Asean Summit, Malaysia on Nov 21, 1015

Asean Summit, Malaysia  on Nov 21, 1015
Asean Establishes Landmark Economic and Security Bloc
"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - Text version)

“….. Here is the prediction: China will turn North Korea loose soon. The alliance will dissolve, or become stale. There will be political upheaval in China. Not a coup and not a revolution. Within the inner circles of that which you call Chinese politics, there will be a re-evaluation of goals and monetary policy. Eventually, you will see a break with North Korea, allowing still another dictator to fall and unification to occur with the south. ….”

“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.

They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."
"Update on Current Events" – Jul 23, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: The Humanization of God, Gaia, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Benevolent Design, Financial Institutes (Recession, System to Change ...), Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Nuclear Power Revealed, Geothermal Power, Hydro Power, Drinking Water from Seawater, No need for Oil as Much, Middle East in Peace, Persia/Iran Uprising, Muhammad, Israel, DNA, Two Dictators to fall soon, Africa, China, (Old) Souls, Species to go, Whales to Humans, Global Unity,..... etc.)
(Subjects: Who/What is Kryon ?, Egypt Uprising, Iran/Persia Uprising, Peace in Middle East without Israel actively involved, Muhammad, "Conceptual" Youth Revolution, "Conceptual" Managed Business, Internet, Social Media, News Media, Google, Bankers, Global Unity,..... etc.)









North Korean defector criticises China in rare Beijing talk

North Korean defector criticises China in rare Beijing talk
North Korean defector and activist Hyeonseo Lee, who lives in South Korea, poses as she presents her book 'The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story' in Beijing on March 26, 2016 (AFP Photo/Fred Dufour)

US under fire in global press freedom report

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …

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Saturday, April 30, 2011

Hamas leader says administration ready to quit for unity

Antara News, Sat, April 30 2011

Related News

Moscow (ANTARA News/RIA Novosti-OANA) - Hamas leader in power of the Gaza Strip said on Saturday that the movement`s government is ready to resign as part of a Palestinian national reconciliation.

On Wednesday, the rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah reached understanding to set up a transitional government and hold elections. The reconciliation is expected this week.

"I am prepared to tender my resignation as part of the reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah,`` Ismail Haniya said.

"This agreement is very important and should boost efforts to end the divisions and encourage unity among Palestinians," he added.

According to the agreement, Hamas and Fatah will form a technocratic government to unify national institutions in Gaza and the West Bank and prepare for national elections within a year.

In 2007, Hamas ousted Fatah party and took over Gaza. Since then, the Fatah-led Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has been confined to the West Bank.

Editor: Priyambodo RH

Related Articles:

"The New Paradigm of Reality" Part I/II – Feb 12, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Egypt Uprising, Iran/Persia Uprising, Peace in Middle East without Israel actively involved, Muhammad, "Conceptual" Youth Revolution, "Conceptual" (without a manager hierarchy) managed Businesses, Internet, Social Media, News Media, Google, Bankers, Global Unity,..... etc.)

Ten nations urge new push for non-proliferation

Deutsche Welle, 30.04.2011

Group seeks to ban all fissile
material for nuclear weapons
The foreign ministers of ten countries have called for fresh efforts by the international community to halt the spread of nuclear weapons and materials at a meeting in Germany.

At talks in Berlin on Saturday, hosted by German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, ten nations agreed to renew their efforts to speed up nuclear disarmament.

"We encourage all countries who may still be hesitant to follow our example," Westerwelle said.

The German foreign minister said that the participants from five continents saw themselves as the vanguard of a new global disarmament effort.

"We want to make this young decade a decade of disarmament," he said.

A joint statement released after the meeting said that the goal of the initiative was to "work toward achieving nuclear disarmament and strengthening the international non-proliferation regime."

Seeking nuclear disarmament

Westerwelle told journalists that the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the international Nuclear Test Ban Treaty should be adopted by all countries, adding that the production and mining of all fissile material for nuclear weapons should be banned internationally. He called for resuscitating the Geneva Disarmament Convention.

Attending the talks with Germany were Japan, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Chile, Poland, Mexico, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

Last year, these countries formed the group Friends of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Author: Gregg Benzow (dpa,AP)
Editor: Kyle James

India's new laws cause a storm in education and government

RNW, 29 April 2011, by Johan van Slooten 

(Photo by Deshgujarat)

Two bills that were introduced recently by the Indian government are causing chaos in education and government circles.

The Right to Information Act helps people in the struggle against corruption while the Right to Education Bill enables more poor children to go to school. But not everybody is happy with how the bills work.

Both bills have been implemented to cut India’s crippling corruption and inequality. But, while both are seen as revolutionary steps by the government, they are proving difficult to implement in day-to-day life.

Impact

Dutchman Sebastian Grüschke works as a GP in the northern city of Dehradun. On Wereldnet, a programme produced by Radio Netherlands Worldwide’s Dutch department, he said that the Right to Information Act has had an overwhelming impact on authorities.

“It only costs 10 Rupees to hand in a request of any kind to a government organisation and they’re obliged to reply within 30 days. If they don’t, they can be taken to court.”

He says the law has already proven to be an effective way of getting things done. There are NGOs, for instance, which can now retrieve more funds than before.

Demand

“There’s an organisation called Mountain Children, which reaches out to poor children in rural areas who don’t have sufficient access to education. There are hardly any teachers or school books available, while there are sufficient funds being held by the authorities. Mountain Children has now taught the children to use the law and to demand from the local government that these budgets be made available.”

And, Mr Grüschke adds that the results were incredibly fast.

“Within a month, the school had obtained new books and teachers. Before the law, this money would simply be held back by corrupt government authorities.”

Apprehensive

As a GP working for a semi-governmental health facility, Mr Grüschke has had to deal with the new Right to Information Act as well. “This was an ex-husband of one of our colleagues who wanted to know how much she earned, as he needed that information for the alimony,” Mr Grüschke says. “But such a private matter is obviously not what this Act is meant for. But authorities are definitely apprehensive about the new law.”

Poor children in public schools?

The new Right to Education Bill has also had a huge impact in India. The law stipulates that education is mandatory for every child between the ages of 6 and 14, and the government must pay for those who can’t afford it.

“What makes this bill quite revolutionary is that it’s now obligatory for private schools to accept children from poor classes, even if their parents can’t pay for it. This is to relieve the public school system which is already bursting at the seams.”

Culture clash

“It’s a real culture clash in India. The private schools are obviously not very happy with it, as this could mean that the child of rich parents could be sitting next to a poor shoemaker’s son.”

Some private schools have threatened legal action, saying the government can’t interfere with them because they are private. Other schools have come up with a compromise: they will accept poor children, but they’ll be separated from the other pupils.

Mr Grüschke has his doubts whether this new law will really work, but he says: “It has already put the Indian educational system on its head and that’s unheard of here.”

RI invites China to promote reform of international organizations

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 04/30/2011

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Marty Natalegawa says that Indonesia invites China to help promote a reformation in international organizations.

Marty said Saturday in Jakarta that a reformation in international bodies, including the United Nations, would influence the world constellation in the years ahead.

“I believe the Chinese government has the same thoughts,” he said, as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Marty said that China and Indonesia should campaign together for the rights of developing countries. “Indonesia looks forward to China’s views in bilateral relations, as well as their concerns on global issues,” he said.

The two countries share the same need to maintain a peaceful and stable situation in the Asia-Pacific region. “Asia-Pacific nations can develop their countries only if the situation is secure and stable,” he said.

Marty later said that the new nation-to-nation partnership should be based on the win-win solution principle, instead of a zero sum game.


Related Article:

China to Foster Cooperation With Asean

Jakarta Globe, April 30, 2011


Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono at a press conference shortly after their meeting on Friday. (EPA Photo)

Related articles

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao saaid Saturday Beijing wants to boost cooperation in trade and security with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

In a policy speech on the last day of a three-day visit to Indonesia, the current chair of Asean and its biggest member, Wen extolled the virtues of an Asean-China free trade agreement (FTA) that came into effect in January.

“China is committed to deepening practical cooperation with Asean,” Wen said.

“Last year, China became Asean’s biggest trading partner. We launched the largest FTA among developing countries and we have set the target of $500 billion in two-way trade by 2015,” he said.

China will increase capacity building and human resources training to speed up development in the poorest Asean members, he said.

“China stands ready to work with Asean to maintain regional security and stability,” he said.

Indonesian officials say Jakarta wants to renegotiate its part of the landmark free trade pact to protect vulnerable sectors from competition with Chinese manufacturers.

On Friday, Wen held talks with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and announced billions of dollars in loans for badly needed infrastructure projects in the archipelago.

AFP
Related Article:

Indonesia, Taiwan sign agreement on migrant protections

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 04/30/2011

The National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Overseas Labor (BNP2TKI), the Indonesian Trade and Economy Office (KDEI) in Taiwan and the Taiwan Economic Trade Office (TETO) have signed an agreement to increase protection for Indonesian migrant workers in the country.

BNP2TKI director for preparation and departures Arifin Purba said Saturday that Indonesian migrant workers in Taiwan were the biggest population of migrant workers in the country, with 161,000 workers. Most of the workers work as domestic helpers or old people helpers.

“As Indonesia has the biggest number of overseas workers in Taiwan, the Taiwanese government through the TETO has agreed to give more protection to our workers,” he said as quoted by antaranews.com.

Under the agreement, which was reached during the annual meeting of the KDEI with the TETO in Taiwan last Friday, the Taiwanese government will ensure workers' right including monthly salary, insurance, and overtime pay.

The better protection for Indonesian workers is expected to lower the number of workers with problems. The KDEI reported that 11,180 workers faced deportation due to a range of problems.

Demand for Indonesian migrant workers in Taiwan, Arifin said, has grown bigger from year to year. “Especially as caregivers,” he said. Under the agreement, the Indonesian government agrees to raise the quality of workers in Taiwan.

“We will try to provide better training for future workers to increase their quality,” he said. The board also would provide language training and increase the health' quality of the workers.

China releases prominent human rights lawyer Teng Biao

BBC News, 29 April 2011

Related Stories

The Chinese authorities have released a prominent Chinese human rights lawyer Teng Biao after 70 days in custody.

Rights group said he was freed on Friday afternoon and his wife was quoted as saying that he "is okay".

Mr Teng's release came shortly after China and the US held two-day of talks on human rights issues in Beijing.

But in a separate development, another well-known Chinese human rights lawyer Li Fangping as disappeared, human rights groups said.

His alleged disappearance "the very same day... suggests that security forces are conducting a carefully planned assault on outspoken human rights defenders in a calculated effort to eviscerate China's rights defence movement", Phelim Kine from New York-based Human Rights Watch organisation was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

China has not publicly commented on the reports of Mr Li's disappearance.

The advocacy group China Aid said both Mr Teng and Mr Li were members of the Chinese Christian Rights Defence Association.

Friday's release of Teng followed the talks in between Chinese officials and US Assistant Secretary of State Michael Ponser in Beijing.

Mr Posner told reporters that he had voiced Washington's "deep concerns" about the crackdown on dissidents and human rights activists, following appeals on the internet for mass protests similar to those that have rocked a number of Arab countries.

The organisation Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) says dozens of activists have been taken into police custody or placed under house arrest in recent months.


Related Arfticle:

EU investigates banks over credit default swaps use

BBC News, 29 April 2011

Big Banking

The EU's competition authorities are investigating the activities of nine of the world's biggest banks over the market for credit default swaps (CDS).

The EU probes involve 16 global
banking giants as well as other
linked institutions
CDS's are a form of insurance policy taken out on financial instruments, such as bonds, in case they lose value.

The banks include Barclays, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup.

The probe centres on whether preferential treatment - including special low fees - was given by a clearing house to drum up business.

The other five banks involved are Bank of America, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and UBS.

The EU's anti-trust commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, said in a statement: "CDS's play a useful role for financial markets and for the economy.

"Recent developments have shown, however, that the trading of this asset class suffers a number of inefficiencies that cannot be solved through regulation alone."

The value of CDS - said to be in the region of $28 trillion (£17tn) dwarfs the worth of the instruments they are based on.

As well as providing insurance against a bond going bad, CDS are also used for speculation, with banks and hedge funds trading in CDS to make money without actually owning the underlying bonds.

During the height of the financial crisis there were concerns that speculation in CDS for bonds was driving down prices and fuelling market panic.

The European Commission said it is investigating whether the nine big investment banks received special treatment from the clearing house ICE Clear Europe, and were therefore only giving their business to ICE.

The Commission said: "The effects of these agreements could be that other clearing houses have difficulties successfully entering the market and that other CDS players have no real choice where to clear their transactions."

The nine banks are shareholders in ICE's US clearing arm.

Preferential treatment?

In a separate case, the Commission said it was investigating whether those nine banks - and the seven others that act as dealers in the CDS market - give essential information on pricing and other daily activities only to Markit Group Ltd, which is the leading financial data provider for that market.

Such preferential treatment "could be the consequence of collusion between them or an abuse of a possible collective dominance" and could lock other data providers out of the CDS business, the Commission said.

Seven other firms are targeted in this probe: BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Wells Fargo, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale.

All 16 banks, which control around 90% of the market whereby banks deal with each other, are shareholders of Markit.

Markit holds a near monopoly on financial data, which the EU says could leave smaller competitors with worse information on pricing.

Market players, however, insist that there is no conclusive proof of such a link.

Markit said Friday it "does not believe it has engaged in any inappropriate conduct and looks forward to demonstrating that to the Commission".

A spokeswoman for IntercontinentalExchange said the company would cooperate with the investigation.

Related Articles:

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Sri Lanka website LankaeNews is suspended

BBC News, 28 April 2011

Related Stories

A magistrate's court in Sri Lanka has suspended the operation of the pro-opposition LankaeNews website.

Mr Wijesooriya is the latest
LankaeNews reporter to be arrested
The court ordered the closure because a contempt case was still pending against journalist Shantha Wijesooriya, who has been remanded in custody until 12 May.

The case relates to an article about a magistrate, which was regarded as slanderous.

The court ordered Sri Lanka's telecoms regulator to suspend the website until court proceedings are over.

The website published three apologies before Mr Wijesooriya was arrested on Monday.

The site is currently not available inside Sri Lanka but is accessible outside of the country.

LankaeNews has been facing attacks, threats and intimidation since the presidential election of January 2010.

Its editor has been in exile since then.

In January 2011 the website's premises came under arson attack and two months later its news editor Bennett Rupasinghe was arrested for allegedly threatening a suspect in the arson attack.

Mr Rupasinghe was later released on bail.

Correspondents say that the recent publication of a report by a UN panel - which said that government forces were responsible for killing tens of thousands of civilians in the final stages of the war against Tamil Tiger rebels, means that it is likely there will be a significant hardening of the already tough approach of the authorities towards freedom of speech.

Lesbians in Thailand Push Cultural Boundaries

Jakarta Globe, Jocelyn Gecker, April 28, 2011

Khemanut Ronarut, editor in chief of Tom Act, a lesbian fashion and lifestyle
magazine, said she was trying to open people’s minds though the publication.
The first issue of the magazine in December 2007 sold about 1,000 copies.
It now prints 50,000 copies per issue. (AP Photo)

Related articles

When she initially pitched the idea for a movie about lesbians, it was quickly shot down. Producers called the premise distasteful and said movie viewers would find the storyline disgusting.

After scrounging together funds for five years, director Saratsawadee Wongsomphet released “Yes or No” in Thailand on an independent label.

The film’s recent success in outwardly tolerant but traditional-minded Thailand is part of a growing acceptance of lesbians. These emboldened lesbians, however, are not using Western-style activism. They are quietly pushing boundaries to find space for their lifestyle, harnessing pop culture and introducing a Thai variation of Lesbian chic.

“It would have been risky to make this movie five years ago,” Saratsawadee said about her directorial debut. “Now people dare to express more.”

Women in this Southeast Asian country are expected to be gentle, polite, even demure, and gay women in Thailand traditionally have been more discreet than gay men, but that is visibly changing.

Thai newsstands now carry Tom Act, the country’s first lesbian lifestyle magazine. A popular new clothing store in Bangkok touts itself as the first for tomboys, the Thai term for the more conspicuous members of the lesbian community who act and dress like men.

Pop charts include hit singles from Thailand’s first openly gay female singer, a 22-year-old known as Zee who is typically described as handsome.

Thailand’s freewheeling, anything-goes reputation has served its tourism industry well, but Thai society is far more conservative than its tourist sex shows and transgender beauty pageants suggest.

Movies are censored for morality, women are often too modest to wear bathing suits on the beach, abortion is illegal and the government regularly censors Web sites deemed immoral. When it comes to homosexuality, Thailand is ambivalent but tolerant. Bangkok is known as gay-friendly but politicians and high-profile public figures stick to an unstated “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy of keeping their homosexuality hidden.

Concerns about offending Thai society prompted Saratsawadee to delicately depict the sole love scene between her leading ladies, a pair of college roommates, with a brief, fully clothed kiss.

“I was afraid nobody would want to see it,” said the 38-year-old, who is gay. “I was afraid it would be censored, or would never be shown. I was afraid people would say it sends a bad message.”

Saratsawadee never anticipated a nationwide release for her film, which hit screens in December to considerable media hype and modest but profitable box office returns. Then came the 40,000-member Facebook fan club, the viewers who thanked her for telling their life story. Last month, she was honored with a Best Director nomination at the Thai equivalent of the Oscars.

“The bubble is bursting,” said Anjana Suvarnananda, 53, who co-founded Thailand’s first and most outspoken lesbian activist group in the 1980s. “These young people are just doing their own thing and living their lives oblivious to discrimination — so that means they are not facing very much. It’s a very different picture from when I was growing up.”

Another emblem of changing times is the glossy, 200-page Tom Act, a lesbian fashion and lifestyle magazine that creates “a space for us to express ourselves,” said editor in chief Khemanut Ronarut. She credits international fashion trends that make it cool to look androgynous with easing public acceptance of gay women in Thailand.

“Normally, we choose to be quiet. But by doing this magazine, I’m taking a risk,” she said. The first issue in December 2007 sold about 1,000 copies. It now prints 50,000 copies per issue. “What makes a difference is people like me, trying to open people’s minds. Acceptance will exist when people try to introduce new ideas.”

Petite, spiky-haired designer Supamas Sirimoungkalavanit got the idea of making man-tailored clothes for tomboys after getting fed up with shopping in the men’s department.

She launched her Tom Chic brand online in 2008 and opened a Bangkok boutique in January. Her best-selling item is the breast-binding tom tank, designed to flatten female curves. She sells about 10,000 a month with the help of two dozen distributors nationwide.

“When we first opened, some men would walk past and make snide comments,” said 30-year-old Supamas. “Now there are copycat brands online.”

The Internet has nurtured virtual communities in online forums that build confidence and camaraderie and are now spilling over into the real world, said the activist Anjana, who co-founded the lesbian group Anjaree in 1986 with three other women. She said her Western-style approach to activism ruffled Thai society, which values non-confrontational behavior, and never sparked a civil rights-like movement for gay rights.

“These young people aren’t making a political statement,” she said. “They are not rocking the boat, not directly challenging heterosexual norms, but they are making gentle changes that might one day lead to more.”

On a recent evening at Zeta, one of Bangkok’s few lesbian bars, a patron marveled at the surge of lesbian icons in mainstream pop culture.

“A decade ago, you would never have seen a movie about lesbians in Thailand,” said 24-year-old Sarunkorn Choksiripureenont, a drummer in an all-lesbian band. “It’s becoming fashionable now. You see lesbians everywhere.”

Associated Press
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About the Challenges of Being a Gay Man – Oct 23, 2010 (Saint Germain channeled by Alexandra Mahlimay and Dan Bennack)

“You see, your Soul and Creator are not concerned with any perspective you have that contradicts the reality of your Divinity – whether this be your gender, your sexual preference, your nationality – or your race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or anything else.”

Thailand, Cambodia Cease-Fire Reached After Week

Jakarta Globe, April 28, 2011

Related articles

Phanom Dongrak, Thailand. Thai and Cambodian military commanders agreed to a cease-fire on Thursday after seven days of artillery duels killed 15 people, Cambodia said. Thailand did not immediately confirm it, but the contested border was quiet most of the day.

A Thai girl resting at an evacuation center after they fled
home following the fighting between Thai and Cambodian
soldiers in Surin province, northeastern Thailand, on
Wednesday. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan said regional commanders from both Southeast Asian nations reached the deal after a 40-minute meeting at the border, agreeing to reopen all checkpoints closed during the fighting. "The news is a good news for every side," Siphan said.

Thai officials could not be reached for comment. The last heard artillery fire boomed across the frontier earlier in the morning and one rocket killed a Thai soldier, bringing the total dead in one week to 15.

The border dispute has forced tens of thousands of people from their homes and stirred nationalist sentiment on both sides. But analysts say domestic politics may also be fueling the conflict, especially in Thailand, where the military that staged a coup in 2006 could be flexing its muscles ahead of elections due in June or July.

Speaking earlier in Cambodia, field commander Col. Suos Sothea said Thursday's fighting had centered again around the ruins of two crumbling stone temples from the Khmer Empire at Ta Moan and Ta Krabey, which have been caught in crossfire since last Friday.

The body of a Thai soldier who died in one rocket attack Thursday was loaded into a helicopter at a hospital in Phanom Dongrak, which was busy with wounded Thai soldiers arriving from the front.

On Wednesday, Cambodian leader Hun Sen accused Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of loving war and provoking the conflict, but said he still wants to talk peace with him at an upcoming regional meeting in Indonesia.

Cambodia employed truck-mounted rocket launchers for the first time Tuesday, in what Hun Sen said was retaliation for Thailand's use of heavy weapons.

Abhisit, meanwhile, said his government is not willing to have a meeting of the two countries' defense ministers unless there is a cease-fire first.

"If they want to talk, the easiest way is to stop the firing," Abhisit told Parliament after visiting injured civilians in Surin province in the northeast.

The conflict involves small swaths of land along the border that have been disputed for more than half a century. Fierce clashes have broken out several times since 2008, when Cambodia's 11th-century Preah Vihear temple was given U.N. World Heritage status over Thailand's objections.

Talks with Cambodia have apparently become a divisive issue within the Thai government, with the military dragging its feet while Abhisit is more conciliatory.

The Thai army has already stymied a plan to station Indonesian military observers along the border. Hun Sen said Wednesday that Cambodia would welcome them on its side of the border regardless of any delays by Thailand.

Indonesia, which currently chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, offered to provide the observers after four days of border fighting in February.

Associated Press

Buddhists remember souls of Japan's tsunami dead victims

The Jakarta Post, Associated Press, Soma, Japan | Thu, 04/28/2011

Buddhist priests are holding ceremonies to mark the 49th day since Japan's massive tsunami - when many devout believe that victims' souls end their restless wandering in limbo.

In the northeastern town of Soma, priests in black and gold robes chanted, burned incense and rang bells Thursday as about 1,000 mourners filled a hall to overflowing, with many standing outside a gate.

Many mourners carried framed photographs of lost loved ones, and wept. Some clutched wooden tablets containing Buddhist names given to dead to help them find their way into their next phase of existence.

Kiyoshi Sakurai says his brother not been found, and the family has been unable to have a proper burial. "But this give us some feeling of closure."

New American Ambassador to Asean a Sign of Growing Ties

Jakarta Globe, Ismira Lutfia, April 27, 2011


US Ambassador to Asean David Lee Carden, left, shaking hands with Asean
Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan at the Asean Secretariat in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Carden on Tuesday officially became the first US representative to the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations, in a move seen as underlining the regional bloc’s growing
importance to the United States. (AFP Photo)

Related articles

David Lee Carden on Tuesday officially became the first US representative to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in a move seen as underlining the regional bloc’s growing importance to the United States.

Carden presented his credentials to Surin Pitsuwan, the Asean secretary general. With the appointment, the United States now has two ambassadors in Jakarta, which hosts the Asean Secretariat. The other is Scot Marciel, the US ambassador to Indonesia.

“It’s wonderful to be here when Indonesia is the chair of Asean, which is going to move forward under Indonesia’s chairmanship and it is doing so now,” Carden told reporters after his meeting with Surin at the Asean Secretariat.

A former attorney, Carden was sworn in as the United States’ representatives to Asean by President Barack Obama on March 29.

“The Asean Charter is something that all of us can expect that Asean will accomplish over the years and I want to do everything that I can help in that regard,” Carden said.

The charter, which was adopted in 2007, lays out the principles of the bloc, and also calls for the establishment of a regional free-trade zone.

In June 2010, the United States became the first non-Asean country to establish a dedicated mission to the regional grouping. It is the second Asean dialogue partner after Japan to send a resident ambassador to Jakarta exclusively to oversee relations with the bloc.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited the Asean Secretariat on her first overseas trip in the position, in February 2009. It was the first time an American secretary of state had visited the secretariat.

“Proactive re-engagement of the US with Asean has reinvigorated Asean-US relations,” Surin said in a statement. “The historic Asean-US leaders’ meetings reflect the US’ recognition of Asean’s growing role in global issues. I am looking forward to working with Ambassador Carden to maintain this momentum.

Danilo Arana Arao, a journalism assistant professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman, told the Jakarta Globe that Asean had to be careful that it benefitted from Carden’s appointment.

“There has to be a concession in such a way that Asean will benefit more because the US has the history of exploiting certain territory just for its own benefit,” Arao said.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Military (TNI) is gearing up for heightened security ahead of the 18th Asean Summit, scheduled to be held in Jakarta on May 4-8.

In an inspection of the forces that will help secure visiting dignitaries during the summit, the TNI’s chief of the general staff, Lt. Gen. Surjo Prabowo, said the security effort would also include the Jakarta Police and canine squads.

In a display of their readiness on Tuesday, soldiers gave a display of riot handling and evacuating dignitaries from high-rise buildings.

“We are organizing drills that might mirror actual situations so that there won’t be any doubts about the readiness of the security forces to take action to protect the VVIPs, even if that involves serving as human shields for them,” Surjo said.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Palestinian rivals Fatah and Hamas 'agree to end rift'

BBC News, 27 April 2011

The Fatah party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas, which governs Gaza, have agreed a reconciliation deal, officials say.

Hamas and Fatah have been bitterly divided
for more than four years
Under the Egyptian-brokered deal, an interim government will be formed and a date fixed for elections.

The factions have been divided for more than four years, with Hamas in power in Gaza and Fatah running the West Bank.

Palestinian and Egyptian spokesmen told news agencies of the deal but a formal announcement has not yet been made.

Thousands of Palestinians protested in Gaza this month, calling for reconciliation.

The protests were inspired by uprisings elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa.

The split between the two groups occurred when violence erupted a year after Hamas won Palestinian elections in 2006.

Tahir al-Nounou, a Hamas government spokesman who was at the meeting in the Egyptian capital Cairo, where the deal was hammered out, told the BBC: "Hamas and Fatah have signed in principle a reconciliation deal in Cairo.

"The final signing will be in a week from now. Cairo will invite Mahmoud Abbas and [Hamas leader] Khalid Meshaal, and representatives from all Palestinian factions, to attend the signing."

Mr Nounou said all disagreements had been overcome.

The BBC's Jonathan Head in Cairo says that if the deal goes ahead, it will end five years of bitter hostility between the two sides and remove a significant barrier to the Palestinian campaign for statehood.

But he says there are many difficult issues to resolve - such as how the two factions will share security, how Gaza and the West Bank, separated by Israeli territory, will be governed, and whether the international donors will be willing to recognise Hamas.


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"The New Paradigm of Reality" Part I/II – Feb 12, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)
(Subjects: Egypt Uprising, Iran/Persia Uprising, Peace in Middle East without Israel actively involved, Muhammad, "Conceptual" Youth Revolution, "Conceptual" (without a manager hierarchy) managed Businesses, Internet, Social Media, News Media, Google, Bankers, Global Unity,..... etc.)