Protesters occupy Istanbul square as 1,700 held

Yahoo – AFP, June 3, 2013

(AFP)

ISTANBUL (AFP) - Thousands of people were on Sunday occupying Istanbul's Taksim Square, the epicentre of the biggest demonstrations in a decade against Turkey's Islamist-rooted government which have seen more than 1,700 people detained and scores wounded.

A sea of protesters from across Turkey's political spectrum were camping out in the iconic square, chanting "Government, Resign!" and "Istanbul is ours, Taksim is ours!" as they celebrated after the police pulled out of the site on Saturday.

More than 1,700 people have been arrested but "a large majority of the detainees were released after being questioned and identified," Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Guler said in remarks carried by the state-run Anatolia news agency.

Taksim has been at the heart of a wave of more than 90 demonstrations in 48 cities nationwide, the biggest public outcry against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government since it assumed power in 2002.

In Ankara, police fired tear gas and used water cannon to disperse some 1,000 protesters who were attempting to march on the prime minister's office.

The unrest began as a local outcry against plans to redevelop Gezi Park near Taksim Square, but after a heavy-handed police response quickly snowballed into broader protests against what critics say is the government's increasingly conservative and authoritarian agenda.

"They call me a dictator," Erdogan said in a speech on Sunday, a day after he called for an immediate end to the protests. "If they liken a humble servant to a dictator, then I am at a loss for words."

After two days of violent protests and appeals by Turkey's Western allies for restraint, the situation appeared to have calmed in Istanbul on Sunday after police pulled out of Taksim and officials took on a more conciliatory tone.

Interior Minister Muammer Guler said police had detained 939 people as of Saturday evening, but many have been released.

Officials said 53 civilians and 26 police officers were hurt during the violence, while Amnesty International put the number of wounded in the hundreds and said there had been two deaths.

Erdogan on Saturday insisted his government would press ahead with the controversial redevelopment though he said the project may not include a shopping mall, as feared by protesters.

He also admitted "some mistakes" in the police response to the protest.

Eylem Yildirim, a 36-year-old housewife and protester in Taksim, said she expected the crowds to die down after the weekend but said the people had made their point and the government knew they were "bitter and at the limits of their patience."

Amnesty said some protesters had been left blinded by the massive quantities of tear gas and pepper spray used by police over two days while at least two people were hit in the head with gas canisters.

Turkey's Western allies Britain, France and the United States had earlier called for the Erdogan government to exercise restraint.

"We have learnt our lesson," Istanbul mayor Kadir Topbas told NTV on Saturday.

He said he regretted "not informing the people enough" about the details of the construction project in Taksim.

Mass circulation newspaper Milliyet meanwhile plastered a picture of the packed square on its front page with the headline "Freedom Park".

Turkish officials said a dozen people hurt in the protests were being treated in hospitals, and that one of them was in intensive care after brain surgery.

Amnesty's Europe director John Dalhuisen said police excesses had become routine in Turkey "but the excessively heavy-handed response to the entirely peaceful protests in Taksim has been truly disgraceful."

Human Rights Watch said the number of injured was higher than official figures suggested and said one protester had lost an eye after police shot him with a plastic bullet.

The US State Department had called on NATO-member Turkey to uphold "fundamental freedoms of expression, assembly and association, which is what it seems these individuals were doing".

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told local media that Paris was calling for "moving towards a peaceful solution". But he rejected comparisons with the Arab Spring uprisings, saying: "We are dealing (in Turkey) with a government that was democratically elected."

Some 1,800 people also rallied in Vienna on Saturday to criticise the Erdogan government and show their support for the protesters in Istanbul.

The Turkey protests also follow a controversial new law introduced by Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) that will restrict the sale and advertising of alcohol, a move that has sparked complaints that the government is trying to impose an Islamic agenda.

Erdogan's populist government is often accused of trying to make the predominantly Muslim but staunchly secular country more conservative and has also been criticised for its crackdown on opponents including Kurds, journalists and the military.

Related Articles:

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Turkey Deputy PM apologises to Gezi Park protesters

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Turkey clashes: Erdogan says protests 'are not Turkish Spring'

Turkish protesters have long list of complaints

Solidarity with Istanbul protesters grows in Turkey and abroad

"The Timing of the Great Shift" – Mar 21, 2009 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ … 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 ..."

"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)

“…  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. …”

Lord Laird resigns Ulster Unionist whip after lobbying scandal

Peer was among subjects of sting by undercover reporters, who offered cash incentives to ask questions in House of Lords

guardian.co.uk, Rajeev Syal, Sunday 2 June 2013

Ulster Unionist Lord Laird has denied breaching parliamentary rules.
Photograph: Ian Nicholson/PA

An Ulster Unionist peer has resigned the party's whip pending an inquiry into allegations he broke rules by offering to carry out parliamentary work for cash.

Lord Laird is among a number of peers alleged to have offered to work with undercover journalists posing as lobbyists. He denies any wrongdoing and has referred the case to a sleaze watchdog.

Laird has been caught in two separate stings this weekend – one by the BBC's Panorama and another by the Sunday Times. His resignation, which comes days after the MP Patrick Mercer resigned the Tory whip after being stung by undercover reporters, will increase pressure upon the parliamentary authorities and David Cameron to introduce new rules governing lobbying.

In a statement, the UUP leader Mike Nesbitt said: "Having reviewed the video footage on the Daily Telegraph website, and other media reporting of Lord Laird's engagement with alleged lobbyists, I telephoned his home this morning and as a result he has relinquished the party whip, pending the outcome of the review of his behaviour that he has already requested of the relevant authorities at Westminster."

Laird was allegedly recorded by Panorama saying he would be able to bribe fellow peers with the promise of free trips to Fiji. The undercover reporters claimed to be lobbyists who said they wanted to overturn sanctions imposed on the country for its human rights record.

Laird said: "I'll deny having said this, but it's a bribe … the sort of thing I can say to these guys … you put that question down now," it is alleged. He was also one of three peers caught up in an undercover sting by Sunday Times reporters posing as representatives of an energy firm.

The newspaper said he was recorded setting out ways he could lobby for new laws on behalf of a South Korean solar power firm. But he insisted he had suspected from the start that they were not genuine. "In recent days I have been the subject of a scam operated by journalists masquerading as communications consultants," he said in a statement. "This has led to allegations that I have broken the rules of the House of Lords. I wish to make it clear that I did not agree to act as a paid advocate in any proceedings of the House nor did I accept payment or other incentive or reward in return for providing parliamentary advice or services."

He said that because he suspected a scam, he took a journalist to the meeting as a witness. "Shortly after the meeting, because it was so obviously a scam, we reported it to the appropriate authorities in the Lords.

"I have not broken any rules. However, I have referred the situation to the appropriate authorities and I will be making no further statement until I have received their ruling."

The latest claims emerged a day after Mercer quit the Tory whip. He is alleged to have tabled Commons questions and offered a Westminster security pass after signing a deal with a lobbying firm that paid him £4,000 seeking the readmission of Fiji to the Commonwealth. The lobbyists were in fact undercover reporters conducting an investigation for BBC's Panorama and the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

The Sunday Times said the peers – two from Labour – were caught offering to ask parliamentary questions and lobby ministers in return for cash. All three are believed to have referred themselves to the watchdog.

Justine Greening, the minister for international development, said that the rules of lobbying will have to be re-examined in the light of the latest claims. "With the cases that have come to light over the weekend, it looks as if they [the peers] may have broken the rules … but I think we also need to look at whether we can go further than that and be better and clearer about what constitutes fairer lobbying and when it goes beyond the right line," she told Murnaghan on Sky.

Douglas Alexander, the shadow foreign secretary, told the Andrew Marr show that if the rules have been broken, then it is for Labour's chief whip to take action. "It would be for the chief whip to take that action and I would be encouraging her to do so," he said.

A Labour spokeswoman said: "The party expects all peers to comply with the Lords code of conduct, which is there to bring clarity to their dealings with outside commercial interests and consultancies. We demand high standards of behaviour from our parliamentarians.

"Where there is genuine evidence of wrongdoing, including non-compliance with the code of conduct, the Labour party will consider appropriate disciplinary action as and when necessary."

Mercer said he was taking legal advice but resigned the whip to save his party embarrassment, and will step down from the Commons at the next general election. He also referred himself to the parliamentary commissioner for standards.

The MPs' code of conduct prohibits paid advocacy and requires the declaration of financial interests. The Tory Monmouth MP, David Davies, has revealed that he was among those targeted by the Panorama sting, but insisted he refused the offer of lobbying work.

Mercer tabled questions to ministers in May about Fiji and also tabled a motion saying there was "no justification for Fiji's continued suspension from the Commonwealth". Names were revealed of some of the MPs who agreed to join an all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on Fiji at Mercer's invitation – none of whom faces any allegations of wrongdoing.

Among those named by the Sunday Telegraph were Tories Julian Brazier and Mark Field, and Labour MPs Keith Vaz, Valerie Vaz and Fabian Hamilton. All defended their decision to offer support to the group. Mercer reportedly boasted to the undercover reporters that among 18 MPs he signed up were "several freeloaders that would like to go to Fiji".

A spokesman for Keith Vaz said he was a member of several such groups but had not been offered a visit to Fiji. "He fully supports Fiji's suspension from the Commonwealth which should remain until there are free and fair elections. This reflects the views of his Fijian-origin constituents," he said.

A review into APPGs was announced by the Commons standards committee in January following a working group set up by Speaker John Bercow, whose recommendations included the need for greater transparency. The Fiji group was never formally registered.

The controversy has reignited calls for the government to press ahead with promised legislation both for a statutory register of lobbyists and the power for constituents to recall MPs who breach the rules. Nick Clegg has made clear his determination to secure the register – blaming the Tories for the lack of action.

The PM predicted in 2010 that lobbying would be 'the next scandal

 waiting to happen' but has so far failed to introduce a new law.

Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Related Articles:

Lobbying bill will be brought to parliament by end of July, says No 10 - New

Lobbying: ministers race to change rules as scandals hit home


"The Timing of the Great Shift" – Mar 21, 2009 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ … 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 ..."

"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)

“…  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. …”

Andorra to introduce income tax for first time

BBC News, 2 June 2013

Related Stories 

• Clock ticks on Swiss banking secrecy
• Cameron warns overseas territories on tax
• EU to start talks over tax evasion

Mr Marti met with the French president at
the Elysee in Paris

Andorra is to introduce a tax on personal income for the first time as it faces pressure from the its European neighbours to tackle tax evasion.

Antoni Marti, the head of the Andorran government, told French President Francois Hollande that he will introduce a bill before 30 June.

The principality will "gradually meet international tax standards", according to the office of the French president.

There is currently no income tax applied to individuals or corporations.

EU finance ministers have agreed to start talks with Andorra - along with Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, and San Marino - on swapping bank account information.

Recently, the European Commission told the European Parliament it wants EU-wide exchange of all types of income data as part of the fight against tax evasion.

EU tax authorities already automatically exchanged information for income such as employment, pensions and insurance but not for income such as dividends and capital gains.

Tax evasion costs EU states 1tn euros ($1.3tn; £850bn) a year, more than was spent on healthcare in 2008, the Commission has said, and some MEPs are calling for a Europe-wide blacklist of tax havens.

Mr Hollande was meeting with Mr Marti in Paris in his role as one of the two co-monarchs of Andorra, which is situated in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain.

More recently, France's Socialist government was hit by a scandal, as former minister Jerome Cahuzac was forced to resign over tax fraud allegations. He later admitted that he had hidden about 600,000 euros in a Swiss bank account.

Related Article:

Swiss strike bank deal with US over tax evasion

Police halt Blockupy march in downtown Frankfurt

Deutsche Welle, 1 June 2013

Police have stopped many protestors from reaching the ECB, saying some participants were disturbing the peace. Thousands are occupying the Germany's financial capital, Frankfurt am Main, to protest EU austerity policies.

About 7,000 people marched toward the headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) on Saturday in protest of EU austerity policies imposed on crisis-stricken member states.

Some carried signs reading "Make Love Not Money" and "Troika, IMF, get out of Greece."

Police brought part of the "Blockupy" demonstration to a crawl around midday when several hundred protesters refused to remove masks, while others began setting off fireworks.

According to a police spokesperson, authorities used pepper spray and batons to disperse the crowd and to restore order. There were reports of participants leaving the demonstration to seek medical treatment after sustaining injuries.

The police intervention was "a conscious and planned escalation," Blockupy spokesperson Frauke Distelrath told the news agency EPD.

The anti-capitalist "Blockupy" movement began on Friday morning when thousands of people attempted to prevent access to the ECB building. However, a large contingent of police forces, wearing helmets and riot gear, thwarted the effort.

Police said the protest action had been peaceful with the exception of minor clashes at security barricades.

Europe's Blockupy movement took shape after the Occupy Wall Street initiative in 2011. It has directed its protests against the perceived role of banks and governments in impoverishing many people in Europe, citing in particular cutbacks that have denied many the ability to earn a living.

Similar demonstrations were scheduled to take place across Europe later on Saturday.

kms/msh (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa, epd)

Related Article:

Europeans 'Blockupy' the ECB in Frankfurt

Fracking evokes 'angst' in Germany

Deutsche Welle, 1 June 2013

Germans are concerned about the risks of fracking, a method to extract oil and gas: Chancellor Angela Merkel sends out words of caution, environmental experts say it’s dispensable. But in Europe, fracking is on the rise.

aThere is hardly anything that Germans are as much afraid of as environmental risks in the soil. Thousands take to the streets regularly against plans to store nuclear waste deep underground. And lately, there have been active initiatives against fracking - despite the technique not yet being commercially used on a large scale. At least not in Germany.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, as it is more commonly known, is a method to release petroleum or natural gas from rock formations by injecting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals deep underground at high pressure. Oil and gas can then be extracted; but parts of the chemical cocktail remain in the soil. That's why environmental experts warn that fracking could pollute the groundwater.

Fracking has experienced a boom over recent years in the United States. Experts have said the US could soon even overtake Russia as the world's top gas producer. There are calculations that suggest Germany could satisfy its own gas demand for 13 years if it decided to use the controversial extraction method. Fracking was done to a limited degree in Germany until US fracking activities triggered a controversial debate. Companies had to stop all fracking activities in Germany as a result.

Recommendation to forego

Environmental advisor Martin
Faulstich: Forego fracking

The fracking stop came at a time when Germany is actually seeking out new sources of energy. After the Fukushima tsunami and nuclear reactor meltdown, Berlin decided to phase out all nuclear energy by the mid-2020s.

But the government's advisory council on the environment (SRU) warned of risks fracking may pose. The experts said they had too many concerns outweighed the potential benefits of fracking. They also said Germany didn't need additional gas supplies from complicated and costly sources. Instead of fracking, the SRU experts said they still favored wind and solar power.

"That's why we've recommended that we forego fracking here in Germany," the council's chairman Martin Faulstich told DW.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has not openly shown interest in pursuing fracking in Germany. In a phone consultation with fellow party members she said, "We have to do everything we can to avoid environmental risks." Her government, she added aimed to "limit [fracking] and to make its use more complicated and make the method more environmentally friendly in comparison to its current legal status."

Under current law, fracking falls under the statues established for the mining industry. Those regulations provide owners of a mine with a great deal of latitude on their operations.

Unsuitable topic for general elections

Germany's ruling coalition of Christian conservatives and junior partner free market liberal FDP have now put forward a draft law which would ban fracking in water protection areas. In other areas, strict environmental compatibility studies would have to be carried out, which in practice would amount to a ban.

"Under current circumstances, we can rule out fracking," was how Hermann Gröhe, the secretary general of governing party CDU, said of the topic.

Many in Merkel's Christian Democratic Union want the draft law to go even further. They are worried that the fear of chemicals in the soil could benefit the Greens party in the election campaign. That's why they're now campaigning for a proper ban - as are the Greens. Many German states that are governed by opposition parties SPD and Greens also want to see fracking banned. They have the majority in the German Bundesrat, Germany's upper house of parliament. That's why the fracking law would not stand a chance at the moment anyway.

Campaigners are concerned about potential groundwater pollution

Beer brewers have also put up resistance in Bavaria. They are concerned about the purity of the groundwater. That's why the CSU, the CDU's sister party that governs the state of Bavaria, is also against fracking. Currently, the FDP - with Economy Minister Philipp Rösler at the forefront - is the only political party which speaks out in favor of at least assessing the possibilities of the extraction method in Germany.

Pressure from Europe

In Europe, Germany comparably isolated in its opposition to fracking. Others frown when they're confronted with the German concerns - even German nationals. EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger this week complained that the EU needed a radical overhaul.

He said the bloc was in a "truly abysmal state," and he criticized the German government for its policies. Oettinger, a top member of Angela Merkel's CDU party himself, said Germany was strong, but it couldn't get any stronger because the government was setting the wrong agenda, by focusing on "childcare benefits, a women's quota, minimum wages; and then they say no to fracking."

In many EU countries, fracking is popular, particularly in central and eastern Europe, where many - like Poland - still rely on climate-unfriendly sources of energy like coal. They would prefer to switch to less harmful shale gas. Hungary, Poland, Romania, but also Spain and Britain are in favor of fracking.

Amid ongoing anti-fracking protests, Romania's head of government Victor Ponta called on his people to "not be deterred from the right path which the US have already embarked on". It will take a long time before Germany embarks on that path - if at all.

Related Articles:

North American firms quit shale gas fracking in Poland

"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….”

Japan to Become Largest Solar Market After China

Green energy revolution in the Gulf?

Energy revolution promises to transform East Africa

China's State Grid to boost small-scale power generation

China to have 3,000MW solar thermal power capacity by 2015

Solidarity with Istanbul protesters grows in Turkey and abroad

Deutsche Welle, 1 June 2013

Amid violent clashes between rioters and the police, solidarity rallies are being staged all across Turkey. The protests are increasingly targeted directly at Prime Minister Erdogan’s government.

A peaceful protest camp in "Gezi Park" in the center of Istanbul marked the beginning of this week's demonstrations. On Thursday night (30.05.2013), Turkish police units started attacking the camping protesters. Since then, the demonstrations have turned into nation-wide rallies against the policies of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been in office for ten years. More and more protesters' slogans are directly calling for the government's resignation.

Preliminary injunction against construction

The protest was initially targeted at the Turkish government's plans to redesign "Gezi Park". A replica 18th century-era barracks building in Ottoman style is to be constructed there. Hundreds of trees in the park have to be cut down. There are plans for the barracks building to house a shopping mall. That was the last straw for many protesters, who said Istanbul with its 15 million inhabitants was increasingly plastered with concrete.

Prime Minister Erdogan says he will
press ahead with the shopping mall.

Despite the protest, Prime Minister Erdogan said the planned construction was a done deal. "You can do whatever you want. We've made our decision and we'll stick by it," Turkish newspaper 'Bugün' quoted him as saying. But an administrative court in Istanbul issued an interim injunction against the planned project, which is valid until the culture and tourism ministry issues a statement on the topic. "The few remaining green areas in Istanbul's district of Beyoglu shouldn't be turned into a shopping mall just so that somebody can make a profit from it," said Ertugrul Günay, a former culture and tourism minister under Erdogan.

"Turkey doesn't need new shopping malls"

"Big cities like Istanbul suffer from too many shopping malls", Murat Izci criticized in the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet. Izci is the founder of KDM Consulting and said that back in the year 2000, there were merely 46 shopping malls in Turkey – compared to 299 today.

"Gezi Park", which is at the heart of the latest demonstrations, is one of the city's smallest parks. But for many of Istanbul's inhabitants, it's the last remaining patch of green in the city center. "I can't bear to watch how the historic trees in the park are being cut down. Construction in the city is flooding us like a tsunami. And there's no end in sight," a Turkish architecture student who took part in the demonstrations told Deutsche Welle.

Pressure from social media

To a large extent, the rallies against the logging of the historic trees in "Gezi Park" were organized on Facebook and Twitter. Since Friday morning, photos and videos have been uploaded with the hashtag #geziparki. According to the Washington Post, nearly half of all original posts on Twitter had some connection with the protests in Istanbul. The posts show the brutality with which police units have tried to break up the protests, and they show touching scenes, with people – among them children – finding it difficult to breathe because they are being chased into subway shafts by police using tear gas.

 Riot police have repeatedly used water canons and tear gas to
disperse the protests.

The protesters in Turkey are receiving support in other countries, such as Germany and England, with Facebook posts reading "Occupy Gezi Parki, you're not alone! The people in Oxford believe in your right to protest." Those posts, their publishers hope, will motivate the Turkish protesters to fight for their rights. In many German cities demonstrations were planned for the weekend.

Only a few Turkish television channels, like Halk-TV (People's TV), have live coverage of the events. That's why social media have become the most important way of sharing news about the protest. The nationwide rallies on the streets and the worldwide support they're getting on social networks are putting Prime Minister Erdogan increasingly under pressure.

Solidarity from all over the country

The army hospital in Istanbul's Gümüssuyu district treats people who have sustained injuries from tear gas and water canon attacks. Some people even distributed oxygen masks in broad daylight and before the eyes of the police. "I'm fighting for Atatürk, for my ancestors and for my grandchildren. I want them to grow up in a European Turkey where human rights are valued," a 64-year-old army veteran told DW during a demonstration.

Protesters distributed oxygen
masks to each other.

People in many Turkish cities have started to show solidarity with the protesters in Istanbul, particularly in the capital Ankara, where a large group got together in Kugulu Park in the city center. Another group of some 2,000 people gathered in Abdi Pekci Park, but police stopped them with tear gas when they started marching toward the Prime Minister's office building.

In Izmir, more than 10,000 people took to the streets with banners that read "Taksim is everywhere, resistance is everywhere", and "Izmir is with you". The protesters in Izmir were also stopped by police who fired tear gas and water canons. There were further rallies of solidarity in Bursa, Eskisehir, Adana, Izmit, Konya, Samsun, Mersin and other Turkish cities. The opposition CHP party organized a large demonstration in Istanbul's Kadiköy district on the Asian side of the city. Thousands crossed the Bosphorus to join the protesters on Taksim square.

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Germany shies away from comment on possible role in US drone war

Deutsche Welle, 1 June 2013

It looks like a computer game, but it's deadly serious news in Germany: US soldiers control drone attacks with a joystick. According to new media reports, military bases on German soil play a key role in the drone war.

The attacker has a decisive advantage: he can attack without being in personal danger. Everything is controlled remotely off-site and the opponent can be thousands of kilometers away. Drones have become an essential part in the US's post-September 11 war against terror in Afghanistan and other regions, but their use is ethically and legally controversial.

According to reports from German TV news show "Panorama" and the daily newspaper "Süddeutsche Zeitung," the US use their German military bases to conduct attacks and targeted killings. The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), based in Stuttgart since 2008, and the US Air Force base Ramstein in particular are said to play substantial roles in the drone war.

 Has AFRICOM controlled drone
attacks from Germany?

AFRICOM coordinates all US missions on the African continent from Germany. Within this context, the reports said, it's safe to assume that AFRICOM also coordinates the use of drones in Africa. Drones were used to kill suspected terrorist in Somalia, for example. Since 2007, up to 27 people, some of them civilians, have died there in attacks by the unmanned planes, according to the London-based "Bureau of Investigative Journalism."

Ramstein a key location?

The contact between the pilot in the US and the drone in Africa is supposedly relayed through a satellite facility in Ramstein, a military base in the western German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The media outlets quoted a US Air Force paper saying that the attacks aren't possible without this relay station. Ramstein is also home to the central Air and Space Operations Center (AOC).

The drones themselves are not stationed in Germany. For missions in Africa, there are bases in Djibouti, Niger, Ethiopia and on the Seychelles. But personnel and the technology needed to control the drones is reportedly based in Germany.

Maj. Ryan Donald, spokesman for the United States European Command, replied to a DW inquiry saying that the AOC supervises flights, but does not directly operate airborne objects.

Violating international law

Most experts agreed that the use of drones outside of war zones, including Somalia, is not acceptable under international law.

"The targeted killing of persons through drones would be impermissible here," Andreas Zimmermann, professor of international law at the University of Potsdam, said on the German public radio station Deutschlandradio Kultur.

Thilo Marauhn, an international law activist, took the argument even further. "When the German government knows about the killing of a terror suspect by drone outside a war zone and doesn't protest against it, this could constitute a violation of international law," Marauhn said in the "Panorama" report.

Schäfer: government has to
investigate drones connection

The opposition demanded clarification from the government.

"The government has to get to the bottom of this," said Paul Schäfer, a member of the parliament's defense committee for the Left Party. "Otherwise, the suspicion that Germany is part of international law violations remains. That cannot be left out there."

Troop law counts

There seems to be not a lot the German government can do at the moment though, because of a statute that governs the presence of US troops in Germany.

"We'd have to start new negotiations about the troops statute," Schäfer told DW. "I'm afraid that currently, the German government's opportunities to intervene are limited. We lack the legal authority."

Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said in Berlin that there was an on-going dialog with US officials. "The result is that we don't have any evidence for behavior that violates international law," Seibert said. "Speaking for the German government, I cannot confirm the claims that were made in the media."

Kerry doesn't see a violation

Drone attacks are a legal response
to the 9/11 attacks, Kerry said

US Secretary of State John Kerry did not want to comment on the media reports either when he met his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle in Washington. "I will not discuss details of the operation here," Kerry said. "Our actions are legal. We were attacked on September 11. As a final means, this is self-defense."

The German government seems to shy away from an open discussion on the actions of American troops in Germany. When the decision was made to base AFRICOM in Stuttgart, the German Foreign Ministry wrote to the US government asking, according to "Panorama," that Germany not be publicly mentioned as the new AFRICOM home as it would cause "unnecessary public debate."

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Monsanto set to halt GM push in Europe

RT, May 31, 2013

The march against Monsanto, Germany. (Image from twitter user@@HarvestPM)

Monsanto plans to halt lobbying for its genetically modified plant varieties in Europe due to low demand from local farmers, a representative from the US agricultural giant told a German daily.

"We are no longer working on lobbying for more cultivation in Europe," Brandon Mitchner a representative for Monsanto’s European branch, Tageszeitung, said in an interview set to be published on Saturday.

"Currently we do not plan to apply for the approval of new genetically modified crops. The reason is, among other things, low demand of the farmers,” he continued.

A spokeswoman for Monsanto Germany, Ursula Luttmer-Ouazane, admitted that Monsanto recognizes that GMO crops were currently not embraced on the European market.

"We've understood that such plants don't have any broad acceptance in European societies," Luttmer-Ouazane said. “It is counterproductive to fight against windmills," she added.

A spokesperson for the German Ministry of Economy and Technologies described the move as an “entrepreneurial decision” which needed no further comment. The ministry added, however, it has long made its opposition to gene modification technologies known.

"The promises of the GM industry have not come true for European agriculture, nor have they for the agriculture in developing and emerging economies," the ministry said in a statement.

Eight national governments in the European Union have already banned Monsanto's MON810 maize and other forms of GMO cultivation in their countries under an environmental protection provision known as the 'Safeguard Clause'.

Particularly fierce protests in Germany prompted the government to introduce the measures in 2009 due to concerns that such cultivation could lead to ecological degradation.

Monsanto’s rivals, such as Bayer CropScience, BASF and Syngenta, had by and large pulled out of the German market because of large-scale public opposition, the German daily reported.

Austria, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg and most recently Poland are among other EU member states enforcing the ban. In April, Italy joined the ranks of EU states looking to ban the cultivation of GM crops on its soil.

The march against Monsanto, Germany. (Image from twitter user@Julia_etc)

The announcement comes amidst a series of recent public relations battles that have brought the US firm considerable worldwide attention.

On Wednesday, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said it had conducted genetic tests on wheat from an 80-acre farm in Oregon this past April. The tests revealed the wheat was an experimental variety created by Monsanto that had never been approved for sale.

The discovery prompted Japanese authorities to cancel part of a tender offer to buy US western white wheat and have suspended imports of both that variety and feed wheat, while several other large importers of US-wheat throughout Asia said they were closely monitoring the situation.

The European Union for its part said it will test any incoming shipments, with plans to block those containing GMO wheat.

The USDA announcement followed a massive, global "March Against Monsanto" held on Saturday that saw demonstrations against the Missouri-based firm in 52 countries.  Organizers for the global protest said around 2 million protesters showed up at rallies being held in 436 cities to protest against the seed giant and the genetically modified food.

The march against Monsanto, Munich. (Image from twitter user@nasimjo)

Protesters make their point to Monsanto in Los Angeles, California,

May 25, 2013. Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

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