Maldives quits Commonwealth over rights row

Yahoo – AFP, October 13, 2016

Flags of the Commonwealth nations fly outside the House of Commons in
London on March 10, 2013 (AFP Photo/Justin Tallis)

Malé (Maldives) (AFP) - The Maldives angrily quit the Commonwealth on Thursday after years of wrangling over its human rights record since the toppling of its first democratically elected leader four years ago.

The troubled honeymoon island nation said it had been treated "unjustly and unfairly" by the bloc, a voluntary association of more than 50 countries, mostly former territories of the British empire.

"The decision to leave the Commonwealth was difficult, but inevitable," said a statement from the foreign ministry.

The former British protectorate has come under intense international pressure since the controversial conviction of former president Mohamed Nasheed on terrorism charges.

The Commonwealth put Male on notice after Nasheed stood down as president in February 2012 and said he had been forced out in a coup.

It has since criticised the government over its crackdown on dissidents and its controversial judiciary, and sent a special envoy to try to improve the archipelago's rights record.

In its statement Thursday, the Maldives, which had previously threatened to pull out of the bloc, accused the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat of interfering in its affairs.

"The Commonwealth has sought to become an active participant in the domestic political discourse in the Maldives, which is contrary to the principles of the charters of the UN and the Commonwealth," it said.

"The Commonwealth Secretariat seem to be convinced that the Maldives... would be an easy object that can be used, especially in the name of democracy promotion, to increase the organisation's own relevance and leverage in international politics."

The Commonwealth's watchdog committee of foreign ministers last month voiced "deep disappointment at the lack of progress" in Maldives.

It said it would consider suspension at its next gathering in March 2017.

The Maldives has come under intense international pressure since the

 controversial conviction of former president Mohamed Nasheed on terrorism 

charges (AFP Photo/Ben Stansall)

Hope for return

In a statement received by AFP, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said the organisation's members and peoples "will share my sadness and disappointment" at Maldives' decision to quit.

"The Commonwealth Charter reflects the commitment of our member states to democracy and human rights, development and growth, and diversity," she said.

"We will continue to champion these values and to support all member states, especially small and developing states, in upholding and advancing these practically for the enduring benefit of their citizens.

"Therefore, we hope that this will be a temporary separation and that Maldives will feel able to return to the Commonwealth family and all that it represents in due course."

The United States has said democracy is under threat in the strategically located archipelago, which sits on key international shipping lanes.

Washington has criticised the rush trial against Nasheed and demanded his release.

A UN panel has also ruled that Nasheed's imprisonment last year was illegal and ordered the regime of President Abdulla Yameen to pay him compensation.

The Maldives has become the latest country to leave the Commonwealth after

Gambia, which quit in October 2013 (AFP Photo/Sanka Vidanagama)

Political unrest

The country of 340,000 Sunni Muslims is famed for its coral-fringed islands but has been gripped by political unrest since the fall of Nasheed and there are regular anti-government protests.

The government faces allegations of corruption as well as cracking down on any dissent while all its opposition leaders are either in exile or in jail.

Nasheed secured political asylum in Britain this year after travelling to London for medical treatment while on prison leave from a controversial 13-year prison sentence.

He travelled to neighbouring Sri Lanka last month to meet with other exiled Maldivian dissidents in a bid to agree on a plan to "legally topple" Yameen.

While dissidents met in Sri Lanka, Maldivian police raided the offices of the Maldives Independent website in the capital Male hours after Al Jazeera aired a documentary accusing Yameen and his government of massive corruption and money laundering.

The country becomes the latest to leave the Commonwealth after Gambia, which quit in October 2013.

Economics Nobelist Holmstrom: CEO pay 'just a mess'

Yahoo – AFP,  October 10, 2016

Bengt Holmstrom, the Paul A. Samuelson Professor of Economics at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said his research hasn't always
gotten through to those who design pay packages (AFP Photo/Kayana
Szymczak)

Washington (AFP) - Bengt Holmstrom, the Finnish economist whose contract theory research earned him a Nobel economics prize Monday, said that executive compensation has gotten out of hand, and contributed to the collapse of Enron Corp.

Holmstrom, who shared the Nobel with fellow economist Oliver Hart, explored the way employment contracts can shape behavior and reach mutually beneficial outcomes for the hirer and hiree.

But he told an audience Monday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he now works, that their research hasn't always gotten through to those who design pay packages.

"I was on the Nokia board for two or three years. And I think executive compensation went from reasonable to absolutely dreadful," he said, pointing to stock and option incentives given management.

Likewise, he said, the collapse of Enron, the high-flying energy company that failed in 2001, related to executives' pay deals, with generous stock options, that did not align their interests with the company's.

"I think the main problem with that scheme was that they were not vested, that executives could cash out very quickly," he said.

He told journalists that executive pay had gotten too complicated. "There's so many pieces of it and it's just a mess... I wish they would listen a little bit more about what we know or understand about executive compensation."

Holmstrom, 67, said he was delighted to receive the Nobel. He and Hart will share the eight million kronor ($924,000) prize.

"I feel dazed.... I am still wondering whether I will wake up or not."

He described himself as "lucky" for having gotten into a research topic just at the time it was garnering broader interest, "for being in the right place at the right time."

But he was not ready to offer a prescription on how pay should be decided, saying it is difficult to fiddle with the power of the market.

"Economics doesn't really have an opinion on the level" of pay, or why CEO pay has soared in recent years, he noted. "It is what it is. It is somehow demand and supply working its magic."

After years of working on theoretical topics, Holmstrom said he was now thinking about real-world issues.

"In the last six years, since the financial crisis, have been intellectually very rewarding."

"I'm back into the mode of really thinking about problems, which you can lie in bed and wake up at night and feel excited about."

Polish parliament rejects abortion ban after mass protests

Yahoo – AFP, Michel Viatteau and Mary Sibierski, October 6, 2016

Huge crowds take to the streets of Warsaw to protest against a legislative proposal
for a total ban of abortion, on October 3, 2016 (AFP Photo/Janek Skarzynski)

Warsaw (AFP) - Poland's parliament on Thursday rejected an abortion ban after women staged massive nationwide protests in the devoutly Catholic nation, where the law is already among the most restrictive in Europe.

Right-wing and liberal parliamentarians in the 450-member lower house joined forces to reject the controversial bill by 352 votes to 58, with 18 abstentions.

The vote came after tens of thousands of black-clad women protested across Poland on Monday, as solidarity demonstrations sprang up in European capitals including Berlin, London and Paris.

Home to 38 million people, Poland sees less than 2,000 legal abortions a year, but women's groups estimate that another 100,000 to 150,000 procedures are performed illegally or abroad.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the governing right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party told parliament before the vote that his group "would always support protecting the right to life".

But he said the proponents of the ban were "not going about it (protecting the right to life) in the best way."

While the PiS once favoured introducing a near-total ban on abortion, the party is well aware that a strong majority of Poles support existing legislation, which allows terminations in certain cases.

Abortion in Europe (AFP Photo)

Late last month, PiS lawmakers had pushed ahead with the controversial bill that would allow abortions only if the mother's life was at risk and increase the maximum jail term for practitioners from two years to five.

The citizens' initiative tabled in parliament by the Stop Abortion coalition would have put women who had terminations at risk of jail terms, though judges could waive incarceration.

Poland's influential Roman Catholic Church initially gave the initiative its seal of approval earlier this year, though its bishops since spoke out against jailing women.

'Scared by protests'

A poll published last month by the Newsweek Polska magazine showed that 74 percent of Poles want to keep the existing law.

Passed in 1993, the current legislation bans all abortions unless there was rape or incest, the pregnancy poses a health risk to the mother or the foetus is severely deformed.

Liberal lawmaker and former sports minister Joanna Mucha said PiS lawmakers "panicked" and backtracked on the ban after Monday's massive protests.

"Polish women won't allow you to drive them to the slaughterhouse like sheep," she warned PiS lawmakers during the parliamentary debate.

"The herd will trample you."

Meanwhile Mariusz Dzierzawski, whose group had proposed the near total ban, accused PiS lawmakers of "ridiculing their constituents" for retracting support for the bill.

Polish women take part in a nationwide strike and protest against a legislative

 proposal for a total ban on abortion on October 3, 2016 in Warsaw (AFP Photo/

Janek Skarzynski)

Further upsetting conservatives, parliament on Thursday also dropped a bill intended to severely limit in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), the so-called "test-tube baby" treatment that involves fertilising an egg outside a woman's body to produce an embryo that can then be implanted in her womb.

The proposed abortion ban had strained relations between Warsaw and Brussels, already at odds in a high-pitched rule of law dispute.

The European Parliament debated the proposed ban on Wednesday.

Barbara Kudrycka, a Polish MEP with the centrist European People's Party, warned PiS lawmakers that "women aren't merchandise you can use to pay off your campaign promises."

But pro-choice supporters insist they still have a long struggle ahead in conservative Poland.

"We still have to fight for a better sex education, for better access to birth control and above all, to remember that the fight is far from over," Zofia Marcinek told AFP outside parliament after Thursday's vote.

German taxman goes after foreign banks

German state prosecutors are investigating nearly 60 foreign banks for "abetting tax evasion," a newspaper report has said. Self-declaring former tax-evaders are proving a particularly valuable source of information.

Deutsche Welle, 4 Oct 2016

Prosecutors in Germany's most populous state are investigating 57 foreign banks on charges of abetting tax evasion, according to the "Süddeutsche Zeitung." The banks, from Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria and Luxembourg, have all been under suspicion over the past two years, the report said on Tuesday.

The banks were brought to the investigators' attention thanks to a wave of German citizens offering voluntary declarations of their foreign bank accounts over the past six years - concentrating in particular on banks mentioned repeatedly.

The German authorities have already negotiated fines with banks in around 10 cases, according to the paper, amounting to a total of around 120 million euros ($135 million). The biggest single fine came from the Basler Kantonalbank, Switzerland, which handed over 37.1 million euros.

The Luxembourg bank BCEE has paid 14 million euros, while the Deutsche Bank in Switzerland has paid some 10 million euros. On top of that, in one particularly egregious case, a bank is believed to be negotiating a fine of around 60 million euros.

Walter-Borjans said prosecutors will
pursue every indication of tax evasion

The Austria-based Akte Walser Privatbank confirmed that it had paid its fine of 5.4 million euros, and that its policies had become tighter since the case. "Our bank changed the way it deals with foreign customers radically in 2009," a spokesman told the paper. "The requirements for the identification of customers and the transparency about the origin of the means are very strict."

BCEE did not respond to a request for comment, while a spokesman for Deutsche Bank in Switzerland told DW that it never comments on such cases.

New methods

Paying closer attention to voluntary declarations has become German prosecutors' new favorite method of tracking down tax evaders.

Instead of buying up CDs of customer data from disloyal bank employees (or other illicit sources) - a move that divided Germany's political parties when authorities spent several million euros to do so in the past - the authorities now increasingly investigate banks that repeatedly appear on voluntary declarations.

The former tax evaders are then questioned for more information about the banks. In an email to DW, however, a spokesman for the Cologne state prosecutors said they could "neither comment on or confirm" the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" report and that they did not record statistics about voluntary declarations.

Tenacious taxmen

North Rhine-Westphalia has become Germany's most vociferous tax crime prosecutor in recent years.

The NRW authorities have acquired 

CDs with account data in the past

The state has acquired 11 data storage devices since 2010, which according to a statement from early August, created a wave of voluntary declarations and fines that has brought some 6 billion euros to Germany's public coffers.

The most recent example was in August, when someone anonymously (and free of charge) sent the NRW Finance Ministry an external hard drive containing the details of some 160,000 bank accounts - 54,000 of which were German, around 50,000 Belgian, and around 42,000 French. State Finance Minister Norbert Walter-Borjans has pledged to pass on all the data the state has to the relevant foreign authorities across Europe.

The latest revelations show that German prosecutors are now paying particular attention to banks in Austria, where banking secrecy was once protected by the constitution. In 2014, the European Court of Justice ruled that this was unlawful, triggering a sharp rise in voluntary tax declarations, particularly in Bavaria - while many Austrian banks let employees go.

Last week, various German media outlets reported that the NRW tax authorities were also pursuing major multinational financial institutions, including J.P. Morgan, Barclays and HSBC, on suspicion of "devious stock trading," allowing them to avoid some 10 billion euros of tax over several years.

"Our tax investigations go after every suspicion - without regard for either individuals or credit institutions," Walter-Borjans said. He added that a number of banks had already entered into negotiations and were cooperating with authorities, though he would not go into details. He went on to urge other banks to follow suit.

Related Article:

Just 16% of Dutch consumers trust banks, new survey shows

ING to slash up to 7,000 jobs, 2,300 will go in the Netherlands

Big three Dutch banks have announced 40,000 job cuts since 2011

"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)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Britain to start EU divorce by end of March

Yahoo –AFP, Katherine Haddon, October 2, 2016

Theresa May became British Prime Minister in July 2016 (AFP Photo/Oli Scarff)

Birmingham (United Kingdom) (AFP) - British Prime Minister Theresa May announced on Sunday that her government will trigger Brexit negotiations by the end of March, putting the country on course to leave the European Union by early 2019.

The move will plunge Europe's second largest economy into two years of painful horsetrading with its EU partners, who have voiced deep frustration at the delay in setting a date to start divorce proceedings.

It was May's firmest commitment to a clear break with the EU since she became Conservative Party leader and premier in the political upheaval that followed June's shock referendum vote to quit.

"Britain is going to leave the European Union," May told the opening day of the Conservative Party conference in the central English city of Birmingham.

"There will be no unnecessary delays in invoking Article 50. We will invoke it when we are ready. And we will be ready soon," she said, referring to the article in the EU's Lisbon treaty setting out a two-year process to leave.

"We will invoke Article 50 no later than the end of March next year."

May said she would seek the best deal from the 27 other EU members, but told the conference she would not give a "blow by blow" account of her negotiating strategy, for fear of weakening Britain's hand.

European powers keen to dampen rising euroscepticism in their own backyards have taken a hard line with Britain, warning that informal negotiations cannot start before the two-year notification process is triggered.

May's announcement means the process will start before next year's crucial elections in Germany and France, with an uncertain impact on the polls in the EU's most powerful nations.

Article 50: the mechanism that will trigger the Brexit talks (AFP Photo/Kun 

Tian, Sophie Ramis, Alain Bommenel)

'Decide for ourselves'

May's government and party is divided over whether to go for a "hard" or "soft" withdrawal from the EU.

"Hard" Brexit would mean quickly severing all links with EU institutions and pulling out of the single market, relying instead on World Trade Organization rules to trade overseas.

"Soft" Brexit would retain access to the single market in some form, but EU leaders have made clear that this would require continued free movement for EU workers into Britain.

Uncontrolled mass immigration from the EU was a major factor in Britain's historic vote to become the first country to leave the bloc after four decades of membership.

Brussels has insisted that if Britain wants free trade with the EU, it must also accept freedom of movement.

But May took a hard line in her speech, signalling that while she wanted free trade in goods and services, she would be prepared to leave the single market if necessary.

"We are not leaving the European Union only to give up control of immigration again," she said. "We will decide for ourselves how we control immigration."

Anti-Conservative protesters with a placrads join others in Eastside City Park 

in Birmingham, central England, on October 2, 2016 (AFP Photo/Daniel Leal-Olivas)

'Welcome clarity'

In another act designed to reassure anti-EU figures in her party, May also announced Sunday that a "Great Repeal Bill" would be introduced to scrap the supremacy of EU laws in Britain on the day of exit from the bloc.

The announcements by May -- who campaigned quietly for Britain to remain in the EU -- were welcomed by European leaders and Conservative eurosceptics alike.

EU President Donald Tusk wrote on Twitter that it brought "welcome clarity", adding that once Article 50 was triggered, the EU would "engage to safeguard its interests".

Leading Conservative eurosceptic MP Bernard Jenkin called May's comments "pitch perfect".

Many Conservative activists in Birmingham also praised her.

"She's been respectful of both those who voted to leave and the feelings of those who voted to stay," said one, Rachel Joyce.

"Pragmatically it's about the right time. She needs to line all of the ducks up before she triggers Article 50."

But Conservative MP Anna Soubry, who campaigned to stay in the EU, warned May's government against a "gung-ho" approach to activating Article 50 ahead of the French and German elections.

"The government should be pressing for a deal that keeps Britain open and engaged with Europe, including keeping us in the single market," she added.

May -- who will give the keynote closing speech at the conference on Wednesday -- starts the party conference in a strong position.

Opinion polls put the Conservatives well ahead of the deeply divided main opposition Labour Party under socialist leader Jeremy Corbyn.

But she has ruled out a general election before the next one is due in 2020, telling this week's Sunday Times newspaper it would "introduce a note of instability".

Related Article:

Pound plunges as UK minister warns of Brexit 'rollercoaster'

In Ireland, Gaelic football is the only game in town

Yahoo – AFP, Douglas Dalby, October 1, 2016

Supporters of both teams watch the GAA All-Ireland Gaelic Football Final replay
match between Dublin and Mayo in a city centre pub in Dublin, Ireland, on
October 1, 2016 (AFP Photo/Karl Burke)

Dublin (AFP) - The biggest crowd in Europe on Saturday was not watching detached professionals kissing the badge of their latest football team, but at the All-Ireland Gaelic football final.

Two amateur teams, Dublin and Mayo, fought it out for the coveted All-Ireland trophy in a replay following a rare draw two weeks ago.

Every year players from 32 counties across Ireland, plus teams of emigrants in London and New York, compete for the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) Sam McGuire Cup.

On Saturday evening, fans from all over the globe crammed into Dublin's 82,300-capacity Croke Park, some having paid many multiples of the 60 euros ($67) ticket price.

"The All-Ireland final will beat any World Cup final or European final, trust me," says former Manchester United and Ireland football captain Roy Keane.

"It's about local pride, that's what GAA is –- people representing their parishes and the streets where they grew up.

"Gaelic football in Ireland is different. They don't move clubs when they get fed up. They represent the people they're brought up with."

Ireland's national sport mixes the pace, power and skill-sets of football, rugby and basketball.

Encounters are typically bruising affairs where fouls can be difficult to define. It is not a sport for the faint of heart.

The pitch is similar to a rugby union pitch, but larger, while the goals at each end are H-shaped with football-style goal nets extending behind them.

The scoring is relatively simple: three points for a goal and one if the ball, which is like a standard football only slightly smaller, is kicked or punched over the bar and between the posts.

Dublin confirmed their status as pre-match favourites with a narrow 18-17 victory, giving them a second successive All-Ireland triumph.

The game was on a knife-edge until the last minute. Dublin were a point ahead and Mayo had the chance to equalise from a free-kick, only for Cillian O'Connor to shoot wide.

Mayo, a county on the western seaboard, have not lifted the trophy since 1951.

The pitch in Gaelic football is similar to a rugby union pitch, but larger, while the

 goals at each end are H-shaped with football-style goal nets extending behind 

them (AFP Photo/Karl Burke)

'Here to witness history'

It was the first replay in 16 years and was worth more than three million euros to the GAA coffers.

In the first game, Mayo snatched a draw deep in additional time, but many analysts believed they deserved to have won, prompting much discussion of 'the curse' that supposedly hangs over the county.

The story goes that the last time Mayo won the trophy in 1951 they failed to pay their respects while passing a funeral as they went through the county on a victorious homecoming journey.

As a result, a priest apparently warned that Mayo would never win another All-Ireland until all of them had died. Two of that team are still alive.

Speculation that tickets might be easier to come by second time around turned out to be wishful thinking.

Fans of both counties dressed in the blue of Dublin and red and green of Mayo clogged the streets and bars of Dublin from early Saturday morning, many scouting for spare tickets.

Sipping a pre-match pint of Guinness at the Big Tree pub near Croke Park, Sean Duffy, 51, from the little village of Louisburgh in Mayo, told AFP he would likely "endure more than enjoy" the match.

"I'm here to witness history," he said. "Many a man hasn't lived long enough to see this day so I have to be here in case we do it today."

Few stadiums wear their heart on their sleeves quite like Croke Park, the stands of which are named after Irish patriots.

It was the scene of what became known as Bloody Sunday, when British troops drove into the stadium during a match in 1920 and massacred 14 people in response to shootings by the IRA (Irish Republican Army).

One terrace, Hill 16, was built from the rubble of the 1916 Easter Rising, the catalyst for independence from Britain.

The country came to a standstill on Saturday evening. Almost one million people watched the first match -- 70 percent of the Irish viewing public.

Generations of expats joined them in some of the furthest flung corners of the world.

Paul Gorman, 50, a banking official from Dublin, said that as a returned emigrant from England, he relished every opportunity to support the capital team in a final.

"I used to have to watch from afar because of work commitments while I was away, so I wouldn't miss this for the world now that I'm home," he says. "There is simply no better place to be."

Pope's Mass snubbed in Orthodox Georgia

Pope Francis has celebrated Mass in a sparsely attended Tbilisi stadium in predominately Orthodox Georgia. The Pope was deserted by the leadership of the Georgian Orthodox Church, in a surprising snub to the Vatican.

Deutsche Welle, 1 Oct 2016

Barely 3,000 people braved brilliant sunshine Saturday on a beautiful autumn day to attend a Mass held in the former Soviet republic's 27,000-capacity sports arena in a snub that highlights ongoing divisions between the Catholic and Georgian Orthodox churches.

The snub was unexpected. Pope Francis had received a surprisingly warm welcome from the Orthodox leader upon his arrival Friday for the three-day visit that also includes a stop in Muslim-majority Azerbaijan.

Patriarch Ilia welcomed Francis as my "dear brother" and toasted him saying: "May the Lord bless the Catholic Church of Rome."

However, the Orthodox leader and other senior figures were nowhere to be seen on Saturday. Meanwhile, some hardline Orthodox protesters gathered in the city to criticize the Papal visit. Signs read: "The Vatican is a spiritual aggressor," and "Death of papism."

The Orthodox patriarchate, though, had criticized the protests, indicating something of an institutional shift that compared to the frosty reception by then-Pope John Paul II's 1999 visit, which the Orthodox Church explicitly encouraged Georgians to boycott.

The Georgian Orthodox church is ultraconservative and nationalistic and tied to the Moscow Patriarchate, which has strained, though improving, relations with the Holy See.

Hardline Orthodox Christian protesters
didn't exactly roll out a red carpet for
 Pope Francis in Tbilisi, Georgia.
September 30, 2016.

Georgia has a miniscule 2.5-percent Catholic minority in the overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian country. It was to those Catholics that Pope Francis seemed to tailor his address.

"Little and beloved flock of Georgia, who are so committed to works of charity and education, receive the encouragement of the Good Shepherd, trust in the One who takes you on his shoulders and consoles you," Francis said in a homily.

But some Orthodox Christians did turn up to hear the Pope's message. "I'm Orthodox, this is a Catholic Mass, but we are all Christians," Nata Koridze, a 40-year-old woman, told the DPA news agency.

Francis' Saturday itinerary includes a meeting with Georgia's Catholic clergy, a visit a hospital for the poor run by Catholic missionaries and a cathedral in Mtsketa, 22 kilometers (14 miles) northwest of the capital city and considered the spiritual center of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

His three-day visit will next move on to Muslim-majority Azerbaijan. That country is locked in a bitter and bloody conflict with Armenia over the breakaway province of Nagorno-Karabakh, which Francis visited in June.

jar/rc (AP, dpa)

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

"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. ...."

"The Humanization of God"–  Jul 16, 2011 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“… The Humanization of God

I'm going to title this channelling so that my partner will not. I don't always title them, for labeling items is something done for 3D reasons. In your reality, you want a label for the message you're about to hear. So I'll give it to you, just as a dichotomous exercise. Its title will be, "The Humanization of God."

My partner sits in a chair. It has taken him 22 years to bring my conceptual thoughts to you. Even though these conceptual thoughts from the other side of the veil are also within each Human, within your Higher-Self, they are not easy to access. This is because they exist in a multidimensional state and not one that a Human relates to. Therefore, it has taken 22 years for my partner to learn to linearize the concepts into a string of words, presented in a language that you will understand.

Not all of you here and reading this will understand what I'm teaching today. I am aware of that, for Spirit does not speak to Human Beings with words in this fashion. Instead, the language of Spirit speaks in that what you call intuitive flashes, outside of linear time, and all at once. That is how you get your best information. Yet many of you feel you have God all figured out.

Examples of the Linear

As I sit here, perhaps an individual who may be here for the very first time asks the question, "Who are you, Kryon, and where are you from?" Now those two questions may absolutely be logical and normal to every single Human Being who hears and reads this message, but I will tell you that the questions themselves betray biased linear thinking. For Kryon is not a who and is from nowhere. How can that be? The only way I can explain this is to give you metaphors. I know that metaphors don't hold up under full examination, since no analogy is perfect. So consider it only a close example to get you to begin the understanding process.

Let's say you feel incredible love in your life for another Human, or for an animal, for instance, or for your child. Let us say that it is overwhelming and perhaps even has you weep with joy, so strong it is! Now, when you feel this way, do you look around and say, "Who are you, really? Who is there?" Would you address that love emotion as though it had a body and ask, "Where are you from?" You would not! Instead, you'd simply accept it and say, "I know it's coming from me, but it really doesn't feel part of me."

There's something about love. It comes from everywhere. It permeates the soul of the Human Being. You feel it so strongly. You are not aware of it being sent to you, or pulled to you; it just is. But it's unusual and profound, almost like it's part of something else, something bigger. Perhaps it's the God part of you, expanding? You'd be right about that. Love is not singular. You don't segment it into parts, or put a body on it and give it a name either. It's a concept that affects every cell of your body and all your body functions. It sometimes even takes over! This is the beauty of love.

I'm not a who. You hear me within this voice, coming from a singular body of a Human Being. So you understandably want to know who's talking. But the only thing singular here is the Human who I come through. I am best identified as that which is the collection of the confluence of the creative energy source in the Universe. I am uncountable and am not isolated and singular. You can't notate me (define me with attributes in 3D). Twenty-two years ago, I identified myself and said, "I am, that I am." And then I said, "And so are you!" I told you that at the center of the atom is where I am. I told you that the space between the electron haze and the nucleus is filled with love. I told you that the benevolent, creative source energy that is part of you is part of me. It is all things together. You'll find it in a tree, in the dirt and in the grass. You'll find it in the air and you can't ask who because we are not singular. You can't count the flavor in the soup, or identify "where is the salt?" It just "is" the soup.

God does not have the mind of a Human Being with the consciousness of a Human Being. God is not a collection of many separate consciousness parts either, and this is difficult for you to understand. God can talk to every single Human - all 6, 7 billion of them - at the same time. God can carry on a loving, healing conversation, being personal all at once with every single one of you. Think of that! That's not a who. That's the creator of the Universe. That's a divine, intelligent, loving energy. Don't humanize this source! It's not like you.

The Linear Thinker

Humans want to make everything separate and individual. You want to separate, identify, and quantify. This is Human nature, for every living thing you come into contact with is separate and singular - a Human, an animal, a bug, a tree. They all have this in common. Each one is a closed life system and is ONE thing. So placing God in this box makes you feel better. Because only then can you grasp how you're supposed to act and react to Spirit. Linearizing God helps you to feel what you're supposed to do and when you're supposed to do it. All of the survival attributes that you've learned all your life go into this, and we call it the Human linear bias. God is better understood if it's a man with a beard and a low voice - the authority figure. But Spirit is not like that.

God is not an authority figure, either! Yet many of you will not accept that. "You mean the creator of the Universe is not in charge?" I didn't say that. I said that God is not an authority figure. God is family. If there is any authority energy, then you share it with God, for God is in you. Therefore, YOU are the authority figure.

There is no protocol, either! Did you hear me? There is no generic protocol! Thousands of years of religion have created thousands of "rules" of how to "get God's favor." What if none of that is so? Let me ask you something: If you wanted to talk to your own body's cellular structure, what's the protocol? If it's you with you, how do you start? Should you dress up a bit, kneel, prepare yourself? Do you invent something, some framework of motions, so it will work better? Or do you simply go inside with your mind, talk to that which you own, and work the puzzle out? Do you see what I mean? Humans never consider God in them. Instead, they wish to separate God. They wish to elevate God and put Spirit on the altar where they can face it and perhaps even create a statue so they can visualize who to talk to. That is humanizing God.  …”