phase" and can last almost two weeks.  

During the journey, the birds fly according to the wind and the temperature. Some prefer to fly at night to avoid predators. They have an internal compass in their genes that guides them on their journey. 

Unfortunately, it is often during this journey that they encounter a large number of dangers. During this period mortality is highest. They are easily disoriented by weather or storms... The human factor also comes into play: pollution, waste, power lines.

Most individuals leaving Europe for the winter go to Africa, many to the Maghreb but some cross the Sahara to the far south, some birds remain in Europe. They only go as far south as Spain. 

To help the birds you can reduce your consumption of insecticides (favor organic products). During the month of April to June, birds are breeding. It is therefore advisable to leave their nests in place. You can provide water or food in feeders or create nesting boxes.

There is no need to be impatient. New nesting boxes are not always occupied in the first year. In the event of repeated failures, move the nesting box.

Personally, birds have always brought me this calm, they have always soothed me. When I don’t feel well, I like to go outside and walk in the woods and listen to the birds singing. So let’s preserve these individuals. 
​ZOÉ PORTIÉ
Zoé is a French volunteer involved in the World Migratory Bird Day.
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The Second Fastest Growing European Language

6/5/2022

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Spoken by 275M people all over the world, an official language in 10 different territories in 5 different continents, Portuguese is not just another European language spoken by a couple million people, it’s the most spoken language in South America and in the southern hemisphere.

Many around the world not only are unaware of the relevancy of the Portuguese language, but are also sometimes unaware of its existence, often misleading it for spanish. Although both languages share a lot of vocabulary, grammar and are part of the same family, they have many differences and have been independent from each other for 800 years. But this is doomed to change as Portuguese is on track to climb even more on the hierarchy of world languages where it now takes the 7th spot.

As of 2022, there are 32 countries where Portuguese is taught in public schools as a mandatory or optional subject, with an interesting detail to Uruguay, Argentina or Venezuela where it’s been made a mandatory subject throughout high school in the last decade. It is expected that by the end of the century around 500M people will speak Portuguese around the world.

These numbers and their geographical distribution point to Portuguese turning into a language capable of unifying the southern hemisphere, mainly south America and the south of Africa. Also growing in English speaking countries, especially the United States, the future is bright for this old language. 
AFONSO GUIMARÃES
Afonso is a Portuguese volunteer involved in the World Portuguese Language Day. 
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Europe and the polarisation of press freedom

3/5/2022

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Europe has been praised as the region of the world where freedom of expression and of the press is mostly present, demonstrated by the 2022 Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, in which 9 European countries remain at the top. This standard, nevertheless, has been deteriorating in recent years and showing significant disparities, and conditions on both extremes have progressed considerably.

While two former Communist States are now among the top 10 – Estonia (4th) and Lithuania (9th) –, the Netherlands (28th) no longer is, with Greece (108th) having replaced Bulgaria (91st) as the worst-performing EU nation, even surpassing any candidate country from the Western Balkans – where the worst-ranked is Albania (103rd).

These developments and differences reflect three main trends. First, the return of murdered journalists in the EU. In the centre of two European capitals, Giorgios Karaivaz, in Greece, and Peter R. De Vries, in the Netherlands, were gunned down. Those responsible for the murders carried out before 2020, of Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta and Jan Kuciak in Slovakia, have still not been convicted.
 
Furthermore, journalists have faced active hostility from protesters against public health measures aimed at tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. In several European countries, such as Germany, Italy, or France, journalists faced insults and threats and were physically attacked.
 
Finally, the intensification of repressive laws against journalists by some EU and neighbouring governments, namely, in Greece, Hungary, Poland, Albania, and Slovenia. Whereas Serbia scored points in the fight against impunity, and following changes in government, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic have loosed their control on the press.
 
European institutions have started to address issues and implement protective measures for journalists and press freedom, such as launching proceedings against Hungary for violating EU’s rule of law, or even calling for governments to take measures to protect journalists, in the context of the recent killings in the invasion of Ukraine. These efforts are a step forward in ensuring that the freedom of media and press is protected.
MARCEL GUTENBERGER
Marcel is a German volunteer involved in the World Press Freedom Day. 
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