TRUNEWS 02/29/16 Dr. Peter Hammond “Islam: The Military Arm of Satan” - from TRUNEWS

On today’s edition of TRUNEWS, Rick Wiles breaks down the incestuous relationship between the radical left and the followers of Islam. Rick will greet a fellow evangelist and veteran of the war against radical communism, Dr. Peter Hammond of Frontline Fellowship in South Africa, to discuss how civilizations commit suicide and the threat against Christian survival. Rick will also cover the gloomy financial outlook of the EU, threats against the Dam of Mosul, and the horrific Jihadist child beheading in Moscow.

12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

– Acts 4:12 / KJV

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Dr. Peter Hammond | Frontline Fellowship
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How civilizations commit suicide on Monday’s edition of TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - from TRUNEWS

On the Monday edition of TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles, Dr. Peter Hammond talks about “how civilizations commit suicide”, referencing the rise of Islam.

Hammond said Egypt, Turkey, and Sudan were former Christian superpower nations that were overtaken by Muslims over the centuries. Now Christians are minorities in their own countries, and he warns of a similar fate upon the West, due to the mass migration taking place in Europe and the U.S.

It won’t take long for Islam to take over, due to the fact that the average Muslim woman has 6.8 children and the average Western woman has 1.3.  The breakdown of the family, abortion, and the overpopulation propaganda have all been factors in the population decline in the West.

“I can see right now a movement of multiculturalism and mass foreign invasion, an Islamic Trojan horse invasion, which threatens to destroy civilization and to think these countries are welcoming them because historically this is how civilizations are destroyed,” Hammond said.

A migrant climbs the border fence from Greece to Macedonia, after Macedonia closed its borders with Greece for Afghan migrants and demands additional identification from people seeking to cross the border and head to Western Europe, near the village of Idomeni, Greece, February 22, 2016. REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis

 

He claims there is agenda by Imam’s for Muslim men to infiltrate and have babies with Europeans. Since they don’t assimilate well, they drain the economy of their host countries by living off welfare.

The immigrants also drain the economy, living on welfare, and don’t assimilate.

He pointed out Saudi Arabia is not accepting Muslim refugees, but they have offered to build 200 mosques in Germany.

Hammond blames the crisis on politicians being afraid to speak up, and persecuting people who do, calling them racist, Islamophobic, and neo-Nazis.

Politicians often make the claim that most Muslims are “peaceful”, but Hammond said that even if one 1 percent have extremist views, that still represents millions of people.  The ones who are not committing acts of violence will go along with the extremists when push comes to shove because they fear for their own safety.

Many Eastern European countries have closed their doors to the immigrants because they lived under Muslim oppression for decades and don’t want to live that way again. Hammond said the U.S. and Western Europe could be in danger of being overrun in the next few decades if Christians remain silent.

He also expressed his belief the anti-Christ is a Muslim, along with Pope Francis – “the left and right leg of the beast”.

The full interview can be heard on the TRUNEWS website or mobile app.  Click on “digital media”.

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Korea’s Kolon developes ‘super fiber’ six times stronger than steel - from TRUNEWS

(TRUNEWS) Kolon industries have developed a “super fiber” that is six times stronger than steel and bulletproof.

The Korean company has been involved in a court battle with DuPont over the fiber because the U.S. company accused Kolon of stealing the technology. Kolon settled the case by agreeing to pay $308 million, according to Korea Joongang Daily.

The aramid fiber can be used in body army, hats and cable.  The company plans to mass produce it within five years.

The technology is important as companies around the globe work to develop new kinds of fiber.

Japan’s Teijin is working on a fiber for “wearable cosmetic” products which will prevent microbes from spreading.  Another Japanese company, Toray is seeking to sell “Hitoe” under garment products to measure heartbeat.

Automakers can use fibers to lower the weight of a car by almost 900 pounds.  They never become rusty, and they work very well with heat and chemicals.  “Korea is the only country in the world that has both general fiber manufacturing facilities and research centers for high-tech fiber,” said Kim Joo-

“Korea is the only country in the world that has both general fiber manufacturing facilities and research centers for high-tech fiber,” said Kim Joo-yong, a professor at Soongsil University.

Some factors hindering the fiber industry include the recent free trade agreement with Korea and China.

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Russian TV crew leaks film of Turkish military buildup on Syrian border - from TRUNEWS

A Russian TV crew has managed to obtain video proof of Turkey’s increased military presence on the Syrian border, as it filmed fortifications and tanks on the frontier.

The lodgments are heavily fortified by tanks and self-propelled guns, REN-TV crew reported from the scene.

Shells and other ammunition are being delivered to the Turkish positions, which are shelling Kurdish forces in Syrian territory, according to the report.

“The barrels of the tanks and self-propelled guns are pointed in the direction of the mainly Kurdish Syrian city of Kobane,” the journalist said.

There were at least six or seven tanks in the area and the Turkish forces on the border can be deployed in Syria “in an instant,” according to REN-TV.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqlxU86NBrE

The REN-TV reporters tried to determine where the fire had come from and noticed a couple of hidden tanks in the pictures they had taken from the crime scene.

During the first night of the Syrian ceasefire, more than 200 Islamic State fighters crossed the Turkish border into Syria and another 100 came up from the Syrian city of Raqqa before joining forces near Kurdistan, the Russian center for reconciliation said in a report.

The journalists said the fighting had intensified quickly after that, adding that if not for the brave efforts of the Kurdish forces in Syria, the city could have been easily overrun by the terrorists.

There have also been reports of a heavy artillery attack on the Kurdish town of Tel Abyad in northern Syria near Kurdistan. However, Turkish military sources denied to Hurriyet that its forces had been involved in any cross-border shelling.

The much-anticipated Syrian ceasefire was brokered by leading world powers, including the US and Russia. It aims to pave the way to reconciliation between the Syrian government and “moderate” rebel forces, which would together agree on a peaceful political transition for the country.

The terrorist groups in Syria, such as Islamic State and Nusra Front, are excluded from the ceasefire, which took effect at midnight on February 27.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT_BpZVerN4

In an interview earlier this week, Turkey’s Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu denied that Turkey had any intent to invade Syria. According to the PM, it was unlikely that such a move would be supported by its Arab allies, which have already criticized Ankara for sending troops into northern Iraq.

Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara, Turkey, November 25, 2015. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

At the same time, Davutoglu told CNN Turk that the Syrian ceasefire plan will not be considered binding if it threatens Turkey’s security, adding that Ankara will continue to fight the Syrian Kurds and ISIS, taking all the “necessary measures.”

In an Al-Jazeera interview this week, Davutoglu also admitted that Ankara was, in fact, supporting armed groups in Syria.

“How would they be able to defend themselves if there was no Turkish support for the Syrian people? … If there’s a real moderate Syrian opposition today, it’s because of Turkish support. If the [Assad] regime isn’t able to control all the territories today, [it’s] because of Turkish and some other countries’ support,” he said.

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Violence at Calais migrant camp as officials tear it down - from TRUNEWS

Violence has erupted at France’s Calais migrant camp, known as the “jungle” after a judge upheld a decision to evict everyone and tear down the structures.

About 200 refugees set fire to tents and threw rocks as bulldozers moved into the area. Police had to use riot gear, according to The Telegraph.

A British woman was arrested. She is a member of the No Borders group who allegedly encouraged the migrants to attack police.

Several thousand people were told by authorities that they had to move.  The French government has offered to relocate the refugees from the camp, which is a rat-infested slum, to containers that were recently installed nearby. The migrants are hesitant to move because they don’t want to be fingerprinted.

For several years, France has tried to solve the problem, which has caused tensions with Britain –  the final destination for many of the refugees.  British authorities have installed fencing to prevent the migrants from storming the ferry port, the Channel Tunnel, and the Eurostar rail tracks.

Belgium enacted border controls last week to prevent people from heading their way.

Actor Jude Law attends a news conference to promote the movie ‘Genius’ at the 66th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany February 16, 2016. REUTERS/Hannibal Hansche

Over the weekend actor, Jude Law visited the camp before its demolition, in order to drum up support for it. He believes the government should allow children entry into the UK. He sang songs with some camp members and made emotional pleas.

Upon departure, members of his entourage were attacked and mugged by the migrants. Law was forced to stay on his bus.

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NY Times Whitewash confirms Obama shipped weapons to Libyan Jihadists - from TRUNEWS

(TRUNEWS) A report published by the New York Times confirms President Barack Obama worked with Hillary Clinton to ship weapons to Jihadists in Benghazi.

In the whitewashed piece titled “Hillary Clinton ‘Smart Power’ and a Dictator’s fall”, NY Times writers Jo Becker and Scott Shane released a few interesting items including quotes from administration and state department officials and a Libyan rebel commander regarding Clinton and Obama’s covert arms dealing operations in Libya.

From the article, the NY times said “President Obama ultimately took her side, according to the administration officials who described the debate. After he signed a secret document called a presidential finding, approving a covert operation, a list of approved weaponry was drawn up. The shipments arranged by the United States and other Western countries generally arrived through the port of Benghazi and airports in eastern Libya, a Libyan rebel commander said.”

Included in this list of approved weaponry signed off by Obama, one State Department official told the NY times that there were Humvees, counterbattery radar, and TOW missiles. This official noted that “we [State Department] were definitely giving them lethal assistance. We’d crossed that line.”

ARMING TERRORISTS

The NY times story blamed the problem in Libya on Qatar aiding Jihadists and Obama’s unwillingness to defy the oil state. But that claim that we had to arm terrorists to fight Qatar’s arming of terrorists doesn’t seem to make much sense when contrasted to the information presented in a scathing column by Fox News contributor Andrew Napolitano, who noted that Clinton directed U.S. Forces to turn a blind eye to Qatar’s weapons shipments instead of blocking them.

The NY Times story also mentioned a competition between Qatar and the United Arab Emirates over arming the Libyan locals, but fails to clarify that Qatar was arming solely Jihadist fighters, while the UAE had taken an anti-Islamist line.

It also failed to clarify that Qatar was financially backing the Muslim Brotherhood, a terrorist group which has enjoyed questionable levels of protection from both Clinton and Obama.

U.S. President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton REUTERS/Jason Reed

OBAMA AND CLINTON

The biggest irony from the article lies in its failure to mention that NATO initially sold their bombing campaign in Libya as “humanitarian intervention”, though their mostly kinetic intervention eventually enabled warlords and ISIS to take over one of Africa’s most successful nations.

In truth, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have bloodthirsty agendas. This is exemplified by Clinton’s quote “We Came, We Saw, He Died” in response to  NATO’s victory over Muammar Gaddafi’s sovereign government in Libya.

In reality, if their objective was to create a failed state, indirectly arm ISIS, and steal Libya’s natural resources and physical gold reserves,  then mission accomplished.

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North Korea Publicly Humiliates US Student - from TRUNEWS

(REUTERS) – An American student held in North Korea since early January was detained for trying to steal a propaganda slogan from his Pyongyang hotel and has confessed to “severe crimes” against the state, the North’s official media said.

Otto Warmbier, 21, a student at the University of Virginia, was detained before boarding his flight to China over an unspecified incident at his hotel, his tour agency told Reuters in January.

North Korea has a long history of detaining foreigners and has used jailed U.S. citizens in the past to exact high-profile visits from the United States, with which it has no formal diplomatic relations.

In video aired on North Korean television on Monday, a sobbing Warmbier can be seen at a news conference speaking about the crime through a translator.

North’s KCNA news agency quoted Warmbier as telling media in Pyongyang that a “deaconess” had offered him a used car worth $10,000 if he could present a U.S. church with the slogan as a “trophy” from North Korea, KCNA said.

The acquaintance also said the church would pay his mother $200,000 if he was detained by the North and did not return, KCNA quoted Warmbier as saying.

“My crime is very severe and pre-planned,” Warmbier was quoted as saying, adding that he was impressed by North Korea’s “humanitarian treatment of severe criminals like myself”.

Warmbier’s family have not heard from him since his arrest, according to a statement provided to the Cavalier Daily, the University of Virginia’s student-run newspaper.

“He seems to be in good health, although we won’t know for sure about his condition until we have a chance to speak with him,” the statement said.

Other Westerners detained in North Korea previously have confessed to crimes against the state.

North Korea’s state media said in January that Warmbier “was caught committing a hostile act against the state”, which it said was “tolerated and manipulated by the U.S. government”.

U.S. student Otto Warmbier bows at a news conference in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang February 29, 2016. REUTERS/KCNA

The senior pastor at Friendship United Methodist Church in Wyoming, Ohio, told CNN that he did not know the person identified by Warmbier in the KCNA story as a deaconess there, and said Warmbier was not a member of the congregation.

According to KCNA, Warmbier also said he was encouraged in his act by a member of the Z Society, an elite philanthropic organisation at the University of Virginia that he hoped to join.

An official in the university’s communications office could not immediately be reached for comment.

Isolated North Korea is expected to face tough new U.N. Security Council resolution following its nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch this month.

Warmbier was on a five-day New Year’s tour of North Korea with a group of 20 and was delayed at immigration before being taken away by two airport officials, according to a tour operator that had sponsored the trip

While the vast majority of tourists to North Korea are from China, roughly 6,000 Westerners visit the country annually, though the United States and Canada advise against it.

Most are adventure-seekers curious about life behind the last sliver of the iron curtain, and ignore critics who say their dollars prop up a repressive regime.

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Lord King says Eurozone is doomed while EU slides back into deflation - from TRUNEWS

(TRUNEWS) The former governor of the Bank of England, Lord Mervyn King, says the eurozone is doomed to fail in his new book.

Lord King claims in his new book that steps towards fiscal union will not quell problems in the 19-nation bloc, and could even tear it apart.

The Telegraph reported that Lord King warns of a looming “economic [and] political crisis” triggered by endless bail-outs, austerity demands and pressure from the “elites in Europe” and the US to create “a transfer union” to solve the eurozone’s woes.

Lord King has also called for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to lead a debt-relief program in which countries can restructure their debts in a ‘fair way’.

Noting that this could slow growth and reduce spending as creditors adjust to the “reality that debts will never be repaid”, Lord King said this is “inevitable.”

“The underlying challenge is to move to a new equilibrium in which new debts are no longer being created on the same scale as before.”

EUROZONE DEFLATION

His comments came on the heels of a Eurostat report that showed that EU inflation dropped to its lowest since Jan. 2015 in February to -0.2% from +0.3% Y/Y in January.

This deflation indicts that the European Central Bank’s (ECB) quantitative easing (QE) program has failed to salvage the economy of the eurozone as promised.

The ECB’s QE program began in Mar. 2015, with €60 Billion/month in bond purchases, which to date has resulted in the monetization of over €670 billion in mostly German sovereign paper.

Zerohedge reported that they believe this instability will lead Mario Draghi to further increase QE in ten days, which will in turn create even lower deflation in Feb. 2017.

These woes in the eurozone serve as canaries in the coal mines of global central banking, and are likely to only further spiral the world into an economic system land-mined with negative interest rate policies (NIRP), cashless economies and centralized fiscal slavery.

(Below is a breakdown of NIRP across the globe)

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Trump could beat Clinton in Democratic-leaning New York - from TRUNEWS

(TRUNEWS) Even though New York residents tend to favor Democrats over Republicans, new polls suggest Donald Trump could beat Hillary Clinton there in the general presidential election.

The New York Post reports the GOP frontrunner is “surprisingly strong”.

U.S. Republican presidential candidate and businessman Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the South Point Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada January 21, 2016. REUTERS/David Becker . SAP is the sponsor of this coverage which is independently produced by the staff of Reuters News Agency.

The Siena College poll of Long Island voters released last week shows Trump beating Clinton 41 to 38 percent.

“There are some Democrats who think that Hillary can be taken if Trump mounts a strong campaign,’’ one of the state’s most prominent Democrats said.

The question of former Mayor Michael Bloomberg came up, as there is speculation he might jump into the race as an independent. The poll showed he could take votes away from Clinton, even in New York City, but Trump could still win without Bloomberg getting involved.

Trump also came in strong on Long lsland and Westchester, which are swing areas that often decide the outcome of an election.

The results surprised many leading Democrats and Republicans, who have shied away from endorsing Trump.

“In the suburbs and upstate, Trump has a net positive while Hillary is a net negative,” one longtime Republican operative contended. “She’s more of a liability than many Democrats realized.”

Another interesting tidbit taken from polls is the degree of intensity among Trump supporters, which goes along with the high turnouts at the primaries.

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Israeli startup uses ‘smart satellites’ to provide global wifi - from TRUNEWS

ROSH HA’AYIN, Israel Israeli startup Skyfi is looking to outflank Facebook and Google in a race to provide worldwide internet access by developing the first self-correcting antenna that can turn mini-satellites into powerful transmitters covering the globe.

The two technology leaders are working on ways to beam internet access from the sky to remote areas, Google with high-flying balloons and Facebook with a combination of drones and larger, more complex satellites.

But it will take an orbiting cluster of 60 miniature, or nano, satellites, each about the size of a shoe box, to provide full coverage of earth, said Raz Itzhaki Tamir, a veteran of Israel’s aerospace industry who co-founded Skyfi four years ago.

The way he hopes to do it is by using a parachute-like antenna that deploys once in space. The antenna can then mechanically adjust itself for imperfections in the transmitter’s surface, allowing a stronger signal to pass, and even alter the direction it points should broadcast needs change over the course of the satellite’s life.

That may not sound like much, but those are two major hurdles that have limited satellite operators for years.

While the company says it has a working “proof of concept”, the technology has yet to be proven in space, so don’t expect a fleet of internet-providing nanosatellites for at least a few years. But the antenna alone could be big business in the meantime.

An anechoic chamber where Israeli startup Skyfi are testing their development, the first self-correcting antenna that can turn mini-satellites into powerful transmitters covering the globe to provide worldwide internet access, is seen in Rosh Ha’ayin, near Tel Aviv, Israel February 24, 2016. REUTERS/Nir Elias

Thousands of new satellites will be launched into space in the coming decade and many will use technology from Israel, which has built on its military expertise to capture a sizeable chunk of the growing commercial space market, particularly in the field of miniaturization.

Skyfi raised $3 million in a round led by Jerusalem Venture Partners, one of the country’s most successful venture capital funds, and says it has signed letters of intent to sell its antennas to global players such as Lockheed Martin and Spacecom.

Spacecom, which is collaborating with Facebook to beam internet services to Africa, said that if the new Skyfi antenna is successful, it would be in huge demand.

“This type of solution will conquer the market, because it addresses some of the most serious and bothersome issues for satellite operators,” said David Pollack, Spacecom’s chief executive.

For now, Skyfi is perfecting its system by testing a large version of the antenna in a 50-square-meter (yard) echoless chamber that simulates the conditions of space. It plans to launch its first unit in the next 18 months.

“Currently, if an antenna is not perfect, you have to live with it, with the losses,” said Tamir. “We can change that and be flexible, thus gaining more revenue from the satellite.”

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Debt swaps become a tough sell for cash-strapped U.S. energy firms - from TRUNEWS

Highly-leveraged U.S. energy companies are struggling to carry out debt swaps as part of their survival strategy because plummeting oil and gas prices make investors either avoid such deals or demand tougher terms.

Last year, at least 10 exploration and production companies, including California Resources Corp (CRC.N), managed to ease financial pressure by persuading investors to accept some losses on their bond holdings in return for new debt that often matures later and offers better collateral.

Pump jacks are seen at the Lukoil company owned Imilorskoye oil field outside the West Siberian city of Kogalym, Russia, January 25, 2016. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

Yet since prices tumbled further early this year, investors have grown more worried that some firms may not survive the rout. They see no point in accepting debt with potentially better collateral if it could mean nothing once the firm hits the wall.

The deepening slump also means that producers need to offer more attractive terms – higher interest payments and more collateral – to win over investors and avoid the brutal equity wipeout that happens in most bankruptcies.

“Investors are less desperate now since they’ve already taken a lot of the pain,” said Roopesh Shah, global chief of Goldman Sachs’ restructuring group.

“They have less downside they’re trying to protect,” he said. Shah said debt exchanges were still viable, but needed to offer better protection and potential gains for investors.

That is a tall order for producers, which must conserve cash to make it through the price slump, and whose ability to issue new debt is limited by provisions in bond documents that tie debt to commodity prices.

Pennsylvania-based Eclipse Resources Corp (ECR.N) that acquires and develops oil and natural gas properties in Ohio, canceled a debt exchange launched in January. Denbury Resources Inc (DNR.N), a Texas company with operations in the Rocky Mountains and along the Gulf of Mexico Coast, pulled a debt swap even after sweetening the deal for investors.

“Ultimately we terminated because it wasn’t attractive enough for us,” said Denbury spokesman Ross Campbell, adding that the company is still deciding whether to try another swap. Eclipse declined to comment.

Chesapeake Energy Corp’s (CHK.N) and Vanguard Natural Resources LLC’s (VNR.O) exchange offers saw limited demand. Only about 20 percent of holders of Chesapeake bonds due in 2017 and 2018 took up the offer, even after Chesapeake doubled the amount of new debt it planned to issue. About 30 percent of eligible potential bondholders took part in Vanguard’s exchange.

The companies did not respond to requests for comment.

LOOMING BANKRUPTCIES

With survival options dwindling, Roughly a third of U.S. oil producers, or 175 firms, is at risk of slipping into bankruptcy this year, according to a study by Deloitte, the auditing and consulting firm. About 40 hit the wall last year.

The deepening downturn has jeopardized other survival strategies, including selling assets to raise cash or buying back debt.

When California Resources, a spin-off of Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N), launched its debt exchange in November, it offered creditors 80 percent of face value – a premium of 11 to 23 percent – plus a hefty bump in interest rate. The company, which declined to comment, more than doubled the total amount of old debt investors could trade in.

In its canceled exchange, Eclipse Resources offered investors half of face value for bonds that had already cratered to 30 cents on the dollar, and a virtually unchanged coupon on the proposed new bonds.

Some swaps turned out to be disastrous for debtholders, which may be deterring others. New debt issued by Halcon Resources Corp (HK.N) in an exchange now trades below 15 cents on the dollar, after the exploration and production company completed another swap that offered investors higher security. The new California Resources debt has also plummeted, to close to 20 cents on the dollar.

As the crisis ripples through the energy sector, larger companies will also consider debt exchanges, until now mainly pursued by small producers, bankers said.

At least two firms are now seeking debt swaps. Rex Energy Corp (REXX.O) offers its creditors higher coupon and a second lien debt that comes ahead of unsecured debt plus equity for their holdings. Alta Mesa Holdings LP [ALMEH.UL] proposes to swap bonds for secured term loans. Rex declined to comment, and Alta Mesa did not respond to requests for comment.

Swaps are not a silver bullet for issuers either. Linn Energy LLC (LINE.O), whose bondholders agreed to an exchange last year, drew down a revolving credit line this year, a sign of potential trouble ahead.

The company did not immediately return a request for comment.

 

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Greece’s ‘erratic Marxist’ Varoufakis advises Britain’s Labour Party - from TRUNEWS

Yanis Varoufakis, the self-described “erratic Marxist” who took Greece to the brink of a euro zone exit by battling creditors over the conditions for a bailout, has got a new role: advising Britain’s opposition Labour Party.

The former Greek finance minister who shuns neckties and says the European Union is falling apart will advise Labour due to his negotiating experience during the euro zone debt crisis, said Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

“I think the way Greece has been treated is terrible and we should reach out to them,” Corbyn, who has taken the party of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown further to the left since he became leader in 2015, told the Islington Tribune.

“Varoufakis is interesting, because he has obviously been through all the negotiations [with the ECB, European Commission and the International Monetary Fund],” Corbyn was quoted as telling his local London newspaper.

Varoufakis, 54, and a spokesman for the Labour Party did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment about the new role.

In six months as Greece’s finance minister, the British-educated economist infuriated euro zone colleagues by opposing the terms for a Greek bailout.

As Greece tumbled towards what some investors feared would be a disorderly exit from the euro, Varoufakis engaged some colleagues in political discussion on the economic theory behind the bailout terms while publicly criticizing the euro zone.

He resigned in July 2015 shortly before Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras eventually finally agreed terms to avoid being bounced out of the common currency.

“We both want to see an economic strategy around anti-austerity, and we’re both very concerned about the activities and power of the European Central Bank,” Corbyn, 66, said when asked about his ties to Tsipras.

Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party, addresses a protest against the Trident nuclear missile system in London, February 27, 2016. REUTERS/Paul Hackett

“EU FALLING APART”

Greece’s debt crisis and eventual bailout were cast by some eurosceptics in the British Labour movement as evidence that Germany was imposing spending cuts on citizens in euro zone countries to serve corporate interests.

Though it was not immediately clear what Varoufakis would advise Labour on, the former finance minister has said he opposes a British exit from the EU.

Corbyn, who voted against membership in 1975, has said he will campaign to keep Britain in the EU in a June 23 referendum, arguing that membership is the best way to improve social and employment laws.

“Under the weight of its own hubris, the EU is falling apart,” Varoufakis said in an article on his web site. “Brexit will make the EU’s fragmentation faster and surer, begetting a post-modern 1930s from which the UK will not escape even if out of the EU.”

Corbyn’s opponents in Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party said Labour’s move to seek advice from Varoufakis was indicated a flawed economic policy.

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NATO chief says concerned about Russian military build-up in Syria - from TRUNEWS

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that a fragile truce in Syria appeared to be largely holding but the alliance was concerned by a Russian military build-up in Syria.

France, though, said it had information about fresh attacks on zones held by moderate rebels, and called for an immediate meeting of the Syria task force to address breaches of the cessation of hostilities that came into force on Friday.

The cessation of hostilities deal is the first of its kind to be attempted in four years. Syria’s conflict began in 2011.

Stoltenberg told a news conference in the Gulf Arab state of Kuwait: “We have seen some encouraging developments that the ceasefire is largely holding but at the same time we have seen some reports about violations of the ceasefire.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg holds a news conference during a meeting of the NATO foreign affairs ministers at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, December 1, 2015. REUTERS/Yves Herman

“This agreement and the full implementation of the agreement is the best possible basis for renewing the efforts to find a political negotiated peaceful solution to the crisis in Syria,” he added.

The deal, which is less binding than a formal ceasefire and was not directly signed by Syria’s warring government and rebel forces, does not cover action against militants from Islamic State or the Nusra Front, an al Qaeda affiliate.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his big power ally, Russia, say they will continue to fight militant forces. Other rebels say they fear this stance may be used to justify attacks against them too.

“We are concerned,” Stoltenberg said, “about the significant Russian military build-up we have seen in Syria with the ground troops, with the naval forces in eastern Mediterranean and with air forces conducting air strikes.”

 

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China central bank resumes easing cycle to cushion reform pain - from TRUNEWS

China’s central bank resumed its easing cycle on Monday, injecting an estimated $100 billion worth of long-term cash into the economy to cushion the pain from job layoffs and bankruptcies in industries plagued by overcapacity.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said on its website it was cutting the reserve requirement ratio, or the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves, by 50 basis points, taking the ratio to 17 percent for the biggest lenders.

The cut came just days after China used its role as host of the Group of 20 (G20) to reassure trading partners that it did not intend to further devalue the yuan, after a surprise 2 percent devaluation last August threw markets into a spin.

The PBOC’s announcement also comes shortly before the annual meeting of China’s parliament, which must try to engineer a huge economic shift toward services and consumption and away from basic manufacturing, while also keeping growth stable.

The move was a surprise to some observers, given that the PBOC had previously said it would rely more on daily injections of short-term money to keep cash flowing, rather than the long-term addition of funds from an RRR cut.

The cut is effective from March 1, and it comes after signs of increasing tightness in the money market last week, despite repeated daily injections through open market operations, including a 230 billion yuan injection on Monday morning.

“This reflects the central bank is keen to ease liquidity in the China banking sector,” wrote Iris Pang, a senior economist at Natixis in Hong Kong.

Pang estimated the move would release 689 billion yuan ($105 billion) into the system for fresh lending; economists at ANZ bank estimated the injection at about 650 billion yuan.

Some of that lending could help struggling industries meet the costs of restructuring.

Economists said the cut suggested regulators were less worried that the move would hammer the exchange rate CNY=CFXS, and by extension accelerate the rate of capital outflows.

Official data showed China’s central bank and commercial banks sold a net 629 billion yuan ($95.61 billion) worth of foreign exchange in December, an implicit outflow from yuan assets.

“Previously the PBOC had stated it was worried that further RRR cuts would undermine the yuan,” said Mark Williams at Capital Economics in London.

“So this shows that either the pressure is not so strong anymore or that the they’ve changed their mind following the tighter monitoring of exchange flows we’ve seen recently.”

Offshore yuan CNH=D3 and onshore yuan CNY=CFXS both fell against the dollar following the news, but losses were limited.

China last cut the RRR on Oct. 23, when it also reduced interest rates by 25 basis points to rein in financing costs for China’s heavily indebted firms.

Monday’s move suggests it remains worried structural reforms could destabilize growth and increase unemployment if not cushioned by accommodative policy.

BRIEF HIATUS

The PBOC said the RRR cut would help create an appropriate monetary environment to support a “supply-side reform” project Beijing hopes will put the world’s second-largest economy on a more sustainable growth path.

The problem has been that weak demand at home and abroad, combined with high debt service costs, has punished margins at many Chinese firms, with recent data showing rising negative pressure on wages and job creation.

On Monday, Chinese regulators said they expect 1.8 million workers in the steel and coal sectors will be laid off as a result of structural reforms, but said this should not result in a spike in unemployment.

Beijing had previously announced a 100 billion yuan fund to help retrain laid off workers.

“China’s government is pushing forward the ‘supply-side’ reform and the move needs someone to pay the costs. A loosening monetary environment is what we need,” said Li Huiyong, an economist at Shenyin & Wanguo Securities in Shanghai.

“We believe the central government will keep its loosening policy stance this year to support the economy.”

That tightness in the money market has been blamed for denting sentiment among stock investors, who have embarked on another round of sharp selloffs since last Thursday.

Chinese banks, armed with fresh lending quotas, extended a record 2.51 trillion yuan of new loans in January, suggesting Beijing was keeping monetary conditions loose to counter a protracted economic slowdown.

The world second-largest economy grew 6.9 percent in 2015, its slowest pace in 25 years. A spate of soft data points to further weakness at the start of the year as Beijing struggles to cushion the slowdown.

Chinese leaders outlined initiatives after a policy meeting last October, where they reiterated goal of doubling GDP and incomes between 2010 and 2020 and committed to liberalizing the service sector to foreign investment.

($1 = 6.5535 Chinese yuan renminbi)

 

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North Korea’s nuclear tests could trigger massive volcanic eruption - from TRUNEWS

(TRUNEWS) Scientists are warning that North Korea’s nuclear tests could trigger a volcanic eruption at Mount Paektu.  The mountain is on the border with China and measures more than 9,000 feet high.

Experts claim that if it goes off it will be catastrophic, like the one in 1903, according to the Daily Mirror.  In the year 946, a volcano produced the pyroclastic flow that was 1,000 feet thick and coated parts of northern Japan.  It was declared one of the most violent events in human history.

Seismologists say there is increased seismic activity – and the Punggye-ri nuclear test facility is only 70 miles away.  Last month the government conducted an underground nuclear test there, which triggered a 5.1 magnitude quake that was felt 100 miles from the site.

Volcanic lightning is seen at an eruption of Mount Sakurajima, in this photo taken from Tarumizu city, Kagoshima prefecture, southwestern Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo February 5, 2016. A Japanese volcano about 50 km (30 miles) from a nuclear plant erupted on Friday, Japan’s Meteorological Agency said, sending fountains of lava into the night sky. Mandatory credit REUTERS/Kyodo

 

“Strong ground motions induce large dynamic stress changes that may disturb the magma chamber of a volcano, thus accelerating the volcanic activity,” said a group of South Korean scientists, who published a paper in Nature.

Earlier this month, a volcano erupted in Japan near a nuclear power plant.  Experts said the area is a “ring of fire” because a seismic band of fault lines and more than 100 volcanos are located there, along the edges of the Pacific Ocean.

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Sen. Jeff Sessions Endorses Donald Trump - from TRUNEWS

Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions has endorsed Donald Trump for president.

During a campaign rally Sunday in Madison, Alabama, Sessions donned a red “Make America Great Again” hat in front of a crowd of approximately 25,000 people.

Sessions is the first sitting senator to endorse Trump for president.

“Sessions is widely recognized as the nation’s most highly respected official on the issue of illegal immigration,” a statement from the Trump campaign read.

The Republican front-runner said, “I am deeply honored to have the endorsement of Senator Jeff Sessions, leader of congressional conservatives. He has been called the Senate’s indispensable man and the gold standard. He led the fight against the Gang of Eight, against Obama’s trade deal, against Obama’s judges, and for American sovereignty. He has stood up to special interests as few have. There is no more respected man in Congress and we are closely aligned on many issues, including trade and illegal immigration, and I am proud to consider Jeff Sessions an advisor, friend and ally.”

Sessions added in the statement, “I am thrilled today to offer my endorsement of Donald J. Trump for President. This election is our last chance to save U.S. sovereignty and to end the domination of the political establishment over the interests of working Americans. Trump alone has rejected the donor class, defending America’s jobs and wages from open borders, uncontrolled immigration and the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership that will cede U.S. authority to foreign powers. Trump’s trade and immigration plans will revitalize our shrinking middle class, keeping jobs and wealth and income inside the United States of America. Trump understands that a nation must always place the interests of its own people first.”

“We are nearing fast the point of no return. The people are hurting. Their wages are declining. Their schools are overburdened. Their hospitals are stretched past the breaking point. Crime is up, and community confidence is down. Americans of all backgrounds and ethnicities, immigrant and US-born, are crying out for leadership that puts their needs first, that takes care of those living and dreaming here today, leadership that understands that there is no constituency other than the American constituency. Mr. Trump is that leader,” Sessions said.

“We are witnessing an incredible movement, arising from the people,” Sessions argued. “The events of history have aligned to give the people this fleeting chance to bust up the oligarchy – to take back control from the ‘Masters of the Universe’ return it to the good and decent and patriotic citizens of the United States.”

Earlier Sunday, Trump was also endorsed by Mark “OZ” Geist and John “TIG” Tiegen, two of the Americans who defended the U.S. consulate and the CIA compound in Benghazi.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Maine Gov. Paul LePage, and former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer have all endorsed Trump within the last week.

 

 

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McConnell reportedly tells colleagues they will drop Trump like a ‘hot rock’ - from TRUNEWS

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly told colleagues they will drop GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump “like a hot rock.”

McConnell reassured Republican members of the upper chamber they could run negative ads against Trump if he becomes the nominee and it threatens their re-election, reports The New York Times.

Additionally, McConnell told Republican senators during the members’ weekly lunch that the potential of Trump losing to Hillary Clinton is a given and it is best to describe to voters that a Republican Senate is a necessary check to a Clinton presidency.

Senators inside the lunch said McConnell reminded them of his successful 1996 re-election campaign when he won by a wide margin during President Bill Clinton’s easy re-election bid.

The Times also notes that McConnell and other senior Republicans have grown frustrated with Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s presence in the race, describing it as selfish.

U.S. Republican presidential candidate John Kasich speaks to voters during a campaign town hall in Nashua, New Hampshire, February 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar

“He’s just flailing his arms around and having a wonderful time going around the country, and it just drives me up the wall,” one GOP senator told the Times of Kasich, a former member of the House.

 

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Woman in Moscow displays severed child’s head at train station - from TRUNEWS

(TRUNEWS) A woman in Moscow has been detained after parading a child’s head near a train station.

She was identified as 38-year-old Gulchekhra Bobokulova, a babysitter who had been working for the child’s family for a year, according to Sputnik.

Bobokulova was dressed in black and was shouting, “I am a terrorist” during the ordeal, threatening to blow herself up when she was apprehended by police.

“The end of the world is coming in a second…I am your death,” she yelled, as reported by RT. “I hate democracy.”

A Russian police officer stands at the site where a woman suspected of murdering a young child was detained, near Oktyabrskoye Pole metro station in Moscow, Russia, February 29, 2016. REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev

The body of the child was found in a Moscow apartment Monday after the building had been set on fire. Apparently the woman waited for the parents and an older child to leave before committing the murder.

The girl was identified as Nastya M., and authorities believe she is 3 or 4 years old.  Her mother was taken to the hospital after she fell unconscious when she learned the news, according to Russia’s Zvezda TV.

Bobokulova is an Uzbekistan national, and apparently committed the murder after being upset with her husband. Police believe she was drugged.  A psychiatric evaluation is being conducted.

People at the shops near the metro station were evacuated.

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Egyptian lawmaker attacked with shoe for dining with Israeli ambassador - from TRUNEWS

Egyptian lawmaker Tawfik Okasha was attacked in parliament on Sunday, with one colleague hurling a shoe at him and others demanding he be suspended after he invited the Israeli ambassador for dinner.

Egypt was the first of a handful of Arab countries to recognize Israel with a United States-sponsored 1979 peace accord, but Egyptian attitudes to the country’s neighbor remain icy.

Israel has an ambassador stationed in Cairo but Egyptian officials make a point of keeping their distance and the embassy has been the focal point of protests in the past.

Okasha, a television presenter and lawmaker known for courting controversy, hosted the Israeli ambassador Haim Koren for dinner at his home in the northeastern Dakahlia province last week. He made the invitation live on his television show.

The move sparked outrage in the media and in Egypt’s parliament, sworn in last month, with several lawmakers demanding Okasha be dismissed from parliament and one colleague, Kamal Ahmed, hurling his shoe during the session in a fit of anger.

The speaker threw both Ahmed and Okasha out of the session, according to the parliament website.

Over 100 parliament members have also signed a statement seen by Reuters rejecting normalization of ties with Israel and demanding an investigation into Okasha’s actions.

Okasha told local media before the opening of Sunday’s session that he had done nothing wrong since Egypt enjoys full diplomatic relations with Israel.

Koren confirmed to Reuters that he and his staff had a three-hour dinner meeting at the Egyptian lawmaker’s home on Wednesday evening.

“He proposed the meeting, at which he raised ideas of us helping Egypt in the areas of water, agriculture and education – to try to set up a number of schools with Israeli training,” Koren told Reuters by telephone.

“I offered to work on putting this together, and that we meet again. I will soon be inviting him over to our place. He showed great courage. He knew he would be attacked, and nonetheless he stood firm on his convictions.”

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Air strike targets suspected Islamic State convoy in Libya - from TRUNEWS

Aircraft attacked a convoy carrying suspected Islamic State militants near the northwestern Libyan town of Bani Walid early on Sunday, an official said.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, although both the United States and Libyan government forces have launched air strikes on jihadists in recent months.

A Pentagon official said the U.S. military was not involved in the action but provided no other details. U.S. sources said later that no other U.S. government agencies were involved.

Three huge explosions rocked the area around dawn, the member of Bani Walid’s municipal council told Reuters.

People living in Ras al-Tbel, about 80 km (50 miles) southeast of Bani Walid, had seen the same convoy of up to 15 vehicles carrying the black flags of Islamic State over the past two days, the official added.

It was not immediately clear if the convoy was hit.

Anti-Gaddafi fighters fire a multiple rocket launcher near Sirte, September 24, 2011. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

Jihadist groups have taken advantage of political chaos to expand their presence in Libya, and fighters loyal to Islamic State have taken control of the coastal city of Sirte, about 260 km (160 miles) east of Bani Walid.

Western officials say they are discussing air strikes and special forces operations in Libya against the group that is seeking to set up a cross-border Islamic caliphate and has already seized large areas of Syria and neighboring Iraq.

U.S. aircraft attacked a suspected Islamic State training camp on the outskirts of the western Libyan city of Sabratha this month, and launched two more air strikes against jihadist commanders in Libya last year.

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Twin suicide bombing kills 70 in Baghdad’s deadliest attack this year - from TRUNEWS

A twin suicide bombing claimed by Islamic State killed 70 people in a Shi’ite district of Baghdad on Sunday in the deadliest attack inside the capital this year, as militants launched an assault on its western outskirts.

Police sources said the suicide bombers were riding motorcycles and blew themselves up in a crowded mobile phone market in Sadr City, wounding more than 100 people in addition to the dead.

A Reuters witness saw pools of blood on the ground with slippers, shoes and mobile phones at the site of the blasts, which was sealed off to prevent further attacks.

In a statement circulated online, Islamic State said it was responsible for the blasts: “Our swords will not cease to cut off the heads of the rejectionist polytheists, wherever they are,” it said, using derogatory terms for Shi’ite Muslims.

People gather at the site of suicide blasts in Baghdad’s Sadr City February 28, 2016. The death toll from two suicide blasts in Baghdad’s mainly Shi’ite district of Sadr City rose to 24 with more than 60 others wounded, police and medical sources said on Sunday. REUTERS/Wissm al-Okili

Iraqi forces backed by airstrikes from a U.S.-led coalition have driven Islamic State back in the western Anbar province recently and are preparing for an offensive to retake the northern city of Mosul.

But the militants are still able to strike outside territory they control, often targeting members of Iraq’s Shi’ite majority, most recently on Thursday when two Islamic State suicide bombers killed 15 people at a mosque in the capital.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the attacks were in response to Islamic State’s recent defeats: “This gang targeted civilians after it lost the initiative and its dregs fled the battlefield before our proud fighters,” he said on his official Facebook page.

At dawn on Sunday, suicide bombers and gunmen attacked Iraqi security forces in Abu Ghraib, seizing positions in a grain silo and a cemetery, and killing at least 17 members of the security forces, officials said.

Security officials blamed Islamic State, and a news agency that supports the group said it had launched a “wide attack” in Abu Ghraib, 25 km (15 miles) from the center of Baghdad and next to the international airport.

Footage circulated online by the Amaq news agency appeared to show Islamic State fighters crouching behind dirt berms and launching the attack with automatic rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. Reuters could not verify the video’s authenticity.

Security forces had mostly regained control by Sunday evening but officials said there were still clashes.

Baghdad-based security analyst Jasim al-Bahadli said the assault suggested it was premature to declare that Islamic State was losing the initiative in Iraq.

“Government forces must do a better job repelling attacks launched by Daesh. What happened today could be a setback for the security forces,” he said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

COUNTER OFFENSIVE

Army and police sources said the militants had attacked from the nearby Islamic State-controlled areas of Garma and Falluja, driving Humvees and pickup trucks fixed with machine guns.

A curfew was imposed as a regiment of Iraq’s elite counter-terrorism forces was mobilized to retake the silo in Abu Ghraib and prevent the militants approaching the nearby airport, security officials said.

Iraqi army helicopters bombarded Islamic State positions in the and Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan said at least 20 militants had been killed in the government’s counter offensive.

Fighters from the Hashid Shaabi, a coalition of mainly Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias, were mobilized to Abu Ghraib to reinforce regular government forces in the area, said Jawad al-Tulaibawi, a local Hashid commander.

Powerful Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr also called on fighters loyal to him to be on alert to protect Baghdad. Shi’ite militias like Sadr’s ‘Peace Brigades’ were seen as a bulwark against Islamic State’s sweeping advance in 2014 which threatened Iraq’s capital and its most sacred Shi’ite shrines.

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Top Vatican Cardinal says Church made enormous mistakes over sex abuse - from TRUNEWS

Australian Cardinal George Pell said on Sunday the Catholic Church made “enormous mistakes” and dismissed cases of sexual abuse of children in “scandalous circumstances”, as he became the highest-ranking Vatican official to testify on Church abuse.

Giving evidence in front of abuse victims in a Rome hotel room, Pell told Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse that children were often not believed and abusive priests shuffled from parish to parish.

“The Church has made enormous mistakes and is working to remedy those, but the Church in many places, certainly in Australia, has mucked things up, has let people down,” Pell said via video link to the commission in Sydney.

 “I’m not here to defend the indefensible.”

Australian Cardinal George Pell arrives for a meeting at the Synod Hall in the Vatican March 6, 2013. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

The Australian inquiry into sexual abuse cases which occurred decades ago has taken on wider implications about accountability of Church leaders because of Pell’s high position in the Vatican, where he now serves as finance minister.

Pell, 74, has become the focal point for victims’ frustration over what they say has been an inadequate response from the Catholic Church to the abuse claims. Pell himself is not accused of sexual abuse and has twice apologized for the Church’s slow response.

When pressed on specific situations involving particular priests some 40 years ago, Pell repeatedly said he couldn’t recollect the incidents being put to him, at one point citing “a senior moment”, angering witnesses in both Rome and Sydney.

“He is an intelligent man, he is in such a high position, we all have our seniors moments but not on something like this,” Trish Charter, who says she was abused between the ages of four and eight at an orphanage run by the Sisters of Mercy, said in Sydney.

Around 15 abuse victims and supporters traveled to Rome on the back of a crowd-funding campaign to see Pell give evidence after he said he was unable to travel to his native Australia because of heart problems.

In Sydney, victims’ supporters gathered outside the Commission’s hearing rooms, holding hands in prayer and carrying signs saying “Pope Sack Pell Now” and “Pell go to hell”.

TOO MANY CASES DISMISSED

Last year, Pell denied accusations made at Commission hearings that he had tried to bribe a victim to remain quiet, that he ignored another complaint and that he was complicit in the transfer of a pedophile priest. The alleged events took place in the 1970s and 1980s when Pell was a priest in Australia.

Australia’s bishops have rallied behind Pell, calling him “a man of integrity who is committed to the truth”.

Pell said on Sunday that too many allegations of abuse “were dismissed and sometimes they were dismissed in absolutely scandalous circumstances”.

“They were very, very, very plausible allegations made by responsible people that were not followed up sufficiently,” he said, adding he believed the faults were personal rather than structural failings.

“Unfortunately, original sin is alive and well,” Pell said. “There’s tendency to evil in the Catholic Church too and sometimes it’s better, sometimes it’s worse but for good or for ill the Church follows the patterns of the societies in which it lives.”

On Sunday, Pell’s office released a photo of the Cardinal tying a yellow ribbon around a fence in the Vatican Gardens, joining a campaign started by the Australian Loud Fence movement. The group first hung colored ribbons on a fence outside a Catholic school in the rural town of Ballarat, where abuse was rife, with the bright colors designed to give a voice to child victims who were silenced.

Church sexual abuse broke into the open in 2002, when it was discovered that bishops in the Boston area moved abusers from parish to parish instead of defrocking them. Similar scandals have since been discovered around the world and tens of millions of dollars have been paid in compensation.

 

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China expects to lay off 1.8 million workers in coal, steel sectors - from TRUNEWS

China said on Monday it expects to lay off 1.8 million workers in the coal and steel industries, or about 15 percent of the workforce, as part of efforts to reduce industrial overcapacity, but no timeframe was given.

It was the first time China has given figures that underline the magnitude of its task in dealing with slowing growth and bloated state enterprises.

Yin Weimin, the minister for human resources and social security, told a news conference that 1.3 million workers in the coal sector could lose jobs, plus 500,000 from the steel sector. China’s coal and steel sectors employ about 12 million workers, according to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics.

“This involves the resettlement of a total of 1.8 million workers. This task will be very difficult, but we are still very confident,” Yin said.

For China’s stability-obsessed government, keeping a lid on unemployment and any possible unrest that may follow has been a top priority.

An employee works among stainless steel sheets at a steel factory in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, China, in this September 2, 2015 file picture. REUTERS/Stringer/Files

The central government will allocate 100 billion yuan ($15.27 billion) over two years to relocate workers laid off as a result of China’s efforts to curb overcapacity, officials said last week.

China’s vice finance minister Zhu Guangyao quoted Premier Li Keqiang as telling U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Monday that the fund would mainly focus on the steel and coal sectors.

The number of layoffs was reasonable based on the government’s capacity closure targets, said Jiang Feitao, an industry researcher with the China Academy of Social Sciences, a top government think-tank.

He said the funds being made available would be used only after the enterprises go bankrupt and settle their debts. He said local governments would also be responsible for dealing with those debts.

He said the funds being made available would be used only after the enterprises go bankrupt and settle their debts. He said local governments would also be responsible for dealing with those debts.

“It’s difficult to predict a timeframe but it will not be a quick process. There are many issues to be dealt with, including how to pay debt as well as layoffs.”

DOWNWARD PRESSURE

The world’s second-largest economy grew 6.9 percent in 2015, the weakest in 25 years, and the government aims to achieve economic growth of 6.5-7 percent in 2016.

“The economy faces relatively big downward pressures and some firms face difficulties in production and operation, which would lead to insufficient employment,” Yin said, adding that increasing graduates this year would also add pressure in the job market.

Despite of economic downturn, there have been no reports of mass layoffs as occurred during the global financial crisis, when over 28 million workers were laid off between 1998-2003.

The survey-based jobless rate published by the National Bureau of Statistics stayed at around 5.01 percent at the end of last year.

Officials have said that the services sector has created more jobs to help absorb laid-off workers from the manufacturing sector.

In 2015, the contribution from the services sector to GDP climbed to 50.5 percent, surpassing 50 percent for the first time.

The registered urban jobless rate published by the human resources and social security ministry was at 4.05 percent at the end of 2015.

However, many economists believe the few official employment readings in China underestimate the number of jobless.

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In slump, oil firms turn to labs, data centers for help - from TRUNEWS

In a basement lab of a North Dakota research center, Beth Kurz and an assistant are peering through a scanning electron microscope, studying samples from the state’s vast Bakken shale oil formation.

Kurz, a hydrogeologist, is part of a team, which looks at using carbon dioxide to coax more oil out of wells that have already been hydraulically fractured, or fracked, in the process of extracting oil from shale rocks.

“No one is sure just yet how this process can work in the Bakken,” said Kurz. “We’re hoping to crack that riddle.”

While energy firms around the world slash spending and cut jobs in response to crashing oil prices, research institutions and companies across North America are not letting up in their efforts to make production more efficient.

In fact, demand for money-saving solutions is greater than ever and research centers, helped by multi-year budgets and grants, are doubling down – hiring more staff, building new laboratories and launching new studies.

The University of North Dakota’s Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) where Kurz works has hired 20 more researchers and lab assistants over the past year, a 10 percent increase.

“At $100 per barrel oil, you just produce as much as you can, with cost as a secondary concern,” said Tom Erickson, the Center’s head. “But at $30 oil, you need to innovate, or else you’re just losing money.”

The center, which has an annual budget of more than $30 million funded by the federal government and industry partners, including Marathon Oil Corp (MRO.N) and Continental Resources (CLR.N), also works on alternative fuel and coal technologies, but the CO2 project is among the biggest.

While carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants has been used for years to extract oil from older, conventional wells, it has yet to be applied commercially in shale drilling. Unlike spongy conventional oil reserves, shale is a rock and the scientists are now trying to find the best way for CO2 to flow through it and help bring oil to the surface.

Elsewhere, efforts range from aggregating reams of data from field sensors to using medical scanning equipment or reducing the amount of water used for fracking.

NEW URGENCY

“We think this slowdown will actually be a plus for technology research and development,” Jon Olson, head of the Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering Department at the University of Texas-Austin, told Reuters.

Whether any breakthroughs can come soon enough for scores of companies that are losing money and fighting for survival is anyone’s guess. But if successful, new technologies could help restore profitability to the industry battered by more than 70 percent crude price CLc1 plunge since mid-2014. (Graphic:tmsnrt.rs/1mT1RpC)

The use of CO2 in fracking, for example, could cut production costs in North Dakota’s largest oil-producing county by about 10 percent. That, according to Reuters calculations, would bring costs to around $24.30 per barrel, below current market prices.

So far, the process has worked in laboratory conditions, but not yet in field trials, so it is unclear how quickly it could be commercially deployed.

Oscar Abbink, an oilfield technology expert at IHS Energy Insight, which is not involved in the North Dakota research, called the study promising and noted how the industry’s interest in innovation has soared during the downturn.

“A few years ago, it was all about pulling more oil out of the ground. Now, the cost is much more important.”

Scientists at privately held WellDog Inc and Blackbird Energy Inc (BBI.V) are also looking into the carbon dioxide use.

WellDog, which markets spectroscopy technology to shale clients to help them distinguish between types of natural gas, last December launched a new service that helps customers measure CO2 levels in older oil wells and could also serve to control volumes pumped into new ones.

“This is a growth area,” said John Pope, WellDog’s president.

PUMPS, SCANNERS AND SUPERCOMPUTERS

So far, ConocoPhillips (COP.N) is the only large oil producer to cut research spending. Others could follow suit as cheap crude keeps exerting pressure on budgets, but for now several continue with their own research.

Hess Corp (HES.N), North Dakota’s third-largest oil producer, is studying how it can lengthen the horizontal wells and use cheaper materials in fracking.

Services giant Schlumberger NV (SLB.N), licensed a new process last fall that slashes the number of pumps needed to frack a well.

Rival Halliburton Co (HAL.N) is also marketing its expertise in helping customers become more efficient, for instance, by using machines with fewer moving parts.

At Penn State University, petroleum and natural gas engineering professor Zuleima Karpyn is using medical CT scanners to analyze how fluid flows through shale samples to help producers better control the process.

John England, U.S. oil and gas specialist at consulting firm Deloitte said he was confident there were more efficiency gains ahead. “As we apply more technology, there’s still a long way to go in terms of cost reduction.”

Data is one area where some major players expect the fastest progress and the highest rewards.

Petroleum Geo Services ASA (PGS.OL) says demand for services of its Houston supercomputer from oil companies crunching seismic data to locate underground reserves has been rising in the past 18 months even as the oil downturn continues.

General Electric Co (GE.N) is on track to open a $125 million global oil and gas research center in Oklahoma City this year. The company employs about 80 employees at a temporary site now and plans to hire 45 more.

The conglomerate is hoping it can aggregate data on temperature, pressure and other features from thousands of oil wells to help producers pick best locations, limiting costly misses. GE scientists are also looking into waterless fracking and other methods.

“There is a technology lever in the oil and gas industry that hasn’t been pulled as strongly as it could have been in the past,” Mike Ming, general manager of GE’s new Oklahoma City center, told Reuters.

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Shares fall on G20 disappointment, Fed hike worries - from TRUNEWS

Shares retreated in Europe and Asia on Monday after a weekend meeting of G20 finance chiefs ended with no new plan to spur global growth and as investors fretted the U.S. Federal Reserve could raise interest rates before year-end.

The dollar, however, tumbled against the Japanese yen as investors sought shelter from the fall in equities, which saw Chinese stocks lose nearly 3 percent. Gold, another “safe haven”, rose and was on track for its best month in four years.

G20 finance ministers and central bankers, meeting in Shanghai on Friday and Saturday, agreed to use “all policy tools – monetary, fiscal and structural – individually and collectively” to reach the group’s economic goals.

But there was no plan for coordinated stimulus, which some investors had been seeking after concerns about a slowdown in China depressed markets at the beginning of 2016.

Visitors looks at an electronic board showing the Japan’s Nikkei average (top R) at the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) in Tokyo, Japan, February 9, 2016. REUTERS/Issei Kato

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 fell 1 percent and Germany’s DAX.GDAXI was down 1.5 percent.

Britain’s FTSE 100 index .FTSE lost 0.8 percent.

“Markets looked at the G20 meeting and found it a tad disappointing, what they had been looking for was a unification of the G20 to do something as a force,” said Peter Lowman, CIO of Investment Quorum, a London-based wealth management firm.

REAL ESTATE

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS dipped 0.6 percent and appeared likely to post its second consecutive month of losses, with a 1.2 percent drop so far this month.

Chinese shares closed at one-month lows. The CSI300 index .CSI300 of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen, closed down 2.5 percent while the Shanghai Composite index .SSEC fell 2.9 percent on concern rising real estate prices would see funds withdrawn from shares.

Tokyo’s Nikkei .N225 lost 1 percent as the yen gained, making life more difficult for Japanese exporters, and on China worries.

The yen JPY= gained 1 percent to 112.90 per dollar. The euro dipped 0.1 percent to $1.0922.

The dollar fell 0.1 percent against a basket of its peers .DXY, having gained on Friday after upbeat U.S. data showing the U.S. economy grew faster than previously thought in the last quarter of 2015.

That revived expectations U.S. interest rates could rise again this year. Any 2016 hike had been priced out of markets but federal funds futures implied an around 50 percent chance of a rise in December.

Sterling GBP=, which took a hit last week on worries Britons could vote to leave the European Union in a June referendum, was steady at $1.3876.

Weaker stocks helped raised investor appetite for low-risk government debt. U.S. 10-year Treasuries US10YT=RR yielded 1.75 percent, compared with 1.77 percent in New York on Friday.

German 10-year Bund DE10YT=TWEB yields fell nearly 3 basis points to 0.12 percent and British gilt GB10YT=RR yields fell 5 bps to 1.36 percent.

Bund traders were looking to preliminary euro zone inflation data for clues to possible further stimulus from the European Central Bank.

FLASH INFLATION

“Today’s prospective decline in the HICP flash estimate comes with downside risks given Friday’s country releases,” Commerzbank analysts Rainer Guntermann said. “Speculation about bolder ECB measures… could unfold.”

Oil prices edged up as some in markets said a fall, which has seen crude lose some 70 percent since mid-2014, may have reached a bottom. Data on Friday showed a fall in the number of U.S. shale oil rigs in production.

Brent crude LCOc1 rose 17 cents a barrel to $35.27. It is up 18 percent since Feb. 11, the last day on which it dipped below $30.

Gold XAU= gained 0.7 percent to $1,230 per ounce and has risen 10 percent so far this month, its best performance in four years.

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North Korea says detained U.S. student confessed to stealing political slogan - from TRUNEWS

An American student held in North Korea since early January was detained for trying to steal a propaganda slogan from his Pyongyang hotel and has confessed to “severe crimes” against the state, the North’s official media said on Monday.

Otto Warmbier, 21, a student at the University of Virginia, was detained before boarding his flight to China over an unspecified incident at his hotel, his tour agency told Reuters in January.

North Korea has a long history of detaining foreigners and has used jailed U.S. citizens in the past to extract high-profile visits from the United States, with which it has no formal diplomatic relations.

“I committed the crime of taking out a political slogan from the staff-only area of the Yanggakdo International Hotel,” the North’s KCNA news agency quoted Warmbier as telling media in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.

A video clip posted on CNN correspondent Will Ripley’s Twitter account showed a sobbing Warmbier saying: “I have made the worst mistake of my life, but please act to save me.”

Warmbier said a “deaconess” had offered him a used car worth $10,000 if he could present the church with the slogan as a “trophy” from North Korea, KCNA said.

The acquaintance also said the church would pay his mother $200,000 if he was detained by the North and did not return, KCNA quoted Warmbier as saying.

“My crime is very severe and pre-planned,” Warmbier was quoted as saying, adding that he was impressed by North Korea’s “humanitarian treatment of severe criminals like myself”.

Warmbier’s family have not heard from him since his arrest, according to a statement provided to the Cavalier Daily, the University of Virginia’s student-run newspaper.

“He seems to be in good health, although we won’t know for sure about his condition until we have a chance to speak with him,” the statement said.

Other Westerners detained in North Korea previously have confessed to crimes against the state.

North Korea’s state media said in January that Warmbier “was caught committing a hostile act against the state”, which it said was “tolerated and manipulated by the U.S. government”.

The senior pastor at Friendship United Methodist Church in Wyoming, Ohio, told CNN that he did not know the person identified by Warmbier in the KCNA story as a deaconess there, and said Warmbier was not a member of the congregation.

According to KCNA, Warmbier also said he was encouraged in his act by a member of the Z Society, an elite philanthropic organization at the University of Virginia that he hoped to join.

An official in the university’s communications office could not immediately be reached for comment.

Warmbier was on a five-day New Year’s tour of North Korea with a group of 20 and was delayed at immigration before being taken away by two airport officials, according to a tour operator that had sponsored the trip.

While the vast majority of tourists to North Korea are from China, roughly 6,000 Westerners visit the country annually, though the United States and Canada advise against it.

Most are adventure-seekers curious about life behind the last sliver of the iron curtain, and ignore critics who say their dollars prop up a repressive regime.

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Rouhani cheers election wins, says Iranian government stronger - from TRUNEWS

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani won a strong vote of confidence and reformist partners secured surprise gains in parliament in early results from elections that could speed up the Islamic Republic’s emergence from years of isolation.

While gains by moderates and reformists in Friday’s polls were most evident in the capital, where they won all Tehran’s 30 seats according to early results, the sheer scale of the advances there suggests a legislature more friendly to the pragmatist Rouhani has emerged as a distinct possibility.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani talks to journalists after he registered for February’s election of the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body that chooses the supreme leader, at Interior Ministry in Tehran December 21, 2015. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/TIMA

A loosening of control by the anti-Western hardliners who currently dominate the 290-seat parliament could strengthen his hand to open Iran further to foreign trade and investment following last year’s breakthrough nuclear deal.

A reformist-backed list of candidates aligned with Rouhani was on course to win all 30 parliamentary seats in Tehran, initial results released on Sunday showed. Top conservative candidate Gholamali Haddad Adel was set to lose his seat.

“The people showed their power once again and gave more credibility and strength to their elected government,” Rouhani said, adding he would work with anyone who won election to build a future for the industrialised, oil-exporting country.

“The competition is over and the phase of unity and cooperation has arrived,” state news agency IRNA quoted his key ally, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, as saying. “The time after elections is the time for hard work to build the country”.

There was silence from the conservative camp.

The polls were seen by analysts as a potential turning point for Iran, where nearly 60 percent of its 80 million population is under 30 and eager to engage with the world following the lifting of most sanctions.

Principlists, otherwise known as hardliners, hold 65 percent of the outgoing parliament and the rest is divided between reformists and independents who traditionally support Rouhani.

“It is a very big victory,” said analyst Saeed Leylaz, a former adviser to former reformist President Mohammad Khatami.

“It is very good news for President Rouhani. We will have a very rational parliament, a less factional parliament, a more expert and technocrat parliament.”

Foad Izadi, an assistant professor at the Faculty of World Studies in Tehran University said the reformists’ strong showing was prompted by Rouhani’s success in reaching a nuclear agreement between Iran and international powers, the removal of most of the sanctions that had strangled the country’s economy over the past decade and restoration of relations with the West.

“It is a sweeping victory for Tehran but for other cities it is not yet clear cut. It is beyond expectations,” he added.

Etemad, a reformist newspaper whose managing-editor Elias Hazrati won a seat in Tehran, chose the headline of “clean up in the parliament.”

“The next parliament will be like no other parliament in the history of Iran as no political faction will have the absolute say,” the newspaper said on its front-page.

Millions crowded polling stations on Friday to vote for parliament and the Assembly of Experts, which selects the country’s highest authority, the supreme leader. Both bodies have been in the hands of hardliners for years.

Supporters of Rouhani, who promoted the nuclear deal, were pitted against hardliners close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who are wary of detente with Western countries.

Rouhani and Rafsanjani led the race for the Assembly of Experts with most votes counted, and appeared to be sure of winning seats, early results released on Saturday showed.

Until now, the contest for this seat of clerical power was an unremarkable event, but not now. Because of Khamenei’s health and age, 76, the new assembly members who serve eight-year terms are likely to choose his successor. The next leader could well be among those elected this week.

Rafsanjani is among the founders of the Islamic Republic and was its president from 1989-1997. Nearly always at the center of Iran’s intricate webs of power, the arch-fixer is famous for his pragmatism and political acumen.

Just one prominent hardliner was on course to be elected in the experts assembly race in Tehran — Ahmad Jannati, in 15th place out of the 16 seats reserved for the capital’s candidates.

The assembly’s current chairman, Mohammad Yazdi, on 17th, and arch-conservative, Mohammad-Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi, on 19th, appeared unlikely to win a seat, according to partial results.

Mesbah-Yazdi is a fierce critic of reformists and has even advocated violence against its supporters. After disputed 2009 presidential elections, Mesbah-Yazdi strongly supported official winner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and was seen as his mentor.

INFLUENCE

A Reuters tally, based on official results published so far, suggested the pro-Rouhani camp and allied independents were leading in the parliamentary vote. Some moderate conservatives, including current speaker Ali Larijani, support Rouhani.

Reformists had 23 percent, independents 18 and principlists 36, according to Reuters calculations based on final results, excluding Tehran where results remain preliminary.

Twenty percent will have to go to run-offs in late April because no candidate won the required 25 percent of votes cast. Eight of the initial winners were women.

Analyst say the large number of independents may be significant as they could cooperate across ideological lines with Rouhani’s government. Whatever the outcome, Iran’s political system places much power in the hands of the conservative Islamic establishment including the Guardian Council, which vets all laws passed by parliament.

The intelligence minister said on Sunday that two terrorist plots had been foiled before the election. “Two terrorist groups were identified by the intelligence ministry’s agents and their plots were defused,” Mahmoud Alavi was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency. He did not elaborate.

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