The overture to the Fall of the Wall

In 1989, after 28 years of divinding Germany, all of a sudden the Berlin Wall came down. But it's a little known fact that before reunification, East and West held detailed preliminary talks about open borders.

Deutsche Welle, 8 Nov 2014

October 29, 1989. It's Sunday. Walter Momper, governing mayor of West Berlin, is in the eastern part of the city. Not entirely incognito, but not officially, either: Manfred Stolpe, a leading figure of the East Germany's Evangelical Church, has invited him for lunch, surprise guests included.

Stolpe, a Social Democrat who became state premier in Brandenburg after reunification, is just acting as go-between. He has two top-level GDR representatives in tow: Günter Schabowski, East Berlin SED (Socialist Unity Party) leader and Erhard Krack, mayor of the East German (GDR) capital.

Serving as venue for this conspiratorial East-West-exchange is the Rose Parlor of the Palasthotel. Among other things, the two East Germans want to discuss the GDR's new travel law about which, four days earlier, the SED party newspaper Neues Deutschland had written for all to read: Further details to follow. The law was scheduled to come into force before Christmas. This was a sensation - a feeling shared by Momper.

The day after the fall of the Berlin Wall:
Willy Brandt (left) joined Walter Momper

Basic work in East Berlin

Momper is downright electrified, according to contemporary historian Hans-Hermann Hertle. As early as the following day he set up a task force under the leadership of the senator for economic affairs.

Schabowski's account surpasses his expectations. Within just a few weeks, hundreds of thousands of East Germans will be allowed to visit West Berlin. The GDR intends to issue passports in order to contain a mass escape movement. Momper knows that his city is not prepared for this kind of rush.

Additional border checkpoints will have to be set up. To Momper's surprise, Schabowski shares this view. Accommodation for East Germans is an open question as well: No-one knows how many of them will just visit and how many will stay. And there are further issues: Will they arrive in their Trabi and Wartburg cars? And they'll definitely be needing maps of West Berlin.

Time is of the essence. Schabowski gives Momper a date: From December 1 at the earliest, the people of West Berlin will have to expect considerable numbers of visitors from the East. Trying to respond adequately, the task force decides in its first meeting on November 1 to schedule follow-up sessions for November 8 and November 15 respectively - unaware that just a short time later events will spiral out of East Germany's control.

Disgruntled Allies

Historian Hans-Hermann Hertle

November 3: The Rose Parlor meeting does not remain secret for long. Western Allies are miffed: They take a dim view of unauthorized talks with East Berlin behind their backs. American envoy Harry Gilmore urges Momper to report to the three Western Allies.

For Egon Bahr, former SPD party leader and Chancellor Willy Brandt's most important foreign policy adviser, it's a mystery to this day that Momper could establish contact with East Berlin at all, without the Americans, the British and the French knowing about it and giving their blessings.

He told DW that he harbors great doubts with respect to the nature and development of the Momper-Schabowski talks. The lack of consultation with the Allies, in particular, to him is intangible.

Even Horst Teltschik, Helmut Kohl's most important adviser in the chancellor's office, claims ignorance as to the Momper-Schabowski talks. "I don't remember any concrete decisions or considerations regarding the opening of the border prior to the fall of the Beriln Wall," he told DW. Conclusion: West Berlin was out on its own at the time.

With his press conference, Günter
Schabowski made history

A controversial letter

On November 6 Walter Momper writes a letter to Chancellor Helmut Kohl. West Berlin, being financially dependent on Bonn, will be unable to cope with the challenge without help from the German Federal Government.

Among other things, Momper proposes that the government send its "welcoming money" to the GDR's state bank, which could then proceed to hand it over to those intending to visit West Germany. Kohl would never have accepted this, says historian Hans-Hermann Hertle, because such a step would have provided legitimization to the GDR leadership.

It is evident that Momper wants to set up a meeting with Kohl. But his letter remains unanswered, Momper tells Hertle many years later. The three-page document was intercepted by the GDR's Stasi secret police. Although the GDR was imploding as a state, its spy network was still functioning perfectly.

Party leader out of his depth

Come November, Berlin is getting ready for the rush and appears to be on the safe side even without support from Bonn. After all, the accords agreed on October 29 had included Schabowski's assurance to send out an early warning two weeks prior to the announced opening of the border.

The central idea of the new GDR travel regulations is handing out passports, issued on request. Dealing with these requests would take a processing period of about six weeks. It was a plan with built-in checks, spread out over weeks. However, events took an unexpected turn. The early warning call never came.

Bureaucracy, for all intents and purposes an area of competence of the SED dictatorship, turns out to be a maze in which the protagonists lose their bearings. Marathon sessions and lack of sleep having taken their toll, and Schabowski fails to stay on top of things in a crucial press conference on November 9.

November 10, 1989: Helmut Kohl (center) and Walter Momper (left) met on
the balcony of Schöneberg's city hall

There is a blocking period for the travel law, but Schabowski is unaware of this. The original plan was to broadcast the new travel regulations on the radio at 4 a.m. the following morning so that border guards would be informed and prepared. Organized exits would have been possible. But briefly before 7 p.m. Schabowski utters the key phrase: "…according to my knowledge this is right now, immediately."

Years later Schabowski revealed all the other thoughts that crossed his mind during that historic press conference. Responding to a journalist's question whether the new travel regulation applied to West Berlin as well, "it suddenly hit me that we had not discussed this with the Soviets." It is amazing to see how independently the Germans arranged their destiny as early as autumn of 1989.

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

“… The Great Shift began in 1987 with the Harmonic Convergence. The first part of that shift ended in 1999. It's important that you understand that this first portion of the shift included the galactic alignment. For the true galactic alignment energy began in the first phase of the shift. As my partner indicated, this astronomical alignment is not coming in 2012. It's already here. This is not esoteric information, but something that your astronomers will verify with their telescopes and computers. The ancients did their best, and a good estimate it was. But the 2012 date for the galactic alignment is incorrect.

There are those of you sitting in the chairs who know what I mean. These past 20 years have been remarkable for you, have they not? Look at what has taken place and the awakening and changes that have occurred... all without any prophesy that foretold of them. Those who walk this stage today were not interested in spiritual things 20 years ago. Oh, they may have been seekers, but they had no core, they had no center, they had no purpose. This includes the one who channels in front of you [Lee Carroll], and the ones that have channelled before me on this stage [Geoff Hoppe-Tobias]. Twenty years ago, they were all separate and unknown to each other, without any spiritual purpose. They had no idea what Kryon was or Tobias was. None at all. Their lives were those of men with careers and of an age where starting another passion wasn't something they would do. But they did, and it coincided with the Great Shift.

Remember, there is no such thing as predestined prophecy. God cannot tell you what's going to happen, for on this planet, humans are in charge. "If that's the case, Kryon, how can you tell us about a plan?" It is because these things I speak of are the potentials in front of us, generated by the consciousness of humanity. Therefore, what I give you is something we read into the consciousness of potentials. They are not predictions, but potential energies of what you are about to accomplish as you act upon the energy of the consciousness you have now. Much has happened in these 20 years, and it's part of the shift. Here was the plan from 1987 to 1999 - we told you the following things would take place:

Remember, as I speak to you now, this is history. But when I gave it to you in 1989, it was your future. The first thing that was at hand was moving the magnetic grid. That's why I came here. The grid group came in 1989 and left in 2002, and the grid was moved for the reasons I've been giving you and itemizing for 20 years. It was to build a matrix for a change in your DNA. This is, indeed, what happened, for the grid's magnetic field moved greatly in that time, and it has intersected with the magnetic field of your DNA elements. This overlap has transmitted information and energy and a new quantumization to your DNA, which has always been quantumly prepared for this.

The second item in this first phase was the voiding of the energy of Armageddon. Now, for those of you who think nothing happened, a great deal happened: This planet moved into another energy at that time. One of the largest political systems on the planet fell over and didn't come back, known as the Soviet Union. Again, we say to you there is no Nostradamus quatrain that predicted this, and that should tell you something. It changed the future greatly, yet no prophet called it. Something was happening that was out of synch with everything you had been told. This one event changed the future of a potential war that would never happen. The Armageddon scenario simply didn't take place. Look back at your prophesy, but clearly it said it would. …”

Obama hosts congressional leaders after midterm vote

US President Barack Obama has hosted congressional leaders at the White House in the wake of crushing midterm elections. Obama pledged to judge new ideas on merit, not on the party that proposed them.

Deutsche Welle, 7 Nov 2014

US President Barack Obama and the congressional leadership met for lunch at the White House on Friday, just three days after midterm elections which gave the Republicans control of both houses of Congress.

The luncheon meeting was geared towards opening dialogue on ways to break the deadlock on pending issues.

Obama made it clear to the gathering he would not consider new proposals for improving American life on the basis of which party created them.

"I am not going to judge ideas based on whether they're Democratic or Republican; I'm going to be judging them based whether or not they work," he said.

The US president also said the meeting provided an opportunity to see how they could "make progress on behalf of the people who sent us here."

Obama, a Democrat, and the Republicans were expected to focus on points of compromise on issues including the overhaul of the tax code and immigration reform.

Earlier on Friday, Obama, who is in the final two years of his second and last term, opened a meeting of his cabinet and said the midterm election results were "significant."

Voters listen to speakers at an election
watch party, Kansas, November 4, 2014

Despite Republicans taking control of both houses of Congress, Obama still has presidential veto power over legislation if a compromise cannot be found.

Fight against "Islamic State" (IS)

Meanwhile, Obama authorised the US military to deploy up to 1,500 more troops to Iraq as part of the mission to combat the "Islamic State" (IS) group.

In one of his first requests since Tuesday's vote, the president also asked Congress for more than $5 billion (4 billion euros) to help fund the fight against the IS in Syria and Iraq.

Washington said the extra military personnel would not serve in a combat role, but would train, advise and assist Iraqi military and Kurdish forces fighting Islamic militants.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Obama had also authorized the additional troops to operate at Iraqi military facilities outside Baghdad and Erbil.

Until now, US troops had been part of a joint operation center, set up in conjunction with Iraqi forces.

In recent weeks, the US and some of allies have conducted air strikes against Islamic State targets after militants seized large parts of Iraq and neighbouring Syria.

lw/pfd (AP, Reuters)

Global Firms’ Tax Avoidance Schemes Revealed in Leaked Documents

Jakarta Globe –AFP, Nov 06, 2014

Cases of Pepsi are displayed for sale in Carlsbad, California in this file photo
taken February 7, 2012. (Reuters Photo/Mike Blake)

Washington. Hundreds of the world’s biggest companies have brokered secret deals with Luxembourg to avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes according to a trove of leaked documents published by an investigative journalism group on Wednesday.

The US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) said a six-month investigation had found household firms such as Pepsi, IKEA and Deutsche Bank were among companies which had taken advantage of legal tax avoidance schemes with Luxembourg.

The ICIJ said it had reviewed around 28,000 pages of leaked documents which detailed complex financial structures that enabled companies to dramatically slash their tax liabilities.

The organization said hundreds of billions of dollars had been funneled through Luxembourg as part of the agreements, wiping billions of dollars in taxes from the companies’ bottom lines.

Global accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers had helped the companies in question secure at least 548 tax rulings in Luxembourg between 2002 and 2010 according to an ICIJ analysis of the documents.

The documents uncovered details of Advance Tax Agreements – deals which set out how companies will be taxed.

“It’s like taking your tax plan to the government and getting it blessed ahead of time,” the ICIJ quoted Connecticut School of Law tax expert Richard Pomp as saying.

“And most are blessed. Luxembourg has a very user-friendly tax department.”

The ICIJ said its investigation had involved a team of more than 80 journalists from 26 countries working for outlets including The Guardian, Le Monde and Germany’s Suddeutsche Zeitung.

‘Magical fairyland’

The Guardian said in its report of the investigation that the arrangements forged between the companies and the tiny EU member state were “perfectly legal.”

But it said the agreements were enabling tax avoidance on “an industrial scale.”

Other companies that benefited from the schemes included Burberry, Procter & Gamble, Heinz, JP Morgan and FedEx.

The ICIJ said some companies had been able to achieve effective tax rates of less than one percent on profits channeled through Luxembourg.

It said many cases involved Luxembourg subsidiaries of the companies in question, even if they maintained only a marginal business presence in the country. It said 1,600 companies were registered at one address alone.

The Guardian quoted US Treasury tax expert Stephen Shay as saying Luxembourg was akin to a “magical fairyland.”

“Clearly the database is evidencing a pervasive enabling by Luxembourg of multinationals’ avoidance of taxes [around the world],” said Shay, a Harvard Law School professor who gave expert testimony during a US Senate investigation last year into Apple’s tax avoidance structures.

The revelations come against a backdrop of mounting scrutiny by authorities worldwide of tax arrangements involving major firms.

Last month, the EU snagged Internet titan Amazon in a widening probe into sweetheart tax deals for major multinationals, saying they were unfair to competitors and taxpayers.

The move follows similar probes announced in September into US tech icon Apple in Ireland, coffee-shop chain Starbucks in the Netherlands, and the financial arm of Italian automaker Fiat, also in Luxembourg like Amazon.

European Union anti-trust regulators will examine if Amazon’s tax arrangements with Luxembourg amount to illegal state aid, giving the company an unfair advantage.

Agence-France Presse

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Chinese oil giants make use of offshore shell companies in Caribbean

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China's princelings storing riches in Caribbean offshore haven

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Luxembourg tax files: how tiny state rubber-stamped tax avoidance on an industrial scale - New

Offshore tax dealings: celebrities and sportsmen in leaked Jersey files

EU launches investigation into Apple, Starbucks and Fiat tax deals

Swiss bank accused of helping clients evade US taxes

Gibraltar tries to lure London hedge fund bosses with promise of low taxes

Dutch savers have €1.1bn in Luxemburg and Austria: tax office

Dutch finance ministry denies Starbucks tax secrecy claims

100 of UK's richest people concealing billions in offshore tax havens

The 'who's who' of European tax havens

Accountancy firms 'use knowledge of Treasury to help rich avoid tax' – MPs

The nation at the heart of the offshore scandal: Britain

Leaks reveal secrets of the rich who hide cash offshore

Obama vows to work with Republican Congress

Yahoo – AFP, 5 Nov 2014

US President Barack Obama speaks during a press conference in the East Room
of the White House November 5, 2014 in Washington (AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski)

Washington (AFP) - US President Barack Obama promised to work with his Republican opponents Wednesday after their midterm election victory and asked them to help him fight both Ebola and Islamic State jihadists.

But he also warned that he would take executive action on immigration before the end of the year, whether or not the new Congress makes progress towards a bipartisan reform bill on the emotive issue.

"Obviously, Republicans had a good night," he admitted, a day after Republicans seized control of the Senate from Obama's Democrats and increased their majority in the House of Representatives.

"I'm eager to work with the new Congress to make the next two years as productive as possible," Obama said, while warning that there may still be some legislation that he would feel obliged to veto.

"That's natural. That's how our democracy works," he said. "But we can surely find ways to work together on issues where there's broad agreement among the American people."

Obama said he would ask the new Congress for help in battling the spread of Ebola in West Africa and beyond, and for support for US-led military action against jihadists in Iraq and Syria.

"First, I've submitted a request to Congress for funding to ensure that our doctors, scientists, and troops have the resources that they need to combat the spread of Ebola in Africa and to increase our preparedness for any future cases here at home," Obama said.

That request is for more than $6 billion in emergency funding to fight the deadly epidemic.

"Second, I'm going to begin engaging Congress over a new authorization to use military force against ISIL," he said, using the White House's preferred acronym for the Islamic State group.

On immigration, Obama said he would prefer to see Congress agree a comprehensive bill to provide a path to citizenship for deserving undocumented US residents and would-be immigrants.

But he said he would act alone through executive action to make what changes he can if lawmakers continue to stall.

"Before the end of the year, we're going to take whatever lawful actions we can take that I believe will improve the functioning of our immigration system," he said.

In Austria Not Australia, Conchita Wurst Wows UN Chief

Jakarta Globe – AFP, Nov 04, 2014

Eurovision Songcontest winner Conchita Wurst (L) is congratulated by UN
 Secretary General Ban Ki-moon after his performance by Wurst at the United
Nations headquarters in Vienna, 03 November 2014. EPA Photo/Roland Schlager

Vienna. Perhaps it was nerves before being serenaded by crossdressing Eurovision singer Conchita Wurst, but UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday fell into the trap of confusing Austria with Australia during a visit to Vienna.

“I thank in particular [Austrian] President [Heinz] Fischer and the government of Australia,” Ban told reporters at a UN conference of developing landlocked countries hosted by the Austrian capital.

He later corrected himself and apologised in the news conference, saying: “There are no kangaroos in Austria. Sometimes this happens, I hope you understand.”

Later, Wurst raised the roof for Ban and several hundred UN staff, belting out Cher’s “Believe” and “Rise Like a Phoenix”, the song the bearded drag queen sang to win the Eurovision Song Contest earlier this year.

Wurst has used her Eurovision fame to promote a message of tolerance, with performances in front of the European Parliament and at LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] events around Europe.

Ban paid tribute to her efforts, saying: “I will continue to fight against transphobia and homophobia. I will stand strong for equality. I hope more of you join our global ‘Free and Equal’ campaign.”

In an ankle-length blue dress and black high heels, Wurst, 25, said to cheers: “I dream of a future where we won’t have to talk about sexual orientation, the colour of your skin, your religious beliefs.”

This week’s UN conference of landlocked developing countries brings together 32 nations with a combined population of 450 million people looking at improving transportation networks and access to markets.

Among those present was Robert Mugabe, the 90-year-old president of Zimbabwe, and Bolivian President Evo Morales. Neither attended Wurst’s performance.

AFP

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US-China ties will help shape 21st century: Kerry

Yahoo – AFP, November 5, 2014

US-China ties will help shape 21st century: Kerry

Washington (AFP) - Top American diplomat John Kerry said Tuesday the relationship between the United States and China was the "most consequential" in the world today, warning it needed to be "carefully managed."

Ties between the two powerful economies will "do much to determine the shape of the 21st century," Kerry said, before leaving on what will be his fourth trip to China since becoming secretary of state 21 months ago.

The two major powers "have a profound opportunity to set a constructive course on any number of issues, from climate change to global trade," Kerry insisted.

"For that reason, our relationship has to be carefully managed and guided, not by news hooks and grand gestures, but by a long-term strategic vision, by hard work, by good diplomacy and by good relationships."

Shortly after speaking, Kerry left on a new diplomatic trip, heading first for Paris where he will meet French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.

He will then fly to Beijing to join Asia-Pacific foreign ministers and lay the groundwork for the annual APEC summit hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping and to be attended by US President Barack Obama in China next week.

America's China policy was founded on two pillars, Kerry told an audience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

The goals were "constructively managing our differences -- and there are differences -- and just as constructively coordinating our efforts on the wide range of issues where our interests are aligned."

But Washington was not giving Beijing a free pass when it came to voicing differences over regional tensions or human rights, Kerry stressed.

"We do not simply agree to disagree when it comes to maritime security, especially in the South and East China Seas," he insisted, referring to Beijing's territorial claims to vast swaths of the two seas.

"We take a strong position on how those claims are pursued and how those disputes are going to be resolved," he said, adding the US was "deeply concerned" by the mounting regional tensions.

On the issue of cyber-hacking and the theft of intellectual property by Chinese authorities and industry, Kerry said Washington had been equally firm.

"We?ve been very clear about how strongly we object to any cyber-enabled theft of trade secrets and other sensitive information from our companies," he said.

And he pledged the United States would continue to press China's communist authorities to respect human rights and freedom of speech, including in Hong Kong.

Shared responsibility

But even though "our differences will undoubtedly continue to test the relationship," the two nations should be able to cooperate on a wide range of issues, and not just on economic and trade ties.

"There is both opportunity and necessity to coordinate our efforts to address global security concerns. Our shared efforts to respond to the global threat of climate change are a perfect example," Kerry said.

China and the United States are the world's two largest energy consumers, and the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, blamed for global warming, and therefore had a "shared responsibility" to seek solutions through a wise energy policy.

"The solutions are within reach. But they will require ambitious, decisive and immediate action," Kerry said.

The top US diplomat will also visit Oman on this trip, where he will meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as a deadline for a deal on Iran's nuclear program looms.

He will then fly back to Beijing to accompany Obama.

Angela Merkel warns David Cameron over freedom of movement

German chancellor rejects UK prime minister’s demands for a cap on unskilled migrants, according to Der Spiegel newspaper

The Guardian, Rowena Mason and Philip Oltermann, Sunday 2 November 2014

Sources claim Angela Merkel said David Cameron's demands for freedom of
movement changes represented a 'point of no return'. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/PA

David Cameron has been warned by German chancellor Angela Merkel that she would rather see the UK leave the European Union than change freedom of movement rules, according to reports.

Downing Street on Sunday did not deny that the conversation had taken place, after German newspaper Der Spiegel said Merkel had rejected Cameron’s demands for a cap on unskilled migrants. Sources told the newspaper that the chancellor said demands for any changes to freedom of movement rules represented a “point of no return” and that this would be it for the UK’s membership.

Over the weekend, the Sunday Times also reported that the prime minister has dropped plans for quotas in a bid to placate the Germans and that Cameron is now looking at whether the government can ask EU immigrants to leave the country unless they can support themselves within three months of arriving in the UK.

Asked whether the Der Spiegel report was an accurate account of the encounter between Cameron and Merkel, a Number 10 official would only say: “The prime minister will do what is right for Britain as he has repeatedly made clear.”

However, a spokesman for the German chancellor indirectly confirmed Der Spiegel’s report by reiterating a statement Merkel had made at a press conference after the recent EU summit: “Germany does not want to touch the basic principle of free movement of persons within the EU.”

Merkel’s reported arguments were backed up on Sunday by Ken Clarke, the senior Tory MP and former cabinet minister, who said free movement of labour was “absolutely essential” to the whole concept of a single market.

He told the BBC’s Sunday Politics: “Not only is that one of the principles of the EU, it’s the basis of any serious single market. The Norwegians, who eurosceptics admire, they accept the free movement of labour. They’ve got a bigger proportion of other EU nationals in their country compared with their own nationals than we have.

“If you want to be in the single market, if you want to be a modern economy then the free movement of labour is essential, but free movement of labour shouldn’t be abused.”

It comes amid speculation that Cameron is rowing back from his focus and tough language on immigration amid fears that the Conservatives will never be able to go as far as Ukip supporters want. Jim Messina, a US election strategist who worked on Barack Obama’s campaign, is said to have told a Tory awayday on Friday that every moment the party is not talking about the economy between now and the election is wasted.

However, Boris Johnson will keep to the subject of immigration on Monday, as he backs a report by the Commonwealth Exchange calling for more immigration from Commonwealth countries instead of so much from the EU.

In his foreword, he will say: “We should welcome the brightest and the best from a wider range of countries.

“As we re-examine our relationship with the EU, we have a vital opportunity to recast our immigration system in just this way. And the first place to start is with the Commonwealth.”

The issue of immigration is also tricky for Labour. Over the weekend, Ian Austin, a former aide to Gordon Brown and MP for Dudley North, called on his party to “be honest” and “say sorry” for opening the borders to eastern Europeans in 2004.

The row is the latest piece of Europe-related bad news for Cameron in recent days: last week he suffered a double blow when a parliamentary bill to establish an EU membership referendum by the end of 2017 collapsed, and a key UK ally told Britain to accept a demand from Brussels to pay an extra £1.7bn.

British-Iranian volleyball woman gets one year in jail

Yahoo – AFP, Arthur MacMillan, 2 Nov 2014

Iran's national volleyball team take part in a training session at Azadi sports

hall in Tehran on July 8, 2014 (AFP Photo/Behrouz Mehri)

Tehran (AFP) - A Tehran court has jailed for one year a British-Iranian woman who was arrested after trying to attend a volleyball match, a decision that left her family in shock Sunday.

The case of Ghoncheh Ghavami, a 25-year-old law graduate from London, has drawn considerable attention because of her dual nationality and lengthy time in prison before trial. Britain said it was concerned after hearing reports of her jail sentence.

Ghavami was detained on June 20 at Azadi ("Freedom" in Farsi) Stadium where Iran's national volleyball team was to play Italy, after female fans and even women journalists were told they would not be allowed to attend, leading to a brief demonstration.

So far, Ghavami has spent 127 days in the

 capital's notorious Evin prison and last

 month she went on hunger strike for a

 fortnight in protest at the conditions there

(AFP Photo/Atta Kenare)

Women are also banned from football matches in Iran, with officials saying this is to protect them from lewd behaviour among male fans.

Ghavami was originally released after a few hours but was rearrested days later at a police station she had visited to reclaim items confiscated from her near the stadium in Tehran.

Having been in custody since -- at least 41 days of which was spent in solitary confinement, according to her family -- Ghavami went on trial behind closed doors last month.

"According to the verdict she was sentenced to one year in jail," her lawyer Alizadeh Tabatabaie, who has not been allowed to visit his client, was quoted in Iranian media as saying on Sunday.

No reason was given for her conviction, though Ghavami was accused of spreading propaganda against the regime, a broad charge often used by Iran's judiciary.

Family in shock

In separate comments, the convicted woman's brother said the judge had said the sentence contained an additional two-year-ban on his sister leaving the country.

"We are really shocked because we were really hoping she would get the sentence as time served," Iman Ghavami said, noting that his parents were in Iran meeting officials although they have not yet been issued with the official judgment.

"There is a huge amount of abnormality in this case. The next step is to make sure the sentence is what it is and whether the court is going to apply any leniency," he added.

The family is also in contact with Britain's Foreign Office, which issued a statement that said it had worries about the court's ruling, as well as the "grounds for this prosecution, due process during the trial and Miss Ghavami's treatment while in custody".

Britain currently has no diplomatic presence in Tehran, but recently said that it intends to reopen its embassy in the Iranian capital soon.

Amnesty International dubbed the jail sentence "appalling".

"It's an outrage that a young woman is being locked up simply for peacefully having her say about how women are discriminated against in Iran," said Kate Allen, the rights group's director for Britain.

Hunger strike

So far, Ghavami has spent 127 days in the capital's notorious Evin prison. Last month she went on hunger strike for a fortnight in protest at the conditions there.

A Facebook page where her friends and family have campaigned for her release features photographs of her against the slogan: "Jailed for wanting to watch a volleyball match".

Officials, however, have said Ghavami was detained for security reasons unrelated to the sporting event.

British Prime Minister David Cameron (L)

 meets with Iranian President Hassan

Rouhani at the UN on September 24, 2014

in New York (AFP Photo/Timothy A. Clary)

British Prime Minister David Cameron raised Ghavami's detention during a meeting with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani in September at the UN General Assembly in New York.

Cameron underlined "the impact that such cases had on Iran's image in the UK", a Downing Street spokesman said at the time.

The verdict also comes with Iran under international pressure over its human rights record.

When Rouhani, a moderate elected last year, has been questioned about a soaring number of executions and detentions under his rule, he has said the judiciary is independent of his government.

However, diplomats at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva last week voiced alarm at the situation of political prisoners, women and religious minorities in Iran.

They also decried arrests and harassment of journalists, forced confessions and lack of access to fair trials.

Mohammad Javad Larijani, secretary general of Iran's High Council for Human Rights, responded by saying his country had made great progress in the past four years.

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"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. ...."

Recognizing Palestine 'helps peace above all'

Sweden has become the first western EU country to officially recognize Palestine, and has taken a lot of flak for it. Palestinian political scientist Usama Antar says it's the right move.

Deutsche Welle, 31 Oct 2014

DW: Sweden has just recognized Palestine's statehood. This generated a lot of applause from Palestine - but also criticism, and not only from Israel. Who does the recognition of Palestine help?

Antar: This recognition helps peace, above all. Sweden has made an important contribution to the peace process and to rescuing the two-state solution. Everyone knows that without international intervention, the two-state solution could topple, because all the facts created by the Israeli side only hinder it.

Some are also very critical of this recognition because it does not change the status quo and all the problems remain unsolved.

Sweden has encouraged France, Ireland and Spain to take the same step, because we are talking about two unequal parties here. The Israelis are building settlements on Palestinian ground every day. This is going to prevent any connection between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Any reasonable person who looks at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict recognizes that the two-state solution is the best solution. But Israel simply goes on with its settlement policy and thus the two-state solution is reduced to naught.

Does that mean that the more countries that recognize Palestine's statehood, the more likely the two-state solution is?

The Palestinians need hope in order to continue on the peaceful path. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says that too: that a state can only be founded through peaceful means. But without help from outside, that is simply not doable. Palestinians are being humiliated by Israeli policy, which has been going on for over ten years. In the past our experience has been that the Europeans take the first step, and the Americans often follow.

The recognition of Palestine as a state does not solve the problems between Israelis and Palestinians, however.

That's true. But recognition would force Israel to a solution. Therefore, we thank the Europeans. They are trying to follow the right course, so that the situation does not come to a third Intifada. The Palestinians are losing more and more hope. Therefore, they expect help from the Europeans.

Help in what form?

Above all, political support, which could contribute to Palestinians continuing to believe in a peaceful course and peaceful co-existence with Israel. Otherwise radicalization will take over here. We want to prevent that. But for that we need hope - and that could come from the countries that Israel supports the most, i.e. the Americans and the Europeans.

Usama Antar is a political scientist in Gaza City

Interview by Anne Allmeling

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