Young street doctor defies virus to help Belarus homeless

Yahoo – AFP, Alexander Grebenkin, May 3, 2020

Since the onset of the coronavirus a project providing free health care to the needy
and homeless in Belarus has seen a spike in demand (AFP Photo/Sergei GAPON)

Minsk (AFP) - For the past year-and-a-half medical student Karina Radchenko has provided free health care to the homeless in the Belarussian capital Minsk.

Since the onset of the coronavirus outbreak she has seen a spike in the number of people needing her help.

Many people who were eking out a living in the ex-Soviet country before the epidemic can no longer afford to purchase medicines or go to a doctor, said Radchenko.

Together with those sleeping rough on the streets some of them come to see her.

"They are now forced to ask for help together with the homeless because there's nowhere else they can get it," Radchenko told AFP during one of her street rounds.

The 28-year-old is the founder of "Street Medicine," the country's first volunteer project to treat the homeless and needy.

Pensioner Tatyana, who declined to give her last name, said she comes to see the volunteers "sometimes" -- when she runs out of money.

On a recent afternoon Radchenko distributed nonprescription medicines to her patients with the help of several fellow volunteers in a small park.

She and her assistants wore visors and gloves to protect themselves against the infections.

An elderly woman turned up to have her blood pressure checked.

Another elderly woman received a surgical mask.

A 30-year-old ex-convict had his temperature taken.

Yury praised the volunteers for giving out medicines and masks.

"There are many fatalities. People should not be dying," he said, declining to give his last name.

Radchenko's team does not have testing kits to screen people for the coronavirus so all they can do is to watch out for the disease's telltale symptoms.

"We pay special attention to people with signs of a respiratory infection," she said.

Belarus, which has a population of more than nine million people, has reported more than 16,700 coronavirus cases overtaking neighboring EU member Poland and ex-Soviet Ukraine.

Ninety-nine people have died so far.

The ex-Soviet country remains one of the few nations that did not impose lockdown measures.

Its authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko has dismissed the contagion as a "psychosis" and plans to stage a military parade to mark victory over Nazi Germany next week.

'At our own risk'

Radchenko, who is a fifth year medical student, said the country's most vulnerable people -- who face a higher risk of being infected and then infecting others -- were not getting enough help.

Organisations providing care for the homeless were either closing doors or reducing working hours over coronavirus fears.

Radchenko, who was inspired by projects like the US-based Street Medicine Institute, started out on her own in late 2018.

The one-woman mission gradually grew, and now the team includes 25 volunteers including around seven doctors, all of them practising physicians except her.

Since the start of the project, they have cared for more than 200 patients.

Twice a week they hit the streets to seek out the homeless. But Radchenko does not know how long they will be able to continue. The state does not help, and donations are small.

There is also no law regulating their work.

"We operate at our own risk," Radchenko said..

Pompeo attends secretive global meet in Switzerland

Yahoo – AFP, Francesco FONTEMAGGI, June 1, 2019

Pompeo told journalists he was staying so long in Switzerland as he is a "big
cheese and chocolate fan" (AFP Photo/Fabrice COFFRINI)

Bern (Switzerland) (AFP) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will take part Saturday in a secretive meeting in Switzerland of global power brokers discreetly discussing issues like Brexit and the future of capitalism.

The State Department confirmed Saturday that Pompeo, who is on a four-nation tour of Europe, would take part in the four-day Bilderberg meeting, which kicked off on Thursday in the picturesque Swiss town of Montreux.

His participation had not been previously mentioned in the official agenda and he did not figure on the list of some 130 elites from 23 countries participating in the event.

Already on the list is US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner, who might use the forum to try to drum up support for his yet to be unveiled Middle East peace plan.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and elder statesman Henry Kissinger also figure on the list of participants, as do Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen.

The group, which has met every year since 1954 and was created as a forum for fostering dialogue between Europe and North America, is this year discussing a range of topics such as climate change, the future of capitalism, the ethics of Artificial Intelligence, China, Russia and Brexit, the organisers said.

The Trump administration has taken strong and controversial stances on a number of the topics on the agenda, including swelling tensions with Beijing, complex relations with Moscow and a more than sceptical attitude to calls to fight climate change.

The luxury hotel where the talks are taking place has placed high bushes all around 

its perimeters to keep the press at bay (AFP Photo/Fabrice COFFRINI)

Pompeo himself recently hailed that climate change was helping open new sea routes in the usually frozen Arctic.

The luxury hotel where the talks are taking place has placed high bushes all around its perimeters to keep the press at bay.

'Cheese and chocolate fan'

The participants are meanwhile held to the so-called Chatham House Rule, meaning that participants are free to use the information received, but may not reveal the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker.

The secretive nature of the group has given birth to conspiracy theories. Some have warned, for example, that Bilderberg is a group of rich and powerful kingmakers seeking to impose a one world government.

Pompeo arrived in Switzerland on Friday on the second leg of his European tour, following a stop in Berlin and before travelling on to The Hague and London.

On Saturday morning, he and his wife Susan had a guided tour of Bern's Old Town, and on Sunday he is due to meet with his Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis.

Asked why he chose to stay for so long in Switzerland -- from Friday afternoon through Monday morning, Pompeo told a group of journalists travelling with him that he is a "big cheese and chocolate fan".

EU parliament approves ban on single use plastics

Yahoo – AFP, March 27, 2019

In addition to the ban on a dozen kinds of disposable plastic products, such as straws,
cutlery and cotton buds, the EU will encourage member states to reduce the use of
plastic packaging and introduce stricter labelling rules (AFP Photo/Patrick Pleul)

Brussels (AFP) - European lawmakers voted overwhelmingly Wednesday for an EU-wide ban on single-use plastic products such as the straws, cutlery and cotton buds that are clogging the world's oceans.

The text had already been approved in negotiations with member states and EU officials and it will now be rapidly approved into law. The ban comes into effect from 2021.

EU Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans said Europe was not the worst source of plastic pollution, but that the pioneering measure could serve as an example to the world.

"Asian countries are very much interested in what we're doing. Latin American countries too," he said.

"Even though our share of the pollution is relatively limited, our change of the economic model has a global impact."

Types of single-use plastics to be banned by the European Union (AFP Photo/

Simon MALFATTO)

The law passed by 560 votes to 35 in the Strasbourg assembly.

Aside from the ban on a dozen kinds of disposable products for which alternatives exist, the EU will encourage member states to reduce the use of plastic packaging and introduce stricter labelling rules.

The law sets a target that 90 percent of plastic bottles will be gathered for recycling by 2029 and that they should be produced with 25 percent recycled material by 2025, 30 percent by 2030.

Rules insisting that polluters pay the costs of a clean-up are strengthened, particularly for cigarette manufacturers, who will have to support the recycling of discarded filters.

According to the EU Commission, the products prohibited under the law represent 70 percent of the waste that pours into the world's oceans, posing a threat to wildlife and fisheries.

Joyful ministers seal landmark Paris Agreement to stop global warming

Yahoo – AFP, Mariëtte Le Roux, December 12, 2015

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (C) with UN Secretary-General Ban

 Ki-moon (2L) and President Francois Hollande (R) on December 12, 2015

(AFP Photo/Francois Guillot)

Le Bourget (France) (AFP) - Cheering envoys from 195 nations approved in Paris Saturday a historic accord to stop global warming, offering hope that humanity can avert catastrophic climate change and usher in an energy revolution.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius ended nearly a fortnight of gruelling UN negotiations with the bang of a gavel, marking consensus among the ministers, who stood for several minutes to clap and shout their joy, with some shedding tears of relief.

"I see the room, I see the reaction is positive, I hear no objection. The Paris climate accord is adopted," Fabius declared.

French Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent

 Fabius holds up the official gavel of the 

COP21 Climate Conference (AFP

Photo/Francois Guillot)

Turning to a little green hammer with which he formally gave life to the arduously crafted pact, he quipped: "It may be a small gavel but it can do big things."

The post-2020 Paris Agreement ends decades-long rows between rich and poor nations over how to carry out what will be a multi-trillion-dollar campaign to cap global warming and cope with the impacts of a shifting climate.

With 2015 forecast to be the hottest year on record, world leaders and scientists had said the accord was vital for capping rising temperatures and averting the most calamitous impacts from climate change.

Without urgent action, they warned, mankind faced increasingly severe droughts, floods and storms, and rising seas that would engulf islands and coastal areas populated by hundreds of millions of people.

The crux of the fight entails slashing or eliminating the use of coal, oil and gas for energy, which has largely powered prosperity since the Industrial Revolution began in the 1700s.

The burning of those fossil fuels releases invisible greenhouse gases, which cause the planet to warm and disrupt Earth's delicate climate system.

Graphic showing the key points from the agreement to stop global 

warming. 135x138mm (AFP Photo/Jonathan Storey)

Ending the vicious circle requires a switch to cleaner sources, such as solar and wind, and improving energy efficiency. Some nations are also aggressively pursuing nuclear power, which does not emit greenhouse gases.

Ambitious global warming limit

The Paris accord sets a target of limiting warming of the planet to "well below" 2.0 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) compared with the Industrial Revolution, while aiming for an even more ambitious goal of 1.5C.

To do so, the emissions of greenhouse gases will need to peak "as soon as possible", followed by rapid reductions, the agreement states.

The world has already warmed almost 1C, which has caused major problems for many people around the world particularly in developing countries, such as more severe storms, droughts and rising seas, according to scientists.

Environment groups said the Paris agreement was a turning point in history and spelt the demise of the fossil fuel industry, pointing particularly to the significance of the 1.5C goal.

"That single number, and the new goal of net zero emissions by the second half of this century, will cause consternation in the boardrooms of coal companies and the palaces of oil-exporting states," Greenpeace International chief Kumi Naidoo said.

Audience members and delegates cheers after the adoption of a historic 

global warming pact at COP21 in Le Bourget on December 12, 2015

(AFP Photo/Francois Guillot)

Enduring money battles

Developing nations had insisted rich countries must shoulder the lion's share of responsibility for tackling climate change as they emitted most of the greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution.

The United States and other rich nations countered that emerging giants must also do more, arguing developing countries now account for most of current emissions and thus will be largely responsible for future warming.

On the crucial financing issue, developed countries agreed to muster at least $100 billion (92 billion euros) a year from 2020 to help developing nations.

The Eiffel Tower displays the message 

"No plan B" on December 11, 2015 in

Paris (AFP Photo/Patrick Kovarik)

However, following US objections, it was not included in the legally binding section of the deal.

Ahead of the talks, most nations submitted voluntary plans to curb greenhouse gas emissions from 2020, a process widely hailed as an important platform for success.

But scientists say that, even if the pledges were fully honoured, Earth would be on track for warming far above safe limits.

In an effort to encourage countries to improve their ambitions, the agreement will have five-yearly reviews of their pledges starting from 2023.

Nations most vulnerable to climate change lobbied hard for wording in the Paris pact to limit warming to 1.5C.

Tears, cheers and selfies as historic climate pact sealed in Paris https://t.co/pqdS2Z435I #COP21 pic.twitter.com/kI4enQDn1c

— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) December 13, 2015

#UPDATE Obama: Historic accord could mark 'turning point' for global warming https://t.co/FTENOtrm6c #COP21 pic.twitter.com/XhkP3mbWhm

— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) December 12, 2015

Related Articles:

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  4 - Energy (again)

The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much.

Water

We've told you that one of the greatest natural resources of the planet, which is going to shift and change and be mysterious to you, is fresh water. It's going to be the next gold, dear ones. So, we have also given you some hints and examples and again we plead: Even before the potentials of running out of it, learn how to desalinate water in real time without heat. It's there, it's doable, and some already have it in the lab. This will create inexpensive fresh water for the planet.

There is a change of attitude that is starting to occur. Slowly you're starting to see it and the only thing getting in the way of it are those companies with the big money who currently have the old system. That's starting to change as well. For the big money always wants to invest in what it knows is coming next, but it wants to create what is coming next within the framework of what it has "on the shelf." What is on the shelf is oil, coal, dams, and non-renewable resource usage. It hasn't changed much in the last 100 years, has it? Now you will see a change of free choice. You're going to see decisions made in the boardrooms that would have curled the toes of those two generations ago. Now "the worst thing they could do" might become "the best thing they could do." That, dear ones, is a change of free choice concept. When the thinkers of tomorrow see options that were never options before, that is a shift. That was number four. ….”

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“... Japan

Let us talk for a moment about Japan, and then I'll close the day of messages. There are thousands of souls on my side of the veil and they're just fine, more than fine. We have spoken so often of what happens at the Wind of Birth. I told you, before they even came in, they saw the potential. I looked in their eyes. "You may not last long. You know that, don't you? You're coming into this planet and you may not be here very long. And the passing that you will have with your family will not be pleasant, if any ever are. Why would you come in anyway?" I want to tell you what they said. When a soul has the mind of God, it understands fully what generates peace and what generates energy shift. You can clearly see what generates what the planet needs the most when you are about to arrive. So they said, "We're going to be part of one of the biggest compassion events the planet has ever seen." One earthquake, one tsunami. All of those who left that day will change the earth forever. And it already has. It was the same for the last tsunami as well.

Every single one of them on my side of the veil is getting ready to come back. Many old souls were involved, and just for a moment, if they could give you any information, if they could talk to you right now, if they could speak your language and look into your eyes, they would thank you for your compassion for them and those who are left. And they would say, "Be with those family members who are still alive. Enter their hearts every day and give them peace and keep them from crying, because we're OK."

Nuclear Power Revealed

So let me tell you what else they did. They just showed you what's wrong with nuclear power. "Safe to the maximum," they said. "Our devices are strong and cannot fail." But they did. They are no match for Gaia.

It seems that for more than 20 years, every single time we sit in the chair and speak of electric power, we tell you that hundreds of thousands of tons of push/pull energy on a regular schedule is available to you. It is moon-driven, forever. It can make all of the electricity for all of the cities on your planet, no matter how much you use. There's no environmental impact at all. Use the power of the tides, the oceans, the waves in clever ways. Use them in a bigger way than any designer has ever put together yet, to power your cities. The largest cities on your planet are on the coasts, and that's where the power source is. Hydro is the answer. It's not dangerous. You've ignored it because it seems harder to engineer and it's not in a controlled environment. Yet, you've chosen to build one of the most complex and dangerous steam engines on Earth - nuclear power.

We also have indicated that all you have to do is dig down deep enough and the planet will give you heat. It's right below the surface, not too far away all the time. You'll have a Gaia steam engine that way, too. There's no danger at all and you don't have to dig that far. All you have to do is heat fluid, and there are some fluids that boil far faster than water. So we say it again and again. Maybe this will show you what's wrong with what you've been doing, and this will turn the attitudes of your science to create something so beautiful and so powerful for your grandchildren. Why do you think you were given the moon? Now you know.

This benevolent Universe gave you an astral body that allows the waters in your ocean to push and pull and push on the most regular schedule of anything you know of. Yet there you sit enjoying just looking at it instead of using it. It could be enormous, free energy forever, ready to be converted when you design the methods of capturing it. It's time.

So in closing, do you understand what you're seeing? You're seeing intelligent design, quantum energy and high consciousness. You are seeing changes in Human nature. You're seeing countries putting things together instead of separating. You are seeing those who don't want war and instead want peace, good schools for their children, safety in their streets and a say in their government. We told you it was going to happen this way. I want my partner to teach these things that I have said in his 3D lectures for awhile. Many won't be able to know these things otherwise.  …”

'Moral duty' to save Mediterranean migrants, says Gauck

The German president has called for more compassion toward migrants in view of Germany's own experiences with forced migration after WWII. He said providing them with sanctuary was 'non-negotiable.'

Deutsche Welle, 20 June 2015

 Refugees on board a ship REUTERS/Antonio Parrinello

Speaking on Saturday at a ceremony in Berlin to remember victims of displacement, Gauck said he hoped that the memory of German expellees who were forced to flee the country's former eastern territories during and after World War II would deepen understanding for migrants today.

He described how 12 to 14 million Germans lost their homelands by the end of the war, leading to a population increase of 20 percent in the former West and East Germanies.

Gauck pointed out that if Germany had been able to integrate millions of refugees 70 years ago when it was "poor and devastated," it should be able to do more in the present refugee crisis, and even benefit from it.

"Why should a Germany that is economically successful and politically stable not be able to recognize future opportunities in today's challenges?" he asked.

"Let us remember what a great part refugees and forced migrants played in successfully rebuilding Germany," he added.

More European help

He also called on European Union countries to do more to help cope with the current growing wave of refugees coming to Europe.

In view of the huge number of migrants who have died attempting the perilous boat crossing from Africa to Europe over the Mediterranean, Gauck said it was a "moral duty" to save people from drowning.

"We would lose our self-respect if we left people drifting on waters near our continent to cope for themselves," he said, adding that all European states had an obligation to provide people with a safe refuge.

This obligation was "non-negotiable," and lasted until migrants either could return home without danger or had found a place to live in safety either in Germany or elsewhere, he said.

'No easy solutions'

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere also spoke at the ceremony, warning that there were no "easy solutions" to the current migration crisis.

Last year, the German government declared the 20 June to be a day of remembrance for refugees and displaced people, in conjunction with the United Nations' World Refugee Day.

The German day is partly to commemorate the millions of Germans who were forced to flee their homes in several eastern European countries as a result of World War II and seek refuge in Germany and Austria, greatly swelling the populations there.

tj/sgb (AFP, dpa, KNA, epd)

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Rohingya hope for peaceful Ramadan in Indonesia

Rohingya women are seen standing at a confinement area in Kuala Cangkoi,

Indonesia's Aceh province (AFP Photo/Chaideer Mahyuddin)

FIFA challenger Ali withdraws from runoff vote with Blatter

Jordan's Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein has withdrawn his bid to become FIFA's next president. This means incumbent Sepp Blatter retains the top job amid a major corruption scandal.

Deutsche Welle, 29 May 2015

Jordan's Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein has withdrawn his bid to challenge Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency. A secret vote was set to go to a surprise second round when the announcement was made.

"It has been a wonderful journey," the prince said.

"I want to thank all those brave enough to support me, but I will be withdrawing from the race."

To win in the first round a candidate needed to get a two thirds majority of the 209 member federations in the first round.

Prince Ali garnered 73 votes, while Sepp Blatter managed 133 votes.

In the second round of voting, a simple majority would suffice for Blatter to claim another four-year term atop an organization he has led since 1998.

Both men had promised to change the way the organization was run, with Prince Ali saying world football was at a "crossroads."

He called for a more inclusive approach.

Blatter meanwhile stressed his experience, saying he didn't want to leave FIFA just yet.

In his acceptance speech, Blatter thanked members for keeping him as head.

"I thank you, you have accepted me for the next four years," he said.

"I will be in command of this boat of FIFA, we will bring it back to shore."

FIFA has been hit by a number of scandals in recent years, including claims of worker abuse in building facilities for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The latest and most serious incident saw fourteen people charged over retrospective corruption allegations, leading to calls for Blatter to step down.

Prior to the vote, Blatter told a FIFA congress he was responsible for ensuring the body recovered from this latest incident.

He said world football needed "a strong and experienced leader," and that he would work towards "a FIFA that will have enough safeguards which will not need the political interventions."

Earlier in the day, the 39-year-old Jordanian prince had said he would "restore respect for the body we represent," and promised to make it more transparent.

As part of the ceremonies, Blatter and Prince Ali shook hands, customary for officials who are leaving the FIFA executive committee.

Prince Ali had been a FIFA vice president, but opted not to stand for a new term in order to oppose Blatter.

an/msh (AFP, dpa, AP)

FIFA sponsors pile pressure on Blatter ahead of AGM vote

Yahoo – AFP, Tim Witcher, 28 May 2015

Sponsors are piling pressure on FIFA leader Sepp Blatter to clean up

world football amid two major corruption scandals (AFP Photo)

Zurich (AFP) - Sponsors piled pressure on FIFA leader Sepp Blatter to clean up world football as two major corruption scandals overshadowed the start of a congress Thursday at which he will seek a new term.

The beleaguered 79-year-old president met with the heads of all six football confederations on Thursday, according to sources who gave no details about the talks.

Amid some calls for him to stand down. Blatter remains favourite to win the presidential election on Friday however.

Credit card giant Visa said it would "reassess" its sponsorship of FIFA unless it takes immediate action after the arrest of top FIFA leaders accused by US authorities of taking huge bribes.

While Swiss police are investigating the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, US documents indicate that South Africa paid bribes to FIFA officials to secure the 2010 World Cup.

Visa said that unless FIFA rebuilds a corporate culture with "strong ethical practices" at its heart, "we have informed them that we will reassess our sponsorship".

Coca-Cola, Adidas, McDonald's and Budweiser all spoke out against the corruption scandal. Corporate backers provide hundreds of millions of dollars to FIFA's finances.

No plan to question Blatter

FIFA's annual congress starts in Zurich on Thursday but its leader stayed out of the public eye as the corruption storm grew.

FBI agents remove documents from the headquarters of the CONCACAF 

soccer organization after a raid on May 27, 2015 in Miami Beach, Florida 

(AFP Photo/Diego Urdaneta)

But Swiss authorities said Thursday there were no plans as yet to question Blatter.

"For the time being, there are no plans to question the FIFA president," Andre Marty, a spokesman for the office of Switzerland's attorney general, told AFP in an email.

UEFA, Europe's governing body, has called for the presidential vote to be postponed and was to meet Thursday to decide whether to boycott the election.

"These events show, once again, that corruption is deeply rooted in FIFA's culture," UEFA said in a statement.

Some European leaders even renewed calls for Blatter to resign.

"Sepp Blatter has to go as FIFA president," said Greg Dyke, chairman of the English Football Association, which lost out to Russia for the 2018 tournament.

England is among the major backers of Blatter's only remaining challenger for the presidency, Prince Ali bin al Hussein, a FIFA vice president from Jordan.

But FIFA remain adamant that the congress and vote will go ahead.

And African and Asian confederations have reaffirmed their support for Blatter.

Asian Football Conferation members hold 47 of the 209 votes in the FIFA election, behind the Confederation of African Football (56 votes) and UEFA (54).

And both the AFC and CAF have said they oppose any delay in the elections.

Seven football officials, including two FIFA vice presidents, remained in Swiss custody on Thursday after their arrest at the FIFA hotel in Zurich early Wednesday.

Six of the seven have indicated they will fight extradition to the United States, Swiss authorities said.

US authorities said nine football officials in all were among 14 people facing up to 20 years in jail if found guilty in the long-running corruption case involving more than $150 million in bribes.

Acting US Attorney Kelly Currie of the Eastern District of New York speaks

 during the announcement of charges against FIFA officials at a news conference

on May 27, 2015 in New York (AFP Photo/Don Emmert)

Fraud probe goes on

US authorities indicated that more charges could follow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, slammed the arrests as an attempt by Washington to oust Blatter.

"This is clearly an attempt to block the reelection of Blatter as president of FIFA and is an extremely serious breach of the principles of how international organisations work," Putin said in televised comments broadcast Thursday, accusing the United States of trying to "spread its jurisdiction to other countries".

Blatter said it was a "difficult time" for the world body, and added that he would not tolerate misconduct by FIFA officials.

"Let me be clear: such misconduct has no place in football and we will ensure that those who engage in it are put out of the game," Blatter said in a statement.

FIFA vice presidents Jeffrey Webb -- the current CONCACAF chief -- and Eugenio Figueredo, a former head of the South American confederation, were among the seven arrested by Zurich police.

Jack Warner, a former vice president, appeared in a Port of Spain court Wednesday before a judge who set his bail at $394,000, according to Trinidad and Tobago media.

Warner was ordered to hand over his passport and check in with police twice a week before a hearing over whether to extradite him to the United States in July, according to the reports.

Warner has denied any wrongdoing. But two of his sons have pleaded guilty to charges related to the US investigation into bribery and kickbacks involving FIFA officials and sports marketing firms.

US agents also raided the Miami headquarters of CONCACAF, the confederation for North and Central America.

The US investigation said South African officials paid $10 million in bribes to host the 2010 tournament. Some bribes were handed over in a briefcase stuffed with $10,000 bundles of cash.

But the South African government on Thursday denied any wrongdoing.

"When we concluded the FIFA World Cup here in South Africa we got a clean audit report," said Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe, who was on the local organising committee.

"There has never been any suggestion that anything untoward happened in South Africa."

Related Article:

Switzerland targets corruption in sports with 'FIFA bill'

UBS Whistle-Blower Says Bank Has ‘Global’ Issue With Tax Evaders

Jakarta Globe, Fabio Benedetti-Valentini, Mar 04, 2015

Republican Guards walk in the rain during a ceremony to welcome Quebec
Prime Minister Philippe Couillard during a ceremony in the courtyard of the
 Hotel des Invalides in Paris on March 2, 2015. (AFP Photo/Philippe Wojazer)

The former UBS Group banker whose cooperation with the U.S. helped expose tax evasion by thousands of Americans says the Swiss bank used similar practices elsewhere and he’s eager to help European governments.

“It’s not a U.S. issue, it’s not a French issue, it’s a global issue. UBS is the problem,” Bradley Birkenfeld said in an interview the day after testifying in a French investigation into similar allegations against UBS. “They’ve been doing it in every market: the Greek market, the Spanish market, the Italian market, the Scandinavian market, the German — I can go on and on, you get the picture.”

The French charged the world’s largest manager of money for the rich last year with laundering the proceeds of tax fraud and ordered the Zurich-based bank to pay 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) to cover a potential penalty should the criminal probe result in a guilty finding. The judge leading the probe asked Birkenfeld to come to Paris to testify as a witness, according to a U.S. court decision authorizing the trip.

Birkenfeld’s testimony in the U.S. case helped secure a $780 million settlement with the bank in 2009. He went to prison for his role and is still on probation. In the interview with Bloomberg News, he said that during his years at UBS in Switzerland, he often spoke with colleagues who worked with French clients and understands how they operated.

French probe

“A witness who actively lobbied to get invited, needed to receive special permission to travel due to his court-ordered supervisory release, and never worked in the business in question, should have limited credibility,” UBS said in an e- mailed statement.

On the French case, the bank said, “the matter remains in a formal investigation phase, there is nothing more to add at this point.” Previously, the bank said the French probe has become a “highly politicized process” and that it’s “taken significant and broad steps to ensure tax compliance of our clients and will continue to do so.”

The U.S.-born banker flew to Paris last week and met with investigators led by judge Guillaume Daieff on Feb. 27, he said. In an interview the next day at a hotel near the Arc de Triomphe, Birkenfeld recounted his time at UBS in Switzerland, where he worked from 2001 to 2006. He declined to go into specifics about the judges’ questions.

‘Boys’ club’

He was part of a team that catered to 19,000 U.S. wealthy clients with about $20 billion in assets, he said. As a director, Birkenfeld said he “made good money for the bank and my clients” during his years at UBS.

He said that while he focused on North America, he spoke with his colleagues handling Europeans. UBS managed even more assets from Switzerland for French clients than for Americans, Birkenfeld said.

While he said in the Feb. 28 interview that he doesn’t deny he was “part of it,” Birkenfeld said he wants to use his knowledge of Geneva’s private banking “little boys’ club” to foster public awareness and fight financial misdeeds.

Birkenfeld pleaded guilty to conspiracy for his role in the U.S. case and was sentenced to 40 months in prison. After his release, he received a $104 million whistle-blower award from the Internal Revenue Service.

Since UBS handed over account names to the U.S., at least 50,000 U.S. taxpayers have avoided prosecution by disclosing offshore accounts to the IRS, generating more than $7 billion in taxes, interest and penalties.

Birkenfeld said he’s ready to help other authorities as he is with the French, “free of charge.” He is already cooperating with two that he declined to identify.

Birkenfeld turned 50 the day before meeting the judges. He now lives in New Hampshire, and it was his first trip to Europe since 2008.

Bloomberg

Stuart Gulliver in Hong Kong in 2012: leaked files show that the HSBC chief

 executive was a client of the bank’s Swiss subsidiary at the centre of the

scandal. Photograph: Bloomberg via Getty Images

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