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. …

Friday, February 22, 2013

Boost for City as Sir Mervyn King does currency swap deal with Bank of China

Independent, Russell Lynch, 22 February 2013
 
The Bank of England today took a crucial step towards boosting the City as a centre of trading in the Chinese renminbi after agreeing a currency swap deal with the Bank of China.

The announcement of the three-year swap — to allow Threadneedle Street to draw down renminbi from China’s central bank to supply to UK firms and vice versa — came after talks between Governor Sir Mervyn King and his counterpart in Beijing.

Bankers have long called for a swap to allay fears over a lack of liquidity in China’s tightly-controlled currency, which has hampered trading in the renminbi. The Bank of England had resisted as it usually reserves swap lines for emergencies.

A Standard Chartered spokesman said the deal “will have a positive psychological effect on the market in the City and encourage more companies to do business in renminbi.” HSBC UK economist John Zhu said: “This will provide greater confidence for businesses that trade with China and represents a positive step to improving convertibility between sterling and renminbi.”

Hong Kong currently has 80% of off-shore renminbi trading, with London and Singapore sharing the rest.

Related Articles:

RMB on way to becoming global reserve currency: IMF official


"The U in Kundalini"- Oct 18, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Kundalini, Unification, EU, Nobel Peace Prize 2012, Middle East, South America, Only 5 Currencies on EarthOld Souls, Duality will dismiss, 3D Humanity will melt with Multi dimensional higher self, Global Unity… etc.)

X-Files of Soviet Defense Ministry exposed

Pravda, 21.02.2013 

In Soviet times, the Ministry of Defense was working on a secret project aimed at creating a superhuman with paranormal abilities. Under this project, a group of scientists managed to get in touch with a foreign civilization. The head of this top-secret project shared some details with reporters for the first time.

On a regular winter day in Moscow, in the comfort a room with a fireplace, journalists were given a real sensation. A senior retired official of the Ministry of Defense, lieutenant-general in reserve, PhD, a fellow of the Academy of Natural Sciences Alexey Savin said that in the late 1980's a group of researchers from the Expert Management Unit of General Staff managed to make a contact with representatives of another civilization. Interestingly, none of the journalists were particularly surprised but, rather, relieved with the "confession."

Vasily Yeremenko, a Major General of FIB in reserve, academician of the Academy of Security, Defense and Law Enforcement, was the first to speak to the press. In Soviet times he served in the KGB and supervised the Air Force and development of aviation technology. Among his assignments was collection of information by the Air Force of the facts of appearance of unidentified flying objects. According to Vasily Yeremenko, by that time there was an ample amount of such information.

Missile units were even given a directive in case of detection of UFOs. The main task was not to create opportunities for reciprocal aggression. In 1983-1984 at the testing grounds of the Academy of Sciences by Vladimirovka, the Ministry of Defense and the KGB organized a large-scale study of paranormal phenomena. The military training site was not a random choice. Experts have long come to the conclusion that UFOs inevitably appear in places where military equipment and weapons are tested.

"We can say that we learned to summon UFOs in Vladimirovka. To do this, we dramatically increased the number of military flights and movement of the equipment. If the intensity on our side increased, UFOs appeared with the probability of 100 percent," explained Yeremenko. After six months of tests the authoritative commission came to three main conclusions.

First, modern science was not yet able to identify such phenomena. Second, it could be reconnaissance equipment of the U.S. or Japan. Third, it could be an impact of an extraterrestrial civilization. "The UFO topic today is ubiquitous. Precisely because of its scandalous nature serious scientists are not willing to identify their position on this issue. Pilots often see such objects, but they have a veto on this topic, so do astronauts. In confidential conversations they talk about their experiences meeting with UFOs, but they are afraid to speak publicly about this," said Vasily Yeremenko.

He believes that this subject requires a serious approach because it is a security issue. Yet, it is still a closed topic both in the U.S. and in Russia. Lt. Gen. Alexey Savin proceeded to reveal some aspects of the engagement of the Ministry of Defense. He headed the Expert Management Unit of the General Staff, whose task was to examine various unusual phenomena.

The main project of the unit was a state program on the discovery of intellectual human resources. The goal of the program was to identify ways to make the human brain work in a special regime of super-powers, making a person a superhuman. The Scientific Council of the program was led by an Academician Natalya Bekhtereva, who until her death served as a scientific director of the Institute of Human Brain of RAS.

Over two hundred highly skilled professionals from across the country participated in the program. "In the process of research, we came to the conclusion that a human was an energy and information system that receives information from outside. This is precisely why a human can manifest paranormal abilities," said Alexey Savin. In order to identify this external source of information, three groups were created. One group was formed from scientists, another - from military, and the third one was composed of women.

The group of women made the most significant progress in the research. Savin explained that they "wanted to make a contact with representatives of other civilizations. And we did it." According to him, a special method has been developed that allowed the human brain to tune into a contact. "We had to tune energy-contour of the human brain to a particular wave, like a radio," Alexey Savin explained.

No hypnosis, drugs, or other similar methods were used in the course of the experiment. A special system of testing was also developed to separate the incoming reports from hallucinations and insanity of the experiment participants. The experimental results were impressive: six participants were given a chance of physical contact, and two of them even managed to visit an alien ship. According to Savin, representatives of extraterrestrial civilizations revealed themselves gradually, giving away the information as they saw fit.

In particular, they talked about their government structure and education system. No information on the military could be obtained. The only thing they agreed to share was a scheme of the equipment for the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases. The head of the experiment explained that humans were like small children to them. "Our civilization is too young to be of interest to them as a subject for a dialogue. Because we are also a part of the universe, we may harm ourselves and other civilizations with our foolish actions, so they are looking out for us. "

The program of communication with extraterrestrial intelligence had been developed for several years until politics intervened. In 1993, the study was stopped and the unit disbanded. According to Savin, he was able to retain only a small number of documents, most of them, including photo reports, are still in the archives of the Ministry of Defense. Incidentally, the unique method for the development of the phenomenal abilities of an individual, until recently, was used in the Academy named after Gagarin until it was disbanded by the former Defense Minister Serdyukov. Yet, the core of the research team was preserved.

"Four years ago we tried to repeat the experiment, and we were successful," said Alexey Savin. According to him, today this work continues, and the "brains and talented people are still present in the defense industry." Answering the question of Pravda.Ru why it was decided to announce it to the media Savin replied: "Why hide something from people? Instead, they need to prepare for new challenges."

He believes that there are two global challenges today: climate change and shortage of drinking water. Russia has a special role in this process. "When we pass the point of bifurcation, people from all over will run to us. How will we meet them, with weapons? Of course, we will have to negotiate." Maybe all this is a puzzle from the "textbook" for young civilizations? Perhaps, aliens have arranged an experiment to see how we would handle it. 

Svetlana Smetanina

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Vatican's official daily: A must-read on papal resignation

The Daily Star, AFP, Jean-Louis de la Vaissiere, February 21, 2013

Copies of L'Osservatore Romano are displayed at the Vatican's printing house
 during the printing of the newspaper on February 18, 2013 at the Vatican.
AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS
                              
VATICAN CITY: With Pope Benedict XVI's impending resignation creating shockwaves around the world, the Vatican's official daily L'Osservatore Romano is now the most closely watched newspaper in Rome -- with its blend of an official Vatican line and a modern outlook.

The paper flew off the shelves with a scoop within hours of the pope's historic announcement last week -- a report revealing the 85-year-old made his mind up during a tiring trip to Mexico and Cuba last year.

The article was signed simply "gmv" -- the initials of Giovanni Maria Vian, a cheerful 60-year-old historian who has been editor at the paper since 2007 and is one of Benedict's biggest admirers.

While it contains plenty of reports on contemporary culture and social issues, the paper more or less remains the mouthpiece of the Vatican -- updated for the 21st century and an intellectual pope.

This unique newspaper, which has survived Italian unification in the 19th century, and a fascist dictatorship and two World Wars in the 20th, celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2011.

Since Vian took over in 2007, it has been undergoing a discreet modernisation, encouraged by a pope with a strong interest in mass communication.

"Every day we aim to protect our peculiarity while getting closer to normal standards for a newspaper like using a simple language so that everyone can understand," Vian told AFP in an interview.

The editor spoke in an office decorated with illustrations from the Tintin comic books "The Black Island" and "King Ottokar's Sceptre".

Tintin was "a Catholic hero," Vian said.

The famously quiffed fictional reporter followed the same "clear line" of Joseph Ratzinger's theological thought and Vian said he set an example he wants to follow at his newspaper.

In a somewhat drab building within the Vatican walls, Osservatore Romano's offices are made up of a series of grey corridors leading to newsrooms bristling with brand-new computers.

As well as the Italian daily edition, the newspaper is published in weekly editions in eight languages including Malayalam, the language used by Christians living in the state of Kerala in southern India.

Starting last year, it also has a monthly women's insert entitled "Women, Church, World".

Italian news reports, which used to be extensive, have been cut and mixed with other foreign news.

The paper also publishes somewhat unconventional reviews of books and films, as well as weighty historical treatises drawing on 2,000 years of Christianity.

One the paper's favourite debates is the role of pope Pius XII during World War II and his attitude towards Jews being persecuted by Nazi Germany.

"When we are talking about some social issue, you can legitimately interpret ours as being the position of the Holy See," Vian said.

Of course this does not apply "when we are talking about the latest James Bond or the Beatles".

The paper has devoted ample coverage recently to the wave of opposition against the legalisation of gay marriage in France, drawing on comments by philosophers, social scientists, psychologists -- both believers and non-believers.

One staff writer is historian Lucetta Scaraffia, who describes herself as a "feminist" fighting for the unrecognised role of women in the Church.

In the last issue of the women's supplement, she wrote that the "voice of women" could allow a deeper understanding of God -- a theme that is not necessarily liked in a Church dominated by men.

She has written articles on women persecuted in the Church, like Frenchwoman Margherite Porete who was burnt at the stake in the 14th century.

She said there is one condition for coverage though -- trying to protect the security of Christian communities by avoiding sensitive issues in countries where this could stoke religious tensions.

There is "a great freedom to say what you think" at the newspaper, Scaraffia said.

The Church "is a unique institution to see contemporary culture from a different point of view."

Related Articles:


Lightning strikes St Peter's dome at Vatican on day
 the Pope announced resignation, by Filippo Monteforte


"... Let us speak for a moment about some recent developments—first, Pope Benedict. A most unusual event indeed, a pope resigning, and the announced reason, “advanced age,” is factual in a way.

The pope seen publicly is a clone. Because it is aging rapidly and its energy is ebbing, it will not be able to function much longer and replacement clones are hard to come by these days. That is why the pontiff himself, who looks healthier and younger than the clone, will remain in seclusion. Depending upon his life span and the timing of the truth about clones coming forth, he may be seen later on looking quite refreshed.

The significance of this resignation is much more far reaching than a failing clone—it cracks open the door to truths that have been hidden for centuries, such as pedophilia in the priesthood has been rampant for over 1500 years.

The Vatican, which has been a major world player under the Illuminati umbrella, is the international headquarters of Satanism, and its untold wealth includes stolen art treasures acquired in collaboration with Nazis during World War II. Any pope who raised an objection to the mammoth deceit, unconscionable behavior and amassing of fortunes was short-lived.

Yet, possibly the most shocking revelation will be the disclosure of ancient records that will show how the Bible long ago was strategically altered—most notably the fabricated story about Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection—to give the church control over the Catholic populace.

When all of that becomes public knowledge, the Vatican’s long reign will be over. The crumbling will be extremely sad and difficult for Catholics, but all devout Christians will be profoundly affected by learning that the foundation of their lives was built on lies.

Compassion for all of those souls can help them accept that the truth about Jesus’ life and teachings is far more valuable than what they have been taught. Their beliefs that are based in spirituality rather than in dogma will endure and the rituals based on falsehoods will fade away. ..."

"... The Rothschild faction of the Illuminati, which governed its empire from London and the Vatican, lost its media foothold along with its other powers in that part of the world. A section of the Illuminati’s Rockefeller faction, headquartered in Washington, DC, and New York City, still has influence on major media in the US as well as on Wall Street; and their lingering foothold in Congress is evident in the intransigence that has stagnated progress. ..."


Catholic bishops give cautious nod to morning-after pill

Deutsche Welle, 21 February 2013


Germany’s Roman Catholic bishops have approved the use of the morning-after pill, but only under extreme circumstances. Church leaders made the decision after two rape victims were refused the pill at a Cologne hospital.

The bishops, meeting in the German city of Trier, agreed that Catholic hospitals in Germany should be allowed to prescribe the morning-after pill for women who had been the victims of rape.

However, Germany’s Catholic clergy stipulated that medicines may only be used that prevent conception and not as a means to induce abortion. The use of drugs that cause the death of an embryo or fetus would continue to be banned, even for rape victims, they said.

In a statement issued after the meeting, the bishops said they wished church hospitals to take the correct medical decisions "on the basis of this moral and theological guideline."

"In every case, the decision of the woman concerned must be respected," the statement added.

While emergency pills can be used to prevent conception altogether, they can also be used to stop a fetus becoming established in the womb.

The church was forced to clarify its stance after the decision of German cardinal Joachim Meisner to allow the use of some morning after pills at church hospital in his Cologne archdiocese. He changed the policy after two church hospitals refused to treat a rape victim by prescribing the pill - a move that attracted national attention.

Meisner said last month that the church was "deeply ashamed by this incident because it goes against our Christian mission."

At the opening of the four-day conference, chairman Robert Zollitsch had appealed for bishops to adopt a joint line to allow some use of the method in light of public outrage about the way the women had been treated.

rc/msh (AFP, AP, epd, dpa)
Related Articles:

The Church and the 'morning-after pill' - Two Catholic hospitals in Cologne declined to give medical assistance and emergency contraceptives to a rape victim. But where does Catholic doctrine stand on it? (24.01.2013)



Scandal in Ireland as woman dies in Galway 'after being denied abortion'


Archangel Michael: The Declaration of Human Freedom

“… No person shall be forced into marriage against his or her will. No woman shall be forced to bear or not bear children, against her will. No person shall be forced to hold or not hold views or worship in a manner contrary to his or her choice. Nothing vital to existence shall be withheld from another if it is within the community’s power to give. …”


"Recalibration of Knowledge" – Jan 14, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Channelling, God-Creator, Benevolent Design, New Energy, Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) SoulsReincarnation, Gaia, Old Energies (Africa,Terrorists, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela ... ), Weather, Rejuvenation, Akash, Nicolas Tesla / Einstein, Cold Fusion, Magnetics, Lemuria, Atomic Structure (Electrons, Particles, Polarity, Self Balancing, Magnetism, Higgs Boson), Entanglement, "Life is necessary for a Universe to exist and not the other way around"DNA, Humans (Baby getting ready, First Breath, Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Rejuvenation), Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text Version)

"... I want to define life for you - not biological life, but spiritual life. So for all those intellectuals, just hold on, for many won't like this. Spiritual life, as measured by Spirit, is when a Human has free choice. When is that? It's when they take their first breath. Not in utero. There will be those who will say, "That's wrong, that's wrong. The soul in the woman's body is alive!" Just wait. I'm talking about spiritually. That which Spirit sees, and it's when you come from the other side of the veil and take your first breath.

A child with the mother has no free choice. That child is linked to the choice of the mother until it is born. It is, indeed, a soul in preparation for free choice, and there are many attributes that are spiritual that we have discussed before about how that soul reacts. But now I'm discussing life with polarity [duality], free choice.

But let's discuss that "child inside" for a moment, for there is a process I want you to know about. I want to talk about 240 days into the pregnancy. At about that time, the child has perfect DNA. It hasn't taken its first breath. The DNA hasn't measured the energy of the planet yet, since it is contained. Did you realize that? Inside the womb is a perfect child. The child's DNA has all the attributes of the Akash and also the parent, but it's different in a way you have not been told. The DNA is 100% as designed.

The quantum instructions within the DNA are all talking to the biology of the child,, getting ready for the first breath. ..."

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Ireland apologises for 'slave labour' at Magdalene Laundries

Taoiseach Enda Kenny forced into finally saying sorry for 'the hurt and trauma' caused to up to 10,000 Magdalene women

guardian.co.uk, Henry McDonald in Dublin, Tuesday 19 February 2013

Women in one of Irealnd's Magdalene Laundries in the 1940s.
Photograph: Roz Sinclair/Testimony Films

The Irish State has finally said sorry to 10,000 women and girls incarcerated in Catholic Church-run laundries where they were treated as virtual slaves.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny was forced into issuing a fulsome apology on Tuesday evening to those held in the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland.

The apology in the Dáil (Irish parliament) came about two weeks after a damning 1,000-plus page report was released detailing the way women and girls were maltreated inside the nun-controlled laundries.

Survivors groups were enfuriated when the Irish premier initially declined a fortnight ago to explicitly apologise for the state's role in sending women and girls into the Magdalene Laundries, sometimes simply for coming from broken homes or being unmarried mothers.

In a powerful speech to a packed Dáil Eireann, Kenny made some amends for what many view as a major error of judgment on the day the report was released.

At the end of his address, Kenny appeared to break down briefly, choking back tears as he quoted a Magdalene woman's song to him during a meeting recently.

The Taoiseach said what happened to the Magdalene women had "cast a long shadow over Irish life, over our sense of who we are".

He said he "deeply regretted and apologised" for the hurt and trauma inflicted upon those sent to the Magdalene Laundries.

Apologising to the women and girls of the Magdalene Laundries, he told parliament that they deserved "the compassion and recognision for which they have fought for so long, deservedly so deeply."

He said he hoped "it would help us make amends in the state's role in the hurt of these extraordinary women."

Kenny also announced a governnment-funded memorial to remember the 10,000 Magdalene women.

As Kenny made his announcement, former residents of the Magdalene institutions held a vigil outside the gates of the Irish parliament in Dublin's Kildare Street where they lit candles in memory of all those sent to the laundries.

The apology was accompanied by the announcement of a fresh compensation package for around 800 women still alive who were held in the laundries across Ireland. A senior Irish judge would be appointed to oversee how the survivors are looked after.

The compensation deal will include counselling services, healthcare and individual payments, which Dublin hopes can be implemented without the involvement of lawyers and hefty legal bills.

Amnesty International accused the Fine Gael-Labour government of ignoring women exploited in laundries that operated across the border in Northern Ireland.

The report, headed by Senator Martin McAleese, found that the Irish State was complicit in sending girls and women to the laundries where they received no pay. However, the McAleese report did not cover Magdalene Laundries run in Northern Ireland up until the 1980s.

Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty's director in Northern Ireland said: "Magdalene Laundries operated in Northern Ireland into the 1980s. I have spoken with women survivors of these institutions who now fear being left behind, with no inquiry in place – north or south – into their suffering.

"It is clear that any new inquiry announced by the Irish government will only investigate abuses in the Republic of Ireland, while the Historic Institutional Abuse Inquiry in Northern Ireland will only investigate abuse suffered by children, rather than by the many grown women who were held in Magdalene Laundries."

Bulgarian government quits after days of protests

Google – AFP, Diana Simeonova (AFP), 20 February 2013 

A demonstrator throws a rock to riot police during clashes in downtown
Sofia on February 19, 2013 (AFP, Nikolay Doychinov)

SOFIA — Bulgaria's prime minister announced Wednesday the surprise resignation of his government after days of sometimes violent rallies, paving the way for early elections in the European Union's poorest member.

"It is the people who put us in power and we give it back to them today," Boyko Borisov told parliament.

"I will not participate in a government where the police beat up people or where threats for protests replace political dialogue. If the street wants to govern the country, let it do it."

Elections were expected to take place in late April and in the meantime the president was expected to appoint a caretaker government of experts.

Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov
 addresses media after a government
 meeting in Sofia on February 20, 2013
 (AFP, Nikolay Doychinov)
Bulgaria has been shaken over the past 10 days by protests that were first focused on soaring electricity prices but then grew into nationwide demonstrations against the right-wing government.

With the Bulgarian economy barely growing, voters are frustrated by what they see as his failure to clamp down on corruption and cronyism, as repeatedly demanded by Brussels.

After tens of thousands rallied on Sunday, violent clashes erupted on Monday and Tuesday night with running battles between demonstrators and protestors leaving 26 people injured.

Two men also reportedly set themselves on fire, one of whom -- who was mentally ill -- has died and the other was in hospital with 80-percent burns.

Borisov had attempted to take the heat out of the crisis by announcing on Monday the sacking of the unpopular finance minister and on Tuesday saying he would revoke the licence of Czech electricity firm CEZ and lower electricity prices by 8.0 percent.

"There is nothing more we could do, we gave the maximum... I do not want to see blood on the streets again," the premier said Wednesday.

Analysts have long said that people's empty cupboards were set to cause the once hugely popular Borisov -- a former firefighter, bodyguard and police chief -- to lose his sway with voters as the end of his government's term in July neared.

The average monthly wage is 400 euros ($534) and the typical pension 138 euros ($184). Official unemployment is around 11.5 percent but unions say the real figure is 17 or 18 percent.

Riot policemen gather as clashes erupt during
 a protest against the government in Sofia on
February 19, 2013 (AFP, Nikolay Doychinov)
Support for Borisov's right-wing GERB party has eroded to about 22 percent, about the same as for the opposition Socialists, a recent Gallup poll showed.

Borisov's personal approval rating was also down to an unprecedented 29 percent, or as much as that of Socialist leader Sergey Stanishev.

Experts meanwhile were uncertain whether Borisov's resignation would be enough to assuage public anger.

"This move of Borisov aims to put out the fire of the protests. But we are yet to see if it will work," political analyst Rumyana Kolarova told state BNT radio.

For Gallup analyst Kancho Stoychev, however, "the resignation was the only right move in the current situation."

Another analyst, Haralan Alexandrov, said that Borisov had "panicked" by quitting but that it was also a smart move, enabling him to stop losing any more support and run for a second term.

Parliament -- where GERB has a near majority of 117 lawmakers and support from a handful of independents -- was due to vote on the cabinet resignation on Thursday morning, speaker Tsetska Tsacheva said.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Novartis shareholder revolt costs boss his $78m 'golden gag'

Swiss pharmaceuticals group cancels non-compete agreement with outgoing chairman Daniel Vasella after furious reaction

The Guardian, Shane Hickey, Tuesday 19 February 2013

Daniel Vasella had offered to give away some of the payment he was to receive
 to prevent him from giving advice to competitors after he steps down from the
Novartis board. Photograph: Pascal Lauener/Reuters

Shareholder activism over corporate pay has claimed one of its biggest victories yet after the Swiss pharmaceutical group Novartis was forced to abandon the award of a $78m "golden gag" non-compete payment to its outgoing chairman.

The UK investor advisory body, Pirc, said the move could inspire a repeat of last year's "shareholder spring" when a series of rebellions over pay forced out the chief executives of Aviva, AstraZeneca and Trinity Mirror.

Shareholders in Novartis reacted with fury over the weekend when it emerged that Daniel Vasella was to receive the payment – $13m a year over six years – to prevent him from giving advice to competitors after he steps down from the board this week. Vasella's attempt to deflect their anger by pledging to give some of the money away to philanthropic causes was unsuccessful, as investor anger became amplified by criticism from the Swiss public. On Tuesday, the company said the board of directors and Vasella had agreed to cancel the non-compete agreement in the light of the furious response.

"I have understood that many people in Switzerland find the amount of the compensation linked to the non-compete agreement unreasonably high, despite the fact I had announced my intention to make the net amount available for philanthropic activities. That is why I have recommended to the board that I forgo all payments linked to the non-compete agreement," Vasella said in a statement.

A spokesman for Pirc said the turnaround marked an important victory for shareholders in the UK. Pirc has recommended to its clients that they vote against every long-term bonus plan published this year. "Both the scale and the nature of the payment were clearly going to inflame investor and public opinion. Although the board has ultimately reached the right decision, this situation should never have arisen in the first place. As we gear up for the UK season, hopefully this victory will give shareholders here greater confidence that they, too, can successfully challenge inappropriate remuneration arrangements," the spokesman said.

The Novartis reversal comes as Switzerland prepares for its own equivalent of a shareholder spring, with a national referendum on 3 March to decide whether shareholders should wield a veto over excessive executive pay.

The backlash began among shareholders, the public and the business community last week when news of it emerged on a Swiss blog. On Monday, a criminal complaint was filed on behalf of shareholders against Vasella and the company's compensation committee for breach of trust and untruthful business information.

Roby Tschopp, head of shareholder group Actares, described the payment as an outrage.

In a statement on Tuesday, Novartis vice-chairman Ulrich Lehner said: "We continue to believe in the value of a non-compete; however, we believe the decision to cancel the agreement and all related compensation addresses the concerns of shareholders and other stakeholders. The board understands the importance of full transparency and will strengthen its efforts in this regard."

In the UK, Pirc's support was echoed by the Institute of Directors (IoD), which represents 37,000 company directors. It said the payment to Vasella had been difficult to justify and called on companies to pay attention to their shareholders.

"Such an exceptional payment could only be viewed as legitimate if it had the explicit support of shareholders – it evidently did not, and it is a good sign that they stood up and pressed their concerns home," said Roger Barker, head of corporate governance at the IoD. "Efforts to strengthen the role of shareholders in issues of executive pay in Switzerland are to be welcomed. Shareholder engagement with companies over key areas of governance, such as executive pay, is an important component of modern corporate governance and should be embraced by companies and boards."

Recent polls indicate that some 65% of voters in Switzerland are in favour of measures proposed in the forthcoming referendum which will ban "golden handshakes" for new staff and "golden parachutes" for those departing. If the proposals are successful, there will also be restrictions on the terms of board members to one year.

The main backer of the changes is Thomas Minder, a businessman who has campaigned against large-scale bonuses in Switzerland.

A growing backlash

The defeat of Daniel Vasella's $78m (£50.6m) non-compete agreement is the latest corporate pay reversal due to pressure from the public, shareholders and politicians. Here is a selection of other notable rebellions over executive pay.

Sir Bill Gammell Cairn Energy last year gave in to pressure from shareholders and dropped a plan to give the chairman and former chief executive a £3.5m reward package. The former Scottish rugby international had been due to receive a £2.5m share bonus and a £1m donation to charities of his choice after he completed the sale of a stake in the company's Indian assets.

Lord Hollick The former chief executive of United Business Media (UBM), then owner of the Express newspapers, announced in May 2005 that he would decline a controversial £250,000 bonus following investor disquiet.

While he had initially said he would take the money even after three-quarters of the company's shareholders voted against him, the Labour peer was reportedly shaken by some of the hostility shown to him.

Dick Grasso The former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) went from hero - for his swift reopening of the exchange following the September 11 attacks - to pariah in 2003 when he resigned amid outrage over his $140m pay deal.

However, after four years of litigation in what was described as one of the ugliest legal fights Wall Street has ever seen, a court ruled he could keep the amount he was paid.

Fred Goodwin The former chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland bowed to public anger in 2009 when he agreed to give up more than £200,000 of his pension. When the size of his pension emerged, it sparked a row between the government and the Treasury select committee, which blamed ministers for standing by as Goodwin was allowed to retire with an enhanced pension in the middle of a government bailout.

In the wake of the furore, Goodwin agreed to be paid a pension of £342,500 a year, down from £555,000 previously.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Germany probes Amazon warehouse conditions after film

BBC News, 16 February 2013

The Amazon warehouse at Bad Hersfeld featured prominently in the film

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Germany is demanding explanations from the online retail giant Amazon after a TV documentary showed seasonal workers being harassed by security guards.

A TV documentary by state broadcaster ARD said employees' rooms were searched, they were frisked at breakfast and constantly watched.

Employment Minister Ursula von der Leyen said some employment agencies could lose their operating licences.

In a statement, Amazon said it would follow up complaints.

"The suspicion weighs heavily; therefore all facts must be put on the table as quickly as possible," Mrs von der Leyen told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

"If the special investigation finds that there is some substance to the complaints against the employment agencies, then their licences are in question."

The film showed the living and working conditions of agency workers brought in to help with the Christmas rush, principally at an Amazon warehouse in Bad Hersfeld, in the state of Hesse.

It showed staff living quarters in cramped holiday accommodation a long way from the Amazon warehouse, which could only be reached by an unreliable bus service.

Many of the temporary workers came from Spain and Poland. Workers from outside Germany were shown as receiving the worst harassment from security guards from a private firm, Hensel European Security Services (Hess).

Hess was under contract to an employment agency, not to Amazon itself.

The firm said it rejected allegations that it supported the far-right. However, it confirmed its guards had carried out room searches.

In a statement on Friday, Amazon said: "Our goal is to deliver orders quickly and reliably to our customers.

"We know this only works with a contented workforce... We will follow up each incident in our logistics centres and their surroundings which is brought to our attention by our staff, and if need be, will implement thorough improvements."



George Osborne in pledge to help world's poor fight tax abuse

Chancellor reaffirms promise on aid and pledges to join forces with the developing world to help beat 'corporate cheats'

The Guardian, The Observer, Daniel Boffey, policy editor, Saturday 16 February 2013

George Osborne has pledged to drive forward a 'new agenda of transparency'.
Photograph: Olivia Harris/Reuters

The chancellor George Osborne has pledged to join forces with the developing world to crack down on multinationals avoiding tax in some of the world's poorest countries.

Fresh from the G20 meeting of finance ministers in Moscow, Osborne reveals in the Observer that the UK wants to rewrite the rules of the corporate game to help developing countries collect the tax that is due to them.

In remarks hailed by anti-poverty campaigners, he promises to drive forward a "new agenda of transparency" and to force oil, mining and gas giants to publish key financial data project-by-project wherever they operate.

He also reasserts the UK's goal of being the first country to spend 0.7% of its gross national income on aid next year, and reveals that a major spending focus is on improving the capacity of developing countries to hold corporate giants to account.

Writing in this newspaper Osborne makes it clear that while it is important to force multinationals such as Starbucks and Amazon to pay their tax bills in the UK and the rest of the developed world, it was the world's poorest who often needed the greatest help.

The chancellor, who also announced that he will lead a new G20 transfer pricing group examining how to stop firms shifting their taxable profits from country to country, writes: "Next year, we will have met the international commitment to spend 0.7% of GNI on overseas aid, the first country in the G20 to meet it. It's a historic moment for Britain. We should feel proud of that, as a nation, and it's a proud moment for me as a Conservative. We have not turned our backs on the poorest countries in these tough times.

"Our investment means 11 million children will go to school, 55 million children will be vaccinated against preventable diseases and we will stop 250,000 newborn babies dying needlessly. But it will also help developing countries to build capacity to govern their countries effectively – and tax collection is a crucial part of that."

Osborne makes his intervention following the Observer's revelation last week that Associated British Foods, the owner of brands including Silver Spoon sugar and Primark, has avoided paying millions of pounds of tax in an African state blighted by malnutrition.

The Zambian sugar-producing subsidiary of Associated British Foods, a FTSE100 company, contributed virtually no corporation tax to the state's exchequer between 2007 and 2012, and none at all for two of those years.

The company benefits from generous capital allowance and tax-relief schemes in Zambia, but an investigation by ActionAid also found that it legally funnels around a third of its pre-tax profits to sister companies in tax havens, including Ireland, Mauritius and the Netherlands, which it says is used to pay for genuine services.

Osborne commends this newspaper for highlighting the problem of tax avoidance in the developing world and vowed that the UK would use its position as host of the G8 meeting of world leaders this summer to promote "transparency and accountability in developing countries".

He writes: "We're taking action through the G20. But the problem goes much wider than the 20 major economies it represents. Last week, the Observer launched a debate over the specific problem of tax avoidance in developing companies.

"You are right to highlight this: often the poorer a nation is, the more they need the tax revenues, but also the weaker their capacity to tackle tax avoidance effectively.

"We will use the G8 to drive greater transparency as part of ensuring that revenues from oil, gas and mining can help developing countries to forge a path to sustainable growth, instead of fuelling conflict and corruption."

His comments come as research group Platform is due to publish a report on the tax records of major oil firms including Shell, which in 2005 moved the intellectual property ownership of its own brands to a subsidiary in Switzerland.

Chris Jordan, ActionAid's tax specialist, said: "George Osborne's clear commitment in today's Observer to help the world's poorest countries tackle corporate tax avoidance is a stunning development."

"Fresh thinking on this issue is long overdue and as Osborne realises tweaking the current system will not be sufficient to ensure both rich and poor countries benefit."

Adrian Lovett, Europe executive director of ONE, a grassroots campaign group, applauded Osborne's reaffirmation today of the UK's aid spending but warned the chancellor that oil, gas and mining firms would seek loopholes in any new transparency regimes.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday Nick Clegg will use a speech in front of a city audience at Mansion House to call for the UK financial services to invest in the north of England as part of an effort to rebalance an economy overly dependent on London's affluence. The deputy prime minister will say: "Crucially, growth outside the capital strengthens London too. Their burgeoning private sectors are your customers. The firms in need of financial and professional services. And their breakthroughs are your gains."


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