Saudi holds first ever election open to women

Yahoo - AFP, Ian Timberlake and Karim Abou Merhi, December 12, 2015

A Saudi woman casts her ballot in an election centre in the Saudi capital
of Riyadh on December 12, 2015 (AFP Photo/Dina Fouad)

Riyadh (AFP) - Covered from head to toe and driven by male guardians, Saudi women voted Saturday for the first time, in a tentative step towards easing sex discrimination in the ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom.

In another first, women were allowed to stand as candidates in the polls for municipal councils, the country's only elected public chambers.

"Now women have a voice," Awatef Marzooq told AFP after casting her ballot at a school in the capital.

Nassima al-Sadah, a candidate in the 

municipal council election in the Gulf

 coast city of Qatif, works at her office on

November 26, 2015 (AFP Photo)

"I cried. This is something that we only used to see on television taking place in other countries."

Despite the presence of female contenders, Marzooq said she picked a male candidate because of his ideas including more nurseries.

"I voted for a man, but I hope a woman will win," she said.

Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy with some of the world's tightest restrictions on women, including a ban on driving.

It was the last country to allow only men to vote, and polling stations were segregated.

Outside one centre for women in Riyadh, cars driven by men arrived every few minutes with female voters dressed in black robes.

Some of the women asked the media not to take their photograph before they were whisked away.

'Breaking the barrier'

Mohammed al-Shammari, who had just dropped off his daughter, a teacher, said he had encouraged her to vote.

"We want to break this barrier," he said.

"As long as she has her own place and there is no mixing with men, what prevents her from voting? We support anything that does not violate sharia (Islamic law)," he said.

Saudi candidate Amal Badreldin al-Sawari stands outside a polling station after

casting her ballot in Riyadh, on December 12, 2015 (AFP Photo/Fayez Nureldine)

Among the 6,440 candidates are more than 900 women, who overcame a number of obstacles to participate in the landmark poll.

Female candidates could not directly meet any male voters during their campaigns.

"This is really silly," said Sahar Hassan Nasief, a women's rights activist in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

She said men and women were already mixing to a degree in the workplace, supermarkets and other locations, although restaurants, banks and other public places include separate sections for "families" and single men.

Nasief said the election campaign was "not really" fair because of the segregation and a rule against any candidates publishing their own picture.

But it "felt really good" to vote.

Female voters said registration was hindered by factors including bureaucratic obstacles and a lack of transport.

As a result, women account for less than 10 percent of registered voters and few, if any, female candidates are expected to be elected when results are announced Sunday.

"Even if men take all the seats, I feel we still won," said Munifa, a nurse who lives outside Hafr al-Batin city in the kingdom's northeast, where camels and sheep awaited slaughter at a celebration to follow declaration of the winners.

"I have a voice and it matters. It doesn't matter if I vote for a man or a woman," said another northeastern resident, who gave her name only as Noura, 24.

One-third of seats on Saudi Arabia's 284 councils are appointed by the municipal affairs ministry, leaving women optimistic that they will at least be assigned some of them.

Aljazi al-Hussaini, a candidate for the municipal council in the town of Diriyah, 

on the outskirts of the Saudi capital Riyadh, shows an electoral campaign license

on November 29, 2015 (AFP Photo/Fayez Nureldine)

Lack of information

Some male voters said they lacked information about the female candidates.

"I didn't see any woman's campaign so I won't be voting for a woman," said Mohammed al-Ghamdi, 49, in Jeddah.

Ghamdi said he cast his ballot "to help establish a voting culture".

According to election commission data, nearly 1.5 million people aged 18 and over were registered to vote.

This includes about 119,000 women, out of a total native Saudi population of almost 21 million.

"I think social media helped promote the elections," said Mohammed Abdullah al-Kharji, deputy head of the electoral committee at King Salman Social Centre polling station in Riyadh.

Polls opened at 8:00 am (0500 GMT) and closed at 5:00 pm.

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia boasts modern infrastructure of highways, skyscrapers and ever-more shopping malls.

But women still face many restrictions. They require permission from male family members to travel, work or marry.

Ruled by the al-Saud family of King Salman, Saudi Arabia has no elected legislature and faces intense Western scrutiny of its rights record.

Factfile on Saudi Arabia. 135 x 172 mm (AFP Photo/Vincent LEFAI)

Related Article:

Nine things Saudi women still can't do

At least 14 women win municipal council seats in historic Saudi Arabia election https://t.co/P8WDNsjzx2 pic.twitter.com/Ac1BJ3cP1z

— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) December 13, 2015

New Zealand picks Silver Fern for battle of the flags

Yahoo – AFP, Neil Sands, December 11, 2015

The "Silver Fern (Black, White and Blue)" will go head-to-head with New
Zealand's existing flag in a second referendum in March next year (AFP Photo)

Wellington (AFP) - New Zealanders have chosen a silver fern on a black-and-blue background as their preferred flag design if the South Pacific nation decides to dump Britain's Union Jack from its national banner, officials said Friday.

The design beat four other contenders in a nation-wide referendum, according to preliminary results released by the New Zealand Electoral Commission.

Simply titled "Silver Fern (Black, White and Blue)", the design will go head-to-head with the existing flag in a second referendum in March next year.

"While this is a preliminary result, New Zealanders can now turn their attention to deciding whether to keep the current flag, or replace it," Deputy Prime Minister Bill English said.

Prime Minister John Key has led the push for reform, saying the existing ensign is a colonial relic that is too easily confused with Australia's flag.

He had previously nominated the winning design as his favourite, describing the silver fern as an instantly recognisable symbol of New Zealand.

The flag and an almost identical banner from the same designer, Kyle Lockwood, were clear winners in the five-way race, each receiving more than 550,000 first-choice votes of the 1.5 million ballots cast.

Lockwood's second-placed design simply changes the colour of one section of the flag's background from black to red. They both feature four stars of the Southern Cross as well as the fern.

"My father represented New Zealand in underwater hockey and he always wore the silver fern on black –- I always thought it would be on the flag one day," the designer said earlier this year.

"The Union Jack just doesn’t seem right for New Zealand these days."

'Kiwi as bro'

However, polling indicates the current flag remains on track to beat any contender in next year's run-off referendum.

Formally adopted in 1902, it has a Union Jack in the upper-left corner with the Southern Cross on a dark blue background.

Once part of the British Empire, New Zealand is now independent, although Queen Elizabeth II remains head of state.

However, her power is seen as largely symbolic, and changing the flag is seen by some as helping cut lingering colonial ties.

Key argues a silver fern flag will boost New Zealand's global profile and will be "worth billions" to the nation of 4.5 million in the long term.

He has cited another former British colony, Canada, as an inspiration, saying the maple leaf adopted in 1965 is now a universally loved national symbol.

Opponents of change say New Zealanders have fought under the existing banner and also criticise the NZ$26 million ($17.5 million) cost of the referendum.

In a rare show of civil disobedience, veterans' group the Returned and Services' Association (RSA) encouraged Kiwis to spoil their ballots.

The normally conservative association argues that to change the flag disrespects previous generations of soldiers who have died fighting under the banner.

"When they have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country, our flag has been draped over their casket at military funerals," it says on its website.

The often heated debate has also had its lighter moments, particularly when the original 10,000-plus submissions for new flags were publically released.

One of the most popular designs with online users was a flag featured a kiwi bird shooting green lasers from its eyes.

Another had a sheep alongside a cone of ice cream, with designer Jesse Gibbs saying the juxtaposition of the two New Zealand favourites was "Kiwi as bro".

New Zealand picks Silver Fern for battle of the flags https://t.co/4b1FYuCBzP pic.twitter.com/markoFVzbC

— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) December 11, 2015

Scotland shuns Trump after Muslim remarks

Yahoo – AFP, Naomi O'Leary, 10 Dec 2015

Donald Trump is pictured as he recieves an Honorary award of Doctor of Business 

Administration at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland, on October 8, 

2010 (AFP Photo/Derek Blair)

London (AFP) - The Scottish government sacked US presidential hopeful Donald Trump as a business ambassador and a university revoked his honorary degree on Wednesday after he called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States.

A petition to bar the Republican frontrunner from Britain reached more than 358,000 signatures amid an outcry over comments by the tycoon, who owns golf courses in Scotland and has family links to the country.

"Mr Trump's recent remarks have shown that he is no longer fit to be a business ambassador for Scotland," a spokesman for the regional government said as he was dropped as a "GlobalScot" ambassador, a position he took up in 2006.

The hotel at Trump Turnberry Resort is 

pictured beyond the fairway of one of it's

 golf courses in Turnberry, Scotland on

July 30, 2015 (AFP Photo/Paul Faith)

Trump had called for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on" following a shooting last week that left 14 people dead in California.

Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen announced it would revoke an honorary doctorate of business administration it awarded to Trump in 2010 because of statements "that are wholly incompatible with the ethos and values of the university".

Remarks by the property billionaire that police feared for their lives in parts of London due to radicalisation also caused a social media outcry and drew the ire of the capital's mayor, Boris Johnson.

"When Donald Trump says there are parts of London that are no-go areas, I think he is betraying a quite stupefying ignorance that makes him frankly unfit to hold the office of the president of the United States," Johnson told ITV News.

Web users mocked the blustering tycoon with the ironic hashtag #trumpfacts.

One tweet carried an image of Queen Elizabeth II wearing a headscarf with the inscription: "Even the British monarch is now forced to wear a hijab".

'Could not be more wrong'

The petition to bar Trump from entering Britain will be considered for a debate in parliament, like all petitions that reach over 100,000 signatures.

"The UK has banned entry to many individuals for hate speech. The same principles should apply to everyone who wishes to enter the UK," the petition read.

The appeal was launched by Scottish resident Suzanne Kelly, a long-time critic of the 69-year-old who was also behind the pressure on Robert Gordon University to revoke Trump's honorary degree.

Donald Trump (C) is escorted by Scottish pipers as he officially opens his

 new multi-million pound Trump International Golf Links course in Aberdeenshire, 

Scotland on July 10, 2012 (AFP Photo/Andy Buchanan)

Over 75,000 people signed her petition demanding that the university take action because of "Trump's unrepentant, persistent verbal attacks on various groups of people based on nationality, religion, race and physical abilities".

Finance minister George Osborne told parliament that Trump's comments were "nonsense" but added that debate was "the best way to deal with Donald Trump and his views rather than trying to ban presidential candidates".

Twenty-four lawmakers have put their names to two House of Commons motions condemning Trump's remarks.

One calls on the government "to refuse a visa allowing Donald Trump to visit the UK until Mr Trump withdraws his comments".

British police issued a rare rebuke after comments by Trump to US network MSNBC claiming there were places in London "that are so radicalised that the police are afraid for their own lives".

A spokeswoman for Scotland Yard said Trump "could not be more wrong" and invited all US presidential candidates for a briefing "on the reality of policing London".

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'Dialogue' necessary with Islamic State, says Dalai Lama

Yahoo – AFP, 7 Dec 2015

The Dalai Lama says that "Islam is a religion of peace" and that "dialoge"
with the Islamic State group jihadists is vital (AFP Photo/David McNew)

Rome (AFP) - The Islamic State (IS) group harms Islam through its intolerance, but "dialogue" with the jihadists is vital, the Dalai Lama said in an interview reported on Monday by the Italian daily La Stampa.

"Islam is a religion of peace. Those who are intolerant harm their own faith and their own brothers," the Tibetan spiritual leader was quoted as saying in Bangalore, southern India, where he took part in a seminar on peace and the economy.

Even so, "there has to be dialogue, with IS as well," the Dalai Lama said, in remarks reported in Italian.

Asked how this should be achieved, he replied, "Through dialogue. One has to listen, to understand, to have respect for the other person, regardless. There is no other way."

A US-led coalition and Russia have vowed to crush the IS, also called ISIS, ISIL or Daesh, which monitors say has carried out executions, abductions and rapes in areas under its control in Iraq and Syria, and conducted a wave of terror operations abroad.

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2015 Kryon Kundalini Tour (Cusco #2, Peru) - Nov, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Reference to Paris/ISIS/Dark-Old Energy/USA+Warning for Governments around the World !!!) - (Text version) New

"Revelations of Darkness" - Oct 1, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ .. Do Not Despair

There's too much information to give you in one channelling, in one sitting, so I refer to past messages for you to better understand and reference the information in order to get the bigger picture. So I wish to remind you of something I also told you in a recent channelling called Do Not Despair. You're winning! It's because you're winning that the dark consciousness on this planet is feeling it, and the humanity that represents darkness is pulling out everything it has to survive.

It Has Always Been There

Let's look at it, because it's all over the news. Are you shocked at the sudden existence of the organization that will remain unnamed [for this channelling]? Where did it come from? How could it be so organized? How could it be so well funded? This organization could have its own country soon! They might as well name it, “The Old Energy Dark Country”, for that's what it will represent.

The barbaric past of humanity comes forward to show its face. It has always been there, hiding under the rocks and between the cracks of civilized humanity. It couldn't show itself until now, but now it has to. It's ugly and it's not for the faint at heart, is it, dear ones? Seeing evil personified in Human action is abhorrent. It is so ugly and so dark that you cannot look upon it with a gentle heart. God is not a part of it and this is obvious.

You're winning! Light is winning! The uprising of dark consciousness would not have shown itself with this strength, or this quickly, if this were not so. This is exactly what I told you to look for, and it is proof that those representing this dark consciousness are in trouble. Dear ones, dark consciousness has always had a tried-and-true system. It lurks in the shadows and influences all the power places of the planet - government, commerce, finance. Suddenly, it can't hide there as well anymore and it's out in the open.

Where is the funding coming from? It is coming from a storehouse that has always been there, dear ones. It uses income that has been generated from low consciousness acts, collected for a very long time. Funding didn't just appear. It has been stored, waiting to be used in order to spread fear and darkness to save what they believe is their way.

Who Will Win?

Dear ones, they haven't got a chance! But it looks like they do, doesn't it? Everything that they are doing is calculated to scare you into submission. Are they winning? Now, that's a question I want you to take from here and examine every day.

Fear is black. If you're in fear, there is no light. You can be the grandest Lightworker, or even be the channeller, but if you're in fear, it doesn't matter how many years you've done light work, or how much light you've accumulated personally. It all goes away with fear, and then they've won the battle for your mind. Do you understand this?

The Strength of the Old Soul - YOU

Old souls, Lightworkers reading this, the experiences you have had over lifetimes and lifetimes are incredible! The old soul knows fear. I don't want to be too graphic, but I want you to understand! What was it like when you put your head in the guillotine because you talked about God in a way that was inappropriate? What was it like to be bound hand and foot when they lit the match at your feet? Old soul, that's fear! You carry those experiences in your Akash.

I want to tell you they haven't got a chance to scare you! You absolutely know what fear is, and they haven't got a chance as long as you cling to that part of you that is the strength of God. You've been through it all. That means you've got the weapons of truth, wisdom and light. Don't forget it. Don't forget who you are!

Do you see how fast they assembled? It seemed like only yesterday that there was no organization at all. Where did they come from? Have you noticed a certain hesitancy to fight them? Why is it that the citizens of the lands that they are invading are hesitant to fight them? Instead, these leaders are calling on others to help. Why is it that the others are also hesitant? I want to show you that there are some anomalies of logic that are not making sense, because this is a battle you have never seen before on this planet. We've expected it, but you haven't. It's about consciousness, not land or resources.

How to Win?

We gave you the secret before of how to defeat them without taking even one life: Simply take away their funding. They cannot exist without their funding. The funding has to be organized, stored, and distributed. It has to be generated in such a way that it must also go through institutions. Did you hear that? All you have to do is stop the system. Winning won't be done with bombing. It's going to be done with intelligence, clever thinking and financial forensics. It's time to get smart on some of these things and not to be afraid to look at this puzzle differently than you have before. Do not apply the energy they are using in order to fight them, because you won't win. Figure it out. It's the last bastion of organized darkness and evil thinking on this planet coming together to try to survive the assault of your light. Don't be afraid to look at the funding trail, no matter where it takes you.

Fear is Their Weapon

I want you to know something as you look at your news. It may appear that you are unable to stop them. In many places, they will gain strength as they create fear. The fear is easily created in those who are not old souls and who don't know fear like you do and who don't have the armor of your spiritual experiences. This puts you in the front line, dear one. Did you realize that? But you don't have to go fight them on their terms. All you have to do is broadcast light. High consciousness will beat fear any day.. .”

Indian and Pakistani security officials hold bilateral talks in Thailand

Top advisers from India and Pakistan have held a meeting in Bangkok to discuss key security issues. The talks, originally scheduled for August, followed a meeting between the country's prime ministers earlier this week.

Deutsche Welle, 6 Dec 2015

Indian and Pakistani national security advisers held bilateral talks in Bangkok on Sunday, the same week Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with his Pakistani counterpart.

The talks concerned security, terrorism and the contested territory of Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan and has been at the center of two wars fought between the countries. Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir in full.

Talks were originally scheduled in August but cancelled by India after neither side could settle on an agenda. Modi met with Pakistan's prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, on the sidelines of the Paris climate summit earlier this week.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars in total since independence from Britain in 1947.

blc/jlw (AFP, AP)

China fugitive Huang Yurong surrenders in Beijing after a decade in the US

One of China's most wanted fugitives has turned herself in after more than a decade hiding out in the United States. Her return to China comes amid a government campaign to catch corrupt officials who have fled overseas.

Deutsche Welle, 6 Dec 2015

China's ruling Communist Party said Huang Yurong surrendered to authorities at Beijing's Capital Airport on Saturday. The former highways agency boss in the central province of Henan is accused of using her position to embezzle funds and take bribes. She fled the country in 2002 and had been residing in the US for the past 13 years.

The government's anti-graft body, known as the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, said Huang had returned voluntarily after "persuasion" by Chinese officials and with cooperation from Washington. She was ranked number four on a list of China's 100 most wanted suspects that was issued in April.

The commission quoted Huang as saying she "believes that her choice of returning to the motherland is right" and "promises to cooperate with judicial departments."

Her husband, former Henan provincial transport department head Shi Faliang, was sentenced to life imprisonment for corruption in 2005.

Anti-graft operation

Since taking office in 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping has launched a wide-ranging crackdown on corruption, including a push to capture officials who have fled abroad. In some cases agents are dispatched to find fugitives and try to persuade them to return.

The US, Australia and Canada are among the most popular destinations for Chinese officials, mainly because they do not have extradition treaties with Beijing. Many Western countries have shied away from such an agreement over concerns about China's legal system. Rights groups say the use of torture to extract confessions is not uncommon and that the death penalty is often handed down in corruption cases.

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences estimates that up to 18,000 former officials fled with a total of 800 billion yuan ($140 billion; 128 billion euros) from the mid-1990s to 2008.

nm/jm (AP, AFP, dpa)

Malaysian premier questioned over unexplained millions in deposits

Malaysian anti-graft investigators have questioned Prime Minister Najib Razak over millions of dollars deposited onto his bank accounts. The money is alleged to come from Middle East donors.

Deutsche Welle, 5 Dec 2015

In a statement issued on Saturday, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said Najib had cooperated fully with its officers during a two-and-a-half-hour meeting during which he was interviewed about 673 million dollars received on his bank accounts.

Najib has faced calls to resign and criticism from within his own party over his failure to explain fully where the money came from and the reasons why it was paid.

In July, the "Wall Street Journal" suggested in a report that the money had been misappropriated from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MHD). Najib denied the allegations but has not taken any legal action against the newspaper. The prime minister chairs the 1MDB advisory board.

1MDB is also under investigation by authorities in Switzerland, Hong Kong and the United States, according to media and other sources.

The MACC, which is under the prime minister's office, has said the money came from unnamed Middle East benefactors, but the motive for the alleged donations has not been revealed.

The Commission said it had also questioned Najib about corruption allegations at SRC International, a firm linked to 1MDB.

The anti-corruption body's statement said it would keep the public informed of developments in the probe.

tj/sms (Reuters, dpa)

South Korea converts monks and priests to taxpayers

Yahoo – AFP, Giles Hewitt, 3 Dec 2015

South Korea's Catholic priests have voluntarily paid income tax since the 

mid-1990s (AFP Photo/Ed Jones)

After a debate stretching back more than 40 years, South Korea's parliament has approved a bill that will finally compel the country's influential clergy to pay taxes.

The bill was passed shortly before midnight on Wednesday by 195 votes to 20, with 50 legislators abstaining.

It has been a long road to legislation, with previous efforts to bring monks, priests and pastors into the national tax fold being repeatedly foiled by vehement clerical opposition and political timidity.

South Korean Christians pray during

 a service at a church in Seoul (AFP

Photo/Choi Won-Suk)

In a reflection of the issue's sensitivity, the new bill has a lengthy built-in time delay, only coming into effect from the start of 2018.

Kang Seog-Hoon, a legislator with the ruling Saenuri Party, said the grace period would be used to communicate with religious groups "so that the policy can settle down without turbulence".

South Korea has an estimated 360,000 priests and monks whose earnings will be re-classified as "religious income" rather than the current label of "honorarium".

A sliding bracket means those earning 40 million won (34,500 dollars) or less a year will only be taxed on 20 percent of their income.

At the upper end, those earning more than 150 million won will have to pay tax on 80 percent of their income.

Public opinion polls have long favoured extending tax responsibilities to religious groups, some of whom are highly secretive about their financial arrangements.

"Pastors who receive benefits and gifts outside of their monthly income and do not pay income taxes can be perceived as not doing their duties as members of the community," said Kim Ai-Hee, secretary general of the Korean Christian Alliance for Church Reform.

Muscular religious faith

For many first-time visitors to Seoul, a common take-away memory is the surprising multitude of neon crosses glowing across the South Korean capital's nightscape.

The theory that prosperity and socio-economic development tend to breed secularism holds little water in a country where modernity appears to have fuelled religiosity.

In the last national census to include religious affiliation, conducted in 2005, 

23% of South Koreans identified themselves as Buddhist (AFP Photo/Ed Jones)

In the last national census to include religious affiliation, conducted in 2005, close to 30 percent of South Koreans identified themselves as Christian, and 23 percent as Buddhist.

Catholic priests have voluntarily paid income tax since the mid-1990s, and the most vocal opponents of the new policy are within the larger Protestant community which wields considerable political clout.

Some individual Protestant churches boast enormous congregations and considerable wealth, and are run like mini-fiefdoms with pastors passing control of the church and its business down to their children.

Last year, the pastor of the biggest congregation of all, at the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, was handed a three-year suspended jail term for embezzling millions of dollars.

But the opponents of taxation insist their stance is grounded in principle rather than self-interest.

"Taxing religious practitioners equates religious activities with commercial activities," a conservative Protestant group, the Commission of Churches in Korea, said in a statement.

A spokesman for the commission, Choi Kwi-Soo, also noted that Protestant pastors who, unlike monks and Catholic priests, generally marry and have families, would be hardest hit.

South Korean Protestant community 

wields considerable political clout 

(AFP Photo/Kim Jae-Hwan)

"They are different from monks or priests who can live on a relatively meagre income. That should be taken into account," Choi told AFP.

Fears of a backlash

Attempts to tax the clergy date back to 1968 when Lee Nak-Yeon, the first head of the National Tax Service, argued they should not be exempt from what amounted to a basic civic duty.

Lee's baton was picked up many times over the years, most recently in 2013 when the government pushed to legalise taxes but then folded in the face of strong opposition from powerful religious figures.

South Korea holds parliamentary elections in April next year, followed by a presidential vote at the end of 2017, and many observers say those events are the real reason for the tax bill's two-year grace period.

The protestant church enjoys substantial political influence in some constituencies, and MPs from the conservative Saenuri Party fear they will be the main victims of any backlash.

Supporters of the bill are concerned that the 2018 start date leaves the policy vulnerable to political changes that could delay implementation.

Pope: Condom issue is 'morally complicated'

Pope Francis has dismissed a question about condoning condoms in the fight against AIDS, saying that the world is facing bigger issues. The pope left Africa after visiting Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic.

Deutsche Welle, 30 Nov 2015

The Roman pontiff admitted that condom use is "one of the methods" which could prevent the spread of HIV, while talking to journalists aboard the papal plane on Monday.

Francis was flying back to Rome after a five-day tour in Africa, when a reporter asked him if the Catholic Church should allow the use of condoms to combat the spread of AIDS.

The head of the Catholic Church did not provide a definite answer on the "morally complicated" issue, criticizing the question instead.

"I don't like getting into questions or reflections that are so technical when people are dying because they don't have water or food or housing," he told the German reporter, according to the AP news agency.

"The problem is bigger than that," he added.

Pope Francis also pointed to slave labor, environmental exploitation and arms trafficking as some of the more significant problems facing humanity.

Questions like condoms and AIDS can be addressed when the other issues he mentioned are resolved, according to the pontiff.

Abstinence against AIDS

The topic of AIDS and HIV has taken a back seat during the pope's visit to the three African countries.

However, the Vatican chief took the time to visit the HIV-infected children at a Uganda hospital, and thank the church's health care workers for looking after the infected.

AIDS is the number one cause of death among adolescents in Africa.

Francis' predecessor Benedict XVI sparked international criticism during his 2009 Africa visit by saying that condoms could make the AIDS situation worse.

The previous pope later admitted that using condoms was justified in some cases, but insisted they were not a "moral solution."

The Church discourages Catholic believers from using artificial birth control methods. Instead, the Vatican recommends abstinence as a way to stop AIDS.

dj/gsw (AP, AFP, Reuters)

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"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  3 - Longer Life is Going to Happen, But…

Here is one that is a review. We keep bringing it up because Humans don't believe it. If you're going to start living longer, there are those who are frightened that there will be overpopulation. You've seen the way it is so far, and the geometric progression of mathematics is absolute and you cannot change it. So if you look at the population of the earth and how much it has shifted in the last two decades, it's frightening to you. What would change that progression?

The answer is simple, but requires a change in thinking. The answer is a civilization on the planet who understands a new survival scenario. Instead of a basic population who has been told to have a lot of children to enhance the race [old survival], they begin to understand the logic of a new scenario. The Akashic wisdom of the ages will start to creep in with a basic survival scenario shift. Not every single woman will look at herself and say, "The clock is ticking," but instead can say, "I have been a mother 14 times in a row. I'm going to sit this one out." It's a woman who understands that there is no loss or guilt in this, and actually feels that the new survival attribute is to keep the family small or not at all! Also, as we have said before, even those who are currently ignorant of population control will figure out what is causing babies to be born [Kryon joke].

Part of the new Africa will be education and healing, and eventually a zero population growth, just like some of the first-world nations currently have. Those who are currently tied to a spiritual doctrine will actually have that doctrine changed (watch for it) regarding Human birth. Then they will be able to make free choice that is appropriate even within the establishment of organized religion. You see, things are going to change where common sense will say, "Perhaps it would help the planet if I didn't have children or perhaps just one child." Then the obvious, "Perhaps I can exist economically better and be wiser with just one. It will help the one!" Watch for these changes. For those of you who are steeped in the tradition of the doctrines and would say that sounds outrageously impossible, I give you the new coming pope [Kryon smile]. For those of you who feel that uncontrolled procreation is inevitable, I encourage you to see statistics you haven't seen or didn't care to look at yet about what first-world countries have already accomplished on their own, without any mandates. It's already happening. That was number three.….”

IMF approves China's yuan as elite reserve currency

Yahoo – AFP, Veronica Smith, 30 Nov 2015

The yuan, also known as the renminbi, will join the US dollar, euro, Japanese yen 

and British pound in the basket of currencies the IMF uses as an international

reserve asset (AFP Photo/Philippe Lopez)

Washington (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund welcomed China's yuan into its elite reserve currency basket on Monday, recognizing the ascendance of the Asian power in the global economy.

The yuan, also known as the renminbi, will join the US dollar, euro, Japanese yen and British pound next year in the basket of currencies the IMF uses as an international reserve asset.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde called the decision "an important milestone in the integration of the Chinese economy into the global financial system."

"It is also a recognition of the progress that the Chinese authorities have made in the past years in reforming China's monetary and financial systems."

The move by the IMF executive board, representing the institution's 188 member nations, solidifies China's ambition to see the government-controlled yuan achieve global status as one of the world's top currencies alongside the United States, Europe and Japan.

China, the world's second-largest economy, asked last year for the yuan to be added to the Fund's Special Drawing Rights basket.

But until recently the currency was considered too tightly controlled to qualify. The yuan already had met the IMF criteria for being widely used.

The board approval had been widely expected after IMF staff experts earlier in November said that Chinese authorities had taken the steps necessary for the yuan to be called "freely usable", and Lagarde endorsed their recommendation.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, said on 

November 30, 2015 the yuan's inclusion in the elite reserve currency basket was

expected to help China open up further to the world economy (AFP Photo/
Mandel Ngan)

Lagarde said the yuan's inclusion in the basket was expected to help China open up further to the world economy.

"The continuation and deepening of these efforts will bring about a more robust international monetary and financial system, which in turn will support the growth and stability of China and the global economy," she said.

IMF members can use the Special Drawing Rights basket to obtain currencies to meet balance-of-payments needs. The Fund also issues its crisis loans -- crucial to struggling economies like Greece -- valued in SDRs.

The yuan's entry into the basket takes effect on October 1, 2016.

China's central bank has taken steps to free up the movement of the yuan. The unexpected devaluation of the yuan last August received good marks from the IMF as it expanded the currency's movements based on market forces.

In addition, Beijing last Wednesday announced that an initial group of foreign central banks has been allowed to enter the Chinese currency market, which likely will promote further internationalization of the yuan in global trading.

Chinese challenges

But China is expected to face challenges with the yuan included as an IMF reserve currency.

It puts the Bank of China under pressure to provide more transparency in line with its peers, such as the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.

Lagarde, speaking at a news conference, said the IMF had worked "very hard" in the last few months in the process of making the decision.

She emphasized that it is a work in progress, and that the IMF will continue to monitor all criteria and compliance from all five authorities whose currencies are represented in the basket.

The composition and weightings of the SDRs basket are reviewed every five years. The last time the currencies in the basket were changed was in 2000, when the euro replaced the German deutschemark and the French franc.

The inclusion of the yuan in the IMF basket came with the support of the United States, the IMF's largest shareholder.

Until recently Washington accused China of keeping the yuan artificially low to gain a trade advantage. But in October the US Treasury Department softened its tone, saying that after Beijing's moves to loosen controls, the yuan "remains below its appropriate medium-term valuation."

Still, the IMF decision risks angering some lawmakers in the US Congress amid fierce maneuvering for the 2016 presidential election.

Congress, for example, has repeatedly refused to ratify a 2010 IMF reform that would give greater weight to China and the four other emerging-market powers in the so-called BRICS: Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa.