Abuse victims demand to see pope, say bishops should be sacked

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Victims of sexual abuse by the Catholic clergy on Wednesday demanded to meet Pope Francis personally to press demands that bishops who covered up such offences be dismissed from the priesthood. The 10 victims met for nearly three hours with five Vatican officials a day before the start of an unprecedented conference on abuse within the Church, designed to guide senior bishops on how best to tackle a problem that has decimated its credibility.

All the survivors of abuse expressed disappointment that the pope did not come to the meeting, even though he was not scheduled to be there. “If he can meet with all those bishops over there he can meet with us,” said Peter Isely, who was abused by a priest when he was a boy. “We made our demands for zero tolerance. We want the pope to write into universal law: zero tolerance for the cover-up of sex crimes. They can do it right now,” he told reporters after the meeting with the officials, all of them clerics. He and other victims said bishops who had covered up abuse should be dismissed from the priesthood, just like those who had committed the abuse itself.

Other abuse victims waited outside the building where the meeting took place. “We believed that this morning’s meeting would be with the pope, with a cross-section of survivors from around the world,” one, Englishman Peter Saunders, told Reuters TV. He was not among those who took part in the meeting. “It would seem that the pope, once again, is giving the two fingers to survivors and to child protection everywhere,” he said, using an English expression for a crude gesture.

The Vatican said the pope’s presence at the meeting was never intended because he would see others during the conference. Isely and others who attended Wednesday’s meeting said they too wanted to meet the pope because they represented those with the most experience and information in gathering data on both abusers as well as victims. Victims who meet Francis and address the four-day conference will remain anonymous at their request.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-abuse-survivors/abuse-victims-demand-to-see-pope-say-bishops-should-be-sacked-idUSKCN1Q91QG

Microsoft says discovers hacking targeting democratic institutions in Europe

(Reuters) - Microsoft Corp on Wednesday said it had discovered hacking targeting democratic institutions, think tanks and non-profit organizations in Europe and plans to offer a cyber security service to several countries to close security gaps.

The hacks occurred between September and December 2018, targeting employees of the German Council on Foreign Relations and European offices of The Aspen Institute and The German Marshall Fund, the company said. Microsoft said it found out about the hacks through the company’s Threat Intelligence Center and Digital Crimes Unit, and the hacks targeted 104 employee accounts in Belgium, France, Germany, Poland, Romania, and Serbia. Hackers in most cases create malicious weblinks and spoofed email addresses that look legitimate, aiming to gain access to employee credentials and deliver malware, the company said.

Microsoft said many of the attacks originated from a group called Strontium, which the company has previously associated with the Russian government. Strontium, one of the world’s oldest cyber espionage groups, has also been called APT 28, Fancy Bear, Sofancy and Pawn Storm by a range of security firms and government officials.Security firm CrowdStrike has said the group may be associated with the Russian military intelligence agency GRU.

Microsoft said it will offer its cyber security service AccountGuard to 12 new markets in Europe including Germany, France and Spain to help customers secure their accounts. The AccountGuard service will also be available in Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal and Slovakia. Microsoft’s move highlights the growing effort by social media companies like Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc to bring more transparency around political content and advertisements, and halt the spread of misinformation on their platforms.

In the U.S., Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating Russia’s role in the 2016 election and whether the campaign of President Donald Trump colluded with Moscow. Russia denies meddling in the elections while Trump has denied any collusion. Ahead of a critical European Parliament election in May, German officials are trying to bolster cyber security after a far-reaching data breach by a 20-year-old student laid bare the vulnerability of Europe’s largest economy.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-microsoft-cyber-europe/microsoft-says-discovers-hacking-targeting-democratic-institutions-in-europe-idUSKCN1Q90GF

Guaido says he's trying to freeze Venezuelan accounts in Switzerland

(Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido said he spoke to the president of Switzerland on Wednesday to try to freeze banks accounts belonging to the tumultuous South American nation after “irregular movements” were discovered. Guaido invoked a constitutional provision to claim the presidency three weeks ago, arguing that Nicolas Maduro’s re-election last year was a sham. Since then, Guaido has been trying to control Venezuelan assets overseas. “We are talking to the Swiss president,” Guaido said in an interview with Mexican network Televisa. He said they had spoken on Wednesday morning but did not mention Swiss President Ueli Maurer by name.

Guaido said the Venezuelan government held bank accounts in Switzerland and that irregular efforts to migrate part of those accounts to “another site” had been detected. “We are doing everything possible to protect these assets that belong to the republic,” he said. He did not say who had detected the movements in the accounts, whether any money had been transferred or give further details. Most Western countries, including the United States, have recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate head of state, but Maduro retains the backing of Russia and China as well as control of state institutions including the military.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-accounts/guaido-says-hes-trying-to-freeze-venezuelan-accounts-in-switzerland-idUSKCN1Q91ZC

>>5282879

I suspect, that you will find they are behind all of this in the end, much like Goog interference in NK, ect.

Iran's Rouhani says U.S. sanctions are 'terrorist act'

LONDON (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday relations with the United States had rarely been so bad and that sanctions imposed by the Trump administration targeting Tehran’s oil and banking sectors amounted to “a terrorist act”. Animosity between Washington and Tehran - bitter foes since Iran’s 1979 revolution - has intensified since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from an international nuclear deal with Tehran last May and reimposed sanctions lifted under the accord.

“The struggle between Iran and America is currently at a maximum. America has employed all its power against us,” Rouhani was quoted as saying in a cabinet meeting by the state broadcaster IRIB. “The U.S. pressures on firms and banks to halt business with Iran is one hundred percent a terrorist act,” he said. Trump has reimposed the sanctions with the aim of slashing Iranian oil sales and choking its economy in order to curb its ballistic missile program and its activities in the Middle East, especially in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

HYPOCRISY

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused the United States of hypocrisy for trying to wreck Iran’s nuclear program while seeking to sell nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, Tehran’s regional rival. “Neither human rights nor the nuclear program are the real concern of the U.S. First a dismembered journalist; now illicit sale of nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia fully expose #USHypocrisy,” Zarif said in a tweet. He was referring to the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, which triggered international revulusion. His body has not been found.

The CIA has said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman likely ordered the killing, which Riyadh denies. Trump has stood by the prince, saying weapons sales to Saudi Arabia are an important source of U.S. jobs. U.S. Democratic lawmakers alleged in a report released Tuesday that a proposed transfer of U.S. nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia was being fast-tracked around a mandatory approval process.

Unlike the United States, European powers are working to preserve the 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran. But France has said it is ready to reimpose sanctions on Iran if no progress is made in talks over its ballistic missile program. In a clear reaction to French pressure, Rouhani said: “We want a constructive interaction with the world, but the countries that work with us should not have excessive demands. Iran is firm in its stance and will act based on its national interests.” Iran has said its missile program is purely defensive.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-usa-rouhani/irans-rouhani-says-u-s-sanctions-are-terrorist-act-idUSKCN1Q90ZO

>>5283028

All of the discussion around this movement, is nothing more than "self protection mode" before the HUGE BOOMS drop that expose (((them))) in their true rawest form.

>>5283117

I don't think anyone will be sad about his departure, kek, It's time!

>>5283261

Amen