“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.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Swaziland protest silenced

Deutsche Welle, 19 April 2012



The tiny kingdom of Swaziland has been marking the 44th birthday of King Mswati III, Africa's last absolute monarch. The authorities responded to pro-democracy protests with detentions and road blocks.

Musa Hlophe from the Swazi Coalition of Concerned Civic Organizations was among those wanting to mark King Mswati's birthday with political protest, but he told DW from the capital Mbabane on Thursday that the government had "succeeded in repressing this particular operation."

"Even if the streets were closed to us, we wanted to celebrate this day and demand that our right to assembly and protest be restored," he added.

Pro-democracy groups had slated the king's birthday as a day of protest following earlier demonstrations last week. Swaziland's impoverished citizens were ordered to celebrate the day by giving contributions such as cows.

One of the world's richest monarchs

The king's opponents were indignant. "With Swazis being so ruthlessly taxed, the one man who does not pay taxes in the country, and yet happens to be the richest, is adamant that he should take the little money the country has and use it on a birthday party for himself, his wives and his children," the April 12 Swazi Uprising Movement said in a statement.

Will these children grow up in a more
democratic Swaziland?
The movement takes its name from the date on which political parties were banned in Swaziland 39 years ago.

"This is pure evil. Why does he not go to Kuwait and ask his friends there to throw him a party funded with petro-dollars?" the statement added.

Mswati is rated by Forbes magazine as being among the world's 15 richest monarchs with a personal fortune of more than $100 million (76 million euros). He has 13 wives, each with their own palace. But 60 percent of his subjects live on less than 2 dollars a day in one of the world's poorest countries.

Most of the national income comes from Swazis working in neighboring South Africa or via customs charges on items entering Swaziland. The country also has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the world. One in four carries the virus.

Rights abuses are increasingly attracting international attention. A statement released by the US embassy in the capital Mbabane one day before the monarch's birthday criticized Swazi security forces for preventing peaceful gatherings and the government for banning a trade union.

With political parties having been outlawed, unions play a leading role in pushing for reform.

Striving for a return to a multiparty system

Mduduzi Gina, first deputy general secretary of the Trades Union Congress of Swaziland, told DW that political parties should be made legal again in Swaziland.

"We want the next elections to be held under a multiparty system," he said.

Last week the government declared illegal any protests highlighting the abolition of political parties and put large numbers of police and soldiers on the streets. Seven activists were detained while on their way to a pro-democracy church service in the city of Manzini.

Musa Hlophe believes change will happen one day. "Pressure will come upon the king, because the power is in the king's hands, in one institution. If he becomes convinced that change does include him as part of the future, that we will not drive him to the sea...we believe that persuasion rather confrontation will be the resolution."

The alternative to peaceful change, he added, "was too ghastly to contemplate."

Author: Mark Caldwell (AFP, dpa)
Editor: Susan Houlton

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King Mswati III is facing growing protests over his undemocratic regime.
Photograph: Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images
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