tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89595869218839954482024-02-18T23:10:10.949-08:00Cempaka Occupy (The Old Paradigm of Reality - People / Organisations / Companies / Governments)General news or articles related to the Global Occupy MovementUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2245125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-54855662901003450552023-01-20T12:53:00.005-08:002023-01-20T12:53:37.252-08:00US designates Russia's Wagner military group an intl 'criminal organization'<p> <span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/us-designates-russias-wagner-military-190514301.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall" target="_blank">Yahoo - AFP</a>, January 20, 2023</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRDSiVYvAnVnBRTHlTlg8OYramSJIft3I868eiYe3z2Mzy39Au6n3JdYr3wGPZ1g9aDzNENhfP6RDrgf4MiYjGvIYMWkoGyEiaTYWpQErHyAPOv903te8GnxEutmhtsHxRRuFYnTVb7VF7LMZN95galvUWQTs_mYR7x8GZH8Iz4vdvnouT4XVrG5jy/s705/1a033b43fb3b3fac6e8f2d99dbbd4f24.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRDSiVYvAnVnBRTHlTlg8OYramSJIft3I868eiYe3z2Mzy39Au6n3JdYr3wGPZ1g9aDzNENhfP6RDrgf4MiYjGvIYMWkoGyEiaTYWpQErHyAPOv903te8GnxEutmhtsHxRRuFYnTVb7VF7LMZN95galvUWQTs_mYR7x8GZH8Iz4vdvnouT4XVrG5jy/w400-h266/1a033b43fb3b3fac6e8f2d99dbbd4f24.webp" width="400" /></span></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The United States on Friday designated Russia's Wagner group as a "transnational criminal organization," raising pressure on the private Russian army fighting in Ukraine.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Wagner, controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman close to President Vladimir Putin, has about 50,000 fighters in Ukraine, 80 percent of them drawn from prisons.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Kirby showed US intelligence photographs of North Korea supplying arms to Wagner for its Ukraine operations, and said the private army has become a rival to the formal Russian military.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The photographs, from November 18-19, show Russian rail cars entering North Korea, picking up a load of infantry rockets and missiles, and returning to Russia, he said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">He said the US Treasury was formally designating Wagner as a transnational criminal organization, putting it in league with Italian mafia groups and Japanese and Russian organized crime.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The designation will allow the wider application of sanctions on the group’s sprawling global network, which includes mercenary operations as well as businesses in Africa and elsewhere.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Wagner "is a criminal organization that is committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses," Kirby said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">"We will work relentlessly to identify, disrupt, expose and target those who are assisting Wagner," he said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Kirby also said the United States had presented its intelligence on Wagner's North Korean purchase to the UN Security Council's unit on North Korea sanctions.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The arms transfers from North Korea are in direct violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions, Kirby said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Kirby said there is evidence that Prigozhin's confidence in Wagner fighters' relative success in Ukraine has generated tensions in the Kremlin.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">"Wagner is becoming a rival power center to the Russian military and other Russian ministries," Kirby said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">"Prigozhin is trying to advance his own interest in Ukraine and Wagner is making military decisions based largely on what they will generate for Prigozhin, in terms of positive publicity."</span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-64775095086986692282022-09-28T12:05:00.005-07:002022-09-28T12:05:53.634-07:00Large Wall Street firms fined $1.8 bn in US over lax recordkeeping<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/us-fines-16-wall-street-201125406.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, September 27, 2022</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFngR16_dDL5wrUwHybjgswGwSSYICkfi1Ii-Sl4xUYeMQZ_wpHGjVFyFCAT116q-YZ7BjW0Ry8H-TIcoaVfTSJVQUDwRdEieA0lsJumvx1CrBLv1I_lIj-k_YUho_cvsxF3oBGkczKMsTcKs2UJE5EQ75eN3bs7gDqnwhwo3w3EMnLx8hDsLCNNJf/s705/5ff9572727230d02b62ff7c8602daf99.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFngR16_dDL5wrUwHybjgswGwSSYICkfi1Ii-Sl4xUYeMQZ_wpHGjVFyFCAT116q-YZ7BjW0Ry8H-TIcoaVfTSJVQUDwRdEieA0lsJumvx1CrBLv1I_lIj-k_YUho_cvsxF3oBGkczKMsTcKs2UJE5EQ75eN3bs7gDqnwhwo3w3EMnLx8hDsLCNNJf/w400-h266/5ff9572727230d02b62ff7c8602daf99.webp" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Large Wall Street firms agreed to pay $1.8 billion in
fines over failures to keep electronic records such as text messages between
employees on personal mobile phones, US authorities announced Tuesday.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Barclays, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank and Goldman
Sachs were among the firms that agreed to fines over "longstanding
failures" to maintain and preserve electronic communications that must be
available to regulators in the course of oversight, the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) said in a statement.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The SEC announced a total of $1.1 billion in fines on
16 institutions in all. The 16 firms listed included some companies such as
Morgan Stanley with affiliated firms also covered by the agreement.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In a parallel action, the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission announced it reached settlements totaling $710 million from the same
group of financial institutions over the same offenses.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Finance, ultimately, depends on trust. By
failing to honor their recordkeeping and books-and-records obligations, the
market participants we have charged today have failed to maintain that
trust," SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement. "Since the 1930s,
such recordkeeping has been vital to preserve market integrity.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"As technology changes, it's even more important
that registrants appropriately conduct their communications about business
matters within only official channels, and they must maintain and preserve
those communications."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">An SEC investigation uncovered "pervasive
off-channel communications" involving a range of senior and junior
investment bankers and traders -- omissions that "likely" deprived it
of communications in agency probes, it said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Bank of America was fined a total of $225 million
under the two settlements.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Financial giants agreeing to $200 million in
settlements were Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman
Sachs, Morgan Stanley and UBS.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Nomura, Jefferies and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Cantor Fitzgerald will pay respectively $100, $80 and $16 million</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The SEC in December 2021 fined JPMorgan Chase $125
million for the offense, spurring an industry-wide regulatory crackdown on poor
recordkeeping, the SEC said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b>Related Article:</b></span></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="https://www.kryon.com/cartprodimages/download_Madison-GrandR_12.html" target="_blank">"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)</a></b> (Subjects: Old Energy, <a href="http://cempaka-belanda.blogspot.com/2011/10/ascension-arcturians-multidimensional.html" target="_blank">Recalibration Lectures</a>, <a href="http://www.kryon.com/k_channel10_portland_me_.html" target="_blank">God / Creator</a>, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once)<b>,</b><b>Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse)</b>, Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, <a href="http://www.kryon.com/k_channel11_sacramento.html" target="_blank">(Old) Souls</a>, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small; line-height: 18px;"><i style="color: #222222;">- </i><a href="http://www.kryon.com/CHAN%202013/k_channel13_Madison.html" style="color: #222222; font-style: italic;" target="_blank">(Text version)</a></span><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">“… </span><b>The Shift in Human Nature<br /><br /></b></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div><span style="font-family: arial;">You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). <b>Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.</b></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing.</b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> But fear often rules. …”</span></span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-34031976402985290572022-09-21T12:48:00.000-07:002022-09-21T12:48:10.193-07:00Australian Rules club hit by 'heartbreaking' Indigenous mistreatment claims<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/australian-rules-club-hit-heartbreaking-024215934.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, September 21, 2022</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaUcz7QOOXvmsrUhOI5aygF4jmIXfsbSciX92hdxk5cmOuwX8azSAVX2CagWihyFjSVUGkwT7gzPDH1NQ4loMbq7yzUuBlw98djKg_jy-ZDFpG1iHFy1j2ARMf9Z8JOXbVzRIKolZDaSZnpATQg9wo9goNWXepWI_2ENAZFhaSl556Feajdi8iasa7/s768/461e8a3474ef9899e60e36daab142a62.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="431" data-original-width="768" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaUcz7QOOXvmsrUhOI5aygF4jmIXfsbSciX92hdxk5cmOuwX8azSAVX2CagWihyFjSVUGkwT7gzPDH1NQ4loMbq7yzUuBlw98djKg_jy-ZDFpG1iHFy1j2ARMf9Z8JOXbVzRIKolZDaSZnpATQg9wo9goNWXepWI_2ENAZFhaSl556Feajdi8iasa7/w400-h225/461e8a3474ef9899e60e36daab142a62.webp" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Australian Rules' chief executive said Wednesday it
was "hard to find more serious allegations" after a top club was
accused of separating Indigenous players from their families and pressuring one
couple to have an abortion.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the latest racially tinged scandal to hit
Australia's most popular spectator sport, Hawthorn Football Club said an
internal investigation into how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players
were treated had raised "disturbing" historical claims.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The club did not go into detail, saying the matters
were "confidential".</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But public broadcaster ABC reported harrowing accounts
of young Indigenous players pressured to end contact with their families and
focus on their sporting careers.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The ABC said in a period about a decade ago, players
were relocated away from family and pressed to change their mobile phone numbers.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">One allegation related to a prospective father who
told the club he and his partner were expecting a child and was advised to
terminate the pregnancy.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"At face value it's hard to find more serious
allegations," Australian Football League (AFL) chief Gillon McLachlan
said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"There are so many people hurting today and have
been hurting for a long time. As a game we will do everything to ensure the
hurt you experienced is not a hurt experienced by others."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">McLachlan said an external panel of four independent,
appropriately qualified people would conduct a separate investigation for the
AFL.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We need to run a proper investigation to get to
the bottom of it and this is important out of respect for those making the
allegations and out of respect for those being accused," he said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Hawthorn, the 13-time premiership-winning side -- with
the Latin motto translated as "let us be judged by our acts" -- are
based in Melbourne.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Allegations of separating Indigenous players from
their families and forced estrangement are particularly sensitive in Australia.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Until the 1970s, white-dominated Australian
governments forcibly removed Aboriginal children from their parents in an
attempt to eradicate Indigenous cultures.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Indigenous AFL legend and former "Australian of
the Year" Adam Goodes retired in 2015 after being subjected to months of
racially motivated booing by spectators.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In 2021, the president of top Australian Rules side
Collingwood resigned after evidence of systemic racism at the club.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Hawthorn chief Justin Reeve backed the AFL's
independent investigation, calling the findings of their internal review
"heartbreaking".</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Asked whether Hawthorn had a culture problem, Reeve
replied: "I think Australia has a culture problem, historically, and I
think like all of us, we focus on every day being better and building a great
environment for our club.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"I feel confident from the report as well that
currently our players feel culturally safe," he added.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"But like so many institutions, I think we have
to face our history and our past and we have to act responsibly and we have to
cooperate and move forward from that."<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-16884843727490174682022-06-29T14:21:00.006-07:002022-06-29T14:21:42.636-07:00Trump lunged at Secret Service driver to try to join Capitol riot: Aide<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/trump-lunged-secret-service-driver-try-join-capitol-riot-aide-2775851" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, 29 Jun 2022</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZs0TI-oQyenpXiUNoDBPK1LVv_96tFA3tASLzNgZCVub_xbPB2GJ4jhPtAUBhQkAnvNVPhORC4geKHJVr5GBf-5oASw7CKYspAgg35pmlFc_Fddjd00M_rhkQrzab4YWam-e0F8dOcjX_OiponxuTO8dtnMaEaDecsfgwkfd3gH6zyjqOiVUk0YJz/s830/5d4ed770c71d823d8734f7757084238d9cb96324.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="830" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZs0TI-oQyenpXiUNoDBPK1LVv_96tFA3tASLzNgZCVub_xbPB2GJ4jhPtAUBhQkAnvNVPhORC4geKHJVr5GBf-5oASw7CKYspAgg35pmlFc_Fddjd00M_rhkQrzab4YWam-e0F8dOcjX_OiponxuTO8dtnMaEaDecsfgwkfd3gH6zyjqOiVUk0YJz/w400-h225/5d4ed770c71d823d8734f7757084238d9cb96324.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Former US President Donald Trump instructed the crowd to march <br />on the Capitol on Jan 6, 2021. (Photo: AFP/Brendan Smialowski)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">WASHINGTON: Former US president Donald Trump angrily
lunged at his Secret Service driver and grabbed at the steering wheel of his
limousine in a bid to join the crowd as it marched on the Capitol on the day of
the deadly insurrection, an aide testified on Tuesday (Jun 28).</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In some of the most explosive testimony so far to the
House committee probing the violence, Cassidy Hutchinson, an assistant to
Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows, said the president had demanded to march
with the mob.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Under the impression that he would be taken to join
the crowd at the Capitol following his rally speech, he became irate when he
was told it was impossible for security reasons, and he tried to wrestle the
Secret Service for control of his official car, Hutchinson testified.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"I'm the effing president, take me up to the
Capitol now," Trump said, according to Hutchinson, who testified that the
story was relayed to her by another administration official.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Trump, apparently watching the televised hearing,
attempted to discredit Hutchinson in real time in a multiple-post rant on his
social media network, dismissing the episode as a "fake story" and
calling the hearing a "kangaroo court."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The congressional panel has spent a year investigating
the Jan 6, 2021 riot that temporarily halted the certifying by Congress of the
presidential election result.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It has now held six public hearings to outline its
initial finding - that Trump led a criminal conspiracy to overturn his defeat
to Joe Biden that led to the violence.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Hutchinson was a central figure in the administration
and able to offer the committee its first blow-by-blow account of activity
inside the White House.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She testified that Trump and some of his top
lieutenants were aware of the possibility of violence - contradicting claims
that the assault was spontaneous and had nothing to do with the administration.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b>"THINGS MIGHT GET REAL"</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Hutchinson said she recalled Meadows saying four days
before the insurrection: "Things might get real, real bad on Jan 6."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Hutchinson had sought out her boss, she said, after a
White House meeting involving Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani. As they were
leaving, Giuliani asked her if she was "excited" for Jan 6.</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-12835608331259834822022-06-27T11:41:00.003-07:002022-06-27T11:41:15.454-07:00Credit Suisse fined over drugs gang money laundering<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/credit-suisse-fined-over-drugs-165717577.html" target="_blank">Yahoo = AFP</a>, June 27, 2022</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI-9IhdgJYNlT4aO0HRudF-qHj3wqTEu1HDdzQmb4eYENBiPxWQbztqMMYkUTaNntoATyr_Yi2mmj5KW1QKAEQQbnMavKYenZKcZDiLeSSgmfw_UQ-g76KyuIwTWYun-pgoyMCsgy2hG2hJ0fIOrf_dxU-u-Y9ZVe9OKrRd1j4vqiZgOhe8QoSeztH/s705/c010b7e999fe1a0aac66875c0a52f738.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI-9IhdgJYNlT4aO0HRudF-qHj3wqTEu1HDdzQmb4eYENBiPxWQbztqMMYkUTaNntoATyr_Yi2mmj5KW1QKAEQQbnMavKYenZKcZDiLeSSgmfw_UQ-g76KyuIwTWYun-pgoyMCsgy2hG2hJ0fIOrf_dxU-u-Y9ZVe9OKrRd1j4vqiZgOhe8QoSeztH/w400-h266/c010b7e999fe1a0aac66875c0a52f738.webp" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Credit Suisse, Switzerland's second-biggest bank,
which has been rocked by a series of scandals, was slapped with a
$2-million-fine Monday in a money laundering case linked to a Bulgarian cocaine
network.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Switzerland's Federal Criminal Court found that the
bank failed to take steps to prevent money laundering by the criminal
organisation, deeming it guilty of breaching its corporate responsibility.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Credit Suisse was fined two million Swiss francs ($2.1
million). The Zurich-based bank intends to appeal.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It was faulted for the failure up through its
hierarchy and by its legal and compliance departments to monitor "banking
relations" linked to the criminal gang, and to ensure their
"compliance with anti-money laundering rules".</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A former employee was found guilty of aggravated money
laundering over a number of transactions she had conducted or ordered to be
conducted between July 2007 and December 2008, despite firm indications that
the funds had criminal origins.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Her actions allowed the criminal gang to stash more
than 19 million Swiss francs out of reach of the authorities.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She was given a 20-month prison sentence and a fine,
both of which were suspended.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In a brief statement, Credit Suisse said it noted the
court's decision and that it intended to appeal.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Two Bulgarians were also found guilty of participating
in a criminal organisation and aggravated money laundering.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The court also ordered the confiscation of a sum
equivalent to more than 12 million francs concerning funds deposited with
Credit Suisse by the criminal organisation.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Furthermore the bank will have to compensate the more
than 19 million francs in assets belonging to the criminal organisation,
"which could not be confiscated due to the bank's internal failures",
the court statement said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-50488393452635393112022-06-17T12:06:00.001-07:002022-06-17T12:06:52.138-07:00Report into abuse in British gymnastics is 'too little, too late'<p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/report-into-abuse-in-british-gymnastics-is-too-little-too-late/ar-AAYzwWg">MSN – AFP</a>, 17 June 2022</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdeXxaAGMx9aE2b_zp77IN4XUBL9d0iKtFHDNxvrbiK9_7MmQKp4iXOHSgVRxdhI1LtRptvdozcmDzUVFGdm50Ew4b4dOsADPLSQU4CEjBXSNrx1N4NWc_t1YbfJp2A2Y0nTbDkyVltPAnODqGbnSHAFBk7aYDKn_mUvTCZs3O7L68a0Scc3gVOh1Q/s534/AAYzwWc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="534" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdeXxaAGMx9aE2b_zp77IN4XUBL9d0iKtFHDNxvrbiK9_7MmQKp4iXOHSgVRxdhI1LtRptvdozcmDzUVFGdm50Ew4b4dOsADPLSQU4CEjBXSNrx1N4NWc_t1YbfJp2A2Y0nTbDkyVltPAnODqGbnSHAFBk7aYDKn_mUvTCZs3O7L68a0Scc3gVOh1Q/w400-h266/AAYzwWc.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">An independent report revealed 'systemic' abuse within British gymnastics. <br />© EMMANUEL DUNAND</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Recommendations made in a damning report into a toxic
culture within British gymnastics are "too little, too late to change a
culture of mistreatment", according to a campaign group representing
athletes.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The independent Whyte Review, commissioned in 2020
after a host of complaints from high-profile British gymnasts and published on
Thursday, revealed "systemic" abuse in the sport.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Safeguarding failures from junior to elite level were
catalogued by lawyer Anne Whyte from more than 400 submissions, over half of
which reported some form of emotional abuse, with nine percent involving sexual
abuse.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"I have concluded that gymnasts' well-being and
welfare has not been at the centre of (governing body British Gymnastics')
culture for much of the period of the review," she wrote.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Despite a "genuine apology" from the new
British Gymnastics chief executive Sarah Powell, those affected cast doubts on
the ability of the organisation to implement change and said the review did not
go far enough.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Gymnasts for Change, which represents many of the
athletes who have made allegations against British Gymnastics, said while it
welcomed the review, "ultimately, the recommendations fall far short of
what is needed".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It added: "This is too little, too late to change
a culture of mistreatment. Every day without holistic and wholesale change
another gymnast is put at risk and these recommendations fall far short of the
change needed."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Whyte revealed horrific personal testimonies,
including over-stretching to the extent a gymnast feared their legs would
"snap", food and drink deprivation that led to eating disorders, and
emotional abuse including ridiculing gymnasts who cried or needed to go to the
lavatory.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Whyte accused Powell's predecessor Jane Allen, who retired
in December 2020, of a "lack of leadership" and presiding over an
"organisational failure... to appreciate the central importance of athlete
welfare", and said both British Gymnastics and UK Sport focused on medal
success rather than athlete welfare.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She called on the governing body to ensure its
complaints system was "fit for purpose" and urged it to appoint both
board members with specific expertise in safeguarding and a director of
education with overall responsibility for the education of coaches and welfare
officers.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Powell said British Gymnastics accepted all the
recommendations in the report and "will not shy away" from taking the
steps required to restore confidence in the governing body and the sport as a
whole.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">'Culture of fear'</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Four-time Olympic medallist Louis Smith said the
governing body should be under no illusions that it had plenty of work ahead
before it could rid itself of its association with a "culture of
fear".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Smith tweeted: "If you're wondering if the
culture of fear is gone in British gymnastics, then take a look to see how many
active competing GB gymnasts publicly support the Whyte review.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"British gymnastics need to remember they don't
own anyone and having an opinion isn't an attack!!"</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Earlier this month, Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and
other star US gymnasts filed a $1 billion claim against the FBI for alleged
mishandling of the investigation into sexual abuse by predatory former team
doctor Larry Nassar.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Nassar, 58, is serving a life sentence after pleading
guilty to sexually assaulting athletes while working as a sports medicine
doctor at USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In May, a group of gymnasts filed a claim against
Gymnastics Canada and the federation's provincial counterparts for having
tolerated a climate of abuse and mistreatment for decades.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-2972105414199929892022-06-17T11:36:00.002-07:002022-06-17T11:36:26.653-07:00Four Moroccan women accuse French tycoon of sexual harassment<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/four-moroccan-women-accuse-french-171504777.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, June 17, 2022</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwdASyMnYw-FD7MQQv4yvw5evNBw3wCVkCVAfNKiPkMm6bPM4bmMESdC0JlFA-Zg9t6E8zMMd82yiBfKKzNH8hha-3sMKxPIlundxnw0qUyKWwalpT920k0YvO2XCm92GosBpUtN4-mzL4gnn39P3KqHIaOE4nGPmAwwE4vZEk7jNW5qQz4mFrG8Rd/s705/7959dea081fa17f2039584fef845ffcb.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwdASyMnYw-FD7MQQv4yvw5evNBw3wCVkCVAfNKiPkMm6bPM4bmMESdC0JlFA-Zg9t6E8zMMd82yiBfKKzNH8hha-3sMKxPIlundxnw0qUyKWwalpT920k0YvO2XCm92GosBpUtN4-mzL4gnn39P3KqHIaOE4nGPmAwwE4vZEk7jNW5qQz4mFrG8Rd/w400-h266/7959dea081fa17f2039584fef845ffcb.webp" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Four women have pressed charges in Morocco against
French insurance tycoon Jacques Bouthier, currently under arrest in Paris on
charges of raping a minor, a rights group said Friday.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Bouthier is accused of various acts of "people
trafficking, sexual harassment and verbal and moral violence," between
2018 and this year, said Karima Salama, a lawyer from the Moroccan Association
for the Rights of Victims (AMDV).</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"An enquiry has been opened and we have faith in
the justice system," she said at a press conference in the northern port
city of Tangiers, where the four alleged victims, aged from 26 to 28, had been
employed by Bouthier's firm.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Bouthier, 75 and one of France's richest men, is
ex-CEO of insurance group Assu2000, later renamed Vilavi.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Three of his Moroccan alleged victims told journalists
on Friday about their experiences, using sanitary masks and dark glasses to
hide their identities.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"He asked to sleep with me and when I said no, he
asked me to introduce him to a sister, a female cousin or a friend, saying he
would give me a nice present in exchange," one said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The women said they had been sacked after refusing to
"give in to harassment and blackmail" over their employment by
Bouthier and other French and Moroccan executives.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The women said they had faced repeated sexual
harassment and intimidation as well as threats to their jobs, in a city where
many struggle to find work.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">One said he had presented them to men working at the
firm, telling them: 'If you bring in contracts, there will be beautiful
Moroccan girls'.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Jacques Bouthier... believes that with his
financial power he can get away with anything, in complete impunity," said
AMDV chief Aicha Guellaa.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Bouthier, was indicted on May 21 and arrested by Paris
prosecutors after a preliminary investigation into accusations of people
trafficking and rape of a minor.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He is also being prosecuted for conspiracy to kidnap,
kidnapping in an organised gang and possession of child pornography.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-5672005566681319762022-06-11T13:48:00.006-07:002022-06-11T13:48:49.195-07:00UK banks no longer 'too big to fail': BoE<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.rfi.fr/en/uk-banks-no-longer-too-big-to-fail-boe" target="_blank">rfi –AFP</a>, 10 June 2022</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW7aC6bms98WHekwaD2qmQZFmge8zIyn0vewlmN6A7k8WyY14xliYmHW_mH6Qe0RvaRi6RyUiKpfIu-iBAtzCGza508MOAY6p2SYEFa74qOP0cyU7dgHpz81i7prxi3fOQUuO7I5dzqr44j89APpCOSl2uCe9HGt4S1w9qcY2NypHJ9pjdAwTxVbto/s1024/2bbc8196808652a41467e3ea4f53a62e1f909324.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW7aC6bms98WHekwaD2qmQZFmge8zIyn0vewlmN6A7k8WyY14xliYmHW_mH6Qe0RvaRi6RyUiKpfIu-iBAtzCGza508MOAY6p2SYEFa74qOP0cyU7dgHpz81i7prxi3fOQUuO7I5dzqr44j89APpCOSl2uCe9HGt4S1w9qcY2NypHJ9pjdAwTxVbto/w400-h225/2bbc8196808652a41467e3ea4f53a62e1f909324.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Following the financial global crisis more than a decade ago, the UK taxpayer <br />pumped £137 billion ($171 billion) into the country's banks Tolga Akmen AFP/File</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">London (AFP) – Britain's biggest banks are no longer
"too big to fail" in any future financial shocks, with shareholders
rather than taxpayers ready to bear the cost, the Bank of England said Friday.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Following a major review of eight lenders -- including
Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and NatWest -- the BoE concluded "that if a major
UK bank failed today it could do so safely: remaining open and continuing to
provide vital banking services to the economy.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Shareholders and investors, not taxpayers, will
be first in line to bear the costs, overcoming the 'too big to fail'
problem," the central bank added.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Following the financial global crisis more than a
decade ago, the UK taxpayer pumped £137 billion ($171 billion) into the
country's banks, while also being able to benefit from significant BoE support.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The government also took control of Royal Bank of
Scotland -- rebranded as NatWest ahead of its recent return to the private
sector.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Despite the bailouts, "the disruption to the
financial system contributed to the UK and global recession that followed. We
cannot forget these lessons", the BoE added Friday.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The central bank was publishing its first assessment
of the eight major UK banks' preparations for resolution under the
Resolvability Assessment Framework.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">RAF "is a core part of the UK's response to the
global financial crisis, and demonstrates how the UK has overcome the problem
of 'too big to fail'", said Dave Ramsden, deputy governor for markets and
banking at the BoE.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"The UK authorities have developed a resolution
regime that successfully reduces risks to depositors and the financial system
and better protects the UK's public funds."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The other four banks assessed were Nationwide,
Santander UK, Standard Chartered and Virgin Money UK.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-19556807794557268952022-06-09T13:43:00.009-07:002022-06-09T13:43:51.911-07:00Mexican mega-church leader sentenced for child sex abuse<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.rfi.fr/en/mexican-mega-church-leader-sentenced-for-child-sex-abuse" target="_blank">Rfi.fr – AFP</a>, 9 June 2022</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg48GvzHCKczCVAi8IZkzDWwefIPXYidnfS05-9LCZk59hv7UIpxtaSjfmvsY-CZFxTZNLhC7uUmDR1LmM1xCvRLNQ91q3QBHfnSL6eTDMvJjGUJwx6FiRUt-UNNhgGDMVM09jmKwYWI-5iGkk-nrfjdfTUAfDnw2DQ74ZvV8FEo_HG-OkR7sJX5Pq7/s1024/40a8f2d83d2444881861a397fa86f29424a5d03f.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg48GvzHCKczCVAi8IZkzDWwefIPXYidnfS05-9LCZk59hv7UIpxtaSjfmvsY-CZFxTZNLhC7uUmDR1LmM1xCvRLNQ91q3QBHfnSL6eTDMvJjGUJwx6FiRUt-UNNhgGDMVM09jmKwYWI-5iGkk-nrfjdfTUAfDnw2DQ74ZvV8FEo_HG-OkR7sJX5Pq7/w400-h225/40a8f2d83d2444881861a397fa86f29424a5d03f.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Naason Joaquin Garcia , head of the La Luz Del Mundo church which claims five <br />million followers worldwide, was accused of coercing underage girls into performing <br />sexual acts by telling them that going against his wishes would be acting against <br />God Al Seib POOL/AFP/File</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Los Angeles (AFP) – The leader of a Mexican
mega-church who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting three young girls was
sentenced in Los Angeles on Wednesday to nearly 17 years in prison.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But the ruling, following a plea deal Naason Joaquin
Garcia struck with prosecutors last week, was met with anger by victims, who at
an emotional hearing called for their abuser to face trial and the maximum
possible sentence.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">One victim in court Wednesday condemned officials for
"negotiating with this rapist" while another said in a statement read
to the court that the justice system "failed us."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Garcia, head of the La Luz Del Mundo church which
claims five million followers worldwide, coerced underage girls into performing
sexual acts by telling them that going against his wishes would be acting
against God, prosecutors said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He was arrested at a Los Angeles airport in June 2019.
An initial human trafficking and child rape case was thrown out on a
technicality, and charges were re-filed.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Last Friday, on the eve of his trial, the 53-year-old
-- who claims to be the last apostle of Jesus, and had initially denied all
wrongdoing -- pleaded guilty to felony crimes of sexual assault of three
minors.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">These included forcible oral copulation and a lewd act
upon a 15-year-old, but not counts of rape, extortion and child pornography.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">California attorney general Rob Bonta hailed the
sentence as a "critical step forward for justice."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"While it will never undo the harm and trauma he
caused as the leader of La Luz del Mundo, this sentence makes it crystal clear
that abusers -- no matter who they are -- will be held accountable," he
said Wednesday.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Still, Garcia's church continued to back its leader,
issuing a statement Wednesday to "publicly express our support for the
Apostle of Jesus Christ" and praising his "integrity, his conduct and
his work."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Spanish-language statement said evidence against
Garcia had been fabricated and that the leader had no choice but to strike a
deal as he would not have received a "fair and just" trial.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In court, one victim who said Garcia had stolen both
her virginity and her faith begged the judge to "make sure that this man
is put away for life."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"How is this justice?" she asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-88832907376802594992022-05-27T12:01:00.000-07:002022-05-27T12:01:06.429-07:00NRA: The powerful US gun rights lobby<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/nra-powerful-us-gun-rights-180257753.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, Joshua MELVIN, May 27, 2022</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXghSAd6XY2w13MT3nP3K-tiwNYiPt_9r5PvyLzMjQLb2w8Mzrn-qqWyqQYLee22U3rO3ibH3A7w_88HmiDPbJ5tKnhqgE25mpsIlN7WPi7Vu_URzD9dOm1Fa-_v85BkFyRFrPe5z1kqlxyamoLtBBMcigehcAKGXKCR900ecmra_W2l3tLkWZExE0/s705/fe64bff51b11d5d327acc6a003d886b6.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="529" data-original-width="705" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXghSAd6XY2w13MT3nP3K-tiwNYiPt_9r5PvyLzMjQLb2w8Mzrn-qqWyqQYLee22U3rO3ibH3A7w_88HmiDPbJ5tKnhqgE25mpsIlN7WPi7Vu_URzD9dOm1Fa-_v85BkFyRFrPe5z1kqlxyamoLtBBMcigehcAKGXKCR900ecmra_W2l3tLkWZExE0/w400-h300/fe64bff51b11d5d327acc6a003d886b6.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">People look at semi-automatic guns at the Kalashnikov booth at the NRA's <br />annual convention in Houston (AFP/STRINGER) (STRINGER)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The National Rifle Association is the central and
fiercest promoter of gun rights in America, and is again holding its annual
convention days after a mass school shooting.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Just like the NRA's meeting after the 1999 Columbine
attack, which defined an era of gun massacres in America's schools, the
gathering opening Friday in Houston follows the killing of 19 children and two
teachers in a Texas classroom.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The NRA has been weakened by scandal and turmoil, but
remains the main force dedicated to advocating for the owners of the tens of
millions of weapons that are readily obtainable across the country.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Here are some key points about the organization:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Potent political force</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The 150-year-old NRA concentrated its focus on
battling gun restrictions in the late 1970s and has become one of the most
powerful lobbying groups in US history.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Its past influence on lawmakers has been far-reaching.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">From 2000 to 2012, the NRA and its allies in the
firearms industry combined to pour $80 million into US House of
Representatives, Senate and presidential races, according to an analysis by the
Center for Responsive Politics.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the 2016 presidential election, the NRA spent about
$20 million for ads attacking Democrat Hillary Clinton and another $10 million
for ads supporting Republican Donald Trump.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Since the 1990s, the NRA has been able to deliver a
powerful punch against local and national politicians it views as a threat to
gun rights, contributing to the defeat of numerous centrist candidates.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Many guns, many deaths</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The NRA has been a key proponent for an industry that
has produced more than 139 million guns for the commercial market over the two
decades from 2000, including 11.3 million in 2020 alone, according to
government data.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">At the same time, America annually records a toll of
tens of thousands of gun deaths, with US authorities saying killings underwent
an "historic" increase in 2020.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The US racked up 19,350 firearm homicides in 2020, up
nearly 35 percent over 2019, and 24,245 gun suicides, up 1.5 percent.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The post-Columbine era</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the April 20, 1999 shooting at Columbine high school
in Littleton, Colorado, two students killed 12 of their classmates and a
teacher, and signaled a new era of classroom killings in America.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The NRA's annual conference was scheduled to open less
than two weeks later in Denver, a short drive from Littleton, prompting state
and local politicians to criticize the planned meeting.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the end, the NRA went ahead with a scaled-down
gathering but voiced a defiant tone defending gun rights.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Over the next two decades, this unapologetic
message would come to define the NRA's tone in the wake of mass shootings at
American schools," US broadcaster NPR wrote, after publishing recordings
it said captured the group's debate over the response to Columbine.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A troubled NRA</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The state of New York sued the group and its leader
Wayne LaPierre in 2020 for financial fraud and misconduct, aiming to dissolve
the powerful lobby.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Top NRA officials were accused of using dues and
donations of members for years as a "personal piggy bank," spending
tens of millions of dollars on themselves and their cronies in violation of
laws governing non-profit organizations.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The group called it a baseless political attack, and
in March a New York judge ruled that alleged self-dealing by the group's
leader, if proven, would not warrant such a strong penalty as the disbanding of
the association.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">New York's lawsuit seeking to boot LaPierre from his
post will, however, be allowed to proceed.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Group in decline?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">NRA claims more than five million members, but there
are signs that figure is on the wane, including a 2021 legal deposition from
LaPierre in which he said numbers were "under 4.9 million."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">US network CBS reported NRA's revenue declined 23
percent from roughly $367 million in 2016 to $282 million in 2020, the most
recent year for which its tax filings are available.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It added that contributions and grants from members
and corporations also have slipped 15 percent during that time.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Yet after an 18-year-old man opened fire this week at
an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, the group spoke up as the voice
explaining why yet another mass shooting had happened.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We recognize this was the act of a lone,
deranged criminal," their statement said. "As we gather in Houston,
we will reflect on these events... and pledge to redouble our commitment to
making our schools secure."</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-30043199230279235312022-05-13T12:44:00.005-07:002022-05-13T12:44:33.022-07:00Canada gymnasts break silence on abuses and sport's 'toxic culture'<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220512-canada-gymnasts-break-silence-on-abuses-and-sport-s-toxic-culture" target="_blank">France24 – AFP</a>,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYDLrxxmRCZY_UBivKjhmlo0gNUqcqZYuqdc4_lnRScr3TwTDf45lROnY5SYvFw-LCzVIVMmTBbGtVK0Z9ZxEBvDi60aay9jXWgJhmdng6FnnbmL1f226OO2TtjG5Nj0VYDKMUY8JmBaAayk17P0dG_Bv2NtPKWQgpQOIrCogX9v4VcWQBSp3npD-j/s972/sport-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="972" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYDLrxxmRCZY_UBivKjhmlo0gNUqcqZYuqdc4_lnRScr3TwTDf45lROnY5SYvFw-LCzVIVMmTBbGtVK0Z9ZxEBvDi60aay9jXWgJhmdng6FnnbmL1f226OO2TtjG5Nj0VYDKMUY8JmBaAayk17P0dG_Bv2NtPKWQgpQOIrCogX9v4VcWQBSp3npD-j/w400-h224/sport-1.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Amelia Cline performs on the balance beam at a national competition in Winnipeg, <br />Canada, in 2002 Handout Amelia Cline/AFP</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Montreal (AFP) – They excelled in the athletic
spotlight, but their feats on the beam and bars masked a darker reality:
Canadian gymnasts are taking legal action to denounce a "toxic"
culture of physical, sexual and psychological abuse by the sport's top brass.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Having tolerated the harm for decades, victims around
the world have come forward in the wake of a US gymnastics scandal that broke
in 2015 before spreading abroad, including to Britain where athletes launched a
similar legal action last year.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">As a child gymnast in Vancouver, Amelia Cline dreamed
of Olympic glory. In her teens, the elite athlete devoted thirty hours a week
to training.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Unfortunately the early years of my gymnastics
days, as positive as they were, they've been somewhat wiped out by those last
three years that were so brutal," the former gymnast, now 32, told AFP.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She and other athletes on Wednesday filed a lawsuit
against Gymnastics Canada and several provincial federations for tolerating a
climate of abuse and mistreatment for decades.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"The lawsuit is essentially designed to hopefully
hold these institutions accountable for systemic psychological, emotional,
physical and sexual violence," she said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">At the end of March, a group of more than 70 present
and former gymnasts published an open letter to Sports Canada denouncing a
"toxic culture and abusive practices that persist within Canadian
gymnastics."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The number of signatories has since grown to more than
400, with the group calling for an independent investigation to shed light on
the sport's problems.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The "general public really doesn't understand the
magnitude of the abuses that are occurring at the gyms," said Kim Shore, a
former gymnast and spokeswoman for Gymnast For Change Canada, who says her
daughter has also suffered mistreatment in the sport.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Micheline Calmy-Rey, president of the Gymnastics
Ethics Foundation created in 2019 in response to the scandal said "it
seems logical to us that an independent investigation be conducted."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Gymnastics Canada has not yet responded to a request
for comment about the lawsuit by AFP.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">'Grilled about my weight'<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In a blog post, Cline says that at 14, she weighed 85
pounds (38.5 kg) and was "grilled about my weight on a weekly basis."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSF7D34aZkf_y1rvqz4BEGhB6-NA9T66HW2GAT74Ey2QmQK-cu0OrVRvjyYC9KFXwTrSEwHGJdoFqtVRqK9wFy0YRHgFhXYrByQTdf4e9vrNVdH2NXBV3LmBWPqYW-lReOpVp4UifHPnzmvWpAI0DfUSq4_GrFYlXJS7JYcgLJnYr-uZMMfTn_JnXA/s2000/b59ef70d651927d4eba5a664175e4a3fc57b3846.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSF7D34aZkf_y1rvqz4BEGhB6-NA9T66HW2GAT74Ey2QmQK-cu0OrVRvjyYC9KFXwTrSEwHGJdoFqtVRqK9wFy0YRHgFhXYrByQTdf4e9vrNVdH2NXBV3LmBWPqYW-lReOpVp4UifHPnzmvWpAI0DfUSq4_GrFYlXJS7JYcgLJnYr-uZMMfTn_JnXA/w480-h640/b59ef70d651927d4eba5a664175e4a3fc57b3846.webp" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Photo courtesy of Amelia Cline shows her performing a 2002-2003 balance beam move <br />during training in Coquitlam, Canada Handout Amelia Cline/AFP</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Some 20 years after giving up gymnastics, she says she
still suffers from the "long-term effects" of mistreatment that left
her with chronic pain and made it hard for her to maintain healthy eating
habits.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Like many of her peers, she laments a "culture of
fear and silence" in gymnastics clubs across the country. "You don't
question what (the coaches) are doing. They're the experts, and they're the
ones who are going to take you to the Olympics," she explained.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"I was always afraid of my coaches," another
gymnast told AFP on condition of anonymity. "I loved gymnastics. I loved travelling.
I loved being with the other girls, but I was so afraid of them."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She described a powerful loneliness felt by child
gymnasts, whose parents were often banned from practices. Very young athletes
were even told never to speak about their training.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Many times the kids are told what happens in the
gym stays in the gym," recalled Shore.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She says gymnastics has been corrupted by a
"culture of control and dominance" over athletes.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"The provincial bodies are made up of individuals
who are conflicted," she said, explaining that "in some provinces,
the chair of the board is also the head coach of a gymnastics club."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Now that a claim has been filed and the problems have
been exposed, Cline and her lawyers believe that the number of plaintiffs will
increase "significantly."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Cline just wishes her nightmare will never be
experienced by other young gymnasts.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"There's really no other mechanism within Canada
to actually hold institutions like this accountable except through the legal
system," she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-44404892943432031072022-04-27T14:57:00.005-07:002022-04-27T14:59:31.093-07:00Second survey highlights downturn in support for the Dutch king<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/04/second-survey-highlights-downturn-in-support-for-the-dutch-king/" target="_blank">DutchNews</a>, April 27, 2022</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4d_ONig5c99svxvAmqzK8EzABBkD7DGEGOCXN41gRb1Uw3SgBMiezc_icT97RTZyEGSpX3evd5S4xUDmfmw7MfyLZicYhEzIavDaXbLAozl9Qd8eXr5C8-wsESIEkeeIGJ-Phltqk1cPxhgfJRWJyMQ8y8uwS1nbEgsoEbbnweisq1lvmyDsEnVmBMA/s560/595785.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="560" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4d_ONig5c99svxvAmqzK8EzABBkD7DGEGOCXN41gRb1Uw3SgBMiezc_icT97RTZyEGSpX3evd5S4xUDmfmw7MfyLZicYhEzIavDaXbLAozl9Qd8eXr5C8-wsESIEkeeIGJ-Phltqk1cPxhgfJRWJyMQ8y8uwS1nbEgsoEbbnweisq1lvmyDsEnVmBMA/w400-h266/595785.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Photo: Robin Utrecht </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">RVD A second survey has highlighted the downturn in support for king Willem-Alexander and the criticism of the way he acted during the coronavirus crisis. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Last week, a poll involving 26,000 people for television show EenVandaag showed just 54% have faith in the monarch and now an Ipsos survey for <a href="https://nos.nl/artikel/2426669-koningsdag-enquete-vertrouwen-in-koning-willem-alexander-verder-gedaald" target="_blank">news channel NOS</a> paints a similar picture. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Just 47% of those in the NOS survey have confidence in the way the king does his job and only similar percentage think he performed well during the past two years. Before coronavirus hit, 75% thought the king was performing well. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The two years of coronavirus have been particularly damning for the royals, following a string of blunders over holidays, and culminating in a <a href="https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2021/12/amalia-held-outdoor-party-to-celebrate-her-birthday-despite-covid-rules/" target="_blank">small party for oldest daughter</a> Amalia when she turned 18 during the lockdown at the end of last year. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Ipsos survey gave the king a personal score of 6.7 out of 10, which is well down on the 7.7 he scored in 2020. Queen Máxima’s score of 7.6 is virtually unchanged on 2021 but down on her 2020 rating of 8. Seven in 10 of survey respondents said they thought she was doing a good job. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Despite the criticism, 58% still support the monarchy as an institution, roughly in line with the EenVandaag figure.</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-59313891410944529412022-04-27T12:46:00.002-07:002022-04-27T12:46:13.141-07:00Harvard creates $100 mn slavery reparation fund<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/harvard-creates-100-mn-slavery-213028382.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, April 26, 2022</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbjESe_vjim6i0Ra2oNYwX8brES_oofAKvPTUTcN1FLCBeK2yC5Rju0gcZPh7c6e0h96Pm-mvtp_9iJEJ61_484ixmXm3RSRFhUqGRVZpmOMiTcP59AyoPsgouf5PMbWY_vXJ7DP6b8HifVyM6Y1FvOkiJNr22AXBUQKk8BbaRHJZ012IIMaPBepCS/s705/32b7d958dabbf23f4331b23ee0fc71a8.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbjESe_vjim6i0Ra2oNYwX8brES_oofAKvPTUTcN1FLCBeK2yC5Rju0gcZPh7c6e0h96Pm-mvtp_9iJEJ61_484ixmXm3RSRFhUqGRVZpmOMiTcP59AyoPsgouf5PMbWY_vXJ7DP6b8HifVyM6Y1FvOkiJNr22AXBUQKk8BbaRHJZ012IIMaPBepCS/w400-h266/32b7d958dabbf23f4331b23ee0fc71a8.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Harvard University has announced a $100 million fund to atone for its role <br />in slavery (AFP/Maddie Meyer) (Maddie Meyer)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">America's prestigious Harvard University announced
Tuesday it will commit $100 million to redress its role in slavery, as more US
institutions move toward reparations for historical injustices.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Harvard said it was putting the money into a fund to
help tackle the educational and social gaps caused by the legacies of the slave
trade and racism.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The move follows a wide-ranging internal review of the
university's role in slavery, the results of which were posted on its website.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The 100-page report made several recommendations about
how the money should be spent, including the improvement of educational
opportunities for descendant communities, honoring enslaved people through
memorials and research, and creating partnerships with Black colleges and
universities.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It also recommended identifying and supporting direct
descendants of Black and Native American enslaved individuals who labored on
Harvard's campus and who were enslaved by previous Harvard leaders.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Harvard benefited from and in some ways
perpetuated practices that were profoundly immoral," Harvard president
Lawrence Bacow wrote in a letter to students and staff posted on the
institution's website.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Consequently, I believe we bear a moral
responsibility to do what we can to address the persistent corrosive effects of
those historical practices on individuals, on Harvard, and on our
society," he added.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Harvard was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts in
1636.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The report found that Harvard staff, including four
presidents, enslaved more than 70 individuals until slavery was outlawed in the
state in 1783.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The report also found that the university
"benefited from extensive financial ties to slavery," including donations
from slave traders.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It said that from the mid-19th century well into the
20th century Harvard presidents and prominent professors promoted race science
and eugenics and "conducted abusive 'research,' including the
photographing of enslaved and subjugated human beings."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Harvard's announcement comes as US institutions
grapple with how to make amends for their role in slavery.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Last year, the leaders of the Jesuit conference of
priests vowed to raise $100 million to benefit the descendants of slaves it
once owned.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In 2019, students at Georgetown University approved a
fund that would benefit the descendants of slaves sold by the elite Jesuit
school in the 1800s.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-16851229756572087552022-03-27T14:04:00.007-07:002022-03-27T14:04:51.705-07:00Prince William says people in ex-colonies must decide monarchy's role<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.msn.com/en-xl/lifestyle/celebs/prince-william-says-people-in-ex-colonies-must-decide-monarchy-s-role/ar-AAVxIFH?li=BB12Iwkd&srcref=rss" target="_blank">MSN – AFP</a>, 27 March 2022</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTBzOPbV_L7KiiDXpzCJny3I6LWYrnxMWApbPz1p2O3PdTMQ5GOTlSIRSJiqj4gGMxONZ-UPM-73lup1PrbIYeOtk-C0aQkrpWNWS5DwYVPKqoEnQ-ZO1Ib1D_VI6s-FogYO9eROVfJ70UEB8fJxmGwq1UhGB5TqeBm-_cvfsDJrQ0-J9FyU9B9yJM/s768/AAVxBcN.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTBzOPbV_L7KiiDXpzCJny3I6LWYrnxMWApbPz1p2O3PdTMQ5GOTlSIRSJiqj4gGMxONZ-UPM-73lup1PrbIYeOtk-C0aQkrpWNWS5DwYVPKqoEnQ-ZO1Ib1D_VI6s-FogYO9eROVfJ70UEB8fJxmGwq1UhGB5TqeBm-_cvfsDJrQ0-J9FyU9B9yJM/w400-h266/AAVxBcN.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">© CHANDAN KHANNA Prince William has said that the Caribbean's former British<br />colonies must decide whether to scrap the monarchy's role in their countries</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US">Prince William ended a turbulent tour of the Caribbean by starkly admitting this weekend that the region's former British colonies must decide whether to scrap the monarchy's role in their countries.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The 39-year-old Duke of Cambridge also hinted that a British royal may in future no longer head the club of 54 Commonwealth countries as the political association of ex-colonies evolves.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The unusually candid comments, which were splashed on the front of several British newspapers Sunday, followed a rocky three-country Caribbean tour over the last week which drew both protests and criticism.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">William and his wife Catherine, 40, faced calls to apologise for the slave trade that helped make past British royals' fortunes, and accusations of appearing "tone deaf" over elements of the visit.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They were also forced to confront the issue of former colonies considering whether to follow Barbados' lead and ditch the queen as their head of state.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Barbados formally declared itself a republic in November.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas -- all stops on the royal tour -- are each said to be mulling such a move.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness pointedly told William in front of television cameras that the nation was "moving on" as an independent country.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"I know that this tour has brought into even sharper focus questions about the past and the future," the Duke of Cambridge said in an end-of-tour statement Saturday.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"In Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas, that future is for the people to decide upon."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">William added he and his wife "are committed to service" and that meant "not telling people what to do" but instead "serving and supporting them".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">'On my mind'</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Commonwealth, a grouping of 54 mainly former British colonies, is headed by Queen Elizabeth II.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In 2018, its leaders formally announced that her son and heir Prince Charles would inherit the role when he becomes king.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But William, second-in-line to the throne, said that "who the Commonwealth chooses to lead its family in the future isn't what is on my mind".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"What matters to us is the potential the Commonwealth family has to create a better future for the people who form it, and our commitment to serve and support as best we can," he added.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The couple's Caribbean trip was intended to help Commonwealth countries where his 95-year-old grandmother is also head of state celebrate her record-breaking 70 years on the throne.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But what were designed to be carefully choreographed photocalls and public appearances for Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee did not go entirely to plan.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In Belize, they angered some locals after failing to consult on parts of their itinerary, while they then prompted placard-bearing protests in Jamaica.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Demonstrators demanded the monarchy pay reparations and apologize for its role in the slave trade that brought hundreds of thousands of Africans to the island to toil under inhumane conditions.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Meanwhile, some of the optics of the tour drew criticism for evoking colonial rule, including the couple greeting kids through metal chain-link fences and William parading in an open-topped jeep in military uniform.</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-50187973984048938032022-03-26T14:14:00.011-07:002022-03-27T14:06:37.071-07:00'Butcher' Putin 'cannot remain in power': Biden<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://sg.news.yahoo.com/biden-meets-top-ukrainian-ministers-155807753.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, Aurélia END, 26 March 2022</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJAvajn8pA7sf6JE5f8Zw6kOTA7LWhRBDJabajxAiUFBEcoHPC6Xn4dHoHu6eCnQs3x063oveh5tltyNoPxtOAeLE72dswt6i-BZCGg3lRViDZzdkkHJ-BOJidVUZZJ_sZ_IfewO-MGp2Sja8AqUnS_ERtzCSRMzdvECVrlZqPmCRUGYikpGcMf2Vh/s768/e256f9ccdb79e6012a208866fa35c8e2.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="517" data-original-width="768" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJAvajn8pA7sf6JE5f8Zw6kOTA7LWhRBDJabajxAiUFBEcoHPC6Xn4dHoHu6eCnQs3x063oveh5tltyNoPxtOAeLE72dswt6i-BZCGg3lRViDZzdkkHJ-BOJidVUZZJ_sZ_IfewO-MGp2Sja8AqUnS_ERtzCSRMzdvECVrlZqPmCRUGYikpGcMf2Vh/w400-h269/e256f9ccdb79e6012a208866fa35c8e2.webp" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">US President Joe Biden, with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz (c) visiting Ukrainian <br />refugees in Warsaw on Saturday (AFP/Brendan Smialowski)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US">President Joe Biden on Saturday called his Russian
counterpart Vladimir Putin a "butcher" who "cannot remain in
power" after meeting top Ukrainian ministers for the first time since
Russia's invasion of Ukraine.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Within minutes of his comments during a visit to
Warsaw, a White House official played down the remarks saying Biden "was
not discussing Putin's power in Russia, or regime change".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"The president's point was that Putin cannot be
allowed to exercise power over his neighbours or the region," the official
said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Biden compared Ukraine's resistance against Russia to
the anti-Soviet "battle for freedom" and said the world must prepare
for a "long fight ahead".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We stand with you," he told Ukrainians in a
sweeping speech at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, which he began with the words of
late Polish pope John Paul II: "Be not afraid."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He said Russia had suffered a "strategic
failure" in Ukraine and told ordinary Russians they were "not our
enemy", urging them to blame Putin for the heavy sanctions imposed by the
West.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He also warned Russia not to move on an
"inch" of NATO territory, reiterating the "sacred
obligation" of collective defence for alliance members.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We will have a different future, a brighter
future rooted in democracy and principle, hope and light.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"For God's sake, this man cannot remain in
power," he said, concluding his address.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Russian missile fragment</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Biden earlier on Saturday met with Ukrainian Foreign
Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, who made a rare
trip out of Ukraine in a possible sign of growing confidence in the fightback
against Russian forces.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The meeting took place at the Marriott Hotel in the
city centre -- opposite a Warsaw train station where there has been a constant
flow of Ukrainian refugees since the conflict started.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Biden sat at a long white table between US Secretary
of State Antony Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, facing Kuleba
and Reznikov, an AFP reporter saw.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">There were Ukrainian and US flags in the background.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRzSQH8wlGELaW5QrjE_22fLFHMsSuR9CPBmPmvJw0BwrZo8aUYNvsP9HnE-Da0gOaj6oRvvGBf2B_bdz4OUXbwRa3L5veD_w8nkhTSXWPqz54icNgwVlt4Bm79y97gz3KE0YfuIwG0v_uolfCUNbXrMjhAKvyVqLkKUGDkYV9fQ3FLRKuJAP1yuba/s768/8ec286edde7fd29c07481888eef86675.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRzSQH8wlGELaW5QrjE_22fLFHMsSuR9CPBmPmvJw0BwrZo8aUYNvsP9HnE-Da0gOaj6oRvvGBf2B_bdz4OUXbwRa3L5veD_w8nkhTSXWPqz54icNgwVlt4Bm79y97gz3KE0YfuIwG0v_uolfCUNbXrMjhAKvyVqLkKUGDkYV9fQ3FLRKuJAP1yuba/w400-h266/8ec286edde7fd29c07481888eef86675.webp" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">During the meeting Biden was flanked by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and <br />US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (far right, facing) and sitting opposite Kuleba and <br />Reznikov (front 3rd right) (AFP/Brendan Smialowski)</span><br /></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US"><br />Kuleba gave Biden the fragment of a Russian missile
that struck a base in Yavoriv near the western Ukrainian city of Lviv close to
the Polish border.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"The invincible character of Ukrainians and
Western ones, especially US ones, are the recipe for our victory," Kuleba
said after the meeting.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Kuleba said he had discussed new sanctions that could
be imposed against Russia and how to ensure the current ones are properly
implemented.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Blinken and Austin "pledged continued support to
meet Ukraine's humanitarian, security, and economic needs", State
Department spokesperson Ned Price said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Biden last met Kuleba in Washington on February 22 --
two days before Russia launched its assault.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Since then, Kuleba has also met Blinken in Poland,
next to the border with Ukraine on March 5.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b>'He's a butcher'</b></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The US leader later visited a refugee centre at the
National Stadium in Warsaw where he met several refugees, including some from
the city of Mariupol which has suffered the worst of Russia's assault.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Asked by reporters what he thought of Putin's actions,
Biden responded simply: "He's a butcher."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"I remember what it's like when you have someone
in a war zone and every morning you get up and you wonder, you are just
wondering, you are praying you don't get that phone call," said Biden,
whose son Beau served in Iraq before dying of a brain tumour.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He also said he was "not sure" that Russia
had changed its strategy in Ukraine after assertions by Russian officials that
they were altering their war aims to concentrate on the eastern Donbas region.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">During his visit, Biden also told Polish President
Andrzej Duda that NATO's collective defence was a "sacred commitment"
for the US, adding: "You can count on that... For your freedom and
ours."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Duda told him that Poles felt a "great sense of
threat" from the conflict in neighbouring Ukraine.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-73186910100854937652022-02-21T12:52:00.006-08:002022-02-21T12:53:40.044-08:00Investigation claims Credit Suisse handled dirty money<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/swissleaks-investigation-targets-credit-suisse-223350735.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, Erwan LUCAS, </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif">20 February 2022</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhl91tzWQVTLKF2oFFLM4-FN9DUeq1WIyTmEpXJDlC9eJBc5p6hsuOr5exqqO-jgb2pGmVxlGtzVBPeiG-n2P2hydj2aNeyEyTombvhpt_TcQZNUwrENDdzegm91uqP-yF_9jAaNQ9aLg5DCqYUePHDPY89Udr2XmInjeUSs2j6ivFP28fBK8NOy_Yi=s768" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="768" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhl91tzWQVTLKF2oFFLM4-FN9DUeq1WIyTmEpXJDlC9eJBc5p6hsuOr5exqqO-jgb2pGmVxlGtzVBPeiG-n2P2hydj2aNeyEyTombvhpt_TcQZNUwrENDdzegm91uqP-yF_9jAaNQ9aLg5DCqYUePHDPY89Udr2XmInjeUSs2j6ivFP28fBK8NOy_Yi=w400-h266" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Credit Suisse has issued a vigorous denial of the allegations (AFP/FABRICE <br />COFFRINI) (FABRICE COFFRINI)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US">Credit Suisse handled billions of dollars in dirty
money for decades, an international media investigation based on a massive data
leak claimed on Sunday, in the latest setback for Switzerland's second-largest
bank.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The bank held more than $8 billion (seven billion
euros) in accounts of criminals, dictators and human rights abusers, among
others, according to the investigation by a group comprising dozens of media
organisations.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Credit Suisse rejected the "allegations and
insinuations", saying in a statement that many of the issues raised were
historical, some dating back more than 70 years.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">According to the Organized Crime and Corruption
Reporting Project (OCCRP), a non-profit journalism group, the "Suisse
Secrets" investigation began when an anonymous source shared bank data
with German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung more than a year ago.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That information, covering accounts collectively worth
$100 billion at their highest point, was trawled through by 48 media outlets
worldwide, including The New York Times, Le Monde and The Guardian.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Accounts identified as problematic held over $8
billion in assets, the investigation found.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The accounts included those held by a Yemeni spy chief
implicated in torture, the sons of an Azerbaijani strongman, a Serbian drug
lord and bureaucrats accused of looting Venezuela's oil wealth.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It was the largest leak ever from a major Swiss bank,
OCCRP said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">'Tendentious interpretations'</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The leak included information on more than 18,000 bank
accounts, many of which "remained open well into the 2010s", said the
OCCRP.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In its statement Sunday, the bank said: "Credit
Suisse strongly rejects the allegations and insinuations about the bank's
purported business practices.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"The matters presented are predominantly
historical, in some cases dating back as far as the 1940s, and the accounts of
these matters based on partial, inaccurate, or selective information taken out
of context, resulting in tendentious interpretations of the bank's business
conduct."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">About 90 percent of the accounts reviewed were closed
-- or were in the process of being closed -- before the press approached the
bank, it added. And more than 60 percent of them had been closed before 2015.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The OCCRP, in a statement on its website, said:
"We believe the dozens of examples we have cited raise serious questions
about Credit Suisse's effectiveness and commitment to meeting its
responsibilities."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It said the investigation had found dozens of
"dubious characters" in the data, including some linked to government
officials.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Among those listed as holding accounts with Credit
Suisse were the sons of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's
King Abdullah II.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When asked why so many of these accounts existed,
current and former Credit Suisse employees described a work culture that
incentivised taking on risk to maximise profits, according to OCCRP.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"I've too often seen criminals and corrupt
politicians who can afford to keep on doing business as usual, no matter what
the circumstances, because they have the certainty that their ill-gotten gains
will be kept safe and always within their reach," said OCCRP co-founder
Paul Radu in a statement.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A series of setbacks</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The international investigation is the latest in a
series of setbacks that Credit Suisse has suffered recently.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In March 2021, the bank was hit by the collapse of
Greensill Capital in which it had committed some $10 billion dollars through
four funds. The implosion of the US fund Archegos cost it more than $5 billion.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And in Switzerland, a former Credit Suisse employee is
among the defendants in a major corruption trial that has just started and
involves alleged money laundering and organised crime in Bulgaria. The bank has
said it will "defend itself vigorously in court".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Experts say draconian banking secrecy laws in
Switzerland effectively silence insiders or journalists who may want to expose
wrongdoing within a Swiss bank, according to OCCRP.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A Swiss media group was unable to participate in the
investigation due to the risk of criminal prosecution, the organisation said.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-76875580865732929202022-01-20T13:45:00.004-08:002022-01-20T13:47:41.396-08:00Probe finds ex-pope Benedict failed to act in German abuse cases<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/probe-finds-ex-pope-benedict-132629405.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, January 20, 2022</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixP1um7_LbdhPLYMujXC21F43jdCYIm1gXKKDxWFnUYWxHMrzWLP3o26roaIXTZuik43eT87MYH4JdPWZkaZIX-7N3nLe_M-TlCyuAN07NgMSqGGrWVJXx9Ib-A9_BVcqwLe8GJJgkkQKardTHrZp2NZdbfKAgecfBi4OtJgrDkohtltk1Tx62nUhx=s705" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="484" data-original-width="705" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixP1um7_LbdhPLYMujXC21F43jdCYIm1gXKKDxWFnUYWxHMrzWLP3o26roaIXTZuik43eT87MYH4JdPWZkaZIX-7N3nLe_M-TlCyuAN07NgMSqGGrWVJXx9Ib-A9_BVcqwLe8GJJgkkQKardTHrZp2NZdbfKAgecfBi4OtJgrDkohtltk1Tx62nUhx=w400-h275" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Ex-pope Benedict has "strictly" denied any responsibility after a report a report <br />said he failed to stop four priests accused of child sex abuse (AFP/Sven Hoppe)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US"><br />Former pope Benedict XVI knowingly failed to take
action to stop four priests accused of child sex abuse in Munich in the 1980s,
according to a damning independent report published Thursday that risks
shattering the ex-pontiff's reputation.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The report by law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl (WSW)
was commissioned by the archdiocese of Munich and Freising to examine how abuse
cases were dealt with between 1945 and 2019.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Ex-pope Benedict -- whose civilian name is Josef
Ratzinger -- was the archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Benedict's spokesman Georg Gaenswein said the
ex-pontiff had responded by expressing "shock and shame at the abuse of
minors committed by clerics" but must examine the text, of which he had no
knowledge until this afternoon.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Benedict, 94 -- whose civilian name is Josef Ratzinger
-- in 2013 became the first pope to step down from the role in 600 years and
now lives a secluded life in a former convent inside the grounds of the
Vatican.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni also said it intended
to examine the report, "the contents of which are not currently
known".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Two of the cases where Benedict allegedly failed to
act involved clergymen who had committed several proven acts of abuse but were
allowed to continue with pastoral duties, according to WSW lawyer Martin Pusch.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiv8SbgCpgVUrvui4Dk5hzyTmRCZsAdFkGLvqSYcqOtqrQs8-nMecsfuIVr6CgjmzrXY3SPyXgCR80XVjaZOK2eQjZ-ZI4Kc7fuOACx4ZNL39JVpz88QogR7q2djbBd6qA59wRpukj4W71gpcKER5GTha1F0fp3NtWtmrsGmxLgfe3RbexifRBV_rnk=s705" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="705" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiv8SbgCpgVUrvui4Dk5hzyTmRCZsAdFkGLvqSYcqOtqrQs8-nMecsfuIVr6CgjmzrXY3SPyXgCR80XVjaZOK2eQjZ-ZI4Kc7fuOACx4ZNL39JVpz88QogR7q2djbBd6qA59wRpukj4W71gpcKER5GTha1F0fp3NtWtmrsGmxLgfe3RbexifRBV_rnk=w400-h225" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Ex-pope Benedict failed to act in four child abuse cases, says German law firm</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US">In one case, a now notorious paedophile priest named
Peter Hullermann was transferred to Munich from Essen in western Germany where
he had been accused of abusing an 11-year-old boy.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Hullermann was reassigned to pastoral duties despite
his history and continued to reoffend for many years.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b>'Defensive attitude'</b></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The lawyers said that "to our surprise",
Benedict had denied attending the meeting in 1980 at which the decision was
made to admit Hullermann, despite being quoted directly in the minutes of the
meeting.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Any interest in the abuse victims was "not
recognisable" in Benedict, Pusch said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He also said Benedict had initially shown a
"defensive attitude" when responding to questions for the
investigation. However, he later changed his stance and gave a detailed written
statement.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The report found indications of sexually abusive
behaviour in 235 people it investigated, including 173 priests. There were a
total of at least 497 victims.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The lawyers also accused Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the
current archbishop of Munich and Freising, of failing to act in two cases of
suspected abuse.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEioZkcw7vjod4G6fWFLb20YNNjnwacUTvCwlSIGBcZazII_zxpzktvnpIsbzCLudmq7ZLTc-esJV21ng3jgRNY1k8TnHBfwGwb0-hyp5mHYRmXLk2idfjebZ198FrnVhRc2Va5DEOjVynqdzdwhI8uobx-ar7siL3m-xswN22sVHhit7pvhL_x4ShkX=s705" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEioZkcw7vjod4G6fWFLb20YNNjnwacUTvCwlSIGBcZazII_zxpzktvnpIsbzCLudmq7ZLTc-esJV21ng3jgRNY1k8TnHBfwGwb0-hyp5mHYRmXLk2idfjebZ198FrnVhRc2Va5DEOjVynqdzdwhI8uobx-ar7siL3m-xswN22sVHhit7pvhL_x4ShkX=w400-h266" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Benedict, 94, now lives a secluded life in a former convent inside the grounds <br />of the Vatican (AFP/OSSERVATORE ROMANO)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US">Marx had last year offered Pope Francis his
resignation over the church's "institutional and systemic failure" in
its handling of child sex abuse scandals.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">However, Pope Francis rejected his offer, urging the
cardinal known for his reforms to stay and help shape change in the Catholic
Church.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Marx on Thursday apologised to the victims on behalf
of the archdiocese, which will respond in detail next week, and also said he
was "shocked and ashamed" by the findings.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">'Frightening insights'</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The reformist Catholic group "Wir sind
Kirche" (We are Church) said the report offered "frightening insights
into the lack of sense of responsibility of clerical office holders".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It called on Benedict to "face up to his
ecclesiastical and moral responsibility instead of making more and more denials
that are not very credible".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The SNAP abuse survivors' network went further:
"True action could come in the form of admission from Pope Benedict XVI
and for him to relinquish his honor as pope emeritus. That could start the act
of contrition."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Catholic Church has been embroiled in a series of
sexual abuse scandals in countries around the world, including Australia,
Chile, France, Ireland and the United States.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi1Rop4dHj1GQvhYjT1RSy_fZzCELzHpIApjjZNVoPlR8l66_Gg5tLAhVG-Z-7zlkd3ItLJSnQM56BUWuiKkj4PpAiIrEHnHYhbmBNm3WBL8fFnNAhuApkd-VnOd01Y1Fi2ZsJIIbPQWQtv1npQkEG64QJVh3Lw1RrSL7IhNUx4OwCoMoYWX5x1NIcl=s705" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="482" data-original-width="705" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi1Rop4dHj1GQvhYjT1RSy_fZzCELzHpIApjjZNVoPlR8l66_Gg5tLAhVG-Z-7zlkd3ItLJSnQM56BUWuiKkj4PpAiIrEHnHYhbmBNm3WBL8fFnNAhuApkd-VnOd01Y1Fi2ZsJIIbPQWQtv1npQkEG64QJVh3Lw1RrSL7IhNUx4OwCoMoYWX5x1NIcl=w400-h274" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">The report by Westpfahl Spilker Wastl (WSW), which was commissioned by <br />the church to carry out the probe (AFP/Sven Hoppe)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US">In Germany, a string of reports in recent years have
exposed widespread abuse of children by clergymen.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A study commissioned by the German Bishops' Conference
in 2018 concluded that 1,670 clergymen in the country had committed some form
of sexual attack against 3,677 minors between 1946 and 2014.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">However, the real number of victims is thought to be
much higher.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Another report published last year exposed the scope
of abuse committed by priests in Germany's top diocese of Cologne.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The abuse scandal has thwarted the Catholic Church's
efforts to spearhead broad reforms in Germany.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Payouts for victims of abuse were increased in 2020 to
up to 50,000 euros ($56,700), from around 5,000 euros previously, but
campaigners say the sum is still inadequate.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Matthias Katsch, a spokesman for the Eckiger Tisch
victims' group, called the report "shocking".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It was "impressive and very moving" to see
the lawyers "take apart this edifice of lies that has been erected to
protect Benedict XVI", he said.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-69279971101549890942022-01-13T12:56:00.002-08:002022-01-13T12:56:19.285-08:00Prince Andrew gives up military titles, patronages: palace<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/prince-andrew-gives-military-titles-170931520.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, January 13, 2022</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgUDIJvY4gVMu4XuRfTmTIIaSvQZtJ9kCW31wF_YtrtgIJDw-0BIaZnYrnqic80R3Lp0Bc50ntPIgiGwlG7is_P7TKYn_4xI9X8yHoA8debTsKP19B4ReJXQJZ8l8l1dnYONPVBnPKFLiFvqE7LEsSiKswCuoeqxEz7P1c-ldP9imcmIYowxzDutDhY=s705" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="705" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgUDIJvY4gVMu4XuRfTmTIIaSvQZtJ9kCW31wF_YtrtgIJDw-0BIaZnYrnqic80R3Lp0Bc50ntPIgiGwlG7is_P7TKYn_4xI9X8yHoA8debTsKP19B4ReJXQJZ8l8l1dnYONPVBnPKFLiFvqE7LEsSiKswCuoeqxEz7P1c-ldP9imcmIYowxzDutDhY=w400-h272" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Prince Andrew has given up his honorary military titles and charitable <br />positions (AFP/John Thys}</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Queen Elizabeth II's second son Prince Andrew, who is
facing a US civil case for sexual assault, has given up his honorary military
and charitable roles, Buckingham Palace said on Thursday.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"With The Queen's approval and agreement, The
Duke of York's military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to
The Queen," a statement said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"The Duke of York will continue not to undertake
any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The announcement came after a judge in New York on
Wednesday ruled against the 61-year-old prince, who had tried to have the case
against him thrown out.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Andrew, a former Royal Navy helicopter pilot who flew
in the 1982 Falklands War, is accused of sexually assaulting Virginia Giuffre
when she was 17.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Giuffre alleges the late disgraced financier Jeffrey
Epstein lent her out for sex with his wealthy and powerful associates.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Andrew, who is ninth in line to the throne, was forced
to step back from royal duties in late 2019, after a disastrous television
interview in which he tried to defend his links to Epstein.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Public outrage at the time saw several charities and
associations distance themselves from him, and he has since repeatedly denied
Giuffre's allegations.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOjdjS1ALCpCbllwaAcDbON_J6wpyolUEsG-CrRp5eyKWR4dioeyZFJXaEEJklmBcL9jdRD20MbgdEFodHDKAZyGCv9KItwTye8c34Ivj6xGL0CpMVbx2zX274YMvfIS74eGafGf4Zp2UXt6KQuXmG96nMHfqzk1kljQ9nR99YXvJKwOu3kwhbCCDc=s705" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOjdjS1ALCpCbllwaAcDbON_J6wpyolUEsG-CrRp5eyKWR4dioeyZFJXaEEJklmBcL9jdRD20MbgdEFodHDKAZyGCv9KItwTye8c34Ivj6xGL0CpMVbx2zX274YMvfIS74eGafGf4Zp2UXt6KQuXmG96nMHfqzk1kljQ9nR99YXvJKwOu3kwhbCCDc=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">The Duke of York has kept a low profile since he tried to defend his links to the <br />disgraced US financer Jeffrey Epstein (AFP/Justin Tallis)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">He has rarely been seen in public since the television
interview.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">On Thursday, he was seen being driven from his house
near Windsor Castle, west of London, an AFP photographer said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The announcement came after more than 150 Royal Navy,
Royal Air Force and British Army veterans wrote to the Queen, calling on her to
strip Andrew of his ranks and titles in the armed forces.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The 95-year-old head of state is commander-in-chief of
the army, navy and air force.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Were this any other senior military officer it
is inconceivable that he would still be in post," the veterans wrote in a
joint letter made public by the anti-monarchy pressure group Republic.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Officers of the British armed forces must adhere
to the very highest standards of probity, honesty and honourable conduct.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"These are standards which Prince Andrew has
fallen well short of," they wrote, adding that he had "brought the
services he is associated with into disrepute".</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Senior members of the British royal family have
typically been appointed as honorary heads of military units, with the Queen's
approval.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Andrew was honorary colonel of the Grenadier Guards,
whose soldiers guard Buckingham Palace in their distinctive bearskin hats and
red tunics.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Royal patronages are associations with charities and
other organisations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-47178045439509692942021-12-30T12:57:00.005-08:002021-12-30T12:57:58.649-08:00Maxwell-Epstein victims 'relieved and grateful' after guilty verdict<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20211230-maxwell-epstein-victims-relieved-and-grateful-after-guilty-verdict" target="_blank">France24 – AFP</a>, 30/12/2021</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhT52GSYq_E5Lj_LaP6YvahxLggol-KyRcoR9XM0C4ERSwM4ZwcJ8xb_-VCtJR0H-W7-RfLNHWv_w0dsaSr2pbWSA9DbCVGGM2sRBAQZLXUhaBQlGD9t2IK9WhFd_wNDf3ioZ0YeuP80jdMLhwxVO42ye9d9Y3KpuXPjxO6Y1xAQfjNsJCNxsB4now2=s1024" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhT52GSYq_E5Lj_LaP6YvahxLggol-KyRcoR9XM0C4ERSwM4ZwcJ8xb_-VCtJR0H-W7-RfLNHWv_w0dsaSr2pbWSA9DbCVGGM2sRBAQZLXUhaBQlGD9t2IK9WhFd_wNDf3ioZ0YeuP80jdMLhwxVO42ye9d9Y3KpuXPjxO6Y1xAQfjNsJCNxsB4now2=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A photo of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein presented as evidence <br />during her trial Handout US District Court for the Southern District of New York/AFP/File</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">New York (AFP) – Victims of the British socialite
Ghislaine Maxwell and her former partner, the late American financier Jeffrey
Epstein, welcomed a jury's decision Wednesday finding Maxwell guilty of child
sex trafficking.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"I am so relieved and grateful that the jury
recognized the pattern of predatory behavior that Maxwell engaged in,"
said Annie Farmer, one of four victims to testify in the high-profile trial, in
a statement on Twitter.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"I hope that this verdict brings solace to all
who need it and demonstrates that no one is above the law," said Farmer,
who was the only woman not to testify under a pseudonym.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Even those with great power and privilege will
be held accountable when they sexually abuse and exploit the young."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The 60-year-old Maxwell, daughter of the late British
media baron Robert Maxwell, was found guilty in a Manhattan federal court of a
series of sex crimes, the most serious being the sex trafficking of a minor,
which carries a maximum 40 year sentence.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Four women testified that between 1994 and 2004,
Maxwell recruited and groomed them for sex with Epstein. Two of the women were
14 years old at the time.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Theresa Helm, another Epstein accuser who did not
participate in the trial, described Maxwell as a "master
manipulator."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Ghislaine Maxwell will never again have the
opportunity to take anything from anyone. She will reside on the other side of
freedom. Us -- survivors -- we go free," Helm said in a BBC interview.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Epstein committed suicide in prison two years ago
while awaiting his own trial for sex crimes.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The judge has not yet set a date for Maxwell's
sentencing, but the cumulative penalty for her crimes would likely amount to a
life sentence.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Her attorney, Bobbi Sternheim, has already stated that
they will appeal.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Virginia Giuffre, who alleges Epstein lent her out for
sex with his wealthy and powerful associates, including Britain's Prince Andrew
welcomed the verdict in a statement on Twitter.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Praising Maxwell's conviction, Giuffre said she
"will remember this day always."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"My heart goes out to the many other girls and
young women who suffered," she added. "I hope that today is not the
end but rather another step in justice being served."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The prince has repeatedly denied the allegations by
Giuffre, who is sueing him in the United States, saying he does not remember
meeting her and "absolutely and categorically did not have sex with
her."<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-19269929392991870372021-12-25T13:55:00.003-08:002021-12-25T13:58:41.534-08:00China mulls bill to tackle workplace discrimination against women<p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/china-mulls-bill-tackle-workplace-033517458.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, December 25, 2021</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjaepJwIpbkZQyDxJx8QTVpE5QwbN_SMSyF_HTPQe2x6JDHrxZIDhMv5_25SkD8mLXWcjZm9JkjN94JdajdNUxwkJSCkT8xoN19vS6qOBFqVvMZZOtzxuY7M9dxyrYyYQ3k9AZO9fvQ4DoNGk87NTceRKLuU7nLtHdeESIJ2LbmKcIAe-ze6PDTpTX9=s705" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjaepJwIpbkZQyDxJx8QTVpE5QwbN_SMSyF_HTPQe2x6JDHrxZIDhMv5_25SkD8mLXWcjZm9JkjN94JdajdNUxwkJSCkT8xoN19vS6qOBFqVvMZZOtzxuY7M9dxyrYyYQ3k9AZO9fvQ4DoNGk87NTceRKLuU7nLtHdeESIJ2LbmKcIAe-ze6PDTpTX9=w400-h266" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Assembly-line workers at a factory in Fuyang in eastern China (AFP/STR)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US">Chinese lawmakers are discussing new rules to prevent
workplace discrimination and sexual harassment against women amid a string of
high-profile cases in recent months.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A draft bill published Friday includes a ban on
employers stating gender preferences on job ads and quizzing female applicants
about their marital or pregnancy status –- a common practice that has been
criticised for decades.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Rapid economic growth in the past four decades coupled
with the one-child rule has opened up more educational and employment
opportunities for Chinese women.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But women's participation in the workforce has
dropped, due to gender-based filtering when hiring and as more women care for
families amid a severe shortage of affordable childcare options.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A report by Human Rights Watch in June found that one
in five civil service job postings in 2019 specified a preference for male
applicants.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The report also says that it was a common practice for
employers including schools to force female staff to sign contracts promising
not to get pregnant for several years as a pre-condition for being hired.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The proposed new rules come amid concerns that China's
new three-child rule could make employers even more reluctant to hire women and
as officials crack down on the local #MeToo movement after a string of cases
that led to a public outcry over sexual assault in the workplace.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Earlier this month, e-commerce giant Alibaba group
fired a female staffer who had accused a manager of sexual assault.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The proposed amendments will make enforcement easier
by clearly defining what sexual harassment is, state-run Xinhua news agency
said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">According to a draft text published Friday, it
prohibits "vulgar speech", "inappropriate physical
behaviour" or "the display or dissemination of sexual images, information,
text, audio or video".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It also requires employers to set up mechanisms to
prevent, investigate and respond to such complaints "without delay",
but there were no details on any penalties for failing to do so.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The amendments are open for public comment until
January 22, 2022.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Related Article:</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><b><a href="https://cempaka-occupy.blogspot.com/2021/11/us-un-demand-proof-of-missing-chinese.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">US,
UN demand proof of missing Chinese tennis star's well-being</span></a></b></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-41578746194052739342021-11-19T13:16:00.008-08:002021-11-19T13:16:36.752-08:00US, UN demand proof of missing Chinese tennis star's well-being<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/un-demands-proof-missing-chinese-162127978.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, Robin MILLARD, November 19, 2021</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeYd8cw0BfcH5VTUxDoaVDYT3zRbKASujETLwk2o10-jk4-kDpcY2criKQX5YbBgcYlAN2KDGEQrMKwOlBzayghK68MRRSJlrjc4b7tjis79g-2xykLY8YtxYD0pyzvUEu3DXDDlepZ6k/s705/7eaaa3c059ac261797a37e465a16c891.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeYd8cw0BfcH5VTUxDoaVDYT3zRbKASujETLwk2o10-jk4-kDpcY2criKQX5YbBgcYlAN2KDGEQrMKwOlBzayghK68MRRSJlrjc4b7tjis79g-2xykLY8YtxYD0pyzvUEu3DXDDlepZ6k/w400-h266/7eaaa3c059ac261797a37e465a16c891.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-align: left;">The WTA is threatening to pull out of China if tennis star Peng Shui's <br />whereabouts and safety are not confirmed (AFP/GREG BAKER)</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The United States and UN on Friday demanded proof of
Peng Shuai's whereabouts and well-being amid rising concern for the tennis
star, missing since alleging she was sexually exploited by a former
vice-premier of China.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President
Joe Biden's administration wanted China to "provide independent,
verifiable proof" of Peng's whereabouts and expressed "deep
concern" about the former world top-ranked doubles player.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The United Nations insisted on a fully transparent
investigation into the claims made by Peng against Communist Party grandee
Zhang Gaoli.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Tennis stars, sports bodies, governments and human
rights defenders also spoke up for Peng, 35, and demanded information.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The head of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) said
he was prepared to cut lucrative business ties with China if Peng remains
unaccounted for and her sexual assault allegations are not probed.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka have
also voiced their concerns for one of China's greatest ever players.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"It would be important to have proof of her
whereabouts and well-being," Liz Throssell, a spokeswoman for the UN Human
Rights Office, told reporters in Geneva.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"According to available information, Peng, a
former world doubles number one, hasn't been heard from publicly since she
alleged on social media that she had been sexually assaulted.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We are calling for an investigation with full
transparency into her allegation of sexual assault."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">WTA threatens China pull-out</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Peng alleged on the Chinese social media site Weibo
earlier this month that Zhang, now in his 70s, had "forced" her into
sex during a long-term on-off relationship.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The claims were quickly scrubbed from the Twitter-like
platform and she has not been seen since.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The WTA, the top world body for women's tennis, has
called for proof that Peng is safe.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Its boss Steve Simon said he is willing to lose
hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Chinese business in one of the WTA's
biggest markets to ensure Peng's safety.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We're definitely willing to pull our business
and deal with all the complications that come with it," Simon told CNN.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Women need to be respected and not
censored," he added.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Tennis legend Serena Williams also demanded an
investigation.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"I am devastated and shocked to hear about the
news of my peer, Peng Shuai," the former singles world number one wrote on
Twitter.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"This must be investigated and we must not stay
silent."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Peng represented China in the Beijing, London and Rio
de Janeiro Olympics and won gold for China at the 2010 Asian Games.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She is a former Wimbledon and French Open doubles
champion.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">France said the international community and sports
bodies were worried for Peng's situation.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We are concerned about the lack of
information," the French foreign ministry said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We call on the Chinese authorities to implement
their commitments in the fight against violence against women."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Lawn Tennis Association, the sport's governing
body in Britain, offered its assistance to the WTA in its efforts to establish
Peng's safety.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Email doubts</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Peng's claims brought the #MeToo movement into the
highest echelons of China's ruling Communist Party for the first time.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"The Chinese government has systematically
silenced the country's #MeToo movement," said Amnesty International's
China researcher Doriane Lau.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Given that it also has a zero-tolerance approach
to criticism, it is deeply concerning that Peng Shuai appears to be missing,"
she said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">China has repeatedly refused to comment on her fate or
the case.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But Hu Xijin, the outspoken editor of the Communist
Party-owned Global Times, tweeted on Friday that he didn't believe that
"Peng Shuai has received retaliation and repression speculated by foreign
media for the thing people talked about".</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Earlier this week, state-run CGTN published a
screenshot on Twitter of what it said was an email written by Peng to Simon and
other WTA officials.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the email, Peng claims that her earlier accusations
are "not true" and says she is "resting at home and everything
is fine".</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But doubts were quickly flagged about the awkward
language used in the purported email and the cursor visible in the screenshot.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Simon said that he was struggling to believe the email
was authentic.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"I don't think there's any validity in it and we won't
be comfortable until we have a chance to speak with her," he said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Amnesty's Lau said: "China's state media has a
track record of forcing statements out of individuals under duress, or else
simply fabricating them."<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-87775804229032541792021-10-03T13:21:00.005-07:002021-10-05T13:19:09.981-07:00'Pandora Papers' expose offshore assets of heads of state, govt<p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/pandora-papers-expose-offshore-assets-181940428.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, October 3, 2021</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT9bBZo24ng5KqmVrfrzi0bUP91Bk930QG43Awkoq4LxdMgnbwZOfwrSpAUNiKB-75NSGWg8xw8Xq2u_bJouvMgy88MS5XHqeIQG0dobVee7XodHe8Bw4B59Cwwge00uCbSNuNDzwxCrk/s705/357b33c3ed385e3572a37b10cf48d461.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT9bBZo24ng5KqmVrfrzi0bUP91Bk930QG43Awkoq4LxdMgnbwZOfwrSpAUNiKB-75NSGWg8xw8Xq2u_bJouvMgy88MS5XHqeIQG0dobVee7XodHe8Bw4B59Cwwge00uCbSNuNDzwxCrk/w400-h266/357b33c3ed385e3572a37b10cf48d461.webp" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Some 35 current and former leaders are featured in leaked financial documents <br />analyzed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) (AFP/Jim Watson)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US">More than a dozen heads of state and government,
including the King of Jordan and the Czech prime minister, have hidden millions
in offshore tax havens, according to an investigation published Sunday by the
ICIJ media consortium.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The so-called "Pandora Papers" investigation
-- involving some 600 journalists from media including The Washington Post, the
BBC and The Guardian -- is based on the leak of some 11.9 million documents
from 14 financial services companies around the world.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Some 35 current and former leaders are featured in the
documents analyzed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
(ICIJ) -- facing allegations ranging from corruption to money laundering and
global tax avoidance.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The documents notably expose how King Abdullah II
created a network of offshore companies and tax havens to amass a $100 million
property empire from Malibu, California to Washington and London.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The BBC cited lawyers for King Abdullah saying all the
properties were bought with personal wealth, and that it was common practice
for high profile individuals to purchase properties via offshore companies for
privacy and security reasons.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The documents also show Czech Prime minister Andrej
Babis -- facing an election later this week -- failed to declare an offshore
investment company used to purchase a chateau worth $22 million in the south of
France.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In total, the ICIJ found links between almost 1,000
companies in offshore havens and 336 high-level politicians and public
officials, including country leaders, cabinet ministers, ambassadors and
others.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">More than two-thirds of the companies were set up in
the British Virgin Islands.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In most countries, the ICIJ stresses, it is not
illegal to have assets offshore or to use shell companies to do business across
national borders.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But such revelations are no less of an embarrassment
for leaders who may have campaigned publicly against corruption, or advocated
austerity measures at home.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Among the other revelations from the ICIJ investigation:</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">-- Family and associates of Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev are alleged to have been secretly involved in property deals in
Britain worth hundreds of millions.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">-- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and six family
members are alleged to secretly own a network of offshore companies.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">-- Members of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's
inner circle, including cabinet ministers and their families, are said to
secretly own companies and trusts holding millions of dollars.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">-- Russian President Vladimir Putin is not directly
named in the files, but he is linked via associates to secret assets in Monaco.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The "Pandora Papers" are the latest in a
series of mass ICIJ leaks of financial documents that started with LuxLeaks in
2014, and was followed by the Panama Papers, the Paradise Papers and FinCen.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The documents behind the latest investigation are
drawn from financial services companies in countries including the British
Virgin Islands, Panama, Belize, Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and
Switzerland.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0wbL391LOtbB6wuzZzaW2HBdS1V9QDqgpBHWqXE95mKg0hUnJX_P782nOQ16KCcPR3BcO1F_lvwH_OPXsAkbT6F1uah6dqetTdgil6TrniyFqLvBgMcM-h9Y36gppE65S_4xye5okDnQ/s2048/FA5RQo9VUAcMZL-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1160" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0wbL391LOtbB6wuzZzaW2HBdS1V9QDqgpBHWqXE95mKg0hUnJX_P782nOQ16KCcPR3BcO1F_lvwH_OPXsAkbT6F1uah6dqetTdgil6TrniyFqLvBgMcM-h9Y36gppE65S_4xye5okDnQ/w362-h640/FA5RQo9VUAcMZL-.jpg" width="362" /></a></span></div><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-5598022872452299532021-10-02T11:52:00.006-07:002021-10-02T11:53:27.249-07:00US women's soccer league postpones matches after abuse allegations<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/us-womens-soccer-league-postpones-190029381.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, Fri, October 1, 2021</span><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF-TwRKcfk0iEQAOb6-B12QxPnf5ZYi4HCL06yzUG1lGzTdBjKvbl7DLZYaUWW9MrCGjLKz1bWoZbdeb0IBp1mXp8uFe8pKdcYIL2vKYJzIFRFBUtIJR4pqv0eAW4VMasDw1vELU-cXTk/s768/37fdc8b78a58ac699c2f6d174dbb08b8.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF-TwRKcfk0iEQAOb6-B12QxPnf5ZYi4HCL06yzUG1lGzTdBjKvbl7DLZYaUWW9MrCGjLKz1bWoZbdeb0IBp1mXp8uFe8pKdcYIL2vKYJzIFRFBUtIJR4pqv0eAW4VMasDw1vELU-cXTk/w400-h266/37fdc8b78a58ac699c2f6d174dbb08b8.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The National Women's Soccer League has announced it is postponing its weekend <br />matches following allegations of sexual misconduct against a head coach (AFP/Alex Goodlett)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;">The top professional women's soccer league in the
United States, under fire for its handling of allegations of sexual misconduct
against a head coach, announced on Friday that it was postponing its weekend
matches.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US">"This week, and much of this season, has been
incredibly traumatic for our players and staff, and I take full responsibility
for the role I have played," National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
commissioner Lisa Baird said.</span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US">"I am so sorry for the pain so many are
feeling," Baird said in a statement. "Recognizing that trauma, we
have decided not to take the field this weekend to give everyone some space to
reflect."</span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US">The postponement came after the North Carolina Courage
fired head coach Paul Riley on Thursday for what the team called "very
serious allegations of misconduct."</span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US">Riley's dismissal came after The Athletic website
detailed wide-ranging sexual misconduct by the 58-year-old Englishman spanning
multiple teams and leagues since 2010.</span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US">Riley was the second NWSL coach to be dismissed this
week after the league terminated Washington Spirit coach Richie Burke's
contract following an investigation into allegations of verbal and emotional
abuse.</span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US">In her statement, Baird, the NWSL commissioner, said
"business as usual isn't our concern right now. Our entire league has a
great deal of healing to do, and our players deserve so much better."</span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US">Baird said the decision to postpone the weekend
matches was made in collaboration with the players association.</span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US">"This pause will be the first step as we
collectively work to transform the culture of this league, something that is
long overdue," she said.</span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US">US internationals Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe were
among the players who criticized the league's handling of the allegations
against Riley.</span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">"Bottom line: protect your players. Do the right
thing NWSL," Morgan tweeted.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-42963050003891678652021-06-24T13:46:00.004-07:002021-06-24T13:46:20.200-07:00US Supreme Court backs payments for student athletes<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/us-supreme-court-backs-payments-165012895.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, Paul HANDLEY, June 21, 2021</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhipuYh9RB_c3XIKvAKN1VlyRuY4IUxfIbpD3AW59_RCV_KCfHAXaUNjKgkZypweUjCp4M-swUcSgWsWFPpcb3OOx74A4uMAPPt6FXUQjZlhFYX7xiLZIESe7O4YwTFYQ_yMAnvm6MxfJ4/s768/3d86a1aca8c673f2a2d57305609f5f07.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhipuYh9RB_c3XIKvAKN1VlyRuY4IUxfIbpD3AW59_RCV_KCfHAXaUNjKgkZypweUjCp4M-swUcSgWsWFPpcb3OOx74A4uMAPPt6FXUQjZlhFYX7xiLZIESe7O4YwTFYQ_yMAnvm6MxfJ4/w400-h266/3d86a1aca8c673f2a2d57305609f5f07.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">US Universities sports governed by the NCAA ,including football, are ahugely lucrative <br />business but athletes themselves don't reap the financial benefits, the Supreme Court said. </span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The US Supreme Court ruled Monday that America's top
university athletics body cannot block student-athletes from getting extra
benefits, eroding its power over the multi-billion-dollar college sports
industry.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The high court sided unanimously with student-athletes
in a narrow case focused on whether they can receive limited cash or non-cash
benefits from their schools related to their education, which the National
Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) currently forbids.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">While it did not weigh in on whether student-athletes
should be able to cash in completely on their performances, the Supreme Court
made it clear it did not accept the NCAA's claim that its strict ban on their
earning any money, to retain "amateur" status, was important to the
business.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The court called the NCAA an effective monopoly in its
control over the lucrative industry of college sports.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Put simply, this suit involves admitted
horizontal price fixing in a market where the defendants exercise monopoly
control," Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the opinion.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"No one disputes that the NCAA's restrictions in
fact decrease the compensation that student-athletes receive compared to what a
competitive market would yield."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The long-brewing case, NCAA v. Alston et al, did not
address the hottest topic of college sports: whether athletes, like
universities and the NCAA, should benefit from endorsements or monetization of
their personal images, such as sales of shirts bearing their names.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But the court said the NCAA could not prove that
athletes keeping their amateur status was important to what Gorsuch called its
"massive business."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Those who run this enterprise profit in a
different way than the student-athletes whose activities they oversee," he
said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"The president of the NCAA earns nearly $4
million per year. Commissioners of the top conferences take home between $2 to
$5 million... And annual salaries for top Division I college football coaches
approach $11 million."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">'Price-fixing labor'</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The ruling appeared to open the gate for a broader
challenge to the NCAA's control on how student-athletes can earn money, or
share in the profits the NCAA and universities rake in.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Price-fixing labor is price-fixing labor,"
Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a concurring opinion.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"The NCAA's business model would be flatly
illegal in almost any other industry in America," he said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"All of the restaurants in a region cannot come
together to cut cooks' wages on the theory that 'customers prefer' to eat food
from low-paid cooks."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The White House applauded the ruling, while the NCAA
said the court had reaffirmed its authority to adopt "reasonable
rules" and that it remained free to judge what constitutes "truly
educational benefits."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Individual states will implement new laws on July 1
that give student-athletes the right to profit from endorsements, so-called
"name, image and likeness" (NIL) benefits.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Currently the NCAA bans them from profiting from
social media, sales of shirts bearing their names, video games using their
likenesses and apparel deals arranged by their schools.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But the much smaller National Association of
Intercollegiate Athletics, authorized NIL benefits last year.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The NCAA has stalled on the issue, leading to Congress
now debating legislation.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The council for NCAA's powerful Division I,
representing the largest and richest schools, will meet on Tuesday and
Wednesday and could discuss the issue.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"The NCAA remains committed to supporting NIL
benefits for student-athletes," NCAA President Mark Emmert said in a
statement.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Additionally, we remain committed to working
with Congress to chart a path forward, which is a point the Supreme Court
expressly stated in its ruling."<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959586921883995448.post-64421772186319836062021-06-09T13:44:00.010-07:002021-06-24T13:09:01.623-07:00UK govt slams students for ditching 'colonial' queen portrait<p><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/uk-govt-slams-students-ditching-091123361.html" target="_blank"> </a><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/uk-govt-slams-students-ditching-091123361.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, June 9, 2021</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnef8Ym6uUuNppP26nlbdF76p6j5gOxwN-HGyGUSnoeKj2-gbdN0ZfgbK0FSg74Zmlp-UTkaZOQxjfSGzjwEWMgzh3-greWyrKXqKHaq2fbc7rPczFnFL46w2p-keb1QdjOuAYG6f6ZaE/s705/146023ac2f58be6fdec48622e2e50eec.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="705" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnef8Ym6uUuNppP26nlbdF76p6j5gOxwN-HGyGUSnoeKj2-gbdN0ZfgbK0FSg74Zmlp-UTkaZOQxjfSGzjwEWMgzh3-greWyrKXqKHaq2fbc7rPczFnFL46w2p-keb1QdjOuAYG6f6ZaE/w400-h271/146023ac2f58be6fdec48622e2e50eec.webp" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">The queen has become the latest victim of what the Daily Telegraph <br />called 'cancel culture'</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US">The UK government has criticised graduate students at
the University of Oxford who removed a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, claiming
it represented a colonial past that many found offensive.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The move comes as students across the country have
played a leading role in protests against historical figures with links to the
British empire or slavery.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The queen "has become the latest victim of cancel
culture", or ostracism of those whose opinions are deemed unacceptable,
the right-leaning Daily Telegraph wrote on Wednesday.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Graduate students at Magdalen College took down the
colourised print of the queen from their recreation room after a majority vote,
because "for some students, depictions of the monarch and the British
monarchy represent recent colonial history", The Times reported.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Education Secretary Gavin Williamson reacted angrily
Tuesday night, calling the move "simply absurd".<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">"She is the head of state and a symbol of what is
best about the UK," he tweeted.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Hanging portraits of the queen is not customary in
state educational institutions, but some colleges at Cambridge and Oxford
universities have portraits on display.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"It was decided that the room should be a
welcoming, neutral place for all members, regardless of background,
demographic, or views," said Matthew Katzman, head of the Middle Common
Room committee at Magdalen.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Freedom of speech allows even intelligent people
to be offensive and obnoxiously ignorant," Oxford University Chancellor
Chris Patten was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying of the decision.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The student protest comes as the queen is due to
celebrate her 70th jubilee next year.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">BBC TV presenter Richard Madeley asked: "How can
this make any sense when this queen has presided over the dismantling of what
was left of empire?"</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Another Oxford college, Oriel, last month reversed its
decision to remove a controversial statue of the 19th-century colonialist Cecil
Rhodes -- a major donor.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That U-turn sparked widespread anger.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">British sculptor Antony Gormley suggested to The
Financial Times that the statue should instead be turned round to face the wall
in shame.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b>Related Article:</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span lang="EN-US"><b><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/must-more-british-royals-reveal-003347007.html" target="_blank">'Must do more': British royals reveal staff diversity
data</a></b><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b></b></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0