“Jasmine Revolution”
Symbol of peace: Flowers placed on the barrel of a tank
in very much calmer protests than in recent days in Tunisia

'The Protester' - Time Person of the Year 2011

'The Protester' - Time Person of the Year 2011
Mannoubia Bouazizi, the mother of Tunisian street vendor Mohammed Bouazizi. "Mohammed suffered a lot. He worked hard. but when he set fire to himself, it wasn’t about his scales being confiscated. It was about his dignity." (Peter Hapak for TIME)

1 - TUNISIA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)


How eyepatches became a symbol of Egypt's revolution - Graffiti depicting a high ranking army officer with an eye patch Photograph: Nasser Nasser/ASSOCIATED PRESS

2 - EGYPT Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)


''17 February Revolution"

3 - LIBYA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)

5 - SYRIA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)

"25 January Youth Revolution"
Muslim and Christian shoulder-to-shoulder in Tahrir Square
"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) -
(Subjects: Egypt Uprising, Iran/Persia Uprising, Peace in Middle East without Israel actively involved, Muhammad, "Conceptual" Youth Revolution, "Conceptual" (without a manager hierarchy) managed Businesses, Internet, Social Media, News Media, Google, Bankers, Global Unity,..... etc.)
"The End of History" – Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)
(Subjects:Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Muhammad, Jesus, God, Jews, Arabs, EU, US, Israel, Iran, Russia, Africa, South America, Global Unity,..... etc.) (Text version)

"If an Arab and a Jew can look at one another and see the Akashic lineage and see the one family, there is hope. If they can see that their differences no longer require that they kill one another, then there is a beginning of a change in history. And that's what is happening now. All of humanity, no matter what the spiritual belief, has been guilty of falling into the historic trap of separating instead of unifying. Now it's starting to change. There's a shift happening."


“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.

They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."



African Union (AU)

African Union (AU)
African Heads of State pose for a group photo ahead of the start of the 28th African Union summit in Addis Ababa on January 30, 2017 (AFP Photo/ Zacharias ABUBEKER)

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela
Few words can describe Nelson Mandela, so we let him speak for himself. Happy birthday, Madiba.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Ivory Coast election row prompts global banks to shut

BBC News, 14 February 2011

Ivory Coast crisis

Ivory Coast's disputed presidential election has prompted leading banks Paribas and Citibank to suspend operations.

Ivory Coast's farmers provide a third of the world's
supply of cocoa
The move by the two large international banks comes as the power struggle following the election escalates.

Paribas's Ivorian unit, the second biggest banking operation in the country, closed due to security concerns.

Citibank gave no official reason for its move.

It said it would continue to monitor the situation.

The West African nation has been in turmoil since a disputed presidential election in late November between incumbent Laurent Gbagbo and rival Alassane Ouattara.

A United Nations-backed election commission named Ouattara the winner, but the result was reversed by a legal body and Laurent Gbagbo remains in power despite the threat of international sanctions and military force.

BNP Paribas and number one Societe Generale between them have around two thirds of the Ivory Coast market.

Citibank is the largest corporate financer for Ivory Coast's oil and gas operations and the third biggest cocoa exporter financer, although it has has no retail branches.

'Reputational risk'

Standard Bank analyst Samir Gadio told the Reuters news agency that there was a "reputational risk" for banks that continue to operate in Ivory Coast as they would be seen as allowing Gbagbo's regime to survive.

Western nations put in place travel bans and sanctions on a range of individuals and organisations backing Gbagbo.

Cocoa exporters are also refusing to cooperate with the regime.

Ivory Coast is the biggest cocoa producer in the world and the price of cocoa touched their highest levels for a year on Monday.

Exporters have have stopped registering new beans for export as a result of the sanctions, and a ban called for by Ouattara.

The budget minister Kone Katinan said on state TV: "The government condemns the illegal character of this decision ... By proceeding with their closure, (the banks) are ... seriously contravening their obligations under banking law. (We) will not tolerate these acts of defiance."

Standard Chartered's Samir Gadio said: "Gbagbo is not going to leave just because the banking system has shut down ... he will leave the day his life is at stake. But this is going to speed up the endgame. I don't see how the salaries are going to get paid."

Laurent Gbagbo had previsously ordered the seizure of all local branches of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO).

Ivory Coast is part of the newly-formed eight-country West African CFA monetary zone, with a single central bank based in Dakar, Senegal, but with national headquarters in each country.

Without access to government funds, it is unclear whether Mr Gbagbo will be able to continuing paying the country's military and security forces.


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