Malala, Satyarthi receive Nobel Peace Prize

Yahoo – AFP, Pierre-Henry Deshayes, 10 Dec 2014

Nobel Peace Prize laureates Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai's pairing 

had the extra symbolism of linking neighbouring countries that have been in conflict

for decades (AFP Photo/Cornelius Poppe)

Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai received the Nobel Peace Prize on Wednesday as the youngest ever laureate, sharing her award with Indian child rights campaigner Kailash Satyarthi.

"A young girl and a somewhat older man, one from Pakistan and one from India, one Muslim, the other Hindu; both symbols of what the world needs: more unity. Fraternity between the nations!" Thorbjoern Jagland, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel committee, said at the ceremony in Oslo.

Malala, 17, became a global icon after she was shot and nearly killed by the Taliban in October 2012 for insisting that girls had a right to an education.

Nobel Peace Prize laureates Malala

Yousafzai delivers her speech during the

Nobel Peace Prize awarding ceremony at

the City Hall in Oslo on December 10,

2014 (AFP Photo/Odd Andersen)

Malala has already been honoured with a host of awards, standing ovations and plaudits everywhere from the United Nations to Buckingham Palace.

On the eve of the ceremony, she said she would not rest on her laurels, saying she would like one day to become prime minister in her native Pakistan.

"If I can serve my country best through politics and through becoming a prime minister then I would definitely choose that," she told the BBC.

"I want to serve my country and my dream is that my country becomes a developed country and I see every child get an education."

7,000 Norwegian children

Minutes after Malala received the prize, a man carrying a Mexican flag walked towards her, but was caught by security. His motives were unknown.

Before the ceremony, Malala and Yousafzai met with 7,000 Norwegian children aged between six and 14 in the heart of Oslo.

"You have given me so much energy. It’s more than a red bull!" Malala said.

At a press conference in Oslo on Tuesday Malala said that in many parts of the world, children's requirements are infinitely more modest than an "iPad or computer."

"What they are asking for is just a book, just a pen, so why can't we do that?"

A security officer (right) leads away a man

 displaying a flag of Mexico during the Nobel

 Peace Prize awards ceremony at the City

Hall in Oslo, Norway, on December 10,

2014 (AFP Photo/Cornelius Poppe)

Satyarthi, 60, was recognised by the Nobel committee for a 35-year battle to free thousands of children from virtual slave labour.

"I refuse to accept that the world is so poor, when just one week of global military expenditure is enough to bring all of our children into classrooms," he said after receiving the prize.

"I refuse to accept that the shackles of slavery can ever be... stronger than the quest for freedom."

Malala was 15 when a Taliban gunman shot her in the head as she travelled on a school bus in response to her campaign for girls' education.

Although she almost died, she recovered after being flown for extensive surgery in Birmingham, central England.

She has been based in the city with her family ever since, continuing both her education and activism.

Indian-Pakistani symbolism

The pairing of Malala and Satyarthi had the extra symbolism of linking neighbouring countries that have been in conflict for decades.

After she was named as the winner, Malala said she wanted both states' prime ministers to attend the prize-giving ceremony in Oslo.

"If the prime ministers had come here I would have been very happy," she said. "I would have thought of it as a big opportunity to ask them... to make education their top priority and work on it together because we see the number of children who are out of school and suffering from child labour are mostly in India and Pakistan."

Pakistani students pose for a photograph holding posters bearing the image of

 Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai at a ceremony in Islamabad on 

December 10, 2014 (AFP Photo/Farooq Naeem)

Satyarthi's organisation Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Movement to Save Childhood) prides itself on liberating more than 80,000 children from bonded labour in factories and workshops across India and has networks of activists in more than 100 countries.

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) there are about 168 million child labourers around the world.

Nobel winners receive eight million Swedish kronor ($1.1 million, 862,000 euros), which is shared in the case of joint wins.

The Peace Prize is the only Nobel award handed to recipients in Oslo.

The other prizes -- also featuring the literature prize winner, Frenchman Patrick Modiano, and his compatriot Jean Tirole with the economics award -– will be awarded in Stockholm later Wednesday.

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Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi win Nobel peace prize 2014

Pakistan's Malala receives US Liberty Medal

Pakistan's Malala wins EU's Sakharov rights prize
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Malala dedicates Nobel award to 'voiceless' children (AFP) 

The brave girl who had to face armed assassins because she stood up for her right to educate herself

Aisha North, Feb 8, 2013

The manuscript of survival – part 265 - (Constant Companions channeled through Aisha North)

Aisha North

As you have noticed, there are many stirrings in the undercurrent now, and some of the light is already starting to penetrate the fog that has enveloped mankind for such a long time. At the moment, this will seem to be mere pinpricks of light in a huge ocean of darkness, but do not let that fool you. As we have talked about so many times, this layer of darkness that still seems to cover most of your planet is only an illusion, a thin film of confusion covering up the new reality. And now, this reality will start to become more and more visible. Not only to you, but also to others out there, people who look upon themselves as no more than an ordinary citizen, but who will soon start to realize that they too have the power to change not only their own life, but also the lives of so many others.

And they will do so in a peaceful way, for we do not speak of a violent upsurging, far from it. For have you not witnessed already how the power and might of an armed scoundrel is not match for the power of the light? We refer of course to the story of the brave girl who had to face armed assassins because she stood up for her right to educate herself (From Aisha: I think they refer to the story of Malala Yousafzai). If you look closely at her story, you will see how the light penetrating her has been seeping into thousands, if not millions of others already. So she is indeed a shining example on how one of these pinpricks of light can blow away a huge area of fog and darkness, and how the forces of ill intent are no match for the light, for those bullets being aimed at her did not kill the light, it only made it that much stronger.

So let that be a lesson to you all on how nothing and no one can stop the light, no matter how hard they try. For the force of anger and hatred is not match for the love and compassion that is starting to grow on your planet now. And even if these forces of the old are trying their hardest to instill the old fear into you all, they will not succeed, no matter how many weapons they fire off, or how many people they beat to a pulp. For they cannot beat you now dear ones, you are the ones who have won this battle for the souls.

For in your soul, the light is growing stronger and stronger, and with it, the power you carry. And through your example, just like the girl who took the bullets in order to let the light shine out to the whole world, the change will come, step by step, person to person. For you are also brave, and even if you will never have to face the same hardships as this girl, you too will have to conquer the world with your actions. For you are indeed the bravest of the brave, and you have walked through fire to get where you are today. And doing that, you have liberated not only yourself, but thousands upon thousands of your fellow men and women. For you have hacked a trail trough that dense jungle of fear and darkness, and following in your footsteps are the rest of humanity. With a few exceptions of course, and they will clamor and cry as loud as they can in order to make you all believe that they still outnumber you. But they do not, and that is what you will all see as the days keep getting lighter and lighter, and those pinpricks of lights grow ever brighter and ever bigger.

So fear not, as fear has been diminished to such a state it is but a shadow of itself. That shadow is still touching the hearts of many around you, but that shadow is also thinning out, and it will be replaced by light in even the sturdiest of hearts. For light has no boundaries, only the fear has that now, so light is spreading out faster and faster, and the courage it inspires in you all is growing with it. So stand tall and proud, and know that you too has been a part of that journey from the darkest abyss and to this, the threshold of everlasting light. And know too that your actions will never go unnoticed, as you have all been instrumental in this about turn of the human race. So look around, and we think you will find these shining examples starting to emerge in every corner of your world, even in the places where you least expect them to. For, as we said, the light has no boundaries, certainly not one set by any human, and no line on the map or no wall, no matter how high it is, can keep it out. So again we say rejoice, for the morning has broken, and the day is about to start. And this day is one that will last forever.

Countries vow to resettle more than 100,000 Syrian refugees: UN

Yahoo – AFP, 9 Dec 2014

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres speaks

 during a press conference during a meeting on Syrian refugees in Berlin on

October 28, 2014 (Photo by Tobias Schwarz / AFP/File)

Countries have more than doubled the number of Syrian refugees they are willing to resettle to over 100,000, the head of the UN refugee agency said Tuesday.

"Today, 28 countries expressed their solidarity with the Syrian refugees but also with the five neighbouring countries which are hosting them... offering what we estimate will be more than 100,000 opportunities for resettlement and humanitarian admission," Antonio Guterres told reporters after a high-level pledging conference in Geneva.

There was no clear overview over which countries had pledged what, but Guterres stressed the leading role played by Germany and Sweden in the resettlement programme.

Germany, which is hosting some 80,000 Syrian refugees, including 20,000 in the UN resettlement programme, did not immediately pledge additional spots, saying it was waiting for a signal from the European Union and demanding a "Europe-wide campaign" to help distribute the burden more evenly.

Going into the conference, just over 40,000 resettlement places had been pledged by two dozen countries, Guterres said. After the forum, he voiced confidence that "we have clearly more than doubled the perspectives that we had until now".

While only 66,254 of the pledged spots were "firm and concrete", Guterres pointed out that 11 countries had announced they were creating new resettlement programmes or would be expanding existing programmes.

The UNHCR has called on countries by 2016 to help resettle 130,000 of the more than 3.2 million registered refugees amassed in Syria's neighbours since the conflict erupted in March 2011.

The influx is putting a huge strain on host countries Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt, and Guterres said he was "very happy" with the solidarity voiced at the conference.

He stressed though that Tuesday's pledges were "not the end of the process. That is the beginning of a process," and that the UN would continue pushing on towards the 130,000 goal.

But even that would only be a step towards covering the true resettlement need for Syrian refugees, Guterres said, pointing to estimates that at least 10 percent, or more than 300,000, of the refugees would be best served through resettlement.

Sweden, which counts the most Syrian refugees compared to population size, with some 60,000 asylum seekers from the war-torn country, said it would double its current 1,500 resettlement spots.

German Interior Minister Emily Haber told AFP that "Europe cannot keep its eyes shut," insisting on the need to offer "adequate housing" to the Syrian refugees.

Guterres also hailed the United States for vowing to "accelerate" its resettlement programme, which is already reviewing 9,000 Syrian cases.

"We are receiving roughly 1,000 new ones each month, and we expect admissions from Syria to surge in 2015 and beyond," Anne Richard, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration, told the conference.

Related Article:

Pope Francis blasts 'haggard' Europe

Kosovo athletes to head for Rio

Yahoo - AFP, 9 Dec 2014

Kosovo Albanians wave the Kosovo flag during a celebration marking the 4th
 anniversary of Kosovo's declaration of independence in Pristina on February 17,
2012 (Photo by Armend Nimani)

The International Olympic Committee on Tuesday gave official recognition to Kosovo allowing its athletes to take part in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The IOC executive recognised the former Serbian province, which declared its independence in 2008, in October.

"This is one big day," Besim Hasani, president of the Kosovo Olympic Committee, told the IOC session.

"This is the beginning of a new era for the Olympic movement in Kosovo."

"Now they can start to prepare for Rio," IOC president Thomas Bach said after the decision was agreed unanimously by the full 104-member assembly.

Serbia refuses to accept the independence of Kosovo, where NATO-led airstrikes were used in 1999 to stop an offensive by Serbian forces against ethnic-Albanian separatists.

Bach said that Serbia had accepted Kosovo's membership "in the interests of the athletes."

However, in Belgrade Serbia's Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic "strongly condemned the decision" and "presents an abuse and politicisation of sport."

"We consider it unacceptable and contrary to the Olympic Charter" according to which a new member could be "an independent state recognised by the entire international community," Dacic said in a statement.

In Pristina, Memli Krasniqi, Kosovo Sport Minister said the decision "finally ends a very long period of injustice and discrimination and isolation which has plagued Kosovo's sports community for more than two decades."

Kosovo is now the 205th member of the IOC and its 50th member from Europe.

Kosovo's Olympic committee has 30 sporting federations as members and six -- table tennis, archery, judo, yachting, weightlifting and modern pentathlon -- are full members of international federations. Seven more are close to being recognised.

Games chiefs give green light for joint Olympic bids

Yahoo – AFP, 8 Dec 2014

Policemen stand guard in front of the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on December 5,
2014 where the International Olympic Committee extraordinary session is taking place

The International Olympic Committee on Monday voted to allow Olympic Games to be hosted by two countries as it started passing sweeping changes to the world's biggest sporting event.

Unamimous votes to allow split hosting and reducing the cost of bidding for the summer and winter Olympics started two days of debate on 40 reforms proposed by IOC president Thomas Bach.

Bach warned ahead of the opening of the special IOC session that the body had to transform itself in order to bolster its credibility.

Bach said there had to be "important and far-reaching changes in the Olympic movement" because of a major shift in public attitudes and the world economy and politics.

"If we do not address these challenges here and now we will be hit by them very soon," the IOC chief said.

"If we do not drive these changes ourselves others will drive us to them."

The first votes of the special session allowed Olympic Games events to be staged outside the host city, or country, "notably for reasons of sustainability" or "geography".

While sports such as football have traditionally been spread across several venues, these have been exceptional cases. Bach sought the change to the Olympic charter to reduce the cost of the Games and to allow smaller countries to make a bid.

Olympic cost-cutting

The session also voted to reduce the cost of bidding by cutting the number of presentations to be made and making the IOC pay for more of the costs.

The IOC says it wants bidding to be more of an "invitation" with more talks with candidate cities on how the event can be made more sustainable. There will be a new emphasis on using existing and temporary facilities.

It calls on candidate cities "to present a project that fits their sporting, economic, social and environmental long-term planning needs" putting a new emphasis on sustainability.

The meeting in Monaco will also vote on a proposal to allow an increase in the number of Olympic sports from the current 28 while capping the number of athletes and individual disciplines.

Bach will announce the launch of an Olympic television channel on Monday.

Bach, an Olympic gold medal winning fencer, has pursued a reform agenda since becoming president in September 2013.

All 40 proposals are expected to be passed, though questions were asked in the debate about how the Olympic leadership would preserve the Games "atmosphere" if events are split.

Bach has said that once the votes are over, the organisers of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeonchang, South Korea and 2020 summer Games in Tokyo could be the first allowed to make changes to to save money and make them more attractive.

Japan wants baseball and softball brought into the sports list, while Pyeongchang is looking for ways to save money.

The 2012 London Olympics was widely hailed as a success and the summer Games remains a huge money earner with US channel NBC paying $7.75 billion for the broadcasting rights to the next six Games.

Bach said the IOC had signed $10 billion of sponsorship and television deals in 10 months this year.

But the Winter Olympics is slumbering.

Russia spent more than $50 billion on the Sochi Games this year and there are only two candidates -- Beijing and the Kazakh city of Almaty -- for the 2022 Games.

Several key European cities pulled out either because the public voted against their candidatures in referenda or fears over the costs.

Related Articles:

IOC 'Agenda 2020' allows Olympics in different host countries

Iran supports Russian effort for Syria, says Muallem

Business Recorder - AFP, Monday, 08 December 2014

TEHRAN: Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said on Monday during a visit to Tehran that Iran is backing the latest Russian effort to end his country's more than three-year conflict.

A delegation of Syrian dissidents tolerated by President Bashar al-Assad's regime will travel to Moscow this week for meetings, days after government members discussed a new peace process there.

A meeting with Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov will include talks on a political solution and the role of Syria-based opponents.

Muallem, after meeting his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, said at a joint news conference: "I heard Mr Zarif support this plan. There is no doubt Iran will help achieve a political solution."

A plan by UN envoy to Syria Staffan De Mistura to "freeze" fighting in local areas, allowing aid deliveries and to lay the groundwork for peace talks, will also be discussed in Russia.

Iran is Assad's main regional ally, and Tehran has acknowledged sending military advisers to assist his forces in their fight against rebels and jihadist militants.

Assad last month called De Mistura's plan "worthy of study".

In Tehran, Zarif did not specifically refer to the Russian initiative, but said: "We have said from the beginning that we should find a political solution without destructive foreign intervention.

"All Syrian parties must be present. I hope these efforts bear fruit."

In Tehran, Muallem also referred to the battle against the militant Islamic State (IS) group, noting "there are ongoing contacts" between Iran, Iraq and Syria "because we all struggle against terrorism".

Iran has helped Iraq politically and militarily in its fight against IS extremists who currently control swathes of Iraq and Syria.

Tehran is not part of the US-led international coalition carrying out air strikes against IS in both countries.

Putin 'hopes' for fully implemented Ukraine ceasefire

Russian President Vladimir Putin has struck a conciliatory tone during a visit by his French counterpart. Francois Hollande is the first Western leader to visit Moscow since Russia annexed Crimea.

Deutsche Welle, 7 Dec 2014

The two leaders used their talks at the diplomatic terminal of an airport just outside Moscow on Saturday to discuss the ongoing conflict between government troops and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, which has led to a major chill in relations between the West and the Kremlin.

Following their meeting, Putin, who just days ago used his annual state-of-the-nation address to warn Russians of difficult times ahead due to sanctions imposed by the West on Russia over the Ukraine crisis, struck a more moderate tone than expected.

"I very much hope that in the near future we will have a final ceasefire agreement" in east Ukraine, Putin said in remarks broadcast on Russian television.

Without a fully-implemented truce, "it is difficult to picture Ukraine as a territorially integral country, and Russia, as is well-known, supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine," he added.

For his part, Hollande said the "de-escalation of the Ukrainian crisis is possible," if a ceasefire agreed by both the Ukraine government and the rebels at talks held in Minsk in September was fully implemented.

"France wants this crisis to end because it is causing suffering, for Ukrainians and because of the sanctions, and because it prevents relations with Russia from proceeding as they should," Hollande added.

In consultation with Merkel

The AFP news agency cited a source within Hollande's delegation who said that the French president's unscheduled stopover, while en route from neighboring Kazakhstan to Paris, had been planned in consultation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

The short visit came ahead of next week's scheduled talks between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russia rebels in Minsk next week, which are aimed at rescuing the much-violated ceasefire agreed in September. According to the United Nations, around 1,000 people have been killed since the truce came into force.

Tensions between Moscow and the West have been elevated since Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula back in March. The West also accuses the Kremlin of supporting the pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine by providing them with personnel and arms, and has imposed a series of economic sanctions as a result.

Mistral deal not discussed

Another bone of contention between Moscow and Paris is a deal in which France is to deliver warships to Russia. However, France has delayed the delivery of the first Mistral, which had been due this autumn, due to the annexation of Crimea.

Putin said he had not discussed the matter with Hollande on Saturday, but that he was working on the assumption that France would honor the contract. If not he said, France would be required to return the money that it has been paid, but that Russia would "act with understanding no matter how these events develop."

pfd/sm (AP, AFP)

Ex Vatican bank heads accused of embezzlement, accounts seized

Yahoo – AFP, 6 Dec 2014

Two former Vatican bank managers and a lawyer have had their accounts seized as part of an investigation into allegations of embezzlement, the Vatican said Saturday.

The bank, officially known as the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), said it had pressed charges against the trio some months ago and "the accounts held by the concerned individuals at the IOR have recently been seized".

Italian media reports named the accused as former bank president Angelo Caloia, ex-director general Lelio Scaletti, and lawyer Gabriele Liuzzo.

While the IOR would not provide details on the case "given the ongoing judicial enquiry", Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told Italian media they were suspected of embezzling money.

Reports said they had siphoned off between 50 and 60 million euros ($61 and $73 million) while managing the sale by the bank of 29 buildings.

In a statement the bank said the former managers and lawyer were under investigation based on "circumstances recorded between 2001 and 2008 that have emerged in the internal review process initiated in early 2013."

The IOR has been trying to rid itself of a reputation for shady dealings, following a series of money-laundering scandals in the past.

It was the main shareholder of the Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed in 1982 amid accusations of ties to the Mafia, while its chairman Roberto Calvi -- dubbed "God's Banker" -- was found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge in London in a suspected murder by mobsters.

Pope Francis was elected last year with a mandate to clean up the Vatican and has focused on improving transparency in the centuries-old institution.

"We are very pleased that the Vatican authorities are taking decisive action," Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, head of the IOR board, was quoted as saying.

Related Article:

Vatican Finds Hundreds of Millions of Euros ‘Tucked Away’

Vatican Finds Hundreds of Millions of Euros ‘Tucked Away’

Departments used to have 'free hand', but this is changing

Jakarta Globe, Reuters, Dec 04, 2014

Nuns take pictures in St. Peter's square on Dec. 4, 2014 at the Vatican during
the installation of the traditional Christmas tree. (AFP Photo/Vincenzo Pinto)

Vatican City. The Vatican’s economy minister has said hundreds of millions of euros were found “tucked away” in accounts of various Holy See departments without having appeared in the city-state’s balance sheets.

In an article for Britain’s Catholic Herald Magazine to be published on Friday, Australian Cardinal George Pell wrote that the discovery meant overall Vatican finances were in better shape than previously believed.

“In fact, we have discovered that the situation is much healthier than it seemed, because some hundreds of millions of euros were tucked away in particular sectional accounts and did not appear on the balance sheet,” he wrote.

“It is important to point out that the Vatican is not broke … the Holy See is paying its way, while possessing substantial assets and investments,” Pell said, according to an advance text made available on Thursday.

Pell did not suggest any wrongdoing but said Vatican departments had long had “an almost free hand” with their finances and followed “long-established patterns” in managing their affairs.

“Very few were tempted to tell the outside world what was happening, except when they needed extra help,” he said, singling out the once-powerful Secretariat of State as one department that had especially jealously guarded its independence.

“It was impossible for anyone to know accurately what was going on overall,” said Pell, head of the new Secretariat for the Economy that is independent of the now downgraded Secretariat of State.

Australian outsider

Pell is an outsider from the English-speaking world transferred by Pope Francis from Sydney to Rome to oversee the Vatican’s often muddled finances after decades of control by Italians.

Pell’s office sent a letter to all Vatican departments last month about changes in economic ethics and accountability.

As of Jan. 1, each department will have to enact “sound and efficient financial management policies” and prepare financial information and reports that meet international accounting standards.

Each department’s financial statements will be reviewed by a major international auditing firm, the letter said.

Since the pope’s election in March, 2013, the Vatican has enacted major reforms to adhere to international financial standards and prevent money laundering. It has closed many suspicious accounts at its scandal-rocked bank.

In his article, Pell said the reforms were “well under way and already past the point where the Vatican could return to the ‘bad old days’.”

Reuters

Polish pope's hometown elects drug-loving mayor

InterAksyon.com – AFP, December 2014

WARSAW, Poland - A law professor who is open about his drug use has been elected mayor of a Polish city best known for being the birthplace of Saint Pope John Paul II.

Mateusz Klinowski, an independent, won a runoff election over the weekend with 57 percent of the vote in the southern city of Wadowice.

"I said that I use drugs and I stand by that," he told AFP on Wednesday, without specifying his drug of choice.

"Enough with the widespread hypocrisy. At some point you have to admit that reputable people are sometimes also drug users."

The 36-year-old philosopher and activist campaigned against corruption and defeated Ewa Filipiak, who was the city's mayor for 20 years.

He described himself as "the radical voice of the John Paul II generation in a city that is stuck in time."

The Polish pontiff, who died in 2005 and became a saint this year, was born in the city in 1920. His house is now the main tourist attraction.

Klinowski has lobbied for years for the decriminalization of drugs in Poland, where possessing any kind of drug is a crime.

Voters in the heavily Catholic country also elected their first openly gay mayor over the weekend.

French MPs vote in favour of recognising Palestine

Yahoo – AFP, December 3, 2014

French lawmakers set for Palestine recognition vote

Paris (AFP) - French lawmakers voted Tuesday in favour of recognising Palestine as a state, sparking an immediate angry reaction from Israel which said such "unilateral measures" would harm efforts towards Middle East peace.

Following hot on the heels of similar votes in Britain and Spain, French MPs voted 339 to 151 in favour of a motion urging the government to recognise the state of Palestine as a way of achieving a "definitive resolution of the conflict."

The vote -- which is non-binding on the government but highly symbolic -- comes as European countries seek alternative ways to restart the stalled Middle East process.

Sweden's government has gone even further, officially recognising Palestine as a state in a controversial move that prompted Israel to recall its ambassador.

But the French vote result still prompted a swift and angry response from Tel Aviv, which said it would send the "wrong message" to the region and would be counterproductive to the drive towards peace.

"Israel believes that the vote in the National Assembly... will reduce the possibility of achieving a deal between Israel and the Palestinians," its embassy in Paris said in a statement.

A solution to the conflict will be achieved "only with honest and direct talks between the parties and not by unilateral measures taken by one of the parties or by third parties," it said.

The Palestinian leadership, meanwhile, expressed its "gratitude" for the vote and urged Paris to "translate its parliament's vote into action".

France will 'do its duty'

Palestinians are seeking to achieve statehood in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank with east Jerusalem as the capital.

With little progress on reaching a settlement, they have been lobbying foreign powers for international recognition.

The Palestinian Authority estimates that 135 countries have now recognised Palestine as a state, although that number is disputed.

During a debate on the issue Friday, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Paris would recognise Palestine if diplomatic efforts failed again and urged a resolution to the Middle East conflict within two years.

France is spearheading a drive at the United Nations to unfreeze the moribund peace process and the Palestinian envoy to the UN said earlier Tuesday a draft resolution could be submitted to the Security Council by mid-December.

Riyad Mansour told AFP the text was set to lay out a timeframe for negotiations on a final peace deal and possibly a deadline for Palestinian statehood.

It would also pave the way for a last-ditch international conference that France has offered to host.

This European initiative was expected to be discussed in Brussels when US Secretary of State John Kerry holds talks with European ministers during this week's NATO meeting.

"If these efforts fail. If this last attempt at a negotiated settlement does not work, then France will have to do its duty and recognise the state of Palestine without delay and we are ready to do that," Fabius told MPs on Friday.

'Momentum will grow'

At a pan-European level, the European Parliament is expected to hold a vote later this month on recognising Palestine and EU foreign policy supremo Federica Mogherini is also pushing for the creation of a Palestine state.

"Governments and parliaments are taking action. That momentum will grow," said United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon last month.

However, lawmakers in Paris were more divided on the issue than their British and Spanish counterparts, reflecting the sensitivity of the debate in France, which is home to Europe's largest Jewish and Muslim communities.

Senior lawmaker Christian Jacob of the opposition UMP party told MPs ahead of the vote: "Who are we kidding? We are kidding the French people if we think that the parliament will have any influence at all" on the peace process.

France was the scene of several pro-Palestinian demonstrations during this summer's 50-day offensive by the Israeli army in Gaza that killed more than 2,000 Palestinians and dozens of Israelis.

Some of these turned violent with looters in July destroying Jewish businesses and shouting anti-Israel obscenities in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles -- sometimes known as "Little Jerusalem" for its large community of Sephardic Jews.

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Pope and Welby joined by imams and rabbis for anti-slavery declaration

Religious leaders gather at the Vatican to commit to working together for the eradication of slavery by 2020

The Guardian, John Hooper in Vatican City, Tuesday 2 December 2014

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

It began with a 17-year-old Australian schoolgirl’s horrified discovery. And on Tuesday it brought together in the Vatican Jewish rabbis, turbaned Sunni imams and Shia ayatollahs, Pope Francis, the archbishop of Canterbury, a Hindu guru and the orange-robed Buddhist chief high priest of Malaysia, among others.

For a brief couple of hours, they found something on which they could agree: that slavery in its many contemporary forms is an unmitigated evil, “a disgrace to God, a dishonour to humankind,” as the Orthodox ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew called it.

The patriarch was speaking by video link. The others were present at the signing of a declaration in which they committed to working together for the eradication of what Francis has called a crime against humanity. They set a deadline of 2020.

That looks ambitious: according to the latest edition of the Walk Free Foundation’s Global Slavery Index, almost 36 million people are trapped in slavery of some kind. But the declaration is intended to give the issue a higher international profile, and is a tribute to the energy and determination of the Walk Free anti-slavery movement’s founder, the Australian mining tycoon Andrew Forrest.

His first contact with the issue came after his daughter, Grace, went on a school visit to Nepal. “I chose to work in a home for girls rescued from sex slavery,” she told the Guardian. “But when I went back, when I was 17, they had all gone.” They had been trafficked by the people who were meant to be looking after them.

“We started researching the supply chain,” her father said. “It led from Nepal to India to the Middle East.” His research led him to check his own group’s supply chains for other kinds of slavery. What he found was horrific, he said. One firm was using workers whose passports had been confiscated; the annual death rate among them was 20%. “Half were suicides,” he said.

“At the end of the chain was a British company. I rang the CEO who originally tried to deny it, and then said taking away people’s passports was legal.” Forrest gave him half an hour to agree to cut off relations with the company using slave labour, or else he would go to the media. When the British CEO complied, Forrest undertook not to divulge the name of his firm.

Seldom if ever has the Vatican seen such a varied gathering. The pope was flanked by a shaven-headed Vietnamese Zen nun, the Venerable Bhikkhuni Thich Nu Chan Khong, and an Indian holy woman wearing a nose stud, Her Holiness Mata Amritanandamayi, regarded by her followers as a saint and known to them as Amma, or “mother”.

She said finding traffickers was like trying to catch “a black cat in a dark room”, but practical steps could be taken. Children in poor countries were often ensnared using mobile telephones given to them by traffickers. She said she would like to see mobile operators mounting awareness campaigns.

The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, set out a number of other ways ahead, including consumer pressure for more information about supply chains.

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"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. ...."

Poland's Donald Tusk takes over as EU Council president

Poland's Donald Tusk has taken over as European Council president, charged with convening summits of the bloc's 28 leaders. The former Polish premier has promised "ruthless determination" to fix Europe's economy.

Deutsche Welle, 1 Dec 2014

Tusk, a centrist, was handed a summit bell by Belgium's Herman Van Rompuy on Monday, becoming the first person from the former East bloc to head the European Council.

As council president, Tusk completes the EU's new trio - alongside Luxembourg's Jean Claude Juncker, who is chief of the European Commission, and the foreign affairs coordinator, Federica Mogherini of Italy.

Van Rompuy described Tusk as the "favorite son of Poland" with an "open heart," adding that he was now at the helm of the EU's "most important institution."

Tusk, who studied history and follows football keenly, began his political career in the 1980s as part of Poland's Solidarity union movement, whose protests contributed to the collapse of Soviet-style communism.

He was twice elected prime minister in Poland's post-communist era. He led Poland's center-right Civic Platform from 2001 for 13 years.

EU facing threats

At a handover ceremony in Brussels, Tusk said he would focus on protecting Europe's fundamental values from threats "coming from outside and inside."

"Today not only are euroskeptics questioning the EU's values, we have also enemies," he said, referring to anti-EU parties and presumably Russia,although he did not elaborate.

Poland, like Baltic nations such as Latvia, fear Russian designs on former Soviet countries following Moscow's recent military intervention in Ukraine.

"Relations between Europe and the United States are the backbone of the community of democracies," he said, adding that Europe had to support those neighbors "who share our values."

"The year ahead will be crucial," he added.

Tackle economic crisis

The 57-year-old vowed to help rescue Europe's economy from near deflation and high unemployment in member nations such as Spain.

"We need ruthless determination to end the economic crisis," he said.

He also called for the completion of the European monetary union. Poland does not yet use the euro single currency.

When still Polish premier, Tusk promoted Poland's integration into the EU, unlike his predecessor Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

Relations with Germany, once wrought by World War II, have also warmed. Tusk and Chancellor Angela Merkel are said to have a good working relationship.

Since being picked as prospective council president by EU leaders in August, Tusk has been brushing up his English - a skill needed to reach summit consensus.

ipj/mkg (AFP AP, dpa)