Macedonian ministers, intelligence chief resign

Macedonia's interior and transport ministers, as well as its intelligence chief, have resigned following a weekend raid which left eight police officers dead. The government is also under fire over illegal wiretapping.

Deutsche Welle, 13 May 2015

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski accepted the resignations of his interior and transport ministers and his intelligence chief Tuesday, ahead of a large anti-government rally over series of scandals involving top officials, set for Sunday.

In recent months, Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska and intelligence chief Saso Mijalkov both stirred criticism from the opposition over their alleged involvement in illegal wiretapping and parallel structures inside the security forces.

The country's transport minister Mile Janakieski also quit on Tuesday.

The three top officials were among Gruevski's closest allies inside the government, and had been part of the administration since his party took power in 2006. Mijalkov, director of the Administration for Security and Counterintelligence, is also the prime minister's cousin.

Truth 'at our side'

In his letter of resignation, Mijalkov said he was stepping down to help in overcoming the current political crisis, which he claims was imposed by the opposition. He added that he was "aware that the truth and arguments are on our side," and that he would always be "at the frontlines" for his homeland.

Jankuloska and Janakieski also cited the political crisis as a reason for their resignations.

Political and ethnic tensions

The cabinet reshuffle follows a bloody shootout in the northern city of Kumanovo over the weekend, which claimed the lives of eight police officers and 14 alleged Albanian terrorists. The raid heightened fears of ethnically charged conflict in the former Yugoslav republic.

Almost one third of the 2.1 million people living in Macedonia are ethnic Albanians, and distrust between the groups runs deep, even with Albanians represented in the government.

Some of Gruevski's opponents claim he orchestrated the incident in order to distract the public from allegations of corruption.

NATO, which helped diffuse the 2001 Albanian insurgency, has called for restraint and a "transparent investigation" of this latest incident.

On Monday, EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn said the attack should not distract attention from Macedonia's "very serious internal political situation" or be used "to introduce ethnic tensions."

The parliament is set to discuss replacements for the two ministers on Wednesday.

dj/cmk (MIA, AFP, dpa, Reuters)

Vienna turns on the gay lights ahead of Eurovision

Yahoo – AFP, 12 May 2015

Austria gets into the Eurovision spirit with its gay-themed traffic lights across

Vienna (AFP Photo/Dieter Nagl)

Vienna (AFP) - From gay-themed traffic lights to singing sewers, Vienna is getting spruced up as it prepares to host one of the world's most popular music competitions, the 60th Eurovision Song Contest.

With less than a week to go before the first semi-final, the Austrian capital has launched a series of original initiatives to celebrate the ESC's anniversary edition.

Lights at 120 pedestrian crossings are receiving a quirky makeover: instead of the traditional single figure, they now show either a heterosexual or gay couple with hearts.

Officials say the revamped signals 

are signs of Vienna's tolerance, as

 well as part of an experiement to raise

 traffic awareness (AFP Photo/Dieter Nagl)

Officials said the revamped signals were signs of Vienna's tolerance, celebrating not only the song contest, but also the HIV/AIDS charity Life Ball event on May 16 and the Rainbow Parade in June.

The installations are also part of a scientific experiment aimed at raising traffic awareness.

Local authorities said the signals had been replaced at junctions where people traditionally ignore the red lights, and want to test whether the new interfaces can change the public's behaviour.

View galleryOfficials say the revamped signals are signs of Vienna's …

Officials say the revamped signals are signs of Vienna's tolerance, as well as part of an experi …

However, not everyone likes the campaign.

Toni Mahdalik of the right-wing FPO party called the initiative gender politics "gone mad", and said the money would have been better spent on reducing poverty and unemployment figures.

The installations are also to 

promote Austria's Eurovision

entry, "I Am Yours" by The

Makemakes (AFP Photo/

Dieter Nagl)

Back on Vienna's busy high streets and squares, sewers have swapped gurgling sounds for musical tunes.

Cleverly hidden stereo systems inside the gutters play Austria's two winning Eurovision songs -- one by bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst, who won last year, the other by 1966 champion Udo Juergens.

They also promote this year's entry, "I Am Yours" by Austrian trio The Makemakes, currently ranked 21st of the bookmakers' favourites.

Austria is one of 40 nations taking part in the competition.

After the semi-finals on May 19 and 21, the remaining 27 countries -- including first-time contestant Australia which has automatically qualified -- will face off in the grand finale on May 23.

Overall, the contest is estimated to cost between 25 million euros ($28 million)and 27 million euros, according to Austrian public broadcaster ORF, which is organising the event.

Conchita Wurst representing Austria performs "Rise Like A Phoenix" after winning

 the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen, Denmark, on May 10, 2014 (AFP Photo/

Jonathan Nackstrand)

Related Article:

Eurovision win for Austria drag queen sparks anger in Russia

Cyprus rivals to resume peace talks on Friday: UN

Yahoo – AFP, 11 May 2015

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades (R) greets Turkish Cypriot President

 of the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Mustafa 

Akinci (L), as UN envoy Espen Barth Eide (C) looks on, on May 11, 2015

(AFP Photo/Iakovos Hatzistavrou)

Nicosia (AFP) - Rival Cypriot leaders agreed Monday to resume UN-brokered peace talks on May 15 in a fresh bid to reunify Cyprus after four decades of division, the United Nations announced.

UN envoy Espen Barth Eide made the announcement after hosting a dinner for President Nicos Anastasiades, the Greek Cypriot leader, and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart, the newly-elected Mustafa Akinci.

The meeting, held in the UN-patrolled buffer zone of Nicosia, was held in a "positive atmosphere", the envoy said.

The two leaders had agreed it was "important to use the momentum created and this new opportunity to move forward without delay."

Eide said the leaders agreed to meet on Friday to have a "general exchange of views" and discuss how the negotiations should proceed.

The Norwegian diplomat said it was a "unique opportunity" to be grasped.

The two hours of dinner diplomacy was part of efforts to kick-start reunification talks, which have been suspended since October.

It was the first time the two leaders have met since Akinci –- seen as a moderate -- was elected Turkish Cypriot leader last month.

Anastasiades tweeted: "I hope that the conditions for a substantive dialogue will be created, which will lead to the reunification of our country."

"It was a positive meeting, it was a good beginning," tweeted Akinci.

Akinci, a longtime champion of reunification, was elected president of the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on April 26, defeating nationalist incumbent Dervis Eroglu.

Anastasiades has said Akinci's election had renewed hopes for a settlement.

Before the dinner, held at the Ledra Palace hotel that serves as a barracks for British UN peacekeepers, a few hundred people turned up to demonstrate in favour of a peace accord.

The conservative Greek Cypriot leader also has peace credentials, having supported a 2004 UN settlement blueprint that 75 percent of Greek Cypriots rejected in a referendum.

Since then there has been little progress achieved with the thorny issues of territorial adjustments, security, property rights and power sharing the main stumbling blocks.

A UN-monitored ceasefire line has divided the island since 1974 when Turkish troops occupied its northern third in response to an Athens-inspired coup seeking union with Greece.

The Turkish Cypriots, who had already pulled out of government institutions in the face of communal violence in 1963, declared their breakaway state in 1983.

But it is recognised only by Turkey, which provides around a third of its budget.

The Greek Cypriots pulled out of the UN-brokered talks last October in protest at Turkish exploration for oil and gas off the island's coast.

But they announced in April that they would return to the negotiating table after the Turkish Cypriot election.

Both Ankara and Washington voiced hope last week that 2015 could finally be the year that Cyprus is reunited.

Saving migrant lives is 'first priority' : EU foreign policy chief

The EU's foreign policy chief has told the UN Security Council that the first priority in confronting the Mediterranean migrant crisis is to save lives. Some 5,000 refugees have died in the last 18 months.

Deutsche Welle, 11 May 2015

Speaking before the 15-member council in New York on Monday, Federica Mogherini said the migrant crisis "is not only a humanitarian emergency but also a security crisis since smuggling networks are linked to and finance terrorist activities."

"Our first priority is to save lives and prevent further loss of lives at sea," added.

Military action

Mogherini is currently in the US seeking support for a for a controversial EU plan which aims to stem the tide of refugees making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean.

The blueprint suggested by the EU involves military action to destroy boats used by migrant smugglers to transport the migrants, who have seized on the chaos in Libya to set up operations.

"We cannot work alone. We need a partnership if we want to end this tragedy," Mogherini said.

With more than 1,800 dead this year alone, Mogherini described the migrant flow on Monday as an "unprecedented situation."

"We need an exceptional response," she told the council.

Call for support within the EU

UN Security Council members Britain, France, Lithuania and Spain are currently working with Italy on a draft resolution that would endorse the EU migrant crisis plan.

For months, Italy and other southern European states have been demanding help from other EU nations, with pressure for action intensifying last month when 800 migrants drowned as a ship sunk off the coast of Libya.

The latest plans to take military action have been condemned by human rights and aid organizations, however, who argue that the focus should instead be broadening legal avenues for migrants to reach Europe.

ksb/kms (AFP, dpa)

Castro at Vatican thanks pope for mediating thaw with US

Yahoo – AFP, Jean-Louis De La Vaissiere, 10 May 2015

Cuban president Raul Castro (R) pictured with Pope Francis after their

private audience at the Vatican on May 10, 2015 (AFP Photo/Vincenzo Pinto)

Vatican City (AFP) - Cuban President Raul Castro met with Pope Francis at the Vatican Sunday, thanking the pontiff for his role in brokering an historic rapprochement between Havana and Washington, a papal spokesman said.

"Raul Castro thanked the Pope for his mediation between Cuba and the United States," said Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi of the exchange that also focused on Francis' upcoming visit to Cuba.

Cuba's President Raul Castro (L)during a

 meeting with US President Barack Obama

 on the sidelines of the Summit of the

 Americas at the ATLAPA Convention 

center in Panama City on April 11, 

2015 (AFP Photo/Mandel Ngan)

The first South American pope played a key role in secret negotiations between the United States and Cuba, which led to the surprise announcement in December that the two countries would seek to restore diplomatic ties after more than 50 years of tensions.

During the meeting Castro offered the pontiff a painting by Cuban artist Kcho inspired by the plight of illegal immigrants stranded at sea -- a subject close to the pope's heart.

Francis in turn presented Castro a medal of Saint Martin de Tours, a French saint celebrated for having given his coat to a beggar, and urged others to "clothe and support the poor."

Castro, who was accompanied by his Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, held a private hour-long meeting with the pontiff in a small room adjoining the Paul VI Audience Hall, where large gatherings are held in the Vatican.

View galleryCuba's President Raul Castro (L)during a meeting …

Cuba's President Raul Castro (L)during a meeting with US President Barack Obama on the sidelines …

Their discussions, conducted in Spanish, were described by the Vatican as "very cordial".

Castro a Francis fan

Castro said he was "very struck" by the Catholic leader's "modesty and wisdom" and promised to attend all the masses given by Francis on his Cuba visit in September.

Picture released by the Vatican Press

Office shows Pope Benedict XVI with 

Cuban leader Fidel Castro (R) during a

 meeting in Havana on March 28, 

2012 (AFP Photo)

"I read all the Holy Father's speeches," Castro said, adding that if the pope "continues to speak in this way, one day I will start praying again and return to the Catholic Church. And I'm not saying that as a joke."

Pope Francis arrived ten minutes ahead of Castro.

A dozen uniformed Swiss Guards stood to attention in front of the building when the limousine bearing the Cuban flag arrived.

The Holy See has revealed the Argentine pope personally mediated between the US and Cuba, and that the Vatican hosted delegations from the two countries in October.

The Vatican announced last month that Pope Francis would visit the Caribbean island in September, becoming only the third pontiff to do so after John Paul II in 1998 and Benedict XVI in 2012.

Jorge Bergoglio, then auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires and now Pope Francis, accompanied John Paul II on the first papal visit to Cuba, during which John Paul II called for Havana to be brought in from the cold.

"Let Cuba open itself to the world, and let the world open itself to Cuba," he urged, two years after hosting Castro's ailing older brother Fidel for talks at the Vatican.

From Cuba, Francis will continue on to the US for a meeting with President Barack Obama.

Cuban president Fidel Castro (R) listens to

 pope John Paul II on the tarmac of the 

Jose Marti International Airport in Havana 

January 21, 1998 (AFP Photo/Michel

Gangne)

Castro's Vatican visit, announced only Tuesday, followed a visit to Russia, where the Cuban leader attended a grandiose World War II victory parade on Saturday.

He was to meet Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Rome later on Sunday.

The Catholic Church has consistently backed calls for the lifting of the US trade embargo against Cuba, while staunchly supporting Cuban Catholics and pressuring Havana to release political prisoners, many of whom are Catholic activists.

The Vatican has also kept its distance from Cuban exiles based in Miami, Florida, who have long clamoured for Havana's Marxist regime to be ousted.

When the now retired Benedict XVI visited Cuba in 2012, he had lengthy, warm talks with Fidel Castro, who is now 88.

The Vatican's mediation between Cuba and the US administration was a diplomatic success for the Holy See and had a considerable impact in mainly Catholic Latin America.

Other diplomatic efforts have been less successful, including a bid to help resolve the political crisis in Venezuela and a longstanding drive to encourage reconciliation between the Colombian government and guerrilla movements in that country.

Related Article:

"Not Your Father's New Age" - Feb 14/15, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

".. Everything that has transpired during these years has been realized potential. That is to say that we see the potentials of what you might do, and report on that and only that. Much of what we see now is realized quickly. When we told you in 2012 there would be a new pope, 13 months later it happened. This was not prophecy, but rather a potential. We saw it coming because we have the overview and we knew of the anxiety of the existing pope, the health of the man, and we also knew of the potentials of a South American pope to come forward. All of these things should be a "connect the dots" for you. I come yet again, not with prophecy, but with information given with a congratulatory attitude of potential. ..."

UKIP leader Nigel Farage fails to win seat in UK election, Clegg resigns leadership post

Nigel Farage, the leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party, has failed to win a seat in the UK Parliament. Meanwhile, Labour head Ed Miliband and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg have resigned their positions.

Deutsche Welle, 8 May 2015

Farage (pictured above) stood by his pre-election promise to resign if he lost his bid to win a seat in the House of Commons.

"I feel an enormous weight has been lifted from my shoulders," he said Friday at a court center in Margate in the electorate of South Thanet east of London where he contested Thursday's election.

Farage finished second behind Conservative Party contender Craig Mackinlay, a former UKIP deputy leader.

UKIP gained nearly 3.8 million, or 13 percent, of votes across the United Kingdom, but finished second or third in a number of constituencies.

The 51-year-old leader was critical of the British electoral system which uses the first past-the-post electoral system. The system awards seats only by constituencies and does not take into account the total number of ballots cast.

"I think the time has come for real genuine radical political reform," he said.

"The system is bust. You've got a first-past-the-post system where we clearly become the third party in Britain but hardly get any seats."

Former Conservative candidate Douglas Carswell was re-elected as UKIP's only member in the House of Commons for the Clacton constituency in southeastern England.

Clegg quits Liberal Democrat leadership

Nick Clegg, the leader of Britain's Liberal Democrats, retained his own constituency in Sheffield, but resigned as party leader on Friday after accepting responsibility for the "catastrophic" loss of seats during Thursday's parliamentary election.

"It is now painfully clear that this has been a cruel and punishing night for the Liberal Democrats," Clegg, who served as deputy prime minister for five years under David Cameron, said.

Ed Miliband calls it a day

British opposition leader Ed Miliband announced his resignation as head of the Labour Party after a crushing defeat in Thursday's election.

"It's time for someone else to take forward the interests of this party," he said during his concession speech.

Miliband, who will remain in parliament after winning his constituency, said "Britain needs a strong Labour Party...that can rebuild after this defeat."

The opposition leader's resignation is effective almost immediately. He will attend Victory in Europe Day celebrations in London in his role as party head. Following the commemorations, he will hand over the reigns to the party's deputy leader, Harriet Harman, who will takeover as caretaker leader.

jlw/kms (AP, Reuters, AFP)

Defense Ministry official sought to quell reporting about the G36

Germany's defense minister has said an official in her ministry tried to get an intelligence service to cover up negative reports about an assault rifle used by the Bundeswehr. The official has been removed from his job

Deutsche Welle, 7 May 2015

German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday confirmed in part an article published by "Spiegel Online," which reported that a senior ministry official had written a letter to the military intelligence service MAD, asking it to try to find the source of leaks about the G36 assault rifle.

According to the report, the official wrote the letter on the urging of the manufacturer of the G36, Heckler & Koch, which feared media reports on the assault rifle's shortcomings could damage its reputation. "Spiegel Online" cited a secret ministry file detailing how the company and the official suggested that the MAD could stop negative media reports about the G36, which has been the Bundeswehr's main assault rifle.

It said the idea was for MAD to find the sources of leaks about the G36 while at the same time spying on the journalists behind the critical reports. It described articles published not just by "Spiegel Online, but also by the "taz" newspaper and the weekly "Die Zeit," beginning in 2012 as an "untrue media campaign."

However, the MAD, which among other things is responsible for counterintelligence and detection of "anti-constitutional activities" within the Bundeswehr, turned down the Defense Ministry official's request, dismissing it as "absurd."

Von der Leyen said she found it "very strange" that Heckler & Koch had approached the ministry about the issue and that it was "completely unacceptable" that the civil servant supported the initiative. She said while the official in question had been removed from his post, the fact that that things got as far as they did needed to be "further cleared up."

According to "Spiegel Online," though, the civil servant in question was not fired but merely transferred to another job.

Call for a parliamentary inquiry

Van der Leyen's explanation did not satisfy the opposition though, with the Greens on Thursday demanding parliamentary inquiry be set up to investigate the matter. Agnieska Brugger, a member of the Bundestag's standing committee on defense, said von der Leyen's statement amounted "not to an apology but a poor excuse."

The parliamentary leader of the Left party, Gregor Gysi said he also favored a Bundestag inquiry, but only if a time limit was agreed. Gysi argued that it made "no sense now to spend a year or even longer talking about an old weapon."

Together, the two opposition parties have enough votes to force an inquiry.

The minister did not appear to be overly worried about the prospect.

"If parliament wants to examine this issue in the framework of a committee of inquiry, that is its legitimate right," she said.

Von der Leyen had announced last month that she had ordered that some 170,000 G36 rifles issued to the Bundeswehr be replaced. This came after a study showed that it had a "precision problem, particularly at high temperatures."

pfd/sms (dpa, AP, Reuters, AFP)

Five paintings missing since WWII being returned from US to German collections

Five paintings, including three won by an American GI in a poker game, have been turned over to the German government. Their return was organized by the State Department and the Monuments Men Foundation.

The five paintings, by German and Flemish masters, had been missing since World War Two. Three were won in a poker game by an American GI who mailed them home to his family in the US.

Two others were bought by an American woman serving as a librarian in the US Special Services after the war, according to the Monuments Men Foundation.

The foundation's work was highlighted in George Clooney's film, which portrayed the team of museum directors, curators, and educators deployed to prevent the destruction of historic treasures during the war (photo).

During a ceremony at the US State Department on Tuesday, German Ambassador Peter Witting thanked the families and Robert Edsel of the Monuments Men Foundation: "You can be assured these paintings come home to a worthy setting."

Moving ceremony today at @StateDept.These paintings will be restored to museums in #Germany following looting in WWII pic.twitter.com/XM7sdv9zO5

— Peter Wittig (@AmbWittig) 5 mei 2015

Edsel said how the paintings got to the US was no longer the issue: "Seventy years have passed," he commented. "We are focused on returning them to their rightful owners."

The works mailed by the GI, a decorated US Army major, were by the Flemish Baroque painter Frans Francken III, the German painter Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich and Austrian artist Franz de Paula Ferg. They had been hidden in a potassium mine by an art gallery in Dessau.

A member of the major's family saw the Monuments Men film and contacted Edsel, who wrote the book on which the film is based, at the foundation.

The two paintings belonging to the librarian, Margaret Ingeborg Reeb, who died in 2005, were the property of Empress Friedrich of Kronberg Castle near Frankfurt. She was a daughter of England's Queen Victoria.

One of the paintings showed Queen Victoria with her daughter, the other was a portrait of King Charles I, attributed to Anthony van Dyck in 1636. The paintings had spent the intervening period in a bank deposit box in Montana.

Edsel praised the families for the care they had taken of the artworks and said he understood the resentment one of the relatives felt towards Germany, which had initially kept him from returning the paintings.

jm/bk (AP, Reuters, dpa)

Norway ranks as world's best place to be a mother

Yahoo – AFP, 5 May 2015

Norway ranks as the world's best place to be a mother, well ahead of the 

United States which dropped to the 33rd spot in the annual scorecard 

released by Save the Children (AFP Photo/Olexander Zobin)

United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Norway ranks as the world's best place to be a mother, well ahead of the United States which dropped to the 33rd spot in the annual scorecard released by Save the Children on Monday.

Somalia is the worst place, just below the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.

Save the Children also reported that 

mothers are having a tougher time in the

 world's expanding cities, with survival

 gaps between rich and poor widening 

(AFP Photo/Olexander Zobin)

Save the Children released its 16th annual Mothers' Index, which rates 179 countries based on five indicators related to maternal health, education, income levels and the status of women.

This year, the United States dropped from number 31 on the list to 33, behind Japan, Poland and Croatia.

American women have a one in 1,800 risk of maternal death, the worst level of risk of any developed country in the world, according to the report.

An American woman is more than 10 times as likely to die in childbirth than a Polish woman.

Scandinavian countries have consistently taken the first spots in the Mothers' Index, with Norway this year beating out Finland which held the top spot last year.

Among the top ten, Australia is the only non-European country, at number nine.

France and Britain take the 23rd and 24th spot, below Canada at number 20.

The ten worst places are all sub-Saharan African countries, with Haiti tied with Sierra Leone for the 169th spot.

Nine of the bottom ten countries are wracked by conflict.

The disparity in terms of infant mortality is striking.

In the top 10 countries, one mother out of 290 will lose a child before the age of five. In the bottom 10, that rate stands at one in eight.

Dying young in Washington

Save the Children also looked at infant mortality rates in the world's 24 wealthiest capital cities and found Washington had the highest rate at 7.9 deaths per 1,000.

By comparison, Stockholm and Oslo had infant mortality rates at or below 2 deaths per 1,000.

Somalia is the worst place to be a mother, just below the Democratic

 Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic, according to Save

the Children (AFP Photo/Tony Karumba)

Save the Children CEO Carolyn Miles said the data confirmed that a country's economic wealth is not the sole factor leading to happy mothers, but that policies need to be put in place.

In the case of Norway, "they do have wealth, but they also invest that wealth in things like mothers and children, as a very high priority," Miles said.

Save the Children also reported that mothers are having a tougher time in the world's expanding cities, with survival gaps between rich and poor widening.

Cities in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Peru, Rwanda, Vietnam and Zimbabwe have the highest gap for child survival, with poor children three to five times more likely to die than their affluent peers.

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As world honours the dead, Indonesia begins tsunami memorials

Women attend a prayer service at Baiturrahman Mosque in Banda Aceh, in

 the northern Sumatra island, on December 25, 2014, prior to the 10th anniversary

 of the tsunami that hit the west coast of Aceh province (AFP Photo/

Chaideer Mahyuddin)

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

“… Mass Human Death

The final one, dear Human, is the hardest one for my partner and the one we wish to leave you with in this channeling tonight. This is the one that my partner doesn't want to even have me talk about. It's the appropriateness of mass death. For you, built in to your very essence is the honor for life, and the sorrow when it passes. It's correct and appropriate that this is there, and never let it be tempered. But the wisdom of understanding is also needed to help you get past some challenges of the Human heart.

"Dear Kryon, was the tsunami really necessary?" Yes it was. Almost 200,000 Human Beings passed over. It's an event that for you is filled with horror, sorrow, emotion, and challenge. Back in 1989, we told you of those that might have to leave the earth en masse, and here it is. Yet even my partner [Lee] asks the questions, "Why the children? Why the poorest parts of the earth? Why the seeming inappropriateness of all this death?"

And I say to you the same thing I said with respect to Terri: Do you understand yet that death is often as precious as life on this planet of many energies and lessons? They are not gone! They're all here [speaking from Kryon's perspective]. They're having a great time! They're joyful! It seems like a moment ago they leaned into the wind of birth with us beside them. We said, "How would you like to participate in an event that will change the compassion factor of the planet so that energies can move forward and provide faster acceleration of vibratory shift? How would you like to help create peace on earth through a consciousness shift within Gaia itself? And they said, "Show us the way!"

Do you understand why we are in love with humanity... that you would love the earth and the Universe so much that you would go through these things? So much of what you see is horrible tragedy, yet you're looking at the heroes of humanity as they deliver a gift that will change the very fabric of Gaia through the compassion created as a wave of humanity responds to their plight.

They knew the potentials and they went through with it. Even the children knew, for they're old souls within their divinity. There was so much compassion created at that time, in that one week, the earth has never seen anything like it in your lifetime. Billions of Humans were involved with a compassion that instantly went to the core of the planet. It went into the earth and it's still there. It changed the actual energy of where you walk and it planted a seeds that will grow that will indeed emerge later in Israel, and those surrounding Israel.

And that's what it's about. Yet some of you didn't want to hear that, did you? But they're here, with me now... and with you as well. How could you fit them all in this room, you might ask? They can fit on the head of a pin! That's interdimensional talk. They can go home in your purse or your pocket! That's interdimensional talk, too. And they've got a message for you that we've given before, but you can't hear it enough: "We did our part - now you do yours, Lighthouse! For the ones who remain are the only ones who can manipulate the tools we have helped create."

When you go home tonight, you're not going to be in a survival situation - in a tent in a tribe with no lights or clean water, with no food. You're not going to be in sorrow or despair. Instead, you go home to a warm place with plenty of food and friendship and the love of family. That's why you're the Lighthouses, because you have time for it. You've got the intellect for it. You're not in survival mode, as is so much of humanity on the earth. You have the education for it and the intuition for it. Now, do you understand why there are so many Lighthworkers in the western world? It's because your culture has created a situation where there's abundance of these things, and it allows you to lead the way in changing the energy of earth, instead of having all your time spent just trying to survive. Does this help you understand the responsibility of what you have before you?

Strike the light and send it to the Sudanese. Strike light and send it to those dark places with governments where there's corruption. Strike the light and send it to the scientists and researchers who already have the cures for the more virulent diseases on the planet, but can't begin their work due to the barriers of certain leadership and their old ways. Strike the light and send it to Israel and Palestine and get on with this solution! This is why you're here, and this is the agreement you made when you arrived and selected the culture you live in.

Achievable in your lifetime, it is. Peace and compassion will prevail. You shall see. You shall see.

And so it is.

Kryon

Spring again in the Republic of Moldova – mass protest against corruption

In Chisinau, tens of thousands of people demonstrated against corruption and demanded a comprehensive investigation of the latest bank scandal, in which approximately a billion euros have "disappeared."

Deutsche Welle, 4 May 2015

Moldovans call it the "robbery of the century." According to statements by the Central Bank, three Moldovan financial institutes allegedly granted loans for a total of some 900 million euros ($950 million) just before the parliamentary elections in November 2014.

According to media sources, most of the money supposedly disappeared in Russian banks. The national anti-corruption authorities are now investigating. They have the help of a US consultancy firm whose report, known as the "Kroll Report", is being kept under wraps by the Moldovan government. In the meantime, the three Moldovan banks have been placed under state supervision.

Over 40,000 people from all over Moldova came to the capital Chisinau on Sunday to demonstrate for the return of the money and a comprehensive investigation of the theft of the century. They demanded the immediate publication of the Kroll Report and the resignation of the Attorney General as well as the head of the national anti-corruption authorities.

Lack of trust in politics

Moldovans came out in force
to protest corruption

The protest activities were mobilized by the newly founded citizen platform called "Dignity and Truth", to which leading personalities in Moldovan civil society belong. Demonstrators gathered in the Square of the Grand National Assembly under the Moldovan and the EU flag to blame the new government of Prime Minister Chiril Gaburici for widespread corruption and the deadlock in the European rapprochement process of their country. # links # The minority government, consisting of the Liberal Democratic and Democratic Party, is supported by the Communist Party. Critics see this as a departure from the prescribed pro-European course of the Republic of Moldova and a nod to Moscow.

According to Igor Botan, co-founder of the new platform and the director of the Association for Participative Democracy, the people's support for the country's chosen path to Europe has shrunk drastically from 73 % to 37 %. The reasons are probably mismanagement and corruption on the part of the government, which describes itself as pro-European. "It's almost a catastrophe. We want our messages and our behavior to restore the citizens' faith in Europe," said Botan.

A general strike is planned

The protest march on Sunday was a sign for the state to strengthen monitoring mechanisms against corruption. Should the government ignore the demands of the demonstrators, they have announced a general strike in two weeks. The entrances to the government building, parliament and the public prosecutor's office will then be closed off.

In an emergency session of the government, Prime Minister Gaburici asked the responsible state institution to maintain public order and avoid any activities – even if their origin is external– that may lead to social and political unrest.

Gaburici invited representatives of the demonstrators to talk about their demands on Monday. It is in the interest of his government to resolve the crisis in the financial sector and to stabilize the economic situation in his country, said the prime minister.

The demonstrators' demands are backed by their compatriots in several European capitals. Their neighbor Romania also spoke clearly on their behalf. In her message to the protesters on Sunday, European Member of Parliament and former Romanian justice minister, Monica Macovei, stated that the only solution for the situation in the Republic of Moldova is strengthening the judicial system and anti-corruption authorities. In the process it is necessary that an independent person be appointed to a top government office to implement judicial reform without consideration for the aims of party politics.