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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Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Warily, Saudi shops push boundaries on prayer-time shutdown

Yahoo – AFP, Anuj Chopra, August 27, 2019

Some shops in Riyadh malls are now staying open during prayer times, testing what
could be one of the most sensitive reforms in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia (AFP Photo)

Riyadh (AFP) - With burger patties sizzling over a hot grill, a Saudi eatery did the unthinkable as a muezzin'scall to prayer sent Muslim worshippers scrambling to lower their shutters: it stayed open.

The scene, amid a sweeping reform drive, was a striking contrast to the days when religious police wielded unbridled powers and drove people out of malls and shops to enforce the Islamic world's only mandatory prayer-time shutdown.

Last month Riyadh, keen to stimulate an economy hit by low oil prices, decreed that some businesses can stay open 24 hours a day for an unspecified fee.

But the decision triggered confusion over whether it includes the five daily Islamic prayer times.

Stores in some Riyadh malls saw it as a nod-and-a-wink approach to avert a conservative backlash, testing what could be one of the most sensitive of a string of reforms in the ultra-conservative kingdom.

The burger shop manager showed AFP a text from its Saudi owner, instructing him to stay open: "The (government) decides to allow shops, restaurants and markets to work for 24 hours and the decision includes... prayer times."

It was among a handful of eateries in Riyadh's upscale Kingdom Centre mall openly catering to customers during the sunset Maghrib prayer.

At another leading Riyadh mall, Al-Nakheel, a similar scene played out during the evening Isha prayer.

While many retailers rolled down their shutters, several cafes and restaurants teeming with customers kept their cash registers ringing, while children continued to bounce around in an indoor amusement park.

"Most of the time stores here are (now) open during prayer time," Francis, an Asian coffee shop manager, told AFP.

Two other shop managers said they had paid no government fee to stay open, but were cautiously testing the waters, as officials appeared to be looking the other way.

"Those (workers) who want to pray can pray, those who want to work can work," one of them said, pointing out that many were non-Muslim and had previously been obliged to idle away time.

The other manager, who also requested anonymity due to the issue's sensitivity, said he would still shut shop if confronted by the religious police.

Until three years ago, the religious police elicited widespread fear, chasing men and women out of malls to pray and berating anyone seen mingling with the opposite sex.

But the bearded enforcers of public morality, whose powers have been clipped in recent years, are now largely out of sight.

Retailers could take advantage of "vague government statements to stay open, especially with the relative absence of the religious police that was responsible for enforcing the system," Eman Alhussein, a fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told AFP.

Pillar of Islam

Following the pre-dawn Fajr prayer, shops in the kingdom typically have to close four times daily, with workers often out of action for more than 30 minutes.

But it istoo soon to know the financial impact of easing a restriction that members of the advisory Shura Council say costs the Saudi economy tens of billions of riyals a year.

"The ability to make closing for prayer more optional would increase worker productivity and possibly overall business activity" as the kingdom seeks to boost non-oil revenue and tackle high youth unemployment, said Karen Young from the American Enterprise Institute.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has rolled out a series of reforms over the past two years, including allowing women to drive, reopening cinemas and reining in clerical power as he seeks to project a business-friendly image.

The reaction of arch-conservatives has so far been muted, given his parallel crackdown on dissent.

But in a series of tweets last year, the religious police, officially known as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, said it was forbidden to keep stores open during prayer, calling it "one of the most important pillars of Islam".

'Testing reactions'

Last month, Saudi state media reported that the kingdom will allow round-the-clock trading -- for what some local media said was a fee of up to 100,000 riyals ($27,000).

But nothing was said about prayer times.

Confusion reigned after Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television first tweeted that the decision included prayers, but quickly deleted it after a government official rejected the claim on air.

Saudi Arabia's media ministry and the mall operators did not respond to requests for comment.

Not all shops are staying open, however. One Turkish eatery said it preferred to close during prayers as the vague government ruling offered "no guarantees" it would not be penalised.

Beyond large malls, shops also appear to be observing the shutdown, even as some operate on the quiet after rolling down their shutters.

"Give it time," said Amer, a Saudi pharmacist in his 40s, buying a coffee and dessert at Al-Nakheel during Isha prayer.

"The government is testing reactions. If there is no (backlash) they might make it official."

Friday, August 23, 2019

No Rohingya turn up for repatriation to Myanmar

Yahoo – AFP, Sam JAHAN, August 22, 2019

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees fled to Bangladesh after a
military crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine state (AFP Photo/MUNIR UZ ZAMAN)

Teknaf (Bangladesh) (AFP) - A fresh push to repatriate Rohingya refugees to Myanmar fall flat on Thursday, with no one turning up to hop on five buses and 10 trucks laid on by Bangladesh.

Members of the Muslim minority, 740,000 of whom fled a military offensive in 2017, are refusing to return without guarantees for their safety and a promise that they will at last be given citizenship by Myanmar.

"The Myanmar government raped us, and killed us. So we need security. Without security we will never go back," Rohingya leader Nosima said in a statement.

"We need a real guarantee of citizenship, security and promise of original homelands," said Mohammad Islam, a Rohingya from Camp 26, one of a string of sites in southeast Bangladesh that are home to around a million people.

"So we must talk with the Myanmar government about this before repatriation."

The vehicles provided to transport the first batch out of 3,450 earmarked for return turned up at 9:00 am (0300 GMT) at the camp in Teknaf.

But more than six hours later none had showed up and the vehicles departed empty. Officials said they would return on Friday.

"We've interviewed 295 families. But nobody has yet shown any interest to repatriate," Bangladesh Refugee Commissioner Mohammad Abul Kalam told reporters.

Major Rohingya refugee camp populations in Bangladesh, as of Aug 15, 
2019. (AFP Photo/Gal ROMA)

He said that officials would continue to interview families.

'Bengali interlopers'

The Rohingya are not recognised as an official minority by the Myanmar government, which considers them Bengali interlopers despite many families having lived in the country for generations.

UN investigators say the 2017 violence warrants the prosecution of top generals for "genocide" and the International Criminal Court has started a preliminary probe.

It has sullied the international standing of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate and former political prisoner who has risen to be the top civilian official in Myanmar.

The latest repatriation attempt -- a previous push failed in November with many of those on a returnees list going into hiding -- follows a visit last month to the camps by high-ranking officials from Myanmar.

Bangladesh's foreign ministry forwarded a list of more than 22,000 refugees to Myanmar for verification and Naypyidaw cleared 3,450 individuals for "return".

Rohingya refugees are demanding security and citizenship guarantees 
before they return to Myanmar (AFP Photo/MUNIR UZ ZAMAN)

Rohingya community leader Jafar Alam told AFP the refugees had been gripped by fear since authorities announced the fresh repatriation process.

They also feared being sent to camps for internally displaced people (IDP) if they went back to Myanmar.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen told a TV channel in Dhaka that Thursday's no-show was "very disappointing" but he hoped "good sense would finally prevail".

"The Rohingya want to achieve all their demands by taking us (Bangladesh) as hostage. But I don't know how long we can accept it," he told Jamuna TV.

Chinese and Myanmar diplomats were also at the Rohingya refugee camp.

The latest repatriation attempt comes in the wake of July talks between Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.

China is a key ally of Myanmar, and Hasina said then that Beijing would "do whatever is required" to help resolve the Rohingya crisis.

"Myanmar has yet to address the systematic persecution and violence against the Rohingya," Human Rights Watch said Thursday. "So refugees have every reason to fear for their safety if they return."

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Everest region bans single-use plastic

Yahoo – AFP, August 21, 2019

Single-use plastics of less than 30 microns in thickness as well as drinks in
plastic bottles are now banned on Mount Everest (AFP Photo/Phunjo LAMA)

Single-use plastics have been banned in the Everest region to reduce the vast amounts of waste left by trekkers and mountaineers, Nepali authorities said Thursday.

In addition to seeing a record number of climbers this year, a government-led cleaning initiative on Everest -- the world's highest mountain -- also collected over 10 tonnes of trash.

The new ban in Khumbu Pasang Lhamu rural municipality, home to Mount Everest and several other snow-capped mountains, covers all plastic of less than 30 microns in thickness as well as drinks in plastic bottles, and will be effective from January.

"If we start now, it will help keep our region, the Everest and the mountains clean long term," local official Ganesh Ghimire told AFP.

The region receives over 50,000 tourists every year, including climbers and trekkers.

Melting glaciers are now exposing bodies and litter that have accumulated on 
Mount Everest since the first successful summit (AFP Photo/PRAKASH MATHEMA)

The local body will work with trekking companies, airlines and the Nepal Mountaineering Association to enforce the ban, though no penalty has yet been decided for violation.

Environmentalists are also concerned that the pollution on Everest is affecting water sources down in the valley.

Six years ago, Nepal introduced a US$4,000 deposit per team of climbers on Everest that would be refunded if each climber brought down at least eight kilos (18 pounds) of waste, but only half of the climbers return with the required amount.

Melting glaciers caused by global warming are now exposing bodies and litter that have accumulated on the mountain since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay made the first successful summit 66 years ago.

Environmentalists are concerned that pollution on Mount Everest is affecting 
water sources down in the valley (AFP Photo/PRAKASH MATHEMA)

This year's climbing season saw a record 885 people summit Everest, 644 of them from the south and 241 from the northern flank in Tibet.

This, combined with poor weather and the inexperience of some of the climbers, contributed to a deadly season in which 11 people died.

Last week a government committee recommended that climbers scale another Nepal mountain of at least 6,500 metres (21,325 feet) before being given permission to attempt Everest.

It also proposed a fee of at least $35,000 for Everest and $20,000 for other mountains over 8,000 metres. Currently, permits for Everest cost $11,000.

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Singapore to ban sale of elephant ivory from 2021

Yahoo – AFP, August 12, 2019

Singapore authorities made their largest ever seizure of smuggled ivory last month,
impounding a haul of nearly nine tonnes of contraband tusks from an estimated
300 African elephants valued at $12.9 million (AFP Photo/Handout)

Singapore said Monday it will impose a blanket ban on the domestic sale of elephant ivory and products from 2021 as the government tightens its campaign against illegal wildlife trade.

The announcement on World Elephant Day followed two years of consultations with non-government groups, ivory retailers and the public.

Authorities in the city-state made their largest ever seizure of smuggled ivory last month, impounding a haul of nearly nine tonnes of contraband tusks from an estimated 300 African elephants valued at $12.9 million.

The illegal cargo was discovered in a container from the Democratic Republic of the Congo being shipped to Vietnam via Singapore and also included a huge stash of pangolin scales.

Singapore has banned international trade in all forms of elephant ivory products since 1990.

Such items could be sold domestically if traders could prove they were imported before that year or acquired prior to the inclusion of the relevant elephant species in an international convention protecting endangered species.

In a statement Monday, Singapore's National Parks Board banned the sale of elephant ivory and products with effect from September 1, 2021.

Violators face a jail term of up to one year and fines on conviction.

Traders can donate their ivory stocks to institutions or keep them after the ban takes effect, the board said.

Public consultation by the government last year showed that 99 percent of those who responded were in favour of a total ban.

Elephant ivory is coveted because it can be fashioned into items like combs, pendants and other jewellery.

The global trade in elephant ivory, with rare exceptions, has been outlawed since 1989 after the population of the African giants dropped from millions in the mid-20th century to around 600,000 by the end of the 1980s.

Monday, August 12, 2019

Tourism in trouble: Hong Kong demos hit economy

Yahoo – AFP, Yan ZHAO, Catherine LAI, August 11, 2019

Hong Kong is a popular tourist destination (AFP Photo/ANTHONY WALLACE)

Empty hotel rooms, struggling shops and even disruption at Disneyland: months of protests in Hong Kong have taken a major toll on the city's economy, with no end in sight.

City leader Carrie Lam has warned that the international financial hub is facing an economic crisis worse than either the 2003 SARS outbreak that paralysed Hong Kong or the 2008 financial crisis.

"The situation this time is more severe," she said. "In other words, the economic recovery will take a very long time."

The private sector, in particular the tourism industry, has begun counting the cost of more than two months of demonstrations that erupted in opposition to a bill allowing extraditions to China but have morphed into a broader pro-democracy movement.

The figures are stark: hotel occupancy rates are down "double-digit" percentages, as were visitor arrivals in July. Group tour bookings from the short-haul market have plunged up to 50 percent.

"In recent months, what has happened in Hong Kong has indeed put local people's livelihoods as well as the economy in a worrying, or even dangerous situation," warned Edward Yau, Hong Kong's secretary for commerce and economic development.

The financial hub's tourism industry says it feels under siege (AFP Photo/
Anthony WALLACE)

The city's tourism industry says it feels under siege.

"I think the situation is getting more and more serious," Jason Wong, chairman of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, told AFP.

The impact is so bad that travel agents are considering putting staff on unpaid leave as they try to weather the storm, he warned.

Even Disneyland hit

Images of increasingly violent clashes between masked protesters and police firing tear gas in the city's streets have made global headlines, with protesters announcing new demonstrations throughout August as they press their demands.

A Hong Kong Tourism Board spokesperson told AFP that the number of forward bookings in August and September has "dropped significantly," suggesting the economic toll will linger throughout the summer season.

A string of travel warnings issued by countries including the United States, Australia and Japan is likely to compound the industry's woes.

The fall in arrivals has hurt Hong Kong's carrier Cathay Pacific, which was also forced to cancel flights this week during a general strike that caused chaos in the city.

Tourists flock to Hong Kong for its energy and urban character (AFP Photo/
Anthony WALLACE)

And even Disneyland Hong Kong has been hit, with CEO Bob Iger telling reporters: "We have seen an impact from the protests."

"There's definitely been disruption. That has impacted our visitation there."

The retail sector has also been hit by the drop in arriving visitors hunting for bargains, shops often forced to shutter during the sometimes daily protests.

Experts say the crisis is compounding the economic downturn Hong Kong was already experiencing as a result of being caught up in the US-China trade war.

It's a "double whammy," warned Stephen Innes, Managing Partner of Valour Markets."

"We always take a view that oh, this too will pass. But so far that view is not holding any water... and now it seems like every weekend we're dealing with further escalations," he told AFP.

Experts say Hong Kong's tourism crisis is compounding the economic downturn 
caused by the US-China trade war (AFP Photo/Anthony WALLACE)

'Nastier than expected'

The property market, which fell over 20 percent during the 2008 financial crash, remains strong.

But Innes warned that the deepening crisis could result in capital outflows.

"All the money from the mainland that has propped up Hong Kong property markets could reverse as quickly as it flowed in," he said.

"This is getting a little bit nastier than any of us had expected."

The economic picture for the city was far from pretty even before the protests began, with growth shrinking from 4.6 percent to 0.6 percent year-on-year in the first quarter -- the worst quarterly performance in a decade.

Preliminary data suggests the second quarter fared no better, and while the government still hopes for 2-3 percent growth this year, predictions from major banks are more pessimistic.

A Hong Kong Tourism Board spokesperson said the number of bookings in 
August and September has 'dropped significantly' (AFP Photo/Anthony WALLACE)

Those falls reflect the effects of the US-China trade war on an economy that relies heavily on logistics processing and is vulnerable to a fall in trade.

The impact of the protests on growth will not be clear until later in the year, but Martin Rasmussen, China Economist at Capital Economics, said the crisis was likely to weigh heavily.

"In the beginning they were quite peaceful, you could say comparable to the protests back in 2014," he said, referring to pro-democracy Umbrella Movement in the city.

"Now they've become much more extreme, so we think the impact on the economy will begin to take its toll."

Saturday, August 10, 2019

Trump sides with Kim criticism of US-SKorea war games

Yahoo – AFP, 9 August 2019

US President Donald Trump said he had received a 'very beautiful' letter
from North Korea's Kim Jong Un

US President Donald Trump told reporters Friday he agreed with Kim Jong Un's opposition to US-South Korea war games, after receiving what he was a new letter from the North Korean leader.

"I got a very beautiful letter from Kim Jong Un yesterday," Trump said. "It was a very positive letter."

"He wasn't happy with the war games," Trump added, referring to new military exercises between US forces and the South Korean military that began this week.

"As you know, I've never liked it either. I've never been a fan. And you know why? I don't like paying for it," the US leader said.

Trump received Kim's three-page letter on Thursday after Pyongyang undertook four missile tests in the past two weeks that it said were a response to the joint exercises between the South and the United States.

While the weapons fired were not the medium- and long-range ballistic missiles that have posed an implicit threat to Japan and the United States, they were seen to be a new type of extremely fast, short-range guided ballistic missile that could pose a potent danger to South Korea.

On Tuesday North Korea threatened more weapons tests, and said the US-South Korea war games were "an undisguised denial and a flagrant violation" of the diplomatic process between Pyongyang, Washington and Seoul.

Trump continued to play down the missile tests and said he could have a third summit with Kim in the future.

"I think we'll have another meeting," he said.

"In the meantime I'll say it again. There have been no nuclear tests. The missile tests have all been short-range. No ballistic missile tests, no long-range missiles," he said.

Saudis accused of 'sportswash' by hosting world heavyweight fight

Yahoo – AFP, 9 August 2019

Andy Ruiz celebrates his win over Anthony Joshua in New York in
June (AFP Photo/TIMOTHY A. CLARY)

London (AFP) - Saudi Arabia will host the world heavyweight title rematch between Anthony Joshua and champion Andy Ruiz Jr in December, a controversial choice which immediately sparked accusations of the Gulf kingdom attempting to "sportswash" its tarnished human rights image.

The high-profile December 7 duel, dubbed 'Clash on the Dunes', will see Britain's Joshua trying to win back the IBF, WBA and WBO titles he sensationally lost to American fighter Ruiz in New York in June.

The bout will take place in Diriyah, which incorporates the UNESCO World Heritage site of Al-Turaif, on the outskirts of Riyadh -- a dramatic contrast to the iconic Madison Square Garden which hosted the first fight.

Promoters Matchroom Boxing said the fight details will be officially revealed at a news conference in London on Monday.

The rematch had been widely touted but Cardiff's Principality Stadium was tipped as favourite to stage the event.

The Saudis have faced intense diplomatic fallout over the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi which took place in the conservative kingdom's consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

Saudi rulers, also under fire for the war in neighbouring Yemen, have utilised sport as a tool to try and soften their international image and to provide a showcase, they claim, for reforms inside the oil-rich state.

But Friday's announcement was quickly denounced by human rights campaigners.

"If Anthony Joshua fights Andy Ruiz Jr in Saudi Arabia, it's likely to be yet another opportunity for the Saudi authorities to try to 'sportswash' their severely tarnished image," said Amnesty UK's head of campaigns Felix Jakens.

"Despite some long-overdue reforms on women's rights, Saudi Arabia is currently in the grip of a sweeping human rights crackdown -- with women's rights activists, lawyers and members of the Shia minority community all being targeted.

"There's been no justice over the gruesome murder of Jamal Khashoggi, and the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen is carrying out indiscriminate attacks on homes, hospitals and market-places with horrific consequences for Yemeni civilians."

Amnesty said Joshua should "inform himself of the human rights situation and be prepared to speak out about Saudi Arabia's abysmal human rights record".

In February this year, the Saudis hosted a first European Tour golf event which was won by former world number one Dustin Johnson while the world's most gruelling motor sports race, the Dakar Rally, will be raced in the country in 2020.

In July, British boxer Amir Khan won the WBC international welterweight title with a fourth-round stoppage of Australian Billy Dib in Jeddah.

Khan said he did not regret agreeing to the trip despite Amnesty describing the Saudi human rights record as "abysmal".

Khan was reportedly paid £7 million to headline the event.

The former unified world welterweight champion is a Muslim and has embarked on pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia on a number of occasions, offering him his own perspective on the country.

"When I was there last, it had all changed. I started seeing women not wearing head scarves. Women were out driving," Khan said.

"They had a huge concert where everyone was dancing and enjoying themselves. I'd never seen that side of Saudi Arabia before.

"Maybe now they are changing to make it that new place where people can enjoy themselves and it's fair for women. I think they're trying to change now."

Friday, August 9, 2019

'Rainbow wedding': Indian transgender couple marry in emotional ceremony

France24 – AFP, 7 August 2019

Indian transgender woman Tista Das (L), 38, and transgender man Dipan
Chakravarthy, 40, perform the rituals of a traditional Hindu marriage ceremony,
pledging their love for each other before family and friends, in Kolkata (
AFP)

Kolkata (AFP) - An Indian transgender couple who both underwent sex re-assignment have tied the knot in a traditional Bengali ceremony, in what is believed to be the state's first "rainbow wedding".

Surrounded by family and friends, bride Tista Das, 38, and groom Dipan Chakravarthy, 40, took part in rituals and pledged their love for each other in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state.

"We are feeling awesome actually. We are out of the gender box and we love to be an exception and we think this is a strong bond between us," Tista Das told AFP on Monday.

"It's a bond of love. It's a bond of liberty also," she said. "And this is the solidarity of our souls."

Das said she battled for a long time to "achieve her identity as a woman, as a human being", adding: "I was not even considered as a human being in this brutal society."

A transgender friend of the couple, Anurag Maitrayee, said the ceremony was a "beautiful, emotional union of two hearts and two souls".

"Despite all the oddities and all the atrocities, I have seen how Tista and her journey from a man into a woman and her relation, emotion, love with a person with a soul whose journey is from a woman to a man," Maitrayee said.

Official estimates for India's transgender population are not known but they are thought to number several million.

Transgenders often live on the extreme fringes of Indian society, with many forced into prostitution, begging or menial jobs.

Over the centuries transgenders have assumed different roles in society, from royal courtesans to participants in birth ceremonies and other auspicious occasions.

They have waged a lengthy battle to protect their rights and end discrimination.

India's Supreme Court recognised them as a third gender in a historic 2014 ruling.

On Tuesday, India's lower house passed a transgender bill to enshrine the rights of transgender people in law. The bill is currently being discussed in the upper house.

But the community as well as human rights activists have raised concerns that the bill's language is unclear over whether it allows transgender people to self-identify.

"The Transgender Persons Bill should be a remarkable achievement for a long-persecuted community, but the current draft fails on the fundamental right to self-identify," Human Rights Watch South Asia director Meenakshi Ganguly said last month.

"It's crucial that the law be in line with the Supreme Court's historic ruling on transgender rights."

India's Modi defends powderkeg Kashmir move

Yahoo – AFP, August 8, 2019

New Delhi announced Monday that the Indian-held part of Kashmir had been brought
under its direct rule and has kept the region on lockdown for four straight days (AFP
Photo/Tauseef MUSTAFA)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Thursday his powderkeg move to strip the disputed Kashmir region of its autonomy was necessary to stop "terrorism", as Pakistan voiced further outrage and the UN chief urged "maximum restraint."

Modi's Hindu-nationalist government imposed direct rule on the Indian held portion of Kashmir on Monday, setting off a new crisis in one of the world's most volatile security flashpoints.

Speaking for the first time since the move, and with the people of Kashmir enduring a military lockdown, Modi hailed it as a "historic decision" that would bring peace to the region.

"Friends, I have full belief that we will be able to free Jammu and Kashmir from terrorism and separatism under this system," Modi said in a televised address.

He accused Pakistan of using the special status "as a weapon against the country to inflame the passions of some people" against India.

Modi said the special status had "not given anything other than terrorism, separatism, nepotism and big corruption".

But with Kashmir now fully part of the Indian union, the region would enjoy more jobs, corruption and red-tape, he said, adding that key infrastructure projects would be expedited.

Kashmir has been divided between Pakistan and India since independence from the British in 1947.

The contesting claims over Kashmir have led to two of the three wars between the neighbours.

Pakistan said Thursday it would not take military action this time.

Indian troops block a road during a curfew in Srinagar, Kashmir (AFP Photo/
TAUSEEF MUSTAFA)

"Pakistan is not looking at the military option. We are rather looking at political, diplomatic, and legal options to deal with the prevailing situation," Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said at a press conference in Islamabad.

Tensions remained high, however, with Qureshi's comments coming on the heels of a decision by Islamabad to downgrade its diplomatic ties with India, suspend bilateral trade, and expel the country's envoy.

Pakistan has also promised to take the matter to the United Nations Security Council.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan displayed his rage in a series of tweets calling for international action to stop India.

"What should be obvious is the int community will be witnessing the genocide of the Kashmiris," Khan posted in one tweet.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres called Thursday on India and Pakistan "to refrain from taking steps that could affect the status of Jammu and Kashmir".

"The Secretary-General has been following the situation in Jammu and Kashmir with concern and makes an appeal for maximum restraint," his spokesperson said.

Hundreds detained

In India, a petition was filed to the Indian Supreme Court by an activist challenging the curfew in Kashmir, which was imposed to suppress any unrest in response to the loss of autonomy.

Pakistani Kashmiri lawyers burn an effigy of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi 
during a protest in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir (AFP 
Photo/SAJJAD QAYYUM)

Activist Tahseen Poonawala and lawyer M.L. Sharma asked the Supreme Court to lift the lockdown and release people who have been detained as part of the crackdown.

University professors, business leaders and activists are among the 560 people rounded up by authorities and taken to makeshift detention centres -- some during midnight raids -- in the cities of Srinagar, Baramulla and Gurez, the Press Trust of India and the Indian Express reported.

ANI news agency also reported that the leader of the opposition in the upper house, Ghulam Nabi Azad from the Congress party, was turned back at Srinagar airport when he flew to the city.

Pakistani Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012, on Thursday tweeted that she was "worried about the safety of the Kashmiri children and women, the most vulnerable to violence and the most likely to suffer losses in conflict".

"I believe we all can live in peace," she added, in comments that were supported and criticised by Twitter users from India and Pakistan.

Tens of thousands of Indian troops are enforcing the lockdown which includes no internet or phone services, and are allowing only limited movement on streets usually bustling with tourists flocking to the picturesque valley.

Experts warn that the valley is likely to erupt in anger at the government's shock unilateral move once the restrictions are lifted, which could come on the Muslim festival of Eid on Monday.

Late Wednesday India's aviation security agency advised airports across the country to step up security as "civil security has emerged as a soft target for terrorist attacks" on the back of the Kashmir move.

Saturday, August 3, 2019

NKorea's Kim won't 'disappoint me,' despite missile tests: Trump

Yahoo – AFP, August 2, 2019

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (L) and US President Donald Trump shake hands
during their meeting in the Demilitarized Zone dividing North and South Korea
on June 30, 2019 (AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski)

Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump on Friday underlined his intense personal support for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, even if he admitted that Pyongyang's recent missile tests "may" violate a UN resolution.

"There may be a United Nations violation, but Chairman Kim does not want to disappoint me with a violation of trust, there is far too much for North Korea to gain," Trump said in a series of tweets on the subject.

"Chariman Kim has a great and beautiful vision for his country, and only the United States, with me as President, can make that vision come true," Trump added, misspelling the North Korean dictator's official title.

Nuclear-armed North Korea is barred from ballistic missile tests under UN resolutions, and its recent repeated testing of short-range missiles have been condemned by European members of the UN Security Council.

Trump, however, has dismissed the tests as "standard."

The US president has invested a huge amount of political capital in his attempt to persuade Kim to end his country's isolation and give up its nuclear arsenal.

However, despite three massively publicized face-to-face meetings and numerous exchanges of letters, Trump has modest gains to show for his diplomacy.

In Trump's latest tweets, he has again suggested that his personal touch will be enough to persuade Kim to reverse the regime's years-long push for military nuclear power.

"He will do the right thing because he is far too smart not to, and he does not want to disappoint his friend, President Trump!" the US president said.