Latest news with #ParliamentaryAssembly
Express Tribune
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
The Red Dress: from bridal couture to therapy and empathy
Listen to article Dear Kristie Mcleod, There is something undeniably empowering about The Red Dress. Whether it's any red dress or one you've created. To a bride, it conveys confidence, making her feel beautiful and expressing love while connecting her with a timeless tradition. Choosing red as a bridal dress, though considered a very South Asian thing these days, had a history in Chinese and many other European cultures. In each culture, the meaning of this Red remained associated with love, passion, strength, abundance, maturity and fertility. Your red dress embodies such ideals, yet it surpasses them all with a more profound message. It is not just a dress, it is a work of Art — Art that has one language, a language that women from over 50 different countries could understand and converse in as they joined hands to embroider 380 pieces to make one dress. Each piece deliberated with wisdom, experience and passion aims towards shaping the dress and giving it a charm that opens up new avenues of discovery, identity, empathy and belonging. Yours is the largest collaborative embroidery project ever recognised by the Guinness World Records. The dress has proved to be a powerful way to bring people together and give a voice to marginalised communities — "female refugees, women seeking asylum, impoverished and disadvantaged women" from war zones, diasporas and other vulnerable situations. By combining traditional embroidery techniques with personal stories and experiences, women could express themselves and share their perspectives with a global audience. It's amazing that the project has provided opportunities for people to develop new skills and earn a living, while also promoting healing and self-expression. Collaborative embroidery has proven to be an effective medium for catharsis. The repetitive motion of stitching is meditative, promoting relaxation and reducing stress. It endorses connections among participants, providing a sense of belonging and support. Working with fabric and thread provides a sense of comfort and security, allowing participants to explore difficult emotions in a safe environment. I'm also intrigued to learn about the ten boys/men who contributed as embroiderers of the dress. I apologise if this sounds gender-biased; it's a cultural thing. I'm surprised to think of men as leisure embroiderers. Maybe I'm just possessive about the happy memories of embroidery sessions with my mother and aunts that I'd rather not share with male family members. These private, all-female sessions were a staple in many South Asian households, where girls would embroider chaddars for their dowry alongside elderly women who taught them various aspects of homemaking, including financial management, social etiquette and family relationships. I must admit that The Red Dress's impact extends beyond art, sparking meaningful conversations and influencing policy discussions. In January 2023, it was presented in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in a session on equity and non-discrimination, highlighting its potential to humanise complex issues and foster empathy among leaders. Such recognition lent more power to the project, transitioning the Red Dress into a tool for social change. Managing a project of such scale must have its challenges. You are right that "every challenge has been woven into the dress's history, representing a collective legacy that will last for hundreds of years to come". For over 16 years, you've dedicated yourself to this single project. Contemporary art often has a short lifespan, both in form and message. By continually adding to this one dress, you're expanding the scope of sustainable art. I'm critiquing the fleeting nature of modern creative expressions, where art pieces are quickly created, consumed and discarded, contributing to waste and unsustainable practices. In contrast, working on a single project over an extended period fosters dedication, raises the value of art and highlights the importance of longevity and the artist's relationship with their work. This approach also allows for a deeper understanding of the creative process and the evolution of ideas over time. Looking forward to experiencing the dress in person. May we find a way to bring it to Pakistan soon! Bano, July 2025
Washington Post
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Justice is coming for Vladimir Putin
STRASBOURG, FRANCE — It is not often that one gets a front-seat view on history as I (literally) did last week, sitting in the visitors' gallery at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and listening to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as he addressed European lawmakers on the establishment of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. The agreement setting up the new court was signed minutes earlier by Zelensky and Alain Berset, secretary general of the Council of Europe, on behalf of its 46 member states.
RTÉ News
26-06-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Zelensky calls for unity in the West to help Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said close ties between Europe and the United States under Donald Trump were key to ensuring Kyiv defeated the Russian invasion, as he urged a trial for President Vladimir Putin. Mr Zelensky signed an accord with the Council of Europe to set up a special tribunal to try top officials over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as he made his first visit since the start of the conflict to the France-based rights body. But after a face-to-face meeting with Mr Trump at the NATO summit in The Hague, Mr Zelensky made an impassioned call for close ties between Europe and the US president. "We need a strong connection with him (Trump)," Mr Zelensky told the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. "We need unity between Europe and the United States and we will prevail," Zelensky said. The special tribunal would prosecute the "crime of aggression" in the full-scale invasion, which Russia launched in February 2022, and could, in theory, try senior figures up to Putin. "We need to show clearly that aggression leads to punishment, and we must make it happen together, all of Europe," he added, after signing the accord with Council of Europe secretary general Alain Berset.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Peace must begin in Dayton;' Final day of NATO concludes with recommendations for spending, Ukraine
Monday was the final day of the Nato Parliamentary Assembly. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Since Thursday, around 300 people from 32 NATO Nations across the world have been in our area. The last event of the NATO summit was a joint session. Hundreds of delegates were in the Schuster Center theater to hammer out the final resolutions they will pass on to the NATO Ministers of Defence, who are meeting next month. Dayton Congressman Mike Turner reminded them all of the Dayton Peace Accords, 30 years ago, that ended the war in the Balkans. 'Our goal as NATO is peace. Peace must begin with us. Peace must begin in Dayton,' Turner said. TRENDING STORIES: Wholesale retailer gets into pizza delivery business Milkshake, gourmet chocolate shop chain to open area location 'Duck Dynasty' star Phil Robertson dies at 79 Turner and the delegates quickly emphasized that peace and democracy are the goals, but they require security. The NATO Secretary General made it clear that several world powers threaten that potential peace. 'Some will say in three years they are able to attack us, some will say in five years, and some will say in seven,' Mark Rutte said. Rutte said Russia is threatening not just Ukraine but many other countries. He said they are working with several other powerful countries, and it is troubling. 'The Russians, Iran, North Korea, China. China is now rapidly ramping up its defense spending and production,' Rutte said. The delegates even heard a plea from a Ukrainian representative, though they are not a NATO country, what happens there will impact everyone in NATO. 'We build up the Ukrainian armed forces as a first layer of defense going forward after a potential ceasefire/peace deal. Let's hope we'll get there as soon as possible,' Rutte said. The Parliamentary Assembly agreed on a handful of resolutions for consideration by NATO's Ministers of Defence at their next meeting in June. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Dayton protesters question spending for NATO conference instead of addressing local needs
DAYTON – A catch-all of protests calling attention to everything from fentanyl deaths in Ohio to the war in Gaza accompanied a gathering of NATO's Parliamentary Assembly on May 24 in a fenced-off section of downtown. They were small, as of noon, with about 200 people spread over three sites outside the NATO meeting area, including one officially designated protest zone. They were polite, too, compared to protests in November outside the last NATO gathering in Montreal, where Reuters reported that two cars were set on fire and police deployed smoke bombs on the crowd. This time, at Jefferson and 4th streets in Dayton, a local police officer applied sunscreen to his head and face and joked that his wife would be angry if he came home with a sunburn. Among issues that drew protesters' ire Saturday was the amount of money spent — $6.3 million in federal and state funds for security — to host NATO officials in Ohio. "NATO spends billions on war, weapons and power struggles," said Lauren Lorraine, of Cincinnati, who's part of a group called the Poor People's Army. More NATO news: NATO chief says Europe will pay more for defense, keeps mum on Ukraine talks She listed after-school programs, job-training, health clinics and housing as areas that could have benefited from the money spent to host NATO in Ohio. "It's morally wrong to spend more on war than well-being," she said. Sandy Bolzenius headed from Columbus to Cooper Park in Dayton's downtown to talk to others about the "We the People Amendment," a nationwide effort to adopt local, state and federal rules to reduce the influence of corporate money in politics and government. Others collected signatures to put Senate Bill 1, the Ohio General Assembly's overhaul of higher education in the state, on the fall ballot for possible repeal. Ann Bollheimer, of Fort Loramie, a village about 40 miles north of Dayton, joined other members of Veterans for Peace at the protests. She said she opposed the idea of Dayton hosting an international conference when it could help its unhoused residents instead. Asked why she chose the messages, "No to NATO" and "Invest in People, Not Weapons," for the placard she held, Bollheimer said: "I could only hold one sign." Reporter Bob Vitale can be reached at rvitale@ This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Dayton protesters speak out against NATO conference spending
