Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-04-26

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Joe Biden to address first Concordia conference in Athens on June 6-7

[02] Séralini warns of dangers posed by GMOs and agri-chemicals in ANA interview

[03] Ecumenical Patriarch speaks of reconciliation at Community of Taizé

[01] Joe Biden to address first Concordia conference in Athens on June 6-7

In its first major European event, the summit, which will focus on the future of Europe, will feature addresses from Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, and Non-Executive Chairman of Goldman Sachs International and former President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso.

Among the topics that will be discussed are EU-US relations, the developing public-private partnerships (P3s) for social impact, sustainable development, the competing priorities of the European Union and the living conditions of asylum seekers.

"Building meaningful partnerships at the intersection of business and government in and around Europe is key to ensuring that the global community at large remains on a steady path to achieving the SDGs, sustainable solutions for refugees, and opportunities for investment," Concordia Co-Founders, Nicholas Logothetis and Matthew Swift said in their message for the event.

"We are honored that former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, and former European Commission President José Manuel Barroso will lend their leadership as we come together to identify solutions for a more prosperous Europe," they added.

The Summit is an important event gathering over 400 leaders from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors that will provide attendees with an opportunity to participate in meaningful discussions on how public-private partnerships can address pressing issues facing the continent and beyond, including the mounting refugee crisis, the future of the European Union, and regional investment in achieving the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Concordia is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that builds partnerships for social impact.

Biden is the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and leader of the new Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania.

[02] Séralini warns of dangers posed by GMOs and agri-chemicals in ANA interview

"Our studies have shown that industrially-produced food is very toxic, even for rats. On the other hand, in our recent experiments published last year, we succeeded in detoxifying laboratory animals previously exposed to Monsanto's Roundup within a week, using a plant-based diet," he said.

A professor of molecular biology at the University of Caen since 1991, Séralini insists that chemicals used in agriculture, such as pesticides, present a much greater problem than micro-organisms for food. He has expressed a lack of confidence in official regulatory bodies, such as the European Food Safety Authority, and is highly critical of companies such as Monsanto, which he said put profits before health.

At the same time, he stressed that it was possible to transform the entire food production system from the field to people's plates, though this process might take time and effort.

Accompanied by French chef Jérôme Douzelet, who specialises in natural organic cooking, Séralini was a speaker at an event in Athens on Tuesday, organised by the Harokopio University of Athens and the Thessaly University Biotechnology and Biochemistry Department.

Séralini was the author of a study that made world headlines in 2012, which concluded that GMOs and the Monsanto pesticide Roundup had a significant impact on the health of lab rats. Among others, the study reported an risk of cancer, signs of toxicity in the kidneys and liver and premature death. Though criticised by some scientists and scientific bodies as falling short of necessary standards, Séralini attributed the controversy to pressure exerted by Monsanto and the agritech lobbies.

Séralini is co-founder and president of the Committee of Research and Independent Information on Genetic Engineering (CRIIGEN), which is publicly opposed to genetically modified food (GM food. He has also collabroated with Greenpeace and acted as an advisor to the French agriculture and environment ministries.

[03] Ecumenical Patriarch speaks of reconciliation at Community of Taizé

"To reconcile is above all to heal the evils of history, the scars of time, mutual misunderstandings, conflicts of memory, fratricidal hatreds. In this sense, the division between Christians to which we intend to respond by praying for the unity of the Churches is a spiritual wound, with shared responsibilities—whether accepted or not," he said in his speech.

Bartholomew, who was invited to Taizé by Brother Alois, was accompanied by the Metropolitan of France Emmanuel and the Metropolitan of Silivri Maximos.

After his speech, the Patriarch offered an icon of St. Andrew the Apostle and then visited the Orthodox chapel of the community where he was welcomed by Orthodox youths. He then visited the cemetery, where the founder of the community, Brother Roger, is buried.

The Community of Taizé was founded in 1940 by Brother Roger Schütz, a Reformed Protestant. It numbers more than 100 brothers from Protestant and Catholic traditions.

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