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“What would happen if we built economics on ethics? Other models of employment, other modes of production… We are very used to doing things very alone, with distrust of politicians and economic actors. But alone, none of the sectors will be able to build the alternatives that society needs.” With these words, Claudio Madaune reflected this Thursday in one of the twelve talks of the Actuar por lo vivo festival, which runs from April 26th to May 6th took place at the Museum of Modern Art in Medellín. The Chilean permaculture expert and project coordinator at the Norwegian NGO Change the World questioned whether progress means growth at any cost, the individual role of each citizen and renewal.

The regenerative economy was one of the key concepts of this lecture. This relatively recent term, based on the principles of restoration, is based on restoring a system or product to its original or even improved condition. In the words of María Alejandra González, Professor of Management and Social Responsibility at Eafit University: “These are processes that require healing. With this word we already recognize the wound we are inflicting on ecosystems; something is damaged and we need to heal it”. Arturo Escobar, one of the country’s great anthropologists and thinkers, during his presentation this Friday, added a reflection from a Bolivian thinker who said: “We must think about modernity without ceasing to be Indian.”

For the people of Cali, the pursuit of economic growth is what has created inequality and environmental degradation. “In post-development, or the good life, everything alive and all these beliefs of the indigenous communities becomes a big protagonist.” And he added: “Humanity has thought about colonization, modernity, US imperialism and identity. The question now is about practice. What do we do as intellectuals?

The meeting, sponsored by an alliance between Comfama, the publishing house Actes Sud and Comuna: faire cause commune, has more than 40 national and international guests: scientists, activists, companies concerned about their impact and entrepreneurs who want a did “big business”. in small. Revolution”. This is how Isabel Codavid, chief ecologist at Agromandala, defined a circular farm in Fredonia, Antioquia that grows, harvests and sells fresh food without pesticides for 80 families. “Businesses are based on the choices we make as consumers. We can not all farmers, but we all eat,” he explained to an audience of 50.

A moment of conversation “From Extractive to Regenerative Economics for an Era of New Abundance”.Santiago Mesa

For David Escobar Arango, director of Comfama, it is very important that these types of events take place outside the offices of great leaders. “We propose an integrative view between different professions and disciplines. We want to liven up a conversation, stimulate reflection and get people to ask questions. This is a platform for civil society to also organize and implement projects.” Another important point is to talk about regeneration. “For a long time after sustainability there was talk of preserving what was not yet damaged. But for me it’s like going to tie a tie. Regeneration leads to victory”.

For her part, María Adelaida Correa, Director of Sustainability at ISA, added: “Our goal is to leave a legacy that creates awareness, inspires, transforms and transcends generations. We are convinced that the best footprint is the protection of biodiversity and climate protection. Today we are called as companies and as people to engage in regenerative development, to mobilize our management towards a use of resources that guarantees the well-being of communities and builds environmental resilience, while providing support for the needs of future growth to generate. “.

New democracies, economies for regeneration and systemic and planetary health are the three pillars on which a festival of French origin is based, taking place for the second time in Latin America. Isabelle Delannoy, specialist in sustainable development; Hugo Jamioy, poet of the indigenous people of the Kamsá; Martín von Hildebrand, anthropologist and founder of the Gaia Amazonas Foundation; Juliette Rousseau, editor of Le Commun (French publisher of women’s poetry)… are some of the experts who think aloud in a didactic and participatory way, looking for ways to inhabit the planet in a coherent way.

think about solutions

Today few dare to deny climate change and its effects. Sea level rise, deforestation, biodiversity loss, drought and disasters… But this festival is about a different question: what can we do? The focus of the talks is purposeful and hopeful. David Escobar prefers the term ‘possibilism’: ‘We don’t want to fall into irrational optimism or pessimism. There are some challenges, we put them on the table and face them. If we do everything we can at the right time, maybe we will build a better world.”

The festival, according to the director, strives to weave collaborative networks between regional, national and international audiences to generate specific transformational actions around cross-cutting issues. As Delannoy reflected in the discussion From Extractive to Regenerative Economics for an Era of New Abundance, “We have to find a way to look each other in the eye and understand each other.”

A shooting in Serbia left eight dead and 14 injured in Serbia, and the suspected perpetrator was arrested Friday morning after several hours of pursuit, a new bloody episode in a country already in shock from the killing, which had happened shortly before at a school had taken place.

• Also read: School in Belgrade: The alleged shooter had a detailed plan, the list of children targeted

• Also read: Grief and dismay in Serbia after school shooting

This new murder happened late Thursday evening in three villages near Mladenovac, some sixty kilometers south of Belgrade.

“After an extensive search, members of the Interior Ministry arrested UB, who was born in 2002, in the Kragujevac region in central Serbia,” the Interior Ministry said in a press release.

“He is suspected (…) of killing eight people and wounding fourteen others with an automatic weapon,” the same source said, saying all of the injured were hospitalized.

The Serbian state television (RTS) had reported thirteen injured in the morning.

According to RTS, the attacker first shot people gathered in the yard of a school in the village of Dubona, killing several people including an off-duty police officer and his sister.

He then shot people in two other villages, Malo Orasje and Sepsin, before fleeing.

According to media reports, the victims are mostly young people.

At sunrise on Friday, many police officers were traversing the area, flown over by a helicopter equipped with a searchlight, in search of the gunman, according to an AFP photographer at the scene.

Media reported that about 600 law enforcement officers were deployed, including members of a special counter-terrorism unit. The police blocked the access road to the villages.

Serbian Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic called the incident a “terrorist act”.

This new shooting took place the day after the shooting of eight children and a janitor at a school in Belgrade, a mass murder that deeply shocked the country.

Seven people – six students and a teacher – were also injured in the attack and two were still in critical condition as of Thursday after a series of surgeries.

national mourning

The suspected shooter, a 13-year-old schoolboy, was arrested shortly after the shooting in the schoolyard while he was waiting for police to arrive and taken to a psychiatric hospital.

The gunman’s father, a respected doctor and owner of the gun used, was arrested and is due to be heard by a prosecutor on Friday.

After this first murder, a three-day national mourning was ordered from Friday. Planned celebrations and events are largely cancelled. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic lamented “one of the most difficult days in contemporary Serbian history”.

Numerous firearms have circulated in the Balkans since the collapse of the former Yugoslavia and the bloody wars of the 1990s.

About 765,000 weapons, including more than 232,000 pistols, are legally registered in Serbia, a country of around seven million people where shooting ranges are popular.

In April 2013, a villager shot dead 13 people, including family members and neighbors, near Mladenovac, in the same area where the shooting took place on Thursday evening.

A license is required to own firearms in Serbia. The Home Office on Thursday announced house checks to check that guns were being held in safes in accordance with current regulations.

Throughout Thursday, thousands of Belgraders laid flowers, toys, messages and lit candles in front of the Vladislav Ribnikar School in the city center where the slaughter took place.

Candlelight vigils are also held in Zagreb, Croatia and Banja Luka, Bosnia.

Masses for the victims were celebrated in the churches of Belgrade. The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Porfirije, called the shooting “a catastrophe unprecedented in our nation and homeland.”

It’s “mutilation”: DeSantis will sign bill banning sex reassignment surgery for minors as the Florida legislature ends and his 2024 presidential announcement is expected “relatively soon,” he says

• The law, passed by Florida lawmakers Thursday, would ban physicians from administering medication to minors or performing state-funded “gender-affirming” medical procedures
• DeSantis has long been expected to announce whether he will run in the 2024 GOP primary after the Florida legislature ends
• He said, “You either have to give up or shut up” as far as entering the race is concerned

By Kelly Laco, Executive Editor of Politics

Published: 7:53 PM, May 5, 2023 | Updated: 10:01 PM, May 5, 2023

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is set to sign legislation banning underage sex reassignment surgeries as the state’s legislative session ends on Friday.

The law, passed by Florida lawmakers Thursday, would ban physicians from giving drugs to minors or performing state-funded “gender-affirming” medical procedures if they are under the age of 18.

“Honestly, seriously, some of this stuff is just completely fabricated. And when you talk to people — and I know people in your industry will dress it up with a euphemism — and they say it’s healthcare to cut off a 14 or 15-year-old’s private parts,” DeSantis said.

“It’s not healthcare. This is mutilation and we stand up against it,” DeSantis said on Friday — the last day of the state’s legislative session.

The governor has long been expected to officially announce his intention to run for president in 2024 after the end of the state’s legislative term, so an official announcement could be right around the corner.

Addressing speculation about his plans for 2024, he said on Friday: “What happens in the future? We’ll get into that fairly soon. You either have to do that or shut up. So we’ll see.’

“It’s not healthcare. This is mutilation,” DeSantis said on Friday — the final day of the state’s legislative session

Florida’s Republican supermajorities in the state legislature pushed many distinctive DeSantis priorities

On Friday, DeSantis appeared to be speaking to the “corporate media,” which he regularly criticizes for changing narrative on issues he feels they disagree with.

State Assemblyman Ralph Massullo, a Republican and co-sponsor of the bill, said children “need to get to a point where they can recognize their gender and accept themselves.”

Florida’s Republican supermajorities in the state legislature pushed many characteristic DeSantis priorities, including expanding a law that covers all public school students from kindergarten through 8th grade.

He also signed legislation banning abortions in the state after six weeks of pregnancy and allowing concealed carry throughout Florida.

The governor is also expected to sign legislation outlawing diversity, equity and inclusion in state colleges.

“Following a historic election cycle, we took the opportunity to deliver on our promises and deliver unprecedented results for Floridians this term,” DeSantis said Friday.

“We’ve achieved $2.7 billion in tax cuts and the Legislature has passed myriad legislative priorities that will improve the lives of Florida families. Thank you to the Legislature for such a productive session.’

Former President Donald Trump, who announced his re-election bid last November, has already spoken out against DeSantis — though he’s not officially in the running

It has been reported that DeSantis will announce his official presidential nomination after the end of the June legislature.

Former President Donald Trump, who announced his re-election bid last November, has already spoken out against DeSantis — though he’s not officially in the running.

Trump called on DeSantis not to run against him in 2024 because he’s not doing well in the polls, is dividing the Republican Party, and will lose “the treasured and massive” MAGA vote.

The ex-president has also called DeSantis “young” and hinted that he could have a brighter political future if he remains governor of Florida through the end of his second term in 2026.

• By Joshua Nevet
• BBC policy

May 5, 2023 at 8:38 p.m. CET

Updated 29 minutes ago

video caption,

Watch: Local Elections in England… in under 60 seconds

Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer says his party is headed down Downing Street after the Tories were hammered in local elections across England.

The Tories have lost 48 councils and more than 1,000 council members, beating their worst predictions.

Labor is now the largest party in local government, surpassing the Tories for the first time since 2002.

“The British public has sent a clear rejection of a Prime Minister who never had a mandate from the start,” said a Labor spokesman.

The Green Party won more than 200 seats – its best result ever in a local election – and won control of its first English council in Mid-Suffolk, although it was overtaken as the largest party by Labor in Brighton and Hove.

Mr Sunak admitted the results were “disappointing” but said he had not detected a “massive bottom wave of movement towards the Labor Party”.

Sir Keir claimed the “fantastic” results showed his party was well placed to oust the Tories from government in a national poll due next year.

“Make no mistake, we are on our way to a Labor majority in the next general election,” he told jubilant activists in Medway, one of the councils his party wrested from the Tories.

‘Catastrophic’

Labor gained control of councils in areas that will be key battlegrounds in the general election, including Swindon, Plymouth, Medway, Stoke-on-Trent and East Staffordshire.

The 230 council elections in England were the first major test of Mr Sunak’s electoral popularity since he became Prime Minister last year.

The BBC’s projected national vote share put Labor at 35%, Tories at 26% and Lib Dems at 20%.

Labor’s projected nine-point lead over the Conservatives is the widest since the party fell from power in 2010.

Sir John Curtice, the election expert, said this year’s results were “just a little disastrous for the Conservatives”.

But BBC Political Editor Chris Mason said the results suggested it would be difficult for both Conservatives and Labor to be confident of winning a majority in the next general election.

He said there seemed to be no appetite for action against Mr Sunak after the Tories ousted two prime ministers – Boris Johnson and then Liz Truss – from office last year.

Still, some Conservatives are reeling from the results, with Mr Sunak’s ousted councilors and critics venting their anger at the party’s performance.

As the bigger picture became clearer, there were disagreements among the Tories over who was to blame for the loss of dozens of English councilors and more than 1,000 councillors.

The UK election came against a difficult economic backdrop, with high inflation contributing to the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades.

A person loyal to Mr Johnson and Ms Truss told the BBC that Mr Sunak had “no choice but to own these results”.

In a racy statement, the person said: “He’s been Chancellor or Prime Minister for practically the last three years and it was he and his supporters who pushed Boris out of office and then Liz to install him at Downing Street.

“The old adage goes that ‘it’s the economy, fool,’ that dictates voter choices at the ballot box.”

Tees Valley Conservative Mayor Ben Houchen said the poor Tory performance was partly due to “the turmoil and upheaval of the last 12 months”.

He said Labor had “succeeded in making this a referendum on government”, adding “people don’t feel like they can vote for us”.

Nigel Churchill, a former Conservative councilor who lost his seat on Plymouth Council, said: “I think we can say with certainty” that his party would lose the next general election.

“The general public doesn’t trust them at the moment,” he said.

But Education Secretary Robert Halfon said this year’s election would always be “difficult” for his party.

He said internal party divisions “didn’t help” but claimed the losses were due to external factors such as the cost of living crisis and troubles in the NHS.

“Any government always suffers losses in local elections during the mid-term, especially a government that has been in power for 13 years,” he said.

Other Tory MPs told the BBC that apathy – Conservative voters staying at home – was also a big problem for the party.

The most important results at a glance:

• Work has gained more than 500 councilors and 22 councilors – including the key battlegrounds of Swindon, Plymouth, Medway and Stoke-on-Trent, where the party hopes to win at the next general election
• The Conservatives lost more than 1,000 councilors and 48 councillors, but gained control of Torbay, Slough and Wyre Forest
• The Liberal Democrats have won 12 councils including former Conservative strongholds Windsor and Maidenhead and Stratford-on-Avon
• Almost 250 Green Councilors were elected and the party won its first outright majority in a Mid Suffolk council

The Conservatives tried to manage expectations ahead of Thursday’s election, with party leader Greg Hands suggesting they could lose 1,000 council seats.

In contrast, Labor has tried to downplay its chances of winning, forecasting a gain of around 400 seats.

Most seats were last up for election in 2019, at a time when the UK was gripped by Brexit-related political turmoil.

The seats up for grabs were mostly on county councils responsible for services such as garbage collection, parks, public housing and building permits.

The remainder of the election was for a mix of metropolitan and unitary councils – individual local authorities dealing with all local services – and four mayors.

The election was the first in England where voter ID cards were checked at polling stations. Some voters told the BBC they had been turned away from polling stations, prompting critics to call for the ID rules to be lifted.