“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, November 28, 2013

Kenya launches $13.8bn China-built railway to boost trade

Google – AFP, 28 November 2013

President Uhuru Kenyatta (3rd right) and First Lady Margaret Kenyatta (2nd right)
 fastening the first nuts to secure the first rail of the Mombasa-Kampala-Kigali-Juba
 Standard Gauge Railway in Changamwe, Mombasa County on November 28, 2013
(Kenya Presidential Press Service/AFP, Ho)

Mombasa — Kenya launched construction of a Chinese-funded $13.8 billion (10 billion euro) flagship railway project Thursday, hoping to dramatically increase trade and boost Kenya's position as a regional economic powerhouse.

The key transport link, to run from the busy port city of Mombasa inland to the highland capital Nairobi, is eventually hoped to extend onwards to Uganda, and then connect with proposed lines to Rwanda and South Sudan.

"What we are doing here today will most definitely transform the course of development not just for Kenya but the whole eastern African region," President Uhuru Kenyatta told crowds at the ground breaking ceremony he called a "historic milestone".

A porter at Nairobi Railway station ferries
 baggage on August 11, 2004, for
 passengers arriving from Mombasa on the
 existing railway line (AFP/File, Tony
Karumba)
"As a result east Africa will become a competitive investment destination... a busy growing east Africa is good for us a country."

Kenyan media have enthusiastically hailed the project, which replaces dilapidated British colonial-era lines, as the region's largest infrastructure project for a century.

"Kenya is stepping forward... it will be a landmark project both for Kenya and east Africa," China's ambassador to Kenya Liu Guangyuan said at the ceremony.

Kenyatta thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping, praising his "great personal interest in the project and his government's immense support."

China has funded the project only for the first 450-kilometre (280-mile) section -- $5.2 billion (3.8 billion euros) -- from Mombasa to Nairobi.

Work on that section, by the state-owned China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), is expected to be completed by 2017.

"Presently our region relies almost exclusively on road transport," Kenyatta said, adding he was looking forward to waving off "the first train to Kigali via Nairobi and Kampala, delivering the promise of prosperity for all our east African peoples."

Aimed to serve four nations

CRBC completed in August the first stage of an expansion to Mombasa's port, including a berth able to handle 50,000 tonne container ships.

According to plans, the new lines would see passenger journey times cut from the current 12 hours to around four, which is around half the current driving time on crowded and pot-holed roads.

Freight trains are planned to be able to cut the current 36-hour trip by rail to just eight, a major boost for regional landlocked nations, with planners claiming it will slash cargo transport costs by 60 percent.

However, the project has sparked controversy, with some Kenyan lawmakers criticising the awarding of the contracts and complaining the process was not transparent.

It has also rankled regional nations not included in the line, with Burundi's transport minister on Thursday announcing a raft of infrastructure plans with Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Tanzania, currently building a new port at Bagamoyo aimed to surpass Mombasa in size, is also planning to add to its railways with lines to Burundi and beyond to DR Congo.

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta and First 
Lady Margaret Kenyatta unveil a plaque
during the launch of the construction of
Standard Gauge Railway line in
Changamwe, Mombasa County (AFP)
Britain's railway line from Mombasa to Kampala, cutting through thick bush and man-eating lion territory, was dubbed the "Lunatic Express" -- seen by many at the time as an impossible dream.

Nairobi, Kenya's capital, was founded as a railway station.

However, after years of minimal investment, less than half of the original 2,730 kilometres (1,700 miles) of line are operational. Services on the remaining tracks are infrequent and painfully slow.

"The standard gauge railway is the largest joint transport infrastructure project undertaken by the people of east Africa since the British colonial administration laid tracks for the Kenya-Uganda railway more than a century ago," Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper said.

Last year, Kenya launched the construction of a massive port, railway and refinery project in Lamu -- a $24.5 billion scheme aimed at connecting Ethiopia and oil-rich South Sudan.

Work has begun clearing sites to build the planned 32-berth port, near a UNESCO-listed Indian Ocean island.

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