Frauke Petry: the acceptable face of Germany’s new right?

                          
The leader of Alternative für Deutschland has been called ‘Adolfina’, praised Donald Trump and criticised Germany’s Muslim international footballer Mezut Özil. Is the country’s most talked-about politician a serious contender for office?

Frauke Petry is, unusually for her, a little flustered. The 41-year-old politician has turned up for a television interview very late, wearing a checked shirt, a no-go for the camera, she quickly realises. Swiftly changing into a cream jacket borrowed from the TV presenter, she pleads for the camera not to show her scuffed boots. “It was all a bit of a dash this morning,” she admits afterwards. Two of her four children are at home sick – “on the sofa, headache, stomach ache” – and she didn’t want to leave them until she knew they would be OK on their own.
But this, she insists, is how she wants it to remain, with family as her number one priority, despite her swift rise up the political ladder since becoming leader of the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).dramatic gains in March's regional elections, it is now the most threatening challenger to Angela Merkel’s coalition government, and she is the most talked-about female German politician after the chancellor.

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“It’s not a problem as such, being a woman in politics – in fact, it’s easy to move up precisely because you’re in a minority,” she says. “The problem has to do with actually managing to still see your children and to look after them.”
Time management, she says, has become even more crucial since she recently separated from her husband, a Lutheran pastor, and formed a romantic attachment with the AfD’s representative in the European parliament, Marcus Pretzell, himself a father of four, who has advocated forming closer ties with France’s Front National. “Before last summer I left family almost completely to my husband, but since the autumn we have separate times with the children. So I’m forced to organise my appointments so I can have breakfast with them, take them to school, read the goodnight story, all that normal stuff.”
It’s hard to reconcile this woman – affable, intelligent, quoting philosophy and making references to classical music – with the cold, hardboiled image she has projected since she became the party’s de facto leader last year.
AfD has a strong profile in the former communist east of Germany but a growing following in western parts as well. She calls the party “liberal-conservative”, rejecting labels such as rightwing populist, far right, anti-immigrant…
“The idea of the party is embodied in its name, ‘Alternatives’,” she says, a response to Merkel’s repeated insistence that her policy on the euro was “alternativlos” (“without alternative”). “Basically we are a very necessary corrective in German and European politics.”
She predicts that, like the far-right Freedom party (FPÖ) in neighbouring Austria, the AfD will benefit from “a breakdown of the big parties”.

Britain Should Leave EU-Trump

                              

Donald Trump told Britons on Sunday he supported Brexit, repeating just days before the vote on June 23 that he thinks the UK would be better off outside the European Union.
As the campaign to decide Britain's EU membership restarted after a three-day hiatus following the killing of lawmaker Jo Cox, Trump, the presumptive Republican U.S. presidential candidate, said in a newspaper interview he was backing an "out" vote.

"I would personally be more inclined to leave, for a lot of reasons like having a lot less bureaucracy," he told reporters. "But I am not a British citizen. This is just my opinion."
The billionaire businessman also told news reporters that he would seek to have good relationships internationally if he were elected president in November, including with David Cameron. The British Prime Minister has in the past called Trump's proposed temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States "divisive, stupid and wrong".
Trump said in May that Britain would be better off outside the EU because of high levels of migration.

Pregnant woman, husband tortured and shot dead after family dispute

                        
A pregnant woman and her husband were found dead in a canal with gunshot wounds to the head, a day after they were reportedly snatched by relatives following a dispute.

Police told reporters on Sunday that Aqsa Shakeel, 26, and her husband, Muhammad Shakeel, 30, were visited by a group of relatives at their home in Thikriwala, a village in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province.

Police said a heated argument broke out between the couple and the family members, who included Aqsa's brother, named as Muhammad Mauvia, and her mother, Majeeda Bibi.

Aqsa's family disapproved of the marriage, according to police, though no further details were given.

A search for the couple was initiated when the husband's father, Muhammad Kushi, reported the couple missing later Wednesday. Their bodies were discovered in a canal near the village Thursday evening. An autopsy report revealed that they had been tortured and shot in the head.

Fulani Herdsmen murders six in Benue community

               
An attack by herdsmen on residents of Gabo village in Nengev and Turan Councils wards of Logo Local Government Area of Benue State, has left six persons dead with several others injured.
The herdsmen stormed the village in the night, attacking the community members with machetes and other dangerous weapons. A member of the House of Representatives that represents Logo State Constituency, Hon. Terna-­Kester Kyenge, told reporters that he received six mutilated corpses

“I received six mutilated corpses and addressed hundreds of displaced persons including women and children. I condemn the attack as gruesome and barbaric. I, however, call for restraint on the part of my people while I urge the federal and state governments to intervene in arresting the culprits and provide relief materials to the displaced people.” Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Moses Yamu, said the corpses of the deceased victims had been deposited at the morgue of the General Hospital, Ugbah. “You know, these Fulanis always strike in a guerrilla manner. Once they strike, they leave the area. Security has been beefed up in the area and the people can now return to their homes,” Yamu said

VALUE YOUR TIME FOR MORE IMPORTANT THINGS!!!

                                            
Some people have to have the last word in every argument. Let it go. Quit wasting your energy. You have a destiny to fulfill. You have an assignment to accomplish. Those are distractions trying to pull you off course. Don’t waste your valuable time on things that aren’t moving you toward your purpose.
Argument cannot take you anywhere, you can try to make your point known but when it is not welcome, don't waste your precious time. Remember, argument can't win a friend.
Remember, you were born to standout but not to blend in....
You can be the best you are born to be ,make the most of your time and be the Best.

  Written by Godwin Exce

10 lessons every entrepreneur should learn about customer service

                         
Someone once said that sales without customer service is like stuffing money into a pocket full of holes. I couldn’t agree more. From my own experience, I’ve been able to grow my company's conversations by 250%, just by talking to my customers. Undoubtedly, understanding customer service can make you better at business. With that in mind, here are 10 customer service lessons every entrepreneur should learn.

Listen:The biggest mistake any business owner can make when it comes to customer service is to assume that they understand what the customer wants. Don’t approach a customer with a list of scripted questions– simply ask how they use your product or service, what they like, and what they don’t. Then listen. What you gain– if you’re willing to listen without judgement– will be invaluable.

Keep your promises:Promises are a very big deal to customers. It doesn’t matter if they’re made by a front-line representative or by the CEO, customers expect promises to be kept. If your company does a poor job following through on anything from promised upgrades, to a cancellation policy, you’ll lose customers and public trust very quickly.

Find the best tools to provide the best service:Customer tracking and service can’t be done on sticky notes, but being tempted into buying the cheapest customer relationship management(CRM) software can be just as problematic. Don’t do it. Instead, think about how to best empower your employees to give the service your customers deserve, and buy the CRM (or any other tool needed) that will make that happen. Your customers and staff will thank you for it.

You can win the battle and lose the war:This lesson relates specifically to disagreements with customers, and it can be a difficult one to learn. Too many entrepreneurs are so narrowly focused on what it’ll take for their businesses to succeed, that they fail to notice when exceptions to established policies are necessary.

Perhaps a customer is asking for something that’s against your policy. Maybe a customer wants a refund you normally wouldn’t grant. Before you simply say “No,” consider the cost of the exception compared to the lifetime value of a customer. While you can’t give every person out there a discount, ask yourself if it’s worth it to win this argument at the cost of losing the business.

How to avoid a brand meltdown online:In our hyper-connected world, it’s inevitable that someone’s going to say something nasty about you on social media at some point. That’s just the reality of being the public figurehead of a customer-facing company.

What’s important, though, is how you handle it. Whether it’s you or another staff member, make sure that the person in charge of your social media accounts is cool under pressure and focused on building trust and goodwill. Responding appropriately when these situations occur is one of the best ways to avoid a brand meltdown online.

Customers expect you to be available:You probably already know that having a customer service line that operates 9am – 5pm on weekdays won’t cut it anymore. But what you may not know is that customers expect you to be available on more platforms than ever before. If you rely only on online forums or don’t have real-time chat or email service available, it’s time to offer better service to interact with your customers where they are.

Hire employees on attitude and skills:When you hire someone into your business, it’s important to ensure that they not only have the skills to do the work, but that they have the right attitude. You only ever want helpful, friendly people in your business. When you hire people with a positive, cooperative attitude, you’ll be much better positioned to offer the kind of customer service that will stand out in your industry.

Your staff will treat customers the way they’re treated

Simply put, you can’t treat your staff poorly and expect them to give amazing customer service to your clients. As an entrepreneur, you should consider your employees like you would your customers, and strive to give them an amazing experience every day that they come to work.
Creating this type of atmosphere doesn’t have to be expensive. Simply making it a point to say thank you for great work when you see it can go a long way towards building employee confidence. But if you make it a point to treat your staff the way you’d like them to treat your customers, they’ll pass that “wow factor” on to everyone who interacts with your business.

Have a complaint handling system in place

One study conducted in 2013 demonstrated that 56% of customers who made a complaint got nothing in return, and there is nothing more frustrating to an already-angry customer than making a complaint and getting no results.
Even if you can’t fulfill a customer’s every desire, make sure that they at least feel heard. Whether it’s a letter, a callback, or even an email, make sure to give a personalized message and to inform the customer about how the concern was handled.

You can’t control what you don’t measure

When you’re trying to provide the best service possible, the proper measurement of your efforts is essential. Just as you wouldn’t deploy a landing page without tracking its impact on sales, you should have systems in place to understand how your service is going. Surveys can supply important data points, as can follow-up emails, and random sampling outcalls.
Customer service isn’t an area that can be overlooked in any business, no matter how high quality your product or service is. By learning these 10 lessons and applying them to your company, you’ll find yourself on your way to making a great impression on customers, and growing your business as a result.
What’s the biggest customer service lesson you’ve learned during your time in business?

Written by Sujan Patel 

Seven Keys to Hear God's Voice

                  
What am I going to do with the rest of my life? Where should I go to school? Should I take this job, or is there something better on the horizon? Who should I marry?
Life is a never-ending series of choices. Can we know whether we are making the right decisions? Should we consult our horoscope? Maybe we should call the psychic hot-line? Do we go with what the experts are saying or rely on our gut-feeling?
Should we look to the stars -- or should we seek the Maker of the stars? I recently received an e-mail in response to my article, The Harness of the Holy Spirit in which a reader makes these thought-provoking statements:
"Your article is typical of many books I have read. Everyone talks about doing what the Holy Spirit says, but you do not state how you 'know' it is the voice of GOD. I have yet to read any book or article that can lay that out. It is easy to say The LORD told me to leave this or do that, and I was blessed down the road because of it. Anyone who can present a way one can actually know that the voice they are hearing is from GOD, not man or Satan, would change the world. That's probably why the world hasn't changed."

Well I have good news for my friend, and for you -- God wants to speak to us, and yes, you can 'know' that you hear His voice.
God wants to fellowship and communicate with us. That's two-way communication. Why? Because you can't really have a relationship unless there is true dialogue. How do we get to know a person? By communicating with them. By talking and listening.
It's the same with our relationship with God. He talks, we listen. We talk, He listens.
God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to take our place and to die for us. He did this so that we could once again have fellowship with Him. In the book of Hebrews we see that we can have access to God's very presence, "...having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way..." (Hebrews 10:19-20a).

He also wants us to be fulfilled, blessed and successful in the plan that He has established for our lives -- so that we can be a reflection of His love and blessing in the Earth. In Jeremiah 29:11 the Lord makes clear His intentions for you and I, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."
We see in Genesis 3:8a, "...they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day..." This is how God wants to relate to us today as well. It is God's desire to walk with and to communicate with His children.
He wants to talk to us. And He wants us to listen and talk to Him, too.
There is more good news -- we can hear His voice. The Bible, God's love letter to mankind, makes it clear that we were created to have two-way communication with Him. Jesus tells us in John 10:27, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."
While in college I interned in video production at a local public television station. One day the producer and I traveled to a video shoot with a young woman who worked in the donor relations department. Along the way she told us that, at the urging of her father, she had recently purchased a flat with two apartments. Still uncomfortable with the big step she had just taken she thought out loud, "How do you know if you are making the right decisions in life?" That's the question of the ages, isn't it?

The writer of Proverbs describes the way that our thoughts and intentions line up with God's will when we submit ourselves fully to the Lord. "Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed" (Proverbs 16:3 Amplified Bible).
The Lord manifests Himself to us and through us as we humbly seek Him. The familiar passage in Proverbs 3 makes it even more plain. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6).
My friend pointed out in his e-mail to me that there are three different voices that we can hear -- and he is absolutely correct. Now that we know we can hear God's voice, we need to be alerted to the fact that there are other voices whispering into our ears as well. In fact, there are three voices that we can hear -- the voice of God, the voice of our own fleshly desires, and the voice of the Devil. But Jesus tells us in John 10:4b and 5, "...and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."
The writer of Hebrews tells us that we can train our ear to recognize the voice of God above all the noise. "But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" (Hebrews 5:14). It is by practicing, by reason of use, that we are able to discern whether what we hear is of God, our flesh, or the Devil.
Isaiah 30:21 says, "Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left."
So God will speak, and you can hear His voice, but you must be careful -- especially when you are a young Christian -- that you objectively confirm that you are following the Holy Spirit and not another voice. Our own flesh can scream pretty loud (especially when we are under pressure, or we want something very badly). And the Devil is the father of lies -- he is the great deceiver.
So how can we know whether we're hearing the voice of God? The Bible gives us seven basic keys or filters through which every possible leading should be judged. We are to carefully examine the thoughts and intentions of our hearts -- and the words of godly people who may have influence on us by their words and actions -- through the use of these seven keys:

• Scripture: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (II Timothy 3:16-17).
   
• The Holy Spirit speaking to our heart: "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying, 'know the Lord,' for all will know Me, from the least to the greatest of them" (Hebrews 8:10-11).
  
• The Prophetic (word of knowledge, word of wisdom, personal prophecy): "Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good" (I Thessalonians 5:19-21).
   
• Godly counsel: "Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is safety" (Proverbs 11:14).
  
• Confirmation: "By the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed" (Matthew 18:16).
  
• The peace of God: "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful" (Colossians 3:15).
  
• Circumstances/Timing: "After these things he (Paul) left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working; for by trade they were tent-makers" (Acts 18:1-3 -- this relationship between Paul, Aquila and Priscilla -- which happened as a result of circumstances -- became one of the most important strategic partnerships in the book of Acts).

Many times the Lord will confirm His direction to us through three, four or more of these keys -- especially when we are in the process of making an important, life-changing decision.
The bottom line, as Pat Robertson has said for years, is that big decisions take big prayer. In other words, as we humble ourselves before the Lord, seek His guidance in our lives, the Good Shepherd will be faithful to lead us, "…in paths of righteousness for His name's sake" (Psalm 23:3).
In the coming weeks we'll look more closely at these seven keys that God has given to help us discern whether what we are sensing is of God, our flesh or the Devil. Because God loves us and wants us to relate to Him, He has given us these clear principles in the Bible to guide us.
The New Testament talks of the early disciples -- people like Paul, Aquila and Priscilla -- as people who heard the voice of God. My friend who wrote the e-mail will be happy to know that this was the report made of them:
"These who have turned the world upside down have come here too" (Acts 17:6b).
Yes, my friend, you can hear and know the voice of God. And because of this the world is changing -- more than perhaps you've heard.

Written by Craig von Buseck
 Craig von Buseck is a writer and author of several books, including Nobody Knows: The Forgotten Story of One of the Most Influential Figures in American Music. He holds a Doctor of Ministry and an MA in Religious Journalism from Regent University. Craig has extensive ministry and speaking experience. He travels often to minister in churches and speak at writers conferences and professional events.

ISIS Crucifies man for not denying Christ in Libya

                                              
Islamic State militants in Libya crucified a man after suspicions arose that he is a christian. He was killed him in front of kids.
 The man refused to deny his faith and so the militants brutally beats him up and hung the man on a cross and he was left out for public viewing. A photo circulated last week showing another event where three brothers were being crucified in the coastal town of Derna, Libya, after they refused to turn over their brother who was accused of supporting the Libyan Army.
 The Islamic State has been attempting to coerce the town’s residents into joining their military ranks as part of their efforts to overtake the Libyan National Army. ISIS has advertised an upcoming lecture entitled “The Start of the End” in town, in order to convince non-believers to submit to their cause and join their ranks. Those who do not pledge allegiance to the group will face death.