Villagers get micro-loans to buy lighting systems

LUTW

Boys help assemble an LED system

What started as a family project has emerged as the Light Up the World Foundation, which has reached 25,000 people in 51 countries. Initially systems were given away. Today, growing numbers of villagers are purchasing and maintaining the equipment. "Our short term goal for the next couple of years is that 80 percent of all the systems that Light up the World is involved [with] will be via micro-credit," Irvine-Halliday says, "where the villager borrows from local micro-credit organizations and pays them back."

The organization has made a difference in people's lives beyond Irvine-Halliday's expectations.

Acquiring this simple and non-polluting form of electric light, he points out, promotes education, public health, economic security and a cleaner environment. In January, he will retire from his day job at the University of Calgary. He's also decided to give up leadership in Light up the World Foundation to start a company in India that will develop a more energy-efficient and cheaper lighting system that he hopes will bring even more light to the world's poor.

A Philippine official says the armed tribesmen holding 46 hostages in the country's

A Philippine official says the armed tribesmen holding 46 hostages in the country's south have agreed to surrender after the government promised to consider some of their demands.

A government crisis team spokesman, Alfredo Plaza, said the gunmen freed two more hostages on Saturday and agreed to free the remaining captives when they surrender early Sunday.

Armed tribesmen on the southern island of Mindanao, seized 75 people Thursday at a school and several neighboring homes in the town of Prosperidad.

The leader of the hostage-takers, Joebert "Ondo" Perez, demanded that murder charges against his gang be dropped and that police disarm a rival group. He blamed the rival clan, the Tubays, for the murders of six of his siblings.

The southern Philippines is plagued by banditry, tribal feuds, loosely supervised government-armed militias, and Muslim and communist insurgents.

Officials say many former militiamen have turned to banditry and extortion and that the government has made efforts to disarm them. A government official, Cerge Remonde, said Friday that so far more than 1,000 firearms and close to 600,000 rounds of ammunition and explosives have been confiscated or surrendered to authorities.

The kidnapping Thursday came as government forces continued searching for militiamen suspected of involvement in last month's massacre of 57 people in another part of Mindanao.

Contracts Awarded to Russian, Norwegian Firms on Last Day of Iraq Oil Auction

The Iraqi government expressed satisfaction with the outcome of major two-day oil auction, Saturday after awarding the prized West Qurna Phase Two oil field to both Russia's Lukoil and Norway's Statoil.

The winning bid by the two companies proposed to give Iraq a fee of $1.15 per barrel of crude extracted from the field. The companies also pledged to reach an output of 1.8 million barrels per day.

Friday, Iraq awarded contracts to exploit the Majnoon oil field to Royal Dutch Shell and Malaysia's Petronas, while granting another major contract to China's CNPC.

Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani declared that the results of the auction were "a victory," adding that Iraq would not waste the money from the oil deals "on wars," as former president Saddam Hussein "used to [do]." The money, he emphasized, will "go to the Iraqi people."

Shahristani also told Iraqi politicians that were opposed to the deals that commercial accords, such as the oil deals, were under the control of the government and did not need the approval of parliament.

He says that the constitution is clear that international accords and treaties signed by Iraq and any foreign country must go through parliament for approval, but that commercial agreements don't need to be legally approved by parliament, according to the Iraqi constitution, no matter how large the contract, or how long the duration.

Sunni opposition parties have criticized Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for going ahead with the deals, complaining that he was "giving away Iraq's natural resources."

Former oil minister Issam al-Jalabi insisted that the government was not following proper procedures and needs to submit the deals to parliament for approval.

He says that the government cannot just pick and choose which oil laws it wishes to follow. He insists that a 1967 law stipulates that a bill must go through parliament for each and every accord. Otherwise, he says, the agreements will be considered null and void.

Louis Hobeika, professor of economics at Lebanon's Notre Dame University, said that he's not sure if the Iraqi government should have gone ahead with the deals, given the unsettled political situation in the country.

"We all know that the Iraqi government and Iraqi institutions are weak and any contracts given under these circumstances, especially long-term contracts, for me is doubtful, and therefore, all of these contracts, especially long term contracts, are bad for Iraq. It will not be in the Iraqi's interest, it will be in the foreign firm's interest," he explained.

The oil deals will increase Iraq's production, according to government estimates, by over 4.7 million barrels per day in the coming years. Iraq now produces 2.5 million barrels per day. Many analysts, however, question if Iraq will be able to attain such lofty production levels.

Devastated Village in American Samoa Recovers From Tsunami

At least 170 people have been confirmed dead following last week's earthquake and tsunami in the Pacific Islands of Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga. Some towns escaped with minor damage, but other seaside villages were devastated. Mike O'Sullivan visited the village of Leone in American Samoa, and reports that the community has pulled together in the disaster's aftermath.

Leone was hit hard by the tsunami. Last Tuesday, the usually peaceful ocean surged into a mountain of water that swept through the scenic seaside village, on the southwest side of the main island.

Angela Laumoli, a high school vice principal, says the 3,000 villagers are drawing on ties of kinship, friendship, and church membership to get through the trauma.

"We are going to commit all our day hours today to help clean up so that at least whatever we can save, we can save," said Laumoli. "And we need to clean up so that they can come and build new residential places for our families here."

Fiu John Saelua, a hereditary village chief, says the devastation is widespread and the recovery will be daunting. At least 10 villagers have died. He says residents found six bodies on the day of the tsunami.

"We found three the next day, and then there's still one missing up to now," said Saelua.

One of the injured also died in the hospital. A downtown post office and market were destroyed.

Leone is full of churches, including the first on the island, a Congregational church founded by a British missionary in the 1800s. Church member Moana Aumavai says the damage was minor.

"There was just debris and ocean water that went in," said Aumavai.

A nearby school is still standing, and the local Catholic church also suffered only minor damage.

Residents who are coping with the ravages of nature say the bonds of community are helping them recover. Dozens came to the beach to sift through piles of clothes and textiles, truck tires and personal belongings. Nearby, others are cleaning out partially collapsed homes and buildings, including the beach structures used for traditional ceremonies. Eighteen-year-old college student Jolin Filemoni says the effort has brought her closer to her family.

"We've been praying a lot," said Filemoni. "You know, these things happen for a reason, for families to come together."

As officials assess the damage, Chief Fiu John Saelua says people of the village are optimistic, despite their losses.

"The spirit is high, back to normal," added Saelua. "The whole village has pulled together to help each other. It's going to take months."

But, he insists, the village of Leone will recover.

Nepal is confirming bird flu in poultry has been detected for the first time

At least 170 people have been confirmed dead following last week's earthquake and tsunami in the Pacific Islands of Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga. Some towns escaped with minor damage, but other seaside villages were devastated. Mike O'Sullivan visited the village of Leone in American Samoa, and reports that the community has pulled together in the disaster's aftermath.

Leone was hit hard by the tsunami. Last Tuesday, the usually peaceful ocean surged into a mountain of water that swept through the scenic seaside village, on the southwest side of the main island.

Angela Laumoli, a high school vice principal, says the 3,000 villagers are drawing on ties of kinship, friendship, and church membership to get through the trauma.

"We are going to commit all our day hours today to help clean up so that at least whatever we can save, we can save," said Laumoli. "And we need to clean up so that they can come and build new residential places for our families here."

Fiu John Saelua, a hereditary village chief, says the devastation is widespread and the recovery will be daunting. At least 10 villagers have died. He says residents found six bodies on the day of the tsunami.

"We found three the next day, and then there's still one missing up to now," said Saelua.

One of the injured also died in the hospital. A downtown post office and market were destroyed.

Leone is full of churches, including the first on the island, a Congregational church founded by a British missionary in the 1800s. Church member Moana Aumavai says the damage was minor.

"There was just debris and ocean water that went in," said Aumavai.

A nearby school is still standing, and the local Catholic church also suffered only minor damage.

Residents who are coping with the ravages of nature say the bonds of community are helping them recover. Dozens came to the beach to sift through piles of clothes and textiles, truck tires and personal belongings. Nearby, others are cleaning out partially collapsed homes and buildings, including the beach structures used for traditional ceremonies. Eighteen-year-old college student Jolin Filemoni says the effort has brought her closer to her family.

"We've been praying a lot," said Filemoni. "You know, these things happen for a reason, for families to come together."

As officials assess the damage, Chief Fiu John Saelua says people of the village are optimistic, despite their losses.

"The spirit is high, back to normal," added Saelua. "The whole village has pulled together to help each other. It's going to take months."

But, he insists, the village of Leone will recover.

(IPPF) urged family plannhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifing programs to pay regular attention

Family planning communication programs have long recognized the importance of working with the news media (30, 67, 76). In 1972 the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) urged family planning programs to pay regular attention to providing information to journalists in addition to films, radio spots, advertisements, and other communication (30).
Working with the news media is important because news coverage is often people's first source of new information. Also, news coverage helps confirm and reinforce the information that people receive about family planning programs from other sources, such as entertainment programs, brochures, field workers, family members, and friends (28). Particularly where the news media are independent of official control, people see them as credible, important sources of information (73).
Informing people and encouraging healthy behavior. With their broad reach and powerful influence, the news media can help to improve reproductive health practices. As people are exposed to new information, ideas, and values—such as using contraception to control their fertility—many become increasingly aware and interested and, eventually, some decide to take action. At each stage in this process communication plays a key role (55, 76). News coverage can contribute at each step:
Knowledge stage. Awareness of new information is the first step toward new behavior. News and feature stories can make people aware of the benefits of family planning and of the existence of contraceptive methods and services and can help overcome myths and false rumors.
Persuasion stage. Frequent news coverage helps legitimize family planning, both as a practice and as a topic of conversation. Feature stories about field workers or family planning users can present role models.
Decision stage. News coverage helps people make informed choices about using contraception based on expert opinion and others' experiences.
Action stage. News and feature stories can inform people about how to take action, such as how to use contraceptive methods, where and when to go for services, and how much they cost.
Confirmation and advocacy stage. Coverage in the news media can reinforce individual decisions to adopt family planning and can serve as a forum for members of the public and opinion leaders to endorse family planning and offer testimonials from personal experience.Influencing policymakers. Accurate news coverage often helps family planning and other reproductive health care programs earn the support of national policymakers(29). Their commitment is important on both the supply and demand sides—to assure the resources to provide services and to endorse popular interest in using them (60).
Policymakers follow the news media closely because the news both reflects and shapes popular opinion (52, 63). In many countries the news media set the agenda for public discussion and debate by deciding what issues to cover and how to report on them (65). By drawing a situation to public attention, the news media sometimes even seem to create events rather than just report them (64).
Policymakers pay attention to stories with such headlines as:
"Poor Lands' Success in Cutting Birth Rate Upsets Old Theories" (The New York Times, January 2, 1994);
"Refugee Centre Sits on Population Time Bomb" (The Mail, Ghana, July 5, 1994);
"Who'll Have to Pay? The Cost of Dealing with AIDS in Asia Will Run into the Billions" (AsiaWeek, November 1993).

Goldmine Project

Do you remember that survey we ran a couple of months back to see what people wanted next from the Goldmine? Well, I’ve posted the winning result up at this link, so take a look. (I’m working on this project as of now, so, just as a favour, to help me get it absolutely right, if you could also answer the handful of point-and-click questions there too that will help refine what’s coming to the point of maximum delight!)
Next Screenwriting Goldmine Project
One other thing, that might be of interest if you’re already a user of the Screenwriting Goldmine method. If you get confused when you come to lay out your story in a spreadsheet then you might like to take a look at a spreadsheet I’ve created for you. It’s a smartened up version of the spreadsheet I use myself every time I write a story, and you can download it for a VERY reasonable price at:
The Goldmine Guider
My local newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, has lately been pushing local news onto the home page more than ever before. Today's front page is filled with local and regional news with nary a national story. Is it time for local newspapers -- even large metro papers like the Chronicle -- to focus much more on local news and less on national and international news? If you're a newspaper reader, would that upset you? If you're more of an online newspaper reader, how much do you count on your local newspaper site for local vs. national or international news? And what sources do you use most for l
My local newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, has lately been pushing local news onto the home page more than ever before. Today's front page is filled with local and regional news with nary a national story. Is it time for local newspapers -- even large metro papers like the Chronicle -- to focus much more on local news and less on national and international news? If you're a newspaper reader, would that upset you? If you're more of an online newspaper reader, how much do you count on your local newspaper site for local vs. national or international news? And what sources do you use most for local news: local TV, alternative weeklies, blogs, local newspapers, email lists? Share your thoughts in the comments below and I'll run the best ones in the next Your Take Roundup.
My local newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, has lately been pushing local news onto the home page more than ever before. Today's front page is filled with local and regional news with nary a national story. Is it time for local newspapers -- even large metro papers like the Chronicle -- to focus much more on local news and less on national and international news? If you're a newspaper reader, would that upset you? If you're more of an online newspaper reader, how much do you count on your local newspaper site for local vs. national or international news? And what sources do you use most for local news: local TV, alternative weeklies, blogs, local newspapers, email lists? Share your thoughts in the comments below and I'll run the best ones in the next Your Take Roundup.ocal news: local TV, alternative weeklies, blogs, local newspapers, email lists? Share your thoughts in the comments below and I'll run the best ones in the next Your Take Roundup.