Kryon Berlin Tour & Seminar - Berlin, Germany, Sept 17-22 2019 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

Kryon Berlin Tour & Seminar - Berlin, Germany, Sept 17-22 2019 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)
30th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Council of Europe (CoE) - European Human Rights Court - founding fathers (1949)

Council of Europe (CoE) - European Human Rights Court - founding fathers (1949)
French National Assembly head Edouard Herriot and British Foreign minister Ernest Bevin surrounded by Italian, Luxembourg and other delegates at the first meeting of Council of Europe's Consultative Assembly in Strasbourg, August 1949 (AFP Photo)

EU founding fathers signed 'blank' Treaty of Rome (1957)

EU founding fathers signed 'blank' Treaty of Rome (1957)
The Treaty of Rome was signed in the Palazzo dei Conservatori, one of the Renaissance palaces that line the Michelangelo-designed Capitoline Square in the Italian capital

Shuttered: EU ditches summit 'family photo'

Shuttered: EU ditches summit 'family photo'
EU leaders pose for a family photo during the European Summit at the EU headquarters in Brussels on June 28, 2016 (AFP Photo/JOHN THYS)

European Political Community

European Political Community
Given a rather unclear agenda, the family photo looked set to become a highlight of the meeting bringing together EU leaders alongside those of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Britain, Kosovo, Switzerland and Turkey © Ludovic MARIN

Merkel says fall of Wall proves 'dreams can come true'


“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013. They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."
"Update on Current Events" – Jul 23, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: The Humanization of God, Gaia, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Benevolent Design, Financial Institutes (Recession, System to Change ...), Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Nuclear Power Revealed, Geothermal Power, Hydro Power, Drinking Water from Seawater, No need for Oil as Much, Middle East in Peace, Persia/Iran Uprising, Muhammad, Israel, DNA, Two Dictators to fall soon, Africa, China, (Old) Souls, Species to go, Whales to Humans, Global Unity,..... etc.)
(Subjects: Who/What is Kryon ?, Egypt Uprising, Iran/Persia Uprising, Peace in Middle East without Israel actively involved, Muhammad, "Conceptual" Youth Revolution, "Conceptual" Managed Business, Internet, Social Media, News Media, Google, Bankers, Global Unity,..... etc.)




"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, 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), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

… The Shift in Human Nature

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.

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?

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). 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.

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. But fear often rules. …

Thursday, June 30, 2016

EU 27 agree 'no single market a la carte' for UK

Yahoo - AFP, June 30, 2016

EU meets without Britain for first time since Brexit vote

Brussels (AFP) - EU leaders agreed Wednesday that Britain cannot have access to the single market after leaving the union without accepting the bloc's rules on free movement, president Donald Tusk said.

"There will be no single market a la carte," Tusk told a news conference in Brussels after the 27 leaders met without British Prime Minister David Cameron.

"Leaders made it crystal clear today that access to the single market requires acceptance of all four freedoms including freedom of movement," Tusk added.

The 27 EU leaders will also hold a summit -- without Britain -- in Bratislava on September 16 to discuss further the fallout from Britain's decision to leave the bloc, Tusk said.

The summit will come just days after Britain's ruling Conservative party is due to choose a successor to Cameron, who resigned on Friday after his country voted in a referendum to leave the EU by 52 percent to 48.

"This was a first exchange so it is too early to draw conclusions. This is why we started a political reflection with 27 states and we'll meet on September 16 in Bratislava to continue our talks," Tusk said.

The former Polish premier stressed that negotiations on Britain's future relationship with the EU cannot start until it formally triggers the two-year process leading to a divorce.

Cameron has said this is a task for his successor.

Tusk meanwhile said at the "calm and serious" discussion -- the first EU talks without a British leader present for 40 years -- they agreed it was a "serious moment in our common history."

"One issue is clear from our debate. Leaders are absolutely determined to remain united," he added.

Related Articles:




Wednesday, June 29, 2016

German minimum hourly wage bumped up for 2017

The minimum wage in Germany has risen to 8.84 euros ($9.79) per hour, up by 34 cents. It is the first raise since the country's minimum wage law came into effect in 2015.

Deutsche Welle, 29 June 2016

Germany's previous minimum wage guaranteed workers 8.50 euros per hour

Germany's minimum wage is set to rise by four percent in 2017, up from 8.50 euros per hour to 8.84 euros, a special wage commission announced on Tuesday.

The politically independent commission - comprised of employers, workers and unions - agreed to raise the hourly wage by 34 cents, basing the calculation on a rate index provided by the Federal Statistics office.

The head of the commission, Jan Zilius, said the rise is in line with recent wage agreements in various sectors of the economy and that the decision had been unanimous.


The tariff index incorporates some 500 collective agreements and found that over the past year and a half, wages and salaries had risen by an average of 3.2 percent. Consumer prices in Germany rose 0.1 percent year-on-year in May, following a 0.1 percent drop in April.

Unemployment in Germany has been at record lows, giving employers a stronger bargaining position in recent months.

This will be the first hike up for the minimum wage since it was introduced in January 2015. The wage level is revisited every two years.

The minimum wage applies to all adult workers, except for trainees or people with internships lasting fewer than three months.

The ruling will affect about four million low-paid workers in the German economy.

rs/kl (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Turkey mends fences with former foes Israel and Russia

Yahoo – AFP, Katy Lee, June 27, 2016

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim delivers a speech during a press
conference after a Turkish-Israeli meeting, at the Cankaya Palace in Ankara,
on June 27, 2016 (AFP Photo/Adem Altan)

Istanbul (AFP) - Turkey launched a major diplomatic charm offensive Monday, reaching out a conciliatory hand to Russia and hailing a deal to restore ties with Israel as it looks to boost its neighbourhood clout.

The Kremlin said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had apologised to his counterpart Vladimir Putin over the downing of a Russian military jet in Syria last November, which shattered ties between the two nations.

Just hours earlier, the prime ministers of Turkey and Israel had revealed details of an agreement ending six years of acrimony following a commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that left 10 Turkish activists dead.

The twin breakthroughs come as Turkey moves back towards a policy known as "zero problems with neighbours" following a string of diplomatic crises and with its foe Bashar al-Assad still in power in Syria.

Patching things up in the neighbourhood is also of crucial importance as NATO member Turkey goes through a rocky spell with the European Union, with Western leaders expressing concern over rising authoritarianism under Erdogan.

A Russian military official passes by a screen showing a live broadcast of the 
opening of the flight recorder from the Russian Sukhoi Su-24 bomber shot down
by a Turkish jet on November 24, 2015 (AFP Photo/Vasily Maximov)

'Regrets' over downed jet

Putin had repeatedly demanded an apology over the downed jet, and the latest move could help end a feud that has seen Moscow slap a raft of sanctions on Ankara.

Erdogan said late Monday that he hoped for a "quick" return to normal ties between the two.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has also accepted an invitation to the Black Sea Economic Cooperation meeting in Sochi, Russia on July 1, according to a foreign ministry source -- another potential sign of a thaw.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters earlier that Erdogan had "said sorry" in a letter to Putin, although there was no explicit confirmation of this from the Turkish side.

Turkey's Anadolu state news agency cited presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin as saying Erdogan had written to "express his regrets".

The countries are on opposing sides in Syria, with Ankara backing rebels fighting to topple Assad while Moscow staunchly supports his regime.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon meanwhile hailed the Israel-Turkey deal as a "hopeful signal for the stability of the region".

The US has pushed for a resolution between its two longtime allies as it seeks cooperation in the fight against the Islamic State group.

Ties went into deep freeze in 2010 after the Israeli commando raid against activists trying to breach the naval blockade on the Gaza Strip.

Two of Turkey's key conditions for normalisation -- an apology and compensation -- were met earlier, leaving its third demand, that Israel lift the blockade, as the main obstacle.

Israel has committed to pay $20 million to families of the slain activists, in exchange for all claims against Israeli soldiers being dropped.

But while Turkey has won permission to deliver aid to Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed the blockade would remain in place.

In May 2010, ten Turkish activists were killed when Israeli commandos raided
the Mavi Marmara ship which was part of the Free Gaza flotilla (AFP Photo)

'Nearly no friends'

Reports in recent days had described a compromise on the blockade issue, with Turkish aid to be channelled through the Israeli port of Ashdod rather than directly to Gaza.

Israel will also reportedly allow Turkish infrastructure projects in Gaza, including the completion of a much-needed hospital.

"Our first ship loaded with over 10,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid will leave for Israel's Ashdod port on Friday," Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told a press conference.

Yildirim hinted at a new approach after he took over as premier in May from Ahmet Davutoglu, who pursued an aggressive foreign policy that some analysts said brought more problems than profit.

"It looks to me that the new Turkish prime minister's mission is to launch a charm offensive to undo the foreign policy wreck left behind by ousted premier Davutoglu," Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Programme at The Washington Institute, told AFP last week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) meets US Secretary of State John 
Kerry on June 27, 2016 at Villa Taverna, US ambassador's residence in Rome (AFP
Photo/Filippo Monteforte)

Turkey had also fallen out with Egypt following the military's ousting of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, a close ally of the government in Ankara.

Davutoglu's initiatives resulted in Turkey ending up with "nearly no friends" in the Middle East, Cagaptay said.

Israel had its own incentives to patch things up as it seeks regional customers for gas exports, with talk of a potential pipeline to Turkey.

Netanyahu, speaking in Rome after meeting US Secretary of State John Kerry, described the agreement as having "immense implications for the Israeli economy".

Kerry, too, hailed it as a "positive step".

After the deal is signed on Tuesday, the approval process will start in both countries, and Yildirim said Ankara would appoint an ambassador to Tel Aviv within weeks.

Related Article:


Friday, June 24, 2016

Britain votes to leave EU, Cameron resigns

Yahoo – AFP, Katherine Haddon, Dario Thuburn,  June 24, 2016

British Prime Minister David Cameron (R) flanked by his wife Samantha speaks to
 the press in front of 10 Downing street in central London on June 24, 2016 (AFP
Photo/Odd Andersen)

London (AFP) - Britain has voted to pull out of the European Union in a seismic blow to the bloc that triggered the resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron and sent world financial markets into freefall on Friday.

The shock outcome of Thursday's historic referendum threatens to lead to the break-up of the United Kingdom after Scotland raised the prospect of another independence vote, and could have a knock-on effect on other eurosceptic member states.

Britons, many worried by immigration and what they saw as interference in the running of their country by bureaucrats in Brussels, voted by 52 to 48 percent to abandon the bloc after four decades of often troubled membership.

A man takes a copy of the London Evening
 Standard reporting Britain's vote to
 leave the EU in a referendum in London 
on June 24, 2016 (AFP Photo/Leon Neal)
In an emotional statement outside Downing Street, Cameron said he would resign to make way for a new leader by early October after the failure of his "Remain" campaign.

"I do not think it would be right for me to try to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination," he said as sterling, global stocks and oil prices plummeted.

Britain will be the first country to leave the EU after decades of suspicion over its aims of ever-closer political union -- a shock victory for the anti-establishment rhetoric of the Brexit campaign that highlights growing populism across the globe.

"We've done it! We've won!" anti-EU campaigners shouted at a party in London, popping open champagne bottles as "Leave" victories flowed in. "Out! Out! Out!", they chanted as dawn broke.

'Grave test'

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker denied it was the beginning of the end for the EU, already troubled by economic and migration crises and growing euroscepticism across the continent.

But German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the result a "blow" to Europe while French President Francois Hollande said it was a "grave test".

US President Barack Obama, who publicly threw his weight behind British EU membership during a visit to London in April, insisted the "special relationship" between the two countries was "enduring".

The vote, the culmination of an often poisonous campaign, exposed deep divides across British society and what the Independent newspaper said was "the chasm between the political class and the voters".

It may be some time before Britain takes the concrete steps need to extricate itself from what will become a 27-member alliance.

Cameron said it should be his successor who leads the complex negotiations under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty which sets out a two-year time-frame to leave.

Top Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London and a favourite to succeed Cameron, also said there was "no need for haste".

But European chiefs made clear that the country should set the wheels in motion "as soon as possible, however painful that process may be".

Leaders of the EU, born out of a determination to forge lasting peace after two world wars, will open a two-day summit on Tuesday to grapple with Britain's decision.

Britain votes to leave the EU (AFP Photo)

'Independence day'

The "Leave" victory threatens to shatter the unity of the United Kingdom, with Scotland and Northern Ireland voting to remain in while England -- barring major cities like London -- and Wales supported out.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said a second independence vote was now "highly likely" after a 2014 referendum backed staying in the UK.

"The option of a second referendum must be on the table and it is on the table," she told reporters, saying it was "democratically unacceptable" for Scotland to be dragged out of the EU against its will.

And while Brexit campaigners celebrated, the mood was downbeat in the City of London financial district.

"I just feel so devastated that this multicultural city that I live in is going to change drastically, and the world as I know it is just not the same today," said bank worker Francesca Crimp.

Top anti-EU campaigner Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party, said June 23 should "go down in our history as our independence day".

Immigration and an erosion of financial security have become rallying cries for populists across Europe, just as they have for Donald Trump's campaign in the US presidential election.

Trump hailed the vote as he arrived in Scotland to unveil a refurbishment of his Trump Turnberry golf course.

"I think it's a great thing. I think it's a fantastic thing," he told reporters. "People want to take their country back, they want independence."

Britain votes to leave EU: Cameron to resign; markets rocked

'Madhouse'

The result drove sterling down 10 percent to a 31-year low of $1.3229.

European stock markets dropped around eight percent at opening before recovering later while British bank shares lost a quarter of their value in morning trade. In New York, the Dow opened down 2.3 percent.

"It's a madhouse in here. It has been a bloodbath. Carnage," said David Papier, head of sales trading at foreign exchange house ETX Capital in London.

The Bank of England promised "all necessary steps" to secure market stability while Group of Seven countries warned the decision could have "adverse implications for economic and financial stability".

British voters appeared to have to shrugged off warnings that a Brexit would create a budget hole requiring spending cuts and tax increases once they lose unfettered trade access to the EU.

Thousands of jobs in the City could be transferred to cities in the EU such as Frankfurt, leading international companies have warned.

Their decision will reawaken fears of a domino-effect ripple of exit votes in eurosceptic member states that could imperil the integrity of the bloc.

Dutch far-right MP Geert Wilders and French National Front leader Marine Le Pen immediately called for referendums on EU membership in their own countries.

Related Articles:

Brexit a historic slap in the face for US foreign policy


Kryon in Budapest, Hungary - May 28, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - New


"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration LecturesGod / Creator, 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), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) (Text version)

“…  Government

Let us speak of government. We're not speaking of your government, but of any government - the way it works, how it survives, how it has survived, the way it campaigns, and how it elects leaders. It's going to change.

Years ago, I told you, "When everybody can talk to everybody, there can be no secrets." Up to this point on this planet, government has counted on one thing - that the people can't easily talk to each other on a global scale. They have to get their information through government or official channels. Even mass media isn't always free enough, for it reports that which the government reports. Even a free society tends to bias itself according to the bias of the times. However, when you can have Human Beings talking to each other all at once, all over the planet without government control, it all changes, for there is open revelation of truth.

Democracy itself will change and you're going to see it soon. The hold-outs, the few countries I have mentioned in the past, are doomed unless they recalibrate. They're doomed to be the same as they have been and won't be able to exist as they are now with everyone changing around them.

I mentioned North Korea in the past. Give it time. Right now, the young man is under the control of his father's advisors. But when they're gone, you will see something different, should he survive. Don't judge him yet, for he is being controlled.

In government, if you're entire voting base has the ability to talk to itself without restriction and comes up with opinions by itself without restriction, it behooves a politician to be aware and listen to them. This will change what politicians will do. It will change the way things work in government. Don't be surprised when some day a whole nation can vote all at once in a very unusual way. Gone will be the old systems where you used to count on horseback riders to report in from faraway places. Some of you know what I am talking about. Government will change. The systems around you, both dark and light, will change. You're going to start seeing something else, too, so let's change the subject and turn the page. … "



“… Human Nature is Changing

There's a new concept afoot, a change in Human nature. We've spoken about this before. How many of you studied European history? And in school, did your mind fill up with all of the dates you had to memorize? Who conquered whom and when? Over and over and over, every single country had their turn conquering another country. Borders moved constantly. As far back as you want to go, that's what Humans did. They separated, gathered, and conquered. But as little as 50 years ago, it all stopped.

We've said this before. Fifty years ago, a seed, an idea, was planted at the end of World War II. "Let's put these European countries together," they said. "Let's even drop the borders and eventually give them one currency." Do this and they'll never war again, they predicted, for countries with common economic sources don't go to war! And that's exactly what's happened. Did it work? It's fairly fresh, but their money is threatening to take over the strength of your money, did you notice? It's worth more than yours. They still struggle to make it work and balance it. But then again, you do the same in the United States, always fine tuning the unity.

South America is considering the same thing right now. The seeds are being planted in Brazil. Within a generation, they would love to see the borders dropped and one currency. Can they do it? Perhaps. Perhaps it will take longer. Why do it? Because they see the European Union with the strongest currency on Earth. We've said this before. Here is a prediction: Perhaps not in your time, but there'll come a day when there are only five currencies in the world, because continents will start understanding that unification creates peace and prosperity. Separation creates chaos. What a concept. …

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Italian court sets gay adoption precedent

Yahoo – AFP, June 22, 2016

Italy legalised gay civil unions in May 2015 (AFP Photo/Ted Aljibe)

Rome (AFP) - Italy's highest court has allowed a lesbian to adopt the daughter of her partner in a landmark ruling a month after a law on gay civil unions was passed without any such provisions.

In a ruling greeted with delight by gay rights groups, the Court of Cassation said the interests of the child had to come first in any adoption case.

It would be "inadmissible to consider only the sexual orientation of the mother of the minor and of the applicant (to adopt)," a written ruling made public on Wednesday said.

"We dedicate this victory to the boys and girls that our parliament discriminated against and deemed to be invisible," Italy's leading rights group Arcigay said in reaction to the ruling.

"This ruling gives them back justice and dignity and tells parliament to take a serious look at its conscience," said spokesman Gabriele Piazzoni.

Italy legalised gay civil unions last month but provisions relating to adoption rights were stripped from the bill at the last minute in the face of fierce opposition orchestrated by the Catholic church.

The final text did not however rule out adoptions by gay step-parents being approved on a case-by-case basis, as they have been since 2014.

The Court of Cassation's ruling means family court judges will have less leeway than previously since any judgement that goes against the spirit of Wednesday's judgement will be subject to appeal.

Hundreds of children put to work as beggars; four gangs work in NL

DutchNews, June 22, 2016

Police outside the house in
Barcelona. Photo: OM
Dutch police have identified four criminal gangs who are putting Roma children on the streets to beg and steal in the Netherlands, the public prosecution department said in a statement on Wednesday. 

The Dutch probe is part of an international investigation into the exploitation of some 300 children by criminal gangs in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Spain, the department said. 

The children, ranging in age from eight to 16 – come from Bosnia, Croatia and other parts of the former Yugoslavia, the NRC reports. According to police spokesman Arthur de Rijk, they have been lured away from poor families and taught to steal in groups. They are expected to ‘earn’ up to €1,000 a day, he told the paper. 

Raids

Some of the children were found in Spain last week and brought back to the Netherlands where they are now in the hands of social services. 

They were found in police raids in Barcelona, where six children, ranging in age from under one to 15, were found living in a filthy home with a 49-year-old man and a 46-year-old woman, said to be from eastern Europe. Four of the children were already on a Dutch watch list.

‘They had been put under the supervision of Dutch social services earlier and so we are responsible for them,’ a prosecution department spokeswoman said. Eight other Roma children who are known to the Dutch authorities are still missing. 

Amsterdam 

The children, put to work in groups, were stealing up to €1,000 a day, police said. The money was passed on to criminal families who spent it on fast cars, luxury homes and gambling, according to Dutch media reports. 

The investigation began a year ago after police noticed they had been repeatedly arresting the same children pick-pocketing at Amsterdam’s central station.

‘We started to look into where the children lived,’ Arthur de Rijk said. ‘Their parents never came to pick them up. It was always other family members but they never had ID. Something was not right.’ 

DNA

In one case, dna tests showed the woman who came to fetch two children was not their mother, as she claimed to be. Various children were placed in care but encouraged to run away by their ‘families’. 

The two adults arrested in Barcelona will be extradited to the Netherlands to face charges. Five of the children have been placed in a secure unit to stop them running away. A sixth remains in Spain where she has to serve a youth detention sentence.

Saturday, June 18, 2016

Germany slams NATO 'warmongering' on Russia

Yahoo – AFP, June 18, 2016

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, pictured in May (AFP
Photo/Petras Malukas)

Berlin (AFP) - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has criticised NATO for having a bellicose policy towards Russia, describing it as "warmongering", the German daily Bild reported.

Steinmeier pointed to the deployment of NATO troops near borders with Russia in the military alliance's Baltic and east European member states.

"What we should avoid today is inflaming the situation by warmongering and stomping boots," Steinmeier told Bild in an interview to be published Sunday.

"Anyone who thinks you can increase security in the alliance with symbolic parades of tanks near the eastern borders, is mistaken," Germany's top diplomat added.

NATO had announced on Monday that it would deploy four battalions to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland to counter a more assertive Russia, ahead of a landmark summit in Warsaw next month.

All four countries were once ruled from Moscow and remain deeply suspicious of Russian intentions, especially after Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

In an interview with Bild on Thursday, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Russia is seeking to create "a zone of influence through military means".

"We are observing massive militarisation at NATO borders -- in the Arctic, in the Baltic, from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea," he told the newspaper.

Stoltenberg has stressed that NATO does not seek confrontation with Russia and wants a constructive dialogue but that it would defend the 28 allies against any threat

Russia bitterly opposes NATO's expansion into its Soviet-era satellites and last month said it would create three new divisions in its southwest region to meet what it described as a dangerous military build-up along its borders.

Friday, June 17, 2016

EU campaign on hold as Britain reels from MP murder

Yahoo – AFP, Naomi O'Leary in London, James PHEBY with Dario THUBURN in London

Floral tributes and candles are placed by a picture of slain Labour MP Jo Cox at a
vigil in London's Parliament Square on June 16, 2016 (AFP Photo/Daneil Leal-Olivas)

Birstall (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Campaigning for Britain's EU referendum next week was suspended for a second day Friday as the nation reeled from the murder of a popular pro-Europe MP at the height of a bitterly-divisive debate.

Jo Cox, a 41-year-old former aid worker also known for her advocacy for Syrian refugees, was killed on Thursday outside a library where she was supposed to meet constituents in a village in northern England, just a few miles (kilometres) from where she was born.

Eye witness Hichem Ben Abdallah, 56, who works at a cafe next to the library in Birstall, told AFP he heard two shots and saw the petite mother of two on the ground.

Former aid worker Jo Cox had been an
 MP for just over a year when she was shot 
dead in her constituency (AFP Photo)
"Her face was full of blood," said Ben Abdallah, who campaigned alongside the Labour politician before she was elected to parliament for the first time last year.

A 52-year-old man, named by media as local Thomas Mair, was arrested. Described as a friendly loner by neighbours, Mair also battled mental illness and allegedly had ties to white supremacists.

"He used to scrub his hands with Brillo pads and nail brushes until they were red raw," said Stephen Lees, who used to be friends with Mair's brother.

With just six days left until the historic vote, rival groups campaigning for Britain to leave or remain in the European Union ceased campaigning and politicians joined as one to condemn the killing.

Many commentators questioned whether the murder could be linked to a campaign ahead of the June 23 referendum that has stoked high tension by touching on issues of national identity and immigration.

"We don't yet know the circumstances of this case but there has been an increase in vitriol, I think, in public debate," fellow Labour MP Yvette Cooper told BBC radio.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged British political parties to moderate their speech in the final week.

"The exaggerations and radicalisation of... language do not help to foster an atmosphere of respect," she said.

Prime Minister David Cameron, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and parliament speaker John Bercow were due to hold a joint event in the area later on Friday.

Cox, the first British MP to be murdered since Ian Gow was killed by Irish Republican Army paramilitaries in a car bomb in 1990, had complained to police earlier this year about "malicious communications".

In March, police arrested a man who was given a formal warning but later released. He was not the same man in custody for Thursday's attack, the police said.

The Times newspaper said police had been considering putting in place additional security for her, with commentators wondering whether all MPs should be given extra protection.

Before Cox's murder, opinion polls suggested Britons would likely vote to leave the EU, in a prospect that weighed on financial markets and sent the pound tumbling.

The pound rose with Asian stocks Friday after the previous day's selloff, as investors judged the tragedy increased the likelihood of the "Remain" side prevailing.

A woman arrives to leave a floral tribute near the scene of the murder of 
Labour Member of Parliament Jo Cox in Birstal near Leeds, Britain June 17,
 2016 Reuters/Phil Noble

'White nationalism'

US advocacy group the Southern Poverty Law Center said that Mair, who had lived in Birstall for decades, was a "dedicated supporter" of National Alliance, once the primary neo-Nazi organisation in the United States.

It said he had spent over $620 (550 euros) on reading material from the group, which advocated the creation of an all-white homeland and the eradication of Jewish people.

"Neighbours called him a 'loner' but he also has a long history with white nationalism," the centre said.

It said Mair had purchased a handbook with instructions on how to make a gun, noting that witnesses told British media the assailant used a gun which appeared "old-fashioned" or "homemade".

Another witness, cafe owner Clarke Rothwell, told British media that the gunman had shouted "put Britain first" repeatedly during the attack.

Labour MP's (L-R) Lucy Powell, Paula Sheriff, Jeff Smith, and former Labour 
Party councillor Karen Rowling, leave red roses near the scene of the murder of
 Labour Member of Parliament Jo Cox in Birstal near Leeds, Britain June 17, 
2016 Reuters/Craig Brough

'Fight the hatred'

Cox, whose first speech in parliament defended immigration and diversity, lived with her husband Brendan and their two children aged three and five, on a houseboat on the Thames near Tower Bridge.

Flowers were laid on the roof of the boat where they lived on Friday and residents paid tribute to her.

As the news of her death broke, Brendan issued an impassioned appeal for unity against hatred.

"She would have wanted two things above all else to happen now," he wrote.

"One, that our precious children are bathed in love and two, that we all unite to fight against the hatred that killed her."



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Wednesday, June 15, 2016

AD newspaper urges Britain ‘not to leave this way’ in anti-Brexit front page

DutchNews, June 15, 2016

The Algemeen Dagblad on Wednesday devoted its entire front page to a plea to Britain not to leave the EU.

‘The British can be a right pain, but we don’t want to be and can’t do without them,’ the AD says in the centre of the British flag.

And in an open letter to Britain, the paper says that an EU without the UK would be like tea without milk – bitter.

‘This your neighbour calling. Please don’t leave us. Of course there will always be a Great Britain anchored only 20 miles from the continent. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, we feel at ease in your amazing country.’ 

The paper goes on to point out that the Netherlands and Britain are related through the marriage of king William III and queen Mary and that the Dutch love British culture such as the Beatles, Bridget Jones and EastEnders. ‘Many of us know Monty Python’s dead parrot sketch by heart’, the paper goes on. 

The call by The Sun to float off towards distant shores is not a good idea, the AD says.

‘We not only we love you, we need you. Who else supports us in keeping some common sense on this turbulent continent of ours?,’ the paper asks. 

The AD takes its stand eight days before Britain votes in a referendum on whether or not to leave the EU. The voting is expected to be very close. 

Reactions

Initial reactions to the AD’s stunt have been mixed.

‘What a tearjerker from the AD. If the English want a Brexit, toodledoo,’ wrote Paul Blom on Twitter.

‘This would be a reason to cancel my subscription if I had one,’ wrote Invisible Power.