New Zealand crowdfunding campaign 'saves' remote beach

Yahoo – AFP, 26 February 2016

Awaroa inlet is an 800-metre stretch of golden sand adjoining the Abel Tasman

National Park at the top of New Zealand's South Island (AFP Photo)

Wellington (AFP) - A New Zealand man behind an ambitious crowdfunding campaign that raised millions of dollars to buy a privately-owned South Island beach said on Friday he was stunned at its success.

Duane Major's push to take Awaroa beach out of private hands and make it a national park quickly went viral, attracting 40,000 donations to raise a total of NZ$2.3 million (US$1.6 million).

Major, a pastor who describes himself as "an ordinary bloke", called the response to his givealittle.co.nz page as heartwarming.

"I always thought we could do it but I didn't anticipate what a crazy, heartwarming ride it would be," he told AFP.

"It's really tapped into a community spirit among New Zealanders. I've been getting poems from schoolkids talking about our beach. It gives me goosebumps."

Awaroa inlet is an 800-metre (2,600-foot) stretch of golden sand adjoining the Abel Tasman National Park at the top of South Island.

Accessible only by boat or helicopter, it came on the market late last year, with real estate agents marketing it as "the best beach on the planet".

Major decided after discussions with relatives over the Christmas period that a crowdfunding page was "certainly worth a shot".

Tens of thousands of New Zealanders agreed, and Givealittle said it had become the country's largest ever crowdfunding effort, raising more than NZ$1.0 million in a single day.

Accessible only by boat or helicopter, New Zealand's Awaroa inlet came on the 

market late last year, with real estate agents marketing it as 'the best beach on

the planet' (AFP Photo)

"It's the largest campaign we've facilitated by a long way," a spokeswoman told AFP.

Major said donations ranged from children giving a dollar to corporations pledging tens of thousands.

The government chipped in NZ$350,000 earlier this week to get the campaign over the line and the tender offer was formally accepted on Wednesday.

Major said he was overjoyed at preserving "a slice of paradise" for future generations and was already considering more crowdfunding conservation campaigns.

"We were celebrating last night and I was yakking (talking) to a guy with a big beard called Mike and he said 'wouldn't it be good to do it again?'," he said.

"I told him I'm just trying to catch my breath now, but I could feel the energy coming back."

Jeb Bush ends White House bid

Yahoo – AFP, Michael Mathes, With Stephanie Griffith in Washington, 21 February 2016

Jeb Bush speaks at a town hall meeting in Beaufort, South Carolina, on 

February 17, 2016 (AFP Photo/Spencer Platt)

Columbia (United States) (AFP) - In the end, a famous name, political pedigree and deep-pocketed donors were not enough to rescue the lackluster presidential campaign of Jeb Bush.

Bush withdrew from the presidential race Saturday after another humiliating primary defeat, this time in South Carolina.

"Tonight, I am suspending my campaign," an emotional Bush, who at times appeared on the verge of tears, said after the disappointing result.

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush started
his campaign as the odds-on favorite to 
win the Republican presidential nomination 
(AFP Photo/Spencer Platt)

"I'm proud of the campaign that we have run to unify our country."

The former Florida governor -- son of one president and brother of another -- started his campaign as the odds-on favorite to win the Republican presidential nomination, backed by a prodigious political brain trust and millions of dollars in donations from private and corporate supporters.

Although the 62-year-old Bush led some opinion some polls very early in the campaign, his support had dwindled by Saturday to single digits nationally, and his White House aspirations were on life support.

The coup de grace came after he earned less than eight percent of the vote in the primary in South Carolina, a state where his family had always made strong primary showings.

Donald Trump was the big winner in South Carolina -- a particularly bitter pill to swallow for Bush, who throughout the campaign was bullied and demeaned by the billionaire businessman.

Bush's campaign logo sported a jaunty exclamation mark after his first name -- Jeb! -- a jarring juxtaposition to the candidate himself, who came across as plodding and unexciting.

Bush and his Right to Rise super PAC -- vastly outraised his competitors, garnering some $118 million but the money -- largely spent on television ads -- failed to help generate excitement about his campaign.

A super PAC is an independent body that can raise unlimited amounts of money to support a candidate, but cannot coordinate their efforts with the party or candidate, or make direct campaign contributions.

'Low energy'

Bush was mercilessly pilloried by Trump, who lampooned him as "low energy" and lacking the requisite resolve and the fire-in-the-belly to lead the nation -- a catchphrase that stuck in the popular imagination.

In recent weeks, Jeb's famous mother, former first lady Barbara Bush, went out on the campaign trail for him, as did his brother, two-term former president George W. Bush.

At debates Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush seemed tongue-tied; on the 

campaign trail, he was flat-footed and seemed tepid and at times even testy as he 

traveled the country (AFP Photo/Jim Watson)

Trump only intensified his barbs, lampooning Bush as a mama's boy dependent on riding his family coattails for his past success.

George W. Bush had consoling words after his brother's humbling exit from the race for the White House.

"Tonight I talked to my brother and congratulated him on his campaign for the presidency. I told Jeb how proud I am of him and his staff for running a campaign that looked to the future, presented serious policy proposals, and elevated the tone of the race," he said in a statement.

For some, the prospect of yet another Bush presidency -- particularly when weighed against the possibility that Hillary Clinton, the wife of a former president, could become the Democratic nominee -- was more than some voters were willing to stomach.

At debates, Bush seemed tongue-tied; on the campaign trail, he was flat-footed. He had promised to campaign "joyfully," but seemed tepid and at times even testy as he traveled the country.

Some experts said however that the genteel, patrician, soft-spoken Bush simply failed to connect with the spirit of the times and an irascible electorate -- especially with white, lower middle class voters disgruntled after seven years under Democratic President Barack Obama.

As his campaign foundered in recent weeks, it became increasingly clear that Bush would not follow his father and brother in the White House, after Trump and Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio vaulted him in the polls.

He failed to get a coveted endorsement from the popular governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, who instead backed his former protege Rubio.

Rubio, a first-term senator from Florida, was in second place over Cruz in South Carolina and behind Trump. Bush, the mentor, finished in an unimpressive fourth place.

Trump supreme as White House race rolls on https://t.co/sBtPuJfSis #USvoteAFP pic.twitter.com/bob6l7dyau

— AFP news agency (@AFP) February 21, 2016

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The most awkward moments from Jeb Bush’s failed presidential campaign


"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…5 - Integrity That May Surprise…

The Unthinkable… Politics, A Review

Humans will begin to search for integrity and fairness and it's going to happen in the places you never expect. I said this last week, so this is a review. There'll come a time when you will demand this of your politics - fairness and integrity. So when the candidates start calling each other names, you will turn your back on them and they won't get any votes. They're going to get the point real fast, don't you think? How about that?

Let me give you another potential. This country that I sit in right now [USA] will set the mold for that particular attribute. I have no clock. Watch for the youngsters to set this in motion, and they will, for they are the voters of tomorrow and they do not want the energy of today. To some of them, it's so abominable they won't even register to vote in this energy. You're going to see this soon. That was number five.. ..."

"You Don’t Know How the Frog Jumps"–  Jan11, 2011 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version) - New

“…  Last week, I gave you a message about the potentials of 2011. And there were those in this room who attended. I'm going to repeat something I said there, for you need to hear it and it has to do with politics. It would seem intuitive to every single Human Being in the room that in order to accomplish what you do as Americans in Congress, you must have at least two parties. For that is the way it has always been - the red and the blue.

What if I told you that there will come a time when there will be no parties? You might then say, "Well, that's impossible, Kryon, because you're not Human and you don't know how funding works." You might say, "It has to be a party that creates the power to raise money for the ones who cannot, and then the funding is spread around and this is the way we work. If you didn't have parties, you'd have no funding. Nobody could advertise, and no one could get elected."

Oh, really?

Are you aware right now, that you have a president who was elected on the Internet? He figured it out. When everybody can talk to everyone, you have plenty of funding. A few dollars here, a few dollars there. You talk to millions at the same time, they talk to millions at the same time. It's a new paradigm of communication. The young people know all about it, and you can't stop it. Watch for more from this new paradigm.

It is worldwide communication, one person at a time. It doesn't matter how many laws you pass, and it doesn't matter what you decide about who is in charge of it, you can't stop it. It's out of the bag now, and the communities of the young are going to be communicating. This is how the politicians are going to be communicating to you, literally coming into your home in a holographic form perhaps, explaining their position one by one, without a party. Then you will elect them to your Congress without a party and they will sit in the chairs without a division and there will be no such thing as the "other side of the aisle."

And that, Human Being, is called unity and there is a paradigm that you cannot even imagine. And it's in the works. And then you'll have a Congress that works together and gets things done without the current duality.  ….”

Google under fire over €11bn Dutch royalty tax break

DutchNews, February 19, 2016

The tax avoidance tactics used by multinationals are again in the spotlight following claims by Dutch business magazine Quote that Google pushed €11bn in royalty payments through the Netherlands. 

Royalties are not subject to tax in the Dutch corporate taxation system. 

Quote bases its claim on analysis of Google’s 2014 accounts which show a letter box firm in Amsterdam with no employees had income of €10.7bn and paid just €2.7m in tax. That, Quote said, is one thousand times below what it should have been without the tax break. 

The income comes from the entire international Google operation, which transfers royalties to Google Netherlands Holding, based in Amsterdam’s Zuidas business district.

Ireland

From there, almost all the money transferred to an Irish Google company, which is actually based in Bermuda. Dutch corporation tax was paid on the €10.7m which remained in the Netherlands. 

Labour MP Ed Groot described the claim as ‘lunacy’. Small firms and private individuals are picking up the cost of building roads, of education and healthcare while international company profits head off to a tiny group of shareholders, he said. 

Tax minister Erik Wiebes refused to comment on Quote’s allegations because of confidentiality agreements. MPs are also pressuring him to come clean on Ikea’s tax arrangements in the Netherlands following claims it too is avoiding taxes via the Netherlands. 

Starbucks 

The Dutch finance ministry is currently appealing against a European Commission ruling which said it had given illegal state support to US coffee chain Starbucks. 

In October, the commission ordered the ministry to reclaim up to €30m in back taxes from Starbucks, which it said resulted from the illegal tax deal. 

The Dutch tax office has made 14,619 advance tax agreements with international companies since 1991 and refused a further 1,590, the Financieele Dagblad said in June.

The Netherlands other language, Frisian, added to Google Translate

DutchNews, February 17, 2016

Good news for those who struggle to understand people in the Netherlands’ northwest province of Friesland: from Thursday, Google Translate will add Frisian to its online translation service. 

According to the Volkskrant, volunteers with a high or native level of Frisian have been busy translating a million words from English. 

From Thursday, ‘Frysk’ will go live on the site and the event will be celebrated at noon in the provincial government building in Leeuwarden. 

Translation marathons

Last September, bodies including the University of Groningen organised translation marathons, while primary and secondary schools added their word power to the effort. 

Anne Dykstra, a retired dictionary writer who founded the initiative, told the Leeuwarder Courant: ‘This means we are digitally present, and that is very important for a language. If I translated something, I would always do it into Dutch. Now I will, without a doubt, translate into Frisian.’ 

Frisian is the native tongue of around half the 350,000 people who live in the province of Friesland. 

British comedian Eddie Izzard proved that he was in no need of a translator back in 2007, however, when he used the language’s close relative, Old English, to buy himself a brown cow on a visit to the Dutch province.

Assange hails 'victory' from embassy balcony after UN panel ruling

Yahoo – AFP, Jacques Klopp, February 5, 2016

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange addresses the media holding a printed report 

of the judgement of the UN's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on his case

 from the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy in central London on February 5, 

2016 (AFP Photo/Niklas Halle'n)

London (AFP) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Friday urged Britain to let him walk free from Ecuador's London embassy after a UN panel found that the anti-secrecy campaigner who faces a rape allegation in Sweden was "arbitrarily detained."

Speaking to a handful of supporters and a media scrum in a rare appearance from the balcony of the embassy where he took refuge nearly four years ago, Assange hailed a "victory of historical importance".

"How sweet it is! This is a victory that cannot be denied," he proclaimed, waving a hard copy of the legal opinion and often seeming emotional.

Assange has refused to go to Sweden for questioning fearing deportation to the US over WikiLeaks' release of 500,000 secret military files on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

A look back at the key dates in the life of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

(AFP Photo/Kun Tian, Thomas Saint-Cricq)

Earlier, the 44-year-old Australian told journalists via video link that it was "now the task of the states of Sweden and the United Kingdom as a whole to implement the verdict".

The UN panel said Assange's detention should end and that he should be able to claim compensation from Britain and Sweden.

But both countries quickly dismissed the non-binding legal opinion, with Britain's Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond calling it "ridiculous".

Assange walked into the embassy in June 2012 to avoid the threat of arrest and extradition to Sweden, where he still faces a rape allegation.

He has lived there ever since in a small office room with a bed, computer, sun lamp, treadmill and access to a small balcony decorated with Ecuador's flag.

Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo 

Patino speaks during a press conference

 in Quito on February 5, 2016 (AFP Photo/

Rodrigo Buendia)

In a statement, the panel said it had adopted an opinion that considered Assange "arbitrarily detained by the governments of Sweden and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland."

It added: "The working group also considered that the detention should be brought to an end and that Mr Assange should be afforded the right to compensation."

Fears of imprisonment

Britain and Sweden sharply condemned the panel's findings and said they would change nothing.

Hammond called Assange "a fugitive from justice."

"This is frankly a ridiculous finding by the working group and we reject it," the foreign secretary added.

Sweden's foreign ministry said that it "does not agree" with the assessment.

"Mr Assange is free to leave the embassy at any point and Swedish authorities have no control over his decision to stay at the embassy," the ministry added.

Only three of the five members of the UN panel supported the opinion -- one recused herself because she is Australian, like Assange, and another member disagreed.

British designer Vivienne Westwood displays a British passport after arriving to visit

 Wikileaks founder Julian Assange at Ecuador's embassy in central London, on

February 4, 2016 (AFP Photo/Chris Ratcliffe)

Christophe Peschoux, the working group's secretary, said at a briefing in Geneva that Britain and Sweden had two months to submit new information to force a review, and Britain says it will contest the opinion.

Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said it was "time for both governments... to allow Julian Assange his freedom."

Swedish authorities want to speak to Assange about a rape allegation whose statute of limitations does not expire until 2020.

Elizabeth Fritz, the lawyer for the woman who has accused Assange, criticised the panel's comments.

"That a man who is wanted on an arrest warrant for rape should be awarded compensation for intentionally hiding from the judicial system for more than five years is offensive to my client," she said.

Swedish judicial authorities said last month that Ecuador had refused its request to let a Swedish prosecutor question Assange because Quito wanted an Ecuadorean prosecutor to do the questioning.

British Foreign Secretary Philip

Hammond described the UN panels'

decision on Wikileaks founder Julian 

Assange as "ridiculous" as he 

met journalists in London, on 

February 5, 2016 (AFP Photo/

Niklas Halle'n)

'Publicity stunt'

Assange fears that if he went to Sweden for questioning, he could then be sent to the US and face prison. 

WikiLeaks' activities -- including the release of 500,000 secret military files on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq -- have infuriated the US.

The main source of the leaks, US Army soldier Chelsea Manning, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for breaches of the Espionage Act.

A hero to supporters and a dangerous egocentric to detractors, the computer programmer and hacker, whose celebrity fans include fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and singer Lady Gaga, founded WikiLeaks in 2006 and has been portrayed in two movies in recent years.

Britain spent over £10 million (12 million euros, $15 million) maintaining a 24-hour guard outside the embassy to immediately arrest Assange if he set foot on British soil, but withdrew it last year.

The Assange case has polarised opinion in Britain and there were many criticisms of his conduct Friday.

The Guardian newspaper, which has in the past worked with WikiLeaks to publish secret documents, used an editorial to condemn the latest developments as "a publicity stunt."

Julian #Assange should be able to walk free and claim compensation, UN panel says: https://t.co/3K7c4d7XKF pic.twitter.com/9WcaQsz7lw

— AFP London (@afplondon) February 5, 2016

Related Article:

Timeline: Julian Assange's story so far

EU, US agree on 'Privacy Shield' to protect data transfers

Brussels and Washington have agreed upon a new system to protect data transfers from Europe to the US. The new deal replaces "Safe Harbor," a 15-year-old framework struck down by the European Court of Justice last year.

Deutsche Welle, 2 February 2016

EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova announced the latest deal in a message on Twitter.

Goodbye #SafeHarbour! Follow press on new EU-US data protection framework agreed. Press conf live @ 16.30CET https://t.co/qq0qTiipUr

— Věra Jourová (@VeraJourova) February 2, 2016

The new deal, called the EU-US "Privacy Shield" would replace the older "Safe Harbor" agreement, Jourova told journalists in Brussels on Tuesday.

The US had given "binding assurances" for the first time and said public authorities' access to data would be subject to "clear limitations, safeguards and oversight mechanisms," the commissioner said.

Companies would be expected to abide by data protection rules and would be threatened with expulsion if they fail to comply. Citizens would also have several avenues to redress their complaints, if they felt their data had been misused. If the company in question did not resolve the problem, citizens could raise their issue with EU data protection authorities.

We will prepare clear guidelines for Europeans when they want to lodge a complaint so they know what to do – @VeraJourova #privacyshield

— EU Justice (@EU_Justice) February 2, 2016

An arbitration mechanism was also being planned for such complaints, Jourova added. Additionally the US judicial redress act, once passed, would give EU citizens the right to approach courts in the US with their complaints.

#EU citizens will for the 1st time have access to #US Courts in the context of personal data used by law enforcement services – @VeraJourova

— EU Justice (@EU_Justice) February 2, 2016

The agreement still needs to be approved by the EU's 28 member states before it comes into force.

Until now, companies were using "Safe Harbor" to conduct their business across the Atlantic. The pact was established in 2000 and regulates data sharing between EU and US companies. It was struck down last November after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the deal did not safeguard the interests of EU citizens.

Distrust regarding transatlantic data transfers cropped up in 2013, after revelations that US intelligence agencies had conducted mass spying.

mg/ng (dpa, AFP)

Google owner Alphabet overtakes Apple as biggest company

Yahoo – AFP, 2 February 2016

In opening trade following a robust earnings report, Alphabet, parent firm for 

Google, shares rose 2.9 percent to lift its market capitalization to $543 billion 

(AFP Photo/Justin Sullivan)

New York (AFP) - Alphabet, the parent firm for Google, became the world's most valuable company Tuesday as a jump in its share price helped it vault past tech rival Apple.

In opening trade following a robust earnings report, Alphabet shares rose 2.9 percent to lift its market capitalization to $543 billion while Apple's value declined to $530 billion with a modest dip in trading.

Alphabet's quarterly profit rose five percent to $4.92 billion on the back of strong online advertising revenue, particularly from searches done by holiday season shoppers using smartphones or tablets.

A woman wears Google glass in Paris

 on November 6, 2014 (AFP Photo/

Joel Saget)

Google ad revenue climbed globally, gaining on both mobile devices and desktop computers, according to Alphabet chief financial officer Ruth Porat.

The California-based Internet colossus said its revenue topped $21.3 billion in the final three months of last year.

The earnings report was the first in which recently formed parent corporation Alphabet separated money made by Google from what it calls "Other Bets" such as its work on self-driving cars or providing Internet service using high-altitude balloons.

The new structure under Alphabet is expected to offer more transparency for investors worried about Google investing in money-losing projects.

While Google is best known as the dominant player in Internet search, it has launched a variety of trailblazing projects in recent years that are marginally related at best to its core operation.

Alphabet subsidiaries include Google, Nest Labs, and Google X labs devoted to big-vision new technologies such as self-driving cars, along with such projects as smart "Google Glass" spectacles, drones, health care and Google TV -- none of which has become a major source of income.

Industry tracker eMarketer expected Google to remain the dominant player in worldwide search advertising, raking in $45.58 billion in revenue this year to claim a share just shy of 57 percent of total spending on such ads.