Palestinian flag flies at UN for first time

Yahoo – AFP, Cecile Feuillatre, 30 Sep 2015

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas kisses the Palestinian flag as Secretary 

General Ban Ki-moon looks during the flag raising ceremony on September 30, 

2015 at the UN in New York (AFP Photo/Timothy A. Clary)

United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The Palestinians raised their flag at the United Nations on Wednesday for the first time as president Mahmud Abbas called on the world body to grant them full membership.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Abbas presided over the packed ceremony in the rose garden after the Palestinian leader launched a searing attack at the General Assembly on Israel's continued occupation.

"In this historical moment, I say to my people everywhere: raise the flag of Palestinians very high because it is the symbol of our identity," the 80-year-old Abbas told the crowd. "It is a proud day."

Media and UN Honour Guard members 

gather during the Palestinian flag raising

 ceremony on September 30, 2015 at the

 UN in New York (AFP Photo/Timothy

A. Clary)

Israel and the United States have dismissed the move as a symbolic gesture that would not serve the cause of peace. But Ban said symbols were "important" and could lead to action.

"Now is the time to restore confidence by both Israelis and Palestinians for a peaceful settlement and, at last, the realization of two states for two peoples," he said.

The red, black, white and green Palestinian flag was then hoisted under dark clouds that threatened rain. The crowd broke out into cheers when it started to flutter in the gentle breeze.

Dozens of people gathered in the West Bank town of Ramallah to watch the flag-raising by TV link. When the small crowd saw Abbas on the screen, they stood cheering and then fell silent to hear him.

The General Assembly voted September 10 to allow the flags of Palestine and the Vatican -- both have observer status -- to be raised at the world body alongside those of member states.

The resolution was backed by 119 countries, with 45 abstentions and eight votes against, including Australia, Israel and the United States.

Call for recognition

Abbas used his speech Wednesday at the General Assembly to appeal for "those countries that have not yet recognized the state of Palestine yet, to do so."

"Palestine, which is an observer state in the United Nations, deserves full recognition and full membership," he said.

Clashes in recent weeks between Israeli police and Palestinians at the sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem have raised tensions and prompted Abbas to warn of the risk of a third intifada, or uprising.

Palestinians wave their national flags as they watch a live-screening of president

 Mahmud Abbas' speech followed by the raising of the Palestinian flag at the

 United Nations headquarters in New York, on September 30, 2015 in the city of

 Ramallah (AFP Photo/Abbas Momani)

"I call on the Israeli government to cease its use of brutal force... particularly its actions at the Al-Aqsa mosque," Abbas told the Assembly.

"Such actions will convert the conflict from a political one to a religious one, thus creating a explosive situation in Jerusalem and the remaining Palestinian occupied territory."

A recent poll found that Palestinians are increasingly exasperated with his leadership and Israel's right-wing government.

A majority favor a return to armed uprising in the absence of peace talks and two-thirds want Abbas to resign.

In the runup to the speech, there have been reports that Abbas would use the opportunity to drop a "bombshell."

Suggestions of what that could mean have included a complete withdrawal from the Oslo accords of the 1990s or the dissolution of the Palestinian Authority that those agreements created.

While such an announcement could potentially have a major impact, many analysts questioned whether Abbas would truly press ahead with it.

Cannot be bound by agreements

Instead, he told the UN that Israel's refusal to commit to past agreements and release Palestinian prisoners, and continued Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, were sapping Palestinian hopes of ever achieving an independent state.

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas addresses the United Nations General 

Assembly in New York on September 30, 2015 (AFP Photo/Jewel Samad)

"They leave us no choice but to insist that we will not remain the only ones committed to the implementation of these agreements, while Israel continuously violates them," he said.

"We cannot continue to be bound by these signed agreements with Israel and Israel must assume fully all its responsibilities as an occupying power."

Abbas said Palestinian patience "has come to an end" and described the current situation as "unsustainable."

Later on Wednesday, the UN chief will also chair talks with the Diplomatic Quartet seeking a political settlement to the conflict.

The peace process has been in the doldrums since the latest US diplomatic effort failed in April last year.

In a shift, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Arab League have been invited to the meeting, along with the foreign ministers of Russia, the United States and EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address the United Nations on Thursday and call on Palestinians to stop "incitement to violence."

Related Articles:

Obama draws pledges of 40,000 troops for UN peacekeeping

Matthew message (Channelled by Suzanne Ward, July 19, 2015)

Matthew Ward - July 19, 2015

Matthew Ward

With loving greetings from all souls at this station, this is Matthew. Many of your analysts think that the Greek people’s resounding “No” on the recent referendum put their country on the road to irreversible economic ruin. The country will manage. “No” put the Illuminati on the road to irreversible economic ruin.

Going back a long, long ways, bartering worked splendidly in communities, but the expanding borders of commerce required a different means of exchange; and with the introduction of coinage, money became the axis on which your world turned. The forerunners of the Illuminati and later that group itself controlled the turning by devising taxation, banking and lending systems; and, as centuries passed, “numbered” bank accounts, stock markets, Federal Reserve System, International Monetary Fund, regulating agencies and credit cards with usurious interest rates. Everything they established was specifically designed to add to their fortunes, tighten their economic control over the peoples, and increase their influence within national governments.

The Illuminati began as a cohesive group of like-minded individuals whose objective was world domination. As time went by, egos grew and tempers flared, and eventually two competitive factions with that same goal emerged. Later, the Rothschilds and their adherents, who operate out of London and the Vatican, came up with a plan to solidify their control throughout Europe—the European Union, European Central Bank and euro currency. Let us borrow your expression, “How’s that working for you?” There is no bandage large enough to patch the crack the Greek vote made in the Rothschild network. The crack will spread like a spider web around the world and into it will fall the Rockefeller faction headquartered in Washington, DC, and on Wall Street.

As if that isn’t enough for both factions to deal with—and Pope Francis’ goodness and wisdom keeps upsetting their apple cart—now there’s the agreement between negotiators from several major nations and Iran’s leaders that their country will not pursue development of a nuclear weapon. It is no surprise that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, a top-ranking Illuminati, denounced the agreement or that Illuminati in the United States Congress and members whose election campaigns were funded by that group are opposing President Obama’s efforts to get congressional approval. They want to invade Iran and, along with taking over that country’s oil, reap the riches that come from producing the machinery of war.

The vibrations of intensifying light that led to those reversals for the Illuminati will keep increasing as the planet continues on its ascension course. If we could tell you when their total undoing will be, we would do so joyously; but activity in Earth’s energy field of potential indicates that their inevitable demise will come in stages, not one fell swoop. They still have some power, dwindling though it is, in their “black ops” branch of the CIA; other intelligence sources, including Mossad; high-ranking personnel in some military forces; leverage within mainstream media and some governments; and huge caches of monies to initiate or exacerbate uprisings, fund the Islam State, and pay their minions to hack computer systems, oversee the street drug trade, fill your skies with chemtrails, deny pollution’s contribution to climate change, or disseminate false information on the Internet.

While a few within the higher ranks of both Illuminati factions are talking with principals in reform movements, the hardliners are talking about joining forces; some have abandoned their fast-sinking ship, died of natural causes or by their own hand, or been arrested. You would recognize some names, most you would not, and it is unlikely that any of the Illuminati will be identified as such in mainstream news reports.

Upheavals will keep popping up as the ages-old light vs dark battle for Earth’s civilization at last is nearing its end. You have waited a long time to see the light triumph as predestined, and you can welcome the bumpy ride through the last phases. However, most of the populace don’t know about that long conflict or that everything transpiring and what is ahead is about planetary and personal ascension out of millennia of dark bondage.

Many people are fearful or angry, and with each new bump, others will have the same reactions. Your calmness, yet excitement, and explaining to the extent individuals are receptive can encourage them to have an optimistic outlook. But please do not be disheartened if family and friends don’t respond positively—they will waken in their own times of readiness.

And, we ask that you keep foremost in your thoughts that every person in your world is a part of God, by whatever name the Supreme Being in this universe is called. Every person is inextricably connected at soul level with all others, and God’s love for each and every one is unconditional. Seeing “offenders” through God’s eyes doesn’t mean wanting them to forego justice by your world’s standards—already this has come to some and shall befall others. What it does mean is, you will uplift yourselves and your world by envisioning those individuals within the light rather than focusing on their punishment. The impartial, nonjudgmental and unavoidable laws of the universe will serve them justice in a spirit world according to their lifetime deeds.

This is an appropriate place to answer a reader’s questions: “What will happen to Nirvana after Earth reaches 5th density? Can there still be reunions with our loved ones?” Nirvana will accompany Earth to her destination in fifth density and continue to be her spirit realm, but with grand differences. The tiny dense orb that houses the basest individuals and is the only part of the realm separate from the rest will be transported to some third density civilization and incorporated into their spirit world, or it will be dematerialized after its inhabitants are moved to a spirit world of equal density. Nirvana’s lower layers—learning centers for people who want to outgrow their negative tendencies such as bigotry, anger, apathy, envy, miserliness, bitterness, disloyalty, dishonesty, manipulativeness, closed minds and desire to control others—also will disappear. Those traits served well when they were aspects of karmic lessons souls chose to attain balanced experiencing, but your society will have advanced consciously and spiritually and no longer need to experience negative characteristics.

Indeed, reunions of loved ones can take place in Nirvana when that realm and Earth are in fifth density, but then just as now, meetings can be in any placement in this universe where energies are compatible. Actually, these visits have been happening all along during your sleep time, but your bodies’ density can’t retain memories of those visits—when you waken and have fragments of memories of being with a loved one, you attribute them to dreams. As your consciousness expands with light absorption, you will start to clearly remember your joyful reunions.

With reference to our stating that “everything in your world is purposeful,” a reader asked, “What purpose is served by rats, roaches, fleas, mosquitoes, etc.” It started eons past in linear time, when the darkness manipulated the DNA of some weaker civilizations and programmed their bodies for aging and disease. A civilization at third density conscious and spiritual level, which Earth’s peoples and other life forms have been for many millennia, has bodies that are susceptible to the diseases that some insects and rats can cause or spread; and, given the flexibility in soul contracts, physical death by that means can satisfy contracts’ cause and longevity provisions.

Insects also serve the purpose of souls whose lifetime energy consigned them to the basest part of third density spirit realms. When they are willing to receive sufficient light to embody, they do so in a short-lived form without cellular memory patterning that could influence behavior as they start back up the ladder of evolution. You will welcome knowing that insects cannot survive in the higher vibratory levels where Earth is heading, and their place in the food chain no longer will be needed.

Rats are intelligent, emotional rodents, and those that are well-treated pets respond in kind; the hordes that run wild simply are trying to survive in a world where they are detested. As a civilization grows in consciousness, so do all other life forms in that world. With that advancement comes humankind’s respect for all animal life, and “wild” rats, like other species now considered obnoxious, will be elevated in behavior and popular acceptance. Have no concerns that your world may be overrun with rats or rabbits or any other animals that produce litters quickly! They will reproduce less often and in smaller numbers as long as they decide to embody on the planet—these species, like all others, evolve and at some point incarnate as higher-order beings.

Citing numerous ways that Earth’s animals are being treated inhumanely, a reader asked, “Can the galactics not help with ending this horrendous treatment of animals?” Your universal family is helping by beaming light in abundance to Earth, but they cannot interfere with the free will of individuals who cause suffering and merciless death to your animals. It is up to your society to stop abhorrent practices, and thanks to the dedicated efforts of many souls, this is happening. Countries are setting standards for treatment of animals and repercussions for violators; there are boycotts of food, other products and entertainment derived from animal exploitation; poachers of wild animals are being taught other livelihoods; education is expanding about the importance of preserving wildlife and their habitats on land and in the seas; the numbers of wildlife reserves and no-kill shelters of pet species continue growing and so do the numbers of homeless pets who are adopted.

Participating in or financially supporting these encouraging activities is vital, to be sure, but an invaluable contribution that everyone can make to improve animal life is to not agonize about their plight, but instead send love-light to all of Earth. The law of attraction brings back the very same energy sent forth in thoughts and feelings, thus agonizing about any situation brings back still more circumstances to evoke that feeling.

A reader in New Zealand asked why teen suicides in her country and elsewhere are becoming more frequent. Perhaps because of religious teachings, dying by one’s own hand at such a young age—at any age—is viewed as more tragic than death by disease or fatal injury. So first we say, there is no judgment or penalty and no such place as limbo or hell for people who end their lives.

Their reasons differ just as the individuals themselves do; however, according to our colleagues in Nirvana, most teenagers who commit suicide are gay or lesbian or they know that their body and gender are mismatched, and they enter spirit life with tormented psyches that need customized care for healing. They were emotionally drained from struggling to conform to familial expectations, societal standards and religious orientation, or they had been cast out after declaring their true selves—either way, they saw death as the only escape from hopelessness and despair. As your society continues growing consciously and spiritually, honoring the divinity and genuineness of all soul-selves will replace discrimination and rejection.

“I have noticed a lot of fear-based information on the Internet surrounding ingesting monatomic gold. Can you please elaborate on how it actually works within our bodies?” The intention of that information—and it is a good example of DISinformation on the Internet—is to steer you away from one of the most valuable substances you can ingest. In addition to fortifying immune systems, monatomic gold contributes to health by rapidly regenerating cells; raising bodies’ frequencies; improving organs’ functioning;accelerating the transformation of carbon-based cells into crystalline; and helping to increase DNA strands. All of those physical benefits enhance brain power and that leads to expanded consciousness, spiritual clarity and overall balance. Individuals who are influenced by darkness don’t want you to have any of those advantages so they disseminate blatantly false, fear-based information about monatomic gold.

To readers who asked if signing petitions really does any good: Yes. You may or may not see prompt effects in the specific areas the petitions cover, but the energy you put forth to support endeavors you deem worthy contributes to the overall light on the planet.

“Please ask Matthew to speak about people suffering from depression. I am fearful I may not be following my soul contract and more so failing to do my part to promote positive loving thoughts to myself and others so as to assist Earth's transition.” Our understanding and compassion go out to this dear soul and to all others who are dealing with depression, an emotionally painful condition that has become almost commonplace in your world, and we hasten to say that none of you is failing self or others! You are not lacking light, but light-heartedness. Even if depression is a karmic choice for balance, it needn’t be long-lasting, and discovering and alleviating the cause is possible.

The cause may be physical. Consult a trusted healthcare practitioner about testing for hormonal imbalance, which is treatable without pharmaceutical drugs that don’t eliminate the cause and do lead to other maladies. We have mentioned the benefits of monatomic gold, and suggest as well that you eat nutritious food, drink a great deal of pure water, get sufficient sleep, listen to melodic music, and spend as much time as possible with Nature. Especially during these times when body, mind and spirits are adjusting to ever-heightening vibrations, those are wise suggestions for everyone.

In many cases, depression is circumstantial, due to one’s own or loved ones’ situation or perhaps the state of your world. When you start thinking about something sad or worrisome, change to a positive thought about that situation and visualize it dissolving into beams of light—here again the law of attraction plays a crucial role. Take one step at a time to overcome feeling depressed—this can be as simple as the satisfaction of completing a small task or as uplifting as knowing that you are contributing light to the world via compassion, forgiveness, gratitude, generosity and kindness.

Dear ones, apply those light-filled feelings to yourself, too, and ask for help! Angels, spirit guides, souls in Nirvana and other spirit worlds—all are God’s emissaries—are ever-ready and eager to help lift you out of depression’s heavy-heartedness.

Yes, planetary cleansing will continue a while longer because Earth needs to rid herself of negativity as it is produced. But we say to readers who asked about earthquakes that will devastate entire major cities, tsunamis of epic proportions, dramatic changes in land masses, and temperatures that will continue rising until they snuff out all life: Not only are those concerns needless, but they emit low vibrations that add to the negativity Earth has to deal with.

Many who requested our comments about the Trans Pacific Partnership feel this is an Illuminati-made bill that will benefit only the wealthiest. Several also questioned much the same as the reader who wrote: “If President Obama really is a light being, why is he pushing Congress to get this bill passed?” and others wrote that his efforts prove he is either Illuminati or their willing puppet or is being mind-controlled by them.

Indeed, TPP provisions have the potential to favor only the wealthy—whatever can be used beneficially also can be twisted into malevolent directions—and we shall tell you what we have been told about President Obama’s position. He is acting upon the advice of our “space” family members living among you to not make waves at this stage of behind-the-scenes talks with individuals in the Rockefeller faction. They are not defectors per se, they are pragmatists who know their aim of world control is doomed, and because their interests are better served by economic stability than global collapse, they are amenable to discussing reforms that will have far-reaching effects.

These individuals, whose cooperation can expedite the reforms, wield considerable influence in the corporate world; and their bargaining point is that by acting in good faith on TPP’s provisions, workers in the off-shore countries will reap benefits that currently are nonexistent and would not adversely affect workers in the United States. Our perspective is, as vibrations continue increasing, improvements will come in every aspect of life in your world, so with or without TPP, beneficial changes are ahead for people everywhere.

We honor you, our beloved family, for your perseverance as lightworkers. You are adding immeasurably to the light that is propelling ongoing and forthcoming changes throughout your world.

LOVE and PEACE

Suzanne Ward

Website: The Matthew Books

Email: suzy@matthewbooks.com

US agent pleads guilty to Bitcoin thefts from Silk Road online drug bazaar

Israel's former defense minister says army blocked three planned attacks on Iran

"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)

Obama draws pledges of 40,000 troops for UN peacekeeping

Yahoo – AFP, Carole Landry, 29 Sep 2015

More than 50 countries have pledged a further 40,000 troops for United Nations

peacekeeping operations around the world (AFP Photo/Albert Gonzalez Farran)

United Nations (United States) (AFP) - More than 50 countries pledged 40,000 troops for United Nations peacekeeping at a US-led summit called to shore up missions under strain from the rise in global crises.

China scaled up its contribution, taking the lead in setting up an 8,000-strong standby police force while Colombia made a first-time offer of as many as 5,000 troops.

The pledges represent a major boost to UN peacekeeping, which relies on voluntary contributions from UN member states to run its 16 missions worldwide.

More than 125,000 troops and police

 from 124 countries serve in UN peace

missions (AFP Photo/Alain Wandimoyi)

US President Barack Obama told leaders that peace operations were "experiencing unprecedented strains" and are being deployed in "more difficult and deadlier conflicts."

"We know that peace operations are not the solution to every problem," Obama told the summit held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

"But they do remain one of the world's most important tools to address armed conflict," he said.

The new contributions include helicopters, engineering units, field hospitals and bomb-detonating expertise that are desperately needed to bolster UN peace missions.

Obama opened the summit by announcing a tally of 30,000 new troops for peace missions, but after leaders took turns at the podium to announce contributions, the total reached 40,000.

A key player in peacekeeping in Africa, Rwanda offered two attack helicopters, two field hospitals, an all-female police unit and 1,600 new troops.

Indonesia boosted its participation with training and 2,700 new troops while India pledged 850 additional soldiers.

British Prime Minister David Cameron announced 70 troops for the UN-African Union mission in Somalia and up to 300 troops for South Sudan, where the UN mission is grappling with one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

Pledges rolled in from smaller nations such as Armenia and Fiji and bigger players like Brazil, Turkey, Germany and Australia.

A key player in peacekeeping in Africa, Rwanda, whose troops are pictured on

 November 22, 2005, offered two attack helicopters, two field hospitals, an

all-female police unit and 1,600 new troops (AFP Photo/Jose Cendon)

More than 125,000 troops and police from 124 countries serve in UN peace missions.

China steps up

The United States had hoped to draw more pledges from European countries that have gradually pulled their troops out of peacekeeping and contributed to the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan.

In the end, the European pledges remained modest, but officials stressed the importance of highly-trained troops from Britain, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy to peacekeeping.

In contrast, China -- which has strong economic interests in Africa -- offered more engineering soldiers, transport and medical staff and pledged to train 2,000 peacekeepers from other countries to carry out de-mining operations.

President Xi Jinping said China would provide $100 million to the African Union to support a new African standby force and send the first peacekeeping helicopter squad to Africa.

Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan and Rwanda are currently the top five troop-contributing nations to peace missions.

In his address, Obama stressed that strengthening peacekeeping would serve "our common security" and pledged to double the number of US officer staff serving under the blue flag.

US President Barack Obama delivers remarks during a Peacekeeping Summit

 to coincide with the United Nations General Assembly on September 28, 2015 (AFP

Photo/Andrew Kelly)

There are just 78 Americans serving in UN peace missions but Washington remains by far the largest financial backer, providing 28 percent of the UN peacekeeping budget of $8.3 billion.

Boosting troop contributions will help the United Nations tackle a wave of sexual abuse allegations that have hit its missions, notably in the Central African Republic.

The new commitments will give Secretary General Ban Ki-moon the leeway to remove units whose soldiers face accusations and replace them without weakening a mission.

French President Francois Hollande, who pledged to step up training of African forces, referred to the sexual abuse scandal in his address to the summit, saying countries "must not allow the UN flag to be tarnished."

France is investigating allegations that 14 soldiers from its Sangaris military force sexually abused children in the Central African Republic in return for food, from December 2013 until June 2014.

While the French troops were not serving in a UN peacekeeping mission, the Sangaris operation was authorized by a UN Security Council resolution.

Eyes on elephants as Google cameras snap Kenya reserve

Yahoo - AFP, September 15, 2015

A Google Street View vehicle collects imagery for Google Maps while driving down

a street in Calais, northern France, on July 29, 2015 (AFP Photo/Philippe Huguen)

Samburu (Kenya) (AFP) - For once, Google was unlikely to face privacy complaints as the US Internet giant on Tuesday launched its Street View service in Kenya's Samburu park, in a move conservationists said could help protect endangered elephants.

Special cameras have taken panoramic images of the reserve while driving down dusty tracks -- and have also been fixed to a backpack to penetrate deep into the bush.

Some of Google's previous Street View forays have brought complaints on privacy grounds.

A lioness stands near an oryx at the Samburu

National Park in Kenya (AFP Photo/

Pedro Ugarte)

But this time there were no demands to blur out faces -- the main residents of the 165 square kilometre (65 square mile) reserve are 900 elephants.

The idea is to allow viewers to click and view the elephant herds close up.

"We hope that by bringing Street View to Samburu, we will inspire people around the world to gain a deeper appreciation for elephants," said Farzana Khubchandani of Google Kenya.

Slightly larger than a basketball, Google's camera contains 15 individual fixed-focus lenses that simultaneously capture a 360 degree image roughly every three metres.

The Kenya project was launched in collaboration with conservation group Save the Elephants.

"It's exciting to open a window onto Samburu, and to help us better protect its elephants," said Save the Elephants chief Iain Douglas-Hamilton, speaking in Samburu, some 300 kilometres (185 miles) north of the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

Kenya is struggling to stem poaching to protect its remaining elephant population -- currently estimated at 30,000 -- and just over a thousand rhinos.

With ivory raking in thousands of dollars a kilo in Asia, conservationists have warned that African elephants could be extinct in the wild within a generation.

"Giving people a virtual tour will bring Samburu to the world, and inspire the world to come to Samburu," county governor Moses Lenolkulal said.

"The more people experience our culture, our people and the majestic elephants and other wildlife with which we co-exist, the more we are able to conserve and sustain the Samburu culture and its fragile ecosystem for generations to come."

Zimbabwe's Mugabe delivers wrong speech in parliament

Yahoo – AFP,  Reagan Mashavave, 15 Sep 2015

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe -- who has been in power since 1980 -- 

delivers a speech to lawmakers in Harare, on September 15, 2015 (AFP

Photo/Jekesai Njikizana)

Harare (AFP) - Zimbabwe's 91-year-old President Robert Mugabe read the wrong speech at the opening of a new session of parliament on Tuesday, repeating an address he gave to the legislature last month.

The veteran leader read the 25-minute speech through to the end, apparently unaware that he was delivering the same text he presented during his state of the nation address last month.

"There has been a mix-up of speeches resulting in a situation where... the president delivered the wrong speech," said presidential spokesman George Charamba.

"The mix-up happened in his secretarial office," Charamba was quoted as saying in the state-owned Herald newspaper's online edition.

"The error is sincerely regretted and corrective measures are being considered."

Mugabe, Africa's oldest leader, earlier this year fell down the steps leading from a podium. He was unhurt, but video of the fall went viral on social media.

The opening of parliament was also tarnished by claims by opposition legislators that they had received anonymous death threats warning them against booing Mugabe during his address.

Last month, they booed and heckled him during his state of the nation address in parliament -- which is the speech he repeated on Tuesday.

Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) chief whip Innocent Gonese said seven opposition lawmakers received SMS text messages on their mobile phones warning them not to disrupt Mugabe's address.

"The message is coming from a number which is not reflecting but it's titled 'death'," Gonese told journalists after Mugabe's speech.

"It warns the members concerned to know that immunity ends at parliament and once they step out of parliament that parliamentary immunity does not operate."

Gonese said the party, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, is "worried" about the threats to its lawmakers.

The MDC in a statement called on Mugabe to resign over the blunder, saying it showed that "he is too old."

"This clearly goes to show that Robert Mugabe no longer has the requisite mental faculties that are needed for him to continue in office as the Head of State," said party spokesman Obert Gutu.

"The MDC would like to call upon Robert Mugabe to immediately tender his resignation as the President of Zimbabwe."

Gutu said Mugabe "is way past his prime" when he failed to recognise that he was reading the wrong speech in parliament.

"This is a sure sign of senility and grossly failing mental and physical health," he said.

"Zimbabwe doesn't deserve to be run by a nonagenarian President who, in fact, is long overdue for retirement."

Niger's Muslims and Christians join forces for peace

Yahoo – AFP, Boureima Hama, 15 Sep 2015

Bishop Laurent Lompo (R) leads a procession on April 4, 2015 in Niamey (AFP

Photo/Boureima Hama)

Niamey (AFP) - Eight months after Muslims rioted in Niger at a cost of 10 lives and many burned churches, efforts are afoot to mend ties with the Christian minority in the west African country.

The rampage was triggered in January when radical Muslims angered by caricatures of the Prophet Mohamed in French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo killed 12 people in an assault on the magazine's Paris offices.

In Niger, hundreds of Muslims took to the streets, clashing with police and razing 45 churches, five hotels, as well as bars and schools run by Christians. The French cultural centre in the second city, Zinder, was also set alight.

Bishop Laurent Lompo (L) and the

 imam of Niamey's great mosque Jabirou

 Ismael, pictured on April 3, 2015 in 

Niamey (AFP Photo/Boureima Hama)

Muslims make up about 98 percent of the 17 million population in the deeply poor, landlocked nation south of the Sahara. Until the riots, they lived in peace with the small Christian minority.

However, the threat of armed Islamist activity is present both in the north, where Niger is prey to Al-Qaeda-linked groups in the desert, and the south, which has been attacked by Boko Haram fundamentalists from neighbouring Nigeria.

'Value of living together'

Leaders of both faiths have been striving to restore strong community bonds by means of an inter-religious dialogue backed by a plan to "renew the value of living together" (REVE) funded by the European Union.

The aid organisation CARE International, based in the United States, is overseeing the REVE project "to prevent violence" on the ground and "strengthen peaceful coexistence", according to CARE chief in Niamey, Ibrahim Niandou.

"Committees for dialogue" have already been set up in the country's eight regions and their members reflect all religious tendencies, including "the most radical ones", Niandou said.

"Christians and Muslims mutually enlighten each other for better peaceful coexistence according to the recommendations of the Bible and the Koran," the national CARE chief added.

"It has become necessary... that really different religions, leaders of different religions, meet to talk," says Boubacar Seydou Toure, an influential member of the Islamic Association of Niger (AIN), the biggest such body and one of the oldest.

"You know what has happened over the past months in our country, and it is really down to misunderstanding each other," Seydou added.

Last week, the AIN hosted a peace forum bringing together about 100 Muslim religious jurists and doctors known as ulemas, Christian priests as well as theologians from both faiths.

"The crises are often triggered by religious leaders during their fiery preaching in the mosques and in the churches," Seydou explained.

Christian preacher Baradje Diagou said January's disturbances have heightened the need to co-exist peaceably.

"If we each keep to our own communities, it's very difficult for us to be able to understand one another," he said.

Christians are 'more wary'

This week, Roman Catholics and Christian evangelists met "around the same table" for the first time, also with social harmony in mind, said Boureima Kiomso, chairman of the Alliance of Churches and Evangelical Missions in Niger.

"Agreeing to listen to one another and to reexamine ourselves in order to move on together is very important," Kiomso added.

Inter-faith meetings may not be enough to stave off more religious unrest in Niger, where Islam has been gaining ground, with mosques being built in big towns and small villages.

Some radical Muslims do not care for a spread of Christian places of worship, notably evangelical ones, sometimes next door to their mosques.

The enrolment of youths from Niger in the ruthless Boko Haram sect, against which Niamey forms part of a regional military alliance, shows radical Islam has gained ground in the country.

Since February 6, Boko Haram and its local members have carried out attacks in the southern Diffa region, killing dozens of civilians and soldiers.

Diffa lies on the border with northeast Nigeria, where the Islamists have waged a bloody uprising since 2009.

While Niger makes ready for general elections in 2016, its security forces must also contend with the threat of jihadist movements coming across the border from Mali and Libya.

The Christian minority is "more wary" after the violence in January, Kiomso says.

"They have been forced to revise their positions and adapt to new conditions to be able to survive in Niger."

Adamou, a Muslim resident of the capital in the southwest, feels that "many Christians won the sympathy of Muslims who tolerated them badly" before the upheaval.

"I personally helped to rebuild a burned-down church," said Idi Ali, another Muslim citizen.

Pope Francis and other religious leaders at the Vatican. Photograph: AP

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"Return of the Masters" - Apr 11-12, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

"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)

“.   New Tolerance

Look for a softening of finger pointing and an awakening of new tolerance. There will remain many systems for different cultures, as traditions and history are important to sustaining the integrity of culture. So there are many in the Middle East who would follow the prophet and they will continue, but with an increase of awareness. It will be the increase of awareness of what the prophet really wanted all along - unity and tolerance. The angel in the cave instructed him to "unify the tribes and give them the God of Israel." You're going to start seeing a softening of intolerance and the beginning of a new way of being.

Eventually, this will create an acknowledgement that says, "You may not believe the way we believe, but we honor you and your God. We honor our prophet and we will love you according to his teachings. We don't have to agree in order to love." How would you like that? The earth is not going to turn into one belief system. It never will, for Humans don't do that. There must be variety, and there must be the beauty of cultural differences. But the systems will slowly update themselves with increased awareness of the truth of a new kind of balance. So that's the first thing. Watch for these changes, dear ones. ...."

Malawi teacher accused of trying to sell albino girl for $10,000

Yahoo – AFP, 15 Sep 2015

An albino child stands barefoot next to a teammate during football practice (AFP

Photo/Yasuyoshi Chiba)

Blantyre (Malawi) (AFP) - A Malawian teacher suspected of attempting to sell an albino schoolgirl for $10,000 was arrested Tuesday, police said, as the country battles to stop albino killings fuelled by superstition.

Primary school teacher Phillip Ngulube was with the girl when he was arrested in the northern city of Mzuzu and has been charged with abduction with intent to murder, police spokesman Maurice Chapola told AFP.

Ngulube was "caught by police on his way to selling the girl to an alleged Tanzanian businessman for six million Kwacha ($10,000)," said Chapola, adding it was likely she would be killed for her body parts.

An albino child is presented at the "Maison 

des Albinos" (Albinos house) in Burundi

(AFP Photo/Stephane de Sakutin)

The suspect told police the high school student was his girlfriend.

Albinos have white skin and yellow hair, a result of an hereditary genetic disorder that causes the absence of pigmentation in the skin, hair and eyes.

They are killed regularly in some African countries for their body parts — from genitals to bones — which are used in witchcraft rituals.

The plight of people with albinism has worsened in recent years, according to UN and police figures, with concerns that the October election in Tanzania this year will prompt more attacks as politicians seek luck at the ballot box.

A complete albino skeleton is said to be worth as much as $75,000, according to the Red Cross.

Since a surge of attacks against albinos in December, the UN estimates that nine have been killed in Malawi.

In June, Malawi launched a probe to establish the root causes of albino killings and identify who buys the body parts in the country and in neighbouring Tanzania and Mozambique.

The results of the probe have yet to be published.

Several Malawians are awaiting trial in connection with albino-related crimes, including killings, abductions and possession of albino bones.

Kenya unveils memorial to Mau Mau people tortured during British rule

Thousands of people in Kenya have attended the ceremony to unveil a memorial to those killed, tortured and jailed during the emergency period of British rule. The statue formed part of a reconciliation agreement.

Deutsche Welle, 13 Sep 2015

Image from 1950s British colonial rule in Kenya 

The statue shows a dreadlocked Mau Mau fighter armed with a homemade rifle being handed food by a woman supporter. Written on the stone plaque are the words: "This memorial is a symbol of reconciliation between the British government, the Mau Mau, and all those who suffered."

At the ceremonial opening on Saturday in Nairobi, Gitu wa Kahengeri, Mau Mau Veterans Association secretary general said "It is a special day," adding they "truly believe in reconciliation for a better future."

Many of the Mau Mau veterans, now aged more than 70 years old, wore T-shirts with the word "heroes."

The statue was commissioned following a June 2013 decision by Britain to compensate more than 5,200 elderly Kenyans tortured and abused during the insurgency from 1952 until 1960. Although the rebellion failed, Kenya gained independence from Britain in 1963.

"The arc of history is long, but it bends towards justice," Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) chief Makua Mutua said. He added that now "perpetrator and victim, colonised and colonisers, can be together."

The costs for the statue of £90,000 (124,000 euros) were paid by the British in addition to the £20 million paid to Mau Mau veterans following a four-year legal dispute. Several thousand Kenyans said they were beaten and sexually assaulted by officers acting for the British administration trying to suppress the Mau Mau rebellion.

"This memorial is about reconciliation, allowing us to discuss together the issues arising from a difficult period in our shared history, and to move forward together," British High Commissioner Christian Turner said. The Commissioner was applauded at the ceremony.

Kenya's founding president Jomo Kenyatta opposed the violence carried out by the Mau Mau and the group remained outlawed until 2003. Kenyatta's son Uhuru is the current president.

jm/bw (AFP, AP)