US to cut 755 US diplomatic staff in Russia, says Putin

Yahoo – AFP, Maria PANINA, July 30, 2017

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a ceremony for Russia's Navy Day
in Saint Petersburg on July 30, 2017 (AFP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Moscow (AFP) - President Vladimir Putin on Sunday said the United States would have to cut 755 diplomatic staff in Russia and warned of a prolonged gridlock in its ties after the US Congress backed new sanctions against the Kremlin.

Putin added bluntly that Russia was able to raise the stakes with America even further, although he hoped this would be unnecessary.

On Friday, the Russian foreign ministry demanded Washington cut its diplomatic presence in Russia by September 1 to 455 people -- the same number Moscow has in the US.

"More than a thousand people -- diplomats and technical personnel -- were working and are still working" at the US embassy and consulates, Putin said in an interview with Rossia-24 television.

"755 people must stop their activities in Russia."

The US State Department, solicited for a response by AFP, said it did not comment on "the number" of US officials serving abroad.

Putin added that an upturn in Russia's relations with Washington could not be expected "any time soon".

"We have waited long enough, hoping that the situation would perhaps change for the better," he said.

"But it seems that even if the situation is changing, it's not for any time soon."

Raise the stakes?

Putin warned that Russia could further ratchet up the pressure, but he hoped this would not be needed.

Russia still "has things to say and is able to further restrict areas of common activities, which may be sensitive for the American side," he said.

If the damage inflicted by "attempts to pressure Russia" rises further, "we are able to look at other forms of retaliation. But I hope we won't have to do it," he said.

"For the time being, I am against" any additional riposte, Putin said.

On Thursday, the US Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill to toughen sanctions on Russia for allegedly meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and for its annexation of Crimea in 2014. Iran and North Korea are also targeted in the sanctions bill.

The law now goes to President Donald Trump who had made an improvement in ties with Russia a plank of his election campaign -- a position that his critics said was inexplicable.

Moscow on Friday ordered the US to slash its number of diplomats in Russia to 455 by September 1.

It also froze two embassy compounds -- a Moscow summer house and a storage facility in the city -- from August 1.

"I thought that we should show that we too are not going to stand by without a response" after "the baseless measures taken by the American side," Putin said.

In December, then US president Barack Obama ordered out 35 Russian diplomats and closed down two embassy summer houses that Washington said were being used by Moscow for espionage.

At the time, the Kremlin said it would put any retaliation on hold until after Trump took office.

Hacking 'cooperation'

High on the list of US grievances is the allegation that Russian operatives hacked Democratic Party computers at the peak of the troubled 2016 election campaign.

Putin on Sunday said Russia had proposed "several times establishing cooperation with the American side" on cyber-security.

"But instead of starting to work constructively, all we hear are baseless accusations about interference in the internal affairs of the United States," he complained.

Putin and Trump, meeting on the sidelines of the July 7-8 G20 summit in Hamburg, talked about setting up what Trump called an "impenetrable cyber security unit" to prevent hacking in future elections.

Senior members of Trump's Republican Party poured scorn on the concept.

Lindsey Graham, a member of the Senate's armed services committee, said the notion was "not the dumbest idea I've ever heard, but it's pretty close."

Former presidential candidate John McCain said sarcastically he was "sure that Vladimir Putin could be of enormous assistance in that effort, since he's doing the hacking."

Macron puts France top of 'soft power' rankings: survey

Yahoo – AFP, Guy JACKSON, July 18, 2017

France has leapfrogged the United States and Britain as the world's top so-called
soft power, helped by the election of President Emmanuel Macron, a study of
countries' non-military global influence showed (AFP Photo/IAN LANGSDON)

Paris (AFP) - France has leapfrogged the United States and Britain as the world's top so-called soft power, helped by the election of President Emmanuel Macron, a study of countries' non-military global influence showed Tuesday.

While France has risen, Donald Trump's ascent to the White House has seen the US slip from the top last year to third place in the Soft Power 30 study, compiled by PR company Portland Communications and the University of Southern California.

Soft power measures a country's ability to secure international alliances and influence others through its attraction and appeal.

The study uses polling in 25 countries and digital data to measure a country's influence.

It takes into account factors such as the ability of countries to attract foreign students to its universities and tourists, as well as its cultural allure.

France's rapid rise from fifth place last year, when it was in the doldrums under unpopular ex-president Francois Hollande, is partly due to the centrist Macron's election in May.

But the country's diplomatic reach also played a key role.

"France's greatest strength lies in its vast diplomatic network," the study says.

"It is unrivalled in terms of membership to multilateral and international organisations, as well as in its diplomatic cultural missions.

"With Macron having long campaigned for cooperation and integration, it is not unreasonable to expect France’s global engagement and influence to grow."

France also remains the world's top tourist destination, the report said.

The terror attacks that have cost the lives of more than 230 people since 2015 "have not stopped tourists flocking to France and enjoying its rich cultural offering, cuisine, and lifestyle," the report says.

The top five countries by order are France, Britain, US, Germany and Canada. Japan has risen to sixth place from seventh, Switzerland is seventh and Australia slips to eighth.

The survey attributes the US decline -- it has slipped from first last year to third -- to a deterioration of "global sentiment" as a result of Trump's "America First" policy.

The US was still "unrivalled" in higher education, technological innovation and the production of film, music and TV, it pointed out.

Britain loses influence

Meanwhile, the report's authors warn that Britain's fall -- it was top of the rankings last year -- "should serve as a warning of what is likely to come for post-Brexit British influence".

With negotiations under way for Britain to leave the European Union within two years, the report says: "It is hard to imagine the direction of travel for British soft power... will be upwards in the future."

China's Xi reaffirms commitment to peace in the Middle East

Yahoo –AFP, July 18, 2017

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (left) shakes hands after presenting a
medallion to Chinese President Xi Jinping during a signing ceremony at the Great
Hall of the People in Beijing on July 18, 2017 (AFP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Beijing (AFP) - China will host a symposium between Israel and the Palestinians later this year, an official said Tuesday, as president Xi Jinping vowed to "ceaselessly" contribute towards peace in the region.

Despite depending on the volatile Middle East for oil supplies, Beijing has long taken a backseat in its disputes.

But China has stepped up its diplomatic engagement in the region in the past year, including offering to host talks on the Syrian conflict.

In a meeting with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmud Abbas on Tuesday, Xi reaffirmed China's support of a two-state solution, with an independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state, bounded by the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital.

During closed door talks, Xi said China will set up a trilateral dialogue mechanism and later this year host a peace symposium to help resolve the dispute, vice minister of foreign affairs Zhang Ming told reporters.

Xi called the Palestinian people "true good friends, partners, and brothers" of China, stating his country would "unswervingly promote China-Palestine bilateral relations and ceaselessly move the Middle East peace process forward".

Abbas, on his fourth state visit to the country, said he "hoped to see China play a greater role in the Middle East peace process."

He presented Xi with a golden medal of honour.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also met with Xi on a visit to Beijing in March, with the Chinese leader calling for peace between Israel and the Palestinians "as soon as possible."

Netanyahu said Israel was willing to see China play a bigger role in Middle East affairs, according to state media.

Trade between China and Israel has flourished since diplomatic ties were established in 1992.

China's total investment in Israel exceeds six billion dollars, and Israeli-designed technologies are used across the world's second largest economy.

The two countries began free trade negotiations last year.

Paris, LA to host Summer Olympics

Yahoo – AFP, Ben Simon, Jul 11, 2017

(From left) Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, International Olympic Committee President
 Thomas Bach and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti pose on July 11, 2017 in
Lausanne (AFP Photo/Fabrice COFFRINI)

Lausanne (AFP) - The International Olympic Committee agreed Tuesday to award the 2024 and 2028 Games at the same time, effectively guaranteeing that Paris and Los Angeles will be the hosts.

The French capital is tipped to stage 2024 while the Californian city has hinted that it was prepared to wait four more years.

Paris and Los Angeles were the remaining candidates for the 2024 Olympics, a contest that IOC boss Thomas Bach said created "a golden opportunity".

The Olympic movement has had increasing trouble attracting prospective hosts given the soaring costs and taxpayer support required.

Paris and Los Angeles mounted progressive, exemplary bids that would trim expenses by using existing facilities, the IOC said, making clear that it did not want to reject either candidate.

Bach lobbied for a double hosting plan, which won unanimous approval from IOC members at a meeting Tuesday in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The IOC boss called the decision "historic".

"Ensuring stability of the Olympic Games for 11 years is really something extraordinary," he told reporters shortly after the plan was approved.

The Los Angeles and Paris Olympic sites for the 2024 Olympics ahead of the

Paris presentation to the IOC on Tuesday. (AFP Photo/Paz PIZARRO)

Two month window

The IOC now has a two-month window to negotiate with Paris and Los Angeles over which city will go first.

Bach said he wants a "tripartite agreement" before the IOC's main annual meeting in Peru's capital Lima on September 13, when a vote on the 2024 host had been scheduled.

Immediately after the deal was approved, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and his Parisian counterpart Anne Hidalgo appeared on stage arm-in-arm to thank the IOC members, leaving little doubt that a three-way pact was achievable.

Speaking later alongside Bach, Garcetti and Hidalgo voiced full confidence in the upcoming talks.

"I now know that I am sitting up here with two mayors, from two cities that will host after Tokyo the next two Olympics," Garcetti said, referring to the 2020 Games in Japan.

Hidalgo assured that "the Games will return to Paris".

Paris and Los Angeles mounted progressive, exemplary bids that would trim 

expenses by using existing facilities, the IOC said, making clear that it did not

want to reject either candidate (AFP Photo/GABRIEL BOUYS)

Paris 'ready', LA to wait?

Bach said the negotiations would begin immediately, possibly over glasses of wine on Tuesday, adding an agreement could be announced next month.

In the highly unlikely event that there is no deal, the IOC will vote in Lima on 2024 alone, as initially planned, Bach said.

Delegations from the two cities -- led by French President Emmanuel Macron and Garcetti -- were in Lausanne making fresh pitches to IOC voters.

Paris has maintained a tougher line on the 2028 question, insisting it was focused on 2024, the centenary anniversary of the city's last Games.

"I am here to convey a message to say our people are ready to host these Games," Macron told reporters on Tuesday.

"After three failed bids we don't want to lose a fourth one," he said.

Paris mounted losing bids for the 1992, 2008 and 2012 Games.

The Los Angeles team has done did little to quell speculation it was open to 2028, with bid chairman Casey Wasserman reminding that the city had never given the IOC "an ultimatum" on the 2024 question.

The city last hosted the Games in 1984.

The LA 2024 team says it has secured $5.3 billion (4.7 billion euros) in private funding, 

which if delivered could set a new paradigm for hosting Games that have historically

relied on taxpayer money (AFP Photo/KEVORK DJANSEZIAN)

"Working hard to get the Olympics for the United States (L.A.). Stay tuned!" President Donald Trump said in a tweet, without making reference to a particular year.

'Great' Olympic cities

The Olympic movement has been stained by Games that erected grand multi-million dollar facilities that were left to crumble and rot, while the billions spent in public money offered no long-term benefit to host communities.

Los Angeles has stressed its near entire reliance on private funding while vowing to use the Games to broaden access to sports, something it won praise for doing following the 1984 edition.

While Paris has equally focused on leaving a positive legacy, Macron also highlighted the opportunity for France to rally around the "Olympic values" of tolerance and inclusivity, saying they were embedded in the country's "DNA."

"It truly is a tale of two great Olympic cities," said a report released last week by the IOC's 2024 Evaluation Commission.

Bach called their presentations on Tuesday "mind-blowing."

G20 launches plan to fight poverty in Africa

Yahoo – AFP, July 8, 2017

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) talks with South Africa's President Jacob
Zuma in Hamburg, Germany, July 8, 2017 (AFP Photo/John MACDOUGALL)

Hamburg (AFP) - G20 nations launched an unprecedented initiative Saturday at the group's summit in Germany to fight poverty in Africa, but critics called the plan half-hearted.

Under German Chancellor Angela Merkel's "Investment Compacts", an initial seven African countries would pledge reforms and receive technical support in order to attract new private investment.

More than half of Africans are under 25 years old and the population is set to double by mid-century, making economic growth and jobs essential for the young to stop them from leaving, Merkel has said.

Germany's partner nations are Ghana, Ivory Coast and Tunisia, while Ethiopia, Morocco, Rwanda and Senegal are also taking part. Far poorer nations such as Niger or Somalia are so far not on the list.

"We are ready to help interested African countries and call on other partners to join the initiative," said the G20 in their final communique.

The plan, as well as multinational initiatives on helping girls, rural youths and promoting renewable energy, would help "to address poverty and inequality as root causes of migration".

Some 100,000 people, most of them sub-Saharan Africans, have made the dangerous journey to Europe across the Mediterranean in rickety boats this year as the migration crisis shows no sign of abating.

Anti-poverty group ONE said that the investment compacts "promised much, but too many G20 partners missed the memo and failed to contribute.

"The flimsy foundations must now be firmed up, follow through and improved, especially for Africa's more fragile states."

The group's Jamie Drummond said that "this will be the African century and Chancellor Merkel wanted the G20 to get on the right side of history, but internal strife and division scattered the G20 away from this visionary path."

Oxfam judged that the plan "rests on the dangerously naive assumption that boosting private investment will automatically help the poorest in the continent.

"If left unchecked, the Compact might simply line the pockets of wealthy foreign investors."

Related Article:

Plan to nurture African economies unites fractious G20

New set-up for Rabobank in Africa to pool interests

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)  - (Text version)

“… The Future of the Illuminati

Now, I want to tell you something that you didn't expect and something I've reported only one other time. What about all of the money that the Illuminati has? There are trillions and trillions of euro in banks, under their control, waiting. What are they going to do with it and where are they going to use it? It's still here. They're waiting.

This group is waiting for something to happen that they know is going to happen, for they see it coming as much as I do. However, I would like to tell you something that they don't expect. With awareness comes generational shift. Those in charge of this money will not always be elders. The indigos eventually will have it.

They are waiting for something to happen in Africa - the building of a new civilization, a continent that has nothing to unlearn. Once Africa is cured, once it's ready, a new civilization can be created from the ground up. Africans will be ready to learn everything about building a foundation for the most advanced civilization ever and will do it with the most modern and inventive systems available. Eventually, this new continent will even beat the economics of China.

This is the prediction and always has been, and the Illuminati's money will fund it. Did I say the Illuminati will fund it? [Kryon laugh]The Illuminati's money will fund it, but there is a difference from the past, dear ones. The ones who inherit the positions in the Illuminati will be a different consciousness. Listen, they are not suddenly going to be the ones who have the good of everyone in their hearts - hardly. They want to make money, but what they will see instead is a way to make a great deal of money through this investment. In the process, it will automatically help hundreds of thousands, and they will be at the beginning, the foundation, that builds the new Africa. The new African states of unification eventually will create a continent stronger than any of the others, and it will have one currency. The resources alone will dwarf anything in the world.

"Wow, Kryon, how long is that going to take?"

The Humans in the room control that and those listening later and reading. When you leave this room, what are you going to do? Go home, report this, rub your hands together, and wait for it to happen? It won't. For the Humans in the room and the old souls hearing and reading have got work to do, and I've told you this before. You've got work to do.

There's an alliance that you're going to have to create with one another and with another group - the young people of Earth. The youth of this earth are changing the way things work. Can you see it? You're not supposed to sit around and watch them either, because they need you, old soul.

It's time for you to align with the indigos and the concepts of the youth of the planet. Do not think for a moment that their age shows their wisdom. These two attributes are not commensurate with one another; they're not linear. These young people may be older souls than you are! Don't think that because they've got technology that you don't understand that you can't be one with them. Their technology is social networking, the very thing we are talking about, where everyone can talk to everyone. The new consciousness on the planet starts in two areas - the children and the old souls.. …”

"The End of History"- Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) - (Text-Version)

" .... Africa

Let me tell you where else it's happening that you are unaware - that which is the beginning of the unity of the African states. Soon the continent will have what they never had before, and when that continent is healed and there is no AIDS and no major disease, they're going to want what you have. They're going to want houses and schools and an economy that works without corruption. They will be done with small-minded leaders who kill their populations for power in what has been called for generations "The History of Africa." Soon it will be the end of history in Africa, and a new continent will emerge.

Be aware that the strength may not come from the expected areas, for new leadership is brewing. There is so much land there and the population is so ready there, it will be one of the strongest economies on the planet within two generations plus 20 years. And it's going to happen because of a unifying idea put together by a few. These are the potentials of the planet, and the end of history as you know it.

In approximately 70 years, there will be a black man who leads this African continent into affluence and peace. He won't be a president, but rather a planner and a revolutionary economic thinker. He, and a strong woman with him, will implement the plan continent-wide. They will unite. This is the potential and this is the plan. Africa will arise out the ashes of centuries of disease and despair and create a viable economic force with workers who can create good products for the day. You think China is economically strong? China must do what it does, hobbled by the secrecy and bias of the old ways of its own history. As large as it is, it will have to eventually compete with Africa, a land of free thinkers and fast change. China will have a major competitor, one that doesn't have any cultural barriers to the advancement of the free Human spirit.. ...."

122 countries adopt global treaty banning nuclear weapons

Yahoo – AFP, Carole LANDRY, July 7, 2017

141 countries joined in drafting the treaty that they hope will increase
pressure on nuclear states to take disarmament more seriously  (AFP
 Photo/Amanda VOISARD)

United Nations (United States) (AFP) - A global treaty banning nuclear weapons was adopted at the United Nations on Friday but nuclear powers Britain, France and the United States dismissed it as out of step with reality at a time when the world is grappling with the North Korea crisis.

The treaty was adopted by a vote of 122 in favor with one country -- NATO member The Netherlands -- voting against, while Singapore abstained.

None of the nine countries that possess nuclear weapons -- the United States, Russia, Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel -- took part in the negotiations or the vote.

Even Japan -- the only country to have suffered atomic attacks, in 1945 -- boycotted the talks as did most NATO countries.

Loud applause and cheers broke out in the UN conference hall following the vote that capped three weeks of negotiations on the text providing for a total ban on developing, stockpiling or threatening to use nuclear weapons.

Within hours of its adoption, the United States, Britain and France rejected the treaty and said they have no intention of joining it.

"This initiative clearly disregards the realities of the international security environment," said the UN ambassadors from the three countries.

"This treaty offers no solution to the grave threat posed by North Korea's nuclear program, nor does it address other security challenges that make nuclear deterrence necessary," they said in a joint statement.

North Korea marked a worrying milestone in its bid to develop nuclear weapons when it tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile this week.

Nuclear powers argue their arsenals serve as a deterrent against a nuclear attack and say they remain committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The decades-old NPT seeks to prevent the spread of atomic weapons but also puts the onus on nuclear states to reduce their stockpiles.

Impatience however is growing among many non-nuclear states over the slow pace of disarmament as are worries that weapons of mass destruction will fall into the wrong hands.

141 countries joined in drafting the treaty that they hope will increase pressure on

nuclear states to take disarmament more seriously  (AFP Photo/Amanda VOISARD)

Delegitimizing nuclear weapons

Led by Austria, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and New Zealand, 141 countries joined in drafting the treaty that they hope will increase pressure on nuclear states to take disarmament more seriously.

Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland voted in favor as did Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Kazakhstan and many African and Latin American countries.

"We have managed to sow the first seeds of a world free of nuclear weapons," said Costa Rica's ambassador, Elayne Whyte Gomez, the president of the UN conference that negotiated the treaty.

The International Committee of the Red Cross hailed it as a "historic step towards delegitimizing" nuclear weapons and declared the adoption "an important victory for our shared humanity."

Disarmament campaigners say the treaty will go a long way in increasing the stigma associated with nuclear weapons and will have an impact on public opinion.

"The key thing is that it changes the legal landscape," said Richard Moyes, director of the British-based organization Article 36.

"It stops states with nuclear weapons from being able to hide behind the idea that they are not illegal."

"We hope that today marks the beginning of the end of the nuclear age," said Beatrice Fihn, director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

"It is beyond question that nuclear weapons violate the laws of war and pose a clear danger to global security."

The treaty will be open for signatures as of September 20 and will enter into force when 50 countries have ratified it.

Related Articles:

The Netherlands abstains in UN nuclear weapons vote

A huge dome is shown in 1980 covering a crater left by one of the 43

nuclear blasts on Runit Island, in the Marshall Islands, the fallout from

which is expected to last 25,000 years (US Defence Nuclear Agency/AFP)

Marshall Islands sues nine nuclear powers over failure to disarm

Islanders afraid to go home 60 years after Bikini Atoll H-bomb

Ten nations urge new push for non-proliferation - (30 April 2011)

“.. Westerwelle told journalists that the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the international Nuclear Test Ban Treaty should be adopted by all countries, adding that the production and mining of all fissile material for nuclear weapons should be banned internationally. He called for resuscitating the Geneva Disarmament Convention.

Attending the talks with Germany were Japan, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Chile, Poland, Mexico, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

Last year, these countries formed the group Friends of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. ..”

‘Those silly things are still there’: US nukes stored in Netherlands

22 American nuclear bombs are stored in the Netherlands: media
WikiLeaks confirms presence of US nuclear arms in Netherlands

Nuclear Powers to Sign Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone
China calls for joint efforts to advance nuclear disarmament
Xi says China will stick to denuclearization of Korean peninsula


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

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

“…  8 - The End of War

The last one is the best. For thousands of years on this planet, Human Beings have warred with each other. If you take a look at the reasons they warred with each other, you will quickly see there aren't any good ones - land, resources, greed. Those are not reasons. That is a description of old energy. Those are not reasons. Reasons would be perhaps defense against an aggressor. But what if there is no longer the consciousness of the aggressor?

When I appeared in my partner's life more than 20 years ago, I said to him privately that the first messages we're going to give will be unbelievable. There would be laughter. We told him that Human nature and consciousness itself would change, and that the seeds of peace would be planted and there would come a time where there is no more war. Indeed, the laughter was great because humans look at history and they see patterns based on an absolute energy called Human Nature. "Impossible! There always has to be war. There always has been. Therefore, there always will be." This is you, in a box, in a black and white potential, where you can only see the black and white of what is and the black and white of what has been. You have no idea the shades of color that are there in your consciousness and the beauty of the love of God.

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

You'll see a fresh unification of South America sooner than not, for what is going to take place potentially this year in Venezuela. You'll see Iran changing. We have no clock. These are the potentials. These can change with free choice. These are not prophecies. This is a reality shift, dear ones, so number eight becomes the propensity not to war again. This is what Humans are going to want. This is what governments are going to want. There is a wisdom factor that will begin to happen on the planet that is grander than what you think is possible. For when you look at government, what do you think about? You see dysfunction, and there is an axiom that says the more people that try to do something together, the worse it gets. It all settles to the lowest common denominator. I'm telling you even those things are going to become old energy concepts. Instead, you're going to watch wisdom become the top potential.

I have no clock. I cannot tell you when. I can just tell you it is in the works, and there will be the seeds of it for you to observe soon - right now, in every single of the eight categories I showed you.

There are those who will say, "Well, Kryon, you're doing a lot more predictions than you used to." I want to tell you what's going on, dear one. I am not predicting anything. I am just telling you what's already there in the potential soup of your reality. That's what Humans are doing on this planet, and for those who believe this communication, you should breathe a sigh of relief and say, "It's about time." ….”

Britain, US 'turning inward', Canadian PM says in Ireland

Yahoo – AFP, July 4, 2017

Ireland's Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, left, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau at Farmleigh, Ireland's state guest house, in Dublin (AFP Photo/Paul FAITH)

Dublin (AFP) - Britain and the United States are "turning inward," Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a press conference with his Irish counterpart on Tuesday in which both leaders took swipes at their heavyweight neighbours.

Trudeau also said during a visit to Dublin that there were "clear disagreements" with the United States ahead of the G20 summit this week, where US President Donald Trump is expected to attend.

"The choices made by the United States on trade and climate change are at odds with the majority of G20 countries, or even all the other G20 countries," he said after talks with Ireland's Leo Varadkar.

Trudeau predicted that there would be "robust and honest exchanges about how to serve not only our citizens but the whole planet" at the summit, while adding that such meetings were also a chance to try to find "common ground".

The United States and Canada are locked in a trade dispute, with the US accusing Canada of exporting its products at unfairly low "dumping" prices.

Canada is also a major supporter of the Paris Agreement to combat global warming, which Trump has said he wants to pull out of.

Both leaders issued thinly veiled criticism of their neighbours' politics.

"There are tremendous opportunities for countries like Canada and Ireland, at a time where perhaps our significant allies and trading partners in the case of both the US and the UK are turning inward or at least turning into a different direction," Trudeau said.

The sentiment was echoed by Varadkar, who reiterated his country's commitment to the European Union as it prepares for Britain's exit from the bloc.

"We each share a relationship with a very big neighbour, a neighbour that has to a certain extent decided to go in a different direction at least for the time being," he said.

Varadkar said that "unfortunately" Britain had chosen to leave the European Union and would not be able to negotiate free-trade agreements like the one between Canada and the EU until it has officially left.

"I can't see a scenario where Britain could remain a member of the EU, even in transitional period, and then negotiate other trade deals on their own".

Varadkar, the son of an Indian migrant and Ireland's first openly gay prime minister, said he and Trudeau had discussed a wide range of issues, including the benefits of immigration and diversity.

"Both countries and both governments are committed to multilateralism as the best means by which we can solve the world's problems," Varadkar said.

#Canada PM @JustinTrudeau takes swipe at 'inward looking' US and UK during visit to Ireland https://t.co/83fPPQ3hU4 pic.twitter.com/Jh4r69fegV

— AFP news agency (@AFP) July 4, 2017

Pope dismisses doctrine chief in turbulent week for Vatican

Yahoo – AFP, Ella IDE, July 1, 2017

Pope Francis has dismissed the church's chief of doctrine (AFP Photo/Alberto PIZZOLI)

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis has dismissed the church's chief of doctrine, Cardinal Gerhard Mueller -- one of the most powerful cardinals at the Vatican -- and appointed a Spanish archbishop to the role, the Vatican said Saturday.

German conservative Mueller, 69, who served a five-year posting as head of the powerful department responsible for church doctrine, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), had clashed with the pope over key reform issues.

He was one of several cardinals who questioned Francis's determination for the Catholic Church to take a softer line on people traditionally seen as "sinners", including remarried divorced people who want to take communion.

Mueller had also been caught up in the controversy surrounding the church's response to the clerical sex abuse scandal after his department was accused of obstructing Francis's efforts to stop internal cover-ups of abuse.

"In space of three days, two leading Vatican cardinals out of their posts," said Vatican watcher Christopher Lamb, after Vatican finance chief George Pell was charged with historical sexual assault this week.

The Vatican said Mueller's five-year term would not be renewed and he would be replaced by CDF secretary Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, a 73-year-old Spaniard.

Ladaria was appointed to the CDF by former Pope Benedict in 2008, and was asked last year by Francis to head up a new papal commission studying the possibility of having women deacons in the Church.

'Neither angel, nor pope'

Francis may not have liked the Mueller's "excessive media exposure" and "interventions... that almost always sounded like he was distancing himself from the pope", Vatican expert Andrea Tornielli wrote in the Vatican Insider.

The German was dragged into the row over Francis's attempt to shift Church attitudes after the pope intimated last year that some believers who have remarried should be able to take communion.

Traditionalists were horrified; Roman Catholic marriage is for life, so divorcing your first partner and marrying someone else is considered adultery.

Four conservative cardinals accused the pope of sowing confusion and publicly demanded an answer to "doubts" about family guidelines Francis published in April. The pontiff has yet to respond.

Mueller said the cardinals were within their rights to challenge the guidelines and in February said marriage was a "sacrament, and no power in heaven or on earth, neither an angel, nor the pope... has the faculty to change it".

Singled out

In March a prominent church reform group called for Mueller's resignation after accusations that senior officials had wilfully ignored Fancis's decision to create a new tribunal to judge bishops who cover up sexual abuse.

Irish survivor of abuse Marie Collins, who quit the pope's commission on the protection of minors in disgust, singled out Mueller's ministry, which is in charge of the clerical abuse dossier.

The German cardinal retorted in an open letter that the tribunal had only been a "project" which Vatican departments felt would needlessly duplicate initiatives already in place to deal with wayward bishops.

Mueller is six years short of the traditional retiring age. The Vatican did not say what his next appointment might be.

His dismissal comes at the end of a turbulent week in the heartland of the Roman Catholic faith, following the charges of sexual offences brought against the Vatican finance chief on Thursday.

The Australian cardinal, 76, was granted a leave of absence by the pope to defend his name after he became the most senior Catholic cleric to be charged with criminal offences linked to the Church's long-running sexual abuse scandal.

The pope and the cardinal clashed over the various reform measures, including

 the hot-button issue of annulments. Cardinal Müller was also allegedly lax in 

responding to sex abuse claims brought before the Vatican.

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