RNW staff in support of jailed Al Jazeera journalists

RNW.org, Mirjam van den Berg, The Netherlands, 26-06-2014

RNW has published a staff group photo expressing solidarity with three convicted
 Al Jazeera colleagues in Egypt. This follows today's Facebook posting of a statement
 by one of the prisoners highlighting the importance of sustained pressure on the
Egyptian authorities. (RNW/Mirjam van den Berg)

Al Jazeera correspondent Peter Greste and producer Mohamed Fahmy were jailed on Monday for seven years, while producer Baher Mohamed was given 10 years on charges of spreading false news and supporting the now banned Muslim Brotherhood. All three denied the charges.

The sentences have sparked global outrage and calls for their immediate release. The United States called on the Egyptian authorities to reverse the "chilling, draconian sentences", which the White House called "a blow to democratic progress in Egypt".

Assault on free speech

Australia, the Netherlands and Britain all summoned their respective Egyptian ambassadors to explain the verdict, which human rights campaigners denounced as a “farce”  and a “frightening assault” on what remains of Egyptian free speech.

The cases have sparked several online campaigns using the slogan "Journalism is not a crime.” Journalists across the globe held silent protests this week to express solidarity.

RNW has joined the international chorus of condemnation, with a photo of its staff holding up speech bubbles calling for free speech, a free press and support for #freeAJstaff.

Solidarity

RNW Director Robert Zaal hopes the group photo will be “shared as much as possible”.

“With this picture, we demonstrate solidarity with our convicted Al Jazeera colleagues in Egypt. As journalists promoting free speech, we feel strongly about this particular case. Free speech and independent journalism go hand in hand and when countries lock up journalists for simply doing their job then there is something seriously wrong.”

“RNW stands shoulder to shoulder with the jailed Al Jazeera colleagues in Egypt and hopes that the current international outcry will have an impact on the Egyptian authorities.”

Pressure and support

In a message given to his brothers during a prison visit and posted on Facebook today, Peter Greste stressed the importance of sustained pressure "from individuals, human rights groups, governments and anyone who understand the fundamental importance of a free press to Egypt's fledgling democracy."

The statement ends with: "We are all grateful for the extraordinary and unprecedented public support that countless people have offered us throughout this ordeal. It has kept us strong and continues to do so. We must all remain committed to fight this gross injustice for as long as necessary."

Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed have been jailed
for endangering Egypt's national security. Photograph: Mohammed Bendari/Rex

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Al-Jazeera journalists jailed for seven years in Egypt

Dutch journalist given 10 years in jail for 'helping' Muslim brotherhood

Progress with be made at cross-strait leaders meeting: experts

Want China Times, Lan Hsiao-wei and Staff Reporter 2014-06-26

Zhang Zhijun, left, shakes hands with Wang Yu-chi after arriving
in Taiwan on a four-day tour, June 26. (Photo/Yao Chih-ping)

The upcoming meeting between Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) chief Wang Yu-chi and China's Taiwan Affairs Office head Zhang Zhijun is poised to enhance both countries' mutual trust, and is an opportunity for the two sides to recognize each other's sovereignty, reports our Chinese-language sister paper China Times.

Zhang, China's top cross-strait negotiator, arrived in Taiwan on June 25, and will meet with his Taiwanese counterpart Wang during his unprecedented four-day trip, as well as New Taipei city mayor Eric Chu, a member of the ruling KMT, and Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chu, a member of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Zhang Nienchi, an academic of Shanghai Institute for East Asian Studies, said that Wang and Zhang will establish an even better basis to solve political problems between the two sides. They will also pay more attention to the use of the "Republic of China (ROC)" to refer to Taiwan, Zhang said. He added that the TAO head is the first Chinese politican to ever urge Beijing to give importance to the appellation of "Republic of China."

"Most people who fuss about the status of 'a citizen of the Republic of China' hope to have some respect before China annexes Taiwan; and that if China does not recognize the ROC, it would be like a decapitated human body, because the remains without the head would be useless. The people with such ideas might not be supporting Taiwan's independence," said Zhang Nienchi.

Zhang said he believes that issues related with the ROC's legitimacy will be harder to avoid in the future, and the upcoming meeting between the two top negotiators will force China to face the reality on Taiwan's status.

Meanwhile, Yang Lixian, a deputy secretary-general of the Beijing-based National Society of Taiwan Studies, said that Taiwan's political status is not something that either the Communist Party of China, the KMT or the DPP can clearly define; this is also what causes the lack of mutual trust across the Taiwan Strait. Without such mutual trust, it would be impossible to have any kind of military mutual trust or a peace treaty.

Yang said Beijing feels uncomfortable with the "equal political entity" concept that the KMT government proposed in 1991 because it failed to depict China the way it was pictured in the international world.

Yang said it is normal and obvious that Taiwanese people decide on their own fate, but the differences in both countries' ideology, political system and power are too big as to make Taiwanese people fear about China. "The fairest way would be to decide that neither Taipei nor Beijing should have the right to change the situation in each other's respective country," said Yang.

Zhang Zhijun, chief of Chinese mainland's  Taiwan affairs, talks with

people from Atayal tribe in Taiwan (China Xinhua News)

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No US airstrikes in Iraq without national unity government

The United States has refused to launch airstrikes against Sunni Islamist militants in Iraq, if Baghdad does not form an inclusive government. Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's days could be numbered.

Deutsche Welle, 25 June 2014

US Secretary of State John Kerry has ruled out airstrikes against the rapidly advancing Islamist State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) unless Baghdad forms a more inclusive government, upping the political pressure on Nouri al-Maliki to work with the Sunnis and Kurds, or step aside as prime minister.

"It would be a complete and total act of irresponsibility for the president to just order a few strikes," Kerry told CBS News on Tuesday. "But there's no government, there's no backup, there's no military - there's nothing there that provides the capacity for success."

"The president reserves the right to use force as he does anywhere in the world, if it is necessary," Kerry said. "But he wants to do so … with knowledge that there's a government in place that can actually follow through and guarantee that what the United States is working toward can actually be achieved."

But Prime Minister al-Maliki, a Shiite, rejected calls on Wednesday for a national unity government with Sunnis and Kurds, saying such a step would amount to a coup. Maliki's State of Law alliance won the most seats in parliamentary elections last April, but fell short of the majority needed to form a government without help from rival parties.

"The call to form a national salvation government constitutes a coup against the constitution and the political process," Maliki said in a televised address.

Calls for Maliki resignation

But there's nothing in the Iraqi constitution that would prevent a national unity government from being formed under the current circumstances, according to Iraq expert Eric Davis, who called Maliki's assertion "ridiculous." Iraq's new parliament meets on the first of July and is set to begin the process of forming a government.

"What people have been suggesting is not a constitutional coup," Davis, a professor at Rutgers University, told DW. "They're [suggesting] the same thing that happened in 2006 when Ibrahim al-Jaafari, also a member of Maliki's Dawa party, stepped aside for Maliki."

Washington has deployed the USS
 George H.W. Bush to the Persian Gulf
to prepare for possible military action

Tariq Nejm and Abdil Abdul-Mahdi have both been floated as possible successors to Maliki, according to Davis. Nejm is an adviser to Maliki, while Abdul-Mahdi is a French trained economist and former finance minister. Both are members of the Dawa party and are said to have better ties with the Sunni community.

"The Sunnis continue to say that these actions against Maliki have nothing to do with Sunnis and Shiites, it's their marginalization," Davis said.

"We could see the whole country go to hell in a hand basket, and it seems to me that one individual able to gum up all the works is a very problematic situation," he added.

According to Andrew Bacevich, Washington's repeated claims that it's not meddling in Iraq's internal politics amount to little more than rhetoric.

"The public comments that choosing Iraqi leaders is the business of the Iraqi people is exclusively for public consumption," Bacevich, a professor at Boston University and retired US Army colonel, told DW via email. "The US government is not the only government working behind the scenes to influence Iraqi politics."

US promises 'intense, sustained' support

If Baghdad does not take steps to address Sunni grievances, it makes little sense for the US to launch airstrikes, according to Noussaibah Younis, an Iraq expert at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

"Bombing targets in Sunni dominated areas of Iraq without a concurrent political process taking place to include Iraq's Sunnis…may serve only to further strengthen ISIS support," Younis wrote in an email to DW.

But Bacevich believes that the White House is likely to act regardless of what happens in Baghdad.

"[...]Yesterday Kerry promised 'intense' and 'sustained' US support," he said. "My sense is that if ISIS continues to advance we are likely to see US military action even if the political situation in Baghdad remains unresolved."

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Student survivors of Korea ferry disaster go back to class

Yahoo – AFP, June 25, 2014

Student survivors of Korea ferry disaster go back to class (AFP)

Seoul (AFP) - More than 70 student survivors of South Korea's ferry disaster made an emotional return on Wednesday to their high school, watched by the relatives of the hundreds who died.

More than two months after the Sewol passenger ferry capsized and sank with the loss of around 300 lives, the 74 pupils who escaped walked hand in hand as they made their way back to class for the first time.

Of the 476 people on board the Sewol, 325 were pupils from Danwon High School on an organised trip to the southern resort of island.

The death of some 250 classmates -- and around a dozen teachers -- devastated the school in Ansan city, just south of Seoul, and Danwon has become a symbol of the human cost of the tragedy.

"Our children's returning to school was a choice to get back to their normal daily lives as students," the parents of the surviving pupils said in a joint statement.

"Even though they don't have friends and teachers with whom they studied together, we believe they will do well," the statement said.

Many of the parents accompanied their children on Wednesday and relatives of the students who died lined the entrance to the school to show their solidarity.

Many of the survivors have undergone weeks of intense therapy to help them deal with the trauma of the disaster and the sense of guilt some felt at escaping when so many others died.

An unspecified number will testify next month in the ongoing trial of the captain of the Sewol and 14 crew members.

Captain Lee Joon-Seok and three senior crew members are accused of "homicide through wilful negligence" -- a charge that can carry the death penalty.

The 11 other defendants are being tried on lesser violations of maritime law.

Although the trial is being held in the southern city of Gwangju, the student witnesses will be allowed to testify by closed circuit television from a courtroom in Ansan.

Speaking to the press Wednesday, one student representative pleaded for the survivors be left alone as they try to resume normal lives.

"We really hope to go back to the lives we led before the accident. Please treat us as ordinary 18-year-old boys and girls," Yonhap news agency quoted the student as saying.

Following a brief ceremony, the children bowed to their parents and the victims' families and then entered the school.

Silk Road, China's Grand Canal listed as World Heritage sites

Want China Times, Xinhua 2014-06-24

A view of Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province and starting point of the
Silk Road. (Photo/Xinhua)

The famous ancient Silk Road and China's Grand Canal, the world's longest artificial waterway, were inscribed on the list of World Heritage sites in Doha on Sunday.

Jointly submitted by China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the application for adding part of the Silk Road, which served as a corridor for trade and cultural exchanges between Asia and Europe dating back to 2,000 years ago, to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) list was approved by the World Heritage Committee at a session in the Qatari capital.

The application consists of 33 historical sites along the millennium-old trade route, including 22 in China, eight in Kazakhstan and three in Kyrgyzstan. They range from palaces and pagoda sites in cities to ruins in remote, inaccessible deserts.

It is the first time China has cooperated with foreign countries for a World Heritage nomination.

Du Yue, secretary general of the Chinese delegation at the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee, said the approval of the application would strengthen cultural exchanges between China and the two Central Asian nations.

He called for the three countries' close coordination to jointly protect and pass on the Silk Road heritage from generation to generation.

At Sunday's session, UNESCO also included the Grand Canal, with a history of more than 2,400 years, in the World Heritage list.

Participants at the meeting said the 1,794-km canal, which runs from Beijing to Hangzhou in eastern China's Zhejiang province, is a valuable fruit of the Chinese people's diligence and wisdom, adding that its inclusion has enriched the content of the World Heritage.

The Paris-based UNESCO oversees the system of granting World Heritage status to important cultural and natural sites around the globe.

The 38th session of the World Heritage Committee opened on June 15 and will continue through Wednesday.

A boat sails on the Wuxi section of China's Grand Canal, in Wuxi, east
 China's Jiangsu province, June 22, 2014. China's Grand Canal, the longest
 artificial waterway in the world, was inscribed on the World Heritage
list on June 22, 2014. (Xinhua/Huan Yueliang)

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Sudan death row's Meriam Ibrahim released after international outcry

Campaign triggered after woman imprisoned for marrying a Christian was sentenced to 100 lashes and hanging for apostasy

The Guardian, Harriet Sherwood, Monday 23 June 2014

Meriam Ibrahim, 27, with Martin, her 18-month-old son, holds her newborn
baby girl she gave birth to in a Sudan jail. Photograph: Uncredited/AP

A Christian woman on death row in a Sudanese prison has been released on the orders of a court in Khartoum following an international outcry over her sentence and treatment.

Meriam Ibrahim, 27, had been sentenced to 100 lashes for adultery and to be hanged for apostasy after refusing to renounce her faith. Her case triggered an international campaign, drawing in political and religious leaders, celebrities and human rights organisations.

Demands for her release accelerated after Ibrahim gave birth while shackled to the floor of her prison cell at Omdurman women's prison. Her newborn daughter, Maya, and her toddler son, Martin, were incarcerated with her.

"I'm so happy," Ibrahim's husband, Daniel Wani, a US citizen, told the Guardian by phone from Khartoum on Monday. He said his wife and their two children were in relatively good condition, and he hoped that the family would soon be able to start a new life in the US. Elshareef Mohammed, Ibrahim's lawyer, said that she was "fine and very happy" but had been taken to a safe house amid fears that the family could be at risk of attack.

The case against Ibrahim was triggered by allegations made by men claiming to be relatives, although Ibrahim denied knowing them.

The news of her release was broken by the Sudanese state news agency, Suna, which said: "The appeal court ordered the release of [Ibrahim] and the cancellation of the [earlier] court ruling." Judges had been hearing an appeal against Ibrahim's convictions for the past two weeks. Her lawyers argued that the case was based on weak and inconsistent claims and contravened Sudan's interim constitution.

Jehanne Henry, of Human Rights Watch, said: "Obviously this is good news and it shows that the appeals court sought to uphold rights. This is the outcome we were hoping for because there was a clear legal basis for releasing her." Ibrahim's conviction and sentences were "such a blatant disregard of fundamental human rights that it provoked quite an outcry", she said. "It's quite possible that international pressure had an influence."

Ibrahim was convicted of apostasy after the court insisted she was a Muslim because her father was a Muslim, even though Ibrahim said she had been brought up as a Christian after her father abandoned the family when she was six. Following her conviction last month, she was given three days to renounce her faith or face a death sentence.

Then eight months pregnant, she was told that her death sentence would be deferred for two years to allow her to nurse her unborn baby.

The leaders of Britain's three political parties backed a campaign to get Ibrahim released. David Cameron said he was "absolutely appalled" by her sentence. "The way she is being treated is barbaric and has no place in today's world. Religious freedom is an absolute, fundamental human right," the prime minister said. The US state department said it was "deeply disturbed" by the case and called on Khartoum to respect the right to freedom of religion.

Hillary Clinton, Tony Blair, Jesse Jackson and Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, were among high-profile international figures calling for the sentence to be dropped.

A demand by Amnesty International for Ibrahim's release won the support of more than 1 million people worldwide. Thousands rallied to a Twitter campaign, #SaveMeriam. The actor Mia Farrow urged her followers to "bombard" the Sudanese embassies in London and Washington with demands for Ibrahim's release, supplying the relevant phone numbers.

Sarah Jackson of Amnesty said yesterday: "Today's ruling is a small step to redressing the injustice done to Meriam. However, she should never have been prosecuted. Meriam was sentenced to death when eight months pregnant for something which should not be a crime. Furthermore, her abhorrent treatment, including being shackled, violated international human rights law against ill-treatment."

Amnesty urged the Sudanese authorities to repeal provisions that criminalise acts of apostasy and adultery, and to establish a moratorium on executions as a first step towards abolishing the death penalty.

The US government is now likely to come under pressure to allow Ibrahim to settle in the US by granting asylum or citizenship on the basis of her marriage. Ibrahim and Wani were married in a Khartoum church in December 2011. Under Sudanese law, it is forbidden for a Muslim woman to marry a Christian man. However, Ibrahim claimed in court that she had been brought up as a Christian by her mother after her Muslim father left the family. She had attended church regularly. Wani – who is originally from South Sudan – said that she was more committed to her faith than he was.

A statement signed by Father Mussa Timothy Kacho, episcopal vicar for Khartoum, said Ibrahim had "never been a Muslim in her life". The couple had business interests in Khartoum including a hair salon, a mini-mart and agricultural land.

In 2013, a man who claimed to be Ibrahim's brother alerted the Sudanese authorities to what he believed was an unlawful union.

In May, the court declared the marriage invalid, and Ibrahim guilty of adultery. She was sentenced to a public whipping, and to be hanged for apostasy. Ibrahim was held in what human rights organisations described as atrocious conditions with limited access to medical care and legal representation. Wani was permitted only brief visits to his family. He said his wife and children were being held in inhumane conditions. Hopes for Ibrahim's release were raised three weeks ago when a Sudanese foreign ministry official said she would be freed imminently. The Sudanese government swiftly issued a statement saying Ibrahim could only be freed on a court order, not as a political decision.

Timeline

August 2013 Ibrahim is arrested

15 May 2014 Ibrahim appears in court charged with apostasy and adultery and is sentenced 100 lashes then to death by hanging

22 May Ibrahim's legal team files an appeal, saying the verdict contradicts the country's 2005 constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion as well as international rights agreements to which Sudan is a signatory

27 May Ibrahim gives birth to a daughter at the women's prison in Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman

10 June The EU is among those to press Sudan to free Ibrahim

23 June Ibrahim is released

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Top Malaysian Court Dismisses Divisive ‘Allah’ Case

Jakarta Globe – AFP, Jun 23, 2014

Malaysian authorities say that using
 ‘Allah’ in non-Muslim literature could
confuse Muslims and entice them to
convert, which is a crime in Malaysia.
(Bloomberg Photo/ Goh Seng Chong)

Putrajaya, Malaysia. Malaysia’s highest court on Monday dismissed a bid by Christians for the right to use the word “Allah”, ending a years-long legal battle that has caused religious tensions in the Muslim-majority country.

The Catholic Church had been seeking to reverse a government ban on it referring to God by the Arabic word “Allah” in the local Malay-language edition of its Herald newspaper.

But a seven-judge panel in the administrative capital Putrajaya ruled a lower court decision siding with the government stood.

“It [the Court of Appeal] applied the correct test, and it is not open for us to interfere,” chief justice Arifin Zakaria said. “Hence, the application is dismissed.”

S. Selvarajah, one of the church’s lawyers, said the decision meant the end of the court case.

“It’s a blanket ban. Non-Muslims cannot use the word,” he told AFP.

Outside the court, which was cordoned off, about a hundred Muslim activists shouted “Allahu Akbar” or “God is great”, and held banners that read “Uniting to defend the name of Allah” ahead of the verdict.

The dispute first erupted in 2007 when the Home Ministry threatened to revoke the publishing permit of the Herald for using the Arabic word in its Malay-language edition.

The church launched a court case to challenge the directive, arguing “Allah” had been used for centuries in Malay-language Bibles and other literature to refer to “God” outside of Islam.

But authorities say using “Allah” in non-Muslim literature could confuse Muslims and entice them to convert, a crime in Malaysia.

An appeals court last October reinstated the ban, overturning a lower court’s 2009 ruling in favor of the church that had led to a spate of attacks on houses of worship.

Agence France-Presse

Asian Sides Head For Winless World Cup

Jakarta Globe  - AFP,  Jun 23, 2014

Greece’s Kostas Manolas, left, and Japan’s Shinji Kagawa jump for the ball
during their 2014 World Cup Group C soccer match at the Dunas arena in Natal
on June 19, 2014. (Reuters Photo/Toru Hanai)

Cuiaba, Brazil. Asian Football Confederation (AFC) teams are heading for their first World Cup blank in 24 years, with Japan, South Korea, Australia and Iran all failing to muster a single victory in Brazil so far.

In the latest setback, South Korea went down 4-2 to Algeria in Porto Alegre on Sunday after drawing their Group H opener against Russia — leaving them with slim hopes of making the last 16.

Japan have also disappointed, losing 2-1 to Ivory Coast in their first match in Group C and then failing to find the net against 10-man Greece in a 0-0 stalemate.

Australia lost 3-1 to Costa Rica in their opening game in Group B but can at least take heart from their spirited performance against 2010 finalists the Netherlands in a match they briefly led before losing 3-2.

Iran can hold their heads high after they battled hard against Argentina on Saturday before a stunning injury-time strike from Lionel Messi earned the South Americans a 1-0 win in the Group F fixture.

The results for the teams from the AFC spell bitter disappointment after notable progress at recent World Cups.

In Italy in 1990 neither the United Arab Emirates nor South Korea notched a win.

But at the 1994 World Cup in the United States Saudi Arabia reached the knockout phase and four years later Iran famously beat the United States in France in a group match.

At the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, South Korea stunned the football world by reaching the semi-finals while Japan made the round of 16.

Four years later in Germany it was Australia’s turn to shine, with the Socceroos reaching the knockout phase before being narrowly beaten by eventual champions Italy.

And in 2010 Japan reached the last 16 again only to go out on penalties to Paraguay.

Veteran Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni has been left scratching his head as he searches for ways to get his toothless forward line to fire, with his side still harbouring outside hopes of qualification for the next round.

“We know that overall our play over the past four years has been far better than how we have performed here and we all understand that,” he said ahead of their match in Cuiaba on Tuesday.

Australia cannot qualify for the knockout phase after two defeats but all-time leading scorer Tim Cahill is convinced they can salvage some pride by beating dethroned world champions Spain.

“We’ve got one more game to go and it is not about Tim Cahill,” said the New York Red Bulls player, who scored a stunning goal in the team’s defeat by the Netherlands.

“This last game is massive. If we beat Spain that will be one of the biggest moments in Australian history,” added Cahill, who misses the match through suspension.

Agence France-Presse

Hong Kongers queue at polling booths to defy Beijing over reform

Yahoo – AFP, 22 June 2014

People get information outside a polling station conducting an unofficial
referendum on democratic reform in Hong Kong on June 22, 2014

Hong Kong citizens cast their ballots in an unofficial referendum on democratic reform Sunday, with booths opening across the territory after an online poll that enraged Beijing and stunned organisers with a huge response of more than 500,000 votes.

Tensions are growing in the former British colony over the future of its electoral system, with increasingly vocal calls from residents to be able to choose who can run for the chief executive post.

Hong Kong's leader is currently appointed by a 1,200-strong pro-Beijing committee. China has promised direct elections for the next chief executive in 2017, but has ruled out allowing voters to choose which candidates can stand.

Volunteers welcome voters at a polling

 station in Hong Kong on June 22,

2014 (AFP Photo/Philippe Lopez)

Beijing and Hong Kong officials have dismissed the poll as illegal, but participation since voting began online Friday has already beaten all expectations -- surprising even its organisers, the Occupy Central movement, and defying a massive cyberattack.

On Sunday thousands of voters, some toting umbrellas in the rain, turned out to physically cast their ballot at the 15 polling booths set up around the city.

"I am just acting in accordance with my conscience and this is for our next generation too. As I am not familiar with computers, I came to the voting booth," a 68-year-old retired teacher, who only gave her surname as Yau, told AFP at one of the polling stations set up at an office of a local teachers union.

"People were lining up to vote. It shows that Hong Kong people have a strong desire for genuine democracy," event organiser and leader of the Occupy Central movement, Benny Tai told reporters.

The nearly 591,000 who had voted both online and at the polling booths as of mid-day Sunday represents a sizeable chunk of the 3.47 million people who registered to vote at elections in 2012.

The Occupy Central movement has threatened to paralyse the city's financial district with thousands of protesters at the end of the year if officials do not produce an acceptable proposal.

Beijing has called the civil referendum as well as the Occupy Central movement "illegal", and Hong Kong officials have said the results of the vote -- which runs until June 29 -- will have no legal impact.

China's State Council, the equivalent of its cabinet, said Friday that any referendum on how Hong Kong elects its leader would not have constitutional grounds and would be illegal and invalid, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Hong Kong's Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying also said Saturday that there was no legal foundation for the "so-called referendum".

Tai said Sunday that more "radical action" could be seen should the government continue to dismiss voters.

"If the government decided to ignore people's call, indeed, there may be a possibility of more radical action. I hope the government does not push Hong Kong people to that point," Tai told reporters.

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"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)

“…  Government

Let us speak of government. We're not speaking of your government, but of any government - the way it works, how it survives, how it has survived, the way it campaigns, and how it elects leaders. It's going to change.

Years ago, I told you, "When everybody can talk to everybody, there can be no secrets." Up to this point on this planet, government has counted on one thing - that the people can't easily talk to each other on a global scale. They have to get their information through government or official channels. Even mass media isn't always free enough, for it reports that which the government reports. Even a free society tends to bias itself according to the bias of the times. However, when you can have Human Beings talking to each other all at once, all over the planet without government control, it all changes, for there is open revelation of truth.

Democracy itself will change and you're going to see it soon. The hold-outs, the few countries I have mentioned in the past, are doomed unless they recalibrate. They're doomed to be the same as they have been and won't be able to exist as they are now with everyone changing around them.

I mentioned North Korea in the past. Give it time. Right now, the young man is under the control of his father's advisors. But when they're gone, you will see something different, should he survive. Don't judge him yet, for he is being controlled.

In government, if you're entire voting base has the ability to talk to itself without restriction and comes up with opinions by itself without restriction, it behooves a politician to be aware and listen to them. This will change what politicians will do. It will change the way things work in government. Don't be surprised when some day a whole nation can vote all at once in a very unusual way. Gone will be the old systems where you used to count on horseback riders to report in from faraway places. Some of you know what I am talking about. Government will change. The systems around you, both dark and light, will change. You're going to start seeing something else, too, so let's change the subject and turn the page. ”

US Presbyterians vote to divest from firms to pressure Israel

Yahoo – AFP, 21 June 2014

Israeli soldiers patrol a street in the West Bank village of Beit Furik,

southeast of Nablus, early on June 20, 2014 (AFP Photo/Jaafar Ashtiyeh)

Washington (AFP) - The nearly 1.9 million member Presbyterian Church USA voted Friday after a contentious debate to divest from three companies that provide supplies to Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank.

The 310 to 303 vote at the influential Protestant denomination's meeting in Detroit, Michigan, means the group will pull any financial investments out of Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions, according to the church's official news service.

Israeli soldiers arrest a young Palestinian

 boy following clashes in the West Bank

 town of Hebron, on June 20, 2014 (AFP

Photo/Thomas Coex)

Assembly moderator Heath Rada emphasized the decision "in no way reflects anything but love for both the Jewish and Palestinian people," the news service said.

The measure also included a reaffirmation of Israel's right to exist, an endorsement of a two-state solution and encouraged interfaith dialogue, The New York Times reported.

It also included a provision to encourage "positive investment" to improve the lives of Israelis and Palestinians, the Times said.

The close vote came after a week of intense lobbying and "most contentious debate of this assembly," the church's news service said, noting that divestment has historically been seen as a "last resort" after "other engagement tools have failed."

In a statement ahead of the vote, Presbyterian Church USA said it was considering divestment in Caterpillar because its responsible investing committee found the company provides the bulldozers "used in the destruction of Palestinian homes, clearing land of structures and fruit and olive tree groves, and in preparation for the construction of the barrier wall."

Hewlett-Packard, it said, "provides electronic systems at checkpoints, logistics and communications systems to support the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, and has business relationships with illegal settlements in the West Bank."

And Motorola Solutions "provides military communications and surveillance systems in the illegal Israeli settlements," the Church added.

HP spokeswoman Kelli Schlegel insisted, however, that "respecting human rights is a core value at HP and is embedded in the way we do business."

The HP systems used at checkpoints help expedite "passage in a secure environment, enabling people to get to their place of work or to carry out their business in a faster and safer way," Schlegel added.

Motorola Solutions emphasized in a statement the "company has a long record of working with customers" throughout the Middle East and "supports all efforts in the region to find a peaceful resolution" to conflict.

The company added it has "a comprehensive set of policies and procedures that addresses human rights, which is designed to ensure that our operations worldwide are conducted using the highest standards of integrity and ethical business conduct applied uniformly and consistently."

Caterpillar did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

At the 2012 General Assembly, Presbyterian USA voted to boycott products made in the Israeli settlements and to "begin positive investments in Palestinian businesses."

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Angry Japan farmers bring Fukushima cow to Tokyo

Yahoo – AFP, 20 June 2014

Japanese farmers bring a cow to the front of the agriculture ministry in

Tokyo, on June 20, 2014

Angry farmers from Fukushima brought a large cow to the centre of Tokyo Friday to demand Japan's government investigate a disease they say cattle have developed since the nuclear disaster three years ago.

"Kibo no Bokujo" leader Masami

 Yoshizawa (right) argues with a Japanese

 policeman as he tries to bring a cow to

 the agriculture ministry in Tokyo, on

June 20, 2014

Operators of non-profit "Kibo no Bokujo", or "Farm of Hope", delivered a full-size black cow to the front of the agriculture ministry to demand an investigation into why it and many other animals have developed white dots on their skin since reactors went into meltdown after the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011.

The farm is located only 14 kilometres (nine miles) from the nuclear plant and is keeping some 350 cows that were abandoned in the area when their owners had to evacuate because of radiation contamination.

"Our cows cannot be shipped as meat. They are evidence of lives affected by radiation," said Masami Yoshizawa, leader of the farm, in front of the ministry, as his supporters and media looked on.

Fellow Fukushima farmer Naoto Matsumura said: "What if this started happening to people? We have to examine the cause of this and let people know what happened to these animals."

The vast farmland in Fukushima has been contaminated by radioactive materials from the Fukushima plant, forcing tens of thousands of local residents to give up their homes to live in temporary shelters.

The government says it could take decades to clean the region, but scientists say many residents may never be able to return because of the contamination.

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"Fast-Tracking" - Feb 8, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Reference to Fukushima / H-bomb nuclear pollution and a warning about nuclear  (> 20 Min)


"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channeled 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)

“... Japan

Let us talk for a moment about Japan, and then I'll close the day of messages. There are thousands of souls on my side of the veil and they're just fine, more than fine. We have spoken so often of what happens at the Wind of Birth. I told you, before they even came in, they saw the potential. I looked in their eyes. "You may not last long. You know that, don't you? You're coming into this planet and you may not be here very long. And the passing that you will have with your family will not be pleasant, if any ever are. Why would you come in anyway?" I want to tell you what they said. When a soul has the mind of God, it understands fully what generates peace and what generates energy shift. You can clearly see what generates what the planet needs the most when you are about to arrive. So they said, "We're going to be part of one of the biggest compassion events the planet has ever seen." One earthquake, one tsunami. All of those who left that day will change the earth forever. And it already has. It was the same for the last tsunami as well.

Every single one of them on my side of the veil is getting ready to come back. Many old souls were involved, and just for a moment, if they could give you any information, if they could talk to you right now, if they could speak your language and look into your eyes, they would thank you for your compassion for them and those who are left. And they would say, "Be with those family members who are still alive. Enter their hearts every day and give them peace and keep them from crying, because we're OK."

Nuclear Power Revealed

So let me tell you what else they did. They just showed you what's wrong with nuclear power. "Safe to the maximum," they said. "Our devices are strong and cannot fail." But they did. They are no match for Gaia.

It seems that for more than 20 years, every single time we sit in the chair and speak of electric power, we tell you that hundreds of thousands of tons of push/pull energy on a regular schedule is available to you. It is moon-driven, forever. It can make all of the electricity for all of the cities on your planet, no matter how much you use. There's no environmental impact at all. Use the power of the tides, the oceans, the waves in clever ways. Use them in a bigger way than any designer has ever put together yet, to power your cities. The largest cities on your planet are on the coasts, and that's where the power source is. Hydro is the answer. It's not dangerous. You've ignored it because it seems harder to engineer and it's not in a controlled environment. Yet, you've chosen to build one of the most complex and dangerous steam engines on Earth - nuclear power.

We also have indicated that all you have to do is dig down deep enough and the planet will give you heat. It's right below the surface, not too far away all the time. You'll have a Gaia steam engine that way, too. There's no danger at all and you don't have to dig that far. All you have to do is heat fluid, and there are some fluids that boil far faster than water. So we say it again and again. Maybe this will show you what's wrong with what you've been doing, and this will turn the attitudes of your science to create something so beautiful and so powerful for your grandchildren. Why do you think you were given the moon? Now you know.

This benevolent Universe gave you an astral body that allows the waters in your ocean to push and pull and push on the most regular schedule of anything you know of. Yet there you sit enjoying just looking at it instead of using it. It could be enormous, free energy forever, ready to be converted when you design the methods of capturing it. It's time.

So in closing, do you understand what you're seeing? You're seeing intelligent design, quantum energy and high consciousness. You are seeing changes in Human nature. You're seeing countries putting things together instead of separating. You are seeing those who don't want war and instead want peace, good schools for their children, safety in their streets and a say in their government. We told you it was going to happen this way. I want my partner to teach these things that I have said in his 3D lectures for awhile. Many won't be able to know these things otherwise.  …”