Chinese Embassy in EU Slams NATO's 'Outdated Security Concept' for Dragging World to Cold War

On Thursday, NATO urged Beijing to "abstain from supporting Russia's war effort in any way," accusing President Xi Jinping's government of taking the Moscow's side in the latter's ongoing special military operation in Ukraine, and telling China to "refrain from any action that helps Russia circumvent sanctions".

The Chinese embassy in the EU on Friday stated that what it said was NATO's expansion strategy is dragging the planet toward a new Cold War.

According to the diplomatic statement, an embassy spokesperson said that the language was intended to "fan the flames to stir up trouble." Instead, the government of Chinese President Xi Jinping claimed that it is "firmly opposed" to NATO's "groundless accusations and suspicions, as well as any attempts to exert coercion and pressure against China.

"We feel it necessary to remind NATO once again to have a thorough and accurate understanding of China’s longstanding and consistent position," the statement reads. "China maintains that the sovereign independence and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected, and that the purposes and principles of the UN Charter be upheld."

The spokesperson for the Chinese embassy also pointed out that following the eruption of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, Beijing has been "working actively and constructively" to assist peace talks, conflict resolution, and the avoidance of a large-scale humanitarian crisis in an objective and unbiased manner. "Time will prove that China is on the right side of history," the spokesperson asserted.

"In the meantime, what NATO has done? Anyone without prejudice would come to a fair conclusion," they wondered.

Meanwhile, according to the embassy, as a Cold War "remnant and the world's largest military alliance, NATO follows an outdated security concept."

"It has been expanding its geographical scope and range of operations and using Cold War tactics to provoke bloc rivalry. We must stay on high alert and say no to a 'new Cold War,' which goes against the trend of history and the aspirations of people around the world," the statement added.

The Chinese embassy spokesperson also noted that on March 24, 1999, NATO bombed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, "causing thousands of casualties," including some Chinese citizens, and displacing hundreds of thousands. "The lessons of history must not be forgotten," the mission said.

"NATO needs to have a good reflection on itself, reject the Cold War mentality, and seek to build a balanced, effective and sustainable European security architecture through dialogue and negotiation under the principle of indivisible security," according to the Chinese embassy spokesperson.

https://sputniknews.com/20220325/chinese-embassy-in-eu-slams-natos-outdated-security-concept-for-dragging-world-to-cold-war-1094202775.html

Whistleblower exposes Microsoft’s massive foreign bribery network

Employee claims half the tech giant’s salespeople & managers were involved in $200mn annual kickback scheme

Tech behemoth Microsoft is bribing clients in the Middle East and Africa on a massive scale, according to whistleblower Yasser Elabd, a 20-year employee of the firm who published his testimony on Friday on the website Lioness.

Elabd claims the company spends more than $200 million annually on bribes and kickback schemes in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and Ghana, among other countries. Worse, he says, more than half the managers and salespeople in those regions are involved in the graft – as many as 70% – and anyone who tries to stop the culture of ripoffs is shut out of good deals and ultimately muscled out of the company.

While the scams took different forms, they often involved governments paying millions of dollars for software they never received, or “receiving” hefty discounts that never hit the customer’s balance sheet; the missing money would end up split between the Microsoft employees and government figures involved in the deal and the subcontractor, Elabd said.

“It's going on at all levels. All the executives are aware of it, and they're promoting the bad people,” the former executive told The Verge on Friday. “If you’re doing the right thing, they won’t promote you.” He claims to have spoken to five other employees who were similarly punished for raising the alarm about fraud.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice previously investigated claims involving Microsoft receiving similar types of bribes in Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Thailand, ultimately hammering out a $25.3 million settlement with the software firm in return for the company promising to terminate its contracts with a specific partner, among other stipulations.

Despite company president Brad Smith’s mea culpa letter sent to employees afterwards, in which he called the graft “completely unacceptable” and demanded stronger oversight, Elabd argues the problem has only grown, noting Microsoft is still working with the blacklisted partner through an intermediary.

While Elabd was able to stonewall a similar bribery episode in Nigeria, he was subsequently called in by a manager and eviscerated for his meddling, dubbed a “blocker” and ordered to “turn your head and leave it as is” if he encountered anything else “suspicious.” Apparently marked with some kind of scarlet letter from then on, he found himself shut out of lucrative deals, had travel requests denied, and was shunted to a “performance improvement plan.” He refused to subject himself to that indignity, a move that ultimately cost him his job.

That hasn’t stopped Elabd from tracking further fraud and bribery at Microsoft and its subcontractors. He claims to have documented bribes to Microsoft and its subcontractors from Qatar, Cameroon, and South Africa, and has forwarded that information directly to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Unlike before, he says, the SEC and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) appear uninterested in pursuing the matter, even though he has submitted the evidence three times. For its part, Microsoft has blamed the pandemic for its failure or refusal to gather more evidence from abroad – evidence he says they don't actually need because he has provided it.

Microsoft has essentially achieved a monopoly over workplace software on the African continent, Elabd said in his claim, pointing out that governments working with Microsoft were “throwing away millions of public dollars on unused Microsoft products so a few select officials, partners, and employees can enrich themselves.”

As the manager told me all those years ago, all that matters is that Microsoft earns as much money as possible … The hidden message to employees is, ‘Do whatever you want, make as much money as you can, and the worst that can happen is you'll get fired’.

Microsoft insisted it had “previously investigated these allegations, which are many years old, and addressed them,” VP and deputy general counsel for compliance and ethics Becky Lenaburg told The Verge in response to Elabd’s claims. The company stressed it was committed to “ethical practices” and said its employees are all required to take “standards of business” classes that teach them how to report bribery incidents.

https://www.lioness.co/post/microsoft-is-using-illegal-bribes-in-the-middle-east-and-africa-why-is-the-sec-turning-a-blind-eye

https://58a44b37-ba55-451b-989d-b8bc5339d45f.usrfiles.com/ugd/58a44b_456f670b335a4bf3806fb2a958e98e40.pdf

https://www.rt.com/news/552719-microsoft-bribery-africa-whistleblower-fired/

EU nations band together to buy gas

European Union will look to replace Russian gas with more expensive American alternative

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters on Friday that the European Union will purchase gas on its own and divide it between members, a new development for the 27-member bloc.

The move comes as European leaders seek to ditch Russian imports, and the US is waiting to ship its more costly product to the continent.

“The energy mix and concrete situation in our members is very different but we need to work together to pool our weight,” Von der Leyen said at a press conference after a two-day summit in Brussels, Belgium. “We have an enormous purchasing power. Therefore, I welcome that we will now use our collective bargaining power. Instead of outbidding each other, driving prices up, we will pool our demand.”

Von der Leyen has already promised to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian gas, but some EU countries remain dependent on a steady supply from Russia. Germany, whose leaders have recently warned that their economy could crash were Russian imports sanctioned, relies on Moscow for more than half of its gas supply.

However, leaders in Berlin have balked at paying for Russian gas in rubles, as Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded they do earlier this week. France too has opposed the gas-for-rubles system, with French President Emmanuel Macron telling reporters on Friday that he believes such a demand is “forbidden” by law.

Should the EU refuse to pay in rubles, as it likely will, its members will have to source their gas elsewhere. The US will likely step in to fill that void. In a joint news conference with US President Joe Biden on Friday, von der Leyen said that Washington would step up its deliveries of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to “at least 50 billion cubic meters” per year, which she said would replace a third of the gas currently provided by Russia.

"We as Europeans want to diversify away from Russia towards suppliers that we trust, that are our friends, that are reliable," she said.

However, American LNG is more expensive than the Russian alternative, and getting it to Europe involves condensing it to fill special tanker ships, before converting it back to gas upon arrival at a purpose-built port facility. There are currently two dozen LNG import terminals in Europe, but none in Germany, which is an important gas distribution location. At present, work has yet to begin on Germany’s flagship LNG terminal, which is set to start receiving gas in 2024.

These issues with pricing and logistics led Germany to ignore American offers of LNG shipments under President Donald Trump, and press ahead with the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia instead. However, Nord Stream 2’s certification was halted in response to the conflict in Ukraine.

"I know eliminating Russian gas will have costs for Europe,” Biden said during his appearance with von der Leyen, before adding that high energy prices are something that Europe should put up with to oppose Putin.

“It’s not only the right thing to do from a moral standpoint,” he said. “It's gonna put us on a much stronger strategic footing.”

https://www.rt.com/news/552732-eu-gas-russia-alternative/

Former Employees of Beaver County Health Care Facility Indicted on Federal Hate Crime Charges Related to Alleged Assaults Against Disabled Residents

https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdpa/pr/former-employees-beaver-county-health-care-facility-indicted-federal-hate-crime-charges

Religious Leader Indicted and Arrested for Coercion and Enticement of a Minor

https://www.justice.gov/usao-pr/pr/religious-leader-indicted-and-arrested-coercion-and-enticement-minor

https://twitter.com/PrisonPlanet/status/1507483552182583296

Wow, who could have predicted this? (Me).

>>15944916

Please go and update your silicon valley app

Why does this site not have it's own infrastructure

>>15944989

>>15944936

Robert Hunter Biden’’s Laptop

https://l00kinglass.com/springboard/robert-hunter-bidens-laptop

Deutsche Bank Fired Senior Bankers Over Strip Club Bill

Ousted bankers include Americas equity capital markets head

German bank ‘thoroughly investigates’ misconduct allegations

Deutsche Bank AG fired a number of top bankers in New York after a tab run up at a strip club was expensed as legitimate business spending, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Ben Darsney, former Americas head of equity capital markets, Ravi Raghunathan, Brandon Sun and Daniel Gaona were fired after seeking reimbursement for a restaurant visit, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter. Once the bank discovered the issue, it decided to terminate the executives, the people said. The firings were first reported by Bloomberg News on Thursday.

Read more: Deutsche Bank Fires Americas ECM Head Darsney, Three Others

“Deutsche Bank thoroughly investigates allegations of possible misconduct comprehensively and without bias,” a spokesperson for the Frankfurt-based bank said in an emailed statement. “We do not condone violations of our code of conduct or company policy and take remedial action as appropriate based on the severity of circumstances.” The bank declined to comment further on the circumstances of the matter.

Darsney, Raghunathan, Sun and Gaona didn’t respond to requests for comment. Darsney and Raghunathan were managing directors while Sun was a director and Gaona an associate.

Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing is seeking to improve the bank’s controls after a string of mishaps, including that it recently breached a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice after it was slow in reporting allegations by a whistleblower. Both parties agreed to extend an existing monitorship until February 2023 after the DOJ found Deutsche Bank in violation of the deal.

The bank has had to plough additional money into improving controls after criticism from regulators it’s doing too little.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-25/deutsche-bank-fired-senior-bankers-over-expensed-strip-club-bill