US inmate dies after botched execution, second delayed

An American murderer died of a heart attack Tuesday more than 40 minutes after his execution was halted due to a botched lethal injection, leading Oklahoma to postpone the execution of a second inmate.

MSN – AFP, 30 Apr 2014

The execution of a US inmate  -- using an untested lethal injection protocol -- was
 botched, leading authorities to immediately postpone a second execution planned
for two hours later, Oklahoma prisons authorities have said

Convicted murderer and rapist Clayton Lockett was administered a new, untested three-drug protocol that included a sedative, an anesthetic and a lethal dose of potassium chloride in what would have been the central state's first double execution in 80 years.

But Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Robert Patton ordered the execution of Lockett stopped about three or four minutes after the start of the injection at 6:23 pm (2323 GMT), citing a "vein failure," a prisons spokesman said.

Lockett died of a "massive heart attack" at 7:06 pm after receiving all three drugs, spokesman Jerry Massie said.

Even though he was administered the injection, "the drugs didn't go into the system," the spokesman added.

Patton then immediately ordered a 14-day delay to the execution of Charles Warner, who had been set to be put to death two hours later.

Oklahoma had previously postponed the two executions in March because of a shortage of lethal injection drugs.

But the state managed to get supplies, while changing the execution protocol, and the two inmates exhausted their appeals.

Lockett was convicted in 2000 for the rape and murder of a young woman he kidnapped, beat and buried alive.

Warner was convicted for the 1997 rape and murder of an 11-month-old girl.

Warner's lawyer Madeline Cohen had argued against the new injection combination, saying the "experimental new drug protocol, including a paralytic," would make "it impossible to know whether the executions will comport with the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual suffering."

"Despite repeated requests by counsel, the state has refused, again and again, to provide information about the source, purity, testing and efficacy of the drugs to be used. It's not even known whether the drugs were purchased legally," she said.

Both Lockett and Warner had argued they had the constitutional right to know the composition and origin of any drugs used in the lethal injection.

In a judicial twist, Oklahoma's supreme court had first suspended the executions in order to resolve the controversy, but then two days later reversed itself, saying the men had no more right to information on drugs than they would for the electric chair.

Since European manufacturers began refusing to sell the most commonly used anesthetic -- pentobarbital -- for human executions, several US states have found themselves confronted with shortages, and are now seeking an alternative, which has led to an increase in court cases over the issue.

The last time two inmates were executed on the same night in Oklahoma was in 1937.

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US announces sanctions on Putin's inner circle over Ukraine

• Seven officials and 17 companies targeted

• Statement: involvement in Ukraine violence 'indisputable'

theguardian.com, Spencer Ackerman in New York, Julian Borger and Jennifer Rankin in London, Monday 28 April 2014

President Barack Obama speaks in Kuala Lumpur on Monday. Photograph:
Carolyn Kaster/AP

The US and the European Union stepped up their sanctions on President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle on Monday, accusing Russia of stoking violence and political tension in eastern Ukraine.

The White House announced it was adding seven prominent Russians to a blacklist subject to visa bans and asset freezes, including two officials particularly close to the Russian leader: Igor Sechin, the head of Russia’s largest oil company Rosneft, and Vyacheslav Volodin, first deputy chief of staff in the presidency, widely believed to run its internal political strategy.

“Putin’s decision to move into Crimea is believed to have been based on consultations with his closest advisers, including Volodin,” a US Treasury statement said.

Accusing Russia of continuing to “fund, co-ordinate, and fuel a heavily armed separatist movement” in eastern Ukraine, the US also imposed asset freezes on 17 Russian companies, which will also be denied trading licences.

After a meeting of European ambassadors in Brussels, the EU declared it was increasing its own list of targeted sanctions from 33 to 48 top Russians. The 15 new names added to the list are not due to be published until Tuesday.

Both the US and UK warned that broader sanctions against whole sectors of the Russian economy would be forthcoming in the event of more overt Russian miltary intervention in eastern Ukraine, despite concerns that such measures would pose a risk to the global economy, and have limited support inside the EU.

Speaking in Manila, Obama said the goal of the new round of sanctions was to change the Russian calculation in its alleged sponsorship of separatists in Ukraine. “The goal is not to go after Mr Putin personally. The goal is to change his calculus with respect to how the current actions that he's engaging in Ukraine could have an adverse impact on the Russian economy over the long haul,” Obama said.

The administration said that further sanctions could include targeting sectors of the Russian economy such as financial services and energy, the impact of which would be “far more powerful” than those announced on Monday, officials said.

The tier of sanctions announced on Monday had been prepared some weeks ago but had been held back after an 17 April accord in Geneva signed by the US, Russia, EU and Ukraine, intended to defuse the crisis. US officials said Russia had done nothing to implement the measures agreed to, but had instead fuelled the separatist takeover of eastern Ukrainian cities.

Anger in Washington and Brussels was exacerbated by the continued detention of seven European military monitors by pro-Russian separatists in the town of Slavyansk. A senior US official said that the seven, including four Germans, a Pole, a Dane and a Czech officer, in Ukraine under the mandate of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), had been “subjected to abuse in capitivity” but that claim could not be confirmed.

At an emergency meeting of OSCE member states in Vienna, the US delegate, Gary Robbins, said the organisation faced “a hostage crisis”. Robbins said: “We remain disappointed that senior officials in Moscow have not condemned the abduction – nor have they demanded the team’s immediate release.”

He added: “While the government of Ukraine is working in good faith to fulfill the aspirations of the Geneva joint statement, Russia continues to deceive and destabilise its neighbour. Despite its propaganda attempting to hide the truth, Russia continues to fund, coordinate, and fuel a heavily armed separatist movement in Donetsk.”

The OSCE reported that other members of its special monitoring team had been temporarily detained by separatists in two locations near Donetsk on Sunday. Monitors were held in a heavily-barricaded police builidng in the town of Horlivka and were accused of espionage before being allowed to leave.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, the British foreign secretary, William Hague said: “Russia is already paying a serious price for its actions and the longer it breaches the independent sovereignty of Ukraine the heavier the price it will pay."

“Russia’s actions betray their fear of democracy and the rule of law taking root in their neighbourhood,” the foreign secretary added.

The principal target of Monday's sanctions was Rosneft. Not only was its president, Igor Sechin, singled out in the US blacklist, but also Sergei Chemezov, a member of the board who also directs a state-owned holding company.

Like other Russian energy firms, Rosneft has deep ties with American-based counterparts, particularly ExxonMobil, with whom it has a $500m joint venture for exploration of Arctic oil. The British oil giant, BP, also owns a nearly 20% stake in Rosneft, but said on Monday it intends to remain a long-term investor in Russia, despite the new sanctions.

Russian officials vowed to take reprisal measures for the American sanctions package. “We are certain that this response will have a painful effect on Washington,” deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov told the Interfax news agency.

The Obama administration indicated it believes it is more likely to influence Russian behaviour through economic pressure than providing additional and potentially lethal military aid to Ukraine, citing the massive discrepancy in Ukrainian and Russian military capabilities.

Last week, a contingent of US soldiers from the 173rd infantry combat team arrived in a Polish air base, part of a commitment of 600 troops the administration will send to Poland and the Baltic states on a so-called training mission that the White House hopes will have a deterrent value.

Fraud investigators in Britain also froze $23m of suspected dirty money held in the UK, as they opened an investigation into possible money laundering from Ukraine, mostly by members of the ousted regime of Viktor Yanukovych.

The announcement of a criminal investigation by the Serious Fraud Office comes on the eve of an international conference in London aimed at helping Ukraine’s new government recover stolen assets. The two-day Ukraine Forum on Asset Recovery, organised by the Foreign Office and the US attorney general, brings together investigating organisations to work on recovering millions in stolen assets.

Robert Barrington, executive director of Transparency International in the UK, said the $23m of suspected stolen money the SFO was looking at could be a tiny proportion of the total money embezzled by corrupt officials in Ukraine. “One would hope this would be the first announcement on a very long journey.”

Governments were working much faster to recover stolen assets than after the Arab Spring, he said. But questions persist about the UK’s legal framework for checking on stolen money. “Why was the money here in the first place? If if was corrupt it should never have been here.”

Last month the EU froze assets of former president Yanukovych, and 21 other people held responsible for embezzling state fund

Bill Gates urges China's wealthiest to give to charity

Businessman makes plea in People's Daily for country to improve bad philanthropic record by investing in the poor

theguardian.com, Jonathan Kaiman in Beijing, Monday 28 April 2014

Bill Gates: 'Returns from investing in poor people are just as great as [returns]
 from investing in the business world.' Photograph: Mehdi Taamallah/AFP/Getty Images

Bill Gates has urged China's extraordinarily wealthy business elite to shed its aversion to philanthropy and donate to the poor, a potent message in one of the world's most economically divided societies.

"Only when we help poor people break away from destitution and illness can the whole world achieve sustainable development," Gates wrote in the People's Daily, a mouthpiece of the country's top leadership. "Investing in poor people requires the involvement of every social strata. I believe that the returns from investing in poor people are just as great as [returns] from investing in the business world, and have even more meaning."

China had 358 billionaires at the end of 2013 – a rise of 41 over the previous year and the second-most of any country in the world, after the US. Yet in terms of charitable giving, it ranks among the world's worst. According to the World Giving Index 2013, an annual survey by the NGO Charities Aid Foundation (pdf) (pdf), China ranked 115 among 135 countries for donating money and last for volunteering.

Income inequality counts among the country's most pressing social ills. According to a 2012 survey by Peking University, families in China's cities and coastal provinces earn significantly more than their rural and inland counterparts. An average Shanghai household, for example, brings in £2,790 a year, while an average family in the inland province Gansu makes less than £1,200.

While handfuls of individuals have profited enormously from China's economic boom, few have shown willing to share their wealth. In 2010, Gates, who runs the $38bn Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the American business magnate Warren Buffet asked 50 of China's richest people to join a charity dinner in Beijing. Many turned down the invitation, reportedly because they were uncomfortable being asked for donations.

Yet the country's philanthropic record is slowly improving. On Friday, Jack Ma and Joe Tsai, co-founders of Alibaba, China's biggest e-commerce company, announced plans to fund a $3bn foundation, the country's largest. The amount represents about 2% of the company's equity, all of it from the founders' shares. According to state media, the foundation will focus on environment, education and healthcare. Yet other details, such as its name and how the money will be distributed, remain unclear.

Ma, China's eighth richest man, stepped down as Alibaba's CEO last year and has since dedicated much of his time to charity efforts. He sits on the Nature Conservancy's board of directors and helps lead kung fu star Jet Li's One Foundation.

"When you register a new foundation in China you need a supervisory agency, so a lot of people have worried that by registering a private foundation they'd be giving up control over their personal wealth," said Anthony Spires, a sociology professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who researches China's civil society. "Many of these folks are used to being in charge – they have very clear issues that concern them  … and they don't want the government to tell them how to spend their money."

Spires called the size of the promised foundation "staggering".

"This will be the largest foundation in China, if they really do it," he said. "It's on par with Michael Bloomberg's philanthropy."

Alibaba is preparing a high-profile initial public offering on the New York stock exchange. Analysts expect the company to be valued at more than $100bn, which would make its IPO one of the biggest in history.

"My wife and I had this thought of setting up a personal charitable fund when we started the business," Ma, 49, told the state newswire Xinhua. "We'd like to earn money before we turn 50 years old and do charitable work in our time after 50."

Gates has responded to Ma's announcement, saying that the foundation will "do an immense amount of good, particularly in this remarkable time in the development of philanthropy in China", the newswire reported. Warren Buffet has called the two Alibaba founders "extraordinary leaders in business [who] have now become leaders in philanthropy".

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Jack Ma. (Photo/Xinhua)

Israel risks becoming apartheid state if peace talks fail, says John Kerry

It is believed to be the first time a US official of Kerry's standing has used the term 'apartheid' in the context of Israel

theguardian.com, Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem, Monday 28 April 2014

John Kerry, the US secretary of state. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images

The US secretary of state, John Kerry, has warned in a closed-door meeting that Israel risks becoming an "apartheid state" if US-sponsored efforts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement fail.

In an apparent sign of Kerry's deep frustration over the almost certain collapse of the current nine-month round of peace talks – due to conclude on Tuesday – he blamed both sides for the lack of progress and said failure could lead to a resumption of Palestinian violence against Israeli citizens.

The remarks were made on Friday at the Trilateral Commission, a non-governmental organisation of experts and officials from the US, western Europe, Russia and Japan. A recording was acquired by the Daily Beast website.

Kerry also suggested that a change of either Israeli or Palestinian leadership might create more favourable conditions for peace and the final, long-delayed agreement on the shape of a Palestinian state.

Kerry's remarks represent a significant departure, as senior US officials historically have avoided the word "apartheid" relating to Israeli policies. It is believed to be the first time a US official of Kerry's standing has used the contentious term in the context of Israel, even if only as a warning for the future.

Although the danger to Israel of a failure to move towards a two-state solution has been framed by Israeli politicians in similar terms, US officials have long been wary of following suit. When the former president Jimmy Carter used it for the tile of his 2006 book Palestine: Peace or Apartheid, it caused controversy.

Kerry's comments reflect similar recent warnings to Israel from western diplomats that the collapse of the peace talks might lead to the country's increasing isolation.

Kerry said: "A two-state solution will be clearly underscored as the only real alternative. Because a unitary state winds up either being an apartheid state with second-class citizens – or it ends up being a state that destroys the capacity of Israel to be a Jewish state.

"Once you put that frame in your mind, that reality, which is the bottom line, you understand how imperative it is to get to the two-state solution, which both leaders, even yesterday, said they remain deeply committed to."

Kerry has had a sometimes strained relationship with some senior Israeli officials as the peace talks have become gridlocked. In January Israel's defence minister, Moshe Ya'alon, described Kerry as "obsessive and messianic".

In 2008 in an interview during his election campaign, Barack Obama explicitly rejected "injecting a term like apartheid" into the discussion over Israel and Palestine. "It's emotionally loaded, historically inaccurate, and it's not what I believe," he said.

Attempting to defuse the row, Jen Psaki, spokesperson for the US state department, said: "Secretary Kerry, like justice minister Livni and previous Israeli prime ministers Olmert and Barak, was reiterating why there's no such thing as a one-state solution if you believe, as he does, in the principle of a Jewish state.

"[Kerry] was talking about the kind of future Israel wants and the kind of future both Israelis and Palestinians would want to envision. The only way to have two nations and two peoples living side by side in peace and security is through a two-state solution. And without a two-state solution, the level of prosperity and security the Israeli and Palestinian people deserve isn't possible."

The Emergency Committee for Israel, whose chairman is the prominent neo-conservative William Kristol, said: "On Friday, secretary of state John Kerry raised the spectre of Israel as an 'apartheid state'. Even Barack Obama condemned the use of this term when running for president in 2008. It is no longer enough for the White House to clean up after the messes John Kerry has made. It is time for John Kerry to step down as secretary of state, or for President Obama to fire him."

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Clippers make silent protest amid race storm

The West Australian – AFP, April 28, 2014

Los Angeles (AFP) - Los Angeles Clippers players staged a silent protest and wore black apparel during a losing NBA playoff game Sunday after racist remarks attributed to team owner Donald Sterling.

Clippers make silent protest amid
race storm (AFP)

Sterling, the NBA's longest-serving team owner after buying the Clippers in 1981, did not attend the heavy 118-97 defeat at the Golden State Warriors, but comments allegedly made by the 80-year-old billionaire cast a long shadow over the contest.

Players gathered at center court in Oakland before a pre-game warmup, removed their team warm-up shirts and left them on the floor, working out wearing shirts that were inside out and did not display the Clippers name or logo.

The Clippers ignored calls by some to boycott the game but players wore black socks, shirts, wristbands or armbands.

"I wasn't thrilled about it but if that's what they want to do, that's what they want to do," Clippers coach Glenn "Doc" Rivers said.

The big Golden State victory matched the Clippers' third-worst playoff loss in team history, to level the best-of-seven series at 2-2 with game five Tuesday at Los Angeles, where there is worry about crowd reaction.

Los Angeles Clippers players protested against their own owner's
alleged racist comments. (Photo: AP)

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous," Clippers star Chris Paul said of the looming encounter in Los Angeles, with Rivers adding "usually that would mean we're going to our safe haven. I don't even know if that's true to be honest."

Sterling was the talk of the basketball world and beyond after celebrity-watching website TMZ posted an audio recording Saturday where a man is heard criticizing his girlfriend, identified only as V. Stiviano, for posting photographs on the social media site Instagram of herself and black friends attending Clippers games.

"It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you are associating with black people. Do you have to?" the man, purportedly Sterling, says.

"You can sleep with (black people). You can bring them in. You can do whatever you want. The little I ask is not to promote it on that... and not to bring them to my games.

"In your lousy... Instagrams you don't have to have yourself walking with black people."

That triggered an angry reaction from across the board, including US President Barack Obama.

The first African-American to be elected US president and also a well-known basketball fan, Obama condemned the comments as "ignorant" and "incredibly offensive."

Donald Sterling has been accused of making racist remarks. (Photo:
Getty Images)

"We just have to be clear and steady in denouncing it, teaching our children differently but also (remain) hopeful that part of why some statements like this stand out so much is because there has been a shift in how we view ourselves," Obama said.

'Defining moment'

Rivers said the growing storm over the controversy might have contributed to the defeat.

"It could have. I'm not going to deny we had other stuff," Rivers said. "If we were injured physically or mentally, the other team shouldn't care. It's a competition and we didn't compete.

"I've got to do a better job of getting ready to play basketball and if it's because of the other things, it's still my fault."

Earlier, a Clippers spokesman said the remarks do not reflect Sterling's views but an attorney for Stiviano, Mac Nehoray, told the Los Angeles Times that it was Sterling's voice.

Nehoray is representing Stiviano in a lawsuit brought by Sterling's wife Rochelle, who attended the game and sat courtside.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who was also there, is investigating the furor, describing the recorded comments as "truly offensive and disturbing," and says the NBA plans to speak with Sterling and the woman on the tape with hopes of wrapping up the probe before Tuesday's game.

Kevin Johnson, a retired NBA star working with the players union, met Sunday with Silver to stress that players want fast action, a voice in the process and the harshest sanctions possible if Sterling made the comments.

"This is a defining moment in the history of the NBA," Johnson said. "The players are outraged."

Retired Los Angles Lakers star Magic Johnson, who vowed never to attend Clippers games again,told ABC that severe punishment was needed against real estate tycoon Sterling.

"He shouldn?t own a team anymore," Johnson said.

"And he should stand up and say, 'I don't want to own a team anymore,? especially when you have African-Americans renting his apartments, coming to his games, playing for him and coaching for him.

"This is bad for everybody. It?s bad for America and I?m really upset about it."

Another former NBA great, Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan, said: "As an owner, I'm obviously disgusted that a fellow team owner could hold such sickening and offensive views.

"As a former player, I'm completely outraged."

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Popes John Paul II and John XXIII made saints in double canonisation

Hundreds of thousands gather at Rome to witness canonisation of two great figures of 20th-century Roman Catholicism

theguardian.com, Lizzy Davies in Vatican City, Sunday 27 April 2014

Pope Francis has declared two of his predecessors, John Paul II and John XXIII, saints of the Roman Catholic church in an unprecedented double-canonisation mass in St Peter's Square.

The two towering figures of the 20th-century church were canonised to great applause from hundreds of thousands of pilgrims gathered in the Vatican piazza.

Pilgirms attend the canonisation mass of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II
on St Peter's at the Vatican. Photograph: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images

"We declare and define Blessed John XXIII and John Paul II to be saints and we enrol them among the saints, decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by the whole church," said Francis in the official proclamation at about 10.15am.

People prepare to spend the night in Piazza Navona in Rome ahead of
the double canonisation. Photograph: Massimo Percossi/EPA

Later, in his homily, the Argentinian pontiff paid tribute to "two men of courage" who he said had "co-operated with the Holy Spirit in renewing and updating the church". "They were priests, bishops and popes of the 20th century. They lived through the tragic events of that century, but they were not overwhelmed by them," he said.

John XXIII, he said, was a pastor to the church, "a servant leader" who had called the Second Vatican Council. John Paul II, meanwhile, was "the pope of the family".

Pilgrims gather on Saint Peter's Square ahead of a ceremony that will see popes
John Paul II and John XXIII recognized as saints. Photograph: Claudio Peri/EPA

As the church approaches a crucial synod at which thorny issues to do with the family are expected to be tackled – such as the status of remarried divorcees in the church – Francis said he hoped the two new saints would intercede with God "so that … [the church] may be open to the Holy Spirit in pastoral service to the family".

Pope Francis celebrates mass during the canonisation ceremony in St Peter's
 Square at the Vatican of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II. Photograph:
Max Rossi/Reuters

Carrying flags, backpacks and rolled foam mattresses, pilgrims from all over the world had flocked into Vatican City overnight and were let into St Peter's Square from 5.30am when the piazza was opened by authorities. The Vatican said they totalled around 500,000 in St Peter's Square and the surrounding streets, while 800,000 people were thought to have gathered for the mass in Rome as a whole.

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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… I gave you a channelling years ago when Pope John Paul was alive. John Paul loved Mary, the mother. 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.

There it 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.

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. …”

"CURRENT EVENTS" - April 10, 2005 (As channelled by Lee Carroll for Kryon) – (Text Version)

“… The Last and Next Pope

[Note that this was channelled right after the death of John Paul II, and before the conclave of Catholic Cardinals had selected the next pope.]

"Kryon, we just lost what appears to be a great religious leader, Pope John Paul II. What are the ramifications of this?" My partner eluded earlier to the man called Karol who became the pope [spoken of earlier within the seminar]. He discussed what his goals were and what he did on this planet that really had nothing to do with his religion. Oh, perhaps the hat he wore did, and the places he walked did, and the ceremony around him did. But this was only given to facilitate what he could do.

But you see, like you, we knew Karol. He leaned into the wind of birth, too - just as you did. He was no different. And Spirit said to him, "You're going to have a chance to change the earth because the energy of this planet has the potential of being very different. There are potentials when you get to be a certain age where there'll be something called the Harmonic Convergence on the planet, and things will begin to change. You can fit into this as a world leader. Are you ready for that?" And he said yes.

No angel asked Karol if he wanted to be a Catholic, as he leaned into the wind of birth. That was simply the vehicle that got him into the position where he could change the planet the way he did. You couldn't have had the absence of the Armageddon that you've experienced without Karol. Did you know that [speaking of his direct involvement in the influence of the fall of communism]? So his belief system not only served him well, but it propelled him to a special place that was his alone to be in, and one that allowed him to touch billions all at once. And so it was that this great religious leader, who also knew intuitively what he was doing, had a love of humanity. His favorite thing was to be among common people - and he was, every time he could be. When he got to the position where he could make a difference, he did.

Now, there's something you don't know about Karol. The last decade of his life, he was very frustrated. Go look at the pictures. Go look at the pictures of the first 16 years. Then look at those from the last ten. The last ten, he was suffering - not just with his health - he was anguishing over a situation that none of you truly know about. For in his last ten years this man wanted to make some more changes while the time was ripe, but he knew he was too old.

Karol didn't have the energy to make the changes he really wanted to make, and those around him fought him to keep things the way they were. It was all very political, and someday this information may come out into the open, and you'll hear about those who influenced him in the last ten years and helped to keep things on an even keel. He was too old to make a difference and he knew it.

Karol was not of a consciousness to make some of the changes that many cried out for - about poverty and the role of women in his organization (that will come later). But Karol cried out in his heart for the children that were abused by the priests, and he wanted to do something about this and make a difference. He believed that his Savior wanted him to make a difference, but he couldn't do it. So what might look to you like inaction was instead the pope suffering, for he was not allowed to do what he wanted - due to his lack of energy and those around him who made certain he didn't.

"Kryon, here we sit with conclave of cardinals about to meet and select a new pope. What's the potential based upon the energy right now of the selection? What's going to happen?" I'll give you two potentials of what might take place in the next few days, because your future is always about free choice. There is no entity who can tell you about the future, since it's totally in the hands of the free-choice of humanity. However, based on the energy of the moment, here's what we see: (1) You're either going to have an interim, temporary pope for only a short amount of time (relative to the last one), who will lead to a radical pope; or (2) You're going to go right to the radical pope. Either way, you're going to eventually end up with a man who's going to do things to shake up the establishment.

Let me give you some of the potentials of what the radical pope may be involved in: This religion he leads on earth has doctrines that no longer "square up" with what humanity is seeing around itself. He absolutely has to address this issue, for the sophisticated Humans will leave the church otherwise. There will be those who may even call him "the evil pope" because he's going to go against tradition when he slowly starts a process that honors the Virgin Mary more than any pope ever has - therefore honoring women within the church, elevating them to higher positions... even to priests.

He will speak about family planning, and start processes that will slowly justify it in the eyes of God [this will take awhile], but it must come from the man who "sits in the chair" [ex cathedra] to change the doctrine of the whole organization. Because of this, he will also be in danger and will have to have constant protection.

Then he'll talk about what to do with priests who abuse children. Watch for this. Even if you receive the interim pope, he'll set the stage for the radical pope in this area. For this is in the energy aura of what we would call the potential future around this grand event. The earth is filled with free choice and it can go any direction, but I've just given you the potentials of what is here and now. …”

Kryon Q&A

Question (2004): What is the function of the current pope? What role did he play in the end of communism, and why is he still alive? To me, he seems to be part of the old energy: a reactionary and a chauvinist.

Answer: Dear one, this pope is the last of a lineage of old-energy spiritual leaders. Although he indeed carries this old mantle, which includes an apparent chauvinistic attitude of his age and culture, he is also a bridge to what is to come, which began to really show itself after the end of communism. First, he is the only pope to come to an understanding of the fact that what he represents [his church] is changing drastically. This brought him to a place where he not only apologized to the peoples of earth for the Spanish Inquisition, but also asked for forgiveness for what took place regarding the Vatican and its position during the Holocaust. No pope has ever done these things. It opens the door to the fact that the church is fallible, and that is a large step for any pope. He's also aware that he's the last one of his kind, and he's holding on to this as long as he can.

He won't be with you much longer, but things are not ready just yet for the new one who is coming. The timing will be within the next four years (or sooner if things move quickly), and it will be obvious why. The new pope will eventually represent a large change in the Catholic Church, and will create much upheaval within the ranks. The church must come to grips with a real changing consciousness on the planet, and prune itself of old energy practices, as well as an image that, increasingly, is not anything the new generation is interested in.

Honor this man. He has walked a tightrope of tradition versus new thinking. He's told you that there is no such thing as heaven or hell, yet he did it in a way that would not go against hundreds of years of church doctrine that says the opposite. He asked forgiveness of Galileo's family 300 years after the fact, yet did it in a way that didn't make the other popes appear to be wrong. This truly is a man who "knew" he was the last of the old popes, and he's tried to bring the church's energy to a place where it would be more prepared for what was coming. He didn't tackle the hardest problems, which are now on his doorstep. He knows better. It will be taken care of by the next pope, a younger one whom history may call "the evil pope." Not "evil" in the sense of being ungodly, but evil in the sense that he will go against the grain of tradition and history. He will make waves, just like the prophet they worship did. Jesus the Jew was known by the Essenes as the "wicked priest." It was because he went against all Jewish tradition, and empowered those around him.

Think about it.

Palestinian unity government will reject violence, Abbas says

Yahoo – AFP, Hossam Ezzedine,  26 April 2014

Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas gestures as he gives a

 speech during a meeting with the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO)'s 

Central Council in the West Bank city of Ramallah on April 26, 2014 (AFP

 Photo/Abbas Momani)

Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said Saturday the new unity government he is set to head with the backing of Hamas would reject violence and recognise Israel and existing agreements.

Abbas was speaking to the Palestine Liberation Organisation's Central Council, which had convened to chart a course of action after Israel suspended US-brokered peace talks in response to a reconciliation deal with the Islamist Hamas.

The agreement between the rival Palestinian factions came as the United States and Israel had been hoping to extend the faltering peace talks beyond their April 29 deadline.

Palestinians gather to celebrate the

 agreement to form a unity government

 in Gaza on April 23, 2014 (AFP Photo/

Mahmud Hams)

Israel said it would not negotiate with a government backed by Hamas, the armed Islamist movement ruling the Gaza Strip, which is pledged to the destruction of the Jewish state and has always rejected peace talks

"The upcoming government will obey my policy," Abbas told the PLO council. "I recognise Israel and reject violence and terrorism, and recognise international commitments."

And he stressed that the new government would not be charged with negotiations, but rather the PLO, which "represents the entire Palestinian people."

A senior Hamas official in Gaza concurred in a reacting to what he called a "mostly positive" speech.

“It is not the government’s mission to take care of political issues," Bassem Naim, an adviser to Hamas' Gaza premier Ismail Haniya, told AFP.

"It has only three main missions: unifying the Palestinian organisations, preparing for elections and reconstructing Gaza,”

The PLO is the internationally recognised representative of the Palestinians and their interlocutor in peace talks.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) was created as part of the Oslo peace process in the 1990s to administer the occupied Palestinian territories.

Abbas heads both, as well as the secular Fatah party, which dominates the PLO.

A new Israeli air force military cargo plane

the 'Samson' C-130J Super Hercules (C)

flies with Israeli military planes over Israeli

flags at Nevatim air force base near the

southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva on

April 9, 2014 (AFP Photo/David Buimovitch)

Under the Wednesday PLO-Hamas agreement, Abbas would head an "independent government" of technocrats, to be formed within five weeks.

That new interim administration would be charged with holding parliamentary and presidential elections within six months of taking office.

Israel and Western nations view Hamas as a terrorist organisation, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Abbas must choose between reconciling with the Islamist group and negotiating peace with his country.

Earlier Saturday, Netanyahu spokesman Ofir Gendelman wrote on Twitter that "abbas forged a pact w/ a global terrorist organisation," noting Hamas was on the "terror lists" of various states, including the United States and Egypt.

No recognition of 'Jewish' state

Abbas also reiterated that the Palestinians would never recognise Israel as the "Jewish state," saying they recognised it as a state in 1993 and should not have to accept its religious identity, which has been a central Netanyahu demand.

He pointed out that no similar demand was made of Egypt or Jordan when they signed peace treaties recognising Israel.

And he said the Palestinians would refuse a state that did not have east Jerusalem as its capital.

Hamas's Naim said the Abbas "speech had mostly positive points, and we cannot but support it on... not recognising (Israel as) the Jewish state."

US State Department spokeswoman

 Jen Psaki speaks at the daily briefing at

the State Department in Washington,DC

on March 10, 2014 (AFP Photo/Nicholas

Kamm)

The dispute over recognition and Israel's continuing construction of settlements in the occupied territories presented major obstacles to US Secretary of State John Kerry's dogged efforts to coax the two sides towards a historic peace agreement.

Efforts to extend hitherto fruitless talks to hit a wall last month when Israel refused to release a final batch of Palestinian prisoners.

The Palestinians retaliated by applying to adhere to 15 international treaties as Abbas listed conditions for extending the talks beyond the deadline.

Abbas reiterated on Saturday he would agree to an extension if Israel freezes settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem, frees the prisoners and begins discussion on the borders of a promised Palestinian state.

Last week, Israel dismissed the same conditions.

"If they don't want to commit there is the other solution -- for them to take over everything," Abbas said, implying a consequence of not renewing talks could be the dismantlement of the PA.

After Abbas's speech, the PLO meeting adjourned until the evening.

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