Kittel takes the yellow jersey as 101st Tour de France gets rolling in northern England

German Marcel Kittel won the first stage of the Tour de France, which is being held in England for the first time since 2007. Local favorite Mark Cavendish crashed at the finish.

Deutsche Welle, 5 July 2014

On Saturday, the 198 competitors in this year's Tour de France started their grueling three-week ride through four countries. Among them was 42-year-old German Jens Voigt taking on his record 17th ride.

By the end of the day, German Marcel Kittel had claimed the first yellow jersey of the tour, comfortably holding off Slovakian Peter Sagan. Kittel won four stages in last year's competition and has now twice claimed the yellow jersey.

"It's unbelievable I've won stage one again. I had good legs today and my guys did an excellent job," said Kittel afterwards.

The day ended traumatically for local lad Mark Cavendish though.

Cavendish, cycling in his mother's home town of Harrogate, seemed too eager to succeed in the closing stages and collided with Australian Simon Gerrans and both riders tumbled.

The moment Cavendish and Gerrans
 took a tumble, with the former heading
to hospital

After being helped by the race doctor, Cavendish crossed the finish line with his right arm folded and clearly in pain, before he left in an ambulance shortly afterwards.

Busy start in excited countryside

The 190.5-kilometer (118.4-mile) Stage 1 took the pack on a wide tour of the bucolic English countryside from Leeds to Harrogate in Yorkshire, England - a layout tailor-made for sprinters.

A three-man breakaway got out early, including two Frenchmen, Benoit Jarrier and Nicolas Edet, and Germany's Jens Voigt, the oldest rider in the pack this year, who established a three-minute lead after 35 kilometers.

And although the peloton weren't far behind, Voigt did eventually make a move - one that earned the 42-year-old the polka dot jersey for the mountain classification.

The stage was no walk in the park and several riders, including Spain's Joaquim Rodriguez and top French hope Thibaut Pinot, were caught off guard when the peloton split.

They made it back to the bunch who were slowed by the big crowds on some narrow roads.

Defending champion Chris Froome of Britain was sixth, although Team Sky chief Dave Brailsford will be trying to shepherd Froome to glory in Paris later this month.

Brailsford said the excitement in Leeds was extra special for Britain's home team.

"To have the Tour here is incredible for us considering where we were just a short time ago," said Brailsford. "We need to remain focused and dialed, but we will take it in and enjoy it."

A royal start got the 101st Tour de
France underway in Yorkshire

Royals do scissor-work

The Duchess of Cambridge cut the race ribbon at the start of the leg, under the watchful eye of her husband Prince William and his brother Prince Harry.

Sunday's second stage is a 201-km ride between York and Sheffield with some two million spectators expected along the route.

In all, the riders will cover 3,664 kilometers (2,277 miles) of roads in England, France, Belgium and Spain.

bk/jh (Reuters/AP)

Mark Cavendish receives help after a fall near the finish line of the first

stage of the Tour de France. (AFP)

Related Article:

Mark Cavendish pulls out of Tour de France after crash in first stage

Andy Coulson to spend weekend in prison as 18-month jail term starts

Judge tells David Cameron's disgraced former spin doctor his achievements as News of the World editor 'count for nothing'

The Guardian, Lisa O'Carroll, Friday 4 July 2014

Andy Coulson is to spend the weekend at HMP Belmarsh before he
is likely to be moved to an open prison. Photograph: Lefteris Pitarakis/AP

David Cameron's disgraced former spin doctor Andy Coulson is spending the weekend at Belmarsh prison after being jailed for 18 months for plotting to hack phones while in charge of the News of the World.

His reputation in tatters, Coulson was spared the maximum tariff of two years, but the judge told him his achievements as editor of Britain's largest selling newspaper now "count for nothing".

Mr Justice Saunders said Coulson had presided over an unedifying period at the News of the World between 2003 and 2007 when staff routinely trampled on rights to privacy. Not only did journalists hack phones, they deceived phone companies, rifled through bins and spied on people, all in a cynical attempt to increase sales.

Saunders said the 46-year-old "has to take the major share of the blame" for the hacking that took place on his watch. "He knew about it. He encouraged it when he should have stopped it," the judge said.

Coulson has said he did not know phone hacking was illegal but the judge said this was no defence in the eyes of the law and the former editor knew it was "morally wrong".

Saunders highlighted the hacking of the phone of Milly Dowler, rejecting arguments that the paper was merely trying to assist police in the hunt for the 13-year-old missing schoolgirl, who was kidnapped and murdered in 2002.

He said Coulson's co-defendant Neville Thurlbeck, a newsdesk executive who was also sentenced on Friday, had dispatched a team of reporters to the Midlands to try to find her after a voice message led the paper to believe she had run away from home.

It was Thurlbeck who ordered the investigation into Milly that led to private investigator Glenn Mulcaire hacking her phone, but the paper failed to tell police for 24 hours it had a lead that she may have been alive. Saunders said this was "unforgivable" and could only have happened with Coulson's knowledge.

He said the true motive of the paper was not to help police but to "get credit for finding her and thereby sell the maximum number of newspapers".

Coulson was convicted last week after an eight-month trial triggered by the scandal that led Rupert Murdoch to shut down the News of the World in July 2011. Another former editor, Rebekah Brooks, and four others were acquitted.

In handing down the prison sentence, Saunders noted that Coulson and three former colleagues also sentenced for their part in the hacking conspiracy were "distinguished journalists who had no need to behave as they did to be successful". He said they had "all achieved a great deal without resorting to the unlawful invasion of other people's privacy. Those achievements will now count for nothing".

Thurlbeck and his predecessor on the newsdesk Greg Miskiw pleaded guilty to their part in the phone hacking plot before the trial and were sentenced on Friday to six months in jail. They will serve 37 days after getting a discount of 53 days on curfew last summer.

A third former newsdesk executive, James Weatherup, got four months suspended while Mulcaire, who pleaded guilty to three other counts of hacking was told he was "truly the lucky one" and given a six-month suspended sentence.

Cameron, who employed Coulson as his director of communications after he left the newspaper, said the jail sentence showed "no one is above the law".

The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, said his thoughts were with the victims of phone hacking, who included royals, politicians, celebrities, members of the public and victims of crime.

"I think it's right that justice has been done. I think, once again, it throws up very serious questions about David Cameron's judgment in bringing a criminal into the heart of Downing Street despite repeated warnings. This is a verdict on Andy Coulson's criminal behaviour but it is also a verdict on David Cameron's judgment."

Coulson received a discount on his sentence of six months for his previous good character. He will serve half his sentence and be released under licence in March. It is likely, however, that he will be released earlier as a non-violent offender.

He will be processed at HMP Belmarsh and is likely to be sent to an open prison early next week, possibly on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent.

The judge said there was "insufficient evidence" to conclude Coulson started phone hacking at the News of the World but there was "ample evidence that it increased enormously while he was editor", taking in politicians such as David Blunkett, royals including Prince William and Harry and crime victims such as Milly.

"The true reason for the phone hacking was to sell newspapers," said Saunders who noted that Coulson was undoubtedly under pressure to maintain or increase market share.

The judge described him as ambitious and said "it was important for him to succeed" as a young editor, but that he had passed down that pressure to others fostering competition between newspaper departments. The culture he created "demonstrates that rights to individual privacy counted for little".

Dressed in a grey suit and white shirt, as he frequently was during the trial, Coulson stood in the dock emotionless as Saunders handed down the sentence. His wife, Eloise, who loyally appeared in the public gallery during the trial despite revelations over his affair with Brooks, was not present.

All five defendants face financial ruin in addition to prison time after the crown notified them it would be seeking to recoup £750,000 in costs.

World Cup: FIFA member behind illegal ticket sales

A FIFA member is the source of thousands of illegal ticket sales at the World Cup finals, a Brazilian police chief said on Thursday.

Channel News Asia, AFP, 4 July 2014

FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 self-service ticketing machines, taken on

April 18, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (AFP Photo/Yasuyoshi Chiba)

RIO DE JANEIRO: A FIFA member is the source of thousands of illegal ticket sales at the World Cup finals, a Brazilian police chief said on Thursday.

Police commissioner Fabio Barucke said "someone from FIFA" and "an intermediary from Match Hospitality", FIFA's ticket agency, channelled the millions of dollars worth of tickets onto the black market.

The FIFA official, who was not identified, is believed to be staying at the Copacabana Palace hotel, Barucke told reporters. The Copacabana Palace is one of the luxury Rio de Janeiro hotels being used by the FIFA hierarchy.

Police made 11 arrests Tuesday of people accused of selling tickets that may have been obtained through a contact at world football's governing body.

A police investigation, dubbed "Operation Jules Rimet" after the former French FIFA president, was launched without FIFA's knowledge, the police chief said.

However, following the arrests "we are now calling for FIFA's assistance to help us identify this FIFA person, a foreigner staying in the Copacabana Palace hotel," Barucke said.

Initially, police thought that Mohamadou Lamine Fofana, a Franco-Algerian national based in Dubai, was the source of the trafficking, Barucke said.

"But after his arrest we realised there was someone above him from FIFA with an intermediary at Match Hospitality," he added.

"We want to identify the last link in the chain, from the ticket touts at the stadiums, right through to those who are above Lamine Fofona and who passed the tickets on to him," said Barucke.

He added: "We have indications that at least one person from FIFA passed on tickets" to Match Hospitality.

Brazilian authorities said on Wednesday they suspected members of the Brazilian, Argentine and Spanish football federations were involved in illegally selling tickets normally reserved for sponsors, football federations, players and non-government organisations.

Marcos Kac, the Rio de Janeiro investigating magistrate in charge of the inquiry said Wednesday that at least 1,000 tickets per game were involved with a basic price of 1,000 euros (US$1,365).

FIFA spokeswoman Delia Fischer said Thursday the world body was waiting to get more information on the Brazilian investigation before commenting.

On Wednesday, FIFA's marketing director Thierry Weil called illegal ticket sales "a scourge" and said in a statement that the world body and its experts "have consistently been providing information to Brazilian authorities to assist them in their enforcement of existing legislation and to prosecute those violating the law.

"The fact that Brazil has a long-standing law against ticket scalping has been helpful," he added.

"FIFA is waiting on detailed information from the local authorities in order to be able to validate the tickets seized, identify their origins and take appropriate action together with the local authorities," Weil said.

The brother and agent of former football star Ronaldinho, Roberto de Assis Moreira, faces questioning in the case, but is not under investigation, Kac said.

- AFP/de

Related Article:

World Cup drunkenness shocks FIFA official

Hope for enhanced trade as China and Iceland sign FTA

Want China Times, Xinhua 2014-07-03

China's minister of commerce Gao Hucheng, right, and Iceland's minister
 for foreign affairs Ossur Skarphedinsson shake hands at the signing ceremony
of the free trade agreement, April 15. (Photo/CNS)

As the free trade agreement between China and Iceland came into force Tuesday, Icelandic companies believe the FTA will lower consumer prices in Iceland and boost the trade between the countries.

According to the FTA, China will implement zero tariffs on goods under 7,380 tariff numbers imported from Iceland, which accounted for 81.6% of China's total imports from Iceland, including its aquatic products after the agreement comes into effect.

Iceland will implement zero tariffs on all industrial products and fishery products imported from China which accounts for 99.8% of China's total exports to Iceland.

After the final establishment of the FTA between China and Iceland, zero tariffs shall apply to 96% of goods in terms of tariff numbers, or 100% in terms of trade volume.

Adolf Gudmundsson, chairperson at the Federation of Icelandic fishing vessel owners, believed the free trade agreement would be of great importance for fishing companies in Iceland.

"China, the biggest market in the world, is opening up for Icelandic seafood products," Gudmundsson said.

"The Chinese market will offer enormous opportunities for the Icelandic companies," he said. He added that it will of course be important that Iceland is able to offer competitive prices.

"I believe the free trade agreement will bring good fortune to both Iceland and China and strengthen the Icelandic fishing industry," Gudmundsson said.

With Iceland becoming the first European country to sign a FTA with China, Orn Erlendsson, chairperson at the seafood exporter Triton, believes the deal will give a headstart to Icelandic companies in competition with other seafood exporting countries like Norway, Russia and Canada.

Triton has been selling lumpfish to restaurants in China where its thick skin is regarded as a delicacy. Erlendsson said the FTA made it possible for Icelandic companies to offer very competitive prices.

Icelandic companies import clothing and shoes from China, often through a third country. Products imported straight from China will no longer have a 15% tariff.

Many Icelanders expect lower consumer prices as a result of the FTA, especially on products imported directly from China.

Shoes manufactured in China will see a 13% price reduction, according to TV channel Stod 2 in the Icelandic capital Reykjavik.

Margret Sanders, chairperson at the Federation of Trade and Services, welcomed the FTA, stating that such agreements are important for small countries like Iceland.

She believes Icelandic companies will be interested in exploring the possibility of increasing direct imports from China.

Rumfatalagerinn is one of the biggest department stores in Iceland. Rumfatalagerinn sells furniture and textiles manufactured in China and imported to Iceland through a third country.

Its CEO Magnus Sigurdsson said the agreement offers great opportunities to import products directly from China. The company is now trying to find out how best to utilize the agreement to benefit Icelandic consumers.

Johannes Gunnarsson, chairperson at the consumer federation in Iceland, sincerely hopes consumers will feel the effect of the lower prices as a result of the FTA.

"The Icelandic domestic market is very small. I'm told that the companies have to make big orders from China so it's hard to see the FTA having a lowering effect on prices in Iceland," he says.

The FTA has also boosted other parts of the Icelandic economy. US company Silicor Materials, a leading manufacturer of high-quality solar silicon, has decided to build a new silicon plant in Iceland because of the agreement.

The company's CEO Terry Jester said that the company made the decision to build the plant in Iceland because of cheap energy and the aluminium industry and plans to build more silicon plants in Iceland.

Talking about the FTA to local media, Jester said Silicor Materials' biggest customers reside in China.

Moldovan parliament ratifies agreement with EU

Moldova's parliament has ratified a EU association deal signed in Brussels last Friday, similar to the deal pivotal in Ukraine's crisis. Moscow says it will campaign for Transdniestria, a breakaway region of Moldova.

Deutsche Welle, 2 July 2014

Moldova's President Nicolae Timofti (pictured) said Wednesday after parliament's ratification in the capital Chisinau that the former Soviet republic would next ask for a timetable to join the European Union.

Moldova, with 3.5 million people, is one of the poorest countries in Europe and has no major heavy industry or natural resources. It lies between Romania and Ukraine and has no border with Russia.

Moldovan Prime Minister Iurie Leanca signed the association deal opening the door to possible integration into the 28-nation EU on Friday alongside the leaders of Ukraine and Georgia, also both ex-Soviet republics.

Russia reacts by redirecting trade

On Wednesday, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin responded to Moldova's ratification by signing several memoranda with Transdniestria to redirect goods produced for EU countries to the Russian market.

Transdniestria is home to about half a million people - 30 percent of ethnic Russian origin - and about 2,500 Russian soldiers, and is dependent economically on remittances from Russia.

In May, Rogozin promoted a petition in which residents of the pro-Russian Moldovan region backed a union with Russia.

EU association pivotal to Ukraine crisis

The EU association deal eventually reached with Kyiv was at the heart of the crisis that erupted in Ukraine last year, when its former pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych backed out of the deal and flew to Russia to firm up ties with the Kremlin instead.

That triggered huge protests, mainly in Kyiv, that drove him from power. Moscow responded by annexing the mainly Russian-speaking Crimean Peninsula in March, and pro-Russian separatists then rose up in Ukraine's eastern provinces.

EU association allows for increased trade and political cooperation and can - after a long and complicated procedure - lead to EU membership.

ipj/bk (Reuters, AP, AFP)

Related Article:

Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova sign deals strengthening political, trade ties to EU

Vatican gives official backing to exorcists

Head of International Association of Exorcists says Vatican approval is cause for joy for those who suffer demons

The Guardian, Associated Press in Vatican City, Wednesday 2 July 2014

Pope Francis speaks frequently about the devil. Photograph:
Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters

Exorcists now have an extra weapon in their fight against evil – the official backing of the Catholic church. The Vatican has formally recognised the International Association of Exorcists, a group of 250 priests in 30 countries who liberate the faithful from demons.

The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano reported this week that the Vatican's Congregation for Clergy had approved the organisation's statutes and recognised the group under canon law.

More than his predecessors, Pope Francis speaks frequently about the devil, and last year was seen placing his hands on the head of a man supposedly possessed by four demons in what exorcists said was a prayer of liberation from Satan.

The head of the association, the Rev Francesco Bamonte, said the Vatican approval was cause for joy. "Exorcism is a form of charity that benefits those who suffer," he told L'Osservatore.

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"Recalibration of Dark & Light"–  Feb 25, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“… The Energy of Recalibration

We wish to continue the series that we are calling, "The Recalibration of All Things". We have given you information in the past about the recalibration of the planet, of humanity and even of the Universe. Now we speak of the recalibration of dark and light and what it means to you.

So before I begin, I must define what I mean by dark and light and then I will also define what I mean by the new 2012 energy. When I speak about dark and light to you, what do you think about? I'll tell you what many are trained to think about: They're trained to think about evil and good and bad. They're trying to put these things in the appropriate boxes where they were taught they belong using linear thinking. They will turn to the mythology that taught them about an entity with a tail trying to capture your soul and other mysterious entities around that work for that main evil entity.

So I will tell you again: The entity that is after your soul is mythology, dear ones. It doesn't exist in your reality. But you might say, "Wait a minute, Kryon. Are you telling me evil doesn't exist?" No, dear ones, I didn't say that. What I'm telling you is that all the darkness on this planet has come from Human Beings. You don't need to assign energy to a mythological creature to have evil on the earth. The darkest of the dark can be created by the Humans if they choose to do that. Dark power can be created because Humans are powerful and can manifest it. Darkness is not that hard to manifest.

However, we have told you before that the light/dark balance of the planet is what is at hand. Those who carry light in the dark room will not have darkness around them, for the definition of darkness is the absence of light. But if there are only a few who carry the match, there's going to be a lot of darkness. So you are subject to that, for you will walk around in whatever light balance is created by humanity.

You might call it a system. All of life is affected - all of it - by the light and dark balance of where humanity decides to place this balance. The definition of dark and light has to do with the Human consciousness balance, since it is the Human Being who creates dark and light for the planet. It's a concept. So this is the subject of this message: What is the new balance of the earth energy going to mean to you, personally, today?

Second definition: The 2012 energy is a marker, a seeming perception of a time frame that you have now passed and are well into, which gives a confluence of energy permission to change reality. The earth, being Gaia, begins to shift with you and for you, and the energy of the planet moves into areas that it never has before.  …”

Kryon Q&A

Question: Dear Kryon, who is Lucifer, and what was the purpose of the Luciferian rebellion?

Answer: We know this will disappoint many and enrage many more, but there is no such thing as the devil, and there never was a real Lucifer. These were all metaphoric stories to help you understand yourselves. The darkest energy on the planet comes from the Human Being as a result of free choice. Even the added metaphoric story of Adam and Eve should have given you that information. Free choice meant that a Human could chose darkness even in the garden of light. It's what "duality" is capable of.

For those who don't believe this and would rather think that there are those who are after your soul, you still have free choice to think as you wish. But it will also keep you from seeing your magnificence within the love of God, as you base your reality in fear of dark entities.

We have given you a full discussion of dark and light several times.

Editor's note: Please see Kryon's most recent discussion of dark and light: [http://www.kryon.com/k_chaneldelmar03.html]

Belgian barrage eventually beats Howard in US goal

Belgium have booked the last ticket to the World Cup quarter-finals, knocking out the USA 2-1 in extra time. Tim Howard played perhaps the game of his life in the US goal, but Belgium ultimately broke the dam.

Deutsche Welle, 2 July 2014

After Ottmar Hitzfeld's Swiss side missed a chance against Argentina, ex-Germany boss Jürgen Klinsmann could not lead the US national team into the last eight. Had either he or Hitzfeld won on Tuesday, they could have become the first German coach to lead a country other than Germany into the quarters.

Belgium stated their intent in Salvador in the very first minute, when Kevin de Bruyne fed teenage striker Divock Origi for a shot on goal. Tim Howard got down low to parry away for a corner. The names changed but the fundamental story stayed the same throughout regulation time. Belgium made markedly more chances than their opponents, but a mixture of profligacy and Howard's heroics kept the game at 0-0 right through until extra-time. Dries Mertens, de Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Marouane Fellaini, even left-back Jan Vertonghen: Howard denied them all at some point in the match as Belgium fired 23 shots at his goal just in regulation time.

Without Howard's heroics between the US posts, Belgium might have
ran away with the game

The US were also forced into an early tactical change when Fabian Johnson went off with a strained hamstring. Yet youngster DeAndre Yedlin came off the bench and managed to fill Johnson's big boots with a standout perfomance.

Marc Wilmots' Belgian side had not scored before the 70th minute all World Cup, but for the first time the Red Devils went the full 90 without finding the net. Chris Wondolowski of the US had a golden chance in stoppage time to provide the winner against the run of play, but blasted wildly over the bar from close in. The officials called Wondolowski back for offside, although replays proved they were mistaken. Thus the striker did FIFA a favor by spurning the chance and neutering any officiating scandal.

Germany vs. Algeria revisited in extra time

Just like the German match against Algeria, which stood 0-0 in regulation time, the favorites struck almost immediately after the restart. Some sloppy play from key US men Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey allowed Belgium to pinch possession and play in de Bruyne in the box.

No Landon Donovan in Brazil for the US,
but did his successor just announce his
arrival?

The Wolfsburg star made no mistake, firing a low placed shot into the far corner, leaving the otherwise exemplary Howard a helpless spectator. The intensive and defensive effort invested by Klinsmann's side started to tell in extra time, and it was only exacerbated by the disappointment of finally conceding.

Belgium's introduction of Romelu Lukaku up front also provided the Red Devils with more late attacking impetus against tired legs. Lukaku forced Howard into two stoppage time saves before scoring Belgium's second, seemingly sealing the match.

In what seemed like an admission of defeat at the time, Klinsmann brought on US-German Bayern Munich academy star Julian Green as his third and final substitute on the stroke of 105 minutes. Immediately after the extra-time restart, 19-year-old Green volleyed the US back into contention, scoring with practically his first touch of the game. The goal unsettled Belgium and the US started to pour forward, running on adrenaline with the prospect of penaties suddenly revived. But by the skin of their teeth at the end of an exhilarating game, the Belgians were able to hold out to win 2-1.

Related Article:

Germany’s Thomas Müller secures win but beaten USA reach last 16 too

Call to let doctors help terminally ill patients die

Top doctor says people who are dying need equivalent of midwives to help ease, and possibly end suffering and pain

The Guardian, Denis Campbell, health correspondent, Tuesday 1 July 2014

A hospice worker holds a patient's hand. John Ashton is the most senior doctor
yet to publicly back patients’ right to die. Photograph: Joanne O'Brien/Alamy

Doctors should be able to help terminally ill patients end their lives days or weeks before they die, one of the leaders of Britain's medical profession has urged.

Terminally ill patients should be provided with the professional equivalent of midwives to help ease the pain and suffering and if necessary shorten the end of their lives, said Prof John Ashton, president of the Faculty of Public Health.

He demanded a change in the law so that doctors caring for people who are dying can end their suffering by giving a lethal dose of drugs to those who want it without the risk of prosecution.

He is the most senior doctor yet to publicly back patients' right to die. In an interview with the Guardian he also:

• Argued for a national move to a four-day working week to combat rising levels of mental illness. He said: "When you look at the way we lead our lives, the stress that people are under, the pressure on time and sickness absence, [work-related] mental health is clearly a major issue. We should be moving towards a four-day week because the problem we have in the world of work is you've got a proportion of the population who are working too hard and a proportion that haven't got jobs."

• Raised concerns about the rising suicide rates among younger men: "There's something in the dramatically changed position of men in society vis-a-vis women and vis-a-vis the labour market that's affecting men's self-esteem and self-confidence as a result of this dislocation, with the reduction in their traditional role as breadwinners."

• Claimed child mental health services were in crisis: "We're not preventing problems in young people and we're not responding to them when they get them. People can't get seen, even when they're really ill."

• Attacked the lack of sex education in schools: "Classroom teachers will tell you boys are looking at pornography on their iPhones at the age of 11,12 and 13. This is where they're getting their sex information from, because we're not giving them proper sex and relationships education."

On assisted dying, he said: "All over the country people are spending their last days and weeks in major discomfort because their medical carers are not willing to accept that it's the end of the line and to give them the necessary sedation to just speed things up a bit."

Just as midwives help babies come into the world, some terminally ill patients in pain may seek the help of a health professional to end their life. "We have midwives; we need an equivalent of a midwife at the end of life," he said.

He also urged the NHS to stop "keeping people going at any price" when they are near death by doing everything possible to prolong their lives, such as using drips and trying other forms of treatment, which he described as "a big problem".

His remarks ignited a new row over doctors' role in end of life care. On 18 July peers will debate a private member's bill proposed by the former Labour minister Lord Falconer which wants terminally ill adult patients who have less than six months to live and who are mentally competent to be able to choose an assisted death in which a doctor would write the prescription for the drugs but the patient would administer them.

One religious group said Ashton's views were chilling and that doctor-assisted suicide would let doctors "play God" with dying patients and would see vulnerable patients being killed.

Ashton said: "I think a significant proportion of the population would like to feel confident that if it came to the crunch they could call on their doctor to help them out … if their quality of life is so poor and that it's only a matter of days or weeks anyway, that they would like to be able to draw down that gift of a [medical] practitioner." He stressed after the interview that he was speaking in a personal capacity on that issue.

The veteran public health expert, who held a number of senior NHS posts until he retired last year, said he would be happy for doctors "to stop treatment, to be more ready to prescribe the sort of medication that doctors do prescribe in terms of sedatives, comfort drugs and medicine … that means they will be more likely to [die] sooner rather than later.

"When doctors take this strident view that doctors won't get involved in this in any way I don't think they are in tune with what the public want to be able to get from their advisers. There is a narrow line between actively taking someone's life and supporting their passing, and that's the art of medicine."

He added: "Personally, I would like that for myself if I was in this position. I would like to be able to call on a doctor to help me take this last step."

Andrea Williams, the chief executive of the Christian lobby group Christian Concern, led criticism of Ashton. "To say that it's care for a doctor to kill is … a complete denial of their Hippocratic oath," she said. "A doctor is there to care for the patient, not to kill the patient. Midwives joyfully bring life into the world. It's not a doctor's place to play God at the end of life."

The medical royal colleges representing hospital doctors and GPs, whose members would be most affected by any change in the law, both said they were opposed to assisted dying being legalised.

But Prof Raymond Tallis, the chairman of Healthcare Professionals for Assisted Dying, a 1,000-strong group of doctors and nurses, backed Ashton. "It's totally appropriate that they should have the assistance of physicians if they have intolerable symptoms. It's very much the humane response to human suffering," said Tallis, an ex-professor of geriatric medicine at Manchester University.

Ashton had previously said that he "absolutely" supported doctor-assisted suicide. "As a humanist I believe each person as a citizen has an exclusive right to the final freedom – the choice of when and how to exit life," he told the BMJ.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "The government believes that any change to the law in this emotive area is an issue of individual conscience and a matter for parliament to decide, rather than government policy."

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 "Current" Events –  Apr 10, 2005 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

"... The Ethics of Life

You, as a Human Being, are designed to appreciate and love life. But you put it in a box. You think you live once. You say, life is precious; make it count; keep it going at all costs; make it work. And the underlying thought is that because you only go around one time, all the purpose is wrapped up in one lifetime. Well, I'm going to give you something to think about, something that happened just recently that tens of millions of people all over earth who have the western news media know of.

It was all about one woman's life, and you know who I'm talking about. I'm talking about Terri [Terri Schiavo]. And I'm going to talk about Terri because, you know, she's here [speaking of the real Terri]! And I'm going to give you a perspective about Terri that perhaps you hadn't thought about before, and as I do it, she's going to watch.

It's very metaphysical, you know? This perspective is one from my side of the veil. Terri leaned into the wind of birth many years ago, just as you did. I was there, too. There were potentials laying in front of her - a track that she could take if she wished. There was no predestination, only predispositions of energy that laid before her: the parents she would have (which she had selected), the man she might meet or marry, the accident waiting to happen. All of these things were in her "potential track," and she could have chosen not to go there.

But like so many of you, she looked at it and examined it. These were the times we spoke to her and said, "Dear one, you're going into another Human lifetime that has a potential that's awesome - grander than most Humans on the planet will ever experience. You'll get to present something to tens of millions of people. You'll make them think about life. You'll change the legal system of your country. You'll awaken peoples' awareness to situations that need to be addressed with respect to morality, integrity, and even intuition. Will you do it?"

And I remember what she said. The grand angel who stood before me, who you now call Terri, smiled broadly and said, "I'm ready for that." And some of you cry in your sorrow and say "Why is this Human dead? How could such a thing be tolerated? Why would such a thing happen? Life is so precious." And I ask you this, as Terri looks on in her joy, would you take this away from her? Would you take that away from humanity, what she showed and did that resulted directly in her passing?

Start thinking of these things, perhaps differently. We've told you before that there are even those Human Beings who come in with a predisposition of suicide! What a horrible thought, you might say. "Kryon, could that even be appropriate?" And we say this: More than appropriate, it's by design! "But why should that be?" You might say. "What a horrible dishonorable death." And if that's your reaction, you're placing the whole grand picture in your own little Human box.

When you start examining it spiritually, without Human bias, you start to see that around a suicide there's this energy that develops. It's all about the family. Is there shame? Is there drama? Does it kick the family in the pants so that perhaps they might study things they never did - or perhaps they might they even look within themselves for spirituality? Blessed is the one that comes in with these tasks [like suicide]. There are so many of them who do. For these are the grease of personal change within families, and provide a gift that is grand!

You see, Spirit looks at these things differently. The curtain goes up, it goes down. You come and you go and there are profound lessons, some of which are taught harshly, by those who teach them through their own deaths.

"Well, what is it Kryon? Don't dodge the question with a diversion to suicide, for this isn't what Terri did. Is it proper or is it improper to have somebody in this vegetative state put to death by others around her?" Our answer: Exactly which Human are you talking about? You want a blanket answer, don't you? For six and half billion souls and paths, you want one answer for all. Well, you won't get one. For Terri, the answer is a solid yes. It was as it should have been. She came in with this grand opportunity to change the world, and she did it while everyone watched.

There is appropriateness in all things and sometimes you create for yourselves what seems to be inappropriate. Yet later you understand what the gift was within the challenge. Celebrate Terri, and don't think of this as a shameful thing that Humans did to her. Think of it instead as a book that was written for you to look at, one which pushes you to a place to ask, "What should we do about this now, personally? What should our legislatures do about this, if anything? How can we approach these things more humanely and with more honor? Is our culture addressing this issue? Are we addressing this issue personally?" Let's put these questions where they belong. It's not about "right to life"; it's about the appropriateness of "this life." Each case is individual, and some are profoundly given for the planet and for those around the individual.

Oh, as all of you came into this planet and leaned into the wind of birth separately, each was unique. Each of you has a different story, a different goal, but all have the same purpose: the elevation of the vibration of the planet. Sometimes it happens to many of you at the same time. We'll get to that before we finish. ..."

"THE THREE WINDS" – Feb 23-24, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Humanity, Home - other side of the veil, Wind of Birth - Birth, Wind of Existence - Life, Wind of Transition - Death) - (Text version)

European Court upholds French burqa ban

The European Court of Human Rights has upheld a French law banning women from covering their faces in public, affecting Muslim women's rights to wear burqas. The case was filed by a 24-year-old woman last year.

Deutsche Welle, 1 July 2014

After deliberating over the case for more than half a year, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on Tuesday that France's law prohibiting people from covering their faces in public was not a violation of human rights.

There was no immediate comment available from the Strasbourg court following the ruling.

A 24-year-old woman had filed the case last year, saying that the French law violated her right to privacy, freedom of religion and freedom of expression. Her decision to wear a niqab - a veil with a slit for the wearer's eyes - was her own and had not been imposed on her by her husband or family, she said.

The French law was introduced in 2011 under former President Nicolas Sarkozy and supported by the current socialist government under President Francois Hollande. Violators of the ban face a 150 euro ($203) fine if they wear a full body veil (burqa) or one concealing the entire face except for the eyes (naqib).

During the case, the plaintiff's British lawyer, Tony Muman, described her as a "perfect French citizen with a university education."

"She speaks of her country with passion…She is a patriot," Muman said.

While some in France contend the law liberates Muslim woman who are sometimes forced to cover their hair or their faces, Muslim have countered that the ban stigmatizes their religion.

Last week, France's top appeals court upheld a ruling in favor of the law in a separate landmark case involving a daycare worker who had been fired for refusing to remove her headscarf while at work. The plaintiff, Fatima Afif, lost her position in 2008. In its ruling, the court cited the private daycare's internal rules which stated that freedom of religion could not stand in the way of the principles of secularism and neutrality.

kms/se (AFP, epd, dpa)

German Socialist Martin Schulz elected new EU parliament president

Yahoo – AFP, 1 July 2014

German politician Martin Schulz -- the leader of the European Socialist' (PES) bloc --

 delivers a speech at the European Parliament in Brussels, on May 25, 2014 (AFP Photo/

John Thys)

Strasbourg (France) (AFP) - German Social-Democrat Martin Schulz was elected on Tuesday to head the European Parliament in the first session since elections in May.

Schulz, outgoing president of the last European Parliament, won 409 votes for and 314 against or blank ballots, in a session that was marred by eurosceptic opposition.

"Great honour and responsibility to be the voice of the Parliament of EU citizens," Schulz tweeted. "We'll keep strengthening this house to the benefit of all."

Marking the start of the parliament's five-year mandate, his re-election in a secret ballot was the first order of business since Europe-wide elections on May 25 returned an unprecedented number of anti-EU lawmakers.

As the session opened, dozens of eurosceptic members stood up and turned their backs on the EU flag as Beethoven's "Ode To Joy", the bloc's anthem, rang across the chamber.

The flag and anthem "are both symbols of our servitude inside a political union which the British people reject," said the deputy leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Paul Nuttall, which outscored mainstream parties in Britain during the May vote.

The result of that vote brought a clear message that Europeans were increasingly fed up with the 28-nation bloc, blamed for painful austerity measures and a flagging economy.

Nicolas Sarkozy detained for questioning for alleged corruption

Unprecedented move against a former French president as investigators also question his lawyer and two magistrates

theguardian.com, AFP, Paris, Tuesday 1 July 2014

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been questioned by
anti-corruption investigators. Photograph: Valery Hache/AFP/Getty Images

Nicolas Sarkozy has been detained for questioning as part of a widening corruption inquiry in an unprecedented move against a former French president.

Anti-corruption investigators can hold Sarkozy for questioning for up to 24 hours, with a possible extension of another day.

Sarkozy had turned himself in for questioning a day after investigators detained his lawyer, Thierry Herzog, and two magistrates.

The investigators are seeking to establish if the former president, with the help of Herzog, tried to pervert the course of justice.

They suspect Sarkozy, 59, sought to obtain inside information from one of the magistrates about the progress of another inquiry and that he was tipped off that his mobile phone had been tapped by judges looking into the alleged financing of his 2007 election campaign by former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The case could prove devastating for Sarkozy's hopes of a political comeback in time for the 2017 presidential campaign.

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Nicolas Sarkozy faces criminal charge after being placed under investigation