Swiss court says bank details must be given to Dutch tax office

DutchNews,  September 13, 2016

Photo: Depositphotos 

Switzerland’s highest court has ruled that banking group USB must forward information about Dutch savers to the Dutch tax office, overturning a lower court decision.

Last November, the Netherlands requested information about Dutch nationals who had more than €1,500 in their accounts and had not answered a letter from the Swiss authorities about potentially illicit savings. 

Switzerland agreed to comply on the basis of a tax treaty between the two countries, but one USB client went to court to have the information transfer stopped. 

The lower Swiss court ruled the agreement is too general in scope because it does not name specific account holders. The five year old tax deal between the Netherlands and Switzerland, the court said, is not enough grounds for such a broad request. 

However, the supreme court said on Monday the Dutch request only required information to identify account holders, not specific names. 

The Dutch finance ministry said in a reaction it is pleased with such a ground-breaking decision. It also means that a second request for information sent to Credit Suisse will be honoured, the ministry is quoted as saying. 

The shifting of the Earth’s poles means a change at Cork Airport

The poles ain’t where they used to be, apparently.

Thejournal.ie, Jan 20th 2016

Image: Sean Barry via Flickr/CC

CORK AIRPORT IS to change the numbers assigned to its runways for the first time ever.

The move comes after shifts in the earth’s magnetic poles.

Each airport runway is assigned a runway designator number. The runway designator is made up of a two digit number displayed at each side of the runway, which shows its magnetic heading nearest the full 10 degrees.

The main runways at Cork Airport have been numbered as runway 17 and runway 35 since 1961 and the drifting of the Earth’s magnetic poles has shifted the runways’ magnetic headings, which now stand at 164°M and 344°M, respectively.

Pole shift is a constantly occurring geological phenomenon, in which the Earth’s magnetic field shifts.

Nasa says:

Earth’s polarity is not a constant. Unlike a classic bar magnet, or the decorative magnets on your refrigerator, the matter governing Earth’s magnetic field moves around. Geophysicists are pretty sure that the reason Earth has a magnetic field is because its solid iron core is surrounded by a fluid ocean of hot, liquid metal.

The numbers are required to change in April 2016 in order to remain safety compliant and licensed by the Irish Aviation Authority.

Speaking about the change Ciaran Carton, General Manager of Operators at Cork Airport said:

This is an unusual occurrence for Cork Airport as an airport runway number only changes approximately once in every 50 years. The different runway numbers are crucial for pilots during take-off, landing and taxiing.

“There will also be an alteration of software systems, new airfield mapping and a change in communications with private and commercial pilots. Additionally, we will be replacing the taxiway signage and painting new designation numbers on runway thresholds.”

Related Articles:

Shift of Earth's magnetic north pole impacts Tampa airport

"Ireland revealed" (2) - Sep 4, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - New

Italy's 100 club village reveals its secret

Yahoo – AFP, September 5, 2016

Italian Antonio Vassallo, 100 years-old, and his wife Amina Fedollo, 93, pose
 in their house in Acciaroli, southern Italy, on August 23, 2016 (AFP Photo/
Mario Laporta)

Rome (AFP) - Scientists on Monday revealed part of the secret to why a small village in southern Italy has an unusual number of centenarians -- low levels of a particular hormone that affects circulation.

Italian and US experts have spent the last six months investigating the extraordinary longevity of residents of Acciaroli, where more than one in 10 -- 81 at the mayor's last count -- of the village's population of 700 is over 100 years old.

Acciaroli is part of the Cilento coast, an area of outstanding natural beauty where the late US nutritionist Ancel Keys first established convincing evidence of the health benefits of a Mediterranean diet based on olive oil and rich in fresh fruit, vegetables and fish.

As well as reaching extremely old age, people in Acciaroli and tiny communities nearby also seem to be largely immune to dementia, heart disease and other chronic conditions associated with ageing in most of the Western world.

Researchers from Rome's Sapienza University and the San Diego School of Medicine said Monday that the explanation could lie in low levels of adrenomedullin, a hormone that acts to widen blood vessels.

Adrenomedullin is present "in a much reduced quantity in the subjects studied and seems to act as a powerful protecting factor, helping the optimal development of microcirculation", or capillary circulation, they said in a statement.

Capillary blood vessels tend to degenerate in older people, but the seniors in Cilento had capillaries of the sort found in much younger people, even those in their 20s.

The study also found "metabolites present (in the bodies of those studied) which may have a positive influence on longevity and the well-being of Cliento's centenarians", the statement said, without giving further details.

The researchers have decided to extend the study and expand their research, including by launching a fundraising campaign.

Aside from blood tests, the researchers also carried out cardiac and neurological tests, Alan S. Maisel, the San Diego cardiologist heading up the project, told AFP.

The scientists are looking into whether genetics could combine with lifestyle factors -- diet and physical activity -- to extend the villagers' longevity.

The Cilento locals all eat rosemary -- known to improve brain function -- almost every day, and also all practise some physical activity daily, such as fishing, walking or gardening, another line of enquiry for the scientists.

Before Monday's release of results, Maisel also pointed to what may be another important ingredient in the recipe for a long and happy life.

"Sexual activity among the elderly appears to be rampant," Maisel said. "Maybe living long has something to do with that, it's probably the good air and the joie de vivre."

Turkey confiscates DW footage of interview with Minister Kilic

Turkish authorities have confiscated DW Video material of a 'Conflict Zone' interview with the Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs. The interviewer, Michel Friedmann, had touched on the aftermath of the failed coup.

Deutsche Welle, 6 Sep 2016

Immediately following the recording of a television interview with the Turkish Minister of Youth and Sports, Akif Kilic, for DW's talk show " Conflict Zone," Turkish authorities confiscated the video footage. The interview with DW host Michel Friedman took place in Ankara on the evening of September 5.

The interview at the ministry of youth and sports in Ankara included questions which had been divulged to the ministry in advance.

Host Michel Friedman asked about the coup attempt in July as well as the mass layoffs and arrests that took place in its aftermath. He asked about the media situation in Turkey as well as the position of women in Turkish society. The minister was asked to further explain several quotes made by President Erdogan regarding these subjects.

Immediately following the interview, the minister excused himself. As soon as he had left the room, the minister's press officer announced that DW would not be allowed to broadcast the interview. When Friedman and his editorial colleague protested, the video material was confiscated by employees of the Turkish ministry of youth and sports. It was made clear to the TV crew that they would not be able to leave the ministry in possession of the video footage.

DW protests confiscation

DW Director General Peter Limbourg spoke out about the behavior of the Turkish authorities today. He said: "This incident is proof of a blatant violation of press freedom in Turkey. What we are experiencing constitutes an act of the Turkish regime's coercion. It no longer follows the rule of law and has nothing to do with democracy. It cannot be that a minister willingly responds to an interview and then tries to block the transmission in such a manner just because he did not like the questions posed. We are requesting the Turkish authorities to return the video material straightaway and we will consider our legal options."

Immediately following the incident, DW appealed to the Turkish ministry of youth and sports as well as to the Turkish directorate-general for press and information and demanded the release of the video material. A deadline set for today at noon local time expired without any response. During several phone conversations with representatives of the ministry of youth and sports this morning, Deutsche Welle repeatedly requested the video footage. The response has remained unchanged: the ministry is not in agreement with the broadcasting of the interview.

In his statement made to DW's Turkish language department Übeydullah Yener, press officer of the Sport Minister said "There was no authorisation for the interview. The questions asked were not the ones that were planned. Mr. Friedman himself knows exactly why this happened. Some statements were right out allegations. In such a situation, there was no authorization granted."

Uzbek strongman leader Islam Karimov dies

Yahoo – AFP, Max Delaney, September 2, 2016

Uzbek President Islam Karimov died on September 2, 2016 (AFP Photo/Maxim
Shemetov)

Moscow (AFP) - Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov died Friday, the government announced, ending over a quarter of a century of his iron-fisted rule in the Central Asian nation with no clear successor lined up.

"Dear compatriots, it is with huge grief in our hearts that we announce to you the death of our dear president," a state TV presenter said, reading an official statement.

Authorities said Karimov, 78, was pronounced dead at 20:55 local time (15:55 GMT) following days of speculation that authorities were delaying announcing his passing after he reportedly suffered a stroke over the weekend.

The strongman's funeral will be held in his home city of Samarkand on Saturday as the country begins three days of mourning, the statement said, with Uzbekistan now facing the greatest moment of uncertainty of its post-Soviet history.

Loyalist Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev is heading the organisation committee for the funeral, suggesting that he could be in line to take over long-term from Karimov.

Officially senate head Nigmatulla Yuldashev should now become acting president until early elections are held.

Karimov's youngest daughter Lola wrote on Facebook that "he has left us...I am struggling for words, I can't believe it myself".

'Great loss'

Long lambasted by rights groups as one of the region's most brutal despots who ruthlessly stamped out opposition, Karimov was one of a handful of Soviet strongmen that clung to power after their homelands gained independence from Moscow in 1991.

Karimov portrayed himself as guarantor of stability and bulwark against radical Islam on the borders of Afghanistan, crushing fundamentalist groups at home.

Factfile on Uzbekistan. (AFP Photo/Vincent LEFAI, Kun TIAN)

Russian President Vladimir Putin called Karimov's death "a great loss for the people of Uzbekistan" in a telegram to interim leader Yuldashev, while Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is set to jet in for the funeral.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who appointed Karimov to head the former Socialist Republic of Uzbekistan in 1989, told Interfax news agency that Karimov was "a competent man with a strong character".

Born on January 30, 1938, Karimov was raised in an orphanage in the ancient city of Samarkand, before studying mechanical engineering and economics and rising up Communist Party ranks.

Rights groups -- which have long accused Karimov's regime of the most heinous abuses including torture and forced labour in the lucrative cotton industry -- said his time in power had been a catastrophe for Uzbekistan.

"Islam Karimov leaves a legacy of a quarter century of ruthless repression," Steve Swerdlow, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said.

"Karimov ruled through fear to erect a system synonymous with the worst human rights abuses: torture, disappearances, forced labour, and the systematic crushing of dissent."

Most seriously, the authorities have been accused of killing hundreds of protesters in the eastern city of Andijan in 2005.

In the wake of international criticism over the alleged massacre, which Karimov's regime rebuffed, Tashkent shut down a US military base used to supply operations in neighbouring Afghanistan since 2001.

But the wily veteran played Russia, China and the West against each other to keep Uzbekistan from total isolation and it continues to receive limited US aid.

Despite economic growth figures of some eight percent, critics say that Uzbekistan's economy is in a dire situation with a corrupt elite in control of most of its industry.

Related Article:

"Recalibration of Knowledge" – Jan 14, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Channelling, God-Creator, Benevolent Design, New Energy, Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Reincarnation, 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), 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 you to watch some countries. I don't have a clock [this statement is Kryon telling us that there is no time frame on his side of the veil, only potentials]. I'll just tell you, it's imminent [in Spirit's timing, this could mean as soon as a decade]. I want you to watch some countries carefully for changes. You're going to be seeing changes that are obvious, and some that are not obvious [covert or assumptive]. But the obvious ones you will see sooner than not - Cuba, Korea [North], Iran, of course, and Venezuela. I want you to watch what happens when they start to realize that they don't have any more allies on Earth! Even their brothers who used to support them in their hatred of some are saying, "Well, perhaps not anymore. It doesn't seem to be supporting us anymore." Watch the synchronicities that are occurring. The leaders who have either died or are going to in the next year or so will take with them the old ways. Watch what happens to those who take their place, and remember these meetings where I described these potentials to you. …”

EU VP tells British to 'get their act together'

Yahoo –AFP, Danny Kemp and Cedric Simon, September 1, 2016

First Vice President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans speaks
during a debate on a new EU plan to address the root causes of migration at the
European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France (AFP Photo/Frederick Florin)

Brussels (AFP) - Britain's political leaders should "get their act together" and tell the EU what they want from their divorce, European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans said in an interview with AFP.

Timmermans, the Dutch right-hand man to commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, said Brexit was an "existential issue" for the rest of the European Union but the bloc had "enormous possibilities" to thrive.

"I follow closely what is happening in the UK and the political discussions in the UK, and perhaps they should first get their act together and tell us what they really want out of this," Timmermans said.

"It's not the 27 other member states who asked the United Kingdom to leave, on the contrary they pleaded with the UK to stay," he added in the interview to mark Thursday's publication in French of "Fraternite", a book on Europe.

"The onus is on the country that decides to leave to tell us how they want to leave and I think that's the starting point of the discussion," said Timmermans, who was a key figure in negotiations with Britain before the referendum.

British Prime Minister Theresa May chairs a meeting of the cabinet at the

Prime Minister's country retreat Chequers (AFP Photo/Mark Richards)

'Existential issue'

British Prime Minister Theresa May held a special Brexit "brainstorm" cabinet meeting on Tuesday amid reports on major divisions on how to proceed, while May has said she will not trigger the two-year divorce process until next year.

Meanwhile the other 27 EU leaders will meet in Slovakia on September 16 to map out a way forward.

But Timmermans said the EU should not necessarily take a tough stance on Britain, as some leaders have suggested.

"The United Kingdom is not going anywhere, it's going to be geographically where it is now, the Channel is not going to get any broader," said Timmermans, referring to the stretch of water between France and England.

"So in that sense the UK will remain a European country even if it's not a member of the European Union and that should be the basis, I believe, for the negotiations."

Timmermans however warns in his book of a possible failure of the European project.

"The argument that won the Brexit campaign is the one that said take back control... which is another way of saying we want to control our destinies again," he said in his interview.

"This is an existential issue for the whole of Europe not just for the UK because this sentiment is not limited to the United Kingdom."

Justice Secretary Michael Gove (L) campaigned alongside and former London 

mayor Boris Johnson (R) to leave the European Union (AFP Photo/Stefan Rousseau)

'Enormous possibilities'

He also criticised the "hyperbole" during the Brexit campaign -- now-foreign minister Boris Johnson compared the EU to Hitler -- and expressed concern about a rise in hate crime in Britain after the vote.

"It hurts me when people like me who defend Europe are accused of wanting to complete the project of Adolf Hitler," he said.

"I am sure Boris Johnson or Michael Gove or others didn't intend to create this dynamic in British society, but it was created during the campaign," he said.

Timmermans insisted though that there was cause for optimism in Europe.

"I still see enormous possibilities for Europe," he said, citing EU initiatives in the digital economy and energy single market.

On Europe's migration crisis, Timmermans cast doubt on Turkey's demands for visa-free travel by October in exchange for curbing the refugee flow to Greece under a deal with the EU.

"Turkey has to comply with the benchmarks and a deal is a deal. We've said if you comply with the benchmarks the commission will make a proposal to the parliament and the council. But we're not there yet," he said.

Apple hit with record EU tax bill

Yahoo – AFP, Danny Kemp, August 30, 2016

The European Union has ordered Apple to pay a record 13 billion euros in
back taxes in Ireland (AFP Photo/Philippe Huguen)

Brussels (AFP) - The EU ordered tech giant Apple on Tuesday to pay a record 13 billion euros in back taxes in Ireland, a move Washington warned could damage hugely important transatlantic economic ties.

Brussels said Apple, the world's most valuable company, avoided virtually all tax on its business in the bloc by illegal arrangements with Dublin which gave the company an unfair advantage over competitors.

Apple and the Irish government immediately said they would appeal against the European Commission ruling, with the iPhone maker warning it could cost European jobs.

The White House meanwhile cautioned against "unilateral" measures by the EU.

The company's shares lost some of their shine after the ruling, down 0.7 percent in early afternoon trading, making for a more than 3 percent loss over the past two weeks ahead of the highly anticipated ruling.

"This decision sends a clear message. Member states cannot give unfair tax benefits to selected companies, no matter if European or foreign, large or small," EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said.

"The Commission's investigation concluded that Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years," she added.

Ireland has attracted multinationals over many years by offering extremely favourable sweetheart tax deals to generate much-needed jobs and investment.

But after a three-year investigation Brussels said the arrangement with Apple broke EU laws on state aid.

The findings come amid growing tensions between Washington and Brussels over a series of EU anti-trust investigations targeting other giant US companies such as Google, Amazon, McDonald's, Starbucks and Fiat Chrysler.

The European Commission launched an inquiry three years ago into tax breaks

that Ireland offered iPhone-maker Apple (AFP Photo/Siska Gremmelprez)

'Devastating blow'

Apple has had a base in the southern city of Cork since 1980 and employs nearly 6,000 people in Ireland, through which it routes its international sales totalling billions.

Apple chief Tim Cook said he was "confident" the EU ruling would be overturned, adding that the Silicon Valley giant was the biggest taxpayer in Ireland, the United States and the world.

"The most profound and harmful effect of this ruling will be on investment and job creation in Europe," he said.

Cook also warned that the ruling was a "devastating blow to the sovereignty of EU member states over their own tax matters", echoing the concerns of Dublin over the decision.

Ireland's Finance Minister Michael Noonan described the ruling as "bizarre" and "an exercise in politics by the Competition Commission".

Dublin, which suffered from harsh austerity measures after it was bailed out during the eurozone debt crisis, has vigorously defended its low tax rates as a way of boosting the economy.

"If you look at the small print on an Apple iPhone, it says designed in California and manufactured in China and that means any profits that accrued didn't accrue in Ireland and so I can't see why the tax liability is in Ireland," he said.

But Vestager said Apple's Irish operation was a sham -- Apple's "so-called head office in Ireland only existed on paper. It had no employees, no premises and no real activities."

Apple paid an effective corporate tax rate of just 0.005 per cent on its European profits in 2014 -- equivalent to just 50 euros for every million, Vestager said.

The Apple tax bill dwarfs the previous EU record for a state aid case -- 1.3 billion euros for the Nurburgring race track in Germany.

While the 13-billion-euro ($14.5-billion) sum itself is unlikely to trouble Apple with its massive $600 billion of market capitalisation and $234 billion in revenue last year, the political ramifications are huge.

US anger

Washington has made increasingly angry comments over the case in recent weeks, and on Tuesday it echoed Apple's warnings that the tax bill could hurt the European economy.

"We are concerned about a unilateral approach," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest, adding that the move "threatens to undermine progress that we have made collaboratively with the Europeans to make the international taxation system fair."

The US Treasury said the ruling "could threaten to undermine foreign investment, the business climate in Europe, and the important spirit of economic partnership between the US and the EU."

The Apple decision may also complicate struggling EU-US talks on what would be the world's biggest free trade deal, meant to be completed before US President Barack Obama steps down in January.

French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday said he doubted agreement could be reached by then.

Tax avoidance has moved sharply up the political agenda since EU governments adopted tough austerity policies to balance the public finances, driving public resentment that the rich paid relatively little tax.

The issue was highlighted close to home by the LuxLeaks scandal which revealed that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's native Luxembourg gave companies huge tax breaks while he was prime minister.

In October Brussels ordered US coffee giant Starbucks and Italian automaker Fiat to each repay up to 30 million euros ($34 million) in back taxes to the Netherlands and Luxembourg respectively.

#UPDATE Apple ordered to pay record 13 billion-euro Irish tax bill https://t.co/ycty2yXNoz pic.twitter.com/uxyGZ01qPt

— AFP news agency (@AFP) August 30, 2016

EU nations must not to refuse Muslim migrants: Merkel

Yahoo – AFP, August 28, 2016

German Chancellor Angela Merkel gives her summer interview with journalists of
German public TV chain ARD on August 28, 2016 in Berlin (AFP Photo/Rainer Jensen)

Berlin (AFP) - The refusal of some EU countries to accept Muslim refugees is "unacceptable", Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday as Germany called for quotas to divide the influx throughout the bloc.

"That's not right at all that some countries say: 'generally speaking, we don't want to have Muslims in our countries'," Merkel told German public television channel ARD.

Backing the idea of a quota system for taking in migrants, the German leader stressed that "everyone must do their part," and that "a common solution must be found."

A common European migration policy is a highly controversial issue, which will be on the agenda of an EU summit next month, with eastern members the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia refusing to take in refugees under an EU-wide quota system championed by Berlin.

Slovak President Robert Fico has vowed he would "never bring even a single Muslim" into his country.

In 2015, Germany took in around a million asylum seekers, most from Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan, and this year it expects up to 300,000 more to arrive, the Federal Office for Migrants and Refugees (BAMF) said Sunday.

"We can ensure optimal services for up to 300,000. Should more people arrive, it would put us under pressure, then we would go into so-called crisis mode. But even then we would not have conditions like last year," BAMF chief Frank-Juergen Weise told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper

Merkel's decision last September to open the doors to asylum seekers was seen in many European nations, notably those in the east, as an invitation for further mass migration.

Some, like the Slovak leader, voiced fears of the emergence of a significant Muslim community in their countries.

On Tuesday, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said he does not want a "large Muslim community... given the problems we are seeing" and that each EU member should be able to choose how many migrants to accept.

German public sentiment is sharply divided when it comes to Merkel, who has not yet said whether she will stand for a fourth term in a general election expected in September or October next year.

Related Articles:

Pope Francis tells EU to tear down migrant walls

Obama calls for strong, united Europe

"New Systems" - Feb 27, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

"The New Human P1" - Sep 19-20, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)
"Return of the Masters" - Apr 11-12, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

France's top court suspends burkini ban

Yahoo – AFP, Aurelia END, August 26, 2016

People hold a banner reading "No to the ban on burkinis" in front of Port-Leucate city
hall in Leucate, southern France, on August 25, 2016 (AFP Photo/Raymond Roig)

Paris (AFP) - France's highest administrative court on Friday suspended a controversial ban on the burkini by a French Riviera town after it was challenged by rights groups.

In a judgement expected to lead to bans being overturned in around 30 towns, the State Council ruled the measure was a "serious and clearly illegal violation of fundamental freedoms".

The court said local authorities could only introduce measures restricting individual freedoms if wearing the Islamic swimsuit on beaches represented a "proven risk" to public order.

The judges said there was no such risk in the case before the court concerning Villeneuve-Loubet, a resort on the Cote d'Azur between Nice and Cannes.

The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) hailed the ruling as a "victory for common sense".

Police have fined Muslim women for wearing burkinis on beaches in several towns, including in the popular tourist resorts of Nice and Cannes, sparking controversy in France and abroad.

The mayor of one town in Corsica said he would keep his ban in place in defiance of the ruling.

The bans have triggered a fierce debate about women's rights and the French state's strictly-guarded secularism.

The French beach ban on Islamic garb has caused controversy over women's 

rights and secularism and confusion over what constitutes a burkini (AFP Photo/

Iris Royer de Vericourt)

'Line in the sand'

Amnesty International said the decision had "drawn an important line in the sand".

"French authorities must now drop the pretence that these measures do anything to protect the rights of women," Amnesty's Europe director John Dalhuisen said.

"These bans do nothing to increase public safety but do a lot to promote public humiliation."

CFCM secretary general Abdallah Zekri said: "This victory for common sense will help to take the tension out of a situation which has become very tense for our Muslim compatriots, especially women."

The State Council heard arguments from the Human Rights League and an anti-Islamophobia group (CCIF).

A court in Nice had upheld the Villeneuve-Loubet ban this week.

Anger over the issue was further inflamed this week when photographs in the British media showed police surrounding a woman in a headscarf on a beach in Nice.

The mayor's office denied the woman had been forced to remove clothing, telling AFP she was showing police the swimsuit she was wearing under her top, over a pair of leggings, when the picture was taken.

Tunisian women, one (R) wearing a "burkini", a full-body 

swimsuit designed for Muslim women, pictured at Ghar El 

Melh beach near Bizerte, northeast of the capital Tunis, 

on August 16, 2016 (AFP Photo/Fethi Belaid)

'We are protecting them'

Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Thursday condemned any "stigmatisation" of Muslims, but maintained that the burkini was "a political sign of religious proselytising".

"We are not at war with Islam... the French republic is welcoming (to Muslims), we are protecting them against discrimination," he told BFMTV.

But in a sign of the divisions within the Socialist government on the issue, Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said the "proliferation" of burkini bans "was not a welcome development".

Vallaud-Belkacem, who is of Moroccan origin, took issue with the wording of the ban in Nice which linked the measure to last month's jihadist truck attack in the resort that killed 86 people.

"In my opinion, there is nothing to prove that there is a link between the terrorism of Daesh and what a woman wears on a beach," she said, using another term for the Islamic State (IS) group.

Lawyer for the French Human Rights League (LDH), Patrick Spinosi, speaks to

 journalists on August 26, 2016 in Paris, after France's highest administrative 

court suspended a ban on the Islamic burkini swimsuit (AFP Photo/Dominique Faget)

'No legal justification'

The administrative court in Nice on Monday said the Villeneuve-Loubet ban was "necessary" to prevent "public disorder" after the Nice attack and the murder 12 days later of a Catholic priest by two jihadists in northern France.

But in its ruling, the State Council said: "In the absence of such risks, the emotion and the concerns arising from terrorist attacks, especially the attack in Nice on July 14, are not sufficient to legally justify a ban."

Ange-Pierre Vivoni, the mayor of the small Corsican town of Sisco, said he would keep the ban in place because the issue had sparked a violent beachfront brawl earlier this month.

"I introduced the ban for the safety of property and people in the town because I risked having deaths on my hands," he told AFP.

The vague wording of the prohibitions, which never mention the word burkini, has caused confusion.

Apart from the photographed incident in Nice, a 34-year-old mother of two told AFP on Tuesday she had been fined on the beach in Cannes for wearing leggings, a tunic and a headscarf.

France was the first European country to ban the wearing of the Islamic face veil in public in 2010.

Related Articles:

Canada's Justin Trudeau defends the burkini

'Burkini' bans good for sales, says Australian designer

German state lifts headscarf ban for public school teachers

Dutch cabinet backs partial Islamic burqa ban

Police Change Rules on Female Recruits Wearing Headscarves

"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)

“.   New Tolerance

Look for a softening of finger pointing and an awakening of new tolerance. There will remain many systems for different cultures, as traditions and history are important to sustaining the integrity of culture. So there are many in the Middle East who would follow the prophet and they will continue, but with an increase of awareness. It will be the increase of awareness of what the prophet really wanted all along - unity and tolerance. The angel in the cave instructed him to "unify the tribes and give them the God of Israel." You're going to start seeing a softening of intolerance and the beginning of a new way of being.

Eventually, this will create an acknowledgement that says, "You may not believe the way we believe, but we honor you and your God. We honor our prophet and we will love you according to his teachings. We don't have to agree in order to love." How would you like that? The earth is not going to turn into one belief system. It never will, for Humans don't do that. There must be variety, and there must be the beauty of cultural differences. But the systems will slowly update themselves with increased awareness of the truth of a new kind of balance. So that's the first thing. Watch for these changes, dear ones. ...."

Finland to test out basic income scheme

Yahoo – AFP, August 25, 2016

Finland's government will test an unconditional basic income amid a growing
debate on the subject in Europe (AFP Photo/Miguel Medina)

Helsinki (AFP) - Switzerland may have voted against the controversial idea of paying all its citizens a guaranteed income, but Finland indicated Thursday it plans to try out a monthly basic payment of 560 euros ($600).

The government said it had chosen the figure for an unconditional basic income in line with a manifesto pledge by centrist Prime Minister Juha Sipila, who took office 15 months ago.

Former businessman Sipila wants to see if the measure can boost employment and simplify the welfare benefits system, and plans to test the idea on a 2,000-strong sample of randomly selected working-age residents.

"The primary goal of the basic income experiment is related to promoting employment," said the health and social affairs ministry, adding that it also aimed to simplify the complicated benefits system in a sustainable way regarding public finances.

Amid a growing debate on the subject, Finland now wants to be the first European country to test the idea nationwide.

In June, voters in Switzerland decisively rejected a far more generous proposal to pay a monthly 2,500 Swiss francs (2,300 euros/$2,500) to each adult and 625 francs for each child.

The idea has support on the political left and right with the former wanting a guaranteed safety net while some liberal voices feel that money for nothing can dissuade some jobless people from seeking work.

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