"The New Paradigm of Reality" Part I/II – Feb 12, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)

(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.)

(Live Kryon Channelings was given 7 times within the United Nations building.)

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China's Xi hails 'new era' of ties with Central Asia at summit

MSN – AFP, 18 May 2023 

Map showing Central Asia countries. China's President Xi Jinping will host a two-day
summit with the leaders of five Central Asian leaders in Xi'an starting May 18. Laurence CHU

Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed a "new era" of ties with Central Asia on Thursday, kicking off a summit Beijing hopes will deepen relations with the strategically vital region. 

Held in the ancient Chinese city of Xi'an, the historic eastern end of the Silk Road that linked China to Europe through Central Asia, Beijing has said this week's meeting is of "milestone significance".

Chinese President Xi Jinping is hosting a summit with the leaders of five Central
Asian states as he seeks to build China's influence in the region. FLORENCE LO

And in a speech to the region's leaders at a welcoming banquet Thursday evening, Xi said strengthening ties was a "strategic choice". 

"I am confident that with our joint efforts, tomorrow's summit will be a full success and will herald a new era of China-Central Asia relations," Xi was quoted as saying in a readout of the speech seen by AFP. 

The leaders of five Central Asian states arrive for the welcoming ceremony of
a summit being hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping. © FLORENCE LO

"Join us in opening up a bright future of China-Central Asia cooperation," he said. 

This week's meeting is the first of its kind since the establishment of formal relations 31 years ago. 

Beijing says trade with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan reached $70 billion in 2022 and expanded 22 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023. 

Central Asia has also become key to China's trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, a defining geopolitical project for Xi, with Beijing keen to restart cooperation and fill the vacuum left in former Soviet states by Russia's war in Ukraine.

China, the world's second-largest energy consumer, has invested billions of dollars to tap natural gas reserves in Central Asia, while rail links connecting China to Europe criss-cross the region. 

Analysts told AFP this week's summit is likely to see efforts to reach agreements to further expand that vast network, including a long-stalled $6 billion China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway and an expansion of the Central Asia-to-China gas pipeline. 

'Global economic leadership' 

Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev hailed the "unique scope" of that project at a meeting with Xi ahead of the summit. 

Xi also told Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov in talks on Thursday that China was "willing to work with Kyrgyzstan to build a community of good neighborliness, friendship, shared prosperity, and a shared future". 

He then met with the leaders of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, lauding the close ties between them and pledging to expand economic and cultural exchanges. 

"Your policies will ensure the development and further prosperity of a modern socialist state, the strengthening of the authority and the global economic leadership of the country in the nearest future," Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev told Xi. 

Xi and Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan greeted the heads of state at a grand welcoming ceremony in the evening, posing for a group photo in front of an old-style Chinese building lit by red lanterns. 

Dozens of dancers then performed a musical show inspired by the Tang Dynasty, when relations between China and Central Asia were considered very strong. 

A media event will be held on Friday morning, expected to be attended by all six presidents, at which a joint statement is likely to be released. 

Growing influence 

This week's summit also comes as Beijing works to replace Russia as Central Asian nations' preferred partner -- and as Xi positions himself as a global statesman keen to expand China's reach far beyond its borders. 

"Xi will position himself as a leader that can promote global development and peace," Zhiqun Zhu, a Professor of International Relations and Political Science at Bucknell University, told AFP. 

The summit also coincides with a meeting of the G7 in Hiroshima that will likely focus on efforts to "push back China's growing influence around the world", Zhu said. 

"The diplomatic and strategic significance cannot be underestimated," he said.

ASEAN leaders say 'deeply concerned' about Myanmar violence

Yahoo – AFP, Martin Abbugao and Allison Jackson, May 10, 2023 

The turmoil in junta-ruled Myanmar has dominated talks at the ASEAN
summit in Indonesia

Southeast Asian nations said Wednesday they are "deeply concerned" about the violence ravaging Myanmar, and condemned a recent attack on a convoy of diplomats delivering humanitarian aid in the country. 

Turmoil in junta-ruled Myanmar has dominated talks at this week's Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Indonesia, as the regional bloc faces criticism for its perceived inaction. 

ASEAN has led diplomatic attempts to resolve the festering crisis, but its efforts so far have failed to stem the bloodshed unleashed by a military coup in 2021. 

"We were deeply concerned with ongoing violence in Myanmar and urged the immediate cessation of all forms of violence and the use of force to create a conducive environment for the safe and timely delivery of humanitarian assistance and inclusive national dialogues," ASEAN leaders said in a statement. 

The junta has ignored international criticism and refused to engage with its opponents, which include ousted lawmakers, anti-coup "People's Defence Forces" and armed ethnic minority groups. 

An air strike on a village in a rebel stronghold last month that reportedly killed about 170 people sparked global condemnation and worsened the junta's isolation. 

Pressure on the regional bloc increased Sunday after a convoy of vehicles carrying diplomats and officials coordinating ASEAN humanitarian relief in Myanmar came under fire. 

Singapore and Indonesia said earlier that staff from their embassies in Myanmar were in the vehicles that came under fire in eastern Shan State but were unharmed. 

"We condemned the attack and underlined that the perpetrators must be held accountable," ASEAN leaders said in their statement. 

Addressing the summit Wednesday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said he was "confident" the 10-member bloc could deal with growing global challenges if its members were united. 

"With unity, ASEAN will be able to play a central role in bringing peace and growth," Widodo said through a translator as he opened the leaders' session of the summit. 

Low expectations 

Foreign ministers and national leaders meeting on the Indonesian island of Flores are trying to kickstart a five-point plan agreed upon with Myanmar two years ago after mediation attempts to end the violence failed. 

Myanmar remains an ASEAN member but has been barred from top-level summits due to the junta's failure to implement the peace plan. 

Diplomatic sources told AFP that the foreign ministers of some countries, which they did not name, had suggested eventually inviting back the junta, citing "Myanmar fatigue". 

Jakarta's chairmanship of the bloc this year had raised hopes ASEAN could push for a peaceful solution, using its economic weight as well as its diplomatic experience. 

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said Friday that her country was using "quiet diplomacy" to speak with all sides of the Myanmar conflict and spur renewed peace efforts. 

But Indonesia was running out of time to achieve a breakthrough, said Lina Alexandra, an analyst at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta. 

After the next leaders' summit in September, Alexandra added, Indonesia will hand the bloc's influential chairmanship to communist-ruled Laos, which could bring Myanmar back "into the fold" and allow the junta to attend ASEAN summits. 

"It is time for Indonesia to show that it can do what it should do," she said. 

ASEAN's charter principles of consensus and non-interference have hamstrung its ability to stop the violence in Myanmar, which critics say poses an existential threat to the bloc. 

Divisions among its members over Myanmar and other issues, including China's growing assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea, have undermined the bloc. 

On Wednesday, diplomats were fine-tuning an implementation plan for the peace process that would be announced by their leaders on Thursday. 

The latest draft of the end-of-summit statement seen by AFP has left the paragraph on Myanmar open, reflecting diplomatic difficulties over the issue. 

Expectations for progress were low. 

"I don't think that there's going to be very much there that will surprise people," said Aaron Connelly, an analyst for International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore.

High-level defection: why N. Korean diplomatic family chose freedom

Yahoo – AFP, Kim Il-sung, March 1, 2023 

Born into an elite North Korean family with ties to the ruling dynasty, Oh Hye Son grew up believing she was "special" -- but then she tasted freedom overseas and decided to defect. 

Most of the tens of thousands of North Koreans who have escaped repression and poverty at home make an arduous, high-risk journey across the country's land border with China, where they face arrest and possible deportation. 

Oh's family's defection was less dangerous but equally as wrenching: she convinced her husband Thae Yong Ho, then deputy ambassador at North Korea's London embassy, to give up their privileged place in the Pyongyang regime for the sake of their children. 

"I wanted to never return to North Korea and questioned why North Koreans had to live such a hard life," she told AFP in an interview in Seoul, where she now lives. 

Years of postings across Europe -- in Denmark, Sweden, and Britain -- exposed the family to a different life, she said, adding that when she first arrived in London she thought: "If there is paradise, this must be it". 

Oh, who recently published a Korean-language memoir, was once part of Pyongyang aristocracy -- a descendent of a famed North Korean general who fought alongside leader Kim Il Sung against the Japanese in the 1930s. 

But despite this impeccable pedigree, she still "lived in fear of power", she said. 

"No one except the Kim family had privileges, and as my children learned about freedom and democracy when they lived abroad, I realised there was no future for them in North Korea," she added. 

NHS love 

Oh's eldest son Thae Juhyok had chronic health problems including nephrotic syndrome, a condition which can cause life-threatening kidney problems if not treated. 

Getting that treatment was near impossible in Pyongyang's crumbling health system -- one of the world's worst -- where doctors had to be bribed to do anything and crucial medicines were lacking. 

Oh said it was eye-opening when the family first arrived in London in 2004 and became eligible for the National Health Service. 

Her son was soon able to get free treatment at one of the best medical facilities in the city, she said, adding that her children also went to British schools, where they settled in well. 

"The children grew up so bright in England, in a society that respected them," she said. 

It was a stark contrast to life in Pyongyang, to which they returned in 2008 after her husband's first London posting ended. 

Juhyok attended the Pyongyang Medical University, but instead of studying he was put to work on a construction site hauling cement, Oh said. 

North Korea is beset by labour shortages across economic sectors and it is common for the government to order students, even schoolchildren, to do manual labour as a demonstration of loyalty. 

If one fails to comply, the government reportedly withholds food rations or imposes taxes, according to a 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report published by the US State Department. 

As her overseas-raised children began questioning the corruption and injustice they observed in North Korea, Oh realised it would be impossible for them to fully integrate into Pyongyang society. 

"They had completely different values," she said. 

"It was then that I began thinking that if I ever had a chance to go overseas again, I will not return." 

Escape 

Oh's chance came when her husband was again posted to London as the deputy ambassador, and she convinced him to defect as she did not want to be "resented by her children in the future". 

She had hoped the North Korean regime would collapse after the death of Kim Jong Il, the father and predecessor of current leader Kim Jong Un, and was crushed when his son emerged as the third generation of Kims to rule. 

"In North Korea, you existed -- from morning to night -- for the sake of the Kim family," Oh said. 

Thae became the first defector to be elected to South Korea's parliament, where he is now a high-profile lawmaker for the conservative People Power Party. 

Oh loves her new life in Seoul, but is haunted by thoughts of her mother and siblings left behind in North Korea, which is known to punish defectors' family members. 

She can't check in with them: civilian contact is banned between the two Koreas, although some defectors have used intermediaries to smuggle Chinese mobile phones across the border. 

Oh has not managed to contact her family, but she once glimpsed her brother-in-law when he was part of an official North Korean delegation that visited Seoul in 2018 during a rare bout of diplomacy. 

It gave her hope that her relatives had not been purged by the Kim regime as a result of her family's escape. 

"Will they resent me? Will they envy me? Or will they silently cheer for me?" she said, wiping away tears.

Concern mounts for Iranian climber who competed without hijab

Yahoo – AFP, Stuart Williams, October 18, 2022 

Alarm grew on Tuesday over the wellbeing of Iranian sports climber Elnaz Rekabi after she competed at an event in South Korea without a hijab in what some saw as a gesture of solidarity with the women-led protests at home. 

Rekabi, 33, in her first comment since the event on Sunday apologised on Instagram for the "concerns" caused and insisted that her bare-headed appearance had been "unintentional". 

She had come fourth representing Iran in the boulder and lead combined event at the Asian Championships in Seoul. 

In the initial bouldering discipline her head was covered with a bandana but in the later lead climbing, scaling a high wall with a rope, she wore only a headband, the stream posted by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) showed. 

This was in breach of the Islamic republic's mandatory dress rules of compulsory headscarf for women which also apply to all female athletes, even when competing abroad. 

The gesture came one month into protests in Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini, arrested by Tehran police for allegedly violating the dress rules, which have transformed into a movement against the obligatory hijab and the Islamic republic itself. 

Supporters of the protests on social media described Rekabi as a "hero", posting images of her climbing up the letters of the protest slogan "Woman. Life. Freedom." 

Nothing had been heard since the event from Rekabi until a story was published Tuesday morning on her Instagram account where she has over 200,000 followers. 

"I firstly apologise for all the concerns I have caused," the statement said. 

Due to the timing and sudden call to begin the climb "my hijab unintentionally became problematic", it said. 

"I am currently on my way back to Iran alongside the team based on the pre-scheduled timetable," it added. 

Pressure in Seoul

However, there was alarm over under what circumstances the statement had emerged after unconfirmed reports suggested she had been pressured by Iranian officials in South Korea. 

BBC Persian quoted an unnamed source as saying that friends had been unable to contact her and the team had left their hotel on Seoul on Monday, earlier than the scheduled departure date of Wednesday. 

It said her mobile phone and passport had been taken from her. 

Meanwhile news website Iran Wire reported that the head of Iran's climbing federation had "tricked" her into entering the Iranian embassy in Seoul and that she would then be taken directly to the airport. 

It said the federation chief had promised her safe passage to Iran if she handed over her phone and passport. 

The Iranian embassy in Seoul, however, issued a statement to AFP denying "all the fake, false news and disinformation regarding" her situation and adding Rekabi had left South Korea along with her teammates on Tuesday.

 The spokesperson for the UN office of the high commissioner for human rights, Ravina Shamdasani, said the UN was "aware" of the case and concerns were being raised with the Iranian authorities. 

"Women should never be prosecuted for what they wear. They should never be subjected to violations such as arbitrary detention or any kind of violence with regards to what they wear," she said in Geneva. 

"We will be following this case very closely." 

Taboo-breaking

Rekabi is believed to be the second Iranian woman to have appeared in competition without a headscarf after boxer Sadaf Khadem appeared bare-headed in a bout in France in 2019. Khadem did not return to Iran and now lives in exile in France. 

Sport has become a hugely sensitive arena during the protests, with several prominent Iranian female athletes expressing support for women's rights. 

Famous footballers have also been caught up in the crackdown with former international player Hossein Mahini arrested and the world's ex-top scorer Ali Daei having his passport confiscated. Daei's document was returned while Mahini was reportedly freed on bail. 

Iran's Fars news agency, which reflects hardline views, published an editorial Tuesday critical of Rekabi but avoided mentioning her by name. 

It asked why "Western, Zionist and Saudi" media had not paid attention to victories by Iranian women wearing headscarves in the last days in athletics and weightlifting but instead "highlighted the performance of a girl with unconventional behaviour". 

Rights groups have long accused Iran of pressuring people deemed to have violated its laws into so-called confessions either on television or social media.

Amanpour says Iran president interview scrapped over headscarf demand

Yahoo – AFP, Ebrahim Raisi, September 22, 2022 

Veteran journalist Christiane Amanpour said Thursday that an interview with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was scrapped after he insisted she wear a headscarf, the focus of major protests in the cleric-run state. 

Amanpour, the chief international anchor of CNN who also has a show on US public broadcaster PBS, said she was ready for the interview Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly when an aide insisted she cover her hair. 

"I politely declined. We are in New York, where there is no law or tradition regarding headscarves," Amanpour, who was born in Britain to an Iranian father, wrote on Twitter. 

"I pointed out that no previous Iranian president has required this when I have interviewed them outside Iran," she said. 

"I said that I couldn't agree to this unprecedented and unexpected condition." 

She posted a picture of herself -- without a headscarf -- sitting in front of an empty chair where Raisi would have been. 

An aide to Raisi, a hardline cleric, told Amanpour that he was insisting on a headscarf because of "the situation in Iran," she said. 

Iran has been swept by nearly a week of protests since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after being arrested by morality police that enforce the clerics' rules on how women dress. 

A non-governmental group said that at least 31 Iranian civilians have been killed in the crackdown on the protests, in which women have been seen burning headscarves.

Pope Francis asks North Korea to invite him to visit

Yahoo – AFP, August 26, 2022 

Pope Francis has asked Pyongyang to invite him to North Korea, saying in a televised interview on Friday that he would not turn down a chance to visit and work for peace. 

A potential papal visit to the isolated, nuclear-armed country was previously floated in 2018 when Seoul's former president Moon Jae-in embarked on a round of diplomacy with Pyongyang's leader Kim Jong Un. 

Moon, who is Catholic, said during a summit that Kim told him the pontiff would be "enthusiastically" welcomed. 

Pope Francis replied at the time that he would be willing to go if he received an official invitation. 

But Pyongyang has largely cut off contact with Seoul following the collapse of a second summit between Kim and then-US president Donald Trump in 2019, which has left talks at a standstill. 

"When they invite me -- that is to say, please invite me -- I won't say no," Pope Francis told South Korea's state broadcaster KBS in an interview that aired Friday. 

"The goal is simply fraternity," he added. 

Ties between North and South Korea have been at a frosty low since Seoul inaugurated a hawkish new president, Yoon Suk-yeol, in May. 

Yoon offered aid to the North in return for denuclearisation, but Kim's regime ridiculed the plan. 

The North blamed South Korea for its May outbreak of Covid-19 and earlier this month threatened to "wipe out" Seoul's authorities in retaliation. 

North Korea has conducted a record number of weapons tests this year, including firing an intercontinental ballistic missile at full range for the first time since 2017. 

'Work for peace'

The pope has repeatedly urged Koreans on the peninsula to "work for peace." 

"You, the Korean people, have suffered from the war," he said. 

Religious freedom is enshrined in the North's constitution, but all religious activity is banned outside of state-sanctioned institutions. 

In the early 20th century, before the division of the peninsula, Pyongyang was a regional missionary hub with scores of churches and a thriving Christian community that earned it the title "Jerusalem of the East". 

But Kim Il Sung, the North's late founding leader and the current ruler's grandfather, viewed Christianity as a threat and eradicated it through executions and labour camps. 

The North's regime has since allowed Catholic organisations to run aid projects, but direct relations with the Vatican are non-existent. 

When Pope Francis visited South Korea in 2014, he held a special mass dedicated to the reunification of the two Koreas.

Singapore to repeal colonial-era law against gay sex: PM

France24 – AFP,  21 August 2022 

Gay rights campaigners have long said Singapore's law runs afoul of the
affluent city-state's increasingly modern and vibrant culture Roslan RAHMAN AFP

Singapore (AFP) – Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced Sunday the country will repeal a colonial-era law criminalising gay sex, though he maintained that the government will continue to "uphold" marriage as between a man and a woman. 

Inherited from the British colonial era, section 377A of Singapore's penal code penalises sex between men with up to two years in jail. 

Gay rights campaigners have long said the law runs afoul of the affluent city-state's increasingly modern and vibrant culture, and had mounted two unsuccessful legal challenges. 

During a major policy speech Sunday, Lee said attitudes have shifted since 15 years ago when the government decided the law should remain, although it has not been actively enforced. 

Gay people "are now better accepted" locally, especially among younger Singaporeans, he said. 

"It is timely to ask ourselves again the fundamental question: Should sex between men in private be a criminal offence?" Lee said. 

"The government will repeal section 377A and decriminalise sex between men. I believe this is the right thing to do, and something that most Singaporeans will now accept." 

He added: "This will bring the law into line with current social mores, and I hope, provide some relief to gay Singaporeans". 

However, the repeal of section 377A stops short of full marriage equality. 

Lee said the government recognises that "most Singaporeans do not want the repeal to trigger a drastic shift in our societal norms across the board", including how marriage is defined and how it is taught in schools. 

"Hence, even as we repeal section 377A, we will uphold and safeguard the institution of marriage," he said. 

He stressed that under the law, "only marriages between one man and one woman are recognised in Singapore". 

The government will amend the constitution to protect the existing definition of marriage from being challenged constitutionally in the courts, Lee added. 

'Long road to equality'

The first attempt to overturn the law was rejected in 2014. The Court of Appeals dismissed the second challenge last February. 

Gay rights campaigners on Sunday expressed "relief" over the government's decision. 

"The repeal of Section 377A is the first step on a long road towards full equality for LGBTQ+ people in Singapore," they said in joint statement signed by more than 20 groups. 

But "the true impact of repeal will be determined by how the people of Singapore respond to it, and treat each other, in the days and months to come". 

Ahead of Lee's speech, an alliance of Protestant churches in Singapore had warned Friday against removing the law, which it described as a "marker for many social and moral considerations". 

In 2018, India's Supreme Court decriminalised gay sex by overturning legislation from its own period under British rule -- a decision that spurred campaigners in Singapore to renew their efforts to challenge the law. 

The following year, Taiwan took the unprecedented decision in May to legalise same-sex marriage, becoming the first place in Asia to do so.