A
photograph taken from the Wanted Persons link at the Interpol site shows
Argentinian sports marketing executive Alejandro Burzaco who has been indicted by US authorities in the FIFA corruption scandal on June 9, 2015 (AFP Photo)
New York
(AFP) - An Argentine sports marketing executive on Friday pleaded not guilty
and posted a $20 million bond after appearing in a US court to face charges
related to the FIFA corruption scandal.
Alejandro
Burzaco surrendered to Italian police in June before flying to New York to face
US justice in a case that has rocked world soccer.
He is one
of 14 FIFA officials and sports marketing executives accused of soliciting and
receiving more than $150 million in bribes and kickbacks spanning 24 years.
US Attorney
General Loretta Lynch unveiled the 47-count indictment in May.
Burzaco,
51, pleaded not guilty to three charges of racketeering, money laundering and
wire fraud conspiracy and posted a $20 million bond for his release,
underwritten by friends and family.
The
defendant cut an elegant figure in the US federal court in Brooklyn, dressed in
a dark suit, a pale blue tie and a crisp white shirt, and responded politely to
the magistrate's questions.
Government
prosecutors told Magistrate Judge Vera Scanlon that Burzaco was not considered
a flight risk given that he had handed himself in overseas.
Burzaco's
decision to surrender has triggered speculation he may be poised to negotiate a
deal with prosecutors.
His lawyer
made no comment after leaving court.
The assets
put up to guarantee the $20 million bond offered a breathtaking insight into
the wealth that the dual Argentine-Italian citizen has accumulated, and the
trust of close friends and family.
$15
million company share
They
include cash deposits of $3.3 million, to be made by October 1, three
properties in the United States owned by his sister and a close friend.
It also
included Burzaco's 20 percent ownership of a company -- a share estimated to be
worth more than $15 million.
Among the
six relatives and friends underwriting his bond were a sister with an annual
income of $300,000 and a net worth of more than $1 million and a friend with an
estimated net worth of more than $10 million.
Burzaco's
ex-wife, who was also in court, had flown from Buenos Aires to support him, his
lawyer told the magistrate.
Among
conditions of his release are that he live in an FBI-approved residence within
50 miles of the court.
He must
surrender his passports to the FBI, submit to electronic tagging and restrict
his movements to New York and Long Island.
On July 18,
former FIFA vice president Jeffrey Webb also pleaded not guilty in connection
with the same scandal.
Arrested in
Switzerland in May, he was the only one not to fight extradition.
The Cayman
Islands-British citizen posted a $10 million bond and was ordered not to stray
further than 20 miles of the courthouse.
Conservationists in
Zimbabwe have accused an American man of being the alleged killer of Cecil, one
of Africa’s most famous lions and the star attraction at the Hwange national
park.
On Tuesday,
the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said the man thought to have paid $50,000
(£32,000) for the chance to kill Cecil was not a Spaniard as originally believed, but US citizen Walter Palmer, from a small town near Minneapolis. The
man left the lion skinned and headless on the outskirts of the park, the ZCTF’s
Johnny Rodrigues said in a statement.
The hunt
took place around 6 July. “They went hunting at night with a spotlight and they
spotted Cecil,” Rodrigues said. “They tied a dead animal to their vehicle to
lure Cecil out of the park and they scented an area about half a kilometre from
the park.”
Walt Palmer, left, and one of his many trophies.
The hunter
first shot at Cecil with a bow and arrow but failed to kill the lion. “They
tracked him down and found him 40 hours later when they shot him with a gun,”
Rodrigues said.
A spokesman
for Palmer told the Guardian that the hunter was “obviously quite upset over
everything”.
“As far as
I understand, Walter believes that he might have shot that lion that has been
referred to as Cecil,” the spokesman said. “What he’ll tell you is that he had
the proper legal permits and he had hired several professional guides, so he’s
not denying that he may be the person who shot this lion. He is a big-game
hunter; he hunts the world over.”
On Tuesday,
Palmer - a dentist and married father of two - became a target as the Facebook
page of his dental clinic was flooded with angry comments and threats. An
online petition demanding justice for Cecil had gathered more than 12,000
signatures.
Palmer’s
love of hunting is well-documented online. In 2009, he was interviewed by the
New York Times about his slaying of an elk that was touted as a kill for the
archery record books.
Noting that
Palmer had learned to shoot at age five and was “capable of skewering a playing
card from 100 yards with his compound bow,” the article said Palmer had paid
$45,000 at auction to take part in the hunt, with the proceeds being used to
help fund the elk habitat. As the hunting season began, Palmer was on probation
for lying to authorities over the exact location where he had killed a black
bear in northern Wisconsin in 2006.
The same
company advertises trips to Africa, under the name Safari Connection.
Photographs to advertise the company’s services show hunters posed next to
elephants. Other expeditions show hunters posed next to polar bears amid snowy
backdrops.
Two people
who accompanied the hunter on his Zimbabwe trip were identified by authorities
and arrested earlier this month, including Theo Bronkhorst, the founder of
Bushman Safaris Zimbabwe which is believed to have organised the hunt. Both are
facing poaching charges and due to appear in court in early August.
Zimbabwe
National Parks confirmed the charges. “In this case, both the professional
hunter and land owner had no permit or quota to justify the offtake of the lion
and therefore are liable for the illegal hunt,” it said in a statement.
Bronkhorst’s hunting license has been suspended and efforts were being made to
interview another employee of Bushman Safaris who was believed to have also
taken part in the hunt.
The
13-year-old lion was wearing a GPS collar as part of an Oxford University
research project that had been running since 1999, making it possible to trace
his last movements. Rodrigues said the hunters tried to destroy the collar, but
failed.
Walt Palmer and a Nevada California Bighorn.
The death
of Cecil comes as Zimbabwe, like many countries in Africa, attempts to crack
down on illegal hunting and poaching, said Rodrigues. “This has been going on
too long. Cecil is the 23 or 24th lion that has been collared and then killed
in Hwange. We have to try and stop it.”
Initially
his organisation had said the whereabouts of Cecil’s head was unknown, sparking
concerns that it would be sent abroad as a trophy. The fear brought
conservationists and politicians together this week to call on the European
Union to ban the import of lion heads, paws and skins as hunters’ trophies from
African countries that cannot prove their lion populations are sustainable.
On Tuesday,
Rodrigues said the head of the lion had been located in Zimbabwe and had been
impounded to be used as evidence in the investigation.
The ZCTF
said on Tuesday that it continued to mourn Cecil. Rodrigues pointed out that
the hunter was believed to have paid just $50,000 to kill a creature that would
have brought millions of dollars worth of tourism to the reserve.
Conservation
authorities said they were also dealing with the likely consequences of Cecil’s
death for his six cubs. “The saddest part of all is that now that Cecil is
dead, the next lion in the hierarchy, Jericho, will most likely kill all
Cecil’s cubs so that he can insert his own bloodline into the females.”
Cecil was a
major tourist attraction at Zimbabwe's largest game reserve in
Hwange
National Park, due to his distinctive black mane (AFP Photo)
Question: Dear Kryon: I live in Spain. I am sorry if I will ask you a question you might have already answered, but the translations of your books are very slow and I might not have gathered all information you have already given. I am quite concerned about abandoned animals. It seems that many people buy animals for their children and as soon as they grow, they set them out somewhere. Recently I had the occasion to see a small kitten in the middle of the street. I did not immediately react, since I could have stopped and taken it, without getting out of the car. So, I went on and at the first occasion I could turn, I went back to see if I could take the kitten, but it was to late, somebody had already killed it. This happened some month ago, but I still feel very sorry for that kitten. I just would like to know, what kind of entity are these animals and how does this fit in our world. Are these entities which choose this kind of life, like we do choose our kind of Human life? I see so many abandoned animals and every time I see one, my heart aches... I would like to know more about them.
Answer: Dear one, indeed the answer has been given, but let us give it again so you all understand. Animals are here on earth for three (3) reasons.
(1) The balance of biological life. . . the circle of energy that is needed for you to exist in what you call "nature."
(2) To be harvested. Yes, it's true. Many exist for your sustenance, and this is appropriate. It is a harmony between Human and animal, and always has. Remember the buffalo that willingly came into the indigenous tribes to be sacrificed when called? These are stories that you should examine again. The inappropriateness of today's culture is how these precious creatures are treated. Did you know that if there was an honoring ceremony at their death, they would nourish you better? Did you know that there is ceremony that could benefit all of humanity in this way. Perhaps it's time you saw it.
(3) To be loved and to love. For many cultures, animals serve as surrogate children, loved and taken care of. It gives Humans a chance to show compassion when they need it, and to have unconditional love when they need it. This is extremely important to many, and provides balance and centering for many.
Do animals know all this? At a basic level, they do. Not in the way you "know," but in a cellular awareness they understand that they are here in service to planet earth. If you honor them in all three instances, then balance will be the result. Your feelings about their treatment is important. Temper your reactions with the spiritual logic of their appropriateness and their service to humanity. Honor them in all three cases.
Turkish Minister Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc speaks on July 29, 2015 in Ankara (AFP Photo/Adem Altan)
Ankara
(AFP) - Turkey's deputy prime minister on Wednesday ignited a new row over
discrimination against women in Turkish politics when he told a female deputy
who tried to interrupt his speech to "as a woman, be quiet!".
Deputy
premier Bulent Arinc made the remark while speaking during an emergency debate
in parliament over the government's military intervention against jihadists in
Syria and Kurdish militants in Iraq.
Justifying
the decision to attack Kurdish militants in Iraq, his comments were loudly
mocked by members of the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP), including
female lawmaker Nursel Aydogan.
"Madam
be quiet! You as a woman, be quiet!" shouted Arinc in the debate broadcast
on live television, growing increasingly irritable as he struggled to make his
words heard.
The
incident spawned immediate outrage online, with Turkish women posting angry
comments under the Twitter hashtag #BirKadinOlarakSusmayacagiz (as women we are
not going to be silent), which began trending nationwide.
"Woman
are quiet in their politics but unquiet women will teach them democracy,"
tweeted @Ozgurlugedogru.
The hashtag
#KadinDusmaniArinc (Arinc is an enemy of women) also gained popularity.
The HDP and
also the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) demanded an apology
from Arinc.
"We as
the CHP strongly condemn the sexist, discriminatory and humiliating comments
violating women's rights," said CHP deputy leader Selin Sayek Boke.
"Making
such a comment under the roof of parliament is unacceptable. We invite him to
apologise," she added.
This is
hardly the first time Arinc has been in hot water over comments deemed sexist.
In July
2014, he sparked an outcry by declaring that women should not laugh loudly in
public. This prompted viral videos and pictures of Turkish women laughing in
defiance.
The HDP's
Nursel Aydogan, the target of Arinc's outburst, said: "I don't take it
personally. It is an insult against all women including their own (ruling
party) lawmakers."
"Mr
Arinc should leave aside this sexist approach," said Pervin Buldan,
another female HDP lawmaker.
Critics
have repeatedly accused the ruling Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party
(AKP) -- which Arinc helped co-found along with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
-- of eroding women's rights.
Related Article:
"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)
“…5 - Integrity That May Surprise…
The Unthinkable… Politics, A Review Humans will begin to search for integrity and fairness and it's going to happen in the places you never expect. I said this last week, so this is a review. There'll come a time when you will demand this of your politics - fairness and integrity. So when the candidates start calling each other names, you will turn your back on them and they won't get any votes. They're going to get the point real fast, don't you think? How about that? Let me give you another potential. This country that I sit in right now [USA] will set the mold for that particular attribute. I have no clock. Watch for the youngsters to set this in motion, and they will, for they are the voters of tomorrow and they do not want the energy of today. To some of them, it's so abominable they won't even register to vote in this energy. You're going to see this soon. That was number five.. ..."
Malaysia's
Prime Minister Najib Razak (R) chats with his newly-appointed Deputy
Prime
Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (L) at the premier's office in Putrajaya on
July
28, 2015 (AFP Photo/Mohd Rasfan)
Kuala
Lumpur (AFP) - Malaysian premier Najib Razak on Tuesday sacked his deputy
premier and attorney general in a cabinet reshuffle widely seen as an attempt
to strengthen his hold on power as he battles corruption allegations.
Najib has
come under growing pressure in recent months over claims that huge sums of
money had been siphoned off from state-owned development company 1Malaysia
Development Berhad (1MDB), which he launched in 2009.
Calls for
Najib, 62, to step down mounted earlier this month after a Wall Street Journal
report alleged that nearly $700 million had been routed to Najib's personal
bank accounts.
The prime
minister and 1MDB have vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
In a
televised address, Najib announced he had dumped Deputy Prime Minister
Muhyiddin Yassin, who has been critical of Najib's handling of the affair and
has called for transparency. He is also considered Najib's chief rival for
power.
Deputy Prime
Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, pictured on July 23, 2014, has been
critical of
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's handling of the scandal involving
state-owned development company 1Malaysia Development Berhad (AFP Photo/
Mohd
Rasfan)
Muhyiddin
was replaced by Home Minister Zahid Hamidi, who is considered a Najib loyalist.
Clearly
referring to Muhyiddin and other lower-ranking ministers who had raised
questions over 1MDB, Najib said cabinet members "should not air their
differences in an open forum that can affect public opinion against the
government and Malaysia".
In total,
seven new ministers and nine deputy ministers were appointed, according to
reports, in a shuffle that Najib said was aimed at creating a more
"unified team" ahead of the next elections, due by 2018.
Attorney
General Abdul Gani Patail, who was part of a task force investigating 1MDB,
also was sacked for "health reasons", a government statement said.
'Acts of
desperation'
But the
moves touched off speculation that Najib was attempting to curb further calls
for transparency and possibly avoid criminal charges. Multiple investigations
into the scandal are under way.
"The
removal of the AG and the DPM will be seen as acts of desperation by
Najib," said Terence Gomez, a political analyst with the University of
Malaya.
"I
suspect that the 1MDB task force has sufficient evidence to file charges
against key actors in this company which may include the PM."
Malaysian
Prime Minister Najib Razak denies claims that sums of cash were
siphoned off
from state-owned development company 1Malaysia Development
Berhad (1MDB) to his
personal account (AFP Photo/Manan Vatsyayana)
Legal
activist group Lawyers for Liberty said removing the attorney general "is
shocking to say the least, and can only fuel public suspicion of
interference" in the investigations.
Over the
past year a series of investigative reports have alleged that hundreds of
millions of dollars of 1MDB money had gone missing in murky overseas
transactions.
The Wall
Street Journal report this month said investigators had found that nearly $700
million had moved through government agencies, banks and companies linked to
1MDB before ending up in Najib's accounts.
The premier
has denied the allegation, calling it "political sabotage", while
1MDB has said it did not transfer any funds to Najib.
However
both Najib and the company have faced growing criticism for failing to disprove
the various accusations.
Meanwhile,
1MDB is reeling under a $11 billion debt burden, blamed largely on a
much-questioned drive to acquire power-industry assets.
Fears that
it may require a massive bailout have contributed to a slide in the ringgit
currency to 17-year lows.
Deputy
defends 'principles'
Muhyiddin
issued a statement Tuesday afternoon saying that related to 1MDB, "I have
my own principles and stance in defense of Malaysians, the party's reputation
and national interests."
Newly-appointed
Malaysian Deputy Prime
Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (C), at the
Prime Minister's
office in Putrajaya on
July 28, 2015 (AFP Photo/Mohd Rasfan)
But he
accepted his sacking and gave no indication he planned to wage a campaign
against Najib.
The push to
oust the Najib has been led by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who has
warned that the political coalition dominated by the ruling United Malays
National Organisation (UMNO) will lose power in the next polls unless he is
replaced.
Mahathir
led the coalition for 22 years to 2003.
The
coalition has ruled since independence in 1957 but has steadily lost support
among a new generation of voters yearning for greater freedoms and an end to
government corruption.
Political
experts say that despite public outrage over 1MDB, Najib is secure within UMNO
owing to the party's deep-rooted patronage politics and the great power
invested in the premier's office.
The son of
a respected former prime minister, Najib once headed UMNO's youth wing,
building up an extensive network of supporters who now rule the party's various
regional divisions.
"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)
“…5 - Integrity That May Surprise…
The Unthinkable… Politics, A Review Humans will begin to search for integrity and fairness and it's going to happen in the places you never expect. I said this last week, so this is a review. There'll come a time when you will demand this of your politics - fairness and integrity. So when the candidates start calling each other names, you will turn your back on them and they won't get any votes. They're going to get the point real fast, don't you think? How about that? Let me give you another potential. This country that I sit in right now [USA] will set the mold for that particular attribute. I have no clock. Watch for the youngsters to set this in motion, and they will, for they are the voters of tomorrow and they do not want the energy of today. To some of them, it's so abominable they won't even register to vote in this energy. You're going to see this soon. That was number five.. ..."
Lord John
Sewel apologised after pictures in The Sun newspaper appeared to
show him
snorting cocaine with prostitutes (AFP Photo)
London
(AFP) - A British peer who was in charge of lawmakers' ethics quit the House of
Lords on Tuesday after allegedly snorting cocaine off a prostitute's breasts,
fuelling calls for reform of the unelected upper chamber.
Lord John
Sewel, 69, apologised for the "pain and embarrassment" caused after
the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sun newspaper published footage of him apparently
taking drugs and wearing an orange bra and studded leather jacket as he chatted
to two sex workers.
The images
also showed him calling Prime Minister David Cameron "facile" and
"superficial" and insulting several other senior politicians.
The scandal
has prompted renewed calls for reforms to slim down the House of Lords, made up
of 783 peers (AFP Photo/ Toby Melville)
Scotland
Yard has launched an investigation and raided Sewel's home at an exclusive
block of flats near the Houses of Parliament on Monday night.
While
reforming the House of Lords is not a priority for Cameron's centre-right
government, the case has sparked calls for the chamber -- the world's largest
legislative assembly outside China -- to be slimmed down.
"I
have today written to the clerk of the parliaments terminating my membership of
the House of Lords," Sewel, previously a deputy speaker of the Lords, said
in a statement.
"I
want to apologise for the pain and embarrassment I have caused."
The Sun on
Tuesday quoted the escorts as saying he snorted up to eight lines of cocaine
and described one of their sessions.
"He
slipped into a woman's blue dress and applied lipstick and eyeliner to engage
in depraved sex games too obscene to report in a family newspaper," the
tabloid said.
'Bloated'
House of Lords
The married
69-year-old, dubbed "Lord Sewer" by The Sun, quit his £82,525
(115,000 euro, $128,000) a year deputy speaker post overseeing the conduct of
fellow peers when the scandal first broke Sunday.
He then
announced Monday that he would take a leave of absence from the Lords but faced
growing pressure to step down entirely.
Members of
the Lords - mostly former ministers appointed by their own political
parties -
can claim a £300 daily attendance allowance (AFP Photo/Justin Tallis)
Several
British newspapers said Tuesday that the case showed changes were needed to the
House of Lords, made up of 783 peers who can claim a £300 daily attendance
allowance.
Most
members of the Lords, which scrutinises and rubber stamps legislation, are
former ministers appointed by their own political parties.
The Daily
Mirror, The Sun's main tabloid rival, launched a campaign Tuesday to get rid of
all unelected peers.
Meanwhile,
The Times said the House of Lords was "bloated" and its numbers
should be reduced.
"An
unelected chamber with esoteric practices and a median age of about 70 cannot
afford to enter the public consciousness only when its members are embroiled in
scandal," it said in an editorial.
Cameron is
expected to create a string of new peers from his Conservative party in the
coming months to give him a majority in the upper chamber, making it easier for
his government to pass legislation.
The prime
minister reportedly ruled out sweeping reforms to the Lords on a visit to Singapore,
saying there was "no point in trying that route again" after a failed
bid in 2012 pushed by his former coalition partners the Liberal Democrats.
Ten members
of the Lords have been temporarily suspended since 2009
for breaches including
abusing the expenses system (AFP Photo/Leon Neal)
'Privileges of a peerage'
Leader of
the House of Lords Baroness Tina Stowell acknowledged the importance of public
perceptions of the chamber as she welcomed Sewel's resignation.
"For
the House of Lords to earn the confidence of the public, all of us must respect
the privileges that come with a peerage and recognise that, because we are
unelected, it is especially important to meet the standards the public have a
right to expect," she said.
Sewel is a
former academic and local politician in northeast Scotland who was appointed as
a junior agriculture minister in Tony Blair's centre-left Labour government in
1997.
He gave up
the Labour whip in 2012 when he took on the job of overseeing the conduct of
peers.
Ironically,
Sewel oversaw the introduction of a new system under which peers can be forced
out of the Lords for breaching a code of conduct. Previously, only the monarch
could eject them.
Ten peers
have been temporarily suspended since 2009 for breaches including abusing the
expenses system and offering to lobby for private companies.
A British
politician, Lord John Sewel, has resigned from the House of Lords after
a
newspaper published a video allegedly showing him using cocaine with
prostitutes.
Sewel was in charge of standards in the upper chamber.
"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)
“…5 - Integrity That May Surprise…
The Unthinkable… Politics, A Review Humans will begin to search for integrity and fairness and it's going to happen in the places you never expect. I said this last week, so this is a review. There'll come a time when you will demand this of your politics - fairness and integrity. So when the candidates start calling each other names, you will turn your back on them and they won't get any votes. They're going to get the point real fast, don't you think? How about that? Let me give you another potential. This country that I sit in right now [USA] will set the mold for that particular attribute. I have no clock. Watch for the youngsters to set this in motion, and they will, for they are the voters of tomorrow and they do not want the energy of today. To some of them, it's so abominable they won't even register to vote in this energy. You're going to see this soon. That was number five.. ..."
Jehovah's
Witnesses in Australia have been accused by a government commission of
discouraging church members to report child sexual abuse. Around 1,006 cases
were kept from police, the commission was told.
The investigation
into sexual abuse and its aftermath heard on Monday that the church had hidden
more than 1,000 cases of child molestation since the 1950s. The Royal
Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, first created in
2013 to tackle allegations of abuse by Catholic priests in Australia, was told
that Jehovah's Witnesses operated as a restrictive sect determined to hinder
the reporting of abuse.
"Evidence
will be put before the Royal Commission that of the 1,006 alleged perpetrators
of child sexual abuse identified by the Jehovah's Witness Church since 1950,
not one was reported by the church to secular authorities," said Angus
Stewart, the senior lawyer assisting the commission.
"This
suggests that it is the practice of the Jehovah's Witness Church to retain
information regarding child sexual abuse offenses but not to report allegations
of child sexual abuse to the police or other relevant authorities."
Stewart
went on to describe official doctrine allowing church elders to practice discretion
in reporting cases of child molestation unless there was a clear legal mandate
to do so. The Jehovah's Witnesses has allowed at least 230 suspected abusers to
return to the church, 35 of whom have been accused multiple times.
Two
anonymous church members were also set to testify that they had been
discouraged by church authorities from informing police about abuse
allegations.
The
US-based Jehovah's Witnesses, known for their door-to-door proselytizing,
number around 8 million members worldwide, 68,000 of whom are in Australia.
Australia's
abuse commission has heard stories of abuse and cover-ups not only from inside
Christian #link:18507561:churches like the Catholics and the Jehovah's
Witnesses, but from Orthodox Jewish communities as well. The implications have
reached even inside the Vatican, where Australian Cardinal George Pell, who is
now is charge of church's economic activities, has come under scrutiny over
charges that he failed to adequately protect child victims years ago.
Pell has
dismissed the allegations as "false" and "outrageous" and
has said that hurting children is "completely contrary" to the
teachings of Christ.
“… Greetings, dear ones, I am Kryon of Magnetic Service. Twenty-five years ago, I discussed with you what is happening now. Back then, it was only a potential, but now it's your reality. This was not prophecy when I told you back then that there would be no Armageddon or World War Three. It was not prophecy, but a powerful potential. The entire reason for my being and the awakening of my partner was because of what you did. The victory it contains falls in the lap of the old soul, who has controlled the consciousness of the timing of it all.
Everything that has transpired during these years has been realized potential. That is to say that we see the potentials of what you might do, and report on that and only that. Much of what we see now is realized quickly. When we told you in 2012 there would be a new pope, 13 months later it happened. This was not prophecy, but rather a potential. We saw it coming because we have the overview and we knew of the anxiety of the existing pope, the health of the man, and we also knew of the potentials of a South American pope to come forward. All of these things should be a "connect the dots" for you. I come yet again, not with prophecy, but with information given with a congratulatory attitude of potential. …”
Saudi
Arabia's King Salman will holiday in France with an entourage of more
than 1,000
people (AFP Photo/Saul Loeb)
Vallauris
(France) (AFP) - King Salman of Saudi Arabia is expected to arrive in France
later Friday for a Riviera beach holiday, bringing with him no fewer than 1,000
people from his entourage.
While the
king's three-week visit is a boon for the local economy, it has also sparked
anger due to the closure of a public beach for the privacy and security of the
royal party.
The king's
inner circle will be put up at the family's private villa, which stretches
across a kilometre of Riviera coastline between Antibes and Marseille.
Some 700
other members of his entourage will be accommodated at top hotels on the
promenade in Cannes.
Hundreds of
other Saudis will be following the king on his holiday -- as is the tradition
-- bringing the total number of Saudi citizens flooding into the southern
French beach resorts to around 1,000.
"Clearly
this is good news," said Michel Chevillon, president of an association
representing hotel managers in Cannes.
"These
are people with great purchasing power which will pep up not only the luxury
hotel industry but also the retail and tourism sectors of the town," said
Chevillon.
General
view of the public beach called "La Mirandole", located below a villa
owned by the Saudi King, on July 20, 2015 in Vallauris, southeastern France
(AFP Photo/Valery Hache)
But not
everyone is happy.
An entire
kilometre of public beach will be cordoned off for security and privacy reasons
and coastguards will stop anyone coming within 300 metres of the villa by sea.
The Saudis
also generated a great deal of anger by starting work on an elevator from the
beach to the villa, which involved pouring a huge slab of cement directly on to
the sand.
A petition
against the "privatisation" of the public beach gathered more than
45,000 signatures in eight days.
"We
recall that this natural zone, like all maritime public estates, is an
intrinsic public property that should be available for the benefit of all,
residents, tourists, French, foreigners or people passing through," said
the petition.
"We
ask the state to guarantee the fundamental principle of the equality of all
citizens before the law," the text added.
"We're
sick and tired of this messing around," said a local woman, more
succinctly.
"I can
see it's normal that you need to guarantee their security but they should let
us go for a swim."
