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Bravo! Most creative, productive int'l competition to save planet: Pakistan, 300 people planted 541176 trees a day

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WWF has awarded Pakistan’s Environment Minister Leaders of the Planet title, an award to recognize individuals making a significant personal contribution to the global fight against climate change. Without mechanical equipment, covered in mud, and sweating in temperatures up to 37° Celsius, Pakistan set the Guinness World Record for tree planting, beating India in a most healthy & productive international competition contributing to endangered forests. 541,176 young mangroves trees were planted by 300 volunteers in just one day, breaking the previous 447,874 record held by India.
Pakistan set the Guinness World Record for tree planting, beating India in a healthy and productive international competition contributing to preserving fragile and endangered forests. With 541,176 young mangroves trees planted by 300 volunteers from the local fishermen communities just in one day, the country broke the previous 447,874 record held by historical rival India.
Of 679 whales killed in 2008-09 hunt in Antarctica, 304 were female. 4 lactating & 192 pregnant at time of death

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MADEIRA, Portugal - Data provided by the Japanese government has revealed a large number of pregnant and lactating female whales killed. The data was made public at the International Whaling Commission meeting Monday, June 22, 2009.
Conscience: Time to be at peace with itself, France to compensate victims sickened by nuclear tests

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French Defence Minister Hervé Morin said, "It's time for our country to be at peace with itself". The French government offered for the 1st time Tuesday to compensate victims of nuclear tests in Algeria and the South Pacific. Victims cautiously welcomed the move, nearly 50 years after France conducted its first atomic tests. But some victims say the offer is still too stingy, and is only a first step toward healing wounds left by explosions that sent blinding white flashes cascading over French Polynesia and the Sahara Desert. A total of 150,000 people, including civilian and military personnel, were on site for the 210 tests France carried out from 1960-1996, both in the atmosphere and underground, in the Sahara Desert and the South Pacific.
Thomas Jefferson (13April1743 – 04July1826), principal author of Declaration of Independence, the 3rd President of US 1801-1809

Thomas Jefferson: "A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government."
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Thomas Jefferson, (Born April 13, 1743, at Shadwell, Virginia; died July 4, 1826, Monticello), author of the Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, third president of the United States, and founder of the University of Virginia, considered as “the first cultured President” of the United States.
Courage! Australian PM Kevin Rudd admits going to war with Iraq was wrong, pulling all AU troops back home

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Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said there had been a "failure to disclose to the Australian people the qualified nature of the intelligence - for example, the pre-war warning that an attack on Iraq would increase the terrorist threat, not decrease it".

Mr Rudd, a former diplomat, also dismissed his prede- cessor's argument that Australia had been obliged to send troops to Iraq because of its long-standing alliance with the United States.
He said while he valued the alliance highly, it did not mean that Canberra should automatically accede to US requests for military support.
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Photos courtesy of AP and defenselink.mil/HomePagePhotos/
Original Source: Telegraph
Leadership: when many governments busy bailing out big business, Australian banks to give mortgage help to jobless

To keep Jobless from becoming Homeless in the midst of economic turmoil, millions need direct financial aid. Australia now takes action though its unemployment rate stood at 5.2% in February, while in comparison, unemployment rate in U.S., for example, rose to 8.5% in March and homelessness rates across the States is soaring...
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The Australian government announced Sunday that the country's biggest four banks will give people who have lost their job up to a year free of mortgage repayments. After returning from G20 meetings in London, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told an employment conference in Melbourne the mortgage assistance plan would alleviate the "anxiety and fear" the jobless feel when faced with ongoing payments.

Australia's big-four banks, which dominate the home loan sector, include the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AU); National Australia Bank (NAB.AU); Westpac Banking Corp. (WBC.AU) and the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ.AU). read more »
Financial crisis deprives livelihood. Poverty sparks fury, raging across Europe: Iceland, France, Russia, Greece...

Protests across Europe: Bosnia, Britain, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Ukraine...
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(Reuters) - French unions staged a nationwide day of action on Thursday to denounce the government's economic policies and call for more measures to help consumers.
The global financial crisis has sparked protests in many parts of Europe this year:

BOSNIA -- Bosnia's Muslim-Croat parliament canceled a session on February 26 rather than confront protesters complaining about plans to cut benefits to narrow a big budget gap.
BRITAIN -- British workers held a series of protests at power plants against the use of foreign contractors on critical energy sites. They voted to end strikes on February 5 after French oil group Total agreed to hire more British workers at its Lindsey oil refinery.
















