The Netherlands: Dutch Lawyer linked to ex-Trump campaign chairman sentenced to 30 days in jail - by Sarah N. Lynch

Alex van der Zwaan (left) sentenced 
for lying to Special Counsel Mueller

The Dutch son-in-law of one of Russia's richest men was sentenced on Tuesday to 30 days in prison and fined $20,000 for lying to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators about contacts with an official in President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.

Alex van der Zwaan, a lawyer who once worked closely with Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, was also sentenced to two months of supervised release and said he was sorry for what he did.

He pleaded guilty on Feb. 20 as Mueller intensified his investigation into potential collusion between the president's campaign and Russia, and told prosecutors he lied to FBI agents about previous communications with Rick Gates, a Manafort protege who held a senior position in the Trump campaign.

"What I did was wrong. I apologize to this court, and I apologize to my wife," van der Zwaan said at the hearing.

Van der Zwaan, 33, previously worked for the law firm Skadden Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom and is married to the daughter of prominent Russian billionaire German Khan, founder of the privately owned Alfa Bank.

The couple is expecting their first child later this year.

Read more: Lawyer linked to ex-Trump campaign chairman sentenced to 30 days in jail

EU Official: Islam Is Part of Our History, Present, and Future

 Frans Timmermans First EU Vice President

Recently , European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans ( a Dutch European Citizen) hosted a roundtable with imams from Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, and The Netherlands. He had a message for them that they doubtlessy welcomed: “The Commission is strongly committed to promoting diversity in Europe. Islam is part of our history, Islam is part of our present and Islam will be part of our future.”

There is no doubt that Timmermans’ statement is true, but not quite in the way he meant.

Timmermans did hint that he was aware Europe might not travel a smooth and placid path to the glorious multicultural future: “The way we help our citizens -- whatever their background may be -- to embrace the diversity that is a reality in European societies is going to determine much of our collective future.”

In 2015, Timmermans noted: “[D]iversity is now in some parts of Europe seen as a threat. Diversity comes with challenges. But diversity is humanity’s destiny. There is not going to be, even in the remotest places of this planet, a nation that will not see diversity in its future.”

Read more: EU Official: Islam Is Part of Our History, Present, and Future | Homeland Security

Vatican: Pope urges end to ‘carnage’ in Syria in Easter message

Pope Francis called on Sunday (April 1) for an end to “carnage” in Syria and “reconciliation” in the Middle East in his traditional Easter message.

“Today we implore fruits of peace upon the entire world, beginning with the beloved and long-suffering land of Syria,” the pontiff said in the “Urbi et Orbi” (To the City and the World) address.

Appealing to the “consciences of all political and military leaders”, Pope Francis urged “that a swift end may be brought to the carnage” as tens of thousands of pilgrims listened in St Peter’s Square and millions watched the speech broadcast live around the world.

Read more: Pope urges end to ‘carnage’ in Syria in Easter message, Europe News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

The Netherlands: banking industry electronic transactions work against consumers and in favor of banks during Public holidays and weekends - by RM

Banks in the Netherlands and probably also in many other places around the world are saying they can not make automatic electronic transfers during religious and other public holidays.

The question one should immediately pose ,when the banks make that statement is; why? Why should automatic banking transactions done on public holidays be any different from those done during the regular work week?

 For example: if you make an electronic transfer during the 4 day Easter holiday weekend in the Netherlands, say on Good Friday, to another bank account, the transferred money is immediately electronically debited from your own account, but than, the money only re-appears 4 days later on the account to which it was electronically transferred. before you see that transfer on your statement.

Obviously the question it raises is: WHAT DOES THE BANK DO WITH YOUR MONEY during those four days, or any other amount of time they hold it without telling you where it is or what they do with it during that time ?

What is happening to your money while it is hidden those four days of the Easter weekend or less during other regular Public holidays ?

The answer should not be too difficult to figure out . The bank has probably been making millions on interest and other speculative activities with your money.

If you ask the bank, however,  you will certainly get  a rather vague story.

Something definitely needs to be done here, especially given the bad reputation that banks have gained in recent years during and after the financial crises.

Almere-Digest

Belgium: Russian Poisoning case: Eight more Russians sent packing from Belgium

Eight more Russian diplomats are to be sent packing from Belgium and one from Ireland, but Russia's EU envoy is to stay in place.

The Belgian tally included seven to be expelled from Russia's mission to Nato, which is located in Brussels, and one from Russia's embassy to Belgium.

"Russia has underestimated the unity of Nato allies," Nato head Jens Stoltenberg said, announcing the move, which came in response to Russia's attempt to kill a former spy in England using a chemical weapon earlier this month.

"It sends a very clear message to Russia that it [its UK attack] has costs," he added.

The Belgian prime minister's office said it was committed to an "open and frank dialogue" with Moscow despite its move.

The Irish leader, Leo Varadkar, said the same day that he had expelled a Russian diplomat despite his country's history of neutrality in European conflicts.

Read more: Eight more Russians sent packing from Belgium

European Banking Industry: EU Commission wants fees cut on cross-border payments and transfers - by Irene Kostaki

Banks in the European Union will have to cut fees on cross-border payments, according to legislative proposals put forward by the European Commission on March 28.

European Commission Vice President for the Euro Valdis Dombrovskis’ plan is to make banks lower their consumer costs in the banking sector. The move is expected to reduce profits mostly for banks outside the 19 Eurozone member states, while the sector suffers from stiff competition from FinTech firms.

The EU’s second Payment Services Directive (PSD2), which came into force at the beginning of the year, lowers charges or has no fees for trans-national payments in euros within the Eurozone. Charges remain higher, however, for cross-border transactions from other EU countries outside the Eurozone.

Currency conversion fees will be capped for three years to put an end to excessive charges when EU citizens withdraw money or use their payment cards abroad or online for payments in or into euros.

“With today’s proposal we are granting citizens and businesses in non-euro area countries the same conditions as euro area residents when making cross-border payments in euro,” Dombrovskis, said on Wednesday.

When EU citizens buy abroad and decide to use the option provided and pay in their home currency, a local bank or other payment service providers will convert the amount of the transaction on the spot in exchange for a fee, a system known as a dynamic currency conversion fee.

“While dynamic currency conversion allows consumers to know immediately how much they have to pay, the use of this service is often more expensive than with their bank,” according to the European Commission.

The lack of necessary information to make the best choice often results in consumers being unfairly led towards the more expensive currency conversion option. The European Banking Authority will be tasked with drafting the necessary Regulatory Technical Standard to implement the new regulations, according to the EU executive

The EU Commission proposes a three-year transition period, after which, banks, credit cards, and other payment services will have to show currency conversion fees to consumers before they pay to allow each customer to determine whether it is cheaper to pay the conversion offered by their bank or the dynamic conversion service.

Read more: EU Commission wants fees cut on cross-border payments and transfers

Middle East Christian Communities: Why Did Christian Leaders in the Middle East Shun Vice President Pence's Visit?

The Middle East At Easter: "the US 
want Jesus to be a political Jesus"

According to Israeli news outlet Haaretz, Christian leaders in the Middle East shunned Vice President Mike Pence in his recent trip to their countries.

Christian leaders in Egypt and Jerusalem reportedly decided to boycott his visit, in an attempt to protest President Trump’s December 7th recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Pence was unable to visit Bethlehem, the city where Jesus was born, because it is located in the occupied region of the West Bank controlled by the Palestinian Authority who declared that Pence was ” unwelcome in Palestine.”

Pence declared that recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is the “only true foundation for a just and lasting peace.” Arab Christians apparently disagree, wanting East Jerusalem to be the capital of a non-Israeli Arab state. Protestors held signs that read, “Pence you are desecrating our land. Pence go home.”

Pence reportedly completed his visit to the Middle East without meeting with any prominent Christian leaders from Egypt, Jordan and Israel. In his meeting with the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, Pence raised the issue of protecting Egypt’s Christians from persecution.

After meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan, Pence’s remarks made clear their disagreement over a two state solution: “Friends occasionally have disagreements, and we agreed to disagree on recognizing Jerusalem. We agreed all parties need to come to the table. I hope I impressed on him our earnest desire to restart the peace process.”

In his speech to the Knesset today Pence used religious symbolism, quoted from the bible, and explained his support for Israel as a moral and religious obligation, not solely a political one. His speech was interrupted by numerous standing ovations by Israeli  Knesset members.

According to The Associated Press, Palestinian Christians reject Pence’s “brand” of Christianity:

They argue that such streams of evangelical Christianity have used religion to whitewash Israel’s harsh policies during its half-century-old rule over millions of Palestinians.

“For me, it’s a sick ideology,” said Munib Younan, the recently retired bishop of the small Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and former president of the Lutheran World Federation, an umbrella for churches with millions of believers.

“When I say Jesus is love, they want my Jesus to be a political Jesus,” Younan, 67, a Jerusalem-born Palestinian, said in a recent interview at his West Bank church.

The AP adds that while Christian Arabs are a minority living in the West Bank, they lived peacefully next to their Muslim Arab neighbors, describing their neighborhoods as places “where the pealing of church bells often blends with the Muslim call to prayer.”

Note EU-Digest - Jesus Christ represents love not hatred or violence, and if politics and fanaticism was not injected as a result of  foreign interventions in the Middle East,  historical peaceful coexistence would still prevail there  today.   

Read more: Why Did Christian Leaders in the Middle East Shun Vice President Pence's Visit?