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(Photo: MP Su'a William Sio) |
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NEW ZEALAND: Benefit
numbers down in Manukau & South Auckland
Source:
Office of MP Su'a Sio
Williams Press Release
Unemployment Benefit numbers for Manukau & South
Auckland have fallen to a new low.
Labour MP Su'a William Sio announced local
figures today. There are now 2217 local people
receiving Unemployment Benefit, down from 3237
in March last year, and dramatically down from
11710 in December 1999.
"Over the last eight years, people across
Manukau & South Auckland have been moving from
dole payments to paycheques," said Su'a William
Sio.
"We're following a nationwide trend; last week,
the Prime Minister announced that New Zealand's
Unemployment Benefit numbers had dropped below
the 20,000 mark – the lowest numbers of
unemployed people since 1979.
Su'a William Sio says Work and Income has a new
approach recognising that most people want to
work and can with the right support, such as
education, training and work preparation. Work
and income also helps disabled New Zealanders
and those with ill-health to plan for work.
Work and Income's 'Working New Zealand' changes
have led directly to reductions in the number of
long term and young people unemployed – as well
as putting downward pressure on sickness benefit
numbers.
"Working for Families is also making it easier
for 370,000 households across the country to
work and raise a family. So when people with
children come off a benefit and into work, they
can take advantage of extra incentive to stay
working. It's making real inroads into the
number of sole parents on the DPB, with 11609
now, compared to 10373 in December 1999."
The statistics for South Auckland:
Benefit Dec 99 Mar 07 Mar 08 Diff 99-08
Unemployment 11710 3237 2217 -9493
Domestic Purposes 10373 11420 11609 1236
Sickness 2536 4513 4158 1622
Invalid's 3165 4567 4969 1804
Photo Caption:
Labour MP Su'a Sio Williams at Parliament with fellow
Labour Members of Paliament.
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(Photos: SASNOC) |
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SAMOA:
ASCC Stage Production “the Most Contemporary to
Date”
Source:
SASNOC
Luana Milroy (sailing) and Andrew Ah Liki
(archery) have been selected to represent Samoa
at the Beijing Olympic Youth Camp which will run
from 5-18 August this year.
On the first of February information was sent
out to all Olympic & recognized Olympic Sports
in Samoa inviting applications for one male and
one female to be a Youth Ambassador for Samoa at
the Beijing Olympic Youth Camp along with 600
other participants from around the world.
During the 2 week Program (5-18 August, 2008)
participants will be exposed to a variety of
activities involving the Olympics, China and
other Cross-Cultural experiences such as the
Opening Ceremony, Olympic Torch Relay, a tour of
the Olympic Village, going to Olympic sporting
events, City sightseeing and other trips, Theme
Days and a range of other sporting and arts
activities with other campers
Youth Ambassadors will stay at a very well-known
high school in China just 10km from Olympic
green and 35km from the Beijing Capital
International Airport. Sports facilities at the
school include a four-court tennis centre, an
outdoor eight-court basketball ground, an indoor
and an outdoor volleyball ground (6 courts in
total), a standard 400-meter track, a field lawn
ground and one playground with artificial lawn
for football matches. There are also 350
computers available with internet access.
The 2 successful campers will have all costs
covered, including roundtrip airfares, local
transportation, accommodation, and meals during
the 2008 Olympic Youth Camp.
Successful candidates had to be between 16 – 18
years of age by Aug 8th, 2008, be Samoan
citizens, possess excellent conversational
ability in English, excel in a local Olympic
sport or sport (s) and have contributed to Samoa
i.e. through volunteer or environmental
protection activities.
Despite information regarding the applications
being sent to sports via email multiple times,
advertisement in three issues of the SASNOC
Newsletter, articles published in both major
newspapers, and on the Event Polynesia website,
advertisement on TV3 Sportscentre for 3 weeks, a
NUS Announcement and information available
online through the SASNOC website, SASNOC
received less than ten applications from the
youth of Samoa.
Applications were originally due in by February
29th, 2008 but this deadline was extended for an
additional week. When it came time for the
SASNOC Board to decide on the two lucky
applicants to be selected for this once in a
lifetime experience, the decision was unanimous
with only two of the applications coming from
young medal winners at the 2007 South Pacific
Games.
Our congratulations go out to our successful
Youth Ambassadors for Samoa who will be bound
for Beijing on the 3rd of August.
Luana Milroy (Sailing: SPG2007 Double Bronze
Medal winner in Individual Laser, & Team Laser
class)
Andrew Ah Liki (Archery: SPG2007 Silver Medalist:
Men’s Team Match Play Recurve)
Photo Captions:
Luana Milroy (sailing) and Andrew Ah Liki (archery) have been
selected to represent Samoa at the Beijing Olympic Youth Camp which will
run from 5-18 August this year.
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(Photos: James Kneubuhl) |
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AMERICAN SAMOA:
ASCC Stage Production “the Most Contemporary to
Date”
Source:
ASCC Press Release
American Samoa Community College (ASCC) drama
and dance instructor Carmela Gallace, along with
her student cast and the technical crew
organized by visual arts instructor Regina
Meredith, have spent the last few days
frantically attending to the multitude of
last-minute details required to mount their
three-day run of musical play “Aida”, which will
open this Thursday evening at 7 p.m. in the Lee
Auditorium, and continues through Saturday.
All of them hope their hard work will pay off
when the public has the opportunity to enjoy
what Gallace describes as “the most contemporary
piece we have done to date”. An epic love story
set in ancient Egypt, “Aida” will showcase the
most advanced levels of stagecraft (singing,
dancing, and acting) and stage design ever
attempted in an ASCC production. “It gives me
great pride to say I can comfortably compare the
level of choreography and acrobatic movement
we’ve achieved with this play to popular
mainland theater attractions like the Cirque de
Soliel.,” says
Gallace. “The audiences will see things they
have never before experienced.”
Paradoxically, while in a technical sense “Aida”
represents the most contemporary production ever
attempted by ASCC, in terms of subject matter
the students have never presented a tale more
ancient. “Aida” takes place around the year 3000
B.C., during the height of ancient Egyptian
civilization.
A Nubian princess captured by an Egyptian
raiding party (who do not know her true
identity) the character of Aida finds herself
made a slave to Amneris, daughter of the Pharoah.
Aida develops a deep friendship with the
princess Amneris, as well as her fiancée Radames,
son of the
Pharoah’s chief minister. Soon, a love triangle
develops between these three characters,
complicated further by a plot by Ramades’ father
to assassinate the Pharoah. When the Egyptians
later capture Aida’s own father, the Nubian King
Amonasro, Aida must choose between her love for
Ramades and the welfare of her people, which she
can only ensure by arranging the escape of
herself and the King.
The above story moves along through an acclaimed
musical score composed by world-famous
singer/songwriter Elton John and Broadway legend
Tim Rice, the same team responsible for the
well-loved tunes from Disney’s “The Lion King”.
“The composers really bring the ancient story of
‘Aida’ to life for today’s audiences by making
the music absolutely modern,” says Gallace.
“You can hear beautiful Broadway-style ballads,
but also reggae, Motown, rock & roll, gospel,
and pop. This score sounds like nothing we’ve
tried before, and I owe a lot to my colleague
Kuki Tuiasosopo for helping the cast master the
vocal parts. Regina Meredith, whom most of us
know from her work in the visual arts, also has
two years of opera training under her belt, and
she also guided the cast through vocal
techniques and exercises to help get their
voices in shape to meet this kind of challenge.”
Meredith and her visual arts students have once
again risen to the occasion by producing a set
design which Gallace describes as “amazing”.
After extensive research on ancient Egypt,
Meredith and her students incorporated genuine
hieroglyphic designs into their stage backdrops
whenever possible, creating a visual fusion
between the ancient and the contemporary.
Meanwhile, preparing the action in the
foreground of the production, Gallace has spent
most of this semester putting not just one, but
three separate casts through the demanding paces
“Aida” requires. “One actress, Ruth Ann Tuasivi,
appears in more than one cast,” she says, “but
otherwise each of the three evening performances
will have an entirely separate group of students
in the main roles.” “Aida” will feature many of
the “veteran” student actors from previous ASCC
productions. “This time around, I had more
students who possessed a higher level of talent
than ever before,” explained Gallace. “Their
experience made moving to the
‘next level’ with a more difficult production
like ‘Aida’ a natural progression. But still,
between the veterans and the newcomers, I still
had enough student performers for three almost
entirely different casts.” Thus, the Nile
Company will open on Thursday, followed by the
Nubian
Company on Friday, and the Egyptian Company, who
will close the run Saturday night.
The public can purchase tickets for “Aida” at
the door on all three evenings. The box office,
organized by the ASCC Business Department, will
open at 6 p.m., an hour before curtain time.
General Admission is $5.00, and $10.00 for V.I.P.
seating.
Photo Caption:
ASCC Drama and Dance instructor Carmela
Gallace (front row, far left) and her lead cast
members from the play "Aida" make the final
preparations for opening night this Thursday.
The play will run through Saturday evening in
the Lee Auditorium. Daniel, Shane and Milton
display their "Team Egypt 2008 Power Pose". Some
of the actors in the ASCC production of "Aida"
get "in character".
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(Photo: fijivillage.com) |
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FIJI:
Call GCC Meet Under Prior Regulation
Source:
fijivillage.com
The head of the Burebasaga confederacy has
called on the interim government to call the
next Great Council of Chiefs meeting under the
regulation set under the elected government
which existed prior to December 2006.
Ro Teimumu Kepa said if the GCC meeting is
called under that regulation, the Rewa province
would definitely nominate members to the GCC to
attend the meeting.
However, she said the new GCC promulgation is
illegal and the GCC Review Taskforce chairman
Ratu Josateki Nawalowalo should understand why
majority of the provincial councils have decided
not to support the new look GCC.
Ro Teimumu, who is the Rewa Provincial Council
chairperson, also said they are only aligning
themselves to the decision of the GCC meeting
after the events of December 5th.
Photo Caption:
Ro Teimumu Kepa said if the GCC meeting is called under that
regulation, the Rewa province would definitely nominate members to the
GCC to attend the meeting.
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NEW CALEDONIA: New
Caledonia disease outbreak spreads to Wallis and
Futuna
Source:
ABC Radio Australia
An outbreak of water-borne leptospirosis in New
Caledonia, which has killed 3 people this year,
has now spread to neighbouring Wallis and Futuna
islands.
Wallis and Futuna health services biologist
Jean-Francois Yvon has told local television
Futuna island is the most affected with 33 of
the 34 known cases.
Oceania Flash reports a high alert status was
declared in New Caledonia, early this month.
About 80 people have been diagnosed with the
disease, which is mainly transmitted through
contact with muddy soil that could have been
infected by animals such as pigs or rats.
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NIUE: Director-General
of UNESCO, on the occasion of World Press Freedom
Day
Source:
UNESCO Press Release
Freedom of expression is a fundamental human
right recognized in Article 19 of the United
Nations Declaration of Human Rights, whose 60th
anniversary we celebrate this year. On World
Press Freedom Day 2008, UNESCO pays tribute to
the courage and professionalism of the many
journalists and media professionals killed and
wounded while carrying out their professional
activities, by dedicating this Day to the themes
of empowerment and access to information.
Alongside the dangers of conflict areas and war
zones, journalists often face threats,
intimidation and actual violence as a direct
result of their work. These acts are
unconscionable, not only because they violate
the human rights of individuals, but also
because they impede the free flow of accurate
and reliable information which underpins good
governance and democracy. Too often these crimes
are not adequately punished.
Press freedom and access to information feed
into the wider development objective of
empowering people by giving people the
information that can help them gain control over
their own lives. This empowerment supports
participatory democracy by giving citizens the
capacity to engage in public debate and to hold
governments and others accountable. But this
flow of communication does not happen
automatically.
It has to be fostered by a free, pluralistic,
independent and professional media, and through
national policies founded on four key principles
at the heart of UNESCO’s work: freedom of
expression, quality education for all, universal
access to information and knowledge, and respect
for linguistic diversity. Indeed, the freedom to
express oneself in one’s mother tongue as widely
and as often as possible and to master other
national, regional or international languages is
being highlighted by UNESCO in this
International Year of Languages.
Without strong policies to foster linguistic
diversity in all aspects of a nation’s life – in
schools,
administration, law and in the media - we risk
denying hundreds of thousands of people around
the work of the basic right to engage in public
life and debate.
Technological advances – for example the
internet – allow the media to reach more people
in more places, allow people to share their
opinions more readily, and allow information to
flow across borders. These are huge benefits.
But freedom of information, and online
information, alone do not guarantee access.
People also need the internet connectivity and
IT resources to use that information, for
example to access national or international news
or to provide a plurality of media options,
including
community radio. Even more fundamentally, they
need to have the capacity to use these tools -
and this can only come about through the
universal provision of quality education and
promotion of multilingualism.
As we celebrate World Press Freedom Day 2008,
let us remember three things: First, the courage
of those journalists who have put themselves at
risk in order to provide the public with
accurate and independent information Second,
that press freedom and freedom of information,
are the founding principles for good governance,
development and peace
Third, that new technology can provide enormous
information benefits, but needs to be
underpinned by measures that empower people to
make use of it: quality education for all,
universal access to information and knowledge,
and respect for linguistic diversity.
A commitment to removing all obstacles to press
freedom, to improving the conditions for
independent and professional journalism, and to
empowering citizens to engage in public debate
is essential. On World Press Freedom Day 2008,
UNESCO encourages its Member States to
strengthen their efforts in this direction.
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