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Pinagpalang Kamay Association or PKAI is an NGO formed by Ms. Mina Tecson to aid two communities in need, one a poverty-stricken community in Payatas on the outskirts of Quezon City, and the other a home for abandoned physically and mentally ill children residing at Cottolengo Filipino, Montalban Rizal, quite nearby. I toured both in December 2010.

President Barack Obama signed a slew of bills into law during the lame-duck session of Congress, and was dubbed the “Comeback Kid” amid a flurry of fawning press reports.
In the hail of this surprise bipartisanship, though, the one issue over which Democrats and Republicans always agree, war, was completely ignored.

*Has the target to promote peace and non-violence ‘gone to the dogs’ I was thinking on entering the Sunday-noisy Krispy Creme café situated in up-market Bonifacio High Street at Global City, Taguig, Manila. I was to meet Patricia Carrascoso of Pets for Peace & the Labrador Retriever Owner’s Club. I was in for an awakening!*

Recently Petur Gudjonsson has launched in Island his new book entitled “What Really Matters” and the complete edition was sold out in five days, distributed by Samkaup through supermarkets and shops. A second edition was printed and is also having a very good reception from the readers, while he is preparing the launching of two new books: “Moving on” and “Really?”.

It is a quite cold winter morning in Bihar’s Beur Central Jail, India. The jail inmates – all criminals including murderers, kidnappers and petty thieves – are ready to begin their task for the day: to learn English. The authorities decided that it’s time they brought about a positive change in the lives of the prisoners.

President Lula begins the last week of his presidency on Monday with various ribbon-cuttings and farewells throughout the country.
After his weekly Coffee with the President radio program today, he will inaugurate the new offices of the National Council of Scientific and Technological Development in the capital, where the last annual meeting of that organization will be held.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, now free on bail in the UK, believes his extradition to USA is politically impossible because he is at risk of being killed there.

Assange told The Guardian newspaper it would be unlikely for British authorities to hand him over to the United States if he has public support in the UK.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says he believes the Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START-III) will be the cornerstone of the world’s security for the next decade.
“I also think that U.S. President, Barack Obama, did a good job when accomplishing the ratification of the START-III in the Senate,” Medvedev said at a Friday press conference.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange remains in a London jail after Swedish officials challenged a British court decision to release him on bail.
Julian Assange has been detained since last week, when he was arrested in London, United Kingdom, on an international warrant to face supposed sexual crime allegations in Sweden.

*This is a story of a small group of organic farmers and their supporters in Bugon, Sariaya, living at the foothills of Mount Banahaw in the province of Quezon, Philippines, which mediated and coordinated the Biggest Human Peace Sign of 12,000 people October 2009, during the World March for Peace and Nonviolence in the Philippines.*