EU agrees new sanctions against North Korea after nuclear test

ChannelNewsAsia, AFP, 18 February 2013

     

BRUSSELS: The European Union agreed a raft of new sanctions on Monday against North Korea in retaliation for the country's nuclear test last week, EU officials said.

The measures range from financial measures to travel bans and asset freezes against individuals.

The sanctions include the implementation of individual sanctions approved at UN level as well as EU restrictions on financial dealings and trade sanctions on items potentially linked to Pyonyang's ballistic and nuclear programmes, the source said.

"It is a tough package that aims to mark our opposition to the nuclear test," conducted by Pyonyang on February 12, said a senior EU diplomat who asked not to be named.

The UN Security Council on January 22 ordered expanded sanctions against North Korea, adding its state space agency, a bank, four trading companies and four individuals to an existing UN sanctions list.

- AFP/de

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Matthew message (Channelled by Suzanne Ward, Feb 18, 2013) - New

"... Media around the world also have been abuzz about North Korea’s nuclear test. Launching a missile is one thing, exploding a warhead is quite another, and that test was not nearly as effective as that country would like the world to think. However, like Iran, North Korea is considered “rogue” and a threat that could lead to a nuclear war.

You know that there will be no such war and no attempt to detonate a nuclear warhead in space will be successful, but few others know that. So how to reduce the perceived dire threat those two countries pose is on the world stage, and in the United States it is sharing the spotlight with gun violence. ..."

Pakistan protesters demand end to killing of Shiites

Yahoo - AFP, Maaz Khan, 18 February 2013

AFP/AFP/File - Pakistani Shiite Muslim women protest in Quetta on February 17, 

2013. Thousands of women refused to bury victims of a bloody bombing there and a

 strike shut down Pakistan's biggest city Karachi as protesters across the country

demanded protection for Shiites

Thousands of women refused to bury victims of a bloody bombing and a strike shut down Pakistan's biggest city Karachi as protesters across the country demanded protection for Shiite Muslims.

Up to 4,000 women began their sit-in in Quetta Sunday evening, a day after a bomb in the city killed 81 members of the minority community including nine women and two girls aged seven and nine.

The women blocked a road and refused to bury the dead until authorities take action against the extremists behind the attack, which wounded 178 people.

The bomb, containing nearly a tonne of explosives hidden in a water tanker, tore through a crowded market in Hazara Town, a Shiite-dominated area on the edge of the city on Saturday evening.

It was the second deadly blast in the city in little over a month.

The sit-in continued Monday at Hazara Town and near a local station, said Wazir Khan Nasir, police chief of Quetta which is the capital of the southwestern province of Baluchistan.

"We are going to resume negotiations with the Shiite community leaders this morning to convince them to bury the dead," Nasir told AFP.

However a local Shiite party leader, Qayyum Changezi, said the protesters "will not bury the dead until a targeted operation is launched".

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned the bomb blast and called on authorities to act quickly against those responsible.

Sit-in demonstrations were held in several cities and towns across the country demanding an end to the killing of Shiites.

Public transport drivers and traders stopped work in Karachi Monday after a Shiite party called a protest strike, residents said.

Schools were closed, traffic was off the roads and attendance in offices was thin in the city. Several political and religious parties have backed the strike call.

"We will continue our peaceful struggle for protection of the Shiite community," said a Shiite party leader, Hasan Zafar Naqvi.

Baluchistan has increasingly become a flashpoint for surging sectarian bloodshed between Pakistan's majority Sunni Muslims and Shiites, who account for around a fifth of the country's 180 million people.

Saturday's attack takes the death toll in sectarian attacks in Pakistan this year to almost 200 compared with more than 400 in the whole of 2012 -- a year which Human Rights Watch described as the deadliest on record for Shiites.

A double suicide bombing on a snooker club in Quetta on January 10 killed at least 92 people, the deadliest-ever single attack on the community in Pakistan.

No one has been arrested for that attack and Daud Agha, chairman of the Shia Conference, told AFP anger was rising in the community.

Although it is customary for Muslims to bury the dead swiftly, protesters after the snooker club bombing refused to do so, prompting Islamabad to sack the provincial government.

The banned militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack -- as it did for the snooker hall bombing and a February 1 attack on a Shiite mosque in northwest Pakistan that killed 24.

There is anger and frustration at the apparent inability or unwillingness of the authorities to tackle the LeJ. Activists say the failure of the judiciary to prosecute sectarian killers allows them to operate with impunity.

Baluchistan governor Zulfiqar Magsi pointed the finger at the security forces over the latest atrocity.

"Repeated occurrence of such attacks is a failure of our intelligence agencies," he told reporters late Saturday.

"Our security institutions, police, FC (paramilitary Frontier Corps) and others are either scared or cannot take action against them."

But Baluchistan home secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani said authorities were already taking action. "Law enforcement agencies have arrested so many suspects and seized huge cache of arms," Durrani said.

Pakistan is due to hold a general election in coming months but there are fears that rising sectarian and Islamist violence could force the postponement of polls.

Bangladesh shuts Islamist website after blogger murder

NDTV, Agence France-Press, February 17, 2013

Funeral prayers in Dhaka for slain blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider.

    

Dhaka: Bangladesh has shut down a blog site after it was linked to the murder of a anti-Islamist blogger who helped organise protests against the leaders of the largest Islamic party, officials said Sunday.

Blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider, 35, was hacked to death near his home in the capital Dhaka Friday night after he joined a huge protest demanding the execution of Jamaat-e-Islami party leaders who are on trials for war crimes.

Police have yet to comment on a possible motive, but his brother said Haider was targeted by Jamaat's student wing for his online activities. Fellow blogger Shakil Ahmed said a pro-Jamaat website had last week named Haider as a target.

Jamaat issued a statement Sunday condemning the murder and said neither it nor its student wing had anything to do with the crime.

Officials of the telecoms regulator told AFP that the Sonar Bangla blogsite had been shut down since Saturday for spreading "hate speech and causing communal tension".

"It's been closed down," vice president of the regulator Giasuddin Ahmed told AFP.

Demonstrations championed by online activists have seen thousands take to the streets for the last two weeks demanding the execution of Jamaat leaders accused of genocide, murder and rape during the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.

Family and friends said Haider played a key role in organising the protests and had an argument with Jamaat supporters just days before the murder.

At least 50,000 people joined Haider's funeral late Saturday at the Shahbag intersection in central Dhaka, where protests have been staged against the Islamist leaders since February 5.

The protesters have vowed they will not leave unless Jamaat and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, are banned and Haider's killers are found.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited Haider's home and indicated that she would back a ban on Jamaat as it had "no right to be in politics in free Bangladesh".

Rival protests by Islamists demanding a halt to what they say are "politically motivated" trials of Jamaat leaders including its chief and deputy chief have turned violent across the country, leaving 13 people dead.

The killing on Friday was the second attack in Dhaka against a blogger critical of Islam and Islamist groups in less than a month, after the stabbing of a self-styled online "militant atheist" by three unidentified men.

George Osborne in pledge to help world's poor fight tax abuse

Chancellor reaffirms promise on aid and pledges to join forces with the developing world to help beat 'corporate cheats'

The Guardian, The Observer, Daniel Boffey, policy editor, Saturday 16 February 2013

George Osborne has pledged to drive forward a 'new agenda of transparency'.
Photograph: Olivia Harris/Reuters

The chancellor George Osborne has pledged to join forces with the developing world to crack down on multinationals avoiding tax in some of the world's poorest countries.

Fresh from the G20 meeting of finance ministers in Moscow, Osborne reveals in the Observer that the UK wants to rewrite the rules of the corporate game to help developing countries collect the tax that is due to them.

In remarks hailed by anti-poverty campaigners, he promises to drive forward a "new agenda of transparency" and to force oil, mining and gas giants to publish key financial data project-by-project wherever they operate.

He also reasserts the UK's goal of being the first country to spend 0.7% of its gross national income on aid next year, and reveals that a major spending focus is on improving the capacity of developing countries to hold corporate giants to account.

Writing in this newspaper Osborne makes it clear that while it is important to force multinationals such as Starbucks and Amazon to pay their tax bills in the UK and the rest of the developed world, it was the world's poorest who often needed the greatest help.

The chancellor, who also announced that he will lead a new G20 transfer pricing group examining how to stop firms shifting their taxable profits from country to country, writes: "Next year, we will have met the international commitment to spend 0.7% of GNI on overseas aid, the first country in the G20 to meet it. It's a historic moment for Britain. We should feel proud of that, as a nation, and it's a proud moment for me as a Conservative. We have not turned our backs on the poorest countries in these tough times.

"Our investment means 11 million children will go to school, 55 million children will be vaccinated against preventable diseases and we will stop 250,000 newborn babies dying needlessly. But it will also help developing countries to build capacity to govern their countries effectively – and tax collection is a crucial part of that."

Osborne makes his intervention following the Observer's revelation last week that Associated British Foods, the owner of brands including Silver Spoon sugar and Primark, has avoided paying millions of pounds of tax in an African state blighted by malnutrition.

The Zambian sugar-producing subsidiary of Associated British Foods, a FTSE100 company, contributed virtually no corporation tax to the state's exchequer between 2007 and 2012, and none at all for two of those years.

The company benefits from generous capital allowance and tax-relief schemes in Zambia, but an investigation by ActionAid also found that it legally funnels around a third of its pre-tax profits to sister companies in tax havens, including Ireland, Mauritius and the Netherlands, which it says is used to pay for genuine services.

Osborne commends this newspaper for highlighting the problem of tax avoidance in the developing world and vowed that the UK would use its position as host of the G8 meeting of world leaders this summer to promote "transparency and accountability in developing countries".

He writes: "We're taking action through the G20. But the problem goes much wider than the 20 major economies it represents. Last week, the Observer launched a debate over the specific problem of tax avoidance in developing companies.

"You are right to highlight this: often the poorer a nation is, the more they need the tax revenues, but also the weaker their capacity to tackle tax avoidance effectively.

"We will use the G8 to drive greater transparency as part of ensuring that revenues from oil, gas and mining can help developing countries to forge a path to sustainable growth, instead of fuelling conflict and corruption."

His comments come as research group Platform is due to publish a report on the tax records of major oil firms including Shell, which in 2005 moved the intellectual property ownership of its own brands to a subsidiary in Switzerland.

Chris Jordan, ActionAid's tax specialist, said: "George Osborne's clear commitment in today's Observer to help the world's poorest countries tackle corporate tax avoidance is a stunning development."

"Fresh thinking on this issue is long overdue and as Osborne realises tweaking the current system will not be sufficient to ensure both rich and poor countries benefit."

Adrian Lovett, Europe executive director of ONE, a grassroots campaign group, applauded Osborne's reaffirmation today of the UK's aid spending but warned the chancellor that oil, gas and mining firms would seek loopholes in any new transparency regimes.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday Nick Clegg will use a speech in front of a city audience at Mansion House to call for the UK financial services to invest in the north of England as part of an effort to rebalance an economy overly dependent on London's affluence. The deputy prime minister will say: "Crucially, growth outside the capital strengthens London too. Their burgeoning private sectors are your customers. The firms in need of financial and professional services. And their breakthroughs are your gains."

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Rare mass rally in Singapore demands immigration curbs

The Daily Star, AFP, Annabelle Liang, Bhavan Jaipragas, February 2013

People attend a demonstration against a government white paper on population
at Speakers' Corner in Singapore February 16, 2013. REUTERS/Edgar Su

                              

SINGAPORE: More than 2,000 people attended Singapore's biggest protest in decades on Saturday to demand curbs on immigration amid growing public anger over an expected surge in the foreign population.

The peaceful three-hour rally at an officially designated protest zone was staged by a civic group after the government said foreigners could account for nearly half of the densely packed island's population in less than 20 years.

Organisers put the crowd, shielded by a sea of umbrellas from heavy downpours, at 4,000. Police said they were not monitoring the size of the crowd and AFP reporters estimated the turnout at more than 2,000 people, many of them clad in black.

"I think it's the largest protest in decades. It is also the first one where anger is directed squarely at the government," said Reuben Wong, an assistant professor of political science at the National University of Singapore.

"People are now more willing to air their grievances. They have been doing it on the Internet for the past few years, but it is new for them to physically come down in such numbers," he told AFP.

Rally leaders, who used Facebook and other online platforms to draw support, openly attacked the People's Action Party (PAP), which has been in power for more than 50 years and still controls 80 of the 87 seats in parliament despite losing two by-elections in the past year.

"The large crowd here shows the PAP government that they are not afraid any more, they don't want to hide behind a moniker on Facebook to show their displeasure," said chief organiser Gilbert Goh, a former opposition candidate for parliament.

"They are showing their deep displeasure with the white paper," he told AFP, referring to a controversial population projection issued last month.

The crowd repeatedly chanted "We want change" at the height of the protest.

No arrests were made and only a handful of uniformed policemen were seen around the rally venue, a grassy park where protests are allowed without a police permit at a spot known as Speakers' Corner.

A government policy paper last month said the population could range between 6.5 and 6.9 million by 2030, with foreigners making up 45 percent because Singaporeans are not producing enough babies to sustain economic growth and support a rapidly ageing population.

Citizens currently make up 62 percent of the current population of 5.3 million.

"Save Singapore -- Say NO to 6.9 million," said a banner at the rally

Protests are rare in Singapore, a wealthy island republic known for strict security and social controls, but Facebook, Twitter and other social media have set the tone for political debate in recent years.

Multi-racial Singapore has bitter memories of deadly riots in the 1960s.

Saturday's rally came less than two years after the May 2011 election when the ruling party suffered its worst ever performance, with immigration already a sensitive issue.

Foreigners have been blamed for stealing Singaporeans' jobs as well as straining housing, transport and medical services.

Goh, the rally organiser, ran unsuccessfully for parliament in 2011 under the opposition National Solidarity Party and runs an organisation assisting unemployed Singaporeans.

Israel partially lifts media gag on 'Prisoner X'

Move comes after global coverage of case of top-secret detainee, said to be Mossad agent, who died in Israeli prison 

guardian.co.uk, Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem and Alison Rourke in Sydney, 13 Feb. 2013

Ben Zygier, identified by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as an
 agent for Israel's Mossad, was reportedly locked in solitary confinement since
2010 in a high-security Israeli prison. Photograph: ABC TV

The Israeli authorities have partially lifted a gag order concerning a man known as "Prisoner X", following widespread international coverage of the case of the top-secret detainee who hanged himself in a high-security prison in Israel. The prisoner was revealed to be an Australian citizen.

According to Israel Radio, domestic media outlets were permitted to quote foreign reports on Prisoner X but not publish or broadcast original material.

The secret detainee was identified by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as BenZygier, from Melbourne, who it said had become an agent for the Mossad, Israel's spy agency. Zygier – also known as Ben Alon and Ben Allen – was reported to have been locked in solitary confinement under conditions of strict secrecy in 2010, and hanged himself in his cell later that year. ABC did not disclose the reason for his detention.

The allegations were reported on international news websites, but the Israeli media was forbidden from publishing or broadcasting details. Editors were called by the Israeli prime minister's office to an emergency meeting on Tuesday afternoon, at which their co-operation with the government and the withholding of sensitive information was demanded. Gag orders and military censorship are common in Israel.

Until the partial lifting of the gag order, the media were restricted to reporting questions asked under privilege in the Israeli parliament, which elicited no information beyond a statement by the justice minister that the matter should be examined.

In a front-page comment piece, Aluf Benn, the editor-in-chief of Haaretz, wrote: "Instead of hushing up the blunder, [gag orders] merely shine a spotlight on it. But [Mossad chief Tamir] Pardo and the others believe that if they just apply a little more pressure, the door will remain shut. In the meantime, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are awash with people forwarding the information, sharing links to foreign websites, expressing opinions – and utterly ignoring those who are making pathetic attempts to turn back the clock to a time before WikiLeaks, and before bloggers who don't give two hoots about the censor."

In the aftermath of the revelations, Australia's department of foreign affairs and trade (DFAT) has launched a review into how diplomats handled the case of Prisoner X.

The review was announced after it became known that department officials had been made aware in 2010 that Zygier was being held in jail in Israel, but had not passed on the information.

"DFAT had [originally] advised that it was unaware of Mr Allen's detention in Israel," a spokesman said. "DFAT has now advised that some officers of the department were made aware of Mr Allen's detention at the time in 2010 by another Australian agency."

Earlier, the foreign minister, Bob Carr, had said consul officials were not aware of Zygier's circumstances until his parents asked for help in repatriating his body to Australia. Under normal circumstances, foreign embassies are usually advised if one of their nationals is being held in prison.

The leader of the Australian Greens, Christine Milne, said she would pursue the case. "According to press reports, Prisoner X was a dual citizen whose body was returned to Melbourne under suspicious circumstances. Minister Carr must pursue this matter with the Israeli government as a matter of urgency," Milne said in a statement.

Zygier's family have declined to speak to the media.

According to ABC, Zygier was 34 at the time of his death in Ayalon prison. He was married to an Israeli woman, Maya, with whom he had two children. It is unknown whether they still live in Israel or have moved abroad.

A former colleague, Patrick Durkin, who trained as a lawyer with Zygier, wrote of his fond memories of the alleged Mossad spy in the Australian Financial Review. "I remember drinking with Ben one night in 2001 when he recounted his famous story about taking a bullet in the posterior during his military service in Israel which he served shortly before joining our group. He described in vivid detail serving on the front-line and backtracking across war-torn countryside while gun-fire peppered the ground.

"He was extremely proud of his time in the military … I remember passionately debating the finer points of the Israeli-Palestine conflict with Ben who was obviously deeply engaged with the issue."

The tombstone of Ben Zygier at the Chevra Kadisha Jewish

cemetery, Melbourne, Australia. Photograph: Julian Smith/EPA

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(Religions – Zionism - March 1, 2012 - Matthew Channelled by Suzanne Ward)

9. It can be no other way—simply, this is the physics that governs life in this universe. As Earth continues apace into successively higher planes, nothing with low vibrations in any form—physical bodies, subversive plans, theft, dishonesty, unjust laws and imprisonment, bigotry, cruel customs and deeds—can survive.

10. Moving on, no, it will not be quite like religions being “totally discarded and replaced by universal laws in the Golden Age.” When the truths come forth that science and spirit are one and the same and that religious dogmas were originated by early leaders of church and state to control the masses, people whose consciousness has risen beyond the constraints of third density will adhere to the spiritual aspects of their respective religions and the devised, controlling aspects will fall by the wayside.

11. One of the truths to come forth is that Zionism, which by dark intent has been made synonymous with Judaism, actually is a bellicose political movement within the Illuminati, and its aim for more than six decades has been to create conflict and instability in the entire Middle East. Zionists, who have wielded powerful influence within and behind major governments and their military forces, do NOT represent the Jewish peoples in Israel or anywhere else. And, like all other Illuminati factions, they have been committed to that cabal’s goal of global domination.

12. Although Semites are of diverse national origins and religions, the Zionists have been successful in convincing many that “anti-Semitic” is exclusively prejudice against the Jewish peoples and opposition to Israel’s right to defend itself from its “enemies.” By means of that blatant distortion, they obtained not only world sympathy, but also massive defense funding from Israel’s allies, most especially the United States, all of which served to increase the Illuminati’s vast profits from their industrial-military machine.

13. In addition to controlling the masses through dogmatic teachings, religions have served the dark purpose of divisiveness to such an extent that it resulted in centuries of trauma and bloodshed. Witness the Crusades, wars between Catholics and Protestants, pogroms against Jews, executions of “blasphemous” individuals who refused to “recant.”  (Read More …)

Old moves from N. Korea's new leader

AsiaOne News, AFP, Feb 14, 2013

SEOUL - When Kim Jong-Un came to power in North Korea in late 2011, some saw a young, untested leader destined for failure, while others detected a glimmer of reformist hope in the Swiss-educated heir to the ruling Kim dynasty.

One year, one successful long-range rocket launch and one nuclear test later, they have all been proved wrong.

Kim, believed to be in his late 20s, has prospered, consolidating his power base at home and showing the same disdain for global censure as his late father, Kim Jong-Il.

And early suggestions of a reformist bent that might signal a shift from the "Songun" ("Military First") policy of his father have come to nothing, as Tuesday's nuclear test emphatically underlined.

"Any hopes that the first year of the young dictator's reign would signal a departure from his father's hardline policies have been dashed," said Andrei Lankov, a North Korea expert at Seoul's Kookmin University.

"Kim has proved himself to be a loyal son, following in his father's footsteps, while at the same time delivering results his father could only dream about," Lankov said.

Kim's most visible successes came in quick succession, with the launch of a long-range rocket in December and then the nuclear test just two months later.

The first marked a significant step forward in North Korea's ballistic prowess, while the test was markedly more powerful than its predecessors in 2006 and 2009 and, according to Pyongyang, far more sophisticated.

"The test, coming on the back of the rocket launch, covers multiple bases for Kim Jong-Un," said Yoo Ho-Yeol, a North Korean expert at Korea University.

"As well as proving his loyalty to his father's legacy, he's demonstrated his leadership qualities and gained an upper hand in negotiations with other countries," Yoo said.

Most analysts stress that the "loyalty" issue was crucial given the dynastic nature of North Korea's leadership.

Kim Jong-Un's sole priority, they argue, was to cement his legitimacy as the dynastic successor and demonstrate his loyalty to the legacies of his father and grandfather, the North's founding leader Kim Il-Sung.

While Kim's more open, smiling style might contrast with his father, the outward policy stance of belligerent intransigence was unchanged.

"One of the things we have to realise is that even though it's a different leader, the policies seem more or less the same - the use of threats, intimidation and provocative behaviour to a particular end," said Philip Yun, executive director of the US-based Ploughshares Fund.

North Korea's internal politics are so opaque that there will always be questions about where the real decision-making power in the leadership resides, and whether Kim's role extends beyond that of symbolic figurehead.

The state propaganda machine has certainly pushed him as an active leader, providing prominent coverage of his meetings with top security officials prior to Tuesday's nuclear test.

And under Kim's watch, the North's missile and nuclear programmes have made highly-visible strides in a very short period of time.

The response of the international community, particularly the United States, has been to warn North Korea that it faces further isolation.

But Kim's leadership has shown no outward sign of concern at the prospect, not even when sole ally China has hinted at a reduction in crucial economic aid.

"Since coming to power, Kim has shown a distinct willingness to violate previous agreements, provoke the international community, and crack down harshly at home to preserve his power," said Nicholas Hamisevicz at the Korea Economic Institute of America.

"The time has come to abandon any lingering illusions about the nature of Pyongyang's leadership and prepare for a period of tension and provocation," Hamisevicz said.

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"THE OLD SOUL 2013 TOOLKIT" – Jan 13, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll)  (Text version) - New

"... The Change in the Way Things Work

Now I'm going to be very cautious with number five, and I'm going to change a paradigm of the way we channel. For 23 years, we have given you information in the soup of potentials that we read around you as the highest probable potential that exists. These things eventually become your reality because they are your free choice, and we know what you're thinking. We know what the potentials are because we know what the biases are, and we see all of humanity as a whole. Potentials are energy, and it gives us the ability to project your future based on how you are working these potentials. We have done this for a long time. Twenty-three years ago, we told you about many things that were potentially going to happen, and now they are your reality.

But now I'm going to depart from that scenario and I'm going to give you a potential on Earth that is not the strongest. I am going to tell you about a Human Being who has a choice. This potential is only about 50 percent. But I'm going to "read a potential" to you that you didn't expect. It's about a paradigm that is starting to shift.

Let's talk about North Korea. There's a young, new leader there. The potential is that he will never, ever hear this channel, so I can talk freely about him. He is facing a dilemma, for he is young and he knows about the differences in the energy in his land. He feels it. The lineage of his departed father lies upon him and all that is around him expects him to be a clone of this lineage. He is expected to continue the things that he has been taught and make North Korea great.

But he's starting to rethink them. Indeed, he wants to be a great leader, and to be heard and seen, and to make his mark on North Korea's history. His father showed him that this was very important. So he ponders a question: What makes a world leader great?

Let's ask that question to someone in an older earth paradigm from not that long ago. He will be an expert and a successful one. So this is a valid exercise, asking someone from the past who knows. We will ask that question to a man who you know and whose name is Napoleon. For us, this was yesterday and some of you were there. 

If you asked Napoleon, "What makes a world leader great?", he will say, "the size of the army, how much area can be efficiently conquered with a given amount of resources and men, how important the leader appears will then be based upon how many citizens call him emperor or king, the taxes he can impose, and how many fear him." Not only was that Napoleon's reality, but he was right for the energy he was part of at the time. So Napoleon went back and forth between world leader, general and prisoner. He accomplished almost everything he set out to do. His expertise was obvious, and you remember his name to this day. He was famous.

What makes a world leader great? What I am showing you is the difference in thinking between then and now. There are some choices that this evolving young Human Being has that could change everything on the planet if he wanted. His father would tell this boy that what makes a world leader great is the potential of his missile power, or how close he can get to having a nuclear weapon, or how he stands up against the power of the West, or how he continues to aggravate and stir drama as a small country - getting noticed and being feared. His father would tell him that this is his lineage and that is what he's been told all his life. His father did it well and surrounded himself with advisors who he then passed on to his son.

Now, there's a 50 percent chance of something happening here, but this is not a strong potential, dear ones. I'm bringing this forward so you can watch it work one way or the other. For if the son continues in his father's footsteps, he is doomed to failure. The energy on the earth will see it as old and he will be seen as a fool. If, however, he figures it out, he could be the most famous man on the planet... which is really what his father wanted.

If Kryon were to advise this man, here's what I would tell him. He could be the greatest known leader the current world has ever known, for what he does now will be something the world will see as a demarcation point from the old ways. Not only that, but what he does now will be in the history books forever, and because of his youth, he has the potential to outlive every other leader on the planet! So he's going to have longer fame than anyone ever has.

I would tell him this: Tell the border guards to go home. Greet the south and begin to unify North and South Korea in a way that no past prophet ever said could happen. Allow the two countries to be separate, but have them as two parts of a larger Korean family with free trade and travel. Start alliances with the West and show them that you mean it. Drop the missile programs because you will never need them!

This will bring abundance to the North Korean people that they never expected! They will have great economic sustenance, schools, hospitals and more respect than ever for their amazing leader. The result would be fame and glory for the son, which the father had never achieved, something that the world would talk about for hundreds of years. It would cause a United Nations to stand and applaud as the son walked into the Grand Assembly. I would ask him, "Wouldn't you like that?"

Doesn't this seem obvious to most of you? He could achieve instant fame and be seen as the one who made the difference and started something amazing. But watch him. He has a choice, but it's not simple. He still has his father's advisors, but one of which he's already dismissed. He may get it, or he may not. There is a 50 percent chance. But I'll tell you that if he doesn't do it, the one after him will. Because it is so obvious. ..."

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (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) 

“… 8. ... North Korea is on the edge of change, as we told you it might be. What did this require? The death of the old energy, and I want you to watch this take place. The advisors of the young leader are going to do their best to pull him back into an old energy. This free choice of his will be far different than his father, for he sees some color. Watch for these things. They'll take longer than you want, but it is the beginning of the beginning. …”

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. ….”

UN System is part of #1BillionRising supporting #VDAY campaign

United Nations Blog, 13 February 2013-02-14

On Thursday, 14 February 2013, a special event will take place at UN Headquarters in New York City in support of the 1 Billing Rising campaign calling on one billion women and those who love them to WALK OUT, DANCE, RISE UP, and DEMAND an end to violence.

Up to 7 out of 10 women around the world experience physical or sexual violence at some point in their lifetime and as many as 1 in 4 during pregnancy, according to UN agencies. Over 60 million girls worldwide are child brides married before the age of 18.  [more information]

In addition, senior UN leaders recorded these special videos:

Message from UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet

Message from UN Development Programme Administrator Helen Clark

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN Women are calling on Governments everywhere to COMMIT to end violence against women and girls. There are many ways to make a life free of violence a reality for women and girls in every country: from passing or improving laws; launching public awareness campaigns; providing safe houses, free hotline services and free legal aid to survivors; supporting education programmes that address gender stereotypes and violence; and increasing women in law enforcement, peacekeeping forces and frontline services. Check out if your Government has committed yet!

The UN System works to end violence against women and girls every day of the year, see:

• United Nations Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women
• Say NO to Violence campaign
• UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women

Related Article:

One Billion Rising: Valentine’s Day Mission Of Awareness

Germans help preserve beauty of Ha Long Bay

Deutsche Welle, 13 February 2013

Vietnam's Ha Long Bay is known for its breathtaking beauty. Environmental awareness campaigns and a German project are helping to preserve that beauty from the pollution of tourism and mining.

The unique landscape of northern Vietnam's Ha Long Bay was formed 500 million years ago. In 1994, the area was dubbed a UNESCO World Heritage Site. But the environmental conditions along the Vietnamese coast, east of Hanoi, have changed dramatically in the past 20 years: "The area is suffering from increasing pollution due to industrial and urban development, coal mining, and tourism," according to the Vancouver-based environmental consultancy company ESSA Technologies.

Together with the World Bank, ESSA conducted an investigation for the government of the province Quang Ninh, which led them to Ha Long Bay.

The world heritage site is under a number of threats. For one, the region is a tourist magnet. Hundreds of thousands of people travel there each year and leave behind their garbage which ends up in the bay even years later. To add to that, an increasing number of Vietnamese people are moving to the region, attracted by money-making opportunities in tourism or mining.

Uninhibited industrial growth creates
great challenges for the environment

Vietnam's and China's growing hunger for energy mean that the region's mining industry is booming. The provincial city Cam Pha has been covered in coal dust ever since the boom started. The dust is so thick that it blankets streets and houses and ends up in food.

High price for coal

Contaminated water from the mines is a major problem for Ha Long Bay and the region's rivers. Unfiltered water is dumped into the rivers and ends up in the bay. It contains high amounts of iron, coal, manganese and other particles, which are all deposited in the soil and acidify the water.

"Life cannot develop in acidic water. Now only reeds with deep roots can grow on the banks. The soil can no longer support any other plant or animal life," Norbert Illing of the German mining management company LMBV told DW.

But with help from Germany, the first steps have now been taken to counter the destruction of the environment. With financial support from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the Vietnamese mining company Vinacomin commissioned the LMBV to construct a water treatment plant along the Vang Dang River. In December, 2012, the plant went into operation.

Awareness

The project has shown that people in Vietnam are no longer willing to pay any price for economic growth.

"The people and representatives of the municipalities are now becoming active and having a large influence on the environment. They demand the companies act in an environmentally-friendly manner," according to Illing, who was in Vietnam for a number of months for the project. He said China was a good example of how far uninhibited industrialization and neglect of nature could go.

Quyen Vu, founder of Vietnam's first independent environmental organization "Education for Nature Vietnam" (ENV), is of the same opinion. In the 1990s, Ms. Vu started campaigning for environmental and animal protection. ENV sponsored radio ads, delivered lectures in schools and universities and distributed brochures.

 Fish cannot live in acidic water

"In the past 10 years, I have witnessed great progress in the way Vietnamese people think about the environment," Vu told DW. "Young people are much more aware of environmental problems. A positive trend can even be seen in the government. But there is still a lot to do."

Despite the new environmental awareness, "one has to be very patient to realize such projects," according to Illing. He said that while there were laws pertaining to the protection of the environment, they were only rarely followed. In newly industrializing countries such as Vietnam, environmental protection often clashes with economic interests.

Helping people help themselves

All of Vu's efforts revolve around creating awareness among the people so that they can become active. "The most important thing is teaching people to help themselves. That way, people in Vietnam can protect their environment themselves."

From the very beginning of the project, Illinig and the LMBV have placed emphasis on integrating Vietnamese people into the project. "The planning was done in part in cooperation with Vietnamese engineers." And he is optimistic that the benefits from the project will continue to be felt for a while yet: "The new generation already has a new set of standards when it comes to the environment. That will surely have a positive impact on the improvement of environmental and also living standards."