tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48059510566330744832024-03-06T02:14:24.331+07:00Cempaka Global HotspotsNews, Subjects Related to Global & US ChallengesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3687125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-36956369841542430972023-03-08T03:22:00.003+07:002023-03-08T03:33:42.027+07:00Small victories as women challenge Vatican patriarchy<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230307-small-victories-as-women-challenge-vatican-patriarchy" target="_blank">France24 – AFP</a>, 7 March 2023</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQLDcq6ilrHj2pXgI37TNlD-M5HfGo6KXvnyB4Kt7V61AI_kdUA937mkCu3dBTtbeHev-n1f_evp_KjIxVjndND3lamQTUgmlQwWKSK1QVePkwR39nAwBvRNvhII0wwo-RIz3SeL5AFd39QXZvaFiuETQHoEudGwU6FvpdhRs-OrCAUg4knWDDyJrt/s980/599b3cbad2bb83d5e851d077a33c75f396cb0987.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="551" data-original-width="980" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQLDcq6ilrHj2pXgI37TNlD-M5HfGo6KXvnyB4Kt7V61AI_kdUA937mkCu3dBTtbeHev-n1f_evp_KjIxVjndND3lamQTUgmlQwWKSK1QVePkwR39nAwBvRNvhII0wwo-RIz3SeL5AFd39QXZvaFiuETQHoEudGwU6FvpdhRs-OrCAUg4knWDDyJrt/w400-h225/599b3cbad2bb83d5e851d077a33c75f396cb0987.webp" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">The pontiff's push for reform has seen more women given roles in administrating the <br />Vatican -- though they are mainly behind the scenes. © Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US"><br />Vatican City (AFP) – <b>Once a rare sight in the
Vatican's halls of power, women are increasingly being seen in senior posts
under Pope Francis, but the gender battle is far from won.</b></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><b> </b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The centuries-old institution has an inherently
patriarchal image, from the Swiss Guards at the gates to the cardinals seated
in St Peter's Square.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It reflects the wider Roman Catholic Church, which
outlaws divorce, abortion and the ordination of women.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Yet the pontiff's push for reform has seen more women
given roles in administrating the Vatican -- even if they are mainly behind the
scenes.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">From economists to secretaries, historians and
archivists, 649 women worked in 2019 for the Roman Curia -- 24 percent of
employees -- compared to 385 in 2010, according to the latest available
figures.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">While the shift within the world's smallest state is
hailed in public, around 10 women interviewed on condition of anonymity
described to AFP the resistance they meet and condescension they face,
especially among clerics.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One denounced "a glass ceiling and a generally
paternalistic attitude in the corridors", with a backward-looking vision
of "the sensitive, gentle woman, which we find in the pope's
speeches".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">"We sometimes feel they consider us as interns.
There are little gestures, a hand on the shoulder, a lack of consideration,
almost daily remarks about appearance and dress," she added.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Some described feeling subject to an implicit order
for female employees to be silent and docile. Others expressed frustration at
being relegated to lesser roles.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">"There is still a long way to go," one woman
said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><b>'Macho mentality'</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In 2016, the "Women in the Vatican"
association was created, a network of one hundred or so members that meet every
month "to enhance the role of women", its president Margherita
Romanelli told AFP.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It followed the creation just four years earlier of a
monthly women's supplement by L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican's official
newspaper. The surprise initiative was lauded by many, but quickly ran into
trouble.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Its founder, Lucetta Scaraffia, a journalist and
historian, resigned in 2019, denouncing a "climate of mistrust".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Francis' reforms were essentially "cosmetic"
and actually concealed a "macho mentality" which implied that
"women must serve without asking anything in return", she told AFP.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Scaraffia pointed to the "modern slavery" of
nuns employed in the Vatican and elsewhere as "servants" in the homes
of priests, bishops or cardinals, who do the "cooking, cleaning, clothes
washing" and who are "underpaid".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Critics warn of nuns employed in the Vatican and
elsewhere as underpaid "servants" in the homes of priests, bishops or
cardinals.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US">And she slammed the sexual abuse of nuns in Rome and
elsewhere in the world.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><b>A voice</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Despite these criticisms, many welcome the
acceleration of a process quietly begun some twenty years ago.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The number of women in positions of responsibility at
the Vatican -- which applies strict gender wage parity -- has tripled since the
election of Francis 10 years ago, from Vatican Museums director Barbara Jatta
to Alessandra Smerilli, the first woman to be appointed the equivalent of a deputy
minister.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">"The Vatican is late, but women have a voice
today, they don't let themselves be pushed around anymore," said one
official in her forties.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The head of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics has
allowed women greater involvement in masses, from being readers and altar
servers to taking part in the Holy Thursday foot washing ritual.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And Francis continues to take small steps forward,
including changing the rules to allow women to play a role in the appointment
of bishops.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">"Ten years ago, it would not have been possible
to imagine such a development," said Gudrun Sailer, an Austrian journalist
with Vatican News and author of the book "Women in the Vatican".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><b>'A long process'</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Faced with the discrepancy between these changes and
the misogyny experienced in the Vatican workplace, some women wonder what
strategy to adopt.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Some female employees described feeling subjected to
an implicit order for them to be silent and docile.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY76aD4O-NeFXT2b7t8gT3f7zBvX-IX47YslN6kka5mTm-WRZAvfhNtZYAYage2yvivtLfDJejYnsauonJjY0RqOaRoQrMg8aedYAzgg_i9WGswUUzUbiVVPKO8mh7jlX4T89_2lbQ86kYJAHAWIn5JqJ4xDZTbnuoLsJGWbTtnVQApy2k3c7FCniL/s2480/5c72d554f5936b022dda40071036b8d14395bb81.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1654" data-original-width="2480" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY76aD4O-NeFXT2b7t8gT3f7zBvX-IX47YslN6kka5mTm-WRZAvfhNtZYAYage2yvivtLfDJejYnsauonJjY0RqOaRoQrMg8aedYAzgg_i9WGswUUzUbiVVPKO8mh7jlX4T89_2lbQ86kYJAHAWIn5JqJ4xDZTbnuoLsJGWbTtnVQApy2k3c7FCniL/w400-h266/5c72d554f5936b022dda40071036b8d14395bb81.webp" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Some female employees described feeling subjected to an implicit order for them <br />to be silent and docile. © Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US"><br />"Some feel that the truth should be told and bad
behaviour should be denounced, while others think that this is
counterproductive and that we should be satisfied with small steps
forward," one told AFP.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Romilda Ferrauto, a "Women in the Vatican"
member, said changing mentalities was "a long process".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">"Francis' method is to make gestures and wait for
them to move the lines," she said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The changes within the Vatican come as the global
Church engages in a vast, months-long debate over its future.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Long before the #MeToo movement, protestant churches
took the lead in propelling women to the top and some theologians, such as
Anne-Marie Pelletier of France, say the pope must now grasp the opportunity to
move faster and more decisively.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The ordination of women as deacons or even cardinals
"would be a strong symbolic gesture to erase these stereotypes", she
said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvmaEsM7s-D_Uig6sW8pBHlQvJW-EwwE7uBfYX11tXZtew_w2A1ZrkzZoVtmA7n70ome2YFpuAF5BKpWGrMafyqY5KxGXgk6juW2muvkUaU-uTPKB-5aRqYjMKUESq9UKdAmcLeCmYwI0/s1600/e36250837c703d3cf0fe792ce974ccc5aa352628.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvmaEsM7s-D_Uig6sW8pBHlQvJW-EwwE7uBfYX11tXZtew_w2A1ZrkzZoVtmA7n70ome2YFpuAF5BKpWGrMafyqY5KxGXgk6juW2muvkUaU-uTPKB-5aRqYjMKUESq9UKdAmcLeCmYwI0/s400/e36250837c703d3cf0fe792ce974ccc5aa352628.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Representatives of the Amazon rainforest's ethnic groups attended the synod </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">with Pope Francis (AFP Photo/Tiziana FABI)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span></span><span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Related Articles:</b></span></span><br /><br /><b><a href="https://cempaka-europa.blogspot.com/2019/10/bishops-urge-pope-to-open-priesthood-to.html" target="_blank">Bishops urge Pope to open priesthood to married men in Amazon</a></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="http://cempaka-south-america.blogspot.com/2019/10/pope-blames-amazon-fires-on-destructive.html" target="_blank">Pope blames Amazon fires on destructive 'interests'</a></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="http://cempaka-europa.blogspot.nl/2016/08/pope-opens-door-to-female-deacons-with.html" target="_blank"><span>Pope 'opens door' to female deacons with new panel</span></a><br /></b><b><a href="http://cempaka-belanda.blogspot.nl/2013/09/pope-francis-no-2-clerical-celibacy-is.html" target="_blank">Pope Francis' No. 2: Clerical celibacy is open to discussion</a></b></span></div></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></p><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="http://www.dw.com/en/pope-francis-visits-john-paul-iis-shrine/a-19439473" target="_blank">Pope Francis visits John Paul II's shrine</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://cempaka-belanda.blogspot.nl/2015/03/church-of-england-creates-second-female.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Church of England creates second female bishop</span></a></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://cempaka-europa.blogspot.nl/2014/12/church-of-englands-first-female-bishop.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Church of England’s first female bishop named as Libby Lane</span></a></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://cempaka-europa.blogspot.nl/2014/07/church-of-england-general-synod.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Church of England General Synod approves female bishops</span></a></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/14/church-england-synod-votes-allow-female-bishops" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Jubilation as Church of England's synod votes to allow female bishops</span></a></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal"></div></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKR9hopmAbXMVEfdYiOzhc7kKP241WOc184ZJRgu7Yb8dwkU9cbnafYibbAvodq_OL0w2D5gU-2V5czFTdQiB5Xl2xaxCd5eQLZYRdIiesLAH509hx5Illi4OY3TLoAodoFmpfJXScfYY/s1600/Church-of-England-Clerics-011.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKR9hopmAbXMVEfdYiOzhc7kKP241WOc184ZJRgu7Yb8dwkU9cbnafYibbAvodq_OL0w2D5gU-2V5czFTdQiB5Xl2xaxCd5eQLZYRdIiesLAH509hx5Illi4OY3TLoAodoFmpfJXScfYY/s1600/Church-of-England-Clerics-011.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">Clerics at the Church of England synod in York take a 'selfie' as they celebrate</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" lang="EN-US">after the vote to allow female bishops. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Photograph: Lindsey Parnaby/AFP/Getty</span></span></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><a href="https://www.kryon.com/cartprodimages/download_Madison-GrandR_12.html" target="_blank">"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)</a></b> (Subjects: Energy, <a href="http://cempaka-belanda.blogspot.com/2011/10/ascension-arcturians-multidimensional.html" target="_blank">Recalibration Lectures</a>, <a href="http://www.kryon.com/k_channel10_portland_me_.html" target="_blank">God/Creator</a>, <b>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)</b>, 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, <a href="http://www.kryon.com/k_channel11_sacramento.html" target="_blank">(Old) Souls</a>, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) </span><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i style="color: #222222;">- </i><a href="http://www.kryon.com/CHAN%202013/k_channel13_Madison.html" style="color: #222222; font-style: italic;" target="_blank">(Text version)</a></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">“… I gave you a channelling years ago when Pope John Paul was alive. John Paul loved Mary, the mother. </span><b>Had John Paul survived another 10 years, he would have done what the next Pope [The one after the current one, Benedict XVI] will do, and that is to bring women into the Church. This Pope you have now [Benedict XVI] won't be here long.* The next Pope will be the one who has to change the rules, should he survive. If he doesn't, it will be the one after that.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">There is a large struggle within the Church, even right now, and great dissention, for it knows that it is not giving what humanity wants. The doctrine is not current to the puzzles of life. The answer will be to create a better balance between the feminine and masculine, and the new Pope, or the one after that, will try to allow women to be in the higher echelon of the Church structure to assist the priests.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>It will be suggested to let women participate in services, doing things women did not do before. This graduates them within church law to an equality with priests, but doesn't actually let them become priests just yet. However, don't be surprised if this begins in another way, and instead gives priests the ability to marry. This will bring the feminine into the church in other ways. It will eventually happen and has to happen. If it does not, it will be the end of the Catholic Church, for humanity will not sustain a spiritual belief system that is out of balance with the love of God and also out of balance with intuitive Human awareness.</b></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">…”</span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><b><a href="https://www.kryon.com/cartprodimages/download_Dallas_12.html" target="_blank">"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)</a> - </b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US">(Subjects: <a href="http://www.kryon.com/k_channel11_sacramento.html" target="_blank">(Old) Souls</a>, </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222;">Midpoint on 21-12-2012</span>, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, <b>1</b> - <b>Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”</b>, <b>2</b> - Humans will change react to drama,<b> 3</b> - Civilizations/Population on Earth, <b>4</b> - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), <b>5</b> – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , <b>6</b> - News/Media/TV to change, <b>7</b> – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) <b>8</b> – Wars will be over on Earth</span><span lang="EN-US">, Global Unity, … etc.) </span><i style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">- <a href="http://www.kryon.com/k_channel12_Dallas.html" target="_blank">(Text version)</a></span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">“ … </span><b>Spirituality (Religions)</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;">Number one: Spirituality. The systems of spiritual design on your planet are starting to change. This is not telling you that certain ones are going to go away. They're simply going to change. Some of the largest spiritual systems, which you would call organized religion on the planet, are shifting. They're going to shift away from that which is authority on the outside to authority on the inside. It will eventually be a different way of worship, slowly changing the rules while keeping the basic doctrine the same.</span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;"></span></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US">The doctrine of the Christ has always been to find the God inside. The teachings were clear. The examples of the miracles were given as an example of what humans could do, not to set a man up for worship as a God. So when that has been absorbed, the teaching of the Christ can remain the teaching of the Christ. </span>It simply changes the interpretation. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The teachings of the great prophets of the Middle East (all related to each other) are about unity and love. So once the holy words are redefined with new wisdom, the Human changes, not the words of the prophets. In fact, the prophets become even more divinely inspired and their wisdom becomes even more profound.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>You're going to lose a pope soon. I have no clock. Soon to us can mean anything to you. The one who replaces him may surprise you, for his particular organization will be in survival mode at that point in time. That is to say that fewer and fewer are interested in starting the priesthood. Fewer and fewer young people are interested in the organization, and the new pope must make changes to keep his church alive. That means that his organization will remain, but with a more modern look at what truly is before all of you in a new energy. It is not the fall of the church. It is instead the recalibration of the divinity inside that would match the worship that goes on. It's a win-win situation</b></span><b>. </b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The new pope will have a difficult time, since the old guard will still be there. There could even be an assassination attempt, such is the way the old energy dies hard. That is number one. Watch for it. It's a change in the way spiritual systems work. It's a realignment of spiritual systems that resound to a stronger truth that is Human driven, rather than prophet driven</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">.…”</span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b style="line-height: 16.8px;"><span style="color: red;"><a href="http://www.kryon.com/cartprodimages/2016%20downloads/download_sarasota_16.html" target="_blank">"Listening to the Voice of Spirit" (2) - Feb 20, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)</a> </span></b><b style="line-height: 16.8px;"><span style="color: red;"><b style="line-height: 16.8px;"><span style="color: red;"><b style="line-height: 16.8px;">- </b><b style="line-height: 16.8px;"><i>(DNA Efficiency is on average at 35 percent now) </i></b></span></b></span></b><span style="line-height: 16.8px;">- </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.kryon.com/CHAN2016/k_channel16_sarasota-16.html" target="_blank">(Text version)</a></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 16.8px;">“… </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 16.8px;">With free choice, the percentage of DNA efficiently started to go down as humanity grew. As soon as the DNA started to lose percentage, the gender balance was dysfunctional.<b> If you want to have a test of any society, anywhere on the planet, and you want to know the DNA percentage number [consciousness quota] as a society, there's an easy test: How do they perceive and treat their women? The higher the DNA functionality, the more the feminine divine is honored. This is the test!</b> Different cultures create different DNA consciousness, even at the same time on the planet. So you can have a culture on Earth at 25 percent and one at 37 - and if you did, they would indeed clash</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 16.8px;">.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 16.8px;"> …”</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; line-height: 16.8px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 16.8px;">“…</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 16.8px;"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 16.8px;">You're at 35. There's an equality here, you're starting to see the dark and light, and it's changing everything.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 16.8px;"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 16.8px;">You take a look at history and you've come a long way, but it took a long time to get here. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 16.8px;"><b>Dear ones, we've seen this process before and the snowball is rolling. There isn't anything in the way that's going to stop it. In the path of this snowball of higher consciousness are all kinds of things that will be run over and perish. Part of this is what you call "the establishment". Watch for some very big established things to fall over! The snowball will simply knock them down.</b></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 16.8px;"> …”</span></span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-2380288823072538522023-01-24T04:17:00.004+07:002023-01-24T04:17:43.382+07:00Canada to pay Indigenous abuse survivors more than $2bn<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/canada-pay-indigenous-abuse-survivors-163122607.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, 22 January 2023</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTd31TKAqhxAh9BAfMZZlYMIhVXXipRKvs8OOllYvDu9BG1HRux1fJCFHlLUHrt6xyiUzgPJnChDBeOfGhaGnm-NU_wJW_OM2yIYhVbeFb48No5V7lMdD1F80VRlX2hD3lgLzz5PIjDJmmJ7AyOimvZz9TlGUWJ-MUpSHVdodSRjIPEQdz_IY-JEIC/s768/1d1cf3ad15a9c393c330fe69ceb11299.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTd31TKAqhxAh9BAfMZZlYMIhVXXipRKvs8OOllYvDu9BG1HRux1fJCFHlLUHrt6xyiUzgPJnChDBeOfGhaGnm-NU_wJW_OM2yIYhVbeFb48No5V7lMdD1F80VRlX2hD3lgLzz5PIjDJmmJ7AyOimvZz9TlGUWJ-MUpSHVdodSRjIPEQdz_IY-JEIC/w400-h266/1d1cf3ad15a9c393c330fe69ceb11299.webp" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Canada will pay hundreds of Indigenous communities
more than $2 billion in compensation for nearly a century of abuse suffered by
children in residential schools, its government has announced.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Can$2.8 billion (US$2.1 billion) settlement, the
result of a class action lawsuit by 325 Indigenous groups, will be placed in a
not-for-profit trust independent of the government.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It will be used to "revitalize Indigenous
education, culture, and language -– to support survivors in healing and
reconnecting with their heritage," according to a press release.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">"It has taken Canada far too long to own up to
its history, own up to the genocide it committed and recognize the collective
harm caused to our nations by residential schools," said Garry Feschuk, an
Indigenous leader who is one of the plaintiffs in the suit.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">"It is time that Canada not only recognize this
harm, but help undo it by walking with us. This settlement is a good first
step," he said in the statement released Saturday.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">From the late 1800s to the 1990s, Canada's government
sent about 150,000 children into 139 residential schools mostly run by the
Catholic church, where they were cut off from their families, language and
culture.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Many were physically and sexually abused, and
thousands are believed to have died of disease, malnutrition or neglect.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves at the
sites of the former schools over the past two years has dragged the legacy of
those institutions back into the spotlight as Canada reckons with its dark
colonial past.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">More than 1,300 graves have been identified, the most
recent earlier this month.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In Lebret, Saskatchewan, ground-penetrating radar has
uncovered nearly "2,000 areas of interest" that need to be thoroughly
investigated, the Star Blanket Cree community said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A fragment of a child's jawbone dating to some 125
years ago has already been identified on the grounds of a former residential
school in the western Canadian community.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The search areas were selected near the Catholic-run
residential school -- which was open until 1998 -- on the advice of former
students.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">"The residential school system decimated our
languages, profoundly damaged our cultures, and left a legacy of social harms.
The effects go beyond my generation. It will take many generations for us to
heal," said Shane Gottfriedson, another Indigenous leader and plaintiff.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">"We believe that all survivors deserve justice
and the compensation to which they are owed," said Marc Miller, federal
minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations in the press release.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The precise terms for disbursing the $2.8 billion will
be determined by the federal court on February 27.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A national commission of inquiry in 2015 called the
residential school system a "cultural genocide."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Last year, Pope Francis visited Canada on a
penitential trip to apologize for the "evil" perpetrated in the
schools -- a gesture seen by many survivors as overwhelming, but only the
beginning of a process of healing and reconciliation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-81543969840178839892023-01-21T03:49:00.007+07:002023-01-21T03:51:50.235+07:00US designates Russia's Wagner military group an intl 'criminal organization'<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/us-designates-russias-wagner-military-190514301.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall" target="_blank">Yahoo - AFP</a>, January 20, 2023</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRDSiVYvAnVnBRTHlTlg8OYramSJIft3I868eiYe3z2Mzy39Au6n3JdYr3wGPZ1g9aDzNENhfP6RDrgf4MiYjGvIYMWkoGyEiaTYWpQErHyAPOv903te8GnxEutmhtsHxRRuFYnTVb7VF7LMZN95galvUWQTs_mYR7x8GZH8Iz4vdvnouT4XVrG5jy/s705/1a033b43fb3b3fac6e8f2d99dbbd4f24.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRDSiVYvAnVnBRTHlTlg8OYramSJIft3I868eiYe3z2Mzy39Au6n3JdYr3wGPZ1g9aDzNENhfP6RDrgf4MiYjGvIYMWkoGyEiaTYWpQErHyAPOv903te8GnxEutmhtsHxRRuFYnTVb7VF7LMZN95galvUWQTs_mYR7x8GZH8Iz4vdvnouT4XVrG5jy/w400-h266/1a033b43fb3b3fac6e8f2d99dbbd4f24.webp" width="400" /></span></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The United States on Friday designated Russia's Wagner
group as a "transnational criminal organization," raising pressure on
the private Russian army fighting in Ukraine.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">White House national security spokesman John Kirby
said Wagner, controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman close to President
Vladimir Putin, has about 50,000 fighters in Ukraine, 80 percent of them drawn
from prisons.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Kirby showed US intelligence photographs of North
Korea supplying arms to Wagner for its Ukraine operations, and said the private
army has become a rival to the formal Russian military.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The photographs, from November 18-19, show Russian
rail cars entering North Korea, picking up a load of infantry rockets and
missiles, and returning to Russia, he said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">He said the US Treasury was formally designating
Wagner as a transnational criminal organization, putting it in league with
Italian mafia groups and Japanese and Russian organized crime.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The designation will allow the wider application of
sanctions on the group’s sprawling global network, which includes mercenary
operations as well as businesses in Africa and elsewhere.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Wagner "is a criminal organization that is
committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses," Kirby said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">"We will work relentlessly to identify, disrupt,
expose and target those who are assisting Wagner," he said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Kirby also said the United States had presented its
intelligence on Wagner's North Korean purchase to the UN Security Council's
unit on North Korea sanctions.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The arms transfers from North Korea are in direct
violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions, Kirby said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Kirby said there is evidence that Prigozhin's
confidence in Wagner fighters' relative success in Ukraine has generated
tensions in the Kremlin.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">"Wagner is becoming a rival power center to the
Russian military and other Russian ministries," Kirby said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">"Prigozhin is trying to advance his own interest
in Ukraine and Wagner is making military decisions based largely on what they
will generate for Prigozhin, in terms of positive publicity."</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-41211792311308886872023-01-13T05:22:00.010+07:002023-01-13T05:27:04.415+07:00US government examining over 500 'UFO' reports<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.rfi.fr/en/science-environment/20230112-us-government-examining-over-500-ufo-reports" target="_blank">Rfi – AFP</a>, 12 Jan 2023</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0E3Z0jAdwrrQUtnLoPGk5OJG9Dfg8SJApUk84u5D-_t9_jvU7ACjuuH3QUo7IWzf7-buF2zs5TbBBKwIBT3oSs3rLVz0xIPo3kxc1FJQy_R8O9rFODRA7NSjLjDXcMVZeJ58ZmBJFFpZ7UdNypGMXxe00Kq3TcNQ6JdyGlrnhqrQHag0slm-c6__u/s980/6d1f79a506bd8dbb250119e4da7aa4541266a8fe.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="551" data-original-width="980" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0E3Z0jAdwrrQUtnLoPGk5OJG9Dfg8SJApUk84u5D-_t9_jvU7ACjuuH3QUo7IWzf7-buF2zs5TbBBKwIBT3oSs3rLVz0xIPo3kxc1FJQy_R8O9rFODRA7NSjLjDXcMVZeJ58ZmBJFFpZ7UdNypGMXxe00Kq3TcNQ6JdyGlrnhqrQHag0slm-c6__u/w400-h225/6d1f79a506bd8dbb250119e4da7aa4541266a8fe.webp" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">An image from of US military pilot's sighting of an "unidentified <br />anomalous phenomena" that some think is evidence of UFOs © Handout / DoD/AFP</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;"><br />Washington (AFP) – The US government is examining 510
UFO reports, over triple the number in its 2021 file, and while many were
caused by drones or balloons, hundreds remain unexplained, according to a
report released Thursday.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The 2022 report by the Director of National
Intelligence (DNI) said that 247 "unidentified anomalous phenomena"
or UAP reports have been filed with it since June 2021, when it revealed that
it had records of 144 sightings of suspicious aerial objects under examination.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In addition, the report said, another 119 reports that
had been buried in old records from the past 17 years had been unearthed,
leaving it with 510 in total.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Most of the new reports come from US Navy and Air
Force pilots, it said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Of those, close to 200 had "unremarkable"
explanations: they were balloons, drones or so-called aerial clutter, which
covers birds, weather events and airborne plastic bags.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But others haven't been explained according to the DNI
document, an unclassified version of a report delivered to Congress.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Those are the focus of examinations by the Pentagon,
US intelligence agencies, and NASA over concerns not that they are alien
spacecraft but unknown spying capabilities of rival countries.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">"UAP continue to represent a hazard to flight
safety and pose a possible adversary collection threat," the report said,
referring to intelligence gathering.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">"Some of these uncharacterized UAP appear to have
demonstrated unusual flight characteristics or performance capabilities, and
require further analysis," it said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The report said many of those still unexplained
reports could stem from weather phenomena, faulty sensors, or erroneous
analysis by humans.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">"Many reports lack enough detailed data to enable
attribution of UAP with high certainty," it said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The report came after years of pressure from Congress
for the military and intelligence community to take seriously what were
formerly called UFOs, or unidentified flying objects.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The US military is worried some of the UAPs spotted by
military pilots in the past may represent technologies of strategic rivals
unknown to US scientists.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Pentagon previously called them unidentified
aerial phenomena, but has now changed it to unidentified anomalous phenomena to
include air, space, and maritime domains.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In 2020, the Pentagon released a still inexplicable
video taken by navy pilots of objects moving at incredible speeds, spinning and
mysteriously disappearing.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">"We take reports of incursions into our
designated space, land, sea, or airspaces seriously and examine each one,"
said Pentagon Spokesman Pat Ryder in a statement.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-6768587326433207472022-11-25T04:49:00.004+07:002022-11-25T04:49:24.336+07:00UN rights council orders probe of Iran crackdown on protests<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/iran-crackdown-spotlight-un-rights-064528438.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, Nina LARSON,, November 24, 2022</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDIiaYY2RZTOYUDTZBHTLc_gmUO1nJ4qXdvg-OqkMryWz-IugzhNKLvsIk_BPyOcnFM9Asj3Yb_-WUJjMTo8GpO_02fMktz9uKWrLluZPuFr3hm8QHLxE5070aQoT2VephkzaJJ2MuRElSHHLPz4PxzasAHEMlXUfyl4ilyiLZF-J4zLSrF9tawqhS/s705/ff005bb374fae145cf8820bbb66f97b2.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="705" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDIiaYY2RZTOYUDTZBHTLc_gmUO1nJ4qXdvg-OqkMryWz-IugzhNKLvsIk_BPyOcnFM9Asj3Yb_-WUJjMTo8GpO_02fMktz9uKWrLluZPuFr3hm8QHLxE5070aQoT2VephkzaJJ2MuRElSHHLPz4PxzasAHEMlXUfyl4ilyiLZF-J4zLSrF9tawqhS/w400-h288/ff005bb374fae145cf8820bbb66f97b2.webp" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The United Nations Human Rights Council on Thursday
condemned Iran's repression of peaceful demonstrators following the death of
Mahsa Amini, and voted to create a high-level investigation into the deadly
crackdown.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Despite heavy lobbying by Tehran and a last-minute
effort by China to undercut the resolution, a broader-than-expected majority of
the 47-member council backed launching a probe of Iran's response to the
ongoing protests.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Thunderous applause erupted when the resolution passed
with 25 votes in favour, 16 abstaining and only six countries -- Armenia,
China, Cuba, Eritrea, Pakistan and Venezuela -- opposed.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hailed the vote,
saying it showed the top UN rights body "recognises the gravity of the
situation in Iran."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"The fact-finding mission established today will
help ensure that those engaged in the ongoing violent suppression of Iranian
people are identified and their actions documented," he said in a
statement.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The vote came at the end of an urgent session
requested by Germany and Iceland with the backing of 50 countries to discuss
the situation in Iran, rocked by two months of protests.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Those demonstrations were sparked by the death in
custody of 22-year-old Amini, after she was arrested for an alleged breach of
the country's strict dress rules for women based on Islamic sharia law.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b>Footballer arrested</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Iranian authorities have grown increasingly
heavy-handed in their response to the demonstrations as they have spread across
the country and swelled into a broad movement against the theocracy that has
ruled Iran since 1979.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">During Thursday's session, UN rights chief Volker Turk
insisted that "the unnecessary and disproportionate use of force must come
to an end."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Turk, who told reporters he had offered to visit Iran
but had received no response from Tehran, said more than 300 people had been
killed since Amini's death.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Norway-based group Iran Human Rights has put the toll
above 400, including more than 50 children.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Around 14,000 people, including children, had been
arrested over the protests, he said, describing this as "a staggering
number", and decried the fact that at least six death sentences had been
handed down to demonstrators.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Among those arrested have been a number of celebrities
who have expressed support for the protesters, including Iranian national team
footballer Voria Ghafouri, arrested on Thursday for "anti-state propaganda".</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b>'Impunity prevents justice'</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A long line of Western diplomats took the floor in
Geneva on Thursday to denounce the crackdown in Iran.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called on
all countries to back the independent international fact-finding mission to
probe all abuses connected with the ongoing protests, to ensure "those
responsible can be held to account".</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Impunity prevents justice. Justice for sisters,
sons, mothers. They have names. Jina, Abolfazl, Minoo," she said, listing
some of the many killed.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She told reporters that the investigation would
collect evidence towards holding perpetrators to account -- although it remains
unclear under which jurisdiction they would be tried.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"If we don't collect the evidence today...
justice will never come to the victims," Baerbock said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Icelandic Foreign Minister Thordis Kolbrun Reykfjord
Gylfadottir agreed, telling reporters that the council vote was "about
respecting, protecting and fulfilling human rights and fundamental
freedoms."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Dozens of people protested outside the UN in Geneva,
waving the flags used in Iran prior to the 1979 revolution, amid pictures of
alleged victims of the Iranian regime.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The organisers of that demonstration, the People's
Mojahedin Organization of Iran, hailed the Thursday's vote as "a positive
and important step," insisting the "culture of impunity must
end".</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b>'Historic'</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Rights groups also celebrated the vote, with Amnesty
International describing it as "historic", while Human Rights Watch
said it was "a welcome step towards accountability."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Iran however denounced the Western countries behind
Thursday's meeting.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Europe and the United States "lack the moral
credibility to preach... on human rights", said Khadijeh Karimi, Iran's
deputy of the vice president for women and family affairs.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Reducing the common cause of human rights to a
tool for political purposes of specific groups of Western countries is
appalling and disgraceful," she added.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Iran received backing from some countries, with
Pakistan, Venezuela and others decrying growing politicisation in the council,
and China's ambassador Chen Xu warning against "turning human rights into
a tool to intervene into other countries' internal affairs".</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">China also put in a last-minute bid to change the text
of Thursday's resolution, asking that the request to establish an investigation
be removed. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Only six countries supported
that effort.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-88670052087273097912022-10-27T02:13:00.007+07:002022-10-27T02:18:03.674+07:00UN satellite analysis tracks Ukraine cultural damage<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/un-satellite-analysis-tracks-ukraine-161750488.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, October 26, 2022</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3RUfs1DEVdwwk7CcJUVpaXwhcpZorkDHc76RaaacTthpNBZ4R7zI2A443X2ZfjTZoLuZGzjT8NTul2m5SM-tbUvxGmUZcE64K-sTy6DIM5kNwUIanj-YJThB6njUnpRK3UJpaRLY-zZBXQGJh7mXbS5uGr6NYSoIiROSKSfpltWpbAZg2yLWH58BL/s705/41ad04fd35cfe9b65829b9aeafedc8f5.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3RUfs1DEVdwwk7CcJUVpaXwhcpZorkDHc76RaaacTthpNBZ4R7zI2A443X2ZfjTZoLuZGzjT8NTul2m5SM-tbUvxGmUZcE64K-sTy6DIM5kNwUIanj-YJThB6njUnpRK3UJpaRLY-zZBXQGJh7mXbS5uGr6NYSoIiROSKSfpltWpbAZg2yLWH58BL/w400-h266/41ad04fd35cfe9b65829b9aeafedc8f5.webp" width="400" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The United Nations is using before-and-after satellite
imagery to monitor the cultural destruction inflicted by Russia's war in
Ukraine, announcing Wednesday it will launch its tracking platform publicly
within days.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The UN's culture agency UNESCO said it had verified
damage to 207 cultural sites in Ukraine since the Russian invasion on February
24.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They include 88 religious sites, 15 museums, 76
buildings of historical and or artistic interest, 18 monuments and 10
libraries.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Our conclusion is it's bad, and it may continue
to get even worse," UNESCO's cultural and emergencies director Krista
Pikkat told reporters at a briefing in Geneva.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So far in the war, none of the seven world heritage
sites have been damaged.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">UNESCO -- the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization -- has joined forces with the UN Satellite Centre UNOSAT.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Based on reports on the ground, UNESCO sends a list of
potentially damaged sites to UNOSAT. It then asks for satellite images from
commercial suppliers and a small team of experts studies the difference in
before-and-after pictures.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The team matches up the images and is then able to
give a time window in which the damage took place.</span><span style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh00M2z2K2laXIigQQn1clFdP8AlktQknZYkgMlScduVX8kU2dN03Zug6hVvzoSpv9hu8FgDCLeACqtCn6Vbh_N8-lLmTSB1lnHnBxDB3cFHjywa1jmONx2Nzn07Ujai-MASvqAoUGRQzZTdfbk5PD7XNX4AUBr0Np5mrlssTf-5oWyGWA-0J-JCvfV/s705/9b794a1102e5b84b1471a8fc565ce189.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh00M2z2K2laXIigQQn1clFdP8AlktQknZYkgMlScduVX8kU2dN03Zug6hVvzoSpv9hu8FgDCLeACqtCn6Vbh_N8-lLmTSB1lnHnBxDB3cFHjywa1jmONx2Nzn07Ujai-MASvqAoUGRQzZTdfbk5PD7XNX4AUBr0Np5mrlssTf-5oWyGWA-0J-JCvfV/w400-h266/9b794a1102e5b84b1471a8fc565ce189.webp" width="400" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">It does not attribute blame for the damage.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"This is a kind of pilot experiment to see how we
can usefully compile this information, and possibly in the long term, the
ambition would be to widen the scope beyond Ukraine and take the tool to a
global level so we can really have a kind of real-time, interactive tool for
our experts," said Pikkat.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">UNESCO is also working with museums and collections in
Ukraine to try to combat against the threat of looting -- a common problem in
war.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="font-family: arial;">UNESCO has been discussing with Kyiv about possibly
removing cultural heritage items from the country for the duration of the war,
but Pikkat acknowledged that it was a "difficult call", with the
first move being to evacuate collections to safer parts of Ukraine.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-30862825781513106792022-10-17T03:30:00.001+07:002022-10-17T03:30:24.190+07:00Pope urges UN reform after Ukraine war, Covid ‘limits’<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.digitaljournal.com/world/pope-urges-un-reform-after-ukraine-war-covid-limits/article" target="_blank">Dgital Journal – AFP</a>, October 16, 2022</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaglNlTs8Au1fsoi562Rt8areeqtybbY-WeU9oY0qXHCL_Bns3eshTJVbLBdCfZP3iKMKJIB7wim_ZCThnvxlDeeymfFU8wKNLOHBj6EzQ_aX4qBiS5sNkMpqPK0SROeHP5eaaSAnBhE-odeTYAWmyRkLFEGRUy6Jh6biaQmq76VihLhGXGtDMP9bT/s768/bfa0e72add4e0092d9285e0c45de195216c76d27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaglNlTs8Au1fsoi562Rt8areeqtybbY-WeU9oY0qXHCL_Bns3eshTJVbLBdCfZP3iKMKJIB7wim_ZCThnvxlDeeymfFU8wKNLOHBj6EzQ_aX4qBiS5sNkMpqPK0SROeHP5eaaSAnBhE-odeTYAWmyRkLFEGRUy6Jh6biaQmq76VihLhGXGtDMP9bT/w400-h266/bfa0e72add4e0092d9285e0c45de195216c76d27.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Pope Francis in his new book called for the reform of the UN after the pandemic <br />and the Ukraine war showed its 'limits' - Copyright AFP</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Pope Francis said the need to reform the United
Nations was “more than obvious” after the Covid-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war
exposed its limits, in an extract of his new book published Sunday.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Argentine pontiff said Russia’s February invasion
of Ukraine highlighted the need to ensure the current multilateral structure —
especially the UN Security Council — finds “more agile and effective ways of
resolving conflicts”.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“In wartime, it is essential to affirm that we need
more multilateralism and a better multilateralism,” but the UN is no longer fit
for “new realities”, he added in an extract published by La Stampa daily.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The organisation was founded to prevent the horrors of
two World Wars from happening again, but although the threat represented by
those conflicts was still alive, “today’s world is no longer the same”, said
Francis.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“The necessity of these reforms became more than
obvious after the pandemic” when the current multilateral system “showed all
its limits”, he added.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Francis denounced the unequal distribution of vaccines
as a “glaring example” of the law of the strongest prevailing over solidarity.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The 85-year-old advocated “organic reforms” aimed at
allowing international organisations to rediscover their essential purpose of
“serving the human family” and said international institutions must be the
result of the “widest possible consensus”.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The pope also proposed guaranteeing food, health,
economic and social rights on which international institutions would base their
decisions.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Francis’s new book, “I ask you in the name of God: Ten
prayers for a future of hope”, is due to come out in Italy Tuesday.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-2658580177076215362022-09-23T03:15:00.003+07:002022-09-23T03:15:55.500+07:00Amanpour says Iran president interview scrapped over headscarf demand<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/amanpour-says-iran-president-interview-145521631.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, Ebrahim Raisi, September 22, 2022</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1FLvMjbmPPKwwNJDWhxjK7-ABVuFWz6xXMmHeU2uM0lKcKHxt2K6qvaVPOU9XG37j00RJZZ-dXu12E16fYkWwwYzgScxh37TvlSgzOj1U3tQEwgQDyMAC4qcoZIL06YkmwzU-DMuPTMh_795oL6_LpB0I1R1dl0eqxFdOoNI96UbygmCHgU7G6Ecn0g/s705/7e71e86ada41dffc45f1fe33bfd8b512.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1FLvMjbmPPKwwNJDWhxjK7-ABVuFWz6xXMmHeU2uM0lKcKHxt2K6qvaVPOU9XG37j00RJZZ-dXu12E16fYkWwwYzgScxh37TvlSgzOj1U3tQEwgQDyMAC4qcoZIL06YkmwzU-DMuPTMh_795oL6_LpB0I1R1dl0eqxFdOoNI96UbygmCHgU7G6Ecn0g/w400-h266/7e71e86ada41dffc45f1fe33bfd8b512.webp" width="400" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Veteran journalist Christiane Amanpour said Thursday
that an interview with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was scrapped after he
insisted she wear a headscarf, the focus of major protests in the cleric-run
state.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Amanpour, the chief international anchor of CNN who
also has a show on US public broadcaster PBS, said she was ready for the
interview Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly when an aide
insisted she cover her hair.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"I politely declined. We are in New York, where
there is no law or tradition regarding headscarves," Amanpour, who was
born in Britain to an Iranian father, wrote on Twitter.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"I pointed out that no previous Iranian president
has required this when I have interviewed them outside Iran," she said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"I said that I couldn't agree to this
unprecedented and unexpected condition."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She posted a picture of herself -- without a headscarf
-- sitting in front of an empty chair where Raisi would have been.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">An aide to Raisi, a hardline cleric, told Amanpour
that he was insisting on a headscarf because of "the situation in
Iran," she said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Iran has been swept by nearly a week of protests since
the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after being arrested by morality
police that enforce the clerics' rules on how women dress.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A non-governmental group said that at least 31 Iranian
civilians have been killed in the crackdown on the protests, in which women
have been seen burning headscarves.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-41388073931402913962022-07-26T03:50:00.004+07:002022-07-29T03:52:55.947+07:00Pope apologizes for 'evil' of Indigenous abuse in Canada<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/pope-penitential-visit-canada-indigenous-030739526.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, Clement Melki and Amel Semmache, July 25,
2022</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvyLo33BdJzu49wyi9nObRRpweyQFyYHvmoag3565IIGPA2p-Ksu59_qHhWAH-BsSp0mA8RRqN42Q1BzQ5kSUn1SlGE92aDe6P91gyckqMyesW9riHXdPNx9ZnQbBL_oq72uavk8sYhFt5m8uNNoCzsPqHhSmu1uivcs8HHQ_s_Zh5eYG7AYTWCJL_/s705/89b8f249295074f018c7ccbffb7fe10c.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvyLo33BdJzu49wyi9nObRRpweyQFyYHvmoag3565IIGPA2p-Ksu59_qHhWAH-BsSp0mA8RRqN42Q1BzQ5kSUn1SlGE92aDe6P91gyckqMyesW9riHXdPNx9ZnQbBL_oq72uavk8sYhFt5m8uNNoCzsPqHhSmu1uivcs8HHQ_s_Zh5eYG7AYTWCJL_/w400-h266/89b8f249295074f018c7ccbffb7fe10c.webp" width="400" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Pope Francis on Monday apologized for the
"evil" inflicted on the Indigenous peoples of Canada on the first day
of a visit focused on addressing decades of abuse at Catholic-run residential
schools.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The plea for forgiveness from the leader of the
world's 1.3 billion Catholics was met with applause by a crowd of First
Nations, Metis and Inuit people in Maskwacis, in western Alberta province --
some of whom were taken from their families as children in what has been
branded a "cultural genocide."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"I am sorry," said the 85-year-old pontiff,
who remained seated as he delivered his address at the site of one of the
largest of Canada's infamous residential schools -- where some 150,000
Indigenous children were sent as part of a policy of forced assimilation.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed
by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples," said the pope,
citing "cultural destruction" and the "physical, verbal,
psychological and spiritual abuse" of children over the course of decades.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Francis spoke of his "deep sense of pain and
remorse" as he formally acknowledged that "many members of the
Church" had cooperated in the abusive system.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">As he spoke the emotion was palpable in Maskwacis, an
Indigenous community south of provincial capital Edmonton that was the site of
the Ermineskin residential school until it closed in 1975.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Several hundred people, many in traditional clothing,
were in attendance, along with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mary
Simon, the country's first Indigenous governor general.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMz_RcllgoZgNjZzHAvaU62Y6LHCmz9tmxYEdyMnfm1FwqVQnuZwP9Hd82HvWUNMmtn4lyxQLAdq7m4rHmNab_ZzN7LNj2ZDHtkI5I9MUQk6xNIgKuBjQXA5TtBJ4lrVcDX7wXwSC_IEsfcDJ_nkShHkwYGztkddEO4ztIfUuKpFRrFEOxLoPtYsWC/s705/8ef723425f04650289da242634c6a028.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMz_RcllgoZgNjZzHAvaU62Y6LHCmz9tmxYEdyMnfm1FwqVQnuZwP9Hd82HvWUNMmtn4lyxQLAdq7m4rHmNab_ZzN7LNj2ZDHtkI5I9MUQk6xNIgKuBjQXA5TtBJ4lrVcDX7wXwSC_IEsfcDJ_nkShHkwYGztkddEO4ztIfUuKpFRrFEOxLoPtYsWC/w400-h266/8ef723425f04650289da242634c6a028.webp" width="400" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Many lowered their eyes, wiped away tears or leaned on
and hugged neighbors, and Indigenous leaders afterwards placed a traditional feathered
headdress on the pope.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Counsellors were waiting near teepees set up to
provide support to those who may need it, and earlier volunteers had
distributed small paper bags for the "collection of tears."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b>'Cry love'</b></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4NErkQS98hVqNhQKAb_kLSNmKzpVRlux3tto01DfQ-WAHCpGEflt2Mu8WTjlmF7IVtLo2CyEXBoIUqEDg_DVJQ3iI-6686CGQ-bu0_KGXXftb74Sc2Ow6Hb3whAaTUyOkLAu2q673foi7dya2gz8NhVARb1HAYCjz93ntSQ9ejWs9EjEPU308OGow/s705/0137a22b9c24dedfdad486a8811e04ee.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4NErkQS98hVqNhQKAb_kLSNmKzpVRlux3tto01DfQ-WAHCpGEflt2Mu8WTjlmF7IVtLo2CyEXBoIUqEDg_DVJQ3iI-6686CGQ-bu0_KGXXftb74Sc2Ow6Hb3whAaTUyOkLAu2q673foi7dya2gz8NhVARb1HAYCjz93ntSQ9ejWs9EjEPU308OGow/w400-h266/0137a22b9c24dedfdad486a8811e04ee.webp" width="400" /></span></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"The First Nation believes that if you cry, you
cry love, you catch the tears on a piece of paper and put it back in this
bag," explained Andre Carrier of the Manitoba Metis Federation, before the
pope spoke.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Volunteers will collect the bags and later they will
be burned with a special prayer, "to return the tears of love to the
creator," he said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">From the late 1800s to the 1990s, Canada's government
sent about 150,000 children into 139 residential schools run by the Church,
where they were cut off from their families, language and culture.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Many were physically and sexually abused by
headmasters and teachers, and thousands are believed to have died of disease,
malnutrition or neglect.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">During a ceremony performed before the pope spoke in
Maskwacis, Indigenous people carried a bright red 50-meter long banner on which
the names -- or sometimes only the nicknames -- of all the children known to
have died were written in white. There were 4,120 of them, officials said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGFsq_aUcd_196YBagU84KFv8uTanPeYj-QY56wNCJ2AXwRDdsmSeaXUk0gQdldRJElCUL53P8vuM7zrymKK_ADpizS5HkTT8DfOcrwraGx7mUstfNdaGdzlb8jDP34WMjk0Knpc0ROHFjXS7lFnh5KZAUw2MS9TuJsjeNInIfjZGkxl-hvAManC5d/s705/776d3c088f7165db45b541aaae90e4b0.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGFsq_aUcd_196YBagU84KFv8uTanPeYj-QY56wNCJ2AXwRDdsmSeaXUk0gQdldRJElCUL53P8vuM7zrymKK_ADpizS5HkTT8DfOcrwraGx7mUstfNdaGdzlb8jDP34WMjk0Knpc0ROHFjXS7lFnh5KZAUw2MS9TuJsjeNInIfjZGkxl-hvAManC5d/w400-h266/776d3c088f7165db45b541aaae90e4b0.webp" width="400" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Since May 2021, more than 1,300 unmarked graves have
been discovered at the sites of the former schools, sending shockwaves
throughout Canada -- which has slowly begun to acknowledge this long, dark
chapter in its history.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A delegation of Indigenous peoples traveled to the
Vatican in April and met the pope -- a precursor to Francis' trip -- after
which he formally apologized.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But doing so again on Canadian soil was of huge
significance to survivors and their families.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Later in the day, at 4:30 pm (2230 GMT) Francis will
travel to the Sacred Heart Catholic Church of the First Peoples in Edmonton,
one of the city's oldest churches, for a second speech to Indigenous
communities.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b>'Healing journey'</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The flight to Edmonton was the longest since 2019 for
Francis, who has been suffering from knee pain and was forced to use a
wheelchair on the Canada trip.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXHBesDuLTRr-4xHDFUXcBK_NcHDzt8sKAMZJIkTEn5rMN18A8gIf1hhCGIrRCWg00p95Ukq2OXI-i7ohhGdx9mPcvLu3ndCDNen8261qPCiB0pot2YnFPpopvx0kgA2av7JGS2ZsP4aa2GH-eGmqoxKnM_4MK8LMPgNekLRKBnbo_BYfrhWzIouK0/s705/d3eaa019aac63c96771b0df6b826ad8e.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="412" data-original-width="705" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXHBesDuLTRr-4xHDFUXcBK_NcHDzt8sKAMZJIkTEn5rMN18A8gIf1hhCGIrRCWg00p95Ukq2OXI-i7ohhGdx9mPcvLu3ndCDNen8261qPCiB0pot2YnFPpopvx0kgA2av7JGS2ZsP4aa2GH-eGmqoxKnM_4MK8LMPgNekLRKBnbo_BYfrhWzIouK0/w400-h234/d3eaa019aac63c96771b0df6b826ad8e.webp" width="400" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">The papal visit, though highly anticipated, is also a
source of controversy for some.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"It means a lot to me" that he came, said
Deborah Greyeyes, 71, a member of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, the largest
Indigenous group in Canada.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"I think we have to forgive, too, at some
point," she told AFP. But "a lot of stuff was taken away from
us."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">After a mass before tens of thousands of faithful in
Edmonton on Tuesday, Francis will head northwest to an important pilgrimage
site, the Lac Sainte Anne.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Following a July 27-29 visit to Quebec City, he will
end his trip in Iqaluit, capital of the northern territory of Nunavut and home
to the largest Inuit population in Canada, where he will meet again with former
residential school students, before returning to Italy.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">VIDEO: Pope Francis decries "ideological colonization" and renews his apology to Indigenous peoples for decades of abuse in a speech in Quebec city to Canada's top officials <a href="https://t.co/pM2qjzsegS">pic.twitter.com/pM2qjzsegS</a></span></p><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">— AFP News Agency (@AFP) <a href="https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1552543947024900096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2022</a></span></blockquote><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><br /></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-62562428001119426642022-06-04T03:20:00.004+07:002022-06-04T03:21:25.490+07:00Ottawa compensates Siksika tribe Can$1.3 bn for taken land<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ottawa-compensates-siksika-tribe-can-1-3-bn-for-taken-land/ar-AAY0WGw" target="_blank">MSN - AFP</a>, 2 June 2022</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV0EnurGY5bIz-awdB8Ti7NKdw2kh-UH3kQqAmTTYzDVWuK_ZPyU50nB6RESQRqrVvMxoPzb0EzcVhGt-i3Ds-mhRt4AawRwIOFbzMjWGGZiTagKPWOoo6Olun5OH-vDf31VfMjxdQJSdI7i75RkG2_9N-T9LxCbca-4dsPVfcEZkV8qYXKbDKcubg/s534/AAY0Z8O.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="534" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV0EnurGY5bIz-awdB8Ti7NKdw2kh-UH3kQqAmTTYzDVWuK_ZPyU50nB6RESQRqrVvMxoPzb0EzcVhGt-i3Ds-mhRt4AawRwIOFbzMjWGGZiTagKPWOoo6Olun5OH-vDf31VfMjxdQJSdI7i75RkG2_9N-T9LxCbca-4dsPVfcEZkV8qYXKbDKcubg/w400-h266/AAY0Z8O.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, pictured in March 2022, said Ottawa had<br />'acted dishonourably' in taking the Siksika community's land in 1910. © JOHN THYS</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday
signed a Can$1.3 billion (US$1.0 billion) deal -- one of the largest of its
kind -- to settle a Blackfoot tribe's century-old land claim.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">"We're gathered today to right a wrong from the
past," Trudeau said at a signing ceremony on the Siksika First Nation's
traditional lands in western Canada.</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">The government took almost half of the tribe's reserve
lands in Alberta province in 1910 to use for resources development and to sell
to settlers.</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">The land grab came even though the 115,000 acres
(46,000 hectares) in the western prairies region had been secured for the
community in a treaty 30 years earlier.</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">Trudeau said Ottawa had "acted
dishonourably" in taking the community's "most productive
agricultural and mineral-rich lands for the benefit of others."</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller noted that
the Siksika had lost out on a share of the wealth created from these lands, as
well as access to many sacred sites.</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">He said it was important to recognize such
"exploitative bargains and lands surrenders."</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">"While this settlement doesn't make up for the
past, we hope it will lead to a better and brighter future for this generation
and those to come," he added.</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">Under the settlement, the Siksika may acquire over
time lands for addition to their reserve, to make up for those surrendered in
1910.</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">"Our way of life has changed. It will never be
the same as it was before," said Siksika Chief Ouray Crowfoot, wearing a
feather headdress.</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">"This land claim, yeah, $1.3 billion, that's a
lot of money. It'll never make it whole of what it was before. But we got to
move forward," he said.</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">The community, he added, is starting to see a revival
of its culture and traditions, as well as the Blackfoot language -- now used on
local road signage, for example.</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">He also pointed to a nearby archeological dig that is
unearthing artifacts dating back thousands of years that show the Blackfoot
"survived on these plains since time immemorial."</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">"We're a resilient people here at Siksika. We're
overcoming and now we're not just surviving, we're moving into an era of
thriving."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-58696398867163589542022-06-04T02:57:00.005+07:002022-06-04T02:57:39.447+07:00Biden to visit former 'pariah' Saudi Biden to visit former 'pariah' Saudi Arabia: reports<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220602-biden-to-visit-former-pariah-saudi-arabia-reports" target="_blank">France24 –AFP</a>, 3 June 2022</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ_GHqvznqfQJN8ujv_EdEWNqleb-yyqnX61v0ca444-Pr5dAtDt3bAmjw5zliaGlegEsZ6k6MIUyXuK2UDB53SlEJeWHEzmosyuA5rPJH72rxe4BtSLP3wUPOdqja0CEd5-_qWhhbron3svRzwCm2FsNulzE0lmf8Ah7VSvpVT9FYsFoRWaH1XjZK/s1024/1828e44163373deff8b7c0e878426112b55d6c4c.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ_GHqvznqfQJN8ujv_EdEWNqleb-yyqnX61v0ca444-Pr5dAtDt3bAmjw5zliaGlegEsZ6k6MIUyXuK2UDB53SlEJeWHEzmosyuA5rPJH72rxe4BtSLP3wUPOdqja0CEd5-_qWhhbron3svRzwCm2FsNulzE0lmf8Ah7VSvpVT9FYsFoRWaH1XjZK/w400-h225/1828e44163373deff8b7c0e878426112b55d6c4c.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">US President Joe Biden will reportedly visit Saudi Arabia, whose leaders he <br />once said should be pariahs SAUL LOEB AFP</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Washington (AFP) – US President Joe Biden will visit
Saudi Arabia this month, reports said Thursday, a stark reversal for a leader
who once called for the kingdom to be made a pariah.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The reported decision comes hours after Saudi Arabia
addressed two of Biden's priorities by agreeing to a production hike in oil and
helping extend a truce in war-battered Yemen.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN,
quoting anonymous sources, said that Biden would go ahead with the long-rumored
Saudi stop on an upcoming trip.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">CNN said that Biden would meet Saudi Arabia's de facto
ruler, 36-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was accused by US
intelligence of ordering the 2018 murder of dissident journalist Jamal
Khashoggi.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said
she had no travel to announce, adding only: "The president will look for
opportunities to engage with leaders from the Middle East region."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Biden plans this month to travel to a NATO summit in
Spain and Group of Seven summit in Germany.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He is also widely expected to travel to Israel where,
as in Saudi Arabia, he is sure to face pointed questions about slow-moving US
diplomacy with the two countries' rival, Iran.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">While running for president, Biden called for Saudi
leaders to be treated as "the pariah that they are" after the
ultraconservative kingdom's chummy relationship with his predecessor Donald
Trump.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Trump had largely shielded Saudi Arabia from
consequences after Khashoggi, a US resident who wrote critically about Crown
Prince Mohammed in The Washington Post, was lured into the Saudi consulate in
Istanbul where he was strangled and dismembered.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Trump's son-in-law and top aide, Jared Kushner, had
developed a close bond with the prince known by his initials "MBS,"
reportedly conversing with him over WhatsApp chats.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Shortly after taking office, Biden released the
intelligence report that said MBS authorized Khashoggi's killing and his
administration imposed visa restrictions on dozens of Saudis accused of
threatening dissidents.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Biden also scaled back support from a Saudi-led air
campaign in Yemen amid revulsion over civilian casualties.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b>Addressing some US concerns</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A close partner of the United States since the World
War II era, Saudi Arabia has repeatedly managed to woo administrations in
Washington that initially sought a greater distance.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">US officials were pleasantly surprised on Thursday as
major oil producers led by Saudi Arabia grouped under OPEC+ agreed to a larger
than expected hike in oil production.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjctJqJhRa0TEOltpZ0UHMtgQV0tQl1Yx7CPRE2QdJFX0xu2wGVD4lTgMZq-Tfsy25ynFPWvMyWNJJ-J7NuHiP63lNpTffxsqNk19-gN7jCZopAOjnTJqhoI44wcdhZIt4xdPX8qbfQwcBAHcdfU8ddbFFbCtIEeZIEcDTFGj-y688AKZ_iR49qFmrU/s2480/434f59a19cb4eb9f771ba7bed4c27c2590c8c9da.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1653" data-original-width="2480" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjctJqJhRa0TEOltpZ0UHMtgQV0tQl1Yx7CPRE2QdJFX0xu2wGVD4lTgMZq-Tfsy25ynFPWvMyWNJJ-J7NuHiP63lNpTffxsqNk19-gN7jCZopAOjnTJqhoI44wcdhZIt4xdPX8qbfQwcBAHcdfU8ddbFFbCtIEeZIEcDTFGj-y688AKZ_iR49qFmrU/w400-h266/434f59a19cb4eb9f771ba7bed4c27c2590c8c9da.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Then US president Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman <br />speak during the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan in June 2019 Ludovic MARIN AFP/File</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A rise in supply could help bring down skyrocketing
prices at the pump, seen as a major contributor to sagging poll numbers for
Biden whose Democratic Party faces difficult congressional elections in
November.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Officials in Washington said that Saudi Arabia was
also supportive in diplomacy that led Thursday to the extension of a fragile
two-month truce between Yemen's Riyadh-backed government and Iranian-affiliated
Huthi rebels.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Saudi Arabia demonstrated courageous leadership
by taking initiatives early on to endorse and implement terms of the UN-led
truce," Biden said in a statement.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Saudi Arabia has also addressed concerns of US
officials who saw the kingdom as overbearing in troubled Lebanon.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Secretary of State Antony Blinken, presenting an
annual report on religious freedom, praised "important recent moves"
to increase interfaith dialogue even as he acknowledges that the kingdom still
bans any public practice of religions other than Islam.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">How to address human rights will likely be a
complicated question for Biden, with MBS reportedly angered when US officials
previously raised the killing of Khashoggi.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In a rare interview earlier this year with The
Atlantic, MBS said of whether Biden understood him: "Simply, I do not
care."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"It's up to him to think about the interests of
America," he said with a shrug.Arabia: reports</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-36259417970164005222022-05-31T04:38:00.002+07:002022-05-31T04:38:35.699+07:00Pacific nations reject China security pact<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://sg.news.yahoo.com/china-eyes-security-pact-pacific-014117870.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, Frank Bainimarama, 30 May 2022</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmP0qo_PwlpJTRyeaDGjgvcRSr0oxe3PJjjmCxFKn5LK7YuNCHdLejbCM3_mTtPFXTaPwEgj_6_6u1r8JeoUJ3rQLOvGGCX-FclH-EWtFJ7bshQevp9BZw5rIRXljMjWQragMqGr4XBBkoL4eWRSEV25h-iYlRarBB7oCyWiWtTwqIN3e6U2yZsIepmw/s768/347a8dc6645cef6964b52dc8a1122eb3.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="768" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmP0qo_PwlpJTRyeaDGjgvcRSr0oxe3PJjjmCxFKn5LK7YuNCHdLejbCM3_mTtPFXTaPwEgj_6_6u1r8JeoUJ3rQLOvGGCX-FclH-EWtFJ7bshQevp9BZw5rIRXljMjWQragMqGr4XBBkoL4eWRSEV25h-iYlRarBB7oCyWiWtTwqIN3e6U2yZsIepmw/w400-h266/347a8dc6645cef6964b52dc8a1122eb3.webp" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said that that Beijing is willing to <br />work with other major powers in the Pacific region to help island nations <br />develop (AFP/Vaitogi Asuisui MATAFEO) (Vaitogi Asuisui MATAFEO)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US"><br />Ten Pacific island nations rebuffed China's push for a
wide-ranging regional security pact Monday, amid worries the proposal was
designed to pull them into Beijing's orbit.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Talks in Fiji between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi
and leaders from the small island nations failed to reach an agreement, in a
high-profile diplomatic setback for Beijing.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">China is offering to radically ramp up its activities
in the South Pacific, directly challenging the influence of the United States
and its allies in the strategically vital region.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The proposed pact would see Beijing train Pacific
island police, become involved in cybersecurity, expand political ties, conduct
sensitive marine mapping and gain greater access to natural resources on land
and in the water.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">As an enticement, Beijing is offering millions of
dollars in financial assistance, the prospect of a potentially lucrative
China-Pacific islands free trade agreement and access to China's vast market of
1.4 billion people.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Behind the scenes, Pacific leaders have voiced deep
misgivings about the offer.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In a recent letter to fellow leaders, David Panuelo,
the President of the Federated States of Micronesia, warned the offer was
"disingenuous" and would "ensure Chinese influence in
government" and "economic control" of key industries.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A more soft-spoken public rebuke came after the talks,
when leaders said they could not agree to Beijing's proposed "Common
Development Vision" due to a lack of regional consensus.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"As always, we put consensus first," co-host
and Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said after the meeting, indicating
that broad accord would be needed before inking any "new regional
agreements".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Papua New Guinea, Samoa and the Federated States of
Micronesia were said to be among those concerned about the proposals, along
with Taiwan-recognising Palau, which was not invited.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We would rather deal with our own security
issues with China", Papua New Guinea Foreign Minister Soroi Eoe told AFP,
indicating concern about any region-wide pact.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Chinese officials -- working frantically to secure support
during Wang's 10-day diplomatic blitz of the region -- admitted their
entreaties had fallen short.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"There has been general support from the 10
countries," Chinese ambassador to Fiji Qian Bo told reporters in Suva.
"But of course, there are some concerns on some specific issues and we
have agreed that these two documents will be discussed afterwards until we have
reached an agreement."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Speaking from Suva, Wang made the face-saving
announcement that the 10 countries had agreed to memorandums of understanding
on China's "Belt and Road" infrastructure initiative.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The two sides will "continue to have ongoing and
in-depth discussions and consultations to shape more consensus on
cooperation", he said, urging those worried by Beijing's intentions not to
be "too anxious and don't be too nervous".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The full proposal has not been made public, but was
leaked to media including AFP ahead of Monday's meeting.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">China has said it will release a "position
paper" highlighting the proposals to the public in the coming weeks.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Balancing act</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Western powers have bristled against China's move into
the region, with the US State Department warning South Pacific nations to be
wary of "shadowy, vague deals with little transparency".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Australia joined the United States in urging a
spurning of China's attempts to expand its security reach deep into the region,
with the country's new foreign minister warning of the "consequences"
of such deals.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Many in the Pacific are uneasy at being thrust to the
centre of a geopolitical tussle between China and US allies.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Most capitals are keen to maintain amicable ties with
China, balancing relations between Beijing, Washington, Canberra and
Wellington, while focusing on the more urgent threat of climate change and
day-to-day economic issues.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">During a joint appearance with Wang, Bainimarama hit
out at those engaged in "geopolitical point-scoring".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It "means less than little to anyone whose
community is slipping beneath the rising seas, whose job has been lost to a
pandemic or whose family is impacted by the rapid rise in the price of
commodities", he said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">All but a few of the Pacific Islands are low-lying and
deeply vulnerable to sea-level rises caused by climate change.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Before the meeting, President Xi Jinping sent a
message that China would be "a good brother" to the region and that
they shared a "common destiny", according to state broadcaster CCTV.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-58758609553355807072022-05-19T02:42:00.004+07:002022-05-19T03:42:19.528+07:00In rare hearing, Pentagon reports rise in UFOs in past 20 years<p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/rare-hearing-pentagon-reports-rise-192317555.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, May 17, 2022</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx-h8FhIL5CRp4jw4Glqg8UWsHq2FHQBVpDcE-2I3JVsX0kUUyB-DNbkXCF4PcOlqtGwZbOI1HAr_Nc5YTiPCatjxTOA5-_oHiEqiVmjyi1aXTDPXmGWAslOMIEkuOH4J2DlKtkgBz46mDNWsY6iAfSoQ-4zeFxUKwcx3JPdtQe-IwEqxsHZDWPVED/s705/9c966a98bf50ba4d885c7b74c8ec77f0.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="705" height="391" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx-h8FhIL5CRp4jw4Glqg8UWsHq2FHQBVpDcE-2I3JVsX0kUUyB-DNbkXCF4PcOlqtGwZbOI1HAr_Nc5YTiPCatjxTOA5-_oHiEqiVmjyi1aXTDPXmGWAslOMIEkuOH4J2DlKtkgBz46mDNWsY6iAfSoQ-4zeFxUKwcx3JPdtQe-IwEqxsHZDWPVED/w400-h391/9c966a98bf50ba4d885c7b74c8ec77f0.webp" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">A screen grab provided by the Pentagon in April 2020 from a video showing <br />"unidentified aerial phenomena" (AFP/Handout) (Handout)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US">An increasing number of unidentified flying objects
have been reported in the sky over the past 20 years, a top US defense official
told lawmakers Tuesday in the first public hearing on UFOs in half a century.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Since the early 2000s we have seen an increasing
number of unauthorized and/or unidentified aircraft or objects in military
controlled training areas and training ranges and other designated
airspace," Scott Bray, deputy director of Naval intelligence, told a House
security panel.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Bray attributed the rise to efforts by the US military
to "destigmatize the act of reporting sights and encounters" as well
as to technological advances.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">However, he said the Pentagon had detected nothing
"that would suggest it's anything non-terrestrial in origin" behind
these phenomena.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">On the other hand, Brey also did not definitively rule
out that possibility.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We've made no assumptions about what this is or
isn't," Bray said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In June 2021, US intelligence had already claimed in a
long-awaited report that there was no evidence of the existence of
extraterrestrials in the skies, while acknowledging that they had no
explanation for dozens of phenomena observed by military pilots.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Some could be explained by the presence of drones or
birds creating confusion in the radar systems of the US military.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Others could stem from tests of military equipment or
technologies carried out by other powers, such as China or Russia.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The US military and intelligence are primarily
interested in determining whether these aerial objects may be linked to threats
against the United States.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="font-family: arial;">"Unidentified Aerial Phenomena are a potential
national security threat. And they need to be treated that way," said
Democratic Representative Andre Carson of Indiana, who was chairing the panel
holding the hearing.<br /><br /></span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" gesture="media" height="275" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tf1uLwUTDA0" width="450"></iframe></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Related Articles:</b></span><br /><b><br /></b><b><a href="https://cempaka-hotspots.blogspot.nl/2016/02/cia-releases-secret-ufo-files-including.html" target="_blank">CIA Releases Secret UFO Files - Including Spaceships Over Britain In 1962</a></b><br /><br /></span></span></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><a href="http://cempaka-belanda.blogspot.nl/2015/04/we-could-find-alien-life-in-next-10-to.html" target="_blank">We could find alien life 'in the next 10 to 20 years': Top Nasa scientist claims we are on the verge of meeting extraterrestrials</a></b></span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZs-pOzvA8Q3bnRGLUdPSber69u5N1cx4kHE0f5u1flj6gTjhU000muaR_Zjy3Na0D0mp6iF5ZZMLQjQslpK8AlKDSwodzZzp790x2zhAnoVnc0Qz3lPHXy2OvrcpMHyEe2YmbYQUhtDe-/s1600/5a71305c6964d033690f6a706700f4e9.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZs-pOzvA8Q3bnRGLUdPSber69u5N1cx4kHE0f5u1flj6gTjhU000muaR_Zjy3Na0D0mp6iF5ZZMLQjQslpK8AlKDSwodzZzp790x2zhAnoVnc0Qz3lPHXy2OvrcpMHyEe2YmbYQUhtDe-/s1600/5a71305c6964d033690f6a706700f4e9.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">In this Nov. 19, 2014 file photo, Counselor to the President John Podesta speaks in<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"> Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014. In the year that will pass before the 2016<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">campaign for president formally kicks off with the votes in the Iowa Caucus, any<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"> number of candidates, donors, political operatives — and people who have nothing<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US"> to do with American politics — will shape the race for the White House. </span>(AP Photo/<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)</span><o:p></o:p></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b><a href="http://cempaka-green.blogspot.nl/2015/02/obama-adviser-john-podestas-biggest.html" target="_blank">Obama adviser John Podesta's biggest regret: Keeping America in dark about UFOs</a></b><br /><b><a href="http://cempaka-people.blogspot.nl/2013/12/new-obama-advisor-john-podesta-advocate.html" target="_blank">New Obama Advisor John Podesta An Advocate For UFO Disclosure</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://cempaka-hotspots.blogspot.nl/2010/07/john-podesta-writes-probing-foreword.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">John Podesta writes probing foreword for new book on UFOs</span></a></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b><a href="http://cempaka-green.blogspot.nl/2014/07/government-takes-first-major-steps.html" target="_blank">US Government Takes First Major Steps Towards UFO Disclosure</a></b><br /><b><a href="http://cempaka-people.blogspot.nl/2014/09/will-et-be-here-soon-nasa-brings.html" target="_blank">Will ET Be Here Soon? NASA Brings Scientists, Theologians Together To Prepare</a></b><br /><b><a href="http://cempaka-hotspots.blogspot.nl/2013/12/us-congress-has-close-encounter-over.html" target="_blank">US Congress has close encounter over extraterrestrial life</a></b><br /><b><a href="http://cempaka-hotspots.blogspot.nl/2013/05/group-wants-global-effort-to-unveil-ufo.html" target="_blank">US Group Wants Global Effort to Unveil UFO Evidence</a></b><br /><br /><b><a href="http://cempaka-green.blogspot.nl/2011/02/canadas-ex-defense-minister-us-knows.html" target="_blank">Canada's ex-defense minister: U.S. knows how aliens can make us greener</a></b><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="338" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RGyFWyNuF3s" width="450"></iframe></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /><b><a href="http://cempaka-green.blogspot.nl/2012/08/the-big-picture-you-are-not-alone.html" target="_blank">"The Big Picture - You Are Not Alone" - Feb 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)</a></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.kryon.com/k_channel12_comonquestions.html" target="_blank">"Common Questions from Non-Lightworkers" - Feb 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)</a></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;"><b style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><i><br /></i></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;"><b style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><i>"... </i>Question Three: Is there life on other planets?</b></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;">Are you kidding? There's life everywhere. Everywhere! Right now, your scientists are searching for microbial life on all the planets and their moons in your solar system, and they will eventually find it. They expect to find it. They will eventually understand that the seeds of life are everywhere.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;">How much life might there be? How long has it been "out there"? When science starts to realize the scope of how long life has been in your galaxy, they will begin to see something counterintuitive to evolution - their own Human history. How old is your Universe? Ask your scientists and they will say about 13 billion years. That's OK. Let's use their numbers. How old is your own planet - 4 or 5 billion, perhaps? Correct. But how old is humanity? Why weren't you here with the dinosaurs? You think the earth wasn't ready? Do you think that perhaps that which controls evolution was a little too stupid to make a Human sooner, but the process could make a dinosaur? Have you ever thought about these things?</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">If you put the earth's entire history into a 24-hour clock, life itself only started in the last hour and humanity, all of civilization, happened the last few seconds. Isn't that odd to you? Therefore, in a Universe that may be 13 billion years old, you arrived in the last few seconds. <b>Did you ever think maybe you're the newest ones on the block? Well, you'd be right.</b></span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><b>If the Universe is really that old, do you think perhaps there are civilizations in your galaxy that might be a billion or more years older than you? If that's the case, do you think perhaps they have gone through anything you're going through? Do you think any of them might have had your DNA attributes? Perhaps they also went through what you are going through spiritually? Perhaps they even went into a quantum ascension status? The answer is dozens of them.</b></span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; line-height: 18px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; line-height: 18px;"><b>You already know them and you've listed them in your publications. The ones who directly seeded you are called Pleiadians. The ones who seeded them might be Octurian and the ones who seeded them may be even Orion. They're everywhere, and they're all here as well. They're looking at you, for you are the ones who are next, and you are passing this marker of the shift.</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Oh, dear ones, it's going to be a long time before you really know any of these things to be your reality. The first step is peace on Earth. The next is a new kind of Human evolution that is going to increase your DNA efficiency to 100% and you're going to live a long time. </b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Every time I say that, there are Humans in their intellectual mind saying, </span><i>"Well, there is a geometric birth rate going on. We're not going to make it. It's going to over-crowd and we are going to run out of food. So what you're saying, Kryon, can't be a good thing. We're all going to be suffering and killing each other for food."</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Let me address this, for if that is your thought, Human, you are assuming Humans are stupid and haven't figured out what's going on and why there's so much birth. You assume they can't control it because they haven't figured it out? I want to tell you, you're going to see something you didn't expect. You're going to see a decline in birth rate because Humans are smart and they're getting smarter. They're going to see that quality of life is linked to the number of children they have, and they're going to figure out the solution. It won't be how many children their church says they should have. They are going to do it intuitively. You're going to see it sooner than not.</span><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">You are going to see wisdom on the planet in many areas that no sociologist would ever have predicted. You will surprise them all, and it's going to happen without a government program. It's going to happen because you decide you want it. It's going to happen collectively, and you may even see it soon. Look for negative birth rates in first-world countries. Where Humans are able to see a larger picture and have freedom of information, the situation will not be what you have predicted.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; line-height: 18px;"><b>Is there life on other planets? The scientists are saying, <i>"It's going to be a long time before we get to the stars, you know? We have to get in this little metal can and put air in it, and then travel in it for years and years before we ever get to the next star."</i> Meanwhile, a Pleiadian can do it in the blink of an eye! What do you think is going on there? Do you even believe me?</b></span></div></div></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: start;"><div><span lang="EN-US"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; line-height: 18px;">Not long ago, if you wanted to communicate to someone far away, you sent a letter. It was carried by a horse. It took a month to get a response. Now you communicate instantly! Why is this so unbelievable to you about travel?</span></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;">I will tell you, as long as you stay in 3D, you'll still be getting in little metal cans and air suits and going to planets. <b>As soon as you begin the quantum age, however, you will simply wish yourself there, because you will be entangled with everything and can go with intent.</b> If you don't believe this now, you will later, for what I give you is true. It may be lifetimes and lifetimes from now, but the group that is before me is the group that is going to come back over and over and over. The difference is that you're done coming back in an old energy. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;">This is a new energy. ..”</span></span></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-13685875004133448292022-05-16T04:26:00.002+07:002022-05-16T04:26:23.784+07:00Kalush Orchestra - Stefania (Official Video Eurovision 2022)<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="275" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z8Z51no1TD0" title="YouTube video player" width="450"></iframe><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-24520180327351177392022-05-07T03:05:00.006+07:002022-05-07T03:07:06.810+07:00Karine Jean-Pierre named as first Black W.House press secretary<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/karine-jean-pierre-named-first-194630612.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, May 5, 2022</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsiFHZjDTsHRZxmnCbMgcKp8wCj-u3QHvRKF_QgRX1vNO1a1dJzVQzg5gE6lXjOJsZYmaN1lIFtX7kM-P9owbXav6URKOfT9k8E81atnFSnPrd8mHKEaKyGMjAGgHk8sixbQCXHddbCT1sye3361GOHz1MDJU43OvJ4A8dEU3lOn7gPRcZefRKBPRI/s705/2679f60e9c6939a62a23d99622c92eee.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsiFHZjDTsHRZxmnCbMgcKp8wCj-u3QHvRKF_QgRX1vNO1a1dJzVQzg5gE6lXjOJsZYmaN1lIFtX7kM-P9owbXav6URKOfT9k8E81atnFSnPrd8mHKEaKyGMjAGgHk8sixbQCXHddbCT1sye3361GOHz1MDJU43OvJ4A8dEU3lOn7gPRcZefRKBPRI/w400-h266/2679f60e9c6939a62a23d99622c92eee.webp" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Karine Jean-Pierre speaks at a briefing in the White House in November <br />2021 (AFP/MANDEL NGAN) (MANDEL NGAN)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US">US President Joe Biden on Thursday named Karine
Jean-Pierre as the next White House press secretary, the first Black person to
hold the high-profile post.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jean-Pierre, who will also be the first openly LGBTQ+
person in the role, will replace Jen Psaki, under whom she served as deputy,
from May 13.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Biden in a statement praised Jean-Pierre's
"experience, talent and integrity," saying he was "proud"
to announce her appointment.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"She will be the first black woman and the first
openly LGBTQ+ person to serve as the White House Press Secretary," Psaki
tweeted after the announcement.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Representation matters and she will give a voice
to many, but also make many dream big about what is truly possible."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The outgoing press secretary, who said from the outset
that she would step down during Biden's term, is due to join MSNBC, according
to US media reports.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jean-Pierre, 44, worked on both of former president
Barack Obama's campaigns in 2008 and 2012 and then on Biden's campaign in 2020
before joining Biden's team at the White House.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She also served under Biden during his tenure as
Obama's vice president.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Haitian parents</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jean-Pierre was previously Chief Public Affairs
Officer for liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org and worked as a political analyst
with NBC and MSNBC, the White House statement said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Raised in New York, French-speaking Jean-Pierre was
born in Martinique to Haitian parents who emigrated to the United States, where
her father drove a taxi and her mother worked as a cleaner.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It was in New York that she took her first steps into
politics before also becoming a leading figure in the non-profit sphere, having
graduated from the prestigious Columbia University.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jean-Pierre has often said her family's background,
emblematic of the "American dream," was a determining factor in her
career.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">An advocate for combatting mental health stigma, the
new White House spokeswoman has also shared her own stories of being sexually
abused as a child and suffering from depression.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In a book published in 2019, she wrote of "the
pressure of growing up in an immigrant household to succeed."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"That pressure grew so big, and my sense of
failure so strong, that I felt like my family would be better off without me.
At one point, I attempted suicide," she said in a post published on the
MSNBC website.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"I am everything that Donald Trump hates,"
said Jean-Pierre, who has a daughter with her partner, a journalist with CNN,
in reference to Biden's predecessor in a 2018 video for MoveOn.org.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"I am a Black woman. I am gay. I am a mom."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In a Twitter post marking LGBTQ Pride month in June
2021, she said her "journey towards feeling accepted by myself and loved
ones wasn't an easy one, but it was worthwhile."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="font-family: arial;">"No matter where you are in your journey, I see
you, we see you and we celebrate you."</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-62613131473933888632022-04-09T03:49:00.002+07:002022-04-09T03:49:17.778+07:00Pink Floyd release first new song since 1994 for Ukraine<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/pink-floyd-release-first-song-192601226.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, April 7, 2022</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2JSNLlivPz1ZoXCI4bIn-yjDUsIozjb2vCXpsXE24YvFudOR4kRqoaI2ldDEq5ArrdI7nNIgPfBjcEUZTDku-3iyzFvYsT9rAN9qlkW34gZ27YizGSdRlpLAOr6kE3wTN47Uc1UeD5s7OdMgoYczyPWZS4sy9bpaypqhGEN0EEpE6vZU2nhN82laIZQ/s705/e90357f4889c91007918acc8c526ddf2.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2JSNLlivPz1ZoXCI4bIn-yjDUsIozjb2vCXpsXE24YvFudOR4kRqoaI2ldDEq5ArrdI7nNIgPfBjcEUZTDku-3iyzFvYsT9rAN9qlkW34gZ27YizGSdRlpLAOr6kE3wTN47Uc1UeD5s7OdMgoYczyPWZS4sy9bpaypqhGEN0EEpE6vZU2nhN82laIZQ/w400-h266/e90357f4889c91007918acc8c526ddf2.webp" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">David Gilmour: 'We, like so many, have been feeling the fury and the frustration of this vile <br />act of an independent, peaceful democratic country being invaded and having its people <br />murdered by one of the world's major powers' (AFP/JOHN D MCHUGH) (JOHN D MCHUGH)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US">Pink Floyd have written their first new song in almost
30 years to support Ukrainians, the band announced on Thursday.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Hey, Hey, Rise-Up!" will be released on
Friday, and be used to raise funds for humanitarian causes linked to the war.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It samples Andriy Khlyvnyuk, from one of Ukraine's
biggest bands BoomBox, singing in Sofiyskaya Square in Kyiv in a clip that went
viral.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Khlyvnyukh abandoned a world tour to return to Ukraine
and help defend his country.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We, like so many, have been feeling the fury and
the frustration of this vile act of an independent, peaceful democratic country
being invaded and having its people murdered by one of the world's major
powers," Pink Floyd said on their official Twitter feed.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In a press release, band leader David Gilmour said he
had been moved by Khlyvnyuk's video: "It was a powerful moment that made
me want to put it to music."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He was able to speak with Khlyvnyuk from his hospital
bed in Kyiv, where the singer was recovering after being hit by shrapnel in a
mortar attack, the record company said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"I played him a little bit of the song down the
phone line and he gave me his blessing. We both hope to do something together
in person in the future," Gilmour said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The image accompanying the song is of a sunflower, and
was inspired by a viral video showing a Ukrainian woman insulting two armed
Russian soldiers.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In it, she tells the soldiers: "Take these seeds
and put them in your pockets. That way sunflowers will grow when you all rest
here."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It is the first original music from Pink Floyd since
1994's "The Division Bell".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Gilmour tweeted his opposition to the war soon after
Russia's invasion, saying: "Putin must go".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The band has also pulled their music from Russian and
Belarusian streaming sites in protest at the invasion.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="275" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jUfVmtAvfdg" title="YouTube video player" width="450"></iframe></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-39465056339732313652022-04-06T02:04:00.008+07:002022-04-06T03:03:38.279+07:00Zelensky tells UN to 'act immediately' on Russia or close<p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/zelensky-tells-un-act-immediately-142339166.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, Philippe RATER, April 5, 2022</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1z5QYn2u4x5lswl0XftDT_QeJW4k-sjlbiMLD8BZ2bcCJEW-3TCgsIos5hhpld6JW1Ki36LdeBnzbVJzDAV86Ibb9BNfd6fqDDKenGjhSytdY-Sq649vhiwSwhRb3a9FEgAf7Smq4TWHW61NgpN_3dmvu95Jddn5XTrDGHsoIFcWIpouMjyLdsjL9/s705/f606db73b4582940acc7f40a86438a7d.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="494" data-original-width="705" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1z5QYn2u4x5lswl0XftDT_QeJW4k-sjlbiMLD8BZ2bcCJEW-3TCgsIos5hhpld6JW1Ki36LdeBnzbVJzDAV86Ibb9BNfd6fqDDKenGjhSytdY-Sq649vhiwSwhRb3a9FEgAf7Smq4TWHW61NgpN_3dmvu95Jddn5XTrDGHsoIFcWIpouMjyLdsjL9/w400-h280/f606db73b4582940acc7f40a86438a7d.webp" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, addresses a meeting of the United Nations Security <br />Councilin New York City on April 5, 2022 (AFP/TIMOTHY A. CLARY) (TIMOTHY A. CLARY)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US">Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky challenged the
United Nations to "act immediately" or "dissolve yourself
altogether" during a blistering address Tuesday in which he showed
harrowing footage of dead bodies -- including children -- he said were victims
of Russian atrocities.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Likening Russia's actions in Bucha and other Ukrainian
cities to violence carried out by "terrorists" such as the Islamic
State group, Zelensky called on the 15-member Security Council -- which aims to
ensure international peace and security -- to expel Russia "so it cannot
block decisions about its own aggression, its own war."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Russia, as one of the five permanent members of the
Council, has a veto, which it has repeatedly wielded to block resolutions and
negotiations on the global stage.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That means it cannot be expelled from the body, as it
would simply veto any vote or recommendation by the Security Council to do so.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"If there is no alternative ... then the next
option would be dissolve yourself altogether," Zelensky continued.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to close the
UN? ... If your answer is no, then you need to act immediately."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Bearded and dressed in his now trademark military
green T-shirt, Zelensky, speaking remotely from Kyiv, gave a chilling rendition
of the atrocities he said were carried out by Russian troops against civilians
in Bucha, a town outside the Ukrainian capital.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Bucha had been occupied by Russian troops, but when
they withdrew recently Ukrainian authorities and independent international
journalists including AFP found bodies of people in civilian clothing, some
with their hands tied behind their backs.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Zelensky aired a graphic, 90-second clip of what he
said were images from towns including Bucha and the southern port of Mariupol.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The footage showed partially uncovered dead people,
including children, in shallow graves, several bodies in a courtyard and dead
people with hands tied behind their back slumped towards a wall.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Now the world can see what the Russian military
did in Bucha," Zelensky said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"They were killed in their apartments, houses,
blowing up grenades, civilians were crushed by tanks while sitting in their
cars in the middle of the road, just for their pleasure. They cut off limbs...
slashed their throats," he said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Women were raped and killed in front of their
children, their tongues were pulled out only because the aggressors did not
hear what they wanted to hear from them.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"This is no different from other terrorists such
as Daesh ... and here it is done by a member of the United Nations Security
Council," he said, using another acronym for the Islamic State group.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Accountability must be inevitable," he
said, claiming that "hundreds of thousands" of Ukrainians had also
been deported to Russia.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Moments later Russia's ambassador, in his own
comments, rejected the claims entirely.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b>'No witnesses'</b></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Addressing his remarks directly to Zelensky, Vassily
Nebenzia said Moscow places "on your conscience the ungrounded accusations
against the Russian military, which are not confirmed by any eye
witnesses."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">At least one witness has told AFP of watching Russian
soldiers shoot a man in cold blood in Bucha.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Russia has claimed that images presented by Ukrainian
authorities to show there had been a massacre in Bucha were fake, or that the
deaths occurred after Russian soldiers pulled out of the areas.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif">It has not offered evidence, and satellite imagery has
shown bodies there for weeks, before Moscow withdrew its troops from the town.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Nevertheless Nebenzia repeated those claims, telling
the council: "You only saw what they showed you. You couldn't ignore the
flagrant inconsistencies in the version of events which are being promoted by
Ukrainian and Western media."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He also denied Zelensky's allegation of mass
deportations.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Since the invasion began "over 600,000 people
have been evacuated to Russia, including over 119,000 children," Nebenzia
told the body.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He said the evacuations were "voluntary,"
not "coercion or abduction."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, sparking
outrage across the world and displacing millions of Ukrainians.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-57426095647516707942022-03-25T03:26:00.006+07:002022-03-25T03:26:36.384+07:00UN General Assembly demands Russia end Ukraine war<p><a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/un-general-assembly-demands-russia-end-ukraine-war/ar-AAVsMtF" target="_blank">M</a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/un-general-assembly-demands-russia-end-ukraine-war/ar-AAVsMtF" target="_blank">SN – AFP</a>, 24 March 2022</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht8U97p-ncY5bfcnPO0MgtDvDIcBnp3ast5CtOakqj8fF_ZBb2VrklWSM55MZhAZDsr5MVqsxSssYvEaQYiRJGRraTbYAdliAQw9ZNoyK2IejaIBL4oFTu5WcndMAVe1JCw1FyihYsVp6U5hggBHtO3TjFbnR6FjxgvKkVfQeSWpEIrHk_MudrFNcg/s768/AAVsseq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="768" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht8U97p-ncY5bfcnPO0MgtDvDIcBnp3ast5CtOakqj8fF_ZBb2VrklWSM55MZhAZDsr5MVqsxSssYvEaQYiRJGRraTbYAdliAQw9ZNoyK2IejaIBL4oFTu5WcndMAVe1JCw1FyihYsVp6U5hggBHtO3TjFbnR6FjxgvKkVfQeSWpEIrHk_MudrFNcg/w400-h279/AAVsseq.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">© TIMOTHY A. CLARY Ukraine's UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya, speaks during <br />a General Assembly Emergency Special Session on Ukraine at the United Nations <br />in New York on March 23, 2022</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The UN General Assembly on Thursday adopted by an
overwhelming majority a new non-binding resolution that demands an
"immediate" halt to Russia's war in Ukraine.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">At UN headquarters in New York, 140 countries voted in
favor, 38 abstained and five voted against the measure, with applause ringing
out afterwards.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The vote came after the adoption of a similar
non-binding resolution on March 2 that demanded Russia immediately cease its
use of force -- a vote that was approved by 141 countries.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">On Wednesday Ukraine put forward the new resolution,
originally prepared by France and Mexico, at an emergency session of the
General Assembly.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A competing text by South Africa, which never
mentioned Russia by name, received only 50 votes for, 67 against and 36
abstentions, and was therefore not adopted.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The approved resolution specifically implicates Moscow
and "demands an immediate cessation of the hostilities by the Russian
Federation against Ukraine, in particular of any attacks against civilians and
civilian objects."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The same five countries voted against the resolution
Thursday and March 2 -- Russia, Syria, North Korea, Belarus and Eritrea.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield,
welcomed the "strong majority" of member states that approved the
resolution.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The countries made clear that "Russia bears sole
responsibility for the grave humanitarian crisis and violence in Ukraine,"
she said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"As President Biden has stated clearly, Vladimir
Putin will not see victory in Ukraine. And we heard today that he will not see
it here in New York either."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Joe Biden and his Western counterparts gathered in
Brussels on Thursday for NATO, G7 and EU summits, with Ukraine President
Volodymyr Zelensky also participated by videolink.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">On Wednesday Russia submitted a resolution to the UN
Security Council on the "humanitarian situation" in Ukraine -- but it
was not adopted, with 13 of the 15 member states pointedly abstaining in
solidarity over what diplomats said was the text's unacceptable basis.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-87923568834044235692022-03-23T03:38:00.007+07:002022-03-23T03:38:48.119+07:00UN chief calls Russia-Ukraine war 'unwinnable'<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220322-un-chief-calls-russia-ukraine-war-unwinnable" target="_blank">France24 – AFP</a>, 22 March 2022</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMCKJNdeRoeFvwKG6Qzf89okFuB6vWtF5do7bsXQrkEovlkxWo9_V_Y7HzVnbIKJ9lBqqLVTrSQSQrLk0DfcVBh9vsU6aVZvbdruFpjTNSessPPzBGEyQZjEaoRSg11ExS5sQwpsTF9dREI09cfOL5xYwKZxufwmqWora2nMzcbqtFMIiJRXKAIM4/s1024/0ded07e742cc3e1e8651c300e733eadaa36ecebb.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMCKJNdeRoeFvwKG6Qzf89okFuB6vWtF5do7bsXQrkEovlkxWo9_V_Y7HzVnbIKJ9lBqqLVTrSQSQrLk0DfcVBh9vsU6aVZvbdruFpjTNSessPPzBGEyQZjEaoRSg11ExS5sQwpsTF9dREI09cfOL5xYwKZxufwmqWora2nMzcbqtFMIiJRXKAIM4/w400-h225/0ded07e742cc3e1e8651c300e733eadaa36ecebb.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">In this file photo taken on February 28, 2022, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres <br />speaks on the Russia-Ukraine conflict at the General Assembly emergency special <br />session in New York Kena Betancur AFP/File</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">United Nations (United States) (AFP) – UN chief
Antonio Guterres said Tuesday that it was time for Russia to end their
"absurd war" in Ukraine, declaring the conflict
"unwinnable."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Secretary General told reporters at the world
body's headquarters in New York that the war "is going nowhere, fast."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"For more than two weeks, Mariupol has been
encircled by the Russian army and relentlessly bombed, shelled and attacked.
For what?" he said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Even if Mariupol falls, Ukraine cannot be
conquered city by city, street by street, house by house."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Guterres added that "the only outcome" to
more fighting was "more suffering, more destruction, and more horror as
far as the eye can see."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Negotiators from Moscow and Kyiv have held ongoing
talks aimed at ending nearly four weeks of fierce fighting, but have failed to
announce any progress so far.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Guterres said though that he believed diplomatic
negotiations to bring a halt to fighting were making headway.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"There is enough on the table to cease
hostilities now and seriously negotiate now.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"This war is unwinnable. Sooner or later, it will
have to move from the battlefield to the peace table. That is inevitable,"
he added.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The UN General Assembly is due to reconvene a special
emergency session on Ukraine on Wednesday and hold a vote this week on a
non-binding French and Mexican resolution condemning Russia's invasion.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Earlier this month, 141 out of 193 United Nations
member states supported a similar resolution.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The vote will indicate whether Russia has lost or
gained any support over its actions since that vote on March 2.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">South Africa, which abstained last time around, has
circulated a rival draft resolution which calls for an end to hostilities but
makes no mention of Russia as the aggressor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-40926815643360067392022-03-20T02:11:00.005+07:002022-03-20T02:11:40.517+07:00Pope in 'tectonic' shake-up of Vatican bureaucracy<p> <span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/pope-tectonic-shake-vatican-bureaucracy-161755842.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, Ella IDE, March 19, 2022</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKFb1TXZRAUoJbEd5DzVCwyW6dkNf8JgZr4U1Zj7W5dptGYS3OrlXjfwz8ZyyDLBodAeNyg64nnxv2yqvC5LdOvpYPyuxQap7WdobiwIqeHrBUT5Cr3As43NrBten-FtkpzZV1tPWjwsf1VW_J6oXc6U43YBsnqAxB7S2u52aCsthdpFXwGzCAhRYL=s705" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKFb1TXZRAUoJbEd5DzVCwyW6dkNf8JgZr4U1Zj7W5dptGYS3OrlXjfwz8ZyyDLBodAeNyg64nnxv2yqvC5LdOvpYPyuxQap7WdobiwIqeHrBUT5Cr3As43NrBten-FtkpzZV1tPWjwsf1VW_J6oXc6U43YBsnqAxB7S2u52aCsthdpFXwGzCAhRYL=w400-h266" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Francis, 85, put together a group of cardinals to advise<br />him on how to enact reforms (AFP/Tiziana FABI) (Tiziana FABI)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Pope Francis on Saturday followed through on a promise made ahead of his 2013 election and published a much-anticipated shake-up of the Vatican's powerful governing body.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The new constitution, which comes into effect on June 5, restructures parts of the unruly Roman Curia, and makes increasing the world's 1.2 billion Catholics the church's number one priority.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Among the most significant changes are the possibility for lay and female Catholics to head up Vatican departments, and the incorporation of the pope's sex abuse advisory commission into the Curia.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Pope Francis has been working on a new organizational structure for the Vatican for nine years. It's a major aspect of his legacy," Joshua McElwee from the National Catholic Reporter said on Twitter.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">'Tectonic shift'</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Cardinals gathered for the conclave to elect a new pope in 2013 were divided between those who believed there were deep-rooted problems in the Curia and those who wanted to preserve the status quo.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Ex-pope Benedict XVI, who had just resigned, was reported to have tried and failed to clean up a body some even blamed for preventing the church from properly tackling the child sex abuse scandal.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Francis, 85, put together a group of cardinals to advise him over the years on how to reform the Curia, and has already enacted many changes as he moves to modernise the centuries-old institution.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The 54-page text entitled "Proclaiming the Gospel", which replaces a constitution drawn up by pope John Paul II in 1988, creates a new department for evangelisation, to be headed up by Francis himself.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Making himself "Chief Evangelizer" encapsulates a "tectonic shift to a more pastoral, missionary church," David Gibson, director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University, said on Twitter.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In that vein, Francis says every baptised Christian is a missionary.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"One cannot fail to take this into account in the updating of the Curia, whose reform must provide for involvement of laymen and women, even in roles of government and responsibility," he said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">'Significant'</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The constitution, released on the ninth anniversary of the inauguration of Francis' papacy, makes the pope's charity czar, currently Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, head of a department in its own right.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It also brings the Vatican's Commission for the Protection of Minors -- a papal advisory body -- into the office which oversees the canonical investigations of clerical sex abuse cases.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In doing so, the pope is "effectively establishing the Vatican's first safeguarding office", the Tablet's journalist Christopher Lamb said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Cardinal Sean O'Malley, who heads the Commission, said it was a "significant move forward", which would give institutional weight to the fight against a scourge which has plagued the church globally.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But Marie Collins, an Irish survivor of clerical abuse who served on the commission before resigning in outrage in 2017 over the church's handling of the crisis, slammed it instead as a clear step back.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="font-family: arial;">"The Commission has now officially lost even a semblance of independence," she said on Twitter.</span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvmaEsM7s-D_Uig6sW8pBHlQvJW-EwwE7uBfYX11tXZtew_w2A1ZrkzZoVtmA7n70ome2YFpuAF5BKpWGrMafyqY5KxGXgk6juW2muvkUaU-uTPKB-5aRqYjMKUESq9UKdAmcLeCmYwI0/s1600/e36250837c703d3cf0fe792ce974ccc5aa352628.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvmaEsM7s-D_Uig6sW8pBHlQvJW-EwwE7uBfYX11tXZtew_w2A1ZrkzZoVtmA7n70ome2YFpuAF5BKpWGrMafyqY5KxGXgk6juW2muvkUaU-uTPKB-5aRqYjMKUESq9UKdAmcLeCmYwI0/s400/e36250837c703d3cf0fe792ce974ccc5aa352628.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;">Representatives of the Amazon rainforest's ethnic groups attended the synod </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;">with Pope Francis (AFP Photo/Tiziana FABI)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Related Articles:</b></span></span><br /><br /><b><a href="https://cempaka-europa.blogspot.com/2019/10/bishops-urge-pope-to-open-priesthood-to.html" target="_blank">Bishops urge Pope to open priesthood to married men in Amazon</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="http://cempaka-south-america.blogspot.com/2019/10/pope-blames-amazon-fires-on-destructive.html" target="_blank">Pope blames Amazon fires on destructive 'interests'</a></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://cempaka-europa.blogspot.nl/2016/08/pope-opens-door-to-female-deacons-with.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Pope 'opens door' to female deacons with new panel</span></a><br /></b><b style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://cempaka-belanda.blogspot.nl/2013/09/pope-francis-no-2-clerical-celibacy-is.html" target="_blank">Pope Francis' No. 2: Clerical celibacy is open to discussion</a></b></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="http://www.dw.com/en/pope-francis-visits-john-paul-iis-shrine/a-19439473" target="_blank">Pope Francis visits John Paul II's shrine</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://cempaka-belanda.blogspot.nl/2015/03/church-of-england-creates-second-female.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Church of England creates second female bishop</span></a></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://cempaka-europa.blogspot.nl/2014/12/church-of-englands-first-female-bishop.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Church of England’s first female bishop named as Libby Lane</span></a></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://cempaka-europa.blogspot.nl/2014/07/church-of-england-general-synod.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Church of England General Synod approves female bishops</span></a></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/14/church-england-synod-votes-allow-female-bishops" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Jubilation as Church of England's synod votes to allow female bishops</span></a></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal"></div></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKR9hopmAbXMVEfdYiOzhc7kKP241WOc184ZJRgu7Yb8dwkU9cbnafYibbAvodq_OL0w2D5gU-2V5czFTdQiB5Xl2xaxCd5eQLZYRdIiesLAH509hx5Illi4OY3TLoAodoFmpfJXScfYY/s1600/Church-of-England-Clerics-011.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKR9hopmAbXMVEfdYiOzhc7kKP241WOc184ZJRgu7Yb8dwkU9cbnafYibbAvodq_OL0w2D5gU-2V5czFTdQiB5Xl2xaxCd5eQLZYRdIiesLAH509hx5Illi4OY3TLoAodoFmpfJXScfYY/s1600/Church-of-England-Clerics-011.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Clerics at the Church of England synod in York take a 'selfie' as they celebrate</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;">after the vote to allow female bishops. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;">Photograph: Lindsey Parnaby/AFP/Getty</span></span></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><a href="https://www.kryon.com/cartprodimages/download_Madison-GrandR_12.html" target="_blank">"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)</a></b> (Subjects: Energy, <a href="http://cempaka-belanda.blogspot.com/2011/10/ascension-arcturians-multidimensional.html" target="_blank">Recalibration Lectures</a>, <a href="http://www.kryon.com/k_channel10_portland_me_.html" target="_blank">God/Creator</a>, <b>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)</b>, 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, <a href="http://www.kryon.com/k_channel11_sacramento.html" target="_blank">(Old) Souls</a>, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) </span><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i style="color: #222222;">- </i><a href="http://www.kryon.com/CHAN%202013/k_channel13_Madison.html" style="color: #222222; font-style: italic;" target="_blank">(Text version)</a></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">“… I gave you a channelling years ago when Pope John Paul was alive. John Paul loved Mary, the mother. </span><b>Had John Paul survived another 10 years, he would have done what the next Pope [The one after the current one, Benedict XVI] will do, and that is to bring women into the Church. This Pope you have now [Benedict XVI] won't be here long.* The next Pope will be the one who has to change the rules, should he survive. If he doesn't, it will be the one after that.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">There is a large struggle within the Church, even right now, and great dissention, for it knows that it is not giving what humanity wants. The doctrine is not current to the puzzles of life. The answer will be to create a better balance between the feminine and masculine, and the new Pope, or the one after that, will try to allow women to be in the higher echelon of the Church structure to assist the priests.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>It will be suggested to let women participate in services, doing things women did not do before. This graduates them within church law to an equality with priests, but doesn't actually let them become priests just yet. However, don't be surprised if this begins in another way, and instead gives priests the ability to marry. This will bring the feminine into the church in other ways. It will eventually happen and has to happen. If it does not, it will be the end of the Catholic Church, for humanity will not sustain a spiritual belief system that is out of balance with the love of God and also out of balance with intuitive Human awareness.</b></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">…”</span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><b><a href="https://www.kryon.com/cartprodimages/download_Dallas_12.html" target="_blank">"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)</a> - </b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US">(Subjects: <a href="http://www.kryon.com/k_channel11_sacramento.html" target="_blank">(Old) Souls</a>, </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222;">Midpoint on 21-12-2012</span>, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, <b>1</b> - <b>Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”</b>, <b>2</b> - Humans will change react to drama,<b> 3</b> - Civilizations/Population on Earth, <b>4</b> - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), <b>5</b> – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , <b>6</b> - News/Media/TV to change, <b>7</b> – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) <b>8</b> – Wars will be over on Earth</span><span lang="EN-US">, Global Unity, … etc.) </span><i style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">- <a href="http://www.kryon.com/k_channel12_Dallas.html" target="_blank">(Text version)</a></span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">“ … </span><b>Spirituality (Religions)</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;">Number one: Spirituality. The systems of spiritual design on your planet are starting to change. This is not telling you that certain ones are going to go away. They're simply going to change. Some of the largest spiritual systems, which you would call organized religion on the planet, are shifting. They're going to shift away from that which is authority on the outside to authority on the inside. It will eventually be a different way of worship, slowly changing the rules while keeping the basic doctrine the same.</span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;"></span></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US">The doctrine of the Christ has always been to find the God inside. The teachings were clear. The examples of the miracles were given as an example of what humans could do, not to set a man up for worship as a God. So when that has been absorbed, the teaching of the Christ can remain the teaching of the Christ. </span>It simply changes the interpretation. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The teachings of the great prophets of the Middle East (all related to each other) are about unity and love. So once the holy words are redefined with new wisdom, the Human changes, not the words of the prophets. In fact, the prophets become even more divinely inspired and their wisdom becomes even more profound.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>You're going to lose a pope soon. I have no clock. Soon to us can mean anything to you. The one who replaces him may surprise you, for his particular organization will be in survival mode at that point in time. That is to say that fewer and fewer are interested in starting the priesthood. Fewer and fewer young people are interested in the organization, and the new pope must make changes to keep his church alive. That means that his organization will remain, but with a more modern look at what truly is before all of you in a new energy. It is not the fall of the church. It is instead the recalibration of the divinity inside that would match the worship that goes on. It's a win-win situation</b></span><b>. </b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The new pope will have a difficult time, since the old guard will still be there. There could even be an assassination attempt, such is the way the old energy dies hard. That is number one. Watch for it. It's a change in the way spiritual systems work. It's a realignment of spiritual systems that resound to a stronger truth that is Human driven, rather than prophet driven</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">.…”</span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b style="line-height: 16.8px;"><span style="color: red;"><a href="http://www.kryon.com/cartprodimages/2016%20downloads/download_sarasota_16.html" target="_blank">"Listening to the Voice of Spirit" (2) - Feb 20, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)</a> </span></b><b style="line-height: 16.8px;"><span style="color: red;"><b style="line-height: 16.8px;"><span style="color: red;"><b style="line-height: 16.8px;">- </b><b style="line-height: 16.8px;"><i>(DNA Efficiency is on average at 35 percent now) </i></b></span></b></span></b><span style="line-height: 16.8px;">- </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.kryon.com/CHAN2016/k_channel16_sarasota-16.html" target="_blank">(Text version)</a></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 16.8px;">“… </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 16.8px;">With free choice, the percentage of DNA efficiently started to go down as humanity grew. As soon as the DNA started to lose percentage, the gender balance was dysfunctional.<b> If you want to have a test of any society, anywhere on the planet, and you want to know the DNA percentage number [consciousness quota] as a society, there's an easy test: How do they perceive and treat their women? The higher the DNA functionality, the more the feminine divine is honored. This is the test!</b> Different cultures create different DNA consciousness, even at the same time on the planet. So you can have a culture on Earth at 25 percent and one at 37 - and if you did, they would indeed clash</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 16.8px;">.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 16.8px;"> …”</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; line-height: 16.8px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 16.8px;">“…</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 16.8px;"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 16.8px;">You're at 35. There's an equality here, you're starting to see the dark and light, and it's changing everything.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 16.8px;"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 16.8px;">You take a look at history and you've come a long way, but it took a long time to get here. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 16.8px;"><b>Dear ones, we've seen this process before and the snowball is rolling. There isn't anything in the way that's going to stop it. In the path of this snowball of higher consciousness are all kinds of things that will be run over and perish. Part of this is what you call "the establishment". Watch for some very big established things to fall over! The snowball will simply knock them down.</b></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 16.8px;"> …”</span></span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-75044395243297919042022-03-10T03:55:00.003+07:002022-03-10T03:55:18.223+07:00Israel, Turkey hail new era after years of broken ties<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/israels-president-heads-turkey-bid-021203640.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, Jonah Mandel, March 9, 2022</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjtmN4UJ-cz9PUxiTdAnwjKqR686jZzx_pyfU2S1Ashfzwxf-iBN0Q12Q6zLE3UR8I-Tw3ww2-GOHfz6C7L5IU79MMXwdfxasxO_wT_DdxkU_AnjcKjenf8YnjivxgpW-PbCsReVy1YstVX_VWtq-bOGXuendUyKOCldYH8f-39Seq-Oo-nabddIcN0=s704" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="431" data-original-width="704" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjtmN4UJ-cz9PUxiTdAnwjKqR686jZzx_pyfU2S1Ashfzwxf-iBN0Q12Q6zLE3UR8I-Tw3ww2-GOHfz6C7L5IU79MMXwdfxasxO_wT_DdxkU_AnjcKjenf8YnjivxgpW-PbCsReVy1YstVX_VWtq-bOGXuendUyKOCldYH8f-39Seq-Oo-nabddIcN0=w400-h245" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Israel's President Isaac Herzog waves as he departs for an official visit to Turkey, <br />as the countries seek to mend fractured ties (AFP/Daphné LEMELIN) (Daphné LEMELIN)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Israel and Turkey proclaimed a new era in relations on
Wednesday following more than a decade of diplomatic rupture, as Israeli
President Isaac Herzog made a landmark visit to Ankara.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Herzog's Turkey trip, which included talks with
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was the first by an Israeli president since
2007, when the late Shimon Peres addressed the Turkish parliament.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Ties then plummeted, but Erdogan, standing alongside
the Israeli president, proclaimed that Herzog's "historic visit will be a
turning point in our relations."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Our mutual goal is to revive dialogue based on
respect," added Erdogan, who is a vocal champion of the Palestinian cause.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Herzog, who holds a traditionally ceremonial position
but has taken on an outsized diplomatic role since his July inauguration,
conceded that Israel-Turkey ties "underwent a drought."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"The baggage of the past never disappears of its
own accord, but we ... are choosing to embark on a journey of trust and
respect," he said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We must agree in advance that we will not agree
on everything."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Relations began to fray following an Israeli military
operation in Gaza in 2008.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Ties then froze following the death of 10 civilians
following an Israeli raid on the Turkish Mavi Marmara ship, part of a flotilla
trying to breach a blockade by carrying aid into Gaza in 2010.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A 2016 reconciliation agreement that saw the return of
ambassadors all but collapsed in 2018 in the wake of Gaza border clashes that
killed dozens of Palestinians.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b>Ambassadors to return?</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Herzog was received in a snowy Ankara with a military
honour guard at the Mustafa Kemal Ataturk mausoleum, where he wrote an
inscription praising Turkey's first president for choosing "the path of
collaboration."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The presidents then held bilateral talks and were then
due to partake in a state dinner.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Erdogan said he raised "the Palestine
issue," and Turkey's interest in seeing "improvement in the social
and political status of Palestinians."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Turkey has maintained ties with Hamas Islamists who
have controlled Gaza since 2007, and are considered a terrorist organisation by
Israel and much of the West.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Hamas condemned Turkey for welcoming "the Zionist
occupation president."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Sources involved in the bilateral talks, who requested
anonymity, said the presidents raised the presence of Hamas leaders in Turkey,
a longstanding Israeli grievance.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Following the 2018 Gaza bloodshed, Turkey recalled its
diplomats and ordered Israel's envoy out of the country.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told
reporters Wednesday he would visit Israel next month and would discuss
reappointing ambassadors with his counterpart Yair Lapid.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">'Turning point'</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The rapprochement began following Herzog's
inauguration, with a congratulatory call from Erdogan to the new Israeli
president, who is a veteran of the left-wing Labour party.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Israeli leaders were wary of Turkey's outreach.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But Erdogan's move to secure the release of an Israeli
couple arrested in Istanbul in November on espionage charges proved a
"turning point", said Gallia Lindenstrauss of Tel Aviv University's
Institute for National Security Studies.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Following the 2010 crisis, Israel created a strategic
alliance with Greece and Cyprus -- two states with long-standing acrimony
towards Erdogan's Turkey -- holding regular meetings and joint military drills.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The trio were part of the "East Mediterranean Gas
Forum" established in 2019 with other states, including Egypt, Jordan and
the Palestinian territories -- without Turkey.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">For Turkey, that frustration over its exclusion from
the gas talks -- as well as an internal economic crisis, and a more
confrontational US administration since President Joe Biden's election -- has
pushed Ankara closer to Israel, Lindenstrauss said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Erdogan voiced readiness "to cooperate (with
Israel) in energy projects," with the prospect of exporting Israeli gas to
Europe through Turkey having taken on renewed urgency amid fears of impaired
supply following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Regional ties</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Regional ties remain sensitive, and Herzog visited
both Greece and Cyprus ahead of his Turkey trip to reassure the two Israeli
allies.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Before departing Israel, Herzog stressed regional
"stability" was crucial when "the international order is being
shaken," a message he said he delivered in Greece and Cyprus.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Erdogan described relations with Israel as
"important for regional peace."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Herzog is scheduled to meet members of the Jewish
community in Istanbul on Thursday, before returning to Israel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-50086442541494297982022-01-29T04:39:00.003+07:002022-01-29T04:40:23.840+07:00Biden order makes sexual harassment in US military a crime<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/biden-order-makes-sexual-harassment-004013655.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, January 27, 2022</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbQnaTUAkhFV0LWiMZYQHccnhX6oCa6yvx7nsF7lupCDawNUE7Qe8K8_yYlfaJ56_ggl45qgs2jxdfUdLTWMI9Ea0d76ymRrA8zlJHYc5q8_4b_fX3gtd5xPK_o-GPbCIbUdn5sSNul3fYLj0PcHybTajnpnmeemUNIIv_RwFv5_uX2m2vAHB58sUd=s705" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbQnaTUAkhFV0LWiMZYQHccnhX6oCa6yvx7nsF7lupCDawNUE7Qe8K8_yYlfaJ56_ggl45qgs2jxdfUdLTWMI9Ea0d76ymRrA8zlJHYc5q8_4b_fX3gtd5xPK_o-GPbCIbUdn5sSNul3fYLj0PcHybTajnpnmeemUNIIv_RwFv5_uX2m2vAHB58sUd=w400-h266" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">An executive order signed by US President Joe Biden that makes sexual <br />harassment a crime in the military includes provisions on domestic violence <br />and the wrongful broadcast or distribution of intimate visual images <br />(AFP/Nicholas Kamm) (Nicholas Kamm)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US">US President Joe Biden signed an executive order
Wednesday making sexual harassment a crime under the military justice code, in
an attempt to relieve a long-term issue with which the Pentagon has struggled.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The move, called for in the 2022 National Defense
Authorization Act, the Pentagon's annual budget package, pays homage to Vanessa
Guillen.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The 20-year-old army soldier was murdered by a fellow
soldier in 2020 after being sexually harassed and telling her family she did
not trust the military command to follow up on her complaint.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the order
"honors the memory of Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen," whose death
is "catalyzing national attention to the scourge of sexual violence in our
military and helping advance bipartisan military justice reform."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Biden tweeted earlier in the day that he was
"signing an Executive Order to make sexual harassment an offense in the
Uniform Code of Military Justice."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The order is also meant to "strengthen the
military's response to domestic violence and the wrongful broadcast or
distribution of intimate visual images," he said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had previously
appointed an independent commission to submit recommendations as to how best to
deal with perpetrators of sexual violence in the armed forces, and how to
prosecute them more effectively.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The commission concluded that removing decisions about
prosecuting sexual assault from the military chain of command was the only
solution.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Instead of incurring administrative sanctions as was
previously the case, perpetrators may receive prison time.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-63177758884061296402022-01-06T04:17:00.001+07:002022-01-06T04:17:06.448+07:00Canada agrees to $31bn compensation for Indigenous children taken from families<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/canada-agrees-31bn-compensation-indigenous-090712115.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, January 5, 2022</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjwjHEt8bXoAnNge95kSGYYTaJtHxpzQe_NrM0ee5a3z_2ikEQmoQRBaL_x2kpfD9eszTSnQDXQ3Nc6g80TzNyLZpx-b57rZde3kHef758d7xTXKtTvnJvAZB-CCa4aTu2AIfQOE_7YAAbCi8vvGIFQTNHKldzFxIQrqTrbRdMdnFf0nXB0Q4FCYP7W=s705" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjwjHEt8bXoAnNge95kSGYYTaJtHxpzQe_NrM0ee5a3z_2ikEQmoQRBaL_x2kpfD9eszTSnQDXQ3Nc6g80TzNyLZpx-b57rZde3kHef758d7xTXKtTvnJvAZB-CCa4aTu2AIfQOE_7YAAbCi8vvGIFQTNHKldzFxIQrqTrbRdMdnFf0nXB0Q4FCYP7W=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Over the past three decades, at least 150,000 Indigenous children were ripped from<br />their homes and placed into one of 139 residential schools (AFP/Geoff Robins)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Canada announced a $31.5 billion agreement on Tuesday
to reform its discriminatory child welfare system and compensate Indigenous
families who suffered because of it, in what an official called the country's
largest settlement.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The agreements-in-principle include $20 billion
Canadian dollars ($15.7) for First Nations children who were removed from their
families and caregivers and put into state care, typically schools meant to
forcibly assimilate them.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The other $20 billion Canadian dollars will be earmarked
for reforming the child and family services system over the next five years.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"No compensation amount can make up for the
trauma people have experienced," said Patty Hajdu, the Minister of
Indigenous Services. "But these Agreements-in-Principle acknowledge to
survivors and their families the harm and pain caused by the discrimination in
funding and services."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The deal, which stemmed from lawsuits brought by First
Nations families against the Canadian government, acknowledges that
"discriminatory underfunding" of child and family services in
indigenous communities had inflicted suffering on those involved.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Despite making up less than eight percent of children
under 14, Indigenous children account for more than half of those in Canada's
foster care, according to a 2016 census.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Over the past three decades, at least 150,000
Indigenous children were ripped from their homes and placed into one of 139
residential schools.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Thousands died, mostly from malnutrition, disease or
neglect, in what a truth and reconciliation committee called "cultural
genocide" in a 2015 report. Many others were physically or sexually
abused.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">On the heels of the discovery of more than 1,200
unmarked graves at these schools, Canada is starting to come to terms with the
nationwide trauma.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller called
Tuesday's agreement "the largest settlement in Canadian history" at a
videoed news conference.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The amount to be paid to each individual, as well as
how and when, will be determined later in consultation with experts and the
country's largest Indigenous organization, the Assembly of First Nations,
according to lawyers representing complainants in two class action cases.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"This settlement is historic and hopefully a
turning point in this country's work on reconciliation," Robert Kugler,
one of the lawyers, said in a statement. The amount, he added,
"underscores the severity of the harm suffered, and will provide financial
support to enable victims to better their lives going forward."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Canadian government has previously fought orders
to compensate Indigenous families over systems it has admitted were
discriminatory, including in an appeal filed last year seeking to overturn a
landmark decision awarding billions to indigenous children.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Canada has said it believes the payments are
necessary, but would rather iron out the details in talks.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Tuesday's agreements-in-principle are expected to be
finalized in the coming months.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-15454334908018485562022-01-03T05:42:00.007+07:002022-01-03T05:42:47.728+07:00Tutu's ashes buried in Cape Town cathedral<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://uk.news.yahoo.com/tutus-ashes-buried-cape-town-094622670.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, 2 January 2022</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhsmdI0ILKGFK8CBlmfVDgfAOvGG4DEldkOcnhx49UUX53iyhJlbDIP_X5ATtdrb2TzhJp3-9uR-fntPLKUTc7JzFk1x5SMFa8vXq7oSAoT_hsaMBriHttZjI2a_rj6WhZPyJPNSUMz21z6fOA3A2l_T7t6hrtqgF626JAOIvvBCCIRMHMkkcv5nxMF=s768" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="768" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhsmdI0ILKGFK8CBlmfVDgfAOvGG4DEldkOcnhx49UUX53iyhJlbDIP_X5ATtdrb2TzhJp3-9uR-fntPLKUTc7JzFk1x5SMFa8vXq7oSAoT_hsaMBriHttZjI2a_rj6WhZPyJPNSUMz21z6fOA3A2l_T7t6hrtqgF626JAOIvvBCCIRMHMkkcv5nxMF=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A requiem mass was held Saturday for South Africa's anti-apartheid<br />icon Archbishop Desmond Tutu (AFP/Nic BOTHMA)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">South Africa's spiritual father Archbishop Desmond
Tutu, hero of the anti-apartheid struggle, was laid to rest at dawn on Sunday
in the Cape Town cathedral where he once preached against the brutal
white-minority regime.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Nobel Peace Prize winner Tutu died a week ago, aged
90, after a life spent fighting injustice.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">His ashes were "interred at St. George's
Cathedral in a private family service early today", an Anglican Church
statement said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Archbishop Thabo Makgoba placed his remains under an
inscribed memorial stone before the high altar.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He urged South Africans to "use this opportunity
to turn a new page.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Let us commit ourselves... to the radical, the
revolutionary change that he advocated,” Makgoba said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Let us live as simply as he lived, exemplified
by his pine coffin with rope handles."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Some 20 members of Tutu's family, led by his widow
"Mama Leah" were present.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Famed for his modesty, Tutu had left instructions for
a simple, no-frills funeral with a cheap coffin, followed by an eco-friendly
flameless cremation.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi7-IPQZ6kdt5eFnV-JrmxNbTAgyC_fprpfs9VmX4_aes0rieyA42sFCElfIZnTOdbgZExYYgWFWI_dK9d9Y3L5JFJXbSjeLKcppjcate9Rv6j8otseNEhEd7cLlc2Dv8oQ-gkgLSr7_xXNDH7Rbchoe756T0KJh9VTHpY6-XE_kOuix-8yEvZb2sTF=s768" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi7-IPQZ6kdt5eFnV-JrmxNbTAgyC_fprpfs9VmX4_aes0rieyA42sFCElfIZnTOdbgZExYYgWFWI_dK9d9Y3L5JFJXbSjeLKcppjcate9Rv6j8otseNEhEd7cLlc2Dv8oQ-gkgLSr7_xXNDH7Rbchoe756T0KJh9VTHpY6-XE_kOuix-8yEvZb2sTF=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Modest requiem for a titan: South Africa bids farewell to Desmond <br />Tutu (AFP/Saawmiet MOOS)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Family, friends, clergy and politicians had attended a
requiem mass on Saturday with President Cyril Ramaphosa leading the tributes.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Our departed father was a crusader in the
struggle for freedom, for justice, for equality and for peace, not just in South
Africa... but around the world as well," said Ramaphosa.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"While our beloved (Nelson Mandela) was the
father of our democracy, Archbishop Tutu was the spiritual father of our new
nation", lauding him as "our moral compass and national
conscience".</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Under apartheid, the white-minority government
cemented its grip imposing laws based on the notion of race and racial
segregation, and the police ruthlessly hunted down opponents, killing or
jailing them.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">With Mandela and other leaders in prison for decades,
Tutu in the 1970s became the emblem of the anti-apartheid struggle.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He campaigned relentlessly abroad, administering
public lashings to the Western world for failing to slap sanctions on the
apartheid regime.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">After apartheid was dismantled and South Africa
ushered in the first free elections in 1994, Tutu chaired the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission, which exposed the horrors of the past in grim
detail.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He would later admonish the ruling African National
Congress for corruption and leadership incompetence.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Tutu's moral firmness and passion went hand-in-hand
with self-deprecatory humour and a famously cackling laugh.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4805951056633074483.post-28833228659667991502021-12-26T05:10:00.004+07:002021-12-26T05:10:58.213+07:00China mulls bill to tackle workplace discrimination against women<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/china-mulls-bill-tackle-workplace-033517458.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, December 25, 2021</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjaepJwIpbkZQyDxJx8QTVpE5QwbN_SMSyF_HTPQe2x6JDHrxZIDhMv5_25SkD8mLXWcjZm9JkjN94JdajdNUxwkJSCkT8xoN19vS6qOBFqVvMZZOtzxuY7M9dxyrYyYQ3k9AZO9fvQ4DoNGk87NTceRKLuU7nLtHdeESIJ2LbmKcIAe-ze6PDTpTX9=s705" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjaepJwIpbkZQyDxJx8QTVpE5QwbN_SMSyF_HTPQe2x6JDHrxZIDhMv5_25SkD8mLXWcjZm9JkjN94JdajdNUxwkJSCkT8xoN19vS6qOBFqVvMZZOtzxuY7M9dxyrYyYQ3k9AZO9fvQ4DoNGk87NTceRKLuU7nLtHdeESIJ2LbmKcIAe-ze6PDTpTX9=w400-h266" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Assembly-line workers at a factory in Fuyang in eastern China (AFP/STR)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US">Chinese lawmakers are discussing new rules to prevent
workplace discrimination and sexual harassment against women amid a string of
high-profile cases in recent months.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A draft bill published Friday includes a ban on
employers stating gender preferences on job ads and quizzing female applicants
about their marital or pregnancy status –- a common practice that has been
criticised for decades.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Rapid economic growth in the past four decades coupled
with the one-child rule has opened up more educational and employment
opportunities for Chinese women.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But women's participation in the workforce has
dropped, due to gender-based filtering when hiring and as more women care for
families amid a severe shortage of affordable childcare options.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A report by Human Rights Watch in June found that one
in five civil service job postings in 2019 specified a preference for male
applicants.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The report also says that it was a common practice for
employers including schools to force female staff to sign contracts promising
not to get pregnant for several years as a pre-condition for being hired.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The proposed new rules come amid concerns that China's
new three-child rule could make employers even more reluctant to hire women and
as officials crack down on the local #MeToo movement after a string of cases
that led to a public outcry over sexual assault in the workplace.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Earlier this month, e-commerce giant Alibaba group
fired a female staffer who had accused a manager of sexual assault.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The proposed amendments will make enforcement easier
by clearly defining what sexual harassment is, state-run Xinhua news agency
said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">According to a draft text published Friday, it
prohibits "vulgar speech", "inappropriate physical
behaviour" or "the display or dissemination of sexual images, information,
text, audio or video".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It also requires employers to set up mechanisms to
prevent, investigate and respond to such complaints "without delay",
but there were no details on any penalties for failing to do so.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The amendments are open for public comment until
January 22, 2022.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Related Article:</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><b><a href="https://cempaka-occupy.blogspot.com/2021/11/us-un-demand-proof-of-missing-chinese.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">US,
UN demand proof of missing Chinese tennis star's well-being</span></a></b></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0