Lined preschool paper template

Norway’s only marine reserve hit by oil spill
Authorities in Norway on Friday struggled to contain an oil spill after an Icelandic cargo ship ran aground in the country’s only marine reserve. Officials say the ship is leaking from both sides and some oil has already reached the shore. The Godafoss hit rocks on Thursday night near the Ytre Hvaler marine park as it travelled from Fredrikstad to the Swedish town of Helsingborg. The Norwegian Coastal Administration estimates the ship is carrying 800 tonnes of fuel. Floating barriers have been set up to try and stop the spill from spreading and anti-pollution vessels from Sweden and Norway have been sent to begin the clean-up operation. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Engineers look to regain control of Fukushima
Japan’s nuclear safety agency says it hopes to restore power today to at least two reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant. Electricity should help resume pumping operations to cool temperatures by pouring cold water on overheating fuel rods. There have been fears that cooling pools may have run dry. On Thursday officials said engineers had succeeded in laying a power cable to reactor No 2. But white smoke or steam has continued to escape from three of the reactors. The UN’s nuclear watchdog the IAEA has called the situation at the plant “reasonably stable” as the authorities battle to prevent a disastrous release of radiation. More than 5,500 deaths have now been confirmed. Almost another 10,000 are still unaccounted for in six prefectures. More than one a half million homes have no running water; 30,000 are still without power. Where the quake and tsunami failed to kill, the fear is now that many may succumb to the cold. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Pick of the Clicks: words and music feed the revolution
It’s one thing starting a revolution, it’s another thing?�completing one. Or, as Che Guevara put it more poetically: “The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall.”?�And Che Guevara knew a thing or two about revolutions.?�Repression and a craving for change brought the people into the streets of Tunisia and Egypt.?�It is now doing the same in Libya, Yemen and Bahrain.?�Yet?�if a revolution is going to succeed it needs to be sustained. ?�Fidel Castro, another man with considerable experience in the matter, claimed that what a successful revolution requires is “faith and a plan of action.“?�The Egyptians’ and the Tunisians’ plan of action was quite simple: WE stay until YOU go. They also had faith.?�If Bahrainis, Libyans and Yemenis are to replicate their neighbours’ triumph, they will need to keep the faith. They will need to maintain morale and two things that will help make this happen are slogans and music.?�Slogans are powerful weapons in the armoury of a revolutionary. They are chanted in unison; they unite. ?�Many of the most memorable and effective revolutionary slogans?�have been?�coined using?�Hendiatris or Triad, a figure of speech?�using three words or ideas to express a single demand.?�And it works well.?�The Mexicans and later the Spanish cried for “Tierra Y Libertad” (Land And Freedom). The French marched on Paris calling for “Libert?�, Egalit?�, Fraternit?�” (Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood). Portugal’s Carnation Revolution demanded “Descoloniza?�??o, Democratiza?�??o, Desenvolvimento” (decolonisation, democratisation, development). When Iranians ousted the Shah in 1979, they wanted him replaced with “God, Quran, Khomeini.”?�Hitler, as he whipped up a nationalist fervour in Nazi Germany, had the crowds shouting “Ein Reich! Ein Volk! Ein F??hrer!”?�Barack Obama got the message as he ran for election: Yes (the first lesson of marketing), We (are united), Can (let’s be positive).?�And so it was in Tunisia and Egypt. In Tunis, just like in Cairo, demonstrators chanted “El Shaab (the people) Yurid (demand) Isqat el Nizam (the fall of the regime).”?�A popular slogan in Tunisia was “Al Khoubz, Al Maa, Ben Ali la” which is to be interpreted as “We are ready to live with just water and bread but not with Ben Ali” although admittedly it does sound much better in Arabic.?�In Egypt in particular, the crowds used humour in their written slogans to keep their spirits up while a stubborn Mubarak exhausted all his options to stay in power. “Go now! I want to go home, have a shower and sleep,” read one homemade banner in Tahrir Square.?�Egyptians began writing their slogans in English, knowing that the world was watching. They kept it simple: “Game Over”.?� Music is another motivator. Spending weeks camping out and shouting at an apparently deaf dictator to fall on the sword that’s kept him in power for decades is a physically arduous task. A singalong?�helps keep a?�crowd merry and focused, as it did in Tahrir Square It did too in 18th Century France. When soldiers made the long march from Marseille to Paris to support the revolution, they sang what is still the national anthem more than two centuries later.?�American soldiers still march to songs, or cadences, that were coined during the American Revolution.?�Music is being used by today’s?�activists to inspire revolution in a way that was inaccesible to the French revolutionaries, the American Patriots or the Bolsheviks.?� MideastTUNES describes itself as a site promoting music for social change. Its creator – young, female and Bahraini – is quoted in a TIME article as saying: “Sure, people like Gandhi give me hope, but what makes me want to go out and make change is people’s stories, and that comes through their music.”?�Give the?�events of Tahrir Square a soundtrack and a powerful music videoand it is not hard to imagine the youth of Bahrain or Libya being moved to?�join their?�peers in the streets.?�?�Two Arab?�dictators have fallen in as many months and the shoots of further?�regime change?�have?�sprouted in several countries?�across?�the region.?�?�With catchy slogans and catchy tunes, the revolution could well catch on.?� By Mark Davis Copyright © 2011 euronews

Merkel adviser to head Bundesbank
The new head of Germany’s central bank is Jens Weidmann, who was Chancellor Angela Merkel’s top economic adviser for the last five years. The 42-year-old replaces Axel Weber, who is quitting the Bundesbank post early and has pulled out of the race for the job of president of the European Central Bank which comes free in October when Jean-Claude Trichet steps down. Merkel’s choice means continuity in terms of the German’s central bank’s focus on fighting inflation and makes it less likely she will insist on a German running the ECB. But does the appointment raise political questions? Analyst Robert Halver of Baader Bank said: “One could argue and indeed say: what about the Bundesbank’s independence if a close aide is given this job? But I believe that the current difficult times we are facing – such as the euro crisis and the stability crisis and how the ECB and the Bundesbank deal with them – demands unconventional solutions.” Merkel herself played down concerns expressed by some opposition parties that she was making an overtly political appointment. “Everyone acquainted with Jens Weidmann knows he is highly competent on the issues, has a brilliant intellect and an independent mind,” she said. “We are all convinced that he will be an outstanding president of the Bundesbank and will represent Germany and use his voice in the European Central Bank to promote a stability culture,” Merkel said. “He will defend Germany’s own interests.” As Bundesbank chief, Weidmann will sit on the ECB’s governing council. At the Bundesbank, Weidmann is expected to bring a softer profile, more low key style and greater political experience, in contrast to the sometimes brusque Weber, who alienated other European countries with his criticism of the ECB’s buying of weaker euro zone members’ government bonds. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Euphoria in Tahrir Square as uncertain future beckons
Thousands of Egyptians remain in Tahrir Square to savour and enjoy the end of the regime of Hosni Mubarak. Most are still coming to terms with what the 18 days of rage achieved. The furious wave of protests against poverty, corruption and repression consigned 30 years of one-man rule to history. Still, there is a note of caution behind the joy, many query how committed the army is to establishing democracy. Many of those who risked life and limb to bring down the Mubarak regime have vowed to stay in Tahrir Square until the Military Council now ruling the country accepts their agenda for change. “ We have big ideas about what we want to achieve. We hope the army will help us. And we want to change the government, which has been torturing us.” “We are young people and we can make a change and we proved that in this place, in Tahrir Square.” Save the serious considerations for later in Tahrir Square, the epicentre of a revolution, the euphoria will linger for a few more hours yet. Copyright © 2011 euronews