International Positive News Update 1-28-07

POSITIVE PROGRESS TOWARDS PEACE

Sinn Fein votes to back police - a 1st
by Shawn Pogatchnik

The Associated Press
28 January 2007

DUBLIN, Ireland (AP)- Sinn Fein members overwhelmingly
voted Sunday to begin cooperating with the Northern
Ireland police, a long-unthinkable commitment that
could spur the return of a Catholic-Protestant
administration for the British territory.

The result—confirmed by a sea of raised hands but
no formally recorded vote—meant Sinn Fein, once
a hard-left party committed to a socialist revolution,
has abandoned its decades-old hostility to law and order.

The vote, taken after daylong debate among 2,000
Sinn Fein stalwarts, represented a stunning triumph
for Sinn Fein chief Gerry Adams, the former Irish
Republican Army commander who has spent 24 years
edging his IRA-linked party away from terror and
toward compromise.

It strongly improved the chances of reviving
power-sharing, the long-elusive goal of the 1998
Good Friday peace pact, by Britain's deadline
of March 26.

``Today you have created the potential to change
the political landscape on this island forever,''
Adams told the conference.

Earlier, many speakers said for decades they had
dreamed of defeating the province's mostly Protestant
police force and forcing Northern Ireland into
the Irish Republic.

Some IRA veterans recalled beatings inflicted on
them by detectives during interrogations. Others
noted they had served long prison sentences for
attacks on police, more than 300 of whom were
killed during the IRA's failed 1970-1997 campaign.

But nearly all speakers said they were voting to
dump their party's anti-police position for the
sake of peace.

``This shows that the war is over. And if the war
is over, we have to build the peace,'' Adams said
in an interview during an earlier break in debate.

Positive News is pleased with this important step
towards peace in Northern Ireland


Report: Koreas' nuclear talks to resume
The Associated Press
28 January 2007

SEOUL (AP) - South Korea's foreign minister says
the next round of international talks on North
Korea's nuclear program should resume by early
next month, a news report said Friday.

Foreign Minister Song Min-soon made the comments
to South Korean correspondents in Beijing,
according to Yonhap news agency, a day after he
met with his Chinese counterpart, Li Zhaoxing,
and State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan.

The nuclear disarmament talks—which consist of
the United States, China, the two Koreas, Japan
and Russia—should be held before Feb. 10, Song
said without elaborating.

In Tokyo, the Kyodo news agency reported that
the participants are considering resuming their
next meeting in Beijing beginning Feb. 8, citing
unidentified officials.

The ITAR-Tass news agency quoted Russia's nuclear
envoy, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov,
as saying the most likely dates for resumption of
the talks are Feb. 5-8, but the participants must
still reach agreement on 'concrete details of
the agenda.'

A Japanese Foreign Ministry official said he was
aware of the reports but denied the date has been
decided.

Positive News is pleased to see these talks resume
and we view this as progress towards a peaceful
solution.


POSITIVE ENVIROMENTAL TRENDS

German renewable energy sector
shows impressive growth

GreenPrices

On 28 January 2007 GreenPrices reported:
2006 was a year of impressive growth for
the German renewable energy sector.

German wind power installations grew by
23.5 per cent in 2006, while renewable
energy use grew by 11.6 per cent, leaving
the country just 12 per cent short of its
renewable energy target for the year 2010.

The country overall decreased its CO2
emission by an impressive 10 million tonnes.
This, together with the above-mentioned
results has made Germany one of the undisputed
leaders of the green energy sector.

Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel stated
that his ministry would focus next on
formulating a plan to for the development
and usage of renewable heating.

The new program will operate through a
series of subsidies and mandatory
percentages.

Can energy projects play a role
in reducing poverty?

According to the recently released report
'Improving Lives: World Bank Progress on
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in
Fiscal Year 2006' by the World Bank.

The World Bank said that in 2006 it funded
renewable energy projects for a total value
of $668 million, supporting 34 projects in
61 developing nations.

The World Bank report also said that affordable
energy availability was crucial to the elimination
of poverty and malnutrition, since almost all
food needs to be cooked to be properly digested.

The Bank will continue to focus on supporting
renewable energy development in Asia and Africa,
giving more attention to 'solar home-lighting
systems, small hydropower systems, and wind
power and biomass energy production using wood
and animal and crop residues'.

An example of a successful third world project
is a project in Bangladesh where 90,000 homes
have received solar power systems, which the
Bank said is regarded as 'the world's most
successful solar power initiative'.

Also the bank has supported a successful forest
management project in Senegal that produces
wood on a sustainable basis, reducing deforestation,
and generating local income.

Through other projects, solar power has been
used to light public areas in Bolivia and
district heating in Serb schools has been
improved.

US Positive News Update

US News Update

Anti-smoking milestone reached in U.S.

Thirty years after it began as just another quirky
movement in Berkeley, Calif., the push to ban
smoking in restaurants, bars and other public
places has reached a national milestone.

For the first time in the nation's history, more
than half of Americans live in a city or state with
laws mandating that workplaces, restaurants or
bars be smoke-free, according to Americans for
Nonsmokers' Rights.

``The movement for smoke-free air has gone from
being a California oddity to the nationwide norm,''
said Bronson Frick, the group's associate director. `

`We think 100 percent of Americans will live in
smoke-free jurisdictions within a few years.''


New Housing Starts Rise

The Commerce Department reported Thursday
that housing construction rose 4.5 percent in
December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate
of 1.642 million units.

Analysts cautioned that the December figure could
be overstating the extent of the rebound since it
was probably influenced by warmer-than-normal
weather last month.

Employment Numbers Improve

The Labor Department reported Thursday that
applications for jobless benefits totaled a seasonally
adjusted 290,000, down 8,000 from the previous
week when claims had fallen below 300,000 for
the first time in six months.

The back-to-back improvements pushed claims to
the lowest level since the week of Feb. 18, 2006.

NY Subway Hero Saves Stranger

Wesley Autrey from Harlem dove in front of a subway
train earlier this month to save a man who had fallen on
the tracks.

The January 2nd incident, when he saved Cameron
Hollopeter by pinning him down between the rails,
allowing the train to pass over both of them.

Now, he is encouraging all people to find the hero within
themselves. "There's a hero in all of us, you just have to
act on the moment, you know,” said Autrey.

“Don't be afraid, go for it. That's it.”

“This angel has dropped down from heaven onto the
platform of 137th Street and he has gotten his wings,”
added Manhattan Assemblyman Keith Wright. “And
his job is to make sure the rest of us get our wings as well."

Wesley Autrey was applauded by Governor Eliot Spitzer
and the state assembly in Albany. He has received numerous
acknowledgements and awards and even appeared on
the tonight show with Jay Leno.

Autrey says he remains in contact with Hollopeter,
and their families plan to get together soon.

I'm back...

Hello Everyone,

I appreciate your patience with my absence. My
plan is to update this blog each week for you!

Please feel free send me your Positive News.

THX, Dave

PS STAY POSITIVE!